Always (or “The Angry Heroine”) by Carol Rose

The Blurb:
Elinor Prescott has come home at last…to Oakleigh, the gracious antebellum mansion that was home to generations of her Southern family. But the beautiful old house is a near-ruin and she can’t afford to restore it. Elinor hopes to find a buyer who will cherish the home as she does. But she has one rule–she won’t sell to handsome, self-made millionaire Cole Whittier.

Cole has the locals upset over his plans to build a factory nearby and Elinor’s leading the opposition. He’s got a fight on his hands to convince the stubborn beauty of the merits of his plans–and of everything else he discovers he wants to offer her.

It’s up to Cole to persuade Elinor to see things from his perspective. The sexy industrialist is convinced that Elinor is well worth winning over.

I had a lot of problems with this book. There are a lot of good ideas but the bad execution destroys a lot of that promise. The story should have been right up my alley…but I found myself wanting to toss this book across the room on several different occasions. I also found myself putting it down and not coming back for long periods of time. In fact, I had to force myself to finish. That’s never a good sign. This book is in need of a good editor, STAT.*

I think that a lot of my issues with this book deals with characterization and the lack of character growth. Elinor was just too…angry throughout the entire book. She was mad about this, mad about that…yelling and screaming and flinging accusations left and right. With all of her explosions…I never once thought of her as feisty or as a spitfire – she was just plain annoying as hell and slightly unlikeable. I’d see her as more of a nag and really couldn’t understand why Cole liked her. I felt sad for him that he was dating her.

There was very little emotional or sexual tension between the hero and heroine. I saw Cole try and try with her…but all I saw from Elinor was anger and reverse snobbishness. In fact, by the end of the book I was so sick and freaking tired of her money issues that I wanted to shove some money down her throat so she could choke on it. Most people – especially Americans – respect riches that are the result of hard work. Cole came from nothing and did it all himself…but the reader is subjected to Elinor’s angry money issues time and time again.

While still carping on Elinor’s anger issues, lol, I wanted to say that her anger made it hard for me to believe the story. WHY would Cole want to marry her?? WHAT had she done beside be a bitch? I never saw any real growth in their relationship that would make me feel that leap was possible. I can’t even remember Elinor instigation affection between the two of them,

The only point that Elinor had in her favor was that Cole lied to her – by omission – about being the anonymous buyer of her grandfather’s house. And then he kept up that lie throughout the entire book…which – of course – clues the reader in to the final “big misunderstanding” that the couple will have (much too early).

And the ending. Wow. It just made me so angry. Wow, so angry.

*Note: a good editor is NOT a proof reader.

I was pretty bored during the entire first third of this. I almost gave it up several times, just because it was taking me so long to dredge through it. I wasn’t digging the plot or the characters, I just didn’t think the premise was “my thing”. Science fiction, sky pirates… Sounded weird to me. But I’m really glad I stuck with it. The characters grew on me, the plot stepped it up, and I got sucked in. Hell, I got so emotionally attached to the characters that I almost teared up in one spot. I’m not a crier when I read books, so almost tearing up is a pretty big deal.

The second third of it redeemed it from two stars to three stars.. But the last third? That bumped it to four. Hell, if it had gotten a better start it might have even got five stars from me! Where as it took me about five days to get through 30% of the book, I read the last 40% in a couple hours one day. I honestly didn’t want to put it down!

One of the things I liked the most, and which pulled me into the story more and more as I read, were the individual crew members of the Ketty Jay and all of their stories. We get the stories one by one, and I’d find myself wondering and guessing and turning the pages just to find out more about them. And Frey himself was continuously revealed, layer by layer; I really like the way his character was developed.

As I mentioned, the plot starts off pretty slow. There’s a lot of setup going on for the overall story being told, and it was pretty tedious to get through. But once the setup is done and the story is moving along, it moves pretty quickly and doesn’t disappoint. It’s definitely worth getting through all of the setup!

Four stars. Go get your read on, and if it doesn’t catch you right away, give it some time. It’ll get there.. It just needs time to grow on you. And once it does? So worth it.

What I liked about this book (well, one of the things I liked about this book) was the sense of normalcy about the peculiar children. They just are what they are, and though they are different, they still go about their day to day lives in relative normality.

Things are different in their world, but the parallels between our own were interesting to me. What makes a monster? Does it have to be a “monster”, or can it be a man who does monstrous things? I liked that the setting, 1940s Wales, made the point rather than the characters or the narrative. It was subtle and well done.

