"Love, Sex & Money: A Billion-Dollar Affair": "Entertainment Weekly" Takes a Closer Look at Romance Fiction

Author: Karen Valby 
Article: "Love, Sex & Money: A Billion-Dollar Affair" 
Featured in:  Entertainment Weekly Magazine 
Date of Issue: October 24, 2014

This week's Entertainment Weekly contains a nine-page spread entitled "Love, Sex & Money: A Billion-Dollar Affair" and dedicated to an analysis of romance fiction  The author is Karen Valby, one of EW's senior writers. (Click HERE to read other articles Valby has contributed to EW.) 

If you are a romance reader, your first thought might be "Hooray! Romance is finally getting some recognition"—and that is true, since this is a major pop culture magazine with a national readership. But there's another side to the issue—one that isn't so happy. 

Valby approaches the subject of romance novels as an uninformed novice, attending the Romance Writers of America (RWA) convention and listening to her dinner-table mates dish about romance writing. Valby takes notes as they enlighten her "on the endless variety of romance-novel subgenres and clued me in on the hot new trend: chiseled heroes who belong to mixed martial arts groups or motorcycle gangs." 

Valby then—inevitably—brings up the shame factor, that romance readers face supercilious sarcasm when they are caught reading "those" books. Although romance-novel shame is always mentioned in articles of this type, it really can't be avoided because it is still all too true. I was an associate at my local library for the past 10+ years and was in charge of selecting and purchasing romance novels. Believe me, I have listened to many snooty put-downs of the romance genre, by both library patrons and librarians. I got so frustrated with reactions to paranormal romance that I wrote a reader's advisory reference book on paranormal fiction (Fang-tastic Fiction) for the American Library Association. I included both paranormal romance and urban fantasy in my book because many librarians know so little about these genres that they are unable to direct readers to paranormal read-alikes. The general feeling among most librarians is that all paranormal fiction books are pretty much the same—that there is little difference between the novels of Patricia Briggs and Ilona Andrews or between the books of Kim Harrison and Nalini Singh; that reading Nina Bangs is the same as reading J. R. Ward; that Gena Showalter's IMPERIA series and her ALIEN HUNTRESS series are similar in tone and story line. All of these assumptions are unequivocally false. So...I'm glad that Valby brings up the "shame" element in her essay, but I wish that she had dipped more deeply into the "ignorance" element. (Click on any of the author's names or series titles above to read my reviews.)

Valby’s next topic is the requisite reference to E.L. James and her Fifty Shades of Grey. Valby notes that many of the romance writers she talked with didn't think much of James's series and attributes that partially to "competitive sour grapes." Then she states that Fifty Shades "ignited a subgenre ember into a Burning Man blaze" and that "Fifty was a gateway drug to a heady new world, and sales for romance novels exploded in its wake." Unfortunately, Valby provides no back-up data to support this statement, and I doubt its accuracy. My experience in the library was that yes, Fifty attracted some new readers to that particular series, and yes, a few authors churned out knock-off erotic romances (even worse than Fifty) that attracted the same readers, but erotic romance is not a huge romance sub-genre, and I don't believe that there was much carryover to romance fiction in general. Regular readers of erotic romance continue to read erotic romances written by the pros, and the Fifty newbies…well either they are reading the new Fifty clones or have stepped up to the better stuff. Either way, I doubt that Fifty caused much more than a temporary, very slight bump-up in the already massive numbers of romance readers.

The article has several graphic-driven sections: 

"Not Your Mama's Book Covers" attempts—simplistically and inaccurately—to label each decade (from the 1950s through the 2010s) with a single cover type (e.g., 1980s—clinches; 2000s—landscapes). This misguided over-simplification results in a meaningless and misleading analysis. For example, the Kathleen Woodiwiss cover, which is supposed to represent the 1970's "solo men, solo women…" trope is actually the 2009 reprint cover. The original 1970s cover portrays a white-pillared house with an inset picture of a couple in a clinch.

"Top 10 Romance Authors" lists the "most prolific" romance novelists. The title is somewhat deceiving because "Top 10" usually means "best-selling," not "most prolific." If you want a more accurate "Top" list, click HERE to go to Goodread's "Best Top Romance Novels of All Time." Also, check out the RWA web site for their lists of Honor Roll and Hall of Fame authors, both based on appearances on various best-seller lists.

"Romance by the Numbers" uses industry statistics from the RWA web site to provide an overall picture of the romance genre. Click HERE to go to the RWA's Industry Statistics and Reader Statistics pages to check out the numbers for yourself.  

 “Vixens, Bad Boys, & Babies” begins like this: “Sure, they’re clichés, but no romance novel would be engrossing without one of these plots or characters.” This one briefly summarizes the most common romance fiction tropes, for example, the fiery vixen, the alpha hero, the one that got away, the damsel in distress, and the secret baby. These plot types fit both contemporary and historical romances, but not paranormal romance, where the plots generally focus on a pair of soul mates who must foil demented scientists experimenting on supernaturals (as in Lora Leigh's BREEDS series), power-mad villains who want to rule the world (just about any paranormal series), or ancient evil spirits that are awakened (frequently by one of the power-mad villains) and then wreak havoc.

“The Love Universe” is a two-page spread that depicts the romance genres and sub-genres as stars in the night sky. It is a well-intentioned but failed attempt to graphically portray the sub-genres of Contemporary Romance, Historical Romance, and Paranormal Romance. The failure is inevitable, because each of the big three genres encompasses ALL of the sub-genres listed. For example, in this graphic depiction, YA, comedy, gay, military, “mature,” multicultural, and new adult are shown ONLY as part of Contemporary Romance. NONE of them are shown as being part of Paranormal Romance, which must be a very big surprise to paranormal authors like Michele Bardsley, Nina Bangs, and Molly Harper (humorous paranormal romance); Cynthia Eden, Rebecca Zanetti, and Lora Leigh ("mature," aka erotic paranormal romance); J. D. Tyler, Lisa Renee Jones, and Angie Fox (military paranormal romance); and the numerous YA paranormal romance authors, who are completely ignored. (Click on any of the authors' names above to read my reviews of their series.)

