MLE's Porn and Ponies

I received this story as an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

 

This was a fun, short love story. I liked seeing how the friendship between Marc and Tarquin sustained them throughout the curse, and how it developed and grew into love. A nice change from so many of the instant love stories out there today. I would have liked to know a bit more about the sorcerer, his wfie, and the curse in general, but that's probably just the fantasy fan in me. There is something to say about having that part of the story staying a bit mysterious. I liked the balance between the two men, and how, after so many years, their opinions and thoughts grew and changed. They might have been trapped in stone, but they didn't spend the entire time feeling sorry for themselves, or trying to recapture a past that was long gone, and I appreciated that.  Overall it a sweet story without being sappy or cloying with characters I cared about.

I received an ARC of this story from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

 

I didn’t enjoy this story at all. The characters seem more like stale types, the all powerful master, the perfect “slave”, and the eccentric artist and I never got a feeling for them as living breathing people. The domination, and the pain seem to be more Paul’s way of dealing with his father issues rather than something he truly desires, and it’s too much of a magical cure all for me. Why get therapy when someone can literally beat your problems away.

 

I thought I would like Eden in the beginning, but over the course of the story you find out that Eden is a tomboy, and therefore more like a man than a women, so that’s why she’s more sexually confident, and adventurous than those other women. This combined with the florid overwriting, ham handed imagery (the garden of Eden, angles, and devil how original), weak characters, and stale plot was the nail in the coffin. I’m so sick of erotic novels, especially by women, they buy into all the old notions of female sexual  passivity and feminine weakness. It’s 2013 for goodness sake it’s seems about time to realize that men aren’t the only ones who enjoy sex, and who might even more than just plain vanilla sex either. Nothing about any of the rest of this story won me back, and I was counting percentages until the end I saw coming from the very beginning. There might be good m/m/f out there, but this is not one.  

I received this book as an ARC thorough Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

 

I had really hoped that this would be a fun, and sexy read. Maybe something a little sweaty, a little dirty, and a bit kinky. Sadly this was not to be. I’ll sum it up for you:

 

Some incredibly shallow, unlikable characters engage in some detailed, but mind blowing dull wrestling (the amount of words dedicated to wrestling outfits, and exact positing almost put me to sleep) wherein our male lead triumphs over sexy muscle boys, and in some truly terribly written sex scenes  makes these boys his bitch. Over, and over, and over again. It read like a young boy’s masturbatory fantasy. Actually it read like a very young boys revenge/masturbatory fantasy because there was an almost mean edge to the writing which made it less like a sexual encounter and more like violence and humiliation, and it made me almost uncomfortable to read. I also have to say it read like an ode to asses, and cracks. I swear that he never saw an ass that was less than beautiful.

 

 

The characters did not help the story any either. None of them seemed to have any depth. The main character especially seems shallow, and underdeveloped. He seems to flit from man to man, and has very little loyalty to anyone besides himself and his own needs. He talks about how “in love” he is with Bill, who tells him flat out that they will never work, but still he moons over him while he fucks any number of interchangeable muscle boys over the course of the story. It changes a bit when he meets Mike, but even that relationship doesn’t seem to be really all that different from any of the others. They have some truly cheesy bad dirty talk, and some of the same old nasty sex. Then there is the guy in Texas, and more of the muscle studs. A friend talks to him about his feelings, and I swear that he changes his mind about things as his friend talks to him. He seems to have very little self knowledge, or thoughts about anything besides wrestling, and sex, and it grew really tedious to read.  

 

 

 

The summary talks about him falling in love, but I didn’t know who they were talking about, and even after the epilogue  I was still wondering how I was supposed to know that these two were in love because there really wasn’t anything in the story or in the character’s attitude that made me believe that they were in love. The plot was non-existent, and it seemed to just be wrestling and sex scenes strung together with a bit of filler.  Overall a weak story that had nothing in the writing, the characters, or the plot to hold my interest or my attention.  I never knew wrestling could be quite this unsexy, but I guess I was wrong.

 

FYI – If I never read about another wrestling mask and outfit it will be too soon. I swear change those items to designer shoes and handbags and he would give an shallow woman in bad chick lit a run for her money. Oh, and mullets are NOT sexy, curls or no curls. Just no.

 

Recently found out I made a certain list.

 

 

 

Back to my regularly scheduled lunch.

Must learn how to play with the site having my friends called followers makes me feel like I'm leading some weird kind of cult .

Even better than I rememberd. Review to come.

I received this book as an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.Another enjoyable installment in a fun new series. Unlike many second books the plot in this story continues to move forward, and it didn’t feel like a filler book. The story was fast paced, and an entertaining read. It did feel like Mason did spend a bit too much time angsting over Frost, and their relationship, but at least there are reasons for Mason’s dependence on Frost in the plot. Mason has had every bit of humanity stripped from him, and Frost is the only one who can keep the voice in his head at bay. A bit more character development might have helped me feel a bit more invested in these books, but the love story is only a very small part of this book, and I was glad to see that the alien plot is still the driving force of this story. A fast paced and entertaining read I’m looking forward to seeing how events play out in the next book.

