Category Archives: 2 star reads

2 star reads, Action, Erotic Sex Scenes, Military Romance, Paranormal, Review, Shifters

Ranger’s Justice – Delta James

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Ranger’s Justice
Lone Star Wolf Rangers: Book 1
Delta James

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Wolf-shifter action romance marred by too many story inconsistences

Blurb:

They told me to stay out of it… I should have listened.

I was raised to believe in justice. To hunt down the truth no matter the cost. But when that truth led me straight into the sights of the Del Toro cartel, I realized too late, I might have bitten off more than I could chew.

I was tracking a shipment I thought would lead me to my corrupt stepfather. Instead, I ended up in the middle of a bloodbath, staring down the barrel of a gun. And then he showed up. Zane “Rush” Rushton, Lone Star Ranger, all raw power and barely restrained fury. He dragged me out of that hellhole, kicking and cursing, warning me that I was in way over my head.

I don’t like taking orders, least of all from a man who thinks he can control me. But Rush isn’t just any man. There’s something different about him, something dangerous simmering beneath the surface. When he shifted, right in front of me, I realized just how deep this danger runs.

Now I’m entangled in something far bigger than I ever imagined; cartel secrets, human trafficking, and the undeniable truth that my own bloodline is tied to it all. I should run. But Rush won’t let me. He says he’s the only one who can protect me. That he won’t let me go.

The scariest part?

I don’t want him to.

A pulse-pounding, western paranormal, romantic suspense, for fans of fated mates, fierce heroines, and ruthless alpha protectors.

The good: Most of the action scenes are suspenseful and well written. The writing itself is good, and the pace is fast. This is a quick read. I also liked that Cassidy isn’t weak. She knows some self defense and how to shoot.

But then there’s the bad:

Far too many inconsistences in the story!

  • How the hell were they tracked? Are they tracking a phone? If so, they will track them to the next location. – But that doesn’t happen, and we never find out.
  • Why did he shift to show her the truth and then immediately try to lie about it?
  • And then Cassidy is shocked by seeing Rush transform into a wolf two more times as if she hadn’t seen it already.
  • How would he know what’s in shifter romance novels?
  • A character studies a laptop and turns fully around in his seat while he’s driving. Pay attention to the road!
  • The sequence of things is rewritten in places and timings change.
  • Other things happen with no explanation. For example: Rush and Cassidy get out of the SUV, he pushes her up against the back of it, and then suddenly the back hatch is open, but no one opened it.

There are some graphic sex scenes, but they are over far too quickly. There is hardly any foreplay and no dialogue, which is usually the hottest part for me.

There are some interesting differences from the most common werewolf lore, but they aren’t explored in detail. The world-building and lore-building is lacking, as is the character-building. I don’t feel like I really got to know the characters. This has fated mates, so the instalove is expected but not fleshed out.

The climax action is over far too quickly and leaves questions unanswered. We don’t get an epilogue, which leaves me with more questions about the overall story arc. I’d really like to know what Cassidy’s mother has to say for herself.

So overall, I was disappointed. It’s the start of a good novel. The inconsistences could be fixed easily, which makes it feel like the author didn’t care enough to critically re-read through it.

Contains graphic sex scenes.

Occasional foul language.

1st person present tense from Rush and Cassidy.

Errors: 5 – 1 missing ending quotation mark, 1 misspelled word, 1 wrong name, 1 missing verb, 1 dialogue formatting error. So not bad.

I received a review copy for free from BookSirens, and I am leaving this honest review voluntarily.

211 Pages

$5.99 at Amazon and part of Kindle Unlimited.

