Red-Headed Stepchild by Jaye Wells

Red-Headed Stepchild by Jaye Wells

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


I was hoping Sabina was going to be this tough kick-ass chick, and I got halfway and just didn't want to finish it. I'm not usually like that, even if I don't like something, I always get the hope that it will get better by the end.



You know those scenes in movies where you just want to look away cause you can't stand the stupidity? For me Sabina just acts like a teenager trying to win over the love of an unconcerned grandparent. But she's a grown woman (or vampire)!



Really, she stupidly gets in these crazy situations. I was the entire time wanting to scream at her "DON'T DO THAT!".



I suppose that it's always part of a character development, but did she really need to start so dislikable?? If so, I'm not stiking around to find out...



If you like Kate Daniel Series or Chicagoland Vampires, do not read this , it's nothing like it!



EDIT:



Okay. I was running out of choices on what to read or listen to when I found out that Cynthia Holloway reads this book. So I gave it another go.



I have to admit I gave myself a pat on the back for sticking through the whole book. Sabina and I just don't get along. We have all the opposit instincts. Why I want kill someone, she's becoming a victim. While I want to ignore her new frivolous fae housemate, Sabina is calling her a friend. While I expect to have a scary big monster demon for a pet, Sabina makes a clown out of him. We just don't see eye to eye.



Yes, I'm listening the next ones in hope that Sabina won't be an assassin vampire victim for too long.....













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Shadow Kin by M.J. Scott

Shadow Kin by M.J. Scott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Shadow Kin is aussie author M. J. Scott's debut novel. It's written on the first person point of view (POV) but of two different characters. It took me a couple of chapters to realize that the picture of little moon before a chapter meant it was from one character, and the sun picture for the other character. I thought M. J. came up with innovative idea especially for me. Though I love PNR, I often can't connect with characters from a 3rd person POV.

Lily is a slave/assassin wraith, the only one she knows of her kind, to a vampire lord. Lily has the skill of shadowing herself and walkthrough walls at night (moon). She is sent to kill Simon, a sunmage (you get the drill), butt fails when he catches her and calls up sunlight to stop her from shadowing.

M.J. built a world where the peace of all races is depended on a fragile balance of power between the Blood, the beasts and the humans.

I liked Lily. She's not a kickass heroine, but she pretends well. She was mistreated and beaten at the Blood court most of her life, and I couldn't help thinking "why doesn't she just stay shadowed?", the answer would be something like that she would be afraid of what would happen if she did, and for that she lost a lot of points with me.

Simon started off like a very standard martyr. He wanted to save all, and his drive was what lead Lily and Simon together. The only thing that bugged me was that halfway the book he was acting like a total jerk and I just didn't get why.

M.J. came up with a different idea that worked well. It didn't feel like a paranormal romance as the heroe and heroine had more issues than Time magazine.

It's an original fantasy novel that will appeal to Urban Fantasy fans that will leave you wondering what M.J. will come up with on the next installment.










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Hit List by Laurell K. Hamilton

Hit List by Laurell K. Hamilton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm beginning to realize the reason I still read this series, is because it's still fun to criticize how a wonderful series and SO BAD.

About 12 books ago, it was a superb series. This time I picked it up keeping in mind I was in for some porn.

I was wrong.

Yes, Anita is still a slut.

Yes, the ardeur (book destroyer) is still around.

But this was more like the old books. A little bit anyway.

In this book there was ONE sex scene. Would you believe it? For Anita Blake? AND it was a very tame one too. Of course if Laurell is writing only one sex scene to go in this book, she wouldn't make it all the same, so she picked a new guy to add to Anita's man collection.

It has more of Edward in it. I think she was aiming for something similar to Obsidian Butterfly but failed miserably.

Edward in this book goes only by reputation. Everyone is scared of him. Though he is present in the whole book, only once he shows up with a kickass weapon. The credit goes to the weapon, not the person using it.

What I didn't like about this book:

* To make Anita sound so smart, other characters get really dumb down. I'm sick of reading lines like: "But that's not what we learned in the lectures."

