Archive
Announcement: I Am Open to Review Requests Now Through December 30th for Review in 2016
Hooray!!
I am happy to announce that as of now I am open to review requests for books to be reviewed in 2016!!!
Now through December 30th, feel free to fill out the submission form if you are interested in being reviewed right here on Opinions of a Wolf at some point during 2016.
Here’s how it’s going to work:
- You lovely indie authors and indie publishers read my review policies to determine if your book is a good match for me.
- If it is, fill out the submission form. I do NOT accept submissions via comments or emails.
- Between December 1st and 30th, I go over the submissions and determine which ones I will accept. The number I accept will depend upon both the number that interest me, and the number I feel comfortable committing my time to in 2016.
- I send out acceptance emails to all the accepted authors/publishers anytime between December 1st and January 8th.
- By January 15th, accepted authors/publishers reply to this email either with a copy of the ebook or confirmation that they have sent out the print book to me. If I do not hear back from accepted authors/publishers by January 15th, the review acceptance will be rescinded.
- By January 31st, I will write a post right here announcing the books I have accepted for review. This means that if you are accepted for review, you have the potential for three instances of publicity: 1) the announcement 2) the review 3) a giveaway (if you request one AND your book receives 3 stars or more in the review). You may view 2015’s announcement post here. I highly recommend checking it out, as it reveals some interesting data on genres that have many versus few submissions.
I would like to note that I strongly encourage women writers and GLBTQA writers to submit to me, particularly in genres that do not normally publish works by these authors. I was quite disappointed last year to get only 38% of my submissions from female authors. I would like to get at least 50% of my submissions from women authors. Although I received 14% of my submissions from authors who self-identified as GLBTQA, I would like to see this grow to at least 25%. Please help me get the word out that I am actively seeking works by these authors.
If you are interested in the full breakdown of submissions I received last year and what was ultimately accepted, check out my 2015 accepted review copies post.
Thank you for your interest in submitting your books to Opinions of a Wolf! I’m looking forward to reading through all of the submissions, and I can’t wait to see what review copies I’ll be reading in 2016!
Announcement: Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale
Hello my lovely readers!
I just wanted to take a moment to let you know that I’ve signed both my novella and my novel up for Smashwords’s annual summer/winter sale (so entitled to cover both hemispheres).
BOTH of my books are 100% off aka FREE through the end of July!! Just use the coupon code SW100 when checking out to get my books for free!! Smashwords books are compatible with all ereaders, computers, and tablets, and you can also give Smashwords books as gifts. Click through to Smashwords by clicking on the titles.
Ecstatic Evil
paranormal romance
Tova Gallagher isn’t just your average Bostonian. She also just so happens to be half-demon, and the demons and fairies have just issued a deadline for her to choose sides. But it’s hard to worry about the battle of good versus rebel when she’s just met a sexy stranger on the edge of the Charles River
Waiting For Daybreak
post-apocalyptic psychological science fiction
What is normal?
Frieda has never felt normal. She feels every emotion too strongly and lashes out at herself in punishment. But one day when she stays home from work too depressed to get out of bed, a virus breaks out turning her neighbors into flesh-eating, brain-hungry zombies. As her survival instinct kicks in keeping her safe from the zombies, Frieda can’t help but wonder if she now counts as healthy and normal, or is she still abnormal compared to every other human being who is craving brains?
Happy reading!
Giveaway Winner: Set Adrift by D.S. Kenn (International)
The giveaway winner of one ebook or print copy of Set Adrift, courtesy of the author D.S. Kenn herself is……..
Entry #11 Terri Babcock!
Terri’s winning entry was for following D.S Kenn’s twitter account.
Terri, I’ll be providing your email address to D.S. Kenn, who will contact you directly to find out if you prefer an ebook or print copy. She will then send it to you.
Thanks for entering!
Giveaway: Set Adrift by D.S. Kenn (International)
It’s the second giveaway of 2015 here at Opinions of a Wolf. Woohoo!!
There is ONE copy of Set Adrift (review) available courtesy of the author, D.S. Kenn! The winner gets to choose whether they want a print or ebook copy. How cool is that?
What You’ll Win: One copy of Set Adrift (review) by D.S. Kenn.
How to Enter: Fill out the Rafflecopter by clicking here!
Who Can Enter: INTERNATIONAL
Contest Ends: April 13th at midnight!
