Sunday, October 26, 2014

Seventh Grave and No Body by Darynda Jones (Charley Davidson #7)



5 Stars

The sixth book didn’t quite feel complete so I was worried when I saw the size of this one on my kindle that it would feel like another part of a whole that I was missing.  It is quite expensive so I feel like I deserve a lot of bang for my buck.  I’m not sure if it is worth the $11 for my kindle version but I devoured it in just a few days regardless.

We learned in the last book that Charley’s dad is up to something.  Her stepmother won’t tell her what he was up to but seemed to blame Charley for this.  We find out what he is up to in this book, but I am left a little confused at the end of the book.  The Vatican plays some part in it but I don’t think it is the nefarious part.

Charley’s ex-bestie from high school is still hanging around.  She actually makes some advances in that I don’t find her quite as annoying but I do find her infatuation with Reyes annoying. 

At the very beginning of the book Charley solves a case for Agent Carson.  It doesn’t move the storyline along at all, but does play into how busy Charley always is.  It makes me tired just reading it!

A priest comes to see Charley about a house that is being possessed.  He wants her help.  This is where we first hear about the Vatican, but again it is very vague. 

I think the best thing about this book is that Charley seems to be understanding or at least attempting her skills.  She is very powerful.   Reyes, Garrett, and Osh are her constant companions.  Charley trusts Osh completely but it doesn’t appear Reyes does.  My prediction is Osh is around for the offspring of Reyes and Charley somehow.  I don’t think it is anything nefarious though. 

There is a lot of other stuff that goes on in this book as all of Charley’s books, however I wish there was more happening with the bigger picture.  I really love these books but is the author dragging this out?    

Funny Quote:
“I was growing quite annoyed with the lot of them, if two could be considered a lot.  It was kind of iffy, kind of like how two crows was only an attempted murder.”

  

Infinite Harmony by Tammy Blackwell (Shifters and Seers #2)

4 Stars

I think my favorite thing about this new “Shifters and Seers” series is that I get to keep in touch with Scout and Liam.  Usually I like to hear about all the other characters getting their happily ever afters, but the last one with Charley and this one with Joshua just don’t have the same stuff that the Timber Wolves books do.  I appears that they are attempting to move the storyline along through these secondary characters but it’s just not happening.

I’m still giving it four stars because it was well written and I enjoyed hearing about Joshua.

The whole gang is at some sort of lakeside cabin resort in preparation for Scout and Liam’s wedding.  There is a group of people out to get the shifters and seers.  Some sort of pro-human group.  They are hurting and killing anyone they can get their hands on and the packs are getting volatile.  This is pretty much were this storyline ends.    

Joshua meets Ava who is working the front desk at this resort.  It is interesting to listen to how both Joshua and Ava find the other more attractive the more they get to know each other.  This is how it usually happens right? Obviously there are those people who are just beautiful, but most of us become beautiful in others eyes as they delve deeper into the person.  The only problem for these two is that Joshua is going to live forever and Ava is sick with a shortened normal lifespan.  They both struggle through this, but separately.  The entire book happens within a week but Joshua and Ava do get to know each other quite a bit during this time.    

Favorite Quote:
“I’m just as committed to stamping out all signs of fun and enjoyment as you are, Party Breaker-Upper Girl.”  He reached out and slapped the top of the golf cart with his hand.  “Onward, brave steed! Evil is afoot and we must eradicate it while the night is still young!”

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas (Throne of Glass) #2)



4 Stars

I became obsessed with the Throne of Glass series a while ago.  I started with all the prequels which are amazing and a necessity of you want to fully understand the heroine: Celaena Sardothien.  The only reason that this book (which was in fact amazing) was that I stopped half way through because it felt like it was getting really predictable.  I didn’t finish it for many months, but let me tell you that the book did not go anywhere near where I thought it would.  If the middle didn’t drag for just a bit I would have kept reading and been blown away.  I plan to read the third book very soon so I can see where things are going. 

After reading the books description it will be very difficult to give any sort of synopsis without giving anything so I will have to be very brief.  Celaena wins the competition to become the king’s champion.  This basically means that she does his bidding and by this I mean that she kills whoever the king orders her to kill.  From the previous books we know that Celaena does not like or trust the king so to be his champion is difficult for her.  Winning the competition to be his champion meant she didn’t have to go back to the slave mines to die there, but winning means she must kill those who oppose the king. 

The only other thing I can say is that she chooses between the prince and Chaol.  This is where I lost interest.  I was glad that Celaena could find some happiness but it was obvious that this secret tryst would be found out.  I thought this was predictable and lost interest.  However, it wasn’t found out by whom I expected and the turn of events was anything but predictable. 


