'Tenth Grade Bleeds' Vlad Tod #3 by Heather BREWER

Received from the Publisher

From the BLURB:

It's another awful year at Bathory High for Vladimir Tod. The evil vampire D'Ablo is hunting for a ritual that could steal Vlad's powers. His best friend, Henry, doesn't want to be his drudge anymore and it's getting harder for Vlad to resist feeding on the people around him. With the threat of D'Ablo looming closer and nightmares haunting him each night, Vlad realises that having a normal high school year is the least of his concerns. He needs to act fast, and even his Pravus powers won't save him this time.

This is the third book in Heather Brewer’s Vladimir Tod series. I read the first two books in this series and loved them... and Brewer continues the love in this third instalment.

Vlad is the only born vampire in existence. He had a vampire father and a human mother, both of whom are dead. Now Vlad lives with his aunt and is trying to cope with his vampire/human existence while also dealing with typical teen issues.

Vlad’s high school career got off to a shaky start... and tenth grade looks to be much of the same. Vlad’s vampire uncle and mentor, Otis, is going globe-trotter on his own adventure. Otis intends to keep in touch with Vlad via their mental connection... but once Otis leaves, Vlad only hears silence. He has no idea where Otis is or if he’s safe...

Otis aside, Vlad is also dealing with his complicated friendship with Henry... Henry who Vlad has known since they were boys, and who is Vlad’s ‘drudge’ (think, Renfield). Henry is expressing a desire to be cut-free from his drudge role, and his association with Vlad.

On top of all these problems, Vlad is still dealing with the Vampire council and their meddling.

The tension between Henry and Vlad creates a lot of stress, for Vlad and readers alike. This is a really poignant storyline; Henry’s drudge status aside, this is Brewer exploring a fading childhood friendship. Henry and Vlad have been friends for years. There were times when the relationship felt unbalanced, what with Henry being cool, handsome and popular with the high school ladies... while Vlad was labelled ‘emo’ and struggling with his awkward teenage/vampire phase. But throughout the first two books Brewer made it clear that these two had each other’s backs. Henry knew Vlad’s vampire secret, and Henry was one of Vlad’s few confidantes. They had a great bromance. But in ‘Tenth Grade Bleeds’ things between them are strained and Brewer is touching on a relatable conundrum - when you feel yourself drifting away from your childhood friends.

Henry met his gaze. His words were crisp, cold. “I’m tired of being your slave. I want out.”
Vlad felt as if every ounce of air had been sucked out of his lungs, and he nearly staggered in an effort to catch his breath. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. It was like his best friend had been replaced by one of the pod people. He shook his head, confounded. “You...you really don’t want to be my drudge anymore?”

Brewer highlights the friendship strain further when Vlad is welcomed into the goth kids fold at school. Suddenly Vlad is presented with a friendship alternative to Henry – but what will it mean for Vlad to lose his drudge?
This storyline is Brewer at her best. Yes, ‘Vlad Tod’ is a vampire series – but beneath the fantasy veneer Brewer is exploring universal teen issues. That she does so with such mythological aplomb is just one of the reason I love this series.

But of course this is a YA vampire series... so there’s also plenty to sink your fangs into. The vampire council storyline, planted in the first two books, is further explored in ‘Tenth’... and the plot thickens. Not to give anything away, but Vlad is in trouble with the council and there could be a reckoning in store for him. I love the contrast of Vlad’s dramatic vampire-related problems, versus his typical teenage struggles. The wider plot scope reflects Vlad’s inner battle between vampire and teenage boy, and it’s a great exploration and character arc.

But the vampiric plot is more interesting for the finer details Brewer explores. This third book has quite a darker, gothic bent as Vlad starts to exhibit some disturbing vampire behaviour. At some point in this book you start to wonder if you’re reading about a monster in the making... or if Vlad’s humanity will win over his baser vampiric urges. This book definitely delves deeper into Vlad’s psyche and his struggle for normalcy... it’s a fascinating character progression, and I can’t wait to continue on Vlad’s journey.

5/5

Box Set - Novemeber 11th 2010

'Crux' Southern Arcana #1 by Moira ROGERS

From the BLURB:

Jackson Holt makes a decent living as a private investigator in New Orleans, home of one of the largest underground supernatural populations in the United States. He and his partners have never met a case they couldn't crack.until a local bar owner asks him to do a little digging on her newest hire.

New Orleans is the fourth destination in as many months for Mackenzie Brooks, a woman on the run from a deranged stalker. After all, any man who shows up on her doorstep claiming to be her destined lover has more than a few screws loose. But crazy doesn't explain why he always finds her no matter how far she runs.

