Tag Archive | amazon

Lila is the manager of a book store that is located in a building that was bought by developer Grayson. All the legal notifications regarding the necessity to relocate the store were sent to her parents since their names are the listed as the owners. Throughout the book, there was a lot of misdirected anger at Grayson from Lila who she decided was foreclosing on her parents’ (mostly her father) legacy. If anything, it was her mother’s fault. But I won’t even get into that.

First of all, my impression of this books has a lot to do with my stance on Christian or religious contemporary fiction. It is my personal opinion that when romance novel authors try to make them “Christian” they should at least say somewhere in the blurb about the book. Reading a romance novel and having “God” references liberally throughout makes it a Christian contemporary. Not knowing that from the beginning because makes me feel as if I’m being preached to. I am not saying that I have anything against books with a religious slant, but at least I can set my expectations based on that.

Lila is trying to be a “good” Christian and has made a vow that she would not indulge in premarital coitus. But that was before there were lighting sparks between her and Grayson. So now she’s relapsing but she’s so conflicted the whole time. It got kind of annoying to me because the story had a Debbie-downer feel every time Lila focused on her guilt. And that took some of the fun out the reading the back and forth banter between them. I knew that they would end up in bed and the next day she was going to be regretting her lack of self-control.

To top it off, Lila has the thought that maybe she shouldn’t get with Grayson because he’s not a Christian. Then he agrees to go to church with her just because if that is what she likes, he will go along with it. I really don’t like that. I don’t think anyone should convert or change religion or become more religious because of girl or boyfriend. The person is just going through the motions and it may or may not last. I don’t know if in the long run Grayson would become a Christian, but there needs to be more of a basis than “I’m doing it for my girlfriend”.

Another point with which I take issue is Lila’s hot and cold attitude with Grayson. She seemed almost to the point of bi-polar to me. One minute she is flirting, ready to jump his bones, and the next minute she is telling him to get out of her house and she is not speaking to him. He had a lot of patience to deal with her. I would have told her “Crazy girl, get your store off my premises before I have forcibly vacated and get out of my life. Period.”

In closing, in The Book Of Love (Baby Its Cold Out) I liked the male character Grayson but the female Lila was super annoying. Some readers might find it humorous.
And to the author, let me know what to expect. If you are going to use the character’s religious relationship as part of the storyline, give readers a heads up and note Christian contemporary genre.

Already Home is more of a lust story

Oct29

Already Home (Sons of Chance) is a very short story about Hutch and Trina. They had a crush on each other for years but did not act on it. They are two very busy people who seem to want to make the relationship work, but in the end I do not know if they would really make it. I think my hesitant attitude is because there is not much character development in this story. I am okay with short love stories, but there has to be something substantial there in lieu of the chapters of history and build up. That was something this story did not have. There is definitely potential, but it was not as strong as I think it could have been. Since this a Harlequin Blaze story, there is a little heat but it is not as steamy as some other books that I have read.

The ending did not give me the “happy ever after” feeling. I felt it was a hookup between friends who found each other mutually attractive. And that cause the story to lose some of its romance for me.

Since Already Home (Sons of Chance) was free at the time I purchased it, I cannot complain too much. Plus it was mildly entertaining. It is worth a couple of dollars, you want to buy it. Just realize that this story is realistic with a dose of cautious optimism.

Another hot Westmoreland going after what he wants and The Chase is ON!

Sep10

The Chase Is On (Silhouette Desire) by Brenda Jackson

Chase Westmoreland owns a soul food restaurant and Jessica opens a bakery next door. And since a romance novel is nothing without a little drama, Jessica is the granddaughter of the assumed nemesis of Chase’s grandfather. She is trying to find out what happened to cause the rift between the two men.
Chase’s grandfather told him never to trust any member of Jessica’s family. So it gets complicated. Jessica knows who Chase is hoping she can find out what really happened before Chase finds out whose family she is part of. Jessica’s reasons for leaving that information out of the introductions has a lot to do with the fact that she was hoping to prove and present Chase with the proof that will substantiate her grandfather’s innocence. But she knows that the longer she waits, the harder it will be when the truth comes out.
While Chase turned on the charm as soon as he realized he has a cutie for his business neighbor, Jessica began a losing battle trying not to reciprocate. Once she gives in hesitantly, the immediate attraction seems to be smooth sailing until Chase finds out that she has withheld some pertinent information pertaining to her ancestry. With both of them having relationship issues because of previous experiences (e.g. her father was class A jerk), it is interesting to see how they end up together at all.

The Chase Is On (Silhouette Desire) is entertaining, funny, and a little nail-biting at the same time. As the reader, I had information that Chase did not and as I got to know his personality, I wondered how he was going to react when he found out. This is another must read from Brenda Jackson.

