QB's January 2010 Quickies, Part II

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

Here's my Quickie Reviews to answer to those questions. Click on the Links for more info.

Kitty's House of Horrors by Carrie Vaughn

Kitty Norville Book 7

See INDEX for previous books.

Category: Lava Cake - reads like warm Chocolate Lava Cake... à la Mode... sprinkled with nuts (A,A-)

Flame Height: 2" out of 9"

Talk radio host and werewolf Kitty agrees to participate in a reality show along with other shapeshifters, vampires, and psychics. Filming in an isolated location starts off pretty much as Kitty anticipated, but then things suddenly start to go alarmingly wrong. The participants are being hunted. Some die.

The best Kitty 2.0 story yet (Kitty Takes a Holiday is still my favorite Kitty 1.0, or pre-alpha, story). If you read this without reading the previous Kitty books, you probably won't quite understand why I enjoyed this so much more than many other Urban Fantasies.
Piquant Opines: Fresh Fiction, Nights and Weekends, RT

The Magic Knot by Helen Scott Taylor

Magic Knot series Book 1

The Phoenix Charm

Magic Knot series Book 2

Category: Peanut M&Ms - mmmm...devour... sigh... then reach for the next one. My daily dose of Insanity-B-Gone. (A-,B+,B)
Flame Height: 5.8" out of 9"

This fantasy romance series caught my attention with the recent release of book 2. So being the OCD Reader that I am, I bought book 1, which won the American Title IV contest.

I'm SO glad I did! Set in present day Cornwall with side trips to Ireland and Wales, some of the fae live secretly among humans, while others still live within the faery realms. You know, I'm pretty sure Taylor has even found a way to enchant the ink in these magical stories. There has to be some geis at work because, once the covers are opened, it's impossible to close them until the final page is read. And before I closed the cover on book 1, I was ordering book 2 from Amazon (Yeah for 2-day Prime!).

Just when I was sure I knew what happened next-- because I could see THOSE romance tropes coming from a mile away-- damned if Taylor didn't make a sharp turn nearly every time and gleefully skip away from the expected. (Spoiler hint: not all heroes have magic peens, and troo lurve doesn't always save the day- nor does it keep heroines from admiring other bits of sweet beefcake mancandy!)

This series may end up in my Lava Cake category eventually. There's still a few unanswered questions that kind of puzzled me. Some may be answered when/if Nightshade gets his own book (pretty please?). But I'm afraid that the mystery of how Rose's mother managed to escape with all the things she escaped with (can't say more) will remain unsolved for the reader. And why didn't Michael and Niall's father bother telling either of them the truths about themselves? Of course we may find out more about him someday in HIS own book, too. Oh, and I was disappointed that we never heard from Niall and Rose (from book 1) throughout the entire 2nd book. Considering what they left behind under Michael and Cordelia's care, I just didn't find it plausible that they wouldn't be checking in or rushing back.

But you know what? Set those questions aside for right now. Just sit back and enjoy taking the fun, magical ride that is The Magic Knot series.
Piquant Opines: The Book Smugglers, RT, RT, TRS

Call of the Highland Moon by Kendra Leigh Castle

The MacInnes Werewolves Trilogy, book 1

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"

Contemporary Highland werewolf Gideon MacInnes goes for a walkabout in America before he settles down to become his pack's Alpha. When injured, his wolfie senses lead him to his mate, Carly Silver, an American who owns a Romance bookstore. A light, entertaining read. Kind of fell apart a bit at the end. I'm disappointed that the next books in the series don't pair up Gideon's hound-dawg (har) brother and Carly's spunky best friend. They were both almost more interesting than the lead characters.

Piquant Opines: KristieJ, Ruthie (warning: auto-music), Bitten By Books

Shadowfae by Erica Hayes

The Chronicles, book 1

Category: Coconut Truffles - SO not for me! (D,D-,F)

Flame Height: 1" out of 9"

Most of my DNFs (Did Not Finish) books are the result of setting books down and intending to pick them back up, but losing interest and never getting around to finishing them (unfortunately, there's been a LOT of those lately). Not so with Shadowfae. I literally FORCED myself to give this book a chance since I had been eagerly looking forward to it and had even placed it on my Insatiable Lusts Wish List! The blurb sounded soo good. But by the end of Chapter 8, I honestly said out loud, "Enough of THIS! I've wasted enough of my time on it."

