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

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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

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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

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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

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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)

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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

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Review: Zerk

Title: Zerk

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/d/B0785JJ2KZ/

Author:  RW Krpoun

Rating: 4.5/5

Comments

RW Krpoun is apparently a fan of two things, zombie apocalypse stories, and protagonists that are a little touched in the head.  Both of which are fine with me because he uses them to tell a damn good story.

So Zerk is our hero and he's got a friend named Bear.  When you figure out what Bear's story is, it's pretty touching.  No spoilers, but it was a legitimately emotional moment for the old and crusty curmudgeon.

Anyway, if he pumps out a sequel I will definitely read it.

Bedroom Activities: None

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Review: Right of Retribution 2

Title:  Right of Retribution 2

Author: William D. Arand

Rating: 5/5

Comments:

As I'm writing this, this book is just over a week from publication, but I just finished the beta read last night.

Not really much to say, other than I enjoyed it immensely.  Warner faces challenges that were unexpected, makes new friends, and generally grows as a character.

I expect this will be one of his best releases ever.

Full disclosure,  book 1 is my favorite of his, having supplanted Fostering Faust 3, and Swing Shift (1-3).

Bedroom Activities: FTB

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Review: Wrangler 3

Title:  Wrangler 3 (The Wrangler Saga)

https://smile.amazon.com/Wrangler-3-Saga-Hondo-Jinx-ebook/dp/B08W7PHGLS

Author: Hondo Jinx    

Rating: 4.75/5

Comments

 I'll just state up front I'm kind of a fan of Hondo Jinx.  I have read the first 2 books of this series and liked them both enough that I picked this one up as soon as it came out.  This is another good addition to the series, and I think probably equal to or better than the first 2.  That being said, he's not breaking a lot of new character ground with this, Braddock, Brawley, and Dan would all get along like brothers.  If you don't like Brawley and Dan, you won't like Braddock (and that's ok, I guess).

The Wrangler world is however a very interesting setting, and a lot of the stuff you kind of had to just accept in book one gets pulled together in this book and you find out some of the "why's".

Anyway, good fun, and I will definitely read the next book, which is allegedly the finale.

(For those of you wondering, it lost points for some gratuitous POV switching, and a couple minor annoyances)

Bedroom Activities: Explicit

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Review: The Irish Brigade

Title:  The Irish Brigade:  A Fallen Empire Novel

Author: J.F. Holmes

Rating: 4/5

Comments

 This is the story of a mercenary company and tends to jump around between characters, which is pretty typical for novels of this genre.  I generally find this annoying, and it wasn't a great feature in this book, but I worked through it.  Some cool back story, interesting characters, and plausible events make it pretty enjoyable.  I expect I'll read the next one.

Bedroom Activities: None

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Review: Bloom and Dark

Title:  Bloom and Dark

Author: Regina Watts

Rating: 1.9/5

Comments

I read this up to something like 40%, but I couldn't really tell you what the story was supposed to be other than page after page of exposition about how amazing the dark elf queen is.  Before I dropped it I did a random test, and there were FOUR pages of the protagonist navel gazing about the queen with NO actions or dialogue.

I honestly don't know why anyone would read this, but I'm sure she has a market.  I am not it and I doubt I'll try another one of her books without a stellar recommendation from someone I trust.

Oh and it had sex, for whatever that's worth.

Bedroom Activities: Explicit

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Review: The Traveler

Title:  The Traveler

Author: Xander Jade

Rating: 2.5/5

Comments

I grabbed this book with a little bit of wariness because it was recommended on Facebook.  I was right to be wary. Honestly I’m surprised I finished it. 

Let’s start with the protagonist.  He’s an MIT graduate with dual majors, who is outdoorsy, and has several years of practicing Krav Maga.  I thought “my god it’s a Mary Sue”, but I shouldn’t have worried, as he, or maybe the author proceeds to demonstrate his ignorance in a variety of topics from construction, farming, to animal husbandry.  Some examples are, building a workbench that’s 5 feet tall,  buying 4 milk cows, and starting a foundation for a new house on top of the grade.  For those of you who aren’t aware, a conservative estimate for milk output for 4 cows would be in the 8 gallons per day, and possibly up to 30.

So beyond the stunning ignorance and mistakes of the protagonist, you have a story that’s very bland.   The characters have all the depth of a raindrop.  Here’s a good example,  the protagonist is sent to this new world.  He wakes up and rather than expressing surprise, shock, fear, or panic, he simply heads off down the road, not even worried about why all his stuff is gone.  Not once in the book did he try to figure out why he was in this new world, nor really consider getting back home.

We also have some gratuitous POV shifts which add nothing to the already weak story.

