Happy Hallowe'en!

I'm not doing anything today (I know - lame!) but I did have a fun time Saturday night before Sandy rolled in to ruin it all. I'm safe and I hope your loved ones are too - I'm sending good thoughts!

Ken there is showing off his ASSets. Get it? I know you do.

I was a steam punk/Victorian girl which practically nobody got

Psy? Psy NOT!

Bob Ross & Dr. Horrible for the win!

I did, by the way, call Dr. Horrible by his title the entire party because for the life of me I could not remember his name. Oh and my big accomplishment? Using liquid latex to pull off this makeup:

P.S. - Taking off liquid latex is both easy and painful. My skin was not happy with me :-/. Consider yourself warned!

What are dressing up as for Halloween?

Teaser Tuesdays (10/30)

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! 

"He laid her back on the rose petal-strewn sheets, lifting her legs onto the coverlet, and smiled down at her. She looked unfocused, lost in a dream, her limbs loose, her hair spread out on the pillows like a living thing."

--pg 200, What an Earl Wants by Kasey Michaels (11/20/12)

Tempted by Megan Hart

I had everything a woman could want.

My husband James. The house on the lake. My life. Our perfect life. And then Alex came to visit.

The first time I saw my husband’s best friend, I didn’t like him. Didn’t like how James changed when he was around, didn’t like how his penetrating eyes followed me everywhere.
But that didn’t stop me from wanting him. And surprisingly, James didn’t seem to mind.

It was meant to be fun. Something the three of us shared for those hot summer weeks Alex stayed with us. Nobody was supposed to fall in or out of love.
I didn’t need another man, not even one who oozed sex like honey and knew all the secrets I didn’t know, the secrets my husband hadn’t shared. After all, we had a perfect life. I loved my husband.

But I wasn’t the only one.
~~

When you can't even figure out what label to use on a review it's probably a clue that the review itself isn't going to be any easier. I can't say that Tempted is erotica. It's a novel with parts that are erotic and sexy but that's not what made the story work - and definitely not what has me vaguely uneasy today. Tempted is a hard one to read; the emotions of each character are complicated, messy, and without clear cut solutions, as real emotions often are. I partly define romances by the HEA I'm guaranteed at the end and instead of finishing things off with that uplifting turn, after reaching the end of this one I kind of felt lost. 

It's written incredibly well and thus when Hart writes Anne as confused or disheartened I felt that with her. Bringing Alex into her marriage with James, even if it just turns out to be for a Summer, wasn't an easy decision and things weren't left the same afterward. I didn't get an easy resolution out of anything. Maybe it was worse because my own family is crazy and broken in its own way, but I felt so angry at points when reading this novel; angry at Anne's family for using her to fix the broken pieces and angry at Anne for letting them. 

I don't think I have a grade for this one, because while I didn't end it feeling happy and satisfied I recognize that it's not written to leave me with that feeling. It made me think and while I don't want every 'fun' book I pick up to do that, I don't regret this one.
 
Overall Feeling - ?

Series - 1) Tempted 2) Naked 

Rescuing Christmas by Vicki Lewis Thompson, Catherine Mann, and Kathie DeNosky (ARC Review)

For three couples, this is the season...to give, to heal, to love.

"Holiday Haven" by Vicki Lewis Thompson

All Ben Rhodes wants for Christmas is to be left alone. And yet, in a fit of Christmas-cheer-induced insanity, he agrees to help beautiful shelter director Tansy Dexter find homes for all her rambunctious animals. Little does he know that the one truly in need of a loving home this season ... is him.

"Home for Christmas" by Catherine Mann

Shelby Conrad has had more than her fair share of silent nights. But even though her husband, Tech Sergeant
Alex Conrad, is coming home in time for Christmas, Shelby isn't sure he's in time to save their marriage. Can a road trip to deliver three shelter dogs to their new homes teach the couple that the most precious gift of all is hope?

"A Puppy for Will" by Kathie DeNosky

Will Parker hasn't exactly had all his hopes and dreams met, but work has filled the gaps in his life. Or so he thinks ... until an energetic and large Saint Bernard foster puppy and Will's cute neighbor Macie Fairbanks introduce him to the best thing about Christmas and life — unconditional love.
~~

There are few things as genuinely enjoyable as a Christmas themed romance. And when they're combined with puppies? Impossible to resist and this particular anthology is good from start to finish. 

