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Simsala`s Abracadabra
Reader of m/m fiction and romance, coffee addict, worst reviewer ever,
What`s better than a cowboy with a heart of gold?Two cowboys with a heart of gold!
Story/plot was nothing new and not overly exciting, but I fell in love with these wonderful, adorable characters. The five stars are for them.
3,5 starsUpped to four stars for NOT showing the life of a HIV-positive gay man as some kind of alternative lifestyle.
The Market Garden...
now, isn`t it a big-happy-gay family?
A nice enough read but it could have been so much more.
Many promises were made in the beginning.
Prostitution versus love, a may-december D/s relationship, a pain-craving Dom, heartache, coping with life-altering illness, military fetish and so on.
To my disappointment the authors didn`t pull through. Issues toned down (especially prostitution - this book makes it sound like a happy place to be), edges polished, grit/dirt taken out - all for the sake of the crowd...
This is a supposed-to-be `rough` story made readable for everyone.
But at least I was convinced the happy couple will make it. Frank will continue to successfully rule the Market Garden with a lovestruck Dom at his feet.
(Because...come on, who wears the pants in this relationship...)
DNF 35%DNF isn`t quite right - like with most of the other books from the author I tried in the last years I wanted to finish, but I couldn`t.
Reading this felt (for me) like lying lazily on a comfy deck chair on a gently rocking boat - impossible to stay awake.
I don`t have any niggles I could come up with, this simply is a case of
author-and-reader-don`t-match.
I`m saying goodbye to S.J. Frost now, but I`m doing it with a hug.:)
A crude mix of saccharine fluff and violence, extremely unbelievable, annoyingly simple writing style. Period.
4,5 starsI`ve read the last two chapters three times in a row because it felt so good sobbing my heart out...
Feliz Review trifft den Nagel auf den Kopf.
Für die unausgeglichene Schreibweise gibt es Abzug, aber die Story ist wirklich klasse.
Für das schön-schreckliche Ende gibt es noch einen halben Stern obendrauf.
DNF 46%I have no idea what Jenner sees in Brayden - the damsel in distress, I have no idea what Brayden sees in Jenner - this sad excuse of a Dom.
Boring plot that runs in circles with characters mulling over the same stuff again and again.
The erotic content in this book is based on forced consent and abuse of power. You can`t order someone so insecure and repressed like Brayden to "be my slave and submit to me" and expect freely given submission in return.
I didn`t believe in this relationship for one second.
And to make it absolutely clear - this is just my opinion.
No rating...
Rating this quickly before I`ll recover from the shock and come back to my senses...This book is one huge gathering of pet-peeves and I gobbled it up like there`s no tomorrow.
I don`t even know why I bought it - it wasn`t the blurb or the cover, unknown author on top of that - it must have been a vibe...read me!
I had some eye-blinking moments - "huh...where does that come from?" - as I read the book, because I kinda misunderstood the blurb.
And that`s my problem now, because describing all main-characters involved in this story would be a spoiler the size of a high rise.
But the spoiler is what made the book for me...darn it!
Hmmmm...okay, the pet-peeves:
Love at first sight - for once I believed it.
Writing style - full of metaphors. But if I would highlight every quote I liked the book would glow.
A crying and self-destructive sub - he had every reason to.
"I don`t deserve him/ I don`t know what he sees in me" - admittedly that`s a good question. (As if love would ask first, Mister...)
Every cliche of the fashion world you can think of - hmmmm, are they?
A "I know what`s good for you"-Dom - well, he DID know.
(stern, confident, gentle, and scary as fuck - YOU are my man...rawrrr!!)
The BDSM-philosophy - the real thing? I soooo didn`t care.
An open end....well, let`s wait for the sequel, I`m nothing but patient.
A sad, disturbing, VERY emotional story with great dialogue and multi-layered characters I loved to bits - simply beautiful!
*sigh*
Must be the worst review ever.
To be continued...
Around 80% the author stuck a needle into her own plot. All what was left was empty air.Good story, nice build-up of suspense and romance, appealing characters - up to a surprisingly undistinctive climax. After that came recovery, some moping around, and finally the white picked fence. Totally uninteresting and bland.
Sorry to be the party pooper here but I hate to be let down.