I love my Kindle Fire so much

Aug30

Ever since I received my Kindle Fire, Full Color 7″ Multi-touch Display, Wi-Fi , I have been using it like crazy.

I got it for my first year anniversary. I was not too sure at first if I would use it often. Confession: I have a lot of electronics that I don’t use that much even though I thought I needed them. Concerning the Kindle Fire, I thought it would be a novel toy that I take on trips to prevent boredom while travelling.

That did not happen.

The Kindle Fire is so easy to use and has a decent battery life. The wireless picks up well every time I am in an area with signal. I am able to download books and navigate the Internet quickly. I went to the AppStore and downloaded some games also.

Hardware wise, the only drawback for me is that the Kindle Fire does not come with a computer cable. I know that is a minor thing, but if I did not have wireless at home, I would be out of luck until I bought a cable. I think Amazon should include a computer cable instead of a plug in charger. Since wi-fi was not an issue for me, I can download books from Amazon straight to my Kindle Fire. {imagine me doing my happy dance}

I download books from Smashwords.com to my computer and email them to my Kindle Fire documents address. I think that is a handy little feature. As part of managing my Kindle through Amazon, I set up my email address for the wireless transfer. I also use the “Manage my Kindle” tab to manage my Kindle data in the Amazon digital cloud. Whatever is stored in the digital cloud can only be accessed when I have wi-fi connection. Any books that I am reading, I keep on my Kindle and when I am finished I delete from my device but leave in the cloud.

This is an e-reader on steroids. I has a great screen for color books, movies, blogs, or just web browsing. I watched movies for free using Amazon Prime Instant Video. I wish I could have downloaded the video to my device for watching later but I had to be connected to wireless in order to watch the movie. Other than that, the quality was good like I was watching tv. You have to have the $80 per year Amazon Prime subscription to enjoy this feature. That was no biggie for me because what I save on shipping costs through Prime is worth the membership.

If you buy a Kindle Fire, it is important to also sign up for a blog or email subscription that features daily spotlight on free or discounted books and apps. Amazon also sends emails of daily deals. Usually the books are deeply discounted for the day. I have bought a lot of books that I might not have otherwise purchased because they would have been out of my price range.

Overall: Kindle Fire is worth the price. It may not have all the functionality of an iPad (most notably no camera) but it has everything that I need at a fraction of the price. If you are thinking about getting an e-reader, I think this is the best option.

Free books can be a crap shoot

Aug29

Free Books may be a good read or a waste of time

Here are three books that I got for free and had three different reactions. Just because a book is free does not mean it is going to be cheesy, but it is definitely a chance. I have found that some books are free for the author to introduce you to their characters and sample their writing style. Other books are free because the author just decided to publish a book. They might not have edited their book or have a decent story line. But at least they can say that they have published a book!

GOOD (not really to me but you might like it): Love Me (Contemporary Romance) (Take Me) – Bella Andre

When I read this, I was not very impressed with the story. The romance seemed too contrived and I did not find the characters likable. I know that I am the first to admit that romance novels should be viewed as “contemporary fairy tales”, but even with that being said, I still cannot figure out how these characters found love. The emphasis of a romance novel should be on the fact that the characters are able to fall in love or profess their love for one another. In this book, it seems that there was too much lust confused with love. Maybe if the author developed the characters some more, it would be involve the reader more emotionally in order to understand how the characters fall in love with each other.

BETTER: The St James Sisters – Leen Elle (downloaded from Smashwords not Amazon)

There are too many sisters and not enough time to develop the story for each one of them. This book would have you believe that if a young girl spends a considerable time with any one guy, they will fall for each other. And they will be so in love that they will be willing to overcome all odds to be together.

When I chose this book, I thought the story was going to focus on one sister’s story. As you probably know from my post about Dakota Home, I don’t like it when an author tries to cram too many stories into one book.

The book was mediocre to me, but not terrible. If you are looking for something for free, check it out.

BEST: The Billionaire Wins the Game (Billionaire Bachelors – Book One)– Melody Anne

When it comes to romance novels, it is always great when there is limitless amounts of money involved. That being said, this was a sweet story even if it followed a very predictable storyline.

Super rich man and his secretary fall for each other. Sparks are ignited, but her insecurities make her think that he would not seriously consider loving her. Plus, she feels that this is a good job and she does not want mess it up by sleeping with her boss. She could put behind her the fact that she had one indiscretion, if it was not for the fact that she got pregnant. That led to a whole another set of problems. He is the consummate bachelor but knows how to face up to his responsibility. Each person had to confront their reservations about what will make the relationship work. In the end, I was rooting for both of them.

This story was fun and the characters provided me with some laugh-out-loud moments.

I am going to find the rest of Melody Anne’s books and read them. I loved this story so much. I have re-read parts of it just when I wanted to feel warm and fuzzy.