Monthly Archives: June 2013

Book Review of Shauna Allen’s The Cupid Chronicles: Inked by an Angel & The Halo Effect

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Inked by an AngelI grabbed Shauna Allen‘s Inked by an Angel from the Amazon KDP list. Then I bought the sequel, The Halo Effect.

Description of Inked by and Angel:
Jed Gentry is doing just fine, thank you very much, running his tattoo studio in Austin, Texas. So what if people think he’s a bit on the surly side? He’s been burned by his ex who sticks around to torture him and he lives with a family heartache that he’d rather not talk about. But he’s got a thriving business, his dream car, and good friends. Not much to complicate things. At least, not until she walked in…

Kyle O’Neill has had it with being the sheltered daddy’s girl at the family accounting firm and is ready to spread her wings and fly on her own for the first time. Unfortunately, it seems she’s about to fall flat on her face when her first and only client is – gulp — a tattoo artist! Her country club upbringing certainly hasn’t prepared her for this place or the sizzling attraction her traitorous body feels for the grumpy owner.

But there is a Divine conspiracy at work here pushing these two together. And they are hell bent on bucking the Heavenly plan all the way. Luckily, their angel is a true believer and pulls every trick he knows from under his halo to make this a match made in Heaven.

Who says God doesn’t have a sense of humor?

Review:
I grabbed this expecting just a little bit of fluff. I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of characters I found, as well as the humor and a solid story.

I loved the angels and their AA meetings. They were a lot of fun and funny to boot. They all felt a little naive and well meaning. You could really imagine them bumbling through their missions and meeting almost miraculous or divinely inspired success. Oh, and poor Uri! Having said that I loved them, and I did, they did get a little preachy on occasion. They’re angels after all. But it was never so blatant that the book slipped over into prosthelytizing and religious fiction in the stricter sense. As a non-Christian I was never made uncomfortable by it, but I would imagine a committed Christian looking for an inspirational read to underscore the omnipotent, loving altruism of the Holy Father would be happy with it too.

I did think that in the end everything wrapped up a little too well. All of a sudden, and for no apparent reason, Kyle’s over bearing and self-absorbed mother decides to make peace. Kyle suddenly becomes strangely emotive and confesses seemingly out of nowhere despite being emotionally shut down just days before. Michael at least bends a commandment to give Jed a kick in the right direction, even though he showed every inclination of being a rule follower until that moment. Charles isn’t mad in the least when he finds out the truth. One character jumped from denial strait to eternal commitment and marriage, while another suddenly finds herself contrite after years of being otherwise. I realise that if you haven’t read the book these examples make little sense, but you can probably imagine their context and while they brought about a wonderful happy ending, they didn’t really feel very natural.

I’m so glad book two is about Noble. I found him an intriguing character, which is saying something since he was practically mute. All in all, I got more than I bargained for out of this one and would be more than happy to read more of Ms. Allen’s writing. If for no other reason than to see how many more small religious exclamations she can come up with. They were a lot of fun and made for an interesting running joke.

The Halo EffectDescription of The Halo Effect:
He’s gotta earn his wings…again.

Love Detail’s favorite angel has his sights set on his next target: the stoic and mysterious Noble Blackfeather. And it just may prove to be his toughest case yet. Noble’s reclusive ways keep his angel at wing’s distance, and love even further. But he’s not playing a part – he’s truly masking a painful secret and a profoundly wounded
heart.

A cupid’s worst nightmare.

Noble’s been paired with Braelyn Campbell, the cute single mother next door. She’s adorable, friendly, fun…everything Noble needs. This should be a Love Squad slam dunk. Except she’s making a fresh start in Texas to protect her son from a volatile ex, and she’s not about to risk her heart or her son on another man. Even if he’s sexy as sin and always coming to her rescue.

Thank God for possibilities.

But, reluctantly, they are drawn together – thanks to their cupid’s dogged efforts and a whole lotta chemistry. Can the girl next door learn to trust again and help heal Noble’s wounded heart? Together, can they save the lost, hurting boy she’s raising? Can the angels help it happen before it’s too late?

Thank God for love

Review:
The Halo Effect is a nice continuation of The Cupid Chronicles. If I’m honest I didn’t like it as much as the first, but I still liked it. Braelyn is a forward woman who knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to go after it without coming across as easy. I liked that about her. I also liked her relationship with her son. She was protective, without smothering him and he was polite despite being 14 and in the midst of an emotional upheaval. Noble was, well noble. I felt really sorry for him and was so glad to see him finally opening himself up. I would have liked to get to know him a little more though. You learn his history in this book, but hear very little of his internal dialogue, except for lusting over his neighbour (which would be important since he isn’t much of a conversationalist). I was also little disappointed that Michael wasn’t as much of a character. This book is much more a romance with a little help from above as opposed to the story of how Michael goes about his Love Duty mission (as in book one). It was still a really sweet romance though.

Like the first book I felt that the author built up the emotional hurtles to be overcome and then let them fall almost miraculously. I was often not explicitly aware of where characters change of hearts came from. It was emotionally satisfying that they did change, but I would have liked a little bit more understanding of how or why instead of just when.

My only two real complaints are that It was a little predictable (and questionably realistic) and the preachiness was amped up compared to book one. In Inked by and Angel the religious characters spouted off about god a bit. Ok, makes sense that’s part of their character after all. In this one the narrator had a much more religious bent going on and as a result the whole thing felt much more Christian to me. I’m don’t mind religion in my fiction, but since I’m not in the market for a new religion I don’t generally enjoy mini sermons. Luckily, though more apparent, it wasn’t overpowering. I look forward to Eli’s story whenever book three finally comes out.

