Callum and Harper by Fisher Amelie

Callum & Harper by Fisher Amelie
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

The issues that made this book a one star read:

One-dimensional wish-fulfillment heroine. Harper was unflawed, perfect, so gorgeous that all of the men who encountered her immediately fell in love with her.

Seriously awkward writing, which causes disasters like this sentence: "Callum was as selfless a man could be and in a world where an attribute of that caliber was more rare than a pink diamond, I clutched him tightly to my heart, fully aware of just how priceless he undoubtedly was." The next time Ms. Amelie writes a book, she should put down the thesaurus. Because that sentence is INSANE, and it is one of many that are just as awful.

Totally unrealistic financial situations: in what world do two completely unskilled, homeless, and unemployed high school graduates in NYC manage to earn 5K in two weeks by grabbing odd jobs? Whether the author can do the math or not, I can. This is $1200 a week, which is a whopping 62K a year per character. Why would anyone ever get a college education or a job if they could make more than the average teacher by washing dishes under the table on an ad hoc basis. Let's not even talk about the ridiculous "wedding" that a bunch of (basically) strangers threw for our H & h, on their own dime, for no other reason than that they were pretty

Random tense changes within the same sentence, which led to this:  "Heat coursed through my arm and when he removes his hand, I felt a lacking I'd never known I could possess."

WARNING: THIS PART IS SPOILERIFIC

Two freaking years of being fake married. Two freaking years of being fake married. Two freaking years of being fake married. Yes, seriously. Totally in love with each other, yet living together in an unconsummated marriage for two years, afraid to admit their feelings for each other. I could've believed six months, but two years of unrequited, yearning, celibacy is just completely unrealistic and absurd.

Finally, as the piece de resistance, beautiful Harper is stalked by a serial killer who is also a former foster kid, in a story line that really just devolves this book into farce. He burns down their apartment. He murders a bunch of women who either share her name, her address, her hair color, or some other attribute, and when the police finally catch him after he nearly murders her in a library, they are so in-fucking-competent that he escapes by bashing one of them on the head and running away. And then, instead of issuing an APB for him, he blithely boards a plane with Harper and kidnaps her on her way to Seattle so she can confess her love to Callum. Then he hauls her all over Seattle, makes her dress up and pretend to love him, and then nearly beats her death. While she is hospitalized, he conveniently throws himself from a pier and his body washes up as she recuperates.

END SPOILERS

Ack.

When I bought this book, I was hoping for a simple, cute story about a pair of foster kids growing up and falling in love. What I got was a poorly written, unrealistic, absurd, wish-fulfillment, nonsense-filled pseudo-crime-drama.

Easy by Tammara Webber

Easy by Tammara Webber


My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Tammara Webber consistently writes and publishes books that are high quality. There is no need to qualify the review of this, or, frankly, any, of her self-published books with a tag along the lines of "excellent for a self-published book." I've read all four of the books that she has published. They have attractive covers, and the prose inside of them is well-written, grammatically correct and largely error free. Kudos.

So, with that introduction, there are a few things that I want to say about this book, both about the romance and then, in a moment, about her realistic and sensitive exploration of the subject of college acquaintance sexual assault.

So, first, the romance. This book has been compared to Beautiful Disaster by some of my reader friends. This comparison does a disservice to this book. Easy is better than Beautiful Disaster. So, so, so much better.

I love Jacqueline. She is strong and intelligent and exhibits more than a little bit of backbone. She has a great deal of self-confidence, but even more importantly, she treats herself as though she is a worthy person. She is saddened by the break up of a long term relationship, and is appropriately emotive, but never does she devolve into a caricature of a heroine who wallows in self-pity by collapsing into a mass of self-indulgent drama. Fiction could use a lot more Jacquelines.

The romance is sweet and unfolds naturally. Lucas is a genuinely likeable guy, who treats Jacqueline with respect as their relationship develops. He is the kind of guy that, if you are the mother of a teenaged girl, you hope your daughter will meet when she gets to college. Hardworking, intelligent, unentitled, compassionate, and strong.

This book is worth reading for the romance.

