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Social Networking and Productivity
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Debbiereadsbook (1186 KP) rated Zed (Rough Ink, #1) in Books
Jul 3, 2019
really rather good!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.
When Xavier comes into his tattoo shop, demanding Zed stamp his father on his ass, Zed knew this was NOT going to be a good day. When said teenager then throws up all over him, Zed loses his temper and calls the last nmber in the teenager's phone to come get him. When Octavia turns up for Xavier, Zed knows his life will never be the same again. But Zed has demons, ones he cannot ever forgive himself for. Why should he be happy, after what he has done?
I liked this, I liked the A LOT! Not quite enough to stretch to 5 stars, but still, a rather excellent read.
It's not immediately clear what Zed did, to hate himself so much, and when all is revealed, you see WHY does. It also takes time for the FULL story to come out. Makes you understand why he does what he does when he comes face to face with his brother after all this time.
Octavia is feisty, I liked her! She knows what she wants, even if she isn't getting it yet. She knows Zed has demons, and the lawyer in her grills him, but he's not giving up. She uses her own resources to find that out. Not really fair to Zed though, I thought!
The chemistry between them burns hot from the very beginning but it takes time for them to get to the main event. The fact that Zed ruins it, is besides the point! He knows Octavia is for him, but he can't be happy, not at all, it's not fair that he be happy.
Xavier, the spoilt, entitled teenager? He's the one who brings them together. His letter to Zed towrds the end made me cry! And then I find out what Octavia's letter says! More tears, for a one liner!
Book one in the series, and the first of Ellis' books I've read. More, I really need more! I'm assuming the guys and gals who work in the ink shop will get a story, since it's billed as the Rough Ink series. I hope that's so, cos some interesting characters here! Maybe, just maybe, even Xavier will get his happy ever after, cos Lord knows the boy really does need it!
A thoroughly enjoyable way to spend the afternoon.
4 solid stars
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
When Xavier comes into his tattoo shop, demanding Zed stamp his father on his ass, Zed knew this was NOT going to be a good day. When said teenager then throws up all over him, Zed loses his temper and calls the last nmber in the teenager's phone to come get him. When Octavia turns up for Xavier, Zed knows his life will never be the same again. But Zed has demons, ones he cannot ever forgive himself for. Why should he be happy, after what he has done?
I liked this, I liked the A LOT! Not quite enough to stretch to 5 stars, but still, a rather excellent read.
It's not immediately clear what Zed did, to hate himself so much, and when all is revealed, you see WHY does. It also takes time for the FULL story to come out. Makes you understand why he does what he does when he comes face to face with his brother after all this time.
Octavia is feisty, I liked her! She knows what she wants, even if she isn't getting it yet. She knows Zed has demons, and the lawyer in her grills him, but he's not giving up. She uses her own resources to find that out. Not really fair to Zed though, I thought!
The chemistry between them burns hot from the very beginning but it takes time for them to get to the main event. The fact that Zed ruins it, is besides the point! He knows Octavia is for him, but he can't be happy, not at all, it's not fair that he be happy.
Xavier, the spoilt, entitled teenager? He's the one who brings them together. His letter to Zed towrds the end made me cry! And then I find out what Octavia's letter says! More tears, for a one liner!
Book one in the series, and the first of Ellis' books I've read. More, I really need more! I'm assuming the guys and gals who work in the ink shop will get a story, since it's billed as the Rough Ink series. I hope that's so, cos some interesting characters here! Maybe, just maybe, even Xavier will get his happy ever after, cos Lord knows the boy really does need it!
A thoroughly enjoyable way to spend the afternoon.
4 solid stars
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
Construction Site Truck Driver
Games
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Start working in construction in this realistic and varied simulator! You may know about driving,...
Sky Sports for iPad
Sports and Entertainment
1.0
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Just like Zlatan, Sky Sports for iPad is free and has won a shedload of awards (well, at least one)....
Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated The Kiss Quotient in Books
Dec 25, 2018
This was one of three books I got through Book of the Month this month - the other two were The Book of Essie and When Katie Met Cassidy. I'm reviewing this today instead of another Pride Month read because today is Autistic Pride Day! The Kiss Quotient both stars and is written by a woman on the autistic spectrum, so I thought today would be a fitting day to tell you about it!
So The Kiss Quotient is basically a gender-swapped Pretty Woman, as Hoang mentions in the Author's Note. Our heroine, Stella Lane, books an escort to teach her about sex. Stella is thirty years old, has only had sex a couple of times, never enjoyed it, and is worried about not being good at it and therefore not being able to get or keep a boyfriend. She's an incredibly successful econometrician, or someone who uses data and statistics to model and predict economic trends, in her case predicting what people will want to buy from clients. (She's the kind of person responsible for those "Amazon started marketing baby products to me before I even knew I was pregnant!" incidents.) So she has more money than she knows what to do with, and offers Michael, an escort, $50,000 a month to teach her about sex and relationships.
Because this is a romance, we know what's going to happen here. They fall in love with each other, but are sure that for the other one it's just a business arrangement.
I was NOT expecting this book to be as explicit as it is! I think because it is a Book of the Month, I wasn't expecting the standard trope of romance book with hot sex scenes. But that's what I got! I can't say I'm unhappy with that - god knows I like my guilty pleasure romance smut - but it was definitely unexpected. I'm not sure why it surprised me. The book's premise is all about Stella wanting to learn about sex; if that wasn't conducted on screen we'd lose a third of the book!
A sequel has already been announced, and it's about the other autistic character in the book, the hero's best friend's little brother, Khai, who we only see in one scene. Who I'd also like to know more about is the best friend, Quan! So I'm holding out hope for a third book.
One last thing that I found important - in the Author's Note, Hoang mentions her daughter was diagnosed with AS, and in reading about Autism, she realized she is also on the spectrum. This is something I've seen in three different books now. It's so common for women, especially, to go undiagnosed. They might be better at modelling allistic (non-autistic) behavior, or their special interests might be more "acceptable" to allistics, or sometimes they just get looked at as introverts when they're young instead of getting the help they might need. This is starting to change, as researchers and doctors are realizing Autism presents differently in women. But it seems autistic adult women are often discovering they're autistic through a diagnosis of their children. I found that interesting.
I did really enjoy this book. I think it's a great debut novel, and a great romance. I really like the recent trend of more diversity in lead characters in romance novels. Bring on the people of color! More disabled main characters! There's got to be a romance somewhere with a deaf heroine, right? More alternative sexualities and relationship structures! Everyone, everywhere, wants to be loved, and I want to read about it. The thing is, I'm sure these books exist, but they don't get the kind of publicity they need for people to know about them. We have to actually go looking for them. I feel like I've been better about that recently, but it's definitely a place where the publication industry could improve.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
So The Kiss Quotient is basically a gender-swapped Pretty Woman, as Hoang mentions in the Author's Note. Our heroine, Stella Lane, books an escort to teach her about sex. Stella is thirty years old, has only had sex a couple of times, never enjoyed it, and is worried about not being good at it and therefore not being able to get or keep a boyfriend. She's an incredibly successful econometrician, or someone who uses data and statistics to model and predict economic trends, in her case predicting what people will want to buy from clients. (She's the kind of person responsible for those "Amazon started marketing baby products to me before I even knew I was pregnant!" incidents.) So she has more money than she knows what to do with, and offers Michael, an escort, $50,000 a month to teach her about sex and relationships.
Because this is a romance, we know what's going to happen here. They fall in love with each other, but are sure that for the other one it's just a business arrangement.
I was NOT expecting this book to be as explicit as it is! I think because it is a Book of the Month, I wasn't expecting the standard trope of romance book with hot sex scenes. But that's what I got! I can't say I'm unhappy with that - god knows I like my guilty pleasure romance smut - but it was definitely unexpected. I'm not sure why it surprised me. The book's premise is all about Stella wanting to learn about sex; if that wasn't conducted on screen we'd lose a third of the book!
