Gypsy Madden's Blog, page 5
December 8, 2021
Book Review: The Marquess and I (Forever Yours - Book 1)
The Marquess and I (Forever Yours – Book 1) by Stacy Reid
5 stars
Category: Adult
Note: I read this as included in the Forever Yours Series Bundle collection.
Summary: Lady Willow, now blind, is determined to re-enter society and regain her freedom. But almost immediately she makes a misstep. As the whispering and gossiping starts, a gentleman comes to her rescue and pulls her away into the garden. Alasdair, the new Marquess of Westcliffe, recently returned from the war remembers how Willow played with his affections and tossed him over for a duke and has decided he will make her feel what he felt for her and then cruelly toss her aside like she did him. Willow had resigned herself to a life without love and passion, and welcomes the idea of an affair with him. But once he realizes she is blind, he knows he can’t be that cruel, especially when he does indeed still love her. But Willow is determined not to rely on anyone, and not to burden anyone with her blindness, especially not her former boyfriend Alasdair, even if he is now a marquess.
Comments: Even though this has a rocky start, that nearly made me stop reading it, after pushing through enough chapters, it did turn into a very sweet story. I really didn’t care for the opening idea of the hero determined to rape/trick the heroine into having sex with him with violence on his mind, even with the idea that roughness was turning her on (ugh). Thankfully he gave up that idea quickly before anything really happened and the story turned more to getting reacquainted since the years apart had changed both of them. Though the heroine continues with the idea of wanting meaningless sex, just so she can experience it once and continues with that idea through most of the book. Honestly, I didn’t really understand how she was determined to gain her freedom while still remaining at home, since that wouldn’t be freedom with still being trapped in the house and she’d have to rely on family since she didn’t want to marry and there was no mention of her wanting to learn a trade. I did want to know more about the duke that let her go. And I really wanted to know more about her brother, like why he didn’t talk about her more to Alasdair, since apparently they were friends during the war. I also wanted to know more about Alasdair’s sisters. They were never really mentioned other than to moan about how he couldn’t properly provide for them. I love the idea of finding love later in life, past the debutante age and I love the second chance theme. I also loved the idea of trying to help Willow regain her confidence, as a way to making her more open to finding her freedom. And I loved Alasdair’s determination that he wanted a relationship with her any way he could, even if it just meant as friends.
5 stars
Category: Adult
Note: I read this as included in the Forever Yours Series Bundle collection.
Summary: Lady Willow, now blind, is determined to re-enter society and regain her freedom. But almost immediately she makes a misstep. As the whispering and gossiping starts, a gentleman comes to her rescue and pulls her away into the garden. Alasdair, the new Marquess of Westcliffe, recently returned from the war remembers how Willow played with his affections and tossed him over for a duke and has decided he will make her feel what he felt for her and then cruelly toss her aside like she did him. Willow had resigned herself to a life without love and passion, and welcomes the idea of an affair with him. But once he realizes she is blind, he knows he can’t be that cruel, especially when he does indeed still love her. But Willow is determined not to rely on anyone, and not to burden anyone with her blindness, especially not her former boyfriend Alasdair, even if he is now a marquess.
Comments: Even though this has a rocky start, that nearly made me stop reading it, after pushing through enough chapters, it did turn into a very sweet story. I really didn’t care for the opening idea of the hero determined to rape/trick the heroine into having sex with him with violence on his mind, even with the idea that roughness was turning her on (ugh). Thankfully he gave up that idea quickly before anything really happened and the story turned more to getting reacquainted since the years apart had changed both of them. Though the heroine continues with the idea of wanting meaningless sex, just so she can experience it once and continues with that idea through most of the book. Honestly, I didn’t really understand how she was determined to gain her freedom while still remaining at home, since that wouldn’t be freedom with still being trapped in the house and she’d have to rely on family since she didn’t want to marry and there was no mention of her wanting to learn a trade. I did want to know more about the duke that let her go. And I really wanted to know more about her brother, like why he didn’t talk about her more to Alasdair, since apparently they were friends during the war. I also wanted to know more about Alasdair’s sisters. They were never really mentioned other than to moan about how he couldn’t properly provide for them. I love the idea of finding love later in life, past the debutante age and I love the second chance theme. I also loved the idea of trying to help Willow regain her confidence, as a way to making her more open to finding her freedom. And I loved Alasdair’s determination that he wanted a relationship with her any way he could, even if it just meant as friends.
December 2, 2021
Book Review: Saving Vengeance (The Forest Tales Series - prequel)
Saving Vengeance (The Forest Tales Series prequel) by Cece Louise
5 stars
Category: Adult
Note: Novella-length. I obtained a free copy via the author’s newsletter.
Summary: Laurel’s sister is convinced that the evil king who had just used her potion skills to poison the previous king is in love with her. And while she is enthralled with the new ballgowns he sent, inviting her to his upcoming masquerade ball, royal soldiers arrive to execute her on the grounds of witchcraft. Laurel manages to escape with the help of one of the soldiers, and vows vengeance against the king. She dresses up in the ballgown intended for her sister, and attends the ball with a dagger strapped to her thigh.
Comments: I loved this novella-size short story. It has action, betrayal, and romance with a dash of Cinderella fairy tale. Laurel is the level-headed sensible sister, while her sister is the naïve romantic blinded by her feelings for most obviously wrong person. Though, at no point is the sister seen negatively even though she helped poison the previous king, which bugged me. And I loved the idea of Cinderella as an assassin (granted I’ve seen it in other versions as well, each time it’s done, it’s a sexy empowerment and a question of if she will actually go bad herself. Just the thought that Cinderella was there for something other than just to dance is always a fun spin on the story). I loved the budding relationship between Laurel and Gavin, and I’m dying to see their story continued, which is the whole point of a prequel to tempt me to want to read the first book of the series. The only criticism I had with my copy was that it ends at the 50% mark and the rest of the book is filled with 5 chapters of book one (which makes me feel like I was gipped 50%).
