Books, Reading Challenges and Moms

I saw the Mom song at Leah Braemel’s blog last week and had to post it here because it made me laugh.

Early in January I posted about the Book Challenges I intended to do for this year. They’ve stalled a little because I’m judging a contest and need to read those books first, but I have two mini reviews of books for new-to-me authors I’ve read so far this year.

Love Undercover – Hailey North

Jenifer Janey Booth is a single mother, living in a small town called Doolittle. Her two twins have left for college and she’s on her own for the first time—apart from her family and relations. Despite being alone, she’s determined she doesn’t need a man. Of course that doesn’t mean that sometimes she doesn’t want one.

Eric Hamilton is undercover, trying to catch the people responsible for counterfeit money. Jenifer is his main suspect since she was witnessed chatting to two of the crooks on two occasions. He befriends Jenifer, trying to solve his crime. He’s happy with his life, moving from place to place and from one undercover assignment to the next, but he hadn’t counted on the friendly people of Doolittle and the way they embrace him into their lives. And then there’s Jenifer. That’s a definite temptation for a start. Soon he’s thinking she’s not a criminal, despite evidence to the contrary.

I chose this book from my to-read pile because I’m going through a contemporary stage after overdosing a little on paranormal stories. It’s a sweet romance rather than the spicy ones I prefer, but the characters really grabbed me. They’re loveable and very human. I cared what happened to them as they took me on a wild ride trying to solve the case. I enjoyed the small town setting and the secondary characters. The secondary plots were interesting. As a writer, I tend to analyze a book. I know it’s a good book if I stop analyzing and start reading for pleasure rather than as a research exercise. I stopped analyzing Love Undercover fairly quickly and enjoyed both the plot and pacing. This is a solid B for me.

When She Was Bad by Cindy Kirk

Jennifer Carman is a CPA. She spends all her time working, aiming for a promotion. When someone else gets the promotion she wanted, she goes to a pub with her friend Marcee. Her friend tells her she should have a one-night stand. She says no until she sees Robert Marshall. They hit it off and she ends up going home with him, but she tells him her name is Jasmine and invents a more exciting background for herself. The sex is incredible but she doesn’t intend to see him again. She meets up with Robert again and a relationship evolves. They talk about financial matters and have this side of their life in common, although Robert doesn’t realize it. Jennifer has opportunities to tell Robert the truth about herself but she keeps putting it off. Then it’s too late and Jennifer realizes she might have made the biggest mistake of her life.

Once again, I stopped analyzing pretty quickly with this book. This was a hot read with great characterization, although I thought Jennifer carried on her pretence for a little long. I liked the way she grew during the course of the book and the way her relationship with her younger sister changed and improved. The plot held my interest, and I enjoyed the financial careers of the main characters since that’s my background. I liked it enough to pick up the connected book about Marcee, Jennifer’s friend. Another B read for me.

Here’s the link to my updated new-to-me author list.

If you’re doing any reading challenges, how are they going? What are you reading at the moment? Does the video remind you of your mother?