Feminista
Hi everyone! I used to be a former Goodreads lover. Who has decided to move to BookLikes due to the recent changes to the GR site: that is, the decision of the management to delete reviews that talk about bad author behaviour.
It is important that we know of bad author behaviour and actions. We buy their books. I want to know whether Author A has decided to harass Reviewer A or encouraged fans to stalk Reviewer B.
I want to know this, the same way I wanted to know that a well known sporting good company had been using child labour in the production of some of its products. The same way the WHOLE WORLD wanted to know.
It is irrelevant that the author writes well, or that the said sporting good company produces good quality sporting goods. Our ethics and morals MATTER!
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Now to discuss my reading habits:
I am very picky when it comes to books. I am a feminist and I think that shows in my reading list.
There are many things that bug me to death. But I'll always make an exception if the boy-girl standard is reversed. Dear world, that is MY double standard. I respect and champion authors who have the guts to do something different.
Firstly, I hate infidelity in novels.
Secondly, I hate it when the heroine is a virgin and the guy is an expert and skilled lover. I hate it when the heroine, for fated reasons, saves herself for someone who has been sowing his oats. It's not only overdone, old-fashioned and pathetic, but it also grosses me out like he is violating something so sacrosanct.
Thirdly, I might enjoy the occasional alpha-hero tendencies, but my true love lies with beta-heroes. Guys who are loving and sweet. Who don't feel the need to push around their women to make themselves feel more manly.
Feminista's bookshelf: read
Feral Sins
1
2
Girl Three
Girl Three
Rating: 2 out of 5.
80% into the book, I didn't realise that I would be rating this book so poorly. The book was off to a good start. I had high expectations for it. Throughout the body of this novel, the plot-line reduced my interest to a high-average. But the ending, absolutely killed it.
Because I found the ending immoral and distasteful.
The story starts with Jessie, the heroine of this story, finding out that her sister had died and that she had died from suspicious reasons.
This led to a lot of a lot of secrets and scandals being found out throughout the book.
Some of these secrets were deadly and some of these scandals were down right illegal.
So what does Jessie do? She leaves them as a secret. She lets her father hush it all up.
The same father who would do anything to become the next judge of the US Supreme Court. The same father who would condone his 24-year-old daughter and his married friend, a Senator and also a middle-aged man, in having an affair.
And then there is Michael. The hero of the story. He lies to Jessie for about the entire book except for the last chapter. Jessie does not know that he actually works for her father and has been tailing her, listening to all her phone calls and private conversations, even when she is not on her phone and that he installed a camera.
But how is this complication resolved? Michael just has to shoot the bad guy and all is forgiven.
ARC Courtesy of NetGalley and Entangled Publishing,
2
Rating: 2 out of 5.A quick read about a modern day witch.Unfortunately, I didn't find the novel too engaging. I found the characters a bit banal.The plot was okay with a little bit of suspense.ARC Courtesy of NetGalley and Entangled Publishing
Altered
Rating:2 out of 5.This book had a lot of promise, but for me, it didn't live up to it.But the part that made this a 2 star was the sibling sharing. The heroine's long lost real sister was the love of the hero's life. Yes, I know the characters didn't realise until the end. But the whole concept still put me off. I am a strong believer in that family related by blood should never compete romantically.
Wild Oats
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.A nice story. The hero pursues the woman just because he wants to sow his wild oats before he gets respectably married. Who better than the divorcee deemed scandalous woman of the town. He ends up falling in love with her. This story might be more grittier and realistic than other historical romances but it wasn't very flattering.
Rating: 5 out of 5.Another funny and engaging novel from Darynda Jones.I have to say, I was a bit wary about buying the kindle ebook instead of borrowing from the library. But it was well worth it.I will be back to read the funny quotes and passages whenever studying gets me down.And Reyes...That man is so unbelievably sexy. One of my favourite fictional heroes.And do I love the ending! ;)
Mine to Keep (Mine, #2)
Rating: 4 out of 5.I jumped into this book without having read the first one. But I don't think it affected my enjoyment or rating of this book.This book starts with Skye Sullivan recovering from a brutal attack in the last book, that has still left her psychologically and emotionally battered. Trace Weston, the billionaire and Skye's lover, is a strong, loyal, loving and obsessive character. He is loathe to let Skye, go for even a moment, and this puts some strain in their relationship.I loved the interaction between the hero and heroine. I enjoyed the fact that the heroine is cool-headed and strong. She refuses to let Trace dictate her love. Together the change for each other and realise that they would do anything, anything at all, to save the other.The plot itself, was a secondary enjoyment for me. I focused more on the characters than the plot. Although, I totally knew who the villain was, a good bit before it became obvious.This novel had a good mix of romance and suspense. I would recommend it to anyone who loves either genre.ARC Courtesy of NetGalley and Cynthia Eden.
