Mixed Genres & Mixed Reviews (Mixed Drinks Optional)

March over and so is the whole ‘March Madness thing.  It’s a lot more reliable than crocus as a sign of Spring. Clocks have been pushed ahead and we have daylight at 7PM again.  Allergies aside, I like spring.  Blossoms start appearing on shrubs and trees, daffodils, hyacinths, and forsythia bloom and my taxes get done by my accountant.  Yippee.  Spring ain’t for sissies.

Neither is reading voraciously as I do.  Thank heavens for Amazon and its sales. The nice thing about their 4-for-3 promo is that I can try new series and new authors and not feel bad when I get a book I don’t like.  Hey, not everyone likes everything.  Most reviews on Amazon showed readers loved An Appetite for Murder by Lucy Burdette, I didn’t.  I sent a review to PBS for their book blog but it likely won’t show up there for months.  I basically didn’t like the lead character.  Her personality annoyed me.  I’m the same way about Wendy Roberts’ Ghostdusters mysteries, I just don’t like them.  They aren’t badly written or anything, just ……. well, annoying to me.  Despite that, I had waited patiently to get a copy of the first book she wrote back in 2005 for Red Dress Inc, Dating Can Be Deadly, through PBS.  Well it finally made it thru the US postal system and I read it this week  I’ll start my reviews there.

• Title:  Dating Can Be Deadly
  
• Author: Wendy Roberts
• Type:  Contemporary paranormal mystery
• Genre: Chick-lit mystery
• My Grade: B- (3.8*)
  
• Rating:  PG – 13
• Length and price:  Novel – 80,000+ words – price varies
• Where Available:  Available from used book sellers, including Amazon, Alibris, Half.com
• FTC Disclosure: rec’d through through an online book swap site

As I noted above, I can’t get into Wendy Roberts’ Ghostduster mystery series, but I wanted to read Dating Can Be Deadly, so I had it wish listed on PBS for the past year and finally got a copy.  Light, amusing, entertaining and far more enjoyable for than her Sadie Novak Ghostdusters books.  Worth a read if you can find a copy.

Recent Reads – A Mixed Bag of Brief Reviews

I’ve been hauling in deliveries from Amazon almost daily – like a true book addict looking for fix.  I have no defense, some authors are ‘must have’ even at hard cover prices, and many trade paperbacks would take forever to get through a book swapping site, then there’s the lure of the 4-for-3 promotion that extends to unreleased titles on pre-order.  What can I say, I’m just weak.

For the first time in awhile, I read some erotic romance.  With so many of the ebook authors moving from small press publishers to major print houses, I ended up trying 3 new to me authors at Siren.  Keep in mind, the current popularity of m/m, f/f, and BDSM books cuts way back on what I might read.  Not opposed to them and many good ones have m/m or BDSM elements, they just don’t have a lot of interest for me.  With what I did buy, the results were not encouraging.  In print, yet another anthology came up, meh!, another a cut average thanks to good wring – and there were two winners – Cipher by Moira Rogers and Jory Strong’s Inked Magic!  YEAH!!!!!   I had other winners too -  in the mystery category Boca Daze by Steven M. Forman, in the historical cozy category The Cocoa Conspiracy by Andrea Penrose, and in the noir Urban Fantasy category Aloha from Hell by Richard Kadrey.

First up are the Erotic Romance ebooks and print books:

• Title:  Cowboy Commandos Seduce Their Woman (Wyoming Warriors 3)
  
• Author: Paige Cameron
• Type:  Contemporary erotic romance
• Genre: ménage
• My Grade: C (3.0*)
  
• Rating:  NC-17
• Length and price:  Short/ Category Novel – under 60,000+ $5.99
• Where Available:  Available online at Siren
• FTC Disclosure: purchased through an online publisher bookstore

I know, the title should have been a dead give away.  I bought it anyway.  Actually, it was the pick of the litter, even though the shopworn plot has one used so many times, by so many authors, it embodied trite.  Still, the characters had some personality and  for a short novel, it managed a beginning,  middle, and end.  The sex was OK, but not really pulse racing.

Three New Release Paranormals

Sorry for disappearing for awhile, but I had a project in trouble.  Hate when real life interferes with my virtual one!!!!!!!  We have really good and indifferent here, so read on.

