Reading Amidst the Chaos

January in Review

2012-02-06T12:15:00.000-05:00

Oh January. You were a month of busy busy busy and I cannot say that I'm sad to see you go. In general I think I will like life much more in March when I'm a project I'm working on is finally finished. Sigh. I liked the books I read this month (for the most part) though I had to pull some comfort reads out to get me through the most stressful moments. The only kind of productive thing I managed to get finished was a few shelf things from Target! I bought two and ended up stacking them, so I need one more to complete the 'look' I'm going for. Now if only someone wanted to finish all that organizing and decorating stuff that my still not finished apartment needs....

Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison

Never Enough by Lauren Dane

Land of the Blindfolded (1-9) by Sakura Tsukuba (B)

Making Chase by Lauren Dane

Beast Behaving Badly by Shelly Laurenston

Savor the Moment by Nora Roberts

The Bride Wore Black Leather by Simon R. Green (A)

Lothaire by Kresley Cole (Mini Me)

Moonlight in the Morning by Jude Deveraux (B+)

Just a Taste by Deirdre Martin (C+)

Fair Play by Deirdre Martin (DNF)

Instant Attraction by Jill Shalvis (B+)

Strong and Sexy by Jill Shalvis (Mini Me)

The Stanislaski Sisters by Nora Roberts

Here's to February (and the old school Nora Roberts that have been getting me through)!

Just a Taste by Deirdre Martin

2012-02-06T11:14:00.001-05:00

For delizioso pasta, go to Dante's. For a sumptuous Cordon Bleu, go to Vivi's. To really heat things up get them together.

Since his wife's untimely death, Anthony Dante has thrown himself into his cooking, making his restaurant, Dante's, a Brooklyn institution. So far, his biggest problem has been keeping his retired hockey star brother out of the kitchen. But now, a mademoiselle is invading his turf. And you know what they say: too many chefs spoil the neighborhood

Stunning Vivi Robitaille can't wait to showcase her tastebud-tingling recipes in her brand new bistro, Vivi's. Her only problem is an arrogant Italian chef across the street who actually thinks he's competition. The table is set for a culinary war - until things start getting spicy outside of the kitchen

I didn't know where I was going to fall on the Deirdre Martin bandwagon, but Just a Taste has added at least one check mark in the plus column. The first Martin I tried was a rare DNF for me, but I just could not warm up to Theresa and Michael. Ack, bleck, no way no how - she was unlikable and he was such a stereotype that every page had something that irked me.

There was still a bit of the stereotypical character stuff going on between Ant and Vivi but at least the two of them seemed to be real people whose motivations I could understand. As a widower Ant doesn't want to have anything to do with Vivi - he just wants to run his family's restaurant and get his nephew out of having to play a sport he hates. When Vivi walks in with her dreams and aspirations of running of a French bistro across the street, he's not exactly jumping for joy. Things unfold kind of as you'd expect with their initial sparks turning into love but all in all it's a fun read and I recommend it (especially if you do what I did and check it out from the library).

Overall Feeling - C+

Series - ...7) Just a Taste 8) Power Play 9) Double the Heat 10) Icebreaker 11) Breakaway

Moonlight in the Morning by Jude Deveraux

2012-02-03T11:14:00.000-05:00

In an all-new trilogy set in blissful Edilean, Virginia, Jude Deveraux weaves together the tales of three young women, best friends since college, and the lives, loves, and dreams that await them.

Sparks are flying between Jecca Layton and Dr. Tristan Aldredge. At the urging of her dear friend Kim, Jecca put the ruthless New York City art world on hold to spend the summer pursuing her passion for painting while enjoying Edilean’s tightly knit artistic community. For years, Kim’s cousin Tris—the town’s handsome and dedicated doctor—felt a deep connection to Kim’s college “sister” Jecca, though they had met only once before; now, Jecca is swept off her feet by this strong, sensitive man in a summer of sensual delights. But when long shadows announce Jecca’s return to “real life” and the big city, the lovers must decide: Can they survive the distance? And who will sacrifice the life they’ve created for themselves to be together?

I picked this up on whim from Target the other day, mostly because of the review on Dear Arthur. I've liked Deveraux as an author for a while but distinctly remember at some point not wanting to read any more historicals with really damaged heroines. It just got to be a bit much you know? Luckily Moonlight in the Morning could not be more different and I can't wait for more books to come out featuring these characters.

Jecca and Tris are both people with lives that for the most part they enjoy. Neither think they have perfection but the fact the fact that their families aren't totally the bane of their existence and their jobs don't totally diminish them as human beings helps keep things even keeled between the two of them. The slow build up of their feelings is so sweet and I loved the Cupid and Psyche references - it reminds me of another historical I own :). I do have to agree a little that the whys and hows life works out to give these two their HEA might be a bit much but really, was I surprised? No. This isn't a romance or suspense - it's a contemporary romance and after some realistic struggle readers just get to relish the fact that all will be well between them. And that's just the way I like it.

Overall Feeling - B+

Series - 1) Moonlight in the Morning

Mini Me: Lothaire by Kresley Cole

2012-02-01T11:57:00.000-05:00

ALL FEAR THE ENEMY OF OLD

Driven by his insatiable need for revenge, Lothaire, the Lore’s most ruthless vampire, plots to seize the Horde’s crown. But bloodlust and torture have left him on the brink of madness—until he finds Elizabeth Peirce, the key to his victory. He captures the unique young mortal, intending to offer up her very soul in exchange for power, yet Elizabeth soothes his tormented mind and awakens within him emotions Lothaire believed he could no longer experience.

A DEADLY FORCE DWELLS WITHIN HER

Growing up in desperate poverty, Ellie Peirce yearned for a better life, never imagining she’d be convicted of murder—or that an evil immortal would abduct her from death row. But Lothaire is no savior, as he himself plans to sacrifice Ellie in one month’s time. And yet the vampire seems to ache for her touch, showering her with wealth and sexual pleasure. In a bid to save her soul, Ellie surrenders her body to the wicked vampire, while vowing to protect her heart.

CENTURIES OF COLD INDIFFERENCE SHATTERED

Elizabeth tempts Lothaire beyond reason, as only his fated mate could. As the month draws to a close, he must choose between a millennia-old blood vendetta and his irresistible prisoner. Will Lothaire succumb to the miseries of his past . . . or risk everything for a future with her?

Let me just put it out there - not so much a fan of Lothaire. I hadn't been reading been reading reviews but by the buzz on the tweet-o-sphere I thought this book was going to knock it out of the park but I was really unimpressed. I know that Lothaire is damaged and all, but he was SUCH A JERK. Like over and above whatever you might see a Diana Palmer hero might do and I have to admit it turned me off. Ellie made no sense to me in being attracted to him and their sex scenes for the most part creeped me out. I'm usually not one to have qualms with the forced seduction type of stuff but them...somehow....it just didn't even seem reciprocal and I ended up looking at the book from the sides of my eyes trying to figure out how Cole was going to try and make everything ok.

It wasn't a complete loss, the Valkyrie scenes at the end were funny and I definitely wish we'd seen more of them throughout the book to lighten things up. I'm glad I read it as part of the series but it was not my favorite and I'd have to say that if you don't need to buy it, don't.

YouTube is making me so happy today :)

2012-02-01T11:10:00.000-05:00

Happy Hump Day everyone! How about some non-booky goodness to inspire joy and laughter?

1) I wish this was 2ne1 (can't lie) but I still love that a popular Korean group performed on David Letterman (even if it was in English).

2) Bueller...Bueller...Bueller...

Teaser Tuesdays (1/31)

2012-01-31T11:22:00.001-05:00

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"I could feel things bleeding and breaking inside me, important things. I'd pushed myself and my gift further than I ever had before. Too far."

--pg 302, The Bride Wore Black Leather by Simon R. Green

Instant Attraction by Jill Shalvis

2012-01-30T15:50:00.000-05:00

GET WILD . .. AND THEN GET WILDER . . .

Accountant Katie Kramer is a quintessential good girl – working hard, recycling diligently, all the while trying to ignore the feeling that she doesn’t fit in anywhere. That’s all she wants. Well, that – and amazing sex, and the kind of daredevil escapade she can look back on when she’s crunching numbers in a dusty cubicle. Which explains why she just took a job in Wishful, California, working for Wilder Adventures and Expeditions. Waking up to find a magnificently built stranger towering over her bed – that part defies explanation . . .

After wandering the planet for months following a life-changing accident, Cameron Wilder has come back to the only home he knows. Under other circumstances, he might be thrilled to find a gorgeous woman sleeping in his cabin, but now, while he’ll risk his body taking clients on adrenaline-drenched excursions, his heart is off limits. Still, Katie’s killer smile triggers something deep in his gut . . . among other places. Showing her how exhilarating it can be to stop balancing her life as if it was a checkbook is the biggest rush he’s ever felt – and an adventure Katie’s wishing would never end.

I've got to say, Shalvis is reeling me in with her combination of realistic relationships and just damaged enough to be intriguing main characters. It's refreshing I tell you, to know that in picking up her contemporary romances I'm not going to be inundated with unnecessary drama and obstacles to deter the couple from their happy ending.

I feel as if I've said this a lot in reference to Shalvis's characters, but both Katie and Cam are working through life issues when they come upon each other. Katie's trying to restart her life after being the sole survivor of a horrible accident and Cam's making attempts to rebuild his life after the sport that usually defined it for him is taken away. What you witness is them inspiring each other, both of them supporting each other as they try to recover and then find love in the process. I loved the scenes with Cam fighting - and eventually giving in - to Katie's determination to be different, to do more, with her life. She wasn't going to forsake feelings just because there might be the possibility of heartache.

The ending was a bit quick but expected, though I almost wish things had been wrapped up before Katie actually left the mountain. All in all it was a great romance though and I highly recommend the book.

Overall Feeling - B+

Series - 1) Instant Attraction 2) Instant Gratification 3) Instant Temptation

Mini Me: Strong and Sexy by Jill Shalvis

2012-01-26T10:50:00.000-05:00

BLOWING IT ALL SKY HIGH

In a family of serious over-achievers, Shayne Mahoney has always been the laid-back, easy-going rebel. But running Sky High Air-a charter airline catering to the rich and famous-is a dream come true, in-flight specials included. Like kissing his client’s beautiful, brainy daughter in a coat closet. But before Shayne can say “Fasten Your Seatbelts,” Dani claims to witness a murder, gets stalked in her own apartment, and as added bonus, gets them both shot at by a mystery sniper. Normally Shayne would be running from the obviously crazy woman, and yet he finds himself trying to help her, leaving him to doubt his own sanity…

There’s a reason Dani never attends her mother’s high society parties. The fake people, the shallow conversation…and the fact that she doesn’t fit in. She’s a zoologist, not a starlet, and happy about it, even if she wishes men like ruggedly handsome Shayne Mahoney would spare her a second glance. Of course, dodging bullets isn’t exactly what she’d call the perfect follow-up to their heated kiss, but Shayne makes it clear she can depend on him. All she has to do is hold on tight to his delicious hard body until the ride is over…

I loved this book! I was really worried that this was going to be the 'woman appears crazy, no one believes her and instead the cops decide to arrest her' type of novel. Not only does that seem completely unrealistic to me whenever I find it, it just makes the romance that harder to believe because I'm always scratching my head about how the hero could be so dumb.

Luckily here, while there may be some initial 'huh' moments, Shayne realizes that Dani isn't really crazy and someone is actually out to get her. We get some very sweet interactions between the two because of it, which made their relationship even more fun to read about. Shayne might be a ladies man but he definitely has his own insecurities and hangups that made it difficult for him to trust his feelings for Dani. Dani's emotional issues, mostly stemming from how her mother and siblings viewed her lifestyle choices as 'insane', don't help matters. Both have work to do to make the relationship they unexpectedly find themselves in succeed - but as it happens without a lot of the soap opera drama I enjoyed the whole thing and can't wait to pick up the next in this series.

The Bride Wore Black Leather by Simon R Green

2012-01-23T10:19:00.000-05:00

In the secret heart of London, under the cover of endless darkness, the Nightside caters to anyone with any unusual itch that needs to be scratched. But enter at your own risk. The party animals who live here may be as inhuman as their appetites...

My name is John Taylor. The Nightside is my home. I didn't plan it that way. In fact, I once tried to get away. But I came back. And now it seems I'm settling down, with a full-time job (in addition to my work as a very private eye) as Walker-the new Voice of the Authorities in the Nightside-and a wedding in the offing.

I'm marrying the love of my life, Suzie Shooter, the Nightside's most fearsome bounty-hunter. But nothing comes easy here. Not life. Not death. And for certain, not happily-ever-after. Before I can say "I do," I have one more case to solve as a private eye-and my first assignment as Walker.

Both jobs would be a lot easier to accomplish if I weren't on the run, from friends and enemies alike. And if my bride-to-be weren't out to collect the bounty on my head...

If you caught up with me on Facebook or Twitter this weekend you probably witnessed some pretty huge gushing going on for this book. To be completely honest I LOVES it and while I'm sad to see this series end, I can't think of a better way it could have gone out.

The Bride Wore Black Leather is full of all the things that made The Nightside series so great - seemingly omnipotent villains, behind the scenes machinations, scary as hell rides through the dark under belly of society - all tossed in with some mystery and a dash of romance. I've been waiting for what felt like forever for John and Suzy to get their own version of HEA and even when things seemed their darkest I couldn't tell which way the book was going go. There are no actual cliffhangers but in the world that Green's created not everyone gets their happy ending; bad things happen to good (or just naive) people kind of often. Even here there were some points where I found myself tearing up because I just didn't know how John was going to pick himself from the mess he'd landed in.

Nothing's perfect and I wouldn't make claims that this book or series is, but I enjoyed the ride so much and my only wish is that there were more people around me who read them so I had someone to talk to!!!

Overall Feeling - A

Series - 10) The Good, the Bad, and the Uncanny 11) A Hard Day's Knight 12) The Bride Wore Black Leather

Lawe's Justice by Lora Leigh

2012-01-19T10:34:00.001-05:00

Diane Broen's lived to protect her younger sister Rachel from harm. But now that Rachel has been mated off, Diane's occupied herself with less fulfilling tasks at the Genetics Council--until she's paired with a new team member, a Breed male notorious for his attitude, and a touch that makes her recoil.

Lawe isn't thrilled with her either. A lion at heart, he prefers a lair of solitude. When it comes to females, he'd rather snarl than purr. And while fate may have paired them to fight on the same team, neither is willing to admit to the obvious: the mating heat between them is positively incinerating.

It's only when danger threatens that they make a hotter-than-hell connection--one so explosive it could destroy them. Or, as providence reveals, bind them together, forever.

If this was anyone but Lora Leigh - and specifically a book from her Breeds series - I would probably be giving it a lower grade. The book was good and had the high scorch content that she's known for, but I'm finally at the point where I actually don't care. I like her plot - I want to know what's going on with Jonas and Rachel's daughter - and I'm less interested in the back and forth between Diane and Lawe. I hate to say it but at some point I found myself flipping the pages past the sex scenes because I just wanted to know what happened next.

But what aggravated me the most? Lawe himself. Half the time I didn't understand why Diane didn't just punch him. It's a delicate balance between protective alpha male and smothering alpha male, and while Lawe had some of his own demons to overcome I didn't always have the patience to deal with his journey. Maybe it's a fault with me, but I didn't want to see Diane kowtow to some invisible line of his, to some idea of what a 'good mate' should do and be. I can happily report that she doesn't, but Diane's emotional turmoil because she was a mate but not the kind of mate Lawe thought he wanted eventually becomes a bit much.

I'm still going to continue to buy the books from this series but all I want right now is some resolution. More plot development and forward movement please Ms. Leigh, and less sex. Even if you do write sex scenes very very well.

Overall Feeling - B-

Series - ....25) Tied With a Bow (anthology) 26) Lawe's Justice

You're So Vein by Christine Warren

2012-01-13T10:35:00.000-05:00

Ava Markham is beautiful, savvy, chic, and more at home with Kate Spade than with the idea of fangs and fur. She can’t get quite used to the fact that some of closest friends have crossed over to the Other side. Then one night she is attacked by a rogue vampire, and her deepest fears are realized when her body begins a dangerous transformation from human to immortal—a change she cannot survive without the help of an alluring stranger who comes to her rescue…

Vladimir Rurikovich, an elite member of the European Council of Vampires, is on the prowl for a murderous vampire fugitive on the night he saves Ava from the clutches of death. It takes just one look for Dima to know he cannot live another eight centuries without the stunning and seductive Ava—until he discovers a secret about her bloodline that could change everything…

Christine Warren is a bit of a hit or miss for me. I loved her when I first found her titles online, and continued to enjoy her Fantasy series as they continued, but sadly it didn't last. She moved into print publishing and I kind of feel like it's never been the same. First she started out republishing her older stuff - out of order - which drove me batty. Then she released e-novellas as full length stories that didn't seem to add much to what had be written originally. It's not all bad though, there have been some originals that did turn out to be fun to read, but this one was not what I was hoping for.

Since I've been reading her for a while Ava Markham had always been this kind of annoying, but still big and bad character. The friend that no one could get rid of but loved anyway - kind of like Oscar the Grouch. You're So Vein seemed to the perfect place for her to get her comeuppance or at least turn into a more well rounded character, but it didn't really go far enough. She was turned into a vampire against her will, which is not only something that would drive her crazy as a control freak, but should have sent her over the edge because she considered paranormals 'monsters'. Somehow though she gets over this whole thing pretty quickly and falls in lust, then love, with Vladimir (who has his own connection to the group). It just didn't ring true to me, and ultimately fell flat.

It's a quick read and not completely without merit, I like catching up with Regina and Missy, but it's not my favorite of the series and I think heralds the switch for me from auto-buy to borrow.

Overall Feeling - C

Series - ...13) Walk on the Wild Side 14) You're So Vein 15) Born to Be Wild

Land of the Blindfolded by Sakura Tsukuba

2012-01-11T11:19:00.002-05:00

Get ready for Tsukuba Sakura's symbolic tale LAND OF THE BLINDFOLDED, in which one character can only see the past, and another can only see the future! Originally presented in LaLa DX magazine from Hakusensha between 1998 to 2004, the 9-volume LAND OF THE BLINDFOLDED is the story of high school student Outsuka Kanade who can sometimes see a person's future with a touch, and transfer student Naitou Arou, whose ESP is limited to past events. When Kanade glimpses an unfortunate incident coming, can she change it? She soon befriends Arou, who's no novice - he can turn his ability on or off at will, even using it to see an object's "memories." Are these teenaged seers of the past and future made for each other? And who's right: Arou with his "hands off" policy about meddling in people's lives, or Kanade whose more proactive stance has already had unhappy consequences?

