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text 2016-06-01 13:00
Packaged Thoughts June 2016: All the Books I Probably Won't Review

There will always be those books that I absolutely would love to express an opinion on, but for one reason or another, it never actually happens.  In which case, I introduce my new feature, the "Packaged Thoughts" bundle reviews, wherein I will talk about a few random books I wanted to talk about, but just didn't really know what to say about in an actual review.

My first Packaged Thoughts was published on Christmas of 2015 and included a good number of books I never got around to reviewing, but not all of them.  So this year, I wanted to give a mid-year Packaged Thoughts a try and see how I like it.  I figure that I'd be able to catch most of the books I didn't review, read during the first half of the year, before I forget what my opinions of them had been.

It just so happens that my birthday lands in the middle of the year--and what better way to celebrate than with a loaded post of aimless rambling about a bunch of books!

If I like this, I might just do this every year!

Once again, if you've read my reviews and posts before, you know I'm prone to rambling on and on--opinion material for these books could potentially be enough for a review of their own.  But I'm not going to dwell on that.

The Immortal Heights by Sherry Thomas
Book 3 (final) of The Elemental Trilogy
4.5 Stars (but who am I kidding, the stars don't matter!)


It took me about three weeks into 2016, after finishing reading this book that I realized I didn't know how to review it.  Because THE FEELS and THE FEELS.

Yes, there were still a lot of things missing from this book--from all three books, actually, such as solid world-building.  Even a deeper insight to our main enemy would have been nice (not that I need to see into his inner workings or anything), but even right up to the end, the Bane was still just a dark presence in the background as an evil man on an evil mission who needed to be defeated.

But I love Titus and I love Iolanthe and I've grown a love for Kashkari... and even Amara was lovely despite only really being significant to this last Elemental Trilogy book.

Nonetheless, I know that these aren't the best books in the world, and as far as high fantasies go, it could have been better.  But Sherry Thomas creates extremely charming characters and has a delightfully witty and enjoyable writing style.

Did I mention the banter and THE FEELS?

And so I leave you all with this:

 

And now the rest of the books in this post:

 

SWAT books by Paige Tyler
#1) Hungry Like the Wolf | Rating:  4.0 Stars
#2) Wolf Trouble | Rating:  4.0 Stars


I've never really been that big a fan of paranormal romance books--paranormal mysteries I can still manage just fine.  But the fact that Paige Tyler crosses paranormal romance with romantic suspense DID catch my eye.  In 2015, I found myself enjoying her first two X-Ops books a lot.

And then I decided to pick up Hungry Like the Wolf and also found that it was very, very likable.  It's fast-paced with well-developed characters and an intriguing story line with a world that has much to offer.  A pack of werewolf shifters who work in law enforcement as a very specialized SWAT team--big, muscled men who are heroes.  The best part, they are very good men who also know how NOT to be jackasses (unlike a lot of other alpha males in lots of other romance novels I've read before).

Not long after that, I picked up Wolf Trouble and found it to be equally entertaining and enjoyable.  In this book, however, we are introduced to a female werewolf who joins the SWAT team.  I was extra ecstatic about that because you rarely get to see a female play hero in a lot of books, specifically when there are a large band of alpha males hanging around.

And really, I absolutely loved Khaki!

I enjoyed the first two SWAT books a lot, even if the main romances were a little stilted.  But the romantic tension and sexy times in both books were steamy and fun, and the rest of the characters are awesome together as friends and teammates, and I'm just so looking forward to where else we can go with the rest of these werewolf shifters!

The Apprentice (Rizzoli & Isles, #2)
by Tess Gerritsen
Rating:  3.0 Stars

Like the first book in this series, The Surgeon, The Apprentice is well written with a great crime thriller to keep a reader intrigued.  But also like the first book in this series, The Apprentice tended on the overly detailed, overly wordy, and overly deliberate in use of words and infusion of insight and hidden meaning and not so hidden meaning.  I wouldn't call it flowery or purple prose, but it's close and it was a bit distracting--awkward, almost.