I knew this was going to be a difficult read fairly early in the book. The lead character, Jade, is written in 1st person past tense. Then, for no apparent reason, Hayes writes all the other characters in 3rd person PRESENT tense. Now I'm not a big fan of present tense anyway, but it can be used quite effectively to convey a sense of menace- think of a Linda Howard villian's POV. But all Shadowfae's tense shifting accomplished was jolting me right out of the book.

Add in a whole lot of drooling blood, poison spit swapping, and other gross-outs; then consider the fact that none of the characters or their lives were particularly likeable, and this story was just flat-out not my cuppa. It might work for someone else, but just pushed too many of my "Do Not Want" buttons.
Piquant Opines: KatieBabs, SciFiGuy, NOR, RT,


Have you read any of these books? Feel free to review or link to a review in the comments. Even if you don't agree!

Grrr, what is wrong with Google Reader? My first searches for Piquant Opines always start there. But for some reason searching ALL subscriptions doesn't always work. For instance, when I searched on "The Magic Knot", there were no review hits (just mentions and contests) within my subscriptions. Yet Helen Scott Taylor's website mentions a review by The Book Smugglers. Sure enough, when I searched ONLY their feed, the review came up, but it SHOULD have hit when I searched ALL FEEDS. So, if I missed linking to someone, please let me know.

QB's January 2010 Quickies, Part I

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

Here's my Quickie Reviews to answer to those questions. Click on the Links for more info.

A Love For All Time by Bertrice Small
Sky O'Malley series, book 3

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

For years, this 3rd book in The O'Malley Saga (copyright 1986, but I've seen references to a 1981 release date) was unavailable except for expensive used copies. So you might imagine how thrilled I was to FINALLY complete my set with this reprint.

This one is about Skye's youngest brother, Conn, a charming Irishman considered to be "the handsomest man at court" and a particular favorite of Queen Elizabeth I. After he causes one too many scandals, Queen Bess marries him off to one of her wards, the relatively plain-faced heiress Aiden St. Michael.

The story that unfolds is vintage Small (yes, kidnapping and harems are involved). The only reason this one isn't Crème Brûlée like the rest of the series, is because, since the male lead is Skye's brother, we know going into it that he won't meet an unexpected early death. LOL, yeah, sounds bloodthirsty, but one of the myriad reasons I love Ms. Small so much is that I never know which man will be the ultimate survivor who wins the HEA with the heroine.
Piquant Opines: shira.net, AAR, allreaders

Wicked Enchantment by Anya Bast

Dark Magick series, book 1

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

Flame Height: 5" out of 9"

Wicked Enchantment definitely lands solidly in the ROMANCE genre, but its DARK FANTASY elements are what attracted me to it. Back in the 1600's, the fae were decimated by Watt Syndrome, an illness that may or may not have been magically created by a race of druids known as the Phaendir. Taking advantage of the fae's weakened state, the Phaendir teamed up with humans to hunt down and imprison the remaining fae within a magical warding. This warded zone, Piefferburg, is still in existence today; its warding maintained by a sort of collective hive of magic within the Phaendir. Through Phaendir-guarded trade with humans, the high ranking fae are now fairly wealthy, but nonetheless remain prisoners within this area around the North Carolina Outer Banks. On a humorous note, how hilariously appropriate is it that the humans would have a camera crew inside the Seelie court filming a 24 hour a day reality show called FAEMOUS?

That's the basic background of the world building. Apparently the series will delve into a quest to find the elements needed to break the Phaendir's warding of Piefferburg and be a free race again. In this book, one of the pieces had already been found which, as I recently found out, is Bella and Ronan's story, a novella-length prequel in the Hot for the Holidays anthology (I've since bought it but haven't read it yet). During the course of Wicked Enchantment we find out another crucial element has been in the possession of Aislinn, who had no idea what it was.

In addition to a fresh take on fae myths and unique world building, this book centers on Aislinn, who is a high ranking member of the Seelie court, and Gabriel, an important member of the Unseelie court, and his attempts to persuade her over to "the dark side". Lots of twists, turns and surprises made this a very engrossing, fast-paced read.

Having said all that, I personally would have preferred a bit more of an in-depth/extended look into the fae politics, but that's just my personal preference. However, I have to give Bast extra credit for just how much detail and imagination she was able to include within the framework of a romance (as opposed to an urban/dark fantasy).

