What Happened in Granite Creek
by Robyn Bradley
****
Koty is an unhappy housewife, married young to a man she thought she loved, but who turned into an abusive alcoholic. Jamie is a wounded Iraqi war vet, a quad amputee. Koty's husband Wayne, in a fit of misplaced patriotism, forces Koty to spend her afternoons "babysitting" Jamie, something neither of them want. But then Jamie and Koty fall for each other, which inevitably sets in motion majors changes for both of them, far beyond what anyone expected.
It's important to note that this is NOT a romance. It's a long meditation on Koty's and Wayne's marriage, and on their three young daughters. The central question is, how did Koty end up in this situation? For this reason, Jamie ends up not being a central character, so the dev factor was a bit low for me, except for the first few scenes of them together. Those are hot. Some of our PD members gave the author some advice, so the descriptions of Jamie's disability are realistic.
Despite the fact that this book isn't really written from a devotee point of view, it's still terrific. The characters are all so realistic and believable, and the quality of the writing is outstanding. It's a heartbreaking story from beginning to end, but utterly compelling. Recommended.
The first section of this book was originally published as the short story, "Support Our Troops."
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Saturday, December 31, 2011
What Love Endures
What Love Endures
by Elizabeth Glenn
*
This is a very old Harlequin Superromance (1983), by the same secret dev author who wrote Taste for Love, one of Devo Girl's favorite romances. All of Elizabeth Glenn/Marcy Gray's books are set in small towns in Texas, and all feature heroes with various disabilities. In this one, psychiatrist Mark Bradford is an amputee, having lost his right arm at the shoulder when a psychotic patient shot him. Now a year later, he's returned to the small town where he spent his teen years, working in a mental health clinic alongside JC, who had a huge crush on him as a girl. Now that she's all grown up, can she finally get him to notice her?
The story seems to have such promise, but no, it's an ugly story of a nasty, abusive relationship passed off as romance. Mark is an asshole, the kind of guy who even in the 80s would have been labeled a male chauvinist pig. He says outright that he hates women, and even when he's sweet talking JC, he manages to insult her, calling her "little witch." He's dark and brooding, while she's tiny, waif-like, and the whole childhood crush thing gets played up to a creepy degree, including the oft-mentioned fact that even as an adult she still looks like a child. A lot of romances feature this kind of bitter, angry hero, with the idea that the right woman makes him open up about his feelings and show her his tender side. But in this story, Mark just gets more angry and controlling toward JC as the story goes along.
Early in the story, before they can admit their love for each other, Mark talks JC into a marriage of convenience, he says to keep his many admirers from bothering him. His one condition is that JC never ask him any questions about his family, his past, anything at all. He's also extremely paranoid that the unnamed person who shot him will return. None of this makes any sense, but JC just goes along with it, even as Mark stops speaking to her, and flies into a rage whenever she tries to ask what the hell is going on. Eventually she does try to leave, but he brings her back by force and makes her a prisoner in his house. This is not love, it's abuse. Mark's behavior is excused and condoned, while JC is the one at fault for daring to ask, who is this crazy person I married. Ugh. No "love" should have to endure this kind of behavior.
This was so disappointing, because Glenn is a good writer--she really knows how to linger over the devvy details-- and there are so few romances with amputee heroes. It's really an opportunity missed.
by Elizabeth Glenn
*
This is a very old Harlequin Superromance (1983), by the same secret dev author who wrote Taste for Love, one of Devo Girl's favorite romances. All of Elizabeth Glenn/Marcy Gray's books are set in small towns in Texas, and all feature heroes with various disabilities. In this one, psychiatrist Mark Bradford is an amputee, having lost his right arm at the shoulder when a psychotic patient shot him. Now a year later, he's returned to the small town where he spent his teen years, working in a mental health clinic alongside JC, who had a huge crush on him as a girl. Now that she's all grown up, can she finally get him to notice her?
