Before the Storm by Marian Perera

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Before the Storm by Marian Perera
Before the Storm by Marian Perera

This is book that I finished off during the 24 hour readathon. It first came to my attention through moirarogersbree on twitter who said she was excited about it’s release because of the cover, the premise and the excerpt. I read the excerpt and really liked it, and I got even more excited because the author is Sri Lankan (I’m biased, I grew up there).

The Premise: Alexis Kayne (Alex) is a courtesan in the coronet city of Radiath, in the country called Dagre.  She is known as the Black Mare and owned by a powerful man named Stephan Garnath. She hates Stephen and his treatment of her and waits for the day that she can escape, but before she does, Stephen suddenly gifts her to one of his enemies, Lord Robert Demeresna, baron of Dawnever. Neither Alex or Robert know why, but they both know that Stephen never does anything without a reason. Robert thinks that Alex could be a killer sent to his home, but he’d rather she travel with him than behind him. Alex believes that Robert is a despot because of his reputation as the Bloody Baron (a reputation Robert cultivated to dissuade attacks), but she can’t escape.

Read an excerpt of Chapter one of Before the Storm here

My Thoughts: The first thing I have to say is that I wish this cover was a little bit different. It does a very good job in that it conveys the small steampunk aspects, the romance, and the war. Even the lightening behind the couple is significant to the story. I just wish that the couple was wearing clothes. My first impression was this story was erotic or had high heat content because of the topless people. Steaminess that isn’t what I tend to gravitate towards (and reading that the main character was a “whore” being given away doesn’t help the impression). What this book really is, is a fantasy with romantic aspects which I do read, so that’s my one nitpick about the cover perhaps not being ideal for it’s audience.

So upfront: this is not erotica/erotic romance. This is a fantasy with a bit of romance. There’s one sex scene in the whole book and it isn’t something that happens early on. It also has some steampunk elements in the form of machines of war. They do have a significant part in the story, but the are not the focus so I’d call this steampunk influenced but not really steampunk.

In this world, there are two main groups that have the power.  First there is Stephen Garnath. He rules everything but in name (the Governing Hand is supposed to have control but Stephen controls it). Stephen rules through force and fear. To me, he represented one extreme – that of depravity. He’s extremely cunning but takes pleasure in making people he has power over suffer. The second group in power is the Quorum. They are a religious group who serve The Benevolent Ones, and who have their own agenda. I felt like they represented the other extreme. They preach piousness and virtue but don’t take practical considerations or grey areas into account. And they were often hypocritical in their views compared to their actions.

Robert Demeresna is part of a small group who sits somewhere in the middle of these two opposing powers. His land is far from the main city and not that influenced by the Quorum. Robert just wants what’s best for his people, and his rule is has neither the extremes of the other two. Unfortunately for him, neither Stephen Garnath or the Quorumlords allow him to be a neutral party in the struggle for the country.

Alex and Robert are well suited for each other. Alex may be beautiful, but she’s also got a quick mind and she’s had an insider’s view of how Stephen thinks, so she becomes a very important asset (I really enjoyed her strong character). Robert is someone who can see the gray in the world so he’s more open minded than others in the story are. He was a leader but he was neither an alpha or beta male. I enjoyed the way their relationship progressed.  It happens slowly so you see the beginnings of respect and attraction that turn into more. It was refreshing that Alex doesn’t find Robert attractive until she gets to know him. That’s not to say that this relationship didn’t have it’s missteps for me. Robert says some idiotic things when arguing with Alex that I never felt he really apologized fully for, and his realization of his feelings needed a kick-in-the-pants moment to happen rather than figuring it out himself.

I also liked the secondary characters in this story. There’s Robert’s right hand man, Mayerd, who was exiled from his own land, and his backstory was an interesting one. Then there’s Robert’s allies. Perera writes strong female characters, so there’s Robert’s cousin Susanna who has a pet maddog (two headed dog!), and Quorumlord Victoria who annoyed many but had depth. And there was the Word who was an ally in the Quorum who I despised even more than Stephen Garnath.  I thought he was interesting in the way he highlighted the hypocrisy of the Quorum, but the author doesn’t really preach against religion, so much as it being misused by certain people I think.

Most of the story deals with the war that Stephen brings to Robert’s home. There are alliances and maneuvering, secret (steam!) weapons, betrayals, ambushes, and many weary days on the road. The battles are a large part of the book, and at times the details of the skirmishes dragged for me, but there were some interesting tricks that Robert’s smaller army used to even the odds, and interesting side battles fought in magic between Stephen’s pet sorcerer and Robert’s right hand man. The best part was the exciting culmination of the whole thing. I loved that Alex was an integral part of it all and didn’t just sit pretty while the fighting was happening.

This is the first in a planned trilogy.

Overall: I feel like I discovered a hidden gem in this new author. This was a lovely fantasy story with a slow moving romance amid battles and steam machines. The characters are strong minded and interesting, and it left me with things to ponder. My only reservation may be pacing because there are a lot of battle scenes, but your mileage may vary on that count.

