Beware of the man of one book

Best Day Ever

2011-03-04T01:55:00.000-05:00

JULY 12, 2011

If this date changes. I will cry.

Between this and the HBO series....it's too much. *sniff*

I want it! Nook Color!

2010-10-28T17:37:00.000-04:00

I'm in love!!

Now I am plotting ways to get this new NookColor. I have the regular Nook, which I am more than happy with....but I do love new and fancy gadgets...and you can link to Facebook and twitter to lend and borrow books! Maybe I'll sell my old Nook. Hmm...who do I know needs a Nook?

So Pretty! Like an Ipad, only made mainly for reading, and a lot less money. I like the money part.

The childrens's pictures books will be epic!

It will have all the stuff my current Nook has, but extra. Downside. LCD screen and no 3G yet....hmm.. Now to save up the $249

Lazy Two Months for reading and blogging

2010-10-28T17:17:00.002-04:00

Ah, have not updated in like a month. But then I have not read much, but I have read...so that's something. New job keeps me busy, busy, busy. I am going to catch up with this and post...even if they are small....reviews of the sad number of 3 books I read in September and October. LOL

Hunger Games
By: Susan Collin

Write up:

Could you survive on your own, in the wild, with every one out to make sure you don't live to see the morning?

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

Took me forever to finally get around to reading this, but now that I have I wonder what took me so long. It was great. The world in this book is brutal and unapologetic. The characters are very relatable...from the start I loved Katniss and was rooting for her. Let's not even mention Peeta...who I am completely in love with. He is my kind of guy, and I'm not of mad at Katniss for being blind and foolish right now. Ugh. But the action is great, there is plenty of mystery...and a dash of romance...all in the middle of some gruesome activities. And excellent ride. Can't wait to read the next.

The Fire Lord's Lover
By: Kathryne Kennedy

Write up:

Kathryne Kennedy's historical fantasy romances have garnered awards and a growing readership. This exciting new series, set against the lavish backdrops of Georgian and Victorian England so beloved by romance readers, is deliciously dark and exciting.

Fighting for control of a kingdom that is split into seven domains, Elven warlords use their human slaves to breed an endless supply of soldiers for their armies. Dominic Raikes, the half-blood son of the Elven Lord himself is one such warrior. Betrothed to Lady Cassandra, who has been raised in a convent to keep her pure, he little suspects that she's been secretly trained as an assassin to murder his father…and him. Dominic and Cassandra soon discover that each one is not what they seem, but the price of trust may be their very lives, and the destruction of the magical realm each is desperately trying to save…

This was an okay read. I liked the story itself and the world created within. It had a lot of potential. The characters were interesting as well...BUT....somehow I felt like it did not all come together. I felt like the romance was a bit rushed and so I did not really "feel" it. The two characters talked about their newly discovered love for each other, but...it came down to the classic "show don't tell." I felt like there was a lot of telling, but not a lot of showing. Only way to explain. So while I did not hate it...I did not love it. And with a few tweaks...I could have.

The Gods of Amyrantha (Tide Lords Series #2)
By: Jennifer Fallon

Write up:

'The Tide Lords are returning and that means every man, woman and child are in danger'

Arkady is exiled to the repressive Torlenian capital, where she makes some unexpexted friends and some powerful enemies, all of whom seem bent on using her to wreak vengeance on each other.

Things are not going smoothly for Declan Hawkes, eihter, and not just because the Empress of the Five Realms has turned up in Caelum with her family. Jaxyn Aranville is determioned to quash any opposition to his plans for the Glaeban throne and Arkady's husband, the Duke of Lebec, is in his way.

And inthe stark deserts of Torlenia, a meeting between two powerful Tide Lords couls put to rest eight thousand years of enmity...or not...

This is the second book in the Tide Lords series, and it has jacked up the danger, adventure and mystery 3x. By the end of the book, every character finds himself either in a situation where they might never get out and puts them in extreme danger, or gets some information that changes their entire perception of themselves and their place in their world. A lot of questions from the last book are answered, but a ton more are revealed in the last couple chapters...some that were hinted at and the reader might have suspected, and some that caught you by surprise, but makes sense. All that I love about good fantasy is in this series: great world building that makes sense, great characters that are not cardboard, but have all kind of sides...that even when doing terrible things, the reader understands....and of course the magic and escape. This series so far is shaping up to be one of my favorites. On to the next book!

Spellwright

2010-08-24T12:59:00.000-04:00

This has been a slow reading month. I am just happy to be finished with this book..thanks god. It helped that it was a good one.

Spellwright

By Blake Charlton

Write up:

The fresh, original first novel of a magical fantasy trilogy, about a dyslexic wizard who cannot spell his spells, yet is destined to contend with an ancient evil that threatens to destroy not only all the magic in the world, but all the people as well. Apprentice wizard Nicodemus Weal was once thought to be the prophesied Halcyon, but his inability to control spells sends him to the bottom of the pecking order. When murders and strange activities coincide with the Convocation at Starhaven, visiting wizards and druids begin to wonder whether Nicodemus might in fact be the anti-Halcyon.

This is going to be a quick review, as I'm working like someone has a gun to my head these days.

The best past of this book is the interesting magic system that the writer created. I love fantasy because it is a real escape from the real world...magic, adventure, danger, and all that jazz....so I love it when I run into a book that has such a richly created fantasy world...and doesn't rely on the same old magical tricks. It was very interesting and a good use of words and their power. The magic literally is words. All spells are created and written out through words and the ability to read and be fully literate makes a big difference on how successful a wizard you really are. Spells are created by writing the words and actions you want to convey onto the object or onto your skin. You have to not only be literate to do it successfully...but you have to know how to spell.

Nico is considered this world "mentally retarded." He is literate, but whenever he attempts spells...he misspells them and they go badly. When reading...he sees the words differently, so the description of him being dyslexic is accurate. This puts him at a disadvantage and he is kind of put in what we would call, the special Ed class, with all the other special folks. A Wizard Shannon takes an interest in him from the start and tries to teach him as best he can given his disabilities, but Nico is never satisfied and always filled with shame about his condition. When he was thought to be the rumored savior before his disability was discovered he had a purpose, now he was an outcast.

But he soon finds himself in the middle of a conspiracy and with very powerful forces chasing him. He learns that perhaps the prophesy was not fully the truth and that his disability might not be something that he was naturally born with. He soon finds that wishing to be important and special isn't all that it is cracked up to be once you are all those things. The second half of the book had a lot of good action and suspense, and set up the reader nicely for the next installment. Maybe one negative thing is that I thought a better job could have been done with developing some of the secondary characters...sometimes Nico seemed as if he was floating in a vacuum. But overall, it was a fun read. I look forward to the next book.

Overall grade: A-

A month to put bags under your eyes

2010-07-26T20:54:00.001-04:00

The month of July has turned out to be a busy one, and one that put dark circles under my eyes. Funny considering I was on vacation most to it. I went to Disney world for the first time...which should have been relaxing...except for the going with my mom, 3 brothers and their various partners and young people under the age of 10. When I came back home...I needed rest. Then there was work. But on the good side, I was able to read 3 books.

First up:

Halfway to the Grave

By: Jeaniene Frost

Write up:

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

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

This series was recommended to me because I started a paranormal romance kick last month, and wanted to get a few series to read that people thought was good. I was told that this series was not too fluffy, and like many books in this category...the romance aspect was a bit off to the side to the rest of the story, and for the most part this was the truth. This series like the JR Ward series was very adult in content, and not sexually as to be expected for this genre. The world was gritty and real, people got killed horribly, there was crime and violence and noone was perfect in anyway...well except Boone. When we meet Cat, she is transferring the body of a Vampire she had killed, and she is good at killing vampires. She feels no remorse, and views it as not only her duty, but as payback for her mom. She is rough and hard like stone. Right away I saw this would not be a typical story or heroine. She has a serious chip on her shoulder and trusts no one. She is not the romantic type to swoon to be think romantic thought...she has been too damaged. Boone is a centuries old vampire, so he is cynical, and brass, and doesn't care for games. He treats Cat roughly from the start and is plainly using her for his own ends. They are both together for their own purposes and don't care much about the other. Or so they start. But of course a romance starts...but it is pretty realistic when you consider the two people and their history and personality. For the most part I liked the romance, though I felt it could have been explored more. When Boone made his confession...it still felt a bit from left field, and up till the end...I still was not sure what Cat felt for him. He put up with a lot of crap from her...which to me...considering what he was made hi m a bit too perfect. A little unrealistic. The main plot is handled well, and is not for the faint of heart, and it ties in well to the ending...which of course is a bit of a cliffhanger. I found myself a bit frustrated by Cat's decision at the end. But I suppose they had to drag it on for the next book. All in all I enjoyed the book and would read the next in the series.

Grade: B

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Next up:

The River King's Road: A Novel of Ithelas

By: Liane Merciel

Write up:

The first book in a new epic fantasy series about a knight who must save his kingdom's infant heir from assassination.

Brief and to the point.

The main story of the book is this: Two lands, separated by a river, have been at war for generations. The soldiers of Oakharn and Langmyr periodically have crossed the river and performed atrocities; the never-ending hate between the countries the only thing they know in life. In a period of relative quiet and peace, something terrible happens....the heir of Oakharn and his entire family and the entire village where he was staying have been destroyed. A magical weapon called bloodmist has been used to decimate the entire village, and that means a group of magic wielders called a Thorn and her magic are involved. The only survivors are Brys Tarnell, who did not go to the doomed chapel with the rest of the guard. And a girl, Odosse, was in the forest with her baby. Brys e discover the king's son with his nursemaid, who dies while he watches, and he, being a mercenary and out for money, decides to take the child with him and return him for money. He meets Odesse coming back from the forest and takes her to be nursemaid to the child. They are left to try to save the heir's life and to get him back to his land.

The main story of the book is handled very well. Brys and Odesse go on their journey to return the heir and meet all kinds of danger and horrors on the way, since the person responsible for the killing has sent the Thorn after them to kill the child. The magic is this world is explained very well and used in a believable way...which I always pay attention too. Sometimes the magic is a bit too...magical in fantasy books and ruins the entire thing because it becomes a crutch to fill plot holes. But this was all handled well. I also liked that I could relate too many of the characters so well....even the despicable ones. Their motivations were understandable, and if when I should have hated them...I found myself rooting for the bad guy...with limits of course. Some bad guys were a bit too crazy. My main complaint was that I felt that Brys was not fully explored. I got him to an extent, but even by the end of the book...I still did not know how his character changed and what he got from his journey. Usually a hero’s journey leads to a changed character at the end...even if he is kind of an anti-hero to an extent. But with Brys...although he is meant to be somewhat detached...I found him too detached and it did not help me make any kind of emotional connection to his characters. This was the case with another character a well. The characterization was a bit schizophrenic. They were just there. Also the ending felt a bit too rushed and open-ended, and vaguely unsatisfying as I was expecting more...of something...just more. I will assume there will be more books coming, but I am not sure if I will continue the series.

Overall Grade: B-

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The last:

The Summer of You

By: Kate Noble

Write up:

Lady Jane Cummings is certain that her summer is ruined when she is forced to reside at isolated Merrymere Lake with her reckless brother and ailing father. Her fast-paced London society is replaced with a small town grapevine. But one bit of gossip catches Jane's attention- rumors that the lake's brooding new resident is also an elusive highwayman. Jane must face the much discussed mysterioso after he saves her brother from a pub brawl. She immediately recognizes him from London: Byrne Worth, war hero and apparent hermit-whom she finds strangely charming. The two build a fast friendship, and soon nothing can keep this Lady away from Merrymere's most wanted. Convinced of his innocence, Jane is determined to clear Byrne's name-and maybe have a little fun this summer after all.

This book continues the story of Lady Jane Cummings who was introduced in Kate Noble's last rook Revealed. In that book she is an intriguing character: sworn rival and begrudging friend of Phillipa Bennning. She was a bit of a mystery and someone you had to hate because she got on your heroines nerves and sometimes bested her. This is her book and it strives to explain her and give her a happy ending. The things I liked about this story were mainly the break from the social norms of the time the book was based in. Jane, being a lady of high standing, should be beyond reproach. She should never be alone with a man, be clean and virginal, and should listen and follow her betters...mainly the men in her family who rule over all according to the laws of the time. Jane, does neither. Her father is ill and is in no shape to rein her in, and her brother is useless and rather weak. He rather run away, than face any serious issue. This leaves Jane to do what she wants, according to what she wants. So when she meets Byrne again, she breaks all the rules. She meets with him alone...at his cottage! She goes swimming with him...naked! She starts a romantic relationship with him...and worst of all.....she has sex before marriage....in fact with no intention of marriage. But the little world that she has created for herself and Byrne starts to unravel when a highway man starts robbing the townsfolk...and her brother becomes suspicious of her activities.

Overall I enjoyed the romance in this tale and it was a good read. But I find that I enjoyed the previous book better, and Jane in the previous book better. Here she loses that snobbery and mystery and spark that made her so interesting when she was introduced. She was a bit of a bitch really. Here I find her a bit too soft...even under her circumstances. I also found the subplot of the highwayman did not tie in as well and it could have and it felt a bit too rushed in the end...and a bit over the top. But put together is was good candy. Light and fun.

Grade: B+

Daughter Of The Forest

2010-06-25T11:44:00.000-04:00

Daughter of The Forest(Sevenwaters Series #1)
By: Juliet Marillier

Write up:

A beautiful retelling of the Celtic "Swans" myth, Daughter of the Forest is a mixture of history and fantasy, myth and magic, legend and love... To reclaim the lives of her brothers, Sorcha leaves the only safe place she has ever known and embarks on a journey filled with pain, loss and terror. When she is kidnapped by enemy forces and taken to a foreign land, it seems that there will be no way for Sorcha to break the spell that condemns all that she loves. But magic knows no boundaries, and sorcha will have to choose between the live she has always known and a love that comes only once.

Oh my god. This book.

There are some books you read that are pretty good book. You love the characters, the world, the story, and you read it for its pure cotton candy goodness. Light and fun and tasty, but when you finish it really does not linger with you very long. Then there are some books you read that grab you right away and won't let go. ...even if you want it to. It pulls you into that world and the characters so much that you feel as if you are the one suffering the character's fate, or right there with them. You feel all the emotions the main character goes through good and bad. And when you finish the book and put it down....it still has you in its grip because it left such an impression on you that it takes a while for you brain to let go. This book is one of those books.

Sorcha goes through so much pain and trauma and sadness to save her brothers. While reading the book I felt such dread and sadness for her the entire time. Some parts of the book were so hard to read, I felt like my heart was going to break, I was so upset for her. When people mistreated her...I felt so angry and helpless. Much like she felt: trapped and in a corner without a voice. When she gave up someone she obviously loved so much...I wanted to scream and slap them both around till they regained their senses. It dredges up so many emotions. At some point I thought: I'm just going to stop reading this book. But you can't. I swear I came out traumatized. For some...parts of this book might be too much. It packs a real emotional punch and makes no bones about showing casual cruelty and pain. Not everyone will like that or can deal; one part especially can be very hard to read for some. I remember when my friend died, in a very traumatic and tragic fashion, for months I read nothing but fluffy romance novels and watched nothing but romantic-comedies and comedies....because anything that involved any kind of trauma or death of any kind threw me into hysterical tears. I avoided certain things like the plague. If the book looked like it was going to be sad...it was pitched to the side. So...this book would have been pitched back then. But I'm glad I am past that because I would have missed a great book despite all of its sadness. It was written so well, the characters are so real and you become so invested in their happiness. You can't ask more from a writer than to have them fully engross you in the world they created and leave you wanting more.

Final grade: A

Heroes Series #3

2010-06-07T10:28:00.000-04:00

Heroes Adrift

By: Moire J. Moore

Write up:

The Empress wants to locate the descendants of her exiled sister. No magically-bonded Pair is more ill-suited for the job than long-suffering Shield Lee Mallorough and her all-too-charming Source Shintaro Karish. Yet it's a mission they can't refuse.

I suppose this cover is a bit of an improvement from the first two, but still.....

I find that I don't have much to say about this book. Mainly that a whole lot of words are not coming to me at the moment, since I'm hot, miserable, and frustrated right now (my AC is broken and has been for days! And the AC repair company is driving me nuts with the runaround. It's been like 90 this week. I just want to just sit still for hours and drink lemonade): I enjoyed the book....that's about it. But I will attempt to put it in some order.

Like:

I loved the progress being made between Lee and Shintaro. FINALLY, Lee gave into the attraction she has for Shintaro, which was totally obvious from the start. I understand Lee's hesitance with Shintaro. Here is this guy who has no problems getting all the ladies, and sometimes men, that he wants. He is good looking, charming and everything you would want in a partner. But Lee is, in her mind, plain and ordinary. She thinks next to Shintaro he is the flower and she is the weed fouling his beauty and ruining the view for others. She knows Shintaro has never stayed with anyone long, or at least she thinks she knows this. So she is convinced that a relationship with him would never amount of anything and if she gets too involved it would just lead to heartbreak, so it is best not to even think about it. And even when she gives in, this is still in her mind. So she tells herself not to read more into it: this is just for fun while it last. Soon Shintaro will get bored and move on to the next thing. She is convinced.

I am not so convinced. Lee seems to be suffering from a case of permanent blindness to anything around her. Clueless. There are plenty of hints, to me, anyway, that shows that Shintaro is perfectly serious about his feelings towards Lee. It is obvious to me that he is crazy about her and has been for ages, and he is going to stick to her like glue now that they have taken this to the next level. Taro puts on a good act; one would think Lee would recognize it by now. He is a sensitive guy, and it seems to me that Lee is worrying about her heart but doesn't realize that maybe the one whose heart that will be broken won't be hers. Tsk. She is so dense. It's one of her flaws. I think the author does a great job building up these characters and slowly revealing them piece by piece to the reader and the other characters: the good and bad. I feel like I know these two...probably more than they know themselves. That is some good character writing really.

Dislike:

I thought that while the character development was handled excellently, that the main plot/storyline kind of suffered a bit: mainly that it was not as strong as the first two books. I get that the main point focus of the books are Lee and Taro and their dynamic, but the little side adventures that they go through each book also help a lot in keeping things interesting and moving. I thought that it moved a bit slow, and sometimes dragged. And at the end I kind of wondered what the point was of the entire adventure....but then I guess so did Lee and Taro. They were kind of sent on a wild goose chase and the only thing they got out of it was some development in their relationship...and a bratty kid. So...I supposed all in all...it worked the same for the reader.

But overall, a good installment and I am pleased with how things are moving...except for the whole wanting to smack sense into Lee thing.

Overall grade: B

Back to some good romance

2010-05-24T01:35:00.000-04:00

Revealed

By: Kate Noble

Write up:

When England's most infamous spy uncovers a plot directed at the ton, Phillippa Benning offers him entrée into London society. And soon they are embroiled in danger-and mutual desire.

I really enjoyed this romance because while it contained some of the usual romance novel cliché: Boy meets girl; girl meets boy; girl and boy aren't too fond of each other but interact for their own mutual benefit; boy and girl fall reluctantly in love. I have read many stories like this. I have enjoyed many stories like this. Sometimes things become cliché and used over and over again...because they just always work. It works here too, but what I liked more about it was not what was familiar, but what was different. The story not only told of a romance between the two main characters, but it also had intertwined with it a big mystery and a good old fashioned detective story...and both stories are fully intertwined. Without the secondary story, there would be no romance, and the romance adds to the suspense and danger of the second story. Usually when a book tries to do too much in one...it feels disjointed...but this worked.

Phillipa Benning is the queen bee of the Ton. Whatever she scorns is scorned by all and whatever she loves, everyone rushes to snap up. She spends her days shopping, going to parties, gossiping, being catty, and flirting with all manner of men. She is the stereotypical spoiled, rich girl who has everything and looks down her nose on everyone else. When she meets Marcus, she barely even thinks he is worth stepping on or acknowledging in anyway. She is preoccupied in her competition with fellow Ton queen Lady Jane Cummings in winning the attentions of Philip Broughton, who is everything the Ton views as worthy: handsome, rich, and just the right sort of person. Marcus Worth and his family are not the right sort. And he remains beneath her notice until one fateful night while playing her game of flirtation with Broughton she overhears Marcus and another discussing a matter of national security. She thinks, from this conversation, she has found Britain’s greatest war hero and spy, The Blue Raven, in plain and ordinary Marcus Worth...and hatches a plot to help him gain access to the Ton and all of its parties in order for him to solve his current case...but not out of any patriotism or anything...no...in exchange she wants to reveal his secret identify at her yearly ball. It will be a smash and people will be talking about it for years making sure she reigns as queen bee of the Ton for a long time. Marcus reluctantly agrees to the scheme if only for the sake of his case and thus begins out adventure.

We spend the next book both unveiling with Marcus the mystery of the French spy Laurent and what his plans are for the Ton and the country...and watching Marcus slowing turn Phillipia into a decent human being. Usually the story is: good woman tames and turned notorious badboy and rake into decent man with her love. In this case it is the opposite. Phillipia doesn't care about civic duty and orphans or any such things...just her status and her parties. But as time passes she finds herself doing things she normally would never have thought of before. And before she saw Marcus as plain and boring but she starts to see him with different eyes. Marcus as a whole is truly likeable. He is brave and snarky and truly romantic. He is not georgeous or rich or of high status, but his soild character and goodheartedness makes him more than those things. From the start he sees more in Phillipia than even she sees and his confidence in her and respect for her mind helps bring her closer to the person she becomes in the end. The journey getting there is hella fun and full of adventure.

I really enjoyed this story. I look forward to reading more from this writer.

Grade: A

Stormlord Series

2010-05-15T13:40:00.000-04:00

Last Stormlord (Stormlord Series Book 1)

By: Glenda Larke

Write up:

Shale is the lowest of the low-an outcast from a poor village in the heart of the desert. In the desert water is life, and currency, and Shale has none. But he has a secret. It's the one thing that keeps him alive and may save all the cities of the Quartern in the days to come. If it doesn't get him killed first...

Terelle is a slave fleeing a life as a courtesan. She finds shelter in the home of an elderly painter but as she learns the strange and powerful secrets of his art she fears she may have traded a life of servitude for something far more perilous...

