Why Romance Novels Should Leave The Stigma Behind And Be Seen For The Progressive Reads They Are - Thursdays With The Author - November 29, 2018

Why Romance Novels Should Leave The Stigma Behind And Be Seen For The Progressive Reads They Are

5000 Trashy Romance Novels by Thedra Cullar-Ledford

I recently saw a post on a Facebook post about a piece of art made from romance novels. It was a giant cube made from the novels mostly facing outward with amazing colors, and it was absolutely gorgeous. But the title of the piece really bothered me. She had named her art '5000 Trashy Romance Novels'.

Now don't get me wrong, there are a few romance novels I'd call trashy. There's a few books of other genres that would fit that description too. But the idea here was that there were 5000 books, of different titles and authors, but all in the romance genre, that were all deemed trashy.

I write romance for a living. Even when I try writing a different genre, my brain and writing is stuck firmly on the happily-ever-after. I can't help myself. It's apparently hard-wired into my DNA.

So to see romance novels labeled as trashy, really got under my skin. The stigma of trashy novels has been around as long as romance novels have been written and published. Women would hide the novel they were reading under the dust jacket of a more conservative or non-fiction book, or behind a magazine. If someone asked what they were reading, they'd hide it away, or say 'Oh, it's nothing'. 

As a romance writer myself, I find myself instinctively leaning towards ashamed when someone asks me what I write. I'm not ashamed, quite the opposite, but society has raised me to think that writing about love is some guilty pleasure, a subject that shouldn't be taken seriously, a thing you do but don't talk about. And that's some Grade-A bullshit right there.

I fell in love with reading at a very young age and went through all the age appropriate books at the library well before I should have. I was BORED. So I started exploring the adult sections and found a lot more interesting reads. I read my fist romance novel, a well worn title by Nora Roberts, at the ripe age of twelve. I didn't even understand half of the scenes but I LOVED IT. I was hooked for life after that. I remember slinking to the checkout desk with my hoard of books with half-naked people on the cover, hoping the librarian wouldn't tell me to put them back, or worse, tell my mom what I was trying to check out. Instead, she smiled, and showed me where the newest romance releases could be found. I was lucky to have such a progressive librarian. 

A classic romance cover featuring a (normally) shirtless Fabio

I grew up in a tiny town of 400 people. Everyone went to church on Sunday. There were no gay people, no minorities, no one that spoke anything but English. You were required to get married, and only have sex after the fact. That's the life I grew up living. I was sheltered. I was ignorant. I would have been trapped... if not for romance novels.

Those 'trashy' reads that no one wanted to admit they read, introduced me to an entirely new world. I read about sex, before marriage, during marriage, after divorce. I read about relationships. I read LBGTQ stories. I read stories featuring minorities. I read stories where characters spoke other languages. I read stories with women who didn't fit the 'norm' and men that weren't the same-old-same-old. I was reading about real life, only I didn't know it until I was much older.

Really, the only thing that could be considered fiction in a romance novel is the guaranteed happily-ever-after. Because we know in real life, that's a lot harder to get and sometimes we never have it. But everything else? Real life.

I read a blog post not long ago titled 'Why Romance Novels Should Be Part Of Your Regular Feminist Reading' and one section that really got me was when the author was describing a conversation with her mother about trashy romance novels. 

“I know they’re not the most intelligent reading,” my mother said, in a tone that could only be described as apologetic, referring to her love of writers like Nora Roberts and Julia Quinn as a “guilty pleasure.”

“Of course you’ve been taught to feel guilty about reading romance novels," I told her. “They’re practically the only books in which women get exactly what they want, all of the time, and aren’t asked to feel bad about it.”

After reading that article, I started thinking about all the things romance novels taught me that I would never have learned otherwise. Things that pushed the boundaries. Things that challenged stereotypes. Things that pushed for change. Things that made love in any form, fashion, and time completely normal and right. Romance novels changed my world and continue to do that for anyone that reads them.

Homosexual relationships? Romance novels. 

Casual and consensual sex without marriage required? Romance novels. 

More than one partner in your adult life? Romance novels. 

Exploring your own body? Romance novels.

Not putting up with bullshit from a man? Romance novels. 

Educated and empowered women? Romance novels. 

Questioning authority and ‘the way it’s always been done’? Romance novels. 

