2010 YoTH and Re-Read Challenges - Completed!

I decided to finishing off my completed Challenge posts for 2010 this week.  I only have one more Challenge to complete and I'll be taking care of that by posting my last review of the year for the In-Death Challenge later on this month.

Year of the Historical: A 2010 Reading Challenge - Hosted by KMont of Lurv a la Mode

100% Completed December 11, 2010

I had an excellent time with this Challenge. I initially meant to read some of those books I already had in my TBR, but as it turned out I read a mixture of new and older releases. I explored works by some excellent authors AND found some favorite books through this Challenge: Pamela Morsi, Lavyrle Spencer and Cheryl St. John are three of those authors. Their books along with Steve Kluger's Last Days of Summer, Lisa Kleypas' lovely historical romances and Elizabeth Hoyt's Wicked Intentions also made my list.

Following is a list of books read, with a link to each review. As you can see some months I submitted more than one book and review for this Challenge.

Jan:   Last Days of Summer by Steve Kluger (WW II) - Review here
Feb:   Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas (Re-read) - Review here
Mar:  Dark Angel/Lord Carew's Bride by Mary Balogh - Review here
Apr:  Courting Miss Hattie by Pamela Morsi - Review here
           Her Colorado Man by Cheryl St. John - Review here
May: The Endearment by Lavyrle Spencer - Review here
Jun:  Lavyrle Spencer: Morning Glory and Years - Review here
Jul :  Love in the Afternoon (Hathaways, Book 5) by Lisa Kleypas - Review here
Aug: Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage by Jennifer Ashley - Review here
Sept: Lady Sophia's Lover by Lisa Kleypas (Re-read) 
           A Separate Peace by John Knowles (Re-read) - Minis for both here
Oct:  The Doctor's Wife by Cheryl St. John - Review here
Nov: Wicked Intentions by Elizabeth Hoyt - Review here
Dec:  A Bride in the Bargain by Deeanne Gist - Review here

Thank you KMont for hosting this Challenge!

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The 2010 Re-Read Challenge - Hosted by Nath of Books, Books and more Books


100% Completed December 11, 2010

This was another fun Challenge for me! I tend to re-read books that I love, my keepers and comfort reads. I chose my re-reads at random, depending on my mood. Some of them I re-read before and have become comfort reads, as in Duncan's Bride by Linda Howard, and others I re-read for the first time. My reactions to some of the books were interesting, I enjoyed some of them more the second time around (A Bride in the Bargain by Deeanne Gist) and some of them a bit less (To Beguile a Beast by Elizabeth Hoyt), however my overall initial view of the books usually stayed the same.

Following is a list of the books I re-read, by month, with a link to all reviews posted. 

Jan:  Duncan's Bride by Linda Howard - Review here

Feb: Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas - Review here

Mar: Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson - Review here

Apr: Three Sisters Island Trilogy by Nora Roberts - Reviews here

May: To Beguile a Beast by Elizabeth Hoyt - Review here

Jun:  Mine to Possess (Psy/Changeling, #4) by Nalinin Singh - Review here

Jul:  Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling - Review here

Aug: Rising Tides (Quinn Brothers, Book #2) by Nora Roberts - Review here

Sept: Lady Sophia's Lover by Lisa Kleypas, A Separate Peace by John Knowles, 
           Almost Like   Being in Love by Steve Kluger, Cullen's Bride by Fiona Brand, 
           Mr. Perfect by Linda Howard - Minis here

Oct:  Rising Moon by Lori Handerland - Review here

Nov: If You Desire by Kresley Cole - Mini here

Dec: A Bride in the Bargain by Deeanne Gist - Review here

Thank you Nath for hosting this Challenge!

M/M Romance & The Big Book - 2010 Completed Challenges!

The 2010 M/M Romance Challenge - Hosted by Anezthezea of I Heart Paperbacks

100 % Completed October 2010

I had lots of fun participating in the M/M Romance Challenge this year. Again I read books by new authors whose works I'll be exploring in the future, and some of my favorite GLBT books of the year are included in this list.

