What I Read This Month: March

Hi! So I'm back with our third installment of What I Read This Month. I'm tempted to change the name to WIBR as an add-on to the WIBW series, especially since both posts go up on the same day, but I haven't made up my mind yet. I keep slipping and calling it WIBR so that's probably an indication that I need to change the name. Anyway, since I wasn't much good to anyone for most of the month, I had a little more time to read. I think there's a little more variety in this month's list as well so I hope you enjoy. I cut out summaries this month in favor of just sharing my thoughts about the book. I'm still tweaking how I want to do these posts so bear with me for a little while. Let's get to the books!

Cruel Justice: Lorne Simpkins #1 by M.A. Comley

I wasn't sure how I felt about this book immediately after I finished reading it. My immediate reaction to it was 'eh,' but I've noticed I feel like that about a lot of books and just need some time to process how I felt about it. As for this one, I enjoyed the plot. I enjoyed the different perspectives, from the victim, killer, and police sides of the story. Knowing the bits about the victims that hadn't yet been revealed to the main characters helped me as the reader approach things from a more thorough standpoint, to see what details they missed, what details were important, etc. and reading how the investigation was going helped me to see just how close...or far...they were to closing in on the killer with the details I'd picked up from their side of things. I liked that there was conflict on Lorne's team that was resolved honestly and without the person being involved in the murders. I also really liked the backstory of how the killer came to be, why they chose the people they chose, for their crimes. You can see, maybe not understand because we're not killers, but put the pieces together as to why the person snapped and I think stories like that are always better than those with serial killers who have no method to their madness. It was nicely done. I'm getting ready to complain about something related to this subject, but I appreciate the attention to Lorne's marital issues and a reaction that feels realistic. I felt bad that nobody in Lorne's life seemed to understand or have any desire to be there for her but I've noticed this to be the case in many police thrillers.

There were a couple of plotholes in the book that I didn't have cleared up by the end, but the main sore thumb of this book was Lorne's husband's behavior throughout. The guy starts the book having a drunken meltdown and taking swipes at her, then Lorne understands how he became so resentful, then she complains about the various mood swings, then she just wants her husband back, then he finally up and leaves her but by the end of the book, all is well again. How? Plot summaries from future books tell me that the two eventually get divorced, but I didn't understand why the book ended on such an unrealistically happy note when the two had been fighting from damn near the first page. Another plot point I didn't understand was the whole angle with the doc. The 180 he did towards Lorne was so abrupt it almost looked suspicious lol, I was convinced for most of the book following the shift that he was attempting to get close to her because he had something to do with the murders. I was wrong, but I just didn't get it. My next point is minor, but I didn't understand the need for all the fat references and derogatory observations surrounding overweight people. They didn't seem necessary and the book would have been fine without them. Other than these things, I didn't have too many issues with the book. I thought it was a solid thriller and the cliffhanger at the end had me quite intrigued as to how this saga continues.

My rating: 

Marking Time by Marie Force

I didn't read the first book in this series, but this follow-up is after Claire comes out of the coma and begins to rebuild her life. I liked her but I felt like her emotions were a bit too muted, a bit too passive, for everything she had to face in such a short period of time and I wish there'd been more emotional impact. That's probably just me because I'm a hothead, but to me it looked like she lacked depth. I appreciated the array of emotions she experienced, but they didn't seem to have that real oomph and impact I was looking for. Most of Claire's emotions revolved around her heartbreak and eventual acceptance and I liked the different scenarios throughout the book that brought these feelings into the light. I also liked how it became a point for her to regain her independence and find out who she was again; I desperately wanted her to end the book happy without her now-ex husband and she did. I wish there'd been a bit more perspective on how her ex and kids feel about her being around again because to be honest she seemed to be more of a footnote in their lives. I expected for there to be a little more determination and effort as she attempted to reintegrate herself, but there really wasn't. I understood that everyone had since formed new lives, partially to accommodate the reality that she may never awaken, but it also seemed like they didn't much need her anymore. I felt she became a bit of a footnote in her own story, especially in comparison to the development of Kate's story with Reid. I enjoyed the two of them together regardless of the age difference and I wish Claire hadn't been so judgmental about it. This seems to be a recurring topic for me lately; if you read today's WIBW post you'll know what I mean.

