Creative Deeds Reads

I received Pickup Men in exchange for a fair and honest review. This was a hard one to read. Not because of the romance, even though it was pure frustration, I can deal with that. The hard part for me was the prejudice and hatred. That’s not uncommon in M/M Romance, or any LGBT book because unfortunately, that’s reality. The scenario that this book posed however brought the ‘Mom’ in me out in full force.Before anyone even thinks that I am bashing the author for writing the characters the way she did, I’m not. I think one of the main reasons why I started, and continue reading M/M Romances is because tough issues are handled and I like being thrown outside my comfort zone from time to time. I think it’s a good thing to ‘feel’ when you read a book, no matter what that emotion is.The great thing about Pickup Men was that there was enough good to balance the bad. Tripp and Marty were true opposites when it came to support from loved ones. I loved Marty’s family and his friends were amazing. I’m kind of glad that this one is going to be a series because I really would enjoy getting to know some of these guys a little better.It would have been really easy to hate Tripp for the way he treated Marty. He came a long way by the end of the book and even though he stumbled along and had a few set backs I was still rooting for him regardless. I’ll be watching for the next book in the Pickup Men series and hopefully they’ll include at least some glimpses of Marty and Tripp because I just felt like their story wasn’t quite over yet. I guess only L.C. Chase knows for sure.

I received Kidnapped Cowboy in exchange for a fair and honest review. I’m not exactly sure what to say about this one. It wasn’t bad. It was kind of cute, actually. It just didn’t grab me.Caitlin was desperate to save the camp, which is why she kidnapped Dalton to begin with. The series that events that happened after the kidnapping just kind of happened. To be fair, I think it was just me and that contemporary romance thing bogging me down. Brandon was the bad guy in Kidnapped Cowboy, but he really wasn’t all that bad. His business associate was someone easy to hate, but then that conflict was also taken care of easily….hmmm…I think I just wanted more. More romance, more conflict, more real interaction with the kids at the retreat, just more. There were sweet moments and funny moments and even a couple of heart breaking and tension filled moments but they were fleeting. And… I just may not have been in the mood for a easy, no conflict romance.So, if you’re in the mood for a sweet cowboy story that is a quick read that comes to a satisfying end with a very comfortable HEA, then Kidnapped Cowboy would make a great summer read.

I believe I can say in all honesty that Tricked is my favorite Iron Druid Chronicles book so far. Let me see if I can even come close to explaining why….First and foremost, Oberon. If you have been keeping up with the Iron Druid Chronicles you know exactly what I mean. Oberon has been present in every book, but he has definitely been scarce in the last couple of installments. I definitely got my Oberon fix in Tricked, and trust me, that’s a very good thing. I started marking the quote worthy Oberon passages and realized after a couple of chapters that it was useless. Every Oberon passage was quote worthy and this book is packed full of them. *happy sigh*The other thing that I think really caught my attention in this one was the change of venue. True, the other books had taken Atticus to different locals, but this book marked a total change. He and Granuaile escaped their familiar surroundings and their journey began with Atticus’ death. Strange, but true and things just kept getting more strange and more interesting from there.As with most adventures involving Atticus, nothing is quite what it seems and no one is exactly who they appear to be. Tricked was a book that definitely kept you on the edge of your seat. There was action, betrayal, humor, some sadness a bit of mystery and more than enough danger to keep things interesting. I loved every minute of it (well, except for the sad parts because they really were very sad.)I’ve always been totally engrossed in the Iron Druid World once I pick up a book. Even though things ended fairly well for Atticus and company at the end of Tricked, I really can’t wait to pick up the next book. Lucky for me, Trapped is ready and waiting on my shelf. (Of course I may have to pick up Two Ravens and One Crow and maybe even The Demon Barker of Wheat Street [from CarniePunk] before I delve into the next full length book… just to make sure I’m not missing anything important.)

