Tag Archives: fantasy

Craving More

Book Review of Craving More (Tiger Nip #1), by Brandy Walker

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Craving MoreI picked up a copy of Craving More, by Brady Walker, from Amazon when it was free.

Description from Goodreads:
Corrine Hart is ready for few days off for rest and relaxation. At the top of her to-do list is spending as much time as possible in tiger form and doing her best to banish all thoughts of the mysterious Hunky Cupcake Guy who spent the last two weeks driving her libido insane.

Jett Montgomery-Murphy just wants to know if the tasty treats that keep showing up at work are the same ones his best friend used to get while they were in college. A trip out to Sweet Confections confirms what he thought and brings him in close contact with the one woman he’s secretly lusted after for years, his best friend’s sister Corrine.

A late night tryst leads to two tigers finding their mates and two humans unsure what to do next. Add in an overbearing brother, a best friend with her own drama, and a crazy ex-girlfriend that has a checkered past and you have a recipe for disaster.

Will Corrine and Jett be able to overcome the unexpected obstacles on their way to falling in love? Or will they throw in the towel before the relationship even gets off the ground?

Review:
I won’t lie; I read this book because I was sick of looking at the ugly cover in my TBR list. He looks like some duck-billed Cro-Magnon in that picture. Yuck. But I held out hope that the story might be ok. It wasn’t, not in my opinion anyway.

I thought the hero was a wimpy ass and every other male in the book was condescending and patronizing toward women. The women fell into only two camps. Good girls who were the potential mates of the male characters or crazy, violent bitches not worth consideration or humanity. There was no significant plot. Random things just happened. The world, despite seeming interesting, wasn’t developed enough for me to feel invested in. The characters lacked depth and I was basically bored for most of the book.

The Whitechapel Demon

Book Review of The Whitechapel Demon (The Adventures Of The Royal Occultist #1), Joshua Reynolds

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The Whitechapel DemonI picked up a copy of Josh Reynolds‘ The Whitechapel Demon from Amazon when it was free.

Description from Goodreads:
Formed during the reign of Elizabeth I, the post of the Royal Occultist was created to safeguard the British Empire against threats occult, otherworldly, infernal and divine. 

It is now 1920, and the title and offices have fallen to Charles St. Cyprian. Accompanied by his apprentice Ebe Gallowglass, they defend the battered empire from the forces of darkness.

In the wake of a séance gone wrong, a monstrous killer is summoned from the depths of nightmare by a deadly murder-cult. The entity hunts its prey with inhuman tenacity even as its worshippers stop at nothing to bring the entity into its full power… It’s up to St. Cyprian and Gallowglass to stop the bloodthirsty horror before another notch is added to its gory tally, but will they become the next victims of the horror guised as London’s most famous killer?

Review:
I quite enjoyed that, but since it’s a holiday here you get an abbreviated review.

Things I liked:

  • Interesting characters
  • smooth, humorous dialogue
  • two male/female partnerships that didn’t involve romance (that’s possible you know)
  • incidental inclusion of LGBT individuals (ok, a gay man, but it’s a start)

Things I didn’t like:

  • the villains were too slapstick
  • the era-speak and witticisms in the face of danger went over the top
  • the evil entity was defeated too easily
  • too many easy, throw-away deaths
  • needed a tad more editing
Glove of Satin, Glove of Bone

Book Review of Glove of Satin, Glove of Bone, by Rachel White

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Glove of satin, glove of boneI received a copy of Rachel White‘s Glove of Satin, Glove of Bone from Netgalley.

Description from Goodreads:
Enne Datchery and Muriel vas Veldina, ex-lovers and witches with a shared apprentice, are tasked by the Citadel, to repair an old grimoire together, despite the fact their relationship is tense at best.

The situation is further complicated when the book is stolen, and tracking down the thief stirs even more of Muriel’s past. It swiftly becomes clear to the two that dealing with their fractured relationship is going to be the easy part of the assignment—if they can live long enough to complete it.

Review:
*Sigh* I am disappointed. It’s not that the book is bad. It just misses so many opportunities to be better. I mean, how did White take a book about missing Grimoires of destruction, wicked witches, lesbian book repairers, gay circle archivists, warlock councils and MAGIC and make it boring? She made all that stuff side items and focused on two bickering women who can’t communicate, that’s how. *Sigh*

The characters are interesting, if not particularly developed and not exceptionally likable. The world seems like a cool one, but it isn’t deeply developed. The writing is good and there is occasional humor in there. But despite all of that, I just didn’t enjoy it very much. The book feels very much like it starts in the middle of something, as all the action seems to have happened in the past and we’re picking up the aftermath. What little action there is is brief and anti-climatic. What romance there is is mired in guilt and angst we never learn the origins of.

So, while the book isn’t a hot mess or anything, it’s not a winner for me either.