A sequel has already been announced, and it's about the other autistic character in the book, the hero's best friend's little brother, Khai, who we only see in one scene. Who I'd also like to know more about is the best friend, Quan! So I'm holding out hope for a third book.
One last thing that I found important - in the Author's Note, Hoang mentions her daughter was diagnosed with AS, and in reading about Autism, she realized she is also on the spectrum. This is something I've seen in three different books now. It's so common for women, especially, to go undiagnosed. They might be better at modelling allistic (non-autistic) behavior, or their special interests might be more "acceptable" to allistics, or sometimes they just get looked at as introverts when they're young instead of getting the help they might need. This is starting to change, as researchers and doctors are realizing Autism presents differently in women. But it seems autistic adult women are often discovering they're autistic through a diagnosis of their children. I found that interesting.
I did really enjoy this book. I think it's a great debut novel, and a great romance. I really like the recent trend of more diversity in lead characters in romance novels. Bring on the people of color! More disabled main characters! There's got to be a romance somewhere with a deaf heroine, right? More alternative sexualities and relationship structures! Everyone, everywhere, wants to be loved, and I want to read about it. The thing is, I'm sure these books exist, but they don't get the kind of publicity they need for people to know about them. We have to actually go looking for them. I feel like I've been better about that recently, but it's definitely a place where the publication industry could improve.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
Fit for Rhythm Unlocked
Health & Fitness and Sports
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Want to get fit? Need some guidance and encouragement? Well, you've come to the right place! Fit for...
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Everything I Never Told You in Books
Feb 8, 2018
I forget where I saw a recommendation for this book (who am I kidding, probably <i>People</i> or <i>Entertainment Weekly</i>, about the extent of my "literary" reading these days), but it wasn't quite what I expected. Less mystery surrounding a disappearance/death and more "human interest" about a-- truth be told-- rather unlikable family.
The novel chronicles the Lee family, who wakes up one day to find their eldest daughter/sister, Lydia, missing. Eventually Lydia's body is found in the local lake, and the family is turned upside down.
It goes without saying, but it's really a rather depressing book. Lydia's parents, Marilyn and James, are just awful, and not just because they are grieving. I found very little to like in them. Lydia's siblings, Nath and Hannah, aren't nearly as bad (Hannah is truly the redeeming one in the family), but still. It's hard to root for a family that you don't much care for. There are also some strange side plots involving the siblings that never really seem resolved.
As a parent, I found aspects of the book interesting -- the way Lydia's mom pushes her so much to attain a dream that really belonged to Marilyn. In addition, the family is still reeling from Marilyn's brief disappearance before Hannah was even born. Ng does do a good job of showing how much this impacts the family, especially the kids. It's a little frightening, really, as the sinking realization of how every little thing you do can follow your children, even 10 years later (though in Marilyn's case, she really does some damaging things).
Still, those redeeming moments couldn't salvage the whole book for me. I liked it well enough, but I was left at the end feeling a little depressed and annoyed and wishing more loose ends were tied up.
The novel chronicles the Lee family, who wakes up one day to find their eldest daughter/sister, Lydia, missing. Eventually Lydia's body is found in the local lake, and the family is turned upside down.
It goes without saying, but it's really a rather depressing book. Lydia's parents, Marilyn and James, are just awful, and not just because they are grieving. I found very little to like in them. Lydia's siblings, Nath and Hannah, aren't nearly as bad (Hannah is truly the redeeming one in the family), but still. It's hard to root for a family that you don't much care for. There are also some strange side plots involving the siblings that never really seem resolved.
As a parent, I found aspects of the book interesting -- the way Lydia's mom pushes her so much to attain a dream that really belonged to Marilyn. In addition, the family is still reeling from Marilyn's brief disappearance before Hannah was even born. Ng does do a good job of showing how much this impacts the family, especially the kids. It's a little frightening, really, as the sinking realization of how every little thing you do can follow your children, even 10 years later (though in Marilyn's case, she really does some damaging things).
Still, those redeeming moments couldn't salvage the whole book for me. I liked it well enough, but I was left at the end feeling a little depressed and annoyed and wishing more loose ends were tied up.