Book Minx

Archangel's Blade by Nalini Singh

2012-01-25T14:26:00.000-08:00

Archangel's Blade by Nalini Singh

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Honor had been held captive by vampires for months before she was saved. Her captivity has left some serious scars on both her body and mind. Because of this she feels nowhere near ready to go out into the world, let alone work together with vampires to uncover a killer. Unfortunately, she is given little choice in the matter when the Tower calls demanding an expert who can identify some odd markings. Soon, Honor finds herself facing Dmitri, one of the oldest and most dangerous vampires in New York.

Well known for being brutal and cold hearted, Dmitri is a far cry from the man he used to be. Lately though, Dmitri has been finding it harder to bury the painful memories from his past. This doesn’t get easier when Honor shows up in his office. Her scars and behavior, remind Dmitri too much of what happened to his wife and family. However, never having been someone who could tolerate women and children brutalized, Dmitri takes over Honor’s case. Soon, both of them are working together to track down Honor’s abductors as well as discover who’s behind a rash of murders.

Now this is how an anti-hero book should be. Dmitri has always verged along the lines of being an antagonist in the series. In the first book, he seems fairly intent to kill Elena until the arch-angel Raphael nixes that. But even after that, his main role in the books seem be threatening to kill Elena if she shows any weaknesses. With this in mind, I wasn’t too thrilled to see him get his own book. I was worried that having him as the lead would destroy his character by making him suddenly all sunshine and bunnies or make him out to be such a huge ass that you just don’t understand why someone would fall for him. Luckily, I never felt that in this story. This book stays incredibly true to Dmitri's character, while at the same time making you want to see him get some happiness. Throughout the book, you feel like, in the other novels, you had only been seeing one side of the coin and I really enjoyed seeing the flip side.

The other reason why I was hesitant about reading this addition to the series is because reincarnation stories are not my bag. However, I really liked the way Singh did it in this book. She took a subtle approach to it that you don’t see too often. Throughout the story, you just kind of slowly assumed what Honor was. This was a huge relief, as it never forced a section of the plot to be about Honor trying to prove anything to Dmitri. That would’ve completely undermined the rest of the plot, which essentially centers on both characters slowly healing and coming to terms with past events in their lives.

And holy shit those events were horrendous. Singh really tortures both Dmitri and Honor in this book. What happened to Dmitri alone would make any of Sherrilyn Kenyon’s tortured heroes look like they had just been tickled by kittens. Luckily though, Singh never goes overboard with the details. What happened to both of the characters is revealed slowly, which made it much more palatable to read about than having it come up all at once.

All in all, this was a wonderful addition to the series. And I can’t wait for the next book which is going to be Jason’s.

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Eagerly Anticipating in 2012

2012-01-24T05:21:00.000-08:00

I figured I'd do a post to keep track of some of the books being released this year that I'm eagerly anticipating. This list will grow as the year progresses, but for now here are the books I'm looking forward to this year.

Release Date: Feb. 28th
This is a compilation of most of Nalini Singh's short stories for her Guild Hunter series. I'm pretty sure all of them, except for one, has been published before. I'm just excited that I won't have to spend the money buying all the individual anthologies for these stories.

Release Date: April 3rd
The third (and last?) book in James' FBI series. This one is Kyle "the twitter terrorist" Rhodes story. Can. Not. Wait!

Release Date:March 6th
This was originally supposed to be released in early Feb. but they pushed it back a month. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't get delayed again. I'm needing another Charles and Anna fix.

Release Date:July 10th
This is the second book in Harkness' All Souls Trilogy. I've been waiting almost over a freakin year for this book.

Release Date: May 29th
Riaz's story! I loved him in Play of Passion though I'm interested to see where Singh takes his story since he's convinced he's found his mate but she's already taken.

Books with Unreleased Covers:

Beacon in the Dark by Marjorie M. Liu Release Date: June 26th
A new series from Marjorie M. Liu!!!! Very excited to see what she does with this one.

Once Burned by Jeaniene Frost Release Date: June 26th
Jeaniene Frost is apparently creating a spin off series for Vlad from her Night Huntress series. Vlad's book has been eagerly anticipated by a lot of fans of the series, including me. It'll be interesting to see if the character can carry his own series.

Gunmetal Magic by Ilona Andrews Release Date: July 31st
Andrea's Book! I've quickly become a huge fangirl of this series. This one's already been pre-ordered.

Archangel's Storm by Nalini Singh Release Date: Sept. 13th
This will be Jason's book in the Guild Hunter series.

Untitled Guardian's Book by Meljean Brooks Release Date: Sometime this year
This one doesn't even have a release date or title yet, but I don't care. What matters is that it's Michael's book and it'll be released this year! So so excited, even if I'm a little sad to see this series coming to a close.

Lothaire by Kresley Cole

2012-01-22T05:29:00.000-08:00

Lothaire by Kresley Cole

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This series and I have a love/hate relationship. The world Cole has built for these books is pretty impressive and I love her mythology. However, the relationships that she places at the center of the stories are either a hit or miss for me. Because of this I was going to put off buying this book until it came out in paperback, but after reading so many rave reviews about it I decided to take a shot and spring for the hardcover version. Unfortunately, it turns out that I’m in the minority about my thoughts on this book.

Lothaire has found his Bride, the woman who brings his body back to life and is his destined mate. Unfortunately, two souls currently inhabit his Bride’s body. One is an evil goddess who lives for blood, violence, and all around evil deeds. The other is Ellie, a mortal hillbilly who is content to live on her family’s mountain. Naturally, Lothaire assumes that his Bride is the evil goddess and begins planning a way to exterminate Ellie’s soul from the body.

After waking up covered in other people’s blood, Ellie has decided that the only way to stop the goddess from murdering is to kill the body they share. The problem with this plan is that every time Ellie devises a way to kill herself Lothaire seems to know and pops up out of nowhere in order to stop her. After one close call, Lothaire decides that the safest place to keep an eye on Ellie is close by. So he hauls her off to his penthouse in New York where he plans on keeping her prisoner until he finds something to kill her soul.

So, this story basically ranks up there with the first book in the series for me. Meaning, I just really could not stand how the relationship between Ellie and Lothaire played out. One of my large problems is that I don’t usually enjoy stories where the hero takes the heroine captive and they fall in love. It typically ends up smacking too much of Stockholm syndrome for me. Despite that, I’ve read a couple captive heroine stories that I’ve enjoyed. This… was not one of those.

After taking Ellie captive, Lothaire pretty much immediately beings emotionally torturing her. He mocks, he sneers, he threatens her family, he laughs, they boink, he mocks, he has a violent episode, he sneers, and so on. All the while this is happening; Lothaire is hunting for a ring to kill Ellie’s soul. Eventually, he slowly begins to realize that Ellie might actually be his Bride and has tiny regretful moments concerning how he’s behaved around her, but then he goes straight back to being a douche. By the end of the book I hated his ass. I was actually hoping that Ellie would run off with Thad. Yeah, Lothaire had some really awful moments in his life and at first I did feel sympathy for what he went through. However, as the story progressed and he just kept getting worse, that sympathy pretty much died. He was horrendous to Ellie and he never really atoned for his actions. Yes, in the final ten pages he finally comes around but after about 300 pages of him being a total dickhead I needed a hell of a lot more from him to win me back over than what we got.

The saving grace for this book for me was Cole’s writing style and the heroine, Ellie. As I said before, I love Cole’s use of mythology in these books. I also have to give her huge kudos for writing most of these books as if they’re happening either at the same time as a previous book or almost right on top of each other. I imagine that takes some serious effort. But what really made this story for me was Ellie. Yes, she annoyed me at times with her feelings towards Lothaire and her constant back and forth about her emotions, but she had a serious backbone. Ellie knows how to take care of herself. The whole time she’s captive, she’s scheming ways to get out of her situation and goes toe to toe with Lothaire quite a bit. I loved that she didn’t back down, even when Lothaire is having a violent episode. At the end of the novel, I knew why Lothaire would develop feelings for Ellie, I just wish I could’ve seen more reasons why Ellie would develop them for Lothaire.

I would recommend this to people who are fans of the series, but I don’t think I would suggest reading this if haven't read quite a few of the others in the series.

On a side note, I really hope that the ending of this book indicates that the next in the series is going to be Kristoffs story! I have been chomping at the bit for his book.

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Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

2012-01-19T22:44:00.000-08:00

Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I really whipped through this whole series. I'll try to do a review for each of the books, but for now here's one from the first book in the Kate Daniels' series, Magic Bites. When we first meet Kate she isn't in a very good place in her life. She's drinking a little heavily and has isolated herself almost completely. She doesn't have any friends, because she fears they'll either find out what she is and use her or die on her. While in the midst of trying to get drunk on Boone's Farm, Kate receives news that her mentor, Greg, has been murdered. Greg was the closest thing to family that Kate had left, so she immediately launches herself into the investigation. Soon, Kate finds herself in the middle of a brewing war the shapeshifters and the organization that controls vampires.

I really loved this story. Kate grew over the course of the novel and Ilona has done some really interesting things with vampires and werewolves. Plus you got to love a lead character who has a sword named Slayer and the penchant for addressing it like its a living being.

The world building in the book was, at times, a little tedious. However, the world Ilona has created here is really fascinating. Its a unique take on a post-apocalyptic world. Instead of the destruction coming from a bomb or zombies, it comes from the re-emergence of magic. Technology is slowly being taken over by magic, this means that cars, phones, guns, etc aren't very reliable. It also means that all kinds of creatures from mythology are popping up. This is where Kate comes in, she's typically hired as a merc to take out various creatures terrorizing people. I really love this concept, I just wish that we could've seen Kate doing more merc work.

The only thing I was a little leery about was the Pack alpha, Curran. I knew he eventually becomes a love interest for Kate, but this book really portrayed him as a jackass. However, I did love how Kate never backed down from him and their snarky conversations were pretty amusing. One last comment, there are some really fantastic side characters here. I always love a series that takes just as much time fleshing out minor characters as they do the main.

I would recommend this book to fans of Kelley Armstrong and Laurell K. Hamilton.

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Dark Embers by Tessa Adams

2012-01-17T22:23:00.000-08:00

Dark Embers by Tessa Adams

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Dylan MacLeod is the leader of a clan of dragon shifters. Lately, members of his clan have been dropping like flies due to a mysterious disease. Desperate to save his people, Dylan decides to seek out human aid. His quest leads him to Dr. Phoebe Quillum, who is one of the top researchers looking for a cure to Lupus.

After receiving news that her grant money has been pulled, Phoebe is on a tight time constraint to finish up her research before money runs out. While in the middle of searching for funding, Phoebe is approached by Dylan. He's willing to pay her 3 million dollars to search for a cure to the disease killing off his people. At first, Phoebe is hesitant, but the combination of the thrill of researching a new disease and having enough money afterwards to continue her own research is too much temptation for her to resist. With reluctance, she agrees to Dylan's terms.

This was a really difficult book for me to get into. While the base story was interesting, the relationship between Dylan and Phoebe was kind of boring. Those two just didn't have very much personality and their background stories were hinted at but never really fleshed out within the book. This made Dylan's reluctance at wanting to keep Phoebe frustrating. Especially, when there was nothing given to show why he was so hesitant. For her part, Phoebe was a fairly interesting character. She was smart with her actions and didn’t let people push her around. However, I didn't appreciate her being punished for using a cool head in various situations. In fact, the climax of the story that was supposed to be her "big betrayal" just pissed me off. She acted smartly, and Dylan goes into a rage over it.

This brings me to my biggest problem with the book. The last sex scene is basically a rape scene. Highlight to read the spoiler for an explanation of the scene. Dylan is pissed at Phoebe for not telling him that she had speculations that another clan was the one killing off his dragons. She didn't say anything because she wanted proof before claiming something that may begin a war and put a ton of lives at risk. Smart, right? Instead of seeing this, Dylan blows up. He forcibly drags her to another room hurting her in the process. Then later that night comes back and finds Phoebe basically asleep. He’s still angry and decides to have sex with her. At first she’s with him, but then she changes her mind because his mood is too violent for her. That’s when this happens,

“For the first time, pain pierced the haze of pleasure that surrounded her, and again Phoebe struggled to get away. But he held her to him, careful not to hurt her despite his violent emotions and the heavy thrusts that brought him fully inside her…. The need to orgasm rose again, sharp, and insistent, and she tried to fight it. She didn’t want it—not like this. Not when Dylan was so angry with her…. But he didn’t give her a choice, and eventually her body betrayed her…. When it was over, he pulled out almost instantly and rolled away from her with a groan. He was asleep within moments, but she spent the rest of the night staring at the ceiling, tears leaking slowly down her face for all that they had found and lost” (271)

Then, to really drive it home,

“When she finally climbed out of bed the next morning, Phoebe was stiff, uncoordinated. Her body felt used, and not in a good way. She turned on the shower and then stared at herself in the mirror—at the marks Dylan had made on her last night, with his passion and his rage. There was a large bruise on her right shoulder from where he’d bitten her, a scratch on her right hip… Bruises ringed her wrists from where he’d kept her hands pinned against the bed…. She closed her eyes, barely able to look at the destruction- of her body and their relationship.” (272)

And one more disturbing quote about Phoebe’s emotions afterwards,

“…last night hadn’t been about desire or need or love or even hate. It had been about rage, about a fury so deep the only way he could express it was physically.” (272)

This scene completely killed the book for me. The number one thing that I cannot stand in books is rape scenes written under the guise of angry sex. What really pisses me off is that after this, the scene is never brought back up. It happens, the story moves on. What was the point? Dylan was just decimated as a likeable person. I don’t give a flying crap if he later saves her ass. I don’t care if he later saves the entire freakin’ world. If I hadn’t almost been done with this book, I would’ve put it down after that scene. But since there were about 50 pages left, I chugged on and just ended the book extremely pissed off.

A lot of people have enjoyed this book. I can see why, Adams has a smooth writing style. And her plot is fairly well fleshed out, which I haven’t really seen in a lot of the other paranormal erotics I’ve read. But that last 25 percent of the book… just cannot do it.

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Within the Flames by Marjorie M. Liu

2012-01-13T14:47:00.000-08:00

Within the Flames by Marjorie M. Liu

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After reading In the Dark of Dreams I was a little worried about going into this one. The previous book in this series, just didn’t really click with me. However, I was sucked into the story the moment I read the first line of, “A dragon slept beneath New York City.”

When she was twelve, Lyssa watched her parents murdered for their powers. Feared and cast out of the shapeshifter community because of her mother’s heritage, Lyssa has no one to turn to. In order to survive, she has been living on the streets hiding her erratic powers and avoiding others. However, the murder of the one person who knew what Lyssa was leads her parents’ killer straight to her, but it also sends Dirk and Steele pyrokinetic, Eddie, as well.

Eddie has always had trouble controlling his powers and his most recent flameout was caused by news that his sister’s killer has been released from jail for good behavior. He wants nothing more than to hunt down her murderer, but finds himself assigned with the task of finding and protecting Lyssa. Working with the gargoyle, Lannes, he discovers that Lyssa is not the helpless little lamb that they had been led to believe. Instead, he finds himself faced with a woman who everyone, Lannes included, seems to instinctively fear and hate. Soon enough, he finds himself the only one willing to help Lyssa take down her parents’ killer.

Eddie has been a reoccurring character in the series since the very first book, so I was pretty thrilled to see him get his own story. He hasn’t had it very easy, with his powers constantly flaring up and, once or twice, almost killing him. He also didn’t have a very great childhood, growing up with an abusive step-father and then living on the streets for a little while. What I loved about this, though, was how his past experiences made it easier for him to understand where Lyssa was coming from. He was understanding of her predicament, but also knew when to push at the walls she put up around herself.

Lyssa was another of Liu’s great heroines, but I think she was also one of the most vulnerable. Don’t misunderstand when I say vulnerable for lacking backbone though. The girl has some serious guts; she just has been on her own for a really long time and it shows. So, to have Eddie pop into her life and then refuse to abandon her, even with everyone saying that he should, both touches and scares her to death. She’s petrified that he’ll die either by her own hand or by the person who’s hunting her. Eddie, for his part though, is a stubborn mule and refuses to give in. I rather adore him.

One of the things that I really love about this series is how Liu incorporates her side characters into the series. She never makes them flat and when she brings in main characters from past books, it’s always to serve a purpose. She did that in this one with Lannes, the hero from The Wild Road. He was a pretty prominent figure in the story, but he wasn’t exactly the good guy in this book, which I just loved. He had reasons behind his motivations and seeing how much he feared and hated Lyssa highlighted just how prejudiced the paranormal community is against her. Because seriously? Lannes is such a sweet character that seeing animosity and distrust from him was pretty shocking.

My only complaint, which really isn’t a complaint but me pouting, is that Koni didn’t make an appearance in this book. I missed the crow shifter. He’s the character that I always look forward to seeing in these books. Since Eddie got his own book I’m hoping and praying that Liu will eventually give Koni his. And, after reading this story, I also kind of want to see Roland get more page time. He had a pretty kick ass moment here.

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Best of 2011

2012-01-10T16:00:00.000-08:00

2011 was a pretty fantastic reading year for me, so I thought I would do a best of 2011 list. The books on this list are not limited to ones that were published in 2011. Instead, all the books on this list are picked from the novels I read this year.

You know it's a good reading year when you find it hard to narrow down your favorites to just 10 books and even harder to find 10 books to fill up your worst list. That's the main reason why I'm not doing a worst list this year, like I have done in the past for this blog. With that said, here my top ten books read in 2011.

10 Best Books Read in 2011

10. In high school I was a huge Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan and Spike was among one of my favorite characters. So it comes as no real surprise at how much I loved this book. Its pretty clear that the hero, Bones, is based off of Spike from BtVS. However, Frost gave him enough original traits that the novel doesn't read like bad fan fiction. It also works well, because the world that Frost built isn't meant to resemble Sunnydale. Click Here to see full review.

9. Contemporary Romance author Julie James was the amazing find this year. After reading "Just the Sexiest Man Alive" I glommed her entire back-list immediately. Out of all her other books though, this is the one that stuck out the most to me. Taylor is a no non-sense lawyer who is intent on her career and gets pretty angry when she's forced to cater to Hollywood's Sexiest Man Alive. She becomes livid when said sexiest man blows her off after she had to completely rearrange her schedule for him. Taylor has a serious backbone and I loved her for it. She's not intimidated by the hero and doesn't back down from confrontations with him. Seriously if you haven't checked out a Julie James book yet, do it now. Click Here to see full review.

8. I have a deep affection for magic realism novels and this one hit all the right chords. I remember reading this book and thinking "This is what the book version of 'Practical Magic' should've been like." Claire Waverly has her life neatly laid out for herself. She has a good career and an aunt she loves talking to. So if she occasionally gets lonely, its not too bad. After all, its better to be feel a little lonesome every once in a while than to get attached to someone only to have them leave you. Its a lesson she learned well in her childhood. But things get mixed up when her wild sister re-enters her life needing help and the chance to start over. This was just a really wonderful story. Claire and her sister's slow transformation and growth was underscored with small threads of magic that just made this story... enchanting.

