Shadow's Seduction by Kresley Cole

Magic Breaks by Ilona Andrews

Book Stats:  

Reading level: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Hardcover: 381 pages
Publisher: Penguin
Release date: July 29th, 2014

Series:  Kate Daniels #7

Source: 

Reviewed by: 

Order: Amazon | Book Depository

No matter how much the paranormal politics of Atlanta change, one thing always remains the same: if there’s trouble, Kate Daniels will be in the middle of it…

As the mate of the Beast Lord, Curran, former mercenary Kate Daniels has more responsibilities than it seems possible to juggle. Not only is she still struggling to keep her investigative business afloat, she must now deal with the affairs of the pack, including preparing her people for attack from Roland, a cruel ancient being with god-like powers. Since Kate’s connection to Roland has come out into the open, no one is safe—especially those closest to Kate.

As Roland’s long shadow looms ever nearer, Kate is called to attend the Conclave, a gathering of the leaders from the various supernatural factions in Atlanta. When one of the Masters of the Dead is found murdered there, apparently at the hands of a shapeshifter, Kate is given only twenty-four hours to hunt down the killer. And this time, if she fails, she’ll find herself embroiled in a war which could destroy everything she holds dear…

Despite my minor issues with the first book of this series, I thought I would give it another try. I thought the first book had too many clichés and the writing lacked a bit of maturity, but personally, Gabriel exceeded my expectation. The writing improved, the story and the world felt a little more developed and I enjoyed getting to know the characters a little bit more.

Lailah might not be my favourite heroine, but she is quite interesting. As a half vampire and half angel hybrid there's still a lot to learn about her abilities and her destiny. The love triangle that existed in the first book is only somewhat present now because for some mysterious reason, Lailah can't remember anything about Jonah. She remembers her angel pair Gabriel just fine, and she hasn't forgotten anything about other vampires, but for some odd reason, she can't recall anything about the vampire Jonah. Which is sad because Jonah was the most interesting character in the first book, in my opinion. On the other hand, Gabriel is moody and I feel like he's hiding so many things from Lailah that he can't really be trusted. As much as I liked Gabriel in the first book, I didn't like him in this one.

Gabriel was a character building book, where we learn more about the main characters, especially about Gabriel and Lailah. Despite their strong feeling for one another, they are still conflicted about their relationship, mostly because both of them have a hard time accepting Lailah's dark vampire side. Lailah refuses to drink blood despite weakening from lack of it, and Gabriel is too oblivious to realize that by ignoring Lailah's hunger, she's only hurting herself. Lailah has a long way to go before she fully accepts who she is, what she's capable of, and what she will do with her abilities. As for Jonah, Lailah still feels something but has not memory of their past. She feels responsible for Jonah and would do anything to help him, because she know he would do the same for her. Despite his bad boy persona, Jonah is very likeable. Especially when you compare him to Gabriel in this book.

I'm a sucker for a good story about good vs. evil, and this series definitely delivers that. Lailah might be the one to balance out good and evil, but this war has been going on for many centuries. A young band of generational vampire hunters join the fight and although they might be a little naive when it comes to the origin of vampires, they are still trying to do the right thing, for the most part. The author throws us quite a twist when it comes to these hunters, which I definitely didn't see coming.

Gabriel is an easy to read, fast paced book. I like this book more than the first one, probably because so many of my questions were answered. I also appreciate the fact the author refined her writing so that the story doesn't feel as rushed anymore. Lovers of paranormal romance will appreciate this one, but make sure to be prepared for a love triangle, strong feelings and complicated characters.

 

I didn’t realize when I picked up this book that it was actually a spin-off from a previous series. It wasn’t until after a few chapters that I realized the characters were too well established for this to be considered a new series. I’m a stickler for reading books in order so I’m usually really careful but I guess I was fooled by the “First in a new series” stamp on the cover of the book. But quite honestly, I don’t think it’s necessary to read the previous books to enjoy this one. The author describes the characters well enough to fill in the blanks, although it does feel like your missing background information from time to time.

It’s quite audacious to set the “first book” in a series in the wonderful city of Las Vegas. Especially when the two main characters are engaged and have no set date to get married. Thierry is a century old vampire that has just taken a job with The Ring, a secret organization policing the vampire population. His job as a consultant isn’t quite clear but it does involve a lot of travelling and investigating vampire related issues. His fiancé Sarah Dearly, the narrator of the book, is definitely ready to spend the rest of her life with Thierry and she proves it by packing a last minute bag to follow him to Las Vegas. She’s ready to do anything for him, even leaving her established life behind in Toronto.

Thierry’s job in Las Vegas is to investigate a 96 year old vampire child who is entering and winning child pageant shows for a living. Because she’s gaining popularity, Thierry’s job is to convince her to stop the pageant shows in order to keep her vampire status from the human population a secret. The job sounds simple enough except when a vampire serial killer starts murdering one human a day, and Thierry is set up to take the fall for the murder of a fellow vampire after threatening him publicly just the night before. Sarah decides to investigate the separate murders secretly and on her own. Even if by investigating the murders means risking her life, she can’t let her fiancé take the fall for something she knows he didn’t do.

