Sunday Statements

I, Omega by Kari Gregg 4*
BLURB: After one mind-shattering night with a stranger at a local leather bar leaves him forever changed, Gabriel lives on the streets as a vagrant to elude the master who hunts him, but the were-shifter is a fierce, stubborn predator who reclaims him soon enough. Gabriel is carried away to the pack’s home territory where his instruction on what it means to be the pet of an alpha begins. Gabriel isn’t just any pet, though. He is the rarest among their kind: a human omega.
Treasured? Or cursed?
As Gabriel’s father, the Distinguished Gentleman from Pennsylvania and stalwart of the conservative party, pushes the considerable resources at his disposal to locate his missing son, Gabriel explores who and what he is under his master’s careful protection. Gabriel falls for the shifter who is lover and destroyer, owner and...friend?

My Review: This book is not for everyone - the beginning is quite brutal in a way and I almost gave up on it. However the character of Gabriel got me hooked and I couldn't wait to find out what was going on and how he was going to deal with the strangeness all around him. I also started feeling in sympathy with Gabriel's Master (who's name we do eventually learn) and his character added a whole new dimension to the story for me. Without giving anything away about the story I can only say it gets better than it's rather hardcore start and is worth reading if you like m/m and shifters.

Damaged (Planet Alpha #6) by Erin M. Leaf 4*
BLURB: Cori knows her Xyran captivity has damaged her ability to trust, but when she meets Reiyn, desire flares despite her fear. He’s clearly hiding something, but when a distress call sends them into space together, passion takes over.
Cori enflames Reiyn like no other female ever has. She threatens his control over his hidden Xyran heritage, but he can’t fight his instincts. When his true nature is exposed during the daring rescue of a dying Xyran captain, will Cori forgive him, or will he continue his life’s work alone?
Captain Kyuk welcomes death when his ship is destroyed. He doesn’t expect to survive, but when Cori and Reiyn find him, instinct pushes him to live. He’s spent years smuggling slaves to freedom—can he now give up his own liberty to bond with Cori and Reiyn? Or is he too damaged to build that kind of emotional connection?

My Review: Luckily for me these can all be read as standalones as I am not reading them in order. This one was as good as the previous ones I've read with a short but intense story about a woman meeting her alien mates.

***
I took a small break from the Love's Landscape stories and only read these two:

Kiss of Truth by Ash Jay 3*

Triskellion by Jana Denardo 5*

And because I have done a lot of crocheting (See Here for more info on that) I also listened to these audiobooks:

Audiobook: The Pack or the Panther (Tales of the Harker Pack, #1) by Tara Lain Narrated by: Max Lehnen Narration: 4 Story: 5

Audiobook: A Wolf In Gucci Loafers (Tales of the Harker Pack, #2) by Tara Lain Narrated by: Max Lehnen Narration: 4 Story: 5

Feeling like T-1000 at the end of Terminator 2!!

I am melting... it has been so hot lately (currently 28 degrees Celsius) that I haven't felt like doing much of anything. I have made a bit of bunting (two lengths of 5m each), a dancing fairy and two doughnuts (one with lemon icing and sprinkles and one with chocolate icing) for the yarnbombing next month. I have also read a lot of Love's Landscape stories:

Cataclysmic Evolution by Alicia Nordwell 5*

Clicking by Alex Gale 4*

Mating Balance by Gina A. Rogers 4*

A Thoreau Affair by Hunter Frost 3*

Foxes Over Flowers by J. Colby 3*

Spring, Bax & Butterflies by Riina Y.T. 2*

The Book & the Rose by Douglas Glen 4*

Under Pretenses by Jessa Ryan 4*

The Court of Lightning by Amy Rae Durreson 4*

Trying Not to Love You by N.J. Nielsen 4*

A Sonnet for His Vaquero by N.D. Wylders 3*

Sugar and Sawdust by Debbie McGowan 3*

Achievement: Tentacle Lust by NK Layne 3*



Plus I listened to:

Audiobook: Inside Out by Andrew Grey Narrated by John Solo Narration 5* Story 5*

Audiobook: Gust Front: Legacy Of The Aldanata, Book 2 by John Ringo Narrated by Marc Vietor Narration 5* Story 5*

