Quickie Review: Hard Evidence by Pamela Clare

Author: Pamela Clare

Title: Hard Evidence

Series: I-Team #2

About the Book: After the murder of a teenage girl, a mysterious man in a black leather jacket was seen lurking near the crime scene. Investigative reporter Tessa Novak has him in her sights as the culprit…  That man was Julian Darcangelo, an undercover FBI agent working with the Denver police. He’s closing in on the trail of a human trafficker and killer. Tessa’s accusations could blow his cover, and he wants her off the investigation. But just as Tessa has made Julian a target of interest, she is now a target of the killer. And as they are forced to trust each other, their physical attraction escalates as intensely as the threat from a ruthless murderer who wants to see both of them dead…

 

My Thoughts:

I'm in the minority here. I enjoyed its predecessor way more than this book.

It's a great story, but I feel like it dragged out too long. And I didn't like Tessa too much. The things I'd found cute about Kara I found annoying in Tessa. And I am not too sure I buy that her reasons for wanting to publish the stories are more sound than the reasons Julian and the police wanted the information under wraps. So it was iffy for me. I really liked the hero, though.

OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES:

1. Extreme Exposure - Excellent

 

Review: Never Love a Highlander by Maya Banks

Author: Maya Banks
Title: Never Love a Highlander
Series: McCabe Trilogy #3

Caelen McCabe's young, reckless heart nearly destroyed his clan. Now putting family loyalty above all else, he steps up to marry his older brother's jilted bride and salvage the uneasy alliance between two clans. While beautiful Rionna McDonald is a fit wife for any man, Caelen trusts no woman, especially not this sweet temptress who torments him with white hot longing.

As the sacrificial lamb in her father's power game, Rionna will do her duty but protect her heart and her pride from another man's humiliation. Despite everything, the heat in Caelen's touch melts her defenses and she craves the sensual delights of a husband who guards his emotions as fiercely as his clan. But when the ultimate battle for the McCabe legacy is upon them, Rionna's true warrior spirit emerges. She will risk the wrath of her father, the fury of her enemies, and her life to prove to Caelen that his wife's love is too precious to lose.

Though I thought the first two books weren't all that interesting, I decided to read the final book book because the hero and heroine seemed like characters worth getting to know. I was right and I was wrong.

Never Love a Highlander is Rionna McDonald and Caelen's McCabe's story. After being stood up, first by Ewan, and then by Alaric, Rionna marries the last available McCabe brother to seal the alliance between their two families. Caelen moves to the McCabe lands to take over as Laird, and the rest of the story is about their journey to love.

Again, it isn't the best of stories, but there is no doubt Rionna and Caelen are the best characters in this entire trilogy, Rionna more so than Caelen. Caelen has his own demons to conquer, owing to betrayal by a woman many years ago. However, Caelen is a dolt a good amount of the time, especially at McCabe keep. He was still a more interesting character than Ewan or Alaric, though.

Rionna was sort of a disappointment. She'd seemed like such a unique character - a girl who fought with the soldiers and appeared quite good - she could best the McCabe men at swordfights int he previous books. Now, she just sorta floundered.

She is given no 'agency.' We find that she doesn't run with the men because she likes it, but rather because she was afraid of her father's abusive nature and so decided to learn to fight. She spends time outdoors with the men, but secretly wishes she could run the household and do makeup and things like the ladies. She is supposed to be this feisty woman but she obeys every single order that Caelen gives her, even when it is obvious he is being an idiot. She was a much weaker character than she appeared to be in the previous books, but even so, she was better than Mairin, Keeley, and all the one-dimensional women in this world Ms. Banks has created.

The story was marginally more interesting than the previous books, but not by much. And there were also a good amount of fillerish scenes - basically the same old story as the other two, just with slightly better characters. On the whole this series is one I don't recommend at all.

★★★★

OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES:

 

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: River Marked by Patricia Briggs

Author: Patricia Briggs
Title: River Marked
Series: Mercedes Thompson #6
Published: March 1, 2011

Car mechanic Mercy Thompson has always known there was something different about her, and not just the way she can make a VW engine sit up and beg. Mercy is a shapeshifter, a talent she inherited from her long-gone father. She's never known any others of her kind. Until now.
An evil is stirring in the depths of the Columbia River-one that her father's people may know something about. And to have any hope of surviving, Mercy and her mate, the Alpha werewolf Adam, will need their help...

It feels really blasphemous to be rating a Patty Briggs book so low, and to be fair, I liked it a lot more than many books I've rated three stars. However I rated Bone Crossed for stars and I liked that one much better than this one. So I am rating in comparison to the other books in this series as opposed to the book on its own merit, if you get what I mean. That's said......

I liked the story. It was a good something. But for me it lacked the draw that other books in the series have had. I didn't care much for the first book in the series, but every one after that has held me spellbound until I finished it. This one I found hard to get into from the beginning and had to put it down for awhile. When I came back into it, it hit its stride and I rolled with the story until the end, but it was still lacking in Patty's usual subtle oomph for me. 

