You are currently browsing the monthly archive for August 2011.
I came across J.A. Saare’s Rhiannon’s Law series on the recommendation of a friend. Book one is called Dead, Undead, or Somewhere in Between. I read the blurb and I saw that this was about a tough chickie who also happens to be a necromancer involved with vampires. Mystery and chaos ensue. How could I resist a book that sounded so much like my favorite guilty pleasure of a series turned train wreck?
Where as that other series that will not be named is full of preachy moments and several page long female anatomy lessons this book is lacking all of that. The heroine Rhiannon is an unapologetic street smart girl who has been through hell and back. She can serve a mean cocktail and then knock you unconscious with her right hook. She’s pretty sarcastic and swears like a sailor. Rhiannon has no problem telling you what is on her mind, even if that is somewhat admitting a weakness. That was pretty refreshing itself.
If I were some of the characters in the books I read I would be terrified no matter how much I tried to keep my chin up. It was nice to hear someone admit that.
The male lead, Disco the vampire was also a little different. He wasn’t as chest thumping Alpha. He seemed even slightly shy which made him incredibly endearing. He was the head of a vampire House and so he had authority and power, but it was delivered in a more subdued way.
The storyline wasn’t predictable at all. The scooby doo unmasking moment came with a few twists that came a little too far from left field, but it wasn’t anything cringe worthy. There was a lot of character introductions and world building to do. That gave me a little extra forgiveness in the plot blips.
This book does everything right. Where I was expecting something more of the lines of the other necromancer series but i got something more and completely different. This book is a lot more gritty and urban fiction. There really are no characters in this story that were squeaky clean. They are all much more realistic than that, complete with flaws and insecurities. There were enough sexy moments to make me happy, but not enough to overwhelm the entire story line.
The ending however was just wrong. Wrong wrong wrong. It was really one hell of a cliff hanger and I am curious to see where that goes. It could go either way for me. There is a good possibility I am not going to dig the next book, but this one was a great find. Luckily for me I discovered this series right after book two was released so I can jump into it right away.
xoxox
Mia
There are about a million books I have been dying to read coming out tomorrow. Needless to say I didn’t want to start anything I couldn’t be positive I could finish tonight. I picked up Laura Kaye’s Hearts in Darkness. It popped up on my Goodreads time line and people seemed to be liking it. I never heard of Kaye before so I really had no idea what I was going ot read, but as for a quickie I didn’t really care.
Hearts in Darkness is a sweet little novella about a kind of sassy accountant who gets stuck in a pitch black elevator with a man who she didn’t take notice of when she entered. The man of course is her physical polar opposite. He’s a little less than what we would call white collar acceptable with his tattoos, piercings and shaved head. They chat, share secrets in the dark to pass the time, and then of course hump. That is the logical course of things in a single night isn’t it? Well, sometimes it is so that’s okay.
For pretty much entirely taking place in an elevator the dialogue was really fun to read. Both characters were exceptionally witty and their inner dialogue didn’t make me want to vomit with its over done-ness.
I liked this little ditty so much in fact that I will probably check out some of her other work once I devour that huge pile of books I plan on picking up tomorrow.
xoxox
Mia
Saddled and Spurred once again takes me into the world of Lorelei James, where every cowboy is extremely hot and a complete Alpha male who is very limber as well as good at tying knots in his tack room. This time we find a beauty queen who is as completely opposite of the stereotype as possible moonlighting as a ranch hand. Obviously when you are working for the to die for cowboy who loves to give orders ending up tied to his bed is inevitable. Also preferable. You can figure out the rest of the story from there, it’s not exactly food for deep thought.
In every one of James’s books there is not a single sight of anything less than a spectacular man, especially if they are part of any type of rodeo circuit. I went cowboy hunting at a rodeo or two and let me assure you that is not what I found. It was more like what I imagined a bowling league on horses would look like. Very disappointing to say the least.
This story also gives us a few glimpses of a female barrel racer. Tomboy who loves the circuit and is struggling with no one seeing her as a woman. Sound familiar? Yes, yes it does. It is all starting to blend and mush into the Rough Riders series isn’t it?
I really love Lorelei’s books, but this time there were a few scenes that were just ick. Several times our main cowboy lost all rational thought and behaved like a complete douchebag, and not in any typical smutty way. It was kind of weird and really didn’t fit in with the character at all. Everything would be pretty linear and then you would have this huge spike of out of character behavior before going back to where we left off.
