Sacha T.Y. Fortuné's Blog, page 23

Review: “Beautiful Mine”

I read this book easily in a few hours over two days, and enjoyed it. The background of the pilgrimage provided a nice context for the reader to imagine, as did the description of the luxury hotel. The steamy moments were not overdone, and had the right level of heat that I actually read through them rather than skipping through as I often do (I’m not a prude — I just think some writers WAY overdo it for no reason at all, and what’s meant to be sexy just turns out to be repetitive).

The chara...

Review: “Crossing Swords”

First M/M romcom I’ve read… enjoyed! 

Definitely not my usual cup of tea… but I got a free copy and thought, why not?

I finished it in half a day while at the office (not much work got done!)……

If you are someone who offends easily, this is not the book for you. I’m not, so I’ll be fair.

Writing : It rambles on at times, and could use a closer eye at editing. Slight distraction but nothing *too* glaring. I enjoyed the rollicking adventure of scene-jumping.

Storyline : not the best, but the wr...

Review: “The Reason”

I accepted a review copy with NO time on my hands to read, and figured I’d get around to it in a couple of weeks… but then I started browsing the first few pages and found myself caught up in the story. (There went my plans for the day!)

This was an easy one-sit read with fast-paced writing — sometimes a little TOO fast, which was the only reason I docked a star. It seemed like some parts zipped by so quickly that the reader learns in past tense but didn’t get a chance to experience it. I lov...

Review: “Man Candy”

3.5 stars… close to 4.

I really, really, really wanted to like this book more — and thought I would, as it’s by a popular bestselling author. It was good, and the writing itself was excellent, but the storyline had the potential to be great and just fell short for me.

I’m grateful that the male character Jaime wasn’t unnecessarily super-alpha as many male leads seems to be these days, and loved his character. He was just the right mix of cocky and cute to stay with you long after the book was...

Review: “Easy”

Among relationships, random sex, budding parenthood, runaways, drug addicts, kiddie porn, and incest and molestation so casual and commonplace it is its own character in the book, Ezra “Easy” and his best friend Jake “Love” both endure their first real loves and turn from boys to men in this novel.

The fresh, resplendently rambling narration hops from one thing to the next, and still flows so beautifully to weave a story that is original and heart-wrenching and darkly funny all at once. All o...

Bloggers – The Holy Grail of Reviewers

I’ve been fortunate enough to have snagged the attention of a couple of bloggers recently with my debut novel “Climbing The Walls“.

Mind you, to date I must’ve emailed over 100 bloggers, with about a .0000000001% response rate, and then after sending my book to the few who DID respond… ***crickets***!!!

So I’m eternally humbled and grateful, and so thrilled that these two bloggers took the time and attention to lovingly describe aspects of my book that I myself couldn’t have written better.

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A Conversation with a Skeptic-Friend-Turned-Fan

So I’m six months into this writer journey, with two books under my belt, and had a recent experience I thought worth sharing.

My friend agreed to let me share this once she read it first and once I kept her nameless, so here goes:

 

Confession: “I didn’t plan to read your book”

“So… this is really awkward, but I just read your book (the first one)… and I think I owe you an apology.”

Huh?

(I was lost.)

“I know you’ve been talking about this book and this writer thing for months now…”

Yeah, I’...

Shock Value Writing and “Trigger Warnings”

I gave out ARCs (Advanced Reader Copies), and a user took both Books 1 & 2 — then sent me a message saying she preferred not to review.

…Not that she didn’t like my writing. She was explicit about this. But it seems she didn’t want the book on her record of having reviewed on her accounts, since it contains a particular scene that she wasn’t 100% comfortable with.

I respect her decision, and thanked her for letting me know.

But now I’m wondering — should I have had a trigger warning? Or any “...

Launch Day! Book 2 “Pandora’s Poison” is LIVE!

Finally, the day is here!

It’s my birthday today, but that’s the least of my concerns.

Today is the day BOOK 2 LAUNCHES!

Now, my first published book was a whole six months ago (July 28-29, 2018). So it’s been quite some time bunkering down and absorbing all I can before my second book!

The first (book) pancake

The first book was kind of like the first pancake. Not that it needed to be “thrown out” per se; just that it was the guinea pig.

I’ve grown so much as writer, as a marketing strategi...

Bits Of Me: Characters & Alter-egos

I’m not kidding when I say, in my official Author Bio, that there’s a little bit of me in all the ‘Hart & Cole‘ women.

The photo — which I recently stumbled upon while looking for something else on an old, massive hard drive — was taken circa 2005, when I’d gotten a white rose at a party because I’d been voted best dressed.

I was studying in Lancaster, England at the time. It was one of the best nights I’d had since I got there. I remember the experience was the bright spot of my existence, f...