Geez, I can't believe I'm going to say this...


This was barely an okay read for me, and that's only because of the second half. Part of it most certainly was that I have slight problems with historical books on a general level. I like history, I even studied it at Uni, but it's the usage of historical "facts" to create the backround of a romance story that turns me off more often than not. Because it happened too often that I got somewhat excited about a historical book and then realized how utterly lacking in research they were. Which is something that turns me off more than anything else when it comes to books.

Fortunately, that worked reasonably well here - as I came to expect from KJ Charles. Certainly it's not possible for us - as modern human beings of the 21st century - to recreate historical settings par for par. But KJ Charles has a knack for using time-typical expressions, problems and occurrences to actually make it work. She is clever about it, and usually she integrates the backround into the creation of unique, larger than life characters with complex personalities and fascinating life stories.

She tried to do the same here, but only partly succeeded. One of my biggest problems was that the characters fell somewhat flat for me. Harry remained pale and intangible throughout the whole book. Maybe I never connected to him because he himself had absolutely no clue who he was or what he wanted, so I was never really to understand him. I'm really not sure, but the fact is, he didn't hold my interest. Julius was better in a way, more interesting and layered. I enjoyed reading some of what he did or had to say. On other occasions though, he faded into the general BLAH I didn't like.

The beginning of the story - and I'm really sorry to say that - Bored. Me. To. Tears. I know, I should have drawn my conclusions from the title, but I just didn't think "fashionable" was going to be THAT literal. Because let me tell you, I was hoping for different things when it came to "making a gentleman" out of Harry. But all I got was endless discussions of cloth and waistcoates and cuff links and knobs and god knows what. I sinned, I skimmed - I admit it freely.

It got better in the second half. I quite enjoyed the poitical problems, the intrigues and even some parts of the family business. Plus, KJ Charles knows her smut. I enjoyed the sexy times very much.

But overall, the dialogues didn't flow as freely as I'm used to from this author. The characters lacked character, and the very last part of the story bordered on riciculous in its' wildest solutions of all the issues. Didn't work for me. Not going to read the other books in the series, I think. It just wasn't for me this time.

I'm not even sure how to rate this. I'll settle for 2 stars rounded up - mostly because it was my fault. I shouldn't have picked it up to begin with.

The first time I read something by this author I was so irritated, I ranted a lot about the story after finishing it. I have no excuse for reading this despite my reluctance, other than I really liked the blurb and I wanted to give this a try. I shouldn't have. Because the writing and I didn't get along any better than the first time around.

It's not bad. I just can't get over all this INSTA everywhere! And the repetitions of awful declarations of love I wouldn't believe after twenty years of marriage, much less after such a short period of time! The MCs meet each other, fall in lust, fall in "love", and break up in record speed. If you like stories like that, go for it, but for me it was so unbelievably frustrating. I struggled way too much with even finishing it.

It didn't help that I liked Trent and his family. Because I despised Gage. To me, he was selfish, righteous and ignorant. When something you do threatens the alleged love of your life and his kids, you don't do it! You don't try to justify it first, there shouldn't be a thought about how to still make it work so you can retire with a bang! It felt so wrong to me, I got angrier the more I read about Greg and his musings. The solution for the mystery/suspense part was creative, I'll give you that. I just felt like I could drive through it with an eighteen-wheeler or three. Not believable, not plausible and sure as heck not satisfying to me.

Like I said, this author obviously doesn't work for me and I should have known better. No rating, and no recommendation, because clearly I absolutley didn't like it and I'm sorry to say that I can't really see why somebody else would. But to each his own, I guess.

If you're a Fan of the book or know this true story, what's your opinion on Johan Hill playing Michael Finkel and James Franco as Christian Longo?

 

"In the haunting tradition of Joe McGinniss's Fatal Vision and Mikal Gilmore's Shot in the Heart, True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa weaves a spellbinding tale of murder, love, and deceit with a deeply personal inquiry into the slippery nature of truth.

The story begins in February of 2002, when a reporter in Oregon contactsNew York Times Magazine writer Michael Finkel with a startling piece of news. A young, highly intelligent man named Christian Longo, on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list for killing his entire family, has recently been captured in Mexico, where he'd taken on a new identity -- Michael Finkel of the New York Times.

The next day, on page A-3 of the Times, comes another bit of troubling news: a note, written by the paper's editors, explaining that Finkel has falsified parts of an investigative article and has been fired. This unlikely confluence sets the stage for a bizarre and intense relationship. After Longo's arrest, the only journalist the accused murderer will speak with is the real Michael Finkel. And as the months until Longo's trial tick away, the two men talk for dozens of hours on the telephone, meet in the jailhouse visiting room, and exchange nearly a thousand pages of handwritten letters.

With Longo insisting he can prove his innocence, Finkel strives to uncover what really happened to Longo's family, and his quest becomes less a reporting job than a psychological cat-and-mouse game -- sometimes redemptively honest, other times slyly manipulative. Finkel's pursuit pays off only at the end, when Longo, after a lifetime of deception, finally says what he wouldn't even admit in court -- the whole, true story. Or so it seems."

