Kansas City Shuffle by Talya Bosco

Kansas City Shuffle (from publisher):

Larissa comes to Kansas City after winning a trip to see where her favorite series of books takes place. She expects to have a great time with her three scheduled fantasy dates and an all-expenses-paid shopping spree. When she meets two men at different points in her vacation, she is suddenly torn between them. Finding out they know each other, and are perfectly willing to share her, in and out of bed, is more than a dream come true. It’s a fantasy.
Devon and Jared know that Larissa is their mate; they just have to convince her. And hope she doesn’t freak when she finds out they are the werewolves she has been reading about for the past six years. But they can’t tell her until their pack has finished “testing her suitability” as an alpha female. All they can do is hope she will forgive them when she finds out the truth.
Yet, the real truth is something none of them suspects. And may be enough to drive them apart permanently.

Review: I tried hard to like this book. Really, I did. When I reread the book, I realized how much I did not care for this story. It is hard to pinpoint exactly what it was, but this book did not click with me. The author tried to make Larissa a confident plus sized woman, but I did not buy it. To me, the characters came across as juvenile. I did not like Devon or Jared. The author's writing style was not something I appreciated, but others might. "Gently he pushed her, and she came up against something hard. Her hands felt around. It was a tree. A very large and very firm tree." I mean come on, how else would a tree be?! Pudding dense or maybe spongecake? Hmm. That irked me. Other things as well. Larissa constantly mutters to herself about wanting to be used by a dominant man with light bondage-like this. "Shit. He was right. It had. She knew she didn't want it all the time, but she'd always dreamed of being ordered around by a dominant male. Just a little bit of harmless role-playing. But how had he known? She hadn't said anything." That sort of writing is just a mood killer, like some blathering on during sex. While not a horrid book, I could barely stomach to reread it. It just could not hold my interest. It took days to reread it while trying to do anything else but get back to it to finish it. Also, Larissa is not sufficiently angry or upset for all the lying, deception and "tests" she was put through. I just didn't buy it. The author reiterates constantly how much Larissa dislikes dishonesty and is very open and honest, but barely blips when she finds out all that was done to her. Anti-climatic ending, just didn't suit me. I recommend you pass on this paranormal, shape-shifter menage. There are better examples out there. Try Battered Not Broken by Celia Kyle, I highly recommend this one. **It is not that I dislike this author, I loved her story Hungry Like a Wolf, so I guess this one just didn't click!

His Son's Teacher by Kay Stockham

His Son's Teacher:

Nick Tulane ordinarily won't admit weakness in himself or in those he loves. But when he learns his son is about to fail in school, the single father is desperate to find a tutor. And Jennifer Rose is perfect. In fact, Jen might be too perfect. Nick's starting to fall for the attractive teacher, and he can't let that happen. Because opening up to Jen means sharing the secret that has always made him feel like an outsider in his own family. Still, with his son showing signs of following in his footsteps, Nick can't keep the truth hidden. But once she knows, will Jen accept him...weakness and all?

Review: While this is part of a series, Tulanes of Tennessee, it is a stand alone story. Jennifer Rose is a overweight divorcee who has been emotionally abused by her ex-husband and father. Never made to feel that she was worthy or anything special, Jenn has a hard time coping with Nick. Nick has troubles from his childhood that he keeps closely guarded. This is a very interesting story. The secondary characters are done just right. They are not trying to take over the story. They are perfectly done, drawn out enough. What makes this story interesting is that Nick is not the knuckle dragging Harlequin alpha male. He is a sweet man who has very real issues he is dealing with. Jennifer is fat, overweight, etc. She not the classic Harlequin heroine. The flaws, perfections and imperfections of these characters is what makes this story special. I highly recommend this story as a keeper and reread.

