Blow Me Down, Katie MacAlister Pirates and prosthetics...what's not to love?This high seas adventure stars, Amy Stewart, a financial analyst with a repressed sense of fun and an overdeveloped sense of organization. So to save her from imminent death by work and boredom, and as only a teen can do, her daughter cajoles and guilts her into trying a virtual reality game called Buckling Swashes. (Which, I might add, is a great name for a pirate game.) The game isn't quite finished yet and teen Tara has an advance copy to try before she interviews the game developer, P.C. Monroe.With the promise to make officer before she quits and gives up on the game, Amy signs on as Earless Erika (you need a piratical name, right?), dons her VR glasses and gets ready to sail the seven seas. Once in the game, which was made to be as real as possible, from clothes to food, sights and smells, she begins to meet the various and sundry characters that make up this new world.She's soon grabbed from behind and hauled into an inn by a very large man who wants to keep her seeing as she's such a "toothsome wench". This idea is shot down by Black Corbin, his captain, who then states she is probably a tart with french pox. Not one to take the insult lying down, as it were, Amy proceeds to threaten said captain with a wooden leg and then beat him in a duel with his own rapier. Nice. As her winnings, she claims one of his ships called the Saucy Wench. (Which, I might add, is a great name for a pirate ship.)It doesn't take long for Amy to realize something is amiss when she can't find the glasses on her face to log out of the game. A crying jag in the brothel and game of bondage Q and A later, lead her to understand that Black Corbin is actually the Corbin, the guy who invented the game. Now he is stuck in the game world as well as his friend and developer, Holder McReady. (Which, I might add, is a great name for a pirate.)The only explanation to their predicament isn't a good one. It seems, for some reason they aren't certain of, his ex-partner Paul Samuels has created some virus that traps the players in the game. They need to either find and kill Paul (in the game) and/or play the game out to whatever end scenario he has written the virus to. Easier said than done, as Paul will try to blend in with the other computer characters in the game.High seas drama, wacky characters and hijinks ensue! Including, but not limited to, 401k plans for brothel workers, death and disease obsessed cabin boys, fun with food (a personal fave...wink, wink), drooling loonies and full scale naval battles. Though I have only had the pleasure to read a few so far, I can't say enough about Katie MacAlister's books. Her characters are always engaging and the stories, entertaining. The peoples in her worlds are more real than most, and her humor is laugh-out-loud infectious. You care about Amy and Corbin, Holder and Bas, the working girls...and even Bran. Let us just mention that her romance writing skills inspired this Broad to have a sudden yen for pudding. Mysterious. So, on my avid recommendation, avast me hearties to the nearest booking-type establishment and procure a copy to peruse. It will shiver your timbers in more ways than one!~Mina
I'm kind of a sucker for nerds in romance. I like learning about science-y things and computer-y things, and this book featured a cool three-dimensional gaming universe where you can actually become a character in this sea-faring online game. I guess it's like Second Life except you get sucked right into it through some kind of headset. So the thing is in beta testing, and the heroine meets the creator of the game and they fall in love in virtual reality. And I was actually swept away. I was in the mood for this kind of book and I was interested, and I thought the ending was relatively appropriate but kind of dumb, but it was fine.However, for some reason, every single time I think about this book, it drives me nuts and I start to kind of hate it. The author's prose, for instance, was horribly irritating. Really juvenile and obnoxious. The heroine was also really dumb. Hyuk hyuk dumb.So I can never reread it, and that's the main reason it gets a dismal rating.
What do You think about Blow Me Down (2005)?
This was such a fun read. It wasn't very serious and there weren't lots of issues to deal with. I'm okay with serious books but sometimes you just need a relaxing, fun read. As unrealistic as it is that you can go into the game, IT'S ALSO FRICKIN AWESOME!!! I loved how the world was of pirates and all the rules within the game. It was great! And Corbin was fun too. I love how they met and how they get to know one another and interact through the game. I actually read this a long time ago and writing this review is making me want to reread it.I like that time was different in the virtual world to the real world so a lot happened in the game but it was realistic that she 'played' for that long.I really liked the whole storyline of the bad guy and enjoyed reading the suspense this created.The ending was great and I'm glad we get to see the two of them interact outside of the game too.Overall I'd recommend this to anyone who wants to read a happy, fun book with some great characters.
—A
Perfect light-fare reading. McAlister's characters are endearing and interesting enough (and "ordinary" enough - no unbelievably macho or glamorous folk here) to make the utterly preposteous plot (getting sucked into a VR game? come on!) beside the point. The story zips along and is perfectly balanced with the sexiness to make any reader laugh alound while sighing. Besides, who DOESN'T love a pirate? If you're looking for a quick read that doesn't insult your intelligence and is crisply written, then this is it.
—Robin
I usually like Macalister's books.. but this one just didn't rub me the right way. It seemed as if she was trying too hard to be funny, and frankly the concept of the book was not that appealing. For the first few chapters I had no idea what was going on, and then once I understood I kept thinking to myself how stupid the concept was.I liked the character of Corbin, he was funny and a charming hero. The character of Holder was pretty funny and provided the majority of the comedy in the book. But I didn't like the main character Amy. She grated on my nerves with all her financial planning crap. What a pain in the ass.Despite my opinion of this book, it won't stop me from reading others of Macalisters. But I definitely like her series books more.
—Jess