 

 

See Trailer HERE.

Pro:
Wie schon im ersten Band gefällt mir auch hier wieder gut, dass das Buch in deutschen Städten spielt und etwas Lokalkolorit hat - als gebürtige Koblenzerin freue ich mich natürlich besonders über die Erwähnung meiner Heimatstadt! Die liebevolle Beschreibung der Schauplätze gibt der Geschichte etwas sehr Reales, als könne sie sich genau so tatsächlich abgespielt haben. Ein steht fest: auf dem nächsten Wave-Gotik-Treffen in Leipzig werde ich die Augen nach echten Vampiren aufhalten! ;-)

Auch der Schreibstil gefällt mir immer noch hervorragend: er liest sich frisch und angenehm, kein bisschen verstaubt, hölzern oder holprig. Die Autorin webt scheinbar mühelos die Handlung und schafft Atmosphäre, die einen zwanglos in den Bann zieht. Ich kann mir vorstellen, dass man das Buch auch genießen kann, wenn man den ersten Band nicht gelesen hat (obwohl ich das dennoch empfehlen würde)!

Seraphim und Leander mochte ich in diesem Band sogar noch lieber als im ersten; besonders Sera hat sich als Charakter wunderbar entwickelt. Ich konnte ihre Skrupel gut verstehen, ihr Leben im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes an das von Leander zu binden! Das fand ich viel realistischer und auch glaubwürdiger, als hätte sie direkt und ohne Aufhabens zugestimmt.

Leanders etwas durchgeknallte Schwester Dana rückt ins Rampenlicht - und ist eigentlich eine richtige Zicke: selbstsüchtig, oberflächlich, skrupellos... Und trotzden hatte ich die ganze Zeit das Gefühl, dass dahinter doch eine Person steckt, die das Potential hat, liebenswert zu sein. (Ob ich damit richtig lag oder nicht, das verrate ich hier nicht!)

Der "Bösewicht" dieses Bandes ist angemessen abstoßend und bedrohlich. Zwar hat er ein Motiv, aber das lässt ihn nicht wirklich besser dastehen... Als Nemesis (zumeist im Hintergrund) sorgt er für Spannung.

Kontra:
Das Buch ist mit 140 Seiten sehr kurz geraten, was ich sehr schade fand! Dementsprechend entwickelt sich der Spannungsbogen sehr schnell - kaum ist die Bedrohung etabliert, nähert sich die Geschichte auch schon dem Höhepunkt und der Auflösung. Ein gemäßigteres Tempo hätte ihr meiner Meinung nach gutgetan! Die Protagonisten bleiben dabei streckenweise relativ unbeteiligt, und der Schluss hat etwas von Deus ex Machina - oder besser, Dei ex Machina. Ich hätte mir gewünscht, dass die Auflösung mehr von den Anstrengungen von Seraphim und Leander herbeigeführt worden wäre.

Was mir nicht ganz logisch erschien: Sera fragt Raoul, ob er schonmal über eine Praecantara mit Dana nachgedacht hat. Er verneint das ganz locker, sagt aber, er würde wahrscheinlich ablehnen, wenn sie ihn fragen würde. Direkt nach dieser Unterhaltung zieht Seraphim mit Dana los, und fast das Erste, was die ihr erzählt ist, dass sie Raoul schon um eine Praecantara gebeten hat und er abgelehnt hat! Hat der Gute Gedächtnisschwund?

Ein wenig befremdlich fand ich, dass Seraphim behauptet, sie habe sich nie Gedanken über die Menschen gemacht, die ihr Erschaffer ihr als Nahrung zu besorgen pflegte. Wirklich nie, noch nicht einmal, als ihr eigenes menschliches Leben erst kurz zurück lag? So skrupellos hätte ich sie nicht eingeschätzt; es kam mir etwas unglaubwürdig vor.

Zusammenfassung:
Netter Vampirroman, der sich gut und schnell lesen lässt - dank der Kürze etwas ZU schnell, aber dennoch würde ich das Buch weiterempfehlen.

I had received this novella quite some time back from the author but had been putting off reading it as I was afraid that it might not live upto my expectations. But I had nothing to worry about -- Ms.Fonseca has done it again!

To be frank, I did not give Zane much importance in Lacrimosa since I was in half minds about whether I liked him or not. He did show a side that had me believe in him, yet most of the times I didn’t really like him that much. Since this novella is written in Zane’s POV and it gave me a good look into his life, ‘emotions’ and thoughts. Zane & Mikayel are prepared to do anything for Nesy. And we find out that Zane has to give up his memories of Nesy in exchange for her life. Though Zane’s emotions were not a complete surprise to me, I was certainly taken back by it. Maybe because they are not really supposed to feel the human emotions and for Zane to have such strong feelings for someone isn’t something that I would have expected anyway. Oh well, at least I have made up my mind about Zane now – I definitely like him…

The only thing I didn’t like as much as Lacrimosa is the book cover, but book cover never affect my reading experience that much. Overall this was another great piece of work. Mea Culpa has not only lived upto the standards set by Dies Irae and Lacrimosa but has also managed to raise my expectation for Libera Me.