5 stars
Category: Adult
Note: Novella-length. I obtained a free copy via the author’s newsletter.
Summary: Laurel’s sister is convinced that the evil king who had just used her potion skills to poison the previous king is in love with her. And while she is enthralled with the new ballgowns he sent, inviting her to his upcoming masquerade ball, royal soldiers arrive to execute her on the grounds of witchcraft. Laurel manages to escape with the help of one of the soldiers, and vows vengeance against the king. She dresses up in the ballgown intended for her sister, and attends the ball with a dagger strapped to her thigh.
Comments: I loved this novella-size short story. It has action, betrayal, and romance with a dash of Cinderella fairy tale. Laurel is the level-headed sensible sister, while her sister is the naïve romantic blinded by her feelings for most obviously wrong person. Though, at no point is the sister seen negatively even though she helped poison the previous king, which bugged me. And I loved the idea of Cinderella as an assassin (granted I’ve seen it in other versions as well, each time it’s done, it’s a sexy empowerment and a question of if she will actually go bad herself. Just the thought that Cinderella was there for something other than just to dance is always a fun spin on the story). I loved the budding relationship between Laurel and Gavin, and I’m dying to see their story continued, which is the whole point of a prequel to tempt me to want to read the first book of the series. The only criticism I had with my copy was that it ends at the 50% mark and the rest of the book is filled with 5 chapters of book one (which makes me feel like I was gipped 50%).
November 29, 2021
Book Review: Mark of the Phoenix: A Hundred Halls Novel (Animalians Hall - Book 3)
Mark of the Phoenix: A Hundred Halls Novel (Animalians Hall – Book 3) by Thomas K. Carpenter
4 stars
Category: New Adult
Summary: Pax is back for her third year in Animalians Hall. The third and fourth years are portaled to the world of Danir where they get to know the couple of new species there and the dependent eco-system. They also realize there are underhanded people trying to increase the magesteel trade by making the mine larger and killing off some of the animals in the region, even though there are rumors about needing to keep the eco-system balanced or there will be cataclysm.
Comments: This is a fun adventure and a fascinating environment. And has a very pro-ecological/environmentalist theme to it. But on the other hand, it also reads like filler and it also feels like the author is still too rooted in the gamer world from the previous book series. As in, the main character is earning another level, spends the entire time in one environment, uses potions to fortify like they do in world of warcraft right before a raid, faces mobs, and only has a handful of different types of mobs/creatures within the environment. Especially the battle scene at the end felt like a coordinated Raid-type dungeon. I said filler because nothing really happened in this book in terms of character growth or even any change to the life of the character. If I skipped this book, I could easily pick up the next book without having missed any connecting information. There is no romance in this. The character she seems closest to is really her friend Janelle, with the others feeling like little more than cameos or background. The story itself is rather slow moving and doesn’t really pick up until the 40% mark (before that, the book is focused on getting to know the environment) when the animal killings start, though I did love the mystery and I loved Walt. I do continue to like Pax and I love her relationship with Kali, still nothing really changed between them, nor was anything really added to their magical abilities or capabilities.
4 stars
Category: New Adult
Summary: Pax is back for her third year in Animalians Hall. The third and fourth years are portaled to the world of Danir where they get to know the couple of new species there and the dependent eco-system. They also realize there are underhanded people trying to increase the magesteel trade by making the mine larger and killing off some of the animals in the region, even though there are rumors about needing to keep the eco-system balanced or there will be cataclysm.
Comments: This is a fun adventure and a fascinating environment. And has a very pro-ecological/environmentalist theme to it. But on the other hand, it also reads like filler and it also feels like the author is still too rooted in the gamer world from the previous book series. As in, the main character is earning another level, spends the entire time in one environment, uses potions to fortify like they do in world of warcraft right before a raid, faces mobs, and only has a handful of different types of mobs/creatures within the environment. Especially the battle scene at the end felt like a coordinated Raid-type dungeon. I said filler because nothing really happened in this book in terms of character growth or even any change to the life of the character. If I skipped this book, I could easily pick up the next book without having missed any connecting information. There is no romance in this. The character she seems closest to is really her friend Janelle, with the others feeling like little more than cameos or background. The story itself is rather slow moving and doesn’t really pick up until the 40% mark (before that, the book is focused on getting to know the environment) when the animal killings start, though I did love the mystery and I loved Walt. I do continue to like Pax and I love her relationship with Kali, still nothing really changed between them, nor was anything really added to their magical abilities or capabilities.
November 28, 2021
Book Review: The Ghost that Got Away (Coffee and Ghosts - Season 2, Episode 2)
The Ghost that Got Away (Coffee and Ghosts – Season 2, Episode 2) by Charity Tahmaseb
5 stars
Category: Adult
Note: Serial-length. I read this as included in The Complete Coffee and Ghosts Seasons 1-3
Summary: It’s Valentine’s Day and Necromancer Orsen has come to Springside determined to recruit Katy for his prestigious guild of Necromancers, along with his lackey Carter. Carter has brought along with him a familiar ghost, Malcolm’s old partner Selina, who is both powerful and sexy, and it doesn’t miss Katy’s attention of how happy Malcolm is to have Selina back.