I would say that if you enjoy Richele Mead's DARK SWAN series, Laurell Hamilton's MERRY GENTRY series, or the later books in Karen Marie Moning's HIGHLANDERS series, then Anya Bast's DARK MAGICK series might just be the new series you've been waiting for.
Piquant Opines: Book Chick City, Literary Escapism, The Book Lush

Unfallen Dead by Mark Del Franco

Conner Grey Book 3

Unperfect Souls

Conner Grey Book 4

See INDEX for previous books.

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

Flame Height: 2" out of 9"

Del Franco has really hit his stride with this urban fantasy/dark fantasy series as he delves deeper into Fae politics, mysteries, and intrigue.

Now that I've been listening to the audio books of Jim Butcher's Dresden series, I can say that fans of that series will enjoy the Conner Grey series. They have a similar feel and voice, however Del Franco's stories and world building are unique to Conner Grey's world.

Note that book 4 was a January read, but I read book 3 a while back.

P.S to the author: Mark... Dude, ya need to fix your website. Your Conner Grey links are not only not useful (where's the blurbs?), but some of them are fucked up.
Piquant Opines: Green Man Review, RT, Book Fetish, RT, BotM, Jennifer/Goodreads, Goodreads (all)

Fireflies by Ally Blue

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"

It was the beautiful, ethereal cover by Anne Cain that first drew my attention. For that alone, Fireflies was worth the price of a print copy. But Joey and Braeden's story, while not quite as substantial as I would have liked, was a lovely time spent within a charming faery tale.

Piquant Opines: Jessewave, Uniquely Pleasurable, Mrs. Giggles

Have you read any of these books? Feel free to review or link to a review in the comments. Even if you don't agree!

I Look FA-A-Bulous...

...thanks to RuPaul's Drag Race Dragulator (via EW.com). Miss Tipsie Belmont is absolutely Fierce on Stilettos, don't ya think?

And my blog has now had a bit of a makeover too. Nothing major, just less work because I decided to let my Amazon Wish Lists do most of my sidebar work for me. I also added a couple of new pics of chocolatey goodness.

Yep, I'm reviving this poor old lifeless blog. Oh, I may not post as often as I used to, but I WILL post. In fact, thanks again to my Amazon Wish Lists, I am actually working up a post on my January reads. I'll probably never review my whole backlog, maybe a few here and there, but I can start up fresh with January and proceed from there.

Now, if only I can remember what little HTML I used to know.

Now THIS is news...

... worth blogging about!

According to EW.com's Michael Ausiello, in the upcoming season of HBO's True Blood, Bill (Stephen Moyer, left) and Sam (Sam Trammell, right) "will forge 'not just any connection, [but] an erotic connection.'”

My bet is that, like Sookie with Eric (so far), it won't go any further than Sam having erotic dreams of Bill because he drank Bill's blood. But BOO-YAH!

The only thing hotter would be me and Eric steaming up the sheets. Okay, so that would undoubtedly not be hotter for any of YOU, in fact, you'd probably castrate, sew-it-up, or otherwise personally mame yourself into permanent celibacy. But hey, I'm a fashionista in Charlaine Harris' fictional world (Dead and Gone), so I could always declare myself to be fictionally HOT too, right?

Oh, btw, I've had to turn comment moderation on because I have a couple of persistant spammers/asswipes who have discovered this blog. What a fruitless waste of time. Get a life cuz I ain't clicking on, buyin' from, or friendin' the likes of you scumquats.

On My Short List...

...of Most Entertaining Commercials Evah!

Thanks to eGuiders' Newsletter for the Heads-Up!


BTW, yes, I'm still alive, just never time to blog and seldom time to blog visit. As much as I love Summertime, it will be nice if/when I get the house back to myself someday.

2009 Audie Award Winners!

I promise a nice, long chatty post later about what I've been doing during my Blogosphere Break, but first I have to say that, in addition to being a bad blogger, I also really suck as a fangirl. If it wasn't for an email from Phil G today (SQUEE!), who knows when I would have remembered to check the results of last nights Audie Awards! DOH!

Anyway, note the winner in the Romance book category-- uh-huh, that's right, Mr. Eargasm himself, Phil Gigante, for his brilliant narration performance of Karen Marie Moning's The Dark Highlander (the one with Dageus MacKeltar and Chloe Zanders)!!

Although, as I've said before, they really should have created a whole new Series Narration category so he could win that one too. Right along with Johanna Parker. Oh, have I mentioned that I'm a Phil G. fangirl? Hmmm... I might have had a thing or two to say about him here and here, here, here, here, and here, oh and here, here, here, and here.

As an audio book enthusiast (and in the interest of fairness), I want to congratulate ALL the deserving nominees. But really, there can't be too many other narrators that have fangirl groupies swooning over them, can there?