When her well-meaning boss puts a PI on her case, Mackenzie comes face to face with the incredible truth: magic is real, and whatever spell has kept her hidden and separate from the paranormal world is rapidly deteriorating.

With time running out, she has no choice but to trust Jackson as he struggles to uncover the truth of her past - and her destiny.

I was pretty indifferent towards this book. Over the past few months I had noticed a lot of blogger-hype around Moira Rogers and her ‘Arcana’ series, so maybe I was expecting too much, but this first book didn’t really blow me away.

For one thing, I was pretty confused by the inundation of characters at the start. The story is told from both Mackenzie and Jackson’s perspective. Jackson has quite a few friends and associates – Kat, Nick, Alec, Mahalia, Derek – all of them introduced or at least mentioned within the first 2 chapters of ‘Crux’. Alec is Jackson’s partner in his P.I. business. Kat is their psychic secretary. Nick owns the bar where Mackenzie works, and is a werewolf. Derek is a ‘mutt’ (bitten werewolf) who has an epic and forbidden crush on Nick. Mahalia is a witch who used to own the bar.
It was a lot to take in – even with Mackenzie filtering the story and acting as our sort of ‘guide’ to this new world. There were times when I confused characters, and I spent a few chapters thinking that Kat and Nick were the same person or forgetting who was psychic and who was a werewolf.
There was just a lot of characterization to take in so early on. And it was made even more confusing by Moira Rogers’s insistence to not only introduce characters early on, but mention their romantic histories. Like Nick and Derek’s forbidden crush, for example.

I didn’t really believe the heat between Mackenzie and Jackson. A lot of their lust and romance was based on their individual musings about each other – Jackson thinking how beautiful and graceful Mackenzie was, and Mackenzie thinking on Jackson’s gorgeous eyes and buff body. Individually they thought a lot about the other – but when it came to their actual interactions, I didn’t read much heat between them.

His hands crept under the fabric, smoothing over her skin, and she moaned her satisfaction when his fingers teased over her painfully tight nipples. “I think I’m losing it,” she whispered as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “I just want.”
“Shh.” He pushed her pants down, kneeling as he guided the heavy fleece down her legs. “You don’t have to explain it. Just show me what you need.” He drew his tongue slowly over the swell of her hip. “Show me.”

One of the reasons I was looking forward to this book was because it’s set in New Orleans. There’s just something a little bit magical about that old city, and I've developed an appreciation for stories set in the Big Easy after it played an interesting setting in Jeaniene Frosts’s ‘Destined for an Early Grave’. I really hoped that the city would play a vital location to this book. But I was disappointed. Aside from character’s stating their locality, I wouldn’t have known that ‘Crux’ was in New Orleans. No action takes place in the swamps or bayou’s, and there’s no mention made of voodoo priestesses, or any of the expectations I had of an urban fantasy set in New Orleans.

What did keep me reading was all the interesting tidbits about other characters and their possible future storylines. Like Nick and Derek and their romantic complications because Nick is a werewolf princess (daughter to the Alpha) and Derek a bitten werewolf (and therefore not ‘pure’). Or the forbidden romance between Michelle (Nick’s twin and a psychic werewolf) and her werewolf bodyguard, Aaron. All their back-stories and motivations were tough to take in, but once I got a grip on them I found myself wanting more. And I was more interested in reading those stories than Mackenzie and Jackson’s.

I wasn’t overly thrilled with ‘Crux’, but I want to read those other character’s storylines, and I've heard great things about the ‘Red Rock Pass’ series. So I will give Moira Rogers a fighting chance, but not based on ‘Crux’ alone.

2.5/5

'Chess Putnam / Downside' series by Stacia KANE

The world changed after Haunted Week. Ghosts walked amongst the living; they attacked and killed and in the aftermath only one thing was certain... religion had lied. There was no God, no Allah, Buddah or the Prophet... there was only truth and fact, and the Church.

The Church of Real Truth reject all types of religion and hold only one surety; “Facts are Truth”. Armed with that credo, The Church defeated the ghosts, captured and banished them and bought the world back to order.

Now, in the years following Haunted Week, the Church is the world’s governing body. They investigate supposed hauntings; sending ‘Debunkers’ to banish ghosts, and prosecute those people who fake hauntings in order to receive compensation from the Church.

