The Sunday Post AKA What’s On My (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 10-27-13

Posted on October 27, 2013October 27, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Blog Hops> Fall Into Winter Romance Giveaway Hop> Giveaways> Something Wicked Returns Blog Hop> Spooktacular Giveaway Hop> The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand

Halloween is coming. This week! It’s our first Halloween in Seattle, and we don’t know what Autumn will mean here in the Pacific Northwest, although we’re guessing that it’s the start of the rainy season.

In the South, it meant the weather finally got decent again, after a summer of “OMG it’s hot!” In Alaska, by late October winter had already set in for the long haul. In the Midwest, Halloween really did mean that Fall was ending. Chicago usually has a pretty nice (and generally pretty, Fall. (Spring kind of sucks, but Fall was often long and beautiful).

But about Halloween. There are still a few more days to enter both the Spooktacular Giveaway Hop and the Something Wicked Returns Hop. Because, of course, they are Halloween-themed hops and will ghost away on Halloween. However, the lucky winners will be able to spend their $10 Amazon or B&N gift cards any time they like. Even on non-ghostly books. But enter soon before the chance disappears until next spook time.

Speaking of ghosts, Book Lovers Inc. has sadly joined the legion of ghost book blogs. The international book congress was my book blogging “home away from home” for two years, and I’ll miss posting there and all the friends I made over at BLI. I’d like to formally welcome those who followed the links and decided to give Reading Reality a try.

And for those who miss Draconismoi’s trademark rants from BLI, let me introduce you to Cass, otherwise known as Draconismoi from BLI. She has graciously, or snarkily, agreed to bring her ranting and reviewing skills down the coast from Alaska to Seattle for the occasional rant and review. Her first post at Reading Reality was this week’s Series Shakedown. Read and enjoy!

Current Giveaways:

Something Wicked Returns: my prize is a $10 gift card to either Amazon or Barnes & Noble; visit the other stops on the hop to see their fabulous prizes.

Spooktacular Giveaway Hop: Yet another opportunity for you to win a $10 gift card to either Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Check the post to see the over 300 other stops on this hop!

Hunter’s Moon by Lisa Kessler — tourwide giveaway of a $25 Amazon gift card and earrings.

Blog Recap:

Entangled Edge Release Day Blast
B+ Review: Hunter’s Moon by Lisa Kessler + Giveaway
B+ Review: Finding It by Cora Carmack
B Review: The Case of the Cosmological Killer by Stephanie Osborn
B+ Review: Rogue’s Possession by Jeffe Kennedy
Guest Post by Jeffe Kennedy on The Lure of the Fish-Out-of-Water Character
Series Shakedown: Psy/Changelings by Nalini Singh (written by Cass)
Stacking the Shelves (64)

Coming Next Week:

Work in Progress by Christina Esdon (review + guest post + giveaway)
Thankless in Death by J.D. Robb (review)
Getting Rowdy by Lori Foster (review + Q&A + giveaway)
Something Wicked by Angela Campbell (review)
Take Me, Cowboy by Jane Porter (review)
Fall into Winter Romance Giveaway Hop

Series Shakedown: Psy/Changelings by Nalini Singh

Posted on October 25, 2013October 24, 2013 by Cass | Author : Cass | D Reviews> Series Shakedown

Rural Alaska towns are not known for their cell reception, or internet accessibility. This makes them most unfortunate locations to be stranded after a catastrophic car failure. Oh Subaru, why hast thou forsaken me?

Aforementioned small towns do, however, have community bookshelves. Free for pillaging!

I was left with a choice of either the futility of convincing rural Alaskans that NO THIS CAN’T WAIT UNTIL TUESDAY, or mainlining the Psy/Changeling series.

Marlene, devoted fangirl that she is, clearly supported my decision escape the crushing reality of a massive towing debt in favor of futuristic inter-special hook-ups.

Was this a wise decision?!

