Review: Bonded Spirits

Title:  Bonded Spirits

Author: Jake Daniel

Rating: 2/5

Comments:

Ok, this is one that I picked up because someone on Discord said “Anyone tried this?”  I was not optimistic about it, and my concerns were born out. I put it down at 39% read.

The literary equivalent of instant oatmeal.  Guy goes through portal with hot monster girl, guy fucks girl.  Girl knows more girls who need saving.  Guy save girls. Girls fuck guy because he saved them.  Guy muderhobo’s some random guys, girls swoon.  Sprinkle in some cultivation, base building, and litrpg bits for the people who like them, and a fair bit of sexy fun times, and boom, you’ve got a book. 

It’s kind of a shame really that the result is so poor, because I think the character had potential.

Bedroom Activities:  Explicit

================================

 

FTB/Explicit/None – Fade to black bedroom activities vs “Onscreen” vs No activities

 

 

Review: Silver Fox and the Western Hero: Warrior Redeemed (Book 5)

Title:  Silver Fox and the Western Hero  Books 5

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08Q4FCKD5/

 

Author: M.H. Johnson

Rating: 4.5/5

Comments

So I took a break, then came back and read book 5.

I think this is probably the best book of the series so far.  After 4 books of the protagonist being the punching bag and whipping boy, he's starting to come into his power and he can be quite terrifying in the right circumstances.

I am still marking the overall rating down for excessive navel gazing and exposition tangents and loops, but the POV shifts seem to be much more tolerable.

Looking forward to book 6, but I have no idea how long it will be before it's out.

Bedroom Activities: None

================================

 

FTB/Explicit/None – Fade to black bedroom activities vs “Onscreen” vs No activities

 

Review: Courts and Cabals 2

Title: Courts and Cabals 2

Author:  G.S. D’Moore

Rating: 3.5/5

Comments:

There were parts of this book I really liked, but overall I thought it was weaker than book 1.  In book one their were some POV shifts, but the narrative held up.  In book 2 the narrative is really choppy because he keeps changing characters.  There was still the ongoing trend of ignoring his family, and now even his friends from book one are just *poof* gone with nary a mention.

There were also several points during the book where actions were taken against the protagonist, ostensibly by people on his side, which really bothered me.  Maybe it's just to firmly establish there are no "good" guys in the story, but I hope not as I find those stories tiresome and depressing.

I honestly don't know why some of the side characters get any POV time at all as their view really doesn't add anything to the story other than length.

I'll probably read book 3, or at least start it, but this was kind of a big letdown.

Bedroom Activities: Explicit

================================

 

FTB/Explicit/None – Fade to black bedroom activities vs “Onscreen” vs No activities

 

 

Review: Courts and Cabals

Title: Courts and Cabals

Author:  G.S. D’Moore

Rating: 4/5

Comments:

If I could sum up my reaction with one sentence it would be:  “Better than I expected.”  I’ll be honest, I fully expected this to be a DNF, maybe 3/5.  The cover is very anime-escque and I anticipated thinly veiled erotica, with a probable dip into the “porn” territory.

My expectations were not even close.  While I have plenty of quibbles with the story, and the editing isn’t great, but the actual story is decent and the characters are mostly believable.  If I had to pick one thing that is missing, it’s the complete absence of the protagonist’s family.  The protagonist is a high school student, living at the school, but is from the local town.  He gets injured, not once but multiple times, and NO ONE calls them?  I’m skeptical.    My expectation of lots of sex, seeing as how a one of the main characters is a succubus was also wrong, which was a pleasant surprise.  So the story isn’t flawless, but I enjoyed it and it was a nice break from Silver Fox.

Bedroom Activities: Explicit

================================

 

FTB/Explicit/None – Fade to black bedroom activities vs “Onscreen” vs No activities

 

 

Review: Magi's Path (Aether's Revival Book 3)

Title: Magi's Path (Aether's Revival Book 3)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08XX8F5ZK

Author: Daniel Schinhofen

Rating: 5/5

Comments

I’m going to admit (again?) that I’m a fan of Daniel Schinhofen’s books, and I’ve talked to him via the interwebz fairly regularly.  He’s a decent fellow and with apologies to Inigo Montoya, I’m glad I don’t have to kill him.

So if you haven’t read books one and two of this series, well, honestly you should because they’re great.  If you have read books one and two, I can give my unequivocal endorsement of book 3.  I think this is his best series out of all his work.  This book specifically had some twists that I wasn’t expecting, and a focus on things other than the dastardly antagonist from books 1 and 2.  I think this was a good tack to take, and allows the story to grow.

Now, if you haven’t read any of his books, he has his signature style, and he sticks to it.  If you find the style difficult to get through, don’t expect it to change.  You’ll get a lot of food details, and some homages to famous chefs.  I found out recently that he used to work as a chef before becoming a world renowned author, so that really explained that tendency.

So in closing:  5/5, will read the next one.

Bedroom Activities:  Explicit (limited)

================================

 

FTB/Explicit/None – Fade to black bedroom activities vs “Onscreen” vs No activities

 

 

Review: Silver Fox and the Western Hero: Warrior Reborn Books 1-4

Title:  Silver Fox and the Western Hero  Books 1-4

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B08261T1YF

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B086J9JWBP

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B088YNZ1ZZ

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08H1RS2NF

 

Author: M.H. Johnson

Rating: 4.5/5

 

Comments

I believe this is  one of the more popular Wuxia books on Amazon.  I avoided it for a while for personal reasons, most of which were disproven after I read it, so hey, my loss for waiting.

 

There’s a fair amount of confusing bits to this story, but it feels like stuff you’ll understand once you find out more about the world, and so far that’s been correct.  If I had one complaint about the series as a whole, it’s that the author will frequently go off on tangents right when there’s action about to happen.   So the protagonist is traveling along, thinking deep thoughts, and hears a scream.  You will then get 2-3 pages of exposition about his deep thoughts, before you find out who screamed.  I find that annoying, and honestly it only gets worse over the books.  That being said I’ve binged the 4 books, and only interrupted them to read Aether’s Revival 3.  Might go right into book 5, but felt like I needed to get this up before I forgot about it.

Addendum:  He has a proclivity to throw in LitRPG elements to the story, and I really don't think it needs them.  He occasionally dumps the "character sheet" in and that's up to about 4 pages now.  It's to the point I feel like it's page stuffing for the sake of making the book longer.  

Bedroom Activities: None

================================

 

FTB/Explicit/None – Fade to black bedroom activities vs “Onscreen” vs No activities