![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
What Am I Reading Thursday - July 14
Jul. 14th, 2016 12:04 pmWhat I Just Finished Reading: The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch. Not sure about the end of this one. I thought we'd come to a good stopping point for a trilogy, but then it just kept going? The fourth book is out this fall so we'll see, I guess. I can always pretend the last few chapters don't count if I want to. :P
Bomber's Moon (Under the Hill #1), by Alex Beecroft. After Ben Chaudhry is threatened by elves he accidentally sees on their midnight ride he contacts the Paranormal Defence Agency for help. Chris Gatrell, a WWII pilot shot down and sent forward in time by these same elves, answers Ben's call for help and finds himself attracted not only to the case but to Ben as well. But just as they think they've found a solution, the voice of Chris's wartime lover Flynn, trapped by the fae 70 years ago, warns that there is more danger than they imagine. Can Ben and Chris face down otherworldly forces and build a relationship together?
Well, yes and no. This book ends on one of the most blatant cliffhangers I've ever seen, meaning you have to buy the following book if you want to find out what happens. It probably wouldn't have annoyed me as much if they weren't priced at the cost of a complete book each. Said annoyance was also mitigated by the fact that I bought them during one of ARe's sales and only paid the cost of a single book anyway. So:
Dogfighters (Under the Hill #2), by Alex Beecroft. Kidnapped by the fae Ben is confronted with a past life, lover, and supernatural history he doesn't remember. Back on Earth Chris not only needs to find a way to Ben but a way to convince the police he isn't Ben's murderer. In the face of an impending invasion, Flynn and Chris work from opposite sides to stop the Fae but even with the help of a dragon, Chris's fellow Paranormal Defenders, and a ghostly bomber crew will they be able to save the Earth - and Ben and Flynn?
I really wanted to like this better than I did. It was okay but it had way too much going on, and a number of characters who just seemed to get dropped for the sake of the ending. It also feels weird that Chris was wondering if the two weeks he was lovers with Flynn was long enough to consider a relationship and then he just hops into one with Ben in only a week? A number of plot points were just dropped, seemingly for the sake of getting Ben and Chris together. It should've either kept the simpler 'find out what angered the fae in the first book and fix it' plotline, or been expanded into a longer book or a series.
Lead Me Into Darkness: Five Hallowe'en Tales of Paranormal Romance, by Santino Hassell, J.R. Gray, Kris Ripper, J.C. Lillis, and Roan Parrish. This was a free offering on ARe so I downloaded it because why not? It was OK. I honestly can't remember anything about the individual stories though.
What I'm Reading Now: The Boss, by Abigail Barnette. Sophie Scaife never expected to see the man she had an amazing one night stand with six years ago again, much less to suddenly find out he's her new boss, billionaire publishing magnate Neil Elwood. Sophie can't resist rekindling the spark they felt between them that night - and neither can Neil, who has never been able to forget the woman who submitted to him so beautifully. But when their no-strings-attached fling becomes something more will Sophie need to choose between her lover and her career?
Abigail Barnette is the pen name of Jenny Trout, who did a wonderful recap and takedown of the Fifty Shades of Grey series you can read here. The Boss is designed to be the antithesis of FSoG and it is, oh yes it is. There is respect, affection, actual goddamned discussions of what people want in the bedroom, and a female protagonist who absolutely has her own sexual agency. She talks, she thinks, she initiates encounters, she cheerfully talks about her fantasies and masturbating to them, she's a submissive but she isn't treated as a doormat nor does she act as one. She's also not jealous of or threatened by other women. Pretty much, if you put her in a room with Ana Steele it'd be like matter and antimatter and the only reason I'm not suggesting it is that I like Sophie much more than I hate Ana. (To be clear, I don't hate Ana because she's a victim - that's not her fault, it's never the victim's fault - I hate her because she's a snide, greedy, grasping, jealous, willfully stupid, elitist ass. But she still doesn't deserve Christian Grey.) Really, the only issue I have with The Boss is Sophie's repeated use of the word 'cunt' but that's being used by Sophie to describe her own genitalia, not as a slur or an insult so that just falls under personal preference.