7. This is one of those books that, after I finished it, I sat there wondering "How in the hell hasn't this series gotten more attention?" Wilks has that gritty writing style that I loved in the early Anita Blake books by Laurell K. Hamilton. Wilks has created a world where paranormal creatures are known about to the general public, but there's a lot of animosity and deeply seated prejudices held between humans and non-humans. Throughout the novel there's a lot of political tension surrounding a bill that, if it passes, will allow non-humans equal rights. I loved that Wilks integrated so much tension stemming from these outside forces into this novel. I also really liked that she didn't confine prejudices and ambivalent feelings to the "evil" or supporting characters. A lot of the main characters carried some deeply seated prejudices, which made it really interesting to watch them struggle and grow as the story progressed. If you liked the early Anita Blake series, definitely check this series out. Click Here to see full review.

6. This novel was my introduction to steampunk and I loved every minute of it. The world Carriger has built up here is really fascinating. Steampunk with werewolves and vampires trying to fit in with the London ton? Yes, please! The heroine, Alexia Tarabotti, was the real show stealer though. Alexia is soulless. This means she's a rare and feared member of the paranormal community, because she can negate any supernatural creature's power by just touching them. What really made her a great character though is how practical and witty she is. The book opens with Alexia berating a vampire, who is attacking her, for being rude and interrupting her meal. Alexia really reminded me of Amelia Peabody from Elizabeth Peters' books. There's also a really sweet romance threaded throughout the narrative between Alexia and London's werewolf alpha. Click Here to view full review.

5. Out of all the books I read this year this was the one that surprised me the most with just how much I enjoyed it. I picked it up on a recommendation from a professor and couldn't put it back down. This is going to be an epic trilogy. My only complaint is having to wait a year in-between the books. While researching at the Oxford library, Diana Bishop, slowly notices an abundance of supernatural creatures roaming about the library near her. They seem to watching and waiting for her to do something. Even though she doesn't know what. Slowly Diana finds herself in the midst of a brewing war between vampires, witches, and demons. Like I said, this was a pretty epic novel. The atmosphere and the work that went into the mythology in the storyline was pretty impressive. I can't wait to see where Harkness takes this trilogy.

4. This series by Singh is really blowing me away. I haven't given any of the books in this series under a 5 star rating yet. Elena is hunter-born, which means that she was born with the power to track vampires. She uses this ability to capture vampires who have gone rogue from their Angels' and return them for a fee. This ability is put to the test when the arch-angel of New York hires her for a hunt she probably won't live through. The world Singh has built here is just awesome. Angels rule the world, but they're not the cherubic do-gooders of mythology. They're pretty brutal and have nothing to do with religion. They make and control vampires, who then live as indentured servants to them for 100 years. Elena is a kick ass heroine. She's a strong leading character who's confident in her abilities, but insecure about letting too many people get close. She's also pretty messed up from her a traumatizing childhood experience. Just love this series. If you haven't read this yet, pick it up.

3. I'm a huge fan of Ms. Armstrong's urban fantasy books, but I went into this one with a bit of trepidation. An assassin/mystery-ish book? I wasn't sure I'd be able to get into it. But, of course, I should've had more faith in Armstrong. This book sucked me in left me salivating for the next in the series. Nadia Stafford is an ex-cop turned hit-man. After ruining her career as a cop, due to a bad decision, Nadia fell into the assassin business to make ends meet. She's particular about the cases she takes, because of this most would call her a vigilante. So, when she's presented the chance to take down a serial killer cutting a swath through the East coast, she jumps at the chance. Like I said, I loved this book. Nadia was a pretty awesome heroine and I loved her complicated relationship with her mentor. So far, there's only two books in this series, but Ms. Armstrong said that she plans on writing at least one more in order to tie up loose ends. I really, really hope she does. Click Here to see full review.

2. I adore this series by Marjorie M. Liu. This installment in the series, however, was incredible. It was more intense than some of the other books and had me sitting on the edge of my seat the whole time. The heroine, Rikki, is a virus hunter who has been called down to the Congo to investigate an outbreak that has been killing off entire villages. While investigating the virus, Rikki becomes the target of an organization who wants her for the information she has. This forces Rikki into fleeing through the Congo's jungle with two men, Eddie and Amiri, who claim they were hired to keep her safe. This was definitely a thriller. The scenes involving Rikki hiding and running in the jungle with Amiri and Eddie were creepy and intense. Seriously, read this one now. Click Here to read full review.

1. Brigg's Alpha and Omega series is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. The slowly evolving relationship between Anna and Charles is just so touching. Anna, the heroine, was heavily abused by her previous pack. Even after being rescued by the merrick and his son, Charles, she's extremely leery around other werewolves. This includes Charles, who is her mate. Charles, for his part, is trying his best to make Anna comfortable and earn her trust. However, a spurt of recent attacks near their home forces them into an investigation and hunt. I adore that the romantic relationship in this story doesn't hinge on a love triangle and instead focuses on Charles and Anna dealing with their own demons. The mystery surrounding the attacks and action of the two of them hunting the perpetrator through the snowy woods is just awesome. If you like Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series you'll love this one.

An Unexpected Gentleman by Alissa Johnson

2012-01-08T23:07:00.000-08:00

An Unexpected Gentleman by Alissa Johnson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Dear Historical Romance,

This, I fear, is where we will have to part ways. But I assure you, it's not you, it's me. If there was any member of your genre that could convince me of this it's Alissa Johnson. She had a lovely writing style that reminded me a lot of Lisa Kleypas' novels. I fully believe that if I had read this a couple years ago, I would've loved it.

The hero of the story, Connor Brice, is hellbent on revenge against his half brother, Sir Robert. The first step in his revenge? Steal Sir Robert's fiancee, Adelaide Ward. The fact that Miss Ward is the same woman Connor had been fascinated with, while sitting in prison, is just a bonus. For her part, Adelaide is trapped. She doesn't want to marry the condescending Sir Robert but her brother's gambling habit has left her with little choice. Its either marry Sir Robert for his 5,000 pounds a year or go to the poor house with her little sister and nephew in tow. Things begin to spin out of control though when Connor interferes with her plans and Adelaide gets sucked even further into the brothers' game of revenge.

See what I mean? Johnson has a pretty interesting revenge plot going on here. Connor's drive and focus on his revenge is believable and I felt Sir Robert needed to be taken down a peg or two. The guy was horrible. Poor Adelaide just has the misfortune of getting swept up in the tide of the two brothers' animosity. So then, what was my problem? The elimination of Adelaide's choices and power. Was she given the choice between Sir Robert and Connor? Yes. Is this more than what the typical historical romances with compromised heroines get? Yes. But honestly, she still didn't really get a decision. Sir Robert was painted so horribly that Adelaide would've been committing suicide if she chose him. Connor, however, wasn't painted much better. He manipulated her just as badly as Sir Robert. The only thing that saved him was that he had been attracted to her before he found out she was Sir Robert's fiancee. And you know, wasn't abusive.

Adelaide herself was a pretty good HR heroine. She was practical, smart, and didn't take much crap from Connor. Yet she fell into the innocent virgin heroine trope that I so loathe. Yes, it's so integrated into the genre that it's practically a requirement but I was still annoyed with her naivete about sex. I ended up skipping the sex scene between Connor and her, because I just wasn't interesting in reading another HR deflowering scene where the more experienced hero shows the heroine the ropes.

So you see? It's not you, it's me. This book has a wonderful hero and heroine, a fairly original plot, and some great supporting characters. Most of my problems stemmed from the tropes in the genre. So this is where I fear we will have to part ways. I would recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys Elizabeth Hoyt and Lisa Kleypas. Johnson has a writing style that fans of those two authors will enjoy immensely.

Much Love,
Sam

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100 Books in a Year Challenge- Progress

2012-01-08T17:52:00.000-08:00

Timeline: 01 Jan 2012 - 31 Dec 2012

Rules: Read 100+ Books in 2012

Below is my progress for this challenge. I read 150 books last year so I'm actually shoot for 200 this year.

2012 Reading Challenge

Samantha has

read 7 books toward her goal of 200 books.

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7 of 200 (3%)

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Mystery Suspense Reading Challenge 2012- Progress

2012-01-08T17:46:00.000-08:00

Timeline: 1st Jan 2012 ~ 31st Dec 2012

Rules: There are TWO LEVELS you can choose from:

- Read TWELVE (12) mystery & suspense novels in 2012
- Read TWENTY FOUR (24) mystery & suspense novels in 2012

I'll be aiming for level one: read 12 mystery/suspense novels in 2012.
Below is my progress so far.

January

Urban Fantasy Reading Challenge 2012- Progress

2012-01-08T17:28:00.000-08:00

Timeline: 01 Jan 2012 - 31 Dec 2012

Rules: To read TWENTY FOUR (24) or FORTY EIGHT (48) horror & urban fantasy novels in 2012

I'll be going for 24 books read in the horror and urban fantasy genre this year.
Below is my progress so for with the challenge.

JANUARY

1.Magic Bites by Ilone Andrews

New Authors 2012 Reading Challenge- Progress

2012-01-08T16:39:00.000-08:00

Timeline: 01 Jan 2012 - 31 Dec 2012

Rules: Pick 15, 25 or 50 new authors
To Join the Challenge Click Here

I'm shooting for 50 New to me authors

Below are the books I've read for this challenge so far:

2012-new-author-challenge book

Samantha's favorite books »

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Speculative Romance Reading Challenge 2012- Progress

2012-01-08T16:20:00.000-08:00

Speculative Romance Challenge!

Timeline: 01 Jan 2012 - 31 Dec 2012

Rules: There are FOUR (4) LEVELS to choose from:

• One Sexy Demon: Read 6 Speculative Romance novels in 2012
• Two Sexy Werewolves: Read 12 Speculative Romance novels in 2012
• Three Sexy Vampires: Read 18 Speculative Romance novels in 2012
• Four Sexy Archangels: Read 24 Speculative Romance novels in 2012

I'm going to go for Four Sexy Archangels.
Below are the books I've read to complete this challenge so far.

JANUARY

1. Within Flames by Marjorie M. Liu (click here to read my review)
2. Must Love Hellhounds by Various (click here to read my review)
3. Frostbound by Sharon Ashwood
4. Truth or Demon by Kathy Love (click here to read my review)
5. Blood Lines by Eileen Wilks
6. Play of Passion by Nalini Singh

The Last Twilight by Marjorie M. Liu

2012-01-07T19:52:00.000-08:00

The Last Twilight by Marjorie M. Liu

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Just when I think this series can't get any better, Liu puts one out like this. This was an action packed thriller that had me sitting at the edge of my seat several times.

Rikki is a virus hunter doing work in the Congo, because of her past she unknowingly becomes the target of two men who want information from her. Both want her alive and are willing to go to extreme measures to ensure that she's taken captive.

Rikki was a pretty kick ass character. She's emotionally and psychically scarred which has caused her to take a rather jaded outlook on life. But despite her pragmatic approach to things you can still tell she's a rather compassionate person. She's also no slouch in a pinch, despite being a human character among the supernatural. This is one of the things that I adore about Liu's books. Her heroines come across as real people. They have issues, but they're willing to do what they have to in order to survive. For instance, when Rikki is cornered by a bad guy in the beginning she stabs him in the eye with a freakin syringe in order to get away. That's ballsy man.

Because a bunch of men want Rikki, her boss has hired Dirke & Steele to be her body guards. Amiri, a cheetah shifter, and Eddie a guy who can light things on fire with his mind are dispatched for the job. Amiri and Rikki both have some interesting pasts and as they get to know each other you know exactly why feel a connection with each other. They know how to relate to what has happened to the other and its wonderful to see a relationship in a romance where you completely understand why the two characters are drawn to each other.

One of the things that made this story so compelling for me was the Congo setting. The majority of the action is our heroes running for their lives through the jungle with two different pursuers on their tail. It really added to the suspense, because they were isolated with not way of contacting anyone who might be able to help them. The jungle also added a level of creepiness in the "forest has eyes" kind of way. I just loved it.

My only regret about this book is that I haven't read the series in order. I was all over the place with these books, reading the ones that sounded the most interesting to me first. While these can be read as stand alones, there's a story arc that runs through the whole series. Some of the nuances of that arc were lost on me as I've read the stories out of order. I usually have to stop and think about what's happened or has yet to happen in the story in order to center myself. So I would say if you can, read these books in order.

I would highly recommend this book for anyone looking for an action packed urban fantasy with a strong love story threaded through it.

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Eternal Kiss of Darkness by Jeaniene Frost

2012-01-07T19:50:00.000-08:00

Eternal Kiss of Darkness by Jeaniene Frost

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book probably would've gotten only 3 stars if it hadn't been for Mencheres. Mmm Mencheres, you sexy sexy pharaoh. This is his book which follows the romance he develops with Kira, a private investigator. Mencheres has grown weary of life and has started putting into action the means for him to commit vampire suicide. At least that's his plan until Kira stumbles into his life.

Like I said, this would have been a really boring book if it hadn't been for Mencheres and eventually Vlad popping up in the story. I felt Kira was way too "mary-sue" for Mencheres. I loved that she was portrayed as level headed and strong, but nothing about her was interesting. She had no grief about her past, despite being abused by her ex-husband. She selflessly devotes a large chunk of her income and time towards her dying sister, and just has no emotional settings except for acceptance and concern. She found out vampires existed and was like "oh okay". In fact, that was basically her reaction to everything in this book. "Oh Mencheres you can fly? I guess that's okay." "Oh, some bad ass vampire is framing you and trying to force you into killing yourself and giving him your power? Well, okay then." HIGHLIGHT TO VIEW SPOILER"Oh! You're being forced to kill me and make me into a vampire and I have no say in the matter? Hmmm okay. I won't even be upset when I wake up." I mean holy crap lady, have a reaction about something that's happening around you!

Other than that, the story was okay. As always, I love a Chicago setting and a large chunk of the book takes place in that area. And the conflict between Mencheres and his uncle throughout this story was interesting. I also really loved Mencheres penchant for water. Mencheres + bubble baths? Yes please. I just really really wish that he had been paired with a more interesting female character. I would recommend this to fans Frost's Night Huntress series. I think that without having a familiarity with the characters from the other books some of the charm might be lost from this story.

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And One Last Thing... by Molly Harper

2012-01-07T19:48:00.000-08:00

And One Last Thing ... by Molly Harper

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

One botched florist delivery leads Lacey Terwillger to the discovery that she's become a cliché. Her husband, Mike, is cheating on her with his secretary. To top it off, it seems that she's just about the last person in town to find out. Even more humiliating is that everyone seems to have assumed that she knew because it “seemed so obvious.”

Outraged, Lacey decides to leave Mike, but not before she does one last thing. Using his company's monthly newsletter, Lacey writes down the details of her husband's affair and just how much of an asshat he is. Unfortunately, her bit of revenge backfires in her face. Yes, Mike is humiliated but he's also suing her for defamation. To make problems even worse, the newsletter has become an internet sensation making Lacey the most infamous woman in town.

In light of all the media attention and the negative reactions from the locals, Lacey slips off to her grandma's lake house. There she finds the quiet that she needs to recover from the 8 years of her life that she wasted trying to be the perfect corporate wife.

This was an interesting departure from Harper's paranormal romances. It has Harper’s usual humorous and light tone, but carries a more chick-lit vibe than romance. Yes, there is a romance between Lacey and her neighbor, Monroe, but it’s really a side plot to Lacey trying to navigate her life as she goes through the divorce.

Lacey was a strong narrator and I'm glad she didn't succumb to the urge to mope or bemoan her life. She was active in getting herself back on her feet and didn’t rely on others to pull her out of the divorce. I also liked that she didn’t immediately fall head over heels for her neighbor. It was a slow process that had them becoming friends first and even after that Lacey was hesitant about getting into another relationship. I also loved that Monroe was understanding and respectful of Lacey's decisions concerning their relationship.

What I really didn't like is how Lacey's husband was handled in the story. In the beginning, Mike was portrayed as a neglectful and cheating husband more concerned with his status in the community than his relationships with people. This was fine and more than enough reason for me to understand Lacey’s decision to leave him. But as the story progresses, Lacey has several flashback memories of Mike and recalls certain facts that paints him as a control freak and potential emotional abuser. A couple of examples: he monitors who she can and cannot be friends with, tries to cut her off from family members he deems unsuitable, and tells her that she can't get a job because it would "send the wrong impression" despite the fact that she clearly wanted to work. Yet, all this is brushed off by Lacey rationalizing it away which basically consists of her mostly blaming herself. Seriously? Not cool. This put a serious damper on the book for me. Yes, Lacey is happy at the end, but I really did not like her mental process while coming to terms with her relationship in contrast to these memories. I think Harper was trying to make it clear that Mike was a jerk, but she went a little too overboard for me. I would've much preferred it if she had just stuck with Mike just being a cheating status climber.

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Truth or Demon by Kathy Love

2012-01-07T19:46:00.000-08:00

Truth Or Demon by Kathy Love

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I find that I enjoy Love's books the most when I'm emotionally drained. That's usually the time that I want a low drama book that will still hold my attention. Love is pretty good for this, yet I almost always end up criticizing her for having too little drama. So... I'm a bit of a hypocrite. Especially, since the near zero drama going on in this story was one of main complaints.

With that said, the plot. Killian is a demon minding his own business down in hell when suddenly he finds himself standing in the middle of a girls' slumber party. The girls in question had been messing around with a spell that would summon a demon to grant the caster's wish. The wish was that Daisy's older sister, Poppy, would find a boyfriend. If Killian ever wants to return home, he has to grant this wish. Only problem is that Poppy doesn't seem too interested in dating and there's another demon breathing down Killian's neck about him being MIA for so long.

This was a really light and humorous story, but there's not much going on. A couple of minor issues pop up over the course of the book but they're dealt with fairly quick. For instance, Poppy's ex-boyfriend? No prob, everyone will just sit down to a nice dinner where Poppy can feel better about herself. Demon with a vendetta against Killian? Meh, the will take Devil take care of him off screen.

With the little problems like those two, I didn't mind that they were resolved rather quietly. But I did mind when the biggest issue of the story was handled with the same quiet fizzling out. I mean come on. Killian is a demon and Poppy doesn't know it. Yet they start a relationship. So I'm sitting there expecting some kind of blow out to eventually happen. When Poppy finds out what Killian is, I'm expecting her to flip out and feel betrayed, scared, or seriously confused. What happens though? HIGHLIGHT TO VIEW SPOILER Nothing. She just automatically accepts everything. There's no freaking out that he works for the Devil. There's no turmoil over the fact that she probably can't trust what he's been telling her. Or even the fact that her little sister summoned a demon. I mean come on! Your little sister is practicing witch craft and it worked! How does that not cause some sort of reaction? Instead, Killian returns from hell... because her little sister did another spell. And she falls into his arms, they profess their love. The End. This was just way too neat of a wrap up for the story. I mean I know its supposed to be a light paranormal, but still.

My only other problem was how "average joe" Killian was. That really bothered me considering that Killian is supposed to be a demon. Because really if you remove his mild psychic abilities, Killian is just some large dude.

With all my negative comments though, Love has an easy and light writing style that sucks you in. And in all fairness I'll probably eventually pick up the other novel by her I have sitting on my TBR pile. I would recommend this to someone looking for a really light and really fluffy paranormal.

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Must Love Hellhounds by Various Authors

2012-01-07T19:40:00.000-08:00

Must Love Hellhounds by Charlaine Harris

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Brittingens Go to Hell by Charlaine Harris~
Didn't read this installment in the book. I've tried to read Harris in the past but could never really get into her. So I decided to skip this one.

