Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Hot Jock-Brainy Tutor Romance Review



Title:  Tackled

Author: Sabrina Paige

Plot in a snap:
Colton, the hottest tight end, has a problem. He's in danger of being kept off the team because he's not meeting grade requirements. That problem is to be solved with a tutor working with him over summer.

Cassie, a graduate student on the same university campus, can't stand jocks.  Particularly not the arrogant, seemingly sex-crazed legend that is Colton King. Yet there's just something about him that makes her wanna break the rules. Yes, the same uptight goody-two-shoes who's not supposed to fraternize with her student.

Through various trials and tribulations, Cassie and Colton get together and try to figure if the brains-and-brawn combo do work.

What works:
Humour, which one might think is easy peasy for sports romances but is surprisingly absent from most, is in abundance here.  It's nice that steam and cracks can coexist!


What didn't quite work:
The cause of contention - why would Colton get all huffy over the project/thesis? And how does he not get noticed by Cassie at the party before misunderstandings can develop.

What I look forward to:
A separate novella for Tank and Sable. Aww, c'mon, the dirty roommates need their own story!

Overall: A fun and steamy read!

Blog rating: 3.75*
Amazon rating: 4.5*:

And just in case anyone needs some images to help fill in what tight end bods look like LOL

Monday, October 3, 2016

Review of 'Ultimate Vengeance' by Nancy Haviland




Title: Ultimate Vengeance

Author: Nancy Haviland

Plot in a flash:

Heroine of the story, Sacha Urusski, has left her Russian mobster prince, Alekzander Tarasov, for almost a year after a terrible betrayal. Hurt and in fear of what he might do if he discovers her secret, she's ready to run with her secret when a chance meeting brings them together again. Alek is determined to bring the woman he's never forgotten back to his side. Will turmoil and a terrible plot to start a war between the various powerful triads in NY destroy their chance at happiness?

What worked:

Hot Russian mobsters, that don't look like something from Nightmare on Elm Street, are always a selling point. Add the blonde and pale blue eyes plus a tendency to dominate and you've got Alek!


Throw into the mix various other hot mobsters who are easy on the eyes (ok, in prose anyway) and it's bad boy central. Yums!


Love the little secret who manages to scare (yes, scare) male mobsters in a great scene which blends humour and obvious "Aww" baits!

What didn't work:

Have to agree with a Goodreads reviewer who pointed out that the conversation seems a little too trendy for serious mobsters.  Ok, they don't all have to sound like the Sopranos or the Godfather, but the "sitch" references are a little disconcerting.


Ok, this is a mobster romance but the violence is quite constant and sometimes way detailed. Especially the violence directed at the family members of the villain, Sergei. It was almost a rework of  "Seven" when Brad Pitt's character receives a parcel at a climactic moment in the movie. I leave readers to imagine or read the narrative. In a way, the novel switches up between humanising and dehumanising the villain.

The frenzied pace of the novel is also a little distracting. There may be tiny problems with the timeline but it's pretty ok overall. The really tight sequence could however turn the emotional moments into OTT emo though.

Overall:

A decent read and as plots go, it's pretty much mobster soap but I'm not above sudsy reads occasionally!


Amazon rating: 4 *

Blog rating: 3.3*

Here's the Amazon link for the book! https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Vengeance-Wanted-Men-Book-ebook/dp/B01D5HMHLY

Review posted by VReads

Saturday, September 24, 2016

Movie Review: Train to Busan

This is a break from normal programming for a review of a movie that has proven both popular and touching. While I'm not proficient in the Korean language, I'm comfortable watching subtitles alongside the acting. Having been in Asia for a number of years, I'm sure it comes as no surprise to many that I'm slightly more familiar with K-pop culture and some of their stars.


I was pleasantly surprised to see some familiar actors appearing in the film. Having heard about the movie and seen the trailers, I was fully expecting a horror zombie flick. Which it partly was. Yet it was also so much more. The interaction between the two elderly sisters reminds the audience of the human background against which this horror fest is taking place. That is reinforced by the incongruous sight of a brusque blue collar worker who is full of bluster to everyone else but really is a caring husband who is sweet to his pregnant wife. Think bear with caramel centre LOL

The audience is prepared from the first to be cynical about the main character, Seok Woo, who is a cold fund manager dealing with life almost as an automaton. He flounders dealing with work, hierarchy(an important element both in understanding more subtle aspects of the movie as well as Korean society itself) and family. For an Asian society apparently built on notions of prioritising collective good above that of the individual and whose values are based on respect for the elderly, the slice of Korean society that is on display in the film speaks of cynicism, selfishness and a disintegration of values when survival is at stake. It also speaks of the dire consequences of that which is at stake when the ugliness of humans emerges: basic human decency.


