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Red August

H.L. Brooks (Goodreads Author)

4.15 · Rating details · 34 ratings · 9 reviews

What if you found out that you were descended from a long line of clandestine fighters, and that your family was still at war? Or that the love of your life was something other than human?

August Archer thinks she's a normal teenage girl—even though she has been having disturbing and erotic dreams about werewolves lately. Still grieving over the loss of her bookish, ...more

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Published August 19th 2015 by Smashwords Edition

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Sep 13, 2015 Dianne rated it really liked it

Shelves: author-requested-review, coming-of-age, fantasy-re-telling, fantasy-romance, own

What if Little Red Riding Hood was a hormonal, teenaged girl with sexual fantasies about boys and men, starring her as the main dish to be desired? What if there was more to those dreams than the musings of a teen? August and her mom have faced the loss of her father and will be moving to his old family home, which stands empty now with her grandmother in a nursing center. Enter Faolan, the handsome, older man in a kilt. Yep, In. A. Kilt. Refined, mature and with an accent, and In. A. Kilt. who ...more

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Aug 28, 2015 Sandra rated it really liked it

Original Review Posted @ http://sandrathebookworm.blogspot.com...

The author was kind enough to provide me with a copy of her book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, this Red Riding Hood retelling is very different and I loved it! I can' wait for the next book in the series especially with that ending. August is going through a hard time her dad just passed away and she's moving away to a new town where she knows no one. It is there where she meets her mysterious next door neighbor Faolan, ...more

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Nov 08, 2016 Natasha Lane rated it liked it

This novel breaks from the typical YA paranormal romance. Not only is it darker (which I appreciate so much) but it's definitely R-rated. Too often YA para-rom novels are covered by the perceived "teen innocence." Because the author didn't sugar coat her characters sexual desires it came off more realistic and that was a breath of fresh air after reading the same old, same old.

Additionally, the main character, August, is both likeable and relateable. She's sweet, yet a little awkward. She's This novel breaks from the typical YA paranormal romance. Not only is it darker (which I appreciate so much) but it's definitely R-rated. Too often YA para-rom novels are covered by the perceived "teen innocence." Because the author didn't sugar coat her characters sexual desires it came off more realistic and that was a breath of fresh air after reading the same old, same old.

Additionally, the main character, August, is both likeable and relateable. She's sweet, yet a little awkward. She's curious, yet cautious. She loves reading and has such a big heart! Her greatest desire is to have at least one good friend which is hard to come by in the teen years. In so many ways, August is just your typical teen girl trying to figure life out with outreached arms.

Also, August is such a modern character. From being bisexual to having an average body type that she embraces, August is self-love, sexuality, authenticity, and kindness wrapped into a badass package. I love how the author made it blatantly obvious that August was not the "ideal" body type. She was both curvy and a little thick-a combination that is still overshadowed by the pencil thin heroine or overly curved (yet always thinned) heroine found in novels too often.

All in all, I loved this novel. The concept is amazing; yes, even for a a fairy tale re-telling. There are so many twists, turns, and gasp moments! You'll love it, however, I have to admit that the writing left something to be desired in my opinion. The novel had a lot of telling versus showing, meaning that the author would often tell me how characters felt or what a character was thinking versus using her words to let us (readers) catch on.

I also did not like the beginning. We were tossed into the action so quickly and I am one to let the plot develop. Additionally, I think some basic information was misplaced. I did not know the story was taking place in the 80's until I was a little over 30 pages in. There were also points I thought were repetitive like when something would happen in the story and then the main character would re-tell what happened in her journal. The journaling was interesting because we got a better understanding of August but when she would repeat exactly what the author had just written it seemed silly.

Finally, I will admit, the age difference in the love interest did make me a little uneasy in the beginning. There was a lot of sexual desire going around,especially in the beginning, so perhaps the introduction of the male was at the wrong time. I will say the author did not make the characters hop in bed and go at it immediately. I think she knew the age difference could be a little off putting, so she slowed it down a lot (which I loved) and gave the relationship a chance to develop more naturally. The relationship was also a little awkward because August's dialogue changed so much. With her mom and friends she talks like a typical teen girl. With Faolan (the love interest) she fluffs her words up. Even in the letters they exchanged, her language was more like someone from the 19th century. The author later tried to explain August's doubt about dating an older man contributing to her change inn behavior but it was already after the fact. It also seemed like some parts of the novel were forced which made it a little hard to read. I think the manuscript could have done with a few more edits.

