Monthly Archives: April 2013

Haunted on Bourbon Street

Book Review of Deanna Chase’s Haunted on Bourbon Street

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haunted on bourbon street14031401I grabbed Deanna Chase‘s Haunted on Bourbon Street from the Amazon KDP list…twice it would seem. (Thus the two covers) I didn’t even know it was possible to download the same book twice on Amazon. I guess the ASIN changed at some point or something. Anyhow, as the time of posting it appeared to be free again.

Description from Goodreads:
Jade loves her new apartment–until a ghost joins her in the shower.

When empath Jade Calhoun moves into an apartment above a strip bar on Bourbon Street, she expects life to get interesting. What she doesn’t count on is making friends with an exotic dancer, attracting a powerful spirit, and developing feelings for Kane, her sexy landlord.

Being an empath has never been easy on Jade’s relationships. It’s no wonder she keeps her gift a secret. But when the ghost moves from spooking Jade to terrorizing Pyper, the dancer, it’s up to Jade to use her unique ability to save her. Except she’ll need Kane’s help–and he’s betrayed her with a secret of his own–to do it. Can she find a way to trust him and herself before Pyper is lost?

Review:
I was pleasantly surprised by Deanna Chase’s Haunted on Bourbon Street. I think I expected something a little more H.P. Mallory-ish…more sexual tension and humour. I don’t mean to suggest that there wasn’t plenty of both, but rather it isn’t the focus of this book. In a sense this is as much a mystery as a paranormal romance. They have to investigate and identify the ghost, find out what he wants, find out how to defeat him, and find out how to get on with life.

I liked Jade. While she came in with some preconceived notions about strip clubs and those that work in them, she eventually proved herself to be open minded and mentally flexible. She also had a good strong backbone… though one of these days I swear I am going to do some sort of research project on how often otherwise healthy, well-balanced women in romantic fiction manage to twist ankles while in the presence of sexy men who can carry them away…and maybe even go on to explore how often they then end up in said sexy man’s bed. Here we find a woman who apparently can’t even turn 90° to the right without injuring herself. Sheesh!

Dodgy balance aside, I really did like Jade. It was also nice that her empathic ability was integral to her personality, but not to saving the day. Well it was, but you know how sometimes in books the main character will have one strong skill and somehow it is the only thing that is needed to single-handedly save the world? Not so much here and that was refreshing.

I thought Kane was not only super sexy, but a sweet heart to boot. Pyper was a firecracker. I did have a little trouble deciding what an LSU graduate (one presumes she graduated in the absence of information to the contrary) was doing working in a strip club, but I was willing to accept it. Kat, Dan, and Ian filled their roles, but I felt little for them.

The twist wasn’t all that difficult to guess, but it also wasn’t so obvious that one felt there wasn’t a need to finish the story. I did think things got a little convoluted there at the end. Yes, I suppose I could call it action packed, but the whole feel of the novel changed with the increased pace. Plus, it all felt a little convenient. I know a week was supposed to have passed, so obviously the group worked hard to pull it together. But since the reader isn’t party to any of this it felt wrong. Does that make sense?

I’m glad to have given it a read at long last and would be more than willing to read the continuation of the series.

 

Book Review of Heather Hildenbrand’s Dirty Blood

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Dirty Blood

I grabbed Heather Hildenbrand‘s Dirty Blood off of the KDP free list. At the time of posting it was still free…or free again. I downloaded it quite a while ago. 

Description from Goodreads:
I killed a girl last night. I did it with my bare hands and an old piece of pipe I found lying next to the dumpster. But that’s not the part that got me. The part that scared me, the part I can’t seem to wrap my head around and still has me reeling, was that when she charged me, her body shifted – and then she was a wolf. All snapping teeth and and extended claws. But by the time I stood over her lifeless body, she was a girl again. That’s about the time I went into shock… And that was the moment he showed up.

Review:
I put off reading this book because, frankly, I haven’t been enjoying many YA read lately. I’m beginning to think I’ve just gotten a little too old to relate to the teenagers involved. That being the case, I was relieved to enjoy this one as much as I did. Yes, I still had to sit through Algebra class (or whatever period it might have been) and all of the adolescent angst, but I have no intention of penalising the book for an expected element of the genre. It’s just that some books play this particular card too heavily for me. That wasn’t the case here. There was enough to remind me that Tara was 17 and Wes 19, but not enough to drown out the rest of the plot.

Tara was a character I could understand. She was strong willed, without being suicidal about it. She very rarely put herself in needless danger just to prove her independence. Plus she was surprisingly observant of the body language of other characters. She gleaned a lot of information from very small things. I appreciated that. Like her, I got a little tired of everyone trying to push her aside for her own protection and I was right behind her when she lashed out about it. You go girl!

I thought that the plot rolled along nicely. There were a few predictable parts, but on the whole the events kept me interested. I also thought that it ended well. I feel like lately half of the books I’ve read end in the middle of a story. As a result I’m becoming a little wary of any first in a series. This one had a real ending, while still being open for the continuation of the series.

Book Review of Saumel Odunsi’s Age of the Aura

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Age of the AuraAuthor, Samuel Odunsi Jr, sent me a review copy of his sic-fi novel, Age of the Aura, Phase I: Champions of Power.

Description from Goodreads:
There was no other name for the Blessed Galaxy. After being gifted with the Auras, five great powerhouses of celestial creation, the title was a suitable fit. While harnessing such energies, the governing bodies have ruled their respected reaches of the Galaxy for a number of millennia, but now they face the threat of an inevitable calamity that could shake the lives of everyone, caused by one of the five Auras.

After accepting a sudden promotion, a devout man of science, named Lowen Sars, decides to take on the burden of saving the Galaxy’s people after he learns of the calamity, but soon realizes that the role of a hero was a calling not meant for him. In his process of self-discovery, Lowen inadvertently begins the fateful saga of not only the Blessed Galaxy but also the kingdom in possession of the corrupt Aura, and especially its two young heirs of the throne.

Review:
I’m really not too sure how I feel about this book. The idea is really interesting, the writing is pretty good (though it could do with a bit of an edit to shore up the tenses and double check word usage), and there is the start of some really good world-building, but it’s only a start. The book is roughly 140 pages long and if it was closer to 500, with a complete storyline and plot I would likely be giving it far higher marks. But as it is the reader is barely introduced to the characters, technology, and lead-up to an important event that undoubtedly sets in motion the rest of the series. That isn’t enough to make for a happy read. I finished the last page wondering not only what would happen next, but why ‘the envoy’ was important, why we needed to get to know the Monvaldo family at all, how long the process had taken (I couldn’t tell how much time passed in the course of this book), what was the implication of Lowen’s experience on Dox, was there a method to the madness of Edith and Brill’s deaths, how could Lowen be so naive as to not know what he was really setting in motion, where did the Aura’s originally come from, and what of all of the side characters that were introduced once and then never seen again. 

Eventually I decided that the clue is in the book’s description. It reads, “In his process of self-discovery, Lowen inadvertently begins the fateful saga…” There it is, BEGINS. That’s all this book is, a beginning. It’s a pretty good beginning, but still just a start. I don’t generally sit down to read part of a book. I want the whole thing. 

Having said all of that I must confess that I did like the Monvaldo brothers and Lowen and his team. They’re likeable characters after all. If there was more to the book I would have happily kept reading to see it to the end too. So, if you’re the sort that doesn’t mind their stories broken into a series of small snippets this saga will likely appeal to you. I, on the other-hand, was annoyed to find it ending as the action finally came to a head.