A Review of “Historical Hellions” In The Order of the Box Set, Review #1 “The Pursuit of Pleasure” by Elizabeth Essex

 

Elizabeth Essex is a new to me author, and I’m not sure that I will be reading anymore of her books. She is a great writer, but I really have problems with “The Pursuit of Pleasure, (Dartmouth Brides, #1), originally published in 2010 as a stand alone book, the first in a series of three books.

The story had me from the beginning, until the lengthy pages of sex. These scenes were way too drawn out, leaving nothing to feed or encourage the imagination. My first problem was I kept thinking, “If I wanted porn, I would have gone to the porn store and bought some”. I put this book down a lot, so I ended up being late for the early review (which was suppose to be done before April 11th of this year). The only reason I kept picking it back up was because I was interested in the actual story line. I also hate to not finish a book I’ve started, especially for a review. I feel like I skipped a great deal of the book just to get out of the porn scenes, so I could get on with the story. I finished the book disappointed because the actual story wasn’t developed more.

My second problem with this book is that it had a VERY FAMILIAR feel to it. As most of my readers are aware, Karen Hawkins is my all time favorite Historical and Contemporary Romance Writer, and I don’t usually compare Karen’s work to other authors as they all have their own merits. The more the scant details of the story finally unfolded, I was struck with “This story is pretty much the exact same story that Karen wrote”. Specifically, “Her Master and Commander”, originally published in 2006, and read by me way back in 2012.

I also have to add, Karen developed the story much much better, and when I finished “Her Master and Commander” I was not left disappointed at all.

I realize that sometimes there will be overlap on particular “events” in Historical Romance, and I’m not accusing of Ms. Essex of plagiarism…it just bothered me that “The Pursuit of Pleasure” was too much like “Her Master and Commander”, with only slight differences (if my memory serves), but not developed enough.

Using the Amazon star rating I can only give this book in the box set (and the stand alone) one star.

“Twelve Kisses to Midnight”-Karen Hawkins

“Twelve Kisses to Midnight” originally published in the anthology of “What Happens Under the Mistletoe” in 2015 has now been published as a stand alone book.

“Twelve Kisses To Midnight” by Karen Hawkins

Karen Hawkins is one of my most favorite authors of all time, as evidenced by the fact that most of my reviews previous to this one have been of her books. She never ceases to keep me entertained while drawing me into the characters emotions. The title of the book and of the novella threw me a little because I didn’t see the complete connection that I did with the first story, however I did find this to be an excellent Christmas tale of fiction. Two young people in love, too many things coming against them. They are pulled apart by elements and their own pride. Over time, questions begin to mount. Bitterness sets in. New lives are forged, time marches on. Fate however, steps in and brings them together again. Will her curiosity and ploy to get answers be her undoing? Will he be able to get passed his pride? You will have to read the book to find out.

Today Is The Day!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Mad-Plaid-Oxenburg-Princes-Book-ebook/dp/B0176M3WYK/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mad-for-the-plaid-karen-hawkins/1122858677?ean=9781476786018

Books A Million: http://www.booksamillion.com/search?id=6535808987358&query=mad+for+the+plaid&where=All

iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/mad-for-the-plaid/id1052930046?mt=11

AND DON’T FORGET THE “MAD FOR THE PLAID” RELEASE PARTY TONIGHT! GUEST AUTHOR’S SCHEDULE (all times edt):

6:00pm to 6:30pm Christina McKnight

6:30pm to 7:00pm Suzanne Enoch

7:00pm to 7:30pm Erin Knightley

7:30pm to 8:00pm Karen Hawkins

8:00pm to 8:30pm Deb Marlowe

8:30pm to 9:00pm Jerrica Knight-Catania

9:00pm to 9:30pm Ava Stone

9:30pm to 10:00pm Katherine Bone

GUEST AUTHORS! PRIZES! FUN!

On Facebook at “Mad for the Plaid” Release Party Event on Facebook.com

Message me at T Counce Facebook Page if you would like to attend!