* Why the f*** doesn't somebody kill Olaf? He is an awful person, and everyone has been told that if he really kills Anita, Edward will kill everyone else. So why wouldn't they all just kill him and save them some a lot of hassle?

* The long conversations between foreplay and the sex. Get on with, for god's sake. You can't even skip the sex scene because Laurell might drop something important in the middle of it.

* The bad guys have a change of heart right when she is captured? I didn't get that.

* And last but not least, Anita has got all these mad powers, and she never develops them. She is a necromancer, and she can control vampires, heals them. But Ash is still scarred. Stops there. She has all the lycanthrope DNA. What does she do with it? She pictures tigers inside her head. What more do you ask? Once in a while it will heal her. Once in while it will give her a sense of smell. But only when the plot calls for it.


Why 3 stars?

I don't know. I guess if you have kept on going with this series this far this book is much better compared to the last books.


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Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It's really 2 1/2 stars. That is all for the first half of the book.


I felt cheated by this book. I was so excited when I first started it. It was beautifully written. Calla is this poweful warrior, who holds the loyallty of her pack. She sounded strong. I liked how the author made us wait a few chapters before explaining the worldbuilding to the reader. That was another element that made me have late nights, just so I could find out a bit more.

She's meant to marry Ren. I liked everything about him. Yes, he was (horny) dating other girls. But he's seveteen so I don't blame him. Calla didnt seem to care. She saw as marrying him her duty, and she liked him, but she didn't like him enough to be jealous. She was fine with that until the union, and I was happy she rejected him while she wasn't the only one with him. But once Ren made the decision that he would be with Calla only, even before their union, he stuck to it.

Now, I really don't understand Calla's attraction to Shay. The whole book was cringing worthy, because of Shay. He was pathetic really. He saw she was with another guy, why on earth would humiliate yourself to ask to have a private conversation with someone else's girlfriend?

From there things just went down hill. I hate cheating, so I really started to hate Calla. Especially when she was cheating with Shay. Urgh. For someone who had never kissed before, she was becoming pretty slutty kissing two guys.

She went from a powerful warrior to a cheating bitch.

I'm not such a big feminist, but when someone says "Sit on my lap, woman", a strong warrior would have responded with a right hook, but instead, the powerfull warrior and alpha female, just does what she's told.

It ended with a cliffhanger, and me liking Ren more and more. I would read the next book (only because I devore all books), but I wouldn't recommend it to my friends.

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Changes by Jim Butcher

 

Long ago, Susan Rodriguez was Harry Dresden's lover-until she was attacked by his enemies, leaving her torn between her own humanity and the bloodlust of the vampiric Red Court. Susan then disappeared to South America, where she could fight both her savage gift and those who cursed her with it.

Now Arianna Ortega, Duchess of the Red Court, has discovered a secret Susan has long kept, and she plans to use it-against Harry. To prevail this time, he may have no choice but to embrace the raging fury of his own untapped dark power. Because Harry's not fighting to save the world...

He's fighting to save his child.

Starts with a bang and it finishes with a boom!

Finally, this wasn’t just a case story. On the first page of the book, Harry gets a call from Suzan saying they have a daughter.

This wasn’t one like the latest books, where the villains and story just kept going in circles. I loved this book, and I can’t wait to see how Jim will go on with the next book.

Rating: 5 of 5

Small Favor by Jim Butcher

Another episode in this fabulous series.I love the Dresden Files Series, and it grows on you with each book.

Again, I listened to James Marsters fabolous voice. I don’t know what I will do when I finish this series.
Small Favors is one of those books that Harry just goes through the same motions as before.

All elements common to the series were there. Fun dialogues, favourite characters, magic, vampires, faries and demons. Though, I've been expecting Harry to grow more into his powers, into what he was born to do, or to find a love interest, anything. No, Small Favors were full of adventures, which all in all, is a very enjoyable read. I just hope Mr. Butcher is not growing too comfortable in the "Get Harry nearly smitten until he saves the day" plot.

Mr. Butcher's writting quality is absolutely brilliant, and I love bookmarking his books for future reference.