That includes my favorite GLBT romance anthology of the year Fool for Love: New Gay Fiction edited by Timothy J. Lambert and R.D. Cochrane; The Boy Can't Help It: Sensual Stories of Young Bottoms by Gavin Atlas, a hot collection with an even hotter cover from Lethe Press; The Adrien English Mysteries by Josh Lanyon, a series that caused a crazed Lanyon read and re-read cycle I've still to overcome! And two of my favorite reads of the year, Diana Comet and Other Improbable Stories by Sandra McDonald and A Strong and Sudden Thaw by R.W. Day!

Following is a list of books read. Click on titles to access reviews. I signed up for 20+ books this year, and although I read and reviewed over 20 books, I chose to stop listing them after 22.

1. Fool for Love: New Gay Fiction edited by Timothy J. Lambert and R.D. Cochrane
2. Best Gay Erotica 2010 edited by Richard Labonte selected by Blair Mastbaum
3. The Boy Can't Help It: Sensual Stories of Young Bottoms by Gavin Atlas
4. Fatal Shadows (Adrien English Mysteries, Book 1) by Josh Lanyon
5. A Dangerous Thing (Adrien English Mysteries, Book 2) by Josh Lanyon
6. The Hell You Say (Adrien English Mysteries, Book 3) by Josh Lanyon
7. Death of a Pirate King (Adrien English Mysteries, Book 4) by Josh Lanyon
8. The Dark Tide (Adrien English Mysteries, Book 5) by Josh Lanyon
9. Crossing Borders by Z.A. Maxfield
10. Cheating Chance by James Buchanan
11. Carbon and Ash by Chris Owen (Read-read)
12. Henry and Jim by J.M. Snyder
13. Vintage: A Ghost Story by Steve Berman
14. Bound by Blood (Soul Mates Book 1) by Jourdan Lane
15. Deceptions (Soul Mates Book 2) by Jourdan Lane
16. Sacrifice (Soul Mates Book 3) by Jourdan Lane
17. Diana Comet and Other Improbable Stories by Sandra McDonald
18. Zero at the Bone by Jane Seville
19. A Strong and Sudden Thaw by R.W. Day
20. A Hidden Magic by Angela Benedetti
21. Unfinished Business by Angela Benedetti
22. Caught Running by Madeline Urban and Abigail Roux
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Thank you Anezthezea for hosting this great Challenge!

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The 2010 Big Book Challenge - Hosted by Orannia of Walkabout.

100% Completed August 2010

This was a deceptive challenge, it looked easy but it turned out to be tough for me. All you had to do was read ONE book -- a really BIG book with more than 500 pages before the end of 2010. I was successful and completed the Challenge by reading one new release and re-reading another big book. However, I did not read the book I chose initially. Why? Unfortunately, after over 5 months of not being able to get past page 200, the book became a DNF for me.

Books Completed for the Challenge:

Title: Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows (Re-read)
Genre: YA Fantasy
Release Date: July 2007
# of Pages: 759
Reading Start Date: July 1, 2010     Finish Date: July 3, 2010
Review: July 25, 2010 - Link to review here.

Title: The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

Genre: YA Fantasy
Release Date: May 4, 2010

# of Pages: 516 

Reading Start Date: August 17, 2010     Finish Date: August 21, 2010

Mini-Impressions: December 14, 2010 - Link to Mini here.

My initial choice for this Challenge was:

Title: Naamah's Kiss by Jacqueline Carey
Genre: Fantasy
Release Date: June 24, 2009
# of Pages: 656
Reading Start Date: August 26, 2010     Finish Date: DNF

Thank you Orannia for hosting this Challenge! It was a tough one, lol!

Minis: Garcia Marquez, Kresley Cole, Rick Riordan

Today, I have three of my ini-mini, short first impressions for you. These are books that I've read, or attempted to read, but didn't share with you at the time.