Trouble follows Sarah around. Sarah mentions it multiple times herself and it’s actually quite true. As she investigates, so many things go wrong, like the death of one of her suspects, losing her engagement ring and getting told off by a security guard for letting her “vampire child” run off and cause trouble. Las Vegas is known for it’s eccentric people, and Sarah definitely meets her fair share of them. From a preaching vampire Jesus, to a bar full of vampire hunters and a few crazy characters, Sarah’s investigation is non-stop. Personally, I think Sarah proves herself in this book as a great parter for Thierry. She’s determine to make their relationship work and she goes to extremes to fight for their engagement. She also proves to Thierry and herself that despite all the dangers this life may have, she’s able to pull through on her own, even though the odds are set against her.

I've been to Vegas multiple times and although it's not my favourite city, it is a great place to visit and have fun, no matter what you're looking for. [spoiler]So an engaged couple travels to Las Vegas on business. Sure, Las Vegas is known for gambling, shows, nightlife, etc. But obviously it’s also know for weddings (I've actually been to two!). What better place for Sarah and Thierry to tie the knot? I was waiting for this the whole book. I knew it was coming and I don’t know what was more predictable: the fact that they got married, or that the ceremony was performed by an Elvis impersonator.[/spoiler]

Overall I really enjoyed this book. The writing reminds me a lot of Molly Harper, the author of the “Nice Girls” series. The book is filled with hilarious moments and how-did-she-end-up-in-this-jam moments. Honestly, if I were to continue reading this series, I would probably go back to the original series first before continuing with this spin off. I want to go back and read the events that lead to Sarah’s turning and I want to learn how Sarah and Thierry met and fell in love. The good news is that I have lots of books to keep me entertained for a while.

The case of Fred brings up a good question: If an accountant turns into a vampire would anybody notice?  I mean somebody who doesn't go out during the day with a pallid complexion and their social life is dominated by business could describe either if you think about it. The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred the Vampire Accountant by Drew Hays is a truly unique take on a popular Urban Fantasy subject.   From Butcher to Harris to Meyer to Rice we've seen some ideas of what a modern vampire's day to day life might look like.  Action, danger and romance around each corner  gives an alluring picture of that  life could be.  Then there's Fred.

At the beginning of this book his best bet for excitement might have been becoming the accountant for one of the more popular of his kind. While the idea of an accountant vampire (vampire accountant?) may be fresh this book does rely on many familiar character types as well as the relationships among them.  Even so, the characters are more archetype than stereotype.  Some of the characters I thought would be somewhat flat and just background in the beginning wound up more rounded and interesting later in the book.  Of course, Fred goes through his own growth and becomes a somebody a bit more interesting.

This book is more a collection of short stories that blend well together.  They build off each other very well and keep a pace throughout the book that makes it easy to stay engaged until the end.  The stories are variations of some we've seen before but, they are done in a way that makes them entertaining none the less.  Using the settings of Los Angeles and Las Vegas gives these stories the darkened danger we look for in the genre.  The author also did a very good job of capturing that 'dark gritty danger lurking behind the glitz and glamor' feel at both locations.

The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant by Drew Hays is an entertaining yet easy read.  It takes an almost light-hearted approach to a subject matter that has such a dark side.  It gets pretty violent and has some frank discussions of a mature nature which is why I would put it at a solid PG13 rating.

 



 

Breaking Dawn is one of those books where I really feel like I got my money's worth (and more, honestly), if that makes sense.  It is one long book, but for fans of the Twilight Saga, it might still not be quite enough.

I could talk for days about the plot- there's a LOT there.  Stephenie Meyer probably could have split Breaking Dawn into two or three books, and Twilight fans would have bought them all.  Kudos to Meyer for letting us have it all in one package!  I don't want to spoil anything, though.  I managed to make it through all the original fandom without finding out even a quarter of what happens in this book, and I don't want to ruin it for anyone else out there.  Just know that you will get some of the most romantic romance I've read in a YA book recently, some really intense mind-blowing medical drama, lots of friendship development, and plenty of character growth.  All in one!

I can talk about the intensity of the writing skill in Breaking Dawn without spoilers.  During the romantic scenes, I totally swooned.  Know that I do not swoon easily!  I tend to be more realistic and label romantic scenes as cheesy, but there were some bits early in the book where I was ready to try to marry into the Cullen family!  (Hubby:  not really.  Don't worry.  They're fictional.)  I think what I liked best is that the romantic scenes between characters in this book weren't all about kissing/bedroom eyes:  there was action.  The characters showed affection for each other in very realistic ways, like in spending time with each other, just holding hands, cooking for each other, etc.  The setting didn't hurt either:  I won't tell you where the characters travel to (it was a surprise for a character as much as for me), but I will tell you that Meyer does a fantastic time painting the landscape for the reader.  I had no trouble being transported to that place with those characters.  On the flip side, the descriptions were just as vivid during intense medical drama and fights-I got pretty nervous during a few of the scenes and had to take a moment to think about baby pandas instead.  Oh my!

I can also talk about character growth without any plot spoilers.  Remember how I called Bella a "dramarama mama" in my review of Eclipse?  She definitely shows the most growth in Breaking Dawn.  In just one book, she takes on multiple new responsibilities, all without complaint.  We see her transition from an unsure, clumsy high schooler to a conscientious young adult.  She's not the only one, either:  Jacob, I feel, also shows quite a bit of growth throughout this book as he also takes on some new responsibilities.  And finally, we can also look at the big picture and see growth in the relationships between supernatural groups, such as between the La Push werewolves and the Cullen vampires.  (There's more than just that, but that would be spoilery.  Teaser!)