Disclaimer: The winner will have their book sent to them by the author. The blogger is not responsible for sending the book. Void where prohibited by law.
Book Review: Set Adrift by D.S. Kenn (Series, #1)
Summary:
Terric, nickname T, a half shifter half demon, and his girlfriend Jordyn, full vampire, have decided to move from New York City to Provincetown, Massachusetts. T has an opportunity to work as head of security at a nightclub and bar that caters to the supernatural, and he thinks the move will be good for he and Jordyn. Jordyn had a nightmarishly abusive past, and T has been helping her heal through a safe, consenting BDSM relationship. But his love for Jordyn is not one of a mate; it is one of a friend. He intuitively knows that his mate will be a man but he struggles to accept this, due to suffering he has endured in the demon realm. When Jordyn decides it is time for her to stand on her own two feet and move out, she also encourages T to confront himself and grow as well. But all T feels is set adrift.
Review:
Every November/December I open up to submissions for books to review in the upcoming year on my blog. When I saw this one in the submissions, I was excited. Not very much paranormal romance is submitted to me, and paranormal romance with a bisexual main character is nigh on impossible to find. Plus, I love Provincetown. This paranormal romance features a unique set of characters and a wide variety of sex scenes but its world building struggles some.
The strongest aspect of the book is that its main character Terric is so unique in paranormal romance. Terric actually describes himself perfectly:
I’m an anomaly. A fucking bisexual demon shifter. Not really all of any one thing…. I don’t really fit in most categories, you know. (page 33)
First, I love love love the fact that the hero of the book isn’t just bisexual, but he actually uses the term to describe himself as such. This may not seem like a big deal, but it is quite rare to have a character self-identify as bisexual and simultaneously have that character be one of the good guy leads. I really applaud the author for going there. Terric struggles with his sexuality but not for the reasons the reader might expect. Provincetown, for those who don’t know, is known for being a small town with a large accepting queer community. T’s community would accept him for who he is, but he struggles with accepting and loving himself. The reason given for this is that when he is summoned to the demon realm (as a half demon, he is subject to hell’s dominion), he is sometimes subject to punishment that consists of rape by other male demons (or half demons). The reason he has trouble imagining being mated with a man is due to this trauma. Bisexual men experience a higher rate of rape than straight or gay men (source), and I think it’s a good thing that the author works this into T’s past within the context of his supernatural world. The rape is not misrepresented as causing his bisexuality but rather as a trauma he must get over to fully embrace his sexuality for what it is. It’s not a storyline seen very often, and it’s handled well.
Similarly, the BDSM subplot in the first half of the book is also handled well. The BDSM is completely presented as something both partners have consented to with pre-agreed upon boundaries that are respected. It is also shown as something that is therapeutically used to help Jordyn overcome her past trauma. This is a use for BDSM that some readers may not know but it is clearly well-understood by the author and well presented in the book. Plus, the BDSM scenes are well-written and just the right level of steamy.
Unfortunately, the world that T and Jordyn live in is not as well fleshed-out as they are. In particular, the workings of the supernatural world are never fully explained and can be a bit confusing. For instance, vampires can apparently have children (as in, conceive and give birth to them, not as in turning humans into vampires), but it is never explained how. Also the logistics of mixing different supernatural races are unclear. For instance, there is one character who is 100% shifter, but his parents are both half vampire and half shifter. Even the character himself doesn’t know how that worked out to him being pure shifter. Some readers probably wouldn’t be bothered by the lack of details and world building regarding the supernatural and just how it works in this world, but others will be.
There are a few minor editing mistakes, the most startling of which is that the book on page 142 suddenly changes from indenting new paragraphs to having a line space between them (like how paragraphs appear on this blog). I have no preference for one over the other, but consistency throughout the book is preferred. There is also one plot point that bothered me. At one point a character is established as being tipsy. He then kisses someone and, freaked out about it, decides to leave and states that he can because he is “sober as a judge,” and the other character agrees he is fit to drive (page 152). Unless that kiss lasted an hour or two, there’s no way he went from tipsy to sober as a judge in the span of one kiss (unless something supernatural was going on that was not explained). Similarly, sometimes the book veers too far into telling rather than showing, particularly in the scenes that are not sex scenes. For instance, in one scene, this occurs:
He told Kevin a little bit about his own upbringing, just the basics. (page 144)
At this point, the reader does not know much about this character’s upbringing. Why not write out the dialogue in which the character tells Kevin about it, rather than telling the reader that the character tells Kevin? The sex scenes never veer into this telling rather than showing zone, and it would be nice if the plot points didn’t either.
