Cameron D. James's Blog, page 39

Book Review: Star Trek: The Fall: The Poisoned Chalice

Star Trek: The Fall: The Poisoned Chalice

James Swallow

One simple act, and the troubles of the United Federation of Planets have grown darker overnight. The mystery behind the heinous terrorist attack that has rocked the Federation to its core grows ever deeper, and William Riker finds himself beset by rumors and half-truths as the U.S.S. Titan is ordered back to Earth on emergency orders from the admiralty. Soon, Riker finds himself drawn into a game of political intrigue, bearing witness to members of Starfleet being detained—including people he considered friends—pending an investigation at the highest levels. And while Riker tries to navigate the corridors of power, Titan’s tactical officer, Tuvok, is given a series of clandestine orders that lead him into a gray world of secrets, lies, and deniable operations. Who can be trusted when the law falls silent and justice becomes a quest for revenge? For the crew of the U.S.S. Titan, the search for answers will become a battle for every ideal the Federation stands for. . . .

This was the fourth entry in the five-book series, The Fall.  It was a damn good read, even if it didn’t quite measure up to the three novels prior.  That slight shortfall, I believe, has more to do with my Star Trek preferences more than the actual quality of the book.  Though this is titled as part of The Fall, it is essentially a Titan book, and I sometimes struggle with the Titan novels due to the tone and feel of them.  However, Swallow did an excellent job — this truly and deeply felt like a Titan novel.  (And the variation of styles throughout The Fall series is refreshing, and allows me to read each book sequentially.  Sometimes I can’t read an author or series for more than two books in a row — but I’ve had no problem with The Fall.)

By now, readers should be aware of the main plot threads that have been resolved and are continuing, but if you are new, beware of SPOILERS AHEAD!  President Bacco is dead and the evidence is shaky and misleading as to who did it.  In the previous entry, A Ceremony of Losses, Dr. Bashir solved the Andorian reproductive crisis at huge personal risk, having been arrested and confined in a high security cell in some remote asteroid.

This book, The Poisoned Chalice, is finally where the disparate threads of the last three books are suddenly pulled together and we see how these plots tie together.  Something has been reasonably clear from the outset and is suddenly clearer — something dark and sinister is pervading throughout Starfleet, and that all seems to be coming from President Ishan’s office, the temporary president until a special election can be called.  Whether it’s Ishan, himself, or Velk, his assistant, that is pulling all of these strings and bringing the Federation to the brink of war with the Typhon Pact, is unclear.

As mentioned earlier, this has the deep feel of a Titan book; Swallow does an excellent job penning this entry to the series.  It was a gripping read from start to finish and did an excellent job of bringing some much needed cohesion to The Fall.

Blog Tour: Autumn Fire

Autumn Fire is on a book blog tour!

I’ll update this post with each new stop — be sure to check out the promos, guest posts, interviews, and reviews along the way!

Also, you can win a $20 Amazon gift card and copies of my new short story, Gaymer!

Here are the stops!

Dawn’s Reading Nook — Guest post and book promo
It’s All About the Romance! — book promo

Thanks for checking it out, and I hope you win one of the prizes!

Writing Goals for 2014

My writers group is meeting tonight and we’re setting our writing goals for the coming year — so here’s what I plan to do!

I’ve decided to turn my stand-alone short story, “Go Deep,” into an open-ended series, and will publish its sequel, “Go Deeper” in early 2014.
I’m in the midst of finishing up my edits for my forthcoming novel, Silent Hearts, which will be released in March by Carnal Passions.
I’m partway through a stand-alone short story, currently untitled, about hot sex with roofers.  :)  I’ve been on the fence about finishing it first, or finishing it later in favour of other priorities… but it will get done at some point this year!
I’ll be launching a new open-ended short story series later this year, titled, “The Go-Go Boys of Club 21,” and hope to put out two stories by the end of the year.  These might be a little longer than my average short story length, as I foresee some narrative arcs that will take some time to expand.
I’m going to explore the feasibility of turning my short stories into audiobooks.  I’d need to figure out if they’re likely to sell (do people buy erotica audiobooks?) and how much technical work they require…
Under a different pen name, I’ll be making my slow and steady return to my beloved genre of sci-fi.  In a couple weeks I’ll be done school forever, so I plan to shift my school/homework time to sci-fi writing time, ensuring I still have lots of time to dedicate to dirty smut writing.  :)

And that’s what I hope to accomplish in the next 12 months!