It is, however, the backstory where Ms. Webber really shines. I have no idea what her personal experience includes, but, as a sexual assault prosecutor, I felt that her treatment of college acquaintance sexual assault was beautifully done.

There are only three things required for a rape to occur. A victim, an opportunity, and a rapist. All too often, even in fiction, writers treat rape, especially acquaintance rape, as though, somehow, non-rapists sort of accidentally commit it. This book, thankfully, takes a much more realistic, appropriate, non-victim blaming approach. It is empowering to young women who may have been the victim of this crime, while acknowledging that society, often, treats rape victims in a disparaging, irresponsible, and cruel manner. It is not uncommon for the community to rally around the rapist - the Buck's of the world - while treating the victim as though she has committed some sort of a crime by reporting that she was sexually assaulted.

I don't want to allow this review to digress into a public service announcement, but there is a reason that rape, and especially rape committed by an acquaintance, is an extremely underreported crime. Ms. Webber's book provides an explanation of that phenomenon in a way that is sensitive and well-done. I very much admire her for her treatment of this subject. If she makes one victim feel better - as though it isn't her fault - then she will have accomplished something truly remarkable with this story.

Overall, I'd give this book 4 1/2 stars, and would just say "thank you" to the author.

Forged In Fire by Trish McCallan

I don't exactly know what to say about this book:



This was my KOLL book of the month for March. There were some things I really enjoyed about the book, and some things that left me disappointed.

Plot summary:

Beth Brown is not the kind of woman who is particularly spontaneous, and she's not the sort of woman who attracts badass, hardbodied warriors. Nonetheless, when Beth has a disturbing dream that appears to be coming true, and that includes the hijacking and slaughter of an entire airplane full of passengers, Beth gets into her car and drives to the airport just to assure herself that there isn't anything to worry about. Once she arrives at the gate, she catches the eye of Zane Winter, the above-mentioned badass, hardbodied Navy SEAL warrior.

Zane Winter is one of the men in her dream who has been slaughtered by the hijackers. Zane Winter also has some special abilities of foresight himself, and he knows that something bad is going to happen -- something that he, with the help of Beth, needs to stop. The fact that he is convinced that Beth is his soul mate is supremely inconvenient timing. It's up to Zane to get he and Beth through a day that is steeped in violence and death to the otherside, where he can make her his.

Review:

What did I like about this book? Well, it is a fast-paced read. I finished it in about two hours, and it definitely sucked me in and kept me turning the pages. The romance is on the back burner for most of the book, however, because there is alot, and I mean alot, of crazy, violent, kidnapping, terrorist drama in this book. It felt a lot like a season of 24, with a very romantic subplot.

There were two areas that left me disappointed, though. First, this book holds itself out as a paranormal romance. It's not really PNR. The paranormal aspect of the book is extremely limited, and doesn't add much to the plot at all. I would consider this book to be a straight contemporary romance, and the "paranormal" stuff could be removed without losing much of the story. Beth's "dream" does pay a very important part in the book, but it would have been possible for the author to put Beth in the same position of knowledge without having to go through the whole "dream" aspect. Fundamentally, I thought that the paranormal aspects actually weakened the story.

The second thing that I have a major problem with was the ending. This book ended with the cliffhanger to end all cliffhangers, and frankly it pissed me off. There is an important character who's life is literally hanging by a thread and that storyline is left unresolved and unanswered. Going back to my 24 analogy, if the book started at 7:00 a.m., Jack Bauer time, it ended at 8:30 p.m. I absolutely hate it when authors do this. It is a cheap, skeevy way to ensure that readers will buy your next book. I would've bought the next book anyway, because I liked the story, I enjoyed the characters, and I was sucked in. It wasn't necessary to leave one of the characters in surgery to entice me. And now, because I hate to reward what I consider to be bad behavior, I am considering giving up on the series. Because I have no confidence that she won't do the same thing with the next book, and what's going to happen if she gets bored with the books and decides not to finish them at all.

So, overall, I would've given this book 4 stars. It was a 4 star read for me right up to the end. The end was worth about 2 stars. Therefore, I am going to settle on 3 stars, and take some time to make up my mind and decide if I'm willing to give this series an opportunity to redeem itself.