Comments: While this did feel a bit unfocused, I did like that we got Selina resolved. We finally got to see her in the ghost and find out just what she was to Malcolm. And I loved Nigel through this, who is powerful, but yet trying to find his way without relying on that power (except to protect and as knowledge, and to intimidate the bad guys). I loved the advice he gave to Katy about Malcolm, considering he isn’t enthralled by Malcolm and knows his MO, that Malcolm knows how to attract women, but doesn’t really understand how to keep them, and that Selina was for all operating purposes a girlfriend. Selina did in fact see Katy as competition, and Malcolm, who didn’t understand the fact that Selina was a girlfriend, was clueless and confused on the whole situation. Outside of relationship troubles, there is still a lot going on in this, like Orsen practically acting like a gangster, leaning on Katy to join his operation so he could gain more power, with his good Carter to rough her up. Dangling information over her about her parents, which sounded suspiciously like he may have caused their deaths and even threatened to take away all of the town ghosts, which had mysteriously mostly vanished except for a few hold-outs in hiding. This continues to have colorful rounded side characters that add so much to the personality of this cozy series that encompasses her loveable small town, as well as the adorable romance between Katy and Malcolm that while threatened in this story, didn’t disappoint. I adored the end scene! I continue to love this cozy paranormal.
5 stars
Category: Adult
Note: Serial-length. I read this as included in The Complete Coffee and Ghosts Seasons 1-3
Summary: It’s Valentine’s Day and Necromancer Orsen has come to Springside determined to recruit Katy for his prestigious guild of Necromancers, along with his lackey Carter. Carter has brought along with him a familiar ghost, Malcolm’s old partner Selina, who is both powerful and sexy, and it doesn’t miss Katy’s attention of how happy Malcolm is to have Selina back.
Comments: While this did feel a bit unfocused, I did like that we got Selina resolved. We finally got to see her in the ghost and find out just what she was to Malcolm. And I loved Nigel through this, who is powerful, but yet trying to find his way without relying on that power (except to protect and as knowledge, and to intimidate the bad guys). I loved the advice he gave to Katy about Malcolm, considering he isn’t enthralled by Malcolm and knows his MO, that Malcolm knows how to attract women, but doesn’t really understand how to keep them, and that Selina was for all operating purposes a girlfriend. Selina did in fact see Katy as competition, and Malcolm, who didn’t understand the fact that Selina was a girlfriend, was clueless and confused on the whole situation. Outside of relationship troubles, there is still a lot going on in this, like Orsen practically acting like a gangster, leaning on Katy to join his operation so he could gain more power, with his good Carter to rough her up. Dangling information over her about her parents, which sounded suspiciously like he may have caused their deaths and even threatened to take away all of the town ghosts, which had mysteriously mostly vanished except for a few hold-outs in hiding. This continues to have colorful rounded side characters that add so much to the personality of this cozy series that encompasses her loveable small town, as well as the adorable romance between Katy and Malcolm that while threatened in this story, didn’t disappoint. I adored the end scene! I continue to love this cozy paranormal.
November 17, 2021
Book Review: Witches and Wishes (Their Paranormal Tales - Book 2)
Witches and Wishes (Their Paranormal Tales – Book 2)
Previously published as I'd Rather be a Witch (The Cotton Candy Quintet - Book 2)
By Erin Hayes
5 stars
Category: New Adult
Note: Novella-length
Summary: Three years ago, on prom night when Jordyn was sixteen, her boyfriend/childhood best friend/neighbor Zach was killed in a hit and run as he pushed her out of the way. But rather than accept the loss, she resurrected him, bringing him back to life with dark magic. But after that day, Zach was never the same again. He became obsessive, stalker, and started threatening her and her family to the point violence and leaving dead animals on their doorstep. Her mother placed a binding spell on Zach and sent Jordyn out into the world, with the idea that distance from her would be good for Zach hopefully returning to normal. When Jordyn gets the news that her mother is dying and returns home after 3 years, she finds that distance didn’t fix Zach at all and his brother Luke had to deal with it.
Comments: I loved this story! Magic, and mystery, and a creepy terror that was once a beautiful boyfriend. It was like Practical Magic meets Fatal Attraction. This can be read as a stand-alone, but it does have mentions of characters in other books. (And there are quite a few typos that still need to be cleaned up). Jordyn’s pain is palpable as she remembers who Zach used to be each time she sees him. And you want there to be a happy ending for the two of them since they had their whole futures ahead of them and how adorable their love was growing from childhood best friends to high school loves. But then there’s also the side that is terrified by the stalker who throws rocks at her windows and pops up with a menacing grin at every turn, determined to kill her since she doesn’t love him and can’t see past what she’d done to him. The other stories I’ve read in this story were all light-hearted, so I expected this to be frothy as well, especially with our pink-haired heroine, but this story is dark and twisted. It has a nice bit of mystery as she gets accused of murder and has to unravel the mystery and hope it doesn’t lead back to her former boyfriend that she never stopped loving. (And I love the touch that she swims with a costumed mermaid group. I have a mermaid tail myself).
Previously published as I'd Rather be a Witch (The Cotton Candy Quintet - Book 2)
By Erin Hayes
5 stars
Category: New Adult
Note: Novella-length
Summary: Three years ago, on prom night when Jordyn was sixteen, her boyfriend/childhood best friend/neighbor Zach was killed in a hit and run as he pushed her out of the way. But rather than accept the loss, she resurrected him, bringing him back to life with dark magic. But after that day, Zach was never the same again. He became obsessive, stalker, and started threatening her and her family to the point violence and leaving dead animals on their doorstep. Her mother placed a binding spell on Zach and sent Jordyn out into the world, with the idea that distance from her would be good for Zach hopefully returning to normal. When Jordyn gets the news that her mother is dying and returns home after 3 years, she finds that distance didn’t fix Zach at all and his brother Luke had to deal with it.
