Tag: Reviews

  • Review of “Love, Like Ghosts”

    “Love, Like Ghosts” by Ally Blue is part of her Bay City Paranormal Investigations series, but you don’t have to read any of the other books to enjoy this one. In fact, this features a character that’s not even introduced in the first book.

    While “Oleander House” (Book 1 of the Investigations series) is very good, “Love, Like Ghosts” completely pulled me in from page one. Immediately, the reader is dropped in the middle of a real ghost sighting. And the first person our hero meets sees him during this encounter! Can you imagine the awkward acquaintance?

    From there, the storyline takes off. I enjoyed the setting, the characters (both major and minor), and the rollercoaster ride as the young protagonist attempts to solve the mystery while overcoming his reclusive tendencies. Developing a fledgling relationship is both a wonder and a challenge for the couple, and I cheered for them all the way.

    In fact, every hurdle (supernaturally based or not) is believable and realistically overcome from beginning to end. While the ghost’s story is compelling, I sought Ally Blue’s work for the m/m relationships and have yet to be disappointed. If you want to read about hot and tender man on man love, this is the book for you.

  • Neuroses in Little Japan

    A while back I read a book that made such an impact I wanted to share the experience of reading. In this age of e-books, that’s ridiculously easy to do while keeping your own copy but I just can’t do it. Call me silly if you wish, but before you shake your head and click to leave this crazy person’s rant, know that you’ll find a brief review if you keep reading. ~dangles cookie~ Okay, I am admittedly neurotic.

    However, I don’t condemn those who download music, and buying used paperbacks has a decidedly positive impact upon the environment. All the same, I actually purchased the e-book a second time before sending a friend the file. Then I tracked down the authors’ contact page and let them know.

    So, whatever your stance on this, do me a favor and give artists feedback whenever you can. You’ll both be glad you did. You might spend a minute to email a note that can brighten another person’s entire day exponentially. Lecture over, the review follows.

    “Little Japan” centers on host boys living high in Osaka, their Dotonbori nightlife overflowing with expensive champagne and extremely generous admirers. For those of you who don’t know, hosting is sort of the masculine version of the geisha, often entailing thinly veiled prostitution.

    Interested yet? I sure was. Co-authored by Reno MacLeod and Jaye Valentine, “Little Japan” features two of my current favorite things: androgynous, over-stimulated, homosexual Japanese males and true love expressed through copious and energetic coupling.

    Enter a sexy, tortured, older American businessman named Gabriel and you have magic. The story is not fluff, though, by any means. That becomes apparent in the first few pages from what my friend already reported!

    Very real evil underlies all the lush and steamy interaction. And our compelling protagonists join to combat the source. Sharing my same fixation, Gabriel comes to discover that his self-condemned desire for host boys like the lovely Kuri is downright benevolent. While seeking one-night-stands to remind him of a long-lost love, he also pays royally. Other men of wealth and power are not so honorable. It’s up to Kuri, Gabriel, and another host boy to rescue Kuri’s lover from a horrible fate far from home.

    Writing this, I realize a need to check out some of the other titles by MacLeod and Valentine. If you happen to purchase “Little Japan”, tell ‘em Darla hooked you up.

  • ‘On Writing—A Memoir of the Craft’

    Review of Stephen King’s ‘On Writing—A Memoir of the Craft’

    I found a copy of Stephen King’s writing guide, ‘On Writing–A Memoir of the Craft’ on my Artist’s Date to Barnes and Noble last week. After reading the foreword I was hooked. His style of writing is disarming, an every man’s voice. He states that he worked to keep this volume short because he figured that “the shorter the book, the less the bullshit” and he has kept his word. Each section of this book deals specifically with the craft of writing; the language, the storytelling and the process involved in creating with words. No extras, no fluff, no ‘bullshit’ are found here.

