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Book Review of The Complete Rylie Cruz Series, by Rose Pressey

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The Complete Rylie Cruz Series

I grabbed Rose Pressey‘s first Rylie Cruz novel, How to Date a Werewolf, off the free KDP list. When I saw the compilation on sale for $0.99, I went ahead and bought it so I could finish out the series.
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Description from Goodreads:

How to Date a Werewolf
Romance can be a hairy business–especially when you’re a werewolf.

As the owner of Get a Mate Dating Service, Rylie is more than happy to step in and lend a hand to lonely lycanthropic hearts all over town. No matter how hopeless Rylie might be in finding her own soul mate, she has a knack for helping others find theirs.

Convinced that she is stuck with a family curse, Rylie is positive she will never find her true love. But when drool-worthy Jack Chandler shows up at her door, Rylie wonders if maybe the curse is finally broken.

But Rylie’s life is about to become complicated courtesy of the after-dark crowd. When she begins receiving strange notes and harassment from a jilted client, events careen out of control.

Jack knows she’s more hassle than he can handle. What he doesn’t know is whether she’s seriously in trouble . . . or simply delusional.

How to Date a Vampire
Dating a vampire doesn’t have to suck.

Rylie Cruz is the owner of Get a Mate dating service. Her specialty is matching up paranormal folks. Thinking that a curse placed on her is finally broken, Rylie hopes that her love life is headed in the right direction.

Not so fast.

Rylie has finally convinced her hunky psychiatrist boyfriend, Jack Chandler, that
she isn’t crazy and is actually a werewolf. But after a little scuffle with temperamental vampires, Rylie must now convince Jack that he may be a part of the paranormal club.

How to Date a Demon
A Match Made in Hell

Rylie Cruz loves playing matchmaker. She even does it full-time at her matchmaking service, Get a Mate. Since she’s a werewolf, she feels that gives her expertise when dealing with the paranormal crowd.

When Rylie’s best friend, Jennifer Matthews, asks her to set her up on a date, Rylie is hesitant. Jennifer hasn’t had luck in the dating department lately.

But when a good-lucking man shows up looking for a date, Rylie thinks Jennifer might be his perfect match. The date turns to hell though when Jennifer displays outrageous mood swings and a new shocking fashion sense.

When Jennifer disappears, Rylie fears the worst. Things get even stranger when a mysterious demon hunter shows up looking for Jennifer. He claims he wants to help Rylie find her friend. Rylie’s boyfriend, Jack Chandler, is trying to save Rylie from the demon hunter, but she isn’t sure she needs to be saved.

Rylie has to find her friend before it’s too late and Jennifer’s swooped off for a staycation in forever damnation.

Reviews:

How to Date a WerewolfHow to Date a Werewolf
A cute, clean read that’s basically based on one woman’s attempt to find love amidst a series of embarrassing mishaps. I mostly enjoyed it, but I felt cheated by the way none of the things that made Rylie (and by extension me) mad were resolved. She literally went from ‘I’m sprouting fur I’m so angry’ to ‘it’s ok I don’t mind’ in 2.5 seconds flat, again and again. I mean her best friend seriously stabbed her in the back, repeatedly, and she instantly forgave her without so much as an apology for any of it. Now, maybe that makes Rylie saint-like, but it left me feeling like I’d missed a few pages and some important emotional closure.

I also thought that the werewolves’ forms weren’t very consistent. There were more than a few moments when I wondered about the physiology presented. Examples included werewolves in full wolf form able to pull a gun on someone, throw a bottle or carry a plate. Even if he was smarter than most dogs, I’m fairly sure my pooch’s lack of finger dexterity…or fingers would prohibit him from being able to do these things. So how could a wolf? All in all however, a fun little fluffy distraction.

How to Date a VampireHow to Date a Vampire
Another cute, clean read in the Rylie Cruz series. Like the first book, How to Date a Werewolf, this one is almost completely made up of half-truths, misinterpretations, and withheld information. I actually get incredibly frustrated with this type of plot device. I tire of it easily and this one started to feel really quite slap stick after a while. Why can no one just say “come with me, please, because…” Nope, it all has to be veiled threats and attempted intimidations which, of course, Rylie resists. Who wouldn’t? Similarly, Rylie is constantly being stalked or followed and never once does she just stop, turn around, and say, “What the hell do you want?” Of course, if such straightforward tactics were used the story would be 15 pages long, so maybe I do understand it after all.

Though I mostly enjoyed the story, I did feel that it ended abruptly. It wasn’t a cliff-hanger, but there were quite a few open threads and the ending felt clipped. I actually flipped back and forwards to ensure I hadn’t missed a couple pages. Lastly, I notice quite a few more editing mistakes in this one than the first. It was still perfectly readable, but they were noticeable. Despite that, it was a fun little bit of light entertainment.

