The Scarlet Corset

Movie Review: One for the Money

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderer) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:56:00 +0000

I was wary of this movie as the casting of the main characters were announced but knew I'd end up watching it. My sis and I are fans of the books and wanted to see how it would translate to the big screen. Unfortunately, it didn't hold up too well.

Katherine Heigl brings Stephanie Plum – the popular heroine of Janet Evanovich’s worldwide best-selling sixteen-book mystery series – to vibrant life in Lionsgate and Lakeshore Entertainment’s “One for the Money.”

A proud, born-and-bred Jersey girl, Stephanie Plum’s got plenty of attitude, even if she’s been out of work for the last six months and just lost her car to a debt collector. Desperate for some fast cash, Stephanie turns to her last resort: convincing her sleazy cousin to give her a job at his bail bonding company… as a recovery agent. True, she doesn’t even own a pair of handcuffs and her weapon of choice is pepper spray, but that doesn’t stop Stephanie from taking on Vinny’s biggest bail-jumper: former vice cop and murder suspect Joe Morelli – yup, the same sexy, irresistible Joe Morelli who seduced and dumped her back in high school.

Nabbing Morelli would be satisfying payback – and a hefty payday – but as Stephanie learns the ins and outs of becoming a recovery agent from Ranger, a hunky colleague who’s the best in the business, she also realizes the case against Morelli isn’t airtight. Add to the mix her meddling family, a potentially homicidal boxer, witnesses who keep dying and the problem of all those flying sparks when she finds Morelli himself… well, suddenly Stephanie’s new job isn’t nearly as easy as she thought.

The movie starts out ok with a few laughs provided by Steph's mom and Grandma Mazur around the family dinner table. We find out Steph's been unemployed for 6 months and her Grandma lets her know of a possible opening at Steph's cousin Vinnie's bailbonds office. Then it kind of slowly moves along and it seems like forever til we get another laugh. Part of the time I was distracted by Steph's frizzy hairstyle. Finally she pulls it back into a low ponytail and it was less distracting. However, Steph's overly spray-tanned chest was another matter. It kind of varied from looking like she was sweating all the time to looking sunburned. Anyway, Steph ends up working for Vinnie and takes over some cases from another bondsman who is out due to an appendectomy. One of the cases turns out to be Joe Morelli. Steph and Joe have a history - she lost her virginity to him back in high school and he never called her again. Apparently Steph then hit him with her car, breaking his leg, so they're really not on good terms at the moment. When Joe finds out Steph is the bond agent trying to bring him in, all he can do is laugh since he doesn't think she's tough enough for the job.

Enter Ranger, an experienced bounty-hunter who's looking to expand into the private security business. Book version Ranger is the ultimate man of mystery. He's Batman-Superman-Sexyman all rolled into one. In the movie, he's Extra Friendly and Helpful Man. Seriously, he meets up with Stephanie since she's new to the bounty-hunter scene and he gives her some tips about the case and guns and shooting. But he's too damn friendly and talkative and smiley and...ok I'll stop. He doesn't even manage to say, "Babe" sexily.

I really didn't think Heigl could pull off the humor of the Stephanie Plum character but in the end she did a better job than I thought. I also had doubts about the guy playing Morelli since he totally didn't fit my idea of him from the books but I felt like he and Heigl had decent enough chemistry that it worked well enough. Unfortunately, I didn't think there was much chemistry between Steph and Ranger in the movie whereas in the books, Steph would have smoke coming out her ears if Ranger even whispered, "Babe". But....to be fair, I think Ranger is so built up in the books that anyone playing him in a movie wouldn't live up to him.

I thought the movie did improve during the second half where Steph started doing some more investigative work to find the witnesses to the crime that everyone thinks Morelli committed. We also see her going out to capture other people who skipped their court date so she could make some quick money to pay her bills. Some of those secondary characters had funny moments. Then there was a weird little chunk where the movie took a more serious tone and it felt very out of place.

Anyway, while I think the 2nd half was a definite improvement over the 1st half of the movie (and what made this a C- rather than a D), I would recommend renting it or waiting for a TV airing rather than seeing it in the theater. Unless you want to go to the theater, then by all means go for it because while the movie was a C- for me, the popcorn was A+.

Spider’s Bite by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin bk 1)

noreply@blogger.com (Mistress) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 03:58:00 +0000

I’ve always been a sucker for anti-heroes. The concept of a

Assassin protagonist seemed right up my alley. In a world of black and white, long live the murky shades of gray. No apologies or noble excuses, just complexity; is often my cuppa. So did ‘Spider’s Bite’ scratch the itch? Somewhat, yes.

Gin Blanco is a notorious assassin.

All killers have their own style and she’s made a name for herself by being

precise, patient, and crafty. She’s works according to her own moral compass, In her own words “ I’m a killer, but not a monster”. As expected of a killer for hire she doesn’t have many emotional entanglements, but the loyalties she fosters run deep. When a botched job spirals into the murder of her handler/conspiracy where she’s slated to take the fall; she goes on the offensive Knives blazing to get answers and deal out punishment to those responsible. It seems spider’s don’t bite, so much as stab lol.

Gin Blanco is a tough cookie in the best possible way. I really enjoyed the mixture of fierce predator with southern miss. Where this book really shines though is the action and investigation aspect and there’s more that enough to go around. I found many of the side characters appealing, and gin’s personal history seems like the set up for a wild ride indeed.

My name is Gin, and I kill people.

They call me the Spider. I'm the most feared assassin in the South — when I'm not busy at the Pork Pit cooking up the best barbecue in Ashland. As a Stone elemental, I can hear everything from the whispers of the gravel beneath my feet to the vibrations of the soaring Appalachian Mountains above me. My Ice magic also comes in handy for making the occasional knife. But I don't use my powers on the job unless I absolutely have to. Call it professional pride.

Now that a ruthless Air elemental has double-crossed me and killed my handler, I'm out for revenge. And I'll exterminate anyone who gets in my way — good or bad. I may look hot, but I'm still one of the bad guys. Which is why I'm in trouble, since irresistibly rugged Detective Donovan Caine has agreed to help me. The last thing this coldhearted killer needs when I'm battling a magic more powerful than my own is a sexy distraction...especially when Donovan wants me dead just as much as the enemy.

My favorite aspect of this novel is the concept of elemental magic. That some are born with the power to manipulate the elements, to different degrees of skill or application based on the person. This will sound sappy but despite all the: fantasy I’ve read, manga I’ve devoured, or harry potter dvds I’ve put through their paces; I’ve never would’ve have thought of element powers in this way. Take for example an Air Elemental. I’d think “ok, if I had this power I could blow the heck outta a shiz” lmao. But from convenient air gusts to weather manipulation, is as far as my imagination would go. In Gins world yeah you could do that. But you can heal using air pressure to hold cuts together like a supernatural Band-Aid. Or if someone were to break into your house, you could literally suck the oxygen out of the room suffocating them to unconsciousness until the police arrived or they died. Ooohh or force air bubbles into their blood stream to stop their heart. Uber creative, no? Makes me wonder what Mz. Estep could do with Sailor Mercury. I always thought bubbles were an incredibly lame super power. But now my mind is blown open, so who knows what’s possible. Mayhap it’s time I revist the “fighting evil by moonlight, winning love by daylight” gang lol.

There are different races world. From what I gathered there are Elementals ( which are just gifted humans…I think)/humans, dwarves ( which weren’t really touched on, but I’m sure are more than just miniature humanoids, since 2 characters ages are beyond human life span), Vampire (It is mentioned often that some can feed on emotions or sex instead or as well as blood. But it’s not touched on how one becomes a vampire and one or so of the vamps have children and are just dandy with the sun. ), and trolls (literally huge 7ft ish, hulking humanoids, very strong..,not sure about life expectancy). The races seem to get along smoothly, which class and then sort of magic if any at all being where social tension stems from. Hopefully it’ll be further explored in the series.

Jin in many ways is less anti-hero than I expected. The city is so corrupt that there aren’t really normal channels to turn to if someone is a threat to you and yours. For something to be wrong there has to be a right option, no? It’s going to make me sound like a blood thirsty wench but I found the behind the scenes world of ‘murder for hire’ compelling. It had me wishing Jin was more social with her colleagues to get a chance to experience others in her profession or that she would have flashbacks of her apprenticeship.

Now on to what I didn’t like, Detective Donovan Caine. In fact dislike is too casual a word. I think he’s an Asshat and should suck eggs. I get that his weakness was supposed to honor fueled naiveté, but he never learned or changed his knee jerk reactions or though process, like a skipping record of incorrect assumptions. I officially nominate him for the slow kid down the lane award for merely surviving the treacherous Ashland this long. I also saw their attraction as toxic. It all amounts to him being a a total jerk, her pretending not to be hurt by it, and lusting after him anyway. Initially it didn’t bother me so much, when it just seemed to be a casual attraction, though it did make me scratch my head a bit. But when it’s later colored to be a deeper connection of some sort *cough* bullshit *cough*.

Also this novel would really have benefited from tighter editing in terms of character interaction/responses. The constant ‘copy/paste’ repetition is maddening. I can honestly say I never want to read “his eyes going from/to desire. want, need, guilt”, “gold eyes meeting grey”, or at the most random moment her going "Mhmmm* at his lean muscles and soapy smell ( at least 4x) and imagining herself on his "length" (gah…always his "length" = / ) and her vagina aching for him, or every person she fights being "sloppy, sloppy, sloppy"; ever EVER ever again. It often knocked me out of the story.

Conclusion: where this book really shines is the action and investigation aspect and there’s more than enough to go around. I found many of the side characters appealing, and gin’s personal history seems like the set up for a wild ride indeed, if the writing and character motivations is improve a tad.

Grade:

I thoroughly enjoyed myself. This read has most of the right elements, yet lacks a little somethin' somethin' to truly rise above the pack. A fun ride, but doesn't quite scream "Oh Hells Yes! READ-GASM!". (3 out of 5 stars)

Rick Riordan - The Lost Hero

noreply@blogger.com (Reader) — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 17:38:00 +0000

I haven't written a review in forever but it's Rick Riordan, who, sadly, only gives me two opportunities a year to gush, so I gotta seize the day.

Jason has a problem. He doesn’t remember anything before waking up on a school bus holding hands with a girl. Apparently he has a girlfriend named Piper. His best friend is a kid named Leo, and they’re all students in the Wilderness School, a boarding school for “bad kids.” What he did to end up here, Jason has no idea—except that everything seems very wrong.

Piper has a secret. Her father has been missing for three days, and her vivid nightmares reveal that he’s in terrible danger. Now her boyfriend doesn’t recognize her, and when a freak storm and strange creatures attack during a school field trip, she, Jason, and Leo are whisked away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood. What is going on?

Leo has a way with tools. His new cabin at Camp Half-Blood is filled with them. Seriously, the place beats Wilderness School hands down, with its weapons training, monsters, and fine-looking girls. What’s troubling is the curse everyone keeps talking about, and that a camper’s gone missing. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist they are all—including Leo—related to a god.

Let me start out by saying that The Lost Hero is amazing. Rick Riordan is amazing. And I'm going to tell you how and why without giving anything, at least anything major, away. Written in the third person, The Lost Hero (Heroes of Olympus, Book 01) volleys between the individual and combined experiences of Jason, Leo, and Piper; three out of the seven demigods involved in the new prophecy, revealing the secrets they keep, even from each other. The perspective changes between the three every two chapters and I think it translated better here than it did with The Red Pyramid (Kane Chronicles, Book 01). This style also keeps the book from feeling like a total PJ rip-off although there are a handful of glaring similarities which one cannot ignore. That said, the tone is slightly older than early PJ and R. Riordan does acknowledge, later in the story, that Percy and Jason serve as counterpoint to each other.

As for the prose, well, this man can write. It just flows. Jason starts out as the most intriguing of the three protagonists for three main reasons:

1. The story opens with him
2. The mystery surrounding his presence
3. the circumstances of his birth.

However, R. Riordan fangirl I may be, I do think that he could have done more to make the Jason character meatier. By the end I wasn't as interested with him as I was in the beginning which is a shame, really. Leo, now this guy, he was the dark horse of the story. Think Nico minus his Prince of the Undead charm. I found him pretty obnoxious initially but his vulnerability, ingenuity, and all around likability makes him, easily, my favorite of the three. The weak link, in my humble opinion, is Piper who is neither offensive nor spectacular (although it felt like I was being constantly told that she is) but is definitely more likable than other leading-lady type demigods out there. Her godly parent is...blah...but she, at least, isn't as useless as her cabin mates. The one thing I really did like about her is that she knows what she wants and isn't afraid to own up to it. *side-eye Annabeth*

Familiar characters from the PJ books make an appearance, Camp Half-Blood does become their base after all, but they do not figure prominently in the story. Percy is not a part of The Lost Hero at all but his presence, or lack thereof, is keenly felt. By the end, one cannot help but speculate on what his role is going to be in the next installment. There is no question that Percy, who may or may not be "The Son of Neptune" (Heroes of Olympus, Book 2), will be in the next book but I'm positive it's not gonna be his story. The one spoilerish thing I'm going to say about this series is that R. Riordan meshes Greek and Roman Mythology so beautifully and seamlessly (not that much of a spoiler since you'll catch on early anyway) that you don't even question it. The emphasis on how the same God could be two separate deities, genius! Plot-hole problems - solved!

Yipee, already I'm going on and on about the next book in the series - obviously October 2011 cannot come soon enough - so let me end my verbal diarrhea with this:

The Lost Hero is amazing. Rick Riordan is amazing. Flaws and all.

The Verdict:

If I had to describe this book in one word; it would be "Impressive". Though I may have a quibble or two, consider my socks rocked. Well played Author, Well played.

Rick Riordan - The Red Pyramid

noreply@blogger.com (Reader) — Tue, 25 May 2010 09:25:00 +0000

The Red Pyramid The Kane Chronicles, Book 01

In which I attempt to deliver a spoiler-free review AND make sense. First, the blurb:

Since their mother’s death, Carter and Sadie have become near strangers. While Sadie has lived with her grandparents in London, her brother has traveled the world with their father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane.

One night, Dr. Kane brings the siblings together for a "research experiment" at the British Museum, where he hopes to set things right for his family. Instead, he unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes him to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives.