Comments: I loved this story! Magic, and mystery, and a creepy terror that was once a beautiful boyfriend. It was like Practical Magic meets Fatal Attraction. This can be read as a stand-alone, but it does have mentions of characters in other books. (And there are quite a few typos that still need to be cleaned up). Jordyn’s pain is palpable as she remembers who Zach used to be each time she sees him. And you want there to be a happy ending for the two of them since they had their whole futures ahead of them and how adorable their love was growing from childhood best friends to high school loves. But then there’s also the side that is terrified by the stalker who throws rocks at her windows and pops up with a menacing grin at every turn, determined to kill her since she doesn’t love him and can’t see past what she’d done to him. The other stories I’ve read in this story were all light-hearted, so I expected this to be frothy as well, especially with our pink-haired heroine, but this story is dark and twisted. It has a nice bit of mystery as she gets accused of murder and has to unravel the mystery and hope it doesn’t lead back to her former boyfriend that she never stopped loving. (And I love the touch that she swims with a costumed mermaid group. I have a mermaid tail myself).
November 15, 2021
Book Review: Kingdom Cold
Kingdom Cold (Kingdom Cold - Book 1) by Brittni Chenelle
4 stars
Category: New Adult
Summary: Spoiled, teenage Princess Charlotte has decided that she doesn’t want to be married. So, when her betrothed, Prince Young, arrives to marry her and gain her kingdom, she shoots an arrow at him, and she flirts with his brother, Prince Minseo. Prince Young is still determined to gain her kingdom and win Charlotte, even if she does need a bit of convincing, especially when he finds that she’s not actually interested in his brother. But before they can patch things up, the castle is attacked and destroyed, and Charlotte has to flee the castle in the company of Prince Young. But other parties are interested, namely Prince Emmett, who is determined to take her kingdom for himself.
Comments: This is a low-fantasy, in other words, aside from being set in a made-up medieval kingdom, there were no fantasy elements (technically, it would probably be considered more a historical fiction, but without the research and attention to detail). It also lists the book as being diverse, but aside from the picture of the two characters on the cover being different races, there really wasn’t anything to set the characters apart from each other or scream foreign/ethnic heritage/cultural background other than being from different kingdoms. (I noticed the author has the same Asian guy paired with black girl on most of her books, making the pair up rather less than diverse and run of the mill for her books). Focusing on this book, there is good character growth as Charlotte grows from spoiled teenager focused on herself and determined to get things her way, to surviving the destruction of her kingdom and having to figure out what’s important (though I never really warmed to her. I think I never really saw why all the guys in the book wanted her, other than if they married her, they would gain a kingdom). While Prince Young grows as well from insecure to sure of the cause he needs to fight for. But the setting felt largely undeveloped other than being a basic medieval kingdom. There really wasn’t anything to set it apart from any other medieval kingdom. The book feels epic and long as a saga as it chronicles the fall and struggles of Charlotte’s kingdom, and the dramas of various characters (including her suddenly overly religious maid), and the ending dragged on (I think where I lost interest was when enemy forces were encroaching in the second half of the book). It took me awhile to get motivated on finishing reading this. And there really isn’t anything Arthurian in this other than the mention on the very last page.
4 stars
Category: New Adult
Summary: Spoiled, teenage Princess Charlotte has decided that she doesn’t want to be married. So, when her betrothed, Prince Young, arrives to marry her and gain her kingdom, she shoots an arrow at him, and she flirts with his brother, Prince Minseo. Prince Young is still determined to gain her kingdom and win Charlotte, even if she does need a bit of convincing, especially when he finds that she’s not actually interested in his brother. But before they can patch things up, the castle is attacked and destroyed, and Charlotte has to flee the castle in the company of Prince Young. But other parties are interested, namely Prince Emmett, who is determined to take her kingdom for himself.
Comments: This is a low-fantasy, in other words, aside from being set in a made-up medieval kingdom, there were no fantasy elements (technically, it would probably be considered more a historical fiction, but without the research and attention to detail). It also lists the book as being diverse, but aside from the picture of the two characters on the cover being different races, there really wasn’t anything to set the characters apart from each other or scream foreign/ethnic heritage/cultural background other than being from different kingdoms. (I noticed the author has the same Asian guy paired with black girl on most of her books, making the pair up rather less than diverse and run of the mill for her books). Focusing on this book, there is good character growth as Charlotte grows from spoiled teenager focused on herself and determined to get things her way, to surviving the destruction of her kingdom and having to figure out what’s important (though I never really warmed to her. I think I never really saw why all the guys in the book wanted her, other than if they married her, they would gain a kingdom). While Prince Young grows as well from insecure to sure of the cause he needs to fight for. But the setting felt largely undeveloped other than being a basic medieval kingdom. There really wasn’t anything to set it apart from any other medieval kingdom. The book feels epic and long as a saga as it chronicles the fall and struggles of Charlotte’s kingdom, and the dramas of various characters (including her suddenly overly religious maid), and the ending dragged on (I think where I lost interest was when enemy forces were encroaching in the second half of the book). It took me awhile to get motivated on finishing reading this. And there really isn’t anything Arthurian in this other than the mention on the very last page.
November 11, 2021
Book Review: Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper (Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper - Book 1)
Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper (Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper - Book 1) by J.L. Bryan
4 stars
Category: Adult
Note: Free on Amazon!
Summary: Ellie Jordan (along with her trainee Stacey Ray Tolbert) is hired to investigate a house that the new owners think is haunted. The husband thinks his wife and daughter are making it up, but he lets the ghost hunters check out the place anyway, even though he gripes at the cost since the house, which he is trying to turn into a bed and breakfast, is a money pit. When they find and remove the ghost, the problems only get worse and a psychic joins their team.
