Valerie Bronwen

I'd actually go 3.5 for this one but there were some issues that keep it at a flat three.

I loved the premise - murder and intrigue at a conference for LGBTQ writers - and I very much liked the main character and her ex-girlfriend. Some of the things that were discussed or happened in the book, I've seen in the real-life lesfic world.

The issues I had, though, had to do with info dumps and flashbacks that happened in the middle of dialogue exchanges or scenes instead of being put someplace else or handled in a way that didn't totally derail the flow of the action.

I still very much enjoyed the book, though. It was a fun read.… (mehr)

3.5 stars

A lot of set up in this book, but it is the first book in the series. I do think it took longer to get to the mystery than it should have and the denouement is almost too fast at the end as a result. On the other hand, I like the main character Winter. She has an interesting voice with some nice touches of humor of the type that reminds me of another favorite character (Kit Holmes).

The author has a lot of fun setting the story at a literary convention in New Orleans, discussing m/m books, authors behaving badly (using their blogs to attack other people), plagiarizing, publishers that go belly up without warning, and all the fall out that happens when people who've been exchanging barbs online find themselves together for the first time. In this instance, it leads to murder and Winter finds herself at the center of a tangled web trying to follow the connections to the truth.

I do think Ms. Bronwen has a lot of potential and I will be keeping an out for her next book in the series.… (mehr)

The book is well written--no typos or editing issues. But I didn't like the lead character very much. It's hard to pinpoint why exactly--maybe because she's just dry and not very interesting. The book is told in first person POV and when you don't care about the lead, nothing else that happens to her matters. The thing is...nothing really happens to her. :) She's never in any real danger or anything. Neither did I care about the victim. She is a very unlikable character who totally deserved what she got (this didn't come from me, lol). The mystery didn't work for me either. My reaction to the whole double murder plot was--she should just let the cops handle it so I can go read another book. :)… (mehr)