Wicked Lovely – Melissa Marr

 

 

 

I’ve been sitting on a review of this book since October.  I wanted to give it a review that does it justice, bu I’m just not that eloquent of a writer.  At this point I just want to say, read it! Just ’cause I said so.

This is all I’m giving you for plot. There are faeries. Big and scarey, yet sometimes beautiful, faeries. There’s a girl, a boy,  and courts of faerie kings and queens. There are wars, internal wars. It’s edgy and it’s dark, yet it is beautiful.  Basically it is Wicked Lovely. 

There are a few books out there that I feel use all the senses to pull you into their story (Sunshine, by Robin McKinley is one of those books).  This is one of those books.  You can see the colors, taste the iron, and feel the cold.  It’s quite simply, a worthwhile experience, and should be read on that alone.

Richelle Mead – Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy Book 3)

 

I’ve been following the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead since the beginning.  I’m officially addicted. If you think the series has been good thus far, you will love, love, love this installment!

Shadow Kiss is dark, it’s sexy, and it’s downright painful - and I’m totally caught in the thrall of the St. Vladimir ‘verse.  Rose Hathaway continues to uncover the mysteries of being shadow-kissed. Since her first kills, and the loss of one of her friends, Rose is growing up and is forced to question her place in the world. She must make decisions that affect her relationships with those nearest to her.  Raised to be a servant of the Moroi, Rose is finally learning that she has choices.  The choice to consider her own happiness, but at what expense?  It’s a roller coaster of a journey folks – and you will not be disappointed by this.

At this point I’m still wallowing in the aftermath of a fantastic ending that will have you begging at Richelle’s doorstep for a peak at the next novel, which unfortunately won’t be out until August!  I just don’t know what I’m going to do until then…. worry about Rose, I guess. Worry about Dimitri, a lot.

What did you think? Did you love it? I almost can’t believe it…..the Twilight series can’t hold a candle to this.

Kelley Armstrong – Living With the Dead

Kelley Armstrong has a big year with the introduction of new new YA Darkest Powers series, the earlier release of Personal Demon, and now, Living With the Dead.

The basic plot follows Hope’s human friend, Robyn, as she tries to run from a deranged killer clairovoyant.  Sounds ridiculous, but they all do in a blurb.   But if you are an Armstrong fan, you will read it, regardless of plot. That’s just what we do. You can read the dust jacket or check out the summary over at amazon.  I’m just here for my own opinion. 

Just so you know,  I grab every Kelley Armstrong book with eager and greedy hands. I excitedly erase any pending engagements from my calender, and pamper myself for what I anticipate to be a great evening of reading. I’m a fan, what can I say… she had me at werewolf.

While I applaud Mrs. Armstrong’s efforts to branch out and try new things, I found the multiple viewpoints lacking a certain flow at first.. As usual, the action is packed, and the insight is there, so I wasn’t disappointed… exactly.  It was a fun adventure. But that’s really all I can say about it.  As far as our favorite Armstrong supernats, Hope and Karl are the only prior known characters.  Any other established series characters are only known perhipherally. I thought the character of Adele, and the world from which she came,  was suitably deranged and disgusting….(loved it), yet Robyn was, well… boring.  I hate to say it.  I really do! But there, I did. It is done. sigh.  

With all of the multiple viewpoints, I could have done without Robyn, and would have loved me some Karl. The new character Rhys seems to have loads of potential too.  And while I’m ranting, I think I’m pretty much done with Hope too, she’s gotta get some focus.  Sorry Kelley… I’ll still read everything you write though.  A bit of a disappointing Kelley is still a lot better than most stuff out there.

Men of the Otherworld comes out in February.  From what I’m able to find out, it’s a collection of stories including Clayton, Jeremy and Malcolm.  I guess many of these stories were those available as online freebies in the past, (I’ve read them all), now being sold for charity, but here’s hoping to new stories for some of our favorite characters. Kudos to Kelley for donating the proceeds!

Rachel Vincent – Stray, Rogue

                                              

This semester has proven to be a bit more work than I signed on for… cutting too much into my reading time!

Anyway, I’ve been into the world of werecats lately, thanks to a new favorite, Rachel Vincent.  I have to admit, the were-creature varieties were starting to annoy me.  Were-rats, were-birds, were-reptiles. I mean, I start feeling a little ridiculous reading about were-vermin.  So needless to say the were-kitty thing had me skeptical. Not panthers, cougars or tigers… just your run of the mill black cat (except a very large black cat).  Oh boy, was I wrong, and here’s why:

It’s all about the world that is created, and how believable the author makes that world.  I’m convinced Rachel Vincent can write a book on were-ants if she wanted to!  She could probably weave a complicated family structure and fascinating adventure of our brood of ants, and probably even convince me that they are sexy.  The werecats work folks.. truly, you’ll love ‘em!  So anyway, lessoned learned, my mind once again kept open.

