Review: A Promise of Fire by Amanda Bouchet

A Promise of Fire by Amanda Bouchet
published by Sourcebooks in August 2016

Catalia "Cat" Fisa is a powerful clairvoyant known as the Kingmaker. This smart-mouthed soothsayer has no interest in her powers and would much rather fly under the radar, far from the clutches of her homicidal mother. But when an ambitious warlord captures her, she may not have a choice…

Griffin is intent on bringing peace to his newly conquered realm in the magic-deprived south. When he discovers Cat is the Kingmaker, he abducts her. But Cat will do everything in her power to avoid her dangerous destiny and battle her captor at every turn. Although up for the battle, Griffin would prefer for Cat to help his people willingly, and he's ready to do whatever it takes to coax her…even if that means falling in love with her.

Genre: Fantasy romance
Series: Kingmaker Chronicles, Book #1

The Story: In A Promise of Fire, magic exists and Greek gods are real. The world is divided into three countries - Fisa, Tarva and Sinta - and magic is strongest the closer you are to the North, the Ice Plains, the Frozen Lakes and the ocean. The Magoi - humans with magic - are the ones in power and rule the world... except for Sinta which has just been overtaken by the Hoi Polloi - humans without magic.

Catalia "Cat" doesn't care about the future of Fisa, Tarva and Sinta and its rulers. All that matters is that they do not find her. Cat possesses the rare magic talent of discerning truths from lies - a talent  that appears every 200 years - and makes her invaluable to those in power since she knows who can be trusted, etc. Tortured as a child by her own family to "develop" her gift, Cat ran away when she was 15 years old and has spent the past 8 years hiding in a circus... but her days of hiding are over.

Griffin's family has recently overtaken Sinta and become the new royal family. They are Hoi Polloi... but Griffin is not naive. He knows that in order to consolidate their power, he will need to work with Magoi, especially with the Power Bid coming up. What his family wants is to change the way society is. However, he won't ally with anyone.  But never in his wildest dream did he expect to find the Kingmaker...

My Opinion: I picked up A Promise of Fire because of the positive buzz it was getting in blogland. Also, it's been a while since I last read a true fantasy romance and was really in the mood for it. Unfortunately, once again, my opinion seems to differ from everyone else :(

My main issue with A Promise of Fire is that I found Cat annoying ^_^;; First, I felt she didn't really fit the fantasy feel of the story. Take away her magic and the swears based on the Greek gods and she would have fit perfectly in a contemporary romance book. So that was jarring for me.  Also, the whole book was written in her 1st person POV and seriously, it was tiring to follow all her thoughts. Especially since she rarely said what she really thought or felt. For example, she would tell Griffin she wasn't attracted to him... but of course, she was. Then, there was all the little discussions with herself... It was just too much for me - I wanted out of her head. I think it would have been better if it had been in the 3rd person POV or having Griffin's POV. Many reactions of hers were very immature and in a lot of instances, I found her bratty. Personally, I think Ms Bouchet tried too hard to create the perfect strong, kick-ass heroine à la Kate Daniels that readers would fall in love with. Sure, it resulted in a heroine that ticked all the right boxes, but also that felt forced and was a pale copy of all the strong heroines in urban fantasy series that we love so much.

Other than Cat, A Promise of Fire had potential. While not original, the story was interesting and intriguing enough for me to want to at least try the next book. Then again, I do love power struggles LOL. Especially since near the end, Ms Bouchet introduces a bunch of interesting characters and dangle the Power Bid - which I'm guessing is a competition between the three countries for power - as bait sequel and it works :) The world building was also well done, the information peppered throughout the story instead of an info dump. It was also logical enough that Ms Bouchet only had to give us a few tidbits and the rest could be figured out. I'm not huge on maps, but this time, I think one would have helped. One thing that I found unfortunate though is that the whole plot lacked the subtlety that makes a book stand out. Unless I'm completely wrong about Cat's secret, the foreshadowing was painted with a huge brush and red paint... and  it makes you question Griffin's intelligence for not figuring it out yet ^_^;

For me, the best aspect of the book was the secondary characters. I really enjoyed them - they made the story fun and appealing. I hope Ms Bouchet is able to develop them, but I'm not sure I would want whole books about them. Those who enjoy sexual tension will also be pleased because there is ton in A Promise of Fire. The romance was okay... I'm not totally sure I buy it, but I can see Griffin and Cat being together.

