A woman is invited to what she thinks will be an all-out orgy, immediately feeling inferior to all the supermodel types. She finds the affair more claA woman is invited to what she thinks will be an all-out orgy, immediately feeling inferior to all the supermodel types. She finds the affair more classy than anticipated, with plenty of new rules. Most people are nice to her but there’s also some jerks, especially after she attracts the attention of a famous stud. One encounter with him, with her in charge, and she’s staying for more despite her previous plans. The erotic scenes were wonderful, but what really set this book apart was the rest: small moments of introspection, surprising humor, and the description of two people genuinely liking each other. I always read to the end, and I’m glad I did this time, as I found this is the author’s first book. If she’s this good her first time out, I definitely look forward to the next.
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A woman is invited to what she thinks will be an all-out orgy, immediately feeling inferior to all the supermodel types. She finds the affair more classy than anticipated, with plenty of new rules. Most people are nice to her but there’s also some jerks, especially after she attracts the attention of a famous stud. One encounter with him, with her in charge, and she’s staying for more despite her previous plans. The erotic scenes were wonderful, but what really set this book apart was the rest: small moments of introspection, surprising humor, and the description of two people genuinely liking each other. I always read to the end, and I’m glad I did this time, as I found this is the author’s first book. If she’s this good her first time out, I definitely look forward to the next....more
There's excellent writing here, with plenty of humor, but there's also long stretches where nothing happens: people--wolves, dragons, and demons--arguThere's excellent writing here, with plenty of humor, but there's also long stretches where nothing happens: people--wolves, dragons, and demons--argue, calm down, then it happens again and again. There were times I wanted to give up, and in fact I did go a few stretches were I left this book for about a week before coming back. This might have made an excellent short story/novella. . .
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There's excellent writing here, with plenty of humor, but there's also long stretches where nothing happens: people--wolves, dragons, and demons--argue, calm down, then it happens again and again. There were times I wanted to give up, and in fact I did go a few stretches were I left this book for about a week before coming back. This might have made an excellent short story/novella. . ....more
In the prologue a mad bomber tries to blackmail a man into going public with his sins in order to keep the bomb from going off. We never hear about thIn the prologue a mad bomber tries to blackmail a man into going public with his sins in order to keep the bomb from going off. We never hear about those two again, as the rest of the story has FBI agents looking for the bad guy, with little to go on except that at each bombing someone was told to leave before things go boom. It’s difficult to give a grade to part of a story, though it helps to know going in that it wouldn’t finish here. The set-up was okay, and there’s good characterization of the lead, though I do wonder what’s causing this sudden—welcome—surge in fictional female FBI agents.
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In the prologue a mad bomber tries to blackmail a man into going public with his sins in order to keep the bomb from going off. We never hear about those two again, as the rest of the story has FBI agents looking for the bad guy, with little to go on except that at each bombing someone was told to leave before things go boom. It’s difficult to give a grade to part of a story, though it helps to know going in that it wouldn’t finish here. The set-up was okay, and there’s good characterization of the lead, though I do wonder what’s causing this sudden—welcome—surge in fictional female FBI agents....more
This book basically takes one small item from a Holmes story and makes a small lecture out of it, but doesn’t really have anything to do with SherlockThis book basically takes one small item from a Holmes story and makes a small lecture out of it, but doesn’t really have anything to do with Sherlock. Each small entry feels like something out of the Sherlock Holmes Encyclopedia (which I proudly own) or wiki; in fact, according to the notes at the end of each chapter, some of the information down here is indeed gathered from Wikipedia. Three of the first five essays cover sports. While not putting down the research work that went into making each article, much more info could be found by a simple internet search. One can imagine the author never running out of topics in which to write these very short treatises, as only a mention in a Holmes story is required for inclusion.
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This book basically takes one small item from a Holmes story and makes a small lecture out of it, but doesn’t really have anything to do with Sherlock. Each small entry feels like something out of the Sherlock Holmes Encyclopedia (which I proudly own) or wiki; in fact, according to the notes at the end of each chapter, some of the information down here is indeed gathered from Wikipedia. Three of the first five essays cover sports. While not putting down the research work that went into making each article, much more info could be found by a simple internet search. One can imagine the author never running out of topics in which to write these very short treatises, as only a mention in a Holmes story is required for inclusion....more
(Note: the first thing I noticed was that the main publicity blurb was written by someone with the same name as the editor.) A new element is found on (Note: the first thing I noticed was that the main publicity blurb was written by someone with the same name as the editor.) A new element is found on Mars that can cure all of the Earth's ills when it comes to energy, if humans can keep their greed in check. (Yeah, didn't think so.) Aliens show up. Lots of people die. The first half had enough to keep me going, but just barely. There was a long and completely unnecessary passage on volcanic geology, which was strange, considering the tiny chapters. The illustrations look like vintage 1990s CGI. It takes a while for the exposition to be over, but once a mystery ship is sighted, the story takes off, at least a little. Boy, did this author get greed right. But of course he had to make the aliens giant babes. I like the twist about the ore. The story did get better as it went along, as well as the writing. Perhaps with a little more revision of the beginning this would have been a tighter, more enjoyable book. The final twist, while sad, seems necessary. I suppose, considering how humans can be, it's no surprise for the most sympathetic characters to be the aliens.