2 star reads, Erotic Sex Scenes, Mystery, Paranormal, Review

The Demon Who Loved Me (Big Bad Bite Series Book 4) – Jessie Lane

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The Demon Who Loved Me
Big Bad Bite Series Book 4
Jessie Lane

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Paranormal romance murder mystery with too much repetition from book 2 and a rushed ending

Blurb:

He’s a gambling man…

One brunette bombshell with a devious mind and a potty mouth has thrust Kent smack dab in the middle of where he never wanted to be—his family. He’s spent most of his life avoiding his familial responsibilities, especially the one that required him to join the Ninth Circle Council—the demon society’s equivalent of judge, jury and executioner. Then one lost bet with the little Amazon flipped his entire life upside down. With worries about retaliation from the remnants of a rogue pack of wolves in Germany, he doesn’t have time to deal with his family, or his obsession with Chloe Demos.

And she’s the biggest risk he’ll ever take…

After her mother’s death, Chloe’s world crashes down around her. A secret Amazonian heritage. Aunts and a long lost brother she never knew about. Supernatural beings. With all of the sudden changes, she’s decided it’s time to step out from behind her façade of an air-headed, materialistic bimbo and show her sisters she truly does love them—she only hates their wardrobes. What better way to show she cares about her family than to help prove someone close to one of them is innocent of the bogus murder charges from some ridiculous council? Chloe has no scruples about calling in the marker the demon Kent owes her in order to do just that. It’s only too bad she’s underestimated Kent’s intelligence, and his playboy charm.

At the beginning of this story, the events in the overarching plot in the series had not progressed to where they were at the end of Book 2. It backtracks quite a bit. Since we backed up, there is a little too much repetition from scenes in Book 2. We don’t need all the same dialogue and action seen from Chloe’s POV that we saw from Elena’s POV in Book 2. A summary or reference to what happened with Chloe’s thoughts on it would be enough. A whole scene was copied from Elena’s book. It hadn’t been fully edited to be from Chloe’s POV and was far too much repetition.

The ending seemed very rushed. I suppose this is a standalone, but there are many unanswered questions about secondary plots. This is the last book that was written, and several years have passed. It doesn’t look like we’ll ever get answers to these or the other questions from the first two books. What was going on with the European shifters that had kept their alpha comatose? I’m not happy at all about this.

The relationship between Chloe and Kent didn’t have much build up or depth. I didn’t feel it. There are just two sex scenes in the whole book. Most of the story is the murder mystery, which was dissatisfying.

Occasional foul language.

Not SAFE. We don’t get details, but apparently Kent has tried to have sex with other women after meeting Chloe. We knew Kent was a slut from the previous books, so I wasn’t sure I would like his story, and it turned out that I didn’t.

3rd person past tense from Chloe and Kent.

Errors: 8 (wrong words, redundant words, missing punctuation marks and apostrophes, unnecessary dialogue tags, and line formatting errors).

2 star reads, Action, Erotic Sex Scenes, Horrible Grammar, Paranormal, Review, Shifters

The Bear’s Runaway Bride – Amy Star

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The Bear’s Runaway Bride
Amy Star

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Paranormal bear shifter romance with much more action than romance, horrible writing, and loads of errors

Blurb:

WereBear Alex always enjoyed living the solitary life in the Alaskan wilderness. It is not easy being accepted as a bear shifter so he was happy to keep himself to himself and avoid unnecessary human contact.

However, Alex’s life was turned on it’s head the day that he heard the shouting and screaming.

He followed the noise to see a woman in a wedding dress running through the forest and being chased by a bunch of mysterious men in black.

He did not think twice and he did what he could to save her from these men.

Now she is ever grateful to Alex for saving her life and it is clear that the two of them are about to fall for each other.

But just who is the bear’s runaway bride and who were the men in black she was running from? And most importantly, what will happen when they return??

If you read the blurb, you immediately get that the bride isn’t running away from the bear shifter but from someone else. So this is not the runaway bride trope.

There is much more action than romance in this novel. It’s the story of a few rescue missions. And it’s a good story. I like action. But I expect more romance, as in the evolution of a romantic relationship, when a novel is categorized as a romance. There just wasn’t a lot of relationship building. I’m giving this two stars because the story was good, and the writing was good in parts. There were just too many errors, which I will get into shortly.