Here are the few sub-genres that this graph depicts for Paranormal Romance: Sci-Fi (Steampunk, Aliens, Interplanetary); Fantasy (Time Travel); Other Entities (Centaurs, Vampires, Ghosts, Shape-Shifters, Werewolves, Witches, Monsters); and Gothic. 

Here are my questions: Why single out centaurs? Offhand, I can’t think of a single paranormal romance that features centaurs in key roles. Why list "Centaurs" and "Werewolves" separately from "Shape-Shifters" when both Centaurs and Werewolves are shape-shifters? What about mythological entities, like the gods and goddesses of Sherrilyn Kenyon's DARK-HUNTERS series (and others)? And where are the Demons, like the main characters in Larissa Ione's DEMONICA and LORDS OF DELIVERANCE series (and others). And what about the Angels, who are the leads in Nalini Singh's GUILD HUNTER series (and others)? Where are the Fae, like Cecily and her friends in Yasmine Galenorn's INDIGO COURT series and Shona Husk's fairies in her COURT OF ANNWYN series (and others)? And don't forget the Elementals, like the ones in Christine Feehan's SEA HAVEN series and Hanna Martine's THE ELEMENTALS (and others). The “Love Universe” graphic must have seemed like a great idea, but whoever put it together obviously doesn’t have a clue about what constitutes Paranormal Fiction. (Click on any of the series titles above to read my reviews.)

So…to sum it up, Valby’s article is welcome because it brings some much-appreciated attention to one of the top-grossing and most underrated fiction genres on the market today, but its inaccuracies take most of the shine off its slick surface.

Read it for yourself. It’s on the newsstands now. In a week or two, when the article is available on the EW website, I’ll post the link here. In the meantime, here are two opposing viewpoints on the article, one from U.S.A. Today and one from the website LoveintheMargins.com:

Click HERE to read U.S.A. Today’s “6 Things We Love about EW’s Spread on Romance Novels.”

Click HERE to read a response to the article entitled “A Billion-Dollar Affair with Karen Valby,” posted by Meoskop on the blog site Love in the Margins.

NEW LINKS ADDED 10/23/2014: Here are links to two different audio interviews featuring Jesse Barron, who wrote an article on the romance novel industry for the February 2014 issue of Harper's magazine. Click HERE to hear his NPR interview—click on the "Listen to the Story" arrow at the top of the page; and click HERE for his WNYC.org interview—just wait a few seconds and it will play automatically. The WNYC interview includes remarks by Angela Knight, best-selling author of erotic romance fiction.

UPDATE! Keri Arthur: DARK ANGELS SERIES

UPDATE!

I have just updated a previous post for Keri Arthur with a review of Darkness Splintered, the sixth novel in her DARK ANGELS SERIES.

Click on the pink-link series title above to go directly to the updated review.

Devon Monk: HOUSE IMMORTAL TRILOGY

Author:  Devon Monk
Series:  HOUSE IMMORTAL TRILOGY
Plot Type:  Dystopian Urban Fantasy
Ratings:  Violence—4; Sensuality—2; Humor—2 

Publisher and Titles: 
          "Stitchery" (Fairwood Press, introductory short story in A Cup of Normal, 9/2010) 

          House Immortal (ROC, 9/2014)

          Infinity Bell (ROC, 3/2015) 

          Crucible Zero (ROC, 9/2015) (FINAL) 

This ongoing post was revised and updated on 9/14/15 to include a review of Crucible Zero, the third and FINAL novel in the trilogy. That review appears first, followed by an overview of the world-building and reviews of the first two novels. 

  FAIR WARNING: This review of Crucible Zero      

      contains spoilers for House Immortal and Infinity Bell.      

                NOVEL 3:  Crucible Zero               

A WORD TO THE WISE: Please don't read this novel unless you have read the first two books in the trilogy because you will be completely lost. Even though I did read both House Immortal and Infinity Bell, I have to admit that the early chapters of Crucible Zero were tough to get through, primarily because of all of the weird fallout from the major time-travel incident that climaxed Infinity Bell. The author gradually fills in the details of past events in the early chapters and eventually provides some big chunks of information that will help you remember just what happened at the farm house at the end of Infinity Bell. But readers who have not read the first two books will never be able to grasp the significance of the huge changes between the world of the first two books and the totally different world of this final book.

PUBLISHER'S BLURB:

     The truce between the ruling Houses has shattered and chaos now reigns. Only one woman has the power to save the world—but she could also destroy it. Matilda Case never thought of herself as a hero. But because she is galvanized—and nearly immortal in her stitched, endlessly healing body—she doesn’t have much of a choice. Even if she doesn’t want to save the world, she’s the only one capable of traveling in time to do so.

     But her rescue attempt hasn’t gone as planned. She’s stuck in an alternate universe, and her world is in danger of disappearing. Worst of all, an unfathomably powerful man who can also travel through history doesn’t want her to put things to rights. He’s willing to wage bloody war to stop Matilda, unless she surrenders control of time to him.

     Now, with the minutes ticking, Matilda must make impossible decisions, knowing that one wrong choice will destroy her—and any chance of saving everything she loves. 

MY REVIEW:
     In the second novel, the characters traveled from one place in the world to another, but in this book, all of them but the heroine stay in one general area. When Matilda went back in time (at the end of the second book) to save the world by changing the Wings of Mercury experiment, the effects of her actions caused huge changes in the world as she knew it. 

