The Curse of Albrecht Manor by Christopher C. Newman

PAGAN & PEN REVIEW

Title: The Curse of Albrecht Manor
Author: Christopher C. Newman

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Publisher: Dark Roast Press

Genre: Horror/Mystery/Paranormal

Length: 179 pgs.
Other: Forced Seduction/Rape/Voyeurism/M/F/F/F

Pagan & Pagan Elements: Yes

Reviewed by: Violet Harper

About The Book: The women of the Albrecht family are cursed! For nearly three hundred years the hex uttered by a witch being burnt at the stake has stalked them down the centuries. Priests, herbal women, and even Inquisitors have been brought in to stop it from driving the Albrecht daughters to sexual-induced madness on their twentieth birthday. Nothing has worked; not even an uprooting from their native Germany to America has stopped it. Soon it just became an unfortunate fact of life if you are a female Albrecht.

It is present-day and Baron Markus Albrecht nervously awaits his daughter Elsa’s twentieth birthday. For a year he has searched for someone willing and able to halt the hex from driving his daughter as insanely mad as his sister, Franziska. Four days before her birthday he finds Noah Ravenswood, a practicing wizard and learned occultist. Noah, armed with hereditary mystical training by his mother, and Doctor Sarah Bookings his associate, he travels to southern Ohio to do battle with the Albrecht Curse.

But who or what is Noah really fighting? Is it truly a hex or perhaps a power-play by one of the Albrecht sons? Could it be the angry and distrustful Maximilan Albrecht, the eldest son and inheritor of the vast Albrecht Estates? Could it be the playboy Hans Albrecht, trying to dethrone his older brother and wrest control for himself? Can Noah and Sarah unravel the mystery before they become embroiled in the family politics, carnal activities, and deadly games at Albrecht Manor?

The Review: The story started out so promising. It seemed a little like The Dresden Files with the wizard man who dedicated his life to using his paranormal abilities to save people. After establishing some plot elements, the story degenerates in several aspects.

The writing style seems a little off. I kept trying to figure out if the writer was an American trying to sound British or an Englishman trying to sound like an American. I do like both styles, but not when cobbled together and not for characters that are American. I also don’t understand the heavy emphasis on the Albrecht’s German ancestry. If the family has lived in the US since before the Civil War, it is highly unlikely any of them would speak German, especially as a first language, or insist on using archaic aristocratic titles. Adding in the British butler and the French maid to a house in Ohio were either a failed attempt at humor or an overly clichéd casting of characters.

Additionally, all of the sex scenes were disturbing, but each for a different reason. Noah ‘forces’ his lover’s legs apart in a scene that is supposed to be romantic. Sarah’s voyeuristic experience ends with her giving head to the elder Albrecht who has children older than her, all in an effort to stop him from telling Noah, her boss, that she was watching two people have sex. I fail to see why Noah would care that she was watching.  During the scene, she describes trying not to vomit while the rest of the descriptors indicate that she is aroused. The first element necessarily cancels out the second for the reader. 

There is nothing remotely erotic about any of the sex scenes, though that may have been by design since most of them have their roots in evil. Some of them were downright disgusting. It would have been a much better story without the gory details.The best parts of the novel were those told through Noah’s eyes. The point of view shifts several times, which is fine, though it could have been a much stronger story if it hadn't. Noah disappears for so much of the novel that the reader forgets he exists He’s supposed to be the hero, the reader’s window into the story, but he ends up being an impotent and irrelevant tool.  Overall, I was very disappointed by something that could have been a great story.

Pagan Elements: Noah Ravenswood is a Pagan with paranormal powers. He uses protective charms and prayers to the gods/goddesses regularly during his cases where he helps people who are the victims of demons, curses, incubi, etc. Noah is a person modeled after Harry Dresden, and so worthy of respect for his adherence to his Pagan ideals. This added to the disappointment of the story because it had so many good Pagan elements.

Cover (Rated 1-10): 4-There’s nothing about it that would make me pick up the novel, but it does fit the storyline.

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Disclaimer: Due to FTC regulations, any book reviewed on this site was sent for free by the author to The Pagan & The Pen. We are not paid to give reviews by Author or Publisher. Once review has been made, said books are deleted.

Analysis of Love by Fiona McGier

PAGAN & PEN REVIEW

Title:  Analysis of Love

Author:  Fiona McGrier

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Publisher: Wings ePress, Inc.

Genre: Erotica 

Length: 248 pgs.

Other: M/F/rape

Reviewed by: Violet Harper

About The Book: Catalina Reyes has always been in charge around men. She is the embodiment of a “hot Latina”, and she has enticed many a man to “take a walk on the salsa side of life”. The only problem for her is that she gets bored so easily. When men are ridiculously easy to get, they are replaceable also. Or so she has always thought.

When her boss’ boss assigns her to pose as a client with the blind analyst who he feels ruined his son’s life, he wants her to first seduce him, then destroy the doctor’s reputation. She has no choice, since firing her is only the first thing he will do to her, if she does not do as he orders. She is at first, thrilled that the doctor is such an attractive man, making the first part of her assignment something she would willingly do anyway. But something about the doctor makes him different from other men she has been with… has Catalina finally met her match?

The Review: If you’ve ever been stuck in a line next to someone who thinks you want to know everything about every member of their family, then you have an idea what the first five pages of this novel are like. This kind of exposition goes in one ear and out the other, and it’s better left unsaid until the appropriate time. Another thing that I found puzzling was the fact that all of the clichéd statements were italicized. (See above.) An author should strive to avoid using overused phrases, not italicize them to draw attention to them.

