Review: The Harlot by Saskia Walker

Book Title/Author: The Harlot by Saskia Walker
Publisher/Year Published:May 2011 by Harlequin Spice
Where I got it: The library as an eBook
Rating: 2/5 stars

Summary:via Goodreads

It is a Dark Era, one when a lusty lass will do what she must to survive. Even if it means bartering flesh for a palmful of coins…

Forced to watch her mother burned at the stake and separated from her siblings in the aftermath, Jessie Taskill is similarly gifted, ripe with a powerful magic that must stay hidden. Until one night when she's accused by a rival, and Jessie finds herself behind prison walls with a roguish priest unlike any man of the cloth she has known.

In reality, Gregor Ramsay is as far from holy as the devil himself, but his promise of freedom in return for her services may be her salvation. Locked into a dubious agreement, Jessie resents his plan to have her seduce and ruin his lifelong enemy. But toying with Gregor’s lust for her is enjoyable, and she agrees to be his pawn while secretly intending to use him just as he is using her.

The Harlot, an erotic romance centered around sex and a revenge scheme, to me was just okay. The first few chapters are rather jarring and you are pretty much thrown into sex. Seriously, one moment you are reading a story about a slightly raucous bar scene and then bare asses are up in the air! I am not jittery about the eroticism of this book (nor bare asses in the air in context I guess ha), but for the first 100 pages or so it was a book of erotic encounters held together with a loose narrative. It wasn't until really half the book was over that we saw any forward plot movement with the revenge thing.

The sex was pretty steamy, and other adjectives for erotic that I can't think of right now. Although from a story telling perspective, some of it was completely unnecessary and somewhat random. I haven't read too many erotic romances, and the ones I have were dismal, so I don't have much to go by if this is the norm or just so for this book.

The story could have been better if the characters were more developed outside of the sex or how the sex affected them. I know this is erotic romance, but I still expect more than what this gave me. It was like they had one other character trait outside of being horny (Jessie: witch; Gregor: revenge-driven).

That said though, it wasn't horrible. It wasn't purple prosey or entirely lacking a plot. And a lot of the sensual scenes made sense in the context of the plot. And you know, I finished the book. That says a lot right there. Toward the end I skimmed a bit, but I honest to goodness finished the book. So many times these days I have been giving myself an out of the DNF for books I just couldn't stand. But I read this one, which means something.

Overall, it was okay. Readable, steamy, but okay.

Review: A Hint of Wicked by Jennifer Haymore

Book Title/Author: A Hint of Wicked by Jennifer Haymore
Publisher/Year Published: June 2009 by Forever
Where I got it: Borders Blowout
Rating: 2/5 stars

Summary:via Goodreads

Sophie, the Duchess of Calton, has finally moved on. After seven years mourning the loss of her husband, Garrett, at Waterloo, she has married his cousin and heir, Tristan. Sophie gives herself to him body and soul. . . until the day Garrett returns from the Continent, demanding his title, his lands-and his wife.

Now Sophie must choose between her first love and her new love, knowing that no matter what, her choice will destroy one of the men she adores. Will it be Garrett, her childhood sweetheart, whose loss nearly destroyed her once already? Or will it be Tristan, beloved friend turned lover, who supported her through the last, dark years and introduced her to a passion she had never known? As her two husbands battle for her heart, Sophie finds herself immersed in a dangerous game-where the stakes are not only love . . . but life and death.

Wow. A historical romance where the hero is not clear for a very, very long time. How refreshing and interesting. Two dukes, one duchess. What to do?

That fact, its pretty cover, and the dollar price at Borders was why I purchased the book. I was curious as to how it was going to turn out, since it breaks at least one of the "rules" of romance novels: "Who is the hero?" How is she suppose to be faithful to him when she nor I knows who it is?

Many a time reading this novel, which was quite a page turner, I was thinking to myself: "Who should I root for?" Who did I want to win the girl? A problem I often have in reading love triangles is who do I think is right for the heroine. This time it just stressed me out. I kept putting myself in her shoes.

One day my husband, whom I love, dies at war. His best friend and I spend years looking for him to no avail. I start to love said best friend and get married to him. We are happy when husband one comes back demanding his wife.

Seriously this is the most stressful thing ever.

I had empathy for both of them. Neither was the clear loser. I understood where both were coming from in their situations. Sophie though sometimes seemed a little too wishy-washy for someone described as strong. I couldn't help but think she was trying to have her cake and eat it too. I know that the whole situation would be SO confusing, I mean, I was just the READER and I was completely bowled over. But they kept saying she was so proactive, but I just didn't see it. I guess though stress educed emotions can be pretty confusing things and can take you and turn you on your head.

For a historical non erotic labeled romance, there were some "unusual" sex scenes. Nothing to really put me off, but to be honest I was so curious as to the outcome, I skipped a good deal of them.

It was still an okay book. The plot made sense to me but the ending just pissed me off. After all the stress they went through, the things they pulled, the wrap up was like "Somehow I think everything is okay now. We're cool. Even though I literally wanted to kill you an hour ago" What?!

The idea was super interesting. What would you do with two husbands? But the characters were not developed all that well and I didn't care about them as much as I wanted to know the rational for the resolution.

