Book Haul/In My Mailbox 20/9/13

Booking Through Thursday 19/9/13

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Booking Through Thursday and a different question is posted every week.

Connected to last week’s—it’s one of the ways writing has changed. Books from a century or two ago spent huge swaths of text describing locations and character traits, but modern writing does all of this in shorthand. You might know a character is short with blond hair and blue eyes, but the author leaves the rest for you to figure out on your own. The writer might tell you the story takes place at a beachside town, but leaves the details to your imagination. Why do you suppose this is? Is it that we have shorter attention spans these days? That, bombarded with video and photos as we are, we don’t NEED every detail of an unknown scene described, because we have a stock of images already in our heads?

This is a really interesting question.
I definitely think that attention span is an important point.  Of course I can only speak for myself, but I find if I get too bogged down in detail- character detail, setting detail, etc, it slows everything up.  I want to gather those things from the actual feel of what's going on, of the atmosphere.  I want to be shown, not told.
I feel that a lot of authors fall pray to info- dumping.  Just dumping a massive amount of say- backstory, on us all at once.  Like, ah this character has a troubled past- I shall tell you all about it for these ten pages and never mention it again.  
So I definitely believe we don't need every single detail, our minds fill in a lot of the blanks from things we've read in the past.

Playing The Odds by Nora Roberts

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Mills & Boon (2 Aug 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0263904598

The cards were stacked, though neither of them knew it. Serena MacGregor's father left nothing to chance when he sent Justin Blade -- part Comanche and all gambler -- on a Caribbean cruise. His daughter was evading her responsibility to produce grandchildren by working as a blackjack dealer on the CELEBRATION. Odds were they'd meet.

Serena's father had his hopes riding on what would happen when they did. Win, lose or draw, they were meant for each other, proving indisputably in this case that lucky in cards did not mean unlucky in love.


Cover:  It's a cute little cover.

Ok.  I collect Nora Robert's books, picking them up sporadically either from discount bookstores or supermarket charts.  And Some of hers I've loved (cough, cough...WHISKEY BEACH!!!) and there's been others I've liked less.  But I've read a couple in her MacGregor family, and they've been some of my favourites.  As I've read them all out of order (due to the whole picking them up sporadically thing) I hadn't read Justin and Serena's book, and it's one that I've wanted to for a while, so when it appeared in the supermarket chart, I got it and read it the next day.  And I do mean in that day.
It's a short little romance.  I loved finally knowing they're story, but I feel the 'dominant, alpha male' thing was overdone.  One minute Serena is all independent and fiery, and the next thing he almost brow beats her (not physical abuse- just to be clear).
Over all I really enjoyed it.  A definite quick, escapist read.
4/5 stars.

Reason To Breathe by Rebecca Donovan

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (17 Jan 2013)
• ISBN-10: 0141348445
• Breathing Series #1
• An passionate love. A brutal betrayal. Unwavering hope.
  
  In a town where most people worry about what to be seen in and who to be seen with, Emma Thomas would rather not be seen at all. She's more concerned with feigning perfection, pulling down her sleeves to conceal the bruises. Emma doesn't want anyone to know how far from perfect her life truly is.
  
  When Emma unexpectedly finds love, it challenges her to recognize her own worth - but at the risk of revealing the terrible secret she's desperate to hide.
• 
  
• Cover: This is one cover that's grown on me.  When I first saw it, I didn't care much about it.  It didn't grab my attention in any way.  However, I do like that the whole trilogy matches, and together on the shelf, all in silver, they look great.
• And now that I've read it, the girl on the cover, the rain - it's all relevant and significant, and makes me like the cover that little bit more.

This was recommended to me by a YouTube subscriber because of how much I love the book Heart On a Chain by Cindy C. Bennett, and they thought if I liked that, I'd enjoy this series.

Now.  That thought obviously brought about some seriously high expectations as Heart On a Chain is one of, if not, my favourite book.