I consider manga's one of those things you have to REALLY love to buy all of. Most of the time you can never quite tell how long the series is going to go on and at least $9.99 a pop it can be an expensive habit to stick to.

Which I know sounds ridiculous as someone who buys mass markets all the time, but it's still true ok?! I like to have an end in sight if I'm going to be veering away from my usual.

But to get back to the point, Land of the Blindfolded is a cute, enjoyable, visually appealing story in an easy to consume 9 volumes. I stumbled upon it when I was unpacking in the new place and rereading it just reminded me how much fun a Sunday afternoon on my couch can be. Kanade and Arou are both ridiculously cute and drawn to match, and the slow evolution of their relationship is appropriate for all ages. It's hard to be different and I think Tsukuba does a job of showing what you as an individual can and can't do to mitigate fallout.

There's a little bit of paranormal as the main characters do have the ability to see the past and future, but all in all this is a cute romance story and I highly recommend it.

Overall Feeling - B

Series - Land of the Blindfolded, books 1-9

there really IS nothing like a real book

2012-01-11T09:09:00.002-05:00

Teaser Tuesday (1/10)

2012-01-10T15:38:00.001-05:00

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"If you're going to offer sex," he went on, "I just think it should be for something life or death. Or money." He thought on that for a moment, nodded. "Yeah. Life-or-death situation or money. But for a chick hobby? That's a little beneath you, don't you think?''

--pg 37, Beast Behaving Badly by Shelly Laurenston

In Too Deep by Jayne Ann Krentz

2012-01-09T10:35:00.001-05:00

Scargill Cove is the perfect place for Fallon Jones, confirmed recluse and investigator of the paranormal. It’s a hot spot, a convergence point for unusually strong currents of energy, which might explain why the town attracts misfits and drifters like moths to a flame. Now someone else has been drawn to the Cove — Isabella Valdez, on the run from some very dangerous men.

When she starts working as Fallon’s assistant, Isabella impresses him by organizing his pathologically chaotic office — and doesn’t bat an eye at the psychic element of his job. She’s a kindred spirit, a sanctuary from a world that considers his talents a form of madness. But after a routine case unearths an antique clock infused with dark energy, Fallon and Isabella are dragged into the secret history of Scargill Cove and forced to fight for their lives, as they unravel a cutthroat conspiracy with roots in the Jones family business...and Isabella’s family tree.

I know that for some the addition of paranormal elements to a contemporary romance isn't a good thing. I suppose it can act as a distraction from the focus of the story, which in my opinion would be the relationship between the two main characters. Luckily for me and other readers, I don't feel like Krentz has that problem, because while reading In Too Deep I never felt like we shifted too far from Isabella and Fallon. It reminded me strongly of some of her older romances, in a very good way, as there was some family wrangling for position and politically people out to get more power for themselves. These are elements I consider outside the realm of the paranormal, so while both of them unmistakably have abilities most don't the romance was definitely the heart of the story. Which I am VERY thankful for since this is a story I've been waiting for (darn expensive hardcovers **grumble**)!

I love Krentz's writing style and her characters, specifically for how human all of them are. In a small town like Scargill Cove the people who stick around all have something a bit 'off' about them, but what would be the fun if we didn't have that? Isabella has an interesting past she's working to get away from and Fallon has both past and present issues, as he can't figure out quite how close or far he might be from the line of 'sane'. Together the two have a lot of sparks and a familiar journey to their HEA - which is not a complaint as mostly without drama happy endings are a good thing to have on the shelf. It's probably considered a standalone but I think reading some of the others in her Arcane Series helps because Fallon pops up everywhere as the head of Jones & Jones.

Overall Feeling - B+

Series - 1) In Too Deep 2) Quicksilver (as Amanda Quick) 3) Canyons of Night (as Jayne Castle)

New Year, New Reading Amidst the Chaos

2012-01-04T12:09:00.000-05:00

Well maybe not really a new RAtChaos, but definitely a new review rubric. More often lately I've been feeling hemmed in by my 'thumbs up, thumbs down, eh' review style. I may say what I feel about the book in my review but by the time I get down to the 'Overall Feeling' section I'm not happy with my choices. Even though they are my choices and I have no one to blame but myself.

Thus in 2012 I'm going to push to be more clear and exact about my feelings when I give an overall review and so I'm making the switch to a grading system. Boring I know, but I think it'll work better for me in the long run as a reviewer and better for you as the reader because I'll now be able to give you the option of 'quick and dirty' regarding all the books.

The New System:

A: If you could see me I would be doing a happy dance of epic proportions.

B: While slightly less spastic and entertaining, a B book still has some pretty wonderful things going for it.

C: Average, these are usually worth a read though possibly better as a library pick.

D: Bleh. Probably has a few bits that aren't so bad but I'd be hard pressed to single them out.

F: What the f*ck was I thinking to read this book?

DNF: Did Not Finish. In other words it seemed better to bang my head on the desk then actually finish reading this book.

I reserve the right to use '+' or '-' as I deem them appropriate :D. But that's it folks, short and sweet, so here we GO!

December in Review - BYE 2011!

2012-01-01T21:32:00.000-05:00

I have done nothing today and it has been GLORIOUS. I suck at life a bit and am no where near fully moved in to my new place, but you know what? I didn't do anything to fix that today. I opened my balcony doors admired the beautiful weather and sat on my bed. And on my couch. And read and ate food that was delicious.

If you haven't taken some time for yourself yet in this new year of 2012 I must recommend it :D.

For the last month of 2011 I managed to read 23 books. One of my best months so far, even if some of them were rereads. There was so much ridiculousness going on that taking the time to go back and familiarize myself with great authors on already on my shelf was one I don't regret. For most of the year I think my monthly count hovered around the 17-20 mark so I'm just going to say I read a lot of books and leave it at that. I didn't succeed in either of my reading challenges though, which makes me 1) more reluctant to sign up for any, and 2) determined to only take part in ones that I think I can realistically accomplish. We'll see how that goes!

I hope all of you had an awesome New Years Eve, no matter where in the world you are. Mine was filled with food, fun, and actually appropriately priced drinks. I have no regrets and hope that this is a sign that 2012 is going to be good to me.

Wild and Steamy by Carolyn Crane

Lesserblood Lies by Ainsley Davidson

Cast in Ruin by Michelle Sagara

Alien Proliferation by Gini Koch

Fate's Edge by Ilona Andrews

Head Over Heels by Jill Shalvis

Nine-tenths of the Law by L.A. Witt

Lawe's Justice by Lora Leigh

Move Me by Emma Holly

Hidden Talents by Emma Holly

Sleeping with the Fishes by MaryJanice Davidson

Taking Chase by Lauren Dane

Swimming Without a Net by MaryJanice Davidson

Fish out of Water by MaryJanice Davidson

Enchanted, Inc. by Shanna Swendson

Damsel Under Stress by Shanna Swendson

Don’t Hex with Texas by Shanna Swendson

Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts

Savor the Moment by Nora Roberts

Magic Gifts by Ilona Andrews

Spirit Bound by Christine Feehan

In Too Deep by Jayne Ann Krentz

You're So Vein by Christine Warren

Happy New Year!

Spirit Bound by Christine Feehan

2011-12-30T09:37:00.000-05:00

Lethal undercover agent Stefan Prakenskii knew a thousand ways to kills a man—and twice as many ways to pleasure a woman. That’s what made him look forward to his new mission: arrive in the coastal town of Sea Haven and insinuate himself in the life of an elusive beauty who had mysterious ties to his past, and a link to a dangerously seductive, and equally elusive master criminal who wanted only one thing: to possess her.

Judith Henderson was an artist on the rise—an ethereal, and haunted woman whose own picture-perfect beauty stirred the souls of two men who have made her their obsession. For years she has been waiting for someone to come and unlock the passion and fire within her—waiting for the right man to surrender it to. But only one man can survive her secrets, and the shadow she has cast over both their lives.

Ok everyone, time for a sigh of relief - I don't think Christine Feehan has totally lost her mind. Yes Dark Predator was kind of a debacle, with a laughable 'hero' and a 'romance' that was pretty much the antithesis of romantic. Luckily I think fans of her work can shift some of their devotion to her new Sea Haven series without too much of a problem because while Stefan could be a bit of a butthead at moments, not only does Judith call him on it, he also learns from his mistakes.

The most interesting part of this particular book (and maybe for the rest of the books too?) was the heroine, Judith. She's undergone so much guilt, grief, and pain trying to work through what happened to her brother and what she feels is her part in it. Reading about her pain wasn't easy and made the relationship between her and Stefan work that much more. She needs someone strong not only to snap her out when she's have a sad moment, but someone who won't succumb to the emotional emanations she gives off at the same time. If Stefan wasn't a bit of a mess he wouldn't work so well with her. All in all I think their relationship is pretty satisfying and believable, even if by this point readers can definitely see the writing on the wall - seven sisters, seven brothers, sparks are a-coming people, round up the wagons! (Also I wonder how long it's going to be before we get Blythe's book? Taunting us with that whole left hand/'I've seen this ceremony' stuff is just mean!)

I do wish that Feehan would back off the explainy bits in the beginning. When I started the book I felt like I kept being pushed out of the story by all the 'this is what this person looks like'. I don't usually find myself with that problem when reading Feehan, so I can only suppose that as we're still near the beginning of this latest series there's maybe more of a need for it to be there. Shrug. I wasn't the biggest fan but it didn't totally detract from the rest or annoy me enough to make me stop reading.

I'm still excited for the next one!

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up.

Series - 1) Water Bound 2) Spirit Bound

Fred the Mermaid Series by MaryJanice Davidson

2011-12-29T10:15:00.000-05:00

Fred is a mermaid. But stop right there. Whatever image you're thinking of right now, forget it. Fred is not blonde. She's not buxom. And she's definitely not perky. In fact, Fred can be downright cranky. And it doesn't help matters that her hair is blue.

Being a mermaid does help Fred when she volunteers at the New England Aquarium. Needless to say, it's there that she gets involved in something fishy. Weird levels of toxins have been found in the local seawater. A gorgeous marine biologist wants her help investigating. So does her merperson ruler, the High Prince of the Black Sea. You'd think it would be easy for a mermaid to get to the bottom of things. Think again...

MaryJanice Davidson is one of the few authors I both love and hate. I loved the beginning of the Queen Betsy series but then the same personality and dialogue I laughed at in the beginning started to drive me crazy. Some of her Alaskan Royals series are awesome even as rereads, but the some are so-so. If that seems a little wishy washy I'm sorry, but I wanted to give a bit of background in regards to where I'm coming from when I read (or reread) Fred the Mermaid.

Fred the Mermaid is blunt, full of quips, and not all knowledgeable about her own attractiveness to the opposite sex. Love it or hate it she's never going to be Ariel, especially when she's trying to make the fish she cares for (she works at an aquarium) stop their hunger strike before the tank dissolves into total pandemonium. Throughout the three books readers learn about her best friend Jonas (the metro-iest metrosexual you'll never meet) along with two potential love interests, Prince Artur of the Undersea Folk and

Thomas the marine biologist obsessed with mermaids.

All in all this series, though it has a few surprises or two, is about the characters and the quirkiness of them all. If you're not in the mood to deal with the strange and interesting I don't think the books will appeal to you because while plot is there in each book it's definitely secondary. People come in and out of Fred's life and it's a circus of epic of proportions especially when the wedding planning begins. Still I like to come back to this series when I'm in the mood for some funny snark in my life, and Fred definitely delivers.

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up.

Series - 1) Sleeping with the Fishes 2) Swimming Without a Net 3) Fish Out of Water

Movie Review - Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

2011-12-27T11:31:00.000-05:00

Sherlock Holmes has always been the smartest man in the room...until now. There is a new criminal mastermind at large-Professor Moriarty - and not only is he Holmes' intellectual equal, but his capacity for evil, coupled with a complete lack of conscience, may actually give him an advantage over the renowned detective. When the Crown Prince of Austria is found dead, the evidence, as construed by Inspector Lestrade, points to suicide. But Sherlock Holmes deduces that the prince has been the victim of murder-a murder that is only one piece of a larger and much more portentous puzzle, designed by Professor Moriarty. The cunning Moriarty is always one step ahead of Holmes as he spins a web of death and destruction.

Let's be real with each other - this isn't a movie review blog for a reason. Mostly because I just don't want to pay the exorbitant fees necessary for the big screen. Still, in keeping with my friend's Jewish traditions, Christmas Eve seemed as good a time as any for a movie/Chinese food adventure. I wanted to see Arthur Christmas, but it wasn't in theaters any more (cause somehow that makes sense for a CHRISTMAS movie)! Instead the former roomie chose Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and I can happily say that even without seeing the first movie it was loads of fun.

Robert Downey Jr. rightfully steals the show as Holmes, with all the wit, combat skills, and 'urban camouflage' you could ask for. While I'm not the biggest Jude Law fan he also did a great job as Watson, the long suffering side-kick who's only goal really is to somehow get back to (or on at all) his honeymoon. Sometimes I felt like the movie was overusing the trick of slow mo-ing the action beforehand, but it never got too annoying. There were plenty of laugh out load moments and I definitely want to go back and see the first.

Recommended, holiday or not :).

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T14:08:00.000-05:00

I hope you're all enjoying fun and family and friends, even if you're not technically celebrating Christmas. But hey - there's nothing wrong with a few extra wishes of good will right ;)?

Head Over Heels by Jill Shalvis

2011-12-21T13:02:00.000-05:00

Free-spirited Chloe lives life on the edge. Unlike her soon-to-be married sisters, she isn't ready to settle into a quiet life running their family's newly renovated inn. But soon her love of trouble--and trouble with love-draws the attention of the very stern, very sexy sheriff who'd like nothing better than to tame her wild ways. Suddenly Chloe can't take a misstep without the sheriff hot on her heels. His rugged swagger and his enigmatic smile are enough to make a girl beg to be handcuffed. For the first time, instead of avoiding the law, Chloe dreams of surrender. Can this rebel find a way to keep the peace with the straitlaced sheriff? Or will Chloe's colorful past keep her from a love that lasts... and the safe haven she truly wants in a town called Lucky Harbor?

There's really nothing like a good contemporary romance to get one's spirits up. Without all the soap opera drama and ridiculousness you get a wonderful story about people falling in love and connecting their family. I know this isn't technically a holiday book but it's one that I could definitely see myself pulling out around this time next year to reacquaint myself with good people and HEA's. I haven't read the first two books in the Lucky Harbor series but if this is anything to go by I need to go back and pick them up (and since there's a combo book with the first two for $7.99, I really need to get on that).

Chloe is working on shedding her wild child reputation both with her sisters and the local sheriff, Sawyer. She's a free spirit and makes no bones about it, though throughout the story she starts to realize just how much settling down and making roots won't take away from that. It's a growth book for her and Sawyer, who's still battling left over resentment for the crazy youth he was. Really all of that sounds tame for a fantastic book with sparks and great dialogue and relationships for all three sisters that are fun to read about. I can't recommend it enough and between this and Animal Attraction I have GOT to get my hands on Shalvis's backlist.

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up.

Series - 1) Simply Irresistible 2) The Sweetest Thing 3) Head Over Heels 4) Lucky in Love (May 2012)

**Title requested from NetGalley for review.**

Mini Me: Nine-tenths of the Law by L.A. Witt

2011-12-19T11:25:00.000-05:00

Without trust, common ground can get pretty shaky…

“I believe you have something of mine, Zach.”

Zach Owens doesn’t even know who this angry stranger is, let alone what the man is talking about—until he learns what they have in common. Their boyfriend, Jake. Once Jake’s out of the picture, Zach’s apology to Nathan Forrester leads to a long conversation, a kiss, and a chemistry that goes far beyond revenge sex.

Nathan can’t help but fall for the sexy movie theater owner, but it’s a long way from sheet-tearing sex to mutual trust. And a series of “coincidences” that throws Zach into Jake’s company leaves him unconvinced Zach was the complete innocent in their previous love triangle.

Zach can’t seem to make Nathan believe that Jake is up to something. But protesting his innocence isn’t working, and Jake’s carefully orchestrated campaign to destroy their love could leave them both with nothing…

~~

Nine-tenths of the Law seems to be one of those books the blog-o-sphere just loves. They gush over it, along with most of the titles by L.A. Witt, and while I don't dislike this particular book I can't say I was incredibly amazed by it either.

The relationship was fine, there was a good progression from revenge sex to actual relationship, but for some reason this isn't going to be one that sticks out in my mind. Maybe I was just in a blah mood when I read it because thinking back over it the story had just enough drama to not annoy me but enough emotion to be worthwhile. Zach and Nathan get together after Nathan busts in on a date Zach's on with Nathan's boyfriend. It was a little strange how they went from this to having sex with each other but, shrug, I try not to think too hard about the sex setup in eroticas.

Ultimately this story is about love and trust and how much you have to be willing to give of yourself for things to work. Maybe I didn't love it, but there's some like here and if you're lucky enough to be like me and find it for free from the Nook store, worth a read.

Move Me by Emma Holly

2011-12-17T10:53:00.000-05:00

BELLE’s eccentric Uncle Lucky left her his spooky house in the tiny village of Kingaken. Twenty years ago, her little brother disappeared here, never to be heard from again. Returning to the place for the first time in so long resurrects more ghosts than she cares to face. When it also summons a sexy faerie, with an agenda of his own, Belle had best pray her luck is better than her sibling’s.

I know that technically this title is a part of Holly's Hidden series but it reminds me quite a bit of the world she set up in Fairyville. That's in no way a bad thing, I consider Holly one of the queens of the short, sweet, and sexy format, but if you've read that one then this one will be comfortably familiar. As a faerie Duvall doesn't have the same hangups about sex and most of the time it invigorates and empowers him, which is part of the reason the somewhat quick jump into a sexual relationship works. Duvall is already prepared to 'do the deed' and when Belle turns out to be both smart and attractive, any barriers he might have had are pushed aside.

