Cover Art - Cast in Sorrow

Wow!  I just stumbled upon the listing on Amazon, and all I can say is "... I want in now!".  This is such a great series, and Michelle Sagara does such a fabulous job that  I each year I eagerly await the release of the next book in the series.

This title should be released on August 27, 2013 (finger's crossed).

The Chronicles of Elantra is one of my must buy series - it just keeps getting better and better.  You care what happens to these characters, and I just want to see what happens to Kaylin Neya - and what trouble she can get into!  Will she ever get to meet the Dragon Emperor?  What do the marks that cover her body mean?  Why don't the others acknowledge her powers?  So many mysteries to solve ;-D

So remember readers, 27 August, 2013 

Cast in Sorrow by Michelle Sagara.

Dark Serpent now on shelves

Yes, that's right.  The first book of the final trilogy is now available!  Dark Serpent, by Kylie Chan, continues the somewhat epic love story about our star crossed lovers Emma Donahue and the Dark Lord, Xuan Wu.

I've been following this series since I first saw the cover of White Tiger on the shelf at Bookworld - many years ago now - not long after it was first released.  There is something compelling about this twist on a mythology based story, and I have been waiting on tender hooks for all these years to finally find out exactly who, or what, Emma finally is!

My only negative is that the book has been released in trade format.  With the other books on my shelves in mass market format I don't like to have all different sizes in the one series.  So I'll be reserving my copy from the library and waiting for the smaller edition.

So until then I'm hoping to avoid all reviews - and resisting the temptation to peek!

DARK SERPENT -  BUY IT NOW!

Future Release - Archangel's Legion Cover & Blurb

Archangel's Legion

Guild Hunters, Book 7

Nalini Singh

RELEASE DATE:  October 2013

From the Back Cover:

Angels are falling from the sky in New York, struck down by a vicious, unknown force.

Vampires are dying impossibly of disease.

Guild hunter Elena Deveraux and the Archangel Raphael must discover the source of the wave of death before it engulfs their city and their people, leaving New York a ruin and Raphael’s Tower under siege by enemy archangels.

Yet even as they fight desperately to save the city, an even darker force is stirring, its chill eyes trained on New York…and on Raphael. Rivers of crimson and nightmares given flesh, the world will never again be the same…

Oooooh, sounds so good.  The cover is awesome, and just makes me want to pick up a copy and read it now.  Can't wait for the release - have to have an Elena/Raphael fix every year ;-D  With that said, I have already pre-ordered my copy on Book Depository!  A must if you love paranormal fiction.   

Crazy Cat

Kitten little is driving me insane! 

Oh, sorry.  Were you reading that?

Not anymore! 

Then, the other night...

Oooh, lots of bubbles!

She spent over 20 minutes just watching the bubbles from all different angles.

I'd take a sip and put the glass down, and she'd be up and guarding the glass again!

Plus, she also...

Hmmm, tea... I think I like this.

Oh, were still wanting to drink this?

And this is just what I've caught her doing!  Cheeky little monkey ;-D

Book Review: And Then She Fell

And Then She Fell
Cynster Novel, Book 19
First of the Cynster Sisters Duo - Henrietta's story
Stephanie Laurens

Released March 25, 2013

Avon Books, Mass Market Paperback,
ISBN: 978-0-06-206864-4

The only thing more troublesome than a Cynster man ...is a Cynster lady who believes love is not her destiny.

Famously known in London society as "The Matchbreaker," Henrietta Cynster's uncanny skill lies in preventing ill-fated nuptials - not in falling victim to Cupid's spell.

But then she disrupts one match too many and feels honor-bound to assist dashing James Glossup in finding a suitable bride for a marriage of convenience.

A task infernally complicated by the undeniable, unquenchable attraction that flares between James and Henrietta, who continues to believe she will never fall...

I feel like such an idiot.  I'd written up the basics so that when the book arrived I could just add my thoughts, et voila! review posted.  Then life and other things got in the road and as I was looking through my postings I wondered what I still had in draft form.  Can't believe I did this, sorry!

So what did I think about the latest installment of the Cynster dynasty?  Well, it was more or less like any other of the female Cynster books!  They're all obsessed with the necklace and how it will help them meet their perfect man.  Okay, Henrietta not so much, but her sister is so ready to get her hands on it!

James Glossup was first made known to us in Simon and Portia's story, The Perfect Lover, and although I'd hoped to read his story, I had no idea that Stephanie Laurens would be trying to tied up and marry off all the characters within her books, therefore linking not only families, but merging the series as well.  Not sure whether or not I like that idea, but there have been one or two good surprises, like the Earl of Glencrae, who had not yet shown their faces in the world of the Cynsters.