I received Vampire Thirst in exchange for a fair and honest review. In Dragon Heat the stage was set, in Vampire Thirst, Ella J. Phoenix found her voice. Don’t get me wrong, I really liked the first book, but as is true of most first books in a series, the story kind of gets lost in the set up. Zoricah and Tardieh were a great couple and their story continues in Vampire Thirst, but I loved Sam and Hikuro from the moment they were introduced. There was always something dangerous and mysterious about their draw to each other. I knew that their story was going to be intense and I wasn’t wrong.There was a lot more to Sam than was on the surface. She had a lot of inner turmoil, timidness and doubt. She did a really good job of hiding it though. So good Hikuro pegged her as devious and therefore a danger. What he didn’t know was that she was protecting him and everyone else from a danger she couldn’t control and didn’t understand. Readers got a lot of Sam’s history in Vampire Thirst and it explained a lot. It also made me like her even more.There was a lot more to Hikuro than the arrogant vampire let others see as well. His feelings and attraction toward Sam took him by surprise. His patience and acceptance of her was what really won me over though. That along with the smart wit, determination and protectiveness of both these characters turned their story into a real page turner.A lot took place in Vampire Thirst beyond Sam and Hirkuro’s story. It was all interwoven with different POVs. Some mysteries were solved, more politics were thrown in and a few more devious characters were introduced. Some were surprising, while others were expected. There are still a few more mysteries to be solved and the set up for the next book, which looks like it will involve Yara, should prove to be extremely interesting.

I received Catch a Ghost in exchange for a fair and honest review. Definitely a 4 1/2 Star rating....Oh wow… I don’t even know where to begin. Prophet and Tom have just turned into two of my favorite characters and SE Jakes has a brand new fan. Yep, Catch a Ghost was that good.This was definitely a character driven story. It would be impossible to read this and not feel something for someone. Even the supporting characters were strong, but front and center were always Prophet and Tom. The POV switched between the two and it worked well in this story. Although the ghosts in the description were Prophet’s, Tom had some of his own. These men were both broken and they were good at shielding themselves, especially their hearts.I loved the strength of these two men as much as their vulnerability. I loved Tom’s determination to get through Prophet’s wall. I loved Prophet’s sense of loyalty and the cranky, non-caring vibe that he threw off and the way Tom could see right through it…. sometimes. Neither one of these men were perfect, far from it. That was also the main reason why they were perfect for each other.Beyond what was going on between Tom and Prophet was a very intriguing story. There was a mystery that wasn’t predictable. There was danger, action and more than a few twists and turns. It was definitely a page turner… yet I didn’t want it to end….Speaking of endings. Yikes! This was one of those books where you hope and pray you didn’t just reach the end. Yeah, I know. Authors are evil and I knew going in that this was going to be a series, but still. Thankfully Book 2 in the Hell or High Water series, Long Time Gone, comes out in October of 2013. Needless to say, it’s already on my TBR list.

I received Nomad in exchange for a fair and honest review Nomad was nothing like I expected it to be. I’ve come to realize that that is the norm for any book written by J.L.Bryan. For the record, I love the unexpected. This was a book that required every bit of your attention. Not only the world building, but the entire concept was complex. Raven was not only from the future, it was a very dark future. It was a future that she wanted to change, but first she had to put the pieces of her past back together.I really liked this character. She was strong, determined, smart and sincere. She was also witty and resourceful. As female leads go, Raven pretty much nailed it.The author took two very complex themes (time travel and dystopian) and melded them together into an amazing story. There was also plenty of action, humor, romance and heartbreak. Yeah, I really didn’t expect that….There’s also a lot I can’t say because I don’t want to give anything away, so I apologize in advance for being vague. You’ll thank me later, honest. Just know that this journey through time is well worth the trip and it has everything you’ve come to expect from this author and more. And if by chance this will be your first experience with a J.L. Bryan book, it’s a very good place to start.

