So without further ado, here's more books I didn't finish for whatever reason.
Review: The Accidental Harem by JJ Knight
Sometimes a book just doesn't grab you. This was it for me. It is supposed to be funny and I didn't find it funny. I struggled to get past the first chapter with Vivienne who is unashamedly the female version of a manwhore. I'm not using the S-word since I'm not shaming. More power to her to be so sexually easy and upfront about it. Me not finishing the book has nothing to do with Vivienne and everything to do with the book. I got to the second chapter and I didn't find anything compelling to keep me reading and I was in the mood for an easy read. As for the whole comedy thing, I struggle with a lot books that claim to be comedy and funny. I find they often fall flat or my sense of humor is just weird and I tend to not find what they consider funny to be funny. It happened to me with another book that was supposedly funny too and I found the heroine in that book crass and the story boring. I accept full responsibility for not liking this book and not wanting to read it.
Review: Finding His Mark (Stealth Ops #1) by Brittney Sahin
This book came highly recommended to me and on the surface it hits all my buttons of what I like in a romantic suspense. Sadly, it failed in the execution. I found the premise highly unbelievable and I'm one to suspend disbelief a lot when I read a book. Aside from that, I couldn't connect with the characters. I tried. I gave the book to 35% but finally called it quits. I wasn't getting into it. It wasn't engaging me. And I didn't like Eva enough to care what happened to her though I did like Luke marginally more. Eva just rubbed me the wrong way from the fact that she turned up where she wasn't supposed to, went back on her agreement on the rental contract with Luke, could not stop asking questions, and generally being a nuisance. It's probably a good thing Luke was thinking with his d*** and thought she was hot because she was a pain in the butt with no redeeming qualities.. She also did not seem to understand the need for secrecy and for someone who claims she understood everything about SEALs since she worked on a show featuring them, she really didn't get the meaning of the word "classified". For as long as I read the book, I couldn't find anything about her to like. Since this book came highly recommended from someone I trusted, I tried to give it as fair a shot as I could. Alas, it didn't work.
Review: Deep Seal by Posey Parks
I came across this book and was attracted to the blurb. I do like a good Navy SEAL romance. Alas, this was not it. My first indication should have been the fact that the book title was "Deep Seal" instead of "Deep SEAL" unless there was some other meaning to the word "Seal" I didn't read far enough into to find out. I couldn't get into the writing. From the start, it was poorly written with short, unstructured sentences that were difficult to read. I felt like I was reading a book akin to "See Spot run, run Spot run." To top that off, it was all telling and no showing. It was not a reading experience I could get into.
Review: Carried Away by Tory Baker
I read the blurb for this book and was intrigued. Decided to take a chance on it since this is a new-to-me author. Sadly, it didn't work out. 30% in and I still wasn't engaged and couldn't work up any desire to keep reading. The characters and the story wasn't as promising as the blurb. I gave it a few shots after putting it down and picking it up repeatedly, but alas, it wasn't to be. I decided not to keep trying and move on.
Review: Daddy's Best Friend (Once Upon A Daddy #1) by Kelli Callahan
I've been in a bit of a mood lately and it's been taking some effort to get stuck into a book and keep reading. I started this book with high hopes since I do enjoy the trope and I'm taken in by the sexiness of the book's description but the writing didn't draw me in. I felt like there was a lot of telling and the writing style was a little too simplistic. It was like I was reading something that was meant for a very low reading level with short, overly simplified sentences. Perhaps I was being too fussy for wanting more complex sentence structures that drew me in with the narrative and descriptions. This was not it and I wasn't inclined to keep going since it wasn't holding my attention.
Review: Thick Wood by Chloe Kincaid
This book has all the things I like in my romance. Mountain men, reverse harem, being out in the woods. Alas, it didn't work. I did not like Liana and if there's one thing that will ruin a book quickly is a heroine I find annoying. I found Liana very annoying. There was just too much of her internal monologue and it went on and on and on. It got boring. The way she was describing herself and how into herself she was, she's self-centered and selfish. Sure, she's into her career and she's driven, but the way she makes it sound, the world might just end without her running it. I have zero sympathy for her that her ex called off their engagement and I kind of think she deserved it since she put zero effort into the relationship. I do believe that women can be successful and career-minded, but I also believe that relationships are a two-way thing. It's all about give and take and Liana was giving nothing to her relationship. And then when she got involved with Caleb, Mark, and Todd, well, by then I was so put off by her and her inner voice, I didn't want to have anything else to do with her. I usually love epilogues and even her epilogue was boring and another long rambling monologue about herself, her life, and her career. Liana takes being self-absorbed to the next level.
