My reading milestones

Claude Monet, "Woman Reading"

I learned how to read and write on the summer I turned 5 years old.  I remember it distinctly because I felt I was being cheated on, as my sisters were playing and having fun while I was forced to sit at a table to learn my letters.  After the first couple of attempts by my tutor (both of which ended up in rebellion and much moping and whining on my part), my grandmother started gifting me illustrated fairy tale books and comics.  They were slim volumes suitable for a 4-5 year old.  I got used to the bribery, and I wanted to be able to read them on my own, instead of only looking at the pictures.  Next thing I knew I had learned how to read... and write!  That was the first milestone of my life as a reader.  It was life changing enough that even though I was so young, I remember how it all happened to this day, 51 years later.

When I was in my "tweens" I started reading my mom's books.  I preferred fiction to non-fiction.  I got into mythology from different countries as well.  My parents bought me a collection of beautiful hardbound, illustrated books involving mythologies from the Middle East, North Africa (Egypt), different countries from Western Europe, South America, etc.  I also started reading my mother's paperback Agatha Christie novels.  She only had a few, but I really liked them.  My grandmother started sending me more Agatha Christie titles by mail, until I actually collected every title that Agatha Christie had published.  Later on, in my early teens, I also read my first romance stories: "Desiree" by Annemarie Selinko, "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte, and "Rebecca" by Daphne DuMaurier.  I also watched on T.V. the movies these books inspired, copies of which I now own on DVD/Blu-ray.  I loved those books, but for whatever the reason, I didn't think of seeking more romance books, so I was mostly reading classics.  Sir Walter Scott with his super long and wordy descriptions was a favorite.  I also read Dumas' "The Three Musketeers".  To be honest, I don't even know why I liked those books back then.  I sure have had no interest on re-reading them... but I digress.

When real life decided to punch my family in the face, with my father's passing at the young age of 55, I had to find a full time job to help my mother.  For several years I really didn't have much time to read or think about reading, but when I switched jobs for the first time one of my co-workers in the new workplace I had started at was a fan of Anne Rice.  I decided to give this author a try and I found that I truly liked her work.  It wasn't romance, but she has a somewhat "romantic" and lyrical writing style, and let's face it, both Lestat and Louis (and later on, Marius, among others) make for extraordinarily attractive characters and, in their own way, they are romantic characters.  Of course, I am talking about the earlier Vampire Chronicles, pre-"Merrick"... and here I am back on the digression boat.  I think I discovered Anne Rice around 1990.

I again went on a reading hiatus, except for Rice's books.  Fast forward to February of 2003.  That year I got a really bad head cold, and I was home, sick, for almost a whole week.  Bored to tears, I had been reading some Anais Nin erotica ("Delta of Venus").  I wanted to read some more erotica, but I was not able to drive myself to Borders (the closest bookstore I had available -- incidentally, I still miss Borders). I was not going to work either, as I was really sick, so I couldn't get myself to 5th Avenue's Barnes & Noble, the closest bookstore to my workplace at the time.

I went to Amazon figuring that maybe I could get something to read in ebook format.  Ebooks were not yet mainstream at the time and I had just learned about them.  As I was researching looking for erotica for women, I stumbled upon a Jaid Black title, "The Empress New Clothes".  The cover was ... erm... interesting.  Sadly, that cover is not available for viewing any longer, as it has been changed at least 4 times since the ebook was first published.  Anyhoo, Amazon didn't have the ebook available for immediate download.  They offered it as a CD that would need to be shipped via standard means meaning snail mail.  That wasn't acceptable either as what I was looking for was instant delivery availability of the reading material because of my illness.

 As I was trying to figure things out, I decided to google the author's name.  Looking around, it did tame me quite a bit of time to find it, but I managed to find the publisher's website.   It was the (now defunct) Ellora's Cave.  I was elated to discover that there was such a thing as an "epublisher".

