Has.BookPusher Shelf

Author CL Parks posted a racist joke video on her Facebook account (Christy Parks) on September 7th. The video compares an Arab man to a goat. 

Blogger @has_bookpushers, of The Book Pushers blog (http://www.thebookpushers.com/), tweeted about the post today (Sept 9th) calling it out as racist. 

Parks responded with of tweets by the author claiming the video was a joke and not racist. To back up her claims she tweeted an image of journalist James Foley being beheaded. She also posted the video on her Twitter to demonstrate that @has_bookpushers claims it is racist were false. 

https://twitter.com/clparks05/status/509480042657636352

(Please note: This is the tweet where she includes the image of Foley's beheading. Clicking on the image of the tweet will take you to the tweet and the image.)

Parks also claimed that she was morning someone lost in the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001. 

Her husband and a few other accounts joined in the tweet attack against @has_bookpushers and her other supporters.

Parks also posted on her Facebook about being "attacked" on Twitter over the video and invited her followers to join the conversation.

For her antics, Parks has been blacklisted by @dearauthor. 

I am not going to write a detailed post about what happened to me but earlier to day. But I feel the need to warn people because after reading Tez Miller's post on author meltdowns which included the author CL Parks aka Christy Parks whose personal FB page is full of racist comments from her husband and friends, such as 'Sand Coons', inferring all arabs are animals. Generalizing and painting that the religion of Islam forbids women from learning to read (AHAHAHAHA) and a video she repeatedly posts of a goat garbling and then cuts to an arab man giving a speech in arabic. inferring that arabic speakers sounds like goats. I dread to think what she thinks of other non English speaking languages. But they do seem to have an issue with a certain group of people and religion.

I wont link to her page, or her twitter which she accuses me of lacking a sense of humour over the video which was just one of the reasons I called her out as a racist. And I definitely don't appreciate being tweeted a pic of the beheading of James Foley which was crass, classless and an awful thing to do for his memory and family. 

But I implore anyone who comes across this author to avoid like Herpes infected crabs because this is not an author that anyone should support or read. 

Full Review to be posted soon at The Book Pushers:

I really liked the premise which had a Harlequin Presents feel but set in a SF setting which had a struggling heroine making ends meets and a rich tycoon who goes doolaly over her. Kiri, the heroine is barely making a profit and makes a rash bet to help upgrade her coffee stall which goes horribly wrong. But don't worry because she gets swept off her feet and rescued by dashing and alphahole extraordinaire, Logan Stark. He is a bazillionaire (take that all you billionaires who are stuck with lower inflation rates.) And he soon becomes obsessed with Kiri although he wont admit to himself or to her that he has developed deep feelings for her which leads to a major misunderstanding a conflict that I wasn't keen on.

I was also not keen on Logan who sleeps with another woman later in the book due to the misunderstanding that happened, which made him believe that Kiri also cheated on him. I am not a huge fan of this trope especially with the way the book ended which was pretty much abrupt with Logan and Kiri reunited but not in a full relationship due to their issues. I liked that Kiri stood up to Logan who felt like an utter cad for betraying her for something she was not responsible for. But I was left confused because while there were three upcoming sequels which were dedicated to their siblings which were not open ended. I did learn there is a fourth book which will go back to cover their issues which will come out this Fall. So I will definitely check this out even though it had the dreaded cheating trope.

But overall, this was a cute read and I loved the old skool feel in a vibrant and imaginative setting which had a noirish feel in New Seattle to the Western tone in the planet of Frontierer. The romance was good which ticked all the boxes for me a for a fun and cracky read despite the ending and the cheating. I'll definitely check out the sequels which will feature a miner for a hero and even better a Space Pirate!

[reblogged from 38 Caliber Reviews]

You all remember Maggie Spence, the "author" who called me at home and tried to intimidate me into changing my review and making my friends stop talking about her? If you missed all the fun try here and here.

All the more outrageous comments on KDP have been deleted  or edited by the mods and both of Maggie's GR accounts are gone since she was banned both times.

Maggie has to be jumping for joy at this moment because  ANNE RICE, she who thinks the universe rotates around her, has declared Maggie's actions to be in her favor.

Way to go, Annie. You notice that Rice carefully skirts around the fact that she hasn't and doesn't intend to actually look into what Maggie did, much like she carefully doesn't look at what the seemingly dormant STGRB really is about. Rice is losing credibility and this is part of the reason why.

I suppose I have to thank Rice for making me far more important than I really am, so, thanks. Don't expect a fruit basket.

Did you all know I'm a notorious blogger? Why didn't anybody tell me? Why am I always the last to know?

TNBRMB

Edit, just in case Rice repeats her support

I think it's much rarer now to read  a book which doesn't have condom use than those without. This isn't the 1970s anymore and I've even read a few historicals which had condom use which was realistically and historically accurate. 

