Review: Seduction of a Highland Lass by Maya Banks

Author: Maya Banks
Title: Seduction of a Highland Lass
Series: The McCabe Trilogy #2
Pages: 323

A warrior is caught between family loyalty and forbidden love in book two of bestselling author Maya Banks’s sensual new trilogy featuring three indomitable Highlanders.
Fiercely loyal to his elder brother, Alaric McCabe leads his clan in the fight for their birthright. Now he is prepared to wed for duty, as well. But on his way to claim the hand of Rionna McDonald, daughter of a neighboring chieftain, he is ambushed and left for dead. Miraculously, his life is saved by the soft touch of a Highland angel, a courageous beauty who will put to the test his fealty to his clan, his honor, and his deepest desires.
An outcast from her own clan, Keeley McDonald was betrayed by those she loved and trusted. When the wounded warrior falls from his horse, she is drawn to his strong, lean body. The wicked glint in his green eyes ignites a passion that will follow them back to Alaric’s keep, where their forbidden love draws them deeper into the pleasures of the flesh. But as conspiracy and danger circle closer, Alaric must make an impossible choice: Will he betray his blood ties for the woman he loves?

I'm still in the minority. I stand by my thoughts in the previous installment. This series is a fair to middling one, leaning very much on the side of middling.

Ms. Banks has written a good novel. That's not a bad thing in itself, except that there's so many stories saturating this genre that unless a story is original or very well-told, it's unremarkable. I definitely think that this one started out stronger than its predecessor, but then also floundered for a looooooooong while in the middle, and then came a passable ending. 

Alaric...well he was the hero of this story and a doofus too. I didn't care much for him. I mean, he was not stupid or annoying or anything. I just didn't think he had much honor. Alaric is betrothed to Rionna McDonald because the alliance is very favorable to his clan. Along the way, there's a series of unfortunate events and he falls for Keeley McDonald instead. And the story is about how Keeley and Alaric make their way. There's a scene at the end where Alaric waxes poetic about how you don't set aside the woman you love and want to marry because of political gain and how there is no honor in that. 

But he knew that all along. So why did he spend the whole book sleeping with Keeley and still planning to go ahead and marry Rionna? It was dishonorable then. Eh. Whatever. 

Keeley started out a strong character, and then she became as bland as all the women and other characters at the McCabe keep. I will not even go into discussing what a dumbass child Crispen is and how his death would be safer for everyone because that child is mortally idiotic like I haven't come across before. 

I will say this though. Throughout the entire series, the only people that have had some color about them, some sort of depth (whether real or imagined by me) seem to be Rionna and Caelen, so I am very interested in reading their story. We'll see how that goes. After all, I still have a whole bunch of challenges to finish, lol. Borrow this one if you must.

★★★

OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES:

1. In Bed With a Highlander - 3/5

 

New Look!

Isn't it absolutely Beautiful????????!!!

I decided a while ago that I wanted to have a design all of my own, but since I suck at anything remotely design-y, I asked around, and looked around some, and was finally pointed to Lori at Imagination Designs.

I can't tell you how happy I am with what she has done! And she was super patient with my choosiness and fickle-osity too! I am soooooo happy with this I could just cry!

It's super awesome and super affordable, too!
Thank you so much, Lori, for making my space a place I can enjoy hanging out on the web!

A thousand times thank you and a thousand times recommendations if anyone is looking for a blog design.

Oh I love this!!!

Review: It Happened One Autumn by Lisa Kleypas

Author: Lisa Kleypas
Title: It Happened One Autumn
Series: Wallflowers #2

It happened at the ball...

Where beautiful but bold Lillian Bowman quickly learned that her independent American ways weren't entirely "the thing." And the most disapproving of all was insufferable, snobbish, and impossible Marcus, Lord Westcliff, London's most eligible aristocrat.

It happened in the garden...

When Marcus shockingly—and dangerously—swept her into his arms. Lillian was overcome with a consuming passion for a man she didn't even like. Time stood still; it was as if no one else existed...thank goodness they weren't caught very nearly in the act!

It happened one autumn...

Marcus was a man in charge of his own emotions, a bedrock of stability. But with Lillian, every touch was exquisite torture, every kiss an enticement for more. Yet how could he consider taking a woman so blatantly unsuitable...as his bride?

I really, really, really liked this one.

From the first book I could tell Lord Westcliff was a keeper, and I was not too happy he was going to be paired of with Lillian, as she wasn't shown to be the nicest kind of person in the first book.

she was shown in a much better light this time around, and I was glad to see that she and Lord Westcliff were perfectly suited :D. For two people who are so tactile, headstrong and feisty, their story was a very muted, very gentle one - straight from the first kiss at the beginning to the admissions of love in the end, and I loved every second of it. I totally enjoyed this love story.