What I'm Reading Next: We know by now there's no use in predicting that. :)
Bomber's Moon (Under the Hill #1), by Alex Beecroft. After Ben Chaudhry is threatened by elves he accidentally sees on their midnight ride he contacts the Paranormal Defence Agency for help. Chris Gatrell, a WWII pilot shot down and sent forward in time by these same elves, answers Ben's call for help and finds himself attracted not only to the case but to Ben as well. But just as they think they've found a solution, the voice of Chris's wartime lover Flynn, trapped by the fae 70 years ago, warns that there is more danger than they imagine. Can Ben and Chris face down otherworldly forces and build a relationship together?
Well, yes and no. This book ends on one of the most blatant cliffhangers I've ever seen, meaning you have to buy the following book if you want to find out what happens. It probably wouldn't have annoyed me as much if they weren't priced at the cost of a complete book each. Said annoyance was also mitigated by the fact that I bought them during one of ARe's sales and only paid the cost of a single book anyway. So:
Dogfighters (Under the Hill #2), by Alex Beecroft. Kidnapped by the fae Ben is confronted with a past life, lover, and supernatural history he doesn't remember. Back on Earth Chris not only needs to find a way to Ben but a way to convince the police he isn't Ben's murderer. In the face of an impending invasion, Flynn and Chris work from opposite sides to stop the Fae but even with the help of a dragon, Chris's fellow Paranormal Defenders, and a ghostly bomber crew will they be able to save the Earth - and Ben and Flynn?
I really wanted to like this better than I did. It was okay but it had way too much going on, and a number of characters who just seemed to get dropped for the sake of the ending. It also feels weird that Chris was wondering if the two weeks he was lovers with Flynn was long enough to consider a relationship and then he just hops into one with Ben in only a week? A number of plot points were just dropped, seemingly for the sake of getting Ben and Chris together. It should've either kept the simpler 'find out what angered the fae in the first book and fix it' plotline, or been expanded into a longer book or a series.
Lead Me Into Darkness: Five Hallowe'en Tales of Paranormal Romance, by Santino Hassell, J.R. Gray, Kris Ripper, J.C. Lillis, and Roan Parrish. This was a free offering on ARe so I downloaded it because why not? It was OK. I honestly can't remember anything about the individual stories though.
What I'm Reading Now: The Boss, by Abigail Barnette. Sophie Scaife never expected to see the man she had an amazing one night stand with six years ago again, much less to suddenly find out he's her new boss, billionaire publishing magnate Neil Elwood. Sophie can't resist rekindling the spark they felt between them that night - and neither can Neil, who has never been able to forget the woman who submitted to him so beautifully. But when their no-strings-attached fling becomes something more will Sophie need to choose between her lover and her career?
Abigail Barnette is the pen name of Jenny Trout, who did a wonderful recap and takedown of the Fifty Shades of Grey series you can read here. The Boss is designed to be the antithesis of FSoG and it is, oh yes it is. There is respect, affection, actual goddamned discussions of what people want in the bedroom, and a female protagonist who absolutely has her own sexual agency. She talks, she thinks, she initiates encounters, she cheerfully talks about her fantasies and masturbating to them, she's a submissive but she isn't treated as a doormat nor does she act as one. She's also not jealous of or threatened by other women. Pretty much, if you put her in a room with Ana Steele it'd be like matter and antimatter and the only reason I'm not suggesting it is that I like Sophie much more than I hate Ana. (To be clear, I don't hate Ana because she's a victim - that's not her fault, it's never the victim's fault - I hate her because she's a snide, greedy, grasping, jealous, willfully stupid, elitist ass. But she still doesn't deserve Christian Grey.) Really, the only issue I have with The Boss is Sophie's repeated use of the word 'cunt' but that's being used by Sophie to describe her own genitalia, not as a slur or an insult so that just falls under personal preference.
What I'm Reading Next: We know by now there's no use in predicting that. :)
