This was fantastic. At first I wasn't sure I'd be able to get through all the science and math...and yeah there is that but somehow its interesting. JThis was fantastic. At first I wasn't sure I'd be able to get through all the science and math...and yeah there is that but somehow its interesting. Just an excellent story. Funny, thrilling, thought provoking, sad, heroic, all the emotions. The best parts were Grace's evolving relationship with Rocky. Amaze! This would make a great movie. Oh and Ray Porters narration via Audible added so much emotion to the story, perfect.
Excellent narration from Ray Porter via Audible, cool time travel story. Funny, suspenseful, heartbreaking and fantastically written. I'll be thinkingExcellent narration from Ray Porter via Audible, cool time travel story. Funny, suspenseful, heartbreaking and fantastically written. I'll be thinking about the ramifications of that ending for quite a while....more
Couldn't put this one down. A great read, well written even if I did figure out "whodunit" pretty early on, this still never went quite where I was exCouldn't put this one down. A great read, well written even if I did figure out "whodunit" pretty early on, this still never went quite where I was expecting it to....more
Opening Line: “It wasn’t the memory he would have chosen -not when he couldn’t remember his own name.”
I’m a big Cindy Gerard fan so of course I was moOpening Line: “It wasn’t the memory he would have chosen -not when he couldn’t remember his own name.”
I’m a big Cindy Gerard fan so of course I was more than a little excited to read this mash-up connecting her Black Op Inc and One Eyed Jacks characters. Yup, Merry Christmas to me!
Simply put CG is the master of romantic suspense. Her action scenes and exotic locations always drop you right into the thick of it. With proper military jargon and weapons lingo she doesn’t stray into OTT territory either. Gerard also excels at writing the tortured hero (I’ve lost track of how many literary boyfriends this woman has given me) yet still manages to provide comic relief with some serious male bonding and a bromance or two.
The Way Home was no different; it hit all my happy buttons even though I will admit to being slightly put off by the small-town-romancy feel we had going in the beginning. Jess and Tyler’s romance was just a little too sweet for me (although lots of people like those Virgin River-ey type reads) However when you pair that aspect up with the events taking place with her presumed dead husband in Afghanistan you’ve got something special.
I found these two divulging storylines very clever, because as the reader you’re watching Jess and Tyler fall in love, healing and learning to love again but you’ve also got the knowledge that Jess’s husband J.T is getting closer and closer to rescue. And with that the whole story flips and becomes more poignant, taking on a level of suspense and heartache, because you know that this just can’t end well for anyone.
I loved all of Jeff (J.T’s) scenes in Afghanistan, now this is the epitome in a tortured hero, (however more in the literal sense here.) His story is absolutely heartbreaking on so many levels and I give kudos to the amount of research that must have gone into not only head trauma and PTSD but the realistic view we also get of an Afghani woman’s life. Rabia was an excellent, well fleshed out heroine and I appreciated learning the little things about her life; regarding her religion, what she’s allowed to do (drive), say, how to dress as well as her fear of the Taliban and Americans. Her love scenes were written differently too, more respectful, fade to black. Very much in character.
Ultimately this book was everything I had hoped for; romantic, angst filled and passionate. I seriously didn’t know how CG was going to bring these two romances together and make them work. Oh and there’s also one hell of an action scene for the big extraction which goes from bad to worse to FUBAR and includes cameos from Mike and all the BOI’s (we even get a couple Reed-isms Yay!) Just a great read. Cheers
*My thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books, who provided a copy in exchange for an honest review. 393jb45
"Just as they’re planning their wedding and new life together, Jess receives shocking news: her husband is alive, and under the care of a young Afghani woman hiding him from the Taliban. Even as he sees their happily-ever-after slip away, Ty arranges for the One Eyed Jacks and Black Ops, Inc. teams to make a daring and dangerous rescue mission to bring Jeff home. The hardest thing Ty or Jess has ever done is to let the other go."...more
Opening Line: “I am dead, but it’s not so bad. I’ve learned to live with it.”
I absolutely loved the first half of Warm Bodies. Meeting "R" was just a Opening Line: “I am dead, but it’s not so bad. I’ve learned to live with it.”
