Tag Archives: PNR

The Spirit Tree

Book Review of The Spirit Tree (Tess Lamar #1), by Kathryn M. Hearst

I received an Audible credit for a copy of Katheryn M. Hearst‘s The Spirit Tree through AudioBookBook.

Description from Goodreads:
Tessa, a southern girl with a crazy family and a brand new college degree, wants nothing more than for her life to start. When her uncle dies unexpectedly, she inherits more than his old truck. Lifetimes of family secrets unravel and nothing will ever be the same. After learning that she is not only a Fire Bird, but also half Nunnehi—the Cherokee equivalent to a fairy—Tessa is forced to fight for her life. Good thing she was raised by two tough southern ladies.

Review:
Pretty good. I liked the characters, Bryson was especially wonderful and I liked that Tessa had a backbone. The writing was smooth, as was Holly Adams‘ narration. Mostly I liked the book, but I had a few gripes.

I’m not down with the pointless love triangle. There was no need for it, but more importantly, it meant I never really felt the actual romance in the story. Sure, Tessa chose one man over another and we’re told why, but the whole thing was just too diluted by there being two men.

Similarly, the secondary mystery (or maybe primary, it did come first) was solved too easily and then just disappeared from the plot in favor of another one. So there too, having two mysteries meant neither was strong enough on its own. Plus, it made the book feel awful long.

There were also a few TSTL moments in which Tessa threw herself into danger and had to be rescued. I got tired of her apologizing to Bryson for endangering herself.

Lastly, I’m a bit iffy with the use of Native American mythology in the plot. I’m not screaming appropriation or anything, but there were several occasions where I kind of had to side-eye the book.

On a broader, genre level, I have to ask why young women in such books are never raised to know their own heritage, such that some man (or men) have to step in and teach them amidst a crisis. This is practically a constant in fantasy and I’m ALWAYS confused by parents/guardians who raise their wards without teaching them the basics of their powers. I mean, if you’re a shifter or have magic, shouldn’t learning about them be as expected as, say, teaching a young girl about the period she’ll have one day? Why do they NEVER do this? Why?

Despite my few complaints, the book is worth a read and I’ll be happy to read more of Hearst’s writing, but it wasn’t perfect.

Guarded

Book Review of Guarded (The Silverton Chronicles #1), by Carmen Fox

I bought a copy of Guarded, by Carmen Fox.

Description from Goodreads:
When everyone’s existence depends on the lies they tell, trust doesn’t come easy. 

Ivy’s neighbors have a secret. They aren’t human. But Ivy has a secret, too. She knows. As long as everyone keeps quiet, she’s happy working as a P.I. by day and chillaxing with her BFF Florian, a vampire, by night. When a routine pickup drops her in the middle of a murder, her two worlds collide. While Florian knows how to throw a punch, deep down he’s a softie. His idea of scary? Running out of hair product. It’s time Ivy faced facts. Even with a vampire on stand-by, one gal can only kick so many asses. 

For help, she must put her faith in others. A human, who might just be the one. A demon, who will, for a price, open the doors to her heritage. And a werewolf, who wants to protect her from herself. 

Torn between these men, Ivy must tread carefully, because one wants her heart, one wants her body, and one wants her dead.

Review:
Sigh, mechanically the writing and editing in this book seem fine. Unfortunately, in my opinion the plot is totally useless. The book is all over the place, but more to the point, I hated it.

As a romance it fails on SO MANY levels. Let me put it like this. She has a condition that after her 25th birthday (because apparently magic knows your b-day, y’all) she literally lusts after every man she sees, even though she actively doesn’t want to. She then goes on to try and date one man, have sex with another (several times), almost have sex with a man in an alley, and love a man. Unfortunately, she doesn’t do any two of those things with the same man. That’s right, she’s trying to date one man, while having sex with another (and lusting over everyone) and then on the last page, last paragraph basically we’re told she loves another. WTF? There was no development on that. But what kind of satisfying romance do you think a book can have if the heroine trying to give her body to every man she meets,?

But, for me personally, the biggest issue is that this idea that women can’t control their own sexual urges is an old, painfully patriarchal one. It’s one of the reasons why they can’t be trusted to own and have authority over their own bodies. We still fight this stupid idea to this very day, in real life. And the book had the perfect patriarchal ending, she pretty much ended up with a man who had the power (extra power she gave him) to control her. She goes against her own natural inclinations to be with him. You know what, author, write historical if you want to write this kind of trite. I ended the book steaming.

The whole thing was only made worse by there being exactly 3 women in the book, other than main character and some background victims (who were raped, because of course they were). Two were characterless sisters, basically just names to fill in the cast. One was the cliched jealous harpy who will probably sell the heroine to the villain in future books, because that’s what the jealous harpy always does in such books.

I bought and read this book because, somewhere along the way I ended up with an audible copy of book two (Bound), and wanted to listen to it. Now, I’m kind of regretting both.

Blood Guard

Book Review of Blood Guard (Mission #1), by Megan Erickson

I received a copy of Blood Guard, by Megan Erickson, through Netgalley.

Description from Goodreads:
Tendra: One minute, I’m a bartender in gritty Mission City; the next, I’m whisked away by a vampire named Athan who tells me that I’m the lifeblood of his clan. It sounds unbelievable, but he’s got evidence I can’t deny. Turns out, Athan belongs to an underground society of vampires who feed only on humans with their consent. Their enemies have no such qualms, and they want me dead. The only thing standing in their way is strong, sexy Athan. And the closer we get, the more tempted I am to let Athan feed. . . .

Athan: How could I have known when I snatched this snarky, beautiful human off the streets that she would change mydestiny? As a loyal soldier, I must deliver Tendra to our future king—my brother. Empowered with the blood of ten generations of the Gregorie breed, she is fated to rule as our queen. But there’s something between us that’s so intoxicating, so carnal, I can’t help wanting Tendra for myself . . . even if it’s treason.


Review:
Sooo, I was not impressed. I swear I’ve read this book before. I’m not throwing out the big P word or anything. Good lord, nothing like that! But it just felt like a common plot, with a pretty common heroine and a fairly common hero and noting about it felt particularly new or fleshed out. When you really boil it down, this was a bog standard paranormal romance with nothing (good or bad) to make it stand out in any way.

What’s more it was about as subtle as a sledge hammer. Nothing had enough time to develop or for me to become invested in it. The book isn’t bad. It’s just not overly good either. But for a quick, you’ll-know-exactly-what-to-expect kind of read it’ll fill the bill.