REVIEW: The Backup Boyfriend by River Jaymes

The Backup Boyfriend by River Jaymes My rating: 2 of 5 stars This was a nice contemporary romance. I have no major criticisms. It just didn’t work for me. What I Liked + the characters Alec got off on the wrong foot with me in the beginning. I found him whiny, and I feared he was going to be a doormat. I perfectly understood he was grieving over the breakup of his two-year relationship, but I...

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REVIEW: El Presidio Rides North by Domashita Romero

El Presidio Rides North by Domashita Romero My rating: 3 of 5 stars A fun and playful mm-romance... in a zombie apocalypse and it’s not a parody. Say what? But there it is, and it was refreshing! The story kicked off with our narrator under a zombie attack, about to die a lonely death, when out of nowhere a guy whacked the zombie and rescued him. Zombies 0, Shovel 1. Naturally, the two men teamed...

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NEWS: a new look for the book blog

Tolerably Smart news: If you're reading this post from the RSS feed, check out Tolerably Smart for the new look. It's significantly different from the last 2-3 looks, which were simple background and color change. The new look is bland but it's smoother and easier on the eye. The web elements no longer disjoint, and the background no longer distract. I'm aiming for a minimalist web design. Due to...

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REVIEW: Terminated by Rachel Caine

Terminated by Rachel Caine My rating: 2 of 5 stars CAUTION: spoilers, rant The first book was kind of good and really promising. The second book — not so good, because it was too angsty for my taste. The third book (this book) was better. Less on the angst (and Bryn’s internal whining), more of a thriller with Bryn literally taking names and kicking ass. She still whined some but this time she...

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REVIEW: Whitetail Rock by Anne Tenino

Whitetail Rock by Anne Tenino My rating: 3 of 5 stars Smutty and free. The book appealed to every one of my romance kinks, and the romance was interracial to boot (not something I commonly come across). This book would have been rated higher than 3 stars, but it wasn’t for two big reasons. First reason: the main character Nik wasn’t likable as I wanted him to be. I get his issues. I get his anger....

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REVIEW: Light by Nathan Burgoine

Light by Nathan Burgoine My rating: 3 of 5 stars This book was fun! It’s the second time in a row I used that word in a review, and it’s the second time in a row it’s for a book from a publisher (Bold Strokes Books) I have poor luck with! I want to say “used to have poor luck with” here but let’s not jinx it. + the hero The hero was both a big negative and a big positive. Kieran was a big negative...

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REVIEW: The Waking Dreamer by J.E. Alexander

The Waking Dreamer by J.E. Alexander My rating: 2 of 5 stars Good news and bad news. The good news is that the prose wasn’t purple and the plot wasn’t a sea of surrealist drecks as the book description led me to believe. The bad news is that the hero was TSTL and the romance was insta-love. In short: it was a stereotypical YA fiction. Well, the writing is a few notches higher than average, not that...

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REVIEW: Kings of Ruin by Sam Cameron

Kings of Ruin by Sam Cameron My rating: 3 of 5 stars Fun, lively, and exciting. This book was better than I expected, and I admit I expected very little due to my poor luck with the publisher, Bold Strokes Books, and to a string of same-old same-old Young Adult fictions with all the publishers. Is there any Young Adult fiction where saving yourself and the world doesn’t take a backseat to the Romance?...

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REVIEW: The Magpie Lord by K.J. Charles

The Magpie Lord by K.J. Charles My rating: 3 of 5 stars I wish I liked this book as much as all of my friends and trusted reviewers do. In fact, there is a very little reason I shouldn’t. Very. Strong writing, strong mystery, strong romance, and yay, a graphic yaoi-ish sex scene. The book screamed “Love me!” to me, but I didn’t... because my mood says “Fuck you. Neener-neener.” What a capricious...

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REVIEW: Fortune's Pawn by Rachel Bach

Fortune's Pawn by Rachel Bach (aka Rachel Aaron) My rating: 3 of 5 stars This book was great, but there were a few things that could have been done a lot better. What I Didn’t Like + the romance I did not care an ounce for the romance between Devi and Rupert. Of all the men Devi had met in her life, as someone who traveled a lot and was in a field dominated by men which meant she was surrounded...

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REVIEW: Pandaemonium by Ben Macallan

Pandaemonium by Ben Macallan My rating: 1 of 5 stars I didn’t care for book 1, but at least it was interesting enough. Book 2, Pandaemonium, was downright horrible. The book was truly its namesake, full of wild confusion. The book started out fine, picking up immediately where book 1 ended. This time around, however, the story was told from Desi’s viewpoint instead of Jordan’s. I liked Desi and...

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REVIEW: Desdaemona by Ben Macallan

Desdaemona by Ben Macallan My rating: 2 of 5 stars This book could have been a lot better. I had more excitement reading the book description than I did reading the book itself. Oh, there were exciting parts in the book but they were scarce. Most of the book was about the characters’ emo issues. *rolls eyes* It was not what I signed up for. + the characters Jordan was the main character and the...

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REVIEW: The Eldritch Conspiracy by Cat Adams

The Eldritch Conspiracy by Cat Adams My rating: 4 of 5 stars Reading book 5, it’s easy to forget things used to be really angsty in the beginning of the Blood Singer series, and I was more than happy to forget it. Celia rocked my world! + the heroine The heroine still battled the same personal issues from the beginning of the series, such as the issue of being a vampire and, on top of it, a Siren....

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REVIEW: Spook Squad by Jordan Castillo Price

Spook Squad by Jordan Castillo Price My rating: 2 of 5 stars CAUTION: spoilers, rant Man, what a disappointment. I pray to Cthulhu this is not the last book of the Psycop series because it would be a GIANT disappointment. GIANT. “Throwing the book across the room” giant. It took me a few books into the series before I finally liked one enough where I could firmly rate it 3-stars without waffling...

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REVIEW: Vortex by S.J. Kincaid

Vortex by S.J. Kincaid My rating: 2 of 5 stars I thought after the events of book 1 Tom would learn his lessons and be cautious and prudent in book 2. Nope. *anger eye-twitch* He acted the same as before. No character growth. No lessons learned. Dude was fucking TSTL. *flips table* Rambling rant ahead. + the main character Tom pissed off every influential and powerful person he came across....

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REVIEW: The Bell Tower of St. Barnabas by Alice Keats

The Bell Tower of St. Barnabas by Alice Keats My rating: 3 of 5 stars The book cover and description made the novella look like a typical Boys Love manga, and it really did read like one. The usual tropes were there: a school setting, an unrequited love, and at least one of the boys was handsome and had great appeal to the opposite sex, generating groupies and predictable jealousy issues. The only...

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REVIEW: Sidekicked by John David Anderson

Sidekicked by John David Anderson My rating: 2 of 5 stars Superhero fictions tend to fall into two camps: campy and meta. This Middle Grade fiction fell into camp meta, and it fell flat on its bottom with a splat. Ouch. + the main character I struggled to like the main character because Drew was quite nettlesome. I was aware that because he was only 13 years old I should cut him some slack,...

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REVIEW: Surrender by Lee Nichols

Surrender by Lee Nichols My rating: 2 of 5 stars Book 3 concludes the Haunting Emma series, and what a boring series it was. Truthfully, it shouldn’t have been a series at all. The story had some good things but they were very diluted by scenes that often went nowhere and conflicts that were extended way, way beyond their shelf life. The beginning of book 3 was slow, so slow that it should have...

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