Book Review: Slow Burn by Anne Marsh

Title: Slow Burn (Smoke Jumpers, #2)
Author: Anne Marsh
Release Date: March 26th 2013 
Publisher: Brava Kensington
Source: Received from the publisher via NetGalley

It’s not every man who’ll risk his life jumping into the flames of a woodland inferno. Then again, Evan Donovan isn’t like other men. No matter how great or how treacherous the challenge, he gets the job done. But when he agrees to look in on a friend’s ex-wife after a suspicious brushfire, Evan learns that some jobs are too hot to handle…

Faye Duncan is a photographer on a mission, shooting fires for a magazine. Her first encounter with a wildfire isn’t nearly as wild as her first night with Evan Donovan. Things really heat up when Evan learns she may have taken a photo of the arsonist setting the fires. Evan is determined to keep Faye safe—but first, he’ll have to open up his heart…

My Thoughts

I initially enjoyed Slow Burn but as I read on, I found it to be very slow moving.
There was a lot of internal dialogue going on throughout which slowed down the pace immensely, I would have liked more to actually happen rather than listen to the in-head mutterings of the MC.

The sexual attraction was okay but the overall relationship felt stilted and forced and I found myself skimming over a lot of it.

The suspenseful arson twist was rather underwhelming also.
Less of a complete giveaway as to the culprit would have been beneficial and added a lot more interest to a story that lacked overall impact; because giving away a major plot line so early on just lessoned the reading experience for me.

I enjoyed the first quarter but the rest was pretty uneventful and too slow for me.
2.5 stars :|

Book Review: Hooked by Liz Fichera

Title: Hooked (Hooked #1)
Author: Liz Fichera
Release Date: January 29th 2013
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Source: Received from the publisher via NetGalley

When Native American Fredricka ‘Fred’ Oday is invited to become the only girl on the school’s golf team, she can’t say no. This is an opportunity to shine, win a scholarship and go to university, something no one in her family has done.

But Fred’s presence on the team isn’t exactly welcome — especially not to rich golden boy Ryan Berenger, whose best friend was kicked off the team to make a spot for Fred.

But there’s no denying that things are happening between the girl with the killer swing and the boy with the killer smile...

GET HOOKED ON A GIRL NAMED FRED

My Thoughts

I'll start with the two notes I made while reading Hooked.
20% boring - dont really care for either character...
30% picking up...

Well I have to say that I'm in the minority here because I really didn't care for this book all that much.

I'm not sure that I get Fred, she's rather one dimensional, and I didn't think she really grew as a person throughout the book. Yes, stuff happened to her but I didn't feel anything from her, it didn't teach her anything, her behaviour didn't change. She was just a very flat and uncharismatic character for me.

Ryan is your typical 'jock', nothing special. His character did grow somewhat throughout the story but he was still not all that likeable in my opinion. I didn't feel his attraction to Fred, it felt disingenuous. Ryan only noticed Fred when she joined the golf team, and then he was confused at having feelings for her but we never got to really explore his feelings - we are just told he is attracted to her.

Seth is a fruit loop, completely self absorbed in his own self loathing and hate of Fred. He went way overboard in his mistreatment of her, it was very over-the-top behaviour. There is also Ryans current/on-off again total bitch girlfriend that gets in on the hate fest. It all just felt overly cliched and like I said, I just didn't feel it with this book.

For me, Hooked was a slow, mostly uneventful read that could have benefited from a bit more fleshing out of the characters and the story. Only 2.5 stars :]

Book Review: Tempted By The Highland Warrior by Michelle Willingham

Title: Tempted by the Highland Warrior (MacKinloch Clan #3)

Author: Michelle Willingham
Release Date: June 19th 2012
Publisher: Harlequin
Imprint: Harlequin Historical
Source: Received from the publisher via NetGalley

After years of brutal torture, Callum MacKinloch is finally free of his captors--but his voice is still held prisoner. He'd never let anyone hear him scream.Although Lady Marguerite de Montpierre's chains may be invisible, they threaten to tie her to a loveless and cruel marriage.

When Marguerite discovers Callum waiting to die, her heart aches for the warrior beneath the suffering--but they can have no future. Yet she is the one woman with the power to tame the rage locked inside him. Maybe he can find another reason to live...for her.

My Thoughts

Although not the best story involving Highlanders that I have ever read, it was still an okay read.

I didn't really connect with the characters at all. 

I liked them, but I didn't care for them, and there wasn't really anything that overly distinguished them as Highlanders other than being told they were. The author could of told me they were outback Australians and I wouldn't have known the difference. 

I just didn't think there was any consistency or genuine Scottish traits in the character descriptions or dialogue that categorically defined them as Highlanders. I definitely missed all the usual Scottish accenting and phrases that would have helped convince me of their ethnicity, and heated things up for the reader - as there really is nothing better than a well placed Gaelic term of endearment!

The story itself was nice-ish. 

I liked the mute-by-trauma element that Callum had, but in the end his muteness was resolved a little too smoothly and easily for me and the heroine's reaction to him regaining his speech was very one dimensional "Oh, you spoke, you've regained your speech - how nice" (not a direct quote but you get the idea)

Overall I liked the story but I found the world building, the characters, and the general narrative to be weak and a little boring, only 2 1/2 Stars :|

Book Review: Soul Weaver by Hailey Edwards

Title: Soul Weaver

Author: Hailey Edwards
Release Date: August 7th 2012
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Imprint: Forever Yours
Source: Received from the publisher via NetGalley

Since the accident that nearly took her life, Chloe suffers from acute agoraphobia. Living alone above her family's bookstore, she spends restless nights terrified by strange visions . . . until a mysterious stranger appears and offers her salvation. Chloe is drawn to the ethereal, gorgeous Nathaniel-but her haunted soul warns her there is more to him than meets the eye.

An archangel who roams Earth collecting souls of the newly departed, Nathanial is the sole witness to the accident that should have taken Chloe's life. Seduced by the purity of her soul, he defies Providence by saving her life. But his attempt at kindness marks Chloe for damnation, and makes her an unwitting pawn in a game of unholy ambition. Now together they must fight the demons of Hell itself-for a love that defies the boundaries of Heaven and Earth.


My Thoughts

This book sounds great and has all the elements that I look for in a great paranormal romance, but (IMO) failed in its execution.

The beginning was great and I was immediately interested in the story, and the last third kept me entertained but the large chunk in between was clunky and hard to read.

Filled with too many people to keep track of, jumping back and forth between story arcs, it just became a bit of a chore to read. And with so much going on I got bored of trying to remember who was who, and where.

The writing itself was good, it flowed well, but the storytelling could have done with a bit of a pep up. I found it melodic and stale and I just didn't care about the characters.

Only 2.5 Stars I'm afraid :|