Month: December 2013

Review: The Seduction of Miriam Cross by W.A. Tyson + Giveaway

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> blog tours> Book Giveaway> book reviews> Giveaways
The Seduction of Miriam Cross by M.A. TysonFormat read: ebook provided by the author
Formats available: ebook, paperback
Genre: Mystery
Series: A Delilah Percy Powers Mystery, #1
Length: 375 pages
Publisher: E-Lit Books
Date Released: October 31, 2013
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

Can Delilah Percy Powers figure out who killed Miriam Cross before she becomes the killer’s next target?

Miriam Cross, author, feminist and philanthropist, disappears from her Philadelphia home. A year later, a lonely recluse named Emily Cray is brutally murdered in her bed in a small Pennsylvania town. Miriam and Emily are one and the same. As Delilah and her staff of female detectives – a militant homemaker, an ex-headmistress and a former stripper – delve into Miriam’s life, they become submerged in an underworld of unfathomable cruelty and greed with implications that go far beyond the gruesome death of one woman or the boundaries of one country. Eventually Miriam’s fight for justice becomes Delilah’s own…until Delilah’s obsession with finding the truth may prove just as deadly.

My Review:

Don’t let the title fool you, the seduction involved in this story is all about the reader getting seduced into following the mystery.

Miriam Cross’ seduction happened a long time ago, and it has already led to her death. It’s the mission of Delilah Percy Powers and her band of investigators to find the trail that led to her sensational murder. Also to discover why there hasn’t been a sensation regarding the murder of a best-selling author living under an assumed name in a small town.

Miriam Cross might not have been the big name she used to be, but former New York Times best selling authors don’t get beheaded every day. She should have been tabloid fodder for a couple of news cycles at least–not relegated to the back page and hushed up.

Someone important wants Miriam’s death swept under the rug. Which means that there is something still worth keeping secret. And when Delilah takes the case from Miriam’s niece, she discovers that the secret wasn’t just worth killing for, it is worth continuing to kill for–whatever Miriam died to protect isn’t over. Not by a long shot.

As Delilah and her multi-talented group of female sleuths dig into the private life of the late, lamented Miriam Cross, they unearth more alter-egos than just the one she was living under the year before she died. The celebrated feminist author penned erotic poetry under yet another pseudonym, and kept a video of herself in a BDSM scene. But her biggest secret involved her funding of a philanthropic organization that was either very illegal, or very dangerous.

Whatever Women NOW might have been, investigating even asking questions about it leads a trail of dead bodies and mobsters right to Delilah’s door. She knows she’s next, but only after she discovers something too dangerous not to see through to the end.

Escape Rating B: What drew me in (seduced me, if you will) was Delilah’s investigation and the way the case kept getting deeper and deeper. Also how she fit the personalities of each of her very unique investigators to the different facets of the case.

While on first glance, it might seem like a bit of a gimmick that all of Delilah’s teammates are female, this is far from a takeoff on “Charlie’s Angels” in spite of that cheesy cover picture. One woman might be an ex-stripper, but another is over 70 and an ex-nun. The third is a volleyball coach and a housewife when she’s not tailing suspects.

It’s fun to watch them work. It’s also neat to see them rub along together. There is no macho posturing, they just get the job done. They genuinely care about each other. Needless to say, this book passes the Bechdel Test with flying colors, and without being preachy about it. There’s work to be done.

But about the case itself. At first, Delilah is in this to bring closure to a former client. But then, she discovers that there’s something fishy going on, and she can’t stand not to discover what it’s all about. But the more she digs the bigger the case gets.

While it’s fascinating to watch her work, and her cause is very definitely just, the case feels like it gets to be a bit too big for the story. The ending is tied up too neatly and isn’t explained quite as well as it could have been. Or perhaps we don’t know enough about Delilah and her cohorts yet to understand why all these people owe her so many favors.

I did like Delilah and her band quite a bit. I hope to see them solve more mysteries in the future!

