Review: The Shape of Desire by Sharon Shinn

Author: Sharon Shinn
Title: The Shape of Desire
Series: Shifting Circle #1
Pages: 336
Source: Owned

For fifteen years Maria Devane has been desperately, passionately in love with Dante Romano. But despite loving him with all of her heart and soul, Maria knows that Dante can never give all of himself back-at least not all the time.
Every month, Dante shifts shape, becoming a wild animal. During those times, he wanders far and wide, leaving Maria alone. He can't choose when he shifts, the transition is often abrupt and, as he gets older, the time he spends in human form is gradually decreasing. But Maria, who loves him without hesitation, wouldn't trade their unusual relationship for anything.
Since the beginning, she has kept his secret, knowing that their love is worth the danger. But when a string of brutal attacks occur in local parks during the times when Dante is in animal form, Maria is forced to consider whether the lies she's been telling about her life have turned into lies she's telling herself...

I am a huge fan of Sharon Shinn, and have been looking forward to this book for almost a year now. Having read it, it is different from Ms. Shinn's usual work in that it is set in the real world, in present-day Missouri, and reads more like magical realism than fantasy. I enjoyed it very much, but it was different.

Maria Devane has been in love with Dante for fifteen years. Dante is a shapeshifter, and as the years have gone by, he spends more and more time in his animal shape, so that he is human only a few days a month. Maria's whole life revolves around keeping Dante's secret and she lives for the moments she can be with him in his human form.

The story is quite slow-paced, but I think that was the point. It's not an epic tale, or one filled with adventure; not a lot of things happen. It's the simple story of Maria life, her daily routine, and the brief moments of happiness she has with Dante. It's about the strain of keeping his secret, of choosing to be in a relationship, which although it makes her happy, is not entirely healthy and balanced.

In the end, we find out it's also about Dante, his motivations, and the choices he's made; the new choices he can choose to make.

The issues that arise in Maria's life around the choices she makes concerning Dante, and how she reacts to issues in the lives of the people around her provides a lot of food for thought - both for Maria and for me as a reader. There are no easy answers.

It's a slow story. But it is also a simple and heartfelt story, told with grace and stark beauty, with complex characters who have complex motivations, who make difficult choices.

I waited a year for this, and although it was not what I expected at the end of that wait, I was not disappointed at all. Of course I recommend it - it's Sharon Shinn!!

★★★★

OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES:

N/A

Dying to Get this Month {April}

*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. 

I have only a handful of favorite authors - less than 10, I think - and most series are merely okay for me, so there are not many books I just absolutely have to have as soon as they're released.*

April 3rd: The Shape of Desire.      

 I am soooo jazzed up about this book! It looks as if this one is a departure for Ms. Shinn. All of her other books have been set in fantasy worlds; Shape is set in the real world, in modern-day mid-western America. It is also about shapeshifters (woohoo!) and I am excited to see what she will do with it. Her take on shapeshifters seems unique -they spend more time in their animal forms than as humans, and they seem to be able to take on any shape they want - cats, dogs, pigs, hens, cows, etc - instead of the genre-staples tigers and bears and wolves and lions and ligons, hehe. The first chapter is available on her website, and it is fantastic. Can't wait!

April 3rd: The Dukes Perfect Wife. 

 So erm, this one is kinda weird. It is the fourth book in the Highland Pleasures series. I have only read the first book, which deals with lord Ian Mackenzie and his madness Everyone and their mama loved this book, but I was glaringly underwhelmed. The only character that really interested me was the oldest, Hart Mackenzie.  I knew I had to read his book as soon as it came out. And here it is this month! I am still debating whether to buy it or wait for the library to acquire it. Either way, it will be read by the end of the month in any case :).




And that's it for the month of April. Any thoughts? Or new releases you are looking forward to? Let me know in the comments!!

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

 

{March} Month In Review

Hi! It's that time of the month again, heh.

Looking back, March has been a sort of uneven month for me.

Stats

I read 30 books, most of which were fantasy and romance (as usual). [NB: Clicking on the links will take you to the Goodreads page for the book. I either haven't reviewed them on here yet or am too lazy to attach links. Next month will be better, I promise].

The favorites

• The ever fabulous Archangel by Sharon Shinn.
• It Happened One Autumn by Lisa Kleypas
• An Indecent Proposition by Carol Marinelli. 
• Untouched by Anna Campbell
• Sacrificial Magic by Stacia Kane

The least favorites

• Dead Witch Walking (Hollows #1) by Kim Harrison 
• Magic to the Bone  (Allie Beckstrom #1) by Devon Monk 
• Faefever (Fever #3) by Karen Marie Moning.

The first two were new-to-me authors whose books didn't work for me at all. I am not a fan of the Fever series in any way, shape, or form, so it was a given KMM's book would drive me bonkers, and it did (I read it for a challenge, leave me alone).  

Underwhelming/disappointing reads

• The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley. All my friends on Goodreads rave about this book all the time. I was very underwhelmed :(  
• A Lady's Lesson in Scandal by Meredith Duran - I'd heard so much about this author and I read the book and was disappointed with the characterization.
•  River Marked by Patricia Briggs. Major, major bummer!

I read more historical romance than I've read in a while, and I liked the change. Lisa Kleypas is one of my favorite historical romance writers, and I loved the one historical I read by Anna Campbell, so it was a good bet I'd like their books, and I did.