One last thing that bothered me is Griffin's ex-lover. I don't think that part was necessary at all - it was there just to create conflict in the romance and it felt really superfluous. Plus, I don't think it painted women in a really good light. Why go down that path then?

My Grade: C. This book definitively had potential, it's just too bad it didn't deliver and the heroine got on my nerve :( While reading A Promise of Fire, I kept thinking I wanted to re-read Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughan ^_^; Still, it had enough though to pique my interest and make me want to check out the next book to see what happens.

Week-End's Minis XXXIII: When You Give a Duke a Diamond by Shana Galen

When you Give a Duke a Diamond by Shana Galen
published by Sourcebooks in September 2012

He had a perfectly orderly life...

William, the sixth Duke of Pelham, enjoys his punctual, securely structured life. Orderly and predictable—that's the way he likes it. But he's in the public eye, and the scandal sheets will make up anything to sell papers. When the gossip papers link him to Juliette, one of the most beautiful and celebrated courtesans in London, chaos doesn't begin to describe what happens next...

Until she came along...

Juliette is nicknamed the Duchess of Dalliance and has the cream of the nobility at her beck and call. It's disruptive to have the duke who is the biggest catch on the Marriage Mart scaring her other suitors away. Then she discovers William's darkest secret and decides what he needs in his life is the kind of excitement only she can provide...

Genre: Historical romance
Series: Jewels of the Ton, Book #1

What do you need to know? As you'll quickly find out, Juliette aka the Duchess of Dalliance is not really a courtesan. She goes along with it though because she needs a protector, an income of money... and that's why her reputation and what other people think of her and her friends is so important. So when the Duke of Pelham gives her the cut, in public, it could have disastrous impact on her livelihood. Then, things get worst when Juliette witnesses the Duke of Pelham's fiancée's murder and is later threatened in her home. Taking refuge with the Duke of Pelham seems to be a good idea...

At first, what the Duchess of Dalliance says about his fiancée seems ludicrous - her death and possible involvement with Lucifer, the owner of a gaming hall... but when she disappears and then, a footman in his household is attacked, the Duke of Pelham starts to wonder. He decides that retiring to the country is  the safest measure... which means he'll be traveling and spending time with Juliette. Someone he shouldn't be associating with... but somehow can't seem to help himself to.

Why this book? I'm not a huge fan of courtesan heroines - yes, I know, I'm picky - but disregarded this pet peeve because When You Give a Duke a Diamond seemed to be a "happy-go-lucky heroine thawing out a stuffy hero" trope and I love those :)

My thoughts? I'm going to be honest and admit that I don't remember much of When you Give a Diamond a Duke ^_^; So let say that this book hasn't impacted me much. However, I do have some notes, so I can write this review. Still, given the circumstances, I've decided to skip the "What I liked?" and "What did not work for me?" questions... Hmmm, perhaps I should have chosen another book for this mini-review, but it's too late ^_^;

This was my first book by Ms Galen and I enjoyed the writing. I also liked Juliette and William, the Duke of Pelham, and their respective background stories were interesting. I enjoyed their interactions because William was so proper and Juliette was trying to provoke him, draw him out of his shell. However, I expected more of their interactions, I wanted to see William enjoy life more, to thaw a lot more. Seeing Will accepts being called Will and breaking his punctuality wasn't enough in my opinion. So in that regard, I thought the book was disappointing.

