Alpha Males and I Have to Break Up

If you've lurked around here long enough, you probably already know that I love romances. If it has a love story intertwined somewhere in it that makes my heart all weepy and happy at the same time, I'm probably into it. 
That being said, I have a confession to make: 
I have an Alpha Male addiction. 

BUT.....
after the last few books I've read for review, Alpha Males and I may be breaking up.  Well, maybe "breaking up" isn't the right thing. A break? Yeah, I think I need a break. 

What happened, you ask? Well, my darlings, I'm beginning to think that maybe I'm not as into the whole "Alpha" thing as I originally thought. Which, when you think about it, really sucks since I've loaded my Kindle with a crap-ton of "Alpha Male" books to review. That's actually what prompted this post. (If you aren't sure what an Alpha Male is, check out this post from Parajunkee The Anatomy of the Alpha Male. It is on point. The Alpha Male by Kilts and Swords is a good read, too.) 
The book that inspired this post is Jax (Breaking the Declan Brothers #1) by Kelly Gendron. You can read my review of that book here. It's sad to say that I didn't even finish reading this book. The prologue starts out with a weird rape-y scene that made me uncomfortable right from the get-go. That should have been clue #1 that my adventure with this book was going to end badly. In the first chapter we meet our heroine who has hang-ups (about what I'm still not sure) but knows that she is a beautiful pageant princess and knows she has a hot body that she's just got to flaunt because...well, why not? Clue #2. Then we just coincidentally happen up our sex-on-a-stick Alpha who is hot as sin and has a bulge bigger than a genetically modified eggplant. And I'm ready for him. I am so ready for this story to get started so I can get all lusty about this man who the heroine described more or less as being a gentle giant with a heart of gold. 
So, we've already started off with the correct formula, right? She's hot and has lusted after him since she was knobby-kneed little girl. He's so hot he's starting bush fires (yes, I did just go there) and the scene has been set. I'm ready to learn more about this gentle giant. But instead of meeting a gentle giant, the second time we get to have a conversation with him, he immediately becomes a creeper. He's an MMA fighter, of course, and after his fight our lady follows him down a hallway where he proceeds to turn around and tell her to get on her knees and suck his cock. 
Exsqueeze me? 

Please don't get me wrong. I am no prude. I love me some sexy scenes. But only after a well-crafted story has been wrapped around those scenes, damnit! I won't go on anymore about that particular book. It's not the only one I've had this problem with. I recently reviewed Make You Burn by Megan Crane. I did not review this book on Goodreads. I'm still trying to find nice words to use for a decent review. Other than "Are you kidding me?" The Alpha in that story is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo alpha that he basically verbally abuses women and sexually assaults them just because he feels like it. 

There's a fine line between telling a woman you're getting down with that she's a dirty slut and telling a woman that just happens to be standing in your space that she's a worthless slut. There's also a difference between a strong, sexy, self-aware man who knows what he wants and how he likes it and just a big freaking asshole whose self-esteem is so damaged that he has to mistreat women. 

Exhibit A: 

Exhibit B:

See the difference? 

And that's why Alpha Males and I need a break. 

For every ONE good book that I read with a hot Alpha, I read about 5 more that are basically a jerkface man verbally and physically abusing a woman that he's brainwashed into thinking she can't live without him. It's a huge turn-off.

HUGE TURN-OFF. 

And it makes me really sad. I know there's a way to write an Alpha that is sexy and desirable and not someone that you would slap a restraining order on if he were a real person. 

Laid Out  by Sidney Halston is a great example of a well-done Alpha Male. (If you're not a NetGalley reviewer you'll have to wait until September to read this one!)

Seriously, Cain is just the right amounts of sexy/sweet with just a dash of over-protectiveness that made the whole story really work. 
Maybe I'm just being too sensitive and ranty because I'm burned out on Alpha books because I keep ending up with books whose main characters have me saying "Yep, you've got a body in your basement." I keep waiting for the secret reveal part of the story where the lucky leading lady discovers the bodies of the other women who wouldn't do as Hulk said every waking moment. 

Does anyone else feel like this? Am I all alone on this? Does anyone have any recommendations for good Alpha books? 