*****

Slave to Sensation: Hmm, how do you circumvent any extremely valid objections people might have to Their Glorious Leader shacking up with an enemy government lackey? Make her physiologically dependent on The Mighty Changeling Cock! (-)

Visions of Heat: Stalking, breaking and entering, sexual assault, and denial of necessary medical care. Someone get this woman a fucking protection order. The Changelings were all high-and-mighty about their anti-murder stance, but they don’t seem too terribly concerned with domestic violence and rape. (-)

Caressed By Ice: What is this? A man who respects a woman’s boundaries, follows her lead, is totally upfront about limitations he is placing on a relationship, and supports her accomplishments? Wolflings unite! Gotta keep the women away from this monster by any means necessary. (+)

Mine to Possess: How dare you be traumatized by being sexually assaulted as a child! That vagina belonged to me! I shall now slut-shame you, verbally abuse you, emotionally batter you, threaten you, demean you, demand sex, and make sure everyone knows that any twinge of emotional discomfort I am feeling is 150% your fault. Alternate Title: The Proto-Jacob. (-)

Hostage to Pleasure: Accidentally bleeding on a child saves his life. Provides necessary leverage to bang his mom. Nailing mommy-dearest psychically cures her twin sister’s homicidal impulses. Damn. All problems truly can be solved through the mighty power of the changeling cock. (-)

Branded by Fire: These groups have been allies for 10 years in an ongoing war against a common enemy. No one has problems with people sleeping with the enemy, but shacking up with an ally is an unthinkable act of betrayal? (-)

Play of Passion: Again with the pretend relationship barries. High-ranking women have been sleeping with their subordinates for millennia. Fuck this misogynist bullshit. Alternative Title: Woman on Top? Haha! That’s a good one. (-)

Kiss of Snow: This hookup has been building for awhile. Bonus points for not creepily stalking and/or isolating her as a teen. His series long ability to not perv over the jailbait, combined with her male relatives acknowledgement that she is an adult capable of making her own goddamn decisions (unlike every other male relative in the series) outweighs the triple crown Dues ex Machina.

How many impossible escape hatches do you need? We have a series long contrivance machine known as the changeling cock. Defrosting Cryo-lady and self-aware psychic networks are not particularly necessary.

See? The Doctor only needs one Deus ex Machina per episode. Reign yourself in!

*****

Is there an alternative title to this series? Something along the lines of the Sexpot Contrivance Machines would be appropriate.

Obviously I didn’t read every book – but unless one of the missing installments discusses how Psy is code for Sex God, I’m gonna call bullshit on the marathon sex sessions. Virgins do not go from zero to Kama Sutra 2.46 seconds. The Psy don’t even masturbate! You expect me to believe guys who have never, upon pain of extreme torture, laid a finger on their packages are going to be able to hold back for that synchronized orgasm? No.

Then we have Contrivance Machine known as the Mighty Changeling Cock. All psychic health issues can be solved by a good deep dicking. What happens when the Psy wants a divorce? Or has an affair?

These eye-roll inducing situations aside, I cannot support the inherit misogyny in every page of the series. Women may only sleep with men pre-approved by their brothers. Only evil women get abortions. Slutty women deserve whatever suffering they’ve endured. A woman’s disinterest in sex must be forcibly eradicated. Are you seeing a pattern? It’s a pattern of infantalizing women. They exist only as extensions of men, and if their preferences or actions run contrary to the men? Well then they are “brats” or “divas” and need to be brought to heel. Though isolation, emotional manipulation, psychological abuse, and physical and/or sexual assault.

The only two books that got a positive rating were those heavily featuring Judd. Who is, as far as I can tell, the only non-sexist man in the series. The rest of them are assholes.

Escape Rating: D.

Guest Post by Jeffe Kennedy on The Lure of the Fish-Out-of-Water Character

Posted on October 24, 2013October 23, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | blog tours> Guest Posts

Today I would like to welcome Jeffe Kennedy, who just published the absolutely fascinating Rogue’s Possession (reviewed here), the sequel to her equally fantastic Rogue’s Pawn (reviewed last year)

Abducted by Indians or Transported to Live with Cave People – the Lure of the Fish-Out-of-Water Character
by Jeffe Kennedy

Marlene asked me, why does the idea of a character from our world crossing to another universe continue to fascinate (some call this portal fiction)? How much fun is it for an author to create and use such a complete fish-out-of-water character like Gwynn to show us her new world?

It’s funny – I never knew the term “portal fiction” until I saw my agent using it on Twitter. And always as a reason for rejection. “I don’t like portal fantasies,” she’d say. Finally I asked her, “Isn’t Rogue’s Pawn a portal fantasy?” She said, Yes, yes it is. We both laughed at that, because it was Rogue’s Pawn that prompted her offer me representation. She read it, loved it and wanted more. So now she says “I apparently don’t like portal fiction until it’s written.”