Another perk of this series is that since everyone is not related their names don’t all start with the same letter, therefor it eliminates the need to keep a flow chart of who is who. Which is wonderful.
To be honest I read these books for the naked scenes but I stick around for the town and family gossip. I always end up pretty roped in to what is going on around the town. It’s like getting to be a fly on the wall at the town’s beauty palor.
xoxox
Mia
I have been seeing Cherie Priest’s name all over book review and new release sites with great reviews. I never read anything by her before and decided that I would start with the first book in the Cheshire Red Reports, Bloodshot.
This book was pretty high action and leaned into the UF category. This book centers around vampires with mention of other things being out there. I assume we will see some of those in other books to come. Everything revolved around a government project to experiment on preternatural creatures. It reminded me of that season of Buffy that we all try to forget exists. Large underground facilities with spooky monsters in containment cells waiting on the doctors to perform all sorts of experiments on them. A little slice and dice and you could create yourself the perfect soldier. After the government closes the project down it becomes funded by civilians. Chasing down the folks involved and putting a stop to everything becomes the objective.
The voice of this book is from Raylene, Cheshire Red herself. I just love it! She is really damn spunky, and extremely paranoid. About everything. It adds a light peppering of giggles throughout the chasing and espionage in the book. Her thoughts are a great way to break the tension. Along the way we end up with a small cast of characters that are all endearing in their special ways. You wouldn’t think that you could get two homeless kids, an ex Navy SEAL drag queen, and a blind vampire together and have it work, but it did. In the epilogue we get to see them all interact a bit and it was nothing short of awesome. I hope that we get to see more of that in the future.
The only thing missing for me was a little touch of romance. I know that this was not a PNR book, but I still like to see a dash. There was a slight hint of a possible relationship that could develop in the future but it seemed more out of two lost lonely people than anything real. I didn’t really see any sparks.
I zipped through this book really quickly. It left me pretty eager to take a look at some of Priest’s other work.
xoxox
Mia
Hidden Away, book three in Maya Banks’ KGI series was a book I was really looking forward to. Garrett Kelly was always my favorite of the Kelly clan. It was fun watching him turn to mush with a woman that wasn’t going to end up being his sister in law.
Hidden Away stayed true to Garrett’s big softy for a woman in distress nature. In previous books he is always described as being completely up tight and all around grouchy with his brothers and team mates. Then we see a second later how incredibly compassionate and loving he is with the women in his life. With Sarah he had extra cause to be careful with her, and so we were able to see to a greater extent just how soft he could be with a woman regardless of his gruff exterior.
In this book we also got to learn a lot more about some of the members of Steele and Rio’s teams. We have seen them brought in so many times but really know little about them. I am crossing my fingers that we get to see some of those characters have their own books or at least strong sub plots in the future.
This time around Rusty also got her due. I think that sometimes the brothers are a little hard on her. I think in the last book they started to come around to her a little bit and during this one things really came to a head. The family really circled the wagons for her when she needed it and I think that will reflect through some of her surly behavior. I am also a firm believer that the second she turns 18 Sean needs to just spend a good hour making out with her. Come on already. Its obvious to me that those two are just hiding the fact that they want to get naked with each other behind jabs and insults.
I like books that take you to multiple locations, and this one really does. We are pretty much all over the map. Maya really brought each setting to life and added some completely incidental characters in the settings for dimension.
There was so much going on by the end of this book, and it involved so many characters I really have no idea where the next book is going to go. That has me looking forward to spending some more time with the Kelly family! Hopefully some of their extended family as well.
xoxox
Mia
I have been on a military smut kick for a few days now. It could always be worse. I could be back on a cowboy run. I read book one of Maya Banks’ KGI series when it first came out. I think I delayed reading No Place to Run, book two, as soon I saw the word “pregnant”. Books involving pregnant women or babies just don’t appeal to me. At all. I sucked it up and read through this one anyway.
I will be perfectly honest and tell you that my thoughts on this book are entirely clouded by the mentioned dislike of what I like to call “breeder books”. If a character ends up getting pregnant in a book that is just fine and dandy with me. If one of the main plot points is a pregnant woman needing rescuing I just start to roll my eyes.
