Review-Pirate’s Treasure-Sarah Barimen

Pirate's Treasure

Sarah Barimen

Cobblestone Press

MSRP-3.99

3 readers bought from All Romance e-Book. 1 did not finish.

BLURB
Miriam Van Vorce, traveling with her older sister to a new life on a Caribbean island, makes the trade of a lifetime when her ship is looted and burned by pirates: she gives her own virtue in exchange for her sister's safe delivery to her betrothed for a wealthy arranged marriage.

She believes she has sacrificed any hope of happiness of her own, and she is resigned, but in reality she will gain far more than she ever dreamed: love, ecstasy, and a richly independent life of her own.

 Comment Cards Read:

*For a debut this story wasn't half bad. This author has a lot of growing to do, but I think I see a kernel of promise in this story for a bright future. Her characters did lack depth, but I think with time and learning the little ins and outs of writing she'll develop stronger characters. My biggest beef with Pirate's Treasure was there were times I was trying to figure out which character was thinking. It was hard because the shifts were sudden. A lot of what was wrong were newbie author mistakes. I will read another story from her though.

*One of those stories where it is what it is. Not great but not completely horrible. One of my pet-peeves showed up in this story. The author didn't tell me the date when the story took place. It's a historical for goodness sake. The date really needs to be in their somewhere. Also, the dialogue lacked that authenticity readers really love. Description/names of clothing were no where near historically accurate. Part of what it lacked most was ignoring the colorful backdrop of the time period. Will probably buy from her again.

Overall Grade C - Nothing to write home about, but the readers are looking forward to great things from this author.

Review-Christmas Bounty-Stacey Thompson-Geer

Christmas Bounty

Stacey Thompson-Geer

Wicked Nights

MSRP-0.99

Bought from Bookstrand.

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Nina is the best at what she does, killing supernatural beings that are causing too much trouble. When she goes after a Vampire with a hidden agenda, she finds a lot more than she expected and a night of passion that may just change her mind.

Comment Cards Read:


*The story just didn't make sense. It was all over the place and there was so much left out, I almost didn't finish because I couldn't get a handle on the heroine. The hero is never really explained except he's some sort of vampire, but he has parties, but he leaves her alone cause she's there to kill him. I was stuck in a kettle of confusion. Regretfully, it's not worth the .99 cents.


*Christmas Bounty really needed a lot more explanation and a good editor. I read two instances of 'once and a while' when the writer really meant 'once in a while'. It's a nit pick, but when you are trying to negotiate what is going on in the story this short the little things stuck out like a big, neon sign. An example was all the grammar errors and I'm no great grammar queen – but if I'm catching them I think a lot of other people will too. Disappointing on many levels.


*I liked the concept, but then it wasn't ever really put together. The author tried, and I give her great credit for that. Still, brevity kicked this story in the teeth. I'd love to know more about the heroine and the group she works for, especially how she can sense paranormals. There's this bit about some Phoenix something or other and that was never explained. I'd also have preferred a concrete plot that wasn't just thrown in there and then forgotten or never explored. And, seriously, I'd have loved to know what his hidden agenda was. Would probably read another story from this author, but I'm not sure if I'll buy a super-short from her.


A quick search of the publisher's website showed they are looking for a copy editor – we do hope they find one.


Unfortunately, this story ranks as an F. Brevity, lack of editing and lack of clarity really hurt this story. We can't, in good conscience, recommend this story.


The Enders