Selah MarchReseñas

Did *not* like the end/resolution.

Did *not* like the end/resolution.

Robin has a brain tumor and doesn't have much longer to live. She gets a visit from a mysterious stranger named Thann. She has a choice to make regarding her illness and her time with Thann makes her question her decision.

This story was great. I don't know what I would have done if I were in Robin's shoes and I admired Thann's effort to help Robin make her choice. I have to say that I experienced a surge of emotion that was completely unexpected. I don't want to say too much more for fear of giving anything away, but read it if you get the chance.

3.5 stars

I liked the chemistry between Tom and Leo, though I wish there was a chance for me to get to know them a little better. This book was appropriately creepy and had me wondering how things were going to turn out.

This novella came by way of Netgalley - thank you to them.

Now, this is steampunk as I keep expecting it to be (and keep being disappointed). Victoriana combined with automata and dirigibles (there should always be dirigibles) and a strange and unaccountable magic, hanging from a very good story: that's what I keep hoping for.

Elspeth Shaw is under a curse. Anyone who cares for her dies horribly, from family to a stray cat. It's all down to an artifact her father unearthed – her now-deceased father, needless to say. She lives on an island and keeps to herself, and sees to it in every way she can manage that the one person she has regular contact with, her housekeeper, simply does not like her.

Meanwhile, in England, James Weston is a young nobleman whose body is failing him. A rumor comes to him of an artifact (yes, that artifact) which can extend life, and he sees this as his only chance. His intrusion into Elspeth's world is unwelcome – especially when she realizes she is beginning to have feelings for him.

The story takes a turn I never expected, to wind up in a conclusion I would never have guessed at. It becomes very dark, very quickly, and feels like one of those episodes of The Twilight Zone – or maybe Alfred Hitchcock Presents – that might not make you reach for your teddy bear, but surely is good for a shiver or two. It's an excellent tale.

A side note, apropos of nothing: the image of the girl is, though flipped, otherwise identical to the girl on the cover of the novella Dark Remains.

This book was both strange and attention grabbing. It tells the story of two people who meet by chance and are both having specific issues with their lives and health. I enjoyed the read but it could have used a little better description of the island Elspeth lived on and maybe better developed character descriptions. The ending left the story open for a possible sequel, if there is one I will definitely read it.

I received this book from Net Galley and Carina Press, thank you.

Thank you to netgalley for giving me a copy.

Heart of Perdition is a neat little novella, though I was disappointed in the lack of detail and attention paid to setting. The plot was really interesting and absorbing, but for me it didn't make up for the lack of detail which I think is really important to the steampunk genre (the aesthetic is half the fun!). There are some undertones of robotics and clockwork, though, just nothing in good detail. The plot was good though, it involves an ancient artifact which both curses Elspeth, causing her to live alone and unloved, and returns James from the brink of death at a price.

The undertone of helplessness of women was also a bit disconcerting, even for the time period. Usually in historical fiction we see women trying to overcome these obstacles, not perpetuate them as we see here. In fact, it's Elspeth herself that talks about these, not James, who actually tries to refute them. I dunno, it definitely makes me think less of her as a heroine.

The writing is very good though, and I think maybe if it hadn't been so short the flaws wouldn't have been so overwhelming and apparent, or I would have been able to overlook them in favor of the good parts. But this is just a novella, though it seems to be part 1, which I think is silly. With a book this short you might as well just write the two books in one. I am definitely being generous with a 3 star review, it's probably more of a 2.5, but close enough.

Also, I love the cover.

What I liked though is the feel of authenticity of the era it hopes to portray. Corsets, formal English, a close observation of class and etiquette and everything Victorian in 1899. I know that if we get more of James Weston that I'll absolutely love the guy and Elspeth's situation is ripe for adventure and some serious romance. The attempt on Steampunk needs more emphasis and originality to make the setting more vivid and convincing of an alternative Victorian England.½

Sometimes the best solution for life’s problems is to take action before life gets even worse but for Robin, her brain tumor was speeding the life decision along. Surgery may prolong her life but after the life she’s lead, she is not sure if she really wants it to be longer. Taking an active part in choosing her final days, she let Thann (Nathaniel) in to her apartment, and in to her life soon realizing he was not the death counselor that she thought he was. Convincing Robin that there were still good things available to her if only she tried would push Thann to try new things too.

Death by cancer or suicide, not sure how I feel about either of those lines for a romance story character. The ‘pain’ in Robins past seemed pales in comparison to things that would normally be considered reasons for taking such drastic action. Throwing in the past only seemed to muddle the story more instead of justifying her actions. Being a short story gave less time for the characters to emerge, but I really liked Thann as a concept and wonder if some of Selah March’s other stories have similar almost angel like characters.

This isn't a military book, but rather a book about professional ghost hunters, some of whom don't believe in ghosts, and some to whom the ghosts speak too clearly. I love books with spirits and psychics, so I was happy to enter this world. Tommy is tough but weakened by his sister's accident and his guilt around it. Leo looks like a demi god but stutters and stammers his way around, fearing unleashing his power. March creates a suitably scary haunted house environment and the two men have rid the demon and fight their own personal demons at the same time... I enjoyed it and will look for more by Selah March.½

I'm a sucker for any book involving a psychic and a haunted house. In this case, the pyschic's love interest leads a ghost-busting crew and the house is more than any of them bargained for. The writer does a nice job of building tensions, keeping things suspenseful, and unwinding the story behind the house's history. I found it an entertaining read.½

My Rating: 4.5 of 5A more in-depth review is in the works...

