Sunday, March 30, 2014

Sunday Story - a couple of Scotts

I've been reading voraciously lately. And nothing was grabbing be by the throat and dragging me into the story. It was ho-hum. Some I even sped through without properly reading, others I stopped. I went to book club last month and didn't like either book I read. I was worrying about myself - what was wrong with me?

Then the last couple of nights, two Scotts happened to me. Jessica Scott and Kylie Scott. And I fell back in love with reading. In a huge, non-sleep kind of way!

I forgot about Jessica Scott's release. It was when I was having a non-book-buying period (a long and painful thing for me) and I had it filed in the back of my mind to buy, but I hadn't done it. Then one of the Naughty Ninjas (thank you NN!) mentioned Carponti, the hero in one of her books and sub-character in others, and I had to buy it. Then I started reading. Oh, joy! Sheer joy. I was caught up in the world and the characters.

Back to You is a reconciliation story. We met Trent and Laura in earlier books. At the end of one of them (maybe Because of You), there's a cliff hanger about Trent and Laura's marriage which really shocked me. So I was keen to see what happened to them. Plus I like these guys - they're military, real, hurt heroes. The witty banter between the men is incredibly real. The friendships between the women are forged in understanding and empathy. The relationships between the couples are normal, real, not easy and believable.

In Back to You, Laura and Trent have two kids. I like kids, but in stories sometimes they don't work for me. In this story, they are beautiful. They're part of Trent finding family again and some of the scenes made my heart melt. And there's hamsters, and from facebook I know Jessica Scott has a love-hate relationship with her kids' hamsters, so the hamsters made me chuckle, always!

Jessica Scott is a soldier who writes about soldiers. You can't get more real than that!


playAnd then Play came out early. A week early, I got an email to say my pre-order was ready. What a shock! What a thrill! I love Kylie Scott's writing and world building. Although I have to admit I loved Skin and Flesh more than Lick, I was still going to read Play. And do you know, Play might have just gone to the favourite of all of them.


Play is Mal, the drummer's, book. Mal is hilarious. One of those clowns who entertains to hide himself from others. He's strong, funny, pushy, bossy, and completely sweet about it.

Mal meets Anne when she's having a really crappy day and she doesn't know how she'll keep going. Anne is a giver, and Mal finds this out within moments...and starts to give to her.

This is gorgeous, hilarious, sweet, heart breaking, and totally believable. Anne and Mal are amazing together. She seems like a pushover, but Mal knows how to fire her up and man, when she lets fly at him, she holds nothing back. What she won't say to others, Mal cops, in bucket loads.

So, this one kept me up until 5 am. I intended to read a bit and put it down - but I should know by now I'm not good at that once a book gets a stranglehold, and this one caught me good!

One thing though, there was a LOT of licking in this book...yet the previous one was called Lick. That had me having my own private chuckle every time the word came along :) But aside from private chuckles, I nearly woke my hubby laughing out loud in places.

Kylie Scott has such a way with banter and witty lines, and snappy dialogue. Play is an absolute gem. I totally loved it.

And now...back to the rest of my TBR pile. I hope I can find some other gems...

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