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(Note: the first thing I noticed was that the main publicity blurb was written by someone with the same name as the editor.) A new element is found on Mars that can cure all of the Earth's ills when it comes to energy, if humans can keep their greed in check. (Yeah, didn't think so.) Aliens show up. Lots of people die. The first half had enough to keep me going, but just barely. There was a long and completely unnecessary passage on volcanic geology, which was strange, considering the tiny chapters. The illustrations look like vintage 1990s CGI. It takes a while for the exposition to be over, but once a mystery ship is sighted, the story takes off, at least a little. Boy, did this author get greed right. But of course he had to make the aliens giant babes. I like the twist about the ore. The story did get better as it went along, as well as the writing. Perhaps with a little more revision of the beginning this would have been a tighter, more enjoyable book. The final twist, while sad, seems necessary. I suppose, considering how humans can be, it's no surprise for the most sympathetic characters to be the aliens....more
An artist/restorer gets a visit by yet another “billionaire sexiest man alive,” who takes her to dinner with the promise of a big job. Of course she fAn artist/restorer gets a visit by yet another “billionaire sexiest man alive,” who takes her to dinner with the promise of a big job. Of course she falls in lust with him, and though he can have any woman he wants—and usually does—he thinks she’s perfect for him. I’m sure you’ve heard all that before. As for the surrounding plot, it involves the billionaire’s family, and his arrogance drags her into danger. . . but you’ve heard that before too. The writing itself was pretty good, and I enjoyed the art talk. There could have been a little more on the restoration process, but it’s okay if the author didn’t want to take a chance on being boring. I liked the main female character, but not as much as I usually do in these kinds of stories. The male lead was as douchy as they always are in these stories. All in all, it was fine, but not particularly memorable. I’d label it a missed opportunity; more could have been done here, or at least slightly deviating from the overdone norm.
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An artist/restorer gets a visit by yet another “billionaire sexiest man alive,” who takes her to dinner with the promise of a big job. Of course she falls in lust with him, and though he can have any woman he wants—and usually does—he thinks she’s perfect for him. I’m sure you’ve heard all that before. As for the surrounding plot, it involves the billionaire’s family, and his arrogance drags her into danger. . . but you’ve heard that before too. The writing itself was pretty good, and I enjoyed the art talk. There could have been a little more on the restoration process, but it’s okay if the author didn’t want to take a chance on being boring. I liked the main female character, but not as much as I usually do in these kinds of stories. The male lead was as douchy as they always are in these stories. All in all, it was fine, but not particularly memorable. I’d label it a missed opportunity; more could have been done here, or at least slightly deviating from the overdone norm....more
With big parts about contraceptives and diseases at the beginning, there isn't all that much ecstasy or pleasure. You would think that if someone is iWith big parts about contraceptives and diseases at the beginning, there isn't all that much ecstasy or pleasure. You would think that if someone is interested in this book, they'd already made it past those topics. "This is called working it." Are you kidding me? Who wrote this, a 12 year old? Holy crap, this book just told women they're competing with porn stars to get a man's attention. There are some unbelievably stupid cliches in here. Interesting that in the threesome section it was all one man/two women. Nothing on the possibility of two men/one woman. Again, this feels like it was written by some horny inexperienced teenager.
