Romance reviews, writing meta and the occasional rant from a couple of techie readers/writers.
Could this be the next trend in YA/paranormal romance?
Impromptu Romance Review: The Goddess Test, by Aimee Carter
I have a soft spot for Hades/Persephone stories. While The Goddess Test is not a conventional Hades/Persephone story, (and I can’t explain that more without spoilers), it is absolutely wonderful. Seriously, I read it start to end in one reading.
The Goddess Test is the story of Kate, an 18-year-old who has spent most of her young life caring for her mother, who has cancer. Her mom’s dying wish is to go home to the town where she was born, Eden, Michigan. There she meets a mean girl, who decides to pull a prank. When the prank goes wrong, Henry helps Kate out, but at a price. When the time comes, Kate is skeptical, but in time she accepts his challenge, though it may cost her life.
I am not a huge YA reader, but even if you don’t like YA, this is a great book. Carter doesn’t spend it dwelling on high school mundane crap, nor does she waste her high school scenes. While you’re reading them, you don’t realize how much she’s setting up, and the payoff at the end of the book is totally worth it.
The Goddess Test gets an A+, and I definitely ordering a copy to keep when it releases on April 26th.
Current TBR Pile:
In no particular order:
Stone Kissed, Keri Stevens
Kindred, Octavia Butler
Bad Blood, LA Banks
Seraphim, Michele Hauf
A Happily Ever After of Her Own, Nadia Lee
I found Solstice Heat as an advert on the new aRe Cafe, and I was intrigued, especially since this follows on the heels of the Romance Club discussion on how very white white white the paranormal world is in Romancelandia. I love PNR, but the limited POCs kind of detracts from the thing that I like about PNR, which is that it’s our world, with a bit of magic. No POCs kind of zaps out the “this is the world we live, and you can just see out of the corner of your eye” kind of feel that a good PNR has, so I was very happy to find this book.
The book has an intriging premise: what if an Alpha male didn’t heal from his injuries? Jason, the hero, is an Alpha who had to step down from his duties because of a spinal injury. He uses a wheelchair, and Gio comes into his life via a flirtation with a woman online. Gio, the heroine, is her older sister, and when she finds out about the shenanigans, confronts him about flirting with her sister.
Gio brings out his inner wolf, and he shifts for the first time since his accident, bites and claims her. There is a lot of sexy sexing, for this is a Loose-Id title. *G*
The new Alpha wants to get rid of Jason, because apparently much of the pack would still rather have him as Alpha, and they embrace Gio as a sign that he may return to his old position. Pack politics ensue, and Gio proves herself a worthy Alpha, and helps Jason reconcile his Alpha nature with his new body.
I really enjoyed this story, and my only complaint about it is that there were a few loose threads at the end - Gio’s sister is one, and a nasty pack female is another. Ms. Brown has the bones of a great longer version if she were ever so inclined - I’d love to read more about Gio’s past and how it made her the Alpha that she is today. I will peruse more of Leila Brown’s backlist, because I’d like to see what she does with a longer format. I give Solstice Heat a solid B, for a hot, sweet short.
*I will put this with the caveat of this is a high-sensuality title, and remark that it does not shy away from violence. Ms. Brown’s werewolves are not sweet and cuddly.
—Heather
Impromptu Review: Unwed and Undead, by MaryJanice Davidson
This is the sort of marvelous tome that people refer when they sneer at beach reading or romance in general. It’s the novel equivalent of a summer movie action-comedy.
For real, it’s got every cliché you can imagine, from a shoe/shopping obsessed heroine, to a sassy ethnic sidekick, a gay friend, and a HUNG like HELL leading hero. Oh dear, you’d think we’d didn’t like Undead and Unwed. Au contraire, we LOVE it.
While we cannot deny that fact the hero is somewhat of Mary-sue with unexpected phenomenal power. The heroine and her compatriots are too entertaining not to want to follow through. The heroine’s sense of humor and snarky remarks makes it a delight to witness a potential Vampire apocalypse through her eyes.
And frankly, “placeholder heroine” vs. “Mary Sue” is kind of a “to-MAY-to” vs. “to-MAH-to” thing.
What makes this heroine different is that she’s a bit more than just a shell for the reader to wear to fill with ourselves. She has a distinct personality all her own, which makes it understandable when her friends stick by her up to and through death.
We also love that in this particular paranormal, even though our intrepid heroine sees the sexy sexiness of the hero, it does not immediately render her too stupid to live. In fact most of the silly things she does are more for trying to maintain normality in spite of her new life, er, unlife.
Betsy’s personal life before and after death are easy to cheer for the heroine over. Her reaction and view of those situations are so lively she becomes a bit of the personification of our id and what we wish we could do. Hell, I began to wish for the blender she used to get revenge in one circumstance - a Blend-tec.
Her friends play a key role in the novel as well, not just as props to show how awesome she is. We don’t see her bonding over gratuitous shopping with her best friend. In fact, we see her and her best friend bonding over the Heroine’s new abilities and they even come to a disagreement about what she should do about them. She has a sensible reaction of wanting to stay out of a paranormal war that’s brewing. It takes a large amount of convincing in the form of Jimmy Choos and Manolo Blahniks to convince her to join the fight.
Aaaand that brings us to the chick-lit staples of shopping.
I cannot lie; I do not care about shoes. Well, I care about my Mizunos, but…heels? Hmm, maybe if someone dangled a huge supply of Susan Nichole handbags under my nose, it might tempt me to join the legions of the undead or come back from the dead to acquire them.
We do see our heroine out of her depth and unsure of her own strength. And most satisfyingly, we eventually see her come out on top. I think that what many people don’t understand about romance is that ultimately, the lady should come out on top, and when it’s all about her and her awesomeness, people kind of don’t know how to react. It’s why romance gets pooed as “trashy”.
In conclusion, this is definitely a worthy escapist book to pick up. If you want a fun read for your vacation or miniature stay-cation, this is one to put on your list.