So sweet (not in a bad way) and so not for me.Characters too young for my taste - I knew that before I started reading, so I won`t complain too much.:)
I can`t relate to charas so young - they just make me feel old. (No comments, please!)
I tried, but let`s put it this way - I listened to some songs by the band mentioned in the story `The Gaslight Anthem` and regretfully trudged back to the 64 year old Boss.
I would recommend it to the young ones here who would like to dip their toes into some light BDSM for beginners - just as the characters did. It`s a nice enough and well written story - the others should stick with Bruce Springsteen......
My deepest apology for the totally useless feeling-sorry-for-myself ramble.
4,25 starsI`m putting this right between Witness by L.A. Gilbert (not as lighthearted) and After The Fall by Sarah Goodwin (not as bleak).
It is still possible.
Telling an entertaining, funny, cute, romantic, HOT, but lastly serious story (coming from me means shuffling everything a bit to the darker side...these tags shouldn`t be mistaken for "sweet"...*g*).
I call this joyful storytelling - walking on the beaten path but dancing off left and right.
Seeing Red isn`t BDSM, even if it`s already tagged as such. Playing rough with a collar and a leash and a smack on the butt here and there doesn`t make BDSM. Well written Sex scenes that show the love and respect (I have a thing for that) these guys feel for each other in every word and action. I`m pointing this out because they felt `fresh` and different - and I`ve read MANY! And surprisingly I had no trouble putting up with the noises Silo made - usually a pet peeve of mine.
The story? Well, I liked it very much, means I won`t reveal anything, you have to read it for yourselves.
Feels-real-dialogue, wonderfully portrayed MC`s in a story told from Red`s point of view. Great secondary characters, important to the story but not taking over - it`s all about Red and Silo falling in love and making peace with their pasts.
I didn`t rate it five stars because of Tito. His appearance wasn`t really necessary to show me how much Red loved Silo and was willing to do for him.
Anyway - this is a great story (I said that before, did I?) and warmly recommended.
Note to my friend Ami: `Baby`! ;-)
DNF 28%I don`t want to spend my precious reading time with nerve-grating, hair-tossing females on every page.
I don`t mind the (understandably btw...) jealous girlfriend , but I DO mind the one-millionth version of the butch best friend/roommate with Florence-Nightingale-Syndrome.
It`s a taste thing - no rating.
EDIT
I just got lectured by *beep*, that Alison is based on a real life friend, this book is largely autobiographical and this little rant offended *beep*.
What can I say - apparently I have to love and appreciate Alison (and the book) , keep my evil trap shut AND have to be some kind of seer.
Dear *beep*, I still don`t like Alison, I don`t care if my little rant is offensive to *beep* BECAUSE I`M NOT A SEER, I don`t care if I`m right or wrong, pink or yellow, NOW the book gets its well deserved ONE star rating.
A friend of mine (love you, Sweetie!) tried to calm me down, but I`m not exactly a nice person when being angry....
But be assured, I won`t touch any other book from *beep* with a ten foot pole, I promise.
Edit, the second...
The "beep" deleted *beep* comments here on the thread. Says everything there is to say...
Trust a German and his writing partner to write a decent World War 2 novel without resorting to the usual (and much hated) stereotypical characters.A surprisingly quiet but `hot` historical romance without heroic battle cries.
Loved it - thank you!
It was good enough to finish - doesn`t happen all too often in the last time, but...uuhhh...pet peeve.He loves you, you deserve him - get that in your thick, pathetic skull!
I`m more one for straightforward questions - prevents thinking in circles and long bouts of mopey heartache just fine...(I`m the one with the two-three missing sweet-genes!
)
Thanks to all my lovely friends who wrote all these lovely reviews and said what there is to say about The Apothecary`s Garden.I agree with all of them - even with their small niggles - but I`m waving the white flag. It gets worse with every new book from Julie - reviewer`s-block! I want to happily float on readers`s cloud nine (just finished round three), without trying to bring my thoughts into coherency. This is my own private solitary cloud - just me, the book, and my thoughts and dreams.
Julie Bozza`s prose does that to me - sorry.
So here`s just a little picture for those who loved the book. I think this little still life captures the gentle, timeless and dreamy peacefulness of the story well...