Where the main character seems to advocate everyone for themselves initially, his character undergoes transformation, a positive one where he cooperates with the blue collar worker and a high school student in battling entire train cars of zombies to reach and rescue their loved ones. There's poignant humour and straight sentimentalism in many of the scenes between battling zombies and these are the scenes which remind the audience that this is more than a cringe-and-scream fest. The redemptive process that Seok Woo's character undergoes is set up as a parallel to what other characters, especially the CEO of Stallion Express who is a clear douchebag from the moment the zombie infection spreads, undergo. Their human veneer betrays a callousness that is inhuman, leaving them on par with the infected zombies. The act of the grieving elderly woman who is disgusted by the selfishness of her fellow passengers and stunned by her sister's sacrifice is final condemnation of the extremes to which selfish humans, practising a perverse version of the collective good principle in expelling suspected infected members from a safe community, go when survival is threatened.

That the CEO's actions virtually end in infecting everyone else apart from the pregnant lady and the child speaks volumes of how the social elite behave when individualism and selfish self-preservation trump the last dregs of humanity. Fortunately, that cynical bitterness is counteracted by the blooming of Seok Woo's humanism and act of self sacrifice at the very edge of his zombie transformation.

Is it trite? Yes. Is it sentimental? Yes. Is it good for a scare? Yes. Yet, for all the fluff, this movie still moves on levels unexpected.



Rating: 4 stars - go watch, what are you waiting for?

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Shifter Romance Review: Shifters in the Spring



Title: Shifters in the Spring - Sixteen New Paranormal Romances of Secret Babies, Frisky Shifters, and Fertile Surprises

Authors: J.K. Harper, Jacqueline Sweet, Ariana Hawkes, J.M. Klaire, Anya Nowlan, Liv Brywood, Olivia Arran, Edith Hawkes, Elianne Adams, Ellis Leigh, Auriella Skye, Cynthia Fox, Gen Géricault

What it's about:
This is a collection of 16 shifter romance short stories covering everything from secret babies to second chances and confrontations.

What worked:
What can I say? Loved this collection on the whole and this comes from ole me who didn't read shifter romance before this. Having said that, there are three stories that stand out.


The first is Forces of Nature by Gen Géricault whose writing made me wish I could walk out and get a taste of Louisiana. Very tight plot and writing. Loved the dynamics between lead characters Alder Thorne, alpha wolf of the Sweetwater pack, and witch-wolf loner Wren Thistle, whose father used to be alpha wolf of Sweetwater pack. Had wondered how the secret baby angle would be played and was not disappointed by Géricault's use of the compulsion twist. There's violence in the confrontation scenes and of course hot sexually-charged interaction between the leads. And for good measure Géricault throws in the cuddly scenes with the wolf cub - too cute for words!


Second is His Secret Dragon by Elianne Adams which mixes insta-lust with power struggles in a political unstable shifter tribe landscape. Spunky Meadow Brighton meets alpha Kade Trenton when he rescues her from  a conflict arising from her rejection of a forced mating. While the story is quite fast-paced and I would hope there's more development of characters and plot, it's a pretty smooth short read. Grab your dragon shifter indulgence here!


Last but not least (regardless of how trite that sounds, it's true here!) is Something Weasel this Way Comes by Cynthia Fox. A refreshing combination of hot shifter romance and comedy, I'm not sure which I liked better. Fox's humour is spot on and smacks of jazzed up fairytales and Aesop's fables with a more earthy feel and greater appeal! Linden the weasel is pretty effective as the de facto villain while Sally and Nikolai are one of the funniest shifter couples! Of course, the language barrier is always an effective device. Look away my Russian friends, there's too much that will be offensive though funny here! The opinion implied in the following video is not that of this writer!



What didn't work:
The uneven feel of the book. Then again, this is a collection of stories so some level of unevenness is to be expected.

Overall impression: 
I'm impressed by the collection overall. Recommending it for readers new to the shifter romance genre - it doesn't have to be intense and dramatic all the time.


Blog rating: 3.5*

Amazon rating: 4.5*

Get your copy! http://amzn.to/2cutTYR

Thursday, September 8, 2016

Alternative Plot for Dynasty of Deceit

Having survived reviewing Sarah Stuart’s Illicit Passion and Dangerous Liaisons, this reviewer wondered how the story would conclude if the messed up family were to potter along their way as they have always been. So here’s what the storyline as imagined by this reviewer would look like if the clusterfuck trend continues.


Note of caution: the following is an imagined alternative story line plotted on the basis of two main principles: the characters are messed up and will continue to be messed up and history repeats itself.



And so the story begins...

15 years after the concluding scene in IP, Lisette passes the Book of Hours to her younger daughter, Elise/Elise. The relationship between Lisette and Brian is tensed or troubled. He's always had the suspicion that Lisette doesn't love him as much as she loves Michael, which strains their relationship. Matters are worsened by the fact that while Michael has handed over the reins at Fynn Productions, his influence casts a shadow at work. Feeling frustrated by the fact that he seems to be constantly living in Michael's shadow, Brian grows distant from Lisette.

Harriet is equally frustrated. Seeing Lisette's younger daughter and her half sister, Elise, reminds her of the condition imposed upon her relationship with Kit: No children. She chafes at the unfairness of it all. She decides to break that condition after seeing how a young actress seems to be trying to seduce Kit. She successfully gets Kit to bed but he admonishes her after finding out that she'd stopped birth control. They have a big fight and Harriet storms off after accusing him of not viewing her as an equal ever since he found out about her parentage; that he's imposed the condition because he doesn't think she's clean enough to bear his child. Harriet runs into Brian and both of them drink away their sorrows. And in the course of that, they vent their frustration against Lisette, Lizzie and Kit (who Michael also gave shares/a role in the company) and end up in bed together. They wake up and regret it, agreeing never to tell anyone about their one night stand.

