Monday, April 29, 2013

Review of The Taken by Vicki Pettersson

The Taken (Celestial Blues #1)
Publisher: Harper Voyager (June 2012 )
Genre: Supernatural Noir Trilogy
Format: e-book (432 pages)
Source: Purchased


 Rating 5/5

Griffin Shaw used to be a PI, but that was back when gumshoes hoofed the streets . . . and he was still alive. Fifty years later, he's an angel, but that doesn't make him a saint. One small mistake has altered fate, and now he's been dumped back onto the mortal mudflat to collect another soul--Katherine "Kit" Craig, a journalist whose latest investigation is about to get her clipped.

Bucking heavenly orders, Grif refuses to let the sable-haired siren come to harm. Besides, protecting her offers a chance to solve the mystery of his own unsolved murder--and dole out some overdue payback for the death of his beloved wife, Evie.

Joining forces, Kit and Grif's search for answers leads beyond the blinding lights of the Strip into the dark heart of an evil conspiracy. But a ruthless killer determined to destroy them isn't Grif's biggest threat. His growing attraction to Kit could cost them both their lives, along with the answer to the haunting question of his long afterlife . . .
 


Review 

 Read it!  Love it!  Become one with the Rockabilly!

 It's very refreshing to read something so original and yet for the book to feel so timeless.  I loved the subtle hints of RockabillyYou were never overloaded with telling of what Rockabilly meant to Kit, it was natural and a part of her.  The writing is so refreshing and a pleasure to read that I really never wanted Kit and Griffin's story to end but go on.  So in a way I'm in luck because there is a 2nd, thank goodness.  I just really couldn't put this book down.  Amazing characters, excellent world building.  I could almost feel the heat of the strip in Kit's fancy, foreign convertible!  Now that is writing :)

 Quip From "The Taken"
Today was the first day of the rest of his life.  He could use another cup of Joe.

 

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Review of Gunmetal Magic by ILona Andrews

Gunmetal Magic
Publisher: 
Ace ( July 2012 )
Genre: UF
Format: PB (
326 pages)
Source: Purchased

Series: Kate Daniels World
 

Rating 5/5

  Includes a free bonus: a Kate Daniels novella, "Magic Gifts"
The "New York Times "bestselling Kate Daniels novels have been hailed as "top-notch urban fantasy" ("Monsters and Critics"). Now, Ilona Andrews delves deeper into Kate's world, and reveals its untold stories...
After being kicked out of the Order of the Knights of Merciful Aid, Andrea's whole existence is in shambles. She tries to put herself back together by working for Cutting Edge, a small investigative firm owned by her best friend. When several shapeshifters working for Raphael Medrano--the male alpha of the Clan Bouda, and Andrea's former lover--die unexpectedly at a dig site, Andrea is assigned to investigate. Now she must work with Raphael as her search for the killer leads into the secret underbelly of supernatural Atlanta. And dealing with her feelings for him might have to take a back seat to saving the world...





Review
I can't harp on how much I loved this book.  This is the first book by Ilona Andrews that I've read but it will not be the first or the last.  Amazing world building doesn't really describe the easy word flow and scenery of this husband and wife duo.  You live it, you breath it and you become part of this world that they have built.  When I say that you can all but smell it, I'm not kidding.  I was tellaported into the Andrea/Kate Daniels world.  Now that's a cool ride!
  
Andrea was kick ass, and even though at first she didn't want to embrace her true Bouda nature, I loved it when she did.  Ever here of the phase "Go Big or Go Home"?  Well that is the Bouda that comes out of Andrea and once released she's not looking back or hesitating.

This to me is a true UF book and though there was a small amount of romance in it, our H/H moments were perfect and only added to the story.

Yes read this book and enjoy every moment of this rip roaring fun ride.  I loved it and I'm sure that you will too.  

 


Monday, April 15, 2013

Review of Fallen to Far by Abbi Glines

Fallen to Far
Publisher: Self-Published (December 2012 )
Genre: New Adult
Format: Hardcover (207 pages)
Source: Purchased

 Rating 5/5

To want what you’re not supposed to have…

She is only nineteen.

She is his new stepfather’s daughter.

She is still naïve and innocent due to spending the last three years taking care of her sick mother.

But for twenty-four year old Rush Finlay, she is the only thing that has ever been off limits. His famous father’s guilt money, his mother’s desperation to win his love, and his charm are the three reasons he has never been told no.

Blaire Wynn left her small farmhouse in Alabama, after her mother passed away, to move in with her father and his new wife in their sprawling beach house along the Florida gulf coast. She isn’t prepared for the lifestyle change and she knows she’ll never fit into this world. Then there is her sexy stepbrother who her father leaves her with for the summer while he runs off to Paris with his wife. Rush is as spoiled as he is gorgeous. He is also getting under her skin. She knows he is anything but good for her and that he’ll never be faithful to anyone. He is jaded and has secrets Blaire knows she may never uncover but even knowing all of that…

Blaire just may have fallen too far.
 