I think a part of that could be attributed to the new setting. The story takes place away from the pack, and the usual supporting cast, and has a slew of new characters. They were interesting to read about, and I really liked to see Mercy 'explore' her Native American heritage; it was also moving in parts - especially the scene where she saw her father's ghost dancing and the scene where Coyote explains that dance to her. But it still lacked the magic of previous books, the cohesiveness the Columbia Basin support cast brings. 

And this one is my fault. You know how people read to see their favorite characters - like how most people will read to see Mercy and Adam again? Well, my favorite character is Samuel, and I sorely missed the glimpses of him I usually get. I mean, it's not Patty's fault that I had the bad taste (well. it's good taste IMO, LOL!!!!) to fall hardest for a side character, but it is what it is.

And this part is a little ranty. You can skip it entirely, as I'm pretty sure I'm going to be the only one who feels this way :)

For the first time, Mercy and Adam really got on my nerves. Adam with his posturing and yellow eyes....yes sah! We get it. She's your wife, your mate, she belongs to you, no one can hurt her, blah blah blah. Enough already. Adam used to be both possessive and sensible; in this books he was not sensible, and I wanted to smack him on the nose. I felt more than a share of malicious glee when Wolf got his own back on Adam. In that scene especially I felt his behavior was uncalled for, so I was glad he was 'put in his place', so to speak.

And Mercy going on and on and on and on ad nauseum about not being a fragile flower, and not needing to be protected and how Adam was her mate.....we get. We really do! We've been rooting for you guys all along. Now we don't need to be reminded every two pages. The Lady and the Gentleman doth protest waaaaaaaaay too much. Okay, rant over. 


It was a good book, a solid book, an enjoyable book and I have no doubt many, many people will love it. It just didn't pack the punch for me Patty's books usually does, and so I was disappointed. The whole was less than the sum of its parts, for me.

★★★

OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES:

1. Moon Called - 3/5
2. Blood Bound  -5/5
3. Iron Kissed - 5/5
4. Bone Crossed - 4/5
5. Silver Borne - 5/5

 

Review: A Lady's Lesson in Scandal by Meredith Duran

Author: Meredith Duran
Title: A Lady's Lesson in Scandal
Series: N/A
Pages: 385

IN GRITTY, WORKING-CLASS LONDON, SHE DOES WHAT SHE MUST TO SURVIVE...

When Nell Whitby breaks into an earl's house on a midnight quest for revenge, she finds her pistol pointed at the wrong man—one handsome as sin and naked as the day he was born. Pity he's a lunatic. He thinks her a missing heiress, but more to the point, he'll help her escape the slums and right a grave injustice. Not a bad bargain. All she has to do is marry him.

A NOTORIOUS LADIES' MAN COULD TAKE HER FROM POVERTY TO OPULENCE... BUT AT WHAT PRICE?

A rake of the first order, Simon St. Maur spent his restless youth burning every bridge he crossed. When he inherits an earldom without a single penny attached to it, he sees a chance to start over—provided he can find an heiress to fund his efforts. But his wicked reputation means courtship will be difficult—until fate sends him the most notorious missing heiress in history. All he needs now is to make her into a lady and keep himself from making the only mistake that could ruin everything: falling in love...

I was very excited to start this book because I had heard wonderful things about Meredith Duran's writing in general and two of her books in particular. This one was one of those books; the other was Bound by Your Touch.

After reading this one...well, the excitement has worn off a bit.

She tells a very uneven tale. On the whole, it was a good story - beautifully written, but some parts more so than others. So definitely, I can agree that Ms. Duran is good at her job. I stayed up to read this because her writing captured me and wouldn't let me go.

Basically the story is this: Nell was stolen from her parents and twin sister by a vengeful mistress/servant when she was a child. She grew up thinking the thief was her mother and spent her life in the terrible conditions the poor of regency England suffered. As the plot progresses, she meets Simon, who's inherited her real father's earldom but none of the money. He offers to help Nell prove her identity and win her inheritance provided she marry him so he can have some of the money too. He marries her, introduces her to society, she meets her twin..... it's a very predictable story, one we've hears countless times and in any number of variations. This one is not the most original of them. Its strength is that is is rather beautifully written. It would have been an excellent story except that her characters sucked - one character in particular, and it is (you guessed it) the idiot that passed for the heroine.

I wanted to beat her. She was SUCH a snob, such a hypocrite! She went about looking down her nose at the gentry and rich people because they had no idea what it was like to be poor when she herself put on more airs than anyone in the whole damn book!

1. She looked down on servants because they had to 'serve' their masters. Ooooh that one upset me! The idea that honest work has no merit because one is a servant instead of slaving away at some workhouse.....stupid girl.

2. She protested too much! Yes we get it. You were poor. You had to scrape by. Others were not. NO, it does NOT make you better than them. In fact, I can't think of a single rich person/gentry who acted with as much gracelessness as Nell did the entire novel. She was the haughty one, the unforgiving one, the unbending one, the selfish one. S.M.H.

