Cyn Newman
I was extremely disappointed in the end of this book. In fact, it was so very out of keeping with the rest of Grafton's work that the next time I'm in a brick-and-mortar store, I intend to pick up a print copy and check to see if the ebook I read didn't leave out something important. There was no explanation as to how the murder was accomplished, or why. The reader was given no satisfaction at all. I started reading “T” is for Trespass, but if this book is typical of what Grafton is turning in now, it will be the last time I read anything of hers.
What's better than a series you can rely on to provide solid plots with intriguing twists spiced by the occasional sexy romps? All that with ongoing character development! I love seeing the growth Elena is making, and the way her relationship with Clay deepens and matures over time. I can't think of much to say without giving away too much to those familiar with the series. I doubt this is the best place for readers new to Women of the Otherworld to start, simply because they wouldn't get the full effect of the continuity, but they wouldn't be lost, either. I loved it!
I am not entirely certain that I want to publicly acknowledge having read this book. The blurb is not only poorly written, but inaccurate. The cover art - is that art? I'm not sure what or who it's supposed to depict, and after reading the book I still couldn't describe the four main characters in terms of anything but sexual characteristics, and even then, all three men might as well be one guy copied a few times, what with all the huge, throbbing, hard, chiseled, tan, and muscled going on.
I probably wasn't supposed to demand any kind of real plot or continuity out of erotica, but I'm contrary that way. We meet a woman who has worked all night in her garage. We're told she has exceptionally good hearing as she takes off her iPod headphones. Shortly afterwards, we learn that some THING has been stalking her - wait, she worked all night in an unlocked place without an alarm system, wearing headphones that block her oh-so-good hearing, despite supposedly being all anxious about a killer who is after her? I don't buy it.
I frequently felt that this might be an excerpt of a larger work, or from a series of stories that readers are expected to be familiar with. Decent authors know how to repeat key information without boring returning fans so as to help new readers get their footing. Is that just not done in erotica?
Yes, I'm probably being too critical. But if it doesn't work for wanking, it should work as story. And it didn't work for either, for me, at least.
I kept wanting to look at the author's name again, to be sure I wasn't actually reading an old Heinlein novel updated with some 21st century concepts like throwaway cell phones. That's not a bad thing, depending on how far along Mr. Bain is in his own career, I suppose. I'm not really familiar with him, as I believe this is the first of his novels that I've read. In any case, it was a fun read, if a wee bit predictable to those of us who have read the master's works.
Why do I have to give a book at least one star for it to be considered rated? 0 is a rating!
I put this book on the “read” shelf just so I won't forget that I tried it and didn't like it. Hambly's writing is excellent, as usual, but I wasn't in the mood for dystopia and I just didn't care much about the characters after the first 100 pages or so. I figure my time is much better spent elsewhere.
The cover of this book actually put me off the contents the first few times I saw it. It isn't as if the cover is bad, and it actually reflects the book fairly well—but I like books about people, and when there's not a person anywhere on the cover, I have to be prettty bored to read the book.
I'm glad I did read it, although there were some rough bits. I need happy endings in my fiction. I just do, okay? This is pleasure reading, after all. And at one point the main character was so very far down that I felt hopeless for the him! Having experienced major depression, I fully recognized that he was very close to suicide. That wasn't very easy for me to read.
If gender bending is an issue for you, stay away from this one. It goes well beyond John Varley's Steel Beach. I was tickled to see several casual references to polyamory.
I'm extremely surprised by how much I enjoyed this anthology! I picked it up intending to just read the stories by authors I know I like—Kelley Armstrong, Ilona Andrews, Carrie Vaughn, Holly Lisle, Jeaniene Frost, Maria V. Snyder. I had never heard of some of the other authors. A few names I remembered seeing in other anthologies and not enjoying their work.
I did, however, deliberately put myself in a tolerant mindset: this is a book of romance stories. It wouldn't be fair to judge them as anything else.
That worked rather better than it has in the past. I still got a little annoyed at having so much of each story dedicated to couples (and all het/mono couples, at that!) rather than some intriguing world ideas, but managed to stay on track.
In the end, I only skipped one story—I just don't like the Weather Wardens stuff at all. I found a couple of others substandard, but all in all, Telep chose very well. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys paranormal romance (maybe even those who usually stick to just romance), and most urban fantasy fans.
Warning:Book involves a highly inappropriate relationship between a developmentally disabled young man (who is effectively a young teen, and likely will be for the rest of his life) and a grown woman.
The squick factor got in the way of me enjoying the book as much as I usually do with Bishop. It was nice to encounter less-powerful people who aren't all gorgeous.
Cat is definitely coming into her own now, and her relationship with Bones is portrayed far more healthily than most in the paranormal romance category. I love the fact that she demands that he permit her to stand as his equal, rather than treat her like a delicate thing to be protected.
