Book Review: The Fallen Blade (Act One of the Assassini) by Jon Courtenay Grimwood

This sounded awesome. Assassins in Venice and there was a vampire and a few werewolves mixed in. It was going to be kick ass. Instead it was a lot of characters that are weird doing things for motivations we are not clued into. Like the vampire kid is in love with this one girl and she with him, but for no reason. They meet like once for all of three minutes. There is no sneaky assassin stuff but rather a lot of dull things about love and marriage and blah. Just blah. The end was awful. Leo died for like no reason what so ever. He might have been the only character I liked. Boo this book. BOOOOOO!

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

"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

Book Review: To Catch a Wolf by Susan Krinard

The lead is a cripple. There I said it. The lead female of this story is a cripple, until about a hundred pages from the end. But yeah. I was pretty impressed. I have to say that pulling the cripple card out of the hat was not something I was expecting, and I can pretty much call everything.

This is a period piece and takes place in the late 1800s in Denver. Athena is a lady of the town, but is confined to her chair after an accident as a child placed here there. Morgan is a werewolf that spent time in prison and then a long time as the wolf in the woods. Morgan then ended up in a traveling circus. They meet, there are class issues, and stupidity.

I was annoyed by this story. Mostly because it seems like it should have been shorter. The story rushes towards conflict, then back tracks, then makes new conflict, then side steps. I stayed up late reading this book because I figured that eventually it would slow down and then finish, but it didn't. I just read another of Krinard's books and I am beginning to think that she gave herself a page number goal and kept writing until she hit it. The characters are simply dragged through so much is so little time.

I though I was going to like this author because she does period werewolf pieces but the length and junk in the books are not acceptable.

Book Review: Come the Night by Susan Krinard

I started this book at about midnight last night and finished it at about six in the morning. Yeah I did that. My head kills right now but I forcing myself to stay awake although I am noticing an extreme number of typos as I do this. Anyway.

In this book you a werewolf girl and a part werewolf guy who during the Great War had a bit of a fling. The story takes place a while later during Prohibition and centers on the fact that the two have a son and that the girl's dad is a total ass. There is more to the story including some murder mystery and some very confusing political dialogue that some how ends with Hitler.

The plot was well written and the fact that the story was told from nearly every major characters point of view at some point was intriguing. The bad guy's intentions took some time for me to iron out. I just dont know if I would call this a romance novel. True the relationship between the two leads is central to everything in the story but both of them act stoney and cold the entire time and barely is there mention of feelings in the book. It sorta just assumed that they still love each other and are putting on brave faces to do what is right. The plot takes up quite a bit of the book and there are really one three scene that might be considered scandalous, which really means that this book could have been put in the plain old fantasy section without too many people noticing.

I did find that the female lead was a bit odd because we were supposed to accept that she had been verbally abused her entire life and yet had this back bone of steel because she is a werewolf. I am not sure if I can agree with that. But at the same time it took the male lead a very long time to come out from the indoctrination she was under. It might be that the plot had to rush her transformation but something about her felt a bit off.

Another thing was that everyone was drinking. I can understand the parts were they are in England and Prohibition isn't in play but nearly everyone is having a drink in the book. The hotels even have minibars. Now I know that most of the police force back then turn some what of a blind eye to the drinking because they liked to have a cold one too, but seriously shouldn't there be at least some lack of booze.

I would suggest the book to anyone that maybe wants a light suspense kind of fantasy novel. There are only two sex scenes and one memory of sex. No mention of throbbing members throughout the book so it can be enjoyed as a purely fantasy novel.

Book Review: Enchanting the Beast by Kathryne Kennedy

Remember that other review I did of her books? Yeah I liked those, this one has got me very on the fence. So this one involved a werewolf, which had me really excited until the book started. This one was paced completely differently than the other two and I knew something was off when I was a few chapters in. It just felt like a different author. Also I can't be sure but it might even be a different time period because the fashion that the women are wearing seems to have hoops in it. Its messing with my brain.

Also there is the part here that I don't want to sound mean about. The female lead is in her forties and the male is twenty seven. Which is just a little ewww...... I mean I know that it happens, but its just a bit gross. I am just a wee bit like ehhh. I don't want to judge the book because I feel that it would be cruel but just can't get into it. I just see some one my boyfriend's age banging my mom's friend. Its just odd.

Also I am about half way into the book right now and so far nearly nothing has happened. I mean I walked away from this book. I hardly ever do that, once I start a book I rarely ever put it down. So the fact that I have walked away from the book means that its not that good. I mean there has been no mention of Merlin's relics at all. In fact now that I look back at the book I think this might have been her first because the opening speaks more of Merlins relics. Yeah this is a first go and it shows.

Undecided on this one.

Thought of the day

How many times have you read or heard the word werewolf? Not werewolves, just werewolf. Think about that and try and come up with a number.

I figure something around 9,578 times. this is a purely made up number but its got to be alot because of how much I love paranormal books.