Dilemmas and Frustrations

I have a dilemma. I'm on page 122 of 273 pages of the third book I'm judging for the Passionate Plume Awards. This book is bad and keeps getting worse. I've posted before that it's very rare for me to completely trash a book. I figure anything is better than what I could ever write since I lack the creative writing gene. But this book is so bad even I could have done better. Seriously. And I don’t think I’ve ever said that before.

Usually, I’ll stick with a book until the bitter end in hopes that it might get a wee bit better. But this book is so jaw-dropping awful, and getting worse as I read, that I don’t think I can waste anymore of my life reading it.

The final straw? The Big Misunderstanding. The leads are suckin’ tongue on her couch. Her brother walks in. She even introduces him as her brother and the two men shake hands. The brother casually goes and gets a beer- no hostility, just friendliness. Suddenly we go from swapping spit, then friendly introductions, to “You don’t have to lie and say he‘s your brother! Just admit he’s your lover, dammit!” Followed by the slamming of the front door as he leaves. That’s when I had to stop reading. The whole book up to that point was one “WTF? That makes no sense” scene after another, but that one was just so bad that, if this had been a paperback, I would have burned it. GAK!

So here’s my dilemma… On the judging scale of 1.0 to 9.0, this book so far is a 1.0. Actually, it’s a 0.0, but that’s not an option. But is it fair to not finish it? Am I shirking my responsibility as a judge if I don’t suck it up and endure this offal? Will I raise my score to say a 1.2 by the end and would that make a difference? Or should I just cut bait now after reading 45% of this trash and not waste anymore of my life?

And you know what's really weird? I've never heard of this author or her epublisher. But I went to her website and, according to her, her previous books have won all kinds of awards. So how can I find this book so excruciatingly bad?

I decided to delay that decision by moving on to the fourth book for now.

The fourth book is a bit frustrating to judge. It’s the 4th book in a series and could easily have been a 9.0 The world building is rich, the characters interesting, the storyline compelling, and the erotic scenes are smoking’. But for some reason, the author drops the ball on the important pivotal scenes- and ONLY those scenes! If she had just spent a bit more time on these scenes, not only would this book totally rock, but I would be rushing over to the epublisher to buy all the preceding books! Instead, I found myself kinda sitting here blinking after reading them.

Here’s an example, and I’m totally paraphrasing but you’ll get the idea:

Hero: Werewolves are real and I’m a werewolf.
Heroine: Oh, okay.
Hero: You have a latent werewolf gene and you’re going to change at the next full moon.
Heroine: Oh, okay.
Hero: I know we just met briefly yesterday for the first time, but you’re my mate for life and I love you.
Heroine: Oh, okay. I love you too.
Hero: Let’s Fuck
Heroine: Okay.
Me: *blink blink*

See what I mean? The preceding scenes up to this point were setting up these important revelations, and all we get is *blink blink*! The story then gets back into being rich and riveting again.

There were two other important pivotal moments in the book that also left me blinking. So it’s frustrating me that I can’t tell the author how close she came to having a completely kick-butt book. If only she had spent more time fleshing out those pivotal scenes! It’s almost like she sketched an outline of those scenes first, built the rest of the story around them, but then forgot to go back and rewrite those scenes to be as great as the rest of the story.

So, in fairness, I can only give this book a 7.5- I dropped a half point for each of those scenes. Hopefully that will be enough to get her to the second round of judging and a second opinion, with a chance at a Plume Award.

For a Few Demons More by Kim Harrison

Kim Harrison - Rachel Morgan, The Hollows
1. Dead Witch Walking
2. The Good, The Bad, and The Undead
3. Every Which Way But Dead
4. A Fistful of Charms
5. For a Few Demons More

Series Category: Peanut M&Ms - mmmm...devour... sigh... then reach for the next one. My daily dose of Insanity-B-Gone. Most books fall in this category. (A-,B+,B)
Flame Height: 2" out of 9"