Eight weeks later, Harriet finds out she is pregnant but she's afraid to tell anyone because she doesn't know who the father of her child is. She cannot confide in Lisette because the fact that she had a one night stand with Brian might be exposed and cause everyone greater hurt. Desperate, she turns to Lizzie. Lizzie is in a dilemma and turns to Michael. Both Lizzie and Michael are saddened by how their indiscretions have led to even more complicated lives for their offspring and their grandchildren.

Kit struggles with fending off the attentions of a young actress and is frustrated by Harriet's emotional behaviour and withdrawal. He has been grooming Lisette's younger daughter (Elise) who has inherited her mother’s talent. Elise is worried about the tension at home and blames Lisette for her absences from home and preoccupation with performances and Fynn Production. She's jealous of Harriet whom Lisette seems particularly close to and envies Harriet's close relationship with Uncle Kit whom she idolises because of his artistic talent. She falls in love with Kit and when Harriet is away during the pregnancy (staying with Lizzie, telling Kit she needs time away to think), she takes advantage of Kit's loneliness and seduces him in a way that eerily echoes Lisette's seduction of Michael. Kit is remorseful but his loneliness gets the better of him and he has an affair with Elise.


Harriet finds out about Elise and is furious. Confronting Kit and Elise, having summoned them from London to Kinloch, she exposes the entire sordid family history to all. Lizzie is shocked by the mess that has exploded and tries to keep the whole scandal from Michael whose health hasn't been great since his heart attack. Lizzie herself is having problems because she's been getting more and more forgetful, worsened by the stress from all the scandals which has taken its toll on her. She's diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Realising she might not have the ability to save the family, she calls the family together, including Greta who's been distant since she got into ballet school. Greta has suspected that her family's more complicated than most for some time but hasn't wanted to be involved. She's appalled by the full truth and feels disgusted by Michael and Lizzie, blaming them for the mess the family finds itself in and also the episode with Tyrone which has scarred her. James tries to counsel her and eventually persuades her to forgive and reconcile with the family.

Michael notices Lizzie's deterioration and is grieved by the fact that his wife is slipping away day by day. His anguish is increased by her episodes of delusion where she mistakes him and Kit for Clement and he mulls over the question of how much she'd loved Clement. Yet, after her delusional episodes, she apologises profusely to Michael and assures him that she loves him most. Knowing that she's deteriorating fast, Lizzie writes or records her last words to each member of the family.


She apologises to Kit for not being the best mother ever because he was a constant reminder of the period of weakness that resulted in her having an adulterous affair with Clement and resulted in his birth. She hopes he will forgive her and put his talent to good use. She also apologises to Harriet, acknowledging that there were times when looking at Harriet was difficult because she reminded her of Lisette's and Michael's affair which she had forgiven but never forgotten. She hopes Harriet will escape from the cursed influence of the Book of Hours. And that Harriet’s writing talent provides her a means of expiating her negative emotions. She also apologises to James for her failure as a mother and begs him to keep the family together. She apologises to Lisette and confesses her occasional jealousy of Lisette and Harriet but knows she has no moral ground to condemn them since she cheated on Michael. She exhorts Lisette to take back the Book of Hours from Elise so that its pernicious effects would end. She tells Greta to forget the past and explains why she never wanted Greta to receive the Book of Hours, telling her to find love that will bring her out of the shadows and into the light.


In between the times when Lizzie is busy writing her letters( they become a counterpart to the Book of Hours), more drama ensues. Harriet writes her last novel, in which she weaves an ancient curse haunting a family of female descendants of a member of French royalty and the complicated relationships that ensue in a modern celebrity family. The reaction from a group of beta readers is extremely positive but Harriet makes her agent promise not to release the book till a year later. She seems to be convinced that she does not have long to live. Elise is pregnant, Kit goes into deep depression. Harriet comes to terms with what has happened between Kit and Elise but  refuses to forgive either of them openly. Harriet secludes herself on the private part of the estate and writes feverishly. Harriet gives birth to fraternal twins and dies a few days later after confessing the one night stand and running way upon seeing the devastation on Kit’s face (either birth complications or suicide in the loch).  Lisette is devastated and tries to find comfort in Michael but is rebuffed when she tries to offer him comfort through her body. He puts it plainly that part of the fault for the whole family mess is a result of his mistake and his decision to take matters too far with Lisette.

