May Reads

We've been on holiday, so this is a little late, but here it is.

May 2007 Reading

1. Claiming the Courtesan - Anna Campbell (8/10)
   
2. The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club - Dorothy L. Sayers (DNF)
   
3. Bitten - Kelley Armstrong (8/10)
   
4. Song of the Beast (8/10)
   
5. Queen of the Darkness - Anne Bishop (10/10)
   
6. Seraphs - Faith Hunter (9/10)
   
7. The Secret Pearl - Mary Balogh (7/10)
   

Notes:

1. New author for me. I chose this book because of the controversy surrounding it - the hero abducts and rapes the heroine and then everything has to be mended. I was happy with it, but didn't fall into either the love it or the hate it camp. I thought the parts of the story were good, but the author didn't stitch them together too well. Vertiy when from justifiable hate to love without enough time for it and the end didn't face up to the problems ahead for the couple. The idea worked, but the pacing wasn't perfect. I'll read the author again.
   
2. There is nothing at all wrong with this book. I've read it before and enjoyed it, but I just wasn't in the mood this time.
   
3. New author for me. I'd tried to read this once before and didn't finish it, but once I got past the place where I stalled last time, I rolled on to the finish and liked it very much. I'll read the rest of the series as time and energy allow. Although I'm still not sure how much I actually like Elena.
   
4. Another new author. I really liked this - and her use of the dragons was really clever. Aidan, the protagonist, was a great character, but I was never totally sold on the other major characters. I also felt she didn't use first person as well as it could be done because she kept switching around, at one point for a single, short chapter. But still a good story and I've already found another of her books for the TBR mountain. An excellent new author to discover.
   
5. I raved about this here. I LOVED this book and now plan to go out and convert the unconverted to Anne Bishop and especially this series.
   
6. Another excellent series - I would have given this 9.5 if I used halves in my ratings. Since I don't, it got a 9, but only because, as with the first book, I got a little confused about exactly what was going on in the climax. I can't decide if I love or hate Faith Hunter, as she told a great story, answered some of the questions she had previously raised - and then raised dozens more fascinating and tempting ones I don't have answers too. I want the next one NOW.
   
7. This was recommended to me by a friend and while I liked it, I didn't love it as much as she does. It started off with a bang, then slowed down to a pace where I wanted to yell at the characters to "do something already!", but once it got going again it was nicely satisfying.