When a Book Goes Terribly Terribly Wrong (a DNF)

I rant a lot when it comes to books. When reading a book I'm more than not riding that special book high that presses all the right buttons -- whether it is good or bad in my eyes. Lately, it's been mostly good and I've been fangirling all over the place with a lot of authors/ books. It's been a while where I've been so torn on just dropping the book in disgust and carrying on because the book is by a favorite author of mine. This is one such occasion. (Warning: Spoilers Ahead)


The Book: The Hellion and the Highlander (#3) by Lynsay Sands
Genre: Romance
Crime: Perpetuating rapist enabling mentality
How It Goes Down: Lady Averill (the heroine) has already had a run-in with with her husband's brother -- a well established serial rapist. An unpleasant groping that was stopped. By the main almost rape, Sands has written Averill to have overcome her timidity and a strong female ready to take most situations in hand. However after the brother beats her and it between her legs lifting up his clothing and a maid stops him by hitting him over the head... Averill begins making excuses to protect her husband.

Oh yes, as the horrified maid (and readers) listen on, Averill explains her husband will surely have to carry the guilt of killing his own brother for the crime he has committed, and Averill wishes to spare him that decision. Thankfully the maid threatens to tell the Laird what has happened if she does not. Incidentally, she tells her husband half-truths and that's only because of the nasty state of her face.

To compound this giant ball of "what the fuuuuu?" the Laird goes in to speak with his brother, figures out that he didn't just beat up his wife, but because he found his brother unconscious on the bed (and knowing his brothers previous indiscretions) comes to the conclusion of a rape attempt. Twists of all twists, the brother is not unconscious but dead. And the kicker? The kicker that seals the fury I have for this particular portion of the book? When Lady Averill is told her attacker is dead she still lies for the bastard. I'm sorry, but that's not exactly the type of heroine I want to be reading in a book. Moreover, it makes no sense! Averill has no background of being an enabler, so why would she suddenly start now when she spilled the beans the first time she was groped?

WRONG WRONG WRONG. On so many levels.

What takes you to put down a book? Have you read this one? If so, what were your thoughts?

Review: The Storyteller's Daughter

Summary (from Goodreads): In a faraway kingdom, a king has been betrayed. Deeply hurt and bitterly angry, he vows never to be deceived again. Unfortunately, the king's plan to protect himself will endanger all of the realm's young women, unless one of them will volunteer to marry the king — and surrender her life.


To everyone's relief and horror, one young woman steps forward. The daughter of a legendary storyteller, Shahrazad believes it is her destiny to accept this risk and sacrifice herself.


On the night of her wedding to the king, Shahrazad begins to weave a tale. Fascinated, the king lets her live night after night. Just when Shahrazad dares to believe that she has found a way to keep her life — and an unexpected love — a treacherous plot will disrupt her plan. Now she can only hope that love is strong enough to save her.

Review: My favorite of the Once Upon a Time series, Dokey weaves many tales into one main story creating a highly enjoyable experience for readers. Told in an old style narrative, readers are instantly enchanted by the first line all the way to the last. A quick, easy read The Storyteller's Daughter is perfect for those who like the "happily ever after" with more to characters than meets the eye.


Formats: e-book, mass market, library binding

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Review: Girl Parts

Summary (from Goodreads): David and Charlie are opposites. David has a million friends, online and off. Charlie is a soulful outsider, off the grid completely. But neither feels close to anybody. When David’s parents present him with a hot Companion bot designed to encourage healthy bonds and treat his “dissociative disorder,” he can’t get enough of luscious redheaded Rose — and he can’t get it soon. Companions come with strict intimacy protocols, and whenever he tries anything, David gets an electric shock. Parted from the boy she was built to love, Rose turns to Charlie, who finds he can open up, knowing Rose isn’t real. With Charlie’s help, the ideal “companion” is about to become her own best friend. In a stunning and hilarious debut, John Cusick takes rollicking aim at internet culture and our craving for meaningful connection in an uberconnected world.

Review: I don't exactly know where I sit with this book. Let me be clear, Girl Parts is a FANTASTIC book. I would completely recommend it to anyone who likes books from contemporary fiction to dystopian. But even after reading Abandon Changes (the FREE short story about what happened after Girl Parts, kind of) I'm still ... thrilled and disappointed. I feel like the fine like between leaving readers to ask questions and leaving readers on the cusp of something wonderful was crossed. And there is a whole world left to explore after the last page is done. I sincerely hope Cusick is allowed to publish a sequel to Girl Parts or at least allow me to be a beta reader (please, pretty please?).

Either way, Girl Parts is a fascinating, well written novel that will keep you both entertained and thinking about what it means to live in such a digital age.