Nonetheless, the book was still an enjoyable one for anybody interested in the nitty-gritty of darker crime thrillers.  Romance-wise, this book was a bit lackluster, though there's a pretty good development in the back-seated love story between Jane Rizzoli and Gabriel Dean--it could use some more development, which I suspect we'll see in the next book.

Character-wise, like The Surgeon, there was a lot going on with the characters... except that, at the same time, it felt fairly lackluster, only really skimming the edge of what the characters' potential attractiveness to the story could entail.  There is also a very latent sense of sexism still being dragged out in the book despite having (now) two strong female characters--a lot of disclaimers for these two women being in the field they work in, a lot of caveats of their qualifications versus personality versus whatnot that make it so that it's kind of a an unnatural super skill among women that Jane is a police detective or Maura Isles is a medical examiner.

I'm not explaining it well, but there's just that feeling that doesn't set well with me.

by Brenda Novak
Rating:  3.0 Stars


I've only read Brenda Novak's romantic suspense books so far.  While I'm not a hundred percent enamored with her work, I've always attributed her story progression and writing style as akin to an action movie that you just cannot take your eyes off of.  The logic doesn't always make sense and the characters sometimes really piss me off, but the books are definitely page turners.

So picking up one of her category contemporary romance books was a given at some point in time.

Snow Baby is enjoyable as a sweet romance with all the typical romance novel devices.  It is enjoyable and a good way to pass the time, but that's if what you're craving is a quick and easy romance read with a tried and true Happily Ever After™.  Of course, being a quick and easy read didn't quite make this book any less complicated--I'm feeling that any type of soapy drama that could have happened DID happen with an accidental pregnancy, some family drama all around, interfering exes... the works.

Hot Pursuit (Hostile Operations Team #1) 
by Lynn Raye Harris
Rating:  3.5 Stars

A very exciting, fast-paced read with a lot more material than I'd been expecting.  Great characters and a lovely main couple with an awesome relationship and steamy chemistry and a great background history to propel their romantic development.  I certainly enjoyed those rare moments of banter between Evie and Matt.  Lots of suspense and very vivid descriptions of the bayous and small Louisiana town.

The brief mystery included was predictable and the entire suspense part of the story was really just an adrenaline-rush of forward movement, but not a bad experience, in general.

Overall an enjoyable and entertaining read, even if not entirely memorable.  But an excellent start to a military romance series with a lot of potential in the few character introductions we've seen so far.  So I am interested in following the rest of the series.

by Juliet Blackwell
Rating:  3.5 Stars


Juliet Blackwell books and I don't have that great of an impression on each other--or maybe it's just me.  Between Secondhand Spirits and If Walls Could Talk, I've found that both books are interesting enough to hold my attention for the duration of reading the book.  But that's about it.

Secondhand Spirits is an interesting cozy mystery that delivers what it sets out to deliver: mystery, magic, some fun tangential knowledge, and a very, very slight tinge of romance.  The characters are great--Lily Ivory makes for an ideal, strong heroine who saves the day without need for a knight to whisk her into the sunset.  The mystery is intriguing, even if kind of predictable.  The story itself was fun.

But, really, that's about it.  Oh, and also the beginning of the book is slow to start.  I don't know if maybe we spend too much time setting up the main conflict.  I might just be picky.


***

So there we have it!  I've actually been doing a pretty good job of keeping up with reviews, whether long or short.  To be totally honest, this is really just a collection of books that took me a long time to get around to reviewing after finishing them.  And then some of the books were just ones that I didn't want to bother with an individual review.

It all works out.

As the year progresses, I kind of expect I'll be less inclined to review every book I read.  Thus, the end of year Packaged Thoughts I've got planned for December will probably have a ton more books.  Probably.

Source: anicheungbookabyss.blogspot.com/2016/06/packaged-thoughts-june-2016-all-books-i.html
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text 2016-03-10 13:00
Cover Crush: SWAT series by Paige Tyler

 Because no matter the book's summary blurb, author, or marketing, there's no doubt that many of us are drawn in by a pretty cover.  And the great ones are hard not to notice.  I'm admittedly not immune to wonderfully crafted book covers and have fallen prey to them time and time again.

