In Enemy Hands by K. S. Augustin

Posted on August 30, 2010 by janicu

In Enemy Hands is a science fiction romance from the new Harlequin imprint – Carina Press, a digital only publishing house. This review is from an eARC I requested from the publisher.

The Premise: Dr. Moon Thadin is a scientist who lives in a futuristic universe controlled by a ‘Big Brother’-like governing body called the Republic. When her first research partner revealed himself to be a rebel against the Republic, Moon spent two years in prison as his suspected ally. Now she’s free, but the taint of her association with a terrorist, despite her innocence, follows her. Moon wants to exonerate herself with succeeding in her research to reignite dead stars. The Republic has given her a state of the art laboratory on the Differential, and a new research partner so she can conduct real trials. Srin Flerovs, is Moon’s new research partner. He’s special – not only is he a math genius, who can make calculations in his mind at a faster rate than the most advanced Quantaflex computers around, but he also has his own handler, who secretly drugs him to ensure compliance. Srin’s memory is reset every two days.

Read the Prologue of In Enemy Hands here
A smaller excerpt of Chapter 1

My Thoughts: I really liked the backstories of the hero and heroine in this book. A hero who loses his memory every two days and has been told that he’s got a degenerative disease to explain away his aging? A heroine who was in the wrong place at the wrong time and is now forever uncertain of her freedom under the Republic? It was a compelling read just to find out what these two thought about their situations! At first Moon is the more complex one because we follow her as she first steps onto the Differential and is introduced to her lab and to the people on the ship, which include a sympathetic Captain Jeen, the open-faced Srin, and his handler Dr. Hen Savic. As the book continues, Moon is usually the focus of the third person narrative but we sometimes the shift is to Srin and his struggles with his memory.

Although the book was a quick read at 257 pages for the eARC, it felt like there was enough going on in those pages to satisfy me. The world building was good – I enjoyed the science part of this story. It felt well researched, and although I wouldn’t call it hard science fiction, it wasn’t light either. Knowing pretty much nothing about astronomy, some of the science discussion went over my head but I could infer what Srin and Moon were talking about. I also found the writing well done. I noticed a couple of editorial issues which I will take as this being an ARC and not a finished product, but other than that I liked the flow and style. Srin’s memory loss is major problem for the hero and heroine in their path to a HEA. The Republic breathing down both their necks for a positive outcome to their experiments is another hurdle. I found myself wanting to know how they’d overcome these issues, and both characters were likable so I was invested in them escaping their situation.

Despite liking much of the writing, I did have a nit with the some awkwardness in the way the romance is laid out in this story. First of all, Moon notices the handsomeness of both her ex-research partner and Captain Jeen before ever meeting the hero, Srin. I thought that maybe the author wanted to show that despite the hero’s average looks, the heroine fell in love with him, but if it wasn’t for the back blurb that told me that Srin was the hero, I’d be identifying Moon’s ex-partner as the hero (from the excerpt above there are lines like “He didn’t touch her but she felt the heat of his body radiating out to hers, and then he flashed her that quick grin again.”), or Captain Jeen. That was rather confusing. Then there is the issue of Srin’s memory loss and their romance. At first the author manages to make the romance between them believable – Srin comes back every two days with a clean slate and every time he does he begins again as someone who is attracted to Moon, much to Moon’s private dismay – she’s already in love with someone who doesn’t remember her. Then as things progress it felt like sex was used as a shortcut – twice after Srin’s reboot to a man wiped of his memory, Moon throws himself at him, and he’s at first shocked but of course goes with it, they have mad sex and he suddenly recalls who she is. I didn’t really find Moon’s actions there believable and the sex scenes at those points felt gratuitous. In fact there are about 4 sex scenes in this book and I thought about half of them could have been cut along with a scene with Moon by herself, but your mileage my vary on that one.

Another problem I had was that because Moon was a very intelligent woman, I found it hard to believe that her character would miss the obvious about what the Republic was up to regarding her experiments. It seems too obvious for her not to realize. The story suggests she didn’t want to admit the truth to herself because it would mean rocking the boat, something she in particular wouldn’t want to do, but this didn’t seem to fit with her character and questions about Srin. What was also strange was that Srin actually tells her about the Republic’s likely plans and she is shocked/dismayed, but then a little while later he tells her again and she is shocked/dismayed again. I hope this repetition was a problem in editing and not going into the final product, but I found other incongruities in the writing similar to that.

Overall: This is a science fiction romance which I think has a lot to recommend it – really good premise and interesting characters for one. I found the writing compelling and worth trying out for science fiction romance fans. I did have reservations about inconsistencies (see above), but since this is an eARC, these may not be there in the final product. I suspect however my issues with the romantic plot will still be there, but I did find these issues relatively minor.

A comment on the cover: The hero and heroine are scientists and I don’t think either model on this cover looks right. Why would practical Moon be wearing a leather skirt and a whatever that is on top? It seems to fit a generic idea of a SFR couple rather than the actual couple in the book. What I do like is the starry background, the fact that it IS a couple on the cover to convey a romance and that that the font also fits the SFR genre that the book belongs to. So mixed feelings on this cover.