• Title: Halfway Hexed (Southern Witch, Bk 3)
  
• Author:  Kimberly Frost
• Type:  Paranormal/Paranormal Romance
• Genre:  Star-crossed lovers and a magical takeover attempt
• Sub-genre:  Tammy Jo and Bryn Lyon find out how far they’ll go for each other and Duvall, TX
• My Grade: B (4*)
  
• Rating:  PG-13
• Length and price:  Full novel – about 90,000 words trade paperback for $10.00-11.00 on sale; list $14.00
• Where Available:  Available at most bookstores
• FTC Disclosure:  purchased from online bookstore

eBooks: Three Recent Releases from Samhain

Well, I caught up on some ebook purchases from December and one new release this week in a series I really like, the Southern Arcana series by Moira Rogers, and really good and rather hot paranormal series that’s been a little uneven, but hit well on this entry.

• Title: Deadlock (Southern Arcana Book #3)
  
• Author:  Moira Rogers
• Type:  Paranormal – shifters, witchcraft; Power struggles, family betrayal, and a second chance at love
• Genre:  Werewolf society, internal political strife, involves the wrong person
• Sub-genre:  An alpha werewolf is pushed to where he”ll risk all for change and progress
• My Grade: B- (3.6*)
  
• Rating:  PG-13 to NC-17
• Length and price:  Full novel 90,000 words for $5.50 for ebook
• Where Available:  Available online on the Samhain site
• FTC Disclosure:  purchased from online bookstore

Book Review – Cat’s Cradle by Bianca D’Arc+

• Title: Cat’s Cradle
  
• Author: Bianca d’Arc
• Type:  Paranormal romance
• Genre:  Shifter and woman in jeopardy
• Sub-genre:  new series book 1
• My Grade: C+ (3.5*)
  
• Rating: NC-17 to X
• Length and price: Full Novel – about 80,000 words;  ebook $5.50
• Where Available: Publisher’s website
• FTC Disclosure: Purchased ebook from publisher site

Set in the same ‘world’ as her Brotherhood of the Blood and Tales of the Were series, Bianca d’Arc’ s Cat’s Cradle starts another tangential series that revolves around magic users, shifters, and other supernaturals, as well as the watchers of the Altor Custodis, and the resurgence of the Venificus.   Venificus is the group who seek to return Elspeth from the Fourth Realm where she was banished centuries before and control the world.

Book Reviews: Three Short Paranormal/Futuristic Erotic Romance Reviews

After a bit of a drought for me on the new book offerings at various erotic romance publisher sites, I did find three that looked interesting enough to give a whirl.  First let me say that the price of these three novellas is way too high for what you get.  This is not a new complaint of mine, but the escalating cost of ebooks, especially novellas, is getting out of hand.  Proportionally speaking, short stories and novellas are way overpriced and getting worse. It’s also one of the main reasons I’m buying fewer erotic romance ebooks.  Too many disappointments with expensive, poorly developed and executed novellas.  Is it any wonder that there’s a market for used print books?  The swapping of erotic romances is often the only economically viable solution.  So erotic romance publishers – WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE.  You’re pricing yourselves out of the market.

• Title: Unleashed Temptation
• Author: Savannah Stuart
• Type: Paranormal/Urban Fantasy erotic romance
• Genre: werewolf meets mate
• Sub-genre: over-sexed werewolf lover and nutso immortal
• My Grade: C- (2.7*)
• Rating: NC-17
• Length: 39,000 words for $4.42 (sale price, will be $5.20)
• Where Available: as an ebook at Ellora’s Cave (discounted at this time; link for convenience only)
• FTC Disclosure: ebook purchased on the publishers website

OK, I admit it.  I’m a sucker for shape-shifter stories.  Big cats, dragons, wolves – I like the idea of blending certain animal traits with human ones.  It just appeals to me.  The world building often sucks.  The world building here was slim, but given the length of the story, it was about all you could expect.