Review: Playing for Keeps by R.L. Mathewson

Review for:



This book has been getting a whole lotta love on Amazonlandia in the romance forum. Since it clocks in at a mere 99 cents, I had to give it a try. It wasn't really my cup of tea.

So, Plot Summary:

Haley lives next door to the neighbor from hell, Jason, a hot, hunky slice of manflesh who has utterly terrible manners. He urinates outside. His drunk friends try to sneak over their fence so they can swim in her pool. He is a teacher at the same high school where she teaches, and he occasionally breaks into her classroom to steal, erm, borrow, teaching aids. Haley can't stand him, but she is a doormat, so she never does anything about it, until the day that he tries to pull up her grandmother's tulips. She freaks out and tackles him to get him to stop, they are nearly attacked by a horde of angry bees, and end up fleeing, together, into her house until an exterminator can be called to take care of the yellow jacket nest that he has disturbed.

And so it begins. Since Haley is not Jason's type, he adopts her as his pet slash friend. He decides that no one interested in Haley is good enough to date her, and he chases them off. His jealousy can't be because he is, himself, secretly infatuated with Haley. No way, she's not his type. Or is she?

Review:

Generally, I felt like the book was fairly well-written and probably succeeded in terms of what the author intended to do. I didn't see any major issues with the writing or the formatting. There were some minor issues related to homonyms/proofreading (I specifically remember band instead of banned, although that's the only one I remember right now) but they didn't detract so greatly from my enjoyment that I would give the book a poor review based on that alone. Mathewson has a breezy, casual writing style that is fun to read.

So, why didn't it work for me, especially since I have enjoyed many books enjoyed by some of the other readers who really liked this book? I think it really boils down to the characters. I felt like the author was so caught up in making the situations funny and the characters over-the-top that I just didn't believe in any of it. I was looking for a book about characters that could convince me that their romance was real. I didn't find that here. Basically every single character was completely one-dimensional.

Let me provide an example in Haley's dad. We've got our heroine, who is a high school teacher with a college degree. She is 24. She owns her own home. She is bright, and intelligent and really self-sufficient. And her dad is such a cliche of the emotionally distant wealthy guy that he doesn't have any idea when her birthday is, that he doesn't know how old she is, and he thinks she runs a day care, which is beneath her and beneath her family background. This just didn't work for me. None of Haley's family, save her grandmother, had any redeeming qualities at all. It doesn't ring true. With the possible exception of Bernie Madoff, human beings are not so completely bereft of positive qualities.

More importantly, though, I think that this book was intended to be a romantic comedy. There were parts of it that I found funny, but overall, I really didn't like the relationship between Jason and Haley. I didn't see Jason as a jealous, loving man who is just too emotionally unaware to realize that he has fallen in love. I saw him as an immature, petulant brat who only wanted a toy until he broke it. In real life, he deserves to have someone key his car (not that I'm advocating vandalism). The scene of the book that happened by the pool broke my heart, and nothing that happened after that redeemed it for me. I liked Haley, and I wanted her to find someone who loved her and valued her, since there didn't seem to be a single person in her life who saw her as a competent, loveable person,including her so-called friends. I just didn't think that Jason was that person.

So, ultimately, this book didn't work for me. The over-the-top characterizations and situations left me empty. I can see how the book might work for a different reader, who is looking for something light and frothy, and doesn't take it too seriously. I was expecting something different, & I think I did take it too seriously. It just wasn't my cup of tea.

I gave the book 3 stars on amazon. Here, I'd probably give it 2 1/2. Plus, the cover is lazy.

Review: Play It Safe by Kristen Ashley

One of the amazonians loaned me this book, with the caveat that she didn't think that it was one of Kristen Ashley's best efforts. Having read it, I would have to say that I agree.



Overall, I would rate it at 3 stars. It is one of the least engaging of Ms. Ashley's books that I have read, although I can't exactly explain why. Gray, the hero, was really almost too good to be true, and the heroine, Ivey, was, for an extremely smart girl, pretty darned dumb. It had all of the usual Kristen Ashley ingredients: a couple of really unlikeable villains, some persecution, a fair amount of vindictive criminal behavior, way too many descriptions of Ivey's stylish clothes and expensive shoes, and the whole "star-crossed lover" aspect that is a common feature of the Ashley romance.