    The section that is most memorable to me deals with plot, or rather, the lack thereof. Many authors plot their stories out methodically on cards or in a notebook. Mr. King states that he doesn’t follow this method and gives two reasons to explain his break with literary conventions. One, the act of living is ‘plot less’, therefore; writing about life should be as well if there is any truth to be found in it. And two, plot takes away any spontaneity involved in the creation of your story. The end result seems artificial and labored.

    He believes that stories make themselves and authors just transcribe them. “Plot is, I think, the good writer’s last resort and the dullard’s first choice.” Mr. King also states, “Story is honorable and trustworthy; plot is shifty and best kept under house arrest.”

    Mr. King prefers to begin with a situation, next he adds characters, drawing them as accurately as possible. Then he narrates, letting the story tell itself and the characters do things in their own way. The outcome is sometimes close to what he imagined, but often he admits it becomes a surprise to even him. Knowing the ending isn’t necessary to begin writing, it will come naturally as part of the process of storytelling. And no story will ever be finished if it isn’t begun. He recommends you stop plotting and just write.

    He likens stories to fossils in the ground; they are found, and need to be unearthed as intact as possible. Maybe you have found a seashell of a short story, or a complete tyrannosaurus rex skeleton of a novel. Excavating each of them should include the same steps. Consider the situation, listen to what your characters are saying and doing when confronted with this predicament, then watch what happens. And, oh yes, write it down.

    Many of the writing skills I was taught in high school and college classes are not used by the successful authors of today. What a lot of time wasted in the pursuit of dated rules and style. I wish that I had read what Mr. King has to say about writing years ago. This book was well worth the price, full of information and told in an entertaining manner.

  • Review of ‘Dark Desires after Dusk’

    I recently finished Kresley Cole’s novel, ‘Dark Desires after Dusk’. It is one of her ‘Immortals after Dark’ series. I found it a different take on the often cliched paranormal romance novels that are so popular at the moment.

    In the tradition of all good romance novels, Ms. Cole offers us a young, beautiful heroine, Holly Ashwin. The author ups the ante though by giving our young lady an unusual quirk, Obsessive Compulsive Disease. We find her constantly counting everything around her and arranging them into groups of three. She also finds herself helpless when it comes to leaving a room unorganized. As part of the story, she and the hero stay in a string of hotel rooms and she is compelled to rearrange the furniture in each and every one of them; placing lamps in the exact center of the bedside tables and aligning the phone, and its cord perfectly against the wall before she can rest. The author manages to make Holly’s faults endearing, not poking fun at her or making her into a caricature.

    Our hero fares just as well in Ms. Cole’s hands. He is everything a girl could want; a bad boy with a good heart. Cadeon is a brutally handsome demon, a mercenary with a guilty past. He holds himself responsible for the loss of his brother’s throne, the one thing he cannot forgive himself for. Until fate sends him a chance at redemption, in the form of our heroine. He has fallen in love with Holly from afar, watching her, wanting her, yet aware that it is forbidden for a demon to marry a mortal. Cadeon’s current assignment is to deliver Holly to a dark wizard in exchange for a magical sword, the only thing that can help him regain his brother’s kingdom. Torn between love, lust and duty, he struggles with his conscience. He jealously protects her as they travel towards the wizard’s fortress, all the while wondering if he’ll be able to give her up, even for the sake of his brother and their tortured subjects.

    The universe the author has built around these characters is well drawn and detailed. She manages to weave witches, vampires, werewolves and more legendary creatures into her stories, yet keep them believeable, even while they coexist with humans in our current timeline. Many of the characters from her other books show up in this book. It’s good to see them again and renew old friendships.

    Overall, this was a quick and enjoyable read. I found it difficult to put down, even giving up sleep to see what happened next. I can’t wait to get the next book in the series!

  • Wiley Wednesday: Weaving the Web

    One of my favorite writing websites is Writing World, www.writing-world.com (don’t forget the dash or it’ll send you somewhere different). Now edited by Dawn Copeman, it was started by Moira Allen. They publish a free monthly newsletter on the first Thursday of each month. The website has over 825 pages of information covering every genre.

