"It's spooning. You said it was just sex. No spooning. We fuck, we have fun, you go home. That's the deal."  ~ Jocelyn

"We fuck, we have fun, and then we spoon. I don't go home. I don't go home b/c sometimes in the middle of the night I wake up, and when I wake up I want to fuck. And for some baffling reason, the person I want to fuck is you." ~ Braden

 

 

(Narration by Paula Costello)

Those who know me will tell ya ... I've got a wicked case of OCD.  I am havin' serious issues with the state of my shelves and blog 'round here.  So, please be patient as I work furiously to clean it up a bit. 

 

So far, the only way I've found to correct my completely jacked up GR-imported reviews is to reblog them with the corrections.  So, you're sure to be seein' some I've reviewed eons ago and some more recent.  I'm attackin' 'um as a I find 'um.  But, if you know of a way to correct GR-imported reviews without reblogging and editing them, I'd welcome the help.

 

Also, holy green book covers, Batman!  I've uploaded hundreds of cover art pics to those books that were nekked, 'cept for the super smexy green sport coat.  Hopefully that's also helped out others whose bookshelves were rockin' the green.  For those with incorrect cover art, I'm at a loss.  I'm guessin' BL will have to correct those. 

 

Suggestions appreciated -- Should ditch the multi shelves that were imported from GR, stick with the basic read/to-be/wishlist generals and instead use tags to sort/organize my books and reviews?    Oy!  What's a girl strugglin' with an OCDemoness to do?!

 

Cheers,

"You are the child of chaos, Cassie, of turmoil and mayhem and wild uncertainty.  Your very existence is proof [...] that hope cannot be chained.  That fate can be undone!"

 

It's been two long years since we last saw Cassie and gang in Hunt the Moon.  If you're a fan or follower of the series, you may remember the book ended on quite the cliffhanger.  Now, in Tempt the Stars, Cassie has one thing on her mind - rescuing her friend from "a fate worse than death".  But, as the "newly crowned Pythia, aka the world's chief seer," her focus is pulled in many different directions.  Still, despite the appearance of three unruly witches demanding a meeting, a barrier of homunculus trying to keep her from speaking to her mother, a wicked fae spell distorting one of her own¹, windsurfing through hell with dark mages to escape Allû, and facing the demon council, she's able to accomplish part of her mission.

The next part, actually freeing² her friend, continues on into the next book.  So, expect another cliffhanger.  Other things you can expect, as with all Cassandra Palmer novels, a lot of magical battles, some witty quips from Casanova and Billy, and some whiplash time traveling.  The thing you should not expect is Mircea.  He's surprisingly absent during the story; he's off taking care of Senate business and we are left wondering, along with Cassie, is he avoiding her?  Or, as always seems to be the case where Mircea is concerned, keeping a close eye on her in unexpected ways?  As a fan of Karen Chance's Dorina Basarab series in addition to this one, I have grown to like Mircea more and more.  So, I hope we will see more of him and, along with Cassie, find some resolution to their relationship questions.

(show spoiler)

Between the two series by Karen Chance, I would say I am a bigger fan of Dorina than of Cassie.  That said, I really enjoy watching Cassie not only cope with the challenges she must face, but also learn to embrace her gifts and fight instead of run.  So much has been kept from her over the years and now, as Pythia, she finds there is so much more yet to be learned.
 
¹

An intense scene between Cassie and Jules, one of the vampires watching over her, occurs when he finds himself on the receiving end of a wicked nasty, fae curse.  It's like he's being unmade - his skin is smoothing over, his fingers and hands are merging together - like he's being turned into a blob.  A blob that, had he'd been human, would have killed him, but since he's a vampire he's essentially trapped inside himself.  No one can hear his mind-speak until, for some reason, Cassie can.  She works to try to help him and accidentally does more than that ... she turns him human! Seems the presence of Rhea, from the Pythian Court, amplifies Cassie's power. When she was trying to remove the fae curse, she also removed the vampire curse - at least that's the only explanation she can think of at the time.

Of course, other events occur and her attention is taken away from Jules, but last we see him he's off alone trying to deal with being human again. And, Cassie's fretting over what that will mean for him, Mircea and herself now that she's essentially taken away one of this Master vampires.  Hopefully more will be revealed in future books.

 

"When you change someone else's fate, it often changes your own."

(show spoiler)

 

²

The council unleashed a regression curse on Pritkin in front of Caleb and Cassie.  She's told, "It is an old method of execution that sends the soul back through his or her lifetime, into previous versions of himself.  When his soul reaches the beginning of its life journey, it will wink out of existence, and the body will die." When she insists that she will go back and stop the spell from being laid, she's told she will be prevented.  