How to Date a DemonHow to Date a Demon
Like the first two Rylie Cruz books, I’ll give this one three stars. But honestly it’s barely hanging in there with a low three, maybe even a high two. It might be because I read the compilation and therefore all three books back to back, but this one began to feel VERY formulaic. So much so that I’d swear Ms. Pressey cut and pasted passages from one book to another! Despite that, I still found disruptive inconsistencies in the story. For example, Jack is referred to as a half-vampire at the beginning of this book, but at the end of book two Quentin turned him from a half-vamp to a full-vamp to save his life. A big deal was kinda made of it. Then at the end of this book he’s referred to as a vampire. So, um, which is it? Or the way, in this book, Rylie’s curse is said to affect the “first daughter born to each man in the Cruz family,” but in the previous books it was the “youngest daughter.” So again, which is it? This kind of thing yanks me right out of a story. As do the typos.

As for the story itself, it was ok. I’m not calling it horrible or anything. But I was just so tired of it all. It began to remind me of the opening credits of a Benny Hill episode, Rylie randomly running from one place to another, usually with someone following her. (Just like in the first two books.) Meh. Then I reached the end and a cheesy cackling baddie who claimed, “You walked right into my trap.” Really? If that’s the case she should have realistically done that on about page 8 and saved me 240 pages of aimlessness. Plus, he/she was defeated really, REALLY easily. Meh.

This is a cute clean series, with a little romance in the first two (not so much in this one). But this one fell down for me. Again, meh. It’s the best I can say for it.

Killing Matt Cooper

Book Review of Killing Matt Cooper, by John Cassian

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Killing Matt CooperAuthor, John Cassian, sent me a copy of his novella, Killing Matt Cooper.

Description from Goodreads:
A FEMA crisis manager by day and serial killer by night becomes romantically involved with the FBI unit chief hunting him down. Will she learn his dark secret? If you’re a fan of “American Psycho” or “Darkly Dreaming Dexter,” this is the book for you!

Review:
I have to admit that I didn’t have high hopes for this one, going in. I had it in my head that it was going to be some base attempt to pass sexual amoralism off as excusable fetish play. And therefore declare itself admirably open minded and liberal…(read liberated) in the process. I mean, the Amazon page comes with this warning: “*GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING!* *ABDUCTION, NON-CONSENSUAL, SNUFF* *This is a work of fiction meant for MATURE, 18+ AUDIENCES ONLY!*”

I was wrong. It wasn’t nauseatingly permissive, like I expected. There is some real depth here. But it took me a little while to figure that out. ‘Cause, in the beginning, the book did a good job of setting itself up as just such a piece of shallow exploration of sexual escapism and male entitlement.

The whole first 15% is taken up entirely by an extended, first person (from the POV of the aggressor) account of a rape and then a brief murder. At the time I found this horribly distasteful and thought, ‘yep there it is. This guy is really gonna try to play this off as OK, isn’t he?’ I was discomfited not by the eventual murder, but because, in the end, the woman was supposed to have enjoyed being dominated and raped. God I hate that trope! I really really do. 

Honestly, I almost didn’t make it. At about 13%, and having gotten nothing more than an unusually long (for such a short book) and uncomfortable rape scene, I almost gave up. I essentially said to myself, ‘if this is just some literarily handed ‘sick fuck’ living out his rape fantasies I’m not interested. I’m out!’ But I figured in all fairness I should at least make it into the meat of the book before abandoning it…giving it the benefit of the doubt, of course, that there would eventually be meat. There is. 

I’m thrilled I did. ‘Cause Samuel Knight has a great voice! He’s mocking and self-deprecating, delusional and poignantly self-aware. Sometimes, it’s not possible to tell which is which and that makes him eminently relatable in that respect. Oh…and he’s sick as shit. (So not wholly relatable, after all.) He’s seriously twisted in the head, totally crackerjacks, and not in a harmless, stupid-happy kind of way, but in a dangerous, remorseless psycho-killer kind of way. The thing is, you still kind of like him. Hell, you do like him; you just tell yourself that you shouldn’t, ’cause, you know, he’s nutzo.

The upside of that agonising first scene (and I’m sorry to keep harping on about it, but it was a bit like riding shotgun with Anthony Sowell for a little while there) is that the reader is painfully aware of what Samuel is doing while he goes about his normal sexual-predator-routine, without the author ever having to do anymore than drop a euphemism. It wasn’t until later in the book that I was able to appreciate the purpose of dropping such a detailed event so early on. Plus, the book does have a great opening line. 

