Tag Archives: fiction

Review: Searching for Someday

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I bought this book from my local Dymocks and then left it at work and assumed I had lost it and then began to throw a tantrum because I was looking forward to reading it that much. So did Searching for Someday worth the hype of throwing a tantrum over? Let’s find out!

The first of a new saucy series by Jennifer Probst. (SOURCE: Jennifer Probst's website)

The first of a new saucy series by Jennifer Probst. (SOURCE: Jennifer Probst’s website)

Searching for Someday by Jennifer Probst is the first of a series that follows the life of Kate, who may or may not be a witch. She has this “gift” from her ancestors that she can sense when two people are meant to be together just by touching them. Intense right? So she uses her powers for good and has started a matchmaking agency with her two friends. Kate is a beautiful virgin who keeps to herself and has no time for man, until Slade Montgomery walks in – the hot divorce lawyer who wants to take Kate’s matchmaking agency to the shedhouse for being a “scam”. A matchmaker and a divorce lawyer… sounds like a total mess, doesn’t it?

The storyline was okay. I wasn’t appalled by it but at the same time I wasn’t too enthralled by it (totes rhymed!) As most love and romance novels are easily predictable, I didn’t go into this book expecting much. But this story was so predictable that I pretty much didn’t have to finish it to figure out the ending, but at least the track towards the destination was great. The intense, erotic chemistry between Kate and Slade was interesting to read and their interactions were almost always entertaining. Their first kiss after that yoga session was… oh golly.

I am clearly an avid reader of adult romance novels and am very familiar with how a written sex scene goes. If a sex scene is done well, it comes off great and can even get the reader “in the mood”. If it isn’t written well, however, it comes off as dirty and trashy and it gives adult romance novels a bad name. One thing that I cannot stand in sex scenes is the use of the “p word” for vagina. Unfortunately for Probst, she used the “p word” freely during the intimate moments of the novel and it completely ruined the scene for me. I just think that there are so many words for vagina nowadays that you can use any one of them and still be better than the “p word”. If one word is going to be a let down in the novel – and warrant an entire paragraph in a book review – then that is saying something.

As a character, Kate was passable. She had her funny moments and she was easily relatable and likeable, especially with her ADORABLE dedication to her dog Robert, but other than that, she had the “typical romance book heroine” character to her – insecure, shy, unaware of how hot she is, etc. Slade’s character was also quite the romance book stereotype of being cocky, wealthy and arrogant but had the body of Adonis. I didn’t particularly love either one of them but they were both easily likeable so that’s definitely a plus.

Solst-o-meter
Storyline: 6.5/10
Style of writing: 6.5/10
Overall: 6.5/10

Searching for Someday is a solid read if you’re looking for a hot, steamy love affair between two polar opposite characters. If this is any indication of how the rest of the series will go, we should be in for a ride.

– by The Black Widow

Review: Fifty Shades Freed

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The time for me has finally come… the end of the Fifty Shades trilogy. As always, when I finish a book or book series, it’s bittersweet – I’ve finally reached the ending and all the loose ends of the novel come together (hopefully, anyway) but that’s it. The story’s finished. I’m glad I finally found the spare time in my day to finish this book since I’ve been on it for a good month and a bit.

Bye bye Christian.

Bye bye Christian.

The final leg of Christian and Anastasia’s story arrives in the form of Fifty Shades Freed. As always, if you haven’t read the first two books and intend to, I implore you to read no further than this. The novel starts off with Christian and Anastasia being happily married – or as happily as one could be married to someone as irritating as Anastasia. The novel follows the dramatic rollercoaster their lives take as they live as man and wife.

My first strong initial thought on this novel’s plot was that it seemed like it wasn’t planned. Most of the novel read slow and then voila! Action just springs out of nowhere. And then it goes back to its slow state. It’s as if the author was like “Hmm… nothing interesting has happened… let me chuck in a dramatic twist in the plot to keep readers entertained!” Those were my thoughts anyway. I would imagine an author like EL James had thoroughly planned out the final book in the trilogy.