The story seems to have such promise, but no, it's an ugly story of a nasty, abusive relationship passed off as romance. Mark is an asshole, the kind of guy who even in the 80s would have been labeled a male chauvinist pig. He says outright that he hates women, and even when he's sweet talking JC, he manages to insult her, calling her "little witch." He's dark and brooding, while she's tiny, waif-like, and the whole childhood crush thing gets played up to a creepy degree, including the oft-mentioned fact that even as an adult she still looks like a child. A lot of romances feature this kind of bitter, angry hero, with the idea that the right woman makes him open up about his feelings and show her his tender side. But in this story, Mark just gets more angry and controlling toward JC as the story goes along.
Early in the story, before they can admit their love for each other, Mark talks JC into a marriage of convenience, he says to keep his many admirers from bothering him. His one condition is that JC never ask him any questions about his family, his past, anything at all. He's also extremely paranoid that the unnamed person who shot him will return. None of this makes any sense, but JC just goes along with it, even as Mark stops speaking to her, and flies into a rage whenever she tries to ask what the hell is going on. Eventually she does try to leave, but he brings her back by force and makes her a prisoner in his house. This is not love, it's abuse. Mark's behavior is excused and condoned, while JC is the one at fault for daring to ask, who is this crazy person I married. Ugh. No "love" should have to endure this kind of behavior.
This was so disappointing, because Glenn is a good writer--she really knows how to linger over the devvy details-- and there are so few romances with amputee heroes. It's really an opportunity missed.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Bid for a Wife
Bid for a Wife
by Ann Ruth Nordin
**
review by Aubrey
Circumstances leave Lucy all alone in a strange town in the 18th Century. Keen not to have to return home to her evil twin sister the towns folks marry her off to Brian, who is blind and therefore they recon doesn't have too many options. He turns out to be incredibly sweet and loving and is far from second best. All the characters are very likeable. Brian copes very well with his blindness and the Dev factor isn't too bad, in fact great in some places. There is a thriller edge to the book towards the end. It is ok, not one to read and re read like I do with Taste of Love.
by Ann Ruth Nordin
**
review by Aubrey
Circumstances leave Lucy all alone in a strange town in the 18th Century. Keen not to have to return home to her evil twin sister the towns folks marry her off to Brian, who is blind and therefore they recon doesn't have too many options. He turns out to be incredibly sweet and loving and is far from second best. All the characters are very likeable. Brian copes very well with his blindness and the Dev factor isn't too bad, in fact great in some places. There is a thriller edge to the book towards the end. It is ok, not one to read and re read like I do with Taste of Love.
Blind with Love
Blind With Love, by Becca Jameson
review by Aubrey
I really enjoyed this book but the ending let me down. It is the sort that you cannot wait to bedtime to read it. All the characters are very distinctive from each other, their backstories slipped in so smoothly a real lesson to any authors in learning. The dialogue is natural and not cheesy. The male lead is very sexy and complete, the female lead is easy to identify with. They both are set up by his sister (her best friend). We get straight to the punch, no messing around. The leads are meeting each other in a pivotal moment in their lives where the following day everything will change for them forever. That in itself is a very interesting angle. Their emotions so split between the happiness of finding a soul mate but then the grief that it is too late. What I really hated was the ending. From a Dev point of view the guy gains his sight which didn't need to happen for the story and there is a really annoying twist. The sex scene, although really steamy and originally written was about 20 pages too long for me (or 20% as I read it on my kindle). This probably is just me as it is for the erotic market so it is part and parcel for that genre for the characters to take to their bed of months (or it just feels like that for me.)
But ultimately this book held a fantastic promise that included absolutely everything I would want in a gripping romance story. If I reread it I will just stop at about 80%.
review by Aubrey
I really enjoyed this book but the ending let me down. It is the sort that you cannot wait to bedtime to read it. All the characters are very distinctive from each other, their backstories slipped in so smoothly a real lesson to any authors in learning. The dialogue is natural and not cheesy. The male lead is very sexy and complete, the female lead is easy to identify with. They both are set up by his sister (her best friend). We get straight to the punch, no messing around. The leads are meeting each other in a pivotal moment in their lives where the following day everything will change for them forever. That in itself is a very interesting angle. Their emotions so split between the happiness of finding a soul mate but then the grief that it is too late. What I really hated was the ending. From a Dev point of view the guy gains his sight which didn't need to happen for the story and there is a really annoying twist. The sex scene, although really steamy and originally written was about 20 pages too long for me (or 20% as I read it on my kindle). This probably is just me as it is for the erotic market so it is part and parcel for that genre for the characters to take to their bed of months (or it just feels like that for me.)
