Category Archives: First Reads 2015

Book Review of Beneath the Veil #1 & 2, by Aimee Roseland

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I downloaded the first and second novella of Aimee Roseland‘s Beneath the Veil series (A Taste for Moonlight and A Kiss Beneath the Veil) from the Amazon free list.

A Kiss Beneath the Veil Description from Goodreads:
Daphne is working as a medium in a world altered by the lifting of the Veil, when the monsters drew back the curtain and revealed their true nature.

The worst part hadn’t been finding out that her gorgeous new boyfriend was a vampire, it was finding out that Daphne herself was one of the monsters.

Now she’s a ghost whisperer, trying to track down a serial killer while hiding from her ex and his proclamations of everlasting love. Because when a thousand year old vampire says “everlasting”, he really means it. And Daphne is afraid that true love is a myth. Of course, the newlywed bogeymen next door would beg to differ.

Review:  **spoiler alert**
The writing here was fine and I didn’t notice any problematic editing. For those seeking a guaranteed HEA, this is probably a great book to pick up. Unfortunately, it was a little too squinky for me.

The whole premise is that a woman finds out that the guy she’s been dating for two weeks is a vampire, so she bolts. He then stalks her as she moves several times, such that she is afraid to leave her home after dark, for 5 years. Yes, that’s two weeks dating and five years stalking. And apparently she was smart to stay indoors all that time, because the first time she finds herself accidentally out at night he kidnaps her and whisks her away. Creeeeepyyy.

It must be true love though, because within roughly half an hour (if that long) they’re falling into bed and she’s thinking this:

“Yes! I dreamed of you every night.” She admitted softly. “Please, please, I need you,” she said, realizing then how much she’d missed him. How much she’d regretted leaving him, and how glad she was that the choice to return to him had been taken out of her stubborn hands.

Bergh! Then within 24 hours she’s in love and within 48 they’re getting married and converting her to vampirism so they can be together forever. Whiplash!

And her fear makes no sense anyway. Within three weeks of leaving him, all the supernaturals came out and she discovered she was a medium. So, if she’s a monster herself, why was it such a big deal that he was too?

Anyhow, Isaac was sweet (if you ignore the fact that he stood outside her home every night for five years–not particularly believable to boot) and I didn’t hate Daphne. The mystery was paper thin, all the ‘I love you, bla bla, bla’ got too saccharine for me and (being a novella) it was all too rushed for my preferences. But for those who are into this sort of read, I imagine it’s a pretty good one. It also really is a stand-alone novella, which is noteworthy in its rarity these days.

A Taste For Moonlight

Description from Goodreads:
Anne knew she wasn’t the kind of girl a hot werewolf would go for. After all, she wasn’t a fresh-faced twenty-year old. (How long ago was that birthday, again?)  She wasn’t a virgin. (Yep, those two gorgeous boys were definitely hers.) And she wasn’t shopping in the junior’s section at good ol’ Tar-jay. (Real women have curves though, right? Um…right?)

But even after all her helpful pointing out of these very obvious reasons why he shouldn’t fall for her…that’s exactly what happened.

Thomas is working at the Red Wolf in the hopes of finding a woman willing to overlook the fact that he’s “other”, and what better place to search than at a werewolf strip-club?

Review:
This was ok in a sweet kind of way. It had some admirable points. I liked that Thomas, despite being a huge werewolf, was unquestionably a nice guy—no alpha assholes here! He wooed her by doing things like taking her kid’s fundraiser packet to work and selling cookies for him. That was super refreshing.

And honestly, the whole book is worth reading for this passage:

Oh well. She actually liked all the other Anne’s she’d become. She was a darn good mom and one hell-of-a baker. Chubby Anne…well, she was nice to hug, as her guileless sons often said. So she was okay too.

I love that Anne accepted herself. I did think that the book compromised this same self-acceptance theme by hinting that it’s ok or Thomas to love Anne for Anne, despite her body, but if he’s attracted to her for being heavy (as in that’s his preferred body type) he’d be a ‘chubby chaser’ and that would be insulting to her. That still makes ‘fat’ shameful, even if it simultaneously says ‘fat people get love too.’ But the sentiment is nice.

So, the story is sweet. The characters are mostly sweet. Unfortunately, the book is so rushed that it’s almost a waste of time. It’s insta-love, insta-relationship, insta-everything really. Even after having her children kidnapped, forced into the horrible position of being a prize in a breeding contest (which ran completely counter to the whole idea of mates and made little sense in the story anyway) and being turning into a werewolf, Anne instantly forgives. Bah! There is no time for anything to progress or develops and it would have been significantly better as a novel than a novella.

As a plus, I didn’t realise that this was a second in a series and read it first. Until I went to review it, I never suspected it wasn’t a stand alone, so it would be fine to read as one.

Tortured Skin

Book Review of Tortured Skin (Paul Isaac – Vampire #1), by James C. Gillen

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Tortured SkinIn January of 2013 I downloaded a copy of Tortured Skin, by James C. Gillen, from the Amazon free list. I read it now as part of a TBR reading challenge in which I’m making an effort to read books I’ve owed more than two years.

Description from Goodreads:
When Paul Isaac, vampire executioner, is confronted by the master vampire of the city and poisoned with a virus that will not only kill him, but cause him to rise as one of the undead, he must decide whether to do the bidding of the powerful vampire to save his own life, or stop the sadistic killer that threatens to leave the city with more unfortunate victims. Packed with crucifixes, stakes, and a Magnum filled with ultra-violet bullets, Paul uncovers a sinister club that caters to the dark side of pleasure and pain that might not only be the key to his survival, but also push him closer to the killer’s identity. In order to stay alive, he must learn to face his inner darkness and trust in things that just might be less monstrous than himself.

