Category: Books

Shock Jock – A.M. Madden

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ShockJock

Find the audiobook on Audible

And here’s the book on Amazon

Find A.M. Madden on Facebook

 

This was the first book I read (listened to) by A.M. Madden. I really liked it. While I was looking up the book on Amazon, it’s actually listed as ‘Shock Jock – A Lair Novel’. Vaughn has a cousin who is a rock star who makes an appearance in the book. Turns out, there is a whole series about that band. So, this is a spinoff.. Sorta… I did not know that, and the way that it was worked into the book, I wouldn’t have known had the title on Amazon not gave an indication. So, for those who have read the 4 books in The Back-up Series, this will be a nice cameo. I will have to put those at the top of my “Books to read by A.M. Madden” list. If you haven’t read any of The Back-up Series, it’s way okay. I hate anything that is part of a series or spinoff, not in order. I always feel lost. That was not the case with this story!

I love a good friend to lovers romance. And enemies to lovers too, if you must know. This was great! Not only are Vaughn and Haven best friends, but she is his assistant. He is a radio sex therapist – Think a hot Dr. Ruth. It was sweet listening to Vaughn realize that he was as interested in Haven as she has always been in him. And, in fact, once he realized he was into her that way he jumped in with both feet. Haven? Not so much. I mean. Maybe if you’re in love with your best friend for 10 years and work with them, perhaps you’re overwhelmed a bit. And while she didn’t go so far as to whiny about not telling people they were together and not believing that he was into her, she was close and sometimes I wanted to smack her. Ha.

Haven has a secret. I figured out her secret from the very beginning. So, I assumed some of that was because of her secret. Still irritated me. Ha.

 

Lets talk about Tor Thom’s voice. Damn. He gives me goosebumps. This is the first book I’ve listened to by him and by Charley Ongel. I will have to listen to more! I usually listen to book while I’m in the van waiting in carline to pick up my kids, and some days I was finding myself leaving the house a little early so I’d be in line longer to hear more. I was impressed with both Tor and Charley having several different characters who were interacting with each other having totally different voices. I’m always amazed when I hear good talented narrators.

 

Doll Face: A Doll Face Novel (The Doll Face Series Book 1) – by Sadie Grubor and V Fiorello

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Dollface

 

Find it on Amazon

Sadie is on Facebook –  Sadie is V Fiorello. I don’t exactly know how that works. I don’t understand the “writing as” someone, and then telling people that that is you. But, it is what it is.

I met Sadie at Naughty Nashville. She is super nice and if I was a little cooler, I’d make her be my best friend. Ha. I was super nervous about the whole thing (obviously) and she was the first author that reached out to me beforehand and let me know to just breathe and that I’d be okay! Plus, she gave out cheesecake in little jars with the cover stickers on them, and I can almost always be bought with food. haha

I started reading Doll Face before Naughty Nashville. But, I put it down and somehow didn’t pick it back up to finish it. My mistake. Maybe. Because as I got to the end of the book, I realized there isn’t an ending!!! AAAAgh. It appears that the next book in the series, ‘The Geisha’, should be out soon according to the author notes at the end of the book. So, I don’t have to wait so long! I hate cliffhangers. I don’t deal with them well. Mainly because my memory is so shitty that I can’t remember the little details later. When something significant happens in “Book 2” that I should pick up on because of some randomness in “Book 1”, I totally miss it! I suck at book clubs! haha

Now, this morning I got on Amazon and like 14 of my deleted reviews are back up. woohoo. I guess. If I had to go through and pick 14 reviews that I have written, the 14 that are back up would not have been the ones I picked. But, it’s a starting point hopefully. So, I left a review of the book on Amazon and it posted immediately! So, maybe I’ll be able to leave reviews on the books that I get through Kindle Unlimited and the ones I buy directly from Amazon. It’s a start!!

My Amazon Review:

I really liked this story! The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5, is that I didn’t know that it wasn’t going to have an ending! I don’t do well with books that have cliffhangers, and I wasn’t prepared for it! I can’t wait for The Geisha to come out!

I’m not into blood play and things of that nature, but this book wasn’t really about that, so those parts weren’t a put-off. This was really a story of two broken people who are both fighting their own demons and the acceptance they find with each other. People are scared of both of them and what they are capable of, but the 2 of them together brings a harmony. And in reality, isn’t that what we’re all looking for? Someone who looks and us and loves us because of who we are and not in spite of it?

I liked Mei for the most part. She was strong when she could have been a weakling for what she had endured. The parts that I wasn’t 100% in love with? Well, you can’t live through the trauma that she did, and come out completely whole. Parts of her personality that would have developed as a normal child into adulthood didn’t, but those holes made her more real!

