Dead as a Doornail (Southern Vampires, Book 5)

CHARLAINE HARRIS

I loved this one! It may be my favorite so far, though that's what I said after the last one also! Someone is shooting shifters, and while trying to figure out who a whole mess of characters drift in and out of Sookie's life. Eric wants to know what happened during the time he stayed with Sookie, which he can't remember; Jason changes for the first time and discovers he loves being a were; Sam and Sookie almost get close (a kissing scene...more, please!); Alcide tries to get closer; Tara's involved with some crazy vamp; Claudine is there to rescue Sookie; and I was eagerly turning pages, not wanting the book to end. Total awsomesauce!

(I purchased this book at a thrift store.)

Lonesome Dove

LARRY MCMURTRY

Hands down, no contest, no doubt about it, I'm pretty sure this book is going to be my favorite read for 2012.

It took me a long time to read this massive (800+ pages of tiny print) book. I set it down twice to read other books instead, once for a month, and then for two months. Not because I didn't like it, but because there were just other books I wanted and/or needed to read. But when I picked this back up and started in on my third session of reading, at some point I became utterly spellbound. Completely transfixed.

McMurtry makes you see what he is describing, in your head, plain as day. There are lots of characters, and the book seamlessly weaves their stories together or around each other. Sometimes in the middle of a page the point of view will suddenly change from one character to another, but it always flows naturally and is never jarring.

It's been a couple of weeks since I finished the book, and I miss it. I miss Gus and the Captain, and Lorena, and pretty much everybody else. I think about the characters and wonder what happened after the last chapter. I didn't want the book to end. I'm almost tempted to pick it up and start over at page one.

This is not a novel. This is literature.

(I received this book through BookCrossing.)

3 Book Mini Review

I finished three books over the weekend, and decided to just review them all briefly:

AT GRAVE'S END, by Jeaniene Frost.
Night Huntress, Book 3

I've already raved about the first and second books in this series, and don't have much to add without repeating myself, except you NEED to read these books. Seriously.

(Btw, not loving this cover, especially compared to the cover of Book 2.)




THE DETECTIVE'S SECRET DAUGHTER, by Rachelle McCalla
Love Inspired Suspense #284; Fitzgerald Bay

My first time reading this author. Victoria Evans returns to Fitzgerald Bay after being away for ten years, to run an inn and raise her daughter, Paige - and to introduce her to her father, when the time is right. Owen Fitzgerald, a police officer, was in love with Victoria when they were in high school, but on the night that her father crashed his car into Owen's cousin's car, killing both drivers, Victoria left town. As did Hank Monroe, who also had a thing for Victoria, and who is now a police officer as well, sharing an office with Owen. Rumor has it that Hank is Paige's father, and Hank isn't bothering to deny said rumors. Meanwhile, the inn is broken into, not once, but twice, and Victoria and Paige are living in fear while the local police force tries to find the culprit.

For the most part it was pretty standard fare, but the last 30 or so pages (this is a large print, by the way) literally had my adrenaline kicked up and my fingers gripping the pages. So good job, Ms. McCalla!

NIGHTLIGHT: A PARODY, by The Harvard Lampoon

I haven't read Twilight. I have the book. I might read it some day. Or I might never get around to it. I did see the movie. So I felt I was familiar enough with it to read this.

I was hooked by the second paragraph:

"I had a dejected, brooding expression on my face, and I could tell from the reflection in the window that it was also an intriguing expression. "

This was the amusing story of Belle Goose, who travels from Phoenix to Switchblade, Oregon, to live with her father. Belle is excited to meet Edwart Mullen, and is eager for him to admit to her that he is a vampire, and to change her into one also.

Unfortunately, the ending went too far off the deep end, and was more tiresome than amusing.

(I received At Grave's End through BookCrossing; purchased The Detective's Secret Daughter through Harlequin Reader Service, and purchased Nightlight at a thrift store.)

July Acquisitions

July was a busy month for my mailbox! I have really got to slow down on acquiring books and try to move some out first! Below are some of my new TBR books...not counting all the books I picked up at thrift stores his month!