Buy: Amazon | Powell’s

Other reviews:
Couldn’t find one in my social circle. Let me know if I missed yours.

Thief with No Shadow by Emily Gee

Posted on August 16, 2010 by janicu

Thief With No Shadow

Emily Gee

This was one of my birthday books last year which I’m finally getting to reading this year (eek, I fail against the almighty TBR). This is Emily Gee’s first book. I enjoyed her second, The Laurentine Spy, which I read and reviewed last year ()

The Premise: This is the story of two people. Melke is a wraith, someone who can disappear, which is a magic hated by many. She’s never used her power to do wrong until now – because her brother was caught stealing from the fire-breathing salamanders, Melke stole a necklace from the sal Vere family in exchange for her brother’s freedom. Bastian sal Vere is the man who Melke stole the necklace from, and he’s furious. He catches Melke, but too late – after she’s already given the salamanders his family’s necklace, and the only chance for him to break the curse put on his family by a psaaron generations ago.

My Thoughts: This is a fantasy with a romantic element – there is no lust at first sight but rather a slow build and was not the main focus although it is obviously there. In some ways I felt like Bastian is like a historical romance hero translated into a fantasy world. He’s very proud and very very angry. When he catches Melke he hates her and shows her a barely contained violent facet of himself. Melke reacts stoically but feels secret guilt and shame for stealing something even if it was for her brother’s life. Actually there is plenty of shame and guilt on many of the characters parts as the story continues, because they all blame themselves for the situation they find themselves in.

In this world magic is accepted in every day life. Bastian can speak to dogs (I enjoyed Bastian’s interactions with his dog Endal), and his sister Liana can heal with her touch. Then there are magics that people despise – like the wraiths – Melke and her brother Hantje lost their family because of who they are. There are also terrible magical creatures who men avoid – the salamanders, the psaaron, lamia, and gryphons. In Thief with No Shadow , salamanders and psaaron are the two creatures that interact with the four characters, but the gryphons and lamia are mentioned as well.

For much of this book, I would say that although there was a lot of angsting by the characters, I felt like there would be a HEA because of the slow building romance of the main characters as well as a secondary one, and it reminded me of stories in the vein of Anne Bishop, or perhaps Sharon Shinn (I just reread my earlier Gee review and I said the same thing there). The characters have gone through a lot because of the curse or their magical legacy, but they are honorable and proud, and pretty much “Good”. This is something repeatedly illustrated as the third person focus moves between Bastian and Melke and to some extent their younger siblings. We see Bastian’s day-to-day despair and his attitude when he has to go into town where his family’s fall is well-known. The sal Vere lands, once rich, haven’t gotten any water although lands around them have. Their sheep are dying and their large and beautiful house is run down and empty of valuables. Melke’s family’s misfortune is obvious in their arrival far from their home and resorting to thievery, and she exchanges stories with Liana as how they got to this desperate point.

The back story of violence to Melke and her brother because their family are wraiths, and the heartbreak due to the curse put on the sal Veres I thought was heavy enough stuff, but Gee adds another aspect to all of this. The sadistic punishments the salamanders and psaaron inflict. There are mentions that past members of the sal Vere family were raped by the psaaron when he did not get what he wanted, and I thought that was violence aplenty. Unfortunately not. There is rape (off the page but the aftermath is described in detail) and forced sex in this story which I was hoping not to find but did. I question how it was handled or why we needed two such incidents. Because of that, even though there’s an HEA, my enjoyment of this book was tempered, and I prefer Gee’s second book, The Laurentine Spy.

The pacing of this book also felt a little slow because much of the time the characters are waiting for someone to heal from injuries – particularly in the first part when Melke has to wait for Hantje to recover so she can find out about the salamader’s cave. I know this also allows time for the characters to get to know each other as people, and for Bastian to cool down (it takes him a really long time), but the book was too easy to put down during this part of the book.

Overall: It’s a fantasy with romantic elements, but it also has rather dark elements as well. If it wasn’t for the rape and sadism, I’d say that this is a light fantasy and comfort read with everything turning out all right after all the characters go through (something that I like), but the path along to the HEA hits a wrong note for me. I found Emily Gee’s second book (The Laurentine Spy, also a standalone), better.

Buy: Amazon | Powell’s | The Book Depository

Other reviews:
Scooper Speaks – “It was alright and slightly different from what I’ve been reading”
Twisted Kingdom – “disappointed”

Huntress by Christine Warren, Marjorie M. Liu, Caitlin Kittredge, Jenna Maclaine

Posted on August 7, 2010 by janicu

Huntress

Christine Warren

This was an anthology I picked up at the friend of the library bookstore a while ago and am finally getting off the TBR. It has an author who writes in a way I like (Marjorie Liu), and another who I’ve meant to try (Caitlin Kittredge). The other two authors are new names to me so this was a good way to find out about them.

Devils Bargain by Christine Warren – Half-demon, half-human bounty hunter, Lillith Corbin has just one more task to do for the devil Samael – bring him the book the Praedicti Arcanum, which someone stole from him, in three days. Then their deal will be done and her soul will be saved. What she thinks is a simple job becomes complicated when she encounters Aaron Bullard in the middle of stealing back the book, and he tries to stop her.

