Tempest Rising by Nicole Peeler

Jane True lives in the small town of Rockabill, Maine. She'd always felt herself something of an outsider, but she's just found out that may be more true than she realized - she is only half-human. When she discovers a dead body, she is pulled into the world of supernaturals and begins to understand how different she really is. But this new world is dangerous, and with a killer targeting half-humans it will be up to Jane and her new friends to discover who the killer is before it's too late.

I should love this book - all the ingredients are there. It ticks so many of the boxes of my favourite things, but it doesn't all work for me. The part that works, works really well, but the part that doesn't is rather like an annoying toothache that you're constantly aware of.

First the good stuff.

The cover. I think it's original and fun, something which gives the series a unique look. It's nice to see something a little different.

I love the heroine. She's snarky, self-depracting and klutzy.

"It was also rather handy...to have access to one's own personal sex shop during long periods of abstinence...such as the last eight years of my life."

The book has an almost manic sense of humour, usually only witnessed as events spiral completely out of control. You know when everything is falling apart around you but you keep going forwards hoping that if you do, at some point either the world will catch up with you or you'll catch up with the world. But in the meantime you're just going to keep smiling.

I really liked Jane's inner voice, the way she processed her thoughts about people. And the third person is written so tightly you are right there with her. She's a very honest and real character.

I also like how we start off in this 'reasonably' normal world and as it becomes apparent that nothing is quite what it appears, we see the world in a completely new way through Jane's eyes. But it's not the world that has changed, just Jane's perspective of it. For example I loved the fact that one of the supernaturals - a shifter - has decided to live his twilight years as a human being's pampered pet. jane only knew him as an animal not a person. It's only once she enters the supernatural world that she starts to see things are not always as simple as they appear.

While I liked the relationship Jane developed with Ryu the vampire.

And then Ryu was kissing me.
And then I was agreeing to everything he said.
Little rat bastard.

I didn't love it. I think part of the reason for this is that Ryu feels like a temporary hero, a placeholder until the 'real' hero turns up. Jane mentions how often Ryu laughs, comparing it to 'barking like a seal', 'yipping', and I can't shake the feeling that in a book or so, she's going to start finding it annoying. (And turn to Anyan, the more reserved hero waiting in the wings). I just felt slightly like there was a big signpost saying - This is what's going to happen.

I think I'd already mentioned in a previous blog post that Jane is somewhat obsessed with clothes, which is not something that works for me. That's not specific to this book, it's not something I find interesting in general, there's also a bit of designer name dropping and quite a few pop culture references which I think is not always a good thing it very much ends up tying a book to a specific time and place. I got most but not all of them which means - unless you're prepared to research the reference - you don't get the joke.

I don't want to put anyone off. I definitely think this is a book which is worth checking out. Especially if you like slightly fluffier UF. The heroine is very appealing and the dialogue is sparkling and funny.

"Why didn't you tell me you could talk?"
..."I'm sorry," he said, his tail going down between his legs. "We didn't want to give you too many shocks in one night."
"Oh yes, it's a better plan to spread the shocks out so I can embarrass myself as an added bonus," I spat back.

Maybe it's the fact that recently I seem to prefer my UF with a high level of angst and this is slightly too jolly for me. I really want to like it, I want to love it but for whatever reason I'm just not meshing with the story. However, if you prefer slightly lighter UF this is one that I'd recommend.

E-Book Prequels - Yay or Nay?

So at the moment I'm reading Angel's Blood by Nalini Singh. This is book 1 in the Guild Hunter series. Before this book was released an e-book prequel Angel's Pawn was (and still is) available to buy. The e-book is a standalone set in the same universe as the main book.

This isn't the first series where this has happened. Gena Showalter's Lords of the Underworld series also had a standalone e-book prequel - The Darkest Fire. This book will soon be available in the print anthology Into the Dark.

I wondered what everyone thought about this kind of thing. I admit I'm not keen. If I'm following a series in e-book I'd rather stick to e-book, if I'm following it in print I like to have the whole thing in print. I don't like to mix and match.

I'm pleased that the prequels aren't required reading for the rest of the series. But I still can't help feeling that I'm missing something. But if at some point in the future the stories are going to be available in print anthologies I'd rather wait and get the story in print.

So am I just being a stick in the mud? Am I missing out? Or do you prefer to kepp e-book series and print series separate as well?

I have a copy of Touch of Evil by C.T. Adams and Cathy Clamp to give away to one poster to this thread. Winner to be chosen at random by randomnumber.org on Friday.

Winner of the....

...Dresses and/or Food giveaway is

Nicole

Nicole posted the second comment and the number picked at random.org was 2. I have a copy of Lord of the Dark Sun, ready to be posted to you.

