Book Review Styxx by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Two stars! Two stars! I have to give it two stars. Styxx by Sherrilyn Kenyon didn’t start at two stars, like all books, it started it at four and found itself being dragged down by the immense word count and a thin idea. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Dark-Hunter series, at least until No Mercy. No Mercy hurt, but Sundown and the Guardian killed me and I stopped reading the continuation of the series due to it. The only reason why I picked up Styxx was because some review said it was as good as Acheron. Acheron, in my opinion only ranked at three stars and heralded the fall of this series. But I enjoyed the early life of that book, so I figured, why not and bought it.

For the first half of the book, I truly enjoyed the read. Styxx’s life was just as hard as Acheron’s- neglect, beatings, rape -the only difference in the two was that Styxx was more stoic about it. I love stoic characters. Continuing on, he meets the love of his life who happens to be a half-Egyptian and Atlantian goddess.

Slight spoiler, she is the daughter of Set and that makes her Seth’s half sister. She is also black, a fact Ms. Kenyon added to the story, possibly due to the flack she got for making Seth a ginger in the Guardian. I don’t care about skin color.

I have an issue with her making a certain gay character straight in her other series, but that’s just due to a pitifully weak reason and the fact what  happened in the end ruined the continuity of the series.

Following that, Styxx’s story proceeds to go downhill as it goes through the motions of ‘adding more back story’ pulled from earlier books- Night Pleasures, Acheron, etc. After that boring dreg, the pace picks up to a rate it becomes like a piece of ice floating in a stream of water. The ice is the plot, the water is what is.

Overall, Styxx started out really well, I actually stayed up to read it, but fell hard towards the end. The series is still a read for me; I’m just going to skip all characters that aren’t Artemis, Noir, Azuara, Jaden and his friend whose name I can’t recall.

Book Review Beneath the Neon Moon by Theda Black

Beneath the Neon Moon by Theda Black opens up a bit like Saw movie; chained, bound to another and not even the foggiest idea of what is going one. “I wanna play a game,” except with wear-wolves.

From there, it stays dark but the characterization of Zach and Mal, though limited, brings a light to it.

Beneath the Neon Moon is a fantastic read, four out of five and I want a sequel.

Book Review Drain Me Dry by Leigh Wilder

Truth be told, I was surprised by how much I liked this story. It was procured during a binge run on Amazon a couple of months back as a free read. I figured gay vampires and a few BDSM elements, why the hell not?

Drain Me Dry by Leigh Wilder tells the story of Jamie and his desire to escape his situation of an abusive, alcoholic father and a crap job at the local fast food joint, preferably by dying by the bite of a vampire.

 A violent way to die to be sure, but plans as stupid as that one rarely unfold as expected and Jamie is at the mercy of a vampire.

As stated before, this is a story about gay vampires and there are strong sexual elements in it. They aren’t porn level, well the description is vivid, but I meant little plot, loads of sex. As for the plot it is there, but the characterization is what’s truly impressive, especially considering how short the story is. I personally believe that Drain Me Dry is just set up for the sequel.

Overall, I give the story a three out of five and just need to review the sequel.

Book Review Attracting Anthony by Amber Kell

If it wasn’t for the writer in me, Attracting Anthony, book one of the Moon Pack Series by Amber Kell would have been more enjoyable. With that said, I did somewhat enjoy the story I just didn’t like certain aspects of it.

Anthony is talked into going to a club with his best-friend, Steven, but in order not to outshine his friend, he casts a glamour that makes him look less attractive then he is, showcasing how good of a friend he is.

In those same pages, the death of Anthony’s lover is mentioned and the glamour for friendship is downgraded to a twofer.

The issue I have with the beginning is due to the way it was worded. Hundreds of words could have been cut if the scenes describing the effects of the glamour and the conversation between Anthony and Steven had been merged into one. It also would have been less jarring.