Cesaria ‘Chess’ Putnam is a Debunker (ghost hunter) for the Church. Chess was an orphan, used and abused by the Foster Care System, until the Church tested her magical ability and recruited her as a Debunker. Now at the age of 24 Chess is a devoted disciple of the Church; she hunts ghosts and exposes fraudulent hauntings and is one of the best Debunkers in history. But Chess doesn’t exactly adhere to all of the Church’s protocols. Chess is an addict. She smokes, swallows, injects and snorts anything she can get her hands on... Cepts are her drug of choice, and Bump is the drug supplier for her Downside neighbourhood. Everything Chess does is designed to fuel her drug habit... her work for the Church is nothing more than a supplement to her drugs. So when Bump - pimp/drug-boss extraordinaire – insists that Chess help him out with a ghost problem she can’t exactly refuse.

Downside is her neighbourhood and Bump runs Downside. Bump supplies her drugs, and Chess needs her high. So what Bump wants, Bump gets...

The series follows Chess during three ghost-related problems in Downside that see her at Bump’s beck and call.

Dialogue, dig?

I will say it took me a while to get into this book. For the first couple of chapters I was worried that I’d be the one book blogger who didn’t ‘get’ this series or understand all the fuss.

My main hurdle was the dialogue. Kane has given her ‘Downside’ characters very unusual vernacular that I struggled to get my head around. Her characters talk in old rockabilly slang (dig?) but with an old-world bent (aye/thou). So you’ll occasionally stumble across rhetoric like this;

“Benefit. Slipknot set up on yon fuckin field, yay? Terrible chatter me what you needing, on the earlier. All ready your fuckin thing, get done, we straight.”

- Book One, ‘Unholy Ghosts’

In the beginning I really struggled with the syntax, and some quotes I had to read a few times just to make sure I understood what was being said. It reminded me a little of L.A. Banks’s ‘Vampire Huntress Legend’ for the very distinct dialogue.
But once I got into the groove of the jargon and used to the rhythm I started to really admire what Kane has accomplished with her dialogue.
For one thing, the dialogue is an indicator of status in the novel. Only the Downside (and therefore poor/shady underworld) characters speak in this old-world street slang. The second a character opens their mouth to speak, you have an immediate idea about their social status.
It’s a really clever technique that Kane uses to instantly orientate readers, and also imbue her world with flavour and distinct sound. I really started to enjoy the dialogue toward the end, especially when, in my head, I kept hearing the jive-talk spoken in Lafayette’s voice (from ‘True Blood’). I struggled with the dialogue in the beginning, but by ‘City of Ghosts’ I was well and truly digging the rhythm and felt the need to answer affirmatives with ‘aye?’.

Going down to Downside

Kane’s world visually reminded me of the 2006 movie ‘Pulse’, in which ghosts start to kill people through electronics:

And the old-school 1979 classic ‘The Warriors’, for the ghettoized gang-ruled streets.

Downside is a nasty little ghetto that really puts the ‘urban’ into ‘urban fantasy’. Kane’s series is primarily set in the grungy little Triumph City and the wrong-side of the tracks where Chess lives. Downside is an interesting setting, purely for its corruption and Kane’s detailed imagining. Kane wonderfully visualizes the setting; from the seaside outskirts to the interconnecting tunnels that run below the city. At times, Downside also reflects Chess’s mood and psyche, making the city and ghetto characters unto themselves.

Messy Love

I've got to give Kane some serious kudos for offering up a very different romance in her series. Chess’s love triangle is with two thugs whose bosses respectively run Downside and control the drug business. Lex is right-hand-man to Slobag, while Terrible is muscle-man for Bump.... when Chess finds herself working for Bump, she attracts the interest of the other Downside head-honcho (Slobag) and his runner, Lex. Terrible and Lex are her ‘handlers’ on behalf of Bump and Slobag... and over the course of 3 books they become so much more.

The romance in this series is in no way redemptive. It’s not a case of a white knight riding in and saving Chess from herself and giving her a happily ever after... Chess’s romantic triangle is definitely a case of ‘rock and a hard place’. Neither Terrible nor Lex are conventional romantic leads.

Terrible was not my idea of a romantic lead... He’s described as having an overhanging brow, enormous mutton chops and a broken nose... not to mention his beating on kids when Bump orders it. I initially wrinkled my nose at him – but right around the same time Chess finds herself begrudgingly attracted to him, I was also warming to Terrible. Kane does a wonderful job at slowly revealing Terrible’s character and exposing his underbelly.

I did love the triangle between Lex/Chess/Terrible, but it’s not a traditional love triangle. Lex was never a real candidate for Chess’s affections. It was always about Chess and Terrible. Adding Lex into the mix was more a case of upping the stakes – emotionally and plot-wise.