I really enjoyed all of the characters, and especially enjoyed the 1st person narration. Jacob, our narrator, was surprisingly funny at times, and I really enjoyed seeing things through his eyes. The concept and the world that Riggs set up here was fascinating to me, and the integration of the old photos worked beautifully within the story. The writing was perfect, descriptive without being flowery. The pacing was great, and the creepiness (mainly in the beginning) sucked me in right away. Reading this on my nook, the images would appear without warning, and many of them were creepy enough to startle me. I liked it.

My one complaint is actually that I thought that the antagonists, the hallowgasts and wights, weren’t really scary enough, and the explanation of what they are was kind of meh. It would have been better to have had no explanation than the one that we got. I also don’t really understand the hierarchy of the hallowgast/wight relationship, so that was an issue for me, too.

That’s really my only complaint though. I really did enjoy reading this, and I’m fairly certain that there will be a sequel soon. Should be interesting!

Imagine spending your entire life devoted to the creation of one thing, just one item.

Your every moment spent hunched over, toiling away on it every single day. Every aspect of your life, your wife and children, all are dedicated to this one single endeavor. Your town, your nation, your entire planet geared towards this undertaking.

And when you’re done, when you’ve completed this lifelong task, you give the item to your son to sell. The money he makes from that sale go towards his own lifelong quest to do the same thing you’ve done and create his own lifetime-spent masterpiece.

And this goes on for untold generations. Never changing, never varying, never getting easier. Day in and day out, toiling away the hours and devoting an entire life to a single item.

All in the name of your God-Emperor, for what you create is for his glory and happiness.

The item in question? The one you and your ancestors for generations have each spent entire lifetimes creating? What magnificent masterpiece could ever require such a devotion of each persons entire existence?

A hair carpet.

A carpet. Made of hair.

That right there is the sole reason I read this book. I had to find out the whats and whys and wherefors about hair carpets.

Sadly, the way the story is told left a lot to be desired. Each chapter follows a different viewpoint with barely any one person making a repeat appearance. This gives the reader a wider glimpse at the life of the carpet makers, the layout of their world and the overall status of the universe. However, it also leaves the reader without an entryway for engaging with or caring about the story.

There’s simply no heart here.

No soul to speak of.

You’re given a mystery that you watch unfold from a distance. And in the end you find that you don’t really care because there’s simply been no real investment.

And once you’ve gone through the book and finally get to the ending and reach the big reveal, the one that answers all the questions about hair carpets you may have had, you might just find yourself laughing out loud at the ridiculousness of it all. Marveling at the sheer absurdity. Followed closely by the feeling of “what the hell did I just read?!”

Luckily it’s a short work, easily polished off in a mere matter of hours.

Is it worth it? For me, the ending and the laugh I got out of it made the endeavor worthwhile.

Your mileage may vary.

Three Whole WTF’s

I realize I am not going to stop using these abbreviations – so I thought I’d give you a list to refer to in times of need.

HEA = Happily Ever After
HFN = Happy For Now
TSTL = Too Stupid To Live
H/h = Hero/Heroine (or Heroine/hero)

*Note: This list will be updated as needed. Or requested.

Sophie Dempsey wants to help her sister film a video and then get out of Temptation, Ohio. Mayor Phin Tucker wants to play pool with the police chief and keep things peaceful. But when Sophie and Phin meet, they both get more than they want. Gossip, blackmail, adultery, murder, vehicular abuse of a corpse, and slightly perverse but excellent sex: all hell breaks loose in Temptation as Sophie and Phin fall deeper and deeper in trouble… and in love.

This is my third Jennifer Crusie book and I think I made a slight miscalculation. This book is fun and silly but it’s not quite as good as the first books I read. I think I cherry picked the best of the group first and it won’t get better from here until the next new release. The good part is that I felt this was a four star read…so I’m not really missing too much!

I really did enjoy this book. This book is set in a small town in the middle of Ohio – Temptation. The reader gets both the good and the bad parts of [this] small town life. A lot of romances that focus on small towns always try to make the small town the pinnacle of the American Way. What I loved about this book is that Crusie was able to show that small town life worked for some of her characters but was completely horrible for others. Crusie did not place small towns on a pedestal – she made them just as fallible as any location to live. I really enjoyed that.

Another thing I liked was that Phin didn’t sneak around with Sophie. There were lots of discreet moments…but when you’re a single dad trying to screw someone’s brains out, you have to be somewhat circumspect. But he didn’t try to hide Sophie and his relationship with Sophie from any adult or from his kid once he realized his kid already knew.