However, at the end of the book, after proving herself selfless when she was willing to die to save innocents, she is given a counterspell and told that if she "... can find him before the curse concludes, [she] can save him.  The spell [they] used was specifically designed to thwart [her] power.  His soul will pass through each year of his life only once and then never again.  Afterward, [she] can use [her] abilities to return to the same moment again and again, but [she] will not find it there."  

The catch?  The counterspell is written in an ancient tongue that few can read.  Pritkin's father, Rosier, the one she was trying to save Pritkin from in the first place, is one that can. So, he will be accompanying her on the mission to find and save Pritkin's soul.

Now, she takes off time jumping with Rosier without a word to anyone else.  So, what will that mean for those left behind?  Will they think she died in the blast?  Her Pythia powers will not move onto another who is worthy because she still has them, yes?  Should be interesting to find out how this will play out for everyone.

(show spoiler)

 

Thank you to Penguin Group/Berkley NAL and NetGalley for a review copy of this book. All quotes are taken from the pre-published copy and may be altered or omitted from the final copy.

 

Series Read Order:

 

{Personal review reblogged @ 10/2013 to fix formatting issues due to GR import}

 

Glad to see so many friends from Goodreads!  It feels so welcoming already.

 

 

{Reblogged from Literary Ames}

In Submit to Desire we meet Charlotte, a hairdresser, who has been through five boyfriends in five years.  She's had enough with boring bedmates. She's out with her girlfriends trying to get over her latest breakup when she spots Kingsley.  Of course he piques her interest, I mean, really, what's up with his Victorian look? 

 

"Like something off a romance novel cover ... [not walking] so much as strolling, as if the crowded nightclub was a park in the spring, and he was a country squire out on a pleasant Sunday ramble."

When asked about him, the bartender informs her that is Kingsley Edge, a "talent scout ... [who is] the opposite of boring.  And if [she has] any sense [she'll] stay away from him."  Well, damn, that's like tellin' a dog he can't play with that cool new toy you just showed him, yah? 

Kingsley spots Charlotte doing her fire-breathing trick on top the bar and knows he must have le petit dragon.  She'd be perfect for his client ...

 

... "a wealthy businessman, not unattractive, who has found himself longing for a deeper connection than what he has experienced in his recent short-lived relationships.  He prefers a beautiful woman somewhere between the age of twenty-five and thirty-five.  No preference on race, height, or religion.  Strong preference on intelligence - i.e. she must have it.  And she must be very brave.  This particular client enjoys S and M on occasion but is more interested in absolute sexual dominance.  He is particularly aroused by fear."

Kingley explains that he will teach her everything she needs to know.  Interested, she agrees.

I love how Tiffany is able to create such interesting characters and stories in such a limited amount of time.  In each of her short stories that I have read there has not been one that left me feeling like I didn't fully know the characters, couldn't believe the story, or didn't want to stay in the world a bit longer.   In my opinion, she writes kink very well, no matter the length of the story.

 

{Reblogged @ 10/2013 to fix formatting issues due to GR import}

Wool is the first in the series by the same name.  We are dropped into a world that is skillfully described.  Not only does the author create a vivid partial picture of the world, but the characters seem to pop off the page.  Readers are instantly sucked into "the silo" where these characters live dwell.  Next, the author gives us pieces of flashbacks and current happenings between a man and his wife for us to put together like a puzzle you cannot wait to finish.  A puzzle, which has a picture you haven't yet been allowed to see, but are certain you'll recognize once you do.  And, just like that, the wool is removed. You realize things are not as you thought, not as the characters themselves believed. You find yourself fumbling for the next set of chapters in the story, Wool 2: Proper Gauge, so that you can get your hands on the remaining pieces of the puzzle and see the big picture.

Yes, this story is reminiscent of several others I have read, but it is intriguing enough that I just don't care.  I want to know more, I want to learn what they learn as they learn it.  I want to know ... Why are the people within the silo told "to never want out..."?  Why does wanting out mean instant death?

Holston's wife, Allison, a computer whiz, demands, "No good coming from the truth?  Knowing the truth is always good." Surely that must be true.  There are those, youngsters mainly, "souls who had not yet come to grips with where they lived, who did not yet feel the press of the earth on all sides, who in their minds were not buried at all, but alive."  But, for Holston and his wife that time has passed.  They have discovered things, they want to know more, they want to find out, no matter the cost ... they want outside.

I've already started on book 2, Wool 2: Proper Gauge, and will read the other books in the series as well.  I also plan to see what else, if anything, this author has written because I really enjoy his writing style.  He has an ability that many lack - the ability to write an interesting story with believable characters in an intriguing world in under 100 pages.

