Primal Instincts Spin-Off, Deadly Is the Kiss Before "Purple Rain" We Had Purple Prose

Deadly Is the Kiss

Rhyannon Byrd

Harlequin/Harlequin HQN

March 27, 2012

MMP: 384 pp. Kindle: 5KB

SOME FLAMES ARE ETERNAL

Tasked with protecting humanity from harm, the last thing Ashe Granger was searching for on his mission was his destined mate. Then, a mysterious dark-eyed beauty reluctantly offered him shelter. A spark of danger—and a soul-deep recognition—ignited a burning, carnal need… Since her family’s exile, Juliana Sabin had borne full responsibility for their safety. So when evil struck, she had no choice but to ally herself with the sexy guardian vampire. Now, months later, Ashe is back and tempting Juliana to reveal her darkest secrets…and desires. For the killer stalking the shadows isn’t acting alone—and he won’t rest until his deadly cravings are fulfilled.netGalley marketing copy.

I usually like Rhyannon's books and I was bummed when I thought the series had ended. So, when I saw there would be a book about the vampire brothers Ashe and Gideon Granger I picked it right up from NetGalley.

Ashe is an arrogant man conflicted about an attachment to a woman in the "wilderness" prison for vampires. Jules is a young vampire in trouble and out of her element.  She escaped from an unjust and clan-wide, life-time imprisonment with the aid of a mysterious benefactor. She goes to Ashe not knowing that she is the female fate has chosen for him. He has this condition called the burning. We would say he is crushing for her in a bad way. Her family is in danger and she needs his contacts and experience as a special-agent to prove they are innocent and save them from assassination.

All I can say is that paranormal creatures have paranormal sex. If they were human they would be dead. It is amazing.  Jules is remarkably flexible. The prose is definitely trending toward purplish hue.

The danger is there but more or less glossed over. The outcome is a sure bet. It is a very sexy and sex-laden book. I don't know that I would say it has well developed characters. They are pretty much who we have come to expect in the series and in the genre. I read it all in two sittings because I fell asleep last night. It is the kind of thing you can't put down but it's more to do with tempo and sex. The book goes like this: Perpetually pissed off off vampire filled with internal conflict, behaves rudely; female vampire needs help, pleading, physical conflict, intrigue, argument, sex, argument, danger, internal conflict, physical conflict, travel, sex, sex, food, sex, danger, travel, internal conflict, revelation, sex, argument, revelation, danger, big and unexpected surprise, danger, sex, sticky sweet HEA.

Byrd's world has Shifters, Vampires and Witches, and more, they operate with constraints similar to the genre norms.

It does advance the series in a definite way as the governing body is involved and there are some big changes.

Deadly Is the Kiss is not exceptional genre fiction, but it is enjoyable as a guilty pleasure kind of book. If you seek that kind of hot escape, this might be for you.

Why not buy it now through my A-Store!!!

Disclosure:  Timed loan by publisher via NetGalley.  No remuneration exchanged.  All opinions, except as stated otherwise, are my own.

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Hearts of Smoke and Steam New York Steampunk Style!

AndrewPMayer.com

Hearts of Smoke and Steam

The Society of Steam, Book Two

Andrew P. Mayer

Trade Paperback 305 pp. 
Kindle Ed. 828 KB/327 pp.
November 2011
Cover Illustration ©Justin Gerard
Pyr/Prometheus

Description:

Sir Dennis Darby has been murdered, the Automaton has been destroyed, and Sarah Stanton has turned her back on a life of privilege and comfort to try and find her way in the unforgiving streets of New York. But Lord Eschaton, the villain behind all these events, isn’t finished with her yet. His plans to bring his apocalyptic vision of the future to the world are moving forward, but to complete his scheme he needs the clockwork heart that Sarah still holds.


But she has her own plans for the Automaton’s clockwork heart—Sarah is trying to rebuild her mechanical friend, and when she is attacked by the Children of Eschaton, the man who comes to her rescue may be the one to make her dreams come true. Emelio Armando is a genius inventor who had hoped to leave his troubles behind when he and his sister left Italy for a life of anonymity in the New World. Now he finds himself falling in love with the fallen society girl, but he is rapidly discovering just how powerful the forces of villainy aligned against her are, and that fulfilling her desires means opening the door to a world of danger that could destroy everything he has built.


