Aprx Review of Parallel Triangle

Reviewed By Chelsea Perry

Official Apex Reviews Rating: 5 stars

Bestowed with the gift of “The Sight,” young Englishwoman Elizabeth is subsequently charged with completing a crucial task by the leaders of Earthzad, an advanced civilization in a dimension hidden from the people of Earth; however, she soon finds herself falling head over heels for Orion, her handsome taskmaster, which has the potential to complicate her mission...meanwhile, Orion is motivated solely by his overpowering affection for Jocasta, the beautiful, intelligent ruler of his home region on Earthzad; unbeknownst to Orion, even though Jacosta feels just as strongly for him, she harbors a deep secret that prevents her from returning his affections...caught up in a monumental struggle for the peace and stability of the galaxy, Elizabeth, Orion, and Jacosta ultimately find themselves trapped not only within the throes of battle – but also of unrequited passion...

Parallel Triangle is nothing if not imaginative. In gripping fashion, author Sandy Hyatt-James has crafted a winding tale of action, drama, and suspense, featuring vivid, unique characters and cleverly intersecting plotlines. More than just a tale of brooding romantic tension, Parallel Triangle invites readers to travel to the nether regions of their imagination, incorporating impressive elements of fantasy and Sci-Fi while simultaneously exploring the visceral depths of emotional turmoil. Equally riveting and eye-opening, Hyatt-James’ debut offering is the strong introduction of a promising new literary voice. A thoroughly entertaining read.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Romance Doesn't Mean Sex

I read recently that most women still love to read romance. However, the genre today has become much broader. Gone are the days when women devoured the Barbara Cartland model: virgins meeting alpha males, conflict and then uniting with a vow of marriage. Now it's more like sexually experienced woman meets man, they have sex quite early on and then go at it like rabbits for the rest of the novel.

Nobody wants to return to the pastel pink days of Ms Cartland and her counterparts because these stories had unrealistic plots and, usually, the characters were about as human as something from Madame Tussauds.

However, I don't like today's model either. First, there's nothing more boring to me than to have to plough through scene after scene of explicit sex. I'm an intelligent woman and intelligent women just want to get on with the bloody story, dammit! Second, knowing what the characters are doing behind closed doors takes away the reader's right to use her imagination. Had we women been exposed to what Rhett did to Scarlett, we would have forfeited the use of that delicious inner widget, (which we all have) and not figured out for ourselves how good it was.

In literature, the pen is the mighty medium of words, so it follows that the imagination has to be the medium of sexual pleasure. That is, of course, unless you're getting it for real!