Play It Safe just felt uninspired.

Review: Fury of Fire by Coreene Callahan

I picked this one up for 3.99. It's book 1 in a new PNR/UF series with dragon shifters.




Overall, I really enjoyed it. It is set in Seattle, Washington, which is, of course, about 4 hours north of my kitchen table, where this review is being written. There are good guys and bad guys: the Nightfury dragon clan is the good guys, while the Razorbacks are the bad guys. The basic premise of the book is that the dragon shifters, who stay under the radar of human society, are all male and lack the ability to produce dragon females through reproduction. This means that, in order to reproduce, they must mate with humans. Unfortunately, as sort of a cosmic joke on the dragons, human females always die while bearing dragon young. The world building is interesting and I really liked the author's use of the energy concept.

The heroine of the book is Myst Munroe, a nurse practitioner who is first to the scene when a patient gives birth to her half-dragon son. Caroline dies during the birthing process. Myst is taken, along with the baby, to the lair of the Nightfury dragons, where she bonds with the leader, Bastian. She is an exceptionally strong human female, and becomes the subject of a tug of war between Bastian and Ivar, the leader of the Razorbacks. Ivar has big, and not very friendly, plans for humanity.

A number of the reviews on amazon suggested that this book is very similar to the Black Dagger Brotherhood, written by J.R. Ward, and that this detracted from the reader's pleasure in the story. I haven't read BDB, so I can't speak to that. I did thoroughly enjoy this first in a series. Bastian is a very powerful hero, and Myst is no shrinking violet. Their mating was convincing. The dragon males are all, of course, fiercly masculine warriors who are highly attractive to the women they use for feeding and mating.

The book is well-written and well-edited, as well. I noticed very few proofing errors. The dialogue is convincing, and the characters are complex enough to be individually interesting. Ms. Callahan introduced a number of interesting secondary characters: Rikar, Angela Keene, and Forge, all of whom I expect to see again in future novels. Overall, I'd rate it 4 stars. I've already pre-ordered book 2:




which is scheduled for release on June 5.

Rough Riders by Lorelei James, Books 5 through 8

So, back to Lorelei James Rough Riders Series.

Book 5: Raw, Rough and Ready:



We step away from the McKay men in this book, to focus on Trevor Glanzer, who is already married to Chassie West, sister of Dag West. Trevor Glanzer made an appearance in book 1, as Colby's best friend and riding partner. At the beginning of the book, Trevor and Chassie are living on Chassie's family property, building a marriage and trying to make ends meet. Chassie has been essentially left without family. Her parents are dead, and her brother, Dag, was killed near the end of book 4 in a tractor accident.

Chassie is a sweetheart with a steel core, who is fully invested in her relationship with her husband. Early in the book, Trevor's old rodeo partner, Edgard, returns from Brazil for, they believe, a visit. This book takes on some delicate subjects very successfully, including the relationship between Edgard and Trevor. Because, of course, Edgard is in love with Trevor, and Trevor has a deep attachment to Edgard. Raw, Rough and Ready is not a book for the faint of heart, nor is it a book that will resonate with a person who believes that true love can only be found in pairs. Some of the subject matter is uncomfortable.

There is a tremendous amount of self-sacrifice in this book. Ultimately, while I enjoyed Raw, Rough and Ready, of all of the Rough Riders books, this one took the most risks. Ms. James is way on out a limb in this one. And, while I enjoyed it, I am not convinced that the relationship described in this book is sustainable on a long-term basis, nor did I feel that the level of acceptance experienced by Trevor, Chassie and Edgard was realistic, particularly given the setting of a conservative Wyoming community.

