Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning

I read Darkfever, the first book in this series, just over a year ago. I enjoyed it, but I wasn't blown away. So it took me awhile to get to the further adventures of MacKayla Lane. But I liked Bloodfever quite a bit more than Darkfever. It took off running and never slowed down. I found the book to be engrossing and action-packed.

Many of the things that irritated me about the first were gone. Mac has grown up a bit, gotten a bit darker and a lot more interesting. Jericho Barrons (man, I hate that name) has also gotten more likeable, while remaining a bit creepy and enigmatic. He is not really a nice guy, but I am enjoying the development of his relationship with Mac. I assume some kind of romance will develop, but for now things are nicely off balance. MacKayla now has three men in her life who have mysterious agendas: Barrons, the Fae Prince V'Lane and the dark horse Christian MacKeltar.

The world of the Fae is developed more and is rather dark and creepy. We also learn more about sidhe-seers like Mac, and those relationships aren't going to play out well :) Karen Marie Moning is a very popular author of fantasy, men-in-kilts romance. I've read one, and only found it okay. But this Fever series really has a lot to appeal to fans of urban fantasy, especially those who like Irish settings and folklore. The happy ending is not clearly in sight at all. But if the action remains fast-paced, and the characters and world keep developing like this, I'll be sticking with this series for awhile: B.

Boundless

Yummy Cover!

I had been looking forward to the anthology Boundless, for awhile now. Long ago, when I read and loved Bone Deep, I of course then went to check out Bonnie Dee's website. I was intrigued by a story about a scarecrow. But when I got around to actually purchasing it, it was unavailable, due to Venus Press going belly up. So I was excited to see it coming out again. Plus the other two entries sounded intriguing and were by Dionne Galace (the artist formerly known as Bam) and Annie Dean, who I was familiar with from lurking about at It's Not Chick Porn. Hmmm...I guess it's time to officially move Bam to the writer blog section. Anyhoo, I bought this immediately, and am happy to say that it's the most satisfying anthology I've read in a rilly, rilly long time. I actually can't remember the last time I finished an anthology.

**Seven Days by Annie Dean--As I said I was familiar with Ms. Dean through her blog presence, but was not particularly compelled to read her prior works. Well, that will change because I loved this story. A lot. It was my favorite of the lot. "Seven Days" is about a young novitiate named Teresa, who is visited by temptation in the form of a gorgeous incubus shortly before she is to take her final vows. If she succumbs to the temptation that the charming, handsome and demonic Dev presents, she will take his place in Hell, and he will remain to enjoy the delights of Earth.

Ms. Dean has a smooth and witty writing style that assumes the reader is intelligent. I appreciated that, as well as the fact that the story dealt thoughtfully with matters of belief and faith. The characters were great. Teresa is a devout young woman, intelligent, curious and serious. Though she can't resist her curiosity about Dev, she deals with him thoughtfully and deliberately, trying to figure out how to best outwit him. I could see how Dev would be as intrigued by her as she was by him. Dev is charming, sexy, and witty, as befits an incubus. The romance worked really well for me, a rarity in a shorter story. There was great chemistry built up by the conversations and banter between them. I loved how, even as they were adversaries aiming for opposite goals, they grew to care about each other and wanted to help each other. I even got verklempt at the end. Always a good sign (for the author, that is. Makes me feel like I'm getting soft). I'm giving this one a A, for good characters, good writing and good love story. Wonderful!

**Straw Man by Bonnie Dee--As I said, this was why I bought the book, and I must confess that I read this one first. "Straw Man" is the story of Marie, a lonely woman feeling increasingly stifled by life on her pumpkin farm. Out of boredom, she's talking to her scarecrow, for chrissakes! On Halloween night she wishes for the lover of her dreams. A few hours later he appears. That's right, ya'll, it's the scarecrow come to life!

Sounds kind of silly right? And yes, it's pretty much a standard "dream lover" type erotic romance set-up, but Dee makes it work. She captures that atmosphere of a quiet October night, when the air is crispy, the wind is blowing and the leaves are rustling, and it seems quite possible that something bizarre might happen. Marie is another likeable Dee heroine, a bit unsure, but determined to go for what she wants. And Sam (the scarecrow) was pretty delicious. He was perfect, of course, because he's what she wished for, but damn if it wasn't sexy how he just wanted to please her. Not only with awesome sex, but by eating together, or talking or cuddling. Whatever she wanted. The ending seemed a bit abrupt, but overall it was a nice, romantic, escapist, 'woman gets her every fantasy magically fulfilled' type story. I'd give it a B.

**Waking Kitty by Dionne Galace--Has-been reporter Jack Ridley and pink-haired Kitty Jones meet when a ship appears in the bar that Kitty waitresses at. Jack leads a team that investigates and debunks weird and supernatural events, and Kitty...well, Kitty has had a number of weird and supernatural events happening in her vicinity lately. The two are immediately drawn to each other, and fall in love while Jack tries to find out what's going down in Chicago and Kitty tries to figure out what is wrong with her.

I enjoyed this one as well, but I felt it could have benefited from being longer. There's a lot going on, and it felt rushed. Jack was a bad boy who just needs some good lovin' hero, right up my alley, and Kitty was a fun, quirky but not annoying character as well. But there was a little too much mental lusting at first, and the leap from attraction to love felt a bit fast for me. I also felt like the resolution, and the mystery behind Kitty's past was too quick. I liked so many things about it, but I would've liked to get to know the characters more, would've liked to see the relationship develop a bit more and would've liked to hear more about Kitty's mysterious past. I do have a liking a for quirky characters and stories where weird stuff just starts happening, and I liked Kitty and Jack, so B-. I will keep an eye out for Ms. Galace's future work, because she's got a fun style.

I'm going to give Boundless a B+ overall. I don't know if that's mathematically correct, and I don't care. This was the strongest anthology I've read in recent memory, with three slightly offbeat, romantic and enjoyable stories.

Pimping a friend and a quick review

Any Broadway fans out there? Being a fan of a things review-y, and also of embarrassing my friends, I'd like to draw your attention to Broadway.com's new word of mouth panel. They have gotten rid of their professional reviewer in favor of "man on the street" type reviews. They chose 12 people to send to shows, then they get to review them for the site. And one of the reviewers is my old buddy Ellen! Here she is, in all her fabulousness. I look forward to seeing what she has to say about NY theater (despite the fact that I never go). Congrats on getting chosen. Can't wait to hear about what you've seen.

I also wanted to quickly review Measure of a Man by Bonnie Dee (who is that guy on the cover and why does he keep showing up everywhere?) This book is part of Liquid Silver's Terran Realm series, which is like...environmental paranormal. Or something. Terrans are a race who live alongside humans and they keep the environment in balance. Or something. Different people have an affinity with a particular element (earth, air, fire, water) and some sort of power that is related to that element. These are called Keepers and there are Protectors who, um, protect the Keepers so that they can do their work. Okay, let's be honest. I didn't really get the world building, nor did I care about it all that much. I didn't even quite get what the heroine's power of mental healing had to do with the air.

