Tag Archives: self published

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Book Review: Dragged Under, by D.E. Chapman

I picked up a Kindle copy of D.E. Chapman‘s Dragged Under on one of its Amazon freebie days.

dragged under cover

Send help… I’m going to need it.

I was normal… until I wasn’t. Dying does that to people, I guess.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. My name is Gabrielle, and I’m an omega. My life took an unexpected turn the moment I was dragged into an alley and murdered. When I woke up, I fully embodied lust and jumped three sexy-as-sin strangers—who just so happened to be Hell’s strongest demons.

Now the four of us are bonded for life. And as it turns out, this group of three is actually a group of six. Oh and there’s this huge plot to overthrow the current leader of Hell, and somehow I’ve found myself smack dab in the middle of it.

If I thought my life before was a challenge, it’s got nothing on this shit.

my review
When I picked up a copy of Dragged Under, a reverse harem in which a woman mates the Deadly Sins (one of which is Lucifer himself), I never would have imagined my primary descriptor on finishing it would be bland. I was simply bored the whole time.

Even the sex is mechanical and dull. I’m talking P enters V, equals O. Sometimes P doesn’t even enter V more than once before O. No foreplay, no getting to know the men, no variation, no emotion, no passion. Mechanics, that’s it, and not even many of those. It’s about as erotic as sitting on a chair and then immediately standing up, done.

The villain is a caricature that drops into monologue briefly on occasion and nothing more. The primary foil being ridiculous challenges that are overcome with comical ease.

Everyone had two names (both the 7 Sins and everyone else) that are used interchangeably throughout the book. So, I could never keep track of who was doing what. (Why would an author do this?) On top of not being able to keep names straight, none of the characters are well developed or differ enough to tell them apart anyway, not even the heroine.

dragged under photoBut then, how could she be? She spends literally half the book asleep or unconscious and the other half being carried or used as a flesh-lite. (The men negotiate with each other about who gets to stick it in next—and that’s about all they ever do. She’s never an active participant.) She might as well be an inanimate object. I’m not even exaggerating here.

And the whole thing ends with a deus ex machina that made no sense at all. I have no desire for more of this series.


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Book Review: Rise of the Phoenix, by JL Madore

I picked up a copy of JL. Madore’s Rise of the Phoenix as an Amazon freebie, last year.
rise of the phoenix cover

Monsters, Magic, and Mates I never knew existed.

Kia versus power pole isn’t the end I expect—it’s the beginning of… gawd, where do I begin?
Four wildly sexy males. Powers I don’t understand. And the eyes of the fae world on me as the person to unite the severed realms. No pressure.

my review

Amusing enough, but not much more. It’s entertaining but not very deep. The plot is pretty thin, and none of the characters (the males especially) are well-developed. One is such an asshole I don’t know how the author imagines she’ll redeem him, and two are fairly inconsistent in their tone and characterization. It was the book’s general inconsistencies that really threw me though, like someone unbuckling yoga pants.

The book also is guilty of using the cheap attempted rape shtick (and it wasn’t even very well rise of the phoenix photostitched into the plot). I’m not saying a book should never include rape, but I’ve found that far too often, it’s used for cheap tension. More often than not, here included, there are a million better and less over-used and common plot devices to reach for. At this point, I call it the ‘low-hanging fruit’ of plotting. It’s evidence the author took the easiest, least thought about, no-effort path. IT’S LAZY. And is that really how authors want to be seen?

Anyhow, despite how negative this review seems, I’ll read book two (I have 1-5), because I have it and I’m curious to see all the men submit.


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Rise of the Phoenix by J.L. Madore – A Book Review

 

Book Review: Finding Salus, by Meg M. Robinson

Somewhere around the internet, I picked up an Audible code for Meg M. Robinson‘s Finding Salus. On an unrelated, humorous side note, my husband’s name is Saul and I have mistyped this title as “Finding Saul” almost every single time and had to correct it.
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Chloe Chadwick’s last remaining family member, her grandmother, dies in a car accident and leaves her a letter that changes everything Chloe thought she knew about herself. The letter directs her to Salus, an island off the coast of Connecticut that can’t be found on any map.

When she arrives, she learns that she’s a part of a secret world living alongside humanity, one consisting of magic, shapeshifters, and elementals, where the Greek gods aren’t just believed in, they’re actually present. But within twenty-four hours of her arrival, a man is murdered, and Chloe is the only suspect. Things only get worse when she has to learn how to control her newfound powers while simultaneously clearing her name.

But then, there’s a second murder and the pressure is on her-as well as the suspicion. With some of the unusual residents on Salus calling for her arrest, Chloe finds herself desperate to uncover the many secrets of her new home, including the killer. But will her newfound friendships and skills as a private investigator be enough?

my review

I generally enjoyed this. I thought it got a little info-dumpy with all the magic lessons, and that slowed things down a bit. The mystery also basically solved itself when the author was ready to wrap the book up, instead of Chloe actually doing anything to solve it. But I thought the world was interesting, I liked the characters, and I’m curious to see how the romance(s) develop. (I wish it would turn into a why-choose romance. But I know better than to hope for that.) All in all, the book won’t be topping my favorites chart, but I’d happily read the next one…or listen to it. Maria McCann did a fine job with the narration.

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