Review: Song of Seduction by Carrie Lofty

Tormented by guilt. Haunted by scandal. Freed by love.

Austria, 1804

Eight years ago, composer Arie De Voss claimed his late mentor's final symphony as his own and became an icon. But fame has a price: fear of discovery now poisons his attempts to compose a redemptive masterpiece. Until a new muse appears, intoxicating and inspiring him...

Mathilda Heidel renounced her own musical gift to marry, seeking a quiet life to escape the shame surrounding her birth. Sudden widowhood finds her tempted by song once more. An unexpected introduction to her idol, Arie De Voss, renews Mathilda's passion for the violin—and ignites a passion for the man himself.

But when lust and lies reach a crescendo, Arie will be forced to choose: love or truth?

What is there not to love about Song of Seduction by Carrie Lofty? There's love, passion, angst, a different and gorgeous setting, excellent historical details and beautiful writing to top it all off.

In Song of Seduction, Lofty weaves a story where both main characters are flawed and in need of redemption and/or forgiveness in one way or another. They need to be accepted and loved as they are, for whom they are and forgiven for past injuries to others. I've always thought that flawed characters provide a writer with a greater opportunity of digging deeper into them, not just into their past histories but even down into their very souls to make them truly three-dimensional and believable. Carrie Lofty achieves this brilliantly in Song of Seduction.

It's 1804 and winter in Salzburg, Austria. Renowned musician and composer Arie De Voss arrives in the city looking for a patron and hopefully some students so he can continue to write his latest masterpiece. That's how he ends up at Lord Venner's home as the entertainment for the evening. Arie is best known for his first symphony, Love and Freedom, a composition that we almost immediately discover, he stole from his dying music master. He is obviously tormented with guilt and self-disgust over his past actions and not willing or able to enjoy the fame that music has brought him.

Arie is socially inept, rude and sarcastic to say the least, and hates and resents having to perform his music in these types of venues. To him these public performances are a necessary evil. Drinking before the performance is the only way he sees himself enduring an evening at the Venners. The only interesting part of the evening turns out to be his introduction to Mathilda Heidel, a widow and close friend of the Venners.

Mathilda first heard De Voss play Love and Freedom when she was sixteen years old and his symphony inspired more than just her inner musician to play the violin. There's hero-worship there on her part, and through the years he's played a central role in her personal fantasies. Tilda is young and alone except for the Venners, who took her into their household after her husband died.

She gave up playing the violin, repressing the inner musician after deciding to marry and lead the life of a doctor's wife. At first when her friend Lady Venner suggests that she should take violin lessons with De Voss, Tilda is reluctant, but after hearing his performance that night she's again inspired and agrees. At first Arie thinks that Mathilda is not really a musician, and just wants an excuse for a seduction. Instead to his complete amazement she turns out to be brilliant both as a violin player and as a composer.

The story has a slow beginning and Lofty takes her time with character development, but believe me it picks up and then it's worth every reading minute. Arie and Tilda don't fall into each other's arms immediately. The music is an important part of their initial relationship, however it creates an intimacy that helps the development of deeper and meaningful feelings on both sides. I love that the characters, especially Tilda, react and behave exactly how I would expect people from that time period to react and behave. As a result, Mathilda's conflicts felt real for a woman that lived in 1804 under her particular circumstances.

The love scenes between Arie and Mathilda are intense and passionate with a capital P. There's a sense of freedom and eroticism in them that I just didn't expect to find in this book, but then... I didn't expect to find the rest either. The love scenes reflect Arie and Mathilda's feelings for each other, as well as the intensity of their musicians' souls -- Lofty conveys this beautifully. Their love and romance is also well done as both Mathilda and Arie learn to love and accept each other as they are with all their foibles and past sins.

The writing is gorgeous too. Not only can this couple’s passion, torment and guilt be deeply felt, but in addition the music can almost be heard coming off the pages as Lofty describes Ari playing the piano and Mathilda the violin. The setting and time period are also so well conveyed that I was transported to the city of Salzburg in 1804, and the historical details and personages are there in spades as well for those readers who enjoy them.