The main reason the triangle worked was that it put Chess in an uncomfortable, and potentially dangerous, situation. Whereas in most novels the creation of a love triangle is purely to raise the romantic stakes, in the case of ‘Downside’ Chess’s romantic predicament meant her life was on the line and the tension was ratcheted up a notch. Not only was Chess’s life in danger, being caught between the affections of two thug muscle-men, but the triangle served as a coming collision course for Terrible and Chess’s relationship... I loved all the tension and impending doom – it was frustrating to read at times, but the romance and romantic repercussions kept me on-edge throughout the series.

Chessiebomb

Chess is one complicated chickie. She grew up in orphanages until the age of 14 when The Church recognized her witchy talent and recruited her. But in those interim childhood years Chess was used and abused, made sexual slave to some shady characters. The sexual abuse she suffered as a child has a huge impact on her and has shaped her adult life. Chess trusts no one, she doesn’t want to let anyone close to her, she doesn’t want to be of interest to anyone and she doesn’t believe in attachments of any kind.

Chess lied to herself every day; it was just something she did, like taking her pills or making sure she had a pen in her bag. Little lies, mostly. Insignificant. Of course there were big ones there, too, like telling herself that she was more than just a junkie who got lucky enough to possess a talent not everyone had. That she was alone by choice and that she was not terrified of other people because they couldn’t be trusted, because they carried filth in their minds and pain in their hands and they would smear both all over her given half the chance.

- Book Three, ‘City of Ghosts’

Chess is a true addict; all she wants out of life is the freedom to lose herself in her drug of choice. It seems that everything Chess does is just a means to getting drugs. Her work for the Church funds her drug habit. Her work for Bump ensures she has a ready supplier of drugs. Getting involved with Lex and Slobag means she has an alternative drug supply. And one of the reasons she doesn’t want to be in a relationship is because it would be too hard to hide the extent of her habit from a significant other.

Chess isn’t looking to be saved. She doesn’t do a lot of naval-gazing or self examination of herself or her drug habit. It just is.
This is a very real portrayal of an addict... she doesn’t want to be ‘cured’, she just wants to get by, get her drugs and not get caught. Chess’s self-destruction can be frustrating and sad to read, but I loved exploring her very fucked-up and damaged character – she is such a different heroine than I have ever read before and I adored her (even when she frustrated and angered me), I was always rooting for her.

As a reader I accepted Chess’s drug habit, but never approved of it. Kane is in no way glamorizing drugs or addiction by writing an addict as her leading lady... If anything, Kane is shining a harsh and unflattering light on the ways that drugs rule and dictate Chess’s life. And even though I found it interesting to have such a flawed protagonist, throughout the books I was hoping that Chess would kick her addiction. I was waiting for a catastrophe to kick Chess in the butt and propel her to get clean.
But the ‘Downside’ series isn’t that easy. I think there is definitely room for Chess to save herself and kick her addiction.... but it won’t be an easy road for her to travel, and there’s no way Kane could have written her sobriety in three books.

Ghostbusters...

I will admit that a lot of the technical ‘ghost catching’ was over my head. When Chess starts mentioning psychopomps, Lamaru, menstrual blood, bird wings for rituals... a lot of it was lost on me. Each book has a mystery plot at its centre, propelling the storyline... but a lot of the finer details were lost on me because they’re so dependent on the intricacies of Kane’s universe. But that’s fine. I always got the big picture in the end – I was able to see the forest for the trees. At times the Debunking/Church jargon did irritate... especially when I just wanted to focus on the Terrible/Chess situation.

I may not have 100% understood all of the minute details of this post-Haunted world, but I trusted Kane enough to propel the story forward, regardless of intricate plot-points. Kane does drama/action very well, heightened by all of the emotional stakes she constantly touches on, and I was never so lost that I was bored. That was probably my one, small complaint, and it’s less to do with Kane’s writing and more to do with my ability to grasp this vast Urban Fantasy world she’s created.

Good things come in 3’s...

I’m really, really glad that I read these books back-to-back. I don’t know how I would have gone waiting a month between book #2 and #3.

‘Downside’ is a dark urban fantasy... bordering on gothic. Kane’s protagonist is a drug-addled addict who is living drug by drug, day by day. Her romantic leads are thugs and muscle-men... and her home is the grimy ghetto of Downside. This Urban Fantasy is not always a comfortable read; but the darkness is part of the allure, and sets the series apart from any other Urban Fantasy out at the moment. I love, love, loved these books and I’m happy to say that I finally *get* what all the fuss is about. I dig, aye?

More Downside to come...