Women ahead of their time? Romance novels. 

Expecting and demanding open communication and emotional connections in relationships? Romance novels. 

Great sex where both parties were satisfied? Romance novels. 

The female orgasm, how it’s natural, how it happens, how to get there? Romance novels. 

Sex education including SAFE and responsible sex? Romance novels. 

Dating? Romance novels. 

Happily ever afters? Romance novels. 

Handling breakups? Romance novels. 

Moving on after divorce and even death? Romance novels. 

Bad-ass women and powerful women? Romance novels.

Men unafraid to be sensitive, emotional, nurturing? Romance novels. 

The list is endless for what romance novels taught me growing up. 

The overall rule I learned as my love of reading romance morphed into writing it, was the relationship came first, sex was second. 

Trashy that is not. 

Think about how young people, particularly boys, learn about sex and relationships. From their parents, from other family members or friends,  from porn. The first two can be great, as well as horrible examples. The last is nothing but horrible. Even the actual mechanics of sex can be wrong in a lot of porn. And there’s no relationship, nothing resembling real life.

Now if they read romance as a primer for relationships and sex, they’d have a much healthier understanding. Talking to each other, connecting on a personal level, striving to make each other happy, and having really great, really descriptive, really wonderful sex.

Foreplay, oral, sex, orgasms, kink. They’re all well-detailed in romance. 

But it’s never just about sex. 

The relationship, before, during, after, is the key component. 

Which would you rather your kids learn from? Which would you rather learn from?

I’d pick the ‘trashy’ romance  every time.

How to Alienate Your Readers and Tank Your Career - Monday Musings - May 7, 2018

How to Alienate Your Readers and Tank Your Career - Monday Musings

So over the weekend, there was an unholy uproar in the romance writing community that spread not only to every other writing genre, but to readers and the general public as well. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Bloggers, and more were all involved and the topic became instantly viral.

Said topic centered around a particular romance author named Faleena Hopkins, who also writes by the pen-name Sabrina Lacey, and has used the name Alicia Burton on social media. This particular author has published thirty titles, 17 of them part of the Cocker Brothers of Atlanta (occasionally written 'of Georgia') series which all feature a 'Cocky Something' title. She began publishing this series in 2016.

Cocky-something titles in romance and books have been around for a while. For example: Cocky Jock, a mm porn novel from 1974, Cocky Crew, a mm erotica from 1984 with a completely x-rated cover, Cocky Duke, a romance from 2003, Cocky Prince, a romance novel from 2004, Cocky Stepbrother, a romance from 2012, all the way to Cocky Bastard, a romance novel from 2016, among many others. The word 'cocky' has been around far longer, tracing its roots way back to the 1500's and used often in the Victorian Era and onward.

So, now that we've established that cocky titles are a commonplace in romance, and cocky is a common-use word, I'll get to the uproar from this past weekend.

See, Friday evening, word got out that an author was sending Cease and Desist letters to other romance authors, claiming she had trademarked the word 'cocky', to be used in a romance novel title, and that they had to change their titles immediately or she would file suit and win. Not only win, but have her lawyer fees paid for by the 'offending' author and be awarded all the profits they made from that title. She only targeted self-published, indie, and small-press authors, who wouldn't have the funds or a big publishing company behind them to fight the trademark claim in court. The alarm went up, thanks to a few authors who received C&D letters.

There's a few reasons why this caused such an uproar in the romance community.

1) You legally can't trademark common-use words. Not in the way the author was claiming. Take Apple for example. They trademarked the word only in context of electronic products. They couldn't trademark the word in a general sense. She managed to be granted the trademark for the common word when used in any romance title. This never should have been granted. Most of the writing community is assuming that the clerk(s) that granted it are now unemployed.

2) She sent C&D letters to authors who published cocky titles BEFORE her trademark was granted, which should have been 'grandfathered' in so the trademark wouldn't apply to them.
2A) SHE is sending out C&D letters. Not her lawyer. Which is unheard of. There's questions if her lawyer is even aware that she's sending out unprofessional C&D's in his name.
2B) She is claiming that when she sues she will be awarded all the author's profits and that the author would have to pay her lawyer fees. This is just being arrogant here. NO good lawyer guarantees a win. Because it's all up to the judge and which side presents a better argument. Even in open-shut cases, the unexpected verdict is common. So they don't ensure a win. They hope for it, but never expect it.

