Guest review: Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris, written by The Red Witch

This Monday I am very happy to welcome my another Internet friend, The Red Witch, who very kindly agreed to review for me "Deadlocked" by Charlaine Harris. You see, we've been both fans of the series and we've discussed it from time to time. I think The Red Witch would do it more justice than me (it is, after all, a paranormal romance).

Let me only mention that The Red Witch, a very clever, scholarly and funny lady (yes, it is possible), writes her own great blog entitled Distracted From the Now. Isn't it a nice name? The content is even nicer - go and visit and you'll see!

 Ok, here my ramblings end, let's progress to the review itself:

Deadlocked is the twelfth volume of the very popular Southern Vampire series by Charlaine Harris that was turned into the wildly popular HBO series True Blood. Originally, she had a contract to write ten books in the series but in the fall before the tenth book came out, Harris revealed that she had agreed to write three more books.  It is difficult to say how she would have written it had there not been a commitment to write three more, but the ninth book introduced Sookie's vampire lover's maker, a Roman from the time of Christ named Appius Livius Ocella. 

Eric Northman (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

        Eric, a Viking, was turned by Appius around the turbulent time of the North’s conversion to Christianity, although Eric was a heathen at the time he became a vampire. In the ninth book, Dead and Gone, Harris gave out some of Eric's backstory(including that he had been married and had children) but neglected to identify what country he was from. He was also given Northman as a surname but it really only describes what he is; he should have been called Eric So-and-So's-son but I am nitpicking. Most people would not know or care.

        In Dead in the Family, the tenth book, Appius showed up at Sookie's house with Eric's 'brother' and he made a cryptic pronouncement just before his final death that Sookie would never keep Eric. In the eleventh book, it became increasingly clear what Appius meant by this and the twelfth book Deadlocked is largely concerned with the problem of Appius having betrothed Eric to a vampire queen. In spite of Sookie knowing that Eric cannot disobey a direct order from his maker, thanks to the strength of the blood bond with Eric and the odd feelings it gave Sookie when Appius showed up at her house, Sookie feels Eric has betrayed her by not outright refusing the queen. Harris wrote in Dead and Gone:

Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) is the main character of the series. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

        "As I felt his fear roll through me, I understood that Eric had to physically perform whatever Ocella ordered him to do.  Before that it had been an abstract concept. Now I realized that if Ocella ordered Eric to kill me, Eric would be compelled to do it."

That was in Book 9, by Book 12 Sookie would forget all that and insist that Eric break off the engagement because Appius was dead, even though Freyda was a powerful queen whom it would be risky to offend and Eric is in trouble with his own king, Felipe, for having killed second in command Victor Madden. (Book 11)

        Complicating the situation is the fact that Sookie's fairy great- grandfather Niall likes Eric and approves of him and had revealed to him that Sookie had a way out for both of them - the mysterious cluviel dor, a magical fairy object that Sookie's fairy grandfather had given to her human grandmother as a token of his love. It could be used for one wish, one wish only, and must be used for someone you love.

        Eric is too proud to ask Sookie to use the object to save him because he thinks, if she loves him, then she will offer. She thinks that he should not need saving and if he loved her, he would simply refuse to marry Freyda although she should know how dangerous and impossible that is for Eric as well as herself.

        Sookie is getting older and her friends are all settling down to married life and starting families. She clearly longs for a child but this is something that Eric cannot give her. In spite of her desire to avoid vampire and shapeshifter politics, those politics draw her in against her will and threaten her life once again.

        At the end, we find out how Sookie chose to use the cluviel dor(a choice which no doubt left some fans very unhappy) but the difficulty between the two lovers would not be resolved. That will have to wait until next year when the last book comes out. Harris has announced that it will be called Dead Ever After and has even mentioned that we will be introduced to Eric's other progeny who is named Karin. I, for one, can hardly wait.

