Tag: J. Dallas

Revenge by J. Dallas

Posted November 25, 2013 by Natalia S in Reviews | 0 Comments

Revenge
Natalia’s review of Revenge (Revenge #1) by J. Dallas.

Book 1

I was seventeen when I met Drake Gallagher. Seventeen, naive, foolish…and in love. Or so I thought. That summer, and the months that followed, set the course of my life.

Ten years later, I’m still struggling to put the pieces of me back to together.

It’s time to stop struggling. It’s time to take control…and maybe, it’s time for a little revenge.

He doesn’t have time for naive little virgins?

Well, I’m not naive anymore.

There are stories that can be as little as 10000 words long, and still make a difference. This one wasn’t one of them.

When I first read the plot, I was captivated. “Revenge is a dish best served cold,” they say. I’m not sure how I feel about that statement, but I know that revenge is fun to read about, especially coupled with romance and good humor. Therefore, I came in to this book with really high expectations. Unfortunately none of them were met.

First off. Why is this so short? I finished it, and seriously went back to check and make sure I hadn’t gotten a bad copy. Had it been longer, maybe I could’ve grown to give it at least 2 stars…

Forget Short, There was No story what so ever. All I got is an angry girl wanting to get back at the guy that ruined her life over 10 years ago with no personality, and a millionaire who is captivated by her for no reason we know of, with even less personality. Less because he wasn’t the one telling the story, so we know nothing about him other than he is a workaholic, who likes sex, doesn’t commit, and is rich. Let’s not forget how incredibly short this book is, and since most of it was sex scenes, well…

Does this sound familiar to anyone? It sure does to me. You know that smash hit, best celling trilogy that has caused incredible controversy in the last couple of years? Yes, Folks. Its 50 Shades of Gray I’m talking about.

Whatever I may or may not think of the gray books, they sold, and sold well. I just don’t understand why the need to copy the tropes? Why not find a unique trope and set of characters that we can relate to and even grow to love as a classic love story? Or as a voice teacher once told me, “If you’re going to copy the tropes, do them with conviction, otherwise people will know they’re fake.”

Trust me. In 20 years no one will remember even 50 Shades, but they will remember Gone With the Wind! Doesn’t that mean anything anymore?

Grade: 1 out of 5

This book is available from J. Dallas. You can purchase the book here or here in e-format.  This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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Guest Review: The Virgin: Revenge by J. Dallas

Posted November 18, 2013 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Guest Review: The Virgin: Revenge by J. DallasReviewer: Tracy
The Virgin: Revenge by J. Dallas
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: November 4, 2013
Format: eARC
Genres: Anthologies (multiple authors)
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
two-half-stars

 

I was seventeen when I met Drake Gallagher. Seventeen, naive, foolish…and in love. Or so I thought. That summer, and the months that followed, set the course of my life.

Ten years later, I’m still struggling to put the pieces of me back to together.

It’s time to stop struggling. It’s time to take control…and maybe, it’s time for a little revenge.

He doesn’t have time for naive little virgins?

Well, I’m not naive anymore.

Ten years ago Shannon fell in love with Drake Gallagher. She was 17 and he was 24 and it was a magical summer. When she wanted to take their kissing session farther he told her he didn’t f*ck naïve little virgins. Apparently this was the beginning of the worst part of her life and now she wants revenge.

She applies for a job as Drake’s assistant and she gets the job. She knows that he doesn’t recognize her and this is good. She plans on getting him hotter than hot for her and then she’ll dump him. That’s her revenge. Her plan goes awry when Drake admits he knew her from just seeing her name on the list of applicants for the assistant position. He still wants her and she’s still a naïve virgin, but that doesn’t stop him. Now she has to rework her plan.

I’m not too much of a fan of serial novels. I had no idea this was one until I got to the end of the novella and was left completely left hanging as to what was going to happen next. There was no conclusion whatsoever and that frustrated the hell out of me, I must say. This is why I don’t read serials!

The story itself was…odd. We get bits and pieces of Shannon’s life and how she perceives Drake as having ruined it but we never get a definitive story as to what happened. Left in the dark as to the reasons for Shannon’s revenge it was hard to sympathize with her. She wants to get Drake hot and then dump him but it’s completely obvious that she still has some feelings for him. She doesn’t want to let herself have those feelings as she doesn’t want to have feelings about anything. She wants absolutely nothing to make her happy. She goes apartment hunting and though she adores this one apartment she chooses another because it suffices but not make her happy. She’s all about denying herself feelings – of any sort, except anger. She wanted to be on total emotional shutdown no matter what the situation. We’re also told in the story that her father is murdered and she somehow blames Drake for this but we have no idea what part he played in it at all.  We know he didn’t commit the murder but that’s about all we get.

Drake was kind of an enigma. He hired Shannon not only for who she was but also because she was perfect for the position. She’s good at her job but it seemed that Drake just wanted her near him. When he admits that he knows her and then they sleep together he appears to want more but she wants nothing to do with him. That doesn’t stop her having sex with him yet again.