Soon, Sadie and Carter discover that the gods of Egypt are waking, and the worst of them--Set--has his sights on the Kanes. To stop him, the siblings embark on a dangerous journey across the globe--a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family, and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs.

The Red Pyramid was a pleasant surprise. I got into the book with pretty low expectations because I adored the the Percy Jackson series so much and didn't think Riordan could follow it up with something (anything!) just as good. And was it just as good? Not really. Maybe it paralleled Percy a little bit too much to be OMG. THAT WAS AMAZING!!!!!, but, I enjoyed the Kane series debut nonetheless and eagerly await the second installment.

Carter and Sadie Kane, the two leads, were just okay for me. Unfortunately, when held against the Percy Jackson standard, okay isn't as interesting as the Camp Half-Blood kids were. I liked Carter well enough but found Sadie a bit grating on my nerves. I didn't really connect with either character but The Red Pyramid is the first book in the Kane Chronicles and my feelings for the two could be subject to change. The book is written in the first person POV with every two chapters alternately "recorded" by the Kanes. Unlike some other folks, I thought the two had distinct voices and personalities which helped me differentiate who was "speaking" - obviously I enjoyed Carter's chapters more since I find sassy 12 year old girls rude and annoying.

The Red Pyramid starts out a bit slow; Its plot is more complex than the PJ books and my lack of knowledge in the Egyptian Mythology department didn't help when assorted Gods and monsters sprung about. Riordan dumps all sorts of information from the get-go which kept me from getting into the story immediately; a little bit like Stephenie Meyer's The Host, but, unlike The Host, the depth of information given is written in a way that drew me in slowly as opposed to losing interest altogether. It gets plenty better though; Riordan does an excellent job meshing Egyptian Mythology with the 21st century (no surprise there) and, for those paying attention, even vaguely references the gods from his Percy Jackson books. I love, love, love it when authors do that and love it even more when it's done well. As mentioned earlier, the parallels between Percy and the Kanes keep it from being an amazing original; Riordan doesn't stray far from the formula that's made him successful: ancient mythology (albeit Egyptian this time), teenagers, birthright/chosen one/etc plots, however, he is talented enough to keep the two series from being identical (thus far).

The verdict? Very Good - even a keeper - but, alas, not as good as his other more popular series. That said, I eagerly await the next book in the Kane Chronicles as well as his Heroes Of Olympus Chronicles. At this point, I'd read anything this man writes.

Final Grade:

Julie James – Something About You

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderer) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 15:05:00 +0000

My intro to Julie James' work was her second novel, Practice Makes Perfect. I loved J.D. and Peyton's story and looked forward to reading more from the author. I've been meaning to read her debut novel, Just the Sexiest Man Alive, but somewhere along the way it got lost in the TBR pile shuffle. But soon, Ms. James' third novel was on the horizon and I picked it up and forgot all about the TBR pile - as they say, out of sight, out of mind. I started SAY on a Sunday afternoon but only got a couple chapters in before I experienced life interruptus and regrettably had to set it down. I didn't pick it back up until the following Saturday where I was up into the late hours reading all about Jack and Cameron. For me, who usually takes 2-3 weeks to finish a book, it was an excellent sign.

FATE HAS THROWN TWO SWORN ENEMIES. . .

Of all the hotel rooms rented by all the adulterous politicians in Chicago, female Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron Lynde had to choose the one next to 1308, where some hot-and-heavy lovemaking ends in bloodshed. And of all the FBI agents in Illinois, it had to be Special Agent Jack Pallas who gets assigned to this high-profile homicide. The same Jack Pallas who still blames Cameron for a botched crackdown three years ago—and nearly ruining his career…

. . .INTO EACH OTHER’S ARMS

Work with Cameron Lynde? Are they kidding? Maybe, Jack thinks, this is some kind of welcome-back prank after his stint away from Chicago. But it’s no joke: the pair is going to have to put their rocky past behind them and focus on the case at hand. That is, if they can cut back on the razor-sharp jibes—and smother the flame of their sizzling-hot sexual tension…

The book opens with the heroine, Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron Lynde, unknowingly hearing a crime in the hotel room next to hers. It turns out a U.S. Senator is mixed up in the crime and with Cameron being the main witness, the FBI is brought in and thus we meet the hero, Special Agent Jack Pallas. These two worked together in the past and things were going pretty smoothly until something happened with a case, heated words were said, misunderstandings ensued and both parted ways thinking ill of the other. Now, with their paths crossing some 3 years later, there is still anger between the two but also the underlying attraction they never had a chance to explore. This provides for some seriously hot tension between the two main characters.

The dialogue in the book is very believable and most importantly relatable. Cameron joking around with some of the cops (Officer Man-Boy) or those on her protective watch telling stories about conversations they had with her. Then there's Jack's partner, Wilkins, as well as Cameron's two best friends, Collin and Amy, who also provide some comic relief. One part that made me laugh was when Wilkins is asked to look in Cameron's purse for her house keys.

He reached past Cameron and tossed her purse over the seat. “See if you can find her keys,” he told Wilkins.
“Are you kidding? What if she wakes up and sees me rummaging around in there? You don’t touch the purse. The purse is sacrosanct.”

I found it funny because there have been 3 separate occasions when a male friend or relative asked me for something and I told them it was in my purse and to go ahead and grab it from the side pocket or the inner zipper. They brought my purse to me every time, even if I was in another room and my purse was in the room they were in. I never thought it was a "thing" but it appears to be some unspoken guy code.:p

Another thing I enjoyed is the romance quirk that Ms. James puts into her books. I completely forgot to mention the one she uses in Practice Makes Perfect when I reviewed that book but it was one of my favorite parts. In PMP, some of the characters talked about the "grand gesture". I won't give away what the quirk is in SAY but it's another cute aspect of the author's writing.

Aside from the funny, is the sexy. The chemistry between Jack and Cameron is smokin' hot. One of my favorite scenes is the motorcycle scene.

Before they took off—since these could very possibly be her last words—she flipped up the helmet visor and leaned forward to speak over the bike’s engine. “Don’t do anything crazy. I’m the maid of honor in my friend Amy’s wedding, and she’ll kill me if I have to be wheeled down the aisle in a body cast. Plus I got these new four-inch heels just for the occasion and they will not go well with crutches.”
She flipped the visor down.
Jack spun around in his seat and flipped the visor back open. “Don’t worry—since it’s your first time, I’ll be extra gentle.” With a wink, he flipped the visor shut.
She flipped the visor back open. “Nice innuendo. Am I supposed to be charmed by—”
Jack reached around and cut her off by flipping the visor shut again. “Sorry, no more talking, it distracts the driver.”
From behind the helmet, Cameron clamped her mouth in frustration. If he killed them both on the stupid bike, it was really going to piss her off that she didn’t at least get the last word in.

They start out with some light and fun banter but soon things take a slightly different turn. You'll have to read the book to find out ;)

There are so many good things I could talk about but I'll go ahead and wrap it up with the other major part of the book, solving the crime. There were moments when the chapter changed to the criminal stuff and I wanted it to keep going with Jack and Cameron or the other characters. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I didn't like the suspense part of the book, it's just that the romance and humorous parts were very, very good. One thing about the suspense that I really liked was the fact that we, the readers, are shown early on who the criminal is and the plot is watching as the main characters try to figure it out. But overall, this was an excellent read and I look forward to reading book #4.

Speaking of book #4, there is an excerpt in the back of SAY but I did not read it. It's like putting chocolate in front of me and saying, "Sorry you can't eat it until next year". That's just plain cruel :D So…I won't read a word of the next book until I know the whole thing is available.

Final Grade:

Around The Net:

Babbling About Books, And More!: B
Dear Author: A-
Read React Review
closetwriter: Keeper
Book Binge: 4.75 out of 5
Thrifty Reader: A
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books: A-
The Romance Reader: 4 hearts
Petit Fours and Hot Tamales: 5 out of 5
The Book Smugglers: 7 out of 10
Mrs Giggles: 85 out of 100

Victoria Dahl - Tumble Creek Series

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderer) — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:37:00 +0000

ROB THE ANNOUNCER: Welcome to The Newlybeds Game! You've all heard of The Newlyweds Game where the couples are newly wedded, right? Well, here we have couples that are not married yet, but are newly bedded. This special edition is coming to you live from Tumble Creek, Colorado. Here's your host: Wanderer!

WANDERER: Thanks Rob, let's meet our couples!

ROB: Couple #1 knew each other as kids—she was the young girl crushing on her older brother's best friend and he was the unknowing shy, older teenager. She moved away for a few years but returned to Tumble Creek after inheriting her aunt's home. One quick run-in at the local grocery store and sparks were a-flying. These two have literally set sirens off with all their heat. Welcome, Ben and Molly

Audience: *applause*

ROB: Couple #2 has been friends for a few years and only recently took that leap towards romance. She's spent a lot of her adult life doing for others and recently decided to do for herself. He's known her a while and said yes to her proposal for him to help her in the "doing" department. It didn't take long for things to turn from mild to muy caliente! Say hello, to Quinn and Lori!

Audience: *applause*

ROB: Couple #3 met each other at her workplace. She was the prim and proper assistant and he was the hot contractor trying to get the girl. She wanted nothing to do with him until one too many of life's stresses called her and she decided to take a chance. Boy did it ever pay off. These two are explosive in and out of the workplace. Let's meet Chase and Jane!

Audience: *applause*

WANDERER: Welcome to the show everyone. Wow, that is some history you all have. Let's see if it helps you out in today's game. Let's get started! Ladies, please head backstage while I talk with your partners. See you in a little bit.

WANDERER: You're up first, Ben. Question #1:

Which song best describes your first date?
Sea of Love, Maneater, Let's Get Physical or Our Lips are Sealed

BEN: Let's Get Physical
WANDERER: Interesting…you don't really seem like the get-physical-on-a-first-date type.
BEN: Well, I guess it depends on who the first date is with.

WANDERER: Nice answer. How about you Quinn?

QUINN: Our Lips are Sealed
WANDERER: Why'd you choose that one?
QUINN: Well, when we first got together it was more about "benefits" so of course we wanted to keep things hush-hush.

WANDERER: What do you say, Chase?

CHASE: Let's Get Physical
WANDERER: Oh really?
CHASE: We didn't really have a first date, but our first drink together was a little awkward but soon things got heated and well, you know…

WANDERER: Question #2 starts with Quinn.

Who would your partner say is her best friend?

QUINN: Molly

WANDERER: That must be fun. You and Ben are best friends and Molly and Lori are best friends. Okay Chase, how about Jane?

CHASE: I'd have to say, me.
WANDERER: How sweet, and is Jane your best friend?
CHASE: Absolutely!

Audience: *awww*

WANDERER: What's your answer Ben?

BEN: Blue *nervous cough* Molly's going to kill me…
WANDERER: Who is Blue?
BEN: Um, no comment.

WANDERER: Can't wait to hear the story behind that one. And now Question #3 goes to Chase first.

What was the last thing you and Jane argued about?

CHASE: I wanted more than a sexual relationship with her
WANDERER: And she had a problem with that?
JANE: Well, it's a long story but basically she was running from things she did in her past and felt like she had to become someone else to erase that history. Even changing up her identity as an adult, she still didn't feel good enough. I found out about her past and I wanted her to know that I didn't think any less of her. She needed to realize that she shouldn't think of less of herself either. I let her know I wasn't going anywhere and once she was able to see things in a new light, I would be here.
WANDERER: You know Chase, if things don't work out between you two, give me a call.
CHASE: Excuse me?

WANDERER: Oh, did I say that out loud? Moving right along… Ben, what was your last argument with Molly about?

BEN: A book that she wrote.
WANDERER: Really, what kind of books does she write and why did you argue about one?
BEN: She writes erotic romance and one of her books was about a Sheriff that some may assume is based on me. I became upset because when I was a kid, something put my family in the headlines and I didn't want to live through that type of scrutiny again. But we worked things out and Molly is great at what she does. I'm really proud of her.

Audience: *sighs and applause*

WANDERER: You're so sweet, Ben.
You're up Quinn. What was your last argument with Lori about?

QUINN: I still feel horrible but I basically told her she needed to get a life.
WANDERER: Ouch, why'd you say that?
QUINN: Well, it all came out wrong. I wanted her to see that she could do anything she wanted to now. She gave up her dreams when she came back to Tumble Creek to care for her sick dad. She put everyone else first for so many years and even after her dad passed away, she was still putting herself last. I only wanted her dreams to come true.

WANDERER: Wow, you Tumble Creek guys are somethin' else. What's in the water they're serving over there? We'll take a quick break then return with the ladies and see how you all did.

********************

WANDERER: Welcome back ladies! While you were gone we asked the guys 3 questions. I'll ask you the same 3 questions and we'll see if you can match their answers. Each match is worth 5 points. Molly - which song best describes your first date with Ben? Sea of Love, Maneater, Let's Get Physical or Our Lips are Sealed

MOLLY: Let's Get Physical
WANDERER: Let's see your answer Ben.
BEN: *holds up card*

LET'S GET PHYSICAL

MOLLY: Woot! *Ben gives Molly a quick kiss*

WANDERER: You're off to a great start! Lori, what song did you choose?

LORI: Our Lips are Sealed
QUINN: *holds up card*

OUR LIPS ARE SEALED

WANDERER: Congrats on the correct match. How about you Jane? What do you think Chase said?

JANE: *blushes* Let's Get Physical
CHASE: *holds up card*

LET'S GET PHYSICAL

WANDERER: Great job everyone, you each have 5 points. Okay, question number 2 starts with Lori. Who did Quinn say is your best friend?

LORI: It's got to be Molly.
QUINN: *holds up card*

MOLLY

*Lori gives Quinn a quick peck on the cheek*

WANDERER: It's a match! How about you Jane?

JANE: I'd have to say he is.
WANDERER: Chase?
JANE: Yes, he is definitely my best friend.
CHASE: *holds up card*:

ME

*Jane and Chase share a quick kiss*

WANDERER: We're 2 for 2 so far. Will it be 3 for 3? Molly, what's your answer?

