'The Unidentified Redhead' by Alice CLAYTON

From the BLURB:

When Grace Sheridan moves to Los Angeles to become a working actor, it's a second shot at a life-long dream. But at thirty-three, has she missed her chance? And will an unexpected romance with the entertainment industry's newest "it" boy shine an uncomfortable spotlight on her life?

I absolutely, thoroughly and unabashedly loved Alice Clayton’s ‘The Unidentified Redhead’.

Grace Sheridan is back and la la Land better get ready! At age thirty-three Grace has decided to re-try the Hollywood circuit and throw herself into being happy. She has moved in with her talent agent bestie, Holly, and is tackling the fame game. At a hip Hollywood party, Holly introduces Grace to Jack Hamilton. . . aka ‘Super Sexy Scientist Guy’. Jack is a twenty-four year old British actor who has just landed the most sought-after role in the movie ‘Time’. Jack was a little-known indie actor, but since landing the role in a film adaptation of a series of romance short-stories, he has been labelled Hollywood’s new ‘it’ boy. But to Grace he becomes ‘Sweet Nuts’ and ‘George’ – and she quickly finds herself falling head over heels in love with him. But what happens when Grace’s fledgling career takes off and Jack’s star burns brightly. Can these two crazy kids keep the romance steamy and their love alive when the flashbulbs start firing?

This book was sooooooooo good. I mean, it was Super Sexy Contemporary Romance good. The second I finished reading I added it to my favourite’s list and then did a little happy-dance when I discovered there was a sequel!

Grace is amazing, and along with Jane Jameson she makes my list of ‘fictional women I wish were real so they could be my best friend’. Seriously, she freakin rocks! She falls asleep to ‘The Golden Girls’, likes the Psychedelic Furs and says things like ‘breasticles’. She is breath-takingly cool and I kinda, really, maybe want to *be* her. I love the fact that while Grace is calm and brilliant on the outside, we also get all her inner neuroses that go with her new relationship and the nine-year age-gap between her and Jack. Grace is an independent and brilliant woman, but she is so relatable for internally freaking out about Jack’s devotion, his young fangirls and her stalling career.

“You can say tits, although I prefer boobies. I also like Ta-Ta’s,” I said with a straight face.
“How about love pillows?” he countered.
“Breasticles?” I offered.
“Uhhh, how about Flap Jacks?” he asked, struggling not to laugh.
“Nice, but it doesn’t hold a candle to sweater meat,” I managed to get out before laughing so loud I sprayed Saltines all over the counter.

Jack Hamilton is H-O-T! He was such a wonderful character and every woman’s dream-boat (while also being surprisingly realistic). He’s an up-and-coming, reluctant ‘it’ boy. And at the tender age of twenty-four, he’s also Grace’s delicious toy-boy. Throw in a British accent and he’s perfection Britified! I pictured him as an amalgamation of a few current ‘it’ boys – Liam Hemsworth, Charlie Hunnam and the obvious Robert Pattinson. But really, Jack Hamilton is in a fictional league all of his own. . . Oh, how to describe him? He says things like “that’s what he said” and refers to Grace’s cleavage as ‘boobies’, but he’s also incredibly tender and attentive. Let’s just say that he enjoys the South, he enjoys it a lot. I loved Jack, and I really wish he was a real movie star so I could be one of his obsessive fan-girls (minus the hating on Grace for snagging him).

A shout-out must also go to one particular minor character in the book – Holly. It only makes sense that someone as awesome as Grace would have an equally brilliant bestie, but Holly takes the cake. Holly is the Ethel to Grace’s Lucy, the Cox to her Aniston (heh, that’s what he said. . .)

“Quiet, Brit Boy,” Holly warned, “or I will make sure you get cast in High School Musical 4: Electric Boogaloo.”