Formats: e-book, hardcover, paperback, audiobook

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Review: Learning to Love

Summary (from Goodreads): Sugar and Spice: Librarian Jayne Gilbert needs a man—a man she can bring to her high school reunion. She wants to prove to her former classmates that she isn't the lonely bookworm they predicted she'd become. So, naturally, Jayne turns to a book. It's called How to Pick Up a Man. And it works, even if she attracts the attention of good-looking Riley Chambers only because she's carrying that book, not because she followed its advice!

Love by Degree: Going back to college, hitting the books. That's Ellen Cunningham's new life. But money's a little tight and she's lucky enough to find inexpensive lodging in a house with three young college boys. Ellen plays housemother, a situation that works for everyone—except Reed Morgan, the absentee owner. He's not pleased to find his house occupied by a bunch of college kids and Ellen. Especially Ellen

Review: Two easy reads in one book. Perfect for that summer afternoon by the pool or beach, or just relaxing on the couch when you need an escape from reality. The two matches have a lovely set-up, however, fall short and crumble towards the end. The overuse of possible "cheating," jealousy, and child-like snits that could all be resolved oh so easily if they just TALKED becomes tedious.


Formats: mass market

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Review: Splintered

Summary (from Goodreads): Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. 

For now. 

When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

Review: A wonderful recreation and new twist on the old classics. Dark, fast-paced, and beautiful, Howard has gifted readers with a stellar story. Alyssa is one of a kind and the journey she takes to find the truth of herself and save her family in Wonderland is truly unique. The re-imagined characters from Carroll's novels are so vivid and different that they entertain when the mystery is long gone. The ending, I felt, could use a little work. Much like an abrupt plane landing, Splintered flew high and dazzled, only to leave me disoriented and blinking to find my thoughts. Still quite enjoyable and would recommend to those who love adventure and fantasy.

Thank you Amulet Books for providing Bookstar, Studio City with a lovely ARC

Formats: e-book, hardcover

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Review: Girl of Nightmares (#2)

Summary (from Goodreads): It's been months since the ghost of Anna Korlov opened a door to Hell in her basement and disappeared into it, but ghost-hunter Cas Lowood can't move on.

His friends remind him that Anna sacrificed herself so that Cas could live—not walk around half dead. He knows they're right, but in Cas's eyes, no living girl he meets can compare to the dead girl he fell in love with.

Now he's seeing Anna everywhere: sometimes when he's asleep and sometimes in waking nightmares. But something is very wrong...these aren't just daydreams. Anna seems tortured, torn apart in new and ever more gruesome ways every time she appears.

Cas doesn't know what happened to Anna when she disappeared into Hell, but he knows she doesn't deserve whatever is happening to her now. Anna saved Cas more than once, and it's time for him to return the favor.


Review: How do I describe something so amazing except to say: READ THIS SERIES. Blake has created another stunner with Nightmares that will leave readers clamoring for more, yet luxuriously satiated by the last line. Anna, Cas, and the gang are back for more off-the-page terrors and achingly suspenseful delights. New mysteries are invited into the mix, giving Nightmares its added edge. Best read late at night for optimal enjoyment, yet don't expect the daylight to keep away the shivers crawling up your spine!

Formats: e-book, hardcover, audiobook

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Review: Dr. Anderson's Nanny

Summary (from Goodreads): Magical Nanny University graduate Wednesday is excited about her first assignment at Dr. Thomas Anderson's home. Since the death of his wife, Tom has buried himself in his work. He has little time for his three daughters. Wednesday's first goal is to make Tom see how important it is to spend time with his little girls. Secondly, she needs to get rid of his girlfriend (with a little magic of course ) who hasn't a shred of compassion or love for his children. Third, she wants to bring laughter and fun into his life. But Wednesday never plans on falling head over heels in love with Tom. It's forbidden for her kind to love a mortal. How will she ever explain she's a cauldron-boiling witch to the scientific doctor and that she has to leave him and his girls forever when all her goals are achieved?


Review: There are so many things wrong with this book, I don't know where to begin. The on/ off attraction between Wednesday, the magical nanny, and Dr. Anderson, surgeon widower extraordinaire, are downright tedious. And also, Wednesday is a pretty bad nanny. Not just because she kisses her employer ON HER FIRST DAY AS NANNY, but also that all she ever feeds the three girls is junk food (seriously, healthy eating habits can be in literature too)! In short, Dr. Anderson's Nanny fails miserably to string together a good plot, only moments and glimpses of what it could have been.


Formats: e-book, paperback

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Quote It!: Diary of a Submissive

"It felt like a whole new world full of people who knew each other and were talking a language that I didn't quite grasp, with many using an elaborate form of pronouns (always capitalized for dominant, always lowercase for submissive no matter whether it was the start of the sentence or the word 'I'), which I found rediculous. I decided quickly that committing crimes against grammar was a hard limit for me."