MOLLY: Lori
BEN: *keeps card face down*
MOLLY: Ben, what's wrong? Why won't you show us your answer?
BEN: Keep in mind I was very nervous about doing the show, Moll.
MOLLY: Show the card, Ben.
BEN: *holds up card"

BLUE

MOLLY: Blue?!?! I can't believe you said that! My brother is sitting right there.
BEN: I told you I was nervous and Quinn's too focused on his answer cards, he's not hearing a word we're saying over here. Plus, you ARE very close to Blue.
MOLLY: After this, Blue may be the only thing I'm close to for a while.
WANDERER: Who is Blue?
MOLLY: Not who…..what.

Audience: *scattered laughs and whistles*

WANDERER: Okay, quick recap…Right now Ben and Molly have 5 points, Quinn and Lori have ten points and Chase and Jane have 10 points. Question #3 starts with you, Jane. What was the last thing you and Chase argued about?

JANE: He wanted more than just a sexual relationship
CHASE: *holds up card*

WANTED MORE THAN SEX

WANDERER: Another match, you guys are on fire. How about you Molly?

MOLLY: A certain book I wrote
BEN: *holds up card*

A BOOK SHE WROTE

WANDERER: So Molly, Ben tells us there's a certain book about a Sheriff?
MOLLY: Yes, but it's totally not about him!
WANDERER: Don't worry, I believe you. By the way, can I have the title backstage?
MOLLY: I'll send you a copy.

WANDERER: Deal! Back to the game…Lori, what was your last argument with Quinn about?

LORI: My non-existent life
QUINN: *holds up card*

SHE NEEDED A LIFE

WANDERER: I can definitely see how that could cause an argument.
LORI: Yeah, can you believe it? Mr. straight-laced, focus on the job at hand telling me I needed to get a life. But...I have to admit, it did give me the kick in the pants I needed to realize I could still follow through on the dreams I had before my dad got sick. I've actually got a trip coming up.

WANDERER: Oh, sounds like fun!
Let's check the points total now:
Ben and Molly have 10 points
Quinn and Lori have 15 points
Chase and Jane have 15 points

Alrighty…. Guys, it's your turn to head backstage. When we return from break, I'll be asking the ladies some questions. See you in a few.

********************

WANDERER: Welcome back to the Newlybeds Game. It's just us ladies now and Question #1 starts with you Molly.

If someone wrote a book about your relationship, which of these titles would best fit your story? Lead Me On, Start Me Up or Talk Me Down.

MOLLY: I'd say Talk Me Down because I'm a big talker…in every aspect of our relationship.
WANDERER: Every aspect?
MOLLY: E-VER-Y

WANDERER: You go girl! How about you Lori?

LORI: Start Me Up because when we started dating, I was a mechanic. And well, other reasons too.
MOLLY: I didn't hear that…

WANDERER: *laughs* What do you say, Jane?

JANE: I'm going with Lead Me On because I've led two very different lives and when I met Chase, I was able to merge both those lives and know that it's ok. Oh, and there's a certain tattoo of his that I'll follow anywhere.

WANDERER: I hear ya about that tattoo!
Ok, question #2 starts with Lori.

We hear you ladies are in a book club. I know there isn't an official name, so what would you call your book club?

LORI: Hmm, Vickie's Vixens—after our founding member, Victoria Dahl.
WANDERER: Vixens, eh?
LORI: Yep, there's a little vixen in all of us.

WANDERER: What would you call the book club, Jane?

JANE: I'd say Victoria's Secret
WANDERER: Oh, what kind of secrets go on in the club?
JANE: If we told you, we'd have to kill you.

Audience: *laughs*

WANDERER: Ok Molly, what would you name the club?

MOLLY: I'm gonna go with The Pussycat Dahls
WANDERER: Nice! Accepting new members?
MOLLY: We'll take a vote on it after the show.

WANDERER: Interesting…and since her name keeps coming up, I wonder what this Victoria is like.

MOLLY, JANE AND LORI: You wouldn't believe us if we told you.

Audience: *laughs and applause*

WANDERER: Ok, question #3 goes to Jane.

What is the most romantic thing your man has done for you?

JANE: This is going to sound odd but he took me to one of his sites to see a demolition.
WANDERER: Not odd to me…sexy man that can handle explosives? Hot!
JANE: Yeah you had to be there. I was stressing out over some things and it really was what I needed at the moment. Oh and yes, the sexy man part wasn't too bad either.

WANDERER: Molly how about you?

MOLLY: Took naked photos of me.

Audience: *whistles and cheers*

MOLLY: Not like that!
WANDERER: Oh? Then what was it like?
MOLLY: He's a photographer on the side and I jokingly asked him to take photos of me naked. I woke up the next morning to find these beautiful pictures of the curve of my neck etc… Nothing risqué at all but it was definitely romantic.

WANDERER: I agree, very romantic.
Lori, what is the most romantic thing Quinn has done for you?

LORI: Research
WANDERER: Research?
MOLLY: Oh my god, my brother's such a nerd!
LORI: Not that kind of research. He's read a few of my books and well… took some notes about certain things I like.
MOLLY: Ear plugs, I need ear plugs…(psst…but good for you Lori *wink*)

WANDERER: Good indeed! Ok, last question, before we bring the men back. Fill in the blank:

Looking in the window of a candy shop, I'd describe my man's style of love making as (blank).

MOLLY: Skor, enough said…

LORI: Hot Tamales…because of his sexy bilingual side

JANE: Big Hunk…have you seen him?

WANDERER: Great answers ladies! Okay, let's bring the men back in.

********************

WANDERER: Hi guys, you know the drill. I've asked the ladies 3 questions and it's your turn to try and match their answers. Each match earns you 10 points. Good luck!
Question #1: Ben, if someone wrote a book about your relationship, which of these titles would best fit your story? Lead Me On, Start Me Up or Talk Me Down.

BEN: Talk Me Down
MOLLY: *holds up card*

TALK ME DOWN

WANDERER: Yes, Molly tells us she's the big talker in EVERY aspect of your relationship. Is that true?
BEN: Absolutely, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
*Molly and Ben share a quick kiss*

WANDERER: Nice answer.
Quinn, what would the book about you and Lori be called?

QUINN: It's got to be Start Me Up
LORI: *holds card up*

START ME UP

WANDERER: Yes, we hear you really know how to get the engines revved up.
QUINN: I haven't had any complaints.
WANDERER: Is that right?

Audience: *whistles and applause*

WANDERER: So…what do you say, Chase?

CHASE: Lead Me On
JANE: *holds up card*

LEAD ME ON

CHASE: Yep, you can lead me anywhere Ms Jane.

WANDERER: Oh, Ms. Jane is it? Naughty, naughty!
You all got the first question right so Ben and Molly now have 25 points,
Quinn and Lori and Chase and Jane are tied with 30 points. Question #2 goes to you Quinn. We hear the ladies are in a book club. What do you think would be the perfect name for their club?

QUINN: Círculo de Lectores
LORI: *holds up card*

VICKIE'S VIXENS

LORI: I don't even care that you got it wrong. Say that again……...
QUINN: Círculo de Lectores
LORI: You definitely get bonus points.
WANDERER: I'm sorry. No match means no points for you two.
LORI: Oh, no worries. These are a different kind of points.

Audience: *laughter and whistles*

WANDERER: Alrighty then... Let's see what you said Chase.

CHASE: The Reading is Sexy Club
JANE: *holds up card*

VICTORIA'S SECRET

WANDERER: Sorry, no match. Let's see if we can get 1 out of 3. Ben, what do you say?

BEN: The Sexy Ladies' Club
MOLLY:*holds up card*

THE PUSSYCAT DAHLS

But nice save from your "Blue" answer in the last round.

WANDERER: No one matched an answer so points remain the same. Question #3 goes to you Chase. What is the most romantic thing you've done for Jane?

CHASE: I know it doesn't sound it, but it really was romantic. I took her to one of my demolition sites.
JANE:*holds up card*

TOOK ME TO SEE A DEMOLITION

WANDERER: Great job!
Ben, what's the most romantic thing you've done for Molly?

BEN: Probably the time I left photos of her in bed.
MOLLY:*holds up card*

WOKE UP TO SWEET PHOTOS OF MYSELF

QUINN: I really didn’t need to know that.
MOLLY: It wasn't those kinds of pictures. Very, very sweet and innocent.

WANDERER: We got another match! Looks like our couples are back on track. Quinn, what do you think Lori said?

QUINN: I learned what she liked
LORI: *holds up card*

RESEARCHED WHAT SHE LIKED FROM HER BOOKS

WANDERER: We have 3 for 3! Let's recheck the points. Ben and Molly now have 40 points, Quinn and Lori and Chase and Jane are still tied with 45 points. Fellas, we asked the ladies one more question for our bonus round. This one is worth 25 points so it's anyone's game. Ben, we'll start with you. Fill in the blank: Looking in the window of a candy shop, Molly would describe your style of love making as (blank).

BEN: Now and Later
MOLLY: *holds up card*

SKOR

BEN: Oh, man. Sorry, Moll
MOLLY: It's ok Ben, your answer is true too. *they share a quick kiss*

WANDERER: So sorry, no match. You two still have 40 points. Quinn, what do you think Lori said?

QUINN: It's got to be Hot Tamales
LORI: Yes! *holds up card*

HOT TAMALES

WANDERER: Really, hot tamales?
QUINN: Yes, she loves it when I speak Spanish to her.

WANDERER: Sexy. And that puts you two in the lead with 70 points. Let's see if Chase can keep it a tie. Chase, what would Jane call your style of love making?

CHASE: Good & Plenty
JANE: Crud! *holds up card*

BIG HUNK

CHASE: I'll take that too!

WANDERER: Sorry, no match. That leaves you with 45 points.

ROB THE ANNOUNCER: Here's a points recap:
Molly & Ben, you have 40 points (C)
Lori & Quinn, you have 70 points (B)
Jane & Chase, you have 45 points (B-)

WANDERER: Congratulations to Lori and Quinn! You're the winners of today's game.

Audience: *applause and whistling*

WANDERER: Thanks to all our couples for joining us today. It was a blast! And thank you to the audience, hope you enjoyed our visit to Tumble Creek. Who knows where we'll show up next. We may be coming to a town near you. 'Til then, I'm your host, Wanderer, signing off.

ROB: This has been a Scarlet Corset Production. Goodnight!

Around The Net:

Talk Me Down

Litter box...scoop daily!
RT Book Reviews: 2 stars
The Romance Reader: 4 hearts
The Book Smugglers: 7 out of 10
All About Romance: D
Reading, etc.: B-
Babbling About Books and More!: B
Write Chic
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books: B+
Dear Author: B+
Buried by Books: A+

Start Me Up

Monkey Bear Reviews: B+
Dear Author: B-
Babbling About Books and More!: B
A Blog of Books: 4.5 stars
Read React Review:
All About Romance: B+
The Romance Reader: 4 hearts

Lead Me On

Long and Short Romance Reviews
Read React Review
Babbling About Books and More!: B
Teflon Panties: 4 out of 5
Dear Author: B+
The Book Girl: 5 out of 5
Pop Culture Junkie: 4 out of 5 stars
Avid Book Reader: C
The Romance Readers Connection: 4.5 out of 5
KindleVixen: 5 out of 5
Jessica Scott's Blog

The Devil Earl by Deborah Simmons

noreply@blogger.com (Mistress) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 05:28:00 +0000

The Review In Which The Wol(f) Fingers The Raven('s) Scar

Reader described The Devil Earl as a prim writer gal/morally questionable hunk pairing sprinkled with gothic flair. How could my response be anything other than a resounding "Hells yes, gothic crack here I come!"?

The Couple: Prudence Lancaster & Sebastien Ravenscar

The Setting: Spooky Wolfinger Abbey above the cliffs

The Challenge: Can Sebastien solve the mystery of his brothers disappearance? Can Pru break out of writers block? And most pressing, can their respective siblings cease being twats?

Out of a Midnight Coach Stepped Ravenscar...The Perfect Gothic Mystery Man Dark and brooding and rumored to have done murder, the Devil Earl was everything Prudence Lancaster's imagination could conjure. But he was also flesh and blood, and infinitely more seductive than anything she had ever created. In his presence, the dreamy authoress became a sultry sleuth, hungry to solve the mystery of Ravenscar's missing brother and save her beloved Devil Earl from his own wicked legacy...

Prudence Lancaster is a published gothic writer, but she's been lacking inspiration for her next work. She takes a break to ponder her favorite muse Wolfinger Abbey from her window. She has adored the structure, the history, the legends of it; since childhood. Pru is interrupted from mooning over the creepy abbey next door by her chirpy younger sister, who gifts us with a dramatic account of the sparkly dandy she met in town; blah blah blah, he's one of the heirs of the Abbey, blah blah, and isn't it all grand *yawn*. Some too boring to rehash courting, visits, conversations, and attempts to finagle a visit to the abbey follow.

Then the clouds part and Earl Ravenscar bursts into the story, he's intense, tortured, and impertinent; and I tittered like any bookslut worth her salt lol. Sebastian's grandfather, The Devil Earl, was oh so evil. He was mean, violent, and handsy. There was also a little to do about locking his wife in a tower until she went mad. The combination of this bleak family history and some of Sebastien's own doings in youth, have all of proper society convinced that he's is cut from the same cloth. The fact that he often plays into the part society has assigned him, doesn't help matters. Before you can say "Holy complications, Batman" the yummy Sebastian is suspected of doing away with his brother and a meddlesome authoress is determined to clear his name.

Five minutes into this book I wanted to beat Pru's sister Phoebe to death with a mallet. Phoebe's the quintessential one dimensional "the world revolves around me" empty headed sister; which makes her the perfect match for Sebastien's Bro the silly "ne'er can do right" spare heir. There is no explanation or hints to the cause of their character, this vagueness of character motivation and plot seem to be a running theme in this novel. Prudence and Phoebe's background gist seems to be that the sisters' parents are deceased and they were then raised by their elderly grandmother who is also now deceased. But that's just a guess, all I know for sure is that the 2 young females live alone save for a servant or 2, with reputations in tact. Highly unlikely and though I'm not a hardass regarding historical accuracy, some insight to the situation would have been welcome.