Together, Jack and Grace are one of my new all-time favourite couples. These two have such a similar sense of humour (i.e.: “that’s what he said”) that there was the dangerous possibility that they could have come across more like siblings than heated trysters. But Clayton writes such heated, smouldering and deliciously lengthy sex scenes so as to wipe-out any sibling/platonic-friendship possibility. I’m talking, JR Ward level of sexiness. I’m talking blush-while-you-read, can’t get enough of the good stuff kind of smutty. Seriously.

“Grace, we’ll leave in a few hours,” he placated. “Pipe down, woman, and bring me those tits. You know I can’t sleep without a handful.” He chuckled, succeeding in pulling me close enough to get a hold of me. I giggled, and let him slip his hands beneath my shirt, tucking in next to him again.

I’m not surprised that I loved this book so much. Alice Clayton reveals herself as a like-minded soul when she has Grace and Jack swap pop-culture obsessions. Every single movie, actor, TV show and song they exclaim over is one of my shared fixations: Tina Fey, The Corey’s, New Kids on the Block, Van Morrison and The Golden Girls. Oh. My. God! Reading this was the equivalent of going out for martinis with Ms Clayton and swapping lengthy pop diatribes and chortling our way through witty repartee.

Thanks to Patti from Book Addict for sharing the good stuff with me.

5/5

'The Beach Hut' by Veronica HENRY

Received from the Publisher

From the BLURB:

FOR SALE: a rare opportunity to purchase a beach hut on the spectacular Everdene Sands. "The Shack" has been in the family for fifty years and was the first to be built on this renowned stretch of golden sand...'

Jane Milton doesn't want to sell her beloved beach hut, which has been the heart of so many family holidays and holds so many happy memories. But when her husband dies, leaving her with an overwhelming string of debts, she has no choice but to sell.

THE BEACH HUT follows the stories of the people who own the beach huts, families who come to Everdene each year, people who fall in - or out of - love, remembering their pasts, or trying to forget them...

Jane Milton’s husband has sadly passed away. . . leaving her with 3 sons to care for, a mountain of debt, a rock and a hard place. Drowning in bills, Jane is forced to sell her family’s beloved beach hut in the Everdene Sands - but not before one last blow-out summer to say goodbye to all the memories.

“Oh yeah,” said Florence. “Dad was saying you’re going to have to sell the hut. What a bummer.”
Harry winced. He knew Jane didn’t much like discussing it. But she didn’t seem to mind Florence’s forthrightness.
“Yes,” she said drily. “It’s a real bummer. But that’s life. Nothing good lasts forever.”
“Doesn’t it?” Florence wrinkled her nose. “Why not?”
Why not indeed? thought Harry. This summer, for instance. He hoped that was going to last forever.

I must confess, I've never read a Veronica Henry book before. But since it’s summertime in Australia and I’m in the mood for some sunny fiction, I thought ‘The Beach Hut’ was an aptly titled novel to pique my interest. And pique it did. . .

The ‘novel’ is really a collection of short stories as Henry introduces us to the various hut-residents of Everdene. But each perspective is a cohesively woven tale that ultimately tells the story of Everdene and its significance for the various beach-goers and residents, particularly for the Milton’s. And there are over-arching themes and interconnected stories – like Roy, who keeps up Hut maintenance and has been nursing a crush on Jane for years.

I loved that the book revolved around a setting and evolved from there. Place is intricate to the story, and Everdene Sands became a character unto itself as all the various beach-goers reveal the Sands significance to them. I think this was a lovely concept, and if a picture is worth a thousand words then Henry wonderfully captures Everdene Sands so it’s like you’re reading a snapshot in a family album. This little place the holds so many memories and ties so many people together – beautiful.

‘The Beach Hut’ is both a ‘beach-read’ and a little bit ‘chick-lit’, though I am wary to use either label for their frivolous connotations. ‘The Beach Hut’ is an easy read – both because the story sucks you in from the first chapter (and doesn’t let up) and because the stand-alone chapter stories make it easy to put down and pick up. I use the word ‘chick-lit’ only because Henry beautifully examines the interconnections of family and the memories we keep of a place. All the good ‘touchy-feely’ female stuff, so to speak. But don’t go thinking that ‘The Beach Hut’ is a throw-away bit of reading fairy-floss. The book has real heart and soul, and Henry will suck you in from the opening chapter and keep a hold of you until the last page. Fantastic summer reading!

