Novel Chats: Series Catch Up

If you're a fairly new reader to the blog let me take a quick moment to explain the Novel Chat posts (one day I'll get that pesky FAQ page set up and not have to bother everyone with this stuff). I'm busy. Most days I'm lucky to remember to eat let alone find time to blog and so Novel Chats was born. I take two to three books I've read in my blogging silence and sum up my thoughts on them in as short a fashion as I can. Sometimes, the books have been out for quite a spell, and in that case, I really try to keep my rambling to a minimum. I grade the books I Chat because it's just easier than going into long details. Since I've been so busy lately, I have more than a few books sitting on my "Need To Blog" shelf, so there may be more of these posts in the coming days.

Real Vampires Don't Diet by Gerry Bartlett

From the Author's Website:

First Glory's stood up on New Year's Eve by her long time main squeeze Jeremy Blade. Then a moonlight boat ride on Austin's Lake Travis with newly turned vampire, rock star Israel Caine (Ray) goes horribly wrong. Who knew there was a Siren lurking in the lake just waiting for her chance to lure unsuspecting vampires into a trap? Now Glory and Ray are racing against time to find vampire sacrifices or they're doomed.

With the storm of the century threatening to wash out her new home and an old enemy taking aim at her, things don't look good for Glory.

As for her relationship with Blade? Well, Glory wonders if maybe it's time to cut her longtime lover loose.

Valdez is at her side as usual, along with her friends who won't let Glory go down without a fight. Surely all this action is bound to help our curvy vamp lose a pound or two. You think?

I've liked Glory since I first started the series with book two, Real Vampires Live Large. There's something about an overweight vampire, with a great vintage clothing store, a self depreciating sense of humor, great friends, and a shifter for a body guard. However, for some unknown reason, I've never added Real Vampires to my must buy list, and I never seem to know when a new one has been released. For that very reason, it wasn't until recently when I ordered the latest two books in the series. It took me quite a while to really get into Live Large, and I still don't know what I think.

What I do know is that I'm fairly sick of the back and forth relationship Glory has with Blade and her role as mentor to the newly made vampire Israel Caine is starting to annoy me, since Glory can't seem to pick which man she wants. I'm a firm believer in shit or get off the potty and Glory's interaction with the men in her life left me extremely cold with this last one. So much so that I haven't even cracked the spine on Real Vampire's Hate Their Thighs. I've no doubt I'll read it--eventually--but I think I need a breather for a while.

I have to give this one a C. I just didn't feel it as much as I did the others, but Bartlett's excellent and funny writing make it worth a read.

Sucker For Love by Kimberly Raye

(BCC)

Divalicious darling of the undead Lil Marchette is this close to finding her own happily-ever-after with hunky live-in bounty hunter Ty Bonner. Unfortunately, reality is biting back in a big way. Lil’s got mounting bills to pay and clients to keep happily hooked up courtesy of Dead End Dating, the ultimate meet-and-greet for New York’s fanged, furry, and fabulous. But leave it to a drop-dead gorgeous eight-hundred-year-old warlock with a big-girl fetish to take the biggest chomp out of Lil’s happiness by kidnapping Esther Crutch, one of Lil’s plus-size clients, now stamped as Grade-A Ritual Meat.

Leaving Ty warming the bed, Lil races to rescue Esther’s curvy behind before she’s turned into a Mayan sacrifice. The trail leads to Texas–hell by any other name–and as if dust, demons, and hopelessly outdated fashion weren’t bad enough, fate gives Lil an unexpected partner: her mom, who is on a mission to meddle (as usual) and grab a little mother-daughter time. Will Lil remain calm in the face of smotherly love and save Esther–or will her client bite the dust?

Sigh. I'm about to make you think I disliked all the books I've read in my long silences, but really, that's not true. What is true is that I didn't really feel this one either. Perhaps I'm growing tired of the sameness that is this particular brand of female vampire. You know, the I'm really nice, hate blood, can kick ass if I need too, but really hate too, and I'm really just a sucker for true love. It was a nice break for a while, and perhaps when the state of current affairs was cleaner, there was a place in my heart for such books. Now though, I find myself wanting more from the heroines of the books I read. I want grit. I don't want fashion and boys to be the top priority.