From Amazon about "A Few Demons More": "From Publishers Weekly: In bestseller Harrison's fifth demon-kicking extravaganza to feature Rachel Morgan, the first in hardcover (after 2006's A Fistful of Charms), the Cincinnati-based bounty hunter and spell caster still possesses "the focus," a 5,000-year-old demon-crafted Were artifact. With the help of her pixie partner Jenks and Detective Glenn, Rachel must deal with demons, the elf Trent Kalamack and master vampire Piscary, who along with angry Weres, struggle for possession of the artifact. Meanwhile, a serial killer is on the loose and Rachel's alpha werewolf pal, David Hue, becomes the prime suspect of the FIB (aka the human-run Federal Inderland Bureau). Action-packed and full of Rachel's persistent erotic ruminations, this titillating tale includes a shocking finale that will leave fans panting for the next installment in the Hollows series. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. "

Dammit. Dammit. DAMMIT!! Is there any way to UN-READ "For a Few Demons More"?

First of all, this is a hard cover for some reason. All right, not SOME reason. Someone figured they could make more money from a hard cover. Well I bought it at 40% off at Walden's so it worked out to be about the same as a trade paperback. But the point is that there was no GOOD reason to make this a hard cover. And because of the world shattering events that happen in this one, word is undoubtedly going to leak out about what happens and spoil it for all those readers that need to wait for the paperback.

The first half of this book kinda drags and meanders aimlessly. I had a bit of trouble sticking with it. The second half starts to pick up and get more interesting, but it's that last third that took my breath away and ripped my heart out.

One thing (among many actually) that makes this series unique for me is that I'm not particularly fond of 2 out of the 3 central characters. Rachel is not sympathetic and Ivy I just find irritating and wish she would go away or only show up occasionally. That says a lot for this series that I can still like it so much for the secondary characters alone. Now Jenks and his family I adore. Trent, Quen, Ceri, Keasley, even Al and Nick, I find intriguing (or did till now with one of them). I'm genuinely fond of David and Glenn. And I'm pretty sure I'm a little in love with Kisten- am I the only one who sees Travis Fimmel in my head when Kisten is onstage?

WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS TO FOLLOW. THESE WILL RUIN THE BOOK FOR YOU IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT. To read, left click, hold and drag to highlight between the "**"

** I SOOO enjoyed Al's romp as Lee. Why do I enjoy that evil bastard so much? And Rachel arresting Trent at his wedding was a hoot on so many levels.

But this may be my next to the last Hollows book. Trent was always the very bad boy that we couldn't help but lust after, now he's become unredeemable and just a very nasty, power hungry sociopath.

And without Kisten, no one and nothing stands between Ivy and Rachel any longer and they both want more out of their relationship. That just doesn't interest me. Not only because it's F/F but because, as I said before, I just don't like Ivy at all and I'm not so sure about Rachel either. Killing off Piscary was a good move though, because he's been the Big Bad (even from prison) long enough that it was time to move on. His death will certainly shake the Hollows up!

Now, for the subject I've been avoiding. Kisten's final death. Dear God, that tore my heart out! I could actually see that beautiful boy's body torn up and his beautiful face stilled in death. I still can't believe it and I don't want it to be true. But it is and I believe I'm actually grieving for him. I can't help but feel that Kim killed him off so that Ivy and Rachel could get together, though, and that just makes it even worse. **

So I'll buy the next book to see where Kim is now going to take the series after this major shake-up, but if it goes where I think it will, I'm just not interested. And I'm upset that she would do what she did just to take the story into a direction that I really don't want to see.

In the words of Toby Keith "I wish I didn't know now, what I didn't know then; I wish I could start this whole thing over again... I just don't wanna know how it ends..."

Travis Fimmel as our beautiful Kisten...

Who Needs a Horse?

I'm still buried in work, but I've managed to read 2 of the 4 books I'm judging for the Passionate Plume Awards. I really, REALLY HATE reading anything in Adobe- the navigation just plain sucks! So I've been copying each one into Word and reading it through Word's print preview feature. Not as nifty as MS Reader, but soooo much better than Adobe.

Anyway, the first one was a so-so werewolf story. I gave it a generous 6.5 out of 9.0- too many inconsistencies and "Huh? WTF?" moments which could have been offset by character or story development. But I've read the story and seen the characters too many times before. I don't think we're supposed to divulge which books we are judging so I'll just leave it at that.