Comments: Think like the TV show Ghost Hunters, but with actual manifesting ghosts. Like Ghost Hunters, there is a focus on all the technology and devices used to detect, record, and see the ghosts. It was a fun concept. I love books about ghost hunting. But, for Ellie, it’s just a job. That said, she doesn’t seem to have any real emotions invested in the job (which meant, I had the same amount of emotions invested in her), everything is clinically done, and she has the same amount of attachment to Stacey that she would to a co-worker. There was no friendship between her and Stacey, there was no romance with the psychic guy, and there was no emotions toward the family she was trying to help (other than feeling sorry for daughter of the family), and there wasn’t any empathy with the spirits (there was just a need to figure out who they were and how to get rid of them to earn the payment from the family). The house itself and the ghosts inside were well thought out. There was a rich amount of history over the decades layered into the house with ghosts dating from plenty of different time periods. Ellie didn’t particularly come off as female either. She had a very bland, unemotional personality. The only detail that the author threw in trying to make it sound female was the carb/calorie counting (I’m female and I don’t do that. She came off sounding tedious and annoying when she did that and not to mention a man’s stereotypical view of women. I really don’t know any women who count the exact number of calories to see if her diet balances). Stacey kept getting noted for having large breasts, which also sounded like a man’s stereotypical view of women (not to mention that she was an overly peppy blonde cheerleader type and a bit dim at times -did I mention she was blonde?). Actually, most of the characters felt stereotyped (the overly emotional, overly protective wife, the innocent cute curious daughter, the skeptical lazy husband who liked complaining at everyone and watching sports on the couch, the wheelchair bound boss who reminded me more than a little of Bobby in Supernatural but without the personality), except for possibly the psychic. I did really like the bits about the pyrokinetic ghost and her dog. I actually teared up on that scene.
4 stars
Category: Adult
Note: Free on Amazon!
Summary: Ellie Jordan (along with her trainee Stacey Ray Tolbert) is hired to investigate a house that the new owners think is haunted. The husband thinks his wife and daughter are making it up, but he lets the ghost hunters check out the place anyway, even though he gripes at the cost since the house, which he is trying to turn into a bed and breakfast, is a money pit. When they find and remove the ghost, the problems only get worse and a psychic joins their team.
Comments: Think like the TV show Ghost Hunters, but with actual manifesting ghosts. Like Ghost Hunters, there is a focus on all the technology and devices used to detect, record, and see the ghosts. It was a fun concept. I love books about ghost hunting. But, for Ellie, it’s just a job. That said, she doesn’t seem to have any real emotions invested in the job (which meant, I had the same amount of emotions invested in her), everything is clinically done, and she has the same amount of attachment to Stacey that she would to a co-worker. There was no friendship between her and Stacey, there was no romance with the psychic guy, and there was no emotions toward the family she was trying to help (other than feeling sorry for daughter of the family), and there wasn’t any empathy with the spirits (there was just a need to figure out who they were and how to get rid of them to earn the payment from the family). The house itself and the ghosts inside were well thought out. There was a rich amount of history over the decades layered into the house with ghosts dating from plenty of different time periods. Ellie didn’t particularly come off as female either. She had a very bland, unemotional personality. The only detail that the author threw in trying to make it sound female was the carb/calorie counting (I’m female and I don’t do that. She came off sounding tedious and annoying when she did that and not to mention a man’s stereotypical view of women. I really don’t know any women who count the exact number of calories to see if her diet balances). Stacey kept getting noted for having large breasts, which also sounded like a man’s stereotypical view of women (not to mention that she was an overly peppy blonde cheerleader type and a bit dim at times -did I mention she was blonde?). Actually, most of the characters felt stereotyped (the overly emotional, overly protective wife, the innocent cute curious daughter, the skeptical lazy husband who liked complaining at everyone and watching sports on the couch, the wheelchair bound boss who reminded me more than a little of Bobby in Supernatural but without the personality), except for possibly the psychic. I did really like the bits about the pyrokinetic ghost and her dog. I actually teared up on that scene.
November 8, 2021
Book Review: The Shattered Seam (Seam Stalkers - Book 1)
The Shattered Seam (Seam Stalkers – Book 1) by Kathleen Groger
4 stars
Category: Young Adult
Summary: Teenager Samantha Drake is sent off to spend the weeklong vacation time with her uncle Eric who stars in a ghost hunting show with his couple of friends. They rent a boat to take them to a castle, supposedly haunted by a rich serial killer, on a remote island where they will stay for a week until the boat rental company comes back to pick them up. Samantha groans when she realizes there’s no cell phone coverage to the island. This time around, the ghost hunter group has invited a medium to join them. And the medium picks up almost immediately that there is something special about Samantha, that she is perhaps a medium herself, though she’s never been trained. Samantha, who says loudly that ghosts don’t exist, harbors a secret that she has hallucinations and sometimes talks to people who turn out to be not really there.
Comments: I loved the first half of this book! It was everything I wanted in a ghost hunter book! A relatable main heroine (though a bit immature at times who oddly seemed to keep worrying about peeing her pants), a ghost hunting group that wasn’t strictly clinical about everything and had personality and relationships and interaction between the characters rather than just there to set up equipment and see the ghosts as a job. And I loved that it fully fleshed out the place, from the eerie grounds with the odd statues, to the crystal chandelier in a ballroom that looked like it was out of a Disney movie, to the hedge maze in the back. I loved that it investigated the rooms with Uncle Eric giving us a guided tour of the haunted history. And I loved the scene with the ravens in the beginning! And I loved all of the eye rolling she did when Eric was being theatrical and talking for the camera. I kind of wished she’d interact more with the ghost hunting guys to flesh them out more. I mean, for being her crush of three years, she practically avoided Daniel and probably only said a sentence or two to Randall. The characters other than Sam and the dog felt a bit not fully fleshed out.