I am thrilled beyond belief to read that Ms. Kane has more Downside books planned. She is contracted for at least 2 more in the series. Book #4 will probably be released in Fall 2011 and Spring 2012 for Book #5. That is a long wait, but I know it will be worth it.

5/5

'Dawn on a Distant Shore' Wilderness #2 by Sara DONATI

** Contains SPOILERS **

From the BLURB:

Sara Donati's novel Dawn on a Distant Shore picks up soon after the conclusion of her prior book, Into the Wilderness. In the winter of 1794, on the edge of the New York wilderness, Elizabeth and Nathaniel Bonner have settled into the comforts of domestic bliss. Typically, however, adventure seeks these two out. Alone but for her stepdaughter Hannah, Elizabeth gives birth to twins, while Nathaniel and his father Hawkeye are imprisoned in Montreal. Determined to help her men, Elizabeth packs up the children and sets off to free them. Liberty does not bring relief to the Bonner clan, however, as sinister forces conspire to pirate them to Scotland and embroil them in a complex family feud.

History and adventure are slathered on thickly throughout this epic tale. Donati's talent for dialect and detail bring the large cast of characters to life, though the steady pace of dramatic catastrophe is somewhat exhausting. Will our heroes never get a break? Fans of Donati's earlier work will enjoy seeing the familiar characters, but new readers would benefit by reading the books in the series in order.

Sara Donati’s second book in her ‘Wilderness’ series starts with Elizabeth Bonner’s dramatic labour to twins Lily and Daniel. It’s a wonderful opening chapter in which Elizabeth’s step-daughter, Hannah, has to deliver her half-siblings because a storm has kept Nathaniel away.
From there the pace only gains momentum as Nathaniel is forced to travel to Montreal and rescue his brother-in-law and father from gaol and the clutches of a conniving society darling.
But the rescue doesn’t go according to plan, and Elizabeth is forced to cart her twins, step-daughter and friend, Curiosity Freeman, across the Canadian wilderness to Montreal to retrieve her husband and assorted family members.
Things are made even more complicated as an English lord is likewise on the hunt for the Bonner men, Nathaniel and his father Daniel, to ensure they claim their rightful Scottish inheritance.

This book felt a lot like Diana Gabaldon’s third book ‘Voyager’. A lot of ‘Dawn’ takes place on the high seas, to eventually make port in Scotland. It was very reminiscent of ‘Voyager’; just in the fact that pirates and privateers pepper the cast, there’s a lot of ship-swapping to keep up with and hidden agendas to keep track of.

I was ultimately disappointed with this second instalment. Donati came close, but never quite met my expectations in ‘Dawn’. For one thing, in this book it felt as though Donati was skirting around certain issues and topics. The perfect example of this is in Giselle Somerville. Ms. Somerville is a woman from Nathaniel’s past, a Montreal society darling who seduced Nathaniel when they were both 17. Giselle was taken by Nathaniel’s Mohawk savageness, and since his departure from her bedchamber, Giselle has bedded a cachet of Indians and navy-men alike to satisfy her lustful curiosities. In ‘Dawn’ Giselle has turned her attention’s to Nathaniel’s brother-in-law, Otter, and Nathaniel is forced to travel to Montreal to recover the lad.

There’s a lot of unspoken baggage between Giselle and Nathaniel – both Nathaniel and his father, Daniel think on the affair... but they never *talk* about it. Elizabeth is especially intrigued by Giselle as a woman of her husband’s past... but she and Nathaniel never *talk* about her. It is very, very frustrating. And the lack of conversation serves to put distance between Elizabeth and Nathaniel. I started wondering why they weren’t being open and honest with one another – it may be an uncomfortable topic to discuss, but asking your significant other about their first loves and past relationships is a big and necessary conversational obstacle.

I do still love Nathaniel and Elizabeth – despite feeling a chasm of difference between them for everything they *didn’t* say, I still like them. In this book we glimpse what Elizabeth’s life could have been had she not left England for New-York, and it works to illustrate how much she has gained from Nathaniel.

“I’ll come back to you, Boots, and you’ll be healed and we’ll be together. It’ll be warm enough then in the cave. We’ll get to know each other again where we started, you and me. How does that sound?”
Elizabeth brushed the hair away from his face. “It sounds as if you should be up and away, so that you can come home again. ‘Journeys end in lovers meeting,’ after all.”
“That’s one quote I’ll remember.” Nathaniel laughed. “It’ll serve me well on the long road home.”

