WoW: P.C. and Kristin Cast, House of Night

Ok, finally to say something about the House of Night series because I'm already at book 4 and I haven't yet talked about the writers.

Since I'm already at book 4 after some 10 days of owning the books, it does seem pretty obvious I like them. :) I'm always surprised with myself when I get hooked by a young adult series. Since I'm not one. ;)

Anyway, the hype is on for quite a while and I'm pretty late to thise series but that makes me happy since I got hooked on book 1 and there are 5 more to read after it. In my case, that's only 2,5 more but still, it's more than waiting for all of them to come out.

I've been wondering though, how can mother and daughter write together?! I mean, I never did get those collaborative novels. I do wish someone would explain that particular process to me. Isn't the idea for a novel an individual's idea? I know that a mother-daughter relationship can be extremely deep but it's still a relationship between different people. I will be giving this more thought in the future. or, I might get lucky and stumble upon an interview with them where it's explained. :)

To tell you a little about the books - it is a vampire series. :) As you could have probably guessed from the series title and the whole vampire mania happening around the world. I have no idea why it happened now and not when Anne Rice's series was coming out, but I guess the world takes time to recognize the trend. ;) I got hooked on vampires with Anne Rice who any vampire-stuff reader worth his/her salt should never miss. And after that came Buffy and Anita Blake. And my future in the vampire world was set. I know I'll be reading more vampire novels as they will probably keep coming out, but you know, there are so many now, and I honestly don't think they are all good. I've read some that are just not worth following up on. And I'm not going to be naming them. :) Find for yourself if you're interested but as with everything else, tastes differ and you never know who might just get addicted to some of those.

This went the wrong way - I was supposed to tell you about the books. :)

Ok, vampired here are not your typical vampires (which is kind of a given, typical vampire myth is kind of exhausted by now). You get marked and no one knows how or why it happens that you become a vampire fledgling in your teens. Then you get to go to a vampire "school" - that being the House of Night. All vampires worship the goddess Nyx who is practically a night embodiment of a typical goddess myth. Only she's no myth and our heroine is the vampire fledgling to help her get the vampire population back on the right track. This is as little as I can say without spoiling the series - it really is worth reading. You can always start as I did - I bought book no. 1 and started reading it that evening and then the next day I went back to Algoritam and bought all other books in the series. :)

Picture by: www.pccast.net

WoW: Sherrilyn Kenyon, The League

First off, I have to say I hate her name, I never know if I wrote it correctly (the "y" place keeps bothering me). :) But that's about the only thing that bothers me in regard with Mrs Kenyon. Everything else is great and I hope she lives to see my death and keeps writing until then. So I have a lifetime supply of her novels.

I just finished her Born of Night novel, the first in The League series (there are two more at the moment). It turns out, she wrote this in a much smaller format years ago and it went out of print (if I remember correctly) and now it was re-issued and although I didn't read the original, I'd say improved. I don't see how something can be taken away from the story.

I wonder how many of you are familiar with SK, she is one imaginative and proliferate writer. Not that I mind. :)

I first started reading her novels with the Dark Hunter series, then some Dream Hunters and I think I did read one of the Were Hunters but can't say for sure. I've read so many of her novels, I'm a bit lost. It is very good that her site offers reading order for all the books and series, otherwise one would be completely lost. I'm not even going to go into all other series listed on the site.

What many of her characters have in common is that they all suffered through great injustice and usually a lot of physical pain as well, and in the end all of them turn out as fierce, loyal and positively good protectors sometimes because they find love (although they always had it in them) and sometimes just because that is what they are and they cannot go against themselves.

The good thing is there is always a love story (never an easy one) and even though there are typical things I already mentioned in all of these novels, the characters are always different and stories never feel the same (taking into account the amount of them SK has written).

The League combines a bit of sci-fi (which is something I like) and the hero who has been wronged so much it is sometimes hard to even read it and the heroine had some bad experience from her youth as well. Their story isn't an easy one but of course it ends positive. Otherwise I wouldn't keep reading her books.

It also makes me wonder if something like that would be possible in real life - to go through such an ordeal (that is a serious understatement for the character from Born of Night) and emerge as a person who can love and enjoy life - ok, not immediately and without some serious help, but still. I want to think so - that goodness can and will prevail.