I received this book as an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.Before I start I’d like to say a big hello to all of my fellow original My Little Pony fans. I think part of the reason I liked this story so much is that this is what I kind of wished My Little Pony was when I was a kid. Not that I didn’t love My Little Ponies when I was a kid; a legion of plastic ponies, a little stable, a castle, sticker books, and yes some unfortunate clothing (cut me a break I was a kid in the 80’s) will say very differently. When Elspeth and I tried to watch one of the original movies as adults, I hate to admit it, but it was bad. Okay not just bad, but terrible. So bad I apologized to my parents sort of bad.The newer My Little Pony comics have a lot to appeal to the younger set. The colors are bright, and the artwork expressive and bold. The ponies are a nice mix of personalities, and temperaments. The importance placed on the value of friendship, loyalty, and being true to yourself are nice without feeling too much like heavy morality tales, or lectures. I also appreciated the little asides, and some of the humor that is aimed at the more adult set. Nothing offensive, but enough to gives adults who will probably have to read this more than once to an eager child or two something to smile about, or you know people without kids, like yours truly, who read for their own reasons. Darned good reasons let me tell you!Overall it was a fun, and enjoyable read. One that made me feel that The My Little Pony from my childhood was as enjoyable now as it was then. Feel grateful My Little Pony fans of today that there is a better chance that when you’re my age you will be able to look back on your childhood show and not cringe the way I do.

A good introduction to the new series, but it got a bit saccharine for my taste and parts and I would have liked to see a bit better balance in their sexual relationship. Maybe that's just because I think Blue in control would be a lot of fun to read. What can I say I like to see the big guy taken down a peg especially one who likes to be in control all the time.

I received a copy of this book as an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.I really enjoyed this story. The plot was engaging, and I appreciated that there wasn't a love triangle. I loved the tone, and mood of the story. The writing style was nice, and fit the mood of the story really well.The characters were well drawn, and interesting. I liked that Kieran never felt too dark, or angsty. It made for a refreshing change from many stories of this genre. It was nice seeing that Kieran wasn't the toughest or most powerful character around. It made him more relatable, and I liked Miracle Woman. I was surprised by how much I liked love interest. He was far from the controlling jerk characters of his ilk tend to be, and I loved seeing the connection between the two of them grow. I liked the secondary cast. There might have been some interesting characters, but they felt like people instead of stereotypes. It was nice to see a woman with such strength, and character. The ending was well done, and a bit unexpected. I liked that things didn't play out exactly how or why I expected early in the book. A fun read.

Interesting start I'm looking forward to reading more.

Elspeth and I have decided to move our blog, and in honor of my fisr blog post on our new site I have written a different review for our blog.http://asharedbraincell.blogspot.com/I received this book as an ARC through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.When I started this book I was a little thrown off by the writing style. Something about it was a little jarring in the beginning, but once I got a little ways into the book I became more used to it, and saw how the author was using it to set a tone and mood for the story. I thought the setting for the story was interesting, and well done. I found the world building to be strong, and interesting. I loved the relationship between the brother and sister, and I liked seeing the tension the love and the anger and resentment. It was a nice change from some of the simpler and sappier family relationships found in books for younger readers. My problems arise from Merciful. I found her hard to understand. I know she is fairly uneducated, but her simplicity grated on my nerves. When events started unfolding she seemed unable to process information she was given, and form opinions on her own. She would talk to one character and believe what they told her only to talk to someone else and then believe whatever they told her. I understand she is supposed to be naive and trusting, but it seemed a bit too much for me. The religion never felt like it fit to me, and the characters seemed, especially Merciful, seemed to move from belief to skepticism to belief and then back for no real motivation. I understand that Merciful is supposed to be questioning what everyone has been telling her, but it seems fractured and incomplete. It’s one of those stories I can see where the ending came from, but it just never quite came together in my mind. The pieces were all there, but they just didn’t add up right, or feel quite as scary as they should have. I respect what the author was trying to do, but it just fell short of what they were reaching for in my mind. It wasn’t a bad story, but I didn’t feel as invested as I should have been, so that when the ending arrived instead of feeling for the characters I had mostly stopped caring. Good ideas, and underlying theme bogged down by mediocre characters, and disjointed storytelling, and world building. Could have been much creepier and haunting.

Fun, and sexy. Really nicely done short story.

Really cute, and sweet. The only downside is now I'm hungry and have to wait another hour to go to lunch. Chocolate dipped bacon sounds evil and good.

Well written sexy story that incorporates the original mythology really well. I must read more.

A sweetly romatic tale of magic, and love with a nice splash of angst and longing. Nothing too heavy or melodramtic. A perfect book for my day spent sick in bed.