Let's Talk About the 'F' Word In Books

Warning: Lots of 'F' words in this post. 
Let's talk about the 'F' word. Mainly, a writer's use of the 'F' word in a book. 

Now, before I get too deep in this post, I am a writer that has used the word "fuck" in a book. Several of my characters use it throughout the book in times of anger, frustration, and even friendly barbs at each other. That being said, I get it. I get why you would use the word in your writing, especially if you're trying to portray a character a certain way. 
That being said....
There is such a thing as too much "fuck". 
I refuse to out the book because it hasn't been published yet and I am reading an advanced copy so there may be changes before it finally goes to print but I am currently reading a book that had 15 'F' words on the first page. The first fucking page. (See, that's a legitimate use.) And then I turned the page. And there were 15 more. 
Listen, I have a foul mouth sometimes. In the almost 4 years that my husband and I have been married he's threatened to invoke a swear jar, wash my mouth out with soap, and put hot sauce on my tongue about a million times like my grandmother used to do when I was a kid. I promise you, nothing is going to work. Sometimes it just feels good to cuss. But I don't get that same good feeling when my eyeballs are assaulted with f-bombs every other sentence. 
After a while it just becomes exhausting. The writer is trying to portray this character as a big, scary bad-ass and he's just coming off as a little boy who is trying to get out as many cuss words as he can before his mom comes back in the room. 

To me, it takes away from the actual story. I'm so distracted by all of the weirdly placed 'F' words that I can't focus on the characters and what's going on with them. All I'm thinking about is how ridiculous someone would sound actually using all of those 'F' words the way the author wrote them. "I think I want a hamfuckingburger with french fucking fries and a fucking coke and don't you skimp on the mayofuckingaise you fucking burger flipfuckinger"  (Okay, so that's not actually a quote from any book, thank goodness, but you get the idea!) 

If you must use cuss words in your books, that's okay! Just make sure that they're actually necessary. If there are so many cuss words in your writing that those words outnumber regular words, you should probably try eliminating some. Maybe try reading it out loud and seeing how it sounds? 

Maybe it's just me? 

Does this bother anyone else or am I just being a pansy? 

Book Writing Voodoo

While I've been researching ways to promote and sell the book I've already written I've seen a lot of blog posts and articles recommending that you as an author have several books out a once. This sounds like a great idea. It gives your readers a few options and it gives you an opportunity to let your readers sample some of your other works in order to sell more books. I get it, I really do. 
But....
I cannot find anywhere on the internet exactly what kind of voodoo, hoodoo, hinky-jinky, black magic, devil spell authors are using to crank out books in such a hurry! 

I've been working on my second book since right after I put the first one out in January. I'm not even half-way through the book. My characters do not seem to want to cooperate with the story line or I would be farther along than I am. I've been writing (almost) every day and I still have so much left to do before I can actually finish this story. And I've also been trying to write a prequel to The Letters, partly to draw more attention to the book and because I've had several people ask me about the characters in that book. It started out well but has kind of fizzled out so it's on a shelf right now just waiting for me to pick it back up. 
I did all of that whining to say that....

Just kidding. You guys already knew that. 

I do wonder, though, how writers can bust out five complete novels in the blink of an eye. How does that happen? And I know that some people have actually worked on those cluster of stories for a really long time and just decided to release them all at the same time but I'm talking about those writers who are publishing a new book every one to two months. WHAT IS YOUR SECRET? I really need to know what the secret is for slinging out stories like this. It's not even for the marketing aspect of it for me at this point. I'm genuinely curious to know how one does something like this. Is there a formula or something I'm missing? I need someone to enlighten me on this so that I can see if I am capable of it as well because right now I'm pretty much in Limbo while my characters are just screwing with me. 

Do you have a special formula for cranking out book after book? Or are you struggling to get your next project out like I am? Do you know the voodoo spell? 

Book Publishing Depression

When I finished my book at the end of NaNoWriMo last year I was incredibly excited. I was so proud of myself that I had finally, at long last, actually FINISHED a story and accomplished a goal. It may not seem like a big deal to you but to someone who is a chronic procrastinator and my own worst critic, it was incredibly satisfying to see that little screen saying that I had won. It was like being on a drug high. I was ecstatic! 