I absolutely loved the first half of Warm Bodies. Meeting "R" was just a joy, I mean he's hilarious in an unassuming and very undead sort of way and I can't say that I've ever read anything quite like him or this before. Dubbed a "Zombie romance" my initial thought was come-on how the hell is that going to work? I mean ewww but it does, in an innocent and sweet sort of way.
We meet "R" in an airport hangar, riding the escalator up and down (when the power is on) and doing pretty much nothing the rest of the time. He has no name, no memories and no pulse, but lately he has been feeling a bit different from his fellow dead, having thoughts and dreams and speaking with more than 6 syllables.
One day R and the rest of his groaning, stumbling hoard go out for lunch in the city and its there that he meets Julie. Julie is different and for reasons he can't understand, he decides not to eat her but to save her and take her back to his place. (he does however eat her boyfriend and his delicious brain begins to change everything)
So Julie and R get to know each other and the plot takes on a bit of a Romeo and Juliet vibe as the "Boneys" (evil leader zombies) don't like this arrangement. Julie and R decide to go back to her place (a survivor city in one of the sports domes) but that's not exactly a great idea either. Julie’s dad wants to kill him and the makeup he's forced to wear keeps coming off, plus he still can't walk or talk very well but he is changing, slowly coming back as something new.
It was about here that the story lost me a bit. It just seemed to lose its sense of humour and get a little out there for my tastes, as the two worlds collided and a new future was born. I enjoyed the vision of the world inside the dome but R’s connection with Perry and all his dreams lost me. The Boney's didn't make much sense either and it just kinda went into fantasy land, not that a zombie romance isn’t there to begin with. Can’t wait to see the movie. Cheers
Just noticed that this series is switching to a hardcover release!
Which pisses me off. I'm not sure I'm invested enough in Ward's angels to shell outJust noticed that this series is switching to a hardcover release!
Which pisses me off. I'm not sure I'm invested enough in Ward's angels to shell out the $$ for hardcover especially when I'll just end up replacing it in PB so my series is all matchy, matchy. (Yeah I know) Damn I hate when publishers do this.
So far this series isn't up to BDB standards, and what I mean by that is that I've yet to reread any of the books whereas my BDB's are trashed, I've reread them several, several times so it doesn't hurt so much having 2 copies.
“What are we if not an accumulation of our memories?”
Opening line: "The bedroom is strange. Unfamiliar. I don't know where I am."
Really, really enjoye“What are we if not an accumulation of our memories?”
Opening line: "The bedroom is strange. Unfamiliar. I don't know where I am."
Really, really enjoyed this one (thanks Tamster) even though suspense/thrillers aren’t my usual genre. The premise here reminds me of the movie 50 First Dates -girl wakes up each morning with no memories of the previous day(s) and essentially relives each new day as her first, being told about her accident and looking at photographs of her missing life. This isn’t a comedy though. The story here is dark and mysterious, with an impending sense of everyone/everything is not as it seems. As the reader you have the task of trying to figure it out who the bad guy is, who’s lying to Christine and why. I didn’t figure that out or see the big twist coming until I was right on top of it, so this was a super fun read for me.
At times the story does get repetitive because we’re continually in Christine’s head, being retold or reading and relearning everything from her journal over and over again. By the same token the first person narrative also got to be a bit much but really this couldn’t have been written any other way.
We begin with Christine waking up in a stranger’s bed. She can’t remember how she got there but her twenty-something self tells her that she must have hooked up with the man at a party. Christine is not hung over though and soon learns that she’s no longer in twenties either but from the same decade as the middle aged man washing up in the bathroom. And now he’s telling her that he’s her husband Ben, and that she suffered a devastating injury resulting in a rare form of amnesia, leaving her unable to retain memories from one day to the next.
Left alone Christine begins to putter about the house, what does she do all day anyways? Does it matter? She soon receives a phone call from a man claiming to be her Doctor; he explains that she has been keeping a journal and where it is hidden. It is through this journal that Christine begins to piece her life back together, forming a fragmented picture from those she is supposed to trust. But not everything adds up and as the days go by and the journal entries get longer Christine realizes that she is receiving two different versions of her life from her Doctor and her husband.
Relying completely on the journal Christine begins testing her husband and finally doubting herself as confusing memories return. Are they real? When the last day’s journal entry reads “Don’t trust Ben” who will she turn to? What is the truth?