 

{Reblogged @ 10/2013 to fix formatting issues due to GR import}

As the World Dies: The First Days is a fantastically scary zombie read that has you cheering the strong survivors until the end in a "world {that} had slid sideways into hell."  

The story begins with Jenni, "...a strange, strange girl in a strange, strange world", muttering to herself while watching "those tiny fingers ... pressed under the door ... tips of tiny fingers raw and skinless".  We quickly come to realize that those tiny fingers belong to her now undead son.  Somehow she manages to flee the house and is rescued by Katie, a prosecutor who was rescued by a priest, but is now alone, except for a brave zombie warning dog, Jack.  Together they set off to find a safe place to settle and wrap their minds around what's happened.   

Along the way, the meet some amazing people, all doing what they can to survive. They quickly realize that bite = death and they become the executioners.  They are "the funeral of the world ... the mourning survivors picking up the pieces and finding a way to move on..." through their guilt of doing what must be done to survive.  Jenni, once almost catatonic, has come to almost love her new role as, nicknamed by Katie, "a deadly Tinkerbell of death", killing the zombies that remind her of all that she's lost.

In the end, Frater writes, "The worst is yet to come ..." and I can't wait to read on and find out how the newly formed community deals with the horrors (not just zombies) that remain in this "new world".

 

{Reblogged @ 10/2013 to fix formatting issues due to GR import}

 

Re-Published July 5th 2011 by Tor Books with new cover

 

 

 

 

 

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Stacia treats her Downside fans to a (not so) short story, which takes place between Unholy Ghosts (#1) and Unholy Magic (#2).  Better yet - It's written entirely from Terrible's POV!  She definitely deserves some major badass author points for that because, while it's - at times - a struggle to read a book written only in Downspeech, I cannot imagine what it must take to write one.  She's done an amazing job and takes the readers right where they want to go (aside from his bed, of course) ... inside Terrible's mind.

Initially, I frequently found myself questioning Terrible's thoughts and actions because I am current with the series.  I had to remind myself, more often in the beginning of the book, that this takes place early on in the series.  So, the relationship between Terrible and Chess is still new and it proves to be a challenge for him; she's in his thoughts all the time now, which creates some complications in his current relationship. 

 

He was careful not to sit too close. If he sat too close he might forget and touch her, like resting his hand on her knee or some shit.  Hard to remember sometimes that she weren't his, that just cause he wished she was and sometimes felt like she was, ain't meant she was for real.

 

Wrong Ways Down gives us a better understanding of Terrible while we watch him solve a mystery.  As the Downside's (and Bump's) enforcer, Terrible has seen a lot.  Part of his job is taking care of the people who work for Bump and ensuring their safety.  So, when a street-man turns up dead and, worse still, one of the girls is attacked, Terrible's sole mission is to find out whodunnit and make.them.pay. 

 

If fists were brains he was the smartest dude in the city, and he couldn't help how that made him feel good.

 

While trying to solve the mystery, Terrible considers iffen he could call in Chess.  Bump don't see the point cuz'n no ghost sign, aye?  "The only evidence he had that it could be something to do with magic was his own suspicion.  Maybe he was just wishing it causen it'd be a chance to see Chess more."

 

He already saw her a fuck of a lot more than he'd ever expected, or hoped.  Almost every day.  Never would have seen that one coming; iffen he'd been asked two months past he'd have said she may have been the prettiest dame he'd ever met but she seemed like one of the bitchiest too.  But turned out she weren't a bitch at all.  She was fucking amazing, and iffen he could spend all his time with her he would.

 

However, while his thoughts often stray to Chess, he still doesn't consider himself worthy of a girl like her.  Fans are given a peek into Terrible's past, insight on his relationship and fierce dedication to Bump, and why he never decided to try his fighting skills in the professional ring versus on the street.

More than ever, I am anxious for book 6, which is currently Untitled, but has a release date set for 3 July 2014.  Thankfully, to help ease the long wait, Stacia has another short, Close to You, coming out on October 8th. 

 

{Reblogged @ 10/2013 to fix formatting issues due to GR import}

It took me a bit to really get into this book, but once I did, I really enjoyed it.

Lily Ivory, a powerful natural witch from Texas, opens a vintage clothing shop, Aunt Cora's Closet, in San Francisco in hopes of starting a normal life after years of moving.  She's invited to Frances Potts' home to buy vintage clothing for her shop when she feels things are off.  When that woman dies, the next night, Lily is determined to find out what happened.  In addition to Frances' death, a neighborhood child has gone missing.  The Spanish community, and Lily, believe La Llorona, "the weeping woman" is responsible.