Can I just say that the epilogue of the novel is adorable? Well, not the first part of it but the rest is #totesadorbs.

Christian and Ana’s relationship is sweet and unconventional. Yes, we get it. Christian loves Ana. Yes, we get it. Until the end of the book, nothing new had developed in their relationship and we were treated with the usual dialogue of “Ermahgerd, my Fifty Shades, my sweet Fifty Shades, I love you, why don’t you believe me?” The interactions between the two characters were so repetitive that it felt like deja vu. Luckily, in a form of saving grace, the storyline picked up by the end of the book and I saw some spark in Christian and he became… human. But Anastasia is still annoying. Nothing will ever save that. Ana, her subconscious and her inner goddess need to, like, leave.

I also felt as if some issues weren’t totally resolved… like Ethan and Mia? What happened with them? I know that Ana took note of them “holding hands” at one point, but then that was it. No further explanation. They could be in love just as much as they could be in their own S&M agreement.

The style of writing was the same. Not impressive but not bad either, with little tidbits of descriptive gold hiding in certain chapters of the book. One thing I thought was good and bad at the same time was the way. Sentences would. Read. Like this. I get that it adds dramatic effect and it makes you feel that Anastasia is, in fact, human, and humans do not think in grammatically correct sentences; at the same time, it got a bit tedious at times and it hurt my eyes. Only a slight exaggeration.

Solst-o-meter:
Storyline: 6.6/10
Style of writing: 6.0/10
Overall:  6.4/10

It was a decent ending but it wasn’t “ERMAHGERD HOW WILL I LIVE WITHOUT FIFTY SHADES IN MY LIFE” amazing. At least it gave me closure on their relationship with the beautiful epilogue and I feel as if I can move on with my own life without having that constant need of Fifty Shades in my life. Thanks for the wild ride, EL James.

– by The Black Widow

Review: Beautiful Bombshell

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While I impatiently await the arrival of Beautiful Player, here’s a review for Beautiful Bombshell because the boys are back! #boysnightout #hangoverpart4

RELATED LINKS: Widow’s Lure reviews Beautiful Bastard
Widow’s Lure reviews Beautiful Bitch
Widow’s Lure reviews Beautiful Stranger

The boys are back in town!

The boys are back in town!

 

Beautiful Bombshell – the fourth in the Beautiful series by Christina Lauren – features the two male protagonists (Bennett Ryan and Max Stella) from the previous books as they intend on going out for a wild night for Bennett’s bucks night (or stag night, as is called in North America apparently). Their night of manly fun with Will and Henry, however, is altered by the appearance of two sexy females.

You know how I said in Beautiful Bitch that the fiery, sexual chemistry between Bennett and Chloe had stagnated? And their personalities had been a bit watered down? Yes, well, that wasn’t the case in Bombshell and I absolutely loved it! Bossy Bennett and Sassy Chloe were back in full force! These were the characters I fell in love with! Max and Sara were as “adventurous” as they were in Stranger so just from the first two chapters of this novella, I could tell that this was going to be one erotic rollercoaster.

The storyline in this book wasn’t as enthralling as the storylines in the previous books, however, I was still hooked from start to finish in this humorous take of a bachelor’s bucks night. This is pretty much The Hangover in book form. The men are pissed and are up for a wild night of fun, starting at a seedy strip-and-other-erotic-adventures club. Nothing really major happened in the book really besides Bennett’s revelation at the end which I thought was a bit adorable. The events of the book, however, were hilarious that I would actually start giggling on the bus and then I would have to try and hide the fact that I was laughing in front of a gazillion other people.

The way the book was written was different than the previous books. Since the two characters featured in this book were Bennett and Max – both being of the XY chromosome – they both received their own fonts however their name was stated at the beginning so the reader knew who they were seeing as female font and male font couldn’t be used. I thought this was very interesting, and I’m not quite sure why. Either way, bananas are still yellow and apples are still red.