I liked the book and am glad almost everyone ended this one happy, but for me I never quite got that emotional kick I was expecting to receive while I was reading. I would still recommend this, though, despite the more critical tone you've probably gotten from the rest of this paragraph. It was a wonderful example of how shitty things sometimes happen to good people and that sometimes, you have to wade through a long tunnel of it in order to get to the sunshine on the other end. There were no villains in this book, nobody that you could blame the bad events on. Well, other than the primary villain but I believe that was covered in the previous book. As for this book, everything that happened, good or bad, was just the natural progression of life and that made certain events painfully realistic. I kept wanting the ex-husband to do something that made him fall from Claire's pedestal, do something irredeemable to help her move on. When he didn't and continued to be the person she was in love with but couldn't have, it killed me because it was so much more realistic. Claire rebuilding her life didn't take the usual book skeleton by being jilted by a douchebag ex-lover, she went through a traumatic situation she wasn't expected to heal from and woke up to a world drastically different from the one she fell asleep in. It hurts but makes the healing process much more intense to read. I liked that and overall, I enjoyed the book.

My rating: 

Missing People

Even though October isn't for another 7 months, to the day, actually, I try to find inspiration and potential post topics for my ATV series Octoberfest throughout the rest of the year. It helps a lot come September--when I usually prep the series--if I already have topics on the list to research and try to build posts around. If you've never been a part of ATV Octoberfest, it's my monthly tribute to the creepy and gory, but keeping in tune with the vintage theme of the blog I make the '70s my cut off date. Anyway, when I saw that this book's timespan was 100 years I immediately thought of Octoberfest and if there was anything I could use as a base for research. I did find a couple of names that could bear more research and could potentially be used for the series, but I was annoyed that there were as many grammatical errors as there were. I don't normally go on about a book with errors, especially if I can still understand the point being conveyed, but there were a few too many for me to overlook it. It would have been beneficial for the author to give the book to a set of fresh eyes before publication to catch the various mistakes. Other than that, I liked the cases discussed in the book. Many of the cases probably weren't mysterious enough to be covered by national news when they happened, so I do like that there seems to be an effort to include stories that weren't as widely circulated as others. I also appreciate that different perspectives and reports related to the cases were discussed rather than it just being a full opinion piece as to what happened to the people involved. My primary complaint with Missing People all comes down to the various errors; they take away from the rest of the book.

My rating: 

Promises of Mercy by Vella Day

This was an inoffensive menage romance and I enjoyed it, even if I found it maybe the slightest bit stale. I liked Amber, but she was a little too flighty for the wrong reasons. Busy schedules equate to her as not being able to find love with them, which makes no sense whatsoever. Being frustrated about the lack of time with both makes sense, but she takes it to a level that doesn't add up, especially considering one of the men's schedules is busy partially because he's attempting to keep her safe. Overall though, I did like her--she'd been through a lot, wanted to finally have some lasting happiness in her life, and having her closest brother murdered in her hospital right under her nose must have been traumatizing. Having frayed nerves and developing a fear of abandonment kind of made sense but sometimes it was a little irritating to keep seeing her think about pulling back simply because the men get busy with work. Cade and Stone were great, if not a bit bland, but I liked that the author made a point to show us the differences between each man. I felt like there wasn't enough attention to the story between the mens' friendship with each other; even though we saw how much they loved Amber and their genuine appreciation for each other as best friends, there wasn't a lot of attention paid to building dialogue between them apart from the case that drew them to Amber. It wasn't very in-depth and I would have been more invested in them had there been a little more detail. I don't have too much to add about the book; it was okay but wasn't the most memorable menage I've read.

