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I was provided a copy of DARK GENESIS by the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.

*SPOILERS*

I am a bit at a loss to know where to begin with DARK GENESIS. I found some aspects highly creative while others made the reading a bit difficult. There were some editing errors, which for the most part, I was able to overlook. There also were numerous grammatical errors, which unfortunately, I found it more difficult to see beyond. I fully understand that dialogue is intended to portray how people speak in real life and so grammar may easily be--and indeed often ought to be--brushed aside in that regard. However, the prose itself flows so much more smoothly when things are in order and I found that that was, all too often, not the case. Thus, some portion of my review is attributable to the same.

DARK GENESIS tells the story of Alyssa, who awakens in a world unknown to her and with no recollection of her past. The world is an alternate reality where a wide variety of creatures are found: witches, vampires, werewolves, and more. In this regard, it is rather like TOY STORY in that in TOY STORY all of the possible different kinds of toys come together. In DARK GENESIS, all the different kinds of creatures are found. Just when I would think we’d been introduced to all the various types, another would pop up—this time a teleporter—now a Frankenstein—now a herbalist/healer—and so on. 

Alyssa discovers when she destroys certain “marked” people/creatures, that some portion of her memories come back to her. This storyline concept was quite creative. However, I found that after about the first 30% of the story, there was a bit too much more of the same: find the “bad guy,” escape from the “bad guy,” “return to the bad guy,” and ultimately, destroy the “bad guy.” Thus, for me the story could have been fairly sufficiently trimmed down.

My primary issue with DARK GENESIS, was that I was never certain if it was supposed to be a dark story or a comedy and I was never convinced that Alyssa was who or what she was said to be. Of course, this was a fantasy story and so, all things are open and possible. However, the “real life” portions of the story—those things that show the vast differences between the worlds at play—were unconvincing. Specifically, a 17 year old CIA agent. (Hmmmm.) Further, while the dialogue was at times funny and cryptic, it also left me with an image of Alyssa as something more like a 12 year old than a 17 year old. Thus, I found it difficult when Alyssa engaged in more adult behavior.

All in all, DARK GENESIS was interesting, but did not leave me longing to return to it or begging for the next installment.

Find out more about DARK GENESIS here.

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I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest, nonreciprocal review. *Spoilers*

Overall, Tangled was well written, made smart use of the character’s thoughts and dialogue to give what seemed to be accurate insight into the ways of teens, and offered some bits of wisdom for young readers. The occasional grammatical or editing error could be easily corrected and took nothing from the story, nor did such color my review. The story moved along and kept me engaged, though admittedly, never at the edge of my seat, or with a deep longing—an itching need—to know what would come next. 

To avoid the pain of having been dumped by her boyfriend, Rachel sells her soul after admitting that she would do anything—anything—to avoid the pain she is feeling. The “anything,” it turns out, was more than Rachel could have anticipated. 

The aspect of the story I found most difficult was the idea that Rachel felt “whole” only when she had a boyfriend. She goes from the arms of Justin, to the arms of Timothy, with little introspection about why she feels the need to do so. Perhaps it is common for teens to behave thusly. (?) Even so, Rachel’s neediness was a bit much. For example, Rachel and Timothy each concede to the other that they couldn’t live without the other. Yet, wasn’t it exactly that idea that had landed Rachel in the spot she was in? Since Rachel seemed a bright girl, able to talk to others and to help them to see ways out of situations in which they felt helpless and weak, I might have expected Rachel to discover her own strength and to acquire, along the way, the knowledge that she could stand on her own. Without that, Rachel remained vulnerable to making the same bad choice the next time around. It was probably this factor more than any other that lead me to rate Tangled as I did.

That said, Maris captured the spirit of “teendom” well. It was the little lines that convinced me that Rachel and her schoolmates were teens—and as to this point—hat’s off to Maris! That is not easily done! Here are just a few examples, out of some of the early pages, of the ways in which Maris did this: the description of the mess in Rachel’s locker; the thoughtless way in which the self-absorbed Justin dumped Rachel on the first day of the new school year; the way Rachel went down the senior hall just to try to catch a glimpse of Justin; the way Rachel grasped at anything Justin said to her as evidence that he still cared; Rachel’s acknowledgement of the figure of the girl, who now was Rachel’s competition, that could have “been on a magazine;” how Rachel’s mother’s chocolate chip pancakes—the very ones Rachel once had loved—now made her roll her eyes; how Rachel’s mother “just didn’t get it;” and so on. 

Good job, Maris!

Learn more about TANGLED here.

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I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest, nonreciprocal review.

*SPOILERS*

I am not an avid reader of historical romance stories. If you are, it is likely you will enjoy this ride. For my part, I have read them. There was a time, quite some years back, when I read a fair number of them. I discontinued largely because I discovered that each was the same story—in different clothing—or with a new hairdo, if you like. The same flawlessly beautiful, high strung and spirited heroine meets the same handsome, but moody, lead male. And, so it was with Gentleman. Before delving into the story, I note that there were occasional copy and editing errors. I found that they did not take from the story and I did not consider them with this review. 

