Book Review: Not Just Friends

Author: Kate Hoffman
Title: Not Just Friends
Publisher: Harlequin Blaze
Publish Date: April 17, 2012
Buy: Amazon
Review Copy Provided By: Net Galley
Book Blurb: Come to Camp Winnehawkee!
For new experiences. (With boys!)

For the great outdoors. (Where you can find yourself in nature. With boys!)

For adults-only activities. (Best shared with men!)

For venture capitalist Adam Sutherland, attending Camp Winnehawkee's reopening was a no-brainer. He's even reuniting with former camp counselors to chip in and help revive the camp. What he isn't expecting is to find a girl sleeping in his bunk. Or that the girl is none other than Julia McKee, who went from shy and awkward Good Girl to scorching-hot babe….

But the good girl is all gone…and she's headed off to Paris! But before she goes, Julia intends to show her bad-boy childhood crush just how to put the "wild" back into the wilderness! And this time, he'll be the one left wanting more….

Review: I had a few gripes with this book from the start. One of them is that the pastry chef, heroine, is totally slender.

Yeah right!

I would just like a romance novel to once feature a woman that wasn't "beautiful" in the eyes of the media. I've only encountered that creature once and that was in an Amish romance. Please give us some real women that are sexy! They are out there! They are half of America!

The other thing that annoyed me was that the group of friends working to restart the camp were all from wealthy families and now they want the camp to help underprivileged kids.

Oye vey!

I tried to get around that, because I loved other parts of the book. The journal entries from Julia's childhood at camp, that gave insight on her years old crush on Adam. I also liked Julia's passion for her bakery. Still, lady, I don't trust skinny pastry chefs! Eat some of your morning rolls! Or the Apple Tart!

I liked that Julia and Adam both knew each other, and though they weren't really friends, they still knew each other's history. I also liked how their secrets got revealed by other friends accidentally. Sure it caused problems for them, but it got things out in the open.

As far as heroes are concerned, I really liked Adam. He wasn't arrogant, which is unusual for series romance, and he was willing to give things up to be with Julia. Not to mention that he wanted her to follow her dream!

This wasn't my favorite Blaze, but it was a good sexy read for an afternoon!

Rating: 3 flowers

New To My Nook

I downloaded so many ebooks in the last 24 hours that I should be ashamed of myself! My only consolation is...THEY DON'T TAKE UP ANY MORE SPACE IN MY HOUSE!

That's a plus right?

Here's my newbies on my nook!

Who's Afraid Of The Big Bad Ebook?

I've often wondered about the people that say they'd never read an ebook. I wondered about myself for awhile, because I really fought the technology.

I did that with mp3 players for along time too.

I tried ebooks last spring. I read one on my computer. It turned me off of them for quite awhile. There's nothing comfortable about reading a book on a desktop. I tried another one on my netbook. Nope, didn't work for me there either.

Then I discovered Net Galley.

I bought a Nook, and I haven't looked back since.

That hasn't stopped me from buying print books. I love both. But I really love the opportunity to read indie authors, and in most cases, you can't find many indie's in print.

Oh and I love reading on my Smartphone too!

There really isn't anything to be afraid of. Ebooks are awesome!

My Ebook Gripe

I have a Nook and I love it. What I don't love are the prices that most booksellers charge for a download. I'll use Harlequin as an example.

A Presents novel retails for $4.75 and with discounts either at the site or at a bookseller or other store, they usually run about $3.80.

What is the ebook price?

$3.40

The list price on the ebook is $4.20

Seriously?

The paper etc only costs 50 cents?

That just feels so very wrong to me. There's a bigger difference in the price of a CD download than a book.

Does this make sense to any of you?

Ebook Review: The Wicked House Of Rohan

Author: Anne Stuart
Title: The Wicked House Of Rohan
Publisher: Harlequin Ebook
Publish Date: July 2010
Rating: 5 Stars
Book Blurb: A fallen woman. A most wicked plan for redemption. Venice, 1740.

Desperate, starving, Kathleen Strong makes her way to a job interview that promises a chance at proper employment...and maybe a bite to eat. Accused of "gross immorality," she's adrift after being dismissed from her governess position, despite being entirely innocent.

That innocence is precisely what a mysterious group of debauched aristocrats finds so alluring about Miss Strong. When they propose a scandalous offer that she can't refuse...she can't refuse. But if the darkly gallant Alistair Rohan, a gentleman involved in all manner of wicked deeds himself, has anything to say about it, Kathleen can escape her disrepute in another way.

Of course, the escape route looks very similar to the group's illicit proposition itself...

Review: This is a free prequel to Anne Stuart next trilogy. You can download the 36 page novella at the Harlequin eBook Store, and you should, because its 36 pages of goodness and when I say goodness I mean steamy goodness.

Kathleen Strong is just that, strong and she does what she feels she has to do to get back to England after being dismissed from her governess position for behaving immorally, even though that wasn't the case.

She ends up meeting with a group of rather immoral aristocrats that give her an offer that will see her on her way back to England. Her virginity for passage home. She handles the meeting so well. Most women from that age would have turned around and fled as fast as they could.

Without much fear, she accepts their offer, but Alistar Rohan has other plans for her. Plans that involve her virginity and marriage.

I really don't know how Stuart packed so much into so few pages, but this was one heck of a good read that leaves you literally panting for more. I can't wait for the first book in the trilogy to come out on August 1.

The Future Of Libraries

What is going to happen to libraries as eReaders become more and more the rage? I find this troubling, even though I love that there is now a technology that should keep most books in print forever.

If libraries lend eBooks, then what is the fate of print media or for that matter digital sales. Why would you buy a download for a book when you could borrow it?

Now don't get me wrong. I love technology, but life would be so empty if everything became digital. Music is now on invisible files that you transfer to your iPods. Books are slowly going that way. More digital books were sold after Christmas on Amazon then actual books.

I don't know why, but I find that just a bit depressing.

When did it become unnecessary to have something tangible?

Maybe I'm old fashioned. I love holding books. I love the smell of a book. I love combing the shelves in stores and libraries for something good to read. If all that had to be done by logging on to a website on my computer or on a device of some sort I think just a little bit of the fun in life would go away.