 

Cover Crush is a feature originally thought up by Erin at Flashlight Commentary.  Every Thursday, she publishes a post featuring a book jacket/book cover that she really likes with a short commentary about it.  I discovered this weekly feature via It's a Mad Mad World here at Booklikes and decided to join in the fun!

 

***

 

Obviously this week's Cover Crush is debatable as to its inspirational value in making people want to pick up the book and find out more about it.  But being that this feature is called Cover Crush, I decided to throw in covers I've recently found to be quite drool-worthy despite its standardized format.

 

Because I like the way the covers looks.  And that's all that matters, right?  :P

 

 

Every other romantic suspense/military romance book cover looks about the same to me nowadays.  And if they don't, they typically have about the same elements which more or less usually include some muscular, half-dressed (or sometimes not-quite-dressed, or sometimes not-dressed-at-all) man right in your face.  And to be totally honest, as much as I appreciate a strong biceps and washboard abs and the look of a warrior on my book covers, I've never really cared for them all that much.

 

I know that not ALL romantic suspense books have the same cover.  In fact, I am in possession of at least five different romantic suspense series that actually DO NOT have the standard muscular man on the front cover.  But I have also read my fair share of romantic suspense series that DO have this formulaic cover template.

 

Like I said, they're all interchangeable, in my opinion--I'm here for the story within anyway.  

 

But the four covers for Paige Tyler's SWAT series somehow managed to make me look and actually look again and actually contemplate them.

 

And to be honest, I can't quite put my finger on why I like these more than any other.  The men on the covers are the standard half-dressed, muscular warrior badasses that you always see on a lot of other romantic suspense or military romance types of books.

 

But maybe because they're also sort of kind of in their SWAT gear that made me look again and appreciate what I was looking at.  I don't always need to see half-naked men on my book covers to enjoy my books.  And maybe, also, I have a thing for men in SWAT gear... who knows?

 

Wolf Trouble is my favorite of the four covers--it is book #2 in the series.  

 

 

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review 2016-01-03 21:18
Audiobook Review: In the Company of Wolves (SWAT, #3) by Paige Tyler
In the Company of Wolves: SWAT Series #3 - Tantor Audio,Paige Tyler,Abby Craden

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

 

This series just keeps getting better and better. As we learn more about the members of the Dallas SWAT team, we are also learning more about werewolf lore. Ms. Tyler is not willing to give us too much information in any one story. We are just getting bit and pieces of this lore. In this story, we learn that alphas are not the only kind of werewolves that exist. There are also betas and omegas. These are not the same betas and omegas that we get in other stories and I liked the take that Tyler took with her lore.

 

We continue to see stories of traumatic events that are turning people into werewolves. We also are reminded that traumatic events can come from family just as much as it can come from war. Seeing the events that turn Jayna were tough. She’s had a rough start to life and it didn’t get easier for her after becoming a werewolf.

 

One thing that really increased the action in this story, was the fact that the group of bad guys are also werewolves. Jayna’s pack has been working with Albanian mobsters. She believes that she is doing dangerous jobs for these mobsters because her pack owns them money. She isn’t comfortable with the amount of danger that herself and her pack are put into for each mission. She still continues to put her faith in her pack alpha, because that is what a pack does. That is until Becker saves her.

 

Cooper continues to be the protector of the SWAT guy who is bending/breaking SWAT rules because he has found “the one” for him. I’m hoping that he will get his story told soon, so he can have some of those favors returned for him. There is also time spent with the previous couples from the first two books. It was a fun story and I can’t wait for the next book. After being able to binge through the first three, now I have have wait, I don’t even know how long, for the next book. *pouts* LOL

 

Narration

Abby Craden does another great job with the narration of this book. In this book she has the job of tackling the Albanian mobsters. I have no idea what an Albanian accent should sound like, but she had to create the accent of several different eastern Europeans mobster type guys. I thought she did a pretty good job with this task. She continues to do well with both men and women, pace and tone as well.

