Lightning Reviews: Alyssa Cole, Crazysauce, & Erotic Scifi

Welcome back to Lightning Reviews! We’ve been knee-deep in DABWAHA chaos, but now that voting is underway, we can get back to our regularly scheduled programming. I posted about Alyssa Cole’s Be Not Afraid cover reveal in a Wednesday Links post and now we have a review! Plus a Beauty and the Beast-esque crazyness of a book and an illustrated scifi novella!

Be Not Afraid

author: Alyssa Cole

Continuing with the year of “everything goes back to Hamilton,” Alyssa tweeted that this novella took place around the point of “Guns and Ships.” It does not feature America’s Favorite Fighting Frenchman (LAFAYETTE), but it does touch on a facet of the Revolutionary War that isn’t often mentioned: Black soldiers and how the British used the promise (sometimes illusion) of freedom to get Black people to…well, not so much fight, but to basically be slave labor for the British army, with the promise of resettlement and freedom somewhere else after the war is over. (This is also a subplot of AMC’s Turn, the drama about spies during the Revolutionary War.)

The hero is Elijah, a Black man who was promised freedom and land by his owner if Elijah went and fought for the Patriots in his owner’s place. The heroine is Kate, a woman who escaped from where she was enslaved to join up with the British. They meet after Elijah is captured by the British and a complicated romance ensues.

I liked how, in just 63 pages, Cole lets Kate and Elijah discuss and explore their reasons for picking the sides they did. It’s complicated, and difficult, and painful to decide whether to fight for home or for the people who stole you from your home. Cole sketches this conflict out in confident, bold strokes.

Kate sums it up by saying, “…the devil you know is still a devil, and when this war is over, he’ll send you straight to hell whether he wins or loses.” 

My main complaint about novellas is that it rarely feels like enough time for two people to meet and fall in love and decide that they are The One for ever and ever. War time, though, can absolutely throw that timeline into high gear, and I liked the two of them together very much. I haven’t read any of Cole’s historical before (loved Radio Silence, BOY HOWDY), and you bet your ass I’ll be reading more.

This was originally published in the For Love and Liberty anthology with Lena Hart, Kate McMurray, and Stacey Agdern.

Redheadedgirl

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Didn’t I Warn You

author: Amber Bardan

For Angelina, life has always meant playing by the rules and living her life for others. Her obligations are slowly suffocating her. But when a mysterious man crosses her path at a local coffee shop, he becomes a force in her life she will never forget.

Haithem can’t seem to remember what it feels like to love, but something about the innocent and sheltered Angelina makes him want more. More than his money, power, and secrets can give him.

This is a darkly seductive Beauty & the Beast romance that will give you goosebumps. Haithem is no prince charming as he starts to believe Angelina is not as honest he originally believed. With his own life on the line, he isn’t quite sure whether or not Angelina was purposefully put into his path to pose as the ultimate temptation and his eventual downfall. Or maybe she’s telling the truth, that she just wants a little bit of adventure in her life. But as Haithem discovers that he isn’t the only one with demons, it’s possible that these two broken individuals may find a way to heal each other.

There’s something so irresistible about the chemistry, the give-and-take, between Haithem and Angelina that just sizzles off the pages. Cruel one minute and kind the next, Haithem is a perfect blend of tall, dark, and dangerous. He’s the undeniably hard complement to Angelina’s soft.

This isn’t a romance for the light-hearted. It’s gritty and wild and passionate. Didn’t I Warn You will have readers falling hard and fast. It’s packed full of crazysauce – an unintentional kidnapping, international espionage and crime, and a helicopter that can deliver luxurious clothing to a yacht in the middle of the ocean.

It may not be for everyone, but it was certainly for me, even if it was a bit over the top.

Amanda

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The Stars Change

author: Mary Anne Mohanraj

The Stars Change is a gorgeous illustrated novella with art by Jack Kotz that is very hard to categorize and describe. It’s science fiction, with romantic and erotic elements. It’s not a romance per se, but romance readers who are also drawn to other kinds of fiction will appreciate the emphasis this book places on the importance of all kinds of love.

At the University of All Worlds, humans (mostly colonists from Southeast Asia), non-humanoid aliens, and humans who have been genetically modified come together to work and to learn, but not without considerable tension. When some members of the University become aware of an impending missile attack, they have to decide whether to hide, run, or try to stop the attack. The events of this one night shape and are shaped by a variety of emotional connections to friends, family, lovers, and community.

This book begins with a series of chapters that work as connected short stories. As the book goes on, the connections between the stories grow stronger so that by the end of the book, all the characters are united in one story arc. Some of these stories are happy, some sad. Some involve a lot of sex (the very first chapter includes a graphic depiction of casual sex in a park at night). There’s a lesbian couple, and an older couple (who still enjoy their sexy times), and non-gender-binary couples. There are couples who are breaking up and couples who are just starting to explore the idea of a relationship. The book also explores relationships between exes, friends, parents and children, individuals, communities, and cultures. There’s also a lot of food; don’t read this while you are hungry.

I loved the use of language in this book, and the way it uses science fiction to explore race, gender, and sexuality. Above all, I’m just a huge sucker for stories that explore themes of accountability, forgiveness, diversity, and compassion. It’s a cerebral book in tone, yet I found it to be incredibly moving.

Carrie S

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Comments are Closed

  1. DonnaMarie says:

    Yesterday, now this. It’s a good thing I work for a hand specialist because my clicking finger is sprained.

  2. Sarah says:

    “It’s a good thing I work for a hand specialist because my clicking finger is sprained.”

    That made me laugh SO HARD. HA!

  3. bookworm1990 says:

    Didn’t I Warn You sounds great. I haven’t read a good over the top book in a while

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