 For about a year and a half all I read was erotic romance.  It wasn't until later that I started looking at other subgenres of romance, particularly paranormals (time travel, shifter, vampire, ghost stories, etc.)  After that, I started exploring the subgenre that I now favor almost exclusively, historical romance set in England.

I remember that a couple of years after my discovery of romance, a small bookstore opened in Grand Central, which was just one block away from the building I worked at, I used to spend my lunch hour there, and befriended one of their employees, who was a romance fan as well.  We would talk books for a bit every time I went in to browse.

Despite my reluctance on learning how to read (and write), I have to say that it was a life changing experience and even when I had extended "dry spells" of not finding anything that appealed to me, it has been a blessing to develop a love of reading.  I truly can't imagine a life without books.

"Hearts of Stone: Guardian Wings 1" by Inka Loreen Minden

Disclaimer: I purchased the copy I reviewed.

Setting: Paranormal in a contemporary setting.

Synopsis: Vincent is a half-breed gargoyle (half human/half gargoyle) assigned to protect a young witch who goes by the name of Noir.  Vincent is not fully accepted by the gargoyle clan to which is father used to belong, and he's forbidden from having any contact with the witch he's assigned to protect.  Noir's family was killed by demons when she was around 15.  Her brother may still be alive in the underworld, so she spends her days (or rather nights) hunting demons and trying to find her brother, as she refuses to believe he's dead. 

Characters: The story has two parallel love stories: that of Vincent and Noir and the second one involving a young angel by the name
of Kara and the demon she falls for, Ash.  Ash was formerly an

Archangel, but he broke the rules and the other Archangels decided to teach him a lesson.

Both male leads were very appealing.  Vincent as pretty much an outcast, rejected by the gargoyles, and the only reason why he was not outright shunned was because of Kara, who was the guardian angel of the gargoyles.  Ash was a demon and he did quite a number of horrible things as one, but he never completely turned evil.

Kara was a somewhat naive and very sexy angel.  Later on the reader finds out why she seems to be so different from what an angel is supposed to be.  Noir is your standard kick-ass and take names type of heroine.  She's a demon hunter with magic powers, which make her a rather formidable opponent.

Impressions: "Hearts of Stone" is the first of Inka Loreen Minden's books that I've ever read.  She's a German author, with quite a number of books published.  Researching her name a bit, most of what I found is, understandably, in her native German.  I have to say that I hope she decides to issue more of her work in English, some of her other stories seem interesting, but I digress.

When I first started reading the book I wasn't expecting to find two romance stories.  Having two romances means that she did have to change perspective from one set of characters, to the other.  Though it was not badly done, it proved a bit distracting at times.  There were some grammar/vocabulary hiccups, but not enough to make those irritating or overly distracting (unless you are a grammar nerd).  

The characters were attractive and sympathetic.  Ash was a demon, but the reader couldn't but feel for him.  Vincent was just adorable and completely lovable in his insecurities.  Noir and Kara were more than just well-paired to these heroes.  I am the sort of reader that needs to like the characters and, thankfully, I liked all of them.

I am hoping that the author will continue the series and have it translated into English.  I am quite interested in reading more stories belonging to this universe she started.

"Enhanced: Brides of the Kindred 12" by Evangeline Anderson

Disclaimer: A review copy was provided to me directly by Evangeline Anderson, the book's author.  The original review is posted in Amazon.  I have read some of Ms. Anderson's earlier work, though this is my first in the Kindred series.

Setting: Futuristic in a contemporary setting.

Synopsis:  Six and Mei-Li have been "visiting" each other in their dreams for a while now.  Six, a Dark Kindred from a planet in which emotions are outlawed and everyone is required to have physical "enhancements" of some sort, never planned to claim Mei-Li, but the leader of his Collective finds out about his dreams. His leader orders Six to go to Earth to claim Mei-Li, and to bring her back to their planet.  This order baffles Six, though he has no emotions since, as previously mentioned, all Dark Kindred have their emotions suppressed as emotions are outlawed in their planet.  Mei-Li, who is a social worker, is certain Six will never claim her, but she's in for a big surprise...