Song of Seduction is a complete historical romance. Despite the slow beginning it has it all, from love and a romance riddled with conflict between compelling characters, to character depth and historical details in a beautiful setting, to excellent writing. I couldn't ask for more.

Category: Historical Romance
Series: Followed by Portrait of Seduction
Publisher/Release: Carina Press - June 7, 2010
Source: I won this book at a Desert Island Keepers book blog giveaway.
Grade: A-

Visit Carrie Lofty here.

Series:
Song of Seduction
Portrait of Seduction - May 2, 2011

Review: Simply Irresistible (Lucky Harbor, Book 1) by Jill Shalvis

Maddie Moore's whole life needs a makeover.

In one fell swoop, Maddie loses her boyfriend (her decision) and her job (so not her decision). But rather than drowning her sorrows in bags of potato chips, Maddie leaves L.A. to claim the inheritance left by her free-spirited mother-a ramshackle inn nestled in the little coastal town of Lucky Harbor, Washington.

Starting over won't be easy. Yet Maddie sees the potential for a new home and a new career-if only she can convince her two half-sisters to join her in the adventure. But convincing Tara and Chloe will be difficult because the inn needs a big makeover too.

The contractor Maddie hires is a tall, dark-haired hottie whose eyes-and mouth-are making it hard for her to remember that she's sworn off men. Even harder will be Maddie's struggles to overcome the past, though she's about to discover that there's no better place to call home than Lucky Harbor.

I waited long enough to read Simple Irresistible, Lucky Harbor, Book 1 by Jill Shalvis, why? I should have known better, since Shalvis is one of my favorite category romance writers at the moment.

Maddie Maddox and her two half-sisters, Tara and Chloe, inherit an inn in Lucky Harbor, a small town in Washington State. After losing her job and her jerkwad boyfriend, Maddie decides to give up on men and leaves L.A. She hopes to run the inn and to make a new life for herself in Lucky Harbor. There are, however, obstacles to her plan: she must convince two half-sisters she barely knows to let her stay, fix up an inn that is badly in need of repair, and Maddie, who's suffering from low self-esteem, must find the courage to do it all.

Jax and Maddie meet right off the bat when Maddie comes to town in a first scene that I absolutely adored -- I mean... Maddie couldn't be more adorable or Jax hotter! Needless to say soon after that, there's an attraction between the two and they are drawn to each other. Jax or Jackson Cullen seems to be a jack-of-all trades in Lucky Harbor, but most importantly, he's the contractor the sisters hire to renovate Lucky Harbor Resort. There's sexual pull between this couple from the beginning and the chemistry continues throughout the story. Shalvis tops all that sizzle by mixing those hot, sexy moments with amusing dialogue and humorous scenes. I personally loved the combination.

Jax and Maddie do have some serious personal issues to resolve before they get to that happily ever after. This is where I had a slight problem with the book where I found that the characterization was slightly unbalanced. We get an in-depth look into Maddie's life, troubles, motivations and the reasoning behind her decisions. There's character depth and growth for her... even though some of Maddie's characteristics were frustrating for me personally. When it comes to Jax, well... I really liked him and his outward persona, plus I loved the way he understood and encouraged Maddie toward personal growth. However, I feel that although his serious issues were addressed to a certain extent, we didn't really get an in-depth look into the past relationships that shaped him and I was left waiting for more.

The three sisters have nicknames and Maddie is the "mouse" for good reason. She is the middle sister who constantly negotiates peace between her two strong, feisty sisters, and yet can't seem to find the courage to stand up for herself. These three women have their mother in common but not much else, and it's lovely to see Maddy fighting to forge a relationship with them, as well as to make a future at the Lucky Harbor Inn. As secondary characters I loved the sisters, Tara and Chloe -- their secrets and fights made this an entertaining read. Ford, Jax' best friend, was a hoot and I loved him too!