In a Latin American port city during colonial times, a young girl named Sierva Maria de Todos los Angeles the only child of the ineffectual Marquis de Casalduero is bitten by a rabid dog. Her father, who has shown no interest in the child, begins a crusade to save her life, eventually committing her to the Convent of Santa Clara when the bishop persuades him that his daughter is possessed by demons. In fact, Sierva Maria has shown no signs of being infected by rabies or by demons; she is simply being punished for being different. Having been raised by the family's slaves, she knows their languages and wears their Santeria necklaces; she is perceived by the effete European Americans around her as "not of this world." Only the priest who has reluctantly accepted the job as her exorcist believes she is neither sick nor possessed but terrified after being inexplicably "interred alive" among the superstitious nuns.

A couple of months back I picked up Del Amor y Otros Demonios by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Of Love and Other Demons) again, Marquez' last work of fiction written in 1996. I've attempted reading this short work twice before and haven't been able to get past the 30th page. This has nothing to do with the quality of the writing, instead I'm affected negatively by the content because of personal baggage. This time I got as far as half-way through the book before going to bed and had nightmares. I didn't have the heart to pick it up again the next day. Maybe later on I'll see if I can finish it, get rid of that baggage, just give it a push, have one more nightmare and see how it all ends. LOL!

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A DANGEROUS DEMON SHE CAN’T RESIST . . .
Malkom Slaine: tormented by his sordid past and racked by vampiric hungers, he’s pushed to the brink by the green-eyed beauty under his guard.

A MADDENING WITCH HE ACHES TO CLAIM . . .
Carrow Graie: hiding her own sorrows, she lives only for the next party or prank. Until she meets a tortured warrior worth saving.

TRAPPED TOGETHER IN A SAVAGE PRISON . . .
In order for Malkom and Carrow to survive, he must unleash both the demon and vampire inside him. When Malkom becomes the nightmare his own people feared, will he lose the woman he craves body and soul?

Demon from the Dark by Kresley Cole was an interesting mix for me. I loved the hero, Malkom, in that book. He was just so darn sweet! I don't even know how to say it, but he's hot and sweet at the same time. There he was, a Vemon and considered an abomination (even in his own mind), and after all that time alone considering himself a monster, Malkom's heart and goodness were pretty much intact. I hurt for him and for a while I couldn't stand the heroine -- Carrow -- because she knowingly used him and was going to hurt him. He didn't deserve it. Malkom's character made this story enjoyable for me. The plot was interesting and it did move the overall storyarc forward slightly, so I'll definitely read Regin and Aidan/Chase's story, Dreams of a Dark Warrior. I can't wait to read how Cole redeems Aidan. :)

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Since their mother's death, Carter and Sadie have become near strangers. While Sadie has lived with her grandparents in London, her brother has traveled the world with their father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane.
One night, Dr. Kane brings the siblings together for a "research experiment" at the British Museum, where he hopes to set things right for his family. Instead, he unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes him to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives.
Soon, Sadie and Carter discover that the gods of Egypt are waking, and the worst of them —Set— has his sights on the Kanes. To stop him, the siblings embark on a dangerous journey across the globe - a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs.

The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan is another book I read a while back. A buddy review with Nath is on the works for Breezing Through. This is definitely a fast paced adventure and quite exciting. A story about a brother and sister of mixed ethnic background who lose their father and suddenly find themselves in the center of a battle between worlds and gods. There's magic, Egyptian-based mythology, gods, and enough creepy crawlies to make this a really fun read. The premise is similar to the Percy and the Olympians series, but that's about it. The rest is quite original and I didn't feel as if I were reading the same books. The kids are great and different. The situations and villains are dangerous and the action and pace make this 516 page book seem short.

