Julie James: An ECD Fave Author

This post was originally a review for Julie's book Just the Sexiest Man Alive which might make has made it onto my Goodreads favorites shelf. But then I read a third book, Practice Makes Perfect, and it's official.  Julie James is one of my favorite authors.  I actually wish she had a more extensive catalog...it's less than 10!

I read the three above (the first of which is #1 in Julie's FBI/US Attorney series) and all received either 4 or 5 stars. However, given the fact that there is no concrete scale or rubric for my rating system, my rating is pretty irrelevant. One downside to Julie's writing (that I am more than willing to overlook), is that all three female leads I've read about so far are lawyers. (Julie graduated from law school). Which is fine in itself. But they are all employment discrimination lawyers or sexual harassment lawyers, etc. Just an interesting note, I suppose.  I could go for a bit of variety though.

There is always a male privilege/female oppression push-pull that I could do without. (Especially in Practice Makes Perfect, where Payton competes against her co-worker J.D. for the top spot in their law firm.  Payton is convinced that J.D. gets preferential treatment from The Partners - better cases, more important work, the big clients, etc. The ending is truly the best and I really was not expecting it so it all works out in the end.)

But, in reality, I don't care about that - I'm only in it for the "I've been in love with you the whole time I just didn't know it" bit (which may or may not show up in all three...insert heart eyes emoji). ALSO I'm a huge (read: sucker for) fan of not-usually-distressed damsel in distress "saved" (just ONCE) by the cocky, male lead.

I was literally swooning during Just the Sexiest Man Alive when SPOILER the male MC, Jason, leaves in the middle of filming his next movie to go to the hospital because Taylor was in a car accident and has a concussion. I mean, come on, he says "They said you were in the hospital, Taylor, of course I came." Then my eyes turned into hearts and everything was rainbows and sunshine.

Super sweet and sexy reads - and quick, but not too quick that it's barely worth it.  As soon as I can get my hands on her other books, you can bet I'm gonna!

Who are you reading (and loving) right now?

Top Ten Tuesday #1 | Bookish Bucket List

I'm always nervous to engage in a more regular posting schedule because I know I'm not gonna keep up with it - yikes!  But, here goes. 

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week, the topic is Top Ten Things On My Bookish Bucket List.  So let's see how it goes!

1. Attend BookExpo America!  I think this would be so fun and such a great experience for all book lovers.

2. Don't know how it's gonna happen, but one year I'd freaking love to read 100 books.  How sweet would that be?  The downside would be that they'd likely have to be short books which means I'll have to finish GoT way before that.

3. What a great segue into finishing A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin before I die.  I've read A Game of Thrones and now obviously I'm "reading" A Clash of Kings. It's been like a year.

4. I'd also like to re-read the entire Harry Potter series.

5. Buying a Kindle has always been on my Bookish Bucket List and I was able to purchase one at the beginning of this month!

6. Read a book that truly scares me.  I don't want to make it seem like I'm trying to give myself nightmares but...I'm kinda trying to give myself nightmares.

7. I'd like to go to a book signing (really any book signing).  That experience seems like it'd be cool.  Except I don't like waiting on line so.  We'll see.

8. Regular blog posting, anyone?

9. So, most of my "reviews" on here have been lame because, let's face it, most of the books I'm reading have been lame.  I'd like to read a nice piece of literature and write a well thought, nicely developed book review.

10. Uh. Read all the unread books I own?  A girl can dream, right?


What's on your bookish bucket list?

Steamy Sunday - A Monthly ECD Meme

It's time for Steamy Sunday: M/M Edition. Steamy Sunday is basically an (new) excuse for me to read a bunch of smutty books and then complain about how awful the free ones were.  Also my attempt to get into a more regular posting schedule.  This week I was all over the hundreds of just barely mediocre free m/m romances they have in the Kindle Store.

Uh, this contains spoilers for all books but...really I'm just saving you the trouble.  None of these have a star rating here because frankly they're just not worth it. I DID rate the first one 2 whole stars on Goodreads but it was mainly the nekkid parts that warranted the rating.

To begin, I would like to note that the titles of a LOT of m/m romances are simply preposterous.

For example, I read His Roommate's Pleasure by Lana McGregor first.  I rolled my eyes so hard when I read the title and glanced at the cover (see left).  I mean really.  What the hell is that?  I almost didn't buy it, but it was $0.99 and almost all of the reviews used the word hot in varying degrees (including scorching - sign me up), so I figured why not. In case you're looking for a summary - it's pretty much what it says on the tin.  Adam somehow clicks on his roommate's (Josh) porn folder while trying to submit a paper. A pretty steamy series of exploratory sexytimes ensues (there are paddles and restraints involved. FYI) and then of course they fall in love (which, for a while, I didn't think was going to happen).  There is very little plot, but what little there is comes together (NO pun intended, please, I'm better than that) in the end.  Good times all around.

I also read Cuddle Buddy by Nate Tanner which, despite my hope of all hopes, contains no (actual) sex (with or without feelings).  I feel misled because: "This category-shattering 10,000-word m/m romance contains brief adult content and is not suitable for those under 18."  I mean I guess it does say brief but STILL.  And I think we all know that nothing about those 10k words is "category-shattering" - if only because there's NO SEX.  It's literally about two guys who become cuddle buddies.  They cuddle together like 3 times a week - in addition to having their jobs, girlfriends, and other hobbies.  An...interesting, if disappointing, read.

