Book #118 - Timepiece (Hourglass #2)

Timepiece (Hourglass #2), Myra McEntire
paranormal romance, sci-fi
325 pages
Started 10/26/12
Finished 10/29/12
3.5 STARS

If I had to give you one piece of advice regarding the Hourglass series, it would be to wait until they're all out and then read all three books at once. Or, plan re-reads if you simply can't wait (like me). Because my biggest problem with Timepiece is that I was confused for a large portion of this book. The plot is very convoluted; events are referenced that happened in the past, but since this is a time travel series, they didn't necessarily happen as far in the past as one would think. People are traveling through time and back again and then when you work in who has what ability and how that affects things, plus the ghosts that keep popping up, it's a lot to retain in order to keep the timeline of the story straight.

In these books, there are no "minor" details. It seems as if everything that happens is significant. So, the four months that passed between my reading of Hourglass and Timepiece were not kind to me. Right from the get-go, events from Hourglass were not only referenced, but built upon, and when you only have a vague recollection of what happened (and, to be honest, McEntire didn't really do a beginning-of-the-book-sum-up, which would've helped immensely), you will spend much of the book a little lost. I think that if I had read these two books back-to-back, I would've appreciated Timepiece much more.

One of the really great things about Timepiece is that it's told from Kaleb Ballard's POV. I love male POVs and I really liked Kaleb in Hourglass, so these were both wins in my book. And, I really do think the story is creative and interesting. Definitely worth a shot, especially if you like sci-fi and time travel stories. Just be prepared to do some re-reads before Infinityglass (Hourglass #3) comes out. 

My "Frankenstorm" Reading Pile

Hello, Sandy. This is what my day has been like. As much as I'd like an extra day off work, this wasn't exactly what I had in mind. The only saving grace in all this is that, should we lose our power for several days, I have lined up my planned reading pile. Don't you love that reading requires absolutely no electricity?

My first Sandy book is actually already done - I finished it earlier today. I read Hourglass (Hourglass #1) several months ago, and I've been holding on to Timepiece for a few weeks now waiting for the right time to start it. Now was as good a time as any, right?

Next is Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson spin-off series, Alpha and Omega. I have the intro novella and the first two books in the series on hand now. If they're anywhere as good as the Mercy book (and many have told me they're better!), these will go fast.

And, finally, I have had several of Megan Hart's books waiting in the wings for me ever since my good friend Jen from At Random got them for me at a signing over the summer. They'll certainly spice up a wet, windy day, eh?

So, for those of you in the path of the storm, what are your plans to ride it out? Whatever your plans are, I hope they include hunkering down and staying safe.

Book #117 - Reflected In You (Crossfire #2)

Reflected In You (Crossfire #2), Sylvia Day
erotica
432 pages
Started 10/25/12
Finished 10/26/12
4 STARS

Really? Was the ending really realistic? Ok - so, maybe I shouldn't even be asking that question of a story in which a stinking rich, devastatingly handsome man falls instantly and totally in love with a hum-drum girl the second he sees her and wants nothing more than to dote on her constantly and ravish her six ways from Sunday every second of the day. And, yet, I still feel the need to ask if that ending was necessary. Because, other than that, I thought Reflected in You was better than Bared to You, the first in the Crossfire series.

Believe it or not, I think there was less sex in this book. *shock!* And, it was a good thing. *double shock!* There were so many questions left unanswered at the end of Bared to You - this book really got into some of the "whys" surrounding Gideon's many neuroses. And, now that Eva's craziness is all out on the table, she got on my nerves considerably less this time around too. She seemed to want to overcome her insane jealousy and her desire to run when things got hard. She really wanted to work at getting better. And, she and Gideon seemed good together for awhile. For, oh, about 20 pages or so. :)

True to form, there was still plenty of arguing and misunderstanding by these two completely messed up individuals. Although, in this case, the arguments seemed to be much more founded in legitimacy. Eva had every right to be mad and jealous and hurt and betrayed this time around. And, I found myself crying along with her at times.

The thing that bothered me most about this installment in the Crossfire series was that, for some unknown reason, the violence was ramped up. That kinda came out of left field at me, and I'm not really sure it added anything to the story. Well, ok, the one incident did, I guess. But, I still felt it was all not needed to move the story forward and to get the point across.

All in all, this was a really good book with a few missteps that I'm willing to overlook. I have a feeling I know where the third and last book will go. I think it will be a thrilling end.