This was a very straightforward paranormal romance and overall I’d give it an average grade. There was a lot about the story that felt predictable and the focus seemed to be about the hero and heroine getting together with their role in saving the world from apocalypse a means to do so. The part I liked best was the world building – demons and magic are accepted in everyday life, and the way magic and the demonworld worked interested me. What I disliked was the hero and heroine falling in lust at first sight. There was thin reasoning behind having sex and telling instead of showing.

Robber Bride by Marjorie M. Liu – Maggie Greene is her community’s tinkerer and fixer. She owns a junk yard in a world that was ravaged by a virus that killed 70% of the population 20 years ago. One day a strange pale man in a motorcycle arrives, and because Maggie has an odd gift she manages to bargain for her life. But that’s not the end of it. The man comes back with friends and steals people from her community, and she thinks they have Trace, an old woman and friend. With a mysterious raven that followed Trace and now follows Maggie, Maggie sets off to follow the band on motorcycles.

This story had a more urban fantasy feel although there is a definite romantic subplot. The writing was excellent, there’s a gorgeous sense of place and lyrical but uncomplicated writing, and I really enjoyed the fairy tale hints – a necklace of teeth, a journey, people who are not as they seem. I finished this one feeling satisfied and happy. Just this story is worth keeping the book. I’m beginning to feel like I would really like if there was a collection of Liu’s short stories, because I tend to enjoy them.

Down in the Ground Where the Dead Men Go (a tale of Black London) by Caitlin Kittredge – Jack Winter is a mage who does odd jobs for people in between gigs with his band. While he was in Scotland with his band he’s approached by a femme fatale with a job – to help her get to the Black so she can kill a demon. Jack is immediately leery, but is not really given a choice in the matter.

The main characters in this urban fantasy story are both very hard and jaded by their past. Jack is a brash and kind of skeevy, and Ava was a bombshell who exploits her sexuality to entrap him. This made them rather unlikeable so I found myself unattached to what was happening to them. I also I haven’t read the Black London books, of which Jack is a character. I think this story is probably easier to understand if you’ve read those books; although I could figure out Jack’s backstory, there are some places where I felt lost by the conversation. The language here was liberally peppered by Britishisms, but I wondered if they were overdone (does anyone use that much slang?). I would say this is a very gritty one with dark characters, dark places, and monsters that are reminiscent of Pan’s Labyrinth, but perhaps too gritty for my tastes.

Sin Slayer by Jenna Maclaine – Cin Craven and The Righteous, a group of vampire warriors, are tasked to take down Jack the Ripper, a demon who is terrorizing vampires in London. When they get there, Cin’s husband Michael is possessed by the demon and Cin must figure out a way to save him.

The author does a good job in getting the reader up to speed on Cin’s backstory and what The Righteous are, which I appreciated because I haven’t read any Cin Craven novels. There are a two already established relationships in the 4 members of The Righteous, and the sexuality between both couples at the beginning felt gratuitous, but perhaps not to those familiar with the books. After the story was moving along, the focus is on capturing Jack the Ripper, and the twist is that he takes over Michael, which Cin is very concerned about. I thought the relationship between Cin and Michael was illustrated well during his possession and Cin’s pained response to it. Overall a decent story.

Overall: There’s a mixture of urban fantasy and paranormal romance in the selection of stories presented in Huntress, and this is a combination that I think is a mixed bag that may work only for fans of both genres. I’m more of an UF reader than a PR one, so with the exception of Robber Bride, the stories in this anthology didn’t really resonate with me. I think this is worth picking up for those who are fans of the authors and related series in the anthology, but outside of that, the stories ranged from “meh” to “very good” and I would only call Robber Bride required reading.

Buy: Amazon | Powell’s | The Book Depository

Other reviews:
Couldn’t find any – send me a link if I missed yours

Sureblood by Susan Grant

Posted on July 28, 2010 by janicu

Sureblood (Hqn)

Susan Grant

This is a romantic science fiction author I’ve been meaning to try for a while so I grabbed the eARC and used it to test out the new nook. This was provided by the publisher, Harlequin.

The Premise: This is a story about a hero and heroine who belong to rival spice pirate clans. Valeeya (Val) Blue is the daughter of the clan leader and a relatively new raider, when the Blue’s hijack of a ship is crashed by the Sureblood clan, lead by Dake Sureblood. Although the pirate clans once worked together, for years they’ve been having more and more disagreements as there is little communication and many misunderstandings that have bred mistrust. Forced to work together on the hijacked freighter when the Coalition appear and start shooting at them, they both discover someone they can respect and admire. Their cooperation opens the door for potentially uniting the pirate clans and romance blossoms between the young space pirates, until a murder and betrayal rips them apart again.

