November 2015 Wrap-Up

It’s officially the holiday season. For me and my family this means Christmas shenanigans.

For the blog, I’ll be using December to officially launch a new weekly feature called “Film Friday”. I’ve been flirting with this idea for a couple of months because I wanted an outlet to share what I’ve been watching and loving recently. I’ll still be predominately a book blogger, but once a week I’ll be taking a break to talk about a movie or TV show. For this month, I’ll be focusing each week on highlighting my favorite Christmas themed films.

Going back to November, this was an OK reading month for me. I read and reviewed a handful of full length novels, all of which I managed to review.  I also did some housekeeping on my Kindle by reading a few titles that had been just sitting on my e-reader for a while…none of which I managed to review. Below are some brief thoughts on those titles.

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Under the Mistletoe by Jill Shalvis
Genre: Contemporary Romances
Series: Lucky Harbor #6.5
Rating: D

I really need to admit defeat and realize that Shalvis is just a writer who doesn’t work for me. This is a short (about 80 pages) read in Shalvis’ Lucky Harbor series. Mia returns to Lucky Harbor for Christmas depressed that her boyfriend, Nick, doesn’t want to meet her family. Nick realizes that he’s messed up and follows her to grovel for forgiveness. The story was a little too melodramatic for me and I never actually developed an attachment for the two main characters. If you’re an avid fan of the series, you might enjoy this one since there seems to a lot of character cameos. If you’re not a fan, I’d suggest skipping this one.

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Jaguar’s Kiss by Vivi Andrews
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Lone Pine Pride #1
Rating: C+

I’ve read just about every other story in Vivi Andrews’ Lone Pine Pride series, except for this one. So, it was about time that I went back to read Jaguar’s Kiss. Jaguar shifter, Santiago Flores, has wanted Lila Fallon since he first saw her. Too bad she’s expected to marry someone else for the sake of the pride.

A cute beginning for the series, but it breaks off a little suddenly. The later books are a lot better and have more fleshed out plots. However, this was still an entertaining read.

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Bear fur Hire by T.S. Joyce
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Bears fur Hire #2
Rating: C+

Lena Rhodes is a professional photographer who has the daunting task of capturing images of Alaskan grizzlies in the wild. To help her navigate the terrain, she hires Jenner Silver. This was a pretty good installment in the series. I enjoy that Joyce is mixing up her shifter mythology and giving them more obstacles to overcome. This is a good one if you’re looking for a quick and light paranormal romance.

This title is available on Kindle Unlimited.

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Racing the Alpha by P. Jameson
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Dirt Track Dogs #1
Rating: D

Another series that I’ve read every book, except the first one. I had been avoiding reading the first Dirt Track Dogs book because it features a trope I really despise, the female shifter in heat trope. I hate it so much and it affected my enjoyment of this story. If you enjoy that trope or don’t mind it, you’ll probably enjoy this book. If you hate it, I recommend picking up one of the later books in the series.

This title is available on Kindle Unlimited.