Novel Review: Protecting His Own (Masters of the Shadowlands, #11) by Cherise Sinclair

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance; BDSM

Publisher: Self-Published

Release Date: May 2016

Spoilers?: Not really.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Landscape designer, Beth King survived an abusive husband and built a new life for herself with the help of Master Nolan, the strongest, most protective man she has ever known. She loves him with all her heart, but the one thing he wants, she can’t give him. To her grief, the damage from her abusive first marriage means she can’t bear him children.

As Beth and Nolan change their plans and pursue adoption, they're already imagining a baby girl in the nursery. But when two boys from the local domestic violence shelter see their mother taken to the hospital, they call Beth in a panic. Agreeing to care for them temporarily, Beth soon falls in love with the two adorable boys.

Now Master Nolan has a new problem. How can he protect the children when their drug-addicted mother is released—and how the hell can he keep his sweet submissive’s heart from being broken when they leave?

The Cover:

I don't really care for this cover. The muscle-y guy looks cheesy and like it's trying too hard, when there are much more important parts of this book that it could be showing. I'm not a fan.

Review:

From what we saw in the previous book, I wanted Beth and Nolan to get a second book. I loved them originally, and have always wanted to see more. I’m so glad they got a full novel.

Beth finds out she can’t have kids, at the same time that her and Nolan find out that two of the boys from the shelter are being taken from their mother and her abusive boyfriend.

I love Beth and Nolan, and I really liked seeing their relationship growing and seeing how strong it was. The honesty they strive for, and how they both just want the same things.

I loved meeting the two little boys, as well, and the bonds they grew with Beth and Nolan. They’re clearly going to grow into good boys, and I loved seeing the lessons they learned. How the abuse from their parents had grown certain reactions in them, and how they were shown how to do things better. It was really sweet to see.

I loved this book. I really can’t wait for more, and hope to pick up the few I’m missing soon.

Manga Review: Kodocha: Sana's Stage, Volume 4, by Miho Obana

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: TokyoPop

Volumes: 10

Goodreads Synopsis:

Take one young actress used to getting her way, add a handful of ruthless bullies, some humorous twists, and a plastic toy hammer, and you've got the recipe for one crazy story Kodocha follows the antics of Sana, a spoiled 11-year-old TV star, and Hayama, a 6th grade Machiavelli who terrorizes both his teachers and his classmates. In their classroom war of wills, Sana and Hayama find there is more to both of them than meets the eye.

Available on Amazon (in the marketplace, as it is out-of-print).

Review:

So, I’d just about given up on finding this series at my somewhat-local bookstore, and had been somewhat wavering on buying it volume by volume on online, when I found several of them at the bookstore again. I, of course, do not have the next volume, or the last one, but hope to get them soon.

I really like this series. It’s just… a really sweet series. It isn’t mature, at all, and even though it says for 13+, I would think that it’s fine for kids a bit younger than that. I mean, it’s true that some serious stuff is happening, but it’s not graphic, the humor is much more for younger teens, and there’s the fact that the main characters are in, I would think?, late elementary school (and if they're not, they really act like it most of the time).

Anyway, this volume contained the, pretty much, end to the search for Sana’s real mother plot line, including meeting her, Sana talking with Akito about it and him trying to cheer her up, and Sana and her not-biological-mother talking about it. This was a rather serious plot, and my favorite part of it, was getting to see Sana act serious, and it showing us how she hides behind humor so much. Usually it just shows us the humor, and a lot of it, and it was interesting to see her trying to joke when the reader, and her close friends and family know that she’s faking it. It was sad, but also a little sweet.

Sana also went to visit the orphanage that took her in, and we got some more backstory on Naozumi (the other actor, who likes her). Then the story moves on to something more lighthearted: Christmas, and Sana and Akito’s mid-year birthday part, since Akito doesn’t like celebrating on his birthday. Akito has a hard time picking something out for Sana, and so doesn’t get her anything, but at the last minute decides to show her his true feelings by kissing her, even though he’s already been told that he has to outright tell her, as she won’t get it through being shown. And, of course, she doesn’t. She’s confused, and frustrated, by the kiss, but when she asks him if he likes her, he’s so dumbfounded that she didn’t get it, that he tells her no.

During all of this, Sana is turning down all of her movie/tv offers, which is frustrating Rei (her manager), and finally she agrees to do this one movie, since the part is a bit close to her heart and the director wants her specifically to play it, and Naozumi is also in the movie. She’s worried about not getting to be around all her friends, but Akito reassures her that nothing will really change.