“I suppose you had to,” Wes said when Phin went back to join him at the table.
“Pretty much. She seduced me.”
“Yeah, right,” Wes said. “She said, ‘Please fix the kitchen drain,’ and you interpreted that–”
“She said, ‘Fuck me.’ ” Phin put two balls on the table and picked up his cue. “I interpreted that to mean she wanted sex.”
“Oh.” Wes picked up his cue. “That would have been my call, too.” He squinted at the table. “Why would she have said that?”
“On a guess? Because she wanted sex.”

Sophie and Phin were great characters and I really enjoyed watching their relationship develop. Also enjoyable is the fact that Crusie took the time to really flesh out her secondary characters. Again. Damn I love this author! I received an actual full cast of characters instead of two characters (the H/h) and a bunch of cardboard cut-outs. Delicious!

I’m also starting to really get a kick out of the Crusie’s book covers. So far all of them employ a visual symbol of a reoccurring theme or item in the book. In Bet Me the item are shoes, in Agnes and the Hitman it’s flamingos and in this book it’s a cherry. Very cool. The academic in me wants to cast symbolic meaning to these items…but this is fun so I fight that urge.

Four Stars and another good read! I really have to stop buying her books this year. I think I’m going broke, lol.

This is definitely (in my humble opinion of course) the best of the Rain Wild Chronicles series so far. It’s still not quite at the Farseer/Liveship/Tawny Man level, but regardless, it’s at least a solid four star rating for me.

I’ll say this though.. It’s definitely only half of a story. Actually, it’s more like half of the second half of a story. Each book so far in the RWC series has been significantly shorter than normal Hobb novels, really the series probably could have been a two book duology and done better that way. The first two started and completed a story arc, and it seems like these two will as well. This one ends sort of abruptly, and I almost wish I hard waited for the last in the series to come out before I read it. It’s not necessarily a cliff hanger.. But neither are any story lines wrapped up. But still… It was a Hobb fix. And we all know I loves me some Hobb.

There’s really not much else to say. If you’re looking for reviews of this book, chances are you’ve read the first two, so you know what to expect. And if you haven’t read the first two, then you’re looking up the wrong review, you need to check out Dragon Keeper. And for that matter.. Even though this series does sort of stand alone, it definitely should be read after the Liveship series for maximum impact. But not before Tawny Man… And Liveship has to come after Farseer. Really though. Reading all of the books in order is well worth it. The Farseer Trilogy, then the Livership Trader books, then the Tawny Man series, and finally the Rain Wild Chronicles. Honestly… That’s the only way to go. You’re missing out if you skip straight here and read this as an independent series! Just saying.

Anyway, back to the review.. Four stars. This was an enjoyable continuation of the series, and I’m looking forward to the release of the last book.

Meet the Goodnights, a respectable family who have run a respectable art gallery for generations. There’s Gwen, the matriarch who sedates herself with double-crostics and double vodkas, Eve the oldest daughter who has a slight identity problem (she has two), and Nadine, the granddaughter who’s ready to follow in the family footsteps as soon as she can find a set that isn’t leading off a cliff. Holding everyone together is Matilda, the youngest daughter, who’s inherited the secret locked down in the basement of the Goodnight Gallery, the secret that she’s willing to do almost anything to keep, including break into a house in the dead of night to steal back her past.

Faking It: What has reality ever done for you?

This book…was very “meh” for me. The characters never clicked for me – and I don’t think I laughed until page 214. I can’t say the book was bad…it was just ok.

The beginning was rather busy and…felt rather crowded. I wasn’t sure who was who and what was what. Tilda was great and I liked her…but I didn’t feel very much for her. To be honest, I felt a little disappointed in Davy. One of the things I’ve liked the most about Crusie’s books were the depth she gave to her characters…but I didn’t feel as if I got that depth with Davy. Just about everyone felt a little cardboardish to me, to be honest.

Then there’s the issue of the bad sex. Tilda and Davy have really bad sex a couple of times…and it was rather excruciating to read. I guess it showed how much they really were attracted to each other that they kept trying…but*shrug* I guess…

I did enjoy the ending…with the exception of Clea. I hated her in the first book Welcome to Temptation and I hated her in this one, too.

I can’t complain about this book. It…just didn’t do anything for me. But it was entertaining (more so in some parts than in others) and I finished it – which says something. As I’ve gotten older I’ve become more ok with abandoning books that I hate. I think my favorite person in the book was Ford…but he doesn’t say much.