DIK Challenge/ MM Challenge Review - Islands by Samantha Kane

I'm reviewing this as part of both the DIK Challenge and the M/M challenge.

Blurb -

Lieutenant Commander Gabriel Conlan, United States Navy Seabees, knows he’s not in Kansas anymore when he steps off the launch at the small island of Ile Dorée and sees gorgeous Frenchman René Dubois waiting for him on the dock. The year is 1943, the place is the Pacific and the world is at war. Free from the censure of the military, Gabe has an explosive affair with René. But when the world intrudes, Gabe denies René and tries to forget the best sex of his life.

The only westerner on his small Pacific island, René is desperately lonely. When the tall, lanky American steps onto his dock, René knows his life will never be the same. He teaches Gabe how to make love to a man and, unexpectedly, falls in love. René will brave prejudice, Japanese Zeros and Gabe’s reluctance to find love at last.

In keeping with January and February I've chosen a book from another DIK lady, Islands was one of Renee's picks.

I usually steer clear of historicals mainly because I read them until I was sick of the genre in my twenties. However, I am quite interested in stories set during World War 2, maybe because the history is more recent.

There were things I loved about this story but I also had a couple of niggles.

Things I loved first.

The prose is lush and there's a real sense of being on an island in the South Pacific. I can completely picture Ile Dorée, and René in particular is very clear in my head.

The love scenes between the two men are hot and beautifully written, especially the first seduction scene between the two men. There was a clear sense of almost a mating dance, that both men had to be cautious until they were each certain of the other. Being in Gabe's point of view for this moment we are aware that he knows he's being seduced.

"Christ, they were done with dinner. On to dessert, apparently."

Gabe is drawn to René but he's also wary. Gabe is in the military, whilst René is a civilian; Gabe has so much more to lose if things go wrong.

The relationship between the two men develops very quickly. I can (somewhat) accept this because of the time the story is set. People take more risks and chances with their lives during a war, they have to grasp what happiness they can and take it while it is there. However, there were a couple of times when I felt the characters had thoughts that they weren't in a position to make after only knowing each other a few hours.

In a way my main niggle relates to this. I wish the story had been longer, that Samantha Kane had been able to take more time in exploring the relationship. This is a complaint I find I often make about m/m stories. Just the feeling that there is so much more story there to be told. The main parts of the story are there - boy meets boy etc. But I think if the story could have been longer I would have loved it even more. Maybe we would have also had the opportunity to find out more about Watson (a secondary character) and have a greater insight into what he thought about René and Gabe. The focus of the story (rightly so, given its length) remains tightly on the main characters, and whilst the story and epilogue satisfies, I wish there had been an opportunity to develop the story further.

Dresses and/or Food

So I accept that my UF heroine cannot spend the whole book running around killing zombies and slaying vampires - apart from anything else that would be boring! Sometimes she has to do other things - research, investigation, snog the handsome werewolf. But authors also include other things to flesh out the world in which the heroine/hero lives. I'm going to discuss two of them today - one of which bores me to tears, and the other which I love. Quite what this says about me I'm not sure.

I am bored to death by pages and pages of description about CLOTHES!

I've just read a book where the heroine spends four pages trying on various outfits and shoes, along with loving descriptions of the line, cut and colour. Arrrgghhhhhh go and slay some creature from hell already!

If it's necessary to the plot, tell me it's a purple dress, if you must, tell me it's a purple Vera Wang - like I know what that means, I'm more of a jeans and t-shirt kind of gal. But I don't care that it's a purple 'whoever' from this season, cut down to here, slashed up to there, in soft velvet with a cotton and lace trim, a scalloped hemline and gold thread detailing. If I want that much information I'll read about it in Vogue or Glamour (not). Can we get back to killing zombies now?

I also hate when authors put their heroines in impractical clothes. She's running after a vampire over uneven ground in four inch heels.

Really?

She's GOING TO BREAK HER NECK!

These loving outfit descriptions often seem to go hand in hand with a plethora of designer name dropping. Which usually leaves me wondering if the author is getting some kind of commission.

Rant over.

Descriptions of food on the other hand....drifts off a little. If an author can write a brilliant description of an apple pie, warm from the oven, buttery pastry crumbling underneath a knife to reveal a juicy filling and just the hint of cinnamon in the steam. I am sold.

I love authors who can write wonderful descriptions of food. Maybe this is because I'm usually reading in between meals and if I read for a long time I start to get hungry. Maybe I'm more forgiving of food descriptions (because unlike clothes, which often feel quite two-dimensional to me) because they involve so many senses - taste, touch, sight, smell - they make the world of the characters feel more solid, more real.

