Erin Jamison's Blog, page 2

My First Review of “Italian Charade”

First off let me say, this is my first book review (online) and I am no expert. I’m a fellow self published author and this is only my opinion. If you would like a review of a book, please see my review policy.

I recently purchased “Italian Charade” by Ellen Wolfe and finished reading it on my Kindle over the weekend. This was a cheap read for $0.99 and a fairly quick read.

Claire Benson arrives in Italy, the sun parched heat of the Mediterranean matched only by the passionate, hot blooded and larger than life tycoon that claims her as his. Andrea di Rossi, a man powerful, ruthless and absolutely in control is furious with her for coming to the wedding of his sister. With an unstoppable force he makes sure that Claire understands exactly how far is he prepared to go should she chose to ignore his less than negotiable ultimatum. Her past affair with the groom a threat he isn’t willing to ignore, he forces her to take part in the charade he created, her resistance swept away with one single move of his commanding hand…

Claire Benson is a lawyer by trade who was all set to marry a man she had been in love with her entire life, Paul. Claire and Paul made plans to marry however, Paul felt pressured by a business merger that was set to infuse his company with cash. To secure his position with the new company, Paul dumps Claire via a note, impregnates and marries Andrea di Rossi’s sister. Andrea di Rossi is a man that has run a successful company for years, is wealthy, and does his homework on all potential business partners, especially those marrying into the family. When Claire travels to Italy on Paul’s wedding day to confirm for herself that it is really over, Andrea sees a perfect opportunity to blackmail Claire into being used as a pawn to reveal Paul’s true intentions to his sister. Andrea has set the trap perfectectly as he has already talked about Claire to his family and needs her to play her part. Despite the charade, the more time they spend together, the more the two are drawn together.

If you’ve read some other reviews, those posted on Amazon and elsewhere, other reviewers have made comparisons to this book and In Bed With The Boss by Susan Napier. I would say to the author, “Don’t sweat it. Seems like you’re in good company considering the reviews of the Napier’s book.” However, some suggest that perhaps the author got her idea from the book. Plot as well as romance stories have been retold many times and similar, if not main key points, play out in other stories told by different authors.

As for the story itself, I will honestly say I thought it was ok. I can’t say I loved the book or that the characters stayed with me long after I finished reading the story but at the end, I thought it was ok. I thought it was wordy at times and my first impression of the hero was that he was overbearing. Was there character transformation? Yes. I thought the hero was a jerk initially but at the end, I thought he was a little bit more human. The heroine….yeah, there was a transformation but it took a long time to occur and she was forever trying to prove she was tougher than she really was. The way Claire continually stuck her chin up to an overbearing, pompous jerk like di Rossi only showed signs of stubborness rather than strength. I’d give the book a 3 *** (star) review.

Filed under: Reviews Tagged: black_mail, ellen_wolf, italian_charade, new_authors, romance, self_publish

My First Review of "Italian Charade"

First off let me say, this is my first book review (online) and I am no expert. I'm a fellow self published author and this is only my opinion. If you would like a review of a book, please see my review policy.

I recently purchased "Italian Charade" by Ellen Wolfe and finished reading it on my Kindle over the weekend. This was a cheap read for $0.99 and a fairly quick read.

Claire Benson arrives in Italy, the sun parched heat of the Mediterranean matched only by the passionate, hot blooded and larger than life tycoon that claims her as his. Andrea di Rossi, a man powerful, ruthless and absolutely in control is furious with her for coming to the wedding of his sister. With an unstoppable force he makes sure that Claire understands exactly how far is he prepared to go should she chose to ignore his less than negotiable ultimatum. Her past affair with the groom a threat he isn't willing to ignore, he forces her to take part in the charade he created, her resistance swept away with one single move of his commanding hand…

Claire Benson is a lawyer by trade who was all set to marry a man she had been in love with her entire life, Paul. Claire and Paul made plans to marry however, Paul felt pressured by a business merger that was set to infuse his company with cash. To secure his position with the new company, Paul dumps Claire via a note, impregnates and marries Andrea di Rossi's sister. Andrea di Rossi is a man that has run a successful company for years, is wealthy, and does his homework on all potential business partners, especially those marrying into the family. When Claire travels to Italy on Paul's wedding day to confirm for herself that it is really over, Andrea sees a perfect opportunity to blackmail Claire into being used as a pawn to reveal Paul's true intentions to his sister. Andrea has set the trap perfectectly as he has already talked about Claire to his family and needs her to play her part. Despite the charade, the more time they spend together, the more the two are drawn together.