So, why didn’t I give this a full five stars? At about halfway, the book turns into being more imagery, and dreamlike, full of visions, I had trouble telling when Sam was hallucinating vs haunting, and it felt like the book lost having a foothold in reality. Almost like the entire thing was a dream. And because of that, the second half of the book didn’t feel real, like any of it was really happening, and not much of it made any sense with it being a mess of different images all happening together. The whole concept of seams felt hokey and too cut-and-dry especially with various people using that same term. And I had a hard time accepting the idea that Sam saw ghosts, like the little girl, and visions, and yet was still denying that she saw ghosts not just to people but in her own head where she was trying to make up excuses for why she saw this and that relatively late into the book. I did like the ending wrap up and liked that this story actually came to a close, and wouldn’t mind following the surviving characters on to another book, but from the description it sounds like the same demented, perverted ghost is back for another adventure and more delving into the hokey concept of seams, and it sounds like the ghost hunting doesn’t continue either, so I’m passing on continuing with the series.
4 stars
Category: Young Adult
Summary: Teenager Samantha Drake is sent off to spend the weeklong vacation time with her uncle Eric who stars in a ghost hunting show with his couple of friends. They rent a boat to take them to a castle, supposedly haunted by a rich serial killer, on a remote island where they will stay for a week until the boat rental company comes back to pick them up. Samantha groans when she realizes there’s no cell phone coverage to the island. This time around, the ghost hunter group has invited a medium to join them. And the medium picks up almost immediately that there is something special about Samantha, that she is perhaps a medium herself, though she’s never been trained. Samantha, who says loudly that ghosts don’t exist, harbors a secret that she has hallucinations and sometimes talks to people who turn out to be not really there.
Comments: I loved the first half of this book! It was everything I wanted in a ghost hunter book! A relatable main heroine (though a bit immature at times who oddly seemed to keep worrying about peeing her pants), a ghost hunting group that wasn’t strictly clinical about everything and had personality and relationships and interaction between the characters rather than just there to set up equipment and see the ghosts as a job. And I loved that it fully fleshed out the place, from the eerie grounds with the odd statues, to the crystal chandelier in a ballroom that looked like it was out of a Disney movie, to the hedge maze in the back. I loved that it investigated the rooms with Uncle Eric giving us a guided tour of the haunted history. And I loved the scene with the ravens in the beginning! And I loved all of the eye rolling she did when Eric was being theatrical and talking for the camera. I kind of wished she’d interact more with the ghost hunting guys to flesh them out more. I mean, for being her crush of three years, she practically avoided Daniel and probably only said a sentence or two to Randall. The characters other than Sam and the dog felt a bit not fully fleshed out.
So, why didn’t I give this a full five stars? At about halfway, the book turns into being more imagery, and dreamlike, full of visions, I had trouble telling when Sam was hallucinating vs haunting, and it felt like the book lost having a foothold in reality. Almost like the entire thing was a dream. And because of that, the second half of the book didn’t feel real, like any of it was really happening, and not much of it made any sense with it being a mess of different images all happening together. The whole concept of seams felt hokey and too cut-and-dry especially with various people using that same term. And I had a hard time accepting the idea that Sam saw ghosts, like the little girl, and visions, and yet was still denying that she saw ghosts not just to people but in her own head where she was trying to make up excuses for why she saw this and that relatively late into the book. I did like the ending wrap up and liked that this story actually came to a close, and wouldn’t mind following the surviving characters on to another book, but from the description it sounds like the same demented, perverted ghost is back for another adventure and more delving into the hokey concept of seams, and it sounds like the ghost hunting doesn’t continue either, so I’m passing on continuing with the series.
November 7, 2021
Book Review: Hela Takes a Holiday
Hela Takes a Holiday by Rebekah Lewis
4 stars
Category: Adult
Note: Novella-length. I read this as included in the A Roguish Christmas.
Summary: Hela, the Norse goddess entrusted with running the Underworld, wants a vacation. She yearns to experience the things that a human does: she wants to eat human food, she wants to see some place other than Nifleheim, she wants to fall in love, she wants to grow old with someone, and she wants them to genuinely love her for her and not because she’s a goddess, and she wants to do it all without her father, Loki’s, interference. When she arrives in the human world, the leader of the village pushes his son, Bjorn into marrying her.
Comments: Being a Wintertime romance, there isn’t much in the way of surprise here. They’re pushed together because of convenience, and they fall in love (thankfully it’s not instantaneous and does actually take a couple of days for the two to realize their love). The only surprising parts were really Loki playing tricks on everyone and the fact that the Underworld needs a ruler who isn’t Loki to maintain it so that all hell doesn’t break loose (for Loki fans, I did love the appearance of the Norse god in this and his wonderful trickster nature messing with Bjorn and the villagers. He’s not straight out of the Marvel movies, nor is he straight out of the mythology books). There wasn’t much in this that was actually “Christmas” (for being in a Christmas Anthology, I was expecting a bit more to the Christmas theme than just being set in the deep of winter and a Yule log burning.) I was really hoping for more personality from Hela. She’s a rather listless character in this. She’s a damsel-in-distress who just goes along with things, and that’s why Bjorn goes for her. Because he’s tired of all of the shield maidens vying for his hand. While I’m tired of all the tough chicks, too, Hela felt very one-dimensional. There wasn’t anything to her outside of her being the Goddess of the Underworld and her being a woman in love. Did she have any likes and dislikes? None that I saw. Bjorn, too was rather one-dimensional. He was the typical muscle and trying to deny himself like all of the other indie male romance interests. I did love that this was set in ancient times and took the story seriously. After reading the Monsters in the Dark series and the sample of Gods & Monsters, I was worried this would be a humorous cozy, which I’m honestly very tired of since those never feel remotely real. Right now with the Marvel movies, the Norse gods are in fashion and this isn’t the first romance starring Hela that I’ve run across. Though while reading this, I kept wondering what happened to Baldr, Hela’s companion in the underworld.