Saturday Morning update

It's amazing how much reading (and crocheting) one can get done when getting up at 5am :D

Rehabilitating his Dingo (Wolves of Stone Ridge #23) by Charlie Richards 3*
BLURB: Out of the Cage: Sometimes, when something seems too good to be true, it isn’t.
When wolf shifter Yates Cruner helps save several humans from a dingo shifter pack using them as slaves, he doesn’t expect to find his mate among them. Oh, not one of the humans, but one of the surviving dingo shifters who has been beaten and abused just as much as the humans. It seems the dingo pack had one rule...I’m more dominant than you, I can do whatever I want to you. Yates realizes his little mate has a long road of healing ahead, and most of it isn’t for physical wounds.
Aryen Fowles learned his place early in life, keep his head down, kneel at the other shifter’s feet, and do whatever they ask. If he did that, he could avoid being punished. When a group of strange shifters take over the pack, the rules change. Aryen struggles to understand what’s expected of him. When one of the wolves offers him pleasures he’d never experienced before, he wonders if he could accept his offer at face value or was it too good to be true?
Content Warning: This story includes scenes of near rape and talk of dubious consent.(

My Review: I think a lot of people will have a negative reaction to one or other parts of this story. My own negative reaction was the speed in which one of the main characters 'recovered' from a life time of abuse. That aside the story was both entertaining and interesting given that I have not read any of the previous books in the series. This didn't seem to matter as it gave plenty of background information without detracting from the main storyline.


Love's Landscapes Stories
What Family Is For by T.T. Kove 4*

Gravitational Pull by Jill Prand 3*

The Scent of Hope by Summer Devon 4*

Because of You by Penny Brandon 3*

A few shorts and a whole load of Love's Landscapes Stories

Their Master Don [Gay BDSM ménage romance]by Alice Cain 3*
BLURB: Master Donald is well known for being a hard-core Dom at Club Stunhz, but what his many admirers don't know is that he doesn't want or need a full-time Dom/sub relationship.
When Mitchell is attacked and badly injured by one of the Doms, the last thing he wants is to be ordered around by "The Mastodon," but since going to the hospital isn't something he wants either, he has no choice but to accept help from the huge man. Thankfully, Mitchell's friend and fellow submissive, Riley, is a doctor and can save him the embarrassment of trying to explain his injuries to someone outside of their lifestyle.
Riley has been hiding his professional personality behind bizarre hair color, outrageous fetish gear, and thick eyeliner. He has admired Master Donald for a long time, but has never found the nerve to explain that they know each other outside of the club. But when Mitchell is in need of emergency medical treatment, he has no choice but to reveal who he is.
Having two submissives living in his personal space is much more appealing than Donald ever expected. His attraction to both men is off-the-charts hot, but they're both subs and he doesn't want to be a full-time Dom. Maybe hot sex is the best any of them can hope for.
But what happens when the attraction refuses to fade? Can Riley be a full-time sub to a part-time Dom? And how will Mitchell react when he finds himself falling for the real man behind the Mastodon image?

My Review: I liked this short story and found a lot of story was packed into it. The relationship between the three men was well thought out and portrayed within the storyline and there were plenty of secondary characters who shone equally well. The only reason for the three star is that a lot of the story seemed a bit rushed, with whole time periods being jumped without it being immediately apparent which caused me some confusion.

Flights of Fantasy by Mercedes Lackey 5*
BLURB: Flights of Fantasy is a short story collection edited by Mercedes Lackey centered around birds and flight.
The fourth anthology edited by Mercedes Lackey, who is making a name for herself as an editor, in addition to her fame as a writer. A bestselling author and licensed wild bird rehabilitator Mercedes Lackey has brought together original stories about fantastic flying creatures by such acclaimed writers as Mike Resnick, Diana Paxson, Lawrence Watt-Evans, and S.M. Sirling. Mercedes Lackey also includes a never-before-published novella.

