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Lifeblood

Book Review of Lifeblood, by Werner Lind

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LifebloodAuthor, Werner Lind lent me an e-copy of his novel Lifeblood; not so much for review as because we are friendly online and I was interested in reading his book. But of course I’m reviewing it anyway. It’s what I do.

Description from Goodreads:
All Ana Vasilifata ever wanted was a simple life, with a good husband, children, and a happy home. What she found was a vampire who made her his bride. And when she fled to England in the winter of 1665, she found a stake at the hands of a fearful and angry mob.

Over three hundred years later, an accident reanimates Ana in the quiet town of Meriwether, Iowa. She flees to an abandoned house where she meets Joshua Davidson, a kind-hearted carpenter who helps Ana adjust to this strange place and time. As her friendship with Joshua deepens, Ana begins to hope she can finally find the peace she has always sought. But dangers still haunt her, for even now there are some who believe in the stories of vampires. This time she is not friendless –but, she wonders, would Joshua continue to help her if he knew what she was? And even if he would, could he protect her from all the monsters lurking in the shadows?

Review:
I think saying this is a nice story is description rather than weak praise. That’s what it is, a nice story. The whole thing is very sweet in an ‘aw shucks’, Mayberry sort of way. The 24-year-old hero still happily lives at home with his mama and sisters. They all eat breakfast together and the sister fills his ‘lunch pail’ before he heads of to an honest days labor. Men go fishing together and courting couples go to the drive-in and roller-skating. It’s all very, very vanilla but purposefully so. These aren’t just Mary Jane characters, but meant to be notably good, small town people, God-fearing people. (And I say that as a reader who is very sensitive and irritated with authors who can’t seem to give their precious characters flaws.) They are good examples of what they are written to be.

I did find some stereotyping in the villain and their actions and some of the dialogue seemed bit stiff; some because the characters were from the 1600s and some just because it’s written that way. But it was very readable. And though I generally prefer a bit more grit in my fiction, this story, with a light Christian theme and miraculous HEA, would play well for that market of reader who doesn’t. So, if you’re looking for a clean paranormal romance, look no further.

Book Review of Alan Lennox and the Temp Job of Doom, by Brian Olsen

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Alan Lennox and the Temp Job of DoomI snagged a copy of Alan Lennox and the Temp Job of Doom, by Brian Olsen, from Amazon. At the time of posting is was free.

Description from Goodreads:
Alan Lennox has been assigned yet another soul-crushing temp job, keeping him from his first loves – drinking, playing video games, and looking for a boyfriend. But Alan’s new job proves to be anything but boring when his co-workers start turning up dead. The mysterious megacorporation Amalgamated Synergy has taken a deadly interest in Alan and his three roommates, and the hapless quartet are woefully unequipped to deal with the psychotic secretaries, murderous middle managers, and villainous vice-presidents hunting them down. 

Their investigation leads them deep into Amalgamated Synergy’s headquarters, but can Alan and his friends stay alive long enough to discover who – or what – waits for them on the top floor?

Review:
This is one of those books that is frustrating because it’s almost something special (and probably is for some people, just not for me). I liked the characters, though they were a little stereotypical. I liked the plot, even though it was on the slow side. It was funny, written well enough and possibly an allegory, but none of that really makes up for the fact that I never could buy the ending. The how of what happens is conveniently skipped over and it all felt rather anticlimactic.

Review of Pain Slut (The Subs Club #2), by J.A. Rock

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Pain slutI received a copy of Pain Slut, by J. A. Rock, from Netgalley. I reviewed book one of the series, Subs Club, late last year.

Description from Goodreads: Honestly, I’m ready to take a step back from the Subs Club. Making the kink world a safer place for subs is the sort of bandwagon I’d have boarded as an idealist in my early twenties, but now I’m a pragmatist in my late twenties. I prefer to focus on adopting and raising a child.

But unexpected factors inevitably derail my plans. Like Drix Seger—attractive and the first genuine sadist I’ve encountered. If I were not in the process of renouncing my masochistic ways and becoming the normal, responsible potential father the adoption agency wants to see, Drix and I might do well together.

But he has a foolish name and belongs to a cult of vampyres, and I am quitting kink. So why does Drix’s infatuation with blood and biting make me so hot I can’t think straight? And why, when he looks at me, does he seem to see something beyond a basket case with a stick up my ass?

Can I start a new phase in my life without leaving part of myself behind? Please send help.

—Miles

Review:
The writing is this book was as good as any I’ve read from Rock. It was well paced and had interesting characters and themes, but it was way past my comfort level. In fact, I’d say it probably hit my hard limit.

I just could not get down with slapping people in the face and punching them in the stomach during sex. I had way less problem with the knife play than that. (And that’s likely just me.) Then, during that last, climactic ménage scene I kept thinking, “Miles should probably just be dead by this point.” I really felt like Rock just threw everything they could think of into it and it eventually started to seem like a grocery list of tortures. (I thought most of the Scenes felt a little like this.)

I appreciated what Rock had to say on safety in BDSM communities, the interaction of different kinky sub-cultures, being more than your kink, and negotiating vanilla society and authority as a kinky person, but this was not a book I was ever comfortable reading. But for those who are more tolerant of extremes in their erotica this will probably be a real winner.