As this book opens, Matilda realizes that she is in a different time line (aka timeway). "In this world…Evelyn had been the one who had woken up when my brother had tried to transfer my mind into her body. She'd lived until today, just a few minutes ago when I'd found myself standing in the kitchen…My going back in time was supposed to save the world. And it had. But it had also changed it in massive, chaotic ways." Matilda soon learns that the entire structure of society has changed completely, as have the lives, and even the names, of many of her friends from the earlier books. If you think you are confused, so is Matilda: "I'm not going to lie. Coming back to a world that was not quite the same world I'd lived in all my life was spooky on so many levels, it was overwhelming. If I thought about it for too long, if I lingered on the consequences of having both gained and lost everything I loved, I was going to be asking for a panic attack." This whole time-shift element is definitely a bit confusing at first, but just keep reading and trust that Devon Monk will provide you with enough details to get you back on track. 

     As a result of Matilda's time-travel experience, the "Matilda" we have come to know and love never existed. Instead the soul/spirit/memory of "Evelyn," the child whose body Quinten used to "build" Matilda, was in charge of her body. So, when the Evelyn persona fades away and the Matilda persona suddenly reappears, no one realizes that Evelyn is gone and that Matilda has appeared in that body—not even her brother. The world in which Matilda awakens has been nearly destroyed by wars, a meteor barrage, and several mysterious plagues that have killed much of the population. The latest plague turns people into ferals (i.e., vicious, mindless zombies) who roam the countryside at night in huge herds.

     The twelve houses no longer exist. Instead, there are three houses and a crime kingdom: House Fire, House Water, House Earth, and Coal and Ice. In this new world, the galvanized are social outcasts and wanted criminals—dreaded mercenaries who hire out their strength and skills to the crime lord who runs Coal and Ice. (And wait until you learn the identity of that crime lord!) As in the first two books, mysterious messages from an anonymous writer (this time with the initials W.Y.) precede each chapter, with each note being a message to Matilda. You should be able to figure out that person's identity before it is revealed in at the narrative.

     So…Matilda has to introduce herself, first to her brother, who initially believes that she is hallucinating. She muses, "I'd become a stranger in their midst, an intruder in my own life." Then, she begins to have brief periods in which she is suddenly transported to a different "timeway" (a wrinkle in time), sometimes back to that terrible farmhouse scene in which all her friends and family were killed, sometimes to a place where she and Abraham are happy together, but usually to a place where her dreaded enemy, Slater Orange, is screaming at her and threatening her life. It is Slater who explains what is going on: "Time is a very delicate and contrary thing. Any slight adjustment, and worlds collide. Man was not meant to play with the toys of the gods, dear Matilda…You and I are locked in this struggle. Until only one of us remains. And I shall rule. No matter who I have to kill. No matter which timeway I decide will become the set reality." Unlike the previous books, Slater Orange doesn't have his own chapters. Until the final scene, he appears only in Matilda's timeway-travel scenes.

     The Matilda-Slater standoff sets up the main storyline of the plot: Matilda's pledge to find and kill Slater once and for all. As she gathers allies—Quinten, Abraham, Foster, and the Neds—Matilda is forced to develop new relationships with friends and family who are now totally different people from the ones she remembers. Quinten treats her like a fragile girl—because that is how he treated Evelyn—and Abraham doesn't know her at all. Except that he does...in a way. During Matilda's major time travel adventure in the previous book, she was a little girl who saved Abraham from being shot by Slater. In that scene, Matilda told Abraham to find her, and he has been searching for her ever since. But she is not the same little girl who rescued him, and he is not the man who became her lover in her previous life. I know…this all sounds complicated, and to some extent it is. But really, don't give up on the book. If you just keep reading, everything will become clear, and the suspense and the action will grab you and never let go. Unfortunately for me, I read library copies of the first two books, so I couldn't just pick up book two from my reading shelf and reread the ending. That would have been helpful. 

     In any case, Matilda, Abraham, and Foster eventually go in search of Slater,  who is now the head of House Fire. Their journey through the desolate countryside is filled with danger from the ferals and from Slater's armed forces. Not to mention that all three are galvanized, which means that everyone in the country hates and fears them and wants them dead. At this point, Slater is a complete psychopath who is determined to rule the world—just as soon as he kills Matilda and her allies and anyone else who gets in his way. Matilda, though, is just as adamant about taking him down…permanently. 

     The best thing about this book is the development of Matilda's new relationships with Quinten and Abraham, as well as her reconnections with friends from her past who now have different positions in society and who don't know that they ever knew her in a different timeway. The evolution of Matilda's layered perception of her old and new worlds is fascinating to watch.

     This has been a terrific series, filled with nail-biting suspense, great characters, and an extremely inventive mythology. I hate to see it end. Click HERE to read an excerpt from Crucible Zero on the book's Amazon.com page. Just can click on the cover art. 

FULL DISCLOSURE: My review of Crucible Zero is based on an electronic advance reading copy (ARC) of the book that I received from the publisher through Netgalley. I received no promotional or monetary rewards, and the opinions in this review are strictly my own. 

                      WORLD-BUILDING                      

     Set several hundred years in the future, this world is ruled by eleven powerful Houses that have controlled all of the world's resources and authority for the past 100 years. Each House is named for a color. Here is a list of the House leaders and their areas of speciality as the series begins.

    > Kiana, House White: Medical 

    > Aranda, House Red: Power

    > Slater, House Orange: Minerals 

    > Oscar, House Gray: Human Resources (including management of people) (Oscar's brother Hollis becomes House Gray leader in book 2.) 