 

Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris - I've been enjoying the Sookie Stackhouse books, though I've only read the first four so far.

Kick Ass, by Maggie Shayne, MaryJanice Davidson, Angela Knight, and Jacey Ford - I got this because I love MaryJanice Davidson. I don't think I've read anything by Shayne or Knight yet, and I can't recall if I'd even heard of Ford before now.

The Department of Lost & Found, by Allison Winn Scotch - I discovered this author thanks to Twitter.



I received three Catherine George books from a BookMooch member: Legally His; No More Secrets; and The Forever Affair.

A trip to the thrift store yielded some good results:



Nightlight: A Parody from The Harvard Lampoon - I've yet to read Twilight, but couldn't resist this book.
A Time to Heal, by Linda Goodnight - one of my favorite Love Inspired authors.
Never Love a Cowboy, by Lorraine Heath - I've never heard of this author, but the book sounded good. Turns out it's the second in her Rogues series.


 

Lord of Thunder, by Emma Merritt - I still love these bodice rippers!
The Cowboy's Homecoming, by Brenda Minton - I've read the first and second books in Minton's Cowboys series and really enjoyed them.

After a casual mention on BookCrossing that I had a few of Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone series but wanted to read the series in order, two other members promptly sent me several more of the series:



B is For Burglar; C is for Corpse; D is for Deadbeat

 

E is for Evidence; I is for Innocent; J is for Judgment

 

M is for Malice; P is for Peril


And another BookCrosser surprised me with a RABCK (Random Act of BookCrossing Kindness), sending me a book from my wish list:

The Brightest Star in the Sky, by Marian Keyes. Ms. Keyes is one of my favorite authors, and introduced me to chick lit with Watermelon, which I just loved. I've loved all of her books so far.

A Game of Thrones (Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1)

GEORGE R.R. MARTIN

I finished this yesterday and I enjoyed it even more than I had anticipated I would. The first 1/3 or so I wasn't particularly in awe, but at some point I became completely captivated and didn't want to ever have to put the book down. I like that, while it's in the fantasy genre, the fantasy aspect of it does not just hit you over the head. It's about people and their daily lives, with some fantasy elements thrown in. My favorite chapters were the ones belonging to Tyrion, Jon and Ned. Sansa I did not care for at first, thinking she was quite spoiled and superficial, but at the same time, she was a product of the time she was being raised in, where girls were expected grow up and do feminine things and marry whoever their parents chose for them. And of course by the end I felt genuinely sorry for her.

I am most anxious now to get my hands on the second book, and to see the series, which I'll have to Netflix as I don't get HBO.


(I received this book through BookCrossing). 

The Firstborn / The Second Sister

DANI SINCLAIR

Heartskeep, Books One (Harlequin Intrigue No. 730) and Two (Harlequin Intrigue No. 736)

The Firstborn: Hayley Thomas and her twin sister, Leigh, grew up at Heartskeep, a mansion owned by their grandfather. The huge house is passed down through the family to the oldest child, which is Hayley. Seven years ago, their grandfather passed away, and not long after that their mother disappeared without a trace. The twins’ father, Marcus, an OB/GYN, has always been cold and distant, basically ignoring the girls from the time they were born. After their mother was declared legally dead, Marcus married his nurse, Eden, a shrew of a woman. Hayley and her sister moved to Boston, where they share an apartment.

Hayley is set to inherit Heartskeep on her 24th birthday. She’s now twenty-three, and has received a letter from the estate’s attorney, who wants to meet with her. So she arrives at Heartskeep one dark night. She didn't let Marcus and Eden know she was coming, and she is filled with determination to step in and claim her inheritance, despite the fact that she hasn't been back here in quite some time, and her father and his wife have lived in the house and treated it as their own.

On the night Hayley arrives, the house is dark and empty. The power is off, and there is no sign of Marcus and Eden, or the housekeeper and her daughter, who have always lived onsite. A gate has been installed around the property, which fortunately is not locked, and bars have been placed over most of the windows. Hearing a hammering noise from the garage, Hayley cautiously approaches, where she sees Bram Myers for the first time. It turns out Marcus hired Bram, a blacksmith, to design and install the gate and the bars.