3) She sent letters to authors claiming they needed to change their titles and that it would only take them a day to do, not cost them any money or profit loss, and that they would be able to keep their ratings and reviews on Amazon, all of which are lies. Changing a title after publication is a big deal. Covers cost money, anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars. They can take days, weeks, or months to create. If they had any promotional material printed: banners, bookmarks, t-shirts, etc. they'd have to throw them in the trash and pay for new ones. Bought $300 worth of print copies for a book signing? Well that's some expensive kindling because now you need to re-order them. You can't change a title post-publication on almost every publishing site without creating an entirely new edition. It's a completely new book and you lose all your ratings and reviews.

3A) The same author filing C&D's and claiming changing the title was easy had one of her own books with a title mistake. The book in question is 'Cocky Soldier', and features a Marine. The author discovered during research that Marines are NEVER referred to as soldiers, always a Marine. So her title was not only incorrect, but insulting to Marines. She was made aware of this, before publication, but refused to change her cover. There's even a forward in the novel stating she knew about the mistake but because it would cost her money and she'd lose all her pre-orders changing the title, that she decided it was too difficult and kept the title as-is. So this author, who is now demanding others change their titles and claiming it's an easy feat, couldn't even do the same thing herself when shown an actual mistake in titling her novel.

4) She claims her readers were 'confused' by other titles with cocky in them. She basically said that her readers are too stupid to be able to read HER name, also clearly stated on the cover, and were accidentally buying other author's books. Even if her readers are this stupid, all buying platforms have return options for such cases. The author has stated that this was her primary reason for filing for a trademark: her readers are too stupid. Or so she claims.

(I'm just going to pause right here and say what utter bullshit #4 is. Readers are far from stupid. Hell, they're usually smarter than the authors. Doctors, lawyers, teachers, and all sorts of professionals read romance. Even men read romance. And they are all intelligent. Don't insult them.)

5) Her second trademark was to register the word 'cocky' in the stylized form she uses on the titles in her series. This one doesn't bother anyone, as specific fonts end up being a logo and well-recognized part of such a big series. Take the Harry Potter font as an example. The only problem in this particular case is that the style she trademarked BELONGED TO SOMEONE ELSE. The font was designed by an artist, belongs to a company, and was already copyrighted and trademarked. The owner of the font has been notified and will be contacting his lawyer when he returns from vacation. Someone failed to do their research.

6) When some of the C&D letters failed to get her desired responses, she began to leave 1 star reviews on the 'offending' author's books, only to leave another C&D request as the actual review. Then she had her 'most faithful' readers begin leaving 1 star reviews saying the authors were stealing her work. Here's the thing: reviews are about the book. Not the title. Not the drama between authors. It's about the content and always should be. Tanking an author's ratings over a title spat is the lowest of lows. Encouraging your fans to do the same is even worse.

7) On another side note, related to #4 and #6, she claims that author's are stealing her entire covers by using the same looking cover models, or the models being in the same pose, etc. Even though she's published 30 books, she still has NO idea what publishing is about. I learned on my last book, Chase for Love, that millions of stock photos that authors, and even publishing companies use, are made in batches. The cover model or models in varying state of dress, same pose but head turned slightly differently, etc. They do 20+ shots of the same pose and sell them all. I had designed a cover for my book with a perfect historically accurate cover model and showed the cover on social media to gauge my reader's thoughts. A few came back with, I've seen that picture before. And sure enough, there were at least three other titles with the same model and pose with only very slight differences. That's how it is in publishing. Unless you're doing a completely original photo shoot, you have a good chance of using the same kind of pose as another author. So to claim another author is copying you is asinine.

7B) This author also claims on her website/blog/social media that she shoots all her own original covers herself. Well come to find out, she was totally lying, as most of her covers use stock models that other authors are able to purchase as well. Oops.


So, that's the basics of what began one of the romance world's most spectacular uproars. Once word got out of the situation, romance authors and readers began doing their research, discovering the sketchy legal grounds and the sketchy actions of the author. They began gathering evidence and support against the author. Lawyers, who also happened to be authors, began building cases against her. The RWA, the romance world's biggest organization, began investigating. The big 5 publishers caught wind and set their very expensive lawyers on the case. A writer/lawyer filed a petition to revoke the trademark today. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Here's a few reasons WHY it's such a big deal.