Meyer does something cool with point of view in Breaking Dawn.  At the end of Eclipse, there's an epilogue from Jacob's point of view.  In Breaking Dawn, there's an entire chunk of the book from his point of view.  That was pretty cool.  While Bella isn't a vampire, she's very tied up in the Cullens and their lifestyle, and not the most objective observer.  I liked getting to see the Cullens from a slightly more critical eye.  And we all already know that I've been Team Jacob.  ;)

Don't think that Breaking Dawn is all lovey dovey hand-holding and character growth:  there's also a definite conflict.  That should probably be Conflict with a capital "c," really.  It's like all the other books' conflicts were piddly little set-ups compared to what's building in Forks, WA in Breaking Dawn!  This is hard to talk about without spoilers.  Just trust me that you will not be disappointed!

I listened to about half (the first half) on CD in my car, then finished it up in a physical book.  Nothing wrong with the narration; I just had more listening to do than I had time, and I can read slightly faster than I can listen.  The same narrator reads for the Bella parts in Breaking Dawn, and a new reader is introduced for the Jacob parts.  We already know that I think the Bella narrator is great; the Jacob narrator was ok.  He read clearly and with a good cadence, but his voice when he was reading quotes from Bella or Edward got a bit goofy.  Oh well.  I'd still call it a good audiobook overall.

This series definitely ends on a crowd-pleasing bang!  For fans of the first three Twilight books, I'd say that Breaking Dawn is an absolute must.

Bella is a DRAMARAMA MAMA in this third installment in the Twilight saga!  There's a mysterious string of murders in nearby Seattle, evil vampire Victoria is still after Bella, someone broke into Charlie's house... and all Bella does is agonize over Team Jacob vs Team Edward, and after-graduation plans.  She pushes Jacob away and then wants him back (on her terms)... then pushes him away, then wants him back.  Edward, lucky guy, gets to ride that emotional roller coaster by her side.

I was pretty optimistic about the first two books in this saga.  They were much better than I expected, and I chose Team Jacob.  Eclipse, however, seems to live up to the more negative reviews of the saga.  It's a bummer.  I was so hopeful!

The first 3/4 of the book is Bella's senior year.  She spends the year worrying about how soon she can let Edward make her immortal, and whining about his conditions.  (He is completely unreasonable.  He insists that she seriously consider the fact that she'll no longer be human, and to enjoy her last months as a human.  He also insists that they get married before they sleep before, and before he turns her into a vampire.  And that he gets to buy her a new, more reliable car.  He's obviously insane.)  She also spends time alternating between wanting Jacob to be her best friend, and wanting to never see him again.

If you're really into drama-filled romance, you'll probably enjoy the first half of the book.  Edward continues to be perfect, always-forgiving, and to make grand romantic gestures.  Jacob continues to try to court Bella too.  So she's getting lots of positive attention.

For me, the action really picked up in the last quarter of the book or so.  Things come to a head with the evil vampires in Seattle, and the Cullen family has to make some unusual alliances to fight them off.  The Cullens and Bella work together, using all their extra abilities, to plan a great counter-offensive when they hear that the other vampires are coming to the Forks area.  And then the battle itself!  Exciting!  It's fast-paced and unpredictable.  It had me on the metaphorical edge of my seat until the end.  (Remember, even though the saga is old, I managed to avoid nearly all spoilers.)

Like with the first two books, I listened to Eclipse as an audiobook.  It was good!  Same reader, so same good cadence and clear narration.

P.S. (Still Team Jacob at the end of Eclipse.)

P.P.S. Already began reading Breaking Dawn today.  Gotta see how the story ends!

Dead as a Doornail is the 5th book in the Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire book series by Charlaine Harris.  This review will deal with events from the other four books so, if you wish to enjoy the adventure  of the story fresh and have thoughts of starting this book series at some point, turn back now or be spoiled for ever!

So, quite a bit happened in Book 4, Dead to the World.  First and foremost, we found out there are witches in Bon Temps!  We also found out what it would be like if Eric wasn't Eric anymore.  These two occurrences  are not mutually exclusive.  Sookie found Eric after the witches took away his memory away.  Sookie was then convinced to take care of Eric while Pam found a way to get rid of the witches.  Of course the plan relied on Sookie and some werewolves (why not).  This is where Alcide's psycho-ex, Debbie comes in.  Proclaiming herself there to help, she found an opportunity to try and take Sookie out.  Long story short, Debbie was unsuccessful and nobody knows where she is.  That's mainly because Sookie blew her away with Jason's shotgun and Eric buried her somewhere while his memory was messed up.  Once he was back to himself, he didn't remember anything that happened when he didn't remember his real self.  Too bad since he and Sookie really hit off then! Then, there's Jason and the were-panthers (sounds like a U/F doo-wop group)

The thing that I liked about Dead to the World, I love about this book.  Charlaine Harris not only gives us a primary story to deal with but, she layers a few subplots to spice up this book.  The stories are woven in a way that aids the pacing so that, we're never bored though still not left exhausted by an abundance of action.

Sookie is as ever on her road to self discovery.  This is the one spot that the book way outpaces the HBO show.  In the books, she does not just deal with situations, she learns from them.  We see some of the same from the other characters but, it's more obvious with Sookie.  I do have to give Jason his due.  In the first book, that character was rather less than we saw on TV but, he has starting really evolving lately.

Dead as a Doornail was probably just what I needed from the series to keep my interest.  There is plenty of action and exposition to keep a reader entertained.  It still gets an R rating from me for its violence, language and frank use of mature situations.