3. There is a scene getting towards that proves point #2 so well. Her twin sister, at first reluctant to accept this so-called twin who didn't even remember her (a perfectly rational reaction, might I add), in a fit of weakness attempts to do Nell some harm. Before it progresses, the twin repents and tries to make amends. It doesn't work, and the harm is sorta kinda done (it was a weak plot device anyway and didn't add much to the story, so whatever). This twin (Katharine), humbly comes in, with tears, remorseful, to ask for forgiveness. Guess who puts on airs. Yep. Ms. Nell-I'm-so-much-better-than-any-of-you-because-I-was-poor.

Oh I wanted to beat that idiot. She ruined what would have been a good story. Simon, the hero, is a fool. If he had any sense at all, he'd have married Katharine a long time ago before Nell even came into the picture - Lord knows she's a better human being than Nell.

Even so, I can see why people rave about Ms. Duran's work and I will definitely be looking out for more of her tales. Unless I find out that all her heroines are like this...this imbecile. Then no, no amount of good writing is enough for that.

★★★

OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES:

N/A

 

Review: Home Improvement: The Undead Edition by Charlaine Harris, etc.

Author: Charlaine Harris, etc.
Title: Home Improvement: the undead edition
Series: Anthology

The editors of the New York Times bestselling Death's Excellent Vacation bring home a new collection...with a never-before- published Sookie Stackhouse story!
There's nothing like home renovation for finding skeletons in the closet or otherwordly portals in the attic. Now, for any homeowner who's ever wondered, "What's that creaking sound?" or fans of "how to" television who'd like a little unreality mixed in with their reality shows, editors Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner return with an all-new collection of the paranormal perils of Do-It-Yourself.

Sookie Stackhouse resides in these pages, in a never-before-published story by #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris. And New York Times bestselling authors Patricia Briggs, James Grady, Heather Graham, Melissa Marr, and nine other outstanding writers have constructed more frightening and funny fixer-upper tales guaranteed to shake foundations and rattle readers' pipes.

Usually the anthologies i read have four stories in them. This one had considerably more, and I think it is a good bargain. The good stories far outweigh the bad.

Patricia Briggs - Gray 5 stars: A hauntingly beautiful tale of a vampire and a ghost and their past history.

Victor Gischler - Wizard Home Security 4 stars: A rather funny story about a burgled wizard and the home security he buys

James Grady - The Mansion of Imperatives 2 stars: A hot mess of a story

Heather Graham - Blood on the Wall 4 stars: This entry reads like a throwback to the days when vampires and weres were fixtures of horror instead of romance. Really Good.

Simon R. Green - It's all in the Rendering 3 stars: A good tale

Charlaine Harris - If I Had a Hammer 3 stars: A Sookie Stackhouse novella about a home renovation and a murder weapon. My first Sookie :d

Stacia Kane - Rick the Brave 5 stars: Chess and Terrible's relationship, as observed through Rick the electrician's eyes. A sweet, entertaining story.

E.E Knight - Woolsey's kitchen Nightmare DNF: Terrible. I could not make head or tail of this story.

Rochelle Krich - Squatter's Rights 4 stars: Eerie.

Melissa Marr - The Strength Inside 3.5 stars: Really weird, rather creepy story about a completely different species who move into a neighborhood.

Seanan McGuire - Through this House 3 stars: A novella of the October Daye series (which is a new-to-me series). This one was rather confusing for me, a newbie to this world, but I can imagine how others familiar with it would enjoy it.

Suzanne Mcleod - Full Scale Demolition 3 stars: A good story.

S.J. Rozan - The Path 2 stars: Japanese/Buddhist mysticism. Boring!

Toni Kelner - In Brightest Day 3 stars: A novella about vodun mysticism

★★★½

 

Review: At Grave's End by Jeaniene Frost

Author: Jeaniene Frost
Title: At Grave's End
Series: Night Huntress #3
Published: 1 Jan 2009

It should be the best time of half-vampire Cat Crawfield’s life. With her undead lover Bones at her side, she’s successfully protected mortals from the rogue undead. But though Cat’s worn disguise after disguise to keep her true identity a secret from the brazen bloodsuckers, her cover’s finally been blown, placing her in terrible danger.

As if that wasn’t enough, a woman from Bones’s past is determined to bury him once and for all. Caught in the crosshairs of a vengeful vamp, yet determined to help Bones stop a lethal magic from being unleashed, Cat’s about to learn the true meaning of bad blood. And the tricks she’s learned as a special agent won’t help her. She will need to fully embrace her vampire instincts in order to save herself—and Bones—from a fate worse than the grave.

I definitely enjoyed the story, and I enjoyed being back in the Night Huntress world.

Cat, whose full name, btw, is Catherine Kathleen Crawfield (Catherine Kathleen, really?), has noticed that since her profile went up in the vampire world, doing her job as the Red Reaper has become markedly more difficult. She doesn't want to stop, but it is looking like she'd have to. In an operation to try out a new substitute for her, everything goes badly awry and we discover that someone else desperately wants Cat and Bones killed. The book is about the journey to discover and obliterate whichever vampire that is. Along the way, several things happen, and we are introduced to a bunch of new characters along the way, my favorite of whom was Vlad Tepesh. Vlad is apparently the real Count Dracula. He was funny, and I'll definitely be reading his book.

