A Tale of Two A**holes, or: What a difference female agency makes

I recently listened to a book with an asshole hero and, around the same time, read another with a similar type of male lead.  Though there were problems with both, one of the books worked much better for me than the other.     The main reason I disliked the first book was that I could not like the hero.  But in both books, the hero is  an asshole.  So: why did I like one and not other?  This post is the result of my mental ramblings on the topic.  And it all comes down to female agency.

Book 1 was Fever (Breathless #2) by Maya Banks.   This author seems like a lovely lady from what I can tell from Twitter. My opinion of this book is in no way an opinion of her.  She tends to be a hit or miss author for me.  I loved Sweet Surrender and I enjoyed Rush, the first book in the Breathless series quite a bit.  But Fever was not a success.  While lots of people loved Fever (which is fine because Vegemite), it didn't work for me.

The second book was Tangled by Emma Chase.  Ms. Chase is a new author but I enjoyed her writing style and the humour of the book very much. (and again, just because I thought Drew was an ass, doesn't mean I think she is. Just to be clear).

The two books are very different in tone.  But they have in common that the male protagonist is a jerk.  I discussed Drew a fair bit in my review of Tangled. As the book is told from his point of view, we are steeped in Drew from start to finish. 

Fever is told in third person with the POV shifting between the two main characters.  But, Fever is almost always in the male gaze so our hero, Jace Crestwell is the most prominent character in the book by a factor of about a million.

Defiance by Stephanie Tyler

Why I read it: I received a review copy from the publisher. I like New Adult and I liked Motorcycle Man and Reaper's Property.  I liked Beyond Shame.  So, this one, combining a motorcycle club, a post apocalyptic world and young adult protagonists looked promising.

What it's about: (from Goodreads) Rebelling against her legacy as the MC's princess, Tru Tennyson escaped the ruthless, male-dominated culture of the Defiance motorcycle club. Three years later, her newfound freedom is ripped away, thanks to a massive hybrid storm that killed millions. Now, in the post-Chaos world of semi-darkness and near-total anarchy where gangs rule, she discovers the dangerous world of Defiance may be the one thing that can keep her safe.

Tru is at the MC's mercy when she's dragged back to her former home … and to the only man she's ever pictured a future with. Caspar is the bastard son of the club's leader, her safe haven when life got rough — and her onetime lover the night she left. When Tru refuses to trade sex for power and be claimed by a rival club leader, she also dares to announce she wants Caspar instead, throwing the MC into turmoil.

Tru's brazen revolt could start a gang war and destroy the club from within. Now both Tru and the MC must wait for Caspar's response … and the inevitable fallout.

What worked for me (and what didn't): Unfortunately, for me, the book didn't live up to its promise.  I found the world building confusing and... not terribly believable and I think in the end, the author's style just doesn't work for me.  She is a bestselling author so there are obviously plenty of people who like her style just fine but I wasn't as engaged as I'd hoped I'd be.

Why Can't People Just Talk To Each Other??

Dear Everyone,

I'm a results person.  I tend to look at where I want to go and plot a course to get me there.  (I am also a details person but for the purposes of this post, that's not so important - although it can make me very annoying.)  In a potential conflict, my goal is to resolve it.  If I think maybe I have misunderstood something, I'll ask a question to clarify.  I don't tend to jump to conclusions without evidence.  I'll ask until I'm clear.  So I don't get the "Big Mis".  It's my least favourite trope in romance. 

Very rarely, it can work for me - usually where the misunderstanding is logical (this takes some setting up so that I don't want to kick either main character) and of short duration.  The longer it is drawn out and the less rational the conclusion jumped to, the more likely it is I'll want to throw my reader at a wall.

May Round Up

on Paper/eBook

Play With Me by Alisha Rai - B+ Fun and super sexy short (about 100 pages) about Tatiana and Wyatt.  They dated in high school and college and were each other's first lovers.  They discovered kink with each other.  But things fell apart.  Now, 10 years later, they meet up again.  After they meet, their chemistry is still so strong, they agree to spend one night together.  

“I met you when you were chubby and had frizzy hair and acne.”

A gasp escaped her lips. So she’d had a bit of an awkward phase. Bringing it up now was hardly gentlemanly. “Shut up, Caine.” 

“My point is, I wanted you then. I still want you now. When I walked away from you all those years ago, I knew that wanting would never stop.” He tucked a strand of hair—sleek, not-frizzy hair, thank you very much—behind her ear. “Prettiness helps, Tatiana, but you and me? It’s always been more."

I loved that there was more to Wyatt's attraction than just the physical.  And it was the same for Tatiana.  Their connection was far more complicated than lust.

Vegemite: It's a Matter of Taste

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vegemiteontoast_large.jpg

I like Vegemite^.  A sparing amount  over freshly made and hot buttered toast, can be just the thing for breakfast if I'm in a toast kind of mood.  Other than that I grew up eating it and I like the flavour of umami reasonably well (or, possibly, just saying "umami"), I really can't explain it though.  I don't expect you to understand.  It is almost black and thick and kind of ... greasy. It is a by-product of the beer brewing process. (And it LOOKS like a petroleum by-product.) But I like it.  It is okay for me to like it.  It is also okay for you not to like it.

If you'd like, I will try and explain why I like Vegemite but if you don't "get it", it doesn't mean I have failed you. I'm  not obliged to keep trying to come up with new ways to justify to you why I like Vegemite. I am not a Vegemite-Evangelist. I'm a Vegemite-Live-and-Let-Live-r.  Vegemite, like many things, is something that ultimately, you either "get" or do not. And LOADS of people DON'T.  LOADS.