Saint?! Oh Saint. I love him. He isn’t a good guy. But he is. He’s done bad things, and wants to do bad things, and needs to do bad things, but damn, I love him! He is gruff but can be soft. He sees the broken pieces of Mia and wants to understand them, without wanting to change her by putting her back together.

This is the first book that I’ve read by Sadie Grubor, and I can’t wait to read more. She really brought the whole story to life in such detail that by the end of the book I was bouncing. Especially once I watched the page numbers and realized that there was no way the story was going to end now!

And let us talk about Jacob. I hoooope Jacob gets his own book!

^^ Look at me learning how to change text color! I’ll be able to take over the world soon. And, when they write my biography, that will be the beginning. “She learned to change text color, and that was the catalyst for world domination”… For reference, my 9 year can put together a kick ass PowerPoint presentation, and I fight with the transitions…..

But, anyway! Yeah. At the beginning, with the first time Mei and Saint go at it with the knives and blood and shit, I wasn’t sure I was really going to be able to read the rest of the book, because for real, blood play scares me. But, I kept going and I’m glad I did. I really enjoy horror books, and parts of it had that feel to it. When Mei would flashback to the past, I would totally read that story on how her father got started with all that shit.

And yes, Jacob…. He can spar with me any day! ❤

The Virgin and The Beast – Stasia Black

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61lQRcWGZbL._SL500_

 

Find it on Audible

I’m guessing the book is on Amazon too, but I’m not linking that shit. Go find it if you want it.

That is exactly how I feel about this book. I like fantasy fairytale books. I like BDSM books. Except for “daddy” books, everything I’ve read, I’ve like at least 1 book in that subgenre. But for all that, I’m into consensual books.

Melanie agreed to live with Xavier for a year and have his baby to help out her asshole dad. And right off the bat, an asshole man. Ha!

Xavier was a douche from the word go. Not letting her eat at the table. She had to kneel beside him and eat from his hand. She ended up in a dog pen (pig sty) * because she wasn’t pleasing him. And he was so fucking controlling. Things like he wouldn’t let her change her own tampon. I mean, no. And it wasn’t just you’re normal/safe BDSM Sub situation. She was his unwilling pet, which she did not sign up for, with no safe word, and he wanted to bellow about and scream and hollar about trust.

He treated his horses better than he treated her. There was nothing that was going to make me like Xavier, and nothing that was going to make me not be pissed at Melanie, who should have said “fuck the father” and gotten her happy ass out of there…..

If you’re into that sort of thing, more power to you. You’ll really like this book. This is the first one I’ve read of Stasia, and I’ll try another one.

Parts of the narration got on my nerves, as if I had liked the book, it would have gotten on my nerves that there was no male voice. Xavier is a strong douche, and really requires a male voice to be him.

**It could have been either  a dog pen or a pig sty situation. It has been about 6 weeks since I finished listening to the book, and it was several months of listening because I could only take so much at a time. It was a fenced in area outside.

 

I wasn’t sure I was even gonna review this. That is why it has been so long since I listened. But, what would be the point of reviewing if I only said the good stuff and none of the bad? I don’t know…. I’m not good at the idea of hurting someone’s feelings. I am not an author, and trying to walk in and tell an author that I don’t like what they’ve written doesn’t set well with me. But, on the other hand, having a bunch of reviews that only tell what I liked doesn’t show that there is stuff out there that I don’t like. That I don’t get. That isn’t for me. Never listen to someone who says they like everything. They are lying.

 

But, lets take a minute to check out the cover. It is hot!

 

Worth More Dead and Other True Cases -Ann Rule’s Crime Files: Vol. 10 – Ann Rule

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Worth More

Find it on Amazon

Another Library Book!

I love True Crime books, and Ann Rule is one of my favorites. She has had contact with EVERYBODY! She’s like the heroine in mystery books that you know if she’s around, someone is going to die *Think Murder, She Wrote*.

With the exception of one story, the rest of them are stories about crazy fuckin exes or soon-to-be exes. Holy Shit! If I wasn’t married, I’d stop dating and just be by my damn self. People are crazy!!

*Worth More Dead – A prime example of why you shouldn’t cheat on your spouse. The dude you cheated with could be a fucking sociopath! Of course, his wife fared no better than his girlfriends’ husband. Asshole just be killing everybody.

*”It’s really weird looking at my own grave” – In case you’re curious, don’t be getting in a car with strangers either! And, a promise to my husband. If you just disappear one day with all your stuff here, I’ll be concerned. The boyfriend of Jackie Plante is a douchebag. Him not being a douche wouldn’t have saved her – or maybe it would have, since at least part of the circumstances took place because he was too busy to walk across a party and check on her.