Sexy Saturday: Lichen Craig

Welcome to another week of Sexy Saturday — today’s guest is Lichen Craig!

Let’s jump right in and find out more about Lichen and her books!

Author Bio:

Lichen Craig has been writing nonfiction for nearly 30 years, around subjects as diverse as veterinary science, child psychology, nature and environmental protection, wildlife, and social  and political issues.  She published her first novel, Gentlemen’s Game, in 2012.  In 2013 her short story, “Frozen” was included in the anthology Out in Colorado, published by Storm Moon Press.  Today, she writes fiction exclusively and works as a freelance editor as well.  Lichen lives at the foot of Pike’s Peak in Colorado, with three large dogs and a cat that runs the household.

Quickie Questions:

1) What was your first experience with erotica / erotic romance?

I really can’t remember.  I suppose it must have been a mainstream novel of some sort. Erotica has always seemed just a part of life, a logical part of a story, to me. It isn’t something I seek out in literature – but if it’s there and serves a purpose in terms of the story, I am very comfortable with it. I would be more likely to notice an author had left out a sex scene that would have made the story better.  Including highly-erotic scenes in Gentlemen’s Game was not something I gave a lot of thought to… it just occurred as a logical part of the tale. They simply fit there; the narrative required them.

2) Describe your journey from reading to writing to publication.

Again, I hardly remember. I was an avid reader from a very early age.  At 10 I was reading Victorian classics. My teacher called my parents to check whether they knew and approved what I was reading. Haha.  I remember reading classic horror – H.P. Lovecraft and such – at about 10.  The Brontes. Dickens. I was an odd child, obviously!  I wrote my first novella at about 12.  It was never not part of my life. I published my first magazine articles before I left college.  As far as writing fiction that was publishable – I think I had to get a lot of life experience under my belt before I could really tell a good story.  I was 50 when Gentlemen’s Game was published, and that seems right somehow. I could not have told that story even a decade ago.

3) What scene or book was the biggest challenge to write?

Gentlemen’s Game, Chapter 14.  You who have read the novel know what I’m talking about.  I remember lying awake one morning, knowing what direction my characters really wanted to go, and warring with them in my mind.  I really didn’t want to go there. I knew it would be taxing.  But I learned that when it’s frightening is when you can step up and do your best writing.  I read one writer once in a interview – I wish I could remember whom to credit her – who gave the advice, “Write into your fear.” And she was exactly right.

4) Do you have any tips or advice for aspiring writers of erotica / erotic romance?

Well, my advice would depend upon your goals.  If you want to make some money, you know what to do.  If you want what you write, however, to be remembered as a notch above the run-of-the-mill pulp erotica, you have to work at the craft a little more. There are people who want to “be a writer”, people who “want to make money” and people who “need to write.”  Depending upon which category you fall into, you must work differently.  For me personally, writing is an art.  Like any art, it has to be learned and honed and practiced.  You don’t sit down and write a great book. You can sit down the first time and write something that might sell – but not a great book. Not without educating yourself in technique.  If you want to be a really good writer – and write books that will live for decades or more – you need to learn the craft.  Go to university and learn it.  Or work with a great tutor or editor to learn it.  Read about writing.  Read good books – don’t read garbage, or you’ll write garbage. You have to put the music of great writing in your head over and over so that it lives there and rings out inside your head as you write.  You have to feed yourself carefully.  You have to keep your mind free of garbage, and stimulated in the proper ways.

5) Tell us a bit about your latest release.

