The Blurb:
When his parents get a gander at the sex tape sent by a blackmailer, they offer Kendall Turner a few weeks of “rest” in a cushy clinic. No, he says, and hotfoots it across the lawns of the family estate. KT isn’t his own worst enemy anymore; there’s a new candidate for the title. Suddenly, Kendall’s on the lam, trying to outrun a murder rap. Helping — by locking KT naked in their motel room — is his cousin Turn. KT has some issues: he manages to censor himself only when he lies, he’s been in love with cousin Turn since forever, and he really would rather kill himself than get more rest at another clinic.
Why I bought it:
It sounded like fun so I thought why not. Although the cousin thing… better in historicals. Just saying.
Dislike/like (ending on a high note):
Dislike~ Kendall – or KT – confuzzled me. The book was written from his POV and I felt a bit like I was watching a mystery/sitcom through a pot dhaze. Was he a loser or just completely naive?? Had the reign of terror of his father completed fucked him up?? I think I, as a reader, needed to get to grips with this protag through more in-depth characterisation or via a longer length story. (It seems as though this is the start of a series so perhaps my issues will be dealt with in the future.) Despite this…
Like~ I liked Kendall. (Are you beginning to understand my mixed feelings??) As an Aussie, I’m genetically predisposed to barracking for the underdog, especially one who steps up to the plate. So while Kendall had major issues, I liked the fact that he wasn’t always looking for someone to save his arse. Instead, he had a hidden resourcefulness and people underestimated him at their peril. Mwahahaha!
Dislike~ So much going on in this story. Too much at times in my view. I think the plot might have been better served without all of the twists and would have still offered up a fast-paced story with threads which could be dealt with in a sequel. *Hint, hint*
Like~ A BIT OF A SPOILER. Can I just say I liked the fact the reader finds out Kendall and Turn weren’t actually related. A lot less squicky for me, especially as they also (basically) had the same names. Put a whole new spin on the being in love with yourself concept and did weird me out a bit. I was very grateful when the non-rellie thing was revealed. Just call me Ms Prude.
So, what I think:
A pretty good read for a new-to-me author. I will definitely check out future work from her because I like her writing style and the series has great potential.
=======================================================
‘Tasting’ is my version of a mini-review where I talk a (very) little about what I liked and disliked about a book as well as who I think the story will appeal to. Oh, and I’ve added a bit about why I picked up the book in the first place – sometimes this can be interesting to know.
… just stuck a lot little.
This morning I came to write a ‘tasting’ for a recent book I’ve read and had a huge mental blank.
So many books. So hard to choose just one. (I’m a Libran. It explains everything.)
Then I had an epiphany.
Besides the whole it’s my blog thing, why should I be the one to make ALL the tough decisions?? Why doesn’t someone else make the choice for once??
And there you have it, my partially invisible friends. What I’ve decided to do this coming week is to let YOU tell ME which book you most want a tasting of.
Below are my recent reads from the last couple of weeks. Pick a book, any book, and I will do mini-reviews for the first 7 books selected. If I don’t get 7 different books from 7 different people within 24 hours then, by all means, double dip.
Reviews so far: Turner & Turner (for Tam); Sutcliffe Cove (for Lily); Roar (for Jen); Angels of the Deep (for Jitterbug); A Promise Kept (for Emmy); Dissonance (for nichem); Zero at the Bone (for Lesley); Allergies (for Tracy)
AND WE’RE DONE… unless I’m feeling super nice and a great deal of bribery occurs. 😉
In between feeling a teeny bit angsty about my new avatar, retail therapy and reading yesterday, I, in a fit of craziness energy, posted all of the reviews I’ve done for Wave at my Live Journal site so they would all be in the one place. Here’s the link for those interested: Kris ‘n’ Good Books.
Why don’t I post them here you ask?? Or at least provide a link to them on the day that they are posted?? I have absofrigginlutely no idea.
In all honesty I think it’s because I have no real interest in rating books or becoming solely a review blog. Happy to make recommendations and VERY happy to talk all other things books and life, but want to avoid too much seriousness like the plague. I’m having way too much fun asking questions, sharing my keepers, annoying authors until they come play with me us, designing a product range, writing were-kanga manga for a special someone’s upcoming b’day, etc, etc.