4 stars
Category: Adult
Note: Novella-length. I read this as included in the A Roguish Christmas.
Summary: Hela, the Norse goddess entrusted with running the Underworld, wants a vacation. She yearns to experience the things that a human does: she wants to eat human food, she wants to see some place other than Nifleheim, she wants to fall in love, she wants to grow old with someone, and she wants them to genuinely love her for her and not because she’s a goddess, and she wants to do it all without her father, Loki’s, interference. When she arrives in the human world, the leader of the village pushes his son, Bjorn into marrying her.
Comments: Being a Wintertime romance, there isn’t much in the way of surprise here. They’re pushed together because of convenience, and they fall in love (thankfully it’s not instantaneous and does actually take a couple of days for the two to realize their love). The only surprising parts were really Loki playing tricks on everyone and the fact that the Underworld needs a ruler who isn’t Loki to maintain it so that all hell doesn’t break loose (for Loki fans, I did love the appearance of the Norse god in this and his wonderful trickster nature messing with Bjorn and the villagers. He’s not straight out of the Marvel movies, nor is he straight out of the mythology books). There wasn’t much in this that was actually “Christmas” (for being in a Christmas Anthology, I was expecting a bit more to the Christmas theme than just being set in the deep of winter and a Yule log burning.) I was really hoping for more personality from Hela. She’s a rather listless character in this. She’s a damsel-in-distress who just goes along with things, and that’s why Bjorn goes for her. Because he’s tired of all of the shield maidens vying for his hand. While I’m tired of all the tough chicks, too, Hela felt very one-dimensional. There wasn’t anything to her outside of her being the Goddess of the Underworld and her being a woman in love. Did she have any likes and dislikes? None that I saw. Bjorn, too was rather one-dimensional. He was the typical muscle and trying to deny himself like all of the other indie male romance interests. I did love that this was set in ancient times and took the story seriously. After reading the Monsters in the Dark series and the sample of Gods & Monsters, I was worried this would be a humorous cozy, which I’m honestly very tired of since those never feel remotely real. Right now with the Marvel movies, the Norse gods are in fashion and this isn’t the first romance starring Hela that I’ve run across. Though while reading this, I kept wondering what happened to Baldr, Hela’s companion in the underworld.
October 30, 2021
Book Review: Lucky Strike (Her Super Harem - Book 1)
Lucky Strike (Her Super Harem – Book 1) by Catherine Banks
4 stars
Category: Adult
Summary: Lucy, the girlfriend of superhero Cobalt, finds out as he’s rescuing her from villain Transistor, that he actually rescued another girl first and that he was dating her as well. She breaks up with him, only to have a rookie kidnapper not get the memo that Cobalt wasn’t coming for her as she’s dangling over a vat of radioactive goo. She finds herself submerged in the goo before she’s rescued, oddly by her ex-boyfriend’s nemesis Transistor and a new superhero. She’s whisked away to the Superhero Association where they find that the goo has given her superpowers, able to electroshock people. Now imbued with superpowers, she is accepted into the Association and sent on missions, and befriends other superheroes. And after her fizzled relationship, she’s none too eager for commitment, and suggests that she would like to play the field and date several guys rather than just one.
Comments: I loved the beginning sample of this book! I adored that line where Lucy was unconscious and she could hear the hero who was rescuing her ask villain Transistor who was also on the scene attempting to help, “What are you even doing here? You’re a villain.” I just adored the idea of the girl having to change her way of thinking of heroes and villains to accept the idea of a romance with a villain. That’s the book I really wanted to read with a lot of superhero action and rescues starring a powerful superheroine who wasn’t a clone of either Black Widow or Scarlet Witch with a bit of romance in it. I was okay with the idea of a reverse harem since I loved the idea of the villain having to join a team of heroes and work together with them and I really wanted to see their different personalities clash or work together. And the “villain” does get top billing of the guys she’s interested in. But the other guys don’t have much in the way of personalities, like they had been added in as a second through after most of the book had been written to market on the reverse harem trend. In actuality, this book isn’t a reverse harem. It’s wrongly marketed to claim that it is. What it is, is a girl dating several guys, on their own, and not together in a group. Harems are supposed to be done as a team, together. And when she gets called out during an interview for dating several guys at the same time, she throws a childish temper tantrum. I kid you not. It made me embarrassed to call myself female. I honestly didn’t see why all of the guys were attracted to her, except that she was supposedly hot. Her personality really wasn’t developed much beyond being superficial, horny, and immature. I should probably mention that the “villain” isn’t really a villain. He’s more of a Batman vigilante. And I mean that other than his power set, it was like the author was just writing in the character of Batman and changing the name. Let’s see... his superhero name and alter ego both start with the same letter, he’s a famous handsome reclusive billionaire in charge of his own company, and he’s got an array of gadgets and inventions. What I really didn’t like was that Lucy broke up with Cobalt for dating a second girl at the same time as her, and for putting the other girl first. So what does she do? She dates several guys at the same time and then expects them all to be cool with the idea even though she’s totally doing to them what Cobalt did to her. Two wrongs don’t make a right. Not to mention once there was this scene where she was with one of the guys and a female superhero, and the two got attacked by robots, who did she jump to check on first? That’s right. The one who wasn’t her boyfriend. Pot. Kettle. Once I realized that I lost interest when she started looking at more guys beyond Transistor.