The plot is more interesting than I recall in previous excursions, while building on the earlier books. I know there's another volume either planned or on the shelves, and I plan to read it. I wasn't so sure after the last book, but I'm glad I gave this one a chance.
I still contend that the cover art, no matter how lovely, shows a woman in a position that cannot be obtained by any human who wants to walk again. Cat is supposed to be half-vampire, but that hasn't been said to give her more flexibility—increased strength, speed, and healing power, yes, but not this sort of oddity. Yes, it's a minor nit to pick, but it has bugged me since the first time I saw the cover.
Another uneven anthology. I still have it in my hands, so I'll try to hit each story briefly.
“Lucky” by Charlaine Harris - Sookie is much easier to take in short form. I can't help it, the woman grates on me (in the TV show even worse than in the books). The other characters keep me reading.
“Bogieman” by Carole Nelson Douglas - Delilah Street does more than grate on my nerves in long form. She's more palatable in short form, too, but there are reminders of why I don't intend to read more in that series.
“Looks are Deceiving” by Michael A. Stackpole - If I've read any of Stackpole's work before, it's been in anthologies, and I don't remember it. I did wonder if this short story is set in a universe he uses in longer works, though. It wasn't bad at all.
“The House of Seven Spirits” by Sharon Shinn - I loved this story! And how often do you say that about a haunted house tale? I must track down and read some of Shinn's novels. Any suggestions?
“Glamour” by Mike Doogan - The Peasantry Anti-Defamation League might be after Doogan if he isn't careful (at least, representatives of the male peasantry). The story was cute, and it did make me laugh.
“Spellbound” by Donna Andrews - This is another author whose books are going on my (groaning) to-read shelf. The story hit a few clichés, but was fun enough to get away with them.
“The Duh Vice” by Michael Armstrong - Ugh. A little too preachy, and way too much anti-fat prejudice.
“Weight of the World” by John Straley - Where does Santa Claus go in the off-season? That's the biggest question answered in this piece. The “mystery” was “solved” nearly as soon as it was discovered.
“Illumination” by Laura Anne Gilman - Bonnie's back story! I think a bit of this story is used in the first chapter of Gilman's first PUPI novel, but I'll know more when I get my hands on it. It's a must-read for fans of the Cosa Nostradamus universe, though.
“The House” by Laurie R. King - could we maybe call a hiatus on the abused-kid stories? Maybe I'm hypersensitive, but I'm tired of them.
“Appetite for Murder” by Simon R. Green - another dark Nightside story. I don't think I'll ever need to read more in that universe.
“A Woman's Work” by Dana Stabenow - I'm an unabashed Stabenow fangirl. Despite that, I wasn't sure how she'd do in a fantasy setting. She proved herself, certainly. I can only hope that we'll see longer fantasy works from her in print at some juncture.
I can't think of a thing that wasn't right in Blue Diablo. I can think of one thing that made it stand head and shoulders above much of what I've read lately: Aguirre knows that sexual tension can be much sexier than explicit sex scenes! That is such a relief!
I'm looking forward to reading more about Corine and Chance. I've been waiting for more of her Grimspace series, so now I'm torn. Just give us more, Ann!
I kept saying I was giving up on Hamilton's books, then giving her just one more chance as each novel came out, hoping that at some point she'd give up the porn and write real novels again. With this volume, the effort is finally vindicated.
Don't get me wrong–there's definitely sex in Skin Trade. Sex with yet more new men, even! But it doesn't start happening ‘til well into the book, and when it does occur there's a lot more justification for it than at some times in the past. It's still explicit, and there are still likely to be more than two people in any given bed at a time, but if any of that squicked you, you wouldn't be reading any of her work.
The book nearly earned four stars, but there were a few plot holes that bothered me too much to forget them.
It feels like a spoiler, but since Gilman says this at the front of the book, I suppose it isn't: Blood From Stone is the last Retrievers novel, at least for a time. She's moving on to focus on other characters in the Cosa Nostradamus universe. I wasn't happy to read that, but after reading the book, I'm okay with it.
Blood From Stone definitely isn't a book to start with if you're new to Gilman's work. The Retrievers series really does need to be read sequentially. If you have read the rest, you know that Gilman has developed a very interesting universe and some very well-developed characters in the series. Book 6 doesn't disappoint at all, and brings the major plot threads to a very satisfactory close. I can't be more specific without real spoilers, though!
I'm definitely looking forward to reading the next novel in the universe, which will focus on Bonnie and the PUPIs (Private, Unaffiliated, Paranormal Investigators). I adore CSI, Bones, NCIS and the like, so I'm curious as to how forensics will work in urban fantasy settings. Jes Battis' A Flash of Hex is supposed to be waiting for me at the library, so by the time I get to Hard Magic I'll have something else to compare it to.