Book Review: Skip Beat! Vol 5 by Yoshiki Nakamura

 

Skip Beat! Vol 5     

Author: Yoshiki Nakamura

Publisher: Viz Media

American release date: March 6, 2007

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/Shojo Manga//200 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

 

Playing the giant chicken Bo on television is exhausting for Kyoko, but she’s actually grateful the producer gave her a second chance, after the fiasco with Sho. But apparently the viewers loved her and thought the old Bo was boring, so now she is determined to make the most of this opportunity. To do her best, so she can succeed.

Kyoko runs into Ren at the agency, and his being nice to her and smiling at her has even more freaked out than before. She forgets to inform the agency that she has an audition for a commercial scheduled for the next day. Of course they are happy for her, and Ren tells her to do her best. At the audition, Kyoko unexpectedly runs into Moko, and an entitled blonde who is sure the world revolves around her and her money. Apparently, she and Moko go way back, and she is very condescending and mean to Moko. But instead of fighting fire with fire, as only Moko can, she is down and almost defeated! Kyoko can’t believe what she is seeing. What’s going on here? After the first round of auditions, Moko is ready to quit, but Kyoko slaps some sense into her!

The commercial’s director, who missed the first audition, overhears the discussion between Kyoko and Moko, and is curious to see what they can do. So he changes the casting call from one to two girls, and all the girls have to team up to audition.  Kyoko ends up with Moko. When the others girls, including the rich one, find out that Moko and Kyoko work together at LME, they claim their pairing is unfair. So to even the playing field, they demand that they can’t rehearse together beforehand. Moko is appalled, but Kyoko agrees. But can they play upon one another and bring out the emotions the director and his team need for the product without even being able to discuss it first?

This is a big deal for Kyoko, auditioning for this commercial. No chicken suit to hide inside, only her. Plus she is auditioning against Moko, whom she strongly wants to be friends with. Moko is resistant to her overtures of friendship, but Kyoko isn’t the type to give up easily. I enjoyed watching the director of the commercial as he watched them carefully, sensing something special there. And of course he was right.

Poor Kyoko has no idea that Ren has finally realized how and when he knows her from because she has changed so much, and she has no idea who he was to her. All she knows is that she is afraid of his gentlemanly side as much as his colder side. I love watching the two of them together, but I know they have a long way to go. Lots of fun in this volume, can’t wait for more!

Book Review: Audition by Ryu Murakami

 

Audition     

Author: Ryu Murakami

Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company

American release date:  June 7, 2010

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/Psychological Thriller/192 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★

 

After seven years of being alone, widower Aoyama decides, after being prompted by his fifteen-year-old son Shige, to consider marrying again. However, Aoyama doesn’t know just how to go about looking for a wife, as he confides to his close friend, Yoshikawa. Wanting to see his friend happy, Yoshikawa hits on the perfect solution—he’ll announce an audition for a romantic movie (which may  never get made, but that’s show business, right?), and Aoyama can look through the resumes that are submitted and select about thirty or so for the two men to audition for the “role” of Aoyama’s future wife.

 

One resume in particular catches Aoyama’s eye, and he barely gives any of the other applicants the time of day, so intent is he on meeting Yamasaki Asami. And when he does, she is even more than he could have hoped for. Of course, he has to let her know she didn’t get the part, and hope that she won’t be too disappointed.

 

Is she Aoyama’s next great love... or a nightmare waiting to happen?

 

This is my second book by this author, the first being Piercing. Both are psychological thrillers which take us deep into the protagonist’s psyche. Audition is slow-paced, but well worth the time it takes to come to a boil. I’ve seen the movie, as well, and have to say I like the book just a little bit better, although the movie is good too. It’s a good read, and well done, and I plan to read more of this author’s books. The ending may be too graphic for some, so know that going into it. This story is not for everyone, but I really liked it.

 

 

Virtual Book Blast: Audition by Skye Warren

Good morning!  Please welcome author Skye Warren to Full Moon Dreaming. She's here to tell us about her new release, Audition. Skye will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN GC to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour via Rafflecopter. The more you comment, the better your chances of winning. To find the other stops on her tour, go here. Don't forget to look for the Rafflecopter at the end of this post!

Audition

by Skye Warren

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GENRE: Contemporary Romance

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BLURB:

Blood and sweat. Bethany Lewis danced her way out of poverty. She’s a world class athlete… with a debt to pay.

Joshua North always gets what he wants. And the mercenary wants Bethany in his bed. He wants her beautiful little body bent to his will.

She doesn’t surrender to his kiss.

He doesn’t back down from a challenge.

It’s going to be a sensual fight… to the death.

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EXCERPT:

Blinding lights. Aching lungs. Thunderous applause. The final show concludes the same way we rehearsed for months, the same way we performed for weeks. My muscles know the movements better than they understand rest. The prospect of after, of what comes next, makes my breath catch. Even as the primas take their bows, relief echoes around the stage. Vacations are planned. Relief for strained muscles. Everyone needs a break, even professional athletes. I’m the only one onstage dreading it.

We bow and curtesy with practiced grace. The curtain descends to the floor. Almost to the second we break formation—a flock of crows startled from the woods. The more exuberant among us, the young ones, the new ones, the ones using steroids, prance and jete toward the dressing rooms. Most of us limp our way out. One hundred percent of NFL players are injured every season. Professional dancing is the same. We hurl our bodies through the air, forcing massive impact through tired joints night after night. I catch my friend Marlena in my arms. Her face is white with pain.

“Ice,” she says. “Or better yet—tequila.”

I push my shoulder under hers as we exit the stage. “Don’t sell yourself short. You can have both.”

A delicate snort. “Not likely. We have to smile and flirt with the old men with big, fat wallets. And for what? I won’t be here next season. You won’t be, either.”

The reminder clangs inside me like a copper bell. I won’t be coming to the New York City Ballet after the break. We fall into our creaky chairs in the dressing room. “Are you going to miss it?”

“Miss it? Of course I’ll miss it.” Marlena turned twenty-eight last month. It’s comfortably retirement age for a dancer. “When the little children do their terrible pirouettes, when they sneeze and throw up and cry all over my leotard, I’ll think fondly of the beautiful art I left behind. Then I’ll be able to walk home. That won’t happen if I try to dance another season.”

“You’ll make a wonderful teacher. You know you were mine.” She didn’t teach me to dance. It was my first love, before I learned to flip and contort myself. Before I ever leapt from a trapeze bar.

Marlena taught me the ropes of the ballet company when I joined two years ago. Most of them thought I wouldn’t last a week. Some of them didn’t want me to. It’s a rigid world, the hierarchy stacked with graduates of Juilliard or the John Cranko school.

I don’t have a pedigree.

All I have is a body that does what it must, no matter how much it hurts.

Which means changing out of my sweaty leotard into a fresh one. We’re contractually obligated to attend the ball. Like Marlena said, we should smile and flirt with the high society people who attend. Both the male and female dancers have to do it. It’s what convinces the sponsors to write checks that will fund the next season. By the time they’re rehearsing The Nutcracker I’ll be in New Orleans, the place I swore I’d never return.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Skye Warren is the New York Times bestselling author of dangerous romance. Her books have sold over one million copies. She makes her home in Texas with her loving family, sweet dogs, and evil cat.

http://www.skyewarren.com/books/audition/

Buy Link:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Audition-Skye-Warren-ebook/dp/B07VZTRXJ3

Apple Books:  https://books.apple.com/us/book/audition/id1475290521

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/audition-skye-warren/1132969928

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