As part of AngieW’s Ebook Buzz, I read Daisy Dexter Dobbs’s, Just Like A Dame. Daisy, if you don’t have one already, go and get a tub of icecream. You may just need it.
Anyway, without further ado, here’s the blurb:
Max Wiley, is having a wet dream, when he is rudely wakened by a scantily clad angel. Max’s wanger, immediately salutes this blonde vision, and he thinks he must have died and gone to heaven. Of course when she starts screaming about having killed somebody called Henry, he decides that perhaps, he ought to re-assess the situation. Anyway, as it turns out, Henry, isn’t actually a person, he’s Angel’s dog, who ate something he shouldn’t have, and because Max happens to be a veterinary surgeon, Angel figured that he was the best person to go to.
dressed in a see-through nightie..Angel is a
lily-liveredhard-boiled feminist with weight issues, whilst Max is a self-confessed sexist, misogynist pig, who unbeknownst to Angel, writes the sort of books, that would offend her feministic sensibilities. Although Max and Angel find it difficult to agree on any subject, there is one place, where their battle of the sexes act does take a backseat. In bed. They like being in bed. Together. A lot. In fact they liked it so much, that they spent the majority of the book there. If they weren’t fighting, then they were humping like bunny rabbits in spring. Well waddaya expect? This is an erotic romance book for Oprah’s sake. Their relationship quickly develops, and although Max has several chances to tell Angel that although he’s a vet by day, by night he’s also a famous author, who writes the kind of sexist, Mickey Spillane type books that she hates with a passion. He doesn’t come clean, and of course, she finds out for herself that he hasn’t been totally honest with her, which obviously leads to lots of angst-filled moments
Verdict
Overall, JLAD was ok. It wasn’t utterly fabulous by any stretch of the imagination, but I finished reading it, without resenting the author for making me waste two hours of my life that I wouldn’t be getting back. As with the other DDD book that I’ve read, I liked her voice, and her style. The book flowed quite nicely, and I found that it wasn’t necessary for me to look for matchsticks in order to prop my eyes open. I think the problem with writing a comedic romance book, is that the humour is going to be very hit and miss. What’s funny to one person, may not be funny to another, and vice versa. I’m one of the few people on earth who thinks that the Jackass boys are the biggest twats evah unfunniest creatures I’ve ever come across, whereas, Chris Rock makes me howl with laughter.
There were some hilarious interchanges between Max and Angel, but they always seemed to culminate in Angel looking like a fool. I’m not overly fond of authors who insist on painting a perfect picture of the hero, and turning the heroine into a bumbling arsehole. This usually offends my feminist sensibilities. Anybody who reads any of my reviews, know how big I am on characterisation. I want to empathise with the heroine, I want to like her enough to share my last tub of Bailey’s flavoured Haagen Dazs ice-cream with her. I also want to at least consider leaving The Tall Guy for the hero, regardless of the fact that he is indeed, a fictional character.
My verdict on Max and Angel? Max was ok, and was fairly likeable. Although his penchant for drifting off into an alternative universe, whenever he got sexually excited, made me want to hurt him really bad. His insistence on calling Angel, ‘Dollface’, also made me want to stick a rocket up his rectum, and run him over with a forklift truck. Then reverse over him for good measure. His between/during/and after sex-speak was irritating as hell. Here’s an example:
From the crowning glory of gold on your head, to big baby blues and cherry-red lips on your pretty face, to the bounce of your breasts and sway of your hips as you walk, to the lush, dewy pussy between your thighs… Beautiful, dollface. Every goddamned inch of you”
Aaaarghhhh! Noooooo!! These random sex-speak tidbits were littered throughout the book, and totally took me out of the story on every occasion that they occurred. Something else that I found a little incongruous about Max, was the fact that he was an animal doctor. A vet? Do me a favour. He was far too alpha for such a tame job. If he was veterinary surgeon material, then Anna Nicole Smith was an Oxford graduate. I felt that Dexter-Dobbs used this plot device, as a convenient way of introducing the H/H to each other, and for me, it just didn’t work. As for the heroine? Jesus. Effing Christ. Quite frankly, Angel Brewster made me want to stab myself in the eye. I struggled with her continuously throughout the book. I kinda liked her at the beginning, but it all went pear-shaped after she started having hissy fits at the stupidest things. Paranoid Schizophrenic much? She was supposed to be a feminist rebel with a cause, instead, she was more like a rebel without an effing clue. I wanted to hurt her real bad.
