Eye Candy!

I"m in the process of trying to figure out the legalities of writing a book review blog while working at a bookstore, so I haven't been posting much (*cough at all cough*) to try and avoid doing something illegal. Which is always a good plan in my book, but that leaves me with nothing to review for you. So instead, I have some nummy eye candy videos for you while I slog through paragraphs of lawyer speak. Have fun and don't drool too much! ;D

First up is a video for a German/ Danish supermarket resembling Costco. No, really, it's a video for a supermarket.


Next up is the Handsome Men's Club. I don't know how Jimmy Kimmel managed it, but I love it!


Hope the eye candy brightens up your day!

Review: Archangel's Kiss by Nalini Singh

Back Cover Blurb:

New York Times bestselling author of Angels' Blood 

Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux wakes from a year-long coma to find that she has become an angel-and that her lover, the stunningly dangerous archangel Raphael, likes having her under his control. But almost immediately, Raphael must ready Elena for a flight to Beijing, to attend a ball thrown by the archangel Lijuan. Ancient and without conscience, Lijuan's power lies with the dead. And she has organized the most perfect and most vicious of welcomes for Elena... 

For fans of: Angels’ Blood , the prequel to Archangel’s Kiss; Nalini Singh

In the Angel’s Blood, Elena is a Guild Hunter. What that means is she hunts down vampires who’ve run away and she returns them to their masters, the angels. See, in this world, angels aren’t really religious icons, but instead, basically rule the world. Angels create vampires to serve them by giving certain humans a toxin that they produce in their blood. In exchange for immortality, a human vampire-to-be signs away their freedom for a couple of centuries. Hunters are humans tasked with making sure the vampires stick to their contracts of servitude.  Elena is the best Hunter out there, which brings her to the attention of Raphael, the Archangel of New York. He’s one of seven of the most powerful angels in the world and he has a job for her. He needs her to hunt down another Archangel who has gone insane. In the process of doing this job, Elena and Raphael fall for each other, leading to massive complications and the next book, Archangel’s Kiss.

I’m a huge fan of Nalini Singh. I stalk her on her website and on an awesome urban fantasy author blog called Odd Shots. I’ve read just about everything she’s ever written.

That said, I was a little disappointed with this book. I enjoyed Archangel’s Kiss for the insight it gives us into Elena’s childhood traumas. In the first book, we were left wondering what had really happened to Elena and her family as a child. Nalini Singh finally answered that question in this, the second book in her Guild Hunter series. I enjoyed seeing Raphael and Elena’s relationship progress into more of an equal footing and watching them mature and deepen their love. I loved seeing Elena start to learn about being an angel and I loved how she dealt with all of the changes.

What I had problems with were the plot progression and climax. The plot seemed too jumpy to me. It was like it didn’t flow well when I read it. Ms. Singh had too many plot threads and she would alternate between main threads leaving me unattached to any of them. And unfortunately, the climax was completely anticlimactic. I was looking forward to the final confrontation with Lijuan and her army of the dead but it lasted for all of five pages and Elena played almost no part in it. And who destroys a city in one sentence? It was all, Beijing is no more. I just had problems with that.

I did have fun reading this. I love Elena because she’s so bad ass and refuses to take crap from anybody. I love that she’s independent and doesn’t rely on Raphael all the time, but doesn’t get into stupid situations because she’s too independent and won’t rely on others when she needs help. Raphael walks that fine line between arrogant jerk that no one likes and yummy alpha male that everyone wants. I probably will read this again, if only for the characters. I am still definitely looking forward to reading the next book in the series, which sounds like it will be set in Manhattan. I can’t wait to read about the reactions of her family and friends to her new angel wings. I hope it can come out sooner!

My Grade: B-

Review: Inked by Karen Chance, Marjorie M. Liu, Yasmine Galenorn, and Eileen Wilks

Back Cover Blurb:

Four of today's hottest urban fantasy writers together for the first time!

From today's most provocative authors come four tales of urban fantasy and paranormal romance exploring body art that is more than it seems-in a world of magic and mayhem that always leaves its mark.

