Dear Author » New-Orleans

REVIEW: Captured by Moonlight by Nancy Gideon

Jane — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 17:42:33 +0000

Dear Ms. Gideon:

I had initially stayed away from these books because of the generic mantitty covers and the general paranormal malaise I was feeling. I picked up the first book because I was told that these books were police procedure stories. The heroine, Charlotte ‘CeeCee’ Caissie was a New Orleans detective and she becomes entangled with Max Legere, a shapeshifter of some sort and possibly the head of one of the largest, most powerful crime syndicates in New Orleans. While I had some problems with the first book, Max was sufficiently intriguing for me to pick up the second book.

I had quite a few problems with the second book, Chased by Moonlight, particularly because CeeCee was supposedly investigating a crime that involved Max while still sleeping with Max. I remember the time that she kissed him the interrogation room and my head almost blew off my shoulders. But I had the third book and I was hoping to find out more about the mystery element pertaining to Max’s heritage and so many others had said that the third book was better.

I guess this third book is better in that CeeCee does almost not police work and thus that totally inaccurate portrayal isn’t part of the story and while we did learn more about Max and his power, more new questions were raised than old ones answered. I also thought book 3 shined a harsh light on the difficulty of maintaining a romance between the same characters over a number of books.

Max and CeeCee engage in a teeter/totter of emotions, getting into fights on one page and telling the other “I love you” on the next. The problem with this is with each utterance of “I love you”, the words become less meaningful until they got to the point of being almost disingenuous. I don’t really know if either knew what it meant to love the other.

Max refuses to share the shifter secrets with CeeCee for no apparent reason. Max knew little about shapeshifting and while CeeCee was never the brightest candle in the candelabra to me, Max viewed her as some kind of deity. Why not share with her? The only reason why he didn’t share was so that CeeCee could do something stupid relating to the shifter part of Max’s life and the forced conflict and fights could continue. Their constant refusal to communicate and continued secret keeping was supposed to create tension but it was so fake and contrived that all it really did was frustrate me.

The characterization of CeeCee continues its downward spiral in this book. Seen from the eyes of Max, CeeCee is strong and sexy. But CeeCee as her own narrator and in her own actions is displayed as thoughtless, defiant, and uncontrolled. CeeCee has so little understanding of Max and his nature (admittedly this is Max’s fault) but when she is provided insight, instead of trying to work with it, she butts up against it.

I kept asking myself what kind of detective could she possibly be. She had no ability to filter through information and analyze it and come up with reasonable conclusions. Detective work requires meticulous attention to detail, methodical review of the facts, reasonable inferences drawn from facts and CeeCee displayed none of these characteristics.

The two engage in physical violence toward each other. They are cruel to each other in both word and deed. I actually felt that there was a scene in which Max begins to rape CeeCee but in the end turns it into a blissful orgasms because he bites her neck and she succumbs. I’ve read my share of forced seduction scenes and this one really bothered me, primarily because CeeCee had been violated in a terrible fashion when she was much younger:

[[Visit blog to check out this spoiler]]

The pairing of the human and the beast also strained credulity. Three books is spent building up Max as this super super natural. He’s stronger, more powerful, more pure shapeshifter than any other shapeshifters. Yet mere Charlotte a human can somehow defeat nature, the natural instinct, and control him when Max himself cannot. It’s very fairy tale which seems ridiculous to complain about in the course of a paranormal but it didn’t ring true throughout the story.

The story had such a weird rhythm and I often questioned scene choice. Like after a funeral, they held a party even though there were killers somewhere out there. We spend a bunch of time at the party with food and dancing wherein the characters engage in a lot of internal rumination. This is then followed by a barbecue . Am I reading a romantic suspense book? or Full House? There was too much focus on the emotional part of the story and the sex part of the story when there were supposedly all these dangers around them.

The book lacked focused and sometimes consistency. For instance, Max didn’t know baseball from softball from football but could say, “This is softball, not roller derby” in response to a cautionary warning from her.

Unfortunately, this book is it for me. The book reminded me of a fish flopping around on the deck. There was no direction, no control, the storyline was all over the place, and Max, who I liked at one time, became too much of a caricature. I know that there are three more stories planned in this universe, but I’ll can’t foresee reading them. D

Best regards,

Jane

Friday Film Review: The Big Easy

Jayne — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 09:00:52 +0000

The Big Easy (1987)
Genre: Romantic Thriller
Grade: B+

When this film was released over 20 years ago, I remember all the detractors and criticisms. No one from New Orleans talks this way. Whenever the NOPD makes the news it’s because of corruption allegations. Why must Mardi Gras always be mentioned in any film about the city? It took me a few years to see it but from the first, I loved it.

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Homicide Detective Remy McSwain (Dennis Quaid) is an eleven year veteran of the NOPD. Before too long, he’s up to his ass in dead bodies from what appears to be a drug war between two factions in the city. But because of allegations of police involvement, special prosecutor for the DA, Anne Osborne (Ellen Barkin), is also riding his ass.

Remy, along with most of the other officers, has been on the take for years. He justifies accepting small bribes because he does a dirty job for little pay and less appreciation from the citizens he protects. Plus, everybody does it. But he still thinks he’s a good cop. Only…is he? And what about the others? Can they still do the job or has corruption corrupted them as well?

I understand that this is Disney New Orleans. But I still want to buy my all day admission ticket and enjoy my stay there. I want to wander these streets and imagine that people really talk this way, dance to this music, have parties like these and eat this food all the time.

And the music alone is worth the price. After I saw the film, I went straight out and bought the soundtrack CD. I still listen to it all the time. It’s full of fantastic music that gives the film such atmosphere.