Ancient Roman Marble (Photo credit: Swamibu)

Silent Saturday, retro edition

Review: The Courtesan’s Lover by Gabrielle Kimm

Book info:

Form: Kindle e-book

Genre: historical romance

Target audience: adults

Synopsis:

16^th century, Naples, the south of Italy. Francesca Felizzi has been a courtesan for ten years now. She earns a lot, owns two houses  and generally enjoys a great popularity among men due to her stunning beauty and intelligence. She has several rich and influenced patrons, sumptuous dresses and three servants. Still, when she falls on the street people jeer, catcall or feign indifference at best. Nobody wants to help her. She is a sinner, the lowest of low. No courtesan ends well, no matter how popular or rich she is during her best years.

One evening Francesca, dressed up as a respectable young widow and accompanying one of her regular clients, discovers an entirely new world – the world of true friends, decency, propriety and peace of mind. And she falls in love at first sight with Luca della Rovere, a scholar and a respectable widower with two adult sons. It seems everything should divide them but Luca cannot forget that lovely, quiet widow and soon enough he is courting her like a man at least 20 years younger. What will happen when he finds out the truth about Francesca? How couldn’t he find it out?

What I liked:

I am really impressed by the amount of research done by the author. Her sixteen century Naples (Napoli) came to life for me and I was delighted by all these tidbits concerning ships, dresses, renaissance houses and habits of Italians, inhabiting them. I learned a lot!

In the first part of the book I liked Francesca Felizzi. She was definitely better than an ordinary whore and she took care of her daughters while working hard, almost too hard, to ensure her girls have a better future. When she returned from that fatuous evening during which she fell in love her reaction was heartrending. I also liked Modesto, her castrate friend and servant who also acted as her pimp and advisor. It was very touching that these two broken souls could count on each other even in the most difficult moments.

Also Carlo, a secondary character and a baddie through and through, seemed somehow nicer than he should. Maybe I felt so because he was a deceiving brat, a ‘Loki’ type and I always fall for them.

Oh, and the cover is lovely.

What I didn’t like:

I asked myself different minor questions while reading this one (translation: had several WTF moments) but I admit my biggest problems began in the second part of the book, after our lovely, hard-working courtesan fell in love with Luca. I know, love is basically a mental illness but does it have to make you so completely naïve and stupid? Does it, really?

Francesca abandons her profession all of a sudden, right after one evening spent in the company of her beloved. That much was at least understandable - she was in a shock and she didn’t want to be unfaithful to him even before they went to bed. However her complete lack of apprehension when it came to the reaction of her former patrons was surprising to say the least of it. After all she knew the best that they were a bunch of unsavoury (although rich and influential) types who hardly accepted a ‘no’ for an answer; still she thought that if only she informed them about her decision, writing a letter or sending her faithful Modesto with a verbal message,  they will meekly thank her for her troubles, kiss her hand gently, leave a good-buy gift and find themselves another courtesan. Oh lady, who do you think you're fooling? I did wonder how you survived in that ruthless profession for 10 years at all and remained such a gullible, unpractical creature. In my humble opinion Francesca's best course of action would be lying low for some time, conducting business as usual or even better, feigning a venereal disease or, in fact, any disease (I know, I am cruel but it would cool down even the most libidinous customer, don’t you think?) and then, after selling her houses secretly she should have fled the city even before any of her clients got wind of her real intentions and sudden change of heart.

Then her next, surprisingly stupid blunder: she informs her two servants, Ilaria and Sebastiano, that they would be made redundant soon and then… she leaves her precious twin daughters in their tender care because she has to go on a much-expected date with Luca. No doubts, no second thoughts. Hello, earth to Francesca, have you ever heard of spiteful people who bear a grudge ? No? There are no spiteful servants in Napoli? Not even when they find out that after two years of more or less acceptable service they will be shown the door? Oh dear…and you are a courtesan, right?

Finally I was very surprised by Luca’s easy acceptance of Francesca’s past. It was highly uncharacteristic for a man, even a man madly in love so in a state of advanced stupidity. I would summarize his attitude this way (it is a bit spoilerish so highlight to read or omit it): 
“Ok, sweetheart, so you had two extramarital kids with some old, rich creep, you have screwed a countless number of people for money and half of the city knows you as basically an exclusive whore? Not a problem. We don’t have to go out at all or keep decent company, your past won’t influence my position at the University  and I’ve always wanted to sleep with somebody like you. You took the virginity of my younger son? Oh, simply peachy, it was basically a favour, great to know he was in such professional hands his first time. He is in love with you and would like  to repeat that experience? Puppy love, it will pass in no time. I trust you and I know you love only me, you are such a sweet girl, all forgiven and forgotten, now come and kiss me, darling…”