Whatever. Doesn't much matter, because I found this to be an enjoyable, fast read. After reading this and Dee's contribution to the Boundless anthology, I can firmly say that I really love this author's characterizations. She writes down to Earth, likeable heroines, and offbeat, tormented and very appealling heroes. In this case, it made the book work despite me being meh about the Terran thing. MoaM has a con artist/petty criminal (Ian) as the hero and he gets drawn into the world of the Terrans when one literally crashes into him. Mirabai has strong mental powers and she works as a psychic healer. Dee was able to make her charming and not overly hippy dippy and sage like, but rather a nice foil for the jaded and self loathing Ian. They had good chemistry and the relationship developed quickly, but worked. Mira has stolen an object from the bad guys (the Destroyers), and it's a pretty standard going on the run type plot. It was the characters that made it work, from Ian and Mira to protector Justin to the bad guy (whose name is currently escaping me). I give it a B, and I've already bought the follow up Fruits of Betrayal. Maybe I'll figure out why the Destroyers want to destroy.

The return of the review haiku

It's been awhile, no?

Ghosts and Roses by Kelley St. John

Psychic Family,
Compelled to help troubled ghosts.
One plagued by hot dreams.

Gage must help victim,
Whose killer wants his dream girl,
Solid Blaze, fast read.

Comments from the Peanut Gallery: This book is saddled with the stupidest miniseries title evah: The Sexth Sense. Come on! I guffawed when entering it into Romantic Advances. I guess we should be happy the tagline wasn’t “I have sex with dead people.” But the description sounded interesting, and after reading the review at AAR, I decided to buy it. And it was pretty good, one of the best Blazes I’ve read. I polished it off on a round trip train ride to the city for Ellen S.’ thirtieth (So which is it? Filthy or Flirty? Happy Birthday!)

The miniseries concerns the Vicknairs, a family of Louisiana psychics who have been mandated by the family matriarch to help troubled spirits cross to the other side. Playboy ER physician Gage Vicknair’s most recent assignment is a murder victim who believes she was stabbed by the man who molested her and her three ‘sisters’ in a orphanage many years before. She needs Gage to help her warn and protect them. One of the women, Makayla Sparks, just happens to be the one Gage has been having intense sexual dreams about. But between her terrible past, and the present danger, they may not have a future.

I really dislike it when rape or sexual abuse is treated casually or carelessly in romance novels, and I was a bit concerned, given the high heat level and short length of the Harlequin Blaze. But St. John pulled it off satisfactorily, not giving the horror of the past short shrift. She made the whole “dream lover” device work too, which is kind of a cheesy one, by writing the heck out of the physical and emotional intensity for the two characters. The dream dimension angle provided a safe space for the heroine to explore her sexuality, and to try trusting a man. I wish Makayla had a little more character development than “former victim”, but there was quite a bit of plot going on here, too. I agree with the AAR reviewer that, after a pretty good amount of suspense, the ending kind of fizzled by making the characters seem, hmmm, not too bright. I’d check out St. John’s other work. The other ones in the series have ghosts as the love interest, which I’m not into, but there are another three interesting cousins, who I hope get stories as well. B-. Give it a go, if you like ghosts or psychics.

No Humans Involved by Kelley Armstrong

Kelley Armstrong is a longtime favorite of mine, and an author I'd immediately recommend to anyone who is apprehensive about reading anything paranormal. I think she's a great writer, with a crisp style, strong characterization, and well moving plots. Her books have a nice blend of the supernatural, mystery and a dollop of romance. Unlike the other writers she's compared to, Armstrong shifts protagonists/narrators from book to book. The shifting point of view works well, as we get to know characters little by little, until they get their turn to speak.

I was apprehensive about an entire book from Jaime Vegas' point of view. Jaime is a necromancer, that is, she can see and speak with the dead, as well as raise and banish spirits. She seems kind of flaky and insecure and makes her living doing stage shows a la John Edward, putting grieving folks "in contact" with dead loved ones. I never warmed up to her all that much and didn't like her mooning over Jeremy. Jeremy Danvers is the Pack Alpha (top dog werewolf), and one of my favorite fictional boyfriends. He's a different kind of Alpha: reserved, quiet, and controlled, but kind. He's also kinda mysterious and delicious. I wasn't too sure she deserved him, and would've preferred seeing him with a different sort of woman. Like say, a suburban mom/librarian, with newly reddish brown hair and a predilection for cardigans and early nineties alternative rock. But C'est la Vie.

No Humans Involved turned out to be one of the strongest in this series (along with Bitten and Industrial Magic), in my opinion. It revolves around a television special that Jaime is to star in, along with two other mediums. Their mission: to raise the spirit of Marilyn Monroe. While trying to navigate the wacky world of Hollywood types, Jaime is also growing nervous about aging and what it means for her career (there's always someone younger and cuter just around the corner) and her talents (many necromancers end up insane). She's also excited and aprehensive about Jeremy's impending visit. Does it mean that he possibly returns her feelings and is willing to take their relationship to another level? Jaime soon discovers that much more disturbing things are afoot at the Brentwood house where the special is being filmed than manipulative directors and spotlight hungry spiritualists. With the help of Jeremy and others, Jaime has to find out what is causing the strange experiences she's having in the back garden.

I don't completely love Jaime now, but I found her dilemma interesting: a woman in her early forties who has been on stage her entire life, only now starting to wonder what she really wants out of life. Her sense of self worth is so deeply tied to her success as a performer (thanks to a bitch of a stage mother), Jaime is only now realizing that she has more to offer the world. She is kind of insecure, but also practical. She knows the ways of the world and how to use them to help herself (without hurting others). I did love seeing Jeremy from her point of view. We usually see him through the point of view of characters who see him as a father figure. His whole life has been shaped by an almost crushing amount of responsibility (for his father, Clay, Elena, the Pack), and he, is now starting to think about life apart from all those responsibilities. Jaime and Jeremy have a mature relationship. And pretty hot too. I want to see more of them. Love Jeremy. Love.

The mystery was good and creepy, with some unsavory villains. I also enjoyed the secondary characters. I like Eve and Kristof, and was glad to see them helping out. Hope and Karl were the high point of last year's Dates From Hell anthology. I liked seeing more of them. I believe Hope will be the next protagonist, and I can't wait. I love grey-area type characters and Karl definitely fits the bill. Hope does also but her leanings toward the dark side are beyond her control, the legacy of her Chaos demon father. Should be some interesting internal/external tension.

A- for you Kelley Armstrong. Minus is because I just don't love Jaime as much as others, and I missed Paige, Lucas, Elena and Clayton. If you've read others in this series, you will enjoy this, and if you haven't, go get one. Really. Now. Start with Bitten.

**Questions I am pondering--Should Apolo have beaten the Fat One? Was the last episode of Veronica Mars a stunning return to the series' noir roots or a disappointing attempt to do so, with little closure? How long will I be sad that both shows are gone? At least Dancing with the Stars will get another season and who knows, perhaps Enrico Colantoni will be a contestant.

In brief...

I'm watching Howard the Duck. It's a lot worse than I remembered. It was that or Pee Wee's Big Adventure. It's 80's nostalgia night on cable apparently, because First Blood is on too.