The Red Pyramid - Orannia's 2010 Big Book Challenge

Review: A Bride in the Bargain by Deeanne Gist

Hi everyone! Sorry I disappeared for a few days. I'm afraid that on top of starting a new job and all the changes to my schedule, I had a bit of an unexpected emergency in my family and my blogging and reading time was reduced dramatically this week. All should be going back to normal by Monday, and I expect that I'll be around again by next week. :)

Since I can't go without reading something, I looked through my Kindle and found a book that I read last year when it released and remember enjoying quite a bit - A Bride in the Bargain by Deeanne Gist - and decided to re-read it, slowly as the opportunity arose. I didn't write a review for this book the first time I read it, although I did include a few quick impressions with my Weekly Reads post at Musings.

Because my time is so restricted at the moment and I'm not sure how things are going to work out, this review will serve as an early posting for both my 2010 Re-Read Challenge and my 2010 Year of the Historical Challenge for the month of December.

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In 1860s Seattle, a man with a wife could secure himself 640 acres of timberland. But because of his wife's untimely death, Joe Denton finds himself about to lose half of his claim. Still in mourning, his best solution is to buy one of those Mercer girls arriving from the East. A woman he'll marry in name but keep around mostly as a cook.

Anna Ivey's journey west with Asa Mercer's girls is an escape from the griefs of her past. She's not supposed to be a bride, though, just a cook for the girls. But when they land, she's handed to Joe Denton and the two find themselves in a knotty situation. She refuses to wed him and he's about to lose his land. With only a few months left, can Joe convince this provoking--but beguiling--easterner to be his bride?

A Bride in the Bargain by Deeanne Gist is an inspirational historical romance set in the Washington Territory during the Civil War. I don't usually read inspirational books, this was a first and still the only book in the sub-genre I've read. However, this book initially caught my attention because of the setting and the plot, and both turned out to be excellent.

I love Seattle, Washington. It's one of my favorite places and this story is set during the 1860's and highlights that area's history as Ms. Gist uses historical facts to weave this romance. In fact, quite a few of the characters in the book are based on personages who existed during those times and all the newspaper clippings featured in the book are taken from archives.

The story itself is based on truth and one shared by many men and women. Joe Denton needs a bride to keep his land. Ana Ivey is a nineteen year-old orphan from Granby, Massachusetts who lost her whole family during the Civil War. Destitute and desperate, she becomes one of the Mercer girls along with 299 other war widows or orphans. These women go west to marry or work after signing contracts with Mr. Mercer. On the other side of the country, the men also sign contracts and pay for brides or employees. In this case, Joe thinks he paid $300.00 for a bride. Ana thinks she paid $50.00 to work as a cook to Joe and his crew of lumberjacks. They are both deceived by Mr. Mercer.

This story shines when it comes to historical details and the beauty with which Ms. Gist describes the setting and circumstances. The romance itself is warm and there are many conflicts placed in the couple's path to resolve before the "happily ever after" is finally reached.  Joe and Ana are a nice couple and I really enjoyed most of their interactions and the way they slowly fall in love. Joe is portrayed as a good man who loves his land above all else. The land is satisfying enough, but he's lonely and obviously needs Ana in his life. Ana is a young woman, 19 years old, who after losing her whole family during the Civil War, is full of guilt and regret. She is what I think of as a plucky girl who won't back down, but has growing up to do.

As I mentioned above this is my one and only inspirational read. I was pleasantly surprised in that A Bride in the Bargain wasn't overly preachy throughout, instead the "inspirational" side of the story was more of a subtle message. The story wasn't perfect, however, and there were a few frustrating moments for me.

The first time I read the book, I grew a bit impatient towards the last quarter of the book with Ana's character and her lack of maturity. This time around, that section didn't seem to bother me as much as it did the first time -- Ana's circumstances were quite dire and the guilt and regret she felt, made her actions understandable.  However towards the end, there just seemed to be one too many dramatic obstacles thrown in the couple's path to deliver the message, and that did seem contrived and unnecessary. In my opinion by that time, the readers (and characters) had already received it.

Overall, A Bride in the Bargain is a book I would recommend to all romance readers as an great historical romance read - especially for those readers who love Americana and excellent historical details with their romance. This is a beautifully written book and if you're a reader who loves inspirational books, you will definitely love this book. I liked it the first time I read it, but I found that this story was more enjoyable for me the second time around.