The scenes between Prudence and Sebastien, chock full of tension and mirth, are where the book really shines. As a couple they're just the right blend of entertaining, adorable,and sensual. Pru's refreshingly sensible and perceptive. She doesn't temporarily spurn Sebastian for the heck of it, lose who she is, or resist the pull she feels towards the earl. From very early on she knows he's the man she's been dreaming of and trusts that he's a better man then he believes. Not even I can bring myself not to like her, despite her tendency to utter "Oh my" (13 times, and yes I'm anal enough to count lmao). After his initial combination of aloof maneuvers and insults, Sebastien shapes up into a right nice reformed rogue. He falls for Pru; spectacles, ink stained hands, eccentricities and all.

So in conclusion I adored this book when it focused on the the hero and heroine and was bored to tears during the rest,when the bleh cast of characters and many unconvincing coincidences passing for plot interrupted my fun.

Bookslut Highlights

Heroine too sexy for her gloves

Bronze wolf abuse

Bitchy chaperones

Love is blind to bony feet

Smugglers a smuggling

Skeezy Ton folk

Secret tunnel shenanigans

The Grade

Liked the premise of this book but aspects of its execution were WEAK. Enjoyed it enough to continue riding the series/author out at my own leisurely pace. Beyond the hype, this book is fine for a fluffy, generic read and has more of a library rental/swap quality rather than a keeper for my personal bookshelf.

Around The Net:

Mrs Giggles 98/100

Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief (Film)

noreply@blogger.com (Reader) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 09:10:00 +0000

I haven't been around in a while; my reading rut lasted longer than I expected and nothing, not even Brockway, could get me out of my funk. I did, however, get arm-wrestled into reading Rick Riordan's The Lightning Thief and, boy, was I glad. So glad that I actually read the next 4 books in 2 days. It was that good. I've always been fond of Greek mythology and any book that incorporates it into their story (provided it doesn't stray too far from the established mythos) is a win for me. I feel the same way about films so you can just imagine how I felt about the idea of a Percy Jackson Lightning Thief movie: Cue fangirl squeeing. So, how does the film fare when compared to the book it was adapted from? Poorly.

Spoilers Ahoy:

Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed the film, however, Rick Riordan's The Lightning Thief, it was not. I really wanted to love this movie. It could be the new Harry Potter in my life. I entered the cinema with an open mind, ready for a great time, but great wouldn't really be the best word to describe the experience because, as much as I enjoyed the film, all the changes jarred me from truly being absorbed in it. Now, I can get over the missing (or added) scenes and the changes in minor details. I can even overlook the horrible casting of certain characters (Athena. UGH.) but changing the plot I cannot ignore. One of the things I liked best about the books is the fact that Hades is not a bad guy. I mean, he's not a good guy but, he's certainly no worse than his Olympian brothers. Heck, he's the only one of the "big three" to keep his end of the pact for crying out loud! In the film he's the mastermind baddie. Yeah, the Lord of the Underworld is evil, real original. No mention whatsoever of Kronos who happens to be the Voldemort of the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. Heh.

I heard a sequel movie has been green-lighted so how they're gonna work that back in is a toss up. And who knew that Persephone is a satyr-fondling slut? because I had no idea! Which brings me to another gripe - what's the point of adding new and irrelevant goddesses when you're taking out characters detrimental to the plot? Ares, anybody? Where's Mr. D? Where are the Furies? Where are the Fates? Where's the damn Oracle of Delphi whose prophecy started it all? I know this is starting to come across as a rant so I'm going to stop - although I could go on all day - and I assure you that it's not. I really enjoyed the film - I think - and I'm watching it again this week with DH ( who hasn't read the series) to make sure. My advice: watch the film before you read the books (if you haven't already) because appreciating it on it's own merit is mighty hard when you're already a rabid R.R.'s PJ fangirl.

JR Ward - BDB 03 - Lover Awakened

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderer) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 03:36:00 +0000

The Challenge: The beginning of this book wasn't as hard to get into as the last. It still had some funky opening dialogue but I pushed through and made it over the first hump fairly easily. Later though, when switching to text, it took A LOT for me to ignore Ward's gems like ahvenge, cohntehst, ghardian and sehclusion. Seriously, I wonder how she decides which words get that extra special attention. Things that make you go WTF…er…hmmmm.

Format and Setting: I listened to about 1/3 of it in audio when I could at work but it's long so I switched to reading the rest of it here, there, everywhere.

The Music: The official rapper name dropped was Mystikal. For me, I'd say the song for this book in general would be Lady Gaga's Bad Romance

…. I want your ugly
I want your disease
I want your everything
As long as it’s free
I want your love
Love love love
I want your love…

The Couple: Zsadist and Bella

The Surprise: I liked this book…for the most part.

A former blood slave, the vampire Zsadist still bears the scars from a past filled with suffering and humiliation. Renowned for his unquenchable fury and sinister deeds, he is a savage feared by humans and vampires alike. Anger is his only companion, and terror is his only passion—until he rescues a beautiful aristocrat from the evil Lessening Society.

Bella is instantly entranced by the seething power Zsadist possesses. But even as their desire for one another begins to overtake them both, Zsadist’s thirst for vengeance against Bella’s tormentors drives him to the brink of madness. Now, Bella must help her lover overcome the wounds of his tortured past, and find a future with her…

Zsadist was one of the characters that stood out for me in books 1 and 2 so I was glad his story was next in the series. Z was made out to be the loner with a past so horrific that even the other members of the Brotherhood appeared wary of him. So why did someone like that stick out to me? Because we also caught glimpses of a caring soul and I wanted to see more of that side. In Lover Awakened, Zsadist is awakened to true emotions, true security, true personal growth and of course, true love.

This story continues the plot of Bella's kidnapping by the lessers, which occurred towards the end of book 2. It opens up with Z and the Brotherhood looking for her and when she is found early in the story, we see more of the softer side of Z as he cares of her during her recuperation. We also learn more of what happened to him when he was a blood slave. Learning what Z endured in his past absolutely explains the scared and wounded person he is now. In his eyes, he is dirty and unworthy and anyone who tries to get close to him will be tainted. As Z and Bella spend more time together, it was sweet to see him sort of blossoming emotionally. He would tell Bella why something was difficult for him to accept and sometimes they were able to work through the issue but most of the time, Z still felt he wasn't good enough for Bella. She tried to convince him that he was neither dirty nor unworthy of her love but in the end, the only one who could change Z's outlook was Z. That's what I thought was great about this book. Z ended up making decisions and taking actions that showed he finally believed he was worth having more in his life. When compared to the previous two books, I'd say Bella and Zsadist's is my favorite.

Another thing I enjoyed was learning more about Zsadist and his twin brother Phury's history. Phury takes a trip down memory lane and we see how Z was taken from their family and became a blood slave. We learn how long Phury searched for his brother and what he sacrificed to rescue him. I felt such compassion for both brothers and Phury became another stand out character for me. I really felt for him because he started to fall for Bella too but she chose Z and he had to stand by and watch their happy ending. He sealed the deal for me towards the end when he sacrificed himself again for his brother…I look forward to reading his book.

Phury knelt beside him and stroked his face. "I've only ever had you to live for. If you die I have nothing. I'm utterly lost. And you are needed here."

Zsadist tried to reach out, but couldn't lift his arms as Phury stood up.

"God, Z, I keep thinking this tragedy of ours is going to be over. But it just keeps going, doesn't it?"

Zsadist blacked out to the sound of his twin's boots heading from the room.

One of my favorite things is still the moments of solidarity between the Brothers. There's a scene when a change in Z's physical appearance is noticed and the Brothers are all there for the surprising revelation.

Z jacked his head up. "Why?"

"He didn't give a reason—" Tohr's eyes narrowed on Z's face. "Oh… my God."

The others in the room glanced over, and there were a couple of low gasps. Then the Brotherhood and Butch just stared at him.

"What the fuck are you looking at?"

Phury pointed to the antique mirror hanging on the wall next to the double doors. "See for yourself."

Zsadist marched across the room, ready to give them all hell. Bella was what mattered—

His mouth went lax at his reflection. With a shaky hand he reached out to the eyes in the old-fashioned leaded glass. His irises were no longer black. They were yellow. Just like his twin's.

"Phury?" he said softly. "Phury… what's happened to me?"

As the male came up behind him, the brother's face appeared right beside Z's. And then Wrath's dark reflection showed up in the mirror, all long hair and sunglasses. Then Rhage's star-fallen beauty. And Vishous's Sox cap. And Tohrment's brush cut. And Butch's busted nose.

One by one they reached out and touched him, their big hands landing gently on his shoulders.

"Welcome back, my brother," Phury whispered.

Zsadist stared at the males who were behind him. And had the oddest thought that if he were to let himself go limp and fall backward… they would catch him.

We also meet another character, Bella's brother Rehvenge, who seems like an interesting addition. There's a little twist at the end, that I admit I didn't see coming, and I'm curious to see how he plays into the rest of the series.

Now for the lessers, the baby powder smelling adversaries of the vampires. In earlier books I never found them very threatening but this book seemed to step up the action. I'm still waiting for my epic Lord of the Rings Battle at Helms Deep type fight but so far things are heading in the right direction. In this book there's the creepy and obsessive stalkerish lesser holding Bella captive and refers to her as his wife. He was so loony tunes over her that he even ignored his duties as fore-lesser to find her. When he finally gets a lead on her location, he sets in motion something that I really, really, really hated in this book.

If you haven't read any of these books and are planning to, I suggest you skip over the next section.

*SPOILER RANT ALERT* Scroll mouse over to read.

Crazy stalker dude that kidnapped Bella ends up killing Wellsie!!! Why, why, why?!?! Aside from Zsadist, Tohr was the other character that stood out for me in the previous books. I wanted to see how he and Wellsie's future turned out since she was pregnant. I wanted them to have their happy ending. The scene where the Brotherhood comes to tell Tohr what happened is heartbreaking but after that, there's practically nothing else. We see John's mourning but there are only a couple mentions of Tohr still being missing. C'mon, dammit. In previous books, Wellsie was there for Brotherhood dinners and she took John in when they found him. I know they couldn't do the formal Fade ceremony because Tohr was gone, but damn someone shed a tear for her. Someone talk about her and what she may have meant to them. Someone do more to try and find Tohr.

*END SPOILER RANT*

While Bella and Z's story has been my favorite so far, there are still things that bug me.

Of course there's the funky slang. I can't tell you how annoying it is to hear/read about the "shitkickers" or "What's doing?" or "How's doing?" For the love of all that's grammatical, can I please get a complete sentence?
When Z remembers back to what he endured as a blood slave there were several uncomfortable moments for me. I understand the need to show us what he went through but some of the frequent and detailed descriptions were uncomfortable to read.
Coming back to the present, Bella goes into her needing period.

needing period(n.) Female vampire's time of fertility, generally lasting for two days and accompanied by intense sexual cravings. Occurs approximately five years after a female's transition and then once a decade thereafter. All males respond to some degree if they are around a female in her need. It can be a dangerous time, with conflicts and fights breaking out between competing males, particularly if the female is not mated.

This is too close to animals in heat and weirded me out. Seriously, every male in the house started sportin' wood and since it was daytime, those without female mates in-house were shit out of luck. They had to turn to alcohol, red smoke or "self-love" to get through the needing period. During this time, Bella and Z started their sex-a-thon. It was all just very, very bizarre.

As for grading this book, the portions with Bella and Z's romance and Z and Phury's interactions would be a B- but the rest would be a C-. What to do, what to do? I'll go ahead and give it the higher one.

Final Grade:

ETA: 01/21/2010 - Made minor changes to review for clarity of thought, spelling/formatting issues and overall cohesiveness as original review was written while I was super tired and therefore did not re-read it thoroughly before hitting Publish Post :D

Around The Net:
Loves Vampires: 5 out of 5 stars
A Journey of Books: A
Dear Author: A-
Romantic Times: 4.5 out of 5 stars
The Hope Chest: 5 out of 5 stars
The Romance Reader: 4 out of 5 hearts

Keri Arthur - Bound to Shadows (Riley Jenson Guardian Book #08)

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderer) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 22:00:00 +0000

Yet another series I'm a fan of and after the last book I was eager to see what Riley would be facing in her personal life. As fans of the series know Riley Jenson and her twin brother Rhoan are half vampire and half werewolf. The wolves in this tale have one soul mate they go through life hoping to find. The connection between wolf soul mates is so strong that more often than not, if one dies their soul mate dies with them. The big question Riley faces is can a person with two souls have two soul mates? She's been in a committed relationship with the zexy vampire Quinn but they always knew one day she would find her wolf soul mate. How would they deal with that when it happened? This book gives us some of the answers.

Part vampire, part werewolf, Riley Jenson knows what can happen when vamps don’t play well with others. But she’s never seen anything like this: a series of brutal murders surrounding the latest hot spot for vampire-human hookups—and the victims aren’t just killed, they’re beheaded. Now Riley is launching into action, toying with a seductive—and highly suspicious—club owner, and finding herself in the middle of another mystery: women being killed one by one, without a trace of violence.

For Riley, solving multiple cases—in a world going mad with human and vampire passions—would have been tough enough. Instead she has two jealous lovers on her hands: Kye Murphy, the amber-eyed werewolf who makes Riley’s wolf blood howl—and Quinn, the cool, elegant vamp who has over a thousand years’ experience at fulfilling women’s desires. While she’s busy juggling these two sexy beasts, Riley’s detective work takes a stunningly violent turn. Finding a murderer is now a matter of life and death. Especially since the killer has long since found her . . .

At the end of the previous book Riley finally finds her soul mate; too bad he's more foe than friend. I thought making Riley's soul mate someone she despises was an interesting twist by Ms. Arthur so I was anxious to see how things would turn out in this book. I thought Riley and Kye would eventually work things out which would cause problems between Riley and Quinn and that would be the big to-do in this book. Instead, the animosity continues to grow between Riley and Kye and they fight against the soul mate connection while also occasionally giving in to the physical pull of their bodies (hot and hard sex up against the door jamb anyone?).

As for Rhoan, he's already found his soul mate in Leander and is finally taking a big step towards a more committed relationship: he and Leander want to have a baby. Leander's sister is willing to carry the baby and they ask Riley to donate an egg so the baby will be a part of the Jenson clan too. This is a huge deal for Riley because above all else, her heart's desire has been to have a baby. With things that happened to her in the past, she is unable to carry one. I can't wait to see where Ms. Arthur takes this story line.