The Stormlord is dying in his tower and there is no one, by accident or design, to take his place. He brings the rain from the distant seas to his people. Without a Stormlord, the cities of the Quartern will wither and die.

Their civilization is at the brink of disaster. If Shale and Terelle can find a way to save themselves, they may just save them all. Water is life and the wells are running dry...

What I always loved about fantasy books are the great worlds that are created. Fantasy writers not only have to create great stories and characters, but they also create whole worlds from scratch. They create gods and religions, great and small societies, vast histories...it takes a lot of imaginations and creativity. And in this book...it was what I loved the most. Very interesting world.

In this world water is scarce and very valuable. Most people are born with a fixed amount of water allowed to them, called their allotment. This is earned through their position in life, circumstances, etc, and it is high regulated. Of course many poor people, who have no influence or power are born without water allotments, the "waterless." They scrap by earning a living wherever they can so they can earn enough money to buy water for themselves and their families. Water is managed by people with the unique ability to control and sense it, called water sensitives. Some have abilities are greater than others and depending on that strength, these water sensitives are given duties to mange and hands out the water to people that are allowed it. The people with the greatest powers can become Rainlords or Stormlords. These people can not only sense water and manipulate it, but they can create rain and send this rain to areas that need it.

When we begin this tale, the Stormlords have been dying out. For many generations there have been many strong enough to be Stormlords and bring the rain needed to keep the cities of the Quartern running. But in the last generation, all those strong enough have either died from illness or accident. Now only one Stormlord remains and he is old and dying. He cannot bring enough rain to keep the entire Quartern watered by himself and the amount of water available has been dwindling with time. This has lead to unrest and harsh policies to preserve water (forced abortions, punishment of death for water stealing). Even going as far as to stop bringing rain to whole areas...mainly the poor areas with people who have no water allotment. So, the Stormlord sends his best Rainlords out to the poorest quarter, the Gibber quarter, to search for any children who have even the smallest bit of water sensitivity to see if they can find the next Stormlord. They have searched high and wide in every other area, so he thinks there have nothing to lose. This is where we are introduced to Shale our main hero and when our adventure starts. Shale and Terelle find themselves between two major parties that have no interest in preserving the current system, but only in controlling the water and anyone who can manipulate it. Both bringing them ultimate power. Both characters are used and manipulated by different sources for their own ends and realize they can't trust anyone but themselves.

Shale and Terelle are both from the Gibber quarter and despite their different upbringings they both share one thing: they were both born waterless. So they have lived harsh lives and struggled day by day to survive in the box they are in. Through them you can see how harsh the system they live in is for people who have nothing and how easily these people can be abused and taken advantage of by those in power. You also see how those in power lose touch with actual everyday life and make decisions about the welfare of the entire world without a care in how terrible their decisions are for others. The book kept building on the action and each chapter and did a great job in making you relate to these two characters right up until the end...and the cliffhanger (now I have another series to read). By the end I was very much looking forward to how this story would continue and what would happen to both characters as well as some of the other minor characters we were introduced too. Great story, great world creation, and good characters. I was happy with this book.

Overall grade: A-

The Darkest Power Final Book

2010-05-10T16:28:00.000-04:00

The Reckoning (Darkest Powers Series #3)

By: Kelley Armstrong

Write up:

My name is Chloe Saunders. I'm fifteen, and I would love to be normal.

But normal is one thing I'm not.

For one thing, I'm having these feelings for a certain antisocial werewolf and his sweet-tempered brother—who just happens to be a sorcerer—but, between you and me, I'm leaning toward the werewolf.

Not normal.

My friends and I are also on the run from an evil corporation that wants to get rid of us—permanently.

Definitely not normal.

And finally, I'm a genetically altered necro-mancer who can raise the dead, rotting corpses and all, without even trying.

As far away from normal as it gets.

This being the 3rd and final installment of this series there were definitely things that I was hoping to happen and expecting to happen. And all in all I got most of what I wanted.

1. Chloe and Derek. I am very happy with these turn of events. While I love Simon and think he is a very nice, I was drawn to Derek from the start and become very invested in the outcome of his relationship with Chloe. I always did love the lost puppies...and Derek fir that description perfectly. I liked that this relationship was built slowly and allowed to develop over time and experiences. A lot of time in YA book, there is this big romance that drives the story, but it feels so slapped together to me. The two people meet, and it is a love that neither has ever felt before and they must be together by like the second chapter. I like the slow buildup...so when you do finally get the couple together...the reader gets it: Gets the attraction; the love; and why these tow are together and not with other people. I've said before...I like to be shown the relationship between people, not just told. From the first book...I was shown the development between them and was just waiting on the official acknowledgement.

2. Some closure on the Edison Group and their experiments. I was happy with most of how this plot was handled. We got most of our questioned answered about what the Edison group was about and Chloe and her friends got to exact some serious revenge. All in all I was satisfied with the group’s fate. BUT there were still many unanswered questions; still some secondary and third plotlines that were left kind of hanging, and even some new mysteries presented. This series being a trilogy and this being the last book...I was a bit perturbed by that. But I do see that Ms. Armstrong is writing another YA series, and these hints and question might be something that will not be answered by Chloe's story but by someone else’s. Perhaps we have not seen the last of these characters? Could be promising.

But all in all I was very pleased with this series and happy with how it all ended.

Overall grade: B+

The Decoy Princess

2010-05-03T12:47:00.001-04:00

I read somewhere that Dawn Cook was a pen name Kim Harrison used in the past and got interested in some of those book and how they differ from her Dark Fantasy book. I picked up the one that drew my eye first.

The Decoy Princess

By: Dawn Cook

Write up:

Princess Contessa's dreams of living happily ever after marrying a prince are shattered when her "parents" reveal that she's actually a street urchin they raised as their daughter to thwart assassins from their real target.

What a cute cover. When I picked this up, I expected a cute and light read. And it was that, but it also has some interesting depth as well. On the surface the story is this: When the Princess is born there is a prophecy that she will bring some kind of big climactic change/destruction to the world. This leads to many power players in the area to send out all kinds of assassins to kill the newborn baby. After some failed attempts, the idea is put forth to smuggle the really Princess out of the Palace and replace her with a Decoy who will take the brunt of the attacks. A cold and kind of very sinister decision, especially when you get the fact that at least 3 baby decoys did not survive. Tessa is the one that does. So she is raised her entire life thinking she is the Princess and that the King and Queen are her parents. But on the side, she had been trained in all manner of self defense and battle tactics by the main advisor to the King. She was told it was because of the murder attempts as she needed to be prepared more than most, but soon finds out it is for other reasons. Then the day arrives when she is to meet the Prince of a neighboring Kingdom that she is to marry. The plan was to inform her about her real identity before the wedding and bring in the real Princess, but things don't go as planned and Tessa finds out in the worst possible way. She ends up on the run when the Prince takes offense to the lie and exposes his plans for her Kingdom ahead of schedule....none of which are good for her or the King and Queens continued well being.

Tessa ends up on the run, in shock and confused about who she is and what her place in the world is. On her Journey to find the Advisor that raised her, who had left to fetch the real Princess, she finds out not only is she more than just the Decoy Princess, but her advisor is also more powerful that she ever imagined. He is part of a shadowy group of people that really control the world she lives in...and they view Kings and Queens as mere puppets, game pieces in a never ending game of power and influence. A lot more people are part of this game than she expected and not only is she a powerful piece, but she was being groomed to be a major player as well.

I liked the story within the story that is played out in this book. Some people think one thing is going on and take it at face value, but the reader knows that not every person is as they seem and a much bigger game is being played. It gives some of the seemingly minor characters a lot more depth. Jecks, the Captain of the Prince's guard for example. When the reader first meets him...they are already drawn to him because of his cold intensity. He comes across as a very smart and noble type guy who has to put up with this horrible, vicious Prince that treats him like a slave. But then one scene adds another layer to his story and makes you pull back and look at him with whole new eyes, and question his motives. This is the same with many characters. What could have been a bubble gum type book had a little bit more meat to it because the characters are not cookie cutter. Yes, some fit stereotypes, but they all show flashes of more. Duncan the gambler and cheat on the surface, has many flashes where the writer hints at more underneath. A sad story that needs telling, and would probably show he is more than he seems as well. This hinted mystery and depth, pulls you into the characters and then into the story. I also loved the future romantic aspects that are hinted at. Both Duncan and Jecks seem to draw Tessa to them for different reasons, and from the hints neither would be good for her health. Jecks even more so, but he is so tempting. Ah, those tortured bad boys; they are every girl’s kryptonite. All in all...I look forward to reading the second book that continues where this left off. I need more of these 3 characters.

Overall grade: B+

New Series and new author

2010-04-17T13:43:00.000-04:00

Like I need any more series book to start, but such is life I guess. I will never finish my TBR list. I saw this book around and some interviews of the author and I was intrigued.

The One Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (Inheritance Trilogy Series)
By: NK. Jemisin

Write up:

Yeine Darr is an outcast from the barbarian north. But when her mother dies under mysterious circumstances, she is summoned to the majestic city of Sky. There, to her shock, Yeine is named an heiress to the king. But the throne of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is not easily won, and Yeine is thrust into a vicious power struggle with cousins she never knew she had. As she fights for her life, she draws ever closer to the secrets of her mother's death and her family's bloody history.

With the fate of the world hanging in the balance, Yeine will learn how perilous it can be when love and hate - and gods and mortals - are bound inseparably together.

I love a good political drama, and this book has a lot of it as well as many other things I love: political intrigue, mystery, romance, and the typical fantasy coming of age tale. The book begins with Yeine travelling from Darr to Sky, the largest city in her world and also the Palace of the ruling Arameri family...the family her mother left years before to marry Yeine's father. She is called mysteriously to the city by her grandfather, Dekarta Arameri the head of the family and all around ruler of the world she lives in. When her mother left the family, she was disowned and no one ever bothered with Yeine before, so she wonders what her grandfather wants with her. She has no interest in her mother’s family other than to find out what role if any they had with her death. She soon learns that Dekarta is acknowledging her as one of his heirs and wants her to compete with her two cousins for his position. Yeine and everyone else know that this is impossible because her cousins have a head start on her and are known, like all other Arameri before them, to be vicious. They have been battling each other from the womb. They would stop at nothing to win, and murder seems to be a totally acceptable method. The head of the family is encouraged to be without remorse and hard in order to maintain rule. So everyone knows Yeine will probably not make it out alive.

The history of the Arameri family is slowly explained as the chapters go by, and it is shown why they are such a vicious and hard people. Their task in the world is to serve as priests of the sort for the God Itempas. There was a war between the Gods: Itempas, Enefa, and Nahadoth, who are sibling. Itempas defeated them, killing Enefa and imprisoning Nahadoth and his other Godling children in human flesh and giving them basically as slaves to the family of his most trusted Priestess...the Arameri. So the Arameri have so much power and control because they control Gods and use them to do their bidding against their enemies, or heretics. They use the Gods to maintain their rule and to make sure everyone continues to worship Itempas. As with anything, when one group has so much power over not only other mortals, but Gods....they can become twisted. And the Arameri are very twisted as Yeine learns. She can't trust anyone at Sky. They all have an ulterior motives for what they do and none of them would benefit from Yeine living. She is basically the pawn in a game between her powerful family and the Gods. None of them see her as more than a tool for their own ends.

The world created in this book is excellent. This is a world where there is no question that the Gods exist. They walk among the people and are unleashed on those who don't obey the Arameri. So we are introduced to a world that is living under a complete dictatorship. Dissent means death, and too many questions can be bad for your health. The people in Sky look at Yeine and they see a barbarian girl that has no chance in that environment, but Yeine soon begins to show them that she should not be underestimated. She forms an alliance with the most unexpected of people and that alliance leads to the final events that were both expected and surprising as well. Yeine know that either way she goes, it means her death...but her death did not have to mean the end and could be exactly what the world needs. And she is willing to sacrifice herself if it means destroying the Arameri.

This is the first installment of what looks to be three books, and I am very much looking forward to reading the others. This is very much recommended for people that like high fantasy type books.

Overall grade: A

Good Book....awful cover

2010-04-16T21:54:00.000-04:00

I have to admit, the covers for this series are quite terrible. And not embarrassing-but-you-secretly-love-them terrible like romance novels. Just terrible as in ugly, and having nothing to do with the story or the people in it. But minus all of that..I continue to enjoy these books.

The Hero Strikes Back
By: Moira J. Moore

Write up: In a realm beset by natural disasters, bonded Pairs-Source and Shield-make the land habitable and keep the citizenry safe. Now, like it or not, the Shield Lee Mallorough and Source Shintaro Karish have to work together to catch a crazed killer targeting aristocrats-just like Karish.

I enjoyed this installment of the series because it gave us more insight into Shintaro and how he grew up. Also, we got lots of moments between Lee and Shintaro that I can see is slowing building into something really deep. There connections and bond goes well beyond what exists between the other pairs we encounter. Lee is fighting it for sure, but it is obvious that she is attracted to Shintaro and is in denial. While Shintaro is a lot more aware of what is going on between them, and what is going on with himself internally. I can't wait till it all comes to a head. Lee likes to see herself as completely in control and a professional all the way…it would be interesting to see how she handles facing the unexpected.

One of the main themes of the book seems to be family dynamics. Lee's mother comes into town to reconnect with her and we get a good picture of how Lee is viewed and how she views her family. Being that she was taken from them from such a young age, she does not know how to relate to them, nor they to her. Her mom does all kinds of heavy-handed mother things like trying to set her up with various men, and telling her how to dress, and Lee does not react the way she expects or likes...which causes friction. And Shintaro's mom...oy...what a nightmare. The revelations about how Shintaro was treated by his family before he was went away to train as a source, and how he continues to be treated, gave a lot more insight into what makes him tic. The impression of him in the first book as being a light-hearted, happy-go-lucky type playboy takes on a whole new twist...and frankly made me want to make Lee love him more, or at least show it more than she does.

And of course there is the main storyline and mystery of the extreme and unusual weather going on in their city, as well as the disappearances of various highborn men and women. This allowed us more insight into the world and how the weather and the people are connected. It gives us some tantalizing insights into the role of the Gods and how the Highborn are kind of essential to the world and its balance. I am looking forward to seeing how the rest of the books explore this factor and explain how this world and its systems were created.

But, all in all, it was a fun easy read that added to my previous reading of these characters.

Overall grade: B+

Paranormal Romance Reviews PT2

2010-04-06T15:41:00.000-04:00

Prey

By: Rachel Vincent

Write up:

I look like an all-American grad student. But I am a werecat, a shape-shifter, and I live in two worlds.
Despite reservations from my family and my Pride, I escaped the pressure to continue my species and carved out a normal life for myself. Until the night a Stray attacked.
I'd been warned about Strays—werecats without a Pride—constantly on the lookout for someone like me: attractive, female and fertile. I fought him off, but then learned two of my fellow tabbies had disappeared.

This brush with danger was all my Pride needed to summon me back…for my own protection. Yeah, right. But I'm no meek kitty. I'll take on whatever—and whoever—I have to in order to find my friends. Watch out, Strays—'cause I got claws, and I'm not afraid to use them….

I guess after the last two books, I kind of lost patience for slogging through something even after I have lost interest. I hate not finishing book because...well...I feel like a quitter. But in this case, I gave up about half way through this book. The thing is that, I can't really point to why. I did like the world created. The Werecat society and their rules, and how they fit into the human world. I also like that the character's emotions and their motivations are pretty well thought out and explained...so what they do makes sense and you can understand. So it was written well in that sense. But...something was off for me and I just get not get in the flow of reading. I might have been the main character. While I understood where she was coming from in most cases, I found her kind of whiny and spoiled. If I can't get into the main character...and like them...it is hard for me to continue.

I have read book before where the main character was not a good person or very likeable, but I was still able to go on. I could not work it this time. So I figured...with the amount of book I have to and that I can enjoy...eh...I'll pass this one up for now. Who knows, I might pick it up again and love it. These things happen.

Grade: DNF

Paranormal Romance Reviews

2010-04-06T12:36:00.000-04:00

The last couple weeks have been slow and draggy in almost every way. I've been too lazy to even type these days. But, I picked up two paranormal romance novels I bought a while back in my continuing attempt to finish my TBD list of books now that I bought my Nook. But life conspired to make even reading them seem like a chore. I think, though, it had more to do with the books than anything else. The last 3 were just kind of meh to me.

A Hunger Like No Other
By: Kresley Cole

Write up:

A mythic warrior who'll stop at nothing to possess her . . .

After enduring years of torture from the vampire horde, Lachlain MacRieve, leader of the Lykae Clan, is enraged to find the predestined mate he's waited millennia for is a vampire. Or partly one. This Emmaline is a small, ethereal half Valkyrie/half vampire, who somehow begins to soothe the fury burning within him.

A vampire captured by her wildest fantasy . . .
Sheltered Emmaline Troy finally sets out to uncover the truth about her deceased parents — until a powerful Lykae claims her as his mate and forces her back to his ancestral Scottish castle. There, her fear of the Lykae — and their notorious dark desires — ebbs as he begins a slow, wicked seduction to sate her own dark cravings.

An all-consuming desire . . .
Yet when an ancient evil from her past resurfaces, will their desire deepen into a love that can bring a proud warrior to his knees and turn a gentle beauty into the fighter she was born to be?

You have to admit...this cover is pretty. I think that is what drew me to this book in the first place. It's very pretty---embarrassing to read in public---but pretty. During a buying frenzy a while back, I picked up a lot of paranormal romance books that have been recommended to me in the past or just looked interesting. But I have to say; reading them back to back can be a bit tiring...or sometimes make you want to poke your eyes out. They can be a bit repetitive.

This book started of with a good bit of promise. The opening finds us in an underground chamber with Lachlain MacReive, who has been held there for centuries by his vampire enemies. His torture is to burn to death over and over again, with no end in sight because he is immortal and can’t die. Totally gruesome. He finally gets the needed motivation to escape his situation when he senses his mate close by, a mate he has waited centuries to find. See, he is a werewolf and they have one mate destined for them and it is for life. Once they find this mate, they are faithful only to them and are fierce in protecting them. If the mate rejects them...they can literally die of sorrow. So he is so desperate to go to his mate that he literally removes his own leg to escape his chains. Literally. Totally gruesome, but very compelling. So he breaks out and goes on the hunt for his woman. He finds her on the streets of Paris after scouring the streets for weeks. She is a sheltered half vampire that has never even been away from home before and knows a whole lot of nothing. Innocent and naïve like a newborn baby. Now here is this man running up to her on the street and demanding he come with him.

Now this is where things get iffy for me. Here is a very large and angry man literally chasing you down in the streets. He kidnaps you, takes you to a hotel room where he proceeds to take liberties with your body despite your protests; he is not telling you why he is there or what is going on, and yells and screams at you that you are his when you ask any questions or try to escape. Frankly the only sane thing Emma did in this book, that made any sense, was to be scared of this person off the bat and try to run off at every opportunity. But that only lasted a couple chapters, because she would waver every so often because he was so hot and she was drawn to him or whatever. I know that the point was that she was drawn to him because of those crazy special magical forces that made her his mate, but come on?! Any sane woman would have run screaming to the nearest police station.

When she found out about the whole mate thing, she still was trying to escape (e took her to his home where he told her she could not leave). He insisted that she was his and told her she was not to see her family or leave him. She, like any sane person faced with this predicament, wanted to get out so badly that she literally tricked him into draining a good bit of his blood that he passed out and she then booked it. But what happened? He got up, and chased after her and when he caught her she was so "relieved" that he still cared so much about her that he chased after her and still wanted her, and all their passions came up and they made wild love in the forest where he found her. What? So the message seems to be that she only ran so he could chase after her and prove that he really loves her? Then he gets to ravish her? Okay, I know in some romances you kind of let some things slide for the drama of it all, but maybe because of personal issues or I was reading too much feminist literature this week or something....but I found that entire sequence weird and annoying…and just a tad bit…what’s the word….crazy. This whole book sent a weird and offensive message: crazy aggressive, bullying men are only that way because they love and need you so much. Yeah, I get it that they are vampires and wolves and they have animal mating instincts, with it's possessions and anger and aggressive emotions and all that, but it was still a bit too much for me to suspend to enjoy the book. The story itself was okay and the world created was really fund. But the main relationship was a bit too Stockholm syndrome for me. Plus, I don’t tend to enjoy book, where the tow main character love each other because they were brought together by unseen forces that made them mates for life…whether they like it or not. I like choice. And storied where people en up together after a slow build up of getting to know each other and falling in love. Call me old fashioned.

Overall grade: C-

Divine By Mistake

2010-03-20T01:31:00.005-04:00

Divine By Mistake
By: P.C Cast

Write up:

The only excitement Shannon Parker expects while on summer vacation is a little shopping. But when an antique vase calls to her, she finds herself transported to Partholon, where she's treated like a goddess. A very temperamental goddess…

Somehow Shannon has stepped into another's role as the Goddess Incarnate of Epona. And while there's an upside—what woman doesn't like lots of pampering?—it also comes with a ritual marriage to a centaur and threats against her new people. Oh, and everyone disliking her because they think she's her double.

Somehow Shannon needs to figure out how to get back to Oklahoma without being killed, married to a horse or losing her mind….

I picked this book up because I really liked the premise: regular modern girl gets sucked into a fantasy world. Kind of like A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. The descriptions promised some good laughs and serious culture class, and for the first half or so of the book that was the case.