5/5

... So, after reading this great book I found out that Ms. Henry used to be a scriptwriter for ‘Heartbeat’! OMIGOD! You don’t understand. . . I grew up on episodes of ‘Heartbeat’ and ‘The Bill’ and now having read ‘The Beach Hut’, I can totally see a connection between Henry’s screen and novel writing. I will definitely be reading more of Veronica Henry’s books.

♥

Heartbeat
Heartbeat, why do you miss when my baby kisses me
Heartbeat, why does a love kiss stay in my memory

'Wyndham Werewolves' short-story series by MaryJanice DAVIDSON

The Wyndham Werewolf Series is a collection of short-stories by famed comedic paranormal author, MaryJanice Davidson.

I have loved Davidson’s zany hilarity since I discovered her ‘Queen Betsy’ series. I knew she had a second paranormal romance/comedy series about werewolves. . . but after a little digging I discovered that the Wyndham Werewolves ‘series’ was comprised of short-stories that appeared in various anthologies and novellas. I made it my mission to trawl through my local library catalogue, Amazon’s Kindle books list and bargain bins until I was able to read all the short stories (in order) in one sitting. And through a series of happy coincidences, I finally have! And it was well worth the wait.

The series started with the short story ‘Love’s Prisoner’ which appeared in the 2000 romance ‘Secrets 6’ anthology. ‘Love’s Prisoner’ is a really integral story in the Wyndham Werewolves series, since it introduces Boston Alpha werewolf, Michael Wyndham and his unconventional human ‘monkey’ mate, Jeannie. This is probably the only necessary reading of the whole Wyndham Werewolves series – since most of the other short stories continually reference Michael and his human mateship.

‘Love’s Prisoner’ opens with human woman, Jeannie, getting trapped in an elevator with a stranger called Michael. Unbeknownst to Jeannie, Michael is a werewolf, and the moon is close and Jeannie’s menstruating tips Michael over the edge to claiming her as his mate.

“About the werewolf fixation,” she said, striving for a note of humour – she’d always had a perverse need to make light of any seriousness. “I confess this concerns me a bit. Perhaps there’s a support group that can heldp. Men-who-love-werewolves-and-the-women-trapped-in-elevators-with-them.” He laughed, a throaty chuckle.

- ‘Love’s Prisoner’, in Secrets 6 anthology.

From there the Wyndham series goes on to explore the repercussions of Michael’s blissful mateship as he presses his pack and fellow werewolves to find mates of their own and settle down. The other short stories all revolve around Michael’s various littermates and pack as they go on their own romantic rollercoaster rides.

MaryJanice Davidson’s signature wit permeates the series. Her storylines are often outlandish and seem to be triggered by a simple paranormal ‘what if?’ question. With the Wyndham Werewolves, Davidson is able to explore and write about every sort of werewolf contingency. . . there’s a story about a blind werewolf, a werewolf/vampire coupling and what happens when a werewolf literally stumbles across his destined mate:

He had visions of spending the rest of the day rolling around on Egyptian cotton sheets with Santa. “Lunch.”
She peered at him with adorable suspicion. “Is that a question? Is this your first day out of the institution?”
Right, right, she was human. Be polite. “Lunch. Please. Now.”

- Santa Claws, in ‘Dead and Loving it’ anthology.

I loved the series, if only for Davidson’s fantastic humour. She and Molly Harper have a similar (though totally different) darkly outlandish sense of humour and it shines through in each of the Wyndham short’s.

There was only one aspect of the series that rubbed me the wrong way. . . and that is Davidson’s almost blasé rape references. . .