I've been all caught up in the newest kerfuffle, rubbernecking as per usual. The comments are flying fast, I can barely keep up. At least some good has come out of this all. Of course by this I mean Mrs. Giggles' Blog Drama Drinking Game. Excellent! Too bad I don't drink no more.

I've been wanting to review Kiss Me Deadly, a novella by Shannon Stacey. I won a download by her at Sybil's, and she was nice enough to send me two!! KMD takes place at the isolated cabin of Bridget Sawyer. When a raven flies into her bedroom, she doesn't realize that it is a messenger of Death, and a sexy shapeshifter. Khail is stunned when she doesn't die, and intensely drawn to Bridget. The two of them want to explore their attraction to each other, but Bridget was marked to die, and the other ravens want to carry out their duties.

This one was okay. I liked the idea of Death as an unkindness of ravens (love that phrase), and the idea of these two stuck in the cabin while the ravens circle the house and tap on the windows, a la The Birds. But it suffers from the curse of the erotic romance novella: how to get two strangers fizz-nucking quickly and also to have feelings develop between them believably. There was definitely a touch of the bamp-chicka-wow-wow factor. A bird shows up in your house, turns into a naked, hot dude, and you're getting it on with him in a matter of hours? Hmmmm...The heroine had isolated herself in the mountains to escape an abusive ex-husband, and memories of a horrible childhood. This made it even rougher for me to believe she'd hop into bed with random werebird so quickly, no matter how undeniably drawn they were to each other. However, I liked Ms Stacey's style of writing, in particular the dialogue and characterization. There were some moments that did reveal a nice chemistry between the two leads. Although I'm giving this a C because I was not able to buy it completely, I am looking forward to reading her 72 Hours. I would imagine that without the length constraints, she will be able to flesh (heh) out the characters and relationship quite nicely.

Okay, now for a very short review of No Rest for the Wicked, by Kresley Cole. In fact, it is a not one, but two Haiku review. Here goes:

Sebastian, sad vamp,
Kaderin kills vampires dead.
Can she be his Bride?

Fast pace and great sex,
Talisman's Hie was cool,
Bitchy chick, hot guy.

For more on this series, see here. I like the array of creatures included. The Valkyries are still kind of annoying, but Cole does soulmates well. I give it a B. For a fun review, which does a great job of illustrating the book, check out the video review at Dear Author.

Catching up with series books, part one

I'm a bit behind on reviews, and I've got several books I want to mention. Looking at my sidebar, I can't believe how long I've been in a paranormal mood. And it shows no signs of ending. Usually, as the days grow warmer, I start longing for something light and historical, you know, witty banter, aristocratic titles, house parties, walking gowns, ladies maids, compromising positions, that whole deal. But no, give me creatures of the night, and make it dark.

I recently finished The Demon You Know by Christine Warren. Ms. Warren has not updated her website in a looong time, despite my fangirly plea that she do so, if you want more info about the book than I'm going to give, click on the title for the Amazon link. This addition to "The Others" series takes place six weeks after "The Unveiling", during which the supernatural creatures have made themselves known to the unsuspecting, human public. Not surprisingly, the humans are having a bit of a rough time with this, and tensions are high. When a riot breaks out, shy, unassuming Abby Baker gets caught in the middle. Awkward, inexperienced and "plain" (a former Catholic School girl), the only remarkable thing about Abby is that she has one blue eye and one brown eye. Unfortunately, her mismatched eyes signify some sort of openness to the "Other" world, and in the thick of the riots a fiend named Lou takes the moment to make Abby his new residence. Abby soon finds herself in the thick of the supernatural world, and she doesn't think she likes it, espcially the tall, gorgeous, overbearing Demon named Rule, who wants the information that the fiend inside of her has.

This was another fun, fast paced romance, but I definitely found it to be weaker than the other two books I've read by Warren. I've noticed that this author likes her heroines strong and sassy, and I like the way she writes them, but in this case it didn't work so well. We are told how shy and mousy Abby is, but then she's all mouthy and confrontational with Rule. Now I can imagine that being possessed must really stink, and that it would have an effect on one's personality, but her words and actions sharply contrasted with her description. She also exhibited some TSTL behavior. The chemistry between Abby and Rule was good enough. But Rule didn't quite work either. He was the strong, silent, but somewhat overbearing type, but almost to the extent where he lacked personality. I would've also liked to see the world of the demons fleshed out a bit more. Another concern: once again, an immortal character was paired with a mortal one, but the implications were not addressed, which places a damper on the HEA.

But the pace was good, and the story was interesting, and I liked many of the secondary characters old and new (Abby's older brother was good). So I'll give this one a B-,and I hope there's going to be more. There was no sneak peek, and since the site has been updated, who knows?

Attempting to keep it brief...

I'm trying to get my reviews a little bit shorter. It's tough though, I've always got so much too say. Let's give it a go...

**Step into Darkness by Naomi Bellis, was new to me, though it came out last September. It is the author's publishing debut, and I checked it out based upon the intriguing cover and back blurb, which promised a slightly different historical setting (Georgian England/Revolutionary France) and a hint of the paranormal. Step into Darkness kept my interest pretty well, but a few things kept it firmly in the C range. The hero, "Gentleman Jack" Tremaine, is not actually a thief, but a spy. Sorry for the spoilage, but this is revealed rather quickly. I haven't read too much spy stuff, so the revelation didn't bother me, and Jack's spymaster was the most intriguing character in the book. Jack himself, and the heroine, Sarah, were likable but rather bland, as was their romance. I think they fell in love too quickly for my tastes. The tension had the potential to be really juicy, but it was defused too fast. The love scenes were rushed also, particularly the first one,which should've been a bigger moment. The idea of "The Circle", a group (or groups?) of European Aristocracy who have magic powers, was introduced, but not particularly fleshed out. Who were "The Circle?" Where did they come from? What could they do? What influence (if any) did they have on society? I was left with many questions. I'm not sure if some of the blandness and vagueness is due to this being the first in a series, or if it's due to Ms. Bellis being a novice author, but there was enough that was good to keep me from writing the author off. I'll give the next one a try at some point, see if it's a bit more developed or exciting.

**I finally read If Angels Burn by Lynn Viehl. Ms. Viehl doesn't seem to have a website per se, but her blog is really interesting and has excellent resources for writers, especially. I had never read this series before, because I had read some mixed reviews. But I liked the titles and covers, and the descriptions sounded good. So I gave it a go, and I really liked it. I liked it so much that I dreamt that I was at Fortunoff's to get a dress for my sister's wedding, and there were used copies of all the books on a shelf, and in my haste to get to them, I knocked over a display of Lenox. Fortunoff's sells neither dresses nor books, but there you go. The heroine, Dr. Alex Keller, was prickly, without ever getting too annoying. I liked Michael Cyprien (the hero), as well. I did feel that the development into true love was a bit of a leap, but there was so much going on, I didn't mind. Viehl is building an interesting world here, with an intriguing cast, and good possibilities. Will Phillipe get a book, or is he sidekick material only? I really liked the explanation for the cause of the Darkyn's vampirism. It is very dark, though. Some scenes are not for the faint of heart. Damn, the Brethren (the Darkyn's enemy) are freaky! Although it is marketed as paranormal romance, I could give this one to my husband. In some ways, the love story took a back seat to the worldbuilding. But that was okay, because it was an exciting and intense read. I give it a B+ and I look forward to the next books, though I won't find them at Fortunoff's.