To me it rings hollow, especially from the psychological point of view. People need time to accept such earthshaking truths; people living in the 16^th century were overall definitely more conservative and more observant when it came to religious laws and customs.  Perhaps a complete libertine would actually enjoy such a situation but nothing suggested Luca was a libertine and even if he was he still had to think about his reputation, his colleagues and superiors at the university, his everyday aquaintances. I wouldn’t be surprised if that guy needed months, even years to accept such a colourful past of his beloved. Once again it would have been far more believable and easier if they (Luca and Francesca plus their families) had left Naples and started anew in another city.

Final verdict:

A nice novel which could have been better if not for the maudlin, improbable plot, especially in the second part, and some psychology glitches. If you like historical romance and those saccharine-sweeet HEA endings you might enjoy it. For me it had too high sugar content.

Review: Headhunters by Jo Nesbo

Book info:
Form: Kindle e-book
Genre: thriller, crime story
Target audience: adults


“An artist who maintains that he has been misunderstood is almost always a bad artist who, I’m afraid to say, has been understood.” (loc. 773)


 “The world is full of people who pay serious money for bad pictures by good artists. And mediocre heads on tall bodies.” (loc. 518) 


 “Noble, loyal souls are often handicapped by loyalty to even the basest of individuals. Well, especially the base individuals.”

Synopsis:

Roger Brown, the narrator of this novel is one of the best Norvegian corporate headhunters. In his humble opinion he is of course the very best. Unfortunately he is rather short (1.68 m or 5.5 feet) and let’s face it, in his little world size and first impressions matter.

Roger has many ways to compensate for the missing centimeters. He lives in an enormous vintage villa, he has a lovely, supermodel-thin and even quite intelligent wife (of course far higher than him), Diane, who has been given an art gallery from her loving husband. He has a mistress (of course far shorter than him), Lotte, who is a sad, suppressed, miserably lonely translator (but quite good in the sack). He has even a kind of hobby, if stealing different pieces of art and selling them on the black market can be called so. It is still not enough. He must prove himself he is the best every single day. By the way his career, no matter how profitable, simply can’t support his luxurious lifestyle and the fledgling art gallery of his demanding wife. That’s why for Roger stealing is as much a necessity as a thrilling hobby.

One day our headhunter spots a perfect business opportunity – it is called Clas Greve, a former co-owner of HOTE, one of Dutch telecommunication and surveillance companies. Roger wants him to become a new CEO of a similar company in Norway which produces sophisticated GPS devices. Up to a point everything is going very well: Clas, after initial reluctance, proves to be quite willing to take up the new job and, to his own delight, Roger finds out that his mark even owns a very expensive if not priceless Rubens masterpiece, allegedly  lost since WWII. Hobby and work combined in one highly profitable bundle - what cheer! While stealing it from Clas's unfinished apartment Roger accidentally finds out that Mr. Greve most likely knows Diane far more intimately than he was supposed to. With this discovery all the hell is let loose - Roger finally finds an opponent on a par with himself when it comes to stamina, hunting skills and manipulation. Their vicious, dirty fight for supremacy will include a couple of murders and a lot of excrements.

What I liked:

This novel is a stand-alone, not another installment of the Harry Hole series (its first part I reviewed not so long ago) . As usual with Nesbo the plot  was like a rollercoaster ride– very fast, very entertaining, riveting to the end, a page-turner, nothing less. The author has a storytelling talent, there is no doubt of it. Apart from that Nesbo's keen knowledge of human nature and sharp, dry  sense of humor make this thriller far more readable than your average novel of this genre. Yes, it includes a bit of bathroom humour (be warned – no eating while reading certain scenes!) but all things considering it remained still palatable, even if barely so.

Beside the very high amusing factor this book pushed my other buttons. It mentioned some famous paintings and, generally, art. It explained in a very funny way a method of recruiting and/or interrogation called Inbau, Reid and Buckley’s nine step model (yes, it is real and used).