There is also a chapter that is called the “epilogue,” which kind of bothered me since it is a direct continuance of the plot in the previous chapters. No significant time is skipped, nothing in the future is explained. It is basically the last chapter in the book. I am uncertain as to why it is thus called an epilogue. I was expecting it to update me on the future of these characters, not simply continue the story in a direct linear fashion from the last chapter.
Sex acts in the book include: anal sex (male on female), BDSM (male dom, female sub), and M/M kissing/touching. Rape is mentioned as an occurrence in the past but is not depicted. Those readers looking for more in-depth M/M scenes should keep their eye out for the next book in the series, as it appears that a M/M relationship will be building to greater intimacy in the next book.
Overall, this is a welcome addition to the paranormal romance genre, featuring a unique cast of characters, including a bisexual half-demon, half-shifter male hero. The book contains a wide variety of sex scenes, including M/F BDSM and M/M kissing/touching. Readers interested in in-depth world building may be disappointed by the lack of explanation of the supernatural world these characters inhabit. Those looking for a quick, steamy read will enjoy these characters and the development of them that goes on in-between their well-written sex scenes.
If you found this review helpful, please consider tipping me on ko-fi, checking out my digital items available in my ko-fi shop, buying one of my publications, or using one of my referral/coupon codes. Thank you for your support!
3 out of 5 stars
Length: 139 pages – novella
Source: Kindle copy from author in exchange for my honest review
2015’s Accepted Review Copies!
Here on Opinions of a Wolf, I open up to submissions of review copies in November and December. I predetermine a number I will accept to be reviewed the following year. You can view more about my review process here. You may view the accepted review copies post for 2014 by clicking on the year. For 2015, I decided to accept 6 books.
This year, 37 review requests were submitted. This means I only accepted 16% of the submitted books. Put another way, each book only had a 16% chance of being accepted.
Authors submitting to me were 59% male, 38% female, and 3% preferred not to say. Last year only 26% of the submitting authors were female. I am pleased at the increase for two reasons. I’m a female author myself and like to support other female authors, but also the world is approximately half female, and I’d like for my submissions to reflect that.
14% of authors submitting self-identified as GLBTQA! I am really pleased at this, as I actively sought out authors identifying this way. However, 19% of the books were identified as having significant GLBTQA content. This means that more than just GLBTQA people are featuring GLBTQA characters, and that makes me really happy.
The above graph depicts the genres submitted to me. I only accept the genres listed in the graph. You can easily see that scifi was by far the most submitted genre, with 35% of the books. This is followed by thriller and horror with 24% and 16%, respectively. Nonfiction was clearly the least submitted, with only 6% of the books being any type of nonfiction at all. Next year, I would like to see more variety in my submissions as far as genres go. More cozies, paranormal or western romance, and nonfiction.
When I was doing my initial pass through of the books submitted to me, I created a document of blinded book summaries. This means I only saw the summaries of the books, no other data, not even the title. They were also randomized so I had no idea which were submitted when. Using this technique, I eliminated half of the books. In the final pass through, things like gender of the author, genre, and GLTBQA content were taken into consideration to give me a more diverse reading list for the year. I also took into consideration whether or not the author was willing to participate in a giveaway, as well as the format of the book being offered, particularly when doing a tie-breaker. For instance, all other things equal, if one book was willing for me to host a giveaway and another wasn’t, the one with the giveaway won.
I provide these stats for two reasons. First to give everyone an idea of the competition the accepted books were up against. It’s an accomplishment to be accepted for review here! Second, I want those considering submitting to me this November and December to look at these stats and take them into consideration when submitting. Consider the fact that I don’t want to read only scifi all year. If you have a nonfiction or a cozy waiting to be reviewed, it has a higher chance of being accepted. But enough stats! It’s time to get to the accepted review copies!
The review copies are listed below in alphabetical order by title. The authors of the accepted review copies are half female and half male. One of the authors identifies as GLBTQA, and one of the books has GLBTQA content. Summaries are pulled from GoodReads or Amazon, since I have yet to read them myself and so cannot write my own. These books will be read and reviewed here in 2015, although what order they are read in is entirely up to my whim at the moment.
