Guest Reviewer *Sabrina*: The Rancher's Virgin Acquisition by Lynda Chance

The Rancher's Virgin Acquisition by Lynda Chance 
Sabrina's Raiting: 1 of 5 stars

When the stagecoach that is carrying Emma Martin to her new job in Denver is attacked and robbed in the wilds of Colorado, she is the only survivor. Alone and terrified, she is rescued by Luke Butler, a rancher who knows only one way. His way.

When Luke Butler finds Emma Martin, he has no other choice but to bring her back to his ranch. Soon, his life is turned upside down by a female who doesn’t know how to mind and who doesn’t know how to stay put.

The battle that follows is a clash of wills, a test of tempers, and a lesson in love.

At some point I wonder why do I read these books. I guess I could say that I'm a romantic, and I like to read on occasion small little stories with happy ever afters. Sometimes you get what you want, and like the song, sometimes you just don't.

This was the case here.

Let me just start with the name "The Rancher's Virgin Acquisition". Two things should have ringed an alarm here: the virgin part, I don't know why it has to be mentioned in the title, it's a little weird. You never read something like "The Rancher's Promiscuous Acquisition", right? I don't know why they do this.
And secondly, the word "Acquisition". Yep, we're talking about a person, pretty obvious a girl is no ones acquisition. But I thought "nah, it must be representing a metaphor or something", but then you start reading the book and it all just makes sense.

Nothing really new here, Luke is an abusive prick who needs an ass kicking. All the time he's trying to force the heroine to do his will, and the heroine is just pitiful, you feel sorry for her and annoyed at some point.

Let me just quote, because I just wouldn't be able to make this up:

"He slowly released her hair, and moved his hands to grip
her forearms in a tight hold. His face was within inches of
hers and she was so close to him she could see his nostrils
flaring.
"You better listen and you better listen good. This is my
ranch. When you're on my ranch, you do as I say. No
questions asked, no explanation given. I don't have to
explain shit to you, or anybody else, got that?" He spoke
viciously, and she felt tormented that he had this much
anger for her.
She nodded her head, ready to agree with whatever he
said to end this lesson in male dominance.
But he wasn't finished and continued berating her. "I'm not
just trying to be a mean son of a bitch, Emma. I don't have
to try. I am a mean son of a bitch. You need to get it through
that thick head of yours that this ranch is thousands and
thousands of acres of rough terrain. There's no law out here
except for me and my gun, and there's danger al around
you(...)"

Ok. Considering the fact that he clearly has issues, this is a terrible pairing because the only possibility anything could work with this guy is a woman that puts him in his place, constantly. And even then why would anyone want this guy as a protagonist of anything?

This was just awful, I don't know in what other way to say this, that so many other's have been saying for a long time: abusive men are not attractive.

 

A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1) by George R.R. Martin

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Kings and queens, knights and renegades, liars, lords and honest men. All will play the Game of Thrones

Summers span decades.Winter can last a lifetime.And the struggle for the Iron Throne has begun.It will stretch from the south where heat breeds plot,lusts and intrigues to the vast frozen north,where a 700-foot wall of ice protects the kingdom from the dark forces that lie beyond. The Game of Thrones. You win,or you die.

Book One of A Song of Ice and Fire begins the greatest fantasy epic of the modern age.

I decided to read this book because of HBO series. I am not a fantasy reader but I liked it!

The plot kept me guessing till the end. Usually I don't like multiple POVs. But it didn't bother me in this book. Characters are so rich and it was good to see their points. Every character has flaws, no one is completely bad or good. It makes characters real. And I liked the way the author shows that the good guys are not always wining. The only thing made me dissapoint by this book is I've waited for somethings to be resolved and it didn't happened.

And a quick warning for whoever is thinking of reading this book: the author have no mercy. Don't even like anyone in this book!

Turkish review:

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Yolda (Orijinal Rulo) by Jack Kerouac

Yolda by Jack Kerouac
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

YOLDA, orijinal rulo haliyle Türkçe’de… Jack Kerouac’ın YOLDA’sı ilk olarak 1957 yılında Viking yayınevi tarafından basıldı. Kerouac’ın okurların gözünde artık efsaneleşmiş olan hikayeye göre, yaklaşık üç yıl boyunca aldığı notlar ve yaşadıklarına dayanarak, üç haftalık bir oturumda daktiloda, kendi hazırladığı uzun, tek bir ruloya yazdığı romanı, yazarın ve editörün büyük uğraşları, tekrar tekrar elden geçirmeleri ve çıkarmalar yapmaları sonucunda basıldı. Kısa sürede bir kült eser haline gelmiş ve bütün dünyada efsaneleşmiş olsada, bu basılan Yolda, “uslanmış” bir Yolda idi. Kitabın basılışının 50. yılı anısına ve kitapta geçen kişilerin gerçek adlarının kullanılmasının artık sorun olmaktan çıkmasıyla, ilk kez orijinal rulo olduğu haliyle basıldı. Biz de kısa sürede, titiz bir çalışmayla bu eseri Türkçe’de yayımlıyoruz…

Bir süredir bu kitap hakkında bir şeyler yazmak için kafamı toparlamaya çalışıyorum. Sonunda o gün geldi galiba...

Kitabı kabaca özetlemek gerekirse, kitap yazarımızın arkadaşlarıyla, ülkenin bir ucundan diğer ucuna yaptığı yolculuklar üzerine.