My Thoughts: This book started with a bang. The story is set in space and there’s lots of action as Val and Dake do what space pirates do – suit up and raid other ships for the stolen zelfen ore inside (the mine owner, Nezerihm pays them a bounty for the return of it). What gripping reading each raid was! The preparation and adrenaline involved in the attacks. The camaraderie among the pirates. The customs, such painting their faces and refusing to wear oxygen masks in the thin air. And when the hero and heroine meet in this setting, I was loving it. I love the idea of a heroine who is a space pirate, and that the hero is one too, and that he accepts her is wonderful. The action amidst the stars and spaceships was very cool. I was mentally making comparisons to my favorite SF author, Linnea Sinclair.

When Val and Dake went planet-side for their celebration which brought together many pirate clans, the setting of Val’s very low-tech, humid village was an odd contrast to the high tech universe that they belonged to, but not enough to throw me. I was rather relieved that although Dake and Val were from different clans that don’t see eye to eye, they DO want to bridge the gap and form alliances, and so does Val’s father. Things look good at first but then of course Conflict butts in. During the tentative, fledgling moments of possible peace amongst the pirate clans, there is a terrible betrayal which causes a huge wedge between the Blue’s and the Surebloods, which splits the other pirate clans apart as well. Years (I believe it was 10?) pass after this event tears the hero and heroine apart.

It’s probably around this point that the book felt like it lost some of it inventiveness that had been delighting me. After the hero and heroine fell in love, the story threw wrenches at their relationships that were rather forced rather than natural. One of my biggest problems was the bad guy and how long it took the hero and heroine to figure out who he was. His machinations against the pirates for his own gain were so transparent, that even the main characters commented that they didn’t trust him and yet he wasn’t an immediate suspect when things start going wrong. I was hard to swallow that no one was really suspicious of him and instead blamed each other. It didn’t help that he was two dimensional, complete with a sadistic, child-torturing streak (I found the secondary bad guy a little more sympathetic and human, but he was not the main adversary), In the meantime, the long forced separation of the hero and heroine, along with the secret pregnancy (mentioned in the book’s blurb so it’s not a spoiler, but I blacked it out anyway) put the storyline too much into the romance cliche category despite it’s space setting. The final pages were so twee that it weakened my initial impression of the romance.

Overall: Pretty good. It started off strong with an exciting, space-pirate (!!) battle and a hero and heroine who are leaders in that livelihood, but also uses a of a couple of romantic cliches I’m not particularly fond of. I’d say I enjoyed myself and would read something else by this author. I’d recommend it to people who are fans of SFR, looking for a light read, and wouldn’t mind a perhaps overly-sweet ending.

Sureblood releases August 1st, 2010

Buy: Amazon | Powell’s | The Book Depository

Other reviews
Impressions of a Reader.. – B

Commentary on the Sureblood cover at The Galaxy Express

Mind Games by Carolyn Crane

Posted on July 20, 2010 by janicu

Mind Games

Carolyn Crane

This has been one of my most anticipated reads of 2010, mostly because I’ve been reading and loving The Thrillionth Page, which is the author’s blog, and her creativity mixed with the promising premise is a difficult combination to resist. The only reason I didn’t read this earlier was it kept getting pre-empted by other books I’d promised people I’d read. Luckily this means less of a wait for me for book 2! I’m so relieved that this book did not disappoint.

The Premise: Justine Jones is a hypochondriac who fears vein star syndrome, a condition her mother also feared and actually died of. Despite constant trips to the ER, Justine manages to maintain the semblance of normality – with a job as a clothing store manager and a long term boyfriend named Cubby. Then she meets Sterling Packard, the owner of the Chinese restaurant, Mongolian Delites. Packard is a highcap (a person with special mental powers) with the ability to read a person’s psychology, and he says he can help Justine if she joins his team of Disillusionists. Justine will be able to fight crime by channeling her fear into criminals and breaking them down so that they can be reprogrammed to be productive members of society. In return Justine will release the fear that cripples her. That’s what she’s told anyway.

Read an excerpt of the first chapter of Mind Games

My Thoughts: The title of this book is perfect. Mind games are explored on several levels, from the mind against the self, to one mind against another, and outwards as highcaps affect a whole city. We begin with Justine, the first person narrator who readily admits she has a psychological problem (unique in urban fantasy in itself). As a hypochondriac, Justine’s fears lead her to lose perspective which affects her work and her relationship with her boyfriend, not to mention pushing Justine closer and closer to a breakdown. When Justine learns how to push those fears into others, the mind game is extended. Not only does Justine have to play a game – pretending to be someone else to get close to her marks to Disillusion them, but then she gets to see them go through the very thing she suffers through on a regular basis. As Justine becomes more involved in this new life, she begins to realize that there is even more games being played. In the same way Justine chooses to mislead and Disillusion people for the Greater Good, it seems that Packard chooses to keep his plans secret from his team. When Justine discovers more of Packard’s secrets, she begins to question everything.

And therein we have what I find delicious in this book. Ambiguity! It’s a real puzzle figuring out the good guys and the bad guys are. Justine wants to do the right thing, but what she’s doing is not within the law. She’s essentially part of a ragtag group of vigilantes who follow a mastermind of dubious reputation. And yet, she is drawn to Packard in a way that is different from other men. Cubby, and another love interest are perfect on the surface for being really normal and fitting Justine’s idea of perfect, but Packard sees Justine in a way that they don’t. Essentially, I think that Packard may look like the bad guy now, but this could change, and this is possibly the first time in a long time I found myself rooting for the “Bad Boy” over the “Nice Guy”. Of course, I could be totally wrong. I really am not sure if Packard is the right choice either. I can see things going very badly depending on his leadership, and I honestly can’t tell which way he leans or whether his idea of right and wrong is something I’d agree with. The uncertainty! It is so good.

