Jen's February Reads

Hmmmpf. Here I am again, about to recap the handful of books I read in February and....again, will accompany the recap with more empty promises about actually reviewing those books.

Ah well.

Fewer books in February than the prior month. And no, it had nothing to do with it being a short month.

Fire And Ice by Julie Garwood
I finished it. Don't know if Garwood's voice simply fails to translate well in contemporary romances or if her voice is simply failing. Either way, a disappointment. Info dumps, stereotypes in the place of characters, sparkless romance, far-fetched villainry. Not sure why I continued. I guess it was because I realized--a few chapters in--that this one follows a previous contemp she wrote about an agent (FBI, I think) and a hotel hieress. I recalled liking that one and read this follow up--through to the end--out of loyalty. I guess.

Dark Of Night by Suzanne Brockmann
Buddy review with Lori here. Brockmann is a sure thing for me.

Strip Poker by Lisa Lawrence
This one made it to my TBR list via Wendy's review. I'll say I was as wowed by Lawrence's first person narrative and the characterization of Teresa, the book's (and series') protagonist. It was not however, a page turner for me. Took me two weeks to get through it. I'll tip my hat to Lawrence, no question. But didn't find a must-read author for me here. Not because it isn't romance, but rather because it's info-heavy. More than strong, but not my cuppa.

Kiss Of The Demon King by Kresley Cole
This is one I really should review. Another in my Fucking Fabulous category.

First You Run by Roxanne St. Clair
For the first time in a long time, I read a book--specifically a quick, light read--and it was just right. This was it. I was in my second day of the flu--too weak to move around much but strong enough to read (not true of day one of the flu). So, on that second day, I laid on the couch and read this book front to back. It fit a type--but I won't label it formulaic or stereotypical. It was a solid read and I plan to read the one that follows--Then You Hide--when next in the mood.

Five books. One review (thanks Lori!).

March will be better. I'm about to put my foot down with (on the neck of) our family's cruise director. Plan to tell him that we need not book every hour of every weekend with fun. Nor do we need to schedule 3 to 4 weeknight activities for after work and school hours. [Made my mind up on this as I folded clothes, fresh out of the dryer, at 5:30 this morning. Find a balance and the other half mucks it up. Grrr.] I digress.

March will also be a good month I think because I was able to get a do-over on three Megan Hart ebooks I bought in January. Bought and downloaded them, then switched out computers. Never got to read them. They just reactivated my download buttons last weekend. So yeah, three ebook novellas--that'll get my numbers up.

Plus, it's only March 3rd and I've finished Promises In Death.

Yup. March will be stronger.