QB's Quickies

"So, read any good books lately?"
"What did you think of...?"

Here's the Quickie answers to those questions. Click on the Links for more info.

Christine Feehan - Carpathian (Dark) series

1. Dark Prince - Mikhail and Raven
2. Dark Desire - Jacques and Shea
3. Dark Gold - Aidan and Alexandria
4. Dark Magic - Gregori and Savannah
5. Dark Challenge - Julian and Desari
6. Dark Fire - Darius and Tempest
7. Dark Dream - After Twilight anthology/Dark Dreamers anthology - Falcon and Sara
8. Dark Legend - Gabriel and Francesca
9. Dark Guardian - Lucian and Jaxon
10. Dark Symphony - Byron and Antoinetta
11. Dark Descent - The Only One anthology - Traian and Joie
12. Dark Melody - Dayan and Corrinne
13. Dark Destiny - Nicolae and Destiny
14. Dark Hunger - Hot Blooded anthology - Riordan and Juliette
15. Dark Secret - Rafael and Colby
16. Dark Demon - Vikirnoff and Natalya
17. Dark Celebration - reunion story
18. Dark Possession - Manolito and MaryAnn

*note: Amazon lists Dark Possession as book number 15, but Christine Feehan does not exclude her three anthology stories and considers this her 18th Carpathian book.

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: 5.5" out of 9"

I keep saying that I'm done with the series, yet I automatically bought this one... in hardcover no less! I didn't particularly like MaryAnn, often couldn't stand her, and through much of the book she didn't seem quite worthy of Manolito. Yet it is the mystery surrounding her that kept me reading this book. And a Carpathian male who offers up a *gasp* COMPROMISE?!

I believe (or at least HOPE) that the unexpected ending to this book injects some much needed life into a series that, up until the last couple of books, had become predictable and formulaic. I have to give Feehan credit for apparently realizing that, while the threat to the Carpathians increased when vampires began organizing together, some new types of characters needed to enter the stage. I thought that would happen with the jaguar people, but it never panned out as much as I'd hoped. I really hope she takes the events in Dark Possession and runs with them!
Piquant Opines: RT, AAR,

Sherrilyn Kenyon - Dark Hunters series

11. Devil May Cry - Sin and Kat

*note: Kenyon's bibliography page is as muddied up as the books have become. I could not even create a coherent series list. And to make it even more confusing, in addition to screwed up links, she includes those god-awful Dream Hunters as part of the Dark Hunters series even though it was released as a new spin off series. According to her site, there have been 21 Dark Hunter releases. However, Amazon says that Devil May Cry is number 11.

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: 5.5" out of 9"

The ONLY reason I even bought this book is so I could sort of keep up with the series in anticipation of the release of Archeron. I'm even buying The Dark-Hunter Companion when it releases in a few weeks because I'm sure I'm going to need it when trying to read Ash's story (but I WON'T be buying another Dream Hunter novel). As I said in my previous commentary this series has become a muddied mess for the casual reader. I assume it must make sense to her devoted, die-hard fans, because that is apparently who she now writes the books for. I usually don't have a clue what she's talking about when she refers to the (loose) canon and/or mythology spewed out in previous books.

This book's central story follows Kat, who is Ash and Artemis' secret baby, and Sin, a Sumerian god whose powers were sucked out and stolen by Artemis (sort of). I didn't hate them, they were okay, nothing memorable though. We learn more about why Ash can't leave Artemis and their history together. It felt like a set-up for Archeron's book. At least it wasn't riddled with people exploding after being stabbed. That was getting old. But did there have to be DEMONS?! Enough with the demons! Demons are NOT the new black, they are trendy chartreuse, and I'm sick of them showing up in nearly every new paranormal romance release.

What I don't understand (among other things) is why, after years of making us hate and despise the bitch goddess Artemis, suddenly in this book, we are supposed to start viewing her in a more sympathetic light. Since the very first time I heard that Ash's book was imminent, I wondered whether Kenyon could live up to the expectations for his story. Attempting to manipulate us into seeing Artemis as misunderstood does not bode well for Archeron. Either SK is going to piss us off by pairing Ash and Artie up (and you thought Ward's wee ghostie raised a cry?!), or she's creating the kinder and gentler Artie that will free Ash when he meets his mate. Either way, it irritates the hell out of me and makes me wonder just how bad Ash's book will end up being.

The only thing that kept this book from dropping to my Dark Chocolate category was that we learned a lot about Ash and saw a side to him we haven't seen before. Also, as usual, Simi and her sister were hoots. It wasn't the worst of the DH series books, but it wasn't all that exciting either.
Piquant Opines: RT, TGTBTU,