Second Chances by Carolyn Faulkner

Second Chances:

There was just no getting away from that fact that Holly Johnson was fat. She knew she wasn’t cute and round, or pleasingly plump. She was fat - and smart and funny and impish. Chance Thompson was, in a word, not. Very not. In fact, he was downright gorgeous – and dominant and loving and supportive. He was always more than willing to lend Holly a guiding hand – preferably applied with a painful thwack to her ample bottom. Was happily ever after with him too much for an ugly duckling to hope for? At one time, Holly had thought her insecurities had been proven out, but now she wasn’t so sure . . . Second Chances is a romantic spanking story with lots of hot sex and loving correction.

Review: First off let me give you a warning that this is a spanking, or domestic discipline story. I am not someone who seeks out spanking stories, or is a member of that lifestyle. This not bdsm, it is discipline in a parent-child way. I can't explain it because I do not know anything about that lifestyle and I will make no judgment calls on it. That said, you're ass will tingle after reading this somewhat bittersweet tale from the infamous spanking author, Carolyn Faulkner. What I like about this story is that it really digs in on the whole issue of weight. The heroine is at least 40 pounds overweight and her mother is abusive in how she deals with having a "fat" child. Holly has serious issues because of that and her mom uses the insecurities she pounded on her daughter's head to jeopardize the friendship and budding love Holly has with Chance. I wanted to like Chance, I really did. But I couldn't. He did something unconscionable and I couldn't forgive him. Let me just say there is a reason why this book is entitled "Second Chances". As the reader, you will have to figure out if a second chance should have been given. I know my answer. I know this type of spanking/discipline story is not going to be for everyone, still I recommend that if you read this at least once. A great one-time read. And, YES, I did pick this book out for the hunky firefighter guy. Is it me or do just wanna lick around those tattoos?

Thinking about romances led to....

...thinking about romance songs. I'm not a country fan, or a Wynonna Judd fan for that matter. I do, however, love this song. When I first heard this song, I was gobsmacked. I couldn't believe it was a "country" song. Just beautiful and had to share it since I'm reading all these books to review. Ok, 'ya got me! I was actually rereading Making Chase. Here is "Only Love" by Wynonna Judd.

Annabelle Lee by NJ Walters

Annabelle Lee (from publisher):

By day Annabelle Lee is a perfect small town librarian, with loose-fitting dresses and hair scrunched up in a tight bun. But at night, lying in her lonely bed, her sensuality emerges in scorching, erotic dreams about Mike Sloan.
Annabelle's not the only one with a few fantasies. Mike has been dreaming of stripping her out of her prim clothing and getting her into his bed, and when the opportunity arises, he grabs at the chance. Soon they're heating up the sheets, and each other, with steamy sexual interludes.
While Annabelle is luxuriating in their no-strings secret affair, Mike is longing for something more permanent—like exploring the exhilarating heights of passion as man and wife.

Review: This is the first in a series entitled Summersville Secret by an author I am falling for. I have read most of another series by her and fully intend to post something about that it here. NJ Walters has the ability to not only draw the reader in but light 'em up. This story is just as hot as the Southern summer it is set in. The reader gets hot, bothered and steamed up. Yet, there is a semblance of emotions here. While I have reread this story, I still am unsure about the mental tickings of either character. Why is Annabelle so afraid? Why does she think no man will want her? Why, why, WHY?! It is a hard sell to this reader. There isn't enough emotional depth and full backgrond layout to fully understand. Of course, the author fully explains what she does but there is not that dig down to the roots and rip it out sort of thing. Annabelle only had one experience with a guy in college (one night stand?) and is now 30. How is that a basis for this fear? Dunno, may the author doesn't know either and just wanted to write a story about a reluctant heroine and a besotted hero. Going past this sticky wicket, you get a highly sensual tale with a wonderful hero who can make even the most reluctant "quite a handful" of curvy heroine fell more beautiful about herself. I highly recommend that anyone read this keeper of a tale.

WHERE THE HELL HAVE I BEEN

I'll tell you where: grad school. Yep, kicked my ass right up on my shoulders. Haven't had much time to pee, let alone read a good book. Papers, research, lesson plans, blah, blah, etc. Also, there has been next to nothing in the rubenesque/bbw categories of e-book publishers released. I do have a tentative list of books that I have scraped together that I am going to review in the next couple of months.