We also got to see more of Riley's friend Dia, a woman/clone Riley helped in the past, and Dia's daughter Risa. We find out Risa's father was one of the same creatures Quinn used to be before he became a vampire. Dia asks for Quinn's help with mentoring Risa since the young girl's powers are growing every day. Dia is also psychic and Riley goes to her for some advice about her future and the whole soul mate situation. There's also more of Kade, the were-stallion (*snickers*) who has a corral of mares and new colts to look after. Kade is also a co-worker of Riley's and is the funny sidekick type character. It was nice to have Kade and Riley working together on solving the latest crimes.

I have to say I really, really, really disliked Kye. He's a cold-hearted, selfish and cocky son-of-a-bitch with a dash of crazy. At first I thought he would change because of Riley but as things progressed I started to sense something really wasn't right with him. In the end, we found out what he was really up to. I felt sorry that after all this time and hope, this is the soul mate Riley ended up with. I wondered how Ms. Arthur would resolve this horrible situation and what she did was shocking. Not just what happened with Kye (which looking back on the series, I can see it was heading that way) but what happened with Kade. I was not feeling that particular bit at all.

With that said, I can't wait to read book 9 which is the series finale.

Final Grade:

Around The Net:

Steph Su Reads: 2.5 out of 5
Leontine's Book Realm: 4 out of 5 stars
Romantic Times: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Carolyn Jewel - Scandal

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderer) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 06:24:00 +0000

Scandal has a bit of a different start to it compared to the romances I've read in the past. We meet the hero, Banallt, who is just arriving with his friend John Mercer to John's home where John's sister, Sophie, also resides. We find out right away that Banallt is there to win Sophie's heart. Sophie and Banallt have met in the past, when both were married to others, but they struck up a friendship that apparently has turned to love on Banallt's side. He expresses his intent to marry her and I was extremely interested in finding out what exactly happened in the past to make this man almost desperate in his pursuit. Great way to draw the reader in!

The earl of Banallt is no stranger to scandal. But when he meets Sophie Evans, the young wife of a fellow libertine, even he is shocked by his reaction. This unconventional and intelligent woman proves to be far more than an amusing distraction-- she threatens to drive him to distraction. Unlike the women who usually fall at Banallt's feet, and into his bed, Sophie refuses to be seduced. And soon Banallt desires her more than ever-- and for more than an illicit affair.

Years later, the widowed Sophie is free, and Banallt is determined to win the woman he still loves. Unfortunately, she doesn't believe his declaration of love and chivalrous offer of marriage-- her heart has already been broken by her scoundrel of a husband. And yet, Sophie is tempted to indulge in the torrid affair she's always fantasized about. Caught between her logical mind and her long-denied desire, Sophie must thwart Banallt's seduction-- or risk being consumed by the one man she should avoid at all costs...

The chapters flow seamlessly back and forth in time from Sophie and Banallt's past to their present day interactions. We learn that Banallt was a friend of Sophie's husband, Tommy. One night Tommy comes home drunk, passes out in his and Sophie's bed and leaves her to deal with the two strangers in the hallway. The strangers are Banallt and one of his many mistresses. A servant shows the mistress to a guest room and Sophie shows Banallt to a separate guest room. This is where he first makes a pass at her but Sophie is faithful to her husband and slaps Banallt in the face. What a nice first meeting, eh?

Back to the present, both Sophie and Banallt's spouses have passed away so both are free to pursue new relationships. Unfortunately Sophie is too wounded from her past marriage and Tommy's infidelities to trust another man, let alone Banallt. Considering Banallt and Tommy were fans of good ol' debauchery, she has every right to be wary. But something has happened and Banallt is a changed man. He has given up the rake's life and wants to build a life with Sophie. The only problem is convincing her that he will be faithful.

During all this, John is the typical protective brother and warns Banallt away from Sophie. He knows the hurt Sophie suffered during her marriage and with Banallt's reputation he only wants to protect his sister from future harm. John is also rising in his political career and through him Sophie meets a couple of men who also seem to be interested in courting her. There is also a secondary budding romance between John and Banallt's cousin's daughter that I found very sweet.

I read Scandal in two sittings which is very rare for me because of time constraints but I found myself eager to see how it would end. Which brings me to the not so good stuff: there I was minding my own business, happily reading along when something unexpected happened. I am not lying when I tell you my good reading mood was broken when this incident happened. Complete bummer! There were also a few issues I was confused about and since I was in the last days of my NaNoReadMo challenge I didn’t do as much re-reading as I normally would when needing clarification. First, Sophie and Banallt sometimes referenced how horrible Banallt was on the final day they saw each other. I thought he had revealed Sophie's secret occupation but I have since re-read that portion of the book and know it was him making another pass at her. The second issue is what exactly made Banallt decide to turn his life around. I've re-read more of the book and still unsure if there was an actual event that changed his life. Was it the loss of his wife? There is someone else from Banallt's past and I thought it was the loss of that person but that also happened back when he knew Sophie. I thought something major happened to him since their last meeting and that was the reason for the redeemed man.

Aside from that confusion and the incident that bummed me out, I really enjoyed this book. I loved the glimpses (outside of the chapters set in the past) we got of Sophie and Banallt's close friendship like when Sophie sees the painting in Banallt's home and tells him it is as beautiful as he had told her. I love how she knows his little quirks like always tugging on his cravat. My all time favorite line in the book is Banallt describing Sophie when they're in the carriage. I've read a few romances where the heroine isn't the conventional beauty yet has that certain something that attracts the hero but I've never read it described better than this:

He leaned back so that he had a better view of her face. She was one of those women, he’d long ago decided, whose appeal did not lie in repose, but in action, in the change of expression, the quick, intelligent eyes.

I LOVE this description! "…whose appeal did not lie in repose, but in action, in the change of expression…" It is absolutely true. Someone's personality and spirit can definitely shine through one's expression and bring absolute beauty to it no matter what their physical appearance may be.

I've had this book in my TBR pile for a while and am so glad to have finally read it. My new challenge will be figuring out which Carolyn Jewel book to read next.

Final Grade:
A very high

Around The Net:

The Book Binge: 4.5 out of 5
Dear Author: A-
Love Romance Passion: 4 - 4.5 stars out of 5
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books: B+
All About Romance: B+
Romantic Times: 4 stars out of 5
The Book Smugglers: 9 out of 10
Romance Novel TV: 5+ stars

Karen Marie Moning - Dreamfever (Fever Book #04)

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderer) — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 04:05:00 +0000

I'm a fan of this series and was eager to start this book since the cliffhanger ending in the previous one. The ending where Dublin is under attack and Mac is being raped by three Unseelie Princes and the Lord Master who is believed to have killed Mac's sister Alina. When I finished book 3 I was a bit stunned by the ending and there was some speculation that maybe the destruction of Dublin and Mac's rape were some kind of dream since the next book was titled Dreamfever. Anyone who has read this book can confirm it's not a dream.

MacKayla Lane lies naked on the cold stone floor of a church, at the mercy of the erotic Fae master she once swore to kill. Far from home, unable to control her sexual hungers, MacKayla is now fully under the Lord Master's spell. In the New York Times bestselling author Karen Marie Moning's stunning new novel, the walls between human and Fae worlds have come crashing down. And as Mac fights for survival on Dublin's battle-scarred streets, she will embark on the darkest-and most erotically charged-adventure of her life.

He has stolen her past, but MacKayla will never allow her sister's murderer to take her future. Yet even the uniquely gifted sidhe-seer is no match for the Lord Master, who has unleashed an insatiable sexual craving that consumes Mac's every thought-and thrusts her into the seductive realm of two very dangerous men, both of whom she desires but dares not trust.

As the enigmatic Jericho Barrons and the sensual Fae prince V'lane vie for her body and soul, as she rallies the sidhe-seers to fight an impossible battle, and the power of the Dark Book weaves its annihilating path through the city, Mac's greatest enemy delivers a final challenge...

It's an invitation Mac cannot refuse, one that sends her racing home to Georgia, where an even darker threat awaits. With her parents missing and the lives of her loved ones under siege, Mac is about to come face-to-face with a soul-shattering truth-about herself, and about the world she thought she knew.

This book picks up right where book 3 left off. Mac is being raped and losing everything that makes her Mac. With each forced orgasm by the sex Fae princes, she loses a memory of her childhood, a memory of her sister, a dream she had for her future. She is turned Pri-ya, which means she becomes nothing but a sexual being, living, breathing and needing sex above all else. When the princes are done with her, they move her outside the church they found her in and that's where Dani, a young sidhe-seer Mac befriends, finds her and with her superspeed ability, is able to get Mac back to the sidhe-seer compound.

At the compound is where the sexy Barrons (of unknown origins) arrives, with eight other men who appear to be of the same unknown creation, and takes the pri-ya'd Mac away to try and save her. No one has ever come back from being turned pri-ya but we can't have the heroine of the book out for the count, can we? Thus begins a months-long battle for Mac's former self with Barrons leading the way. He repeatedly reminds her of things from her life: her sister Alina, her parents, the bookstore they worked in, her anger towards him. Oh and throw in some sexing during it all because she is pri-ya after all and Barrons apparently couldn't restrain her somehow but gave in to giving her some sex along with the information about her life. Three words for ya: "Say my name." I was hoping these two would hook up eventually but I didn't want it to occur that way. Then, with the exception of one argument (I think), the aftermath of what happened isn't really addressed. Why not, Ms. Moning?

One thing we do find out about the recovered Mac is that she is no longer vulnerable to the sex Fae's pull. V'lane (the friendly sex fae?) who has a soft spot for Mac always had to dull his powers when in her presence but he meets with her unguarded and she feels absolutely nothing. So, like with some illnesses where your body builds up an immunity to the strain, Mac apparently built up an immunity to the powers that had invaded her so ruthlessly in the beginning of the book. How will this aid in the search for the Sinsar Dubh?

There are parts of this book that I found confusing as all hell like the four stones and especially the mirrors. I started to get the idea of the stones when Christian was telling Mac about the history of the stones' creation but the whole idea of the mirrors being re-routed, I have no fecking clue. Don't even ask me about the Hall of Mirrors. Yet the rest of the story is so freaking awesome that I can over look these issues. Things Mac believed to be true are now under question. Did the Lord Master kill Alina? Is Barrons really one of the good guys? Why didn't her parents tell her and Alina the truth? We're also left with so many new questions like who are the other eight men in Barrons crew? What's up with Ryodan's little nightclub? Who was the fourth rapist? Who was the beast at the end? (pssst…….click here for some crackpot theories underway on goodreads.com – reader beware: spoilers ahoy!)

Dani especially stood out for me and I found that I really enjoyed it when the pov changed to hers. Another thing I enjoyed was the interaction between Mac and Dani. Dani looks up to Mac as an older sister and Mac begins to see their relationship echoing that of hers and Alina. They also work together to figure out solutions to the craziness going on around them rather than sitting around waiting on Barrons or V'lane to save the day.

I think one of the biggest draws of this series for me is the fact that there is a finite amount of books in it. Book #5, Shadowfever, is to be the grand finale of the Fever Series. Ms Moning definitely knows how to leave us hanging and wanting more and this series is one of the few that I always look out for come release day.

The following is from an email I sent Mistress just after completing the book. I believe it sums up my thoughts on the book and most especially the cliffhanger ending:

OMG! WTF! Just finished Dreamfever. Dammit should not have read this til last book was out. As Dani would say, Feckin A!!!!!!!

Final Grade:

ETA: Audio book details

I've listened to the entire series on audio and this book changes narrator from Joyce Bean (books 1-3) to Natalie Ross and Phil Gigante. It took some getting used to but I quickly adjusted and enjoyed the new narration. Mr. Gigante's deep bass comes across a bit monotone but at times is wonderful at enhancing certain phrases *cough*Say My Name*cough*. Mist wasn't a fan of the narration change and set the audio aside for the text version.

Around The Net:

Romance Rookie: A
Lurve A La Mode: 2.5 to 3 scoops out of 5
Review Stream: 10
Romantic Times: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Maggie Stiefvater - Shiver

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderer) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 07:02:00 +0000

This was another audio book listen and in all honesty, I would have set it aside if it had not been one of my NaNoReadMo challenge books. Nothing like a public pledge to get the reading mojo going! When I started Shiver, I got the same "it's taking too long to get going" vibe I did when I tried Twilight. Unlike Twilight, though, I actually finished this book. Who knows, I may join a Twilight challenge someday and finish it then but, um, don't hold your breath. ;)

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human... until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human—or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

We're introduced to Grace, a girl being attacked by wolves, before a certain yellow-eyed wolf challenges the attackers and gets them to back down. Six years later we meet a boy named Sam, working in a local bookstore that just happens to have yellow eyes. A wolf with yellow eyes? A boy with yellow eyes? It couldn't be, could it? Why yes, yes it can. Wolf = Boy. “It's elementary, my dear Watson.”

Anyway…what makes this werewolf story different from all the rest is the fact that the transformation from man to wolf, and vice versa, has nothing to do with the moon. The transition for these wolves is based on the temperature. When the temp drops in the winter, they turn into wolves. When it heats up during summer, they change back to humans. Also, they only get a certain amount of changes before they become a wolf, permanently. The number of changes varies for each person and that's one thing that bugged me. How can it be so random for each person? And why not move to a place that's always warm? This question is brought up in the book but the answer is kind of effed up too. There's just no rhyme or reason to it. It just…IS. I don't like that. I want to know the what's, how's and why's.

I found Sam and Grace's growing relationship to be sweet but it felt like forever before the story picked up and got interesting. Grace's parents were beyond clueless and selfish, never once taking a real interest in their daughter's life. If they had, they would've noticed the dude sleeping in her room. Things finally picked up for me when another girl, Isabel, approached Grace for help regarding her brother Jack. Jack was killed earlier in the book by the wolves yet Isabel tells Grace she has recently seen her brother. Things slow down again because Grace denies knowing anything about the wolves and she and Sam continue their budding relationship. One thing that stood out for me early on was the fact that Grace was bitten by a wolf in the beginning of the book yet she never turned into one. This is what I held onto for a lot of the book – I wanted to know why, Why, WHY?!?! The subject finally came up in the book and I hoped they would take the information to Beck (Sam's mentor/father-figure/fellow wolf-man) so they could really look into her situation and what made it unique. Instead, Grace and Sam talk about it for a little bit and then don't really do anything about it. HELLO!!! She was somehow cured! Get thee to a lab for some analysis, STAT!