As much as I still loved the romance in ‘Dawn’, Donati literally ‘lost the plot’ in this second book. My biggest complaint was that a lot of the action seemed to take place off the page. There’s a big revelation half-way through the book that Giselle gave birth to Nathaniel’s son all those years ago. Nathaniel learns of his estranged child, and resolves to tell Elizabeth about the boy, Luke, and to decide with her whether or not he leaves the boy be or tracks him down. But we never read the scene in which Nathaniel breaks the news to Elizabeth that he has an illegitimate son. It is in the final pages that we read a letter claiming that the Bonner clan tracked Luke down, and bought him back to Hidden Wolf in New York for a time. It is an absolute travesty that we don’t get to read these scenes, that they are recounted to us in summary instead of scene. It is such a waste of intense dramatic scenes and a deplorable case of ‘telling, not showing’ and as a reader I feel terribly ripped-off by Donati.

I will continue with this series, but I have a touch of resentment toward Donati for dropping the ball with this second novel.

2/5

'Life After Joe' by Harper FOX

Received from NetGalley

From the BLURB:

It’s not the breaking up that kills you, it’s the aftermath.

Ever since his long time lover decided he’d seen the “heterosexual light”, Matt’s life has been in a nosedive. Six months of too many missed shifts at the hospital, too much booze, too many men. Matt knows he’s on the verge of losing everything, but he’s finding it hard to care.

Then Matt meets Aaron. He’s gorgeous, intelligent, and apparently not interested in being picked up. Still, even after seeing Matt at his worst, he doesn’t turn away. Aaron’s kindness and respect have Matt almost believing he’s worth it – and that there could be life after Joe. But his new-found happiness is threatened when Matt begins to suspect Aaron is hiding something, or someone….

Matt has lost his childhood sweetheart, best friend, partner and true love. Joe and Matt grew up together, and had been in a committed relationship for six years when Joe walked out. Not only did he walk out, but Joe revealed that for two years he had been carrying on a relationship with a woman and that they now planned to get married and have children.
Understandably, six months later Matt is still crushed and reeling.

We meet Matt at that six-month mark. He has boozed and fucked his way through the grief, losing sight of his medical training and losing himself to creeping addiction.
Right when Matt is at his worst he meets Aaron. Aaron is an oil-rig worker, a little too old for the gay club scene, but rough and handsome and intriguing. Matt wants Aaron to be just another one-night-stand and temporary cure to his loneliness, but Aaron has bigger plans.

I am always up for a good M/M romance, and ‘Life After Joe’ seemed to have the angst and tension I so love in my romance books... but Harper Fox didn’t deliver.

‘Life After Joe’ is often a frustrating read because Fox insists on writing so much in summary. Pages and pages without dialogue become almost unbearable, especially when scenes that would have made for great dramatic tension are coldly recounted.
Early on in the novel Matt is visited by Joe’s wife, Marnie. Marnie and Joe want Matt to move out of the apartment he and Joe shared, because they need the money from the sale. This scene would have been great to read – but there’s no dialogue and no action, just a cold lifeless narrative as Matt recounts the awkward conversation.

I don’t know if Fox was using the summary as a literary device – trying to illustrate Matt’s detachment from life? But it was just frustrating to read. Don’t get me wrong, Fox has a wonderful voice and some of her writing is poignant and heartfelt;

My eyes closed. When he leaned back on the sofa, I went with him, turning my face to his shoulder.
Another trouble with breakups – the instant loss of the dozens of daily touches, the background tapestry of comfort, given and received. You can screw your way through half a city’s population and never get that back. I had been starving for it without knowing. I pressed myself to him, feeling his embrace close round me, hard and strong, so tight my ribs popped.

But the dialogue is so lacking that by the end of the book I didn’t feel like I knew Matt or Aaron, or had spent any time with them. I felt very detached from them as characters, purely because I hadn’t read any of their conversational nuances or rhetoric.

This is a novel about the aftermath of a break-up. Matt is not a pretty picture, but Joe’s betrayal is sour enough that you completely empathize with him and understand why he is so depressed. I had no problem with the somewhat bleak bent of the novel, especially because Aaron’s presence shifts the plot to a romantic interlude. But I wish Fox had spent more time on the Matt/Joe/Marnie triangle. We only get one quick scene with Joe (and in it he acts like a caricature) and only one summary-scene with Marnie. I felt like the angst of the novel could have been hit home a little more by including a few extra scenes with Joe and Marnie.

I really wanted to like this M/M, but I didn’t. A severe lack of dialogue disconnected me from the main characters, and when the novel is all about betrayal and break-up I wanted more tension and angst.