Many of the male werewolves in the various Wyndham short stories ‘rape’ their soon-to-be partners. Michael rapes Jeannie in the elevator. The vampire/werewolf story involves said vampire kidnapping the lady wolf and forcing intercourse. But ‘rape’ is a very strong word, and actually a bit of a gray area in the various shorts. . . and that’s what I had a problem with. Technically, it is rape. And the women always openly accuse their rapist/mates of forcing them. . . but internally all of the women admit to being turned on and ending up wanting the sex as much as the men. So it’s a case of ‘cry wolf’ almost – where the physical act is technically rape (as the ladies admit and admonish) but reader’s also read the internal monologue of the women and know that they enjoyed/wanted it.

“Anything you put in my mouth, you’re gonna lose.”
He sighed. “I suppose it was too good to last. Pity we’re only compatible in bed.”
“Compatible in- you raped me, asswipe! Do you have any idea what my family is going to do to you? What I’m going to do to you?”
“I did rape you.” He tweaked one of her nipples. “At first.”

- Monster Love, in ‘Dead and Loving it’ anthology.

Hmmm. . . this didn’t sit well with me. Admittedly, at the time of reading I did raise my eyebrows, but I wasn’t so disgusted (and the scenes weren’t so graphic/violent) that I could not continue reading. . . it sounds a little worse when recounted for this review. But the ‘rape’ scenes did seem uncaring and unnecessary (even if they are accurate for portraying the werewolf mating ritual) even more so for Davidson pointing out that the women’s bodies often betrayed their ‘no’ talk.

I am glad I was finally able to read the Wyndham Werewolves series completely in order. Davidson is a unique and hilarious paranormal romance author, and while some aspects of the ‘romance’ irked me, overall I enjoyed this smutty/funny series.

4/5

'Corralled' Blacktop Cowboys #1 by Lorelei JAMES

From the BLURB:

First in a new series about some hard-riding rodeo cowboys...and the women who can rein them in.

Sports therapist Lainie Capshaw has been rehabilitating injured cowboys long enough to know that a charming western drawl combined with a fine physical form doesn't mean you fall for the man.

So no one is more surprised than Lainie when she finds herself involved with not one, but two different men: Hank Lawson, a bullfighter, and Kyle Gilchrist, a bull rider. Lainie feels guilty about her two-timing, but it doesn't keep her from doubling her fun-that is until Hank catches her with Kyle.

She's shocked that Hank isn't mad. But she's more shocked to learn Hank and Kyle are hometown buddies. But when the men offer to share her-in every way-she knows that she's going to have to choose the one man who can give her the ride of her life...

Lainie Capshaw had it really great for a little while. For six months she had CRA cowboy Hank Lawson in her bed. . . and then for three months she also had EBS bull-rider hunk Kyle Gilchrist between her sheets. Then it all went wrong. Hank found out about Kyle, and Lainie discovered that the two men she was two-timing were old friends from Muddy Gap. What are the chances? Lainie is quite happy to tuck tail and run from her slutty mistake. . . but both Hank and Kyle don’t like the idea of giving her up so easily. So they make a compromise. . . a ménage compromise.

I have to hand it to Lorelei James – she writes thinking women’s erotica. It’s all well and fun to give a girl two cowboys to play with. . . but Ms. James goes one better and gives her smutty storylines real heart, and surprising depth. I thought she did it really well in ‘Rough Riders’ book #6, ‘Rough, Raw and Ready’ – and she does it even better in ‘Corralled’. For one thing, the threesome doesn’t come easy to any of the parties involved. The men are uneasy (without being homophobic) and aside from logistical problems, Lainie is concerned for everyone’s feelings. I loved the fact that Lorelei James went beyond just the hot sex (which, consequently, there is plenty of) and asked the questions her readers were probably dying to explore. The in’s and out’s of a ménage à trois relationship.

