Location: United States
Member Since:
Aug. 15, 2010
Cynthia Frazer
Cynthia Frazer's favorite authors on Smashwords
Smashwords book reviews by Cynthia Frazer
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Iron and Hemlock
on Sep. 05, 2010
You think you're having a bad day? While crossing a Spokane street a car tries to run Jordon down and she is saved - at least she thinks she's saved - by a bolt of lightning which transports her to an empty road in the midst of a massive storm. Looking around she sees only spooky woods and a pair of creaking gates guarded by stone gargoyles. Gargoyles who blink at her... Add in the griffin on the lawn battling a banshee, the pooka who tries to carry her off and she knows she's not in Kansas anymore. And that's before she meets the very naked Lord Griffin... Iron and Hemlock is a short story so it doesn't have the time to develop the depths of character and plot that her novels do. Wisely she spends her time with the main characters - just introducing the other characters with short sketches. I'm sure we'll see more of them in future stories. The plot moves right along giving glimpses of the backstory without overwhelming the reader with details. Sometimes you get lucky and find a new author. I've read her No Words Alone and When Sparks Fly as well as The White Rabbit and Something Wild This Way Comes. I've enjoyed them all.
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Solar Flare
on Oct. 09, 2010
I loved it - I'm a SFR fan and this did not disappoint. It is an excellent ending to a series I've really enjoyed - it has the same appeal as the two previous books. It has the same strong heroine/enigmatic [but determined] hero matchup with the requisite fireworks but with more than enough differences to make them stand out in your mind. The heroine is the middle Harrisdaughter, Brandy - referred to in No Words Alone, and a major supporting character in When Sparks Fly. The hero is Azor, another major supporting character from When Sparks Fly. He is also a shape-shifter and cop who uses his abilities as part his undercover work. The world-building for the series is dense and consistent with a strong plot that kept me going. Brandy has become involved in another scandal and is [eventually] talked into going to visit sister Xera who is married to an alien [No Words Alone] 8 months away. But there are things she doesn't know. Like she's being targeted by a shape-shifting assassin, like she's been fed psychotropic drugs which are giving her hallucinations, like she's being escorted by Azor who seems bent on marrying her [and doesn't mind seducing her to get her agreement], like the infection that is killing her... Sparks Series No Words Alone (2008) When Sparks Fly (2009) Solar Flare [ebook available from Smashwords and Amazon]
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Interstellar Lover
on Oct. 30, 2010
Interstellar Lover Stand-alone [to the best of my knowledge] OK read, futuristic setting. The start was interesting, it seems the heroine lives in an apartment building where most on the apartments are actually portals to other worlds - sort of the alien version of Grand Central Station. She is one of the token Earth humans on site and her apartment is supposed to be alien-free. She's pretty shook up when the slug slimes its way out of her refrigerator and off to a neighboring apartment. It seems her 'normal' neighbors are actually the gatekeepers for their worlds. Fred - the apparent dweeb upstairs - is actually the 'traffic cop' for the area and gets worried when the weirdness escalates and he eventually whisks the heroine back to his world when bad things start to happen. Jay is stunned when dweeb Fred turns into a leather wearing hottie. In fact she seems more stunned about that than the world he drags her off to - including a bar scene reminiscent of Star Wars, space ships, and finding out her boyfriend is an ex-assassin. Her 'this is so cool!' attitude got a little wearing. This one wasn't up to the author's usual high standards - it felt like it might have been written a long time ago. from Amazon: Nerd gone bad...bad to the bone, that is. A rocker with more fashion sense than money, Jay thought the geek next door should be kicked to the curb...until she saw him dolled up in black leather. Will the hunk with the silver eyes trust her with his otherworldly identity?
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Careful, He Bites
on Oct. 30, 2010
Originally released as Once Bitten - has been retitled Careful, He Bites Drac #2 Good read - action plot with a futuristic setting. This is the sequel to Ride the Stars. Do you have to have read RTS to enjoy this one? No - but you really should read both in order. Some of the characters were introduced in the first story. The heroine's father would make Dr. Moreau look like Father of the Year. As a child he tortured her repeatedly - purely in the interests of science, of course! [If you've read Christine Feehan's Ghostwalker books, the two mad scientists would have A LOT to talk about...] Cut to the present. Our heroine is dying as a result of the mutations forced on her body by her father. Her doctor feels that if she can get a Drac to bite her and thus convert her, she will live - probably losing her mutations to become a 'normal' drac. What he doesn't tell her is the bite is part of the mating process. When he sends her to Domino [Skye's brother from Ride the Stars] she figures she'll pay him, he'll bite her, and then they'll go their separate ways. Not happening... The plot has further complications having to do with other mutants, 'pure' blood radicals, and some blasts from the past. Good read. As of now there are only the two stories - if there were more, I'd buy them. from Amazon: Ever kissed a Drac? Careful, they bite.... Bali Itara is the daughter of a mad scientist, and daddy's favorite toy. Domino is the man who can help her escape the madness, for his bite holds the cure. There's only one catch....
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Ride the Stars
on Oct. 30, 2010
Ride the Stars Drac #1 Good read - action plot with a futuristic setting. I really enjoyed the Draconians - cocky and arrogant as they sometimes are. One of the interesting things about the book is the 'starring' romance is not the obvious one [the captain and Sesame] but Jaide, the hands-on engineer, and the Drac pilot, Skye. [Although it becomes obvious that their story is being played out as well.] Jaide has serious trust issues and Skye has secrets he cannot share. Then there's the BIG difference in cultural mores - that no one ever sees fit to discuss. The Drac's do not have casual sex with women they want to marry and Jaide feels insulted and rejected every time things get hot and bothered and he walks away. Then Skye tricks her into marrying him and starts the conversion process of changing her into a Drac without telling her. The path of true love never runs smoothly - even when you have a spaceship at your disposal. Along the way she misconstrues some things she overhears, steals their spaceship, tries repeatedly to divorce him and disappears for two years. When she returns she wants to work it out but she still isn't very biddable... I enjoyed it. The sequel is Carful, He Bites - also known as Once Bitten and the hero is Skye's brother - introduced in this story. Another good read. The two stories together were released in paperback as Ride the Stars/Once Bitten. from Amazon: Strong-armed into a contract, hustled aboard an alien ship, Jaide and Sesame aren’t in the mood to like their new bosses. Mechanical geniuses, they make their living hot-rodding racing ships and revving up military grade war craft. Unfortunately, their Draconian customers aren’t willing to go on a waiting list. But there’s more to worry about for Jaide than fending off Skye’s determined pursuit and revving up his captain’s ship. Someone wants to kill her, her partner is falling for the Drac leader, and she’s beginning to suspect there’s more to their abduction then meets the eye. As everything she thought she knew is turned upside down, can she has to overcome her distrust of men and reach for a love as powerful as the chance to ride the stars?