[review] Sylvia Day - Bared to You (Crossfire, #1)

Title: Bared to You
Author: Sylvia Day
Series: Crossfire, #1
Publisher: Berkley
Format: Paperback
Source: Giveaway win
Buy from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookdepository
Summary (via Goodreads):

Our journey began in fire... Gideon Cross came into my life like lightning in the darkness-beautiful and brilliant, jagged and white-hot. I was drawn to him as I'd never been to anything or anyone in my life. I craved his touch like a drug, even knowing it would weaken me. I was flawed and damaged, and he opened those cracks in me so easily... Gideon knew. He had demons of his own. And we would become the mirrors that reflected each other's most private wounds... and desires. The bonds of his love transformed me, even as I prayed that the torment of our pasts didn't tear us apart...

Random paragraph: "I recognized myself in the description Cary had just given. I ran when the going got tough, because I was so sure it was all going to end badly. The only control I had was to be the one who left, instead of the one who was left behind." (p. 211, paperback edition)

I started writing this up a while ago, but I spent the week thinking of what exactly to write. This gave me a lot to think about.

Originally self-published by Day in April, this was picked up by Berkley, given a new cover, and released to a wider audience in June. It's being heavily marketed as "for fans of Fifty Shades" as a sort of withdrawal treatment. And on the surface, I can see why. This follows the story of college graduate Eva Trammell trying to carve her own way through New York City. While exploring her workplace the day before her official start, she literally bumps into Gideon Cross while helping somebody pick up her change. She feels an immediate attraction to him. Later, she finds out that he's a young billionaire and CEO of Crossfire, which owns several properties scattered throughout the city. She also has to deal with Cary, her troublesome roommate, and her overprotective parents (her mother has a tendency to track her cell phone).

I'll be honest: I didn't like FSoG at all. But I did like this.

Sylvia Day is a seasoned writer. "Slick" and "polished" are two adjectives I keep seeing to describe her prose, and I agree -- it glides. And after the initial clumsiness, I didn't find Eva anything like Ana. For one thing, Eva's not horribly sexually inexperienced; while fending off one of Gideon's advances, she even jokes about preferring her B.O.B. Eva's able to stand up for herself, and while Gideon seems predatory at the beginning, he definitely calms down and listens to Eva.

These are two characters with a lot of problems, who acknowledge that they're flawed. Eva has jealousy issues and runs away from conflict. Gideon's dominating and possessive. Both are abuse survivors. But when they realize after an erotic encounter that they feel something for each other, they strive to make their relationship work. At one point, Gideon said that he scheduled couples' therapy for them, and I wanted to stand up and applaud.

In many ways, this is a pretty standard romance novel -- there are sex scenes everywhere, Gideon has some unrealistic features, everyone's beautiful and wealthy, etc. But I found the characters engrossing. I wanted to see where they were headed, and how they'd make things work. I will definitely read Reflected in You when it comes out in October.

Overall: Good, if you want a contemporary read with characters who'll break your heart and put it back together.

Spotlight Friday (2): MeiLin Miranda - Lovers and Beloveds, Son in Sorrow

Spotlight Friday is a (hopefully) weekly feature I'm starting to highlight books that should get more attention.

Title: Lovers and Beloveds
Author: MeiLin Miranda
Publisher: Sans Culotte Press
Released: 2010
# of Ratings on Goodreads: 98
Buy From: Amazon
Read the Serialization: Here
Summary (via Goodreads):

When eighteen-year-old Prince Temmin comes of age and joins his father's court, he's unprepared for its politics, assassins and sexual intrigues--and even more unprepared for the King's immortal advisor Teacher, the holder of the royal family's hidden magic. Teacher becomes Temmin's tutor, his lessons contained in a magic book. Through it, Temmin experiences everything each story's characters do, and he's forced to confront serious mistakes in the kingdom's--and his own--past.