Niomie is a Canada’s First Nation Indian. I like novels that have characters with unique heritage or disabilities. It makes them more interesting. I liked that she was strong, smart, and insisted on being seen as an equal with Alex. I also liked Alex, how his story came out, and how he grew emotionally.

There is unique shifter lore here, but it’s almost like there just is no lore. Shifters exist, but they are normal humans if you exclude their ability to shift and heal somewhat faster. Nothing happens when a shifter has sex, as in becoming lifelong mates. There is no biting, no fated mates, and no shifter culture/spirituality.

SPOILER: There is a HEA, sort of. I really don’t like that it just ends. There is no talk of staying together and where they would live if so, no marriage proposal, no epilogue showing a snippet of their future together. I get that they say they will face whatever comes together, but I would like more specifics!

Graphic sex scenes. Words like labia and vulva are used. These words seem clinical and take away some of the hotness for me. Some of it was really horrible. For example, “His penis deflated and pulled out of her, slick and wet like an insect fresh from its cocoon, and she cringed over top of him.” This description made me cringe too! The language used is so not hot. I feel like the author is trying to say, “They say this book won’t sell without sex in it? Then I’ll punish the readers with my descriptions of sex. They’ll never ask me for sex scenes again!”

Occasional foul language.

This is narrated (3rd person omniscient) instead of 3rd person close. We get some thoughts and feelings from both Alex and Niomie. This is unusual for a romance novel, and many people were put off by it in other reviews. Past tense.

Errors: 59, which is terrible! Wrong words, missing words, misspelled names, phrases that make no sense, and things that should be plural missing the s. “By the time…” is missing “the” – just “By time” – 12 times. But it is written correctly once, proving the author does know the correct form of the phrase. Formatting issues like the first paragraph of some chapters being centered text, a page break after a chapter title, extra spaces, and lines of text in italics that shouldn’t be. The author or editor also doesn’t know how to break dialogue into multiple paragraphs. To have the dialogue continue in the next paragraph, you must leave off the ending quotation mark. But you must have the beginning quotation mark at the start of the next paragraph to indicate it is still dialogue to the reader.

Some reviewers complained about the obscure language used. I’m absolutely fine with the lesser used words in the English language. But if they are used, they need to be used correctly! They are often used incorrectly here. It feels like the author is trying too hard to find good words and isn’t fully understanding them herself. Two examples:

“flat expanse of torn up moss and sphagnum”

…moss and sphagnum… but sphagnum is peat moss. So this basically says “moss and moss”. It makes no sense.

“…to survive so much physical apoplexy but have nothing, in the end, to remind him of it.”

The author is talking about the physical wounds that Alex received. Apoplexy is a specific ailment of stroke victims, generally not being able to speak. It can also be used to mean someone can’t speak – suffering a bout of apoplexy. But it certainly does not refer to generally having been wounded as Alex was.

240 pages. $2.99 on Amazon.

2 star reads, Erotic Sex Scenes, New Adult, Review

Boys of Brayshaw High, Trouble at Brayshaw High, and Reign of Brayshaw – Meagan Brandy

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Boys of Brayshaw High
Trouble at Brayshaw High
Reign of Brayshaw
Meagan Brandy

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Guilty pleasure like a soap opera or CW teen series

This is a guilty pleasure, like a soap opera or CW teen series. I’m somewhat embarrassed to admit I read it.

Raven is taken away from her prostitute mother and sent to a small group home in another town where she attends Brayshaw High. This school and town are ruled by three non-biological brothers. The beginning is a hate to love story, but that’s over quickly. Actually not much of it takes place inside the high school.

It becomes very difficult to suspend disbelief. It has some unique twists, so it isn’t cliché, but it gets ridiculously unbelievable. Secret identities, parentage, babies, and marriages. Comas, arranged marriages, mafia-like old families running the world behind the scenes, 16-year-olds having backstories fit for 30-year-olds. It’s insane but enjoyable, a guilty /pleasure/. All three of these books are very long, but it was well paced and kept me reading to the end. I did read all three of them.

