Wednesday Reads and Mish Mash

It’s so frustrating. I get an idea of something to say on this blog, I open a Word document and then… It’s gone! Just like that. I feel like my mind is a sieve. I didn’t used to be this way. At least, I don’t THINK I used to be this way. It’s kind of scary. Is it just old age creeping up on me or something worse? God, I hope it’s not something worse.

On Monday, someone left a nice 5 star review of “My Sunny Vampire” on Amazon. Short & sweet, but very enthusiastic. I like enthusiastic! Then on Saturday, someone else left a beautiful 4 star review of “Bite Me, I’m Yours” on Goodreads (it showed up later on Amazon and she also blogged about it). Very articulate. I was moved and blurted out “I love you!” Is that strange or what? But hey, it’s nice seeing the good reviews for a change. Those one starred ones were getting a bit depressing.

Okay, on to what I read:

Sep 10: “Blood Gate” by Amy Lee Burgess, the 2nd book in the Circle series, a paranormal erotica. Blurb from Goodreads: Vampire Claire finds herself caught in the middle between her Master, Parker, and her Trigger, Andre. Little love is lost between the former friends, but somehow Claire must build a bridge between them when they are sent to Edgewood to settle their differences. The cost of her failure will be deadly. Deep in the cellars of Edgewood, a game of sexual bondage unleashes unexpected dangers, twisting open, loving Andre into a secretive virtuoso of manipulation. Is this just another part of the game, or is he losing his mind? Parker will take desperate steps to protect his apprentice, but he won’t be dragged into the game with them. Can Parker set aside forty years of bitter rivalry, or will he sacrifice Andre to save Claire? I enjoyed this story. It had some nice twists and turns. But…when it came to the kinky sex scenes (and some included bondage), well… I just don’t care for them in first person. And when it came to the romance, I really wanted to be in everyone’s head! My issue, I suppose, since a lot of people don’t seem to mind it (by the amount of books out there IN first person). Would the twists and turns worked if not in first person? Not sure. It would have been more suspenseful, though.

I really wish I knew why some first person books bug me more than others. Could it just be the genre? I expect them in mysteries. And in urban fantasies (although they tend to lean toward being mysteries). I guess I love some suspense in my books and feel I get it better when I’ve been teased that something bad is coming, which you can’t get with first person. And with kinky sex, I kind of need a tiny bit of distancing, which I get in third person (even close third person). Then again, I also love Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake series, which has tons of kinky and is in first person. But overall, they’re mysteries in a way, so I expect it. So why don't they bug me? My reading has changed a lot in the past few years (of which I blame my writing), and I’ve been introduced to a lot of new authors with varied writing styles. It’s certainly opening my eyes as to what I like and don’t like. I just wish I could tell you WHY I like and don’t like it. Maybe someday I’ll figure it out.

So…are you a first person junkie, or do you prefer third person with multiple points of view?

Happy reading!

Stacy