    > Feye, House Green: Agriculture 

    > Welton, House Yellow: Technology 

    > Gideon, House Violet: Faith and Religion 

    > Reeves, House Silver: Vice (including entertainment, drugs, and sex) 

    > Troi, House Blue: Water 

    > House Gold: Money 

    > John, House Black: Defense (including weapons and security) 

     There is one more house—House Brown—but it has no power and no formal leader. Its members are rebels, misfits, and cast-offs who live off the grid and have no input on decisions made by the other Houses. Humans can indenture (i.e., enslave) themselves to one of the eleven ruling Houses, or they can choose to join House Brown. If they join one of the eleven Houses, they automatically gain a life of security, servitude, and hard work. If they choose House Brown, they opt for an independent, hardscrabble existence with no modern conveniences—no electricity, technology, or other resources. Most members of House Brown are farmers who must move off their lands if one of the Houses claims ownership. Although life in House Brown is tough, many people have joined because they value personal freedom over personal comfort.

     At the beginning of most of the chapters, Monk has inserted brief quotations from an unidentified diary. These quotations are arranged chronologically and provide key historical details about the formation of this world. Three hundred years ago, a scientist named Alveré Case triggered a disastrous comet-related experiment called the Wings of Mercury that killed hundreds of people, leaving only twelve known survivors (six men and six women), who are called the galvanized. "The event was an experiment to control time, the theory goes that it is the reason galvanized brains have survived all these years. Only galvanized brains resist every strain of disease on earth; feel no pain; and are inhumanly strong, adaptive, and infinitely repairable. Only galvanized brains show no sign of aging or decline, Only galvanized are immortal—cheaters of time." (House Immortal, p. 259) The galvanized are not considered to be humans. Each one is regarded as an object that is owned by the its House.

     The survivors—the galvanized (also called the stitched)—were at first treated like lab experiments by the various Houses. After having limbs amputated, being cut open, and generally being tortured, the twelve were stitched back together and shocked into life: "rebuilt, piece by piece, until they were stronger than any human." (House Immortal, p. 103) (Obviously, there is a Frankenstein connection here.) Naturally, because the galvanized were strong and immortal, everyone wanted possession of them, resulting in a war among the Houses that killed thousands of people and nearly destroyed the country and all of its resources. "The history books called the dark years the Restructure. But those who lived through it knew death, famine, war, and disease." (House Immortal, p. 161). In 2099, the twelve galvanized finally united and declared war upon the Houses. "Millions of people joined their fight. and for fifty bloody years the galvanized tirelessly led that war, that uprising of House Brown." (House Immortal, p. 213) Then in 2160, under the leadership of House Gray, "a new human-rights bill…ensured just treatment and fair process to all the people of the world. Except for the galvanized. The twelve bargained for human freedom for House Brown and became slaves once again." (House Immortal, p. 242) Essentially, the galvanized gave up their own freedom for the greater good—to ensure that humanity survived. 

     Ever since the treaty went into effect, there have been two opposing opinions about it: One side believes that the galvanized "bargained for humans...to have rights. The right to food, shelter, work, and dignity...a way to leave other Houses and become House Brown, if they desire. A way out of indentured servitude to the other Houses." The opposition views the galvanized as traitors, believing that "they bargained for House Brown to have no voice in the world, no resources. Left us alone to fend for ourselves." (House Immortal, 72)

     The series heroine is 26-year-old Matilda (Tilly) Case, a direct descendant of Alveré Case. Tilly's mother and father, both scientists, were murdered by House Black when Tilly was a child, but Tilly hid herself in the barn and was never seen by the killers. She and her brother, Quinten, continue to maintain all of their father's scientific equipment and technology and stay entirely off the grid, getting their electric power from a water-driven generator. As the series opens, Quinten is the informal leader of House Brown, but he has been missing for three years. In the meantime, Tilly runs House Brown's only North American communications hub, farms her family's land, and takes care of her grandmother and her father's fantastical menagerie of stitched animals, assisted by Ned Harris (aka the Neds), a two-headed man who defected from a traveling circus. 

     Tilly is not a normal human. When she was a child, she became terminally ill, but before she died, Quinten transferred her soul and her memories into a galvanized girl-child stitched together by his father years before—one of the original group of survivors. When Tilly's normal human body died, she awakened in the stitched body as the 13th galvanized—one that no one knows about. But that situation is about to change!

            NOVEL 1:  House Immortal             

     As the story opens, Quinten is still missing, and Tilly and the Neds are tending to the farm and dealing with the problems of House Brown. The farm is far off the grid, out in the country far away from any settlements. Then one day, a visitor—one of the galvanized—comes knocking on the door, bleeding heavily from a stomach wound and dropping unconscious to the floor as soon as he arrives. Against the advice of the Neds, Tilly takes him in and heals him with some of her father's nano-based gel. 

     This stranger is Abraham Seventh, the seventh of the original survivors to be stitched together and resurrected. His human name was Abraham Vail, and he was born more than 300 years ago, but looks like he's 30. When Abraham regains consciousness, he claims to have been led to the farm by a message from Tilly's long-dead mother, and he warns Tilly that all of the Houses are now after her because they are just learning of her existence. The fact that Tilly is a newly discovered galvanized makes her an object of great value to all the Houses.

     Tilly doesn't know anything about the galvanized or their history so she reacts with shock and disbelief to what Abraham tells her. For his part, Abraham is stunned to learn that Tilly is different from the other galvanized because she can feel pain, and when she touches him, he also feels pain—for the first time since he was human. Abraham wants Tilly to come back to the city with him and join House Gray so that she will be protected from the other Houses. The galvanized are considered property, not people, so they have no civil rights, and the Houses have an ambiguous, politically-driven set of rules for determining which House possesses each of the galvanized.

     Again, against the advice of the Neds, Tilly decides to go along with Abraham, partly because she believes she has no real choice and partly because she is mightily attracted to him. The Neds refuse to let her go alone, so the group heads off together leaving Grandma, the farm, and the stitched animals in the care of a neighbor. 