Let's not forget about the wholly embarrassing and thankfully short read of Freshman Orientation by Brandon Reed.  Just read the description - and, sweet Lord, what is that book cover?? - it's pretty much self-explanatory.  Boy meets boy (after rather creepily stalking the entire incoming freshman class for potential young hook-ups), boy overcomes increasingly outrageous obstacles (including but not limited to scary raccoons threatening them after a romp in the courtyard) to get in other boy's pants, and 50 pages later they fall in love and live HEA.

It's Finally Friday and I Finished That Awful Book

All right, all right.  I missed my window for posting on last Friday so now it's a week later and I've been through 3 legit books plus 5 free crappy books that I got during my Kindle Book Buying Binge. Weekly posting is GONNA happen - just you wait.

I finished Against the Wall by Julie Prestater.  It was the worst.  It only got 1 star because, while the story was super cute (how could it NOT be - the ingredients were all there), the writing was just...outrageously sub-par.  There had to have been a breakdown in communication during the editing process because the typos were so abundant.  Also, some the phrasing was difficult to over look (see: "girl parts" and "man parts" - who talks like that?  Really?).  The protagonist, Shel, got her HEA I mean obviously, how could she not.  Actually, everyone in that story wins - even the loser ex-fiance. But it was just terrible. 1 star.

Moving on to last weekend - I finished (finally) The Selection by Kiera Cass (The Selection #1) on audio book.  I had been putting it off because I knew that nothing would get resolved in this weird love triangle until the last book in the trilogy - which isn't even out yet.  (In case you're not familiar, it's basically The Bachelor only with a king in a dystopian future - kind of.) Well, I got what I wished for I guess because I'm still super annoyed at almost every single character, and I know it doesn't get better in the second book, The Elite. The third book, The One, will be released on May 6th of this year. Let me tell you it better be effing worth it. 3 stars.

Next, I read Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik - a quick YA book about (my weakness) a famous guy - Derek Edwards - falling in love with a non-famous girl.  Well, he's the son of two famous actors and he attends the same boarding school as the protagonist, Elise (whose mother and father are the principal and math teach at the school, respectively) and her 2 sisters. And, now that I'm thinking about it, all of the antagonists were very interesting characters.  And I like that there was more than one causing all the drama.  They each had their time to shine to muck things up for both Elise AND her sister Juliana (who was spending her time being adored by Derek's best friend). All in all a cute story - no complaints, but it wasn't stellar - which was pretty much what I expected. 3 stars.

Next up: a few (free) romancey novellas of the man-on-man variety. Stay tuned...

Finally Friday - The Only Day I Blog Now

Okay so it's looks like this blog is cursed to only be updated on Fridays - not too bad of a problem to have. Friday is the best, after all. So here we are again and, of course, I have made exactly ZERO progress. Well, not exactly zero.  I read 35% of a book called Against the Wall by Julie Prestsater which is clearly right up my alley, description citing:

"Enter Matt Fuller, Shel's friend for the past 5 years and the perfect rebound. He's gorgeous, smart, funny and fits into Shel's idea of the right guy. Only problem is there may be more there than just a simple rebound."

Clearly I could not just leave this in the Kindle store without purchasing.  Now that I'm recalling I'm pretty sure it was $0.  That means free. It's a good thing, too, because it's pretty much the worst. The author uses phrases like "doing the nasty" and "girl parts," neither of which have a place in literature unless in dialogue between actual teenagers (which this is not) and even then that's a stretch.

And also there are 5 typos so far. 

I want to finish it because I want to find out what happens!  But, I don't know if I can handle much more of this. -__-

Finally Friday! (And Finally a Post!)

Yes, I know.  It's been 4 months.  But, better late than never I suppose.

Last year, I wasn't able to complete my Goodreads Challenge - finishing at 36 out of 50 books.  I'd like to blame it on 1) work and 2) moving to a new apartment, but in reality I just got lazy and started feeling like I was only reading to complete this challenge instead of reading because I felt like reading.  It was weird. 

BUT.  I've set my goal for 2014 (40 books instead of 50) and I've completed 5 so far (three of which were simply indulging my Valentine's Day feelings and were basically novellas).  I was spurred into action by the release of the 3rd book in Marissa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles: Cress. Heather @ Stacks & Shelves and I have been reading the series as it is being released and now we have to wait a YEAR for #4 Winter to be released.  (I don't know if I'm gonna make it!).

Moving on.

Next up: wading through my Kindle Book Buying Binge.  I bought around 10 Kindle books this week while avoiding my work and perusing Amazon.  Some were listed at $0.00 so I obviously HAD to purchase them whether or not I was completely interested in the book plot. Looking forward to get back on track with my reading - it's been a while. 

Autumn Book Tag!

I was tagged by Heather @ Stacks and Shelves to do this and it's good because it's been more than a month since I've blogged!

What is your favorite thing about autumn?
Walking on crunchy leaves.

What book reminds you of school?
The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe. It was the first story I read in English class in high school and that's how I learned what the word connoisseur means.

What is one of your favorite autumn-related book covers? I literally cannot think of one. I even went through my goodreads shelves.

What is your favorite Halloween story? This is not a Halloween story but it does take place during autumn and there is a costume ball involved sort of. Old Magic by Marianne Curley is set in modern times but magic exists, etc.

What are some of you favorite horror films? The Skeleton Key (not really horror). Misery is a great one, too. Also not really horror?

What is a film release you're looking forward to this autumn? Literally none - but Supernatural started season 9 so! I'm all set!

What are three books you want to read this autumn? Doctor Sleep by Stephen King (currently reading)
Snowed In by Rachel Hawthorne
Divergent by Veronica Roth

What are you reading this month?