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I am a self proclaimed writer who is always looking for the chance to share my voice and ideas. I am all about the "blerd" life, and I believe that "From the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks".
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Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Shadow Blade is a bright new light

I'm a big fan of urban and multicultural action, fantasy and romance novels. Shadow Blade by Seressia Glass fits in all of the above named categories. Shadow Blade  is no ordinary romance thriller. The main character, Kira Solomon, is a shadowchaser. That is exactly what it sounds like: she hunts things that go bump in the night. Kira is a real tough chick with a reputation for trouble. However, unlike many bad-girl archetypes in literature, we really get to see a different side to our protagonist. Kira's powers that make her the perfect shadowchaser are very damaging in her everyday life and prevent our hero from having functional relationships.

Now enters the lead man in our tale: Khefar. Kira has something that Khefar wants, and it's more than her killer athletic body. He is a near immortal warrior, dozens of lifetimes old who has lost something that is key to his near immortal existence: his blade. Though the two are thrown together for a short while, their cooperation could mean the fate of the world.The two engage in a pulse-pounding, non-stop journey rich in culture, Egyptian mythology and mysticism that will keep you flipping pages fast enough to make your fingers burn.

Shadow Blade by Seressia Glass is a good read and I highly recommend it. There isn't a dull moment in the text. Glass is an expert at creating subtle sexual tension between the characters without over  doing it. You can never accurately predict exactly what will happen next between the characters or in the action. Read this book! Just don't read it alone at night if you're still afraid of the shadows...


Look for Shadow Chase and Shadow Fall in the Shadow-Chasers series By Seressia Glass.

You're killing Me - Review of Killing The Competition by Kennedy Shaw

Let's be honest, not every book that's published is a best seller. Every story doesn't get nominated for Oprah's book of the month club, and a ton of books will never make the top 10 sellers list. However, when a buyer picks up a book, a romance novel in particular, they expect it to at least be interesting. Romance novels (RNs) are supposed to hold you rapt. They should be page turners that get your heart racing, even if its just to get you to the next racy scene. Kennedy Shaw's Killing the Competition was none of the above.

For me, there is nothing worse than getting excited to read a new book, only to be gravely disappointed. I'm an avid reader of several genre's, and I have to tell you that I am hard to disappoint.   I'm a book lover, I'm a reader, and I am hard to let down. This book let me down.

Killing the Competition  is a story about a newspaper reporter, Kyra Chase, who is being targeted by a killer. Subsequently, she is sent to some small, one-horse town by her boss to keep her out of danger. Predictably, the danger follows her. Kyra is oblivious to all of the danger around her, and the town's stud of a sheriff is both annoyed by and attracted to her in the most annoyingly obvious of ways. You can tell where the story is going after the first few pages. Shaw attempts to create romantic tension between the characters but fails miserably, in my opinion.

I would be happy to tell you how story ends between the uptown reporter and the small town sheriff but I was so disgustingly bored by it that I couldn't finish the book (which has only happened to me once before, and I have read hundreds of books, mostly romance). Guessing by the predictability of the story, let me fill you in on how it likely ends: The reporter keeps running into the Sheriff, they get into a heated argument, the argument turns into a passionate kiss, she decides they're in love after some back and forth, bad guy tries to kill reporter, Sheriff saves the day, they live happily ever after.Throw in a vivid sex scene or two and you'll have this book in a nutshell. In fact, my 50 some word synopsis of what likely happens is probably a lot more interesting than the entire 316 page book, I assure you.  Someone who could stomach reading this book all the way through, please tell me I'm wrong. I challenge you to tell me I'm wrong! Seriously Kennedy Shaw,  you're killing me...

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

New and Improved

After taking some time to decide what I'd like to do with my free time, I thought I might consider doing a more blogging. I wracked my brain for new blogging ideas, and came up with nothing. However, as I began to peruse some of my old blogs, it struck me... Literary Criticism! No, not in any formal way, more of a book review. I read African American romance novels, scores of them. I also enjoy a good fantasy or thriller. Thus I have decided that I will go back through my stacks and stacks of books and begin to give my opinion on them. I'd love to share my thoughts and opinions with other people about the journeys and travels I go on through reading. By all means, join me! This may turn out to be a lot of fun!!