 

At first, this book reads like your typical historical romance but the author, Brooklyn Ann, intelligently included vampires in her story. I usually love reading these two genre separately, but together they form the ultimate guilty pleasure. What's more, is that the author created wonderful and smart characters to tell the story and I especially loved the gutsy and eccentric heroine, Angelica Winthrop.

Fascinated by Gothic tales and literature, Angelica Winthrop hopes to become the next great authoress. However, limited by her sex, she vows to try everything in order to get published. Including visiting the Duke of Burnrath's mansion, which is presumed haunted. But when things go wrong and Angelica is found by the Duke, Ian Ashton himself, Angelica and Ian become prime gossip material because of their unseemly encounter which a servant became aware of. Gossip by the haute ton is the worse kind of attention one can get, especially when you're a vampire trying to hide in the middle of high society. Ian Ashton has always been careful, but there's just something about Angelica that makes getting exposed worth it. Ian figures that the only way out of the unwanted situation is to propose and marry Angelica. However, Angelica has other plans since she doesn't want to get married.

I love the way Angelica and Ian interact with one another. Their romantic story may have been predictable at times, but it was still highly entertaining to listen to their banter and to see them fall in love. As an early feminist, Angelica is the type of 19th century woman I admire, but in hindsight, probably never existed. Her stance on woman's rights is very progressive (maybe a little bit too progressive for that time) but I still love how the author created such a wonderful and strong leading lady. Ian is pretty great too and his vampire status is definitely an advantage. I don't know if I would have liked him as much if he weren't a vampire because otherwise, I fear he would have been a little bit too boring.

I thought it was pretty great that the author named quite a few real historical figures. Angelica is a great admirer of Mary Shelley and even though I'm not a really big fan of Frankenstein, I can see how Angelica might be fascinated by her and her writing. Along with Mary Shelley, Percy Shelley, Lord Byron and John Polidori are also mentioned. The later actually has a pretty important role in the novel and despite the fact that the other three are never actually present in the story, they have a major influence on some of the characters.

Bite Me, Your Grace reads like your typical historical romance novel but the paranormal elements makes it original and a lot more interesting. This fusion of genre was a definite success and I'm definitely checking out the rest of the series.

Kate really has a way of finding her way into the worst situations possible and this fifth installment is no exception. Mysteries are even harder to solve now that she can't fling her Order's badge in everyone's face and require answers, but hey, things you have to do to be 'His Furriness' mate. I loved everything about this novel and I'll try to break it down for you!

First and most important, even though Kate and Curran are now in a 'stable' relationship it would be easy to fall into some kind of old married couple routine, but thankfully it's not the case. They still banter, they still fight, Kate is still insecure, and Curran is still a jealous, control freak. Interactions between those two still generate sparkles, for everyone's enjoyment.

Example:

“Curran roared. The blast of noise erupting from his mouth was like thunder. I clenched up, fighting the urge to step back.

“Yes I can,” he snarled. “Listen: this is me telling you what you will not do.”

I raised the cookbook and tapped him on the nose. Bad cat.”

Of course, the dialogues between those two aren't the only interesting ones, Kate is just full of those 'making me laugh alone like a loony' kind of lines and I appreciate her dry humor. The characters we came to know across the whole series will get together in this installment to fight a common enemy and it was truly engaging. I loved how the Andrews pair managed to get all the magical 'classes' to work together toward a common goal, each bringing their own set of skills to the table.

The plot was really great and the bad guys turned out to be very surprising. The only thing that still don't make sense even after I finished the book is why the navigators fainted? Maybe I missed something?

Everything isn't fun, games and war though. Kate has to face a very very difficult situation when a loved one is in life or death situation and it really broke my heart along side hers. I admired her resourcefulness and determination to find a solution despite how impossible it seemed. The solution she comes up with isn't perfect, but she makes the best with what she has and it'll have to be enough.

I can't wait to see the consequences of all the magical beings working together and see how Kate & Curran's relationship keeps evolving.

This series is truly amazing, and if you have not picked it up yet I must urge you to do so. Fans of Patricia Briggs will be sure to fall in love again!

This is the fourth book in the Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire Mysteries Series.  If you have not yet read or watched the HBO show, yet intend to read this series, turn back now and please, please, come back later. I will likely disclose knowledge from the earlier books.  Information otherwise know as spoilers.

In book 3, Club Dead, we were finally introduced to the character Alcide Herveaux , werewolf and big-time surveyor.  We also meet his father, and his sort-of ex, Debbie Pelt.  Also patrons of Club Dead is the King of Mississippi, Russell Edgington and  his entourage.  These introductions came as a mixed blessing to Sookie.  She was looking for Bill Compton and, as it happened, Russell had Bill Compton.  So that, eventually, worked itself out.  The meeting with Debbie and some of the other werewolves could have gone better to say the least.  Then there was Sookie's introduction to Bill's maker, Lorena Ball.  That one ended with Lorena skewered like a kabob and Sookie having to get inventive with vampire disposal.  In the end, Sookie wound up alone healing as best she could at home.

In the fourth installment, Sookie is bound and determined to make it on her own with no help or interference from supernatural creatures no matter how handsome or gifted in the boudoir they may be.  This plan falls apart no sooner than she makes it when she happens upon a very tall, very blond and Nordic looking vampire wearing only jeans, running down the road early New Years' morning.  Can you guess who it is?  To make things that much more interesting, Jason is missing.  Sookie is very suspicious because she had seen him with woman who was a shifter just before he vanished.

