I’m at Dear Author today, reviewing Reward of Three by Kelly Jamieson. I enjoyed the first book very much and the second one not quite as much. Unfortunately the third book pushed my buttons in the wrong ways.
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Why I read it: I received a review copy via the author.
ETA April 2015: At the time I accepted/read the book and wrote the review, I didn’t know Jen Frederick was also Jane Litte from Dear Author. No Jen Frederick books have been reviewed by me, anywhere, since I became aware of this and, given my existing relationship with Jane, I will not be reviewing any more of her books. I will continue to update my personal Goodreads account with all the books I read as per usual but, consistent with my review policy, there won’t be further formal reviews of Jen Frederick’s work.
What it’s about: (from Goodreads) I’d do anything to keep my mother alive.
Anything, including ask Ian Kerr for help. I don’t know much about him, except that he has more money than some small countries. And he’s willing to spend it on me. Just one catch: there’s a string attached, and not just the one I feel pulling me into his arms and his bed. There’s also the plan for revenge he wants my help with.
Every time he says my name, it makes my body shiver and my heart stutter. I know he’s going to wreck me, know there won’t be anything left of me but lust and sensation by the time he’s done with me, but even though I can see the heartbreak coming towards me like a train, ready to crash into me, I can’t get out of the way. I want what he makes me feel. Want what he’s offering.
This may have started out as something to save my mother, but now…now it’s about what he makes me feel. I’m in danger of losing everything that’s important. Worse? Ian’s whispered words and hot caresses are making me believe that’s okay.
What worked for me (and what didn’t): I confess I hadn’t planned to read this one quite yet. But I saw Mandi’s Tori’s Smex Scene Sunday which featured an excerpt from Losing Control and I decided to bump it up the queue. You may make of that what you will :P.
I guess this is Jen Frederick’s take on the billionaire/ingenue trope but while it conforms to the trope in many ways, it breaks the mold in others and I found it a very entertaining read. It is the first book in a series (there is another book to be released later this year, which I understand will be told from Ian’s POV but will not be merely a re-hash of what happened in this one – I stand to be corrected on that) but it does have a satisfying HFN ending, which you could take as a HEA if you really wanted to. You’d hardly have to squint.
Why I read it: This book of “novelettes” contains offerings by some of my favourite authors and proceeds go to a worthy cause.
I decided to review Real Feelings separately for a couple of reasons:
1. The review for the entire anthology was way too long and the section about Real Feelings was the longest individual bit.
2. I had lots of thoughts about the story which I wanted to tease out separately to the other novelettes in the anthology.
What it’s about: (from Goodreads) What happens when love gets caught in the rain?
In this romance anthology, RITA-Award winning author Molly O’Keefe shows us the power of a city thunderstorm from the top of a skyscraper, while Amy Jo Cousins soaks us in a rain in Spain. New York Times bestselling author Ruthie Knox’s heroine is devastated by a winter storm, while a summer thunderstorm grants Alexandra Haughton’s hero and heroine a second chance at love. Rain sparks self-awareness in the robot in Charlotte Stein’s story and allows Mary Ann Rivers’s heroine to fall in love with her hero and her own art. Rain causes romance between the college students in Audra North’s and Shari Slade’s stories, while romance causes rain in Cecilia Tan’s myth-inspired tale of a sacrifice to a demi-god. Nine romance novelettes, edited by Sarah Frantz.
All proceeds from the volume will be donated to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (www.rainn.org), the largest anti-sexual violence organization in the United States
What worked for me (and what didn’t): What a fascinating concept this story had. Set some unspecified time in the future, a woman buys an android, basically as a sex toy. But when she turns him on (heh) she finds that issues of will and consent are important and she struggles with the morality of their “relationship”. He was programmed to serve her in any capacity she wishes. He has no free will, She literally owns him. The Dear Reader note at the front indicates that Ms. Stein wanted to explore these kinds of issues in a “safe” kind of way and it is a very novel idea indeed. Moira feels so uncomfortable with her power over her android, she does not immediately seek a sexual relationship with him – even though that’s what she bought him for. I suppose it is spoilerish to say that the android (who calls himself Michael), becomes sentient but I felt it was the intention of the plot all along so I don’t feel major qualms about letting it slip here. (Also, the blurb gives it away.) And it is in this aspect I found the most things to ponder and talk about anyway. Michael says:
“The more I saw you angry at the idea of owning me, the more I imagined deciding for myself. The more I became Michael. You made it all right for me to become Michael.”
Why I read it: This book of “novelettes” contains offerings by some of my favourite authors and proceeds go to a worthy cause. Which is a bonus but not why I bought it. (Does that make me a bad person?)
What it’s about: (from Goodreads) What happens when love gets caught in the rain?
In this romance anthology, RITA-Award winning author Molly O’Keefe shows us the power of a city thunderstorm from the top of a skyscraper, while Amy Jo Cousins soaks us in a rain in Spain. New York Times bestselling author Ruthie Knox’s heroine is devastated by a winter storm, while a summer thunderstorm grants Alexandra Haughton’s hero and heroine a second chance at love. Rain sparks self-awareness in the robot in Charlotte Stein’s story and allows Mary Ann Rivers’s heroine to fall in love with her hero and her own art. Rain causes romance between the college students in Audra North’s and Shari Slade’s stories, while romance causes rain in Cecilia Tan’s myth-inspired tale of a sacrifice to a demi-god. Nine romance novelettes, edited by Sarah Frantz.
All proceeds from the volume will be donated to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (www.rainn.org), the largest anti-sexual violence organization in the United States.
Note: Some of the stories deal with issues of abuse, sexual and otherwise and/or violence. Some readers might find them triggering to read/read about.
Redemption by Ruthie Knox: There is a “Dear Reader” letter in the front of each of the novelettes. Ms. Knox says Redemption is a sad story. And it is. Both Jessie and Mike are sad. They’ve been beaten down by life and are just about at the end of their respective ropes. Unfortunately and partly because the story is short, I found the characterisation, especially in relation to Mike to be a little thin and I didn’t see what attracted him to her and from her side of things, what made him someone more than she wanted to have sex with. Because for a year, they didn’t talk and he didn’t smile and they didn’t share anything important apart from some good sex and in the end, I didn’t buy the commitment because I didn’t see enough of those things within the story itself. The writing has a kind of haunting melancholy quality to it and there were parts which we quite lovely. Short stories often work better for me when they are about people who already know each other. But this story seemed to take pains to tell me they didn’t know each other that well really so I was left a little unconvinced.
I’m over at Dear Author with a review of The Red Bikini by Lauren Christopher. It’s a older woman-younger man story – something I’m getting a bit of weakness for as I get older! LOL.
contributing to an m/m roundtable with Sunita, Sirius and Willaful. We talk about what we like and don’t like about m/m, how it’s different from (and the same as) m/f and make some recommendations (Hint: check the picture below for one of them). Please come say hi.
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