Book Review: Lothaire by Kresley Cole

At first I was like "no." And then I was like "okay maybe." And now I am like "but there were so many things that could have been cooler!"

This is what I call the bad guy pitfall book. It happens eventually in a series like this, where every character eventually gets a true love. For some reason authors get it in there head that this character they have setting himself against all the other main characters needs a true love as well.

The issue here is I think Cole knew she was going to give Lothaire a girl from day one because the guy never really seems that evil. I mean yes he does do some mean stuff but never anything crazy evil. True he is a bit crazy but really what character in this series isn't? I mean he has yet to kill anyone we care about or hurt children or helpless women really. He just kind of threatens the main characters a bit in every book and then kills some one off screen. But the good guys kill plenty of people so I don't really see the difference.

Also. Mother Fucking Stockholm Syndrom!

In similar news why do all of these immortal creatures act like teenagers? I mean honestly I am going to be twenty four soon and even I don't have this much emotional retardation going on.

It was good but not great and I feel like it is just going to blend into the background of this series. The characters did nothing of interest the entire book and the ending just sort of came out of no where.

I has Fury!

No Kresley Cole! NO!

I am so mad at you right now you have no idea. In Regin's book you made it seem like Lothaire was going to get with Nix. It was perfect!!! The two of them are the pawn masters for both sides of the conflicts. They are the two characters driving the plot the most.

And then all of a sudden Lothaire likes some mortal chick. Like the guy named The Enemy of Old is really going to fall for one lady that is not a complete badass or nuts. I am not happy about this. The guy has proven to be nothing short of ruthless and completely out of his mind. And you are giving him a touching love story?

At least with Nix there would be something interesting going on between him and the love interest other than "I must not because I have obligations and revenge and stuff to do. And clearly banging you on a regular basis will take away from the genocide I have been planning."

I have not been this pissed of since the creators of Avatar the Last Airbender said that under no circumstance would Katara end up with Zuko. Why not? They make a much more dynamic team. Aang is a child that has no real depth other than his need to save everyone and bring peace. Katara and Zuko at least had this weird sort of animal attraction thing going on and it would have been a great way to bring in a new era of the Fire Nation.

Do you see what you have done? I am now ranting about a cartoon show that was aimed at 12 year olds over a slip that happened between the fans and the creators. Do you understand the rage and the fury that you have unleashed because you took the easy way out?

And yes I understand that putting Nix with Lothaire would end the series effectively because that bitch is pretty much running everything at this point. But really the only stories I care about at this point have happened. I mean I don't know if I am going to keep buying any of the books any more because you gave me the two I had been dying for last year.

For the love of god get on with it already. When are we going to see the epic battles between the fractions that have been promised since book one? Huh? I mean I know this is a romance series but seriously don't create a series with a premise around the idea that in the next few years every fraction of mythical creatures is about to go into a free for all battle and not do anything with that.

That is all for now.

The Rule of Three

It might just be me but in find that the third book in the series is always the best book. The third book is also always the book with the crazy person. You might be in a position to doubt me on this but I come baring proof.


Example number one: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. This was the book and the movie that really got people excited. The actors finally know what they are doing and we start to believe them.The story of Harry starts to come together and he gets a father figure, a father figure who is a little off his rocker. 


Example number two: Dance with the Devil by Sherrilyn Kenyon. Some might argue that this is the fourth book but it really the third. Julian's book was written outside the series and was incorporated later when the idea was put together. Anyway Zarek is pretty much stark raving mad and super hot for it. He does crazy wood cravings because he runs out of things to do. Granted his ending was a little dull they all were in this series. True there might be a bigger following for some of the other characters but Zarek happens to be the only true badass among a bunch of posturing characters that just want their nails done and for some one to hold them. And then at the end of the book he gets to be a god and spends all of his time messing with his half brother for the sheer fun of it. He nearly kills the guy several times just for giggles. You try being sane after spending five hundred years in Alaska by yourself.