TLC
This post is part of a TLC book tour. Click on the logo for more reviews.

~~~~~~GIVEAWAY~~~~~~

Wendy is giving away a copy of The Seduction of Miriam Cross (US/Canada)! To enter, use the Rafflecopter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Guest Post by Author Alex Hughes: A Discussion of the Tech Wars + Giveaway

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Book Giveaway> Giveaways> Guest Posts

Today I’d like to welcome Alex Hughes, author of the absolutely awesome Clean (reviewed here).This fascinating combination of urban fantasy, science fiction and near-future dystopia was one of the best books that I have read this year. I can’t wait to read the rest of this series!

A Discussion of the Tech Wars
by Alex Hughes

The Mindspace Investigations series (Clean, Payoff, Sharp, Marked) is set about sixty years after a devastating event called the Tech Wars. A madman and his followers circulate computer viruses that shut down the entirety of the world, from smart houses to smart cars, leaving huge casualties in their wake. Then, because of peoples’ brain implants and biotechnology, the viruses end up going bloodborne in one of the worst plagues the world has ever seen. Then, it gets worse. And yet worse.

clean by alex hughesIn the end the Telepaths’ Guild steps in to save the world—but what they do to end the war changes forever how the normals see them. The Guild earned their freedom and their right to choose their own destiny—at the price of fear that hasn’t died out even sixty years later.
People often ask me why I leave so much of the Tech Wars backstory unsaid. Partially, I do this because my readers on the mystery side care far more about cases and pacing than they do about backstory. Partially, I enjoy holding secrets and parceling them out in small doses—it keeps both me and the reader interested over a long series. But mostly, I have this idea in my head that one day, when I’m good enough, I’ll write the Tech Wars as a separate series. To do that well, I’ll need plenty of empty space to fill with individual characters’ choices; the major players will need the room to tell me how they, personally, will change the world.

While I like structure, my best work often happens in these empty spaces, in the things left undecided. So I’m guarding that space, quietly, in consideration for a future series—guarding the magic that will let me write it well.

Today, though, I’ll open the box just a little more to talk about the personal side of the Tech Wars, where the idea comes from and what I have to say on the topic. (Warning: opinions ahead!)

The Tech Wars reflect a concern I and a lot of others have with technology becoming so much a part of our lives so quickly. I grew up with a green-and-black-screen computer, and later with the early Internet. I follow science, and I love the information and history available online, things I would never have been able to get twenty years ago without trips around the world and a lot of patience. I delight when new gadgets come out to make our lives easier. I am by no means a Luddite. But when the whole world is in your pocket, along with constant interruptions by social media and the latest trends, there is no silence.

With the advent of social media, the Internet—and all the people and ideas it involves—becomes a daily part of our lives, one click away. We are drowning in a sea of information all the time, and because the information is set in sound bites, even ‘scientific’ and ‘serious’ information is often sensationalistic and overly simplified to fit in the form. My attention span, at least, has shrunk significantly, as my brain becomes less and less comfortable with down time. I fight for that down time and that silence with a true passion, but it’s hard to get and hard to keep—there are constant distractions and deep thought doesn’t seem to be the currency of our generation. I have to be counter-cultural, and I have to turn off the world, to get my true work done.

Sharp by Alex HughesI imagine a world one step ahead of ours, in which you are jacked into the sea of information directly through an implant in your head. The world is ‘enhanced’ so there is no more silence, no more direct experience without analysis and subtext. Every part of your life is run by a computer in direct communication with your preferences and likes. The polarization of politics is just the beginning; when you’re only shown information that agrees with your ‘preferences,’ confirmation bias takes over your life. Your way is the only way. You are always right. And, whatever fast food commercials say, that’s actually a dangerous thing. You begin to miss important clues that the world is about to change.

And then the wars begin, and the world falls apart. You’re forced to rely on neighbors—people you may never have met—and poorer folks unable to afford the implants. You’re forced to deal with reality without the filter, for the first time in your life. What kind of world change would that create?

I’m still figuring that out. But I can say, that kind of world-change would stick with you. People would remember, even two generations later, even after sixty years. And that’s the legacy of the Tech Wars in Adam’s world. A legacy of quiet fear and remembrance.

Alex HughesAbout Alex Hughes

Alex Hughes is the author of the Mindspace Investigations series from Roc. She is a Semi-Finalist of the 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards, a Finalist in the 2013 Silver Falchion Awards, and a graduate of the pro-level Odyssey Writing Workshop. Over the years, she has lived in many neighborhoods of the sprawling metro Atlanta area, including Decatur during her time at Agnes Scott College.
On any given week you can find Alex in the kitchen cooking gourmet Italian food, watching hours of police procedural dramas, and typing madly. Find out more about Alex at her website or follow her on Twitter.

~~~~~~GIVEAWAY~~~~~~

Alex is giving away one paperback copy of Clean to one lucky winner (US/Canada). To enter, use the Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Clean by Alex Hughes

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A Reviews> book reviews
clean by alex hughesFormat read: mass market paperback provided by the author
Formats available: ebook, paperback, mass market paperback, audiobook
Genre: Urban fantasy; science fiction
Series: Mindspace Investigations, #1
Length: 351 pages
Publisher: Roc
Date Released: September 4, 2012
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

I used to work for the Telepath’s Guild before they kicked me out for a drug habit that wasn’t entirely my fault. Now I work for the cops, helping Homicide Detective Isabella Cherabino put killers behind bars.