Review:
While reading this book I went back and forwards about whether I was enjoying it or not. The writing was fine, as was the editing. My problem was that I chose it because another reviewer said, “Interesting series – fans of Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake series and Kim Harrison’s Rachel Morgan series will find similar elements and should like this one.”

But over and over I thought, “What the hell, this is nothing like Laurell K. Hamilton or Kim Harrison. They both write Urban Fantasy that borders on and sometimes overlaps with PNR. This is Urban Fantasy that borders on and sometimes overlaps with Horror. Not the same AT ALL!”

But then it hit me. Tortured Skin is LKH and KH-like fiction for men! What it lacks in any romantic subplot it makes up for in violent bravado. I think a third of the book is just Paul making threats at people or people threatening him and AT LEAST half the book is him enacting those threats or surviving other’s violence toward his person.

Did I like it? Not particularly, but then I’m not a man. I went in expecting a male version of Anita Blake or Rachel Morgan and got a vampire hunting Dirty Harry instead.

The thing is that a lot of the trash talk, violence and cold-heartedness that I appreciate in female characters, as a twisting of gender norms, just comes across as asshole-like on a man. Paul is not a likeable guy. He doesn’t even pretend to try to be and I disliked him as a result.

I also discovered a whole new pet peeve in reading this book, books that don’t give you a description of a character and then drop things in willy-nilly. This book never gave a single, solid description of Paul (though I know what every outfit and woman’s figure looks like) but at ~10% tattoos were mentions. At ~20% a goatee was mentioned. Then, at ~45% his bald head was mentioned, by which point it was far too late to try and alter the image I had created in my head for the character and I found myself jerked out of the story.

The same could be said for the world building. It’s pretty sketchy. Religious icons worked against vampires, but they didn’t have to ask permission to enter homes. I never came to terms with which myths were being used and which discarded. For example, after the werewolves and vampires being enemies for the whole book, the author introduced a vampire’s ability to call on and control werewolves at the 90% mark. What?

Lastly, I never quite understood the point of the coverup that led to the events of the book. Vampires killed people left and right, so why the individual deaths in question were so important was a mystery to me. It left me skeptical of everything.

All in all, while this wasn’t a winner for me, I think guys (who are more prone to appreciate an overly macho, emotionless hero) will probably quite enjoy the book.

Book Review of Afterworld (Orion Rezner Chronicles #1), by Michael James Ploof

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AfterworldI downloaded a copy of Michael James Ploof‘s novel, Afterworld: The Orion Rezner Chronicles from the Amazon free list. (However, I had it mislabelled and picked it up to read thinking it was a request. Sorry requesters, I meant for this read to be one of yours.)

Description from Goodreads:
Seven years have passed since the Culling of 2033 which killed most of the world’s population. Vampires, werewolves, and demons have begun to emerge from the shadows, and they are hungry. Boston, one of the last vestiges of humanity, is protected by a spell shield created by the Wizard Council. The shield is the only thing keeping the city safe.

Having studied the Craft for two years at Harvard Witchcraft and Wizardry, Orion Rezner embarks on his final rite of passage. But his first mission outside the city walls forces him to make choices he wasn’t prepared for. Narrowly avoiding possession by an ancient demon, he learns of a plot to destroy the spell shield and expose its survivors to the horrors outside.

Suspected by the wizard council of having been compromised by the encounter, Orion is unable to convince them of the danger. With the help of his closest friends and ghostly mentor, Orion sets out on a desperate quest to thwart the demon’s plan any way he can–before it’s too late to save the city.

Review:
Ummm, it was Ok I suppose. I wasn’t all that impressed, but I didn’t hate it either. I think my issue stems from the fact that I’m not sure where the book falls genre-wise, therefore I can’t decide if my expectations were skewed or not.

This is post-apocalyptic. An orchestrated mega-virus seems to have wiped out most of the world’s population and a large chunk of the remaining humanity are stigmatised and seem to live in some Mad Max rendition of future Earth. It’s set in 2041 (or there abouts), but all the pop references are from the 1980s and 90s, making it feel contemporary even as it’s futuristic. So, Sci-fi maybe? But then there are witches, wizards and priestly mystics performing exorcisms. (Apparently there are vampires, werewolves, unicorns and so on, too, but you don’t see any.) So, fantasy or even urban fantasy maybe? Then there is the monkey named Dude and a disturbing number of fart jokes/references. Are we then in a humorous novel? The main character is at least in his mid-twenties. (He has a college degree and a 2-year apprenticeship.) But he speaks like a frat boy, slash, surfer. Seriously, it was all “wayyy,” “Hell to the yeah.” Plus the book is full of Harry Potter like magic. So, is it YA? NA? They curse, so maybe even adult? I have no idea.

So, not knowing how to categorise and therefore think about this novel is a problem. But so is the fact that it just feels very random. We catch up with Orion on the day he takes his final test to become a wizard. Then we follow him as he runs around and does a lot of essentially random stuff. In the grand scheme of the series it might all have a place, but in terms of this book, we aren’t given enough background to understand his choices and situate them in an overarching plot-line. As a result, I never felt engaged with him or cared that much about him and what was happening.

This was exacerbated by the fact that he was just so dumb. I know that in his narrative some of that apparent stupidness was self-deprecation, (and some of it’s actually pretty funny) but he did a lot of really unintelligent stuff, even when he should know better.

If I was a 16-year-old boy I might relate to Orion and like the book more than I did. The writing was fine and I don’t remember much about the editing, which means nothing stood out to me as wrong. I think this is just a case of not quite the right reader. But as I didn’t hate it either, I’ll give it a grudging “grunt of approval.”