Unknown Futures by Jessica E Subject

Title: Unknown Futures
Author: Jessica E Subject
Genre: Scifi Erotic Romance Short Story (F/F)
Publisher: Decadent Publishing (1NS series)
Available: Decadent Publishing (multiple ebook formats), All Romance Ebooks, Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk
Rating: 5 stars
Rater: Pippa

From the publisher: Attacked as a young adult, Jewel is left scarred and alone. She applies to the 1 Night Stand service, believing no one can see past her appearance to love her. But she doesn’t expect to be sent to a space station where her date could be any number of unusual alien species.
Flavia left everything behind to be one of five humans working for the Space Service space station. Extremely homesick, she is excited to learn she will be a guide to a woman from Earth visiting the station for a couple days. She is immediately drawn to the petite woman, seeing past her scars to her true inner beauty, stirring unforeseen desires.
Unfortunately, Jewel is there for a date which Flavia hasn’t been told about. Can she contain her lust and simply show her a good time? Or will she let her desire lead them into an unknown future?

What I liked: This story had me in tears, but for all the right reasons. Jewel's been dealt a bad hand from the start, and anyone who reads this without hoping for her to get a HEA has no heart at all! The whole will-they, won't-they tension throughout kept me on the edge of my seat.

What I didn’t like: There was a little too much telling at the start, and I felt snatched away from the two main characters far too quickly, and really hope we might get to hear more from Jewel and Flavia.

In sum: Another sweet and sexy story, which despite its erotic romance label isn't as heavily explicit as I'd expect for the listing. 

Please note: Critique de Book does not accept review requests for erotica. This is a book bought by the reviewer for their own enjoyment, not one from the submission queue.

Ozette's Destiny by Judy Pierce

Title: Ozette's Destiny
Author: Judy Pierce
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: Pants on Fire Press (February 27, 2013)
Available: $7.99 at Amazon
Rating: 5 stars
Rater: Dihanna


From the publisher:
Ozette, a rare and beautiful white squirrel, must flee Earth World when she is wrongly blamed for the destruction of their sacred forest simply because she is different. Clutching only a golden acorn, which was gifted to her by her beloved grandmother, Ozette escapes to Farlandia, a magical kingdom where her grandmother has said the young squirrel will find her destiny. With innate innocence and sweetness, Ozette quickly forms close friendships with the residents of Farlandia including zany elves, fairies and animals, and soon finds herself tapped to be the caretaker of this old-growth forest. Forging strong alliances through the challenges of life, Ozette and her magical friends will have you laughing and crying as you follow them through adventures that will warm your heart with gentle lessons of kindness, loyalty and self acceptance. And, as a charming goodbye gift at the end of the book to delight all ages, the author sends off her readers with real recipes for many of the fantastical treats that the Farlandia residents enjoy.


What I liked: If I still had little ones at home, I would take this and read it every night as a bedtime story for my kidlets. But you don't need kids to adore this story.  I simply loved Ozzete and thought she made a wonderful queen. I loved that this book showed the importance of the golden rule was necessary, along with many other things like being kind, honest, noble and courageous, and that in doing that you find the best path in life for not only for yourself but others. It's well done, with fleshed out characters, and a smooth story. Recommended for all ages.


What I didn’t like:  Nothing.


In sum: I’m currently reading it again.


 

Tin Cat by Misa Buckley

Title: Tin Cat
Author: Misa Buckley
Genre: Scifi Romance
Publisher: BURST (Champagne Books, 4th March 2013)
Available: Champagne Books, Amazon UK, Amazon US, Kobo, AllRomance
Rating: 5 stars
Rater: Pippa




From the publisher: A year after the accident that put her in a wheelchair, Amber Gerald has more or less gotten used to living with her impairment. It doesn’t make a difference to running a comic book store anyway, and the customers have been the best support group she could have wished for.
When she rescues an abandoned cat, Amber has no idea that she’s interfering in the mad scheme of a time travelling bank robber. Or that the man that walks into her store dressed like Blade is about to become her bodyguard.
Between being an unwitting owner of an android cat and falling for a cybernetic bounty hunter, Amber finds her life a whole new level of weird as science fiction becomes a very real factual threat.

What I liked:  This story is a real tear jerker that will tug on your heartstrings. A fun premise with great characterisations, a quirky scifi storyline that plays on geekdom, and one that deals well with the social stigma of disability. I've never read anything like it before. The bedroom scenes are hot and yet sweet, underlying the genuine spark between the two MCs. The tension, both romantically and plotwise is good, particularly at the end where you can't imagine there can possibly be a HEA. And the ending might not be quite what you expect.

What I didn’t like: I hate it when people complain that a story is too short when it clearly states short or novella. However, I do slightly begrudge not being able to spend more time with Amber and Gray, simply because I loved them (although once or twice I wanted to slap them both). I do think the story is complete as a novella, and attempting to make it longer would merely have been unecessary padding.

