The 4th book in the Bigtime series. Abby Appleby is the premier event planner in Bigtime and she prides herself on being prepared for any contingency during those events but what she wasn't prepared for was seeing Talon going head-to-head with Bandit in the alley on her way home from an event. She manages to save Talon but his eyesight has been compromised and he was shot but since she can't take him to the hospital since it would endanger everyone there, she takes him home to nurse him back to health. It's just the sort of thing she is perfectly capable of but she doesn't count on falling in love with the superhero while he's there. She figures he is a millionaire and not someone who would ever be interested in a mere event planner like her so before he is fully healed, she drops him off where he'll be found but before he can figure out who she really is. All he really knows when he wakes up is that he was nursed back to health by his "Nightingale" who sings with a beautiful voice and loves music and he desperately wants to find her but no one seems to have the faintest idea who she might be. When Abby figures out who Talon really is and that he is looking for her, will she come clean?
Basic romance story but again we have a lot of repetitive, and many times destructive, inner monologuing. I got the series cheaply so I finished it but I don't think I'll be racing to the bookstore to buy more in the series should they ever come out. The world is interesting and fun but I'm not a fan of her way of dealing with the romances in this world. I will say I did get a little chuckle out of the characters here ordering food all the way from "The Pork Pit in Ashland" which is a nod to her Elemental Assassin series.
Page count: 292p/19,050p ytd/200,088p lifetime
Showing posts with label Bigtime. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bigtime. Show all posts
Friday, July 4, 2014
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
76:120 A Karma Girl Christmas by Jennifer Estep
As the newest superhero member of the Fearless Five, Karma Girl has been selected to guard the Christmas toys and gifts that will be given out on Christmas morning to the needy children of Bigtime. Although an ubervillain has never before messed with these gifts, this year the Mintalator and Caveman Stan have decided they are tired of a being a D-list villains and are going to nab them and sell them on eBay to fund their retirement. Can Karma Girl possibly defeat both of them by herself with only her psychic superpower to help her?
It was nice seeing how Karma Girl is actually fitting in as a superhero and member of the Fearless Five as she hasn't been a big character since the first book in the series. I also liked how with it being a short story, there wasn't the repetitive inner-monologue which irritates me so. Just a nice sweet story.
Page count: 91p/18,758p ytd/199,796p lifetime
It was nice seeing how Karma Girl is actually fitting in as a superhero and member of the Fearless Five as she hasn't been a big character since the first book in the series. I also liked how with it being a short story, there wasn't the repetitive inner-monologue which irritates me so. Just a nice sweet story.
Page count: 91p/18,758p ytd/199,796p lifetime
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
75:120 Jinx by Jennifer Estep
The 3rd book in the Bigtime series. Bella Belluci is staunchly anti-superhero/ubervillian despite having her own version of a superpower where she can influence 'luck' although unfortunately for her, it's usually bad luck finding it's way to her although it's never serious. Having patched up her grandfather, father, and brother who has all moonlighted as Johnny Angel, waited up to make sure they returned home safely, and getting the phone call telling her of her father's demise after he messed with a couple of ubervillians, she is over all of them. Of course, it just goes to figure that she ends up in the middle of a battle between Debonair and Hangman over the largest sapphire in town. Next thing she knows, she is back at Debonair's Lair of Seduction and despite her most practical and reasoned self, she is falling for the masked man. She knows it can never work, that she can't live with that kind of uncertainty in her life, but she every time she tries to break it off something, her 'luck' maybe, thrusts them back together again. Can she overlook his extracurricular activities to have a happily ever after?
Again, these books are basically fluff and just a nice, easy way to pass some time while at the kids' activities and again, I have issues with the constant repetitive inner monologues and these were worse because all she does is berate herself about her figure/weight/eating. Seriously?! Because women don't do that crap to themselves enough, let's make sure that we can't escape it even in books that are full of fluff. I'm glad she found someone who appreciated her the way she is but considering in the drawing on the cover, she is a size 4, maybe, that's not really any improvement. She is also constantly berating her lack of artistic skill as 'just a hobby'. Please, I get that it's common place for women to think like this but we need to think better of ourselves and I don't think making characters this way is healthy especially in something that it supposed to be light and fun.
Page count: 324p/18,667p ytd/199,705p lifetime
Again, these books are basically fluff and just a nice, easy way to pass some time while at the kids' activities and again, I have issues with the constant repetitive inner monologues and these were worse because all she does is berate herself about her figure/weight/eating. Seriously?! Because women don't do that crap to themselves enough, let's make sure that we can't escape it even in books that are full of fluff. I'm glad she found someone who appreciated her the way she is but considering in the drawing on the cover, she is a size 4, maybe, that's not really any improvement. She is also constantly berating her lack of artistic skill as 'just a hobby'. Please, I get that it's common place for women to think like this but we need to think better of ourselves and I don't think making characters this way is healthy especially in something that it supposed to be light and fun.