For me, I wanted to write a story like this ever since I read this book when I was ten, that I got a the library. It was called Saturday, the Twelfth of October and was about a girl transported in time to live with cave people. It was my first experience with the TSTL heroine. I spent the entire book unhappy with the girl’s intelligence, practicality and pretty much every dumb thing she did. I resolved then that I’d write a book like that someday, only my heroine would be much smarter. (I imagine it also helps that she’s an adult and well-educated, but I didn’t see the world that way then.)

Ever since, I’ve been fascinated by the “fish out of water” story. Diana Gabaldon handled it brilliantly, to my great joy – though I got bored with the series once Claire became so easy with both worlds. The story doesn’t have to be fantasy either. I went through a serious phase of reading “abduction by Indians” stories.

Why is this so interesting?

I think part of it is the notion of testing ourselves. How would I handle this kind of transportation to an alien world or culture? In many ways, it’s the ultimate test of ourselves as individuals. The protagonist is removed from everything familiar, all support systems – friends, families, pets, etc. – and is thrust into an alien and perhaps hostile culture. There are all sorts of challenges – the inherent danger of not knowing the rules, of not having help, of being discovered as an imposter, perhaps.

How fun is it?

WAY fun! I don’t pre-plot my stories (I can’t), so I ride around in Gwynn’s head and discover the world as she does. In many ways, her challenges are mine. How do we create light without fire? Better figure it out! So writing these stories allows me all the thrill of figuring out how I’d do a better job than that dumb girl in that long-ago read, without actually facing the dangers.

Isn’t that what escapism is all about?

About Jeffe Kennedy

Jeffe Kennedy is an award-winning author with a writing career that spans decades. Her fantasy BDSM romance, Petals and Thorns, originally published under the pen name Jennifer Paris, has won several reader awards. Sapphire, the first book in Facets of Passion has placed first in multiple romance contests and the follow-up, Platinum, is climbing the charts. Her most recent works include three fiction series: the fantasy romance novels of A Covenant of Thorns, the contemporary BDSM novellas of the Facets of Passion, and the post-apocalyptic vampire erotica of the Blood Currency.Jeffe lives in Santa Fe, with two Maine coon cats, a border collie, plentiful free-range lizards and a Doctor of Oriental Medicine.

She is represented by Pam van Hylckama Vlieg of Foreword Literary.

To learn about Jeffe, visit her website or blog or follow her on Facebook or Twitter.

Review: Rogue’s Possession by Jeffe Kennedy

Posted on October 24, 2013October 23, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | B Reviews> blog tours> book reviews

Format read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Formats available: ebook, audiobook
Genre: Paranormal romance
Series: Covenant of Thorns #2
Length: 280 pages
Publisher: Carina Press
Date Released: October 7, 2013
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo

A human trapped in the world of Faerie, in possession of magic I could not control, I made a bargain for my life: to let the dangerously sensual fae noble known as Rogue sire my firstborn. And one does not break an oath with a fae. But no matter how greatly I desire him, I will not succumb. Not until I know what will happen to the child.

Though unable—or unwilling—to reveal the fate of human-fae offspring himself, Rogue accompanies me on my quest for answers. Along the way he agrees to teach me to harness my power, in exchange for a single kiss each day and sleeping by my side each night. Just as I am about to yield to temptation, I find myself in a deadly game of cat and mouse with an insane goddess. Now my search for the truth will lead me to the darkest of all Faerie secrets.

My Review:

The world of Jeffe Kennedy’s Covenant of Thorns is absolutely built on the premise that one should be careful what one wishes for, because one will almost certainly get exactly that. However, magic wishes (and the fae who inhabit the world she has built) are incredibly slippery; one gets precisely what one wished, the letter of the wish, and not the spirit.

Magic wishes are dangerous currency, and all too frequently turn on the one wishing them. A lesson that Gwynn believes she has learned at a high price during the first book in this series, Rogue’s Pawn (reviewed here). However, Gwynn has crossed to the fae lands from our own world, and sometimes she is too stubborn to accept that the fae do not operate by the kind of logic that she is used to.

