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Seduce Me in Dreams

Book Review of Seduce Me in Dreams (Three Worlds #1), by Jacquelyn Frank

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cover of Seduce me in Dreams

I borrowed an audio copy of Seduce Me in Dreams, by Jacquelyn Frank through my local library. It’s narrated by Coleen Marlo.

Description from Goodreads:

Dark. Mysterious. Sensual. When Bronse Chapel, the commander of a specialized unit of the Interplanetary Militia, begins to dream about a beautiful and exotic brunette, he wants to dismiss it as being induced by lack of sleep . . . or perhaps lack of sex. But his instincts tell him it’s something different, something far more dangerous.

Ravenna is the leader of the Chosen Ones, a small group of people from her village born with extraordinary powers. She doesn’t know that draws her to Bronse’s dreams night after night, but she senses that he and his team are in jeopardy. Ravenna can help him, but first Bronse must save the Chosen Ones from those who plan to use their powers for evil. Together, Bronse and Ravenna will be unstoppable. But Ravenna is hiding something that could endanger them all.

Review:

I only have myself to blame. I borrowed this from the library. I’ve passed it up several times, expecting it to be horrible. Experience has taught that older PNR (this is from 2011) and I don’t usually get along. Gender tropes are often too strongly reinforced for me. Women are always small and delicate and men are large and dangerous. Women are victims, men are victors, etc. But I’ve listened to pretty much all the PNR that my library has available via OverDrive/Libby, so I gave in and rented this. 

It tricked me. I thought it started out well and I began to think maybe I’d been wrong….then it all went to shite. Or to be more precise, it all went exactly as I’d previously anticipated. I lost track of how many times phrases like “her sexy little lips,” “her pert little bottom,” “her sweet little hands,” “her bright little eyes,” etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. Ravenna’s character development seemed entirely based on her ability to withstand misery and Bronse’s in his ability to berate himself for his attraction and kill things. Of course, if Ravenna considered killing someone it had to be avoided at all costs, because it would be sooooo harmful to hermental state. Why is this only ever true for women?

I did think the universe this was set in looked interesting. But I didn’t feel like it was well developed. Nor were any of the side characters. Lastly (and importantly), there is a pretty big mystery that moves the plot along. It isn’t solved. The book ends with a, “I guess we’ll never know why.” Ummmmm, no. That’s 100% not acceptable to me. 

All in all, not AS bad as I expected. But not great either.

Aftermath

Book Review of Aftermath, by George Weinstein

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Cover of Aftermath

I received an audio code for a copy of George Weinstein‘s Aftermath. It’s narrated by Amy Deuchler.

Description from Goodreads:

After her father’s murder, Janet Wright returns to her folksy childhood home to tie up loose ends and mend her broken heart. But the sassy heroine soon discovers that there is more than meets the eye within the enigmatic small town entangled in secrets, scandals, and lies. This suspenseful southern thriller will have Wright facing pieces of her broken childhood and fighting for her life. Mystery, murder, and romance converge to keep you listening section after section.

Can Janet Wright complete the deadly puzzle connecting her father, his murder, and the wary small-town setting?

Review:

I quite enjoyed a lot of this, but also thought it fell into some disappointingly cliched ruts too. There was the femme fatale who was literally described as a Jessica Rabbit clone (even down to the red dress). There was the Colonel Sanders-esque southern lawyer and all of the down-trodden and oppressed minorities that the main character desperately wanted to rescue. (White savior much?) The New Yorker with her brusque attitude and high priced branded clothing. The woman who was apparently obsessed with her relationship status and assessed every man as a potential partner. Etc. 

I also didn’t understand some of the events. Why exactly did Janet try and help Tara? That seemed beyond stupid. Why exactly did the inn keeper get so mad at Janet? The reaction seemed out of proportion and misdirected. Mostly, however, I thought the particular version of evil engaged in by the father was cliched and over-used. I had hoped for something a little more original. 

Having said all of that. I did find it engaging and I liked the characters a lot, especially Tim. And the narrator did a wonderful job of bringing it all to life.

Review of Sonata, by A.F. Henley

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Author, A.F. Henley was generous enough to send two of their books to be included in my Little Free Library. Sonata is one of them. This afternoon, I chose to borrow it back and read it.

Description from Goodreads:

At thirty-six Ian feels done with the world. When a night at a bar goes as poorly as expected, he wants only to return home to be miserable in peace. Instead, he encounters Jordan. Hot, young and interested, Jordan is everything Ian’s ever wanted and nothing he believes himself capable of actually obtaining. 

Jordan has enough going on in his life trying to scrape together a living for himself and his autistic son. When he meets Ian, all he wants is a brief, erotic moment and nothing else. 

But fate throws them together again and again, and Ian finds himself determined to do whatever it takes to give their story a happy ending – no matter what secrets Jordan’s past has waiting for him.

Review:

This is another hard one to review. I really adored some aspects of it. I mean Ian’s openness and heartfelt desire to care for someone was super touching. I really liked him. I felt Jordan’s desperation, even before we knew why (though I guessed his circumstances fairly early on). They were a compelling pairing.

However, even as I appreciated Henley’s inclusion of an autistic child, I also felt like he was simply a plot device. He had no real discernible personality and conveniently disappeared when the plot needed him to. Plus, the happy ending wrapped up so easily that I felt Cole had simply been shunted off into the wings.

Speaking of endings, I felt like Henley just fixed everything off screen and I found it difficult to make the transition along with the story. Plus, I felt like there were a lot of things I wanted the men to talk about (to see the men talk about) that didn’t happen.

For the most part however, I thought this was a sweet little romance.