In the end, it does turn out that something about when Grace was bitten gives the Scooby Doo gang an idea about finding a cure, but there's one major problem: the temperature is dropping and Sam is facing his final change. This is where things really get good. I applaud the audio book version during this part because the section where they're looking for Sam, and Isabel is checking the sheds on her family's property had me pausing all else as I waited for the outcome. The rest of the book from this point had my full attention. The part in the car just after the accident…heartbreaking!

So, while the beginning and middle were a little slow for me, the final stretch of the book was good enough for me to look back and say I'm glad I read it.

Final Grade:

Around The Net:

Chick Lit Teens: 5/5
The Book Butterfly: 5/5
The Book Smugglers: 5/10
Dear Author: B-
Babbling About Books, and More: B+
My Friend Amy: 4/5

Janet Evanovich - Finger Lickin' Fifteen

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderer) — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 23:09:00 +0000

It's hard to believe I am still with a series 15 books in because I normally fizzle out around book 7. The Stephanie Plum series was always light and fun reading so it never bothered me how Stephanie was up to her usual antics or that she was still floating back and forth between staying with Morelli and having some fun with Ranger. There was a time when I read each book as soon as it came out but it was six months before I picked this one up. Sadly, there was good reason for that delay.

UNBUCKLE YOUR BELT AND PULL UP A CHAIR. IT'S THE SPICIEST, SAUCIEST, MOST RIB-STICKING PLUM YET.

Recipe for disaster:
Celebrity chef Stanley Chipotle comes to Trenton to participate in a barbecue cook-off and loses his head --literally.

Throw in some spice:
Bail bonds office worker Lula is witness to the crime, and the only one she’ll talk to is Trenton cop, Joe Morelli.

Pump up the heat:
Chipotle’s sponsor is offering a million dollar reward to anyone who can provide information leading to the capture of the killers.

Stir the pot:
Lula recruits bounty hunter Stephanie Plum to help her find the killers and collect the moolah.

Add a secret ingredient:
Stephanie Plum’s Grandma Mazur. Enough said.

Bring to a boil:
Stephanie Plum is working overtime tracking felons for the bonds office at night and snooping for security expert Carlos Manoso, A.K.A. Ranger, during the day. Can Stephanie hunt down two killers, a traitor, five skips, keep her grandmother out of the sauce, solve Ranger’s problems and not jump his bones?

Warning:
Habanero hot. So good you’ll want seconds.

Yeah, yeah, yeah Stephanie is out hunting a skip and the usual stuff happens like the guy getting away, cars blowing up, Ranger helping her out, Joe Morelli warning her away from him….basically a little bit from books 1-14 mixed together and repackaged with different secondary character names. The main difference of this book is that Lula is the main focus. She is a witness to a crime so has to hide out from the people looking to silence her. Where does she hide? Well at Stephanie's place of course! This arrangement doesn't work too well for either of them so Stephanie ends up staying at Ranger's place for a while.

I've listened to most of this series on audio and for some reason Lula has always been a bit annoying. It may be how the narrator voices her but I usually end up wondering how Stephanie can put up with some of her quirks. So with Lula being the focus of this book, I was rather annoyed for most of it. It just seemed like everything she or Stephanie did was the most stupid thing anyone could do when someone is looking to kill them. I won't even go into the ridiculousness of Stephanie in the hot dog suit at the end.

Another thing that bugged me was the fact that Stephanie never got it on with Ranger. While working at Range Man AND staying in Ranger's apartment, she had ample opportunity to be up in his Bvlgari goodness but she declined each and every time. The way I look at it, if she's not with Morelli why not have some fun with Ranger? Maybe that's why I'm still with the series. There's that small hope that she will have another fling with Ranger. At the same time, as much as I want that to happen, I can only see Stephanie ending up with Morelli.

Confession: I received Ms. Evanovich's latest newsletter which revealed the next book will be titled Sizzling Sixteen. Guess who will be reading it? Yes, me. Even though this book bugged me I still find them light, easy and fast reads (listens?). It won't be a "dash to the store on release day" deal, but I'll pick it up eventually.

My wish: end the Stephanie Plum series with Stephanie and Joe getting their happily ever after and spin-off Ranger to a Range Man series. My favorite book is #12 where the main focus was Ranger and finding his daughter. We could follow him in his bad ass bounty hunter/security expert exploits where he meets an equally bad ass female hunter/secret agent/uber spy and they have a Mr. and Mrs. Smith type relationship. That would be hot.

Final Grade:

The Twelve Days of Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderer) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 23:09:00 +0000

On the first day of Christmas,

my to-be-read pile sent to me

A happily ever after ending!

On the second day of Christmas,

my to-be-read pile sent to me

Two wedding bells,

And a happily ever after ending!

On the third day of Christmas,

my to-be-read pile sent to me

Three costume balls,

Two wedding bells,

And a happily ever after ending!

On the fourth day of Christmas,

my to-be-read pile sent to me

Four castled halls,

Three costume balls,

Two wedding bells,

And a happily ever after ending!

On the fifth day of Christmas,

my to-be-read pile sent to me

Five......consecutive.....climaxes.

Four castled halls,

Three costume balls,

Two wedding bells,

And a happily ever after ending!

On the sixth day of Christmas,

my to-be-read pile sent to me

Six maids deflowered,

Five......consecutive.....climaxes.

Four castled halls,

Three costume balls,

Two wedding bells,

And a happily ever after ending!

On the seventh day of Christmas,

my to-be-read pile sent to me

Seven secret meetings,

Six maids deflowered,

Five......consecutive.....climaxes.

Four castled halls,

Three costume balls,

Two wedding bells,

And a happily ever after ending!

On the eighth day of Christmas,

my to-be-read pile sent to me

Eight couples courting,

Seven secret meetings,

Six maids deflowered,

Five......consecutive.....climaxes.

Four castled halls,

Three costume balls,

Two wedding bells,

And a happily ever after ending!

On the ninth day of Christmas,

my to-be-read pile sent to me

Nine rogues reforming,

Eight couples courting,

Seven secret meetings,

Six maids deflowered,

Five......consecutive.....climaxes.

Four castled halls,

Three costume balls,

Two wedding bells,

And a happily ever after ending!

On the tenth day of Christmas,

my to-be-read pile sent to me

Ten rakes a-flirting,

Nine rogues reforming,

Eight couples courting,

Seven secret meetings,

Six maids deflowered,

Five......consecutive.....climaxes.

Four castled halls,

Three costume balls,

Two wedding bells,

And a happily ever after ending!

On the eleventh day of Christmas,

my to-be-read pile sent to me

Eleven werewolves howling,

Ten rakes a-flirting,

Nine rogues reforming,

Eight couples courting,

Seven secret meetings,

Six maids deflowered,

Five......consecutive.....climaxes.

Four castled halls,

Three costume balls,

Two wedding bells,

And a happily ever after ending!

On the twelfth day of Christmas,

my to-be-read pile sent to me

Twelve vampires biting,

Eleven werewolves howling,

Ten rakes a-flirting,

Nine rogues reforming,

Eight couples courting,

Seven secret meetings,

Six maids deflowered,

Five......consecutive.....climaxes.

Four castled halls,

Three costume balls,

Two wedding bells,

And a happily ever after ending!

NaNoReadMo 2009 Results

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderer) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 06:24:00 +0000

Due to life's wily ways I haven’t been able to post my results until now. Drum roll please…..….. SUCCESS!!! I am so happy to be able to say I completed the challenge. Yes, I finished book #5 at 9:30pm on Nov 30th but that counts just the same ;)

I'm glad I participated and hope everyone did well in both the NaNoReadMo and NaNoWriteMo challenges.

My challenge for this month will be to review all 5 books.

Week in Review Nov 22-28, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderer) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 21:42:00 +0000

I've been reading every free moment I had since Friday afternoon. Where am I now? I'm a few chapters into the last book. THE. LAST. BOOK. HALLELUJAH!!!!! I was starting to get worried that I wouldn't meet my goal because of the holidays but after Thursday, the hectic pace slowed down and I had more time for myself. Most of the family has left for their own homes so I'm going to read like a madwoman today. I'm going to try and finish this one today or at least get to the 3/4 mark. Wish me luck!

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I am feeling so much better but yesterday spent a few hours with some relatives at urgent care and there were several people in the waiting room coughing up a storm. It ranged from toddlers to the elderly. The flu: the gift that keeps on giving. This bug is hitting hard and fast. Hope all is well in your own circles.

************

Ever have a moment where you're trying to express something but for the life of you, you can't think of the specific word? It definitely happens to me with the latest occurring in two blog posts. There was a word or phrase I knew was off but the exact words I meant didn't come to me until days later.

Ex #1 " ....when the chair is leaned back." In other words, when the chair is RECLINED. (duh!!!) This correction came to me just as I was falling asleep.

Ex #2 ".....cumulated in 10 minutes of pure bliss." I stared at the word "cumulated" for a long, long time. I checked the online dictionary and thesaurus. It was kind of what I meant but still didn't feel right. So what did I do? I changed it to "accumulated". Looked it up and came to the same conclusion: kind of what I meant but still not right. The next morning I woke up and the first thought was "CULMINATED", the word is culminated. (duh indeed)

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I've only watched a couple episodes of Ghost Hunter's Academy so I'm not sure what experience these candidates came into the show with but OMG do they come across as stupid. I understand how the technical side of setting up the cameras and audio records can be difficult but these people make it seem impossible. Did they receive any kind of training on the set up process or were they just thrown into the academy? I can see them taking longer to set up than Steve and Tango would but to waste a whole night of investigating setting up equipment….RIDICULOUS!

Other things that bugged me on the shows I saw were how they totally disregarded any instructions given them. They didn't take notes during the tour of the ship they investigated so when set up time came, they had no clue where they were headed or where to set up the cameras. They didn't tag the audio like they were supposed to so they could distinguish what could be paranormal from what was their own coughing or shuffling of feet. The thing that got me was how in their little confessional things, some of them would say how if they were in charge the job would have gotten done. Then DO IT, take charge, step up, make it work! Talk is cheap. Don't even get me started on the new girl who started crying after Steve told her that setting up the camera angle was not a technical issue but a common sense issue. Seriously, my 5 year old nephew would know that a camera shot of the floor is a stupid idea. Not sure if I'll continue watching because the candidates appear to be clueless. I feel sorry for Dave and Tango and give them props for their patience.

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A cell phone commercial caught my eye this week because it grossed me out. It came on again, but I turned the channel – it just gives me the creeps.

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My six-word memoir for this week:

Love extended family, in small doses. :D

Week in Review Nov 15-21, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderer) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 21:14:00 +0000

I have fallen behind on my NaNoReadMo books this week. Being sick I either couldn't keep my eyes open long enough to read or when I did I couldn't focus enough to continue reading. It had nothing to do with either book but with my mind and body feeling out of whack. Now that I'm feeling a little better I have to kick this reading into high gear considering the month is almost over. Then we have the holidays coming up and family visiting....aaaaaahhhhhh! I can do it, I can do it, I can do it.

NaNoReadMo Countdown

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Dreamfever - sorry not my review of the book but my actual dream while feverish :P

It's after work and I'm driving home but I'm not on one of my usual streets. I know this road and have driven it many times in the past but it's just not in my day to day driving route. Anyway, all of a sudden I miss a turn and am heading off a cliff. You'd think I'd wake up, right? Nope, I'm free-falling for the longest time and then the falling slows down. My hand happens to be out the window and I feel a wooden fence as the car drops gently into someone's backyard. I am surprised the car landed so slowly and that I'm still alive. I get out and look around and see the fall caused all four tires to flatten. I also notice there's a goat in the yard with me. A goat? Seriously? Ok dream, whatevs....

I turn around to look at the house and it's a huge beach-house style home with large windows and a staircase leading up to the back patio and door. I've never seen this house before but when the residents come out, it turns out to be someone I went to high school with and his dad. I never met this person's dad but all of a sudden he's greeting me by name and I wonder how he knows my name. They don't even bat an eyelash at the fact my car is in their backyard but I ask to use their phone to call AAA and they say of course and invite me inside. I go inside and there are tons of people but they're acting really weird. They all seem to follow the dad guy around and hang on his every word. I think to myself that it seems like some kind of cult. I try to use the phones but none work and I ask the people nearby about the phones but they just smile and walk away from me in a daze. I decide to get the hell out of dodge and go to my car to look for my cell phone when I run into my sister. This particular sister lives out of state so I'm wondering why she's there and where is her family. But she's acting all dazed and confused too and I pull her along with me as I head down to my car.

When we get there I notice all the people from inside the house are in the yard now. They're all smoking some kind of cigarette and my sister pulls one out to light too. I have a feeling these cigs are the cause of the stepford wives routine and try to stop my sister from smoking hers. Then I turn around and there's a monk of some sorts talking to the dad guy. He starts to light up a cig and I think wtf is going on. How can I stop this? I look into my car and see my cell phone and after a couple of tries I finally get through to AAA and am releived to know they're on their way to help me get the hell out of the crazy place. However, when they arrive they shake hands and pats on the back with the dad guy. I'm scared now because it looks like everyone is in the cult.

Dun, dun, dun......Will I find a way out? Will I be able to save my sister? Why did I call AAA and not, oh I don't know, 911? If my tires are flat am I supposed to use the goat for transportation?

We'll never know because that's when I woke up. :D

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If you're a fan of the hit show Sons of Anarchy, I suggest you follow the blog by the show's creator, Kurt Sutter. He provides honest and direct insight to the show and the show business world. The latest and greatest from Sutter Ink: Creation is an Action… Douchebag.

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Aside from books one of my favorite things is dance. I've been a fan of most the dance shows on TV but this season I've kinda been in a slump. I normally have a favorite group or dancer but no one has really done it for me lately. The closest so far occurred on the last DWTS where Mya and her partner Dmitry danced a salsa that earned them a perfect score. I thought everything came together in this one: the dancers, choreography, costumes and music were perfection.

Shake it, don't break it!