Angels' Judgment by Nalini Singh~ 4/5
This is a short prequel story to Singh's Guild Hunter series. It features Sara Haziz right before she decides to accept the Guild Hunter director job. Its basically a "how they met" story about how Sara and her husband, Deacon, got together. I pretty much loved this story.

Sara and Deacon are assigned the job of finding out who is behind a spurt of vampire slayings in the area. Signs point towards it being a hunter who has gone rogue. However, things begin to get complicated when one of the archangels decides to test the potential new guild director.

Like most of the things I've read from Singh, this was pretty fabulous. However, places felt a little rushed. Singh had several good plot threads going that could've easily carried a book length story. Great installment for fans of the series.

Magic Mourns by Ilona Andrews~ 3/5
This story is the one I bought the book for. I've been wanting to get into Andrew's Kate Daniels series but I wanted to do a trail run first. So I decided to start with this short story which is set in the same world.

Andrea Nash works for the Knights of Merciful Aid and has been taking care of things while Kate recovers from an injury. After receiving a call about an enormous dog terrorizing a shifter, Andrea heads out to investigate. What she finds is Raphael, a hyena shifter, being chased by a three headed dog the size of a house. The Cerberus is there because someone stole the body of a person who worshiped Hades. Now Andrea and Raphael have to find out who, why, and how to get rid of the giant dog.

I was pretty pleased with this. The setting and characters were interesting. I enjoyed the dystopian-ish tone of the story. It was also nice to see that Andrews has crafted a world with strong female characters. The only reason why I'm giving it a 3 is because it lagged in some areas for me, but I'll definitely be checking out Magic Bites.

Blind Spot by Meljean Brook~ 3.5/5
I've only read one book so far in Brook's Guardians series, so I was excited to read a short story set in the same world. One thing I have to say about Brook is that she has a pretty dense writing style. She packs a lot of depth into her stories and I love that.

Blind Spot features Maggie "Winters" Wren as she tries to track down Colin's, her employer, kidnapped niece. First, however, she has to retrieve Geoff, Colin's nephew. Geoff is blind, but has the ability to see through other people's eyes. He had been using his talent in an attempt to find his sister until he was attacked and chained to a heat register. After being rescued by Maggie, Geoff makes a deal that has them working together to find his sister.

Great short story. Geoff was an interesting character and I enjoyed his ability. However, Maggie really stole the show for me in this one. She reminded me of Jeeves from P.G. Wodehouse's novels if he had been a trained assassin. Pretty kick-ass if you ask me. Can't wait to read more from this series

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Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

2012-01-07T19:38:00.000-08:00

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

1999. The year of Y2K craziness and before everyone and their mother had portable computers and almost constant access to the internet. With technology taking off, most companies began scrambling to find ways to monitor their employees' computer activity. Fear of slacking off at work and using company time for illicit things made many employers hire IT people to monitor the worker's online activity.

Lincoln is one of those IT people. His job consists of basically three things; reading red flagged e-mails, fixing the occasional computer problem, and being bored out of his mind. He hates his job. The late hours and reading other people's e-mails makes him feel like a voyeuristic troll. Despite his aversion to the job, he can't help but enjoy reading the red flagged e-mail exchanges between Jennifer and Beth.

Beth is a quick-witted movie critic and Jennifer is a paranoid editor who works at the local Iowa newspaper. They e-mail each other constantly throughout the work day about their personal lives and office gossip. The story alternates between Lincoln's story and the e-mails between Beth and Jennifer. Lincoln eventually develops a crush on Beth despite never having seen her and eventually travels topside in the company to try to figure out which of the reporters she is.

This is a pretty sweet story. I was a little leery about it at first since the plot sounded like it could venture into creepy stalker territory. However, luckily I never got that vibe from Lincoln. His interest in Beth always just felt like a crush you'd get on an oblivious co-worker. The e-mail reading was handled really well.

Lincoln was definitely the highlight of this story for me. Still reeling from his break-up with his longtime girlfriend, Lincoln took the job in the IT department thinking of it as something temporary until he figured out what to do with his life. Incredibly shy, Lincoln has a hard time branching out and meeting new people. He has his small group of friends and family that he keeps close, but otherwise isolates himself from the rest of the world. Throughout the novel, we get to see him build up his confidence and find direction in life.

In contrast to Lincoln, is Beth who is outgoing and doing a job she loves. We only get to know Beth through her e-mails with Jennifer. At times throughout the story, this annoyed me. While I enjoyed the e-mails, I wanted to know more about Beth and Jennifer than what you could get through their correspondence. Both of their characters were great and I got sucked into their individual stories. Beth with her emotionally unavailable musician boyfriend and Jennifer's paranoia about getting pregnant. I would have liked to have see a couple of chapters from their points of view interspersed throughout the novel.

All in all, this was a pretty fast and light read. I would recommend it to people who enjoyed Bridget Jones's Diary, Meg Cabot's non-young adult books, and Jennifer Crusie.

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The Goblin King by Shona Husk

2012-01-07T19:35:00.000-08:00

The Goblin King by Shona Husk

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Why did I read this? Well...

Yeah, I read this mostly because the title reminded me of Labyrinth. Was the book like that movie? No... well except for the part about the Goblin King granting wishes and abducting a woman. But that's about as far as the similarities go.

Centuries ago, Roan, a king, was cursed by a Druid who believed that he had sold out to Rome. The curse banished Roan and all his men to the Shadowlands where their souls would slowly wither until they turned into goblins. Only Roan and his brother, Dai, have managed to survive the curse to present day but each feels that their days are numbered.

In the "Fixed Realm" aka: modern day reality, Eliza is trapped, by blackmail, in an engagement with a sociopath. After getting drunk off her ass at her birthday party she remembers an old fairytale her mother used to tell her about the Goblin King and calls him. Roan answers the call and promptly decides to kidnap Eliza. A lot of back and forth between the Shadowlands and the Fixed Realm ensue.

It was so refreshing to see mythology outside of vampires, werewolves, and fae used in a paranormal romance. Husk was not afraid to make her goblins ugly and terrifying looking. The mythology Husk uses about the Shadowlands as well as the goblins was interesting and I'll be excited to see where she takes this as the series progresses.

Roan and Dai were pretty great characters. However, Dai definitely stole the show for me. The only big problem I had was that Eliza fell a little flat for me. She had the potential to be really interesting and to eventually grow as a character and get herself out of the shitty relationship she was in but instead (HIGHLIGHT TO VIEW SPOILER) Roan ended up fixing it for her. She was also too reactionary throughout the novel. Events happened to her and all around her but she never took initiative to do anything by herself under her own motivation. Something would happen and she would just sort of go with the flow.

I have to say that I went into this novel with rather low expectations and am pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the story. I look forward to reading the next installment in the series which is going to be Dai's story.

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2012-01-07T19:33:00.000-08:00

Tempting Danger by Eileen Wilks

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wonderful start to a series! The tone of this book reminded me of a cross between the early Anita Blake series(the first book is: Guilty Pleasures) and Patricia Briggs' Alpha & Omega series (Cry Wolf).

Someone is trying to frame Rule Turner and homicide cop Lily Yu is the lead detective on the case. Things complicate the case when Lily finds out she's Turner's chosen mate. Wilks takes does an interesting take on the fate mate trope. Turner and Lily do not automatically fall in love in fact Lily tends to feel trapped by the mate bond. Especially since there's a lot about it that she doesn't understand. So like in Briggs' series, there's a lot of trust to be built and the romance is very slow burning.

I also enjoyed the grittiness of the world that Wilks has built in this series. Like in Hamilton's series the supernatural community is integrated within the human world. But there's a lot of conflict and prejudice between the two. This book takes place at a cross roads where its no longer legal to brand shifters or shoot them on sight, but there's still not many laws that protect them and people still largely fear anything not human. Its an interesting set-up for the novels and I can't wait to continue reading about Lily and Rule in the rest of the series.

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Simply Irresistible by Jill Shalvis

2012-01-07T19:29:00.000-08:00

Simply Irresistible by Jill Shalvis

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I picked this one up because I had been hearing so many good things about it. However, I could not get into this book. The story begins with Maddie, the heroine, just getting out of an abusive relationship and being fired from her job. On top of that, her mother has just died. Said mother left her and her estranged sisters in care of a dilapidated inn. Maddie immediately latches onto the idea of fixing the inn up and reopening it. But there's the problem of not having the money to do the necessary repairs and the fact that her sisters all want to sell it.

While there is a lot of time spent around talking about fixing the inn and arguing about selling it, it's not really the important part of the plot. In fact, the majority of that time just felt like filler or a plot device used for the unveiling of the "big deception" that was the climax. In fact, highlight to see spoilerI can't for the life of me remember what the sisters decided to do with it after a fire destroys most of it. Did they decide to rebuild or do something else with the land? No idea it's definitely not the main focus of the plot.

The main story revolves around Maddie's relationship with local good guy, Jax. I will admit that Jax was one of the highlights of this story. His character was interesting and I enjoyed his relationship with the locals. However, his relationship with Maddie was just a little too immediate for me. She had just gotten out of an abusive relationship, lost her mother, and lost her job. Yet almost the second she steps foot into town her and Jax have their hands all over each other and its the focus of most of her thoughts. But okay, I could've handled this if Maddie was an interesting character. Unfortunately, she's a rather flat character. One of my biggest pet peeves in books are heroines who are so sweet and sacrificing that they would make Snow White look evil. And that's the vibe that I got from Maddie. There were no edges to her personality and that really detracted from her character.

The other large issue I had with this book was how contrived the relationship between the sisters felt. All of them have hardly spoken for years and there was clearly a lot of animosity between them during those years; yet within an hour of being together they all seemed like BFFs. This combined with how much time the author spent on establishing each of them made it painfully obvious that Shalvis had plans on writing sequels for each of the sisters and was setting that up by including various tidbits about each of them.

Despite all my gripes with the book, I did enjoy the setting a lot. The winter East coast setting was nice as was the small town. However, I highly doubt that I'll be continuing with this series.

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Lightning that Lingers by Sharon Curtis

2012-01-07T19:24:00.000-08:00

Lightning that Lingers: by Sharon Curtis

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a fun and quick read if you're in the mood for a corny 80's romance. And when I say 80's I mean the time period that this book was written in is extremely apparent. I was having some serious flashbacks with all the pop culture references from that time period. Picturing all the characters in typical 80's fashion combined with actual plot of the book made for a pretty damn amusing read.

Phillip is a stripper with a heart of gold. No I'm not kidding. The book features Phillip, a blue blood, who has turned to stripping so he can save nature. The land on which Phillip's family home rests is apparently a hotbed for all kinds of furry creatures and he has made it his life's goal to keep that land out of the hands of evil developers. Even if, to do so, he has to shimmy around naked in front of a lot of women. One night, while shimmying, Phillip spots a woman in the crowd who clearly does not want to be there. Enter Jennifer, the most timid and annoying character ever. Phillip is immediately intrigued and proceeds to ask her out the next day. Jennifer has a stick up her arse at first about dating a stripper but eventually says yes. Hijinks ensue.

This is a just a fun book. You have to do a lot of overlooking in it though. I had to ignore Jennifer for a lot of the book. She was one of the typical uber-sweet and innocent heroines that often get on my nerves. I hate when authors don't give their female protagonists' any edges. Phillip was a fun character even if he was a little pathetic in his own right. I mean come on, he chose to strip because it was the only open avenue to him? Please. The guy's family was rich, that comes with a certain amount of connections. Plus, he has a freakin PhD. You can't tell me that he couldn't get a job somewhere and just ask one of his friends to make sure no one screwed around with his property while he was away. But like I said, this was an entertaining book. And I'll admit it got some bonus points for the Phillip having a pet owl named Chaucer.

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A Taste of Crimson by Marjorie M. Liu

2012-01-07T19:22:00.000-08:00

A Taste of Crimson by Marjorie M. Liu

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Marjorie M. Liu could write a phone book and I would gobble that stuff up. This is one of those odd series were multiple authors write for it. I don't really have any plans of reading the other books in the series, but this one stands well on its own.

There's a war brewing between vampires, werewolves, and humans. If the war happens humans will have the upper hand. The only way to prevent a massacre is for vampires and werewolves to form some kind of alliance. The problem is that there are some deep prejudices running between the two races. Despite the mistrust and hatred, the vampire and werewolf clans have decided to start negotiating on peace treaty. But several vampire murders threaten to end that treaty when it looks like a werewolf is the one doing the killing. In an attempt to save the negotiations our heroes, Michael and Keeli, team up to find out who the murderer is. Keeli the the granddaughter of the leader of the werewolves and Michael is the vampires' executioner. This combined with his past also makes him an outcast among his kind. Together they have to solve the mystery, while also deal with the fallout of their working together.

Keeli and Michael's relationship was really interesting to watch progress. I loved that the conflicts of them working together and eventually having a relationship aren't pushed aside. The only thing I didn't like is how quickly they fell in love. Its only a matter of days before they start declaring their love. That's a pretty huge leap considering how in their world that could mean the death of their social standings and possibly their lives.

Other than that this was a really great read. I only wish the ending didn't seem so rushed. I would've liked to have seen more of what happened to Keeli and Michael after they found out who the murderer was.

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Desire Unchained by Larissa Ione

2012-01-07T19:19:00.000-08:00

Desire Unchained by Larissa Ione

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Wow, talk about a huge change in rating from the first book to the second. This one left a rather foul taste in my mouth.

Shade is a incubus demon who was cursed by an angry warlock when he caught Shade diddling his wife. The curse is set to activate when Shade falls in love. When this happens he is doomed to fade into nothing becoming a kind of tormented ghost. So, Shade has spent his life avoiding any kind of romantic attachments in fear of activating the curse. Which has apparently given him license to be a complete ass.

The story starts with Shade waking up in dungeon that he shares with an extremely pissed off female werewolf named Runa. Runa, our heroine, reveals that she had dated Shade for a couple of months and it ended badly. This is where my problem started with the book. Its no spoiler to tell you that Shade cheated on Runa since its talked about in the couple of chapters. Runa came to Shade's apartment one day to find him in the middle of screwing two women. This definitely set the tone of the story for me. I absolutely cannot stand cheating heroes in books. Its one of my biggest pet peeves. I muscled through the rest of this book mostly because of how much I had enjoyed the first one. The only reason why this book is getting two stars from me is because I enjoyed the subplots going on. Otherwise, Shade and Runa's relationship just pissed me off. I didn't really like Shade. He cheated on Runa and was plotting to kill her through most of the book to save his own hide. And he did nothing to redeem himself. There was barely even an "I'm sorry" involved. Runa spent a very short time hating him and then she suddenly switched to professing her undying love and devotion. Girl needs to grow a stronger backbone and Shade needs a swift kick to the balls.

Anyway, Wraith's story is next in the series. I'll be picking it up mostly because I had it ordered before I read this one. Hopefully, its closer to being like Pleasure Unbound than this one.

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Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh

2012-01-07T19:17:00.000-08:00

Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've had this one on my TBR pile for years, but it never seemed to interest me enough to actually pick it up. That was until I read a short story by Singh and was captivated by the world she's built for her characters. Main reason I was so drawn to this? Because its like Star Trek technology minus the space travel and aliens but with shifters and psychics who seem to resemble an extreme version of Vulcans. Confused? I'll explain.

The series has a futuristic setting where there are three known races co-existing on earth. There's the humans, changelings, and the Psy. The changelings are shifters who can change into a certain animal. While the Psy are strong psychics who have killed off their emotions in order to live a very logical and cerebral existence. Since emotions don't play a part in their lives, the Psy are known for being ruthless and cold. Any Psy who displays an emotion or breaks uniformity gets the psychic equivalent of a lobotomy. This is why Sascha has been extremely careful over the years to hide the fact she feels things. Sascha lives in fear that one day her carefully built mental shields will collapse and the other Psy will see her "defect" and have her eliminated. This especially becomes a problem when a business deal between the Psy and shifters has her working with Lucas Hunter, the local leopard pack's alpha. Lucas seems intent on trying to ruffle her feathers, putting added strain on her maintenance of being the perfect Psy. Lucas has an ulterior motive for trying to upset Sascha's balance. Changeling women have been vanishing and turning up seven days later brutally murdered. The evidence the local packs have lead them to believe that the serial killer is a Psy. And Lucas sees Sascha as a way to discover who the killer is.

What was most compelling about this book was how all the characters were great. None of them seemed to melt into each other. Each had their own individual traits and you left to story wanting to know more about them and their past. Which, sadly, is often rare in romances where it can sometimes feel like interesting personalities are only given to the two main characters. I also loved Sascha and Lucas. It was fun watching Sascha struggle to hide who she was and live the very sterile existence of the Psy when its obvious she craves more. Lucas was also fun. I love that traits of the animals they can change into bled into their mannerisms in human form. I was also glad to see that Singh built a respectful relationship between them despite the animosity between the races. There was no forcing Sascha into anything or trying to seduce information out of her. Which was a relief.

My only complaint about the book is that I knew who the serial killer was almost as soon as he appeared. It just seemed painfully obvious, but I could understand why the characters didn't figure it out. Since they all had good reason for not knowing, it saved me from being frustrated with the book. I just wish that Singh had made it a little harder to figure out for the readers.

I highly recommend this series to fans of paranormal romances. I can't wait to start the next book in the series.

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Into the Dreaming by Karen Marie Moning

2012-01-07T19:15:00.000-08:00

Into the Dreaming by Karen Marie Moning

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is apart of Moning's Highlander series, but it really doesn't have much to do with the other books. Its super short (less than 100 pages) and a rather "meh" read.

Jane, a romance writer, has been dreaming about a Highlander named Aedan since before she can remember. One day, Jane randomly receives a tapestry with Aedan's likeness stitched on it. It looks old and priceless so she decides it would be a good idea to take a nap on it. When she wakes up she's suddenly buck naked in medieval Scotland. Apparently, the Seelie queen has transported her back in time in order to save Aedan from the Unseelie King. Aedan remembers nothing of his past and its Jane's job to make him remember before the end of the month or else he has to return to serving the Unseelie king.

My biggest problem with this story is that very little is explained. What is with the Seelie queen and the Unseelie king's odd relationship? Why was a tapestry delivered to Jane? Was it a tool the Seelie queen needed to transport her back? And most of all what the hell is with the kitten that appears the moment Jane wakes up in the past? What function does writing about it serve? Is it for the cute factor? A spy for one of the Fae royalty? Is it evil and plotting everyone's downfall? TELL ME.

Aside from those annoyances the love story between Aedan and Jane was... okay. There were no real road blocks in their relationship. Jane worked to get Aedan to remember and Aedan pretty much complied even if sometimes it was unknowingly. That was about it. They weren't dull characters, just not all that memorable.

I would probably only recommend this to fans of Moning. I think anyone else would probably be bored out of their gourd.

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Wife for a Week by Kelly Hunter

2012-01-07T19:13:00.000-08:00

Wife For a Week by Kelly Hunter

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a cute and fast read.
Nick needs someone to fake being his wife for a week while he secures a business deal in Hong Kong. He needs this because the last time he was in Hong Kong his prospective business partner's daughter had thrown herself at him. In order to spare her feelings and not cause any bad blood, he lied and told her he had a wife. However, now that lie has come back to bite him on the ass and he needs to produce said wife. This is where Hallie comes in. She's agreed to be his fake wife in exchange for enough money for her to finish getting her diploma.
Like I said this was cute story. Nick and Hallie had some really great bantering going on that kept things interesting. The side characters were also pretty fabulous. I loved that Nick's business partner's daughter, Jasmine, wasn't portrayed as evil or conniving. I really ended up enjoying her character, as well as the small side romance going on between her and her bodyguard.
My only complaint about the story was the odd inclusion of the Chinese mafia and also the quick pace of Hallie and Nick's relationship. They declare their love for each other and have plans to get married right as they're leaving China. I know this is a romance but that was just way too fast for me. They've known each other for less than a week. I would've been more content if they had just decided to have a relationship at the end of the story. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a quick read that's pure fluff.

