We Love Lisa Kleypas discussion

1. A Wallflower Christmas by Lisa Kleypas - 2*
It was... meh. I love the Wallflower series, but there was something lacking in this continuation.
2. Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick - 4*
I think I enjoyed it more because I didn't know much about it. Will be reading the sequel.
3. Be Mine Tonight by Kathryn Smith - 3*
It was a little confusing at times as to whom I should be rooting for, but overall it was alright. Not the best vampire series out there, but also not the worst. The rest of the series doesn't interest me, though.
4. Snowbound by Janice Kay Johnson - 3*
For a free ebook (thank you Harlequin), it was pretty good. I tend to avoid leading men that have traumatic military backgrounds, but I thought the author did a good job of showing his recovery and I found myself liking John Fallon regardless of his personal problems.
5. Wicked Little Game by Christine Wells - 4*
I liked this book even though things could have been wrapped up nicely within 50 pages if both leading characters had been more open with each other. I think the saving grace was the way Vane hungered for Sarah for so long. That storyline is a particular weakness of mine.
6. Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols - 4*
This was a great YA book, one that I had trouble putting down to eat dinner. I desperately wanted to read a sequel and see more of Meg and John's relationship, but alas, Jennifer Echols isn't writing one at the moment.
7. Nice Girls Don't Live Forever by Molly Harper - 4*
The 3rd in a series, Molly Harper manages to keep the book's tone light and humorous throughout, even though the focus of the book's plot between Jane and Gabriel didn't pull me in. I skimmed a lot of Jane's inner thoughts when it came to Gabriel. The secondary characters are the main reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 3. Will be reading the next book in the series.
8. A Noteworthy Courtship by Laura Sanchez - 3*
While at times this book was set at almost a crawl, the wit and detail throughout the story were enjoyable enough to get me through. I've read better 'What If?' stories based on P&P, but this was a nice Sunday afternoon read.
9. A Game of Pleasure by Barbara Satow - 4*
I really enjoyed the back and forth between Portia and Castleton and how they came about caring for one another. A nice breath of fresh air in a genre that tends to be sex first and emotions later (or sometimes not at all).
10. Father Mine: Zsadist and Bella's Story by J.R. Ward - 5*
I love, love, love Zsadist, so anything with him is going to get 5 stars, regardless of how good it actually is.
11. Sunshine by Robin McKinney - 4*
It was kind of nice that this book didn't romanticize vampires like so many YA books are doing now. The ending was a little rushed, though.
12. A Hathaway Wedding by Lisa Kleypas - 4*
The Hathaways are insane and that's why I think I like them so much. It would have been better to read this before I read Tempt Me at Twilight, however.
13. Blue-Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas - 4*
It was hard to read about Haven's abusive relationship, but once Hardy came into the picture, I was hooked.
14. Turning on the Girls by Cheryl Benard - 1*
Rolled my eyes a lot the first half and skimmed the second. Not worth it, in my opinion.
15. Nightfall by L.J. Smith - 1*
I don't know why I thought this book would be any better than the first 3. Maybe I had a vague hope that L.J. Smith had figured out how to write in the last decade. But she hasn't. And reading this made me want to slam my head against a desk until I passed out.

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16. Gone by Lisa McMann - 3*
The ending made me sad. I'm the kind of person that reads for the happy ending, so making me sad means you get less stars.

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Nice list.

Thank you. It really helps me out when I'm trying to remember book recs for friends.

17. The Maze Runner by James Dashner - 5*
It took about 80 pages to get into it, but once the action started moving, it never really let up. There are so many questions left unanswered, which is why I can't wait for the second book to come out.
Very intriguing read. One of the better YA fantasy books I've read in a while which is why I rated it so high. It reminds me of The Hunger Games series, but not nearly as fascinating.

18. The Scarletti Curse by Christine Feehan - 4*
HOT. That's all I can say about this book. Just... hot.

I love Feehan's writing. I've real all but the latest of the Carpathians, but my favorite of her series' is Ghostwalkers.

But Burning Wild was one of the hottest books I've read.

I recently acquired the beginning of her 'Dark' series, and if the Curse book is anything to go off of, I expect I'll really like them.

I'll probably use Dark Prince as my 4th challenge book.

Keep in ming that all first books in a series are a little weaker than the rest because there's so much world building and character definition, but that said, Dark Prince was my first Feehan read and I read all the other Carpathins, so it couldn't have been too bad ;)

19. Surrender by Lora Leigh - 3*
Short, but great if you need an erotica fix (which I did after reading so many YA books).