There are other things I liked besides the delightful premise and the ambiguity of it’s characters. There is of course the setting. Midcity is a fictional place which seems to nod at comic book tropes. It’s a place where many believe in high capacity humans (highcaps), while many do not. A place where the dashing Chief of Police, Otto Sanchez fights a Brick throwing killer, and the vigilante Disillusionists fight crime secretly in the background. This is all a lovely backdrop, but what I liked first and foremost was Justine. You would think that her anxiety would make her annoying, but I found her to be a strong. logical character who happens to have this fear. On a personal level, anxiety runs in my family, so her description of the ramp up to an attack (especially when she watches her victims go through it) was both true-to-life and strangely comforting. Some of the things people do to reassure themselves they are ok, while simultaneously doing the opposite struck a cord. I also enjoyed the secondary characters who felt fully-fleshed no matter how short their time on the page. From Shelby, a Disillusionist girlfriend, who thinks that happiness is an unattainable illusion, to the Silver Widow, a target of disillusionment with a disturbing intellect mixed with no moral code. All of these things together made for a very strong story.

The only complaint I have (and it’s a small one) was that I wanted to know more. More in particular about what happened to the people Justine disillusioned. Once her part is done, it’s up to another Disillusionist to take over and we don’t really know what happens once Justine moves on to the next target. These are things that may be resolved in the next book however, and I’m eager to find out if they do.

Overall: So good! If you are a fan of UF or of stories with moral ambiguity, do go read this one. I thought this was a fast-paced urban fantasy with a refreshing new premise and a flawed, Everywoman main character who I liked, a plot with plenty of surprises, and plenty of gray areas to keep me turning things over in my head for months. I’m eagerly anticipating the second book, Double Cross (coming out September 28th this year).

Buy: Amazon | Powell’s | The Book Depository

Other reviews:
Lurv a la Mode – 3 scoops (out of 5)
See Michelle Read – positive review
Ellz Readz – positive review
The Book Smugglers – double 8’s (Excellent – a joint review)
SciFiChick – positive review
Read React Review – positive review
Angieville (and an interview) – positive review
Smexy Books – 5 (out of 5)

Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey

Posted on July 16, 2010 by janicu

Jekel Loves Hyde

Beth Fantaskey

This is another book that I picked up at BEA. If you’re wondering why I’m reading so many young adult books lately – there were a lot of young adult novels to pick up there and I’m trying to make a dent in the BEA TBR piles.

The Premise: This is a young adult story that is based upon the idea that the story Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was based on truth. Jill Jekel is one of Dr. Jekyll’s indirect descendants, while Tristen Hyde is descended from Mr. Hyde. Jill and Tristen are both in the same chemistry class but although they were teased because of their last names, they don’t really know each other. That begins to change after the murder of Jill’s father, a chemist. Tristen can relate because his mother has been missing for over a year and he’s sure she’s dead. When their teacher suggests they work together on a science competition, they work in secret on experiments Jill’s father was working on before he died. Experiments that are supposedly from the papers of the original Dr. Jekyll which Tristen believes are the only thing that can save him from his genetics.

My Thoughts: A comment about the cover: when you take the wrapper off the hardcover is a lovely silver-green-gray color. And the endpapers are bright neon green! This pleases me.

On to the review.

I really liked the idea of a young adult story based on Jekyll and Hyde, so I started this with high hopes. It began well with Jill’s father’s funeral and Jill trying to get back to her everyday life. I liked the writing style. It’s very smooth and I settled easily into the story. Tristen and Jill are the narrators (each chapter’s narrator is clearly marked), and their voices sound like teens, although I thought they did sound very similar to each other, which was distracting. Things are not really OK with either teen, they both seem to have problems. Jill’s problems are obvious – her dad was murdered, he was involved in shady dealings, and her mom is not coping well, so JIll has to take care of things she shouldn’t be responsible for. Tristen is pretending to be normal but has serious worries about the “Hyde curse” and questions about his mother’s disappearance, but his father, a prominent psychotherapist tells him not to be concerned.

The underlying issues that Jill and Tristen have and the suggestion that more is going on had me reading along at a happy clip. This was a relatively fast read for me, but as I was reading, I started feeling ambivalent. When the book begins, Tristen and Jill are up as opposites, which Jill being a plain, mousey type, while Tristen was a confident outsider. I thought Tristen was interesting because of his confidence and hoped that Jill would come out of her shell, but after the set up of the story and the two began to interact as more than strangers, I realized something about their personalities. I think Tristen was supposed to be a dark hero and Jill a pure heroine, but this did not come out the way I think the author intended. Jill is plain, good girl, but she was often walked all over by other girls. Tristen is a leader with a dark side – he doesn’t really care what anyone thinks of him, including teachers, so he treats them without much respect. Can you already see my problem? Jill’s goodness and innocence reads as milquetoast. Tristen’s dark edge comes off as rudeness. The disconnect between the way I perceived their characters and what the narrators were telling me their characters were like, was the issue. I wanted to see Tristen’s darkness and Jill’s purity but it didn’t really work (although Tristen comes closer than Jill does).