The Everlasting: Da Eb’Bulastin
By: Rasheedah Prioleau
Genre: Horror
Summary:
After another incident of sleepwalking, Aiyana Gamelle wakes up lying under the stars on the Beach of Sa’Fyre Island, an island off the cost of South Carolina with a rich Gullah and Native American history.
Knowing these incidents of sleepwalking have something to do with her long awaited transition into queen of the island, Aiyana shrugs them off as little more than a nuisance to be expected since her lineage leads to a mysterious African goddess.
Aiyana moves forward with plans to host a week long festival that will end with her succession to the island throne, but the murder of an important guest and the passing of her grandmother threaten to bring the festivities to a screeching halt. Then Aiyana learns that the transition involves an unwanted possession and the revelation of a dark family curse.
Mark of the Harbinger: Fall of Eden
By: Chris R. McCarthy
Genre: Scifi
Summary:
Stranded from Earth for five-thousand-years with no hope of rescue, a deep space colonization ship named Eden becomes the new home for humanity. Half its population lives a life of luxury, while the other live in destitution. When a man wakes aboard the ship without memories, he must uncover the clues of not only his identity but his origin.
With the help of a female rebel he becomes embroiled in the plot to overthrow an oppressive regime, and forced to decide if doing so could cause the extinction of the human race.
The Mediator Pattern
By: J.D. Lee
Genre: Scifi
Summary:
Some people wait an entire lifetime for purpose. Some don’t find it at all. Some spend an eternity searching for paradise… for a Utopia. But sometimes purpose and paradise come at a cost.
BelisCo-San Jose boasts all the latest breakthrough technology: the fax machine, the electric typewriter, the tri-ox system transport vehicle and the newest technological breakthrough, the porta-fax. With innovations galore, BelisCo-San Jose is a modern-day Utopia—perfectly designed, complete with adult-only zones, smoking and non-smoking zones, cannabis, cigarettes, food, work, income, and reliable, clean transportation—all provided by BelisCo.
But things are not entirely as they seem in San Jose. It is here that jaded, chain-smoking Marcus Metiline’s world is turned upside down. After taking a mediation job with the ubiquitous BelisCo and meeting a peculiar doctor beyond the city’s zoned limits, Marcus’s world quickly unravels. It all starts with flashes of déjà vu and memories that have gone astray. As Marcus searches for answers to the increasingly strange events around him, it’s not long before he discovers that the fate of the world rests in him.
He’s been told exactly what he needs to do… But is something bigger moving him along?
Porcelain: A Novelette
By: William Hage
Genre: Horror
Summary:
Out near the Pine Barrens in New Jersey sits the Whateley Bed & Breakfast, home of a wide collection of knick-knacks and antiques for its guests to view, including a beautifully ornate porcelain doll. However, after the Whateley’s latest guest purchases the doll as a gift, a horrifying series of nightmarish events begins to unfold.
Set Adrift
By: D.S. Kenn
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Summary:
Terric Blythe is a hybrid demon and wolf shifter whose life has largely been spent in anonymous cities, moving among people while keeping them at arm’s length. The list of those who matter to him is short, but when he cares, he does completely. He has allowed himself to love the one person who truly knows him.
Jordyn Kinsley is an achingly beautiful vampire, haunted by her past. Choices and chance brought her into a world filled with evil, tragedy, and loss. At her lowest point, she encountered Terric. She learned to trust him, her demon with the heart of a wolf.
Their anonymous life in New York made it easy for Jordyn to isolate herself. Realizing she needed a change, Terric found their new home in Provincetown, Massachusetts. The tip of Cape Cod, where paranormal beings live easily among humans, is filled with closely guarded secrets. As Jordyn begins to heal and discover her strength, it’s clear she will one day be ready to stand on her own. The wolf must decide if he will return to existing in solitude or if he will follow her lead and explore what life has to offer.
Set Adrift is a story of love and loss, of deeply abiding friendship, and of sacrifice. The Immortal Isle series will grab ahold of your heart and have you falling in love with the inhabitants of this small coastal town.
Unreal City
By: A.R. Meyering
Genre: Horror
Summary:
Sarah Wilkes is desperate enough to do anything, even make a deal with the devil—or in her case, a familiar spirit.
