2016 January Wrap Up

Wow, I have to say, I started this year off with a bang by reading a ton of books!  15 in total!

Starting off, I actually read 3 books at the tail end of 2015, but I decided to count them towards my 2016 goal for numbers.  But if I keep going at the rate I am, That might have been unnecessary.  So the three book that I had read were Kindle books, that I had downloaded to read specifically during my holiday shut down at work.

1. Bad Boy Daddy by Chance Carter.  This was a first for me, I have never read a romantic erotica that was written by a male before.  I thought the story was good, but it was definitely vulgar.
2. Unwrapped by Lacey Alexander is a short holiday story.  It was another one that I thought was good, but also on the vulgar side of erotica.  
3. The Stocking was Hung by Tara Sivec was another short holiday romance story that I downloaded on my kindle to treat myself and by far out of the three was my favorite.  While there was yes; romance and sex (and a touch of vulgarity), it was freaking hilarious.  I laughed so hard when I read this story, that I downloaded another one of her books to whip out if I ever need a good laugh.  In any of you read the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich, then imagine those characters amped up by 10,000 points.  Seriously, someone gets shot in the balls at the "Christmas Story" (the movie) museum.
4. Stepbrother UnSEALed by Nicole Snow.  I can't quite remember if I read and finished this one in 2015 or if I actually finished it in 2016, All I know is that I did it all during that week I had off from work.  This was another one of those raunchy romances that were nice quick reads.
5. Shift out of Luck by Ruby Dixon, is a short romance novella that was of the paranormal kind, following bear shape shifters.  I enjoyed this book so much that I ended up buying and reading the three other novella's that were a part of this series, titled Bear Bites.
6. Get Your Shift Together by Ruby Dixon is the second book in the Bear Bites series.  Who doesn't like the thought of a hunky bear shape shifter coming to your rescue when you're out in the woods?  
7. Shift Just Got Real by Ruby Dixon is the third book in the Bear Bites series.  Out of the four books I liked this one the least.  
8. Does a Bear Shift in the Woods by Ruby Dixon is the fourth story in the Bear Bites series, which involves a wolf shape shifter with a bear shape shifter.  
9. Fifty Shades Freed by E.L. James.  Let me just say that I was so happy to be done and over with this train wreck of a series.
10. Seven Up by Janet Evanovich.  This is the seventh book in the Stephanie Plum Series, and I have to say it didn't disappoint.  Because it had been quite some time since I've read any of these book I forgot how funny they are and was delightfully thrilled by the hilarity and mishaps that happened in the book.
11. The Duchess Wars by Courtney Milan is a historical romance book that I had downloaded onto my kindle a while back.  I started off just reading the first 3 or 4 chapters here and there, but once I actually sat down and dedicated a lot of time to it, it got exciting.  This is essentially a part of a series, so I may end up downloading the others at some point.
12. Kissing my Killer by Helena Newbury is a contemporary romance that has a Russian mob assassin and a computer hacker.  I had to say this was a nice story to read since, I haven't read something that involved a bad boy who has done something horrible.
13. Punching and Kissing by Helena Newbury is a contemporary romance that is centered around underground illegal boxing.  This was actually attached to the download of Kissing my Killer so I decided to read this as well.
14. Hard Eight by Janet Evanovich is the eighth book in the Stephanie Plum series.  In all seriousness, this book did not disappoint, Four vehicles ended up exploding and a man in a bunny suit decided to harass our hilarious bounty hunter.
15. Hardened by Ophelia Sikes is a short novella that is part of the Vegas Nights series by this author.  This story was actually a part of my February TBR but I ended up reading it because it was short and sweet.  The only problem is that it ended on a cliff hanger so I downloaded the next one.  This series alone is the reason why I'm seriously considering signing up for kindle unlimited since it's a free with that subscription.

Well, these are all of the books that I read in the month of January.  Some were short reads others took longer.  All in all, I have to say, I'm glad to be done with the Fifty Shades of Gray series though.  Don't worry, I plan on doing some book reviews for some of these.  If there are any that you'd like me to elaborate on more, please comment below and I'll try to put it on the top of my review list.

