Tiffinie Helmer

I think my biggest issue with this book was the inconsistency in tone.

Sometimes it reads very much like a comedy but at other times it's dead serious and deals out really heavy emotions. This caused bad emotional whiplash and a kind of cognitive dissonance for me.

The entire plot is executed in a fundamentally silly way which undermines all the seriousness. As a consequence, I disliked reading the serious stuff because the surrounding goofy atmosphere invalidated it all somehow. I felt like show more the book disrespected the heavy feelings of its own cast and my own emotional investment with it.
I was so on board with the more serious tone that the realization of how much it would be subverted by the humor just made me lose the drive to continue.
That is not to say the humor is bad or anything. I actually enjoyed most of it a lot. It was cheeky and cute. I just couldn't handle both at the same time.

I think this is mostly a "me" problem. show less

What did I think? I think I overrated this with 3 stars, lol.

But seriously, I liked quite a bit of it but disliked others. The heroine is an US Spy who has gone rouge to kill a former Russian spy living in the US after defecting. She's there to kill him because of the way he treated her (and the killing of her partner/mentor) 3 years or so previously.

Reading this book made me think of the major action scene in the movie Mr. and Mrs. Smith between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. There was lots show more of major fighting going on there...but the difference between the movie and this book is that this book has the hero almost always clearly having the upper hand. Although the heroine is a great fighter, a great spy, well prepared and stealthy - the hero is portrayed as a better fighter, a better spy, more well prepared and even stealthyier. It kinda pissed me off - one of the reasons I love Mr. and Mrs. Smith is that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's characters were portrayed as 100% equals (and sometimes she was his better in a few things...as women usually are :-)).

This book has the heroine getting played on all sides by the men surrounding her - in one way or another.

All in all, a decent book that I enjoyed. I just wish the heroine was even more bad ass. show less

This is a set of intriguing, thrilling and intense set of stories that teases the reader’s imagination and gets the adrenalin pumping.

The common theme in all of these fascinating short stories is “Love Hurts”. The stories give readers glimpses of hard knock life events that may or may not eventually lead to romance, but mostly keep the reader entertained with suspense, action and drama. The authors bring true life realities to life in exciting and intriguing ways that keep the readers show more on their toes and turning page after page.

As with any grouping of stories, the reader will like some more than others, but they will definitely get lots of pleasure and imagination stimulating tales with this set. There is definitely something for everyone from a dominatrix to a dragon and of course what story would be complete without good guys and bad guys. All the stories have compelling characters that grab the reader’s attention and are easily related to.

There is some light romance to be found, but mostly romance is just hinted about. There is lots of drama both suspenseful and emotional and surprising twists that reader’s don’t see coming, and a couple of unique stories with interesting concepts and all of the stories leave the reader wanting to know more.

I found a couple of the stories to be a little on the slow side but for the most part they were fast paced and enjoyable. I will be honest and say that my favorite one is Fury of Fate, but then I totally love this series. I have definitely found more authors for me to be checking out, which is always a major plus for me. So overall you can’t go wrong with this collection of tales about love that hurts. show less

Graphic novelist, Aidan Harte, has returned to Chatanika, Alaska to clean out his father's house after being gone for a long time. His former love, Raven Maiski is not happy to learn of Aidan's return. She is afraid to risk her heart to him again and she has secrets that she wants to keep from him and from her family. Someone else also wants Aidan to leave and tries to run him off, getting more dangerous as times passes and he remains in Alaska.

Tiffinie Helmer has written some interesting show more books set in Alaska. I have enjoyed learning about the harsh winters and wildness of Alaska. This book has romance, danger, and secrets. All of which make for an interesting read. This is the third book in her Romance on the Edge series and just as good as the first two. show less