Oohhh boy. In the sea of things described in this book this bit was too funny to pass up. Never mind that a chapter after this my face contorted in shock and puzzlement. If I were a daintier woman, I may have fainted.

Question of Note: What is something you will not, absolutely, stand for?

Review: The Great Escape (#7)

Summary (from Goodreads): Where do you run to when your life has fallen apart?

Lucy Jorik is a champ at never embarrassing the family she adores—not surprising since her mother is one of the most famous women in the world. But now Lucy has done just that. And on her wedding day, no less, to the most perfect man she's ever known. 

Instead of saying "I do" to Mr. Irresistible, Lucy flees the church in an ill-fitting blue choir robe and hitches a ride on the back of a beat-up motorcycle plastered with offensive bumper stickers. She's flying into the unknown with a rough-looking, bad-tempered stranger who couldn't be more foreign to her privileged existence. 

While the world searches for her, Lucy must search for herself, and she quickly realizes that her customary good manners are no defense against a man who's raised rudeness to an art form. Lucy needs to toughen up—and fast. 

Her great escape takes her to his rambling beach house on a Great Lakes island. Here, she hopes to find a new direction . . . and unlock the secrets of this man who knows so much about her but reveals nothing about himself. As the hot summer days unfold amid scented breezes and sudden storms, she'll also encounter a beautiful, troubled beekeeper; a frightened young boy; a modern-day evil queen; and a passion that could change her life forever. 

In this dazzling follow-up to her New York Times bestseller Call Me Irresistible, Susan Elizabeth Phillips tells the funny, touching, enchanting story of a young woman searching for her destiny . . . and of a damaged man who doesn't believe in second chances.

Review: Gah. I'm usually such a fan of Phillips but, man, did this feel forced. Both Lucy and her bad boy biker love interest -- Panda -- felt hollow. The story did redeem itself 3/4 of the way through, when they both felt like real characters, but by that point many readers will be lost. Instead, I'd offer up Breathing Room (by Phillips) as a better do-the-opposite-let-loose story line.


Formats: e-book, hardcover, paperback, audiobook

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Book Review: Farewell to Charms (#3)

Summary: (from Goodreads) Desi Bascomb is a princess substitute prodigy--she's the fastest employee ever to advance to level three in the Facade Agency, and the youngest to ever be a full-time sub. But now with all eyes on Desi, the only thing she wants is a moment alone to talk to Reed, who's a Facade legacy and secretly a sub for princes. As Desi trains for her new role, she spies more than a few cracks in Facade's perfect appearance. But uncovering the agency's dark past might require more than a princess sub can handle by herself. Desi is no damsel in distress, but sometimes a girl needs a knight in shining armor.

Review: Leavitt has created a whimsical and magical series, yet, Farewell to Charms falls flat. Readers enchanted by Facade, Desi, Meredith, and Reed will find that all the build-up, secrecy, and romantic tension told in the previous two novels comes to a point in this latest book. And promptly falls off a cliff. While still enjoyable I have to recommend it, but don't be expecting the same gleeful anticipation as the last two Princess for Hire books.

Formats: e-book, hardcover

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Review: Jane Austen's Guide to Happily Ever After

Summary: Using Austen's books, characters, and real life as a guidebook, Kantor has created an amusing, no-nonsense way to raise women's awareness of honoring oneself and cherishing those around her.

Review: While I found the tips to be delightfully inspiring (if not self-explanatory), what I found most enjoyable was the character analysis. Kanton's way of describing Austen's characters, their worlds, and manner of livelihood was almost like reading a non-fiction fan-fiction. For me, it opened a whole new way to experience Austen, and has forever changed my perception on many of my favorite characters. If anyone is a fan of Austen -- single or coupled -- I would recommend a gander!



Formats: e-book, hardcover

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Review: First Grave on the Right (#1)

Summary: Charley Davidson is the Grim Reaper, but in a good way. Using her ability to talk to the dead, she has made a name for herself with a private PI business. When the search for the very hot and very illusive Reyes Farrow, Charley's childhood crush, turns into a race against his life will the Grim Reaper be able to help a man cheat death?


Review: A new take on the Grim Reaper, Charley and her friends are in a book of their own. Jones has created a wonderful world that readers will not only be entertained by the sharp, sarcastic dialogue, but also by the mystery and sense of adventure she has produced. Hitting many genres in one fantastic sweep, First Grave on the Right is sure to please a variety of readers!

****Audiobook Recommended****

Formats: e-book, hardcover, paperback, mass market, audiobook

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