Buy (it’s in ebook only as of this review): Samhain | Amazon
(if you buy through My Bookstore & more link through Samhain, there’s a 20% off deal now by entering “shinynew” at checkout)

WIN IT!! – Interview and contest with Marian Perera @ Moira Rogers’ blog (enter soon because I am not sure when the deadline is!)

Links:
Marian Perera’s website
Marian Perera’s blog

Blood of the Demon by Diana Rowland

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Blood of the Demon
Blood of the Demon
Diana Rowland

I read and reviewed Mark of the Demon last year, and I enjoyed it so when the second book in the series came out I went out and bought a copy. The series is about a Louisiana detective who can summon demons, and her private abilities in the arcane begin to have application in her job investigating murders. My review of Mark of the Demon can be found here: https://i0.wp.com/i58.photobucket.com/albums/g254/jayamei2/livejournal_com.gifhttps://i0.wp.com/i58.photobucket.com/albums/g254/jayamei2/wordpress.jpghttps://i0.wp.com/i58.photobucket.com/albums/g254/jayamei2/vox.png

The Premise: After the events of the Symbol Man murders, Kara Gillian returns to work and immediately runs into more murders with an otherworldly slant. First there is a dead cop, killed by what looks like suicide, but Kara sees that his Essence has been brutally torn from his body. Shortly thereafter, she sees the same thing in a seemingly unrelated case, in a death that looks like an accident. Kara knows that there’s some link  between the deaths but she doesn’t know what it is.

Read an excerpt of Chapter One of Blood of the Demon

***There may be MINOR SPOILERS OF THE FIRST BOOK FROM THIS POINT ON ***

My Thoughts: This book continues with the same strength that I thought the first book had, which was the attention to the details involved in a police investigation. I think that the author’s background in law enforcement lends an authenticity to the story that I don’t always see. There’s a great balance between Kara’s legwork and her having to do mundane things like paperwork or laundry. That’s not to say that there is ever a dull moment, rather that, with murders piling up and Kara’s dealings with the demon world, the routine tasks served to keep the story grounded and stop the pace from being too breakneck to enjoy the story. Having a heroine with real life tasks is refreshing!

I also liked that Kara is slowly changing her life from book to book. The big thing is that she’s made friends over the course of the two books. In Mark of the Demon, Kara was a loner out of necessity, but she finds a kindred spirit in Ryan who has some sensitivity to the arcane. On top of that, there are some people are more open to the idea of what she does than first thought. She had friends in Blood of the Demon who she could trust in difficult situations, and they weren’t just love interests or people who serve to give her important information in her investigation. Kara actually relies on them emotionally and they are a good support system when she has things to worry about.

In both books there’s a love triangle which is not really a love triangle. In one corner is FBI agent Ryan Kristoff (who Kara isn’t ashamed to tell the reader she’s interested in). Ryan and Kara have a close friendship that’s developed quickly, and Kara likes him, but there’s more to Ryan than it appears. I’m rooting for the two of them to get together but I know it’s going to take a while. In the other corner is the Demon Lord Rhyzkhal. The demon lord is pretty much the ultimate sexy badboy, and there’s obvious sexual attraction, but Kara makes it clear there’s no possibility of a romantic relationship. Rhyzkhal’s a demon after all (He has his own agenda and Kara is a tool for him, not a partner). Instead he’s more like.. a great big cause of conflict between the two law enforcement agents (and reason why this book has a higher heat factor than your usual urban fantasy). I think he’s going to be a huge mistake for Kara, and it’s interesting how this whole thing is going to play out. I feel like it could be OK, it could be a trainwreck, and I can’t wait to see which it will be (the third book is tentatively titled Secrets of the Demon and is being published by DAW rather than Bantam. There’s 5 books contracted in total so far I believe).

Oh and one other thing. When I was reading this book,  I had the weirdest feeling that I was misremembering parts of Mark of the Demon. Why? Well, I don’t really remember Kara being as self-aware in the first book as she is in this one. I don’t remember her admitting to wanting more than just friendship with Ryan.  I mean, it’s great that she is now, but it seemed out of the blue. I went to look at the first book, and I couldn’t find anything besides her thinking he was cute, but perhaps I’m still missing it. I was also surprised by her explanation of what happened between her and Rhyzkhal.  In the first book she has sex with him, and in this book she admits why.  While I thought she was rash and her choices are going to bite her in the butt, I ended up respecting her character for being honest to herself about what she was doing. And I could understand the reasons why she made those rash choices.

Overall: I’m continuing to recommend this urban fantasy series for its mix of detective mystery and magic. The heroine was someone I could connect to, there’s a love interest to root for, and the true-to-life details about police investigations are a strong suit.

