REVIEW: Echo by Alicia Wright Brewster

Echo by Alicia Wright Brewster My rating: 3 of 5 stars Despite an arresting premise, the book failed to dazzle me. + the heroine I found Ashara lacking. I don’t expect YA heroines to be kickass straight out of the box, but I do expect them to exhibit a trait that would make me root for them. The book dressed up her as the Chosen One, but she acted more like a supporting character than anything...

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REVIEW: Endgame by Nenia Campbell

Endgame by Nenia Campbell My rating: 2 of 5 stars CAUTION: minor spoiler The book boasted ingredients for a fantastic thriller. The ingredients included virtual reality, hacking, corruption, and conspiracy. However, to my great disappointment, the book turned out to be one of those cases where just because the ingredients were awesome it doesn’t necessary mean the result would be awesome too. +...

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REVIEW: A Trace of Moonlight by Allison Pang

A Trace of Moonlight by Allison Pang My rating: 2 of 5 stars CAUTION: minor spoiler Book 3 concluded the Abby Sinclair series, and it disappointed me — big time. + the plot I was very relieved that the story allowed Abby to quickly regain her memory because the book would have been an insufferable read otherwise. In her amnesiac state, Abby was stupid and whiny. I thought after the memory-gain...

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REVIEW: Poison by Bridget Zinn

Poison by Bridget Zinn My rating: 4 of 5 stars Poison delivered on its promise. It delivered a kickass heroine, a charming love interest, a cute pet pig, and an exciting plot. I devoured the book in less than 3 hours. + the characters Kyra was everything I hope for in a heroine. She was resourceful, quick thinking, resilient, determined, selfless, noble, kind, etc. She deserved all the superlatives....

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REVIEW: 50 Shades of Gay by Jeffery Self

50 Shades of Gay by Jeffery Self My rating: 2 of 5 stars The romance surprised me. I expected a BDSM PWP, and while I did get my smut, the romance also presented relationship shit one would normally see in a serious romance. Unfortunately, one issue stopped me from enjoying the book. + the protagonist Alex narrated the story in 1st person POV, and I didn’t like it initially. The dude had too many...

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REVIEW: Dead Things by Stephen Blackmoore

Dead Things by Stephen Blackmoore My rating: 4 of 5 stars What luck! Dead Things was pretty much everything I could ever want in an Urban Fantasy. The hero kicked ass, the pacing was fast, and the story was devoid of cliches (the ones that annoy me anyway). + the hero Eric Carter was my ideal Urban Fantasy hero. He embraced his power, and even better, he didn't hesitate killing bad guys with it....

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REVIEW: Built 4 It by Daisy Harris

Built 4 It by Daisy Harris My rating: 2 of 5 stars The romance was nice but I wanted it to be longer. Because of the disturbing premise, it took me nearly half the of the story before I got comfortable and allowed myself to focus on the romance. Once I did, it was almost over. + the world building The premise was a hurdle because it was about dead people being reanimated back to life as lab rats...

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REVIEW: The Victories, Volume 1: Touched by Michael Avon Oeming

The Victories, Volume 1: Touched by Michael Avon Oeming My rating: 2 of 5 stars I liked the premise and that’s about all I liked about the comic book. Confusion shaded the plot. I didn’t understand what was going on till two-third of the book. The plot relied on info-dumpy flashbacks, and a few times it took me a couple seconds to realize those pages I just read were flashbacks. So much for being...

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REVIEW: Seven Kinds of Hell by Dana Cameron

Seven Kinds of Hell by Dana Cameron My rating: 2 of 5 stars A typical thriller dressed as an urban fantasy, Seven Kinds of Hell had several kinds of issues. The heroine was inconsistently characterized. Because of that, at least two crucial events that could have been avoided were not, which I blamed the heroine for. Last but not least, the plot was chaotic. + the heroine The beginning was slow...

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REVIEW: Like It or Not edited by S.L. Armstrong

Like It or Not edited by S.L. Armstrong My rating: 3 of 5 stars Like It Or Not had 2 short stories I liked and 4 I did not. #1: Out of Options by Angelia Sparrow & Naomi Brooks The first half of the short story lured me into a false sense of peace such that I forgot I was reading an anthology of non-con smut. I liked the first half even though it was kind of sad because Connor was destitute. The...

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REVIEW: The Long Con by Lori Toland

The Long Con by Lori Toland My rating: 2 of 5 stars The Long Con had smut, and I love smut. I liked its BDSM-lightness, meaning there was one BDSM-y sex scene. I liked the dirty talk; it’s a small shame there wasn’t more of it. I liked how insatiable of a bottom Tony was and how eager Nate was to satisfy Tony. On top of the yummy smut, the book actually had a decent plot and a good twist so it wasn't...

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REVIEW: Wild Card by Steven Lochran

Wild Card by Steven Lochran My rating: 3 of 5 stars Book 2, Wild Card, surpassed book 1. (Read my review for book 1 here.) + the protagonist Sam was no longer Mister Mopey, which was my biggest issue in book 1. This time he was eager for action and ready to kick ass. I went "yay" and "thank goodness" that the character growth, which occurred in book 1, was kept in book 2. However, Sam still has...

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REVIEW: Plaza Place by Erin Shaw

Plaza Place by Erin Shaw My rating: 2 of 5 stars The mm-romance was about two silly idiots who were hot for each other but each thought the other was uninterested. It was a nice story but nothing specifically appealed to me and nothing connected with me. The plot alternated between the two guys, Nate and Jordan, more on Nate than on Jordan. I didn't care for either guy, to be honest. I didn't like...

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REVIEW: From the Ashes by Adrien-Luc Sanders

From the Ashes by Adrien-Luc Sanders My rating: 2 of 5 stars CAUTION: Spoilers I so much wanted to like this book, but couldn’t because of this one issue. + the protagonist The story was told in 1st person POV exclusively from the Tobias’s side, and he was everything I could have hoped for. He was crafty, cynical and merciless. Okay, I admit it; he was a wee more merciless than I was comfortable...

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REVIEW: The Last Grand Master by Andrew Q. Gordon

The Last Grand Master by Andrew Q. Gordon My rating: 3 of 5 stars The story began with a blast of urgency. In the first couple chapters, our hero rode a unicorn, teleported while riding a unicorn to get there faster, swung killer magic to get through an army of bad guys, kicked some asses, — *takes a deep breathe* — rescued a surrounded party of allies leading to more ass kicking, discovered his...

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REVIEW: The Fire Horse Girl by Kay Honeyman

The Fire Horse Girl by Kay Honeyman My rating: 3 of 5 stars The Fire Horse captured my attention, and this come from a reader who doesn’t like to read historical. Unless it’s part fantasy or mm-romance, neither of which this book was, I pass. What persuaded me was the plot of an Asian-American immigrant’s experience, which immediately made me think of myself. Very rarely do I encounter a book with...

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NEWS: chicklits or classics, don't quit day job, top 10 self-publishing mistakes, of friends and judgement

Chicklits or Classics? It can be BOTH. (2013 February 7) "On Monday, author Maureen Johnson challenged the Twitter hive-mind to chick lit-ify the classics." Insightful and hilarious! Don’t Quit Your Day Job – Traditional Publishing by the Numbers (2013 February 7) "...it can take many authors a decade or more to graduate to becoming full-time writer." Great analysis. On a related note... The...

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