I love, love, love, Lord Westcliff. He has a lot of the charm and nuance of your normal Kleypas hero, which was missing in the hero of the previous book. And she showed such poesy and tenderness, i loved it! I also think Ms. Kleypas did a great job of making Lillian much more likable while keeping her true to her character from the previous book. I was liking lord Sebastian St. Vincent too, with his his funny remarks, until he did what he did at the end to his [probably only] friend at that. It was a despicable thing to do. Now I am not sure I like him at all and am worried for the next book.

I liked seeing Daisy again, and the Bowmans' mother made me laugh,s he was so over-the-top. I am indifferent to Annabelle's presence. I don't think it added or took anything away,and she was rather a wet blanket in this one. It was a shame Evie didn't have much face time in this book, but her piece in the epilogue was epic. I enjoyed just about everything in this book and am excited to start my favorite wallflower's story next. And even though I have heard awesome stuff about Sebastian St. Vincent of the next book, for me Lord Westcliff will be a hard hero to beat, I think :). We'll see about that.

★★★★½

OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES:

1. Secrets of a Summer Night - 3/5

 

Dying to Get this Month {May}

*At the beginning of the month I post covers of new releases I am just dying to get my hands on and why I am so excited. *

This month, like last, there are two books I have been waiting on for months and months and months! They are releasing later in the month though, drat the luck!

  May 22nd: Shadow Bound.

Rachel Vincent's Unbound series is set in one of the most unique UF/PNR worlds I have ever come across. But as usual, her characters drive me batty. I swear I could have a drinking game with the characters and their shenanigans - and I'd end up plum drunk! Shadow Bound will tell Kori's story. I admit, though, that my thoughts are with Cam and Liv. I want to see how they are faring. So I will be waiting with bated breath!

May 31st: Tangle of Need

I just know this novel will work for me, I know it! I get to hang out with the SnowDancers, whom I adore, so it's going to be fun! Riaz, the male lead, grew on me, but we still don't know much about him. I know even less about Adria. So although I am interested in the main couple, I'm more excited to see all the people in the Den. And Hawke! I get to spend some time with my favorite changeling wolf! May 2th can't come fast enough!!

{April} Month in Review

April was even more uneven (haha) than March was for me.

Stats:

I read 22 books,  a whopping 9 of which were re-reads! I kinda fell back into my reading slump :(. I also started a new job, which leaves me with much less time for reading. My laptop broke - long story, and it won't be fixed for another month or so, which means I am less mobile online.

The favorites:

I went on an Ilona Andrews kindle marathon. In one weekend, I re-read though book 2-5 of the Kate Daniels series, as well as all the Curran POV's and fell in love with the characters all over again for the thousandth time.

1. Magic Burns
2. Magic Bleeds
3. Magic Slays
4. Magic Gifts
*Curran
*Fathers and Sons (Curran II)
*Curran III
*Currran Hot Tub POV

The least favorites

1. Oracle's Moon by Thea Harrison.

This whole series has been one big bust apart from Dragon Bound.

Underwhelming/Disappointing Reads.

1. Hex Hall (Hex Hall #1) by Rachel Hawkins
2. Hounded (Iron Druid Chronicles #1) by Kevin Hearne

These two books come highly recommended by a lot of my Goodreads friends. Fail. I didn't much like Hex Hall. A lot of the book wouldn't have happened if the characters had the slightest shred of sense :/. Kevin Hearne's book I didn't enjoy as much as I could have because of the caricatured women and the untrue and unnecessary snark about Christianity. I am not inclined to go searching for the rest of the books in the series.

Reflections:

I think my love affair with UF and PNR is coming to an end. It seems like I have read all the great books by all the best authors in the genre. And I don't have patience for TSTL characters masquerading as being kick-ass. So now I just live for new releases by my favorite authors in the genre and ignore the rest. :/ I am also reading less (due in part to my reading slump, and in part to being tired of all the UF/PNR.)

Looking Forward: 

Sometime in the next week, my blog is gonig to have a new design! I am so excited about that. I showed the design progress to my sister and she was awed. It's really cute! And I can't wait to have it done!

Here's also hoping May brings less reading slump, more fab books, and my laptop back - or else I might haver to buy a new laptop :(

Review: An Indecent Proposition by Carol Marinelli

Author: Carol Marinelli
Title: An Indecent Proposition
Series: Harlequin Presents

Zander Kargas developed his drive to succeed first from his father's cruel fists, then from living on the streets. He's fought for everything, and few challenges remain…or so he thinks!Charlotte is the best secretary Zander has ever had the pleasure of dealing with, and the only woman to fire his blood in a long time. But she works for his bitter rival….Zander, assuming he can acquire her the way he does with most things, reaches for his wallet—except, Charlotte can't be bought. So Zander must entice her…beginning with a very indecent proposition!