But even with the fantastically hot sex that's in this story, it's really about love and family. Belle's brother Danny had been kidnapped years ago and she's still trying to recover from that trauma. Trusting Duvall and his feelings for her is incredibly hard, as is trying to warm up and be open with any of the people in Kingaken (the town). Luckily, and probably unsurprising for those who already knew this was a holiday tale, there's a HEA in store for everyone, as the magic of the season and the people come together. Yes that sentence is corny but it's also true, so deal :-D.

Recommended.

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up.

Series - 1) Hidden Talent 2) Hidden Depths 3) Move Me

*Title requested from author for review**

Fate's Edge by Ilona Andrews

2011-12-15T10:29:00.000-05:00

The Edge lies between worlds, on the border between the Broken, where people shop at Wal-Mart and magic is a fairy tale—and the Weird, where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny…

Born to a family of conmen, Audrey Callahan left behind her life in the Edge for an unmagical existence in the Broken. Audrey is determined to stay on the straight and narrow, but when her brother gets into hot water, the former thief takes on one last heist and finds herself matching wits with a jack of all trades.

Kaldar Mar is a gambler, a lawyer, a thief, and a spy with some unusual talents that guarantee him lucrative work. When his latest assignment has him tracking down a stolen item, Kaldar doesn’t expect much of a challenge—until Audrey turns up to give him a run for his money.

But when the missing item falls into the hands of a lethal criminal, Kaldar realizes that in order to finish the job and survive, he’s going to need Audrey’s help…

Maybe it was the slightly less horrifying story in this particular installment, but I loved Fate's Edge. There was the perfect balance of new characters, old characters, action and banter that just hit all my 'yay new book!' happy places.

The best part though is Kaldar and Audrey together. The reasons they love each other is why I love them in this story, as they spend the entire time annoying each other, bantering, and testing the boundaries of love and forever. With everything else that's going they don't get the opportunity to take their time - there's too much going on and too many lives at stake. It ramps up the emotions 110%, but each is a professional and unwilling to sacrifice the goal for personal motives.

Still for those less romantically inclined than I, this book has a lot to offer. It's a throw back to the classic heist novels as there's not one but two major switches/thefts that have to be pulled off. Kind of like Ocean 12, each person is responsible for their piece of the pie and without all of them working together they would all be SOL. I definitely found myself on the edge of my seat (figuratively speaking) while reading and loved the whole thing. I think I could reread this many more times before ever getting even the tiniest bit bored with the story.

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up.

Series- 1) On the Edge 2) Bayou Moon 3) Fate's Edge

Alien Proliferation by Gini Koch

2011-12-14T09:28:00.000-05:00

Alien Super-Being Exterminator Kitty Katt is expecting her first baby. But the alien attacks are getting more dangerous, and now Kitty and her* Alpha Centaurion husband, Jeff, have to find out who’s behind the conspiracy to kill Kitty’s secret agent mom and what caused Kitty’s transformation into a superhuman-and they’ve got to do it all before the baby shower…

If you haven't heard about the Alien series by Gini Koch already then you've probably been living under a rock. And if you're living under a rock not only are you probably HELLA pale, I'm not sure there's anything I can do to accurately explain the place these books hold in the genre of romance, existing as they do at the intersection of sci-fi and romance. Instead we'll just go with the easy route ok? I'm sure you can handle it.

Alien Proliferation is a fantastic addition to the series because it shows unequivocally how all the other TV series I loved in my youth got it wrong - just because you have a child it doesn't mean you stop kicking ass. In Angel Connor was kidnapped to a hell dimension to get him away, on Xena, she and Gabrielle got locked in ice for 10 years, on Charmed all of a sudden everybody was obsessed with protecting Wyatt and got all maternal...it just goes on and on. Kitty and Jeff on the other hand aren't willing or being forced to hand their responsibilities over to anyone else. They can change diapers and protect the world just fine, thank you.

For my fellow romance lovers we all see some developments for Christopher! Happy Dance! Without going into spoilers I'll just say that all is not well in Christopher-land but with the help of some of Kitty's usually blunt and in your face advice things turn out ok. I mean, I'm still off in la-la land somewhere where I kind of wish this was an erotica so Kitty could just marry them both - BUT - I'm working on letting it go ok? I'm trying. Sheesh.

I love this series and I can't wait for April 2012.

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up.

Series - 1) Touched by an Alien 2) Alien Tango 3) Alien in the Family 4) Alien Proliferation 5) Alien Diplomacy (April 2012)

PS - Know what goes right along with this? The Men in Black III trailer! I'm as surprised as anyone when I say that I think this actually looks good and I kind of want to see it.

Mini Me: Lesserblood Lies by Ainsley Davidson

2011-12-12T10:44:00.001-05:00

To protect her children from the despotic Trueblood, Merianne defied them by taking her girls and fleeing the planet. Even though Merianne's daughters are Lesserblood, they have the Talents. The Trueblood would train her children to use their dangerous gifts, but their methods are cruel, and Merianne would never see her girls again.

Merianne tries to give her girls a safe, quiet life, but when they befriend Thorne, a brilliant scientist, she finds herself drawn to the kind and captivating man—despite his uncanny resemblance to the Trueblood.

Thorne wants to help the girls control their emerging Talents, and he's intrigued by their mother. But just as Merianne finally accepts Thorne's help, two of her children are seized. To rescue the girls, Merianne and Thorne must risk death at the hands of the Trueblood, who will kill to protect their lies.

It's rare for me to do a review for a book that was a DNF but this was just so unfortunate. It started out ok, with Meri trying to start over on a new planet with her daughters (who were kind of cute) and getting drawn into this back and forth with the 'freesearcher' Thorne, but it didn't hold out. There was a lot of forced 'future-fying' of the language that resulted in most conversations sounding strange or stilted.

Pretty quickly I found myself flipping through pages just to get to the end because not only did I not care that Meri's three children had been kidnapped, I couldn't understand how both her and Thorne were so useless. Maybe I'm too used to take-charge, kick ass heroine but I was supremely underwhelmed by the whole thing. Once I finally got to the last chapter the HEA was for the most part unconvincing and I thought Eda's (the oldest daughter) choices for her future were kind of ridiculous considering the circumstances.

**Title requested from NetGalley for review**

Cast in Ruin by Michelle Sagara

2011-12-09T09:12:00.000-05:00

Seven corpses are discovered in the streets of a Dragon's fief. All identical, down to their clothing.

Kaylin Neya is assigned to discover who they were, who killed them—and why. Is the evil lurking at the borders of Elantra preparing to cross over?

At least the investigation delays her meeting with the Dragon Emperor. And as the shadows grow longer over the fiefs, Kaylin must use every skill she's ever learned to save the people she's sworn to protect. Sword in hand, dragons in the sky, this time there's no retreat and no surrender…

I do have to agree with Dear Author on one thing - I think this series has about reached that point where new comers can't just jump in and get the same level of enjoyment as those who have been reading since the beginning. I love where we are, even if I have to stop and think sometimes to remind myself what happened in previous books, but it's hard for me to picture another person doing that.

I do wish things were going a bit faster, but I'm an impatient reader and even if it put Kaylin at risk of getting flamed by the Emperor I'd STILL want to see it. Luckily for you guys I'm not writing these books and Kaylin's getting the (hopefully) appropriate training and meeting some cool new characters along the way.

I love these books for their fantasy roots (romance is only really hinted at here and there) at the same time those roots can make my heart hurt for the main characters. The past is never really just the past, and while we may not see Kaylin actually get over some of the things that have affected her, we do get to see her reveal more of what's lying underneath (sorry for being purposefully vague here, but it's too important to spoil). Cast in Ruin does include a new character for Kaylin to be friends with, someone who has their own journey and hurts to overcome, and I can't wait to see what happens next.

Overall Feeling - Thumbs Up.

Series - 1) Cast in Shadow 2) Cast in Courtlight 3) Cast in Secret 4) Cast in Fury 5) Cast in Silence 6) Cast in Chaos 7) Cast in Ruin

November in Review

2011-12-06T10:15:00.003-05:00

I don't know how anybody moves ever. My entire life is still in boxes for the most part - though those boxes are in my new apartment - and I dread the idea of unpacking. Does anybody else experience this? My books are especially the most intimidating, mostly due to how I'm the most anal about how those get put out on shelves. As in, I'm one of those strange people who likes to have things alphabetically by author's last name - and then in order by series. I don't know how other people do this, but whenever I try to complete this project it turns into a huge line of dominoes, with books piled spine up so I can keep making room without having to shift shelves of titles.

I also decided somewhere along the lines that it would be a good idea to go to NY for Thanksgiving right before my move, so you know, I'd take this list of read books with a grain of salt. The beginning's pretty accurate but as the month went on it just got worse and worse. So yeah - my bad. I'll try to do better this month so that 2011 can go out with a bang ;)

Making Chase by Lauren Dane

Bad Moon Rising by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Bloodhound by Tamora Pierce

Mastiff by Tamora Pierce

Pack Challenge by Shelly Laurenston

Go Fetch by Shelly Laurenston

Here Kitty, Kitty by Shelly Laurenston

Run For Your Life by Andrea Kane

The Next Always by Nora Roberts

Tied With a Bow by Lora Leigh, Virginia Kantra, Eileen Wilks and Kimberly Frost

Lure of Song and Magic by Patricia Rice

Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh

Pulled Long by Christine d'Abo

Once and Again by Lauren Dane

No Mercy by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Hot as Hades by Alisha Rai

A Pride Christmas in Brooklyn by Shelly Laurenston

Books Read/Reviewed:

17/11

Pulled Long by Christine d'Abo

2011-11-30T12:23:00.000-05:00

For months, coffee shop owner Ian Long has fantasized about a customer he knows only as "Blue Eyes." Until he learns Blue Eyes is in the midst of a divorce—the last thing Ian wants is to be the rebound experiment of a straight guy. Giving in to lust, he invites the man into the café after hours and they indulge in a little exhibitionist play, but Ian is unwilling to get involved.

When he's forced to see Jeff again to return his briefcase, Ian finally agrees to go out on a date. Dinner quickly becomes an erotic encounter in a special room at the sex club Mavericks, and Ian realizes Jeff satisfies desires he didn't know he had. The more he gets to know Jeff as a person, the harder it is to resist falling for him.

Jeff makes it clear he's interested in more than just sex. He wants to go public with their relationship in more ways than one. But can Ian open his heart, when he fears it will be broken?

For the most part this book really worked for me. I liked the intense sparks between Ian and Jeff - the story starts after they've known each other for a little while so the tensions is definitely ratcheted up a few degrees. Their relationship evolves even though it's a short story, with Ian having to work through some serious emotional issues in order to find his HEA with Jeff. And the fact that Jeff is a real bisexual character and not some stereotypical man into 'playing' with women? Loved.

The not so greats were there as well, though luckily not in enough quantity to make me really dislike the story. I thought Jeff was a bit too perfect. He knows exactly what he wants (Ian) and seems to have no problems, hurdles, or issues to get over to make this relationship work. Sometimes it seemed as if Jeff's only job in the story was to just to be there and love Ian, to be this prince charming. I guess I'm just a little too used to having flawed fully fleshed out heroes and with that Jeff sometimes came off as a little flat.

My only other criticism would have to be about Ian's 'redemptive act' or whatever you want to call it. Maybe it's because I haven't read the rest of the series, but it seemed a little tacked on and not as true to the two of them. Without going into spoilers, I'll just say that it came out of nowhere to me and I didn't consider it necessary to their HEA.

All in all you've got a good story, scorching love scenes, and a cute couple. Add in the bits we see of Ian's siblings and I wouldn't rule out me picking up the first two books later.

Overall Feeling - Eh/Thumbs Up

Series - 1) Double Shot 2) A Shot in the Dark 3) Pulled Long (December 12, 2011)

**Title requested for review from NetGalley**

Thankful

2011-11-24T14:04:00.002-05:00

I am so thankful for my health, my friends, the roof over my head and the job that pays my bills. It's no simple thing, living your life without stress, but right now I can definitely say things could be worse.

*Yes I cooked this. It was totally worth the long - long - time it took.

**If I wasn't moving I'd probably cook again. Because (in all honesty) my turkey is the bomb diggity.

RIP Anne McCaffrey

2011-11-23T15:39:00.000-05:00

My love of books would not have been the same without you Ms. McCaffrey. I've raided library sales, used book stores, Barnes & Nobles - anything really - to pick up favorites to find homes on my shelves. Your books were some of the first to star strong female characters, whether they were wives, mothers, or the leaders of Wyrs or wars. Thank you. You will be missed.

Another day, another winner!

2011-11-23T10:25:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to

JDean!

for winning my second birthday giveaway! Hope you enjoy your books!

The Lure of Song and Magic by Patricia Rice

2011-11-22T09:57:00.001-05:00

Her voice was a curse...

When Dylan "Oz" Oswin's son is kidnapped, the high-powered producer will do anything to get him back. Desperately following an anonymous tip, he seeks help from a former child singing sensation called Syrene, only to find she's vowed never to sing again. Immune to her voice but not her charm, Oz is convinced she holds the key to his son's disappearance- and he'll stop at nothing to make her break her vow.

But he must make her sing...

She knows the devastation her talent can bring. There's more than a child's life at stake, but Syrene cannot unleash her dangerous siren's voice upon the world, even for a man who is impossible to deny

Ok so I can't make this reveal suspenseful - I LOVED this book! I had it in my NetGalley que for a while because even though it sounded pretty good and I requested it, I just couldn't decide if it was something I really wanted to read. I should probably trust my 'new book' instincts more often - I feel that this is more the moral of this round about tale.

The best part of Rice's story is definitely Oz and Pippa. The both of them have very opposing views about how their respective lives are going to go: Pippa wants to be left alone to write her children books and Oz wants to find his son - even if he has to go through Pippa to do it. The fact that they were attracted to each other caused some worries on both sides and resulted in tension, sparks, and general craziness whenever they were together. I mean, how many romance books do you read where within moments of meeting each other the hero throws the heroine in her own pool?

Another great element of this story was Pippa's siren heritage/magical abilities. On her website Rice said that she worked really hard to ride that fine line in the book so it would appeal to both contemporary romance readers and fantasy lovers and I think she did an awesome job. Pippa's powers are hinted at/discussed quite a bit, but it never overwhelms the romance at the heart of it all. Plus Rice brings in enough supporting characters to keep me VERY interested in a sequel!

Highly recommended and I can't wait to pick up some of her backlist!

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up.

Series - 1) The Lure of Song and Magic (? - I'm not positive that it's a series but I'm hoping!)

**Title requested from NetGalley for review**

Mini Me: Bad Moon Rising by Sherrilyn Kenyon

2011-11-21T12:54:00.001-05:00

A stunning and suspenseful new landscape emerges in the thrilling Dark-Hunter world—a world where nothing will ever be the same again. . .

Fang Kattalakis isn't just a wolf. He is the brother of two of the most powerful members of the Omegrion: the ruling council that enforces the laws of the Were-Hunters. And when war erupts among the lycanthropes, sides must be chosen. Enemies are forced into shaky alliances. And when the woman Fang loves is accused of betraying her people, her only hope is that Fang believes in her. Yet in order to save her, Fang must break the law of his people and the faith of his brothers. That breech could very well spell the end of both their races and change their world forever.

The war is on and time is running out...

Can I tell you a secret? You can't tell anyone else ok?

I'm not sure if I really like Sherrilyn Kenyon as much as I used to.

Shhhh! I know - you don't have to tell me! Blaspheme, right? I'm so gonna get kicked out of the book bloggers guild for this one. I just had to let it out though. I picked up Bad Moon Rising for super cheap at Barnes and Noble a few weekends ago and it wasn't the same! I'm not sure what happened but I think it might be that the world is just TOO BIG. There's so much all the time and for a minute there after Acheron I didn't really know where Kenyon was going to go with the series. She's pulled that out (though I am STILL not a fan of Nick's storyline), but the series as a whole doesn't bring me the same joy. It might have something to do with the time jumping. Yeah, I definitely think that's part of it. In the beginning the books were linear and there was a progression of the character's lives, but now it seems to change not only with every new book but within the book as well! I can't always be expected to remember what happened 17 books ago! I'm just not that cool.

For those other true ride or die fans out there, Fang and Aimee's story is by no means bad. I'd been waiting for this ever since Vane's book and Kenyon for the most part doesn't disappoint. There's a sudden side story addition of just why Fang was in a coma for so long, which was completely unexpected, but the relationship between the two of them was a joy to read. If you can find it super cheap or pick it up from the library I recommend it, but do not expect this to be a stand alone.

Desert Warrior by Nalini Singh

2011-11-19T10:54:00.002-05:00

The fabled desert kingdom of Zulheina was Tariq's birthright, and he was a man who held tightly what belonged to him. And that meant he had to reclaim a very special woman--the woman who had broken his heart years before in New Zealand. And once he had lured her to this distant land, he meant to keep his new bride here forever....

But Jasmine Coleridge was not as easily tamed as he had imagined. Her beguiling blend of untouched innocence and dazzling sensuality threatened, once again, to bring the haughty sheikh to his knees--and made him wonder who was the true prisoner....

THIS IS SO OLD SCHOOL! It was hilarious for me to read Singh doing the 'desert sheikh' book, especially since I am only slightly ashamed to admit that it was a favorite genre of mine years ago. I even have a whole set of them from my Silhouette Desire days, though I missed out on this release the first time around.

Tariq is the quintessential desert prince, hot blooded but determined not to open his heart and be vulnerable to Jasmine. Jasmine is the no longer quite so naive American, returning to Tariq to help him through the grief of losing his parents but also to claim the love she's never forgotten (see? the DRAMA!).

Tariq ends up being just the right amount of jerky alpha and emotional lover, which I think is a great example of why these books worked so well. It's old school but full of spark, as Jasmine works to show Tariq the new independence she's gained and how their love will make them both whole. There's so much familiar to me about the story but even with that Singh's voice and style make it unique and a stand out of the genre.

If you can get your hands on the combo release of this and Lord of the Abyss I highly recommend it since both are a fun read and fantastic additions to anyone's library.

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up.

