Book Reviews (None Good)
Reviews (More Not Good) Good to come. Promise
Freaks in Love by TA Chase. First, let me kvetch about this publisher. I'd never bought a novel from Amber Quill Publishing before but if the following TA Chase books are an example of the editing they do, I shan't be buying another book from them. There are misspellings ("laundry mat" rather than "Laundromat"), poor punctuation (if I can recognized a dropped comma, anyone can) and dropped words. How do you not pick up on the verb missing from a sentence? There is no action in there. It's really frustrating and I highly recommend better editor(s).
That being said, I have this weird relationship with TA Chase. I really want to like her books. I just have a hard time doing it. Everyone raves about her books so I keep buying them and trying them and finding myself completely disappointed. This book was no different. I really wanted to like the book but, in the end, I was left confused and disappointed.
The book has an interesting premise. After the nukes are dropped, certain people are affected by the radiation, turning them into "freaks". One of the freaks goes to the NF (non-freak) part of town to work as an enforcer/bodyguard for a crime lord. He's got an acquaintance that he nods at every once in awhile. The boss knows what the freak is but doesn't care. So when the shit hits the fan and the boss gets sort-of-almost killed (he ends up telling the freak guy to run), the freak scoops up the acquaintance and runs for it. You're never shown why he does it but TA Chase keeps telling us and telling us and telling us why he does it. There's no believable basis for the relationship. You never get shown a level of caring, you simply get told, over and over, that they care for one another while they snip and bitch at one another.
The freak supposedly finds it painful to talk but he sure as shit does an awful lot of it. If he's been silent for three years, why the hell is he nattering on so much now? It's a nitpicky detail but it's an important one because it shows how TA Chase completely goes against the world that she set up. Healers have to take an oath except for Magpie, the love interest. The freaks hate the non-freaks but Healers aren't freaks but are forced to live with the freaks but are then exploited by the Non-Freaks for being freaks? IDEK.
I got tired of being told that these characters loved one another. Seriously - you get told they do by a secondary/tertiary character. You get told by the title of the freaking book. Then there's an offhand quip at the end about a couple of freaks in love… just after Magpie refuses to stay with Snake (the freak) when they get to the new town. They fuck, they fight. They fight, they fight, they fight they fuck they fight.
In the end, too much tell, not enough show. I ended the book with no idea why Snake would risk his life for a guy he nodded at every once in awhile. I had no idea why he protected him so much or why Snake worked so hard to get them both out of town. I had no idea why Magpie was supposed to be so badass as an assassin because TA Chase never showed us why. What we were shown was that Magpie was completely ineffective at fighting so how did he ever get to be a hardass well-known assassin?5 out of 10
Brothers without Borders by Lieland Dale. This is another book that could've done with better editing. Silver Publishing is definitely not a favorite of mine, if this is the sort of book they stand behind. It was just poorly edited with the above mentioned problems with TA Chase's book. There were misspellings, missing commas, typos and dropped words.
That aside, have some thoughts on this book. First, let me just say that I'm absolutely not opposed to reading fictional incest. Hell, two of my fandoms are based on it. I've written it, I enjoy it. However, you have to be sensitive about the issues surrounding it. Other than telling me that they might've felt some guilt but then were too overcome with lust for one another, Lieland Dale totally ignores the ramifications or, even better, makes it appear A-OK for two brothers to be getting it on. It's completely normal, in fact, because the random two friends that stop by are brothers and, hey, look! They're fucking too! Or they want to fuck! Or something to do with fucking brothers because there's a random foursome in here that made no sense to me when I tried to visualize it.
Incest is not normal and, I think it's safe to say, most of the world is not going to accept it as normal or natural. We're told that the one brother plays it straight before the two brothers fuck… so straight that the younger brother has no idea that his older brother is gay. So, why, then, would they suddenly fuck? What changed? I didn't buy the change in the book and I think it's because I've read better books/stories setting up fictional incest than that. There has to be something other than a random comfort sleep to drive them to it. There has to be something and this book doesn't give us this.