1) Being granted a trademark for such a generic and commonly used word sets a horrible precedence for writers everywhere, and not just in the romance genre. What happens when someone decides to trademark the word 'his', 'love', 'surrender', 'heart', etc. There won't be any titles left. Authors will be suing each other left and right and the entire industry will collapse.

2) Authors don't go after each other. We just don't. We're all in this together, especially indie authors, who don't have the money or resources that traditionally published authors have. To have another author blatantly go after colleagues in such a bullying, selfish, and illegal way is disheartening and upsetting. And we band together and fight for it, as the #CockyGate author is learning the hard way. You mess with one, you mess with them all.


Am I saying "Don't buy books from this psycho author?" I wish I could, but that's setting myself up for a defamation lawsuit. Feel free to buy her books, you might even enjoy them. But remember that she went out of her way to impact the entire writing world because 1) She thought her readers were dumb, 2) She wasn't confident enough in her own work that she couldn't share even a partial title with another author, 3) She used shady legal practices with questionable legality to accomplish her goals, 4) She's lying out her ass to her readers and the rest of the world and just expects everyone to be stupid enough to fall for it. So if that's the kind of author you want to buy books from, feel free.

The author has effectively derailed her career with her antics. Readers, not appreciating being called stupid, deleted her books. Publishers, writing groups and conferences, news outlets, etc. began dropping her as a member and speaker. She tried claiming that she was being bullied by the writing community for trying to protect her brand but the writing community and readers weren't having it. And after Monday night's antics, she's setting herself up to be counter-sued for defamation and loss of revenue.

A brand isn't a title of a series. A brand is what people come to expect from you and/or your series. A brand is content. And it doesn't need protected, because a brand is YOU. 

I wouldn't be surprised if her name disappears from publishing, as well as all her cocky books that caused such an uproar to begin with. But time and the legal system will be the judge of that.

So here's a list of all the current #Cocky titled novels that are being affected by this author's trademark. Some have even already changed their titles and I'll post those below. 

❖COCKY DUKE by Sara Forbes:https://amzn.to/2rldf2L
❖COCKY by Sean Ashcroft:https://amzn.to/2rm4y8u 🎧
❖COCKY BASTARD by Penelope Ward & Vi Keeland: https://amzn.to/2HTVKwT 🎧-$1.99
❖COCKY CAGE FIGHTER Series by Lane Hart:https://amzn.to/2IfsXGd (Series, some 🎧)
❖COCKY ROOMMATE by Claire Kingsley:https://amzn.to/2rkUdcJ
❖COCKY PRINCE by Jules Barnard:https://amzn.to/2rj6qPs 🎧-$1.99
❖COCKY CHEF by JD Hawkins:https://amzn.to/2rjXYPO
❖COCKY: A REVERSE HAREM ROMANCE by Ashlee Price: https://amzn.to/2HWyJZZ
❖COCKY FIANCÉ by TL Smith & Melissa Jane:https://amzn.to/2KBynd7 (Already had to change the name!) 🎧 -$1.99
❖COCKY CLIENT by Whitney G:https://amzn.to/2HRANCF
❖DIRTY NAUGHTY COCKY by Whitney G:https://amzn.to/2KE4bOr
❖COCKY DOCTORS by Tara Crescent:https://amzn.to/2KJZ3IM (Removed by Amazon)
❖COCKY FIREFIGHTERS by Tara Crescent:https://amzn.to/2KJZ3IM (Removed by Amazon)
❖COCKY AF by Katie Ford & Sarah May:https://amzn.to/2jvl8yd
❖COCKY PRICK by Tessa Thorne:https://amzn.to/2HStQRN
❖COCKY THIEF by Mallory Crowe:https://amzn.to/2rlNqyK
❖TURBULENCE: A Cocky Pilot Romance by Whitney G: https://amzn.to/2HRI71a 🎧
❖COCKY F@#KER by Misti Murphy:https://amzn.to/2KBz1ax
❖HER COCKY CLIENT by Bella Love-Wins:https://amzn.to/2w8jADw
❖COCKY NERD by Kayley Loring (already changed to Sexy Nerd): https://amzn.to/2rmEgTm
❖COCKY CAPTAIN by Kelly Moore:https://amzn.to/2rp3vnc
❖COCKY BOSS by Juliet Woods:https://amzn.to/2FNovJN
❖COCKY COWBOY by Jamila Jasper (Already changed to The Cockiest Cowboy To Have Ever Cocked): https://amzn.to/2wlh0u0



