B Reviews

Laugh by Mary Ann Rivers

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne
18777580
Grade: B-
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary
Series: Burnsides #2
Published: 5/6/14
Reviewed by Anne
224 ebook pages

Sam Burnside is a doctor who works too much and worries about his siblings too much.  He’s driving his partner in a new health clinic crazy, so she sends him off on errand to volunteer with a local farmer and build some goodwill in their community.  Nina Paz is that farmer and the chemistry between the two of them is immediate and electric.  The thing is, they both have some pretty serious issues they’re dealing with.  Sam’s got some crazy ADHD and a way of pushing away the brother and sisters he loves so much.  Nina is ten years out from the death of her husband.  She’s distanced herself from her family and built a new one made of a tight knit group of friends, but she’s still dealing with her losses.

This was a hard read for me.  Not hard emotionally, but I had a hard time connecting to the characters.  Honestly, it seemed to require a lot of reading between the lines to understand what was going on and how the characters were feeling.  That’s something I’ve really enjoyed in the previous books I’ve read by Mary Ann Rivers, but I struggled with it in this book.  Additionally, both Sam and Nina have lives filled with really tough and sad situations.  I know they took hope from their relationship and each other, but it was pretty depressing to read.

On the other hand, it’s full of one liners that made me laugh – the dialog is hilarious!  The characters are believable.  Sam’s ADHD was very interesting to read about.  It wasn’t a mild childhood thing that passed with age, but something he continued to struggle with and cope with.  That read very real to me.  He’s impulsive and blurts things out, and this causes him problems in his relationships.  Watching Nina come to understand this was very sweet.

I’ll definitely read more Mary Ann Rivers, and I’m thinking the dark tone of the things Sam and Nina were dealing with was just too much for me in this story.

Her Best Laid Plans by Cara McKenna

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne
20410569
Grade: B
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary, Cosmo Red Hot Read
Published: 4/15/14
Reviewed by Anne
88 pages

Jamie is a 20-something American house-sitting for two weeks in Ireland.  Connor is a bartender she meets there and has instant chemistry with.  She’s up for a vacation fling, and he is, too.   But what will happen if they want more and neither has time or room in their life for more?

This was a well written short story and I enjoyed it.  There were some funny moments, and I liked how things worked out in the end.  Unfortunately it suffers from me expecting to be blown away by every word Cara McKenna writes.  So when she writes a nice short story that’s just pretty good, I find myself a little disappointed.  

I’m also beginning to think that maybe Cosmo Red Hot Reads just isn’t meant for me.  It’s been very hit or miss.  I’ve got another one lined up to read.  I’ll see what I think after that.

The King by J.R. Ward

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

17703290

Grade: B+
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Paranormal, Vampire
Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood #12
Published: 4/1/14
Reviewed by Kate
592 ebook pages


I’m relatively new to the world of the Black Dagger Brotherhood.  I worked my way through the series and finally caught up with the release of Qhuinn and Blay’s story last year.  I’ve reread the first few books a second time, but have not reread the entire series.  I was really looking forward to the release of the King.


I would love to give you a synopsis of the story, but honestly that would probably take close to the 592 pages that the author used to tell the story.  It follows so many people and covers multiple story arcs.  It was such an involving story.  While I normally average 150 pages read each day, I got through this giant book in just under 48 hours.  And that includes taking breaks for things like feeding my family.  And truthfully, you really need to read all the other books in the series before you start this one.


Let me say that this book was everything I was hoping that it would be.  It was Wrath and Beth, and so much more.  We get more from the Band of Bastards, Assail, and Trez and iAm, as well as glimpses of all our favorite Brothers and their shellans.  We also see some romances forming between some of the (currently) secondary characters.  The ending left me with a huge contented sigh.  A part of me would like to see the series to end at this really happy point, but there are so many loose ends left to be tied up that I know there must be plenty of new books left to be written (and I want to know how those ends are tied up).


Because I have not read my way through the series multiple times and my memory is not the greatest, I did struggle at times dealing with so many characters, who they were and what happened to them in the last books?  Especially the female characters that look like they may be featured in some of the upcoming books.  A quick wikipedia search provided me with a list of characters that I kept next to me through the first half of the book.


So, my review in a few sentences:  If you already enjoy the Black Dagger Brotherhood you will love this one.  If you haven’t started this series yet, what are you waiting for?  Start with the first one (Dark Lover) and you won’t be able to stop.