New Review: Wicked Satyr Nights, by Rebekah Lewis

 

In Ancient Greece, the god Pan made a terrible mistake which resulted in the creation of a race of immortal satyrs. Centuries later, he lives secluded in the Pine Barrens, frightening the mortals by taking the guise of an abhorrent local monster. When a beautiful woman shows up in his forest looking for proof of his existence, Pan can't resist revealing himself to her.

~~~

I've been looking forward to reading Wicked Satyr Nights for ages, and the only reason it took this long was because of my day job. I stayed up nights reading eagerly about Pan's adventures with Kat Silverton, the zoologist who stumbles upon his secret, and I was very, very happy to find that Rebekah Lewis and her cursed satyroi did not disappoint!

A Foreplay and Fangs Review

As with all my new reviews, I'll be rating the book in three parts: Storytelling, Technical, and Passion. The Storytelling aspect of any book pertains to how much the story appealed to me, including the setting, the characters, and plot. The Technical aspect pertains to literary analysis; for those of you who don't know, I spent 4 years learning to appreciate and analyze literature and writing techniques, including classical, contemporary, poetry and argumentative. It's impossible for me to read a book without considering its effectiveness in from a technical standpoint. Passion is probably self-explanatory: how did the tale measure up with heat, eroticism, and romance?

Without further ado, I give you my review of Wicked Satyr Nights!

Storytelling: 5 Happy Grins

From the very first page, I was surprised by the plot of this story. Knowing we are destined to find a whirlwind romance between an immortal Greek God-turned-satyr and discover the story behind his centuries-old curse, imagine my surprise when our story begins with a zoologist and her team searching the woods of New Jersey for the famous Jersey Devil.

I must confess a bit of doubt here. I wasn't exactly sure how Ms. Lewis could connect an American urban legend with an ancient Greek God and the rich history of Greek mythology. The two styles of myth and legend did not seem to mesh, in my mind.

Happily, Ms. Lewis really surprised me, and in the process she created an exceptionally unique plotline! Not only is the story in Wicked Satyr Nights a sound, solid plot, it goes beyond your typical romance to create an interesting complex tale. As Wicked Satyr Nights is the first in the series of the Cursed Satyroi, we know there will be more to come. Ms. Lewis shows a good grasp of pacing and plot elements, and satisfies reader's interest in this book's plot while leaving enough intrigue open for future stories. In terms of story, a definite winner!   

Technical: 5 Sage Nods

In the beginning, I thought Wicked Satyr Nights was going to falter a bit in the technical sense, for the same reasons most romances do in my mind: pacing. However, unlike most romance books, this one manages its hints and twists very well, in the sense that, it uses them.

When most romance novels tend to throw the lead romantic pair into a rushed sense of instant passion, this book manages that rush in a much more sensible way. At first it may seem things are progressing out-of-control, until that rapidity becomes a relevant clue in the plot itself. As I mentioned, Ms. Lewis exhibits a very good grasp of pacing with this book.

Another high point in the technical aspect comes from the imagery in this book. I found myself swept away especially by a certain chapter dedicated to Pan telling his story. This, of course, being a story within a story, I was pleased with Ms. Lewis' choice for framing: rather than simply having the characters sit down over coffee and Pan taking over the dialogue for a whole chapter, his past is revealed in a much more immersive, theatrical way. One of my favorite parts of the book.

Passion: 5 Sensual Sighs

I think Ms. Lewis shows a lot of strength in her ability to balance the elements of this story, and the passionate parts are no exception. There is a really wonderful mix of hot-and-heavy, needful desire, and sweet tenderness. Additional points for a fairly intriguing glimpse at the more sexually indulgent side of a Greek bacchanal! Love and sex are, at some times, very separate things to these characters, and at other times they twine together in wonderful ways. I applaud the book's ability to show both these natures without feeling the need to force them into uniform alignment at all times.

Final Score:

A Terrific 5 out of 5!

I recommend this book for fans of magic, myth, and modern romance!

Find Rebekah Lewis and her Cursed Satyroi series on Amazon and Breathless Press!

Rebekah's page at Breathless  

The Cursed Satyroi Series at Amazon 

Soon to come: Mercury Rising, a new novella of The Cursed Satyroi!

Wednesday Writing Challenge: *Second Chance* - Sensory Deprivation

Welcome to the Wednesday Writing Challenge! 

I was sad to see no one tried this one...so I'm giving it another go, but this time you can earn ~3~ entries in the monthly competition!

Do give it a try, darlings...

Every Wednesday, I pose a new writing challenge here on the blog. These challenges come from books on writing, classes I've taken on creative writing, or sometimes just from my own imagination. If you're an author, hopefully they will help you get your writing juices flowing and help you improve your craft.

 

Some of these challenges may be very good ones or may include an element I consider highly important for writers to learn...so occasionally I may cycle through some of my favorites more than once. 

 

??  Want to Participate  ??

The Wednesday Challenges are open to all readers. In order to participate, simply comment on the challenge post with your response to the exercise. Not only is it good practice, but you could win something nifty and fun!

 

August Prize: A 4-Pack of Brantwijn Serrah "Flirts"

Change of Pace

Phone Home

Eat Dessert First 

And the Breathless Press Bestseller

All Mad Here

 

All Flirts contain 2 coupons for more Breathless Press Titles!

