85 of 98 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Clicheed, tedious, repetitious and sickening, July 30, 2005
This review is from: A Taste for Passion (Book 1) (Paperback)
My stomach is upset, and I'm not sure if it's because I have caught a tummy bug or simply because this horrible book literally gave me the sh*ts! This book reeked like week old fish left out in the sun, and left a similar taste in my mouth. And yet, somehow it has gotten rave reviews from many other readers. Might I conclude that this is because its author has lots of friends who have all chipped in to write good reviews for it and increase its sales? Or is it because good taste is a thing of the past? I wonder...
On the plus side, this book is VERY short, shorter in fact than most junior fiction, so at least the pain it caused me was over in a few short hours. It's only 171 pages long, and the words are printed BIG with double spaces between every paragraph. (A cheat's way of passing off a short story as a real novel.)
Okay, that was the one GOOD thing about it. Now to the bad...
First of all, it's just one big cliche. The author looks like she got hold of one of those 'How to write a romance book' books and just copied it verbatim. All the traditional, hackneyed romance novel phrases turned up: the sensitive bud, the pebbled flesh, the nubbin, the liquid heat, the damp curls, etc. etc. There is nothing new or original here, nothing at all. Worse though, the author repeats the same annoying phrases over and over, ad nauseum. Her personal favourite word seemed to be 'trail', as in 'trailed his lips', 'trailed his kisses', 'blazed a hot trail' and so on. Barely a page goes by without the hero and heroine trailing all over each other. In fact, sometimes they do it several times a page. Could the author find no other words to use than 'trail'? By the end of the book, there were more trails on their bodies than on a hiking map of USA parks! Constant repetition, with the same words and phrases being used over and over, seems to be the only way this author knows how to write. The sex scenes are all same-same, repetitive and dull, with hardly any variation in the wording or actions, ever. No one wants boring sex like that in real life, so why would we want to pay money for a book to read about it?
The characters in this book are shallow and stupid. Their dialogue is stilted, and even though the hero is supposed to be romantic, he just comes off as a dumb sleeze. I mean, for instance, even after the heroine has literally died and then had to go through the long and painful phase of being turned into a vamp (which was done to her without her consent or knowledge) the hero doesn't sit worriedly by her side. Rather, he just leaves her alone and walks off. And when he finally returns, does he ask her how she feels, show concern, explain why he had to break his promise not to vamp her without her consent, or say sorry for permanently changing her life? No, he just grins like an idiot, jumps into bed and straight away tries to boink her. And she's happy to let him. She thinks he's romantic. (Seriously, he was about as romantic as a constipated goat!)
Sadly, too, the author seems to have a tile obsession. Every time the heroine walks into a room, she always notices the tiles, but never for any legitimate reason. Why is this author so obsessed with tiles? Is she a tiler? A home renovator? Or what? Sorry, but as far as erotica goes, I just don't find tiles sexy! And I don't know anyone else who would, either.
Speaking of things that I definitely don't find erotic, I must tell you about the thing that disturbed me the MOST about this book, right from page one, and that is the way the heroine thinks about her grandfather in a sexual way. He has recently died, so I understand why he is on her mind. But I was disturbed that she constantly thinks about things like her grandfather's good looks, his sex-life (that's a running theme throughout the book, her thinking about that), how he would have gotten his 'jollies' when he was still alive (she decides that it was from the vibrations of riding the Corvette he left her in his will, a 'jolly' that they had in common!), and how he always urged her to go out and get more action in her sex life. Worse, she even has posthumous conversations with him in her head, and in these he's usually urging her to go out and get some, or so to speak. She even awakes from an erotic dream and starts recalling her grandfather's funeral. Am I alone in finding this disturbing? Personally, I would NEVER think about my grandfather and sex as part of the same thought, never! It's just wrong, and the fact that the heroine's grandfather was recently deceased almost made it worse. Ugh! It was repulsively gross and not in the least bit erotic!
