Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Out of the Ashes ★★★✩✩




Title: Out of the Ashes

Author: Olivia Duncan Craig

Genre: m/m contemporary romance

Print length: 162 pages

Publication date: July 30, 2012

Rating: Three Stars

Blurb: Young Noah hadn't any idea how quickly his world could turn upside down. One minute, he was living, happy and secure, with a doting father and grandmother to look after him. The next, his father is dead, his grandmother is confined to her sickbed, and the only other family he has left is his new stepmother and her two children.

Taken far from his home, worked hard and hidden away from the world, Noah hasn't much to look forward to, growing up. Until one day, Matthew, a handsome neighbor, comes riding up to him like a knight on his charger.

It's love at first sight, at least as far as Noah is concerned.

Now all Noah has to do is make his Prince Charming aware he exists, triumph over his evil stepmother, and claim the love he so richly deserves. He may not have a fairy godmother helping him, but magic can come in many forms. The only question is--will it be enough to give Noah his happily ever after?


Review:
This was a Cinderella story. Although it was no high literary accomplishment, the story is readable. Unfortunately, it never really reached its full potential. There is a sort of a jarring abruptness in most scenes that should have been sweet. Maybe I just expected a more romantic style of writing for such a classic romance story.

Buy it from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Out-of-the-Ashes-ebook/dp/B008R556E0/ref=cm_cr-mr-img


More titles by Olivia Duncan Craig:




Title: Redemption

Author: Olivia Duncan Craig

Genre: m/m fiction

Print length: 314 pages

Publication date: April 1, 2012

Overall reviewer rating: Four and a Half Stars

Blurb: It’s a different world. Space has been colonized, the wealthy fly to work rather than drive, and slavery is legal.

Jason’s family has been ripped apart by tragedy. The only way he can save the ones left is to offer himself up as a bondmate. The more he’s willing to give, the higher the price he can command. And Jason is willing to give a lot.

Devin is wealthy and heartbroken after the wife he adored walked out on him. He isn’t looking for love. All he wants is a relationship he can control. Buying a bondmate seems like the perfect solution.

Yet when he purchases Jason’s contract, Devin gets more than he bargained for.

Review by amf0001 ( Amazon Vine Voice ):
I really liked the start of this story, the idea that people would voluntarily sell themselves as bond servants, the idea of who would buy them, all these rich juicy motivations. I liked Jason's quiet resolve and Devin's tempered curiosity and how neither really knew how to handle the situation. So the first third was very good. Then a few things started to niggle, things were moving awfully fast and I thought to myself, I'll just pretend that this book takes place over 6 months rather than 3 weeks... but the last third of this book just blew it out of the water for me, it shifted from intriguing erotic romance to silly adventures story where the wounded hero leaves his hospital bed to rescue his true love, and the action was both distracting and unnecessary. There was enough plot and tension without resorting to it and I just sighed. I got this free as a prime member but I'm returning it, it just didn't work at all for me. I think it had the potential to be something quite wonderful but went way off track and became something rather silly instead.

I read it to the end, so that's an automatic 3 stars for me, but I don't think it's a keeper nor will I reread. Shame, because it could have really been something…

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