Cursive ~ Penelope Lane

Cursive by Phoebe Lane
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I seem to be the queen of unpopular opinions with books lately.

I went into this with high hopes based on all the people who recommended it to me (not to mention all the glowing reviews I saw posted). But unfortunately, this just didn't work for me the way it did for so many others.

First of all, the pace of the book was very slow. I stuck with it because I had invested myself in the characters and wanted to see if I was right about one of the major twists (I was). Also, I am not a fan of endless drama, and this book had enough drama for about 3 books.

**BIG TIME SPOILERS BELOW!!!!!**



**LAST WARNING!!**



I thought it was pretty obvious from the very beginning that Christopher was dead, and to a lesser extent that he had killed himself. Having said that, the way that the author had Aislynn confront her guilt over his death as well as her anger at being abandoned in that final scene between them, was very well done. However, the fact that Jace was dealing with cancer was a surprise. I was beginning to think that the book would end with him dying, considering how much melodrama there was going on...thankfully I was wrong about that. And once again...there was the old standby "ex-girlfriend wants her man back just when he's moved on" plot device that I am SO incredibly sick of. Seriously, romance authors really need to find another way to add a bit of angst to their stories without beating this dead horse. It's been overused and beaten to death! *steps off soap box*

There were some very serious issues being tackled in this book, and I hate to say it, but...certain parts of this felt very soap opera-ish to me. And I am all for the H/h getting their HEA, but the ending felt a little too perfectly wrapped up and tied with a big shiny ribbon, if that makes any sense? And like I said, I know this is not the way the vast majority of people who read this book feels...but the ending just didn't seem realistic to me.

Perhaps it's partly due to this annoying reading funk I'm in, but this book left me feeling more than a little 'meh.

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The Last Girl ~ Kitty Thomas

The Last Girl by Kitty Thomas
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This was...different.

I am a big fan of Kitty Thomas' writing. Comfort Food is one of my all time favorite erotic/dark erotic books. So, I went into this one with high expectations. And though I still enjoyed her writing style, and the dark and twisty feel...I have to say this was a disappointment.

I loved the idea of a dominating hero who was a vampire. I loved the idea of him waiting 6 years to 'claim' her. However, I spent most of my time just not liking Christian at all. And it wasn't because he was an anti-hero (I have a weakness for them after all). The connection just wasn't there for me. And for the sake of full disclosure, I have to admit that part of my problem with the actual story was...

***WARNING MAJOR SPOILER AHEAD***

...Christian's need to take her virginity over and over...and over...again. I mean, he's a vampire, and he gets off on 'healing' her to the point where each time he has sex with her, she's intact? That aspect just really bothered me, for whatever reason. Also, the ending felt very rushed, though I had begun to warm up to Christian's character by then.

I have read a lot of dark erotica...so it wasn't like I went into this expecting hearts and flowers between the two main characters. After all, you can't get much darker than Comfort Food, and I loved every word of that book. But, I just wish there had been more emotion from Christian before the last few pages of the story.

Perhaps my expectations were too unrealistically high going into this. But, even though I was left feeling disappointed, I'm still a huge fan of this author's writing and will definitely read the rest of her work.