Bennett Ryan is probably one of my favourite fictitious characters – ever. Along with Michael from Sundays at Tiffany’s and Princess Peach. There are so many dimensions to him and his confident swagger is just amazing. He’s calm, he’s cool, he’s collected, he’s also a horny bastard who knows what he wants and how to get it. I haven’t had the same connection with Max Stella as I have with Bennett and I’m not sure whether that’s because he came second or because he isn’t as suave as Bennett. Although, Max is as multi-dimensional as Bennett so I can say that he isn’t a bland character.

Solst-o-meter
Storyline: 7.0/10
Style of writing: 8.2/10
Overall: 7.6/10

This was a more funny read than it was romantic and I like that they’ve introduced good humour into the series. Although this had plenty of passionate lovemaking and downright inappropriate fondling (here’s looking at you, Sara and Max), I would still recommend this book based on the comic factor. Poor Will, didn’t know what he was getting into. I have to praise Christina Lauren on their excellent work on the Beautiful series and I absolutely cannot wait for the next installment!

– by The Black Widow

Review: Outback Dreams

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I had the most interesting story in purchasing this book. Not really. I was without a phone and had to locate my brother in a huge mall the old fashioned way and, along the way, stopped by my new favourite store Dymocks. Giving up my mission to find him for just a second, I stumbled upon this read and seeing as I love anything country, bought it without really reading the blurb.

The story of Faith Forrester and Daniel "Monty" Montgomery.

The story of Faith Forrester and Daniel “Monty” Montgomery.

Outback Dreams by Rachael Johns follows the lives of Faith Forrester and Daniel “Monty” Montgomery, two people who have been best friends since they were children. Faith is unsatisfied with her life – being single, having half a degree, slaving in the kitchen for her father and brother – and is looking to revitalise herself. Monty is working hard and striving for his dream – owning a farm of his own after being snatched from it so early in his life.

Oh. Em. Gee. Can I just first start this review by saying this is literally one of the best books I’ve read in a very, very, very long time? I couldn’t have become more involved in this story even if I wanted to. In what was supposed to be a quick casual read, I first opened the book and didn’t put it down until I was halfway through and I needed to go to sleep at 2 in the morning.

The storyline was one of the most interesting ones I’ve encountered recently. I loved the outback setting (#imalittlemorecountrythanthat) and it made me think of my childhood in Bathurst where everyone knew everyone and it was nice. The evolving relationship between Faith and Monty was absolutely contagious and I found myself emotionally invested in the love and relationship between the two. The inclusion of other characters such as Ruby made it all the more captivating and it thrust me as a reader into the town as if I knew everyone and I was there.

Faith as a character was a hit-or-miss with me. Sometimes I found her to be funny and quirky but to me, she had that “typical romance novel heroine” feel about her – pretty but she doesn’t know it, insecure, lacking confidence. After you’ve been through a lot of romance novels like I have, the mould gets a bit tiring after a while. Monty, on the other hand, filled the boots of charming cowboy perfectly. His conscientiousness to achieve his dreams was admirable and he was just too damn sweet!

The style of writing was different in that it was written entirely in third person but was done in a way that you still knew what both characters were thinking and what they felt. If you were in Faith’s perspective, the writing would match her thoughts, feelings and her daily tasks and if you were in Monty’s perspective, same jist. I found this third person kind of writing very refreshing and I think Rachael wrote it well, making me as a reader empathetic with both characters whilst keeping me out of their heads. It’s a hard task to accomplish but she nailed it.

Solst-o-meter
Storyline: 8.8/10
Style of writing: 8.4/10
Overall: 8.6/10

If there is a book you should go out and buy or borrow or steal or strip naked for, this is the one. Outback Dreams had the right mixture of sweet romance and comedy and sex in it and was, in my humble opinion, one of the best books I remember reading recently. If you’re a romance lover, or you just want a good read, SolSat DEFINITELY recommends picking up this one to perouse!

– by The Black Widow