This captivating tattoo theme surrounds each author's popular characters and worlds: Karen Chance's war mage Lia de Croissets, Marjorie M. Liu's demon-hunter Maxine Kiss, Yasmine Galenorn's Otherworld Intelligence Agency operative Camille D'Artigo, and Eileen Wilks's Lupi world.

I’m going to review this anthology novella by novella in order to fully cover each author’s work (mostly because I really liked some of the stories, and didn’t like some of them, so I can’t just do a catch-all review). So, on to the first novella!

Skin Deep

For fans of: Anything by Karen Chance

The first book in the Cassandra Palmer series:

Review:

Karen Chance wrote the first story, which follows war mage Lia de Croissets. Lia’s story is set in the same time period (and world) as the Cassandra Palmer series (see the link to Karen Chance’s website above), and is mostly told in other anthologies. Lia’s dad is a war mage and her mother was a high-caste Were (as in werewolf), giving Lia magical ability and a disease that prevents her from ever fully changing into a wolf. As a result, Lia has shunned the Were part of her heritage and has wholly embraced becoming a war mage, one of the best of the best when it comes to magic. At the beginning of the story, Lia is recovering from a battle that uncovered a traitor to the war mages, whom she killed. Lia is going stir crazy because she isn’t allowed to leave headquarters until her boyfriend Cyrus’s brother Sebastian, the leader of the Were clans, tells her that Cyrus has gone missing while he was doing dangerous undercover work on behalf of Sebastian. Lia sets out to find him and in the process discovers more about her relationship with Cyrus, her Were heritage, and a plot to take over the Were leadership.

I love Karen Chance’s writing, and I’ve really enjoyed following Lia’s story in all of her anthologies. I liked that, while there was a back-story that sounded interesting, I didn’t need it to read Skin Deep. The action is fun, Lia’s funny, and the romance was sweet and steamy at the same time. I really loved starting the anthology with this novella.

My Grade: A-

Armor of Roses

For fans of: Marjorie M. Liu’s Hunter Kiss series

The first book in the Hunter Kiss series:

Review:

Maxine Kiss has five demons that are tied to her life. At night, they roam around and help remove evil demons from unknowing hosts, but during the day they sleep under Maxine’s skin in the form of tattoos and make her impermeable to injury. Maxine and her boyfriend Grant are on the way home from a party for charity when they find an old man stabbed and dying against Maxine’s car. He claims to have known Maxine’s grandmother and says that whatever he helped Maxine’s grandmother with, it’s not over. Maxine has to figure out what he’s talking about and keep the other people who helped her grandmother during WWII alive.

This novella by Marjorie M. Liu is a continuation of her Hunter Kiss series, which I haven’t been able to really get into. I have read one of the Hunter Kiss novels, but I just couldn’t seem to follow along and spent most of the book very confused. Unfortunately, I had the same problem with this story. I felt like I definitely needed a back-story for the novel, and I just didn’t enjoy the way it was written. I almost gave up on the story, but I pushed through to the end because I’m stubborn like that. I’m sorry, but I just did not like this story.

My Grade: D

Etched in Silver

For fans of: The Otherworld/ Sisters of the Moon Series by Yasmine Galenorn

The first book in the Otherworld/ Sisters of the Moon series:

Review:

The prequel to Yasmine Galenorn’s Otherworld series (or Sisters of the Moon series, depending on who you talk to), this novella explains how Camille and Trillian, some of the main characters of the series, first met and fell in love. Camille is assigned to hunt down a dangerous serial rapist for the OIA (Otherworld Intelligence Agency) and along the way has some troubles with unwanted suitors.

Inked came out on the same day as Ms. Galenorn’s seventh book in the Otherworld series, Bone Magic, which also features Camille but is several years in the future. I really like the series, so I found it interesting to get a glimpse of what life was like for the D’Artigo sisters before they went Earthside. Since this was a prequel, there is no back-story necessary, but there is a ton of foreshadowing and if you’ve read the series, you’ll definitely pick up on it. I wasn’t as fond of this novella as I was of most of Ms. Galenorn’s other novels, but it was decent. It just felt a little short (compared to the other novellas, not to a full length novel) and the action that is plentiful in her other books just didn’t have the same intensity here. Also, there was a scene that introduced a new possible plot thread, and now I’m racking my brains trying to decide if that just foreshadowed something already in the series or if it has yet to occur. I’m thinking it has yet to occur. Anyway, I mostly enjoyed this novella, especially after the previous one.

