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Moon Fever (Includes: Primes, #6.5)
2
5.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
This was one of those "I finished the last thing I was reading and I'm bored, what's already loaded on the iTouch?" reads. It was on there because the anthology includes [a:Lori Handeland|17060|Lori Handeland|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1236700197p2/17060.jpg]'s "Cobwebs Over the Moon" (Nightcreatures, #10) and I read all of that series a while back. I didn't care to read the rest of the anthology at the time, but I hadn't gotten around to deleting the book. Ah, happy digital packrat am I!

If I've read anything by [a:Susan Sizemore|88608|Susan Sizemore|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1254303347p2/88608.jpg] other than "Tempting Fate" (Primes #6.5), it was eminently forgettable. I'm absolutely sure that I haven't read anything else in her <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/series/41947-primes">Primes</a>; series, because I probably would have thrown said material firmly into the nearest hard surface (or whatever the equivalent is with bytes) because of the insanely annoying number of times Sizemore feels it necessary to remind us that her vampires are Primes! Alpha Primes! They are! Really! And that means they fight a lot! Especially over women! Otherwise, it's a Mary Jane story set in New Orleans. I have a strong feeling that most of the Primes series is Mary Jane-ish, but I may at some point be trapped and forced with the prospect of staring at the inside of my eyeballs or reading more of Sizemore's stuff. I'm not sure which would be worse right now. I'll get back to you on that.

"The Darkness Within" by [a:Maggie Shayne|17064|Maggie Shayne|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1215028948p2/17064.jpg] feels terribly familiar, although I'm sure I haven't read it before. I have, however, read other Shayne novellas in other anthologies, and this story follows a familiar pattern. Sexy gal who doesn't think she's attractive has had a run of hard luck and may lose the house she has bought relatively recently and loves. Said house has a spooky past that she didn't know about when she bought it. Stalwart too-sexy-for-her man gets involved somehow, preferably in a way that allows her to question his motives. They are inexplicably drawn to each other and screw like bunnies (or near as makes no difference), then blame their lapse in judgement on whatever weirdness is going on in the house. (Yep, that's what they all say - and no safer sex anywhere! Does paranormal activity preclude discussion of sexual history and prevent STD transmission?)

"Cobwebs Over the Moon" by [a:Lori Handeland|17060|Lori Handeland|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1236700197p2/17060.jpg] (<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/series/41626-nightcreature">Nightcreatures</a>;, #10) isn't the most logical entry in that series. Neither is it the most illogical - but by the tenth entry, the series' mythology has gotten a bit ridiculous, so I don't know why I even bother bringing up something as irrelevant as logic. Silly me! In every book, we're introduced to a woman who is in some way tangled up with werewolves, then to a man who is tangled up with her and/or the creatures and, of course, whose loyalties are uncertain. There is always an element of danger to add spice to the romance that has to grow between the two. The formula never changes at all. There are always evil werewolves, but sometimes there are also good ones. If you like predictability in your paranormal romance, <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/series/41626-nightcreature">Nightcreatures</a>; is a great series for you.

I suppose [a:Caridad Piñeiro|2944621|Caridad Piñeiro|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1305975476p2/2944621.jpg]'s "Crazy for the Cat" isn't technically any better or worse than any of the other three stories. There's more variety in the shapeshifting and the main setting is the Amazon jungle. I couldn't get past the bigotry and colonialism, though. Dark is bad, light is good, of course! Those poor benighted natives couldn't possibly handle a few rogues without that white woman, could they? Spare me.
  
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The Fate of the Furious (2017)
The Fate of the Furious (2017)
2017 | Action
Blood is thicker than Diesel.
All work and no play makes bob-the-movie-man a tardy reviewer. Still, what better way to break the fast than with “Fast and Furious 8” (aka “The Fate of the Furious”)?

Well, quite a lot of things actually!

Now, I have a confession to make (and I know for some this will be the equivalent of an appalling statement like “I’ve never seen Star Wars”). I have actually never ever seen Fast and Furious 1 through 7! (If it’s any mitigation to this cinematic crime, I did see the F-and-F wannabe “Need for Speed“).

So I was going to be completely lost with the “plot” right? Well actually, no. It was pretty easy to jump in and follow as a piece of popcorn nonsense.


The M25 water main burst was a real bitch for the Monday morning rush-hour.

For nonsense it is (hence the “rabbit ears” round the word “plot” above). The story isn’t just a bit far-fetched. It’s bat-shit crazy where the bat in question has downed a questionable vindaloo two hours earlier!
Dom (Vin Diesel) has turned on his “family”, including his squeeze, the lovely Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), and Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson, “San Andreas“), to team with the above-the-law (and above the clouds) cyber-super-terrorist Cipher (Charlize Theron, “Mad Max: Fury Road“). They have teamed up, apparently, for no other reason than to allow Cipher to ‘kick some global ass’ with a nuclear threat. But given his caring and sharing side, why the sudden betrayal of his nearest and dearest by Dom?


Ice Queen Metallica fan Theron, showing off her hardware.