I found the initial stages, when Shannon first arrives in Partholon the most enjoyable and well written. She is a typical modern day female, clever and snarky and full of pop culture references, and she finds herself in a world where creatures are walking around that she previously believed were make believe. But, the good thing, her personality is one where she responds to stress by being dry and cracking wise and that makes her introduction to the world and the people in it very enjoyable. The first day there she finds out not only is she a Goddess, and a spoiled rather bitchy one, but she is due to be married to a Centaur. Or as she sees it: a horse. And their meeting and marriage are a blast. Her doppelganger in that world was apparently not a nice person—and kind of loose---so she is met with hostility by most everyone including her soon to be husband. He can barely hide his contempt during their ceremony, and Shannon has a good time surpassing his low expectations of her---much to this surprise. But eventually people being to notice that she is different and her cover is blown. During this period she begins to realize by the Goddess allowed her to be taken to this world. There is a threat forming from a race of vampire like bat people that she must fight and lead the people from, and if she had not switched, the world would have been left with the spoiled brat that Shannon replaced. So Shannon begins to see that she was brought to that world for a reason and not only due to chance and the whim of her doppelganger... -------

But as I mentioned the beginnings when Shannon and the readers were being introduced to the world were the most enjoyable. But about halfway through the novelty wore off. Soon, the never ending pop culture references and snarky comments become a bit stale and get in the way of the reader connecting with the characters. I felt after a while that the book was just trying too hard to be cute and hip and different...rather than it happening organically. A lot of things happened in this book, but I did not feel the emotional connection to much of it. The only character you get any kind of understanding or connection with is Shannon...which is fine as she is the main voice...but the secondary characters all seemed kind of like paper cutouts just there to decorate and tell you how great the main character is. You don't feel them, so when all these terrible things start happening...it seems so removed. Even the main love story...I was told so many times how much Shannon loves ClanFintan, and how epic their love is...but I never really felt it, because I never really felt like I got much insight into ClanFintan or why he would love her besides his usual comment: “I was made to love you”. Nor did I see much development in their romantic relationship, at least to my satisfaction. They hate each other and are strangers one day, and in the course of 24 hours...they are declaring each other soul mates for life. It is the classic case of what my English teacher used to tell us: show, don't tell. This book did a lot of telling, but not enough showing. So ultimately my enjoyment started to fade after a while. It had a lot of potential...I don't think it reach it. -------

But this is me. My friend loved this entire series. So, eh, we all look for and enjoy different things. A lesson of life.

Grade: C+

Lady Julia Grey Series

2010-03-05T15:38:00.000-05:00

I just finished another series of books I had in my TBR list. I'm on a roll here. I reviewed the first book of this series last month, Silent in the Grave, and enjoyed it a great deal...so much so, that I went ahead and got the next two while still in the middle of it. The other installments, to my happiness, I enjoyed even more.

Lady Julia Grey Series

By: Deanna Raybourn

Silent in the Sanctuary

Write up:

Fresh from a six-month sojourn in Italy, Lady Julia returns home to Sussex to find her father's estate crowded with family and friends. Much to her surprise, the one man she had hoped to forget—the enigmatic and compelling Nicholas Brisbane—is among her father's houseguests…and he is not alone. Not to be outdone, Julia shows him that two can play at flirtation and promptly introduces him to her devoted, younger, titled Italian count.

But the homecoming celebrations quickly take a ghastly turn when one of the guests is found brutally murdered in the chapel. Lady Julia resumes her unlikely and deliciously intriguing partnership with Nicholas Brisbane, setting out to unravel a tangle of deceit before the killer can strike again.

Silent on the Moor

Write up:

Despite his admonitions to stay away, Lady Julia arrives in Yorkshire to find Brisbane as remote and maddeningly attractive as ever. Cloistered together, they share the moldering house with the proud but impoverished remnants of an ancient family: the sort that keeps their bloodline pure and their secrets close. Lady Allenby and her daughters, dependent upon Brisbane and devastated by their fall in society, seem adrift on the moor winds, powerless to change their fortunes. But poison does not discriminate between classes....

A mystery unfolds from the rotten heart of Grimsgrave, one Lady Julia may have to solve alone, as Brisbane appears inextricably tangled in its heinous twists and turns. But blood will out, and before spring touches the craggy northern landscape, Lady Julia will have uncovered a Gypsy witch, a dark rider and a long-buried legacy of malevolence and evil.

There are two things I loved about this series of books: Nicholas Brisbane and Lady Julia Grey...which is a good thing for the author because they are the main characters. The mysteries and intrigues of each book are great as well, so overall it all comes together to make for enjoyable reading. The author has a knack for introducing very interesting secondary characters that play more than just wallpaper for the main characters. For instance...I love Morag, Lady Julia's crabby maid; a great job is done fleshing out the two women's salty relationship. I also loved Julia many crazy relatives...especially the females. They are an interesting and hilarious lot. And some of them are quite sinister, as the second book demonstrated. I would guess the women during those times would be an interesting lot. They were so dependant on the men in their lives and outside of having a husband and some kids...there was not much else for them to get up to without causing some kind of scandal. So many of them just became old eccentric type widows/spinsters who raised cats and meddled in people's business day and night…or in some cases being trapped leads them to some unholy paths. Not much else when you are put on a shelf to rust away and fall into ruin like some pretty trinket, as most women were then. And that is why I liked Julia Grey.

As a widow, she has two choices: marry again as all women should, or live her life as an aging eccentric widow with her pets to keep her company. She chooses to do neither. From the moment her husband died and she met Brisbane...she put it in her head to live her life as she wants. She is a widow but doesn't wear black and not living quietly in the country somewhere unseen as is proper; and rather than be content to live a quiet life...she goes chasing after mystery, adventure, danger and Brisbane (and he is all three in one package for sure) all common like with no regard for her reputation. I don't know if it a lack of pride or a never ending well of bravery, but she literally flings herself at Brisbane every chance she gets...only to be met with his cool stare or worse, being screamed at to get away. If I were her I would have given up after the first cool rejection...I have way too much knowledge of my pride for all that disdain thrown my way. But not Julia...she is convinced he loves her, but his pride and other foolish notions keeps him rejecting her, and she means to make him admit it and claim her. Even in the end, when all seemed hopeless...she was willing to chuck it all...if it was the only way to get Brisbane, and she would have. I had to admire her tenacity. She does not care what anyone has to say, or what obstacle is in the way...she will find a way to get what she wants, whether by her own cunning, or by her bungling her way into it. And she sure bungled her way through a lot of things in these books. I also loved her wit, she is quick as a mouse and it was obvious that Brisbane did not know what hit him when they first met.

And Brisbane...oy...there were several times when I was totally with Lady Julia in wanting to pop him in the mouth. He is a frustrating, mysterious, madding, scary, and dam sexy character. The bastard. What a proud man...too proud for his own good. He loves his suffering, he wear it like a badge of honor because he thinks he deserves no better. And he won’t let Lady Julia Grey convince him otherwise. But he is such a great character...I understood why Julia chased him and kept at it. He is the type you only get by clubbing them upside their head and dragging them to your cave. Lady Julia was just the lady for him. He had made up his mind that not having Julia was for her own good, and nothing is worse than a man practicing gross stupidity because he thinks he is being noble, to protect a woman. He obviously loves Julia, but pushes her away...sometimes cruelly because he thinks he is not good enough for her and can't offer her much. So ridiculous, so like an arrogant man. But their push and pull...their dance was still fun to witness. In the end I was very satisfied with how they ended up. Unconventional till the end. I can't see either of them getting bored with the other; there is enough drama between them to last a lifetime.

The first book was about Julia's life and her closure, the second book built on Brisbane and Julia's relationship, but was more focused on the murder and mystery, and the last book was more about Brisbane and his past...his closure on some of his many issue. All together, the yare a good package. I would love if there was another book in this series, as I mentioned before, some of the secondary characters were also very well done. Like poor Portia, what's to become of her and her odious dog? And Jane off to

India

...so sad for them. I wanted to see them happy in the end. And of course...there can be never ending adventures of Brisbane and Julia. I hope we revisit them again. These books can only be described as lovely. So enjoyable and lovely.

So overall this series is an A.

The Black Dagger Brotherhood Series

2010-02-20T11:51:00.003-05:00

So I have so many series books hanging around my house that it is becoming cluttered mess. I have already set my goal to finish some of them off this year and have been making progress. Last week I made the plunge and bought a NOOK from Barnes and Noble and will be buying e-books whenever I can...my house can't handle another bookshelf. So I have more reason to read these books in my physical TBR pile. This month I tackled the J.R Ward paranormal romance series. And I am now caught up with this series...until the next one comes out anyway.

This series was very different than most paranormal romance books I have read. And I must say, every book kept me very interested and excited for the next installment, so much so that it made it very easy to read this series back to back. I'll list the main things I liked about it:

1. The Brotherhood: These guys are amazing. When I reviewed the first book in the series last month, Dark Lover, I mentioned that one thing I hated were there names. That has not changed...they are still stupid. And the gangsta rap and talk is still jarring. But despite all of that, these guys are all very well fleshed out. Each book focuses on one of the brothers and you learn about their various back stories, hang-ups, traumas, faults, and strengths. What is good about the series is that even before you get to the book that focuses on a particular brother, you are already introduced to them in the previous books, and the following books may also still go back to them. So the reader is given plenty of time to get to know each brother very well....and you develop favorites. Mine are Butch and Vishous...god those two are great. Their love and friendship is epic, so much so, I was kind of annoyed they picked up women. LOL. And before I got to know Butch and Vishous...Zsadist was my favorite because he was so dark and broken. So...you become really familiar with these guys and grow to love them.

2. Great Development of secondary characters: Ward does a great job also with the minor characters. All the secondary players are not treated as like throw away people that are just there to make the main character look good or be their fluffier. These characters are fully developed. They are given motivations, wants and needs....and they play important roles in the movement of the story. Even the bad guys are fully developed...to the point where you can sympathize with them. Because of this development of characters throughout each book...sometimes the minor characters end up getting their own books because they build a following. Like Lover Avenged, which focused on Rehvenge...who was introduced in the first book as a very minor character, further developed in the second book and further installments, and finally focused on in the 7th book. And it looks like the next installment will focus on Xhex and John Matthew; two other popular secondary characters in the books...which I'm very excited about. So in short...she really knows how to develop her characters.

3. The books are not standalone: While each book can be read by itself...they are really meant to be read in order. Ward is not writing seven separate romance stories....she is writing one big story about the Brotherhood and their struggle with the Omega, and their fight to save vampire society from extinction. Each book advances the story of the war and the struggle the vampire society faces. No thread is dropped never to be picked up again. Some threads go on for 3-4 books to be resolved; others tie into earlier threads. So it is plain to see that Ward plans these things out fully and is telling a complete story. Nothing is ever tied up with a nice happy ribbon at the end, except the romance portion or the book. So a reader would not get much out of these book if they only read one or two...they have to read all of them to fully understand what is going on and to get the full impact. I would not be excited about John Matthew's book coming up...if I have not read all the books and gotten John Matthews journey from the beginning from his point of view and others. The full impact of what is going to go on with him would not be the same unless I knew everything leading up to this point. So Ward did well in that sense.

My only complaint is this: The females, after a while, all blend into the background. In these books...the main focus are the men. Each book they meet a female and mate and during that period each female has a distinct personality and character that draws you to them...but as the books go on...they kind of all eventually fall into the background because the men take up so much space. By the seventh book...they were all like the same person to me....except for Xhex...who can't blend in even if she tried. So...the women kind of lose themselves in the series. They usually always give up their lives they had for these men....due to the world and life of the Brotherhood...and that can be a bit annoying. So if someone is a big feminist...they would be irked by this.

But overall...these books are great. Action, adventure, romance, and lots of hotness. I am looking forward to reading the next installment.

Series Grade: A-

More Teen Vampires

2010-02-01T01:06:00.000-05:00

One thing about reading all these vampire teen books I learned...teens sure love star crossed romances. Drama, drama. All that: we love each other so much...but it's impossible for us to be together! Woe, woe, angst angst (but they are written for teen girls...so...it makes sense). They are all the same in that aspect. So I look for different things to distinguish each from the other.

The latest in my Vampire reading:

Evernight(Evernight Academy #1)
By: Claudia Gray

Write up:

At the eerily Gothic Evernight Academy, the other students are sleek, smart, and almost predatory. Bianca knows she doesn't fit in.
When she meets handsome, brooding Lucas, he warns her to be careful—even when it comes to caring about him. But the connection between them can't be denied. Bianca will risk anything to be with Lucas, but dark secrets are fated to tear them apart . . . and to make Bianca question everything she's ever believed.

What this book had going for it, and made it stand out in the multitude of teen vampire romance novels, are the various twists and turns it takes the reader though, that they would not see coming until it was right in front of them.

When we meet Bianca she is just starting Evernight Academy and hates the entire idea. She is from a small town and has lived a sheltered life until that moment, so she has trouble meeting new people and fitting in. She is convinced that she will never fit in at Evernight with its cliques and rich, perfect kids, and gothic environment. So the first day of school she decides she is going to run off in protest…so that her parents realize that she is serious about not wanting to be there. That day, rather than running away...which was a failure because she has no plans outside of getting to the nearby town...she meets Lucas. There is an instant connection (as with all these types of teen romance novels), and she is happy that there is someone at the school that she can talk too besides herself. But Lucas is standoffish towards her after that day, and downright hostile to everyone else. And Bianca is stuck trying to fit into a school where everyone is perfectly pretty and very cliquish. Bianca considers herself normal and gravitates towards the other kids that don't fit in, even though she is accepted on some level more than the other “misfits.” For that first half of the book the reader sees Bianca as just a normal girl trying to fit in without losing herself, and dealing with normal issues like acceptance and peer pressure, and why a boy doesn't like her. But in the moment when she and Lucas finally admit their feelings and come together...the reader is let in on a secret that flips the entire book on its head, and makes them question all of the assumptions they had made about Bianca and her place in Evernight, as well as the world as a whole. As the reader and Lucas deal with the newfound revelations about Bianca's birth...more mysteries are solved and more questions are raised about Lucas as well. Both teens are carrying secrets that not only make it near impossible for them to be together, but also secrets that surprise even this reader. I like when books surprise me and aren't too predictable. The book seems to be about making assumptions about people, and looking below the surface of what people look like and what they see...to really see what they are about.

So while this book was similar to many of the vampire romance books I have read as far as the predictable drama filled romance and teen angst. The interesting plot and character twists added an extra layer of depth to it that made it stand out a bit more than some of the others. I liked the guessing game the reader is put through as they figure out what is going on at Evernight, and who is who and what is what. It added a nice bit of mystery and intrigue. The ending also built up enough drama and anticipation to make you interested in reading the next installment: how will Bianca and Lucas be together now that they know what the other is? Why is the headmistress of Evernight bringing in new student that they have never accepted in the past? Because of Bianca's birth...how is she different than others, who were not born? All interesting questions that make reading the next book worthwhile.

Overall: B

An Historical mystery

2010-01-25T17:55:00.000-05:00

I am not a big mystery reader, but I am a pretty big historical fiction reader. So when I saw some reviews of this book floating around it caught my interest enough to give it a shot. I must say I was very happy with the result. I went ahead and ordered the next one in the series.

Silent in the Grave
By: Deanna Raybourn

Write up:

"Let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave."

These ominous words are the last threat that Sir Edward Grey receives from his killer. Before he can show them to Nicholas Brisbane, the private inquiry agent he has retained for his protection, he collapses and dies at his London home, in the presence of his wife, Julia, and a roomful of dinner guests.

Prepared to accept that Edward's death was due to a long-standing physical infirmity, Julia is outraged when Brisbane visits and suggests that her husband was murdered. It is a reaction she comes to regret when she discovers damning evidence for herself, and realizes the truth.

Determined to bring the murderer to justice, Julia engages the enigmatic Brisbane to help her investigate Edward's demise. Dismissing his warnings that the investigation will be difficult, if not impossible, Julia presses forward, following a trail of clues that lead her to even more unpleasant truths, and ever closer to a killer who waits expectantly for her arrival.

This is one of those books that opens with a great line: "To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband's dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor."

And with these words the reader is pulled right in. But a lot of books that have a nice bang at the beginning, but then rest of the book usually leaves you disappointed. But this was not the case here. I found myself very drawn into the world that Julia lives in, and into the character of Julia. When we meet her it is the night of her husband’s death. We learn that he was always a sickly person, an illness that runs in the family, and had been getting worse by the year, so his death, while shocking, was not unexpected to everyone. That night Julia meets Brisbane, at the time she just assumed he was another dinner guest who just at the right place and time to help her with the care of her stricken husband. But even then their meeting was strange: neither warm nor friendly. In fact Brisbane looks at her as if she is were the cause of all of the world’s pain at least that is how it appeared to her. But she quickly forgets about him in all the funeral preparations and ceremonies. But she meets him again when he calls on her a week later and drops some news on her that changes here entire world: he informs her that he was hired by her husband because he feared for his life. He had been getting threatening notes and had hired him to investigate the matter. He also informed her that he was convinced that her husband, despite his long illness, did not die of natural causes and was in fact killed. Since that the time Julia was not in the right state of mind to listen to these types of charges, and Brisbane's bedside manner left much to be desired and it appeared as if he was accusing her…. She rightfully accused him of bad intentions and kicked him out with the warning not to darken her door step again.

A year passes and while finally cleaning up her husband’s office...she discovers one of the threatening notes Brisbane informed her about and she realizes he was telling the truth. She of course now must get to the bottom of the matter and contacts Brisbane to set of an investigation, which leads to her whole world as she knew it being turned upside down. And to her learning that the husband she thought she knew...was a stranger to her. What I enjoyed most about his novel is that the reader takes this journey with Julia. At the beginning of the Novel Julia lives in a sheltered world. All she knows is her life with her husband and her large and quirky family. She went from the home of her family, to the home of her husband and lived her life in a bubble of her own making. She wanted to live quietly and unnoticed because her family was any but that...but in doing that she lived her life blind to everything around it. She shut her eyes to anything that would make her life anything but ordinary and conventional. It is fitting that for the period before the book really takes off; she is in mourning and wearing blacks and grays...because that is what her life had been up till then. Dull and common, and insular, no color. But when Brisbane comes to her with this news... it like someone splashed color on her life's canvas. She was out investigating and talking to people she did not normally talk to, and noticing things she never bother to notice before. And the reader goes with her... as her world opens up to new things...the reader's sees more of her world as well. And we see, as well as she does, that she had been hiding away for years and the person who was married to, Edward, was not who she thought he was, nor were lots of other people. This book is pretty much the classic coming of age story. Without her husband's death...Julia would never be Julia.

Of course another appeal to the book is Brisbane. He is the classic, dark, brooding, angry hero. He is a mystery from the start, and in the end he is still a mystery....though a fascinating one. His relationship with Julia has a rocky start, but you can see that he is fascinated by her. She claims to be a conventional type person, but he can see she is anything but: she is quirky and rash and probably just a tad bit crazy. And it is plain that appeals to him. Their relationship is almost like an old married couple. She runs off and jumps head first into everything, and he is like the long suffering husband who tries to tame her and talk sense into her. I ‘m sure he is used to things being the other way around. He acts like he hates it, but really her unpredictability is what he likes most. He is rough and speaks plainly and is surprised by her ability to accept him as he is often. His family history current situation though does not scream: relationship material though. I hated that the end was so bittersweet, but look forward to seeing where their relationship goes. Given their places in society...it does not look good. But I do like an impossible romance.

Overall this was a mystery and the underlying mystery in this book was very well executed. It was not too predictable. As each clue is dropped and more of Edwards life is shown...the reader is given more clues as to what is really going on. But as with everything else, the reader kind of figures it out with Julia (though there were a few hints). And the final reveal is a bit shocking. Julia finds out that more than a few people in her life were unknown to her...but mainly because she did not want to know in her quest to be dull and normal, she perhaps made herself blind. But it was handled very well, and you kind for feel for the culprit. The time and circumstances of the crime leaves room for understanding. Though the crime itself is still horrible. Another thing I liked was that there was plenty of character development...so each character while you may not like...you understand. This was the case for the murderer. You may not understand the crime, but the motive is easy to grasp. But overall, this was a quick and nice read and look forward to further adventures from Lady Julia.

Overall grade: A-

Something a bit different

2010-01-23T13:00:00.000-05:00

I took a bit of a break from the vampires. I saw a review of this on a site and read some of the customer reviews over at BN.com, and was interested enough to give it a shot. It was a good shot. This was a nice, fun read.

Write up:

In a realm beset by natural disasters, only the bonded Pairs--Source and Shield--make the land habitable and keep the citizenry safe. But can Dunleavy Mallorough and Lord Shintaro Karish put aside their differences to defeat something even more unnatural than their reluctant affections for each other?

This was a fun. Not all deep and life-changing or anything, but good light fun to read on a rainy afternoon. I loved both Lee and Karish, and their bickering and snark kept be chuckling throughout the whole book. In this world, there are a lot of natural disasters: earthquakes, cyclones, Tsumani's, etc that can cause an untold amount of damage and death. But there are some people born with the ability to feel when these disasters are approaching and can somehow channel their forces away or make them weaker. These people are Sources. But this ability is an enormous strain on the person and many can die without someone there to provide a buffer against the forces they worked with...that person is the Shield. From a young age both are taken from their homes and trained in their abilities, and when the appropriate time came they were matched up for life with their partner. But this is not something they control. It is accomplished through a bond. The bond chooses, not the people. Before there was an academy that monitored and trained the Sources and Shield...many would meet and bond spontaneously causing all kind of problems due to lack of training. Now they did it under a controlled environment. So this is where we meet Lee, the day she was to find out, first if she were to be Chosen and by whom.

Lee, we learn, likes to pretend she is modest and wants a quiet life with a serious, hard- working shield. To that end, she has already made a list of who she would like to be bonded with and who she most definitely didn't want. From the first chapter, we can see that she is the type of person whose favorite words are duty, and responsibility. She frowns at frivolousness. She would be rather insufferable if she existed in real life. I know many people have met someone like her in their real life, and probably resist the urge to smack them often. But due to her personality, one thing she knows for sure: she does not want Lord Shintaro Karish to pick her. He has a reputation of being not only concerned with partying and drinking, but by all accounts is a shameless whore as well. But he is also known as one of the most powerful sources out there...and is not shy with his abilities. He is popular and widely sought after by other Shields to be bonded to. But Lee wants nothing to do with him. She wants the quiet life, or so she says. But the bonding happens by itself, there is no choice...and to her horror she is chosen by Sintaro Karish. That's when the fun begins, because she can barely hold back her disappointment and disgust from him. Their relationship has a rocky start. He can't understand why she doesn't like him, and she is annoyed that he can't grasp that not everyone is going to drop at his feet. Much to her horror again, her quiet life is further disrupted when almost right away, they are sent to the hardest assignment in the realm: High Scape. Unheard of for novices. Once again, the "Hero’s" fault for being so damm good and legendary.