Once passed the first chapter, the story unfolded and proceeded to become more interesting. The love interest is named Silver Moon, an alpha were-wolf and owner of the club, which apparently remains unnamed, that Anthony is visiting. As it is a short story, the romance unfolds quickly and I truthfully don’t mind that. What I mind is the lack of conflict between the two of them or an outside force opposing their love. Anthony’s parents would have been an amusing opposition, or the vampires reengaging on the deal.  I don’t really care, I just wanted conflict. Honestly, anything would have been beneficial two crank this story up to a full three rather than two and a half.

NaNoWriMo

In case you didn’t realize, it’s November and that means it is write a novel in a month time.

Ok, I will admit, that’s my goal for every month…

Anyways, in my mass stupidity, I first thought to write book four of the Power Series, a side story called Rising Power before editing book three. A stupid move if there ever was one. At that point in time, I thought it brilliant.

So it came to be on Sunday, when I wrote myself into a corner and wanted to scream. It wasn’t a real corner. It was more of a fear corner, the fear of writing so much in the side story that book four of the main series would have continuity issues and book three would make no sense.

So what was I to do? I wanted to do NaNoWriMo but the series I was focusing on was on hiatuses. Much like this blog.

So I did what anyone in my position would do. I dusted off an idea and started writing. Considering I started three days after the start of NaNoWriMo, my new story, titled Bastard Born, is going pretty good. At last count, I was at 10,000 plus words. I’m happy and since I avoid plotting like anything with pork, I have no outline.

Well, I need to write 4,000 words before the end of the night to catch up.

Happy writings.

Artemis and Her Shows ep 02 part 2 of 02

Artemis, Latis and the twins searched for a week, looking for the best place to set up their show and decided on a small town with a large populace of college students.

“I like the energy here.” Artemis said. “It’s slightly off balanced. It will allow us to alter the environment to suit our needs.”

“There is a nexus here as well.” One of the twins noted.

“There is also a seal. We best avoid it less Jade become aware.”

Artemis nodded. Jade was fun killer. “Do you see anything else?”

“Not at this point in time.” Latis answered. “Now, let’s do a casting.”

The four deities teleported to the college and looked for prospective stars.

 

* * * * *

Ep 02 part 02 of 02

CDE blog posted October 23, 2013

 

His name was Mike and he had just turned twenty-one. And at this point in time, he wished that he had never gotten out of bed. Or better yet, headed to the bar and stayed there. Cause, really, this was too much.

The creature lunged for him, its green skin becoming a blur as he dropped to the ground in an effort to avoid being hit.

What the thing was really didn’t matter; it was trying to hurt him, more than likely kill him. And that was something that he just wouldn’t allow. Kicking the creature between the legs, he jolted as his right foot got stuck.

“What the hell?” he wondered before he pushed off with his left foot in hopes of freeing himself. It worked and Mark landed on his ass.

A condescending laugh was heard and Mark turned to see where it was coming from.

“Best run, little boy.” The voice was male as if the height hadn’t placed that gender into his head. He had his hood up and he carried a tire-iron as if he knew how to use it as a weapon.

“Bitch, you aint no older then I.”

The male stopped and cocked his head. “Give me a moment.”  He redirected his attention to the creature and charged. The tire iron stuck with the accuracy that could only be gifted by a blunt instrument.

Mark would have been impressed if the attack had any effect, but the creature seemed to be a semisolid and the newcomer lost his weapon because of it.

Artemis and her Shows Ep 2 part 01 of 02

Artemis, Latis and the twins searched for a week, looking for the best place to set up their show and decided on a small town with a large populace of college students.

“I like the energy here.” Artemis said. “It’s slightly off balanced. It will allow us to alter the environment to suit our needs.”

“There is a nexus here as well.” One of the twins noted.

“There is also a seal. We best avoid it less Jade become aware.”

Artemis nodded. Jade was fun killer. “Do you see anything else?”

“Not at this point in time.” Latis answered. “Now, let’s do a casting.”

The four deities teleported to the college and looked for prospective stars.