Page count: 324p/18,667p ytd/199,705p lifetime
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
67:120 Hot Mama by Jennifer Estep
The 2nd book in the Bigtime series. The wedding between Carmen (aka Karma Girl) and Sam (aka Striker) is interrupted by the newest ubervillians in Bigtime but Fiona (aka Fiera) and the rest of the Fearless Five tells them to go ahead on their honeymoon anyway. Fiona needs a break from the happy newlyweds as even after a year she still mourns the loss of her fiance, Typhoon. Now she is not only trying to stop the new ubervillians but after meeting sexy Johnny Bulluci, she is willing to find time to enter the dating scene again. Can she manage to keep her secret superhero identity secret from the man she is coming to love? And what happens to them if she can't?
These are just pure bubblegum and I get that but at the same time, I kind of wish Ms. Estep would have done something different with the names so things weren't so blazingly obvious because that means that everyone in Bigtime is dumb as dirt to not figure out who these people all are. Unfortunately, this one also saw the long inner-monologues with huge amounts of repetition. I get a little bit of that at the beginning in case someone is new to the series but seriously, I'm pretty sure Fiona told us about her incredible metabolism that meant she constantly needed to eat large quantities of food over 20xs. That is just lazy writing and has been my consistent problem with Ms. Estep's books. Her worlds are fun and well constructed and I was hoping the repetitive inner monologues were limited to her Elemental Assassin series but apparently that is just her writing style. I'll finish the series knowing that and I'm invested in the Elemental Assassin series and I will continue to hope that she will eventually tone that down but I will definitely not be picking up any of her other works because of it.
Page count: 356p/16,582p ytd/197,620p lifetime
These are just pure bubblegum and I get that but at the same time, I kind of wish Ms. Estep would have done something different with the names so things weren't so blazingly obvious because that means that everyone in Bigtime is dumb as dirt to not figure out who these people all are. Unfortunately, this one also saw the long inner-monologues with huge amounts of repetition. I get a little bit of that at the beginning in case someone is new to the series but seriously, I'm pretty sure Fiona told us about her incredible metabolism that meant she constantly needed to eat large quantities of food over 20xs. That is just lazy writing and has been my consistent problem with Ms. Estep's books. Her worlds are fun and well constructed and I was hoping the repetitive inner monologues were limited to her Elemental Assassin series but apparently that is just her writing style. I'll finish the series knowing that and I'm invested in the Elemental Assassin series and I will continue to hope that she will eventually tone that down but I will definitely not be picking up any of her other works because of it.
Page count: 356p/16,582p ytd/197,620p lifetime
Sunday, May 25, 2014
60:120 Karma Girl by Jennifer Estep
Carmen Cole has dedicated the last several years of her life to unmasking the superheros and ubervillians that have cropped up all over the country when at last, she is hired by one of Bigtime's major newspaper to do the same for their superhero team, Fearless Five. After unmasking the first of the FF, Tornado, who then goes on to commit suicide Carmen loses her passion for her task and is relegated to the society fashion pages until the night that she is kidnapped by the ubervillians of the town and threatened with dire things if she doesn't unmask Striker, the leader of the Fearless Five, within 30 days. Now she must try to unmask those that hate her above all others which becomes extremely ironic when Striker starts following her around and protecting her. What other choice does she have if she wants to survive?
This story is cheese central with the majority of secret identities screamed at you from miles away and no real major plot twists. This is a bubblegum book, no two ways about it, but it's a fun campy read perfect for when you just want to stop dealing with everything else getting thrown at you and escape. The one surprising thing for me is that while there is some inner-monologing it is not nearly as repetitive as what we get in the Elemental Assassin series which says this author can write with less of that. Oh, how I wish she would figure that out soon because that is my biggest beef with that series.
Page count: 360p/15,019p ytd/196,057p lifetime
This story is cheese central with the majority of secret identities screamed at you from miles away and no real major plot twists. This is a bubblegum book, no two ways about it, but it's a fun campy read perfect for when you just want to stop dealing with everything else getting thrown at you and escape. The one surprising thing for me is that while there is some inner-monologing it is not nearly as repetitive as what we get in the Elemental Assassin series which says this author can write with less of that. Oh, how I wish she would figure that out soon because that is my biggest beef with that series.
Page count: 360p/15,019p ytd/196,057p lifetime
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