My 2008 DIKs
(from debut - June 2005 *)
My January column
My February column
My March column
My April column
My May column
My June column
* Co-authored Oct column
 What was begun as an online journal of the books I read evolved...or maybe it devolved...to also feature behind the scenes goings-on at All About Romance from my perspective (mostly based on my personal feelings - okay, it's a personal pity party); topics I've gone over ad nauseum in commentary at AAR, including the nature of reviews and online behavior; and my non-cyber life (including family and items in pop culture that capture my interest, which is just about everything). Please do not violate my trust. I restricted certain AAR-related and personal entries for a reason...to keep them as private as possible. Now that my blog is read-only, to access restricted entries you must already have a password; if you do, hold onto it so that you can continue to read restricted entries. This blog is not part of All About Romance. I ask that you keep comments or questions regarding restricted blog content off of AAR. |
Unmasqued
 | Colette Gale Grade: D- Sensuality: Burning This is another book that won't be released for a while, but it was so bad - and laughably purple - I had to mention it. |
Gale is a pen name for an author who apparently writes historical fiction, and she has another "treat" in store for readers after the release of Unmasqued, which is an erotic re-telling of The Phantom of the Opera. That "treat" is an erotic re-telling of Alexander Dumas' The Man in the Iron Mask. Guess what? I won't be reading it.
Just a couple of pages in a 352 page book saved the book from being a total failure...a snippet of a scene from the hero's POV that I found poignant. When I looked for early reviews of the book online, I found only praise, particularly for one love scene involving a harp that was inventive, but not particularly titillating (sorry, I couldn't resist that one) to me. I too will never look at a harp the same way, but for me the memory won't be as arousing as it will be for others.
I learned two important things from reading Unmasqued. The first is that all of France must be into D/s sex, because every single character encountered in the book likes either to humiliate or cause pain to their sex partners...or to be humiliated or feel pain during sex. What else did I learn? To no longer equate the word "pip" with Gladys Knight. It's used in the book many, many times and now, forever in my brain, it joins "little man in the boat" and "Delores!" as a word for that "nubbin of flesh".
P.S. - I later thought about my grade for this book. Those two pages aren't enough to save this one from F-dom.
TTFN, Laurie Likes Books