There is a bit of Cinderfella, a bit of The Beauty and the Beast, and yes, also a bit of the Puss in Boots, all mixed together in a resulting tale that is a winning formula. Often I read historical fantasy tale, but most of the time they have not originality, they are only a way to tell a story of man love in frilly garments without the burden to do an historical accurate research. in Year of the Cat, Selah March is not trying to masquerade an historical tale with the fantasy freedom, she wants to tell you a fairy tale, a naughty fairy tale, and she reaches her purpose.

Etienne is the third and favorite son of an old merchant. His father always sheltered him from his older brothers and from the outside world. It's not that Etienne is dumb, it's only that he has a gentle soul and a tendency to obey if commanded, and not willingness to rebel. His father knows that, once he dies, Etienne will not survive at his brothers' rage and tells Etienne to run away, in a isolated cottage in the forest. To this exchange there is a witness, a silver cat.

The cat, that Etienne will call Jacques, is a cursed man. More than 50 years before he was cursed by a witch and now he doesn't remember anything of his previous life, he behaves more like a beast than a man, even when he is in his human form. Jacques is damned to be a cat by day and a man by night. And like a cat, he is drawn by pretty things, things with which he wants to play. At first he thinks Etienne being an angel, someone who will surely help him to break the curse. But when he realizes that Etienne is only an innocent boy, he changes his plans: Jacques will play with Etienne, he will use him for his pleasure, always treating him like a precious thing, his precious toy.

And so it's, the relationship between Jacques and Etienne is very strange, their sexual intercourse edges on pain, but then Jacques is always careful to provide Etienne with everything he needs, a shelter, food, books, even music papers. Only that Etienne has to behave, he is Jacques' property, more his slave than his master, even if Jacques tells people that Etienne is a wealthy marquis, and Jacques is his manservant.

It's strange, there is obviously a BDSM tone in the story, but more than a modern thing dipped in a fantasy context, I see Jacques' behavior like something I would expect from a cat, being jealous and protective at the same time of the things he loves. Even the play with knives I found very right, have you ever seen a cat playing with a bird or a mouse he caught? They can be very cruel. So yes, the BDSM tone sounds very good in this fantasy tale, and it didn't ring wrong as other time similar tale did.

And a nice surprise was also Etienne: in many fairy tale, the damsel in distress is not exactly a clever woman... Cinderella, Belle, and other colleagues, if not for the help of some fairy godmother or divine intervention, they were more sacrificial lambs than real heroines. Instead Etienne, even if debauched innocent, has an inner strength that will help him by his own. Etienne is not, and will never be, a leader or a fighter, at least not with his fists, but he is clever, and above all he is in love. But even if in love, he knows where to rely his trust, not on his brothers, or on a wealthy patron... even if in rags and scruffy, his cat / man is the right one. And to add a point to Etienne's cleverness, it didn't take him long to realize that the silver cat Jacques was the same man who appeared to him one night, barely few hours... I do think Belle took longer to find out who the Beast was!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002HJV4OS/?tag=elimyrevandra-20

Spoilers ahead.

This was a great erotic cowboy read, right up until the menage scene that came out of left feild and kinda left me having a huh??? moment. Nice writing, engaging characters and much dramarama but a menage? Tah, but no thanks.

Kris Killborn is a wanna-be country singer who tries to make both ends meet working as hand in a dude ranch in Montana. He is not a bad man, but probably at 27 years old he needs to give up to his glory dreams and finds a real work.

Blake is a 24 years old med student from the East. Wealthy south family and gay he is just recovering from a nervous breakdown: his best friend and roommate Charlie dead in a car accident while they were arguing about their relationship; shattered by the sense of guilty, Blake tried to commit suicide. Now, months later, he and three of his friends, are taking the vacation that Charlie organized for them two years before, for the end of the college.

Kris knows that Blake is in a fragile emotional phase, but at first he doesn't care: Blake is cute and gentle, and it's an easy target for a summer fling. But more he is near the guy, more Kris feels his conscience arise: Blake is not a man he can seduce and leaving soon after. But a cowboy from Montana and a wasp boy from Biloxi can have a common path together?

As I said Kris is a good man, pretty simple and open; instead Blake is more shadowy, and maybe still young. But Blake is ready to move on, after his mourning period, and Kris is just there to help him.

Wild Horses is the sequel of Seven Year Ache, the story of Rafe and JT of the Lacy C, the same dude ranch where Kris works. Actually I have the previous book, but I didn't read it since I thought it was a menage M/M/F and instead, reading Wild Horses, I was intrigued by this couple, that in the second book sometime steals the scene to the main characters. Wild Horses is a real sequel, since the real plot is about Rafe, JT and Lilah, and Kris and Blake are almost an audience, which sidelong live its own little story.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001QBPLW4/?tag=elimyrevandra-20