December 27th, 2009 — 2 Stars, A-C, Blackmail, Book Review, Category, Contemporary, Cooking, Divorced, Friends, Marriage of Convenience, Mexico, Pregnant, Tycoon, United States of America, Working with Land
The main plot line for Marrying King’s Millions is marriage of convenience, which winds up not being so very convenient. I found Travis King’s reasons for marrying a little strange, and stranger still to find out his brother did it and wound up finding his soul mate and having a little HEA. Seems way too neat, but then it is part of the Kings of California line and most lines will have interconnected stories with past lead cameos.
Travis King is a vineyard owner looking for an international distribution deal with Thomas Henry. His eligible bachelordom means Henry is pushing is “unsavory daughters” (we never meet them by the way) so in order to avoid these daughters Travis coerces Julie O’Hara, an unmarried childhood friend low on her luck into a marriage deal. He’ll give her money to start her bakery after one year of marriage.
Jean Claude Douchette, Julie’s sleazy immoral ex-husband turns out to be not so ex as she thought, Travis is certain she tricked him. He believes women in general are only after his money so while he’s disappointed he is not surprised. When he compromises her in public and pictures appear the next day even then he’s wondering if she did it on purpose. Nothing Julie says or does convinces him otherwise until she’s pregnant and then for inconsistency sake he suddenly believes her. Go figure.
Rating: 2 Stars
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December 9th, 2009 — 3 Stars, Book Review, Contemporary, Crime and Protection, G-I, Lycanthrope, Necromancer, Paranormal, Rape/Abuse, Survival, United States of America, Urban Fantasy, Vampire
Ever start a series and just want to keep reading it even when parts of it make you want to abandon ship and never look back? Anita Blake is like that for me. It's very love-hate right now when earlier it was all love-love. There have been times when I was so disappointed in how the story was progressing that all I wanted to do was dump the books off my keeper shelf and lock them away forever in a silver chain wrapped coffin. Other times I was so giddy with glee over what was happening that I could hardly stand how much time it took to read a page and turn it!
I surprised myself by picking Skin Trade up in the library recently. I’m glad I did because the last few books bummed me out a lot. I have very definite opinions on this series and how exactly I want Hamilton to handle Anita Blake’s ardeur. She’s got lust and anger versions of it and I am still anxiously waiting for it to turn solidly into love because as Anita says she’s got too many men on her plate! (Of course I love 90% of them and would hate to see them go but the large cast makes it hard I feel to truly develop them into full fleshed out characters.)
Skin Trade starts with a head mailed to Anita at her Animators Inc. desk. The message in St. Louis and Las Vegas is clear: “Come and Get Me.” Vittorio is a serial killing master vampire with extraordinary powers and a penchant for strippers. Joining Anita are Marshals Otto Jefferies (Olaf), Ted Forrester (Edward), and Bernardo Spotted Horse giving Skin Trade a feel of Obsidian Butterfly
.
Jean-Claude is upset to find Anita has run off again to solve crime without notifying him. He sends her a team of bodyguards that double as food: notably Wicked and Truth, the bad boy vampire brothers. They get to star in very yum scenes later in the novel.
If a serial killing vampire on the loose with an unheard of weapon wasn’t bad enough Marmee Noir makes a reappearance giving Anita all kind of trouble (and I suspect that though she seems to be taken care of that in fact won’t be the case.)
Beyond vampires, Anita is having trouble controlling her gifts such as keeping shields in place and is dealing with local cops attacking her sex and personal life every chance they get. It got to be very frustrating because every time you thought the trust and dislike issues were solved they cropped up again.
Overall it wasn’t a favorite of mine, but it wasn’t half bad. I can’t wait to get back to St. Louis and Jean-Claude.
Rating: 3 Stars
Buy: Skin Trade (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 17)
PS On one note as I was checking out the upcoming ABVH novels on LKH's site, I was surprised and as creeped out as LKH that a lot of readers like Olaf romantically. Say what?! He's not Edward. The man's an absolute crazy sociopath/serial killer! No. Bad reader. No cookie for you!
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November 26th, 2009 — About, News
This is the perfect day to give thanks and without further ado here is what I am most thankful for about romance:
- Billionaires. Like Harlequin, I am thankful for billionaire heroes. Can you imagine an arrogant, brooding, and handsome Harlequin man not being the CEO of his own company? The horror! Shudders. Category romance would not be the same without them!