An interesting and enjoyable ride aside, there were a couple of things that got my goat really badly.

The biggest of those things was Tate. Cat, Tate and Bones would be discussing his unrequited love in fron of everyone. I felt like that was highly inappropriate and something that should be discussed away from everyone who wasn't Cat, Bones, or Tate. If that was all, it wouldn't be too bad. But then Tate wouldn't shut up about this 'love' he has for Cat. It was stupid. a grown man, a real man, who claims he loves someone, wouldn't go about trumpeting his love for her when she was clearly in love with someone else. whatever happened to if you truly love someone you'd let them be happy? So

1.  It was stupid and childish.
2.  It has been going on too long. It should never have been allowed to get to here. Once they realized Tate wasn't going to let this go, he shouldn't have been a part of the team. I don't understand how he is still her 'friend', still a part of the team. AND THEN THEY PUT THEM ON A JOB TOGETHER! A job that involved kissing and being intimate WTH? Of all the stupid things to do?
3. At this point I am so disgusted by this nonsense I am not sure I will ever believe in a HEA for Tate, should he find someone. He just should be killed off somewhere and put all of us out of our misery.
4. I am not sure I will continue with the next books if this tomfoolery is still going on.

And then the other thing was the dialogue. In some places it was soooooo cheesy, it read like some bad melodrama.

Finally, all this power that Bones is amassing..... oh well.

It's still a good fun ride, and worth a read.

★★★½

OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES:

1. Halfway to the Grave
2. One Foot in the Grave

 

REVIEW: Summer Knight by Jim Butcher

Author: Jim Butcher
Title: Summer Knight
Series: Dresden Files #4
Published: Sep. 1, 2002
Source: Library

Private detective/wizard-for-hire Harry Dresden is suckered into tangling in the affairs of Faerie, where the fate of the entire world-and his soul-are at stake.

In another review, I stated that I was a character-driven reader, and that few authors can keep me reading when I don't like their characters. Jim Butcher is one of the two exceptions I can think of to that rule. I really like his narration.

Harry Dresden has gotten himself into trouble one too many times. This time around he's managed to trigger a war between the Red Court and the Wizards, and now the White Council is out for blood - his blood, more specifically. To make matters worse, it seems the Faerie courts are readying for war with one another, and he's been suckered into a job by the Winter Queen.

The story was interesting at first, and then became so-so. In the beginning I was a bit disappointed with Jim Butcher's characterization of the Fae. He himself had noted that they were not easy to separate into 'good' and 'bad' fae, and yet there was a distinct lack of nuance in the characters. That was until the twist came. It was brilliant, IMO! It was brilliant and it highlighted all the nuances I could ever want. I especially loved the conversation Harry had with his faerie godmother. So JB gets points for being an awesome storyteller.

My main problem with the novels is that I don't think I like Harry Dresden very much. His snark doesn't do it for me, and I don't understand how someone can be a bumbling idiot most days, and then have epiphanies to solve the mystery- ALL THE TIME! I mean, the hero doesn't have to be the smartest cookie, but at least let's see evidence of some brains. The way Dresden fumbles about it's implausible he keeps defeating bad guy after bad guy. Either that or they're even stupider than he is, which doesn't make them very scary at all.

I do plan on continuing with the series because I like Mr. Butcher's storytelling, but I think I'll take a break before reading some more.

★★★

OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES:

1. Storm Front

2. Fool Moon
3. Grave Peril

 

REVIEW: The Mane Event by Shelly Laurenston

Author: Shelly Laurenston
Title: The Mane Event
Series: Pride #1
Source: Library

One of the hottest new voices in paranormal romance, Shelly Laurenston knows how to do it all, delivering tales that are wickedly funny, action-packed, and scorch-your-fingers sexy. With The Mane Event, she proves just how delicious love can be once you unleash your inner beast...

I heard this series was rather humorous, and so wanted to check it out. The first book in this series is actually to separated stories with two separate couples; one just happens to take immediately after the other, sort of a continuity.

I didn't care for the second story (featuring Brendon and Ronnie Lee) too much, but I do think that the first story epitomizes all that fans say is good about this series.

Mace and Dez's story: 3-3.5 stars
It started off strong and was laugh-out-loud funny in several places, making it unique, to me at least (I don't often come across PNR that's this funny). I liked Mace a lot, and I thought the idea of the shifters Ms. Laurenston had created were great. I liked the characteristics she gave them: lions usually grew up in a pride, the males grew a mane, literally. They had to cut their hair almost daily or they'd had a shaggy ole mop on their heads, the hyenas were brutal....just little quirky things that reminded me of the animals themselves.