It drops plot points all over the place, too. Like, take the play it straight thing. There's no further discussion about it as soon as they hook-up the first time. There's no further discussion about the football playing, either. There's no discussion as to why the younger brother doesn't know the older brother's friends when they live in the same dorm and just a floor apart and spend all their free time together. There's no discussion about so many freaking things in there once they're mentioned to add The Dramerz.
Have you ever moved into an apartment from a dorm within two days of thinking you're going to move? Has anyone? Yeah, I don't think so. There's way too much to get and do. I just didn't buy it. I also don't buy the continued relationship between them because if they can't even hide their relationship in front of one person, how are they going to do it on a daily basis, all day every day? I just cannot buy it. Thus, completly disappointed with this book.2 out of 10
Heart of the Mountain: A Loving Hart by Leiland Dale. We've got shapeshifters. We've got homophobic parents. We've got "everyone's gay, everyone's awesome with gay, especially the cowboys". We've got every freaking m/m cliché ever contained in one book.
Look, I live in the West. I live with cowboys and stereotypical butch menly men. And, tbh, I just don't buy the woohoo reaction from the people in the diner when all the gay lovers swing into the diner and kiss and hug. I'm sorry, I don't buy it. I wish I could. I'd love a world where that could happen. But if you're writing about ranchers and cowboys, you're just not going to get that sort of reaction. Want an example? Matthew Sheppard. Cowboys and cowtown people are not the most accepting people, at least the ones here in AZ.
Then there's the random ex-boyfriend showing up and making eyes at some other cowboy that's never resolved. I'm certain that's getting a set-up for book 3 but, dude. Tasteless and tacky to set up the demonized ex-boyfriend while trying to redeem by simply stating that he's redeemed and hooking him up with the love interest's casual fuck. You've demonized the ex-boyfriend and now we're supposed to be looking forward to his relationship? Gee, golly! I'll pre-buy!
I was really looking forward to the whole building a relationship with the brother he hasn't seen in 7 years but I didn't get that. Instead, I got a homophobic father randomly showing up and shooting people. Which was then dropped completely in light of the "woohoo, let's talk about how much we want to fuck".
And if Hart was run out of the last town he was in because he was a shapeshifter (which I'll get to my problems with in a minute), why the hell would he reveal his secret to the love interest so quickly? I just don't buy it. Then there's the whole "run out of the last town" because, srsly? Who the hell is going to believe a guy that comes running from a ranch and cries "shapeshifter"?! If someone said "Bob's a shapeshifter" to me, I'd laugh at them. OVER AND OVER AND OVER. I wouldn't immediately grab my metaphorical pitchfork, join with my neighbors and run the guy out of town. It just wouldn't happen.
And therein lies my problem with this author and why I shan't be purchasing another one of his/her books. They're unbelievable and not-very-well written and/or edited.2 out of 10
Be The Air For You by TA Chase. Again, I wanted to like this book. I'd heard great things about it. I just don't get the fascination. It was filled with m/m clichés. I just don't get the whole "everyone's always going to be all right with gays" cliché even if I wish it were true. There's no way that hard rock fans are going to be gaga over a gay guy being so overt about fucking men left right and center. Do you not remember the reaction to Freddy Mercury coming out of the closet and his subsequent bout with AIDS? Do you not see the way that he's still demonized by quite a few people? I realize that I'm stereotyping the hard rock fans but, dude, look at the reactions to boyband members coming out of the closet even if it's totally obvious. So, no, sorry, not buying it that someone in an even more stereotypical masculine genre of music is totally accepted as being bisexual. I realize that that's my issue not yours but I don't find the premise believable.
I felt horrible for Hawk for going deaf. I liked the way that he got his dog but, dude, only in the course of a couple of months? Really? You didn't do a lot of studying up about service animals, did you? Some service animals have to work with their "clients" for months and months before they're sent out into the world. So I liked the idea of him getting the dog, I just didn't like the execution.
I also would've liked to see more fallout from the drinking episode within the book. See, the main character's been in rehab multiple times and Hawk always pulls him away from drugs. But, when the main character is found with a glass of alcohol before him, Hawk is all just "okaly dokaly" with it. I don't buy it. Not if Hawk had been willing to walk away from him just a short time before.