Kyle punched him in the arm. “It’s a damn cryin’ shame we can’t just share her until she makes up her mind which one of us she likes better.”
Hank’s beer bottle stopped halfway to his mouth. “You know, that ain’t a half-bad idea.”
“I was kiddin’.”
“I’m not.”
“Seriously? Like I’d get her Friday night and you’d get her Saturday night? Hank. Buddy. You know that’d never work. Especially when we’d be in the same town, knowing exactly what’s goin’ on behind closed motel doors. Maybe in the motel room right next door.”
“True. But what if. . .?”
Now he’d piqued Kyle’s curiosity. “What if. . .?”

The title should also give something away as to the greater exploration of the book. ‘Corralled’ meaning animal pens and enclosures – confinement. The book is ultimately about Lainie being with Hank and Kyle together, in order to choose which one she wants to end up with. Now, ‘corralled’ isn’t exactly the nicest allusion to ‘monogamy’, but it was interesting to read Hank and Kyle’s one-upmanship and increasing pressure to out-perform one another. It made for some lovely, heated encounters for Lainie, and kept me guessing throughout the book. . . I honestly could not guess which cowboy Lainie would pick, and that kept the erotica interesting.

Fair warning, Ms James does go into lots of detail about the CRA (Cowboy Rodeo Association) and EBS (Extreme Bull Showcase). I still don’t know if those are real organizations, but quite frankly the entire bull-riding American cowboy thing is over my head. I love the idea of cowboys, but I don’t really understand the grand-standing spectacular of these cowboy events. James goes into detail about the behind-the-scenes politics of both organizations, and a few underhanded tactics that didn’t really pique my interest until the end. . . otherwise there was a lot of bull-riding factoids to wade through.

‘Corralled’ is the first book in Lorelei James’s new series, ‘Blacktop Cowboys’. There were a few characters in ‘Corralled’ that I hope we revisit in future books. . . like Hank’s siblings Abe and Celia, Lainie’s cowgirl best friend Tanna and the man who didn’t win Lainie’s heart. The second book ‘Saddled and Spurred’ sounds good, but introduces a whole new cast of characters. I love Lorelei Jame’s superior erotica writing, and her sensuous sex scenes, and I’m definitely sticking to ‘Blacktop Cowboys’, but I do hope she revisits the minor characters introduced in ‘Corralled’.

4/5

'Blacktop Cowboys' #2 - March 1st 2011

'Unzipped' Chrissy McMullen #1 by Lois GREIMAN

Chrissy McMullen is a psychologist working in la la Land – L.A. She loves her job, even if she doesn’t always heed the advice she passes on to her clients (particularly when it comes to her love life). But Chrissy isn’t prepared when the celebrity footballer she’s seeing for an impotency problem tries to rape her. She is doubly shocked when the ex-footballer star Andrew "Bomber" Bomstad whips out proof-positive that he doesn’t have an impotency problem and then promptly falls dead at Chrissy’s feet. And she certainly isn’t primed to be a prime-suspect in the Bomber’s murder investigation.

Chrissy didn’t think there was much left that could shock her, but when sexy L.A. homicide detective Jack Rivera sets Chrissy in his cross-hairs she can’t help but be dumb-struck by her dumb luck.


‘Chrissy McMullen’ is a cozy mystery series written by Lois Greiman, with the first book published in 2005 and currently six books deep.

I love the premise of this mystery series. One of the hardest things about investing in any cozy mystery is believing the unbelievable. The theme of most cozy’s is an amateur sleuth cracking real whodunits. Readers are willing to suspend belief in the face of a ‘cozy’ tag, but there also has to be a grain of truth to the impossible. That’s what Lois Greiman does with her series – it’s quite plausible that an L.A. psychologist would be privy to a few skeletons in closets and therefore in a position to insert herself into various investigations.

I did take pause at one off-page characters being called Stephenie Meyers. . . even more so when that character turned out to be a B-grade starlet who was known around Hollywood for getting around town and consequently topped herself. It was just dumb-luck that ‘Unzipped’ came out in 2005, the same year as ‘Twilight’. A happy-awkward coincidence that had me chuckling.