I am just finishing a novel.  The first three chapters were a teaser and did well online.  So I’m really looking forward to people seeing the entire book.  It’s gay-themed, literary, like G Game. Dark. Of course. It is, after all, Lichen Craig. Haha  But I think it says some good things. I hope people like it as much as the first one.

Sounds good!  Thanks for stopping by, Lichen!

 

Sexy Saturday: Lucy Felthouse

Welcome to another week of Sexy Saturday, with today’s guest Lucy Felthouse!

Let’s learn more about Lucy –

Author Bio:

Lucy Felthouse is a very busy woman! She writes erotica and erotic romance in a variety of subgenres and pairings, and has over eighty publications to her name, with many more in the pipeline. These include several editions of Best Bondage Erotica, Best Women’s Erotica 2013 and Best Erotic Romance 2014. Another string to her bow is editing, and she has edited and co-edited a number of anthologies, and also edits for a small publishing house. She owns Erotica For All, and is book editor for Cliterati. Find out more at http://www.lucyfelthouse.co.uk. Join her on Facebook and Twitter, and subscribe to her newsletter at: http://eepurl.com/gMQb9

Latest Releases:

Illicit Relations, M/M erotic romance novella, published by Ellora’s Cave

Girls Rule, Boys Drool, F/F erotic anthology, published by House of Erotica

Mean Girls, M/F erotic romance novella, published by Ellora’s Cave

A Taste of Paris, M/F erotic short story, published by Ellora’s Cave

Quickie Questions:

1)   What was your first experience with erotica / erotic romance?

I actually started writing erotica before I started reading it. I was dared to write it after a conversation at University. I discovered I enjoyed it, so continued to write it and also started reading erotic anthologies and novels, mainly from Black Lace.

2)   Describe your journey from reading to writing to publication.

I was very lucky. One of my earliest short erotic stories (which I now look back on and cringe!) was accepted for publication by Scarlet Magazine, a UK magazine which has sadly now ceased publication. I quickly got addicted to seeing my stuff in print and started submitting elsewhere. Another of my early stories, Fantasy Assignment was accepted by Xcite Books for inclusion in their anthology Seriously Sexy 3, and from there I just kept writing and sending things off. Happily for me, a good portion of what I’ve written has been accepted.

3)   What scene or book was the biggest challenge to write?

My first novel, Stately Pleasures, was my biggest challenge. It took me a long time to make the move from short stories to longer works. First I wrote a novella, Off the Shelf. Once I discovered I could do that, I started planning a novel. I still dawdled a little before actually writing it, but once I started, I discovered it was addictive. Being able to describe things in much more detail, to build up more of the world, more of the characters’ backgrounds, it was exciting. And so my M/F/M erotic romance novel was born. It was just released by Xcite Books in eBook format, and will be available in print later this month.

4)   Do you have any tips or advice for aspiring writers of erotica / erotic romance?

Yes, but I’ll try and keep it brief. Read lots in your chosen genre, and see what sort of stuff is being published. Learn to edit yourself—sending error-riddled stuff to editors is not going to do you any favours. Also, please read contracts carefully. I know how exciting it is to be offered your first contract, but that doesn’t mean you should sign it without knowing what it actually means. They’re incredibly dull to read, but it’ll be worth it in the long run.

5)   Tell us a bit about your latest release.

Illicit Relations is a m/m erotic romance novella, just released by Ellora’s Cave as part of their Boys Will Do Boys series. It’s bordering on taboo, as the two lead characters are second cousins—but it’s not as risqué as you think. I can’t say why as it’ll spoil the book, you’ll just have to trust me

Here’s the blurb:

Terry’s had a crush on his second cousin Justin for what seems like forever. He’s hidden it as well as possible, knowing that the other man is out of bounds, forbidden fruit. Second cousins getting together isn’t actually illegal, but for Justin the relationship is too close—he just can’t contemplate them being together.