Series - None (?)

**Title requested from NetGalley for review**

The Next Always by Nora Roberts

2011-11-18T09:54:00.001-05:00

The historic hotel in Boonsboro has endued war and peace, the changing of hands, and even rumored hauntings. Now it's getting a major face-life from the Montgomery brother brothers and their eccentric mother. As the architect in the family, Beckett's social life consists mostly of talking shop over pizza and beer. But there's another project he's got his eye on: the girl he's been waiting to kiss since he was sixteen.

After losing her husband and returning to her hometown, Clare Brewster soon settles into her life as the mother of three young sons while running the town's bookstore. Though busy and with little time for romance, Clare is drawn across the street by Beckett's transformation of the old in, wanting to take a closer look...at both the building and the man behind it.

With the grand opening inching closer, Beckett is happy to give Clare a private tour- one room at a time, in between blueprint meetings and kindergarten pickups. It's no first date, but these stolen moments are the beginning of something that could arouse the secret yearning that resides in Clare's independent hear- and open the door to the extraordinary adventure of what comes next...

1) I had to personally type up that whole d*mn description because I couldn't find it online. Boo.

2) I wish this book had been a little bit better.

Like the Wedding Quartet, I think (hope) this series will get better with time. The Next Always wasn't bad but I can't really say it was great either. The ghost was so-so, reminiscent of what's Roberts has done before, and Clare and Beckett were obviously a good match, but I detect a distinct lack of fire. Maybe that contributes to the overall 'blah' feeling.

The MacGregors were the first series by Roberts I read and that family is full of Scottish hot heads. They feel a lot and live life accordingly, and each book kept that up. This series is starting for me the way the Wedding Quartet did with an ok book but no big bang. I already know who's going to pair up with who and while that brings a sense of comfort it does make me a little concerned about whether later books are going to hold my attention.

I think I'm going to hold out hope for Ryder's story (the last book in the series) because he's being set up as the 'feisty bad boy'.

Overall Feeling - eh.

Series - 1) The Next Always 2) The Last Boyfriend (May 2012)

Winner & Another Giveaway!

2011-11-16T14:02:00.003-05:00

Let's start off with the fun stuff ok? Time to send out a big congratulations to

Lady Soul

for winning Murder Game and Lord of Legends! Thanks so much for entering my giveaway and I hope you enjoy the books :).

But don't worry guys - there are still more books to give out! This week there are three books up for grabs:

Show No Mercy by Cindy Gerard

In Love With The Bronc Rider by Judy Duarte

The Second-Chance Groom by Crystal Green

Same rules as last time, comment below with anything and you'll be entered for a chance to win. Giveaway runs until 11:59pm on Tuesday, November 22nd with winners announced the following day.

Tied With a Bow by Lora Leigh, Virginia Kantra, Eileen Wilks and Kimberly Frost

2011-11-16T09:57:00.000-05:00

#1 New York Times bestselling author Lora Leigh headlines an all-new paranormal romance anthology that turns up the holiday heat.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Lora Leigh features the Breeds in her story. New York Times bestselling author Virginia Kantra brings a haunting tale of a fallen angel. USA Today bestselling author Eileen Wilks returns to the shapeshifing Lupi for another magical tale. National bestselling author Kimberly Frost introduces a new paranormal world of muses and vampires.

Eventually I want Lora Leigh, just by herself, to release a collection of her Breed short stories. The holiday ones especially are fantastic, and usually focus on the emotional stuff that I've seen people criticize her stories for lacking. 'An Inconvenient Mate' is another great one, Malachi loving Isobel for everything she represents to him as a mate and cherishing her for her skills and how they complement each other.

I haven't read Eileen Wilks's Lupi series but Arjennie and Benedict were so much fun to read about that I really need to get on my game with this. I'm hard to please now-a-days when it comes to paranormal titles but this one had good world building, interesting characters, and obviously a lot of action (since there seems to be a war going on between shapeshifters and 'human first' members).

Where the anthology fell short (for me of course) was with the additions by Kantra and Frost. I could not bring myself to care about Lucian and Aimee and ended up flipping through the story to read the end. Frost's story was a bit better but I still kind of felt like I was missing something, though I'd be interested in picking up some of the later books to learn more about the relationship between Kate's muse and a mysterious human/vampire hybrid.

Overall Feeling - Eh (50/50 success rate here for me)

Series - Various.

Mini Me: Run For Your Life by Andrea Kane

2011-11-14T10:47:00.000-05:00

Manhattan attorney Victoria Kensington is deeply alarmed when she runs into her sister, Audrey, in Central Park -- clad in a hospital gown and fleeing from unknown pursuers. As Audrey collapses at her feet, warning about danger, Victoria rushes for help. When she returns, Audrey has vanished from sight.

Despite threats against her life, Victoria vows to discover her sister's whereabouts. She works alone until the only man she ever loved, Zachary Hamilton, suddenly appears in New York. Assigned to investigate a worldwide drug syndicate, he suspects it may tie in to Audrey's disappearance. Together, Victoria and Zach race against the clock to crack the deadly drug ring and and Audrey. While they work, they and the white-hot electricity between them recharging to a fever pitch. Pursuing the shocking truth that might tear Victoria's family irrevocably apart, she and Zach begin to unravel a complex web of deceit -- which echoes terrifyingly back to Victoria's own life.

Overall I'd have to give this book a 'good but not great' review. The suspense plot was not bad, Kane definitely did a great job of keeping me in the dark about who was actually doing all the bad stuff, which I think is very important when you're marketing something as a 'romantic thriller'. I think where Run For Your Life mostly fell short for me was in the romance department. Something about Victoria and Zach just didn't ring true. I can't even put my finger on exactly what it was, because their interaction reminded me a lot of some early Linda Howard's that I own, but ultimately while I'm a sucker for a HEA I just wasn't as enthused about this one. I picked up this title from a used bookstore because of my still strong love for Scent of Danger, but I'm remaining undecided on how ultimately I feel about Kane and her books in general.

P.S - Don't forget to leave a comment on my post here and enter for a chance to win two great books!

There's nothing like a GIVEAWAY to celebrate your birthday!!

2011-11-09T15:57:00.002-05:00

In celebration of my upcoming birthday (Saturday! Woot!) I've decided to hold 3 separate giveaways. Yay for giveaways! Each one will begin on a Wednesday and feature 2-3 books from my personal collection. Yes my personal collection, which means they're gently used but FILLED WITH LOVE. They're practically BURSTING with love I tell you.

This week the picks are MURDER GAME by Christine Feehan and LORD OF LEGENDS by Susan Krinard. Entering is super easy - just comment below about anything and you'll be set. This first giveaway is running from today through November 15th, 2011.

Good Luck and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to any other Scorpios out there!

Mastiff by Tamora Pierce

2011-11-08T11:07:00.000-05:00

Three years have passed since Beka Cooper almost died in the sewers of Port Caynn, and she is now a respected member of the Provost’s Guard. But her life takes for the unexpected when her fiancé is killed on a slave raid. Beka is faced with a mixture of emotions as, unbeknownst to many, she was about to call the engagement off.

It is as Beka is facing these feelings that Lord Gershom himself appears at her door. In the span of hours Beka, her partner Tunstall, her scent-dog Achoo, and a unusual but powerful mage are plunged into a case under an extreme veil of secrecy. It is a case that threatens the future of the Tortallan royal family, and therefore the Tortallan government itself. As Beka delves deeper into the motivations of the criminals she now hunts, she learns of deep-seated political dissatisfaction, betrayal, and corruption. These are people with power, money, and influence. They are able to hire the most skilled of mages, well versed in the darkest forms of magic. And they are nearly impossible to identify.

This case—a Hunt that will take her to places she’s never been—will challenge Beka’s tracking skills beyond city walls, as well as her ability to judge exactly who she can trust with her life and her country’s future.

With Mastiff I think Tamora Pierce has wrapped up a series that really stands out in my mind as being just as good as Alanna's. I read the first Alanna story, god, what feels like a million years ago now, and just fell in love. I loved her, the story, the characters - all of it, and the series just got better with every addition. The connection that Beka Cooper has to those tales and her adventures in her own right make her another remarkable heroine.

In Mastiff it's Beka and Tunstall on their own, out to save the entire kingdom on the most important hunt of their lives. I've already had to reread parts of the book because the first time through I kept getting distracted by the hunt - when are they going to find him? What's going to happen? I was the little child bouncing in the back seat asking 'are we there yet?'. Pierce has crafted an arc where over these three books we've been able to watch Beka grow and mature - to come into her own as a Dog and a protector of the realm. And as an adult she has to face the fact that things don't always end up as you'd hope. Bad things happen to good people and even when you try your best it doesn't guarantee the outcome - it's a hard story to read in that aspect, as you watch Beka accept the reality of what even good people can do.

If I had to come up with something that was a little less than stellar, I'd have to say that the romance in this one wasn't my favorite. Even if the couple didn't work out quite the way I was rooting for in the first book, I'd have to say that things were a bit too fast overall. I'm being purposefully vague here so please excuse me, but while I understand a pressure situation can influence the speed at which feelings are revealed, I still felt a little cheated. Romance might not be the focus of Mastiff, it's not a romance book after-all, but seeing more of the buildup to the final HEA would have been great.

I highly, highly recommend this book - and pretty much everything written by Tamora Pierce.

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up.

Series - 1) Terrier 2) Bloodhound 3) Terrier

October in Review

2011-11-03T11:57:00.003-04:00

Oh October, you were a bit busy this time around huh? I feel like every other second I was either going somewhere, doing something, or planning to do something. Fall, when it's not freezing cold, really gets me all excited. I want to be outside enjoying the fresh air and the leaves changing. Keeping up a reading schedule during all that is almost impossible. Or consistently Twitter-ing. Maybe this makes me old, but when I'm enjoying life out and about it doesn't really occur to me to tweet about it. I'll sometimes remember while out shopping but I'm just not good at it, lol! I should probably be fitted for my bifocals any day now o_O.

Want to know one cool/horrifying thing that did happen this month? Snow on Halloween! In DC! It makes me all excited for Christmas (though not so excited that I'm not horrified by all the stores with their Christmas displays).

And if you're still coming off the Halloween high you might want to check out my post on Series to make you SHIVER!

Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison

Serpent's Kiss by Thea Harrison

Silver Shark by Ilona Andrews

Angels of Darkness by Ilona Andrews, Nalini Singh, Meljean Brook, Sharon Shinn

Beast Behaving Badly by Shelly Laurenston

Wickedly Charming by Kristine Grayson

Strange Neighbors by Ashlyn Chase (DNF)

Tiger, Tiger by Robyn Donald

Dreaming of the Wolf by Terry Spear

Lord of the Abyss by Nalini Singh
Dessert Warrior by Nalini Singh

Animal Attraction by Jill Shalvis

Bite Before Christmas by Heidi Betts

Call Me by Lena Matthews

Keeper of the Way by Shirin Dubbin

Terrier by Tamora Pierce

Taking Chase by Lauren Dane

Visions of Heat by Nalini Singh

Bonds of Justice by Nalini Singh

Read/Reviewed:

19/13

Keeper of the Way by Shirin Dubbin

2011-11-02T10:48:00.016-04:00

One man is a harbinger. The other a bad boy. She seeks to save their race. Too bad she has to die.

Aftermath cleaner, NiaMora, is destined to die--tonight. Severin, a harbinger of death, has already arrived to bear witness. But he'll defy his duty. He won't stand by and watch, not when NiaMora may be the Fae's last hope of survival.

Zan Wynn cares nothing for Severin's heroic delusions. The Fae-tech mogul has "spies" on NiaMora and her aftermath cleaner team. He wants her for reasons of his own and as the quintessential bad boy--some might say bad guy--he can't be bothered to play fair.

Oblivious to her doom, NiaMora focuses on the missing Way, the very essence of the Fae and the reason they are trapped in the mortal world. There's also the small matter of remaining single when she can't deny Severin's power over her or Zan Wynn's hypnotic pull. One man is her fate, the other the prelude to her destruction.

I've gotta say that even with a few words Dubbin knows how to start a series (or at least what I hope will be a series). Like Chaos Tryst, Keeper of the Way presents the reader with this fully formed world that's quite different from our own. It's most comparable and probably supposed to be an Urban Fantasy title, but I don't quite get enough of a contemporary vibe to say for sure. Whatever, the point is it's very different from our own - there are fae and gargoyles and a whole host of other beings, some of which I recognize and some who are Dubbin's construct. It's all shown to the reader not told, so while you don't have to worry about a lot of boring info dump, sometimes I did find myself having to reread sections to make sure I understood exactly who (or what) was talking.

Spoiler-ly bits hidden behind the link below!

Click to Expand!

I do wish that this novella had been a little longer though, mostly because I feel Nia and Severin's relationship would have benefited from the extra space to develop. Things happen so rapidly that while I like both characters individually, together I was a little suspect of the whole 'magical mind meld' thing. Even though Nia's worried about ever finding someone who would accept her on this deep a level at all, once it does happen she seems to be all sunshine and roses without much of a qualm. Maybe I'm just a suspicious person but that seemed to happen a little too easily.

Overall I'd say it's a fun, fast paced tale with action and romance. The 'love triangle' and mystery weren't all that hard to guess, but I enjoyed it just the same and would be interested in seeing how the world developed and learning more about the people there.

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up.

Series - 1) Keeper of the Way (? - maybe?)

**Sent by author for review consideration**

Series to make you SHIVER!

2011-10-28T14:07:00.002-04:00

I don't want to shock anyone, but I don't read a lot of horror.

I know. It's amazing.

Rarely do I pick up a book that's solely designed to make me not sleep at night. In fact, I've only ever read 1 Stephen King book and it wasn't even really a horror! It was more political intrigue and it doesn't matter ultimately because I didn't like it anyway.

In spite of my less than stellar horror track record I do have a couple series that have wormed their ways into my heart - even when that heart is beating a million times a minute because of the OMG IT'S BEHIND YOU RUN AWAY-ness of it all. Since it's October and the weekend before Halloween AND Neil Gaiman is trying to encourage an All Hallows Read celebration of both, I thought sharing these two series would be a bit apropos. Hope you enjoy!

October Daye Series by Seanan McGuire

I've reviewed a few of the October Daye series here on RAtChaos and I think reading over those posts make it pretty clear why this series is so fantastic: a sympathetic heroine, romance, action, and really freaking scary fairy tales come to life! I never know what I'm getting into with McGuire's books so with each new release I'm gripping the edge of my seat trying not to have a complete meltdown. Is anyone going to die? Who is it? What's going to happen next? How is Toby going to get out of this one?!

Most of this can be contributed a gritty dark tone, because we as readers don't have the luxury of accurately predicting the next rabbit hole. It's not a recipe for a comfort read but this series stays with you long after you're done reading and if I can work up the courage they definitely deserve rereads as well.

Nightside Series by Simon R. Green

This series is not joke ya'll - Green keeps the frightening fast and frequent, with John the kick ass detective trying to battle them all. Even when I was squirming inside I had to keep reading (though I have been known to flip a few pages to find out what happens - sssshhh! Don't tell anyone) which I think is the hallmark of a really engaging set of books. The happy ending is not guaranteed and this is not romance, though it has a bit of it here and there which I'm definitely not complaining about. Simon R. Green doesn't really have a function website, and WTF is up with that, but it's rumored that the next book, The Bride Wore Black Leather, is going to be the last in the series. That means you have nothing but time to catch up and nothing holding you back!

Animal Attraction by Jill Shalvis

2011-10-26T10:41:00.000-04:00

She’s tempting his basic instincts…

Sunshine, Idaho, is a quiet ranching town, a perfect place to give injured animals a refuge…or to find one. And veterinarian Dell Connelly suspects there’s a reason his clinic’s uber-efficient receptionist has taken shelter here.

Jade Bennett couldn’t be happier to escape her well-meaning but smothering family and their expectations, not to mention the big-city jungle. There’s nothing like working with injured animals, having a forlorn, grumpy stray kitten make its home under her desk…or enjoying the gorgeous views of her ruggedly sexy boss.

Jade is used to planning everything in her life, but Dell’s understanding has sparked an uncontrollable desire. And though Dell has never had time for love, Jade’s strength and sass is the kind of call no red-blooded male can resist…

My first Jill Shalvis book and I have book blogs to thank! I'm not sure where I read the review at this point, but when I was wondering around B&N the other day (I had forgotten to bring ANY book with me to work) the name Shalvis jumped out at me.

I'm sure I've said before that I'm a sucker for a good contemporary and this one definitely fit the bill. The story reminded me a little of early Lori Foster, with a strong alpha male (with emotions) falling for a slightly broken but brave female. The focus is on characters of the story, with the town and supporting men and women just as important. Without backup either Jade or Dell could have made different decisions would, of course, be sad to me as a reader who's hoping for a happy ending!

On a more serious note I think the book also does a great job with Jade as a person. She's a woman who's had some hard knocks and that sucks but she's determined to rise above it. Yes it's a bit of cliche, the woman recovering from attack by taking self-defense lessons, but it's an important thing to show just the same, as violence against women is still such a huge issue.

Animal Attraction is a wonderful feel good, small town romance and I can't wait to get my hands on the first book in the series.

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up.

Series - 1) Animal Magnetism 2) Animal Attraction

Mini Me: The Bite Before Christmas by Heidi Betts

2011-10-24T11:30:00.001-04:00

In Heidi Betts’s collection of holiday novellas, vampires turn to Angelina Bertolli—vampire matchmaker extraordinaire—to help them find that special someone to curl up with under the mistletoe…

“All I Vant For Christmas”
Connor loves trimming the Christmas tree, baking gingerbread cookies, and hanging the mistletoe. But his vampire siblings won’t help. His friend Angelina sends party planner Jillian to the rescue. But when Jillian, who’s mortal, discovers she’s decking the halls for a family of vampires, will she run—or will Connor have a beautiful woman to share the holidays with?