But then again according to those who are like minded as this writer for this i09 thinks reading romance makes women dumb enough to be influenced with not using condoms. 

DNF - I am finding it hard to get into and feeling disconnected with the characters and plot. 

"It's very rare to find a good romance writer who can work within that form and still produce a good novel."

After I tweeted the above quote from Diana Gabaldon, someone replied with some interesting information.

ZOMG ZOMG ZOMG they better not mess this up but WB is adapting Pern series. DRAGONS here we goooooooooooo

Amazon is not playing around this time......

The important thing to note here is that at the lower price, total revenue increases 16%. This is good for all the parties involved:

* The customer is paying 33% less.

* The author is getting a royalty check 16% larger and being read by an audience that's 74% larger. And that 74% increase in copies sold makes it much more likely that the title will make it onto the national bestseller lists. (Any author who's trying to get on one of the national bestseller lists should insist to their publisher that their e-book be priced at $9.99 or lower.)

* Likewise, the higher total revenue generated at $9.99 is also good for the publisher and the retailer. At $9.99, even though the customer is paying less, the total pie is bigger and there is more to share amongst the parties.

Keep in mind that books don't just compete against books. Books compete against mobile games, television, movies, Facebook, blogs, free news sites and more. If we want a healthy reading culture, we have to work hard to be sure books actually are competitive against these other media types, and a big part of that is working hard to make books less expensive.

So, at $9.99, the total pie is bigger - how does Amazon propose to share that revenue pie? We believe 35% should go to the author, 35% to the publisher and 30% to Amazon. Is 30% reasonable? Yes. In fact, the 30% share of total revenue is what Hachette forced us to take in 2010 when they illegally colluded with their competitors to raise e-book prices. We had no problem with the 30% -- we did have a big problem with the price increases.

 

 

More on the link.

It goes without saying that Ilona Andrews are one of my favourite authors ever, and their Kate Daniels series is one of the best UF series around. I am going to try to avoid huge spoilers because it would really spoil the story for the reader if I go into detail.

Magic Breaks is a book that heralds the ending of a huge arc that spanned the last seven books that builds up to a huge confrontation that Kate has to face–her big, bad father who has been a looming shadow throughout the series.

I also found that the pacing was very tight and tension filled, and I was left in tenterhooks because the action doesn't let up until the culmination of the huge climactic ending that literally reflects the title of the book which is beyond fitting. I also loved the changes between the characters, especially with Kate and Curran, whose chemistry is a pure delight to watch from how much they’ve grown as a couple. I loved how committed and supportive they were with each other when they were facing huge uncertainty and danger.

The confrontation was well worth the wait with a few twists that I really loved because it showed how much growth and development that Kate went through in the past seven books. The other characters also illustrated similar development and changes and the outcome at the end of this book is going to bring out some delicious elements in the series, and I am eagerly awaiting to see how this pans out. Ilona and Gordon have unleashed new changes and a wonderful nuance to the characters and new ongoing story arc which keeps this series fresh and engaging. I think it will be fabulous to see how Kate and co will deal with a world things have been turned on its head.

This is one of the few series that seriously gives me the giddies and entranced with great cast of characters and heart-pounding and fast pace action sequences.

This review was originally posted at The Book Pushers

Molly, who had to deal with an icky boss and a sister who needs her support financially, has decided to leave her job and cut loose with her friends in Las Vegas. Instead of relaxing and enjoying cocktails in the bright lights of the city, her friend Arden has persuaded her and her friend Sofie to check out a dive bar on the outskirts of the city where she encounters a sexy biker called Cash who intrigues her. Circumstances lead her to having a date with Cash and their relationship soon turns into a hot fling.  But Molly finds herself in danger of losing her heart to the care-free stranger who has a love ‘em and leave ‘em philosophy.

A rowdy bar, bad boy biker heroes and a heroine who wants to let her hair down during a Las Vegas trip with her friends sounds like a great recipe of a fun and sexy romance. ROUGH AND TUMBLE did offer that element in the beginning with a great opening. It had a fun introduction to the characters, especially when Molly and Cash first encounter each other.  I really liked their scenes with each other, which was filled with witty and funny dialogue that helped to establish a good chemistry between them. Molly’s friends also made a good initial impression with me: Arden was wild and impetuous while Sofie was more careful and wary and is a voice of reason.