But when some new information comes to light about Terry’s birth and his place in the family, the whole game changes. Suddenly the relationship isn’t so impossible, and things soon begin to get hot and heavy.

More info, excerpt and buy links here: http://lucyfelthouse.co.uk/published-works/illicit-relations/

Add the book to your Goodreads shelves here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18741652-illicit-relations

Thanks for joining us here on my blog, Lucy!

And it looks like Lucy’s got a giveaway for a $10 Amazon gift card going on!  Check it out! 

GIVEAWAY!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks so much for having me!

Lucy x

You’re very welcome, Lucy!  It was great having you here!

What I Read in 2013

In 2011, I had managed to read 15 books.  That was a bit lower than normal, but not too bad.  Then in 2012, I astounded myself by managing to read 63 books!  There were two big reasons for that jump — (1) I got an iPhone and thus entered the realm of ebooks and the concept of being able to read anytime, anywhere, and (2) I started reading m/m erotic romance books, which often tend to be novella length.

Although I somehow managed to read 63 book, I didn’t expect to repeat that performance for 2013.  My goal was to read half of that — 30 books — and I would be satisfied if I could reach that goal.

In 2013, I read…

*drumroll*

67 books!

Admittedly, some are short stories and short novellas, but then so too were some of the 63 books I read in 2012.

Anyway, without further ado, here is my list, complete with my rating (out of 5), and a link to my review (when applicable).

(Some of the reviews are hosted on my Tumblr site, which is generally NSFW… so be careful!)

A Warm Hearth and Good Wine, by Elizabella Gold — 3/5
Wild Boys, edited by Richard Labonte — 3/5
Bend Over! The Complete Guide to Anal Sex!, by Stephan Neiderwieser — 3/5
Here’s Looking at Euclid, by Alex Bellos — 4/5
Star Trek: Vanguard: What Judgements Come, by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore — 2/5
Peter and Wendy, by JM Barrie — 4/5
The Hunchback of Notre Dame, by Victor Hugo — 5/5
Blow Me!  The Complete Guide to Oral Sex!, by Stephan Neiderwieser — 4/5
Final Encore, by Scotty Cade — 3/5
Habibi, by Craig Thompson — 4/5
The Master Mind of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs — 4/5
Star Trek: Vanguard: Storming Heaven, by David Mack — 3/5
Do It Yourself! The Complete Guide to Masturbation!, by Stephan Neiderwieser — 3/5
Once In a Lifetime, by Ariel Tachna — 4/5
A Fighting Man of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs — 4/5
Lorcan’s Desire, by SJD Peterson — 4/5
Two Graves, by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child — 4/5
Swords of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs — 4/5
Strays, by Elizabeth Noble — 3/5
Copping a Sweetest Day Feel, by Andrew Grey — 3/5
A Feast for Crows, by George RR Martin — 4/5
Blood and Water, edited by Hayden Trenholm — 4/5
Heat Wave, edited by Alison Tyler — 3/5
Synthetic Men of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs — 5/5
Best Lesbian Erotica 2013, edited by Kathleen Warnock — 5/5
Star Trek: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night, by David R George III — 5/5
Make Mine to Go, by Dilo Keith — 3/5
Pearls Freaks the #%*# Out, by Stephan Pastis — 4/5
Star Trek: Typhon Pact: Raise the Dawn, by David R George III — 5/5
Best Gay Erotica 2013, edited by Richard Labonte — 3/5
Moonlight, Tiger, and Smoke, by Connie Bailey — 4/5
The Power of Appreciative Inquiry, by Diana Whitney and Amanda Trosten-Bloom — 4/5
The Gay Couple’s Guide to Wedding Planning, by David Toussaint — 4/5
Oblivion, by Anthony Horowitz — 3/5
Llana of Gathol, by Edgar Rice Burroughs — 4/5
Plan B, by SJD Peterson — 4/5
Star Trek: Typhon Pact: Brinkmanship, by Una McCormack — 3/5
How to Write a Dirty Story, by Susie Bright — 3/5
The Pact, by Graeme Brown — 4/5
Rarer Than Rubies, by EM Lynley — 3/5
Bloodline, by James Rollins — 4/5
The Hardest Thing, by James Lear — 5/5
John Carter and the Giant of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs — 2/5
Sorcerer’s Knot, by Tali Spencer — 3/5
Steam Bath, edited by Shane Allison — 4/5
Skeleton Men of Jupiter, by Edgar Rice Burroughs — 4/5
Booklife, by Jeff Vandermeer — 3/5
Star Trek: Titan: Fallen Gods, by Michael A Martin — 3/5
Brok Hon, by Michael W Davis — 3/5
Harper’s Treasure, by Jennifer Lynn — 4/5
Reflections of Love, edited by Dreamspinner Press — 3/5
Message from Viola Mari, by Sabrina Devonshire — 4/5
Lies, by Michael Grant — 5/5
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Cold Equations: Book 1: The Persistence of Memory, by David Mack — 3/5
A novel manuscript from a friend
Test of Magnitude, by Andy Kasch — 4/5
Hardball, by T Hitman — 4/5
Writing the Breakout Novel, by Donald Maass — 4/5
Within the Mist, by Jude Johnson — 3/5
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Cold Equations: Book 2: Silent Weapons, by David Mack — 3/5
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Cold Equations: Book 3: The Body Electric, by David Mack — 3/5
Star Trek: The Fall: Revelation and Dust, by David R George III — 5/5
Trust Me, by LA Witt — 3/5
Star Trek: The Fall: The Crimson Shadow, by Una McCormack — 5/5
Taming a Wild Scot, by Rowan Keats — 3/5
Star Trek: The Fall: A Ceremony of Losses, by David Mack — 5/5
Redshirts, by John Scalzi — 4/5