I received Carnipunk in exchange for a fair and honest review. Well, this is going to be interesting to review. So many authors, so many interesting stories and the only common thread between them is a carnival… of sorts. Not the same carnival, because each story takes place in totally different worlds. Some post-apocolyptic, some present, some dream – or nightmare – depending on your view. I’ll try to review each one as I read them. So, here we go…. Painted Love by Rob Thurman Doodle was the main character in Painted Love. He was a traveler and learned from whoever he was with at the time. During this story he was traveling with Bartholemew and they spent their time at a traveling carnival. Doodle rarely interfered or got in the middle of things while he observed what was going on around him, but something about the girls that Bart was targeting on this trip pushed Doodle to abandon the norm.This was the first time I had read anything by Rob Thurman. I loved the twists and turns in Painted Love and his writing style totally sucked me into the story. I think I will be searching out more books by this author. The Three Lives of Lydia (A Blud Short Story) by Delilah S. Dawson Another new author to me… I can see a pattern here. This book is not only going to be entertaining, it’s also going to add to my ever growing TBR list. *sigh*Lydia was an interesting character and even with the shortness of this story I was totally drawn in by her. She was edgy and sweet at the same time and I absolutely loved Charlie. A carnival with a steampunk twist and some interesting paranormals. I liked it. This was my first trip to Sang, but it definitely won’t be my last. The Blud series is now on my reading radar. The Sweeter the Juice by Mark Henry Ok, it’s been a while since I’ve read a full on zombie book. I know that there is a huge fan base for zombie books. I respect that and even I have my favorites. This kind of zombie read is not one of them though. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy it. It also doesn’t mean that I wasn’t cringing most of the time either. *shivers*See, the thing about reading is that you can’t shut your eyes when it gets to the gross parts, and The Sweeter the Juice was full of gross parts. The fact that this was the norm and the characters basically took a lot of those moments as just another day’s occurrence added to the cringe factor for me. I don’t think I could have gotten through an entire novel in the world that Mark Henry created, but this short story was a perfect dose, for me anyway. What can I say? I’m a wimp The Werewife by Jaye Wells I’m not sure why, but this one reminded me of a Twilight Zone episode. That’s not a bad thing either. I think it was the mind games, the cynical attitude of some characters, the pure evil of others and the true personality reveal of one character in particular. I could just see this played out in black and white and the swirling images and Twilight Zone theme playing in the background. It was one of those macabre reads that proves that nothing is ever quite what it seems. The Cold Girl by Rachel Caine The main character, Kiley, tugged at my heart in this one. It was the closest to a YA read so far in this collection, but because of some of the violence it probably falls closer to the New Adult genre. Regardless, Rachel Caine’s writing style that I’ve fallen in love with in The Morganville series was evident. Don’t expect her typical vampires in this one though. There are some interesting twists, some unlikely heroes and some really tense moments. A Duet with Darkness (An Abby Sinclair Short Story) by Allison Pang Okay, this author and series just landed on my TBR list. I need more Abby Sinclair, sooner rather than later. The danger of this anthology is that some of the short stories are part of a series. I’ve skipped a few as I’ve read because they are parts of series that I am currently reading and I need to catch up in those series in order to read these shorts in the order suggested. I’m not sure where A Duet with Darkness falls in the Abby Sinclair series, but I can’t wait to find out. Just a warning, I also didn’t expect any of these short stories to end in a cliff hanger. Yikes! Recession of the Divine by Hillary Jacques This one was confusing… I still liked it, but I was a little lost. I think I might have caught up with what was going on by the end, which may have been the author’s intention… yeah, we’ll just go with that. I get the sneaky suspicion that this may be part of a series, but I haven’t been able to track down anything else by the author. Enough happened in this short glimpse into a world of Gods and Goddesses that it has peaked my curiosity though. Freak House (A Strays Short Story) by Kelly Meding This has turned out to be one of my favorites. I so hope that this is the beginning of great things to come. It is the perfect set up for a series, which it very well may be. Kelly Meding has sparked my interest and anything else by her will be on my radar. The story and voice of the main character, Shiloh, kind of reminded me of Gin Blanco. Trust me, that’s a good thing. A strong female who’s not afraid to defend the people she cares about and only wants to use her powers for good. What’s not to love? The Inside Man (A Jane True Short Story) by Nicole Peeler Clowns. *shivers* Actually only one clown, but still. *shivers some more* I’m not a huge fan of clowns, but they don’t freak me out either. After reading this short story I will be avoiding them for a while. On the plus side though, I have found a new series to check out. I loved the characters. They were smart and witty and the paranormal aspects perked my interest. A Chance in Hell by Jackie Kessler Demons… always a scary concept. Jezebel was evidently a demon (a succubus, actually) turned human, which means she had a soul. Which means that there were other demons on the loose who wanted to steal it. An even more scary concept. Guess who was running the carnival in this short story? Her roommate’s attempt to help her adapt to being a human took a very wrong turn when she decided to take her to Pogo Brothers Traveling Show.Jezebel is from Jackie Kessler’s Hell on Earth series and it is now another series that I need to check out. My TBR pile is definitely not dwindling. LOL! Hell’s Menagerie (A Charlie Madigan Short Story) by Kelly Gay A carnival in Hell that’s main attraction were captured animals thrown together with other supernatural creatures and beings in fights to the death? Sure, why not? For those of you familiar with the Charlie Madigan series, (which I am not) Charlie wasn’t in this short story. Hell’s Menagerie had Rex, Emma and her Hellhoud Brim on a rescue mission that turned out to be anything but routine. Needless to say, things got intense. The only thing better in a good UF than a kick-a** woman is a kick-a** teenage girl, just sayn’ Daughter of the Midway, the Mermaid, and the Open, Lonely Sea by Seanan McGuire And so the last story in CarniePunk is kind of bittersweet. I liked it though. The writing was descriptive and the sense of family with this group of Carnies was the main focus. For as short as it was, the author managed to get me emotionally attached to these characters. If this one would have been any longer there would have definitely been tears. *sigh*There are two stories from the anthology that are missing from this review. The Demon Barker of Wheat Street (An Iron Druid Chronicles Short Story) by Kevin Hearne and Parlor Tricks (An Elemental Assassin Short Story) by Jennifer Estep. These are from series that I am currently reading and I haven’t quite caught up to where they fall in the reading order. I’ll be reviewing them separately and since I’m almost caught up, it shouldn’t be long.This collection of short stories obviously turned into a set of teasers designed to hook me into tracking down the authors and adding their books/series to my already too huge TBR pile. However, being the reading addict that I am, that is not necessarily a complaint. *sigh* Just a warning though, even though there are some YA authors in the list, there are some definite adult themes in most of these short stories.