The relationship between Anne and Remy is like oil and water with sparks. I love watching Anne, who’s wrapped as tight as duct tape, loosen up under Remy’s easy charm. She has a vulnerability that takes the edge off her tough woman stance. Meanwhile Remy, who starts out so relaxed and determined to get into Anne’s pants, shows some depth as he learns just how far he’s sunk from his ideal of being a good cop and where the trail of the investigation will lead him. That goofy grin of his keeps him from being too obnoxiously self assured.

Much has been said about their first scene in bed during which neither of them totally takes off their clothes. It’s hot, it’s as steamy as the midsouth in August and it’s not the usual “too slick and smooth” movie sex scene of beautiful people making perfect love.

The plot is a pretty standard police procedural thriller but with touches that make it all New Orleans. Sometimes it can be a challenge to keep all the names of the various criminal players straight but the first time through, just go with it. Watch it a second time to get the twists and turns of the plot unraveled.

A second viewing might also be necessary to notice all the excellent secondary cast. Ned Beatty, John Goodman, Lisa Jane Persky, and Ebbe Roe Smith are wonderful. I especially want to mention the smaller roles played by Grace Zabriskie, a true Cajun, as Remy’s mother and Charles Ludlam who plays the defense lawyer Lamar Parmentel.

I’ve seen this movie many times and I still love it. Yes, it has its problems but they’re not enough to detract from what’s good here: sizzling chemistry, great characters, and music good enough to drown in. B+

~Jayne

REVIEW: So Into You by Sandra Hill

Jane — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 21:00:26 +0000

Dear Ms. Hill:

I get the sense from this book that there is a whole series of stories on the LeDeux family led by Tante Lulu, a ninety two year old woman seeking to bring the thunderbolt of love to the LeDeux menfolk. Only this time, the target of the love match isn’t a LaDeuxs but former poker playing Champion, one time Playgirl model, and current treasure hunter/construction owner, Angel Sabato.

Actually the person who needs the shaking up is Grace O’Brien, the object of Angel’s love and lust. He proposes to her in the first chapter of the book and is soundly rejected. Angel decides his next treasure hunting endeavor will not be with Grace and takes himself away, the just friends offer from Grace left behind in the gravel along with the remnants of his pride and heart.

I think the first chapter really demonstrates the strengths and weaknesses of this book. So Into You is full of fun and laughter and steamy sexual tension but it’s also disjointed in its characterizations.

Angel’s proposal to Grace came out of nowhere. It seems that while they have known each other for a decade, they only kissed maybe once, and they’ve never actually dated. It’s hard to say what led Angel to believe that proposing to Grace made sense.

Then there is Grace. Grace tells Angel that if she could love someone, she would choose to love Angel. Grace’s explanation for why couldn’t love Angel had to do with her complicated past which included a child given up for adoption, an abortion, a stint as a nun, playing poker, and treasure hunting. Grace is now apprenticing herself to Tante Lulu to become a faith healer.

Grace had such potential to be an interesting character. She was a wild teenager who slept around and got pregnant more than once. She had made both the decision to give up a child for adoption and to have an abortion. Her wild teenage ways led her to the nunnery but the yen for poker playing required her to leave the order. She was a character rich with flaws but those were never fully explored. They were simply part of her past as meaningless, at times, as if she had blonde hair that turned brown as she aged from childhood to pubescence.

Tante Lulu decides that post Katrina, she needs to do more to help families and with the assistance of Samantha Starr, another prominent Louisiana family, sets up a foundation: Jude’s Angels. Jude’s Angels will build houses for needy families. Angel is lured back to Louisiana by Tante Lulu’s pleading and the fact that Grace is still single.

Part of the book is like a guide to readers of the North in the charm of a mysterious culture known as the South.

“Hey, y’all watch this.!”
Everyone know that when a southern male called that out, he was about to do something stupid, likie stick a hand in a gator’s mouth, or jump off a tall tree in a shallow bayou stream.”

“Grace was beginning to learn that in the South you could toss out any kind of insult as long as you attached ‘bless his or her heart’ to it. … Grace also knew she would never be considered a true southerner, best explained by that famous saying, ‘I’m a southerner born and a southerner bred, and when I die, I’ll be a southerner dead.’”

That Grace just couldn’t find it in herself to accept Angel’s love because she was searching for something, someone (who she is searching for is fairly obvious) was frustrating over time. I needed to see more about what made Grace and Angel tick in order to accept the conflict. The more that I read of Grace’s inability to allow herself to love Angel or accept his love, the more I needed to know why and the why that was provided simply wasn’t sufficient for me.

The story felt rushed many times as every LeDeux tried to jockey for page time in order to set up the future romances or help us reminisce about past ones. I do appreciate the humor, the Southern charm, and the big family dynamics but the romance fell largely flat for me as the focus seemed more on crazy Tante Lulu and her machinations than on Angel and Grace. C+

Best regards,

Jane

This book can be purchased at Amazon or in ebook format from Sony or other etailers.

REVIEW: Crescent City Courtship by Elizabeth White

Jayne — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:00:40 +0000

Dear Ms. White,

Last November, I recommended your book “Redeeming Gabriel.”Since then, I’ve made it a point each month to check the historical offerings from the Steeple Hill line. When I saw this new book, I jumped on it and was happy to discover that it’s a (slight) sequel to the first one. I enjoyed “Crescent City Courtship” very much and it confirms that you are an author whose books I will look for.

When Abigail Neal hammers on the doors of Charity Hospital for a doctor to attend her laboring room mate, she wants a real doctor, not some “still wet behind the ears” student wannabe. Unfortunately, she gets John Braddock who stiffly informs her that he’s quite capable of handling the situation.

