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Dragon Blue

Book Review of Dragon Blue: A Lie That’s True (The Dragonlords of Xandakar #1), by Macy Babineaux

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I picked up a copy of Dragon Blue, by Macy Babineaux at Amazon. It was free and still was at the time of posting.

Description from Goodreads:
Miranda Betts works as a waitress in a roadside diner in Oklahoma. Her life will change when a mysterious female customer leaves an ornate necklace in lieu of paying her check. Later, alone in her trailer, she tries on the necklace and is transported to a strange land full of people who can shift into other creatures, including fearsome dragons. And everyone thinks she’s someone she’s not. 

Corban Everfrost leads the clan of blue dragons and rules the Icelands after the mysterious disappearance of his father. While investigating the appearance of strange interlopers from another world, his sister informs him that he is to be wed to the daughter of the Wildfire clan who has been in exile on Earth since she was an infant. Corban wants nothing to do with a new bride or the Wildfires. But when he sees the dark, fiery woman brought to his world via a magic necklace, she stirs something within him. 

At first, Miranda thinks Corban is a jerk. He thinks she’s an outcast from a clan he despises. But soon they will learn each other’s secrets, and as they learn to love each other their relationship may be the key to saving all of Xandakar from dark forces from another world. 

Review:
WARNING: This review has spoilers and swearing.

OK, look, I knew when I picked this book up that it wasn’t going to be grand literature. I knew I was in for a little pulpy, erotic fiction/romance. But I just can’t with this shit. I JUST CAN’T.

The romance…how to say this….fuck it, it isn’t. This is in no way a romance. The writing isn’t bad. The editing wasn’t abysmal. The pacing is rushed, but in this sort of book it often is. Just like the fact that the plot is so paper thin I could see through it is not unusual. All of that I was willing to accept as par for the course.

But that this is some author’s idea of romance…Fuck you. No it isn’t. (And there’s no where near enough sex to make it erotica either.) Here’s the spoiler: she pointlessly shows up naked (because of course she does, women always seem to have to be put in an embarrassing and uncertain sexual position for no conceivable reason), he insults her and walks away. He then calls his sex slave (the book calls her consort, but she doesn’t seem to have the option of saying no when he calls her for sex and she appears to live in a sheer dress with no characteristics but sex, so I’m going with sex slave) and makes sure she sucks him off with her ass in the air toward the door, such that he smugly comes just as Miranda enters the room to ensure she knows her place and that she isn’t needed or wanted. (Said sex slave is then just dismissed with his cum still dripping off her lips, no consideration for any desire she might or might not have.) He and Miranda exchange a few insults and then she too is dismissed. The next afternoon she approaches him and flirts for some unfathomable reason. Why would she do that? He kisses her and shoves his finger in her vagina and suddenly THEY ARE IN LOVE. People that is literally their entire ‘romance.’ And I’m using literally appropriately here, not hyperbolically. There is not a single pleasant word between them. There is no concession on his part that he’s been an ass and should apologize to her. There is no point at which either opinion of the other has reason to change. NOTHING.

That’s not romance, that’s abuse dresses up as romance. So, fuck off, fuck off, fuck off, fuck off for trying to pass it off as love. I thought there was nothing worse than insta-love, but I was wrong. Love that’s presented as having ‘grown’ between two people when it very obviously has been planted in such barren ash and hasn’t, is in fact worse. Who knew? Fuck it, again, I just can’t with that shit. I’m all ragey.

Then there is the rest of the book, what little there is. Every obstacle is overcome with a deus ex machina solution. EVERY SINGLE ONE. Miranda makes allies of her enemies with nothing more than a hug and easy coincidental solutions present themselves left and right. Bah!

I did appreciate the lesbian (or bi) side character and the heroine’s apparent bisexual leanings, even if it’s obvious she’s never going to pursue them. Having them there and legitimized was nice. I also appreciated that Miranda was given her own sexual agency and not made out to be a slut for having sex for pleasure. (Though this was compromised a little by her calling the sex slave a slut. Guess she can’t give others the same courtesy she receives.)

The only thing I found interesting was the epilogue setting up book two. But I won’t be reading it because I can just imagine all the ways the author could find to ruin it.

Book Review: Caged in Myth, by J.T. Fairfield

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caged in myth cover About the book:

Abandoned as a baby and left in an orphanage for supernatural children, Octavian Julius McKellter— “Jay” to everyone who doesn’t want a punch in the face—now seventeen, is working full-time as a zookeeper at the Bayou Zoo and Aquarium while struggling to finish his GED.

The Bayou Zoo, staffed entirely by supernaturals, is one of many zoos across the country secretly housing magical creatures deemed too dangerous by the supernatural community to remain in the wild.

Jay ‘s job is made more complicated when accidents start happening too often to truly be accidents and habitats in Area Five—the covert section of the zoo which houses the magical creatures— are sabotaged, allowing some of the creatures to escape.