ALL ARE WELCOME!

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Just Commonly

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“Seven Things I Did To Reboot My Life” by Wil Wheaton…my thoughts…

I have been struggling with myself for a a couple of years now. Blogs screaming at me to be written…and…nothing…I write not one word. I’ve been trying to figure out why I went from prolific blogger to…well nothing…a blog…a mass of nothingness…just taking up space. Introspection is great, but it requires honesty with one’s self. I am for the most part pretty honest with myself, but…I have to face the hard stuff to be honest about it…that I’m not so good at, especially since my disabilities have pretty much taken over my life. Guess what? If I’m really honest with myself…It’s just an excuse.

No, I can’t run anymore, and I can’t walk very far like I use to (1 to 20 miles a day), and I can’t ride a bicycle like I use to (2 to 20 miles a day), and I can’t roller skate like I use to (5 to 7 days a week), and I can’t go for long drives going nowhere for hours on end like I use to, or do the things that I love because I don’t make the money that I use to (living before was hard at about $1700 a month down to just over $800 a month. I’m managing, but it’s not easy.) Most that know me after Dr. Kavorkian (not his real name) got done with his “ok Look, you are…you’re going to die” speech in 2010, I became severely depressed. Then the disabilities made themselves known and caused adjustments that I have had the hardest time with (see what I can’t do anymore at the beginning of this paragraph).

I don’t like depression. It’s an ominous darkness that I just don’t want to explore. I would rather be apathetic than be depressed. I much prefer just being content, though happy most of the time is also perfectly acceptable. So I’ve have been spending hours and hours, days and days, ok, more like months and months on the computer…playing games, watching for people who need prayer, praying for their needs, playing more games, researching things that some people post, finding that I can get addicted to watching YouTube videos rather easily, and playing more games. About this time, every year I get bored with that and feel like I really NEED to do something else. And I do. Crocheting, which for me is pretty mindless (been doing it so long I can do most of it without even looking at it) and cross-stitch which frustrates me when I make a mistake that throws the whole thing off, and this happens a lot which frustrates my OCD to no end. But, in the end, I’m still kinda bored.

So I’ve been looking into things that spark my interest. Writing and anything about writing sparks my interest. My biggest hurdle is trying to get Mrs. Lubin out of my head (10th grade English Teacher). The worst thing that a teacher can tell any student is “You will never be able to…..” whatever it is that you aspire to do. I’m tired of my life’s aspirations falling by the wayside and writing is the only one that I have the power and control to pick up, dust off and get it going again. (It’s too late to go to Veterinarian School, I’ve given up on a long happy marriage because I’m too difficult to get use to, building a bookkeeping business, driving all over the country.)

I didn’t realize until I just finished reading Wil Wheaton’s blog, that I had in part found the right path. I’m reading more, (one of the 7 things he did to reboot his life). I’ve been following Mr. Wheaton for a very long time. One thing that I didn’t know was that he suffered from depression. I love what he’s doing about it though. I get depressed at times, but I don’t suffer from depression, for which I am very thankful. Between a conversation I was having with my roommate last night and reading Mr. Wheaton’s blog I realized something. I’ve been holding myself back. Sure I would love to write a best selling novel, but that is not what I aspire to write. I’m not interested in getting rich off of other people’s hard earned money. I’m not materialistic so that is easier for me than it might be for other people. It would be nice to make some money writing though, eventually. So I keep reading what I can to help me achieve that goal. But that isn’t the only reason I’m writing this particular blog.

Mr. Wheaton’s post got me to thinking about all of the people that I know. Many not happy with their life as it is. Stuck on the merry-go-round of life, wanting to change it, but not knowing how. I think he has an excellent plan and it might work for others so I wanted to use my blog to help share his message so that maybe it will help someone else. It’s raw, it’s introspective, it’s honest. Give it a read and see if you can’t figure out a way to reboot your own life and getting it going in the direction that you really want it to go.

Seven Things I Did To Reboot My Life-Wil Wheaton