While looking for a photo, I came across some reviews on Amazon of this book. It never ceases to amaze me how people come to certain books/authors expecting something completely unreasonable. Especially if they already read some of the novels written by that person. I know what I can expect from SK and that is why I read her stories. As you could have probably guessed by now, I'm not always in the mood for some of the things I read, so I read according to what I crave at the moment. People are so eager and so liberal with criticism. I think about it this way - could I have written it? No? Ok, then, I'm not going to be hoarding criticism on that author then. If I don't like it, I simply won't read it anymore and problem solved.

Has anyone here read anything by Sherrilyn Kenyon? What do you think of her novels?

WoW: J.D. Robb, in Death series

Finally, it is J.D. Robb's turn. Btw, that's Nora Roberts' pseudonym for the ... in Death series which deviate slightly from her love stories located in actual time (or maybe past). This series is located in NY at around 2060. :) And I absolutely love it!

Just to let you know, if you haven't read the first book, some spoilers ahead.

Yesterday I finished Kindred in Death and got my dose of Darling Eve and Roarke (only Roarke calls her darling as she is the love of his life and wife - everyone else is pretty much either in awe or scared of her). :)

I must admit I hate her. ;)

What woman wouldn't? The brains, the looks, lives off chocolate and coffee, has the body of a super model, athletic with a disgustingly rich, beautiful and charming husband who adores her (and vice versa).

The only problem with that picture is that she is haunted by her past which I won't describe here, as that would be too big a spoiler and I'll leave it to you to discover the depth of human depravity. Anyway, she fought her way from the most horrible situation you can imagine and made her life in police force where, during a case, she meets her future husband (Roarke - and that's all name you ever know about him) who is at the same time a suspect. I read the first book several times, where they meet and fall in love, and I just realized I will be doing it again shortly because I totally love it.

The series has progressed to over 20 books (as you can imagine by now, I have all of them). :) I wish I didn't become so hooked because they are now first published as hard covers and I can't wait for paperback when Lieutenant Dallas is concerned. In each she solves a different case and each time her husband, the e-magician helps. Of course. :)

What I realized in the latest book is, that either I wasn't paying much attention before or there are some minor changes in this one. The thing is, I realized the police procedures during a case (how they start, what exactly do they do and how, what they do for the public image of their investigation, etc.) is much more clear and transparent in Kindred in Death. It's like a step by step explanation of an investigation and what goes on in minds of cops. It probably sounds terribly boring but it's never that. :) Quite the opposite.

Image by: http://www.amazon.com/

P.S. I checked - this is book 30.

WoW: Shana Galen

I'm a bit late with this, I actually skipped last week (that's because I didn't want to talk about Kresley Cole again so soon). So, I finished When Dashing met Danger yesterday and it was good. It wasn't bad and I can't say it was terribly fascinating but there might be 2 reasons to that:

1) It's that time of the month when nothing is good enough (except DSH's Piment and Chocolat I tried today and it smells absolutely wonderful, like thick, dark, hot chocolate spiced with chili)

2) The heroine is only 20 and therefore from my perspective somewhat (ok, more than somewhat) naive and full of herself in a way I cannot understand, which does not make it bad, just not something I can relate with and hence, lost on me.

The story actually gets better the more it progresses towards the end, when I actually stopped being annoyed with the relationship between the male character and female. For a novel that didn't really make it into a "read again" category, I seem to be thinking a lot about it. I'm actually wondering at the characterization of the two main characters. Since I cannot relate to her behaviour, I cannot actually tell if it is good or bad (in character with the heroine). I find that strange and any help on understanding it better will be appreciated. :)

I know I already talked about how I sometime skip books because I don't like the blurbs and I need to point that out once more. I had my copy of this book for quite some time now (measurable in years) and I only started on it the other day because it was the only romance novel I had at hand. Sometimes I think that people who write that, write it for romance beginners and not for us who have been reading this for years and years.

Anyway, I wasn't thrilled but I will definitely give Shana Galen another try, I think there might be some goodness in it for me in the future.