In truth, I enjoyed this latest adventure of Lil much more than the others and I liked it enough to read the next one, whenever it may be released. I've never been a large fan of this series to begin with so my expectations were low, giving me the freedom to give this one a B-.

I'm out of blogging time for today, hopefully I'll be back tomorrow.
Take Care

Novel Chats Paranormal Style - Part the First

Thanks to everyone for the well wishes going out to Miss Beautiful. We were pretty scared for a while. She has pneumonia, strep poisoning and scarlet fever. Thanks to a shot of Rocephin at the hospital and heavy doses of twice daily antibiotic she's on the mend. And although we had a note saying she could return to school today, the school thought it best that she rest one more day before trying it. I agree. She's still very congested and she tires very easily. And now, on with it!

Any Given Doomsday by Lori Handeland
From The Author's Website:

Darkness will summon her…

Elizabeth Phoenix once used her unique skills as a psychic to help in the Milwaukee Police Department's fight against injustice. But when Liz's foster mother is found viciously murdered—and Liz is discovered unconscious at the scene—her only memory of the crime comes in the form of terrifying dreams...of creatures more horrific than anything Liz has seen in real life. What do these visions mean? And what in the world do they have to do with her former lover, Jimmy Sanducci?

To places she's never been before…

While the police question Jimmy in the murder, Jimmy opens Liz's eyes to a supernatural war that has raged since the dawn of time in which innocent people are hunted by malevolent beings disguised as humans. Only a chosen few have the ability to fight their evil, and Jimmy believes Liz is among them. Now, with her senses heightened, new feelings are rising within Liz—ones that re-ignite her dangerous attraction to Jimmy. But Jimmy has a secret that will rock Liz to her core…and put the survival of the human race in peril.…

I received this book quite some time ago, and truth be told, I almost didn’t read it. I had seen that Handeland was a NYT Bestseller and that it was part of a series from the cover, and just assumed (I have to learn to quit that!) that it was a mid-series novel. Plus, I had never read Handeland before and the touting of bestseller always makes me nervous when I haven’t read the author before. Anyway, with a tip from a Yahoo! Group I belong to from a fellow reviewer, I went ahead and read it. They had enjoyed the book, plus I was seeing a lot of reviews – all good – all over the net. That, coupled with the fact that this was the FIRST book in a series had me cracking the spine.

All in all, I enjoyed the book. The concept is exceptional, but the writing I found to merely mediocre. While enjoyed the actual plot, the characters left me somewhat cold. I did, eventually warm up somewhat to the people of this fantastic world, but unfortunately, it didn’t last long. I’ll definitely give the second book a try, but it’s not one I will be rushing to the stores to own. I give this one a C.

Blood Bargain by Maria Lima

(BCC)

Keira Kelly has settled in at Wild Moon Ranch with handsome Adam Walker, her vampire lover, but her life is not so hot. Not only is Keira still struggling with the Change that will bring her an as of yet unknown paranormal power, but Adam’s avoiding intimacy and mysteriously growing weak. At least she has Tucker, her 1200-year-old shapeshiting ex-Viking brother, around to help. When a ranch hand is reported missing and some teens disappear, Keira and Tucker have a heap of unexpected trouble piled on ‘em. There’s a lot of weird doing down around Rio Seco, Texas, and after Keira and Tucker stumbled across some dangerous clues in an abandoned cemetery, things get even stranger…

Bargain is the second book in the Blood Lines series, and I had talked about he first book, Matters of the Blood here. I can’t link to a purchase button right now, as Bargain and Matters were both Juno releases and as you know, they’ve partnered with Pocket Books, According to Lima’s blog though, it looks like they should get re-printed from Pocket later in the year.