20. Nerd in Shining Armor by Vicki Lewis Thompson - 4*
Jackson is adorable and the main reason why I liked this book so much. I wanted to beat Genevieve over the head for not noticing him sooner.

21. Tempting the Beast by Lora Leigh - 4*
Pretty dang hot. It reminded me of the TV series 'Dark Angel' a little. Could of used less talk of the "barb", however.
22. The Man Within by Lora Leigh - 4*
The hot smut made me overlook the cliche use of misunderstandings to keep Taber and Roni apart.
23. Elizabeth's Wolf (Breeds, #3) by Lora Leigh - 3*
Would be better as a standalone book because after reading the first two, which were smut-packed, this one left me wanting more. Very little happened relationship-wise for 100 pages and even then it wasn't the main focus.

24. When It Happens by Susan Colasanti - 3*
It was light and cute, which is what I needed after the heavy material in Lora Leigh's books. Tobey and Sara are cute together, but I never really got into it because of the slang wording Susan Colasanti used. Would have been a good read for me back in junior high.

25. Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1 by Stephenie Meyer, Young Kim - 3*
Pretty good for a graphic novel. I thought Young Kim did a great job with the illustrations. I just didn't like how short it was (it ends right after the meadow scene). Also, would've liked to seen more color.

26. Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys by Kate Brian - 3*
It was cute and at times funny and light-hearted. Just two things that bothered me about it, though. One, a lot of people ganged up on Megan multiple times and it was always undeserved. Could have done with less of that because it got old quick. Two, the ending. It wasn't really an ending. It was like a pause and then the pages ran out. This would have been okay had there been a sequel, but there wasn't.

27. Literacy and Longing in L.A. by Jennifer Kaufman and Karen Mack - 2*
A slow read and at times rather boring, the only thing that I liked was the never-ending commentary on a variety of books (including some historical romances) and the quotes that began each chapter. I think I would have related to Dora better had I been older.
28. The Iron King by Julie Kagawa - 4*
Very entertaining read. Reminded me of the Labyrinth at times, which might be why I enjoyed it so much. Will be reading the second book in the series.

29. Kiss of Heat by Lora Leigh - 3*
I wasn't really looking forward to this book because I knew it would be angsty. Sherra and Kane had a lot of issues to work out, but I'll be interested to see glimpses of their relationship that will hopefully be in other Breed books.

30. Soul Deep by Lora Leigh - 3*
Tons of smut and not much character development. I never connected with either Amanda or Kiowa. The only saving grace was this was the first book to involve light bondage.

31. Beyond the Highland Mist by Karen Marie Moning - 4*
I'm a sucker for time travel romances, so I was able to overlook the loooong time it took Arienne to overcome her past history with guys, and for them to work out their misunderstandings. Will definitely be reading the next book in the series.

I've read 2 of Moning's Highlander books and have 2 more sitting on my shelves to read. I need to get back to that series.

The next one looks really good. I have a couple of friends that highly recommend the series.

32. A Rose in Winter by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss - 4*
I skimmed the flowery language and many of the povs of secondary characters that I had no interest in, and I saw the 'twist' coming a mile away, but it didn't take away from the story. Overall, I highly enjoyed it. Plus it reminded me of Beauty and the Beast and Phantom of the Opera, which are two of my favorite plays/movies/books.

33. Captive of Sin by Anna Campbell - 4*
I loved Anna Campbell's first 2 books, and while this one doesn't have the breathless passion those had, it was still good in its own right. Charis is stubborn, fierce and fearless when it comes to Gideon, which (it turns out) is exactly what he needs.
My only fault with the story is the over-cliched statement that 'love conquers all' and its continued presence throughout the second half of the book. Other than that, it was great.
And I really hope Mrs. Campbell writes Akash's story one day. He reads like he'd be a good, mysterious hero.

I May need to look into this one. I've read Campbell's other two novels and liked them.

34. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green - 4*
John Green is a funny man and it comes across in his writing. Plus the book involved math! I love math. And weirdly enough, I enjoyed reading about math.
35. The Breed Next Door by Lora Leigh (part of Hot Spell Anthology) - 3*
Short and sweet. It wasn't long enough to get into it, but I liked what little we saw of Tarek.
36. Megan's Mark (Breeds, #7) by Lora Leigh - 4*
First book to involve a non-Breed who is more than what she seems. I liked Megan as a character. She was crazy and wild and had all kinds of cool toys. She knew how to take care of herself and put up one hell of a fight (even going so far as to punch Braden in the face). Simply put, it was fun to read.
37. Divine Misdemeanors by Laurell K. Hamilton - 2*
The only thing going for this book was how fast a read it was. Usually I skim a LOT in these books, but this one had a somewhat interesting mystery. I honestly think I'm going to stop reading this series, however. It's gone the way of the Anita Blake series where I get really into one (or two) of the guys and hold out for them to get this great sex scene, but Laurell never writes about them. UUUGGGHHHHH. How hard is it to write about Meredith, Doyle and Frost together at the same time?! I mean, REALLY! She hints at it all the time but never delivers. It's just not worth it anymore. I'm done.

We seem to like a lot of the same books. I appreciate you posting your reviews, too.

It's no problem. I've got to vent about how I would have written it differently somehow. ;)

38. Animal Instincts by Gena Showalter - 4*
It was funny and cute and the leading man sounded delicious. What more could you ask for in a contemporary romance?

LOLOL Well, this is the place!

39. The Stone Prince by Gena Showalter - 3*
Katie's stubbornness was, at times, hard to believe and Jorlan's arrogance (at the beginning, anyway) was the same way, but they hit their stride about halfway through. It's not as good as the follow-up book, The Pleasure Slave, however, which I read a while ago.
40. My Nerdy Valentine by Vicki Lewis Thompson - 3*
I liked the main guy, Will, but the story's driving plot wasn't that great and the whole thing with Amanda's internship was just too out there for me.

41. Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey - 3*
When I saw how it was going to end halfway through I skimmed a lot to get to the climax of the story. Also, the ending could have been a lot better by 'showing' us what happened instead of 'telling' so much. Why it got 3 instead of 2: the leading man's name was Lucius! (I love that name.)
42. The Wedding of Anatanasia Jessica Packwood and Lucius Valeriu Vladescu by Beth Fantaskey - 4*
This made up for the lackluster ending. BIG time.

43. A Kingdom of Dreams by Judith McNaught - 3*
Good God, if those 2 crazy kids can love each other after everything they went through, then I applaud them. My reaction to it reminded me of Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife: Pride and Prejudice Continues by Linda Berdoll. Jennifer can have that life and her "Wolf" because honestly, I don't want it.
44. Whitney, My Love by Judith McNaught - 3*
I really liked the setup, but Ms. McNaught put too many obstacles and misunderstandings in their way so that I ended up not liking it as much as I should have. I have no inclination to read the 3rd in the series at this time.

45. Gone With the Nerd by Vicki Lewis Thompson - 2*
The person behind all the accidents was glaringly obvious from the beginning, but these books aren't supposed to be great thrillers so I was able to move past it.
What really got me was the Golden Globe worthy "movie". The script was horrible, full of eye-rolling one-liners, and the premise was stupid. And I never like it when one of the leading characters is already seriously dating someone else. Overall, not worth your time. There are better books in the series.

46. Fallen by Lauren Kate - 4*
Honestly, I don't know why I liked this book so much. Luce was a little annoying as a character and the ending left me with more questions than answers, but regardless, I liked it. Will be reading the next in the series, Torment, when it's released.
47. Blood of the Rose by Anya Bast - 3*
I didn't mind the heavy amount of smut. I did mind the ending, however. It was pretty anti-climatic and had an 'oh, I guess I'll end it now' feel. Not bothering with the rest of the series.

48. Giving Chase by Lauren Dane - 4*
It was a little over the top, BUT on the plus side, it managed to overcome its ugly cover. Will be reading the next in the series.

49. Changeless by Gail Carriger - 2*
The best part of the first book, Soulless, was the repartee between Cornell and Alexia, but for some reason (which I don't understand the reasoning behind) Cornell wasn't around for most of this book. Also, the ending! What kind of ending is that?!
I was really disappointed in this follow-up book and have no interest in reading the 3rd one at this time.

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You're the second person to say the ending is not right. I still haven't read it. Maybe I'll wait until the third book is out and read the 2 together.

You're probably better off waiting. I can't believe Gail Carriger left it like she did! It's so frustrating.