My ability to get inside the twisted minds of suspects makes me the best interrogator in the department. But the normals keep me on a short leash. When the Tech Wars ripped the world apart, the Guild stepped up to save it. But they had to get scary to do it—real scary.

Now the cops don’t trust the telepaths, the Guild doesn’t trust me, a serial killer is stalking the city—and I’m aching for a fix. But I need to solve this case. Fast. I’ve just had a vision of the future: I’m the next to die.

My Review:

The first book in Alex Hughes’ Mindspace Investigations series is one of those stories for which the concept of “book hangover” was invented. I was so completely absorbed by her vision of near-future slightly-dystopian Atlanta, and not just because I used to live there.

This is a dark and gritty landscape in a paranoid post-Tech Wars future. Admiral Adama (Battlestar Galactica) would feel right at home, because what little Tech they have left is not allowed to network with much other Tech, for fear it might get itself together and fight back. Again.

But in order to fight off the viruses created in the Tech Wars, they unleashed something even more potentially dangerous. Some people have developed telepathic powers. And in return for bringing the Tech Wars to an end, the Guild of Telepaths won the right of self-governance.

They seem to be a “state within a state”. Some people with Ability don’t have enough to be more than sensitive. Others are forced to register with the Guild and live under Guild jurisdiction for the rest of their lives. It can be a pretty cushy life, unless you screw up.

And then there’s our hero. The story is told from his first-person perspective, so we don’t know his name until the very last line of the book. (You don’t call yourself by your name very often, do you?)

Our hero is a consultant with the DeKalb County Police Department. And he is way beyond screwed up. He used to be the darling of the Guild, until he got addicted to a very dangerous narcotic called Satin. Now he clings to sobriety by his fingernails and by resting a little too often in the Mindspace of his police detective partner, Isabella Cherabino.

Until his past comes hunting for him, racking up a body count all over the county. Someone in the Guild has a score to settle with him, and he doesn’t even remember why. All he knows is that he has a vision of death that he has to prevent, any way he can. Even if no one trusts him enough to believe him.

payoff by alex hughesEscape Rating A+: I loved Clean so much I bought the novella, Payoff, the instant I finished. The world that Alex Hughes has created is absolutely awesome, and I want to wallow in it. I wouldn’t live there if you paid me, but I want to keep reading until my eyeballs fall out.

Her flawed hero is somebody special. The darling who forgets who he stepped on when he was climbing up, and then gets kicked on the way down. All the way down. He’s vulnerable and wounded and still trying so damn hard to just get through each day clean. Sometimes he fails, and we feel his control slipping. He reminds me a lot of the variation of Sherlock in Elementary; the addict who is using his cases and being needed to solve them as an alternative drug. Hughes’ hero has fallen further and broken harder, he’s also cracked open more and has learned the value of some of the social niceties. But there’s a kinship.
Cherabino seems like the classic combination of tough chick and by-the-book cop, until we find out what made her that way, and then this hidden core of pain is revealed. She’s still tough and she’s still by-the-book, but there’s so much more to her character.

Someday there might even be a romance, but in the fine tradition of urban fantasy, I expect to wait an excellent long while for it.

About the case itself…this was a time where the first-person perspective worked very well (it doesn’t always). Our hero doesn’t remember why the villain is targeting him, so he can’t reveal what he doesn’t know. And the villain is more than a bit off his rocker. Adding to the tension is the need for the hero to decide how many of the Guild’s secrets he can afford to reveal to his police employers in these particular circumstances, where a telepathic serial killer is dumping bodies all over the landscape, bringing the attention of the newspapers to secrets the Guild would rather be kept, well, secret.

Cops, killers, telepaths and stellar worldbuilding. What’s not to love?

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: Lace & Lead by M. A. Grant

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> book reviews
Lace & Lead by M.A. GrantFormat read: ebook provided by the author
Formats available: ebook
Genre: Science Fiction Romance
Length: 102 pages
Publisher: Escape Publishing
Date Released: November 1, 2013
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo

Blue-blood Emmaline Gregson survived one of the most brutal mining accidents ever recorded in the Republic, but she’s never been in a firefight. So when unknown assailants circle the family estate, the only man she can rely on is Peirce Taggart. A former Lawman turned mercenary, Peirce has a simple job: protect Emmaline until her father can collect her and sell her to sex trafficker Richard Stone to pay off his debts. But when Arthur Gregson tries to cheat his way out of the contract, Emmaline seizes the opportunity to hire Peirce for herself, regardless of how crude, dangerous, or appealing he may be. Given the chance for redemption, he promises to help her escape both her father and Stone. But Peirce soon realises that hiding her in his apartment until the storm has passed may be more dangerous than looking down the barrel of a gun…

My Review:

firefly imdbMy heart keeps wanting to say Firefly, although when I break the story down, it isn’t a logical reaction. Pierce Taggart sure as hell isn’t an avatar for Mal Reynolds, and Emmaline Gregson has nothing in common with Inara Serra, although it turns out she has quite an affinity for Kaylee.

