Valerie DouglasReseñas

A delightful novella. This was my first venture into Fantasy. Having sheltered myself from Lord of the Ring mania, you could call me a late developer and this was the perfect introduction to the genre. Delae, is a competent young landowner, who has patiently come to accept her life of hardship without complaint. One stormy night, she encounters Dorovan, an Elf, a race forbidden to mix with Man. They are irresistibly drawn to one another and discover a mutual need for passion, love, tenderness and sensuality. Their bond is deep and unbreakable, but their liaison is forbidden. I was smitten by the archaic timbre of the writing style and the hardship of the era was well portrayed; as were the beauty and integrity of both hero and heroine - their love scenes are powerfully drawn. Whilst the ending is sad, but inevitable, Valerie sprinkles a dust of happiness over it.
A wonderful, moving story.

Carrie Anderson, a computer tech for Fairview Resort, is contacted by the head of security and asked to find a college student who worked at the resort and has disappeared. Carrie agrees to help find Gwen Smith.

Carrie is a member of “Rescue Rangers”, a group that helps victims of domestic abuse. They take them to safety, advise them of their legal rights and responsibilities, and provide counseling.

As her search for Gwen narrows, Carrie is worried that Gwen may require help from the Rangers, too.

Excellent read. I enjoy a mystery, such as finding Gwen. The domestic issue of domestic violence added an extra degree of tension to the suspense.

This crazy hot short will warm up ménage fans still waiting for the snow to melt. To save her ranch, Trixy will do anything sexy neighbor Gareth demands, even his brother.

This crazy hot short will warm up ménage fans still waiting for the snow to melt. To save her ranch, Trixy will do anything sexy neighbor Gareth demands, even his brother.

I'm a frequent reader of indie authors, and I'm not bothered by lack of polish when a book engrosses me, makes me feel, or generally abides by a few basic linchpins: decent plot, decent writing, decent characters, or at least one of the three.
Here I found none.
The story circles around and around, and it's dull, sappy, predictable, repetitive and the book is too long for its few working elements. There are abrupt changes of pace and timeline which throw off the reader, a few incongruities, a lot of plot-stretching/convenient outcomes, not a shadow of world-building and, did I mention it, a cartload of repetitions (descriptions, situations, thoughts...)?
Also, nothing never actually happens in the story, there's no real danger, no lasting change, no plot twist, no climax: just a far-fetched attempt at an epic finale and, as already stated, a couple of changes of pace and timeline, more confusing than kindling.

To make it worse the book is in need of serious editing, not mainly about typos or an Elissa who becomes Elisa, but because of both the redundancy of information -yes, we get it! No need to give the same piece of info thrice in a few paragraphs, and really, I GET IT Kyri sports beautiful hair, Morgan a broad strong chest, Gawain his mother's eyes- and the dull writing: sentences like "Morgan stripped off his shirt, his eyes on hers..[same ebook page]..Then he pulled off his shirt..." and "Where they could, both Fairy and men would do what they could to aid the wounded, if they could" really could do with a bit of editing.
Seriously, you cannot simply throw in the adjective "glorious" (or adverb "gloriously") at least 18 times during the love scenes (ah, add to the tally a sprinkle of noun "glory", and one verb "glorying" as well). But even a veneer of professional editing cannot make up for lack of substance, of literary flair and inspiration.

My quotes are basically all from sex scenes, because unfortunately it seems the whole 504-page-book-that-could-be-effortlessly-halved is centered about sex sequences and the story devised to give some backdrop for them, not the other way around; the intent is painfully clear. Mind I say sex sequences, and not love story. Romance or erotic romance stories ask for development, involvement, dangers, misunderstandings, context, whatever, you cannot simply introduce two characters, make them fall hard for each other at first sight and keep at that for a whole book! No momentum, no tension, you can see it coming exactly the way it comes from page one! Then, do I want sex in my fantasy novels? Sure, but I want it to be primarily fitting, dosed and at least entertaining, or tasteful, or appealing to my sordid instincts, or whatever it takes to deliver quality and not gratuitous scenes. Here it's just plain boring and redundant, if you want a smut book with fantasy elements, look elsewhere.