“A Vampire in Her Stocking”
When Vivian learns that her secret crush Nick is terminally ill, she’s heartbroken. Confiding in Angelina, Vivian refuses to turn Nick into a vampire. Deciding to play Santa, Angelina changes Nick and leaves him wrapped in a red bow on Vivian’s doorstep…

“It’s A Wonderful Bite”
Although Angelina is happy with her boyfriend Sergio, she’s ready for a commitment. After drinking eggnog and watching It’s a Wonderful Life on Christmas Eve, Angelina falls into a dream where she is mortal and Sergio isn’t interested in her. Talk about the nightmare before Christmas! But Santa must have checked his list twice because this Christmas Angelina’s wishes are coming true…
~~

I picked this up for free on my Nook and I have to say I'm really glad I didn't put any money down on this because it's only getting an 'eh' rating for me. None of the stories were horrible but they weren't great either, each suffering (I think) from lack of pages. The stories just went by too quickly so not only did I feel like sometimes relationships and HEA's were too fast (ala "All I Vant for Christmas") some of them just seemed completely implausible ("A Vampire in Her Stocking").

I recognize that this is a Christmas anthology and it's suppose to be filled with glitter and gumdrops, but this is just not my favorite. I could be out of the loop due to lack of world familiarity, as I don't know if Betts has a whole series featuring this background or characters, but this wasn't the best holiday anthology I've ever read. I'd say check it out from the library.

Lord of the Abyss by Nalini Singh

2011-10-21T11:39:00.000-04:00

Once upon a time…the Blood Sorcerer vanquished the kingdom of Elden. To save their children, the queen scattered them to safety and the king filled them with vengeance. Only a magical timepiece connects the four royal heirs…and time is running out.…

As the dark Lord who condemns souls to damnation in the Abyss, Micah is nothing but a feared monster wrapped in impenetrable black armor. He has no idea he is the last heir of Elden, its last hope. Only one woman knows—the daughter of his enemy.

Liliana is nothing like her father, the Blood Sorcerer who'd cursed Micah. She sees past Micah’s armor to the prince inside. A prince whose sinful touch she craves. But first she has to brave his dark, dangerous lair and help him remember. Because they only have till midnight to save Elden.

Ooh Nalini Singh - your words speak to my soul. I haven't read any of the other books in the Royal House of Shadows series but this one fantastic. It makes me want to track down all the earlier books even though I know those haven't been written by her and probably won't be as good.

Liliana has escaped from her father to find Micah, to try and bring him back to Elden and save his siblings and the kingdom. Unfortunately Micah's lost his memory so she has to navigate not only the secrets of her past but the journey with Micah back to knowing who he is. I have to say though that in this, similar to other great romances, it's the relationship between the two of them that I loved the best. Yes there's a lot of great action and a particularly horrifying villain, but the sparks between these two were unbelievable.

Micah is not just the Lord of the Abyss and his feelings for Liliana prove this over and over. Yeah he can be a bonehead, and sometimes his arrogance was a bit much, but when he's so shaken by her tears that he orders her to stop and tells her she can only do it 4 times a year - and only in his presence - you have to love him. And I have a deep appreciation for the fairytale roots that had Singh writing Liliana has a woman who wasn't typically beautiful - and Micah as a man who saw through to the courageous woman underneath.

The ending is filled with battles between good and evil and the introduction of some very cool and some very disgusting creatures. Even without the rest of the series as background this story did great as a standalone and I highly recommend it.

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up.

Series - 1) Lord of the Vampires 2) Lord of Rage 3) Lord of the Wolfyn 4) Lord of the Abyss (Dec 2011)

**Title requested from NetGalley from Review**

Tiger, Tiger by Robyn Donald

2011-10-19T10:09:00.001-04:00

Not only opposites attract!

When Lecia first spotted Keane Paget, his presence burned like a shining beacon. He was handsome, certainly, and profoundly male, but the face that stared back at her was otherwise her own!

Lecia was stunned…hypnotized…and it wasn't just his likeness—an unsettling, wild attraction immediately coursed between them. They say that the greater the resemblance, the happier the relationship. But Lecia's passions had only ever led to heartbreak—and guilt!

No, Keane Paget was dangerous. Not only did he have her face, he seemed to see inside her soul! They were too alike for comfort. Resist, resist….

Oh Tiger, Tiger - this is book is such an oldy but a goodie for me. I count this as the very first full fledged romance I ever bought (or was bought for me) and it holds a very special place in my heart. I remember picking it up from the book section in K-Mart and reading the entire time I was grocery shopping with my mom. To the point that when I asked her to buy it for me she didn't know why I cared since I only had about 10pgs left!

The best thing about Tiger, Tiger? This book remains both an example of classic HP stories and a modern romance. Yes I'd say you have to kind of wrap your head around the way Keane and Lecia interact, it definitely retains that 90's feel, but I still enjoy the romance every time I pick it back up. Though I did find myself trying to explain the non-incestuous IN ANY WAY plot to friends who read the back of the book and wow did that remind me how things were rarely what they seemed in those days. I think I can safely say that these days you probably aren't going to find a lot of romances centered around two people who look so much alike that people could mistake them for twins.

Still, to get to the actual review, I think what makes this book so enjoyable are the characters. Keane is right on the cusp of being too autocratic with Lecia, as he's supposed to be so handsome with this intense animal magnetism that women just can't help but fall for. And yeah Lecia does fall for him but at least she's hesitant about it, and doesn't make any wildly irresponsible decisions. And then Keane shows some emotion and reveals a traumatic past and then who isn't rooting for the damaged soul to find his heart?!

I think this book is part of HP's 'Treasures' list, meaning it should be available on ebook, and I highly recommend it.

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up.

Series - None.

Wickedly Charming by Kristine Grayson

2011-10-14T13:23:00.000-04:00

He's given up on happily-ever-after...

Cinderella's Prince Charming is divorced and at a dead end. The new owner of a bookstore, Charming has given up on women, royalty, and anything that smacks of a future.
That is, until he meets up with Mellie...

But she may be the key to happily-right-now...

Mellie is sick and tired of stepmothers being misunderstood. Vampires have redeemed their reputation, why shouldn't stepmothers do the same? Then she runs into the handsomest, most charming man she's ever met and discovers she's going about her mission all wrong...

It's only natural that sparks fly and magic ensues when these two fairy tale refugees put their heads-and vulnerable hearts-together...

If I remember correctly I read Simply Irresistible by Grayson QUITE a long time ago - there were some positive feelings but I didn't have enough to go on when it came time to read Wickedly Charming. Luckily it didn't matter because this book is a lot of fun and I highly recommend it.

Charming and Mellie are both in very different places in their lives than they had original expected. Charming has divorced his Cinderella and lost custody of his two daughters, and Mellie is stuck still trying to convince the world that evil stepmothers aren't really all that evil. Neither of them are prepared to meet someone new, whether it's lust or love.

This book is so much fun to read because even with all the fairy tale and magic it's a story about two people trying to live normal lives who just happen to fall in love while doing it. It's contemporary but not, with enough quirkiness to make me happy and has definitely left me interested in picking up the rest of the series. There aren't enough heartwarming, fun romances these days, books that have a little drama but not too much, with characters you can really root for. Wickedly Charming has all of that and it was great - especially as a 'right before bed' read.

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up.

Series - 1) Utterly Charming 2) Thoroughly Kissed 3) Wickedly Charming 4) Charming Blue (Fall 2012)

Dreaming of the Wolf by Terry Spear

2011-10-12T14:28:00.003-04:00

Jake Silver doesn't believe in fate or dream mating, despite the fact his brother and other family members have been afflicted with this strange notion. But when dreams begin to plague him about a woman so seductive, he wakes up in a sweat and he's losing way too much sleep over it, he seeks to learn the truth. Can dream mating be a reality? Is the woman real?

Alicia Greiston doesn't dream. Not ever. So when a man visits her in the first dream she's ever had, she's startled, pleased, then alarmed. He's not going away, and the dreams take a sinister turn. He's in trouble, and if the dreams are a foreshadowing of the future, she has to save him.

It took me a lot of thinking to narrow down why this book didn't work for me. I like werewolves, I like contemporary, I even like books where the man immediately senses/knows that the other woman is his mate. Unfortunately none of that in Dreaming of the Wolf were able to make me believe in what was going on.

Without getting too spoilery, Alicia doesn't know that Jake is a werewolf when she meets him and doesn't know that there are werewolves at all until she gets turned into one. But somehow she's completely ok with going back with Jake to his pack, becoming part of this pack, and letting them run roughshod over her entire life? Uh, how about a big HELL NO people!

I liked Jake, he seems to be a nice enough guy who's in love with a woman he thought was human (which somehow meant they couldn't be together - this must be explained somewhere else in the series) who has to rethink everything when she's turned. He wasn't so much where I had the problem, even if he also just assumed Alicia would be good to go with everything. Alicia drove me nuts too! If I read one more time that Jake was the prince of her happily ever after I was gonna lose it. Be in love with your man - I'm reading a romance so I'd like that to happen - but how about you show some kind of realistic reaction to your entire life getting turned upside down? HEA isn't going to fix the fact that all of a sudden you're turning into a WOLF or that the pack you've stumbled across isn't planning to let you leave - like ever.

I admit this is the first Terry Spear that I've read and that maybe I'd feel differently if I knew the members of the pack and how it functioned a bit better, but this story just didn't work for me at all.

Overall Feeling - Thumbs down.

Series - ... 6) Wolf Fever 7) Heart of the Highland Wolf 8) Dreaming of the Wolf (Dec 2011)

**Title requested for review from NetGalley**

Hidden Depths by Emma Holly

2011-10-11T09:38:00.000-04:00

James and Olivia Forster have been happily married for many years. A harmless kink here or there spices up their love life, but they can’t imagine the kinks they’ll encounter while sneaking off to their beach house for a long hot weekend.

Anso Vitul has ruled the wereseals for one short month. He hardly needs his authority questioned because he’s going crazy from mating heat. Anso’s best friend and male lover Ty offers to help him find the human mate his genes are seeking. To Ty’s amazement, Anso’s quest leads him claim not one partner but a pair. Ty would object, except he too finds the Forsters hopelessly attractive . . .

After thinking about this review for a while I get the feeling it's my own squeamishness that's making me enjoy this Emma Holly story less than the others I've read. I liked the ending, ultimately I think Holly brings the characters together well and each person seems to be getting what they need (emotionally and physically) but I just couldn't over the beginning!

James and Olivia are happy in their marriage. They have a child, a full sex life, lots of love - really the whole package. But then Anso, because of a 'blood bond', comes onto shore and kidnaps her to be his bride! And when he sees that she's married he takes James too! Plus the whole 'silencing James with the aphrodisiac laden kiss' didn't work for me; instead of finding it titillating I couldn't get over thinking of it as force. Not to put too fine a point on things, force for real and not for fun doesn't work for me.

The story gets better, and more believable, when they get back to Anso's underwater kingdom. There Olivia and James show a reluctance to just accept this 'new life' that Anso dumps on them, even if there's cool magic and political intrigue. And yes, once everyone starts sleeping with everyone else Holly does a good job writing in the emotional turmoil. No one feels perfectly in love and connected with everyone else, which causes stress and hurt feelings. I'm not saying at all that this isn't a well written story; Holly does a wonderful job keeping each character unique and separate and you never think during a sex scene that someone's hand got confused with someone else's foot. Ultimately I just couldn't get over my initial feeling that while things work out for everyone in the end, I didn't like Olivia and James being shook up in the first place.

Overall Feeling - Eh.

Series - None (?)

**Title requested from author for review**

Angels of Darkness by Nalini Singh, Ilona Andrews, Meljean Brook, Sharon Shinn

2011-10-08T22:49:00.000-04:00

"Angel's Wolf by Nalini Singh." In the spellbinding universe of the Guild Hunter, a vampire becomes obsessed with the seductive angel who rules the Louisiana territory. But in her court, all is not what it appears to be.

"Alphas: Origins by Ilona Andrews." A woman is kidnapped into a world divided by a superhuman civil war. As the captive of an irresistibly dangerous male, she has two choices: submit and become a pawn, or take hold of her own destiny.

"Nocturne by Sharon Shinn." Accepting a position in a secluded and whispered-about mansion, a woman soon discovers the source of its mystery: the blind, tormented angel who lives there, and whose secrets could now destroy them both.

"Ascension by Meljean Brook." When vampires disappear from a community he's protecting, a world-weary Guardian doesn't know what evil he's hunting, but he'd rather hunt alone than accept help from his ex-lover and fellow Guardian, Radha. But Radha refuses to leave him, because she's determined not just to help him save the community...but to save him.

If I had to pick favorites, in this anthology it would go "Angel's Wolf", "Nocturne", "Alphas: Origins", and finally "Ascension". It's a great anthology overall, one that gives readers a look into each of the authors' series, but as usual some of the stories spoke to me more than others.

"Angel's Wolf" is the second short from Singh's Archangel world that I've come across and I should probably just suck it up and read the rest of the series. Interesting characters with a different take on angels and vampires - seemingly devoid of most religious connotations - and romance to boot. I like.

I've never read anything by Sharon Shinn before but if "Nocturne" is anything to go by then at the very least she knows how to write smart heroines who aren't afraid to stand up for themselves. Combine that with a sense of humor and what seems like good world building and I'm definitely going to be picking up more titles from her backlist.

I think "Alpha: Origins" was very much not what I was expecting but all in all it wasn't a bad story. It's very quick, with a lot of violence and unexpected relationships between all of the characters, yet I'm intrigued. They've created a very different take on 'angels' and 'monsters' and I hope more comes out in this series because even though I'm not completely hooked yet I can see how I could be.

The Meljean Brook addition, "Ascension", was fine but I don't consider it spectacular. It seemed to go by the fastest so I didn't feel quite as attached to the world and its characters. I consider it another unique concept and take on angels, but I think a final verdict will have to wait until after I've read more.

Overall Feeling - Thumbs Up (though I wish this was a mass market and not trade - boo $15!)

Series - Various

Hungry?

2011-10-06T15:19:00.001-04:00

Looking for something yummy to make for dinner? Look no further than my 'recipe' for fried rice!

Good Red Herring

Hidden Talents by Emma Holly

2011-10-04T15:38:00.000-04:00

Werewolf cop Adam Santini is sworn to protect and serve all the supes in Resurrection, NY—including unsuspecting human Talents who wander in from Outside.

Telekinetic Ari is hot on the trail of a mysterious crime boss who wants to exploit her gift for his own evil ends, a mission that puts her on a collision course with the hottest cop in the RPD. Adam wants Blackwater too, but mostly he wants Ari. She seems to be the mate he’s been yearning for all his life, though getting a former street kid into bed with the Law could be his toughest case to date.

First off let me say that in my head I totally already reviewed this. So sorry for not bringing my blog up to the speed of my brain and only posting this now.

If you haven't already read erotic romance by Emma Holly I think Hidden Talents is a great one to start with. Holly has created an interested sideways look at what could happen in America if there was a city that only some people could see, people who had a certain level of 'talent' that made them up to snuff. Adam is a werewolf in charge of the police force maintaining order and Ari is a talent who didn't even know that Resurrection existed - just that she had some unique abilities and was willing to use them to keep her friends safe.

But what would a paranormal erotica be without the sparks? Ari and Adam are immediately drawn to each other and waste no time giving in (mostly) to those desires. I think Holly is one of the few authors who can make me believe two characters going at it after only knowing each other a matter of hours (especially when one has arrested the other). I'm a romance reader at heart and when there's no affection to go along with all the sex I just don't like it as much. There's defintiely the hot and heavy here but, and I admit there's a bit of the 'destined mate' thing going on, Adam loves Ari and wants her to love him back. Vulnerable alpha male hero for the win!

Overall Feeling - Thumbs Up.

Series - None (?)

September in Review

2011-10-04T09:19:00.006-04:00

September was a big month, what with Dragon*Con madness and all. I wasn't able to successfully stalk Jen from Epbot but I did attend some pretty spectacular panels - and I didn't have to wait in line forever either! But, because I'm a bit of a slacker and procrastinator (I know, surprising right?), I'm *still* not done with my daily recaps. I can make up a little with links here to day 1 and day 2. The posts are longer than usual I admit but there are some pretty amazing pictures to try and make it better :D. How do I know they're amazing? Because they include stuff like this:

See? I'm not lying.

Now on to the books!

Supernatural by Ione, Ivy, Frank, Aiken

The Prince With No Heart by Emma Holly

Hidden Talents by Emma Holly

Big Bad Beast by Shelly Laurenston

Canyons of Night by Jayne Castle

The Dragon Who Loved Me by G.A. Aiken

Heart Search by Robin D. Owens

Coming Undone by Lauren Dane

Silver Shark by Ilona Andrews

Dark Predator by Christine Feehan

Never Enough by Lauren Dane

Once and Again by Lauren Dane

Beast Behaving Badly by Shelly Laurenston

Rush of Pleasure by Rhyannon Byrd

Chaos Tryst by Shirin Dubbin

The Mane Attraction by Shelly Laurenston

One Salt Sea by Seanan McGuire

Hidden Depths by Emma Holly

Books Read/Reviewed:

18/13

PS - I think I'm going to fail miserably with my two reading challenges for the year but you can check out my progress either through the link in the side bar or by clicking HERE.

Geek of the Week (10/3)

2011-10-03T17:25:00.000-04:00

Time for a short (but sweet) post filled with geeky goodies!

1) I WANT THIS SO BAD. Sadly it's not a purchase-able item at the moment but I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

via

2) After all the talk I've read this week about Starfire and the horrible things they've done to her with the DC Universe reboot, it's always heartening to see someone realize how important costume design is to the effect of a character. Even if it's some as well known as Superman.

via

3) This might be a little serious for Geek of the Week, but it's important - Kevin Sorbo (of Hercules fame) suffered multiple strokes while filming the iconic television series. Suffering a stroke, let alone multiple, is no small thing so let's remember to listen to our bodies people! Even when one doctor tells you it's nothing never underestimate the power of a second opinion.

4) We gotta end on a happier note though right?! Here's a FANTASTIC fan video of the cosplay from Dragon*Con!

Dragon*Con Day 2

2011-10-01T10:47:00.000-04:00

Ok so here we go (or continue) - on to Day 2! Day 2 for me is Saturday and for most people it includes the parade first thing in the morning, but somehow I have yet to see it. I like sleep! Or more accurately, I like sleep and the leisure time to do complicated makeup without feeling pressured by a panel.

To-ma-to, to-mah-to.

