Happy Valentine's Day

A Picture is Worth...

A picture is worth a thousand words, but this one's only half a picture because the whole one is behind the cut where it won't get me in trouble. I think. Even if it is all Qing dynasty and historical and such.

Here  *blush* is the rest. Would someone like to do us a little ficlet about these two? See How Thousand Word Thursday Works if you're inspired.(100 to 1000 words is great!)

Zipper Fall by Kate Pavelle

Title: Zipper Fall
Author: Kate Pavelle
Purchase at Dreamspinner
Purchase at All Romance eBooks
Cover Artist: Aaron Anderson
Genre: contemporary, mystery
Length: 350 pages
Formats: epub, mobi, pdf, print


Wyatt Gaudens, an advertising executive and adrenaline junkie, has fine-tuned the art of breaking and entering into apartments, misusing his considerable rock climbing skills. Once inside, he steals a pretty, shiny thing or two. When his friend Reyna complains that her jerk of a boss makes her workplace a living hell, he breaks into her boss's home to get even. More than any other pretty thing, what really catches his eye the most is her boss, Jack.

Working hard to overcome his own lingering problems, investment specialist Jack Azzuri focuses on his second chance at making his business grow. But grief for his sister, Celia, recently killed in a suspicious climbing accident, sabotages his attempt to start over. When he meets Wyatt, he's strongly attracted even though Wyatt is the last person he should associate with. With Jack's explosive temper and Wyatt's adrenaline addiction, the path to a stable relationship will be a tough climb. They might succeed if they can sort out what really matters, as well as learn to take the good with the bad. Wyatt hopes to speed their progress by solving the mystery that’s weighing Jack down: how did Celia really die?

Review:

I have seldom been as perplexed by a book as I am with this one. Maybe I should put it on the “Guilty Pleasure” shelf, because while it had some flaws that normally send me frothing at the mouth, I ended up enjoying it a great deal.


What’s to like? The MCs, for starts. Wyatt Gaudens has both a devil-may-care attitude and a sense of honor, both tested out every time he chooses to break into someone’s home. While his overarching motivation for slipping some locks and taking a little this and that didn’t entirely make sense, it’s still good fun. The vicarious heart-pounding from following along while casing the joint, getting in, and even going too often to the well was definitely a high point. He reacts to Jack very viscerally, and has to examine his own motivations quite often. He’s fun. Occasionally not too bright, but I enjoyed his first person narration.

Jack is a force of nature, and we don’t spend any time in his head, for which I am actually grateful. He’s got some seething long term anger that I don’t want to cuddle mind to mind with, but he’s complex and balances enlightened self interest with an unique moral code that occasionally goes crosswise standard behavior. There’s explosive chemistry between them, which, oddly for me, I found engrossing enough that the external plot came as something of a shock when it reappeared. The author didn't mistake hawtsex for relationship; she made them work for it.

This story kept me off balance in a way that meant I couldn’t completely submerge in the tale. Bits and pieces of backstory got thrown in that didn’t seem to have any real connection to the story at hand, and didn’t always make sense. Motivations seemed like afterthoughts, tacked on in discrete chunks. Simmering issues got turned to a high boil and then shoved back in the fridge. New characters got dragged out of the woodwork in such a way that I had to scroll back and see if they’d swung by before, because the implications seemed to be that I should know who they are and why they belong in there. Friends of friends got dragged through by name only for no discernible reason. This all hits my converted fanfic button, a little checking, and yeah.

A couple of plot points seemed awfully familiar, but the source turned out to be another of this author’s own stories. A few were natural consequences of a particular action, but one was kind of eye-rolly both times.

Well. Like I said, I still ended up enjoying it.

Because anyone who references Bernie Rhodenbarr correctly gets two points.

