Author: Jon Svenson
Rating: 4/5
Comments: This is straight up slice of life. By and large I enjoyed it, but the epilogue kind of annoyed me because it set up a cliffhanger which seems almost gratuitous. Not sure where he's going with this, but I kind of think the next book will be the last one, one way or another.
Bedroom Activities: FTB
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Author: Hondo Jinx
Rating: 5/5
Comments:
Well I really enjoyed book 1, and book 2 did not disappoint. This story is all about hard work, perseverance, and loyalty. Oh and there's boxing. I don't know boxing, but Hondo obviously does, and he makes it accessible and interesting. He brings the fights alive in your mind. Even better he really draws you into the moment. I may have gotten a little emotional when Freddie has to dig deep for round 4 and gets some very unexpected encouragement. You'll know the moment when you get there. I've been in a bit of a reading funk, but this story grabbed me and wouldn't let me go. Well done Hondo, this might be your best story yet.
Bedroom Activities: FTB (mostly)
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Author: Daniel Schinhofen
Rating: 5/5
Comments: Ok, so Dungeon Walkers is DJS's slice of life dungeon delving gamelit series and it proceeds at a deliberate sauntering pace. This is deliberate as his intent is to spend more time getting to know the characters. Stern, our hero, is a Hero with a capital H. He rescues kittens, helps the elderly across the street, and has never turned down a quest when it might help someone. If he can't do it himself, he will pay someone else to do it.
Since it's slice of life there isn't an over-arching story arc, that may or may not be an issue for you. If it is, call the rating 4/5
Pick up the book, and enjoy the stroll with some nice people.
Bedroom Activities: FTB
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Author: David Burke
Rating: 4.3/5
Comments: I let this one sit in my TBR pile at around 15% complete for a bit because the start of it did not really grab me. Then I got in a snit with another book and picked it up out of spite. All in all it's pretty good. The author manages to keep the protagonist challenged and growing despite being a deity, which is obviously a bit of a tall order. He could lay off the White Knight'ing, a bit but it's not too excessive. I like that he has people around who are not sharing his bed, too many books with multiple Sally Loveinterests fail because of that.
So better than I anticipated, and I expect I'll pick up book 4.
Bedroom Activities: Both
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Author: Jeff Wheeler
Rating: 4.5/5
Comments:
Straight up low-magic tale of Chivalry. Knights, maidens, Kings, Queens, war, intrigue, loyalty, and betrayal are all there and well done. I really liked it and went straight into book 2.
Bedroom Activities: None
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Author: Ajax Lygan
Rating: 3.5/5
Comments:
I think this is his first book, and if so, it's 4/5 with the "New author" qualifier. It has some structure, editing, and pacing issues which make parts of it a real slog.
Beyond that there's a bit of "Why do we care about this person" which never really gets answered. It's kind of a "We care about him because he's got a big MAIN CHARACTER sign floating over him" and not for any other real reason.
Anyway it's not terrible, has some entertaining bits, and may have potential, but if I'm honest it won't be near the top of my TBR pile.
Bedroom Activities: Explcit-ish? No major sexy fun times, but lots of near misses.
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Author: Cebelius
Rating: 4.5/5
Comments:
This is a romance novel hidden inside a gritty cop novel. The romance bit isn't my usual fare, but I don't mind stepping outside my usual reading habits to try something new. All in all it was a really good story and well told. It's just a one on one romance so it's a break from Cebelius' usual story, but he pulls it off. Well done on that Cebelius. I had some minor quibbles on things, so it's not up there with TAP in my favorites, but I don't regret reading it.
Bedroom Activities: Explicit
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Title: Grog III (The Ebon Blades Book 3)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09GP3X5BP/
Author:RW Krpoun
Rating:4.5/5
Comments:
Just as funny, exciting, and poignant as the others, and I enjoyed it greatly. Knocked a half a point off because there didn't seem to be a over-arching goal for this one, it was just "Life happens", which is entertaining in this case, but it needed something to tie it all together and make it mean something.
Bedroom Activities: None
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Author: Shirtaloon
Rating:4.9/5
Comments:
While book 3 retains some of the issues the previous two books had, e.g. serial format and pov jumps, the story really seems to be rolling. I'm very curious to see what happens in book 4. We definitely saw some significant character development among the core cast in this book which is great to see.
Well worth the read.
Bedroom Activities: None
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Author: S.M. Boyce
Rating: 3/5
Comments:
This book took me forever to finish. I checked it out on KU around the first of June, and I didn't finish it until the beginning of September. I didn't drop it because the story seemed pretty decent, but it has almost no narrative flow because the author has never met a point-of-view that she didn't include in the book. I mean I seriously couldn't tell you how many POV's are in this book but it's more than you can count on one hand. For someone who likes a nice tight POV and a single narrative, it was painful. Pretty much any time there was a POV change I would put the book down and go to something else, like read an entire other book.