She shares her shop with Bronwyn, a wiccan, an herbalist and a friend.  Lily tries to keep her powers a secret because she wants to have friends and be as "normal" as possible in this "new life".  But, things happening around her cause her abilities to come out into the open more than she'd anticipated.

During her search for the missing girl and the cause of Frances' death, she meets Aidan Rhodes, a male witch, who brings her a familiar, Oscar.  Oscar provides some comic relief throughout the story.  He frequently transforms into a potbelly pig to keep his normal appearance, "...small and bent, with a muscular body and scaly skin, a large head, a snoutlike nose and mouth, and outsize ears like a bat's.  His fingers were long and humanlike ... but his enormous feet had three toes and long talons", from the general public.  She also meets Max Carmichael, a Mythbuster, who has Charles Gosnold, the neighborhood "charlatan", showing him around the haunted spots so he can prove them to be hoaxes.  He gets a little more than he was expecting when he starts hanging around Lily.

The mystery was ok, easily guessed (IMHO), but the story still held my interest.  The relationships between Lily and the other characters was interesting.  Max is trying to understand Lily's powers and come to grips with the fact that he's falling for a witch, of all things.  At times I felt overloaded with TMI about the vintage clothing, but overall I enjoyed the book.  Not dying for book 2, A Cast-Off Coven: A Witchcraft Mystery, coming out later this year, but I will probably read it.

 

{Reblogged @ 10/2013 to fix formatting issues due to GR import}

Rating: 2.5★ (Full review to follow shortly)

Book 3/Finale: "Dead Plains" due out Fall 2013, per author's website Blurb: Sometimes, the ones you least suspect are the ones that should worry you the most.People aren’t always what they seem, as Red has experienced all too well. Strangers are feared, towns are avoided, and everyone’s intentions are scrutinized… even those of the people closest to her. Her coveted ability has been revealed to far too many people, and now that a tiny heartbeat thumps and grows beneath her own, the risk has never been greater.As the group of ten searches for a safe haven, a place to finally call home, the sobering reality of it all finally settles over them: nowhere is safe, nothing is permanent, and death is everywhere. One by one, Red’s reluctant posse grows smaller, as death claims some, and circumstance claims others.It couldn’t be a worse time to bring a newborn into the world… but the baby is coming.

"You are the child of chaos, Cassie, of turmoil and mayhem and wild uncertainty. Your very existence is proof [...] that hope cannot be chained. That fate can be undone!" It's been two long years since we last saw Cassie and gang in [b:Hunt the Moon|8926959|Hunt the Moon (Cassandra Palmer, #5)|Karen Chance|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1334245981s/8926959.jpg|13803434]. If you're a fan or follower of the series, you may remember the book ended on quite the cliffhanger. Now, in Tempt the Stars, Cassie has one thing on her mind - rescuing her friend Pritkin from "a fate worse than death". But, as the "newly crowned Pythia, aka the world's chief seer," her focus is pulled in many different directions. Still, despite the appearance of three unruly witches demanding a meeting, a barrier of homunculus trying to keep her from speaking to her mother, a wicked fae spell distorting one of her own¹, windsurfing through hell with dark mages to escape Allû, and facing the demon council, she's able to accomplish part of her mission.The next part, actually freeing² her friend, continues on into the next book. So, expect another cliffhanger. Other things you can expect, as with all Cassandra Palmer novels, a lot of magical battles, some witty quips from Casanova and Billy, and some whiplash time traveling. The thing you should not expect is Mircea. He's surprisingly absent during the story; he's off taking care of Senate business and we are left wondering, along with Cassie, is he avoiding her? Or, as always seems to be the case where Mircea is concerned, keeping a close eye on her in unexpected ways? As a fan of Karen Chance's Dorina Basarab series in addition to this one, I have grown to like Mircea more and more. So, I hope we will see more of him and, along with Cassie, find some resolution to their relationship questions.Between the two series by Karen Chance, I would say I am a bigger fan of Dorina than of Cassie. That said, I really enjoy watching Cassie not only cope with the challenges she must face, but also learn to embrace her gifts and fight instead of run. So much has been kept from her over the years and now, as Pythia, she finds there is so much more yet to be learned. ¹An intense scene between Cassie and Jules, one of the vampires watching over her, occurs when he finds himself on the receiving end of a wicked nasty, fae curse. It's like he's being unmade - his skin is smoothing over, his fingers and hands are merging together - like he's being turned into a blob. A blob that, had he'd been human, would have killed him, but since he's a vampire he's essentially trapped inside himself. No one can hear his mind-speak until, for some reason, Cassie can. She works to try to help him and accidentally does more than that ... she turns him human! Seems the presence of Rhea, from the Pythian Court, amplifies Cassie's power. When she was trying to remove the fae curse, she also removed the vampire curse - at least that's the only explanation she can think of at the time.Of course, other events occur and her attention is taken away from Jules, but last we see him he's off alone trying to deal with being human again. And, Cassie's fretting over what that will mean for him, Mircea and herself now that she's essentially taken away one of this Master vampires. Hopefully more will be revealed in future books. "When you change someone else's fate, it often changes your own." ²The council unleashed a regression curse on Pritkin in front of Caleb and Cassie. She's told, "It is an old method of execution that sends the soul back through his or her lifetime, into previous versions of himself. When his soul reaches the beginning of its life journey, it will wink out of existence, and the body will die." When she insists that she will go back and stop the spell from being laid, she's told she will be prevented. However, at the end of the book, after proving herself selfless when she was willing to die to save innocents, she is given a counterspell and told that if she "... can find him before the curse concludes, [she] can save him. The spell [they] used was specifically designed to thwart [her] power. His soul will pass through each year of his life only once and then never again. Afterward, [she] can use [her] abilities to return to the same moment again and again, but [she] will not find it there." The catch? The counterspell is written in an ancient tongue that few can read. Pritkin's father, Rosier, the one she was trying to save Pritkin from in the first place, is one that can. So, he will be accompanying her on the mission to find and save Pritkin's soul.Now, she takes off time jumping with Rosier without a word to anyone else. So, what will that mean for those left behind? Will they think she died in the blast? Her Pythia powers will not move onto another who is worthy because she still has them, yes? Should be interesting to find out how this will play out for everyone. Thank you to Penguin Group/Berkley NAL and NetGalley for a review copy of this book. All quotes are taken from the pre-published copy and may be altered or omitted from the final copy.

