Mini Monday, the Carina Press Edition

After buying/borrowing quite a few books this month, I decided to spend the last weekend of February trying to make a dent in my TBR stockpile.  Thanks to my friends at Kobo and their generous use of coupons, I have a slightly frightening backlog of Carina Press titles, so I dove into those.  Here's what I read this weekend.

The Spurned Viscountess by Shelley Munro- This was pretty much a straight up Gothic romance.  (Not that I'm an expert on the Gothics, but Jenny Crusie describes them as "girl gets a house" and that's what this was.)  Rosalind goes off into the wilds to marry the amnesiac, and possibly insane, son of an Earl.  It's her last chance at having a home and family of her own, because she's got The Sight, and everyone at home knows it.

I got annoyed by the number of attacks and accidents she had to go through before Lucien acknowledged something was really going on.  And then his attempt to protect her was half-assed at best.  But mostly this was an enjoyable read.

Blinded By Our Eyes by Clare London- Gay gallery owner Charles comes home early from a trip to discover his prize sculptor dead and his ex-lover covered in blood and hysterical.

This was a dark read, with a fog of anger and violence throughout.  There was a happy ending of sorts, but the solution to the mystery was pretty disturbing.  And the relationship between the sculptor and the ex-lover was unnecessarily mysterious in the first few chapters, which was just annoying.

Not a bad read, but not to my taste.

Undeniably Yours by Shannon Stacey- This is the follow up to Ms Stacey's very popular Exclusively Yours.  Kevin Kowalski is the only one of his siblings still single, now that his brother Joe has tied the knot, and he's not thrilled about it.  He's sick of bar bunnies and ready to settle down.  Beth Hansen is a rolling stone, who's allergic to ties of any kind.  Too bad their one night stand leads to a baby.

This was a fun read.  The Kowalskis are a fun family, and it was great to revisit them. And Kevin is a great hero.  I was less enamored of Beth, though.  Her reason for not wanting to settle down was understandable, but it got old after a while.  By the end of the story it was long past time for her to get a grip and grow up.  But the ending was sweet, and I bought that they'd be happy together.

Fair Game by Josh Lanyon- Elliot Mills is a former FBI agent who had to leave field work behind when he was badly injured in the line of duty.  A year and a half later he's started a new life for himself as a history professor when he's asked to look into the disappearance of student.  The investigation brings him back into contact with the FBI and his ex-lover, Special Agent Tucker Lance.

The mystery was good and the romance between Elliot and Tucker is emotional and believable.  My only problem with the book wasn't with this story itself so much as the story within the context of the author's other work.  Everything else that I've read by Lanyon has been in 1st person.  This story was in third, although limited to Elliot's point of view.  I kept getting bounced out of the story when I was expecting 1st person and got 3rd person instead.  Not really a critique so much as an observation.

So that's what I read this weekend.  How about you?