I think somebody watched every season of Charmed...

Persecuted by Lisa Childs is another Silhouette Nocturne (they're 25% off at Target, $3.93, and I just can't help myself), Persecuted is the second in the "Witch Hunt" trilogy. You're okay with not reading the first, because much of the info is reiterated (over and over). This trilogy follows three sisters who have inherited special powers from their Gypsy mother. Long ago, their ancestor was burned at the stake for witchcraft by a crazy, vengeful fellow named MacGregor. The girls' mother gave them up in order to protect them. Now the sisters are finding their way back to each other, because someone has begun the Witch Hunt again. Persecuted features the eldest sister, Elena Jones, who has visions of the future. Elena ended up back with her father (mama was a rolling stone, apparently all three girls have different fathers) and her wealthy, controlling, bitch of a grandmother. Elena is rather cold and controlled herself, as a result of the efforts of keeping her visions hidden. As the book begins, Elena is estranged from her husband and haunted by a dream lover. The lover of her dreams is Joseph Dolce, her grandmother's right hand man. In real life, Elena dislikes Joseph, but will have to trust and depend on him to save the lives of her daughter and herself.

This book was one of those experiences where I noticed a number of things I didn't like, even as I devoured it. It was very readable, especially in contrast to the other book I was slogging through. But there were certain elements of which I just wanted...more. I find this happens to me often with categories. It seems like a length limitation, trying to squeeze in plot, world building and character development. Let's see...how to explain...oh, like Joseph was supposed to be this former street kid who had made his fortune strong arming clients for the nutty grandma. But he just wasn't enough, never seemed tough enough or controlled enough, y'know? There were also hints that he had lusted after Elena (a married woman) for a long time, but again, not enough. I just think that being a little more in depth about it and the darkness and angst that it suggests, combined with Elena's dreams about and mistrust of him, would have made their connection more tortured and sexy, stronger. As it was, when he makes his speech about not being the type for family and commitment, I was like, whatever dude, you're not fooling me. I also thought the witch hunt thing a little silly, and the three sister who each have a different power? Who literally each have a charm to protect them? Inspiration comes from all over. I give this one a C+, because while I found it flawed, it also kept my attention. A little more depth and intensity would've made it really good. I noticed that this one and the first, Haunted, are both sold out, so others must've enjoyed it as well. I'm sure I'll check out the third and track down the first at some point.

A Few Interesting Things...

I'm currently reading For a Few Demons More by Kim Harrison. This series doesn't work nearly as well for me as it does for others, but there is something that keeps me going with it. I looked at my review of Fistful of Charms and a lot of the same things are bothering me about this one. It started off o.k., but now it's starting to drag. I think I've reached my limit with Rachel also. I just don't get why everyone is so enamored of her. I'm determined to finish and review, though.

Other things that have been distracting me:
**I was lucky enough to win an e-book of Claiming the Courtesan from Dear Author. (Have you checked out the forums, BTW? They're just getting going, but look to be fun.) This was especially awesome because I was planning on giving this one a pass, until all the controversy erupted. Now I must read it for myself. I think Campbell's next release sounds good too. Now I don't have an EBook reader, so my method of choice for reading e-books is Microsoft Reader. When I popped on over to Fictionwise to claim my book, I was told by the site that I didn't have the proper software. Huh? Apparently, my copy of MS Reader has never been 'activated' and thus cannot get downloads from Fictionwise (a security measure. Moreover, I cannot activate my copy because I lack "Active X" controls. When I attempted to find out more about this Active X nonsense, I got pages and pages of jargon I could not understand. Has anyone ever faced this issue? I tried to backtrack and get it in Adobe Acrobat instead, but no dice. Arrrghhh!

**Elizabeth Hoyt guest blogged at Sybil's and Rene Lyons guest blogged at Sanctuary's Finest. Must get on reading their books. [Woo-hoo, I'm having good karma lately, and my love of leaving comments for authors is paying off. I won a copy of The Leopard Prince.] I love it when authors do the guest blogger thing.

**Has anyone read these?
Witchling by Yasmine Galenorn

Night Life by Elizabeth Guest

When Darkness Comes by Alexandra Ivy


**Things I'm excited about:






That's all. I shall return when I make it through the next round of birthday madness. And when I finish off the Harrison book.

More books and a meme...

I've read the next two installments of Michelle M. Pillow's Realm Immortal series: Faery Queen and The Stone Queen. All titles can be found at Samhain Publishing. I enjoyed both, although the first book (see review below) was definitely the best. I liked Faery Queen the least. It focused on Juliana's older brother Hugh, and the queen of Feia, who first appeared in the King of the Unblessed. Hugh dislikes the Queen, whom he holds responsible for his sister's marriage. He also lusts after her. Queen Tania is lovesick for Hugh, and Lucien, the King of the Damned, seeks to use her pain to his advantage. I did not particularly like either Hugh or Tania, and never felt that there was more than lust between them (especially on Hugh's part). It did get me excited for the next one, and I pretty much focused on the parts with Merrick (the hero of the first book), and the evil but interesting Lucien. I give it a C+. I enjoyed The Stone Queen much more, which returned the focus to Juliana, Merrick, Lucien and Mia. In this one, the pregnant Juliana ends up encased in stone. While Merrick tries to find a way to free her and their child, the war rages on between the Blessed and the Unblessed, and Lucien plots to overthrow them all. This one was paced well, and I just love the gloomy but hot Merrick, and sexy, evil Lucien (I'm really fascinated by his weird relationship with his nymph mistress Mia). I did feel that Juliana was borderline TSTL (but how many fairy tale princesses are?), and I wasn't thrilled with the explanation of how Juliana ended up within stone. It didn't really make much sense to me, seemed like the author rushed through it to get on to more interesting stuff. But all in all, this was another fun tale. I give it a B. I don't know if this was a trilogy or if there will be more, but I'd definitely be up for Kalen (Merrick's ally) getting a story, as well as more Lucien/Mia.

Any other Pillow recs? I'm in a definite paranormal mood. Anyone read her vampire books?

Okay, I wasn't going to do this, but the more I saw this on everyone and their sister's blog, the more curious I was to see what I've read. I don't know where this list came from. It's a mix of classics and good and bad bestsellers.

Red=Ones I've Read
Green=Haven't read, but may attempt at some point
Purple=No interest in reading
Pink=Seen the Movie Only

1. The DaVinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown) (I was forced to listen to an audio on the way to NH and I hated it.)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18 The Stand (Stephen King) (well, the mini-series)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44.The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. The Bible (well, not the whole thing)
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58.The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According to Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte's Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)9
96.The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce) (Okay, I actually only read huge excerpts of this for a class, and I loved them (love the Molly Bloom section, but somehow I doubt I'll ever be picking it up again).




33 read. If I were honest, most of the greens are probably purples, but I like to think I'd read 'em at some point. Kind of a random list, if you ask me.

Dance, Magic, Dance!

What movie is the post title referring to?

(Answer to come later in the post.)



