Sunday Post #11: December Wrap Up (& 2013)

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. The purpose of this meme is to showcase new book acquisitions and interesting posts from the previous week. 

I am back from the Abyss!!! 

My father had an acute gallbladder attack and was in hospital for 5 weeks so what with working and running backwards and forwards from the hospital, and now oodles of pre-surgery doctors appointments, I haven't had much time left over for blogging. Hopefully things will improve once he has his surgery this month.

So here is my wrap up for December and a general note on 2013:

In December, I read 17 and completed my Goodreads challenge of 150 books with 186 read in 2013.

My favorite book for the month was Now You See Me by S.J. Bolton and the worst was Brighter Than The Sun by Julia Quinn. After finishing and loving the Bridgerton's series, I've been working my way through Quinn's backlist in 2013 and all I can say is she has definitely grown as a writer. Its like her earlier books were written by a completely different person - none of the wit and charm of the Bridgertons. 

New entrants into the Hottie Harem were Patrick MacCallister in Two Weeks' Notice by Rachel Caine  and Marc Joesbury in Now You See Me by S.J. Bolton.

No anti-hotties this month - happy to say :0)

The best Kick-Ass Heroine was Bryn Davis in Two Weeks' Notice

The special power that caught my eye was Mercy's ability to see ghosts in Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs. 
   
I got a few books this week as well:

The Anatomist's Apprentice by Tessa Harris (Kobo)
When Darkness Comes by Alexandra Ivy (Kobo)

Paradise Awakening by Jaci Burton (Amazon)
Wolf Bundle by Terry Spear (Amazon)

 

So what have you been up to this week?

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Feature & Follow #10: Favorite Books of 2013

Feature & Follow Friday is a blog hop aimed at providing exposure for new bloggers and at expanding blog followers. The hop is hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read and is a wonderful opportunity for making new friends and sharing your love for books and reading.
This week's featured blogs are: The Book Girl and Bookish Findings

Q: What were your favorite books of 2013?

Hmm... I read some great books in 2013 but here are my absolute favorites:

The entire Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews

Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean

Die for Me by Cynthia Eden

Lethal Rider by Larissa Ione

Dream Lake by Lisa Kleypas

What were your favorites of 2013?

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Clean Out Your e-Reader Challenge: Goals

Hosted by Fantasy is More Fun and Because Reading is better than real life, the purpose of this challenge is to read some of the Freebies and ARCs that have been on your e-Reader since the beginning of time...

This challenge couldn't come at a better time as I have dozens of Kindle Freebies just waiting to be read. I'll be going with the Lightly Clean option and of course, I have already changed my mind about what to read from my initial sign up post. Here are the new possibilities (there is no way I will read them all but maybe I can knock off a couple):




Looking forward to your comments and stopping by the participating blogs!

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Sunday Post #10: September Wrap Up

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. The purpose of this meme is to showcase new book acquisitions and interesting posts from the previous week. 

Haven't had much time to blog in the last couple of weeks but now that the academic year has started (and the endless meetings are over), I'm hoping to have more time :0)

I did, however, manage a Hunk of the Week post, yay! 

Anyway, here is the wrap up for September - better late than never...

I read 11 books - mainly  UF with some PNR and romantic suspense reads as well.

My favorite book for the month was Magic Rises by Ilona Andrews and the worst was Heat Stroke by Rachel Caine although it did have its moments and David is a scrumptious hero.

Best hunky hotties for September were Curran in Magic Rises (despite one or two bad kitty moments) and Owen Grayson in Venom by Jennifer Estep.

The Anti-Hottie Hero award goes to Jonathan in Heat Stroke. He really needs to learn to keep his mouth shut to stop all the garbage from coming out - jerk! 

The best Kick-Ass Heroine was Kate Daniels in Magic Rises (of course) and I also loved Gin Blanco in Venom.  

The special power that caught my eye was Rose Drayton's flash in On The Edge by Ilona Andrews
   
I also got a couple of books this week:

My Lady Quicksilver by Bec McMaster (Discover a New Love)
Rogue Rider by Larissa Ione (Borrowed)

So what have you been up to this week?

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Hunks of the Week: Double the Hotties

The My Book Boyfriend group over at Shelfari has a monthly thread dedicated to the hotties that caught members' eyes over the course of their reading. The thread encompasses all genres from romantic suspense and contemporary romance to urban fantasy and paranormal romance with a few historical heroes thrown in. 

The academic year is starting here and I've been swamped in preparation so I didn't manage to post about our hunks last week :0(

The good news is that this week we have Double the Hotties!

 

The Hunks of the Week:

Ty Garrison aka Mysterious Cute Guy in Lucky in Love by Jill Shalvis - "I have to say Shalvis certainly knows how to create the perfect male lead. I absolutely adored Ty. He is going in my Top 5 Male Leads for sure".

Styxx in Styxx by Sherrilyn Kenyon - "I've always been an Ash girl but Styxx did something to me. He is just so sweet...he breaks your heart!."

Jack Harper in Always on My Mind by Jill Shalvis - "Man, she writes great heroes" AND "He's a good guy, even though he was a commitment phobe but never really with the heroine"

Thanatos in Lethal Rider by Larissa Ione -  "Loved his vulnerability not to mention the tattoos!"

FBI Agent Finn McBain in Hotshot by Julie Garwood- "A real hero and hot to boot!"

David in Heat Stroke by Rachel Caine - "He is so scrumptious!"

Vikar in Kiss of Pride by Sandra Hill - "What a yummy Viking Vampire Angel he is!!"

Jamie Fraser in Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Declan Camarine in On the Edge by Ilona Andrews

Cam Rohan in Mine Till Midnight by Lisa Kleypas - "Yes please!"

Quinn Braddock in Midnight Lies by Ella Grace - "I alternated between hate and love with this guy, but one thing was always certain, he's a sexy, sexy man!"

Jackson Davies in Wilde Child by Molly O'Keefe - "He's a great guy, almost to a fault and even skirted the edge of the anti harem for a time. He's tall and blond with sky blue eyes and is the town mayor.

Callahan O'Shea in Too Good To Be True by Kristan Higgins - "I loved him the first time I read the book and I absolutely ADORE him even more now!"

Jake Caplin in In Too Deep by Samantha Young - "This is going to make me sound somewhat creepy, but he was actually sexier as a teenager than an adult. But we don't get to see much of him wooing as an adult, so I'm hoping that changes in the next book. And I don't know what it says about me, but I love a dirty talker. I can't help myself."

Cade in Faking It by Cora Carmack - " I don't usually go for the perfect, good boys, but Cade won me over. He might have a heart of gold, but man, he's pretty sexy. And I liked his teasing, playful side."

Curran in Kate Daniels Series by Ilona Andrews - Oh My God he is such a badass hottie. I loved getting to see him and Kate together again :) Sigh he's just so awesome!"

Noah McCall in Return to Me by Christy Reece - He sexy, smart, dangerous, and Damaged with a capital D. Holy smokes, though he's hot.!"

Whose your hunk for this week? 

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