All this is great setup for something that Charlaine Harris is great at: concurrent story lines.  My disappointment with the Club Dead was that there was just the one main story that seemed to follow the regular three act sequence felt a little too much like any other book by any other author.  Dead to the World was a return of Ms. Harris at her best.  We got new characters and a broadening of the supernatural creatures in and around Bon Temps.  I'm finding that developing the types of creatures can be just as important to the story as development of the characters themselves.  Learning and experiencing the difference between a Shifter and a Were along with Sookie gives a bit of depth to the story that would be lacking in a simple narrative explaining it in almost scholarly terms.

The pacing and interweaving of the stories is excellent and in the tradition of the first two books.  This has been one of the aspects that I have grown to appreciate from authors like Ms. Harris and others like Jim Butcher who use similar storytelling patterns.  Let's face it, life doesn't happen in separate three act dramas.  It happens all at once without intermission.  This is a wonderful way to lend a bit of reality to the story in order to bring the reader deeper into the tale.

Dead to the World is classic Sookie and a must read for any burgeoning fan.  Of course, it almost goes without saying, this is not a YA book.  This is an R rated book due to it's violence, mature subjects and mild sex scenes.



 

 

Just a heads up, in case you've been locked in a bunker for the last decade:  New Moon is the second book in the Twilight Saga.  So if you haven't read Twilight, you might want to check out that review first.

As I mentioned in that review, I'm reading these fresh.  I never read them during the big hype about 10 years ago.  In fact, I'm a little afraid to admit this, but I was a Twilight teaser.  I teased folks who read and loved it.  :(  I'm so sorry!  Now I'm reading them and I get it.

The writing isn't bad at all!  In fact, it's pretty good.  And the pacing feels right also.  Yes, there is teen angst.  And yes, there are moments when you want to reach into the book and give Bella a good shake and make her reconsider her life choices.  But overall, it's not too shabby.  And it's hard for the library employee in me to "put down" any book that gets folks reading.

While Twilight focused nearly entirely on developing Bella's character and her relationship with Edward, New Moon focuses more on Bella and her friendship with Jacob.  And I LOVED that!  Even in Twilight, when Bella was dating Edward, I was wanting more Jacob.  From that first party on the beach, he just seemed so sweet.  I'm not that old, and I can remember being a teen and wanting to do nothing but be with the boyfriend.  Now that I'm (supposedly) an adult, I recognize the value of balancing time at work with time with the hubby and time with friends, but teens are so very in-the-moment.  They often get caught up in these 20 minutes or so, and don't always think about the big picture.  In this way, Stephenie Meyer created such a believable character in Bella.  She makes some highly questionable decisions, but she's so genuine about it.  She so often thinks she's doing the right thing... even when she isn't.

I loved seeing her friendship with Jacob develop.  And I loved the slight "mystery" surrounding Jacob in the second half of the book or so.  No spoilers, so I can't even tell you what is mysterious about Jacob!  Somehow I managed to never hear about the spoiler during the hype.  (Lucky stars, I guess!)  I totally figured it out before Bella, but I think that's because I knew what kind of genre this book fit in.  And I was enjoying the unfolding of their friendship so much that I didn't even care that I was faster on the uptake than Bella!

Part of the appeal of these books has been the audiobook narration.  Ilyana Kadushin is fantastic!  I think these are the first books I've heard read by her, and I hope the next two are read by her too.  She gives Bella a very authentic voice, has clear and steady speech, good pacing, and fantastic enunciation.

And for those of you out there curious:  at the end of New Moon, I'm Team Jacob.  That could change after Eclipse, but for now that's where I stand.



P.S. I feel a little silly asking this, but can anyone explain the titles to me?  I thought I might have just missed something with Twilight, but then New Moon was never clearly explained.  Perhaps to do with Jacob's situation?  But then what does "twilight" reference?  I hate feeling left out of the loop!

However unsatisfied I am with this series, I think I will always keep coming back for more out of sheer curiosity. The Anita Blake early days were great. You knew what she was all about: fighting supernatural bad guys, using a lot of guns, and sometimes using a little bit of supernatural powers to save the day. Then came the sex and the ardeur, and that was fine, until it simplybecame too much. The most recent books feel like it's all about Anita's polyamorous relationships, no matter what bad guys seem to be hunting down innocents.

At least Affliction does have some decent fight scenes and police work. There isn't even a sex scene until a good couple hundred pages. However, there's a lot of talk about Anita's sex life and her numerous (20+!) sweeties. The repetition and the explanations are getting old and frankly you can almost guess who she'll sleep with next and how the book will end.

One aspect of the book that's new is that we travel to Micah's hometown. As one of Anita's main sweeties, I think it was about time that we learnt more about the wereleopard king. I enjoyed meeting Micah's family, and getting more information about his back story. He's always been a little bit of a mystery, even thought he's been in Anita's life for quite some time. It's sad that we only get to meet his family now, under bad circumstances, as his father lays dying in a hospital bed. And because they aren't exactly sure what supernatural force is killing him, Anita feels it's her duty to investigate and find out exactly what is making bite victims like Micah's father, rot from the inside out.

For me, this series has always been a guilty pleasure and I'm not ready to give up on it yet. Most characters are pretty great and I love reading about them. Despite the book being 500+ pages, it feels like not very much happened. A lot of it is filler, descriptions of all the pretty men in Anita's life, about who works out the most in the gym and whom can outfight or outgun whom. There's also a lot of law enforcement posturing and Anita refuting her "reputation" for being a bad ass executioner and a polyamorous lover. I'm going to cut this review short because ultimately, whether you read this book or not, nothing much in the Anita-verse will have changed. Read at your own risk!

