November 25th, 2009 — 3 Stars, Book Review, Bride Stealing, Doctor, Kidnapping, M-O, Rape/Abuse, Scandinavia, Survival, Viking, Warrior
His world was shattered two summers ago when on a trading voyage his farmstead was ransacked by Danes. His wife and unborn child were slaughtered. When the news reached him Wulf’s heart vowed to make the Danish rue the day they ever dared to set foot on his soil. His quest was a tidy package of vengeance, justice, and revenge. He did not separate the murderers that wronged him from the rest of the Danish people. He became known as Wulf the Ruthless far and wide. It was said he was a cold, cruel man without a heart and that compassion was a word he did know.
She was stolen from her farmland in the last of Wulf the Ruthless’ raiding campaigns. The heartless Viking destroyed her life and sold her to a slave trader. By some twisted hand of fate she winds up being purchased two years later by his brother and gifted to Wulf to be his thrall and bed slave. Reyna was horrified to learn that the man who raped her and forgot her would become her master. But there was one thing the Norseman did not take into account; that Reyna had spirit. She would never submit and he would rue the day he ever stepped onto her father’s land!
Sounds amazing right? It was okay. There were a lot of turgid and quivering members and heaving bosoms. Instead of plowing there was spearing. Reyna was too good to be true as a heroine who had been raped and then sold into slavery to a harem in the Byzantine. She could fight, heal, make passionate love as a near virgin, and talk back to the scary Norse warrior that she thought raped her.
Reyna saved Wulf three times from the same situation. The only difference between each time was the place and the names of those fighting. She saved him once fighting the Finnish as one crept up behind him and then again from the Danish on her home turf and lastly on his home turf again but I can’t remember the country… probably Swedes. Honestly how does Wulf survive in battle to earn the name Wulf the Ruthless, if a girl is always saving his hinny from cowardly warriors who come from behind? He’d be Wulf the Dead and Doesn’t Appear in This Book that’s who.
The book flowed pretty well and overall it wasn’t so bad, but it certainly wasn’t one of my all time favorites.
Rating: 3 Stars
Buy: Viking Warrior
Originally posted 2008-11-30 20:13:13. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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May 3rd, 2009 — About
No hero should leave home without these 10 items in his repertoire:
- Good Looks - if gazing at him doesn't get your motor running and your engine purring, he's not the hero of your dreams.
- Synonyms: Casanova, Adonis
- Skills in the Bedroom - or in the shower, on top of the kitchen table, on the living room floor, against a wall, on the stairs, in the car, ahem... you know where this is going.
- Synonyms: In SBTB land it frequently goes by the term Heroic Wang of Mighty Loving.
- Brawn and Brains - nothing kills a hero's heroism faster than stupidity. Intelligence is sexy!
- Charm - if he can't charm his way into your knickers with a smile, something's wrong.
- Synonyms: Magnetism, Thrall, Charisma, Magic
- Domestic Skills - if he cooks, cleans, and gives orgasms in sets of three or more, he's never allowed out of the house. His name is slave and he answers to Master.
- Synonyms: Maid, Chef, Sex God
- Brooding - all heroes brood, it's built into their genetic makeup. We females simply can't resist a good brood, it's our kryptonite.
- Synonyms: Sulking, Moping, Pouting
- Possessiveness - they have it, how often they express it is another matter to be taken up by the subgenre or author.
- Synonyms: Beast, Alpha Male; Green Eyed Monster, Jealousy
- Wealth - not just money, the hero must also be wealthy in knowledge, social connections, life skills, common sense... hold on the last one until later in the novel, because otherwise there might not be a story.
- Stubbornness - you didn't read that wrong. They're male, it's one of the few flaws we allow them, but only when it serves our purposes.
- Synonyms: Persistence, Perseverance; Inflexibility, Pigheadedness
- Heroine - what's the point of #1-9 if he doesn't have #10?
- Synonyms: She came, she conquered, and he's forever enslaved to the Magic Hoo-Hoo.
Photo Credits: d_vdm
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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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