Only the labor has gone on too long and the baby can’t be saved. John is devastated by what he sees as his failure as a doctor and horrified by the conditions in which these two poor women live. The mother is far too weak to remain there so, along with Abigail and the poor wrapped baby, he takes her to the clinic located at Dr. Laniere’s residence.

And it’s here that a world Abigail only dreamed of opens up to her. John and Dr. Laniere quickly see that Abigail thirsts for knowledge, specifically medical knowledge. John is initially dismissive while Gabriel Laniere quietly considers the situation. And then stuns the medical college staff and students by offering Abigail a place in the student body.

To say it causes an uproar is an understatement. But this is only one of the issues confronting Abigail. Her past is about to catch up to her and it might cost her not only the chance for a HEA but also her very life.

The degree of poverty in the “District” would seem appalling in today’s New Orleans – even after Katrina – but must have been commonplace then in large cities. Thank heavens we’ve made some improvements in this world. The atmosphere of the times is well done. As in “Redeeming Gabriel,” there is a good use of dry and subtle humor here. I like how you worked the problems of the day – poverty, opium, the social changes in the status of women and how men would feel threatened – into the fabric of the story.

John’s struggle with medicine and doctors running smack into the reality that some patients will die despite all that is done and some patients will continue to act in ways that are harmful to themselves must be lesson that all doctors eventually have to learn or risk giving up in despair.

I love the information about the history of the medical college and of medical training in the day. I also appreciate that John starts out as a competent clinical doctor but still has a ways to go with his bedside manner and dealings with patients. At what point did the study of medicine change from what is depicted in the book to what is the routine in US med schools? The style here seems so hodge podge, catch as catch can.

Initially John only grudgingly agrees to help Abigail. It’s funny that he’s worried that she might be smarter than he is and that his position as the head of the class would be in danger. But he quickly admits that she’s not only intelligent but probably more intelligent than most of the men in the school. But even after this revelation to himself, he still has a few moments when he doesn’t want her there and is horrified at the thought of her losing what little social standing she has by engaging in this masculine pursuit.

At first he calls her an amazon and honestly thinks of her as some kind of freakish woman to be interested in the often gruesome business of learning and practicing medicine. Then, he slowly begins to “see” her for the woman she is – tall, forthright, unapologetic, determined to get her chance, funny, quick to learn and filled with compassion for the misfits and poor of this world who, as Jesus says, will always be with us.

It might seem strange but I like that John isn’t always Abigail’s champion. He has his moments of jealousy and pride. He also has to make a tremendous decision of whether or not to try and persuade his fellow classmates to admit her when they get a chance to vote on it. That has to be the hardest thing he does in the book. It’s easy for a man to use his fists as John does against Crapaud but to face the possible scorn of his fellows – now that’s hard.

Abigail shows John basic human kindness to those he’s attempting to heal and he shows her that not all men are cruel and some can even be counted upon as “the good ones.”

Abigail’s basic character remains the same throughout the story. She showed curiosity during her life in China and an unwillingness to just do what she was told. Then she engineered her escape back to America with some quick thinking and determination. This continues as she works her hands raw to support herself and stay away from the menace from her past and is culminated in her ability to seize the chance offered to her to study medicine.

But even though Abigail is supposed to have a grounding in science, I think her progression from untrained, rank amateur to reading medical texts to rounding with the students and admission to medical school is pretty darn fast. I think we’re talking 4-5 weeks. I know she’s got a good sense of intuition, watches and reads carefully but still it seems quick. While we get hints of the threat hanging over Abigail’s head throughout the course of the book, the final denouement seems a little rushed.

Abigail’s conversion to faith is a bit more seamless than John’s. That part of the book felt a little forced at times but then not everyone welcomes the call of faith or will respond to it immediately and with open arms.

There are so many women mentioned in the book, Abigail’s mother and John’s mother and sister, who appear to be equally intelligent and capable of doing such great things but are hampered by the social constraints of the times. Are there future plans for Tess or Lisette? Tess has got some real interesting events in her background and Lisette appears to be a woman capable of a lot if given the chance.

You’ve included some well realized secondary characters. Weichman needs to go into research if patients scare him that much. Giraud looks like he stands to be one of the first plastic surgeons. Love the “harlequin” comment. It was fun to see Gabriel and Camilla again and in nice supporting roles for the events of this book. Camilla still runs the show at home and appears to keep her husband on his toes.

Abigail flummoxes John – he’s never met a female with her burning need to know, to learn, to understand the complexities of medicine and science. And I think this is what it takes to be a good physician. You have to want it more than anything. Be willing to put up with the political nonsense, ungodly training schedules and demands on your life. Abigail has to have this desire even more than modern women aspiring to be doctors since the profession was considered so unsuitable for women then. Thank you for a story which shows her gaining her dream and a man too! B

~Jayne

This book can be purchased at Amazon or in ebook format from Sony or other etailers.

REVIEW: Gallant Match by Jennifer Blake

Jayne — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 10:00:57 +0000

Dear Ms. Blake,

Last year I enjoyed another in your “Masters at Arms” series so when the arc arrived for “Gallant Match,” I made sure to make room for it on my reading schedule. Once again we’re back in second quarter 19th century New Orleans (May 1846 to be precise) but this time with an added bonus trip to Vera Cruz, Mexico.

Sonia Bonneval catches only a glimpse of the tall man who’s arrived to speak with her father but somehow she knows he’s trouble. He looks to be one of those uncouth Americans from the frontier – a Kaintuck. So she decides to stress the style of the women of New Orleans to wear face paint since she thinks it would disgust the boorish clod she imagines him to be. She’s got to get him to turn down the job her father is offering. That way she can avoid the planned marriage and flee to her grandmother in Mobile.