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Pleasure Unbound by Larissa Ione

2012-01-07T19:09:00.000-08:00

Pleasure Unbound by Larissa Ione

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow, this book really took me by surprise. This one had been sitting on my "to be read" pile for months and I've just been ignoring it because honestly I couldn't remember why I had picked it up. With that in mind, when I picked it up I didn't have very high expectations for the story. But damn was I pleasantly shocked at how fun of a ride this story was.

Eidolon, an incubus, runs a demon hospital where the motto is that they have to treat everything that walks through the doors in need of assistance. Even baby munching demons and members of an organization that indiscriminately kills demons. Eidolon starts kicking himself over making that motto when Tayla, a member of one of those organizations, comes in with some bad injuries. Now, not only does he have to fix her up but he also has to keep his staff from killing and torturing her. Despite, the fact that her cult killed his brother he's determined to make sure she gets out of his hospital in one piece. In the process of making sure she gets home safely, Eidolon is trying to resist his second sexual maturation that basically makes incubus's bat shit crazy. And Tayla is determined to prove that the organization she works for is not behind the torture/butchering of demons for their body parts in order to reassure herself that she's fighting on the right side.

Holy shit, does Ione do incubus demons right. Eidolon was a big ball of sex. Every time him and Tayla jumped each other I was fanning myself. It was also great to read a good enemies to lovers story. The only thing that got a little annoying for me in the story was Tayla's determination to hold onto her prejudices surrounding demons. Even after her organization tried blowing her up, she was still desperately clung to her belief that they were the good guys. But the reason for Tayla's stubbornness concerning her prejudices was explained really well through her back story and saved her character from being obnoxious.

If you're looking for a fun, fast paced paranormal romance I would recommend this book. I can't wait to read the next book in the series and see more of Ione's incubuses.

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At Grave's End by Jeaniene Frost

2012-01-07T19:07:00.000-08:00

At Grave's End by Jeaniene Frost

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Oh, Bones and Cat, how your relationship can stress me out.

A war is started after a master vampire hires Cat's father to kill her. The war is really the whole plot of the book. Bones is pissed that someone almost succeeded in killing Cat, Mencheres is being secretive but trying to set things right, and Tate acts like a love sick puppy. Meanwhile, Cat is just trying to keep it all together in a house filled with vampires and her mother.

With that said, this book was pretty great. Bones and Cat are in top form and as usual Frost has some really fantastic side characters. My only real complaint is that I'm starting to get tired of how little trust there is between Bones and Cat. Bones doesn't trust Cat to take care of herself or deal with the darker side of him being a vampire and that really got annoying in this book. Then there's the whole jealously thing that pops up at random moments and that's also getting old. But other than that this book is a fun romp.

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Ms Match by Jo Leigh

2012-01-07T19:04:00.000-08:00

Ms. Match by Jo Leigh

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was pretty good quick read.

Paul is trying to get into gorgeous flight attendant Autumn's pants. But its pretty clear from the beginning that she's just leading him on because she enjoys the attention. In the hopes of getting laid by her in the future, he agrees to go to a family shin-dig with her less gorgeous sister, Gwen. At the party, Paul is shocked by how much fun he ends up having. Days later, he's still thinking about how relaxing it was to hang out with Gwen. So he tracks her down at her favorite bar and starts out on a quest to befriend her.

Paul is the main narrator of this book. Gwen also has a good chunk of the book from her perspective, but the story starts and ends with Paul's voice. This made for a really interesting story, because it became less about Gwen's hang ups and more about Paul's quest to transform his life. So instead of the heroine being sucked into the rich and powerful hero's life, its about the hero finding happiness in the heroine's life. It was nice to see Paul's transformation with Gwen acting as a kind of guide. Watching them develop a friendship and really getting to know each other before diving into a relationship was also great. This made them a lot more believable as a couple.

My problem with the book however was a pretty big one. The climax of the story was really contrived and the blow-up that happens as a result seemed really insignificant. It made their time apart look childish because of how small the problem that caused the fight was. This made for a really unsatisfying reunion. There was also the smaller problem I had with Gwen's family. They were really cruel towards her for no apparent reason. Making them all seem like a bunch of cartoon villains.

Despite this though, I enjoyed most of the book. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a quick read with a bit of a different plot.

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Love with the Proper Stranger by Suzanne Brockmann

2012-01-07T19:01:00.000-08:00

Love With The Proper Stranger by Suzanne Brockmann

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Wow this book was seriously demented. And not in a good suspense thriller kind of way, but in a disturbing uncomfortable way.

John Miller is an FBI agent who has taken the undercover case to trap a serial killer. His mission is to go undercover and attract the attention of the black widow killer named Serena. A woman who marries men and then kills them soon after the wedding. A woman who I couldn't help picture looking like the Debbie from Addams Family Values. Anyway, Johns mission is to marry Debbie... I mean Serena and then expose her when she goes in for the kill. Conflicts arise however when he starts falling for Mariah, the woman Serena has manipulated into thinking she's her BFF.

When I say this book is demented I mean that the characters were all seriously unlikable and the hero's actions throughout the entire book are extremely reprehensible. Mariah is such a flat character. She is a pure victim with nothing about her personality that gives her depth. She's portrayed also a complete angel. She swoops in and fixes all of John's personal problems, builds homes for the poor, and rescues children from trees. In between her acts of saintly-ness she bemoans the fact that she's divorced and is too tall. All this made her not only a dull character, but also pretty annoying to read about. For his part, John isn't likable either. His whole role in the book to complain about how he better not do such in such because it'll hurt Mariah and then he goes and does it anyway. Yes, he's undercover but seriously... He sleeps with Mariah and then a couple hours later marries Serena. Yick, whats worse is that he suffers no real consequences from Mariah for his actions. She instantly forgives him for everything and they essentially confess their undying love for each other.

At the end of this book I was just left squicked out. I had the feeling that Mariah was only with John because she saw someone she could try to fix. And John was just a sad sack who put Mariah on some kind of pedestal. This book has made me leery about picking up a full length novel by Brockmann.

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Soulless by Gail Carriger

2012-01-07T18:59:00.000-08:00

Soulless by Gail Carriger

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is my first steam-punk novel and I have to say its a wonderful introduction to the genre.

The heroine, Alexia, is a no nonsense woman who isn't afraid to use her umbrella on unsuspecting vampires. In the paranormal community she's considered soulless. A creature who can negate a werewolf's or vampire's powers with a touch of her hand. When she accidentally kills an impertinent vampire at a party she unwittingly becomes wrapped up in a series of strange events. Before the party she had been a spinster who had rarely popped up on anyone's radar. Now she's getting invitations from vampire queens, creepy men are trying to abduct her, and Lord Maccon, the local werewolf alpha and BUR investigator, is getting a little handsy. She's fully prepared to get to the bottom of all of this though. After all, this is the most excitement she's had in a long while.

I would be hard pressed to chose a favorite character in this book, because it seems like every one that popped up was wonderful. I loved the subtle homages to P.G. Wodehouse and the Amelia Peabody series that popped up. I also find that I can't say much about this book, because I only really want to gush. I also don't want to spoil anything. All I'll say is that if you like your fantasy books with romance, mystery, humor, and an original setting then you need to pick this up.

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A Lot Like Love by Julie James

2012-01-07T18:57:00.000-08:00

A Lot Like Love by Julie James

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another wonderful story by Julie James. I really loved that this one was set in my home town of Chicago.

Jordan runs a wine shop in Chicago and also happens to be an billionaire heiress. One night while getting ready to close up her shop, two FBI agents approach her with a deal that she can't turn down. If she helps them get an undercover agent into a high profile Valentine's Day party, they'll spring her brother from prison. But the operation goes wrong when the FBI's target becomes jealous of Jordan's mystery date and hires a private investigator to dig up some dirt on him. So now Jordan is stuck with an undercover FBI agent as a fake boyfriend.

Jordan was a wonderful character. She was sarcastic and really cared about her family. I loved that she didn't live in a bubble either. She had friends, family, and work obligations that are displayed in this story. I really adored her relationship with her twin brother, the one who she's trying to get out of jail. I hear his book is the next one James is writing and I have say I'm thrilled to read about a hero who went to jail for shutting down twitter.

Nick was also great, even if he did sometimes come across as a little bland. He was funny and I liked that you saw him struggle with the idea of a committed relationship and what that means for his career.

I would recommend this book for fans of Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Jennifer Crusie.

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Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

2012-01-07T18:54:00.000-08:00

Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

BackCover Description: Half-vampire Catherine Crawfield is going after the undead with a vengeance, hoping that one of these deadbeats is her father—the one responsible for ruining her mother's life. Then she's captured by Bones, a vampire bounty hunter, and is forced into an unholy partnership.

In exchange for finding her father, Cat agrees to train with the sexy night stalker until her battle reflexes are as sharp as his fangs. She's amazed she doesn't end up as his dinner—are there actually good vampires? Pretty soon Bones will have her convinced that being half-dead doesn't have to be all bad. But before she can enjoy her newfound status as kick-ass demon hunter, Cat and Bones are pursued by a group of killers. Now Cat will have to choose a side . . . and Bones is turning out to be as tempting as any man with a heartbeat.

My Thoughts:This book has the grittiness that I loved about the early Laurell K. Hamilton books. Frost isn't afraid to write about blood, death, and other unsavory things. Yet she does it in a way that doesn't make it trivial to the plot. The characters react in the own ways to it all and its pretty believable.

Cat was also surprisingly a very interesting character. She's a strong and witty heroine who manages to come across as vulnerable without sacrificing the validity of those character traits in the process. She's half-vampire and has been told by her mother that she's got evil in her. So she has this overblown concept that if she makes even the smallest misstep she could become a monster. In order to atone for that she goes out and kills vampires. One night while cruising for her next vampire kill she runs across Bones, who believes she is working for the villain of the story. In order to get information out of her her takes her captive and discovers what she is. She's determined to see all vampires killed and he's determined to kill one vampire in particular. Through this they form a tentative alliance with each other in order to take out a vampire who has been capturing women and selling them as sex slaves/food to other vampires.

Bones is what really made this story for me. He's clearly based off of Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but Frost adds enough of her own touches to the character that makes it work for her story. Because of this I would definitely recommend this series for Spike fans who are having withdrawals with the series no longer being on air.

This was an excellent start to the series. I only wish that it could have of ended on a more satisfying note than it did. The story ends on set up for the next installment in the series. And I hate it when books do that.

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Rebel Waltz by Kay Hooper

2012-01-07T18:51:00.000-08:00

Rebel Waltz by Kay Hooper

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

BackCover Description: With its antebellum setting and gallant history, Jasmine Hall was more than just a business for Banner Clairmont. The lovingly preserved plantation-era inn had been home to the Clairmont family for generations. But the realities of modern real-estate had made it time to sell even the most priceless treasures. So it was hardly with a great deal of enthusiasm that Banner led real-estate speculator Rory Stewart around the property. How could this stranger—whose southern charm and universal good looks made it impossible to entirely distrust him—have any idea of Jasmine Hall’s true value? Yet what was Banner to make of the fact that Rory had seen the ghosts that never showed themselves to outsiders? Was he destined not only to save the Hall but to live there? Was his fate entangled with hers? Or was she banking too much on an old family legend … and wishful thinking?

My Thoughts:This is some old school Kay Hooper. I loved the southern setting and the ghost aspect was interesting. But the characters were rather flat and the plot got a little boring. I understand that the plantation had been in the family for years and years but honestly towards the end I wanted to tell everyone to just get over it and move on. Also all the Gone With the Wind talk started to get on my nerves.

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Wolf at the Door by Christine Warren

2012-01-07T18:48:00.000-08:00

Wolf at the Door by Christine Warren

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

BackCover Description:Sullivan Quinn didn't travel 3,000 miles from his native Ireland and his wolf pack just to chase rabidly after the most delectable quarry he's ever seen. Quinn is in America on a mission--to warn his Other brethren of a shadowy group willing to use murder and mayhem to bring them down. But one whiff of this Foxwoman's delicious honeysuckle fragrance and he knows that she is more than a colleague or a conquest…she is his mate.
Anthropologist Cassidy Poe is a world-renowned authority on social interaction, but the overpowering desire she feels around Quinn defies every ounce of her expertise. Working by his side to uncover The Others' enemies poses risks she never expected--to her own safety, to those she loves, and to her heart, as every encounter with Quinn proves more blissfully erotic than the last…

Now, with no one to trust but each other, Quinn and Cassidy face a foe that's edging closer every day, threatening to destroy the life they've always known, and the passion they've just discovered…

My Thoughts:Best thing about this book was that the heroine was a kitsune. It was refreshing to see a different kind of shifter in a paranormal romance. Usually its just werewolves and large cats. Unfortunately the hero wasn't all that thrilling. There was some interesting build up about his character in the beginning with him being essentially the oral story teller for his werewolf pack but that's where that ended. Other than that he was pretty dull, but I enjoyed his relationship with Cassidy. My only other problem was that the ending was a bit anti-climatic. It felt like all the action was happening while the heroine was looking the other way. Then when she turned her attention back to the fight people where either knocked out or dead.

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Spell of the Highlander by Karen Marie Moning

2012-01-07T18:44:00.000-08:00

Spell of the Highlander by Karen Marie Moning

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

BackCover Description:Jessi St. James has got to get a life. Too many hours studying ancient artifacts has given the hardworking archaeology student a bad case of sex on the brain. So she figures she must be dreaming when she spies a gorgeous half-naked man staring out at her from inside the silvery glass of an ancient mirror. But when a split-second decision saves her from a terrifying attempt on her life, Jessi suddenly finds herself confronting six and a half feet of smoldering, insatiable alpha male.

Heir to the arcane magic of his Druid ancestors, eleven centuries ago Cian MacKeltar was trapped inside the Dark Glass, one of four coveted Unseelie Hallows, objects of unspeakable power. When the Dark Glass is stolen, an ancient enemy will stop at nothing to reclaim it, destroying everything in his path–including the one woman who may just hold the key to breaking the ninth-century Highlander’s dark spell. For Jessi, the muscle-bound sex god in the mirror is not only tantalizingly real, he’s offering his protection–from exactly what, Jessi doesn’t know. And all he wants in exchange is the exquisite pleasure of sharing her bed.

Yet even as Cian’s insatiable hunger begins to work its dark magic on Jessi, his ancient enemy is about to obtain the final and most dangerous of the Unseelie Hallows–and the ninth-century Highlander must stop him from getting it. Nothing less than the very fabric of the universe and two passionately entwined lives are at stake–as Cian and Jessi fight to claim the kind of love that comes along but once in an ice age. . . .

My Thoughts:I usually don't like overbearing heroes but the way Marie Moning writes them doesn't bother me as much. This is probably one of my favorites in her Highlander series so far. I loved the plot of Cian being trapped in a mirror. It made for some really interesting troubles to pop up for him and Jessi as they ran from assassins. My only complaint is that the ending felt a little overblown. Also, despite him being trapped in a mirror most of the time, I still wanted to smack Cian when he got too "you will do as I say woman" on Jessi.

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The Pleasure Slave by Gena Showalter

2012-01-07T18:26:00.000-08:00

The Pleasure Slave by Gena Showalter

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Backcover Description: When Santa Fe antique dealer Julia Anderson was curiously drawn to purchase a battered jewelry box, she never expected it to contain her own personal love slave. Especially not tall, dark and sinfully handsome Tristan--a man hard to resist, and determined to fulfill her every desire.

Though Tristan was a rogue of the battlefield and the boudoir, making love with Julia was like nothing he'd ever known. Yet revealing his true heart would break the centuries-old spell and separate them forever. And Tristan would do anything to go on loving Julia...even remain a slave through all eternity..

My Thoughts:Can't help comparing this book to Kenyon's Fantasy Lover. And after reading that book this one falls short. The whole alien aspect threw me off big time. Probably because I wasn't expecting it to go that route at all. I also found the ending a little unsatisfying especially the way Julia went all "but how can I live without him!" on us. I'm all for letting the heroine mope, but not when she decides she can't function as a human being without her man. So, I enjoyed the premise of this book but a quite a few plot twists left me dry.

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Just the Sexiest Man Alive by Julie James

2012-01-07T18:08:00.000-08:00

Just the Sexiest Man Alive by Julie James

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Description Nothing fazes Taylor Donovan. In the courtroom, she never lets the opposition see her sweat. In her personal life, she never lets any man rattle her- not even her cheating ex-fiance. So when she's assigned to coach People's "Sexiest Man Alive" for his role in his next big legal thriller, she refuses to fall for the Hollywood heartthrob's charms. Even if he is the Jason Andrews.

Jason Andrews is used to having women fall at his feet. When Taylor Donovan gives him the cold should, he's thrown for a lop. She's unlike any other woman he's ever met: uninterested in the limelight, seemingly immune to his advances, and shockingly capable of saying no to him. She's the perfect challenge. And the more she rejects him, the more he begins to realize she may just be his perfect match.

My Thoughts Loved this book! Julie James has a wonderful writing style and her characters were pretty fantastic. Taylor Donovan was a wonderful heroine. I enjoyed that she was confident and sure of herself even when facing the Jason Andrews. She never really lost her head when he was around and it was great watching her take him a couple pegs in the beginning. Jason was also a wonderful character. He was a spoiled brat in the beginning and it was nice watching him slowly change as he developed a friendship with Taylor. I think that's what I liked the best about this book. The fact that Taylor and Jason were shown developing a friendship before deciding to get into a relationship. Of course, their verbal sparring matches were also a highlight.

I'll definitely be picking up another book by James in the future.

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The Darkest Kiss

2011-05-21T23:15:00.000-07:00

The Darkest Kiss by Gena Showalter

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Not a great installment to the Lords of the Underworld series. Most of my ire with this book can be summed up in two words; Virginity Curse. Seriously, Ms. Showalter? Is the need to make all your heroines untouched snowflakes so important that you have to make up ridiculous plot devices?

Anya is our cursed heroine in this story. We met her in the Darkest Night when she popped up to help the heroes of that book. I had really high hopes for Anya. She was quirky in a very MaryJanice Davidson heroine kind of way. But my enjoyment of her character died a quick and fatal death. One reason was the virginity curse. That just annoyed the crap out of me. We have a goddess who is centuries old and a virgin. The first guy who penetrates Anya gets total and utter control over her. I'm not even going to touch the implications of this. So Anya is a virgin who everybody believes is actually a big ole’ slut and isn’t afraid of telling her that to her face. Including the hero, Lucien, who spends 90% of the book insulting or ignoring her. And what was even more infuriating was that Anya just took it. When he realized that Anya didn't deserve all the nasty things he was saying to her he apologized and Anya just shrugged it off. What the hell?! Where was the conflict between them? Lucien was ordered to kill her and declared that he was going to do it. What did Anya do? She freakin dressed up in sexy costumes for him and mooned. Seriously, grow a back bone girl.

