Review: Stroke of Luck

Stroke of Luck by B.J. Daniels
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The book wasn't what I was expecting. I thought I was getting a western contemporary cowboy romance, but the book turned out to be more crime drama than romance. There is a little romance at the beginning of the book, and there is a little romance at the end of the book.

The middle of the book was occupied with murders that happen at the ranch while they are all snowed in together. Reminds me of an old Agatha Christie novel. Anyhow, there ends up being three people murdered in total; and there turns out to be three people who are in on the murders. And there's not that many guests who came up there.

To say that I was disappointed in the book is putting it mildly. The violence and the murder aspect just did not appeal to me at all. A lot of the book was focused on who did it, who is involved, stuff like that. It was not the book I expected.

One part of the book that I particularly remember, that I did not like, that I thought was very stupid writing, was one point where the guy and the girl were up in his apartment alone and were starting to get sexually involved. Then there's an explosion outside and he looks out the window and his barn is on fire. Now this is a ranch, and he keeps horses in his barn, and barns are important on a ranch. Yet, he stands there with her in his arms, debating on whether he wants to go outside and check on his burning barn or whether he wants to continue to pursue having sex with her. Now that was about the stupidest piece of writing I've ever read in a book, and it sort of ruins the rest of the book for me. I mean, what kind of cowboy, rancher, is he if he debates about going out to check on the burning barn!

I'm giving the book 3 stars, and I feel like I'm being generous there in giving it three stars. This is a book that had great potential but did not live up to it, and that is the writer's fault. She failed to bring out of the book all the story that was there to get.

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Review: Fatal Affair

Fatal Affair by Marie Force
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This books is a good, basic murder mystery; with the detective chasing after the killer. Along the way, right off the bat in fact, she runs across someone from her past that she definitely still has sparks with. Dealing with that and chasing a killer, it makes for an awesome read.

I love books that are about the mystery, the who-done-it, and this one kept me guessing right up until the last 2 or 3 chapters. I loved it, and it's a great book that I would recommend to anyone.

The violence is very mild, mainly bodies being found, and not many of those.
The sex content is mild to moderate, and the sex scenes don't appear until well into the last half of the book.

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Review: Beneath the Honeysuckle Vine

Beneath the Honeysuckle Vine by Marcia Lynn McClure
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book takes place after the Civil War, and I mean right after the Civil War. It deals with the brother who got injured and came home before the war ended, and it deals with another brother and his friend who came home after the Civil War, who spent time in Andersonville .

It's about the girl who is waiting at home for both of the boys, and thought the one was dead who held her heart, and the other she had affection for but not love. Then there is the man who came home with the other brother from Andersonville, who captured her attention.

When I started out reading this book I didn't think I would like it. I mean, usually, I'm not into civil war setting books. I figured I would start reading it and if I didn't like it, I could quit. But it turned out to be one of those books that I just couldn't put down, because it's that good. It's a five-star book and you should definitely read it! It's wonderful!

Violence is basically non-existent, and very mild.
Sexual content is non-existent too.
A book that I highly recommend.

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Review: Six Times a Charm

Six Times a Charm by Deanna Chase
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Book one is basically a ghost story, so if you like ghost stories, you will like the book. As for me, I don't like ghost stories so I didn't like the book too much.

Book 2 is about a girl who suddenly finds out she is a demonslayer. It's a really good book, no cliffhanger, but seems the start of a series.

Book 3 is about a former demon hunter, drawn back into her old profession. It didn't catch my interest and I skipped it.

Book 4 is about witchcraft, about a librarian who stumbles upon witchcraft. The character is a weak one, letting others tell her what to do. I tried reading it, but then moved on.

Book 5 is about dating a werewolf. And it sucks. I struggled through reading the book or skimming through the book actually. The main characters, all the characters were stupid as can be and the book stunk.

There is one more book in the set and I just didn't bother to read it. It was about witches and witchcraft, and I had all the lousy books I could stand.

It's a shame you can't give a book a zero, because if you could, I would. I'm really glad that I didn't pay money for this. I wouldn't recommend it to my worst enemy.

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Review: Curricle & Chaise

Curricle & Chaise by Lizzie Church
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Well, I gave the book a read, and in conclusion, I'm not a fan of this book. It seems too much like it is the imitation of another classic author from times past, like the writer was trying to imitate their work. I found the book to be rather tedious to read, and there was too many mundane details and conservations. The characters in the story were interesting, but not gripping. It just wasn't a memorable book for me.

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Review: The Black Morass

The Black Morass by Barbara Devlin
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book masquerades as historical romance but in essence it is erotica . The book begins with the pirate who has sworn off pirating for a year in order to attain pardons for him and his men, happens upon a boat on fire with a lone woman survivor on the sinking burning ship. What the pirate does upon seeing the woman is to start plotting how he can take her sexually without even knowing who she is or what kind of woman she is. As it turns out the woman is a lady and a virgin.

It is painfully obvious that the author who wrote this book knows nothing of the stern, stout, higher morals of previous ages. She equates this woman and these characters with the low morals, sexually, of this current day and age. And this is a problem that I run across often in books by authors who write about characters of a previous age. They just do not get the higher morals of that previous age. They do not understand that sex was a forbidden thing outside of marriage, and was looked down upon as a horrible, horrible thing to do. They equate the easy virtue of this age as being the same people had in previous ages. That easy virtue did not exist then. It only exists in the minds of the writers of today.

This attitude is further confirmed by the actions of the woman, and that she eventually gives into the lustful desires of the pirate. There is nothing noble or deep about the  characters in this book. They are shallow and crude. And the author even manages to take the one noble character she seems to have created in this book and turns her into nothing better than a common whore. 

The writer began losing my interest about one third of the way into the book when it became nothing more than a series of sex this and sex that throughout the first half of the book. That's the point where I began starting to skim through the book just to find out how it ended out of pure curiosities sake, and not for any real enjoyment of the book. 

The author doesn't even begin to get into the real meat of the story until well after the halfway point of the book, so the first 2/3 of the book is occupied with sex. By my definition that makes this book more erotica than anything else. It is certainly not Regency or historical romance. It is mostly smut. 

It is only during the last one third of the book that the author endeavors to raise the level of this book above smut and erotica. Alas, her attempts are too little too late. Because the book is mainly erotica and is mainly about sex the first 3/4 of the book. 

The pirate character comes off as a sex fiend, and the heroine comes off as rather stupid. The characters are not all that engaging, and the storyline is simplistic and mainly focused on sex. There just isn't any depth to this book at all. 
This is not a book I would recommend to anyone.

The violence level is low . 
The sex content is high as that is most of the book. 

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Review: Stavewood

Stavewood by Nanette Kinslow
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Okay, I loved, loved, loved this one. It's not your typical 'mail order bride' story. It's so much more! This bride has more than just a few bumps along the way to her happily ever after, and to her groom. There's the fact that right off the bat, she gets abducted and dumped in an old shack in the woods, all tied up and everything! But never fear, it just gets better from there.

The book is populated with memorable characters that you'll love. I know I did. And the author brings the setting alive with her writing.
Yes, this is one I highly recommend!
In fact, this is one book that you don't want to miss reading. Certainly needs to be added to your to read list.

Violence level is quite mild.
Sex content is none to mild also.

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