Los Cielos by Michelle L. Levigne

TITLE: Los Cielos
AUTHOR: Michelle L. Levigne
PUBLISHER: Awe-Struck
LENGTH: Novel (roughly 90k)
GENRE: Fantasy historical romance
COST: $4.99

Miss Elizabeth Seal-Croft has a secret identity – the Princess Elizabelita Innocente Concepcion Margarita de Los Cielos. Centuries ago, the tiny kingdom of Los Cielos was divided and devastated by warring sisters. Now, prophecies are coming to pass to unite the two houses and bring prosperity back to its once fruitful valley. She thinks that destiny lies with Prince Esteban, the brother of the prince she had been promised to as a young child. But when another brother comes into her life, she finds herself torn. Eduardo looks strikingly like his dead brother Emmanuel, and the stories he has to tell about Esteban’s evil character makes her blood run cold. Taking her life into her own hands – as any proud Suffragist would do – Lita travels with Eduardo to Los Cielos, determined to do what she must to bring life back to the valley. But their troubles seem only to begin all over again once they reach the remote land…

I’m very much a fan of this author’s Bainevah Series at Amber Quill Press, so much so that I own all four books in print as well as e-book. When I saw she had a new fantasy romance title with a different publisher, I jumped at buying it, even if it came wrapped up in a historical setting in a time period that doesn’t automatically engage me. The magic I found in the other series, however, never materialized, and I’m left feeling vaguely disappointed.

The story itself is straight out of a fairy tale. Princess in hiding must return to claim her throne, finds true love, saves her people. The slight twist here is the setting. It takes place in the early 20^th century, with women’s rights just starting to become political issues. Lita is raised to be free-thinking, well-versed in a wide variety of disciplines. The last thing she wants is a man to consider her as less than his equal. For creating a potentially powerful queen, it’s exactly the road I imagine most people would take. The drawback, however, is that Lita comes off as too perfect. She’s educated in everything under the sun, speaks a multitude of languages, even knows self-defense from the lessons she’s given from the Black Monks (a group from Los Cielos that have been protecting and watching over her since her birth). There’s never a sense that Lita is going to fail, because, well, she just doesn’t. What that ends up doing is negating any sense of urgency to the story, any sense of real risk. Without that, I just couldn’t get as involved with the ongoing twists and turns as I would have liked.

My immersion into this world was also stunted by awkward moments scattered throughout, most often in dialogue. Both the hero and the heroine are prone to talking out loud to themselves, which I find unbelievable, 9 times out of 10. I especially find it very difficult to believe in a scene where the author takes great pains to have the hero be utterly silent when he rises from bed. Eduardo and Lita are sharing a room, and he ended up getting the bed instead of the pallet on the floor when they drew straws. His gentlemanly sensibilities refuse to let him sleep with Lita on the floor, so he gets up, gets her, and puts her in the bed in his place. Now, he knows if she wakes up, she’ll fight with him. So he takes painstaking care to be as silent as possible, moving at the speed of molasses. Yet, once they have switched places, there’s this:

“I will have to find some way to make sure you stay free of Esteban,” he murmured as he sank down on the pallet Lita had occupied just moments ago. It smelled of her, and that was sure to keep him awake for at least an hour. “If we cannot bring our valley back to life, if I cannot ensure you can vanish into the world to evade his claim on you ... well, I have committed enough sins, what does it matter if I kill my brother for your sake?” A bark of laughter, muffled into a sigh, didn't disturb Lita's sleep. “Perhaps that will be counted in my favor, as a good deed. You think?”

Why oh why would he do this? Lita is sound asleep. He's afraid of waking her up. It makes no sense for him to drop the care he had only seconds earlier to utter this particular speech out loud. Maybe if it was the first time he’d spoken aloud, I might not have noticed it so much, but this happened nearly halfway through the story, after numerous other times both characters have talked out loud to themselves with someone else right there. But the logic of why he would do this after being so careful not wake just makes no sense to me. At all. And is rather indicative of other illogical occurrences scattered throughout the latter half of the book.

In the end, the fantasy setting never came through with its promise for me. Without being able to fear for the heroine, it just became a matter of seeing it through to the end.