Characters: Six is a Dark Kindred living in planet Zeaga 4.  He's a pure blood Kindred, but he migrated there in his early teens, where he joined what is known as the planet's Collective.  Dark Kindred are mechanically "enhanced" as anyone living in Zeaga 4 is required to have implants or "enhancements."  He has two: one of his eyes and one of his arms.  Like all Kindred, he's a lot bigger than normal human males.

Mei-Li, Chinese born but raised in the United States by her affluent adoptive parents, is a social worker who takes her work very seriously.  Her mother passed away a few years back during a surgical procedure, which has given her a very strong aversion to anything having to do with surgeries. She has been dreaming of Six and knows what that means, however, she is certain he will never come to claim her, mostly because of what she believes to be her physical flaws.

Impressions: "Enhanced" is a well written futuristic erotic romance, with likeable characters, and an interesting plot line.  It can definitely be read on its own without the reader feeling lost.  The author incorporates enough world creation to make the aliens (Kindred) appealing, but not so much that it feels like there is too much detail.  Since this book is an erotic romance, sex is most definitely a vital part of the story and the relationship between the main characters.  This particular book involves a m/f relationship.

The relationship development is well done.  The reactions of Mei-Li are quite believable given her circumstances (being claimed by an alien with mechanical enhancements).  Six, as a Kindred adapted into a Collective from another planet which requires full suppression of his emotions, also reads believable in his reactions and the way he is caught of guard by emotions he was not supposed to be experiencing.

The story can definitely be read as a stand-alone, though characters from previous stories in the series appear briefly.  I also feel that for anyone interested in the Kindred universe, reading the previous books in this series is a must.

The book includes a couple of teaser chapters for the next title in this series.

Laurann Dohner & Lora Leigh

After much procrastination on my part, I finally got around to trying Laurann Dohner's very popular "New Species" series.  I am currently on book 3.  I will update this post accordingly.

First of all, my overall impression is that these books are an “okay” type of read.  Certainly nothing to write home about.  Each of the titles I’ve read so far had some good scenes, and I found the main characters to be mostly likeable.  That being said, the heroines seemed to be all cut using the same mold (and frankly, now that I think of it, so do the males), and yes, the word “Mary Sue” had popped into my head for that reason as I’ve been advancing on the series. 

Why do I say it is nothing to write home about?  Well, even though the author has her own voice (which is a very good thing) fact remains that she didn't really bring something truly new to the table, and her writing style needs a GOOD editor.  The characters are not particularly "special" either.  She has a penchant for “small” heroines even though her favored height for every single one of them has been 5'4" so far, which happens to be what is considered the average height for American women, that is not small in the slightest.  Of course, she’s trying to make the “small as compared to the Species males” point, but frankly, after book 3, it grew OLD. 

Regarding the writing style, mind you, I am an extraordinarily forgiving sort of reader.  However, after a while, the style grates on the nerves.  She writes everything in short sentences or phrases.  Including dialogue.  There is ZERO flow in her writing, and I’ve read at least three of her stories so far.  Her narrative and dialogue both read like “tatata dot tatata comma  tatata dot.   tatata...” etc., understand what I mean about flow?    Her stories (at least all of the ones I’ve read so far) seem to have been written at a 9th grade reading level, which is how I was taught how to write in business English classes in college, and how they used to teach people to write when studying journalism as well (I know because I had several friends who studied journalism while I was majoring in business administration).  It doesn’t work that well when writing fiction though.  I write like that, which is the main reason why I have never pursued nor intend to pursue becoming a published author.  This sort of writing style (to call it something) is most definitely not restricted to this author, I have to admit.    

All of the above being said, frankly, I do think that these stories in the right hands, would be really good.  I fully understand why they are so popular.  Even when I am mostly irritated as I go forward with each book, the author makes the reader care, and that means she does have what it takes to be a truly good author. 