Book 6: Branded as Trouble:



The sixth book is about Colt McKay, troubled son of Carson McKay. When this book begins, Colt has been sober for three years, and is living proof that being a recovering alcoholic is not an easy row to hoe, especially when your family thinks that you are worthless drunk. His AA sponsor, and the heroine, is India Ellison, sister of Sky McKay, who is now happily married to Kade McKay. India is a tattoo artist who owns her own shop in Sundance, Wyoming. Colt is in love with India, but hesitates to let her know, because she is also his best, and in some ways only, friend.

This is probably the most complex of the series so far. For a slender little romance novel, it tackles big themes: failure and the ability to change, and challenging societal expectations, and, most importantly, what does a person do when they have changed, but no one notices or believes that the change is real? Because this is Colt McKay's story. One of my absolute favorite scenes in the series happens in this book, when Colt's brothers, Cord and Colby, are replaying their refrain about how many times Colt has let them down, and Cam, the war hero of the family, steps in to defend Colt. His impassioned and articulate defense causes Colt's family to see Colt in a whole new light. It was perceptively written, and made me want to cheer. Because dammit, I was sick of that family treating Colt like he was a worthless loser.

Which leads me to another point about this series. This family is dysfunctional, and James doesn't sugarcoat it. Casper, Carson's brother, is flat out a miserable jackass, a fact which becomes painfully apparent in one of the later books. Being a McKay is a blessing and a curse, and it is not all Wyoming sunsets and pretty scenery. James does a great job exposing her characters weaknesses as well as their strengths.

The romance between Colt and Indie demonstrates the depth of Colt's emotional growth and maturity over the series. Branded As Trouble was one of my absolute favorite books of the series.

Book 7: Shoulda Been A Cowboy:



This is one of two books in the series where the hero isn't a cowboy, the other one being Keely's story. This book focuses on Cam, the McKay brother who has returned from deployment a hero, missing part of his leg. He has been hired on as a deputy sheriff for Sundance.

This book takes place basically simultaneously with Colt's story. Cam's love interest, Domini, was introduced in one of the earlier books. Domini works as a cook in the restaurant, and is an orphan who grew up in a Ukrainian orphanage. Both of them feel like they are less than whole human beings.

I wasn't sure about Domini when she was introduced in the earlier books. She seemed to be a weak character, and I frankly wasn't looking forward to seeing her featured as a heroine. In the end, though, I really liked this book about two damaged souls who managed to find wholeness together.

Moving on to Book 8: All Jacked Up



which is the only book featuring a female member of the McKay family! Finally, Keely McKay -- youngest sibling of the Carson McKay branch of the family -- gets her own story.

Keely is accustomed to being underestimated by her family. It isn't easy being the youngest, and especially when the youngest is also the only girl in a family of rough and tumble boys. Keely is a scrapper, and is a very strong female character. It's probably not surprising that she would avoid cowboys, and end up falling for business man, Jack Donohue.

This book was, at times, hard to read. Jack broke Keely's heart over and over. There were times when, as a reader, I wanted her to walk away and not look back. There were moments in the book where he was outright mean -- not abusive, but mean -- to her.

There were some of the same themes in this book that James used in Branded For Trouble. Not the substance abuse themes, but the idea that sometimes who we are becomes so well established in our youth that it is hard to be taken seriously as an adult. Keely McKay left her wild cowgirl persona behind a long time before this book, and yet her entire family treated her like she hadn't grown up a bit. So did Jack.

The book left me feeling a little bit let down, to be honest. Jack's redemption didn't quite do it for me. She deserved better.

Review: Law Man by Kristen Ashley

Law Man is the third book in the Dream Man series. I have heard rumors that it will be the next to last book in the series, with the last book intended to be Tack's story.



I really liked Law Man. As far as the Dream Man series goes, each book, in my opinion, has gotten progressively better. I was not crazy about Mystery Man. I really liked Wild Man. I liked Law Man better than either of those. It rivals Sweet Dreams as my favorite of the KA books I've read.

As far as the plot goes, it is typical KA. The H is Detective Mitch Lawson, who has been a character in each of the preceding Dream Man books. I've been waiting a while for Mitch's story, because I just had a feeling that he would be my favorite H in the series. He was. He is yummy . . . strong and protective, with a kind streak a mile wide. He actively pursues the h, which is a nice change from some of the other books, and, in fact, has to work very, very hard to convince her that he is serious, and that he is the guy for her. The h, Mara, has had a rough go, but is bone-deep decent. Her self-esteem issues were significant, but were well explained by her childhood.

