Between the covers book club

Hello there, lovely ladies 🙂

So? How was your week? Mine was off-the-charts busy. *sigh* It only takes one day back at work for me to forget I ever had a break. LOL!

Firstly, I’d like to share this: a reader from Germany with a serious Fifty crush. Check out her licence plates and the little FSOG inscriptions below…

Cute, huh? #CGLovin’ 😉

This past week, Susan shared this with me from the Fifty Shades of Grey Fan site: some movie pics of Jamie in what we assume is the meadow of the house on the sound. It got us talking about how smoking hot a defined and veined male forearm is, especially if it comes with a chunky watch. Very, very nice.

 

Do you agree, girls? Height of hot maleness, right? And note the rings of wedded bliss 😉

I got this great nugget from Angelique. I love this “happy-ever-after” shot of our favorite couple and their little Teddy…

And this, because: Jamie…

Another interesting find by Susan is this article from E Online: Why We’re Way More Confident in the 50 Shades Sequels. It gives me hope!

This week I read:

 

This week, the almost reading slump I briefly touched on a month ago was back, full tilt. It started out with a disappointing Stuck-Up Suit by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward. As much as I absolutely adored Cocky Bastard (CB), in contrast, Stuck-Up Suit was, at best, a poolside read. Though the story is sweet, it felt very short, almost rushed. Such a pity, considering how romantically nourishing I found CB. Then, there was none of the intensity I felt in the connection between the previous book’s characters, but it did make me smile at times. Lastly, I felt the lovin’ was cursory, the low-fat version, if you will. The pair made for a good team in the past, I’m not sure what went wrong.

Stanton Adore by T.L. Swan, book one in the Stanton series, capped the downward spiral of my book choices. Let me start out by saying that the story has merit, but the writing is so bad, it killed all the pleasure I might have gotten from the story. What a shame. For a paid, published book a great editor is worth their weight in gold. Just sayin’.

On my shelf I have:

Hush by E.K. Blair, book three in the Black Lotus series. I’ve been a little scared to pick this up. The first two, though good, were harrowing in parts, but luckily I got a reassuring email this weekend that may give me the courage to go here next. Yes, I am an emotional sissy! LOL! I always think that the world is so full of horrible that I don’t want to spend my free time reading more hurt and horror. Will let you know my thoughts, and if you’ve read it already, please feel free to share.

Thank you for listening to me rant, ladies. Hopefully I’m onto new and beautiful reading highs this week. And talking about this coming week… I am looking forward to Kylie Scott’s new series, Dive Bar. Remember her? She wrote the awesome Stage Dive series, book two of which still features in my top ten reads. I LOVED cocky Mal Ericson. #BookBoyfriend

I’ll leave you with an undeniable truth:

Oh dear. LOL! 😉 

If you have a great book to share or if you want to warn us away from a cr@ppy read, this is the place!

See ya’ next week!

Between the covers book club

Hello, lovely ladies 😉

Sorry I’m a little late today. How are you this fine weekend? I’m finally on holiday! It’s a short one, but a break nonetheless, one for which I’m endlessly grateful. Rest. Yay! 

There’s no real news to report on regarding the movie as far as I know. I guess the next big thing will be the trailer release which I imagine would be round the September mark. I have to admit that I’m EXTREMELY curious to see what Erika’s done with her vision. 

I did, however, come across this: an Oxfam shop that received so many pre-loved copies of FSOG that they managed to build a fort…

LOL! Not sure if that’s an appropriate one for little kiddies to play in, but personally I would love to live in a house built with books 😉 

As far as my reading week is concerned, I ditched the two books I was reading (because life is too short to read cr@p) and decided to reread the Crossfire series in preparation for the final book coming out this week. Rereading is not something I easily do, but considering my deep love for this particular story, I thought I might give it a go. So, if you were waiting (breathlessly) for my review of Vi Keeland’s debut, Belong to You, book one in the Cole series, it’ll have to wait. I started it but can already tell you that she’s definitely improved with time. 

This week I read:

   

The Crossfire series by Sylvia day. I’ve never had the opportunity to review the first two offerings of this delicious range on the blog because I read it prior to starting the book club, so, here goes: initially, the first time I read book one, Bared to You, I was absolutely shocked by the overwhelming similarities between this story and FSOG. So much so that I almost felt incensed for Erika’s sake. Yet, the story kept me riveted. I was so desperate for MORE of Fifty, that I took it, any way I could get it. Book one led to book two, Reflected in You, and this was where the series REALLY came into its own. The story is gripping and poignant. Gideon is broken in ways that very few people would be able to identify with, but still, he is endlessly lovable, and my personal favorite book boyfriend. Initially Eva has a real issue dealing with their volatile love, a love that burns hotter than the sun, but the two of them grow beautifully through the dramas in their lives.

As far as I know, the series was originally meant to be three books, but before the release of the third, it was announced that the series would be a five book range instead. Naturally, I had mixed feeling: on the one hand I wanted – desperately – to see the conclusion to the story, but on the other, it offered more books in a well-loved series. I think the latter would have felt truer if the wait between the novels wasn’t so ridiculously long. As it was, you almost lost touch with the story between books which made every sequel thereafter feel slow, dragging even, rather than a natural evolution of the story. It also didn’t help that release dates kept changing on a disappointingly regular basis. However, now that I’m rereading, I have to admit that, with the pleasure of going from one book straight to the next, I’ve gained a new perspective on the flow and progression of the tale. Also, strangely, in the mean time, since I’ve read soooo many other books that’s based along the FSOG lines, this time, I could appreciate it more for the brilliant story that it is. It’s not without its faults, but to me, it is the ONLY “similar to FSOG” book that showcases the burning, indelible connection between a couple the way our beloved Shades did. For this and many more fantastic bits of beautiful writing – not least of which are some seriously smokin’ love scenes – I give the Crossfire series, book one and two especially, my Best of the Best award.

I’m halfway through book three, Entwined With You and will follow it up with book four: Captivated by You, before I read book five, One with You, coming this week on the 5th of April. Needless to say, I cannot wait!

If you love this series as much as I do, and if you’ve not already done so, you can check out my Crossfire inspired fan fiction short stories:

Crossfire Meander: Reflected in you

Gideon Meander

On my shelf I have:

Stanton Adore by T. L. Swan, book one in the Stanton series (thank you, MAC), but I’m not sure if I’ll be getting there any time soon. Another favorite author of mine will be releasing a new series this week, which I’m sure will keep me busy along with the new Crossfire. More next week.

I’ll leave you with some of the reasons I ADORE Gideon and Eva’s story…

 

 

 

Beautiful, huh?

LOL! 😉 

That’s it from me girls. I hope you have a stunning weekend and please, share your best reads with us!