- Vampires. I love vampires in my romance. I have loved them since I picked up Guilty Pleasures
, my first Anita Blake Vampire Hunter book, and the loving hasn’t stopped. Thank you Joss Whedon for making Buffy The Vampire Slayer
and giving us Angel
! To Stephenie Meyer also, because now I have Angel and Jean-Claude and Edward Cullen.
- Dukes. Historical romance, especially Regency romance, would languish without these handsome brutes. They do plenty of things real dukes did not like become spies for England on a regular basis, but that’s what make them so sexy. Don’t we all want to seduce a duke?
- Blind leads. I love blind leads and I’m thankful for each and every romance book out there that has one and for every author that wrote one! You make my day every time I find a novel with this character flaw. There are never too many!
- Authors. I am extremely thankful to romance authors. Without you, my bookshelves would be empty and my time filled doing something else other than reading, and as reading is my favorite thing to do that would be very sad indeed.
- Publishers and Publicists. Without you I would not have heard of, found, or read many of the wonderful books you sent to share with me. Thank you for that and thank you for your generosity with my readers!
- Bloggers. To my fellow romance bloggers, you are all wonderful and extremely talented, kind, and entertaining! I love reading your blogs and I would miss you if any of you decided to quit blogging.
- Readers. To each and every reader of my blog, I am thankful for you too! I am so happy to have you here and enjoy reading all of the comments you leave. I hope to continue to earn your trust and friendship in the months and years to come.
What about romance are you thankful for?
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August 15th, 2009 — About, Alien, Demon, Dragon, Fey / Fae, Ghost, Lycanthrope, Magic Users, Merman/Mermaid, Necromancer, Paranormal, Succubus, Super Hero, Supernatural, Vampire, Werewolf
This post is in response to a little nugget that I read in Heather’s article at the Galaxy Express entitled Does Science Fiction Romance Need More Alpha Heroes? The specific section that caught my eye was this:
In response to the My Paranormal Malaise post at Dear Author, Lisa Paitz Spindler asked:
"Why is it the paranormal character is so often the hero and not the heroine?"
Yeah, what's up with that?
I can tell you exactly what is up with that as I am a fan of paranormal romance and fiction. So here it goes… six reasons why the paranormal character is always the hero!
- We like our heroes mysterious. What is more mysterious than a mythological creature, be he vampire or lycanthrope or other?
- Strong powerful hero + average heroine = swoon. When an extraordinary specimen of the male gender sits up and takes notice of a rather ordinary female it is easier to place ourselves in the heroine’s shoes. That’s not because we think of ourselves as unworthy, this formula just makes it more accessible for readers. This scenario also tends to fill the tenderness and protectiveness side of the fantasy.
- Strong powerful hero + kickass heroine = hell yeah. When number two’s formula just doesn’t cut it there are the novels about strong heroes and stronger heroines. In this scenario the reader and heroine tend to dominate over the situation. The hero must work around the heroine to get in her good graces and who hasn’t imagine upon at least one occasion a strong sexy male groveling at your feet?
- Angel, Spike, Jean-Claude, Asher, Edward Cullen, Jasper Cullen, Eric Northman, and Bill Compton. Do I really need to go on with this point? I think this pretty much brings it home. Otherworldly men are downright sexy! Especially vampires!
- The desires of the paranormal fit better on a hero. The act of drinking blood is considered highly sexual in vampire romances. It’s become part of the erotic fantasy. Sometimes the heroine likes to pretend to be helpless and the hero’s act of feeding gives her a thrilling rush. Besides, I think I pretty much covered how icky it can be to read a heroine drinking blood.
- Redemption always looks better on a man. Many paranormal stories involve the preternatural lead repenting his past acts dictated by his nature, circumstances, and misinformed beliefs due to change. This makes him now a brooding hero and occasionally puts the heroine in the middle of the path toward his salvation or as his savior.
So there you go—six reasons paranormal stories always feature preternatural heroes.
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June 6th, 2009 — About, Paranormal, Poll, Vampire, Werewolf
I bet that headline caught your attention! This post started innocently enough in the comments of The Smell of a Hero.
Susan said:
In my world everyone's fang obsessed (lol) I'd say werewolves would also use fangs since wolves have large canines. (No claws) he-he.