My rating: 

Embracing My Submission #1 by Jenna Jacob

I thought this book was a good look into the BDSM lifestyle, both the good and bad. I appreciated that there was attention paid to the 'wrong' type of person looking to gain something from being a Dom, as I feel its an oft-overlooked part of the lifestyle. The 'wrong' Dom boyfriend in these books is always a previous boyfriend, set before the events in the book, who is the oft-mentioned, never seen villain our hero has to contend with when trying to win over his heroine. This book explored that by making the heroine, and by default the reader, attracted to him, only for all of us to be wrong about him. A very realistic mistake was made in the book with the heroine misjudging someone she was drawn to, a common mistake many of us, whether we partake in the lifestyle or not, tend to make with potential partners. Some of those mistakes get past our internal alarms, some of them get through the vetting process of friends and family, and then they reveal their true selves. BDSM-related activities aside, I thought the experience I'm referencing played out rather realistically, if not a bit abrupt but sometimes it's like that. Putting the BDSM activities back into the situation, to try and force someone to submit to them by assaulting them with the attempt of raping them at ANY time but especially when they're still in subspace is a really shitty thing to do. I could rant about that for a minute but the point I'm making is that I liked that common stereotypes and cliches often associated with the BDSM community were addressed in a way that felt natural to the book. It was a good look into a submissive's mind and how one can be broken of their inner brat without exclusively employing violence, something that series like 50 Shades of Grey could stand to learn. lol It was a learning experience, both for our heroine and for those looking to learn more about BDSM and different types of relationships that exist within the lifestyle. I loved that there was a gay D/s relationship in there, front and center, because not only is that another oft-overlooked angle not typically explored in hetero-geared books, but the manner in which it existed was not to employ derogatory or stereotypical cliches. The added bonus of said D/s relationship is how it relates to our heroine, which I don't want to spoil but I think made the book overall, especially the D/s dynamic, more unique. I also really enjoyed that the hero of the book was a man of color. He was an ideal Master for a ton of people, in terms of character traits. The 'supernatural' bit of the book, if you can call it that, was a nice addition to further the point that the hero and heroine should be together. I too have crazy ass dreams, so I liked that her dreams had a focal point in dictating her future. It wasn't employed in the usual way you read about someone's dreams playing a role in their future, with some bigger picture to worry about or some ghost/zombie/spirit to fight, but just a friendly dream nudge in the right direction. This book had a lot in it that I think, if the author's skills were lacking, would not have worked at all. But it did work, and quite well.

As for things I disliked....none immediately come to mind but when I think more about it, I almost disliked Mika. He was almost too perfect. lol I don't actually have a problem with it; it just serves as another reminder that flesh and blood men oftentimes don't can't live up to the men in our minds. LOL I had a con with the book but I think I understood why it was there so it didn't really count anymore--without spoiling too much, Julianna, our heroine, thought she was getting into one type of relationship but it was actually another and she didn't find out until later, validating her fear of not being in control. I understood that this was part of her building trust in Mika, but I'm also a skittish gal so I understood her apprehension. I thought this was a great story, if not dragged out just a touch long, and I'm open to reading more installments in the series.

My rating: 

Crime Lord's Captive by Mia Knight

I wanted to like this book, but I found it infuriated me the further into it I got. The heroine's weakness made sense--at first--because the supposed hero of the book literally stole her life right from under her and she was dragged back into a life she'd finally escaped from. But her resistance crumbles fairly quickly, and then she seems to forget that her 'hero' is a murderous, abusive psychopath. I'm annoyed that this book was made to appear sexy, alluring and slightly dangerous when what it really is is a cautionary tale to not confuse dangerous with abusive. I'm very firmly in the minority though, as the Amazon reviews are glowing and the book is highly rated. People are in love with this series and its characters. I, however, found Crime Lord's Captive hard to root for anyone, found it hard to enjoy and nearly impossible to finish. I didn't see any growth, any progression, any redemption. And there's a series based off of these characters! I couldn't do it. I think maybe its a matter of personal preference so don't take this as a knock on the author--the Las Vegas she fleshed out was so realistic and descriptive I was sure it was based off of someone's actual life lol--and her writing skills are without question. She did an amazing job creating these characters, the world they live in, and establishing a basis to build an entire series from. That's no easy feat. It's hard creating a world in which people are layered and still unredeemable, but she did that. I don't know if that was the intention, but that's what I came away from it with. I thought this was going to be a story about a person being taken captive and changing the crime lord's mind over time so the two fall in love, or about a woman who gets taken captive and eventually gets away from the man who ruined her life. Crime Lord's Captive was neither. Again, this isn't a critique about the author at all. The other reviews are positive and probably loads more helpful than mine. lol  This just wasn't a book for me and if you're not into reading about emotionally abusive situations or are easily triggered by them, this isn't a book for you either. 