Example number three: Kissed by Ice by Nalini Singh. Judd might not be completely out of his mind but you have to admit some one that never talks is a bit on the creepy side. Also he can explode your cells with his mind. Also who doesn't want their own personal assassin? I mean I would have so much fun with that. This was also the first book with a wolf changeling so its way better.


Example number four: Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs. This is the book where we finally see some Adam/Mercy romance. The law is laid down. Also the murder is like completely off his rocker and on a power trip.


I can't believe I am about to say this.....Eclipse. It was the only one with a real threat as far as conflict goes. Granted it all happened off screen but Vicky was short a few marbles.

The Darkest Pleasure by Gena Showalter. He cuts himself because he needs the pain and his girlfriend can see heaven and hell. I mean there isn't a character that is sane in this series. We are rocking the crazy boat here.


A few others include lover Unbound, Dangerous in Diamonds, Scoundrel in My Dreams, The Duke Most Wanted, Wicked Deeds at Winter's Edge and If You Deceive.


My point is we loved the guys that are just a few doughnuts short of a dozen. And they always get the third book in the series.

Book Review: A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole

After going back and reading all the Cole books again I figured I would do a brief sum up of how I feel about each. Hunger is the first full length book int he series, the first installment of the series is a short story. Emma is half valkyrie half vampire and a timid little thing when the book starts. Lachlain is pretty much half out of his mind after being trapped for years in a pit of fire.

This book has the most romance to the overall plot in that there is little outside plot. Its the establishing book for he series and introduces many characters but not much else. The vampire threat is created and then dealt with. We get glimpses of other creatures and characters for later stories. Two of the most recent stories were hinted at in this book. This book was also one of the establishers in Cole's style of making me work for the dirty bits, she likes to make me wait as long as possible.

This was not my favorite book but I enjoyed the characters that I met along the way. Also I loved the way werewolves were portrayed so I was hooked on the series from then.

Quote of the day

"She'd never seen a monster like that before, had never heard of one in all the Lore. When she grappled with the question of what it was, her sharply honed scientifical mind deduced one answer: manbearpig"

-Kresley Cole, Demon from the Dark

Almost all the way done with my complete read through of the Cole novels.

Book Review: Dreams of a Dark Warrior by Kresley Cole

Alright I have been putting off reviewing this book for about a week now and I am caving and going to talk about it. This is the book I was waiting the the entire series for, and at the same time was hoping it would never happen.

See the main character of this books is Regin and she is epic. Bitch is crazy, and crazy awesome. She is perhaps one of the silliest characters besides the completely insane Nix in this series. She pulls pranks and makes rude comments all the time. Regin has made and appearance in every book up to this point as either a bother or a help. She does constant pranks and makes the demons eat weird things. I was excited for the possibility of an entire book dedicated to this spitfire, and terrified that she might be ruined.

Then there was the guy. So in the book before this all these characters get kidnapped and tortured by this crazed organization. I got rather testy that some one was hurting my precious characters. I spent half the book going, "I hate you Declan Chase. I hate you. Hate, hate, hate. Loath entirely!" He was a big meanie. He was mean to Carrow and her poor defenseless niece. I mean who is mean to twelve year olds? He was evil and I hated him. Not to mention that he had Regin cut up, or so we thought.

I pretty much threw a hissy fit when I saw that he would be the lead for Regin's book. I for real got upset about this development because I did not want to feel sympathy or like some one I had already spent so much time hating. Because I knew it was coming, some how I was going to be forced to love him and I didn't want to. Also I got his description totally messed up in my mind and was super confused.

Anyway the story goes a little something like this. Back in the day Regin met this berserker Aidan and the two of them kind of had a thing. But he got killed before he could become immortal. At which point he got reincarnated a bunch of times only to die once he finds Regin again. The last book pretty much told us that Regin got kidnapped by The Order and trapped on the creepy island. Also in the last book after getting operated on she sorta yelled that Declan was Aidan and that she wanted him stomped on.