Kerr Wallace wouldn’t care if Sonia did back flips down the Passage de la Bourse in her shimmy. Through her he’s finally got a line on the man he’s been hunting for four years: the man responsible for the death of Kerr’s younger brother. Rouillard might have evaded justice this long but Kerr intends to see him dead. The idea that he’s delivering this young woman into the hands of a coward gives him slight pause but Kerr figures she’ll be a rich widow soon enough. What neither counts on is how some gun running and a declaration of war will interrupt their plans.

Readers looking for American set historicals generally have to hunt a long time. And what they usually find are Westerns. Now I love a good Western but if an author can deliver something else, I’m happier than a clam at high tide. With the “Masters at Arms” series, you deliver. We’ve got maitre d’armes heroes and – in the two books I’ve read – heroines who aren’t shy, shrinking violets.

Sonia remembers Rouillard from her childhood and nothing she remembers is good. Thus I’m more willing to watch her try and escape the fate her father has planned for her than if she were just in a snit over nothing. Why would her father be willing to hand her over? As Sonia’s Tante Lilly reminds her, men make the decisions and women have to try and work within them to the best of their ability. Maybe one day life for women will be different but arranged marriages, made for family and business purposes, are still the norm in Creole society.

Kerr has been hunting Rouillard ever since the end of the disastrous Mier Expedition. Delivering Rouillard’s bride to him in Vera Cruz will provide the chance Kerr’s been waiting for. None of Sonia’s slippery tricks will be allowed to work, even if Kerr finds himself admiring her spirit and inventiveness. I like that Kerr doesn’t stoop to taking out his revenge on Sonia. I’ve had enough of “heroes” using innocent women that way.

The first half of the book delivers your characters to their departure for Mexico. And up to then as far as the plot is concerned, it’s a fairly standard historical. It’s when the steam packet journey down the Mississippi River and across the Gulf of Mexico begins that things really pick up. Though your descriptions, I could see the flora and fauna that slip by as the Lime Rock cruises down to the Gulf. The different passengers on board delineate the strata of society and our characters’ place in it. The horror of the attack by the Mexican gunboat shows that human nature, in the face of a sinking ship, hasn’t changed much.

The two day journey through the jungle Sonia and Kerr undertake after swimming ashore makes me thankful for modern insect repellent and that scorpions aren’t common in my part of the world. Though I would like a glimpse of a disdainful jaguar as he saunters through his domain. I’ve heard that Mexican hospitality is among the best in the world as Sonia and Kerr discover, even if Kerr has to dodge the admiring widow Dona Francesca. And if I could make the journey down to Vera Cruz in something more comfortable than a diligence, your descriptions of the beauty of the countryside make me want to try it.

Though I expected Sonia and Kerr to do the dirty before arriving at Rouillard’s home, at least you provide a raison d’Ãªtre that fits with the story rather than the standard “I want one night of hot lurve to last me a lifetime!” that most heroines wail as their excuse while they rip off their corset covers.

Rouillard is the villain you’ve made him out to be through the entire book. No revelations here though he is deliciously evil and cowardly. One character did surprise me. I think you did a great job of concealing his true intentions. One thing did disappoint me and that is for a book about a master swordsman, there’s very little actual sword play. I guess Kerr couldn’t challenge the jaguar to a duel, especially as Kerr had lost his sword cane when the ship went down, but the fencing loving wench in me is always panting for “more, more, more!”

I see there’s at least one more book in this series, though I’ll have to wait until next February for it. [Pout] In the meantime, thanks for continuing to write close to home and offering alternatives to the standard fare. B-

~Jayne

This book can be purchased in mass market from Amazon or ebook format from the Sony Store and other etailers.

REVIEW: Dark Needs at Night’s Edge by Kresley Cole

Janet — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 09:00:13 +0000

Dear Ms. Cole:

Somewhere in the middle of Dark Needs at Night’s Edge I felt that this book occupies a very important moment in the Immortals After Dark series. As Jane said previously, this is a series one can pick up at any point and not be completely confused. But for those of us who have been reading it since the beginning, the world-building is complex and multi-layered, not only with different species of immortals but with different families and other kin relationships to keep track of, and various mythologies, alliances, aversions, grudges, and other intersections among the immortals. It is a challenge to keep the reader engaged with the central story as well as giving ample attention to the world building for both novice and initiated readers. Dark Needs at Night’s Edge reminded me of how difficult that challenge can be, because the book’s main strengths and weaknesses relate to this balancing.

Conrad Wroth is a Fallen vampire, turned by his desperate brother against his will into the creature he had made a sacred vow in life to destroy. And now, in his Fallen state, eyes blood red and the memories of thousands of victims in his mind, he has succumbed to a kind of madness induced by bloodlust. With a demon’s curse hanging over him – that when he gets his most cherished dream he will also get his most horrid nightmare – and various other immortals seeking his death, Conrad is brought against his will – once again by his brothers – to an old estate where they seek to rehabilitate him with the help of a magical elixir. Chained and crazed beyond reason, Conrad soon becomes aware of another presence in the house, a beautiful young woman ghost only he can see.

Néomi Laress, burlesque dancer turned prima ballerina, has not been able to leave her estate since her violent murder 80-some years earlier. Every month her ghostly self relives her violent stabbing, and the rest of the time she tries to entertain herself by observing the intermittent tenants at Elancourt, the latest of which is the mad vampire chained to a bed and watched over carefully by his two vampire brothers, Sebastian and Nikolai, who know that if they cannot bring their brother back from his bloodlust they will have to destroy him for good. Néomi is used to being invisible to her home’s residents, to entertaining herself by stealing things with her telekinetic abilities and haunting any tenant she deems unfit for residence. But it has been a while since anyone moved in, and Néomi is starved for something to break the monotony of her lonely netherworld existence.

