RATING GUIDE:
5 – A keeper!
4 – Very good
3 – Passable
2 – I’d rather read a telephone book
1 – An absolute bomb.
Read at your own risk!
“The Infamous
Biker’s Club” series consists of five books, whose stories range from your
everyday, garden variety romance, to that which deal with slightly more serious
matter, such as death and moving on.
The book “Love Coach” is the story of Angelique, a
sheltered, manang-ish girl who meets bad boy kuno Aio after she
is dumped by James, the user-friendly object of her affection. Aio who can handle makeup brushes as well as
a bike (no, he’s not a parlorista, and yes, he’s straight!) not only
gives Angelique a makeover that turns her into a drool-worthy babe, but also
volunteers to be her pretend boyfriend so she can exact her revenge upon
James. Angelique eventually falls in
love with Aio, but can Aio truly fall in love with someone like her?
The second book, “The Rugged Knight,” is the story of Ria,
a sheltered, lonely girl, who begins to stand up for herself after she meets
Greg, another biker boy. But Greg is
nothing at all like what her upper crust family wants for her. Worse, they want to marry her off to someone
else!
“The Troublemaker” is the story of Sissy, a working
student, whose thoughts of love (and lust) are awakened for the first time when
she meets Jet, a rich kid and rebellious biker boy. Jet has a huge chip in his shoulder in the form of his brother,
Jordan. Jet can’t stand being compared
to Jordan and so rebels at every opportunity.
He continues evading his responsibilities as a grown-up and as a member
of his family until … surprise, surprise!
He learns that Jordan is actually engaged to be married to Sissy!
“The Lone Wolf” is the story of Carrie, a beautiful lady
who can actually get any boy she wants.
But then, Carrie only has eyes for Martin, who has shut himself off from
love after the death of his first girlfriend and only love, Camille. Can Carrie make Martin fall in love again?
The last book, “The Untamed Cupid,” is the story of Janis,
a rich, beautiful bitch of a travel blogger who also happens to be the black
sheep in her family. But there’s a
hidden, more real side to Janis, and it’s a side that she displays to no one,
until she meets Yuuji, the kind, gentle and sensitive biker boy (who’s as good
with a pastry brush as well as his bike).
Janis wants him, but how can she win him over? Yuuji refuses to have anything to do with her, not after the way
she broke his heart years ago.
In “The Untamed Cupid,” Maricar
writes, “As a writer, I know na baguhan pa lang talaga ako. As
in, there are times when I don’t feel confident about my work. I know it’s so
newbie. Pero ang pakonsuwelo ko sa sarili ko at ipapalusot ko na rin sa mga
nakabasa na ng gawa ko: I believe I can do so much better next time. Kailangan
lang ng practice at lakas ng loob na sumubok ng bago. Tunog palusot talaga,
`no? Pero seryoso, susubukan ko talaga. ^^ “
This book series
does reflect Maricar Dizon’s “newbie-ness”.
The first three books in the series are pretty ordinary and not really
that well-written. If these books were
cake, they’d what I would call a little “hilaw,” for other than the “kilig”
factor, there’s nothing much in the areas of story and character
development.
I am also slightly
disturbed by a couple of the heroines’ willingness to sleep with their hunky
heroes that quickly, despite the fact that they really don’t know much about
them. Call me conservative (which I am,
in a way), but I just think authors need to be more conscious of their power to
influence their readers. While I do
understand that the times are different now, and that pre-marital sex seems to
be more of the norm rather than the exception, I still believe that pre-marital
sex needs to be discussed in a more mature and responsible way. Sure, the “first time” can be a romantic
experience, but there are consequences to unprotected sex and having sex with
someone you barely know and just idealize in your head. Just look at the ballooning figure of
teenage pregnancies out there, or the spread of HIV-AIDS. Even though romances are escapist fare, I
just think authors can be a little more aware of their power to influence their
readers. If they’re going to have their
characters engage in pre-marital sex, then maybe, they could at least make it
safe sex? And show the consequences. Because there ARE consequences to
unprotected sex and sex with someone you barely know.
But Maricar’s effort
at improving her craft does show in the last two books, “The Lone Wolf” and
especially “The Untamed Cupid”. In
these books, Maricar is at last able to create characters with some form of
depth to them.
“The Untamed Cupid”
is actually quite an entertaining read.
The heroine, Janis, is actually quite complex, and it’s only due to
Maricar’s efforts that she succeeds in becoming a sympathetic character, even
though she’s a bitch in heels. There’s
also lots of “kilig” in this book, and the hero, Yuuji, is someone any girl can
fall in love with. Kudos to Maricar
Dizon for not giving up on her craft!
I’d be interested in seeing how her writing improves in the future.
Overall, the series’
quality is pretty uneven (like I said, only the last two books are good), but
it’s a good showcase of what happens if an author keeps on writing. As they say, practice makes perfect. Maybe Maricar is on her way to “perfect,” if
she just continues to be humble, writes books the best way she can, and tries
new things. As I said about Luna King’s
books in a separate blog entry, “safe” and “generic” are not the ways to go if
you want to be remembered as an author.
I think that Maricar knows that, and it shows in her work.
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