Hello friends and family! Which books did you complete from Sat, July 3 to Fri, Jul 9? For those of you that have them, how are you doing on your reading goals? What are you reading now?
I pulled myself out of the L.A. Witt vortex (sort of) and read a few other authors this week:
- Scattered Shells (San Capistrano book 5) by Angelique Jurd. 4/5 stars. I took a break from this series awhile back because it's emotionally difficult. TW for family violence, family dysfunction, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempt, PTSD, extreme homophobia, shame, and self-flagellation. I decided to pick it back up and am glad I did. This series follows one couple throughout the years as they meet, fall in love, marry, and have kids. In this book, Alex and Ben are in a place of healing as they recover from the events of the last book. I look forward to continuing the series.
- Stripped (Four Bears Construction book 6) by K.M. Neuhold. DNF. No rating. Miller is a confident, super buff trans man. Demetri is a bear of a history professor with zero confidence and zero self-esteem. I decided to give this one a pass. It's hard for me to read a book where one character's self-esteem is so low that they can't even comprehend that someone might want them. Even Miller's direct "we should f*ck" couldn't penetrate Demetri's miasma of self-loathing. It was just too f*cking sad for me.
- Press (White House Men book 1) by Nora Phoenix. 3/5 stars. Levar is the White House press secretary; Henley is the White House correspondent for a major newspaper. Their relationship is forbidden. The romance here takes a backseat to the political intrigue running through the book. When it comes to M/M political thrillers, Tal Bauer has set the bar high (Hush is an all-time favorite read of mine) and, IMO, Phoenix does not touch it in this book. I will be continuing the series so that I might read book 3. I'm very interested in Rhett's story.
- Point of Contact by Melanie Hansen. All the stars! Riley and Jesse become best buds when they're stationed together in Afghanistan. When Riley dies, his father, Trevor, is grief stricken. They're an unlikely pair, but can Jesse and Trevor find solace in each other first as friends and then as maybe something more? It's rare to find someone that truly understands grief. It's also rare to find someone that understands returning combat veterans and the impact reintegration can have on them and their families. IMO, Hansen gets it and portrays it well here.
- Not Safe for Work by L.A. Witt. 3/5 stars. Jon builds models for the firm that real estate developer Rick works with. Employee/client romance is frowned upon but these two can't stay away from each other. If the secret gets out, what will happen next? I loved the concept. I loved Jon. I loved that these two were in their mid-40s. However, I bristled at the implied but not expressly stated message that BDSM becomes unnecessary when you really love someone. I was surprised to see Witt pushing that message and my disappointment put a damper on my ability to enjoy the steam. Also unusual for Witt, this book is told from Jon's POV only. It's probably why I love Jon, but also why I had trouble connecting with Rick. This book was strictly ok but definitely not Witt's best.
- Bio-Mechanical (Irons and Works book 4) by E.M. Lindsey. 2/5 stars. James is buried under the weight of internalized homophobia. Rowan is not. They meet, hit it off, and immediately get busy between the sheets. Is this true love? Everything about this book feels underdeveloped, and there are a lot of missed opportunities. My feelings are summed up well in this GR user's review. As a heavily tattooed person, I value the way this series normalizes tattoos. I also value the way this series shines a light on ableism; I've learned a lot. Unfortunately though, this one did not work for me, but I will continue the series.
- Blood & Bitcoin by L.A. Witt. DNF. No rating. If you rolled your eyes at that title, you are not wrong. This is part of a multi-author series that bills itself a M/M dark romance. This book was not dark, the MCs were not morally ambiguous, and several hours into the audiobook there was sex but no romance. This is GFY, which I don't think is a thing Witt normally does. To me it felt homophobic and implausible. We hear repeatedly how Chris received blowjobs from his SEAL teammates for years but he's 100% straight and 100% surprised by his attraction to Piker??? I know denial is a thing, but idk...it didn't work for me.
- Haunted Seas (San Capistrano book 5.5) by Angelique Jurd. 3/5 stars. Alex's abusive mother dies. I know it's tempting to believe that the pain caused by an abuser will magically wash away upon their death, but in my experience, that kind of pain lives on long after the abuser is gone. Sort of a throwaway short story that doesn't bring much value to the series in and of itself. I do plan to move on to book 6.
I have read 188 of 275 books.
I'm so overwhelmed with options that I feel stuck and don't know what to read next. On a whim, I began listening to The Problem by Piper Scott for the simple pleasure of hearing Michael Ferraiuolo read a book to me. It's pretty wonderful so far, but I'm not sure how much of that is the book and how much of it is Michael Ferraiuolo's voice.
Have a good weekend and happy reading!
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