There are also some real situational gems. I wish I could relate them all, but they would be spoilers and in such a short piece it wouldn’t take much to ruin if for others. I’ll just say, for those who have read it, Samuel’s postcoital thoughts on his facial expression was my favourite. (There, I think that’s clear enough to identify and vague enough to not give anything away.)

I don’t know if this is the first of a series. There are certainly threads left open…Matt Cooper for one. But the story still has a complete feel to it. After a rough start…which, no doubt, was intended to be just so…I ended up really liking it. I liked the character’s internal dialogue, his attempt to find human closeness, his willingness to accept his own ugliness and welcome his eventual just rewards. I may have hated his actions, but I liked HIM. The thing is that they really shouldn’t be separable. 

shadow Heart: Slayer

Review Claudy Conn’s ShadowHeart Slayer (Shadow Vampires, #2)

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ShadowHeart SlayerSeveral months ago I reviewed Shadow Love: Stalkers, book one of Claudy Conn‘s Shadow Vampires series. I later found the sequel, ShadowHeart Slayer, on the free amazon list.

Descriptions:
Her name is Nikki Walker, and she is a vampire slayer. She never thought she would have to use her slayer powers…but she does.

She is on the trail of an ancient and secretive vampire called Deadly Moon, and Nikki wants to destroy her. She has her reasons.

His name is Damon Drummond who some of you have met before, and already know that he is a hunk of an unusual vampire. He is bent on keeping Nikki away from Deadly Moon.

The sociopath vampire, WB, who had been Pentim Rawley’s right hand man has taken over the Pentim clan, and is turning out to be even more of a problem than his predecessor had been. In fact, if someone doesn’t do something soon…Dublin will go dark under his power, and other cities will follow.

Damon and Nikki are on opposite sides. He is a potent vampire–she is a skilled and powerful vampire slayer. Problem right there…but, when they look at each other, sparks of all kinds fly. Too much stands between them. He will live forever…she will not…and yet…

Review:
Hmmm…From the blurb and the precedent set in book one (Shadow Love: Stalkers) I expected this book to have (or at least aim for) a deep, brooding vampire and a kick-ass slayer/heroine. Certainly Damon was just so in the last book. For a little while, in the beginning, that’s what I got too.

Then everything took a turn for the Twilight Zone. Suddenly there were, not only vampires, but demons, hybrids, and inter-dimensional monsters in an enchanted wood, which just happened to surround a magical castle. It was, however, when I reached the kindly, white bearded wizard a la Fantasia, in the blue, sparkly, conical hat, silken robes and Harry-Potter-like wand that I had a fairly serious WTF moment. I only became more confused as witches, warlocks and fae were later thrown into the fray.

It was like the book completely lost focus for a little while, drifted and then simply picked up in some quixotic fairytale instead of a PNR vampire novel when it reestablished itself. I was left dazed and confused, until I shifted into irritated and disappointed. I didn’t set out to read a fairytale and there was no warning that it was what I was getting into.

What’s more, Nikki went from the hard-nosed, independent slayer of the first couple chapters to a sweet, polite, girl next door with a propensity to hug people and kiss the cheeks of affable old men. Talk about a personality 180°. I wanted to drop the book right there at 50%, but I forced myself on so I wouldn’t have to DNF.

I try really hard to find at least a few good things to say about a book and I see from other reviews that people like it. So, I’ll happily admit that this was perhaps a mismatch of reader and book. But I was seriously disappointed. Both because the story I ended up reading in no way resembled the one I set out for and because I thought it wasn’t particularly well put together. *cringe*sorry**

The narrative was repetitive. For example, WB’s feelings and thoughts about Clara were related just about every time they were in the same room. The same kind of thing can be said for both Nikki and Damon. We’re told what they think of the other again and again and again without it changing much until the end. Then it just becomes rather staid, rushed sex scenes. 

The narrative felt quite stiff, with characters too often using names and endearments in conversation and even frequently using full names where one would suffice. At first I thought this was a certain character’s habit, but then others did it too. There were also periods where people seemed to stop using contractions, leaving everyone sounding oddly formal all of the time. 

Plus, I just found myself cringing over some things. For example, I found the whole “shifted into vampire speed” or “put on the slayer speed” cheesy beyond imagination. Maybe because it was used so often, but mostly because I imagined them shifting gears, like in a car.

My main complaint, however, was that like in the previous book, the author set up one primary plot (in this case hunting down the killer of her brother) and then completely ignored it for most of the book, while unrelated distractions were thrown at the main character and reader. This left the whole thing feeling fragmented. 

I don’t want to be mean here. I truly appreciate how hard writing a book is and for a different reader maybe this one will be a winner. It was, after all, very creative and imaginative, but I’ve finished it now and am still kinda reeling in a state of perpetual WTF. I had such high hopes for the dark and mysterious Damon too. They didn’t pan out.