But ultimately this book held a fantastic promise that included absolutely everything I would want in a gripping romance story. If I reread it I will just stop at about 80%.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Precious Things
Precious Things
by Gail R. Delaney
***
Contemporary romance.
Benjamin Prescott is a highly successful banker, despite being totally deaf from birth. Jewell Kincaid applies for a job at his company, and he hires her on the spot, not only because she's highly qualified, but because she's also fluent in ASL. But from that moment on, it's a struggle for them to suppress their attraction at work. Every romance needs some way to keep the hero and heroine apart, and I found this one more convincing than most. Workplace romance is a serious problem, especially since Benjamin is Jewell's boss. Once another guy in the office starts harassing her, things get even more complicated for Jewell, trying to draw the line for appropriate behavior at work.
But then the office storyline disappears, and the second half of the book is all about Benjamin's abusive father, and him trying to rescue his sister, and get over a lifetime of abuse and neglect. Oh and his family is also fabulously wealthy, such a romance cliche. I found the second half much less realistic and convincing than the first half, as if the author didn't trust that the original conflict was compelling enough.
On the other hand, the writing is really solid, much better than average for a romance. And the portrayal of deafness is good. Benjamin is angry, bitter, and emotionally closed off (another romance cliche) but it's not because of his disability, but because he was abused by his father. He's very well adjusted, uses speech/lipreading and ASL. Jewell is fluent in ASL because she has deaf family members (she didn't just pick it up in an afternoon--I hate books like that!). The descriptions of ASL, how they communicate, and scenes from Benjamin's point of view are all satisfyingly realistic.
The one thing that bothered me slightly is the book makes a big deal over how perfect Benjamin's speech is. Ok, it's good that he's well-adjusted and competent and all, but it kind of felt like a "superman" moment to me--it's not enough that he's well-adjusted, he has to be PERFECT, even to the point of beggaring belief. It feels like a kind of overcompensation for a disabled hero that seems to happen often in romance novels. But at least he never tries to hide his disability or pretend he can hear (so tedious), and the book is good about portraying the limits of lipreading. The author mentions in the afterword that her mother was hard of hearing, so she knows her stuff.
She also mentions that she couldn't convince a major publisher to take a romance with a deaf hero. Still?! Seriously, publishers, get on the ball! There are a ton of romances coming out now in e-book self-published format, so clearly people want to read it!
by Gail R. Delaney
***
Contemporary romance.
Benjamin Prescott is a highly successful banker, despite being totally deaf from birth. Jewell Kincaid applies for a job at his company, and he hires her on the spot, not only because she's highly qualified, but because she's also fluent in ASL. But from that moment on, it's a struggle for them to suppress their attraction at work. Every romance needs some way to keep the hero and heroine apart, and I found this one more convincing than most. Workplace romance is a serious problem, especially since Benjamin is Jewell's boss. Once another guy in the office starts harassing her, things get even more complicated for Jewell, trying to draw the line for appropriate behavior at work.
But then the office storyline disappears, and the second half of the book is all about Benjamin's abusive father, and him trying to rescue his sister, and get over a lifetime of abuse and neglect. Oh and his family is also fabulously wealthy, such a romance cliche. I found the second half much less realistic and convincing than the first half, as if the author didn't trust that the original conflict was compelling enough.
On the other hand, the writing is really solid, much better than average for a romance. And the portrayal of deafness is good. Benjamin is angry, bitter, and emotionally closed off (another romance cliche) but it's not because of his disability, but because he was abused by his father. He's very well adjusted, uses speech/lipreading and ASL. Jewell is fluent in ASL because she has deaf family members (she didn't just pick it up in an afternoon--I hate books like that!). The descriptions of ASL, how they communicate, and scenes from Benjamin's point of view are all satisfyingly realistic.