Sometimes the fae are too used to being all-powerful to accept that Gwynn does not operate by the rules that they are used to.

Even though every interchange for every conceivable situation (and some that Gwynn finds inconceivable) is handled through bargaining and negotiation, Gwynn continues to find ways to maintain an increasingly tenuous hold on herself as still mostly-human. A task that gets more difficult every day.

Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Gwynn must use her power to protect herself and those she has come to care for from the Queen who has ruled uncontested for eternity.

But Gwynn has to maneuver through a landscape where the other players withhold knowledge from her at every turn. She is flying blind by the seat of her pants.

Rogue, the fae who brought her to Faerie, keeps vital knowledge from her in order to protect her, until his protection is taken away. Then Gwynn takes on a quest of discovery to determine what bargains Rogue has made on her behalf, what he has broken, and what he has kept.

Because bargains are the coin of this realm. And he may have committed one or both of them to something that will kill or enslave Gwynn if he cannot be found. And because in spite of all the secrets he has kept, and in spite of all the times he has left her in ignorance, once he disappears Gwynn realizes that he truly was bound by negotiations made with others that he could not control.

And that in spite of her best intentions, she cares more than she expected. She might even love him. But she’ll never know what secrets he is keeping from her if she doesn’t rescue him. Even if it kills her.

Escape Rating B+: What makes this series work for me, at least so far, is following Gwynn’s perspective. Not just because she is an extreme case of the fish-out-of-water type, but because she handles it so intelligently. She not only doesn’t understand but she adapts to each situation. I like being in her head.

However, because the reader’s perspective is so closely tied to Gwynn’s, her darkness is our darkness; we only know what she knows. I think I’m identifying with her a little too much, because the way that everyone around her is keeping her deliberately uninformed is driving me mad. It keeps me turning pages, but I’m astounded that she hasn’t made a lot more things explode. Also that so few of the fae who surround her and supposedly want her best interests at heart do not see her agency. They see her magic potential but not her intelligence, or something.

Rogue’s “courtship” of Gwynn is fascinating, because the reader is never quite sure what his game is, and neither is Gwynn. It is very sensual and extremely hot and sometimes sweet as well, but he always has a purpose and it isn’t true love. Gwynn’s right about that. Which doesn’t preclude them needing each other for something deeply important including and beyond great sex. Eventually.

The fae culture of bargaining, negotiation and oaths has layers within layers. Gwynn is still learning, and watching her navigate is one of the tough but compelling parts of her journey.

Even though I’m certain that Rogue’s Possession is the second book in a trilogy, it absolutely does not suffer from “middle-book syndrome”. It comes to a satisfying conclusion, and ends the story in a reasonably good place. It just has some loose ends that I can’t wait to see tied up. Possibly with green ribbon. (Read and you’ll understand)

***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: Hunter’s Moon by Lisa Kessler + Giveaway

Posted on October 21, 2013October 20, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | B Reviews> blog tours> book reviews> Giveaways

Format read: ebook provided by the publisher
Formats available: ebook
Genre: Paranormal romance
Series: Moon #2
Length: 340 pages
Publisher: Entangled Edge
Date Released: October 21, 2013
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, All Romance

Sasha’s future was stolen from her the moment she was bitten. Now she’s on the run from the Nero Organization that transformed her from a human detective into a shape shifting jaguar assassin.

When a rogue bounty hunter threatens her younger sister, she’ll be forced to fight, and with nowhere else to turn, Sasha will need to trust the one man who has every reason to want her dead.

Aren is a werewolf with a secret. While protecting his twin brother and Alpha of the Pack, he found his one mate for life. Sadly she’s also the jaguar assassin who tried to kill them both. Now Aren is struggling between his animal nature to love and protect her, and his loyalty to the Pack.

My Review:

Hunter’s Moon is a more than worthy successor to the first book in Kessler’s Moon series, Moonlight (reviewed at Book Lovers Inc.). In fact, any author who is thinking about using the fated-mate trope should check out this series for an example of using that otherwise tired trope in a way that is definitely NOT a short cut to romance and is still filled with both loads of romantic and suspenseful tension.