I found this scary and sad in the sense that Christine has lost 20 years of her life. Imagine being in college and waking up at 45! Repeating the same day over and over, not knowing what is real, just relying on those you think you can trust. Realizing that you’ve probably been having the same conversations, asking the same questions and being told the same horrible truths (lies) every day.
This was a great read, it’s not perfect but made me stop and think. It has also been optioned for film by Ridley Scott’s production company. And I think it will make a fantastic movie.
Opening line “Hey, Hey, Hey There, Mission Man! How ya doin’, Baby? Rise and shine!
Oh this was just so good, another fantastic addition (#8 if you‘re Opening line “Hey, Hey, Hey There, Mission Man! How ya doin’, Baby? Rise and shine!
Oh this was just so good, another fantastic addition (#8 if you‘re counting) to theTall Dark & Dangerous series. Each book just seems to get better and better and I found myself constantly smiling through this one as Suzanne Brockmann tackles amnesia, giving Mitchell Shaw’s story a real Bourne Identity flavour with a romantic edge.
There were a lot of things to like about Identity:Unknown, apart from the obvious hunky Navy Seal hero that is. The story itself is really good and there are all these wonderful side moments too; including some hilarious banter between the SEAL team members sent to find Mitch. We also get several welcome updates and cameos from past characters and spend time on a dude ranch, which was a fun departure. As usual Brockman creates absolutely sigh-worthy romantic dialogue and sizzling love scenes but here also manages to maintain an element of suspense. As we pick up the pieces of Mitch’s memory and learn everything right along with him; what he’s doing in New Mexico, who shot him and why and ultimately who he is. Its all cleverly done.
I think one of my favourite moments though (other then the Star Wars-Mitch has gone to the Dark side line) would have to be the discovery of a priests collar among Mitch’s belongings. He and Becca have just spent several nights of passion together and now Becca feels terrible because she seduced him, subsequently breaking his vows. Throughout Mitch keeps proclaiming; I just know I’m not a priest, hilarious and uncomfortable to say the least. Speaking of Becca she was great heroine; funny, tough and goes after what she wants which makes her the perfect match for our absent minded hero.
Mitchell Shaw joins us from a church homeless shelter, he’s dirty, bloody, in pain and apparently hung-over but worst of all when he looks in the mirror “Mish” has absolutely no idea who the man looking back at him is. The items in his possession are of little help; an address, a gun and five thousand dollars in cash. The address leads him to the lazy 8 Ranch where manager Becca Keyes just assumes he’s her hired hand Casey Parker and Mish of course doesn’t know any better, maybe he is? Sparks fly immediately between our pair even though its obvious Mish is useless on a horse, he is however awesome at rescuing small children caught in flash floods and knows a lot about guns.
Mish tries to keep his distance from Becca because after the dreams he’s been having he’s pretty sure he’s a very, very bad man however Becca is determined to seduce him. Eventually our couple end up getting all down and dirty at the local motel while trying to figure out how to get into locker 101 at the bus station without tipping off the 3 men Mitch has spotted staking it out. He’s pretty sure they’re the bad guys; they are of course Lucky, Bobby and Wes who’ve been following his trail of marked cash and need to bring him in before the real Casey Parker gets him, unless he’s gone to the Dark side that is… Cheers people. ...more
Opening Line: “How long have I been awake? Is it morning yet? I feel so rough. What happened last night? God my head hurts.”
This was a super fun read Opening Line: “How long have I been awake? Is it morning yet? I feel so rough. What happened last night? God my head hurts.”
This was a super fun read as all of Kinsella’s books are. Not too much brain-power needed, just a good time so if you’re in the mood for chick-lit it doesn’t get much better than this.
REMEMBER ME was addictively hard to put down as well as LOL funny in places and I got sucked right into the chaos of the heroine’s life and the double romance. Imagine not remembering that you’re having an affair.
Lexi Smart is having a crappy night, in her words “On a scale of one to ten we’re talking …a minus six. And it’s not like I even have very high standards.”
Standing in the rain after a night out clubbing with friends, Lexi just wants to find a taxi, get home and kick off her agonizing boots. Yup, it’s been a crap day all right, her boyfriend (Loser Dave) stood her up and her second-rate job managed to screw her out of the Christmas bonus on a technicality. Tomorrow promises to be even worse though, it’s her father’s funeral. Before she can moan about the state of her life any further Lexi tops the night off by slipping on the wet street and tumbling down a flight of stairs.