In summary, I think that Simply Irresistible was a solid contemporary romance with lots of spark and sizzle, Shalvis style. I loved that although there were strong secondary characters, the story maintained its focus firmly on the main couple, making this a true contemporary romance. The main characters were likable, and although the in-depth characterization was slightly unbalanced in my opinion, this did not detract from making Simply Irresistible a solid romance read. The secondary characters were a big asset and perfect for setting up future installments in this series, and I'm really looking forward to reading Ford and Tara's romance in the next book, The Sweetest Thing.

Category: Contemporary Romance
Series: Lucky Harbor, Book 1
Publisher/Released: Forever, October 1, 2010
Grade: B

Visit Jill Shalvis here.

What am I Reading? The Rifter by Ginn Hale

Ohhh, two posts in one day! But I couldn't help it, I am so excited!

I was lucky enough to win a complete subscription to Ginn Hale's new serial The Rifter. A big thanks to the ladies over at the Desert Island Keepers blog who held another one of their great, great contests, and to Nicole Kimberling of Blind Eye Books for their generosity.

Here's a summary of the overall story and some information on the serial:

When John opens a letter addressed to his missing roommate, Kyle, he expects to find a house key. Instead he is swept into a strange realm of magic, mysticism, revolutionaries and assassins. Though he struggles to escape, John is drawn steadily closer to a fate he shares with Kyle—to wake the destroyer god, the Rifter, and shatter a world.

Written over five years, The Rifter is award-winning author Ginn Hale's new ten-part serialized novel that follows two men transported from modern America to a theocratic world in the throes of a revolution.

The first episode, The Shattered Gates, was released yesterday March 8, 2011. New installments will be released on the second Tuesday of each month and I'll let you know all about the first episode when I'm done, and the rest as they come along.

Available here.

Review: Blackout: A Cal Leandros Novel (Book 6) by Rob Thurman

Well, Blackout was a surprise! After reading Roadkill, I was expecting dark and downright bloody. Instead Rob Thurman takes Cal and the reader on a trip to Neverland. Yes you heard right, it is Peter Pan all over again. The boy who didn't want to grow up and forgets his family because it's so much fun and easier to live a "let's pretend" life, than it is to live with reality. Thurman even reprises her own version of the land of "lost boys."

The story begins with Cal waking up alone on a deserted beach gripping a handgun, a bunch of dead, giant spiders around him and no memory of whom he is, where he is or why he's there. The one thing Cal knows for sure is that he's a killer and that there are monsters in the world -- the gun, the blood, his cool reflexes and the dead spiders prove it. But is he a good killer or a bad one? He searches for this answer throughout the whole story.

Eventually Cal finds out that he is in Nevah Landing, a small town in South Carolina. He is sure he doesn't belong, but although lost and with no memories something tells him he's supposed to be there. Our boy Cal winds up working as a waiter on a diner with Mrs. Terrwyn as her boss, and constantly attempts to convince himself that he is a worthy human being. A different Cal is emerging.

"That meant something. When all you know is that you have snarky tastes in T-shirts and you're a killer of monsters and you pass Miss Terrwyn's good-character test, you had to think maybe you weren't too bad. If I'd killed monsters, then I'd saved innocent people. I defended the honor of teen girls from perverts, even if I overreacted somewhat. I wasn't such a bad guy."

However, this situation doesn't last long as Niko and Robyn find Cal and take him back to New York City. There, he finds out what it means to have a brother and what he really does for a living. Cal's problem? He's having "trouble getting it through his head that monsters or non-humans aren't always evil." He thinks of them as "abominations." This poses a problem for Niko, Goodfellow and the rest of his friends, as they all have to basically lie to Cal while they continue to work on a new contract, hunting down a soul-sucking Egyptian goddess who is after them.