The Society of Steam takes place in a Victorian New York powered by the discovery of Fortified Steam, a substance that allows ordinary men to wield extraordinary abilities and grants powers that can corrupt gentlemen of great moral strength. The secret behind this amazing substance is something that wicked brutes will gladly kill for, and one that Sarah must try and protect, no matter what the cost.
www.pyrsf.com

❦❦❦

It took me a while to get to this book as I am not a huge Steam Punk fan and I thought the cover looked Young Adult.  While the book is Steam Punk it is not YA.  It might be appropriate for older YA, because while sexual feelings are discussed they are not acted upon. I don't always like Steampunk which I explain below, but this was different.

Sarah Stanton is the estranged daughter of a member of the Paragon Society, a group of scientists and engineers who are superheroes a la "Iron Man." It's the smarts and the suit that makes them special. They are fighting the Villainous Lord Eschaton and his children who seem to depend on size, strength, brute force and cunning as their abilities. In the course of trying to repair a clockwork heart she meets Emilio a brilliant Italian immigrant and his feisty sister Viola.
The quality of the prose is intelligent and very good but the characterizations are uneven:

• The Italian engineer/romantic interest, Emilio is done well, if a bit of a bumbler, and a lot is made of his language problems. 
• The heroine,  Sarah is drawn as a very conflicted young woman with high expectations for herself. In a different book she would have attended Vassar and gone on to be a Suffragette.  
• Emilio's sister Viola, however is a caricature: what a Manhattan society matron might have thought an Italian immigrant would be like. Maybe that is what Mayers was going for, but I feel it reinforces rather than points to stereotype.  She dresses too provocatively, gestures too much, she is too loud, etc.  She is a cross between Sophia Loren, Rosie Perez and Britney Spears playing that role in a movie. Throughout, the characters that seem more comic book/superhero-like are characterized as such.  

The construction of the story was a bit jumbled.

• Many characters and I had a hard time keeping track of who was who. 
• There is not much in the way of backstory so it is a bit like walking into a conversation. 
• There are a few chapters where timelines are recounted from different characters' points of view. That took me by surprise.

Manhattan 1873  Image via Wikipedia

There are three or four characters who must originate in the first book (which I had not read).  Although they each do something in the story, each plot point  could have been accomplished without introducing an additional, short-lived character.




Mayer's story takes place in an alternative, Victorian-period New York with different scientific principals at work.  In some ways it is familiar, and in others not so much.  For example, there seems to be a defined class structure with Italian food referred to as "common." And then there is the science (more later).


The later Victorian period in Manhattan was a period of societal upheaval. The end of slavery and the growth of immigration filled Manhattan and the Burrough's with people seeking opportunity. This was the period when nationalist epithets, like "Wop," "Dago," and "Mick" were used as a matter of course, especially by the cruder elements of society. In this book several such words are used as they would have been then.

The combination here of the Steampunk world with the Comic-Book Super Hero character is very interesting.  I think it is rather silly that the people adopt these costumes, masks and personae with weapons built into the costume and that is what they depend on to save the world. The Paragons' superpowers are all contained in the engineering of their costumes. The villain, Lord Eschaton, is  powered differently.

In abdicating magic for "science" Steampunk strides to a level of suspension of disbelief to which I rarely ascend. Magic and the supernatural require an addition to the world as we know it.  After all, everything we see as science now was once magic. But Steampunk strives to change physics. There are things like æther and magnetism and fortified steam and smoke.

What saves this book from that step too far for me is the comic bookishness of it, and while the devices and such are present it seems the characters, particularly Sarah and Emilio, are much more important to the story.  While emotional scenes like a death are short, the story has heart.

In this book the world Sarah has known is coming apart and a new reality is forming around her. There are only a few people she can trust.  Emilio's and Viola's worlds also change with Sarah's entrance into their lives.  They go from the stereotypical immigrants struggling to make ends meet to Sarah's cohorts in just a few days.

The Paragon Society's past and it's dispute with Eschaeton and his creatures brings up some moral ambiguity. The behavior of Sarah's father and the brilliant scientist who worked with them, Darby, is occasionally recalled as questionable.  The lines between good and evil get a little blurry. This is a vital growth point for characters, especially as they strike out on their own.