The external plot, finding Celia’s murderer, had a few clues scattered here and there through the story, but didn’t actually come to the forefront until the last third of the book, and then with the air of it being something on the to do list, like getting the dry cleaning. The method was unique and referenced a lot of what went before. The howdunit, whydunit, and whodunit looked straightforward but had some good twists. I actually would have been perfectly content with the story had it ended at the 60% mark.

Basically, the problem here is of pacing, and of origins where the reader is assumed to have a basic grounding in who’s who and why they do what they do. This story would probably work marvelously in its original fandom, but as a work de novo the story isn’t entirely cohesive. I think this author can write, but I would really prefer to read something from her that owes nothing to any work but her own.

But the MCs are amazingly hot together, even if Wyatt occasionally can’t seem to find his butt with both hands. Jack clearly knows where it is. 3.5 marbles

The Queen's Librarian by Carole Cummings

Title: The Queen’s Librarian
Author: Carole Cummings
Buy at Dreamspinner
Buy at All Romance eBooks
Cover Artist:Paul Richmond
Genre: fantasy
Length: 224 pages
Formats: epub, mobi, pdf, print


All Lucas Tripp wants is prosperity for the tenants of his family’s estate; good weather for the harvest; suitable matches for his sisters; a little money left over at the end of the month; and more quality time with his boyfriend, Alex Booker. That’s not so much to ask for, right?

Wrong. When his sister’s new suitor suddenly disappears, Lucas is drawn into an adventure of a lifetime—kicking and screaming all the way. Magical beings who were allegedly banished hundreds of years ago are coming through portals that were supposed to be shut against them—and that’s only part of Lucas’s problem. The rest consists of missing princes, breaking and entering, suspicious magicians, well-meaning women who are far too interested in Lucas’s sex life… the list goes on. Lucas is decidedly Not Amused, but he’ll get over it someday. Probably. After all, there’s always Alex.

Review:

Regular readers here know that I adore Carole Cummings’ work, and to find a full length novel where she’d taken a light tone is a new treat! She describes this book as her antidote to living in a much darker character’s head for three books, and she’s brought us along for the diversion.

Comedy is much harder than it looks, and sustaining it for this long a work is a skill. The author isn’t going for a laugh a minute, but she takes a gentle tone that pokes fun at everything from the Jane-Austen-ish issues the main character, Lucas, faces, to his travails with another character who becomes Quite Vexed with him. I did chuckle aloud often, and yet the underlying seriousness of their quest didn’t get lost.


Lucas and Alex are an established couple, so readers looking for a classic romance of boy eventually gets boy won’t find that here. This a solid story of lovers working together to a common goal and becoming even more solid with each other. They become gently exasperated with one another, they bolster each other, and they clearly adore one another. The quest is the primary focus, a matter of great seriousness, and couldn’t be solved without both of them. Beautifully done.

The secondary characters provide their own set of chuckles, and also add to the sense of the world. Usually I get a very clear sense of how a world is organized from this author, and I hope the take-away message I got of an informal sort of court much like when King George and his family lived at Kew was the right one. The crown prince gets up to the sort of adventures courtiers and chamberlains normally prevent. Lucas’ job at the library seemed like a cross between a real working job and the sort of royal sinecure one gives the shirtsleeve relatives to prevent embarrassment. He seems both quite close to the Queen and yet at a very different social stratum from the court at the same time. Perhaps the uncertainty was intentional—it does give Lucas enough time to pursue his quest. The quest itself evolves from something rather mundane but foot-stompingly important to a matter that affects the entire society, and the complications are layered on with each scene.

I enjoyed this read greatly, and wish that a few little niggles could have been smoothed out to make it a solid 5 star read. Names for me were an issue—the character named Booker isn’t the librarian as one would expect , and I had to sort out who was who a few times too often before it all solidified. A running gag could have smoothed with repetition, instead of remaining the same road bump until nearly the end. Aside from these small jolts out of the story, which other readers may not find as prominent, I just settled in for the ride. This was a charming and humorous adventure from start to finish. 4.5 marbles

A Picture is Worth...

