A Milestone Moment :)

Know what yesterday was? Yesterday marked my 500th post! Woohoo! Happy dance!! (there's some booty shaking there that you can't see - you should probably be grateful.)

And while I know it's a bit self congratulatory, I'm going to take a moment here and enjoy that. Reading Amidst the Chaos - or anything like it really - has been a idea of mine since highschool. Begun in the back rows of Women's Chorus when I realized my friends actually liked when I recommended books to them. And that I liked even more when they recommended things back to me. It was a whole recommendy-fest if you will.

But that recommendy-fest was destined to be something more than a table on an Angelfire or Geocities site, more than an Excel spreadsheet I could email out to friends. Apparently I was already on the road to blogdom, which I am more than happy to find myself amidst now. Even on the bad days where I don't feel like reading anything new or my brain feels like mush and completely lacking in anything funny, I'm thankful. I've read some amazing books, connected with people who love what I love in ways strikingly similar to my own, and continue to have the chance to put my often insane ideas out there. Ideas that people actually read.

So THANK YOU to everyone who's stuck with me and continues to read and recommend RAtChaos. When my low moments hit and I wonder why the heck I still do something that so many other people seem to do better, you keep me going. I hope I won't let you down.

Ladybugs and Fireflies by Cheryl Alldredge

A Southern Romance

Feisty fraud investigator, Callie Roberts, isn’t looking for a knight in shining armor to rescue her. She’s perfectly capable of taking care of herself. She’s had to be. Now, her business is thriving and her goal of owning her own home is finally in reach…if she can land her dream client.

The last thing she needs is to be distracted by a man, especially when he’s the powerful New York attorney who’s in town to represent the man her dream client has hired her to investigate.

Taylor Powers’ big city law career has brought him success, but a trip back to his home state of Florida has him wondering if it might be time to think of coming home for good. The sweet, sexy woman he’s drawn to only confuses matters. Callie’s career has made her a pro at keeping secrets and that plays havoc with his zero tolerance for deceptive women. Yet she attracts trouble like a magnet, kicking his protective instincts into overdrive.

Can Taylor unravel the mystery that is Callie? And with a past full of heartache, will Callie ever allow herself to believe happily ever after really can come true?

~~

This is a cute entertaining little read :)

I've said before how much I enjoy contemporary romance, especially ones set in small town, but they're not easy to write (for me anyway). Getting the dynamics just right and bringing in enough supporting characters to place the hero and heroine in the community doesn't just happen. For the most part Alldredge is right on track on with this title.

Callie and Taylor both have their hot buttons - places where emotional scars have made them a bit tougher around the edges than usual. What that creates though is some great sparks because both are willing to talk back and stand up for what they believe in. I don't want surface wall flowers, but a man and woman who make mistakes and are willing to grow and change when they've found love. Yes it's corny, yes it's the prelude to the HEA, but that's what I like about contemporary romances. A wonderful HEA. 

There are a couple places where things could be improved - I feel like we got a whirlwind look at the cast of characters around Callie and Taylor, but not really enough information to make me feel connected to the community. I want to know more about Dara and Johnnie, about the homeless people that Callie talks to - these men and women are what make me believe in that 'Southern down home town' and I feel like we didn't get enough of that her. A similar sense of 'surfacey'-ness could be felt at some points of Callie and Taylor's relationship. It could have been necessitated by the length, but sometimes things just jumped really fast between the two of them and it was hard for me to follow as well understand how their feelings could have blossomed in such a sort time. It wasn't terrible or anything, I just could have wished for a few more pages here and there to get inside their heads a bit more.

All in all this is a good ebook and I would recommend it to anyone who likes their romances short and sweet.

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up

Series - None (? - I think)

**Ebook sent by author for review consideration**

Hunt the Moon by Karen Chance

Cassandra Palmer recently defeated a god, which you'd think would buy a girl a little time off. But it doesn't work that way when your new job description is Pythia — the world's chief clairvoyant. Cassie is busier than ever, trying to learn about her power, preparing for her upcoming coronation, and figuring out her relationship with the enigmatic sexy master vampire, Mircea.