So when Conrad moves in, Néomi isn’t fazed by the violence he does to her home in his frenzied attempts at escape because she is too caught up in this frightening, imposing, but clearly tortured male. At first she simply watches Conrad, who, amazingly, can see Néomi but believes her to be a figment of his shattered imagination. Over the days, though, she begins to reach out to him, curious and feeling no small amount of pity for his suffering. And even though Conrad does not trust in Néomi’s existence, he cannot help but respond to her, to count on her steady presence in the house and her interest in who and what he is.

When Conrad’s brothers go missing, he is left to fend for himself, restrained by chains that are magically treated to keep him within the boundaries of the estate, and in the company of the ghostly Néomi, upon whom more and more of his rational mind focuses. Because he has not yet been blooded by his Bride (the process in which his heart pumps once against and he breathes), he cannot physically respond to Neomi’s unashamed sensuality, and Néomi cannot deliver on the promise of her blatant teasing, either, but they develop a strange camaraderie nonetheless (or perhaps because of those physical limitations):

And as he improved, they talked more and more – two people who desperately needed to. Often they hit a rhythm, a bandying back and forth, as if their thoughts were interlocking pieces. She’d told him, "When we talk, I like how our words ebb and flow. There doesn’t seem to be a need to remark on every comment, no need to clarify – it’s like we both understand that we understand each other. It’s like dancing."

"Or sex?"

She’d smiled. "Only if it’s great."

He’d given her a confident nod. "Then we would have great sex."

Lord, we would. . .

They seemed to fit in every way. Yes, he was half-mad, but as a Prohibition-era ghost with a penchant for stealing condoms, moon pies, and bras, she wasn’t exactly in touch with reality herself.

Initially it is great loneliness that brings these two together, the mutual understanding that neither really has a place in the world, at least no place they feel they have affirmatively chosen. And the fact that they cannot physically touch ironically creates more sexual tension between them, because they are forced to express so much verbally and through their emotional reactions to one another. In terms of their characters it makes their growing attraction that much sweeter, and narratively, it is a very smart way to build tension into each level of their relationship and the seeming impossibility of their ever being together on an equal plane.

Part of the tension in Conrad’s characters comes from his increasing sanity. During the times Conrad is not crazed with the nightmares that come from the memories he has ingested from his victims (along with their blood), he is becoming more and more reflective, more conscious of all he gave up for his vow to the vampire killing Kapsliga. Néomi becomes his comfort, calming him when no one else would be able to:

"You’re getting so much better," she murmured. "Soon you won’t have these nightmares."

He narrowed his gaze at her, as if just noticing she was there. "You were murdered – you remind me of the things I’ve done, of consequences," he choked out the words. "And you show me what I could have had . . . if I’d been . . . different." He grasped his head again and muttered, "You’re what’s wrong with my past. What must be missing from my future."

"Conrad, your future’s not settled. You can still have good things in your life again."

"You’re the perfect punishment for me."

"Oh." Stunned, she rose to leave.

He reached out to stay her. When he closed his big fist around air, he turned and struck the headboard with frustration. Eyes vacant, burning red, he rasped, "Did any man ever want his penance so much?"

For anyone who has read other books in this series, they will recognize this dynamic immediately: two powerful characters who are struggling to protect their vulnerabilities from each other, all the while becoming increasingly vulnerable to their mutual feelings of attachment. Although Neomi is a ghost, we never underestimate her strength; we know that this woman’s spectral endurance is a reflection of an extremely strong spirit. And Conrad, poor Conrad, has unbelievable strength and equally potent fears. These two are a natural fit, indeed, except for the small problems of his bloodlust, the demon’s curse, another demon’s pledge to kill Conrad, and Néomi’s lack of physical embodiment. Many paranormals would centralize this last conflict, making it the primary obstacle in the relationship, but not here. Thanks to Mariketa and Nix, Néomi is able to return to the physical world, an event that sets off a long chain of consequences, from Conrad’s blooding and the consummation of their relationship to hastening the crisis point in Conrad’s hunt for Tarut, the demon who cursed him.

I must confess that one of the reasons I love this series is precisely the interaction of different characters and species of immortals, and their appearance never feels gratuitous. Mariketa, Bowen, and Nix have important roles to play, as do Sebastian and Nikolai Wroth. Cade and Rydstrom have key contributions to the narrative, as well, and so their presence allows for us to become more acquainted with the brothers before Cade’s story comes out imminently, and in a way that doesn’t seem plunked into the novel. In other words, the strength of the world building and the characterization is more and more apparent with each novel. Of course, it is also more difficult to maintain with clarity, a challenge I also see in Meljean Brook’s Guardian series.

The flip side, of course, is that there needs to be ample time for the main couple’s bond to develop, something I felt was sacrificed a bit in the last book, Wicked Deeds on A Wicked Night. Here, however, Néomi and Conrad spend so much time alone that they cannot help but grow close, and so we get a lot of uninterrupted time with them. However, the very isolation also creates challenges of its own, namely that these two characters have A LOT of inner angst, and they have no one in which to confide these anxieties. Thus there is A LOT of thinking that goes on during this part of the book, and we seem privy to it all. Which made my reading experience slow for a chunk of the middle, during which I waited impatiently for something to come along and break the narrative monotony. This was by far the weakest part of the novel for me, and had the pace not shifted well before the end, my overall grade for Dark Needs At Night’s Edge would have suffered considerably, because the balance I mentioned at the beginning of my review would have been significantly askew.