Ok now something about the main "headhunter" Roger Brown. I liked him more than I should have. Let me assure you that he is a loathsome human being, but his powerful enemies are at least as clever, opportunistic, and amoral as he is. No matter whether you sympathize with his ordeal or not, you will certainly laugh with him and even root for him from time to time. Still his adventures don’t make Roger a “white hat”, not really, even though his rival is a ruthless, manipulative psychopath with special forces training.

What I didn’t like:

The first person narrative was sometimes so misleading that almost annoying. I know in such books the first person is used in order not to reveal too much too early, keeping the readers on the edge of their seats (and accordingly our hero omits important info leaving you completely befuddled and craving for more several times). After a while I admit I was rather tired by all those twists, turns and fireworks, especially near the ending. I had a feeling all was happening a bit too fast, almost as if I watched one of Disney cartoons with Tom and Jerry – all action, little sense. There were many moments when I had to suspend belief  and even then the plot seemed just too slick and shallow.

After a while (like in the second part) I started wondering: is this one of the early Nesbo novels? Perhaps it was written with a very strict deadline hovering over the author’s neck? This book definitely has a potential but, in my humble opinion, it failed to deliver. Even the baddies weren’t as fully-fledged as I expected them to be. Once again it seems that, having all the necessary ingredients, the author lacked time or will to work on that more. Small wonder this book was adapted for cinema – it is good but not overly demanding and just flashy enough to interest the widest audience possible.

Final verdict:

If you haven’t read any of Nesbo novels, you can start with this one - everything else will be only better. If you, however, have already discovered one of the Harry Hole books you can skip “Headhunters” or watch the movie. It wasn’t bad, not at all; it was a really decent thriller with all the necessary features and even more; my problem was that after some Harry Hole novels it seemed a bit tawdry to me. Still it kept me entertained. 

The Calydonian Boar Hunt by Peter Paul Rubens.
A lot of fuss and some funny people busy killing - like in this book.

Guest review: Brook Street series by Ava March

Today I am very happy to host Heidenkind, my Internet friend who writes her own beautiful blog Truth, Beauty, Freedom and Books featuring reviews, essays about books, art, and many other interesting posts. She is an art historian, specializing in 19th-century American art and early 20th- century French art. Her favorite books are romantic and deal with themes of people who are separated from everything they find comfortable or safe in life. Sounds lovely, doesn't it? 

Let me also add she writes tremendously well so I am very happy that she accepted my invitation. Almost as happy as those two gentlemen, Laurel and Hardy, dancing above. ;) What's more, Heidenkind decided to review for me a genre I've never featured on my blog before and for many reasons. One of them was that I was simply afraid. ;) Anyway time to let my guest speak about one scary series - m/m romances, nothing less! Enjoy!

Ava March writes historical m/m romances set in Regency England that feel emotionally authentic and have really hot sex scenes. (I do not say this lightly--even in romances I usually skip the sex scenes, because they tend to be idiotic; but March has some serious talent when it comes to writing sex that is super-hot, yet doesn't feel gratuitous because it advances the plot.) She's my go-to author when I'm feeling stressed out and need a story that will give me a break from reality. The Brook Street trilogy is March's latest offering and I was really looking forward to escaping into the stories. Unfortunately, I don't think the Brook Street novellas lived up to the excellence of some of her other works.

In Brook Street: Thief, Lord Benjamin Parsons has always wondered if he was gay. So, after hearing about a gay gambling club from his homophobic brother (how'd his brother hear about it, one wonders), he goes for a night on the town determined to hook up with a fellow and see if he enjoys it. That's where he meets Cavin Fox, a spry young lad from Seven Dials. After 15 (or 5?) minutes doin' the deed in a pay-by-the-hour place, Benjamin and Cavin are in love! But how in the world will an aristocrat and a thief ever get together? HOW INDEED.

There are so many cliches in this novella I rolled my eyes at least three times before finishing the first ten pages. The fall-in-love-after-a-one-night-stand story line is one I always find particularly difficult to buy into, and in this case the skeezy hook-up in a gambling hell, followed by sex in a no-tell motel, didn't help matters. Can you imagine the stains on that mattress?? Ewwwwwwww.

