Krys Fenner's Blog, page 8

Does ‘no’ really mean ‘no’?

Review of Reawakening by Lisa McCourt Hollar

I happen to be an avid reader of paranormal novels and I love them best when they take the usual and make them new. This novel does just that and it jumps right in to all the good stuff. Spoiler alert, continue at your own risk. The main character Francine believes she is living in a normal world, but easily accepts the supernatural surrounding her when she is bitten by a vampire and saved by an angel. (I’ll come back to that later.) Most myths say to become a vampire you have to be bitten by one and fed their blood. Now, I have also read a series where you are either born a vampire or not, you just transition when you turn about twenty-five. This author alters the myth and little and makes it so that a vampire can turn a human, but has to bite them three times to complete the transformation. Each bite of course creates a stronger link between the vampire and human/soon-to-be-vampire. Now initially the vampire, ironically named Hunter, intends to kill Francine, but for reasons I won’t reveal doesn’t.  As Francine discovers she is actually surrounded by angels, werewolves, vampires, psychics, evil-spirits, seers (or so I will call them) and witches, she not only begins to understand herself, but her life. This was a wonderfully written and exciting first book to the series. I look forward to seeing what develops.

On a side note, I also happened to love the humor. I myself I have cracked a joke or two in my own work about the sparkling vampire. I happened to love the fact that the angel sparkled.

Get Punished in the New Year

Things happen. Sometimes life gets in the way of the best laid out plans. And things just don’t go your way. This is kind of what is going on with Punished. It was originally scheduled to release on December 5, 2014, but due to circumstances has been pushed back to release January 2015. Punished will be my focus for the remainder of the year as I research a few things and get the last edits completed. After which I will be pouring all of my attention to Addicted. I believe things that happen in Addicted will answer some of the questions that have popped up from Destroyed.

If you haven’t gotten a copy of Destroyed yet, it is available for purchase and 10% of all purchases will be donated to the Women’s Center of Jacksonville. You can help a survivor of rape get counseling.

Check the organization out at http://www.womenscenterofjax.org

Giveaway – Win a Free Signed Copy of Destroyed

 

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Destroyed



by Krys Fenner

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Destroyed, Punished, Addicted, and Betrayed

Sounds like a bad day, right? It isn’t. Destroyed, Punished, and Betrayed are the first three novels in my Dark Road Series. There is some time that takes place between Punished and Betrayed. As I start working on the outline for Betrayed, it occurred to me that there was a lot that takes place between the two novels. So I wondered if it could be included in Betrayed. I thought more about that, especially when I experienced something similar with Punished. That is when I decided I had to put the information together so it couldn’t be disputed and I came up with Addicted. Now, I don’t plan on it being a novel, but instead a novella. I really only see certain things that have to be included, so it should take half the length of a normal novel. I’m figuring between 100 -150 pages. Now, I haven’t discussed this with my publisher, but I feel like she will be on board. Are you?

If you want to start this series, Destroyed is available for purchase. Click here for purchase. Punished releases December 5, 2014.

Review of A Life, Redefined by Tracy Hewitt Meyer

I am a hard critic. I am difficult to please. And I am bluntly honest. Anyone who knows me will tell you this. I have a standard in life and in books. And I expect it to be met, even with books I review. I was given this novel in exchange for an honest review and for the first time, I can say I am pleased. I ABSOLUTELY loved, loved this book. A Life, Redefined is the first in the Rowan Slone series and it was a well-written, well-developed, and had a cliff-hanger that kept me fully involved. In fact I was only scheduled to review the first novel in the series on this blog tour, but I read all three in two days. I was hooked and I simply could not put the series down. I had to know what happened. I give all three books a 5 star rating. Spoilers ahead, continue at your own risk.

 

  

A Life, Redefined is the first novel in the Rowan Slone series. Rowan Slone has had a rather difficult life. She is hated by her own family, blamed for her brother’s death, and pretty much surviving as an outcast. A moment of possible happiness pops up in her life when she gets partnered for a Biology project with Mike Anderson and he asks her to the prom. Her sliver doesn’t last long. In fact, her sister turns up pregnant and claims Mike as the father. Just when things can’t get worse, Rowan’s sister says Mike raped her.