Picture by: http://shanagalen.com/

WoW: Dan Brown

I wasn't planning on reading The Lost Symbol so soon because I was waiting for it to come out as a paperback. I'm really not that thrilled with Brown's work to be buying it in hardcover. But my very impatient colleague does not have such problems, so on Friday, I got his copy to read. Well, as you can see, I'm already writing about it on Monday. :) I enjoyed it, as I did Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci code but in a fun, fictional way as I would watch a Hollywood action movie made exclusively for fun.

I still can't understand what the hype was about regarding The Da Vince code. It's not like DB wrote about anything new, I mean I already read books on the topic years before that. But I guess when large portions of public who usually don't read get a hold of such "bombastic facts" - it all turns into a circus. I honestly don't bother with distinguishing "factual" from non-factual in Brown's books, I read them to have fun. And they are good if you are interested in improving the general knowledge by reading additional titles and authors mentioned in the books.

This time, Robert Langdon is not trying to discover the lost descendants of Royal Blood (so as not to give a big spoiler to individuals who haven't yet read the book and plan to - if there are any left). This time Mr Langdon is included in the hunt for the biggest Masonic secret there is. Of course, it cannot be so easily found and Mr. Langdon being a scientist is quite sceptical this time around in the search of a legend while all the Masons in the book (and some non-Masons as well) are trying to convince him that the legend is real. Anyway, the whole book sounds like an advertisement for the Free Mason society, brotherhood, whatever they are. I didn't know there was a female version as well.

While they are looking for the Lost symbol (word, legend, myth), I was trying to figure out what it might be. The whole book is about how humans have godlike potential and how that idea crops up in every religion and how focused human thinking can achieve much. I didn't guess what it was in the end, and have to admit I was a bit disappointed but it made sense so I'm not bothered that much. I won't say what is the solution but I can give you my thoughts on the subject. I thought that when they discover what they are looking for that it's going to be an idea we (humans) have to follow to discover our potential so my guesses were love, or prayer. The thing is there is so much mistery surrounding this legend/symbol that in the end when you find out what it is you cannot understand why would they be hiding it when it is readily available and it has nothing to do with being a masonic discovered secret that is suddenly going to change the perception of that symbol. But hey, I didn't write the book, so I'll go with the idea. It certainly is a valid one.

Picture by: www.amazon.co.uk

P.S. I completely forgot so I'm adding it here. I just started reading the book, and there we are - the Croats. :) Right from the start (and that's where we're left). Robert Langdon does not wear a cravate because for him those are symbols of modern mercenaries from office fields - what Croat mercenaries used to wear when going into battle. :) That is btw the origin of the cravate - the Croats did wear a type of cloth tied around their necks and were known by it.

Wow: Keri Arthur, Riley Jenson series

Whew! I'm reallyy glad the latest book from the series Bound to Shadows is behind me. I made a mistake of reading Keri Arthur's site where she said that some people are not happy with the way things turned out. Since I already had some questions regarding ends of Riley's novels when the series started, I though, Oh shit, what happens now?! I mean I kept thinking (and reading) in the novels that Fate has it in for Riley. And she really does. I do hope Keri Arthur plans to make it up to her (Riley) at some point.

Btw, I wonder how come Riley has two different surnames? Up to now I wasn't sure I remembered it correctly each time as Jenson or Jensen (and now, every book listed by Amazon has it as Jensen even though the book cover they have is the same as mine ) but on my copy of the book it's Riley Jenson and on Arthur's site it is Jenson everywhere. Strange...

Anyway, on to the book. Riley is a Guardian which means she works for an organization that keeps order among non-human populations (she herself is a dhampire - half werewolf half vampire). And she is one hot dhampire. :) She's been having problems of different kind all through the novels, one of which is her love life which seemed relatively fine (finally) until this book came along. I don't want to give any spoilers to people who haven't read and might give it a try, but the love of Riley's life is a vampire (he has her heart), but as she is half werewolf as well, it means she is bound to have a soulmate as well. Which is a problem if your heart wants one guy and your soul yearns for someone else. While chasing bad guys around. :)

After reading the book, I can say I'm not one of those who is unhappy with the way things turned out. I was totally scared it might end differently in a way that I wouldn't like. For me, it's exactly as it should be, I for one can't imagine it ending differently. I'm not sure how many books are there going to be in the series but I for one am voting to give Riley some slack. :) Please?