The second was a really good Contemporary Western Paranormal. Yep, Vampire cowboys! Or is that Cowboy Vampires? I gave it an 8.5 out of 9. The half point deduction was because she was skirting a bit too close in a couple of spots to Christine Feehan's Carpathian series.

So here's what the heroine might have seen around the ranch...

Course, I'm just posting these pics so that I can better visualize the story, you understand.

All Work and No Play...

... makes me one frustrated old bitch!

Good News? I'm posting this from my new HP TX1000 FINALLY!!!

Bad news? It arrived on Monday and I've had so much work to do that I didn't find time to even open the box until last night. I swear this little shit was sitting there calling my name and I didn't dare touch it! AAAARRRRGGGHHH!!!!

First impressions? Vista versus XP is confusing as hell, but I like this little TX1000. However, the transformer on the AC adapter/charger gets almost too hot to touch which makes me nervous as hell. And the 6 cell battery drains rapidly even if I lower the brightness on the display screen. I'm also having connection range issues. I'm not sure if the range problem is the fault of the card in the TX1000 or our modem/router from Time warner. Probably a little of both. My older kids Toshiba laptops don't seem to have a range issue, but the kid's Sony desktop does- it uses a USB adapter, however, and I would think that the card in this TX1000 would have at least the range that my older kids get on their 2 year old Toshibas.

I discovered a real This-Just-Pisses-Me-Off problem with Vista Ultimate. I ordered the TX1000 with Vista Ultimate because the "Tell me more" HP box said it combined the features of Vista Home and Business. What I did not realize was that Vista Ultimate is 64 bit and Vista Home is 32 bit. That means nothing to ME, but evidently it's a VERY BIG DEAL when it comes to finding compatible software. McAfee does not offer security for it AT ALL, which I found out after a head-banging couple of sessions with a McAfee on-line tech. And even AOL 9.0VR has features that are not available with Vista Ultimate because it's 64 bit. WTF??? So, after checking a couple of review sites, I ended up downloading a trial of Norton 360 on their recommendations. It was the Top Rated or Top Recommendation at every site I checked. But even that has a couple of features not available for Vista Ultimate because of this damn 64 bit shit.

One more little piss-off quirk: I HATE HATE HATE that hover feature on the touch-pad!!! If you let the curser linger over a link or option, it assumes you want to click it and does so. My kid's Toshiba is the same way. There has just GOT to be a way of shutting that damn irritating feature off! I found the mouse settings, and that allows shut off, but I can't find the shut-off in the touch pad settings. GGGGGGRRRRRRR!

So anyway, I've downloaded the scoring sheet and 4 ebooks that I'm judging for the Passionate Plume Awards and plan on getting them read and scored over the next couple of days. That is when I'm not working... which I really need to be doing right now.

So, unfortunately, playtime is now over.

*sigh*

QB's Quickies

"So, read any good books lately?"
"What did you think of...?"
~
Here's the Quickie answers to those questions.
(Although they are not all recent reads.)
Click on the Links for more info.


Patricia Briggs - Mercy Thompson Series
1. Moon Called
2. Blood Bound

Series Category: Lava Cake - reads like warm Chocolate Lava Cake... à la Mode... sprinkled with nuts. (A,A-)
Flame Height: 3" out of 9"

You can tell by just looking at the book covers that Mercedes Thompson is definitely NOT the same old-same old heroine!! She's an auto mechanic who owns her own garage which she bought from the fey she apprenticed with. Her best defensive strategy when in danger? Shift into a coyote and run like hell! She was raised in a werewolf pack, she's friends with vamps and fey, and while two werewolves want her for their own reasons, she's not ready to make any kind of commitment to either- in fact even DATING them is out of the question for her.

If the rest of this series is as kick-butt, slap-yo-mamma enjoyable as the first two books, then I will probably elevate this series to Crème Brûlée. It has the "feel" of the early Anita Blake books, but other than the fact that both series contain shifters, vamps, and fey, that's where the similarities end.

The anthology "On the Prowl" (08/2007) takes place in Mercy's world, but how the hell am I gonna hold out till January 2008 for the next full-length Mercy story!! ARRGGGHHH!