Buy: Amazon | Powells

Other reviews:
The Book Smugglers – 7 (Very good)
Lurv a la Mode – 4 and a half scoops (out of 5)
Scooper Speaks – positive review

The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia

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The Alchemy of Stone
The Alchemy of Stone
Ekaterina Sedia

Every month at Calico reaction, there is a reading challenge and discussion of a single book. And every month I mean to join but never seem to plan things properly to read the book in time. Well, this month I resolved to read the selection which was The Alchemy of Stone, and with the 24-hour-readathon I even set the date to start it! This means for possibly the first time, I have read a book selection on time for a challenge. A personal victory over my own procrastination. Thank you, thank you.

The Premise: In the fantastic city of Ayona lives a mechanical girl named Mattie. Mattie lives her life preparing alchemical concoctions for her customers and contemplating how to become truly free from her maker, Loharri.  Although Mattie is emancipated, she still needs Loharri to wind her up and he holds on to her key despite her requests for it. The story begins when Mattie is visited by the guardians of the city – the gargoyles. They ask her to work on saving them, because they are slowly turning into stone and every day their numbers dwindle further. In the meantime, change is coming to the city, as unrest under the ruling classes of Mechanics, Alchemists and Aristocrats begins to increase. As a machine, Mattie is overlooked so she has a unique perspective of the events on the streets and in the meetings of those in power.

Read an excerpt of Alchemy of Stone at Fantasy Magazine

My Thoughts: I just finished The Alchemy of Stone and I don’t really know how to put what this book makes me think about into words. My mind is a big jumble of thoughts. First of all, the prose is lovely. The world in The Alchemy of Stone would be perfect set in a stop-motion animation directed by the Quay brothers. There’s a dark loveliness to everything. Most of the story is told in the third person as we follow Mattie around the city, and although she’s intelligent, I thought that her viewpoint had a sort of innocence to it, because she’s still learning how to be a human and gaining her experience in life. The other perspective is from the gargoyles who speak with one mind as they watch over Mattie. They brought a sense of wistful sadness – watching over the people they’ve seen born into the city they created, sworn to protect them, but never really being able to affect much of what goes on.

I thought that Power was one of the big themes in this book. Power of individuals over each other and power struggles between classes. Everyone seems to hold a little something back from whoever they want to control and everyone wants something. For Mattie the automaton, her master, Lohari, has power over her.  Initially I wondered at Mattie’s resentment of him, because at the surface they seem to have a cordial relationship. She comes by and visits him, makes sure he’s alright and cleans up or makes him something to eat, but at other times, Mattie recalls hating being at his beck and call. I saw some of her resentment of him but his treatment of her at first glance was kind and patient. Then I started to see a little more beyond the surface.  Even though she’s emancipated, she still has to go see him in order to get wound up and continue running. He holds her life in his hands, and through this and other small ways, you discover how insidious his control is.  When I finally realized Loharri’s manipulations, it became a creepy, abusive relationship in my mind. Mattie’s feelings gyrate between love and hate, and I don’t think she even understands them completely or knows what parts are programmed into her. Mattie becoming an Alchemist was her way of trying to get back some of the control by doing something that Loharri didn’t understand and thus feared. But how do you really get control if someone has the key to your life or death?

I didn’t find many of the other characters to be much better towards Mattie as an automaton.  I thought that this was another theme within the book – the treatment of the majority towards the minority, or the treatment of those in power toward those who were not. I felt that we’re reading a lot of things through Mattie’s eyes and she is a forgiving character, and sometimes subtleties of the humans around her don’t register but maybe they do to the reader. Most people in power – the mechanics, ignore Mattie. The alchemists are better, but even then they seem to treat her a little lower class.  When Mattie makes what seem like friends, I felt a little sad because it didn’t seem that their affections were that deep. Most seemed to need something out of her each time. The people most isolated, the gargoyles and the Soul Catcher were perhaps the closest Mattie comes to have people genuinely care about her.

This treatment of Mattie extrapolated to the bigger picture represents the clash between the upper class of aristocrats, alchemists and mechanics and the poor miners, farmers and laborers. It also represents the clash between the locals and the immigrant population who are immediately blamed for rebel attacks on the ruling class. It all explodes suddenly when the upper class, in the pursuit of progress, move labor around for more coal and the lower class has no choice in the matter. But I don’t think it’s as simple as the upper class is in the wrong. They believed in their progress and in improving the city, and when there’s rebellion, they just want to keep their lives as they are and fight to keep what they have. There aren’t really easy answers because everyone is trying to protect themselves. Mattie as well. In the course of defending their own interests without acknowledging others leads to betrayals and struggles for control.

Overall: A lovely steampunk fantasy that mixes magic and technology with revolution. The prose is simple and lyrical, but the messages are not. In the end I enjoyed the mental exercise, but it made me a little sad as well. I put it under “well, that took a little bit out of me”.  It’s a little more serious fare than I’d usually choose for myself and has no easy conclusions.

Buy: Amazon | Powells

Other reviews/links:
Fantasy Book Critic
Ekaterina Sedia guest blog post @ Calico_reaction

Readathon Progress post

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I’m also on twitter

7:50 – I’m up and I have my coffee. The cat was really happy to see me this morning. Still waiting for the coffee to kick in. Cat is intent on destruction to get noticed.  Too sleepy to care.

