Fiction Vixen Book Reviews: Avoiding reality, one page at a time.
As described on the F.V. Website – Sophia founded Fiction Vixen Book Reviews in 2009 as a way to connect with other romance readers. In 2010 she invited a couple of friends to blog with her and share their thoughts on the books they were reading.
“I am a wife and mother to three girls and I have a serious addiction to romance novels. When not chasing down my three mini vixens or fulfilling my duties as Operations Director of Casa Vixen Inc., you can find me with my nose in a book or tapping away at my laptop utilizing all the major social networks to blab about my latest favorite read. I may occasionally step away from the laptop to enjoy a bit of sunshine and fresh air, but I never leave home without my beloved Kindle and iPhone.”
We’ve been following The Fiction Vixen Facebook Fanpage for over a year now and the contributors do an amazing job of giving in depth reviews of Books from many different categories of Romance; Including Contemporary Romance, Paranormal Romance, Historical Romance, Erotic Romance, GLBT Romance, Urban Fantasy, Romantic Suspense, Young Adult and Western Romance.
In addition to Sophia, the Fiction Vixen review team consists of:
Catherine – Catherine is a long time reader of Romance. She gravitates toward Historical and Paranormal, but likes to branch out into completely different genres as well. She’s a wife and mother of two, and prays her youngest will grow up and stop drooling on her books.
Samantha – I’m a voracious reader who loves to ride my bike & do very little else.
Amy – I am a single southern gal with a great love for reading, music, animals, travel, food and fun! I gravitate toward all types of romance with favorites being PNR and Romantic Suspense. Besides romance, I enjoy Urban Fantasy and some YA as well. You may also find me reading some non-fiction as I have an obsessive interest in the royals, the Kennedy’s, Titanic, and various historical subjects.
Julianna – Reading has always been my favorite escape and no genre serves that purpose better than romance! Historical was my first love, but in recent years I’ve also become a fan of Contemporary, Erotic, and Paranormal romances. In my “real” life I work for an online startup company and I have the cutest rescue pit bull in the world.
Jen – I am happily married to a wonderful man and mother to 2 (soon to be 3) crazy kids. My major escape from the craziness at home is usually in a book. Preferably of the romance variety with a broody, alpha hero. I am also a huge sports fan. The St. Louis Cardinals have been my team since my grandpa introduced me to baseball at the tender age of birth. Go Cardinals!!
If Romance Novels have your reading interests, you’ll definitely want to hook up with Fiction Vixen Book Reviews Website and Facebook Page through the links above.
Here’s a sample review from the F.V. archives – posted by Sophia
Review: Stay The Night by Scarlett Parrish
Kit Blackman is not happy to find out that one of his roommates is moving out. First, he’ll have to pay a larger share of the rent leaving less money for beer and other similar essentials. Second, it means he and his remaining roommate will eventually have to find someone else to move in. For an ordinary guy that wouldn’t be too much trouble but Kit is just a bit anti-social. Ok, he’s a lot anti-social. In fact he’s grouchy, pissy and prefers the company of computers to human beings. He sounds like an unlikable guy but the people in his small circle seem to see past his prickly exterior and let his sarcasm and jibes roll off their backs.
When Steven Kenton makes the final roommate cut and moves in, Kit is not eager to make friends and socialize. But Steven is a get-what-he-wants kind of guy and for some reason, he likes the ill-tempered Kit. The initial attraction is physical and HOT and Steven wastes no time making his move on Kit. Although Kit is definitely attracted to Steven he knows he is bad at relationships beyond anything brief and physical, and getting involved with someone he lives with is a very bad idea. But Steven has his sights set on Kit and won’t be taking no for an answer.
As I was reading this story told from Kit’s point of view I kept thinking, come on Kit, give me something to love about you. This is your point of view, convince me!! But Kit is the kind of character that subtly grows on you. His antics are quite funny and before I realized it, I was sympathizing with him even though I wasn’t totally clear why. Obviously he has some intimacy issues but his vulnerabilities only seep through the cracks here and there but enough to really draw me in. He is good at deflecting attempts at emotional intimacy but there is something there when it comes to Steven and Kit has no idea how to handle his relationship and the uncomfortable feelings he refuses to acknowledge.
Steven clearly wants to get into Kit’s pants. He makes no secret of his attraction, telling Kit he is gorgeous and coming on to him almost immediately. As they get to know each other we see Kit becoming more vulnerable and more conflicted but Steven remains sure of himself. Since he continues to pursue Kit we know that he must see more in him than just a good roll in the hay but I never really got a good feeling for where Steven was coming from. He reacts emotionally when Kit pushes him away, so we know he has feelings for Kit, but other than that, there is not a lot of insight into Steven’s feelings.
Now let’s talk about the sexy times. Whew, the tension. Steven is aggressive and sure of himself but Kit is awkward uncomfortable about getting physically intimate with Steven. But he can’t deny his attraction and knowing how much Steven wants him makes it hard to say no. Kit’s reluctance in the early scenes created so much tension as Steven laid on the seduction. But it’s not just about the sexy times. Kit takes an emotional journey and has to make a decision to let down his defensive walls and let Steven into his heart or risk losing him forever. Steven wants more than the Kit that everyone gets and if he can’t have that he’s willing to walk away. The ending has a very romantic ahhhh moment that I loved and I liked that even in their happily ever after, Kit is still…well…Kit.
