November 6th, 2009 — 3.5 Stars, Book Review, Contemporary, Cursed Lead, Detective, Magic Users, Paranormal, United States of America, Vampire
Linda Wisdom is the creator behind the latest paranormal sensation. Her hit characters Jazz Tremaine and Nick make an appearance in Hex Appeal, a fun little pun on sex appeal. The novel is a sequel to 50 Ways to Hex Your Lover
and contains the old gang plus some new faces. I particularly loved the slut shoes, Delilah and Croc. They were a hoot, chasing after guys in all directions.
Don’t know the characters? I’ll introduce you!
Jazz is short for Jasmine and she’s a witch. She’s over 700 years old and I have to know her beauty secret for eternal youth! Jazz is a curse eliminator and forays between the preternatural community and the mortal one to do her job. When she’s not eliminating curses she’s driving for Dweezil, an ugly bad tempered creature, but at least the pay is good. In short, Jazz is quirky, funny, and feisty.
Nick is Jazz’s long time vampire honey. Sure they’ve been on again off again a few times, but Nick is the one for Jazz and vice versa. Currently, Nick is working as a detective in the preternatural community helping to solve crimes that the mortals simply couldn’t deal with. He drinks his blood from a beer bottle and likes to watch sports. He’s also good in bed.
Krebs is Jazz’s mortal roommate. He likes computer programming, web design, and horror films. He’s petrified of Jazz’s bunny slippers and ghost dog, who likes to hump everything in sight. Not that Krebs can see the dog; no that would be too easy. Jazz will have to get on that so Krebs can avoid the canine.
Irma is a ghost stuck with 50s hair and clothes. She watches pay-per-view, cries during Casablanca, loves to smoke, and can be a general pain but she’s got her uses. Irma can go through wards witches can not and makes a helpful side kick when she isn’t determined to be whiny.
Fluff and Puff are Jazz’s ultra scary bunny slippers. They terrify the preternatural community and Krebs on a regular basis. They love licorice, carrot cake, and Jazz – well when she isn’t punishing them for things they didn’t do! They would never eat a wereweasel because they’re disgusting and to imply otherwise is a grievous insult.
But potential murdering bunny slippers aside, Jazz has a lot more to deal with in Hex Appeal. Somebody is tampering with her dreams! She and Nick fight after a dream that was so vivid Jazz could feel the pain of it even after she woke up. If that weren’t bad enough she was turned mortal for 48 hours and mugged. Who hates her enough to do something to heinous? She was subject to mortal problems like acne!
As things start to pile up on Jazz and Nick, they have to figure out who is the cause behind all their problems, solve a murder, deal with the vampire police, and a couple of grouchy bunny slippers. All this before time runs out!
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Originally posted 2008-10-26 15:39:36. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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July 15th, 2009 — 5 Stars, Contemporary, Enemies, Fantasy, Friends, Great Britain, Magic Users, Movie Reviews
Jim Broadbent, formally known as Bridget Jones's Dad
in the romance community, played Professor Slughorn in Half-Blood Prince. He nailed the character so much so that I could not possibly imagine it played by anyone else, nor would I want them too. Slightly vague expression, attitude a little bit more than merely anxious, and self-serving tendencies of the character were all performed exceptionally. Broadbent has shown his talents and mere words could not do him justice.
Alan Rickman, I confess, I’ve been a little tired of seeing in the Potter films. There’s a lot of emphasis on Snape in previous films in part because of the character and in part because of the actor. Rickman’s screen time was just right in this film, neither too much nor too little, an excellent job via the scriptwriters. His part in this film had we seen before book seven was released would have revealed much of his true character that in print was hard to unwind.
Tom Felton as Draco… let’s just say his appearance reminded me a lot of a Nazi—bleach blond hair and bright blue eyes, highlighted because of his stark all black costumes. He looked much older than the rest of the cast of Six Years. Felton, like Broadbent, did a superb job. He really brought Draco to people. You could be sympathetic for this neophyte Death Eater, something that prior to this movie I would have deemed impossible unless you were Professor Dumbledore.
Which leads me to Dumbledore—Finally, he got a good size role and decent lines. When you see him in action in the cave sequence it blows your mind. It was also great to see flash backs to when Dumbledore was younger. Amazing what a little facial hair manipulation can do. Oh, and Gandalf the Grey/White of The Lord of the Rings
, eat your heart out.