According to my phone app, which is such a badass because it STILL shows me the events from Labor Day weekend, I had 23 events that I tentatively wanted to go to. A completely ridiculous goal, especially considering that at least half of them were happening at the same time. I started with the panel 'Hunting Monsters for Fun and Profit' which had both LKH and Sherrilyn Kenyon (with some other authors) there to speak on their worlds and characters.

It was great as usual, especially since Kenyon has SO MANY BOOKS that any one question takes forever for her to answer or she can't answer at all because each character has their own motivation. Plus I thought it was hilarious that Larry Correia's main character physically takes after himself because he didn't feel like readers saw enough 'big & tall' men representing. And Correia's walked into a spinning ceiling fan. Cause this is apparently something that tall people need to worry about.

I didn't go to any readings, though I had some written down for Rachel Caine and Carole Nelson Douglas. I think I decided that sustenance was more important, which I don't regret because if you don't make time for it you can seriously never eat at Dragon*Con. You'll always find yourself in line, in a panel, or gawking at freaking amazing costumes. Oh and the only reason I didn't go to the Stargate SG-1 panel was because it was out in the freaking WESTIN which not only is hard to get to because it's so far away, the rooms are small! How do I know this you ask? Because they turned people away from Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog's sing-a-long! Which has never happened to me! They turned people away because they didn't empty the room after the Buffy the Musical sing-a-long and then wouldn't even let anyone stick around to see if people left. It was infuriating! And then I found out later that there were empty seats!!! My butt could have been in one of those empty seats! I hate you Westin!

But my very favorite thing of the day was the Star Trek Next Generation panel which had not only Wil Wheaton but Gates McFadden AND Brent Spiner! Dr. Crusher and Data in the house!! Dr. Crusher by the way seems to have not aged a bit, which is both cruel and unfair because we all know I'm not going to be as lucky. I always get unbelievable geek glee when I see a bunch of TNG actors together because you can just see how much they know and like each other. They joke and kid, not only with themselves mind you, but also with the audience, and it makes you like them. And I guess I feel like liking the actors somehow makes it better that I love the show. Which I realize makes no sense but I'm trying to explain a feeling and who makes sense explaining a feeling? No one that's who.

(sorry my picture is blurry, I couldn't any using my flash due to someone in the audience.)

After that the Rainbow Brite group got together for some general debauchery and it was fantastic. Not only were all of us different modern interpretations of our character's costumes, but even though we all did it our own way we still fit together. And were way hotter than another Rainbow Brite group we randomly ran into (I think about these things ok? I already know I'm a bad person you don't have to tell me :P). What was the best were all the parents who made their kids take pictures with us. The kids would have no idea who we were but to the parents we were a part of their childhood and THEY wanted to memorialize it, even if the kids ended up crying about it later. Plus can you imagine being a little kid at Dragon*Con? Everyone's huge and dressed up and often very scary and here we were, a co-ed group of younger people in brightly colored costumes with big smiles. We were the most non-threatening thing ever.

And in a case of 'WTF?' for the con, after our original Buddy Blue went off to some kind of panel on polymath decision making (don't ask) we ran into ANOTHER Buddy Blue! With a Canary Yellow! All of a sudden were and even more impressive group of Rainbow Brite cosplayers and we didn't even have to do anything! Even better was the fact that these two were looking for their own group and thought we were them. No one knew anyone else and once they found us people started taking pictures and that was just the end of it. None of us were willing to break up the group and halt the madness so we all just stuck around and had fun.

This post is starting to get epic again so I'm just going to stop here and say that after pictures Jessica and I went to a Nightmare Before Christmas Panel and it was epic. And if Rogue from Curxshadows would teach a class on almost anything almost anywhere I'd probably attend because he's that badass.

PS - I also got a moment with my girl crush Yaya Han and not gonna lie - there was definitely some internal squealing going on!

PPS - Oh and Jennie Breeden (The Devil's Panties) got engaged at the Kilt Blowing Saturday night! Love was in the air folks.

Chaos Tryst by Shirin Dubbin

2011-09-30T10:10:00.000-04:00

Ariana Golde may be known for breaking and entering but she's no thief, she’ s a returner. She retrieves stolen objects and gives them back to their rightful owners. Her latest job: retrieving a statue from the Medveds. But Ari is having an off night, and she's caught red-handed by the three brothers, who don't just get mad—they turn into bears.

Maksim Medved is outraged—the statue belongs to his parents. But Ari's returner magick doesn't lie: the heirloom has a new rightful owner. Ari is drawn to the surly, handsome Maks—maybe because he possesses the same chaos magick she does. But while Ariana enjoys a touch of chaos, Maks hates its destructive power.

When Ari and Maks team up to find her mystery client, their chaos magicks ignite even faster than their attraction. Can Maks learn to love a little chaos, or will the havoc they cause among the faebled creatures drive him away for good?

I have to give major props to Shirin Dubbin because she has created a wonderfully cute story in only about 100 pages. I consider that a very hard thing to do because setting up a whole new world and giving me two new main characters to care about usually requires more pages.

Chaos Tryst is a very multicultural story; Ariana is half West Africa and Japanese, which gives her light brown skin and blonde dreadlocks - different for sure but it totally works. Miks is the 'surly' one from Russian descent who, when he gets too upset, shifts into a bear. They both live in the world of Faebles that is populated with Goblins and Oni (Japanese word for demon), pixies, faeries, gods, and more. It's a veritable smorgasbord of mythological characters and Ariana and Miks meet most of them (and change a lot of their lives) over the course of their adventures together.

In case you worried, let me assure you that readers get plenty of Ariana and Miks. This tale is a romance and while there aren't any smexy times in the story itself I didn't feel like anything was lacking. The two of them already have this history together, even if neither of them want to be reminded of it, and when they finally come together it's all sparks and smart dialogue. And when they do arrive at their HEA you've been rooting for them for some long that it's a lot of fun to see how the universe contrived to get them there.

The last thing I want to mention about Chaos Tryst is the language. I loved how Dubbin used unique phrases and larger words in this story. I don't think you get enough of that really, using the more antiquated words in romances, because it usually doesn't fit in the dialogue or the feel of a contemporary story. But as this takes place in an alternate reality type of place the author doesn't have to stay true to anything but herself and her characters, which makes for a particularly unique and diverse story.

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up.

Series - None.

**Title requested from NetGalley for review**

One Salt Sea by Seanan McGuire

2011-09-29T17:21:00.000-04:00

IN A KINGDOM BY THE SEA

Now that she's a member of the landed nobility, October "Toby" Daye is dealing with a whole new host of challenges—not the least of which is figuring out the limits of her newly-enhanced abilities. Still, it feels like she's finally getting a handle on her life. She has a boyfriend, a roommate, and even a squire. Things couldn't possibly get better...

...but they can get a whole lot worse. Someone has kidnapped the sons of Duchess Dianda Lorden of Saltmist, and to prevent a war, the Luidaeg is calling in all Toby's debts. Toby will need to be smarter, sharper, and quite possibly damper than ever before if she wants to come out of this in one piece—and the fight is getting more personal than she could have dreamed.

This is gonna be another one of those reviews I'm afraid, those reviews where due to the amount of awesomeness the book contains I'm almost struck dumb. Please try and stay with me.

The October Daye books are just so good and yet so scary that I don't know what to do with myself with I read them! My heart beats really fast and I get all stressed out but I'm so absorbed in the story and desperate to know what happens that I can't do anything else. In other words, I need to remind myself never to start these on a work night because it was at the root of a very tired day after only 5hrs of sleep.

I think it's the combination of how I think I know what's going on but I have no idea what's going to happen next. Since these books are urban fantasies the romance is not the central theme and a HEA is never guaranteed. You're just waiting around to see if McGuire pulls one out for Toby but you're never completely sure. This particular book had me laughing and crying and by the end of it I just wanted to the next one but I'm going to have to wait until September 2012! UGH!

This author is just as high up on my personal favorites list as Jim Butcher and Simon R. Green and I wholeheartedly recommend the series.

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up.

Series - 1) Rosemary and Rue 2) A Local Habitation 3) An Artificial Night 4) Late Eclipses 5) One Salt Sea

Cosplay Break!

2011-09-28T13:17:00.004-04:00

Here's the deal - I'm working on a Dragon*Con day 2 post and just realized I haven't made the video thingy I wanted to go with it. I've decided to kill two birds with one stone and avoid putting too many cosplay pictures in the other post by putting them here! Enjoy!

(PS - these and more all came from my Flickr album. Enjoy the much higher quality images thanks to very helpful info from Epbot.)

Nerfpunk + KISS = Awesome

Princesses at rest

So cute!

I never see enough well done Xenas. But where's her Gabrielle?!

Candyland? Maybe? I think so.

Iron Man and his entourage

Vamp Xander and Willow! Oh Dopplegangland, you're one of my favorite episodes ever.

¡Three Amigos!

If you want to know why this lady is one small pair of panties away from naked, I have no idea.

And Mary Poppins for the supercalafragalisticexpialadoshus win.

Mini Me: Dark Predator by Christine Feehan

2011-09-27T09:21:00.000-04:00

As brutal as the undead he hunted, Zacarias De La Cruz was a master executioner. Over the long, dark centuries, he plunged into so many battles they blurred into an endless lifetime of evil that hardened the soul of this merciless, ruthless and implacable dark predator.

Now his stark and savage journey is over. After a thousand years in a gray world, he has accomplished everything he set out to do. His brothers are safeguarded. Each has found a woman who completes them. And they are at peace. For his brothers, Zacarias has walked the edge of madness, but with centuries as a killing machine now left to the past and without a hunt to define him, Zacarias wonders, for the first time in his life, who he really is.

The answer awaits him back home in Peru , in the betrayal of a woman who is readying her trap, in the vengeance of an old enemy, in the inevitable consequences of a bloody family legacy, and in the deliverance of a lifemate he never could have imagined.

I think there's been a lot of buzz about Dark Predatory and while I wish I could argue with it....I really can't. This book is odd. Like really odd - odd to such an extent that while I wasn't as offended as some reviewers I had squeeky uncomfortable feelings through most of it. I'm just not sure how Feehan thought her romance audience would be ok with a 'hero' who walks the fine line of rape (mental and physical) who doesn't even seem to have the same emotional connection we've seen in previous novels.

Bleh. I think BABBLING ABOUT BOOKS AND MORE! has a good review of the book that hits most of the low points and I'm torn about whether I'll buy more of this series. I've read it for so long and every few books Feehan releases a pretty incredible installment. We'll see folks, we'll see.

I can't in good conscience recommend this one but if you want to go back in the series and pick a book that works pretty well as stand alone, I'd say read Dark Slayer. Unlike the other books you have a very kick-ass heroine that's not afraid to go out and fight the vampires - and fight to save her Lifemate as well. I really enjoyed it and thought it harkened back to the beginning of the series, where there was much more of a balance of power between the hero and heroine. I was hoping it was going to be indicative of a new direction for the Dark Series but unfortunately I haven't seen that trend continue.

Rush of Pleasure by Rhyannon Byrd

2011-09-26T09:18:00.000-04:00

DANGEROUS PASSION AND PRIMAL INSTINCTS....

With his sinister good looks, Noah Winston is the one man—a human with Casus ties—who Willow Broussard has never been able to resist. Once enemies, then lovers, Noah broke her heart. Yet the powerful witch and paranormal private investigator can’t turn him away when he needs her help in protecting his family, him —and the world— against their enemy…

As Noah and Willow work together, the secrets of their turbulent past are slowly exposed, each startling revelation drawing them closer. But when the enemy finally makes a move, Noah will need more than witchcraft and magic to survive. He’ll need his friends, one hell of a plan…and the undying devotion of a tenacious witch whose love is eternal.

While it feels like this series has taken a long, long, LONG, time to finish, Byrd wraps up her Primal Instinct books with a not too bad bang. The Casus are for the most part gone, finally sent back to the hell from which they'd escaped, but the Death Walkers are still around, causing wide spread death and destruction.

Also - random side note - I do really like how 1) vanquishing the original bad guys gave the series new ones, and 2) when the Death Walkers started to kill entire communities of people Noah and the other former Watchers were shown not only cleaning up the mess but trying to figure out how to cover it up. I thought both things gave the series a nice touch of reality, since that's not really something humanity deals with on a regular basis.

But ok, to get back to the review, Rush of Pleasure is great both as a series end-er and a stand alone novel because while the characters from others books are brought into play for the most part the story centers on Noah and Willow. They have a past and so while they're forced to work together on this particle 'save the world' mission, neither are willing to forget what came before. There's a lot of sparks between the two of them and when the finally come together it's great!

The only place I'd criticize Rush of Pleasure is on the action front. You've built up all this momentum over eight books about how the Watchers are going to get rid of the Casus and then the Death Walkers, but by the time the final battle comes around readers aren't even in the midst of the action! The story switches to center on Noah and Willow, because their relationship depends on what happens at that battle, but I kind of felt jipped! I wanted to see the guys kick butt - which is rare for me as a hard core romance girl, but I think the ending would have been stronger for it.

Still the story was a good one and I can't wait to see what Byrd comes out with next.

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up.

Series - ...5) Touch of Surrender 6) Touch of Temptation 7) Rush of Darkness 8) Rush of Pleasure

**Title requested from NetGalley for review**

Heart Search by Robin D. Owens

2011-09-20T11:10:00.000-04:00

Laev T'Hawthorn -- one of the highest nobles in the land -- must rebuild his life after a devastating mistake. He married a woman he believed was his HeartMate, only to learn she was a greedy social climber. She callously used him, stealing his family heirlooms. He is determined to reclaim all that he has lost -- beginning with his self-respect.

Abandoned at fifteen, Camellia Darjeeling values her independence above all. She's fought to establish her own businesses -- elegant tearooms -- only to have her father and uncle re-enter her life. They emotionally scourge her and extort money. Trusting men, even her HeartMate, is too risky.

When Laev and Camellia meet, they refuse to acknowledge that they are true HeartMates. After her shady relatives are implicated in the theft of Laev's property, Camellia and Laev's lives become ever more entangled bringing each to the brink of despair and passion...and a destiny they can no longer avoid.

I loved Heart Search and it was wonderful to see Owens go back to some of the characteristics that made her books a favorite of mine in the beginning. Heart Search had just the right amount of romance and angst; Camellia, with her distrust of Laev and all men really because of her family and Laev, who knew he had a heartmate but because of his horrible marriage didn't want anything do with love. You could think that with two main characters who are firmly determined not to find themselves in relationships again you'd get type of anger and confusion typical of HP, but instead you just get one that feels real.

I didn't feel like either Camellia or Laev went out of their way to deliberately misunderstand or hurt each other - unfortunately it was more circumstance from their own experiences that left them floundering. Camellia initially might know that Laev is her heartmate but he married someone else; a betrayal that she's hard pressed to get over, especially considering how much emotional (and physical) abuse that's doled out by her uncle and father. None of the people she should have been able to trust have her back and she's not in a place where she wants Laev to pick up the slack.

So Laev, after overcoming his own fears, has to be the one to convince Camellia that they're good for each other. They might have sparks but it's the emotional connection they need to repair, and Owens does a fantastic job of showing how both Camellia and Laev have to work hard to get to their happy ending.

Recommended.

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up.

Series - ....7) Heart Fate 8) Heart Change 9) Heart Journey 10) Heart Search

Once and Again by Lauren Dane

2011-09-19T11:18:00.000-04:00

Seven years ago, Lily Travis was only too glad to see her hometown of Petal, Georgia in her rearview mirror. Thanks to her father running off with a twenty-year-old, though, here she is, trying to pick up the pieces. First order of business: meet with her brother’s teacher in a quest to pull his grades out of a downward spiral.

Nathan Murphy is pretty much resigned to his bachelor status—until he looks up from his desk to see an all-grown-up Lily walking into his classroom. Of all the women who turned out to be totally wrong for him, she’s the only one who felt right. At least until his foolish, immature mistake drove her away.

Lily has to admit that time has been more than kind to gorgeous, sexy Nathan. Except there’s no room on her full plate for another complication. Especially with a man who broke her heart once before.

With a little help from his friends, Nathan has a plan to rekindle the flame. It isn’t long before they’re burning up the sheets. Winning her heart? That’s another matter.

A the end of this book I had two main feelings 1) I still love Dane & her Petal, GA characters! 2) I may love her older Petal, GA characters so much that it detracts from my love for this book. I'm just so used to these fantastic large novels from Dane that this one (at about 100 pages) felt short and almost unfinished. I as the reader got to learn quite a bit about what was going on inside Nathan and Lily's heads but I would have appreciated more of just about everything.

More of Lily's brother and family, more of Nathan and his growth as a person, more about the journey of Nathan and Lily back to each other - just more.

But please don't take any of this to mean I didn't like the book. Once and Again still has fun quirky characters and enough of the small time charm to make things memorable; I think I'm just distracted by how it's not the Chase Brothers series - which is more of a failing of mine than Dane's. There's enough of what I love here to keep me interested in learning about the next books that come out, especially if Dane sticks to fleshing out more of the Murphy family. In general I'd probably give this book about a B-/B on my scale, which is only different because I'm used to Dane releasing A+'s. Still recommended either way!

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up.

Series - 1) Once and Again

Silver Shark by Ilona Andrews

2011-09-15T21:01:00.000-04:00

This is the part were I usually have a title description but since I can't find one I'm going to go with the Tweet that sucked me in:

"Okay, it's basically Millionaire Boss and His Humble Secretary in space & secretary kills people with her brain"

(Or you could check out Goodreads which has the Andrews approved summary.)

It's incredibly exciting for me as a reader (though I'm sure frightening for them) when an author goes out and releases something that's different from their norm. I'm always on the look out for the next great book to read and when an author adds something different to their repertoire I almost feel like it's an assurance that while it may be new it's going to be good. It's an author's voice that has the most to do with whether a story a resonates with me, and in the instance of Silver Shark, Ilona Andrews has once again written a fantastic world, never mind the fact that it's not Kate Daniels in it.

While I was reading I could definitely see its HP roots with the self-confident billionaire and the insecure secretary, but as is often the case with Andrews things end up being much more than that. Claire (the secretary) is insecure only in the realm of this new world she's found herself in, her abilities as a Kinsman and and a protector are still what define her sense of self. Ventura (the millionaire) picks up on that dichotomy from the beginning and is determined to figure out what makes her so different from everyone else.