This is one author who was directly contacted and threatened by the #CockyGate author. She responded with some ninja-level smartassery in response.
amazon.com/dp/B07B9MCHW7 

Update as of Tuesday morning: The #CockyGate author, who has incidentally sparked the #ByeFaleena  #FaleenaWho and #FreeTheCocky hashtags has stopped sending her personal C&D letters to authors as a warning, instead, sending them straight to market outlets. Authors are waking up this morning to Amazon notices that their titles have been removed. Which means they couldn't change the title now if they wanted to. 

*Sigh* The bullshit continues. Faleena has decided she couldn't get out of the hole she'd dug and that perhaps digging further was the best option. Maybe she thinks she'll pop out in China where they haven't heard of #CockyGate yet. 

Author Tara Crescent, from the list above, had two of her books removed by amazon. Amazon is also threatening to completely close her account, affecting ALL her book's sales, if the issue isn't resolved. Here's the link to Tara's website  http://taracrescent.com/ 
I encourage you to purchase some of her books as she's now going to have to hire a lawyer to fight for her own work.  

Stay tuned for updates on #CockyGate and the further demise of an author who liked shooting herself in the foot so much that she decided to shoot the other foot as well.

Update #2 As of Wednesday morning, #CockyGate took on a whole other level of crazy. #ByeFaleena posted a nearly TWO HOUR long video on Facebook in the early morning hours yesterday, that included every crazy topic under the sun, a lot of complaints about being bullied, some fake almost-tears, some come-at-me-bro BS, some really dumb explanations to her choices, what seemed like paid advertising for Master Class, and a whole bunch of other certifiably crazy things. 

But what stood out the most in nearly two hours of drivel were:

1) Her comparisons to #autism and stupidity... This got a whole other community pissed off. You don't compare disabilities of any kind with stupidity and it's generally assumed that everyone knows that. Well #FaleenaWho didn't get the memo. Disability groups and autism moms have now brought their righteous anger straight to Miss Hopkins. And it's wholly deserved. She quickly backpedaled on this one via FB, throwing her own readers under the bus, saying her fans had made the comparison and she was just trying to correct it. No one believes you anymore#Faileena and you just lost even more of your readers. 

2) Her declaration that she's not racist because she's the descendant of slaves. Faleena apparently decided she hadn't shot herself in both feet good enough and needed a hand grenade to finish the job. Miss Whiter That Most White People was being called a racist by some because she was mostly going after authors who were also women of color. I'm pretty sure Faleena wasn't refernecing Irish slavery, which would have made more sense, but using slavery in any context as a buffer for your behavior is beyond wrong. And has pissed off another entire community, people of color. Congratulations, almost the whole world hates you now. Still digging to China Faleena? I think news of #CockyGate has reached them by now.

On a slightly happier front, author Tara Crescent was able to get Amazon to reinstate her books. Thanks to help from the RWA (who has graciously asked for all authors, members or not, to come to them for assistance in #CockyGate), The Authors Guild (an advocacy group for author's rights), 

Kevin Kneupper, a retired trademark and patent attorney turned author (more on Mr. Kneupper next), and Marc Whipple, a trademark and patent attorney. They were able to convince Amazon to stop taking down titles with the word cocky, at least in Tara's case, while a trademark cancellation petition is reviewed.

Now, for Kevin Kneupper. This man took it upon himself to be the first to file a petition to have the #cocky trademark revoked. It cost him nearly $1000 to file and he didn't want ask for money from anyone. He's all over Twitter giving free legal advice, answering questions, and wholeheartedly supporting the writing community. Be like Kevin people. He's not asking for compensation, so lets all support him by buying one of his books! Here's the link: Amazon

Another author summarizing #CockyGates legal aspects is lawyer/author Courtney Milan. I've actually read some of Courtney's books and had no idea she was a lawyer. She's been infinitely helpful on Twitter as well so support her while she supports the entire writing community!