I liked some things about the characters and hated other things. Overall, Raven is a strong female character and some secondary females are strong too.

This is really one long book, split into three parts. The first two have major cliffhangers. It would properly be labeled as Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. Lots of foul language and violence. First person present tense from alternating main characters. Many graphic sex scenes. References to rape and child molestation, but none on camera.

Many reviewers have complained about an overabundance of lip licking. I absolutely agree. It’s crazy overkill. Fortunately, this was addressed in the second two books and only happens rarely there. In part one, Raven thinks about how hot the three guys are far too much.

There is a lot of promiscuity in this novel, but it seems to be consensual. Public and group sex acts. Unprotected sex occurs with a rejected offer to use a condom. There is no discussion of birth control or sexual history. It seems neither is worried about pregnancies or STDs, which is stupidly irresponsible.

Grammar: The comma situation is gruesome with routinely missing commas where they belong and extra commas where they don’t belong. Double punctuation marks like ?! are used. This comes from email and messaging but is not correct English. Beyond that, there were: BOBH: 5, TABH: 4, ROB: 6 including wrong words, extra words, missing words, missing or extra quotation and punctuation marks.

I’d give this three stars but the grammar problems knocked my enjoyment down a star.

Favorite quotes:

From Boys of Brayshay High: “Can’t help it.” I throw my hand forward, weakly squeezing the packed muscles of his biceps. “You try sitting a foot from a beast in the flesh with crazy eyes and a dirty smirk and let’s see if your thong stays dry.”

From Trouble at Brayshaw High: “Nuh-uh, child,” Maybell reprimands and moves forward with a first aid kit. “Don’t be lookin’ at them like that. They did right, calling me. You look as bad as you did when you found out the green Power Ranger was leaving the show.”

2 star reads, Clean Romance, Review, Young Adult

Flawed – Becky Bird

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Flawed
Becky Bird

Rating: 2 out of 5.

An okay reimagining of Pride and Prejudice with teens in high school

I love Jane Austen and have read all her books. I’ve enjoyed all the miniseries and movies. I’m not a purist and have enjoyed sequel regency romance novels. I’ve also loved Austen storylines reimagined movies. My favorites are “Bride and Prejudice” and “Clueless” (Emma). So when I read this book was “Pride and Prejudice” reimagined with teens in the modern world, I was fully prepared to love it. Unfortunately, I had some major problems with it.

It’s cute and sometimes amusing. I had no problem finishing it. I wasn’t bored, and it didn’t drag on. The writing was okay. I kinda liked it. But you can tell I’m not really excited by it.

These were my major problems with it:

1. Dialogue straight from Austen, some of the most memorable quotes, did not sound realistic coming from modern teenagers. It felt forced and fake.

2. Overused clichés – mean girls, the destruction of a dress right before a fashion show, a prom-like climax, and others. It felt too “Gossip Girl”.

3. The “Bingham” character was far too shallow and narcissistic. He also punched out his windshield, twice, which indicated anger control issues. It made me worry Jade (Jane) would be abused later.

4. The entire book takes place within the time “Pride and Prejudice” is being discussed and quizzed on in Mia’s class (Elizabeth Bennet). The timing wasn’t clear. I don’t know how many weeks passed between the start and the end. But it felt way too long to be discussing one book. At least my English teachers never would have taken that long on a single book.

5. Along with the last point, the action unfolds so the class talks about the plot points in P&P as they correspond to what’s going on in Mia’s life. This forced the comparison, as if I wouldn’t get it otherwise, when it was blatantly obvious all along. It also made me doubt Mia’s intelligence as she doesn’t see the similarities between the book and her life.

1st person present tense with alternating chapters from the two main characters. I did like getting into the mind of Finn (Darcy).

Clean romance appropriate for young readers. Nothing beyond kissing. No foul language. Little violence – mainly the punching windshields thing. No OM/OW drama.

HFN, which felt more appropriate than a HEA.