Maybe it's because food is easier to weave into the plot - discussions over meal times help reveal things about characters, as can what the characters eat and how they eat it. Whereas changing clothes or trying different outfits on, stops the action. I'm more willing to linger over scenes set around meals, trying to take everything in; outfit changes? I just want to get onto the next bit of plot.

Thoughts? Comments? Do you prefer food or clothes? Or are there other extraneous descriptions that get on your nerves.

I have a copy of Lord of the Dark Sun by Stobie Piel to give away to one poster to this thread. Name to be chosen by random number at random.org on Friday/Saturday.

Rosemary and Rue by Seanen McGuire

Rosemary and Rue begins the story of October (Toby) Daye. A changeling, she is caught between the mortal and fae worlds. Living in the mortal world, working as a detective, she has a family and has made a place for herself. Unfortunately the world of Faerie doesn't release its grasp that easily and on one evening she loses everything...for fourteen years. We catch up with Toby trying to live an anonymous existence but the world of Faerie is patient and when Countess Evening Winterrose is murdered, Toby is compelled by the victim's dying curse to investigate the murder.

I've been looking at a few reviews of this story and I've come to the conclusion that whether you hate it or love it will largely depend on your opinion of the heroine. I loved her.

For me, it was very much a character based novel, the more you are compelled by the characters and their lives, the more I think you will enjoy the book. The only other author I can think of that made me love a character so quickly is Kelley Armstrong. In just a few pages Seanan McGuire made me care about October and I appreciated the fact that when she was transformed in the first few pages of the novel, that she wasn't anthropomorphised she wasn't a human being trapped in the body of an animal, she was the animal. Somehow that's more horrific, to feel yourself slipping away and know that in a few moments the only life you'll ever remember is the one that you've been transformed into.

I also admit here that I'm a sucker for a book with Shakespearean undertones. 'Rosemary and rue' comes from Hamlet, chapter one opens with a quote from the play and it also holds some parallels with the play. A protagonist being charged to solve/avenge a murder.

I think I'd almost despaired of finding something new and original in UF - preferably ferret free - and yet here it is. October is a melancholy heroine, so if you prefer something jolly, this one probably isn't going to be for you. But she has lost so much, she has a right to be withdrawn.

All thinking did was make me remember what I'd already lost.

She's working on autopilot, merely existing, but the world she's a part of won't let her do that indefinitely. And Rosemary and Rue in a lot of ways is about her seeing her previous life through new eyes and finding out things are maybe not the way she always thought they were and the people she knew maybe don't belong in the pigeonholes she's put them in. She's been drawn into this mess against her will and the situation becomes more complex the further she's pulled in.

I've never liked being looked at like I was a hero.

But that doesn't mean that when she's put on the spot she walks away. She sees her 'quest' through to the end.

Confession - I am going to be a Toby/Tybalt shipper.

...it's something I can count on. Dawn comes, the moon wanes, and Tybalt hates me.

Tybalt is the King of the Cats and I like him because he is (I think) completely different to any other 'hero' I've read. (I put 'hero' in quotes here, because there is no definite suggestion - though there are a couple of hints, that there will ever be anything more than emnity between them). I love him. He reminds me of a little boy who pushes the girl he likes into a mud puddle, pulls her braids,drops spiders down the back of her dress and then can't understand why she doesn't like him. There is such crackling chemistry between them and it's interesting that he sees her perhaps better than she sees herself.

"No," he said, "you didn't want to know. You pigeonholed her the way you've pigeonholed everybody else,..."

But when she needs help, he's the one she goes to, mainly on the theory that no one would ever believe she would.

I don't want to give the impression that it's all doom and gloom. There's some sharp and cutting humour in there - loved the comment about Tinkerbell and the microwave - but it's kept in its place. There's also some good creepy stuff, surely six of the scariest words to be put into a sentence are - "There was someone else in the car."

The whole world is incredibly well realized and peopled with interesting characters - Sylvester, Tybalt, Lily, Luna, Rayseline, Julie, The Luidaeg, the rose goblin. Information/lore about the universe is interwoven into the plot without it feeling infodumpy. But if I had one quibble it would be that rather than a pronunciation guide in the front I wish that there had been an explanation of the various faerie species that are mentioned. I'm not familiar with all of them and it would be nice to have had a reference point.

For me at the end, there was a sense of hope. She's rejoined the world, albeit reluctantly and I am counting the days til A Local Habitation is available. This is one series that I'm going to become addicted to. Highly recommended.

Do you ever...

.
...read a sex scene and just wish the author hadn't bothered?
.