Kissing Lessons - Susan Laine A sweet read and I never knew so many different names for kissing. I loves the romantic build and of course the learning experience with the characters.

Skyships Over Innsmouth is the latest book from Susan Laine. It's an interesting take off on a post-apocalyptic world meeting H.P. Lovecraft. And it works.

 

Dev is the captain of the Smoke Swallow, a scout airship from Canal City, looking for resources to replenish the dwindling stores as well as survivors of the Cataclysm. With his crew: Shay, the scholar, Malia, the fighter, Stork, the jack of all trades, and Wren, the youngest member of the crew, and another one who jumps in wherever needed.

 

Our crew sets off to find a mystical city. One only talked about in books. It never appears on any map, and even the books on it seem vague about any details. But they are determined to find Innsmouth, MA. And to unlock any secrets it may hold, including why its location is so secret.

 

The crew finds Innsmouth, and descends to the ground, leaving Wren aboard ship. Just in case of trouble. And trouble finds them shortly, in the guise of a young girl. A girl who looks oddly like a mix of human and fish? Malia is taken by the residents of Innsmouth, and Dev and Shay wet out to find her, with the help of Stork.

 

It is revealed that Innsmouth is a dream city. Or rather, a nightmare city, populated mostly by frightening hybrids of humans with fish, and a few hybrids of humans and other animals. And a few other beings that defy explanation.

 

Skyships Over Innsmouth borrows very heavily from the Lovecraftian universe, using locations, stories, and beings that were popularized by Lovecraft and his fellows. As such, there are things in the book that don't make lots of sense, unless you've got a little bit of knowledge of the lore. Non Euclidian geometry is touched on, as well as you can describe something that can't exist in our grasp of the universe, but not explained.And that bit of the book is difficult to wrap ones head around, but only because of the descriptions of how that "style" of geometry could look.

 

There's much more to this book, but going much deeper will take away from the mind bogglingness of it. But there is some lovely non-explicit romance, that isn't tiptoed around. It's very obvious what's going on, but there's no explicit sex, which was interesting and very well written. I was very pleased with the book, and how it juggled the two realms of existence. And the wink and nod to other Lovecraftian stories was great.

 

Skyships Over Innsmouth should be put on your to-read list if you're a fan of post-apocalyptic fiction, Lovecraftian fiction, LGBTQIA fiction, old school horror, and just plain weird creepy fiction. I give it two fins up. And a couple tentacles as well.

Book – Skyships Over Innsmouth
Author – Susan Laine
Star rating - ★★★☆☆
No. of Pages – 200

Cover – Gorgeous!
POV – 3rd person, multi-POV
Would I read it again – No

Genre – LGBT, Steampunk, Science Fiction, Horror


** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK, BY THE AUTHOR, IN RETURN FOR AN HONEST REVIEW **
Reviewed for Divine Magazine



DISCLOSURE: I had never read a Lovecraft novel, and didn't know it was going to be paramount to my understand of this story, so I ended up being really confused, thinking this was all the author's original concept, until countless reviews told me otherwise (after I'd written my own, of course). This is why it's a 3 star and not a 2, as it would normally be. I'm pretty sure Lovecraft fans would love this, but I'm not a fan and I didn't love it; perhaps for this reason or maybe just because it didn't work on its own merit.


While the overall story has merit in terms of old classic horror, in the style of Lovecraft (as the author implies), the rest is just a little too garishly ridiculous for my taste. I've marked it a 3, because I'm sure diehard fans of Lovecraft and old horror might enjoy it, but for me, it just didn't work as an overall, cohesive, captivating story.

I've read quite a few Susan Laine books by now and they're a little lopsided for me – I either love them or feel completely ambivalent about them. This one falls into the second category. Although parts of it were good – the first 45% and moments thereafter – there was just no cohesiveness to the plot, the horror aspects felt sort of stolen from the greats of the genre, even mentioning Lovecraft and Derleth multiple times and the characters sort of became second fiddle to the Innsmouth aspect of the story.

There were aliens, tentacles, zombie-like creatures and squids, skyships, amnesia and more. It was just far too much for one story to handle. And, honestly, the horror wasn't scary or frightening, but overdone and over-exaggerated. I found most of it predictable and the rest fancifully ridiculous.

With monologues all over the place and a pair of male MC's that were will-they-wont-they, there was already a lot to keep track of. But then Malia came into the picture, as the only female, but a very unlikeable, unrelateable character, who was borish, rude and marginalized others at the drop of a hat. Her POV scenes were quite a challenge to read, even though she was a character central to the forwarding of the plot.

Again, there were hints of other horror books/movies included here – a little of The Ring, Lovecraft, Derleth, an Ancient Egyptian twist reminiscent of Stargate, even a little hint of The Hills Have Eyes.

By 45% I started skim reading. I normally wouldn't, for a book I'm reviewing, but this one really was a challenge to read and, honestly, by 45% I could see it ending within a chapter or two, as a short story, while wrapping up the plot and giving us a suitable ending. However, it dragged on to the very end, about 98%, and just became more and more elaborate as it went.

Oh, and the end location (not telling you, in case you read it) just added the cherry to the top of the ridiculousness. That one really made me glad I'd skimmed most of the action/adventure aspect in the second half of the book, because it warned me that there might very well be another book in this world and I'm not going to read it.

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Overall, I think Laine just tried far too hard to emulate the likes of Lovecraft and classic horror novels. Perhaps if the plot had been simplified and the over-exaggeration of danger every second, twists and turns in every chapter.

Good as Gold - Susan Laine Book – Good as Gold (Heroes at Heart #4)
Author – Susan Laine
Star rating - ★★★★☆
No. of Pages – 57

Cover – Nice
POV – 1st person, one character
Would I read it again – Maybe.