Review: Triple Daddy Heat by Pepper Swan
On the surface this is exactly my kind of book. Contemporary. Reverse harem. Steamy. Sexy. The premise of the story was a little hinky what with one of the heroes being an intentional drunk but I decided to give it a shot anyway. Alas, this was not one that was going to grab me by the throat and drag me along. I almost gave up after the first chapter when Meg spent the better part of the whole time lamenting over the performance of her current boyfriend and her overly strong sexual appetite. No shaming here. Hooray for Meg and her sexual awareness, but it was crass. The whole description of how much it takes to satisfy her left me with a rather sour taste in my mouth and feeling rather uncomfortable. There's writing about sex with finesse and there's using it as a sledge hammer. This one was rather blunt and not very tastefully done. That said, I decided to give the book the benefit of the doubt for another chapter and I run into Boone. No one wants to get lumped with an abandoned baby and being told it's theirs. I don't blame Boone for the way he reacted but he's also kind of a jerk. Between Boone and his attitude towards the baby, Meg and her continued sexual inner monologue, it was not a winning formula for me. I didn't keep reading long enough to find out much about Vince and the other guy whose name I can't even remember other than the fact that one good look at them and Meg was in lust and wondering if the three of them could satisfy her lusty appetites. It's one thing to have a heroine in a reverse harem to have a strong sexual appetite, it's another to have her come across as a nymphomaniac with only one thing on her mind. I've read some great free books that I've picked up from Amazon recently, but alas, this is not one of them.
Review: Smoky (Exiled Guardians MC #4) by Hope Ford
I liked this series by Ms Ford a lot. I've enjoyed the first three books and had a lot of fun with them. I like the MC-lite spin she has on the series, I like the guys, and I like that it's a fast burn, almost insta-love thing going on. Sadly, I didn't like this book though because I did not like Harper. Harper is desperate. She's practically destitute and needs a job. Smoky gives her a job and he stakes his claim. Only Harper is all attitude, distrust, blowing hot and cold, and even for a short book, I didn't have the patience to deal with her and wait for her to change her tune. So this one is a miss for me. I will read the next book in the series though and hope the next heroine is more likable.
Review: A Reckless Affair (Flowerhill Medical Romance #1) by Anna Strachan
Wow! It's a good thing this book was free because it started off rocky and didn't improve. Granted it was a short book but I've read short books and loved them. In fact, I've been reading a lot of short books recently and loving them because I've been in the mood for short satisfying read. This was not one of them. None of the characters grabbed me. Jennifer's character came across as judgmental and defensive while her internal dialogue drove me bonkers. And then she did this thing with her neighbour not two minutes after meeting him and the whole thing came off as sordid, tawdry, and sounded downright ridiculous, and I couldn't bring myself to keep reading. It was that interaction with the neighbour that was the proverbial nail in my reading coffin. This is my second disappointing medical romance in a row. Both of them free on Amazon. Not bagging free books on Amazon since I've discovered some great reads and great authors that way, but these last two were dissatisfying. I had high hopes too since I'd just come off a great free read from Amazon and was looking for more. Maybe my expectations were set too high. I didn't find the writing engaging (there was too much telling) and I couldn't connect with the characters. I don't think I'm going to be seeking our more of Ms Strachan's work.
Review: Deep Wood by Margot Scott
I was pretty excited about reading this book. Mountain Man. Daddy. Age gap. All sorts of reading catnip for me. Ticks all my boxes. Alas, despite all the tropes I enjoy I didn't like either the hero or heroine. I found Silas unlikable. Okay, he's gruff and cranky which is typical for a mountain man, but he also comes across a jerk and an asshole. And I didn't like that he's unforgiving and carrying a decades old grudge. As for Norah, she's just a young, impressionable, and stupid girl who got in way over her head and making things worse with what she's trying to do. So yeah, no. This didn't work her me. You can throw all the tropes I love at me, but if I don't like the characters and the story doesn't grab me, it's not something I'm going to latch on to even if I'm willing to give it a shot. And you'd think I'd have got through this fairly quickly or even stuck it out since it's such a short book but there just wasn't enough in it for me to like to keep going. Shame though, it had so much potential.
There you go. That's it for now. There are more, of couse, and I'm sure that will continue because I keep experimenting and reading new authors that are recommended, but not everything I've tried didn't work out. I have found a few new favorite authors recently that I've loved.
Tell me, are there any hot buttons that don't work for you in books? Something that will make you shut the book and not keep reading? How many books have you not finished so far this year?
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