Tag: Series:-Hard-Ink • BookLikes

review 2020-01-06 18:00

Former porn star Angel Dare is asked to come out of retirement for one more movie but she falls into a trap. Trying to find out who set her up for murder, she has to stay ahead of the police while tracking down a briefcase which is at the center of it all.

Angel is a kick-ass take no prisoners broad. She works to hard to find the briefcase while not knowing who can be trusted. She handles it all and finds much more than she anticipated. I liked Malloy but he was not all I wanted him to be. I loved Didi, Angel's right hand woman.

The story held me enthrall from the opening sentence. I finished it in one day. I would read more of Christa Faust.

murder mystery hard crime fiction series

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review 2019-09-02 03:40

DEADLY BELOVED by Max Allan Collins

Sheila's Reads

Deadly Beloved (Hard Case Crime #38) - Max Allan Collins

A film noir type of book set in Chicago when Ms. Michael Tree is brought into investigate a murder where the woman is found over the bodies holding the gun. She finds the trail she has been seeking which involved her own husband's murder.

This was a good one, a quick read. I liked Michael Tree. She bold. She's kick-ass. Look out! I like the film noir feeling to the story. I also figured out one who was involved. Watching her go for that one and the rest was so good. I hope to find more with Michael Tree on the case.

mystery hard crimes series

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review 2018-08-27 00:15

Hard to Handle (Gargoyles #5) by Christine Warren

Fangs for the Fantasy

Hard to Handle (Gargoyles Series) - Christine Warren

Like her brothers before her, Ash bursts to life immediately aware that something has gone terribly wrong in the world and that this is why she has been summoned. Normally, when a Guardian awakens, a Warden is present to inform of them about what the danger is and to help formulate a plan to keep the Seven in check. Like her brothers before her, Ash must deal with the fact that her newly minted Warden doesn't have the slightest clue about what is going on, or even that he is a person of power. With a threat looming, Ash barely has time to think about the ramifications that she is the first female Guardian ever and that she is developing feelings for Michael. The fate of the world is at risk and Ash and Michael are simply unprepared to meet it.

Unlike the other books in this series, Warren tried to infuse a little more humour into the story. Anyone who has siblings and has retained a close relationship with them into adulthood should be able to see themselves reflected. Sure, Michael and his four sister are all adults now and are living active and busy lives but that doesn't mean they won't rat each other to their mother or engage in puerile games to get what they want. At times, this approach had me laughing and thinking about my own younger brothers.

As a male love interest Michael was as crotchity as an old man. I understand that he would have been overwhelmed by a honest to goodness gargoyle coming to life and learning that the forces of evil were aligning but the way that he treated Ash throughout the novel was truly disturbing. I don't think that Michael actually ever moved past sexualising her and so when he declared love, which is the habit in paranormal series, it didn't fit for even a moment. Michael barely saw Ash as human let alone an individual person with feelings which could be hurt. This of course was magnified by the fact that the evolution of Michael's relationship with Ash mostly happened through internal monologue rather than shared experiences.

One of the things that I have loved about the Gargoyles series is that it felt explicitly feminist and I am sad to report, it seems that Warren decided to drop this approach in Hard to Handle. While it was funny to see Michael's interactions with his siblings and mother, it was particularly problematic the way that gender was treated. Warren actually sought to frame Michael as a oppressed by having so many women in his life. Really? Being surrounded by women is hard? If that were not enough, Michael constantly used the feminine as a pejorative.

In the retelling, he imagined he would change the scream to a hoarse, manly shout of surprise; but in the moment, the high pitch of his girlish exclamation sounded like a harmony to the unearthly shriek that shook the air around them. (pg 7)

He might have soiled himself, or at the very least, whimpered and cried like a little girl. Very bad for his image. (pg 15)

He screamed, a small part of his mind shaking free of the error to wonder whether or not he sounded like a little girl. (pg 95)

He opened his mouth to release another, girly wordless scream and heard instead his own voice bellow in an unfamiliar tone of command. (pg 98)

Michael's very understanding of masculinity itself is extremely problematic

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review 2017-07-09 19:23

Book Hoarders Anonymous

More of a 3.25 I think.

I wanted to like this one, if only because the Guardian was a female. Alas, it was done in by secondary characters.

I almost felt sorry for the H but... he was so whipped it was almost embarrassing and really, if I had a family like that, I might have run screaming into the night. Why he still lived close enough for certain ones to show up on his doorstep, I dunno.

His kid sister, spoiled manipulative little brat. I was like, "oh well" when she got grabbed. I wanted to punch her in the face pretty much every time she opened her mouth.

Of course we get Kylie and Wynn (those two give me a headache - they converse with each other like 4th graders).

Thought to ponder, has any of the wardens accepted his or her new lot in life *in the context of this series?* Seems every one of them has been in some form of denial. That sort of plot device gets old after a while, as does the snarky/bitchiness every woman of power seems to possess.

And of course #5 is now free. Since this particular series has a sell-by date, and there's two more, I'm assuming the last one will feature some anti-climatic battle between the forces of good and evile that somehow gets shoehorned into half a chapter.

Remind me again why I'm reading this? Oh; right. Gargoyle romances are rare as hens' teeth. Too bad that none seem to actually be all that. :/

miscellaneous pnr

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review 2017-06-12 05:47

BuckeyeAngel

Michael /Drum was a man blessed with four independent sisters. Drum had a persistant tingling at the back of his neck had plagued him with an reachable itch for the last six months. Through dreams Drum was having persistent dreams of things he refused to name and would prefer not to remember. Drum impressed on his family not to take silly chances in today’s world. The family was meant to stick together and watch each others back Drum owns a bar called Skin And Bones. Drum and his family has gifts that set them apart Drums gift is he can find things. His sister Maeve has the gift of sight. Drun did not like his sister being out alone at night. That was the night he met Ash and his life was changed forever. Ash was the first of her kind and she has no idea why she woke up or woke her up. Ash is a woman Gargoyle who is to protect humans. The Order of Darkness is a threat coming closer to being a problem. Drum and Maeve .are the only ones there and they aren’t Wardens. But Ash has to accept their help. It didn’t take long for evil to come after Ash. In the heat of the battle Drum discovers he has more gifts that he hadn’t known about and is actually a warden. Drum and Ash are very attracted to each other.

I liked this story but had mixed feelings. I had some trouble with things being repeated like Drum complaining about having his life interrupted by Ash Also there was too many villains and they didn’t last very long. I did like the fighting scenes. At times this drags for me. I liked the plot. I didn’t like Drums whining it took him awhile to man up and this annoyed me so as I said I had mixed feelings.