LAST YEAR I WAS READING…(May 11, 2022)
Here are the rules:
Take your current read and compare it to what you reading this exact time last year. Which one do you like better? What is different about the books? Any special facts/things you want to make note of or bring attention to?
This meme was created by Reading Marie. It’s a great meme because it’s nice and easy to do.
This Year I Am Reading…
A gunshot to the head is bad enough. Waking up with amnesia is far worse. I learn that the hard way when I wake up in the hospital, my memory practically wiped. I don’t know why someone wants me dead. Hell, I don’t even know my name. They say my name is Christian Cross. Too bad that name means nothing to me.
I haven’t forgotten everything, though. Grayson Laurie has always been my kryptonite, and it would take more than a bullet to the brain to forget him. He assures me that I’m imagining the distance between us, but I know better. I just don’t know how to fix it. I console myself that at least I’ve reached rock bottom and things can’t get worse…until they do.
My life is a tangled mess of lies and deceit. The more I learn about myself, the less I want to know. I want nothing more than an honest future with Gray, but the past isn’t about to let me go without a fight.
Fortunately, I’m starting to realize that fighting is my specialty.
Amazon Buy Links: Kindle| Audiobook
Amazon UK Buy Links: Paperback | Audiobook
The intriguing premise is living up to its promise so far. Can do without some of the unnecessary jokes, though.
Last Year I Was Reading…
1881—Special Agent Gillian Hamilton, magic caster for the Federal Bureau of Magic and Steam, has recovered from injuries obtained while in Shallow Grave, Arizona. Now back in New York City, Gillian makes an arrest on New Year’s Eve that leads to information on a gangster, known only as Tick Tock, who’s perfected utilizing elemental magic ammunition. This report complicates Gillian’s holiday plans, specifically those with infamous outlaw, Gunner the Deadly, who promised they’d ring in 1882 together.
The two men stand on the cusp of a romance that needs to be explored intimately and privately. But when Gillian’s residence is broken into by a magical mechanical man who tries to murder him on behalf of Tick Tock, he and Gunner must immediately investigate the city’s ruthless street gangs before the illegal magic becomes a threat that cannot be contained.
This might be their most wild adventure yet, but criminal undergrounds can’t compare to the dangers of the heart. Gillian must balance his career in law enforcement with his love for a vigilante, or lose both entirely.
The novel-length follow-up to The Engineer, in the exciting new steampunk series, Magic & Steam.
Bookstore: US
Amazon Buy Links: Kindle| Audiobook
Amazon UK Buy Links: Paperback | Audiobook
Fabulously, mind-blowingly good!
My 5-star review here.
Today we have a contemporary sci-fi-ish suspense thriller and a historical steampunk action-adventure. Both books tackle big mysteries about crime and true identities. They are both told in the 1st-person POV of the character whose identity is in question. Each story involves manhunts as well as the use of high technology.
The current book features a second chance romance between a doctor and his amnesiac ex. Last year’s has an established couple, a federal agent and an outlaw, trying to navigate a fragile relationship. The sci-fi elements in the current are kept to a minimum while last year’s story certainly didn’t hold back on the magic and the steampunk technology.
Chrysalis is the current read. It is the first book of The Formicary duology. It is built upon the amnesia trope where Christian Cross wakes up in the hospital with no memory of most things. The doctors told him he was shot in the head. The only thing he remembers is Grayson Laurie, his doctor boyfriend. Much to his shock though, Gray claims Chris ghosted him 4 years ago and that the doctor is already in a relationship with another man
The story focuses on Christian trying to figure out who he is and why some suspicious-looking people are after him. He’s also doing his damnedest to win Gray back. The story is doing a good job keeping me on tenterhooks! I’m at the part where Chris discovers clues about what he really is and what he could do. Things are bound to get action-packed from here on out!
The Gangster is last year’s read. It is the 2nd book of Magic & Steam, a series set in alt-Victorian New York where magic and steampunk technology exists. Federal Agent Gillian Hamilton is on the hunt for a notorious gangster with the aid of his outlaw lover, Gunnar the Deadly. They race to uncover the identity of the gangster before he sets the city on fire.
But the biggest mystery here is Gillian himself. The story might be told from his perspective, but you sense that he is not what he seems. He is a high-level mage, so the book is full of spectacular fight scenes. From its immersive world-building, its breath-taking displays of magic, gripping mystery to the tenderest romance there is, this book just explodes!
Between amnesiacs who had secrets to uncover and mages with secrets to keep, things go nuclear when you let it all out.
I’m ending the post with a book I’m looking forward to reading.
Tripp
The worst part of being in love with my straight best friend is the fact he’s too oblivious to see it.
Years of pining have left me exhausted, and I need a break from Dex. I need space to get over my feelings. But when his relationship falls apart and he turns to me for comfort, I cave immediately.
If there’s one thing I hate more than being hurt, it’s seeing Dex struggle. I can’t leave him in a time of need, even if my friends say it’s my biggest downfall.
They say Dexter Mitchale is my weakness, but if that’s true, I don’t want to be strong.
Dex
I’ve always been the dumb one. It’s what I’m known for, and usually I don’t let it get to me.
I have hockey, and I have my best friend, Tripp. What more do I need? To settle down? No thank you. Marriage? Hard pass. According to ex-girlfriends, that makes me “irresponsible.”
But the solution I come up with to get over my fear of commitment might be my dumbest idea yet. Not only does it have team management breathing down my neck, but it puts a strain on my friendship with Tripp.
This PR nightmare could lose me the only person I’ve ever loved. Losing girlfriends is nothing. Losing Tripp? It’s not an option.
I’ll do whatever it takes to keep him.
I remember Tripp’s secret pained expressions in the 1st book, Egotistical Puckboy, and I felt really sorry for the guy. I had to grab this book right away.
What were you reading this time last year?
(I hope it’s as riveting as Morticia’s book)
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3 Comments
Natalina Reis
Is it terrible I have no idea what I was reading last year at this time? Possibly nothing since I was struggling with teaching in person and virtually AT THE SAME TIME, lol. It was a weird year. But I am currently reading 3 books: Seeing Red by Kasia Bacon (MM PNR), From Blood and Ash by Jennifer Armentrout (Fantasy romance), and Castles in Their Bones by Lauren Sebastian (YA Fantasy). Possibly starting a fourth one, a MG graphic novel.
neverhollowed
that’s a great selection of reads! Yeah, last year was pretty crazy.
I’m also currently on multiple books: Clean Start at 47 by Nora Phoenix, Chrysalis by S. E. Harmon, How To Save A Human by Alice Winters, King of Thieves by Eden Finley & Saxon James and a couple more because I’m not happy unless I’m juggling several books all at once 😛
Natalina Reis
Same here. The more the merrier, lol.