When Lexi wakes up she’s in a London hospital, but hold on something’s a little off…she’s in a private room and her nails are manicured, her teeth are perfect (guess they can’t call her Snaggletooth anymore) her body is toned and thin (squeal) and her handbag is Vuitton.
The nurse also mentioned that she was in a car accident (in a Mercedes no less) but Lexi can’t drive and she definitely can’t afford that car or that purse. When her Mother and sister show up Lexi starts to panic because her mother looks strange and damn, what’s happened to her little sister, she’s all grown up?
As the Doctors explain it Lexi is suffering from amnesia and is missing the last 3 years of her life which would mean she’s now…28 (sob) but it’s not all bad because somehow in that time she’s married a hunky multimillionaire and become a cooperate big shot. Apparently she now lives in a Kensington loft and has a personal assistant and a trainer and new puffy lips and a carb free diet and glamorous new friends (what about her old friends and toast?)
Lexi’s got a ton of catching up to do if she’s going to make this exciting new life work and she might just pull it off. But she misses her friends (they won’t even talk to her anymore) and toast (sigh) and can’t understand how she become that bitch “The Cobra” at the office and this is all before Jon the architect shows up. Yeah Jon, the guy she’s supposedly having an affair with and is going to leave her husband for.
Opening Line: " He'd hoped if he drank enough the night before he'd sleep right through today."
Ex-Navy SEAL Ethan Kelly is hangover again, it's been aOpening Line: " He'd hoped if he drank enough the night before he'd sleep right through today."
Ex-Navy SEAL Ethan Kelly is hangover again, it's been a year since his wife Rachael was killed in a plane crash in South America and he can't seem to move on, the pain as fresh as the day she died. Ethan has cut himself off from his large family and refuses to have anything to do with his brother's top secret business, that of KGI (Kelly Group International) With their expensive military backgrounds the Kelly brother's are essentially guns for hire taking the tricky jobs the government can't and specializing in intelligence recovery and hostage/kidnap victim extractions.
On the anniversary of Rachael's death Ethan receives an unmarked package containing surveillance pictures and maps of a drug cartel base camp in Columbia. The photos show something else too, a woman who looks very much like his late wife. Ethan doesn't think anyone will believe him but of course he now has to try and find her. Good thing most of his family is in the victim recovery business and handy with a gun because he's heading into the jungle and getting his wife back.
But Rachael's not the woman he knew a year ago; forcibly addicted to drugs, and suffering from memory loss and PTSD she may never fully recover and just because he's got her back Stateside doesn't mean she's safe either, the bad guys still want her dead. And then there's that little matter of the divorce papers.
There were parts of this book that I loved and others that I struggled with but all in all this was a really good romantic suspense. Banks writes an awesome tortured hero and although I did get tired of Ethan constantly "dropping to his knees" in front of Rachael and thanking or apologizing to everyone now that he's stopped self medicating, I loved that he was man enough to shed a few tears (that bathtub scene killed me)
One of my biggest issues here however was Rachael's extreme closeness to the brothers; it was just a little too intimate. They were forever enfolding her in their arms and cooing "Baby" and "Sweet Pea" and I guess because I've read some of Banks erotica I kept waiting for her to get it on with at least 3 of the 6 Kelly boys which distracted me from Ethan and Rachael's rekindled love story as well as creating several weird, ick moments. There was also the issue of Rachael having been adopted and brought up by the Kelly parents in the same house as her husband to be. Why was that little bit of info necessary? Wouldn't that kind of make everyone related? Another ick moment.
I also found that there were just too many Kelly brothers to keep track of properly and before long stopped even trying. Except for Garrett and Sam (who I'm sure were just trying to get lucky) they all sort of blended together along with the Kelly parents and a side story involving a runaway girl named Rusty that I can only assume we'll see more from in later books. I'll be continuing on with the series of course :) ...more
Opening Line:"Gunfire rained down on the four-man SEAL squad, ricocheting off the concrete floor and metal walls of the warehouse in Pyongyang HarbourOpening Line:"Gunfire rained down on the four-man SEAL squad, ricocheting off the concrete floor and metal walls of the warehouse in Pyongyang Harbour, North Korea.”