Readability	7/10 – Mostly solid prose, though a little plodding, with dialogue that vacillates between stiff and too modern
Hero	6/10 – Written way too perfectly from the beginning with his major flaw feeling manipulative and unbelievable. It smooths out as the story progresses, though.
Heroine	6/10 – Another example of too perfect to be believable.
Entertainment value	5/10 – I kept waiting to get swept up in the magic, but the different styles never completely gelled for me.
World building	8/10 – The details are there, but the juxtaposition of fantastic details against the all-too-real world ones was never completely smooth.
TOTAL:	32/50

Favorite Authors of 2007

I’m a loyal reader. When I put an author on an autobuy list, it’s next to impossible to move it off. That’s most likely because authors have to really sell me in order to get onto the list in the first place. In regards to my choices for my top 4 authors I reviewed in 2007, two of them are now on that list (one through more reading, reviews of which will be coming in the New Year), and the other two are really close to being autobuys. That’s always a great feeling. I love having authors I can rely on.

3^rd Runner Up
Josh Lanyon

I actually compiled my lists right after I posted my last 2007 review. If I was compiling it now, Josh Lanyon would probably be higher. I’ve just finished reading and reviewing two of his three Adrien English mysteries (to be posted the week of 1/7/08), and with the completion of those, he’s now officially an autobuy. I love his spare, fluid prose. I love the noirish feel to his worlds, both in his real noir and his contemporary settings. I love his flawed characters. He makes me smile, he makes me think, he makes me feel. As a reader, I can’t ask for anything more.

2^nd Runner Up
Michelle L. Levigne

Probably not a surprise to see this author here since her book was my favorite non-erotic book of the year. I have the entire Bainevah series, and when I see her name, I know it’s going to be quality writing. She writes lush prose with fantastic otherworlds, painted in vibrant colors that make them leap from the page. I’m not sure why she hasn’t been enticed away by print publishers yet. She’s certainly better at fantasy than a lot of the other stuff I’ve read.

1^st Runner Up
Rowan McBride

This one probably shouldn’t be a surprise, either. I’ve only read one of this author’s books, but I have a recently re-released book on my TBR pile, and I’ll be tackling that in January, most likely. This book was the most pleasant surprise of the year for me, and I sincerely hope that the promise it showed pays off in subsequent books. Flawed characters, tight action, all good.

And my favorite author of the books I reviewed this year is:
Annie Dean

Ms. Dean’s books are on my autobuy list. I read three of her stories this year, and while I enjoyed all of them – one quite a bit more than the other two – they’re not the reason I adore her. Her voice is the single most distinctive, most entertaining, most literate voice I read online all year. Hands down. Even when I don’t necessarily care for a character, she keeps me hooked in the story by her clever phrasing, her colorful dialogue, and more. She’s moving into print now, and I have her book, Grimspace, pre-ordered. I didn’t even read the blurb. I just know I want it.

Favorite Non-Erotic Stories of 2007

So why is it that I read fewer non-erotic stories online than I do erotic, yet the ones I rated highest during the year were non-erotic? Is it because I read so much erotic romance that I increase the odds of finding stuff I won’t like? I would have thought it was the other way around, actually. But whichever it is, the fact of the matter is, my list of favorite non-erotic stories of the year was much harder to rank than the 4 I picked for erotic romance (getting posted on Wednesday). I love all these stories, though for very different reasons.

3^rd Runner Up
Snowdance by Sarita Leone

Snowdance is not a story for a quick read. It’s not a story for a reader who only wants a romance. It’s a story you read when you tuck yourself into the corner of an overstuffed couch in front of a fire in the middle of winter to savor over a long, lazy afternoon. It’s quiet, evocative prose at its best. It’s the portrait of a woman you’ll remember for more than the man she falls in love. I really can’t say that about 95% of the stories I read online.

2^nd Runner Up
The Strength of the Pack by Jorrie Spencer

In spite of the fact that I can’t look at the cover when I read this book, it remains one of those books I bought this year that I can’t stop reading once I start. Though he didn’t make my top 4, Seth is still one of my favorite heroes of the year. I fell utterly in love with him and all his heartbreaking angst. This book put Jorrie Spencer on my list of authors to watch. Even if the cover does bug me.