I will give in and say that I liked this book. I really did. It was super hard for me to like Declan but I was brought around eventually. Regin was not as crazy as always but she wasn't really in situations that allowed for a lot of trash talking, and yet it still was there. This was perhaps one of the more interesting back stories between the characters. It played into the story pretty well and kept things interesting.

The introduction of some new characters kept things light and playful because god knows that Declan didn't help that situation. That man was a huge downer, but really works out with Regin in the end. I like more characters, because it means more books. And no author I like is allowed to ever stop writing.

The big news of this book is the hints of Nix and Lothaire are like a fated pair. Which pretty much set off a fan girly rampage the likes of which the world has never seen. I mean epic! So epic.

And then for like ten minutes I was terrified that the series was coming to an end until I picked up the series again and found that there were in fact a lot of characters still hanging out there for the taking. So its cool.

But yeah. Good book, great series. I demand more yesterday.

New books

The new Patricia Briggs novel sorta surprised me yesterday. Its weird to have a sneak attack from a book. But I was caught unaware when I opened my Nook yesterday to find it available for purchase. The thing is that this will be the only novel she is publishig this year, so now I have to try and make myself wait to read it.

Also I need to write my review for the Kresley Cole book I finished. I think I have about a week or two before the next J.R. Ward novel makes and appearence. I need to get back on my wagon, but its hard when one is sick.

Quote of the day

"Have you ever fought an opponent you had no defense against? Like a fire breather or an acid spitter?"

"Once I faced a female with diamond skin," Nix said breathlessly. "I was transfixed - even as she was choking the life out of me."

"Really?"

"No, I saw that character on X-Men. I just wanted to commiserate. Alas, I have no weaknesses."

-Kresley Cole, Pleasure of a Dark Prince

Quote of the day

"I had just heard tales that the Valkyrie were large warriors, akin to Amazons.”

"If you’re the sole survivor of an army attacked by us, are you going to say we had our asses handed to us by petite, nubile females, or by she-monsters who can bench Buicks?"
-Kresley Cole (No Rest For the Wicked)

Quote of the day

"If try when they escape. Two things that can never be contained? Velociraptors and Zombies."

Demon From The Dark by Kresley Cole

He wants to hug you!

Demon From The Dark by Kresley Cole

I love the Immortals after dark series. Why? Here is why:
Consistent references to technology and lifestyle elements that are relevant to this time period.
Broad use of mythology and workings of mythological creatures from all walks of the world.
Women that always kick ass.
Batshit crazy friends that make things better.
Heroes that look great naked.
Characters come back in later books to help newer leads.
Previews of the next leads in current books.

Cole is one of those authors I stalk. Not kidding. Her homepage is bookmarked, I check the site once a week at least no matter what. I have reread every one of her books that I own.

The latest installment follows a witch Carrow who is from the same coven as Mari from Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night. At the end of the last book we saw that immortals around the world were being kidnapped by humans (slightly predictable for a series about immortal creatures that coexist with humans, but it came so late in the game i was not prepared.) Carrow is bribed to go into a demon universe to seduce a Dempire or Vemon (depending on if you ask Nix or some one else.) The bribing is done using her niece, who's mother was killed off screen. Carrow goes and meets Malkom the dempire/vemon she is to seduce. He is very unsocialized and they dont speak the same language which means this is a very dialogue light book for about half of the plot.

They play nice for a while then some demons come. There is struggle, they go back to our plane of existence get recaptured. And from there on you have to read to find out. Not telling.

I loved the book, I really did. The writing is just as good as the previous installments (something that cannot be assumed with most writers) and the characters work well. I was sad that while other characters from the series are in the book the well known ones have about what adds up to four minutes of screen time, while a few characters I forgot existed got moved to main position side kicks. I was stoked to realize that I get Reign's book next seeing as I have been waiting for it for a while now ( I finally got over the pain the wait for Garreth's book caused.)