Savannah Russe - The Darkwing Chronicles
1. Beyond the Pale
2. Past Redemption
3. Beneath the Skin
~
Series Category: M&Ms - a bit lighter and/or not quite as satisfying as Peanut M&Ms, but still Oh-So-Enjoyable! (B,B-,C+,C)

Flame Height: 4"-6" out of 9"
~
Contemporary vampire/spy/crime series. Added attraction of memorable secondary characters, most of whom have good senses of humor. Enjoyable reads, new take on the vampire lore.

QB's Quickies

"So, read any good books lately?"
"What did you think of...?"
~
Here's the Quickie answers to those questions.
(Although they are not all recent reads.)
Click on the Links for more info.



Rebecca York - Moon Series
1. Killing Moon 06/03/2003 - Ross and Megan
2. Edge of the Moon 08/05/2003 - Jack and Kathryn
3. Witching Moon 10/07/2003 - Adam and Sara
4. Crimson Moon 01/04/2005 - Sam and Olivia
4.5 Cravings - Anthology 06/29/2004 - Grant and Antonia
5. Shadow of the Moon 06/06/2006 - Lance and Savannah
6. New Moon 03/06/2007 - Logan and Rinna

*Note that Full Moon (02/07/2006) is a re-release of Books 1 and 2.
*Note that Moon Swept (11/07/2006) is a re-release of Books 3 and 4.

Series Category: Peanut M&Ms - mmmm...devour... sigh... then reach for the next one. My daily dose of Insanity-B-Gone. Most books fall in this category. (A-,B+,B)
Flame Height: 5.5" out of 9"
~
First off, let me say that I was more than a bit irked when I went to Ms. York's website and found that she couldn't be bothered to list or organize her books. It doesn't take a techno-genius to do that, ya know! And if you don't appear to care, why should we?
~
Back to the books... Completely different take on werewolves. No packs. Female babies don't survive, many males die during their first (teen years) transformation, and ALL are alpha and cannot be near each other or they get very aggressive.
~
This last book, "New Moon" and the ending of the previous book, "Shadow of the Moon" have veered off into "Woo-Woo" string theories of parallel universes. I'm not liking it at all. "New Moon" is just barely an M&M. I sure hope Ms. York gets this series back on track and stays in OUR universe!


Vicki Pettersson - Zodiac Series
1. The Scent of Shadows: The First Sign of the Zodiac

Category: Peanut M&Ms - mmmm...devour... sigh... then reach for the next one. My daily dose of Insanity-B-Gone. Most books fall in this category. (A-,B+,B)
Flame Height: 4" out of 9"

Holy Shit!! Sit down, strap in and buckle up before reading this one! What a non-stop thrill ride! Start this one early in the day because you WILL NOT be putting it down until you're finished with it. Hell, Ms. Pettersson barely gives us places to stop and catch our breath, so putting it down to go to sleep just ain't gonna happen!

The next one's already on my Constant Cravings list. I just hope that Ms. Pettersson pulls back and avoids what could easily become a runaway Mary Sue express.

Two things bugging me: Who sent the note to Xavier? She assumed it was the Big Bad because her father took the note as truth upon seeing it. But the Big Bad didn't know, and I assume that means his Shadow minions didn't know. So who else would Xavier automatically believe? Her mother, so she would fulfill her destiny? But why not send it to Joanna or Warren then? Why cut-off her ability to hide in plain sight? Mystery or Inconsistancy?

Second, Xavier knew about her pregnancy. Why didn't he tell the Big Bad? Is it possible that he didn't know that her rapist was a Shadow? Is it also possible that he didn't know Zoe (her mother) was the Light Archer and therefore never thought to tell any of the Shadows? Yet another "Inconsistancy or Mystery" question, yes?