And that's what TA Chase comes down to for me. I don't buy most of the premise of her books, even if I desperately want to. Everyone keeps telling me how awesome of a writer she is but I just don't buy the premise or the execution.3 out of 10
Shining in the Sun by Alex Beecroft. Another book that I really really wanted to like. I love the Pretty Woman premise. It's a secret, guilty pleasure of mine. I like the pauper marrying the prince. I really liked that movie with whatserface where she's a college student and he's a secret prince. I even liked that Hilary Duff movie where she's a modern Cinderella, yanno, the one with Squinty Squinsalot.
But this was just not good. The man character, Alec, is so desperate to escape his overbearing mother and his looming marriage (after two years of being engaged, you'd think he would've reconciled himself to it) and his secret desire for the buttsex that he escapes, once a year, to his boat. He normally heads off into the ocean and escapes. It turns out, though, that his mom isn't all that overbearing in the end, if he would've just talked to her and his fiance is already looking for another man because Alec has been such a dick about picking a date.
Every plotline is tied up neatly and easily with no real repercussions. The scary DRAMAERZ is actually not that big of a deal. HIS MOTHER IS CRAZY OVERBEARING! until he talks to her. THE LOVE INTEREST'S FATHER IS SUPER CRAZY AND EVIL AND MANIPULATIVE! until they walk away from him. OH NOEZ! SO MUCH THIEVING! meh, what's a couple grand between buttsex partners? THE EX-BOYFRIEND SENT THE LOVE INTEREST INTO THE HOSPITAL! OH NOEZ! HE'S CRAZY AND TRYING TO FIND THE LOVE INTEREST! HE WANTS TO DO IT AGAIN! except that he just wants to give the love interest 50k and apologize to him because he was a bad dom that didn't realize that the love interest didn't like having his hands almost cut off
It starts out with one of the worst lines in history and goes downhill from there.
“Don’t go past. Please. Sit down and drink with me. If you go past… If you go past, I think I’ll die.”
Really? Jesus Christ on a Cracker. 3 out of 10
Because It's True by Willa Okati Cliched. Boring. Forgettable. 3 out of 10
Bound by Nature by Cooper Davis So a few years ago, something happened, driving these two apart from one another. You're supposed to think that it was the one dude driving drunk after the initial buttsexx0rs and then causing an accident, for which, he went to jail. The other one became a police officer.
But then it turns out that the one that went to jail was just getting protectededededed by the police officer guy who loves him lots and lots because evil bad mobsters are in their tiny logging town and these evil bad mobsters raped the jailed guy before he went to jail. Surprise! Rape!
The poor buttsexxing boys are also werewolves.
After this book, I have been told by a few people I chat with regularly that, from here on out, I am not allowed to buy werewolf books anymore. I don't listen to them but I've been through a really bad spate of werewolf books. They're just not that good. This one is no different. I think I would've liked it better if the drama had been toned down and the mismanaged relationship between the two main characters had been the focus rather than the mismanaged relationship being casually resolved along with The Dramaerz. There were a few good scenes that didn't quite make up for the overall lacking parts.6 out of 10
Curious (A Dreamspinner Anthology) After this one, I don't think I'm going to be buying anthologies any longer. None of the stories were fleshed out enough for me to enjoy. They just were took quick and had easy resolutions or no resolution at all. I'm not a fan of PWP and a few of these read that way. I did really really enjoy the Amy Lane stories. I liked the Sean Kennedy story. I'd rate both of these at about an 8 out of ten. But they just weren't good enough to make up for the last story.
However, the last story in this one squicked me HARDCORE. The Neighbors by Janey Chapel features a single, hetero woman watching her neighbors across the way through BINOCULARS. OMG. EW. Voyeurism, either accidental or with consent, is a kink of mine but, dude, the way this one was written? EW. She started masturbating and, if I want to read about a girl getting it on with herself, I'll buy a book featuring women. I didn't buy that book. I bought a book about male/male relationships. This, instead, had the woman wanking off and just. No. No thank you. Ew. Overall, 4 out of 10. There were a few stories in this anthology I would rate as 8 out of 10.