My one concern or complaint. The sex or lack there of. Romance novel means that I will be getting at least three solid sex scenes in a book. Cole has a habit of making her Heroine's not give it up the first time the guy jones for it, which I appreciate. Some times heroines in these things are just plain slutty. But after this many installments I am starting to get annoyed. The two real sex scenes were it went beyond oral seemed lack luster and rushed in to fit the plot. The plot is great it really is but cutting a few paragraphs here and there of internal dialogue and sex can have its time on stage.

My suggestion, follow Nalini Singh's example in Branded by Fire and give us a treat early on. That could mean having characters that know each other from previous books have a one night tryst that turns into something. But after reading ten books were its nothing but hand jobs and dry humping until the last quarter is getting on my nerves.

Authors I Bookmark part 1

Yeah, I know two posts one day equals over achiever. But I'm up and in the mood to get started. So lets first talk about some of my favorite authors.

Lets start with the woman that first began my decent into this addiction: Sherrilyn Kenyon.

Kenyon is the author of the extremely expansive Dark Hunter series. I started the series at the beginning (something that rarely happens I always seem to pick up the middle book by accident) and was rather impressed. Try to remember I was reading these books long before Twilight killed vampires for most of the population. Her vampires are not so much vampires as they are two races at war. One race, the Apollites were originally created by the god Apollo and then cursed to die at the age of 26. They feed on human souls to live longer (but not all of them some of them are nice and kick the bucket without trying to eat us). The other race is Dark Hunters, who are warriors that died and Artimis granted them eternal life and a chance to get revenge to those who wronged them in exchange for being her personal army against the Apollites.

Kenyon has some great delievery of new ideas. She uses Greek mythology to fuel her characters and even pulls on other mythological beings on a regular basis. The series started pretty awesome and while she tends to overdue the goth thing with the male leads in her books they are decent, or were. Sadly after about the first ten books she got strange. It's gotten to the point where I now dread a new book from her, because the interlocking plot requires that I read every book but I stopped caring about some of her characters five books ago.

I would still suggest the first couple of books in the series. The books hit a down turn right about the time Dream Hunters come in and start to take up more space than the Dark Hunters and the Were Hunters. ( If you really want to know about them ask. but i doubt you will.) The last four books have either had no plot at all or so much plot that the book just sort of explodes in your face.

Kenyon receives a C- for her overall score.




Next on my list is Kresley Cole:

Cole might be one of my favorites and I have recommended her books to other readers. Immortals After Dark series has yet to fail me and her two historical romance series hold up to multiple reads.

The thing I like most about Cole is she sticks to a formula, she doesnt over due the goth thing on the vampires, and she brings up old characters so you can see how they are doing. Lore, or the community of magical and mystical creatures that live amongst us is the foundation of the series. So far the majority of the female characters come from a house full of Valkyrie in New Orleans with a witch, a ghost and a sorceri mixed in. The males are either vampires, werewolves or deamons.

Cole's strongest point is her humor. The valkyrie and the witches have an on going video game torunament. The one character that can see the future is completely out of her mind and sends the rest of the leads on wild goose chases for her amusement. Cole doesnt ever let any of the characters get too broody or too gloomy by making sure a joke always comes up just when things get tense. And while she sticks to the main ingredient of paranormal all of the characters are fairly modern and interact more like normal people.

True the back stories might not be as complicated as other authors (cough Kenyon cough) but i prefer it that way. Each book opens with little excerpts about what races in Lore will be making an appearance in that book as well as a glossary of terms that will come up. The other nice thing is that she introduces her characters before they get their own book. Each main character was first a supporting character or mentioned in a previous book, and while this is common in romance series Cole pulls it off bettter than some of the other authors out there.

Currently I am pacing waiting for the next installment which was hinted at two books ago. Now if only the publication dates would stop changing.

Cole recieves an A- for her overall score.