Like all of the books, I did make an emotional connection to Henrietta and James, but the constant barrage of attacks on the members of the Cynster family are starting to feel just a tad unrealistic.  I know, it's a story and the author can write whatever she wants, but this is just starting to feel like been there, read that!  How many attacks could you get on a family before everyone just up and left town?  I mean, seriously!  Every female Cynster has been attacked, kidnapped or ... something.  Perhaps a change in plot is in order?

I'm hoping that the last book - due in June I think - will be the end of this world, but I can see Ms. Laurens sneaking in stories here and there through other characters mentioned.  Plus there are still books to go in the Barnaby Adair Case Files series aren't there!

All in all, I did enjoy this book.  It wasn't as captivating as say, Mastered by Love, or Devil's Bride, because we just know the ins and outs of the family and all it's connections by now.  Perhaps Stephanie will finally give us the stories on how Martin, Arthur and George married their brides?

Great for when you want a light read, with no overly complicated plot lines.  I'd recommend that you have at least a rough knowledge of the series, but you can read it as a stand alone if you choose to.

Having a lazy weekend with the Doctor

There is a decided chill in the air, but that doesn't matter as I sit on the couch, all snuggled up, watching Doctor Who.  David Tennant is - sorry, was - a spectacular Doctor.  Yesterday I ploughed through seasons 3 and 4.  Now, I've just put on the first of the 4 specials, The Next Doctor, a Dicken's style Christmas complete with Cybermen, a psychotic crimson dressed villainess and a Doctor wanna-be.  Who can say no to that?  Not me!

When David Tennant left our 'who-verse', it took me a little while to embrace Matt Smith as the 11th Doctor.  He just seemed so young and all I could think of was "... he's kind of like a puppy!".  But I kept watching and soon found his quirky persona as the Doctor so engaging that I couldn't help but watch.  Love the fez ;-P

Oops, must dash.  Just finished the episode :-)

Joined a Book Club!

Yes, I finally got involved with a book club at my local library.  Okay, it was my idea and I've had the notice up on displayed for a while - but someone has finally called me!

I wanted to do a genre based book club, and paranormal romance/suspense/mystery, etc., just seemed the way to go as I own so many of those books.  I just find it a very interesting genre, and there is no right or wrong way to do things.  

So, today I finally met my fellow bibliophile, and found that I was with a kindred spirit.  Phew, that was definitely  a load off my mind.  We sat and chatted about what we've been reading, and it took us over an hour to finally decide on our first official book (as I've read, and own, so very many of these books).  Finally we selected Disappearing Nightly by Laura Resnick (book 1 in the Esther Diamond series). 

It was great to be able to talk to someone who loves to read the same type of books I do, and although we have to make a time for our first 'review', I'm looking forward to it.  Now I must leave you.  I'm off to order my book, and then get together some guidelines, question ideas, and other book club necessities.  Hmmmm... will use Fangtastic Fiction for the book club name?  Will let you know how it all goes ;-D

Happy Reading! 

Little Menace

I did mention that the new addition to the house was lovely... didn't I?  Well, after what she's gotten up to in the last 24 hours I'm prepared to make her an outside cat!

My darling Eve has not only figured out how to open up the cutlery draw - so she can crawl through to the space behind and play in said space - but, has also figure out that she can open cupboards as well as the sliding wardrobe door.  Oh, and she's also discovered that if she jumps on the kitchen counter, she can then play with the ferns, nibbling at them.  Oh GOD, she just doesn't stop!

I have yet to catch her on camera - the little dickens moves like grease lightning - but I can tell you the crashes and bangs throughout the day, and night, aren't funny!  Then she does something cute, like crash in your arms like a worn out child, with that sweet little face turned up towards you.  Darn it ;-D

New addition to home

Wow, it has been a long time between posts!  My bad, however I've been so caught up with everyday life that I haven't even opened my laptop for the last two weeks!

One of my reasons has been a half grown cat who doesn't seem to realise that she should be sleeping for about 20 hours a day!  She just doesn't quit!  But she makes up for her inexhaustible reserves of energy by being a loving and sweet natured little darling... and she's absolutely gorgeous to boot ;-D

So I've had to deal with an older cat who's got her tail in a tizz at the presence of the interloper.  They're worse than kids!  Wish me luck - I haven't slept completely through the night for the last two weeks!  Will get back to my reading once pussycat tensions die down.