9:50 – (nearing end of hour 2) – finished Before The Storm by Marian Perera which I’d been reading on and off since Tuesday. I had probably 70-80 pages to read to the end when I started this morning. Not bad. Coffee is almost finished.  Pondering a late breakfast. Cat is bouncing off the walls.

11:00 (start of hour 4) I breaked for a bit – breakfast and spent some time commenting on other people’s blogs and twitter. Cat went into his basket! It’s suddenly so much quieter now! I have started into Diana Rowland’s Blood of the Demon which is another book I was in the middle of this week. I got about 30 pages read so now 118 pages into the book. Deciding if I want to get out of my PJs. Uh oh.. cat left basket.

For the Kick Off of Champions Mini-challenge: what I’m surrounded by is boring. I’m on the couch, with a pillow for my back. To my right is a coffee table with my netbook & my laptop, an empty coffee cup and empty bowl of what once held chorizo and eggs with salsa. And on the couch I have my book and a textbook and some notes for work.

12:00 (Start of hour 5) – Breaking again. Having a lunch snack and changed out of my jammies. Now I’m minty clean too. And the Cat is still sleeping in his basket. Surely resting for when he will be keeping me up later.

Read up to pg 150 of Blood of the Demon by Diana Rowland. Good so far. It’s a police procedural with a urban fantasy shell – the protagonist is a detective with the ability to summon demons. I’m not sure who the killer is yet which is good since I’m halfway through.

I forgot to say something about the last book I finished – Before The Storm by Marian Perera – I read it because the author was Sri Lankan and I grew up in Sri Lanka. Plus I liked her blog and the excerpt sounded really good. The book is about what amounts to a courtesan who gets gifted to her master’s enemy and she and this enemy don’t know why. It’s a fantasy with a slow moving romance and lots of battles and maneuvering between enemy factions. I also thought there was an interesting thread throughout the book concerning the extremes of vice and of piousness.

2:45pm – almost the start of hour 8? – I am now 180 pages into Blood of the Demon which is only 30 pages of progress since 3 hours ago.   I was taking breaks and not reading too much but then I also got asked to pick up my sister at her boyfriend’s house so that took 1.5 hours of my time, but hey, I went outside and it’s a lovely day plus I spent a bit of time with the lil sis.

4:00pm – starting hour 9 – Now 232 pages into Blood of the Demon so back to reading at a better pace. Have a bit of a headache – took a pill. Time for another snack! 🙂 Husband is staring at me right now. Weirdo.

5:00pm – start of hour 10 – 282 pages in Blood of the Demon. The protagonist, Kara Gillian did something rash and I’m a little agog at her. Meanwhile possible love interest has been acting kinda.. fishy. Like he’s a lot more than he says he is. Anyway.. interesting things are afoot.

6:00pm – 312 pgs into BotD. I just calculated my running total and it’s 294 pages give or take. I’m going to take yet another break now.

8:00pm – Still 312 pages into BotD. I just took a 2 hour break for dinner and hanging out with the Husband. We took a walk and ate somewhere.And the Cat has awakened and he’s bouncing around again (he’s been strangely ANGELIC this readathon).

Mid-Event Survey:
1. What are you reading right now? – Blood of the Demon by Diana Rowland
2. How many books have you read so far? Two
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia
4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day? I just told people what I was up to and I made a munchie run yesterday so I’d have snack supplies. Also told my mom who always calls to do something on the weekends what I was doing.
5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Yes, my sister needed a ride so that took an hour. Plus my Cat often interrupts. Such is life. I take it as a reason for a break.
6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? I think I’m better prepared this second time, with food and pacing myself.
7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? It would be nice to have cheerleaders JUST for twitter.
8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year? I think I’d go to sleep a bit earlier the night before. I didn’t take into account excitement keeping me up when I went to bed last night.
9. Are you getting tired yet? I’m a bit tired but not too bad.
10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered? Going outside for a break and walking around does wonders.

Turns out that my two hour break fulfilled a mini-challenge – the Get Up and Move challenge so I’m posting a picture I took of the flowering tree outside (also of my cat’s BELLEH. Just because):


11:00pm (start of hr 16?) – Finished Blood of the Demon – the cat is on top of me right now so I can’t move to check number of pages. Started The Alchemy of  Stone. I didn’t have any expectations of this book – just that I heard it’s good.  Surprising. The main character is an automoton and it’s got a steam-punky aspect to the story, but I feel like it’s in this innocent kind of world. Or maybe that’s what my impression is because the focus is on the automoton who has this simplistic kind of world outlook? I can’t explain it. Anyway, the book has pretty writing. I’m only 30 or so pages in.

Had to tuck the Husband into bed (he’s got a cycling race early in the morning). Now it’s me and the cat who is SLEEPING ON THE JOB. What the hell kitty? Keep me awake!