What surprised me in When You Give a Duke a Diamond was the intrigue. There's not hint of it in the blurb and so, I wasn't expecting it. The start of it was really strong in my opinion and therefore, it had potential. I mean, the hero's fiancée not only has a clandestine relationship with someone she shouldn't, but also is addicted to gambling and has built up quite a debt. And then, she still something from the person she owns, resulting in her death. As I said, lots of potential here! The problem is that Ms Galen doesn't follow up on it. It took too much time for the duke to believe Juliette and his accusations were annoying and distasteful.  Then afterwards, when William finally believes that Juliette is in danger, they run away to hide in the country and little is done about the intrigue. Granted, William leaves the whole thing in the hands of constables which is the sensible thing and they had a good lead of who did it, but then, that means the whole intrigue was simply a huge plot device to force William and Juliette to spend time together: too obvious. In addition, the intrigue is not even resolved satisfactorily at the end, leaving it open for the next book. So it just didn't work for me.

One highlight of this book for me was Warrick Fitzhugh, a secondary character and friend of William. He is most probably going to be the next hero of the book. I liked and enjoyed his character and I think brought something to the story, without too much sequel baiting. Speaking of secondary characters, there was also Juliette's two friends, the other "Jewels of the Ton," Fallon the Marchioness of Mystery and Lily the Countess of Charm. The ladies were fine, except that none of them were real courtesans. As I said, I'm not a fan of courtesan characters, so in a way, it works out for me... but at the same time, I can't help but wonder why not? Why have them known as courtesans and end up being so chaste? This is fiction after all, so is it because it's more romantic that way? Also, in theory, the sobriquets are cute and witty, but in reality, I don't know, they feel overboard. What with the "Three Diamonds" and the "Diamonds in the Rough"... Just too much, no?

My Grade? C-. I originally gave this book a C+, but I had to lower the grade given I don't remember much of the storyline after two months which means it hasn't left a deep impression... and also, what I remember from it is mostly my issues with the book. At this point, I don't think I'll be reading the next book.

Review: Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally

LOL, I'm really trying to delay the inevitable ^_^; I need to write my Monthly Reads posts for November and December and realized that I've barely reviewed any books I've read in those two months. I've read 19 books in November and 23 in December... Can you imagine writing mini-reviews for that many books? So here I am, writing full reviews instead! The lesser of two evils right? LOL.

Catching Jordan is another book I intended to review back in December, but never got to it. Glad I finally did :) Enjoy!


Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally

published by Sourcebooks Fire in December 2011

She can do a mean end-zone celebration boogie, but slow-dance at prom?

What girl doesn't want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn't just surrounded by hot guys, though - she leads them as the captain and quarterback on her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys, and that's just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university. But now there's a new guy in town who threatens her starring position on the team... and has her suddenly wishing to be seen as more than just a teammate.

Genre: YA, contemporary, sports
Series: N/A

The Story: Jordan Woods comes from a family which lives and breathes american football: her father, Donovan Woods, is a star quarterback in the NFL, her brother is starting to make himself a name in college football and Jordan is the quarterback of her high school team and also captain. Jordan's dream is to play football at the collegiate level and not just for any team - for the best of the best, University of Alabama. And despite her father's lack of support, Jordan is determined to make her dream comes true.

However, things get complicated when Tyler Green shows up. Due to familial reasons, he's had to move from Texas to Tennessee and hopes to become part of the team. He isn't asking to start, simply to be allowed to play... but the new guy has serious skills and might even be better than Jordan. Of course, Jordan is feeling slightly threatened... but the real problem is her attraction to Tyler. For the first time in her life, Jordan has a crush on a guy and doesn't really know what to do. She's always been one of the guys and not on the other side. But once Jordan's relationship with Tyler takes off, it opens another can of worms and Jordan is faced with the realization that her best friend and wide receiver has had feelings for her for a long time.

My Opinion: I have to thank Rowena for bringing Catching Jordan to my attention over on The Book Scoop :) As soon as I read the blurb, I was intrigued by this book. I really liked the idea of a girl playing quarterback for her high school team in a sport that is so predominantly male... and in that respect, Ms Kenneally definitively pulled it off :)

I really enjoyed Catching Jordan because it really was about Jordan being a girl and playing football. It wasn't just a background idea for the book and then, the story focused on high school drama and love relationships. Instead, Ms Kenneally really made football part of the story and used it almost as a character. Not only was it a good decision, but she did a great job at it and it definitively set the tone and created a refreshing atmosphere for Catching Jordan.