This novel suffered from head hopping, but that was the least of its problems.  The characters were not likable and the plot, besides dragging on for far too long, was horrifying.  It begins like this: 

Chapter 1:  Catalina enjoys sleeping around and she enjoys the bonuses from helping her boss ruin people.  Chapter 2: Catalina is appalled when her boss wants her to seduce a blind therapist. 

The dialogue only added to the exposition. At times, it felt like alternating between listening to Supermarket Woman speak and reading my old college psychology and sociology textbooks. I wish the author had spent a little more time with those texts because then she might have realized a few things.  First, the therapist does all the talking.  He lets her make him talk. This is completely unprofessional. A therapist who is supposed to be that well-trained isn’t going to be led that easily, especially by someone with whom he has little in common. 

Second, she pretty much rapes him—yes, men can be raped.  They can even ejaculate during the act.  That doesn’t make it consensual.  It isn’t hot or erotic, it’s disgusting and wrong.  Afterward, he continues to ‘see’ her professionally, but the sessions read more like dates, which is seriously creepy.

Some people might overlook the beginning and focus on the drama of Catalina double-crossing the publisher to prove her loyalty to Evan. They might like that the two forge a relationship during the second half of the novel. To me, none of that is relevant in the face of what happened at the beginning.

Pagan Elements: None

Cover (Rated 1-10):

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Disclaimer: Due to FTC regulations, any book reviewed on this site was sent for free by the author to The Pagan & The Pen. We are not paid to give reviews by Author or Publisher. Once review has been made, said books are deleted.

The God's Wife by Lena Austin

The Pagan & The Pen Reviews

Title:  The God’s Wife

Author:  Lena Austin

Author Site

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Publisher: Aspen Mountain Press

Genre: Historical Fiction/Romance

Length: 222 pgs.

Other:  M/F/rape

Reviewed by: Violet Harper

The Book: Hatshepsut is a God’s Wife, a member of a secret political society of Egyptian noblewomen who use whatever it takes for the good of Egypt—money, assassination, even sex. Royal by birth, her entire life is spent in training to be the consort of the Pharaoh, Tutmose.

Despite her love for Senmut, who as a humble scribe is an unacceptable husband, Hati succeeds in winning the Pharaoh’s affections. But when Tutmose dies unexpectedly she is left as Regent of Egypt and pregnant with the dead Pharaoh’s heir.

Akenmose, her husband’s brother, is plotting to kill her and the babe—and to take the throne of Egypt for himself. Hati must protect Egypt against his deadly schemes until her son is old enough to take the throne. With Senmut and the God’s Wives standing behind her, Hati will use every weapon she finds to keep her infant son alive. Will her sacrifices be enough to save Egypt? Or will Akenmose’s schemes succeed despite the power of the God’s Wife?

The Review: Hatshepsut has long been a controversial figure from ancient Egypt.  She was the first female regent to exercise the full power of a Pharaoh.  She assumed the appearance of a man to keep others from challenging her claim.  Not much is known about her historically because everything she left behind was obliterated.  Her name and face were removed from pillars and tombs.  The discovery of her existence was accidental.  Scholars have ideas about why this might have happened, but no hard evidence.

Lena Austin takes the mystique behind Hatshepsut and spins a wonderfully believable tale about what kind of person she might have been and how the events in her life might have unfolded. Adding in the concept of the God’s Wives, a group of women who secretly wield all the power in Egypt, Ms. Austin creates one of the best tales I’ve had the pleasure to read. The God’s Wives are good women, charged with keeping all of Egypt safe and healthy. Not since I, Claudius have I been so enraptured by the tale of an ancient ruler. 

Rarely does historical fiction take a reader so into a time period that an interruption in reading causes the reader to blink and wonder why she isn’t in Egypt. The details of the description create vivid pictures for the reader without overwhelming them with information and needless facts. Even someone unfamiliar with ancient Egyptian culture would have an easy time figuring it all out.

Though it was not a quick read, it moved fast and it kept me on the edge of my seat wanting to know what was going to happen next. This is one of those undiscovered gems that should be on the New York Times Bestseller list. Lovers of historical fiction will find this one of those novels you want to read over and over again because the characters and the story are so riveting. Upon rereading it, discoveries will be made about details that seemed irrelevant or just there for the sake of description. They will reveal themselves to be important background knowledge or foreshadowing.

I loved the strong characters and how real they became to me. This story had it all—love, hate, sacrifices, murder, betrayal, sword fights, espionage, royal intrigue, soul-searching, and true friendship. The complex plot is worthy of the complex characters.  The God’s Wife is an expertly woven epic tale that should be read by everyone.

Pagan Elements:

The God’s Wives are a group of women with different abilities. Some have the gift of precognition, others can sense or control the emotions or thought of people around them, and others are trained in the properties and uses of herbs, flowers, etc. The secretly rule Egypt, keeping it safe from evil. Whether or not you recognize the specific Egyptian Gods and Goddesses they cite, all Pagans will recognize and appreciate the underlying principles guiding The God’s Wives.

Cover (Rated 1-10): 7-Shades of gold and hieroglyphics catch the eye, but it’s a generic cover that could go with any Egyptian romance novel.

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Disclaimer: Due to FTC regulations, any book reviewed on this site was sent for free by the author to The Pagan & The Pen. We are not paid to give reviews by Author or Publisher. Once review has been made, said books are deleted.