Once in High Scape the main mystery begins. A force has been attacking the city that feels different than normal and, after one attack, it kills the other bonded pairs, and incapacitating another pair, with only Karish and Lee coming out mostly unharmed. Lee tries to get to the bottom of it while also dealing with her reluctant good feelings for Karish. But she will never admit to herself she even remotely likes him. But he proves to be both more than and exactly as she expected. The more time she spends with him, the more she realizes there is more to him than meets in eyes, and that there are many things in her world that she never questioned before, that she has begun to now. If strange attacks on their City wasn't enough...it seems someone is trying to kill Karish, and then he disappears. Lee despite convincing herself she still can't stand him...goes after him, and findS herself and the realm in a whole lot of trouble. She learns that the one person she convinced herself was unreliable and that she couldn't trust...was perhaps the only person she could trust the entire time. She and Karish find themselves in the position not only to save High Scape, but the whole realm as well from a bunch of disgruntled and bitter Sources and Shields bent on their version of "freedom" from theis worlds version of the man: Triple S, the group that controls and trains the Sources and Shields.

All in all I liked this book. Lee and Karish and their sparing were highly entertaining. They both got more than they were expecting and in the end you see that they are more alike than they want to admit. The bond apparently did not lie. I liked the world building and back story of who their system began, though there were a few questions not answered and left open, but it seems deliberately so as there are more books that follow their further adventures. All in all...this was fun reading and I am interested in reading more.

Overall grade: B+

The Noble Dead Series #1

2010-01-21T11:46:00.000-05:00

So I am continuing my Vampire reading. This book is a good mixture of a high fantasy and a dark fantasy: Vampires, but set in a fantasy world with magic, elves, and everything else you expect in a traditional fantasy book.

Dhampir (Noble Dead Series #1)
By: Barb & J.C. Hendee

Write up:

A con-artist who poses as a vampire slayer learns that she is, in fact, a true vampire slayer-a dhampir-whose actions have attracted the unwanted attention of a trio of powerful vampires seeking her blood.

This write up is kind of terrible. But a lot of them tend to be. Here is the background: Magiere and her partner in crime Leesil earn their living by pretending to be vampire slayers, and going from village to village conning them into giving their life's savings to rid their town of the evil undead. They feel neither guilt nor shame and are happy to take the money and run. Magiere doesn't believe in vampires or any other superstitious nonsense, and she finds most of these villagers silly and feels no pain about taking what they have. She and Leesil have the whole scam down to a science, and we meet them in the middle of their latest con. But little do they know that they have actually stumbled on a real vampire, and they have caught his eye. One the way out of town with their ill gotten gains, Magiere is attacked by what she thinks is a mad villager set on taking back their money. But while fighting him with Chap their dog...she starts to notice that there is something strange about him, and strange about her and Chap’s reaction to him. He is too fast and too strong, and it seems her weapons are the only things that can hurt him. This seems to surprise him too. She and Chap kill him and she goes into denial about the whole situation. She later tells Leesil her plans to go straight. She had bought a Tavern in a town called Miiska and plans to run it and live the quiet life. Leesil is not too happy about it because he liked the life they are currently living where is has plenty of money and lots of flowing wine. But he agrees. But the death of the strange man villager sets of a chain of events that leads to Magiere finding out her true origins and her purpose in life. It seems she really is a vampire hunter.

In Miiska, the brother of the strange man that she killed aka a vampire, has set up a home there and is trying to blend in with the human population. He has two other vampires with him: Ratboy who is always getting into trouble and Teehsa. He senses his brother’s death and is sent into a panic. They think Magiere is coming for them and is a threat to the life they built in the town. They decide to strike first and send Ratboy to kill her before she reaches town…and set of the downward cycle that leads to lots of death and destruction. They are not aware that Magiere has been a fake hunter all her life and has no idea of her heritage, and they continue the entire book thinking she is after them. When she isn’t, she just wants the quiet life. So in a way it is rather tragic, because you kind of grow to understand and like Rashed and Teesha and you want them to stop what they are doing and get away. But they fall right into the cycle. Later we learn that all the misunderstanding and mystery in this book...is somehow being manipulated by one of the characters. It is an intriguing end that leaves open lots of good stuff coming in the next books.

This book was pretty action packed. From the start till the end and kept moving at a good pace, and the action kept coming. It was a real page turner. I liked both Leesil and Magiere even though they were total con artists from the start. I even liked the villains in this book, and I liked how their story was told as well so you understood them...and kind of felt sad for them in the end. The world created is pretty interesting and there is still a lot of mystery to uncover: why did Magiere's father make her and then leave her? Was her meeting Leesil a coincidence? What is Welstiel planning for Magiere? What is he up to period? Because it does not seem good, etc. They built up everything very well, and I look forward to reading the next books.

Overall grade: A

Vampire Week-- Dark lover by J.R. Ward

2010-01-19T10:34:00.000-05:00

The last three books I have read were vampire related, so I figured I would continue the trend. I have a whole backlog of books to finish and tons of vampire books. Lord knows that trend won't die anytime soon.

Dark Lover
By: J.R Ward

Write up:

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Yet none of them relishes killing more than Wrath, the leader of The Black Dagger Brotherhood.

The only purebred vampire left on earth, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But, when one of his most trusted fighters is killed-leaving his half-breed daughter unaware of his existence or her fate-Wrath must usher her into the world of the undead-a world of sensuality beyond her wildest dreams.

First the bad: the names of these guys are so ridiculous I cringed every time I came across one. Wrath? Tohrment? Rhage? And the worst: Zsadist!? And that is only a few of the brothers of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, the rest of the names are just as silly. But I guess it is just as bad as some romance novels that name their heroes: Hunter! Wrangler! And all other nonsense. The second bad: why the gangsta rap? I have no problem with rap or gangsta rap, but I find it hard to believe that thousand year old vampires sit around listening to Biggie and Tupac...maybe that's just me. I know the point was to make them all badass and exotic, but come on. The thousand year old vampire warrior thing was enough to do it for me.

But saying all that, I actually really liked this book, and was excited to read the rest of the series once I finished. (I got the box set 50% at Barnes and Noble. I figured why not?). This first in the series sets everything up: The Black Dagger Brotherhood is the warrior's sect in vampire society. They spend their life hunting and defending the regular vampire population from a group of vampire hunters called the Lessers. The Lessening Society was created by a supernatural creature called the Omega in order to eradicate all vampires. These guys are created by removing their souls and their hearts and are ageless, and deadly. But they can be killed...as can the vampires. Both groups spend eternity trying to off the other. One of the things I liked reading this many vampire books is how each author makes it their own. Vampires in this world are not created by drinking and sharing blood, they are born as vampires. They are a separate species. They live, procreate and die like everyone else…though they live for thousands of years. There is a society as well with the royal family at top with lower rank royalty and ministers, and civilian vampires below. At the head of the society though, is the Scribe Virgin who created vampires as her one act of creation. As can be guessed, the Omega and the Scribe are each others opposites and adversaries. So we have the setup. The Brotherhood exists to protect all vampires from the Lessers, and prevent their species from going extinct. They are the soldiers…and all messed up in the head in some way…as can be expected.

Wrath is leader of the brotherhood as well as leader of all of vampire society. He is their last true blood vampire and King, but he has no interest in leading their people, only in leading the Brotherhood and taking vengeance on the Lessers who killed is family. He is an angry and scary person when he meets Beth. Beth is the half-human child of a high ranking vampire prince, Darius. But she has no idea of her heritage, or that vampire exists. But she was about to find out the hard way. Every vampire goes through his/her transition...where they come into their heritage and powers. Like Vampire puberty, only it happens when they all hit around 25. It is a dangerous change, and many die if they are not strong enough. Many of Darius's previous human children have not made it past their transitions. So Darius asks Wrath to watch over her and makes sure she lives by giving her his blood to add to her strength. This begins the adventure. Beth and Wrath hit it of a little too well, much too both their shock. Beth finds herself in a world she never knew existed and attached to one of the most dangerous members in this world. And Wrath finally finds someone that breaks past the wall he built around himself to keep people out. It was exciting...and hot, pretty darn hot....to read their various “adventures” together. While I felt it was a bit rushed about the end...I still found myself really into their relationship.

These books are not your typical dark romance. They have a dark and gritty edge to them that is not for the squeamish. There is brutality and murder and danger, it is not light and fluffy in any way (except some of the relationship building parts). This book is truly an adult book, and might be a bit much for some romance readers who like lighter fare. I enjoyed every minute of it though, and look forward to reading about the other brothers, who were pretty well fleshed out in this book as well...enough to make you attached to specific ones. The writer does a good job their wetting your appetite for more. I can't wait for Zsadist's story. He is interesting.

Overall grade: A-

Vampire Academy #3

2010-01-17T01:06:00.002-05:00

Shadow Kiss
By: Richelle Mead

Write up:

Is Rose's fate to kill the person she loves most? It's springtime at St. Vladimir's Academy, and Rose Hathaway is this close to graduation. Since Mason's death, Rose hasn't been feeling quite right. She has dark flashbacks in the middle of practice, can't concentrate in class, and has terrifying dreams about Lissa. But Rose has an even bigger secret . . . .She's in love with Dimitri. And this time, it's way more than a crush.

Then Strigoi target the academy in the deadliest attack in Moroi history, and Dimitri is taken. Rose must protect Lissa at all costs, but keeping her best friend safe could mean losing Dimitri forever...

I actually enjoyed this installment of the series better than the second, mainly because the second felt like it was just kind of a pit stop on the way to the main story. This book got fully into the action and answered some of the questions the first book posed: what is the significance of Rose being Shadow Kissed? What happened to Victor, how has his action changed or not changed Moroi society, and just how doomed are Rose and Dimitri. The answer to the last one being pretty doomed. But their relationship finally changes from the emo: we can't be together because of our duty stuff to something more. But just like any overly emotional and romantic teenage soap opera, just as they are happy in their love...tragedy strikes! Oh no! And of course this leads to Rose being even more cynical and upset, which can get annoying because this brings out her worst. It sets up the next book nicely though, and it promises to be a masterpiece of romantic angst and tragedy. As can be guessed...my favorite part of these books is not really the romance. I have not fully bought it emotionally. It feels very on dimensional to me. But I tend to read a decent amount of romance...so I'm picky. I like Rose as a character because she is pretty bad ass and strong. Yeah she has many faults...mainly that she can be annoying and petulant, but she's 17...so I excuse that, but other than that, she is a great character. I also like the society explored in these stories: the social structure and the inequalities built in. I feel like they could be deeper book if this portion was explored more. It is full of possibilities.

But what I liked most about this installment was the action. Every thread in the book was tied into the main climax and closing scenes of the book...so nothing was thrown away or left dangling. And there were lots of fighting and battle scenes. And there was also a lot of action when it came to Roses' power. Early in the book she starts to see ghosts, and of course many think she is going mad. But these incidents lead her to fully realize her capabilities and the benefits and downfalls of Lissa bringing her back from the dead. So all in all...it was a good read and kept me interested.

Overall grade B.

Vampire Academy

2010-01-08T11:02:00.000-05:00

I am on a mission to finish all the series book that I bought last year. My to-be-read books are starting to be ridiculous. So Last year my goal was to read again....this year...it is to finish this pile of books. To that end.

Frostbite (Vampire Academy Series #2)

By: Richelle Mead

Write up:

Rose loves Dimitri, Dimitri might love Tasha, and Mason would die to be with Rose...

It's winter break at St. Vladimir's, but Rose is feeling anything but festive. A massive Strigoi attack has put the school on high alert, and now the Academy's crawling with Guardians—including Rose's hard-hitting mother, Janine Hathaway. And if handto- hand combat with her mom wasn't bad enough, Rose's tutor Dimitri has his eye on someone else, her friend Mason's got a huge crush on her, and Rose keeps getting stuck in Lissa's head while she's making out with her boyfriend, Christian! The Strigoi are closing in, and the Academy's not taking any risks....This year, St. Vlad's annual holiday ski trip is mandatory.

But the glittering winter landscape and the posh Idaho resort only create the illusion of safety. When three friends run away in an offensive move against the deadly Strigoi, Rose must join forces with Christian to rescue them. But heroism rarely comes without a price...

The installment of the series, as shown in the description, was more focused on the various characters love lives than the more action packed first book. And as they they are all teenagers, the melodrama is strong. Rose spends most of the book being annoyed/hurt/angry about Dimitri. He has been offered the opportunity to be the Guardian of a royal with fringe benefits. Since Damphirs cannot have children with each other, Dimitri has the choice of being with Tasha and making a new generation of guardians. Needless to say, Rose is not pleased even though her chances with Dimitri weren't exactly high to begin with what with him being older and she 17. So she decides to move on with someone who obviously likes and worships her: Mason. But her heart is not really in it with Mason and she starts to feel bad about leading him on. Her wishy-washyess annoys him and me throughout the book. And of course, Lissa and Christian develop their relationship further...and remain hopelessly sappy about it. So the reader spends a lot of time experiencing Roses angst about her love life and losing her best friend to Christian. At points it becomes just as annoying and tiring as when you were the one in High School going through that stuff. It was no fun then...hasn't improved while reliving it through books.

Developing of course is the story of the increasing and bold attacks by the Strigoi. And by all appearances it looks like they have been getting help from Humans...which is unheard of and scary as Humans don't have the same weakness as them: they can walk in the sun for one. Also unheard of is Strigoi working together in any manner, but both are happening. They are slowly working through the royal families in an effort to destroy them and weaken Moroi society. The attacks make everyone realize that they way the Moroi have been doing things may have to be changed if they want to survive. Some want to fight and use their magic, which is forbidden for anything other than helping people. Others want to bunker down. This leads to the main trauma/action of the book when 3 students run away in a futile and dumb quest to destroy Strigoi, and Rose and Christian follow to stop them. They get way more than they bargained for of course, since they are novices and teenagers, and Rose comes out of the experience with a better understanding of the life she has chosen to lead as a Guardian and the horrors that are waiting just around the corner.

This installment was not as good as the first book, in my opinion, but it was still enjoyable in parts. It seems to me to be more of a bridge book. It developed some of the relationships and characters further, and based on some of the reading clues, seems to lay the foundation for the next book. Some small asides about Lissa and her control of her power lead one to believe that something is afoot and building. Lissa is not out of the wood s yet. And the introduction of some new characters give us good hints that Rose's angst about her romantic or lack of a romantic life is not over. So this book seemed more like a small stop over before the real action begins.

Overall grade: B-

Year in Review

2010-01-02T21:38:00.005-05:00

I mainly started this blog to give myself a push to get back into reading. Growing up, I was not seen without my nose in a book for any long period of time. At home, in class, on the subway...whenever I got a chance, I was reading something. I loved to read. I would skip dinner and not go outside because I was too busy trying to finish my latest book. I could read 2 books a day if I really got going. But after I got out of school and started working, I could barely finish a book. I would start one, get distracted with life, put it down, and it would sit and wait...never to be picked up again. I missed my bookworm days...books were like my friends growing up. My life was not in anyway exciting, but with a book you can travel anywhere and be anyone. I missed that. So I decided to get on on it. And this blog is my way of keeping myself on track. My personal book journal, that I can look back on and see my progress. After every book finished..I would come here and write down my thoughts, mainly for me. If someone else read it and wanted to join in...hey that was a plus. So after a couple years where I was lucky to finish 3 books...last year, in 2009, since I started documenting my progress here, I have read 86 books!

I feel proud. Out of those 86 books, most were enjoyable, but a few really stood out. Here they are (not in any specific order):

A+

(5 Books.)

1. Firethorn
By Sarah Micklem

2. Goose Girl
By Shannon Hale

3. Seize the Fire
by Laura Kinsale

4. Lord of Scoundrels
By Loretta Chase

5. The Curse of Chalion
By Lois McMaster Bujold

These were all my immediate feelings after finishing the books. An interesting collection.

A

(12 Books/Series)

1.Mistborn Series
By Brandon Sanderson

2. Graceling
By: Kristin Cashore

3. The King of Attolia
By Megan Whalen Turner

4. Faefever (Fever Series #3)
By: Karen Moning

5. Bound By Your Touch
By: Meredith Duran

6. The Demon's Lexicon
By: Sarah Rees Brennan

7. The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie
By Jennifer Ashley

8. Flowers from the Storm
By Laura Kinsale

9.The Spymaster's Lady
By Joanna Bourne

10.The Magicians and Mrs Quent
By Galen Beckett

11. The Sharing Knife #1: Beguilment
By: Lois McMaster Bujold

12. Scarlett and the White Wolf
By Kirby Crow

There were a couple A- books as well.

A-
(10 Books/Series)

1. Beautiful Creatures
By: Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl.

2. The Queen of Attolia
By Megan Whalen Turner

3. Darkest Powers Series
By: Kelly Armstrong

4. Inda Series
By Sherwood Smith

5. What Happens in London
By: Julia Quinn

6. Not Quite a Husband
By: Sherry Thomas.

7. Wicked Lovely
By: Melissa Marr

8. Passage (The Sharing Knife #3)
By: Lois McMaster Bujold

9. Archangel
By Sharon Shinn

10.Melusine
by Sarah Monette

But these were the ones I enjoyed the most, or had the most bang to me during and after reading them. I hope every year I can increase my numbers. This journal was a good idea.

Delving into the land of Paranormal Romance

2009-12-27T23:25:00.005-05:00

I have read a couple books classified as fantasy, that are pretty much romance books, and a couple of romance books classified as romance but are basically fantasy...very little romance to show for itself. Sometimes the books are interchangeable. I am still confused on how people choose to classify these things...but it seems to be that if you are a female writer, who writes fantasy...you somehow end up in the romance section. They just call what you do "paranormal romance." Frankly...it reads like Fantasy to me. But not always...I mean really...what is the main difference between what Laura K Hamilton writes and say Diana Gabaldon and Karen Moning? But this is a whole political discussion that would take several blogs. Anyway...this time I purposely pulled one off the shelf that is without a doubt a paranormal romance.

Write up:

This fantasy-romance debut features faerie king Rain Tairen Soul, a man tormented by age-old grief: a thousand years ago, the woman he loved was slain in battle, and in his rage he laid waste to half the world. Now his people are dying out and the evil mages of Eld are rising again. When Rain hears the call of his lost soul mate, Ellysetta, he journeys to the neighboring kingdom to find her; when he claims a woodcarver's daughter as his mate, he scandalizes the nobility of her country and rouses the interest of Eld's wicked wizards, who come seeking her in order to get at Rain.

I loved the world created in this book. It is a world made up of three Kingdoms, one being The Fading Lands...home of the Fey. No mortal, unless invited by the Fey has ever went through the veil that separates the Fey homeland from the rest of the world...and none have been passed it for generations. Rain, the current Fey King and Tairen Soul is pretty much a recluse when it comes to the rest of the world. He has other worries besides the mortals and what they are up to: his race is dying as many of the women can no longer give birth, and the magical race, sister to their race, the Tairen are dying as well. Rain is the last Tairen Soul...a fey who is part Fey and part Tairen, a large, magical, flying cat-like creature. At least this is what it sounds like from the description...and the picture on the book cover. And in all of a history a Tairen Soul has never had a Truemate: basically someone destined to be their mate... the other half of their soul...literally. A truemate is a bond that is both mental and physical and if anything happens to a Fey's truemate...that Fey can be hurt as well. But while seeking the answer to how to save his dying race...he is given a vision of a girl and he set out into the mortal world to find her.

Ellie is a plain woodcarver’s daughter. She grew up standing out, but in all the wrong ways: for being plain, for being from lowly beginnings, so being an orphan, and for strange things always happening around her. She is taken in by her parents as a baby, when they find her on the side of the road and was raised to fear magic as evil and the Fey as dangerous. But, despite this, she still develops a fascination for the Fey and most of all Rain Tairen Soul who once destroyed the world for love. So when she hears he is coming to her country after centuries of self-inflicted exile...she of course makes sure she is where she needs to get a glimpse of him. Much to her surprise and his...he recognizes her as his truemate and claims her. From then on her life becomes more dangerous: her new fortune sparks jealously in some, fear in other, and in the land of Eld...careful plotting to destroy the Fey and Rain Tairen Soul. Ellie realizes she is more than she thought she was...as do many of her friends and enemies. And in the end we find out an interesting secret about Ellie birth that could cause major issues in the next book.

I liked the Fantasy portion of the book. The world building was great and the history of the land well thought out and realized. I liked that different myths and legends were slowly revealed over time...and not plopped down on you all in one big exposition swoop. The only thing that bugged me was the names. I hate the long, overly complicated names. I know this is a new land and the point was to make it sound exotic...but really. All that was not necessary and led to confusion. I also liked the mystery surrounding Ellie and her abilities and how it was slowly built up right till the end...and still not revealed to everyone...expect the reader. This builds the drama up for the next book and it makes you, the reader, watch it unfold with more information that the characters. This approach to suspense can be satisfying as well as the one used in other books that keep the mystery even from the reader. This was revealed just like a Soap Opera...where the watcher usually knows more than everyone in the story. The only part of the book that kind of dragged for me, and I did not fully buy was the romance. I have read bonded soul mate stories before....mainly fanfiction...and have been able to really believe that despite this circumstance, these two people really do love and care for each other. I did not really feel it here. The union still had an air of two people forceed together and reacting from their bond rather than each other. Did they really like each other..or was it the bond? I did not feel the connection between the two characters...no matter how much they claimed to feel it and went on for pages in flowery prose about it. Maybe in the next books once they are fully married/bonded and gotten to know each other more I would be rooting for them. But this book...their romance was secondary to me, compared with the other things. So it was a nice read, entertain. But not the greatest.

So overall grade: B-

Easy reading romance and mystery

2009-12-18T00:14:00.003-05:00

Aurelia
By: Anne Osterlund

Write up:

Princess Aurelia is next in line to rule the kingdom of Tyralt, but she would rather be one of the common folk, free to learn and roam and . . . not marry the next tyrannical prince that comes courting. Naturally, the king wants Aurelia to marry for political power. Aurelia wants to marry for love. And someone in the kingdom wants her . . . dead. Assigned to investigate and protect Aurelia is Robert, the son of the king's former royal spy and one of Aurelia's oldest friends. As Aurelia and Robert slowly uncover clues as to who is threatening her, their friendship turns to romance. With everything possible on the line—her life, her kingdom, her heart—Aurelia is forced to take matters into her own hands, no matter the cost.