İlk olarak şunu belirtmeliyim ki, bu kitap kesinlikle beklediğim gibi değildi. Overrated bir hipster kitabı bekliyordum. Hipster kısmı tuttu ama kesinlikle overrated olduğunu söyleyemem. Biraz kıyaslama yapma fırsatı bulduğum için belirteyim, benim de okuduğum orijinal rulo versiyonun romanlaştırılmış halinden tek farkı isimler değil. Uyuşturucu kullanımı ve cinsel deneyimler rulo versiyonunda daha ayrıntılı ve çok yer bulmuş.

Kitapta “paragraf” ya da “bölüm” gibi şeyler yok. Kitabı elinize aldığınız andan itibaren dümdüz bir yazı okumaya başlıyorsunuz. Kitabı okumaya ara vermek için “bölüm sonu” bekleyen biri olarak buna alışmak biraz zaman aldı. Orijinalliğin bozulmaması adına imla hatalarına çok da dokunulmamış, benim gibi “Grammar Nazi” tipler için bu da bir eksi olabilir. Ayrıca konu ve anlatım çok ilgi çekici türden değil, eğer beat kuşağına biraz olsun ilgi duymuyorsanız muhtemelen bu kitaptan nefret edeceksiniz. Ortası yok.

Ama başka söyleyeceğim olumsuz bir şey de yok. İlk birkaç sayfadan itibaren kitabın sonuna kadar en çok düşündüğüm şey “keşke ben de…” oldu. Önünüzden muhteşem, gerçekten yaşanmış bir hayat geçiyor ve tek yapabildiğiniz seyirci olmak. O insanların neler yapabildiğini bilmek ama kendi rutin hayatınıza devam etmek, nerde yanlış yapıyorum diye düşünmek ama yine devam etmek… Bu açıdan sinir bozucu bir kitap olarak da değerlendirebilirim herhalde.

Blogtour: Getting to Know My Characters by Traci L. Slatton

            I usually start a novel with an oceanic burst of inspiration. I have an idea—maybe a visual image, maybe a conversation, maybe a scene—and I plunge headlong into the story. That’s fun! It’s like the beginning of a romantic relationship: all heady enthusiasm, dewy dreams, and passionate attraction.

            But shortly thereafter, by chapter 2, the hard work starts. A huge part of the structuring of a novel comes out of character development. In fact, plot and character are inextricable. So after leaping into a novel, I sit down and think through each character in minute detail.

            Among the many ways I have earned money, and there have been a lot of them (ask me about picking lobster bodies for a month after my freshman year of college), is astrology. I studied with an astrologer who was famous for her work on dreamy Neptune. I took courses and read books, and after being tested and certified by the NCGR, the National Council for Geocosmic Research, I took clients and read horoscopes.

            It was not a lengthy career. There were other, more compelling professions for me. However, I retained a way to view and build character. So after the first chapter or two of a new novel, I cast charts for each of my main characters. These are not real charts in the sense that they arise out of a specific day and time. They are invented charts. And they are more like shorthand than like actual horoscopes.

            For example, Luca Bastardo in IMMORTAL has a hell of a Venus-Pluto square. It gives him extreme beauty, and it causes him pain, loss, and a profound appreciation of love. This may not be the most precise definition of the aspect according to real, practicing astrologers, but it means something precise—and useful—to me.

            Arthur in FALLEN has Sagittarius rising with Jupiter in Aries, while Emma is Aries rising, with a loaded sixth house. So Emma’s crowded sixth house makes her a healer, and gives her a  practical frame of mind. I’ve played with her Mars, as Mars is her ruling planet. Currently I think it’s in Sag, which gives her that strong attraction to Arthur.

            Brian Tennyson in THE LOVE OF MY (OTHER) LIFE is a Gemini-Cancer blend. He has the persistence to stick with a mate that Cancer can display and also the inventiveness of a Gemini. Tessa Barnum, his long-lost love, has a strong Neptune, which gives her artistic talent.

            It’s easy to see how my familiarity with astrology lends me an extra tool for creating characters….

 Traci L. Slatton

 

 Traci L. Slatton is a graduate of Yale and Columbia. She lives in Manhattan, and her love for Renaissance Italy inspired her historical novel Immortal [Bantam Dell], which is currently in film pre-production and reached bestseller status in Italy, Russia, and Brazil. Also the author of novels The Botticelli Affair, Fallen, and Cold Light, Slatton has published The Art of Life, a photo essay about figurative sculpture; Dancing in the Tabernacle, a book of poetry; and Piercing Time & Space, a non-fiction title on science and spirituality. Her romantic comedy novella The Love of My (Other) Life addresses the question: What worlds would you move to be with your soulmate? Her forthcoming novel, The Mission, is a meaty historical saga set during World War II. 

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Bully by Penelope Douglas

Bully by Penelope Douglas
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

My name is Tate. He doesn't call me that, though. He would never refer to me so informally, if he referred to me at all.

We're neighbors, and once, we were best friends. But then, one summer, he turned on me and has made it his mission to screw up my life at every opportunity. I've been humiliated, shut out, and gossiped about all through high school. His pranks and rumors got more sadistic as time wore on, and I made myself sick trying to hide from him. I worried about what was around every corner and behind every door.

So I left.

I spent a year studying abroad and bathed in the freedom of life without Jared. Now I'm back to finish up high school and get the hell out of here forever. I'm hoping that after a year of breathing room, he's moved on and forgotten all about me.

But even if he hasn't changed, I have. I'm not interested in avoiding him or turning the other cheek anymore. We're going to go head to head, because neither of us wants to back down.

Kitabın ilk yarısını şahane kurgulayıp ikinci yarısında batırmayı nasıl başarıyorlar bilmiyorum ama bu yazarı da tebrik etmek lazım. Muazzam bir iş çıkartmış. Verdiğim 2* sadece ve sadece kitabın ilk yarısının hatrına, normalde tek yıldızı bile hak etmiyor.