I stayed up into the wee hours reading Realm Immortal: King of the Unblessed by Michelle M. Pillow. This is a dark fantasy romance set partially in a Medieval type England, and partially in an "Otherworld" populated by Elves, Faeries, Goblins and other folkloric creatures. Lady Juliana of Bellemare has always had a very active imagination, preferring stories of magic and mystery to the life of duty that awaits her as a noblewoman. On the eve of her marriage to a much older neighbor, Juliana asks somebody, anybody, to give her one adventure. Unbeknownst to her, Merrick, the King of the Unblessed (it's like the kingdom of mischief, bad luck and stuff that ruins your day) has become fascinated by Juliana, and has already planned on making her his. So he decides to give Juliana her adventure, ensure she doesn't marry the old guy and trick her into going to his palace, where he will keep her. So he goes to Juliana, and tells her he has kidnapped the village children. In order to save them, Juliana must journey to the palace of the King of the Unblessed and ask him a simple question. Horrified and fascinated by Merrick (not knowing his true identity), Juliana sets off.

First off, I am a monkey's uncle if Ms. Pillow did not get her inspiration for this book from the movie Labyrinth. Does anyone remember this movie? A teenage Jennifer Connelly plays a girl with her head in the clouds, who wishes for something to happen to her little brother. The Goblin King (David Bowie with big hair) listens to her plea and steals baby boy. The Connelly character, Sarah, must solve the Labyrinth in 13 hours or her brother will be turned into a Goblin. Musical numbers (including the catchy "Dance, Magic, Dance) and slightly creepy Jim Henson creatures abound.

This is not a carbon copy (I'd call it a homage), but there are definite parallels. Like Jareth/Bowie, Merrick rules over the Goblins. Neither king understands why the heroine is so angry with them, when they are only giving them what they want. Each want to rule over the heroine, and gain power from her fear. As for Juliana/Sarah, their "adventure" is really a journey of leaving childhood fancies behind, and realizing that things are not always black and white and not always what they seem.

I should admit that I adore Labyrinth. It is a wonderful, surreal movie, and I can't wait until H-Bomb and the Destroyer are old enough to watch it with me. As a twelve year old watching this movie, I wished that Jennifer Connelly had stayed with David Bowie and been his Goblin Queen. Icky as that may be, it may explain why I liked this book so much. Merrick was a great dark, tormented hero. He wanted Juliana, but he couldn't quite understand her, and despaired of her ever understanding him. Plus, why would she want to stay in his dark kingdom and share the burden of being disliked. Juliana was annoying at times, but overall I liked her. I also liked and was intrigued by the secondary characters like her brothers, Lord Kalen (Merrick's ally), Lucien, the Demon King, and the Faery Queen Tania.

Ms. Pillow's writing was very smooth and assured. I found the setting and world to be very vividly described. Sometimes the language had a bit of that stilted "Methinks" and "Whilst" thing going on , not a personal favorite, but then it would go away (in "reality" vs. "the Otherworld", I think). The sex scenes were well written, nothing more extreme than found in most mainstream romance. I found the ending to be a little perky compared to the rest of the work, but there are two sequels, so we'll have to see if Merrick gets all sweet. All in all, this was a compelling grownup fairy tale and lots of fun: B+. If you like, say, Kinley MacGregor's Lords of Avalon series, or if like me, you think they miss the mark, give this one a go. I'm going to buy the next two installments now, because I want to see what happens next. And I think I'm going to email Ms. Pillow about Labyrinth thing. I'm so curious.

It's difficult to read when you can't stop rolling your eyes...

So I made my first purchase from Samhain Publishing yesterday. I got Sacred Places by Mandy Roth and Realm Immortal: King of the Unblessed by Michelle M. Pillow. BTW, isn't it interesting how the book lengths and prices vary from site to site? Not a lot, but just enough to get me wondering who provides the most words for your money. Samhains seem to be really well priced.

I've already read Sacred Places, a short story. And, well, to be honest, I thought it blew chunks. That may sound a little harsh but I was very disappointed. Very. I understand that in a short story, there is only a limited amount of character development, relationship development and world building (this is a paranormal) that can be accomplished. But a little should be attempted! I bought this because it appeared to be the prequel to the author's newest release, which I thought sounded interesting. As an introduction to an alternate universe, this failed, being a choppy, cheesy mess.

It is essentially a sex scene wherein Coyle O'Caha (Scottish brogue alert!) finally "claims" his "soulmate", Deri Sullivan. Yeah,one of those. We get no sense of them as people aside from the fact that they're hot for each other, or any real explanation of how their powers work, where they come from, or why. Every so often info's dropped like, oh yeah, he's a seven hundred year old Druid sorceror, or oh yeah, he's covered in tattoos (any significance to them?), or oh yeah, he can create storms. But even though this oh-so-powerful Druid's duty is to train witches and he recognized Deri as his mate three years ago, he had no idea she was a witch. This despite the fact that he regularly enters her dreams to sex her up. And she had no idea that he had magik (not a misspelling), either. Why weren't they able to sense each other? How does he find other witches? Why does Coyle hang around his bar shirtless? So he can flex his muscles in the mirror? Instead, we get a whole lot of mental lusting, replete with creaming pussies and very hard, huge cocks. Too many body fluids get me thinking about panty liners. Not sexy.

I just found this to be clunky, cliched and uninteresting. It's too bad because it sounded interesting. If had just been a sex scene without anything else, it would've just been boring. But the meager attempts at worldbuilding elevated it to annoying. Now I don't think I can invest in the sequel, too risky. Oh well, there was plenty of other stuff I wanted to buy.

More bragging about bargains...

It can be really nice working in a wealthy neighborhood. People must read books, then just drop them in the library donation box. My mom bought a new Jayne Anne Krentz hardcover that she was looking for, for 3 bucks. And someone's got similar taste to me. Tonight I picked up:

Full Moon Rising by Keri Arthur--it looked untouched.

Knight of Darkness by Kinley MacGregor--I thought the first one was mediocre, but I can't help myself.

Love at First Bite by Sherrilyn Kenyon et al.--bought this for SK's contribution, but I've never read any of the other authors, so I'll have to give them a try.

There were also several other SKs, a bunch of early Anita Blakes, and all three JR Wards (Sacrilege! How could you give those away?). I'm hoping this reader keeps me in 75 cent books all year.

Werewolves and Demons and Faeries, oh my!

I wasn't too sure about She's No Faerie Princess by Christine Warren. From the front cover tagline ("She's got combat boots, an attitude and a lover with a beastly side") and the description on the back, I figured I'd be in for a sassy heroine who mouths off to everyone in sight and a super-dominant hero who crowds and stalks his "soulmate." (the paranormal romance shorthand for a werewolf). And a bunch of supernatural creatures trying way too hard to be funny and hip. Wasn't sure I was feeling it. But, it was sitting on the kitchen table and I was heading into the city for a brunch with friends. With two hours of uninterrupted reading time in store, I grabbed it. I figured if it didn't grab me on the way there, I could pop into Borders and get something for the ride home.