The romance with detective Jack Rivera is equal parts frustrating and heated. Frustrating, because they don’t fall into bed straight away (drats!) but heated for their banter and clear attraction which keeps things interesting and sizzling;

“Projecting responsibility, Raver?”
“What’s that?”
“The tendency to place your shortcomings on someone else. we call it projecting responsibility.”
He leaned closer. I could feel the heat of his body. “Just what shortcomings are you referring to, Ms. McMullen?”
The oxygen was being sucked slowly out of my lungs. I leaned back. “I just meant–”

Chrissy is very quick. She spouts long Gilmore Girls-esque, sarcastic pop-culture-referencing dialogues that will have your head spinning. And as rapid-fire as her dialogue is with various characters is, Chrissy’s inner monologue is just as quick. It can cause a mild case of whiplash on the page. . . and sometimes I wanted Chrissy to slow down and not overkill her own zaniness. But at the same time I loved Greiman’s distinct style, her fast pace and fast talk really suited the L.A. setting and the helter-skelter murder mysteries.

Two books in and I’m really enjoying this series. I love the cozy premise of an L.A. psychologist getting involved in her patient’s messy whodunit’s. Sometimes Greiman pushes the protagonist’s charisma to a point that it grates, but otherwise Chrissy is a relatable and entertaining amateur sleuth. The romance has lots of steamy potential (even if the longevity of flirtation is frustrating) and I look forward to reading more books in the ‘Chrissy McMullen’ series.

3.5/5

'Flygirl' by Sherri L. Smith

Received from the Publisher

From the BLURB:

Ida Mae Jones dreams of flight. Her daddy was a pilot and being black didn’t stop him from fulfilling his dreams. But her daddy’s gone now, and being a woman, and being black, are two strikes against her. When America enters the war with Germany and Japan, the Army creates the WASP, the Women Airforce Service Pilots—and Ida suddenly sees a way to fly as well as do something significant to help her brother stationed in the Pacific. But even the WASP won’t accept her as a black woman, forcing Ida Mae to make a difficult choice of “passing,” of pretending to be white to be accepted into the program. Hiding one’s racial heritage, denying one’s family, denying one’s self is a heavy burden. And while Ida Mae chases her dream, she must also decide who it is she really wants to be.

Sherri L. Smith’s ‘Flygirl’ is definitely going on my 2010 favourite’s list. I’m also counting it as one of my all-time favourite Young Adult reads. . . heck, it’s a favourite book all round.

The book opens in December 1941, on the day that Pearl Harbor is attacked by the Japanese. Not long after the attack the US army develop the WASP program - Women Airforce Service Pilots. Twenty-year-old Ida Mae Jones dreams of the sky. Her dearly-departed Daddy taught her to fly for crop dusting. . . but Ida dreams of more. She dreams of heading to Chicago to get her pilot’s licence and joining the Women's Auxiliary. But she has one big strike against her – Ida Mae is black. The Civil Rights Movement isn’t even a blip on the American radar and there’s no way in hell Ida Mae will fly in the skies if she presents herself as a woman of colour.

But Ida’s Daddy was a light-skinned black man (from years of his family trying to climb the social ladder by marrying and procreating with whites). Ida has ‘good hair’ and can pass for Spanish blood. So Ida Mae lies. She pretends to be white in order to join WASP. Ida turns her back on everything she knows and everyone she loves in order to help her country and earn her place in the skies.

Ida joins WASP and flies to her heart’s content. . . but if it means refusing her family and heritage, if it means acting white to get ahead in life. . . then what is Ida fighting for in the first place?

Everything about this book is breathtaking. Even the front-cover looks like a movie-poster and has a Rosie the Riveter feel to it. Sherri L. Smith’s writing is divine – at once a beautiful slice of 1940’s life and a jarring examination of race-relations in the Deep South.