Some of the secondary characters in this book were also fantastic characterizations. Mara's mom and aunt were over the top, but very amusing, and the scene where Mara finally stands up for herself is awesome. Mara's boss is a wonderful character, as are her neighbors. One of this authors particular strengths is in characterizations, and this book is no exception to that rule.

Much of the obligatory KA drama was present in this book -- there are bad guys, criminal bad guy drama to deal with, and a number of the characters from the prior Rock Chick/Dream Man series make an appearance. Elvira, one of my favorite characters, shows up for a pair of highly amusing cameo appearances.

In spite of the rough-around-the-edges nature of KA's books (or possibly because of?) I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I read it the day it was released, in about three hours. 4 stars.

New author: Kristen Ashley

Well, I've already posted three reviews for Kristen Ashley books -- The Gamble, Sweet Dreams and Lady Luck. Since then, I've read a few more. Since I am 12 reviews behind, & I just can't stand the thought of doing full reviews for all five of these books, I'm going to do a quick and dirty summary/comparison of them.

The KA formula: attractive heroine who has been smacked around by life meets alpha male, probably with law enforcement/commando/bounty hunter/military background and commitment issues, they have lots of good sex, she falls in love, he falls in love, for some reason neither of them (but especially him) can admit it, someone kidnaps the heroine because he is going to kill her/rape her/get back at the hero, hero rescues her & they live happily ever after. Add in a crazy ex-wife or a couple of kids or mafia connections or something like that, lather, rinse, repeat.

The formula works. Sometimes better than others.

Since then, I've also read:



This is a sort of a tribute to The Game of Thrones story of Daenerys & the barbarian warlord. A lot of my compadres on the amazon forums loved this book. I found it utterly mediocre, however. Kristen Ashley does one thing very well -- the contemporary romance with the alpha male hero. Her formula did not translate well to the fantasy setting.

Also:



This was was not my favorite. I really didn't much like the H, Hawk, and I thought that the h, Gwen was a bit of an idiot. I was pulling for her to end up with Mitch Lawson, who is apparently going to get his own book. This would violate the formula, and is clearly not an acceptable resolution, therefore, it is not going to happen.

And:



This one was good, I thought. The formula worked well. I really liked the Hero & really, really liked the heroine. Tess may be my favorite heroine of all of the Ashley books I've read. She owns a bakery & is straight forward and sweet. There is a crazy ex-wife who is a gold digging slut, and a pair of great kids. All in all, a good one.

Two more:



This one is so formula, it defines the formula. It is over the top. Joe, the hero, is monumentally alpha. He's also kind of a dickhead. Add to this a villain who is pure nuts, who has murdered Vi's husband, and is basically a mob killer. We have the obligatory dumping by Joe, and the required kidnapping of Violet. Again, I was sort of hoping for Violet to dump Joe & go for Mike Haines. Again, this would violate the formula. But, Joe was no way good enough for Violet. Again, I had issues with this one.

Finally,



This one was actually a little bit different. In Rock Chick, the hero pursues and the heroine plays hard to get. It had potential, but the heroine, Indy, was so bloody annoying that it just didn't work for me. However, because it had potential, I am going to give the rest of the Rock Chick books a try.

Review: Lady Luck by Kristen Ashley

So, I've now finished a total of 6 Kristen Ashley books, & I am pretty much done for a while. I will be posting reviews for the other three over the next few days, but this one is for:



REVIEW (3 1/2 stars):

This is the third Kristen Ashley book that I have read, and is probably my least favorite of the three. This doesn't mean that I didn't like it, but reading three of them in a row really highlighted Ms. Ashley's weaknesses as an author.

