April Wrap Up

April was a slow month for me (my reviews are linked):

1. Original Sin by Allison Brennan 3 stars
2. Lover Eternal by JR Ward (reread) 4 stars
3. Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs 5 stars
4. Cheating Chance by James Buchanan (M/M) 4.5 stars
5. Succubus Shadows by Richelle Mead 5 stars
6. On the Steamy Side by Louisa Edwards 4 stars
7. Hannah's List by Debbie Macomber 4 stars - Don't forget to enter my giveaway for a copy of the book and a $25 Visa gift card here!
8. Mind Games by Carolyn Crane 5 stars
9. Crazy for Love by Victoria Dahl 4 stars
10. Romeo, Romeo by Robyn Kaye (NAC) 4 1/2 stars
11. Almost Like Being in Love by Steve Kluger (M/M) 4 stars
12. Here Kitty, Kitty by Shelley Laurenston 4 stars
13. Too Hot To Handle by Robyn Kaye 4 stars
14. Nothing but Trouble by Rachel Gibson (CRC) 4 stars (review coming soon!)
15. A Certain Wolfish Charm by Lydia Dare (NAC) 5 stars (review coming soon!)

I don't know why I had such a slow month, maybe because I had several great reads and I wanted to savor them? I don't know, but I'm happy with my choices and looking forward to May!

My Reading Challenges stand as follows:
New Author Challenge: 16/15
Vampire Reading Challenge: 4/6
Male/Male Reading Challenge: 2/5
Contemporary Romance Reading Challenge: 9/10
Erotica Reading Challenge:6/10
JD Robb In Death Reading Challenge: 0 (I read the first two and just can't seem to make myself pick them up again. I'm really struggling with this one!)

I'm pleased with my challenges so far (except JD Robb, in that case I feel like a failure, LOL) even though I haven't done reviews for all the books that fall into each challenge, and I do have two self-imposed rules for my challenges: Each book can only fall under one challenge and if it's a series only one book in the series can be in the challenge.

So, that was April - how was yours?

January Wrap-Up

This post turned out to be longer than I anticipated...my apologies!

January has been a weird month for me. It began with a reading slump that had started in November/December - I just couldn't enjoy much of what I was reading. Things started to pick up a bit, and looking at my list I did read a bunch of books but it feels like it took a long time (if that makes any sense). I started and put back SEVERAL books before going with the ones I actually read. I also noticed I didn't do very many reviews, AND I used up all the reviews I had "in the can". I think I only have one left!

This is also the first year I've joined several reading challenges. My plan is to not use any books in more than one challenge. For example, reading Bound to Please I could put in either Erotica or Contemporary but not both.

New Author Challenge (NAC)

Contemporary Reading Challenge (CRC)

Erotica Reading Challenge (ERC)

M/M Reading Challenge (M/M)

JDR In-Death Challenge (JDR)

Vampire Series Reading Challenge (VRC)

My January Read List:

1. Wolf Signs - Vivian Arend (NAC)

2. The Wild West - Victoria Dahl

3. Wolf Tales - Kate Douglas (NAC) DNF

4. Blush Opal Carew - (NAC)

5. Catch of the Day - Kristen Higgins (CRC)

6. Giving Chase - Lauren Dane (CRC)

7. Taking Chase - Lauren Dane

8. Hot In Here - Sophie Renwick (CRC)

9. Nice Girls Don't Live Forever - Molly Harper *

10. Sold to a Laird - Karen Ranney (NAC)

11. Dirty - Megan Hart *

12. Crossroads - Moira Rogers

13. Strange Bedpersons - Jennifer Crusie (NAC)

14. Crossroads - Moira Rogers

15. To Tempt A Scotsman - Victoria Dahl

16. Shift - Rachel Vincent *

17. The Mane Event - Shelley Laurenston (NAC)

18. Long Hard Ride - Lorelei James (ERC)

19. The Mane Attraction - Shelley Laurenston

20. Stay With Me - Maya Banks

21. Bound to Please - Lilli Feisty* (ERC)

22. Delicious - Shayla Black (ERC)

23. The Wedding (re-read) - Julie Garwood

* denotes 5 star reads. See how bad I am? I think I only did reviews on 5 or 6 of these books! AND, I did not finish my book for the In-Death Reading Challenge - bad, bad Patti!