2/5

'The Lovers' by Eden BRADLEY

Received from NetGalley

From the BLURB:

Have you ever dreamed of having a single experience which would change you forever? I think I’d dreamed about exactly that sort of thing most of my life. In recent years I thought it was going to be about writing a New York Times best-seller. But a long time ago, before I lived through my teenage years and came out damaged on the other side, I thought it would be falling in love with a man and living happily ever after, like every other girl.

Who knew the one to change me would be a woman? But the story doesn’t end there. No, that in itself is a whole new beginning. Because right after I met Audrey, I met Jack.

‘The Lovers’ is an erotica novel by Eden Bradley.

I would call ‘The Lovers’ the thinking woman’s erotica. This storyline isn’t about a woman falling easily into a ménage a trois and vapidly experiencing every one of her naughty fantasies. This isn’t an empty bit of smut, but rather a hot and frustrating novel of complicated feelings as well as intense couplings.

Bettina is slightly neurotic. She is an author of dark ‘angry female’ novels. For two years she has been seeing a therapist and dealing with a slight case of agoraphobia which sees her reluctant to leave her house and make new friends. Bettina is also combating memories of her lonely childhood and repercussions of having grown up with disinterested parents. To top it all off, she also has a small case of OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder).
Bettina is going on a writers workshop retreat with six other authors, upon recommendation of her therapist, to connect with herself and *feel* something. Little does she know she’s going to experience all that, and a little bit more than she can handle...

She meets fellow writer Audrey, who has captivating eyes and the most beautiful body Bettina has ever lusted after. Bettina has never felt attracted to women, but Audrey is magnetic, pulling her in and casting a spell on her.
But Audrey’s affections are fleeting; she flirts with everyone and has intense couplings with numerous people. One of whom is another author at the retreat, called Jack. The same way Bettina was attracted to the gorgeous Audrey, Bettina finds she is equally drawn to the handsome, carefree Jack. Bettina’s lust is not even diminished when she discovers that Jack and Audrey have been carrying on an intense fling for the last three years. In fact, Bettina’s yearning is amplified when Jack and Audrey invite her into their bed...

But soon enough Audrey’s interest wanes and she leaves Jack and Bettina to navigate their own intense coupling without her. Jack warns Bettina that he isn’t a ‘relationship guy’ and will break the heart of any woman who falls for him, but Bettina can’t seem to help herself where Jack is concerned...

This novel is a cure for my lagging interest in erotica. So often ménage a trois storylines are old-hat and so-so, and I know that my interest is waning when I start to wish that the frivolous characters would question their threesome relationship. Bradley offers just such deep explorations in ‘The Lovers’.

Don’t read this if you want a throw-away hot erotica read. As I warned, this is the thinking woman’s erotica. Just as Bettina questions her attraction to Audrey, and Jack’s interest in her, readers are drawn into the complicated love triangle and Bettina’s feelings.

I nod my head. “Okay, okay.” I pause, thinking, trying to figure this all out. “It’s okay that you still want her, Jack. So do I. I can’t help it. You can’t either. That’s just Audrey.”
“Yeah. It’s not the same anymore for me, though. I don’t buy into it as much as I used to. Into her charm.”
“But it’s still there. And it’s undeniable.”

All of these characters are layered and complex. Jack’s reasons for only carrying out flings with fuck buddies are imbedded in his childhood. Likewise, Audrey’s reason for flirting and fucking anything in sight is rooted in a past trauma that continues to influence her adult relationships. Bettina is the most complicated of all, and together these three make a triumvirate of a tricky situation.

The sex scenes are lush and sensual. Bettina and Audrey’s couplings are some of the best smut I have had the (surprising) pleasure to read. Bradley is a talented erotica writer in that her sex scenes aren’t cold on the page, purely written to titillate – they instead reveal pieces of the characters, their neuroses and unspoken feelings. It’s all there, between the lines, making the sex scenes a character exploration unto themselves.

If you’re not in the mood for a book that explores feelings as well as sexual healings, then ‘The Lovers’ is not for you. But if you are in a temper for slightly more high-brow literary erotica then I highly recommend this book. You’ll get caught up in Bettina’s obsession with Audrey and Jack, her worry about losing herself to the one man she shouldn’t and her desperation to protect herself from feeling too much.

I loved this book. It was frustrating at times, extremely sexy and smutty with just enough deep character exploration to keep me invested and interested. Highly recommend for those who want a bit more substance in their erotica.