Jean Johnson - Sons of Destiny
1. The Sword
~
Category: M&Ms - a bit lighter and/or not quite as satisfying as Peanut M&Ms, but still Oh-So-Enjoyable! (B,B-,C+,C)

Flame Height: 5" out of 9"

First of a series of 8 books about 8 Warrior/Mage brothers (4 sets of twins... OUCH!) in (what I guess to be) an alternate universe similar to our medieval times except magic is the norm. A prophecy about the disaster(s) that will happen as each brother falls in love prompts their people to exile them to an isolated island. At first, I thought all the characters thrown in at once would allow them to be forgettable until each got their own book, but Ms. Johnson makes sure we get to know each one. Lots of humor, and I got to care about the boys. Fun heroine. Enjoyable read and I've been adding the rest of the series to my Constant Cravings when possible.
~

Candace Steele Vampire Killer Trilogy by Cameron Dean

Cameron Dean - Candace Steele Vampire Killer Trilogy
1. Passionate Thirst
2. Luscious Craving
3. Eternal Hunger

Series Category: Lava Cake - reads like warm Chocolate Lava Cake... à la Mode... sprinkled with nuts. (A,A-)
Flame Height: 6" out of 9"

From Amazon: "Candace Steele is as tough as she is alluring. For her, killing vampires isn’t just a job–it’s personal: She’s still haunted by erotic memories of an all-consuming affair with Ash, a seductive vampire who thrilled her–and then nearly destroyed her. Now, working undercover in a Las Vegas casino, she seduces the most powerful undead–right before she drives a stake through their unbeating hearts."

The entire trilogy is not what we have seen before. There's romance, hard-boiled detective, paranormal, erotic scenes, POV shifts, tense/time shifts (there's probably a writer's term for that), no one is all good or all bad, all characters have something irritating and something to attract us. So, should it come as a surprise that this unique, absorbing series should also have an ending we didn't expect?

Also unexpected was that Ms. Dean did not write more books that continued the Vampire Killer plot before moving on to a more complex storyline. Instead, she wrote a complex, tight, emotion and action packed trilogy with the first book's subplot becoming the main plot in the second. The second book's subplot became the focus of the third. BTW, I tagged the word "trilogy" to this series because I can't imagine there would be more unless it is with secondary characters.

I'm going to have to be VERY careful to keep everything EXTREMELY vague because one of this series' strengths is that events are re-examined from book to book so that we either see them from another POV or we learn enough about them that we begin to either understand or see them in a totally different light. So I want to make sure I give no hints that will change the way prior events are viewed as they are first read. In fact, after reading Book 1- "Passionate Thirst", I'm glad I never looked at any reviews or summaries for Books 2 and 3 because it would have... maybe not ruined... but would have erased some of the refreshing complexities that flow through these books.

I've read that a lot of people were actually angry about the ending of the trilogy because they were expecting a more traditional HEA. Yes, the ending climactic scene shocked me. There is resolution yet not the one we wanted or expected. And the final scene back at the house was so bittersweet and so emotional. At least Ms. Steele gave us that last final gift. This trilogy will probably linger in my mind for quite awhile precisely BECAUSE we didn't get the expected ending.

In my search for Ms. Dean's website to link to (I can't find one), I ran across speculation that Ms. Dean doesn't actually exist and this was ghost-written by another author or a group of authors. I don't know if that's true but it sure is interesting, yes?

Bits and Pieces

♥Have you started Keri Arthur's Riley Jenson Guardian series yet? I bought the first one, Full Moon Rising (12/26/2006), as a downloaded audio book from Audible.com The narrator, Justine Eyre, really brought Riley and most of the other characters alive with her Aussie accent (except her Quinn voice just didn't work for me). So I've been waiting for Book 2, Kissing Sin (01/31/2007), to be released on audio because I enjoyed FMR so much in that format. Well now Book 3, Tempting Evil (02/27/2007), is out and Book 4, Dangerous Games (03/27/2007), will soon be out, but still no audio books. So I emailed Keri last night and received her answer this morning:
"HI Bev
so far, no mention has been made of bringing the rest of the books out in audio. I'm hoping that they will eventually, but I just don't know yet. As soon as I do know anything, I'll put it up on my site, as there are lots of other people who'd like audio too :)
cheers
keri"
First of all, how responsive is she?? Way cool! But DAMN, I just can't wait indefinitely to find out what happens next!! Look at how quick she is releasing the books!! So I'm going to go ahead and add all of them to my "Constant Cravings" list. I do wonder, however, why Book 5, Embraced by Darkness (07/31/2007), doesn't come out until July.

♥Speaking of audio books... where the hell are they??? There just doesn't seem to be too many good ones being released through either Audible.com or audiobookstanddl.com the past couple of months!! It seems like there is mostly self-help and radio shows being released. What's up with that??!!