But this has the feel that Firefly did, a futuristic western, even if that future is rather undefined in Lace & Lead. And Pierce Taggart is also an ex-military man, as Reynolds was. Except that Taggart’s cause wasn’t lost in the fight, only his sister.

In this future, the mostly good army is fighting against aliens who are not human and seem to think we might be dinner. I don’t know about you, but that feels like way more than a difference of opinion that can be smoothed over with a little negotiation. I like my parts attached.

I said “mostly good” because some of Taggart’s former comrades-in-arms are as susceptible to human forms of corruption as the criminally-minded in our world. Just because they fight the good fight some of the time, doesn’t mean some people are always good.

One of the reasons that Lace & Lead feels like a western is because the story starts on a very western-seeming ranch. Admittedly a ranch with some very high-tech security gadgets, but still a ranch. Also, our heroine is not just wearing a corset, but wearing gowns (gowns!) that require a corset to fit properly. Retro-fashion at its finest.

All of Emmaline Gregson’s references to her life before the story begins are to a life where women, or at least “blue-blooded women” are not supposed to have any agency. Her future was supposed to have involved a move from her father’s dubious care to her husband’s, with her being a sheltered child-woman never allowed to make any decisions for herself along the way.

The attack on the ranch that begins the story shoves her life off course and changes everything. Lucky for her, it also breaks her father’s contract with Pierce Taggart. Because Taggart is something unusual, an honorable soldier-of-fortune.

When Emmaline’s father sends a rival band of mercs to kill his crew in order to prevent them from collecting their pay, it does pretty much invalidate their contract, freeing him to take a much more honorable contract from Emmaline.

Because Emmaline wants Taggart to protect her from her disgusting father and the man he was planning to sell her to. Yes, I said sell. In order to pay off a very large debt, “dear old dad” is planning to sell his gently-reared, blue-blooded and virgin daughter to a known flesh peddler.

Attempting to stiff his hired guns by turning them into stiffs is by far the least of his sins, but it is where the story gets mighty interesting.

Taggart thinks Arthur Gregson is an arrogant prick. He thinks all blue-bloods are useless except as a source of jobs for his team. Until Emmaline.

Because while he’s busy rescuing her, she’s equally busy transforming herself from the worthless prissy bitch she never wanted to be into something else entirely.

It’s not just that she’s beautiful in dingy cargo pants as she crawls under old engines and learns to rebuild discarded military transport–it’s that she’s finally found a life that suits her right down to the ground.

If only the men chasing both of them will let her keep it. And Taggart.

Escape Rating B+: There’s a lot of story packed into a relatively short novella, and it packs a surprising amount of emotional punch.

Lace & Lead feels space western, and it hints at it effectively without a lot of detailed worldbuilding. Not that I wouldn’t have enjoyed a bit more worldbuilding. There’s a piece missing about how extremely different life is between the high and low classes. It always is different, but Emmaline’s total lack of agency to the point where she wasn’t permitted to pick her own clothing seemed beyond extreme, especially compared to Taggart’s sister’s life in the military.

The rich are always different from you and me, but on this world, how did they get this far that way?

Emmaline is an active participant in her own rescue. She may need Taggart and his men to break her out, but she was planning to find a way of escape from before the story starts. Also, the suspense subplot of why the chase continues to pursue her involves an earlier incident where Emma very much took matters into her own hands.

She’s not the shrinking violet her society expected her to be. It’s important in the story that Taggart doesn’t just fall for her, however reluctantly, but that he also provides her with a way to do meaningful work for the first time in her life. She needs that purpose as much as she turns out to need him.

Because she needs to become his equal or they don’t have a chance. Not to save their lives, and not to make a future.

*This review originally appeared in the Sci-Fi Romance Quarterly

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Guest Post by Author Nina Croft on the Lure of the Werewolf + Giveaway

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | blog tours> Giveaways> Guest Posts

Today I’d like to welcome one of my favorite paranormal and SFR authors (if you don’t believe me, take a look at my raves about her paranormal series The Order, and her SFR series Blood Hunter) Nina Croft, who recently published Operation Saving Daniel (reviewed here). She’s here to talk about…

Operation Saving Daniel Banner 450 x 169

The Lure of the Werewolf…
by Nina Croft

I love writing about all different types of paranormal creatures—you can let your imagination run wild and as long as you stick to the rules of your particular world, absolutely anything can happen. But if someone asks me what my favourite paranormal creature is, my mind always flashes to vampires. They are my first love (ever since reading Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice at an early and impressionable age), but all the same, these days I quite often find myself gravitating toward werewolves both in my reading and my writing.