Each story in this anthology is connected through The Haven, a no-kill shelter that's looking for donations to start some much needed improvements. While we start with the The Haven's director Tansy, each subsequent story continues to feature for at least a little the previous couples which makes for a nice sense of community and attachment to their HEA's. Each couple has insecurities to overcome and issues with omission that serve as roadblocks - luckily it doesn't extend into anything too ridiculous, but as a holiday anthology I wanted the best ok? I'm a worrier, lol. 

If I had to pick a favorite it'd be "Home for Christmas" because even while the military relationship has been  covered  in romances before I liked how both Shelby and Alex had to grow and become more for each other. It wasn't a simple misunderstanding, they'd had years where both of them has tried to be what they thought the other wanted and breaking down those doors to was hard - but the results were a wonderfully satisfying HEA.

All in all this is a very sweet anthology and a good representation of each author - I'm definitely going to picking up some of their backlists!

Overall Feeling - B

Series - None (To be published Nov 1, 2012)

**Title requested from NetGalley**

Blade Song by J.C. Daniels

Kit Colbana—half breed, assassin, thief, jack of all trades—has a new job: track down the missing ward of one of the local alpha shapeshifters. It should be a piece of cake.

So why is she so nervous? It probably has something to do with the insanity that happens when you deal with shifters—especially sexy ones who come bearing promises of easy jobs and easier money.

Or maybe it’s all the other missing kids that Kit discovers while working the case, or the way her gut keeps screaming she’s gotten in over her head. Or maybe it’s because if she fails—she’s dead.

If she can stay just one step ahead, she should be okay. Maybe she’ll even live long to collect her fee…
~~

What a great beginning! Blade Song has all the things I enjoy in a paranormal series - action, a smart, witty heroine, a touch of romance, and characters that keep me invested in what comes next. Right from the start I felt like I needed to know more, because Kit is such an interesting personality. Her origins are filled with abuse and it's left her damaged with a soft spot for other lost souls. When Damon walks into her office and pretty much guilts her into looking for his nephew, you just know things aren't going to go well.

From that point on there's a lot that happens - new characters, species, inter-species relationships (especially when it comes in relation to humans) but it never feels like an info dump. One thing seems to flow smoothly into the next so that when the bad guy is finally revealed I have to admit it was a surprised. There are plenty of moving parts and since it is the first book in a new series it's hard to keep track of hidden motivations.

I guess my only little complaint would be the relationship between Kit and Damon. I'm going to try not to be spoiler-y, but as much as I love acrimonious things rapidly change between them right near the end and I kind of felt cheated. They're such strong personalities that I wish more time had been taken in showing how things had evolved from the initial verbal sparks. Still I'm definitely looking forward to the next book and I think this has all the makings of a great new series!

Overall Feeling - B+

Series - 1) Blade Song 2) Night Blade (Winter 2013)

Teaser Tuesdays (10/23)

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! 

"He's hoping for a shot at the goodies. Once he gets it, we'll be heading back to Submission Town, USA, where there is no compromise."

Gwen's eyes crossed. "My God, you're weird."

"Don't sound so shocked. You already knew this."

--pg 108, Beast Behaving Badly by Shelly Laurenston

Mini Me: Alone Time by Lauren Dane

Visits to Petal, Part 1

It’s date night in Petal, Georgia, and Nathan, Matt and Shane have some long-awaited alone time with their women and they’re not about to let that opportunity go.

Warning: This free story is bonus material for readers of the Chase brothers and Petal, Georgia, series and is not intended to be standalone.
~~

So yeah. I love Lauren Dane. You know that, I know that, it's pretty obvious by this point. And while the Brown Siblings have in some individual cases become my favorite, the Chase brothers are near and dear to my heart. As a short vignette into those lives it Alone Time works really well. There isn't any discussion, only hints really, in regards to each couple's back stories so beyond the author's warning, let me say as well: THIS DOESN'T WORK ALONE. But hey, for someone who owns and rereads often the original Chase quartet, it's great and it's never gonna get old, seeing the how the lives of the people in Petal evolve. Yay!