This was an enjoyable and pretty "clean" read.  Once or twice it seemed like Emilio and Sarah might get hot and heavy, but propriety was maintained. There is violence, but it is not graphic.

Hearts of Smoke and Steam is a book I would especially recommend to people who like  Dr. Who, steampunk, or graphic novels, but I think it has a wide audience and could be enjoyed by many.  I am looking forward to the next installment in the series!

Available in print and for Kindle at Amazon.



Disclosure: Book provided unsolicited by publisher in expectation that any review would be fair. Unless otherwise noted, all opinions are my own. No remuneration was exchanged.

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How Miss Rutherford Got Her Groove Back: Historical Fiction or Fictional History?

How Miss Rutherford
Got Her Groove Back

Sophie Barnes

Avon Impulse

February 21, 2012

Available as Mass Market Paperback (368pages)
and E-book (Kindle 598 KB)

Synopsis:
Emily Rutherford is having a very bad day. Of course, having the man you’ve loved forever, announce his engagement to your (now very former) best friend will do that.
Emily is sure nothing good could possibly come out of this horrid situation. But she lets her sisters and Adrian’s cousin, Francis Riley, the delectable but brooding Earl of Dunhurst, convince her a season in London will be just the thing.
Now Emily has a choice: sulk in a corner while her sisters enjoy the glitter of the ton. Or become the belle of the ball, dazzling everyone on an earl’s arm. But as Francis helps Emily get back on her feet, she quickly realizes that a childhood crush is nothing compared to the power of true love. (www.sophiebarnes.com)

As in other period fiction and historical fiction, Vauxhall Gardens play an important part in this story so I wanted to see what it looked like.  Sophie Barnes' website has a lot of research on Vauxhall and other aspects of her work.

Vauxhall_Gardens_by_Samuel_Wale_c1751.jpg‎

This story is a Regency Romance occurring in 1811 placing it during the period when George III was mad and George IV became the Prince Regent. It's a bit of a shoulder period between the prior Georgians and the Victorian period.

The problems I had with it stem from a ludicrous title for Regency, and highly improbable dialogue. These periods in history were not as proper as we're led to believe.  And, so, attempts were made to protect young women from the coarser aspects of life. But, don't we protect children anyway.

The Prince Regent: "Gent. No Gent & Regent!! Pubd by T. Tegg,
No. 111 Cheapside, July 5, 1816." Image via Wikipedia

There was a lot of debauchery in Regency England. The Prince Regent was known for his womanizing and gambling.  The time period did have a great influence on style and fashion, as well as history.

Aside from a few redundant phrasings, the writing would be more acceptable in a later period.  Whether or not one is trying to make the Regency more accessible through more modern language. I think it would have been better set into a later time period, or as Science Fiction because I don't think a gentleman of the character described in the story, during this period, would behave towards a woman he was intending to marry as Francis, Earl of Dunhurst does in the book.  He does preserve her "virginity" but not much else.

I do commend the reality with which the three sisters' plight, and that of all single women of the gentry, faced regarding marriage and property during this time.

I don't intend or like to be too harsh or unkind, but I felt this was a fairly mediocre piece of fiction, altering historical details and overreaching with the depiction of sexual behavior. But then, it is fiction.


This is an official trailer. Most of the pictures are later than the Regency period.

Available thru my Amazon A-Store


Disclosure: Loaned E-Galley from publisher through Edelweiss. No remuneration was exchanged and all opinions are my own.

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Pack and Coven is Light and Entertaining

PACK AND COVEN
by Jody Wallace
Carina Feb 20, 2012
81,000 words, approx. 257 pages


Synopsis

Harry Smith is a lone wolf, and he likes it that way. When he's targeted to be co-alpha of the local pack, there is only one thing he can do to maintain his freedom: flee. But it'll take a miracle to stay a step ahead of shifters in their own territory.
June Travis has been in love with Harry for years, but he doesn't know her real identity. He sees her as the sweet owner of the local tearoom?the facade June presents to humans and werewolves to keep them from finding out she's a witch. She may not be able to offer Harry a miracle, but she can help him escape.
Harry is drawn to this new side of June, and not just because he's grateful for her help. With her magic temporarily hiding Harry from his pursuers, the witch and the wolf explore their mutual attraction. But there are consequences for witches who bed down with wolves...
http://www.jodywallace.com/books/packandcoven.htm