Then it all goes downhill from there. Believe it or not, I didn't realize this book was classified erotica before I started reading it and had gotten well into the first story. And while I have nothing against erotica apart from it's not really a genre I read, this was one instance where I felt that the story was hindered by all the smexing. Before it started, we were being treated to a rather funny story of a shifter trying to woo his childhood friend, whom he'd loved all his life. Then the smex started and wouldn't stop. Every blessed passage they were going at at like rabbits. All the emphasis on sexual gymnastics took the focus off the romance - at least for me it did. I really felt the story would actually have been so much better if the intimate scenes were...well, intimate, instead of so hot and heavy... anyway, they fell flat for me, and since they dominated the story once they began, the rest of the story fell rather flat for me too, spoiling all the fun I'd been having. The story moved from four to three-ish stars.

Brendon and Ronnie Lee's story: 2.5 stars
Unlike Mace and Dez's, I didn't find much romance in this one to begin with. the focus was pretty much on body parts from the get-go, and beyond that, there wasn't much to go on. The side characters were pretty much annoying in this one, and the things that were cute in the previous story quickly became annoying here. Yes we know: cats are tricky; wolves can't hold their tequila - we get it all; we don't need to be reminded every two pages. I didn't much care for Brendon or Ronnie either. Meh.

Final thoughts:
All in all, it was an okay book. I think I would have enjoyed it far more if I'd only read the first book, and if it had sensual intimacy instead of the gymnastics, but we don't always get what we want, :) I'd recommend the book, the first story, at least. It really is funny and wonderfully written. And who knows, you might find it hot too :D.

I don't think I'll be reading more in this series, but I'll definitely be checking out Ms. Laurenston's work as G.A. Aiken, and I'll make sure to find out if it's erotica before I start!

★★★

OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES:

 

REVIEW: Unholy Ghosts by Stacia Kane

Author: Stacia Kane
Title: Unholy Ghosts
Series: Downside Ghosts #1
Pages: 339
Source: Library

The world is not the way it was. The dead have risen, and the living are under attack. The powerful Church of Real Truth, in charge since the government fell, has sworn to reimburse citizens being harassed by the deceased.

Consequently, there are many false claims of hauntings from those hoping to profit. Enter Chess Putnam, a fully-tattooed witch, freewheeling Debunker, and ghost hunter. She’s got a real talent for nailing human liars and banishing the wicked dead. But she’s keeping a dark secret from the Church: a little drug problem that’s landed her in hot and dangerous water.

Chess owes a lot of money to a murderous drug lord named Bump. And Bump wants immediate payback. All Chess has to do is dispatch a very nasty species of undead from an old airport. But the job involves black magic, human sacrifice, a nefarious demonic creature, and crossing swords with enough wicked energy to wipe out a city of souls. Toss in lust for a rival gang leader and a dangerous attraction to Bump’s ruthless enforcer, and Chess begins to wonder if the rush is really worth it.

Hell, yeah.

In hindsight, I must say that Terrible was a very big part of the reason I enjoyed this book. He's drawn with consummate finesse and is one of the most unique and endearing male characters I've ever had the pleasure to meet in any fiction. 

I was confused almost the whole time I was reading this novel. The whole time. The world Stacia Kane has created is soooooo blurry to me. It seems that some time back, ghosts exploded on the scene, and were out with a vengeance to kill the living. One organization who called themselves 'the Church' (nothing to do with religion, since all religion is outlawed) banished the ghosts - to some city? I wasn't too clear on that - and now runs the world - or is it the immediate area? - with an iron fist. Part of their mandate is to protect the living from ghosts. So if you find your house haunted, it means they failed, so they'll compensate you after carrying out an investigation and an exorcism (if your claim is true). Woe betide you if your claim is false.

Chess is a DeBunker (person who banishes ghosts and checks claims) for the church. She is also a drug addict on the side (if the church found out, she'd be toast), and her unscrupulous drug dealer has forced her to do something for him.  In the course of her routine investigations, she discovers a dangerous plot, which is also somehow intertwined with what her drug dealer wants her to do. To make it even more complicated a rival drug dealer doesn't want her to go through with the job for the regular drug dealer.....and oh yes, she has the hots for the rival drug dealer's henchman, as well as the hots for the regular drug dealer's enforcer, called Terrible.

Like I said, I spent a goodly amount of time confused. It seems ghosts are incorporeal when they want and corporeal when they want too. It was very confusing. At some point in time I was wondering whether or not I was reading about zombies instead of ghosts. Woulda made much more sense that way, I think. And the plotting as well confused me. We'd be somewhere, and I'd be following okay, and then all of  sudden I had no idea what was going on, who we were talking to,where we were. I can't get a sense of the world Chess lives in.

I ended up liking Chess and Terrible quite a bit. (I still don't know why Chess is a drug addict, though, or when she began her habit). But my favorite was Terrible, all huge, and ugly, and a drug dealer's head thug but underneath surprisingly sweet and kind and considerate. I am surprised to say I was rooting for a thug, haha. I wish Chess had gotten with him instead of Lex (the other drug dealer's henchman). Btw Terrible is such a bad name for a thug :D but I still love him.