When I read Matters it was a dark tale. Terrifying yet witty. Scary yet Romancy. I had expected Bargain to be the same and was eager to delve into this richly written world with its complex characters yet again. I quickly noticed one thing – this wasn’t the world and the character I had left when Matters closed. Keira seemed more fluff in this book. She had apparently gotten used to the good life with Adam, and lost all of her edge. Even when the mystery starts, the lack of characteristics that made Keira so complex and fantastic in the first book left a huge gaping hole in this fictional world. The tone was far lighter even when the plot would have left much room for some dark, kick ass Keira moments. All in all, the tone was entirely too different from the first book and left this reader feeling betrayed. The third book will be released in November and I’ll eagerly crack the spine in anticipation that the dark and twisted world, balanced perfectly with wit and humor has been restored, and the light, trying too hard to be comical Keira is gone. If this were the first book in a series, I would grade it much higher, but since the feel of the book and overall character assassination was too much for me to handle, I have to give this one a D. Lima can do better, she’s already proved that.

Don’t forget to enter the contest! You have two more days.

Take Care

Novel Chats - Debut Authors- Contest

I'm going to be doing a few Novel Chats within the next few posts. I was quiet for quite some time and I didn't quit reading, so I have a lot to talk about! Plus, I really kinda like the NCs. They're fun to write.

Mistress of Pleasure by Delilah Marvelle
(BCC)

REAL PLEASURE CAN'T BE TAKEN... Granddaughter of a renowned courtesan, Maybelle de Maitenon has no interest in her grandmother's school in London where gentlemen receive instruction - in the art of seduction. Her only desire in life is to remain independent, free from men and the shackles of marriage. But when Maybelle lays eyes on Edmund Worthington, the Duke of Rutherford, at a soiree, and hears of his scandalous reputation, she decides he's the perfect person for her to have a tryst with no strings attached... IT MUST BE GIVEN... Unbridled passion has again muddied Edmund Worthington's family name. After his very public dalliance with the strikingly beautiful and sensual Maybelle, his mother insists he marry her. But much to the Duke's surprise, Maybelle scoffs at his proposal. Never has he encountered such a brazen - and maddeningly irresistible - woman. But when Maybelle's grandmother falls ill, forcing Maybelle to take over the operation of her school, Edmund devises a plan to make her his. He enrolls in the school, where no one other than Maybelle must give him expert lessons in carnal pleasure...

Cold in your neck of the woods? Well, save on heating bills by picking up this book, trust me, Marvelle's debut is sizzling hot. Maybelle de Maitenon has no intentions of marrying, nor does she have any intention of going into the family business of teaching gentleman the fine art of seduction. However, it's up to Maybelle to instruct the first group of students when her grandmother falls ill. Much to her irritation, one of the students just so happens to be the man she had a scandalous fling with, Oh, yes, I'll bed that one please. Worthington has enrolled in the school strictly to gain Maybelle's hand in marriage, since his father has already disgraced their family name, he doesn't want his very public encounter with Maybelle finish what little honor they have left.

I've always enjoyed the few Historical's I've picked up, but never enough to really follow a particular series or author, Marvelle has changed that. I don't plan on missing a single semester of The School of Gallantry and neither will you once you've read this one. I have to give this one an A+.

Wages of Sin by Jenna Maclaine
(BCC)

She is a warrior of extraordinary power - the ultimate creature of the night. Her story is one that spans the ages, from historical England to modern-day America and beyond. Welcome to eternity...welcome to the night.

Dulcinea Craven descends from a long line of witches, and she has just inherited wild, untrained magical powers that she has no idea how to control. now a ruthless vampire and an age-old demon are determined to enslave Cin and steal her power for their own. Her only hope is the Righteous, a band of warrior vampires who slay the rogue undead. Among them is Michael, a fierce swordsman who inflames Cin's most primal hungers. Showing her a sensual pleasure beyond anything in the mortal realm, she must choose between the human existence she has always known, and immortality as a vampire - a new life filled with forbidden urges, dark yearnings, and unearthly passions...


I cannot express how much I love to hit a series with book 1. Sure it's fun to find a good series like The Southern Vampire series or The Plum Series, in the middle and have tons of books to read to catch up, but there is just something amazing at catching a series from hello. I bought this book shortly after it was released and read it during my silent time and I feel bad that it has taken me this long to stand up and say - GO GET THIS BOOK!