This story is told in a voice similar to Molly Harper or Mindy Klasky.  But since it involves the male perspective, as well as the female, it isn't just chick-lit.  While I think it is a book that will be read by many more women than men it is more a Jack-and-Jill PNR than anything else. It's kind of Nice Girls Don't... mixed with the Dresden Files.  The parallel is even stronger as the male protagonist is also a Harry.

p. 77

What does it mean?  Well, Mindy and Molly both write lighter-toned and often funny books. That isn't to say they don't delve into serious tropes.  It's just approached from the funny bone instead of the broken bone.

The author is handy with a turn of phrase and gives the characters different voices as she switches a third person narrative point of view back and forth between the two main characters Harry and June.  Some of the characters are drawn a bit too crudely.  I think when writing a crude male, writers have a tendency to go too far.

The same funny turn of phrase can sometimes feel odd, for example, hen Harry plunges his tongue into June's mouth while kissing it sets,...

Off a chain reaction of desire from her lips to her privates. (p. 76)

I haven't read the word privates in a piece of erotic fiction ever!

The world is our with a shadow society of supes unknown to us.  Some supes are even unknown to each other. The writer's world is unique; and I found it interesting.  It is not too tightly woven, nor is the plot.  There's a lot of sloppy action. The sex is well written and sounds fun. I wasn't sure if I felt June a bit manipulated into bed, but afterward she isn't too upset.Once again, better communication skills for sexual partners could avoid serious consequences.

This book gets a "recommend" for being light, active and entertaining despite a dose of violence.

Take the A-Train to my A-Store!

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THE THIRTEEN Susie Moloney

THE THIRTEEN

by Susie Moloney
Harper Collins
William Morrow Paperbacks
Trade Paperback: 336 pp.
Kindle: 5 KB
March 27, 2012

Published in Canada by Random House Canada

Amazon Link for The Thirteen Through my A-Store

SYNOPSIS

Haven Woods is suburban heaven, a great place to raise a family. It's close to the city, quiet, with great schools and its own hospital right up the road. Property values are climbing, and the crime rate is practically nonexistent.
Paula Wittmore hasn't been back to Haven Woods since she left as a disgraced teenager. Now she's returning to care for her suddenly ailing mother, and she's bringing her daughter and a pile of emotional baggage. She's also bringing, unknowingly, the last chance for her mother's closest frenemies . . . twelve women bound together by a powerful secret that requires the sacrifice of a thirteenth.www.harpercollins.com

Super Creepy Inter-Generational Horror

There is a lot of talk about The Thirteen being Updike's Witches of Eastwick meets this or that. And, they certainly have a point. I would pair it up plot wise with the most recent piece of literary fiction by Chris Bohjalian, The Night Strangers. Maybe a bit of Kelley Armstrong's Dimestore Magic.  For horror maybe a little Amityville.

At first, in fact, I would have sworn it was in the same town in Massachusetts where Armstrong's book is set. But the dialect is distinctly Canadian, eh? However, I think what all three books share is a central, nasty female witchy character (although in Armstrong's book there is more than one). Here that is Izzy.  The witches from Bohjalian's book must have called Moloney's about blood (animal and human) sacrifice.  There is no doubt there are fashionable themes and plots in writing.

Slight romance. nothing but a couple of kisses. Scary action sequences. Evil cats, and good dogs. Mostly the book is about the power of covetousness, disappointment  and envy to foster evil. Want a better life? Well, then you'll have to pay. Even if you default you will pay. 

This is not about Wicca, this about freely consorting with evil for personal gain.  That is the opposite of Wiccan tenets.

The writing is somewhere between genre and literary fiction. The characters are a bit thinly drawn—we are most familiar with the youngest character.  But she is of the least import in the story's plot.  What is occurring in the book is revealed in layers.  I didn't enjoy it very much, but I also didn't enjoy The Witches of Eastwick—too much darkness for me.

E-Galley from Publisher through Edelweiss.  No remuneration exchanged. All opinions are my own.

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