My Grade: B-

Human Nature

For fans of: Eileen Wilks’s World of the Lupi series

The first book in the World of the Lupi series:

Review:

I have never read any of Eileen Wilks’s novels, so this was a pleasant introduction. Former-cop-now-FBI-agent Lily Yu travels to California at her boyfriend Rule’s request in order to investigate the suspicious death of his friend. The thing is, Rule and his friends are Lupi (another word for werewolves) and his friend was killed in an anti-Lupi stronghold. Lily has to determine whether this was a hate crime or something else, hold her relationship with Rule together, and try to avoid a political minefield.

I’m kind of excited to try reading this series now. I keep seeing the first book in the series though I haven’t yet tried it. This definitely makes me want to read the rest of her books. While I wish I knew the back-story, I don’t feel like I needed it to understand what was going on, although some of the terms were a little confusing. It sounds like the novella also introduced a new power of some sort to Lily, which could be an interesting plot thread in the next full-length novels of the series.

My Grade: B+

Overall Anthology Grade: B-

I'm back, kind of

So I know I haven’t posted anything in about a month, and I apologize for that. Life just got a little crazy for a while and I got distracted. No worries though! I have my latest reviews ready for you. I will be posting one today in a few minutes. Sorry about the wait, but in the meantime, I give you: cute bunnies! [Note: I am not trying to promote gambling, the NY lottery, bunny abuse, or any horrible thing that you might infer from the video. I just liked the cuteness.]

Review: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Back Cover Blurb:

Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can’t seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse—Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. When Percy’s mom finds out, she knows it’s time that he knew the truth about where he came from, and that he go to the one place he’ll be safe. She sends Percy to Camp Half-Blood, a summer camp for demigods (on Long Island), where he learns that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon a mystery unfolds and together with his friends—one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena—Percy sets out on a quest across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld (located in a recording studio in Hollywood) and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.

The movie trailer:



For fans of: D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Since every movie I’ve seen recently has a trailer for the movie version of The Lightning Thief, I thought I’d review the book just to see what the movie would be about. After looking for the Percy Jackson series in the teen section of my local bookstore, I finally broke down and asked for assistance in finding it. Surprisingly, I was directed into the children’s section, which I’m pretty sure I haven’t set foot in for at least ten years. I’m not sure if this qualifies as Young Adult, but I’ll still review it.

Anyway, Percy is a fun character. He suffers from ADHD and dyslexia, which makes it hard for him to live a normal life. When you add the fact that weirdly dangerous things keep happening around him, Percy makes a perfect candidate for a school for troubled youths. When Percy kills his math teacher, who was really a harpy-in-disguise, his mom sends him to Camp Half-Blood, where he finds out that his father is really Poseidon, the God of the Seas. Also, some good news and bad news: he discovers he has cool new powers that have to do with water and he’s suspected of having taken Zeus’s ultra-super-special lightning bolt. The theft of Zeus’s bolt is causing all of the Greek gods to start getting ready for war, so Percy takes on a quest with his friends Grover and Annabeth in order to discover who really stole the lightning bolt and clear Percy’s name. Eventually, Percy grows into the hero he was born to be and discovers a plot that could change the world as we know it.

I really liked The Lightning Thief. I’ve always been a big fan of Greek mythology, and so seeing Rick Riordan take the old myths and put them in a modern setting is fantastic. I also really enjoyed how along Percy’s journey, he encounters scenarios found in the Odyssey and mythological baddies that are pulled straight from a roster of Greek monsters. I was really excited to see how all the myths translated: the three Fates run a fruit stand by the side of the highway where they knit the strands of Fate; Ares and Aphrodite still get it on in secret while Hephaestus tries to capture them mid flagrante delicto on video.