There was mention after mention from the “heroine” about how she was slow because of the baby, how she was always hungry, how tired she was, etc. I get it. You are pregnant and trying to run around like you’re not. Obviously that isn’t going to work out too well. Sure, there were sweet moments where Daddy would be completely amazed at his growing baby, but it is just not my thing.
The story itself was pretty damn good though. There were a few twists along the way that I didn’t see coming. For a book about slow, sleepy pregnant woman, Banks managed to keep it high energy and loaded with action.
There was plenty of time with the rest of the Kelly clan as well. If they weren’t fictional I am pretty sure I would be on Frank and Marlene’s doorstep trying to have them adopt me too. They really are an awesome family. I love reading their teasing one another, their fierce protectiveness of one another, and of course watching them implement their family motto, “No one fucks with the Kellys”.
Book three involves no pregnant ladies so I am sure I will love that one more.
xoxox
Mia
I just finished the third book in Stephanie Tyler’s Shadow Force series, In the Air Tonight. Now I have to wait till October for book four’s release. That makes puppies cry. I will be in the corner with them weeping.
This may have been my favorite of the series so far. I think I loved it because it involved so many of the characters we have met in previous books, as well as a few new ones. There were updates on the “stars” we already have spent some time with, as well as a lot of development for the characters we have yet to get to know well. The updates were enough to keep me happy and the background information got me completely hooked on the characters we have yet to really get involved with.
I know I keep saying it, butTyler’s ability to write her supporting characters in as much depth and detail wile giving them so much less page time is just amazing to me. I find myself time and time again just as invested and sometimes even more so in her secondary folks than her main.
This book primarily takes place in one location. The boys and their teams all have a Cheers like hang out / home base. At first I thought that with everything being so stationary we would miss some of the excitement and adventure that we have come to love in the previous books. There were no treks through the jungle, or sprinting across continents. Just one building where everyone gathered and trouble came to them. It could be a recipe for high drama and little else. That was really not the case.
This book was just as exciting and thrilling as a cross country escapade and just as steamy as ripping the clothes off of your Seal in the rain of a jungle, possibly even more so. The romance in this book was a little more endearing than the previous books. All of the characters involved had a lot more to work through. Tyleralso added a touch of the paranormal, which I love. It wasn’t overdone, and it while it was a focal point of the book, it still remained more of the Special Ops Romance genre.
I am counting down the days till the next installment. I am not being very patient either.
xoxox
Mia
After finishing Stephanie Tyler’s first book in the Shadow Force series, I dove right into book 2, Promises in the Dark. I couldn’t even function on any higher level till I was done reading it. This series kind of crept in and held me hostage. My laundry is suffering greatly.
Book two picks up several months where we left off. This story had a pretty nice set up in the previous book. The surprise once again were the secondary characters. Tyler has a way of writing a character that may not get as much page time with just as much depth as her main characters. It kind of amazes me. One of the couples gets maybe 1/3rd of the page time, but you are not one bit less invested in them.
This book has a little bit of everything. You will run through Africa trying to evade warlords and terrorists. You can stay stateside and hack nuclear power plant computer systems. Maybe hanging out in a mercenary ran missionary safe house / medical facility is more your style? This book offers it all.
I love that the men in these books are trained, hardened operatives and after they meet the woman that is going to be the center of their universe they don’t drop what they are doing to start knitting. There are no quick purchases of houses with white picket fences and that puppy in the window. The women need to accept that these are warriors and that is not going to change just because they have someone to come home to after a mission.
I already have book 3 in my paws and I am pretty sure it will be devoured shortly. Who needs sleep right?
xoxox
Mia
After reading Lora Leigh’s Midnight Sin I needed to get the awful taste out of my mouth. I needed to read some fabulous Black Ops book and make it all better. I dove into Stephanie Tyler’s Shadow Force series. I am only familiar with her work through the ACRO series she co-writes with Larissa Ione under the name Sydney Croft. I love that series so I figured that this one would be easy to fall in love with as well. I finished book one, Lie with Me and I am ready to open up book two. I guessed right.
I loved the writing of the heroine in this book. Skylar had two agents as parents so she wasn’t exactly a shrinking violet, but she wasn’t superwoman either. She was recovering from an illness and the consequences of that were throughout the story, but not over the top. It was consistent. After long exertion there was the need for a rest period. She wasn’t played as a complete invalid either. Having grown up somewhat in the middle of the black ops agent lifestyle she didn’t fall apart every time something earth shattering popped up, but she did have some meltdown moments. There was a really nice balance to everything.