Navy SEAL Gabe Renault has no memory of the last three years. He doesn’t remember the mission that went wrong landing him in a North Korean prison camp and he certainly doesn’t remember having a wife and teenage daughter. And while the scars on his body tell a tale of torture he has no idea what they did to him or if he eventually broke, betraying his country. The doctors tell him he has PTSD and that given time his memories will return, but he knows the brass are also thinking the amnesia may just be a convenient way to cover up his disgrace at giving up government secrets. Meanwhile he’s been placed on disability leave, given a cocktail of drugs, and told to go home to his family, a family he doesn’t remember.
After Gabe was presumed dead Helen Renault did her best to pull the pieces of her and her daughters life back together. It wasn’t really all the that difficult, Gabe had never been home, always off on some mission and then even when he was he was he’d been distant, secretive and abrupt. Now she’s standing on her own two feet, with friends, a job she loves and a life. When the call comes in telling her Gabe is alive Helen decides that she’ll help him through his recovery but then she wants a divorce. What she hadn’t counted on was that the man returning is nothing like the Gabe she remembers, this is a man she could lose her heart to and spend the rest of her life loving.
With Gabe’s memories coming back Helen puts her heart under lock and key fearing it will only be a matter of time before the “old Gabe” re-emerges and breaks it again. Of course the men trying to kill him and his returning knowledge of government treason may put an end to their second chance at love before it begins anyways.
This is the first book from Marliss Melton’s SEAL team 12 series and also my first from this author. As a whole this was a great read, kinda Suzanne Brockmann-ish as it's more romantic then suspenseful but well written with a slowly unravelling storyline, lots of great secondary characters and a reunited lovers theme which is one of my fav’s. I did have a problem with some of the dialogue being stilted or age inappropriate, as was the case with the teenage daughter and unfortunately the ending went off into silly land but I will definitely be continuing on with the series. Hoo-yah, another SEAL team to get to know....more
Opening Line: "I found the note taped to my door when I got home from work."
More like a 3.5 actually… Dead to the World is the 4th instalment from the Opening Line: "I found the note taped to my door when I got home from work."
More like a 3.5 actually… Dead to the World is the 4th instalment from the addictive and entertaining Sookie Stackhouse series, which for the most part I’m really enjoying. This addition had a lot going for it with Harris setting up some intriguing scenarios for our returning cast of characters. And once I got past the pages of repetitive back story I was quite excited about the prospects. Unfortunately though as much as I enjoy and admire her writing I was never able to get fully engaged in this story. It could be because of the addition of even more fantastical creatures, I mean I could have done without the were-panthers theme and the coven of witches, oh and how could I forget the good fairy but hey that’s just me and my aversion to UF speaking.
On the plus side the “new” Eric was delicious on every level though it does make me wonder what Harris has against Bill. Its not that I ‘m a team Eric, team Bill type girl but why bother to introduce him as Sookie’s love just to keep sending him away every book, its just weird to me and doesn’t even allow for a good love triangle to develop.
The thing is this series is almost awesome, the writing is amazing, the world building, the action and horror aspects, the relatable, fascinating and sexy characters but I just don’t always understand Harris’s choices. A few more love scenes wouldn’t go astray either, although the one that we do get here is extra steamy. In the end I can’t seem to stop myself from continuing on with this series, Sookie feels like an old friend and I need to know where this is all going.
Its New Years eve when we first join Sookie again, she’s driving home from a busy night at Merlottes. Bill has up and left for Peru and the last thing she needs or expects to see right now is a half naked vampire running down the road. Things get even more interesting when the vamp turns out to be Eric who for some reason can’t seem to remember anything. This new kinder, gentler Eric has no clue who he is much less what’s happened to him in fact he even seems a little scared. Sookie being well Sookie takes him home of course. I mean what girl could refuse a half dressed, nervous blond Viking vampire
It soon becomes apparent that whoever took Eric’s memory also wants him dead and through a series of events Sookie gets put in charge of keeping him alive. Meanwhile her brother has gone missing and a battle is brewing (ha) between a coven of witches and the local werewolf/ shifter population. Sam, Alcide, Bubba, Chow and Pam all make appearances along with a whole new cast of interesting characters. Now all Sookie has to do is find her brother, keep Eric alive, avoid the witches, dispose of the bodies, and hold onto her heart because this new version of Eric is very hard to resist. Cheers....more
Loading...