2013 was an interesting year for reading in a few ways… I managed to finish the John Carter of Mars series by Edgar Rice Burroughs… and after years and years of falling behind in my Star Trek reading, I made a serious dent in my pile — I’m pretty much up to date with the core-universe storyline, but am still behind in my Enterprise and Voyager reading… but that’s a goal for 2014!

Making Time for Writing on The Writers Vineyard

Hi y’all!

I’m over at The Writers Vineyard again, briefly blogging about how writers must make time for writing… some advice I really need to be following right now!

Check it out: http://thewritersvineyard.com/2013/12/making-time-for-writing.html

Book Review: Redshirts

Redshirts

John Scalzi

Ensign Andrew Dahl has just been assigned to the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since the year 2456. It’s a prestige posting, and Andrew is thrilled all the more to be assigned to the ship’s Xenobiology laboratory.

Life couldn’t be better…until Andrew begins to pick up on the fact that (1) every Away Mission involves some kind of lethal confrontation with alien forces, (2) the ship’s captain, its chief science officer, and the handsome Lieutenant Kerensky always survive these confrontations, and (3) at least one low-ranked crew member is, sadly, always killed.

Not surprisingly, a great deal of energy below decks is expended on avoiding, at all costs, being assigned to an Away Mission. Then Andrew stumbles on information that completely transforms his and his colleagues’ understanding of what the starship Intrepid really is…and offers them a crazy, high-risk chance to save their own lives.

I was a bit hesitant opening this book as I’ve heard mixed reviews.  It’s also pretty clearly a sort-of-parody of Star Trek and those things can sometimes flop.  And as I dove into it, I did find it a bit lacklustre, but it soon picked up and became utterly fascinating.

It’s a somewhat common premise — these people living a crazy life find out that they are actually characters in a work of fiction.  We’ve seen that before, and it’s actually talked about in the book.  What I find makes it particularly interesting is how Scalzi has his characters use this premise to their advantage, to fix their lives… which involves going back in time to 2012 to meet the writers of the show that they exist in.  Well, it’s not so much that they exist in the show, but rather the show alters their reality.  They exist in a starship in the future, but the crazy events that happen and all of the characters that come about are because of the scriptwriting for the show.