I expected to really like Lucien. He was the calm collected leader of the group in the first book. He’s also the keeper of Death among the Lords. Honestly, Lucien comes off as a whiny bastard. When he’s not insulting or trying to kill Anya he’s whining about how he needs to kill her or about how she couldn’t possibly find him attractive due to his scars. This wouldn't have of annoyed me if he didn't talk about his scars like they were inflicted on him against his will. Cause they weren't. His scars were self inflicted. He wanted to have them! The bastard is having woe is me moments over something that he did to himself. Am I supposed to find this charming or feel sorry for him? Cause I didn't.

Aside from not connecting with the main characters, the plot dragged a lot. The Lords need to find Pandora’s box because it can kill them all if opened. This is apparently the plot that is going to run throughout the entire series. In this book, the Lords are looking around a temple for clues about where the box could be. Which was incredibly boring and basically went no where. Towards the end of the book we finally shift back to the plot introduced in the very beginning of the book. Which was Lucien having orders to kill Anya. Why couldn’t this be the main plot of the book? It would have been much more intense and suspenseful to have these two chasing each other all around the world.

What saved this story for me was the inclusion of the other Lords. Their parts in this book were great. My only complaint is that we didn’t get to see any of Disease. He’s my favorite and I’m still waiting for his book to be announced. Of course it looks like it might be the very last one in the series. I wouldn’t recommend this as someones introduction to the series. However, I will be continuing with the series.

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House of Many Ways

2011-05-21T23:12:00.000-07:00

House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is considered the third book in Jones' Howl's Moving Castle world. It is also, by far, the worse. While it still holds that magical and whimsical quality that Howl's Moving Castle had the main characters demolished the story for me.

Charmain Baker is the main character of this book. She's been asked to look after her uncle's house, who also happens to be a royal wizard. While looking after her Uncle's house a little boy named Peter appears on the doorstep. He claims that the Wizard knew he was coming and refuses to leave. He also creates chaos wherever he goes in the house. Charmain quickly gets a job working in king's library and escapes a lot of Peter's craziness. However, she soon gets wrapped in a mystery surrounding the disappearance of the the king's gold.

Charmain is an insufferable know-it-all. She's also relatively mean to Peter and comes across as quite spoiled. Peter is equally annoying. He constantly orders Charmain around and refuses to listen to anyone except himself. These traits in them would have been fine if they had experienced any kind of character growth. But unfortunately this never happens for these two. Not enjoying the two characters we spend the most time with throughout the story put a huge damper on my enjoyment of the book. The only highlights in the story were the parts with Sophie and Howl from Howl's Moving Castle. Sophie is still her lovable self. The only difference is that when we see her in this story she's carting around two children. One is Morgan, her son, and the other is Howl, her husband. Howl didn't want Sophie to try helping the king alone because the situation could be dangerous. However, he also couldn't come as himself because there's some red-tape involved. So, much to Sophie's annoyance, he transformed into Twinkle. Twinkle being a angelic looking toddler with a lisp. And masquerades as Sophie's nephew in order to help her. I loved Twinkle popping up all over the place trying to solve the mystery and dragging Charmain into it. It was a fun way to get a younger character involved in royal espionage.

If you can get past the main characters' personalities the actual plot was very interesting. And the parts that featured more of the characters from the past two books and less of the two from this book were fantastic and really saved the story. If you're looking to pick up this book, I would suggest reading the first two installments in the series first. It will boost your enjoyment of this book if you're familiar with the reoccurring characters.

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Heart of Darkness

2011-05-21T23:11:00.000-07:00

Heart of Darkness: The Darkest Angel\Love Me to Death\Lady of the Nile by Gena Showalter

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a collection of three short stories. Overall, the only really good one was Gena Showalter’s.

The Darkest Angel by Gena Showalter is up first. This story takes place in her Lords of the Underworld series. It doesn’t have much to do with the Lords though. They mostly just had some cameos with a bit of explanation of what has happened to them in previous books. In fact, eliminating their presence in the story probably would have made it flow together better.

The actual plot follows an angel, Lysander, who falls in love with a harpy named Bianka. Lysander feels an attraction to Bianka that he has never felt before. This leads him to believe that she is his temptation to fall. So he kidnaps her with the intention of turning her away from the dark side. However, Bianka has no intention of letting an overbearing angel change her. So she does everything in her power to annoy the crap out of him until he decides to release her.

One thing that I really disliked about this story was how the conflict of Lysander being ashamed of Bianka was resolved. It came out of nowhere. We never saw any evidence in the rest of the story to support the turning point that Showalter inserts near the end. It made the ending feel rushed and like a cop-out. All in all though, I really enjoyed this story. The best part is how seamlessly Showalter merges Greek and Angel mythology together. Her world building for her angels was interesting and I only wish we could’ve explored that more.

Individual rating: 4/5

Love Me to Death by Maggie Shayne is up next and it was by far the worst out of the three. This one bored me to death. It started off like a Stephen King story where a group of grown men get back together in the small town where something traumatizing happened to them as teens. That traumatizing event is that in high school they accidently burnt down a building resulting in a girl their age being killed. But now they’ve all been visited by the dead girl who each believes is her ghost out for revenge. If this was a King story the ghost would really be after them and the rest of the story would read like It. However this is a romance, so really it’s the reincarnation of the girl the boys killed. She’s been having dreams about her past life and comes to the small town for answers. Through doing this, she scares the crap out of the men and accidents occur until the hero of the story chases her down and demands answers. This story just really did not hold my attention at all. The characters were dull and the plot was extremely rushed. I have the feeling this could have been a much better full length story. Where Shayne would have had time to flesh out the characters and take her time drawing out the suspense of the mystery and ghost story.

Individual rating: 2

Lady of the Nile by Susan Krinard is the last story in the series. It wasn’t bad, but it just felt out of place in this anthology. It’s a historical paranormal romance. Lady Tameri believes she’s the reincarnation of an ancient Egyptian princess. Leo, an archeologist, is hell bent on saving her from her delusions. Leo’s reasoning for sticking his nose in Tameri’s business is that he had a relative who had similar delusions to Tameri who killed himself after being unable to convince anyone of his past life. Believing that he can save Tameri from that same fate, he sets out to help her under the guise of his willingness to be convinced that she really is an Egyptian Princess. This was a pretty smooth story. Krinard uses Egyptian mythology fairly well throughout and the characters are interesting. There’s also an interesting antagonist who keeps things from getting dull.

Individual rating: 3/5

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Heart of the Dragon

2011-05-09T17:11:00.000-07:00

Heart of the Dragon by Gena Showalter

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was really a "meh" book for me. It was enjoyable, but in a month I'll probably have forgotten everything about it except that there were dragons.

The main dragon of this book was Darius. He's the guardian of one of the portals that leads to Atlantis. Basically, he gets to chop off anyone's head who comes waltzing through. In the beginning of the book his fellow dragons make a bet that the first person who gets Darius to crack a smile gets... something. I don't know and it doesn't matter, because that part of a would be plot gets dropped fairly quickly. While the bets are being placed, Darius's spidey senses tingle letting him know that someone is about to come through the portal. Grabbing his big ass sword he prepares to start chopping. Only to come up short when a red headed woman steps through. This is Grace, who is looking for her brother who has gone missing. Grace stumbled on the portal by accident while roaming the jungle. She also has some kind of magical dragon medal from Atlantis. This confuses Darius so he decides to spare her temporarily and the plot develops from there.

There's also a side plot going that involves Grace's brother and a lady dragon but that one bored me to death so I ended up skipping most of those sections.

Darius was an average dragon who spent most of the book hemming and hawing about whether or not to kill Grace. Then the magical sex encounter happens and he decides that Grace is his and he likes the warm fuzzy feelings she inspires in his cold scaly heart. This is the second book I read by Showalter and so far both of her heroines have been virgins. This is a huge pet peeve of mine. It is extremely unlikely that a full grown healthy woman in modern society would be a virgin. If you're going to make your adult female protagonist a virgin I demand some kind of explanation for it! Instead, the fact that Grace was a virgin was glossed over. Darius basically shrugs off his shock and the story moves on after that. Why was that even necessary to the plot!? Couldn't we have just had a sex scene and moved on? Is the protagonist being a virgin supposed to somehow make the sex more sexy? Cause that's not the case. Does Showalter have some kind of contract with the publisher where her heroines have to be inexperienced sexually? I guess that would make sense.

But like I said, this book was pretty standard. It was enjoyable, but the plot and characters were fairly normal. The aspect of the book that stuck out the most for me was Showalter's idea of Atlantis. Atlantis is a haven for all mystical creatures. We have dragons, mermaids, sirens, nymphs, vampires, etc. etc. living together in this kind of Utopian underwater world. Pretty interesting idea. As was the back story for why they all live there in the first place. Unfortunately, we don't spend much time there in this plot but I have hopes for the future books.

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Hotter Than Hell

2011-04-26T15:18:00.000-07:00

Hotter Than Hell by Kim Harrison

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Half of this anthology was really great, while the other half was just meh.

Music Hath Charms by Tanya Huff was the first in this anthology and was okay. Ali is trying to get a new band to sign with her company, but her rival company has their sights set on the same one. Problems arise and soon Ali finds herself also trying to save the band. This story had an interesting take on sirens, but other than that it was just okay. 3/5

Minotaur in Stone by Marjorie M. Liu was the story that I picked up this anthology for and I was not disappointed in it at all. A homeless girl who lives in a library starts having vivid dreams of the Minotaur who claims that she can save him. The mythology and writing of this story was just fantastic. 5/5

Demon Lover by Cheyenne McCray was another good one. An incubus falls in love with a human. This one reminded me a lot of Kenyon's dream-hunter series. 4/5

Equinox by L.A. Banks was okay. I honestly don't remember much about this one. I believe one of Artemis's preistesses comes to earth and starts turning CEO's who have damaged the environment into stags for punishment. 3/5

Ride a Dark Horse by Susan Krinard was great. It was a unique story that had a lot of fairytale aspects to it. After a messy divorce a woman takes a vacation on a Ranch and finds a mysterious stranger and dark horse popping up both in her real life and dreams. 4.5/5

To Die For by Keri Arthur was the last story in this anthology that I really enjoyed. This one follows a wolf shifter and her werewolf partner as they investigate two cases of missing teenagers. This story had an excellent well developed plot. I can't wait to pick up a full length novel by Arthur. 5/5

Curse of the Dragon's Tears by Heidi Betts was another okay story. General romance. A woman goes to a castle to find the man who her great-grandmother cursed a century ago. 3/5

Brother's Keeper by Lilith Saintcrow I hated. Characters were introduced as well as a mystery but that's it. The whole story just felt like a prologue to a book. And not just that but I also didn't like how helpless the heroine was the entire story. 1/5

Like a Virgin of the Spring by Susan Sizemore and Denise Little was interesting. A woman from the future gets lost in the past and is saved by a man from the future. I don't really get into time travel books. This one reminded me a bit of Angela Knight's short stories. 3/5

Life is a Teacher by Carrie Vaughn was okay. A freshly turned vampire struggles with adopting to her new life. 3/5

Moonlight Becomes You by Linda Winstead Jones follows a woman who is convinced that her neighbor is a vampire and sets out to prove it to herself. This was cute and fun story. Probably the most humorous one. 4/5

Dirty Magic by Kim Harrison I didn't read. I've tried reading Harrison's stuff before and could never get into it so I skipped this one.

So overall, this anthology was pretty good. Just a couple of stories that just were not all that great.

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Night's Master

2011-04-23T18:06:00.000-07:00

Night's Master by Amanda Ashley

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Read a short story by Amanda Ashley in an anthology that I loved, so I thought I'd pick up one of her full length books.

I really could not get into this book. Ashley's writing is smooth and easy to read. However, the characters and pacing of the story just did not hold my interest. The main character, Kathy, opens up a bookstore in a small town and suddenly finds herself caught in the middle of a battle between werewolves and vampires. From that I thought I would enjoy it as it was a very Underworld set up. But Kathy was such a dull character. She barely played an active role in the book. Most of the time it just seemed like she was just along for the ride. Her one role in the book seemed to ask a crap ton of questions. She was constantly grilling Rafe about his past and what it is like to be a vampire. And when she wasn't grilling Rafe she was brooding because he was a vampire. Rafe seemed like an interesting character, but he never really got the chance to develop on his own. Instead we get information dumps on his past through Kathy's questions. Also, for being the leader of the North American vampires he sure didn't seem to have very many responsibilities.

The other thing that really bothered me about this story is that things about the setting didn't mesh. At the very beginning of the book we learn that this story takes place in a future where vampires and werewolves are known to exist by humans and that there's been an ongoing war between them for quite some time. What bothered me about this is that despite vampires and werewolves being known to exist the character knows absolutely nothing about them except the myths. Which just did not make sense within setting that Ashley had set up.

Overall, I enjoy Ashley's writing style but her pacing and the way she developed her characters drove me crazy. I think I'll be sticking to just her short stories from now on.

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How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf

2011-04-23T18:04:00.000-07:00

How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf by Molly Harper

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was pretty surprised at just how much I enjoyed this book.

Mo moved up to Grundy, Alaska in order to escape her overbearing hippy parents. She had expected to live quietly in her small cabin while figuring out exactly what she wanted to do with her life. But next thing she knows she's working as a cook in the local diner and having odd interactions with a wolf who keeps popping up all over Grundy. And to top things off she's constantly having verbal battles with the town grouch, Cooper, who is convinced she's another Thoreau wannabe who'll bolt after the first snow. It's rare when a book can have me laughing out loud, but this one had me doing just that several times. The main character, Mo, was witty as hell. Her inner dialog as well as her interactions with Cooper were hilarious. The only downside of the book was that there was a lot of build up surrounding Mo and Cooper in the first half of the book, but the way they got together seemed more like a fizzle than a pop.

The other thing that was really enjoyable about the story was Harper's take on werewolves. The lore of the pack and how she handled the politics surrounding it was unique and interesting.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to read more from this series.

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Tanner's Scheme

2011-04-23T16:39:00.000-07:00

Tanner's Scheme by Lora Leigh

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I read two of Leigh's short stories and couldn't get into them but so many of my friends love her books. So, I felt I needed to give her one more try. I decided I'd give one of her full length novels a shot. Unfortunately, I still couldn't get into it.

Leigh's style of writing is lovely and I find the Breeds Universe interesting. Its the relationships she portrays in her stories that just creep me the hell out. I don't get into the domineering heroes and that seems to be Leigh's specialty. Tanner is constantly the one in total control throughout the book and he's all about Scheme giving up what little control she has left concerning herself. I don't find power plays sexy.

My other problem is that Leigh supposedly writes these strong heroines. But her strong heroines turn to big piles of mush the minute the hero lays a finger on them. This is supposed to be a result of the hormone the Breeds' excrete that sends them and their mate into a sexual frenzy. I have two problems with this. First it takes away the free will of the heroine as they go absolutely crazy with lust to the point where it hurts if they don't bang their mate every couple of hours. The second is that it becomes physically painful for the heroines to be touched by anyone else. I would be alright with these two aspects of the Breeds if the relationships were portrayed as equals or if the heroine was completely okay with the situation. But that wasn't the case here. Also, I don't get into damsel in distress characters. I like my heroines to have an active part saving themselves or having some agency in the situations that come up. This definitely wasn't the case in this book. After her father tries to have her assassinated Scheme is kidnapped by the Breed Tanner. She is then held hostage for days while Tanner keeps her naked most of the time. During that time Tanner grills her about various personal matters, admits to watching her have sex and masturbate in her bedroom at home, and forcibly undresses her to go to bed at night with him. By the time they leave the cave she is convinced that she loves him. Sorry, all this smacked too much of Stockholm syndrome for me to find it enjoyable.

If you're into light BDSM scenarios then Leigh's the writer for you. She's just not my cup of tea.

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Still around

2011-04-23T16:26:00.000-07:00

Not sure if I'll keep this up to date. But if anyone is still watching this blog I'm at Goodreads and have been writing reviews over there for the books I've been reading. You can find me here:
http://www.goodreads.com/bookminx

The Darkest Night

2011-04-23T16:21:00.000-07:00

The Darkest Night by Gena Showalter

Rated: 4.5

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Publish Date: 2008

Page Count: 374

Reason Read: Several of my friends are obsessed with this series.

BackCover Description:All her life, Ashlyn Darrow has been tormented by voices from the past. To end the nightmare, she has come to Budapest seeking help from men rumored to have supernatural abilities, not knowing she'll be swept into the arms of Maddox, their most dangerous member -- a man trapped in a hell of his own.

Neither can resist the instant hunger than calms their torments . . . and ignites an irresistible passion. But every heated touch and burning kiss will edge them closer to destruction -- and a soul-shattering test of love . .

Thoughts: I had pretty high expectations going into this book and am glad to say that I was not disappointed.

Way back when Zeus's warrior guards pulled a big no-no. After becoming jealous of Pandora, the warriors decided to steal the box from her and open it. Thus unleashing a lot of demons who proceeded the wreck havoc. As punishment Zeus cursed each of the warriors to carry a demon inside themselves. So now each warrior has a demon lurking inside themselves and, oddly, a big ass butterfly tattooed on some part of their body. I didn't understand the butterfly, but ok. Maddox, the hero of this story, was cursed to carry the demon Violence. He also won the bonus curse of having to die every night at midnight experiencing the exact same death he gave Pandora all those years ago. For years, life was pretty stable for all of the warriors who had secluded themselves in a castle. Until a group who call themselves Hunters reappears in their lives bent on their destruction and a girl pops up claiming to need their help.

Like I said I really enjoyed this book. The mythology surrounding the characters were great and reminded me a lot of Kenyon's Dark-Hunter series. The only part that I couldn't get into was the prisoner aspect. I just can not get into story lines where the hero locks the heroine up with him and she eventually decides that, hey she doesn't want to leave after all! Other than that I enjoyed Maddox and the other warriors. Maddox could verge on the edge of being too overbearing with Ashlyn at times but never enough to make me dislike him. Ashlyn was a good character. She was a bit fluffy, but I enjoyed that she took initiative in the various situations she found herself in.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and have already ordered the next one in the series. My only real question is, where is Torrin's book!? He needs one.

All the Queen's Men

2011-04-23T16:10:00.000-07:00

All the Queen's Men by Linda Howard

Rated: 2

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Publish Date: 2004

Page Count: 400

BackCover Description: No one knows the dangers of getting close to legendary CIA Black Ops specialist John Medina better than communications expert Niema Burdock. Five years ago, she and her husband worked with Medina on an explosive mission that ended in tragedy. Although she has slowly recovered from her terrible loss, Niema planned never to see Medina again. Until now. A french arms dealer is supplying international terrorists, and only Niema can plant the bugs needed to crack the deadly ring. Against her best instincts, she infiltrates the dealer's glamorous world. But when the plan goes awry, Niema and Medina must take flight in a strange land- and soon find their partnership sparked by an erotic charge. In a world of deception, John Medina has once again set Niema on a free fall into danger... and into desire like she's never known.

Thoughts: Howard is one of those authors I keep going back to even though I always end up annoyed at the end of her books. This time was no different.