Bram is a good ten plus years older than Hayley, and despite his attraction to her he is determined to avoid her. She’s too young, a kid, and he senses that with her, only the whole package will be acceptable. In other words, love, marriage and a family. All the things he does not want. Not to mention she’s an heiress who says Marcus had no right to hire him and his services are no longer needed, but he’s struggling to pay medical bills for his father and was counting on this job.

This is a Harlequin Intrigue, so there are secrets and mysterious happenings around the house. I was kept pretty riveted and read the book in two sittings. There’s a fairly large cast of characters, but they are all well written and it was easy to keep track of everyone. Hayley is a likable heroine, with some witty dialogue. And I really liked Bram. He’s strong and sensitive, a great hero. Although the model pictured on the cover just doesn’t look right to me for the part.

The Second Sister:  This book picks up right after the events of the first book, with Leigh arriving at Heartskeep. Trying not to give spoilers for the first book so this may be vague, but Leigh finds herself taking on responsibility for the house and some repair work being done. She also finds herself suddenly thrown together with the estate’s attorney, Gavin. At age seventeen Leigh had found herself in a dangerous situation, and Gavin had rescued her and then become her first lover. Leigh had always had a crush on him, but because of the circumstances she regretted their coming together, especially since he didn’t even realize at first that she was Leigh, and not her twin Hayley.

Former bad boy Gavin has turned his life around and tried to make something of himself, thanks to Leigh’s influence on him, though she doesn’t know that. Leigh discovers that her crush on him is alive and well, and Gavin is also drawn to her, but she is his client, so he is determined to keep their relationship on a professional level.

Again, there are secrets and mysterious happenings, and again I was riveted to the page, and read this entire book in two days. Though this time around I did get a little confused over some of the peripheral characters, having trouble keeping who was who straight. Leigh is another likable heroine, known as the quiet twin, always living a little in Hayley’s shadow. Gavin is another strong and sensitive hero, drawing Leigh out of her shell and helping her find her own ground to stand on.

There is one more book in this trilogy, The Third Twin, which I ordered immediately after finishing The Second Sister. After that I guess I’ll have to look for some of this author’s other books.

(I purchased The Firstborn at a library book sale and received The Second Sister through Book Mooch.)

A Game of Thrones

Today I started A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin. Not counting the appendix pages, this book is 807 pages long. Which means it will be awhile before I am back to post my thoughts on it! Lately, it seems like the only time I can find to read during the week is at night, when I get into bed, and sometimes I'm so tired I only make it through one chapter before turning out the lights. So far today, Sunday, I've read 56 pages.

I don't get HBO so I haven't seen any of the TV series, but I did add it to my already very long Netflix queue. However, currently I'm on season seven of House and season one of Friday Night Lights, so I won't be watching Game right away!

One Foot in the Grave (Night Huntress, Book 2)

JEANIENE FROST

Isn't that cover gorgeous? One Foot in the Grave picks up four years after the events of Halfway to the Grave. Cat Crawfield, half vampire,half human, has been working for an elite government unit, leading her own team and doing her part to eliminate as many rogue vampires as she can. She now has a reputation among the vampire world. She hasn't seen or had any contact with Bones, the vampire bounty hunter she worked with and fell in love with in the first book. And then unexpectedly she suddenly finds herself in the same room with him.

I raved about the first book, and I loved this one just as much. Cat, still sassy and sarcastic, has grown and matured, having settled into her new life and her job and being genuinely fond of her co-workers. Seeing Bones again brings up all sorts of emotions, feelings she never got over. But she isn't sure if he feels the same or if he hates her now, or maybe he moved on with his (undead) life and never even thought about her.

Now her life has been targeted, and in between dealing with trying to stay alive and find out who has put out the hit on her, she also has to figure out just where she and Bones stand with each other. And since she needs his help, there is no avoiding the issue. Or eventually the sex, and there is one very hot session that takes Cat somewhere she thought she'd never go.