I may try this author again, but right now it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Six Degrees of Separation: Book B

In honor of Six Degrees of Separation (play premiered on May 16, 1990) and Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon (headlined on April 7, 1994, do the following:

A. Read any book off your TBR
AND
B. Read a book that the author is at a maximum of six degrees of separation from the author in Part A. In your post for this task you must explain the connection in order to get credit.

Book Title/Author: In the Electric Eden: Stories by Nick Arvin
Year Published: January 28th 2003 by Penguin (Non-Classics)
Where I got it: New books shelf at my campus library
Rating: 2/5 stars

This was the second book in the Six Degrees Challenge. I found this collection of short stories on the shelf at my library and it looked interesting. Some of these stories were really interesting, but most of them were ridiculously depressing.

Overall it was okay. Nothing I would pick up again, but most of the stories made me think, if not about life then at least how many pages were left until the next one started.

Although, my inner computer scientist does have to give props to the phrase "binary smile."

Again, how I completed the 6 degree challenge:

Book A: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Book B: In the Electric Eden: Stories by Nick Arvin

Ray Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451 which is being (re)made into a movie directed by Frank Darabont.
Frank Darabont also directed The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and The Mist, all written by Steven King.
Steven King was on Late Night with Conan O'Brien in Feb 1999
Conan O'Brien also interviewed Fred Savage in Feb 1999
Fred Savage graduated from Stanford where Nick Arvin is also a grad.

Retro Challenge: The Mod Squad: Book A

Note: Retro challenge posts go back to a challenge completed in the past and share with you my review then with my thoughts today

In honor of our Mod Squad, read 2 books - one from Lori's (the TNBBC Mod's) shelf and one from Cynthia (the Seasonal Challenge Mod's) shelf - by an author you've never read before. The book can be on their TBR or Read shelves.

This is a two part challenge, so we will feature one of those today.

Book Title/Author:Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Publisher/Year Published: 1991 by Dell
Where I got it: The library because everyone and the mother's half-cousin's maiden aunt twice removed had read it and loved it
Rating: 2/5 stars

From June 2009:

You know I started off liking this book. I really did. Even at 200 pages in I was still enjoying it. But then something happened and it started to lose its "magic." It's been a while since I actually read it but I remember the feelings of "What?" and "I am pretty sure I could have conveyed the exact same feeling/thing in about 20 less pages" pretty well.

I think it started near the climax. It was done acceptably well. Now lets get to the wrapping up part. What there are still 200 pages? What the hell happens there?

One of the things I really hate when reading is a book that goes on and on after what is clearly the climax (my biggest problem with Kite Runner as well). I mean there were some interesting parts that happened after, but since this was already going to be a series, why not just move it over a book and end it with the reader feeling invigorated and not end already!

I feel like I am in the minority in the dislike. And going back to some notes I took while reading it, I was enjoying it. But I have this feeling that if I pick up the next books in the series, I will hate myself.

So in conclusion. It was OK. Just OK. Maybe a good. An OK and a half. Will I be picking up the next books in the series? Unlikely. I feel like there are better books in the world that I can spend my time reading.

Overall, I still feel the same way. I just don't get it. Well, I get it more than I get Twilight but that's a whole different can of worms. It has time travel, love, action, interesting characters (when they are not being ridiculous). It has a lot of things.

I realize I have a inherent vendetta against long books. If I feel it can be cut, I don't want it in there. I like plot driven by well rounded characters. At 800+ pages, this has fallen into my "too long!" box of no. I probably would have given the second a go if it wasn't for that pet peeve. I have liked long books before (eg The Brothers Karamazof, Gone With the Wind, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) but I think I judge them harsher.

How about you? What is your feeling on long books? Skip/Skim/Savor?

The Name Game: Book A

Let's Play The Name Game
A. For the first half of the task, read any book you like of at least 100 pages.
AND
B. For the second half of the task read another book (of at least 100 pages) whose author’s first or last name, is the same as the last name of the author of the book you read for the first half of the task.

Well, I've finished the first half of this challenge, and decided to do the review for that book:

Book Title/Author: Promise Me Tonight by Sara Lindsey
Publisher/Year Published: 2010 by Signet
Where I got it: Another... interesting cover. It called to me when looking for an eBook to read that fit a challenge.
Rating: 2/5 stars

This book is about a girl, Isabella Weston, who falls in love with her neighbor, James (who is best friends with her older brother), at an early age. She knows she will marry him and stops at nothing to get the outcome she desires. James, a emphatic bachelor, though stunned by the beauty she has turned out to be, is unmoved by her machinations. Hijinks ensue.

There were times when reading this book that I literally laughed out loud. Sadly, these times did not outweigh the times I was sighing in exasperation.

The character's are not bad. In fact, their dialog was occasionally some of the wittiest that I have read in this genre in a while. They have potential, but they fit too well into types that I could read anywhere and written better.

It's the author's first novel, so I may give her another chance once she has had some time to polish things up, but right now it was just not engaging, boring and repetitive. I sometimes had problems understanding why characters acted the way they did and why what they ended up doing was even an option in the first place. It proved to be more frustrating than enjoyable.

It didn't help that my eBook was somehow missing most of chapter 21 but at that point I had given up the redemption of this book.

Too much misunderstanding, not enough sexual tension. But there were times when I laughed at loud.

Maybe in a couple of years I'll give some of the other Weston siblings a chance.