What I'm saying is that the story may be shorter but sparks fly and the romance is just sweet enough, without the annoying alphole or TDTL heroine (which is what turned me off full blown Harlequin titles). Add in lots of action since they're both warriors and you've got an intriguing and interesting story and I can only hope that the Andrews team decides to give us more glimpses into the Kinsman universe later.

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up.

Series - 1) Silent Blade 2) Silver Shark (Released 9/16? Soon!)

**Title requested from the author for review**

NEW Shelly Laurenston Excerpt - Bear Meets Girl

2011-09-15T09:25:00.000-04:00

(if you don't want to miss out on other spectacularly wonderful updates from Ms. Laurenston, sign up for her newsletter here)

EXCERPT: (Unedited/Unproofed)

BEAR MEETS GIRL
From Brava
Coming March 27, 2012!

Brutal, undeniable pain. The kind of pain that could kill a man. Maybe it had. Maybe the pain throbbing in his head right at this moment had killed him and he'd have to spend eternity feeling like this. Like warmed-over shit melting in the hot desert sun.

The worst part about all this? It was his fault. He had no one to blame for this but himself -- and those damn Jell-O shots. He should have stayed away from them. He knew better. All that alcohol in those delectable little jiggly squares...what was he thinking? And now he could barely move without pain. Brutal, undeniable pain.

Lou "Crush" Crushek tried to open his eyes but that only made things worse. It was morning and that light coming through the window was destroying any brain activity he had left. If he were home, he'd simply go back to sleep for a few more hours, but he wasn't home. He could tell. The scent was different. He smelled feline. Everywhere he smelled feline.

Crush snarled a little. That's whose fault this was. That damn cat. Male lions. Never trust a male lion! Sure, this particular male lion was married to a fellow NYPD detective and was from one of the wealthiest Prides in Manhattan, but he was also the asshole who'd brought the tray of Jell-O shots around, in their innocuous-looking little cups, and said, with that feline grin, "Go on. Try one."

So...Crush had tried one. Then another. And another. After the eighth...well, he didn't remember much of anything after the eighth.

What Crush did remember was making the mistake of going over to Detective Dez MacDermot's house for a "small get-together with some friends" that turned into anything but. Normally, when parties or events became something he didn't want to deal with, Crush would find the first exit and head on home to his TV and his quiet life. At least the quiet life he had when he wasn't working undercover, pretending to be a merciless drug dealer, biker, and occasional hit man. But honestly, Crush didn't leave the stupid party because he was, for lack of a better, manlier word, depressed.

A word he rarely used about himself. He wasn't much for sitting around, feeling sorry about his life. He was a bear after all. A polar bear specifically. No, not one of those guys who insisted on swimming in the Atlantic during the middle of winter to prove how virile he was. But a guy who could swim in the Atlantic during the middle of winter and never worry about dying of hypothermia. A guy who could shift into an eight foot, twelve-hundred-pound polar bear any time he wanted to. And, as a polar bear, sitting around being depressed wasn't really his thing. Instead, Crush lived like most of his kind. Being curious. Asking too many questions. Staring blankly at people until they became terrified and ran away. Eating whenever he was even slightly hungry. The usual.

Unfortunately, though, Crush had discovered something that all bears found distressing. He'd discovered there would be change. Change was coming Crush's way and he hated change. He liked to know things were going along as they should, and when that didn't happen he became depressed. He still hadn't recovered from the closing down of his favorite deli five years ago. Or that six years ago they'd moved his favorite shoe store -- needless to say that as a six-nine, three hundred pound guy, he couldn't exactly pick up his boots and sneakers from the local sports store -- and Crush still walked to where the old shoe store had stood, gazing into the window, wishing things were like they once were, until the customers inside the tea shop called police about the "crazed meth dealer lurking outside the door."

So no, Crush didn't handle change well, but he didn't see that there was anything he could do to prevent this change from happening. Not after one of his old partners had called him and given him a heads-up. The man wouldn't have called unless he was sure. So now Crush was just waiting for the anvil to drop.

Unfortunately, it felt like that anvil had already dropped right on his head.

He couldn't do this. He couldn't sit here in a co-worker's house, waiting for the hangover and migraine he had to go away. No, he just needed to get a move on. He had to get up. He had to deal with the pain. He had plans anyway for the afternoon and he wasn't about to miss out on them. So he had to get up.

But there appeared to be a little problem with him just leaping from bed and facing the day. And that problem was the naked female sprawled across his chest.

Uncaring about the brutal pain it would cause, Crush opened his eyes and looked down. Yep. That was a female all right. A -- he took a sniff -- feline female. Crush's lip curled. Another feline. The most untrustworthy of species in his opinion. And since he was naked, too, he could only assume that they'd...well...you know.

Christ, what was wrong with him? This wasn't like him. Crush didn't get drunk and sleep with random people. He just didn't. It wasn't in his DNA. It wasn't just the NYPD who called him "By the Book" Crushek either. He had classmates from junior high, high school, and college who called him that as well.

Yet a little depression, a few too many Jello-O shots to drink at a house party, and here Lou Crushek was. Naked. With a feline.

Who was this female anyway? Anyone he knew? Crush didn't think so. He knew lots of felines but he didn't spend time around them because they were, as he'd already stated and everyone knew, totally untrustworthy. It was a fact. Look it up!

Too bad Crush couldn't be one of those guys who drunkenly slept with a woman only to sneak out before she woke up. It would definitely make his life a whole lot easier but that would bring him to a new level of tacky he couldn't handle. Just because he felt his life falling apart around him -- he hated change! -- didn't mean he'd allow it to actually fall apart. And part of keeping his life together was doing the morally right thing.

Man, it sucked being a good guy all the time.

"Uh...miss?" Jeez! His voice sounded like gravel. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Miss? Excuse me?" He couldn't see her very clearly with all that black hair, strands of white and red throughout, covering her face and his chest. He recognized that hair color, though. She was a She-tiger.

Hating to wake her up, Crush tapped her shoulder. "Miss?"

"Hmmh?"

"Uh...yeah, sorry. I...uh..." This was so hard. How did he tell a woman he'd possibly had sex with that he didn't know her name? Couldn't even remember having sex with her? This was getting worse and worse. When the hell did he become a frat boy?

Suddenly she stretched, her long body briefly writhing on his. Crush ignored how good that felt and said, "Miss?"

She lifted her head and gold-green eyes blinked up at him.

Damn, she was pretty. He didn't remember having sex with her? Really? How drunk had he been last night?

She blinked at him in confusion; then she smiled. "Oh. Hi."

Oh, hi?

Yawning and slapping her hand against his chest, she levered herself up and looked around the room, giving him a monumental peek at her breasts and, wow, those were freakin' nice. "What time is it?" she asked.

"No idea. Early."

She nodded and settled back onto his chest, eyes closing, arms tightening around his chest. "Good. I'm still so tired." Wait. What just happened?

"I have to get up."

"Another hour," she bargained. "Maybe two. Just relax."

Completely confused, Crush said, "Look -- "

Her head snapped up, those eyes locking on him. "Are you going to keep talking? Cause it's irritating. I'm trying to sleep, and I'm extremely hungover."

Crush's eyes narrowed. He was irritating? "Tell me we didn't have sex last night."

"As drunk as you were?" She yawned, already bored with him, it seemed. "I don't think you could have gotten it up with a crane."

"Thanks."

"Wait. Is that what you think? That we fucked?"

"We're in bed together. What was I supposed to think?"

"That I was tired and needed some place to sleep."

"But we're both..." He shrugged a little. "Naked."

"Yeah, I was really drunk, too, so I just took my clothes off."

"Wasn't there somewhere else you could have slept?"

"Most of the people who crashed here last night were either full-humans or canines. Have you ever tried to sleep with a canine? They yip in their sleep. And run. It's annoying. And Mace wouldn't take the couch so I could sleep with his wife so -- "

"You asked a lion male to move out of his bed for you?"

"Why wouldn't I? Because he's the majestic lion male, king of the jungle? Or because he's a rich Llewellyn of the Llewellyn Pride?"

"Because it's the man's house."

"It's his wife's house. MacDermot just allows him to stay here with her and those giant, useless dogs she owns. And I know she'd pick those ridiculous rotties over that lion in a hot second." She sat up. "Well...now I'm awake."

"How annoying for you." Crush struggled to sit up, too, ignoring the screaming in his head.

"What are you so cranky about?"

"You basically just told me you used me like a giant pillow."

"You were comfortable. And didn't yip once. I hate the yipping. Let me tell ya, you don't know hell until you've been trapped in a rainy, miserable jungle during monsoon season with a bunch of canines. Everyone wet and miserable and goddamn yipping."

Crush tried to ignore his migraine and asked, "Why would you be sitting in a miserable jungle with canines?"

"For lots of reasons."

"Name two. No. Just name one. I challenge you."

"You challenge me?" She laughed, her almost muzzle-like nose crinkling a little as she looked him over. "Aren't you cute?"

Finally, Crush had to ask, "Who are you?"

"If I wasn't still hungover, I'd give you my most sultry smile and tell you 'your dream come to life.' But eh. I'm just too tired to bother and, honestly, does one have to really put in that much effort for a bear?"

"Are you always this insulting?"

"Insulting? This is me being nice. I even complimented you."

"Yes. Apparently I'm as comfortable as a pillow."

"Yeah. But one of those full body ones. Or like one of those giant stuffed bears you get when you're a kid. My dad used to get me those and then he'd teach me how to maul 'em."

"I am not -- "

She held up her finger. "Hold that." Then the insane female stretched out across his lap and reached down to the floor, grabbing a phone out of her jeans.

Annoyed and disgustingly turned on, Crush snarled, "Woman, get off me."

"Ssssh," she said, settling her butt onto his lap. "Business call."

Did she just shush him? She did, didn't she?

"Yep?" she said into the phone, clearly uncaring that they were still both naked and there was absolutely nothing separating her ass from his cock? "Now? Cause I gotta get home to the kid."

Kid? The woman had a child but she was hanging out and getting drunk at house parties, and torturing him with her butt on his cock?

Thinking about all the shitty parents Crush had been forced to deal with over the years as a cop, Crush hissed, "You have a child?"

She nodded and while someone kept talking on the other end of her phone, she whispered, "Have to get home. Still breastfeeding." Then, when Crush thought his head might explode, she silently laughed and mouthed, "Just kidding."

Holy hell, who was this woman?

"All right. All right. I'll get Smith on it. You know she loves morning jobs. I know she doesn't work for you, but think of it as outsourcing. We both know she can do the damn job. Besides, she has to realize that not everything can be the close-up kill." Not knowing what she was talking about, Crush was relieved when she winked at him. Good. She was kidding. Because it would be really hard to arrest a naked woman sitting in his lap. "Okay. Good. I'll take care of it."

She disconnected the call and tossed the phone back on her jeans. "I've gotta go."

"Yes. You need to get home to your child."

"Yeah. Her too." She shrugged. "She's pretty self-sufficient. She can almost reach the stove."

Unable to take any more, Crush pushed her off his lap. Not as hard as he'd like -- damn his morals -- but at least he got her off him and he could move away from her.

Grabbing his clothes, Crush moved to the door.

"Don't you want my number?" she asked him. "Maybe the next time we could get drunk and then actually have sex. If you're worried about the kid, I can put a little brandy in her milk bottle and she'll be out like a light."

Crush began to speak, but realized he would only say something completely inappropriate and mean, something he simply couldn't bring himself to do. So instead he stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

Tragically, however, Desiree MacDermott stood there in her hallway, her green eyes growing wide as her gaze moved down the length of his naked body while he lollygagged in the middle of her hallway.

His fellow detective finally looked up into his face. "Hi, uh...Crushek. How's it going?"

"Fine. Thank you for inviting me to your party."

"Anytime."

"Okay." They stood in the hallway another second, then Crush said, "Bye."

"Bye."

And, with as much dignity as he could muster at six in the morning while naked in a co-worker's house, and still sporting a hangover and a semi hard-on -- because even degenerates could be sexy as hell in the morning -- Crush headed to his truck and absolute freedom.

*****

Marcella "Bare Knuckles" Malone -- She-tiger, feline nation protection agent for KZS, pro hockey player for the championship shifter team the Carnivores, and the Malone family's bare knuckles fighting champion -- heard the bedroom door open again but she simply couldn't stop her hysterical, wheezing laughter. No one could! Why? Because that had been the best!

"Cella?"

She heard MacDermot but Cella couldn't answer her. She was too busy laughing and trying to figure out who that guy was? It wasn't every day Cella got to meet guys who looked like biker gang meth dealers but had the moral fortitude of Martin Luther. All that indignant outrage over her untended daughter while sporting long, white polar bear hair that reached past his shoulders, a perpetual scowl, a scar on his neck, and pitch black eyes that probably terrified lots of people. Of course, if all that didn't scare someone, she was pretty sure that what had to be about six feet and nine inches and about three hundred pounds or so of hard muscle probably did the trick. Man, had that body been like a thousand levels of perfect or what?

Yet even though the guy was really scary looking, Cella just found all that intimidating scowling and raging-anger made him so cute. Like teddy bear cute. Plus he was so damn uptight! She didn't know bears could be so uptight. Unless they were startled into a rage, bears were usually the most laidback of all shifters, except lion males. Although Cella felt there was a huge difference between laidback and just plain lazy.

Even worse for that poor bear was how all that uptightness brought out Cella's worst feline qualities. Honestly, the more uptight the bear became, the more she playfully swatted at him. She couldn't help herself. He was just so cute in his moral outrage!

"Cella!" MacDermot demanded, also now laughing. "What the hell did you do to the poor guy? I've never seen him look like that before. He was about to blow a vein in that big bear head of his!"

More than she could take, Cella rolled off the bed, hitting the floor, which miraculously made her hangover go far, far away.

Copyright © Shelly Laurenston 2011

Dragon*Con Recap: Day 1

2011-09-14T16:23:00.000-04:00

So here's the deal about Dragon*Con:: for me it's this huge almagum of ridiculous greatness - every fantastic holiday rolled into one and a place where I can just say f*ck it and be me. Which means talking about it always sounds much less cool than experiencing it, whether I'm talking to you in person or talking to you through my blog. I'm going to give it a go anyway, but I think by the end of it you're all just going to wish I'd gone with the haiku idea.

Here's Dave doing the best Dave ever.

First the initial great things: 1) Dave arrived in Atlanta safe and sound, albeit a day before we had any type of hotel room to put him in 2) the room we did eventually get had 2 beds! Not one bed - 2! (That's cool folks. I know you don't believe me, but when you're expecting a hopefully roomy king for 3 people walking into a room with two beds is pretty fantastic.)

Since Jessica the most wonderfullest driver in the history of history had been driving since 3am we were very happy to get to Atlanta safe and sound, check into our room with little to no hiccup (except for strange valet parking guy) and head over to the Sheraton to pick up our badges. Which took all of FIVE MINUTES. This is a huuuge improvement over last year guys, when I had to take pictures and video from the epic line of death I found myself stuck in.

The magical non-line.

And after all that preliminary stuff? PANELS and COSTUMES! Those two are the bread and butter of any good D*C and let me tell you something that took us almost 2 years to learn - don't wait hours in line. Most of the time you can show up right before a panel starts and get decent seats in the back where you can still see everything from the big screens. I'm not saying never wait in line - I did for the Buffy panel on Sunday and definitely consider it worth it - but taking the time to see more and wait less makes the whole experience better.

This year my first panel had 3 actors from the Guild including the wonderful Wil Wheaton (who unlike a lot of other people I didn't hate on Star Trek: TNG but maybe that's because I stopped watching most of the later episodes with him and stuck to the ones where he was a kid in funny sweaters or kissing Ashley Judd)! I've only recently begun to understand the depths of his nerdy hilarity, but he's rapidly becoming one of my favorites and I'm so glad I got to hear him speak. While Felicia Day wasn't there Wheaton and two of his other cast mates were interesting and funny and make me even more determined to sit down and watch this show.

Wil Wheaton for the win!

I went right from this to the Star Trek: Voyage panel because DUH I'm a nerd and Kate Mulgrew (Captain Janeway) and Robert Duncan McNeill (Lt. Paris) were there and Voyager was and always will be my favorite Trek. Yes I said it - my favorite Trek. Mulgrew and McNeill were great and since Garret Wang (Ensign Kim) was also there as head of the Trek Track and a part of the Voyager family, the whole thing blew my mind. I always love when actors suprise you with just how cool they are. As a viewer you can never really tell if the actors you like are playing a character completely different from themselves or if they're bringing some of their own personality to a part; hearing them speak about what made a role meaningful to them or why something worked (or didn't work) is just incredibly interesting.

At least to me.

But ok that's a LOT of words right there, and ya'll probably only care about some of it, so here's a little of what really matters - PICTURES!!! (yes that needed to be in all caps).

Sadly I had to wear flats with this dress instead of ridiculous heels because of some unexpected foot pain. No bueno!

Zombie Scoobie Doo

(L-R) Robert Duncan McNeill, Kate Mulgrew, Garret Wang

Ghostbusters

Oh and for everyone who asked about a masquerade update. Yes I was uber stoked to go but here an example of when my time was more valuable than the event. The masquerade was very popular and the line was long. Looooonnnnnnggg I tell you, long enough that when they finished getting everyone in it the party was full and they had to turn people away - which I head about later because as soon as I saw the line I was done. But did I quibble or cry? No because it's f*cking D*C and I just wore my dress around everywhere like a Boss.

I love this dress and if I could wear it everyday I would. Or I wish I could at least where it once to work, just for shock value :)

More pics and a day 2 summary post coming soon!

The Dragon Who Loved Me by G.A. Aiken

2011-09-13T10:51:00.001-04:00

I was raised for battle. And as the first daughter of a warrior family, I’ve earned my reputation the hard way. Yet now I fight alongside uncivilized male Northland dragons who think a female is only good for breeding and waiting back home in the cave. But it’s the foolish and foolhardy who would try to stop me, Rhona the Fearless, from doing what I do best—destroying the enemies of my kind.