Anyway for those of you who are going to trot over to LJ and check out the reviews (as I’m sure you all will *rolls eyes*) I have to warn you that my earlier ones are scant shite at best. For those who want some help navigating the reviews here are my fave books (in no particular order):
* A Strong and Sudden Thaw by R W Day (YA, post-Apocalyptic)
* Angel Land by Victor J Banis (futuristic)
* Vintage: A Ghost Story by Steve Berman (YA, contemporary, paranormal)
* Masks: Rise of Heroes by Hayden Thorne (YA, fantasy)
* Turnskin by Nicole Kimberling (fantasy)
* A Face Without A Heart by Rick R Reed (contemporary, horror)
* Tigers and Devils by Sean Kennedy (contemporary)
* The Archer’s Heart by Astrid Amara (fantasy)
Oh, did I tell you these were all m/m fiction?? Just a warning for those not familiar with Wave’s review blog. 😉
… that something like this may cause offense??
I have this thing where I have no real interest in what I call “the random follow up”. ( Yeah, yeah, I know it sounds dismissive.)
These are the short stories which are neither epilogue nor sequel nor part of a series nor anything that seems to follow the plot/storylines of the earlier book. They just seem to depict a chance scene or event or whatever at some stage in the couple’s life.
I have seen a fair number of them around, but I don’t buy them (unless they happen to be in an anthology I’ve picked up) and I don’t tend to hunt them down on an author’s website or blog to read them.
I’m not sure why my lack of interest. Maybe the story had already been brought to a satisfying conclusion for me?? A strange desire to have a sequel proper?? *shrugs* Who knows.
I’m interested to hear if I’m the only one who has this, let’s be honest, rather weird not really aversion but meh-ness about the whole random follow up thing.
I also want to know why you think these appear to be so prevalent is it because:
– the characters still have stories to be told that don’t necessarily ‘fit’ into a longer story format;
– the short scenes etc may have already been written but not included in the original book;
– the fans demand it;
– the internet facilitates it; or,
– is it all of the above… or something else entirely.
I know I’m full of shit questions at the moment, aren’t I? Just call me Kurious Kris. 🙂
One of the reasons I started blogging is because I enjoyed reading what other people thought about books and decided I wanted to talk about my much-loved obsession too.
I’ve been very interested in the various discussions – and a hell of a lot of criticism – about the review process in recent months and a couple of things have struck me. Foremost amongst these is what I believe the bottom line to be; that is,
a review is the opinion of a particular book by that particular reader at that particular point in time.
Following on from this, there seems to me (and being totally blunt) to be a number of givens: the people who read reviews are going to go away either wanting to read the book or deciding to give it a miss; agreeing with the reviewer or wondering whether it was the same book that was read; be thrilled or devastated by the things discussed about their work; or, pleased or pissed that they can/can’t utilise the material for promotional purposes.
I’m not after an egostroke about my so-called reviews or anything wanky like that. What I am genuinely curious about is if reviews in general actually make a difference to what books you buy and what it is about them that influence you.
I’m too lazy to try and do the mini poll thing and I’m more interested in hearing what you actually have to say about this topic than trying to interpret statistics. So here are my two questions with some points for you to consider:
How much will a review influence your purchase?
* Wait for the review every time.
* Not at all.
* Sometimes, especially if the blurb or excerpt were vaguely interesting.
If reviews do influence you what is it about them that does?
* Ratings.
* The way the review was written.
* Information about writing techniques such as style, writing itself, etc.
* What the reviewer thought about the plot, setting or characters.
* An overall recommendation.
Don’t be scared to share your thoughts. My itty bitty corner of bloglandia is protected (ie all arseholes are told to bugger off *g*).
New lover. New city. New dangers.
Wand’ring Minstrel Jimothy Redwing is used to life on the road, living by the words and music that are his stock in trade. While he’s comfortable finding his way alone, he’s always amenable to a friendly stranger who knows the lay of the land. Ricky Lennox is smart, funny, handsome, and very amenable.
With a place to stay, a sexy new lover, and some local contacts, Jimothy looks forward to delivering the letters in his care—including a message for the local ruler—and earning a little money with his music before moving on.