Genre – LGBT, Writing, Contemporary, Romance, Serial


** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK, BY THE AUTHOR, IN RETURN FOR AN HONEST REVIEW **
Reviewed for Divine Magazine


For me, this was a story of two halves. The actual emotional aspects of the story – the plot, the relationship etc – took me way back to book 1 and how authentic and evocative these two characters could be. However, the other aspect – the sex – felt so foreign and almost as though someone else wrote it. That part of the story wasn't true to the characters at all.

Maybe it's been too long since I read the rest of the series, but some parts felt almost as though another author picked up the story to fill in the gaps with things that these characters wouldn't say or do. The dirty sex talk especially didn't fit them at all. All the sex scenes felt disconnected from the rest of the story. There were even some over the top descriptions – like pointing out that a nudge is done with a hand and that the heart lies behind the ribcage – that felt forced and not at all like the genius I know Susan Laine's writing to be.

On the plus side, the story really did take me back to book one. The issue of plagiarism is a real threat to all authors out there, but to have it done so callously, in Yancy's face, by someone he knew, is worse than an anonymous computer screen, because it could have been prevented and it's much more personal. At the same time, exploration of how to prove intellectual property theft is a sticky road and one that not many people can successfully navigate. It was nice to see some vindication for all the faceless talent that Hume stole from, as well, which is something that doesn't always happen in the real world. Just because someone is accused of plagiarism and one author can prove it, doesn't mean that the others in the past can or will get their just credit for their work.

Though I do think it's an exaggeration to state that Yancy felt suicidal, at the thought of someone stealing his book – considering the amount of times he's never really understood the darkness inside of Curt and how positive he's always been – I do know how heartbreaking it can be. Especially about a story so close to his heart. But, comparing what he felt after having his work stolen to what Curt went through in book one was a little too much for me. Yancy's pain was so fleeting and could have been avoided had he only properly questioned how Hume knew where he lived and what his motives for such extravagant behaviour were. Curt, on the other hand, had no real control over his thoughts – shown frequently throughout the series, because of his depressive nature.

The way Yancy constantly compared his situation to Curt's made it feel wrong – as though he was lessening the constant, crippling pain Curt had been in that day. I'm not saying that Yancy wasn't depressed, but he showed no real suicidal thoughts or inclinations, besides one fleeting thought of how he didn't know he'd continue, if he couldn't get his story back. The two, for me, can never compare.

I still feel a little cheated that it ended at 88%, though.

~

Overall, it was great to go back to the roots of these characters, who finally felt more authentic to book one than some of the other books in the series (if you ignore the sex scenes entirely). Sure, there are spelling and grammar issues (it is an ARC after all) and one instance where a laptop on a cushion, sitting on Yancy's knee, mysteriously disappears. Those things happen and will no doubt be addressed before publishing.

But, the bones are great. The plot is believeable and well formed. The addition, at the end, of how Curt's career is continuing and taking off, along with a follow-up of how Yancy's career has taken off, makes me think this could be the last novel for these guys. And, I'd hope so.

After everything they've been through, it would be nice to end on a positive note.

Yellow Streak - Susan Laine Book – Yellow Streak (Heroes at Heart #2)
Author – Susan Laine
Star rating - ★★★☆☆
No. of Pages – 82
Cover – Simple, nice
POV – 1st person, past tense, 1 character POV
Would I read it again – No.

Genre – LGBT, Contemporary, College


** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK, BY THE AUTHOR, IN RETURN FOR AN HONEST REVIEW **
Reviewed for Divine Magazine


For me, this was another one that was too short. Though it very skilfully dealt with the aftermath of a suicide attempt, in an understanding and sympathetic manner, half the story was about the progression of Yancy and Curt's relationship and it just didn't feel that authentic to the original story.

Recounting the events of the first story in 1st person didn't work for me. It felt foreign and didn't read well. It could just be because I'm not a fan of 1st person as it is, and having the character talking to a reader is offputting for me, in any case. Either way, it didn't work for me.

I loved how Yancy and Curt remained open with each other, talking through everything and really learning more about each other. Their relationship progressed fast, however, and didn't feel quite right. They jumped into this, while barely knowing each other, and didn't really make a conscious attempt to learn more. I certainly connected to these two in book 1, but this time around, if I was to read about their relationship, I wanted bonding, dating and the deep, meaningful connection of book 1. What I got was a lot of 'hot' moments and arguing.

There was sudden jump in timeline at 40% that took me by surprise, as well. It wasn't explained until two pages into the chapter, which made it quite confusing to tell when or where they were.

This is also a pet peeve of mine, but I'm throwing it in there – EW! to the max for the use of “heated teat” in the sex scene. Ew! Ew! Ew!

Unfortunately, the blurb is slightly misleading. It suggests that Curt ignoring Yancy is a huge deal, which it's not. It's a minor blip, right at the start of the story and it takes barely until 24% before things are ironed out. The rest is about the continuation of their relationship, which wasn't at all what I expected.

Sadly, I have to say I'm disappointed. Though the first half was authentic to the previous book, in tone and in characterisation, the second half was like a totally different story. Or, like these characters years down the line. It all happened too suddenly, with not enough exploration of the time in between for my liking. I also have to admit that I don't see how there would be another book. There isn't space for one, with Yancy and Curt getting their HEA in this book.

~

Again, there was an issue with length. The story ended even earlier than book 1, at 63%. I really, honestly, feel cheated out of more storyline and plot, because I'm missing 37% of the book. I don't mind the excerpt from book 3, but it's 16 pages (2 chapters) and I don't need that much. I also don't need a further 47 pages of adverts.

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Favourite Quote

“He was having fun with his teammates. And me? I'd gone back to being the invisible boy.”