It took me quite a while to get into this one.   I found the first 100 pages or so really slow going.  I also found it difficult to connect to Emma (side note- Emma, Emily, Em?  Pick one and stick with it.  THAT I found irritating.  Emma as a nickname for Emily?  Really? Lame.)

But after that, it picked up pace and I managed to connect to Emma and sympathise with her situation.

I did think that the author made her too perfect.  She artistic.  Athletic.  Oh and let's not forget super brainy.  Ah yes- and guys want her but don't approach her as she tries to be invisible.

I do feel it's too long.  Heart On a Chain is a stand alone and scarcely 300 pages- but it's packed with feels.  Whereas Reason To Breathe is over 500 pages and the first in a trilogy, and feels drawn out.  There's a lot of things I found unnecessary- the overly descriptive passages of people's houses for example.

I HATED the love triangle we got for about 100 pages.  I hate them anyway, but this one just really riled me.  It made me hate Emma for those 100 pages.

The actual love interest with Evan was great.  I loved him.  He was a great love interest.

The cliff hanger was fantastic and definitely made me want to continue the trilogy- I just hope there are no more love triangles because that will disappoint me.

Over all it wasn't a perfect read, but I did really enjoy it and would recommend it for NA fans.

4/5 stars.

BLOGTOUR: Gargoyle Addiction by Livia Olteano

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 443 KB
• Print Length: 240 pages

Summonari don’t trust. Under their command, they summon any number of creatures from the Otherwolds—but never trust them outside of the summoning.
Gargoyles don’t love. Fierce descendants of dragons, they function on power and fear—never love.
Karla isn’t the happily-ever-after type of girl. No territory-hungry guy is going to stick flags all over her unclaimed grounds.
Kann’s world is death and betrayal. As Dar Primus of Haus Varis, he’s expected to follow tradition but he’s not your regular gargoyle. In fact, he’s anything but. 

One fateful Friday night, Otherworlds collide. Stuck together in one world or another, Karla and Kann face everything from Awakenings and turbulent love to Festnavals and bloodthirsty scorned suitors.
If there’s one thing they can’t escape, it’s the addiction to each other. And they’ve got it bad.

Excerpt

Excerpt from Chapter 1 of Gargoyle Addiction by Livia Olteano


I wasn’t the happily-ever-after girl; I’d known that for a good while. Becoming the adorable housewife or the poster girl for mommy of the month would be someone else’s job, never mine. Considering my family history, I’d most likely die before age thirty-five. I couldn’t have kids thanks to a stupid accident from when I was ten. Sure, men drooled to flag my territory first thing when we met, it was their thing. Mike thought it had to do with my responsible aura and good karma, but my karma sucked if you asked me. I was false advertisement: my grounds were barren and the structures would implode in a couple years. Best-case scenario, the guy would fall for me…and I’d be crushed to give him the ‘good’ news. Worst-case scenario, I’d fall for him and he’d leave well before that particular confession point. Either way, it wasn’t looking like much of a plan.
I shook my head. “You know, if you’re that desperate to find him a date we can always put up some ad or something. They have places online for that, too. Plus I’d hate to see how that blonde’s lips would twitch at the news you were trying to hook me up with her sugar daddy.”
“Karla…I just want you to be happy. And I would be happy to know my knucklehead of a brother has someone like you to go home to.”
My eyes fixed on the moon. “I am happy with things as they are. You’re my best friend and I love you—you know that. But just because you found the perfect guy for you doesn’t mean you’re on this sacred mission to pair off everyone you know.”
He snorted, obviously unimpressed with my deflecting skills. Well I just had to bring in the big guns, then.
“Is Joseph coming home tonight?”
It was a sly counter-attack. Joseph—my boss and his lover—was a renowned workaholic. He was the epic in the all-stars hall of workaholic-ness. I knew—I was Joseph’s personal assistant after all. The man was the type who forgot to eat if you didn’t pester him with breakfast, lunch and dinner. Since my personal leave was starting Monday, I wondered if he’d die of starvation.

“He said he’d be home sometime tonight…” Mike muttered.

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