Yes:  I'm reviewing that Twilight.  This was my first time reading it, and I feel like I can be a little more objective than I would have been if I read it in 2005 when it was first released, or in 2008 when it became a movie.  I was actually surprised at my reaction:  I thought it wasn't bad.  In fact, I downright enjoyed the first half of the book!  The writing was pretty good, the setting felt quite real, and I kind of liked the main character, Bella.

The book opens with Bella en route to live with her dad in a very small town in Washington.  She's lived a big majority of her life with her mom in Phoenix, but because of circumstances with her mom and her new husband, Bella moves to Washington just before the start of her junior year of high school.  Just like any teen undergoing a major change halfway through high school, she's nervous and has to figure out where she fits in the new school's social setting.  Teens aren't the only ones who will identify with the situation; adults will read about Bella's growth and remember their own first days of high school.  And is it really any different of a feeling when you start a new job?  The same questions unite us all:  will we "fit in?"  Will we make friends?

Bella is also dealing with a new climate.  At one point she tells another character that her favorite color is brown, because "brown is warm."  The reader knows that she's reflecting on the lack of green in Arizona's dry, warm climate.  Bella is struck over and over again with all the green and all the rain in Washington.  Stephenie Meyer doesn't beat the reader over the head with descriptions of setting, but she does pepper it into the storyline enough to really transport us to the wet northwest.  And no spoilers (can there really be anyone out there still to spoil this for?) but the setting ends up being pretty important to a few of the characters; this is a story that could not have taken place elsewhere.

I also spent the first part of the book really feeling like Bella was a well-developed character.  The book is entirely from her POV, so we know all of her hopes and fears.  She's a pretty average teen with slightly higher-than-normal klutziness.

Then, about halfway through the book, my opinions took a sharp right turn.  I'm trying to avoid spoilers, even though this is a well-known plot.... there's a relationship that develops halfway through the book, and it really tainted my opinions.  The writing continues to be pretty strong, but the relationship made me very, very worried for any young female readers.  Bella falls for a character with a very large chronological age difference.  While a person of a certain fantastic race may appear to be a teen for dozens and dozens of years, they would have the maturity and life experience of someone much, much older than a teen.  To my grown-up eyes, it appeared to be an older adult preying upon a teen.  Also, the relationship progressed really quickly.  Again, as a grown-up, I was downright scared for the character.  But I tried to remind myself that it was fiction, and that it involved vampires, so hopefully teens aren't actually taking romantic cues from it.  Hopefully.

My final little quibble was that there was very little action until CD 10 (out of 11 CDs).  I was enjoying the setting and character development, though, so the lack of major action until later was ok with me.  A reluctant reader, however, might give up before then.

So I guess we'll say that I had mixed feelings.  I enjoyed it way more than I expected to, and will probably read the sequels.  But on the other hand, some of the romance scared me a little, since the main character is just a teen.  Oh, and I listened to this on CD and the narration is absolutely perfect.  Not too fast, not too slow, nice and clear enunciation.  The whole thick book fit on just 11 CDs.  I didn't look at a physical copy; I suppose it could have a larger typeface.  I could see myself potentially selectively recommending this.

This is the second book in the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Mysteries series. So, fair warning, there will be spoilers from the first book. If you haven’t read it, intend to read it and dislike spoilers, you may want to come back a bit later.

In the first book, we met Sookie and many of her family, friends and acquaintances. Of course, I say ‘acquaintances’ because, Sookie feels like such an outcast due to what she refers to as her disability, her ability to read minds. She believes, and she seems to have enough proof, that most of the residence of Bon Temp the she’s strange. Considering some of the characters who inhabit Bon Temps that could be taken as a compliment. For example, Andy Bellefleur, the only detective on the Bon Temps Police force. Andy doesn’t admit to believing in Sookie’s ability and then asks her to use it to help in police matters. There’s also Holly Cleary, one of Sookie’s co-workers who also keeps a polite distance from her. These and a few others help illustrate the rift between the normal people and the supernatural folks of the area.

Sookie is not on her own, though. She has her friend, Arlene Fowler, her boss Sam Merlotte, her brother Jason and of course, her grandmother, Adele Stackhouse, before her passing, more or less wind up in her corner. They all give varying degrees of support for her relationship with Bill Compton (AKA Vampire Bill).

The second book starts out with the discovery of the body of another of her acquaintances, Lafayette. Having watched the TV show, I was completely surprised when that happened. This starts one path of this bifurcated story in which, another murder mystery is investigated and of course, Sookie is asked to help. The other path comes in the form of Eric Northman requesting Sookie’s help in another matter. This makes for quite a bit going on during one book but, it does lend the story a bit a credibility. In reality, the world doesn’t stop to figure out one mystery, life tends to go on.

Living Dead in Dallas does a very good job introducing newer characters, developing characters from the first book and telling two unrelated stories. I’ve also noted what seems to be the use of supernatural characters as an analog for differences in people in the real world. In that way, it reminds me of the Wild Cards series. The social commentary isn’t heavy handed and may only be in my mind so, it doesn’t get in the way of an entertaining story.

Living Dead in Dallas does very well in keeping my interest in the happenings of Bon Temps and of Sookie Stackhouse. Just like the first book, I would recommend this for mature audiences only due to sexual content and violence. It definitely falls deep in the R rated territory.