♥I just got word that I'm going to REALLY enjoy the preview of The Harlequin (06/05/2007) that is in the back of the paperback release (03/27/07) of Danse Macabre by Laurell K. Hamilton. I won an ebay charity auction about 1.5 years ago to have my name used in a future Anita Blake book. I knew Laurell was probably going to make me a corpse but that was all I knew. I wasn't even sure if she'd work my name into this particular book. So all I really know right now, since I haven't read it yet, is that the preview mentions my name and that my character was killed by a vampire. I imagine I'll be doing a happy dance when I get it and again when The Harlequin is released.

I probably should be a bit nervous, too. When I finish one of Laurell's books, it takes me a while to wrap my head around the fact that I cannot go to St. Louis and catch up with these people... er... characters! Now, with "me" in the book, my hold on reality may get seriously compromised!!!

Good News/Bad News

WOO-fuckin'-HOO!!!! My HP TX1000 (convertible laptop) has shipped... FINALLY!! (see previous Bonbons for the techno-hell stories behind this purchase)
~
It was supposed to ship on 3/13 so I called them last night to find out why it hadn't. It turns out they were short on some part that was needed but I was told it would ship within the next two business days. They then said that they were now offering a free all-in-one printer with it- they charge you then you send a rebate in for the full amount. They also credited the shipping fees for it. Then the call center tech (Yes, another one from India AND he said he had a cold! ACK!!!) emailed me all the links I would need for the rebate AND he emailed me a $50 coupon to be used in the HP online store!! It seems HP just may appreciate and value their customers afterall!!! Thanks HP!
~
Bad news? When I went to the Fed-Ex site to track it, it shows it was shipped from China at 12:01 and did not make today's Fed-Ex deadline. DAMN! So, I'm assuming my 2nd day shipping means 2nd business day and I won't get the shipment until Tuesday instead of Monday (originally Thursday of THIS week). AAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

Most Wanted Menage

A few days ago, I said that Raoul Bova had replaced Josh Wald at the top of my "I'd Do Him" list. I've decided that may not necessarily be true. I mean LOOK at them!! No way in hell I could I choose!! So instead, I've decided to create a new list... the "Most Wanted Menage" list! And they can BOTH be at the very top of THAT one! And, btw, I'm talking about a "true" menage here, but the only problem with that is that I probably wouldn't even want to join them... I'd just want to sit back and WATCH them. OMG what a remarkable sight THAT would be!

Josh Wald:

Raoul Bova:

Josh:

Raoul:

Josh:

Raoul:

Josh:

Raoul:

Has there ever been two more beautiful men? Can't you just picture them together? I'm just melting here!

QB's Quickies

"So, read any good books lately?"
"What did you think of...?"
~
Here's the Quickie answers to those questions.
(Although they are not all recent reads.)
Click on the Links for more info.



Colleen Gleason - The Gardella Vampire Chronicles
1 - The Rest Falls Away

Category: Peanut M&Ms - mmmm...devour... sigh... then reach for the next one. My daily dose of Insanity-B-Gone. Most books fall in this category. (A-,B+,B)
Flame Height: 3" out of 9" (actually I don't remember if there was any flames, so I'm being generous)

Basically, Buffy in the Regency period. Fresh and fun. A strong start to an intriguing new series.



Nina Bangs - Castle of Dark Dreams Trilogy
1 - Wicked Nights
2 - Wicked Pleasure

Series Category: M&Ms - a bit lighter and/or not quite as satisfying as Peanut M&Ms, but still Oh-So-Enjoyable! (B,B-,C+,C)

Flame Height: 6" out of 9"
~
That mischievous cosmic matchmaker, Sparkle Stardust, is back wreaking havoc on more unsuspecting couples. This time at a kind of Fantasy Island Castle for adults, filled with all sorts of paranormal folk. Silliness ensues. Lightweight, but enjoyable way to pass a few hours.