As in the first book, the writing and dialogue is fresh and snappy and amusing. A couple of my favorite passages:

Lazarus stared at my glowing eyes uncomprehendingly. “It can't be. You breathe, your heart beats...it's impossible.”

“Yeah, isn't it? Life's a bitch and then one stabs you.”

And:

When I came up to the vampire that looked the closest to taking his companion on a one-way stroll, I didn't even bother with small talk. I just elbowed the pretty blonde he'd been speaking to aside and slapped my panties on his chest.

“As soon as I saw you,” I purred, “I knew I wouldn't be needing these.”

I don't have much else to say, except I loved this book and I can't wait to get the next one in the series.

Oh wait, I do have one more thought: Bones. Ahh, Bones. * sigh * Bones is the hottest, sexiest...words fail me. I love him. I do.

(I received this book through BookCrossing.)

June Acquisitions

This may be my  new monthly feature!

First, from Random House, thanks to Friday Reads, which I participate in via Twitter:

Next to Love, by Ellen Feldman

After I finish the book I'm currently reading (One Foot in the Grave by Jeaniene Frost) and then read the book I already have lined up next (A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin), this will be next. Alas, Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry, which I started like a month ago, will be put on the back burner once again.



I read a Maureen Child awhile back and really enjoyed it, so on my latest Amazon spree I purchased a few of her books:



Beyond the Boardroom; Claiming Her Billion-Dollar Birthright; and Forever...Again.



High Society Secret Pregnancy; The SEAL's Surrender. As well as:

                                              

Love is Murder, by Rebecca Brandewyne, Maureen Child, and Linda Winstead Jones; and Visions of Magic: An Awakening Novel, by Regan Hastings (isn't that cover just gorgeous?)

Some other acquisitions throughout the month of June:

                                 

Pacific Vortex!, by Clive Cussler - I don't really read much of this type of book, but after seeing the movie recently, I was inspired....

A Man Called Masters, by Lucy Walker - I just love her quaint little romances. Some of them are hard to find and can go for as much as $100 on Amazon! I think I paid about $6 for this one from Alibris.



Damage, by Josephine Hart; Taking Lives, by Michael Pye; and Should've Been a Cowboy by Vicki Lewis Thompson (another gorgeous cover - yeehaw!).

And, a little more on the naughty side:



Wicked Allure by Leslie C. Ferdinand (which I've already read and reviewed).




Spanked: Red Cheeked Erotica, edited by Rachel Kramer Bussell; and Naughty Spanking 3: 20 Erotic Stories, edited by Miranda Forbes.

Okay, I need to slow down in July and not buy anymore books as my TBR pile is way too high!

Wicked Allure

Leslie C. Ferdinand and Shirley H. Ferdinand

I wasn't really sure what to expect from this book. I mean, erotica, obviously, and from the back cover copy it seemed to actually have a real plot. But with erotica, you don't always know what you're going to get from an author you're unfamiliar with, whether it will be something really good – a love story, for instance, or something really crappy – a bunch of sex scenes cobbled together with a little narrative. So I was happy to discover a story about desperate love, denial of feelings, and determination to stay away from the other. .

The book opens with a lengthy, fairly hot, but slightly bizarre sex scene between Zach and Madi, which ends with them going their separate ways, neither really remembering that night and both thinking it was a drug (Zach) or alcohol (Madi) induced dream.

Three years prior, Zach and Madi had been in a hot and heavy relationship. Madi was young and very in love with Zach, wanting to settle down with him and start a family. But Zach had no desire to travel down that road, and when Madi walked in on him with another woman in his bed, she fled from him and her family and started life over in a new city. Now Madi's mother, who is also Zach's business partner, has conspired to bring her home and manipulated her into running the company's newest acquisition with Zach, a spa/sex club.