Maclaine had me engrossed in her world of witchcraft and vampires from the first page. Wages had me turning pages so fast I didn't realize I had stayed up half the night reading until I hit The End. The Righteous are the boogeymans boogeyman, and when Dulcinea is hunted by an unspeakably evil and powerful vampire, she summons The Righteous to her, but they can only do so much, and soon Dulcinea has choices to make and finds herself in a fight for more than just her life. Maclaine successfully weaves together the best elements of the Paranormal, Romance, Fantasy, and Historical genres and gives readers a suspenseful thrill ride that will have them craving more, more, MORE Craven! Another A+.

For the next two weeks I'll be running a contest here on Novel Reads. Baby it's cold outside, and I want you to stay nice and toasty, so I'm offering up winners choice of one of these four flavors of Folgers Coffee (I'm totally digging the Hazelnut and French Vanilla right now). But wait! That's not all! I'm also going to give away a copy of each of today's books from the Novel Chat and at least two more books that will be announced throughout the next two weeks, because let's face it, books these good will warm ya right up (and I'm all about pimpin' a new author esepecially when they write this good!) :). Plus I'll throw in a tee shirt. Not sure what it'll say, I may even let the winner choose the saying.

There will be several chances to enter, and you may enter more than once. Simply visit each of the author's websites and tell me something you found there (please actually go look, don't just state the same fact as the person before you). There will be a new way to enter on each post until the contest deadline of February 4, 2009. Extra entries for blogging it and pointing people my way. Just let me know so I can make sure to link back to you.

Authors, if you're interested in offering up a prize for this contest, drop me a line at novelreads at gmail dot com (ya know, with the symbols and no spaces) and we'll see what we can do!

Take Care

Novel Chats - Part ?

Nightwalker by Jocelynn Drake

If ever there was a BCC that did the worst possible job in describing the book within, the BCC on this book would be it. I almost didn't buy this book and I would have been missing out. Thank goodness for other online review sites though, because I went ahead and bought it and fell in love. There are several reasons I'm not doing a full post on this one, 1) the books been out a while and everyone seems to have already read and reviewed it because 2) the book has hit the lists and doesn't actually need my little bitty help in getting word out. I did want to chat it though, because I really enjoyed Drake's style. Her writing had a very poetic quality to it, that under most circumstances would bore me to death or have me rolling my eyes, but in this instance captured my imagination. Drake used beautiful prose to build a very convincing world with real characters I can't wait to read more about. This one gets a very solid A.

fringe benefits by Valerie Frankel

I was a bit slow in picking this book up, as it is Book 4 in a series I had never heard of. However, once I did pick it up, I really enjoyed it. I found it easy to follow the story line and grasp relationships. Since fringe is YA, I tend to look at these a bit different, and as far as my would I pass this on to the young women I know to read test, the answer is, probably, once they hit a certain age. While Adora Benet was a nice change from some of the superficial teen queen of some YA novels out there, she still spoke way too freely about sex with her boyfriend, and hey, I'm not dumb, I know this happens, but as a mother of young children I shudder to think about it. Other than that, I adored this strong willed young character and enjoyed watching the world through her eyes as she spent a summer separate from her friends and faced some very life altering situations. I give this one a very solid B.

Cutting Loose by Susan Andersen

I've been a fan of Andersen for some time. I love the way she can take a storyline that's been done over and over again, and make it seem new again. I love how her characters seem so real and how she's always been able to draw me into their lives and seriously care about them. But Cutting Loose just really fell short for me. It's only been a few weeks since I read the book, and I can't really remember much about it except for my great disappointment in the heroine. In fact, I remember thinking that the wrong name was put on the cover of the book, so disappointed in CL was I. All of the reasons I have come to enjoy Andersen were absent in the writing of this tale, and I found myself disliking just about every character in it. I know that I will not like every book a favorite author pens, but more times than not I can find something redeeming in the pages, but this was a not time. I can only hope that the next book of the Sisterhood Diaries is back to the Andersen I've grown to love. This one gets a D.

