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.

Short Reviews: Paranormal, Erotic Romance, Mystery, Action Thriller

My tastes in reading range far and wide, but mostly, I just like a good read.  Some here were, some weren’t.  Consider this a snapshot of my TBR mountain.

• Title: Under Wraps
  
• Author:  Hannah Jayne
• Type:  Humorous paranormal with an UF edge and a mystery
• Genre:  A magic resistant human gets involved in investigating a serial killing with a handsome detective
• Sub-genre:  Quirky blend of ordinary woman in a paranormal world who’d love to kick ass, but lacks the instincts and skills
• My Grade: C-  (2.8*)
  
• Rating:  PG-13
• Length and price:  Full novel – about 80,000+ $6.99
• Where Available:  Available at most bookstores
• FTC Disclosure:  purchased from online bookstore

Short Reviews – 3 New Releases in Urban Fantasy and Erotic Paranormal

May and June are big release months for ‘beach reads’.  That includes lots of romance, mystery, urban fantasy and paranormals.  I read my way thru some good ones and a below average one from a writer I generally like a great deal.  I am often amazed and pleasantly surprised by some authors – good and bad:

• Title: Twice Bitten
  
• Author:  Chloe Neill
• Type:  Urban fantasy
• Genre: Werewolf and vampire in an uneasy alliance; Chicagoland Vampires Book 3
• Sub-genre:  Schemes and plots; should the world know about shifters?
• My Grade: B-  (3.9*)
• Rating:  PG-13
• Length and price:  Full length novel; about 90,000+ words for $15.00 list but discounts available ($I paid 8.85)
• Where Available:  book available at any book store
• FTC Disclosure:  purchased book from online bookstore

The Chicagoland Vampires is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. It isn’t quite the type  story I like, but I was surprised to find that Chloe Neill is getting better with each installment.  Hardcore UF readers will justifiably complain this is UF light.  True, but I think UF light has broader appeal than the noir style stories while maintaining just enough of an edge keep from sliding into paranormal chick-lit.

Short Reviews: Mystery, Erotic Romance and Paranormal Reviews

My apologies for slacking off on reviews the past few weeks.  I’ve been reading a lot, but too busy with life to get here as I should.   Here are a few books worth mention.

Well reading I’ve been lately has been quite a mixed bag – erotic romance, mystery and paranormal.  I’ve also had mixed results, as usual, but a couple worthy entries – one erotic futuristic and one mystery.

• Title: The Forgotten: Discovery
  
• Author:  Kaitlyn O’Connor
• Type:  Futuristic erotic romance
• Genre:  Human discovers cyborgs;  cybogs discover themselves and sex
• Sub-genre:  Science fiction with a touch of ménage
• My Grade: B  (4.0*)
• Rating:  NC-17 to XX
• Length and price:  Full length novel; about 90,000+ words for $7.99
• Where Available:  ebook available at New Concepts Press
• FTC Disclosure:  purchased book from publisher’s website

Several eBook Short Reviews

Is there a worse time of the year than tax time?  Jeeze.  Every year I come away traumatized yet again, even though, as usual, I overpaid my taxes.  Still, the whole process of taking financial stock of a year is scary.  Even more so for those who are self-employed and struggling in the current economy.  Of course it doesn’t help that I am such a messy record keeper.  Now that the worst is over and I can get back to books.

Well Samhain is back with a whole new look and lots of books offered from other publishers as well as their own.  Thanks to the 20% discount they offered, I bought a number of novellas for a more reasonable price.  As for the site itself, well, the jury is still out.  I’m have very mixed feelings about all those ebooks from other customers, mostly overpriced.  Obviously they sell or they wouldn’t be expanding that relationship.  Between Ellora’s Cave offering short novellas from various anthologies for insanely high prices, and now other epubs raising their prices across the board, the short format books stories are disproportionately expensive.  This is readily apparent when looking at price vs. length.  Alas, the novella is rarely well done, so I am rarely satisfied.  There are some exceptions, but mostly, they fail to impress or satisfy.  At worst, they leave all manner or unanswered questions and dangling story threads.  This week was a perfect example of all of these flaws made all the more obvious because I also read two excellent novels, a fantasy epic first book and a really good urban fantasy that kicks off a new series.  I’ll review them separately.

• Title: Wolf Flight
  
• Author:  Vivian Arend
• Type:  Paranormal romance
• Genre:  Werewolf shifters; woman in jeporday; Teenage crush is really mate
• Sub-genre:  She’s running from a corrupt Alpha to hide her Omega gifts; he needs a first mate to become a wolf
• My Grade: C (3.2*)
• Rating:  PG-13
• Length and price: Novella – about 36,000 words for $3.50 (20% discount for short time)
• Where Available: ebook available on the Samhain site
• FTC Disclosure:  purchased book from publisher’s site

Assorted Erotic Romance eBook Reviews

After a considerable drought, I bought a number of ebooks off the usual small publisher sites lately.  As always, the editing and proofing at New Concepts Publishing sucked.  And the prices at Siren are entering the silly zone.  What are publishers thinking?  I bought a couple of Siren books, but had they had just slightly more reasonable prices, I would have bought 3 more titles.

As usual with erotic romance, it was kind of a mixed bag when it comes to quality.  Mostly the reads were derivative, but one was original enough to be worth a serious mention.