The history is incredible – and as a history geek, I languished in the factoids. I learnt so much in this book and it never once felt like a history lesson. The WASP program is fascinating. These ladies were feminist pioneers and down-right incredible. The WASP’s were stationed from California to Delaware and their main jobs were to tow targets for artillery practice, fly test planes, weather-check missions and ferry airplanes from factory to coast. They were a really integral part of the US air force and their contribution was awe-inspiring. . . especially when you learn about their role in major historical events like flight-testing the plane that would eventually drop the atom bomb. Absolutely incredible!

The WASP’s wartime efforts were even more incredible when you think of the obstacles they had to face. Such as small-minded army-men who didn’t like ‘flygirls’ crowding their skies and rising above their stations;

Martin claps his little hands together with a smug look and says, “The kitchen is safer than the sky, ladies. Let that be a lesson to you. Next?”

While reading ‘Flygirl’ I felt my heart swell with female empowerment. It’s just that kind of book – Sherri L. Smith leaves you breathless on the page like you really are up in the cockpit doing a loop-de-loop. So many times throughout this book I had tears in my eyes just from the pure pride I felt for these women. Especially Ida Mae, who has the most incredible (if fictional) story of all.

There’s certain nostalgia for the war-time period. It’s seen as being a time when men were men, and their women waited at home for their fellas to return safe and sound. I loved that Sherri L. Smith at once embraced the nostalgia while also smashing the rose-tinted glasses. Ida Mae and all of the WASP girls are quite gung-ho patriots, and I loved reading about their determination to do right by their country and lend a helping hand.

That night, after dinner, I go into the barn and pull the cover off of my father’s airplane. Even in the dark, she’s beautiful, with her stacked yellow wings, blue-and-white-striped tail, and red propeller. She shines like new. You take care of a plane, Daddy used to say, and it will take care of you. It’s dark in the barn, but I know the Jenny like the back of my hand. I climb into her open cockpit and settle myself inside. The leather seat cups my back and I rest my head, looking at the rafters up above. The war is here, flown in by Japanese fighter planes. I close my eyes and wonder if it will ever be safe for me to fly again.

But at the same time, the story is told from Ida’s perspective as a black woman playing white. She witnesses the glaring racism that’s prevalent in the US army. Reading about WWII from a black woman’s standpoint really is a kick in the guts and eye-opening, a very different WWII perspective than I've ever read before. Ida’s grandfather warns his dark-skinned grandson to rise in the ranks when he joins the army, because nobody will care about grunt colored soldiers. The ‘n’ word is used frequently and casually by Ida’s white classmates, and Ida always notices signs that warn ‘no colored’s allowed’.

“You’re back-of-the-church black,” she said, referring to the way folks separate by skin tone in some churches. The blackest people sit in the last row, farthest away from God.

While ‘Flygirl’ is a great historic trip and a story about one girl’s dream of flying. . . the real heart of the novel is in Ida’s moral dilemma. She is a black woman playing at being white. It’s all well and good that her lie has enabled her to fly – but at what cost if it means turning her back on her family and lying to herself?

“. . .If you’re colored, you get the short end of the stick. If you’re a woman, you get the short end of the stick. So what do we get for being colored and women?”

This book is incredible. It’s the sort of book that inspires you to get up on a soap-box and hand it out at street corners. I feel like it should be required-reading for little girls everywhere – a book about following your dreams and staying true to yourself. . . but more than that it’s a book about female pride and empowerment – a little slice of history that illustrates how brilliant and ballsy our foremothers were.

Bravo, Sherri L. Smith. Bravo – I tip my wings to you!

5/5

'The Taming of the Wolf' by Lydia DARE

From the BLURB:

Lord Dashiel Thorpe has fought his true nature his entire life, but whenever the moonlight proves too powerful, Dashiel is unable to control the werewolf within him. It is on one such moonlit night that Dashiel accidentally bites the beautiful Scottish witch, Caitrin McLeod. Though now bound to him irrevocably, Cait decides that she wants nothing to do with him. When she flees to her native Scotland, Dashiel has no choice but to follow her and convince her that it was nothing short of destiny that has bound them together body and soul.