After some discreet tests, the female twin is confirmed to be Kit's child while Brian fathered Harriet's boy. Kit shuts himself away, refusing to talk to anyone till James brings him something that he found in Harriet’s room. It is the plot of her last novel and a complete script for a musical play based on the novel. Kit tells James he  is devastated but has forgiven Harriet. He vows to make the musical play a success as tribute to Harriet. He looks at his daughter fondly but refuses to care for her and instead begs James to take on the infant out of pity for his two half siblings. James is worried and keeps a watch on Kit. Staying isolated in his room, Kit works on the musical relentlessly. He ignores Elise and Lizzie and refuses to speak to anyone other than James. He writes his final song in the musical and then commits suicide by walking into the loch one early morning while James is passed out from exhaustion. Elise feels she's blamed for Harriet’s and Kit’s death and is resentful, Michael and James give her a dressing down and she breaks down and complains that she's always thought Lisette didn't love her as much as Harriet. Lisette has an emotional breakdown and Brian comforts her, they reconcile and decide to adopt Brian's new son.

Elise gives birth and it's a girl, but she chooses not to save the child (who needs medical help because it is a premature baby) because she doesn’t want tragedy to be overshadow the child’s life. She regrets the influence of the Book of Hours and hands it back to Lisette before leaving to pursue her career, which is ironically launched through Kit and Harriet’s musical play. James and Isla decide to adopt Harriet/Kit's daughter since they only have a son and Isla hasn't been able to have more children.

In the background of this, Michael and Lizzie have been living in an isolated part of the estate and have not been told of all the latest tragedies to hit the family. Lizzie dies in Michael's arms in the middle of the night, he's heartbroken and weeps as he reads Lizzie's letter to him. He realises his love is now gone from the earth and that she loved him most even when she'd lost her memory. He fancies he sees her smiling at him from the window and feels pain in his chest. He loses consciousness with a smile on his face even as a final tear runs down his face. He gives Lizzie a final kiss and they die with their arms around each other.

James and the rest of the family bury the couple in a shared grave. James talks about there having been too many funerals in the family and hugs Isla as they walk back. Harriet and Kit are also reunited in the family graveyard though it's with great trouble because James wants to keep it all a secret. The reclaiming of the bodies is done as part of a rescue effort for the twins (Kit and Harriet) who have allegedly drowned in an accident.

The final scene sees Lisette burning the Book of Hours as the voice of Margaret tells her it's time for her descendants to live their lives without the past hanging over them. Lisette fancies that she sees the faint figures of Lizzie and Michael, young and in love as they once were, hands linked while running into the misty distance.


That concludes the weirdest story line this reviewer has ever written.


Think this reviewer has a future in soap plot writing?

Let this reviewer know what you think of the twisted fantasy plot!

Posted by VReads

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Review of Illicit Passion and Dangerous Liaisons

Before this review is launched in earnest, let this reviewer start by pointing out that she had not embarked on this review with any intention of reacting so emotionally. Fortunately or otherwise, she did and it might well be to the credit of author Sarah Stuart that she did. Let’s hope this review doesn’t turn into a rant or some literary analysis!

This reviewer started reading Illicit Passion without the foggiest idea that it was part of a series. What seemed like incomprehensible behaviour on the part of the characters and the nonchalant attitudes they had towards issues which were quite serious made this reviewer grit her teeth and do the only thing possible, read the first book Dangerous Liaisons as well.

With that in mind, readers should understand the plot summary below relates only to Illicit Passion (IP), though arguably the plot of Dangerous Liaisons (DL) is largely rehashed sufficiently in IP for most readers not to be too lost.



Title: Illicit Passion (& Dangerous Liaisons)

Author: Sarah Stuart

Plot in a snap:

Broadway star Lisette Marsh makes a desperate escape from her abusive companion Kevin Tyrone, who it turns out is blackmailing her with the threat of exposing the incestuous affair she had with her father, superstar Michael Marsh, almost 20 years ago. Tyrone is out for blood and money as Michael Marsh was behind a move that ended his budding career all those years back. The Marshes dealt with the threat of scandalous rumours that threatened to expose and discredit their business and reputation by registering the result of that incestuous affair, Harriet, as one of a set of twins born of LIzzie, Michael's wife and Lisette's mother. In present day, an elaborate plan is hatched by Michael Marsh to revive and discredit speculation surrounding the nature of his relationship with Lisette, thereby neutralising Tyrone’s hold over Lisette. Thus begins a series of musical performances across Europe dogged by feelings of guilt, fear and lust as Tyrone renews his threats and Michael confronts the consequences of his incestuous affair and the impact it has had on his wife and family. Can Michael save his career, family and reputation? Can Lisette escape the clutches of a man who has tormented her for close to 16 years? Can Lisette and Michael resist the temptation to rekindle their incestuous affair? Will history repeat itself?


What worked:
The Drama and Elements of the Supernatural
The storyline, while carrying echoes of Harold Robbins and Jackie Collins, is intriguing and Stuart has managed to draw from both the main plot and the subplot of the Book of Hours, a book that traces the tumultuous love lives of a line of (often illegitimate) female descendants from Margaret Tudor all the way to the present day females in the Marsh family, to create an intriguing plot. However, as some reviewers have noted, there needs to be clearer signposting of parts where the Book of Hours comes in and the relevance or parallels its narrative has for the present female owner and the Marsh family females. It's clear that the Book of Hours is more sinister than it appears, having influenced Lisette and Harriet in ways that have proved destructive and pushed them firmly beyond normal social boundaries. Yet, this sinister influence is not fully fleshed out, which is a pity since it is an excellent plot device. And this reviewer has a question for the author if she happens to read this review: why does the interpretation of the coded messages in the Book of Hours appear to be dependent on its reader - if it is meant to be a plot device, could this be linked to the mental/psychological state of its reader?