The writing was well-done, and there was an interesting twist at the end that I didn’t see coming, and a couple of twists that I did guess. The traps Percy fell into along the way were a little obvious if you know a lot about Greek mythology, and the head villain was foreshadowed a little too extensively, but other than that, it was a fun read for a children/teen novel. Would I read the next book in the series? Yeah, if I can get it away from my dad first (I got him interested in the series and now we have to fight over the books). Would I re-read this book? Probably.

My Grade: A-

While I wait for edits...

My latest review has gone to be edited. And believe me, I need that step. I once (I think it was only once...) forgot key words and the second half of a sentence because I was so excited. It was embarrassing. Thank goodness my friends are willing to edit for me! You know who you are. ;D

In the meantime, I shall offer you a funny video! Here you go: One Semester of Spanish - Love Song!

Review: Blood Cross by Faith Hunter

Back Cover Blurb:

Jane Yellowrock is back on the prowl against the children of the night...

The vampire council has hired skinwalker Jane Yellowrock to hunt and kill one of their own who has broken sacred ancient rules-but Jane quickly realizes that in a community that is thousands of years old, loyalties run deep...

For fans of: Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniels series,

early Anita Blake series

Prequel: Kits, a free online story, Signatures of the Dead, a short story in the anthology Strange Brew, and Skinwalker, her debut novel.

I read Skinwalker a few months ago and fell in love with Jane Yellowrock, a kick-ass vampire hunter who spends her days as a woman and her nights as a mountain lion with a separate but shared soul called Beast. Jane has a great dry sense of humor and she’s got a ton of secrets. Jane has no memories from before the age of twelve, when she walked out of the woods with no apparent knowledge of any language. Now she’s all grown up and using the supernatural skills Beast gives her to hunt down rogue vampires who murder innocents. For a price, of course. In Skinwalker, the vampire council of New Orleans hires Jane to track down and kill a rogue vampire who is killing other vampires. Jane has to deal with the convoluted political scene of the vampires, the New Orleans police department, the gruesome murders and powerful yet impossible-to-exist murderer, and the romantic interest of three different men: Leo, the magnetic vampire leader, Bruiser, his hot right-hand human, and Rick, a shady character with a lot of charm. By the end of Skinwalker, I was more than ready to read the next installment in the series.

I got Blood Cross the day it came out and sat down with it as soon as I got home. I finished it in record time because I just couldn’t put it down. Leo, who has become unstable from grief (can’t give more away or it’d completely ruin Skinwalker), now wants Jane dead and tries to off her in different, painful ways, ignoring the vampire council’s wishes. The vampire council has re-hired Jane to find out which vampire master is creating new vampires and setting them free before they complete their required ten years of being chained in the basement to regain sanity and control. As the new vampires are nothing more than ravening monsters, Jane has to kill them before they attack any humans and find the master before any more new vamps are made. To complicate matters, Molly, Jane’s best friend and a powerful witch, has come to New Orleans to visit Jane with her two young children in tow. Angelina and Little Evan both have magic, which makes them targets for certain evil magical beings, so now Jane also has to help Molly protect the kids as the danger rises and political unrest threatens the city.

On the plus side, the romance heats up as Bruiser and Rick start trying to woo Jane (read: get in her pants). Bruiser and Rick both seem to genuinely care about Jane. Bruiser is tough and knows the supernatural world as well as Jane does and the fact that he’s Leo’s blood-servant adds an edge of danger that Jane and Beast both like. Not to mention, he’s also a sexy kisser. In Skinwalker, Rick is a player and not the most responsible (or safe) person, but in Blood Cross he grows up a little and gains responsibility. He’s definitely interested in Jane and he doesn’t mind showing it. Jane is now stuck in a love triangle (square?) because, while she’s got the hots for Bruiser and Rick is fun to be with and cute, she can’t help being attracted to Leo (when he has sane moments).

This has to be one of the best urban fantasies I’ve read in a long time. The action was fast-paced and engaging. Everything flowed smoothly and there were no gaping holes in the plot. The hunt progressed in a believable manner and the surprise twist was beautifully done. All the story lines come together by the end to make a cohesive whole. I really enjoy the way Faith Hunter differentiates Jane’s point of view from Beast’s through their character’s voice. Jane speaks in complete sentences and thinks about relationships between events, people, and objects. Beast focuses on her physical senses and speaks in short, choppy sentences. I loved the writing style! I have to recommend this (read: squee like a fangirl and gush about it) to everyone I know; it’s fantastic! My only disappointment was that I read it so quickly (Darn you, my lack of a social life!) and now I have to wait months for the next book. I am definitely going to be reading this again, and I strongly recommend reading it if you like great urban fantasies.