So another bombshell yesterday was the discovery that reviews were disappearing that had the word #cocky in them. Readers and writers all began to discover that Amazon was pulling reviews in mass quanities and the only common factor in all of them was the word cocky. It wasn't even for titles with cocky in them, just using the word as a descriptive adjective within their review. So now #CockyGate is effecting authors that had nothing to do with #Cocky in the first place. 
*Insert epic eye roll*

By the end of Tuesday, Twitter itself had erupted in loathing for the #CockyGate author, and thanks to her FB video, Facebook was in a dither as well. Faleena took down the video, but as the internet and people never forget, it's available at other sources now, including the YouTube link above. By evening, Faleena had taken down her Facebook page until 'everything calms down'. When hell freezes over, #Faileena. Her Twitter account remains active as of today and she's still playing the victim in that forum. Okay Faleena.

I have a feeling that this blog is going to be open-ended with updates for some time. But it may get long enough that I'll have to start a new post just to keep up with all the updates and changes!

Weekend Review - Heart of Steel - Elizabeth Einspanier

About the Author

Elizabeth Einspanier is the self-published author of the weird western novella Sheep's Clothing and the science fiction romance novel Heart of Steel. She is a prolific writer, and her short stories have been seen in Dark Fire Fiction and Down in the Dirt. She is an active member of the St. Louis Writers Guild and an associate member of the HWA. When she is not writing, she likes to read, watch strange movies, and play Dungeons and Dragons. She lives in St. Louis, MO, but frequently spends time in worlds of her own creation.



Digging Deeper

What inspired you to write your first book?
My inspiration for my first book, Sheep's Clothing, was simple: I had read Twilight and after seeing what Stephenie Meyer had done with vampires in order to make them the "ideal" paranormal boyfriend, I instinctively wanted to get back to what vampires originally were: undead, soulless predators that fed on the living. I also didn't want to rewrite Dracula, so on a whim I decided to set it in the old west. The rest wrote itself, really.

What do you think is more important: Characters or Plot?

Characters, but only by a narrow margin. You could have the best plot on the planet, but if your characters don't engage the reader, nobody's going to care how the plot turns out. Characters need to be interesting and engaging if the reader is going to care about the plot.

What is one 'day job' you've had that's affected your writing? How?

I've been working at the St. Louis County Library for pretty much my entire working life, and it's been a great ready source of genre research materials (books) while also teaching me to make the most of limited writing time. I wrote Heart of Steel in an hour a day.

If you could cast your main character(s) in a Hollywood adaptation of your book, who would land the roles?
Alistair Mechanus has two main casting candidates: Tom Hiddleston (looks, intensity) and Benedict Cumberbatch (baritone, quirkiness). Julia Parker is a bit more difficult to pin down, but maybe Julie Benz or Amanda Seyfried. She needs to be someone strong with some vulnerability, but still have a great smile.

What famous literary character is most like you?

Alice from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I confess that I sometimes have my head in the clouds, and when I'm brainstorming I often have the most fascinating conversations with some of the weirdest people.

What do you like to do when you aren't writing? 

I like to read (a lot), play Pathfinder-edition Dungeons and Dragons, and watch movies. I also enjoy cosplay, and frequently dress up for conventions or even just because. I dressed as Twilight Sparkle for last year's Archon and met a lot of bronies.

What is a talent you have that no one knows?

I can do a passable impression of Pinky from Pinky and the Brain.

What is one tip you'd give to up & coming authors?

Writing is hard. There will be days when your brain will not cooperate and you cannot get that idea to work out no matter how hard you try. Don't give up! After fighting and clawing your way through writing and rewriting, the sight of something you wrote finally getting published (by whatever means) will make everything worth it.

If you could spend the day with one person, alive or dead, who would it be and why?

That's a really hard question. I guess if I have to pick one, I would spend the day with Weird Al Yankovic. I've been a big fan of his music for most of my life, and from everything I've heard he's awesome to his fans and an overall fun guy to be around. My second candidate would be Tom Hiddleston, because he's a great actor and he's adorable besides.

What's next for you?

I'm currently polishing Hungry as a Wolf, the sequel to Sheep's Clothing, and rewriting my NanoWriMo novel from last year, Necromancy Will Kill Your Dating Life. I hope to have Hungry as a Wolf out early next year if everything goes well.

