The Sky Is Dead
Penny’s Rating: A Publisher Description: Danny is young, gay, and homeless. He lives in the park, preferring to avoid attention, but when thugs confront a stranger, Danny rushes to his rescue. He and the would-be victim, Harry, form a cautious friendship that deepens months later, when Harry persuades Danny to visit his home. Daring to [...]
Penny’s Favorite Reads of 2012
Here is a quick and (mostly) dirty list of all the books I read in 2012 that I gave a grade of A or higher, (or 5 star rating on Goodreads.com). I’ve divided these up by category as best I could, and each category is alphabetical by author. Some of these books are part of [...]
Gambling Men
Penny’s Rating: B+ This is classic “Happy” Amy Lane. It is cuteness and light, and sunshine and puppy dogs, and steamy sex and mushy romance. It is a great read for a day when you need a well written happy read. On a side note: if you like m/m romance, and have yet to read [...]
Midnight in Austenland (Austenland #2)
Penny’s Rating: C This is my first time reading anything in author Shannon Hale’s Austenland series, but it totally appeals to the Jane Austen obsessed nerd in me. The people in this book go on vacation to a historic estate in the English countryside, and proceed to dress up and act like people from… well, [...]
Play it Again Charlie
Penny’s Rating: B+ I don’t know if I ever read a novel before where the two main characters had such a hard time communicating with one another. It was like they were different species from different planets, and even though it was infuriating at times, I loved that. Author R. Cooper beautifully wrote two people [...]
A Tryst With Trouble
By Alyssa Everett Penny’s Rating: C I was not enamored of this book. It falls somewhere in the middle of the plethora of historical romance novels I have read. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it either. I was actually impressed by first time writer, one Alyssa Everett, but have to acknowledge that this [...]
Special Delivery (Special Delivery, #1)
By Heidi Cullinan Penny’s Rating: A+ Please Be Advised: This review contains Mature Content. My safe word will forever be Violet, and it is all Heidi Cullinan’s fault. Oh. My. GOD. Oh my freaking GOD! I can honestly say that I have loved everything I have ever read by Heidi Cullinan, but this book, oh [...]
First Impressions
by Christopher Koehler Penny’s Rating: B+ Publisher Description: “The first time Henry Hughes and Cameron Jameson meet, it’s an unmitigated disaster. Cameron reminds Henry of all he left behind when he stopped making adult films, and he cruelly rejects Cameron. When Cameron discovers Henry’s porno-thespian past, he assumes he’s dodged a bullet. But circumstances continue [...]
Love Life
Penny’s Rating: C- By Rachel Spangler Publisher Description: “Life coach Elaine Raitt is educated, elegant, and dedicated to her profession. Blue-collar boi Joey Lang is too insecure to even approach her—that is until her well-meaning but meddling best friend Lisa decides to break the ice and makes Joey a life-coaching appointment with Elaine. A session [...]
Burn (Elementally Evolved #1)
by T.J. Klune Penny’s Rating: A Publisher Description: “Set in a world that closely resembles our own, Burn is a story of redemption and betrayal, of family and sacrifice, which leads to the greatest question of all: how far would you go to save the ones you love? Fifteen years ago, Felix Paracel killed his [...]
Penny Writes Romance…. TELLING JASE, A Love Is Always Write Story
OK. I know I haven’t been blogging much in the last two months, (SORRY!) and this is the reason why. I have been writing, just not book reviews. For the first time since well, college, I sat down to write a fiction story. I spent two months slaving away, spending all the time I could [...]
An Unsettled Range (Range #3)
By Andrew Grey Penny’s Rating: B ebook, 1st Edition, 200 pages Published January 9th 2012 by Dreamspinner Press (first published January 8th 2012) ISBN 161372330X (ISBN13: 9781613723302) Edition language: English url: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2709 series: Range #3 Publisher Description: “The last thing Liam Southard expects when he flees his abusive father is to be taken in by [...]
Galley Proof
By Eric Arvin Penny’s Rating: C- ebook, 1st Edition, 195 pages Published January 13th 2012 by Dreamspinner Press ISBN 1613723342 (ISBN13: 9781613723340) Edition language: English Publisher Description: “Fiction writer Logan Brandish is perfectly happy in his peaceful small-town routine with his best friend, his cat, and his boyfriend—until he meets the editor of his next [...]
Artistic Appeal (Bottled Up #6)
By Andrew Grey ebook, 192 pages Published October 21st 2011 by Dreamspinner Press(first published October 20th 2011) edition language: English url: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2581 series: Bottled Up #6 Penny’s Rating: B Publisher Description: “Brian Watson knows close friends Gerald Young and Dieter Krumpf have an ulterior motive when they invite him to their Christmas party. Brian has [...]
COP OUT
By KC Burn ebook, 1st Edition, 194 pages Published November 18th 2011 by Dreamspinner Press ISBN13: 9781613722145 edition language: English url: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2628 Penny’s Rating: B This is a lovely story. When Detective Kurt O’Donnell loses his partner Ben in an explosion, he discovers that maybe he didn’t know Ben as well as he thought. Kurt [...]
The Forgiven Duke
By Jamie Carie Paperback, 320 pages Expected publication: July 1st 2012 by B&H Publishing Group ISBN: 1433673231 (ISBN13: 9781433673238) Series: A Forgotten Castles #2 Penny’s Rating: C Let me preface this review by saying, I am not religious. If I were, I probably really would have enjoyed Jamie Carie’s new novel The Forgiven Duke [...]
Words That Should Never Be Used in Book Promos
Dear Publishers, (Especially publishers of erotic fiction and m/ m romance) I have to tell you this. It’s driving me crazy. In looking for new books to read, I read a lot of book descriptions. In those descriptions, I have come across an unnecessary word usage. I am talking, of course, about the word… nekkid [...]
Hot Head
By Damon Suede ebook, 320 pages ISBN13: 9781615819492 Published June 15th 2011 by Dreamspinner Press (first published June 14th 2011) Penny’s Rating: A Ok. Wow. This novel is sizzling hot, and not at all what I expected when I bought this ebook. Based on the book description, I was expecting some sort of trite story [...]
The Bastard
by Brenda Novak Published on November 1, 2011 ISBN: 00B005Z4ZX94 Kindle Edition, Published October 23rd 2011 Penny’s Rating: B- A penniless French daughter of a nobleman (Jeannette Boucher) flees from her new English husband and a fate worse than death. To escape the clutches of her powerful husband, (St. Ives) and his nefarious plans for [...]
Her Christmas Pleasure (The Merry Widows #2)
by Karen Erickson 20,000 words, ebook, 67 pages Published November 28th 2011 by Carina Press ISBN 1426892705 (ISBN13: 9781426892707) Penny’s Rating: C+ Penny purchased the e-book for this review from Barnes & Noble. If you’re looking for a good romantic “quickie” read, this novella is not a bad way to go. I am not always [...]
On Names in Historic Romance Novels
My husband thinks that all the historical romance novels I read have characters names Sebastian and Felicity. As much as I disagree vehemently with him whenever he brings this up, giggling as he makes his way through Eddie Izzard’s “Room with a View, with a Pond” sketch about Sebastian arranging matches, I have to admit [...]
