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Grace Through Blood

Book Review of Grace Through Blood, By A. Jay Lee

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Grace Through BloodI grabbed A. Jay Lee‘s vampire novel, Grace Through Blood, from the Amazon KDP list.

Description from Goodreads:
Welcome to the Nightlife of the Palmetto City.

With an Arch-Demon masking itself as a serial killer, a NCSI agent hounding a Navy SEAL for crimes he didn’t commit, a clan of lycanthropes living secretly among the masses, and overseeing it all a congregation of pious vampires believing that they have ‘Divine Right’ over the city, the nights were wild enough. Add in one young woman with special abilities and in possession of a holy relic that threatens the existence of all vampires, and the stage is set for a dangerous mix of action and steamy sex over the course of hot, humid nights in this ‘Holy City’.

Jamie Grace wants nothing more than to lead a normal life, but her ability to see a person’s soul through an aura that radiates through every living person makes this wish impossible. Soon after arriving in her new home of Charleston, South Carolina, she encounters what appear to be humans that have no aura.

Jamie soon learns that the mysterious creatures are vicars of the Sanctum Damnatus and unfortunately they are as troubled about her existence as she is with theirs. Complications ensue when the vampire that has been sent to kill Jamie falls in love with her. With her would-be assassin turned protector, Jamie finds herself on the run from both the Damnatus and an Arch-Demon from Hell. Tangled with Christian dogma and biblical lore and set in this historic coastal Southern city, Jamie must find out whom she can trust and begin the journey of learning what she truly is in this first novel of the Holy Damned Saga.

Review:
Grace Through Blood had a really interesting premise in which vampires fill a specific role in God’s divine plan for the salvation of mankind. That’s all well and good. Here’s the thing for me though. There is a difference between using the Cristian mythology as plot material, and actual religious fiction. Dan Brown writes mysteries using Biblical material, but I don’t think many people would call his work ‘religious.’ I quite enjoy one, but not the other.

Unfortunately for me, Grace Through Blood turned out to be Cristian fiction, which I can’t say I was expecting. That left me cold. I just don’t enjoy being preached to in the books I read for fun. I realise some people will think this is a ringing endorsement for the book. There is a large Christian market out there. I’m just not part of it. I finished the book though. And when God wasn’t saving the pure souls of those who called on him in blatant scenes of proselytism it was pretty good.

It did tend to drag a bit and felt a little too long. I think the sex scenes could have been nixed to address this. This would have tightened the narrative up a bit and shortened the novel as a whole. But they also just felt out of place IMO. I read a decent amount of sexy PNR. I even enjoy the occasional spot of erotica now and again, so I have no problem with sex in my fiction. However, in this particular case I don’t think it contributed to the plot, was contrary to the tone of the rest of the novel and therefore distracting.

I assume there is more to come in this series as a number of heavy hints were dropped about the lineage of both Jamie and Grant, but no answers provided. I kind of wanted to scream about that, but oh well. If you enjoy vampires and christian fiction this is an interesting blending of the two. Lee does a good job of turning a number of Biblical passages to support the new vampire mythos and the writing itself is pretty good. I just probably wouldn’t have picked it up in the first place if I had a better understanding of what type of book it is.

scrap metal

Book Review of Harper Fox’s Scrap Metal

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Scrap Metal

I grabbed Harper Fox’s M/M Scottish Romance, Scrap Metal, from the Amazon KDP list.

Description from Goodreads:
One year ago, before Fate took a wrecking ball to his life, Nichol was happily working on his doctorate in linguistics. Now he’s hip deep in sheep, mud and collies. His late brother and mother had been well suited to life on Seacliff Farm. Nichol? Not so much.

As lambing season progresses in the teeth of an icy north wind, the last straw is the intruder Nichol catches in the barn. He says his name is Cam, and he’s on the run from a Glasgow gang. Something about the young man’s tired resignation touches Nichol deeply, and instead of giving him the business end of a shotgun, he offers Cam a blanket and a place to stay.

Somehow, Cam quickly charms his way through Nichol’s defenses and into his heart. Even his grandfather takes to the cheeky city boy, whose hard work and good head for figures help set the farm back on its feet.

As the cold Scottish springtime melts into summer, Nichol finds himself falling in love. When tragedy strikes, Cam’s resolutely held secret is finally revealed and Nichol must face the truth. He’s given his heart away, and it’s time to pay the price.

Review:
This was just incredibly sweet, bitter-sweet I’ll grant you, but sweet. So many characters in this book were in devastating emotional pain for one reason or another and it was really touching the way they all managed to heal one another with nothing more than their mere presence and natural selves. Even old curmudgeons like Harry thawed a little bit before the end. Old hurts were forgiven and fresh ones avoided by new understanding.