This one was sweet... plus a little bit more. Scott and Devon were also a lesson in stereotypes. I don't want to give anything away so I'm not going to say much about all the stereotypes but there was more than one covered in Lazy Sundays. Let's just say that nothing is as it seems and people should never be judged. Period. K-lee Klein did an amazing job of bringing this point home and wrapped it up in a couple I fell in love with and found myself routing for from page one. There's another short story that follows this one and I already have it waiting for me on my Kindle. I received Lazy Sundays as a free download from Amazon on July 11, 2013 and read it as part of my 'Why Buy the Cow' reading challenge.

Probably 3.5.... not quite a 4, but not quite a 3 either.... *sigh* I received His Roommate's Pleasure in exchange for a fair and honest review. There was nothing wrong with this one, it just didn't grab me. I'm not sure if I needed more time with the characters before they fell for each other or if it was something else. I liked both the characters. The author's writing was great and the dialogue wasn't choppy. The connection was there. Whatever it was, I wish I could have become more enamored with this couple. It was definitely a coming of age story, so if you like those, you will probably enjoy this one. We'll just chalk this one up to 'wrong place/wrong time' and leave it at that. ;)

Mission accomplished.... that is if the purpose of this one was to whet your appetite for the series. Yep, this short little intro did that exceedingly well. I definitely want more! Do yourself a favor and purchase Accidental SEAL when you pick up this one. I wish I had... and you can thank me later ;) I received SEAL Encounter as a free download from Amazon on April 20, 2013 and read it as part of my 'Why Buy the Cow' reading challenge.