I really enjoyed this one despite myself.

Oh sure, I had some issues with the story and with some of the characters, but it still didn't take away from my essential enjoyment. The dialogue was really cheesy in places, but I found it beautiful and haunting instead of annoying. Additionally, I thought the plot could have been much more developed than it was, but again, I read this book at the right time, because it didn't bother me as it usually would.

I really wish, though, that the hero's past had been exploredmore fully. I'd have liked to know more salacious, ultimately heartwrenching details. If I shed a few tears in the process of reading this book, I am refusing to acknowledge it.

I don't remember if I've read any Carol Marinelli before, but I won't be forgetting her in a hurry.

I wasn't going to rate it 5 stars, but I really, really enjoyed myself. And that is what 5-star books are supposed to do for you, so I figured, what the heck? :D

★★★★★

 

Review: Magic to the Bone by Devon Monk

Author: Devon Monk
Title: Magic to the Bone
Series: Allie Beckstrom #1

Everything has a cost. And every act of magic exacts a price from its user - maybe a two-day migraine, or losing the memory of your first kiss. But some people want to use magic without paying, and they Offload the cost onto innocents. When that happens, it falls to a Hound to identify the spell's caster - and Allison Beckstrom's the best there is.

Daughter of a prominent Portland businessman, Allie would rather moonlight as a Hound than accept the family fortune - and the strings that come with it. But when she discovers a little boy dying from a magic Offload that has her father's signature all over it, Allie is thrown into the high-stakes world of corporate espionage and black magic.

Now Allie's out for the truth - and must call upon forces that will challenge everything she knows, change her in ways she could never imagine ... and make her capable of things that powerful people will do anything to control

The strongest emotion I feel after reading this book is disgruntlement (if that's a word at all). Allie Beckstrom's tale started out well enough. We're told she's a hound and can trace magic and magic signatures; she hates her rich dad and avoids him; the rules for the world are being laid down, Allie meets a few interesting people and then her dad is killed. Of course she has to find the whodunit. And that is when everything goes to hell in a handbasket, my friends.

Allie is unforgivably stupid. So stupid that is was kinda insulting to have a character be this clueless. When your dad denies that the signature you traced back to him is his, even though signatures are like DNA; when a truth spell shows he's not lying; when you are told that the signature of the magic that killed your dad is yours even though you didn't kill him, won't you start putting two and two together and realize that your dad was telling the truth and that there is something afoot? And if not then, surely after you meet a guy who tells you in so many words that he impersonated your magic signature, wouldn't you figure it out? When you're wanted by the police and ruthless people in very high places of power and influence for the murder of your dad, is your first and only thought to go to the police and tell them, "but, but, but I'm innocent!"? Exactly.

To be sure, we're all allowed our moments of obtuseness, but when your very life depends on it, you can't afford to be dense. Dense, obtuse people who are fighting for their lives end up dead. Heck, even some of the smart ones don't escape.

So yes, I am not at all impressed with my first book by Ms. Monk. Idiot character and a world that doesn't bring much to the genre. Rachel Vincent's Unbound series is a much more unique take on the idea of Hounds and magical consequences, with characters that don't insult your intelligence, if you're looking for a good time, because this one certainly doesn't deliver one.

I will read the next book in series, though. You know, second chances and all that jazz.

★★

OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES:

 

Playing Around With Names

Ok.

So I am a rather fickle person when it comes to naming things. I change my mind and change my mind and change my mind all over again. I have renamed my unborn kids a thousand times over.

The blog too.
Thank goodness I like the blog address. I think it took me a coupla changes to fix that one.

Well, anyway, the blog:

It started out as LADY JAYE READS,
became BY THE FIRESIDE, 
then became READING BY THE FIRESIDE....

and now I am considering changing it all over again, since it's gonna be not-a-review blog, but  diary-ish blog (for me at least. There is every chance that it won't look or sound like a diary-ish blog to you, hehe).

After much thinking (I suck at creative name things :/) I came up with one I liked and thought was perfect:

A Reading Life

But there are a coupla other blogs that have that name :(.

At first, I was going to abandon it, since it's bad form, I think, to use  name that's already been used.
But then, since so many other sites have the name, it's not bad form after all, right? And the url is still unique.

What to do, what to do?