Review: Lean and Mean

Lean Mean Thirteen
Stephanie Plum Book 13
Janet Evanovich

Mass Market Paperback,  Headline, 2007, 371p.
ISBN: 9780755337590

New secrets, old flames and hidden agendas are about to send Bounty Hunter Stephanie Plum on her most outrageous adventure yet!

MISTAKE #1
Dickie Orr. Stephanie was married to him for about fifteen minutes before she caught him cheating on her with her arch-nemesis Joyce Barnhardt. Another fifteen minutes after that Stephanie filed for divorce, hoping to never see either one of them again.

MISTAKE #2
Doing favors for super bounty hunter Carlos Manoso (a.k.a. Ranger). Ranger needs her to meet with Dickie and find out if he’s doing something shady. Turns out, he is. Turns out, he’s also back to doing Joyce Barnhardt. And it turns out Ranger’s favors always come with a price...

MISTAKE #3
Going completely nutso while doing the favor for Ranger, and trying to apply bodily injury to Dickie in front of the entire office. Now Dickie has disappeared and Stephanie is the natural suspect in his disappearance. Is Dickie dead? Can he be found? And can she stay one step ahead in this new, dangerous game? Joe Morelli, the hottest cop in Trenton, NJ is also keeping Stephanie on her toes—and he may know more than lets on about her…It’s a cat-and-mouse game for Stephanie Plum, where the ultimate prize might be her life.

I just love this series!  There is just something about Stephanie's continual cock-ups that just strikes me as funny.  This time round we see her interact with her ex-Dickie Orr (a real dick).  After the huge scene in his office, Dickie goes missing and - thanks to Joyce's big mouth - the police now have their sights set on Stephanie.  With Morelli curiously MIA, it's up to Ranger to fill the void.

Now I have to say this ... I hated Dickie!  He's such a... words don't describe him!  Maybe it's because he's SP's ex, or the fact that he is in Stephanie's own words a miserable 'dog turd'?  I don't care, I'm just glad he cops so much crap in this book.  I mean really, this was the same husband who was caught schtupping the bane of her existence, Joyce Barnhardt (although in the long run I think Joyce actually did her a favour by pointing out Dickie's short comings - pun intended).   I'm just soooo glad that SP is now with Morelli (and Ranger) and that Joe gets to slam Dickie up against a wall... ah, good times.

The deliciously dangerous Ranger is front and centre in this book (YESSSSS!) and even though Morelli meanders in and out, there is such chemistry between him and Stephanie that you can forgive it.  Dickie is the guy we all love to hate, and Joyce is her usually bitchy and manipulative self.  Grandma Mazur is as funny and irreverent as always, and Lula is just plain comedy gold.  Helen tipples, and Connie is always on hand to back up the girls.  The bad guys are by turns inept as well as scary and there are no attempts on Rex's life in this installment.

The plot line is simple to follow, and predict, with no real surprises except for the location of the key.  And since you don't need to work your grey matter so hard, it's easy to drift away and fall into the world created by Janet Evanovich.

Favourite scene:  Watching the fur fly :-P (Grandma Mazur getting woodchuck-ed!)

You don't have to have read all the previous books in the series before trying LM13, but I'd recommend it.  There are some tidbits that really don't make too much sense if you don't have all the back stories.  This is a fantastic book to take on public transport - if you don't mind people starring at you for laughing out loud - but I'd suggest that if you take it to work you leave it well out of reach.

Although not my favourite book in the series, it is a title I keep coming back to.

Rainy Days

Just great.  It's only been about 3 weeks since we'd last had torrential rain and flooding in the region - and my street - and now it's back again.  For the last two days it's been coming down in sheets.  I really shouldn't complain because this is my all time favourite weather, but I am worried about the flooding.  That being said, I'm whiling away the hours of enforced enclosure by reading a dearly loved - and always at the ready - series that never gets old.  Yes, that's right.  I've dipped back into the bookshelf for Stephanie Plum.  Now I know that I go there a lot, but there is just something about the series that just hits the spot.  It's funny and quirky, fast paced and just an all round great series - and if you love J.D. Robb, Jayne Ann Krentz, I'd highly recommend you check it out.   The characters are well written and seem to just jump off the page (especially after hearing Lorelei King's narrations).  Lula is a real card, and although I would pass out on the spot if I had her for my Granny, Edna Mazur is a real pistol.   With nineteen books under her belt for this series, Janet Evanovich has kept me interested in the eternal love triangle that is Stephanie, Joe and Ranger.   Even though we're up to book 20 this year, I have only found one or two that didn't really hit the spot with me.... plus I just love to daydream about Ranger and Morelli.  Really, who doesn't?

So, after I'm finished here I will make myself a hot cup of tea, break out the Tim Tams (Caramel, of course) and dive back into Lean Mean Thirteen.   Hope you find some fabulous books this week.