Here's a few of the categories and winners. For the complete list, go to The Audio Publisher's Association (APA) site (which should have them posted soon) or, as I did, go to AudioFile Magazine's Audies page.


CHILDREN’S TITLES FOR AGES 8-12
The Cricket in Times Square, by George Selden, Narrated by Tony Shalhoub, Macmillan Audio
Fairest, by Gail Carson Levine, Narrated by Sarah Naughton and a full cast, Full Cast Audio
WINNER: The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman, Narrated by Neil Gaiman, HarperAudio
One-Handed Catch, by M.J. Auch, Narrated by Ryan Sparkes and a full cast, Full Cast Audio
Nation, by Terry Pratchett, Narrated by Stephen Briggs, HarperAudio

CLASSIC
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain, Narrated by Grover Gardner, Blackstone Audio,Inc.
The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, Narrated by John Lee, Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Galapagos, by Kurt Vonnegut, Narrated by Jonathan Davis, Audible, Inc.
WINNER: Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens, Narrated by Simon Vance, Tantor Media
The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde, Narrated by Simon Vance, Blackstone Audio, Inc.

HISTORY
The Bloody Shirt, by Stephen Budiansky, Narrated by Phil Gigante, Brilliance Audio
WINNER: Gandhi and Churchill, by Arthur Herman, Narrated by John Curless, Recorded Books
The Ghost Mountain Boys: Their Epic March and the Terrifying Battle for New Guinea – The Forgotten War of the South Pacific, by James Campbell, Narrated by Stephen Hoye, Tantor Media
The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family, by Annette Gordon-Reed, Narrated by Karen White, Tantor Media
Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood, by Mark Harris, Narrated by Lloyd James, Tantor Media

MULTI–VOICED PERFORMANCE
Family Audio Bible, Narrated by Dick Cavett, Marsha Mason, Andrew McCarthy, Martha Plimpton and Tom Wopat, HarperAudio
WINNER: Mudbound, by Hillary Jordan, Narrated by Joey Collins, Peter Jay Fernandez, Kate Forbes, Ezra Knight, Brenday Pressley and Tom Stechschulte, Recorded Books
The Plague of Doves, by Louise Erdrich, Narrated by Peter Francis James and Kathleen McInerney, HarperAudio
The Word of Promise®: Next Generation-New Testament, by Various Authors, Narrated by Sean Astin and a full cast including Codey Linley, AnnaSophia Robb and Jordin Sparks, Thomas Nelson, Inc

MYSTERY
A Killing Frost, by R. D. Wingfield, Narrated by Stephen Thorne, Ulverscroft Group Ltd
Cross, by Ken Bruen, Narrated by Gerry O'Brien, Ulverscroft Group Ltd
The Silver Swan, by Benjamin Black, Narrated by Timothy Dalton, Macmillan Audio
Swan Peak, by James Lee Burke, Narrated by Will Patton, Simon & Schuster Audio
WINNER: Voice of the Violin, by Andrea Camilleri, Narrated by Grover Gardner, Blackstone Audio, Inc.

NARRATION BY THE AUTHOR or AUTHORS
Maya Angelou, Letter to My Daughter, Random House Audio
Joshilyn Jackson, The Girl Who Stopped Swimming, Hachette Audio
Cokie Roberts, Ladies of Liberty, HarperAudio
WINNER: David Sedaris, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, Hachette Audio
Maria Shriver, Just Who Will You Be? HyperionAudio

POLITICS — JUDGES AWARD
Descent into Chaos, by Ahmed Rashid, Narrated by Arthur Morey, Brilliance Audio
WINNER: Hot, Flat, and Crowded, by Thomas Friedman, Narrated by Oliver Wyman, Macmillan Audio
Mike's Election Guide, by Michael Moore, Narrated by Michael Moore, Hachette Audio
The War Within, by Bob Woodward, Narrated by Boyd Gaines, Simon & Schuster Audio
The Way of the World, by Ron Suskind, Narrated by Alan Sklar, HarperAudio

ROMANCE
WINNER: The Dark Highlander, by Karen Marie Moning, Narrated by Phil Gigante, Brilliance Audio
Fire Me Up, by Katie MacAlister, Narrated by Barbara Rosenblat, Recorded Books
Forbidden, by Suzanne Brockmann, Narrated by Traci Svensgaard, Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Mismatch, by Tami Hoag, Narrated by Jen Taylor, BBC Audiobooks America
Tribute, by Nora Roberts, Narrated by Jennifer Van Dyck, Brilliance Audio

SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY
WINNER: Calculating God, by Robert J. Sawyer, Narrated by Jonathan Davis, Audible, Inc.
Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke, Narrated by Eric Michael Summerer, Audible, Inc.
Ghost Radio, by Leopoldo Gout, Narrated by Pedro Pascal, HarperAudio
Skybreaker, by Kenneth Oppel, Narrated by David Kelly, Full Cast Audio
Sunrise Alley, by Catherine Asaro, Narrated by Hillary Huber, Blackstone Audio, Inc.