1^st Runner Up
Twist of Honor by Karen Welss

Considering both Kit and Antonia made my favorite hero and heroine lists, it probably isn’t a surprise this is on my favorite non-erotic book list, too. As a rule, historicals have to work harder for me to appreciate. I get bored too easily with them most of the time, so for one to be my second favorite non-erotic story of the year, you know it has to be special. The author writes compassionate, realistic characters in quiet, compelling prose. I can think of a lot of writers who could learn a lesson or two, simply from reading this book.

And my favorite non-erotic book I reviewed this year is:

Threads
by Michelle L. Levigne

This book is where the I hope the rest of the e-industry will eventually end up being. It approaches a fantasy world without skimping on detail, and treats the reader as intelligent without pandering to a lowest common denominator. It’s presented professionally without the common editing errors that plague many e-publishers, and on top of all of it, it’s just lush, gorgeous storytelling. I have this one in print now. It has a position of pride both on my bookshelves and my computer.

Any non-erotic stories you want to recommend? Because my TBR list can never be too big.

Oh, and to everybody who reads, Happy Holidays!

Threads by Michelle L. Levigne

TITLE: Threads
AUTHOR: Michelle L. Levigne
PUBLISHER: Amber Quill Press
LENGTH: Novel (roughly 87k)
GENRE: Fantasy romance
COST: $7.00

In a world struggling with wars and reconstruction, one woman holds its future in the magic her fingers weave. She holds no memories, knows only the sheltered existence in a protected valley where once a month, priests bring her supplies to weave their tapestries. And yet, at night, she dreams of a man who knows her better than she knows herself. As the years pass, Dia slowly questions her existence, until Asha’s unexpected arrival at her sanctuary sets them off on a new adventure. One in which they have to save the world as they know it.

This is not your average e-book. It’s not because it’s not erotic, because you can certainly buy non-erotic romances online. It’s not because it’s a fantasy, because fantasy is actually a substantial part of the romance market. It’s in the execution. Threads is not a fast read. It’s not an easy one. It has dense, dreamy prose that requires a reader to pay careful attention to detail, and it has a story construct that necessitates actually thinking about what’s being told. But if you stick with it, it delivers a punch like few other e-books I’ve read this year.

Dia, the heroine, has no memory at the top of the story, and since much of the beginning is told from her POV, it means the reader must try and figure things out at the same time she does. She is a Weaver, and through the course of the careful telling, we learn that her weaving is not just about tapestries. There is magic in her touch, magic that frightens her as much as it intrigues. I felt like I was right there with Dia as she struggled to come to grips with not only her quiet existence, but the question of why she existed at all.

We meet Asha, the hero, first in Dia’s dreams, then later in sections told from his POV. His world is vastly different from Dia’s, and it’s reflected in the prose. Where Dia’s perspective is slow and sedate, Asha’s holds more intrigue, clipping along at a faster pace. By the time Asha takes his destiny into his hands and sets out on the mission that ultimately takes him to Dia, the juxtaposition of these two styles has merged into one, making the second half of the book much more unified than the first. I don’t necessarily consider this a flaw. I think it’s a sign of an author who knows exactly how to craft a tale that fits the world she’s created.

Though this book is labeled Book IV of the Bainevah Series, it is entirely possible to read this lush fantasy on its own without losing too many of the nuances of earlier tales. The author takes great pains to keep a new reader informed, and while these sections can drag a little bit – because she has a lot of history to explain – the pay-off is more than worth it. Threads is a magnificent read. I’ll be remembering Dia and this world for a long time to come.

Readability	9/10 – Lush, dreamy prose that sets the languorous rhythm of the story perfectly.
Hero	8/10 – The construct of the story makes it harder to get a firm handle on Asha, but I thought he was heartwarming, strong, and real.
Heroine	8/10 – Dia’s amnesia works against getting to know her well, but in light of the entire story, I liked learning about her at the same time as she did herself.
Entertainment value	9/10 – Though the beginning was a little slow for me, I fell in love with the characters and world created here to follow along rabidly to the end.
World building	10/10 – Dense, careful detailing that stands alone in spite of being part of a series.
TOTAL:	44/50