Don't forget my contest right now, just look for the link over in the sidebar for details.

Take Care

Novel Chats - A Series

Before I begin, can I just say now that I highly doubt that I am the reason Jenny Crusie is considering leaving the blog-o-sphere behind? Yes, I linked her blog post in my rant. Yes, I JCF was one of the Yahoo! Groups I posed the question to. No, I don't think it caused the incredible Ms. Crusie to re-think her entire position on blogging. Thank you to the few of you that have e-mailed me to let me know that you consider me so influential. I appreciate it. I also respect that perhaps you were trying to teach me the lesson of just how hurtful those nasty e-mails can be and believe me when I tell you, I already learned that lesson after my review of Fearless Fourteen. However, I do believe I will keep my collection of Crusie books on the book shelf - because yes, I truly do consider myself a fan of the writer, Bet Me has seen my through many a reading slumps. I also believe that I will continue to blog, as I don't think that I am the heart of evil and malice that has spread across the blog world causing innocent "authors with more talent in their pinky finger than I have in my entire body" to give up their on-line presence. If you have read any of my blog posts, you would see that I may not always like a book (and if you don't like those less than glowing reviews skip the following post), however I don't think I've written anything especially nasty and even while I was ranting about an author I believed was behaving in an incredibly ridiculous manner, I never publicly announced the authors name, not until the story "broke" out on a much more popular blog than my own. But again, I am flattered you think that I have such influence over some one I've never met and so very much admire. And you know what? I'm not even going to post your e-mails. I'm not even gonna let a soul other than my family see them. And God willing, should I ever be published, you will NOT see an antagonist with a name closely resembling yours. Instead, those e-mails will be printed out and stuck in my "I HAVE ARRIVED" folder that The Hubs suggest I start when I received my first nasty e-mail. And now, on with it...


I read the first two books in this series when they first came out. I was still at d&D at the time, and had seriously considered dishing them, had talked to dee about how I felt about them, but just couldn't bring myself to do so. It seemed like so many people were just in love with these books. Thought they were great. I have to say, that while I enjoy the mythology behind the books, I didn't particularly like the "forced seduction" in them. In fact, I didn't feel like it was so much forced seduction as I felt like the "hero" was raping his woman. But truth be told, I don't see much of a difference. No, in my opinion has always meant NO. It means STOP! It does not mean, oh I really do want this, I want to be terrified of you and what you are doing, because if you just keep it up I know I'll get over myself and LOVE it.

That said, the premise of this series is unique and if you can skip the hero forcing sex on his soon to be wife to gain her love, then they are damn fine reads. An amazingly evil man makes a deal with the devil. In return for his soul, the soul of his descendants and their eternal loyalty, the devil will give them the ability to change into fierce warriors. They will be long lived, will only be able to be killed by another of their kind, and they will have the ability to change at will into a fierce predatory animal. They will only bear sons. However, one day, a descendant falls in love. Not any descendant mind you, but the current ruler of the fierce clan. He runs away with his gypsy bride, has children and loves them all dearly. However, one day his wife has a vision, a vision that tells his doom. He will burn forever in hell unless the family can find the family icon and restore it to break the curse. The prophecy his wife has seems impossible to the family. For one, it states that the true loves of his four sons will bring the icons back together - but he only has three sons and one daughter.

I continued to read the series this summer when the final two books were released. I enjoyed them, because I wanted to see the curse lifted. I wanted to see how Dodd worked around the four sons thing. All in all, I think the series was worth the read. The premise is fascinating. There were, however, several lose ends. For instance, in the first book Ann (the true love of son #1) is found out to have something "other" herself, and I had seriously thought that this would come into play later. It didn't. I have no idea why it was such a big deal in the first book, if it has no real bearing on the overall story-line.

So, if you like forced seduction you'll be able to read these books without discomfort. However, if like me, you don't care for it, then either skip this series all together or skip pretty much all of the sex, because most of it read like rape to me.

Since this is a Novel Chat of a post the series gets a grade, I give it a C-. Probably would have been an A, but ya know, that whole forced thing.