Was it a cliffhanger at the end? I've been noticing a disturbing trend where authors lead up to a huge cliffhanger at the end and you just want to scream, "Are you kidding me?"

Yep, pretty much that's what happens. Freakin' huge cliffhanger that makes you want to throttle the author.

Yes, that's the new trend. We readers should unite and protest. lol I think it all started with Suzanne Collin's Hunger Games trilogy. I literally screamed at the end of the first book. I screamed more when I found out I needed to wait almost a year for the next book.

Oh, I know! I threw that book at the wall when I was done, I was so upset. The same with Catching Fire! My boyfriend's used to it now since it happens so often.

I have two friends who are librarians who got the ARC of Catching Fire. I asked before I read the book if there was another cliffhanger like the first. The warning made the ending more bearable.

50. Waking Up by Amanda Carpenter - 4* (re-read)
Read this when I was young (one of my first Harlequin books) and recently found it again on my mom's bookshelf. Loved Jason's intensity toward Robbie, but you can definitely tell it was written a while ago.
51. Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding - 2*
One of those books where I wanted to slap the leading female for having little common sense and almost no backbone. Some parts were amusing and I liked Mark Darcy's character, which is why I bumped the rating to two stars.

52. Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn - 3*
I wasn't sure what to make of this book. At first, I didn't like Kitty. She was too submissive to everyone, but as she grew into herself and become, shall we say, cockier, the more I liked her. Will be reading the second in the series to see if this new likability continues.
53. Harmony's Way (Breeds, #8) by Lora Leigh - 4*
Really liked Lance, and Harmony wasn't as damaged as some of the other female Breeds had been. Plus there was no mention of the 'barb', which makes those smutty scenes better.

54. When Darkness Comes by Alexandra Ivy - 3*
It wasn't great, but it also wasn't the worst thing I've ever read. One thing that did bug me was Dante's constant use of 'lover'. Probably won't be continuing with the series.

55. Tanner's Scheme by Lora Leigh - 3*
There was too much questioning and lack of trust on both sides for me to fully get into it. Also, the delayed mating threw me for a bit. I did like seeing a bit of Callan and Merinus's kid, David. He was a trip.
56. Wolfe's Hope by Lora Leigh - 2*
Really short and not very satisfying. I understand this is one of her first stories about the Breed, but it's not that important in the series.
57. Earthwork by Annie Windsor (part of Tales From The Temple IV anthology) - 1*
Heavy D/s, which I don't like to read. Plus she kept saying 'quim', which is one of those words that makes me grimace every time I see it.

58. Mackenzie's Pleasure by Linda Howard - 3*
Another book I read when I was younger and picked up to read again. It didn't have the same shock effect the second time around, but it was good. Only problem: the author wrapped up everything up too quickly for me. But I loved the epilogue.
59. Unearthed by C.J. Barry - 4*
A fun read with a slight sci-fi edge to it. There were enough amusing parts to keep me interested and I liked the leading characters.

60. Jacob's Faith by Lora Leigh - 2*
It wasn't as engaging as the other Breed stories and there seemed to be a lot more smut than usual. I ended up skimming over some of it because it became repetitive. The only reason I kept with it was for the 'huh' factor - it's the first book to feature both characters as Breeds.
61. The Princess and the Pea by Fayrene Preston - 3*
Cute and short. Mel was funny and interesting as a character, but the ending was a little hokey.
62. Kitty Goes to Washington by Carrie Vaughn - 4*
Much better than the first book. I liked Kitty throughout the entire story, which made it so much easier to read. Could have used more of Luis, though.
63. Reilly's Return by Amelia Autin - 3*
One of those Harlequin romances that tried too much to tug on your heartstrings, but it was still compelling enough to finish. I did skim over the action-y parts, though, since I knew how it was going to end.

64. A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick - 2*
I thought this would be better based on the summary. But I pretty much figured the 'mystery' part about a third of the way through. Also, the writing was a tiresome. Mr. Goolrick repeated a lot of the same thinking and reasoning between the three lead characters by just rewording it. Overall, kind of boring.
65. Kitty Takes a Holiday by Carrie Vaughn - 3*
Not as compelling as the second, but still good. The thing with Ben was unexpected. Not bad unexpected, just didn't think the author would go that way.
66. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver - 5*
I didn't like Sam at first, but she changed and the more she changed, the more involved I became with her life, and the more I cared about her. Which is why I cried at the end. Damn, this is one of the good ones.