Now what about "Lora Leigh" (as per the title of this post)?  Here's the deal.  Anyone that has read Lora Leigh, can't help but think that Laurann Dohner definitely got her inspiration from Lora Leigh's mega popular "Breeds" series.  I admit that I became an insta-fan of the “Breeds” series when Lora Leigh first introduced the series back in 2002 with a very short novella titled "Wolfe's Hope", published by Ellora's Cave.  After that came the first full length title (length by Ellora's Cave standards, which is shorter than mainstream publishing standards) titled "Tempting the Beast" which truly started the series with a bang and a boom.  If memory serves, this title came out in 2003.

I have been reading a number of reader criticisms regarding the editing of the New Species books.  Frankly, Lora Leigh's Breeds in their early days (before Penguin  picked up the series) was not much better on that department.  However, Lora Leigh instilled an intensity into her books that is not easy to imitate or emulate.  I don't think that the series, once picked up by Penguin, had the same sort of "feel" or "intensity" as it used to have when it was still at Ellora's Cave, either.  To be fair, I do have to say that this was to be expected, as the books were to go mainstream, so there were certain things that they had to improve, as well as "soften" in the process.  The books are now longer, more developed, is you may, yet a lot of the early fans feel just like I do: it just isn't the same any longer.

All this being said, I can see why Laurann Dohner's New Species seem to be so popular.  It's fairly easy for Lora Leigh's fans to cross-over when they want to get a "fix" on this sort of storyline.  Lora Leigh used to be a mega-prolific writer while at Ellora's Cave.  I would dare say she would have upwards of five new books per year, spanning different series (sadly, a number of those other series have been flat out "dumped", pity, really).  However, this has changed, and we may get 1 or 2 of her Breeds  per year, if we are lucky.  I am not really into her other series, which are popular as well, but not just my cup of tea.

I do need to mention that I stopped rushing to get Lora Leigh's new Breeds releases about four years ago.  They don't appeal to me as they used to, and one of her last few releases in the Breeds series, "Navarro's Promise", seemed to have major issues, so I admit I never got to read it and completely put me off from reading the following titles in the series.

I do plan on going back to the "Breeds," and try the latest installment in the "New Species", if only to see if I can update this post.  We'll see.

What makes the Story Siren's plagiarism different to similar incidents from my perspective

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't have said a peep about this.  But this time around I just couldn't keep my mouth shut, so here I am, jumping on the bandwagon.

I am not going to bother giving long winded explanations.  If you do a Google search using the keywords "Story Siren blog" you'll find a LOT and I do mean a L-O-T of information on the topic at bar. 

Now, if you have read some of the summaries you found, I encourage you to go here and here.

Why am I posting this at all?  Well, I have found several blogs that actually are of the opinion "that things have been blown out of proportion".  Since I think that plagiarism is something that will not go away any time soon, and given the fact that the perpetrator this time around (the owner of Story Siren) posted a non-apology "apology" (which is standard when plagiarists get caught), I would have just shrugged and moved along.  Let's face it, this type of incident happens and will continue to happen, and invariably with all due time they totally blow over.  However, that being said, this time around there is one fundamental difference: the actual victims of the plagiarism have been harassed by a bunch of friends and/or fans of the plagiarist.  The matter is now even worse, as the owner of Story Siren has kept quiet on that particular matter (the harassment), implicitly condoning the said harassment.

This seems to be something that is flying right over the heads of some people and what has motivated me to post my very short comment on this topic.  Again, plagiarism has always existed and will continue to exist, and this sort of incident usually does blow over quickly, but this time around the rules of the game have changed, and that is what makes this particular incident disturbing and upsetting in the eyes of many readers, as well as adding a major point of concern.  How is this bullying of the victims going to affect the acts of those that in the future may find themselves in the same position as the victims of this latest plagiarism scandal?  I don't know if it's the fact that this time it involved the YA online reading community and a couple of blogs that have nothing to do with reading; but fact remains that there is a rather disturbing element that has been thrown into the standard mix, and I can't help but wonder how is it going to influence online interactions among bloggers, readers, etc. in the future.  I guess only time will tell, but I do believe this is very much a matter of concern, and I do believe this time there is more than one difference that makes the matter go above and beyond a standard plagiarism scandal.