*Old Man’s Darling – It’s not that I don’t feel bad for Justyn Rosen, but damn. Don’t be dating crazy bitches way younger than you while you’re married. And, stay away from bitches who will ship their kids off to live with their dad, just so you’ll pay their bills. Not that I’m victim blaming. But, I’m fucking victim blaming. Sometimes when bad shit happens to you, it’s your fault. He didn’t deserve to get shot by Teresa, but he sure deserved to get his ass kicked by his wife!

*All for Nothing – Larry Sturholm and Debra Sweiger were killed because Bill Pawlyk was obsessed with Debra. Larry just happened to be in the wrong place. The fact that he was a married newscaster who had lied to his wife about where he was going to be at the time, made that tragedy much more public! While no one comes out and says that he was having an affair with Debra, no one can really say he wasn’t either.  He was stabbed so many times that the coroner couldn’t even get a count!  It did talk about a book that Larry had written about the 1923 D’Autremont attempted train robbery.  The story sounded good, so I got on Amazon and found a copy. I’m excited about reading it!

*A Desperate Housewife- Bob Durall sounded like an asshole from the word go. So of course once Carolyn Durall finally was ready to leave him, he killed her. How could someone kill the other parent of the children? And though it looks like the timing of the kill was random, he had been planning to do it for some time! That is truly a pathetic person.

 

After finishing the book, I told my husband that I promised him that I would just leave him if I wanted out, that I would never kill him. He told me that was the nicest thing I’ve ever said to him. hahahaha

Shocking Cases From Dr. Henry Lee’s Forensic Files – Dr. Henry C. Lee and Jerry Labriola, MD

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Shocking Cases

Find it on Amazon

This is another book I picked up at the library while browsing the ‘True Crime’ section. I had a hard time reading it. I’m more of a Law & Order girl, I guess. Or even True Crime shows on TV that walk you through all of it and explain everything. While I found the cases interesting, I had a hard time following some of the jargon and details. I’m not a lawyer or involved in any kind of police investigations, so parts of it I found myself scanning – and if I’m scanning, I’m not really absorbing or understanding anything. :/

It was especially difficult to make it through Case #5, which gave a lot of background on different regions and how countries came together and then failed to become other countries. How many countries can be called the “Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY)”?! At least 3.  I can not wrap my head around social studies any more now than I could when I was in school. I will never be able to tell you who the Axis powers were. Ever. I hope my kids pick up on that lots more than I ever could!

It was really neat to see how the advancement of scientific techniques help catch people who evaded capture for so long.  When DNA and and Fingerprinting databases weren’t a thing, to now everything gets loaded into a computer!  We watch a lot of  ‘Murdoch Mysteries’ around here, and I imagine it was so hard to solve any crime without a witness or catching it in action. Once upon a time I wanted to be a forensic photographer, no crime-solving skills required!

The Winecoff Fire: The Untold Story of America’s Deadliest Hotel Fire – Sam Heys and Allen B. Goodwin

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Winecoff Fire

Find it on Amazon

I had never heard of the fire of The Winecoff Hotel. I’m from the south, but not Atlanta, so it’s not surprising that I’ve never run across it. I was looking for some True-Crime books at the library, and I saw this, so I grabbed it.

Billed as a “Fireproof Hotel” much like the Titanic was the “Unsinkable Ship”. Seems to me a tempt of fate! 119 people died.

It was really interesting reading the stories of the people who survived, and sad to read about the ones that didn’t. All those kids! 1946 was not equipt with all the safety laws that we have now. There is no way a hotel would operate now without fire exits! And odds are we have the Winecoff and other tragedies to thank for that!  While lots of folks died inside the hotel, many jumped – some to safety some to death.

I can’t imagine. I don’t think I would be able to do it. To climb out of a window and jump and hope for the best?! Gah. I’m sure I would have been paralyzed with fear. — In fact, off topic, but I just 2 days ago watched the Super Bowl episode of ‘This is Us’. Fire’s are definitely on my mind after that! Oh Jack! Why didn’t they have an oxygen mask on him at the hospital?! I know this was 20 years ago and a tv show, but Damn! —

It was also interesting to read about how the owners of the hotel  reacted to the fire and what came after. Just goes to show greed was just as rabid in the 1940’s as now, just no social media to call them out on!

 

Finding a Forever Home: True Animal Rescue Stories – Mark Feldstein

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Animal Rescue

Find it on Audible

Find it on Amazon

Mark Feldstein on Amazon

 

I was sent a code to listen and review this audiobook. I never would have done so without prompting. It’s just not something that I would have ever thought about listening to. I’m glad I did, but parts of it were hard. Why are people such assholes? I mean, Yes there are some good people out there, and this book highlights that. But there are some real fucking assholes.