Picture by: www.keriarthur.com

WoW: Kelley Armstrong, Otherworld

This week my writer of the week is Kelley Armstrong. She is slowly but surely climbing the list of my favourite authors to read. Unfortunately, she is as fast as the rest of them (I have to vent my frustration sometime) :) - so as soon as I get hooked, I have to wait months on end to read sth new. Good things is that in the Otherworld series I'm lagging behind so I just finished Personal Demon. Which is something that cannot be said for the Darkest Powers series, which is actually a YA series and very good in my opinion, but unfortunately lacks the ending (for now). Due to come out May 2010. Considering I read the last this summer, you can imagine how unhappy I am I have to wait for almost a year for the last one. But hey, that's life. Unless you are patient enough to wait for the last book of something you find interesting to come out, and then start reading. Which I strongly urge you to try and stick to - it will save you a lot of frustration.

Now I ended up writing about the wrong series. :)

Ok, the good thing about Otherworld series is that although some characters get more than one novel and appear in other characters' stories, you can read almost all of them as separate and they end as a story by itself. But since characters start to appear in different books, going chronologically is the best course.

Almost all the characters appearing here were previously mentioned in other books and were important to those stories. Half-demons, sorcerers, witches, werewolves etc. live in Mrs. Armstrong's novels in the same world as we do, but people are not aware of them. Which makes the problems characters face totally real - dealing with your demon half of which unfortunately you were unaware until hitting puberty and ending up in a mental ward sounds very plausible.

That's only one of the possible consequences of not being entirely human but trying to blend in as a normal human being.

The thing I loved about Personal Demon is that I couldn't figure out who did what, I mean who is behind everything (the evil master mind) until the story started unraveling. I love that! :) What fun is it when you know who's the killer?!

You know, I'm no literary critic but I feel Kelley Armstrong is getting better and better. I will certainly enjoy her books as long as she keeps writing them.

Picture by: www.amazon.co.uk

WoW: Kresley Cole, IAD series

I don't know how many of you read that I absolutely love Kresley Cole's IAD series. I was actually starting to read again one of the previous ones (Dark Desires after Dusk) when I got a call fromAlgoritam that a new one by KC arrived. :) Yeey! This one is Dark Kiss of Winter in combination with Gena Showalter (who I haven't read yet but will soon because I keep reading good things about her). Anyway, Untouchable is the story of Daniella (the Ice maiden/queen who is half Valkyrie, half Icere fey) and Murdoch Wrath (a good vampire - there are bad ones as well in this world), the last of the 4 Wroth brothers to get his love story. That does not mean there will be no other books in the series. Oh, no. There are Valkyirie, vampires, demons, witches and all other kinds of creatures turning up in these novels and of course, they are all immortals, meaning they won't die of natural causes but can be killed (not easily though).

What I love about KC novels is that they are so unpretentious, easy to read and the dialogues are totally funny (sometimes going into absurd but in a positive way). I can't wait to read the next one that is to come out in February 2010. There are several stories I hope she writes, although whatever she writes, I'll be reading it. Some thing just can't be helped. :)

Anyway, back to the story. I have to admit, I felt like an idiot after I read the final paragraph where everythings turns out right. I don't want to say much about the story, but the heroes have a serious problem consumating their desire and when the solution presented itself - I thought to myself - What an idiot! It was so logical and obvious if you actually used your brain. Which, as you can see, I did not. :) I wonder how many people thought of it before it was actually announced.

As usual, the book is intertwined with stories and characters from other novels because they are all happening at about the same time, getting prepared for the Ascension.

So, if you're looking for something witty, interesting, a bit different and containing a love story (with some hot sex scenes), Kresley Cole should be your first choice.

Picture by: www.kresleycole.com

WoW: Karen Marie Moning, The Fever series

Before I start, there is still one copy of Stephanie Laurens' Untamed bride left - so the first commenter will win the second copy. The Romantic Query Letter won the first by commenting on a post containing the reminder.

On to Mrs Moning. :) Just so to let her know, if she ever comes across my blog, I'm angry with you! The third book in the series Faefever ended on a terrible cliff hnager and now she did it again with Dreamfever. I don't want to put any spoilers into the post, so I'll just say, it better not have ended the way I think it has.