Review Time!

Heart of Steel by Elizabeth Einspanier

I received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. 

I give Heart of Steel a 3.5 out of 5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars for Amazon.

Heart of Steel is a sci-fi romance, set in modern day, on a seemingly uninhabited island near Hawaii. Julia Parker, the novel's heroine, is trying to enjoy a tropical vacation with her long-time boyfriend Jim. He's taking her diving, though she isn't enjoying his dive-spot pick, partly because she's preoccupied with thoughts of ending their relationship (a sentiment that's been nagging her for a while).

They begin their dive near the mysterious Shark-Reef Isle. Julia is just starting to relax and enjoy her dive when they are attacked by what appears to be a shark. Julia wakes up in what she assumes is a hospital. She thought she had lost her leg but finds it intact. It doesn't take her long to realize that she is not in a hospital, but in a mad scientist's lab underneath the volcano on Shark Reef Isle with the monsters he has created, including the shark-man that attacked her. 

Enter the novel's hero, Dr. Alistair Mechanus, a half human, half cyborg scientist that gave Julia a new leg and is keeping Jim alive, though by all rights he should be dead. Julia is desperately trying to absorb her current and very strange circumstances. Dr. Mechanus instantly takes a liking to her and agrees to fix Jim, though any thoughts of escaping the island are quickly put to rest. Mechanus does fix Jim, but to Julia's horror, he is now a horrific mix of robotic parts, with a mostly catatonic brain. 

Mechanus, not used to human company or even acting human, can't understand Julia's horrified reaction. He's set on keeping the new, though not-necessarily-improved Jim, away from her, while creating a more gentle and easier-to-look-at companion for her, in hopes that she'll eventually come to love him as he loves her. Julia's presence has sparked repressed memories of Alistair's former life, before he was part cyborg ten years prior, and he hopes to enlist her help in unlocking his subconscious. 

While Julia plans an attempted escape from Shark Reef Isle, cyborg Jim is going rampant, his seemingly catatonic brain zeroing in on one thought: Keeping Julia away from Mechanus, even if it means ending her life. Mechanus must fight to keep not only he and Julia safe, but the creations he has made on Shark Reef Isle. Jim's rampancy becomes full-blown, concluding in an epic hide-and-seek with Julia and Mechanus, during which he finally unlocks his hidden memories, culminating in a final battle, which ends with Jim's destruction and Julia finally realizing her feelings for her mad scientist.

I read through Heart of Steel in one day. It isn't necessarily short, but the story kept me engaged enough to not want to put it down. Though Dr. Mechanus annoyed me with his strange behavior and dialogue half the time, I found both he and Julia to be well-rounded and likable characters. Jim was an arrogant jerk, and I knew from the get-go he would be the story's grade-A a$$hole. The story is a clean romance, mixed with sci-fi. Dr. Mechanus' Victorian-era leanings towards fashion and speaking give it a bit of a steam-punk edge as well.

A few things that annoyed me:
- Events seemed to move ridiculously fast. I feel like this story could've have been nearly twice as long had characters, descriptions, events, etc. been more explained. 
- Julia's quick forgiveness of Alistair and hurried acceptance of a pretty bizarre set of circumstances seemed way too rushed. 
- I couldn't stand the main character's name: Dr. Alistair Mechanus. The first was too dated and the 2nd too metaphorical and cliched sounding for a 'mad scientist' character. When Alistair remembers his past life and his actual name: Michael James Conroy, I found myself wishing the author had started using that name for the remainder of the novel.
- The ending: Is he still planning on taking over the world? Or has his relationship with Julia changed those plans? Is there supposed to be a second book? If not, I would've liked those questions wrapped up better. 
-  Alistair's back story. Just a little snippet of a flashback seemed too little to explain such a complex character and his motivations. I would've loved to read more about his past.

Even with those negatives, I was still very much entertained by Heart of Steel. It was well written for the most-part, the dialogue helped me imagine the actual conversations, and a great job with editing. I usually find at least one grammar/spelling/punctuation mistake but I found none. I will definitely read more of Elizabeth's work. I recommend Heart of Steel to ages 17 and older for any romance and sci-fi genre readers.


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