Where do you begin with the nonsensical story? Jumping from Cuba (with some admittedly fun scenes, but shamelessly objectifying scantily-clad women) via Berlin and New York to the icy wastes of Siberia, it’s just an excuse to show fast cars doing ludicrously unlikely things. There is zero logic within any of the script. Here are just a handful of examples:

the team know (through enormous jumps of speculation) to be present at a particular location in the world and at exactly the time that Dom is there (arrive, look through binoculars, “Oh, there he is”!);
all cars can be automatically hijacked and remotely driven (who knew), but NOT those of the team (obviously);
fast cars/tanks/etc can be magicked from New York to Siberia (wot, no Hertz Siberia available?);
Russian nuclear codes are stolen, so obviously they can’t be changed?
a nuclear submarine is out of the water on wooden blocks, but spin the propeller really REALLY fast and it can suddenly be sailing away.

Muscle for muscle it never looked like being a fair fight.

I appreciate I am being enormously po-faced about this, and this is designed as pure escapism. But is there REALLY any need for this to be such mindless escapism? The director (Gary Gray, “The Italian Job”) and writer (Chris Morgan, responsible for parts 6 and 7) should credit their audience with rather more in the way of intelligence.

Diesel and Johnson are never going to set the acting ablaze, but Rodriquez (“Lost”) is as watchable as ever. Theron has fun with her villainy and the supporting turns by Tyrese Gibson and Ludacris are enjoyable. Nathalie Emmanuel though as Ramsey seems as uncomfortable with her “sexy English” stereotype as she should be.


A long way from Brookside. Nathalie Emmanuel uncomfortable as “the sexy one”.

Luke Evans (“The Hobbit“), Kurt Russell (“Deepwater Horizon“) and Helen Mirren (“Eye in the Sky“) turn up in entertaining but underused cameos, but it is Jason Statham as Deckard that has the most fun in the whole film, and his scenes – done largely for comic effect – are the best part of the movie. (But “math” Jason? “MATH”?? I hope your old maths teacher back in London doesn’t get to see this film).


Parking enforcement by the City Council was getting more and more stringent.

If you’re willing to park your brain at the door for two hours then it has some fun moments. But I felt the damage to my IQ might not have been worth the risk, and this really didn’t fill my cinematic tank.
  
The Past Comes Homes (Ames Bridge #2)
The Past Comes Homes (Ames Bridge #2)
Silvia Violet | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry, Romance
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Past Comes Home (Ames Bridge #2) by Silvia Violet
The Past comes Home is the second book in the Ames Bridge series, and we reunite with Pax, who we met in the first book when he supported Beck and Cal. In this book, we start off when he is a teenager. He is watching his older brother and his brother's best friend, and realises that what ticks his boxes is NOT the female anatomy. The years pass, and tragedy strikes Pax's family, but his feelings towards his brother's best friend remain the same. So when Brad comes back to town for a school reunion, Pax has to try and keep it cool being as Brad is straight... except that he isn't and he has had the same feelings for Pax and for pretty much the same amount of time.

With the same wonderful cast of characters, and yep, the not-so-wonderful are still there too, it was a pleasure to come back to this series. With a different set of circumstances and dilemmas, Pax and Brad's story is different from Beck and Cal, and I'm happy to announce that they show up in this one too.

One of the things that Silvia Violet does so well is to keep the tension and attraction going between her main males. The circumstances might not be right, but the attraction simmers. That means that when they DO get together, that attraction explodes into some of the steamiest, sensual, and sexy, reads I have had the pleasure of reading.

I was a fan of Silvia Violet's after reading Professional Distance (Thorne & Dash #1), and the Ames Bridge series has just compounded my love of her writing style. As expected, there were no editing or grammatical errors that disrupted my reading flow. I read this book in a single sitting - the world (and my children) having to wait until I had reached the end of Pax and Brad's story. An excellent addition to the series, and highly recommended by me.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
  
Tokyo Heat (Nights #3)
Tokyo Heat (Nights #3)
A.M. Salinger | 2018 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
10
10.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
another scorching hot one!!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

This is book three in the series, and you really SHOULD read book one, One Night, first. This is a continuation of Gabe and Cam's story. And it's a 5 star read! Book two, The Escort ain't too shabby either!

A year ago, Cam and Gabe decided one night would never be enough. Then Gabe says those three little words and Cam's world implodes, and he runs.

I loved One Night, made a new shelf for it and everything. But, while still a great, sexy read, I found this one lacking in the emotions i expected with someone running when told I love you.

Oh! Don't get me wrong, these guys still burn high, and hot and long. I just didn't feel connected to Cam as much as I did to Gabe. Because we get Gabe dealing, or rather NOT dealing with the fact that Cam ran, but we don't get much of Cam after he runs, you know??

BUT OH.MY.GOD! When Cam pulls his head out of his ass and gets his act together and finally realises what that pain in his chest is?? That it's what he's feeling for Gabe?? He redeems himself in spectacular fashion! **that fanning again, girls!**

I saw something going on between the two guys who own the company Gabe works for. I wonder what's going on there and whether they will get a story?? It's not book 4 or 5, cos I have those all lined up ready to go, but I HOPE they get a story!