But someone doesn't want Cassie to become Pythia, and is willing to go to any lengths to make sure the coronation ceremony never happens—including attacking her mother before Cassie is even born.

~~

First let me get my happy dancing out of the way because this book was so good! It's been a while since Curse the Dawn came out and rereading that and getting through Hunt the Moon just reminded me why I like Karen Chance so much. Her books are a lot of fun and I think a wonderful example of the paranormal romance genre.

Everyone, Cassie, Mircea, and Pritkin, are still wrapped up in the politics of establishing the Pythia outside of Apollo's influence and where Cassie is going to fit in relation to the Senate (sorry book references that only sort of make sense to those who haven't read these). It's not going to be easy because Cassie, as a strong kick-ass character, is not going to be just a figure head. She'll either do it and succeed or mess up on her own merits or not do it all - no puppet Pythia-ing here. Combining that with Cassie's determination to 'date' Mircea and keep things platonic with Pritkin in the midst of all this, and it's a complicated novel that you've got here.

I love Chance for the strength of her characters and the intricacies of the world she's built. I know she's only 5 books in but I feel like she's really taking the time to create a series that makes sense and doesn't just have bad guys and other randomness thrown in to extend it. I'm not sure who I'm voting for relationship wise, she's definitely got me on the fence. Being deliberately vague, what I liked and was rooting for in the beginning isn't quite how things might end up, and so for a lot of this book I found myself cringing at what was happening while being completely unable to look away. Highly recommended :)

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up.

Series - 1) Touch the Dark 2) Claimed by Shadow 3) Embrace the Night 4) Curse the Dawn 5) Hunt the Moon

Why oh why wild turkey?

You read me right there - wild turkey. I went tubing in West Virginia yesterday and it was incredible and so much fun! So much fun in fact that today I look like this:

Ok maybe without the 'I'm so sore how am I going to go on?' face, but you get the general idea. And the day included a little bit of this:

And maybe more than a little bit of this:

So with that said I hope you all understand if I don't have a spiffy new book review ready for today. Look for some later this week though, because I do have some great sounding titles on my TBR shelf.  Happy Monday!

Side Jobs by Jim Butcher

Meet Harry Dresden, Chicago’s first (and only) Wizard P.I. Turns out the “everyday” world is full of strange and magical things – and most of them don’t play well with humans. That’s where Harry comes in.

Harry Dresden is the best at what he does, despite tending to stumble from crisis to drama in his dealings with the supernatural world. Somehow he unfailingly manages to get on the wrong side of werewolf, fae and vampire alike. But that’s where his own rather special powers come into play.

Magic – it can get a guy killed.

~~

I have to admit that I was a complete wuss about this book. I bought it for Murphy's story at the end, one that takes place immediately after Changes. I rushed out to buy the book but when I got it home I just couldn't read it! I was too freaked out. Freaked about the ending of the last book, about Harry, about Murphy - about what Jim Butcher could do next that would potentially rip my heart out (because yes, he can totally do that). 

Finally though I had to man up. In the midst of a bunch of other books I sat down and read through Side Jobs and I'm very happy I did because Jim Butcher didn't disappoint. Each of these short stories are great glimpses into what makes the Dresden Files so wonderful and fun to read. It shows off Harry's particular blend of morality and practicality along with the supernatural in the 'normal' that characterizes the series. Plus Murphy's story? Pretty fan-f*cking-tastic if I do say so myself. She's been a favorite character of mine from the beginning and with the chance to finally read the thoughts in her head it's hard not to love her more. She and the rest of the things that go bump in the night in Chicago have a rough road ahead, no doubt about it, but I can't wait to get my hands on Ghost Stories. 

Oh and you've be warned - I don't think this collection will be as enjoyable if you haven't read the whole series. Yes Harry is a great character and he shines in whatever story you put him in, but a lot of these take place between particular books and thus have a lot of history. Full enjoyment will only truly come if you know all the emotional ups and downs that come before and after them.

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up.