The hero Cam was wonderfully Alpha but had his balance as well. There were plenty of moments where he broke away from the “You Jane, me Tarzan” routine that the men in this genre of books so often fall into. Things weren’t easy for him in the romance department with Sky as well. They had plenty to work through and some choices to make along the way. Refreshing!
A pleasant treat was to have a secondary couple that you fell in love with just as much. You got to read enough background and flashbacks along the way to feel as if you have read an entire book about them, when in reality they were just slipped in. Its not often that you end up rooting for more than one couple in a book. Usually the focus stays on one couple with a set up for the next book. This time around you get resolution for both. (We did get that set up anyway, and it was awesome.)
I am really anxious to follow this series to see what happens to all of the loose ends. There are so many bad guys that need to be taken down, and some bad ones that you want to see try to get some sort of redemption. Stephanie Tyler did one heck of a job getting me so invested.
xoxox
Mia
This last Saturday was Authors After Dark in Philadelphia. The event went on for the weekend but I was only able to make it to the author signing on Saturday. Among the 150 awesome were Dakota Cassidy, Larissa Ione, Allison Pang, Carolyn Crane, and Lara Adrian.
I was able to gush my love to these gals, gather some signed books, and meet some wonderful new people. Chatting with a few authors lead to my TBR pile growing substantially. I love these type of events. I get to pick up their books and have the writer give me their own pitch for them. I always find a few that may have slipped through the cracks. Plus all of the little goodies like bookmarks, trading cards, and pens make me insanely happy. My favorite may have been Carolyn Crane’s Disillusionist trading cards. For those who follow me on Goodreads, you know I lost my mind over that series when I discovered it. The bright red cherry was coming home to find that my copy of A Brush of Darkness was signed, “All your bacon are belong to us!”. I giggled.
Authors After Dark is much more intimate than something larger like RWA. RWA pretty much falls into the organized chaos category to me. The day they have their signing there are thousands of folks lined up for their change to get to me one of 700 some authors. Since this was a significantly smaller venue the crowd you would have a better opportunity to chat with the authors.
I have such a blast at these type of events I think you should all go at one point or another. I always bring along a sidekick. They usually have a look of intense pain on their faces but they are great for carrying your stacks of books and waiting in a long line while you are in another.
Afterward we headed out to feed the ravaging beast, and by that I mean me. Scoping out what was closest we found a Chinese restaurant that was part of the top 100 Chinese restaurants in the USA several years in a row. I remember when these awards were handed out earlier this year and I was going on and on about how we need to go to all of the local ones. I of course completely forgot about it. Happening upon this one was fun and reignited my excitement to go restaurant hopping. I had a lunch special of wanton soup, fried rice, and chicken in black bean sauce. It was good, but it didn’t rock my world. I’d like to go back and try some of their specialties.
Unable to resist the seduction of chocolate I couldn’t be so close to Max Brenner and not go there for dessert. I’ll be honest, if you have friends or family who are not okay with you reaching over and diving into their plates, make sure to leave them at home. Once you get the dessert menu in your hand it is impossible to not start playing “let’s make a deal” with the ordering. “If I get this one, you should get that one and we can share.”
I ordered a double macchiato to drink and it came with pretty foam swirls, and squares of milk chocolate. It pretty much kicked my ass in the strongness department. For the sugary goodness I got the hazelnut crepe. Hazelnut sauce, toffee, crunchy chocolate bits, and bananas all in the middle of a light beautiful crepe. On the side was served a handmade toffee caramel ice cream, mandarin oranges, and extra chocolate sauce. It was even more divine than you are imagining. No, really. It was. I only have one tiny itty bitty complaint. They caramelized sugar on the top of the crepe which gave it a little crunchy layer. That took away from the yum of the crepe itself if you ask me.
My partner in crime ordered a chocolate tiramisu. It came in a small mason jar with a side of fresh berries and sauce. The jar was filled with marscapone cheese, espresso soaked lady fingers, and a chocolate ganache. It was to die for but not as delish as that crepe.
We have plans to head back with empty stomachs and order the other two crepes. I’ll make sure not to eat at all that week to make up for the calorie intake.
Once I was so full I started to enter into food coma area we hit the gay bars, where I was the only woman sitting in my pretty dress and pearls. We will end the retelling of our night’s adventure right about there.
readwatcheat 