However, this book is still worth the buy! Yes, sometimes the writing bothered me, but the story is so good. You'll love the characters and the plot. More pros than cons.
...more

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Sep 21, 2015 Stephanie (Reading is Better With Cupcakes) rated it really liked it

Shelves: new-adult, paranormal, read-2015, romance, scifi-fantasy

As I have stated before, I love reading retellings of fairytales. However, some fairytales get retold more often than others. Some over done. So I was really excited to find one that is a retelling of the Little Red Ridinghood story. I personally haven't come across too many of them, so I was ready to jump right in!

This is the story about August and her journey of discovery. Throughout the course of the story she realizes that she really doesn't know much about herself or her family.

This story As I have stated before, I love reading retellings of fairytales. However, some fairytales get retold more often than others. Some over done. So I was really excited to find one that is a retelling of the Little Red Ridinghood story. I personally haven't come across too many of them, so I was ready to jump right in!

This is the story about August and her journey of discovery. Throughout the course of the story she realizes that she really doesn't know much about herself or her family.

This story starts off with August and her mom packing up all of their belongings to move into August's grandmothers house. August's father recently passed away and they had decided it would be a good idea to go live near her grandmother, where her father grew up, for awhile.

August has to start a new school. She is a couple years more advanced, so she is the younger in her class and has never quite fit in. It is no different at her new school. Actually, it is even worse. One of the most popular boys starts picking on her for no apparent reason and the situation escalates really quickly.

Eventually August meets her mysterious neighbor Faolan. She is drawn to this super sexy stranger and cannot help but find herself thinking about him. However, he is very hesitant to get close to her. If only August knew what can of worms she was opening when she decided to pursue friendship (and hopefully more) with this man.

In the beginning August is pretty much just an extremely horny 16 year old. She has a few erotic dreams about a wolf man and needs to pleasure herself a little too often. Now, I am not against steamy sexy scenes at all, but I do think there is a time and place for them in the story. In the beginning I think a lot of this could have been left out. I don't really think it helped with character or story development. A good bit of it felt misplaced and/or unneeded. This is especially the case when it would be mentioned that August would pleasure herself to sleep.

Thankfully, that all ended up calming down at a point and it became more about the story and not just some girls erotic dreams and unquenchable need for an intimate touch. I really loved the story. Though I thought the beginning was a bit rocky, at some point the story really smoothed out and found its groove. I found myself really enjoying the characters. I had no problem imagining a different voice for each of them in my head as I read along.

As far as character development went, I thought it went about very nicely in the long run. At first I was really annoyed with the character of August. I thought she was a horn down who needed to have a man in her life and that she needed a lot of positive attention. She was very insecure, always wondering if men found her attractive etc. I was happy to see this start to ebb away. It gives me a lot of hope for her in the future.

I also cannot wait to delve further into the other characters. Each one of them has a pretty mysterious backstory that we only begin to touch upon in this story. I am also looking forward to relationships growing and changing.

This is definitely a series that I will be impatiently waiting for the next book to come out.

This review is based on a copy provided by the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Find more of my reviews here:
http://readingwithcupcakes.blogspot.com/ ...more

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Aug 10, 2015 K rated it it was amazing

The author was kind enough to provide me with a free copy of Red August in exchange for an honest review. This book is a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, and it is the first in a series. :)

Plot
The story revolves around August Archer, who is just your average teenage girl - that is, until she finds out about her rather extraordinary family history. Still coping with the loss of her father, she is forced to confront facts which seem a lot more like fiction, while at the same time struggling The author was kind enough to provide me with a free copy of Red August in exchange for an honest review. This book is a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, and it is the first in a series. :)

Plot
The story revolves around August Archer, who is just your average teenage girl - that is, until she finds out about her rather extraordinary family history. Still coping with the loss of her father, she is forced to confront facts which seem a lot more like fiction, while at the same time struggling with her own insecurities. I felt that the plot was incredibly original, especially considering the copious amount of literature that has already been written about werewolves. Being a fairy-tale retelling, you'd think that this book would be predictable. However, the two stories have little in common, except for a few clever details tying them together. Red August was unlike anything I have ever read - from start to finish, it was gripping, and I can't wait to read Book 2!

Characters
From the minute that August Archer picked the biggest slice of birthday cake with a huge icing rose on it, I knew that I was going to love her. I absolutely adored August's character, because she was so easy to relate to!
"Sometimes I don't feel that I could be all that interesting, and then we have an intense discussion or I hear myself say something witty and charming and I realize, hey I am worth something."
This was one of my favorite quotes, and it perfectly sums up how I feel a lot of the time! Being a teenager myself, I could completely relate to the insecurities, the first day of school jitters, and the struggle to fit in. Her love of literature and writing is another thing that really helped me connect with her. The other characters were really great too! (view spoiler) And Faolan! Words can not describe how charming he is! Brigid, Abel and Sorcha were amazing too, and of course I can't forget Snow!

