Shifter – Anthology Review

Maybe it’s just been on my mind lately, the question of consent, seduction, romance. Of being carried away, even if it’s irrational, even if it’s a bit – or more than a bit – dangerous, even if it’s inconvenient. But there was a common thread in this collection revolving around choice and will that seemed to really jump out at me.

*In Angela Knight’s Mad Dog Love, a space opera about a politically oppressed princess and an enslaved werewolf, technology has given each person a nanosystem of molecule-sized robots flowing in their bloodstreams, that help fight disease, bolster strength, and house libraries of information. But when hacked or controlled externally, they can turn a person’s body into a puppet at the mercy of the programmer. In this particular story, it was more of an external plot device than something used in the romance, but you can see how easily it could take that turn.

*In Lora Leigh’s “A Jaguar’s Kiss,” the biologically engineered Breed subrace is characterized by, among other things, a heightened mating imperative. When a Breed recognizes his mate, his body begins producing high levels of a particular hormone which can be transmitted via fluids, ie, a kiss. The hormone, to put it bluntly, makes both parties unbearably horny for each other and unable to tolerate the touch of another. In this novella, the heroine, Natalie, receives this hormone completely unknowing of its implications.

*Virginia Kantra’s “Sea Crossing” tells of a young 19th-century schoolteacher, fallen from grace, who is leaving England for indentured servitude in Canada. A community of selkies, elemental sea creatures, arrange matters to bring Emma to their island to teach their adolescent population, teenagers on the brink of their first Change:

”You were needed.” His eyes pleaded with her for understanding. “And you’ve been happy here. Emma—“

“But I didn’t have a choice! Those poor people who lost everything on the ship didn’t have a choice! I may be human and mortal and insignificant, but I know we deserve a choice.” He was looking at her as if she were the monster, as if she were a strange, rare beast who might suddenly sprout fur and flippers and swim away.

“A choice,” he repeated.

Her chest felt tight. She stuck out her chin. “Yes.”

He nodded slowly. “Very well. I will speak to my lord. Tomorrow, after you have said good-bye to the children, I will take you wherever you want to go.”

Emma’s mouth dropped open. Her chest caved in.

Fantastic.

What I liked about these stories though, is that regardless of the circumstances that brought the h/h together and their feelings around whatever deliberate manipulation or deception happened, in each of the four stories, the resolution required each character to choose to stay, to make the commitment, to explicitly decide that they wanted the other.

Some did it better than others. This anthology popped my Lora Leigh Breed cherry, so to speak, though I’ve heard an awful lot about them. Frankly, I wasn’t that impressed.

(Saban says…) “I’ve burned for you through the days and the nights. I’ve ached for your touch, and even that you would not give me. I flirted, I teased. I did everything those fucking books said a man should do, and nothing worked.”

Natalie stared back at him, confused, uncertain. “And you thought throwing me into this would?” she finally asked bitterly. “That forcing my compliance was the only step left? You forced this on me, Saban. How is it any different than rape?”

How was it different? His lips opened, fury pounded in his head that she would think such a thing, that she could ever believe that he would force such a choice from—

Saban felt it then, the knowledge, the certainty, from her point of view, that it was exactly what he had done. He had given in to his own frustration, his anger at her defiance, his hunger, and he had unleashed it on her in a way that she could never fight, one that she could never escape.”

Nice, huh? I mean, I guess it’s OK if he was REALLY REALLY hot for her, then it’s different, right? Even this revelation is qualified: “from her point of view.” Now, I realize this hormone thing is fictional, but given that premise, it was rape from ANY point of view. Maybe worse than rape, because there is no out, no escape, no support group, no 12-step program. The fact that Saban gets it holds out some promise, but then it all gets wiped away because Natalie realizes that actually? She was asking for it, so it was her fault:

(Natalie says…) “It’s not the same as rape.”

Saban clenched his teeth and fought the need to fist his hands.

“You decided this for what reason?” He lowered the grill lid and watched it, as though in watching it he could make it heat and burn away the shame inside him.