Category: Historical Romance/Inspirational
Series: None
Released: June 1, 2009
Grade: B+

Visit Deeanne Gist here.

Nath's 2010 Re-Read Challenge - December Review
KMont's 2010 Year of Historical Challenge - December Review

News and more December 2010 New Releases!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

I have some personal news for you today. I started a new job this week and I'm excited! As with all changes, I'll need to make some adjustments to my routine. However, even if I slow down a bit during this first month with my new job, I will continue to read and share my impressions with you.

Today, I want to share three December releases I did not include in my original list of "must reads" for the month. Three books by very different authors in different genres:

• On the LGBT front, I'll definitely be reading Binding the God: Ursine Essays from the Mountain South by Jeff Mann. I've only read one short story by this author and loved it. I'm not passing up this collection of essays.
• All She Wrote: Holmes and Moriarity by Josh Lanyon (Book 2). I loved the characters and the first book of this M/M mystery romance series and can't wait to continue reading it. The mysteries and fun!
• Wedding of the Season by Laura Lee Guhrke is a historical romance and first in the Abandoned at the Altar series. This series attracted my attention and I'm hoping it will be a winner for me.

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Binding the God: Ursine Essays from the Mountain South by Jeff Mann
Release Date: December 6, 2010

A much lauded essayist and poet, Jeff Mann writes of the passion and pain of being a Southern gentleman who happens to be invested in many worlds: the hungers of gay Bear culture; the propensities of leather and bondage; the frustrations of academia; and the perspectives of an Appalachian who has traveled the world. In Binding the God, his second collection of essays, Mann offers readers another tour of his consciousness and experiences. This volume includes essays previously published in Arts and Letters, Second Person Queer, Callaloo, Now and Then, White Crane, Queer and Catholic, and other journals and anthologies.

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All She Wrote: Holmes and Moriarity, Book 2 by Josh Lanyon
Release Date: December 28, 2010

A murderous fall down icy stairs is nearly the death of Anna Hitchcock, the much-beloved “American Agatha Christie” and Christopher Holmes’s former mentor. Anna’s plea for him to host her annual winter writing retreat touches all Kit’s sore spots—traveling, teaching writing classes, and separation from his new lover, J.X. Moriarity.

For J.X., Kit’s cancellation of yet another romantic weekend is the death knell of a relationship that has been limping along for months. But that’s just as well, right? Kit isn’t ready for anything serious and besides, Kit owes Anna far too much to refuse.

Faster than you can say “Miss Marple wears boxer shorts”, Kit is snooping around Anna’s elegant, snowbound mansion in the Berkshires for clues as to who’s trying to kill her. A tough task with six amateur sleuths underfoot. Six budding writers with a tangled web of dark undercurrents running among them. Slowly, Kit gets the uneasy feeling that the secret may lie between the pages of someone’s fictional past. Unfortunately, a clever killer is one step ahead. And it may be too late for J.X. to ride to the rescue.

Warning: Contains one irascible, forty-year-old mystery writer who desperately needs to get laid, one exasperated thirty-something ex-cop only too happy to oblige, an isolated country manor that needs the thermostat cranked up, various assorted aspiring and perspiring authors, and a merciless killer who may have read one too many mystery novels.

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Wedding of the Season: Abandoned at the Altar by Laura Lee Guhrke (Book 1)
Release Date: December 28, 2010

Abandoned at the altar . . .
Lady Beatrix Danbury had always known she would marry William Mallory. She'd loved him forever and she'd never doubted he loved her, too. But when she made him choose between their life together or his lifelong dream, Will chose the latter . . . and left two weeks before their wedding.

Return of the duke . . .
Will has no illusions that Beatrix would welcome him back with open arms, but six years did not dim his love or desire for her. The only problem is, she's about to marry someone else. Someone safe and predictable . . . the complete opposite of Will. But can he stop the wedding of the season and win Beatrix back, or is it just too late?