Operational Saving Daniel by Nina CroftI’ve written many werewolves. The hero of my novel, Deadly Pursuit, book 2 in my Blood Hunter series, is a werewolf (albeit in space!) My Sisters of the Moon series is based around them, and Daniel, the hero of my latest release, Operation Saving Daniel, is a werewolf (if somewhat reluctant).

So what is the lure of the werewolf? Why do I go back to them time after time? Here are a few things that come to my mind:

  • I love a bad-boy hero and werewolves are total bad boys. They’re wild and they’re dangerous, and they have that whole animal magnetism thing going.
  • I love their dual nature, the fact that they are “human” most of the time, but that the beast is always lurking below the surface. I love that you can get a flash of that beast from time to time—a feral glint in an otherwise human expression and you know there’s more to them than meets the eye.
  • They are super-fast and super-strong—perfect for protecting you.
  • They are earthy and spend a lot of time outdoors. I’m an outdoor person myself so this definitely appeals. And they can go out in the sun—I’m a total sun-lover so this is a big plus.
  • Alcide. I just had to mention Alcide—the sexiest werewolf on TV.
  • Whereas vampires are cold and controlled, werewolves are passionate, temperamental, and hot-blooded.
  • They form packs so you need never be without a friend or someone to protect your back.
  • They’re Protective. Alpha werewolves are all about protecting the pack and the heroine (or the hero—my latest story is a female werewolf and she’s all about looking after her man. Whether he likes it or not.)
  • The whole “mate” thing works so well with werewolves. You can’t fight destiny—well, actually you can and that’s what makes it so interesting.
  • They turn into wolves and wolves are beautiful (I have four dogs and love all things furry, so I’m maybe predisposed to love werewolves.)
  • While they don’t have immortality like vampires, they do tend to have longer lives and they don’t get sick and can cure just about any injury.
  • And finally, anyone can become a werewolf. All you have to do is find one to bite you and then survive!

So, there are a few of the reasons why I love the furry beasts. But which is more to your taste, the cool, controlled vampire or the passionate, hot-blooded werewolf?

[photo of Nina Croft]About Nina Croft

Nina Croft grew up in the north of England. After training as an accountant, she spent four years working as a volunteer in Zambia which left her with a love of the sun and a dislike of 9-5 work. She then spent a number of years mixing travel (whenever possible) with work (whenever necessary) but has now settled down to a life of writing and picking almonds on a remote farm in the mountains of southern Spain.

