Ashley Croft

When creating karate kata, the Okinawan masters included deadly techniques targeting vital points. But they kept these techniques secret from outsiders and, when karate was exported to Japan, it appears that they chose not to pass on their full knowledge of vital-point striking. As a result much of the knowledge on the subject remained hidden from the vast majority of practitioners. In recent times, these secret techniques have been revived, and it is thought that they may help to explain some of the more obscure moves contained within all the martial arts. Now, in this highly accessible and readable book, Ashley Croft demystifies this hidden corner of the art and explores its practical application.

Historical perspectives: the evolution of karate, the possible intentions of the ancient masters, and the development of vital-point striking.
Anatomy and Eastern medical concepts. The meridians, acupoints, and vital energy flow (Qi).
Location and description of the pressure points, and the practical application of pressure-point strikes.
Analysing the kata, identifying the purpose of the moves, and developing workable combinations using the various vital points.

With over 300 illustrations, this book is an invaluable learning aid for all those interested in gaining a deeper understanding of karate kata and exploring the hidden facets of this fascinating martial art.

Ashley Croft is a fourth dan in Shotokan karate and fourth dan in Ao Denkou Jitsu, and he has trained with some of the top instructors in the world. He has taught karate for over fifteen years and has successfully trained many students from beginner through to black belt. He is currently chief instructor of the Chiltern Karate Association.

Cover photographs by Martin Baugh.
Cover design by Nautilus Desing (UK) Ltd.

Contents

Acknowledgements
Foreword
Preface
1 Introduction
2 The history of karate
3 Eastern medical concepts and the martial arts
4 The development of vital-poing striking
5 Practical theories for applying pressure points
6 The main pressure points
7 Striking parts of the body
8 Pressure point applications
9 The law and self-defence
10 Conclusion
Appendix I Points of the Bubishi
Appendix II The wall of silence by Professor Rich Clark
Appendix III The history and origins of modern-day kata
Notes
Bibliography
Index… (meer)

I’ve tried to finish this three times and it’s just not going to happen, so here’s my review:

The Love Solution’s blurb is much cuter than the book. I assumed since this is being marketed as a romance that we would be following one of the two sisters, but instead it’s dual POV with alternating sister chapters. Who needs a POV from the love interests?
Sarah’s horrible boyfriend cheats on her in their shared bed on NYE, when she’s been expecting to tell him that she’s pregnant. Then he dumps her.
Meanwhile, Molly’s boss for whom she has been pining asks her to dance and kisses the hell out of her at a work party. And then he abruptly leaves her there.
K, now you’re at 20% through the book.
So both sisters are in love with horrible men and those are the men they pursue through the book. Lucky for us, the sisters are also not great! Science and ethics etc etc

In conclusion, this book was very not for me and I can’t recommend it.
Content Warning - opens with a car accident on page when the sisters are teens.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for review.… (meer)

Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.

FYI, I plan on using spoilers in this one because that is how aggravated I am by this whole book. Look away if you don't want to be spoiled.

"The Love Solution" follows sisters Sarah and Molly. The two of them are close after losing their parents in a car accident when they were younger. Sarah is trying to start a new business while happily in love with her boyfriend Niall. Molly is working in her lab with her hot boss Ewan trying to create something called "The Love Bug." Molly is attracted to Ewan, but he has a strict rule about not getting involved with coworkers after his ex-wife had an affair with a colleague. You follow all that? Well when Molly has a break through with developing the "The Love Bug" she has to deal with her sister wanting to use it after she gets dumped by Niall.

I have to say that science is a major plot of this book but I am really aggravated by how it was used. So you all remember the movie "Love Potion No. 9?"

As a kid even I thought the movie was messed up. You have two scientists that put together a potion that makes them unresistible to whoever they speak to. Yeah....let's not even get into the messed up actions of the two leads in the movie and how they were advocating for rape. Someone being forced to respond to you due to "science" is not great. So with "The Love Solution" after Sarah is dumped by Niall she demands her sister help her get him back by using what she is developing in her lab.

So Sarah is just plain awful through this book. She also gets involved in a love triangle and I maybe threw my hands up. The fact that she wants her sister to use something that she developed to force a guy who dumped her to get back with her? I just could not. And then Croft tries to instill some "comedy" into things when they do a whole well did we use the actual love bug or was it a placebo. I can't believe that the author didn't even have one of these two fools talk about consent and how they shouldn't be doing this and wasn't this a form of rape. If I had known more about this book I would have passed on getting it via NetGalley. The synopsis made it seem like it was a fun romance with two sisters possibly doing something involving science but not with something that would actually involve forcing men to be with you if they don't want to be.

Molly is a dingbat and it takes her freaking boss telling her how far she overstepped for her to even get it. But of course he has done something she can point to and be all ethics in gaming and I wanted to throttle her too.

And I can't with the love interests because they are void of any type of personality and should be called Beige 1 and Beige 2. Neither sister deserves happiness and should be forced into therapy and get it through their tiny heads that being with a man is not the end all be all and if you have to "game" a dude to being with you you are a messed up person. And of course they learn some lessons, yadda yadda yadda. You both still suck.

The writing wasn't great either. There were some awkward sentence structures that gave me pause here and there. The flow was awful too. I don't think Croft was able to juggle two characters and their story-lines. I will pass on her in the future.

The ending made me roll my eyes. That's all I got.… (meer)

The Love Solution by Ashley Croft

A special thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK/Avon Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

chem·is·try
/ˈkeməstrē/

noun
noun: chemistry

the complex emotional or psychological interaction between two people.

Although sisters Molly and Sarah share a close bond, they couldn't be more different. Molly wears a lab coat and is a scientist, while Sarah runs her own craft business making tiaras.

Molly has been assigned to a top secret project and is totally thrilled. Some of her excitement may also be because of her attractive new boss.

When Sarah suffers a humiliating and painful breakup, she turns to Molly—and science—for help. After all, what are sisters for?

Will Sarah find love where she least expects it, or is it really all in the chemistry?

First things first, the cover is adorable and totally sucked me in. However, this was a mixed bag for me. At times I found the story delightful and getting me right in the feels and other times, I was rolling my eyes.

The 'love bug' premise was cute and definitely had potential, but too far fetched that Molly would share this top secret project with her sister, no matter how close they are. Molly and Ewan were adorable as colleagues and their back-and-forth banter/relationship will have readers rooting for them to hook up. But Croft dismantles some of this with the bicycle race filler which was campy and unnecessary. I also struggled with the lack of depth that the love interests had, they were flat characters that could basically be interchangeable. They were without personality and dare I say, rather forgettable.

I had high-hopes for this story, but it really was lacking the chemistry (no pun intended) that a romance novel should have. Ultimately I struggled with the plot—the conflict that is the driver of the narrative is incredibly frustrating, as is Sarah. Why would she want to be with such an absolute tosser? This book simply wasn't for me and I'm confident that it will find its audience.… (meer)