I'm pleased to tell you that Madi and Zach are two incredibly tortured souls, who we, the reader, get to know really well. Madi's whole family is dysfunctional, and her mother has never forgiven her for siding with her father in their divorce. The girls have grown up in the public eye. They're celebutantes, but not your typical spoiled little rich girls. When Madi and her sister find themselves having to buy groceries they don't even know where to start:

“Where do we begin, Madi?” Brianna's hesitant voice snapped her back to the present.

“I don't know. I-I think you go in alphabetical order.”

While this is Madi's story, her two sisters are important characters as well. The girls love each other, but they also fight and squabble amongst themselves. And since they have the Mother From Hell, it's no wonder they're all a little damaged. Karolyn's treatment of her daughters sometimes made me cringe, and I was glad when she left town and stayed away for awhile, though her influence was still strongly felt. .

Zach lost his mother as a teen, and his father crumpled under his grief and left his sons emotionally abandoned. Zach is a strong and charismatic man. He has a lot of failings, and he treated Madi pretty bad three years ago, but you can't help but be drawn to him. Sometimes I would think how in the world can Madi get past his actions. Then I would remind myself that drugs and alcohol affected his behavior, and he's trying to be a better man now. Yet despite that, at the core he hasn't changed, he still doesn't want that settle down and start a family life. It was a struggle to decide how I really felt about him. On one page I adored him, and then suddenly I wanted to smack him. We also meet his brother, Dakota, who's come back to town and is staying with Zach. Some of the scenes with the two brothers talking were my favorite, and it was very satisfying to see how their relationship slowly evolved.

I was once asked if I prefer novels that are plot driven or character driven. For me it's characters, first and foremost. A book can have absolutely no plot at all, but if the characters are well written it doesn’t matter. The characters in Wicked Allure fit that description. From the beginning, the authors put us inside both Madi's and Zach's heads, and by the end I was very emotionally invested in their story. Zach, particularly, burrowed into my heart as he grew and matured and redeemed himself and learned what's really important in life.

My only problem with the book was in the editing. There were a lot of small instances of the wrong spelling of a word being used, or a comma where I didn't think one was appropriate. Not anything major, but enough to be a little irritating.

While the back cover copy describes the book as multicultural, that essence of the story was matter of fact rather than drummed in, as it should be in real life.

To sum up, the authors have created a powerful story and vivid characters with an HEA that was a long time coming and extremely satisfying.

Oh, yeah, the sex – this is erotica after all! There's plenty of it, and it's good. But honestly, I don't think I would have really noticed if some or even most of it had been deleted. The rest of the book was that good.

(I received this book from the author through a giveaway on Reader Views.)

Second Chance Bride (Love Inspired Historical)

JANE MYERS PERRINE

Annie MacAllister is an unusual heroine for a Love Inspired romance – a former prostitute (with a heart of gold to quote the old cliche). Annie had a horrible childhood after her mother died and, orphaned at age 14, uneducated and illiterate, her only option for survival was to go to work in the local brothel. Having saved her money, she's now on a stagecoach for the town of Trail's End, hoping to put her old life behind her and make a fresh start. Then a horrible accident occurs, and a young woman named Matilda Cunningham, also traveling to Trail's End, is killed. While the driver goes for help, a distraught Annie mourns for the lovely young woman and wonders why she should be allowed to live instead. And then in a flash of inspiration (for lack of a better word), she goes through the other girl's belongings and puts on her clothes and shoes, and becomes Matilda.

Annie doesn't know much about Matilda, except that the other girl had a job waiting for her in Trail's End and someone would be meeting her when the stagecoach arrived. So she was somewhat dismayed to discover that Matilda was a schoolteacher.

John Sullivan, a member of the school board and president of the bank, meets Annie/Matilda and drives her to the schoolhouse. He's a little concerned that maybe she received a head injury in the stagecoach accident as she seems a little disoriented, asking him questions about her job, the answers to which he'd already detailed to her in letters and the contract she signed when she accepted the position.