If you've read some other reviews, those posted on Amazon and elsewhere, other reviewers have made comparisons to this book and In Bed With The Boss by Susan Napier. I would say to the author, "Don't sweat it. Seems like you're in good company considering the reviews of the Napier's book." However, some suggest that perhaps the author got her idea from the book. Plot as well as romance stories have been retold many times and similar, if not main key points, play out in other stories told by different authors.

As for the story itself, I will honestly say I thought it was ok. I can't say I loved the book or that the characters stayed with me long after I finished reading the story but at the end, I thought it was ok. I thought it was wordy at times and my first impression of the hero was that he was overbearing. Was there character transformation? Yes. I thought the hero was a jerk initially but at the end, I thought he was a little bit more human. The heroine….yeah, there was a transformation but it took a long time to occur and she was forever trying to prove she was tougher than she really was. The way Claire continually stuck her chin up to an overbearing, pompous jerk like di Rossi only showed signs of stubborness rather than strength. I'd give the book a 3 *** (star) review.

Filed under: Reviews Tagged: black_mail, ellen_wolf, italian_charade, new_authors, romance, self_publish

Sshh!…Don’t Tell Him I Told You #1

I’m gonna try to make a post every Friday where I share stories about my boyfriends, past or present. I always seem to date characters so here goes.

My current boyfriend, he’s a hairstylist and as usual for people who work in the beauty industry, he’s always checking out different products. This particular night, he decided to give himself a facial but let me paint the picture first.. He’s 6 feet tall, brown-skinned and slim with a closely trimmed beard. Now I think dude’s tripping ’cause he’s over 40 and he’s always wanting to try some product to stay looking young but I digress.

Now, I buy products here and there but I don’t really use them up so I tend to keep a fairly large stack of beauty products whether they be lotions, sprays, or cremes. Our friendly neighborhood bar is down the street so we decided to order take out. After about 20 minutes I call out to him to see if he’s going to go pick up the food. He emerges from the back of the house and I gotta tell ya, I was damn near speechless.

“What the -?”…. *Blink*, *Blink*

This man had taken my body butter cream, Cinnamon & Vanilla scented, which was a kind of toffee colored creme and he slathered it all over his face. I mean he rubbed it in there too…all in his beard, neck, and the eyes. Who does that? No, seriously, who does that? You could tell that the creme was burning his eyes ’cause he kept blinking real fast and his eyes had turned red like he had been crying. This is how he looked when he went out to the restaurant.

I tried to stop him, I did but he wouldn’t listen and went out the door. You would think that would be the end of the story right? Oh, no…there’s more.

He gets to the restaurant, goes up to the hostess and says, “I’m here for the food.” Her reply, “Ok, it’ll be about 20 minutes. I’ll put your name on the list.” Guess what? Yep, he did. He went outside and waited around looking like the most out of place black brotha with 3 shades too light for him creme on his face with red eyes. Finally, he goes back in and tells the hostess he’s there to pick up the food. She directs him to the bar. When he gets to the bar, the bartender, according to him, acted like he wasn’t speaking English because she kept staring at him.

He came back home nearly 45 minutes later from a restaurant that is literally five minutes away. He came in the door agitated, frustrated and pissed off.  I tried really hard for the first 15 seconds not to laugh at him but by the end of it, I was crying, holding my side and slapping my thighs. At the end of his tirade, he had nerve enough to call the women dumb.

Stay tuned, I’ve got more.

Filed under: Dating, Relationships, Uncategorized Tagged: dating, dinner, men, online dating, relationships, romance, social, stories, women

Sshh!…Don't Tell Him I Told You #1

I'm gonna try to make a post every Friday where I share stories about my boyfriends, past or present. I always seem to date characters so here goes.

My current boyfriend, he's a hairstylist and as usual for people who work in the beauty industry, he's always checking out different products. This particular night, he decided to give himself a facial but let me paint the picture first.. He's 6 feet tall, brown-skinned and slim with a closely trimmed beard. Now I think dude's tripping 'cause he's over 40 and he's always wanting to try some product to stay looking young but I digress.

Now, I buy products here and there but I don't really use them up so I tend to keep a fairly large stack of beauty products whether they be lotions, sprays, or cremes. Our friendly neighborhood bar is down the street so we decided to order take out. After about 20 minutes I call out to him to see if he's going to go pick up the food. He emerges from the back of the house and I gotta tell ya, I was damn near speechless.

"What the -?"…. *Blink*, *Blink*

This man had taken my body butter cream, Cinnamon & Vanilla scented, which was a kind of toffee colored creme and he slathered it all over his face. I mean he rubbed it in there too…all in his beard, neck, and the eyes. Who does that? No, seriously, who does that? You could tell that the creme was burning his eyes 'cause he kept blinking real fast and his eyes had turned red like he had been crying. This is how he looked when he went out to the restaurant.

