Romance reviews, writing meta and the occasional rant from a couple of techie readers/writers.
Sabine…and the Beast has a hot, hunky Scottish werewolf as the hero. Go buy the book.
What? You need to know more than that? All right, all right. The book begins with our hot Scot werewolf, Ciar, looking for his mate. He has finally come home from a war with the Lion shifters, having finally formed a peaceful alliance. Ciar expects Sabine to be waiting for him, but she is not there. Unbeknownst to him, his mother had a witch lay a curse on Sabine, because Ciar is High Lord, and Sabine is only a commoner. His mother wants a political alliance, not a love match. The curse was meant to make him forget her, but the spell backfired and anyone she touches forgets Sabine – even her own mother. When Ciar finds Sabine, he proposes that they confront his mother and the witch, but even the witch doesn’t remember her or the spell, so undoing the magic will be difficult.
Nevertheless, Ciar is determined to break the spell, and claim Sabine as his mate and High Lady, so they travel back to his home for a final confrontation. During the trip, they find ways to work around the ‘no touching’ problem the spell has created, and despite the short length of the story, there’s a good amount of plot (and steamy love scenes!) packed into its short length (unlike Ciar’s length…which is lengthier, if you know what I mean, and I think you do).
Sabine….and the Beast is a short story in a series, and I’m looking forward to reading the next one, Kisri, which will deal with the Lion shifters mentioned earlier. It is a solid B+.
To Be Read/Reviewed
The To-Be Read Pile is EPIC, y’all.
Forever Vampire, Michele Hauf
Sabine…and the Beast, Moira Rogers (totally psyched about this one. Hot Scot werewolf? Where can I get one of my own??)
Blood of the Maple, Dana Marie Bell (dryads and vampires, oh my!)
A Borrowed Scot, Karen Ranney (in progress!)
The Girl in the Steel Corset, Kady Cross
Silver Bound, Ella Drake
Finished, to Be Reviewed, soon!
Stone Kissed, Keri Stevens (t’was good, would like to do a tag team w/Katie on it)
The Twisted Tale of Stormy Gale, Christine Bell (let me tell you, this story was short, sweet and so good that I turned around and bought Naughty Godmother by her alter ego Chloe Cole. OMG.
Also, in a semi-related note, I am so totally pumped for the steampunk-a-palooza at Carina Press. Both the steampunk titles I’ve read from Carina were awesome and I am looking forward to trying some more. Y’all take the nook shop browser away from my hands until I get the backlist done though, all right?
I picked this up for the sheer cracktacular descrip of steampunky, gaslighty goodness, a cowboy shifter, and a non-shrinking violet heroine. I am about halfway through and so far I am not at all disappointed. :D
I am also reading What a Dragon Should Know by G.A. Aiken…but I have exhausted my bookbuying budget till payday next week, so I am trying to stall, because I know damn well I’m gonna download the next one as soon as I finish Gwenvael’s book. I can’t do that with Wilder’s Mate, because the next one isn’t out yet.
—Heather
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