This was a nice, easy, afternoon read.

It was basically a romance novel/fairy tale. Aurelia is a typical female character that you find in these types of tales: a strong willed, plucky young heroine that doesn't follow the rule and has her own way, that all the regular folk’s love. But with all her pluck...she is trapped in the life her birth as a princess limits her too. She can't go anywhere without a group of guards following her (though she has mastered the art of sneaking out); she can't have any romance as gossip is the only pastime most people in the palace practice, and most of all...she can't marry who she chooses because as heir her marriage must be political. She yearns for a broader life, but she is stuck being a pretty accessory that only goes to parties and does what she is told. But because she is just coasting through life...she does not notice enough around her, and misses the many intrigues.. And what she misses, also because it is being hidden from her by her father, is that someone has been making numerous attempts on her life. After Robert comes back, and after another failed attempt, Aurelia gets suspicious of his activities, and she finds out the real reason for his return to the palace and that her life is in danger. She and Robert immediately suspect her stepmother, in some attempt to make her daughter, and Aurelia's step sister, Melody Queen instead of Aurelia. They begin to investigate and plan a trap to catch this assign. But both of them are surprised when they finally find answers, and both experience a great loss: one a loss of a trust, and another a loss of life...both lose family.

The romance of this book was handled very nicely. It was not the main focus on the book, but it was a nice gentle thread that was woven in along with the rest of the story. I loved the scene when Robert finally revealed his true feelings. I found it very romantic and realistic. I also enjoyed the mystery of the killer and how it was slowly revealed...though by the time you reach the major reveal...you kind of get a good idea of who it is. So it was slightly predictable. Overall it was an ice read and entertaining, but it wasn't great. Good though.

Grade: B-

Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception

2009-12-10T15:02:00.004-05:00

Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception

by Maggie Stiefvater

Write up:

Sixteen-year-old Deirdre Monaghan is a painfully shy but prodigiously gifted musician. She's about to find out she's also a cloverhand—one who can see faeries. Deirdre finds herself infatuated with a mysterious boy who enters her ordinary suburban life, seemingly out of thin air. Trouble is, the enigmatic and gorgeous Luke turns out to be a gallowglass—a soulless faerie assassin. An equally hunky—and equally dangerous—dark faerie soldier named Aodhan is also stalking Deirdre. Sworn enemies, Luke and Aodhan each have a deadly assignment from the Faerie Queen. Namely, kill Deirdre before her music captures the attention of the Fae and threatens the Queen's sovereignty. Caught in the crossfire with Deirdre is James, her wisecracking but loyal best friend. Deirdre had been wishing her life weren't so dull, but getting trapped in the middle of a centuries-old faerie war isn't exactly what she had in mind . . .

This description is kind of crap, but nevermind, that as it gets to the basics of the tale. I liked that, like the Melissa Marr series, this is a dark faerie tale that uses pretty authentic lore to tell its tale. In this story the Fae are not these fluffy and bright creatures that are good and grant wishes, or are cute and loveable like Tinkerbell. They are scary creatures, despite their beauty, or maybe because of their beauty. They have no conscience and are only out for their own entertainment...and only see humans as playthings...like little children who capture butterflies and then when they get bored...pulls their wings of just to see what would happen. If they take notice of you, it is best to run because it can only lead to badness. Deirdre finds this out the hard way when she finds herself in the center of their attention.

It starts when a, dangerously good looking, guy named Luke starts to basically stalk her. He shows up at her music gigs and plays with her, and she seems to show up at her house other places when she most needs him. From the start she thinks there is something odd about him, other than his stalking, she already begins to suspects that he is not quite who he says he is and not part of the world. But she is drawn to him in every way possible, and despite the warnings everywhere...she is like a fly to his honey. When he shows up, so does a lot of other strange people and creatures: she practically trips over four leaf clovers everywhere she goes, see weird and sinister white rabbits following her, and she gets attacked by strange cat creatures. She pretty much rightly guesses that it is not only Luke who is out of the ordinary. She finds that she can do things other can't and because of her power she has gotten the notice of the Faerie Queen...and not for her benefit. She is basically being hunted and she soon finds that she can't even trust Luke...and her family and friends are also in danger.

I enjoyed the romance aspect to the story. Most of us can relate to being drawn to someone even though we know we shouldn't, and that draw and appeal of that first real physical connection with someone you like. The buildup of Luke and Dede was very good. I loved the relationship between Dede and her best friend James...and loved James. He needs more appreciation, as great character. But I was a bit confused at time when it came to what was going on with the magic and some parts of the story. We learn that her family has a history with the Fae, including Dede's aunt... but I would have liked to learn more about it to give me some more insight into what was driving those characters. I thought too many loose ends remained loose. But I see that there is a sequel so perhaps that is gone into more. Though I would have liked some things picked up and explained more in this book. So overall I enjoyed the story and characters and enjoyed it a good bit...but I was not able to get into as much as some.

Overall: B

Beautiful Creatures, Beautiful Book

2009-12-04T11:27:00.002-05:00

Beautiful Creatures
By: Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl.

Write up:

There were no surprises in Gatlin County.
We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere.
At least, that's what I thought.
Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.
There was a curse.
There was a girl.
And in the end, there was a grave.

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

I have to say that I loved this book from the first chapter. From the beginning the writers did a great job in pulling you right into the world that they created, andthere was this atmosphere of mystery and magic and some menace that literally oozed out of the pages. The book starts with a quote:

"There were only two kinds of people in our town. 'The Stupid and the stuck,' my father affectionately classified our neighbors. 'The ones who are bound to stay or too dumb to go. everyone else find a way out.' There was no question which he was, but I never had the courage to ask why."

And this summed up the main story of the book really. Ethan lives in a small, southern town where everyone knows everyone, and no one's business is their own. His family and the families that populate the town have lived there for generations upon generations, and if they go back far enough, all of them are related in some way. Nothing ever changes. He hangs out with the same people everyday, goes to the same shops his parents went to, the same school his parents went to, and even sleeps in the same bed that generations of Wate men has slept in. The same families control everything in town, the same girls always win the beauty contests, and everyone falls into their predictable and predetermined roles. But Ethan wants out, as a reader you can feel his restlessness, frustration and claustrophobia. He is ready to leave his boring town for bigger and better things, and is counting down the days. But, at the moment we meet him...all he has are his books as means as escape...

But, despite its sameness, his town is not exactly normal, as the reader find out. The town is full of strange and quirky people, as many small towns are. One of the books many strengths is the humor and love in which it's treats these crazy cast of characters...even when they are not that likable. Ethan's family consists of his father, who never leaves his office and walks around like a ghost in his own house ever since Ethan's mom died the year before. He is basically taken care of by his family friend and town mother figure, Amma, a loud southern woman, who reads Tarot cards for the town residents, and leaves charms all over Ethan house to protect him from spirits. She is constantly threatening to take him over her lap and beat him, or stuffing full of good Southern food and pies...made from scratch as any self- respecting Southern woman would make it. He has three ancient aunts that have been married like ten times between them, who are always taking in stray rats and dogs and squirrels and each are either deaf or blind or both. And they are also the towns record keepers...they may be old...but their memory is good, so don't try to test it. The rest of the town consists of various members of DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) and Sisters of the Confederacy and the biggest event is the yearly Civil War battle reenactment. Or as Town people call it...the War of Northern Aggression. Then there is Macon Melchizedek Ravenwood AKA Old Man Ravenwood...the town hermit and rumored crazy serial babykiller. He has not left his house the entire time most people in town has been alive. In fact...no one can recall ever seeing him, and local legend is that Old Ravenwood Palntation is haunted so no one goes there. It is when Old Man Ravenwood's niece Lena moves in with him and joins Ethan school...that Gatlin becomes even more interesting than it has ever been.

From the start Ethan is drawn to Lena, and not only for normal teenage by reasons...though those are there. But because Ethan knows her right away. For months he had been having nightmares about a girl...who he loses and dies in his dream every night despite all that he does to save her...and Lena is that girl. Not only that...she seems to know him as well...and they can speak to each other in their minds. He is amazed and scared, but it does not stop him from trying to get to the bottom of the matter. Nothing ever happened in Gatlin, but it looked like something was happening now and he was the center of it. They are drawn to each other more and more, and that causes problems in Town. Lena is a stranger to them, and worse, she is Old Man Ravenwood's niece. She is not one of them, and outsider as far as the yare concerned. She is mercilessly tormented in school by the local popular girls who everyone follows like sheep. And it does not help that when she is cornered strange things happen. And because Ethan hangs out with her, he becomes an outcast as well. And even Amma is telling Ethan to stay away from her and gets all mysterious about it when questioned. Rather than being discouraged, Ethan takes it upon himself to find out what is going on, and in doing so...realizes that his town is not as boring and dull as he thought. In fact, Gatlin has more secrets and mysteries to hide than he ever thought possible. The more he uncovers, the more he realizes that some of the people in his town are practically strangers to him, despite his knowing them all his life. Lena is not the only one who was strange in his town. And many in town were working to keep something from him and Lena. He soon finds himself on a quest to save Lena not only from the local high school girls and their mothers who have targeted her for destruction, but some a mysterious force/magic that has rules over his town for generations.

This book was really very good. I loved all the characters. They were full of humor and mystery, I laughed many times while reading this...even when things were getting dark..because the characters are so great. I loved Ethan for his sense of humor and his bravery. I loved Lena's determination...though her whining annoyed me at times. But she is a 15 year old girl under a lot of stress....so I cut her some slack. And most of all I loved Amma, who reminded me so much of my grandmother and aunts and every other crazy, strong females I have met in my life. That is the strength of this book: the characters and the world created. My only complaint would be that some of the magic was confusing and had me lost.

Overall grade: A-

Continuing my young adult reading Spree

2009-11-29T21:54:00.006-05:00

The Red Necklace: A story of the French Revolution
By: Sally Gardner

Write up:

An exciting, romantic novel set against the feverish backdrop of the French Revolution.

Clever and head-turningly attractive, fourteen-year old Yann is an orphan who has been raised in Paris by Têtu, a dwarf with secrets he has yet to reveal to the gypsy boy. It's the winter of 1789, and the duo have been working for a vain magician named Topolain. On the night when Topolain's vanity brings his own death, Yann's life truly begins. That's the night he meets shy Sido, an heiress with an ice-cold father, a young girl who has only known loneliness until now. Though they have the shortest of conversations, an attachment is born that will influence both their paths.

And what paths those will be! Revolution is afoot in France, and Sido is being used as a pawn. Only Yann will dare to rescue her, and he'll be up against a fearful villain who goes by the name Count Kalliovski, but who has often been called the devil. It'll take all of Yann's newly discovered talent to unravel the mysteries of his past and Sido's and to fight the devilish count.

I saw this book at the bookstore and picked it up on a whim because of the pretty cover and the promise of some romance and magic. I did get some romance and a good bit of magic, but I think the best part of this book was the history and atmosphere. We open the book with Yann and his friends heading to a party which they were invited to by a marquis's special mysterious guest, the Count Kalliovski. Their fame as performers is wide throughout France, as is their most famous act...their talking automaton. The Count wants to see a special performance, and the marquis always gives the Count what he wants. Yann, before the party, receives an ominous warning/vision about their fate and decides that going to this party is bad news. But of course they go and when they meet the Count, Yann's companions recognize him from their past...to their own peril. After the death of Topolain, Yann and Tetu try to escape the Maquis's house though his servants quarters, and there Yann meets the marquis daughter, who he hides away because he finds her plain and annoying, Sido. She helps him escape, and from that night on their fates are intertwined.

The marquis is in debt to the Count, as is half of the French aristocracy. He gives him money in exchange for whatever he wants, usually secrets only they know. The aristocracy is just blindly going along their own way, not seeing or believing that any trouble was really brewing with the common people, and when things become plain that, indeed, a revolution is afoot...that is when the Count calls in his debts. He traps the marquis, who is forever in debt due to his extravagant parties and his expensive shoe buckle collection, and cannot pay. But he has Sido, who is left the entire fortune by her grandfather on the day she marries. The Count demands the marquis give him Sido in marriage, and complete access to her fortune..or else.

When others who owe the Count start showing up dead, we learn what the "or else" turns out to be. So we have three set of actions going on: Sido struggling with a father who does not value her and wants to marry her off, to bury his debts, to a man she fears; Yann, who is sent away to London after the death of Topolain and vows revenge for the death of his friend and the removal of the only family he knows; and we have the growing danger of the revolution slowly building in the streets. With the world falling apart around them, Yann and Sido have to find a way to not only survive France, but the schemes and manipulations of the Count, who has no mercy, as well. I thought the subtle build up and growth of the revolution was handled very well. Through the marquis we got a good idea of what the mind of the aristocrats were like and how they viewed the growing threat around them: they throwing more parties and being blindly arrogant. Through Yann and Sido, we got a good idea of how the layman felt about what was going on...so we got a good idea of how the revolution began and why...and how it went wrong. We follow Sido as witnesses the Revolution first hand. We follow her family's fall from their fancy manor to the jail cells they were thrown in as traitors to the Revolution. We see the violence that was used against many innocent people, from both ends, and got a good sense of the chaos and danger of the times. The way the story is told, you feel sympathy not only for the common people, but for the aristocrats as well...many of whom are only guilty of being born into high society., and how died for it. The terror, confusion and panic people must of felt was well presented in the book. That portion of the book felt very real. As historical fiction about the build up of the French Revolution alone, and how it affected the people without all the glory, songs myths, and legends...just reality...this book is excellent. It is the other parts of it I had some issues with.

Yann and Sido's romance to me was not really all that believable. I could understand them meeting and clinging to each other due to their shared trauma...but I thought that their relationship could have been built upon some more. In fact, I think a lot of the characters could have been built on more. They felt too one dimensional to me. Like they were paper characters...but who had not fully come alive. I wanted more depth. Because of this...I could not get too emotionally invested in the book as I could have. Also I thought the magic could have been explained a bit more. Yann has abilities, but other than being a Gypsy, there was no real talk about why? How he handles it and controls it? How it affects him? It is just there like an afterthought...so it kind of felt tacked on and unnecessary. The magic aspect of it...really was not needed, I think. Though it did add an extra menace to the Count and give the story a little more punch to appeal to me...if it was going to be in there...I think it should have played a bigger role and should have been given more focus. So, while I did like the book, some of these issues prevented me from really loving it.

Overall grade: B-

Vampire Academy..another teen series.

2009-11-27T10:57:00.006-05:00

Seriously...teen readers have it so good these days.

Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy Series #1)
By Richelle Mead.
Write up:

St. Vladimir's Academy isn't just any boarding school—it's a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They've been on the run, but now they're being dragged back to St. Vladimir's—the very place where they're most in danger. . . .

Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy's ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi—the world's fiercest and most dangerous vampires—make Lissa one of them forever.

It is always fascinating to me how so many people can write about vampires, and all come up with so many different way to do it. In this book there are two different sets of vampires: the Moroi, who are living vampires. They eat and age and procreate like anyone else. And then there are the Strigoi, the dead vampire...who fit more traditionally into what we normally see as vampires. And there is also one more group, the dhampir. Dhampirs are human and Moroi mixed children, or dhampir and Moroi mixed children depending on the person. Because of their genes they are usually larger, stronger than the Moroi, but they also lack the magic most Moroi have...so they are still considered less than by most. In this society the dhampirs, due to their physical strength, are used as guardians to the Moroi...bodyguards. Most guardians are men, but few are women like Rose. We learn that most dhampir women are basically used as outlets of lust for Moroi men because dhampirs can only breed with Moroi and not with each other (and Moroi with Moroi). So they are used as breeding machines and whores. And because they also, like humans, get addicted to the bite of the Moroi, they are used as "feeders" for Moroi men. This means that female Dhampirs all have to fight the stigma of being viewed as whores and just objects of sex. Because dhampirs cannot breed with each other, relationships between them are seen as pointless. And even more frowned upon are relationship between guardians...whose main duty is protecting the Moroi. The Moroi are hunted regularly by the Strigoi and are fact becoming endangered...so protecting them is top priority. The Moroi are privileged and protected...especially the royal set, and they act that way and take full advantage of their rank. In this high school setting of the book...you can see this can lead to lots of conflict and angst. There is set social structure and every is very aware: The Queen-the families of royal blood-Moroi not of royal blood-dhampirs-Strigoi (even though some used to be Moroi. Strigoi are either made by force or some Moroi do it voluntarily). The structure is set and the Royals make sure people know their place.

Rose is a Dhampir. Her mom is one of the few Dhampir women guardians and very respected by many. She does not know who her father is but she knows he is a Moroi male. He mother sends her to the academy to become a guardian and that is where she meets Lissa, who is of a royal Moroi family. The for ma tight bond from the start. At the opening of the book we find them on the run. For two years they had been running from the Academy and their society due to a reason that is slowly unfolded throughout the book. Rose is brass and brave and tries her best to fight, though outnumbered, to keep Lissa safe and not back at the school where she thinks she is in danger. You realize early that she would do anything for Lissa and it is due to her that they survived so long outside of the protection of the school. She is a sarcastic, loud and brave and throws herself into every conflict without a thought, but under all of that boldness she is also very vulnerable and fragile. But of course they are captured and brought back to the school. They are both sent back to their duties of their society and back into the lion's den of politics at Vampire Academy. They plan to lay low, and not draw attention to themselves and escape again when they get a chance. But that falls apart when someone seems to target Lissa and terrorizes her on a nightly basis by leaving slaughtered animals in her bed. Lissa slowly starts to unravel and we see why Rose is so protective of her. And due to the viciousness of teenagers, Rose is slandered and attacked by people jealous of her and Lissa's bond and closeness. We find out that Rose and Lissa have a strange kind of bond where Rose can feel all of Lissa's emotions and sometimes even go into her head and see what she sees. This is one of the many secrets they keep.

As the story unfolds you have some of the usual teen angst: forbidden love, sex, lies, fights, parent issues and bad guys. And the underlying mystery driving Rose and of Lissa's initial escape from the Academy and their fears. The book was very nicely paced and grabs you from the start, I practically read it in one sitting. Even in this fantastic setting, you relate and identify with the characters very well...because ultimately they are facing issues most of us have faced...just in a grander scale. Rose is a great character, and even the characters I hated..I enjoyed because they made sense, and the world created is fascinating. I really enjoyed this considering I was kind of reluctant to start another vampire series. Very fun read and I look forward to reading the rest of the series.
Grade: B+

Mistborn Series #3

2009-11-25T09:48:00.007-05:00

The Hero Of Ages (Mistborn Series #3)
By Brandon Sanderson

Write up:

Who is the Hero of Ages?

To end the Final Empire and restore freedom, Vin killed the Lord Ruler. But as a result, the Deepness---the lethal form of the ubiquitous mists---is back, along with increasingly heavy ashfalls and ever more powerful earthquakes. Humanity appears to be doomed.

Having escaped death at the climax of The Well of Ascension only by becoming a Mistborn himself, Emperor Elend Venture hopes to find clues left behind by the Lord Ruler that will allow him to save the world. Vin is consumed with guilt at having been tricked into releasing the mystic force known as Ruin from the Well. Ruin wants to end the world, and its near omniscience and ability to warp reality make stopping it seem impossible. She can’t even discuss it with Elend lest Ruin learn their plans!

Never have I been more satisfied with the ending of a fantasy tome. Series books in fantasy, first tend to go on forever with no end in sight; and two, when they do end, after all that buildup you are left feeling a lot of the time like: "that's it?" The Mistborn Series, I'm happy to say did neither of these thing to me. It stayed to its promised 3 books, and the ending wrapped everything up so nicely and answered so many questions that when I closed the book I felt justified in reading till the end. The ending while predictable in one sense: the happy ending, was still able to surprise me in another: who survived and who ended up being The Hero of Ages. When you read as much fantasy tomes as I do, it becomes easy to predict what will happen next in these books. You become a bit jaded. But this surprised me. I did not see some of the revelations coming. Not many writers can accomplish that with me anymore.

This installment begins one year after Vin released the creature Ruin from the Well of Ascension. The ash is falling heavier than before; the Mist comes earlier, stays longer, and seems to be attacking certain people; there are more and more frequent earthquakes; and on top of all that their is unrest in almost every Kingdom. Of course the culprit for most of these things is Ruin, whose main objective is to destroy the world and create chaos. He can influence anyone's mind under the right circumstances, and he makes sure the circumstances are right most of the time; and he can read and manipulate anything that isn't written on metal; or hear any conversations you are having. Which makes it hard for you to plan to defeat him. Needless to say, no one thinks he can be beaten and he wins many battles. But Elend is determined to save as much people as possible, with the help of Vin and his loyal men. He and his team have found Caverns under every major city, each one filled it different essential elements needed for survival..along with messages written by the old Lord Ruler. Many of the messages gives clues that would help them in their fight against Ruin. It seems the Lord Ruler prepared these in case of his death and the release of Ruin. So Elend spend most of the time securing those cities, adding them to his Empire and collecting the supplies He doesn't know if Vin can stop the end of the world, but he is making sure the people survive no matter what happens. Vin spends her time trying to figure out the mystery of why the Mist was killing people and who Ruin was and how to stop him from destroying the world. But the more they try...the closer the world destruction becomes, and more and more of them are convinced they can't win. Up until the very end of the book...you were not too sure that she would succeed...and after the end of the book..whether she did or not is still a good question.

This installment answers many questions: Who is the Hero of Ages? What is the Mist? Why is it attacking people? Why is the world covered in ash? Where did the other species in the world come from and what is their purpose? Who created the world? It also, surprisingly, redeems the villain of the first book in a way. We see the Lord Ruler as someone caught up in something bigger than him, and doing his best to fight it and stay one step ahead. I would say that is one of the bigger surprises of the book. Many characters that you were introduced to in the first book, that you thought were minor, turn out to be more important than ever thought. And the major characters...well...this is where the ending of the book becomes bittersweet. Good, but bittersweet. I enjoyed this series very much.

Grade for Book: B+

Grade for Series: A

Some romance

2009-11-16T13:16:00.004-05:00

I decided to recharge my small lull in reading with some easy, fun romance. So I dug an old picked a picked up months ago, but never got up the desire to read before. Hopefully this will jump start my reading again...as life conspires to distract me from my books.