    Moira Allen was editor of Cat Fancy magazine for over a decade and has numerous writing credits to her name. I took a class from her, Breaking into Magazine Writing, that I found tremendously informative and useful. She is very business-like in her approach. She doesn’t have fairy-dust in her eyes about how the publishing industry works, but she is very proactive in how she approaches it.

    Writing World covers all sorts of material of interest to the beginner and experienced author alike:

    Beginner’s World
    The Business of Writing
    Freelancer’s World
    Commercial Corner
    International Writing
    General Fiction
    Romance
    Mystery
    SF/Fantasy
    Children’s Writing
    Poetry/Greeting Cards
    Creative Nonfiction
    Screenwriting
    Publishing Your Book
    Promoting Your Writing

    In addition, Moira Allen has written several books of interest to the freelancer. In particular, she has released an e-book, How to Write for Magazines, which is a synthesis of the class I mentioned earlier. I have it, it’s excellent.

    Their Links page is worth the price of admission. It’s enormous; I don’t have room to fit all the topics here. That alone is worth seeing; I highly recommend you check it out. She’s even got a section on Rights and Copyright, which is always an important thing to understand.

    Most importantly, they do accept submissions! Since they have nearly 600 articles already, it’s important to double-check their guidelines, but check it out!

  • Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro; A review

    I chose Never Let Me Go and one other book to study out of a list of twenty others because I’ve never been struck by book like this in my life before.

    Ishiguro is more famous for writing The Remains of the Day which was met with mixed reviews just Never Let Me Go is. A feeling that life’s path is already set out for you and there’s nothing you can do but meekly follow what life expects is an uncomfortable issue for most people. Regardless of what we want to think, we are trapped by society, even the most free of us, we all need to work to live, we all get stuck in a terrible monotonous cycle of sustaining our existence. And this is why I believe some reviews are so negative, people see their own trapped acceptance of life in this book.

    But what is it about? Well the story revolves around three main characters Kathy, Ruth and Tommy, all three are doomed to die young because they are clones existing purely to provide organs to keep non-clones healthy, at around 20 they become “donors” and continue to have their organs taken one by one in a very ghoulish manner until they “complete” which is what the clones call death, once clones have “completed” their remaining organs are harvested and given to ill non-clones. The reader follows Kathy’s narrative all through her life starting at the mysterious boarding school Hailsham (aptly named) which tries to fight for a better world for clones, better living conditions and treatment but most importantly trying to prove the clones had souls. We learn that this movement was very popular until a race of “super-children” was created which made the whole of society shove the clones back into the shadows in fear and disgust along with all other genetic engineering.

    Kathy and Tommy make a weak attempt to avoid the fate waiting for them but ultimately they just sit back and accept that they are going to die. I find this acceptance to be the most powerful theme in book because I was practically screaming at the characters to run away, refuse to die or just do something. But they didn’t succeed, just as we never escape that cycle-like prison in life, their effort was small and now they accept death.

    “This extraordinary and, in the end, rather frighteningly clever novel isn’t about cloning, or being a clone, at all. It’s about why we don’t explode, why we don’t wake up one day and go sobbing and crying down the street, kicking everything to pieces out of raw, infuriating, completely personal sense of our lives never having been what they could have been” ~ M.J. Harrison, The Guardian

    So give it a read, chances are you’ll either hate it or find yourself touched by it.

    ~mlf

  • A Gentleman’s Wager by Madelynne Ellis

    A Gentleman's Wager (Black Lace) A Gentleman’s Wager is about the pains and pleasures of the regency period, set in the countryside during the winter season. The three main characters are: Bella, the flamboyant and exciting country lady; Lucerne, the bright young city landowner who refurbishes his country estate; and Vaughan, the dark and dangerous Marquis. Bella and Vaughan both desire Lucerne, doing their best to seduce him away from the other’s affections.