The characters have no development, not even a wee pinch, nothing: marvelously one dimensional. You don't really care for them, and that would be just a precondition! The protagonists are beautiful/strong/lucky/awe-inspiring/etc., the sidekicks are just sidekicks, then there's the faithful, the betrayer, the sacrificial lamb, the seasoned warrior, the selfless companion...you get it, the full array of boring, nondescript and forgettable characters, coming and going to serve their purpose. And the villains? Evil queen and evil king-usurper? Meddling with dark magic? Ok, fine, but there's really nothing else beneath, no drama, no light vs dark as part of clever sub-plots, or at worst resulting in a gambit pileup seasoned with mysteries and layers of deceptions. Or, truly, everything but profound and total nothingness!
In all this, I save the character of the omniscient Fairy Queen, but for another book.

I'm really sorry to say this ended up in my first one-star rating ever, because from the summary there was some potential in the story. After the first 40 pages or so, I still gave the book the benefit of the doubt, the writing style was flat (at best), the editing flaws growing and there were no hints of character development or surprises in-the-making, but still...it could have been a decent fantasy tale, if not original (and, no, the preposterous Arthur's cycle name-game is hard to miss), at least readable. Nothing of the sort.
I read it through, with some skimming, because I'm a believer of last-minute redemption. Which makes me an optimist bound to be sorely disappointed.

Song of the Fairy Queen. A spectacular book in which very much is brought together. Adventure, love, loyalty and trust, battle, betrayal and the worst that people can bring up, all forged into a story that made it hard to put the book down even when my eyelids demanded it.

The characters are all detailed in a very friendly and convincing way, their interaction - be it with friend of foe - is believable (important especially for a fantasy book). Every new setting that I was led into became real in my mind, I could hear and see and smell it. And trust me, some of the places that the heroes in the story visit are definitely unpleasant. Definitely a book to read for fantasy lovers who appreciate Fairies without the fairy-tale bit.

Great short story! Looking forward to reading more

Great short story! Looking forward to reading more

Heart of the Gods. The first book I read that mixed fantasy and ancient Egypt. And what a surprising read this made. Meet Ky Farrar, a man driven by a passion to learn about the Tomb of the Guardian that is hidden somewhere in the vastness of the Egyptian desert. A tomb that has been looked for by many and so far found by no one. Together with his team he ventures on a journey to locate the tomb. As a reward, he gets beaten up, shot at, and almost thrown out of the country. Meeting a mysterious woman who knows her way around the Egyptian culture is an extra reward. But who is this woman that steals Ky's heart?

If you want to know more about tombs, Djinns, and the old Egyptian Gods, then this fast-paced book is definitely one you should not miss.

I haven’t read a romance in a long time and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised with this one. It started off as a simple travel/self discovery/love at first sight story but then luckily for me morphed nicely into a bit more. I am generally not a fan of the whole love at first sight, divided by a ridiculous conflict, and then reunited to find lasting love type story: But this story managed to make me enjoy it nonetheless. The character development was well done and the setting in Ireland so gorgeous that I managed to find the love story believable despite itself.Just when I feared there was no much more left to the story there was a small mystery thrown it to keep my interest though the end.All in all, a fun quick read…a really believable love story and an entertaining way to pass a rainy day. I doubt I’ll pick up the others in the series…but I don’t regret reading this one.

I haven’t read a romance in a long time and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised with this one. It started off as a simple travel/self discovery/love at first sight story but then luckily for me morphed nicely into a bit more. I am generally not a fan of the whole love at first sight, divided by a ridiculous conflict, and then reunited to find lasting love type story: But this story managed to make me enjoy it nonetheless. The character development was well done and the setting in Ireland so gorgeous that I managed to find the love story believable despite itself.Just when I feared there was no much more left to the story there was a small mystery thrown it to keep my interest though the end.All in all, a fun quick read…a really believable love story and an entertaining way to pass a rainy day. I doubt I’ll pick up the others in the series…but I don’t regret reading this one.