It frustrates me to no end when I come across a series (that has a definite ending in sight - not those that go indeterminately) and then it gets more and more interesting and I have to wait for the next installment for months. If you get interested in the Fever series, wait for the last book to come out and then start reading.


This series revolves around Fae (Seelie and Unseelie - i.e. good fae and bad fae) and the fact that people can't see them as different (they cast glamours) unless you're one of the sidhe-seers, which MacKayla Lane is, but has just found out. That's the beginning and then well, all hell breaks loose. Actually, all fae breaks loose. :)


A bit on the dark side, but still interesting to read. I had some serious problems with Mac's look on life (sometime still do) - she begins as young and frivoulous and although her experiences in the book make her grow up and become stronger, her young and optimistic side still peeks out of her.

There's only one book left before the end and now I wonder what will happen in it, because even though there's been a lot happening in the last 4 novels, there are many threads left hanging. And I still have no idea who half the characters are or what their agenda is and what motivates them or drives them to act the way they do.

Hopefully, I'll find out soon (or soon enough) - there is still no release date on Shadowfever but I do hope it will be out before summer (so I can take it to beach with me).


Picture by: http://www.karenmoning.com/

WoW: Stephanie Laurens and The Black Cobra Quartet, and... - a prize draw

The way I'm going, this writer of the week might turn to be every two weeks. It's the end of the week and I barely made it. But I have a good excuse. :) I got offered a new book by Stephanie Laurens to read and review, so when it arrived, of course I left everything else and went to read it.

Well, what can I say. It's a typical Laurens novel and that's really good. The fact that this book comes with short info on all Cynster and Bastion club novels written so far has been some good thinking on someone's part. It really made my reading much easier because it put into perspective what year each of the stories happened. You know, after, what? - 16 Cynster books and 8 or 9 Bastion, you kind of lose the details, so having them at the end of the book is really helpful. Especially so, as both Cynsters and Bastion club members feature in The Untamed bride and in the rest of the quartet to come.

I'm not going into the story and how the Black Cobra situation came about, but I'm happy to say that I can't wait for the next book. The bad thing is those sequels never come soon enough. :)

What I really liked about this novel is that I could relate with the main female character, she's 29 (I'm 30) and her state of mind is in accordance with her age. At least from my perspective. Though it seems, the more stubborn you are, the more likely you are to burst into flame with the right man. And the older you are, the less likely you are to debate on the possible consequences for your social status if you decide to enjoy the man of you choosing. Like I said, totally in accordance with age. ;)

I know that real-life love stories usually do not look like those in romance novels, but there are times I wish they would. At least for a while. I mean I can tell myself I can paint my love life in more romance-like way but in the end, it's not really the same. Maybe it's me, maybe it's the time we live in, but I cannot imagine letting go the way you are supposed to for true love. And sometimes, I do wish I was the kind of person who can do that with the right man. You know, all those real virile, patriotic, handsome, honest, fit, large men are a girl's dream come true. :)

So, if I cannot have them/him in real life, I'll live in the novel for a while and enjoy myself. You can certainly enjoy yourself while reading Laurens romance.

Now, who of you wants to enjoy yourself reading the latest Laurens romance? :) The lovely people who sent me my copy, also offered 2 copies to my readers (they've made me very happy, I have to say). The only unfortunate thing is the copies can go only to US, Canada or UK. If you're interested in one, please say so until Thursday midnight and on Friday, I'll announce the winners.

I do hope you will enjoy it as much as I have. :)

Picture by: http://www.stephanielaurens.com/

P.S. This book made me realize the time has come to read some of the love stories from the beginning of the Cynster line. I've forgotten some of the stories but I know I enjoyed them very much. After all, I wouldn't own all of them if that was not the case. :)

Like I said, addicted.

WoW: Laurell K. Hamilton

If you're a fan of kick-ass heroines from vampire/werewolf stories, Anita Blake series is definitely not to be missed. It's how I got started and hooked. :) The series has progressed to some 17 books or something (I don't really bother remembering the number, I just check periodically to see if something new is coming out).