Write up:

CAUGHT BETWEEN DUTY AND DESIRE ...

Sophie, the Duchess of Calton, has finally moved on. After seven years mourning the loss of her husband, Garrett, at Waterloo, she has married his cousin and heir, Tristan. Sophie gives herself to him body and soul... until the day Garrett returns from the Continent, demanding his title, his lands-and his wife.

TORN BETWEEN TWO HUSBANDS ...

Now Sophie must choose between her first love and her new love, knowing that no matter what, her choice will destroy one of the men she adores. Will it be Garrett, her childhood sweetheart, whose loss nearly destroyed her once already? Or will it be Tristan, beloved friend turned lover, who supported her through the last, dark years and introduced her to a passion she had never known? As her two husbands battle for her heart, Sophie finds herself immersed in a dangerous game-where the stakes are not only love ... but life and death.

A HINT OF WICKED

The description of this story really intrigued me, and I was anticipating a good romance read that did not follow the normal pattern of most romance books. Reading romance you come to expect the basic plot lines and story twists, so every once in a while it is nice to break out of that pattern and be surprised. Most of the time it is very satisfying if done correctly. This book was good in that it has a pretty unique plot for historical romance, and on top of that...it has a secondary storyline that also strays from norm.

Sophie's first love and husband is missing and presumed dead at the battle of Waterloo. For many years she has searched for him in hopes that he will turn up, and throughout those years Tristan, Garret's close childhood friend and hers, remained by her side. After seven years of hoping, Sophie finally has Garrett declared dead and decides to move on. Tristan also lost his wife in those years to childbirth...so they are both now free to act on their feelings for each other and they marry. The book opens a year later when a night of love making is interrupted by none other than Garrett himself. He is pissed off and angry...and a bit unstable...but he is her husband and intends to reassert himself. Tristan, who has always loved Sophie since childhood but did not pursue her due to Garrett, refuses to give her up and vows to fight for her even when his marriage to her is annulled as illegal by the courts. Sophie is torn between the two men: One who was her first love and whom she pined for for years..and one who she loves just as much and who she has experienced more freedom with than ever with her life.

But we also see from the start that something is amiss with Garrett. He is erratic and angry. He shows up with a man named Fisk who he claims saved his life in battle and who found him years later and brought him back to himself. He had lost his memory for years and Fisk nursed him back to health and took care of him. He gives Fisk unprecedented access to his finances and life and listens to him above all others. He also treats Sophie like a prisoner in her own home...out of fear that she will run off and his possessive nature. And despite their many years of friendship, he treats Tristan like a criminal who stole his life, the reader gets and idea though, that he is working off false information. As the book progresses the mystery of Fisk and his role in Garrets illness and state of mind is revealed as both Sophie and Tristan start to doubt him. It is unraveled throughout the book, and till the end of the book...Fisk's story is still not really fully resolved.

The main complaint with the book is the Fisk angle. I liked the mystery and suspense portion of the book ...and that storyline was interesting. But I felt that more time was spent exploring and hashing out this portion of the story at the expense of the romance. Yeah I like when romance books do things differently...but I still expect the romance to me the main focus. With all the time spent on the mystery of Fisk, I felt like I did not get a good enough read of who the two men Sophie was stuck between were. So when she made her decision..it felt kind of random to me. I felt more time should have been spent building up the relationship between the three and convincing the reader that Sophie had reason to be torn. I did not fully buy it...especially with the way Garrett was acting in some portions of the book. I wanted to see both men competing for her and showing why they were worth the fight, and why she was so loyal to one or the other...instead we just got more focus on them solving the mystery of Fisk and chasing bad guys. So at the end..it felt a bit abrupt. I felt like I was reading more of a mystery than a romance.

Overall grade: B-

One of the Best Young Adult Books

2009-10-28T21:25:00.005-04:00

Graceling
By: Kristin Cashore
Write up:

Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight—she’s a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s thug.

When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change. She never expects to become Po’s friend. She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace—or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

Wow. That the only word I thought when I finished this. I have read a lot of young adult fiction this year, and I can say this is one of the best. I enjoyed a good bit of the books I read, but this, along with the Attolia series is one of the deeper YA novels out there. It had a lot of story and dept of content and characters. The characters in this book are both very 3 dimensional. The characters fit the usual types in books, ass-kicking female heroine; smooth talking, fighting, and good looking male. But both characters are also much more. This is ultimately a story about how both characters serve as a catalyst to each other in finding themselves: their strength and true capability and their potential for love and friendship. They grow and get stronger throughout the journey before our eyes.

When we first met Kasta she is doing what she had been doing since she was a child: playing the role as thug for her Uncle the King. He is King of one of seven chaotic Kingdoms in this world, and he uses her as a threat against people to keep them in line and himself in power. She views herself as no more than a tough and killer...because that is how she has been treated her whole life. She has grown up in a world where she is feared and avoided...where she is treated short of an animal and only given respect and acknowledgement when she did the Kings bidding. So she has no real friends except for the young Prince and a few of his companions. So she is harsh and wild and distrustful of people. Then one night, on one of the few missions she does on her own, she meets Po.

Po, when she meets him one night as she was trying to escape the Castle of the Sunder King, is a rather dashing, good-looking, good-natured guy. He tries to prevent her, she thinks, from escaping and they falling into wary conversation. She assumes he is like her, Graced with the skill of killing. She is intrigued from the start, and when he shows up again in her Kingdom looking for his missing Grandfather, she falls into a unlikely friendship with him. Because she thinks he is like her and can relate to him more than others.. she lets her guard down and this leads to her opening up herself more to what is going on around her. Once she becomes more aware...the more she questions her situation and her place in life, and her place with her King. Po himself, who is hiding many things, has never had a real person he can share himself with due to his Grace and he too finds himself opened to more than he was used too. Eventually this leads to romance, but Kasta's self esteem and worth must be rescued from the ditched her Uncle and life before Po put it in. On the surface Kasta and Po are the complete opposite, but as time passes you see that they are nothing but a perfect fit. Both characters are fully realized and fleshed out, and their love for each other makes complete sense. You totally buy into it. Sometimes two characters seem forced together for the good of the story...in this case it seems the two characters make the story.

They start their journey to figure out the mystery of Po's grandfather's kidnapping and a mystery that is handled very well. Once it is discovered what is going on...is rather frightening and edge of your seat. They find that there are more Graces out there that could be a lot more dangerous and scary than the ones they possess. It is easy to see how someone graced with so much power could go wrong, and why many lands fear and try their best to control their Graced. It can so very wrong indeed. The romance, the journey of the too characters finding themselves, and the mystery all work together to make a great book. I am glad I choose to pick this one up.

Overall grade: A

Under the blood red moon

2009-10-24T12:10:00.004-04:00

Under the blood red moon
By: Mina Hepsen

Write up:

Cursed with the ability to hear the thoughts of others, beautiful Angelica Shelton Belanov feels most comfortable when hidden away in the library of her father's English country estate. Now family duty requires that she make an appearance at a glittering gala, mingling with the cream of London society in hopes of finding a suitable husband. Assailed by the unwanted “chatter” of many minds, Angelica finds relief in the company of a handsome aristocratic stranger who remains, refreshingly, an enigma.

But Prince Alexander is not like other men. The powerful leader of an Eastern clan of immortals, he has come to London to hunt down a rogue vampire who threatens the survival of his dwindling kind. Angelica can sense that Alexander is dangerous, a mystery to be unraveled at her own peril. Yet desire sears them both—she, the bewitching telepath, and he, the fearless leader who must learn to trust his heart. And unrestrained passion has strict demands that could cost them both their lives...and their souls.

This is another book I picked up on a whim. I noticed it in the Fiction section of Barnes and Noble and the title and cover drew my eye. When I read the book jacket, being a reader of a lot of fantasy, I was even more interested. This book brought a question about how books are marketed and who determines where it is placed or classified back into my mind. One the surface this book might just be another historical fiction. And once reading it you could also classify it as historical/paranormal romance. I have read many a romance similar to this: unconventional high class girl of the ton meets man, they irritate each other, they fall in love, and get married and have babies. But this book really isn't only that, it is also a fantasy. It is the first two elements that makes it a bit different kind of fantasy, but that is what it is ultimately. It makes me wonder if this book might not have done better if they were not trying to pass it off as a historical fiction, and either put it in the Paranormal Romance section of book stores or even the Fantasy section. Finding it in the regular Fiction aisle..it gave a feel of masquerading as a Historical Fiction, and that can drive away potential readers who pick it up thinking it is one thing and getting the other. But that is another story. I just find this situation a lot...mainly in book classified as romance.

As for the book itself, the write up for the book is actually pretty good in giving the basic gist of it. Angelica, when she meets Alexander is fascinated with him because she find that he could also read minds and, even more amazing, speak to her through her mind. She is afraid and ecstatic because she grew up her whole life thinking that she was the only person 'cursed' with this power, and that she is a freak. Alexander at first thinks she is a vampire, because as far as he knows, they are the only kind that have this ability. But he soon realises that she is human. This makes him a bit conflicted, as his feelings for her grow, because the vampire race is dying out and as leader, it is his duty to marry and provide offspring. Many vampires don't live long enough to procreate, due to depression and suicide, so they are dying out. But when Angelica, in a fit of curiosity, finds out that Vampires exists, he is forced to take responsibility for her and be around her 24/7. Angelica find this inconvenient, because due to her financial situation, she must marry and marry rich, and living in the house of an unattached male would not be good for her reputation. She feels it is her duty to marry, to not worry her brother who is ill. It is just the two of them, and their crazy aunt, since their parents died. So she is trying to run from her feeling for Alexander as it is not practical...since she can't marry him....vampires and Humans can't procreate.

The other portion of the book is the Vampire that is going around killing people. He is breaking the rules of vampire kind, the first being that the do not drink human blood. So Alexander has to hunt him down because he is a danger to the whole race. When they were discovered before, many were killed off by human slayers dwindling their numbers even more. For their continued survival, they must stop this rogue vampire before he causes more damage. That mystery is built pretty well throughout the book, and I admit I was surprised when some things were finally revealed in the end. But I was also a bit confused. If I was to judge this book overall I would say the romance portion of it was done very well. The two main characters had great chemistry and I bought their attraction to each other. They were both rateable and seeing them come together and discover each other was the most satisfying part of the book. The mystery and other portions of the book, could have been handled better. Mainly the unraveling of the mystery in the end. I found one of the reveals to be kind of out of nowhere because no hints were thrown at all...it felt like it was just decided last minute just for a big shock value. So it left you kind of confused and with a bit of whiplash. One of the secondary characters who was involved in part of the mystery drama...her storyline and the consequences of her involvement was just dropped. Another character, all kind of hints where thrown about them and then it just kind of fizzled out. So much time was spent on him and building his character, but he was just dropped as well. So the reader has no idea how he was resolved. But the mystery of Angelica's power was handled okay, though a bit predictable. So in the end, like I mentioned in the first paragraph, the publisher may have had an issues determining how to classify this book...but I think the book kind of did too. It did not seem to know ..up until the very end if it was a romance or a fantasy, or a mystery. It tried to be all those things, but had the most success with only one: the romance.

So overall I would give the romance portion of the book a B. Pretty solid. But the rest of the book a C. A mix...fitting for this book.

Crosspointe Series

2009-10-20T21:39:00.004-04:00

The Cipher
By: Diana Pharaoh Francis

Write up:

Distant member of the royal Rampling family, Lucy Trenton's ability to detect majick has embroiled her in a dangerous intrigue that threatens her very life. Her only hope lies in her most persistent suitor, ship captain Marten Thorpe, but Lucy isn't sure she can trust him...

This is one of those books I picked up on a whim without any kind of word of mouth or review to point me to it. I saw the cover and thought it was interesting so I decided to try it out. These type of books can be a gamble and turn out to be very bad decisions.

For a while there...I thought it was going to be a wash. The book starts with an introduction of Lucy Trenton who is a kind of customs agent for Crosspointe, which is a big shipping port. We also learn that due to some court case, all members of the royal family have to work for a living and be productive to society, but I found that this was not fully explained enough and it left me with some confusion. We also learn that the country is under constant threat from something called sylveth a strange magical substance that horribly disfigures and changes people into creatures and all manner of horrors. This is washed onto their shores by the magical storms that crush any ships in its way. The only thing protecting Crosspointe from total destruction is a wall called The Pale...which was built generations ago by one of the founders. All this is explained at the beginning of the book...in what I found a rather confusing way. Either there was too much time spent on exposition, or there was too little time..so I was left with many questions. But once the main action of the book started to come together things went very quickly and was very satisfying. Good thing for the book is that the good part made up about 1/3 of the book. But it took a while getting there, and I almost quit at one point. I hate not finishing books.

But the main action of the book centers around Lucy's ability to sense magic. She learned early on not to speak of this power, and it was due to this secrecy and it driving her to collect illegal magical objects, created by the same founder that built the Pale, that leads her to be drawn into a plot to bring down the royal family. She finds herself being blackmailed by a stranger who know about her secret stash of banned objects, and he demands that she complete various tasks for him else he expose her. During one of those tasks, she find out that there is even more going on that some persona vendetta against her. Once her enemies spring their trap the book takes off in some good drama and suspense that made you want to keep turning the pages till the end. Lucy finds herself running for not only her life, but those of her friends and family...while fighting the magical influence of one of her objects. There is a small romance portion to the story, and it is not typical as Marten Thorpe ends up playing a role in the plot to bring her down...though unsuspecting. In the end Lucy finds herself in a position even more powerful than a King. I was very satisfied with the ending...thought it left some things unresolved.

I looked around and saw that there are two more books in this series, but each one focuses on a different character and appears to be standalone. For this book though....the beginning dragged, but it really picked up a quarter in and held on so:

Overall grade: B

The Attolia Series (Book #3)

2009-10-14T00:42:00.007-04:00

The King of Attolia
By Megan Whalen Turner

Write up:

By scheming and theft, the Thief of Eddis has become King of Attolia. Eugenides wanted the queen, not the crown, but he finds himself trapped in a web of his own making.

Then he drags a naive young guard into the center of the political maelstrom. Poor Costis knows he is the victim of the king's caprice, but his contempt for Eugenides slowly turns to grudging respect. Though struggling against his fate, the newly crowned king is much more than he appears. Soon the corrupt Attolian court will learn that its subtle and dangerous intrigue is no match for Eugenides.

When we left the last book, Gen had schemed his way into a marriage with the Queen of Attolia...who despite some earlier, rather deadly disagreements, he loved. So he got what he wanted: the attention and love of a woman he loved for a long time, and a scary one at that. But he also apparently did not think his plan through enough because along with a wife he got a Kingdom, and one that couldn't stand the sight of him. The only view they wanted of him was his back as he went back over the mountains where he came from. The people of Attolia, namely the Queen's guards and nobles view him as a rogue who schemed and tricked his way onto the throne in order to steal the crown. They viewed it all as an elaborate revenge against their Queen..and they take any perceived attack on her dignity personally. Especially the Guard who are the most loyal to the Queen and helped her secure her throne. They go out of their way to torture and shame Gen in every way possible. Gen, does not help the situation by playing along with their idea that he is just an inept, barbarian fool who doesn't know up from down and friend from foe. They openly mock and attack him.

The reader of course knows this is all an act and are left wondering what his game is, there always is one...but we soon find out that he really means to play the fool out of love and fear of usurping the Queen hard fought for power and Independence. He is all too convincing in his role as hapless puppet because even when he does show some of his ability, people convince themselves he is still not worthy of note somehow, that his strings are being pulled by the more powerful Queen. This of course leaves the reader feeling helpless and frustrated...much like Gen. You want to hit every guard or noble that smirks in Gen's direction. But of course, the Thief of Eddis cannot play fool for long. He tried very hard to just be of no account, despite prodding from others to assert himself...but relevance seems to dog his every step. It is not too long before he reveals his plans, and he always has one, and also finally gives in to the pressure to be the King of Attolia. You find yourself wondering why the people of Attolia thought the man who could plan his way into getting in position to be King...is a fool. I enjoyed him showing them otherwise when the time was right. This installation in the series tells the story of how Gen becomes King in more than name only...and wins the loyalty of his people. It had a good helping of court intrigue, some good real romance between Gen and his Queen, whose relationship you can't help but envy...it is pretty much a romance story, just between tow very complicated and powerful people who are both struggling under the strain the outside world put on them. And it had some good actions scenes. Very well rounded.

The book, like the first two was very readable. It pulled you in from the start and held on until the end. Gen is a great character who you can't help but root for and relate to...his emotions are the readers emotions..that's how real he is on paper. This was perhaps the best book in the series...though the second book is close. I see around that there will be another in this series. I look forward to seeing Teleus's Prediction come true: seeing Gen, our thief become an Annux.

Overall grade: A

Historical Fiction and Fantasy combined

2009-10-11T16:44:00.005-04:00

This last two weeks a hit another rut in reading, but it was mainly due to the fact that I spent more time sleeping than I did awake. I felt blah for days and the bouts insomnia did not help. So picking up and reading a book was not an exciting prospect when you are tried and sleepy most of the day. Thank god that is over. But this also played a part in why it took me a minute to get into the latest book once I finally opened it.

Midnight Never Come
By: Marie Brennan
Write up:

England flourishes under the hand of its Virgin Queen: Elizabeth, Gloriana, last and most powerful of the Tudor monarchs.

But a great light casts a great shadow.

In hidden catacombs beneath London, a second Queen holds court: Invidiana, ruler of faerie England, and a dark mirror to the glory above. In the thirty years since Elizabeth ascended her throne, fae and mortal politics have become inextricably entwined, in secret alliances and ruthless betrayals whose existence is suspected only by a few.

Two courtiers, both struggling for royal favor, are about to uncover the secrets that lie behind these two thrones. When the faerie lady Lune is sent to monitor and manipulate Elizabeth's spymaster, Walsingham, her path crosses that of Michael Deven, a mortal gentleman and agent of Walsingham's. His discovery of the "hidden player" in English politics will test Lune's loyalty and Deven's courage alike. Will she betray her Queen for the sake of a world that is not hers? And can he survive in the alien and Machiavellian world of the fae? For only together will they be able to find the source of Invidiana's power — find it, and break it ... .

It was not only my blahness that made it a bit difficult to get into this at the beginning. It was also due to the fact that the first 60 pages or so of the book was really just building up to the action and providing exposition on fae. The author obviously did lot of researching into fae legends and myths because it seems to threw everything she knew into the first act of the book. The book is split into six acts, the first two being the shortest, but they also contained the most of the knowledge dumb and the build up. So it was a bit slow to start with all the time is spent giving some back story and detailing the various fae creatures that were in the Onyx court and all that. But there was enough to keep me going with the book. The main mystery of the book is introduced from the start and is built throughout the first two acts. And the combination of Elizabethan historical novel with a fantasy twist involving fae...was enough to draw me in.

But midway through act two things start to fall into place and it is good, action packed reading from them on. The book begins with Queen Elizabeth in the Tower of London awaiting what she believes is her death by her sister Queen Mary. While there, she is visited by a creature of the fae Invidiania, who promises to help her not only live...but take the throne and rule in her own right. All in exchange for providing some help to get a throne of her own, of course. Years later Elizabeth is on the throne of England, and below London lays another court, the fae court of Invidiana ruler of all of the Faerie. The book goes back and forth between the two courts following the two main characters Lune of the Fae and Devan a mortal of Elizabeth's court as they try to use their skill to gain favor and advancement with their sovereign. At least that is how they start...but they soon find themselves in the middle of more than they bargained for when they cross paths and discover that there was more to the pact between the two Queens...and it was detrimental to both worlds. Invidiana is a cruel tyrant who find pleasure in tormenting her subjects ad well and manipulating the mortal Queen to do her bidding. Lune and Devan soon find out that her manipulations go far beyond court games and politics. They set up to find out who Invidiana is, what deals she made with who, and more importantly how to break it and free not only the mortal Queen, but both their worlds from Invidiana reign.

I liked how pieces from the main mystery of the book kept falling into place, and seeing how those clues where in the book from the start and were just laying there for use to discover. It showed that this story was well thought out and planned. The mystery, suspense and danger kept building and building right up until the end. And when it did when it was very satisfying, but left enough untold to leave more story to tell. I also enjoyed the romantic aspects to the story, it was not overpowering to the rest of the tale and it ended up playing a part in the final solution.

Overall I liked it despite it's slow start. B

Surrender of A Siren

2009-09-24T17:42:00.004-04:00

Surrender of A Siren
By Tessa Dare

Write up:

Desperate to escape a loveless marriage and society’s constraints, pampered heiress Sophia Hathaway jilts her groom, packs up her paints and sketchbook, and assumes a new identity, posing as a governess to secure passage on the Aphrodite. She wants a life of her own: unsheltered, unconventional, uninhibited. But it’s one thing to sketch her most wanton fantasies, and quite another to face the dangerously handsome libertine who would steal both her virtue and her gold.

To any well-bred lady, Benedict “Gray” Grayson is trouble in snug-fitting boots. A conscienceless scoundrel who sails the seas for pleasure and profit, Gray lives for conquest–until Sophia’s perception and artistry stir his heart. Suddenly he’ll brave sharks, fire, storm, and sea just to keep her at his side. She’s beautiful, refined, and ripe for seduction. Could this counterfeit governess be a rogue’s redemption? Or will the runaway heiress’s secrets destroy their only chance at love?

I must say that I will continue to read books by this author, she writes interesting characters. The characters aren't really new when it comes to archetypes: the high spirited, well bred lady; the dark and brooding rake, etc, etc. But somehow she manges to make the characters and the old cliches new and different....so you feel like it is a totally new story. Her females are not the typical prim and proper ladies, full of virginal ideas and virtue who faint at the mere mention of relations outside of marriage. No they can be just as wanton as the men...sometimes more. In other words...they are realistic.