There were so many things I loved about this book. I loved the way Meyer pulled all the issues into one novel, but left nothing uncovered (teen pregnancy, false rape allegations, miscarriage, cutting, a suicide attempt, feelings of being unloved and unwanted, guilt, blame, shame and so much more). It is told from Rowan’s point of view, so you get a full glimpse into how she sees everything. Yet at the same time, there were secrets of hers that weren’t immediately revealed. Throughout the novel, she talks about how she wears jeans, long sleeves, and a hoodie with ARMY written across the front. Right away, we find out she used to be a cutter and nobody knows. Not even her best friend Jess. We don’t know how bad this is, until things go from bad to worse. Then her struggle becomes more prominent for the reader. By the end of the novel, she has cut several more times and still people don’t know. A ton of issues were touched on in A Life, Redefined. Meyer did a beautiful job of pulling me into Rowan’s feelings. I could easily explore and understand everything she felt as she tried to figure things out and have a functional life. By the time I put this book down, I was ready to read the second in the series. I was hooked.

I pretty much felt the same when I read the second book, A Life, Forward. I think the only difference between A Life, Forward and A Life, Redefined was that I felt so much more connected to Rowan in the second book. In fact, in one of the scenes when she is sobbing, I cried a little with her. At this point, we now know Rowan didn’t kill her brother, her mother did. Her mother has gone to jail and it is alluded that she is serving a life sentence. Rowan mentions she believes her mother will spend the rest of her life in jail, but there is nothing that directly confirms she will. I’ll come back to this because I see this as a key point in the third novel as well. Mike and Rowan are dating, he has graduated high school and left for college. She is now in her senior year. Her dad left. Her sister Trina is on drugs and Rowan hasn’t forgiven her grandmother for keeping her mother’s secret (that she killed Rowan’s brother). Rowan has moved out of her family home and moved in with Mike’s parents.

Again, things start happening. Her dad shows back up, not only asking for forgiveness, but also dying from lung cancer. Rowan’s shock didn’t surprise me. The fact that she hadn’t forgiven her father for his lack of love and for the physical abuse was understandable. Then for all of that to be dropped in her lap? This was likely more heart-wrenching for me because my own mother was diagnosed with cancer three years ago. Thankfully, unlike Rowan’s father, it was caught early. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Rowan’s father. When it seems Rowan and her father might find a way to connect, he dies. Just after her father’s death, Mike discovers Rowan’s cutting. They get into an argument the day of the funeral and break up a day or two later. I can understand how heart-breaking this could be. To top things off, she still doesn’t know how to handle things, then Mike’s mother accuses her of using drugs. This doesn’t even include that she is trying to be there for her best friend who finds out she’s four months pregnant. Meyer’s did another great job with covering every raw emotion that Rowan could possibly feel. Despite all the bad things and the loss of her father, I love that Rowan figures out a way to start healing. Something she doesn’t really conclude she needs until the third book, A life, Freed.

On her own for the first time, Rowan Slone is no longer waiting for the future. She’s living in the present, and relishing every minute of it. She has a new boyfriend. She is helping best friend, Jess, raise her five-month-old son, Jacob. And she continues to work as Assistant Manager at the animal shelter-all while settling into her first semester of college. Rowan’s stars are aligned and she’s not looking back.

But all is not as golden as it seems. Being a young mother is too much for Jess to handle, leaving Rowan to shoulder much of the burden of raising Jacob. Trina becomes involved in a religious cult causing Rowan to fear she may have lost her sister forever. And her mother has a new psychiatrist whose goal is to get Rowan into therapy, forcing her to deal with her mother, and the past, once and for all.

Adding to the rising turmoil, Rowan’s first love, Mike Anderson, returns, and wants to see her. She is surprised how much she wants to see him too. But his sudden reappearance makes her wonder if there is room in her future for the boy with the pine-colored eyes or is it too little, too late?

As the winds begin to stir, threatening to send Rowan’s carefully-built life into a tailspin, she must search deep inside herself to discover what she truly wants. Will soul-searching help her achieve that elusive sense of peace and family she’s always craved or will the pain of the past prove too great?

A Life, Freed just released. I will tell you my thoughts, but I won’t give away much in the way of spoilers. By the end of the second novel, Rowan has been accepted into a nearby college. She has graduated high school, found an apartment for herself and her best friend Jess, and gotten a tattoo to cover up the scars from her cutting. In the beginning of the third novel, Jess’s son is now five months old, she shares an apartment with Rowan who still helps out with the baby. Rowan is in college and dating a new guy, Shane. Everything stirs up when Mike sends Rowan a text asking if they can get together while he’s in town and Jess decides parenthood is just too much and takes off. Despite having a new boyfriend, Rowan’s feelings for Mike have not changed. Neither have his. Something they both have to figure out how to handle. What I loved was that by the end, Rowan accepted what people had been suggesting all along. When she finally realizes she does need to heal and can’t do it on her own. I commend Meyer because this is something a lot of people (not just teenagers) struggle with. I myself have been in that position. And it takes a great deal of courage to admit when you need help.