Series - ...11) Turn Coat 12) Changes 12b) Side Jobs (short stories) 13) Ghost Story (July 26, 2011)

Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson: Moon Called Volume 1

Mercy Thompson inhabits two worlds without truly belonging to either. To the human inhabitants of the Tri-Cities she's an oddity, a female mechanic operating her own garage. To the town's darker residents, werewolves, vampires, and fae, she's a walker, a last-of-her-kind magical being with the power to become a coyote. Mercy warily straddles the fine line dividing our everyday world from that darker dimension... 'till a boy, mauled by vicious werewolves and forever changed by the attack and on the run from those who committed the crime, appears at her door. Now her two worlds are about to collide!

Outnumbered and out-muscled, can Mercy possibly save the boy... or even herself?

~~

I don't think I'm meant for to read comic versions of books I've already loved. I'm the kind of reader that takes the time to mold the author's words into a vision in my head, and with that I have my own thoughts about what the character should look like. There's good and bad to that, but this is a perfect example of the bad because the art here just didn't live up to my own personal movie.

The characters look stilted and childish, with not enough of the depth that made them so compelling when in written form. The rapid movements of Mercy as a coyote or the werewolves translated into them looking like they were flying - actually flying - on the page, which was humorous and not exciting at all. Since the words were Briggs' I don't have a lot of complaints and the placement of the thought and speech bubbles weren't bad to tell the story to new readers. I just couldn't get over the artwork and after about 60 pages I realized that this one had no where to go but down.

If you're a new comer to the Mercy series, just buy the books. They're worth it in the long run and the soul of what makes the story and writing so great shines through, without any bad drawing to distract you. (Plus Adam is much hotter than this comic makes out. MUCH hotter.)

Overall Feeling - DNF. Thumbs down.

Series - Mercy Thompson Moon Called: Volume 1, Volume 2, & Volume 3

**I requested this title for review from NetGalley**

Hexed by Ilona Andrews, Yasmine Galenorn, Allyson James & Jeanne C. Stein

Four of the bestselling names in romance and fantasy come together in this collection of thrilling novellas featuring powerful women who know how to handle a hex or two...

New York Times bestselling author Ilona Andrews spins "Magic Dreams." Shapeshifting tigress Dali Harimau finds herself in deep waters when she must challenge a dark being to a battle of wits or risk losing the man for whom she secretly longs.

In "Ice Shards," New York Times bestselling author Yasmine Galenorn returns to the Otherworld as Iris Kuusi, a Finnish house sprite, journeys to the frozen Northlands to confront the crazed shadow of her former lover and break the curse that is keeping her from marrying the man she loves.

National bestselling author Allyson James takes you to Magellan, Arizona, where Stormwalker Janet Begay and her friends are trapped by a powerful curse. It will take every bit of magic simmering beneath her skin for the Stormwalker to survive being "Double Hexed."

From national bestselling author Jeanne C. Stein comes "Blood Debt," in which bounty-hunter-turned-vampire Anna Strong is visited by three witches who ask her to right an old magical wrong. Anna will have to live up to her last name to make it through alive.

~~

I can't say that all anthologies leave me feeling satified but this one defintiely doesn't disappoint. Even though I'm not reading the full novels by Galenorn anymore I enjoyed her entry. It gave me insight into the background of a character I already like and by itself introduces new readers to at least a bit of the back story of the whole series. Plus it doesn't have any creepy rape-ish undertones anywhere so that's always an A+ thing in my book :)

I have to say something similar about James's Walker addition. I liked Janet from the series already, but here we get a quick action filled look at the world she lives in. New readers might be taken aback by the sex under pressure, lol, that James includes here but in the overall realm of the series it makes sense, thus it worked for me. Also the inclusion of supporting characters that made sense and displayed clear personalities of their own was a lot of fun.

I'm not going to talk about the Andrews story again (you can read about here) but I do want to say that as a new reader of Stein's work she almost has me ready to read more. I like her character, I liked the plot of the vignette she included here, but I'm not sold on whether how she writes would annoy me in the long term. Which is aggravating to say the least. There was just something about how she uses first person that, especially when compared to Andrews, irked me. I kind of felt that I was getting a jumbled up look at how the protagonist was feeling while also including some third person observations that interrupted the general flow. I guess I'd have to give this story an 'eh' review, but keep in mind it's more because I'm not really jiving with how Stein writes, even though on the whole I liked it.

Overall Feeling - Thumbs up.

Series - Various.