Shannon West (1)

Полнейший бардак.

Writing a book about a country you don’t know? ASK. A. NATIVE.
Here is "Ask An Expert" link: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_folder/249694?group_id=20149 . There is a "Regional Experts" thread. Please, use it.

I have no idea which century we are in, and it’s ok, plenty of books start out a little vague, especially fantasies. But being a Russian native I am so confused, my head is spinning. 17th, 18th, (literally the last year of) 19th, 20th, 21st???? show more Wait, wait, 22nd? Ugh! So many historical pointers - golden kopeks; St. Petersburg; the tsar; a boy from a dirt poor Sibirian village wearing frigging shoes with laces; metric & Imperial systems (wt-actual-f?) - that's just in the first 10% and they all point at the wrong time periods. And then, closer to the end, the author literally blindsided me with the Nutcracker “that was popular a few years back”.

But all of this is moot point, because there were never ever any elves of any kind or sort in the Russian mythology, including gay elves. Not to mention that in remote locations/villages Russians and Russian church as a rule do not tolerate anything but straight in the strictest way possible, yet Pavel acts like marrying a man is a common day occurrence. Pavel doesn’t even bat an eye, telling the Elven King that marriage comes first, sex second.

Come to think of it, how old is Pavel? 60% in the guy says something about "when I was 19..." That's it. He could be 55 for all I know.

Besides butchered Russian time line, culture and customs for the sake of the exotic location, I found the characters flat, the plot simplistic and the editing mediocre.

1 star is the best I can do here.

This book was read for a challenge. show less

DNF-ing at 50%.

Bored out of my wits.


Despite all of my exciting tags, this book is a fraud. "honeys", "sweethears", "babies" and other tooth-aching sugary nicknames applied to a mansel-in-distress-alpha-male are, indeed, revolting.

Characters are weak and, frankly, stupid. Conversations are stilted. Neither Taz nor Kyle are listening to each other, just carrying on with their own meaningless blubber. The writing is immature, the plot is almost non-existent. The whole book, quite honestly, can show more be squeezed into a dozen pages or less, considering that the majority of it is useless boring infodump.

Kyle, a Lycan, and his buddy (relative? I don't give a rat's ass) decide to kidnap a big powerful tiger shifter from a bar that he owns. They come up with a stupidest plan... wait... what am I saying? They HAVE NO PLAN! Kid you not, true story!

Anyway, they come up with some stupid excuse. Kyle goes in and never comes out. The big bad tiger kidnaps Kyle, puts him in a dog cage and delivers him to his brother Taz, who hates the hell out of Lycans (make no mistake, Lycans loath Tygerians right frigging back), but needs a lover and a nanny!!!!! for his children. Perfect. Those two are all set. Happy end!



Yep :/

PS

I really REALLY want my money back! The whole $0.99!!! show less

A werewolf story with a difference is pretty hard to write. Hundreds of them are already out there and while the mythologies and exact details vary, a lot of the basic assumptions and the ways they interact with humans are actually pretty similar. One of them is the ‘machoness’ of the dominant werewolf partner and the submission of the physically weaker human. Want to see a different way this can go? This story has an interesting twist in that dynamic which had me pay close attention to show more what was going on. I’ll admit the first third of the story was pretty ‘standard’ – but once it takes off? Buckle your seatbelts!

Nicky is an artist, but also works as a waiter to make ends meet. He doesn’t think of himself as special, and isn’t particularly happy with his life, but it is his, and he stands on his own two feet. But when he is mugged, changed into a werewolf to save his life – but without his consent, and suddenly finds himself mated to a big, strong alpha werewolf, he is understandably upset. Imagine his horror when he is called ‘pet’ and treated no better than a dog. Possibly a spoiled and protected pet, but still. Marco, his mate and master, demands total submission and even cussing is forbidden as a sign of ‘becoming feral’. I really felt for Nicky and all the wolves’ constant reassurances about how treasured he was did not help.

Marco is an overbearing, arrogant werewolf who may say he has his pack’s best interests at heart, but he is too stubborn to listen when something new and unexpected happens. The way he treats Nicky is pretty bad, even if he doesn’t mean it to be degrading. For him, having a pet and what they are expected to do is very clear, rooted in tradition, and acting against the old laws can only bring danger – mostly for the pet. I felt like banging his head against the wall and yelling at him to wake up and smell the roses during most of the book, but he was so well-meaning and protective of Nicky that it was as difficult for me to remain mad at him as it was for Nicky.

This is a great story. I loved the emotional tension between Nicky and Marco, Nicky’s struggle to understand what was going on, and then his fight to make Marco see that he was wrong. I liked the message that people (and I include werewolves here!) are not all the same and that there are differences that need to be taken into account if they want a happy relationship. Nicky’s fight for what he knows is right is heart-breaking, and I can only be very relieved that the ending was worth all the suffering.

If you like werewolf stories with a twist, if strong-willed characters are your thing, and if you prefer your main characters to have emotions as well as a physique to die for, you will probably like this story as much as I did.



NOTE: This book was provided by Secret Cravings Publishing for the purpose of a review on Raonbow Book Reviews. show less

This book and I did not get off on the right foot. But sometimes it pays to persevere, and I ended up being fascinated by the characters and liking the storyline. The conflict in this book is a pretty major one: does Logan really believe the things he has been taught as a Hunter's son, or does he have his own preferences, can he develop his own sense of right and wrong? This internal battle is made more complicated by the fact that his transition from a Hunter to Werekin and a wolf's mate is show more totally involuntary. Contrary to the title, Logan does not have a choice at all.

Or does he? As Logan gets to know Ian and begins to understand with his brain what is going on, the situation develops more gray tones. The problem of being told what to do, of feeling emasculated (in the character's own words) seems to be the same as it was when his father ran Logan's life for him. To have that in a relationship that is supposed to last the rest of his life? How is he supposed to accept that? All of this totally muddles the process of coming to grips with his new life and I can’t blame Logan for taking a while to figure it all out. Learning to be honest with himself is tough enough, having it confused with everyone else's points of view and the chemicals now coursing though his body makes it almost impossible. And when it comes down to the real choice he has to make –in a harrowing story twist – I wasn't sure he was ready for it.

Ian took a lot of getting used to. Yes, he had the best of intentions, wanting to save Ian's life. And yes, he really does fall in love. But the way he goes about it? Biting Logan without his consent, thus setting in motion a chemical/biological change in the man which is pretty significant? Forcing Logan to be submissive, even though the man is clearly anything but comfortable with it? Treating him like a dependent, helpless baby? That did not endear him to me in the least. Compromise is not something that comes easy to him, but it is exactly what he has to learn.

Much like the second volume, this book crosses the line for me, uncomfortably close to non-con. Again, like in the second book, the characters behaved consistently and in accordance with the laws set out for them in this world. The plot with all its twists and a few revelations was interesting, and even though Ian infuriated me, he wasn’t a total bastard and I enjoyed seeing him come to grips with his 'rebellious' mate. As "wrong" as some of what happened felt, it was fascinating enough to hold my attention. If you like stories that are a little 'harsher' and have fewer emotionally soft moments, if you enjoy a 'macho' guy telling a physically weaker man what to do and how to behave, and if you can deal with non-con in the setting of a paranormal werewolf culture, then you will probably like this story.





NOTE: This book was provided by Secret Cravings Publishing for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews. show less