“Because I already suspected the truth of it,” she finally said. “I knew it existed and I pushed anyway because you were frustrating the hell out of me.”

Oh, OK. Since she was attracted to him, it isn’t really rape. Got it. Yuck.

I picked up this particular anthology for the Alyssa Day story, and liked it well enough. Not as complex or dark as the full length novels, but good characters, and I’m just OCD enough to need to read it because it’s part of the overall series arc.

I also liked the selkie story quite a lot; I don’t think I’m going to be able to resist picking up Sea Witch after the little teaser at the end.

The big surprise for me was the Angela Knight story. Futuristic, techy sci-fi space opera is probably my least favorite sub-genre, with or without romance; however, I’m a total sucker for compelling characters and Knight drew me in instantly. Within 20 pages, she establishes two unique main characters with compelling motivations; the ruthless depths of the primary villain, and an irresistible storyline where we’re already wondering who can be trusted and who has betrayed whom. Fabulous! And hey, how often do we get a good zero-gravity sex scene? I had my doubts about some of the technical details, but what the hell, it was good clean dirty fun anyway.

Darkness Chosen Series, by Christina Dodd - Review

Love. This. Series.

I’ve been a Christina Dodd fan for a long time. Historicals, contemporaries, and now paranormals – this writer does it all and does it well.

Generally I try to provide some kind of angle on an author, but I’m having a little trouble pinning anything unique down for Ms. Dodd. Now, that sounds like a bad thing—are her stories generic? No, not at all, but I think she doesn't have a particularly distinctive style. She takes advantage of trends, moving from medievals to Regencies to contemporaries to paranormals with the shifts in the market. If she weren’t so damn good at what she does, some folks might find that objectionable. So if you’re a die-hard historical fan who got hooked on her Regencies, I suppose you might be annoyed.

I’m trying really hard not to damn Dodd with faint praise here, with words like “reliable” and “competent” coming to mind. Make no mistake, these are big compliments as far as I’m concerned. It’s no secret that there are a lot of crappy books out there on the new release tables, and for me, it’s nice to know where to go for a sure thing.

Even so, I was surprised when I saw the sneak peek for Scent of Darkness. Fortunately, I was well into my recent paranormal addiction, and it was a very tantalizing peek indeed (yummmm) so I couldn’t wait to scoop it up. Jasha is about as hunky as they get, and I loved Ann’s quiet competence.

After two years or so of near-immersion in paranormal romance and fantasy, I’ve started to figure out one of the make-or-break points in this kind of story: it's the moment when the mortal, “normal” character realizes that something very weird is going on. Dodd handles it perfectly, IMO, by 1)offering incontrovertible evidence—Ann watches Jasha shapeshift before her eyes—and then 2)throwing them into mortal physical danger without allowing them too much time to think. Let the adrenaline kick in, and logic can get sorted out later. By contrast, I’m having some trouble with Jacob, by Jacqueline Frank, and I think it’s because the heroine is just so calm about it all. Demons, you say? How interesting. How lovely. They seem nice. Ooo, look at all the books. Oooooookay then.

I really like the mythology that Dodd builds up for this series. It’s straight from traditional Russian fairy tales, with a bit of Catholic mysticism thrown in for good measure. The premise is that the Varinski family made a deal with the Devil some thousand or so years ago, and the moment is now upon them where the deal just might be broken. On the line is no less – and no more—than the immortal souls of the current branch of Varinsky tree (Americanized to the Wilders), deeply marked by evil but struggling toward redemption. While the author describes the struggle as “epic,” in one blog post, I don’t really see it that way. Star Wars is epic. The Wayfarer Redemption series (a double trilogy) is epic. Nothing less than an entire planet and its sentient population is at stake. Epic is pretty hard to do, IMO. A single family, far-flung as it may be, struggling more or less in secret, is a far more believable scope for urban fantasy; especially if it's set in the same world I'm supposed to recognize. And Dodd does a good job of balancing the Varinski’s evil “superpowers” with her own brand of kryptonite.