There are so many problems with this book that I could fill up more pages than it has in it just talking about them. But the book's faults are not all exclusively the author's fault. The publisher should also cop the blame for printing this complete with numerous spelling and grammatical errors. What, was their proof-reader on holiday the week they published this? Do they even have one?
For any fans of vampires or erotica, my advice is to avoid this book like a vampire would avoid sunlight, by running away from it FAST. The vampires in it are pathetic, hollow shadows of what they might have been, and this is NOT true erotica...it is merely a poorly written romance from an author who needs to get herself to some writing lessons, buy a thesaurus, and quite possibly see a shrink about why she thinks grandpas are so sexy!
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
4.5 Stars from Timeless Tale book reviews!, October 30, 2003
This review is from: A Taste for Passion (Book 1) (Paperback)
From TT reviewer Patricia McGrew
Rana Sterling is grieving for grandfather, Jack. At the graveside service, she barely notices the man she brushes up against on leaving. For some reason he now fills her dreams at night and her thoughts in the daytime. To try to escape her grief, she gets in the vette and takes to the open roads.
No amount of driving can stop her thoughts. On the way back to town she
stops at a small antique shop. Looking at a tray of jewelry, Rana is drawn to the rings. Placing it on her finger, it's a perfect fit. For some reason the ring sells like Lavender. Paying for the ring, she wears it out of the store.
Lucian Trevane is a vampire. He has five days to take over the leadership of his people. It was a position he didn't want without his soul mate. She had been lost to him for centuries. Seventy years ago she was killed before he could claim her as his mate. He had place the ring in storefronts in hopes of her coming back to him again. When his sister, Sabryn tells him a young woman came to her shop and brought the ring and had the ability to smell the fragrance he knew his love was back. This time he had to get to Rana before his rival for leadership, Kraid gets to her first.
As much as Rana is attracted to Lucian, she runs in fear when she finds out he is a vampire. Running into the street, she is struck by an oncoming car.
Dying, she goes to the Gatekeeper. He tells her Lucian is a good man and would make the best leader for his people. Without her help he won't take the position, so he wants her to go back to earth and help Lucien defeat Kraid. But she has to stay pure and not let him take her as his true mate until he is Leader and then she has to come back to heaven.
Can Rana stand leaving Lucien for a second time? What will it do to Lucian losing her again? Will love finally triumph??
A Taste for Passion has a little of everything, great characters, striking secondary characters, danger, sexual tension and suspense at the end. What more can you ask for? Lucian is to die for, a truly seductive vampire who knows how to make his woman feel special. Ms. Michelle is definitely an author not to be missed. Her ability to make her characters come alive has her on my list of authors to automatically buy. I can't wait for the sequel "A Taste for Revenge".
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24 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Vampire Romance!, July 11, 2004
This review is from: A Taste for Passion (Book 1) (Paperback)
Ms. Michelle has penned a great Vampire Romatica story that was not only very sensual but had a storyline that was great fun. The characters of this story had great chemistry and Ms. Michelle managed to combine not only sensual love scenes but also humor in a story that is fasted paced. You will be loath to put this book down until the final page. I'm very careful about what vampire stories I read but I will be adding Ms. Michelle to my "must read" list immediately.
Lucian is a vampire that has been looking for the reincarnation of his love Elizabeth. He knows that he will find her it's only a matter of time, or is it? He begins to loose faith when he literally brushes up against a woman leaving a cemetery and he feels something for the first time in years.
Rana Sterling has just buried her beloved grandfather Jack. She is trying to come to terms with her loss when she comes across an antique dealer and finds an unusual ring that she feels compelled to buy. This purchase will change her life. Before she knows it she finds herself dreaming the most sensual and erotic dreams of her life. She can't believe it when she comes face to face with her dream lover. What she doesn't know is that her life is about to change in ways that she can't imagine but is fate going to take her away from Lucian before she realizes how much she cares for him?
This was a fast paced read that was not only humorous but also sensual. This was the first time I've ever read anything by Ms. Michelle but I look forward to picking her books up again in the future. I highly recommend Ms. Michelle you won't be disappointed.
Official Reviewer for www.romancedesigns.com
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