After her twin Lea is murdered, Sarah finds college life impossible and longs to escape. Everything changes when Sarah realizes a familiar spirit is stalking her and offers to transport her to the terrifying and fantastical realm of Unreal City. The payment for admission? A taste of her blood. Unable to resist, Sarah is drawn into an alternate reality that is a dream come true…at first.
The deeper she explores Unreal City, the more Sarah’s reality becomes warped. Death surrounds her as people are murdered in the same fashion as her sister. She has no choice but to continue her visits to Unreal City, which grows darker by the day.
Is finding out the truth worth becoming part of Unreal City forever?
Announcement: Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale
Hello my lovely readers!
I just wanted to take a moment to let you know that I’ve signed both my novella and my novel up for Smashwords’s annual summer/winter sale (so entitled to cover both hemispheres).
BOTH of my books are 100% off aka FREE through the end of July!! Just use the coupon code SW100 when checking out to get my books for free!! Smashwords books are compatible with all ereaders, computers, and tablets, and you can also give Smashwords books as gifts. Click through to Smashwords by clicking on the titles.
Ecstatic Evil
paranormal romance
Tova Gallagher isn’t just your average Bostonian. She also just so happens to be half-demon, and the demons and fairies have just issued a deadline for her to choose sides. But it’s hard to worry about the battle of good versus rebel when she’s just met a sexy stranger on the edge of the Charles River
Waiting For Daybreak
post-apocalyptic science fiction
What is normal?
Frieda has never felt normal. She feels every emotion too strongly and lashes out at herself in punishment. But one day when she stays home from work too depressed to get out of bed, a virus breaks out turning her neighbors into flesh-eating, brain-hungry zombies. As her survival instinct kicks in keeping her safe from the zombies, Frieda can’t help but wonder if she now counts as healthy and normal, or is she still abnormal compared to every other human being who is craving brains?
Happy reading!
Book Review: Ecstasy in Darkness by Gena Showalter (Series, #5) (Bottom of TBR Pile Challenge)
Summary:
Ava Sans is hoping to move up to a full agent at New Chicago’s Alien Investigation and Removal (AIR) team. But before she can, she and her best friend, Noelle, are assigned to capture a powerful vampire who can manipulate time. McKell, recently cast out from the underground tunnels the monarchical vampires call their home, is having to adjust to living with daylight and is desperate to find out the secret these above ground vampires have for moving around in the daylight without burning. Used to seeing humans only as food slaves, he’s disturbed to find himself inexplicably attracted to Ava Sans, who just so happens to smell like butterscotch.
Review:
I rarely impulse buy books in drugstores and, after reading this book, I think that’s probably the wiser move. I bought this in a CVS due entirely to the cover and didn’t pick it up to read for three years. When I did, I saw it was the fifth book in the series. Fortunately, this isn’t the type of series that it’s necessary to read in order. Unfortunately, nothing about this book made me want to go read the rest of the series. It suffers from a meandering plot, ridiculous dialogue, two-dimensional characters, constant cock-teasing of the reader, and an entirely misleading cover (that I suspect was misleading on purpose).
This series focuses on a different romantic pairing in each entry. They all have ties to AIR in some way. The previous couples make cameos in other books, but the actual plot from the prior books doesn’t have much impact on this one. All that needs to be known is there was a war with the aliens, New Chicago is not on Earth, vampires are an alien species that are allergic to the sun and live underground on this planet, the vampires make humans their food slaves, and some of the vampires have started living above ground. Oh, and there’s this alien called the Schön Queen who looks beautiful but actually is a rotting, disease-ridden creature who gives those who bang her an illness that makes them her voodoo zombie slaves. Those who read a lot of pnr will understand that that’s a pretty simple plot summary for a series this far in.
The actual plot for this book basically is that Ava will help McKell lure vampires to interview to find out how they live in daylight and he will, in turn, come willingly to talk to the head of AIR. AIR wants to find out if McKell’s blood can be used to save victims of the Schön Queen’s disease. If the book stuck to this simple, straightforward plot it would work. But it meanders all over the place, tossing in red herrings, asides, diatribes, and scenes that seem to happen just for the fun of it. This book is over 500 pages long. That is not enough plot to support that many pages, unless the characters are stopping to bang a lot, which was honestly what I was expecting. That’s not what we get though.
