My Foray into Paranormal Romance

I am not a romance reader, and double that for paranormal romance.

But, The Iron Duke.  Damn, I love that book.  Really, if you're over 18 and O.K. with thrusting and heaving, you should totally read it.

So, I thought, maybe, possibly, that I haven't been fair to the genre.  That I had dismissed it out of hand.  And, I wanted to read more of Meljean Brook's work.

Enter Hot Spell and Burning Up -- two novella compilations that include Brook and some other authors.
I read both of them, and I have come to a conclusion.

I am still not a paranormal romance reader.  But, I tried to evaluate these stories on their merits.

The Countess's Pleasure by Emma Holly. Of the stories that I read, this was the best written.  A widowed countess engages a "demon" as a consort and the two fall in love.  I liked the steam-punky Indo-British setting, I liked that Georgiana (the countess) was seeking to become her own person.   The clash of cultures and philosophies was interesting.

Would I read more by this author in this series: Maybe.  A quick Google tells me that the others in the series have more of that retro-Victorian sci-fi vibe, and l find that interesting. 

The Breed Next Door by Lora Leigh.  A genetically engineered feline-man hybrid moves in next door to a "spitfire." The two discover they are genetically destined to be mates and have lots and lots of sex.  There's something in here about bounty hunters, but it's an afterthought.  This novella is all about the banging.  However, the way the sex was described was really unappealing and sexist.

Would I read more by this author in this series: No.  This sucked. 

Falling for Anthony by Meljean Brook.  Demons, and Nosferatu, and vampires and guardians.  Who are not angels.  But act like them.  Wha?  This was a confusing mess of ideas.  One thing I will say is that this story was one of the few that had a sexually experienced woman in it.

Would I read more by this author in this series: No.  I love Brook's Iron Seas books, but this... is not for me.  

The Blood Kiss by Shiloh Walker.  Evil Vampires. Who fight heroic werewolves.  Any story that attempts to frame kidnapping as a romantic act has an uphill battle with me.

Would I read more by this author in this series: No.  There wasn't enough new here that I want to know more about. 

Whisper of Sin by Nalini Singh. Surprisingly enjoyable.  I am not a were/shapeshifter fan, but this read more like a sci-fi/crime mash-up than a paranormal romance.  The heroine, Ria, was spunky, and educated and willing to seek out what she wanted.  

Would I read more by this author in this series: Maybe.  These had more of a sci-fi vibe, and I liked that.  I liked that there were women in powerful positions in the Changling universe.  


Blood and Roses by Angela Knight.   Heroic vampires.  And the courtesans who love them.  While Knight writes fairly well, this story had the most predictable arc imaginable.  And it had a child in danger, which is just cheap.

Would I read more by this author in this series: No.  Predictable and bland.

Shifting Sea by Virginia Kantra.  Surprisingly, I liked this story more than I was expecting, because...mermaids.  However, this is more of a historical fiction story, and I could totally see Major John Harris being played by Colin Firth. Would I want to read a whole novel set in this world, with these characters -- no.  But it was a pleasant novella.

Would I read more by this author in this series: No.  As I said above, it was pleasant, but the novella was enough.

Here Be Monsters by Meljean Brook.  I loved this one.  The setting of the Iron Seas has me hooked.   Steampunk nanotech.  I loved that Ivy was making choices and not letting things happen to her.  Would I love it without reading The Iron Duke first?  I'm not sure.

Would I read more by this author in this series: Been there, done that.

The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook

What You Need to Know:  This fast paced, complex romance combines top-notch world building and genre elements for a compelling read. 

Summary:  England is free of Horde rule.  The Eastern invaders were defeated when Rhys Trahaearn destroyed the technology used to communicate with the nanotech present in every Brit.  Now a national hero, the Iron Duke has used his fame and position to create a merchant empire.   Years after the Horde have left Britain,  the Buggers (those with the nanotechnology) and the Bounders (those Englishmen who fled to the new world before the Horde) live in an uneasy mix of cultures.   Detective Inspector Mina Wentworth sees this from her position as an officer of the law and an outsider with Horde blood.  When a dead body shows up on Trahaearn's front lawn, the former pirate becomes obsessed with the Detective.  But Mina knows that she cannot allow the Duke to claim her, no matter how much she might wish to.   


What Worked:  This book has one of the most original premises I have ever seen.  Steampunk nanotech -- simply awesome.  The way that Brook creates her universe, explaining in some places, letting the reader wonder in others,  is masterful.  Brook also has a deft hand with her characters.  Mina is intelligent, beautiful and brave -- but not perfect.  She is believable, and it is easy to see why Rhys wants her so badly.  Rhys is equally well drawn, and shows a great deal of growth throughout the book.   