It's down to the finale and the last 3 couples and GREAT to see we'll finally have a new professional win this time around. I will miss the awesome choreography of dancers like Derek, Mark or Julianne (who wasn't on this season) but look forward to seeing what these 3 pros bring to the table.

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I'm sure you've all heard the news by now: Oprah will end her show in 2011 after 25 years. I've watched her show off and on over the years and can see what she means by saying she loves the show enough to know when it's time to say good-bye. She's done so much for millions around the world but with everything there's always a point where you know it's time to close that particular chapter and begin a new one. I think her show was starting to become stale (for lack of a better word). She still had great guests and relevant content but times are changing and there is so much new technology to grab a viewer's attention. But there's no doubt Ms. Winfrey is going out on top and I'm sure season 25 will be like nothing we've ever seen before.

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Weird news item of the week:

This awesome dad decided it would be neat to speak Klingon to his infant son as his first language. WTF dude?! If I were the mom I would say hell NO!!! I'm all for babies learning different languages, hell I grew up with two, but Klingon….NO m*th*rf***ing way.

Week in Review

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderer) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 23:45:00 +0000

Book challenge update: I finished Shiver earlier this week and finished Dreamfever yesterday. There are so many things I want to say about these books. I was thinking of doing mini reviews for all 5 books at the end of the month but I seriously don't think I'm capable of writing a mini review ;)

Stay tuned for my reviews of Finger Lickin' Fifteen, Shiver and Dreamfever.

For those of you who joined in on NaNoReadMo, how ya' doing? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I may be the only person who likes going to the dentist. I don't like the procedures but the process is as comfortable as possible. In the past we had these goggle-type things where we could watch a movie during the visit. Since my last visit there have been some major changes. Now there are flat screen TVs attached to each dental chair and headphones so we don't have to listen to all the equipment buzzing. And get this, when the chair is reclined and you're facing the ceiling, there's another flat screen up there so you can continue watching TV. Very nice things to distract you from the dentist or hygienist's work.

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Friday the 13th: I'm not a superstitious person. I don't believe in the whole bad luck from black cats, broken mirrors, walking under ladders or Friday the 13th being evil. I do have other beliefs more culturally related but none that are in the same vein as the superstitions listed above.

Are you superstitious or do you think it's all a bunch of hocus-pocus?

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I love my Crackberry. Love, love, love it. This week I found a few new apps for it. Most of these have versions for other phone models so please click the app name for more information. Also, these are all free!!!

Viigo allows you to subscribe to different feeds on various topics: news, sports, movie times, weather, politics, google reader, bloglines. There is even a DailyLit feed where you can subscribe to many free books that are available.

DriveSafe.ly is an app that will read your email or text messages to you while you're driving.I have the free version which only reads 25 words instead of the maximum 500 words but that's enough for me to know if the message is urgent and requires me to pull over and respond. If not, I can just listen to it and continue to my destination. It's a pretty cool app to use with clear enough settings. The main thing is getting used to turning it on and off. Also, getting used to the voice coming on out of nowhere – the first time it came on I was like where the hell is that sound coming from. Mine is currently set to play through my speaker phone so I have to remember to turn it off when needed otherwise, I'll have a personal text message playing in a company meeting. :D

Mobile Data Alerter - This is a cool app if you are cautious about your data plan usage. It's especially helpful if you travel a lot and need to keep track of roaming charges. I have an unlimited plan and don't travel abroad but it's still kind of interesting to see what my usage is on a daily basis.

QuickPull Free - A fast and easy reset app for your phone. You can schedule a restart any day, any time. I've set mine to restart once a week in the middle of the night. It's basically a system refresh for your phone.

What are some of your favorite apps?

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Sons of Anarchy Season 02, Episode 10: Balm

I've been a fan of this show from the beginning, even thru my confusion of who the hell Sam Crowe was. Yes I finally realized it was SAMCRO ;) Anyway, the latest episode is effing awesome! The final scene with Gemma, Clay, Jax and Tara was EXCELLENT. Very rare to see everything come together so perfectly: writing, acting, music, direction. If you haven't watched the episode yet, don't play the video below. If you have and want to re-watch this stellar scene, be my guest. It is SO nice to see Katey Sagal in such a powerful role.

Anyone know the name of the song that is playing during this scene?

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On a lighter note, is Modern Family. This show cracked me up from episode one and the Lion King presentation. I'm not sure if there was an episode this past week but the week before with the brother and sister characters reliving their old figure skating routine. FUNNY! Too bad I couldn't find a clip of it to share with you :(

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Weird news item of the week:

The actress who plays Lexie Grey on Grey's Anatomy has a kissing scene (or 2) with her real life brother in this movie which was made when they were teenagers. W.T.F.

Madeline Hunter - By Possession

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderer) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:00:00 +0000

Every time I read a book I tell myself to write down the page numbers with passages that moved me in some way so I can quote it in the review. Of course, I never do. I usually don't regret it because I can remember certain phrases and do a search in the ebook or if it's a print book, I can recall the placement of the phrase (e.g. last paragraph on a left-sided page) and place in the book (e.g. 1st third of book) and find it that way. This time; however, there was so much richness in the story I can't even recall the specific moments I wanted to point out. Bummer for me, but a great sign for this book! I've often heard the term "meaty" in reference to stories but never gave it anything more than a passing thought until reading this book. I totally get it now.

A Common Lady

For years she had thought he was dead. Yet when Addis de Valence strode into Moira Falkner's cottage, there was no mistaking the sharp planes of his face, and the scar she herself had helped to heal. The young squire who had once been her hero was now her lord, a hardened man who returned to claim the son she had raised as her own. But Moira couldn't deny that Addis roused a passion she never thought to feel-and a perilous hope for a future that could never be....

An Uncommon Love

Addis returned from the Crusades to find his lands usurped by his stepbrother, and his country on the brink of rebellion. Determined to reclaim his birthright, Addis could not afford to be distracted by a woman-even one as tempting as Moira. Yet the only living part of his contented past lay in Moira-and his desire for her was more dangerous than his deadly battles with the king's men. By law, Moira belonged to him...but possessing her heart might be far more difficult.

Addis de Valence, Claire and Moira grew up in the same household. Addis was a few years older and when they came of age, he was betrothed to Claire. There was no love between them but duty called for the marriage. Afterwards, Addis goes away to battle and soon word comes of his death. Claire also dies leaving a son, Brian, and since Moira was her companion through most her life, she hides and cares for Addis' heir. When Addis shockingly returns a few years later, he takes Brian elsewhere for safekeeping and proceeds with plans to regain his lands - lands that were given over to his step-brother, Simon, after the death of Addis' father.

With Brian gone and her heart broken, Moira feels there is nothing left for her and decides to leave. She is stopped on the road by 3 men who attack her but is soon rescued by Addis. He decides he will not return Moira home but take her with him on his journey. It is during these travels that we witness the growing love between Addis and Moira. Unfortunately, it is an impossible situation because of their stations in life: he is a baron, she a serf. In truth, though, Moira is a free woman. Her mother was a serf who was also Patrick de Valance's (Addis' father) mistress. Upon his deathbed he gave Moira's mother and herself their freedom. When Addis returns, he only has Moira's word on the matter because the witnesses to this deathbed proclamation are no longer present at the holding. He is too intrigued with her to let her go and so he claims she is still a bondwoman and the price of her freedom is set so ridiculously high, he is sure she will be unable to pay it. Thus he keeps her bound to him unjustly. I had issue with this because for a time after the Crusades, Addis himself lived as a slave. Knowing what that life meant, how could he make Moira suffer the same fate? Those moments when he held his ownership over her were the moments I disliked him. Then in the next breath we would see how much she meant to him and how much hope she brought him and it was easy to see why he went to such desperate measures to keep her near.

Throughout the book, Addis is constantly struggling with the duties of his birth and the longing of his heart. There is a point where he speaks of feeling he has two souls waging war against each other yet when he is with Moira, he is complete and at peace. Moira struggles with the longing of her heart but also the power of her pride as that is all she truly has since she is still a bondwoman. She saw the life her mother led and heard the names the villagers called her behind her back. No matter how much she loves Addis, she refuses to follow her mother's path. She fights off the attraction as much as she can for most of the book but there are times when she allows herself to live in that moment and not worry about all the burdens they carry.

As I neared the end of the book I had to remind myself that this is a romance and a HEA is coming up. It really was down to the wire. I think that may be the only other issue I had with By Possession. With so many things weighing them down that never truly left their shoulders even in the intimate moments, I would have loved seeing more of Addis and Moira's unburdened happiness. A few more pages that showed them finally enjoying a complete union, a union made in freedom.

Bookslut Highlights:
*No absurd denials. Heroine knows she'll probably give in after a few kisses from the hero.

*Flashbacks that show the history of the h/h.

*Comedic moment when hero realizes profession of secondary character who is a possible love interest for heroine.

*The 'other man' was not made out to be a bad guy

*Several instances of the word phallus

*Kidnapping scenario with hero ignoring all laid out plans to go rescue the damsel in distress

*True lurve of the soul-deep variety

Final Grade:

Clutching the book to my chest now as I bask in the afterglow. Exceptional…brilliant, even. I strongly recommend. You can thank me later.

Around The Net:
The Romance Reader: 4 stars
All About Romance: B+
Romantic Times: 4.5 starts

ETA: highlights

Wanderer's Week in Review

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderer) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:00:00 +0000

Books

First off, a quick book update – earlier this week I joined the NaNoReadMo challenge and noted the 5 books I would read for the month of November. I am happy to say I have finished Janet Evanovich's Finger Lickin' Fifteen and started Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver. One down, 4 to go! I'll have mini reviews up once the month is over.

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Life

Another change this week is I decided to take a break from Twitter this month. It may last longer, who knows. No big reason behind it, just a simple break.

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While driving to work on Wednesday I passed a man sitting in a chair on the sidewalk reading a newspaper. His work truck was parked next to him with two big signs leaning against the back. One sign stated he was looking for full-time or part-time work and listed his skills. The second sign listed his contact information. My first reaction was "Oh, poor guy", but the more I thought of it the more respect I had for him. He reminded me of my own dad's work ethic and how he held how ever many jobs it took to support my mom and us kids. There is absolutely no shame in doing everything you possibly can to find work. I wonder how many others would be able to do the same. The man was there again on Thursday but yesterday he was gone. I can only hope that some employer was wise enough to see what a dedicated employee he would make and snatched him up.

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This week's episode gave us a Van Gogh inspired performance. Choreographer Wade Robson creates some really different routines and sometimes I get it, sometimes I don’t. This time, I didn't get it. His concept was something about what if originally Van Gogh had people in the painting, Starry Night. The dance represented those people. So in honor of that, if I were to take on this concept it would be with the following painting:

My dancers would be the cats that were excluded from the painting. Can you picture it? Yeah, neither can I. ;)

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One of the many reasons I love my DVR is that it saves previous programming information so that when a show you enjoyed comes back for the new season, it'll automatically record it. I had no idea Bravo channel's Tabatha's Salon Takeover was back on, yet a quick scan of my DVR recordings showed a new episode from Tuesday night. The show follows Tabatha Coffey as she helps hair salon owners on the brink of losing their business. I caught this show mid season 1 and at first thought Tabatha was too harsh but by the end of the show, I ended up liking her. She doesn't take any of the bullshit excuses some of these people have and gives them the reality check they need. The salon owners and employees can all point fingers and blame the other for the salon's failure but in the end, it truly is about personal responsibility and taking pride in your job and workplace. If you have those, you won't be complacent and let things slide to the point of near ruin.

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If you only have time to watch one show this week I urge you to watch Rihanna's interview from last night's 20/20. My heart hurt when listening to her talk because her fears and emotions are echoes of the women and children I've talked with whom are/were victims of domestic violence. She also gave me hope because of the decisions she's made that are in her best interest. Her final statements are powerful, "Don't react off love…"

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Finally, the weird news item of the week:

I don't watch Tyra Banks' talk show but a recent headline on the net caught my attention:

Tyra Banks to feature “woman with two vaginas” on Friday’s show!

How's that for a possible book plot?

Reading Challenge November 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderer) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:30:00 +0000

Yesterday, on Twitter, I came across a link to a reading challenge by Mandy from She-Reads. NaNoReadMo will run parallel to NaNoWriMo which challenges its participants to write 50K words in the month of November. For those of us who aren't writerly-inclined, we can show support for writers by reading more this month. With life and work obligations, my own reading has fallen to barely 1 book a month. NaNoReadMo is asking us to read 5 books in November. I'm already a day behind but that's ok, I used yesterday to look through my TBR pile and decide on my 5 books. I switched out the books so many times I'm going to post the latest compilation so I can't change them anymore. These are the 5 books I WILL read for the month of November:

Keri Arthur - Bound to Shadows Carolyn Jewel - Scandal Maggie Stiefvater - Shiver Karen Marie Moning - Dreamfever Janet Evanovich - Finger Lickin' Fifteen

Good luck to all the writers participating in NaNoWriMo and to my fellow readers who will embark on the NaNoReadMo challenge. As Nike says: Just Do It!

Splendid by Julia Quinn

noreply@blogger.com (Mistress) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:38:00 +0000

Some Gingers Have All The Fun

Emma is a feisty American shipping heiress sent to live in London for a year. To...well I'm not quite sure what for exactly since it isn't explained well. But lets just assume the usual social polishing and marriage mart suspects. What’s a heroine to do to avert boredom? Find her way into all sorts of silly, dangerous mischief of course. Duh.

The Couple: Emma Dunster and Alexander Ridgely

The Setting: My Mom's Physician's waiting room

The Challenge: Can Emma stop fighting feelin' and fight for his love? Can Alex over come his fears like a big boy and start playing for keeps? Can I ignore the toothless old man making kissy noises at me? Next time on The Young and The Restless. lol

Alexander Ridgely, the Duke of Ashbourne, is determined to avoid marriage. Unfortunately, his family is just as determined to see him wed. Emma Dunster, in London for a season, is determined to return to Boston to run her father's shipping company. But Emma's British cousins are just as determined to see her settle in England. Sparks— and laughter — fly when all these terribly determined people cross paths during one very splendid London spring

Disguised as a maid Emma takes a jaunt to the market virtue be damned and stumbles into A.Ridge's clutches . Alex falls in instant lust with the sassy mouth violet eyed chit. His determination to bed her doesn't diminish, upon discovering her true identity. Though he cares for Emma; great sex is all there can ever be between them since "all women are greedy bitches" (and he's not the one to mess with, etc etc). Due to nursing an unrealistic dream of taking over her fathers shipping business, Emma has no interest in being wooed. And so begins the chase; complete with matchmaking mommas, interfering society matrons, and vile plots afoot. At the center of which our couple stages a intricate dance of chemistry and propriety…advance and repeat.