While still riding that high I decided to use my coupon from NaNo to get to free paperback copies of my book from CreateSpace. And that is how The Letters was published. Like a premature little baby that was exactly quite ready for this world, I pushed it out there anyway. I was so proud and top of the world that I thought surely someone will read it and like it. Then came the pep talks to myself of "Well, even if no one else ever buys it, I wrote and published a book, which is something I've always wanted to do so there's that." And there it was, indeed. 

I should have done more research beforehand instead of learning as a I go. I'm sure it would have made this process so much easier. But I didn't, and here we are and I'm not complaining because I've actually sold almost $100 worth of books and I had maybe $10 total invested in it? 

But.....here I sit, researching ways to market this book and promote it and feeling not necessarily discouraged but depressed. That's the only way I can describe it. My book has gotten several good reviews. And those reviews were from people who didn't even know me! I've started on a prequel to The Letters to introduce more back story of some of the main characters but I can't seem to stay focused on it. A part of me just doesn't want to write about those characters anymore. At least not right now. The high has worn off and my inner critic has come back and all I can think about are all the things I have done wrong when it comes to this book and publishing it. Not to mention that I'm really on the fence about Amazon and I'm sliding more and more to the side of wanting to tell Amazon to suck it. 

I just can't seem to get out of this funk where my book is concerned. I've got it on a few review sites. I've done some promotional pricing. I've done giveaways. I'm still researching how to do more but it just seems to depress me more. Don't get me wrong, I love The Letters and I'm proud of my writing. I'm just....in a funk? 

Has anyone else had these feelings of depression after putting out a book? Am I being weird or is this a writer thing? If it's a writer thing, how do you overcome it? And as a bonus, what are your thoughts on Kindle Unlimited? 

REVIEW: Books, Blogs, & Reality - Ryan Ringbloom

**Disclaimer: I received this book via Xpresso Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. Any thoughts and opinions are of my own.**

BOOK DETAILS:

Books, Blogs, & Reality 
Ryan Ringbloom 
Publication date: October 24th 2014
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

Synopsis:
Life can suck…

When reality becomes overwhelming, seeking comfort in fictional fantasies keeps hope alive. And while this escape may be a little delusional, it’s also therapeutic.

Sharing secrets is daunting, but virtual friends don’t often judge and they are always ready to share a glass of wine…or three…while typing out life’s latest endeavors.

Brooke believes obstacles only add to romance, not detract. Rachael longs for a more intense relationship, or so she thinks. Lizzie misses the excitement in her life, but sometimes new situations find you when you’re not even looking. And Jess believes a tiger can change his stripes. It can’t.

Bound by a shared passion for blogging about happily ever afters, these four young women use keyboard therapy to work through their expectations, anxieties, and inadequacies, all with the hopes of achieving the perfection found in romance novels.

Completely blinded by what they think life should be, they navigate their unique paths in search of what they envision is right. But when reality taunts them with persistent curve balls, will they be strong enough to choose wisely? Or will their happy endings escape them? Review: 
I was so excited to read this book because as a book blogger, why wouldn't I want to read it? And, anyone who has lurked around this blog long enough knows that I'm a sucker for a good romance. This book promise both of those things so I couldn't resist!  I really like how well the different parts of this book flowed together. Between the different girls' stories, the nightly chats with all four of them, and their reviews, interviews, blog stuffs, etc. It just felt natural. This was a quick, easy read because it didn't feel forced or overly done. It was good, light-hearted fun.  Some of the romance part of the book was a little predictable and there were some cliches here and there but it was still a pleasant read. So many people, including myself (Ella's not my real name), only allow you to see what they want you to see online so I thought that it was very fitting for the girls to be somewhat dishonest with each other at first. I loved that they formed a little tight-nit group, though. I would love to have a little blogging friends group like they do so it was really enjoyable for me to read of a dynamic like that.  I recommend this if you're looking for a quick, easy read maybe on the beach, relaxing while the kids are playing outside, or maybe even on your commute to work.