The reader was left on the cliff as to what will happen next in the story and though I’m curious I don’t know if I’m patient enough to be left on the cliff yet again after book 2. We’ll see.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

two-half-stars

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Guest Author (+ a Giveaway): J. Dallas

Posted October 30, 2013 by Holly in Giveaways, Promotions | 17 Comments

The Virgin: RevengeToday author J. Dallas is here to discuss the hero of part one of her debut serial, The Virgin: Revenge.

I was seventeen when I met Drake Gallagher. Seventeen, naive, foolish…and in love. Or so I thought. That summer, and
Ten years later, I’m still struggling to put the pieces of me back to together.the months that followed, set the course of my life.

It’s time to stop struggling. It’s time to take control…and maybe, it’s time for a little revenge.

He doesn’t have time for naive little virgins?

Well, I’m not naive anymore.

 

Five Things about My Hero

 

Writing in first person can make it hard to get a good look inside the other person’s head. I know what Drake is thinking, but so much of this story has to be told through Shannon’s experiences and thoughts, and revealing how Drake feels has to come slowly.

But there are some things I can share.

  • His favorite color is gray—oddly enough, Shannon likes that color as well. He’s got a personal reason for liking it
  • He never dates anybody within the workplace
  • He often travels to a small town north of Boston
  • When he leaves that small town north of Boston, he’s disappointed
  • His nickname is the Boy Genius. He graduated from high school when he was fifteen, started college that same year. Made his social life…interesting.

You can read more about it in Revenge, and then find out how everything turns out in Redemption, the conclusion to Shan & Drake’s story, due out in early 2014.

For now, here’s a snippet.

The meeting had less than thirty minutes to go when Drake had appeared, settling into his seat without even looking at me.
I felt the dismissal like a cut.
And that had been the order of the day.

There was nothing discussed but business.
He didn’t look at me, except to discuss meetings, request information…basically everything I wished my job had been from the beginning.
Now he was staring at me with intense eyes as I packed my bag. “There are no meetings scheduled tomorrow until noon, when you’re meeting with your brothers,” I said, keeping my voice steady, thinking of the resignation letter. I hadn’t had a good time to present it. Did I just leave it on his desk?

He rose from his chair.
I tensed as he came around to stand behind me. He reached up and smoothed a hand down my shoulder, I closed my eyes. “Should I be here at seven or will eight work?”
He pressed his mouth to my neck. “Come home with me.”
“That wouldn’t be wise,” I said softly.
His hands slid my skirt up. “Why not?”
“It just wouldn’t.” He slid his fingers inside the waistband of my panties and my knees buckled. “Drake—”

 

**Giveaway** J. Dallas is giving away 3 $15 gift certificates to the bookstore of your choice. Winners will be chosen at random from the comments on this post. Leave a comment to enter! Good luck! **Giveaway**

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What I Read Last Week

Posted October 29, 2013 by Tracy in Features | 0 Comments

Hey Ya’ll!

Sorry this is late. We’ve been having a little boyfriend drama at my house so I’ve been dealing with real life instead of my pretend one here. 😉 My oldest’s boyfriend of 6 weeks broke up with her and after having her cry all weekend (and I do mean all weekend) he’s now saying they were on a break but not broken up. OMG I just can’t stop thinking about Friend with Ross and Rachel! Too funny. Anyway, they’re talking calmly now and we’ll just have to wait and see what happens. I’ll keep you posted. 🙂

Other than that nothing much happened this past week so on to what I read:

I started off with The Wrong Billionaire’s Bed by Jessica Clare. A great book about a woman who thinks herself in love with her childhood friend but when she meets his friend she’s nothing but confused – and more. You can read my full review of the book here. 4 out of 5

Archangel’s Legion by Nalini Singh was up next and Oh. My. God. This was just an amazingly fabulous book that I just couldn’t put down once I picked it up. The story has Raphael and Elena back as the main couple and holy shnykies they are wonderful together. I thought so in book 1 and have continued to think so over the course of the series but this just absolutely cemented it for me. They’re fighting together to keep what they’ve built and I loved it. 5 out of 5 (read for Book Binge)

The Virgin: Revenge by J. Dallas was the first novella in a serial having to do with Shannon seeking revenge against Drake who she fell in love with when she was 17. Now it’s 10 years later and she’s applying for a position as his assistant thinking he won’t recognize her. The story was ok but there were too many things alluded to that were never fleshed out. I understand this is a serial but I needed something to make me want to read the next one and I didn’t feel like I got it. 2.5 out of 5 (read for Book Binge – review will post on the 30th if you’re interested in reading more of my thoughts)

Sweet by Erin McCarthy was a great book in the True Believers series. It has Riley and Jessica living together for a week and finding that they don’t dislike each other half as much as they believed they did. The story was really good and I can’t wait to read book 3. You can read my full review here 4 out of 5

Last for the week was Throwing Heat by Jennifer Seasons. The story is about a baseball player who’s got the hots for a fellow players sister. They almost have a night together but then he stops and she’s rejected. Now it’s 3 years later and he wants another chance and she’s not about to give it to him. I read about 60% of this book and stopped. I think the problem for me was that there was a boatload of introspection but not a ton of dialogue and when I found myself skimming I put the book down. I’m an every word reader 99% of the time so when I start skimming that’s a bad sign. I may go back to this eventually but for now it’s a DNF.

 
My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
crickets

Happy Reading!

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