There are glimpses of more to these characters but they didn’t feel fully explored. For example, the dark other being that Tristen feels inside himself, telling him to do violent, despicable things is a threat that I never really feared. It just never evolves into something really dangerous within this story, despite all the warnings and flashbacks. Jill’s exploration of breaking out of her good girl mold was similarly disappointing and felt like an afterthought. I wanted more. I also wanted more from the way this story ended – which was rather abrupt and then we have an epilogue that was supposed to tie everything together. I thought it was wrapped up rather too conveniently, but after mulling over it I think it can be interpreted in a much darker way, and I like the implications. It’s much more horrifying, but I’m not sure that the ending I think could be there is the one that IS there so I can’t really credit the author.

Overall: This young adult paranormal has an excellent premise (Jekyll & Hyde re-imagined as teens of opposite sexes!) but the execution did not meet my expectations, which puts the book into the “it was alright, but I had reservations with it” category.

Buy: Amazon | Powell’s | The Book Depository

Other reviews:
On the Nightstand – 4 out of 5
The Book Butterfly – “Jekel Loves Hyde is a novel that will not appeal to all readers. Yet it’s a book that can still be enjoyed for its unique premise and intriguing plot line.”
Steph Su Reads – 3 out of 5 (I found myself nodding when I read her review after writing up mine. I agree)
Lurv a la Mode – DNF (very well written explanation why this was a DNF)

Touched by an Alien by Gini Koch

Posted on May 24, 2010 by janicu

Touched by an Alien

Gini Koch

Look at the cover! I love it. This cover plus this title = WIN. I don’t think another title has caught the attention of the people around me as much as this one, but it’s unabashed in advertising what the book is about, which is a tongue-in-cheek action story about men-in-black and alien parasites.

The Premise: Walking back to her car in Pueblo Caliente, Arizona after a long day of jury duty, Katherine Katt witnesses an unbelievable event. She watches as a man who was raging at his wife after a traffic accident, suddenly change into a terrifying monster. People are screaming and running, except Kitty, who immediately springs into action to kill him. Shortly thereafter, she’s surrounded by good-looking Men-in-Black-Armani, who want Kitty to join their organization. It doesn’t take long for Kitty to figure out what’s going on, using her smarts to read between the lines and figure out what this organization really is (and what it has been doing wrong). In the meantime, handsome agent Jeff Martini makes it clear he’s pursuing her, but it’s hate-at-first sight (or is it?) from his cousin Christopher.

Read an excerpt of Touched by an Alien here.

My Thoughts: I think that the cover and the title for this book are perfect. They both convey the outlandish premise, the action, and the romance to be found inside. I’m really pleased that they are an ideal match for the story. It feels good to have expectations because of a cover, and then for the story to deliver on them.

I think that many people would compare this to the Men In Black movies because of the similarities in the humor, aliens, and action, but I’d call it “Men in Black from the point of view of the woman who saves everybody”. It’s a refreshingly original story despite the this inevitable comparison however. Kitty’s voice is unique in this genre – very fresh and irreverent without becoming irritatingly so. It has a light urban fantasy feel because of this voice, and I would say that Touched by an Alien is to science fiction as Lisa Shearin’s Raine Benares series (complete with hunky men everywhere).

From the get-go this book doesn’t take itself seriously. The world building shows the reader glimpses of ideas from comic books and movies, pop culture and history, but it’s a chaotic mix which isn’t really hard science. It’s enjoyable if you just take the idea of alien parasites flying through space, attracted to people with volatile emotions, and the Alpha Centurians who have come to Earth to help defend it at face value. Think about it too much and you’ll probably find holes. I think for the most part I was able to just read and enjoy what I read.

Kitty is likable in that she’s a heroine who thinks very well on her feet and doesn’t let people tell her she can’t do something. She goes for things without fear which had me cheering for her from the very beginning. When she first took the information from the Men-in-Black and figured out things they weren’t telling her, I was impressed. Her conversations where she explains her brilliant deductions along with the many question and answer sessions she shares with other characters is a way to convey information to the reader. It becomes an integral part of her personality, but when she kept doing this throughout the book, it felt like a technique that wore a bit thin for me, but I didn’t see anyone else comment on this, so perhaps it’s a personal preference. It also made things I found obvious but which Kitty hadn’t realized yet really glaring. At 389 pages, this book is a bit longer than the usual 300 or so, and there’s a lot of information and explanation of the aliens along with the breakneck action as Kitty and her agency fight the manifestations of Superbeings out to destroy them.

Kitty’s smarts didn’t come out of thin air – so when her mom and dad show up in the picture, it’s funny to see them make the same deductions that Kitty does. And then there’s of course the people of the secret agency. Jeff and Christopher are the two who have the biggest parts of the plot, as the leaders of their particular divisions and in their complicated relationships with each other and with Kitty. I found a lot of the characters at the agency likable – most of them are nice and brave and smart, but since this is mostly a lighthearted story, the good guys are good, and the bad guys are very evil.