The one thing that bothered me slightly is the book makes a big deal over how perfect Benjamin's speech is. Ok, it's good that he's well-adjusted and competent and all, but it kind of felt like a "superman" moment to me--it's not enough that he's well-adjusted, he has to be PERFECT, even to the point of beggaring belief. It feels like a kind of overcompensation for a disabled hero that seems to happen often in romance novels. But at least he never tries to hide his disability or pretend he can hear (so tedious), and the book is good about portraying the limits of lipreading. The author mentions in the afterword that her mother was hard of hearing, so she knows her stuff.
She also mentions that she couldn't convince a major publisher to take a romance with a deaf hero. Still?! Seriously, publishers, get on the ball! There are a ton of romances coming out now in e-book self-published format, so clearly people want to read it!
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Farsighted
Farsighted
by Emlyn Chand
***
Young adult romance/supernatural featuring a blind teen by a new, self-published author. Alex Kosmitoras, who was born blind, is having a hard time. He's bullied and picked on by the other kids at his high school, and doesn't have any friends. His father is unemployed, and seems unhappy with his blind son. His mother dotes on him, but for a teenage boy, that's almost worse. But at the start of his sophomore year in high school, he makes friends with two new girls in his class, Simmi and Shapri. At the same time, though, he starts having visions of terrible things happening to his friends. Shapri's mother, a professional psychic who runs a fortunetelling shop, tells him he has a gift he needs to learn to use. But will he master his visions in time to save his friends?
This is an unusual book, in part because Alex is the first-person narrator. I have read dozens of books about blind people, but except for autobiography, I can't think of a single one that is narrated from the blind person's point of view. That alone makes it a devo-friendly read. It's a brave and original choice by the author, and she mostly pulls it off, but there are some slips. In several places Alex describes things going on around him that he could not know about, just little things like a gesture someone makes, but it was enough to be distracting. There are also some details that felt off to me. Instead of nodding yes, Alex snaps his fingers. Ok, I'm sure that's possible, but I have met many blind people and no one I have met does anything like that. There are a few discrepancies with Braille too. In one scene, Alex shows Simmi one of his Braille textbooks, and says the first word is "the" but anyone good enough at Braille to use it for schoolwork would be using level 3, which has abbreviations for common words like "the." It isn't spelled out the way it's described in the book. Also a single school textbook would run for many volumes in a Braille edition--it's very big and bulky. You can't just carry Braille books around in a backpack. But those are minor details.
On the other hand, I really liked the way Alex's "visions" were described. When I first read the plot description, I was afraid he would regain his sight in some fake magical way, or that he would just be used as a symbolic character. The blind seer, how trite. But it isn't like that at all. Alex "sees" the future the same way he encounters the rest of his world, that is, with his other senses. It's particularly confusing for him, and he often can't tell if what he's hearing is the present or the future. I found this quite original and interesting. And he's clearly a fully rounded character, not just a symbolic stand-in.
Overall I found this a fun read. Alex is an appealing and unusual character, and his growing feelings for both Simmi and Shapri are depicted in a very sweet way. I found the supernatural elements less satisfying than the romance, though. It takes a long time for that part of the story to get developed, and by the time it does, I found myself wishing we could just get back to the high school romance parts, since they were more nuanced and intriguing. The change in tone from romance to action is rather abrupt, as is the change in Alex's relationship with his father, which was not that convincing.
Also be warned, this is the first book in a series, so while the ending concludes some things, not everything is wrapped up. Also note that the next book will not be narrated from Alex's point of view, which is too bad, although presumably he will be in it.
by Emlyn Chand
***
Young adult romance/supernatural featuring a blind teen by a new, self-published author. Alex Kosmitoras, who was born blind, is having a hard time. He's bullied and picked on by the other kids at his high school, and doesn't have any friends. His father is unemployed, and seems unhappy with his blind son. His mother dotes on him, but for a teenage boy, that's almost worse. But at the start of his sophomore year in high school, he makes friends with two new girls in his class, Simmi and Shapri. At the same time, though, he starts having visions of terrible things happening to his friends. Shapri's mother, a professional psychic who runs a fortunetelling shop, tells him he has a gift he needs to learn to use. But will he master his visions in time to save his friends?
