Reviews in a nutshell

I have yet to solve the "no Internet at home" problem. One one hand this is bad. I can't check email. I am unable to update this site. My main tool for procrastination is gone. On the other hand, this is a good thing. Grades are coming along nicely. I have read a TON. What have I been reading? Well, funny you should ask...

The Lost Duke of Wyndham by Julia Quinn

Oh, how I love Ms. Quinn. I first became hooked on the Bridgerton/Whistledown series. Yes, some were better than others, but all provided me with a sweet HEA. Her new book is Ms Quinn back in top form. She gives us two strong, well developed main characters. Grace is smart, resilient, sees life and people as they truly are. She has no misgivings or idealizations (is that a word?) about her employer. The dowager Duchess is not nice. Not crotchety with a heart of gold. Nope, she is just mean and bitter. I like that Ms Quinn gives us someone real, and not just a fairy tale version. Jack is strong, smart, independent, loving, and does not want to be Duke. He has his reasons. They are reasons that actually make sense, not some convoluted over the top plot device. These characters are real, fun to get to know, and quite hot together. This is a great historical. Coming from someone who is usually bored with historicals, this is rather high praise.

The BDB compendium (J.R. Ward)

I have been catching up on my crack. Rhage haunted me for a while. Then Z stood against the bookshelf in my classroom brooding, staring at me darkly. Butch... well, Butch is sweet. He just didn't haunt me like the other Brothers. Then Vishious... oh, V! He is still here, all aglow as he disposes of the rubbish that has accumulated in my classroom with a quick sweep of his ungloved hand. Part of me is itching to run out and pick up Lover Enshrined. Another part wants to wait so as not to get burned out on the BDB. That is not something I want to have happen. I have thoroughly enjoyed this series so far. Even Butch's book, while not great, was still entertaining. The men, they are all so damaged. I want to heal them all! I now understand the pig head retaliation that was taking place in our DIK huts. I am quite glad I waited until after our island adventure to read these books. I would have been in all kinds of agony. If you have not read the BDB series, go do it! Just make sure you go in order or the series police will come and righ you up, true. So here is the breakdown:

Lover Eternal (Rhage's book): hauntingly good, like rich chocolate from Dagoba or Voges. So smoking hot that the sex grandma, Sue Jo, would give it 4 briquettes on the hibachi of love.

Lover Awakened (Z's book): angst, angst, and more angst. This boy really earns his HEA. Damn.

Lover Revealed (Butch's book): the weakest of the bunch so far. The heroine can be trying at times. I think all of the secondary plots make up for it. It is not the greatest, but I would never skip over it.

Lover Unbound (Vishous's book): ooooh! kinky sex! Yum! V and Jane are great. The HEA was... unconventional. I'm still mulling it over. Pretty good side plots. I just LOVE Vishous. The dynamic between him and Butch... makes me ponder the whole m/m genre. Never picked one up, but I do like me some Butch/V moments. The scene with V and the chickadee... weeped. This may have some of the hottest sex of the series. That would be 5 flaming briquettes on the hibachi!

I think I am getting sick of Phury and his "poor me, Bella loves my brother" routine. The drug use is getting annoying, too. I hope Ward wraps it up well in LE. I hear that we get a bunch of Rehv. And I want to see what the deal is between John and Xhex. And what is going to happen with Payne? Ms Ward better be writing quickly!

So that, in a nutshell, is what I have been reading. I am off to finish grades and then pick out my next reading selection. Hmmmm... what to read?