Freaks in Love by TA Chase. First, let me kvetch about this publisher. I'd never bought a novel from Amber Quill Publishing before but if the following TA Chase books are an example of the editing they do, I shan't be buying another book from them. There are misspellings ("laundry mat" rather than "Laundromat"), poor punctuation (if I can recognized a dropped comma, anyone can) and dropped words. How do you not pick up on the verb missing from a sentence? There is no action in there. It's really frustrating and I highly recommend better editor(s).
That being said, I have this weird relationship with TA Chase. I really want to like her books. I just have a hard time doing it. Everyone raves about her books so I keep buying them and trying them and finding myself completely disappointed. This book was no different. I really wanted to like the book but, in the end, I was left confused and disappointed.
The book has an interesting premise. After the nukes are dropped, certain people are affected by the radiation, turning them into "freaks". One of the freaks goes to the NF (non-freak) part of town to work as an enforcer/bodyguard for a crime lord. He's got an acquaintance that he nods at every once in awhile. The boss knows what the freak is but doesn't care. So when the shit hits the fan and the boss gets sort-of-almost killed (he ends up telling the freak guy to run), the freak scoops up the acquaintance and runs for it. You're never shown why he does it but TA Chase keeps telling us and telling us and telling us why he does it. There's no believable basis for the relationship. You never get shown a level of caring, you simply get told, over and over, that they care for one another while they snip and bitch at one another.
The freak supposedly finds it painful to talk but he sure as shit does an awful lot of it. If he's been silent for three years, why the hell is he nattering on so much now? It's a nitpicky detail but it's an important one because it shows how TA Chase completely goes against the world that she set up. Healers have to take an oath except for Magpie, the love interest. The freaks hate the non-freaks but Healers aren't freaks but are forced to live with the freaks but are then exploited by the Non-Freaks for being freaks? IDEK.
I got tired of being told that these characters loved one another. Seriously - you get told they do by a secondary/tertiary character. You get told by the title of the freaking book. Then there's an offhand quip at the end about a couple of freaks in love… just after Magpie refuses to stay with Snake (the freak) when they get to the new town. They fuck, they fight. They fight, they fight, they fight they fuck they fight.
In the end, too much tell, not enough show. I ended the book with no idea why Snake would risk his life for a guy he nodded at every once in awhile. I had no idea why he protected him so much or why Snake worked so hard to get them both out of town. I had no idea why Magpie was supposed to be so badass as an assassin because TA Chase never showed us why. What we were shown was that Magpie was completely ineffective at fighting so how did he ever get to be a hardass well-known assassin?5 out of 10
Brothers without Borders by Lieland Dale. This is another book that could've done with better editing. Silver Publishing is definitely not a favorite of mine, if this is the sort of book they stand behind. It was just poorly edited with the above mentioned problems with TA Chase's book. There were misspellings, missing commas, typos and dropped words.
That aside, have some thoughts on this book. First, let me just say that I'm absolutely not opposed to reading fictional incest. Hell, two of my fandoms are based on it. I've written it, I enjoy it. However, you have to be sensitive about the issues surrounding it. Other than telling me that they might've felt some guilt but then were too overcome with lust for one another, Lieland Dale totally ignores the ramifications or, even better, makes it appear A-OK for two brothers to be getting it on. It's completely normal, in fact, because the random two friends that stop by are brothers and, hey, look! They're fucking too! Or they want to fuck! Or something to do with fucking brothers because there's a random foursome in here that made no sense to me when I tried to visualize it.
Incest is not normal and, I think it's safe to say, most of the world is not going to accept it as normal or natural. We're told that the one brother plays it straight before the two brothers fuck… so straight that the younger brother has no idea that his older brother is gay. So, why, then, would they suddenly fuck? What changed? I didn't buy the change in the book and I think it's because I've read better books/stories setting up fictional incest than that. There has to be something other than a random comfort sleep to drive them to it. There has to be something and this book doesn't give us this.