Robin Schone - Scandalous Lovers

Category: Peanut M&Ms - mmmm...devour... sigh... then reach for the next one. My daily dose of Insanity-B-Gone. Most books fall in this category. (A-,B+,B)
Flame Height: 5" out of 9"

As usual, Robin Schone "un-Romanticizes" Victorian England by giving us a glimpse of what it was really like... both fascinating and horrifying. Older heroine (49) is a refreshing change. I must admit, though, that this was a tough read- it was a bit stilted and awkward- but that may have been RS' attempt to mimic the feeling of the time period. Not my favorite of hers (The Lady's Tutor is), but definitely worth reading.

QB's Quickies

"So, read any good books lately?"
"What did you think of...?"
~
Here's the Quickie answers to those questions.
(Although they are not all recent reads.)
Click on the Links for more info.



Kresley Cole - The Immortals After Dark Series
1 - A Hunger Like No Other
2 - No Rest for the Wicked
~
Series Category: Peanut M&Ms - mmmm...devour... sigh... then reach for the next one. My daily dose of Insanity-B-Gone. Most books fall in this category.(A-,B+,B)
Flame Height: 6" out of 9"
~
Various paranormal and mythical beings/races. What sets it apart is that the main characters aren't always particularly likeable, they have flaws and tempers and can be pig-headed... just like the rest of us!
~


Ronda Thompson - The Wild Wulfs of London
1 - The Dark One
2 - The Untamed One
2.5- Love at First Bite - Anthology with Sherrilyn Kenyon, L.A. Banks, Susan Squires
3 - The Cursed One

Series Category: Peanut M&Ms - mmmm...devour... sigh... then reach for the next one. My daily dose of Insanity-B-Gone. Most books fall in this category. (A-,B+,B)

Flame Height: 6" out of 9"

Regency period. Cursed Werewolves. Weird resolutions I've never seen before. Hero/Heroine in each book not cookie cutters of the others in the series.
~


~
Lucy Monroe - Children of the Moon
1. Moon Awakening
~
Category: Peanut M&Ms - mmmm...devour... sigh... then reach for the next one. My daily dose of Insanity-B-Gone. Most books fall in this category. (A-,B+,B)
Flame Height: 6" out of 9"
~
Oh Lucy Monroe, you sly wench! You took what would have been a pleasant but predictable M&M and elevated it to Peanut M&M by giving us Werewolf Highlanders! (Or is that Highland Werewolves?) Twas verra clever, Lucy!
~


Annmarie McKenna - Mates series
1 - Seeing Eye Mate

Category: Peanut M&Ms - mmmm...devour... sigh... then reach for the next one. My daily dose of Insanity-B-Gone. Most books fall in this category. (A-,B+,B)
Flame Height: 7" out of 9"
~
Okay, I admit it... yes, I'm a Werewolf Whore... so the hell what?! They're HOT!
~

Susan Krinard, Lord of the Beasts

Lord of the Beasts by Susan Krinard

Category: Coconut Truffles - SO not for me! (D,D-,F)
Flame Height: 0", nada, off

UGH! This book is 459 pages long. I DID finish it because I kept hoping it would get better. I couldn't believe how bad it was and really hoped that by the end SK would have pulled a miracle out of her pen. SOOOO didn't happen! This is a historical/paranormal/faery/romance. I had high hopes for it, but not one of those genres succeeded. The characters ranged from two dimensional (barely) down to one-dimensional. The conversations offered nothing of interest- and I'm including each character's internal conversations with themselves in that! There was no apparent chemistry between the lead characters, yet we are supposed to believe an instant, unforgettable attraction. Events seemed to happen haphazardly. I'm not sure how detailed I need to get, but PLEASE trust me that this has to be one of the worst books I've EVER read and what makes it truly even more unbearable is that it was written by a well-known, established writer and the premise SHOULD HAVE WORKED!

I honestly feel guilty for trashing this stinker because my usual attitude is that, no matter how bad it is, it's still better than anything I could ever write- I believe I was born without the creative writing gene! So for me to have this amount of criticism for a book is VERY unusual and rare. If this was a first time author, I would probably say that they aren't going to be around long. But it's even worse that it's someone like Susan Krinard. She's doesn't usually incite booklust in me- I'd say she's in the 2nd or 3rd tier of my TBR pile- but this story and these characters should have been so much better in her experienced hands!

This is actually a sequel to "Lord of the Forest", but I didn't read that one and I assure you I never will. I'm not even going to link to either of them because I hope that everyone will stay away.