TEENS
Burn Journals, by Brent Runyon, Narrated by Christopher Evan Welch, Recorded Books
The Compound, by S. A. Bodeen, Narrated by Christopher Lane, Brilliance Audio
WINNER: Curse of the Blue Tattoo, by L.A. Meyer, Narrated by Katherine Kellgren, Listen & Live Audio
Fairest, by Gail Carson Levine, Narrated by Sarah Naughton, Full Cast Audio
Paper Towns, by John Green, Narrated by Dan John Miller, Brilliance Audio
The Uprising, by Margaret P. Haddix, Narrated by Suzanne Toren, Recorded Books

THRILLER/SUSPENSE
Blue Heaven, by C.J. Box, Narrated by John Bedford Lloyd, Macmillan Audio
WINNER: Child 44, by Tom Rob Smith, Narrated by Dennis Boutsikaris, Hachette Audio
Executive Privilege, by Phillip Margolin, Narrated by Jonathan Davis, HarperAudio
The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman, Narrated by Neil Gaiman, HarperAudio
Sweetheart, by Chelsea Cain, Narrated by Carolyn McCormick, Macmillan Audio

AUDIOBOOK OF THE YEAR
Brisingr by Christopher Paolini, read by Gerard Doyle, published by Listening Library
WINNER: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, read by the author, published by HarperAudio
A Wolf at the Table: A Memoir of My Father by Augusten Burroughs, read by the author, published by Macmillan Audio

Distinguished Achievement in Production
WINNER: Curse of the Blue Tattoo by L.A. Meyer, read by Katherine Kellgren, published by Listen & Live Audio
Fairest by Gail Carson Levine, read by Sarah Naughton and a full cast, published by Full Cast Audio
Many Things Invisible by Carrington MacDuffie, read by the author, published by Blackstone Audio
The New Adventures of Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer by various authors, read by Stacy Keach and a full cast, published by Blackstone Audio
Louis Vuitton Soundwalk: Shanghai read by Joan Chen, published by Soundwalk

About Audio Publishers Association (APA)

The Audio Publishers Association (APA) is a not-for-profit trade organization whose primary goals are to promote awareness of the audiobook industry, gather and disseminate industry statistics, encourage high production standards and represent the interests of audiobook publishers. Since 1986, the APA has worked to bring audio publishers together to increase interest in audiobooks. Please visit www.audiopub.org for more information.

Just Sayin'...

You can imagine my reaction when I received this from Charlaine... so, um... are your ears are still ringing from The Fangirl Squee Heard 'Round the World? **



** Confused? Click here.

*WINNER* Blue Diablo Contest

Ann Aguirre - Blue Diablo, Corine Solomon book 1

And the winner is...

KRISTEN

Contact azteclady1 at gmail dot com ASAP with your physical address so she can mail your book. CONGRATS!

It's a Wrap: Ann Aguirre's Reader Blog Tour and Contest

Ann Aguirre - Blue Diablo, Corine Solomon book 1

Yes, that's right, in between her world travels and calls to the gas company, Ann Aguirre has been doing a whirlwind Reader Blog Tour that ends right here before she jets off to RT Con in Orlando.

Ah well, last week I finally gave up and cancelled my hotel reservations for RT Con (I had reserved suites at two different hotels just in case I ended up going). So, since I won't be meeting Ann in person after all (or you either, AZL), I'm at least lucky enough that she's stopping by today to share a bit of warm Chocolate Lava Cake... à la Mode... sprinkled with nuts (Yep, it's that good).

Read on to find out how you can also be lucky enough to enjoy a copy of Ann's urban fantasy, Blue Diablo, or if you've already read it, watch for Ann's alternate prize.

But first, Ann dishes about Corine's sex life (note Ann's casting choices that I want to disagree with SO badly)...