Somebody's thinking complicated thoughts. Anyone who wants to put up to 1000 words (flash fiction, I'm cool with a 100 word drabble or anything in between)  send your ficlet and your news to post here.

See How Thousand Word Thursday Works for details. The rest of us will speculate on how warm it's getting inside that black clothing.

Pantomime by Laura Lam

Title: Pantomime
Author: Laura Lam
Buy through Strange Chemistry
Amazon buy link
Cover Artist: Tom Bagshaw
Genre: fantasy, YA
Length: 392 pages (US paper edition), 4400 Kindle locations so I’m estimating about 130k words
Formats: epub, mobi, pdf, print

R. H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic is the greatest circus of Ellada. Nestled among the glowing blue Penglass—remnants of a mysterious civilisation long gone—are wonders beyond the wildest imagination. It’s a place where anything seems possible, where if you close your eyes you can believe that the magic and knowledge of the vanished Chimaera is still there. It’s a place where anyone can hide.

Iphigenia Laurus, or Gene, the daughter of a noble family, is uncomfortable in corsets and crinoline, and prefers climbing trees to debutante balls. Micah Grey, a runaway living on the streets, joins the circus as an aerialist’s apprentice and soon becomes the circus’s rising star.

But Gene and Micah have balancing acts of their own to perform, and a secret in their blood that could unlock the mysteries of Ellada.

Review:

This book is not at all what the blurb makes it look like. That’s fine, we’ve seen star-crossed lovers before. We haven’t seen the premise of this book before.

There’s really no way to talk about this book without what I consider a small spoiler: Micah is Gene, Iphigenia, run away from her family before they perpetrate a massive act of betrayal upon her. This book earned its place in this review site by the gender-bending aspects of Gene’s makeup and how he chooses to deal with it. All the clues are there from the beginning, both voices are the same and in first person, so if they weren't the same person, it would be weird. The demands of being female in this society sit very uncomfortably upon Gene: being the androgynous Micah in the circus is a more comfortable if less affluent fit.


Micah takes to the circus life well, making friends, learning to be an aerialist, decoding the politics that simmer underneath the greasepaint, and even acquiring a girlfriend. The sexual aspects of their relationship are very low-key, as Micah and Aenaia keep what little they do off page. (Okay, the MM reader in me wanted more details, but this is YA and the reticence is appropriate.) His involvement in the politics of the realm, mostly as a pawn to be played, make him keep his head down and his secrets clutched to his chest, even if another sharp-eyed outcast puts two and two together.

It’s not a romance, but that’s okay, I read epic fantasy with QUILTBAG characters where romance isn’t the plot arc.


The language is lovely, the plot elements of the mysterious, departed Alder who have left remnants of their magic and their artifacts (which kind of look like advanced engineering, but here it’s magic), and the current unrest and how Micah fits into it blend together well, but more questions are raised than ever answered.

The plot crawls.

This book is 392 pages long. And it is the opening act of the story arc.

Everyone who remembers three act structure, raise your hand. The rest of you can peek here.

Some might say that this story ends on a major cliffie, but no, it doesn’t. What it ends on is the inciting incident that directs Act II. Absolutely nothing is resolved, no questions are answered, and a major plot element is resurrected at the end as actually being important rather than a bit of throwaway background. Dozens of plot elements have been introduced, nothing is done with them. Huge chunks of backstory, some only peripherally related to the current action. I read this book and finished all damned 392 pages in a fury, because I have been lied to. This is the opening book of what might be a two book arc, more probably three.

Nowhere on the publisher’s site is this disclosed. A teeny tiny note at the bottom of the listing states that there’s a second book in the series. Bullshit. It’s Act II.

The Amazon listing makes it look like “Strange Chemistry” is the series title. WTF? That’s the name of the publisher. Says so right here.

