Comments on: REVIEW: Liberty by Kimberly Iverson

By: Jayne

Jayne — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:01:36 +0000

And there's an older novel I reviewed a while ago called "The Raven and the Rose" which has a slave co-hero.

By: Jayne

Jayne — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:00:11 +0000

Moth, you might want to try Lindsay Townsend's novella with a slave hero. I mean to try it one of these days.

By: Moth

Moth — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:36:34 +0000

*sigh* Well, I got the book from the library yesterday and dove right in. I’m sorry to report I was disappointed.

I agreed with the AAR reviewer (http://www.likesbooks.com/cgi-bin/bookReview.pl?BookReviewId=5905) when she said:

Rhyddes has been sodomized, is standing naked on the slave block, while Marcus fondles her breasts, checking out the merchandise. But because he is The Hero, Rhyddes gets all tingly inside? Nope. I didn’t believe it. Not in that situation.

This too was a wall-banger moment for me. I actually threw the book down at this point and didn’t read it again for a couple of hours. I picked it up to try again (because I really, really love Rome and gladiators especially. They’re fascinating to me). So I soldiered through for a couple more chapters, and, while I found the gladiatorial aspects interesting and well-portrayed I found all the parts with Marcus the Hero rather uninteresting.

I think I’m just rather sick of the Roman nobleman as gladiator trope. Give me some honest to goodness slaves as heroes if you’re gonna do gladiators! Where’s my Spartacus? I guess that’s just not glamorous enough for Romancelandia, tho.

The romance also didn’t hook me at all, I actually found myself oddly disassociating while I read those parts, like I was mentally pruning them out of the story. I did like Rhyddes, though, and the paternal relationship she developped with her trainer was a nice touch. *sigh again* I really wanted to like this, but it just wasn’t working for me.

Ah, well, back to the stacks…

By: Jayne

Jayne — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 20:20:26 +0000

I’m happy as a clam when someone reads one of these older reviews. Occasionally I have to close comments on one of them because spammers decide they love to post to them but I hate it when I’m forced to do that. Really, really hate it.

By: Moth

Moth — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 20:05:51 +0000

Have I ever mentioned how much I love it that you guys will reply to comments left on old entries? Because I do. I love it.

I <3 DA.

By: Jayne

Jayne — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:07:25 +0000

I ♥ libraries.

By: Moth

Moth — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:04:49 +0000

Yup. I has a most wonderful library system in my area. :D

By: Jayne

Jayne — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:44:44 +0000

Oooh, can you do an online library check thingie? I love being able to do that.

By: Moth

Moth — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:30:21 +0000

OOH. I love Ancient Rome. Gladiators especially. And my library actually has a copy of this. *happy dance*

By: Jayne

Jayne — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 20:18:48 +0000

jmc, I was amazed by the AAR review myself. Maybe that reviewer didn’t enjoy the political machinations but I loved them too. I jut got the cover flats from Kim Headlee and the old one (that I mistakenly thought was the UK cover) is gorgeous. I’m almost sorry it wasn’t the final choice but it probably would have been impossible to get a man to read any book using it. [grin]

By: jmc

jmc — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 17:20:22 +0000

Update: read Liberty on my travel day. Wow, loved it. Went backk and re-read the AAR review and wondered if we read the same book. In some ways, Liberty reminded me of a sweeping, epic-saga style 80s book — and I mean that in a good way! I suppose if I was looking for a straight romance, I might have been a little disappointed that Rhyddes and Marcus didn’t spend a great deal of time together on the page. But I felt like there was enough, and I found the historical detail and the political machinations to be fascinating!

By: Kim "Kimberly Iverson" Headlee

Kim "Kimberly Iverson" Headlee — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 15:46:30 +0000

Jayne, yes I consider LIBERTY to be a romance, but with a broader-than-usual scope in terms of plot, development of secondary characters, other types of relationships than romantic ones, and other thematic subtexts as well. That's just how I craft stories. Most men I've heard from to date, either via fan mail or reviews, who have liked the book seem to have liked it for many of the reasons I've mentioned above. LIBERTY, apparently, has shattered their pre-conceived notions of historical romances (and could explain why some women don't like this book). A good example is this review, posted by the webmaster of Gladiatrix.info, here. Fans reading this page who would like to give LIBERTY a boost can also post their views on Amazon.com and Epinions.com, where other harsh comments have been posted. Thanks!

By: Jayne

Jayne — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 12:47:28 +0000

Well damn, that’s a great cover that never was then. ;)

I finally got a chance to read the AAR review yesterday and it’s pretty harsh. But the TRR one is a 4 heart so I guess it is a love it or hate it kind of book.

I’m curious, what have men been saying about it and do you consider this to be a romance book? Do they consider it to be one? I did find it shelved with the romance books at Waldenbooks.

By: Kim "Kimberly Iverson" Headlee

Kim "Kimberly Iverson" Headlee — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 16:29:39 +0000

Jayne, thank you so much for your terrific review of LIBERTY! Until your article, I had been getting the best reviews from men. I seem to have written a book that readers either love or hate — if you’ve seen the AAR review you know what I mean. But that’s OK; as a reviewer myself, I find it’s the books that fall in the middle, evoking no real emotional response one way or the other, that I feel I’ve truly wasted my time upon.

Regarding the alternate cover, the one depicting the heroine & hero against a gorgeous backdrop of the Colosseum, that was the old cover, which was abandoned 6 months prior to publication but still shows up as a graphic on some online bookstore sites. I don’t believe that represents a different “UK edition” since the original cover dimensions are different. But who knows?? If any UK readers have seen it “in the flesh,” so to speak, I’d love to hear about it.

Since you have been so kind, Jayne, then if you would like to email me your “earthmail” address I would be delighted to send you a signed cover flat of the original cover art — a true collector’s item because I have only a couple of them . . .

Take care and Happy Holidays!
Kim
Kim D Headlee
Author, LIBERTY, writing as Kimberly Iverson, HQN Books, ISBN 0373771347, on sale now
Author, DAWNFLIGHT, ISBN 0671020412
Contributor, THE FANTASY WRITER’S COMPANION, ISBN 1896944159

By: Carrie

Carrie — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 16:53:20 +0000

FYI, both Kimberly (Iverson) and Michelle (Styles) have joined my multi-person blog for authors who write historicals set in unusual times/places. Jennifer Mueller, whose books you reviewed earlier this month, is also a contributor.

http://unusualhistoricals.blogspot.com

Thanks for this review of Liberty — it’s first on my list of Christmas down-time reads.

By: Jayne

Jayne — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 15:49:30 +0000

ITA about the cover art. What do you think of the UK version. I was hunting for the cover to upload it here and found that one. Damn, I almost wish I had it instead.

I didn’t know AAR had review it. Must check that out.

I just finished reading Michelle Styles next Roman era book and liked it better than Gladiator. Bad news is that I don’t know when it will be published in the US. Bad Mills and Boon, bad, bad!

By: jmc

jmc — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 13:43:40 +0000

This has been on my TBR pile since it was released few months ago. The cover art caught my attention…plus, I had just read Michelle Styles’ gladiator HH and was interested in reading more set in the Roman empire. I put off reading it because it got such a low grade at AAR and was worried that it might not live up to my expectations. But I’m thinking now that it’ll be the book I read while traveling next week. Thanks for the excellent review, Jayne.