    This book is, in a word, brilliant. It totally captivated me. A great example of what erotica should be – elegant yet depraved and utterly, deliciously morish. I deeply enjoyed the characters, all maintaining their unique personalities throughout and developing as well, which I was delighted with. The dialogue was wonderful and not too Jane Austin yet convincingly of the period. And, oh, the sex scenes was perfect. Some detailed, some blurred, it was masterful the way Madelynne Ellis knew which to use when, not one being cringe-worthy.

    Unfortunately, the plot was a little too watery and cliché for me to appreciate. As told in the title, the plot device is a bet between two men – a minor character Charles Aubrey and the wicked Vaughan – who wager on Vaughan’s ability to bed Louisa (Bella’s prudish best friend) and Bella. Countless books and movies have used this, and I was disappointed when I came to it but happily it didn’t detract to much pleasure from the rest of the novel.

    There were also a few place that could have done with a little more research, such as what was eaten during the regency era. Sadly, Madelynne Ellis skims over most meals which is regrettable, as it could have enhanced the experience.

    Overall, as I said, brilliant. If only the plot had more care, it would have reached five-stars. I have high hopes for Ellis’ sequel, Phantasmagoria and I will be on the look out for more works from this author. I give this book 4 out of 5.

  • Chili Heat by Carrie Williams

    Chilli Heat was released by Black Lace in February. I recently received a copy and read it on a trip. The story is based on an English mother and daughter, though none of the book takes place in England, starting on a plane (actually, starting in a bed, but that’s the prelude) and staying in India for the rest of the book.

    Taken from the blurb;

    An erotically charged story set against the exotic backdrop of modern-day India. Let down by her traveling companion, Nadia Kapur reluctantly agrees to take her recently divorced mother, Valerie, on her trip to India. However, her mother turns out to be anything but a conservative presence. As the two women explore India’s most exotic locations, it is Valerie who experiences a sexual reawakening and Nadia who is forced to wrestle with her own inhibitions and repressed desires.

    I started to read this book at 5am after a sleepless night. Probably not the wisest thing, as the style the book is written in is something I am unused to. First person perspective always puts me on guard, as I can rarely get in the same frame-of-mind as the central character, and I have not found something in present tense that has been anywhere above terrible. Both combined offers the reader little distance from the events unfolding, and there is also a tenancy to tell the reader what happened instead of showing (which happened on several occasions in this book) yet it works. It takes a bit of effort from the reader to adjust, but I for one enjoyed the challenge. Carrie Williams pulls off the combination with minimal confusion, though I still prefer to read from third-person past.

    The point-of-view changes from chapter to chapter, between mother and daughter. The characters have little distinction except for sexual preference which is regretful but, as they are mother and daughter, I’m not sure how big a difference there can be. The reader gets to experience events through both a youthful virgin and a mature mother. The contrast of this is enhanced as they explore their sexualities and part company. It is very realistic in the sense that Nadia is unsure of herself and Val, the mother, is questing to ‘make up’ for her sparse love life with her ex-husband by shagging pretty much constantly.

    I feel the nervousness of Nadia is overplayed, as is the desperation of Val. I don’t understand how a Nadia thinks she has to be either straight or gay, and not bisexual, which is frustrating. All through the first half of the book, I felt like giving the girl a slap. The mother is better written, though still not someone I feel a connection with. However, I did enjoy the character’s interaction with the minor characters. They are vibrant with their imperfections, each unique and seem hold their own life-force, a treat to read.

    The journeys the two women take are interesting to follow, mixed with charming glimpses of India and its fluxing economy that make me curious and consider visiting the country myself, even though I’m a born-and-bred Brit and dislike extended periods of heat. Nadia prefers the rural side of the country, where the mother stays in five-star hotels. The landscape isn’t as richly described as it could be, but it is a lovely if vague backdrop.

    The sex scenes are gritty for the most part, with none of the florid language of mainstream erotica – and yet the author seems to be fixating on three of worst words in the whole of the English language. Peel, palpate and snatch. The overuse of them sets my teeth on edge. Despite this, I love the author’s boldness in the various carnal acts played out by the characters and I enjoyed these scenes greatly.

