Wright Rival by K.A. Linde
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Holin and Piper are a heartbeat away from sensual overload. Linde pushes the senses to the limit while having a conversation with the heart. With tension deep enough to swim in and heat that threatens to swallow you whole, Wright Rival grabs hold of emotions and refuses to ever let go.
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This series stars a bunch of stray cats who are usually depicted as tough human thugs and gang members. Ryuusei is a newcomer in Nekonaki, the territory ruled by Taiga and his gang. He doesn't always think before getting into fights, but he's tough and has the scars to prove it. Taiga and the others think he might be looking to steal some territory, but in reality the only thing he's interested in is finding a mysterious calico tom with a scarred eye. There's a chance that the cat Ryuusei wants to find is the new leader of the Goblin Cat Tails, but in order to meet him he'll first have to fight his way through a bunch of cats trying to create a cat utopia.
The main reason I got this was because of the cats. And also, the "cats depicted as people" aspect reminded me a little of Hatoful Boyfriend (although I suppose that was "birds briefly depicted as people"). Based on what I've seen of the cat politics around my apartment building, depicting cats as thugs duking it out for pieces of territory seemed like something that would work well.
The art was decent: nice clean lines, cats that were usually drawn well (the legs were occasionally weird), and easy-to-follow action. I liked the way Okada worked aspects of each cats' fur pattern into their clothing design. For example, Taiga, an orange tabby, wore a jacket with tabby stripes on it. Design-wise, Madara was my favorite, both in his human and cat versions. As a cat, he was a tortoiseshell (which would probably be hell to draw consistently if Madara became a regular character). In his human form, his tortoiseshell pattern became a coat with a camo pattern.
The humor was so-so. A few crass moments, like when Ryuusei tried to hit on Mii, or when a panel focused on Ryuusei's jiggling feline balls (so many cat testicles in this). There was also the bit with Ryuusei and the box. Honestly, it's amazing he's survived this long.
The whole "cats depicted as people" thing seemed a little inconsistent. It wasn't quite that these were cats sometimes shown as people but still 100% cats - Okada occasionally drew them in poses that weren't natural for cats but were natural for their human depictions. But behavior-wise, they also weren't just cats with people's minds. It was a bit weird.
Unfortunately, the characters and story didn't capture my attention at all. The characters did a lot of shouting and posturing but didn't otherwise stand out much. The one moment Ryuusei really stood out, for example, was when he demonstrated a willingness to show his belly to humans in order to charm them into giving him food. Otherwise, though, he was mostly Main Tough Guy Who Shouts a Lot and Is Occasionally Silly. Taiga was Leader Tough Guy Who Shouts a Lot. Then there was Kinbi and Ginbi, aka Tough Villain Guys With Dreadlocks Who Shout a Lot. And Mii was The Girl. I assume this world has more than one female cat in it, but you wouldn't know it from what you saw in this volume. I liked that it was noted that the volume's male calico and tortoiseshell were both rare, but it would have been nice to see more female characters.
It was a little confusing, but it sounded like the male calico Ryuusei was looking for was maybe someone he looked up to at some point. Other than that, I have no idea why finding this particular cat was so important to him. I also don't know that I care enough to buy any more of this, although there's a possibility I might check out a library copy of the next volume one day.
Extras:
A page of translator's notes, which for some reason is included just before the final chapter in the volume, and a couple full-color illustrations.
A missed opportunity: the volume was peppered with cat-related terms that readers might not necessarily know, like clowder and molly, so a page devoted to those might have been a good idea.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
One Night with His Rival
by Robyn Grady
Published by: Harlequin Desire
Publication date: March 1st 2020
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Selling his soul for a sizzling night of passion…
“Wanting something doesn’t make it good for you.”
Wealthy horse breeder Ajax Rawson can have any woman he wants. So why can’t he keep his hands off the one woman he can’t have? Beautiful, independent and passionate, Veda Darnel is the daughter of his family’s biggest competitor. Years of bad business blood makes their affair dangerous…and forbidden. But will accusations of foul play end their star-crossed romance before it even begins?
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Author Bio:
Robyn Grady's stories have been published in 29 languages with millions of copies sold worldwide. Her books have appeared at award ceremonies including the National Readers Choice, the Booksellers Best, and Australia's prestigious Romance Book of the Year. Stories in her latest Harlequin Desire series, About That Night, will hit the shelves January and March, 2020. Stay up to date with the latest news at www.robyngrady.com.
GIVEAWAY:
More of an almost 3.
Part of the problem I have with this book is the language is almost too modern. There isn't anything glaring, but there is a modern sense to it.
Part of the problem is that it is more telling not showing. I know it's a short story so cramming in Knollys' life would be pretty much telling, but so much is pretty glossed over so that there is a sense of better story wanting to be a longer story.
That said, it is a pretty convincing catching of Knollys' spirit. Balance between a woman with flaws and one that was slight more sinned against than sinning.
Hopeless romantic Elena Mason doesn’t often hate people, but she hates her ex-fiancé’s insufferable best man, Lucas Albright III. She just knows Lucas is the one who talked her ex out of getting married—so Lucas is clearly the cause of all her problems.
And now she’s expected to work with him? Oh, heck no.
Lucas Albright wants nothing more than to make partner at his advertising firm, and he knows he works best alone. But then Elena ends up as his partner on an account that could win him a promotion. He had a great reason to end her engagement, not that she’d ever believe him. Still, he’s willing to try working as a team.
Unfortunately, his new “partner” wants him dead.
Elena knows she’s going to have to give in and work with her nemesis, though nobody said it had to be easy for him. But what happens when fighting starts feeling a whole lot like falling in love?
Romancing His Rival by Jennifer Shirk
Series: Accidentally Yours Book Three
Genre: Adult, Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Entangled Bliss
Publication Date: February 11, 2019
Purchase Your Copy Today!
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To celebrate the release of ROMANCING HIS RIVAL by Jennifer Shirk, we’re giving away for a $25 Amazon gift card!
GIVEAWAY TERMS & CONDITIONS: Open internationally. One winner will be chosen to receive a $25 Amazon gift card. This giveaway is administered by Pure Textuality PR on behalf of Entangled Publishing. Giveaway ends 2/15/2019 @ 11:59pm EST. Entangled Publishing will send one winning prize, Pure Textuality PR will deliver the other. Limit one entry per reader and mailing address. Duplicates will be deleted.
USA TODAY bestselling author, JENNIFER SHIRK, has a bachelor degree in pharmacy-which has in NO WAY at all helped her with her writing career. But she likes to point it out, since it shows romantic-at-hearts come in all shapes, sizes, and mind-numbing educations. She writes sweet romances (some even funny!) and won third place in the RWA 2006 NYC’s Kathryn Hayes Love and Laughter Contest with her first book, The Role of a Lifetime.
Recently, her novel Sunny Days for Sam won the 2013 Golden Quill Published Authors Contest for Best Traditional Romance. She’s a board member for Straight Ahead Ministries, an organization involved in helping spread the gospel and aiding medical and pharmacy students in Russia. She’s also a board member of the Ocean City Library Board of Trustees. She resides in a beach resort in NJ, and when she’s not involved in all the above, she’s taking care of her most treasured possessions: her husband, daughter, guinea pig (Rocco), puppy (Sox) and four hermit crabs.
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