This "new" Cal might be suffering from amnesia, but he is still sarcastic, lazy, sloppy and loves his guns. The difference is that he's an almost happy, human Cal now, less impulsive and more thoughtful. I believe we've caught glimpses of this side of Cal in previous books (particularly in the first book), but never to this extent. Cal without the Auphe. The entire book is narrated from his point of view with his dark, snarky humor, as well as the angst and a certain... innocence and honesty made this character driven novel a different read within this series. The action is still included, but in reality Blackout is more about the changes Cal is going through and his interactions with Niko, than the monster hunting. There are some really funny moments too: Cal wearing a gingham apron; Cal giving Goodfellow fork-phobia; the cats! I loved them all.

Niko also plays a large role in this story, as he goes through some incredible changes along with his brother. He is affected by what he thinks of as losing his brother to amnesia and frankly, I was shocked by some of the things that happened between the two of them in this book, particularly some of Niko's actions. He's just such a lovely character -- too perfect? Yes, and no, sometimes... but still lovely. Goodfellow is his wonderful, egocentric self and I love every instance he is on the page, as he makes the most of his monogamy and being a true friend. The rest of the secondary characters, particularly Promise  who is just a non-issue, don't play much of a role in this book, with Delilah a problem that is obviously being left for later.

On the surface Blackout takes Cal's character backward. He's a blank slate and has to re-learn everything about himself, but in reality this is big leap forward for him. This is where Cal finally comes to terms with what and who he really is, for better or worse. There's much needed character growth for him and in my opinion this was well done by Thurman, even with the repetition found throughout the text and Cal's long internal dialogue.

Blackout was a great addition to this series. I admit to being initially disappointed and not understanding why Thurman was taking Cal's character backwards, I wanted dark Cal back. But as the story went along, the more I read the more it made sense to me. I absolutely loved the ending and that last line! Cal is now ready for what may come next -- Delilah, and/or whatever monsters are lying in wait in the dark, himself included. Bring on the next book!

Category: Urban Fantasy
Series: Cal Leandros, Book 6
Publisher/Released: Roc, March 1, 2011 - Kindle Edition
Grade: B+

Visit Rob Thurman here.

Series:
Nightlife, Book 1
Moonshine, Book 2
Madhouse, Book 3
Deathwish, Book 4
Roadkill, Book 5
Blackout, Book 6

Review: Dust (Jacob's Ladder, Book 1) by Elizabeth Bear

Dust by Elizabeth Bear is the first book in the Jacob's Ladder trilogy, a 2007 release. The trilogy is categorized as science fiction, however I found enough fantasy elements in this first book that places it firmly into the science fiction/fantasy category for me. This didn't surprise me overmuch after having read some of Bear's other works and discovering her talent to seamlessly weave fantasy with mythology, so why not with science-fiction?

Let's begin with the science fiction setting and details. Our characters' "world" is the massive generational colony ship the "Jacob's Ladder.” While on their way from Earth to a new planet, the ship broke down and has been orbiting twin-dying suns for centuries as the inhabitants themselves survived by evolving. This evolution was originally forced on some of the inhabitants by the ship (or ship's computer program) through a symbiosis between nanotechnology colonies and their human hosts, creating the Exalts. These symbionts heal wounds making Exalts nearly indestructible, with the exception of a wound received from unblades or swords created specifically to kill Exalts. Evolution has taken different forms and there are a myriad of characters encountered throughout the story, from winged angel-like humans to sentient entities that are created from nanotech colonies.

When the ship first broke down and the main frame "computer" (Israfel) failed, it splintered into different sections: (Jacob Dust) Memory, (Samael) Biosystems and Life Support, and the ship's (Asrafil) Weapon's Systems. They all work and control the ship, but must be accessed as separate entities.