As you can probably guess that many books usually mean the quality might be questionable at some point. Well, that guess would be true. The good thing though is that it seems with this last book, Mrs Hamilton is on her way to what we came to expect from Anita Blake. The last book in the series "Skin trade" is finally back on track with some serious problems and typical Anita. Strong in her convictions, constantly questioning the rightness of her choices (which are usually one of lesser evils) and standing firm in the face of danger. But, there are many heroines which come with a sense of humor, if that's what you are looking for, forget it. Anita is not a light, humorous being. She's dark (on the outside as well) and ironic as hell. She is also constantly conflicted, due to her strong convictions and Catholic upbringing.

It's actually interesting to follow the books from the beginning and see how they progresses. If I got it right, Mrs Hamilton wasn't married at the time she started writing and several books in the beginning have no sex in them. Just some physical attraction, and that's it. At some point though, sex started appearing in all manner of situations and it almost went into porn category (the quantity and explicitness). It just deteriorated with each following book. Now, there's still sex but the book is much more story oriented. Thank God. :) And I got the feeling that the original Anita is back. With all her lovers. ;)

It's funny, there's one more series written by LKH, the Merry Gentry which revolves around Fae. And again you have there the heroine who without any wish or inclination ends up having a whole bunch of lovers. :)

Oh, I almost forgot to say, Anita is not a simple human. She's a federal marshal hunting vampires, called the Executioner by the vampires, and the strongest Necromancer in the last couple of centuries. :) I'll keep the rest of what she is to myself, if it sounds interesting give it a try. You're bound to be frustrated and angry at several points but it's still dark and interesting.



P.S. It's evident from what I wrote that I have all the books from both series, right? :)



Picture by: http://www.amazon.com/

WoW: Patricia Briggs

I barely made it - this being the last day of the week. This week's author is Patricia Briggs who is climbing my personal writer list. I've read this week the "Hunting ground" - her second book in the series Alpha and Omega. Those being the werevolves. It's interesting, I've been reading books with werevolves for quite some time, and I never came across a reference to an omega werevolf (they are quite rare and do not display the aggresive behaviour of most of werevolves nor are they submissive, that being the solution to not being a strong enough wolf so everyone bows to what you say).

The Alpha and Omega series just gets better with each book and I was sorry to read at Mrs. Briggs site that another book is not coming anytime soon, there are other books scheduled for release. The good news is that one of them is another of Mercy Thompson series - happening in the same world as the Alpha and Omega, mentioning some of the characters as well (like the Marrok - leader of all American werevolves and father to sons, one appearing as the Alpha in the A and O series, and another as a friend (used to be lover) of Mercy Thompson.

One more good thing I realized browsing through Patricia Briggs' site is that there are some fantasy books available (and I already saw some of the titles in my favourite bookstore - Algoritam). I'll buy one of them to see if I'm going to like them (I somehow don't doubt it) and let you know after how it went.

Cover picture by: www.patriciabriggs.com

WoW: Sabrina Jeffries

Finally! It took me quite long these last few days to finish a book. Any book. Because I have 3 more waiting half-read until I decide what I would like to read. I suppose it is a consequence of how I've been feeling lately - nothing seems to be able to lift my mood for a longer period of time. I'd actually rather not discuss it here, but in short, I hate politicians and the way they "run" my country. One of these days when my frustration reaches its peak, I'll talk more about the climate we live in here.

Enough of that, on to Sabrina Jeffries. You can trust Mrs Jeffries to lift your romance mood right and proper. :) What upset me on the other hand is that she also has a book series on a school for heiresses (girls) same as Mary Balogh. And I kind of got lost who wrote what and what are the characters and stories from which series. My advice is, now both series came to an end, stick to one, and then read the other. In my case that's completely unachievable since the moment I discover a new author I like, I don't wait for the series to end (unfortunately) so I kind of lose the previous stories (unless I google and somewhat refresh my memory). Anyway, I lost the thread with School for heiresses even though I have all the books and have read them (I'll just go through them again - I do find them that good). :)

Since I already mentioned Mary Balogh's school series, just to give a short comparison. I love both series but it somehow seems Balogh's series is more serious while Jeffries has more fun with her characters and the overall style of writing. I might be mistaken, it is a while since Mary Balogh's books were front in my mind, what I usually have in my head, after a month or so after, are impressions.

