Giulia

Author of:

 

About Lena

 

Ashley's Wedding

 

Oh Claire!

 

Eighteen Months

This book is the closest to the original movie, with Mia Farrow, of any book/movie combination I know of. It also clarifies some of the events and images in the movie. The book is dynamite horror, and so is the original film.

This is a well-written, sweet, sensitive, feel-good story. The plot is light, the characters are nice, and there is a HEA. I liked it.

I've read a lot of heavier books lately, and this was a refreshing break from that. It was predictable, but it was fun too.

I thought the author excelled in one area: the heroine's reaction to her time shift from 600 years in the past to present-day NYC. About 90% of time travel romances send the main character back to some supposedly "idyllic" time: when women were women and men were men and - well, you know. They do that because it's so hard to write the reverse, which requires that the author have some understanding as to how a person from an historic, alien culture would really react to the present-day.

In "Lost in Time I," the main character comes forward and the author does a very good job of putting you into the heroine's head as she reacts to 2014, with 1414 eyes. It made the story fun.

Read it for a relaxing evening. You'll go to bed feeling good. Promise.

My dad had this book from the scifi bookclub - from when he was a teenager, I think. I borrowed it from him this summer and just finished it. While I was reading it, it scared the hell out of me. It gave me my best understanding of what it must have been like to live under the threat of nuclear war in the 50s and 60s (I was born in 1979).

The story is told from the view of a guy who must "push the button."

Well-written and poignant. Perhaps a bit naive now, it still got to me.

I bought this a while ago and just got around to reading it recently. It is quirky, requires more than average suspension of belief, and - as advertised - it's a hot, sexy story with a cute plot and some surprises thrown in.

Don't get me wrong: this is not great literature and doesn't pretend to be. If you're avidly anti-smoking, definitely pass on this one. But otherwise, it's fun, interesting, and you get to watch the main character evolve into someone else entirely. This all happens at the hands of some delightfully shameless, unrepentantly sinful characters, to whom I took quite a liking.

If Ms. Blitz writes anything else like this, sign me up!

The Elves of Arthannegh is a big, powerful, important, erotic novel which is certain to become a noted, quoted, sensual, adult foundation of the Arthurian legends. The novel is of epic proportions – broad in scope and deeply rich in detail.

In this third book in the series, The Fair and Fey, J. Ellyne tells the story of a clash of civilizations – Roman, Saxon, British, Elven, Orcan, demonic, and more on a scale that few authors would have the audacity or the ability to pull off. But pull-it-off she does with color, style and an uncanny insight into the real underpinnings of those ancient civilizations, technologies, prejudices, and personal relationships. And as if that weren’t enough, she weaves many of the pieces of folklore and history you’ve heard into her story, to make it come even more alive.

This is a story of devastation, hope against overwhelming odds, nobility of spirit, betrayal, and astounding valor when faced with the loss of everything. The real heroes are the Elves, in all their manifestations, colors and types. The author brings them, their friends and enemies, their lovers, and their cities, woods and lakes alive in the reader’s mind through the complex society and individuals she creates.

Ellyne, with enviable skill, paints a heart-warming and heart-wrenching, believable picture of the many aspects of Elven civilization, and the flawed but sincere characters that derive from it. I fell in love with many of those characters and came to regard them as real, close, sometimes tragic friends as the story developed.

Elven, Roman, and Anglo-Saxon civilizations are interlaced by the author to create this tale of their interplays, interrelationships, and clashes. Motives are noble and base. There are heroes and antiheroes and others simply caught up in an upheaval of historic proportions. The excellence of this novel lies in its ability to balance these complexities in a fun, moving, titillating story that demands your attention from beginning to end. And at the end it rolls into a glimpse of the underpinnings of the legends of King Arthur and solidifies much of what came before him.

I believe you will love this book. In spite of its considerable length, the story is so well-written and interestingly presented that the reader sails through it, ever-anxious for what will happen as the pages are turned. What an exciting read!

The Elves of Arthannegh is a significant work that is, in my opinion, priced well-below its substantial worth. I’m confident that it’s one of the best values for your ebook dollars that’s out there. You really should read this book.