12:00 (start of hour 17) – Secret weapon is finally UP! Yes, he was sleeping on my legs when he started CLAWING AT THEM. So now I’m fully awake thinking about neosporin and how we really should cut his nails ASAP.  I’m totally awake though. For 12 am.

Blood of the Demon was a total of 369 pages and now 65 pages into The Alchemy of Stone so the running total is now 416-ish. I think. I can’t do math at 12am.

1am (hour 18 begins) – I STILL LIVE!!! 100 pages into The Alchemy of Stone – well I’m really wondering if there was one trigger why the automoton (Mattie) really seems to hate her maker. There’s this weirdness about it. Like sort of hinting but not outright saying it.

Anyway. I want to take another break. Not sure what to do with myself though.

2am (hour 19 begins!) – I huuuggge wave of tiredness just washed over me after 1:30. I was taking a break anyway by having a snack and checking twitter and blogs. So this past hour = break. I read 6 pages. 😛 I’m also watching I Love You Man on mute because I don’t want to wake up the Husband.

Total pages read = uhhh.. 6+35+416 is what.  457.

3am (hour 20 begins? seriously?) – OK this is where I begin to question why I’m still up. Surely this is stubborn idiocy. What is going to happen to my sleep cycle next week?

Anyway. I just brewed some decaf for myself because I don’t want to be jittery but maybe I can fool my body into thinking it’s got some caffiene. And I read 8 whole pages this hour. The rest of the time? I have no idea what I was doing. Procrastinating from reading apparently.

3:40 – read 16 more pages. Mm, too tired to really enjoy the book so I am going to bed!

Gameplan for 24-hour readathon, April 10th 2010

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1) WHERE I’LL BE ONLINE
It’s always difficult when you have a blog mirrored in three places – you are always editing posts in three places and then when you find a typo! Argh! So for the readathon (which involves many updates in a day), this is my plan:

  • WORDPRESS: I put down the wordpress blog down for the readathon so I think I have to put my updates in that. I’ll do the same thing as I did last year which is to have one post that day which I’ll edit with the hourly/somewhat hourly progress.
  • LIVEJOURNAL : Last year there were a lot of livejournal people on my friends page that I followed along for the readathon so I think I’m going to TRY to also update livejournal at the same time (let’s see how tired of editing two blogs I’ll get) and I’ll be reading my friendslist for LJ people’s progress. Same thing – one post so people won’t get spammed.
  • TWITTER: well I’m always on twitter so.. usual place: @janicu

2) WHAT I’M READING

  • Blood of the Demon by Diana Rowland  – I’ve already started reading this one and want to keep reading it. I keep getting interrupted!
  • The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia – I borrowed this from the library for calico_reaction’s April Challenge book pick and I WILL READ THIS BY MAY!!
  • The Godstalker Chronicles by P.C. Hodgell – estara gave me a copy of this book to read ages ago and it’s episodic, so I’ll read for a bit, put it down, then read for a bit later. Need to get a good chunk read.

Those were the top 3. But I’ve decided to be a little smarter this year. I have a couple of YAs and anthologies on the sidelines which can be used when my eyes are getting blurry and I need something shorter to read. I also just bought a bunch of books at B&N so there is no shortage of books to read.

3) WHAT I’M EATING
Food is very important for long stretches of lying on the couch/bed/draped across a chair reading. I have read this excellent post with a readathon snack coach’s suggestions and this is my tentative list. No, I probably couldn’t eat this all. I’m just saying I’m PREPARED! Yep. 🙂

  • Coffee – I need this every morning anyway
  • Tea & diet coke – for when I’m not drinking coffee
  • Bananas
  • hummus and rice chips
  • chorizo and eggs (if there is any left over from today)
  • chocolate – Andes Creme de Menthe thins
  • Sensible lunch and dinner
  • yogurt – cherry
  • Gummy worms – sour!
  • almonds – I have Planters Flavor Grove Chili Lime flavored ones
  • cheese wedges

4) SECRET WEAPONS

  • Cat – ninja kitty will deploy by jumping on my stomach in opportune moments so I will stay awake. He does this anyway.
  • Spearmint Shampoo & Bodywash – Hopefully this will awaken me. Although last time the above cat tried to eat my hair.

Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols

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Going Too Far
Going Too Far
Jennifer Echols

I think that every single reviewer that I tend to agree with has read and liked Going Too Far. I’ve been dying to read it but since my resolution is to keep the TBR down I’ve been holding off on buying books this year. Well I finally caved (and the TBR.. it isn’t shrinking).

The Premise: Meg is a teenage rebel who is bored with her town and looks forward to leaving for college after high school. Just before spring break she gets a little drunk and along with another couple, she and her sort-of boyfriend decide to hang out on the railroad bridge. Years ago a teen couple was killed there, so when Officer John After catches Meg and her friends, they’re in trouble. As part of their community service, the teens are made to ride with the fire truck, ambulance and police all through their spring break. Meg is not thrilled to find out that she got the shift with the cops, and has to ride around with Officer After.  But first impressions aren’t always the right ones, and turns out that Officer After is almost as young (and screwed up) as Meg is and together they push each other to think about what their choosing in their lives.