A cute little excerpt from Tammy's childhood diary.

Rating: 3.5★ I enjoyed the narration by Paula Christensen and Jesse Bernstein. While I really liked the characters and will continue on to book 2 at some point, I don't know that I would have continued had it not been for the audio. I think I might have lost some interest when we got to the election portion had I been reading vs listening. The idea of blogging post-infection to spread the word was very cool and unique.

Saved by His Submissive introduces us to Sergeant Garrett Hawkins and his team of WILD Boys, namely Sergeant Zeke Hayes and Corporal Ethan Archer who appear in books 2, [b:Handcuffed by Her Hero|17878084|Handcuffed by Her Hero (The W.I.L.D. Boys Of Special Forces, #2)|Angel Payne|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1367500967s/17878084.jpg|25035195] and 3 , [b:Surrendering to Her Sergeant|18105236|Surrendering to Her Sergeant (The W.I.L.D. Boys Of Special Forces, #3)|Angel Payne|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1371697230s/18105236.jpg|25424433]. Garrett has been mourning the loss of his fiancé, Sage Weston for a year, two months, sixteen days and counting. And, he's been struggling with his "kinky-minded demon" even longer. Zeke and Garrett head to Bangkok to rescue American women who have been kidnapped and are about to be sold into slavery. When they arrive, they find more than they ever expected. Sage is alive! I had a hard time settling on a rating for this one. On the one hand - I love guys in uniform, especially when they are wounded warriors (inside and/or out) who find the happiness they deserve. Even better when their story has a splash of BDSM. So, in that regard, this series is sure to be a favorite for me. Yet, on the other hand, bits of the story didn't work for me. Some of the main characters' reactions to past traumas felt unrealistic and took away from the story, hence my struggle with the rating. Garrett is struggling to accept his "kinky-minded demon" and it's obvious his love and passion for Sage never died. So, why then did he flee her arms after just discovering she was alive and seek out a prostitute? I would've thought he might have waited until she had recovered and then discuss his desires to explore BDSM with her (after, of course, he was able to finally accept that was what he wanted).That brings me to my second issue - Sage has been held captive and/or on the run from her captors for over a year. Yet, when Garrett and Zeke find her, she doesn't appear to be traumatized in the slightest. Having never experienced this myself, I cannot say what is considered a right or wrong reaction, I'm sure there is not such thing as either. But, I do find it hard to believe that several hours after being rescued she shows no signs of the ordeal. Garrett, however, realizes she has been through a lot and, despite his desire to "climb into bed with her very warm, very alive self" reminds himself that he needs to be patient. Their whole reunion felt off for me and lacked the passion I think the author intended. With that in mind, I have rated the book 3.5★. I liked the side characters and look forward to learning more about each of them in future installments of the series.