Instead, the shifting pace, back and forth between the isolated drama within Néomi and Conrad’s relationship and the rest of the Lore’s complicated dynamics kept me interested. I loved, for example, how even the details are given heightened attention. When, for example, Conrad is blooded, he does not, understandably, recognize the sensations. Instead he feels like he is running over land mines, the beat of his heart a virtual explosion in his body and mind. And Neomi, when she becomes embodied, experiences a physical "hypersensitivity" that would be expected, but not necessarily illustrated for the reader. I appreciate these details because they naturalize the world of the novel and aid that necessary suspension of disbelief.

Finally, there are the women of these books, especially the pugnacious and avaricious Valkyrie and the vain and opportunistic witches, and now Néomi, whose fate I will not reveal but will say it was a satisfying and believable outcome for me. I know this has become somewhat of a refrain, but I don’t care: I love these women, because those characteristics that would be seen as flaws, weaknesses, and even unacceptable taboos in other areas of the genre are represented in these books without judgment and with significant humor. They’re bawdy and raucous and strong, not just physically, but intellectually and emotionally, too. As intensely sexy and appealing as the heroes can be, with all their sometimes clueless, brooding angst (and their tendency to the "mantrum" as Nix calls it), it is the females that really hold these books together for me, and keep me reading them. Dark Needs At Night’s Edge is an entertaining and adeptly imagined addition to a great series, and it gets a B from me.

~ Janet

This book can be purchased in mass market from Amazon or Powells or ebook format.

REVIEW: Thigh High by Christina Dodd

Jayne — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:00:11 +0000

Dear Mrs. Dodd,

Despite the promise of eccentric aunts and zany robberies, I decided to try this contemporary novel. The conflict between sensible Nessa Dahl and undercover bank investigator Jeremiah MacNaught sounded intriguing, especially with the implied show down once the truth was revealed. And at first, things worked great but then slowly the eccentricities took over and ended up dimming my view of the whole book.

Books which feature lead characters with whom everyone is seemingly in love usually irritate the crap out of me. It just seems so Mary Sue-ish. Nessa could have annoyed me if you hadn’t have immediately paired her with Mac who doesn’t fall for her as she’s used to. Or at least he doesn’t let her know what his feelings are for her. He added the necessary tonic to balance out the setup that everyone in NO loves the Dahl women. And then the bank vault scene…my, oh my. That was hawt. Amazing that they didn’t melt the steel door. One question though. Don’t most banks have cameras in their vaults? Even eccentric NO banks that are in old, converted homes?

I loved watching Mac fall hopelessly under Nessa’s spell. He’s so determined that she’s involved in the annual Mardi Gras robberies at various branches of the bank of which he’s the CEO and that he, unlike the other investigator he sent to NO, won’t fall for her no matter how much she turns him inside out. So of course he immediately has to start fighting the attraction he gets zinged with.

I also feel that you set up a realistic conflict between the man for whom truth and taking responsibility are everything and the woman who owes so much to others. I loved it when Nessa finally let loose on Mac for lying to her yet also adored his stilted proposal to the first woman he’s ever loved.

The aunts are charming during their famous Mardi Gras party and I fell into their spell as quickly as did Mac. The food, the fun, the dancing, the setting of their slightly frayed Historic Register House was delicious. I could smell the flowers and hear the music and laughter of the hundreds of guests. But then things tipped over and they became “characters.” The nationwide, heck even the citywide, aspect of the denoument was just too much.

And as for the identities of the bank robbers. Well, since I’m headed towards spoiler territory I’ll bring out the cloak of darkness. Robbing banks, no matter if you try and paint it with a Robin Hood wash, is wrong. I agree with Mac. It doesn’t matter about the amount of money taken, or how cute the costumes, or how noble the cause, or anything else come to think of it. Doing that is wrong. Doing that caused fear for the bank employees involved, caused untold extra work for the NOPD, didn’t have the effect on the bank employee the robbers wanted to punish and could have gotten people killed. And the robbers never once displayed remorse for any of this. Eventually their identities were going to come out and how on earth did they think that no one would believe that Nessa wasn’t involved or didn’t have some prior knowledge of their crimes? And what ever happened with the fact that Mac has the mortgage on the aunts’ house bought? It was never mentioned again.

My guess is that the eccentricities of the aunts and of their boarders were supposed to leaven the seriousness of Mac’s character and background and of Nessa’s repressed outer self. But somehow it didn’t work for Mac and only halfway for Nessa. Mac still seems to be a much more controlling man than he should though he is making strides at lessening his iron grip on life. While Nessa, oh Nessa, does loosen her girdle in regard to her relationship with Mac though she still can’t quite break loose of the inner banker.

I see this is part of an ongoing series and I liked enough of this book to want to see what’s in store for Gabriel. I hope the crowds are back for Mardi Gras in NO and that the city is on its way to recovering some of what it lost during Katrina. For those of us who’ve never been, “Thigh High” helps to show us what we’re missing. B-

~Jayne

ebook or mmp

REVIEW: Blood Red by Heather Graham

Jane — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 19:39:35 +0000

Dear Ms. Graham:

This is a vampire novel with great atmosphere. A little bit scary, with a whole lot of secret set in the mother of all vampire homes – New Orleans. The best part of this book was its creepy overtones, making the suspense more intense because the foreboding that was woven through the beginning of the novel.

Lauren Crowe is hosting a bachelorette vacation with her girlfriend, bride to be, and one other when they came across a fortune teller. Lauren feels uneasy but her girlfriends press her to choose one and have their fortunes read. She chooses a woman who gives them carefully worded futures whose nuances seem ominously clear to Lauren.