What didn't work too well:

Normalising Taboos

Taboo subjects, particularly one as culturally sensitive as incest, is always hard to handle. It could be because of the reading history of this reviewer, having been exposed to the VC Andrews pantheon from a young age. However, where Andrews manages to handle the subject without condemnation or affirmation, creating instead an awareness of the potential horrible consequences of such a taboo act, Stuart seems to have, as another reviewer on Goodreads puts it, made it normal and even romanticised it to some extent.

Now, let the reviewer qualify this by saying she had not read the first book, having purchased IP on Kindle without knowing it was part of a series when a friend pointed her in the direction of an interesting read. Yet, based on what is described of Michael and what Lisette says of her incestuous affair, it is hard to see any remorse, guilt or discomfort with the breaking of the taboo. Lisette says at one point, when her father Michael lies in a coma in a hospital bed, and she is trying to bring him out of his coma by talking to him, that she recalls the time when their lovechild, Harriet was conceived in love and how she recalls his precaution of taking off the crucifix (that he has on even in that hospital bed) that hung around his neck for fear that it would bruise her. She goes on to recall (aloud) that there were also times where he couldn't take it off in time because they were so desperate for each other. Seriously? She's saying this when he's ostensibly on his deathbed and the consequences of their incestuous affair is what has kept her under the control of a monster like Tyrone for over 15 years? And in the hearing of nurses or medical staff in a hospital ward when rumours of the incestuous affair are spreading like wildfire?



If that doesn't throw readers into a spin, more is to come.

Pendulum Characters and the Definition of Selfish

It is the characterisation that has the reviewer questioning this book. The writing is pretty good, the plot is intriguing but the characters have me going ?? Of all the characters, Michael is clearly supposed to be the lead hero of course. Yet this hero can't seem to control his urges. This is a man who is described to be a faithful and devoted husband, one who never betrayed his wife  despite his obvious charms and superstar status, till that incestuous affair with his own daughter, Lisette. Again,having not read the first book at that point, the reviewer was baffled at a hero whose his behaviour and thoughts in this book betray a man who feels no guilt or compunction about the fact that he has fathered a child who is both his daughter and granddaughter and seems eager to thwart Tyrone's plans as much because of the hurt it would cause Lisette as the impact it would have on his status and fortune. The narrative of IP is littered with instances where he's tempted to resume the incestuous affair with Lisette as they tour Europe on performances.

Sure, guilt in relation to his wife Lizzie creeps in in between scenes but it seems ameliorated by the fact that he barely refrains from having full on sex scenes with his daughter. The plot device of stage kisses and offstage kisses worsens everything and gives the storyline that shade of implausible.That the plot device was essentially recycling one used in DL  (where the blurring of lines because of a performance that involved Michael and Lisette acting as lovers and exchanging kisses and having nude scenes) that drew out the incest plot in that first book made me even more leery of it.The upshot of the taboo plot is that Michael, in one last offstage scene, kisses Lisette passionately and shows her how desirable she is (presumably, by pushing his arousal against her stomach) in order to get her confident enough to fight for a man who loves her, one who is not a family member, Brian.



Really? And did the reviewer mention that the hospital scene with Lisette was also after Lisette considered Brian as a potential lover and life mate.

And it gets worse. Harriet, the product of incest, not only inherits the Book of Hours, which certainly did not improve her personality, goes on a self-destructive rampage after finding out the truth behind her parentage. All this after she basically engages in incest herself, sleeping with her twin, Kit, before she found out he was not her twin but still a relative of sorts, a half-uncle. Kit himself is hardly a sympathetic character, since he mopes around, thinking he is unappreciated (as does Harriet) because his parents' attention are focused on his youngest sister, Greta. And this is before he finds out he's actually the child of an adulterous affair between Lizzie and her former employer Clement who so happens to be Michael's best friend, having been a force behind Michael's rise to stardom. Coincidentally, it was also Clement (another faithful lover who after 50 years of faithfulness to his dead love Kathleen, sleeps with a married employee and fathers a child with her) who decided to cast Lisette with Michael in the performance that led to the incestuous affair.

So guilt abounds, Lizzie feels guilty for having broken her vows through her affair with Clement, Michael feels guilty that he betrayed his wife by having an incestuous affair with Lisette. He also feels guilty that Harriet, his lovechild (and with all the signs in the book, his favourite child who he loved the minute she was born, incest notwithstanding) is in danger because of Tyrone. But, and it is a big but, the guilt is flimsy, Michael does not seem to regret the incestuous affair, he does not even regret having a lovechild from that incestuous affair because that would mean regretting Harriet, his favourite child. What he regrets seems to be the potential impact of fallout from the affair upon his reputation and business. Granted, his feelings of guilt towards Lizzie is tempered by the fact that they both broke their vows, but it counts for nothing whenever he recalls the affair with Lisette and the joy he finds in Harriet. He swings like a pendulum in his emotions and behaviour. His lack of shame where Harriet is concerned contrasts with Lizzie's conflict when it comes to Kit, who she keeps a  distance from because he is a constant reminder of her infidelity and the guilt she feels because as she tells Michael, she loved Clement. In fact, a scene in DL where she mourns the dead Clement refers to Clement as a man she loved too much. For scenes  meant to be touching and emotional and characters whom readers are supposed to understand and empathise with, it didn't quite work. As a reader, there was an impulse to say, "seriously, don't bother, Michael loved and still loves Lisette, has no guilt over Harriet, so why should you?" For all the professions Michael makes of his love for Lizzie, there is no real proof. Even if it were simply Lizzie and Michael, there’s so much pendulum motion that readers might feel like the cat in the picture below.