FYI - this was more like a 3.5, but this is GoodReads so I can't throw in the 1/2... *sigh*I hate to say it, but I’m on the fence with this one. (That actually turned into a unintentional really bad pun… sorry.)Anyway, there were things I liked about Hot on Her Trail. The characters were fun and believable. There were plenty of smexy moments… *blush* and there were twists and turns and plenty of hot cowboy brothers to keep things interesting. There was nothing boring about Hot on Her Trail in the least.I suppose my only real problem with the story was the corniness. Yeah, the love story was sweet and Jacob’s love and devotion to Jessie was heart warming, but there were times when it was just a little much. I know, I’m probably being petty, but that’s just how it came off to me. That doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the story. There was plenty of action and I loved the devotion of the brothers and how supportive they were with each other. It also doesn’t mean that I won’t revisit the Hell Yeah! series, especially since I didn’t read book 1 first. (I really need to stop doing that.) I might have gotten more out of the story but since the author re-capped a lot of what took place in the previous book I don’t think I missed much. Other than getting to know the family a little bit better.If you like cowboy romance and you don’t mind a slightly sappy love story, you’ll enjoy this one.

This one was short, but not too short... maybe. I liked the paranormal aspects and there was a lot to peak my interest, but there was just something about the alpha in this one. I liked Anthony a lot. Silver just seemed so wimpy when it came to the romance. I would think that the relationship (M/M) for a pack of werewolves would be unusual too, but in this series it seems to be the norm. Not complaining, just not something I expected. I haven't given up on Moon pack though so it may be a series that I revisit eventually. I picked up Attracting Anthony from All Romance as a free download on July 1, 2013 and read it as part of my 'Why Buy the Cow' reading challenge.

Well, who knew things could actually be worse outside of Morganville? Freedom and a road trip turned out to be a lot more than they bargained for.I think what I liked most about this one was that Claire, Shane, Eve and Michael seem to be getting back on track. Things haven’t been the same since Michael was turned. He wasn’t the same. The freedom he gained from Glass House gave him a whole new set of rules and barriers that made things easier in some ways, yet harder in others. Among other things, I think this trip brought them all a little closer. I also liked the fact that Michael was getting the recognition that he deserved. Those were the good things. I can’t even begin to explain the bad…Wow, talk about your twists and turns. It was hard to keep up with the good guys and the bad guys. Especially if you were trying to tell the difference. There were some surprises in Kiss of Death and once again allies were coming from unexpected sources. A couple of them are starting to grow on me…. just a little.I also have to say that these books get harder and harder to review. Not because I don’t like them or because it’s the same old story over again. It’s because one of them is just as good and surprising as the other and I find myself saying a lot of the same things over and over again. Boring, I know. So basically, if you haven’t started reading Morganville Vampires, you need to. You won’t be sorry. They are quick reads and pack a lot of action, emotion and surprises into each installment.I read Kiss of Death as the second book in Volume 4. That’s the last of the Volumes for now, so I guess I’ll be tracking down the rest of them as single books. *sigh* I’m going to miss going from one book right into the next, but it will be worth having a few extra books on my shelf to find out what is in store next for Morganville and its residents.

I think this is one of those books that could have stood a few more pages. It was OK, but the characters just didn't grab me. I needed more time to get to know them and they needed more time to get to know each other. Beyond that, it was a pretty good read. I picked up More Than Friends as a free download on July 1, 2013 and read it as part of my 'Why Buy the Cow' reading challenge.

Okay, here's one that was short but not lacking anything. At. All. Let's just say that this book is quite a start to a series that I can't wait to sink into. There's magic, a curse (a rather interesting curse to say the least), vampires, Fae, plenty of action and some smexy moments that were.. well, you'll have to read it to appreciate the irony here. Can't wait to see what London is in store for next. I received Cursed as a free download from Amazon on May 26, 2013.

Oh this was a few pages of just plain fun. ;) It was just enough of a tease to make me want to check out the Sanguine series. Who wouldn't want to learn more about a slightly jealous, gay, cross dressing, vegetarian vampire and his vampire hunting lover? I mean really? I picked up Late Night Snack as a free download from Amazon on July 1, 2013 and read it as part of my 'Why Buy the Cow?' Reading Challenge.