It drops plot points all over the place, too. Like, take the play it straight thing. There's no further discussion about it as soon as they hook-up the first time. There's no further discussion about the football playing, either. There's no discussion as to why the younger brother doesn't know the older brother's friends when they live in the same dorm and just a floor apart and spend all their free time together. There's no discussion about so many freaking things in there once they're mentioned to add The Dramerz.
Have you ever moved into an apartment from a dorm within two days of thinking you're going to move? Has anyone? Yeah, I don't think so. There's way too much to get and do. I just didn't buy it. I also don't buy the continued relationship between them because if they can't even hide their relationship in front of one person, how are they going to do it on a daily basis, all day every day? I just cannot buy it. Thus, completly disappointed with this book.2 out of 10
Heart of the Mountain: A Loving Hart by Leiland Dale. We've got shapeshifters. We've got homophobic parents. We've got "everyone's gay, everyone's awesome with gay, especially the cowboys". We've got every freaking m/m cliché ever contained in one book.
Look, I live in the West. I live with cowboys and stereotypical butch menly men. And, tbh, I just don't buy the woohoo reaction from the people in the diner when all the gay lovers swing into the diner and kiss and hug. I'm sorry, I don't buy it. I wish I could. I'd love a world where that could happen. But if you're writing about ranchers and cowboys, you're just not going to get that sort of reaction. Want an example? Matthew Sheppard. Cowboys and cowtown people are not the most accepting people, at least the ones here in AZ.
Then there's the random ex-boyfriend showing up and making eyes at some other cowboy that's never resolved. I'm certain that's getting a set-up for book 3 but, dude. Tasteless and tacky to set up the demonized ex-boyfriend while trying to redeem by simply stating that he's redeemed and hooking him up with the love interest's casual fuck. You've demonized the ex-boyfriend and now we're supposed to be looking forward to his relationship? Gee, golly! I'll pre-buy!
I was really looking forward to the whole building a relationship with the brother he hasn't seen in 7 years but I didn't get that. Instead, I got a homophobic father randomly showing up and shooting people. Which was then dropped completely in light of the "woohoo, let's talk about how much we want to fuck".
And if Hart was run out of the last town he was in because he was a shapeshifter (which I'll get to my problems with in a minute), why the hell would he reveal his secret to the love interest so quickly? I just don't buy it. Then there's the whole "run out of the last town" because, srsly? Who the hell is going to believe a guy that comes running from a ranch and cries "shapeshifter"?! If someone said "Bob's a shapeshifter" to me, I'd laugh at them. OVER AND OVER AND OVER. I wouldn't immediately grab my metaphorical pitchfork, join with my neighbors and run the guy out of town. It just wouldn't happen.
And therein lies my problem with this author and why I shan't be purchasing another one of his/her books. They're unbelievable and not-very-well written and/or edited.2 out of 10
Be The Air For You by TA Chase. Again, I wanted to like this book. I'd heard great things about it. I just don't get the fascination. It was filled with m/m clichés. I just don't get the whole "everyone's always going to be all right with gays" cliché even if I wish it were true. There's no way that hard rock fans are going to be gaga over a gay guy being so overt about fucking men left right and center. Do you not remember the reaction to Freddy Mercury coming out of the closet and his subsequent bout with AIDS? Do you not see the way that he's still demonized by quite a few people? I realize that I'm stereotyping the hard rock fans but, dude, look at the reactions to boyband members coming out of the closet even if it's totally obvious. So, no, sorry, not buying it that someone in an even more stereotypical masculine genre of music is totally accepted as being bisexual. I realize that that's my issue not yours but I don't find the premise believable.
I felt horrible for Hawk for going deaf. I liked the way that he got his dog but, dude, only in the course of a couple of months? Really? You didn't do a lot of studying up about service animals, did you? Some service animals have to work with their "clients" for months and months before they're sent out into the world. So I liked the idea of him getting the dog, I just didn't like the execution.
I also would've liked to see more fallout from the drinking episode within the book. See, the main character's been in rehab multiple times and Hawk always pulls him away from drugs. But, when the main character is found with a glass of alcohol before him, Hawk is all just "okaly dokaly" with it. I don't buy it. Not if Hawk had been willing to walk away from him just a short time before.
