April in Review

Books Read: 14
Books on the Currently Reading Shelf on Goodreads: 15
Days I Wrote Productively: 7
Approximate Word Count: ~7,100

Obviously, I didn't write much.  However, given how much I read, I'm not beating myself up about it.  Finals are next week (my last final is May 7), and then I have the rest of May off, and then return to classes June 2nd.

Book List:

• Sleepless at Midnight by Jacquie D'Alessandro, historical romance, 5 stars
• Geez, I love this author's books.  Like, really.  Laugh out loud funny.  If you haven't tried her and you like romance, go forth and read!

• Much Ado About You by Eloisa James, historical romance, 3 stars
• Good story, but no blow-up.  You have no idea how important the blow-up is in a romance book until you read one that doesn't have one.

• What Price Love? by Stephanie Laurens, historical romance, 5 stars
• Oh, oh gosh.  Honorary Cynsters.  This is splendid.  Simply splendid.  That is all.

• Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher, fantasy, 5 stars
• I love Jim Butcher's books.  This is awesome, and read pretty quickly for a 600+ page book.

• Ashes Ascendant by Kevin McLaughlin, contemporary fantasy, 4 stars
• I didn't like it as much as the first Blackwell Magic book, but it was still pretty good.  The cast is great.

• Cynders and Ashe by Elizabeth Boyle, historical romance short story, 3 stars
• Um, it's hard for romantic short stories to be good.  There's often little to no blow-up.  I need that blow-up.

• Whirlwind Affair by Jacquie D'Alessandro, historical romance, 4 stars
• Double blow-up:  when you're not sure the hero and heroine are going to wind up together AND the villain makes a grab for the heroine.  Woo-hoo!

• The Taste of Innocence by Stephanie Laurens, historical romance, 5 STARS
• Okay, Charlie Morwellan - annoying hero, but really, really, REALLY pulls through in the end.  Sarah Conningham - love her, just love her.  And the villain gets the Zuko award (not as big a jerk as he could've been).  Simply lovely.  Wonderful.  The Honorary Cynster to end all Honorary Cynsters.

• Temptation and Surrender by Stephanie Laurens, historical romance, 5 stars
• The last of the Cynster series.  I adored Lucifer and Phyllida, and I liked Jonas and Emily.  And Lucifer and Phyllida had a huge part.  So much yes.  I still have the twins' books to read, but this is the last book proper.  The books I have left are the Cynster females.

• Academ's Fury by Jim Butcher, fantasy, 5 stars
• Oh, geez, the plot thickens, and it's getting exciting, and I'm so glad I have the entire series!

• The Raven and the Rose by Kevin O. McLaughlin, contemporary fantasy short story, 4 stars
• I like Ryan Blackwell.  I really, really, like Ryan Blackwell.  Very good character.  I read By Darkness Revealed last year.  There are typos here and there, but overall pretty good.  Mistakenly, this takes place before Ashes Ascendant.  Oops.  Anyway, moving on...

• Accidentally in Love by Claudia Dain, historical romance short story, um
• Again, hard for authors to pull off a romantic short story.  But this was really disappointing.  There wasn't anything but the heroine's obsession with the hero, and the hero wondering why he suddenly felt something for the heroine.  It just wasn't it.  This goes under, "slice of life" or "what we hoped happened a lot in the past, but probably didn't," not "great romance."

• The Skeleton Project, Fright Pack #1 by Wayne Thomas Batson, humor/paranormal shorts anthology, 4 stars
• And now it's time for Silly Stories with Mr. Batson, the part of the show where Mr. Batson comes out, and tells a silly story.  Great way to spend a slow day at work. 

• Cursor's Fury by Jim Butcher, fantasy, 5 stars
• I love this series.  It's exciting and wonderful.  Just wonderful.  Go forth and read!