First for the strengths, though. The two protagonists of Lady Luck are younger than the protagonists in the first two books I read (The Gamble and Sweet Dreams). I thought that Ms. Ashley captured them very well, and I enjoyed getting to know Ty and Lexie, and I enjoyed the further adventures of the Carnal, Colorado crowd. Both Ty and Lexie are interesting in that they have both experienced more than their fair share of the bad side of life, and as a reader, I was rooting for them find happiness. There is no doubt but that they deserved it. As always, the plot was fun, convoluted and fast moving. The secondary characters were great.

Now, for the weaknesses. I understand from Ms. Ashley's blog and from what I have read about her that she writes fast, and gets her books uploaded at light speed. This makes for, at times, writing that is rough and choppy. She has a casual, breezy style that is mostly enjoyable, but sometimes veers into annoying. I do not get the sense that she does a lot of editing to her work, and, while this breezy style is sometimes charming, it can also grate at times.

In addition, Lexie's constant description of things -- whatever they were -- costing "a whack" grew tedious. Actually, in general, the extremely materialistic bent of each and every heroine so far has grown tedious. While I've not yet reviewed them, I've also read Mystery Man, Rock Chick and Golden Dynasty, and the heroine's obsession with *stuff* has been a constant in each of these books. Lexie was not my least favorite heroine (I'm going with Indy for this title), but, just once, could she write a heroine who isn't totally clothing obsessed? Her heroine's definitely tend towards shallow, which is not a strength so far as I am concerned. And, while I'm at it, could we get through a book without having the heroine kidnapped by an insane bad guy?

Nonetheless, with the exception of Golden Dynasty, I have enjoyed her books. Although, at this point, it is definitely time to take a break from the Ashley formula. If amazon would let me give 1/2 stars, this would be a 3 1/2 star read, but since they don't, I'm rounding up.

Review: Sweet Dreams by Kristen Ashley

Review (4 stars):

Sweet Dreams is the second of the Colorado Mountain series, and was the second book that I read after discovering her books through the Amazon romance forums, where she is very popular. In the last week, I have read all three of the Colorado Mountain series -- The Gamble, Sweet Dreams, and Lady Luck.

The upside: Kristen Ashley writes highly immersive books. She seriously sucked me in deep. Sweet Dreams is not set in Gnaw Bone, the town where The Gamble is set. It is set in Carnal, Colorado, Gnaw Bone's rough-around-the-edges neighbor and biker town. The heroine, Lauren, is extremely likeable -- a woman who has been scorned by her husband, betrayed by her best friend, a little overweight and a lot disillusioned, looking for a home. Tatum Jackson, the hero, is Ashley's best male character so far -- strong and protective. The romance between the two of them is completely believable. The secondary characters in this book are, as they were in each of the three Ashley books I read, wonderful and well-developed. There is a lot going on in Sweet Dreams, including family drama, ex-husband drama, ex-girlfriend drama, rape, murder and police corruption. It is flat-out a great story.

The downside: However, Ashley's strengths as a writer, in some ways, also represent a weakness, because this book, like the three others was bloated and badly in need of trimming. There are certain aspects to each of these books that are downright irritating. In Sweet Dreams, again, the descriptions of Laurie's clothing just about killed me. Description can be good. It brings the reader into the writer's world. Ms. Ashley took this to an extreme. She described clothing, right down to the underwear, bracelets and other accessories, hair, furniture, shoes, boots, shopping trips, landscapes, restaurant meals, and anything else that might be even remotely relevant, in excruciating detail. I got to the point that as soon as a paragraph relating to someone's attire began, I skimmed through it. This is not a good thing -- it pulled me out of the story. And Sweet Dreams is a really great story.

From a technical perspective, Ms. Ashley also could really use the services of a good proofreader and editor. I am not especially sensitive to typographical errors, but this is a common complaint with respect to her books. However, I am sensitive to clunky language, and Ms. Ashley does have a problem with clunky language. I can totally see how a reader would find it difficult to read any of Ms. Ashley's books if technical deficiences really bother them.

So, to sum up: the strengths of this book were in the plotting and the characterizations. The weaknesses were in the overblown descriptive detail and sometimes clunky language. This would be a stronger book if it were between 50 and 100 pages shorter, and if someone knowledgeable took an editor's pencil to it. Overall, though, I genuinely enjoyed it.