I also got some awards this month:

From Larissa over at Larissa's Life, I received the Prolific Blogger Award:

I'm passing this award on to:

Parajunkee at Parajunkee's View;
Janna at Erotic Romance Reader;
SuziSunshine at The Geeky Bookworm;
Hannah at Taunt; and
Erotic Horizon

From SusiSunshine at The Geeky Bookworm and Minx at Loose Knickers and Window Lickers, I received:

This one comes with rules:List 10 things that make you happy. Try and do at least one of them today. Tag 10 bloggers that brighten your day. Link back to the person that tagged you.

10 Things that Make me Happy:

1. Husband/kids
2. Tulips
3. Books/Kindle
4. Sunny days
5. The Museum
6. Music
7. Casual evenings in the backyard with friends
8. Presents!
9. blue glass
10. THE SAINTS IN THE SUPERBOWL (you knew it was on the list, don't roll your eyes!)

and to pass it on:

1. Danielle at ALPHA Reader
2. Kris at Kris 'n' Good Books (Her cookies make me happy!)
3. Cecile at All I want and More
4. Kris at the Cajun Book Lady
5. Mandi at Smexybooks
6. Heidenkind at Heidenkind's Hideaway
7. The Gutter Girls
8. The Book Girl
9. Razlover's Book Blog
10. Marissa at Marissa's Booklair

And, lastly (whew!), I received this award from CBrett60 over at Pirate's Bounty:



This award also has rules: Tell 7 secrets and tag 7 People:
1. I am a neat-freak...I get anxious when things are not symmetrical or in order
2. My favorite color is Navy Blue.
3. If my last child had been a boy instead of a girl I wanted to name him Seamus.
4. If a book doesn't contain at least a little sexytime I'm probably not going to read it.
5. I can't do foreign accents. I've tried but fail miserably!
6. I was in court recently (not my fault) and saw an inmate wearing pink handcuffs. Now I want a pair!
7. I always start out reading at home in an uncomfortable wooden chair, then when my back starts hurting move the comfortable chair. I don't know why I don't start in the comfy chair!


I'm passing this award to:
1. Pattepouille at One Book Away from Heaven
2. Pearl at Pearl's World of Romance
3. Chris at Stumbling over Chaos
4. Blodeuedd at Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell
5. Ms. Moonlight at Moonlight to Twilight
6. Minx at Loose Knickers and Window Lickers
7. The Neverending Shelf

Thanks everyone for the awards!

Review: Dirty by Megan Hart, aka I've Got A New Book Boyfriend!

I picked up this book thinking it sounded like a good story and it fell under my Erotic Romance Challenge. Little did I know I not only would I love this book, but I would also find my new fictional boyfriend here!


Dirty is the story of Elle and Dan. They met in a candy shop, went to a bar and had a few drinks, and that was that. But Elle couldn't stop thinking about him. When she went out for drinks and dancing with her friend from work a few weeks later, Dan was there. It was hot and steamy right there on the dance floor!

Elle has a lot of issues that you don't see right at the beginning of the story. She's got a dysfunctional relationship with her parents, and her gay brother won't come home to visit. Elle is a counter, she counts everything. Counting is one of three ways she can forget her past - the other two are sex and drinking. Her father is a full-fledged alcoholic, so she doesn't drink much, which leaves counting and sex. She doesn't date, but she does pick up men for sex. She thinks this is what will happen with Dan; but acknowledges to herself she's strangely drawn to him.

Although he's described as average in height and stature, Dan is definitely a dominant male. He knows better than Elle what she wants for herself. The thing about Dan is he's also patient and sensitive to her needs. He knows there's something under the surface that he doesn't know or understand yet. He knows he wants her and puts up with a lot of things a less secure man would walk away from. And yet he was not a "super" hero - he had flaws. He got mad. He had insecurities (shown especially, I thought, in the class reunion scenes).

These two are amazing together, and not just sexually. Dan is in her life but she won't let him be a part of it; I think I would describe Dan as the catalyst that causes Elle to be ready to really look at herself and her life when the time comes.

This book is beautifully written. Her descriptions of Elle's thoughts and reactions and sensory perceptions made me feel like I was in the story, watching while the scenes played out. Ms. Hart layered this story perfectly; Elle's relationship with her next door neighbors is hopeful yet sad and is another symptom of Elle's primary issues, her relationship with her brother and mother, her books, and her counting are all beautifully woven together to leave us wanting more of her story, and when we get The Whole Picture - wow. Just...wow.

When I wasn't reading this book I was thinking about it. I give this story 5/5 stars. Thank you Ms. Hart, for sharing it with your readers.