There were justifications for her behaviour, of course. Apparently she’d been hurt in the past by an ex-boyfriend who’d done her wrong, but somehow, this explanation failed to move me in the slightest. The other explanation for her pseudo – militant behaviour, was that she was the only girl amongst a gaggle of brothers, and she’d had to fight for everything all her life. My heart bled for her. Seriously. Not.
I just didn’t buy it. As far as I was concerned, she was a petulant bitch, who needed to be put out of my misery with a sawn-off shotgun. If I’d been at school with her, I’d have tied her to the school railings, and used her as target practice.
Apart from the heroine’s moodswings, there were other parts of this book that made me roll my eyes heavenwards. For instance, who the fuck goes into a stranger’s house only wearing a barely-there nightie? What if he’d been a serial killer, or a rapist? I’m all for fantasy and all, but I do expect some basis in reality in contemporary romances. You’d be forgiven for thinking I didn’t like this story, and in all honesty, I probably shouldn’t have liked anything about it, but I experienced the Shannon McKenna effect with this book. It was so flawed that I should have hated it, but for some reason I didn’t. I feel kinda dirty admitting that out loud, and perhaps I should be spanked with a 40cm Horse whip, made with carbonfibre and decorated with studs, for showing such poor judgement, but what the hell, I know you guys have experienced similar fascinations for books that were wrong in every way. Don’t deny it.
Would I recommend this book? Not if you’re looking for War and Peace. However, if you’re looking for a light and fluffy read, then this book may just float your boat. You can find the author’s website here, and you can buy the book here.
How are you holding up Daisy?
*Karen passes over the Bailey’s flavoured ice-cream*
Daisy Dexter Dobbs
May 1
1:27 pm
For Immediate Release:
Karen Scott Lavishes Praise on Just Like a Dame by Daisy Dexter Dobbs!
In the midst of the recent fanfare, hoopla and nonstop adulation for Just Like a Dame, the wildly popular, bestselling new novel by erotic romantic comedy author, Daisy Dexter Dobbs, savvy reviewer Karen Scott all but gushed over Dobbs’ obvious skills as a writer when she stated, “…I liked her voice, and her style. The book flowed quite nicely…”
Ms. Scott, whose no holds barred reviews are all the rage in blogdom, was clearly spellbound by Dobbs’ deftly crafted sex scenes as she recalled the sassy heroine and to-die-for hero’s hot and steamy escapades. “They like being in bed. Together. A lot,” Scott said with a distinct sparkle in her eye. “In fact,” she continued, “they liked it so much, that they spent the majority of the book there. If they weren’t fighting, then they were humping like bunny rabbits in spring.”
Quickly regaining her composure after recalling the characters’ lusty, orgasmic encounters, we asked Scott about Dobbs’ trademark use of humor throughout the story. Boasting a smile, Scott said, “What’s funny to one person, may not be funny to another, and vice versa.” In the next sentence she compared Dobbs to Chris Rock. “…makes me howl with laughter,” Scott said. “There were some hilarious interchanges between Max and Angel…”
Upon asking Scott’s views on the story’s heroine, the reviewer became animated. “Jesus. Effing Christ,” she blurted excitedly. “Anybody who reads any of my reviews,” she explained with exuberance, “know how big I am on characterization. I want to empathize with the heroine, I want to like her enough to share my last tub of Bailey’s flavored Häagen-Dazs ice-cream with her.” Scott grinned as she added, “…a feminist rebel with a cause…” Continuing to wax poetic over Angel, the book’s heroine, Scott added, “…she was the only girl amongst a gaggle of brothers, and she’d had to fight for everything all her life. My heart bled for her. Seriously….”
After that obvious dose of praise for Dobbs’ heroine, Scott surged ahead with her opinion of Dobbs’ hero. “I also want to at least consider leaving The Tall Guy for the hero,” she admitted with a dreamy expression, “regardless of the fact that he is indeed, a fictional character.”
Evidently mesmerized by the story’s dreamy hero and the author’s skilled use of dialogue, Scott gazed into the distance as she quoted a particularly meaningful passage from Dobbs’ book. “From the crowning glory of gold on your head, to big baby blues and cherry-red lips on your pretty face to the bounce of your breasts and sway of hips as you walk, to the lush, dewy pussy between your thighs…beautiful, dollface. Every goddamned inch of you.”
Stars were still evident in Scott’s eyes as she recalled the opening of the book when Angel barges in on the unsuspecting hero at three a.m. wearing only her nightgown. “I’m all for fantasy…” Scott whispered with a knowing smile.