Fiona is a Princess of the Seelie Faerie court, who needs a vacation. Even though it's forbidden for the Fae to cross into the mortal world, she figures she'll sneak through the gate into New York City, go shopping, hit a few shows at the Knitting Factory. But when she pops out in Inwood Park, she finds a particularly nasty demon waiting for her. Fiona is saved by Tobias Walker, the beta werewolf of the local pack. It is instant lust. But Walker doesn't have time to be helping out an immortal faerie princess. The "Others" of New York City are working with delegates, supernatural and human, to negotiate their "coming out" to the human world. Things are pretty tense already, and when it appears that the gate back to Faerie is cursed, Fiona and Walker realize that things are about to get a lot worse.

[Click on Post Title for full post]

This was a nice surprise and pleasant discovery. I liked it quite a bit. It was set in a pretty standard alternate universe, with werefolk, witches and vampires wandering the streets unbeknownst to humans. They're also preparing to make their presence known to the world, also pretty standard going. But Warren writes with a light, sure touch and I enjoyed her characterizations. There was a lot of humor, but it flowed well and was subtle rather than cheesy. It was light on the slang and pop culture references. At first I thought Fiona was going to be a pain in the ass, but once she settled down she was an intelligent heroine who knew when to push and when to stand back and let others play to their strengths. Walker was similarly likeable. The mate thing was handled well. At first Walker thinks it's just lust, but once he gets to know Fiona, then he realizes they are destined mates. They had hot chemistry, and the development of their relationship worked. The plot moved along at a nice clip. The supporting cast of characters were good as well (Warren has other books in this series at Ellora's Cave I'll be getting).

Some quibbles: the third act lost some steam as the focus shifted from the romance to action, the introduction of an info-dumping demon at the end also slowed things, and was obvious sequel baiting, and they never addressed how the Fiona's immortality might impact their HEA. For these reasons and the fact that the world building was less than original, this book stays a B. But it is a solid B. This was a fast paced fun read, with a sexy, solid love story. I'll be looking into her previous work, and the next installment, The Demon You Know.

Her website is very out of date, but I am assuming the next hero will be the info-dumper from this book. Are demons the new black? Between Demon Angel, Hell's Belles, Succubus Blues and now this one, I'm sensing a trend. Well, it's new for now, so I'll be hopping aboard this train for awhile, anyway.

Demon Angel by Meljean Brook

Demon Angel by Meljean Brook has been making quite a splash in the blogospere lately, perhaps not surprisingly. since Ms. Brook is an active blogger herself. A lot of people have reviewed this one. I was looking forward to reading this one since I first saw it at Sybil's. I actually stopped reading the reviews because I didn't want to spoil myself. So,now it's my turn to take a stab at reviewing this one, which is the author's first published full length novel, I believe.

The Story (My apologies to the author if I’ve left anything out. This is a dense story, and I mean that in a good way): Demon Angel begins in thirteenth century England, where seventeen year old, newly knighted Hugh meets the demon Lilith as she wreaks havoc near the estate of his liege lord. They are immediately drawn to each other, as Lilith torments Hugh, and he is alternately attracted and disturbed by her. Once Lilith’s machinations result in Hugh’s death, she finds that she is unable to complete the ritual that will send his soul to Hell. Instead, she turns him over to Michael (as in the Archangel), the head of the Guardians. The Guardians are men and women who have been given angelic powers in order to protect humans (and their souls) against demons. Over the next eight hundred years, Hugh and Lilith cross paths repeatedly as they carry out their respective roles. They are adversaries, but their relationship is tempered by their strong attraction and respect for each other. Part One ends in 1991, when Hugh, dillusioned and disenchanted with his afterlife, decides to Fall. In a last ditch attempt to save Lilith’s soul, he stabs her through the heart. The second part of the book resumes in 2007, where Hugh has become an English professor in San Francisco. When one of his students is killed in a ritual murder, Hugh is brought face to face with someone he thought he’d never see again: Lilith, now FBI agent Lily Milton. She has changed a bit, but she still serves Lucifer, and he still wants one thing from her: Hugh’s death.

[Ok, I tried to make that as succinct as possible while still getting the point across.]

The Good: I loved Part One. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this, but I’m a geek for medieval stuff. One of the fascinating things about the Middle Ages was people’s overwhelming concern for their souls, and their absolute belief in the demonic. There are many narratives of people’s encounters with demons. So I liked the idea that demons actually were fucking with people and setting up their downfall. As I mentioned, the “universe” of demons, Guardians (and vampires and nosferatu) created here was a dense one, with a lot of rules and backstory. I thought it was developed well—fit within the story (not “info-dump”-y), and I came to understand everything. I just found it to be a fascinating world. And I loved the development of Hugh and Lilith’s relationship throughout their encounters over the years.

But I think that Brook’s particular strength is characterization. Man, Hugh and Lilith were freaking awesome characters! Hugh was very strong, and a warrior, but also singularly kind and compassionate. Although he is very concerned with saving souls (especially Lilith’s), he is not self-righteous. He’s got a good sense of humor and I loved how he just got Lilith and accepted and loved her for who she was. Lilith was a very strong, kick ass heroine, and not in that annoying, aren’t-I-so-sassy-and-petulant way. She was a demon (actually, half-demon/half-human), but she wasn’t evil. Lilith enjoys meting out her brand of justice to those she thinks deserves it, but she can’t quite stomach some of the other demon stuff. And hey, I’m sure that lots of us have a streak where we wouldn’t mind if rapists, molesters and murderers got damned to hell. And her vulnerability where Hugh is concerned…these two just rocked! They were fully fleshed out characters, rather than types, with a really interesting (and HOT), well-developed relationship. They are just drawn to each other from the start, they really get each other, and their feelings deepen over time. There is always that sense that they genuinely like and respect each other. Plus, there are a lot of great secondary characters, from Sir Pup the hellhound to Colin Ames-Beaumont the vampire (“’But I’m extraordinarily handsome.’”).

The Bad: I have read that some people felt that there were problems with pacing. I have to admit, after Hugh and Lilith got together, the last hundred pages or so lost a lot of momentum for me. The whole mystery/action subplot just wasn’t as interesting to me as the character/relationship stuff. I wanted to know how everything would get resolved, and how they would get their HEA, but my attention flagged here and there. I hesitate to blame it all on the writing though, because I’ve been exhausted this week. I think it’s a combo of the cold and the fact that the Destroyer’s getting her two year molars. She’s been a whack-a-doodle this week. My husband actually called me at work on Thursday to beg me to come home. Who would’ve thought that a man with multiple tattoos, two Harleys and a black belt in Karate could be reduced to a quivering mass by someone who’s two and half feet tall and 24 pounds? Wimp. She is a hellcat though. I think that Lilith would like her.

The Verdict: This would perhaps vary according to reader taste, but for me, the great character and relationship development, and the world building, definitely trump the slow final act. I am looking forward to future stories by Ms. Brook. I hope she has many great ideas, characters and relationships in store for readers. I’m giving this one an A-. Her next one, Demon Moon, features Colin (yay!) and Savitri Murray, who was also in DA. She’s getting a pre-emptive thumbs up for me for an Indian heroine. I don’t think I’ve read an Indian heroine in a romance since The Far Pavilions by MM Kaye, many, many years ago.

P.S. Sorry for the long ass post. I seem to be unable to make the expandable posts anymore. Also,at Dear Author, Demon Angel is the book club selection. Now that I finished the book, I'm off to take a look.