Excerpt of Chapter 1 of Going Too Far

My Thoughts: You know that feeling you get when you hear that a book is good and then you read reviews and it sounds *perfect* for your tastes? And then you read it and it IS just as good as you thought it would be? Well this book gave me that particular high. I stayed up till 2 am reading this book. I woke up the next day thinking about this book. I think I dreamed about this book. It was just happy-sigh-making and I’m so glad I bought it because if I had borrowed it, I would have had to go out and buy it.

OK, so WHY was this so good? Well. If you read this blog you may sometimes see me say I couldn’t fully get into a romance because there wasn’t enough of an emotional connection. This book has emotional connection. I raise this book above my head and say PLEASE LOOK AT THIS AS AN EXAMPLE OF DOING EMOTIONAL CONNECTION RIGHT! In fact, this book also has the physical connection – and because the emotional connection is there? It is awesome. This is how you do a sex scene people.

But I digress. Emotional connection. This is told from the first person viewpoint of Meg, and as the book starts, you see the first layer that Meg wants the world to see. A blue-haired girl. A rebel. She says what she thinks and does what she wants. She doesn’t make commitments and she doesn’t like her town. And Officer After – he’s a stodgy cop who is obsessed with keeping people off the bridge and following the rules. Meg at first thinks he’s a forty year old and imagines he has a wife and kids. This alone makes the two of them interesting, but what makes the story better is that slowly, Meg and John peel off the layers from each other. John finds out why Meg has blue hair, and is a rebel. Why she doesn’t make commitments. Meg finds out why John wanted to be a cop. And add to that that in the process of the two discovering the layers of the other person, they have to look at themselves. They both push each other to change. And that’s probably why this book is titled Going Too Far. They both cross lines. Things get messy, but it goes somewhere good.

I loved that there were all these clues in discovering Meg and John’s pasts that were kind of out in the open, but only if you understood what they meant do they become significant. And I loved that while John After was responsible and driven about his job, he was also a nineteen year old guy. At times he acted very mature, but then his youth would bleed out. Meg too – she acts her age, but she’s definitely different because she doesn’t really have friends. I enjoyed seeing that as she started to let John in, she learned how to let other people in.

There are so many quotable bits to this book. I have several passages I could bookmark and reread them happily forever. For example:

I sat back in my seat and watched the men inside the store. Where was John’s backup? If I sat here waiting much longer, I would panic. And I couldn’t hear John breathing. It was so quiet in the car, my ears rang.
“Are you scared?” I whispered.
“I’m well trained.”
Yes, he was well trained to enter a robbery in progress with three guns pointed at him. Or well trained to hide that he was scared.
His death-hold on the steering wheel gave him away.
“Do you want me to kiss you for luck?” I asked
His eyes cut to me for a split second, then returned to the store. He waited so long that I thought he wasn’t going to answer. He would ignore my inappropriate question.
Then he said, “Yes.”


Overall: A fantastic, perfectly written love story. I loved it – easily in my top five favorite books this year if not the favorite. The emotional connection in this one was one of the best I’ve read. Ever.

I’m so glad I don’t have to wait long for her next book, Forget You (it comes out in July)
I think if you like Sarah Dessen (exception: Angie), or Megan McCafferty, you will also like this author.

Buy: Amazon | Powells

Other reviews:
The Book Smugglers – 9 (Damn near perfection)
Angieville – positive review
Lurv a la Mode – 5 Insanely Huge and Indulgent scoops
Book Crazy – 5 out of 5 stars
Giraffedays – 4 out of 5 stars
My Favourite Reads – Excellent
The Hiding Spot (and extra here) -20 out of 10 stars
Pop Culture Junkie – 5 stars
See Michelle Read – positive review
Ramblings of a Teenage Bookworm – 5 stars
Katiebabs – B+

Pet Peeve: Sex & Water

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Good lord. Today has been kicking my butt. Car troubles plus crazy work = frazzled janicu. I was hoping to have time to work on my review for Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols but it just didn’t happen. And I thought I would do a reading rave first, but the one I was planning needs more research. So here goes with a little ranting.

Sex under water. I read about the hero and heroine getting it on in some underground grotto, pool, river, lake or ocean and all I can think is  “That is just NOT sanitary!” DO YOU KNOW how women are made? And how the thrusting that the guy is doing UNDER WATER is moving STUFF into her? Like.. microbes in the water, or eeee, SAND! *shudder*. Also these scenes don’t usually involve a condom, which is not good, but if there was one, I’m wondering about the risk of it slipping off in the water anyway. It’s a little better when the couple does it on the edge of the body of water, but I’m still thinking about dirt, UTIs or other not fun infections in the private bits. Also: OMG, CHAFING?!

