Tag Archives: m/m romance

Crying For The Moon

Book Review of Crying For The Moon, by Sarah Madison

I borrowed a copy of Crying for the Moon, by Sarah Madison from Hoopla, through my local library.

Description from Goodreads:
Vampire Alexei Novik may have the teeth and the coffin, but he’s given up the lifestyle for an old fixer-upper in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Weary of his past, Alex plans to keep to himself, but it seems his sexy, new neighbor, Tate, can’t take the hint—a good thing, since it turns out he’s handy for all kinds of things around the house. Tate even gets along with Alex’s werewolf friends, though one of them pointedly reminds Alex that their friendship is a bad idea. 

If a platonic relationship is a bad idea, the growing attraction between Tate and Alex is a disaster waiting to happen. Loving Tate will draw him into Alex’s dangerous world, and Alex is torn between having the relationship he’s always craved and keeping Tate safe. Tate won’t take no for an answer, however, and seems to handle everything Alex can throw at him without blinking. Just when he thinks things might turn out all right after all, Alex’s past catches up with him—forcing him to make a terrible choice.

Review:
So that was, um, well, that was….not very good, in my opinion. Look the writing is mechanically fine, but the story is flat and dull. There is almost no conflict. Only one bit pops up predictably (because the reader sees the obvious foreshadowing) out of nowhere (because it’s not there and then it is for no real reason) and then is defeated in no time at all (because of course it is). There are large chunks dedicated to unimportant things and, unless I was just misunderstanding what was supposed to be happening, I would advise the author to actually see an uncut penis before suggesting the things she seems to think could easily be done with a foreskin and maybe a penis in general if she imagines someone could blithely stick their tongue down a urethra. I’m just sayin’.

I did like the characters and the representation of werewolf pack behavior and the interesting lore around the vampire’s coffin. I didn’t really approve of the Alexi’s solution at the end, but that’s neither here nor there. I think this is a case of just not a good book for me. I’m sure others might love it.

Bonus side note: I especially cringed when I hit this sentence: “Her sculptured cheekbones and rich, café au lait coloring gave her an exotic look that made her stand out among women in general, but among Nick’s friends, she was clearly the diamond in the rough.” The author managed to use a food reference to describe a black woman (who was of course from New Orleans), squeeze the dreaded ‘exotic’ word in there to fetishize her, and then topped it with a cliche, all in one sentence. I’m a bit iffy about the ‘stand out among women in general’ too. So, that whole sentence left me agape.

Finding His Feet

Book Review of Finding His Feet, by Sandra Bard

I borrowed Sandra Bard‘s Finding His Feet from Hoopla, through my local library.

Description from Goodreads:
Kaden Pace, a soldier injured while on a mission, hides the extent of his damage by wearing his high-tech armor, desperate to prove his worth to his administrators and make himself useful in order to hold on to his independence. But during a simple assignment to escort two cadets across the country to retrieve the armor of a dead warrior, things start to fall apart.

They meet Shun, a young man with a secret, who steals the armor they were supposed to recover. Chasing Shun brings them to an abandoned town, where they encounter even more trouble. Stranded in the deserted city, Kaden finds himself relying more and more on Shun, the person he’d come to capture, while fighting off an invasion from the neighboring country.

But even when he returns to camp, Kaden’s problems are not over. Now he has to find a way to save Shun, whom he’s growing to care for, and keep his team alive as they make one last-ditch attempt to get back the armor Shun stole. Armor that is now in enemy hands, on an island in the middle of the sea, at Ground Zero where it all began. 

Review:
That was, oh man, you guys…I just didn’t think it was very good. It’s got a cool cover and the writing itself flowed fine (save a few telling-heavy passages), but there was just nothing about the story I found believable. An endless war that never really materialized. 15-year-old soldiers being sent out on missions. Soldiers who were unprofessional at every turn. Distrusted civilians being included in missions. Confidential information shared left, right and centre. A ‘romance’ that came out of nowhere. A totally predictable ‘twist’ at the end that was wholly unsupported. Questionable treatment and attitude towards amputees and disabilities. The male partner of the main character being presented as fulfilling the traditional wifely position. Hand-wavey science. A cliched happy ending. It wasn’t a bad book. But it sure didn’t work for me.

Dog Days

Boook Review of Dog Days, by T.A. Moore

I borrowed Dog Days, by T. A. Moore from Hoopla.

Description from Goodreads:
The world ends not with a bang, but with a downpour. Tornadoes spin through the heart of London, New York cooks in a heat wave that melts tarmac, and Russia freezes under an ever-thickening layer of permafrost. People rally at first—organizing aid drops and evacuating populations—but the weather is only getting worse. 

In Durham, mild-mannered academic Danny Fennick has battened down to sit out the storm. He grew up in the Scottish Highlands, so he’s seen harsh winters before. Besides, he has an advantage. He’s a werewolf. Or, to be precise, a weredog. Less impressive, but still useful. 

Except the other werewolves don’t believe this is any ordinary winter, and they’re coming down over the Wall to mark their new territory. Including Danny’s ex, Jack–the Crown Prince Pup of the Numitor’s pack–and the prince’s brother, who wants to kill him. 

A wolf winter isn’t white. It’s red as blood.

Review:
Eh, it was cute in its own way, I guess. I liked Danny a lot, but I never warmed up to Jack. He was arrogant and rude, start to finish. And yes, I get that as a wolf he didn’t have the same human sentiments or mores, but I never liked him. And disliking one of the main characters is hard on a book.

The writing was fine, but it all felt a little pointless. There is a whole apocalyptic set up and quite a lot of time is dedicated to it, but ultimately it’s all backdrop to a minor battle that doesn’t really effect anything in the long run. Maybe this is the first in a series, it might make more sense then. But as it stands now, I finished it feeling pretty meh about the whole thing. I didn’t dislike it, but I wasn’t overly impressed either.