It is the same for Sophia. In many ways she fits a romance role: the innocent lady fully of silly romantic ideas about adventure and love, who runs away in some half thought up plan of being free of societies constraints. Sophia, who we meet in the first book in this series "Goddess of the Hunt" is established as someone who feels trapped into playing the role of innocent angel and perfect lady for her family and betrothed, and uses her very vivid imagination to escape what she feels is a gilded prison. At the ended of Goddess of the Hunt we find out that she has run away the day she was to be wed. We met her in this book as she purchases passages on a ship to take a job as governess in the West Indies. But her plan is to wait until she hits 21 in a few week and comes into her inheritance. Then she would use that money to truly gain her freedom. Her first day of "freedom" does not go so well..and lucky for her she bumps into Gray and ends up on his ship. Not so lucky for him, as he finds himself in a place he has never been before: running away from a willing woman. Boy is she willing.

Gray is also an interesting person. He owns the ship Sophia is traveling with, but has put his brother as captain. His family is one that is different than the norm during that time, and his treatment of his brother, born under such circumstances, is intriguing and says a lot about his character. It is a dynamic you don't see explored a lot in romances or many book really. But all that he has done, he has done for his siblings. He is determined to become a respectable gentleman now, after years of profiteering and living the life of a rake and libertine. So he plays the martyr and vows not to touch Sophia no matter how willing she seems to be. But he find out she is a formidable opponent. He believes she is a woman from a good upbringing that has hit hard times, and vows to make sure her foolish act of traveling by herself on a ship full of men, looking like she does, does not get her killed or worse. But it ends up he is the one that should be worried, and that his perceptions can be wrong.

Their relationship was realistic and did not annoy me with contrived, frustrating reasons for conflict like many romances do. It had oversea adventures, pirates, danger, humor, romance, and lots of good sex scenes. No complaints there. I enjoyed this one a bit more that Goddess of the Hunt...mainly due to Sophia, who I found more likable. Hopefully the next and last in this series is just as good as this one. The sneak peek looks promising.

Grade: B+

The Well of Ascension(Mistborn Series #2)

2009-09-22T12:08:00.004-04:00

This series really is shaping up rather nicely. One more in the series to go, which is also good because fantasy writers never seem to want to send their stories. This will be three books, all already published and done. It's refreshing.

The Well of Ascension (Mistborn Series #2)
By: Brandon Sanderson

Write up:

Sanderson's entertaining second Mistborn novel begins after most fantasy series end, when the team of brave and cunning heroes find that holding on to power is even harder than overthrowing the previous tyrant. Elend Venture, the scholarly new Lord Ruler of Luthadel, clings to power while Luthadel's aristocrats and merchants grumble and two enemy armies-one led by Elend's father, Lord Straff-camp outside the city gates. Fortunately, Elend can rely on help from his lover and unofficial court assassin, the young allomancer Vin, but her magical metal-using ability makes her a target. An orphan of decidedly low origins, Vin is also having trouble adapting to her position as royal consort, especially since the underclass skaa, newly freed by Elend, look to her as their protector. Meanwhile, the ancient evil known as the Deepness is rising once again. This entertaining read will especially please those who always wanted to know what happened after the good guys won.

While the first book focused mostly action, fisticuffs, cool powers and then some character drama, the second installment focused a lot more on developing the characters. Don't get me wrong...it had all that other ass kicking stuff, but the main focus was on the growth of the main characters left from the previous books: how they are handling their new found power, how it changes them, etc, etc. Since I tend to appreciated character driven novels a bit more, this made me enjoy the book on a different level than the first.

There was more focus on the relationship between Vin and Elend. He was the son of a powerful noble, and Vin was a Skaa, the lowest of the low in their previous society. So how this relationship could work was explored. How could these two characters breach their difference, and conflicts to keep their life together? From the book we see that the problems they face are mainly internal. Elend feel powerless in the face of a woman he loved who could take down 100 men without blinking..and he can barely club someone in the head with his walking stick without tripping. He feels inadequate as a man and a King. Vin, is just insecure. She feels she is not good enough for a man of Elend's standing and goodness and she see that her power scares him. So we have a lot of scenes with them coming to terms with some of this. I read a lot of romance so I enjoy this, but I also get annoyed easily with it too...especially when the moping and self-pity, and bad decisions made out of love for the other person kicks in. I did want to smack Vin a couple times.

The books other main focus was the siege. Elend got raised as King rather hastily, and while he is a good man and a great mind...many of the people don't fully respect him. They see him as a boy, and just a placeholder until someone comes to take over the Central Dominance who is stronger. In that world stronger means anyone that can kill the most people, be the most ruthless and cunning. Poor Elend is many things...but not any of those things. With the Lord Ruler dead, various nobles start acting as warlords and declare themselves Kings of portions of the Final Kingdom. But they eye the Central Dominance, home of the Lord Ruler and rumored to have a store of precious Atium...that could finance any Kingdom and secure it's future. So Elend find himself surrounded by three armies set on killing him and taking over. One of those armies is led by his father. Inside his Kingdom, he is faced with an elected Assembly that views him as weak and is set on giving in to one of the armies to save themselves. So Elend spends most of the book fighting of sieges from inside his Kingdom and outside, and he loses many battles. But he changes after each one. The reader can see the man he is to become.

The rest of the book also continues it's mythology. Vin is left with the thought that killing the Lord Ruler was just the beginning. The Mist starts to act differently than it used to: comes out earlier, starts attacking people. She starts to feel that whatever the Lord Ruler did...he was in fact protecting them as he claimed. Perhaps the Deepness talked about in the book, that he defeated to rise to power, was real? And what if it was back now that the Lord Ruler was gone? What if it was never defeated to begin with? So along with the armies they have to fight, there is this ominous threat looming out there, waiting for something. As the book goes on, the reader gets a feeling that there is more to it than that, and a tangled web of lies and mystery starts to unveil. It is only towards the end of the book that some of it starts to be revealed and even the Lord Rulers decisions start to look different under the new information. It ends with Vin making a big mistake...because she is a good person and a noble person. Exactly what was needed to release the evil that waited for them. It was a satisfying, even though a bit depressing.

I like that the author seems to throw old fantasy cliques upside down and give you things you don't expect: an ordinary boy hero plucked from nowhere and on a quest to save the world from evil, but he fails. This leads to badness. The heroes quest is taken up again and this time bu someone even more brave and heroic and completed, but it is all a lie.... more badness. Very refreshing.

Overall grade: B+

The Queen of Attolia (Thief Series #2)

2009-09-18T09:51:00.006-04:00

The Queen of Attolia
By Megan Whalen Turner

Write up:

When Eugenides, the Thief of Eddis, stole Hamiathes's Gift, the Queen of Attolia lost more than a mythical relic. She lost face. Everyone knew that Eudenides had outwitted and escaped her. To restore her reputation and reassert her power, the Queen of Attolia will go to any length and accept any help that is offered...she will risk her country to execute the perfect revenge.

Eugenides can steal anything. And he taunts the Queen of Attolia, moving through her strongholds seemingly at will. So Attolia waits, secure in the knowledge that the Thief will slip, that he will haunt her palace one too many times.

When Eugenides finds his small mountain country at war with Attolia, he must steal a man, he must steal a queen, he must steal peace. But his greatest triumph--and his greatest loss--comes in capturing something that the Queen of Attolia thought she had sacrificed long ago...

Wow. I am really glad I decided to finally sit down and read this series...it only took a few years. In this continuation of Gen's story, he is captured while breaking into the castle of the Queen of Attolia, and from how he was captured...it is apparent that she knew he was going to be there. She is royally pissed of about not only the events in The Thief but but also about the fact the Gen seems to take sport in breaking into her castle and taunting her every chance he got with the knowledge that he was there....and she did not catch him. So she has lost face, and decides to punish him. The punishment is handed out and he is sent back to Eddis traumatized and like a broken man. So due to these events, war breaks out between the 3 kingdoms while Gen recovers, each country is fighting for dominance in the region and trying to take the other one over to expand their power. The Queen of Attolia is already in a bad position being a woman that rules in her own right, with bickering Barons that are always trying to rebel, and people always trying to undermine her throne and authority in various ways. So she trust no one and is always working to make sure she survives. She also has an Mede ambassador, a large foreign power, that is sowing seeds of discontent in her Kingdom. He views her as a weak female and wants to find any excuse to bring his army into her country to "protect" her....and then never leave. His goal is to make her into a puppet Queen and then take over the rest of the 3 Kingdoms for his King. And of course he thinks she suspects nothing....being a silly female of course. In all of this Gen finally breaks out of his traumatic stupor and decides to help his Queen and his country survive. He engineers some victories...which upon hearing about it, drives the Queen of Attolia eve madder than she has already become. After seeing that Eddis is in a difficult position regardless of who wins, Gen comes up with a plot to steal the Queen of Attolia in order to force her into a treaty, so Eddis and Attolia can combine forces to keep out the Mede who are a bigger threat...but we find out that his plan involves much more than that...and what is amazing...is that it makes so much sense, and you find yourself cheering in the end.

This installment of the book is much deeper that the first one. After Gen's traumatic experience we learn so much more about him, what drives him and how he views himself. The Queen of Attolia, in the first book and through a lot of this book, is shown as such a cold, cruel woman. And that is not really wrong, but as you read and learn more about her, the readers gets a good picture of why she is the way she is, and why it was necessary. And she becomes a very sympathetic character despite the horrible act she commits against Gen. She is in a horrible position, without much help from anyone and no one to really rely on, so she did anything and everything she had to to maintain the authority and position that she worked so hard for. Towards the end, I found myself cheering for her. And her relationship with Gen....oh my. From the start it was plainly hinted that there was much more behind her obsession with him than what was displayed on the surface. And there were hints that Gen's reaction to her hide more than just what is normally expected. I liked that the author does not feel she has to explain everything to the reader, but leaves certain things as surprises. Gen's full plan was such a surprise...but when it was revealed, it was so believable due to all the hints thrown around, and so delightful as well. But even in that important moment between the Thief and the Queen, there emotions towards each other and about each other is still so intense and a little frightening. The relationship is beautifully done. Now I look forward to the third installment to see just how Gen handles his new stolen prize and position.

Grade: A-

Mistborn Series

2009-09-15T14:25:00.005-04:00

I was away for the weekend enjoying the beach, in the middle of September...this is one thing living in the South is good for. I turned another year old on Thursday, and to make it less depressing, I packed up some reading and drove to the coast of SC and sat around doing nothing but eating, swimming and reading for 3 days. During this period I finished one of the many books on my to-be-read pile. This one was not a swift read, but not because it was bad. In fact I enjoyed this a lot and will be getting the next two in the trilogy today.

Mistborn(Mistborn Series #1)
By: Brandon Sanderson

Write up:

Brandon Sanderson, fantasy’s newest master tale spinner, author of the acclaimed debut Elantris, dares to turn a genre on its head by asking a simple question: What if the hero of prophecy fails? What kind of world results when the Dark Lord is in charge? The answer will be found in the Mistborn Trilogy, a saga of surprises and magical martial-arts action that begins in Mistborn.

For a thousand years the ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years the Lord Ruler, the “Sliver of Infinity,” reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible. Then, when hope was so long lost that not even its memory remained, a terribly scarred, heart-broken half-Skaa rediscovered it in the depths of the Lord Ruler’s most hellish prison. Kelsier “snapped” and found in himself the powers of a Mistborn. A brilliant thief and natural leader, he turned his talents to the ultimate caper, with the Lord Ruler himself as the mark.

Kelsier recruited the underworld’s elite, the smartest and most trustworthy allomancers, each of whom shares one of his many powers, and all of whom relish a high-stakes challenge. Only then does he reveal his ultimate dream, not just the greatest heist in history, but the downfall of the divine despot.

But even with the best criminal crew ever assembled, Kel’s plan looks more like the ultimate long shot, until luck brings a ragged girl named Vin into his life. Like him, she’s a half-Skaa orphan, but she’s lived a much harsher life. Vin has learned to expect betrayal from everyone she meets, and gotten it. She will have to learn to trust, if Kel is to help her master powers of which she never dreamed.

This book was very interesting, and caught my attention from the very beginning. The world created can only come from a very scary, imaginative mind. We are thrown into this world right away and the picture is built of a world where dark ash falls from the sky, at night the world is covered in a mysterious mist that the locals fear, the world is ruled by someone called the Lord Rule who controls everything and everyone with fear and brutality and is immortal...and the majority of the population are slaves. The Skaa are treated as less than animals. They slave and work the land for the Nobles, people whose families supported the Lord Ruler in this establishment of the Final Empire, and their lives can be taken from them at any point. Those that don't work on the plantations, live in the cities working the mines, or living in slums in poverty and crime. The Nobles control all of the power and money in the Empire and the Lord Ruler controls the Nobles.

The Nobles also have special abilities, given to them by the Lord Ruler as mythology goes. These power comes through the manipulation of metals. The metal is ingested and then 'burned' to access the power it gives you. But not all Nobles have this power, and no Skaa is allowed to have any of this power. Any Noble that beds a Skaa, by law has kill the woman to insure she births no children, because those kids could gain access to these powers...something the Lord Ruler works hard to make sure doesn't happen. Some Nobles with these powers are more powerful than others; some are born with access to all 10 sources of power...they are called Mistborn. Vin, who we meet as a Skaa thief is a half-bred Skaa with access to these powers. Her life is a life of constant beatings and fear of being discovered by the Empire's inquisitors. But as part of her role in a thieving band, she is found out and meets Kel, who saves her. Through him she discovers she is Mistborn...a Skaa Mistborn, which there has only been one other in all the centuries of the Final Empire: the being Kel. She joins him in his plans to overthrow the Final Empire...something she is convinced is crazy and is bound to fail.

Each chapter of the book is started by a narration from a boy, the Hero of Ages. It seems they are his journal entries from centuries before, kept as he details his journey to save the world from the threat called "The Deepness." From what we start seeing with these entries, and from the hints thrown about who this boy is as the book progresses, we see that something went terribly wrong with his quest. All through the book as Vin grows from street urchin to noble spy woman in disguise; and Kel's plans start to take form even through many failures and urgings from others to quit....we see that this boy and the tale he is telling is the key to destroying the Lord Ruler in the end. And what an ending it was, with a nice twist (though some might guessed it before the reveal) that is both satisfying and sad...with hints of more trouble to come. It was a great read, and a great adventure. Can't wait for more.

Grade: A

Back to some romance

2009-09-10T20:13:00.004-04:00

Sins of A Wicked Duke
By: Sophie Jordan

Write up:

She works to live . . .

One would think the last place a beauty like Fallon O'Rourke could keep her virtue was in the Mayfair mansion of London's most licentious duke, the notorious Dominic Hale. Yet Fallon—who's endured nothing but lecherous advances since her father's tragic death—is perfectly safe there . . . disguised as a footman! Beneath the notice of the dark-haired devil with his smoldering blue eyes and sinful smile, Fallon never imagines her secret will be discovered. But how long can her deception last when she begins to wish she is one of the many women traipsing in and out of the sinful rogue's bedchamber?

He lives to sin . . .

Most men envy the duke, never suspecting his pleasure-loving ways are a desperate attempt to escape, however briefly, the pain of a past that's left him with a heart of stone. Only one woman can break down his defenses. Only one woman can win his love . . . if she reveals her secret and succumbs to the sins of the wicked duke.

With romances, I tend to get recommendations because romance can seriously be hit or miss. I don't like to take chances. When a romance is bad...it's bad. So I take my recommendations from people whose tastes have never failed me. But this book is one of the few that I picked up on a whim while buying some other books, mainly because of the cover which is beautiful. So I was a bit reluctant to start it. The good news is that I did not regret this whim.

Fallon is a character you don't see often, our heroines are almost always great ladies of high society...but Fallon is from low birth, a gardener's daughter. She works for a living, and takes care of herself in a society not made for unmarried ladies. After her father's death she is left alone and sent away to a school for young ladies, by the master of the household where her father worked, where she is trained and educated to be a governess. But after leaving the school, she loses position after position due to the grabby hands of the high born men...all of which she gets blamed for as if she did something wrong. She finally gets sick of it one night and fights back, losing another job. That night she meets Dominic...it does not go well and he proves himself to be a serious whore and libertine. After he too gets a bit too familiar..she decides that her looks are a liability and she concocts a plan to get a job without being molested....becomes a man! But, twist of fate, she gets a job in Dominic's household as a Valet. And the adventures begin.

I enjoy the "dressing as a man to get by" plots. For me they never get old, and this one is just as enjoyable as all the others...though not as brave as some got in regards to the relationship between the main characters. Some push the envelope, but this book does not attempt and just gives us a fun, easy story. Dominic finds someone, a scrawny boy no less, who makes him start questioning himself and his actions, and Fallon meets someone who makes her realize that life is more than work, and to let of her anger and bitterness. It a fun read..like good chocolate.

Overall: B

The Darkest Powers Series

2009-09-08T15:51:00.004-04:00

The Awakening(Darkest Powers Series #2)
By: Kelly Armstrong

Write up:

If you had met me a few weeks ago, you probably would have described me as an average teenage girl — someone normal. Now my life has changed forever and I'm as far away from normal as it gets. A living science experiment — not only can I see ghosts, but I was genetically altered by a sinister organization called the Edison Group. What does that mean? For starters, I'm a teenage necromancer whose powers are out of control; I raise the dead without even trying. Trust me, that is not a power you want to have. Ever.

Now I'm running for my life with three of my supernatural friends — a charming sorcerer, a cynical werewolf, and a disgruntled witch — and we have to find someone who can help us before the Edison Group finds us first. Or die trying.

When I finished this book the one thought I had was that it was obvious that all the books were well planned out. Each book has an obvious beginning, middle and end and are tightly narrated. So you get the definite sense that the story is going somewhere, and that there is a plan. A lot of times you hear that a series is going to be a certain amount of books, but 3 books turns into 6 which turns into 12 because the writer gets carried away and apparently fires their editor....that or they feel the need to drag things on for marketing reasons. When I finished reading this second installment I was pretty confident that the third and final book, as this planned as a trilogy, will be satisfying, and it will be the third and final book.

This installment starts exactly where the first leaves of: Chloe has been captured and held in the Edison groups facility along with Rae. While she is there, and despite their best efforts to convince her they are out of help here and she is being held for her own good, Chloe is not buying it and snoops around. She finds out that her suspicions about the group are correct, as well as her suspicions about fate of the kids that were taken from Lyle House in the previous book. She tells Rae, but Rae has been pulled into the lies told to her and chooses not to believe. So Chloe plans an escape, and gets unexpected help and company in spoiled Tori . They head out and meet back up with Derek and Simon and the four of them decide to travel to an old friend of Simon and Derek's father to see if he can help them fight the Edison group. Thus starts there travels full of danger and adventure...and some budding romance. This is always a nice plus.

The relationship hinted at in the first book are also further explored. Derek and Chloe, Simon and Chloe, and Tori and everyone. I of course am rooting for Derek...he is one poor misunderstood kid. And towards the end...hints are dropped that there are more surprises to come about the kids and their relationships to each other.

Final grade: A-

Buffy the Vampire Slayer...light

2009-09-07T15:44:00.004-04:00

Salt and Silver
by: Anna Katherine

Write up:

Allie’s got a diner…and a Doorway to Hell. Every day she does what she can to keep her customers fed, and to prevent them from being fed upon. And when the Door disappears, Allie is determined to search all of Brooklyn, even venturing into Hell itself, to solve the mystery and protect the innocent.

What I enjoy about these urban and dark fantasy book that are so popular now, is how each book chooses to use or change the mythologies that exist in every culture. There are so many different ways that vampires can be explained or how they can function, and I like reading how each person chooses to interpret it. This book turns some of the mythology upside down. Every creature, werewolves, vampires, demons, all come from one of the 9 Hell dimensions. They are just different versions of the Underworld and believed by various civilizations. Some are nice, some are not so nice, in our culture "Hell" is not a nice place. In others, the underworld is no scarier than the real world. Creatures come out of these hell dimensions through Doors that sometimes spontaneously pop up, or a conjured. For each door, there is a Hunter set to guard it and protect humanity from being eaten. The doors cannot be completely destroyed nor can they multiply too much as a balance has to be kept. why? Is a good question that is never answered. Some mysteries to be explored later.

The book opens 6 years after Allie and her two friends, one drunken night and thinking it was all just fun and games, opened up a door in the basement of the Diner where Allie works. Since then Allie has fought Demons alongside Ryan, the door' assigned Hunter, and kept her diner running. By the time we meet her, she is already a totally different person that how she started: she was a typical spoiled rich girl, privileged and self-centered...stereotypical rich cheerleader type...she automatically reminded me of Buffy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, before she knew she was a slayer. But she is Buffy in the later seasons, after her many battles with various demons and her witnessing the never ending death and destruction. So she is witty and sarcastic, but with the bitter edge that speaks of pain, and someone just trying to cope with the crazy around her.

There is some romance, with Ryan. Allie views it as mainly from her end as Ryan is the typical brooding hero who pushes people away, because people around him end up dead. He also belongs to the world of demon fighting and Allie is just a "Mundane"...and he rather not drag her into things that would get her hurt. Of course he is good-looking and sexy..they always are. So every time Allie thinks something is going to happen..it doesn't, much to her frustration. So they kind of have a sniping, tension filled relationship that is both good and bad at various points in the story. But the book follows them as they try to figure out why Allie's door went missing and why more doors are showing up...throwing everything out of balance. This leads to all kind of creatures roaming the NYC streets and if it continues...it would be the end of the world.

All in all I enjoyed the mythology set up in the book, I thought it was a pretty fresh take. A bit like Buffy, but different enough to satisfy me. I also enjoyed the relationship between Allie and Ryan..though they were both annoying till the end at many parts. It was a fun book, something to read when you just want something light and fun, where you won't have to spend too much time thinking deep thoughts.

Grade: B

Conclusion of the Inda Series

2009-09-04T20:06:00.005-04:00

Treason's Shore (Inda Series #4)
By Sherwood Smith

Write up:

Inda, fresh from his triumph on the battlefield against the Venn, takes his place beside King Evred as Harskialdna, the King's Shield. But the Venn are far from defeated and only Inda's fame is strong enough to inspire all the squabbling kingdoms to unite and raise a force mighty enough to protect the strait and repel the enemy. Evred has also ordered Inda to take over the strait once the battle is won, but Inda, a former pirate, knows that this is a very bad idea. Now Inda must choose between obeying his liege—or committing treason.