Take Care

Novel Chats

It's Saturday, which means it's time for another edition of Novel Chats. Some of the books I've read but not talked about here yet are part of a series, some are not. I hope you that if you've read some, you'll leave me a comment and let me know what you thought as well! Just a note, please forgive the fact that the pics are all over the place, Gooe Ole' Blooger, OOPS, I mean Blogger, won't let me copy and paste now to make them line up!

Real Vampires Live Large by Gerry Bartlett

What can I say? I LOVED this one. Glory is a hoot. Her world is amazingly believabel, and OH Baby does Blade every do it for me. With a great cast of characters, Bartlett is a fresh voice in the genre that will have readers craving more. I know I was left wanting more. And thanks to a great contest over on Darque Reviews, I got to read the next book too. I'll post a full length review on it soon! This one gets an A+

How To Knit A Wild Bikini by Christie Ridgway

Another book I adored. I have to admit, this is the first Ridgway I've read and I can't really explain why. Maybe because I'm not a fan of a certain Romance author's work, and I've always associated the two. I don't know why, because I see no evidence that they are even similar, but whatever. It was my loss. Because I absolutely LOVED this book. It made me smile. It made me FEEL. It made me want to learn how to knit! Ridgway has found her way into my TBR list from now on! This one gets an A.

Road To Hell by Jackie Kessler

I just didn't feel this one. I didn't really feel the first book in the series either, but in the end enjoyed the bits that made the whole. I guess I felt the same way about this one. I just don't care much for Jesse. I can't sympathize with her, and that makes the reading hard. It was worth the read because I'd read the first book, and I'll probably even read the next one. Hey, I'm a glutton for punishment when it comes to series books, what can I say. All and all, I have to give this one a C.

That's it for Novel Chat today. More next Saturday.

Take Care

Introducing Novel Chats...

...'Cause sometimes I'm lazy. Well, not really lazy just short on time. You see, I read a LOT during the short hiatus I took after leaving d&D and starting this blog, and I haven't had a chance to really post about any of those books. And since it's been a LONG time ( a few months at least) and I can't re-read them all - Novel Chats was born. Basically, I'll take a few of the books I read during that time period and just post the general thoughts I have about the books.

For my first ever Chat session, I'm focusing on two series I started during my time off.

I'm a huge fan of the cozy mystery genre, so when I saw this new series (only two books in) at the book store, I grabbed them up expecting great things. In fact, I enjoyed the books, but they were no where near as "cozy" and endearing as I usually find the books in this genre. I never caught the sudoku bug, and that in and of itself could be the reason I didn't fall in love. I also didn't form any real connection with the heroine, and when I went online to find out more about the author and found nothing- no author website, not much about her on the publisher site-I felt even less enthusiastic. The mystery in the first book was far too easy to solve, and while it was a bit harder in the third, it still felt incredibly transparent. However, I'll read the next one upon its release, because they were a fairly quick and easy read. Also, for those readers that did ride the Sudoku Crazy Train, there are free puzzles and tips. All in all, I have to give the series a C-. But don't just take my word for it, leave me a comment on this post about why you'd like to read the series, and I'll select a reader at random to receive my copy of the books. I've only read them once, so they are practically like new. I'll run the contest until Thursday night, as I won't have a chance to get to the Post Office until the end of the week anyway.

The next series I started while on hiatus was Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy. I'm a Mead lurver. I admit it freely. Mead was my first ever FAB pick while at d&D, and her Succubus series even has The Hubs hooked. I'm also a big fan of the YA genre. HUGE fan as a matter of fact, so I started this series with great expectations. I'm happy to announce, that the expectations were met. While the characters may be younger, therefore the raunchiness toned down, Mead's voice is apparent, and her talent for First Person storytelling that leaves you knowing not only the storyteller but the secondary characters makes this a series not to be missed. The take on the vampiric world is unique, the suspense is amazing, and the pacing is sprint speed. With a strong and unique heroine, Mead's new series will delight readers of all ages. I give this series an A!

Don't forget my contest this week with Angie Fox, just click the link on the side bar or scroll down for the details!

Take Care