Mini Comments

The following two comments are shorter since I don't feel I have a lot to say about these books, neither captivated me enough to say a lot, whether positively or negatively. Both are new authors to me and I had no big expectations except for the usual for each genre.

Unrequited love for a movie star named Diana Soren sends a forty-something novelist and self-proclaimed Don Juan into an identity crisis involving the hazy boundaries between art and life.

Diana, The Goddess Who Hunts Alone by Carlos Fuentes is a fiction work based on the real life relationship the author had with an actress. A lot of the content is biographical, therefore bitterly one sided, but the author's style of adding reflections and poetic expressions is a delight. I did like certain passages and I liked how he defended the Latin America side of things when it comes to literature, capitalism and even the activism of several groups. The focus on this fictional Diana, however, felt very unfair, as if her role was so obviously meant to take a bad turn, whereas his own actions weren't as badly portrayed. I mean... what goes for women's actions could not be seen equally if one is a man? 

I don't feel like bothering to complain and I'm not familiar enough with the author nor his work to really discuss this, but some parts of the book were boring, pedantic and sometimes not even the beauty of the writing was enough to make me be interested in what the narrator was saying. I've added this to my TBR years ago and now it fit perfectly one topic of a challenge I've been doing, but I cannot say I will look for other things by the author.

Grade 5/10

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For a man who thought he had everything, Trace Jacks sure had nothing now.

After one letter blows his life apart, Trace is clueless how he can move on. He stumbles through the days, never accepting the grief that flows within him, and finding it easier to bury his loss. Hiding becomes a lot easier after he takes his niece to her dance class, striking up an interesting conversation with her teacher.
Shae Bennett is happy to keep things fun, enjoying Trace’s seduction and his spontaneity. With him she can forget about her concerns for her mom and stress of running the dance studio. With him she can be herself, and it is all-consuming.
When the fun beings to slip, when reality starts to encroach in the worst way, their relationship unravels at an alarming speed, leaving Trace and Shae battling for a way back to one another.

 

Beyond the Seduction by M.A. Stacie is the third book in a trilogy. I have not read the other books and got this one simply because it would feature a ballet teacher as the heroine and I was curious to see her job play out in the plot.

The story is quite simple, Shae the teacher is about to start an initiation class and a mother brings her little girl, and Shae notices a man at the back, assumes is the girl's father and tries to ignore him. She finds out he is actually Trace, the girl's uncle, and they start seeing each other while both deal with personal dramas. I've found the story interesting, mainly due to the fact Shae had an absent father and her mother, who has always done all she could for Shae, seems to show weird behavior, which she does not see but which is clearly signs of dementia. 

If the story had been on these themes alone while Shae is teaching ballet and falling in love with Trace, I think it would have been better. However, there's a lot of behavior which I think was pretty ridiculous for grown ups and there's also a lot of unnecessary sex scenes for a story full of drama. I know some details are linked to the previous books, but I didn't had the feeling I had to read those to understand the hero's actions now. In that, the story is clear, but I think Trace was not a great character, not memorable.

I don't feel I need to read more by this author.

Grade: 4/10