June 2010 Read Books: Part 1

The month of June flew by, and I’m just getting around to posting my books from the first half of June, and July has already started! Part 2 of my June read books will be posted later this week.

The only thing that surprised me in the first half of June was that I only listened to 3 audiobooks. This is because The Well of Ascension is a really long book, at 29 hours. But boy, was it worth it. Awesome book.

Actually, I lucked out with all the books this month. The most I can say is that I found The Dead-Tossed Waves and Shalador’s Lady to be good books, and the rest were very good to great.

So, these are my books I from the first half of June:

Diving in Deep (Diving in Deep series, book 1) by KA Mitchell 6/15/10

I love the childhood friends/friends younger sibling trope in romances, and this one really worked for me. What I liked about Diving in Deep is that Noah really struggles to be seen as more than Cam’s best friend’s “little brother”, and even when they become involved, Noah works hard to assert himself so that he doesn’t get swept aside by Cam’s tendency to control and care-take.

Very HOT, and if there hadn’t been significant character development and relationship angst, it might have been too much sex. (Yes, Virginia, there is such a thing.) lol. But, the substance was there, so it worked.

• KA Mitchell’s site.
• Excerpt for Diving in Deep.

The Dead-Tossed Waves (companion to The Forest of Hands and Teeth) by Carrie Ryan 6/14/10 Audiobook

Audiobook read by Tara Sands.

This book wasn’t a true sequel, as it doesn’t continue the story from TFoHaT‘s narrator, Mary. However, the story picks up with Mary’s daughter, Gabry.

I love how the world is filling in, and seeing things through Gabry’s eyes makes some of the events and assumptions from book 1 new. Gabry’s sometimes a frustrating character, making poor and implusive decisions. But, some of them make sense, given her age/maturity, and that she’s given a chance to grow over the course of the story.

• Carrie Ryan’s site.
• Print excerpt at author’s site.
• Audio excerpt at Audible.

Shalador’s Lady (A Black Jewels Novel, sequel to The Shadow Queen) by Anne Bishop 6/10/10 Audiobook

Audiobook read by John Sharian.

The Black Jewels world was as compelling as ever. I loved seeing Cassie come into her own as a queen, and rebuild Shalador/Dena Nehele. However, I would have liked some more focus on Cassie and Gray’s relationship, which felt like a minor plotline in this book.

I listened to the audiobook, and while I could think of a couple of narrators I’d love to see read this series (Anne Flosnik and Claudia Black come immediately to mind), narrator John Sharian is really good with the voices of Saetan, Daemon and Lucivar.

• Anne Bishop’s site.
• Print excerpt at author’s site.
• Audio excerpt at publisher’s site.

The Well of Ascension (Mistborn trilogy, book 2) by Brandon Sanderson 6/8/10 Audiobook

Audiobook read by Michael Kramer.

I am so loving this fantasy trilogy. Vin is just coming into her power as a mistborn, and is now the defender of the new democratic monarchy of Luthadel. Of course, the danger is still coming at the crew from all sides, especially in the form of Elend’s father, Straff Venture.

The appearance of a new mistborn throws Vin into some major confusion. Can we say morally ambivalent and delicious twistiness? Love. It.

• Brandon Sanderson’s site.
• Print excerpt for The Well of Ascension.
• Audio excerpt from Audible.

Instant Temptation (Wilder Adventures trilogy, book 3) by Jill Shalvis 6/7/10

Such a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. I think this was my favorite of the 3. Mostly because the story was so focused on Harley and TJ’s character development and their relationship.

I just love Jill Shalvis’ writing.

• Jill Shalvis’ site.
• Excerpt for Instant Temptation.

Skin Game (Skin series, book 1) by Ava Gray 6/5/10

I was worried that the hype of this book was making my expectations unrealistic. However, I should have remembered that I love Ann Aguirre’s (Ava Gray’s alter ego) writing.

Kyra and Reyes are both morally conflicted characters with major trust issues. Yet they quickly become protagonists that are easy to root for. Kyra is the total scrappy underdog who uses her gift of “borrowing” people’s talents to make a life for herself, and exact revenge on the man who had her father killed. And, Reyes was an awesome nurturing, alpha hero.

The storyline was completely original, the chemistry between Kyra and Reyes was HOT, and the action was suspenseful. So glad #2 in the series, Skin Tight just came out!

• Ava Gray’s site.
• Scroll down linked page for excerpt.

Magic Bleeds (Kate Daniels series, book 4) by Ilona Andrews 6/1/10

I was really worried this book wouldn’t live up to my high expectations. Each book in this series has gotten better. And, this installment promised to take Kate and Curran’s relationship to the next level.

Boy, was I happy that it did satisfy those expectations and then some. I loved how, when obstacles came up, as much as Kate and Curran power-played (which was a total crack up), in the end they really do work great together, both to get the really scary bad guy and make their relationship work.

• Ilona Andrews’ site.
• Scroll down linked page for excerpt.

Both Diving in Deep and Instant Temptation started me on mini-binges by KA Mitchell (DiD author) and Jill Shalvis (IT author). Those books will seen in my next read books post! 😉

How was your June?

Read  more about my 2010 Read Books here.