Still Life by Melanie Jackson

Still Life
by Melanie Jackson

Another re-read for me. This is book four in the Wildside series and it's been on sale, possibly re-issued digitally in the recent past. This series is one of my favorites for re-reads. The language is so flowery and over-the-top that it never gets old. It's a book with all kinds of mystical creatures, a little bit of romance, some sentient magic, and all kinds of unexpected twists. This version had some formatting issues, like they OCR'd this story and lost words every now and then or picked the wrong word sometimes. It didn't interrupt my enjoyment of the story, but I hope it gets fixed in the near future.

There's a little bit of old-skool to the relationships; it's not a bodice-ripper, but it's very clear that the maiden wouldn't be able to survive without the hero calling the shots. This is the first time I noticed it specifically in all my re-reads, but it did make me roll my eyes a couple times. The heroine has all this power and can do more/different things than the hero, but he ends up “directing” her power whenever she needs to use it. Like she's too impulsive and inexperienced to harness her power in an appropriate way.

The romance is almost on the back burner compared to the adventure; there aren't a lot of longing looks and ruminations, but at the end hero and heroine are happy and in love. I read these for the magic and adventure and it always hits just the right spot for me, even if this re-read gave me some sad thoughts about the power dynamic accorded to women in this story.

**This review is archived on my blog: The Theory of Lieto Fine

Five Dates by AJ Cousins

Five Dates
by Amy Jo Cousins

This writing is just so fantastic. I love how the author has a history of making every relationship in the story wonderful and loving: the secondary characters have full personalities but they don't take over the story, the main characters don't get bogged down with minor misunderstandings. In general, everyone sees the best in each other and deals with their issues without blaming others.

The idea of hookup culture still bothers me and it came up a lot that the characters had a ton of nearly anonymous sex in the past. As a peripheral issue I just had to push it aside in my mind. But it made me a little uncomfortable that these two would jump into a sexual relationship with each other so quickly, knowing that they had been really promiscuous in the past and not really hashing out the idea of safe sex beforehand.

I honestly think this is the first m/m story I've read. For the length, it had a lot of sex, pushing it towards erotic romance, but it was a sweet story with two vulnerable and likeable characters who know how to love but just need a little push to see how perfect they are for each other.

**This review is archived on my blog: The Theory of Lieto Fine

Two Mia West Stories in One Post!!

Initiation by Mia West
I got so much amusement from this story. It's just a short snippet, but a great way to find out if you like the premise. I found it to be a lot of fun – resourceful, sex-positive female character can time travel through partnered orgasms. The language is course and erotic and let's face it, the book is all about sex. But it's got a fun story and I can't wait to read the rest of the series to see how the story unfolds. This first bit barely introduces the main characters relationship: it's the start of everything and we're just getting a feeling for who they are. This story is written in first person, from the heroine's perspective.


Confined by Mia West
Two characters, working through their pain and looking for solitude, are trapped together by a freak storm in the mountains. It's real and gritty, with lots of sexy moments, some almost tears from me and a sweet, fulfilled feeling at the end.

This story flew by so quickly. I loved Megan and Nick. They were both hurting, both afraid to trust or let their true selves show. They were careful with each other, sex-positive, vulnerably consensual, and achingly real. If anything, I wanted their story to keep going for so much longer. I had no doubt at the end that they were meant to be together, but I would have loved to be part of their world for longer.

The language is a little more course than a lot of romance - no purple prose here. It's different than the trend of dirty-talkers or the tendency to throw in the “c” word every now and then. I didn't find it offensive, but there were times I said “oh. don't see that one very often”.

This is book two in the series, but they're not connected by character or location. This book can be read as a standalone.

**These two reviews are archived on my blog: The Theory of Lieto Fine

September 2014 End of the Month Roundup

Another very stressful month. The kids' school is doing their annual Walk A Thon next week and I've been pretty stressed trying to make sure everything happens when it's supposed to. I read a bit, cooked a bit, but I wrote almost nothing. I am plotting my November novel for NaNoWriMo, so I've really got my fingers crossed that I can focus and write hard-core for the whole month of November.

What I've Read
Welcome to Dunvegas
This was a great collection of stories. Each one was unique and about different characters, but they were all located in the same place and had elements in common. I had no trouble keeping up with what the characters were doing and although most of the stories were so short they didn't include a happily-ever-after, I was left satisfied at the end of each one. All were well-written and concise without any extraneous details that would take away from the heart of each story. I will be looking for more stories by these authors.


Captivated by Mia West
I was entranced from the very start of this story. Beautiful and raw, very sexy and sweet. It's a great story of healing and fantasy, mixed together in a perfect blend of erotic and caring. (And to be clear, this is not fantasy/paranormal. I'm just referring to the fantasy/this-would-be-creepy-in-real-life style of story.) The language was a bit more course than the romance novels I normally read; putting this book firmly in the erotica category in my mind, even if it's still based around a sweet romance. I will definitely find more stories by this author and I'll probably even read this one again.


Meeting His Match by Katee Robert

For some reason, I just had trouble getting into this one. I started and stopped it a bunch of times before I finally got through it. There was nothing “bad” in it, but it definitely didn't hold my interest very well. I finished it and was glad for the happily-ever-after, but I wasn't invested in the characters' emotional growth.

What I've Cooked
I went back to some basics: Cheese and apple soup with french bread, tortellinis for the boys, salad, etc. I also made my healthier carrot cake and tomorrow I'm having a strudel making party with my mom. We'll see if we get some good results.

What I've been Listening To
Instead of giving you a music video to watch this month (because I can't come up with a song I've been listening to either), I did it. I made a little movie, including my stress relief music. Let's see if this works. If you have ideas of other things you'd like me to video blog about, definitely tell me. I was very nervous with this one, but I did it.