Review: The Gamble by Kristen Ashley

I have several reviews to write, and several to post, so I'll get started with:



REVIEW: 4 stars

Kristen Ashley writes highly immersive romantic fiction. The Gamble is the first of the Colorado Mountain series, and was the first Kristen Ashley book that I read after discovering her books through the Amazon romance forums, where she is very popular. In the last week, I have read all three of the Colorado Mountain series -- The Gamble, Sweet Dreams, and Lady Luck.

The upside: When I say that she writes immersive books, I really mean it. These books suck a reader in deep. In The Gamble, the main character, Nina, has traveled half-way around the world, from England, for a "timeout" from her English fiance. She arrives only to find her rental occupied by its owner, Max, immediately becomes extremely ill with the flu, and the story is off and running. Ms. Ashley packs her books full. There are a lot of characters, and there is a lot going on with all of the characters. The secondary characters are well-described and contain depth. I think that this is why her books are addictive -- Gnaw Bone, Colorado, (great name, by the way) feels very real. Everyone, from Nina and Max, to Mindy, Damon, and Bitsy, feels complete. Heck, even the dead guy has been more completely developed that the secondary characters in a lot of novels. I suspect that Ms. Ashley could answer any question, no matter how random, about just about any of her characters. These are tremendous strengths.

The downside: However, this strength, in some ways, also represents a weakness, because each of the three books that I read were bloated and badly in need of trimming. There are certain aspects to each of these backs that are downright irritating. In the Gamble, in particular, the descriptions of Nina's clothing just about killed me. If I had to read one more description relating to the neckline of Nina's sexy top, I thought that I might scream. Description can be good. It brings the reader into the writer's world. Ms. Ashley has taken this to an extreme. She describes clothing, hair, furniture, shoes, boots, shopping trips, landscapes, restaurant meals, and anything else that might be even remotely relevant, in excruciating detail. I got to the point that as soon as a paragraph relating to someone's attire began, I skimmed through it. This is not a good thing -- it pulled me out of the story. And it was a really great story.

The second complaint I have about The Gamble is that I really hated Nina's mother. She was intended to be quirky and fun, but, in the end, she was just extraordinarily annoying. Anyone with a mother that was that intrusive, that overdone, that flaky and irritating, would have been driven batty in short order.

From a technical perspective, Ms. Ashley also could really use the services of a good proofreader and editor. I am not especially sensitive to typographical errors, but this is a common complaint with respect to her books. However, I am sensitive to clunky language, and Ms. Ashley does have a problem with clunky language.

So, to sum up: the strengths of this book were in the plotting and the characterizations. The weaknesses were in the overblown descriptive detail and sometimes clunky language. This would be a stronger book if it were between 50 and 100 pages shorter, and if someone knowledgeable took an editor's pencil to it. Overall, though, I genuinely enjoyed it.

Playing Catch-Up: Millie's Fling

I don't read a lot of chick lit. I picked this book up for two reasons: first, I found it, among several others by Jill Mansell, on dailycheapreads for an incredible bargain price (1.79 for kindle). Second, I loved the cover.

Like much chick lit, to enjoy this book requires a willingness to engage in a hefty dose of willing suspension of disbelief. Our positively ordinary, everywoman heroine, Millie, somehow finds herself befriended by a best-selling author and a fabulous, famous hearthrob. Every man she comes into contact with is devastatingly handsome.

I really did enjoy this book. It is sort of like eating a palmier cookie -- buttery, decadent, and insubstantial. The one complaint that I have, although it is a bit of a biggie, is that Millie's leading man, her crush, her hero, so to speak, does something to her that is simply awful. It's so terrible that, for me, it cast a pall over the rest of the book. I simply could not see forgiving him. I have seen heroines forgive greater in romance novels, but this is chick lit, set in the modern day. No matter how wonderful he was, I just can't see any self-respecting modern woman with options trusting him after his behavior.

I snagged a boatload of Jill Mansell's books at the bargain price. I genuinely did enjoy this book, in spite of the hero's bad behavior. I am certain that I will read them all, and I hope -- sincerely -- that I find more to love in the subsequent male leads.