Tag Archives: fantasy

Pyromancer

Book Review of Pyromancer, by Amanda Young

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PyromancerI downloaded a copy of Amanda Young‘s Pyromancer in March of this year, when it was free.

Description from Goodreads:
Christian Ryder is cursed with pyromancy, a deadly ability he has difficulty controlling. Having hurt lovers in the past, he has sworn off personal attachments. 

Tanner O’Bannon is broke and desperate. The recent loss of his father has thrown Tanner into a tailspin of debt he can’t afford to pay. Working as a rent boy allows him to pay the mortgage and his college tuition, but it’s burning away his soul in the process. 

Through the machinations of an escort agency these men are thrown together. Smoldering embers of desire fan the flames of love, but will it be enough to make Christian overcome his fear of love, or to save Tanner from the fire?

Review:
The writing here is actually pretty good. The language is perfectly readable and though the editing is a little rough, it’s not overly distracting. Plus, the characters are likable. However, the story itself is a bit of a flop. It’s a shame too, because I think it has a lot of potential that just isn’t developed.

To start with, the pyromancy didn’t seem to have anything to do with anything. In the beginning we’re told this is a huge problem in Christian’s life and it keeps him from being able to live normally. Then, for 90% of the book he goes about life just fine, with no ill effects from the pyromancy at all. In fact, it’s not even mentioned for the vast majority of the book.

This pattern of telling the reader that a character is unable or unwilling to do something and then having them blithely turn around and do it is repeated several times in the book. In fact, it was so prevalent that the whole book felt compromised by it. In a very real sense the plot is based on the stated fact that Christian can’t have close ties to anyone and then he falls for the first person he sees, develops deep feelings for them and nothing bad happens. And we’re not led to believe this was a mistaken belief on Christians part, but a departure from past events. I have to ask why.

To complicate this compromised feeling, the world isn’t at all defined. The reader is never told how or why Christian can control fire, or if anyone else can.

Lastly, and completely a personal pet peeve, but the author uses ‘his lover’ to describe the characters during emotional scenes and I thought that distanced them to the point I couldn’t wholly connect. And, even worse, Tanner is referred to as ‘the kid’ for a lot of the book, especially during sex scenes. Sorry, I get a little wigged out by that. I know ‘the kid’ in question is 20 to Christian’s 32, but it still makes me a little twitchy.

All in all, it was an ok read, but not more.

Hungry Like the Wolf

Book Review of Hungry Like the Wolf (SWAT: Special Wolf Alpha Team #1), by Paige Tyler

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Hungry Like the WolfI picked up Hungry Like the Wolf, by Paige Tyler, as an Amazon freebie. It was still free at the time of posting.

Description from Goodreads:
The Dallas SWAT team is hiding one helluva secret . . . they’re a pack of wolf shifters.

The team of elite sharpshooters is ultra-secretive—and also the darlings of Dallas. This doesn’t sit well with investigative journalist Mackenzie Stone. They must be hiding something . . . and she’s determined to find out what.

Keeping Mac at a distance proves impossible for SWAT team commander Gage Dixon. She’s smart, sexy, and makes him feel alive for the first time in years. But she’s getting dangerously close to the truth—and perilously close to his heart…

Review:
Pretty standard alpha shifter finds his destined mate PNR. But pleasantly, Gage wasn’t an A-hole about it and, though spunky reporter gets her man is one of my least favorite characterization, Mac was far more self-sufficient that a lot of such PNRs let female characters be, so I rather enjoyed it. I wouldn’t call this outstanding in any fashion, but it really wasn’t bad either. Worth picking up, at the very least.

I did think it was overly long. In fact, three separate times I thought I’d reached the end, only to have the plot pick back up again. I also thought there was too much sex…or not so much sex, as not all of it is on page, but the characters have too much sex. The amount of time dedicated to setting up the scenes contributes to the too long book, I think.

But again, it’s worth a read. I didn’t consider my time wasted.

Book Review of Hexbreaker (Hexworld #1 ), by Jordan L. Hawk

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HexbreakerI purchased an e-copy of Hexbreaker, by Jordan L. Hawk.

Description from Goodreads:
New York copper Tom Halloran is a man with a past. If anyone finds out he once ran with the notorious O’Connell tunnel gang, he’ll spend the rest of his life doing hard time behind bars. But Tom’s secret is threatened when a horrible murder on his beat seems to have been caused by the same ancient magic that killed his gang. 

Cat shifter Cicero is determined to investigate the disappearance of one friend and the death of another, even though no one else believes the cases are connected. When the trail of his investigation crosses Tom’s, the very bohemian Cicero instinctively recognizes the uncultured Irish patrolman as his witch. Though they’re completely unsuited to one another, Cicero has no choice but to work alongside Tom…all the while fighting against the passion growing within. 

Tom knows that taking Cicero as his familiar would only lead to discovery and disaster. Yet as the heat between them builds, Tom’s need for the other man threatens to overcome every rational argument against becoming involved. 

But when their investigation uncovers a conspiracy that threatens all of New York, Tom must make the hardest decision of his life: to live a lie and gain his heart’s desire, or to confess the truth and sacrifice it all. 

Review:
I really quite enjoyed this one. Well, it’s kind of hard not to when there is a big, lovable teddybear like Tom involved. Don’t get me wrong; I liked Cicero too. But Tom won the show for me.

I liked the idea of witches and their shifter familiars. I liked the world-building, which was never obvious but I still understood the politics and hierarchies of the world. The writing was mostly wonderful. One of my few complaints is that I thought it faltered into clunky, almost cheesy prose sometimes, but mostly not. My only other real criticism is that the sex scenes felt quite abrupt and a little out of character for where the characters were, emotionally at the time.

It’s a complete story, no cliffhanger and I didn’t feel I was missing information having not read the prequel. Gotta appreciate that. I’ve read a couple Hawk books now and I’ve been happy with each one. I look forward to more.