Everything comes apart here. Our hero becomes the antihero. The next 19 - 20 books are just more and more of the same "all women want to be slaves" idea. Books 1 - 5 are great. The rest can be used as fireplace starters.

Best of all the Gor books. Real depth to the Gorean nomads in this story.

This was a superbly written and edited book that was exciting, riveting, and sexy as can be!

The author takes you into the times and places of WW II in Europe and makes them so vivid that you could swear you've been there, with them. The book sets a mood and then draws you into it.

You find yourself in both occupied Europe and England. The interwoven plot plays off both locations and the dominant, despicable characters in both places. Without providing a spoiler, I can say that our heroine spans both locations, as she's impelled along a path of destruction in sync with Europe's destruction at the time.

Her experiences and ultimate triumph are hot, sexy, arousing, and totally uncertain. The cleverly-constructed ending will leave you surprised and satisfied.

The worthy characters are noble and committed. The evil characters are deliciously awful. This book will appeal to fans of erotica, dominance, and historical fiction in equal amounts.

It would be hard to do better than this one!

My rating may confuse some and I don't want it to. This is a well-researched, well-written tale with a solid plot and strong characters. I particularly liked that there were strong female characters, and a real sense of sexual equality in the story. But I was overwhelmed by the subtle and not-at-all-subtle underlying message of Scottish patriotism, and the wealth of contributions of the Celts to European [or world] civilization, that the author would have you believe.

If you're of Celtic descent, or are a firm believer in Scottish independence, you will love this book. I'm neither, and I found all that reference to be tedious. I had to fight my way through what is actually a good book otherwise.

All that hype ruined it for me. Obviously, the author is trying to get a message across. That's OK, but it isn't one that particularly interests me. If you're English (I'm not), you'll probably take offense at this book - and the writer wants you to, I think.

So, unless you fit the "target" audience, don't bother with this one.

I loved this weird, crazy, kinky, amusing story and all the characters in it. The people were particularly fascinating because they were all flawed and yet all so unexpected, crazy, interesting and fun. You just have to like them – even the “bad” guys! I’d love to know where, in the depths of experience, the author had to reach to create this clever mix of winner/losers.

You get to know the characters through their current-day actions, and the flashback interludes which support both the characters’ depth and the plot line. I found myself amazed, excited, on the edge of my seat, and laughing out loud all through this fun read.

I never would have thought to make the venerable VW Beetle, in all its forms and with all its cousins the underlying theme and real star of a novel – especial a kinky, erotic, adventure novel. The way it was interlaced throughout the story and held all the diverse elements together was simply genius on the author’s part.

The writing style is solid, with an interwoven tongue-in-cheek which lead me to believe that the author was laughing with me – and sometimes at me. The desert scenery (setting for most of the novel) is reminiscent of the milieu in Koontz’s Odd Thomas books – and the characters resemble those in Odd Thomas a little. But where Odd is an innocent young man, trying to do good, these characters are anything but innocent – and end up doing good in spite of themselves!

Net – this was a fun read, and probably the best use of $2.99 you’ll get for a while. I really suggest that you read it!

A masterfull set-up for the trilogy. And great marketing - this is one of the best $.99 bargains out there - obviously priced to drive the reader into the trilogy. But even if you never read the sequel, you can't go wrong on the price!

This book was interesting because it takes the heroine forward in time - from 1692 to 1892. What's neat is how the author shows the reaction of the heroine to the change from repressive Salem, MA at the witching time, to the wide-open spaces of Montana, 200 years later. I haven't seen this done before, and I enjoyed it.

The characters are either very likable or easy to detest. Most have some depth but are a bit short on complexity, which is why I gave this well-written and edited book 4 instead of 5 stars. However, the author has an opportunity to round out the characters in the upcoming books of the trilogy - it'll be interesting to see if she can do that.

It'll also be interesting to see if the heroine stays in 1892, goes back to 1692, or goes further into the future - with or without her true love.

This first book is adequately ended, but does a near-perfect job of setting the reader up to run out and buy the sequel, as soon as it's available. I certainly will!

This is a lovely, moving novel which follows the time travel romance formula, while maintaining a freshness in approach to telling the story. I think that comes from focusing on the heroine, who moves forward in time from 1893 to 1993, while also telling the story of those dear to her who are left behind. These two elements of the plot are lightly intertwined, but proceed as almost two tales. Think of it as a prose intermix reminiscent of the song "Scarborough Fair," without the threatening undertones.

