Monday Recommendations

Monday Recommendation List

Random list of 10 books Monday! I have read and enjoyed each of these enough to flag for a potential personal library purchase.

Be bold and just choose randomly, stick to your normal genre...or step outside of your normal reading zone and try something you usually wouldn’t. You can look up the descriptions at Amazon.com, or search my blog for old posts by entering the title in the little search box in the top left-hand corner and clicking the magnifying glass.

This week-- 10 recommendations (in no particular order):

1. Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart
2. A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah
3. Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Loewen
4. Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
5. 1984  by George Orwell
6. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
7. The Blue Zone by Andrew Gross
8. Dream a Little Dream by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
9. The Four Agreements by Miguel Ruiz
10. Off Limits by Sawyer Bennett

Alex

Alex by Sawyer Bennett

My rating (out of 5 stars):

3 stars—I liked it.

My Thoughts:

I have read several books by Sawyer Bennett and I really like her stuff. I loved the heat and emotion of these characters.

Why only 3 stars you ask? Two things… There were useless characters thrown into scenes and then the book just moved on. What’s the point of building up and introducing a character only to have them disappear without a trace? And, also, the end was mega cheesy.

Overall, a recommend for my romance reader friends. I’m definitely reading the rest of this series!

Description from Goodreads.com:

“Hockey star Alexander Crossman has a reputation as a cold-hearted player on and off the rink. Pushed into the sport by an alcoholic father, Alex isn't afraid to give fans the proverbial middle finger, relishing his role as the MVP they love to hate. Management, however, isn't so amused. Now Alex has a choice: fix his public image through community service or ride the bench. But Alex refuses to be molded into the Carolina Cold Fury poster boy . . . not even by a tempting redhead with killer curves.

As a social worker, Sutton Price is accustomed to difficult people--like Alex, who's been assigned to help her create a drug-abuse awareness program for at-risk youth as part of the team's effort to clean up his image. What she doesn't expect is the arrogant smirk from his perfect lips to stir her most heated fantasies. But Sutton isn't one to cross professional boundaries--and besides, Alex doesn't do relationships . . . or does he? The more she sees behind Alex's bad-boy facade, the more Sutton craves the man she uncovers."

Off Limits

Off Limits by Sawyer Bennett

My rating (out of 5 stars):

4 stars—I really liked it.

Description from Goodreads.com:

“Two years ago, Emily Burnham had an epiphany about the shallowness of her life. And she made it her mission to become a different person…a better woman. Out from under the controlling thumb of her mother, Emily is tasting the real world for the first time. And she likes it.

Nixon Caldwell has served his time in the Marine Corps, surviving two brutal tours in Afghanistan. He is back home, surrounded by what he likes best…isolation. It's certainly the best way to avoid confrontation of the consuming guilt that is weighing him down.

When an accident brings Emily and Nix together, he soon learns he is not the master of his own fate. Struggling with his own pain, Nix tries to guard himself against Emily’s charms. He wants her in his bed, but he doesn’t want her in his heart.

Having grabbed life by the horns, Emily wants it all. But is she willing to accept just the small part of himself that Nix is offering? Can she reach the part of his soul that he has deemed to be Off Limits?”

My Thoughts:

I had read the previous book in this series and liked it, but didn’t love it. This one, in my opinion, was much better. Nix and Emily were so hot together.

Bennett is a good author and I will definitely read more of her books.  

Off Sides

Off Sides by Sawyer Bennett

My rating (out of 5 stars):

3 stars—I liked it.

Description from Goodreads.com:

“I'm not sure what possessed me to do it. Maybe it was the impossible expectations I faced, maybe it was my own self-loathing. But I just knew I needed something different to happen. I needed someone... something... to derail me from my current path. Otherwise, I would become lost... a hollowed out shell of a man. So I did it. I approached her, then I pursued her, then I made her mine. And my life was saved...”

Ryan Burnham is the privileged son of a U.S. Congressman and captain of his university’s hockey team. While he is on the verge of fulfilling his dreams to play in the NHL, his parents want him on a different course. One he is expected to accept for the sake of his family’s public image.

Forced her to abandon her music career after the heart breaking death of her parents, Danny Cross exists on the opposite side of the tracks from Ryan. She is struggling to make her own way, working two jobs, attending college part time and volunteering in a homeless shelter. She is on a mission to build her own success.

With a chance meeting, their vastly different worlds collide, causing each to evaluate whether they are truly on the correct path to self-fulfillment and happiness. Can their relationship survive? Particularly when others are against them every step of the way. A lot can happen in just ten short days...

My Thoughts:

I have read several of Bennett’s books and I really like her. I liked this one, but not as much as some of her others. I could definitely feel the emotion, but I like books with more mature characters. I almost always dislike virgin characters, wish I could figure out if that’s coming before I start reading a book!