Gentleman opens with Cassandra (a fairly predictable name for a fairly predictable heroine) tending to her horse that is about to foal. Due to difficulties, help is required. Jackson and Colton (again, a fairly predictable name for the fairly predicable lead male), assist Cassandra. Though only weeks since the death of her husband, Cassandra falls immediately under the spell woven by Colton. Of course, it would not be a romance if Colton did not feel the same about Cassandra. The angst of not feeling worthy of one another while simultaneously feeling superior to one another, and the sexual tension, begin.

I had some issues with Cassandra. They weren’t about her being the most beautiful and having the poutiest (?) of lips, or that her bosom was larger than the next, or that she was willing to use the attention of one man to garner that of another. I expect these things in stories in this genre. My issues were more about what she—at the ripe old age of 19—was able to do. Specifically, she was able to translate improved dietary methods used by her mother for people, to the breeding and raising of horses, with results that seemed almost instantaneous. She was able to discover the problem with a stallion the farm had been using for stud service when Colton, even with his history and experience as a horse breeder, had not discovered the problem for two years. She was able to negotiate deals for grain at a significantly reduced price when, again, those who had been in the business for a significant time before her, had not done so. But, my biggest issue with Cassandra was with what she was willing to risk and how little thought she gave to her actions. In that day, a young woman would have risked a great deal to satisfy her longing for a man she knew little about. I appreciate that people have always done as people will always do, and perhaps it is my own understanding of that era (which admittedly may not be entirely accurate), but it seems to me that the risks that came with Cassandra’s position were so great that—at a minimum—Cassandra would have given them some thought. Even so, while she was a bright, talented young woman, when it came to her own welfare, she seemed strangely absent. 

Likewise, Colton was largely predictable. (Fortunately, he knew that the word ‘no’ meant ‘no’—and for that, I thank the authors!) While relentlessly pursued by other local young women, he found himself unworthy; while he could read the signs of the other young women, he could not see that Cassandra longed for him; and while Cassandra was putty in his hands when each time they came together, he did not think he was loveable or that Cassandra might love him. I guess I never quite understood why. . . .

The story moved along and kept me engaged, but I did not find myself waiting with baited breath for the next words.

With all that, those who enjoy historical romance are sure to enjoy Gentleman.

Learn more about NO GENTLEMAN IS HE here.

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I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest, nonreciprocal review.

Generally, I do not read short stories. I find that when I meet a character I like, I want the story to go on. I want to follow that person, get inside his head, discover what happens next. . . . Because short stories are just that—short—that part of the reading experience is not present with a short story. But, I discovered something with Sun. Sun revealed to me that it is for precisely this reason that short stories are so well liked. It is because the characters cannot be followed for the long term that the well-written character stays with the reader. There is a skill and a beauty to that fact, which Howard has captured. 

The Sun is an anthology of short stories published on behalf of the Saluki Welfare Fund. Therein was another thing I learned with Sun. I had never heard of a Saluki before. A breed of dog, also known as the Gazelle Hound, it seems Salukis have come upon hard times. Howard’s anthology was published on their behalf. If they could know it, they would be proud of that fact.

Howard introduces her stories with an invitation to relax with your beverage of choice and “peek into the lives of the people who populate” her imagination and so, I did.

For me, Howard’s characters seemed like real people and I did enjoy the peeks into their lives. In Polly Polo, Julie writes her parents that, because of some odd event that had just transpired, she is feeling “quite blonde.” I expect this is precisely how a grown child might communicate with her parents. Julie, on her way to work in her “elderly car,” that engages in “a bit of asthmatic wheezing on the hilly bits,” runs into some trouble. She struggles with getting a number on her cell while speaking on it to someone at the same time—who hasn’t had that happen?—then resolves her problem. All in all, I identified readily with Julie—and I quite enjoyed the differences between the English of the UK and of the US!

I especially liked Emily’s Hat. I was reminded of times when my son, at 6’4,” was concerned about “standing out.” I told him that since he couldn’t hide, he should walk into a room like he owned it, like he meant everything he wore and was doing, like any attention that came to him was, perhaps, due him—that to do otherwise would make him stand out anyway-but not likely in a positive way! This is precisely what Emily did when she donned her hat and discovered that she could use the brim to allow others to see her or to hide from them completely. “With my hat I can be whoever I wish to be,” Emily said, and in that moment, Emily grew, while still maintaining her own unique, base personality. I think I enjoyed Emily the most of all of the Sun’s characters. 

Howard exercises colorful language and descriptions. An example: “She stood on the kerb and gathered her courage around her, but it felt more of a wet paper bag than protective armour.” That single line provided deep insight into Emily. Or, how about this one: “And I have to giggle when Mam and Da go out: from behind they look like Laurel and Hardy.” A great word-picture, that. Or: “The only bright thing in the place was the gleaming, steaming, coffee machine, snorting exuberant steam at the cups.” Those coffee machines do rather snort, don’t they? 

Overall, the stories were engaging, picturesque, no-nonsense, and insightful. There were numerous gems of wisdom sprinkled throughout. From a non-short story reader, a sincere congratulations for a job well done. 

Learn more about AS THE SUN GOES DOWN here.