Known for ripping, slicing, dicing and otherwise hatcheting authors’ books in her witty reviews, Scott was clearly embarrassed at her palpable, unbridled enthusiasm for Just Like a Dame. “I feel kinda dirty admitting that out loud, and perhaps I should be spanked…” she said coyly, “…but what the hell, I know you guys have experienced similar fascinations for books…”
Ah, yes, indeed, Ms. Scott, we have. We asked if she would recommend Just Like a Dame. “…this book may just float your boat,” Scott boldly affirmed before expressing her desire to share a tub of Bailey’s flavored ice cream with Dobbs.
When we contacted Dobbs’ publisher, Samhain Publishing, for comment, company representatives expressed off-the-record concern over the throngs of buyers clogging up the server in their haste to purchase this astoundingly funny and scintillatingly hot book.
The immensely talented and hugely prolific Daisy Dexter Dobbs–whose newest paranormal erotic comedy, >Wicked Payback, the first book in her new Welcome to Hell series from Ellora’s Cave, will be released by the publisher Wednesday, May 3rd–was unavailable for comment. She was reportedly seen with her head buried in a tub of Häagen-Dazs Almond Hazelnut Swirl ice cream and babbling incoherently.
Karen Scott
May 1
1:40 pm
LMAO!! Nice hatchet job, you should totally work for a tabloid newspaper!
byrdloves2read
May 1
2:04 pm
What a hoot you two are! I can see why Karen likes DDD’s “voice”. Thanks for the laughs.
Ann Wesley Hardin
May 1
2:17 pm
This exchange really needs to be posted somewhere for the whole romance community to see and savor.
Bravo!
Kate R
May 1
2:33 pm
Damn, I love you both so much, I’d just give you the whole tub of ice cream. And the fudgy chocolate brownies, too.
joining the kinda luvfest,
Kate
Jaci Burton
May 1
3:39 pm
I just spit my ice cream all over my keyboard.
Fabulous, ladies! *g* What a freakin hoot!
ShelbyReed
May 1
3:42 pm
Oh my God. What a girl. Count me in as a new DDD fan!
Shelby
raine
May 1
3:52 pm
Daisy, I luv ya! 😉
Amie Stuart
May 1
4:01 pm
Bless you two, you both made me laugh my arse off–and I never use the word arse but it has a nice ring to it.
Kimberly
May 1
4:53 pm
Bravo to both. Lovely job, ladies 🙂
Bailey Stewart
May 1
5:13 pm
Haagen Dazs has a Bailey’s flavor?
Oh, sorry, I got distracted there. This is just too funny. Thanks for the laugh.
CaliMarie
May 1
6:44 pm
Bloody brilliant, Daisy. You never cease to amuse me, luv.
You ladies have a wonderful day and take care!
Sam
May 1
7:54 pm
What a Hoot!!
As a Daisy fan myself, I can read whatever she writes, be it book or blog, and Karen, of course, has one of my favorite blogs, so this was a treat!!!
Thanks you two – keep up the good work both of you!!
Suzie Q Public
May 1
8:21 pm
You seemed to take great delight in slicing and dicing Ms. Dobbs. I haven’t read the book yet, but after reading your review I’m definitely planning on picking up a copy.
So they do it like bunnies. Hello? That’s what erotica romance is about. Lots of hot sex. A veterinarian not alpha? Come on, give me a break on that one. What would you have liked to seen as his profession? Alpha male is attitude, attitude, and more attitude.
Romance novels are Calgon moments. Does every word, sentence, and scene have to be real?
If I thought one of my beloved pets was near death I would run, not walk to the nearest vet to save my pet. Frankly, I wouldn’t give a damn as to what I was wearing.
Comedy. Not every scene in a book will have you rolling on the floor laughing.
I do believe you’ve done Ms. Dobbs a great service since this will no doubt send her sales soaring over the roof.
How did you feel after you finished writing your scathing review? Do you get off ripping an author’s work to shreds? Iknow, I know, you can say anything you want to say.
Karen Scott
May 1
8:56 pm
Suzy Q wrote:
“You seemed to take great delight in slicing and dicing Ms. Dobbs. I haven’t read the book yet, but after reading your review I’m definitely planning on picking up a copy.”
Do you know what, that news couldn’t make me happier.
“I do believe you’ve done Ms. Dobbs a great service since this will no doubt send her sales soaring over the roof.”
Once again, this is good news for me. It’s good to know that I have that level of influence.
“How did you feel after you finished writing your scathing review? Do you get off ripping an author’s work to shreds?”
Erm… actually, I wrote exactly how I felt about the book. I like Daisy’s online personality, so it’s not like I went out of my way to do her harm. It’s always difficult to write negative reviews about authors that you ‘know’ and like, but quite frankly, there are enough Harriet Klausner book reviews out there.