Furthermore, none of the characters behave logically. Normally I love thief characters, but Cavin doesn't steal A SINGLE THING during the entire course of this novel! That's like having a vampire character who never shows his fangs, or a rake character that sits at home all time reading. The reason for this lack of larceny is because Benjamin gave Cavin the beautiful gift of allowing him to pop Ben's ass cherry (see what I mean? eye roll) during their anonymous hook-up. Très romantic. Some other inconsistencies that jumped out at me: when Cavin tries to get a position for his brother in Ben's house, instead of acting suspicious of the street urchin who's about to be let loose on her kitchen and all the silver, the cook is all smiles and hugs. And at dinner, Cavin goes from wondering how to eat asparagus and use a fork, to criticizing how well-done the veal is and describing the sauce as "divine!" Get a lot of veal and specialty sauces in Seven Dials, do you Calvin Cavin?

I did like that Cavin and Ben treated one another as equals. Although Ben is in his mid-thirties and of a higher class and bank account than Cavin, the twenty-one year-old thief is more experienced, both sexually and otherwise, than Ben, so it evened out. But I found that difficult to reconcile with Ben's eventual position as the sugar daddy of the relationship, and Cavin being cool with his marginalized position in Ben's life.

Brook Street: Thief was enjoyable to read, but also (because it was?) laughably ridiculous, without the emotional touchstones I'm used to seeing inMarch's work. I wish she'd pushed the characters farther and really thought about how they would react in their situations. As it is, Brook Street: Thieflacks a ring of truth to bring me into the story completely. I still had fun with it, though, and this is probably the best book in the series.


In Brook Street: Fortune Hunter, we find out that, coincidentally, there are MORE men living on Brook Street with a love story to tell. One of said men is Oscar, a creepy nice? friend of Benjamin's who is the size of an Oompa Loompa. Seriously, I think my grandma might be bigger than him. When Ben's American cousin, Julian, visits London in search of a wealthy wife, Oscar immediately invites him to stay in his ginormous mansion, where he feeds Julian the best food, gives him a beautiful room, insists on dressing him in the most gorgeous clothes, and takes him to the best parties. This sounds like the set-up of a horror story. RUN JULIAN, RUN!!!! Julian doesn't run, however, and is soon spending time in Oscar's ridiculously large bed. But what will Oscar say when he realizes his boy toy still intends to marry a woman?

Brook Street: Fortune Hunter was more believable than Thief, but weirdly not as much fun. I wish March had gone full throttle with this story and made Oscar an outright psycho who went all Misery on Julian's ass. Since neither of the guys in Fortune Hunter were very likable, this would have been a perfect solution: Julian is insecure and spineless; Oscar is way too eager to please and a little stalker-y. Together they're the Bonnie and Clyde of Regency romances! As it was, their relationship didn't seem to develop naturally--or at all; it just happened. The characters change abruptly into upstanding citizens by the end, but it still doesn't make sense that they'd fall in love while neither of them had any redeeming qualities. And what is with the sugar daddy set-up in these books?

The best part of Fortune Hunter was when Benjamin bit one of his friend's head off for asking if he could borrow Ben's cook (Cavin). Ohhh snap. Get your own cook, bitch.


The final book in the trilogy is Brook Street: Rogues, about two beasties, Linus and Rob. They've been SUPER SUPER close friends since they were ten, and even live next door to each other on Brook Street. Linus is gay and Rob isn't (well, except for the times when he has sex with Linus, of course), and they're both playa playas. Then Rob realizes he doesn't like seeing Linus leaving parties with other men, and asks for an exclusive relationship. In response, Linus freaks the hell out and Rob has to do some detective work to figure out what his deal is.

Linus was in Fortune Hunter and came across as a total badass, but in Rogues he was kind of passive-aggressive. Instead of hashing it out with Rob, he runs to the country to avoid him; and instead of dealing with his dad's property (which he hates), he just avoids thinking about it. But I do have to say at least Linus was interesting and had more of a backstory than most of the other characters in this series.