Happy Reading!

Review: Red Hot Murder a Delight!

Red Hot Murder
An Angie Amalfi Mystery, Bk 13
Joanne Pence

Mass Market Paperback, Avon Books, 2006, 334p.
ISBN: 9780060758059

Just Deserts

Dilettante chef Angie Amalfi doubts if she'll actually survive her engagement to San Francisco homicide detective Paavo Smith, what with her meddling mom micromanaging the whole affair.  So Angie leaps at the chance to spend some time away with her fiance in the sun-drenched Arizona desert town where he'd spent time as a boy - and maybe explore the possibility of a Southwestern themed wedding feast.

But her groom-to-be is going back there to help a friend investigate the murder of a wealthy local - and it seems this tiny desert community is a hotbed of deadly secrets.  And when a second course of murder is served up, suddenly Angie's tasty getaway with her lover is starting to look more and more like her final meal.

This is the first Angie Amalfi book I've ever picked up and I have to say that even though I've missed out of 12 other books worth of back story - I loved it.  Angie is a real foodie who doesn't like it when people dis or dismiss her, or her cooking - or her Paavo.

In this book we see her and her fiance, Paavo Smith (odd name combo), on their way to revisit a place from his mostly unhappy childhood.  As with most mysteries, we have a dead body or two, obscure clues, more than a few suspects and a twist that turns the hunt for the killer on it's ear.  I found Angie and Paavo to have a good chemistry even though there wasn't a lot of 'we' time, and unlike most of the leading men of the cop persuasion, he's okay with letting Angie hunt around for some clues.  An Italian girl, we catch glimpses of her family life including a mother who looks like turning into a bridezilla - all on her daughter's behalf, of course - as well as a cast of weird and downright bitchy characters who have hunkered down in the dead man's house.  One of my favourites was the local diner cook who made some of the most disgusting food out, and her reaction to Angie's taste testing is so funny.

This book is much more than a cosy mystery but I wouldn't call it a police procedural/detective mystery either.  Think of this as cosy plus.  Since it's a foodie mystery there are the expected recipes in the back of the book.  Of the three recipes, the Bourbon Pecan Chocolate Pie (see below) makes me drool.  So, if you've enjoyed Stephanie Bond, Karen E. Olsen, Kathleen Bachus or Carolyn Hart then you'll get a kick out of Angie Amalfi.

Angie Amalfi's Bourbon Pecan Chocolate Pie

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans (or walnuts if desired)

4 eggs

½ cup light corn syrup

¼ cup honey

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

3 tbsp bourbon

1 tbsp vanilla

1 tbsp all-purpose flour

pinch ground nutmeg

pinch ground cinnamon

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate

pastry for 1 pie crust

Heat oven to 350°F.  Toast the pecans in a small pan over med-high heat, tossing often to make sure they roast evenly.  Set aside to cool.

In a bowl add eggs, corn syrup, honey, sugar, brown sugar, butter, bourbon, vanilla  flour, nutmeg and cinnamon.  Beat until mixture is smooth.

Break your chocolate into little bits, and add with the pecans (or walnuts) into the mixture.  Mixing well so that the chocolate and pecans are distributed evenly.

Pour into uncooked pie crust and bake at 350°F until set.  This should take about 40-50 minutes.  Check using a skewer or toothpick to check if pie is cooked -the skewer/toothpick should come out clean - and put aside to cool.  Best served slightly warm with ice-cream.  Enjoy!

Books en route

God it's late, but I just got an email to say that most of my latest book order is now winging their way to me.  Yah!

So hopefully by this time next week I should be blissfully ensconced on my couch, torn between starting the Angie Amalfi Mystery series or finding out who's stalking Blair Mallory this time, with a hot cup of tea by my side and a cat hogging the lap rug.

Goodnight

Review: The Phoenix Rising crashes and burns

Phoenix Rising
A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel, Bk 1
Pip Ballentine & Tee Morris

Mass Market Paperback, Harper Voyager, 2011, 402p.
ISBN: 9780062049766

Evil is most assuredly afoot - and Britain's fate rests in the hands of an alluring renegade ... and a librarian.

These are dark days indeed in Victoria's England.  Londoners are vanishing, then reappearing, washing up as sorpses on the banks of the Thames, drained of blood and bone.  Yet the Minister of Peculiar Occurrences - the Crown's clandestine organisation whose bailiwick is the strange and unsettling - will not allow its agents to investigate.  Fearless and exceedingly lovely Eliza D. Braun, however, with her bulletproof corset and a disturbing fondness for dynamite, refuses to let the matter rest ... and she's prepared to drag her timorous new partner, Wellington Books, along with her into the

perilous fray.

