Review - "The Pirate of Fathoms Deep"

The Pirate of Fathoms Deep, Tales of the High Court #2
by Megan Derr
rating:☆☆ 1/2
published: 13th July 2016
spoilers? yes

Goodreads

He hadn't expected ever to hear that voice again. His heart pounded in his ears. It couldn't be his pirate. But he remembered that rough-edged voice, like years at sea had stripped the softness from it. He couldn't forget it even if he tried - because he had tried. Some things simply refused to be forgotten.

Galley provided by publisher

Actual rating 2.5

To be honest, I was kind of disappointed by this book. I was hoping for something more (second chance romance is such a good trope, and that's mainly what drew me to this book). I'm being a little harsh in my rating by rounding it down, but there is a reason for that (even if maybe I could justify giving it three stars).

Firstly, the plot. I don't want to say there was none, because there was, but from the Megan Derr books I've read, I've found they all seem to be a little plot-light (The King's Harem very much so). And this is no different. The kidnapping right at the beginning set it up very nicely, but then within about 40 pages that was resolved. Then, there was no real attempt at any sort of investigation into who did it, until suddenly the answer is (almost literally) dropped into their laps, with another 40 pages to go. The romance also seemed to have not so much development, with the first romance-y parts happening on page 30. Like, I'm all for it happening quickly (sometimes), but there's a limit. (Although that's a general problem I find with LGBT+ new adult stuff...) Actually, in general, everything could be drawn out a little longer. They could spend longer escaping the kidnappers, or fighting in that tavern, or following Lesto's poisoning (where he blacks out, and next thing you know, he's a-OK and healthy again).

Then there's their initial hookup, pre-start of the book. It is... dubious, say the least. Shemal is, at this point, a prisoner, while Lesto is the High Commander (can you see where this is going?). And the way it is described is:

"[he had] dragged Shemal into an empty room, pulled him to the floor, and all but demanded that Shemal fuck him."

How, exactly, in this situation, is Shemal supposed to say no? When this guy is totally in charge of what happens to him. Especially when, preceding this, Shemal had punched Lesto. For all he knows, this could be some perverse punishment. And he can't say no. Hence why I found it dodgy.

Also, it would have been nice to have some context of things like the political situation, or who's in charge where, before the important things start to happen. Like, we only learn about the situation in the culprit country when their ambassador's explaining why there are mercenaries running willy-nilly about Sarrica's land, and it's a little hard to follow when there's not really been any context about it beforehand. I don't know - it could equally just have been that I wasn't paying enough attention.

Anyway, it was nice otherwise. I'm only really rating down for that dubious consent scene.

Review - "Winging It"

Winging It
by Ashlyn Kane and Morgan James
rating:☆☆ 1/2
published: 20th February 2015
spoilers? yes (minor ones only)

Goodreads

Gabe rolled his eyes. “You are the most ridiculous human being I’ve ever met.” He put his hand over Dante’s face and gently shoved him away.

You know those times where you just gotta admit you've fallen into the deep dark pit of hockey and you're not getting out any time soon? This is one of those times.

Probably more like 2.5.

That's not to say I didn't like this, because I did (probably because of the hockey more than anything though). It's definitely not so good as Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy's hockey lit (based on the hockey lit I've read so far, they are the standard people should be aiming for), but it's enjoyable and pretty amusing and somehow I managed to stay up until 1am reading this the other night. Not to mention it has a bisexual character (using the word bisexual, too!).

There were (obviously) some issues I had. First off, will authors please please stop writing in Eastern European and Russian "accents" (you know the ones. Based off old Hollywood representations around the Cold War and later when the Eastern Europeans and Russians were all bad guys and missed out auxiliaries and definite articles and that shit). Literally, how does it aid the story? Just don't.

And then, of course, the Russian character turns out to be the homophobe on the team who doesn't pass to the gay player. Amazing. Do you wanna put any more stereotypes in this while we're at it? (He does later apologise, thankfully, but in doing that he mentions something about "Mother Russia". Because apparently that's how Russians refer to their homeland [insert exaggerated eye roll].)

The next point is less to do with the book itself and more to do with me getting pissed off. The team that has the guy who makes the first homophobic comment (because you knew it was coming) is the Philadelphia Flyers. Aka my team. I'm gonna fight someone I swear. (OK, so later on, there's a Preds player who's a lot more of a homophobe but I'm still not happy that it was the Flyers chosen as the first.) (Also, minor side point: the "Dekes" - aka team made-up for the purposes of this book - beat the Flyers in the playoffs but then lost to the Pens. Like hell that would happen, I'm sorry.)

One of the characters, Dante, has a nickname of "Baller", right? (It's never explained what is meant by it though.) So I'll be reading the book and he'll be referred to as Baller for a while, and then I'll turn the page and be reading about Dante. It's not bad writing, per se, but I just found it a little strange, that's all.

At one point, their coach (female - because they're a "revolutionary" NHL team, with a female coach and a female owner) goes into labour in the first period of a game, and manages to stick out the whole of the rest of the game (ie about 2 hours) in labour. Now, I don't know whether that's something that is possible, but I gotta say it sounds a bit... fake? Like, is she not in pain? Having contractions?

Confession time: when Kitty got traded, I cried. If this is how I deal with it for fictional hockey players, how am I supposed to deal when it happens in real life? (@ Flyers, please, never trade anyone ever.)

One last point: this book was so bloody long. I can't believe how much it was dragged out, like my ebook copy had 357 pages. Yikes.