Book Review: Fairest

Fairest by Marissa Meyer

Fairest by Marissa Meyer is a bridge between the books Cress and Winter.  This book is part of the Lunar Chronicles Series, and is a futuristic, young adult novel.  While the other four stories follow a fairytale theme, this book is more like a window into the evil step-mother life.  While this book isn't a part of the series, I felt that it was a great read and set up for the final book in the series, Winter.  This story was shorter, but explained and introduced other characters that play huge roles in the final book.

Queen Levana is known as the ruthless ruler of Luna and their people the Lunars.  Known for her glamour you follow Queen Levana as a young teenager up to her adult years.  You feel for the insecure girl who was badly scared from a fire when she was a child.  Verbally abused, she becomes obsessed with a palace guard who is older than her and happily married into another woman.  She soon realizes the power she has not just with her glamour (Which is where they can change their physical appearance) but also with other people.  With the ambition of being not only the most beautiful Queen, but also the greatest ruler of Luna, she isn't afraid to hurt, kill and destroy anyone who stands in her way.  Including family.

I loved this book.  While it wasn't necessary to the Lunar Chronicles series, I was a great way to understand the madness that is Queen Levana.  One thing that I loved about this story is that even though you find out what she went through and you start to understand how she became who she was, you don't change your opinion on her.  You don't in the end hope that she gets a happy ending.  You still want to see her get what she has coming to her in the final story Winter.  While it isn't necessary to read this book as part of the Lunar Chronicles, it was still a great read.  Yes, you can read the Lunar Chronicles book without this and they explain everything that you need, I found it was interesting to go deep into the character which is Levana.  Finding out how she became the loose cannon that she was, was interesting.  I loved every second of this book.

Rating:
5 out of 5 stars

Book Review: Fifty Shades Darker

Fifty Shades Darker by E.L. James

Fifty Shades Darker by EL James, is the second book in the Fifty Shades series.  This book is an erotica romance that touches on the BDSM lifestyle.  I finished this book in August of 2014, so I apologize if this review seems not that great.

Fifty Shades Darker picks up where Fifty Shades of Grey left off when Anastasia Steele leaves Christian Grey.  But the two lovers can't avoid each other and end up back with a each other.  Wanting a career, Anastasia feels daunted by Christian's need to control everything in her life.  But she feels frustrated with the secrets that he's keeping from her.

So I have to be honest, I didn't like this book, nor the first one.  I don't have an issue with the BDSM lifestyle that the author has wrote about, but I do have issue with her lack of development that she seems to have with the characters.  This book opened up a lot of issues that never seemed to get resolved or have a conclusion to.  I felt that the characters were so polar opposites that I couldn't relate them.  Ana is a weak person that doesn't have a back bone, and Christian is a manipulative dominate.  I felt that Christian's disregard of Ana's opinion on things was a huge turn off.  One thing that irritated me in the first book and it followed through to this book, and that was the constant mention of Ana's inner goddess.  I seriously wanted that inner goddess to get hit by a bus or something.   There were a lot of issues with this book, but one of the major ones for me have been was Christian's relationship with Elena (who was commonly referred as Mrs. Robinson), their relationship turned intimate and was a BDSM relationship right from the beginning when Christian was 15 and Elena was much older.  Ana is clearly uncomfortable with this but Christian disregards her voice on this matter.  This was something that could have been discussed and it just never happened.  And in the end, Ana can't live without Christian so she says yes to marriage even though they've known each other for a short amount of time and they have a ton of issues.  I have to be honest, if Christian wasn't rich or good looking, any normal girl would probably run the other way.