Style
What really made this book so special was HL Brooks' amazing style of writing! The way she structures her sentences and strings together words is just so unique that you can't help being drawn in! The descriptions were incredibly vivid - I could practically feel everything that was being narrated, and only a handful of authors can accomplish that! There was some explicit content, but it was presented so well that it came across as elegant. Despite being graphic, the sex-scenes were seriously classy.

All in all, I really loved Red August! There was romance, suspense, humor - a little something for everybody. In particular, I'd recommend this book to older teenage girls, who are up for a great fantasy read with super-relatable characters and don't mind a little steaminess.
I can't wait to read Book 2! ...more

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Nov 04, 2015 Margaret rated it really liked it

I’m always down for a modern twist on a fairy tale. I LOVE Grimm Fairy Tales! Seriously, LOVE- one of my favorite things to read are modern tales based on the old tales. Which is why I chose to read this book- it did not disappoint!
Most books are hard to get into or they don’t capture your attention right away, well, this book is NOT like that! It opens with a dream, a sexy dream. And man, woooo! Good one too. August is a smart, beautiful, strong character. She’s perfect for this story of Red I’m always down for a modern twist on a fairy tale. I LOVE Grimm Fairy Tales! Seriously, LOVE- one of my favorite things to read are modern tales based on the old tales. Which is why I chose to read this book- it did not disappoint!
Most books are hard to get into or they don’t capture your attention right away, well, this book is NOT like that! It opens with a dream, a sexy dream. And man, woooo! Good one too. August is a smart, beautiful, strong character. She’s perfect for this story of Red Riding Hood. It’s interesting that they weave the tale of her family being ‘Archer’s’ into it and also Hunter’s because it gives something more to the story- especially since she falls HARD for a werewolf. Which brings me to Faolan. From the description in the book and also just the imagery from her dreams, Faolan would be seriously easy to fall in love with. August is a 16 yr old girl so at first you’re all ‘wow, she’s a horny little thing’ but then you realize maybe, she’s not like most hormonal driven 16 yrs olds. And she’s not, I mean she’s Red.
It’s kind of strange to think that in a book, a man who is 100 yrs older than this 16 yr old girl is accepted as her lover/boyfriend but in the real world- Creeper McCreeperson would be arrested so fast…But it’s a work of fiction so let’s get back to it..Thankfully, the dreams and erotica taper down and the story finally reveals itself.

I think what drew me into this story (aside from the fairy tale twist part) was that I love werewolves (and vampires but there’s none here) so it was a good read because I’ve been reading mostly mysteries. The grandmother in this story is fabulous. She’s portrayed at first as the weak old grammy who everyone needs to coddle. But once she gets her memories back, she is wonderful! She is the strength in the family and you can see that. She does blame Faolan for the deaths of her daughter, and his brother for her husbands death (which Faolan agrees is his brother’s fault but explains the party about the daughter). It’s interesting that even though werewolves and August’s family are at odds, Faolan is their protector because he promised to protect them. In all this, Faolan and a couple other characters, reveal why August and Faolan are ‘meant to be’ in a creepy ‘she looks exactly like my first wife’ story. But it’s more than that, it’s fate.
It’s definitely a good story about self discovery, family history, and finding your true love. You should definitely read this book if you like modern twists on fairy tales! It doesn’t disappoint. I’m impatiently waiting for the next book!

I also would like to mention that H.L. Brooks commented on my review on my book blog! She's the best! Can't wait for the next book. ...more

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Aug 27, 2016 Baghoul rated it it was ok

The prologue is very gripping I will admit that, unfortunately the rest of the book fails to deliver. Halfway through the book I was convinced it was a hidden gem and I was ripe with anticipation. Being a younger woman, we rarely see erotic novels aimed towards us, especially paired with older men. The main character was relatable and tough. However it is with the introduction of her love interest that I lost mine! He is rather unbearably dull and I simply can't see why he would be in love with ...more

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Aug 29, 2015 Erica rated it it was amazing

Bravo, H.L.! August is a beautifully written character, and you find a way to make her story absolutely relatable. I often times felt as if you'd managed to pull pages from my personal journal, in terms of young love, frustration and growing into my own skin. Sexy, meaningful and fun- I give Red August 5 stars every time. Excited to read your next installment! :)

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Sep 23, 2015 Lacie rated it liked it

Review to come :3

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About H.L. Brooks

H.L. Brooks

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H.L. Brooks is a writer of fiction and lover of fairy tales. She enjoys exploring classic fairy tales and re-telling them in modern settings, with dashes of erotica, but mostly drama and adventure.

She also writes on such topics as art, music, feminism, body acceptance and beauty standards.

She has had a presence on the internet since the late 1990s, first publishing an arts-related homepage that ...more