Touch of Darkness, well, it moved so fast I didn’t really notice its flaws until after I was done, which pretty much tells you its strong point: it does a great job of forwarding the series arc, the action is superb and the pacing hurtles you through it. Tasya is perhaps Ann’s polar opposite; an adventurous photojournalist bent on revenge, who has an inkling of the Wilder family secret. And everyone knows that a journalist and a deep dark family secret is a bad combination. The sparks between her and Rurik were good too. My one complaint is that their occupations, which have a lot of potential, were kind of just blown off after the first couple of chapters. Plus, I just don’t find birds as sexy as wolves or big cats, I guess.

Into the Shadow is by far my favorite. For those readers who are tired of seeing romances set in the same old places, try the Himalayas. In a region steeped in superstition, Karen is already a believer in things that go bump in the night before she discovers Adrik’s dark side. The seduction between the two of them is the hottest thing I’ve read in ages, and I don’t mean any single scene. Adrik is as edgy of a hero as I’ve ever seen, and yet his redemption is believable and gut-wrenching. Their relationship tests the unwritten boundaries of genre romance, and there is an element of non-consensuality that some may find untenable. For me, the way the characters manage it and react to it works, but others may disagree. The series arc ratchets up in violence as the unredeemed Varinskis throw all their significant, Devil-sponsored resources into preventing the Wilders from fulfilling the prophecy that will cost them their power. And Karen’s father plays a great role that goes well beyond the typical cardboard generator of daddy issues.

Into the Fire was a bit anticlimactic for me. With 20/20 hindsight, I think it’s fair to say that Dodd gave a little too much away in the preceding books, leaving the last one to be just too predictable. If anyone can’t figure out the role that Firebird is going to play in the prophecy before they even start the book; if anyone can’t figure out what the impossible thing that the little child does the instant the clue is dropped, well, that person would have to be even less subtle than I am. Which is pretty thick.

On the romance, I thought that the hero, Doug, was way underdeveloped. I suspect that there was just so much going on, so many ends to tie up, that there weren’t enough pages to develop the romance between Doug and Firebird. Another beef I had with this book is tough to discuss without spoilering, so I’ll just say I didn’t quite buy what happened with Firebird herself at the very end. And one last nit-pick-- the prologue is in the first person: some… person… listening to his? her? Russian grandmother tell the story of the Varinski legend. As I said, I’m not very good with subtle, and I haven’t the foggiest notion who this “I” person is. Which irritates me, perhaps disproportionately.

It sounds like I hated the book, but I didn’t at all. It missed the mark a bit, but the mark was set pretty high by the previous 3 books. What IS good about #4 is that it provides a satisfying conclusion to the series arc; really good action scenes and a Final Battle that thoroughly delivers. The role of the Rom and Zorana’s gifts in this final book was a great addition, hinted at in book 3 but realized in a way that still held some surprises. If you’re a fan of Dodd’s contemporaries, or of paranormal romances, I would still recommend the series as a whole, despite its imperfections. While the romance element faltered a little in two of the books, taking a backseat to the action, I found the mythology compelling enough to push through those flaws, and I have to say, I absolutely loved each of the four scenes where the icon was found. Situations of extreme danger, of blood and natural elemental fury, along with a touch of mysticism, made each of these scenes a standout. I particularly liked how each icon struck a deep chord with the heroines. Each was individual but each formed a part of a greater whole. A standout series, truly.

.

Teaser - Into the Shadow by Christina Dodd

This is book 3 of a 4-book series, and the last one is due out in a couple of weeks. So I'm going to wait for that one to do a full-up review.

But I just finished Into The Shadow and WOW. Dodd takes us into some really dark places with this one, and it's just... wow. It's really good. Go read this series if you haven't started it.

I will say that there's a level of non-consensuality about this story that some may find uncomfortable. It's definitely politically incorrect. This is a hero who starts out pretty damn evil. And yet.

Anyway. Watch for a more thorough review of the series in a couple of weeks. Meantime, get caught up, cuz it's a good series that's getting better and better.