Book Review: Shiver, by Maggie Stiefvater

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ShiverI picked up a copy of  Maggie Stiefvater‘s werewolf novel, Shiver, at the local used bookstore. It’s been taking up space on my shelves for a while now, but when it came up as the monthly group read of one of my Goodreads groups, I decided that its time had come.

Description from Goodreads:
For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can’t seem to live without.

Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human… until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It’s her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human—or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

Review:
This is an eery, poignant read. It feels like something M. Night Shyamalan would have a hand in, minus the horror. But, like the almost missable wolf on the cover, you feel the odd camera angles and barely perceptible background music that incites the reader to feel overlooked. It gives the book a real sense of atmosphere.

The writing is absolutely beautiful. One of the characters likes to compose songs, and the whole thing reads a little like his lyrics. It’s pretty, and it flows well, but I have to admit that after a while, it wore on me a little bit. I think purple prose is the correct term to use here. Everything is over-described, flowery to the umpteenth degree. Again, it’s beautiful, but I could have done with a few hundred fewer similes. No one just walked into a room. They walked into a room like an avenging angel, or soft winter wind, or rolling thunder. I’m making these up, but you get the point.

The two main characters are generally likable—Sam especially. It would be hard not to like someone as gentle (and fragile) as he is. He is well-complimented by Grace, and together, they feel fated. I would have really liked to get to know the rest of the pack better. You get almost nothing of them in this book. I expect they will play a bigger role in future books, though.

All in all, I’m glad to have read it. I probably would have let it linger on the shelf forever if it hadn’t been a group read. I’m glad it got bumped up. As an aside, I rather liked the subtle blue ink of the text that matched the cover so well. A fun detail.

Book Review of Jeaniene Frost’s Halfway to the Grave

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Halfway to the GraveAfter dozens of recommendations I finally broke down and bought Jeaniene Frost‘s PNR Halfway to the Grave when I saw it discounted the other day.

Description from Goodreads:
Half-vampire Catherine Crawfield is going after the undead with a vengeance, hoping that one of these deadbeats is her father–the one responsible for ruining her mother’s life. Then she’s captured by Bones, a vampire bounty hunter, and is forced into an unholy partnership.

In exchange for finding her father, Cat agrees to train with the sexy night stalker until her battle reflexes are as sharp as his fangs. She’s amazed she doesn’t end up as his dinner–are there actually good vampires? Pretty soon Bones will have her convinced that being half-dead doesn’t have to be all bad. But before she can enjoy her newfound status as kick-ass demon hunter, Cat and Bones are pursued by a group of killers. Now Cat will have to choose a side . . . and Bones is turning out to be as tempting as any man with a heartbeat.

Review:
Saying I’m disappointed in this book would be an understatement. I have close to two thousand books on my Kindle, many of them free, but I shelled money out for this one because so many people rave about it. I’m totally boggled. Why?

I love vampire based PNR, but this book had so many of the genre’s tropes that I hate all in one place. The  emotionally unstable, angry heroine who is also painfully virginal and unaware of  her own sexuality. “I didn’t like it before. I think something is wrong with me.” Really? Despite how the whole thing worked out it never occurred to you that is was just bad sex? Her insistence on holding onto old slights so long that they become character traits. The way she went all embarrassingly cave-man possessive whenever a attractive female came around. Pet names, god the patronising pet names! The way Bones knew more about her abilities than she did. 22 years and she never noticed that she could see ghosts, for example, but he knew somehow. The constant reminders of female victimhood. (I’ll be coming back to that one.) The characters complete unwillingness to communicate in any sort of civil manner, etc. 

If I had to name the theme of this story it wouldn’t be romance, erotica or even vampires. It would be women as sexual victims and the use of sex as a form of control and degradation. There are so many references to prostitution in this book I lost count. Cat’s mother is considered a whore because she had a child out of wedlock. Cat is seen similarly by extension and even called one by her mother at one point. Sergio calls Cat one before their final encounter. Bones admits to having been a gigolo when he was alive. The whole plot hinges on hunting down the head of a human trafficking prostitution ring. Though admittedly with a vampire & ghoul twist. Cat has to dress like a slut so that she can attract her marks, often posing as a working girl in the process. This despite the fact that she ostensibly has to sit through hours of dirty talk before hunting a man who has a penitent for underage girls. Really, what exactly does he appreciate about their underage status if not their innocence? Seems to me that’s the wrong front to be presenting.

And that’s just prostitution references. I could go on another whole rant about the rape victims and/or suggested victims. This book should make women fear being alone with ANY MAN. They all seem to be predators of some sort. It sapped the enjoyment right out of the book for me. There are so many sexual victims it blots out the story. I appreciate a little sexual tension here and there, but that isn’t what was sprinkled throughout this book. I felt male privilege leering at each and every female character in this book. It was disquieting. 

Then there were all of the subtle (and occasionally not so subtle) indictments of modern human behaviour that was often painfully oversimplified and arrogant almost beyond palatability. Sorry, having some slutty vampire bitch preach at me about the failure of the government to stamp out the modern slave trade in Brazil (or where ever) or ‘honour rapes’ in Pakistan didn’t fly too well with me. It certainly didn’t excuse her vampire boss. 

I’ve seen a number of previous reviewers compare Bones and Cat to Buffy and Spike. I can COMPLETELY see that. It’s there, not doubt about it (intentional or not). On a related side note, Bones’ English is rubbish. I lived in Northern England for a number of years and let me tell you it isn’t convincing. 

Possibly most annoying of all, however,  is that after spending 95% of the book wishing it would just end already Bradley Tate (and maybe Timmie) made me curious what what might happen next. I do not want to be tempted into any more of this drivel in the hopes that book two is better than this first one. When my two favourite people in the book are both MINOR side characters there is a problem.