In sum: Tin Cat is a sweet and sexy love story with a geek twist that deals well with the physical disability of the female MC. A story guaranteed to make you feel warm and fuzzy.

Khe by Alexes Razevich

Title: Khe
Author: Alexes Razevich
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Self (September 5, 2012)
Available: $3.99 at Amazon 
Rating: 5 stars
Rater: Dihanna

From the publisher:

Khe loves her life with her sisters on a farming commune. When she realizes her ability to accelerate crop growth is a death sentence, she makes the wrenching decision to leave the only home she's known.

Fleeing across the wilderness, she makes her way to the city of Chimbalay--in search of the scientists who can save her life.  But Chimbalay has its own dangers.  The Powers are there--the secret rulers who have chosen Khe to be the mother of a monstrous new race.

What I liked: I really enjoyed reading this book.  I loved the main character, and found her courage inspiring.  The way the author draws the characters together, especially the sisters, left me smiling to myself many times. This is, at heart, the story of a woman’s power, and it’s told through not only the main character, but through the sisters, and through the Lumani and Weast (read it to decode!). Bottom line in this book – and in life! - never underestimate the power of  a woman.

What I didn’t like:  Nothing.

In sum: Very well written with a very good story. Read it.

The Queen's Martian Rifles by M.E. Brines

Title: The Queen's Martian Rifles
Author: M.E. Brines
Genre: Sci fi/ Steampunk
Publisher: Self (November 5, 2011)
Available: $2.99 at Barnes and Noble
Rating: 5 stars
Rater: Dihanna

From the publisher:

Does the secret to the origin of Mankind lie within the Great Pyramid of Mars? In this alternate steampunk adventure, the technical genius, Nicola Tesla, invented an anti-gravity coil that made steam-powered spaceships possible in the last decades of the 19th century. But the British empire, and the other western colonial powers have powerful extraterrestrial enemies no one suspects even exist.

What I liked: This was my first steampunk novel, and I was a little reluctant to read it. What I found, however, was a completely original, eclectic story – including travel to Mars! – with a pleasantly twisting plot and characters I really got into. The story moves quickly, and doesn’t take too long to be told.

What I didn’t like:  There is some religious stuff that I could have done without. Doesn’t detract from the story, though.

In sum: This book convinced me that steampunk isn’t a genre to scared of. If you’re considering it, this is a good one to start with.

Fatropolis by Tracey L. Thompson

Title: Fatropolis
Author: Tracey L. Thompson
Genre: Fantasy Fiction
Publisher: Pearlsong Press (October 20, 2012)
Available: $4.99 at Amazon
Rating: 5+ stars
Rater: Dihanna

From the publisher:

Most of her life Jenny has felt she's not good enough, not attractive enough, because she's fat. Then one day she stumbles through a portal between a world that values thinnes and one that values roundness.

Sometimes falling can wake you up.

What I liked: What is beauty, and why don’t we ask that question more often? Sometimes we have to juxtapose norms to understand how arbitrary they are, and Ms. Thompson has done just that. I flat loved every page of this book because the journey it documents is one we should all take. I think people should learn to accept themselves no matter what size they are, and know all the way through that being fat doesn't diminish their intelligence or make them any less valuable. And besides the message, the writing is great. It’s not just a good read; it flowed very well and kept me captivated.

What I didn’t like:  I didn’t like that the story ended.

In sum: It isn’t often that a book comes along that can touch your soul. Every single high school should require that its students read this, and you should read it, too.


**caveat: one of this site’s reviewers has published books with the same publisher, though that is not the reviewer who wrote this review. This fact in no way influenced the review.

The Color of Greed by Jack Thompson

Title: Color of Greed
Author: Jack Thompson
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Publisher: Crackerjack Publishing (July 29, 2012)
Available: $4.99 at Amazon
Rating: 5 stars
Rater: Dihanna

From the publisher:

When the young husband of a wealthy heiress is found dead on his yacht floating off the California coastline, his death is ruled an accident and the case is closed. The grieving widow, certain her husband was murdered but getting no help from the police, turns to Raja Williams, a wealthy Oxford-educated private investigator, who has dedicated his resources to help those in need of justice. When Raja arrives in Los Angeles and more bodies begin to pile up, he suspects a coverup that may go as high up as the governor. With the help of his partner Vinny, a highly skilled hacker, Raja must unravel the case before everyone involved, including the two of them, winds up dead. 

What I liked: “Wow” is all I can say. The name of this book fits perfectly - it was a story about greed – greed – greed. I loved the characters. They came alive for me, most especially Raja and Vinny. Their struggles touched me. The story flowed easily – like water - and was so riveting that I was unable to put it down.  I read to escape, and this book was packed full of everything you would expect a mystery to be and then some more.  A great read and look forward to reading more.

What I didn’t like:  Nada.

In sum: I’m keeping this one.