Things I've Read...

*Fear the Darkness by Sherrilyn Kenyon. I got this online short story from Nath. Worthwhile for completeness, for those of us who enjoy that sort of thing. Pretty much more Nick angsting/bitching. Bleh. I'm sure he'll be redeemed and all, but at this point I could give a rat's ass. The excerpt for her next release, The Dream Hunter, didn't particularly excite, either. But I popped on over to her website, and I did do a little dance when I discovered that Ash's book will be out at the end of the year. I'm still excited for it, but there's so much build-up, I can't see how it won't disappoint.

*New Moon by Stephenie Meyer. Another winner. One might think that one would not like this book, given that Bella and Edward are apart for 3/4 of the book, Bella was in a lot of emotional pain, and she grows close to another guy, Jacob. But the angst was good angst. I felt awful for Bella, but I felt for her. It wasn't just whining (I'm looking at you, Nick) And I really liked Jacob. There. I said it. I actually kind of wished it was more of a triangle. All I am saying is oy, the break up scene, and the scenes after Bella and Edward see each other again. Must be read several times.

*Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning. A decent read, not stunning but I'll be looking for the next one at the library (August 2007). I think that half the books I read as a teenager had a young woman travelling to a foreign country to investigate a mystery regarding her family and meet an enigmatic stranger. I have an affinity for that type of thing. Plus I'm a sucker for Ireland and the Fae. There were two issues that I hope go away. First off, this a recounting of events that happened to the narrator, MacKayla Lane. So "Mac" seems to feel the need to say something like "Little did I know..." or "If I had only known then..." or some other hokey foreshadowing phrase, at the beginning and end of each chapter. Y'know, the kind of thing that screams "DUN, DUN, DUN! Ruh-roh, some bad shit's about to happen." Heavy handed and lame. Next problem is the main male character. His name is Jericho Barrons, and for some reason, I have taken a violent dislike to that name. And I don't like him much either. It's too early to tell if he's the hero of the series, and I kinda hope he turns out to be a bad guy. He crosses the line from enigmatic to dickhead. Actually, I have a theory about who he'll turn out to be, so hopefully I'll stick with the series long enough to find out if I'm right.

I dreamt of warm flesh and tossed cookies...

I actually read Mistral's Kiss by Laurell K. Hamilton almost a week ago, but then I got an upper respiratory infection for Christmas (not quite as nice as the laptop I got last year), and I've been in a fog since then. Every time
I tried to write this review my head felt like it would explode. Then again reading this book often had the same effect on me. If this review is not quite coherent, I blame it on my sickness and the muddling effect Laurell K.'s writing has on the brain. There will most definitely be spoilers ahead, and some meanness. I just can't help it. As I skimmed some of the book to prepare myself to write, I found myself giggling and shaking my head all over again. Don't read her books with a drink in hand. Spewing will likely occur at some point.

Now I have nothing against LKH as a person. On the contrary, I find her inane, somewhat incoherent pronouncements, TMI, and delusions of grandeur (see the notorious blog) rather amusing and refreshing. And she seems like quite the animal lover. I'm sure she's lovely and she has managed to land herself at #1 on the NYT bestseller list a number of times. But Christ on a Cracker, what a steaming pile of crap!!! I stand in awe.I want to just quote chunks to illustrate how shitty her writing is, but undoubtedly I will write for far too long as it is, so we'll skip it.

I read my first Anita Blake way back in 1998. I thought it was ok, but I didn't quite get what the fuss was. I didn't like Miss Anita all that much. I thought her a bit self-righteous and, for me, she crossed the line from spunky to annoying. And Jean-Claude was okay, but he always evoked a strange mix of Prince circa Purple Rain, and the lead singer of the Cult, in my mind. Not sexy.
So I read them a bit here and there, but didn't get truly sucked in until A Kiss of Shadows, the first installment of Hamilton's Meredith Gentry series. I don't know why this series grabbed me so much. Perhaps it was because of Doyle, the Queen's Darkness, and my favorite male character by LKH (also the only one Meredith has any chemistry with). Perhaps it was because Merry lacked Anita's need to moralize and justify every action. Perhaps it was because of Sholto, the guy with the tentacles that Merry almost gives a BJ to. Perhaps my Irish blood means I like all things Faerie. Anyhow, I got caught up in the adventures of Merry, an LA P.I. who is also a Faerie princess. These books take place in a universe where the Faerie made a treaty with Thomas Jefferson to live in America and so humans live alongside all sorts of fey creatures. Merry is forced by her aunt, the Unseelie Sidhe Queen, into a competition with her psycho cousin, Cel, to become the next ruler. She's got to conceive if she wants to be the queen. To that end, she's given a bunch of her aunt's guards, including the aforementioned Doyle (Doyle 4 king 4 eva!), to fuck. The sidhe are like the nobles of the Fey, and the Unseelie are the bad guys (although the Seelie seem like assholes too). These guys aren't little guys with wings, they're tall and supposedly hot, and in true LKH form, we are treated to endless descriptions of their hair and eyes.

The first books had mystery plots, but by the third it had pretty much descended into a sexfest. Plus LKH kept adding more and more guys, and who could keep track anymore? It went from like eight or nine to like, twenty. The time frame also slowed down, so the entire books would take place over the course of a night. I can barely remember anything from #4, Stroke of Midnight, except for one good Doyle/Frost/Merry scene. So now we're up to #5, Mistral's Kiss.

The book begins with the line, "I dreamt of warm flesh and cookies," and moves right into an endless, unintentionally hilarious sex scene. I mean, unless I was reading something wrong, Mistral literally falls through the door and onto Merry while she's doing it with some other guy, then he gets in on the act. That's pretty fricking funny. Then, through the power of Merry's magic va-jay-jay, all of them are transported naked into a magic forest. And then Merry's aunt, Queen Andais sweeps in and is mean to everybody and sweeps out. Then people are glowing and climbing trees or something. And having conversations and standing around naked. And meanwhile Merry still spread-eagle with two guys on her, with twigs digging into her back. And I'm wondering if anyone's ever going to get off. This is why I find LKH's "erotica" so not erotic. The scenes are so interminable, and there's so much other stuff going on that I get distracted by the details. I'm wondering how many of them are standing around, and where's that creepy little Kitto guy who wears the running shorts from the boy's department. Is he in the forest too? And Mistral almost bites off Merry's boob, and I'm wondering if he can dislocate his jaw to get one of her big jugs into his mouth. Oy, I'm getting dizzy reliving it all.

In a smart move on LKH's part, when Merry finally finishes, the freaky sex magic makes all the guys we don't give a crap about get swallowed up by trees and the ground and stuff. So we're left with Merry, Mistral, the drunk one, and characters that we have gotten to know, like Doyle (4eva!), Frost, and Rhys. And they wander around the forest (nekkid) trying to get back home. Then they end up in the realm of the Sluagh, which means Sholto! And tentacles! Yay! I like Sholto, and I've been waiting for four books to see how Hamilton writes tentacle sex. Yes, we finally have the scene, and yes, it was disappointing. Then the magic hoo-ha causes more freaky shit to happen, and everyone's running about naked and bloody and dirty, and all I can think about is all those schlongs flapping in the wind, then they pop out in LA. The End. No joke. I think there was a tiny bit of development in the story arc at the end, but I was feeling lightheaded by then. Like I am now, thinking about it.