Grammar:

Dialogue is very often separated from the action sequence that identifies the speaker. Sometimes one character speaks twice, in two separate paragraphs. This made knowing who was speaking difficult to figure out in places. There weren’t any unnecessary dialogue tags, but there were places where necessary tags were missing.

Commas weren’t routinely missing, so not using them wasn’t a choice. There were 9 missing commas.

Other error count:  15 (misspelled, wrong, extra, and missing words, and missing punctuation marks)

So it was readable but not a good job.

My favorite quote comes from the school principal as she is about to announce the king and queen of the winter formal dance:
“Pipe down, you pompous—” Potter lets out a loud whistle. There’s dead silence as she finishes her sentence with “…little turdfaces!” More awkward silence follows, and Principal Potter gives a wry smile. “Firstly, I want to say I’m drunk.”

2 star reads, Apocalyptic or Post-apocalyptic Romance, Clean Romance, Review

The McClane Apocalypse, Book 1 – Kate Morris

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The McClane Apocalypse, Book 1
Kate Morris

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Makings of a good story, shame about present tense + grammar

At the start of an apocalypse, Reagan escapes the college she’s been at and goes home to the family farm. The McClane’s are clearly preppers. One of Reagan’s sisters is married to a an Army Ranger. He is brought home wounded by his brother and a friend. So we have three hot military men for three beautiful McClane sisters.

This story is written in present tense throughout, which was shocking to my system and difficult to read until I got accustomed to it. I don’t think I’ve ever read a novel in present tense before and have decided I’m not a fan of this choice.

There are many grammar and spelling errors. At some point, there was a search and replace that replaced the second half of certain words with “Where”. Yikes. Unnecessary dialogue tags are everywhere. Dialogue and action are placed in separate paragraphs. The same word is used to describe things in adjacent paragraphs. This novel could have seriously benefited from an editor.

Now the story is actually pretty good in parts. I love the whole post-apocalypse romance genre, which is why I decided to try this even after reading bad reviews. I found I don’t agree with the complaints that the women are weak. Reagan is a sharp shooter and goes with the men to defend some neighbors. In the beginning, she kills her attackers. She’s got the makings of a strong character, but her thinking she is ugly because of some scars seems quite far fetched.

It makes sense that Grams and Hannah would be cooking all the time. There are no more microwaves! Cooking for that many people is actually quite strenuous. And Sue is heavily pregnant and then taking care of an infant while still managing an enormous garden, which is hard work too. These women aren’t weak just because they are doing “women’s work”. Women’s work is frigging hard!

The fact that Reagan and Hannah are both virgins makes sense for their characters. Reagan has been far ahead of her age group in school since before she hit puberty. Hannah was home schooled because she didn’t want to go away to a school for the blind. I don’t find it ridiculous. When Hannah decides she wants a man, she isn’t shy about showing him.

The story ends before it’s complete, but it’s not really a cliffhanger. I don’t feel like I have to know what happens next. Since I found present tense so uncomfortable, I don’t think I’m going to find out. If the series is ever properly edited and put into past tense, I would definitely read it.

There were no sex scenes in Book 1, so it is a clean romance. However, the romance itself didn’t get very far in this book.

2 star reads, Alien Romance, Erotic Sex Scenes, Review, Science Fiction Romance

Savage Planet Caveman (SciFi Romance): Book 2 – Cheyenne Hart

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Savage Planet Caveman
(SciFi Romance): Book 2
Cheyenne Hart

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Good start to world-building brought down by grammar mistakes

There was a good start to world-building, but it wasn’t fully realized. The novel would have to be much longer to fully flesh it out. Some explanations were good, but the story went back on our understanding later. For example, I understood the way Loraine learned Raxar’s language, but several chapters later, we are told Raxar knows English now. That was very confusing.

The conflict was too easily and quickly resolved. It could have used a lot more plot.

The grammar was terrible with wrong words, repeated words, and missing and extra quotation marks. It was very distracting.