 

The Book of Life is the explosive finale of the All Souls Trilogy. In a way, I'm sad to see this trilogy come to end because I fell in love with Deborah Harkness's writing and her characters. This trilogy remains one of my favorites, not only because of the amazing story but because of the attention to detail, the countless, beautiful settings and the imaginative paranormal world.

After venturing in Elizabethan London and sixteenth century Europe, Matthew and Diana are back in modern day world. Still looking for Ashmole 782, the legendary manuscript that is supposed to hold the answers to life (or so they say), they have new and old enemies to face in order to stay together as a couple. Not only are their marriage and lives at risk, but the twins Diana carries are so improbable, other paranormal creatures are bound to be apprehensive and mistrustful of children conceived between a witch and a vampire. That's one of the wonderful things about Deborah Harnkness's writing. Witches and vampires are nothing new in fiction, yet the way she pushes the boundaries of the paranormal society she created resonates with our own modern day problems. People are so afraid of change and what they don't understand, that their first responses are to reject and dismantle. Diana and Matthew are one of my favorite fictional couples. As a witch and a vampire they've had to endure a lot of apprehension and negativity. Despite being fictitious, they feel real and their story is easy to believe.

As Diana continues to explore her magic and her spell weaving abilities, the paranormal world continues to expand. The author's attention to detail is amazing. Simple things like going into the details about the weaving of a spell and the magical tree that bears odd fruits like keys, not only enthralls me as a reader but makes this world that much more believable, despite its improbability.

 

Family is an important theme throughout the series but even more so in this last book. Harkness didn't reinvent the wheel when is comes to the "modern" family. She shows us that family doesn't need to be simply biological. A family is something that is in perpetual growth, that knows no limits and despite judgement, it's something that should always be what you need it to be. Family is also community, something that you depend on when things get difficult. Above everything else, the author makes us wish for the de Clermont and Bishop family love.

While book two had us travel through history, The Book of Life has us traveling throughout the world. The multiple settings adds depth and wonder to the story. Despite the new settings like New Orleans and New Haven, I'm glad we still got to visit Sept-Tour, Oxford and Madison. Throughout this series, we are also given a taste of magic and supernatural elements, which are definitely dominant in this book, but the science geek in me is thrilled that science was also a major aspect to the story. History and science blends so well together in this trilogy that it should please any academic and educate anyone who is willing to learn.

In my opinion, this trilogy shouldn't be seen as three separate books. It's one big story that should be enjoyed as a whole. There's definitely still lots to tell and I hope that one day the author will elaborate and continue the untold and unfinished stories of these characters. Deborah Harkness's imagination is a rare gift to readers and I'm sure I'll treasure Diana and Matthew's story for a long time.

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As you can see, the winner of my poll was Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris.  For all those who participated, thank you very much.  It was close but,  in the end, the numbers were clear on who won.

Ms. Harris does a wonderful job of introducing the reader to the characters of the story through the eyes of Sookie Stackhouse herself.  Being familiar with the TV show, I was familiar with Sookie and her brother Jason even though in the book Jason has a slightly different personality and Sookie's is a bit different.  The description and development of the characters was enough to get over all the differences between the two tellings of the story.

We meet Sookie and learn how she feels the whole town of Bon Tempe thinks her odd and keeps her outside of most social circles.  To be truthful, she knows they thinks that because, Sookie can read minds.  It led her to behaving strangely as a child until she could control it better. This situation is also what fueled her attraction to one Mr. Bill Compton and took her down the path that makes this story interesting.

I believe another key element to this story is the setting.  A story could be set in the creepiest of English castles and it still won't have effect that a small town surrounded by deep dark woods.   Couple that with the fact that the town is in Louisiana, legendary home to many voodoo practitioners, and the scene doesn't just draw you into a paranormal story, it swallows you whole.  At times, the setting is like another character in the story.

I always appreciate when an author can go beyond the surface with folklore and delve deep into the past to create the world of their story.  Charlaine Harris does this well in this story which gives it it's own special flair.  I look forward to the next installment if for no other reason than to see what new creature she can unearth from ancient mythology.

Sookie Stackhouse, like Jane Yellowrock or Harry Dresden, is not high fantasy but, more like blue-collar fantasy.  They are also very entertaining reads.  They can also inspire a person to examine some social issues in a different light without trying to tell people how to think (or shame them into it).  Anybody who has seen the TV shows knows, this one is not for the little ones.  It gets a definite R rating from me (the show gets a soft core X).  Language, adult conversations and a few sex scenes not to mention violence and of course, copious amounts of blood is the reasons why.

Next month will be Living Dead in Dallas Book 2 by Charlaine Harris.  Remember, we can spoil the heck out of this months book then.

This is a big book. Honestly, it was a little intimidating at first, but like any other Black Dagger Brotherhood book, it's easy to read. In the last few books, this series disappointed me a little bit, but it has redeemed itself in my view with The Shadows. There's a lot of point of views in this book, which makes it a little hard to follow at times, but each point of view is interesting enough. The continuation of many story lines and the introduction of new characters keeps things intriguing and fresh.

I knew this book would be mostly about Trez and Selena but I didn't realize that iAm would also play a major part. Trez has bonded with the Chosen Selena but Trez feels like he's not at all worthy of her. He feels like he has tainted his body by sleeping around with an infinite amount of women. Selena knows she has little time left to spend with Trez. With the deadly disease she has, she might only have days left. Whether those days should include Trez or not, is an easy decision for Selena but convincing Trez might be a little more difficult. However, life isn't that simple for Trez because he has been engaged since birth to the Princess of his Tribe. As a Shadow, a superior race of vampires, everything is predestined by star charts and all sorts of craziness. And his predestined future has always been to mate with the Princess in order to continue the royal bloodline. For such a "superior" race, they're kind of stuck with primitive ideas, if you ask me.