Reflections: 

Since February I have been in a reading slump. I am slowly getting over it, but I have been getting rather cranky as a reader, and a lot of stuff I was willing to let go in PNR and UF, I am not so willing to do so now. Like idiot heroes and heroines. Or maybe I just read all the really good authors already and am starting to get to the meh ones and the duds, because no new UF or PNR I tried this month worked for me (they were all two or three-star reads). I am enjoying historical romance a lot more. I stopped reading historical romance in March 2011 and have focused almost completely on PNR and UF since then.

Looking Forward: 

 April is going to be an exciting month because Sharon Shinn's new book comes out on the 3rd! I am so jazzed up for it, which makes the whole month look up already!

I'm trying to figure out what I want to do with the blog. It will still be a blog, but I think I'm going to keep more as a sort of online diary of my experiences/thoughts about books than a review blog.  So I'll do more reflective posts, more thoughts about some characters and authors and series I like as opposed to reviews. I'll still do reviews, but you can find those on Goodreads anyway. So more for the stuff I can't do on Goodreads, like talk about why I hate the Fever series, or why Gabriel is so awesome :D

I'm also looking to post less, I think. So probably 2 or 3 posts a week.

Finally and most importantly, I am also thinking about moving to wordpress and I am trying to decide if I should just do it now, or wait until later in the year.

Oh, and in the mean time, since I suck at blog design, I'm paying someone to design the blog for me! Looking forward to the new layout and a unique online space I can call my own!!

   

Review: Hexed (Anthology) by Ilona Andrews, etc.

Author: Ilona Andrews, etc.
Title: Hexed
Series: Anthology
Pages: 326
Source: Owned


This anthology was a very mixed bag. I have owned a paper copy for close to a year. I started it and could not even get through the first story. Thanks to a challenge, though, I took the opportunity to make myself read it. I love the cover!

Magic Dreams by Ilona Andrews - 5 stars
This was the story I started and couldn't get into. I have no idea why or how because this time around I breezed through it. Jim has a death spell of some kind hovering over his head and Dali must help him figure it out and break it or else Jim, who she secretly loves, is going to die. I loved it. I loved the mythology, and I liked Dali and her family (her mom's hilarious). I really like how the voices are different. Dali's voice is different from Kate's is different from Andrea. It makes the whole series seem more authentic to me. Two things I noticed: JIM IS A BLACK MAN?!!!! However did I miss that? Did everyone else know it? The second thing is that Dali thinks Kate is gorgeous. I smiled because Kate thinks she is not beautiful. Without a doubt this was the best story in the anthology. By far.

Ice Shards by Yasmine Galenorn - 2 stars
I forget if I also tried to read this one or if it was another Yasmine Galenorn, but my experience was the same: flat and uninterested. To compound it, there were so many characters, each with their own backstory. So for someone like me who hasn't read anything by Ms. Galenorn or the series from which this novella comes, it was hella confusing. I didn't enjoy this one.

Double Hexed by Allyson James - 1.5 stars
This story is set in the Stormwalker world, starring Janet Begay and her entourage. I knew I wasn't going to like this one. The two Stormwalker books I read were bad reading experiences for me, and it was no different this time. Every single character in that world is an idiot. Every.single.one. And yes, it's not very complimentary, so I sorta feel bad saying that about an author's work, but really, those characters make me want to shoot them. I was rooting for the demon to do us a big favor and kill them all, but alas, no one cares what I think, so that wish was ignored.

Blood Debt by Jeanne C.Stein - 3 stars
A completely new-to-me-author. I don't even have any idea what series this novella comes from. But I think the author did a good job. I was annoyed sometimes because the heroine seemed a bit too Mary-Sueish, but that could just have been me being peckish. It was a good story and I think I am interested enough to check out the series.

★★★

OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES:

 

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

 

Memorable Monday #7: Terrible Again!!!

This meme is fast becoming one of my favorites ever!  Memorable Monday is a new meme hosted by the ladies over at Escape in a Book, and invites us to share a memorable quote from something we've read/ are reading.


Okay, I haven't read any books with notable moments, lately. But when in doubt, rely on oldy-but-goody.

Stacia Kane. We're talking Terrible here, people, Terrible! Who happens to be one of the awesomest heroes anywhere!! And our tidbit from Terrible is not from a specific book, but a specific saying:

Give you whatany you want, Chessiebomb, whatany you want. 

Ai, it fair kills me with love for him when he says that. I melt!If you know Terrible, you know what I mean, and chances are  it does the same to you. If you don't know him, well, whatever are you waiting for? Go grab a book!!!

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

 

Waiting on Wednesday #6: Tangle of Need

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Jill's blog, and highlights upcoming releases we're highly anticipating.


Today's WoW is for Book #11 in the Psy-Changeling series. I can't WAIT to see Hawke, Sienna, and Snowdancer again!!! Tangle of Need (hella cheesy name, I know) releases on May 29th, 2012

Adria, wolf changeling soldier, has made a break with a past as
unpredictable in love as it was in war. Now comes a devastating new complication: Riaz, a SnowDancer whose lone-wolf appeal is beyond sexual. It’s primal. And it consumes them as completely as the impending cataclysmic Psy war—a battle that may alter the very fate of the world.

What book are you waiting for? leave me a comment with a link and I'll stop by your WoW!