I tried to stop him, I did but he wouldn't listen and went out the door. You would think that would be the end of the story right? Oh, no…there's more.

He gets to the restaurant, goes up to the hostess and says, "I'm here for the food." Her reply, "Ok, it'll be about 20 minutes. I'll put your name on the list." Guess what? Yep, he did. He went outside and waited around looking like the most out of place black brotha with 3 shades too light for him creme on his face with red eyes. Finally, he goes back in and tells the hostess he's there to pick up the food. She directs him to the bar. When he gets to the bar, the bartender, according to him, acted like he wasn't speaking English because she kept staring at him.

He came back home nearly 45 minutes later from a restaurant that is literally five minutes away. He came in the door agitated, frustrated and pissed off.  I tried really hard for the first 15 seconds not to laugh at him but by the end of it, I was crying, holding my side and slapping my thighs. At the end of his tirade, he had nerve enough to call the women dumb.

Stay tuned, I've got more.

Filed under: Dating, Relationships, Uncategorized Tagged: dating, dinner, men, online dating, relationships, romance, social, stories, women

Dating? … Harder Than It Looks

I remember when I was single and I wanted to be in a relationship. Now I'm in a relationship and I miss the days when I was single. Those were the good old days when I cooked or didn't cook, only turned on lights in the room I was in and was content to be in a quiet room with no other sound to keep me company other than the typing of a keyboard.

Today, that man of mine tries to light the neighborhood … or space…just depending on his mood and … AND, one form of stimulation is not enough. Oh no, we have to have stereo, TV, and video all playing at the same time. Drives me batty. Don't get me wrong, its got it's perks and rewards and all. At least I've put B.O.B. on hiatus for a while 'cause he was really getting tired of me running down his battery. It's just hard to remember that this is the man you asked God for, the same one that walks out in the backyard in his underwear like he's literally wearing shorts. Or better yet, when he proclaims his vocal ability is greater than yours and it sounds like he's crying instead of singing. These are the times that I wish I had the power of a witch like Elizabeth Montgomery from Bewitched or why not "Charmed" with the power of three. I could be like Piper and just freeze him! That's a good one (giggle)! :p

I guess for now I'll just squeeze my eyes shut, pray real hard, and ask for "The Powers That Be" to give him laryngitis. Maybe that will work.

Filed under: Dating, Relationships Tagged: cooking, dating, men, online dating, relationships, romance, sex, stories, women

What Is The Value Of Online Chatting?

Ahhh, the convenience that technology has provided… Chatting online is certainly a step up from those notes we used to pass around in class with you like me  or not with check boxes written in crayon. Have you ever noticed that sometimes things are better said in writing or that you say more in written form that you may say verbally? So let's talk about some of the advantages and disadvantages in terms of dating and weeding out prospects.

Advantages:

Instantaneous – no waiting for email
Decisions can be made quickly about whether to continue communication or not
Motivations become clear relatively quickly (casual or long term)
Used in tandem with a webcam , pictures can be verified
Establish a repoir and possibly an emotional connection with constant communication over a period of time

Disadvantages:

If you're visible online, too many people start talking at once
Juggling multiple conversations is worse than being on a party line
Forgetting to make yourself invisible and having to be polite when you wanted to avoid someone
Making someone a friend only to realize that you shouldn't have
Can sometimes hinder the "taking it slow" part

The characters in my recent release, Better Than 8 Fantasy, experience an emotional connection over a long term chat/email duration but it works out for them in the end. What have been your experiences in online or "virtual" chatting? I want to hear about the good, bad and the spicy!

Filed under: Dating, Relationships Tagged: better than 8, chatting, dating, going out, men, online dating, relationships, romance, virtual, women

Character Flaws Are Memorable

Whether you're a writer or a reader, we can all say that most characters go through a tranformation. If the story is well told, it may connect to us on an emotional level. It may be a tattoo, limp, or facial disfigurement but whatever the case, the imperfection seems to bring the character to life in the mind of a reader. Well …  at least to this reader.

I recall the disfigurement of Asher in Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series, or the scar of Zsadist as one of the Black Dagger Brotherhood members in the J. R. Ward BDB books, or the deadly tattoo on the arm of Lore in Larissa Ione's Ectasy Unveiled. Flaws however are not the only thing you can use to paint your characters as memorable. In Ectasy Unveiled, the hero referred to the heroine as angel or cookie. I mean she was an Angel, but not after…hey, no spoilers, go read the story for yourself. Anyway, I just thought it was super sweet (pun not intended).