My Grade: A+

In the meantime...

While I am working on my latest review, try this snippet of Patricia Briggs' latest Mercy Thompson novel, Silver Borne. Can't wait for March 30, its release date!

Back cover blurb:


Being a mechanic is hard work. Mercy Thompson, for instance, just spent the last couple of months trying to evade the murderous queen of the local vampire seethe, and now the leader of the werewolf pack - who's maybe-more-than-just-a-friend - has asked for her help. A book of fae secrets has come to light and they're all about to find out how implacable - and dangerous - the fae can be. OK, so maybe her troubles have nothing to do with the job. But she sure could use a holiday ...

Review: Gentlemen Prefer Succubi by Jill Myles

Back Cover Blurb:

Who knew an angel could get a girl in so much devilish trouble?

Jackie Brighton woke up in a dumpster this morning, and her day has only gotten weirder. Her breasts grew overnight, her sex drive is insatiable, and apparently she had her first one-night stand ever . . . with a fallen angel.

Of course, she only remembers gorgeous Noah’s enormous, er, package. And their steamy shower sex. Hmm . . . and the dark stranger whose bite transformed her into an immortal siren with a seductive Itch.

With help from Noah and fellow succubus Remy Summore, Jackie adapts to her new lifestyle—until she accidentally strikes a deal that sends her lover into the deadly clutches of the vampire queen and lands Jackie, Remy, and the queen’s wickedly hot right-hand man into the middle of a fierce battle for an ancient halo.

But how’s a girl supposed to save the world when the enemy’s so hard to resist?

For fans of: Undead and Unwed by MaryJanice Davidson

Ever since I started following the blog Odd Shots, I’ve been looking forward to reading this book. Jill Myles has a great sense of humor, and I was looking forward to seeing it translate into her first full length novel. After a slight mishap at my local bookstore involving misplaced books and forty minutes spent searching the shelves, I finally got a copy and immediately took it home to read.

I wasn’t disappointed. The humor is fantastic. The main character, museum-tour-guide-turned-succubus Jackie, does wonderful things with sarcasm and self-deprecation that had me laughing out loud and causing my family to look at me like I was nuts. And the leading men in the love triangle, oh la la! They’re both fatally good looking. I’ve decided I’m more of a Zane fan (Zane being the vampire queen’s hot right-hand man). He’s one of the kindest (and sexiest) bad boys I’ve ever read about; what he says (think rude jerk-isms) doesn’t always mesh with what he does. He does seem to genuinely care about Jackie, though, which meets one of my requirements for bad boy love interests: He shalt truly care about the female lead and protect her from all other dastardly villains though he may behave abominably in the process. While Noah is protective and sexy, I got the feeling that he’s just interested in Jackie in a carnal way and isn’t too keen on an actual relationship. And yes, the sex scenes are all steamy and well written and definitely yummy. ;D

Remy, Jackie’s new mentor and friend, is another interesting character. Remy has a questionable job, questionable taste in clothes (and men), and a potty mouth. Remy’s saving graces are her loyalty to Jackie and her friendliness from the moment we meet her, and she makes a perfect foil to Jackie, who is clueless about men, pretty naïve, and slightly prudish. The contrast between Remy and Jackie leads to some funnily awkward moments between the two of them.