Secret Admirer
Rating: 10 out of 5...:OMany know that I am not a big fan of the older harlequin romances. I find titles like The Tycoon's Baby Mother or The Millionaire's Mistress a huge turn off, let alone their plot lines which make my feminist ideals sizzle in anger.This book caught me completely off-guard.I was casually scrolling through my iPhone's Goodread app where there is an Explore button. Having pressed that, I came upon a list called virgin heroes.Yes, I know, most of you who know me are probably rolling your eyes right now. But I can honestly tell you that even if that little bit of information was incorrect (and I certainly thought it was, for the better part of the story), I still would have loved this book as much. I mightn't have started reading it if it wasn't on that list, but if I had somehow stumbled upon this book and read the blurb I would have given it a chance. Because even by just reading the blurb, I knew this book was going to be different from the other Harlequin novels.Surprising right? Well let's start with the story.The story starts off with Grace Blair, a recent widow, stumbling into a lift wearing nothing but a fur coat. With her on the lift was a handsome man and his companion. Things happen that ensure that her clothing failure is no longer a secret. This was a first meeting never to be forgotten. But what she doesn't realise, is that she set off a hunt where she will be the eventual prey.What was surprising was that the heroine was a strong cool-headed intelligent heroine who was also passionate and loving.What was even more surprising was that the hero was a beautiful mixture of alpha and strong who could also be sweet and loving. I possibly couldn't write more without ruining the beautiful surprises that this book contains.This book is a definite re-read for me and I would recommend it to all romance lovers.
Hero THINKS he sleeps with the OW. For those who dislike emotional cheating, this wont be the book for you...
Don't Bite the Bridesmaid (Entangled Covet)
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.Alice has been burned before. The cause of that is the best man for her sister's wedding.To not seem sad, lonely and hung up on her ex, she comes up with a plan to ask her hunky neighbour to be her plus one.The story was light and lovely.A very fulfilling novel for those who want to read a paranormal romance without much of the angst.ARC Courtesy of NetGalley and Entangled Publishing, LLC.
Rating: 3 out of 5.Nick and Casey have been really good friends for the past few months. Both are crazily attracted to one another, the only thing keeping them apart is Nick's secrets.And he has a lot of them.I didn't like the one last secret that came out with regards to the evil other woman. I found that his justification for keeping that secret was lacking.But overall, the novel was funny and engaging.ARC Courtesy of NetGalley and Entangled Publishing, LLC.
A Study in Silks
Rating: 2.5 out of 5.This could have been a lovely book, if it weren't for the characters.From the start, I disliked the love triangle between Evelina, Nick and Tobias. I normally don't mind love triangles but I hated Evelina's crush on Tobias. I couldn't understand what she found attractive in him.Was it his drinking, gambling or sleeping around ways? The slightest favourable thing about him was his ability to make things. But even that paled a lot next to his fickle character and his character is very fickle, especially in the end.I felt like Evelina was dazzled by his rakish charm and the fact that he had a title that Nick did not.I honestly found her superficial. I won't say that about many heroines, but in this one, although Evelina kept on saying that she didn't care more about her respectability than Nick, I felt the other way. For example, there was a part where Nick gets hurt and they have a conversation where Nick asks her whether she would call a doctor for him, and she says that she would if she thought it would help. Of course it would help, he was bloody bleeding. But she decides to trust her own unknown powers of healing over a doctor's trusted methods.There was one Shakespearean quote that came to mind:"The lady doth protest too much, methinks."Evelina was also very fickle. One moment she was wholly in love with Nick, the other with Tobias. The setting and plot was good. But I felt the love triangle detracted me from enjoying the setting and plot too much.ARC Courtesy of NetGalley and Random House Publishing.