To find out more about Nina, look for her at her website, Goodreads, Facebook, and Twitter.

~~~~~~TOURWIDE GIVEAWAY~~~~~~

Nina is giving away a $25 gift card to Amazon! To enter, use the Rafflecopter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Bewitching Book Tours

Review: Operation Saving Daniel by Nina Croft

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> blog tours> book reviews
Operational Saving Daniel by Nina CroftFormat read: ebook provided by the publisher
Formats available: ebook
Genre: Paranormal romance
Length: 200 pages
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Date Released: November 25, 2013
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo

At eighteen, Melissa seduced her best friend Julia’s brother only to run away shortly after. While Daniel was her fairytale prince, Lissa didn’t believe in happy ever afters.

Ten years and a near death experience later, Lissa is ready for a husband and family. But a cry for help from Julia puts that dream on hold. Daniel is acting weird and he’s about to marry his long term girlfriend—AKA The Evil One. Someone needs to save him.

Daniel has never stopped loving Lissa. Ten years ago when he gave her a little freedom, he always intended that one day they would be together. Right up until the moment he was bitten by a werewolf. Now, Daniel has to hide what he is. He won’t risk anyone else, especially the woman he loves.

But Lissa is back. Their attraction is stronger than ever and Lissa is nothing if not tenacious.

My Review:

There’s a long history of siblings believing that the person their brother or sister is about to marry is not good enough for their favorite family member; possibly even to the point of thinking that person is evil.

Daniel’s sister Julia has no idea just how right she is when she dubs Sophia “The Evil One”–the woman actually is a bitch–a werewolf bitch, that is.

Sophia is glued to Daniel’s side to make sure that he obeys the werewolf Alpha who turned him against his will; and to remind him that if he doesn’t keep his mouth shut about even the existence of the supernatural, more members of his family will die at the hands, or claws, of the wolves.

But Julia doesn’t know any of this, so she brings back the one woman guaranteed to penetrate Daniel’s emotional defenses. She calls Lissa back from managing charitable organizations around the world.

Lissa does humanitarian work, but she’s also running away. From her own past, and from Daniel. The only man she’s ever loved. Just once and ten years ago. But she never forgot.

He never did either. But he’s tried to. Because Lissa is another chink in his armor, another vulnerability. Something he can’t afford to have while he fights for his life. Fights for control.

Daniel is a research chemist. A talent that brought him to the attention of the werewolves ten years ago. A talent that may be his salvation–if he’s willing to push all the edges of the envelope in his research, while using himself as his only test subject.

He’s just afraid that after the battle is over, he will have lost the only thing worth fighting for.

Escape Rating B+: This was just too much fun! The relationship between Daniel and Lissa is such a beautifully realized second chance at love story that you are rooting for them to get together from the very beginning. Their relationship gets off the ground very quickly, but it doesn’t feel like insta-love because there’s all that backstory. They have a second chance.

We also have a “beauty and the beast” tale with a very modern twist. Daniel feels like a beast, not just because he’s an unwilling werewolf, but because he’s using genetic engineering to make himself an even bigger, badder werewolf. He needs to be an Alpha in order to survive, so he’s making himself get there ahead of schedule. He’s just sure that no one will love him, not Lissa, not his family, once they know what he’s become. Of course he’s wrong or we wouldn’t have a story.

One of the funnier bits is that the government knows about the werewolves and other paranormal entities. I hope that there are future books planned in this world and this aspect is explored in more depth. The government agency involved (this is set in Britain) is MI13. There is no MI13. Or is there? If there were, and it were gathering intelligence about paranormal entities, wouldn’t it be even more secret than usual?

Something that was almost hilarious at first reading, but makes you stop and think in retrospect, was Lissa’s and Julia’s reactions to discovering that Daniel was a werewolf. Not merely that they both believed him, but that they found it a much more acceptable explanation for his behavior than that he might have ever had feelings for the evil Sophia. Lycanthropism was more acceptable than a human bitch. It felt like a bit of worldbuilding was missing, albeit in a very fun way.

Operation Saving Daniel Button 300 x 225

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

The Sunday Post AKA What’s On My (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 12-8-13

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Book Lovers Inc.> Giveaways> The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand> Winner announcement

Sunday Post

There are three book giveaways, two gift card giveaways, and one, I’m not sure what to call it, let’s say a cornucopia giveaway, going on right now. If you want a shot at the $100 gift card, you need to act fast, it ends on Monday. The other giveaways end at the end of the week. But think of all the holiday gifts you might get out of the way with these!

BookPushersLogo240x176On a somewhat more somber, or confusing note. Or possibly both. Until this October, I was a contributor to the late and much lamented Book Lovers, Inc. blog. It was oodles of fun being part of the gang, and I miss the folks. (I miss them so much that Cass, otherwise known as Draconismoi, guest reviews here at Reading Reality, and Cass and I are both Guest Reviewers over at The Book Pushers, where one of our fellow BLI’ers, Has, is a regular).