So, after finding my bearings, I enjoyed the book immensely, and the sexy hot scenes which abound. Ok, maybe not abound, but you don't have to wait half a book for a steamy scene (sometimes even longer) since they are interspersed all over the book. And are quite good. :)

I read 'Dont Bargain with the Devil' and now I have one more left until I reach the end of series - which is of course the book where the head mistress finds love as well. :) One with the misterious cousin Michael with whom she corresponds through all the books but doesn't know who he is. I can't wait to discover it myself! :) Ok, so, I peeked a bit at a spoiler on amazon... It couldn't be helped, I don't have time to start reading at the moment and I wanted to know. ;)

Anyway, if it isn't clear from what I wrote until now, Sabrina Jeffries is definitely one of top romance writers in my book. ;)

One whose books I buy whenever I can find them (or they come out) even though the excerpt might not sound terribly interesting.

Excerpts are often misleading.

Picture by: www.sabrinajeffries.com

WoW: Julia Quinn

This week's author is Julia Quinn, and the book Minx. I do think I've already read Julia Quinn before but must say that I usually read covers and if the excerpt doesn't sound promising, I don't buy the book (unless it's one of my established writers). :)

So, I wasn't exactly thrilled by the excerpt but thought it might be ok. Well, her books are not about steamy sex scenes, I can tell you that. You get some kisses and in the end the book progresses accordingly, but almost the whole book is more concerned with emotions. One good thing I can say about that is, it's been a while since I actually felt my chest constricting with emotions from reading what the characters are feeling (maybe I was just in the mood but I don't think it was that). I don't know if you remember the feeling of unrequited love or just feeling completely in love with someone who is not returning that love the same way and that feeling of tightness in your chest that can accompany such anguish. Well, Ms Quinn has managed to evoke it in me. And that makes her good in my book. Now, I'll just have to check whether she can repeat the experience. :)

And I do like the heroine, a cheeky brave girl of 20 (going on 21). Most of the time she is funny. And one of the first things that seduced her future husband was the smell of lemons coming from her (her hair). And that fact that he is fascinated by her smell is repeated several times in the book.

Well, I don't think anyone is going to remember me by the same fragrance my hair or my skin may be emitting... :)

Picture by: http://www.juliaquinn.com/

WoW: Stephanie Laurens, Bastion Club

I finally finished yesterday the last book in the Bastion club series, Mastered by Love, the one dealing with the mysterious Dalziel (turns out he's the Duke of Wolverstone - such a cool name). Anyway, there's a new series by Mrs. Laurens in the making and I can't wait to get my hands on that as well, since the Cynster series is coming to an end as well. Well, SL (in this case Stephanie Laurens and not Serge Lutens) is quite proliferous so I'm not scared there won't be more of the same type of historical romance I got used to reading from her. :)

She's definitely one of my favorite historical romance writers (more will be featured in WoW as I go through them). Like I was saying the other day with Mary H. Clark, all novels follow the same structure but when you know what to expect and enjoy it, well, it is certainly fun to read them. My expectations are not big for such type of romance and I cannot understand all those people who get upset because sometime the writer is not up to the level of the previous book for example. I don't understand such strong feelings regarding this type of literature but hey, I usually don't get too upset in my life as a general rule (could be because I'm an Aquarian).


Anyway, I got my dose of steamy sex scenes, fun conversations, some crime and one-upping men (love that part). Although it's always about partnership in relationships. That's why she is one of my favorites among many I have read (some tend to talk about partnership but it leans more toward male partnership, that's why I'm no longer interested in Johanna Lindsey although I still do read her novels as well).
The Bastion Club is a series revolving around men who were British spies during Napoleon wars and are now back and trying not to get caught in marriage by tonnish mamas. Eventually, of course they all fall in love but have a slightly hard time convincing their chosen brides they should marry them. :)

Now, I'm very much looking forward to Black Cobra quartet by SL - first novel will be out at the end of October. Yeey!


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WoW: Mary Higgins Clark

I read this week Clark's "Nighttime is my time" although unfortunately in Croatian, not in original (I borrowed it in a library so my mum could read it as well). I won't go into detail about the translation and typos because in that case it would seem the book wasn't good when it actually was a typical MHC read, which is what I was looking for. A good suspense to relax me.