The story of Hunter’s Moon picks up a few months after Moonlight, and is a bit dependent on some knowledge of the previous story. It took me a bit to remember “where we left our heroes” but I think there was more depth to the family relationships in the story because I did remember. Your mileage, of course, may vary.

In Moonlight, Sasha tried to kill Adam and Aren and capture Lana in order to get the mysterious Nero Organization to give her a cure for the unfortunate case of jaguar shifter that she had been infected with.

Several problems in that scenario. First, there ain’t no cure. Second, Nero is so damn evil, they wouldn’t give it to her if there was. And third and fourth, well, third and fourth turn out to be the point of the story in Hunter’s Moon.

In the big brawl that ended Moonlight, Sasha head-butted Aren. While this does not sound like the beginnings of even a beautiful friendship, it was skin-on-skin contact, even if it did make Aren see stars. It was enough for wolf-shifter Aren to recognize Sasha as his mate.

Yes, we have fated mate trope again. Aren-the-person doesn’t even have to start out liking the person his wolf wants. He’s still stuck. And for life, at that.

But Sasha doesn’t know, doesn’t care, and even when informed (much, much later), doesn’t have to acknowledge that such a thing exists. She’s a jaguar shifter, and jaguars do NOT mate for life. This is his problem, not her problem.

Aren not only has to win her over in some version of the old-fashioned way, he has to do it in spite of the fact that they have really bad history together, and that his entire Pack has really bad history with her.

In Moonlight, this problem existed but it was impersonal. Wolves didn’t like jaguars in general, not necessarily Lana in particular. With Sasha, it’s very personal. She really did bad acts against the Pack.

Sasha can’t figure out how or why Aren is able to put it behind him. She’s certain that the rest of the Pack never will. But she needs their help, because the Nero Organization has sent a rogue werewolf to hunt her down and kill her.

And he’s planning to use her little sister as bait. Or a snack.

Escape Rating B+: The story in Hunter’s Moon is a bit darker than the one in Moonlight. The stakes seem higher and the dastardly plots seem that much more nefarious, even though the Nero Organization is less obvious in this story than they were in the first book.

There’s an awful lot of sub-plot in this one about family, and family has a way of twisting people up more than almost anything else. The pack is “family you make” and they are a tight knit bunch. Adding Lana and Sasha into the mix, along with the strain of the constant attacks because of them, creates a lot of stress that some members are handling less well than others. There are lots of explosions waiting to happen.

Adam and Aren’s long-lost uncle shows up, and turns out to be working for the other side. Well, one of the other sides. Maybe.

But the whole thing hinges on Adam’s need to protect his wife and children, set against Aren’s desire to protect the woman who is the only chance he’ll ever have at a wife. While Sasha believes that the only way that she can protect herself and her sister is to never depend on anyone but herself.

There’s even more major tension in this story related to family, including revelations about the Nero Organization.

One of the things about evil organizations that never ceases to amaze me, they always go the supersoldier route, and it never ends well. Not for the soldiers and not for the organization, but they keep making the same mistake.

But the different ways they screw it up are what make books about them so compelling.

Lisa Kessler is an award winning author of dark paranormal fiction. Her debut novel, Night Walker, won a San Diego Book Award for Best Published Fantasy-Sci-fi-Horror as well as the Romance Through the Ages Award for Best Paranormal and Best First Book.Her short stories have been published in print anthologies and magazines, and her vampire story, Immortal Beloved, was a finalist for a Bram Stoker award.When she’s not writing, Lisa is a professional vocalist, performing with the San Diego Opera as well as other musical theater companies in San Diego.

To learn more about Lisa, look for her at http://Lisa-Kessler.com

Website Blog Twitter Facebook Series Facebook Goodreads Newsletter

TOURWIDE GIVEAWAY

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.

The Sunday Post AKA What’s On My (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 10-20-13

Posted on October 20, 2013October 18, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Giveaways> Something Wicked Returns Blog Hop> Spooktacular Giveaway Hop> The Sunday Post

We’re in Reno right now, and part of this is funny. It’s the setting for Lisa Kessler’s Hunter’s Moon, which I’m reviewing tomorrow. I can see the mountains from our room, at least during the day. At night there’s just this pink neon glow.

The drawback to staying at a casino hotel? This is the first public place I’ve been to in years that allows smoking. I’d forgotten what that’s like, and it’s not a memory I wanted to revive.