Douglas’s Comments (group member since Jun 15, 2017)

Douglas’s comments from the Read, Reading, Planning to Read and More group.

Well I really enjoyed When He Was Wicked but everything I am reading about the last 2 books in the Bridgerton series seems to indicate she was phoning them in sadly :( Guess I am done with it but the ones I read were excellent entertainment. I think I need to find something new.

Well my reading has been hit or miss recently, a few good, several mediocre and the The Earl of London was a disaster so I grabbed what I am hoping is a sure thing :)

When He Was Wicked

Well I decided that I must have gotten The Earl of London confused with some other series, the H was so arrogant and easily unlikable in spite of obvious efforts by the author to soften him up he was an asshole. The h was just a mix of confusion and after laying it down several times I am just dropping it for now (maybe forever) at the 50% mark, better things to read. I am not offended by language but the switch between normal speech and very crude and useless profanity in situations that obviously don't require it is another turnoff to me.

The Grand Sophy reminds me a lot of that old movie "The Sting" so many plots and subplots, loving it and still have over 30% to go (been a lot of RL interference) I am already sad to think of it ending

that sounds ominous LOL

Still finishing up The Grand Sophy but I bought a new book with my No Rush credits The Earl of London since I have read several of her books in this vein and liked them very much. It is on sale today for $2.99 and I had $3 in credits, obviously it was a sign :)

Well after reading so many UF/PNR and 1 historical romance that was borderline boring I grabbed one several of you recommended hoping it has some humor and a good romance

The Grand Sophy

Obviously, my thoughts were not clear :)

The ending WAS amazing, the point was that they did not follow the typical "good guys wins" type ending we have been used to in every epic fantasy book I ever read, since Roland still had to be dealt with (my observation that they had made him a bit more human in recent books) but killing him off just seemed out of the question when taken in as part of the big picture over the last few books so that ending was what I thought was exceptionally original.

I have always thought I could learn to write but I just don't have the imagination to dream stuff up like this hence they who can write do, those who can't review :)

If you read my review Siaman was who I was referring to and I tend to agree with Vinity that I can't believe that he is going to stay dead. (or maybe it is just wishful thinking). The fact that he started the series and would end with it does give me pause.

"Roland to get his ar** kicked by Kate, Curran, Hugh and crew or a touchy/feeling intervention and happy families!"

yes and no :) Really, they have given Roland some humanity over the last few books but don't forget he is ultimately evil but more in a "if I think it for the betterment of all then I am ok with doing it" type of evil. It is a conundrum that they solved as always in ways you and I (and most humans) never thought about LOL. I did not give this book 5 Stars because it had a copy of every epic battle I ever read where good wins over evil, there is a lot of grey area that has to be dealt with in this story because they now have somebody more evil than Roland they have to fight and if Kate dies then Roland dies (this makes my head hurt just thinking about it). The Andrews did not make this easy on themselves.

I finished A Beauty for the Scarred Duke and it was not bad but far from memorable, lot of drama but pretty much zero humor and any romance was overwhelmed by the couple trying to overcome their own numerous mental problems and a lot of naval gazing. I guess it would be considered a "sweet" story and I did read it all with little scanning but when I finished the book I felt a wee bit like I should have read something more entertaining.

Sounds like I will skip Year One I don't need anything that sounds depressing, sounds like she is following in the style of George R. R. Martin who just loves to kill off characters

I found this unbelievable but Kerrigan Byrne does her research:

"Swallowing Tapeworm Larvae To Maintain A Fashionably Trim Figure

Though voluptuous women with curves were generally celebrated in the Victorian era, the well bred and fashion-conscious lady still made a modestly "respectable" effort to maintain her figure. And what better way to do that than to let a giant tapeworm devour your fat from the inside out? This quote explaining the procedure ought to serve to remind us that inserting Lovecraftian monsters into one's system generally isn't the way to go:

"You take a pill containing a tapeworm egg. Once hatched, the parasite grows inside of the host, ingesting part of whatever the host eats. In theory, this enables the dieter to simultaneously lose weight and eat without worrying about calorie intake."

That's not all, though: larvae also helped women to cultivate proper table manners, ostensibly because "a woman would never rise hungry from the table, yet she would continue losing weight." It really makes going to the gym seem not so bad after all."

I just saw a 1 Star review on a book that has 94%+ 4-5 star reviews, maybe I am too easy and I firmly believe that a review is the writers opinion and all but this is a bit over the top for me (the whole review below). I reserve 1 Star reviews for really terrible books.

"I couldn’t force myself to read past the first few pages. It seems like every other sentence started with a preposition. This is very distracting and gives a broken feel to the writing."

Kerrigan Byrne recommended this one on her Facebook page and it is free with KU and only 99 cents otherwise, looked good enough for me to grab it.


A Beauty for the Scarred Duke

WOW, just finished Exile of the Seas and I am going to have to give it 5 Stars after reading book 1 Prisoner of the Crown which was such a horrible story (not a horrible book) of an abused princess, this 2nd book has some serious redemption and my favorite, revenge :) Highly recommend these 2 books together, book 1 was kinda depressing until the last few pages, this book sets up a great story to come in book 3.

DemetraP wrote: "Sigh. Another serial to follow. I love Grace Draven. But maybe I'..."

I always wait for the finished product but Ilona makes it VERY hard and now Grace is also but the wait is almost always worth it :)

The Kraken King is the only exception and in that case it actually made the book better because you were allowed to focus on the characters more in that story and the romance felt more focused for some reason.

I always tell anyone, one of the best paranormal romance ever and the best with a steampunk setting is The Kraken King IMHO

@Karen - Get thee behind me Satan, I can't read any more series and she always writes great stuff :) Eye of Truth

Has anyone read Nora Roberts new series starting with Year One ? It is on sale today only and thought I would grab it and wait for the others to drop in price (or be released). Is it any good??

Vanessa wrote: " I haven't read any of the Vampire for Hire books in a long time. I don't know why that series just faded away for me. ..."

It was probably because he went through a phase where I think he was more interested in the money than the stories and they were lame but I hung in there and the last 3-4 books have been much closer to the originals but a lot of naval gazing going on but with a purpose since he is trying to expand what she is capable of doing. Everything I have read about him indicates he is extremely talented but has about 100 things going on at all times and so these books have been hit and miss for awhile.

BTW for the few other than me that still follow it, the new Vampire for Hire book Vampire Sire is the first of a 2 part overarching storyline that seems better than many of the previous ones. I can't wait for the next one , something I have not felt for this series in a long time.