Anyway, if your only criteria for a book are monster girls who are horny, well then you might like this, but honestly the sex scenes are just as poor as the rest of the story.  Otherwise, take a pass on it.

Bedroom Activities: Explicit

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Review: Mana Beast

Title: Mana Beast

Author: Bruce Sentar

Rating: 3.4/5

Comments

Basically my reaction to book 2 was about the same as book one.  The cultivation aspects are pretty cool but the inter-personal interactions are so simplistic as to be magical.  I'm talking going from "just met, suspicious of you" to "married, love of my life" in a matter of days magical with no apparent reason for the change.  I took off .1 of a point for Michelle's incessant use of the word "Stud" which honestly was so bad I almost didn't bother finishing it.  I have it from a reliable source that the author has been informed of this issue (I wasn't the only one discussing it) and is going to moderate it going forward.  For the love of all that's good and holy I hope so.

Bedroom Activities: Explicit

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Review: Between World (The Occupation Saga Book 1)

Title: Between Worlds (The Occupation Saga Book 1)

https://www.amazon.com/Between-Worlds-Occupation-Saga-Book-ebook/dp/B08VD7DKC7

Author: J.L. Williams

Rating: 4.7/5

Comments

This book was mentioned on Cebelius' Discord and I picked up to give it a read without even reading the blurb.

Really quite entertaining.  Jason, the protagonist, finds himself pushed into a completely alien environment, and has to work hard to adapt to some new realities.  Good characters, with believable if sometimes implausible, interactions. I read it in a day, and admit I was late to work because of it. He does some light POV switching, some of which is honestly superfluous but it's not too bad.  

Bedroom Activities: Explicit

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Review: Hamartia

Title: Hamartia (Mountain King Saga – Book 2)

https://www.amazon.com/Hamartia-Monster-Harem-Fantasy-Mountain-ebook/dp/B08VJB2SGG

Author: Cebelius

Rating: 5/5

Comments

Ok, so if you read MKS 1 you know that it’s the story of one man’s accidental heroism which lands him in a very bad situation on Celestine. I don’t even think “very bad” is sufficient to encompass the horror of his situation.  But that’s book 1.

In book 2, Abram finds himself in control of Svartheim and beset by threats.  He is empirically not a “good” person, but all the way through you have to kind of agree with most of his actions.  He goes out of his way to avoid unnecessary death, and work for the good of his people.  He has one moment of irrationality, which was completely justified, and commits an act which even he says he regrets later, but you have to kind of sympathize with his actions.

In the end, I found myself hoping there’s a way out for him.  All in all a good story, if not a completely happy one.

Bedroom Activities: Explicit

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Review: Floating Hunger

Title: Floating Hunger (Yard Gnome Action team book 3)

https://www.amazon.com/Floating-Hunger-Yard-Gnome-Action-ebook/dp/B0836PDN4R

Author:  RW Krpoun

Rating: 4.3/5

Comments

This is currently the last book in the series, but there are plenty of hooks to continue the story if he decides to.

This book was just as good as the others, but I marked it down just a touch because there were some obvious points where he cut/paste the description of X in from the earlier books, and it really wasn’t needed.  We’re on the third book, we  know X, just give us a sentence or two for us to reconnect, not the whole 2-3 paragraphs you used in book one.

The POV switching was about on par with book 2, and of course we just had to see what the antagonists are doing (bleh).  Definitely a good cast of characters though, I hope to see them again.

Bedroom Activities:  Offscreen reference

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Review: Rolling Hunger

Title: Rolling Hunger (The Yard Gnome Action Team Book 2)

Author: RW Krpoun

Rating: 4.5/5

Comments

I followed book 1 straight into book 2, and read it in a day. The characters from book 1 are back, and they add some new ones.  The POV switching is not as bad (yay!), although we still get to visit the antagonists (boo).  What is better in this book is the way the characters change in both attitude and motivation.  Good stuff.  I am going to take a break before book 3, but I'm definitely going to read it.  I just need a break from reading as I've done 4 books in as many days this week.

Bedroom Activities: Off-screen reference

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Review: Payload

Title: Payload (The Yard Gnome Action Team Book 1)

Author: RW Krpoun

Rating: 4.25

Comments

This is somewhat standard zombie attack fare, but he takes it in some different directions, which I like.  Also good characters, some really interesting characters.

The problem I have, is the POV switching.  I mean, each member of the team gets their own intro, and it really bogs things down in Ch 1.  Then we get to see stuff that the antagonists do (which I really dislike as a general rule).  So the presentation of the story could be changed to make me happier, but the story itself is pretty fun.

Oh and the yard gnome bit, is great.  Moogie is an excellent mascot.

Bedroom Activities: None

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