     The rest of the book follows Tilly's adventures in the city as she mouths off to the heads of the Houses, fights a few battles (with both galvanized and human opponents), deals with betrayal and political intrigue, and makes some really bad decisions—lots of TSTL moments. Monk inserts details of the basic mythology throughout the book, so you shouldn't have too much trouble understanding it by the time you get halfway into the story. At first, though, the world-building can be confusing. When I realized that the quotations at the chapter beginnings comprised a chronological retelling of the past events that drive the mythology, I stopped reading the story, and instead read all of those quotations first. Then, I went back to the story. That was helpful for me and might be for you as well.

     This series obviously has a fresh and inventive mythology, but if you lift that away and look at what's left, you'll find some familiar tropes: the highly politicized and corrupt council formed by the heads of the Houses; the power-mad leaders seeking youth and immortality; an attractive, feisty, independent, rebellious, reckless heroine; and a handsome, introspective, man-of-few-words warrior hero. At one point, the Houses hold a Gathering of all of the Houses, an exuberant scene that put me in mind of some of the crowd scenes in Hunger Games—with the same types of gaudy costumes, posturing warriors, wildly enthusiastic audience, huge telescreens, and pompous leaders. 

     Even with these minor quibbles, I have to say that House Immortal gets this series off to a strong and solid start. After a slow beginning (while I figured out the world-building), the pace picked up and pulled me right along. Tilly is an interesting character, although for a 26-year-old, she is a bit naive and impetuous. That could be attributed to her isolated life on the farm, but still, she does put herself into a lot of very bad situations solely because she doesn't think things through. Let's hope that her learning curve isn't too steep. 

     Monk demonstrates particular cleverness in developing the character of Slater Orange, the principle villain of the book. Slater, head of House Orange, is an extremely powerful man, but he is near death from a terminal disease and thus is desperate to achieve immortality through any means necessary. Although most of the chapters are written in Tilly's first-person voice, Monk includes four "House Orange" chapters written from Slater's viewpoint. By reading just the first few words of each of those chapters, you can make some accurate judgments about his character: "Slater Orange preferred to walk…" (chapter 3); "He preferred to keep his hands clean." (chapter 11), "He preferred to wait until his captive looked up." (chapter 13); "He preferred to be obeyed." (chapter 19). I admire Monk's finesse as she clearly and concisely lets her character show us exactly what kind of a person he is.

     The next novel is due in March, and I'm looking forward to it, particularly since the end of this book is a bit of a cliff-hanger, leaving Tilly, Abraham, Quinten, and the Neds on the brink of some new and dangerous adventures. Click HERE to read chapter 1 of House Immortal.

    FAIR WARNING: This review of Infinity Bell      

      contains spoilers for House Immortal.      

                NOVEL 2:  Infinity Bell               

     I recommend that you read House Immortal before you read Infinity Bell because you will need that background to understand the significance of many of the events that are referenced in the second novel. If you have read House Immortal, but need a quick review of the world-building, take a look at the World-Building section of this post, along with my review of House Immortal.

     This is a "road trip" novel in the sense that the main characters are on the move throughout the entire novel, stopping only at the very end for the obligatory showdown scene. They travel by plane, on foot, through tunnels, in speed tubes, by train, and in motor vehicles—from Hong Kong all the way back to the Case family farm in the countryside of the Eastern U.S. The group comprises the siblings Matilda and Quinten Case, Neds Harris (their two-headed ally), Abraham Vail (Matilda's boyfriend), and Gloria (Quinten's lover). The action picks up just hours after the end of House Immortal. Pursuing the group is an assassin who has instructions to bring Quinten back alive, but to kill the rest of the group. That assassin isn't the only enemy the group faces as they hightail it across the globe.

     Just before the group went on the run, a galvanized from one House murdered the head of House Gray, breaking the peace treaty between the Houses and the galvanized. Additionally, Abraham was framed for the murder of the evil Slater Orange, but in reality, Slater is still alive. Slater forced Quinten to place his (Slater's) spirit, skills, and memories into the body of Robert Twelfth, one of the galvanized, a process that essentially killed Robert and gave Slater his body, along with super-strength and near immortality. Also in pursuit of the refuges are John Black and Reese Silver, who have their own reasons for wanting to capture and/or kill Matilda and her allies.

     Like the mythology of this world, this plot is somewhat complicated, particularly when it comes to the reason why Quinten desperately needs to get back to his laboratory at the farm. Ever since Quinten's ancestor, Alveré Case, interrupted the space-time continuum 300 years ago with his Wings of Mercury experiment, time has been trying to get back in sync. Here, Quinten explains the situation to Matilda: "The Wings of Mercury experiment fell like a hammer and shattered a moment in time…Time broke. A piece of it flew off like a ball on a rubber string, and now that piece is winging back to its rightful place in the flow of time. When that happens in three days, all these extra years the galvanized have been living…will come due like a bill that hasn't been paid, the galvanized will die." What Quinten needs is his grandmother's journal, which contains all of the formulas and figures for the Wings of Mercury experiment. Once he finds the journal and analyzes the data, Quinten plans to travel back in time and try to convince Alveré Case to modify his experiment. But when you start messing with time, all kinds of things can go wrong—and that's just what happens here, leaving us with a cliff-hanger ending and a very different world. Once again each chapter begins with a diary entry written by an unidentified woman whose identity is revealed during the exciting climax.

     Matilda shows signs of maturity in this book—no more TSTL moments this time around. She is determined to protect her brother and her friends, even at the risk of her own life, as are Quinten and Abraham. In the first book, Matilda didn't really know the facts about the Wings of Mercury experiment or the galvanized, even though she is actually one of them. Unlike Matilda, the other twelve galvanized were created at the time of the Wings of Mercury explosion, so although they may appear to be relatively young, they are actually hundreds of years old. Matilda is different. She is just 26 years old and was created by Quinten after her physical body died. Because Matilda is so much more knowledgable about this world now, she handles difficult situations in a much more sensible manner than she did in House Immortal. It's nice to see her character develop so nicely into a self-assured and courageous heroine. She may have fears about the future, but she doesn't let that stop her from stepping up to protect her group.

