Tag Archives: why choose

Book Review: Kiss of Smoke, by Amy Pennza

I purchased a copy of Amy Pennza‘s Kiss of Smoke from the TikTok shop.

What was supposed to be a dream vacation just turned into a nightmare. It’s not every day you board a private jet for an all-expenses-paid trip to Scotland with your two gorgeous bosses. And it’s not every day you spot your fiancé kissing another woman across the terminal.

The man I was ready to marry has been cheating on me for a year. Dumped and humiliated, the best I can do is get on the plane and lick my wounds. Fortunately, my bosses are more than willing to help…and in more ways than I ever imagined.

But Lachlan and Alec can’t possibly be interested in me. They’re in love with each other…right? Scotland is cold this time of year, but these Scots are bringing the heat in ways I’m not sure I can handle.

And as they continue fanning the flames, it’s clear they’ve been hiding more than their attraction to me. Where there’s smoke there’s fire. Now I have to hope I don’t get burned.

Oh, what a disappointment. I really wanted to love this, but I just didn’t. Some of the issues are first-book-in-a-series syndrome, setting the world, introducing the magic system, etc. However, it’s mainly that the book felt poorly balanced in two ways.

First, it’s about 85% sex, which is fine. Except that the author didn’t seem to recognize that it’s an erotic novel and kept trying to insert plot points. Unfortunately, they felt random and ill-supported, since it’s otherwise an erotic fantasy novel. The end result is that the book neither excelled in plot nor erotica, as it could have if it had chosen one or the other.

Second, this is a polyamorous relationship in which the two men are an established couple trying to find a female mate to bring into their bed. You feel this a lot. From start to finish, this was Lachlan and Alec, plus Chloe. At no point did I feel like she was equally as important in the relationship as the two of them. This comes out in the sex scenes, especially. There are a lot more of just the two of them than the three of them, and none with just her and one of them. They are a couple outside of her; she is not a couple with either of them outside of the other, and they never form a balanced trio, in my opinion.

Lastly, though not a matter of balance (and this is a spoiler), I really disliked the solution to the sticking point over her humanity. One of the men does not think a human is good enough to be a dragon mate. Meanwhile, she is experiencing significant issues with self-worth. Instead of writing a solution in which her self-confidence is improved and he comes to appreciate humans, the author instead threw in a sudden and random “Oh, she’s not human after all,” which did nothing to solve the underlying problems.

All in all, this was a flop for me. I appreciate that some of the author’s random attempts as plot made obvious attempts to normalize some contentious real-world issues of contemporary America. But that wasn’t enough to save this for me. I was hoping for a new series to dive into. But I will be stopping here instead.

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Review: Kiss of Smoke by Amy Pennza

Book Review: Freak Show, by Crystal Ash

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I purchased a copy of Crystal Ash‘s Freak Show. I think it was during an online author-signing event.

Who knew cages and freaks would set me free?

Growing up in trailer trash hell, the carnival was my only happy memory as a child. I held onto the magic of that memory until I could finally escape. And like Alice down the rabbit hole, I entered a world beyond my wildest dreams. A world with a shiny, colorful exterior, but filled with rot and corruption underneath.

But no matter what these people put me through, I can’t go back to my life before.

The man with the biggest secret is the only one I can trust. He’s dangerous, but he’s safety to me. He’s broken, but he put me back together. I’ll keep his secret. My heart hopes he’ll keep me. But in a hall of mirrors, how do you know what’s real or an illusion?

Every grueling night onstage is building up to a final show: The Wolf Man. Is he real or a hoax? Why do I feel such a pull to find out his truth?

Care to join me on this ride? Step right up.

Meh, this was OK, I guess; not horrid, but it does not stand out either. Mel is sweet but basically a Mary Sue. Conner is noble and kind but also kinda a cliched grump. The villains are hamfisted, as are the side characters, almost all of which are stereotypical bitchy women resource-guarding men in stereotyped ways. Plus, the book wouldn’t pass the Bechdel test. (I’m so tired of female authors who villainize other women and write books that can’t pass the low bar of the Bechdel test.)

Here’s the main problem for me, though: I picked up a paranormal why choose and then was given a single romantic partner and almost no paranormal. There is a werewolf in the first chapter who does not reappear (and only briefly and passively, almost in passing) in the last chapters. Yes, I realize more mates will show up in future books, but I’m not talking about future books. I’m talking about this one. I probably wouldn’t mentioned it if it wasn’t that BOTH elements I picked the book up expecting were absent. This is basically an Insta-love, Wounded Soldier romance, not a why choose paranormal romance.

I didn’t love it, but I’d likely continue the series if I had it on hand. But I don’t, and I’m not invested enough to bother buying the rest of the series, which seems to be broken into 7 200 (or less) page books. I feel like that is more books than need be, judging by this one.