So clearly, the biggest problem this reviewer has with this book is characterisation. For me, what clinches the case is the characterisation of Harriet. How does a supporting heroine like Harriet evoke such ire? Well, from the start, she's whiny. She whinges constantly about how spoiled and pampered Greta, the youngest child, is from the start of the novel and waxes lyrical about her affair with Kit. Then she goes on some mad rampage after discovering her parentage, blames Lisette and even Lizzie for perceived coldness and distance but never blames Michael. It was however, her nonchalance and refusal to help when they finally discover why Tyrone keeps sending messages about having Lisette's daughter in his clutches and demanding ransom when Harriet is clearly with the rest of the family - the fact being that he had kidnapped the wrong girl and was torturing Greta - that outs her firmly as a selfish b*tch. Even when Kit turns on her for her attitude, it doesn't help. And Michael's reaction condemns him too : he collapses from a heart attack when he thinks Tyrone has Harriet but is all calm and rational when he discovers Tyrone has Greta, refusing to allow Lisette (who in a break from the normal programming, steps forward to volunteer returning to Tyrone in exchange for Greta) to make sacrifices. Seriously?? This reviewer didn't wonder at Lizzie's urge to attack him at that point. And he goes on to claim that he would give his life to get Greta back for Lizzie if nothing else. Someone get some help for this man.

After all that messed up behaviour, the reviewer was no longer surprised when Michael started comforting Harriet by telling her that she should pursue her happiness even if it meant conducting an incestuous affair with Kit in the shadows. All this even when Harriet was perhaps the coldest person alive when it came to the hodgepodge plot to rescue Greta. Oh and Michael, after his heroic rescue of Greta (sans emotion sans guilt though Greta, the most innocent member of the messed up family, was captured and tortured by a psychopathic and abusive man almost entirely as a consequence of his incestuous affair), actually thinks he didn't deserve the offhand and distant attitude with which Greta treats him.



If there is a hero in this story, it probably has to be James by default, Michael's son with Lizzie. Though even here, there's some messed up. Never mind that some mix up with the phones means he's out of the loop where information about the whereabouts of Harriet is concerned and results in wasted valuable time tracking down the wrong victim. What sticks in the craw is his blasé attitude towards his messed up parents' affairs as well as his messed up siblings both half (Kit and Harriet) and full (Lisette) in both books. Which is matched by his obsession with the au pair which leads him to easily ignore the fact that his youngest full sister had been missing. It's ironic when the entire family seemingly thinks Greta is the spoiled youngest child always getting into trouble and clamouring for attention that it takes forever for them to notice she's missing. And James seems to be the only one who even feels guilt when he realises how neglected Greta really is. The family's cavalier attitude towards Greta after the ordeal she suffers compared to the excessive concern they have for Lisette and Harriet in comparison is what potentially puts readers off from connecting with the characters.

Michael, in particular, doesn’t look too good in contrast. Where he had been worried about the psychological impact and scarring for Harriet when he thought Tyrone had her held as hostage is noticeably absent when it comes to Greta. He spends more time comforting Harriet, who's the drama queen and who had gone off on a revenge jag than he does the daughter (Greta) he claimed to have been willing to give his life to save for Lizzie. And who he himself notes is another (arguably the most) innocent victim of those stolen weeks of the incestuous affair he had with Lisette. He even says he wants Greta to go look at Bob and Isla when they return because it would do her good to see others have suffered.



The clear preference he has for the child born of incest makes his claims of love for Lizzie and his other children that much more suspect.

If there were any illusions that the first book would offer more palatable characters, they were fairly quickly dashed. After reading DL, this reviewer had even more jaundiced view of Michael, Clement (and male characters in the book generally) and Lisette as well as Lizzie. Generally, Lizzie's motivation for having an affair with one of their oldest friends seems rooted in not just loneliness but also, one suspects, a curious sense of wanting to punish Michael. And that is before she found about the incestuous and adulterous affair. Lisette's motivation seems more complicated, mixing idol worship of the superstar that Michael is and also a sense of wanting to prove her own desirability in addition to punishing and rivaling her mother.