     As this book begins, Matilda has known Abraham for only about a week, but the two are already in love. Their romantic relationship is limited mostly to yearning glances and anguished thoughts, but they do finally get to have a consummation scene in the second half of this book. Abraham is a strong, silent presence in this book, partly because he spends the first few chapters healing from horrific wounds suffered during the climax of House Immortal. It would be nice to have Abraham come into the foreground so that we can see exactly what makes him tick.

     Just as in the first novel, Matilda tells the story in her first-person voice, with a sprinkling of chapters narrated by Slater Orange. Slater's chapters keep us up to date on what is happening in the Houses. Now that Slater is in the body of a galvanized, he has to be very careful about what he reveals and how he operates within these new straints. 

     This is a fast-paced, suspenseful story that will hold your attention right through to its unexpected ending. I am enjoying this series for its inventive mythology, its exciting story lines, and its well-drawn characters. Click HERE to go to this book's Amazon.com page where you can click on the cover art to read an excerpt.

Deborah Blake: BABA YAGA SERIES

Author:  Deborah Blake
Series:  BABA YAGA SERIES
Plot Type:  Urban Fantasy (UF)     
Ratings:  Violence—3; Sensuality—3.5; Humor—2-3 

Publisher and Titles:  Berkley Sensation      
          Wickedly Magical          (novella .5—8/2014) 

          Wickedly Dangerous    (novel 1—9/2014) 

          Wickedly Wonderful     (novel 2—12/2014)
          "Wickedly Ever After"  (novella 2.5—1/2016)
          Wickedly Powerful       (novel 3—2/2016)

This ongoing post was revised and updated on 3/3/2016 to include a review of Wickedly Powerful, the third novel in the series. That review appears first, followed by an overview of the world-building and reviews of novellas .5 and 2.5 and novels 1 and 2. 

                       NOVEL 3:  Wickedly Powerful                         

PUBLISHER’S BLURB: 
     The only thing more fiery than Bella Young’s red hair is her temper. She knows that a Baba Yaga’s power without strict control can leave the people she cares about burned, so to protect her heart—and everyone around her—the only company she keeps is her dragon-turned-Norwegian-Forest-cat, Koshka. 

     But when Bella is tasked with discovering who’s setting magical fires throughout Wyoming’s Black Hills, she finds herself working closely with former hotshots firefighter Sam Corbett—and falling hard for his quiet strength and charm. 

     Sam may bear the scars of his past, but Bella can see beyond them and would do anything to help him heal. Only before she can rescue her Prince Charming, she’ll have to overcome the mysterious foe setting the forest fires—a truly wicked witch who wields as much power and even more anger than Bella. 

MY REVIEW: 

     Having told the soul-mate romances about the blond (Beka) and the brunette (Barbara), Blake now comes to the red-head—the fiery-tempered Bella Young. Because of a tragic temper-losing experience back in her youth, Bella has tried to stay away from human contact as much as possible and would never consider hooking up with a human male. Naturally, we know that’s not going to last, don’t we? 

     As the book begins, Bella has parked her camper in the Wyoming forest near Black Mountain. Soon, a group of local Humans come seeking her help in stopping a series of mysterious wild fires. (This is always the most implausible part of these books.) Then a tree sprite brings Bella a scary message that appears to have come from the three Riders, who have vanished without a trace. The message reads “Cave Help Brenna.” If you have read the earlier books, you know that the Riders are immortals who assist the Baba Yagas, and that Brenna is the forcibly retired Baba Yaga who was banished from the Otherworld by the Queen after she tried to murder Beka in order to hold on to her immortality. Soon, Bella finds herself with two big tasks: get the Riders out of Brenna’s clutches and stop the forest fires. It is obvious from the very beginning that the two tasks are closely intertwined. 

     Meanwhile, just down the trail is a fire tower manned by Sam Corbett, a former fire-fighting Hot Shot who was severely burned in a flare-up that killed the rest of his team, including his fiancée. Not only does Sam have his outward physical scars, but he also has emotional scars—survivor guilt, nightmares about that tragic day, and sad memories of his fiancée. Like Bella, Sam has moved far away from all human contact and has vowed never again to develop a romantic relationship. (Of course, that vow doesn’t last very long.) 

     Blake tells the story in the third person voice from multiple perspectives: Bella, Sam, the Riders, and Brenna. Added to the mix is a teenage runaway who calls herself Jazz. First, Bella’s giant dragon/cat, Koshka, finds Jazz living in the woods, and then Bella has to rescue her from one of the wild fires. Jazz soon becomes a part of Bella and Koshka’s family and we’ll certainly be hearing more about her in future books. 

     The characterization is better in this book than in the first two. Sam and Bella’s romance builds slowly but surely as they battle the emotional problems that tie them to the past. Jazz is an interesting character: bright and likable, but dealing with the emotional scars that come from being in the foster system since she was five years old. We spend much more time with the Riders in this book, but they are in such a dire situation that we don’t get much of a chance to see them at their best. The most stereotypically drawn character is Brenna, who is just as psychotic as she was in book 1. She is a cartoonish villain who shrieks out lines like these: “‘This is mine…No matter how many trees have to burn. No matter who has to bleed. This is mine. Mine. Mine. Mine.’ Her laughter leapt to the roof of the cave and swirled down around her like ashes.” 

     Although this book has a two-pronged plot that provides plenty of excitement and a bit of suspense (not a lot), it seems to be a transitional book to get us ready for the love stories for the three Riders (and, perhaps, Jazz). The next book—Dangerously Charming—will tell Mikhail Day’s story. He’s the Rider who dresses all in white and rides a white Yamaha motorcycle. In the excerpt from Mikhail's book that is included in Wickedly Powerful, the publisher says that it is part of the BABA YAGA series, but on Amazon.com, the book is labeled BROKEN RIDERS series.