The writing is very good. The author takes you to the Gulf Coast where the story unfolds in a way that you feel you're there and you get to know the characters. The heroine is likable, if somewhat naive (perhaps "innocent" is a better word) yet displays admirable inner strength. The people who take her in in 1993 are real, warm, helpful and interesting. The love that builds among the characters sometimes comes with its own challenges, providing depth and pathos as the reader becomes absorbed in the story.

All-in-all, a very satisfying read and one easily worth anyone's time. This book certainly made me a fan of Ms. Cocreham, whose work I hadn’t read before.

Yes, I'm giving "Oh Claire!" five stars. After all, I wrote it and fell in love with it while pouring my heart and soul into it. I’ve now read it about a dozen times – both to proof read it multiple times, and then for the fun of reading it again as I received notes from readers on where they were in the tale, and what they were thinking about the story.

And I’ll admit that there are many parts of the novel that turn me on. Most (but not all) avid erotica readers have also found that to be especially true.

Before you decide to read “Oh Claire!,” you should understand that this isn’t a formula erotic romance. It’s not girl-meets-boy, girl-and-boy-fall-in-love, girl-and-boy-fall-apart because of a misunderstanding, girl-and-boy-reconnect, and they-live-happily-ever-after.

My work tends to be girl-and-boy-together, girl-has-[erotic]-trauma, girl-[and maybe boy]-evolves–[usually together], girl-and-boy-are-separated, girl-is-changed-[drastically], girl-and-boy-reunite, they-live-ever-after. I let the reader decide if they’re happy.

This novel is for people wanting serious erotica/fetish contemporary adult fantasy, and bdSM (with a capital SM), that is experienced by characters with depth and, usually, some appeal to the reader. It will take you to exotic places and scenes. I can promise that you’ll be drawn into the story and come to care about what happens to the people in it.

If “50 Shades” was a lot for you to handle, you probably can’t handle “Oh Claire!,” so consider yourself warned. But if you want serious erotica, want to know how the characters are feeling about what’s happening to them, and a moving plot, please give “Oh Claire!” a try.

I will promise you solid writing and a well-edited text.

Kudos to J. Ellyne for giving us a wonderful sequel to her lovely, dramatic story, Maginaugh. Maahilund is a story of awesome beauty and abject horror, which pulls the reader in both directions at once – and that requires the real writing talent that J. Ellyne has in abundance. The tale of the Magin, the Pewa and many of the characters in the first book continues with an even more colorful, stirring, heart-wrenching and beautiful tale. In Maahilund, the author shifts most of the tale across the Atlantic to a land of Elves and Demons and magic. In doing so, the author is able to create an even more intricate story and build up ever-more-interesting relationships among the characters in this new, complex land. In Maahilund the reader begins to understand the depth and interplay of the beings who rule J. Ellyne’s fantasy world, and the rules that govern it.

The author explores all the forms of interpersonal love and devotion with taste and sympathy. The way the characters feel about each other is told with a depth of emotional understanding that many lesser authors simply can’t manage. In Maahilund, the feelings are not only well-described, but the author manages to teach the reader something new about love, especially amid tribulation, betrayal, jealousy and lust. That’s a take-away that, in itself, makes the book worth reading.

The author’s sensitivity to the thoughts, feelings and needs of her characters is evident in Maahilund, as it was in Maginaugh. As a result, she weaves a moving story of courage, commitment, gain and loss for all the denizens of the book – whether good or evil. The reader is able to glimpse the most noble of motives as well as the basest. The story quickly draws you in and takes you on such a ride that you regret those moments when you have to put it aside, and return to your regular life. We see the evilest of evil with a burning hatred of everything beautiful in the world, and great love and heroism play out together in Maahilund. Will either one triumph for all time? You’re left to ponder that question – both because of the story’s evolution, and the set-up for the next book in the series. A very well written and edited, truly wonderful reading experience.

This was an amusing story of a guy who really needed to grow up. The ending fell flat for me because I don't think he learned his lesson, and I was more interested, by then, in another one of the characters.

That said, it was a short story and did justice to that form.