This is an unusual book, in part because Alex is the first-person narrator. I have read dozens of books about blind people, but except for autobiography, I can't think of a single one that is narrated from the blind person's point of view. That alone makes it a devo-friendly read. It's a brave and original choice by the author, and she mostly pulls it off, but there are some slips. In several places Alex describes things going on around him that he could not know about, just little things like a gesture someone makes, but it was enough to be distracting. There are also some details that felt off to me. Instead of nodding yes, Alex snaps his fingers. Ok, I'm sure that's possible, but I have met many blind people and no one I have met does anything like that. There are a few discrepancies with Braille too. In one scene, Alex shows Simmi one of his Braille textbooks, and says the first word is "the" but anyone good enough at Braille to use it for schoolwork would be using level 3, which has abbreviations for common words like "the." It isn't spelled out the way it's described in the book. Also a single school textbook would run for many volumes in a Braille edition--it's very big and bulky. You can't just carry Braille books around in a backpack. But those are minor details.
On the other hand, I really liked the way Alex's "visions" were described. When I first read the plot description, I was afraid he would regain his sight in some fake magical way, or that he would just be used as a symbolic character. The blind seer, how trite. But it isn't like that at all. Alex "sees" the future the same way he encounters the rest of his world, that is, with his other senses. It's particularly confusing for him, and he often can't tell if what he's hearing is the present or the future. I found this quite original and interesting. And he's clearly a fully rounded character, not just a symbolic stand-in.
Overall I found this a fun read. Alex is an appealing and unusual character, and his growing feelings for both Simmi and Shapri are depicted in a very sweet way. I found the supernatural elements less satisfying than the romance, though. It takes a long time for that part of the story to get developed, and by the time it does, I found myself wishing we could just get back to the high school romance parts, since they were more nuanced and intriguing. The change in tone from romance to action is rather abrupt, as is the change in Alex's relationship with his father, which was not that convincing.
Also be warned, this is the first book in a series, so while the ending concludes some things, not everything is wrapped up. Also note that the next book will not be narrated from Alex's point of view, which is too bad, although presumably he will be in it.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Second Sight
Second Sight
BBC, UK
2000-2001
***
Short TV series starring Clive Owen about a police detective, Ross Tanner, who is gradually losing his sight. Devo Girl was reluctant to watch this one for a long time because 1) he's not totally blind and 2) the premise of hiding his condition and trying to "pass" is inherently silly and annoying.
However, I am glad I finally put aside my misgivings, because this is a well-done and engaging show, with some good devo moments. There are only 4 episodes, each just under 2 hours. The cases are all complex and interesting, if a bit overly convoluted at times. Tanner's condition is somewhat poorly defined (and I'm not convinced they didn't just make it up), but he seems to suffer from a combination of blind spots, distorted vision, occasional hallucinations and vertigo. The first few episodes do a good job of showing his point of view, and showing him feeling around, but by the end the directors seem to put less effort into that part of the story, which is strange, since the ongoing tension is about him keeping his worsening condition a secret. It seems to end very abruptly, but it's still fun while it lasts. There's even some romance in the first two episodes, and hey, Clive Owen is a handsome man, even if he only acts blind about a quarter of the time.
BBC, UK
2000-2001
***
Short TV series starring Clive Owen about a police detective, Ross Tanner, who is gradually losing his sight. Devo Girl was reluctant to watch this one for a long time because 1) he's not totally blind and 2) the premise of hiding his condition and trying to "pass" is inherently silly and annoying.
However, I am glad I finally put aside my misgivings, because this is a well-done and engaging show, with some good devo moments. There are only 4 episodes, each just under 2 hours. The cases are all complex and interesting, if a bit overly convoluted at times. Tanner's condition is somewhat poorly defined (and I'm not convinced they didn't just make it up), but he seems to suffer from a combination of blind spots, distorted vision, occasional hallucinations and vertigo. The first few episodes do a good job of showing his point of view, and showing him feeling around, but by the end the directors seem to put less effort into that part of the story, which is strange, since the ongoing tension is about him keeping his worsening condition a secret. It seems to end very abruptly, but it's still fun while it lasts. There's even some romance in the first two episodes, and hey, Clive Owen is a handsome man, even if he only acts blind about a quarter of the time.
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