My Review: I enjoyed all of the stories in this anthology and it was hard to pick just one that I liked better than any other. There are eleven short stories in total and each one has a flying creature in it, hence the title of the anthology. Sometimes the flying was tenuous but over all each story was like a perfect jewel in a pretty necklace. Each one an individual but each also enhancing the next.


Love's Landscapes Stories

Watching Elijah Fall by Amy Spector 4*

Making It Work by Cari Z. 4*

The Heartbeat Under a White Coat by C.R. Guiliano 4*

Prancer and Gruff by Jade Crystal 4*

Strange Charm by A. Phallus Si 3*

Laser Visions by Kaje Harper 5*

A Million Truths by M.C. Houle 3*

Dance With Me by Suzanne Simon 3*

Bright Water, Dark Sky by Augusta Li 5*

I almost forgot to add in the audio books I've been listening to whilst knitting socks and crocheting bunting! They were:

Audiobook:Nose for Trouble: Dale Kinsall, Book 1 By Doranna Durgin Narrated by Tom Schiff Narration: 5* Story 5*

Audiobook: Sliding Scales: Pip & Flinx, Book 9 by Alan Dean Foster Narrated by Stefan Rudnicki Narration 5* Story 5*

Audiobook: Running From The Deity: Pip & Flinx, Book 10 by Alan Dean Foster Narrated by Stefan Rudnicki Narration 5* Story 4*

I am ecstatic!!

An Uncommon Whore 3: The Prince of Faith will release in October 2014 at Loose Id! I CAN'T WAIT!!!

and just look at this wonderful cover:

So looking forward to reading this one as the first two were such great reading.

Updates and keeping busy.

So I've been keeping busy with visits to Newport to see the daughter, knitting my first ever pair of socks (for said daughter) and doing some catch up reading and listening. Once the second pair of socks is finished I shall be doing more crocheting for The Craft Club Ladies.

Post by The Craft Club.

So to continue, the books I've read/listened to and the list of LL stories:

Finding Connor (The Borillian Twist #1)by Toni Griffin 4*
BLURB: Mark, a RAAF fighter pilot, is on leave for the first time since the aliens decided to say 'Hello'. He meets Connor, a numbers man for a casino, at a gay bar and danced the night away. Their one night together changes their entire lives and what people think they know about life on Earth.
My Review: This was a lovely little Science Fiction m/m story with a great twist on male pregnancy. I think it's a great start to a new series, that I will probably end up regretting due to the drain on my already stretched book finances. I really liked Mark and Connor and look forward to reading more about their friends in future books. I also hope to read more about the Aliens too.

Audiobook:Sliding Scales: Pip & Flinx, Book 9 by Alan Dean Foster Narrated by Stefan Rudnicki Narration 5* Story 5*

Audiobook: Superhero by Eli Easton Narrated by Tristan Wright Narration 5* Story 5*


Love's Landscapes stories read

The Bigger They Are by Kim Alan 4*

Until Death Do Us Part by Janel White 4*

A Pale Shadow by Eon de Beaumont 4*

Soaring Past Death by Morticia Knight 3*

Wet Dreams and Adult Revelations by Tara Spears 3*

Knight Owl by C. Dallas Floyd 4*

Where Willows Won't Grow by Lia Black 5*

In A Whole New Light by Marie L. Nickett 3*

Updates since Monday

Love's Landscape Stories read:

Pink Lace and Stolen Hearts by J.C. Wallace 4*

Trunk'd by Tam Ames 3*

Honesty and Artifice by S.H. Allan 4*

Wand-Losing & Other Things You Shouldn't Be Doing by Gabbo De La Parra 5*

After the Ride by Siôn O’Tierney 3*

The Novice Dom by Clancy Nacht 2*

See You Smile by Dawn Sister 5*

For Want of a Nail by M.A. Ford 3*

Too Pretty by Ren Stjerne 4*


Audiobooks listened to:

Audiobook: Flinx's Folly: Pip & Flinx, Book 8 by Alan Dean Foster Narrated by Tyler Stevens Narration 5* Story 5*

Audiobook: Inside Out by Andrew Grey Narrated by John Solo Narration 5* Story 5*

Too much sun!