So um yes, recommended. You might have better luck understanding the worldbuilding dynamics than I did, and Chess and Terrible are worth it :D

★★★

OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES:

 

Grave Peril by Jim Butcher

Author: Jim Butcher
Title: Grave Peril
Series: Dresden Files #3
Publication Date: 1st Sept 2001
Pages: 374
Source: Library

HARRY DRESDEN — WIZARD
Lost Items Found. Paranormal Investigations. Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates. No Love Potions, Endless Purses, or Other Entertainment.

Harry Dresden’s faced some pretty terrifying foes during his career. Giant scorpions. Oversexed vampires. Psychotic werewolves. All par for the course for Chicago’s only professional wizard.

But in all of Harry’s years of supernatural sleuthing, he’s never faced anything like this: the spirit world’s gone postal. All over Chicago, ghosts are causing trouble—and not just of the door-slamming, ‘boo’- shouting variety. These ghosts are tormented, violent, and deadly.

Someone—or something—is stirring them up to wreak unearthly havoc. But why? And why do so many of the victims have ties to Harry? If Harry doesn’t figure it out soon, he could wind up a ghost himself....

This third installment of the Dresden Files is a huge improvement over the second book, and Harry has risen a bit in my estimation. Oh he still has most of his faults - a God-complex, and a bumbler - but he is no longer unforgivably obtuse, and that counts for a lot.

I was confused in the beginning, because the whole mystery aspect was based of an occurrence that happened off-screen I think. I don't remember seeing Kravos in any of the previous books. i thought he might have been the sorcerer in the first book, but according to the time line, the first book took place two years before, and the Kravos incident took place a year after that. He was also definitely not in the second book. Anyway, it made for a mystery that seemed really complicated but was rather simple in hindsight.

One thing I have noticed is that I don't think I like the female characters Jim butcher writes. They are horrible, and I wouldn't bat an eyelid if any of them were killed. Susan almost certainly deserved what she got, and s for Karrin Murphy, the less said about her, the better. The book was so much more enjoyable because she was out of it for the most part.

I liked the addition of the character Michael. He was not a bumbling fool. Plus, you very rarely find Christians in UF, even rarer, portrayed in a favorable light. I am interested in him and hope we'll get to see more of his backstory. I liked his wife :D.

I am definitely going to come along for the next ride.

★★★★

  

OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES: 

1. Storm Front

2. Fool Moon

 

Heartless by Gail Carriger

Author: Gail Carriger
Title: Heartless
Series: Parasol Protectorate #4
Pages: 374
Source: Owned

Lady Alexia Maccon, soulless, is at it again, only this time the trouble is not her fault. When a mad ghost threatens the queen, Alexia is on the case, following a trail that leads her deep into her husband's past. Top that off with a sister who has joined the suffragette movement (shocking ), Madame Lefoux's latest mechanical invention, and a plague of zombie porcupines and Alexia barely has time to remember she happens to be eight months pregnant.
Will Alexia manage to determine who is trying to kill Queen Victoria before it is too late? Is it the vampires again or is there a traitor lurking about in wolf's clothing? And what, exactly, has taken up residence in Lord Akeldama's second best closet?

Information reaches the now-heavily pregnant Alexia that someone plans to kill the Queen. So of course, since Alexia will never shirk her duties as muhjah, she takes it upon herself to find the culprit and put a stop to their shenanigans.

Gail Carriger's writing so witty and fun, and it has this old-world feel to it that suits the historical aspects of the book perfectly, making it a pleasure to read. Conall Maccon is such a gruff sweetie, I can't help but love. He and Alexia are a riot when put together.

I felt so sad for Professor Lyall, as the revelations about his past came to light. And we got to meet Prudence herself, finally! :D

I think this is not one of the better stories in this series, and it dragged quite a bit more than some of the previous three books. There were three main reasons for that. Number 1: I HATE Felicity and Ivy Tunstell. They were in the book a bit too much for me, especially Felicity, distracting me whenever they were on. At least Ivy is much smarter than she appears. Felicity just has no excuse for existing. Number 2: I am not much of a steampunk person, the story dragged a bit in the sizable portions where steam machines and such play a role. Number 3: I was tired of Lord Akeldama and Biffy's whining.

Not the best story in the series but still worth a read.

★★★½

Glass Houses by Rachel Caine

Morganville Vampires #1
Glass Houses by Rachel Caine
My rating: ★★★½


I don't know if my rating is fair or not, because I rated the last Rachel Caine I read 3 sars, and I enjoyed Glass Houses way more than that one. The book had some seriously good moments. But it also had seriously iffy moments, hence the 3-star rating, I guess.

Claire Danvers is a 16-year old genius who had the chance to attend any college she wanted - but her parents made her go to some backwater college in Morganville, not too far away from home. That stuck out like a sore thumb to me. Any Ghanaian parent who's child was smart enough to be accepted to some of the best universities in the world would ship them off. First. Chance. They. Got - because a good education makes all the difference. (Again, this is a story about a sheltered American kid. Not Ghanaian. I get that. But still. I was like, are you kidding me, really?)