Nonetheless, I soon became annoyed towards Arden a few chapters into the book, who made some really stupid decisions over gambling. Although it led to a date between Molly and Cash as part payment of her losing in a shark game. I was left frustrated when it soon became apparent that Arden developed a gambling addiction and I was not keen on how it was handled towards the plot. I especially felt that it was a plot device to introduce a conflict and a way for Molly and Cash to have a date instead of developing a subplot with Arden. Arden had a lot promise as a character but became irritating, especially with the way she dealt with her issues with gambling. I was also left wondering if Sofie was going to have her own subplot romance with one of Cash’s friends because there were a few scenes in her POV. Nothing developed with Sofie, and I was left wondering why the author felt the need to show her POV when nothing really happened, other than illustrating the plot with Arden and her gambling. That in itself didn’t really bring the overall story forward in any way because I was not interested or drawn into their characters.

The promising beginning fizzled out for me, especially in the halfway stage of the book. I also had trouble connecting and engaging with the characters, although I liked Molly and Cash in the beginning. Their romance was frustrating because while the buildup had some sexy moments, I have to say I was disengaged with the plot and the characters, although I did enjoy some scenes between the two main leads. Those small moments was not enough for me to be engaged with the plot or the characters. I was also disappointed in the way the romance developed. The conflict between Molly and Cash was dragged out for too long. And the real reason why Cash became such a drifter and loner left me wondering if the romance and HEA was that believable, especially in the end which was rushed and glossed over.

I enjoyed some aspects of ROUGH AND TUMBLE, especially with the setting and some of the characters. The overall plot and the rushed ending left me a bit disconnected with the story. I would have loved to be drawn into this book because it had all the hallmarks of a wonderful romance, but it didn’t hit the sweet spot for me and I found it lacking in pace and lacking in characterisation with some of the characters, especially Arden and Cash.

I give ROUGH AND TUMBLE a C-

This review was originally posted at The Book Pushers:

http://thebookpushers.com/2014/06/27/cold-as-ice-by-anne-stuart/

I found myself in the mood to reread one of Anne Stuart’s books because I wantedd to read a romance with an anti-hero and she is my go to author for Gamma type heroes. COLD AS ICE is one of my favourite Stuart’s titles because not only it delivers one of the best hero who is a capital G in Gamma hero, I also loved the romance between Peter and Genevieve which really worked for me.

Genevieve is looking forward to a hiking holiday break in Costa Rica but has a last minute simple task to get some papers signed to billionaire Harry Van Dorn for her prestigious New York law-firm. However, what turned out to be a routine assignment becomes a fight for her life when she finds herself being an innocent bystander in a trap that is laid out by Peter Jenson, the enigmatic and cool assistant  for Van Dorn who is really a double agent for a secret organisation called The Committee. Peter’s mission is  to stop Van Dorn’s crazy quest to thrust the world into chaos and destruction via series of disasters and terrorist attacks although his plans are in disarray since Genevieve’s arrival which cracks his cool facade.

Anne Stuart has a real gift with creating anti-heroes like Peter Jenson, he is cool, calm and collected and even though he never loses his perspective with the mission, there were vulnerable layers with his character that was slowly unveiled. I also found it refreshing that he was bisexual and was pretty much a chameleon in the roles he would play for his missions. But I especially enjoyed the subtle cracks in his shield which becomes more apparent as the story develops about his feelings towards Genevieve who gets under his skin. I also enjoyed the banter between Peter and Genevieve who stands up for herself against his cool mask and I liked that he manages to crack her walls and facade that she has built up to hide her true self.

It made the romance between them feel like equals as well as multi-layered and even though Peter was stone cold, and would use any kind of weapon he had in hand whether it was sex or hand to hand combat to fulfill his agenda. I liked that he had hidden vulnerabilities which made him human even though he was deemed to be a ruthless killer and agent.

I would have liked more expansion on Genevieve’s character because while I liked the glimpses we got of her past and the reasons why she had built a shield around her masking her true self. This was not really explored more fully in the book with how her relationship developed with Peter who was aware of every nuance of her past and life and I would have liked more exploration on this especially since they both had similar perspectives about the world around them. I also never got the sense on what she wanted to do next after the events in the book and would have liked to see how that panned out although I found the ending pretty abrupt and I would have liked more time on their HEA.  I also found the villain to be a bit one dimensional for me, although I liked the subplot with his quest to create chaos and mayhem which was chilling. I did find that the climactic ending did have a TSTL moment with Genevieve’s character which made my eyes roll, although she does admit she made a huge mistake in doing something stupid and it was something she had to live with but that was a minor niggle.

Nonetheless, COLD AS ICE is classic Anne Stuart and I would highly recommend this book or its predecessor BLACK ICE as a good introduction to her books. Because she does fantastic Gamma heroes and in COLD AS ICE, Peter is a wonderful hero who despite being as aloof and cool, has a vulnerable layer especially towards the heroine despite their prickly toned romance. I wished that the ending had more time delving with their HEA but Anne Stuart sure knows how to write an dark themed romance and heroes and make them believable and engrossing.

I give COLD AS ICE a B+

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