Decided to spend some time outside in my nice, newly landscaped, garden and over did it. Luckily one can't over do reading and I managed to read another four stories yesterday. Plus I'm half way through the book I'm going to be reviewing for the August blog tour I spoke about. I am also going to interview one of the characters from the book so pop in on the 4th and see how I do on my virgin trek into blog tour country.

Meanwhile here are the stories I read yesterday:

Pets by Mychael Black 2*
BLURB: Ian Bishop, captain of Queen Raleen's flagship, is a prisoner of war. So to speak. Tired of the human queen hunting his race, the centaur king Terian Thunderhoof wages war on the humans.
When Ian surrenders, Terian claims the disillusioned captain for his own. Thrust into a new life vastly different than the one he'd had, Ian finds himself torn between worry about what happens when the novelty of a human pet wears off...and worry that he's falling in love.
My Review: Given that this only had 31 pages there was a fair amount of background information given but it was definitely not a very in depth story. It was a light and fluffy piece about a centaur and a human who go from centaur owning pet human to the pair being lovers. Not a book that really had as much to it as I had hoped.

Love's Landscape stories:

Don't Name the Puppy by R.D. Hero 4*

Undiluted by Dayton Idoni 4*

Until Next Time by Xara X Xanakas 3*

Little Haven Hospice and tattoos

I sent off the stuff for the yarn bomb at Little Haven's Hospice. It's being done August Bank Holiday and if you want to help out here's the link for participation info. I've also gone to Raging Swan Studio and had a tattoo done in memory of my late husband Tony.
(looks a lot less red now of course as photo was taken at the studio when the tattoo was first finished.)


On the book front has been the following reading and listening done:

Wheels by Vic Winter 4*
BLURB: Gordy is a walking disaster, or so he thinks. Clumsy, socially inept, and a lot tongue-tied around cute guys, he just doesn't get out much. Meeting people on the Internet is much easier, especially when it's someone like "Wheels," who's really fun to talk to. Meeting Brian, aka Wheels, in person is a lot more intimidating at first, but Gordy soon sees past the wheelchair Brian is bound to and finds the most wonderful match, someone who really likes him, insecurities and all. With a good dose of heat and a lot of heartwarming fun, Gordy finds out through Brian that maybe he's not such a disaster after all. At least not when it comes to love.
My Review: I picked this because of the opening line in the blurb. Gordy was so like me, the walking disaster zone! I finished it thinking, what a wonderful story and what great people the main characters were. For such a short story there is a lot of depth.

Recent Love's Landscape reads:

He Didn't Have To Be by Tracey Michael 4*

That Day in Spring by B.J. Sheppard 3*

From the Ashes by Leah Miranda 3*

More Than He Can See by Nicole Forcine 4*

His Heart Belongs to Daddy by Harry H Malone 4*

A Chance to Fight by Lila Leigh Hunter 4*

Dance of Memory by R.L. Robinson 2*

Faire Play by Chris Cox 4*

Yarulf's Duty by Vicktor Alexander 4*


Audiobook: Reunion: Pip & Flinx, Book 7 by Alan Dean Foster Narrated by Stefan Rudnicki Narration 5* Story 5*

Quick update

I've read the following LL stories and listened to the two Pip & Flinx ones whilst finishing off enough crochet items to post off this morning :D I'm feeling really good about myself at the moment (which counteracts the miseries from still not having found a decent job).


Love's Landscape stories

Falling For You by Joe Petty 4*

Only You by Shayla Mist 4*

eXtreme Homecoming by Jennah Scott 4*

The Case of the Insufferable Slave by Gillian St. Kevern 4*

I Spy Pecan Pie by Anna Birmingham 4*

Torn by Angela Maye 4*

The Assassin of Laurentium by Clodia Metelli 2*

Audio books

Audiobook: Flinx in Flux: Pip & Flinx, Book 5 by Alan Dean Foster Narrated by Tyler Stevens Narration 5* Story 5*

Audiobook: Mid Flinx: Pip & Flinx, Book 6 by Alan Dean Foster Narrated by Tyler Stevens Narration 5* Story 5*