5/5

‘The Lovers’ comes out November 1st 2010

'Reckless' House of Rohan #2 by Anne STUART

Received from NetGalley

From the BLURB:

Adrian Alistair Rohan lost his faith, and now, a dedicated member of the depraved Heavenly Host, he loses himself in his only pleasure: the seduction and debauchery of beautiful women. Rich, charming and devastatingly skilled in the arts of love, he never fails in his conquests.until Charlotte Spenser.

Charlotte is facing a desolate, passionless future, none of which matters to Adrian, who imagines her a toy until better prey arrives. But beneath her drab exterior, Charlotte is a woman as enchanting as she is brilliant and, lured into Adrian's world, soon she becomes the seducer, and he the seduced...

‘Reckless’ is the second book in Anne Stuart’s ‘House of Rohan’ trilogy.

This trilogy spans three generations of Rohan’s. ‘Ruthless’ was about Viscount Francis Rohan, who started the orgy-delights of the ‘Heavenly Host’ and went down as a Paris legend for his wicked sojourns. ‘Reckless’ is about Adrian Rohan, son of Elinor and Francis.

Adrian is a twenty-eight year old rake. He is following in his father’s footsteps, doing what he pleases and uncaring of what others think. Adrian is attending the reincarnation of the Heavenly Host where he bumps into Charlotte Spenser... Charlotte is a thirty-year-old spinster; ginger-haired, freckled and awkward. Charlotte is also besotted with Adrian. She has watched him for three London seasons; watched him bed women and throw them away, watched his beautiful form across numerous ballrooms and lusted after him. Charlotte was dragged to the Heavenly Host by her strumpet cousin, Evangelina Whitmore, but she never thought that she would run into the notorious Adrian Rohan. And she never in her wildest dreams thought that Adrian would offer her three days in his bed. Three days introducing Charlotte to pleasures of the flesh and then sending her own her way to a lifetime of spinsterhood....

I loved ‘Ruthless’. That book was my first introduction to Anne Stuart and her wonderfully rakish male protagonists. Stuart’s bad-boy heroes are her forte – she writes truly villainous men who seem impossible as love interests, but whose redemption makes for compelling reading.

Unfortunately, Adrian Rohan didn’t live up to his father’s level of rakishness. I can’t quite put my finger on why Adrian wasn’t in the same rake league as his father.... It might be because when he meets Charlotte, Adrian is instantly (if unknowingly) besotted, whereas in ‘Ruthless’ Francis Rohan’s affections were never crystal-clear to Elinor or readers. It was also a matter of never reading much evidence of Adrian’s libertine behaviours, beyond other character’s gossip and innuendo.

Charlotte was also not of the same heroine-calibre as Elinor of ‘Ruthless’. Where Elinor had a backbone and stubborn-streak to admire and put Francis Rohan in his place, Charlotte is a bit of a whiner. Charlotte sees herself as an ugly, unwanted and unmarriageable spinster. She spends a lot of time telling Adrian of her short-comings and convincing him that he can’t possibly want her frumpy self. All of Charlotte’s self-flagellations started to get on my nerves and wore away my sympathy for her. There’s only so much pity-partying I can take, especially when all of her protestations are unfounded because Adrian shows his enthusiasm for her, repeatedly.

Finally she said, “You sick bastard.”
“Oh, my love, not sick at all. It’s quite lovely, and some women, the very best women, enjoy it as well. So I gather this means you don’t want me inside you, riding you, pumping you, making you cry and scream with pleasure?”
“You’re a pig,” she snapped.
“It’s a pig’s world. So the answer is no, my precious?”

Overall I didn’t particularly like Charlotte and Adrian’s romance. Beyond good sex, these two had no reason to fall in love. Adrian is intrigued by Charlotte because he knows she is lusting after him (egomaniac). And Charlotte is attracted to Adrian because he’s very, very handsome (shallow). Not exactly the most romantic of couplings.

Like ‘Ruthless’, ‘Reckless’ has a second romantic storyline. This one concerning Charlotte’s somewhat slutty cousin, Evangelina, and a reformed rake turned vicar, Simon Pagett. I don’t think these two got enough page-time to really draw me in. And honestly I kept thinking that the romance of a slut and a vicar could have easily carried its own book – especially because Evangelina’s reasons for sluttiness are quite sad and worthy of deeper exploration than Stuart gives them in ‘Reckless’.

I am beginning to see why Anne Stuart has earned her reputation for writing brilliant bad-boys... but ‘Reckless’ just didn’t do it for me. The bad-boy didn’t titillate, the heroine grated and their ‘romance’ was nothing but good sex. ‘Ruthless’ was brilliant, ‘Reckless’ is a poor follow-up.

2.5/5