The use of Gaelic, though occasionally distracting if not immediately translated, paired with the incredibly evocative description of the landscape gave the book a lot of atmosphere. The occasional Highland ghost didn’t seem out of place at all. Nor did the portent of change the animals tended to represent. It all contributed to the rich tapestry of superstitions and culture that was Arron island life. (And gawd do I ever want to visit now.)

The writing in very descriptive and really quite poignant. I didn’t so much read this book as feel it. I laughed, I teared up, I held my breath and eventually heaved a sigh of relief. The actual ending was a little too sappy for me, but the general ending I loved. I will definitely be seeking out more of Ms. Fox’s writing.

From the TBR: cleaning out the short story shelf

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So, it’s finally Summer vacation. Woo-hoo for 3 months of no pressing obligations. Deep, fortifying breath to face 3 months of bored children and an ever present husband. Gotta love ’em all, but there goes my routine. Yep, there it goes, right out the window and with it most of my reading time.

On the up side, that never missing mate can take those antsy children away some days, leaving me time to concentrate on my own writing. It’s been so long since I’ve had undisturbed writing time that I hardly remember how to fill it. But there is no way that I’m missing out on the opportunity should it present itself. 

I mention all of this because it heralds a change in my review schedule. The less I read, the less I review. It makes sense, right? I don’t think I’ll be able to post a review a day as I have been for the last few months. 

I might crawl right out of my own skin without a fiction fix though. So I’m making an effort to change what I read, rather than give up reading entirely. I’m not usually a huge short story fan, much preferring full length books. But a short story enables me to read a quick piece, but still have a blank slate in the morning when I want to write. (‘Cause lets face it. If I’m half way through a book I won’t be able to concentrate on anything else until I finish it.)

In an attempt to give this new review routine something akin to order I am trying to group them by subject matter. This week I’ve been reading M/M romances. All of them came from Amazon’s free list and many of them are still available for no charge. Here they are:

bonds of fireOh, I want so much more of this. It worked well as a short story, but there was enough to be expanded into a full length novel (always my preference). I love that, despite being short, the romance didn’t feel rushed. In fact it doesn’t really even come to a head in the story. I did feel a little bit like Malachi was shorted. Drekken’s attraction to Yakov is so overt that, despite being told Drekken is falling for Malachi too, he feels secondary. I was a little disturbed in the beginning because Yakov and Malachi are referred to as youths for so long that I was visualising them as 12ish. So when the attraction started heating up I got a little scared. I heaved a huge sigh of relief when their ages were finally addressed. They are 19 & 20. 

I adored the way the reader is keyed into Drekken’s emotions and even though he is a ‘big bad warrior’ he is able to show soft emotions without ever looking weak. I also really liked the way humans and dragons for families. It made for a really intriguing world. 

All in all I thought this was a touching, well-written story that I would love to see more of. I’m curious about the cause of the war, how Drekken and Miri manage as parents, and how Yakov and Malachi progress. I’d love to witness Drekken’s attempt to live near his mothers again and to see him try to keep from being further organised. Thrilled to have read it.

fire song

While I appreciate that the story was written for Hurricane Sandy relief (charity), it isn’t very well developed. It has a really interesting premise, a crippled Phoenix falling in love with an scarred human, but the writing is rough. There are a number of misused words and the plot seems really rushed. I did really like both male leads, though I didn’t think the family deserved the easy forgiveness and unearned happy ending. With a little work this could be really good though. I hope the author (who I suspect is quite young) puts the time and effort into a 2nd edition.

17673045I quite enjoyed this, but like many of the previous reviewers I think it would be best described as a teaser for something longer. Certainly it ends with the promise of more to come. It definitely isn’t anything standalone. There is no denying the baseless insta-lust/insta-love between the two main characters. I liked them both though. The single sex scene was plenty steamy and it’s well written. I’d happily read more of the story if there ever is one.

taming the foxThis was a sweet little M/M, shifter romance. Though in all honestly it could have been almost the same even if the two main characters hadn’t been shifters. In the end the challenge to overcome wasn’t even shifter related. Be that as it may I still enjoyed seeing the two characters find a way to come to terms with their circumstances and each-other. I would have liked to see a little more closure with Shane’s family. They seemed to accept everything a little too easily, all things considered. Plus, as hard and long as Harlan resisted he seemed to give in awfully easily in the end. I was especially pleased to find it a stand alone story. Those seem to be getting rarer these days. Worth reading.