BLI-buttonBut because the Book Lovers Inc. site is not being updated, it seemed like a good idea to copy all my own reviews from the BLI archive to Reading Reality. Especially since I refer back to my old reviews when I get the next book in a series. I didn’t want to lose track or access to that content. Occasionally there are duplicates. I have a cleanup project in my future. <groan>

Meanwhile, back to the present…Ooh, presents…not yet…darn…back to the blog, I mean.

The Blooding of Jack Absolute by C.C. HumphreysCurrent Giveaways:

Poisoned Web by Crista McHugh — $100 Amazon Gift Card ENDS TOMORROW!
Bittersweet Magic by Nina Croft — $25 Amazon Gift Card
Parts & Wreck by Mark Henry — various books by the author, including signed copies
The Blooding of Jack Absolute by C.C. Humphreys (US/Canada)
When It’s Right by Jeanette Grey — winner’s choice of a title from the author’s backlist.
Bewitching Book Tours Hot Holiday Giveaway

Winner Announcement:

The winner of the print copy of Buying In by Laura Hemphill is Anne A.

Blog Recap:

When It's Right by Jeanette GreyB+ Review: Parts & Wreck by Mark Henry
Guest Post by Author Mark Henry on How Far is Too Far + Giveaway
A- Review: The Blooding of Jack Absolute by C.C. Humphreys
Interview with Author C.C. Humphreys + Giveaway
A- Review: Codex Born by Jim C. Hines
A- Review: When It’s Right by Jeanette Grey
Guest Post by Author Jeanette Grey on New Year’s Resolutions + Giveaway
B- Review: Alien Adoration by Jessica E. Subject
B+ Review: Alien Admirer by Jessica E. Subject
Stacking the Shelves (69)

Coming Next Week:

spirit keeper by k b laugheedOperation Saving Daniel by Nina Croft (blog tour review + author guest post + giveaway)
Lace & Lead by M.A. Grant (review)
Clean by Alex Hughes (review)
The Seduction of Miriam Cross by W.A. Tyson (blog tour review + giveaway)
The Spirit Keeper by K.B. Laugheed (blog tour review + giveaway)

Stacking the Shelves (69)

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | moving> Stacking the Shelves

Stacking the Shelves

There’s an irony in this post being called “Stacking the Shelves” as we are very much trying to unstack the physical shelves at our apartment. Thankfully the titles listed below don’t add any weight to our actual shelves, as the only print title on the list is the one that belongs the public library.

But we’re moving in EEK two weeks, and we’re downsizing. So the book collection has to be reduced from 20ish Billy bookcases to about 5. If there’s anyone in Seattle who wants to talk about buying some older romance, fantasy or SF, or some used IKEA bookcases…this opportunity will be disappearing fast!

master of crows by grace draven
cottage on juniper ridge by sheila roberts
payoff by alex hughes
come a little bit closer by bella andre
known devil by justin gustainis
sweetest seduction by crista mchugh
scarlet devices by delphine dryden
clean sweep by ilona andrews
Chance by Robyn Carr
dark moon by kate douglas
Arnifour Affair by Gregory Harris
christmas at copper mountain by jane porter
soul sucker by kate pearce
fables encyclopedia by bill willingham

For Review:
The Arnifour Affair (Colin Pendragon #1) by Gregory Harris
The Chance (Thunder Point #4) by Robyn Carr
Christmas at Copper Mountain (Copper Mountain Christmas) by Jane Porter
Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews
Come a Little Bit Closer (Sullivans #7) by Bella Andre
The Cottage on Juniper Ridge (Life in Icicle Falls #4) by Sheila Roberts
Dark Moon (Spirit Wild #2) by Kate Douglas
Known Devil (Occult Crimes Unit Investigation #3) by Justin Gustainis
Master of Crows by Grace Draven
Scarlet Devices (Steam and Seduction #2) by Delphine Dryden
Soul Sucker (Soul Justice #1) by Kate Pearce
The Sweetest Seduction (Kelly Brothers #1) by Crista McHugh

Purchased:
Payoff (Mindspace Investigation #1.5) by Alex Hughes

Borrowed from the Library:
Fables Encyclopedia by Bill Willingham, Jess Nevins and Mark Buckingham

Review: Alien Admirer by Jessica E. Subject

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> book reviews
Alien Admirer by Jessica E. SubjectFormat read: ebook provided by the author
Formats available: ebook
Genre: Science fiction romance
Series: Alien Next Door, #2
Length: 69 pages
Publisher: Self-published
Date Released: October 30, 2013
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon

He fills her with forbidden longing…

Widowed for over a year, Sera longs for the company of her younger, sexier neighbor, the one man she can never have—unless she plans to rob the cradle. It’s too dangerous…

She’s the only one for him…

Adam never wanted to settle down…until Sera. But even when her children give him the green light, he must prove age is an alien concept…

Will Sera give him a chance, or will Adam be left in the cold, never more than her alien admirer?

Alien Admirer takes a light touch with the science fiction aspects of this science fiction romance, but the author shows a deft hand with the down-to-earth problems involved in a widow with young children not just thinking about dating, but falling in love with the younger man next door.

The story is sweet, sexy and realistic about how it handles the issues of a woman who more than young enough to move on with her life after the death of her husband more than a year previously, but who has kids that she has to put first in everything she does.

And her best buddy is her next-door-neighbor, a man eight years her junior that her kids absolutely adore and who not only takes great care of them, but clearly loves them for themselves.

The only problem is that Adam is still living over his parents’ garage; and until recently, he hasn’t exactly acted like he was looking to settle down. So it’s not at all surprising that Sera is skeptical about what seems like Adam’s sudden interest in settling down with her.

Her erotic dreams about him don’t factor into her decision making. He’s gorgeous and she’s still among the living. She’s human, but she’s not stupid. It just doesn’t make sense to her that Adam is really interested in her.

What she doesn’t know is that Adam isn’t strictly human. And that now that he knows that Sera is his mate, she really is the only woman for him. For the rest of his life. Whether she accepts him or not.