• Title: Ranin Seven
  
• Author: Evanne Lorraine
• Type:  Paranormal futuristic romance
• Genre:  Shifter demons who need to mate; Woman warrior is unwitting pawn
• Sub-genre:  new series book 1
• My Grade: B- (3.7*)
  
• Rating:  X to XX
• Length and price: Novella – about 37,000 words;  ebook $3.50
• Where Available: Publisher’s website – New Concepts Publishing
• FTC Disclosure: Purchased ebook from publisher site

Recent Releases from Samhain – Short Reviews

Well, obviously, I’ve been buying a fair number of Samhain ebooks.  I just seem to find more to read there than I do from the other small press outlets.  One is from December, but the other two here were released in the last few weeks.  Two are full length novels, one short novella, but all were good in their own way.

• Title: Happy Snak
  
• Author: Nicole Kimberling
• Type:  Futuristic
• Genre: Alien Romance
• Sub-genre:  Unique
• My Grade: B- (3.8*)
  
• Rating: PG-13
• Length and price: Full Novel – about 90,000 words;  ebook $5.50
• Where Available: Publisher’s website
• FTC Disclosure: Purchased ebook from publisher site

This was a unique read and, given the publisher, utterly unexpected.  While it is, technically, a romance, it is even more really good science fiction.  The downside is, the appeal of this story is likely limited given the readers attracted to Samhain.

Gaia Jones is an ordinary divorced, blue collar, entrepreneur.  She came to the A-Ki space station orbiting Mars to open her very own snack bar, Happy Snak.  Her dreams are modest and center on creating her very own little business where people can happily enjoy “happy” food.  It’s only a small place and she lives in a tiny room behind the snack bar on a lower level of the station where the blue collar workers go.  She has no grand ambitions – but even her modest dreams are disrupted one night an awful smell in the food

Short Reviews: Erotic Romance Novellas

I could be wrong, but I seems to me that the vast majority of erotic romances these days are novellas – often sold as short novels.  A few of these ‘novellas’ have been outrageously priced – like Tymber Dalton’s Steam which sells for $4.50 for just under 29,000 words for an ebook.   Sometimes I have to wonder what possess publishers.  It is stopping me from buying, I’ll tell you that.  Had Ms Dalton’s latest release been correctly priced, I would have bought it happily.  As it stands, not a chance.  I seem to be saying that more and more often.  Ah well, here are some that I did buy!

• Title: Ringo’s Ride
  
• Author: Regina Carlysle
• Type:  Erotic paranormal romance
• Genre:  Angsty werewolf mating; the ‘princess’ and the dark and dangerous cowboy battle rogue werewolves
• Sub-genre:  I am unworthy of a mate, even though we both have only one chance
• My Grade: C+ (3.2*)
• Rating: x
• Length and price: Novella – sold as a short novel, about 32,000 words for $5.20 as an ebook
• Where Available: ebook available from Ellora’s Cave
• FTC Disclosure: Purchased from publisher’s website

Ringo’s Ride, the third installment of Regina Carlysle’s werewolf series picks up where Lone Star Lycan left off.  As Joe McKinnon and his mate Quinn celebrated their Consummation Ceremony, rogue weres, lead by attacked and made off with unmated females for their pack.  They were led by Ramona, Joe’s former lover and wannabe mate to the pack Alpha.  She ran after her unsuccessful attempts on Quinn’s life, but returned with the rogues to steal the unmated females.  One of those females was Rayne Poteet, the only daughter of well to do pack members.  As Ringo walked into the party, he and Rayne formed the psychic bond that only happens between mates.  In wolf form, he goes after her captors while Joe handles the rogue Alpha.

Three Erotic Romance Short Reviews Including A New Release

OK, let’s continue with the erotic romance short reviews.  Honestly, The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown couldn’t get more boring and tedious if it tried, so I have to read it in small sections to prevent a narcoleptic attack.   I’ve been using my windfall of erotic romance and a HUGE stack of new paranormal releases as a distraction.  Hallowed Circle by Linda Robertson,author of Vicious Circle, is calling me.  Loudly!  But first, some more erotic romance – some Si-fi, some shifter, some suspense and well, you get the picture.

• Title: Planet Mail
• Author: Kate Pearce
• Type:  Si-fi erotic romance
• Genre: Alternate world; crash landing in a king’s bed
• Sub-genre: Ordinary woman save an entire planet and finds true love
• My Grade: C (3.0*)
• Rating: xxx
• Length and price: Short novel for $10.99, but available for less as ebook, used, an on sale
• Where Available: Mostly at Ellora’s Cave and occasionally from book stores and used book sites
• FTC Disclosure: Purchased from publisher

Douglass Fraser is the future of UPS, she flies a delivery ship for United Planetary Parcel Services (UPPS – though occasionally they spell the acronym wrong in the book – one of those eye-rolling moments of bad proofreading).  Something happens to her ship and she ends up crash landing on a planet well off the usual interplanetary shipping routes.  Her rescuer is Marcus Blood Axe, the ‘King’, who had enjoyed some intimate time with a woman in a village the night before.  He’s still feeling the affects of his evening – which he can’t really recall.    Douglass is taken away and three gorgeous men are now there to pleasure her – but no sex.  Only the King can do that.  Still, if you have to be stranded and left waiting for rescue, a male harem isn’t a bad thing.  The men are to keep her ready and aroused for the king.  (Why is that seen as exciting?  It’s damn uncomfortable and it also causes all manner of health issues.)

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.