My rating: 

Why Men and Women Can't Be Friends by Oliver Markus Malloy

Even though my overall opinion is that this is a sexist, vulgar look into relations between men and women, I can't deny that it had some blunt truths in it. While the vast majority of men I've met do nothing to rid my impressions of men as gassy, lumbering cavemen who think with the wrong head and lack depth or secret r/niceguys with a douchebag complex, I have met a few who aren't quite as surface level as this book implies. Neither sex is quite as simple-minded. We certainly can be, but I wouldn't generalize it that way. It was as amusing as it was irritating to follow along with the author as he shared his thoughts on how he feels women think and what shapes our interactions with men. There were some points of truth, but there were a lot of parts where I could see that his personality shapes a lot of how he perceives both genders but more specifically how he perceives women to think and behave. In theory, I understand some of his points. For example, he says that all men would be rapists if it weren't for the law. And for quite a few men, I believe this to be the case in a way. Many women, survivors and otherwise, have met men who, instinctively, we know would absolutely take without asking if not for their fear of the law and its repercussions. But at the same time, the #metoo movement is a direct contradiction of that mentality. The blunt truth of the matter is that if a man wants to rape a woman, he will. And vice versa. The law doesn't deter all sexual assault and it's pretty stupid, especially in today's society, to say that the law successfully deters rape with a rape-specific movement in the foreground. It's stupid and tone-deaf as fuck to even put such an idea out there right now.

One thing I did appreciate was the tone. I appreciated that his thoughts were unfiltered and blunt, even the thoughts I didn't agree with. I liked that his sentiments weren't wrapped in a flowery tone. He expressed everything in this really dry, blunt style that made the book easier to read. The tone was rather condescending from a woman's point of view and that I could have done without lol, but I appreciate that he was real about it. While I disagreed with a healthy amount of this book, there was a lot that, minus the snark and condescension, I agreed with as well. It's not an awful book, just a judgmental one. I can see a lot of people on both sides of the fence agreeing with the points stated in the book, and I can also see a lot of people on both sides of the fence--but probably more women than men--wanting to tear the author a new one for it. It's one of those books. lol It has a no-bullshit sort of stance, and even though I didn't agree with the majority of thoughts, I can respect them. Some of them. lol

My rating:

Broken Little Melodies

This was one of my favorite reads of the month. I was probably going to read the book anyway because I genuinely enjoyed the preview blurb I read about it on BookBub, but when I saw that the hero's name was Roman, I was all in. If you know me at all you are already aware of my immoral lust slight crush on a certain wrestler, so it shouldn't be a surprise that I'm partial to the name Roman. lol Anyway, it's always appealed to me to read about when broken people can come together and create something new, but it appeals to me more when there's backstory involved. This one has backstory dating all the way back to puberty, and being able to follow along from both perspectives as they grow into their bodies and feelings for each other was a treat. I think it made me more invested in each character, both for their individual stories and the one they needed to create together. The author did an excellent job at creating two characters who fit like a glove. Their personalities seemed to be shaped by their circumstances and while I know exactly how that goes sometimes, I would have liked them to have more individual characteristics apart from those that were either carved from or shaped by their pain. As teens I got a sense of them as people, but as adults they mostly seemed raw and one-note because of said pain. On the one hand it made their feelings all the more intense because if their thoughts weren't about music they were about each other so the reader was able to understand how deep their love for each other went. It dominates and pushes the entire book, in large part because of Roman's love for her and Isabelle's fear of her love for Roman. Both of their music careers take off because of their love, and the beautiful part is that the agony and heartbreak their love created is also what brought them back together, and as cheesy as that sounds it's what makes the story what it is.

The drama that separated the two seems a bit contrived, especially when you hear exactly what went down, but I think the time apart makes the story more impactful than if they'd naturally grown up and apart or if they'd been together the entire time. Minor spoiler alert, one of the minor characters dies and even though nobody's mourning his death, almost immediately after the news is revealed Roman and Isabelle are having sex. I dunno, maybe I've never despised anyone to the point that their death is completely meaningless to me, but the timing was a little off for that. Other than that, loved the plot, loved the characters, really enjoyed reading the backstory.

My rating: 

What am I reading right now? Egyptian Mythology, Victim Zero, Epiphany