Alien Adoration by Jessica E. SubjectEscape Rating B+: I enjoyed this story a lot. Enough that I went to Amazon and bought the first book in the series, Alien Adoration, because I want to read Adam’s parents’ story.

One of the tropes that seems to be difficult to get right is the older woman/younger man romance. There are issues that have to be dealt with, but too often the problems are glossed over or the concept is played for laughs. In this case, the author treated Sera’s concerns about the age difference seriously, and made sure that they were addressed rather than dismissed.

The children were not just plot devices either, they were real people, surprisingly so for a very short novella. And it was cute that they helped Adam arrange things for the lovely happily ever after.

If you like your science fiction romance light on the SF and emphasis on the R, get your own (copy of) Alien Admirer.

sci fi romance quarterlyThis review originally appeared in Sci-Fi Romance Quarterly.

 

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: Alien Adoration by Jessica E. Subject

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> book reviews
Alien Adoration by Jessica E. SubjectFormat read: ebook purchased from Amazon
Formats available: ebook
Genre: Science fiction romance
Series: Alien Next Door, #1
Length: 83 pages
Publisher: Self-published
Date Released: April 29, 2013
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon

Erotic dreams fill her with need…

Night after night, Rachel fantasizes about her sexy, playboy neighbor. But in her small town, no one changes, least of all the bad boy next door. But when Luke rescues her not once but twice from disastrous dates, she dares to believe her knight in black leather armor may be the right man for her after all.

Until she learns the truth…

Life on Earth has never been easy for Luke. Stranded as a little boy, he struggled to craft an existence for himself, but he never forgot the first human he met–and he never stopped wanting to see her again. Returning to Hanton, Luke longs for Rachel. Yet, nothing goes as he plans, and Rachel barely notices him. Convincing her he isn’t like all the jerks she’s dated means telling her the truth, but can she handle it?

Can she overcome her fears, or will she deny her alien adoration and leave him stranded once more?

My Review:

I read Alien Adoration after I read the second book in the Alien Next Door series, Alien Admirer. That means I already knew most of what was going to happen in Alien Adoration. More relevant for the purpose of this review, I bought Alien Adoration because I enjoyed Alien Admirer so much, and I was hoping that the first book in the series would be as much fun as the second, while filling in a few more details.

Which means, unfortunately, that I didn’t adore Alien Adoration as much as I admired Alien Admirer. This first book in the series was definitely cute and sweet, but didn’t seem quite as polished as the second book.

(And I’m aware that someone should take my punning license away, but the temptation was irresistible.)

As with Alien Admirer, in Alien Adoration we have our alien hero and our “original recipe human” heroine.

But while in book 2, the heroine’s story had the most depth, in book one we have Luke, an alien from outer space who played with one too many buttons on the control panel of his parents’ spaceship as it passed by Earth.

Luke stranded himself here as a boy, seeming to be about eight years old. He appeared in the middle of the night in an unprepossessing small town, and is observed by a little girl staring out the window. She lets herself out of the house, and meets her first, and last, alien. She never forgets the night, but can’t remember his name.

Rachel grows up, and sometimes wonders if that night was a dream. She dreams it over and over as the years go by.

She still lives in the same small town, a place that seems to be the divorce capitol of the universe. Or at least Earth. Marriages don’t last (her parents’ marriage certainly didn’t) and relationships have an incredibly short shelf life.

Especially the “relationships” that the hottie next door seems to have. Gorgeous women come home with him in the early evening, and leave screaming in the middle of the night.

It’s too bad for Rachel that she can’t help thinking about her neighbor, and that there don’t seem to be any decent men in town. The local church ladies feel so sorry for her, they fix her up with one “nephew” or “cousin” after another. Too bad they all turn out to be scumbags.

She has no clue that the hot neighbor with the revolving front door is the grown-up version of the little alien boy. Or that he’s come to her small town to find her.

Alien Admirer by Jessica E. SubjectEscape Rating B-: There’s a sweetness to the romance between Luke and Rachel that lets the reader overlook some of the fluffy shortcuts in the storytelling while reading, but this one just isn’t quite up to Alien Admirer.

We never do know what makes Rachel’s small town of Hanton such a rotten place for people to build lasting relationships. It doesn’t just seem to be Rachel’s perception, the place really is that bad. But why? Is it something in the water? Is everyone in a high-risk profession? Alien influence?

Luke comes to Hanton with the express purpose of finding Rachel. If she’s the woman he wants so badly, why is the skank parade passing through his front door? Especially with her right next door and having a ringside seat for the show? Some part of this combination didn’t work for me.

Particularly when added with Rachel’s own unfortunate dating history. She has kissed more than a few of the town frogs. A lot of the guys in Hanton are real jerks. When they confirm they’re jerks, Rachel dumps them. But Luke’s behavior looks awfully jerk-like, and rightfully makes her wary.

Although I do wonder if the so-called “church ladies” don’t have something to do with the high divorce rate. They seem to have a corner on the destructively evil gossip market. Maybe they’re witches?

sci fi romance quarterlyThis review originally appeared in Sci-Fi Romance Quarterly.

 

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.