Shortly after Lauren’s arrival in New Orleans, the city becomes terrorized by a serial killer who is lopping off the heads of women and leaving them in the water. Mark Davidson believes the serial killer to be a vampire who he has been tracking for decades, even centuries. Mark and Stephen were once in a tragic love triangle that ended with Mark’s fiance’s death. When Mark first sees Lauren, he is taken aback by her resemblance to his dead fiance. He has no doubt that once Stephen sees her, she’ll be the next of Stephen’s victims. In trying to protect her, Mark and Lauren come in close contact with each other and, of course, are drawn to one other even in this dangerous time.

There are plenty appearances of previous characters, none with which I was familiar because this was the first in this series for me. I didn’t find those appearances to be intrusive nor did I find the mythology to be too complicated despite my previous inexperience.

This moody vampire novel was well paced, providing just the right spooky atmosphere with a well blended romance and action plot. Lacking, however, was the fully fleshed out issue of Mark’s previous fiance (and her uncanny similarity to Lauren) and Lauren’s lazy acceptance of Mark’s lies and deceit (not to mention that I would have totally been icked out by the fact that my boyfriend/lover initially fixated on me because I looked like his long dead fiance).

The mirroring between the prologue and epilogue lacked authenticity because the issue of Mark’s earlier obssession with his dead fiance was summarily dropped even though it was a driving force behind his actions. It was not clear in the story whether Lauren was meant to be the reincarnation of the dead woman or whether it was merely a coincidence. It’s possible the answer was there and I totally missed it. Had that point been clearer, I would have felt more invested in the romance. Having said that, vampire novels are a tough sell for me these days and I felt this wasn’t a derivative. B-

Best regards,

Jane

REVIEW: Rising Moon by Lori Handeland

Jayne — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 10:00:29 +0000

Dear Ms Handeland,

Despite the fact that I’ve had some problems with this series and gave the last book a C grade, guess what my little hand reached for in Waldenbooks the other day? But of course, it was this book. But after reading it, I really am going to have to try and discipline myself when the next book, Hidden Moon, comes out. Two C grades in a row means I need to wait for other opinions before plunking down any more of my hard earned cash.

PI Anne Lockhart arrives in New Orleans desperately hoping that the picture she received in mail will help her locate her younger sister. Katie has been missing for over three years and Anne has put her own life on hold while she tries to find her. It doesn’t help that their last conversation was an argument and that Anne has felt steeped in guilt ever since. The photo of Katie in front of a French Quarter jazz club is the first real lead in ages and nothing will stop Anne from following up on it. Not even the warnings from NOPD Detective Conner Sullivan who tells Anne that he’s been looking into dozens of missing person reports that all have one thing in common: all the victims were last seen at the Rising Moon club.

With Mardi Gras filling the city to capacity, the only place Anne can find to stay is in the room offered as part of the waitressing pay for working at the club. The fact that this will help her follow up on these missing person cases is a helpful. That she will be around the club owner, sexy jazz musician John Rodolfo, is a bonus to good to be ignored. But when things start happening that shouldn’t be happening and Anne starts seeing things that shouldn’t exist, she finds she’s dealing with far more than a missing sister.

My problems started early with this book. For instance, would a NOPD officer turn over information on missing persons to a PI he’s just met? Or any PI for that matter? Or ask for a PI’s help in solving these cases? Granted, police work isn’t my area of expertise but I just don’t see it.

Then there’s the fact that Anne appears to want to “save” hero. She even mentions one time that she’s not sure that hero isn’t just taking the place of the sister Anne vowed to save. Is this love? Or just need? Or just hot sex? The two don’t interact much beyond cryptic conversations and body banging. I never really saw love building between these two, just need for both of them.

Another problem is how the heroine leaps into situations which are questionable at best. Yes, she admits while she’s heading into the dark alley or racing out into the night after someone who looks like her sister that she’s acting foolishly but then she goes ahead and does these things anyway. She’s in a city she doesn’t know, dealing with weirder and weirder things, with no gun, no taser, not even a set of brass knuckles but off she goes! I had this problem with the last heroine and despite the fact that you’re writing your heroines as strong characters, they sure don’t act intelligently at times.

The first part of the story drags too much while last part goes too fast. There’s too much background info dumped at once, even for those of us who’ve followed the whole series, and I think it would be way too much for a newbie.

Anne swings back and forth as far as believing in John’s redemption. One minute she’s horrified at what he is and what he’s done then in the next breath she’s defending him against people who’ve known what he’s capable of for years. I found myself rolling my eyes at this, “Yeah, like she’s going to just “know” John is good/saved now.” And poor Conner Sullivan. Jeez, the man spends two and a half books investigating the nightcreatures and then what happens to him happens to him. I don’t know if you have future plans for him as a hero but it’ll be a long time before I forget him in this book.

I got really annoyed with Adam Ruelle’s cajun accent. I’m glad he wasn’t in the book much. Remember how I talked about the deus ex machina aspect of Midnight Moon? Well I think that by lying about King and and John, you turned them into this book’s deus ex machina. Suddenly information you gave us in the beginning means nothing any more. Though it pains me to say it about a series that started so freshly, it’s getting old and wearing thin at this point. Just how many Jager-Sucher couples will we end up with? I do appreciate the fact that you don’t feel the need to drag each and every one of them into subsequent books though.

Wow, there’s a lot that didn’t work for me here. More than I realized until I started to write this review. Yet, (just as with the last book) I bought it immediately and read it straight through so you must be doing something right. I’m just not sure it’s right enough anymore to get me to buy the next book without lots of people chiming in on how wonderful it is. C-

~Jayne

REVIEW: Midnight Moon by Lori Handeland

Jayne — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 22:44:00 +0000

Dear Mrs. Handeland,

Well, we’re up to book five in your “Nightcreature Novels” series. Most have featured werewolves but this time you dish up something different.
Something very different. And this is perhaps some of the problem I have with this book.