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With big parts about contraceptives and diseases at the beginning, there isn't all that much ecstasy or pleasure. You would think that if someone is interested in this book, they'd already made it past those topics. "This is called working it." Are you kidding me? Who wrote this, a 12 year old? Holy crap, this book just told women they're competing with porn stars to get a man's attention. There are some unbelievably stupid cliches in here. Interesting that in the threesome section it was all one man/two women. Nothing on the possibility of two men/one woman. Again, this feels like it was written by some horny inexperienced teenager....more
Ten years ago, a racing crash killed their best friend, and put the male protagonist in the hospital. Though the cause was a cut tire, the female leadTen years ago, a racing crash killed their best friend, and put the male protagonist in the hospital. Though the cause was a cut tire, the female lead blames herself, and he blames her too, so now that they’re forced to work together on the same racing team they have to figure out how to deal with those residual emotions, as well as romance blossoming between them. Had to laugh at how this author made up names for the races, the tracks, even the series. In Tammy Kahler’s Kate Reilly series, everything is true to life other than the names of the racers, so it’s an unusual contrast. And I’m always amazed when a writer throws in the name of a favorite movie or a band I know, in this case Halestorm. So all in all, thoroughly enjoyable. Not the same feeling as other racing stories, like Tammy Kahler’s, but then this is a romance, not a mystery. There’s an amazing amount of psychology going on here, from the usual racing stuff to PTSD. Would have felt just the same without the romance, but then I don’t think I’m the target audience here; lack of communication rather than the usual miscommunication was the problem that popped up this time. One thing that annoyed me was that at the beginning of chapter two there’s too many male characters introduced at once! Easy there, tiger. But that was really–well, almost–the only negative. Though the driving scenes are short and undetailed, almost treated like afterthoughts, the behind-the-scenes stuff was fun. And it’s set up for a sequel. But I would be remiss if I did not point out something that bugged me. Though it’s made obvious that the one-dimensional villain and his cronies cause crashes and otherwise screw with the protagonists, they never get punished. There’s not even a mention of the race stewards—if there are any—checking the video evidence. And while it’s said a few times that Gabrielle checks her social media, nowhere does it say how the internet feels about the jerk antagonist. Those details would have made me feel better about the ending. At times it feels like, despite setting this in the world of auto racing, the author has no interest in it, just using it as a backdrop. 3.5 pushed up to 4/5
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Ten years ago, a racing crash killed their best friend, and put the male protagonist in the hospital. Though the cause was a cut tire, the female lead blames herself, and he blames her too, so now that they’re forced to work together on the same racing team they have to figure out how to deal with those residual emotions, as well as romance blossoming between them. Had to laugh at how this author made up names for the races, the tracks, even the series. In Tammy Kahler’s Kate Reilly series, everything is true to life other than the names of the racers, so it’s an unusual contrast. And I’m always amazed when a writer throws in the name of a favorite movie or a band I know, in this case Halestorm. So all in all, thoroughly enjoyable. Not the same feeling as other racing stories, like Tammy Kahler’s, but then this is a romance, not a mystery. There’s an amazing amount of psychology going on here, from the usual racing stuff to PTSD. Would have felt just the same without the romance, but then I don’t think I’m the target audience here; lack of communication rather than the usual miscommunication was the problem that popped up this time. One thing that annoyed me was that at the beginning of chapter two there’s too many male characters introduced at once! Easy there, tiger. But that was really–well, almost–the only negative. Though the driving scenes are short and undetailed, almost treated like afterthoughts, the behind-the-scenes stuff was fun. And it’s set up for a sequel. But I would be remiss if I did not point out something that bugged me. Though it’s made obvious that the one-dimensional villain and his cronies cause crashes and otherwise screw with the protagonists, they never get punished. There’s not even a mention of the race stewards—if there are any—checking the video evidence. And while it’s said a few times that Gabrielle checks her social media, nowhere does it say how the internet feels about the jerk antagonist. Those details would have made me feel better about the ending. At times it feels like, despite setting this in the world of auto racing, the author has no interest in it, just using it as a backdrop. 3.5 pushed up to 4/5...more
First of all, great title for a study on a drummer (icymi, re-percussions). And yet the emphasis here is not on Neil Peart’s drumming, but rather a c First of all, great title for a study on a drummer (icymi, re-percussions). And yet the emphasis here is not on Neil Peart’s drumming, but rather a chronological history of his life with an emphasis on his lyrics. The author is as much a fanboy as me and everyone else reading this, which is refreshing, but for the most part he still manages to make this sound somewhat scholarly. There’s a lot more philosophical ramblings than I think anyone has ever tried to make of the lyrics, especially the Stoic school, as he breaks the career of Rush into parts according to when one era of music stopped and another started; I do that too, but mine don’t quite mesh with his. There’s quite a bit here that reminds me of the documentary made of the band, with special attention given to all the famous musicians they’ve inspired. I don’t think this broke any new ground other than the philosophical musings mentioned above, but it’s still an interesting addition for those who have to have everything Rush-ian. 3.5 pushed up to 4/5
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First of all, great title for a study on a drummer (icymi, re-percussions). And yet the emphasis here is not on Neil Peart’s drumming, but rather a chronological history of his life with an emphasis on his lyrics. The author is as much a fanboy as me and everyone else reading this, which is refreshing, but for the most part he still manages to make this sound somewhat scholarly. There’s a lot more philosophical ramblings than I think anyone has ever tried to make of the lyrics, especially the Stoic school, as he breaks the career of Rush into parts according to when one era of music stopped and another started; I do that too, but mine don’t quite mesh with his. There’s quite a bit here that reminds me of the documentary made of the band, with special attention given to all the famous musicians they’ve inspired. I don’t think this broke any new ground other than the philosophical musings mentioned above, but it’s still an interesting addition for those who have to have everything Rush-ian. 3.5 pushed up to 4/5...more
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