Of course, there's always someone dying and the main character almost dies in every of her novels but gets saved in the nick of time, and there's always a budding romance between the characters colored by suspicion because they are never sure if maybe the potential partner is the killer (but of course, that never happens even though the evidence might suggest different throughout the novel leading one to doubt whether the accusations are true or not).

The good thing though is I couldn't tell who is the killer. Perhaps if I had given the whole plot more thought, and not have gone blindly through the novel, then maybe I could have guessed - this way, I just couldn't be sure. This being a psychological suspense, it is supposed to make you wonder.

What I like about MHC is that her novels seem well, possible. As if they could have happened, or like a news article you read at the end of a police case, but here you have a full story. She's one of those authors whose books I just need to make sure I haven't already read and I just take them with me because I know what to expect and I know I won't be disappointed. :)

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WoW: Jenna Black

Last weekend I had time to read the third installment of Morgan Kingsley exorcist fun. :) As I was saying last week with Ilona Andrews, it seems the further they go, the better they get. Or maybe, in this case it's just me and the fact that I have a hard time of accepting characters that go against common sense and their own wellbeing (I can't understand people not maintaining a healthy balance in their life - that goes for both books and real life). It seems Morgan is finally growing up (sort of) so I find it easier to follow her mind.

Anyway, Morgan is an exorcist and demons are public. You even have societes that want to host demons, they are not allowed to posess people unless the people go through a strict procedure saying how that is what they want to do. Once they host demons, they are pretty much done with their lives. Well, in case demons to not heed the law, Morgan is called to exorcise them (and of course, she's the best there is).

It all gets terribly complicated straight away in book one, when she gets posessed against her will, but being of very stubborn nature, the demon can't do much. The complications arise when she finally realizes waht happened and it turns out demon kingdom is in a fight and the legitimate king is actually hiding in her. That is all the story I'm giving and that's only the beginning of book 1. It gets much more interesting later and Morgan is a very complex character (that actually means, I'm still not understanding her completely). :)

The good news for me is I somehow missed there are now 5 books in the series (and the excerpts sound promising) so I'll be getting the next two installments soon.

This probably sounded quite bizarre and my guess is most of you are thinking:"What in the world is she reading?" That would be urban fantasy but instead of vampires and werewolves, we have demons this time. And I haven't even gotten to fairies yet...

Open mind people - you never know what is hiding in plain sight. ;)

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Ilona Andrews or the beginning of WoW

By now, I guess you got a picture of how much I love to read. :) That's actually an understatement, but never mind now. All this week I've been thinking about the book I read over the weekend and how I was positively surprised by it (I'll get to that part) so yesterday I decided to gather my books and author comments into a new feature: Writer of (the) Week (WoW just sounds and looks better than WotW so please forgive the non-existant "the").


This week's author is Ilona Andrews who is actually Ilona and Gordon Andrews but the books are published (the ones I read) just under Ilona. I've been reading their Kate Daniels series and while thinking about this post, I realized that I have no idea how to classify most of what I read. I mean there are so many categories, ok, so it is paranormal, is it at the same time urban? Urban fantasy? Paranormal romance? :) So, I just read and do not bother with discerning what type it is - I either like it and will continue reading the series, or I won't.


Since I've read book 3 over the weekend (Magic strikes) you can safely assume I like the series. Well, now I do. It almost lost me on book 1 (Magic bites). The first book seemed undefined, characters not enough evolved and I got lost in the world created by the Andrewses. The book 2 was better, but I'm hooked with the book 3 and now I can't wait for the next one. The third book finally answered some questions I've had since book 1 and explained some of the history of the characters. And now it seems they are prepared for new dangerous assignments. :)


As you probably deduced from title of books, there is magic, there are vampires (have to admit, the Andrewses have got a completely new angle on those), were animals, etc. If you are just starting with paranormal fiction, then Kate Daniels might not be the place to start. But if this part of fiction world is already familiar territory, then give it a try.


And you do know what is the signature idea/crucial premise of all these paranormal fantasy books?


The kick-ass heroine. :)

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