~ For Full Contest Details, See Here ~

PLEASE REMEMBER YOU MUST BE SIGNED UP FOR THE NEWSLETTER. OTHERWISE I MAY NOT BE ABLE TO NOTIFY YOU IF YOU WIN!

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 And now...

***Here's Today's Challenge!***

Write about an everyday interaction.

Walking the dog.

Gardening.

Eating a meal.

Chatting at the office.

Spending time with a loved one.

Make up your own.

Describe the experience as though you are completely blind.

Wednesday Writing Challenge: A Picture's Worth

Welcome to the Wednesday Writing Challenge! 

Every Wednesday, I pose a new writing challenge here on the blog. These challenges come from books on writing, classes I've taken on creative writing, or sometimes just from my own imagination. If you're an author, hopefully they will help you get your writing juices flowing and help you improve your craft.

 

Some of these challenges may be very good ones or may include an element I consider highly important for writers to learn...so occasionally I may cycle through some of my favorites more than once. 

 

??  Want to Participate  ??

The Wednesday Challenges are open to all readers. In order to participate, simply comment on the challenge post with your response to the exercise. Not only is it good practice, but you could win something nifty and fun!

 

August Prize: A 4-Pack of Brantwijn Serrah "Flirts"

Change of Pace

Phone Home

Eat Dessert First 

And the Breathless Press Bestseller

All Mad Here

 

All Flirts contain 2 coupons for more Breathless Press Titles!

~ For Full Contest Details, See Here ~

PLEASE REMEMBER YOU MUST BE SIGNED UP FOR THE NEWSLETTER. OTHERWISE I MAY NOT BE ABLE TO NOTIFY YOU IF YOU WIN!

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 And now...

***Here's Today's Challenge!***

 

 Open up a magazine and point to a random picture. Write a story about the people in the picture. What are they doing?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hints and Tips:

Be creative! Look beyond the literal interpretation of the picture. Make it something unique and interesting.

Go with your first creative instinct, no matter what it is.

The point of this exercise is to allow you to create something without any boundaries but what you perceive. Take an exciting path and follow it freely. Your only limit is in length: try to do this in 5-7 sentences.

Give me your best, darlings!!

 

Talking Shop: Love in the Time of Erotica

Does erotic romance have to have love wound into it?

Short answer? Yes.

 

If you're a writer (or reader) of romance, you've probably heard by now a breakdown of the differences in "Romance", "Erotic Romance", and "Erotica". ARe Cafe has a short rundown here, but the quick and the dirty of it is:

Romance is a love story.

Erotic Romance is a love story with explicitly sexual description.

Erotica is a sex story. Love need not play a part; the focus is on a sexual journey.

By definition, erotic romance has to include a romantic element (just like my ice tea better have some damn ice in it). Oftentimes, though, when sitting down to write a new erotic romance story--especially if it's a short story or anything less than 20k words--incorporating that sense of true, abiding love, with time to also pursue hot, frisky sex, can make for a bit of a balancing act. If one element of that balancing act wobbles out of time, it can throw off the whole show.

 

Today in our Talking Shop post, let's look at ways to strike that balance without losing our sense of frisky fun.

A Thursday Taste: Sample of "Elvyn Nights"

Thursday is the day for little bits and nibbles of new works by fabulous authors! 

 

Today I'll be sharing a little bit of my current WIP, Elvyn Nights. Enjoy the little taste darlings, then pay a visit to my fellow authors also participating in the Thursday Taste Test!

 

Wednesday Writing Challenge: Sensory Deprivation

Welcome to the Wednesday Writing Challenge! 

Every Wednesday, I pose a new writing challenge here on the blog. These challenges come from books on writing, classes I've taken on creative writing, or sometimes just from my own imagination. If you're an author, hopefully they will help you get your writing juices flowing and help you improve your craft.

 

Some of these challenges may be very good ones or may include an element I consider highly important for writers to learn...so occasionally I may cycle through some of my favorites more than once. 

 

??  Want to Participate  ??

The Wednesday Challenges are open to all readers. In order to participate, simply comment on the challenge post with your response to the exercise. Not only is it good practice, but you could win something nifty and fun!

 

August Prize: A 4-Pack of Brantwijn Serrah "Flirts"

Change of Pace

Phone Home

Eat Dessert First 

And the Breathless Press Bestseller

All Mad Here

 

All Flirts contain 2 coupons for more Breathless Press Titles!

~ For Full Contest Details, See Here ~

PLEASE REMEMBER YOU MUST BE SIGNED UP FOR THE NEWSLETTER. OTHERWISE I MAY NOT BE ABLE TO NOTIFY YOU IF YOU WIN!

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 And now...

***Here's Today's Challenge!***

Write about an everyday interaction.

Walking the dog.

Gardening.

Eating a meal.

Chatting at the office.

Spending time with a loved one.

Make up your own.

Describe the experience as though you are completely blind.

Talking Shop: Writing Towards a Goal

Portions of this blog first appeared on Savvy Authors on 10 June, 2014

http://savvyauthors.com/blog/

I've got a few new projects in the hopper lately, and that means it's time to break out the organizer and start up the scheduling.

 

Top of the list right now is the sequel to Goblin Fires. My vision for this book: a full-length novel of 65k words, done by October 21st (I'm hoping to have it done before National Novel Writing Month). 

 

That's a significant goal and a tight deadline. This Monday's Talking Shop article is about how one goes about meeting such a goal.