Regulars here know my feelings on undisclosed serials. Tell me what’s what and let me decide if I want to get involved. Lie to me and I will cut you.

This was sold to me as a complete, standalone story. It isn’t, and when I went to grab the blurb and publisher link off Goodreads, the truth is there to be seen, probably put there by another disgruntled reader. Book 1, book 2. Coming soon. I haven’t decided if I’m too angry to read it. I slogged through 392 pages of buildup, not complete story. And it was a slog, don't think it wasn't because each and every scene added buildup but no conclusion, no satisfaction.  It’s likely to take another 900 pages to work up acts II and III to a satisfying denouement. The payoff would have to be greater than getting that Ring through Mordor to Mount Doom.

What I’ve seen so far is okay but not nearly enough to make me anxious to spend another six or eight or ten hours plus a six month or year wait between volumes getting to whatever final resolution Laura Lam might get around to providing. I have no problem with one Really Big Book getting divided into manageable pieces. Just be open that’s what’s happening.

Life’s short. This fragment of a book is long.2.75 marbles

The Little Crow by Caitlin Ricci

Title: The Little Crow
Author: Caitlin Ricci
Buy at Amber Allure
Buy at All Romance eBooks
Cover Artist: Trace Edward Zaber
Genre: paranormal
Length: 85K / 246 pages
Formats: epub, mobi, pdf, print

Detective Jamison Landry knew his job was never going to be easy. He’s dealt with the worst criminals imaginable and believes in his work and the community he serves. But he’s never met someone quite like Mal before.

The mysterious man, rescued from a basement in which he was chained by cultists, keeps Jamison guessing, both confuses and excites him, and Jamison isn’t sure how he feels about that. Plus, things turn from unusual to downright strange when people start insisting Mal isn’t quite human. And Jamison’s creepy dreams of crows and graveyards don’t make things any better for him.

Will Mal stay around long enough for Jamison to figure out his secrets, even learn his full name, or will this stranger leave him aching for more?

Review:

I had read the beginning of this story in it’s prior incarnation in separate sections. I was intrigued, but wanted all the story in one place. My wish was granted: this new version has the entire story arc.

Detective Jamison Landry has the strangest victim to assist, rescued from a cult intent on some strange kind of mayhem. Weird things happen around Mal, weirder things come out of his mouth. With circumstances twisting around Jamison to throw him into constant contact with Mal, he finds himself both drawn and repelled.


Mal’s pretty straightforward: he wants what he wants, when he wants it, and he’s not used to being thwarted. His offers are sincere if occasionally horrifying, and he’s almost hurt that Jamison keeps turning him down. Almost—he’s got quite the ego, and for good reason, although he does forget that a truly good man is going to have issues with such a one as he.

Mal’s much the more interesting character: Jamison’s just trying to cope, and he spends a goodly chunk of the book in a coma, and then hey, back to work and chase the suspects. I’m afraid this was a bit handwavy, even acknowledging that the doctors are going to be displeased. Mal spends a large portion of the book on an otherly plane, dealing with problems Jamison has no clue about. It’s an interesting take on good vs evil and evil as a greater good. Mal never does explain completely, though he does apologize.

Which is why, when Mal is once again in a position to express his interest in Jamison, (read “find new ways to behave like a creepy stalker”) and when Jamison has a different option for a love interest, who, really, looks like a much better prospect, the ending comes spiraling out of the blue. There’s a lot going on in Mal’s head, Jamison isn’t privy to it, and yet he reacts to achieve the ending as if he’s heard or seen or understands far more than he could possibly have. What he does know raises question about good, evil, and Mal, but I still found it an extreme stretch to get to “I love you.”

I applaud the unique take on the supernatural, and I like Mal, who veers between egotistical maniac, kind of sweet, and total pain in the ass. He does good for bad reasons and does bad for good reasons. He gets most of the character growth, and he’s much more complex than he seemed at first. I was glad to have followed his story. 3.5 marbles