What is most impressive to me is the way that Brook juggles her genre elements.  This is a romance book, and a sexy one at that, with all of the thrusting and heaving that is common in the genre.  It's also an adventure, and a mystery and a science fiction novel.   Grafting these varied components together is a feat in itself, doing it as seamlessly as this is nearly miraculous.  


What Didn't:  The final quarter of this book felt a tad expected, with some Deux ex machina (literally!) moments.  Also, some characters' roles could have been reduced or eliminated altogether.  


However:  I suspect that the ending is required by the strictures of the romance genre.  And since a sequel is already planned, I imagine those extra characters are there for a reason. 


Who would I give this book to?  My mom.  Seriously, she loves her some paranormal romance.  This is most definitely an adult book, so teens are out, but I can see many an adult PNR fan embracing this book. 

Shift by Tim Kring and Dale Peck

Shift by Tim Kring and Dale Peck
978-0307453457
Crown Books

Did LSD kill JFK?  

As far as tag lines go, that is a show stopper.  And, ostensibly, that is the question that Shift, by TV producer Tim Kring and author Dale Peck seeks to answer.  It does, kind of.   As well written and compelling as this novel is, I walked away unsatisfied, confused and unsure of what the authors were attempting.  

A slightly boring upper class graduate student, Chandler Forrestal, is given LSD by a reluctant prostitute, Naz.  Naz, acting under coercion by the CIA, also takes the acid.  The drugs do something to Chandler, giving him extra-sensory abilities and immense physical capabilities.   Chandler and Naz soon cross paths with a vicious CIA agent known only as Melchior, who sees Chandler as his ticket to something else.  Cuba, Timothy Leary, the FBI, former Nazi scientists, Russian spies, high class prostitutes, and the Mafia all get mixed into the sprawling, fragmented narrative.

Dark Entries by Ian Rankin and Werther Dell'Edera.

John Constantine faces the demons of reality TV in this tight graphic noir from Vertigo Crime.


It’s pretty much accepted that, as a society, we’re all kind of ashamed of reality TV. Whether you guilty pleasure is keeping up with pretty wild real housewives or extreme top project makeover challenges, you’re watching. Maybe you claim to you watch it ironically, maybe you have to watch it to have something to talk about at work, or maybe your significant other “forces” you. Whatever your reasons, you’re still watching.

John Constantine might be the one man in the universe who actually doesn’t watch reality TV. His vices run more towards women, cigarettes and liquor. But when a reality TV producer breaks into his flat and offers him a fat wad of cash to investigate supernatural shenanigans on the set of a scripted reality show, he takes it, even though all of his instincts say not to. The show Dark Entries is part scavenger hunt and part-psychological experiment. The telegenic twenty something contestants are prepared for being scared while scouring a mysterious house for an unspecified prize. However, something else is terrorizing the kids, something not under the producer’s control. Posing as a contestant, it’s up to Constantine to figure out what is happening.

Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus

Let me state, straight up, that this is not the type of movie that I would normally seek out.

I ran across it the other day while I was helping out the circulation workroom.  It caught my eye (Hello, RDJ!) and since working in circ makes me think of college, I decided to check it out.

Back in my undergraduate days, I majored in Women’s Studies.  Diane Arbus, the subject of Fur, was a name that often came up in discussions.   Arbus was a photographer who is best known for her portraits of “deviant” groups – transvestites, circus performers, nudists.    She’s credited for pioneering a new spirit in documentary photography, empathizing with her subjects rather than displaying them.

She’s also an artist I have never really understood.   Although people who know a hell of a lot more about art photography than I do have said her photos are astounding, they never really struck me as anything more than voyeuristic .  

So – Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus.  I went into it with a little knowledge about the subject and not a whole lot of expectations.    I accept that this film is not a “biography” and that plenty of artistic liberty has been taken with Arbus’s life.    Since I only have the barest sense of Arbus’s history anyway, I was willing to separate this fantasy from the historical person.     Even with that caveat, I don’t think this film works very well. 

Black Hole by Charles Burns

In 1970’s Seattle, casual sex can lead to more than just a pregnancy scare. A sexually transmitted virus, the “bug” is sweeping through the senior class, and it causes it’s carriers to mutate. Sometimes the mutations are small, a tail, a mouth on your neck. Sometimes, they’re bigger, making you something horrific. The afflicted camp out in the woods above town, but how long can they last?

It’s funny, how when you look at something for a second time, its meaning can change.

I first read Black Hole in 2006, shortly after it won the Eisner award. Back then, I read it as a stark tale of adolescence, with the mutating virus a metaphor for the uncertainty teens feel in their bodies and sexuality. I didn’t like it much. I thought it was a pretty obvious treatment of a well-traveled trope. Burns’ art (from the Chris Ware/Dan Clowes school) didn’t do much for me.

I recently re-read the book, for a presentation I’m doing, and while I’m still not a huge fan of the book, there’s more there than I thought there was.

More about the second time around with spoilers (if a 5 year old book can have spoilers)