Nicci - TWLIB Reviews

We're making organizing your books and writing reviews easier and faster. Today's Thursday release includes several updates concerning exclusive statuses, your reviews and reblogs.

On Your Shelf

NEW: Change shelf into exclusive status

Form now on you can change existing thematic shelf into exclusive status. Then the books will be shelved only with this exclusive status (former shelf) and any other default status (read, planning to read, currently reading) will be removed. This means that you don't have to manually reset the default statuses, it will be done automatically. 

To Change the existing thematic shelf into exclusive status, point on the shelf name and click the icon .

This change works in both ways. This means that you can make new status (former shelf) a thematic shelf again. However, the default statuses will not be brought back. Be careful and double check that you really want to change the chosen shelf into exclusive status and reset default statuses. 

Here are several other options available on your Shelf page:

1. Create exclusive status

You can still add new status to your Shelf (e.g.: Re-read) and shelve new book with this status. Here's how:

1. Just create new status (click +add exclusive status, type name and Enter).

2. Search for a book in search box on the top, click on it and select "Add to bookshelf" in book pop up.

3. Select new status in Edit Statuses sector and Save. 

OR

If you don't want to change the whole shelf into new status, you can manually reset default status on several books and keep those books with new status only. If you wan to reset the default status follow these steps:

1. Create new exclusive status on your Shelf page 

2. Click on the book on your Shelf.

3. Edit your statuses and select the one that fits you.

4. Click on the default status.

5. Click on the green default status on tab in book pop up - it will go white (deactivated).

6. Save.

Below are screens that show how it looks like in the pop up.

Default Read and Exclusive: 

Exclusive only:

2. Create thematic shelves

Thematic shelves help you to organize your books and keep those from the same series, author, genre together. To add new thematic shelves: click +Add new Shelf, type name and hit Enter. Then click on book on your Shelf and Edit shelves in book pop up. Remember to Save.

You can also rename and remove thematic shelves.

Hover over the Shelf name and you'll see two icons: "x" and little pencil. When you click on a pencil, you'll be able to edit shelf's name and if you select 'x', you'll delete the shelf. Your books will not be deleted, the books will stay on your Shelf page with default status but not on the thematic shelf (it will be gone). 

3. Table view

Table view shows your books in a list an has numerous edit options:

- Add to Shelves: You can select several books and add them to a given thematic shelf or change status.

- Sort by: You can sort by author, title, add date, read date, ratings and cover to add missing cover images.

- Remove selected: You can delete several books from your shelf, they will be removed from your shelf page permanently. 

- Add: you can add ratings, shelves to single book, read date, review. 

Reviews

NEW: You can Go from your Shelf straight into Review writing mode. 

Now when you want to create a review straight from your Shelf, the rating stars marked on your Shelf will be auto-transferred to your writing mode and the text will be automatically marked as a Review. 

You can uncheck the review marker and change ratings any time in the writing mode. 

Reblog update

We made reblogs more transparent. From now on every time you reblog a given post (review, text, photo, quote, URL, video) an information about it and a link to original author of the post will be given on the top. 

More updates concerning reblogs are also in progress. As well as many many more :-)

Right from the beginning, Luki and Sonny have been up to their ears in a long dance of highly volatile drama. Three books covering the loss of Luki nasty and corrupted half-brother, discovering he had nephews and the brother had abused his sons, to losing one of his best agents. The biggest change of all is Luki falling in love with Sonny James, Luki who is cold and a badass. Seldom did Luki allow himself to feel emotionally until Sonny. Often times throughout the books, Luki would think on the slowly eroding cold exterior. So, yes, I do get why Luki is suffering from PTDS. The drama and ending in Finding Jack, the third book, was enough catalyst to send the man over the edge.

Saving Sonny James explores the effects of PTSD, on the individual and the people close to them. Sonny has put aside his work and career to nurse his husband back to health. It wasn’t easy for him to watch the shell of a man he’d come to love, who refuses to wash or brush his teeth every day, whose poor maintenance shows the degree of loss of Luki’s pride on being an immaculate dresser. Killing the guard in Finding Jackie has brought on such overwhelming stress Luki has nightmares and during the day he is zombie.

Read complete review at TWLIB Reviews

Awesome book! Paul Maloney is amazingly one screwed person. There is nothing perfect about him, and there are times you'd want to have his head examined because he surely can make wrong moves.

This is not the typical m/m romance, in fact, it's not a romance. This is a crime drama. Paul is asked by his ex-lover to investigate a case which will unearth very disturbing events. It's also about the obsessive love the MC has for his ex-lover, and to what extent he would do for this ex-lover. Even if it means he does nothing, which ends up in a horrible consequence.

Paul Maloney narrates this story in the first person. We learn much about his dysfunctional life from the age of six into adulthood. His best friend Jade is the one defining person in his life that help keeps Paul glued together. Paul's relationship with his parents are dysfunctional. He lives in a terrible apartment. He goes through a nervous breakdown when his lover dumps him.