And that's what TA Chase comes down to for me. I don't buy most of the premise of her books, even if I desperately want to. Everyone keeps telling me how awesome of a writer she is but I just don't buy the premise or the execution.3 out of 10
Shining in the Sun by Alex Beecroft. Another book that I really really wanted to like. I love the Pretty Woman premise. It's a secret, guilty pleasure of mine. I like the pauper marrying the prince. I really liked that movie with whatserface where she's a college student and he's a secret prince. I even liked that Hilary Duff movie where she's a modern Cinderella, yanno, the one with Squinty Squinsalot.
But this was just not good. The man character, Alec, is so desperate to escape his overbearing mother and his looming marriage (after two years of being engaged, you'd think he would've reconciled himself to it) and his secret desire for the buttsex that he escapes, once a year, to his boat. He normally heads off into the ocean and escapes. It turns out, though, that his mom isn't all that overbearing in the end, if he would've just talked to her and his fiance is already looking for another man because Alec has been such a dick about picking a date.
Every plotline is tied up neatly and easily with no real repercussions. The scary DRAMAERZ is actually not that big of a deal. HIS MOTHER IS CRAZY OVERBEARING! until he talks to her. THE LOVE INTEREST'S FATHER IS SUPER CRAZY AND EVIL AND MANIPULATIVE! until they walk away from him. OH NOEZ! SO MUCH THIEVING! meh, what's a couple grand between buttsex partners? THE EX-BOYFRIEND SENT THE LOVE INTEREST INTO THE HOSPITAL! OH NOEZ! HE'S CRAZY AND TRYING TO FIND THE LOVE INTEREST! HE WANTS TO DO IT AGAIN! except that he just wants to give the love interest 50k and apologize to him because he was a bad dom that didn't realize that the love interest didn't like having his hands almost cut off
It starts out with one of the worst lines in history and goes downhill from there.
“Don’t go past. Please. Sit down and drink with me. If you go past… If you go past, I think I’ll die.”
Really? Jesus Christ on a Cracker. 3 out of 10
Because It's True by Willa Okati Cliched. Boring. Forgettable. 3 out of 10
Bound by Nature by Cooper Davis So a few years ago, something happened, driving these two apart from one another. You're supposed to think that it was the one dude driving drunk after the initial buttsexx0rs and then causing an accident, for which, he went to jail. The other one became a police officer.
But then it turns out that the one that went to jail was just getting protectededededed by the police officer guy who loves him lots and lots because evil bad mobsters are in their tiny logging town and these evil bad mobsters raped the jailed guy before he went to jail. Surprise! Rape!
The poor buttsexxing boys are also werewolves.
After this book, I have been told by a few people I chat with regularly that, from here on out, I am not allowed to buy werewolf books anymore. I don't listen to them but I've been through a really bad spate of werewolf books. They're just not that good. This one is no different. I think I would've liked it better if the drama had been toned down and the mismanaged relationship between the two main characters had been the focus rather than the mismanaged relationship being casually resolved along with The Dramaerz. There were a few good scenes that didn't quite make up for the overall lacking parts.6 out of 10
Curious (A Dreamspinner Anthology) After this one, I don't think I'm going to be buying anthologies any longer. None of the stories were fleshed out enough for me to enjoy. They just were took quick and had easy resolutions or no resolution at all. I'm not a fan of PWP and a few of these read that way. I did really really enjoy the Amy Lane stories. I liked the Sean Kennedy story. I'd rate both of these at about an 8 out of ten. But they just weren't good enough to make up for the last story.
However, the last story in this one squicked me HARDCORE. The Neighbors by Janey Chapel features a single, hetero woman watching her neighbors across the way through BINOCULARS. OMG. EW. Voyeurism, either accidental or with consent, is a kink of mine but, dude, the way this one was written? EW. She started masturbating and, if I want to read about a girl getting it on with herself, I'll buy a book featuring women. I didn't buy that book. I bought a book about male/male relationships. This, instead, had the woman wanking off and just. No. No thank you. Ew. Overall, 4 out of 10. There were a few stories in this anthology I would rate as 8 out of 10.