On the other hand, Michael and Clement seem to have embarked on affairs almost as a way to relieve stress associated with their career/artistic productions, the artist plea so it would seem. But more disturbing is how coincidentally, both men's second sexual encounters (there could have
been more but this reader's memory only extends to two detailed encounters being described)seem connected to punishing women; Clement in punishing James for his infractions through his command(no other description seems apt) to Lizzie to get into bed with him ; and Michael where he takes Lisette repeatedly on a night where it is revealed that Lizzie had turned up for the debut performance of the musical for Clement's sake but seemingly snubbed Lisette and him. In that one act, Michael and Lisette get back at Lizzie more effectively than would otherwise be possible.



Adding to the cauldron of the “unbelievable spell” is the calm, almost coldly rational way in which everyone who comes to know of the acts of mutual betrayal carried out by Lizzie, Clement, Michael and Lisette react to the situation. Michael's reaction to Lizzie's revelation of adultery on her part is understandable since he's done worse. It's Lizzie's, Margaret's and James' reactions that are baffling. It's partly these reactions that seem to romanticise the taboo of incest in this series and make it seem acceptably normal. To a certain extent, the fuss-free reaction of James and Michael to Lizzie's adulterous affair and the fact that she bears another man's child as a result of that affair also normalises adultery. Something completely incompatible with a story focussed on love one would think. The almost surreal nature of this aspect of the books may be summed up as:
The drama is not in the betrayals  but the fact that society's "normal" reaction becomes something abnormal and everyone is pitching in to cover things up and act normal because god forbid their reputation should be destroyed and they should lose everything for having broken such taboos and norms. This is about as much as this reviewer can make sense of the spirit of unity that seems to power this family. Subversion of norms and conventions seem to be the key technique employed.
There’s only one term that sums this up perfectly: clusterfuck. It’s so twisted, it defies a pretzel, so here’s the best visualisation the reviewer could find:



Gender Inequality

That last point brings this reviewer to the next observation: Though the men are equal partners in crime so to speak, neither Michael nor Clement actually lose anything. The women, however, suffer to varying degrees. Lizzie is haunted by guilt over her affair and never manages to get close to Kit who is a constant reminder of her adultery, worsened by the fact that she declares she loved Clement (though, in a typical pendulum mode, she also declares variously that she loves Michael and that she is never sure if Clement ever loved her or just Kathleen through her). And Lisette of course goes through hell for 15 years to protect Michael and the secret of the lovechild their incestuous affair produced. That is balanced by the fact that through Clement, Lisette also comes into fame and fortune via the career he launches her into and also the estate she inherits upon his death.
Harriet is perhaps an exception as she largely suffers from the anguish of the secret of her parentage, yet is largely set on a destructive trajectory not by Kit but her own desire (to punish those who helped conceal her true identity) and her selfishness. Of course, even she has to accept the harsh condition of being denied the joys of parenthood because of her potentially scandalous and incestuous relationship with Kit.

The men? They escape largely unscathed. Sure Michael suffers a heart attack but that is a result of his guilt complex with regards to Harriet and Lisette. He doesn't seem to suffer the same anxiety towards his other offspring. Clement dies but not as a result of his affair and also seems to have suffer nothing despite having betrayed the woman he ostensibly loves beyond death and of course the friend whose wife he has an affair with and even gains an heir through that affair.

Seen in a more cynical light, the characters are downright awful. Clement is a selfish, manipulative bastard who doesn’t hesitate about using emotional blackmail and his power to get who or what he wants. Lisette is an immoral and selfish bitch addicted to competing with her mother and securing a powerful older man as mate, always wanting what she can’t have. Lizzie is a weak, fickle and insecure woman who has no time for her kids or husband and has an unhealthy desire to depend on a stronger older man. Michael is the randy goat who, despite professing profound love for his wife, has no compunction or regrets in indulging in an incestuous and adulterous affair, using various excuses and his surfeit of emotions to justify his behaviour and inability to restrain himself.


Theatricality

The one thing that developed really well in DL which became a little muddled in IP was the element of theatricality. DL intentionally or otherwise, reminded this reviewer of scenes from a play, where confrontations seemed like set pieces of a drama or musical. In essence, DL was a little like Into The Woods where the fairy tales flourish quite well in the first half but disintegrate into a disturbing, almost ugly mess of dysfunction in the second half.

Similar elements of theatricality appear in IP  from intermeshing scenes of stage performances, songs and thoughts/speech and action as well as the use of flashbacks and memories that blend past and present. It's enhanced by the parallels that are disturbingly close between the Book of Hours and the overarching saga of the Marsh family. When Greta is instructed to act in the farce after she's rescued, the theatrical family takes literal shape. The reviewer can't help but wonder if the characters know if they are truly in love or acting the part. Michael's constant vacillation between the temptations of lust and loyalty to his professed one true love, Lizzie becomes so frequent and could degenerate to the comic vacillations of the fool in Shakespeare's comedies, which surely acts as unintended counterpoint to the references to the tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra in DL. That Lizzie and Lisette's names are so similar that they could be easily mistaken worsens the bathos of this plot device in the latter part of DL.

The whole theatrical feel and plot devices allow for the blurring of lines between acting and real life, onstage and offstage. Part of the whole difficulty for Lisette and Michael seems to be their ability to cordon off onstage and offstage. Lisette, in particular, seems to suffer from the inability to get out of method acting as there are indirect revelations that she has dated other leading men that she's starred with, including a married co-star whom she went out with in the US.