When I finished the second novel, I realized these three books reminded me of another set of books I had once read (After the Leaves Fall, Summer Snow, Beneath the Night Tree by Nicole Baart). I loved them the way I love these.

If you would like a chance to win the first novel, there is an E-book giveaway for 5 copies. Click here to enter.

I mentioned I would come back to the Mom issue. The third book covers a lot, but since it isn’t confirmed Rowan’s mother will in fact be in jail for the rest of her life, I wonder if there is the possibility of another book. While Rowan deals with a lot of stuff, her relationship with her mother does go unresolved. Something to think about.

I Lost My Virginity At The Rocky Horror Picture Show

For those who are Rocky Horror fans, you understand exactly what I mean. If you don’t, that is okay. I’m going to explain. A few weeks ago, my sister, a friend of ours and I were shopping. My sister saw online that a theatre here in Jacksonville would be showing the Rocky Horror Picture Show. They said they would like to go, I said I had never been. The look on their faces was priceless. You would have thought I just told them I was a virgin. Oh wait, I did. If you have never seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show in a theatre or Live you are considered a virgin. And yes you will be tortured (to a degree). That was part of what had kept me from going before because the opportunity has been there, but I had heard so many horror stories (no pun intended) about how they treated virgins. I had decided that wasn’t for me. Now, my sister is not the type of person to let things go. Not to mention I have gotten over my fear of being identified as a virgin. Needless to say, we went. So, last Saturday I lost my virginity at the Rocky Horror Picture Show. And it was a blast!

 

 

Like many fans, my sister and I dressed in costume. She went as Magenta and I went as Columbia. Unfortunately, my hair didn’t quite turn out red. The red hair color spray wouldn’t stick. My hair is too dark. So I went without. I just wore my hair down. I wore a black lace tank, short black shorts, and black tights. Before we went in I added red fishnet elbow length gloves. Originally I planned to wear a red corset I had purchased over 10 years ago and even though I squeezed into it, I would not have been able to wear it comfortably for the night.

First thing, we get the live version of Brad Major (asshole) and Janet Weiss (slut) in their underwear freaked out by where they are and an awesome Dr. Frank N. Furter (hotdog).  After the Sweet Transvestites from Transexual Transylvania were introduced, they called for all the virgins in the house. I did raise my hand (amongst the many other virgins), but they only selected 10 of the best dressed to go up on stage. I guess I wasn’t dressed or enthusiastic enough to be called. In some way, I’m relieved. They turned Old McDonald Had a Farm into something sexual. OMG! It became Frank N. Furter (Hotdog!) Had a Farm and when you got to the E-I-E-I-oh … the oh turned into your best farm animal orgasm. Of course everyone picked their farm animal ahead of time. In my mind, I picked a horse. That would have been weird. I think the chick who won was a lamb. Go figure. I can say this, it sure was FUN to watch. Especially since one of our friends was one of the virgins up there. I wasn’t the only one in our group. In fact, of the five of us, three were virgins. Lot of fucking virgins.

Regardless, I had a great time. I didn’t know all the lines to say and the props the theatre gave were okay. We all got covered with confetti from throwing it at the weddings. Then there was the toast. And the card of wisdom. Plus the newspaper, but no water guns. Damn. Or light! We had to cheat and use the light from our phones. I feel like I’m missing something … oh yeah, the noisemaker! Those were cheap so they didn’t work all that well. My sister complained hers was broken. But truthfully there were a few things that made this experience great! Good company, THE TIME WARP (Let’s do the Time Warp again!/ It’s just a jump to the left/ Then a step to the right/ And put your hands on your hips/ Pull your knees in tight/ And its the pelvic thrust/ That really drives them insane), and the guy who yelled out as many funny lines as he could. If you have never gone, I suggest you go, dress up, and just have fun. Next time, I’m dressing as Dr. Frank N Furter (even though he dies).

For now, let’s get into the time slip and DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN! (Click Me) 

“Yes Means Yes”

For years we have supported the “No Means NO” policy. I remember hearing about this when I was growing up, especially as I got into my teen years. The idea was for young women and young men to understand that they had the right to say “no” to any sexual advances they did not want. Unfortunately, “no” isn’t so simple any more. Now, rapists are using this policy against their victims. If the victim didn’t verbally say “no” then they wanted it and that just isn’t true. The silent “no” does exist, doesn’t it?

Like me, you are probably saying “yes” it does exist. Just not in the mind of a rapist and sadly that carries beyond the attacker. It carries on to friends, family and yes even juries. It no longer matters if the victim freezes in place and allows the attacker to do what they want. Forget about the fact that they may have frozen out of mere fear for their life. So what if the victim was passed out? And let’s not forget my favorite – the victim doesn’t remember. How can you forget something so traumatic? No one wants to consider the obvious answer: drugs. It happens!