I'm also a sucker for young love and liked that Linus and Rob had a history and didn't just fall into instalust or -love or whatever was going on with the previous two couples. This is definitely a story that could be expanded into a full novel if March chose to do so. Still, the pacing in Rogues was slow and there were some eye roll moments near the end. It needed a little more conflict to keep it going, or possibly more buddy moments between Linus and Rob. And I can't believe March passed on the chance to blow something up--wtf? You had the opportunity to plausibly set something on fire and you didn't take it?! Very disappointing.


I don't think the Brook Street trilogy is the best example of Ava March's writing (that, in my personal opinion, would either be Convincing Arthur or the Bound series), but it was okay. Thief was the most entertaining of the three, with Rogues coming in second, but unfortunately none of the novellas stood out as exceptional. If you're looking for an author to break into the m/m genre with, though, I can't recommend March highly enough.

Friday Fiction Flash

Amy C at Romance Book Wyrm and Dottie atTink's Place have come up with the idea for a Monday Morning Flash Fiction challenge. Each Monday a new picture prompt will be posted and if you choose to participate - you publish your Fiction Flash  on Friday - 350 words, give or take.

This pic was a great found of Blodeuedd. I admit it moved my imagination because you can interpret it in so many ways! As I am off my drug of choice, caffeine, I decided to turn violent.

Out of four trap dens only one was full after the required two days of sacred hunting but one was more than enough. After all it all depended on the quarry. Were it a wild boar or a deer it would be a waste of time and efforts. Meena's slaves had dug these dens and she herself constructed the trapping mechanisms with an utter precision, trying them twice on the weakest slave to be absolutely sure they would work as they should - maiming perhaps, not killing, restraining but not breaking bones. Knowing they worked well the only thing Meena needed was a bit of luck, also called  the Goddess's blessing. A visible sign that she, not the other two contestants, was designated to become the future Queen.

The alert arrow arrived right after the midnight. One trap den caught something. Not trusting anyone with such an important mission Meena decided to go and check herself. When she looked down she couldn't believe her own good luck. One of the warriors. She could clearly notice his tattoos, there was no doubt of his status. Warriors were the best kind of catch - you could sell or exchange them for weapons, you could keep them as pets if you wanted to. There have  been even cases, although rare ones, when a future Queen made her favourite warrior a consort.

The warrior was injured but he could walk on his own. Meena returned with her prize to the palace and caged him in her quarters.Then one of her slaves was sent to dress his wounds, give him some food and adornments. Next day, when the presentation of catches began, she led him proudly to the old Queen. Her two cousins stood there, each with her catch by her side. No one of them was acompanied by a warrior, though. Meena smirked a bit but then her eyes went wide - her oldest cousin, Aude, approached without the necessary ceremonial greetings and pointed rudely at Meena.

"If you think you see the future Queen, you are wrong. You only see a cheat."

The silence was so deep that it ringed in your head.

"Prove it!" snarled Meena when she regained her composure a bit. Now it was Aude's turn to smirk.

"Look at this man. His tattoos are false. They are painted, not inked. It is a simple peasant masquerading as a warrior."

"Liar!" shrieked Meena.

Aude just took a cloth, soaked it in a pool and came closer to the man presented by Meena. She started to wipe the tattoos off his skin. He didn't protest, silently observing Aude's hands. The magical whorls and patterns were disappearing in no time. False. Fabricated. Painted. By whom, though? Meena didn't know but she decided an open attack was the best defence.

"What kind of catch did you bring, dear cousin? A fox? A rabbit? A shrew? My slave is still more valuable than those."

Aude looked at her and drawed her short sword in total silence. Her movements were so fast that nobody reacted. Not until the head of Meena rolled on the ground and her body fell where she stood spouting hot, red blood. 

"That was quick," said the old Queen. "Quick and clever. Aude didn't manage to capture a warrior but she prevented a cheat from having the crown. Our Goddess was silent today so it's up to me to decide and I've taken my decision. Aude deserves our gratitude. I can't imagine a better Queen."

***

Later on, after the coronation, Aude was led to her new quarters. The man who had been caught by Meena accompanied her, keeping reverently his distance. She stopped when they reached the stairs, turned and took his hand.

"Don't hide behind my back. You did well and you will be rewarded for your ordeal as I promised. You will become my consort."

That's how I imagine Aude - in the photo you see a portrait of Meena Kumari (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Silent Saturday