His present is no easier. He's falling for beautiful twins--brother and sister--who are the human hosts of the gods of love and desire called the Lovers. Being with them is more than sex; it's a religious calling. But an ancient prophecy says if Temmin heeds the Lovers' call it may spell the end of the monarchy, and his father fights him every step of the way.

Temmin must choose: Serve the Lovers and lose his father--and possibly the kingdom--or serve the King and risk the wrath of the Gods.

Title: Son in Sorrow
Author: MeiLin Miranda
Publisher: Sans Culotte Press
Released: March 28th, 2012
# of Ratings on Goodreads: 23
Buy From: Amazon | Author's Website | Smashwords
Read the Serialization: Here
Summary (via Goodreads):

Prince Temmin incurred his father's wrath when he took Supplicancy in the Lovers' Temple; his devotion to the Gods outweighed his father's rage. Now he faces a greater challenge: his forbidden love for Allis, the human host of the goddess Neya. If he doesn't conquer his emotions, he may bring the Lovers' deadly fury down on them both--but pride and desire stand in his way. When a murder rips his greatest support from him, Temmin turns to the magic book of his ancestors to find answers to his need both for revenge and for a woman he must not love.

All the while, enemies inside and outside the kingdom are plotting against the monarchy, and the gods prove once again they are no one's friends.

I Rec This Because: This was rec'd to me quite a while back for something similar to the Kushiel series (one of my favorite), and though I don't think they're quite similar, I can see where they're coming from.

Spoiled Prince Temmin is growing up, with all the confusion and hormones that brings; assassination attempts and navigating politics doesn't help matters. I haven't read the second book yet, but the first really succeeds at character development. Sex plays a heavy role in these books, and though it gets squicky sometimes, it's supposed to; the theme of consent is absolutely huge, and one action that Temmin performs at the beginning of the novel -- nearly forcing himself on another woman while in a drunken state -- is returned to and looked at frankly time and time again. There is a story-within-a-story about a woman who has a lust spell cast on her, and Temmin's advisor uses this as a good teaching lesson: is she well enough? Could she really have consented to things in her state? The way Temmin realizes his mistakes and develops as a character is really deftly handled.

There's some great feminist themes within the first book, too: at one point, Temmin asks, "If the women were so important, then why aren't they in the histories?" Teacher gives a "thin smile" and quickly proves him wrong.

In short, if you want some intelligent erotica with serious themes in a fantasy setting, you'd probably do well to check this out.

(An interesting history with these books: they started as a serialization, but when the author was running into problems, her fans pitched in money -- enough money for her to finish the serialization and get it published professionally. The second book was crowdfunded via Kickstarter: she only asked for $1500, but people gave her over $5000. People believe in these!)

[review] E L James - Fifty Shades of Grey (Fifty Shades, #1)

Title: Fifty Shades of Grey
Author: E L James
Series: Fifty Shades Trilogy, #1
Publisher: Vintage
Format read: Paperback
Source: Loan from Mom
Buy from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookdepository
Summary (via Goodreads):

When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too—but on his own terms.

Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success—his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving family—Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a daring, passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian Grey’s secrets and explores her own dark desires.

Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.

Random paragraph:  "And then this evening, he actually hit me. I've never been hit in my life. What have I gotten myself into? Very slowly, my tears, halted by Kate's arrival, begin to slide down the side of my face and into my ears. I have fallen for someone who's so emotionally shut down, I will only get hurt--deep down I know this--someone who by his own admission is completely fucked up. Why is he so fucked up? It must be awful to be as affected as he is, and the thought that as a toddler he suffered some unbearable cruelty makes me cry harder. Perhaps if he was more normal he wouldn't want you, my subconscious contributes snidely to my musings ... and in my heart of hearts I know this is true. I turn into my pillow and the sluice gates open ... and for the first time in years, I am sobbing uncontrollably into my pillow." (p. 285, paperback edition)

You see that paragraph up there? This is after Christian spanked Ana, supposedly within the confines of an informed, consensual relationship. (Also, this is gonna be explicit and possibly NSFW -- just a warning before you click the jump.)