The romance in this book is mostly straightforward (there’s a bump along the way), and runs as a secondary story parallel to the main action. There are sex scenes that surprised me (in both timing and execution)!

Overall: This is a story that’s fun and flippant without crossing into campy or annoying. I’d recommend if you enjoy light science fiction, romance, and quick-thinking heroines with a irreverent voice. If you enjoy Lisa Shearin’s Raine Benares series I think you would like this one too, as both books have a heroine with a fresh, first person point of view, in a genre that usually doesn’t have that. I had a good time reading this, and plan to get the next book: Alien Tango (which has another awesome cover!) when it comes out in December.

Buy: Amazon | Powells | The Book Depository

Other reviews:
Katiebabs – B+
Tempting Persephone – loved it

Gini Koch interview @ Tempting Persephone (and Giveaway!! Ends May 28th)
Gini Koch’s website

Running Scared by Shannon K. Butcher

Posted on May 5, 2010 by janicu

Running Scared: The Sentinel Wars

Shannon K. Butcher

I was sent this book for review from the publisher. This is a paranormal romance series about a war between Sentinel races who protect our world from the monsters (the Synestryn) who wish to overrun it. Each book focuses on a Theronai (one of the Sentinel races) warrior and his search for a compatible woman with the ability to siphon off his power and keep him from becoming a soulless killing machine.

My reviews of the first two books:
Book 1: Burning Alive
Book 2: Finding the Lost

The Premise: In this third installment of the Sentinels series, Lexi, who was introduced in the first book, believes the Sentinels are the bad guys and have kidnapped her friend Helen (the heroine of book 1, Burning Alive). She’s devised a plan to get Helen out and destroy the Sentinel stronghold. A new group is introduced called the Defenders of Humanity. They are humans who are fighting the Sentinels and think the Synestryn are their pets. Meanwhile Zach wants Lexi and has no idea of her real motives.

Read an excerpt of Running Scared

My Thoughts: Lexi was introduced very early on in the first book of this series, Burning Alive, which focused on her friend Helen and on the Theronai warrior, Drake. Lexi was a waitress at the cafe where Drake first found Helen and took her away when the Synestryn attacked it. Lexi grew up knowing about the Sentinels but believes incorrectly that the Sentinels are horrible killers. When Lexi met Drake and his warrior buddy Zach at the restaurant she flees for her life. Unfortunately Zach thinks that Lexi is the woman who can keep his soul alive, and so he’s been desperately searching for her, which only heightens her fear that he wants to kill her. Finally after months of running, Lexi wants to rescue her friend Helen who she thinks the Sentinels have brainwashed and uses Zach to get to her friend, and to finally destroy the Sentinels.

I was looking forward to reading this romance because Lexi seemed to be more of a tough character than the first heroine, Helen. My first impression was that she knew how to take care of herself and to survive alone. In Running Scared, I think she keeps the distrusting persona around. She holds on to her walls for much longer than the other two heroines, which I found believable, but there were some places where her actions didn’t feel consistent, particularly in the beginning of the book. I just don’t understand how Lexi can say that she doesn’t trust Zach, and she fears him to the point that she’s quaking, but she also finds it hard to keep her hands off him and thinks of him in a sexual way? Perhaps this is supposed to show that deep down, Lexi feels the connection with Zach and it wars with her hard held beliefs, but it read as shaky logic. I would have believed the attraction more if her fear had at least started to go away. I noticed similar situations in the previous books where I felt that the heroine would do something that seemed to go against what I’d learned about their situations up to that point.

The narration is in the third person point of view, but there were a lot of shifts to other characters (more than in the previous two books in my opinion). Butcher cleverly interweaves her main story with that of side romances and other story arcs that keep the reader hooked to this series. I think I was ready to read Lexi and Zach’s story right after book 1, but instead Butcher focused on another couple while dropping tantalizing hints about Zach and Lexi’s romance (Zach would appear haggard and desperate in front of the other couples, and the story would focus on Lexi running from him for a few pages before returning to the main story). The author does it again with a couple that was introduced in the second book, Finding the Lost,: Nika (the sister of book 2’s heroine, Andra) and Madoc (a Sentinel who helped find Andra and Nika). I’ve been sucked into their story and I think their romance is next in Living Nightmare. In the meantime, we’re also treated to reappearances of characters from the first two books and their ongoing stories: established Theronai couple Gilda and Angus who are going through a difficult time, the Sanguinar and their plans (they’re fighting their extinction), and the evil machinations of the Synestryn. Because of the cutaways from the main story to other developing story arcs, I would say you do have to read this series in order or you will find yourself a little lost whenever side stories get their focus over the main romance.

Overall: I’d put down this series as one tailored to those who like their heroes to be strapping and heroic with heroines sought after and cherished. There’s an eighties action movie vibe – it’s sheer entertainment. There’s definitely an addictive quality to these books, and the ongoing subplots are becoming very interesting, but the characterizations can be shaky (YMMV). Running Scared is probably the strongest book in this series so far, although I’m very interested in what happens to the next couple (Madoc & Nika).