I said:
They do have large canines. I think that should be a post - comparison of vampire and werewolf canines: Does Size Matter?
Susan goes on to note in an email:
...vampire fangs are thinner, when I think werewolves I think thicker (cough, cough).
Oh dear! What have we started? The battle between vampires and werewolves has begun. Will paranormal ever be the same? Probably, but let's pretend otherwise...
Does size matter in paranormal?
When we think of heroes in paranormal romances we know a few basic facts. Nearly always, the hero is the alpha male whether it is in a vampire kiss or of a werewolf pack. Usually, the heroine is kick-ass. Additionally, she is also somehow forbidden to the hero. Rarely do we see a heroine go for the beta or lesser male in a paranormal. So that brings us to the question does size matter? I say it does.
In two book series that I've read, the vampire has won the girl in the end. The first is in the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Series where Jean-Claude muscles out Richard Zeeman. Granted, the series evolves and Zeeman comes back into the picture, along with a few dozen other men. The second is The Twilight Saga
with Bella clinging to Edward Cullen and choosing him over Jacob Black.
With the second series we'll never know the characters respective sizes, but in Hamilton's world alpha lycanthropes are so far very well endowed and have the added benefit of being able to control that part of their anatomy... ie make it even bigger. I imagine using that ability might be used in male to male posturing, as for lovemaking... a girl can only hold so much.
But back to the canines, and not err... other equipment. Which species of nighttime heroes has the bigger bite (allure)?
Vampire heroes are elegant, sophisticated, and mysterious. Their beauty is just one of their allures. Do not for one moment think their charming façade equates to being a pansy. Oh no, vampire heroes are known for their volatile mood swings, strength, and deadly control.
Werewolf heroes are overtly masculine, muscled, and alpha. Their outer strength is coupled with inner sensitivity. They are the leaders for their packs and must take care of every member. It is a task that burdens them heavily at times, especially when youngsters are determined to run a foul.
If you had to turn...who would you choose to turn you?
Answer the poll below and leave a comment!
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The rest is as they say is all in the fang.
Photo Credits: Hare Guizer
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April 22nd, 2009 — 2.5 Stars, A-C, Book Review, Contemporary, Enemies, Erotica, Mistress or Courtesan, Paranormal, Police, Politician, Survival, United States of America, Vampire
Victoria (Tori) reminds me of Anita Blake
. Here's why:
- She's known for always wearing a gun.
- Not to mention she's a police officer with connections to the vampire scene (not widely know to humans to exist).
- She visits vampire clubs.
- Tori brings her gun into the bathroom with her when she showers.
- Tori even resists Michael like Anita resisted Jean-Claude at first.
Michael reminds me of Twilight vampires, because interestingly enough Tori smells to him as Bella does to Edward. He labels the smell of her to something akin to mimosas. Michael can also feel her feelings, like Jasper of Twilight, and project feelings onto her.
Vampire lore:
- All have mind reading capabilities.
- All are involved to some extent in the D/S scene.
- All possess a type of thrall called: affascinare.
- All have the ability to project feelings/sensations called: trucchi.
- All obey or follow the vampire code/law of Alleanza.
- Humans can bond with vampires as equals and as slaves.
- They can be warm/hot and have heartbeats.
- They breathe.
- They sleep?
The bad guys are particularly scary. They make the book very dark indeed. Think vampire Mafia with terribly nasty taste in sexual preferences (torture/slave).
Sex: D/S, voyeurism, good kinky fun
Overall it was a pretty enjoyable read but there were some problems in the story telling. For instance terms are not defined. As the first in the series they should have been. That's not to say that quite a few can be derived from connotation but the nuances are lost. Additionally, while some of the Italian terminology is similar in format to the English translation, not all of them are.
A few inconsistencies and redundancies scattered the pages, ones that should have been picked up by an editor. They stuck out like a sore thumb in an otherwise seamless story. There is some great dialogue scattered throughout the book. One of my favorites was:
"I wish I believed you."
"So do I."
If you can get past the small annoyances it wasn't half a bad read. The bad guy gets caught, the good guys triumph, the couple gets together, and you close the book happy.
Rating: 2.5 Stars
Buy: Blood & Sex, Volume 1: Michael
Buy Audio Version.
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