So onto our story Stray: Faythe Saunders is a rare female raised in a patriarchal society of werecats. Determined to defy tradition, this kitty sets out to separate herself from her family and ex-boyfriend.  That is until a string of disappearances among females forces Faythe home to her Pride.  With her own safety in danger, Faythe sets off to prove she is more than a helpless victim, but finds herself in more trouble than she bargained for.

Faythe is a terrifically flawed heroine!  She makes huge, enormous mistakes in both books, you’ll wanna slap her, several times.  It’s quite lovely, and loads of fun.  You’d think that a girl among a bunch of beautiful men would be loving her life, but nooooooooooooo, not this tabby. (Of course, we wouldn’t have much of a story now, would we?) It also has some seriously scary scenes and storylines that, as a woman, will make your skin crawl.

I so loved this book, I found Rogue, second in the series,  the next day.  I’ll spare the storyline because I don’t want to give away too much of book one. Rogue was equally good, including a few tremendous slap-in-the-face scenes between her and (the oh so sexy) Marc. The 3rd book is called Pride, and is due out in February.

If this is your genre… this is what your looking for!

The Summoning – Kelley Armstrong

 

Looking at my recent list, I’ve really been into the YA lately! Just goes to tell ya how good the genre has become!

I’ve been a huge Kelley Armstrong fan for years. As far as urban fantasy, paranormal fiction, Kelley is the cream ’o the crop. If you are just getting in this genre, this author is where you start…. book #1 of the Women of the Otherworld series, Bitten.  IMO it doesn’t get much better than that.

Now, Kelley has broken through to the YA audience, while still playing by the rules of her original “Otherworld”.  This book was read in an afternoon camping by a dry lake. It was everthing you’d expect from Kelley, just toned down a bit for the teens. Action, adventure, and wanting more!

In a nutshell, Chloe Saunders starts seeing ghosts. She is sent to a home for troubled teens. Chloe soon discovers there is more to the Lyle House than seems to be, and learning its secrets is the only thing that can give her the answers she desperately needs.

OK, be forewarned, as soon as this book is over, you will be dying for the next one. If you are the type to be totally unsatisfied if all ends aren’t tied up in a nice little bow, then you may want to wait for the next installment, The Awakening, to come out in August 2009, and read them together.

And if you aren’t a Kelley fan yet? What are you waiting for? Get readin’.

And if you ARE a Kelley fan. Men of the Other World is due out February 2009. (I’m just giddy all over for this one!)

Richelle Mead – Frostbite

 

 

 

Because I tend to get serial when I find a new author I adore, I just had to write a bit more on the Vampire Academy series. In the second book, Frostbite, our characters are in more danger than ever! Rose Hathaway has issues – anger issues, mommy issues, best friend issues, vampires trying to kill her issues, and to top it all off, she’s got man problems, big time.

First I should mention, this is YA, but don’t let your adulthood stop you! 

If you’ve read Vampire Academy I’m not gonna recap the plot on Frostbite…. check out amazon if you want to take a look. I’m here to tell you why I love this book even better than the first.

Richelle Mead has guts to take stories where they need to go, despite the pain and loss that readers may feel about her decisions. You’ll hate her for her choices, but love the story for it. She can shamelessly and unapologetically pull a Joss Whedon -You’ll insist on more story….. and that’s how I decided who my favorite authors are.

If you’ve enjoyed these two, book 3 Shadow Kiss is due out in November!

Now I just have to wait for a sequel to Storm Born….

Gena Showalter – The Darkest Night

Lords of the Underworld… gotta love ‘em. They’re mean, tormented and well, rather sexy. The premise? Ancient warriors open Pandora’s Box. Their punishment? Cursed to spend eternity sharing a body with a demon. These six men live on a remote mountain fortress outside Budapest, away from civilization - to literally, deal with their demons. 

Our main character here is Maddox, who is cursed with Violence. Man, he’s a tortured soul, in a real bad way. He can’t control his rage, one outburst cost him big time with the Gods. In addition to his internal battle with Violence, he’s gotta spend his nights dying a terrible death and burning in hell. His life is full of suffering, pain and despair. That is until he meets Ashlyn Darrow, damsel in distress. It’s love at first sight for this duo and nothing, not even curses dispatched from the Gods themselves can extinguish their love.