The cover definitely implies that this is a BDSM book with a lot of sex. The only thing that ever happens with a whip is McKell comes over to Ava’s house with the whip intent on actually beating her up with it (in a to get revenge way not in a sexy BDSM way) but then he never uses it on her. She mentions it in a giggling aside toward the end of the book, and McKell states he would never ever whip her. He loves her too much now. I know the author generally doesn’t have any impact on the cover design at all, but somebody somewhere must have known they’d be pulling in people expecting BDSM only to have BDSM scorned within the book. Not cool. That’d be less irritating, though, if there was at least a lot of sex of some sort in the book. Instead, we repeatedly find Ava and McKell getting hot and steamy only to stop just short of having sex. They have sex twice in the book at the very end. You seriously have to read at least 400, maybe 450, pages to get one full sex scene. Which is incredibly frustrating because by far the best writing Showalter does is of the sex scenes. They’re tantalizing and realistic with some things we don’t always see in romance novels, like the guy going down on the girl, for instance. This book would have been at least three stars if Showalter’s steamy scenes had led to actual sex scenes throughout the novel. But instead, the reader just gets going with excitement only to have it yanked out from under them to go check in on that meandering plot.
The characters are so two-dimensional that it’s essentially impossible to truly care for them. McKell is a vampire with a temper. A bad boy, supposedly, that Ava inexplicably falls for. Most of his presence in the book consists of snapping at Ava and being shocked she doesn’t obey him and then being turned on by that. Ava, on the other hand, is traumatized by growing up on the bad side of the tracks and has a big inferiority complex. She also smells like butterscotch. And tastes like butterscotch. And her hair looks like butterscotch. She’s a piece of butterscotch candy who says boo hoo poor me and I want to prove to everyone that I’m not trash so oh hey let’s fall for this bad boy vampire who treats me badly that seems like a great choice. I admit by the end of the book McKell is treating her well but his transformation is out of the blue, not gradual. Plus, Ava falls for him when he’s a bad boy and never stands up for herself or says I deserve better. She ends up with an ok guy but only because he magically transformed, not out of any agency of her own. The supporting characters are even less well-developed. I can say maybe one or two things about them all, but nothing that makes them truly come to life in my mind.
Overall, this is an overly long pnr with a light, meandering plot and only two sex scenes in over 500 pages. While the sex scenes are well-written and tantalizing, the rest of the book is dull, with two-dimensional characters it is impossible to come to truly care for. The romance uses the bad boy/wounded woman trope and does nothing to make it deeper or richer. Those who think from the cover that this is a BDSM pnr should be aware that it is definitely not. I would perhaps pick it up in a library or at a friend’s house to skim through and read the sex scenes, but there is definitely better pnr out there to devote your time to.
2 out of 5 stars
Source: CVS
Previous Books in Series:
Awaken Me Darkly
Enslave Me Sweetly
Savor Me Slowly
Seduce the Darkness
Book Review: Alien in the Family by Gini Koch (Series, #3)
Summary:
Kitty loves being engaged to Martini, her super-sexy alien fiancee from Alpha Centaurion. But she’s not super into the whole wedding planning thing. The issue gets pushed to the forefront, though, when Martini’s estranged extended family on AC announces their intent to visit and determine the worthiness of the marriage. It seems Martini is actually royalty. Meanwhile, some new aliens crop up, and they just so happen to be Amazonian terrorists. It’s an awful lot for the Super-Being Exterminator team to handle.
Review:
This is a hard review to write, because I *loved* the first two books in the series but this one left such a sour taste in my mouth, I won’t be continuing on.
The overarching plot is good. Yes, it’s a bit ridiculous that Martini is royalty, but anyone who’s read the first two books in the series should expect and embrace the ridiculousness at this point. The added twists from the AC homeworld make the wedding plot more interesting and unique. Every wedding is unique in its own way, but this gives Kitty and Martini’s wedding a decidedly paranormal romance flair. I didn’t find the Amazonian terrorist plot particularly necessary but it was well-done and kept the action moving.
The writing continues to be tongue-in-cheek dirty wit.