     If you have been enjoying the previous books, you’ll probably like this one as well. With this series, you really have to work hard at suspending your disbelief because it’s hard to accept the fact that the Baba Yagas meet up with so many people who believe in magic and witches and the Baba Yaga legend. But if you accept that the world is full of magic-believing people, this is a nice, light romance series with entertaining stories, quirky characters, and just enough humor to take the edge off the dark scenes. Click HERE to read an excerpt from Wickedly Powerful by clicking on the cover art on the book’s Amazon.com page.

                         WORLD-BUILDING                         

Traditional Version 
of Baba Yaga

     In Russian and Slavic folklore, Baba Yaga (B.Y.) is generally pictured as "a frightening old crone who lived in a log hut that walked through the forests on chicken legs." (Wickedly Magical) The truth—according to the mythology of this series—is that there is not just one B.Y., there are several scattered around the world. In the U.S., there are three: Barbara Yager, Beka Yancy, and Bella Young. Each is a powerful, beautiful witch, and each has upgraded her chicken-legged hut to more modern transportation. In the legends, B.Y. was often a cruel and evil witch with sharp iron teeth, but her modern-day descendants are more attractive and much nicer, spending their time "guarding the doorway to the Otherworld, keeping the balance of nature, and occasionally...helping a worthy seeker." (Wickedly Magical) One B.Y. explains that "There is this, what some call the mundane or Human plane, and the Otherworld. The Otherworld is a place where magic exists, and it is home to creatures out of legend, many of which you might recognize and some which are beyond your comprehension." (Wickedly Dangerous)

     Each B.Y. is accompanied by a shape-shifting dragon called Chudo-Yudo. Barbara's Chudo-Yudo disguises himself as a 200-pound white pit bull, and Beka's transforms into a 200-pound Newfoundland dog. The job of the Chudo-Yudos is to guard the witches' supply of the Water of Life and Death, which was given to them by the Queen of the Otherworld to prolong their lives, increase their strength, and boost their natural magical powers. Each B.Y. is born with her magical powers—powers that become stronger and broader through training and experience. Also essential to maintaining their powers is a constant diet of blue roses. Each B.Y. has access to the Otherworld through a portal within her mobile home. 

     Click HERE to watch a funny video that tells an urban fantasy story about a 21st century B.Y. And click HERE for a more traditional B.Y. video tale. Click HERE to read a 1903 Russian version of the B.Y. legend.  

                         NOVELLA .5:  "Wickedly Magical"                          

     In this introductory novella, we get much of the world-building, so it's one that you should read if you plan to dive into this series. This story features Barbara Yager, a tall, leather-clad B.Y. who drives a classic BMW motorcycle and lives in a silver Airstream trailer. Both the motorcycle and the trailer are loaded with magic to help Barbara ward off enemies and tend to her witchy business. 

     Baba Yagas are required to grant favors promised either by themselves or their forebears, so when Ivan Dmetriev approaches Barbara with an ancient dragon scale given to his babushka (i.e., his grandmother) decades ago by Barbara's predecessor, she is obliged to help him. As Barbara muses to Chudo-Yudo: "A Baba Yaga never breaks a promise. Legs, yes. Hearts, occasionally. But never a promise." Ivan's problem is that his wife, Grace, has joined a cult, taking their two children with her and convincing the court that Ivan abused them—a complete lie. As it turns out, there's a magical reason that Grace and Jonathan Bellingwood, the cult leader, convinced everyone that they were telling the truth, and Barbara's task is to undo that magic.

     At the end of the story, while Barbara is enjoying a brief visit with Beka and Bella, she gets The Call, "a kind of subliminal mental pull towards whatever problem needed her special attention. No one else could hear it besides the Baba it was aimed at, and there was no ignoring it. When you were called, you went. It was as simple as that." This Call will be at the center of the first novel.

     This is an ultra-slim plot, but it does provide the opportunity to meet Barbara and to get most of the mythology details out of the way. Click HERE to read an excerpt.

                         NOVEL 1:  Wickedly Dangerous                          

     The first novel carries on the story of Barbara Yager, one of the three Baba Yagas in the U.S., as she answers The Call she received at the end of "Wickedly Magical." Barbara has moved her Airstream to a small town in upstate New York, where a Russian family asks for her help in finding their kidnapped child, one of three small children who have disappeared in recent weeks. The town is in the middle of a major dispute over whether or not to allow a fracking company to purchase local mineral rights, so between the kidnappings and the infighting on the fracking issue, people's tempers are short, and fear for their children has eroded their confidence in the sheriff's office.

     The sheriff is Liam McClellan, a man with the inevitable tragic past that befalls so many paranormal fiction heroes. Several years ago, Liam's only child died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), and his wife disappeared after turning to drugs and alcohol to dull her grief. Liam has been roaming the countryside looking for the missing children, but has had no luck in finding them. Here's where the first huge improbability appears: The state police are supposedly so busy with other cases that they don't have time to help Liam find the children, and the FBI never appears at all. It is impossible to believe that with three children disappearing from this tiny town that the FBI and state law enforcement agencies don't get involved from the very beginning. Also improbable is that Liam—an experienced law enforcement officer—doesn’t really investigate the kidnappings. He just drives around looking for the children, day after day after day. So…the main plot is based on an extremely weak and implausible premise.

     When Barbara learns about the multiple kidnappings, she calls in some Otherworld help: her three magical motorcycle-riding buddies, Mikhail Day (aka Bright Dawn, the White Rider), Gregori Sun (aka Red Sun, the Red Rider), and Alexei Knight (aka Dark Midnight, the Black Rider). The Riders are "pledged to the service of the Baba Yagas, [though] even Baba herself didn't know exactly what kind of creatures they were behind their human masks. All she knew for certain was that they were immortal, powerful, and on her side." (p. 60) She also asks for help from her long-time friend-with-benefits, Koshei, an immortal shape-shifting dragon. "Koshei had been the companion of the Baba before her; for all she knew, he'd been the companion of all the Babas in their line back down through history." (p. 66) Of course, all four men are tall, well-built, handsome alpha males. They also go out looking for the kids. No one really searches for clues or questions suspects, they just keep looking around.