What surprised me the most is the change in my feelings about Dominic. As the story unfolds I realized something, in his very messed up, megalomanic psyche, I think Dominic loved Paul.

Review posted at   TWLIB Reviews

I love Santuario. The storyline starts out with crime and murder, and as it progresses, there is the question on the origin of the island’s inhabitants. What Santuario does well is incorporate story elements of crime, murder, culture, traditional values, discrimination, science fiction, and a bit about romance. There are two groups on this earth like planet. They are as distinctive in values as they are in physical appearance and at the same time, homogeneous.

The true sense of romance takes a back seat to Alex Rukow’s journey to self-revelation. The main topic, surprisingly, isn’t what one would think as they read the story. The lifestyle of the Santuarians on the island is the focal point narrowed down to the impact on one Santuarian, Alex Rukow.

Alex Rukow is a product of violence. He lives under the yoke of the Securitas, who are the protectors and wish fulfillers for the Familias. As a police officer, Alex has no authority in the community or with ICE, the Skane’s investigative organization. When a dead body appears in his jurisdiction, he must send ICE communications, risking his life doing so. This action sums up who he is. Alex who has little hope except to do what is legally right and to be helpful to those in need.

Read the full review at TWLIB Reviews

Is there a reason why authors use "lover" instead of "husband" for men legally married to men.  In today's world, more states have legalized same sex marriages.  When I read a married man calling his husband, "lover," I get thrown out of the story.  

Maybe, I missed the point.

Yay, the book has been taken down!: http://allhailgrimlock.booklikes.com/post/613878/thank-you-everyone-

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And now for something completely different...

Instead of having endless discussions on a single post, which quickly leads to notification hell, how about faking it with the BL tags feature and blog pages? As a stopgap workaround it actually works quite well.

Yesterday I added a book to the Booklikes catalog and immediately realized I forgot to add the ISBN number (despite one warning asking me if I had the ISBN).  At the moment I didn't believe I had it, but after I hit submit I realized I did. When I tried to edit the book information, I wasn't able to. 

If you don't want to annoy lots of people with big assed posts on their dash... Use the page break function. Makes things so much less huge.

_________

Spread the word!

This adds a "Read More" button to expand the post.

Note: This also works when reblogging. Even if the original poster didn't use one. Also I often see reblogs where the original poster used a break and the reblogger didn't. 

I'm just going to keep reblogging this. Thanks to the people who do it regularly!

“I like writing that is restrained and invisible. I don't mean that I like things to be simple and easy to decode, the opposite. I like writers who deal with ambiguities, biased viewpoint and subjective truth; I like the writing to be clean but everything behind the writing to be complex. I like to feel that there are things going on in the spaces and behind the lines.”   SU Pacat

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The quote above could be the reason why I loved reading Captive Prince.

Rich boy, Red De Vere is very attracted to Carter Davison.  He’s ready to jettison his wild ways to be with Carter.  Carter is still grieving the horrific death of his lover, Jacky.  Jacky was unfaithful and inconsiderate.  He and Carter had serious relationship issues.  Carter is alive with unresolved issues.  Vulnerable, unable to sleep well, he makes a decision to reduce work hours at his high paying job to spend the time at the youth center.  Something he is very passionate about and the aspect of redesigning the center is fulfilling.

Emotionally, I had a difficult time connecting to the characters.  There were too many viewpoints coming from Carter, Zeke, Red, and Miles.  Carter and Red are the only ones I’m interested in as they are main characters.

The story does pick up when Red joins Carter at the Youth Center.  Carter doesn’t want him there, but he can’t deny his interest in the vibrant man.  Bringing them together like this did more for them getting to know each other, which help propel forward their relationship.  I may not be crazy about Carter, he does have some underlying anger issues, but I developed an appreciation for him for what he went through with Jacky.  Red, who has similar characterizations as Jacky, knows he must wait and he must show Carter his true self.

Overall, Flying Colors is an interesting story.  The romance is sweet and touching particularly for Carter.   For readers familiar with the previous stories in the series, or who have been waiting patiently for Red and Carter story, you might want to read Flying Colors.

I received this ARC from the publisher for the purpose of providing a fair and honest book review. No monies or monetary means have exchanged hands.

We're very sorry to inform you that BookLikes -> Goodreads Synchronization is switched off. We've received mail from Goodreads Staff who are blaming BookLikes' sync for not working right. 

All BookLikes Team hopes that this is just misunderstanding and will be sorted out soon. Until then we decided to switch off the BL->GR synchronization option. The text below describes in details how  the synchronization proceeded.

How synchronization works

1. You registered and looked around. You went into Explore page to see what's up and how to make things here and then to Settings to set up your preferences. Sine you like to stay active on book social sites, you decided to check how synchronization works. 

2. You've connected your accounts in Settings/Import - this means they are joined now. You search for books using search box on the top, the books are found, you decide to add them to your Shelf on BookLikes. Books are added. At the same time ISBN numbers are processed and books with corresponding numbers are added to your GR profile.

