.comment-link {margin-left:.6em;}

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Blow Me Down


****½ Blow Me Down by Katie MacAlister. Contemporary paranormal romance.








I was surprised by Blow Me Down--I'd been expecting something along the lines of The Corset Diaries or Hard Day's Knight (#22), but I got more than I bargained for. I love when that happens.

Katie MacAlister, by the way, is on my must-buy list. Which is not to say that I've caught all her books--there are a few of her backlist I have yet to find, and I only have one or two of her Katie Maxwells.

Amy's a workaholic businesswoman who, according to her teenage daughter, doesn't know how to have fun. So she accepts her daughter's challenge to spend an hour playing Buckling Swashes, a pirate-themed virtual reality game.

And that's where the paranormal part comes in, so you really need to check your disbelief suspension before going further. She gets stuck in the game and can't get out. Furthermore, it's not just audiovisual--you feel everything that happens in the game as if it's real. And your character looks the way you see yourself.

Amy meets Black Corbin, the rival pirate, who's also the game's designer. He initially looks like a romance novel cover model, but when Amy objects, he changes his appearance to something more real. Corbin's also stuck in the game, and hijinks and romance ensue as they try to figure out who's trapped them there and why, and how to get out, all the while continuing to play the game.

I rolled my eyes a bit at Amy's (to my mind) overdone insistence on there not being any killing in the game, and even more when Corbin agrees--hello? It's a pirate game. What do they think happens when they sink a ship? And what, then, is the point of the cannons and swords?

But that was a small annoyance in a fun, delightful book. I enjoyed the puzzle aspect, and despite the unreal setting, the development of the relationship between Amy and Corbin was realistic and sexy. I particularly enjoyed what their characters' appearances said about them. It was a nice touch.

The ending, too--and I'm not going to give it away--was just right. As they started falling in love--and having great sex!--in cyberspace, I worried how that would translate in real life. To my relief, it was handled perfectly.

...more

Categories: , ,

Labels: , ,


Comments:
This one looks really cute, I'll have to check it out.
 
I tell myself am going to read this book next, but I kept on delaying it LOL...reading your review sure do make me want to read it *grin*...great review as always, Darla
 
Well, I don't think it's a book you want to force yourself to read--if you're not in the mood for it, the whole concept could be pretty annoying--I mean, come on: stuck in a video game? But if you're in the mood for it, it's really fun.
 
Post a Comment



<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?