Aside from the football aspect, the strength of this book in my opinion was the characters and their interactions. I have to say, Jordan and her teammates JJ, Carter and Henry remind me of the 3 musketeers. I loved the friendship and camaraderie,  the loyalty between them. That was definitively my favorite part of the book. I liked that the guys considered Jordan as one of them and they hung out playing videogames and eating. It was great to see that she could trust them on the field and outside of it, confiding and asking advice even though they were guys and she was a girl. You could see that for JJ, Carter and Henry, Jordan was their captain and their friend and more importantly, they believed in her and her dreams. Sure, they're not the most sensitive people and at time, they were gross LOL. Still, they were great friends and Jordan was really lucky to have them :)

I also really liked the Woods family dynamics. I thought it was really interesting and refreshing. I loved that Jordan and her brother had a close relationship and that he also supported her dreams, believed in her. I thought it was really sweet. I loved that the mother tried to make Jordan more girly, but at the same time, she respected who Jordan was. She didn't try to change Jordan and even encourage her in her dreams and played buffer between father and daughter. As for Jordan's father, it sucked that he didn't show more support for Jordan playing football, but at the same time, it didn't mean he didn't love his daughter or want to spend time with her. I thought his feelings about Jordan playing football made sense. He's a professional NFL player, he understands the world better... and while Jordan is very talented and dedicated... how far can she really go? How far will they let her go? As a father, Donovan Woods wanted the best for her and he just didn't think that collegiate football was what was best for her... and in a way, he wasn't totally wrong. I did like that at the end, their relationship was mended once he finally realized how important football was for Jordan and helped her out.

If Catching Jordan was such a good book, I think it was in great part due to the heroine, Jordan Woods. Not only Ms Kenneally did a great job with Jordan's characterization, but she also kept it real. Her anger against her father not supporting her in football, but always there for her brother. The confusion that her attraction to Tyler brought up. For example the desire to dress more nicely, more femininely... but at the same time, feeling uncomfortable. The fear what a relationship with someone on the team could do, the changes it would bring, etc. Ms Kenneally created a well-developed and layered heroine, one that was interesting and refreshing in my opinion.

Unfortunately, there was a fumble for me in Catching Jordan and that was the romance. First, I'm not a fan of love triangle, but aside from that fact, I think the romance was simply not well executed. Jordan's crush on Tyler was okay... but once they became a couple, it seemed a lot of the relationship was off-pages and therefore it seemed rushed and not well-developed. For example, their first time seemed to come out of no where ^_^; Also, my impressions of him are really contradictory and I don't know what to think of him. However, what bothered me most was the romance between Jordan and her best friend, Sam Henry. I liked Henry better so I was rooting for them to be together... But there were a few things that I didn't get. For example, once Henry declares himself, Jordan realizes she has feelings for him as well. In that case, why did she stay with Tyler? Even if Henry had back-pedaled, I thought that once she realized she wasn't in love with Tyler, she should have broken things off. It wasn't fair for Tyler. Also, given Jordan's personality, I really thought she should have gone after Henry. When it came to love, Jordan was too wishy-washy and passive. Also, Henry was stupid to back-pedal and I disliked his disappearing act and how it affected Jordan and the story overall :( I understand that he was afraid things would change, but as soon as he declared himself, it was too late, things had already changed. Luckily, everything worked out at the end ^_^;

My Grade: B. Ms Kenneally delivered a very solid debut novel. I truly enjoyed Catching Jordan and found it quite refreshing :) I'm looking forward to her next releases!

Review: Backstage Pass by Olivia Cunning

Hmmmm, well this review proves that I'm hopeless when it comes to "plan" my reviews LOL. This definitively was not the review I was planning to write today; however, it's the only book that is inspiring my review muse... So have to go with it, right? :)


Backstage Pass by Olivia Cunning
published by Sourcebooks in October 2010

Five stunning guys, one hot woman, and a feverish romance...

For him, life is all music and no play...

When Brian Sinclair, lead songwriter and guitarist of the hottest metal band on the scene, loses his creative spark, it will take nights of downright sinful passion to release his pent-up genius...