This is what about.com says about Water Sex and Infections:

Having sex in a pool or Jacuzzi poses a higher risk of infection. According to research at the University of California, Santa Barbara, water teeming with microbes can get forced into the vagina. “Sometimes residential (and commercial) hot tubs, pools and Jacuzzis are not chlorinated adequately, increasing the amount of bacteria they contain and the likelihood of an infection. Even if the water has a chlorine level in accordance to government standards, there is still a risk of infection.” Also, “chlorine may disrupt healthy bacteria and change the natural pH in the vagina leading to a yeast infection.”

Having sex in the ocean or a lake can also pose problems. Although these places do not pose chemical/chlorine issues, according to Health & Sexuality columnist, Lisa Hermann, you should “be aware that natural bodies of water have the potential to harbor some unusual bacteria and/or amoebas” which could put a woman at risk for a urinary tract infection.

Women are more susceptible to infections during water sex due to their anatomical differences. This risk includes sexually transmitted infections, urinary tract infections, yeast infections, and the added issue of sexual friction (due to less lubrication) that can result in irritation and micro-tears to the vaginal walls. These tears open up a direct route for infections and could increase the chances of catching a sexually transmitted disease.

Do I need to be thinking about this stuff when I read a sex scene? NO!! Please make it stop.

Now.. am I crazy in thinking these thoughts when I read one of those scenes? This is normal right? To think this? Right?

Kitty no!
original kitty image is from here

Ranting and Raving at Janicu’s book blog

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Part of being a book reviewer is having opinions. Many of them! And sometimes I feel like I encounter things in books or about books that I either want to rant or rave about but it doesn’t really fit into the context of a review. It feels like something to put in a separate post.

I’ve been storing a few rant and raves so I’m starting a new “feature” in this blog, where I will ramble happily or um.. possibly crazily about something.I’ve been prettying up my wordpress (I changed the font on the header and added a byline), and since I’ve been having fun making pretty things, I made a couple of little banners to signal my rant or my rave.

Reading Raves! Things that make janicu as giddy as a schoolgirl.

Pet Peeves! Things that make janicu a crazy lady on the internets.

ETA: The images I used are Pandora by John William Waterhouse and the image from the cover of The Emerald City of Oz, illustrated by John R. Neill. The fonts are Ozone and Neogrey Medium.

They Call Me Death by Missy Jane

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They Call Me Death
They Call Me Death
Missy Jane

I won this over at Scooper Speaks.

The Premise: Alexia Williams was once a regular wife and mother when shifters suddenly made themselves known to the population and a horrifying war began. After it was over, Alexia’s family was dead and the shifters and humans have settled into separate territories in an uneasy state of relative peace. The Combine Human States (CHS) doesn’t allow any shifters in their lands and Alexia has become a female killing machine, manning the wall that separates the CHS and The Federal Nation of Therianthropes (FNT). Then Andor, a Golden Eagle shifter comes into her life, telling her that it’s not all as she thinks on the human side and he needs her help because shifters are going missing and they think that humans are responsible.

Read an excerpt of They Call me Death here

My Thoughts: I hadn’t really heard about this book until I got it. The cover sort of looks like an urban fantasy and when I started reading it, the story felt like it fell into that category, but as I continued it started to feel more like a paranormal romance. I just looked at the spine (duh, I should have looked before starting), and it says “urban fantasy romance”. It definitely feels like a blend of urban fantasy and paranormal romance to me. Also it is only 200 pages so it’s more like a novella than a novel and was a quick read.

It felt like an urban fantasy at first.  The story is told from the first person viewpoint of Alexia, and we learn about her day to day job as a border guard for the Combined Human States Army and that she is a loner known for her uncompromising attitude towards shifters and her job responsibilities. As the book continues, and Andor Olavson is introduced, the book starts going into the paranormal romance territory. At first the relationship progresses slowly and I liked how the author showed the attraction through nervousness on Andor’s part and uncharacteristic trusting on Alexia’s, but then when Alexia fully comes to trust and like Andor, it still felt like it happened a little too quickly. It’s established early on that Alexia saw her husband and child torn apart in front of her by shifters who lived in her neighborhood, and that she had killed many shifters as part of her job. That did not mesh with the Alexia who let’s down her guard so completely in just a few days.

The world building was well done and I wanted to read more about the CHS and the FNT. There’s also a few scenes that illustrated what life was like in the CHS army as a woman surrounded by men that I really liked. Alexia held her own among pedophiles and perverts and men who just like violence. Once Alexia leaves her job to help Andor however, the world building veers towards Andor’s past and more emphasis is placed on their relationship in the story. I felt like there were a few big plot holes that are created because of the relationship. Andor’s explanation for choosing Alexia to help him didn’t make much sense to me – she was Death to shifters but it’s okay because her kills were in self-defense? I don’t know, I was confused. Also Alexia goes from being a confident killer to being very reliant on Andor during a fight – her personality seemed to have gone soft after Andor.