I hated having to be someplace on time, it took away so many potential orgasms. (page 40)
But the relationship between Martini and Kitty gave me reason to pause this time around. They continue to have excellent chemistry, which is fun to see. But there are two glaring issues in the relationship. Martini is overly jealous, in a cartoonish, immature way. He doesn’t get jealous in a way that is sexy. For instance, he doesn’t see men looking at Kitty and hold her hand to show they’re together. He actually growls. And yells. And clearly doesn’t trust Kitty. Of course, that lack of trust could be justified since Kitty repeatedly wonders if she’s choosing to marry the right man. Not just that, she thinks about whether she should marry any myriad of her guy friends and ex-lovers. Plus, she continues to flirt with just about anyone, in spite of Martini telling her it makes him uncomfortable. These are issues that should have been worked out prior to an engagement, and they don’t bode well for a future marriage. I wouldn’t mind the issues, but the couple are presented as the ideal couple. They aren’t presented as a couple who has some issues to add some realistic drama to the story. This is paranormal romance. The main romantic couple *should* be a bit idealized, but they aren’t.
A much, MUCH bigger issue to me though is how rape is handled in the book. This comes up in two different scenes. There is a scene where Kitty is fighting some bad guys and accidentally ends up in a room with a football team visiting Vegas. Half of the team makes a very overt attempt to gang rape her, but the other half of the team (plus an alien pet Kitty picks up early in the book) puts a stop to it. Then later the leader of the rapey half of the team comes to help fight the bad guys and apologizes, and Kitty recommends that they be added to the secret forces. She shrugs off the rape attempt as everyone makes mistakes and they apologized and essentially recommends they get hired to her company. I’m ok with a heroine narrowly escaping a rape attempt, as that could happen. I’m not ok with the heroine then shrugging it off, accepting an apology, basically saying that a rape attempt is just a mistake, and trying to help the career of the attempted rapist. What. The. Hell?!
In the second scene, Kitty is hanging out with her friend, Chuckie. Chuckie is, at this point in time, her boss. He’s also her almost life-long friend, she’s had sex with him in the past, he’s asked her to marry him before, and she’s periodically wondered throughout this book if maybe she should be marrying him instead of Martini. At the end of their conversation, they’re getting ready to go, and this happens:
He [Chuckie] took my [Kitty’s] shoulders and turned me around. “God, it’s as bad from the back. Really, go put on some clothes.”
“I don’t have a wrap, okay?”
“Find one. Before I rape you.” He gave me a gentle push toward the bedroom.
“Fine, fine.” (page 434)
So, Kitty’s friend: A) judges her clothing and deems it immodest B) orders her to change her outfit C) casually jokes about raping her D) victim blames rape victims with his comment implying clothing causes rape. And of course Kitty just takes this all in stride and doesn’t see anything at all inappropriate about what Chuckie says.
There is just far too much casual boys-will-be-boys acceptance of rape and rape culture in this book that supposedly features a strong female lead and *romance*. And a wedding! Paranormal romance fans deserve better. Men deserve to be treated as not mindless animals who will tackle anything in a sexy dress. Women deserve better than to be blamed for rapists’ behavior. Toss in the relationship issues between Martini and Kitty, while the relationship is treated by the book an ideal one, and no amount of sexy humor, wedding dresses, and aliens could save it for me. I’m very disappointed in the turn this series took. If you’re interested in the series, I would recommend reading the first two and stopping there.
2 out of 5 stars
Source: Amazon
Previous Books in Series:
Touched by an Alien
Alien Tango
Book Review: Tracking the Tempest by Nicole Peeler (Series, #2) (Audiobook narrated by Kate Reinders)
Summary:
Things have gotten interesting since Mainiac Jane True found out she’s half selkie. She discovered the whole world of supernatural beings, started training and honing her own powers with the help of a local goblin, and of course met and started dating the sexy vampire Ryu. After being caught up in the mystery that was a supernatural person killing halflings, Jane really just wants to focus in on power honing and Ryu. Particularly with Valentine’s Day approaching. But when she goes down to Boston for her first visit to his home, she ends up getting caught up in his current investigation. Going after a dangerous halfling who just escaped from an illegal lab.
Review:
I enjoyed the first entry in this series as a surprisingly humorous paranormal romance set in the unusual (for pnr) setting of Maine. So when I needed a new audiobook for a roadtrip and saw this lounging on audible, I snatched it up. I kind of regret that choice because not only did I enjoy this entry in the series less but I also apparently misremembered how well I liked the first book in the series. I only rated it as 3.5 stars but remembered enjoying it at at least 4. Hindsight is not always 20/20. Essentially, everything that kinda sorta rubbed me the wrong way in the first book got worse instead of better, and the things I liked became worse as well.