I can’t wait to read the next one.  We find out so much more about Celaena’s past.  Now that I am thinking about it, we really didn’t find out a lot, but what we found out was HUGE!  There are hints of this in the previous books, but I still wasn’t ready for it when it happened.  It changes everything for Celaena.  

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Lady Wicked by Delle Jacobs


3 Stars

I have read quite a few Delle Jacobs books.  It has been a while so I can’t remember if the rest of them felt so drawn out.  I really loved the character development.  I loved the turn of events at the ending, but I felt like a lot of the middle could have been left out or summarized better.  The parts with Chester were probably the most frustrating.  I think the author was trying to get across the fear in Lady Wychham as a result of her abuse, but it didn’t come across the pages. 

Lady Wyckham has been cast aside by her husband (whom it is immediately clear, is not likeable).  She is actually cast aside in a village that is basically run by Lord Savoury who is her nemesis.  Everyone in the villiage (including Lord Savoury) thinks that Lady Wyckham was caught in an affair and that is why she was cast aside.  Davina (Lady Wyckham) is just glad to be on her own.  She plans to grow her own herbs to sell and make a living.  The rest of the story follows the relationship between Savoury and Davina and how the villagers change their opinion about her.  There is a nice twist at the end, but in my opinion it took too long to get there. 

Deacon by Kristen Ashley (Unfinished Heroes #4)


3 Stars
I have typically not enjoyed this series as much as this authors other works.  I am finding with her most recent writings that not a lot is happening.  Part of what I loved about her usual work was that we meet these great characters and we watch their relationships blossom, usually under duress, but BIG things happen along the way.  I loved the bombings, kidnappings, and murder attempts found in the Rock Chick Series and the Fantastical Series and the Three Series and the early ‘Burg Series and Colorado Mountain Man Series.  I loved all the books that took place in England.  The Three Wishes is one of my favorite books! 

I’m just not sure how much more of these new books I want to keep reading.  I can’t wait for the finale of the Three Series so I am crossing my fingers that it is as wonderful as the rest of those books.
Deacon is the hero (or anti-hero) of this book.  Apparently he is from the Colorado Mountain Man series but he is not at all the man that was portrayed during those books.  I would not have thought he would even warrant his own book.  I kept trying to make sense of this new side of Deacon.  We pretty much saw him only quietly sitting in the bar prior to this.  Anyway, he comes to Cassidy’s cabins repeatedly for six years.  He gives her no signs or encouragement but Cassidy still puts herself out there for him (although rather vaguely) and Deacon shuts her down.  But he keeps coming back.  Eventually something happens that means Deacon has to step into the situation.  Obviously we know it is a KA story so I am not giving anything away by letting people know that Deacon and Cassidy get involved.   And being part of this series we know that Deacon will have some baggage.  This baggage has kept him from making any meaningful relationships for a very long time and he is resistant to changing this. 

I just wished something else happened…anything of a bit of action. 

The Lion's Lady by Julie Garwood


3.5 Stars

This was the first book I read in this series. I have read her other highlander books which I thoroughly enjoyed. The book starts by giving us the background on Christina. She is raised by American Indians. This is done mostly so we can understand how she was raised but it also gives us good insight into her feelings as they come out. When Christina travels to London she meets the Marquis of Lyonwood who immediately intrigues her because she can relate him to the warriors that she would have known growing up.

There was an interesting story line in the novel but there was too much back and forth. Christina was drawn to the Marquis but she must resist, now she has given in but she must keep her heart safe, ok she has lost her heart but she must still abandon him. The same happened with the Marquis but not to the same degree.

I think at some point I would read the next book. The synopsis sounds interesting.

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Romancing the Dukes: Castles Ever After by Tessa Dare


3.5 Stars

I positively LOVE Tessa Dare, but this was not my favorite of her books.  It was still above average and I look forward to the next book in the series.  In fact, I have pre-ordered it.  I think one of my least favorite aspects of it is that the main character, Izzy is constantly referring to how unattractive she is.  It matters very little to the hero (Ransome, the Duke of Rothbury), but nevertheless, firstly I prefer my heroines to be pretty.  I don’t want to read a romance book about someone unattractive.  I have enough of dealing with real life, I read for the adventure, for the escape. Everyone likes a main character they can identify with and I personally don’t WANT to identify with someone who is ugly.  I liked the rest of the character development. 

I absolutely loved that Izzy’s father had created this cult of followers of his writings that were quite fantastical.  I loved the nerdiness of this group of people.  It was quite endearing.

Izzy receives a letter from a man that claims that she has been left a castle.  Only upon arriving she finds the castle is being lived in and it is derelict.  What ensures is a quite amusing tale of the current resident of the castle (the Duke) trying to oust Izzy and Izzy being certain she is the rightful owner.