It’s a shame that you don’t get the value of an honest opinion, but as far as I’m concerned, Daisy dealt with it like I knew she would, with ladylike aplomb and grace.
I don’t know if you’re a fan or an author, but your comments haven’t really done her any favours. She didn’t need you to go to bat for her, because she, and many others understand that my opinion is just that, an opinion, and wont be influential in her downfall or otherwise, as a romance author.
I can tell that you didn’t actually read the review properly, or else you’d have been able to read between the lines, and picked up on what I wrote towards the end. Hmmm, which leads me to think you are probably a rabid fangirl after all.
Jaynie R
May 1
9:34 pm
*snort*
Karen – Suzie Q needs to read some of your stuff where you really DO rip a book to shreds.
This was tame – and as usual, a very good and hilarious review.
Daisy took it very well and I’m still laughing. For those of us who buy on author personality – this can only be good for her.
Kristie (J)
May 1
10:59 pm
To Susie Q Public: huh??? Did you even read Karen’s review? If you call that scathing then you really do need to get out more. Karen was honest and said it was OK. I take much more out of that than the “oh I just love everything about it” kind of review you see somplaces. She liked the author’s voice and maybe she didn’t love the characters in this one all to pieces, but hey – so what? And if you had bothered to check out AngieW’s ebook challenge – what Angie is looking for is honest reviews – which is exactly what Karen gave.
azteclady
May 2
12:16 am
Methinks that Suzie Q Public could use some of that Bayley flavored Haagen Das–and a bit of a sense of humour on the side.
Karen, thank you for the review! *chuckling* You gals are both crazy, no wonder I like you!
Bailey Stewart
May 2
12:55 am
Suzy Q – it’s true that I live in a state of perpetual confusion, but even I could figure out that in the end Karen liked the book despite it’s inclusion of everything she dislikes in a book. And the Duchess of Wit turned it around totally to her advantage. I think the review and Daisy’s rebuttal has been nothing but positive for book sales. Oh, and please change your nickname – I’m part of that “public” and you don’t speak for me. At least Karen uses her own name when reviewing a book, she’s not embarrassed by what she says.
Lori
May 2
3:44 am
Great review, Karen,and wonderful response, Daisy!
I actually already had this book loaded in my ebook reder.
SuzyQ, get real, you obviously don’t make a habit of reading Karen’s reviews. This was glowing 🙂
Josie
May 2
12:26 pm
Hilarious! Put a smile on my face first thing this morning…
M.E Ellis
May 3
1:01 pm
LOL @ the pair of you.
:o)
KatieW
May 3
6:21 pm
Hi-freaking-larious.
KarenS: You never cease to make me laugh and giggle over the way you write. You totally just made my day.
DDD: You were pretty darn up there with Karen! How did you guys get so funny! I’m sitting here at my work computer laughing hysterically at you guys. Oh, ahem, *with you guys*. 😉 Thanks! 🙂
Rosie
May 4
1:38 am
In a perfect world all reviewers and authors would get along like this. Kudos to you both.
Desiree Erotique
May 4
3:36 am
“humping like bunny rabbits in spring.” Ok, sounds like I’ll have to read it 🙂
Indida
May 5
4:59 am
Now that is what I would love to see more often in the writing community as opposed to authors bitching and complaining, like their life is in shambles, when someone shares a valid and reasonable opinion about their work.
Kat O+
May 31
12:48 pm
I also want to at least consider leaving The Tall Guy for the hero, regardless of the fact that he is indeed, a fictional character.
OMG, this is so true. I’m so glad you articulated that so well. I don’t feel like such a bad, unfaithful wife any longer! 🙂
Cat Marsters
June 18
2:17 pm
Don’t sugar-coat it, Karen, tell it straight.
Daisy, that’s too funny!
Cat, who has never written a book, ever, and never ever wants it to be reviewed. Muh Gawd, I’m too scared to read the reviews of books you don’t like!
A.M. Kuska
April 15
4:21 pm
Karen, I agree with you mostly, but I’m gonna have to disagree with you on the role of “Vet” as being too tame. I’m a dog groomer, and I can promise you that there is nothing tame about handling someone elses animal when you reallllly don’t know who has had the other end of the leash for the past couple of years.
Sure, most of the time I’m just grooming some persons itsy bitsy pocket pet. At least once a day though, someone drags in a wolf straight out of the wild and asks me to trim its nails please.
That’s the part of my job that is not so tame. >.< I can't imagine having that same wolf dragged into an office and being told to take a blood sample. Ack!