In Jacquelyn Frank's, the Nightwalkers series, she used sensory elements of taste to affect the readers perception of the characters. The last book, correction book 5 because book 6 is coming out soon (yeahhhh [excited handclap]), Noah's mate smelled like cotton candy. In Shiloh Walker's, the Hunters series, in Hunters Need she used touch as a sensory element when Duke (hero) would nuzzle and purr against Ana (heroine).

I don't know that you need all the sensory elements in a story but if you can weave it into a story with the emotions that they evoke behind them, it is sure to make for characters that will stay with a reader long after they've closed the cover of the book.

Filed under: New Authors, Uncategorized, Writing Tagged: authors, books, characters, how-to, JR Ward, men, new_authors, publishing, romance, shiloh walker, Writing

Does Your Boyfriend Ever Test The Limits?

Comedians joke all the time about testing just how far you can go with your woman and sometimes, I think guys are actually paying attention thinking, "I should try that." We usually head them off at the pass right ladies? We tell 'em, "Don't get no ideas!." For those men that like a peaceful home, they hear that warning loud and clear but for others, they take it as a personal challenge. Like mine for instance…

This weekend, my dear 'ole significant other, went to work on Saturday just like any Saturday and things were LOVE-LY! The man was outta my hair, my son was with friends for the day, and I had the apartment to myself. Oh, it was beautiful I tell ya! BEAU-TI-FUL! All good things must come to an end so my kid came back home and dear 'ole dufus came home too …. for a hot 10 mintues.  He explained that he and "his boy" were going to a casino and he didn't know when he would be back.

Ok, granted. Odds are you'll be back late. How late is late? What say you ladies? 4am…5am? Ok, I'm not extremely happy about 5am but ok. No, not him….he got home at 8:55pm Sunday night and no…he never called once! Not once. His excuse was that his cellphone died….like no other person he was with had a phone. Then there was, I don't know your number by heart.

Words cannot express the tide of anger that I barely held in checkor the lava of expletives that I wanted to spew forth. Instead I settled for a good old fashioned screaming session!

Filed under: Dating, Relationships, Uncategorized Tagged: community, dating, going out, love, men, online dating, relationships, romance, sex, social, stories, women

Are You A Good Girlfriend?

I had a friend that would not only tell me but she would tell men that she met and actively dated, "I am not a good girlfriend."

Well first I have to say that I found that admirable that you could be that honest with yourself. However, my jaw would

Say What?!!

drop whenever she would tell me that she had said that to a man that was interested in dating her …. and they still dated her. I couldn't imagine my reaction if a man said that to me. No, wait…I can. It would go something like, "'Nuff said – hello and goodbye."

The reason why she said that is because she appreciated men, all shades, ethnicity, creed, whatever. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate a man as much as the next woman but I really could never understand why men continued to date her. I thought maybe the guys thought that maybe she'd be less likely to want a serious relationship. Maybe that just meant that they thought that they would be the one that she got serious about, or maybe they thought the "relationship" would be a friends with benefits type of thing. Who knows!  It would last for a while; about a year. During that time, she would play the wife role like she was June Cleaver.

The Perfect Housewife

So what attributes do you have to have to be a good girlfriend? What are your thoughts on the subject?

Filed under: Dating, Relationships, Uncategorized Tagged: better than 8, black, dating, FWB, girlfriend, how-to, love, online dating, relationships, romance, women

Can You Really Find A Match In Cyberspace?

Cyber space … the final frontier … these are the trials of … being single.  Ha ha. I crack myself up. Yes, yes, I am a Trekkie. I never said I wasn't a nerd. In fact I embrace my inner geek for it makes me quirky, a bit lame, but definitely funny.

Since the online dating revolution (um yeah, just go with it ya'll) began, people have written/disputed, debated/supported, debunked/countered whether or not online dating works. My soapbox remains wonderfully absent on the matter however I will say online dating offers a variety of selection. I like exploring the possibilities of that question in fictional scenarios. No matter your preference or fetish, there is something out there to be found for nearly everyone.

If you can admit your vanity, perhaps the "beautiful people" are the contenders you'd consider. No? Perhaps you're the Kenny Rogers "gambler" type then. A bit too much? I know a site where you can find your perfect match. It's all science … remind you of Gattaca anyone? You get the idea right? You can be as selective as your dare and as quirky as you like. It's all up to you. Can you really find a match out there in cyberspace? Well sure…perhaps…ok, maybe, oh who knows but you could always try it and find out for yourself.  Live/love and prosper!

Do you think it's possible to find a match online?

Filed under: Dating, Relationships Tagged: beautiful people, community, cyberspace, dating revolution, final frontier, geek dating, going out, men, online dating sites, online dating websites, perfect match, relationships, soapbox, social, stories, trekkie, web