Anyway, if you can cope with constant POV shifting, you will probably like this book. I may read the next one, but it will probably wait until I'm feeling a little masochistic.
Bedroom Activities: None
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Author: Daniel Schinhofen
Rating: 4.25/5
Comments: To sum up my feelings, I liked this book but I didn't love it. I think this series is easily the best from Schinhofen, but this has the feel of a transition book. There is a lot of set up for things that will happen in later books, but there weren't a lot of surprises in this book as the narrative saunters along the path we expect with nary a hiccup or a stubbed toe. For some people this is going to be a problem because there's not a good deal of dramatic tension and our protagonist is deliberately sidelined during the conflicts. The over-arching story arc is advanced only minimally which is a bit disappointing. I fully expect the next book is going to be firing a lot the arrows that are prepped in this book. so I'm looking forward to that.
Bedroom Activities: FTB
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Author: Michael Scott- Earle
Rating: 3.8/5
Comments: Ok, I used to really like Tamer. It was (is?) a fun series with some decent characters, and dinosaurs. That being said, after 7 books I'm not really sure if there's an over-arching story arc, or if it's just a perpetual serial like the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, or Tom Swift.
Anyway, it doesn't suck, but I'm not sure I'm going to give him more money for book 8.
Bedroom Activities: Explicit
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Author: Larry Corriea
Rating: 5/5+
Comments: I am a huge fan of the Monster Hunter International series, it being one of the few traditional published series I read, and buy in hard copy. This one does not disappoint. Larry has managed to blend humor, action, and heart into a series that started as a "What would happen in a monster movie if the humans were actually competent and armed?" writing idea.
If you haven't read it, I highly recommend the series, and the first book is free as an e-book.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00APAH7PQ
Bedroom Activities: None
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Author: M.H. Johnson
Rating: 5/5
Comments:
At the end of book 5 Our Hero had beaten most of the obstacles thrown in his path and things looked like they might be taking a turn for the better.
Book 6 throws some new wrinkles at Alex, and some old ones, but overall he's starting to kick ass and take names, which is what we've been rooting for for the previous 5 books.
All in all, a great sequel, and probably the best story of the series so far.
Bedroom Activities: none
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Title:Oh Great! I was Reincarnated as a Farmer: A LitRPG Adventure : (Unorthodox Farming: Book 1)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B094CSB51K/
Author: Benjamin Kerei
Rating:3.8/5
Comments: Ok, I read this because I needed something I thought would be pretty light and easy. It was that. Pretty decent story, had some definite laugh-out-loud parts which is always a great thing. Ultimately I don't know if I'll read the next one, but I did enjoy this one.
Honestly, I'm glad I read it just for the ghost. That's what took it from a "It didn't suck" to "Pretty fun"
Bedroom Activities: None
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Title: TAP 3: K.I.L.L.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09BB8LF8L/
Author: Cebelius
Rating: 5/5+
Comments:Not going to lie, I think this was better than book 2 and might actually be better than book 1.
Not really much to quibble about, this is a fun and highly entertaining book. I can't really think of any instances of "ok get on with it". Lots of funny bits, and nods to other authors. Just go read it.
Bedroom Activities: FTB
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Author: Hondo Jinx
Rating: 4.9/5
Comments:
As previously established, I like Hondo's work. He typically has a certain persona for his protagonists that was consistent. I say was because in Fight Town he breaks out of his well trodden paths and breaks new ground for his protagonist character development. I'm pleased to report it works well and the overall story is very strong. There are some points on the meta-story I'm not in love with, but hey it's not a deal killer and it's not like he's the first author to use that plot device so I'm only docking him .1 point.
Oh and if you are a boxing fan, you'll really appreciate all the time he put on the boxing details. He might have gotten some things wrong, but as a non-boxing-fan, I couldn't tell.
Bedroom Activities: Explicit
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Author: Daniel J. Schinhofen
Rating: 5/5
Comments:
This felt like the end of an arc, and upon checking with Mr. Schinhofen it is indeed the end of the first arc of the Binding Words epic, and it was a very good finale. Epic crafting, duels, dastardly betrayals, and of course True Love. I suppose if you didn't like the first 6 books you might not want to read this, but if you're just on the fence, you owe it to yourself to see how things turn out. Sean didn't start the fight, but he's going to end it.
Bedroom Activities: Explicit
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Title: The Lord of the Sword https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0GNL57FDQ/ Author:Whiskey Flowers Rating:2/5 Did not finish Comments: ...