     Liam meets Barbara while he is out driving around on one of his searches, and the two are immediately attracted to one another. Their blossoming romance grows stronger and stronger as the story moves along. Soon, Barbara attends a town meeting and spots a likely suspect who appears to be hiding behind a magical glamour, but with no proof, she can't tell Liam her suspicions without disclosing her own magical identity. The story follows Liam and Barbara as they fall in love and solve the crime after briefly becoming suspects themselves. 

     This story is a run-of-the-mill genre romance with paper-thin characters and an implausible plot. If you like typical paranormal genre romances, you might enjoy this one, but if you are looking for a fresh approach to paranormal romance, this one isn't for you. Even with its inventive Baba Yaga mythology, there's not much new in the actual story line. Click HERE to read an excerpt.

                         NOVEL 2:  Wickedly Wonderful                         

     This novel tells the love story of the second American Baba Yaga (B.Y.), Beka Yancy, a surfer girl who lives in a refurbished school bus on the Pacific Coast. As the story opens, Beka is just a few days short of her thirtieth birthday, the date she on which she must choose whether to continue to spend an immortal life as a B.Y. or to stop drinking the Water of Life and Death and become a nonmagical human. Poor Beka has severe self-esteem problems, never believing that she is good enough to be an effective B.Y. Her emotional problem was exacerbated by Brenna, the B.Y. who mentored her and who has always told her that she isn't good enough for the job. 

     Beka's task is to find out who and what is poisoning the deep sea trench that is home to the Merpeople and the Selkies. The water in the trench has become so toxic that it is killing the young and the elderly, forcing the King and Queen to move to a trench that is closer to shore. Unfortunately, that trench is frequently visited by humans, so living there would be risky. It's up to Beka to find out what is going on and to purify the water.

     Meanwhile, Beka has met Marcus Dermott, a tall, sexy ex-marine who is helping his cancer-stricken father on the family's fishing boat. One day, while Beka is out surfing, a mermaid grabs her surfboard and drags her to the Dermotts' boat because the mermaid's baby is caught in their net. While rescuing the baby, Beka gets caught up in the net, making Marcus think that he might have caught a mermaid. Their first meeting does not go well because she thinks that he is rude and arrogant (which he is), and he thinks that she is some kind of hippy, New-Age, Green-Peace activist who cut his net as part of a protest. Eventually, of course, their feeling begin to change as mutual attraction overrides the huge differences between them.

     Then, a new man enters the picture: Kesh, a charming Selkie prince who tries to woo Beka in order to use her in his evil plan for the future of the planet. Beka isn't very sophisticated and she's definitely not street smart, so for awhile she is taken in by Kesh's ardent attentions. The reader is told from the beginning that Kesh is the villain, but it takes Beka a very long time to figure it out. Two of the Riders who appeared in the first novel show up briefly to assist Beka, but then they go off in search of their third comrade, who has vanished without a trace. This mystery will be explored in the next book.

    Just as in the earlier books, the plot has a number of improbabilities and inconsistencies, and the characters are one-dimensional and not very interesting. In general, Marcus stalks around growling and glowering at everyone; Beka whines about how useless and overwhelmed she is; and smarmy Kesh sneers and pouts his way through all of his scenes. So…not much depth to the characters. Beka's Chudo-Yudo—a shape-shifting dragon who takes the form of a huge Newfoundland dog—is the source of most of the sarcastic humor. 

     The author has an unfortunate habit of telegraphing critical plot points so blatantly that she destroys all of the suspense. Towards the end, for example, she points out several times that Beka is breaking a major rule and taking a huge risk when she removes her dragon/dog from his post (his job is to guard the Water of Life and Death), so what do you think happens? I don't even have to tell you because it's so easy to figure out—without even reading the book. This is a middle-grade, formulaic paranormal romance, so if you like that type of book, you'll probably enjoy it, but if you are looking for something fresh and inventive, this one won't ring your bell. Click HERE to read an excerpt.

                         NOVELLA 2.5:  "Wickedly Ever After"                         

PUBLISHER'S BLURB: 

     Having triumphed over a powerful enemy and ended up with both a wonderful guy—Sheriff Liam McClellan—and an adorable adopted daughter to raise as a Baba Yaga, Barbara Yager is ready to welcome her happily ever after. 

     But first she must bring Liam to the Otherworld and get the Queen’s permission to marry him. The Queen, however, is not so easily persuaded. She gives them three impossible tasks to complete in two weeks’ time—and if they fail Barbara will have to watch Liam slowly age and die like all humans, and kiss her happily ever after good-bye forever.

MY REVIEW: 
     This is a light and fluffy tale about the trials and tribulations the Queen of the Otherworld puts Barbara through before she is allowed to officially mate with her beloved Liam. The plot is quite straightforward: The Queen gives Barbara three impossible tasks to fulfill within a two-week period. If she fails to complete them all, she must give up Liam forever, but if she succeeds, Liam will be allowed to drink the Water of Life and Death so that they can age at the same rate and be together for the rest of their lives. This is the typical price that people pay for the services of the Baba Yagas, but Barbara "was used to being the one who demanded that others fulfill three impossible tasks and she didn't much like being on the other side of the equation." 

     Luckily, Barbara, Liam, and little Babs are smart, well-connected people, so you can be sure that this little story has an HEA ending. The novella is not really an essential read in terms of understanding the series. Basically, it's just a short, humorous epilogue to Wickedly Dangerous. Click HERE to read an excerpt from "Wickedly Ever After" by clicking of the cover art on the book's Amazon.com page.