After losing her husband during a military mission gone wrong, Niema Burdock has sworn off her adventuress life style. Throwing away her thrill seeking days, Niema has molded herself into a military gadget inventor. A nice safe job, that keeps her indoors most of the time. But when the spy, John Medina, reappears in her life claiming to need her for an undercover black ops mission she can't resist the temptation. One thing that I always love about Howard's writing, and the reason why I keep picking up her books, is the heroines. She always writes some pretty great female characters and Niema was no exception. Niema is charmingly blunt and extremely competitive. And once she puts her mind towards something and goes for it. I had no problem believing that she was competent enough for an uncover mission.

What killed the book for me this time around was that I didn't really care for John. I could've cared less if he ended up jumping off a bridge at the end of the book. I just wasn't feeling his and Niema's relationship. Especially, when a large chunk in the middle is Niema interacting with the target of the mission. The target, Ronsard, had a lot more depth to him than John. I actually cared what happened to him and dreaded when he'd find out that Niema was an undercover agent.

So, I don't think I'll be picking up the last book in this trilogy of Howard's as I really didn't care for this or the first one. But in the future I probably will end up reading another book by Howard.

Exit Strategy

2011-04-23T16:02:00.000-07:00

Exit Strategy by Kelley Armstrong

Rated: 5

Genre: General Fiction

Publish Date: 2007

Page Count: 480

Reason Read: I love Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series so when I found out that she had another series I had to check it out.

Backcover Description: Regulars at Nadia’s nature lodge don’t ask what she does in the off-season. And that’s a good thing. If she told them, she’d have to kill them. She’s a hit woman for a Mafia family. Tough and self-sufficient, Nadia doesn’t owe anyone any explanations. But that doesn’t mean she always works alone. One of her contacts has recruited her in the hunt for a ruthlessly efficient serial killer cutting a swath of terror across the country. The assassin is far too skilled to be an amateur—and the precision of the killings is bringing the Feds much too close to the hit man community for comfort.

Thoughts: To put an end to the murders, Nadia will have to turn herself from predator to prey as she employs every trick she knows to find the killer. Before the killer finds her…
Nadia Stafford is a hit-man with a moral compass. She used to be a cop, but because of a mistake she had to retire. Now she runs a wilderness lodge and finances it through taking hits put out on unsavory characters. Nadia is a wonderful, well rounded character. She's someone who has seen the court system fail too many times and has had one of those times touch her life too closely. This has made her into a vigilante type, even though she struggles against becoming that kind of hit-man. She views what she's doing as only a temporary way to make ends meet. But when her mentor, Jack, presents her with the chance to take out a serial killer she can't resist. The way the serial killer plot is incorporated into the storyline was fantastic. The suspense was high as the characters were constantly racing to prevent the killer from taking his next victim. Also, I loved Jack. Nadia and him team up to take down the killer and its clear that they view each other more as equals rather than teacher and student. Nadia is competent and intelligent and Jack recognizes that. So, thankfully, there's no damsel in distress moments where Jack has to swoop in and save her.

Overall, this was great read. I can't wait to read the other book in the series!

Listening to Wednesday

2008-11-19T11:13:00.001-08:00

Because it seems like I've been running across all kinds of great new music lately I feel the urge to share some of favorites. I'm going to start with my newest addiction, Keane's new album Perfect Symmetry. The whole album is freakin fantastic and has an awesome 80's sound to it. My favorite track is Spiralling which has a fun upbeat sound. And with keeping up the feeling of the cd the music video is pretty damn 80's.

Two other of my favorite tracks on the cd are "Pretend that You're Alone" and "Better Than This" Again, both of these songs are pretty upbeat.

The other cd that I've become rather attached to this week is Dr Dog's new album Fate. I love the piano worked into most of their songs and when its mixed with some brass instruments, like in Army of Ancients, its astounding.

Hang On is a beautiful song and looks like its the first music video they made for this cd.

A few other of my favorite tracks on this are; "From" (which I guess you can consider a ballad on the cd) and "The Beach" which has a decidedly Vietnam era sound to it.

Lord of the Fading Lands and Lady of Light and Shadows

2008-11-13T19:53:00.001-08:00

Lord of the Fading Lands and Lady of Light and Shadows by C.L. Wilson

Rating: 4
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Combined Page Count: 788
Publish Date: 2007

Reason Read: Rosario gave it an A- and I was in the mood for a good fantasy romance novel.

BackCover Descriptions: Once he had scorched the world. Once he had driven back overwhelming darkness. Once he had loved with such passion, his name was legend. Now a thousand years later, a new threat calls him from the Fading Lands, back into the world that had cost him so dearly. Now an ancient, familiar evil is regaining its strength, and a new voice beckons him- more compelling, more seductive, more maddening than any before. As the power of his most bitter enemy grows and ancient alliances crumble, the wildness in his blood will not be denied. The tairen must claim his truemate and embrace the destiny woven for him in the mists of time.

Always she had feared the magic. Always, she had fought the dark visions. Always, she had dreamed of the lover who could save her. He had stepped from the sky to claim her like an enchanted prince from the pages of a fairy tale, but behind the mesmerizing beauty of his violet eyes she saw the driving hunger of the beast and an endless sorrow only she could heal. Only for him would she embrace her frightening magic. Only for him would she find the courage to confront the shadows that haunted her soul. For ahead an epic battle was fast approaching, and only united could they hope to turn back the armies of darkness.

Thoughts: I'm reviewing both these books as one because basically they are one large book as the first one dropped off rather abruptly and the story continues straight into the next. This is definitely not a series that you want to read out of order.

This is an epic romance/fantasy novel done right. It looks like the story will be expanding over the length of 4 books. To sum up these books would almost be impossible in how detailed of a world Wilson has built here but in a very tiny nutshell.... Ellie Baristani is a plain outcast of the Kingdom of Celieria. Ellie has always had a fascination for the fey tales and legends of the kingdom. So when the Fey King, Rain Tairen Soul, comes to their kingdom for a visit she is one among the crowd gathered to catch a glimpse of the legendary Fey who once almost destroyed the world. And is shocked when he announces that she is his Shei'tani, which is basically Fey for soul mate.

Usually I'm not one for soul-mate stories, but this one is done in a way that I really enjoyed. Just because Rain recognizes Ellie as his Shei'tani didn't mean that he was happy about it or overwhelmed with love at first sight either. There are multiple levels to the Fey's soul mate process, like the fact that Rain still has to court Ellie so that they can get to know each other and develop the feelings that will strengthen their bond, etc. The lore and bonding process that Wilson develops for the Fey equivalent of soul mates is complex and intriguing and I found myself really enjoying that aspect of the plot.

The main thread of the plot was more fantasy based than romance based. Ellie is being hunted by a mage who wants to use her untapped power to basically take over the world and destroy the Fey. I was really enjoying this aspect of the plot until I started the Lady of Light and Shadows that's when that side of the plot dropped down a bit, but it quickly regained its momentum halfway through that book.

Rain was an interesting character in the lore that surrounded him along with his past, but Ellie on the other hand didn't start getting really interesting to me until midway through Lady of Light and Shadows towards the end of that book she finally comes into her own and starts showing a bit more strength and character.

The character that really caught my attention in the series though was Belliard vel Jelani. For me it almost seemed like Bel had more personality than Rain and I'm very interested in seeing more of him in the next two books and am holding out a bit of hope that maybe he'll get his own storyline in the future.

I'm really looking forward to continuing with this series as the world that Wilson has built in this books is wonderful and refreshing in how in-depth it is, she even developed her own time system and religion within the story, but I think I'm going to hold off on reading the third book in the series, King of Sword and Sky, until it gets closer to June so I can read the last book in the series right afterwards.

Warrior Rising

2008-10-28T23:18:00.000-07:00

Warrior Rising by P.C. Cast

Rated: 3

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Publish Date: 2008

Page Count: 352

Reason Read: Cast's Goddess Summoning series is an auto buy for me.

BackCover Description: The Goddesses have had it with the Trojan War. So much devastation—all because of some silly male egos. The worst of the bunch is that cocky, handsome brute Achilles. But the only way to stop a man like Achilles is to distract him with something far more pleasurable than combat...Enter Kat, a modern girl from Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Goddesses transform her into a Trojan princess, having no doubt that she'll capture Achilles's attention. But can her independent spirit match the unquenchable fire of his epic rage? Goddess only knows...

Thoughts: Side note: I read this book like 2 weeks ago so my review is gonna be pretty bare bones.

I'm happy to say it seems like this series is getting back on track for me. Goddess of Love just did nothing for me. That one felt way too choppy and I felt like I almost needed a pop-up blocker for a few parts. Luckily this one stayed on track and I really enjoyed the fact that we stayed primarily with Katerina's view point of view throughout the story instead of switching back and forth from character to character. But then one person narrative is a personal preference of mine.

Anyway, even though I'm not a big fan of the Trojan war myths, I found myself enjoying the characters and world Cast built here. She had quite a few interesting spins on some of the old myths surrounding the war that I really enjoyed. I thought that Kat and especially Achilles should've been a bit more developed as they felt a bit flat to me. Also, I have to say with the ending the way it is... do I smell the hint of an Arthurian tale coming up for Casts next installment of the series?

Recommended for: Fans of the series or romances set in this particular time period

Series Order:

Goddess of the Sea

Goddess of Spring

Goddess of Light

Goddess of the Rose

Goddess of Love

Warrior Rising

Once Upon a Marigold

2008-10-28T22:59:00.000-07:00

Once Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris

Rating: 2.5

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Date Published: 2004

Page Count: 275

Reason for Reading: I've been in a fairytale/ fantasy book mode.

BackCover Description: Christian is gaga for Princess Marigold. But he's just a commoner, and no match for royalty. Heck, he lives in a cave with a troll! And now he's discovered another reason to put his love-soggy heart on ice: Queen Olympia is scheming to take over the kingdom—and she'll bump off her own daughter to do it. Can Christian foil her diabolical plans?

Thoughts: I think this book is less young adult and more 5th grader-ish. This one was recommended to me via our children's department lead, so I have no idea why I didn't go into this book reading it as a kids book. But anyway, honestly I probably would've adored this book back in junior high. Its a cute spin on the fairytale genre, but a little too predictable. A princess in distress who is the smart outcast of her sisters, an evil queen, a fatherly king, a prince in disguise, etc etc. Also, some of the lines in the story were corny to the max and the plot seems to move extremely slow in some places.

The main reason though why I'm giving this one a 2.5 is because I didn't necessarily like some of the stereotypes that this one seemed to reinforce. Yes yes, its mostly just the classic stereotypes you find in fairytales surrounding women and honestly I read this weeks ago and can't remember half of the things that had me growling at the book but still they still irked me.

Recommended For: Kids between the ages of probably 8-12.

The Hob's Bargain

2008-10-28T22:31:00.000-07:00

The Hob's Bargain by Patricia Briggs

Rating: 4.5

Genre: Fantasy

Date Published: 2001

Page Count: 281

Reason for Reading: Someone had listed this as a beauty and the beast type of story and I'm a sucker for those.

BackCover Description: Hated and feared, magic was banished from the land. But now, freed from the spells of the wicked blood-mages, magic- both good and evil- returns. And Aren of Fallbrook feels her own power of sight strengthen and grow...
Overcome by visions of mayhem and murder, Aren vows to save her village from the ruthless raiders who have descended upon it- and killed her family. With the return of the wildings to the hills and forests, she strikes a bargain with the Hob, a magical being imbued with the power of the mountains. But the Hob is the last of his kind. And he will exact a heavy price to defend the village- a price Aren herself must pay.

Thoughts: Contrary to what I've heard and what the back cover says at the top of this book, I didn't find this story all that much beauty and the beast. Yes yes, the love interest is "different" looking while Aren is a pretty female but other than that it lacked the other elements to make me consider this a beauty and the beast story.

But that didn't lower my enjoyment of this book at all. In fact I rather adored this book. The world Briggs built is amazing and left me wanting to know more about it, as was the same for the characters. She had some fantastic characters in this book. Aren is the kind of female lead character I love in stories. She's strong and not afraid to stand up for herself or take things into her own hands. While the Hob with his tail and life loving attitude was adorable. I only wish we could've got a little bit more information on Kith, another main character aside from the Hob and Aren, who was just flat out delicious.

My only complaint about this book and the only reason I'm not giving it a 5 is that it was too short. Some of the areas I felt should've been expanded on a little more like the main bad guy (aside from the raiders) who was a looming in the backs of everyone's minds. All we really got about him was that he was evil and bad but no other information really on him. Also, because of how short this book is and how much Briggs has going on in the story some areas felt a little rushed to me.

Recommended For: Fans of Poison Study will probably find something love here with the world building. Also, fans of fantasies with some subtle fairy tale elements mixed in will probably love this.

An itsy bitsy rant

2008-10-24T09:53:00.000-07:00

With working at the book store I've developed several things that annoy the crap out of me about people and after the week I've been having I need to vent a little so here's my tiny rant list.

1. This isn't a library. That is down the road a little ways and they encourage you to read their books and take them home for free. This on the otherhand is a business. Do NOT come into my store pick up a paperback then proceed to sit down and break the spine of the book while you attempt to read through it before we close, you have to go someplace, or your lunchbreak over at the olive garden is over.

2. In reference to number 1, do not dog ear the page of the book you are reading in hope that you can come back tomorrow and pick up where you left off and also do not put a piece of paper or one of the free bookmarks in the book then put it back on the shelf. I take special glee at the end of the night walking around the store and ripping those bookmarks out of our books.

3. If you are deciding what books you want to get and take a large stack of them to sit and decide which ones you want, at least attempt to put the ones you decide against away or at least put them up on a table where they won't accidently get kicked halfway across the store by another customer.

4. stop taking the freakin playboys out of the freakin plastic wrap. You want to see the nekid women buy the damn magazine or go home and look at them online for free. (Also do not take said unwrapped playboys into the bathroom, that's just nasty and yes we throw all those ones away)

5. If you take a book off the shelf then decide that you don't want it, please for the love of all things holy don't just shove it back into the shelf willy nilly. If you don't know where it goes or don't feel like walking back to the section of the store that you got it either put it on one of the tables or give it to the cashier and say that you changed your mind about getting it. While I appriciate your at least semi-attempt to help keep the store neat, it screws with us something mightly when the books aren't in alphabetical order and in the right section. Because another customer is gonna come in looking for said book and they're going to come up to an employee and ask for the book and then we're not going to be able to find it because the only copy of we have left of Memoirs of a Geisha is now sitting in the New Age section because that's where you left it after reading your horoscope and we're gonna get bitched out by the customer because they need it for a school report that's due tomorrow and now they're gonna fail and somehow in their mind its all our fault for not having the book.... Do you see the chain reaction here?

Movie: Corpse Bride

2008-10-24T09:46:00.001-07:00

The Corpse Bride

Set in 19th-century Europe, Tim Burton's animated tale centers on Victor (voiced by Johnny Depp), a young man who, just as he's about to wed Victoria (Emily Watson), is sucked into the underworld by the Corpse Bride (Helena Bonham-Carter), who desires Victor for herself. Victor is fascinated by the Land of the Dead, but nothing can stop him from trying to return to his true love.

Thoughts: Frankly, I thought this movie was pretty awful. The story line was dull as hell and the plot was pretty perdictable. Also, the random bouts of singing just seemed extremely out of place and random. The only thing that I really enjoyed about this movie was the imagery. The puppets, setting, and animation were gorgeous. I loved the character and world designs and some of the scenes (especially surrounding the corpse bride herself) were beautiful.

Rating: 1.5

Movie: Death at a Funeral

2008-10-24T09:14:00.000-07:00

Death at a Funeral

The funeral for the patriarch of a wealthy but eccentric British clan is turned topsy-turvy when a stranger appears claiming to be the dead man's gay lover in this dramedy directed by Frank Oz and starring Peter Dinklage, Matthew Macfadyen and Rupert Graves. The dysfunctional family grows wackier as the deceased's sons decide they can't let the rest of the guests get wind of this revelation. But can they get the cat back into the bag?

Thoughts: This is the first movie in a really long time that has made me laugh so hard I cried. I love a good dark comedy and this is right up there with Saved! for me. After his father's death, Daniel, is trying his best to give his father a proper funeral but problems keep piling up as; the funeral home brings the wrong body to the wake, people keep asking him why his genius writer of a brother isn't giving the eulogy, and when his father's gay lover shows up wanting "his due" from the family.

I loved how this movie managed to balance several different plot threads at the same time. I was also glad to see that it didn't use the secret gay lover thread as a crutch or beat it to death. In fact I wouldn't even necessarily call that the main plot of the movie, it mostly just got the ball really rolling to set off a chain of weird incidents that Daniel and a few other people have to deal with. What really stole the show for me though was Alan Tudyk as Simon who spends his time at the funeral tripping out after accidentally taking some hallucinogenic drugs.

Rated: 4

Movie: Black Adder III

2008-09-13T11:12:00.000-07:00

Black Adder III

In season three of the successful British sitcom, Edmond Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson) finds himself booted from upper-crust society and serving the incompetent Prince Regent (Hugh Laurie). This collection includes the first six episodes of season three, each cleverly named to mimic a Jane Austen novel title: "Dish and Dishonesty," "Ink and Incapability," "Nob and Nobility," "Sense and Senility," "Amy and Amiability" and "Duel and Duality."

Thoughts: Yup, I picked up this one mainly because it had Hugh Laurie, Rowan Atkinson, and Stephen Fry in it and I thought that with those three actors this can't go wrong. And for the most part I was right. Blackadder is the scheming servant of the feather headed Prince Regent. Throughout this season Blackadder is constantly either trying to obtain a higher social standing, keep the Prince Regent out of trouble, or trying to avoid being killed.

While a few of the plots in the episodes got a little formulaic this was still highly enjoyable. It was a fun change of pace for me to see Atkinson playing such a caustic scheming character after primarily seeing him play Mr. Bean. My favorite episode here was probably the one that incorporated "The Scarlet Pimpernel" as I'm a rather large dork and adored the light spoof of it.

Rating: 3.5

Movie: Penelope

2008-09-13T10:24:00.000-07:00

After a friend introduced me to the wonders of Netflix and their mega enormous collection of BBC productions and other movies I'd given up on finding to rent, basically all my reading time has been inhaled by the DVD player.

So under that note, here's some reviews of the movies I've watched lately...

Penelope

Penelope Wilhern (Christina Ricci) is cursed, and the only way out of it is to fall in love with someone of suitable stock. But how can she possibly find her soul mate when she's sequestered inside her family's sprawling estate with only her parents (Catherine O'Hara and Richard E. Grant) to keep her company? Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon co-produced this unconventional fairy tale about a girl who bucks convention to make her own happy ending.

Thoughts: Huge thanks go out to Zeek for her review of this a few weeks ago. I absolutely adored this movie. Its a little like a reversed Beauty and the Beast tale. A curse cast on Penelope's family from way back in the day has landed her with the nose and ears of a pig. And the only way the curse can only be broken is if someone from Penelope's social standing falls in love with and agrees to marry her.

What really impressed me about this movie, is how its not just a fairytale romance but also a story about finding and accepting yourself. The atmosphere of the movie was brilliant as well, they managed to make a very contemporary setting of a large city feel magical and like you could stumble across little red riding hood hopping out of a taxi on her way to grandma's. Also, the cast and characters of the movie were fantastic. I really enjoyed that there was no purely evil villain and that you felt every character in the movie could be redeemed and were just human. And I loved Christina Ricci and have to say that I want quite a few of the outfits she donned throughout the movie. Especially those awesome acid green maryjanes you can see there in the cover.