So the smartest thing wily barbarian Vigholf the Abhorrent can do for me is stay out of my way as we risk all on a deadly mission in enemy territory. I don’t care if he’s fascinated by me, even though he is as attractive as he is resourceful. He’s having far too much fun putting me in difficult situations and testing my sense of duty to the limit. And I’m going to enjoy challenging his insufferable confidence, outwitting his schemes, and making him surrender in the wildest ways…

I'm almost a little sad to see this series grow up! So much happened in this book, a lot of it a continuation from Last Dragon Standing (which I probably should have reread because I had NO idea why there was a war going on o_O) and I think it shows just how much longevity this series has. I was a little worried - though I don't know why - if I would like the books as much once we got away from Fearghus and the rest of his clan. I just loved their antics so much I didn't know if I could love other characters as much. Happily Rhona and Vigholf demonstrated that my devotion to Shelly Laurenston is not unfounded, as these two were just as ridiculous and fun to read about as usual. Though with more violence and bloodshed than I'm really used to reading.

There's 5 year gap between book 4 and The Dragon Who Loved Me, with all the main men and women we've met before spread out with their own legions of fighters, trying to defend dragon and human alike from the Iron dragons and their greedy god. When Annwyl goes off on a seemingly suicidal mission to get help Rhona gets suckered in to bringing her back and of course Vigholf can't let her go off by herself now can he?! Hilarity ensues, and if you haven't already started reading this fantastic series I will again remind you that you are missing out!

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up.

Series - 1) Dragon Actually 2) About a Dragon 3) What a Dragon Should Know 4) Last Dragon Standing 5) The Dragon Who Loved Me

Mini Me: Canyons of Night by Jayne Castle

2011-09-12T12:36:00.000-04:00

The island of Rainshadow is home to the mysterious, privately-owned woods known only as the Preserve. Now, after fifteen years away, both Charlotte Enright and her teen crush, Slade Attridge, have returned. But will their psi talents and Slade’s dust bunny companion be enough to keep them from getting drawn into the darkness at the heart of the Preserve?

Canyons of Night was a good, but sadly not great, addition to the Harmony series. The elements were all there - characters with a past, kookie small-town setting, mysterious paranormal location that may or may not be imploding - it all should have added up to another home run. Unfortunately things felt more formulaic than usual in this installment and while I enjoyed it because I like the way Castle builds a romance between her two main characters, it's not my favorite and for those less devoted is a fine library read.

The Prince With No Heart by Emma Holly

2011-09-11T21:16:00.000-04:00

A very grown up fairytale from USA Today bestselling author, Emma Holly. In the magical kingdom of Madrigar, handsome Prince Augustin has been robbed of his heart by a cruel fairy. Blessed by a kinder member of the fae with an “untiring” sword, he’s learned such gifts present challenges . . . and that missing hearts are no light burden to bear.

Plucky Princess Violet likewise suffers under a spell, fated to burn forever with desires no common lover can satisfy. She seeks a champion to save her people and herself from the clutches of a lovesick werewolf.

The sparks they create are as hot as a blacksmith’s forge. Alas, these wounded lovers must do more than fall in bed. The survival of both their kingdoms depends on them losing their enchanted hearts to each other.

Emma Holly was my primary pick for the roadtrip down to Dragon*Con this year and I'm happy to report it was a good choice on my part! Her books were some of the first that introduced me to the erotica genre and she continues to be one of the authors that I go back to when I need reminding of just how good it can be.

The Prince With No Heart is a quick little story (~100 pages) about a prince who was 'blessed' at birth with unending stamina and a princess suffering from....um....how to put this? She's horny guys - horny all the time with no way to get satisfaction. She calls on the prince to help protect her kingdom and they end up falling in love - which shouldn't surprise anyone because this is a fairytale!

The dialogue is fun, the characters are kind of ridiculous (as they should be), and the story is one that is enjoyable even when you reread it. Since it's an erotic fairytale the sexual antics shouldn't surprise anyone; they're fast and furious and have the kind of the over the top-ness that leaves you fanning yourself. Plus Holly does a great job of introducing us to the prince's 'problem' while still keeping him a sympathetic character, instead of making him out to be a promiscuous jerk.

Recommended!

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up.

Series - None.

Help me on my geeky quest!

2011-09-09T13:10:00.000-04:00

Over on my other blog - Good Red Herring - I'm asking for thoughts on my Totoro plushie search. Help me with my geeky conundrum by going over there and letting me know what you think!

Awkward and Awesome (Dragon*Con Edition!)

2011-09-08T14:28:00.000-04:00

Awkward

-My right foot! It was so awkward the entire weekend because it hurt (kind of a lot actually) and it affected my ability to wear heels. Which messed with my outfits! Hmph.

-anyone starting Q&A mic time with 'this is more of a comment than a question...'

-having a girl during mic time cry and explain how after having such and such different family members pass away your movie about getting revenge and killing people gave her a reason to live.

-Never finding Jen of Epbot! Danggit! I always seemed to be in line when she tweeted hints to her location - like on Sunday when I was waiting for the Buffy panel and was ONE FLOOR UP from where she was.

-Rain

-People asking your friend the entire con: 'is the hammer your penis?'. I was very uncomfortable.

-Waiting for elevators. The 16th floor is a double edge sword because while you're far enough away from the noise to sleep elevators take FOREVER.

-Not knowing who Andrew Lee Potts was while watching a billion fan music videos about him. Oops!

Awesome

-Wil Wheaton

-Would anyone mind if I just put Wil Wheaton again? Cause he's really awesome enough to deserve it.

-LKH in response to a moderator's ridiculously long winded quote that made absolutely no sense but was supposed to start the panel: 'I'm sorry - was there a question there?'

-Kate Mulgrew, Patrick Duncan McNeill, & Garret Wang on the Star Trek: Voyager panel. Hilarious and wonderful to listen to.

-How Kate Mulgrew and Gates McFadden (who in my head I keep calling Dr. Beverly) don't age. Seriously. They showed up at their respective panels looking almost exactly like they did on their shows (but with better hair).

-Rainbow Brite group - times 2! Only at Dragon*Con can you have one set of Rainbow Brite themed people meet up with a second set of Rainbow Brite themed people (with no duplicates) and stop and take pictures!

-NEW DRESS!

-Bob & Carl Sci-Fi Janitors (check out their awesomeness here)

-People asking to take pictures of my outfits/makeup! That never gets old :D

-Eliza Dushku and James Marsters. Oh and Nicholas Brendon too! The Buffy panel was epic in its fantasticness.

-Oh and finally - two videos from the anime/fan music video awards:

DRAGON*CON FOR THE WIN!

Teaser Tuesdays (9/6)

2011-09-06T09:39:00.000-04:00

"So I've been thinking about your Walls of Jericho. Actually not so much about the wall, but about the other part. Where I show you how a man undresses."

--pg 254, Something About You by Julie James

Something About You by Julie James

2011-09-03T10:00:00.002-04:00

Fate has thrown two sworn enemies…
Of all the hotel rooms rented by all the adulterous politicians in Chicago, female Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron Lynde had to choose the one next to 1308, where some hot-and-heavy lovemaking ends in bloodshed. And of all the FBI agents in Illinois, it had to be Special Agent Jack Pallas who gets assigned to this high-profile homicide. The same Jack Pallas who still blames Cameron for a botched crackdown three years ago—and nearly ruining his career…

…into each other’s arms
Work with Cameron Lynde? Are they kidding? Maybe, Jack thinks, this is some kind of welcome-back prank after his stint away from Chicago. But it’s no joke: the pair is going to have to put their rocky past behind them and focus on the case at hand. That is, if they can cut back on the razor-sharp jibes—and smother the flame of their sizzling-hot sexual tension…

This is another book where despite all the good reviews I couldn't get past the back description! As much as I love contemporary romance but I didn't want to read another story with an alphole - I hate them and end up hating the women who fall in love with them. It's a vicious cycle of hate I tell you, and it's not fun whatsoever.

Luckily this book only has the slightest amount of Jack being not so nice, both because they clear up the confusion that caused the problem in the first place and because Jack works on being as professional and polite as possible. Which knocks him up the good ladder, because even when he doesn't want to like Cam he tries to be civil, resulting in a book that's more enjoyable for me to read.

And as I'm sure you've heard others say, this is a great book and I'm very excited to read others by Julie James. She has smart dialogue, funny supporting characters, and a good mix of romance and action. There's build-up before Cam and Jack actually find themselves in bed and it just makes their relationship seem all the more real. There's a murder investigation going on, a misunderstanding to work through - a lot of drama that needs to be cleared before they can comfortably release some hormones, lol, and I loved it. I cannot recommend it enough as a heart-warming romance that left me with a smile on my face.

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up.

Series - None (? - A Lot Like Love could be #2)

Geek of the Week (9/2)

2011-09-02T11:10:00.002-04:00

Time for a ghost post! I've decided to call it that because I'm actually writing this before I leave at D*C - where of course I will probably not be posting (though I'm going to bring my laptop just in case). Maybe I should start calling all my scheduled posts 'ghost posts'; I think we can all agree that that name is much cooler and spooky sounding. And who doesn't want their blog to sound spooky?!

Ok maybe I've been spending too much time reading The Bloggess.

Either way I have a couple geeky tidbits to share with you guys, with hopes for more when I get back!

1) I was going to link, possibly for the second time as I can't remember if I linked to it on Facebook, to the YouTube breakdown of the behind the scenes documentary of Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal. But. The world is not working with me and copyright issues has forced its removal. Sadness in the world of Dana.

2) Fabric glue, insta-tac, whatever the heck you want to call it, is my new best friend. I pretty much made my costume with this stuff and immediately went on to hemming shorts, pants, skirts, dress sleeves...really I just did too much. As usual.

3) To go back to Jim Henson for a minute, while I can't show you behind the scenes to The Dark Crystal I can, thanks to Epbot, link you to some pretty cool pics and info from the Labyrinth. I do what I can with the help of the internets.

4) Oh right - if you missed it, I joined Twitter (@goodredherring). I'm still not completely convinced that it's worth it, but I'm trying to withhold judgement.

5) If you're into hot girl cosplay (and really, no matter your orientation, who isn't?) then you should appreciate my new find: Vampy. She's even more of a geek girl than I am, with the kind of costuming skills I could dream of and fail miserably at attempting. Enjoy!

6) And finally I give to you, especially if you're not able to go this year, the Dragon*Con documentary. Thank you PBS for being once again the source of some really cool stuff!

Watch the full episode. See more Dragon Con.

Geek of the Week Bonus! The outfits of Cher Horowitz in Clueless. In under 60 seconds. Because she's awesome.

Basilisk by Rob Thurman

2011-09-01T11:36:00.000-04:00

Stefan Korsak and his genetically-altered brother have evaded the Institute for three years. When they learn the new location of the secret lab, they plan to break in and save the remaining children there. But one of the little ones doesn’t want to leave. She wants to kill…

If you're not reading Rob Thurman I feel like you're missing out. Ms. Thurman writes some fantastic contemporary urban fantasy/sci-fi and while this series isn't topping my love for Niko and Cal, it's pretty damn close.

Basilisk continues the story of brothers Stefan and Michael (Misha) as they try to figure out if they can save the other children held captive at the Institute. It's one of 'those' institutes by the way, filled with medical horrors and scientific atrocities, though none as bad as creating children for the sole purpose of being psychic killing machines.

This book is written from Michael's point of view and with that comes a lot of insight into a man who does not know how to be 'normal' - to be like everybody else. He was not raised to be a person, he was raised to be a killer, and taught social skills only because they would make it easier for him to take out a target without raising suspicion. Seeing (reading) first hand about him learning to love his brother and act like a one is interesting and moving and I can't wait for the next book to come out!

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up.

Series - 1) Chimera 2) Basilisk

August in Review

2011-08-31T14:41:00.002-04:00

I know you probably won't believe me, but I totally deserve props for this post even existing on RAtChaos. Why? Because by the time you read this I will be at Dragon*Con having a FREAKING AWESOME time!!! And when I'm having an awesome time I find it hard to force myself to stick close to my computer and write monthly wrap-up posts, even when I've managed to actually read more than a few for once, lol.

I hope all of you are prepped for a great Labor Day weekend (yay for 3-day weekends!) and if you're not following me on Twitter yet (@goodredherring) you really should because I plan to spend most of my weekend tweeting cool pics of what I'm seeing at D*C!

What a Dragon Should Know by G.A. Aiken

Kitty's Big Trouble by Carrie Vaughn

Midnight Sins by Lora Leigh

The Assassins' Lover by Emma Holly

Charming the Highlander by Janet Chapman

The Last Dragon by Jane Yolen

Ain't Myth-Behaving by Katie MacAlister

Colters' Wife by Maya Banks

Slow Ride by Lorelei James

Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison

Storm's Heart by Thea Harrison

Scent of Danger by Andrea Kane

A Rake's Vow by Stephanie Laurens

Basilisk by Rob Thurman (review coming soon!)

Something About You by Julie James (reviewing coming soon!)

Books Read/Reviewed:

15/10

Teaser Tuesdays (8/30)

2011-08-30T11:41:00.000-04:00

"At first. Then I sort of loved you. I still do."

--pg 307, Basilisk by Rob Thurman

A Rake's Vow by Stephanie Laurens

2011-08-29T10:38:00.001-04:00

He vowed he'd never marry:
Vane Cynster always knew which way the wind was blowing, and it was headed in a marrying direction. The other Cynster men might not mind stepping up to the altar, but Vane never wanted to be leg-shackled to any woman, no matter how comely. Bellamy Hall seemed like the perfect place to temporarily hide from London's husband hunters. But when he encountered irresistible Patience Debbington, Vane realized he'd met his match and soon he had more than seduction on his mind.

She vowed no man would catch her:
Patience wasn't about to succumb to Vane's sensuous propositions. Yes, his kisses left her dizzy; his caresses made her melt; but he was arrogant, presumptuous...and, despite his protests, bound to be unfaithful, just like every other man. Patience had promised herself that she'd never become vulnerable to a broken heart. But was this one vow that was meant to be broken?

My favorite historical romances by far are those written by Stephanie Laurens. With almost every installment readers are treated to strong, smart heroines and alpha males who are willing and able to win their hearts. When I'm looking for a good natured romance that's just going to make me happy I often find myself reach for a Laurens title, and the Cynster family is my favorite series of hers.

Especially with the first 7 or so books, all the characters are men we've come to love from previous installments. Brothers and cousins, all with their own lands and things that they personally are passionate about. No cookie cutters here, though each one possesses similar traits of honor, morality, and strict adherence to their own moral code.

Patience and Vane are wonderful in particular because each one is so determined to be left be. They don't want to be married but family duty and circumstance contrive to throw them together. The sparks are fantastic and the way they both have to work through their trust issues to admit they love each other results in a great HEA. The mystery element is a bit weak I admit, the perpetrators could have been squared away about 2/3 through the book, but it adds a nice 'something' to the overall story.

Overall Feeling - Thumbs Up.

Series - 1) Devil's Bride 2) A Rake's Vow 3)........15) The Taste of Innocence

Nerds like us

2011-08-25T11:41:00.000-04:00

via

Happy Almost Friday!

Reading Amidst the Chaos

January in Review

Just a Taste by Deirdre Martin

Moonlight in the Morning by Jude Deveraux

Mini Me: Lothaire by Kresley Cole

YouTube is making me so happy today :)

Teaser Tuesdays (1/31)

Instant Attraction by Jill Shalvis

Mini Me: Strong and Sexy by Jill Shalvis

The Bride Wore Black Leather by Simon R Green

Lawe's Justice by Lora Leigh

You're So Vein by Christine Warren

Land of the Blindfolded by Sakura Tsukuba

there really IS nothing like a real book

Teaser Tuesday (1/10)

In Too Deep by Jayne Ann Krentz

New Year, New Reading Amidst the Chaos

December in Review - BYE 2011!

Spirit Bound by Christine Feehan

Fred the Mermaid Series by MaryJanice Davidson

Movie Review - Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Merry Christmas!

Head Over Heels by Jill Shalvis

Mini Me: Nine-tenths of the Law by L.A. Witt

Move Me by Emma Holly

Fate's Edge by Ilona Andrews

Alien Proliferation by Gini Koch

Mini Me: Lesserblood Lies by Ainsley Davidson

Cast in Ruin by Michelle Sagara

November in Review

Pulled Long by Christine d'Abo

Thankful

RIP Anne McCaffrey

Another day, another winner!

The Lure of Song and Magic by Patricia Rice

Mini Me: Bad Moon Rising by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Desert Warrior by Nalini Singh

The Next Always by Nora Roberts

Winner & Another Giveaway!

Tied With a Bow by Lora Leigh, Virginia Kantra, Eileen Wilks and Kimberly Frost

Mini Me: Run For Your Life by Andrea Kane

There's nothing like a GIVEAWAY to celebrate your birthday!!

Mastiff by Tamora Pierce

October in Review

Keeper of the Way by Shirin Dubbin

Series to make you SHIVER!

Animal Attraction by Jill Shalvis

Mini Me: The Bite Before Christmas by Heidi Betts

Lord of the Abyss by Nalini Singh

Tiger, Tiger by Robyn Donald

Wickedly Charming by Kristine Grayson

Dreaming of the Wolf by Terry Spear

Hidden Depths by Emma Holly

Angels of Darkness by Nalini Singh, Ilona Andrews, Meljean Brook, Sharon Shinn

Hungry?

Hidden Talents by Emma Holly

September in Review

Geek of the Week (10/3)

Dragon*Con Day 2

Chaos Tryst by Shirin Dubbin

One Salt Sea by Seanan McGuire

Cosplay Break!

Mini Me: Dark Predator by Christine Feehan

Rush of Pleasure by Rhyannon Byrd

Heart Search by Robin D. Owens

Once and Again by Lauren Dane

Silver Shark by Ilona Andrews

*NEW* Shelly Laurenston Excerpt - Bear Meets Girl

Dragon*Con Recap: Day 1

The Dragon Who Loved Me by G.A. Aiken

Mini Me: Canyons of Night by Jayne Castle

The Prince With No Heart by Emma Holly

Help me on my geeky quest!

Awkward and Awesome (Dragon*Con Edition!)

Teaser Tuesdays (9/6)

Something About You by Julie James

Geek of the Week (9/2)

Basilisk by Rob Thurman

August in Review

Teaser Tuesdays (8/30)

NEW Shelly Laurenston Excerpt - Bear Meets Girl