Instead of “No Means NO,” let’s try a new policy. “Yes Means YES.” It takes away the silent “no.” If she/he didn’t say yes, then they didn’t consent. It is just that simple.

Check out this article for more information: http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/09/05/opinion/michael-kimmel-and-gloria-steinem-on-consensual-sex-on-campus.html?ref=opinion&_r=2&referrer

Review of Bad Dreams by Brantwijn Serrah

When I offered to read and post an honest review of Bad Dreams, the author asked me if I was okay reading Paranormal Erotica/Dark Erotica. I happen to be a huge fan of Black Dagger Brotherhood and I role-played when I was younger. Of course, I told them I had no issues. Unfortunately, I felt like I ran into nothing, but issues with Bad Dreams. The title is apt because this almost seems like a bad dream.

The truth is I expected so much more than I got. I had not realized this was 22 pages. I truly thought this was intended as a novel, not a short story. And unfortunately, not all short stories can stand alone by themselves. This is one of them. My suggestion to the author is to consider including this a collection of short stories that all reference back to the series.

Spoilers included, continue reading at your own risk. The story jumps right into the issue of Priya and her inability to sleep because this unknown force shows up in her dreams and seduces her. We get to skip through most of the length of time these dreams have been going on. The story goes into where she realizes she enjoys these erotic moments at night. Like I said I have no problem with Paranormal Erotica, but I felt like this was all Erotica and some non-existent Paranormal. Everything is seen through Priya’s eyes, we only known as much as she does. We see the creature and its tentacles when she does. We see its fangs when she does (at which point I assumed this was a vampire, which is not correct). This is the problem I run into. With it all from her point of view, we have no information or access to this creature at all. What is this creature? (I didn’t know it was an Incubus until the author told me). What about Priya did this creature find attractive? Why did this incubus choose her? Why did the creature want to change her? How did he become an incubus?

These aren’t the only questions I found I had. I wanted to know more about Priya too. Her love life with her husband is described as basically bland and boring. The indication is that it has always been like that. So why did she marry him? Was she settling when she did? Or was she okay with what she had at the time? Which then makes me wonder what time period this story is set in? There isn’t enough information in the novel to clue me into any answers to these questions.

So far, you get the idea. A lot of questions and no answers. This was my major problem. By the time I got to the end of the story, I was like – that’s it? I said it before and I’ll say it again. I wanted more. No pun intended. Overall, I give this a 3 out of 5 stars.

Domestic Violence: Review of Alyssa’s Redemption

I have mixed feelings over this novel. I loved the story idea, but I found the writing difficult. Let me rewind a moment. Amongst my packing, I decided I needed a break and decided to read a book. The problem was I had already packed all of them, but I still had my nook. It had been so long since I read anything on my nook, I didn’t remember if there was anything I hadn’t read on it. Lo and behold there was. I had downloaded the first part of Alyssa’s Redemption, but I hadn’t read any of it. If you search the novel on Amazon for Kindles or B&N for Nook, the first part is free. It will say “Part One” where as this copy is the entire novel and says “Book One.”

So I lay down and I read the first part. About 111 pages. I liked the story. Alyssa has survived abuse from her ex-boyfriend and is now working in a crappy bar for a horrible boss just to make ends meet. I applaud the author for the worthy tale. Especially when her ex-boyfriend’s brother buys the bar. Not only is she forced to confront a strong attraction to the brother, but she is also forced to deal with the events that transpired between her and her ex-boyfriend, Eric. Unfortunately, her Eric reappears and goes after Alyssa. What makes all of this worse is while she is falling in love with Cameron (the brother), they find out Eric has a tumor and Alyssa has been given Power of Attorney over his medical decisions. Once the tumor is out, Eric wakes up with amnesia. He doesn’t recall anything that happened between him and Alyssa and she has to play the role of the loving, doting girlfriend. Admirably, Alyssa deals with all the emotions she has let build and control her life. As I said, this was a great story. I would very much like to read the next part of the series, but I haven’t found it.

And this is where I come into my problems. The writing wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t great. I felt like this story could have been so much stronger than how it came out. The other issue I had, which I have with any novel, is the flip between point of views with no break. Only Faulkner has ever done this well. I perfectly understand telling a story from the viewpoint of multiple characters. It should either flow and continue throughout the story at all times or break up the viewpoints. This did not occur and made the book very confusing at times. I got tired of keeping track, so I stopped. I read it as best I could.

All in all, I would give Alyssa’s Redemption 3 out of 5 stars.