When you put in an investment in a series, where each book is a tome that could kill someone if throw at their head, what you dread the most is that when you reach the end you will not be satisfied..or worse...you would want to throw the book out of a window. This series....gladly...did not have either affect on me. In fact, when it ended I felt like I just had a nice satisfying piece of chocolate.

We start where King's Shield leaves off. Inda and crew have driven of the Venn, more like they drove themselves off, and now returned home to rebuild the country and prepare for them to come back, because everyone knows peace won't last. All of the relationships and characters that were introduced in the previous books are further explored and fleshed out. This is one thing I have no complaints about with this writer, she really lets you get to know the characters, and no character is too small to get a back story.

Though Inda is the hero in this tale, and he is great, so without ambition, introspective and never lets go of his ideals...I found myself in all the books drawn more to Evred. He to me was such an interesting character. So serious and sober, and duty bound, everyone views him as a walking icicle. But he is the most passionate character in these books I found, and under the most pressure. His devotion to Inda never get real closure, but is is kind of true to life. His feelings about Inda, the reader never gets a good idea of it it is real or just something he clings to as an ideal. And his interactions with one of my other favorite Tau..oh..man did the last couple paragraphs make me happy. Those two fools were blinder than bats when it came to the other.

All in all I loved this series. It had lots of action: war, battle, pirates, romance, death, and an epic scale. What's not to like. The only complaint I have with it was goes back to what I liked about it as well. Every character got some time to be fleshed out, but I found that in the end..some characters that we spent so much time on in the books...we never got to know what happened to them. It is like they were dropped. So perhaps...some more editing would have been beneficial. The final book was bigger than the first three...it was like carrying around a hardcover dictionary.

Final Grade for 4th Book: A-
Series Grade: A-

The Tide Lords Quartet

2009-08-30T12:08:00.006-04:00

The Immortal Prince(Tide Lords Series #1)
By Jennifer Fallon

Write up:

When a routine hanging goes wrong and a murderer somehow survives the noose, the man announces he is an immortal. And not just any immortal, but Cayal, the Immortal Prince, hero of legend, thought to be only a fictional character. To most he is a figure out of the Tide Lord Tarot, the only record left on Amyrantha of the mythical beings whom fable tells created the race of half-human, half-animal Crasii, a race of slaves.

Arkady Desean is an expert on the legends of the Tide Lords so at the request of the King's Spymaster, she is sent to interrogate this would-be immortal, hoping to prove he is a spy, or at the very least, a madman.

Though she is set the task of proving Cayal a liar, Arkady finds herself believing him, against her own good sense. And as she begins to truly believe in the Tide Lords, her own web of lies begins to unravel...

I have not read a straight fantasy like this is a while, and it was a nice change from the romance and Urban fantasy. One thing I love the most about fantasy books is the world building. I am fascinated by the different world and creatures, and universes people can create in their minds. The human imagination is something to behold. Fantasy is the ultimate escape, and these days...I need an escape from reality every so often. Fallon does a great job in world building. Amyrantha is fully realized, with its history and legends and different people and cultures..I have no trouble believing it might exist somewhere.

When it comes to the characters, Fallon, excels as well. Arkady, is something you struggle to find sometimes in fantasy: a real, strong female character. Usually the females in fantasy are some version of a males fantasy of what a woman is about: they are either overly sexualized; pure, boring maidens or major unlikeable bitches. No in between. The fact that Fallon is a woman might help here. I always wonder what it is that woman can write good, believable male characters...but the opposite can't always be said? Arkady is a intelligent, likable woman who does her best to survive in a world where woman don't have much choices. She wants more than anything to be taken seriously and not as just a pretty trinket, but circumstances don't always work out as she plans. Her marriage is a result of her placing more value on her head than her heart, and her struggle through this book is always between those forces.

Stellan, the Duke and Arkady's husband, is also an example of someone doing their best in a society that expects people to perform and stick to the roles given to them. His desires don't always match what society expects from him, but he does his best to put on the appearance that he fits in. He and Arkady share a loving relationship that I enjoyed, and understood. They are very loyal to each other and keep each other secrets. He is also rather likable and I find myself rooting for him.

Now to the title character. Now he was interesting. One of the "Gods" of the land. Gods that most people now think are just myths and foolish children's stories. But not everyone as we find out. Some people have expected the Gods to come back, and have been preparing for it. Cayal serves as the storyteller in this tale. He provides much of the history and backstory of the Gods and how they came to be, at least according to him...since he is telling his personal story there is no telling what he is leaving out or adding to it. From him we see just so terrifying these Gods are, and not only because of the power they can wield...but because they are so human. For people that have lived so long...life and death no longer have the same meaning. Cynicism and boredom is their enemy and the ways they find entertainment are not always healthy for people around them. Cayal when we meet him has had enough and is on a quest to find a way to end it all..one way or another...we wants to die.

All in all this first book sets up the series well, and get the action going to the next books. It had some good surprises and I expect many more to come. It was intriguing enough to get me to look forward to the rest.

Grade: B+

Finally back to reading!

2009-08-24T18:51:00.004-04:00

I swear the last two weeks has been claustrophobic. Family visiting, working lots of overtime, and getting little sleep. It took me almost 3 weeks to finish reading one book. But finally I'm back in the groove.

Faefever (Fever Series #3)
By: Karen Moning

Write up:

He calls me his Queen of the Night. I’d die for him. I’d kill for him, too.

When MacKayla Lane receives a torn page from her dead sister’s journal, she is stunned by Alina’s desperate words. And now MacKayla knows that her sister’s killer is close. But evil is closer. And suddenly the sidhe-seer is on the hunt: For answers. For revenge. And for an ancient book of dark magic so evil, it corrupts anyone who touches it. Mac’s quest for the Sinsar Dubh takes her into the mean, shape-shifting streets of Dublin, with a suspicious cop on her tail. Forced into a dangerous triangle of alliance with V’lane, an insatiable Fae prince of lethally erotic tastes, and Jericho Barrons, a man of primal desires and untold secrets, Mac is soon locked in a battle for her body, mind, and soul.

Wow, things just got real in this series. The ending took Mac, our main heroine into a dark place, and it is hard to see how she will be coming out of this one. It is a sign that I am invested now..because I'm mad at all the other characters on her behalf.

Mac has finally figured out one of the secrets of the Sinsar Dubh, how it is moving about and it just makes her more convinced that she is in over her head. Barrons remain a mystery and he still refuses to tell her anything more than he thinks she needs to know. But hints about who and what he is are dropped often, the author is doing a good job keep his story and his motive well hidden. His reveal I can see will be epic. V'lane the Seelie Prince is not any better, though a bit more up front with his motives, than Barrons; and the people that could be a help to her, other side-seers, are playing an adversarial role towards her, rather than helping her. Even the one guy she thought was semi-normal turns out to be connected to all the new craziness in her life.

If there is one thing this installment of this series points out clearly, it is that because every faction that seems to be aiming for the same goal, distrusts the other and is all out for themselves and no one else....the world is doomed. Neither shares info with the other, and they all keep info from Mac...which makes me very mad because of what happens to her at the end of this book. She stood no chance. Not that she is any better with sharing info...but because she does not know who to trust...I understand her motives. It's all very frustrating.

But..I am looking forward to the next installment, which came out last week, because now I have to see how this goes and I'm rooting for Mac even more now. This series get better each book, and I can't say that about every series. It is gritty, sexy, and despite the frustrating characters..you still like them.

Overall grade: A

New romance author

2009-08-05T14:10:00.005-04:00

Goddess of The Hunt
By Tessa Dare

Write up:

Ever the bold adventuress, Lucy Waltham has decided to go hunting for a husband. But first she needs some target practice. So she turns to her brother’s best friend, Jeremy Trescott, the Earl of Kendall, to hone her seductive wiles on him before setting her sights on another man. But her practice kisses spark a smoldering passion–one that could send all her plans up in smoke.

Jeremy has an influential title, a vast fortune, and a painful past full of long-buried secrets. He keeps a safe distance from his own emotions, but to distract Lucy from her reckless scheming, he must give his passions free rein. Their sensual battle of wills is as maddening as it is delicious, but the longer he succeeds in managing the headstrong temptress, the closer Jeremy comes to losing control. When scandal breaks, can he bring himself to abandon Lucy to her ruin? Or will he risk his heart and claim her for his own?

So this was an enjoyable is kind of typical read.. Lucy fancies herself in love with her brother's friend Toby and decides to get him at all cost, before he marries someone else. And she, being the typical "wild, spirited" romance lead....decides, beyond all common sense to practice on her brother's other friend Jeremy. These two have known each other for years..and have antagonized each other for years, so Lucy does not think kissing him to test out her wiles will have any affect on him. She thinks he is entirely cold and unfeeling. Of course she finds out he is neither...much to my delight. Their courting was good reading. He thinks she is reckless and a fool and humors her to keep her out of trouble..but then he finds that he is not playing games after all. Then they get into a situation where Lucy can be ruined in society and they have to act....and that's where some more problems come in. This portion I felt could have been better. So the first half of the book was very enjoyable and different than your typical romance plot, then it fell a bit into formula.

The book is very sensual I'll give it that, and it had many great scene that demonstrated that. But, I found myself annoyed with Lucy and Jeremy for the usual reasons I get annoyed with romance leads; they create their own useless drama because none of them ever bother to talk or explain anything. Romance novels of full of this sort of thing..where the characters spend all of their time miserable because of misunderstandings that are totally preventable...if any one of them bothered to open their mouth. Aish! So the book lost points for that. But, with that annoyance out of the way the book was still a good and enjoyable read. Both characters are likable and do have some sense compared to some romance characters. And it was all tied up nicely...with a nice cliff hanger that leads us to the next book. Which I admit...intrigues me well enough.

Overall grade. B

New author...for me anyway

2009-08-03T16:02:00.004-04:00

I have seen this author's Kushiel's Dart series, and have the first book, but I have not actually read any of her work up till now. The Kushiel series I know is very popular, and came highly recommended so I thought I could read this standalone to kind of get the feel of this writers style. I think perhaps I have better read the Kushiel series...

Santa Olivia
By Jacqueline Carey

Write up:

Departing from epic fantasy (Kushiel's Dart, etc.), Carey sets this powerful near-future tale in Outpost 12, a small town trapped in a "buffer zone" shielding Texas from pandemic-stricken Mexico. Two half-siblings chafing under General Argyle's military rule make very different plans to beat the status quo. Tom, the son of a soldier, lives at the gym, where he trains in boxing and hopes to win his freedom from the town by defeating the general's boxing champion. Loup, who has inherited her escaped father's oddly engineered genes, joins a group of church wards called the Santitos, a tight gang of vigilantes who masquerade as the local saint, Santa Olivia. Carey's fans will enjoy meeting another strong, fearless heroine with special powers, while new readers will appreciate the tight focus that intensifies the depth of character and emotion.

I don't know what it was, but I found myself not really getting into this book as much as others have. From the beginning I found that while the premise was good and some of the action was good..I was not fully pulled into the world. It could be mainly due to the fact that it was kind of hard for me to relate to the main characters, or identify much with the other characters. With Lupe, I can perhaps get this disconnect: she does not experience emotions and life like a normal humans. So she is always a bit detached from what is going on around her. Because of her emotional detachment....and the fact that we learn and explore all of the characters through her eyes...could explain why I could not latch on to any one characters.

So due to this...I, as the reader, felt like Lupe...as we I was just floating through the world that she lived in, and never actually touching down on solid emotional ground. I could not really feel, taste, smell the character..or many of the events...except a few select. There were some moments in Lupe's life..that pulled me in, but they were few and far between. So due to all of this..the reading was kind of slow for me and I could not connect enough to keep turning the page in anticipation. The book was still readable and good in many part...but not as much as it could have been, because it is a great storyline and premise.

All in all a B-

Teens have it great these days

2009-07-27T17:41:00.004-04:00

One thing I have noticed since I started back up on my reading is that Teens have a lot more choices when it comes to books than I did at their age. Harry Potter, Vampire book crazes, great Teen romance books...I mean they have it good. After I read through all the Judy Blume and Sweet Valley High...there was not much left for me but to go straight to adult books. These days...there are many options. It is beautiful. But being well past my youth does not stop me from enjoying these books. The latest in my YA reading is:

The Summoning (The Darkest Powers Series #1)
By Kelly Armstrong

Write up:

After years of frequent moves following her mother’s death, Chloe Saunders’s life is finally settling down. She is attending art school, pursuing her dreams of becoming a director, making friends, meeting boys. Her biggest concern is that she’s not developing as fast as her friends are. But when puberty does hit, it brings more than hormone surges. Chloe starts seeing ghosts–everywhere, demanding her attention. After she suffers a breakdown, her devoted aunt Lauren gets her into a highly recommended group home.

At first, Lyle House seems a pretty okay place, except for Chloe’s small problem of fearing she might be facing a lifetime of mental illness. But as she gradually gets to know the other kids at the home–charming Simon and his ominous, unsmiling brother Derek, obnoxious Tori, and Rae, who has a “thing” for fire–Chloe begins to realize that there is something that binds them all together, and it isn’t your usual “problem kid” behaviour. And together they discover that Lyle House is not your usual group home either…

Another series. This is also another trend in YA fiction...everything requires at least a 3 book commitment. Some series I start and enjoy, but not enough that I feel the urge to run out and get the next book. This series though...I will continue because it was without doubt very good.

From the first words you are pulled into the book and you get a feel of it: A mix of thriller/suspense and fantasy. You also feel the air of menace and mystery that surrounds everything that goes on around Chloe. One morning Chloe wakes up and strange things start to happen, she sees people others don't seem to and she hears things...she thinks it is all in her mind and logic's it away until she goes to the bathroom at her school and noticed she has gotten her period. At fifteen, but looking like twelve year old, she was already worried about her development, and she is happy that she finally got her period. But not too long after that, happiness turns to fear as she suffers what she thinks is a breakdown: a horribly burned man accosts her in the school hallways...one that she can put her hands right through. She freaks out and has to be sedated at her school. After the incident she is transferred to group home for 'troubled' kids where she is to spend two weeks getting better. But once she gets there ..she begins to question what they tell her and what she see. The kids there all appear to be there for "mental issues"..but she begins to question that after witnessing an event with another teen that can't be explained away by mental illness, and from the questions raised by a Ghost that talks to her in the basement.

What follows is Chloe trying to figure out what is going on, and how it involves two of her fellow hospital resident Derek and Simon..who are there under mysterious circumstances. I loved these two characters and how they are used...mainly because you expect them both to be so different than what they really are. Chloe thinks she has Derek all figured out, but she find he is more than she thought and that she should never judge a book by it's cover. The writer does a great job building the relationships between the various kids, and hinting at future issues, but her best job was in building upon and continuing to thread the mystery that is lurking around the corner. You see right away that something is not right, but the story does not become too predictable. You have a few surprises here and there. The only complaint was that when we finally found out some of the mystery..it ended...in a cliffhanger. ARG! But I as not too upset...it was a good ride getting there and I look forward to see how Chloe will get out of her current mess in the next book. Oh and Derek..I do like them broody.

Fina Grade: A-

Something fluffy

2009-07-26T16:34:00.005-04:00

I took a break from reading for a couple days since I had so much going on...what with traveling back and forth to NYC and work, so when I decided to get back on track (this blog is really a challenge to myself to finish reading all the book on my to- read pile. For years I have been so busy I have been lucky to finish a book. I intend to get back to my first love: reading. By the end of the year..I intend to put a serious dent in my pile.) I pulled out something light and fluffy...and was guaranteed to make me smile. This of course means a romance. It never fails.

Bound By Your Touch
By: Meredith Duran

Write up:

Silver-tongued Viscount Sanburne is London's favorite scapegrace. Alas, Lydia Boyce has no interest in being charmed. When his latest escapade exposes a plot to ruin her family, she vows to handle it herself, as she always has done. Certainly she requires no help from a too-handsome dilettante whose main achievement is being scandalous. But Sanburne's golden charisma masks a sharper mind and darker history than she realizes. He shocks Lydia by breaking past her prim facade to the woman beneath...and the hidden fire no man has ever recognized. But as she follows him into a world of intrigue, she will learn that the greatest danger lies within -- in the shadowy, secret motives of his heart.

Good lord...romance publishers must do something about these covers! But..I think I have come to the point in my shameless romance reading where I don't care about the raised eyebrow anymore. I read this in plain view and boldly on the plane. Whatever, yeah..I'm reading a shameless bodice ripper. What of it? You should try it.

Anyway..the book. Lovely. I got this from one of the many book blogs I found when I decided to rededicate myself to reading. Racy Romance Reviews has yet to disappoint. It was everything they said.

We start with probably the most mortifying moment in Lydia's life that gives the reader the perfect introduction to the characters that define her life and their basic characters. All of the characters are so rich. Some romance books try too hard to make everyone likable and noble....with good intentions and all that. This one makes all of the players very human. They can be selfish and vindictive and rash...and some of them you hate. Lydia is the oldest of 3 sisters who is practically their mother due to their father of in Egypt doing his anthropological work. She is bookish and plain..unlike her sisters who got all the looks. Lydia has accepted her fate in life: that she would never marry, never have children, and will essential be a spinster who must live of the kindnesso f others. So she spends her time helping her father with his work and writing scientific papers....something all together un-womanlike for the time. She is treated by other..including her sisters...with pity or sneers for her plight:unmarried, plain, bookish and no prospect...a death sentence really. Her sadness and resolve not ot let it get to her is plain in every written word.

During a lecture, that Lydia thought essential to get funding for her father's latest project, she is rudely interrupted by Sanburne who is there to cause trouble for his father....a result of their long standing fued. That meeting starts the story going and never lets up. Sanburne is not someone I would like in person: he us a lush, he is a brat, depressed, angry, and all out not pleasant to Lydia or most people...but strangely enough you like him anyway...as does Lydia. What comes about is a very realistic and deep relationship...which is always a nice surprise. Romance most of the time is like fluffy chocolate...it is always nice to get some real sustenance every so often. The reason for the two main characters to keep meeting, despite their immense attraction is also very well done. So it had a sense of a good suspense/mystery novel. All in all...this was a good book and I would recommend it.

Overall grade: A .

New Loretta Chase

2009-07-21T10:36:00.004-04:00

I heard that Loretta Chase was coming out with a new romance, and after reading The Lord of Scoundrels, there was nothing to do but pick it up. While I can say that I did not enjoy this new one as much as Lord, It was still a very good romance.

Don't Tempt Me
By Loretta Chase

Write up:

Spunky English girl overcomes impossible odds and outsmarts heathen villains.

That's the headline when Zoe Lexham returns to England. After twelve years in the exotic east, she's shockingly adept in the sensual arts. She knows everything a young lady shouldn't and nothing she ought to know. She's a walking scandal, with no hope of a future . . . unless someone can civilize her.

Lucien de Grey, the Duke of Marchmont, is no knight in shining armor. He's cynical, easily bored, and dangerous to women. He charms, seduces, and leaves them—with parting gifts of expensive jewelry to dry their tears. But good looks, combined with money and rank, makes him welcome everywhere. The most popular bachelor in the Beau Monde can easily save Zoe's risquÉ reputation . . . if the wayward beauty doesn't lead him into temptation, and a passion that could ruin them both.

I have got to say that I loved the premise of this romance: young aristocratic girl is kidnapped and sold into slavery and ends up living in a harem for 12 years! Now she has been returned home to civilized society...and the horror! The scandal! A harem no less! Cue ladies fainting dead away. It is hilarious from the start and I knew that this read would provide some good laughs. It did not fail me.

Zoe, because raised in a decadent world that is by far less stuffy than English society..is blunt and to the point. She just says what she feels and what she wants and forgets that ladies of her stature would more than likely faint dead away than stand around discussing men's "pleasuring members" or their "bottoms" and how the dress they are wearing in not adequately showing it off to it's fullest potential. She also has no problem with her sexuality and displaying it openly...despite stern warnings and the smelling salts her sisters let fly around her. They tell her in order to be accepted into society again she must attach herself to a man...a man of high rank and lots of money so no one would dare reject her. In comes Lucien.

He is the usual bored aristocrat. Spending money like water, bedding many females, and lazing about. He cares about little and nothing affects him, except going out of his way to do what he pleases and scandalize his peers. The only thing he cares about is Lord Lexham, Zoe's father, and he and Zoe was once good children friends before she disappeared. So of course when Zoe shows up again and is proven to be who she claims to be...he feels he must help her enter society...not marry her god forbid..but make sure she is in good standing to get her married of and respectable again. His plans go horribly of course.

This was a witty, and entertaining book. The only thing I did not enjoy was the last couple chapters with the unnecessary drama and suspense with the servants. Eh, it took away from my overall enjoyment. But Overall a B.

Beware of the man of one book

Best Day Ever

I want it! Nook Color!

Lazy Two Months for reading and blogging

Spellwright

A month to put bags under your eyes

Daughter Of The Forest

Heroes Series #3

Back to some good romance

Stormlord Series

The Darkest Power Final Book

The Decoy Princess

New Series and new author

Good Book....awful cover

Paranormal Romance Reviews PT2

Paranormal Romance Reviews

Divine By Mistake

Lady Julia Grey Series

Silent in the Sanctuary

Silent on the Moor

The Black Dagger Brotherhood Series

More Teen Vampires

An Historical mystery

Something a bit different

The Noble Dead Series #1

Vampire Week-- Dark lover by J.R. Ward

Vampire Academy #3

Vampire Academy

Year in Review

Delving into the land of Paranormal Romance

Easy reading romance and mystery

Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception

Beautiful Creatures, Beautiful Book

Continuing my young adult reading Spree

Vampire Academy..another teen series.

Mistborn Series #3

Some romance

One of the Best Young Adult Books

Under the blood red moon

Crosspointe Series

The Attolia Series (Book #3)

Historical Fiction and Fantasy combined

More Young Adult Reading

Surrender of A Siren

The Well of Ascension(Mistborn Series #2)

The Queen of Attolia (Thief Series #2)

Mistborn Series

Back to some romance

The Darkest Powers Series

Buffy the Vampire Slayer...light

Conclusion of the Inda Series

The Tide Lords Quartet

Finally back to reading!

New romance author

New author...for me anyway

Teens have it great these days

Something fluffy

New Loretta Chase