Then, in the last chapter, they all move up into the next grade (they’re in middle school now), in which Sana is in a different class from all her friends, but she meets a new girl, Fuka, who she gets quickly close with. But the other kids are all freaked out about going to school with Sana, and there’s this boy who I think likes her and fights with Akito, plus Fuka knows Akito from elementary school, and she is not happy to see him.

This volume, much like the other volumes, was very good, and I’m really hoping to get the next one soon. I’m guessing that the movie is going to cause us to see more of Naozumi, who is a nice character, but I’d much rather see more of Akito. I want to see Sana get closer to Akito, have them talk more and have him outright tell her how he feels, and I hope that happens soon.

Manga Review: Kodocha: Sana's Stage, Volume 1, by Miho Obana

Rating (Out of 5): 3.5

Publisher: TokyoPop

Volumes: 10

Goodreads Synopsis:

Sana gets a part in a TV movie, costarring with a hot new actress, but she'll never get to the studio if she can't survive the bullies at school. Akito the Demon Hayama continues his reign of terror so Sana comes up with a crazy plot to put him in his place. Sana takes advantage of Akito's fear of heights and challenges him to a bungee jumping contest! Maybe the world's biggest bully will finally back down.
 

Review:

I've watched a bit of the anime of Kodocha (and mostly because I'd watched AMV's of it, which made it look interesting, and still makes me intrigued), but I never finished it. And I knew that TokyoPop had published it, but I never really thought about reading it. But then I saw it at Powell's (because they have a bunch of them), and decided to get the first one, at kind of a spur of the moment because it sounded good. And I thought that there was probably more of a chance of me actually finishing it. And most of this volume was about the same as the first, or first couple (I can't remember), episodes of the anime.

So anyway, the main character, Sana, is a TV star, who also goes to school. She also doesn't seem to go by her script in interviews. But at school, where most of it takes place (since she's in middle school, I think?), her class never seems to learn anything, because the boys always cause a ruckus and make the classroom a mad house and bully the girls, while the girls are afraid to do anything, and the teacher is too timid to do anything about it. And apparently their teacher and the gym teacher, who apparently never has a class to teach because he's always dropping in, are having some kind of affair that Akito is blackmailing them about. (I don't really see what's so bad about them being together. I'm guessing that the school has a rule against it, or something? Also, it really bothers me that the teacher lets them do whatever and just cries about it, because that's very unrealistic. And that no one has done anything about the boys until Sana, who apparently didn't want to get involved, gets involved and fights back.) And Akito is Sana's personal enemy, as he opposes her until she blackmails him with a kind of ridiculous picture (but I guess they are middle schoolers...).

Most of it focuses on Sana fighting Akito, and then helping Akito with his terrible home life (which is terrible). Also, Akito's best friend Tsuyoshi, who's also timid, is very sweet and likes Sana. And I feel bad for Akito, and also don't really like him 'cause he's a jerk, but I'm expecting to warm up to him, since he's got that expressionless, leave-me-alone, wounded character to him.

Oh, and Sana's mom is pretty awesome. She's a crazy author, who's a bit sadistic to her editor, who also has a squirrel that lives in her hair. And Rei, Sana's manager and “gigolo”, I like. I most remember him from the anime, and it's hinting that something it going to happen with him that Sana isn't going to like, but I think I already know what it is...

It's mostly stuff that I'd already seen in the anime, but since I haven't seen the anime in a while, it's mostly a refresher. I don't mind it, though. And while a bit of it is ridiculous to the point that it bothers me, I am enjoying it, and will be picking up the next one when I can.

The art is fine, but one thing that's bothering me is the little author's notes within the manga. Not the side panels, but that Obana with put in little comments during the manga. But that stuff usually bothers me, since it's unprofessional and takes me out of the story.

Oh, also, there were some extras at the end of the volume. The first one was about a dream that Sana had, that she's telling to Akito and Tsuyoshi. It's about Akito being a bee that infects people and turns them into bees, and Sana goes to fight him and turns into a bee and continues trying to defeat him after he deceives her. And so she's mad at Akito about it. I found it quite funny, especially seeing Akito as a big bee and attacking people while keeping expressionless. And the last extra are four little panel comics about Mariko (Sana's mom) and Maro (Mariko's squirrel), which are also very funny. I really liked these, and am looking forward to reading more in the volumes to come.