Tag Archives: urban fantasy

Book Review: Skin Deep, by S.W. Vaughn

I picked up a copy of S.W. Vaughn‘s Skin Deep from Amazon in the summer of 2017. Lately, I’ve been trying to read some of the books that have been buried in my kindle cloud. And Skin Deep is one such book. I think the book has since gotten a new cover, but this is the edition I have.

He knows everything about love… except how to find it for himself.

Will Ambrose hosts a popular LGBT relationship radio show, but lately he feels like a fraud. His own relationships have been anything but successful — a fact that his current partner, a sadistic closeted cop, has made painfully clear.

After his partner flies into a violent, jealous rage that leaves him battered body and soul, Will finds an unlikely savior in Cobalt, a smoking hot tattoo artist who offers shelter and healing. But Cobalt is hiding a devastating secret: He’s not human.

A Seelie Fae banished from his realm by a jealous lover of his own, Cobalt has given up risking relationships with humans. None are strong enough to handle the truth. But Will is different, and Cobalt can’t help falling for the man who’s dropped into his life without warning and captured his heart.

Unfortunately, Cobalt’s powerful ex-lover will stop at nothing to destroy his newfound happiness — and every moment he spends with Will is risking both of their lives.

I’ll give this a pretty lackluster 3 stars. It’s not that there’s anything really wrong with it, there’s just nothing especially right with it either. It’s competently written with a follow-able plot, but it’s all pretty shallow. The villains are crazy-pants evil, just for the sake of evil. No discernible motive or even enough control over themselves to be a believable villains. The lust is instant and mutual, and the love comes rushing in right on it’s heels with no real feeling of having developed. The paranormal elements are interesting, but not deeply developed, etc.

I did have a problem with the torture porn and sex though. One character is beat unconscious and raped and literally begging for sex by the next day. I think probably both the physical and mental trauma would come into play to prevent that. Plus, Will is just too stupid for words when it came to Lyle.

All in all, I don’t regret reading this but I’m in no real hurry to read the next in the series either.

Book Review: Over the Faery Hill, by Jennifer L. Hart

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I first came across Over the Faery Hill when it was promoed on Sadie’s Spotlight. So, when I later came across the author, Jennifer L. Hart, giving away Audible codes I snagged one for my own.

A mountain of regrets. A bargain with a mischievous faery. Could tinkering with her past create a better future?

Joey Whitmore longs to escape her dead-end world. Facing a midlife crisis at age forty-two and still living with her mother, getting fired from yet another job is the proverbial last straw. So when a fae trickster in human guise offers a chance at changing her history, she figures there’s nothing left to lose.

Though skeptical of his magic, Joey accepts the sly prince’s enchanted hourglass and begins a reckless journey back in time. But as she tries to act as her own fairy godmother and reverse her mistakes, her blundering interference causes a chain of catastrophic consequences.

Will Joey’s attempts to alter her deadbeat destiny end up erasing her entire existence?

I’ve only recently discovered the Paranormal Women’s Fiction genre, and as a 43yo woman, I’m really enjoying heroines my own age going on paranormal adventures. However, I am discovering that the tropes run strong in the genre as a whole. The books seem to be more similar than different, regardless of the author. Of those I’ve read, they all seem to start with a dissolved marriage and broke, despondent, sexually dissatisfied heroines, who all seem to be fairly similar in personality. Hell, I’ve just read two in a row where she drove a VW Bug.

I don’t think it’s so much that anyone is copying anyone else, but rather that those entering into the new genre step into an arena in which they feel there are very strong expectations from readers. No one yet seems to be brave enough to venture farther from the established and accepted characteristics. (I’m hoping this phase passes soon.)

I could have said all that on any of the reviews I’ve written for PWF books so far. But, as a reader, I had to get far enough into the genre to recognize the repetitions. And I can’t disparage any one book for it and not the others. But I also can’t ignore that these book are starting to feel very formulaic, including Over the Faery Hill (though I do think Hart tried to be a little different by including a trans ex instead of an evil or cheating ex.)

Having said all that, I have found that some authors do better with the middle-aged heroine than others. Hart’s wasn’t the best. I liked Joey, but she didn’t feel 40+ at all. This is also the second PWF book in a row that I’ve read where the heroine being middle-aged felt like window dressing slapped on so that the book could fit in the PWF genre.

Joey spent the whole book trying to correct a mistake made her freshman year of high school. I’m sorry, but I don’t care if she’s over-weight, 40+ years old, and complains about saggy boobs. If an author gives me a heroine whose most important life events happened at 15 and reads as if she hasn’t had a further 25 years of life, I’m going to say she doesn’t actually feel middle-aged. Especially if she also doesn’t have any of the markers of middle life—no children, no career, no established hobbies, no favorite isle in the grocery store, whatever. If she still (or again) lives with her parents, in a life centered around her mom, dad, and grandma, and is more concerned with what happened at 15 years-old than 35, she can’t possibly really feel middle-aged. She feels mid-twenties, maybe. And thus, while the book might be a fine paranormal adventure, it’s not much of a Paranormal Women’s Fiction book.

But, as I said, I did like Joey. I enjoyed her snark and her love for her family. I liked Robin too, thought I can’t say I felt the romance develop in any true fashion. All in all, I’d be happy to read more of Hart’s book.