3 mehs out of 5

What happens when the girl next door isn’t so innocent?
Molly Jennings might look like the girl next door, but she has one naughty little secret: her job. Molly is a very successful writer of erotic fiction. Until her inspiration runs dry-—thanks to a creepy ex-—and she decides it’s time to move back home to tiny Tumble Creek, Colorado.

Tumble Creek doesn’t have much going for it, but one look at luscious chief of police Ben Lawson, who starred in her girlhood dreams, and Molly is back in business. But while her fantasies are pouring out on paper, the town gossip is buzzing at her door and, worse yet, a stalker seems to be watching her every move. Thankfully, her very own lawman has taken to coming over, often. The only problem now is that Molly may have to let the cat out of the bag about her chosen profession, and straight-laced Ben will definitely not approve…

How quickly things go from “the shit” to some shit.

I’ve been reading Everything I Know About Love I Learned from Romance Novels, gleefully finding new romance authors to fall in love with. When the book mentioned Talk Me Down by Victoria Dahl, I immediately went to download a sample. The sample? Wonderful! Funny and sexy and cute. The plotline, the beginning and the author’s voice were all things that really intrigued me about this book. So I went and did my normal silly thing: I bought more than one book in the series by this author, sight unseen.

Wow. I should stop doing that. I waste a lot of money that way.

My major issue with Talk Me Down was the TSTL heroine, Molly. By the end of the book I was so freaking SICK and TIRED of her unnecessary secrets and lies that I didn’t know what to do with myself. She claimed how much she’d fantasized about Ben (the hero) for the last ten years and how he’s starred in her sexual fantasies and in her written work (she is an erotic romance author)…but as soon as he tries to have a real relationship with her she tells him how she’s just fucking. Wow.

To go along with her callous attitude she has a stalker ex-boyfriend who’s been stalking her for months…but she refuses to tell Ben about the stalking. She refuses to tell him she’s an erotic romance writer as well – even though her first (and widely sold) book was obviously about HIM. And he had a very bad experience growing up with his parents and sex scandals. But she says nothing. Cause she’s TSTL. And this is a book that has the “if only we had talked sooner” plot line as the big misunderstanding. WTF. I hate those kinds of books.

I really didn’t believe in the HEA because I couldn’t imagine having a real relationship with someone who refuses to tell me about their everyday life. Secret here, secret there, I don’t see trust anywhere. By the end, I was cranky and tired to death of Molly.

Ben, on the other hand, was a great hero. Kind, patient, sexy and came with no baggage that Molly didn’t already know about. Thank you for that. There’s nothing else to say about him other than I felt bad for him in the future. God bless…being stuck with a chick like Molly.

I couldn’t enjoy the sex scenes because I was too busy RAGING at how horrible a person Molly was being.

So.

3 stars for Ben (he was hot, now to find him a good woman)
1 star for the sex scenes (the ones I did read were hot)
-1.5 stars for Molly and her TSTL self

2 ½ stars!

I’m going to preface this review with a brief.. Prologue. Honestly, I just can’t think of anything else to call it, so I’m going with prologue. My review has a prologue. Deal with it.

I’m a big fan of the fantasy genre. Science fiction? Not so much. It’s always driven me nuts that science fiction and fantasy fans are sort of lumped together. Yes, we are forced to share a space at most book stores. But the two genres are so different. I love fantasy.. Swords and castles, heroes and villains, imaginary worlds and magic, all of it. Science fiction though… Admittedly, I haven’t read much of it. But what I have read has always seemed so bogged down by techno babble and science mumbo jumbo, it always ends up feeling like work to read it. I read for enjoyment.. Not to learn how a flux capacitor actually works.

So needless to say, I was apprehensive about reading this book. It is, without a doubt, science fiction. But I’m so glad I went ahead and read it anyway, it turned out to be one of the best / most enjoyable books I’ve read so far this year. Unlike the other science fiction novels that I’ve read, this one didn’t get bogged down with technical descriptions. It was easy to read, and had a lot of interesting concepts. I don’t know whether it’s particularly original or unique, I don’t have enough science fiction experience to make that call, but it felt original and unique to me. I enjoyed reading this book, and when I put it down I always found my mind lingering on it, wondering what was going to happen next, what the full story was. It had that special something that compels you to keep picking it up and reading more (or it did for me at least).

This comes damn close to a 5 star rating, but I’m going with 4.5 because it didn’t feel quite up to 5 stars. It’s a close thing though, a very close thing. Highly recommended, give it a try. Who knows, it surprised me, maybe it will surprise you too!