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

By now, many of you will have read Blue Diablo. (If you haven´t, what are you waiting for?!) That means I can discuss the book in a bit more detail than I have done previously in the tour. Yippee!

Since this is Bev´s blog, I´m going to talk about sex and relationships, or vice versa, maybe. [Bev: Whatever could you mean? ::bats eyes innocently::] In Blue Diablo, I explore the trope of lovers reunited or star-crossed lovers, if you will. That´s Corine and Chance.

She broke up with Chance eighteen months before the start of the book, believing he didn´t love her as much as she loved him. She felt as if he only maintained a relationship with her because it was convenient, and he wanted to profit from her gift. So she left him in the middle of the night, after an accident that nearly cost her life.

Chance represents many things to Corine: adventure, danger, excitement, potent sexual attraction. Blogger Katiebabs did a great job of describing him, in fact. Let me quote her briefly: ¨Chance is that seductive type of guy a woman would do anything for... a slick guy...¨

YA author Stacey Klemstein, also known as Stacey Kade, had the following to say about the book: ¨It was so REFRESHING to read something different but still an urban fantasy, if that makes sense. Also? Chance is HOT. His ability in particular or his luck, however you phrase it, was particularly intriguing because it was like nothing I'd ever heard of before. I'm totally 100% Chance. I like Jesse, too, don't get me wrong, and he's probably a better long term relationship choice, but...I have a thing for bad boys. Not that Chance is bad exactly, just more dangerous somehow.

I LOVE that about these characters too. Corine's gift is a gift but it hurts her and leaves her with physical marks. That, too, is something I'd never read before. And Chance is dangerous, not because you could get your heart stomped on, which is the usual kind of danger, but with his luck, you could end up being a victim. Basically, loving him could kill you.¨

She has totally hit the nail on the head, regarding the conflict inherent in their relationship. It´s not just that they have communication and trust issues (and they do). There are also real concerns about his gift. He nearly got Corine killed once before because of his luck, and it doesn´t have an off button. (You´ll need to read it to understand, and if you´ve already read it, good for you!)

As for Jesse, he represents safety and securty, home and earth. With Jesse Saldana, Corine could realize her dream of being normal, marrying into a family of ¨Gifted¨ humans, who have known about their abilities for many generations. She would have extended family, inlaws, cousins. This is stability. He represents everything she´s ever wanted. But is that what she wants, really? Should she make the safe choice?

Chance, on the other hand, has only secrets he hasn´t shared, including his real name and the identity of his father. He has a mother who is nearly as mysterious as he is, but with him, Corine will never have the sense of community and belonging she so fiercely desires. Is passion enough? Chance also has difficulty communicating and suffers from an inability to give of himself fully. In Blue Diablo, we see him struggle with that, and we see Corine´s reaction to his failure to meet her needs. But he loves her, desperately. It´s intense and bittersweet and heartbreaking at times.

As for sex, that will be handled differently in this series. Corine is a highly sexual woman, but she has enjoyed a series of one-night stands in Mexico, men she didn´t bother to get to know, and who fulfilled a physical need but not her emotional ones. Before she gives of herself again, she wants to know she´s found the person she can build a life with. That means she won´t be jumping in and out of bed, however much she may want to. No spur of the moment flings. She wants it to mean something, this time. She wants to be sure. That means there will be massive sexual tension before this thing is resolved and her heart is won.

Readers are asking me who she will choose. I honestly don´t know. A few them are surprising me by naming Kel or Booke as possible love interests. Well, I never intended that, but I honestly don´t know how her story ends. That´s part of the joy in writing: finding out.

What do you guys think? I invite you to speculate on who she might end up with and argue for your favorite. If you haven´t read it, you can pick someone at random. A random commenter will win a copy of Blue Diablo (if the winner hasn´t read it yet.) If the winner has read it, I´ll buy them any paperback they want that also costs $6.99.

And chat on!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Contest Rules:
Leave a comment INCLUDING YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS to have a chance at winning.

Contest lasts 24 hours and the winner will be randomly selected and announced here on this post tomorrow. Winner will also be contacted via email, and a valid email address must be provided for the comment to be entered in the giveaway. Good luck!!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Thank for visiting, Ann, and thanks to the wild and glue-crazed Azteclady for arranging your visit. For what it's worth, I'm not sure who I think Corine should end up with (although, based on your casting pics, Jesse wins hands-down). You've left everything so deliciously open-ended. You gave us enough resolution to be satisfied for now, but I can't wait for Corine to let me back into her world. So, how long DO we have to wait anyhow?!