Rating: 4 out 5 Stars

Would-be Witch by Kimberly Frost

The family magic seems to have skipped over Tammy Jo Trask. All she gets are a few untimely visits from long-dead, smart-mouthed family ghost Edie. But when her locket-an heirloom that happens to hold Edie's soul-is stolen in the midst of a town-wide crime spree, it's time for Tammy to find her inner witch.

After a few experiences with her dysfunctional magic, Tammy turns to the only person in small-town Duval, Texas, who can help: the very rich and highly magical Bryn Lyons. He might have all the answers-and a 007 savoir faire to boot-but the locket isn't the only heirloom passed down in Tammy's family. She also inherited a warning: stay away from Lyons.

From the beginning I expected a very light story. It's funny and it's well written.

What was missing? Well, when reading from a first POV, you expect the character to be as smart as you, or smarter. Tammy Jo is just so bluh. I didn't like the main character, and I didn't like how every supernatural being was thrown into the mix so quickly.

I just can't take her serious, and the story is not very realitisc in terms of events. Shooting a shot gun is bound to call attention. If someone drugged you, you wouldn't just walk away and forget about it.

Her ex-husband treats her really nice and at the same time condenscending.

Reading Tammy Jo just wasn't as fun as the funny lines in it. It was very frustrating, and I found myself skipping pages and pages at a time.

I don't think I will read the other books in this series.

Rating: 2 out of 5

First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones

A smashing, award-winning debut novel that introduces Charley Davidson: part-time private investigator and full-time Grim Reaper.

Charley sees dead people. That’s right, she sees dead people. And it’s her job to convince them to go into the light. But when these very dead people have died under less than ideal circumstances (i.e. murder), sometimes they want Charley to bring the bad guys to justice. Complicating matters are the intensely hot dreams she’s been having about an Entity who has been following her all her life...and it turns out he might not be dead after all. In fact, he might be something else entirely.

This is a thrilling debut novel from an exciting newcomer to the world of paranormal romantic suspense

Charley Davidson is the Grim Reaper. The Grim Reaper.

Yes, I know what you're thinking. This is another 'I see ghosts stories'. But it's a damn good one! The way I see it, there are many ways to tell a story. And Darynda Jones does a spectacular job. I was hooked from the first chapter.

Charley is funny, and doesn't take herself serious. She has a bad case of ADD, that makes me laugh out aloud.

Somethings in the story didn't make sense to me, as in, how can she have a crush on someone who threatened to rape her. But then I figure, she is so weird and different, that it became understandable why she doesn't see things quite the way I would.

The story is sexy, sometimes light, sometimes just damn roll-on-the-floor-laughing-and-other-people-look-at-you-funny funny.

Congratulations to Darynda Jones for start out a series with a BAM!

Rating: 5 stars

White Night by Jim Butcher

I have been listening to the audiobooks of the Dresden Files Series, and I, being an aspiring author, feel more and more inadequate after every book.

The only cons that I have while listening to it, is that I also want to read the book, to see how Jim manages to construct his sentences so vividly, and sophisticated and at the same time maintaining the snarky sense of humour. I have had been in horrible situations that I listened to the book, while pausing and looking up pages to see how he did it.

I have tried to reading the books from beginning to end, and James Marsters voice continues to sound in my head, and I end up craving more of his voice. Thus, swicthing back to the audiobook.

Harry Dresden is a wizard in Chicago who can't stay away from trouble. This time he is brought in by a Murphy to investigate deaths of young witches in Chicago, and soon he finds himself in midst of the Vampire Courts power struggles.

At this point in the series, I have grown to love all the characters in it. Thomas, Murphy... I love Bob, a spirit that resides in a human skull, and loves to read romantic novels. I think he is hilarious. If anyone has read this series, and has reached this far out, they are bound to be an addict.

I usually read Urban Fantasy, with a touch of romance. I enjoy a first person POV. Usually a tough heroine going soft over a guy. The Dresden Files is the only series that I enjoy which doesn't fit my victim profile. Though, I have to say, I'd recommend it to anyone. Jim is an excellent writer, and he has created a world full of myths, and loving and hateful and livid characters.

I want to be just like Jim Butcher when I grow up. Just whithout the hair... and the beard, and the manly parts... Well.. I mean, I want to write just like Jim when I grow up.

Rating: 5 Stars