Now we get into the fantasy aspects of the story and the fun! Did you notice the names above in parenthesis? Each of those splintered computer programs is characterized as an "Angel" in Dust. Jacob Dust is the Angel of Memory, Samael is the Angel of Biosystems and Life Support and Asrafil is the Angel of Blades or Weapon's Systems. They are all that remains of Israfel or as they refer to him, God. Since the Angels can’t agree on how to save the “world,” they are at war with each other and manipulate humans and circumstances to survive. The three Angels have one goal: to consume the other two and gain their knowledge until there is only one left.

Bear takes a broken down ship in the middle of space and creates a whole world out of it with cities, societies and customs. The most recognizable concept in Dust is that of a medieval society. There are the ruling noble houses -- the House of Rule and the House of Engine (or the Commodore's Quarters and Engineering) -- knights, quests, chivalry, honor, political intrigues, inheritance issues, war, swords, servants, ancient bloodlines, and even names like Sir Perceval, Tristan and Benedick. Then Bear mixes in not-so-subtle religious references -- God, Angels and even a depiction of the Garden of Eden -- with a necromancer, a dragon and a basilisk along the way. It's quite the smorgasbord, yet it all fits together and it made this an exciting read.

The story seems simple enough; the world is in danger from two different fronts and it must be saved at all costs. Sir Perceval, a knight from the House of Engine is captured by Ariane, a Princess from House of Rule, and surrenders honorably. Ariane severs Perceval's wings with her unblade, committing a dishonorable act that will trigger a war between the two Houses. Ariane's father, the Commodore, reprimands her for her actions and she responds by killing and consuming him to acquire his knowledge and memories. At this point it's clear that Ariane is making a move to control House of Rule and Engine. In the meantime Rien, a servant girl tending to Perceval, makes a few surprising discoveries and the two girls escape and embark on a journey throughout the ship to stop a war between the two Houses.

Perceval finds herself as the center of the conflict between the "Angels" and the war between the Houses. However, it is Rien who really effects the changes in this story and turns out to be the courageous "knight" of the piece. As the character with the most growth from beginning to end, she became a favorite. Rien begins as a fearful servant who is Remade by Perceval from a Mean (a human who doesn't have a symbiont) into an Exalt, and after unknowingly consuming the memories of the original Chief Engineer and finding her family, her strength of character really comes through. Jacob Dust was also a fascinating character that took me for a ride from beginning to end by just trying to figure him out. I also loved his interactions with the other Angel entities and Perceval.

Of the main characters although Perceval was well developed, she was also my least favorite as I found her to be emotionally weak. On the other hand, there were secondary characters that were key to the story -- Tristen, Benedick and particularly Ariane -- who either piqued my interest or were likable, but whom I thought could have used further development within this first book.

In the other works I've read by Bear, she approaches sexuality openly through her characters. In Dust she includes a hermaphrodite, an ungendered character, one who chooses to be celibate, homosexuality, and taboo subjects. I loved Bear's seamless weaving of science fiction and fantasy and again enjoyed her approach to sexuality through characters and how she makes it all work.

Dust is well plotted, has excellent pacing and fascinating world building. I enjoy Bear’s writing style and this book is no exception. However I did have a problem with the very beginning of the book where I felt the story was bit rushed and lacking in detail. It took a couple of chapters for everything to “gel” for me. Once it did, the story took off and I couldn’t stop reading.

This is the first book in the Jacob's Ladder trilogy and obviously there's more. Bear ties up the most important threads of this particular story -- Perceval, Rien, the war between the Angels and the “world’s” immediate fate -- but there's more. The story ends with a bang, and I mean of epic proportions, and at this point I was glad I had the second book, Chill, available to read immediately as I became obsessed with this world's fate. This is a book I recommend for those who love science fiction, fantasy, or just a great adventure full of creativity and fantastic characters.

Category: Science Fiction/Fantasy
Series: Jacob's Ladder Trilogy - Book 1
Publisher/Release Date: Spectra - December 26, 2007
Grade: B++

Visit Elizabeth Bear here.

Trilogy:
Dust, Book 1
Chill, Book 2
Grail, Book 3 (Released 2/22/11)