I like a little romance in the books I read, as to further the plot… not THE plot, but I thought I’d try this one out.  Well this book is the definition of Paranormal Romance, so don’t expect more. There’s lots of sex… innocence, violence and more sex. I have to say, although you know what you’re getting with this type of book, it was fun.  Ashlyn turns out to be a little heroine, which pleased me to no end!

I like the other Lord of the Underworld characters and look forward to reading the other books in the series. With titles like The Darkest Kiss, The Darkest Pleasure and The Darkest Fire who can resist? And check out that cover!  Gotta love a little demon in your men! Not my usual entertainment, but fun nonetheless. Thanks Gena Showalter for entertaining me this week!

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

 

After the Breaking Dawn disaster – the wasted opportunity to produce a real heroine, I greedily snatched this book off our new book order before it was even processed.  With Succubus Blues and Succubus on Top propelling Richelle Mead to the top of my list of Urban Fantasy authors, I love that she has introduced this YA series. It was refreshing to get down and dirty in a story with plot, meaning, and genuine angst.

Rose Hathaway, our heroine here, is a feisty, defiant, witty, challenging and kick-butt gal with a sensitive side that teens (and adults) can certainly relate.  You can say that she’s the Starbuck of the vampire world,  a dhampire with a seroius attitude.  She has an all too-sexy and myserious mentor, and is fiercely loyal to those she loves.

But she is oh so flawed, it’s beautiful! Yes, Rose is no Bella Swan…. Rose make enormous, immature, pride-driven mistakes that she pays dearly for. 

This seed of characters has been planted, and had me wanting more. I can’t wait to read the next titles in the series, Frostbite and Shadow Kiss (out in November).

Breaking Dawn… Stephenie Meyer, what were you thinking?

 

 

 

 

This post will contain spoilers for Breaking Dawn and The Host. If you haven’t read the book, best you leave now.

****Spoilers Below*********

I’m not happy about this book. I read it last week and decided to give myself a few days to cool off and see if my initial response was too emotional. Instead, the more I think about it, the more frustrated I get.

First and foremost, this is supposed to be a YA book. Sex and vioIence are indeed found within the YA genre, but marriage and motherhood? OK, I can even buy that, but how about  at least some sort of character growth that involves pain and consequences for the average 12-18 year old reader. I really don’t care if a book aims to send a particular message to a reader. Reading is fun, and honestly, if I wanted deeper meaning in my reading content, I wouldn’t be reading much fiction at all. My question, or concern rather, regarding this book is, is it trying to send the message it actually conveys?

I guess the moral dilema of having your teenage character having sex is apparently solved by having her get married first. What? I guess life is pretty easy for teenage wives, let’s go ahead and add a little motherhood to the mix. Oh and BTW, if you think you aren’t pretty enough, fast enough, smart enough…. let’s just become immortal too and improve your looks. They wern’t good enough when you were mortal. Now you are beautiful, sans depth, but beautiful.

The cost of immortality? Losing your family and becoming a bloodlusting lunatic. I could live with that. I was looking forward to that. Oh, but I forgot, this is Bella we’re talking about. For some reason, there are no consequences to her actions. She miraculously bypasses all the horrors that new vampires are subject to, and did I mention she gets to keep her family in the picture too….. they understand. How nice.

Oh and let us not forget poor Jacob. How oh how are we gonna fix this poor boy’s broken heart? Since he can’t have Bella, let’s imprint him on Bella’s child. Bella no longer has to feel pain and regret over not loving Jacob because once he see’s Nessie (oh, please)….. Problem fixed.

But this is a book about vampires, so let’s get the bad guys in there for the big battle. Let’s rally the troops and take a stand against the evil Volturi. Tense, ready and waiting, finally some action…………

Oops, on second thought, let’s resolve this peacefully by ripping off the ending of The Host. Everyone go home now, it was a false alarm.

And all you other members of the Cullen clan: Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, Emmet, Jasper and Alice…. you aren’t important enough to have more than a few lines in this novel.

The best characters were the two Romanian vampires, Vladimir and Stefan. Too bad they couldn’t get their own book.

Hey, I’m a fan. I really enjoyed the other 3 books in the series… I loved The Host too. I think  Mrs. Meyer is a great writer that can craft a story… I just don’t think she had the guts to do what needed to be done with this book. I’d prefer a little angst and perhaps even a death.  Most of all, I would have preferred a heroine.

Cowgirl!

Today’s Hero: Rain

Why? for takin’ care of my baby!

Yup, that’s my Tessa. My four year old cowgirl on her first horse campin’ trip with her nana. After several trail rides (hours), she asked her nana if she could just sit on Rain while tied to the trailer. She just wanted to keep on riding.  Must run in the family!

I’m so proud. Rain is the best horse ever. (We sure like to say that a lot)

Cheers!