Also, I have had lap-band surgery. My ass was the size of Texas, seriously I had to have beeping horns and flashing lights just to get around. Honestly, though, at my weight, something had to be done. PCOS was not helping my efforts. I mean it took me a year to lose 25 pounds. I have lost that since my surgery at the end of March. That's right, I am now under 300 pounds and close to my second weight loss goal. I'm so happy. But be warned, this is a drastic, hard, difficult thing to do-it is not easy to live with. You have to have a commitment to the restrictions of the band and give up a lot of the things you probably love. I am still transitioning and learning. It is very overwhelming.

Back to the books. I hope to review the following books over the summer:
XKay Stockham-His Son's Teacher--found here
Sherrilyn Kenyon-Night Play
Francesca Hawley-Whirlwind Affair
Flesa Black-Big, Bad Wolf
Rita Allen-You Have Been Disconnected
Melinda Barron-Search Me Baby, One More Time
Lisa Kleypas-Mine Till Midnight
Teresa Mederios-The Bride and the Beast
Michele Ann Young-The Lady Flees Her Lord
Erin McCarthy-Houston, We Have A Problem
Hannah Murray-Knockout
And plenty more. Note these may not all fall into BBW gal category, but still their extra curviness is noted when describing their appearance, ie unfashionably curvy, overweight, etc.

Paranaughty Predator-Match.com: Alpha v Alpha by Francesca Hawley

Alpha v Alpha (from author's site):

Serena Goldwolf's life revolves around making matches for her fellow shapeshifters through her mate service, Predator-Match.com. She's thriving in the business world, if not her private one, until a match goes awry. She comes face to face with Damien Blackwolf, a very unhappy customer. He's the hottest male on two legs, or four, she's ever met. Life just got interesting.

Damien is looking for his perfect Mate and is startled when he first catches the scent of the voluptuous Serena. He knows he's found his True Mate, but how will he convince her of their destiny when she won't even give him the time of day? He needs to bring out her baser desires and he knows just how to do that - by dragging her off someplace private to get to know her...intimately.

Review: Wow, can't believe I missed this one. Alpha v Alpha is a selection in an anthology that can be purchased here. This is actually an introduction to the same world as Protect and Defend(reviewed). Serena, Damien and others appear in the latter novel. I highly recommend this story, a definite keeper and reread. I would buy the anthology just for this story, it is the only one I have read. The description says it all. Kudos again to Francesca Hawley for proving that curves are more fun!

*If you haven't read Protect and Defend(shame on you!), then read this first. It is not imperative, but would be fun to do. I didn't and enjoyed both stories. Two separate stories in the same world-it is not a read in order series.*

Dayum!!

The Klitschko Brothers, brothers, people. Hot DAMN, is about all I can mutter around all this drool! With bodies like that who cares if I'm not all that attracted to their faces. Although, that side profile ain't so bad.

How I Spent My New Year

Caught my midnight kiss on film!!
I set up the camera so I could share what hubby and I did on New Years Eve. I mean I never heard what was supposed to be kissed at midnight.

Where do I get my books?

Where do I get my books you ask? First, I have seen on many romance book review sites about stating where or from whom they get their books, etc. Now, I buy all my books either in ebook or dead tree form. No authors have or ever will ask me to review a book for them or give them a good review for any price. I have only had one author ever thank me for the review. That had to be a fluke. I really only do this blog for me foremost, gotta get rid of all these brainwave things, and then for other readers who are looking for non traditionally sized heroines. I have read a lot more than I've reviewed. Occasionally if a book that does not meet my main purpose is reviewed it is either because it is so good I have to crow about it or so bad I have to dash it to the earth with my feet or cut it's balls of with my sharp tongue. Ain't that an image.^.~

I buy my books and take no requests from authors or anyone in the publishing industry and am not in anyway connected to the industry. I'm just a mouthy bitch who loves to read romances.