But never mind. Rachel goes off to college and finds herself in the sights of a clique of really, really mean girls. Because of their meanness, she flees college and finds accomodation and friends at the Glass House. This one bugged me a lot. If Claire was 12 years old and going to 9th grade at Morganville High School, it would have been perfect. Not College. I mean, 18 or 19-year old girls behaving like this? No. Oh they can still be mean, but it's more innocuous and sinister than this.

Claire also behaved more like she was 10 or 12 years old than like a sensible person who's 16 years old, much less someone who's a genius.

That notwithstanding, it was a good story. I liked the inhabitants of the Glass House - Michael, Eve, and Shane. And while I did think something was weird about Oliver, I did not see that twist coming. It made for a very awesome climax.

The resolution is the final issue I had with the book. I don't like cliffhangers, especially ones that come out of nowhere. Grr. But yeah, I'll be reading the next book in series when I can get my hands on it.

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Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder

Study #3
Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder
★★★

This has been a disappointing end to what had the potential to be an awesome series. Perhaps Poison Study should have wrapped up neatly and been a stand-alone novel. After reading Magic Study and Fire Study, I feel as if they were superfluous, and actually don't add much to Yelena's character.

I was a bit tired of this long-distance 'love' between Yelena and Valek, since they almost never saw each other.

I was also not enamored of the plot, especially of this book. It felt fillerish and caused Yelena and other characters to do very stupid things you wouldn't see anyone with a modicum of intelligence doing, just so the story could be moved along.

I mean, for those who have read the books - how stupid does one have to be, to not kill Cahil after his constant foolishness which ends up putting people in mortal danger? How stupid does Cahil himself have to be, to go about every single time,hanging out with fools and murderers and doing horrible things (beating Yelena) and then realize the error of his ways and come asking for forgiveness? How stupid do you have to be not to know that the people you are hanging with are not good when they're capturing people and killing them for blood rituals, when even children are included among their captives? Just petty stupidities like that - from Yelena, Lord Marrok...just about everyone except Valek.

I felt this diluted the quality of the characters, after all, they can't be so great if they're so stupid, can they? And I do think somewhat less of Yelena now. Valek, and perhaps, Ari and Janco, are the only characters whom I felt maintained their integrity.

If Maria Snyder had stopped at book one, or come up with completely different plots for books two and three, she might have had a proper winner on her hand.

I read somewhere that someone read somewhere that Ms. Snyder had originally intended Poison study to be a stand-alone novel, and wrote it accordingly. But the publisher had wanted more than one book (prolly to make more money) and so she'd changed the ending to an open-ended one and come up with this trilogy. If that is the case (and I can certainly see how that could have been the case), then it's a major fail on Ms. Snyder's part and the part of her publishers.

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Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

Bitten by Kelley Armstrong
★★★

I gave this book 3 stars, but I a not comfortable with that; but I also didn't feel comfortable with giving it four stars because I feel like I enjoyed the books I've rated 4 stars more than I did this one. So, mebbe 3.5 stars

It was a fairly good story, and rather enjoyable. Unlike many reviews I've read, I didn't mind the beginning. I was able to get straight into the flow of things. By mid-story, though, I was floundering. The same cycle kept repeating itself: "Oh noes! People from the village have came around! Oh noes, we found a dead body on our property, hide it quick ! Oh noes, a mutt kills someone! Oh noes, we killed some mutt! Oh noes, another mutt has come into town! Oh noes, Clay is throwing a temper tantrum! Oh noes, Jeremy is unruffled! Oh noes, Elena is yelling at Clay for something that happened a lifetime ago! Oh noes, Elena is mouthing off to Jeremy! Oh noes, Elena is going off on her own when she shouldn't, bad things are going to happen! Oh noes, Elena forgot to call Philip."

A good 50-60% of the story is what I've just described up above, I think.

So um yeah. I liked the story. I didn't like that it repeated itself so often.

I will definitely be checking out more of Ms. Armstrong's work.

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Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder

Study #2
Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder
My rating: ★★★½

Magic Study continues where the previous book left off. Yelena is now in Sitia and has a whole new set of issues to face and adversities to overcome. It was a good installment in the study series, I guess. I liked it and it held my attention (which is what good books are supposed to do) but I do think it fell short of Poison Study.

I enjoyed seeing Yelena's parents and how much they had loved her, even in absentia. However, I missed the old crew. I wasn't interested in Dax, or Fisk, or any of the new people Yelena came to know. When she was interacting with those people, it felt wrong to me, and so I spent that time sorely missing Ari and Janco instead. I missed Valek :(.

One thing about the book I loved was that Sitia seemed slightly familiar. Then i realized I had seen Sitia before. There were references to Touch of Power and the events that will happen in that trilogy. It seems ToP took place about a century and a half before the Study series :)

The story picked up substantially when the old crew came back into the picture, but by then, the story was too far gone to bring it to a really good level of awesomeness.




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A Cold Day for Murder by Dana Stabenow

A Cold Day for Murder by Dana Stabenow
My rating:★★★

I liked it.