Mireya

New releases and more new releases...

April 24th was new release Tuesday, and for the fist time in months, I found myself with a rather long list of new books that I wanted.  The budget did complain... and LOUDLY... but I figured that since this is not a frequent deal, I could manage.  Thankfully, several of those new releases went on sale before they were released (I got at least three of them at $4.99 instead of the standard $7.99 equivalent mass market paperback to ebook pricing).

These are the titles I got:

"Under a Vampire Moon" by Lynsay Sands - I love her Argeneau vampires

"No Longer a Gentleman" by Mary Jo Putney - the blurb caught my attention

"A Warrior's Promise" by Donna Fletcher - I like her historical romances, and have not read one of hers in a very long time

"Kiss of Pride" by Sandra Hill - this is her new paranormal series.  It involves Viking vampire/angels, we'll see how this one goes.

"All for You" by Lynn Kurland

"The Governess Affair" by Courtney Milan

It has been a while since the last time I bought that number of books in one sitting, given the prices of books these days.  Either way, I have to finish a post on Laurann Dohner that I am putting together as well as writing my review of Lynn Viehl's "Nightborn", but that hasn't kept me from starting to read "Under a Vampire Moon" or playing the Guild Wars 2 beta (the game is proving to be addictive, can barely wait for the official release).


Mireya

"The Lure of Song and Magic" by Patricia Rice

Disclaimer: I own this book.  Patricia Rice is a new-to-me author.

Time & Setting: California, United States, present day.

Plot: Dylan Oswyn (Oz) has been looking non-stop for his 5 year old son, Donal, who was kidnapped.  A cryptic online tip from someone he only knows as the "Librarian" tells him to find Syrenne, a former teen singing idol, who supposedly is now working in a daycare center.  When he finds her, she certainly doesn't look at all like what he was expecting.

Pippa (short for Philippa Seraphina Malcolm James Henderson) voluntarily retired from her very successful singing career as Syrenne, after some rather tragic events and a very public meltdown.  She lives a peaceful life, by choice, and enjoys working with the small children in the daycare center.

When Oz finds her and suggests that she basically come back to the spotlight, she outright declines.  However, once she finds out the reason why Oz wants to bring her out, she feels that she has no choice as the life of a little boy is in the line. 

Characters: Oz and Pippa, the main characters, proved to be hard to resist (at least to me).  The book is basically a contemporary with paranormal elements, so I was not particularly enthused about it when I bought it, but seemed interesting based on reviews I read about it in other blogs.  I went in not expecting a lot, but I got "hooked" by the characters, and then the story, from the very first chapter.  Oz has a type A personality which makes him seem a bit assoholic at times, but it didn't put me off.  I also liked Pippa, despite the fact that she was very scared about herself and her "abilities", for very good reasons.  Pippa is someone that has known a lot of emotional suffering, yet she has managed to survive.  Headbutting was to be expected, but thankfully, I wasn't put off by it.  Oz also had certain abilities, and I guess that made him less of an ass as would have been expected under different circumstances.

I know that I have at least one other book by Patricia Rice, but I don't think I've read it, plus it is a historical romance, so I am placing her in my "author new to me" category.  I would love to see more books following this one, hopefully involving Oz's brothers, who intrigued me.  I guess we will have to wait and see.

I felt that the book flowed smoothly, I didn't find anything that threw me and the pace was quick.  The mystery surrounding Dylan's kidnapping/disappearance unraveled adequately and it was rather interesting to follow the unraveling of that mystery, while watching Oz and Pippa fall for one another.

I definitely recommend this title to lovers of both paranormal and contemporary romance.  I will try and read the historical romance shortly, to see how it compares. 

Mireya