After the failed mutiny that attempted to overthrow Wrath from his royal throne, he now rules his people as the elected leader. He has decided to take on a more active role by meeting with his people and hearing their troubles. Abalone, a respected member of the vampire society is more or less in charge of his political office, organizing meetings and keeping track of everything. Great news for the vampire society is the Brotherhood opening its doors once more to new trainees. However, now they're not only accepting glymera males, but also commoners and females. At least some vampires are willing to move into the 21st century with forward thinking and new ideals. I think it's great that Abablone's daughter, Paradise, is thinking of auditioning to train with the Brotherhood. As one of the last females of good breeding and of mating age, this is obviously taboo, but it's great to see more females willing to kick ass. This is definitely one storyline I want to continue reading!

One point of view I'm not crazy about is Assail's. The drug dealer/drug addict story is getting old. It feels like his story has been dragging on in the last few books and I just want it over with. I like his story when Sola, the human woman he's attracted to, is present, otherwise I don't care for his drug dealing life. And his involvement with the lessers? I hate that even more.

Compared to the last couple of books, it seems like there wasn't as much slang and product placement. I hate when there's too much of it. I'm all for pop culture references but when J.R. Ward trying too hard to makes her characters sound and look cool, it's a complete fail. I'm just glad she didn't try too hard in this book.

Like so many paranormal romance books, many things in this book were predictable but The Shadows also kept me on my toes. So many great things happen in this book, even though others were not so great. I have mixed feeling about the ending but I guess many J.R. Ward books end like this. Ward knows fatalistic romance and brotherly love and it definitely shows in this most recent book. Although not as great as the first books of the series, The Shadows is decent addition to the series.

Sydney finally accepted to open her heart to Adrian but with her sister now in Palm Spring, it's even more challenging to hide her illicit activities. Romance isn't her only point of interest though, She's working on a new ink to stop Alchemist from brain-washing people, and she's helping create a sort of vaccine that would prevent strigoi from turning damphirs and morois against their will. All in all, she's pretty busy!

I really started to like Sydney in the last book, The Indigo Spell, and now I love her even more. She gets really involved in dangerous situations and will face every challenge thrown her way with her head held high. And really, I just love to see her with Adrian. It's weird because they are sooo different from each other, but they work perfectly together.

Adrian is simply great as usual. We really see a better and more determined side to him and I admired him for his determination. He still has his witty self available when needed, but he lets his mask down most of the time. Sydney has really been good to him.

Plot wise, things gets really busy, really quickly and I don't know how Sydney can manage it all. I'm sure her name is written as definition for 'Superwoman' in the dictionary. Things are pretty action packed with a 'vacation' at court, a blizzard, a strigoi fight and some alchemist action. One thing is sure, you won't be bored.

The conclusion is simply a killer and I am terribly grateful I didn't read this novel as soon as it was released because I would've died because of the wait for sure. I have the next novel handy, and I plan on starting to read it tonight.

Bloodlines has not replaced the original Vampire Academy series in my heart, but now it feels more and more like it's own series instead of a half-decent attempt to repeat a success (ok that's a harsh image, but I wasn't sold at first!)

I've been a big fan of this series in the past, despite all the ups and downs it went through. However, I can honestly say I'm not a fan of this particular book. At first, I thought "Yes! The Anita Blake I love is back!" since there was a lot police work at the beginning of the book. The first half of the book is dedicated to preturnatural police investigations and action. Dolph and Zerbrowski are back and I honestly thought the book was headed in the right direction until Anita's lovers made an appearance.

That's when most of Anita's internal dialogue switched from killing bad guys to describing her "sweeties." I've come to expect multiple lovers from Anita, and unlike many readers, it really doesn't bother me (the more, the merrier I guess). What does bother me, however, is the repetition. Each single lover gets several pages of description. After 20+ books, we get it, Anita's lovers are beautiful, handsome, fit, etc. I don't need to read the same description multiple times in the same book, except change the hair colour/length and eye colour depending on the man she's describing. Also, I don't see the point in describing their workout routines, especially when it's repeated multiple times in the same book, and why they need to keep fit. Don't get me wrong, a refresher is definitely okay when it comes to describing physical appearance, however, when I read more or less the same sentence a few chapters later, I feel like that's not just bad writing, but bad editing too.

Admittedly, Laurell K. Hamilton does know how to write a great sex scene. Even though the sex scenes are often filler, they are pretty intense, steamy and amazing. They never get boring. Variety is the spice of life, especially when it comes to lovers, in Anita's case. Another positive thing about the book is Zerbrowski, Anita's police "partner." Every scene he's in is great and I really wish we could have seen more of him. The new U.S. Marshall Brice is pretty cool too, especially since he's homosexual and doesn't want to sleep with Anita for a change (however, he would like a chance at some of her lovers).

I'm tired of seeing this series going nowhere. I've invested so much time (and money!) in the series. I keep buying and reading the books, in hopes that something new will happen. The series has failed to surprise me and really entertain me in these last few books. I fear this review has become a rant so I'm going to cut it short. Am I going to read the next book? Probably. I hate not finishing a series and I would feel even worse it the next book turned out to be amazing.