    I found the book finished far too swiftly and quite neatly, like a Hollywood romance. The mother returns to her ex-husband to restart their relationship and the daughter finds love in an unlikely short period of time. I would have liked to have Nadia find someone less safe or at least female (what? I’m bias!) and for the mother to not run back home to her ex, as I feel that degrades the freedom she gained and obviously enjoyed. Overlooking the neat ending, I did close the book feeling satisfied. I give the book three stars out of five.

  • Batman-The Dark Knight

    The new Batman movie has garnered many excellent reviews and in my opinion deserves all of their praise and more. The movie delivers on the clichéd ‘summer blockbuster’ action front as well as a deep character driven morality play, fraught with symbolism and tragedy.

    In this new installment of the caped crusader, we find Bruce Wayne fighting crime in Gotham City. He is tolerated by the policemen for his help capturing criminals, but there is an unease about the mysterious figure whom some believe is actually just a new brand of bad guy. Even the public views him with distrust and suspicion, hence the name ‘The Dark Knight’.

    Bruce wants to give up his nocturnal exploits to marry his beloved Rachel, a lawyer who is aware of his secret identity and refuses to be with him as long as he continues to be Batman. For now, our hero has given up her love to protect the city; it needs him and his special brand of justice to keep it safe.

    Enter Harvey Dent- the new flawlessly moral, incorruptible District Attorney. His reputation for justice precedes him. Eager to find corruption where ever it may lie, he chases murderers, drug dealers and bad cops with equal fervor. He forms an uneasy alliance with Batman and Commissioner Gordon to bring a ring of mob bosses to trial, thus causing the press to name him the ‘White Knight’.

    Bruce Wayne sees salvation in Harvey Dent. He feels he can put away his cowl and leave justice to the new DA. This leaves the city with a protector and him free to marry Rachel. The only problem is, Rachel is now engaged to Harvey, and the mob bosses are after her as retaliation against the DA. Batman finds he must continue to wear his cape and work with his rival for Rachel’s well being.

    The Joker, a new criminal mastermind, surfaces against the back drop of the convoluted love triangle and Bruce’s internal battles about his identity and purposes. He is vicious and maniacal in a way that disturbs even the crime bosses of Gotham City, assembled to decide how to best protect their investments. He performs a ‘magic trick’, making a pencil disappear from the table in front of him in a particularly gruesome manner. Watch for this particular scene in the movie, I can guarantee the whole audience will give a collective ‘Ughhh’.

    The Joker, brilliantly played by Heath Ledger who will no doubt receive a posthumous Oscar nod for this part, manages to confuse everyone. Why does he do what he does? He shows no signs of desiring either money or power as proved when he burns a pyramid of money as an unexpected way to kill a rival. It falls to Alfred, Bruce’s butler to name the Joker’s particular vice; he just wants to watch the world burn. Each time he kills someone, he tells a different story about how he got the tell tale scars on the corners of his mouth, giving him the garish appearance of a grin. He goes about killing, burning and causing mayhem with a vengeance that is reminiscent of Alex in ‘A Clockwork Orange’.

    When Joker speaks he smacks and licks his lips in a distracting manner, his makeup is always smeared and smudged, suggesting decadence and decay. He brings a horrifying ‘joie de vivre’ to his work that is impossible not to stare at. In a particularly memorable scene that has him in a nurses’s dress, complete with white hose and shoes, he skips gaily down a city street, blowing up buildings in his wake with a remote control. The implied reference of ‘helping’ in the uniform of a care giver and the destruction of a previously imagined ‘safe place’ –a hospital, is poignantly ironic, not to mention disorienting in its absurdity.