Lord Dashiel Thorpe was introduced in Lydia Dare’s third ‘Westfield Brothers’ book, ‘The Wolf Next Door’. In that book, Dashiel ‘Dash’ Thorpe was a rogue Lycan trespassing on William Westfield’s territory by trying to marry his mate, Prisca Hawthorne. In ‘Taming of the Wolf’ Dash has lost the girl but decided to reclaim his life and humanity. He no longer wants to be a wild and dangerous Lycan – he wants to reform and learn how to control his ‘beast’. But on the night of this decision the beautiful and ethereal Caitrin McLeod stumbles into his life, and he can’t help marking her as his mate.
Now Dash and Caitrin are irrecoverably entwined, destined as soul-mates. . . if only Dash can convince her to have him as a husband.

“My mate?” Dash gaped at him. “But I don’t even know the girl. Surely something like this has happened before. There has to be a way to remedy–”
“Aye, Brimsworth. This is not the first time a Lycan, drunk on the spell of the moon, has claimed an unintended mate.” The major shuddered. “I don’t know of one instance where there was a happy ending, however.”

I went into this book a little sceptical. I wasn’t a big fan of Caitrin since her appearance in ‘The Wolf Next Door’ left me irritated. Caitrin is a witch who can see the future – and as such she tends to meddle in other people’s affairs and have a fairly ‘high and mighty’ attitude. I found her annoying and abrasive in ‘The Wolf Next Door’. . . but everything I disliked about Caitrin in that book is what annoys/charms Dash in ‘Taming’, and I found myself reluctantly turned around.

Dash and Caitrin are a great pair – between them they’re bossy, pretentious and mule headed. But they’re also utterly charming and bring out the best in each other. Dash is starved for affection after a disastrous childhood spent knowing he was a cuckolded bastard and ‘beast’. Caitrin’s life is dictated by her foresight, and she is worried when her visions don’t encompass Dashiel. These two had a lot to overcome – but just being together is a soothing balm for both of them.

One small complaint I had about ‘The Wolf Next Door’ was not enough sex. I know, I know – my head is in the gutter. But I was glad to read a noticeable smutting-up in this fourth book. And better yet, the storyline and characters call for it. Dash is a wicked rake when Caitrin meets him – he even has a little black book of conquests which Caitrin stumbles across. Dash is a highly-sexed individual, and in Caitrin he has found a woman who incites endless lust in him.

Lydia Dare has very cleverly introduced a new trajectory for the ‘Westfield Brothers’ series in ‘Taming’. I think the Lycan boys are going to be put aside for the next two books in the series. . . since Caitrin’s foresight has hinted at a Vampire focus. In ‘Taming’ Caitrin has visions of dead men stalking her friends, and she meets a handsome man who conjures images of broadswords and cudgels. I got goosebumps when I read all of Lydia Dare’s dropped-vampire-hints. . . I can’t wait for these new supernaturals to be introduced to the coven witches! Yay!

Lydia Dare is actually two people – writing team Tammy Falkner and Jodie Pearson. I did not know this! And the ‘about the author’ page at the back of ‘Taming’ explains exactly how their process works – with each writing 1500-word instalments and editing the other’s previous work. Writing-team’s have always fascinated me – and Lydia Dare is particularly perplexing because I would have never guessed this was a combined effort! The writing is so seamless. . . and I really appreciated the insight into their duo-style. Incredible!

I really loved ‘Taming of the Wolf’ and look forward to the next two books in Lydia Dare’s list, ‘It Happened one Bite’ (approx: March 1 2011) and ‘In the Heat of the Bite’ (approx: July 1 2011). Bring on the vampires, I say!

5/5

(cover in progress)
Book #6 - March 1st 2011