Transparency in historical romance isn’t the greatest of evils. The witty banter was "alright" as was the light tone of the writing. The tale just wasn't original in any sense. The plot, setting, cast of characters, even conflicts; while quaint weren't memorable. Overall Emma and Alex's story was predictable and mildly entertaining. But there are far worse ways to spend 1-2 hrs on a rainy day at the doctors office = ).

Bookslut Highlights:

Dressing up as “the help” for kicks
Rakes a-wooing
Hints the paper cut out villain plot may be milked again in this series *yawn*.
Naughty picnics
Cat Burgling
Indiana Jones Carriage stunts
The threat of “ruin-ated” at every turn *dunh dunh dunh DUNH
Under the table kung fu fighting
This is Mz. Quinn’s first book, therefore the first brick laid in the empire of Awesome.

Grade:

Liked the premise of this book but aspects of its execution were WEAK. Enjoyed it enough to continue riding the series/author out at my own leisurely pace. Beyond the hype, this book is fine for a fluffy, generic read and has more of a library rental/swap quality rather than a keeper for my personal bookshelf.

Around The Net:

KatyBear 3/5 stars

JR Ward – BDB 02 – Lover Eternal

noreply@blogger.com (Dream) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:27:00 +0000

The Challenge: Trying to get past page 1. Seriously – I couldn't get past this page for a week. I've since realized it's probably because the page starts out with dialogue and we all know how much I love the dialogue *end sarcasm*. Now, the challenge is writing my review.

The Setting: My room

The Music: Jay-Z bumpin from the speakers j/k

The Couple: Rhage (aka Hollywood, Hal E. Wood) and Mary Luce

The Surprise: The book was dedicated to me. What, you doubt me? Read 'em and weep people. Read 'em and weep:

Dedicated to: You. In the beginning, we didn't hit it off, did we?

See, told ya so. JR Ward obviously had Vishous prognosticate my reaction to book one, Dark Lover.

Within the brotherhood, Rhage is the vampire with the strongest appetites. He’s the best fighter, the quickest to act on his impulses, and the most voracious lover—for inside him burns a ferocious curse cast by the Scribe Virgin. Possessed by this dark side, Rhage fears the times when his inner dragon is unleashed, making him a danger to everyone around him.

Mary Luce, a survivor of many hardships, is unwittingly thrown into the vampire world and reliant on Rhage’s protection. With a life-threatening curse of her own, Mary is not looking for love. Her faith in miracles was lost years ago. But when Rhage’s intense animal attraction turns into something more emotional, he knows that he must make Mary his alone. And while their enemies close in, Mary fights desperately to gain life eternal with the one she loves…

Mary and Rhage's story starts out pretty good. I found it to be an easier read, once I got past page one, than the first book. We see how hard it's been for Rhage to live with his beast and we meet Mary who's had a rough life. She took care of her sick mother and watched helplessly as she faded away into death. Mary also battled leukemia and after two years of remission, may now have a recurrence. I was very interested in these two until everything got repetitive. Here's a summary:

Mary: I'm plain, why is Hal (aka Rhage) with me?

Rhage: Your voice, it's so soothing yet it also makes me hot.

Mary: He's only being nice because Bella told him I'm sick.

Rhage: You're so beautiful and you make me all tingly in my special places. Wait, even in my non-special places.

Mary: Stop pitying me. You're way out of my league.

Rhage: But I'm so hard for you. Oh no! I'm also dangerous for you. See how my teal eyes glow for you. My secret beast wants out and will probably eat you.

Mary: Hmm….his teal eyes are glowing but that doesn't bother me at all because glowing teal eyes are oh so normal. Oh and I'm wet for you, but you're just being kind to the unattractive girl. See you even pull away from me because I disgust you.

Rhage: I love you! Stay here with me in my room. You're my girl now and forever.

Mary: What? You don't even know me, I don't know you. We may be practically sexin' it like monkeys but you, Mr. Hottie McNaughty, cannot love me, Ms. Demure Insecure.

Rhage: How can you think me so unworthy? I only want to love and take care of you.

Yada, yada, yada. Shampoo, rinse and repeat a couple dozen times with some breaks for kissing, fondling and feeding (food not blood) because apparently it means a whole lot in the vamp world to feed another. Whatever….moving on.

There was one part that I really liked in the first half. It's when Rhage is reflecting on the burden the beast has been on him. I really feel for him here:

God, he was tired of being stuck inside his body, managing its demands, trying not to fall into a brutal oblivion. Sure, his stunner of a face and the strength were all fine and good. But he would have traded both to a scrawny, ugly mo'fo, if it would have gotten him some peace. Hell, he couldn't even remember what serenity was like. He couldn't even remember who he was.

The disintegration of himself had started up pretty quick. After only a couple of years into the curse, he'd stopped hop-ing for any true relief and simply tried to get by without hurting anyone. That was when he'd started to die on the inside, and now, over a hundred years later, he was mostly numb, nothing more than glossy window dressing and empty charm.

Early on in the book, we meet a young man named John Matthews who Mary befriends despite his stalkerish behavior. She also introduces John to her neighbor Bella, who happens to be a civilian vampire. John is mute but of course Mary, in all her holy goodness, knows sign language. While chatting/signing with John, Mary and Bella discover he is an orphan. He is also wearing a bracelet he made that has symbols he dreamt about. Guess what those symbols are? They're old school vamp talk and Bella just happens to read OSVT. The following is what she discovers after reading the symbols. It is also the point at which I set the book down and laughed:

Putting her hands on her hips, she stared at the floor. What the hell was she going to do? When she'd searched John's conscious mind, she'd found nothing about his race, his people, his traditions. The boy didn't know a thing, had no idea who he really was or what he was going to turn into. And he honestly didn't know what those symbols meant.

She did. They spelled out TEHRROR in the Old Language. A warrior's name.

Seriously? TEHRROR? Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

*picks book back up and continues reading*

So apparently John Matthews is destined to be one of the Brotherhood. I love how Tohr is with him. Again, Tohr is one of my faves from the books and I can't wait to read more about him and Wellsie.

There's also a part where Rhage cheats on Mary. She knows where he's going (and why) and I see why he did it but after all his sweetness towards her, he lost many points in my book.

After Mary finally admits her feelings for Rhage things go a little smoother. There's still a lot of repetitiveness but I was less annoyed by then. There's a part where Rhage realizes that his beast wants to sex it up with Mary too, and she agrees to let him. So they proceed and I won't lie, that scene was kinda creepy. It had nothing to do with the chains (they had to chain Rhage so the beast wouldn't hurt Mary) but with the actual thought of some alien-like creature up in there too…CREEPY!

The Lessers are snoozeville for me. I don't see them as any real threat except to Johnson and Johnson, the makers of baby powder. Have nothing else to say about them.

One of the things I really like about the BDB world is the brotherhood aspect. I like the solidarity they show towards Rhage after his punishment for breaking the Brotherhood's rules. I LOVE the scene afterwards with Zsadist at Rhage's bedside chanting or praying for him. I wished for more scenes of the brothers together WITHOUT the slang. That would have made a huge difference for me! I also wanted more interaction between the ladies. When Mary first arrives, Beth is there for a brief second and Wellsie is mainly in scenes with Tohr. At the very least, I would have expected Beth to befriend Mary since she was living there. She could have provided some advice on dealing with the brothers considering she was fairly new to the group as well.

I did get a little bored towards the end with the exception of the scenes with Bella and Phury, then Bella and Zsadist. It really got me interested in learning more about both brothers. I liked Bella because she was upfront, she straight up told Z she was attracted to him and wanted to sleep with him. You.Go.Girl. Very refreshing after all Mary's wishy-washy ways. We also learned earlier that Bella has a brother named Rehvenge, probably a future member of the brotherhood.

The ending wasn’t unexpected but rather a bit unsatisfying. I seriously thought the path they were taking was heartbreakingly beautiful. Don't get me wrong, I wanted a happy ending and knew there would be a twist but didn't think it would be that. Since the rule was Rhage couldn't go to the new Mary, I thought somehow the new Mary would cross paths with him and they would rebuild their relationship. I actually would have preferred it that way. Anyway……

I still have my issues with JR Ward's writing (the names, the slang, the caveman talk - see link above for the list in my review of the first book) but I have to admit the little peeks she provides on the other brothers are enough to catch and hold my attention. My faves are still Zsadist and Tohrment. I want to learn more about what happened in Z's past and I want to see what happens with Tohr, Wellsie and their baby. I also, want to see how they help John Matthews since they pretty much adopted him. I even want to see what's up with Phury and why the celibacy. Oh yeah, not to mention V and his awesome yet burden laden gift of prognostication.

In short, these books are mind-crack and I have succumbed. Well played, Ms. Ward. Well played. I still need recovery time from each book so I'll see you in another 3 months when I read the next one.

Final Grade:

Liked the premise of this book but aspects of its execution were WEAK. Enjoyed it enough to continue riding the series/author out at my own leisurely pace. Beyond the hype, this book is fine for a fluffy, generic read and has more of a library rental/swap quality rather than a keeper for my personal bookshelf

Around The Net:
A Journey of Books: A+
The Romance Reader: 3 Stars
Love Vampires: 5 Stars
Dear Author: B
The Hope Chest Reviews: 4 Stars
Romantic Times: 4 ½ Stars

Audio Books Need Love Too

noreply@blogger.com (Dream) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 12:23:00 +0000

I recently read a blog post on my phone about audio books but didn't save the link or my browser history so I have no way to reference it here. Nonetheless, I want to thank that poster for reminding me that audio books need love too! I know several people who have tried audio books and found they didn't work for them. The reasons vary from audio books being too slow paced, to it being hard to listen to a male narrator attempt a female voice and vice versa. That's ok, there are several reasons why audio books don't work for some but I'm here to focus on why I like them. There's a lot of support for e-books (which I also support) but I figured it's time to show some support for yet another alternative….the spoken word. I became a fan of audio books about 3 years ago after a co-worker shared one of his with me. I haven't looked back since. A good audio book will play like a movie in your mind. It can be a calming yet entertaining companion on a long commute. It can keep the family entertained and peaceful on a road trip. What makes a good audio book? Of course the story has to be interesting but the real thing that can make or break it is the narrator. A great narrator will take you on a journey from chapter to chapter, making each character come to life in their own unique way. After listening to a few audio books you'll figure out the narrators you like and can then search for books they have recorded. I have found several new authors using this method. Here is a tiny peek at the variety of audio books and narrators available to you. Please click on the title for more information and to hear a sample from each book: One for the Money by Janet Evanovich (unfortunately I couldn't find a sample anywhere online)

This was my very first audio book download and talk about luck of the draw! It was a case of perfect narrator and story material. C.J. Critt (probably my 2nd favorite narrator) does a great job of differentiating the characters and capturing the essence of the book. I listened to most of the Stephanie Plum series and they were a blast. There is a change of narrator in the middle books but after a while, I got used to the new voice.

Naked in Death by J.D. Robb

I started one version of this but the narrator didn't work for me. Someone mentioned another version by Susan Ericksen and that's the one I enjoyed. You'll come across this sometimes where different publishers will put out their own recording. Ms. Ericksen's narration is a perfect compliment to Ms. Robb's story.

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

This was my first audio book with an ensemble cast: Jennie Ikeda, Barbara McCulloh, Richard Poe, Tom Stechschulte, Carol Monda, Julia Gibson and Andy Paris. The change between narrators follows the format of the book where each part changes point of view. I thought the story was interesting until the end where Ms. Picoult shows her penchant for twists. So based on narration alone, I'd recommend this book. As for the novel, I'll be honest and tell you the ending pissed me off. :)

Dead Ringer by Lisa Scottoline

This was my first book by Ms. Scottoline and my first narrated by Barbara Rosenblat, my all time favorite narrator! Ms. Rosenblat brings each character to life with distinct tones and inflections and provides a wonderful listening experience. I think Ms. Scottoline's books are on the 'ok' level but I listened to a lot of them because they were narrated by Ms. Rosenblat. In fact, Ms. Rosenblat is one narrator that I've Googled to find what other books she has recorded.

Rain Fall by Barry Eisler

One thing I love is having a book in both electronic and audio format. There are times when I am unable to read but want to continue the story and audio books allow me this freedom. This was the case with Rain Fall. I was reading on my ereader when I was called away for another task. I was able to switch on my ipod and continue the story while working. Jeff Harding's narration is a perfect accompaniment to Mr. Eisler's fast-paced plot. When I was reading, I would pause at the Japanese names and phrases trying to pronounce them whereas Mr. Harding delivers them smoothly.

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

This is the first book in the Southern Vampire series and the narrator is Johanna Parker. Ms. Parker does a decent enough southern accent in her portrayal of Sookie Stackhouse and paired with Ms. Harris' writing, this is a fun ride that holds the listener's attention.

Whiskey Sour by J.A. Konrath

This audio book has two narrators, Susie Breck and Dick Hill. Both are excellent at voicing their characters but they also add little things here and there to make it more real. If a character cracks a joke, the other one will have laughter in his/her voice as he/she responds. If one is eating something, you'll hear the chewing as they speak. However, these added elements don't always work. I've tried Graphic Audio's production of Alex Archer's Rogue Angel series but their sound affects are too over the top for me. I don't need to hear the car door slamming or action music before something big happens. It's way too distracting.

So if you're game to try an audio book my advice is to start at your local library. It probably has an ignored audio book section waiting for a friendly visitor or even better, your library could have access to online audio book websites like NetLibrary or OverDrive. These sites offer audio books for download at no cost. This way you can avoid one of the major drawbacks of audio books: the high prices. If you try one through your library and discover it's not for you, you can simply return it. No harm, no foul. If you find you do enjoy audio books and want a larger selection than what’s available to your library, Audible.com is one of the top places to shop. Have you tried an audio book? Are you a fan? What are some of your favorites?