    This movie is aimed at adults, even though children and teens will flock to it and enjoy it. However, for those interested in the characters and their motivations this movie will satisfy those tastes as well. It remains true to the Batman mythos, and actually makes fun, in a ghoulish manner, of costumed Batman wannabees who try to help the caped crusader with his vigilante efforts. I’m not sure how the collective group of ‘fan boys’ will take that insinuation, but I’m willing to be they’ll be honored to be included. 🙂

  • Twilight

    When I was a girl dreaming about what my first (and only) boyfriend would be like, I imagined him larger than life. He was good looking, intelligent, witty and hopelessly and completely in love with me. I’d be endlessly fascinated by him and long to be with him when I wasn’t. Not because I didn’t have a life or outside interests, but because of something inexplicably more.

    This boy I loved was dangerous and unpredictable–someone of mystery. He wasn’t evil, just slightly…tormented by the fact that he and I shouldn’t be together. The reasons why we shouldn’t be together varied: he was an alien from another planet; he was a ghost; he was an assassin sent to kill me; he had a crippled leg and didn’t believe he was lovable; his mother killed my older brother in a drunk driving accident and our families were enemies; he was actually from the year 3005; he had cancer and was going to die.

    Whatever it was I made up to keep us apart, it was never enough to trump the all-consuming, powerful attraction and passion we felt for each other. (Yes, I know how corny that reads.) I had a lot of fun putting us through hell so the eventual capitulation would be all the more sweet, because that’s the key for me. In my fantasies, there had to be an element of hellish danger. I wanted it all. Excitement. Attraction. Mystery. Obsession. And one big gallomping roadblock. Reality didn’t make the cut. Who cared about realism? I faced reality just getting out of bed.

    Why am I sharing this?

    Because a book written by Stephanie Meyer has resurrected those feelings. The book is called Twilight and is about a teen-aged girl, Bella, who falls in love with a vampire, Edward. The story is told in first person narrative, which isn’t my favorite point of view, but after the first page or so, I didn’t notice.

    As I walked down the aisle to introduce myself to the teacher and get my slip signed, I was watching him surreptitiously. Just as I passed, he suddenly went rigid in his seat. He stared at me, meeting my eyes with the strangest expression on his face–it was hostile, furious.

    Through Bella’s narrative, I feel how emotionally torn Edward is for feeling the way he does about her. He is attracted to her smell–to her blood–and to her personally, and finds the two desires impossible to reconcile.

    Their romance, their ill-advised attraction that grows into love, is the driving force of Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse. Sure, she’s seventeen and he’s 104 years old (but will be seventeen forever), and although they’re both aware they can’t stay together, they can’t not be together. Edward’s entire being shrinks from the thought of taking away Bella’s mortality, but she can’t envision her life without losing it. And thus begins the push-and-pull of a romance that for me is the ultimate escapism.

    Danger-fueled obsession. I eat it up and crave thirds.

    This isn’t Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This isn’t Angel, The Black Dagger Brotherhood or Anita Blake. This is Twilight, a different kind of vampire-human romance story that comes with a conscience and sweet, gentle passion, the kind that squeezes my heart and isn’t letting go. Bella and Edward’s slow-burning love, the danger and torment it creates from all angles, is one of the most compelling stories I’ve read.

    I love Meyer’s fast-paced writing, her thorough characterizations, and her well-thought out plots. I love her imagination. This is exactly the fantastical stuff my dreams were, and are again, made of.

    How popular is this series? The movie comes out in December, and there are rumors that there is a second movie coming.

    The last story, Breaking Dawn, comes out August 2. Guess what I’ll be doing that day?

    And! Stephanie Meyer is writing a companion book to Twilight told from Edward’s point of view. It will be called Midnight Sun.

    Her scent hit me like a wrecking ball, like a battering ram. There was no image violent enough to encapsulate the force of what happened to me in that moment.

    In that instant, I was nothing close to the human I’d once been; no trace of the shreds of humanity I’d managed to cloak myself in remained. I was a predator. She was my prey. There was nothing else in the world but that truth.


    Remember Bella’s thoughts about his hostile, violent stare? This is what Edward was thinking at the time. He came thisclose to killing her. Stephanie Meyer knows how to deliver what I, her reader, wants to know.

    It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this strongly about a series. Thank you, Stephanie Meyer. Your beautiful characters rock.