Ricky’s declaration he’s interested in more than just a one-night tryst starts Jimothy thinking about settling into a life of perfect harmony. But things hit a sour note when he learns his lover’s true identity—and exactly what’s in the epistle to Kanbec’s ruler.
Jimothy’s journey turns out to be far more complicated than he could have dreamed, and as dangerous as any epic ballad. For himself—and for Ricky.
Why I bought it:
It’s m/m fantasy. Need I say more. *GRIN*
Dislike/like (ending on a high note):
Dislike~ There may be some who find the fact that the two men quickly succumb to their attraction to each other a little unbelievable. I think why it worked for me in this instance is because the story didn’t go on to give the reader rainbows and fairy dust (ie an immediate HEA where they stared dreamily into each other’s eyes for the next 100 pages). This was really only the start of Jimothy’s and Ricky’s journey together.
Like~ I (obviously) like my medieval-themed stories served up in a fantasy setting and this was no exception. The world building was terrific and I LOVED the fact that Jimothy was a wandering minstrel. How cool is that.
Dislike~ Ricky is a prince who will become king and therefore will need a heir. Although it will mean m/f or m/m/f at some future stage in Jimothy’s and Ricky’s life, I think the author handled this issue very well by hinting at a convincing outcome and with the men reaffirming their love and commitment to each other.
Like~ The writing was excellent and the characters well developed and very appealing. When you add romance, some humour, a prince, a minstrel, political intrigue and a great secondary cast you have a winner. 🙂
So, what I think:
Another of my m/m fantasy keepers. T’was lovely and satisfying.
There was a follow up in the form of a short, free read that you can get here.
‘Tasting’ is my version of a mini-review where I talk a (very) little about what I liked and disliked about a book as well as who I think the story will appeal to. Oh, and I’ve added a bit about why I picked up the book in the first place – sometimes this can be interesting to know.
I was going to post today about some of the pitfalls and benefits of reviewing, including what is apparently a critique of review sites as opposed to a discussion about the differences of opinion regarding the actual books themselves. Not to dismiss healthy debate or anything, but… am I the only one who sees the irony in this??
Instead I saw the below at the MLR Press Authors blog posted by Laura Baumbach:
You may have noticed that rankings and bestseller info has been removed from all a lot of gay romance and gay fiction books in the last few days. It appears that Amazon has decided we are to be hidden from the mainstream readerships. Obviously they don’t understand that a lot of our readers ARE mainstream.
When Amazon was asked about the missing rankings they responded to one author with:
In consideration of our entire customer base, we exclude “adult” material from appearing in some searches and best seller lists. Since these lists are generated using sales ranks, adult materials must also be excluded from that feature.
Hence, if you have further questions, kindly write back to us.
Best regards, Ashlyn D
Member Services
Amazon.com Advantage
This is why the internet is so unbelievably important in today’s world. Simply, it allows inclusivity without any kind of discrimination in order for many voices to be heard and so that review sites, including those with a niche like GLBT fiction, can exist when big corporations pretend they are the moral police and decide, as Wave says, that gay fiction = sexually explicit material.
To add your name to the petition against Amazon’s so-called ‘adult policy’ go here.
If this doesn’t put things into perspective than nothing will. It certainly did for me.
Update: Amazon is trying to now palm this off as a ‘computer glitch’. Interesting how this problem systematically removed the rankings and keywords from ALL of the GLBT fiction and non-fiction, don’t you think?? Not only shouldn’t we be reading such work, but we are apparently stupid too. Nice one, Amazon.
The amazing and sneaky clever Sean Kennedy has finished your m/m story and I now provide it for your long weekend reading pleasure…
::drum roll please::
(Hopefully) You can download it via Scribd here:
DriveSafe_SeanKennedy
A big, HUGE, GI-NORMOUS thanks to Sean for playing with us!
Hmm, I wonder who I can annoy next (and how pissed they will be at Sean for setting the precedent of a 4-day turnaround… hehehe).
Enjoy!
 | Kayla on tasting ‘a note in the… |
 | Marcus Roche on maybe it’s me, but… |
 | ouaqquwcgk on my confession |
 | dkmhwgijnw on random awesomeness |
 | Kris on maybe it’s me, but… |
Kris + Books = Good. *Sometimes*. 