I started to try and listen to it when my daughter was in the van, but after the first couple of stories, I realized that it wasn’t a good idea and I didn’t want to expose her to bad shit that could happen.

Now, normally the audiobooks I listen to are romance or just plain smut. So, it was a nice change of pace. Joseph Ledford really sounded like he was emotionally invested in the stories.

Fade to Black – M.C. Webb

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Fade to Black

Find M.C. Webb on Amazon

And here she is on Facebook

 

Well, Son of a Bitch! I met M.C. at Naughty Nashville.  She seemed really nice. I didn’t know that she was gonna fuck me up! And this Book – Which is Book 1, so damn!!! – totally fucked me up.

It was hard to get started. Reading about Piper’s experiences with losing her dad and then with her mother and her boyfriend were rough. I mean rough. I didn’t think I was going to be able to get through that, but I’m glad I kept going.

Poor Piper can’t catch a break. When she finds any happiness at all, it’s completely ripped away from her. As she lost the people around her, my heart broke over and over.

M.C. has written a strong heroine who, even though she could easily become a stereotypical “victim”, is strong and tries to be the best person that she can be instead of wallowing in bitterness and resentment. She could easily become hollow and she doesn’t. She is still the light that everyone looks to!

And of course, there is Ryan. I really like him. He’s a good guy who isn’t always good, but who is? He is always good to Piper, and takes things that he needs to take and isn’t an asshole. I can’t wait to read the other 2 books in the series (maybe, cause damn I finished this book sitting in the lobby of my daughters dance class crying like a baby!) and see how he evolves more.

I love Josh. I love Josh more than I did Matthew. Am I allowed to say that? Hmmm. Maybe not, but I will anyway!

Read it! Cry! Keep going and let me know how much the other 2 are going to fuck me up more!

The Gazillionaire and the Virgin – Lisabet Sarai

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gazillion audible

 

Get the Audiobook here

Get the book on Amazon

 

I listened to the audiobook, and this almost turned into one of my favorite stories.

I really enjoyed the way Lisabet Sarai took the Alpha/Bdsm genre and twisted it; Rachel being the high-powered “gazillionaire” and Theo the socially awkward virgin. But, during sexy times, Theo broke out and Rachel really pushing the “top from the bottom”. I loved it. I loved that she let him unleash that side of himself and even while she was submitting to him, she was still helping him and pushing him to be more. I liked how Lisabet wove computer worlds into the story. It was fun to listen to characters who were a bit nerdy and off the beaten path. Coders united!

**SPOILER** Then came Chapter 22. Oh how I hated Chapter 22. It completely ruined Theo for me. I kept waiting and listening for redemption. But, no matter what he did after that, he was done for me. It was like with a slap in the face, the story turned back into what this trope has always been: A dominant man who is an Alpha always.. He lost that sweet man vibe for me. It broke my heart, because I really really loved him. I wish I could give up to Chapter 22 5 stars, and after 3 stars. **END SPOILER**

I like Lisabet’s writing, and I’m looking forward to checking out her other books! I hate that I couldn’t say that I loved the book 100%. The writing and story were great (even after my cut point), but with the big change, it just drew a line for me. Some people may like the way it played out. Everybody but me may like the way it played out. I’m sure I’m the odd one out, but it is what it is. I hate that it is, but I can’t help it.

I think Erin Marsh did a great job narrating the story. At some parts, I wished that there had been a male voice along with hers, but for the most part, having her do all it was good. I really felt what Rachel and Theo were feeling. This was the first thing I’ve listened to narrated by her, and was not disappointed.

Midnight Ramblings

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So there was a signing not so long ago, that it seems every indie book person in all of my Facebook groups attended. Everyone but me. Which is fine, it was a long way from me and I didn’t want to even try to make it work. But, I’m seeing all the pictures and reading all the posts, and parts of me are jealous.

  1. Because of the smiles and friendships. None of my friends here read any kind of romance, and I don’t make friends that easy and anxiety seems to get the best of me in situations like signings so I am alone and I tend to babble…..which leads me to…
  2. One of the authors there, every post that was made about them was super nice. How nice they are and over and over how great it was to meet them. When I met them? I could see in their eyes (as they looked around for someone they’d rather talk to) glaze over in boredom. I assumed they were just that kind of person, but according to the posts that have come out of this last signing, it was all me.

 

I have tickets to 2 more signings this year that I would really like to go to, and I thought I was going to be able to make it, but I don’t know that I can. I hate small talk, and even interacting with people on social media, it is still a day of small talk with a bunch of different people. Gah