 

For a malevolent brotherhood is operating in the deepening London shadows, intent upon the enslavement of all Britons.  And Books and Braun - he with his encyclopaedic brain and she with her remarkable devices - must get to the twisted roots of a most nefarious plot ... or see England fall to the Phoenix!

Sorry about his folks, but Blogger's auto-save function crapped out on me and I lost my whole original review.  So, my thoughts - take 2.

"Malevolence has met it's match in Agents Books and Braun!"

And so did my patience.

 

I have had Phoenix Rising in my wishlist for about the last three months, so when I saw it discounted at a Collin's Bookshop I was so excited.   I loved Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series so I was looking forward getting stuck into another Steampunk title ... I should have known.

 

Phoenix Rising was just a disappointment through and through.  Our antagonists, Wellington 'Welly' Books and Eliza D. Braun were just whinny and annoying.  Braun is an loose cannon and arrogant to boot.  She just likes to blow shit up and bucks authority at the drop of a hat.  And while the more sedate Books is the 'by the book' character, he was just as obnoxious and unrealistic.  They annoyed me to no end and I found that I had could make no real connection with these characters.

 

The protagonists were just annoying and cliche, and I found the Aussie character's stereotyping as the colonial knob more than a little insulting.  The POV changes with every chapter, bouncing back and forwards between these two.  Even the writing style left me hanging.  I eventually gave up reading the book as I just couldn't take any more of this drek.  I skimmed the last few pages hoping that the ending was good enough that I could convince myself to go back and slog my way through, but alas, it wasn't.  I think I must have just fluked reading the Parasol Protectorate first because Braun is just a poor man's Alexia Tarabotti, if that.

The only plus I could find here were some of the gadgets.

 

This book will now go to the back of the bottom of my bookshelf to collect dust.  I can't believe I wasted my time trying to read this and I even begrudge it the $3.50 I spent on it. If you do come across it, walk away unless you're a major fan of the genre.  If you must try it, find it on the shelves at your local library.

Review: Lucy Valentine to the Rescue

Truly, Madly

A Lucy Valentine Mystery, Bk 1
Heather Webber

Mass Market Paperback, St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 9780312946135

Lucy Valentine is as smart as can be, as single as you can get, and so not qualified to run a matchmaking service.  But when her parents temporarily step down from the family business, Valentine, Inc., it's Lucy's turn to step up and help out - in the name of love.  Plus her rent is due.

 

Her's the problem: Lucy doesn't have the knack for matchmaking.  According to family legend, every Valentine has been blessed by Cupid with the ability to read 'auras' and pair up perfect couples.  But not with Lucy.  Her skills were zapped away years ago in an electrical surge, and now all she can do is find lost objects.  What good is that in the matchmaking world?  You'd be surprised.  In a city like Boston, everyone's looking for something.  So when Lucy locates a missing wedding ring - on a dead body - she asks the sexy private eye who lives upstairs to help her solve the perfect crime.  And who knows?  Maybe she'll find the perfect love while she's at it...

 

 

My thoughts....

 

Having bought the second book first, and loving it, I had to quickly find this at my old library.  I'm glad I did because I really enjoyed this book.  Lucy Valentine is a sweet, but slightly neurotic character - when you get to know her family can you blame her? - who finds herself thrown into the deep end of matchmaking when she caves in to her father's request to run the family business while her parents take a break.

 

A former trust fund babe, she lives on her grandmother's estate, with a pushy cat called Grendel.  On her first day in the office she gets a vision from a client that leads her on an Alice in Wonderland journey to find a killer - before they find her.  Add into the mix a quirky group of close-knit friends and family, a bitch of a client, a suspicious cop or two, and a pit-bull of a journalist and you have all the makings of a real page turner.  I did like the way that Ms. Webber was trying to limit the uses of Lucy's 'gift' and I laughted when Lucy met Sean.  However, it's when Lucy's at the matchmaking office, trying to make said matches, that I got a good giggle.  Swatches... ha!

 

Sean, our very hot P.I, is a refreshing change from the ever popular take charge, healthy as a horse, superman type of mate.  He's a man who's had to face his own mortality, and make lifestyle changes.  This was done in a realistic fashion with humor and sensitivity, and is not at all cliche.

 

Thoreau and Grendel are the little scene stealers of the group. Just too cute for words.

 

I enjoyed the first three books (reviews 2 and 3 pending) and will definitely try to get my hands on 4 and 5.  A great start to a quirky new series.