John is a likable hero, though a little high hatted. He's a widower who is a wonderful father to his young daughter. He's a pillar of the community, but doesn't really give God much consideration in his everyday life. He seems more about what's proper and accepted than about spiritually right and wrong. He arrogantly tells Annie/Matilda that she is to basically, to paraphrase, live in the schoolhouse, attend church every Sunday, attend meetings when the Board of Education requires it of her, and not have a social life of her own. Okay, maybe that's not quite what he said, but that's how it came across to me. Naturally, he is attracted to the new schoolteacher, but he tamps down that attraction as it is improper. Not to mention she seems terrified if he gets too close to her.

While the story is told from both Annie's and John's POVs, the majority of it is Annie's story, and it's an engrossing story. Annie wonders how she will teach her students when she herself can neither read nor write, and I was pretty curious myself. She prays that she can have just a few days, maybe a week, to enjoy sleeping in a warm bed and having enough food for the first time since she can remember. While Annie seems quiet and shy, she is a strong character, with good morals despite her previous career. She is determined to never go back to that kind of life, and to stretch this schoolteacher gig out as long as she can. Annie overcomes so much during the course of the book that you can't help but admire her.

Eventually of course the truth must be told, and I was gratified that Annie's friend Amanda and the sheriff both wrap her in their love and friendship, with no judgment of her past. John's reaction on the other hand made me want to smack him. But I guess there has to be some conflict before they can have their HEA.

All in all, a very enjoyable story.

(I purchased this book at a library book sale.)

Halfway to the Grave (Night Huntress, Book 1)

JEANIENE FROST

Damn you, Jeaniene Frost! I have a shelf in my bookcase full of books that are part of series that I need to catch up on, and now you've hooked me on yet another!

Ok, I know, its really my own fault, because when I picked up Halfway to the Grave, I knew it was the first book in a series. But I'd read a couple of reviews about it some time back and, despite my resolve to not start any new series until I finish the ones (or at least one of the ones) that have piled up on me, I really wanted to read this book. So I caved. And it so lived up to my expectations!

There are a lot of vampire fiction/romance series out there. Some I've avoided like the plague (yes, Twilight, I'm referring to you), some I've wearied of and I have to space them out (sorry, Anita Blake, I like sex in a story but I like some story in between the sexual encounters, and lately you are all about nothing but sex sex sex), some I'm eager to continue with (Argeneau clan! Call me!), and some I've only gotten a little way into and haven't really decided  on (Lil Marchette, you kinda get on my nerves, but damn, I want more Ty Bonner!).

So here we have Catherine "Cat" Crawfield, who learned when she was a teenager that her rapist father was a vampire. She's human, but she's half vampire, with enhanced strength, senses, and eyes that glow green when she's pissed. She's always been a loner, never had any close friends, and her first boyfriend coerced her into sex and then dumped her. She and her mother share a room in her grandparents house, and it's a house, not a home, at least not for Cat. On the weekend, she trawls the local bars, looking for vampires to lure out, get alone, and then kill. Her mother has taught her that all vampires are evil and should die, and she's devoted her life to this mission, hoping to eventually find and kill her father.

Then her latest conquest-to-be turns the tables on her, and she wakes up in a cave, stripped to her underwear and chained to the wall. She's been kidnapped by Bones, a gorgeous vampire with a cool accent - I pictured/heard Chase from House in my head (is that weird?). Bones is a bounty hunter - like Cat, he kills vampires, when someone has offered a bounty for one. But he's also trying to take down a mysterious ring of vamps who are preying on young girls, and he thinks Cat is working for the enemy. Once she convinces him she's only working for herself, he decides she might be useful to him, and blackmails her into training with and then working for him. She'll still get to kill vampires, but he will choose the targets. The inevitable happens of course, and romance blossoms. But as with all romances, there are complications, and Cat is not sure they can be overcome.

Cat is an awesome heroine, bright and sarcastic. She's a ruthless killer when it comes to vampires, not so much with humans unless they are working for or with the vampires. Bones is a violent hero, also a ruthless killer but with fewer scruples than Cat. A couple of times I felt a little squeamish at some of his actions, but not so much that I didn't adore him regardless. I so want them to be able to be together, and I can't wait to read the next book in the series.

(I received this book through BookCrossing.)