Meredith Shayne

Books I enjoyed in 2013

Since 2010, one of my first blog posts of the year has been a list of the books I read in the previous year that I particularly enjoyed (see the tag “books I enjoyed“, natch). I usually go with about ten-ish, but this year I glommed one series in particular, so grouping those books together will probably skew the numbers somewhat. But let’s not get fixated on that! On to the books. These will be presented in the order I read them, because that’s how my Goodreads list is organised and I can’t be bothered changing that.

As always, don’t expect much of a review. For some of these, you should expect incoherent fangirl gushing. And a fair bit of all caps. Buy links are added for your convenience.

Fettered by Lyn Gala

A young man goes to a BDSM club because his brother’s a sadistic rapist and he wants to find out what makes him tick, and lo and behold, his life is changed forever.

BDSM in books often doesn’t work for me because I am such a strong-willed person that the idea of submitting to anyone – or having anyone submit to me – is unfathomable and makes me want to vom (that is not an invitation to explain the lifestyle to me, by the way. I am really not interested, life is short and I don’t care). But circumstances led me to this book, and I started it and it was fine, Miss Dolphinia showed up and that was interesting, Dylan, fine, Vin, fine, whatever, and then BAM! I HAD to know what was going to happen IMMEDIATELY. So I stayed up until ridiculous o’clock to find out, and it was worth it.

Crucifox #1: The Green-eyed Monster by Melanie Tushmore

The trials and tribulations of a British rock band as they make it big throughout the 80s and 90s, doing many idiotic things along the way.

Oh, those boys. Having been heavily involved in the Sydney rock scene in the 90s myself, this was like looking at a reflection of every idiot I ever knew who played in a band back then. Turns out that stupid boys in bands needing their heads banged together is an international phenomenon, so there you go. I enjoyed this heartily, it was very real to me, and I did want to smash their heads together many, many times, but Christ on a bike, how I loved Brandon. He is hilarious.

Cambion: Dark Around the Edges by Cari Z

Originally released as a series, it’s now available in a single volume. This book is extremely difficult to summarise in a single snappy sentence, but holy shit did it hit all my buttons. Angels, demons, main characters who can do their jobs with their eyes closed, one who’s desperate to be loved for himself, and one who loves and is desperate to hide it. Scorchingly hot sex as well. I adored it. I can’t wait for there to be more of it. I will be there ordering the season pass with bells on.

The General and the Horse-Lord by Sarah Black

Two military men who’ve been together for 25 years try to find out where they fit, both in the world and with each other, now they’ve left the service.

This book polarises people, because one of the MCs is married, and has been cheating on his wife with the other MC for the entire span of their marriage. Part of the book deals with the marriage breakup. If that’s not a no-no for you, then this book is a masterpiece. John and Gabriel belong together, and they are fantastic. They are warriors, with so much history together, and all of that comes through. I loved this. And I have to say, I don’t generally have a preference for character age in what I read, but these two were nearing 50, and they dealt with their issues like grown-ups. That was nice to read.

Claimings, Tails and Other Alien Artifacts by Lyn Gala

A human called Liam trades with an alien called Ondry. Liam thinks they’re friends, but he discovers that Ondry wants to be a lot more.

I am leery of things set in space. The fact that I’m a scientist puts me off anything that might contain a lot of hard science, because a) fictional science is generally unbelievable and implausible, and b) ugh, boring, might as well be at work. But I had already read and liked other things by Lyn, so I picked it up, and I enjoyed it immensely. Ondry is an alien, and he acts like one. A lot of this book is these two trying to bridge that cultural gap. I loved that. I also loved the tail sex. How often can you say you’ve read a book with tail sex in it? Not very often.

Merman by KZ Snow

The vampire Clancy Marrowbone tries to stay away from Purim province, and a certain Simon Bentcross, but finds he just can’t manage it. Hijinks ensue.

This is the second book in KZ’s Mongrel series, and I have to say that I LOVE both books. LOVE THEM. They are fantastic, the world is interesting and unique, the characters are incredibly likable, I just adore everything about these books. Mongrel made it onto my “books I enjoyed in 2011” post, and I’m sure that the third book, Machine, will make it onto my “books I enjoyed in 2014” post. LOVE. LOVE LOVE LOVE. I love Fan. Every time Fan punches Simon in the mouth is a personal highlight for me.

Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews

AKA the Kate and Curran show. Life-sucking, sleep-depriving vortex of addictiveness.

I picked the first book in this series as an audiobook from the library for a lark. I’d been told that it was OK, but that the books got better as the series went along, and that is 100% true. The first book was fine, I enjoyed it, but it was nothing special. I picked up the second in audiobook as well, and had to muffle laughter at several points so as not to look like a lunatic while out in public. I had the third book to listen to when I went to Sydney for the Oz M/M Meet in October, and it was lucky that I had 3 hours of plane flight to occupy myself, because I could not stop listening to it. Could. Not. Stop. It was SO GOOD. And also hilarious. I snort laughed many, many times, in public, like a lunatic. When I got home I snapped all of the books up in ebook form and burned through the last three in the two days afterwards, emerging at 3am at the end of book 6 bleary-eyed and wild-haired, and had to go to work on 3 hours’ sleep and attempt to function. I will be picking up book 7 immediately upon its release WITH BELLS ON.

Hotter than Ever by Elle Kennedy

Bride who just got dumped at the altar accidentally sees her almost-brother-in-law pashing (that’s Australian for kissing, Northern Hemisphere people) his boyfriend. When she finds herself staying with the two men, she discovers they aren’t only interested in men.

This is part of Elle Kennedy’s Out of Uniform series, which don’t really need to be read in order, based on my experience. In short, this is an absolutely scorchingly hot book about the formation of a threesome. SCORCHINGLY HOT. I enjoyed it immensely. I read one of the others in the series as well (Feeling Hot), which I also enjoyed (and not just for the voyeuristic M/M scene either), so at some point I will be reading the rest of them.

Pretty Poison by Kari Gregg

Noah’s a wolf who is permanently disabled by an accident when he was young. Wade is the alpha who claims him as his mate.

Wow, did this book hit all my shifter buttons! The tough “weak” character, the outwardly tough alpha who is secretly awash with insecurities and kindness…this was great. Again it had non-human characters who didn’t just act like humans, and scorchingly hot sex scenes again. There is a sex scene that involves knotting that practically singed my eyebrows off, it was that hot. Holy crap. Highly enjoyable. I loved it.

And that concludes the summary of my 2013 reading journey. Here’s to some equally good books in 2014!