Not a Book Review, but . . .

just my thoughts about a book I bought.

**I didn't make the next round in Lori Brighton's blog--Bummer--good luck to all the next rounders!**

I started reading this book a couple of weeks ago, and yes, it took this long for it to get interesting. No, this isn't a book by a debut author (I doubt if I would have stuck around!). It's DARK CURSE by Christine Feehan. Now, Feehan is a new-to-me author and I have serious doubts if I'll buy another book by her.

Why?

THE GOOD: First off, I'll say the back cover blurb did it's job, and the cover art was pretty decent, too, so I thought I'd take the chance. It was about an ancient race, Carpathian's and their fight against evil, along with a heroine who was part Carpathian, part mage, and part Dragonseeker, but belongs to no race. Okay, it was the dragon part that got me.

THE BAD: It starts off with a LOOONG prologue involving a child being abused, drained of blood/spirit and terrorized. YUCK. Then it pops to the present where the heroine stupidly involves her friends because she's too focused on discovering her past (yep, she's the abused child) to be concerned for her friends who she pretty much killed--they lived, but at what price? Then a Carpathian shows up and sucks her blood, marking her as his 'soulmate'. Uh, WTH? Don't tell me this is just some glorified vampire novel??!! Well, CRAP!

The Ugly: OMG--talk about back story dumps . . . and dumps . . . AND detailed exposition about the history of the Carpathian's AND their stupid language. I had Tolkien flashbacks. Ya, know the elven language is sexy in the movies, but reading it? Boring. And then add a pile of Russian/Romanian/ uh, Carpathian names. Oh, sure, CF did a lot of research, but I didn't really give a rat's a$$ about it! 145 pages later, the author finally gets into the 'real' story.

I'm still hesitant about this novel. Call them what you want a Carpathian still sucks blood, still can't go in the daylight, still gets incredible strength, etc, the only thing a Carpatian isn't is UNDEAD. And I hate to say it, but that isn't enough to keep my interest.

I read to escape. I don't really like reading dark and this is a very dark book.
--If this is an example of the stories that publishers are buying, then I'm NEVER going to sell my stuff, I don't write dark and I like it that way.

So what books are sitting on my desk, waiting to be read?
--The Heart of Christmas--historical romance novellas
--The Christmas Ball--historical romance novellas
Yep, Sam's Club has had a shipment of Christmas Books!
--Timeline by Michael Crichton--time travel--a reread
--The Hob's Bargain by Patricia Briggs--fantasy
--Because Your Vampire Said So by Michelle Bardsley--paranormal vamp romance, but has fun feel to it
--Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg by Gail Levine--Tinkerbelle middle grade novel
--Inkheart by Cornelia Funke--middle grade novel

What do you have in your pile to read??

Write on! After I finish crocheting a baby blanket for my niece. . .

FYI: I STOPPED reading this book on page 234, third page into chapter twelve. I rolled my eyes one too many times. The romance part of it is suffocating! And ya'll know how much I love my romance, but give me some freakin' plot to move this boring story forward! Aarrgghh!