The humor takes a nosedive. Whereas the first book deftly handled a dry New England sense of humor, here things turn mean and inappropriate. Jane laughs at things she shouldn’t laugh at and invites the reader to as well, and it becomes deeply awkward. Like hanging out with a friend who thinks they’re funny but is in fact offensive.
I was excited to see what Peeler did with Boston, and I admit some things she handled well. She nailed the neighborhood of Allston, for instance, but she also put Ryu’s home in Bay Village. Ryu is supposed to be a wealthy vampire, but instead of putting him in Beacon Hill or a wealthy suburb like Cambridge or Newton, she puts him in a neighborhood that is actually a lower to middle class neighborhood that is slowly being gentrified. That’s not where a home like Ryu’s supposedly is would be located. This is a neighborhood that border the Massachusetts Turnpike (noisy big road, for non-Americans). It’s not the mecca of wealth that Peeler seems to think it is. A big mistake like that is rather jarring when she got details like how the exit of the T in Harvard Square is called the Pit, a bit of knowledge even some locals don’t have. On the other hand, she seems to think that the Boston Public Garden closes at night and has a big scene where Ryu takes Jane there on a romantic late-night date. Um. No. The Garden doesn’t close at night. It is, however, full of people trying to sell you drugs. Yes, yes, ideal for a romantic date. This unevenness in knowledge of Boston and its surrounding areas made reading the setting uncomfortable and awkward.
The issue of Ryu being an obvious jerk continues. It’s clear from the beginning of the book that a break-up is coming and Jane is being set up with another character. It’s kind of annoying for the book to be this predictable, but it is paranormal romance, and Jane does ultimately stand up for herself, so I was ultimately ok with this. In fact, the way Jane stands up for herself is handled so well that it saved the book from getting 2 stars instead of 3.
The last, and most important, thing that made the book deeply upsetting for me was the fact that Jane is not once but twice put into a situation where she is about to be raped. Rape comes up a lot in paranormal romance and frankly it bothers me. These are worlds in which women are powerful, talented, and often gifted with great gifts. So why must their confrontations so frequently devolve into threatened or real rape? I get it that rape is a very real thing in the real world, and I am completely fine with it existing as a plot point in horror, dystopian or post-apocalyptic scifi, and mysteries. Horror is supposed to push the boundaries of comfort. Dystopian and postapocalyptic scifi is frequently presenting humanity at its worst, and rape is one of the worst. Mystery needs a victim, and frequently murder victims are also raped. But in a battle between supernatural creatures in a book that is supposed to be a romance suddenly tossing in rape as a weapon doesn’t read right. It removes so much agency from the main female characters. Like, what, she’s always easily defeated because you can just threaten to shove your dick into her against her will and suddenly she will acquiesce to your viewpoint? It’s paranormal romance. Why can’t the paranormal world have fights where rape threats and attempted rapes aren’t a thing?
What really bothered me about the second scene this happened in with Jane is the level of victim blaming that happens as well. Jane has just successfully escaped from the first rape attempt. She saves herself. This is great, and she does it with a mixture of trickery and violence that is commendable. But then a man shows up and immediately takes over. He says he needs to protect her; he’s going to walk her out of this situation. Jane insists she needs to pee. She goes to pee, against his protests, and when she comes back out, he’s gone because another group of villains have him, and Jane starts to be attacked by a known violent rapist. She later blames herself for having to go pee, and no one argues with her that she has every right to pee when she needs to. So we have a powerful halfling who can’t go pee by herself because she might get attacked and raped? That is so incredibly victim blaming and putting all the responsibility for safety on the woman that I can’t even properly articulate how angry it makes me.
Kate Reinders, the narrator, mostly does a good job. She lands the complex voice of Jane quite well. The only negative I can say is that she mispronounces some New England words and city names. But her narration did make the book more enjoyable for me.
Combine these issues (aside from the audiobook narration which was fine) together with the fact that the plot is basically the previous book’s plot flipped in reverse (violent halfling killing supernatural people instead of supernatural person killing halfling), and I can safely say I won’t be continuing on in the series. The only thing that saves the book from a lower rating is the fact that Jane ultimately does stand up for herself. But for me it was too little too late. Not recommended. Unless you enjoy bad humor, awkward settings, and rape threats and victim blaming of the heroine.
3 out of 5 stars
Source: Audible
Previous Books in Series:
Tempest Rising
This work by Amanda Nevius is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Opinions of a Wolf 