At times I forgot I was reading a mystery, because it didn't 'read' like one. It had more of A Day in the Life of Kate Shugak vibe than a searching for a whodunit vibe.

The ending made me a bit sad, though. I liked the person who committed the crime :(

Not a bad introduction to Dana Stabenow's writing.

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Love, Come to Me by Lisa Kleypas

Love Come to Me by Lisa Kleypas
My rating: ★★★½

At times like this I really wish GoodReads would let us use half-stars. This is the perfect example of a book caught midway between three and four stars.

I think this is one of Lisa Kleypas's earliest books - you can definitely tell it was written much earlier in her career because although it is enjoyable, it isn't as masterful as her more recent work. It was a good story, but fairly unremarkable.

My biggest issue was probably Daniel. He was made only as a foil for Heath, so we could see how awesome he is. Daniel was portrayed as a stickler, a controlling person and someone with no regard whatsoever for women. After portraying someone like that, I don't want to see him near any female in the book. I don't understand why we have to pair him up with someone else,a s if it's supposed to be okay that he isn't with the heroine. He shouldn't be with anyone, period. Lots of authors do this too, not just LK :/

Then there was Damon too. Damon was a wonderful character, nuanced in a way neither Lucinda or Heath were. Stickler for duty and honor, with some prejudices, but willing to discard them when confronted with it. I wanted to know more about him, and it is a shame there is no sequel featuring him. he was the best written person in the book. I didn't understand the purpose of making him want Lucy too....

Overall a good read while it lasted, but quite forgettable. Except for Damon, :)

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Thunderbird Falls by C.E. Murphy

Thunderbird Falls by C.E. Murphy
My rating: ★★★

I rated this  3 stars because I felt it was much better written than the first one, and I liked it better. What kept me from liking it even more is that better writing notwithstanding, many of the same problems from the first book plague this one too.

The biggest problem is Joanne herself. In beginners' Spanish class, we learned a phrase: cabeza dura. Joanne tiene cabeza dura. That's the only explanation for how someone can be so dense, so incredibly stupid (her words, not mine. I just happen to fervently agree with her). Literally. Her denseness was not credible. At all. I saw this coming the moment it started! And I never see anything! So if I caught it and she missed it, she is truly, and irredeemably dense! But then if she had caught it ad refused to be a part of the whole coven foolishness, there wouldn't be story now, would there? It also doesn't help that I don't like Joanne. I liked her a bit better in this book, but her attitude, unfunny snark, rudeness, and general childishness, along with her incredible denseness (especially the last two) doesn't make her a likeable character at all. But she is much better in this book, so there is still hope.

The other big problem was the story. Where did Coyote disappear to? That made no sense whatsoever and was another indication that this story's plot was weak. The only way to progress this story as far as it went was to have Coyote, who used to be (and is supposed to be) a constant presence in Joanne's life, vanish for no reason so this farce could take place. Smh.

Even so, like I said, I enjoyed this one quite a bit more than I did the first one. On to book 3 for me.

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Gift of Magic by Lynn Kurland

Gift of Magic by Lynn Kurland
My rating:★★★

In one word, this book was a disappointing finish to the story of Ruithneadh and Sarah in particular and the tale of the Nine Kingdoms is general.

It's not that the story wasn't well told. It was. The writing was truly beautiful, and the world sprawled out like only epic fantasy can, and the names were right. It is a pet peeve of mine to read fantasy with names that sound fake - it spoils the whole story. Well, the names of people and places in this series, although unpronounceable, fit perfectly. So it was good book. It could easily have been a four or five star book, but it ended up a three because...it was just an anticlimax. Really, it was. The whole epic culmination of the novel was just blah.

In addition, the book had way too much repetition. Since book four Ruith had been whining about his magic. "Oh look at me, poor boy, I am a powerful magician, but my dad was evil. Never mind that everyone else in my family tree is a wonderful noble incorruptible person and I aspire to be like them, my dad was really evil, so I'll be evil too. Woe is me, woe is me." That was Ruith from book #4, when he was introduced, to the final 10% of this book when he realizes that he's nothing like his dad. Duh! And every 15 seconds, we were being reminded that he spent time running around with Miach of Neroche being troublesome and stealing spells when they were 10 years old. Every fifteen seconds. It happened over 20 years ago, and was repeated <i>ad nauseum</i> through the series, even from Miach's section - so that makes 6 books through which we've been hearing this. It became annoying after the 3rd mention in the first book. And we also heard way too much about Miach. This wasn't his book, and he didn't have any substantial part to play. i just didn't see the need to be reminded of him every few pages. Sarah also just spent half the book whining about not having any magic, even though she could dreamweave, and going on and on about not being princess enough for Ruith, even though her mom and dd came from distinguished royal families: every fifteen seconds too. Argh!

I think this might be the end of the <u>Nine Kingdoms</u> series, in which case I'm sad to part with a great cast of characters and a good epic story; but this ending didn't do it's characters or the series much justice at all.

ETA: No it's not the end of the series I hear tell Ms. Kurland  is working on a set of books for Runach! So we'll see them again.
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