Review 
I really loved this book.  Abbi Glines really knows how to hit your emotional buttons. Blaire was a strong and likeable Heroine.  She has of the faults of youth but also a maturity that is believable.  Rush is of course your typical hottie with some major attitude and an all around bad boy.  What I really love about Fallen to Far is the emotional impact I got from this book.  I just couldn't wait to see what was going to happen with these two.   This is what I think of as a great summer read and I'm looking forward to the next book.





 

   

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Review of Owned by Rome by Katalina Leon

Owned by Rome
Publisher: Ellora's Cave
Genre: Erotic
Format: e-book
Source: Purchased


Rating 3/5


On the edge of the Roman Empire, Queen Boudica’s rebellion has ended. A time of great tragedy has passed. Atellus, a Roman magistrate living in Gaul, discovers he’s no longer sympathetic to Rome and must now question every facet of his life.

A cunning Celtic woman with golden-red hair arrives in the slave markets, defiant and angry—a danger to anyone foolish enough to purchase her. As punishment for her willfulness, she is to be offered as a sexual favor to Roman guests at a lavish feast and put to death for their entertainment.

For Atellus, it’s love at first sight. He wants to own her. They embark on an erotically turbulent journey through a lonely Celtic forest. He suspects his beautiful slave is harboring a painful secret and must never again speak her true name. She is Celtic royalty—the last of her kind.

In the heart of the forest, strong-willed lovers clash, fall in love and catch a glimpse of what the future can be if both can learn to trust and forgive.


Review 

This was an ok book.  The writing was good and the characters were different.  I don't think it was what I was expecting it to be.  You can tell that the author did a lot of research for her book.  She used many words in Latin and seemed to know Rome's history.  So that is a plus.  

I did feel as though she were telling me more of the story then showing.  The Latin words became tedious at times, especially if you forgot what they meant.  The Latin word for P@nis is somehow not as striking as the English versions.  

For me the ending was to abrupt.  The issue Rutila had was resolved far to quickly.  Overall it was a fun read.   

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Review of Last Kiss Goodnight by Gena Showalter

Last Kiss Goodnight
Publisher: Pocket Books (December 2012 )
Genre: PNR
Format: PB (436 pages)
Source: Purchased


 Rating 2/5
 
The breathtaking first novel in New York Times best selling author Gena Showalter’s new paranormal romance series, Otherworld Assassins, featuring a black ops agent who is captured and enslaved…and the beautiful deaf girl who holds the key to his salvation…

THE SWEETEST TEMPTATION…


Black ops agent Solomon Judah awakens caged and bound in a twisted zoo where otherworlders are the main attraction. Vika Lukas, the owner’s daughter, is tasked with Solo’s care and feeding. The monster inside him yearns to kill her on sight, even though she holds the key to his escape. But the human side of him realizes the beautiful deaf girl is more than she seems—she’s his.

THE ULTIMATE PRICE…


Vika endures the captives’ taunts and loathing, hoping to keep them alive even if she can’t free them. Only, Solo is different—he protects her. But as hostility turns to forbidden romance, his feelings for her will be used against him…and he’ll be put to a killer test.


Review 

I really wanted to like this book but I just couldn't get into it.  Gena Showalter is a fantastic writer and normally her books are great but this one just missed the mark with me.  I bought it because of the great picture on the front and the blurb sounded really cool and different. 

It was different but I was lost most of the time.  So many people and different characters that my head was spinning.  The worst for me had to be the good angel VS the bad Devil that sat on Solomon's shoulders.  I wanted to smack both of them.

Pretty much I started to skip read at this point and I think that I missed any good parts.  Still that book cover is Gorgeous!

Why 2 stars?  One for the cover and one for the blurb sounding so cool...


Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Review of Anna Dressed in Blood


Anna Dressed in Blood
Publisher: Tor Teen (August 2011 )
Genre: YA
Format: Hardcover (316 pages)
Source: Purchased

Rating 5/5

Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story...

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn’t expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.



Review
Killer Book
This book is like nothing I’ve read before. So it got the originality bonus. First of all, I liked Cas a lot. There was no whining that he hated his capabilities, that his life sucked, and on and on of woe was me. Let me tell you how much I loath that whining of the main character. Yeah sure he was arrogant to a fault, but I liked it. 

Anna, now there is a kick ass ghost. She really did spew some blood out. One of her first kills and I had to re read it just to make sure. That one did her name proud. She was a pretty nasty ghost but I felt sorry for her too and especially after you find out what really happened to her. 
Lots of great writing through this book :) Here are two of my favorite quotes.
For some reason this one had me chuckling.
“she’s to much of daylight for me” 


I always felt and easily pictured the world she was creating.

“I like it more to come to a place like this, where the scent of death is carried to you on every seventh breath”.


The last 1/4 of the book, or the complaint department for others. It worked for me. I thought I was reading about a certain type of book and then bam! Something completely different comes along. 

I’m already looking for the next book. This one had me pondering as I munched on my Cheerios’s and just an FYI my detective skills were completely off on who murdered Anna.
Would I recommend this book to you reader? YES YES YES!