This book had an evolution for me — it started off as humorous, then evolved to interesting, then evolved to unique, then evolved to “okay, this is cool,” and then evolved to “this is fascinating.”  The journeys of the characters were fun to follow, but I found the most fascinating element, and the thing that sticks out to me the most, are the three codas at the end of the book.  There are three chapters that follow three characters from 2012, after their future fictional counterparts have come to visit them.  The development of these characters post-visit was utterly fascinating and engaging.

I think it compares well with the movie “Captain Phillips.”  The movie is great and all that, but the most intense and effective part for me was at the very end, where Captain Phillips has an emotional breakdown in the last five minutes of the movie.  Without it, the movie would have been good, but with it, we suddenly have this immediate emotional depth that tugs at your heart and leaves you contemplative, silent, and emotional.  The end of Redshirts was the same.  Without the codas at the end, it would have been a good book.  It was the sudden and immediate emotional depth that made the ending shine as bright as it did.

My ONLY criticism of this entire thing is that I had trouble with Scalzi’s writing style.  I had trouble keeping the characters straight sometimes, and 99% of dialogue had “he said” or “she said” or “Dahl said” or “Kerensky said” attached to it.  It got a bit distracting and could have been buffed out.  HOWEVER, I noticed that in the codas, the style of writing changed immensely.  It makes me wonder if the sub-par style in the body of the book was intentional, to reflect that these people were living out a sub-par sci-fi show.  Once it got to real life in the codas, the writing became much more realistic.  I have to think more on that.

Long story short, I’m glad I picked this up and gave it a try.  :)

Book Review: Star Trek: The Fall: A Ceremony of Losses

Star Trek: The Fall: A Ceremony of Losses

David Mack

THE NEEDS OF THE MANY

Despite heroic efforts by Thirishar ch’Thane, the Andorian species is headed for extinction. Its slow march toward oblivion has reached a tipping point, one from which there will be no hope of return.

THE NEEDS OF THE FEW

With countless lives at stake, the leaders of Andor, the Federation, and the Typhon Pact all scheme to twist the crisis to their political gain—at any price.

THE NEEDS OF THE ONE

Unwilling to be a mere bystander to tragedy, Doctor Julian Bashir risks everything to find a cure for the Andorians. But his courage will come at a terrible cost: his career, his freedom . . . and maybe his life.

This is the third entry in the so-far-phenomenal series, The Fall.  A Ceremony of Losses is a gripping and tense story that continues and adds to the cinematic events of The Fall, while also continuing the Typhon Pact story line, tying up some loose ends from the Vanguard series, and resolving the Andorian reproduction crisis that has been written about for years now.

I had found the previous three books by Mack, the Cold Equations trilogy, to be quite a bit below the quality I expect from David Mack, but A Ceremony of Losses has completely restored my faith in him and his writing.  The storytelling was tight and the tension ramped up, as it often is in Mack’s books.  Like with the two previous titles in The Fall, Revelations and Dust and The Crimson Shadow, A Ceremony of Losses is filled with political tension and upheaval on a grand scale… and Mack does an incredible job of capturing social and political upheaval in a believable and comprehensive manner.

Mack also fleshes out the Ishan character, introduced earlier, and making him more three-dimensional.  He is a thoroughly detestable political figure.  (The Canadian in me can’t help but wonder if Mack got some inspiration by looking at the news north of the border… but he probably wrote this long before the scandals regarding Ford and Harper erupted.)  What I LOVED about the book was that it was Star Trek in its truest form, something we haven’t seen in a very long time — A Ceremony of Losses melds gripping action with very deep and complex ethical and moral questions.  I’ve always felt the Deep Space Nine TV series did this melding the best and by Mack doing it so effectively in this DS9-heavy story, I feel like Mack really understands the series and has helped bring it back to life for me.  (David R George III is still my favourite for writing DS9 stories, but Mack is now high on my list too.)