Rating: 5

Fall Challenge

2008-09-08T11:58:00.000-07:00

Fall Challenge List

Books must be read between September 1 – November 30

1. Title that reminds you of a fairytale: Once Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris

2. Book based on the cover: To Catch a Pirate by Jade Parker

3. Read a book that has an “N” word in the title for November: Deadly Night by Heather Graham

4. Read an author that last name or first name starts with "S" for September: ?

5. For Halloween…. Read a book that is "spooky": ?

6. Title with an address or a place in it (city, State, lake, cottage, river, etc): Lord of the Fading Lands by C.L. Wilson

7. Title that has a name in it (Nicknames are okay): Mr. Cavendish, I Presume by Julia Quinn

8. Read a New (to you) author: The Hob's Bargain by Patricia Briggs

9. Title that has an animal in it: Tiger Eye by Marjorie M. Liu

10. Title that is 2 words: Warrior Rising by PC Cast

11. Read a book with a one-word title. Shifter by Angela Knight, Lora Leigh, Alyssa Day, and Virginia Kantra

12. Read a book with a number in the title. (ex. Fearless Fourteen, Three Little Sins). The 10th Kingdom by Kathryn Wesley

13. Read a book published before the year 2000. ?

14. Choose a book where the hero is a cop or lawman. Now You See Her by Linda Howard

15. For Autumn, choose an author whose first or last name begins with “A”. Hawksong by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Midnight Pleasures

2008-09-04T21:19:00.001-07:00

Midnight Pleasures by Amanda Ashley, Maggie Shayne, Sherrilyn Kenyon, and Ronda Thompson

Rating: 3.5

Genre: Paranormal Romance, Anthology

Date Published: 2003

Page Count: 374

Reason for Reading: I'm currently on an anthology kick, and usually like Shayne and Kenyon's short stories.

Darkfest by Amanda Ashley

BackCover Description: The price of saving her dying mother is Channa's promise to spend a year at the castle of tormented nobleman, Lord Darkfest... to obey him as his servant or, as his secrets are revealed, to become his salvation. And her own.

Thoughts: This story had some weird kind of beauty and the beast/ medieval quest vibe going on. Darkfest is a reclusive wizard who can change into a large black wolf, Channa is a blind village girl who he, for some reason, is drawn to. Even though I couldn't quite see why the two characters were drawn to each other so strongly, I still enjoyed the story. Ashley could've went the asshole route with Darkfest but she didn't and in fact made him a pretty nice guy. My only real problem with the story was that it felt like Ashley was trying to cram way too many plot elements into 80 some odd pages, so the story felt rushed and the obstacles facing Channa and Darkfest felt too easily resolved. Other than that I really enjoyed the setting and magic elements of the story. I'll be looking to pick up one of Ashley's books in the future.

Individual Rating: 3.5

Phantom Lover by Sherrilyn Kenyon

BackCover Description: Haunted by recurring nightmares of terrifying beasts, Erin McDaniels is afraid to sleep- until a hero arrives in her dreams to save her... and makes erotic, incredible love to her. But can she find him again when she is awake?

Thoughts: This was above and beyond the best story in the book. Erin is physically drained from the terrifying dreams she keeps having, until a hero named V'Aidan suddenly appears out of no where in one of them. But once V'Aidan saves her from the monsters he can't leave her be and is suddenly in her dreams every time she closes her eyes. Now Erin has the problem of not wanting to be awake. This story is set in Kenyon's dark hunter universe but there is not really any mention of the dark hunters so if you're not into that series, you're still safe with reading this one. I adored this story in the book, the dream setting and the Greek mythology elements Kenyon put into the story was, as usual, fantastic. I can't wait to read more of Kenyon's dream-hunter characters in fuller detail.

Individual Rating: 4.5

Under Her Spell by Maggie Shayne

BackCover Description: A consultant for a TV series about one gorgeous witch, "white witch" Melissa St. Cloud plans to make the show authentic. But once on the set she is pulled into the arms of a man who opens up a doorway to the dark side and chilling peril.

Thoughts: I think I've read this story from Shayne before. Melissa lands the job of her dreams, working as a tech consultant for a paranormal TV show. Her only problem is that her boss seems to be messing around with the dark arts, so of course Melissa decides that she must take it upon herself to save him. I really didn't remember much about this story from the first time I read it, if that tells you anything. This was mostly just an okay read. Nothing really wrong with the story, but nothing really fantastic either. I found myself getting a little bored with the plot about halfway through but I did enjoy the characters.

Individual Rating: 3

A Wulf's Curse by Ronda Thompson

BackCover Description: Running away from an arranged marriage, Elise steals aboard a wagon in a traveling circus and finds herself in the bed of the Beast Tamer, Stearling Wulf, who is something other than what he seems... and suddenly all Elise desires.

Thoughts: Elise runs away from an arranged marriage to a man who sounds like Blue Beard and hides among a traveling circus. Another okay story. I really enjoyed the traveling circus setting, but the plot of the hero keeping the heroine at arms length for hidden reasons got a little old pretty fast. However, Thompson's take on the werewolf curse was interesting and all the characters she incorporated into the story were pretty good in how she managed to make them all not blur together. I think I'd be willing to pick up a full length book by Thompson in the future.

Individual Rating: 3.5

Recommended for: someone looking for a quick read or fans of short stories.

A Day Late...

2008-09-03T10:58:00.001-07:00

Okay, so this is a day late, but the holiday weekend has me thrown off track anyway sooo....

TEASER TUESDAYS ask you to:
Grab your current read

Let the book fall open to a random page.

Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.

You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

Please avoid spoilers!

My own 2 “Teaser” sentences for today: (I'm currently reading several different books so I actually have 4 different teasers for today.)

1. "Had the men looked up from their macho dance of destruction, they would have seen many desirable womyn dressed as if for the boudoir. But they never ceased pounding, punching, kicking, and clawing each other until, to the last man, they were dead." -pg 36 of Politcially Correct Bedtime Stories by James Finn Garner

2. "In speaking of him to Emerald Stoker I had, if you remember, compared him to a gorilla, and what I had had in mind had been the ordinary run-of-the-mill gorilla, not the large economy size. What he was looking like now was King Kong." -pg. 48 of Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves by PG Wodehouse

3. "Before he quite knew what he was doing, he changed into the wolf and laid his head in her lap. "Magick!" she exclaimed softly. -pg. 49 of the Midnight Pleasures anthology

4. "It was no time to protest. Mr Banks would take a hasty inventory and retire to the pantry." -pg 113 of Father of the Bride by Edward Streeter

All I have to say is...

2008-09-02T18:58:00.000-07:00

I got the job!!! That means I'm finally done with freakin' interviews for a while, I can finally start to really concentrate on cranking out this stupid letter of intent for grad school, and best and probably most important of all.... I can pay my rent! Wooo! Oh and did I mention that the job consists of me selling books and coffee? Yeah that's right, the mother ship has called me home. :P

As for the reading front, its been slow going. I blame it on my feeling a bit under the weather the past few weeks. Hopefully my reading pace will pick back up soon.

As for now, I'm thinking "Father of the Bride" might end up my first did not finish for September as I'm just getting more and more annoyed and bored with it the farther I get. I'll give it another 20-40 pages before I decide for sure though.

August Reads

2008-08-30T17:59:00.000-07:00

1. The Princess Tales Volume 1 by Gail Carson Levine
Rated: 3
Genre: Young Adult, Fairytale Retelling
Thoughts: Three cute retellings of a few classic fairytales (like the Princess and the Pea) from the author who wrote "Ella Enchanted". The first story in this collection I didn't really enjoy, but the other two were very enjoyable, even if a bit fluffier than what I usually like in my retellings. I'll probably end up picking another of Levine's books in the future.

2. The Yellow Wall-paper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Rated: 3.5
Genre: Classic Literature, short story
Thoughts: A woman submitted to the "relaxation" treatment slowly goes crazy from the total isolation she's forced into. This was actually my second reading of this story. It has some creepy imagery in it that I love. A must for anyone interested in feminist literature or anyone who enjoys physchological tales.

3. The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin
Rated: 4
Genre: Classic literature, short story
Thoughts: A woman's thoughts and reactions upon finding out her husband has died in railroad accident. I really enjoyed this short story of Chopin's. Her style reads smoothly and I enjoyed the irony she put into the ending. After reading this I really want to give "The Awakening" a shot.

4. The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie
Rated: 3.5
Genre: Spy novel
reviewed

5. Kill and Tell by Linda Howard
Rated: 2.5
Genre: Romantic Suspense, Contemporary Romance
reviewed

6. Mr Darcy's Diary by Amanda Grange
Rated: 3
Genre: Fiction
reviewed

7. Jeeves and the Tie that Binds by PG Wodehouse
Rated: 4.5
Genre: Fiction, Humor
reviewed

8. Strangers in the Night by Linda Howard
Rated: 4
Genre: Romantic Suspense, anthology
reviewed

Jeeves and the Tie That Binds

2008-08-22T20:38:00.000-07:00

Jeeves and the Tie that Binds by P.G. Wodehouse

Rating: 4.5

Genre: General Fiction, Humor

Date Published: 1971

Page Count: 205

Reason for Reading: I'm really starting to adore this series.

BackCover Description: "Jeeves, who has saved Bertie Wooster so often in the past, may finally prove to be the unwitting cause of his young master's undoing in 'Jeeves and the Tie that Binds.' The Junior Ganymede, a club for butlers in London's fashionable West End, requires every member to provide details about the fellow he is working for. When information is inadvertently revealed to a dangerous source, it falls to Jeeves to undo the damage."

Thoughts: This is the first full length story in Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster series that I've read and I absolutely loved it. The plot was more engaging than reading through Wodehouse's short stories since the plot was more intricate and I was able to get a better feel of all the characters in the story.

This installment in the series revolves around Bertie's friend Ginger's campaign for Parliament, the stolen Ganymede book, and the potential threat of two ex-fiancees of Bertie's changing their minds about their current suitors and attempting dragging him down the aisle once more. Once again Jeeves is around to smooth over Bertie's mishaps and bail him out of trouble.

My only problem with the story is that half of the climax took place when Bertie was out of town so since he is the narrator we didn't get to "see" the events unfold and instead got a retelling of the events via Jeeves. This seemed a little too much like a cheat and made part of the climax of fall flat. Other than that, this was great read and one I plan on rereading in the future.

Recommended For: Fans of PG Wodehouse and people looking for a humorous read with a interesting storyline.

Strangers in the Night

2008-08-22T18:42:00.000-07:00

Strangers in the Night by Linda Howard

Rating: 4

Genre: Anthology, Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense

Date Published: 2001

Page Count: 359

Reason for Reading: I'm on a romantic suspense kick and I adore anthologies so when I stumbled across this on PBS I had to order it.

Lake of Dreams

Backcover Description: Thea Marlow had encountered her soul mate in the depths of her overpowering, frightening dreams. Now, on the shores of a country lake, the stranger comes to her in the flesh- and lures her into a timeless love.

Thoughts: Lake of Dreams was my favorite out of the three stories in this anthology. I'm usually not a big soul mate plot fan but this time I didn't mind at all because of how well it was done. The suspense Howard managed to build up in about 100 pages was absolutely fantastic. It had me switching my opinions of Thea's "dream man" and biting my nails every time she let him within 5 feet of her.

Individual Rating: 4.5

Blue Moon

BackCover Description: Sheriff Jackson Brody knows folks get a little crazy under a full bayou moon. But on the trail of a scorching murder mystery, it's the lawman himself who succumbs to the spell of a beautiful mysterious stranger.

Thoughts: Blue Moon was my least favorite story out of the three. It wasn't bad, it just didn't live up to the other two. Compared to "Lake of Dreams" and "White Out" there was very little actual plot going on. That little description for this one isn't that great. Brody gets called out to a remote house in the Bayou after receiving a tip off that a local red neck has headed out there with a shot gun to harass the woman who lives there. But upon getting to the cabin he finds the woman was quite able to take care of herself. A storm soon blows through trapping Brody and the woman together... mad-ness ensues. I enjoyed the paranormal aspect of this one and the heroine was pretty interesting other than that, this was just an okay story.

Individual Rating: 3

White Out

BackCover Description: In the midst of an Idaho blizzard, Hope Bradshaw offers shelter to
a stranger- and an instant, hungry passion flares between them. When a radio bulletin warns of a dangerous escaped convict, her blood runs cold: has desire blinded her to the risks of trusting a man who is an expert at covering his tracks?

Thoughts: This was another good installment in this book. I really loved the snowed in storyline and the suspense surrounding whether or not Hope has just saved an escaped convict was fantastic. But what I liked most about this story was that Hope wasn't a dumb ass when it came to survival instincts. When push came to shove she knew exactly how to take control of the situation and didn't let her emotions over rule her common sense.

Individual Rating: 4

Recommended For: Fans of plots where the characters are isolated by either location or weather will find something to love in each of these stories. Also I'd recommend this to people looking for a quick romantic suspense read.

The proof is in the puddin'

2008-08-21T15:49:00.000-07:00

Allo, allo!

So I finally got all moved into my new apartment and poof! the internet went down for a few days. So that's why I've been MIA for a while. So lets see... I did get the second call back for the job I want but when I went in for the interview they told me that they would have to cancel due to something to do with the guy who was supposed to interview me today. So now the second interview is set for next week. *crosses fingers that I get the job*

Other than that I've been stressed beyond belief, I've started classes (one I'm dropping as it turned out that it wasn't what I wanted and the other is fantastic), I'm reading through a book on how to get into grad schools, and I'm stressing about finding a job. Fun times.

Oh and I'm also considering getting a cat from the local humane society. There's one that I really liked but he has claws and not all the furniture in my apartment is mine so I'm not so sure about getting him as I'm petrified that he'll decide the couch looks like a nice place to sharpen his claws.

Book Blogger Appreciation Week!

2008-08-15T23:15:00.000-07:00

Amy, at My Friend Amy is hosting
Book Blogger Appreciation Week from Sept. 15-19th. This sounds like it'll be a fantastic way to meet new fellow book bloggers and just have an all around fun time with people who have similar interests. Both book bloggers and readers of book blogs are encouraged to join in on the festivities. So what are you waiting for? Go visit her post about it and sign up to join in!

The Gun Seller

2008-08-14T19:24:00.000-07:00

The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie

Rating: 3.5

Genre: General Fiction/ Espionage

Date Published: 1996

Page Count: 339

Reason for Reading: Okay I'll admit it. It was mostly curiosity.

BackCover Description: "Cold-blooded murder just isn't Thomas Lang's cup of tea. Offered a bundle to assassinate an American industrialist, he opts to warn the intended victim instead- a good deed that soon takes a bad turn. Quicker than he can down a shot of his favorite whiskey, Lang is bashing heads with a Buddha statue, matching wits with evil billionaires, and putting his life (among other things) in the hands of a bevy of femme fatales. Up against rogue CIA agents, wannabe terrorists, and an arms dealer looking to make a high-tech killing, Lang's out to save the leggy lady he has come to love... and prevent an international bloodbath to boot."

Thoughts: I really enjoyed the first part of this book, Laurie's writing style is smooth and often humorous. But after I reached part two of the book the story started to loose me until I ended up putting it down and going long periods without picking it back up again. I felt that things got a little too bogged down with explanations of the terrorist aspects of the plot, but I think a large part of that might just be my own personal tastes. I'm not a very big fan of espionage novels and even though I went into the story knowing that that's what this was, the first half seemed more like a mystery to me with the main character snooping around for clues and stumbling over bad guys. But when the bad guys were discovered and the plot progressed into the spy/conspiracy aspect is when I started to loose interest.

Other than that, the hero, Thomas Lang was a great. He was likable, witty, and for the most part knew what he was doing. As for the other characters, it was hard to keep some of them straight towards the end and I had to go back once to figure out who Lang was talking about.

All in all, this was a pretty good read that I feel safe recommending to a friend who's a real fan of the genre to read.

Recommended For: Fans of spy and/or conspiracy novels will enjoy this.

Teaser Tuesdays

2008-08-12T16:28:00.000-07:00

TEASER TUESDAYS ask you to:

Grab your current read
Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
Please avoid spoilers!

My own 2 “Teaser” sentences for today:

"I think perhaps she wanted to gauge how serious the whole thing was, as if she still wasn't quite sure of it or me; so I put on a grim expression and went through the flat in what I hoped was a Clint Eastwoody sort of way - pushing open doors with my foot, opening cupboards suddenly- while she stood in the corridor, her cheeks spotted with red. In the kitchen, I said 'Oh God.'"

-Page 144 of "The Gun Seller" by Hugh Laurie

Carry On, Jeeves

2008-08-12T09:53:00.000-07:00

Carry On, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse

Rating: 4

Genre: General Fiction, Humor

Date Published: 1925

Page Count: 245

Reason for Reading: I loved the first book I read from Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster series so I picked this one up.

BackCover Description: From the moment Jeeves glides into Bertie Wooster's life and provides him with a magical hangover cure, Bertie begins to wonder how he's ever managed without him. Jeeves makes himself totally indispensable in every way, disentangling the hapless Bertie from scrapes with formidable aunts, madcap girls and unbidden guests. His ability to dig assorted fellows out of sundry holes is nothing short of miraculous. In short, the man is a paragon.

Thoughts: This is another collection of Wodehouse's short stories featuring Bertie and Jeeves. The main difference between this collection and the other book I read from the series is that most of the stories featured take place in America. The stories are still all light hearted and feature many of the same characters, plus a few interesting new ones.

The thing that stood out most to me in this book was the story told from Jeeves's point of view as that didn't happen in the last book. It was a nice change of pace to be able to get Jeeves take on one of Bertie's mishaps, but I have to say it was a relief to step back into Bertie's point of view as I missed his more... enthusiastic look on things.

Recommended for: Anyone looking for a light humorous read.

Mr. Darcy's Diary

2008-08-11T21:25:00.000-07:00

Mr. Darcy's Diary by Amanda Grange

Rating: 3

Genre: Fiction, Historical Romance

Date Published: 2005

Page Count: 329

Reason for Reading: I liked the idea of diving into a familiar story line but told from a different character's point of view.

BackCover Description: "The only place Darcy could share his innermost feelings was in the private pages of his diary... Torn between his sense of duty to his family name and his growing passion for Elizabeth Bennet, all he can do is struggle not to fall in love. A skillful and graceful imaging of the hero's point of view in one of the most beloved and enduring love stories of all time.

Thoughts: Grange had a pretty good grasp on all the characters from "Pride and Prejudice" and luckily didn't feel the need to add any original characters to the cast (this annoyed me in "An Assembly Such as This"). I still ended up skimming through rather large bits of this book though. I got bored in the parts were Grange was making up a storyline for what Darcy did during the time we didn't see him in Austen's novel and I really started skimming when Grange went into what happens after the ending of the original "Pride and Prejudice".

Other than that there's not much to be said about this book, my only real complaint about it was that I didn't agree with the way Grange interpreted one or two of Darcy's actions. Other than that it's a well done retelling and I think any fan of the Austen novel will enjoy this quick read.

Recommended For: Fans of the original novel.

Its like botox but for a blog

2008-08-11T12:33:00.000-07:00

So I've decided that I'm going to finally update my blog to the new layout thing blogger has and get it off of template or whatever its called. So if things get a little wonky here that's just me trying to muddle my way through the new system and probably cursing up a storm as I want to try and keep my three column layout which I have no idea how I'm going to do that. So... fun times.

And the count down begins...

