Tag Archives: audiobook

Wild Blood

Book Review of Wild Blood (Cyborg Shifters #1), by Naomi Lucas

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I borrowed an audio copy of Naomi Lucus‘ Wild Blood through Hoopla.

Description from Goodreads:

Dommik was a monster, a Monster Hunter, and an alpha. Part of an elite group that dealt with the horrors of the universe. At least that was what everyone at the spaceport was whispering as he walked by. A Cyborg, a hunter, a beast with eyes as dark as the pits of Hell and the stride of a predator. 

Katalina was a nobody who was intimate with death. It clung to her like a shroud, It followed her like the plague, and infected her like a parasite. When she overheard that the Monster Hunter needed an assistant, she took the job. And when the Cyborg’s eyes caught hers, she knew getting closer to death might just bring her back to life. 

The Cyborg didn’t scare her. 
So she followed him and left fate up to chance. 

Review:

This was……

This was interesting, as people in my family would politely say to avoid saying anything bad. I listened to the audio version, so I can’t say with certainly that the editing was clean. But I didn’t notice any errors in the mechanical writing, as it was read. But the story was…not for me. 

I appreciated that the cyborg was less human-like than a lot of sci-fi romance cyborgs. He was truly a melding of machine, altered DNA and man (even during sex). And I appreciated that Kat wasn’t a pushover and went after what she wanted. 

But there was very little smooth progression in the romance (there was none). Dommik did some things I would find unforgivable. Most of the sex was subtly written using the language of abuse. The closest thing to an antagonist in the book is the only other significant female in the story (and she’s the sexy femme fatale archetype too, super cliched). And there’s no real plot or world-building beyond giving the characters somewhere to boink, but not so little as to mark this as straight erotica. All in all, I just kind of found this a weak showing in general. Plus, I thought the narration really flat. And sex scenes read with little inflection are awkward beyond belief.

The Miser of Mayfair

Review of The Miser of Mayfair, by M. C. Beaton

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I borrowed an audio copy of The Miser of Mayfiar, by B. C. Beaton from the local library.

Description from Goodreads:

#67 Clarges Street is unlucky. Rental agent Palmer blackmails butler Rainbird and staff to stay for pittance of wages. From Scotland for the London Season, dazzling orphan Fiona sets her sights on haughty Earl of Harrington, and gives the servants first cut of her gambling winnings, insists she is the sole heir to her father Roderick Sinclair, a miser with a failing heart.

Review:

Honestly just not very good. Nothing is even remotely consistent. It was going for a Georgette Heyer feel, I think, but didn’t manage it. 

The book starts out well enough, with the beautiful Miss Fiona’s introduction. She’s so cow-eyed and dumb you can’t help but assume it’s a sham. And it is. She’s a smart, capable card sharp. (Though we’re never told how she came to these skills.) Then about mid book it all evaporates and she becomes just as stupid as she pretends. But only as long as it assists the plot. Then, she’s suddenly smart, brave and capable again. The villains are cartoonish and the love interest has several unbelievable changes of heart for no apparent reason and goes against social convention without explanation. Also, he almost rapes Fiona, hardly a hero. 

This has a nice new looking cover. So, I borrowed it from the library. But I later learned it was originally written in 1987. Maybe that explains a lot. But even for the late 80s, bad writing is bad writing. To her, credit Lindy Nettleton did as much with the manuscript as a narrator probably could. The narration is just fine. The book is not.

Homecoming

Book Review of Homecoming by Marian Snowe & Ruby Grandin

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I received and Audible code for Homecoming by Marian Snowe and Ruby Grandin.

Description from Goodreads:

Scarlett McKennon’s life in the big city is a big flop. 

Her cupcake bakery went under, her roommate at her expensive apartment left her high and dry, and her girlfriend just reacted to “I love you” with “No thanks.” Her sophisticated metropolitan dream has crumbled all around her, and the only thing left to do is pull up stakes and return to the small town where she grew up. 

What could be worse than limping home in defeat? The minute she steps off the train, Scarlett finds out: her first love, Joan, is waiting there to drive her into town, looking like the picture of sexy confidence. Joan was once a scared, self-conscious girl; now she’s come into her own as a mechanic and soccer coach, and Scarlett can’t help but wonder what might have been. 

Carrying on a secret high-school romance in a conservative town was brutal, and Joan hadn’t been able to take the pressure. She broke Scarlett’s heart in exchange for a “normal” life that was doomed from the beginning. Now that Joan’s divorced, fate keeps putting Scarlett in her path. They may have tried to forget each other, but their chemistry is still undeniable. 

Both women start to wonder if they might be right for each other after all… But is the spark they both feel enough, or will their shared past prove too painful to overcome?

Review:

Not bad, but also not a huge winner for me. I just never felt any spark between the characters. The whole thing kind of hinges on their past. But all we’re really told from the past is about Joan insisting on staying hidden and then breaking up with Scarlet. You don’t get any of the passion. Then, in the present, it’s more of the same until Joan suddenly decides to change. I understood her fears and felt angst, but no passion at all. 

None of this is helped by the writing being heavy on the exposition. We’re told almost everything and shown very little. So, there is always a distance from the characters that keeps them feeling flat…and passionless. 

The writing itself seems fine and Deuchler did a fine job with the narration. But I’d call this a solid middle-of-the-road read.

On a side note, I think this needs a much more hipster cover. The characters make fun of lesbians in flannel, after all; and one is described in retro dresses (needing victory curls) and the other wears two braids and greasy jeans, with boots. The little Mary Sue on the cover doesn’t match the vibe of the book, IMO.