This book was pretty much pointless, plotless shlock. However, it was more entertaining shlock than the two previous installments. Nothing happened, but it was less boring, and that's a good thing, right? I do still enjoy this series (probably because of all the unintentional funny). I'll probably keep up with it until we get more Merry/Doyle action, but I don't understand how long it can be dragged out. How many more guys can she screw? Get knocked up already! I'm not giving this one a grade, because it is beyond a grade.

See, I told ya, incoherent.

Hungry Like the Wolf...

So I finally read A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole. I avoided this one at first, because I was sure it was more of the same: badass, hipster paranormal beings, soulmates, vampires, werewolves yadda, yadda, yadda. Plus, the hero was supposed to be really overbearing, and there was some "forced seduction" type stuff. Not my favorite. Plus, the cover. Oy, the cover. This cover makes me think of eighties videos. It makes me think of smoke machines and strobe lights. Like the guy's about to start swinging the woman around like they are competing to be the new couple on DanceTV.
(What random movie am I referencing?) But then it started to get quite a bit of attention and alot of it was good. Let me point out some reviews here,
here,and here. Somewhere along the way, it started to sound interesting. So I decided it was worth checking out.

I'm not really feeling up to summarizing, so here's the blurb:

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—ebb 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...?

Yeah, so I liked this one. Liked it quite a bit. It's one of those books that had several elements that made me cringe, yet was just so compulsively readable. This shit was hot. Some writers just know how to get that sexual tension going. Man, I couldn't wait for these two to do it. Even when the hero, Lachlain, was being a dick and pushing himself on Emmaline Troy (his fated soulmate), I didn't mind it that much. I did a bit, but Cole knows how to write the soulmates thing, in my opinion. Lachlain was wary, angry and resentful to find that the mate that he had searched for for so long was a vampire (well, half vampire), but the author didn't overdo the hostility. The connection he felt for her was always clear, and his feelings towards her changed and deepened at a good pace. I found his intensity to be quite sexy. I know some other reviewers didn't like Emma too much, but I found her to be a nice change of pace. She was very timid, but able to stand up when the time came. At the same time she didn't suddenly morph into super woman. She was still a bit awkward and doofy. I could see why Lachlain would start to like her so much. I found the world of the Lore(this alt-universe) to be pretty interesting.
Now for the not-so-good. The slang/pop culture references were overdone. This is a particular pet peeve of mine. The attempt to make the characters sound hip or cool just seems so forced and has the opposite effect. I could do without the characters saying things like, "...I've got madskills [sic] going on...", "This skeeves me out," "Frau Badass", "Mate-Schmate..." Yadda, yadda, so on and so forth. "U-ee" "'Kay" I know people use slang in real life, but too much on the page just seems overly cutesy and lame. There were also a few too many Valkyries. They were kind of annoying and started to blend together a bit. But overall, this was an enjoyable and satisfying read. I give it a B. I'll definitely be looking for the next one, No Rest for the Wicked. This cover features another couple who may or may not be auditioning for featured dancers in a Pat Benatar video. BTW, even if you have no interest in reading this book, I encourage you to check out Jane's video review at Dear Author. It's a hoot.

Dates from Hell

Dates From Hell is an anthology featuring novellas by Kim Harrison, Lynsey Sands, Kelley Armstrong and Lori Handeland. It is shelved in the Romance section, which may disappoint some buyers, because I would've considered only one of the stories a romance really. This anthology was merely okay--it took me days to finish a couple of the stories. Anyway, my humble opinions. I'm going to do this in that order I liked them (most to least):

Chaotic by Kelley Armstrong--Definitely the best. Moved quickly, and I liked the two main characters: half-demon Hope, and werewolf thief Karl Marsters (who was in Bitten). This felt like a beginning, so I'm hoping that Armstrong makes Hope a protagonist for one of her novels. I'd like to see more of these two and their developing relationship. But what is Kelley Armstrong trying to do to me with these titles? I can't help but think of Britney and Kevin and the theme song to that ridiculous show.

Dead Man Dating by Lori Handeland--Never read her before. This was pretty good, kept my interest. It was a little cheesy. The heroine was a short and dumpy, virgin (sigh) literary agent in her early twenties, but she had a good sense of humor that wasn't annoying, and she didn't do anything asinine. The hero was a sexy Mexican rogue demon hunter, which was the one thing that was killing me. The first time he refers to himself as a rogue demon hunter, the heroine, Kit, follows it up with, "Lost in the Buffyverse, are we?" I was like, heh, obligatory Buffy/Angel reference, funny, whatever. But he keeps referring to himself as a rogue demon hunter, in all seriousness. What, as opposed to the demon hunters in the union? Seriously, is this something I didn't know about? Are regular demon hunters different than rogue demon hunter? It made me wince. This kinda felt like a beginning as well. If Kit and Chavez have any more adventures, I might check them out of the library.

Undead in the Garden of Good and Evil by Kim Harrison--I was surprised by how much I didn't like this. I suppose it's for the same reason it took me three books to start enjoying her series. She is heavy on the exposition, yet I still find her characterization, especially of vampires, kind of murky. I have a feeling that it's all supposed to be unfolding rather slowly, but I just don't get them. Are they evil? How come everything seems to awaken their bloodlust? Maybe it's just me. This story centers on Ivy Tamwood, the vampire who's Rachel Morgan's roommate and partner. She's the most intriguing character in the series, but I didn't like her all that much in this story of her attempt to get promoted without giving her boss sex or blood. I found her whiny, and when another character goes off on her and calls her a coward, I was like, "yes!" Still, if you read Harrison, this is wortwhile for a different point of view than Rachel's. I'm still looking forward to A Fistful of Charms.

The Claire Switch Project by Lynsay Sands--This would've made a good set-up for an ABC Family Sunday Night Movie. I used to watch these religiously during my pregnancies, I have no idea why. Haven't watched one in a year, but I have seen such gems as "See Jane Date" with Charisma Carpenter, and "Pizza My Heart" with Shiri Appleby from Roswell, and the other one with Shiri where she can't decide between her imaginary friend and the slacker dude she meets at school. Anyone out there watch these? So anyway, this is a story about a budding scientist who gets zapped by a ray in the lab she shares with two other scientists, one of whom she's had a crush on for years. Crush boy takes her home with him, as he also happens to be the twin of Claire's best friend. Claire soon realizes that she can shape shift, and her best friend decides to capitalize on this, convincing Claire to become movie star, Brad Cruise, and be her date to their high school reunion. Of course, a few minutes later, Claire's crush (Kyle) makes her dreams come true and asks her to be his date for the reunion. Of course, wacky hijinks ensue as Claire switches back and forth bewteen Brad and herself. I started skimming after awhile, just so I could see how it ends. I've read several of Lynsay Sands' books, before I realized they were not for me. Although she has a decent sense of humor, I find the romance aspect of her writing to be rather band and lame. There's just no tension or anything interesting there.

Wow, I can be wordy. I was planning for this to be a quick post.