Book Review: Big Bad Wolf by Christine Warren

• Title: Big Bad Wolf
• Author: Christine Warren
• Type: Paranormal Romance
• Genre: Shifter – werewolf; slight re-write of early book
• Sub-genre: Fantasy Fix book 2 updated to Book 7 The Others series, though in the timeline, it’s still 2
• My Grade: C+ (3.2*)
• Rating: PG-13 to NC-17
• Length: Original was about 62,000 words; this version is about 75,000 words
• Where Available: any book store
• FTC Disclosure: Purchased through online bookstore

Another of Christine Warren’s early Fantasy Fix books, originally published by Ellora’s Cave as Fur Factor, this book is largely untouched by the author.  Thank heavens for that because her idea of ‘spiffing up’ Fantasy Fix to One Bite with a Stranger did NOT work, not because Fantasy Fix was a great book – it wasn’t, but because it’s entire premise was based on a relationship that just wasn’t meant for mainstream paranormal.  Short of altering the characters completely, there was no changing it.  Here, Ms Warren basically left the whole book alone and just flesh it out here and there, deleting any suggestion of a threesome by Hunter, and doing a better job of laying out the motivation for Curtis’ actions and Graham’s reasons for choosing his path.

On Vacation – Ultra Short Reviews

Everyone gets some time off, even me.  I’ll be gone till next week, but I promise to read a bunch of stuff I bought off the Samhain site.  I already knocked off one and hopefully a second today, so next week I’ll have the reviews up.  In the meantime, here are some books I’ve read and haven’t reviewed and just a line or two on each.

Shoots to Thrill by Nina Bruhns

Romantic suspense with a preposterous premise of a ‘dedicated’ nurse who insists on going on a spec ops mission because her patient needs her and, well, she’s just so damn dedicated.  I’m mean really, can you believe that?  The underlying mystery of who the traitor is was decent, but not enough to redeem the silly story. C- (2.6*)

Anthology Review: Belong to the Night by Shelly Laurenston, Cynthia Eden and Sherrill Quinn

• Title: Belong to the Night
• Authors: Shelly Laurenston, Cynthia Eden, Sherrill Quinn
• Type: Urban fantasy romance anthology
• Genre: Shifters, witches, and vamps
• Sub-genre:
• My Grade: C+ (3.3*)
• Rating:
• Where Available: Everywhere books are sold

As always, this anthology has its ups and downs.  The one short novel and two novellas by well known authors are three contemporary romances in various Southern settings, each with a darker urban fantasy edge.  I’d love to say that Shelly Laurenston made it all worthwhile, but I just can’t.  I assumed when I bought this book it was destined for my ‘keeper’ shelf.  Not so I’m afraid.  It isn’t often that Shelly Laurenston disappoints, but she did here.  I’ve read the rave reviews by others and I find myself mystified – or maybe I just didn’t see the humor and appeal in this one.  At any rate, my negative reaction seems to be unusual.

The Wolf, the Witch, and Her Lack of a Wardrobe by Laurenston takes up 160 pages, basically half the book.  Despite it being a short novel, it rather surprisingly lacks humor, charm or truly likable characters.  Ms Laurenston’s female lead characters  might be considered atypical  Aggressive, outspoken, independent, and usually focused on gaining independence,  – but they are not amoral, they do have friends, and they void of emotional attachments.  Even Annwyl the Bloody has obvious feelings. Unfortunately, Jamie Meacham comes off as profoundly amoral, impatient, and completely self adsorbed.  Essentially a true sociopath.  I simply never liked her and I liked Annwyl the Bloody!  And Tully Smith, the pack alpha in Smithville, is so laid back and mellow he’s kind of dull.  The supporting characters were too significant to be important to the story to be given such short shrift, but Laurenston barely sketches them in.

Book Review: Mortal Seductions by Allyson James

• Title: Mortal Seductions
• Author: Allyson James
• Type: Paranormal/Urban Fantasy
• Genre: Gods, demi-gods and shifters, ménage
• Sub-genre: sexfest to save the woman they both love while screwing each other
• My Grade: DNF
• Rating: xxx
• Where Available: Everywhere books are sold

Allyson James is one of those authors that blows hot and cold for me.  I really liked Dragon Heat, didn’t like Double Trouble, liked The Black Dragon, now I don’t like Mortal Seduction.  Part of my problem was the story itself, but I could have gotten over the silliness of ancient gods and goddesses playing with us mere mortals.  What I couldn’t get over was the fact that 50 pages into the book the characters were as flat and lifeless as they could get.  I found this especially bizarre as I usually love shifter books of all types.  But honestly, Val was insipid, Leon – damn, I’m not sure what Leon was and Dimitri was just nearly as annoying as Val.  Val was supposedly some kind of schizoid vengeance goddess bound by Aphrodite to keep her from destroying the world.  Dimitri is a demi-god tiger shifter and bound to both Aphrodite and his father Apollo.  He and Val were lovers long ago before she was bound by Aphrodite.