So, what was up with her name? Transistor calls her Lucy. But then the Association calls her Jen. I never did get why they called her that. There was absolutely no explanation. After a while, I started wondering if this book had been written by a guy. Because Lucy felt more like a caricature of a guy’s idealized girl or what he thinks girls are like. She thinks about sex constantly (though there really aren’t any graphic scenes in the book. There’s one scene that borders on it and another that actually cut away as they went into her room together. Like death scenes, if it’s not fully described, I don’t buy it as having happened). There was an odd conception that when girls get together they paint their nails. Each time Lucy hangs out with Alura, they’re painting nails, even if they got together just the previous night. I mean, seriously, how often does one really need to paint their nails. I can count on one hand how many times I’ve painted my nails over the last year while hanging out with other girls. Actually, I can’t since the number was zero. They also seemed to spend their time shopping and trying on clothes. OMG, stereotyping much? The relationships were the main focus of the book with the superhero scenes practically interchangeable and mostly written like outlines and not really described other than by actions. It was like fight group of robots here, fight monsters here, fight another group of robots here. There was this scene that read “I used my violet strike.” And that was the extent of describing what happened, almost like this was a video game and she just used a special attack without any graphics to go with it. When I buy superhero books, I want the focus to be on being a superhero, so I won’t be continuing with this series. Superheroes Anonymous by Lexi Dunne has a very similar opening concept with the superhero’s girlfriend breaking up with the hero and being attacked by someone who didn’t get the memo and gaining powers, but that one as opposed to this actually focused on her coming into her powers and her life as a superhero and didn’t have any scenes where she painted her nails.
4 stars
Category: Adult
Summary: Lucy, the girlfriend of superhero Cobalt, finds out as he’s rescuing her from villain Transistor, that he actually rescued another girl first and that he was dating her as well. She breaks up with him, only to have a rookie kidnapper not get the memo that Cobalt wasn’t coming for her as she’s dangling over a vat of radioactive goo. She finds herself submerged in the goo before she’s rescued, oddly by her ex-boyfriend’s nemesis Transistor and a new superhero. She’s whisked away to the Superhero Association where they find that the goo has given her superpowers, able to electroshock people. Now imbued with superpowers, she is accepted into the Association and sent on missions, and befriends other superheroes. And after her fizzled relationship, she’s none too eager for commitment, and suggests that she would like to play the field and date several guys rather than just one.
Comments: I loved the beginning sample of this book! I adored that line where Lucy was unconscious and she could hear the hero who was rescuing her ask villain Transistor who was also on the scene attempting to help, “What are you even doing here? You’re a villain.” I just adored the idea of the girl having to change her way of thinking of heroes and villains to accept the idea of a romance with a villain. That’s the book I really wanted to read with a lot of superhero action and rescues starring a powerful superheroine who wasn’t a clone of either Black Widow or Scarlet Witch with a bit of romance in it. I was okay with the idea of a reverse harem since I loved the idea of the villain having to join a team of heroes and work together with them and I really wanted to see their different personalities clash or work together. And the “villain” does get top billing of the guys she’s interested in. But the other guys don’t have much in the way of personalities, like they had been added in as a second through after most of the book had been written to market on the reverse harem trend. In actuality, this book isn’t a reverse harem. It’s wrongly marketed to claim that it is. What it is, is a girl dating several guys, on their own, and not together in a group. Harems are supposed to be done as a team, together. And when she gets called out during an interview for dating several guys at the same time, she throws a childish temper tantrum. I kid you not. It made me embarrassed to call myself female. I honestly didn’t see why all of the guys were attracted to her, except that she was supposedly hot. Her personality really wasn’t developed much beyond being superficial, horny, and immature. I should probably mention that the “villain” isn’t really a villain. He’s more of a Batman vigilante. And I mean that other than his power set, it was like the author was just writing in the character of Batman and changing the name. Let’s see... his superhero name and alter ego both start with the same letter, he’s a famous handsome reclusive billionaire in charge of his own company, and he’s got an array of gadgets and inventions. What I really didn’t like was that Lucy broke up with Cobalt for dating a second girl at the same time as her, and for putting the other girl first. So what does she do? She dates several guys at the same time and then expects them all to be cool with the idea even though she’s totally doing to them what Cobalt did to her. Two wrongs don’t make a right. Not to mention once there was this scene where she was with one of the guys and a female superhero, and the two got attacked by robots, who did she jump to check on first? That’s right. The one who wasn’t her boyfriend. Pot. Kettle. Once I realized that I lost interest when she started looking at more guys beyond Transistor.
So, what was up with her name? Transistor calls her Lucy. But then the Association calls her Jen. I never did get why they called her that. There was absolutely no explanation. After a while, I started wondering if this book had been written by a guy. Because Lucy felt more like a caricature of a guy’s idealized girl or what he thinks girls are like. She thinks about sex constantly (though there really aren’t any graphic scenes in the book. There’s one scene that borders on it and another that actually cut away as they went into her room together. Like death scenes, if it’s not fully described, I don’t buy it as having happened). There was an odd conception that when girls get together they paint their nails. Each time Lucy hangs out with Alura, they’re painting nails, even if they got together just the previous night. I mean, seriously, how often does one really need to paint their nails. I can count on one hand how many times I’ve painted my nails over the last year while hanging out with other girls. Actually, I can’t since the number was zero. They also seemed to spend their time shopping and trying on clothes. OMG, stereotyping much? The relationships were the main focus of the book with the superhero scenes practically interchangeable and mostly written like outlines and not really described other than by actions. It was like fight group of robots here, fight monsters here, fight another group of robots here. There was this scene that read “I used my violet strike.” And that was the extent of describing what happened, almost like this was a video game and she just used a special attack without any graphics to go with it. When I buy superhero books, I want the focus to be on being a superhero, so I won’t be continuing with this series. Superheroes Anonymous by Lexi Dunne has a very similar opening concept with the superhero’s girlfriend breaking up with the hero and being attacked by someone who didn’t get the memo and gaining powers, but that one as opposed to this actually focused on her coming into her powers and her life as a superhero and didn’t have any scenes where she painted her nails.