Daniel Radcliffe finally mastered the ability to cry believably with sound—thank God! Those tight sweaters he was put in emphasized those shoulders and lean frame to perfection (watch out Pattinson—Radcliffe has got sex appeal too). Yum!
Emma Watson said for her part of Hermione in this film she put a lot of herself. For me, the acting was flawless. I did not see Emma overlay Hermoine’s character once in six, which is something I haven't seen since movie one
. Emma was Hermoine and Hermoine was never Emma.
Ronald Weasley acted by Rupert Grint was the comic relief as usual, but you never laughed at him you always laughed with him. The humor in this film really keeps the movie from getting too dark. There were lots of hoots and hollers in the theater.
Bonnie Wright who is Ginny Weasley gets the most screen time she’s ever gotten before in the Potter films. Readers of book six know why this is even if Rowling wrote it in such a fashion as to induce the gag reflex. On screen and because of the screenwriters it actually begins to be credible instead of merely ridiculously incredible. That was not something I thought I would say. I still don’t like her though.
Jessie Cave as Lavender was the perfect actress to cast. She was fun and intense, but never irritating or annoying. She’s a cute girl in both looks and expression. I don’t see how Won-Won could resist!
Evanna Lynch once more shows why she makes the best Luna Lovegood. I don’t think I need to say more than that because the picture below says it all.
There were some disappointments in the movie, but it was not because of the cinematography or acting. The disappointments lay elsewhere. One place was the Weasley home sequence, seeing it brought me around enough to like it instead of outright hating it (I'm a purist), but I wonder how it will affect the upcoming tale of Deathly Hallows
.
Movie six was smoothly told where book six
was choppy. A reader could infer most of what was going on with little doubt as to the correctness. A very attentive and smart viewer could do the same. The specifics I won’t reveal because that would ruin the movie for non-readers.
Suffice it to say, Half-Blood Prince earned it’s rating.
Rating: Five Stars, best yet in the set.
PS - you should have heard the crowd go wild for the New Moon trailer. It's going to be huge.
PPS- I went as Rita Skeeter after being forced out of her writing career by Hermoine. See picture below:
April 28th, 2009 — About, Author Interviews
I sent out a query on Twitter to romance authors and readers if they'd be interested in answering two quick questions. These two questions are ones that I personally love to ask romance authors when I interview them because the answers are always different and unique even though both deal with emotion and passion. It's inspiring really to see how they can be defined. Below are the questions and their responses; how would you answer them?
How do you define love?
Leigh Ellwood: I see love as the feeling in your heart, somewhere between softening and swelling, you experience when you are near your partner. No matter how they look, what they are wearing, or how long you've been together - you still get that tingle when you kiss and that itching desire to grab 'em!
Carolyn Jewel: A deep and abiding respect and admiration (since I can't use the word "love"). Two people who are aware of each other's flaws and find it makes little to no difference.
Rai-mon Nemar: Love is - Thinking to yourself "if you just act on your dreams you'll rule the world", and yet you're actions are consistently made with someone else's well being in mind.
Love is - When you feel as though your personal and professional pursuits wouldn't have had as much meaning without that someone who's traveled the journey with you. They might even be worthless.
Love is - Not an emotion! It is a choice you make daily to stay the course and live your life with someone and know you'll be better for it.
What makes a great bedroom scene?
Leigh Ellwood: I like a slow build-up, a painfully teasing undress and kisses that explore the skin like a roadmap. I like dialogue, too. Sex doesn't have to be a mute activity. Where there is communication, it only ramps up the sex appeal.
Carolyn Jewel: There must be something at risk, something changed between them afterward. If your characters aren't risking anything emotionally through their intimacy, then it's just boring. Every bedroom scene has to change the relationship between the characters. This can include making things seem even worse, by the way. Intimacy does not always equal happy ever after, especially early on in a relationship. It's not only about who's touching who where. The best bedroom scenes never, ever lose focus on the emotion, even when one of the characters thinks there isn't any.
Rai-mon Nemar: I'd say it's like it real life. It's all about the foreplay and more importantly the anticipation. Then "learning" how the person reacts to the certain things you do. Kissed this (nothing), touched that (nothing) bit her fat (she sucked her teeth for almost a minute like bacon sizzling) hopefully you know what I mean.
To read other responses to these questions, check out Love Romance Passion's additional author interviews.
If you are the owner of a review blog or are a romance author and are interested in participating in this survey please send your responses (and links) to Keira: reviewromancenovel at yahoo dot com.
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Originally posted 2008-12-30 05:01:50. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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