Tag Archives: book review

Dragons Treasure

Book Review of Dragon’s Treasure, by C.J. Starkey

Dragon's TreasureI picked up a copy of Dragon’s Treasure (by C. J. Starkey) when it was free on Amazon.

Description from Goodreads:
Sean has a type, he’s not ashamed to admit, and Jack fits the bill to a tee.  

Sean 
My life was a blur of work, sleep and the occasional night out. Despite my friends’ best efforts to get me laid on a regular basis I just couldn’t make anything stick. 
It didn’t seem like Jack was going to be any different. I made a complete and utter fool of myself more than once and then our first intimate encounter was a threesome with a werewolf shifter. Finding out he was a dragon shifter should have been more surprising than it was but after that first time, I think I knew I wanted him for keeps. 
I should have known our relationship would happen on it’s own timeline, completely out of our control. 

Jack 
Sean was fascinating from the very beginning. He was a contradiction in every sense of the word – I never knew whether to be blown away by his surprising intelligence or by how deep he could stick his foot in his mouth. 
I’d had too many flings go sour to be willing to risk it, even in spite of the animal attraction I felt towards him. An old friend not-so-gently encouraged me into it and well, I always did tend to plunge headfirst into things. 
Why should this be any different? 

A Dragon’s Treasure is a standalone MM story, with steamy love scenes, Mpreg and a HEA ending! 

Review:
#DNF at 19%, which is the end of A Dragon’s Treasure. The rest being “bonus stories.” Um, No. I’m pretty sure this is just a collection of short stories, despite what the cover and title say. What’s more, I’m pretty sure this is one of those authors you hear about who is cranking out misleading books for the buck they might make, not for the art or love of writing. Starkey just made my Do Not Buy List. I don’t usually review books I don’t finish, but when I think readers are being scammed an author I feel obligated to highlight it.

To discuss the one short story I read, that was sold as a 200+ page book, it was BAD. It read like a court report. I could almost imagine someone standing there saying, “Just the facts, Ma’am.” There was one rushed sex scene and then a whole rushed romance/pregnancy. No development. No world-building. No indentations or hard returns between paragraphs. No consistency in tense. Reading this was in no way an enjoyable experience, even without factoring in the feeling of being manipulated and tricked by it’s inaccurate presentation.

I’m starting to feel like you have to swim with sharks to trust a book purchase these days.

Bloodlines

Book Review of Bloodlines (KinKaid Wolf Pack #1), by Jessica Lee

BloodlinesI picked up a copy of Bloodlines, by Jessica Lee, when it was free on Amazon. It was still free at the time of posting.

Description from Goodreads:
Evin KinKaid, the only son of the KinKaid pack’s alpha, has a secret. One that will tear his family apart. In one year, Evin is to succeed his father as alpha leader and continue the dominant bloodline of his family. There’s only one problem: Evin is gay. When Evin is pushed into the bed of his intended female mate, he’s forced to reveal the truth. And for an alpha male wolf shifter promised to a female whose goal is to one day be queen, coming out has never been more explosive.

To Mason Thorne II, heir to Thorne Global Inc., life is a lie. To sustain his father’s love, Mason has agreed to stay in the family business and to one day assume his place as CEO. Instead of reaching for his heart’s desire, he’s settled for a life he never wanted. But an unexpected auto accident will send Evin and Mason into each other’s arms and down a path toward a destiny neither man can escape: an eternity sealed in blood.

Review:
This was ok, not great, deep or important in any way, but also not all bad. It was basically 75% sex though. Which was a shame because that left far too little room for the plot, which was weak to say the least. I rather thought it just a pretty skin laid over the sex to tie it all together. Meh.

The main characters, while likable, were shallow and poorly developed. Everyone else were just caricatures, blown up and over exaggerated villains or angels. Mostly including cheesy dialogue to match their role. Meh.

The writing, when not dripping cheese, was fine. But the editing was a mess. Meh.

black monastery

Book Review of Black Monastery, by William Stacey

The Black MonasteryAuthor, William Stacey, sent me a copy of his novel, Black Monastery.

Description from Goodreads:
In 799 A.D. Viking warband leader Asgrim Wood-Nose sails his prized longship Sea Eel south along the coast of Frankia to raid the island of Noirmoutier—the Black Monastery. 

Banned from his homeland following a night of rage-filled murder, Asgrim has been declared outlaw. Unless he can raise a princely blood debt, he will never see Denmark again. When a Saracen merchant brags of a great treasure hidden deep within the monastery, Asgrim realizes fate is offering him a chance to go home again. But Asgrim has led his men into a trap: somehow, the monks of the Black Monastery have released a dark supernatural force, an eastern demon that wears the skins of its victims. Hunted by this monstrous evil and tormented by the ghosts of those he has slain, Asgrim’s only ally becomes another lonely soul, a Frankish woman abandoned by her people under suspicion of witchcraft. 

The Viking north clashes with the supernatural east in an epic historical fantasy tale of heroism and redemption in the face of unimaginable horror.

Review:
This was an enjoyable enough read once you got past the How To Build a Long Boat lesson in the beginning. I enjoyed the complexity of the main character, in that he is not a nice man. Neither are any of his men. They’re a Sword-Danes, Vikings. Murder, rape and pillage is the name of the game. But we’re given enough of a glimpse of Asgrim’s beginnings to know that he could have, in other circumstances, been a kind person. The fact that he isn’t makes him hard to relate to and empathize with, however.

The villain is truly horrific and you feel the tension it creates. However, he’s defeated in a bit of a Deus ex Machina move. There’s a bit of a sex-equals-love romance element that I didn’t feel was well developed. I found the writing repetitive, though clear and easy to read. All in all, I consider it worth the read.