And this brings me to Jackie. I was disappointed by Jackie. I love her humor and was excited to see that she’s intelligent (she has at least one degree and runs tours in a local museum). I like that she gets to have that Cinderella-esque makeover that every girl fantasizes about and gets the body of her dreams by becoming a succubus. I also like that she has real self-esteem issues, which any woman would have after being a size fourteen most of her life and suddenly finding herself a size six and the object of men’s desires. Those are portrayed realistically and well. My problem with Jackie is that she’s supposedly intelligent, and yet she has occasional moments where she’s just too stupid to live (TSTL). The first thing Remy does when instructing Jackie in her new way of life is to warn her not to do certain things. What does Jackie do? She manages to go out and immediately do what she was warned about. And though she’s a museum docent (her actual job description), she seems a little clueless at times when dealing some of the historical information, which I couldn’t find entirely believable since she works in a museum and has a degree, probably in Archaeology, judging by what she says about her job. Jackie is mostly believable as a normal, slightly prudish woman who just found herself turned into a succubus with an insatiable sex drive. I just wish she had evidenced her intelligence a little more consistently.

The plot was engaging. I am automatically a fan of any book that portrays ancient mythologies in a modern setting (think Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark-Hunter series) because I’m a history buff, so tossing in elements of Ancient Egyptian history gets a thumbs up from me. I wished the fight between good and evil was a little more pronounced; it felt slightly laissez faire and rather mellow. There weren’t any apocalyptic battle scenes, and the ending is somewhat anti-climactic, but overall, the plots flows smoothly and is interesting enough that you are curious about what happens next.

I’m looking forward to the next book in the series, Succubi Like It Hot; hopefully, the love triangle and the action will heat up and Jackie will exhibit more common sense and intelligence. Gentlemen Prefer Succubi is a great debut by a first time author and a hilariously fun read. Would I read this book again? Probably.

My Grade: B-

Apologies, Video, and New Year's Resolutions? Oh, my...

Due to the unforeseen lack of internet over my holidays, I have been terribly remiss in posting. I'm very sorry for my lack of promised reviews and updates! It was mildly fun writing reviews Olde Skool style and actually writing them on paper using a pen. But then again, I couldn't add the pretty pictures I normally do, which was sad. Plus, my hand cramped, which might mean I write too much about books (or too little, depending on how you look at it). I'm in the process of transferring my ramblings on paper into something I can actually post here, because, horror of horrors, I didn't even have access to my laptop, which was (and actually, still is) a nightmare. I'm not as fond of desktops, especially when the keys stick. But I digress.

To make up for my lack of a review now, I shall instead offer you this video:

I'm a huge fan of The Guild, a hilarious web series about gamers. And the music video they made makes me laugh every time.

Anyway, since 2010 has finally arrived, I figure I should share my New Year's Resolutions, in the hopes that if others know my goals, and I know I'll have to report on my progress at the end of the year, I might have a better chance of succeeding at accomplishing my goals. So here they are:

• Rather than attempting to lose weight, my goal is to get fit and more accurately, toned. I will know I have accomplished this when I can run 2 miles in under 16 minutes and do 42 push-ups and 78 sit-ups each in 2 minutes (thanks to U.S. Army physical fitness standards). Although right now, I'm thinking I'll definitely need a year to get this one done.
• Post a book review at least 3 times a week. This goal seems more attainable, although judging by my past performance...
• Learn one new foreign language while maintaining proficiency in all the languages I currently know. I think I'm going to try to take on German, since I have English, Spanish, and French under my belt. Unfortunately, my French needs a lot of work, so this resolution will be...interesting.
• Go on a road trip with my two best friends. We've been planning to go for a few years, but so far, it hasn't happened.
• Finish cleaning and rearranging my room. After I painted the walls, I shoved my furniture and clothes back into it rather haphazardly, so it's a bit of a mess. And I painted my room 2 years ago. (See why I need accountability?)
• Clean out the kitchen cupboards and make them more accessible.
• Tackle the disaster known locally as My Basement. I don't even know if I can accomplish cleaning my basement in one year working every day for 12 hours, but I'll toss this one on my list anyway.
• Clean out my closet. I have clothes in there from my 8th grade year, which is depressing and due to my difficulties with getting rid of, well, anything. (Thus the reason that most of my resolutions deal with cleaning.)
• It'd be fantastic if I could get 50 followers on this blog, too, but that might be wishful thinking since I currently have a grand total of 2 followers. And one is my sister.

And those are my resolutions for 2010. However, I would just like to add that though it sounds as if I live in an incredibly messy house, it’s really not that bad. I promise. ;D