Review: Secrets of a Summer Night by Lisa Kleypas

Author: Lisa Kleypas
Title: Secrets of a Summer Night
Series: Wallflowers #1

"Four young ladies enter London society with one common goal: they must use their feminine wit and wiles to find a husband. So a daring husband-hunting scheme is born." Annabelle Peyton, determined to save her family from disaster, decides to use her beauty and wit to tempt a suitable nobleman into making an offer of marriage. But Annabelle's most intriguing--and persistent--admirer, wealthy, powerful Simon Hunt, has made it clear that while he will introduce her to irresistible pleasure he will not offer marriage. Annabelle is determined to resist his unthinkable proposition . . . but it is impossible in the face of such skillful seduction.
Her friends, looking to help, conspire to entice a more suitable gentleman to offer for Annabelle, for only then will she be safe from Simon--and her own longings. But on one summer night, Annabelle succumbs to Simon's passionate embrace and tempting kisses . . . and she discovers that love is the most dangerous game of all.

A solid 3-star book, I think. I can see the setup for the whole series and who's to be paired of with who. I am excited about some matches and less excited about others. In general I think I like the men more than the ladies. Of the ladies, Evie is my favorite, and my two least favorite are Annabelle and Lillian, the latter being too mercenary and conscience-less for me.

Pertaining to this story, I thought Ms. Kleypas painted a very accurate picture of the poverty-stricken genteel girl, but still, Annabelle was not a very sympathetic character to me. Simon is....okay as a Kleypas hero, but she can and has done far better. The romance was middling to me. The tale was a likable one, but it ended at about 77% with the marriage of the hero and heroine. The remainder of the story was more filler than anything else, really.

All in all a good story for a night's entertainment, but forgettable. Looking forward to the other books, especially Evie's.

★★★

OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES:

Review: Sacrificial Magic by Stacia Kane

Author: Stacia Kane
Title: Sacrificial Magic
Series: Downside Ghosts #4
Pages: 403
Source: Owned

When Chess Putnam is ordered by an infamous crime boss—who also happens to be her drug dealer—to use her powers as a witch to solve a grisly murder involving dark magic, she knows she must rise to the challenge. Adding to the intensity: Chess’s boyfriend, Terrible, doesn’t trust her, and Lex, the son of a rival crime lord, is trying to reignite the sparks between him and Chess.

Plus there’s the little matter of Chess’s real job as a ghost hunter for the Church of Real Truth, investigating reports of a haunting at a school in the heart of Downside. Someone seems to be taking a crash course in summoning the dead—and if Chess doesn’t watch her back, she may soon be joining their ranks.

As Chess is drawn into a shadowy world of twisted secrets and dark violence, it soon becomes clear that she’s not going to emerge from its depths without making the ultimate sacrifice.

Chess and Terrible, now that they have admitted their love for each other, are in a relationship. Chess knows that Terrible loves her, but given the events of the previous books, she's walking around feeling like this relationship is hanging over her head like the Sword of Damocles, waiting to crash upon her should she make the tiniest mistake. Amid all of that, she has a new case from the church, which is tied to the ritual murders going on in both Slobag and Bump's sides of town.

Wow. My thoughts are kinda jumbled right now. I truly enjoyed the story. I liked seeing Chess work. One of my favorite scenes was where she looked down her nose at the officious people by the school. She doesn't play and can give as good as she gets :).

Most of the book was like watching a learning curve for Chess; you can see her character growing, becoming empowered. She learns very slowly to accept a friendship offered (Beulah), and to choose her friends (Lex) - for herself, and not because it suits Terrible or no. Seeing her like that felt so good her drug use didn't overshadow everything for me like it does in the previous books. She's still a junkie, but it's now no longer the center of her life - she has Terrible, other things and people are beginning to creep in.

There is not much to say for Terrible except that he is BEYOND AWESOME and that I am not entirely sure Chess deserves him. I truly like Chess but I want to beat her up sometimes because she hurts Terrible and that is in no way acceptable, for any reason :)


The final scenes in the book, from the climax to the resolution, are so heartfelt and beautiful.

In the end, I loved the story, but I am very, very, very ready for Chess to begin to actually take charge of her life. I like Chess and I am glad she is beginning to envision a new life for herself, a better life. However I feel a lot of the epiphanies she came to are long overdue, especially given her life's trajectory. I'm trying to say - it's not as if her life has only been bad, compared with say Terrible's life - she's had tremendous good too: she's educated, she has a steady job, has been around more than just Downside and crime, more than just screwed up people around her; she's found love and a new reason to live. She's had time to let it all sink in. It shoulda sunk in long before then. The curve for her has been too slow, is what I'm tryina say. But now that realization has come, I am very ready for her to stop regressing, build some self-esteem, stop waiting for the other shoe to drop for every little thing, stop hurting Terrible because she is afraid of getting hurt first, get off the damn drugs! I am ready for it all to happen. Much as I love the series and Terrible, I am not sure I will continue reading if she doesn't at least begin doing that.

So I guess Chasing Magic might be a game-changer for me.

★★★★

OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES:

1. Unholy Ghosts - 3/5
2. Unholy Magic - 4/5
3. City of Ghosts - 4.5/5