Personal nit: What is up with paranormal romance heroes having hair down to their waist/ass?

Overall: This was OK. A quick novella-length read, world building seems unique and shows promise, and I liked the heroine, but it isn’t quite an urban fantasy, or quite a paranormal romance and that identity crisis could be a problem for readers who prefer one genre over the other.

Buy: Samhain | Amazon | Powells

Links:
FNT blog
Missy Jane’s website

Other reviews:
The author has compiled reviews on her website here.
Please let me know if you have reviewed this and I’ll link to it!

Burning Alive (The Sentinel Wars, bk 1) by Shannon K. Butcher

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Burning Alive: The Sentinel Wars
Burning Alive: The Sentinel Wars
Shannon K. Butcher

I received this book for review from the publisher so I could catch up on the series for the release of the newest book, Running Scared which comes out in May.

The Premise: Helen Day has a horrible fear of fire because she’s always had visions of being burned to death while a man watches on and smiles. One day she’s at the local diner with friends when sees the man in her vision sitting a nearby booth, and inadvertently gets his attention. The man Helen fears is Drake, a warrior and member of the Theronai race, one of the Sentinel races that are fighting a secret war against monsters called the Synestryn. The Theronai are slowly dying. They’re getting older, Theronai women are rare, and the race has become infertile, but Helen somehow lessens the constant pain Drake is under and Drake is desperate.

Read Chapter 1 of Burning Alive

My Thoughts: At the start of this book, there’s a lot information about the world of the Theronai and their battle against the Synestryn that the reader and Helen don’t know. It takes a while to get some of the information and in the meantime, Helen is confused and afraid. Of course it doesn’t help matters that Theronai blood draws the horrific Synestryn to them, and Drake and his friends have to protect Helen and her friends at the diner. Helen along with her friends, an elderly school teacher, and the waitress, Lexi fight them every step of the way.  Helen believes her vision and so she’s terrified of Drake.

Helen’s fear of fire was understandable. She’s had her visions for a long time and they are very real to her. The story often brings up this fear as a stumbling block for her and she freezes up, unable to continue when she encounters it. I know I should feel for Helen, but most of the time I found myself wanting to sympathize, yet not being able to. Instead I felt exasperated, especially when her freezing up leads to harsh consequences for others. Helen’s low self-esteem in her looks didn’t help either. The combination of her constant fear and hang-ups disappointed me. I prefer reading about heroines who have more confidence than Helen does.

Drake was even harder to connect to than Helen. He’s a strong warrior who loves his brothers-in-arms and has the weight of decades of killing and of his body’s pain on his shoulders. He is desperate and willing to omit some truths to make Helen his (When I discovered this, he didn’t win any points from me), but I didn’t know much else about his personality.

Even though there are pages and pages of sex scenes which were detailed and explicit, I the relationship didn’t interest me. I felt like there was way too much telling over showing, and we’re in the heads of the hero and heroine a lot yet I wasn’t gleaning much besides the superficial from it. I was being told that Drake thinks Helen is so beautiful and told that Helen thinks Drake is so strong, but it didn’t mean as much to me as being shown why they had those qualities and why he and Helen were right for each other. All there seemed to be was the “soul-mate” concept that is used here – the concept of the Theronai and his mate. And that too bothered me (the soul-mate idea in romance often does). The story suggests Helen has free will and there are other options besides Drake, but the plot really gives her very little choice, so I ended up feeling like they got together because of physical and practical reasons, not emotional ones.

There are secondary characters who were on the page for small moments who had more impact than the main couple. I liked Sybil, who was a truly alien character, and Gilda, the powerful Gray Lady lived up to her title and was ambiguous character.  I also liked Lexi a lot – she fought back and acted quickly during stress, unlike Helen, and Zach, the Theronai who desperately searches for Lexi suggests that there will be a sequel for the two of them (looks like the third book) which I’m more interested in reading.

I found the concept of the strapping warriors of the Theronai and their fight against monsters, their life trees on their chests with leaves that fall as they age, and the souls of who they kill in their swords, a little hokey, especially at the beginning of the book. The names – Theronai, Synestryn, Gerai, Sanguinar (a sort of vampire race), Athanasia, didn’t help either. That aside, the story became more complex as the book went along and the author probably has a bigger story arc planned that will span several books. Even the “good” guys aren’t what they seem.I think a few characters introduced here will reveal hidden agendas and we’ll also find out more about what the enemy Synestryn are up to. It could be an interesting story if I could warm up to the characters more. I hope that the next book has a couple I can connect to better because it’s waiting in my TBR.

Overall: This paranormal romance ended up being a miss for me. There is potential in the underlying story arc over the course of the next few books, and there are a couple of intriguing characters, but in Burning Alive I wasn’t invested in the primary relationship and had to push myself to keep reading. I hope I connect better to the hero and heroine in the next book.

Buy:
Amazon | Powells

Other reviews:
The Good, The Bad, and the Unread – C
Babbling about Books and More – C
Book Binge – 4 out of 5