In the end, I didn't like this book.  If it had stayed as a fan fiction that I could have read for free, I would probably enjoy it.  But it is mediocre at best.  It really didn't deserve the hype and I think it gave a false image to the BDSM culture.  If you're interested in reading books like that, and that are done properly, I suggest reading something by Jaid Black.  She knows what she's writing about.  I personally feel that I'm being too generous with a 2 out of 5 stars rating, but I think I gave it an extra star because of it's origin.  I've read a lot of fan fiction over the years, some have been horrible, some decent, and others spectacular!  I have to honestly say that this one would have been in between decent and spectacular, but as a novel, and a series, I just don't get the hype.  I really don't.

Rating: 

2 out of 5 stars

January 2016 TBR/ON DECK

So I've decided that instead of doing an on deck at the end of each of the reviews, I'll just do a monthly on deck/to be read post.  And also take this time to let you know what I'm currently reading.

As of right now I'm reading on my Kindle The Duchess Wars by Courtney Milan.  Which is a historical book that may or may not be a romance.  So far no romantic action has happened yet so we'll see.  Another book that I'm reading is the final book in the Fifty Shades of Gray trilogy, Fifty Shades Freed.  I have to be honest, I am going to count this as one of my challenge goals, and I'll be happy when I'm done with this series.  I think the only reason I'm attempting to finish this series is because I want to see one of the main characters get hit by a bus or something.

And now on too my January TBR:

1. Seven Up by Janet Evanovich.  I have all of the books listed on one slip, so I might actually read more than one if I feel like it.
2. Love, Lucy by Lucille Ball.  This is a biography written by Lucille Ball herself, and got released after her death.  From what I've read, it was never intended to me released because she didn't want to hurt her ex-husband, Dezi Arnez while he was alive.
3. Perfect Evil by E.C. Sheedy.  I believe that this will count as a non-romance (I don't think this is a romance) and it does count as an author that I have never read before.  I've had this book in my collection for quite some time, so I don't quite remember what it was about.  All I remember is that I bought it when I was working at the book store 10 years ago.
4. Dragonbane by Sherrilyn Kenyon.
5. Come Love a Stranger by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss.
6. One Virgin Too Many by Lindsey Davis.  This is another book that I've had in my collection for a lot of years, and I've never read anything by her before, and I might count as a non-romance book.
7. Kissing my Killer by Helena Newbury.  This is a Kindle book and also an author that I have never read before.

So as you can tell I may be a little ambitious with picking 7 different books.  But I'm looking forward to the challenge.

2016 Book Goals/Challenge

For 2015 I have to say I was quite proud of myself... I had reached my book goal of 30 books (I know I haven't really posted the reviews to show that though).  So this year I've decided to not only read more books but to also challenge myself a little.  I for the most part read mostly romance, and this year I've decided to try and expand my reading horizons.

2016 Book Goals/Challenge

• First off I want to read 35-45 books.  I actually have my book challenge set at 40 on my good reads account.  But I really want to read more than that.
• Read 5 biographies/memoirs
• Read 5 Non-Fiction books
• Read 5 Non-Romance novels
• Read 3-5 Classics
• Read or finish 3-5 Series
• Read 3 anthologies
• Read 10 Kindle books
• Read 15 books by authors that I haven't read before
• Read all unread...

1. Sherrilyn Kenyon books that I own (I have unfortunately neglected my favorite authors books.)
2. Kathleen E. Woodiwiss books (I own all that she has had published)
3. Read and catch up on the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich (I own 1 to 20, and I have read the first 7 in the series)

I know what you're thinking, that's a lot of books for my challenge.  And it is, which is why I'm allowing double dipping.  Like I can have a kindle book and it will also count as a unread author.  Or a series will count as a unread author book.  And so on.  When I post reviews I'll try to let you know what they count them as.  I'm also going to attempt to do quarterly checkups.  But we all know how I am at updating.  I do have to say I have my TBR jars set up for my reading challenge so I'll have that to help me out.  But unfortunately I've counted it out and I have 107 titles there, which means if I were to read everything in there I'd have to read over 2 books a week, which is quite a challenge, so I'm just going to read as many as I can and hopefully read more than 45 books.  But I'll be happy if I get at least 40 books read in the 2016 year.