Buy: Amazon | Powells | The Book Depository

Other reviews:
The Book Lush – 3.5

The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker by Leanna Renee Hieber

Posted on May 3, 2010 by janicu

The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker

Leanna Renee Hieber

I liked The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker so much that I made sure to ask about the second book, and Dorchester sent me a copy for review. I also have an extra copy that I’m going to be giving away later.

My review of Strangely Beautiful can be found here:

The Premise: This is the second book in the series which begins with white haired and pale skinned orphan Persephone Parker, a strange girl who can talk to ghosts, arriving at Athens Academy and discovering that she’s an integral part to a long awaited Prophecy. The Guard of London, six remarkable people who protect the city from the forces of Darkness, take Persephone into their fold, but after a very brief respite, the war continues. This is the conclusion of the story.

Read an Excerpt of The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker

****** There are MINOR SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST BOOK from this point on *******

My Thoughts: As in the previous installment, The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker has a lovely but dense writing style. It’s definitely not a book I’d say you could pick up and read cover to cover without stopping. I had to read this book piece by piece. I’d call this a rich chocolate cake: to be enjoyed at a sedate pace with time to digest the material in between. Both books have a very Gothic, theatrical element to it, and when I found out Strangely Beautiful was optioned for a Broadway musical, it made sense – it’s a good fit because the people in the book do make grand gestures and seem larger than life. The exception would probably be Percy, but she has a presence too – with her stark albino coloring and her long white hair. I could see her dancing across the stage with her dark and broody partner, Professor Alexi Rychman.

The language is very Victorian and embellished, and the best way for me to show that is an excerpt:

“Their kiss was of such fusion that they felt the ground tremble. The slight sound of angels grew into bursting chorus. Rising from the candles and met by an aura of light from their bodies, white flame began to pool, merge and expand into a hazy, egglike form that grew as their kiss sustained. As it ended, the form burst into a great, bird-shaped sun. The avian form threw open expansive wings, and a wave of heat and deafening music blew…”

There is a lot of set up in the first 100 pages Strangely Beautiful, but while that was okay to me because it was the first book in a series, and the world had to be drawn and it’s characters introduced. In Darkly Luminous however, it slows down the pacing especially coupled with the Gothic and embellished language. While I thought that the language in the book was probably even better than the first one, the war between London and the Whisper World did not come to the forefront for a long time. This meant there was very little action until the last part of the book. Instead the book focuses on the romance of Alexi and Persephone, and the final battle is shrouded in mystery and talk of “fate”. The spirits of the old Guard know more about what’s going on that that of the new, and they withhold information for fear of jeopardizing the outcome. I’m never a fan of one character keeping information back from another character in books, and I wish this wasn’t a plot device used here.

In the meantime, lovers of romance will probably be happy with the way Alexi and Percy’s relationship is portrayed. We really get to see their intimate moments and it’s written in a very poetic way. Again, there is a sense of drama about their love and it does include a lot of sweeping gestures (Alexi actually does make them to light candles during their private getaways). While in the first book Alexi is a grumpy and aloof professor, his character is different in this one. Now that he has Percy, I found that Alexi’s previous self-confidence became more overbearing, and in contrast, Percy’s giggling and swooning made her look really young. Their age-difference and Alexi’s bossy, forceful personality, is saved only because Percy begins to show some backbone and corrects Alexi when he misdirects his anger towards her. The danger to Percy is ongoing (the Guard is fighting for her), and Alexi does not do well in those circumstances. There was one particular scene where the result of Alexi’s forcefulness is conveyed which made me dislike him quite a bit, despite his regret for his actions.

Other relationships within the Guard, which were hinted at in the first book are further cultivated here. Percy as the perceptive newcomer urges Elijah, Jane, Rebecca, Michael and Josephine to be open about their feelings before they either ruin the group dynamic or something happens in the battle with Darkness. I’ve been particularly interested in Rebecca, who has loved Alexi for years but that isn’t returned. She instead sees Alexi very happy with Percy and dispairs, oblivious to the fact that Michael has been in love with her. The story seems to concludes satisfactorily in this second volume, although it looks like there will be a short story that focuses on one pairing in the guard in A Midwinter Fantasy (October 2010). I am not sure if there will be a continuation after this book, although I’m sure there could be.

Overall: The lovely, dense language is why I like this series, although it’s Gothic tone and embellishments mean that the book is something to be slowly savored, and some readers may chafe at the pacing. I thought the language in this installment was even more lovely than the first book, but I had some minor reservations in this one compared to the first.

Buy: Amazon | Powells | The Book Depository

Other reviews:
Smokin Hot Books – 4 smooches
Lurv a la mode – 4 and a half scoops (out of 5)
Brooke Reviews – positive
Smexy Books – 4.5 out of 5
Babbling about Books – B
A Buckeye Girl Reads – positive
Anna’s Book Blog – 5 (out of 5)

Before the Storm by Marian Perera

Posted on April 18, 2010 by janicu

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