Mack also went gentle in this book.  He has a tendency to kill of semi-major characters in his books and there were no significant deaths here.  As the back cover basically lays out, though, (and this is a bit of a spoiler, so be warned!), Julian Bashir gets arrested and put in a solitary confinement cell in the middle of nowhere.  HOWEVER, I’m reading the fourth book in The Fall right now and in flipping ahead, I’ve noticed Bashir’s name several times, so I doubt we’ve seen the last of him.  And, really, killing off semi-major characters is one thing, but getting rid of a major-major character is another thing entirely.  Looking ahead in the Trek book schedule, I see Mack is writing a Section 31 book next year sometime (or maybe in 2015?) — I highly suspect that’s where Bashir’s storyline is going, as he was always the most closely tied to it.  I’m intrigued for where this is going.

More than just revitalizing the Typhon Pact line for me and being exciting fiction, I feel like The Fall is revitalizing Star Trek for me.  I love and will always love Star Trek, but I’ve felt there’s been a real downslide in the last couple years with a lot of rather uninteresting things or a hodgepodge of events (which is how much of the Typhon Pact stuff has felt like to me so far).  The Fall has taken all of this, mixed it all together, added some rocket fuel, and ignited this thing to shoot it to higher heights than I ever recall seeing.  When I rate books on Goodreads, it’s VERY RARE for me to rate something 5-stars.  So far, each book in The Fall has solidly earned a 5-star rating.  I’m in the fourth book and so far it’s phenomenal.  I’m a little hesitant about the fifth book, though, as I generally don’t enjoy that author too much, but I’ll be entering into it riding on a high from the first four books, so it’ll likely go well, too.

For the first time in a long time, I am truly excited about what I’m reading!

Book Review: Taming a Wild Scot

Taming a Wild Scot

Rowan Keats

In the Highlands of Scotland, plays for power are fought without rules, treachery and intrigue hold court, and, in one woman’s heart, danger stirs as relentlessly as passion…

Wrongfully accused of murder and left to die in a hellish Highland dungeon, Ana Bisset has lost all hope of freedom. But the beautiful healer’s luck takes an unexpected turn when a hooded stranger appears as her rescuer. After a harrowing escape, Ana settles alone in a quiet village where no one knows her past or her reputation. The last thing she ever expects is to meet her mysterious savior again…

Niall MacCurran is no hero, but a warrior on a dangerous mission to expose a threat to the realm. After his decision to free Ana, he now realizes that it is he who needs her help—willing or no—to advance his quest. But his growing feelings for the delicate yet resilient beauty soon jeopardize their safety—and not even Ana’s healing gifts may be enough to protect their love, or their lives.

On a whim, I picked up a couple hetero romances from the grocery store — and this was the first of them.  And I was quite surprised!  Everyone sort of talks down about grocery store romance books, but I think a lot of people secretly read them.  Romance books are, after all, the largest selling genre, I believe.

This being my first historical Scottish romance, I have to say that I don’t know what the genre conventions are.  I don’t know what’s been overdone and what’s new and exciting.  So, this was all new and exciting to me!

I have to admit I’m really not a fan of historical fiction or of fantasy… and this was a historical romance with a fantasy element…  It took me a little bit to get into it since I came to it with those biases, but once I got over that, I was pulled along for the ride.  Keats writes a good tale with two characters that are basically pulled together through scheming and manipulation, who then fall for each other.  The fact that Ana and Niall are going to fall in love with each other is known by the reader before even cracking open the cover, so it’s up to the writer to make it an entertaining journey, and Keats performs that duty well.

Seeing as this is apparently the first in a series, there are ample threads left unresolved to fuel future story lines.  There are a number of books I’ve read this year that launch series, and they overload their story with dozens of characters and potential story threads all in the hopes of intriguing people to continue reading the series — Keats does a VERY good job of introducing these elements without making them feel like they were stuffed in there randomly.

Taming a Wild Scot is a good read and is very well written.  :)