Source: www.hotlistens.com/in-the-company-of-wolves-audiobook-by-paige-tyler-review
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review 2015-12-11 16:59
Audiobook Review: Wolf Trouble (SWAT #2) by Paige Tyler
Wolf Trouble: SWAT Series #2 - Tantor Audio,Paige Tyler,Abby Craden

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

 

This is the second book in Paige Tyler’s SWAT series. I love the idea of a SWAT that is built entirely of werewolves. In the first book, Tyler only gave a few pieces of werewolf lore. This was something I wanted more of in the first book, Hungry Like the Wolf. I was hoping for more information. Her werewolves are different from many that I’ve read. They are turned during a traumatic event, such as a shootout when you’re in the police force or maybe in the military and injured at war. One thing we didn’t know if book one, did female werewolves exist. This is quickly answered in Wolf Trouble.

 

Khaki works for a police department in Washington state. She also had previously dated another member of the force. After a bad breakup, she found herself looking into some bad situations without any backup. Her ex convinces other cops not to help her out. She almost gets killed on night and suddenly she starts to notice differences in herself.

 

Dallas SWAT commander Gage Dixon is given crap for the fact that he doesn’t have any women on his team. He is told that he must add a woman to the team. He agrees, but only if it is one entirely of his choosing. He has been keep his eye on Khaki for a while and planning on offering her a spot, the timeline just has to get moved up a bit. This is the only way he is able to keep his werewolf team and keep the upper brass happy with adding a woman onto the team.

 

Khaki is put into Xander’s unit. There is definitely something between the two. However, with Khaki’s past luck with dating a co-worker and Xander also being her boss, it makes things very awkward. They both fight the attraction. Xander is also a lot harder on Khaki than he would be on someone else because of how much he is fighting the attraction.

 

One thing I loved seeing tackled in this story was the idea of forcing a woman onto a team just to meet some sorta quota. Khaki is told that she is filling this need for a woman on the team, which really makes her feel like she doesn’t deserve to be there. With the way Xander was acting, that only makes things worse. Gage was quick to point out that he was planning on asking her and that this just moved the timetable. I don’t think any woman (or even a minority, though I can’t speak for them), wants to know that they got the job because they were filling a quotient. Women want to know that they were the best fit for the job and were just given an equal opportunity to get that job.

 

Narration

Once again, Abby Craden did a great job with the narration. I love her different voices for the characters. She has great pacing and tone. I do recommend her as a narrator. I’m currently listening to two series with her as the narrator and really enjoy both of them.

 

I like to thank Tantor Audio for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Source: www.hotlistens.com/wolf-trouble-audiobook-by-paige-tyler-review
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review 2014-12-22 14:25
ARC - Hungry Like the Wolf (SWAT #1) by Paige Tyler
Hungry Like the Wolf - Paige Tyler

The Dallas SWAT team is really something special.  They aren't just werewolves - because that just isn't special enough anymore.  They are all APLHA werewolves!  Can you imagine trying to keep all that testosterone in line???  Paige Tyler did it very well.  Our first leading man, Gage, is the apha-est of aphas, but even he can't always keep them from arguing.  I loved the team interactions.  It was just so believable - you know, if werewolves actually existed this was totally be how they worked together.

Mac is out to get a story - and she is stubborn enough to do whatever it takes to get it (outside of lying - she's actually a good journalist that way).  I really fell in love with her "freak out" moment.  This is the moment she realizes that werewolves exist and she just might be crushing hard core on one.  The freak out moment can really make or break a story for me.  So totally unbelievable if the girl is like "wow cool - werewolves".  Hell no!  There should be some serious shock factor - and I was very happy with this books "freak out" moment.

The story is a great mix of romance and suspense as well.  I love a good suspense story and this one really delivers.  When the SWAT team is targeted by a determined bad guy, Mac's life is on the line.  Mac isn't one to sit still and wait to be rescued though.  She takes things into her own hands and tries to fix things herself - I love a self-sufficient woman.  Overall, this was a very exciting read on several different levels.

*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*

Source: www.bittenbyromance.com/2014/12/arc-review-hungry-like-wolf-by-swat-1.html
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