Ah, you know what?? Stuff it! I wrote 4 stars at the top of the page because of that not connecting to Cam thing. But now I'm typing it up, I think that's just CAM, you know?? He doesn't want you to know what he feels for Gabe, what he's dealing with while they are apart. He wants GABE to know, just how deeply he loves him. He DOES love Gabe, he just never thought he could love anyone.

So! Upgrading to...

5 even more scorching stars!

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
  
Snowed In: Ross and Ashton
Snowed In: Ross and Ashton
J.V. Speyer | 2019 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
10
10.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
kinda fell into this one, loved it!
Totally unprepared for the snow storm, Ash drives to his new job. Or at least, he tries to. He runs his car off the road and is found by Ross. The same Ross who broke his heart in college. But Ross doesn't recognise Ash straight away, although he thinks him familiar. When the penny finally drops, all the heartbreak that both suffered all those years ago comes rushing back, along with the intense chemistry they had. Can they survive the monster storm? Could they try again?

I REALLY enjoyed this! It was a great easy read, and I mean that in a good way!

Sometimes, you just need a book that isn't too complicate, not to taxing on the old brain. A book that throws enough hints at you that you know there was something that happened, but you aren't sure what. A book that pulls you in, and doesn't let you in for the next hour or so, the 90 pages that this book is.

Ash knows his rescuer straight away but it takes time for Ross to know it's Ash. But Ross hasn't seen Ash since college, and Ash has been dropping into Ross' social media from time to time, cos he's a sucker for punishment.

What I particularly liked about this book, was how much BOTH men were affected by what happened all those years ago. For very different reasons. But they are different men now. I'm not going into spoiler, really I'm not, but it's great reading the same situation from both sides, and seeing both of them realise just what could have been.

It's not overly explicit but that's not needed here. The whole book takes place over a matter of HOURS so there really isn't a lot of hot and steamy stuff. It is sexy though, what's here.

I just FELL into this book and I really REALLY enjoyed it!

Ah sod it! I wrote 4 stars at the top of the page when I wrote this review, but now I'm typing it up? Can't figure out a single reason why!

So!

5 full and snow covered stars

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
  
Professional Courtesy
Professional Courtesy
J.V. Speyer | 2018 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
8
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
kinda cute, for a holiday story!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

Eric isn't having to best start to the college year. His mum showed up to live with him, and he's gotta share his office at work with the new guy in the English department. Now his mum wants Eric to immerse himself in all the Christmas traditions that she did as a child. But Eric is not a holiday person, Eric likes order and peace and calm so to appease his mother, and to get to know Mike, he invites Mike to dinner. His mum will be happy, Mike can talk to her in her native German, and Eric will have his peace and calm. So why does it feel like a storm is brewing inside him, one that might break his heart?

Too stinking cute and warm and fuzzies all wrapped up in some 70 odd pages and I rather enjoyed this!

It's very well told, from both Eric and Mike's point of view, and they both have distinctive voices, mostly due to their earlier experiences in life. Eric's life has been handed to him on a platter, but Mike had a difficult childhood. Sending your child across the world because you prefer your drug dealer is bad enough but what happened to Mike as a teenager is truly shocking.

The attraction between Mike and Eric grows steadily and they come together just the once, which is why I gave it the contemporary tag I did but it's a sexy book!

I'm not usually one for the holiday stories but while this one is set around Christmas, it's not shoved in your face on every page! I'm a bit of a Scrooge really!

This is only the second book I've read of Speyer and they've both been on the short side. I'd like to read something longer, something with more bite. She can write a lot into a few pages, so I'm curious what would happen in a longer book.

4 solid stars

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
  
Escaping Reality (The Secret Life of Amy Bensen, #1)
6
7.7 (7 Ratings)
Book Rating
Amy Bensen is on a plane to Denver to start a new life when she meets Liam Stone. From the moment she first lays eyes on him, there is something about him that she is instantly drawn to. Knowing she is on the run, will she be able to trust Liam in order to share a life with him, or will she always be on the run from a past she is uncertain about.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Amy Bensen has only been Amy Bensen for a few hours. She received a notice from her handler that it was time to move on, since he had found her. Now she is on the way to a new city to start a new life and she has no idea how that is going to work. Having to look over her shoulder all of the time and always be on alert for someone lurking around a corner is no way to live. But this is the only way she has to survive now. Meeting Liam on the plane to Denver has her thinking about this man in a way she has never thought about anyone. Can he be someone she will be able to trust or is he a part of the people who are after her.

Amy is hiding a lot about her past. Some things she remembers and other details are foggy in her brain. Sexy billionaire Liam Stone, makes somethings disappear from Amy's mind, but only briefly. Their instant connection scares her.

This book reminded me a little of Fifty Shades of Grey. With the intensity of Liam Stone and his controlling personality, and of course the sex. Overall the book was interesting and I'm curious to see how it will all end for Liam and Amy. If she will find out what happened in her past and if she can start to live normal life again. Will she be able to do that with Liam, or will he be the person who keeps her from finding the truth?