2008-08-11T12:10:00.000-07:00

Hullo, hullo!

No I haven't randomly vanished again. I've just been sucked into the stress/hectic-ness that is moving into a new place and trying to find a job to pay for said new place. So far I've had one interview and its for the job that I really want. They said that they'll call me sometime this week and let me know if I get the second interview sooo... *crosses fingers* I'm also gonna keep my fingers crossed that they don't want to interview me on friday or saturday as those are the days I'm moving into said new place and that would just make it crazy to have to do both on the same day.

I've also found a new addiction and it is all Ames's fault. :P Shelfari.com is my most current "I'm bored so I'm going to go waste time on the net site."

Kill and Tell

2008-07-30T12:21:00.001-07:00

Kill and Tell by Linda Howard

Rating: 2.5

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Date Published: 1998

Page Count: 305

Reason for Reading: I was in mood for one of Howard's fast paced plots and chose this one mostly because I love New Orleans which is the setting of the plot.

BackCover Description: Still reeling from her mother's recent death, Karen Whitlaw is stunned when she receives a package containing a mysterious notebook from the father she has barely seen since his return from the Vietnam War over twenty years ago. Unwilling to deal with her overwhelming emotions, Karen packs the notebook away, putting it- and her father- out of her mind, until she receives a shocking phone call. Her father has been murdered on the gritty streets of New Orleans.
Homicide detective Marc Chastain considers the murder nothing more than street violence against a homeless man, and Karen accepts his judgment- at first. But she changes her mind when her home is burglarized and "accidents" begin to happen. All at once, she faces a chilling realization: whoever killed her father is now after her. Desperate for answers, Karen retrieves the only thing that links her to her father- the notebook he had sent months before. Inside its worn pages, she makes an unsettling discovery: her father had been a sniper in Vietnam and the notebook contains a detailed account of each one of his kills.
Now running for her life, Karen entrusts the book and its secrets to Marc Chastain. Together they unravel a disturbing story of politics, power, and murder- and face a killer who will stop at nothing to get his hands on the kill book.

Thoughts: I've read 3 or 4 of Howard's books and each time I always leave the story with a slightly bad taste in my mouth. I love her writing style, her heroines, and her adventure/suspense plots and those are the three things that keep me coming back to her books. But I almost always hate her heroes. I either want to bash them over the head for their "me Tarzan, you Jane" approach to handling things or I just find them completely unattractive and spend most of the book trying to figure out what's so freakin appealing about them. With that in mind I have to say that Marc is above and beyond the creepiest and most unattractive of the heroes I've read in one of Howard's book yet. The first half of the book is a balance between Marc calmly manipulating a grieving Karen into having hot monkey sex with him and scenes of the bad guys plotting evilly.

And my like of Marc didn't improve in the second half of the book. I was still slightly peeved that the guy was so confident in his mad seduction skillz that he put on a condom while he was getting drinks and sandwiches prepared for his dinner with Karen (who had just come from her father's funeral and he had just met one or two days ago). As the book progressed farther along I kept cringing at the things Marc did and I finally just gave up on him when he proclaimed (after having unprotected sex with Karen who now not only lost her father and mother within the same year and just came back from being almost killed twice) that she had no choice to marry him if she was pregnant because he refused to have an illegitimate child. What is this 20th century England?

After that I didn't really care what happened to the two main characters. Karen had turned from a strong independent woman to a big walk all over me marshmallow when around Marc and Marc was a grunting, manipulative, douche bag.

As for the suspense plot, if I ignore the two main characters which are what killed the book for me, I enjoyed it. It was an interesting premise and I adore the setting. My only complaint about the plot was that I thought the notebook should've played a bigger part in the whole deal than it did. The notebook was mentioned and was in the forefront of my mind the whole time but I thought it should've been in one of the main characters hands earlier than the last 30 pages of the book.

Recommended For: Die hard Howard fans.

The post with no real point

2008-07-27T12:51:00.000-07:00

Ahhh, book slumps. How I hate you. My TBR keeps growing because I keep adding to the shelf without currently taking any off. Just in the last week I have bought

Kill and Tell by Linda Howard

Haunting Rachel by Kay Hooper

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Lover Boys by Ana Castillo

Beautiful Lies by Lisa Unger

Faro's Daughter by Georgette Heyer

The Reinvented Miss Bluebeard by Minda Webber

Death and the Obnoxious Tourist by Maria Hudgins

Into the Darkness by Barbara Michaels

Plus, I bought two books that I already have.

Sons of the Wolf by Barbara Michaels

The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan

My justification for those two purchases is that my copy of Sons of the Wolf was a used copy and a very beat up one at that.... plus you know I was just waaaay too excited that my B&N finally had Michaels stocked on the shelves and I felt it was my fangirl duty to buy some of her books to support that kind of behavoir from the store. As for Tan's book, well I wasn't necessarily the one who owned that book. The copy that I had read a few years back was my mom's. I had just "borrowed" it. Plus, this copy was from a used book store, its hard cover, and it was only 3 bucks. How in the hell could i resist that.

Anyway, so I think I know what kind of book I'm wanting to read. So I'm going to ask for ya'lls help. I'm looking for a book along the lines of Linda Howard's Heart of Fire. Something set in an exotic setting like the jungle, egypt, greece, whatever. The plot doesn't need a lot of substance as long as there are bad guys, chase scenes, and fighting. And bit of romance is always a plus. Anyone have some suggestions?

10 Best and Worst Books of My Undergrad Experience

2008-07-18T15:15:00.000-07:00

Since I spent four years of my life being buried thigh high in random books for my literature classes at college (and because I don't have anything else to review) I thought I'd make a list of the 10 Best and Worst books I had to read as an undergrad. Some of the comments under the books aren't reviews or anything, they're mostly just some random comments from me. So anyway...

10 Worst

10. The Waves by Virginia Woolf
Class: Brit Lit class (post-mordern or contemporary can't remember which one)

This one barely made my list because I did enjoy some things about Woolf's writing, but oh my god the way this book is written annoyed the crap out of me. You can never be quite sure who is narrating and the beginning of the book is just a little too abstract for me.

9. Tender Buttons by Gertude Stein
Class: Intro to Lit

This is from the "chapter" titled Food *clears throat* "CHICKEN. Alas a dirty word, alas a dirty third alas a dirty third, alas a dirty bird." Now imagine reading 52 pages of that crap then being expected to discuss and write an intelligent paper on it.... Yeah.

8. No-No Boy by John Okanawa
Class: Multicultural American Lit

A character drivin book where the main character never freakin changed. And the prose made me feel like I was doped up on cough syrup.

7. Burmese Days by George Orwell
Class: Modern Brit Lit

Door mat main character falls in love with some chick. Chick doesn't want door mat. Something about Burmese, someone kills a tiger, blah blah blah. ZZZZZZZzzzzzz.

6. Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Class: Great Books

The name of the class was false advertising. We read 12 books for this class and only 3 of the books were actually good. The rest made me want to bash my head against the wall. This was the worst one in my opinion though. Narrator is a crazy, obsessive, and delusional person who lurks around town having thoughts about taking people down a peg.

5. Ceremony by Leslie Silko
Class: Multicultural American Literature

I'm not even sure I can remember most of this book, main character has post traumatic stress disorder after going through WWII and witnessing his brother die. There's some bar scenes and something about a drought and some guy playing with human teeth.

4. The Birth of Tragedy by Friedrich Nietzsche

Class: Rehtorical Theory

Holy shit, this was just one big headache to muddle through.

3. The Thoreau Companion: Collected Works of Henry David Thoreau
Class: Nature Literature/Intro to American Lit

My god I hated the books we had to read for my nature class. Great professor but I just hated the books. Thoreau was the one who manged to bore me the most.

2. Hamlet by Shakespeare
Class: Intro Brit Lit/ Intro to Drama/ Great Books/ Play Analysis

I love Shakespeare, but Hamlet is aweful. Its my least favorite play of his, so of course that is the one Shakespeare play I am forced to read and write on 4 times. *shudders*

1. Heart of Darkness by Joesph Conrad
Class: Intro Brit Lit/ Intro to Lit/ World Lit/ Modern Brit Lit

Oh. My. God. My hatred of this book runs deep. I just mildly disliked the book the first time I was made to read and write on it. The second time around I started to despise it and by the forth... I wanted to scream and light all the copies of the damn book on fire when I saw it listed on the course syllabus. This book is like the swiss army knife to professors. It handly fits into several subjects and you can spend weeks yammering on about how Conrad uses Light and Darkness to illustrate different points or you could discuss Conrad's clear racisim which leads into your discussion about Things Fall Apart which leads into comparing and contrasting the two together! Wooooo!

10 Best

10. Beloved by Toni Morrison
Class: Multicultural Lit

I absolutely loved Morrison's prose. Her writing is gorgeous and the only reason why this book isn't higher on my list of bests is because the plot sagged a little in the middle of the book for me. Otherwise this was a fantastic read.

9. Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope
Class: Intro to Brit Lit

God I love satires.

8. Angels in America by Tony Kushner
Class: Intro to Drama/ Play Analysis

I adored this play. It has a great balance of light hearted and serious moments. Plus, I enjoyed the old ladies sitting behind me when we went and saw it performed who were "shocked and appalled" by it because it wasn't a religious play like they had thought.

7. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
Class: Play Analysis

How can you not love Oscar Wilde? If you're unwilling to sit down and read it. Rent it. They did a pretty good version of it with Colin Firth, Judi Dench, and Reese Witherspoon.

6. Beowulf
Class: Myths and Legends

I'm still boycotting the movie version of this with Angelina Jolie all sexed up for her part as Grendel's mother. And is it true that they even gave Beowulf a freakin love interest?

5. The Tempest by Shakespeare
Class: Intro to Lit

Not my favorite of Shakespeares works, but it's still a good one. I'm still a little disappointed that none of my classes ever read Macbeth. Its my favorite.

4. John Keats Lyric Poems
Class: Intro to Lit

"Fuck me I love Keats."
I felt the need to add a poet to this list and Keats won by a hair over Stevie Smith.

3. So Far From God by Ana Castillo
Class: Multicultural American Lit

Another sort of weird book, but I loved it. And for a change I didn't mind the story line hopping around to several different characters.

2. Equus by Peter Shaffer
Class: Great Books

I was suprised at just how much I loved this play. I'll admit I was extremely curious to read the play that everyone was freaking out over Daniel Radcliff performing in a few years ago. And all I have to say about that is, kudos to Radcliff for trying to break out of the Harry Potter shell. Anyway, this is a fantastic phychological play that's manages to be mildly creepy.

1. The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter
Class: Intro to Lit

This is by and far the best book I had to read while in college. I'm a huge fairytale fan so this book of Carter's retelling of quite a few classic fairytales was right up my alley. What I loved most about Carter's retelling though were the feminist and sometimes taboo twists she gave them.

Aesop's Fables

2008-07-18T12:23:00.000-07:00

Aesop's Fables

Rating: how can you rate classic fairy tales?

Genre: Classic Literature, Fantasy

Date Published: my version: 2003 by Ann Arbor Media Group

Page Count: 199

Reason for Reading: I actually bought this book from a used bookstore yesterday because I'm currently collecting certain kinds of illustrated fairytale/folk tale books for reference on an art project. Anyway, started flipping through the book and got sucked into reading the whole thing.

BackCover Description: Aesop's Fables, written in the Sixth Century B.C., are credited to a prisoner of war who won his freedom and rose among the Greeks to be a trusted advisor to a king. Aesop's Fables were handed down through the generations until 300 B.C. when an Athenian politician known as Demetrius of Phalerun collected 200 of these fables and put them into written form. Aesop's Fables presents the reader with moral stories and offers ageless advice through the personification of the animal world. Each fable is paired with an enchanting illustration.

Thoughts: This book just goes with the odd reading mood I've been in lately. Yesterday I sat in the childrens section of Barnes and Noble reading a pop-up book version of Moby Dick. But seriously who could resist that? Its a pop-up book version of freakin Moby Dick... for children! What's next pop-up book version of Machiavelli's The Prince?

But anyway, I loved reading through this small collection of Aesop's Fables. It was quick, with beautifully drawn illustrations, and honestly I loved the small morbid fables that snuck in between the classics. Since there's not much else that can be said I'll leave you with one of them.

"A Lion had come to the end of his days and lay sick unto death at the mouth of his cave, gasping for breath. The animals, his subjects, came round him and drew nearer as he grew more and more helpless. When they saw him on the point of death they thought to themselves: 'Now is the time to pay off old grudges.' So the Boar came up and drove at him with his tusks; then a Bull gored him with his horns; still the Lion lay helpless before them: so the Ass, feeling quite safe from danger, came up, and turning his tail to the Lion kicked up his heels unto his face. 'This is a double death,' growled the Lion.

Moral: A Prince that does not secure Friends to Himself while he is in Power and Condition to oblige them, must never expect to find Friends, when he is Old and Impotent, and no longer able to do them any good."

The Inimitable Jeeves

2008-07-13T14:25:00.000-07:00

The Inimitable Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse

Rating: 4

Genre: General Fiction, Humor

Date Published: 1923

Page Count: 320

Reason for Reading: Loved the BBC version of this series of books starring Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie so I decided to give the books a shot.

BackCover Description: Bertie's friend Bingo falls in love with every other woman he meets, from Mabel, the waitress at the bun shop, to the Amazonian Honoria Glossop (whome Aunt Agatha has earmarked for Bertie). Naturally there are obstacles to be overcome- the matter of allowances, class prejudices and a lack of revolutionary tendencies. Rely on Jeeves's superb brain-power to emancipate Bertie and Bingo from the tightest of corners.

Thoughts: Same thing goes for this review as the past two reviews. Writing this from my reading journal, blah blah blah.

Its almost eerie how dead on the BBC version of these books got with the characters. Most of the time when I pick up a book after seeing a version of it on tv or in a movie the characters have some major differences but I can't say thats true in this case. Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry hit their characters dead on.

Bertie is a lovable fop who unwittingly gets himself into all kinds of odd situations and ends up having to rely on Jeeves to figure a way out for him. And Jeeves's quirks about certain clothing is extremely amusing and becomes a kind of running joke within the book and, from what I can tell, continues into the other books as well. All the characters in this series are rather lovable and having some odd traits about them.

I can't say much about the plot because the book read like several short stories. While all of the storylines interlocked and primarily surrounded Bingo and his various love affairs its hard to pinpoint a central plot. Bertie is an excellent narrator as he tends to take a carefree view towards life and this keeps the book light and amusing.

Recommended For: Anyone looking for a light humorous read or a good travel/commute book. (I read most of this book on the train to and from college and found it to be a great travel read because the chapters are often short and its easy to put down and come back to.)

Howl's Moving Castle

2008-07-13T14:06:00.000-07:00

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wyme Jones

Rating: 4.5

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Date Published: 1986

Page Count: 448

Reason for Reading: Saw the anime version of the movie on TV and adored the story so I got the book to read

BackCover Description: In the land of Ingary, such things as spells, invisible cloaks, and seven-league boots were everyday things. The Witch of the Waste was another matter.
After fifty years of quiet, it was rumored that the Witch was about to terrorize the country again. So when a moving black castle, blowing dark smoke from its four thin turrets, appeared on the horizon, everyone thought it was the Witch. The castle, however, belonged to Wizard Howl, who, it was said, liked to suck the souls of young girls.
The Hatter sisters--Sophie, Lettie, and Martha--and all the other girls were warned not to venture into the streets alone. But that was only the beginning.
In this giant jigsaw puzzle of a fantasy, people and things are never quite what they seem. Destinies are intertwined, identities exchanged, lovers confused. The Witch has placed a spell on Howl. Does the clue to breaking it lie in a famous poem? And what will happen to Sophie Hatter when she enters Howl's castle?

Thoughts: This is yet another review written primarily from my reading journal. So once again, its not going to be the best.

This is a great young adult book. I loved the world Jones developed here as well as the idea of placing the heroine, Sophie, under a curse that aged her to look and feel like an old woman. But that it didn't crush her spirit and instead gave her courage to start doing things for herself. The other main characters Howl and Calcifer were fantastic as well. I rather enjoyed how foppish Howl was and the bantering that went on between him and Sophie was amusing. I definitely liked this orginal version of the story better than the sugared up anime version. (Even though the animated version did have quite a few good points, like the gorgeous artwork)

Recommended For: Anyone who enjoyed the anime version or just loves a good orginal fairytale. I'd also recommend this to anyone who has read and enjoyed Robin McKinley's book Beauty.

The Crying Child

2008-07-13T13:47:00.000-07:00

The Crying Child by Barbara Michaels

Rating: 4.5

Genre: Gothic Mystery

Date Published: 1971

Page Count: 311

Reason for Reading: Favorite author of mine.

BackCover Description: Joanne McMullen's fears for her sister's sanity have brought her to remote King's Island, Maine. Mary's grief over the loss of her child is threatening to send her over the edge—and her insistence that she has heard an eerie, childlike wailing in the woods fuels Joanne's anxiety. And now Mary's taken to disappearing at midnight in search of the source of the heartrending moans. But it's not just her sister's encroaching madness that is chilling Joanne's blood—it's her own. Because suddenly, impossibly, she also hears the crying child.

Thoughts: This review is basically what I wrote in my reading journal after I had finished the book back in March, so its not exactly the best.

This one of Michaels really managed to creep me out. I think it was mostly due to the spooky imagery of the child crying in the middle of the night and rocking horses rocking all by themselves that had me keeping the light on for most of the night. The mystery aspect of the story wasn't the best of Michaels as I had a part of what was doing the crying figured out early on, the suspense side of the plot though was excellent. As was the bits featuring the paranormal. I only wish the that the story didn't feel so rushed towards the end.

Recommeded For: Anyone who enjoys gothic mysteries or a good ghost story.

The Woman Warrior

2008-07-12T13:25:00.000-07:00

The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts by Maxine Hong Kingston

Rating: 3.5

Genre: Nonfiction/ Literature

Date Published: 1976

Page Count: 209

Reason for Reading: I had really liked the excerpt I had read from this book in one of my literature classes last semester.

Backcover Description: A Chinese American woman tells of the Chinese myths, family stories and events of her childhood that have shaped her identity.

My Thoughts: This novel reads like a collection of short stories featuring the narrator's family more than a biography of her own personal life. Most of the stories written in this book surround Kingston's mother or aunts and features their troubles or, in one case, triumph within the Chinese culture. While most of the stories were interesting I had a hard time developing a sense of the people within the book, with the exception of Kingston's mother who probably played the largest part in most of the stories.

By far the two best stories in the book are No Name Woman which is the story of Kingston's aunt that the family tried to "erase" the memory of ever having existed after she had a child not by her husband and Shaman which is the Kingston's mother's story about the "ghosts" she encounted while studying to become a doctor in China. There was only one story in the book that I just did not like at all called White Tigers. This story just seemed completely out of place within the book as it was primarily a mythological story featuring a woman warrior and just interrupted the flow of the family stories for me.

Recommended For: I'd mostly recommend this to people who are interested in women's roles/struggles within the Chinese and Chinese-American culture.

flails

2008-03-19T11:43:00.000-07:00

I hate to put my blog on haitus after just returning to regular posting a few months ago, but well I have to. I have to take the GRE in less than a month and am freaking out and so not prepared for it. So I'm forcing myself to go on a book freeze until I after the GRE and study for that test in the time I usually put away for reading. I'll see ya'll sometime after April 12th.