Priestess Cassandra was introduced in the last book, “Crescent Moon.” She’s in the witness protection program after having testified against her drug dealer husband who’s bad business dealings lead to the death of their only child, Sarah. Now Cassandra is a voodoo priestess in New Orleans and from an experience in “Crescent Moon,” the word is getting around that she’s got power, lots of voodoo power. Because of this, she’s been sent to Haiti by the secret agency formed to hunt down monsters let loose by Hitler’s minions in the death throws of the Third Reich. Here she’s supposed to learn the secret to raising the dead in order to end a curse featured in “Crescent Moon.” She hasn’t told anyone that she also plans to use the knowledge to raise her dead daughter.

Devon Murphy is the man she finds in Haiti to lead her to the bokor, the powerful voodoo priest with the knowledge Cassandra needs. Together they find some strange, spooky and horrifying goings on Haiti. And while the bokor might be able to show Cassandra what she needs to know to raise lifelike zombies, what he does to her could end her life.

I’ve enjoyed this series to various degrees but they’re like Lays potato chips. I just can’t stop reading them. Even the books with which I have problems, I compulsively read to the end. Even though there are sometimes plot discrepancies, even though I am amused by an agency that is supposed to be Super Duper Top Secret yet lots of people appear to know about it and before each book is finished lots more are told about it, even though you sometimes have your lead characters act stupidly or forget things in order to convey knowledge to the reader which then makes these lead characters look more stupid, even though you sometimes rely on deus ex machina revelations to wrap up problems, even though you really wing some things about this newest creature, even though some things make me go “eeuuuww” I still can’t stop reading them. So I guess you’re going your job well.

What bothered me in this book? Well, the whole idea of raising the dead daughter. Cassandra is beyond obsessed with it. Even she realizes that she’s acting irrational. And everyone else thinks she’s ~~a whack job~~ nuts. And I couldn’t stop thinking of this zombie child who would never grow up and who would have to avoid certain substances to keep from disintegrating again. Blech. And then there was Cassandra’s mental lusting and some inappropriately timed sex scenes. The first of which was just after Cassandra and Murphy had killed a zombie in Haiti and the body was within feet of them. The kisses are getting hotter, the caresses are getting bolder, clothes are starting to get yanked off and all I could think was, “there’s a freakin’ dead body just feet from you!” Finally there’s the fact that up until the last third of the book, no one had ever heard of wereleopards, yet just when they need to know how to kill one, the information is discovered. How? Did someone go on the internet and check www.wereleopards.org or maybe www.Wereleopards_R_Us? Yet, see above paragraph.

Am I going to buy and read the next book “Rising Moon?” You betcha. Will there probably be things that weird me out in it? I’m betting yes. Will I hope that you don’t have heroines forget to have their weapons with them when said weapons are needed and other such stupid things? Oh, please yes. What grade will I give “Midnight Moon?” Hmmmmm, C+ but remember I just couldn’t stop reading it.

~Jayne

Oh and in case any of you readers are confronted with a wereleopard before you have a chance to read “Midnight Moon” here’s how to defend yourself. All you need is a black diamond that you can stick the animal with. So make sure you always have that and silver to ward off werewolves.

REVIEW: His Dark Desires by Jennifer St. Giles

Jane — Sat, 06 May 2006 11:01:25 +0000

Dear Ms. St. Giles:

You received alot of good buzz for your second book. Perhaps my disappointment was a case of heightened reader expectations, but HDD was just a big meh for me. Toward the end, I was forcing myself to turn the page. Your book is full of stock characters. Did you go to the romance character store and ask for one feisty spinster with a side of attractiveness and unmarriageability. Weak and spineless siblings? Cute child. Strong man to come in and save everyone. Thanks. I’ll have it to go, please.

Juliet is a war widow who lives in gentile poverty with her sisters. She has turned her home into a boarding house to provide income for her family. 10 years after her husband’s supposed death, new rumors have circulated that he is alive and has a cache of gold intended for the rebuilding of the south. These rumors are quite damaging to her family’s reputation. Compounding the rumors and the financial difficulties is the pressure by investors to sell the property.

Juliet was a dullard for me. Suffragette. Holding her family together. Standing tall in the face of public criticism. Juliet treats her sisters as if they were children and refuses to share any information regarding their problems. This self sacrifice is irritating. Juliet was just so perfect that I about fell asleep from boredom. Worse yet, she was the narrator of the first person tale.

Even though this gothic was set in New Orleans, I didn’t get a feel for the surroundings. I understood the house may be haunted and that society may be turning their noses up at Juliet’s family but the book could have taken place anywhere, so unused and unimportant was the setting. The best narrators are those who are keenly insightful. Juliet was not. She could not tell what was going on if it slapped her in the face. Because your narrator was such a dullard, you were then forced to use heavy symbolism to tell us what was going on, what people were feeling, instead of showing us.

Worse of all was your treatment of the hero. I understand that in gothics, the hero is to be an ambivalent character. The goal is is to make the reader and the heroine unsure of the male protagonist’s intentions (i.e., Mary Stewart’s Nine Coaches Waiting). In trying to create that ambivalence, you failed to give us any backstory, any insight as to Sebastien’s character. He had no depth to him. I guess that was why he was such a good match for Juliet. The depthless and the dullard.

The ending featured lots of worthless symbolism and Juliet treating Sebastien like an ass. It wasn’t a very long story and which was a good thing because if it was much longer I wouldn’t have finished it. D

Best regards

Jane