3. Then you noticed that one of the book you've recently added isn't the one you would like to read. You decide to remove it from shelf. Sync system recognizes ISBN number and removes the book from both accounts. 

4. Next thing you do is to change reading status. You go to your BookLikes Shelf, click on the book cover, choose status Read and add rating stars. The system recognizes the book that you've added to your both accounts thanks to ISBN number and shows rating stars on your Shelf on BookLikes and on My Books page on Goodreads.

5. Then you decide to write a review. You click on the book on Shelf, add text and Publish on your BookLikes Blog. The system is already familiar with the book and the review is added to your both accounts (BookLikes & Goodreads). 

6. Next you decide to put the book on a different shelf, let's say "Books I loved", you create the shelf and add book to this thematic shelf. Thanks to synchronization you don't have to think about creating the shelf on Goodreads account as it was mirrored from your BookLikes profile. The book is shelved on the same shelves on both services. 

7. OK, so you like the new site and decide to import your collection. The book import also uses ISBN numbers to make a book match. Once the import is finished all your books are on your shelves. This means that if you connect your both accounts in this moment, each edition of your data and each point presented above will be mirrored on your GR account. 

Synchronization includes all your data and actions on your BookLikes profiles. Synchronization cannot choose where to stay ON and where to stay OFF. That's why when you've edited your imported books and reviews with synchronization switched on, all changes were mirrored on your Goodreads profile. If you make any change to raring, review or a book, the system will process ISBN number of books and mirror your actions on your GR profile. 

We want to reassure you that we've never manipulated your content, added or removed any of your data without your permission. As we mentioned in our Community Guidelines, each member is administrator of his/her own webpage which include Blog, Shelf, Timeline and only he/she can remove data from the site.

We were really surprised about the situation, especially that we did not receive any mail about the problem of disappearing content in terms of synchronization. BookLikes Community can always count on our support and assist, we answer to each and every remark and we truly hope this issue will be solved really soon. If you noticed that something disturbing is happening to your books, please let us know. We'll check that and sort things out.

We also wanted to let you know that the changes to BL->GR synchronization and the fact it's temporary unavailable does not affect import. Import option stays active and can be used.

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Considering the situation, I'm not surprised.

I have less than a month to read this book before the movie version airs in theaters. 

Posted at TWLIB Reviews/

The Way Back is one of those stories that may have you walking down the memory lane.  I think many of us have experience that friendship to lover thing whether it is straight or same sex relationship.  The premise falls into the category of “Just Friends” trope.  For Riley, his best friends are Jason and Eric back in their college days.  Eric, of course, is straight and Riley had the hots for him.  And naturally, Eric knew this about Riley.

Jason is the third wheel of the group.  He helps Riley when Eric leaves him for a woman.  Supports him as a friend should and unbeknown to Riley make a sacrifice that will weight on the their current but different relationship.

The Way Back is a fun book to read.  Riley presents the story in his point of view.  We get to read his thoughts and see the struggle he goes through trying to get a grip on what his heart is telling him all the time.  Still, I didn’t much like Riley and that is okay.  I prefer Jason, who seems like the hero to me.  He’s makes the sacrifice to ensure Riley’s happiness, letting Riley go to be with Eric.  Besides the chemistry between Jason and Riley is much stronger than between Eric and Riley.

This is Carter Quinn first M/M Romance story.  Although the subject matter and the actions of the story  may not be my favorite, I feel he did a marvelous job in writing a well written story.

Recommended for readers interested in well written, sweet,  m/m romance story.

The complete review is archived at http://twlibreviews.com/2013/09/review-dirty-laundry-by-rhys-ford/

Rhys Ford continues to write a delightful series, keeping me totally engaged. It has humor, joy, sadness, a bungling hero in Cole, and a subtle theme connecting the plot lines. The murder mystery takes up most of the space in the storytelling. It also relate to the main idea in a different way that is enjoyable. What I love the best is the closeness between Cole and Jae-Min despite the tension between them. The author tests the love they have for each other, deepens the characterization of the characters, and bring to life their fears. I wonder how Jae Min will handle having his sister with him. Will Cole see reason and communicate with his new brother.

For future books, I would love to read one devoted to Cole and Jae Min and less on the external conflict. I’m ready to learn more about Jae Min and family, and about Ichiro and his mother. I really, really want Cole to confront his parents and take a strong, undeniable stance for himself. Cole needs to put Daddy Dearest in his place. After three books, I think it’s about time we take the storyline to the inside.

This is the story that made me rethink on this BDSM lifestyle, from the perspective of the character.  Understanding some people like Lane Moredock needs focusing on something else other than their inner pain, and lack of confidence. 

He is a strong and lovely character.

Complete review at TWLIB Reviews

After years as friends will Cam and Davis succeed in taking their friendship to another level.This is an adorable story. I have to say, though, the writing is less than I expect from this author.

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TODAY'S DATE: 9/30/13

Okay, I'm reblogging my own post because I have no idea, whatsoever, the name of this book.  Does any recognize this book?