She's the one to call the tune...

When sexy psychologist Myrna Evans goes on tour with the Sinners, every boy in the band tries to seduce her. But Brian is the only one she wants to get her hands on...

Then the two lovers' wildly shocking behavior sparks the whole band to new heights of glory...and sin...

Genre: Erotica romance
Series: Sinners on Tour series, Book #1

The Story: Myrna Evans is a professor at Kansas City University with a PhD in psychology and her expertise in human sexuality. She is in Chicago to attend a conference when she meets Brian Sinclair, the lead guitarist of the very popular and successful rock band Sinners - one of her favorites. Unable to resist, Myrna embarks into two days of sex and sin.

Brian was nursing a broken heart when he met Myrna, but she quickly made him forget everything. Not only is the sex hot, but Myrna also inspires Brian. Quickly, Brian realizes that the few days they had together is not enough and he wants more. Unfortunately, Myrna has been burned in the past by a bad marriage and all she wants is having a good time with Brian. Can he change her mind?

My Opinion: Backstage Pass is not a book I would normally pick up - not only because I read very few erotica romance, but also because I'm not much into music and even less into rock music ^_^; However, Sourcebooks was promoting Ms Cunning by offering Backstage Pass as a free e-book and so far, her Sinners on Tour series has received quite a buzz on blogland. So I thought why not? :)

I have to say, I'm really surprised at how much I enjoyed Backstage Pass, because I really didn't think I would. What won me over was Brian and his bandmates :) Their boyish attitudes, their love for music and their enjoyment of life. I really enjoyed the friendship between Brian and the guys, how they teased each other but also how they looked out for each other. The dynamic between them was very interesting and made the book for me. I liked how the guys all welcomed Myrna once they realized she made Brian happy :) Really, their lives are over the top with women (and men) throwing themselves at them and obviously, they indulged themselves. They come across as a bit crude, rough and crazy... and yet at the core of it, they know what's important and values the right things in my opinion.

I also thought Brian was very cute. He was a mix of bad boy, but also cute and naive at the same time, the romantic his friends called him :) The sulking when Myrna had to go away just made me go awwww. Also, he was right when he said he's been the one compromising in this relationship. Very often, he walked a fine line between his attitude being cute or being annoying, but in the end, I really liked him :)

In contrast, Myrna didn't impact me as much as the heroine. She wasn't as cute as Brian as she was the mature one in this relationship and that's okay. The problem for me was just the character herself. Like she is a trained psychologist and specializes in human sexuality and yet, she is still haunted by her ex-husband calling her a whore and such. She enjoys sex a lot, but at the same time, there was a naïveté that didn't seem to match her knowledge. I just felt her character was very contradictory. If she had been anything else than a PhD in psychology with her expertise in human sexuality, then yes, her character would have worked very well... but because of what she is? Then, yeah, to me it didn't make much sense.

Another issue I had with Backstage Pass was that Ms Cunning introduced a lot of conflicts, but they were all half-developed or too easily resolved. For example, Brian has been playing music since he was in his teens and had always wanted recognition from his legend of a father and never gotten it... and then, just a few words from Myrna and voila, papa is very proud. Trey actually being in love with Brian, Myrna's ex-husband, etc. In my opinion, it would have been better if she'd introduce only a few and really focused on them. In this case, it just feels like Ms Cunning is throwing conflicts in just for the kicks of it ^_^;

All in all though, I enjoyed this book much more than I expected :) As I said, I loved the boys - they're the ones that made the book for me :) I also liked the behind-the-scenes feel, what it's like for a rock band on their tour - the bus, the fast food, the number of people involved. LOL at the Sinners being slobs - why doesn't that surprise me? Them "reserving" the bedrooms in the buses was cute. It was simply a fun book, one that you read without thinking about it too much... and the sex was definitively HOT :)

My Grade: B-. I'm debating whether to read Rock Hard or not. I really want to see more of Sed and the boys, but I'm not sure about the heroine ^_^; Whenever Trey, Evan and Jace have their books out though, I'm picking them!