Bear, Otter, and the Kid by T.J. Klune

3 STARS

Damn. Looks like this is an uncredited rip-off of the movie, Shelter, hell the movie blurb is pretty much the book blurb. *sigh*

I have waffled back and forth on this, because I've not seen the movie, but the blurb is just too close for MY comfort, so I'm keeping the 3 stars I originally gave it along with this caveat. 

So... Bear, Otter and the Kid. One of the most popular books of the past year. Everyone loved it. Well, I kinda wish we had the ability to award half stars, because this at times was a 3 1/2 star book for me. Young love, gay for you, love conquers all - it was all here. 

Of the title characters, I loved Otter and I loved the Kid - Bear, not so much. I wanted to smack him far too many times for me to love him. Good Lord, talk about getting in your own way! Sheesh! I think he was just a little TOO ... whatever he was supposed to be - neurotic, damaged, paranoid. And a lot of it was the same stuff over and over. Not a great student, our Bear. :) In retrospect, maybe giving a couple of Bear's flaws to Otter might have been a good thing. I found myself wishing that Bear would pick one metaphor for his inner feelings and stick with it - be it the ocean or the earthquakes. (I really liked the whole bathtub for safety thing.) I also wished he'd stop hitting us over the head with them so often. Introspection is good, but too much of it just makes the character seem selfish, self-absorbed and not sympathetic at all - at least to me. 

That being said, I did enjoy the actual scenes between the characters. Bear and Otter were sweetly sexy and hot. Bear and Tyson were adorable and made me laugh out loud more than once. Creed, Anna, Mrs. Paquin - I enjoyed their appearances as well. I think that was the strongest part of the book for me - the characters interacting. 

The huge stumbling block that was thrown in for the last quarter of the book seemed unnecessary to me. I think the conflict between the characters could have carried us through to the end and the 'twist' felt a little like 'deus ex machina' to me. I still don't get the motivation behind that one character's actions.

I did enjoy the choice to write the book using the 1st person POV and present tense. It was different and refreshing for the most part and the author did it quite well. :) If I'm honest, Bear, Otter and the Kid felt like to me as if the author was trying to write their own story in Amy Lane's Promises series and for me, it doesn't quite measure up. Would I recommend it? Yes, I would. Would I read something else by T.J. Klune? Yes, I would. 

**review edited after discussion about the plagiarism issue**

Luck in the Shadows by Lynn Flewelling

4 STARS

Nightrunner - Book 1

Lovely! Why did I wait so long to read this?

It was a very, very enjoyable tale with engaging characters set in a familiar yet unique world filled with adventures. There was a real 'getting to know you' vibe about the book, which is natural, I suppose, seeing as it's the first in a series. :) 

I love Alec and Serengil and Micum and... well, I loved the whole cast of characters. *LOL* The only thing that brought this down from a 5 star for me was the abrupt, cliff-hanger-like ending. Maybe because I felt it was the wrong character to wrap things up with? Maybe. All I know is, I cursed out loud. *LOL*

There is one thing that annoys me terribly with e-books, and that's the terrible formatting for scene changes and "skipping lines" to indicate passage of time or a change of POV. Not the author's fault AT ALL, but it is a bit of a pain and pulls you out of the story at times. But, yes, I MUST read the next book and the next and so on... I Love these boys!!!

Truth in the Dark by Amy Lane

5 STARS

Amy does it again! Writes a tale that is at once wonderful and fantastic and touching and sad and happy and sexy and REAL!

I thought I knew exactly how this was going to play out by the time I was barely a couple of pages in, but that wasn't a problem at all because I adore the way Amy writes and how she creates real, lovely, flawed, endearing characters - and my God, the angry, cranky, grumpy Knife is a wonderful character, even when he's learning not to be so angry and cranky (I think he'll always be somewhat grumpy.). 

So on I read, enjoying the tale immensely, and then came the wee twist, the most very important thing that I never suspected in the least. (I'll not give it away.) And I burst into tears. Hell, I'm tearing up now, just remembering that scene/reveal. Oh, it was so heart-breakingly beautiful! GUH! So freakin' amazing, this author!

I would be remiss if I didn't also comment on the terrific love scenes. Yeah, they were a bit more than sex scenes. :) They were sexy and hot, affectionate, loving, desperate when they needed to be desperate - they were perfect! Yeah, so I kinda loved it - A LOT!!

Fish & Chips by Madeleine Urban and Abigail Roux

4 STARS

Cut & Run - Book 3

It's Ty and Zane for heaven's sake! Of course I loved it! :) Especially the last couple of chapters. 

The only reason that I've given this 4 stars instead of 5 is because I was confused about the case. It never really made sense to me other than a being a vehicle for the charade that Ty and Zane were forced to create. But as always, the action was great, the dialogue real, the sex hot and yummy and when the boys stumble into being romantic, well, I loved it. :) 

The secondary characters were nicely fleshed out and I really wish I could have seen more of the Italian couple. The tango scene? Well, I'm a big Dancing With The Stars fan and I may have done a little bit of squeeing. :) Ty and Zane remain one of my favorite pairings as are Madeleine and Abigail. I will totally recommend them anytime, anywhere.