What is Love?

What pushed the ludicrous factor was the repeated insistence of the narrative on the fact that both men were utterly in love with their wives; Clement even defends his affair with Lizzie as a few
weeks after years of loving Lizzie while being faithful to his dead Kathleen and that he'd hoped Michael would never find out because he simply needed Lizzie because he needed to get through all the obstacles in the way of his producing his final and best tribute to his dead love. Seriously, so he fucks his best friend's wife to produce a musical that bears testimony to the everlasting love he has for his Kathleen, one that goes beyond the grave.


Then there's Michael who spends a whole lot of time in both books professing his great love for his wife but physically and emotionally cheats on Lizzie with their daughter Lisette. Makes this reviewer wonder: Do they ever listen to themselves? And if they do, do they really believe what they profess? Do these people even know what love and fidelity mean?
Who does Michael really love? If he truly loves Lizzie, could he have had real love for Lisette? If he has real love for Lisette, which seems implied in his favouring of Harriet (guilt complex included), what does that say of Michael's alleged endless love for Lizzie? Or is he hopelessly confusing Lisette and Lizzie as could perhaps be inferred from the scene when Margaret calls him to inform him that Lisette is in labour though arguably he has to conflate the two since no one else is supposed to know Lisette is pregnant.

Lizzie is equally complicated in relation to Clement. Why did she decide to sleep with Clement after rejecting his advances? Apart from loneliness, was it a matter of getting back at Michael? And why would she want to keep Clement's child, apart from religion, which is a flimsy excuse since adultery is a sin itself. And referring to the fact that she indulged in adultery and produced an illegitimate child as an "odd hiccup" in a love that goes beyond the grave is liable to make most choke with disbelief.



The fact that Lizzie herself refers to her thoughts of Michael and Lisette’s incestuous relationship as making love, an echo of how Michael and Lisette themselves reference their relationship, points to how the characters live in their own fairy tale, where their standards and perspectives prevail. Yet the flimsy, delusional quality of that world is constantly highlighted by the fact that they have to hide these secrets, that their “love” must be hidden away. If it is true love and true love is priceless, then go public with it, suffer the consequences of flying the flag of true love, stop vacillating and hiding, true courage is being upfront about true love. If true love goes beyond the grave and characters are willing to give up their lives, what is public condemnation, being thrown in jail, being disgraced and losing fame and fortune? To do otherwise and agonise over how they can’t openly love is simply indulging in a bout of narcissistic masochism -

The reviewer is tempted to pose the following questions to the main characters:

Michael - If you had to choose one love and lose all others, which would you choose? Lizzie or Lisette? No vacillating and whining about how unfair it is that you had to choose.

Lizzie - Knowing what your moment of weakness and bouts of infidelity result in, would you stop yourself from indulging in adultery, even if it meant killing Clement and or Kit?


History repeats itself
This motif is not merely operating in relation to the parallels between the stories in the Book of Hours but also in terms of the different generations of the Marsh family. Harriet is perpetuating the pattern of incest and Michael and Lisette’s blasé attitudes merely extend the similar lack of reaction from Lizzie and Margaret in DL. This arguably sets the stage for history and tragedy to repeat itself.


Conclusion

The conclusion of both books ends almost as a repetition, focusing on Lisette, a character that the reviewer felt was one of the hardest to stomach in the series, and her hopes for the future. There seems to be little grounds for optimism for the Lisette and Brian pair up. Not only does her past and Harriet hang over her future with Brian, the closing scene in IP hints at the lingering echoes/shadows of Michael. Add to that what Lizzie said to Margaret in DL about how if Lisette's child turned out to be a girl, it would mean that Lisette would never love another man as much as she loved Michael. But frankly, Lisette has improved as a character. There were times in the series where this reviewer’s impression of Lisette’s character was such that there would have been little surprise if she had gone psycho and killed Lizzie or anyone standing in the way of her and Michael. While the reviewer is aware that the author has professed that part of her motivation in tackling the taboo of incest was to convey the message that people should not be so quick to condemn that which is beyond the bounds of social norms, yet, the excesses of the characters may well sabotage the cause.

If anything, there was a sense that this was a book about a surfeit of love and the tragedy that ensues from not understanding love is. Love, despite what the characters may espouse, does not excuse everything. Perhaps it is too old-fashioned but surely decency, loyalty and fidelity are qualities compatible with love. And qualities desirable even in contemporary society.

This reviewer hopes some sense of sombre reality will prevail in the final(?) book (Dynasty of Deceit) in the series. The Book of Hours and its cursed/tragic influence upon its current owner could be a way to bring this very strange drama to a poignant end. Tragic arc or not, Michael needs to be clear who he really loves and what love really is or entails - that is, take off the mask, exit the stage and enter real life Marsh family!
Amazon rating: 4*
Blog rating: 3* 

Please note blog ratings are in line with average rating being 3 and awesome being 4.


Reviewed by VReads

Amazon links for Illicit Passion and Dangerous Liaisons

In return for the emotional toil (LOL) suffered by this reviewer, there is an additional post coming up which offers a potential ending for the series - watch for it!