Working closely with Colin, a fellow zookeeper, to determine who’s causing the problems and why, is both a dream come true and a nightmare for Jay. Being gay isn’t something Jay’s prepared to accept with enthusiasm. Colin’s the first male he’s ever been attracted to, and the guy doesn’t even have the decency to be effeminate, which Jay thinks would somehow be easier to accept. Colin’s tall, strong, and everything that’s masculine. And Jay can’t stop thinking about what it would feel like to press their lips together or draw his fingers down Colin’s tightly-packed abs.

Because someone’s bent on exposing supernaturals to the world by releasing the Bayou Zoo’s magical creatures, even if it means a little death and destruction in the process, there’s little time for Jay to worry about the ramifications of his shifting sexuality or the way Colin looks without his shirt on.

Keeping his sexuality a secret seems like just as big a job as keeping the entire Supernatural community and its captive magical creatures shrouded from the human world. As the sabotage attempts escalate, Jay must juggle his budding relationship with Colin, discovering who’s behind the disruption in Area Five, and staying alive while capturing loosened, deadly Gryphons, Gnomes and Harpies.

Review:

First off, WHY IS THIS NOT LABELED AS A SERIAL? (Even worse, it’s labeled ‘book one,’ which I consider purposeful misdirection on the author’s part.) This ends before it really begins, with a very abrupt To Be Continued. I literally cursed when I reached it because I had been enjoying it. But now I just consider it a waste of an hour and a half. Hey Fairfield, wish you hadn’t wasted my time with publishing part of a freakin’ story!

I’m so annoyed I can’t even bring myself to lay out what I like and don’t like. It’s all eclipsed by my anger at getting shafted by ANOTHER unlabeled serial and ANOTHER unexpected cliffhanger…no, not a cliffhanger. A cliffhanger suggests that something has been left hanging. But this is more of a sheer drop-off. The story is literally just getting started, and it ends. Nothing even pretends to wrap up. Literally nothing. It’s basically just the first 8 chapters of a, say, 30-chapter book. Like someone ripped the pages out and handed them to me loose.

Even though I liked the writing (though it was sloppy) and the characters and was invested in the story, one-star for not being a complete….anything. And being as it’s been out almost 4 years and there isn’t a 2nd, I doubt it ever will be.

Book Review: Full Exposure & Five Dates, by Amy Jo Cousins

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Technically, these two Amy Jo Cousins novellas, Full Exposure and Five Dates, are just a little too short to normally be granted a review page (I usually say nothing less than 100 pages). But I read them together, so I’ll make a single post out of two slightly too-short books with equally short reviews and call it a day.
full exposure and five dates

Full Exposure:

There’s more than one way to be a rock star.

Evan Pak is a card-carrying geek (he even has the job to prove it), but when his photographer brother invites him to tag along on a photo shoot with rock star Riley Flood, he figures it will be two days of ogling and eye-rolling and nothing more. But the reckless bad boy is nothing like he expected, and Evan is mesmerized by the mix of cocky and sweet he sees in Riley. When a spontaneous idea ends with Evan stripping down under the hot lights for an intimate portrait for Riley’s next album cover, Evan is absolutely sure their connection won’t end when the lights are turned off. Especially since Riley can’t seem to keep his hands off the tattoos Evan hides under his clothes.

Even a spoiled rock star wants to give up control sometimes, if only for a weekend. The world is full of people who want things from Riley and the demands on him never stop. Evan knows exactly how to turn off the noise in Riley’s head and it starts by putting him on his knees.

Together, they will push each other higher and farther than either one of them have ever gone before. It’s easy to take risks when there’s a time limit on the game. But when their time is up, what comes next if they don’t want the game to end?

My review:

I’ve not read many ‘Don’t Read in the Closet’ stories, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Plus, if I’m honest, I tend to avoid books that are less than 100 pages long. That’s kind of my random, ‘I consider this worth my time’ length. But AJC posted a teaser of this somewhere and it did its job. It made me want the rest of the story. I’m glad about that because I really quite enjoyed it.

Five Dates:

Helping his sister Lucy raise her kid has put Devin’s love life on hold. When he loses a bet to her and the penalty is to go out on five dates with men she’s chosen from Guys4Guys.com, he thinks that’s bad enough. Finding out she used a thirteen-year-old picture of him to score a date with a young guy who looks like a rock star? Epically bad.

Jay thought he wanted to fall for an older man. But his last boyfriend left him feeling humiliated and determined to stick to guys his own age. When he realizes he’s been conned into a date with exactly the kind of man he’s sworn to avoid, he’s ready to walk away on the spot. Only Devin’s swift apologies convince Jay to accept dinner to make up for the deception.

“The date doesn’t count for the bet unless you get a goodnight kiss.” After one not-a-date dinner with Jay, Devin isn’t worried about his sister’s rules. He just wishes he could convince Jay to go out with him for real. Jay wants no part of Devin, but Devin wants every part of Jay . . . so he asks Jay to help update his look for the rest of his dates. But once Jay’s made Devin over into the perfect date, will he be able to let him go?

Review:

I thought it was cute and really enjoyed the beginning. But the latter half didn’t work so well for me. Devin goes and does something out of character to move the plot along, and the conclusion comes about because someone basically changes their mind about something. But the underlying issue was neither addressed nor solved. It felt rushed and unsupported. However, the writing was wonderful and I liked both characters a lot.