Quick Review: Two Little Miracles

Two Little Miracles by Caroline Anderson

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Two Little Miracles by Caroline Anderson is a typical Harlequin Romance. The husband is overbearing and all he wants to do is work (granted in Caroline Anderson's book Max does work with his wife, Julia (she's his PA) but still all he does is work). We are kind of thrown into the story when Julia is insisting that Max stop being the work-a-holic he apparently is and start being a husband. She wants to relax more and not worry about which port of call they will be jetting away to so that this or that business deal won't fall through.

Then the books skips ahead ... a most a year. Julia has moved out to the country while Max stayed in London (England). ANNNNDDDD ... she's had twins ... Max's babies. Max hires a PI to find Julia (he's convinced she is dead and is griefstricken over it) and the PI hands him a picture of Ava and Libby with Julia (the girls look JUST like him at that age so he knows they are his).

He attempts to reconcile with Julia but she knows he'll just be back to his old ways ... blah-ditty-blah-da-blah. It's the same story over and over again ... misunderstandings here ... she says the wrong thing and regrets it ... they make up ... they have sex ... he does something wrong. She kicks him out.

Ultimately there is a happy ending but I think I am getting sick of reading this story line over and over again!

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Quick Review: Ex-Boyfriend's Handbook

Ex-Boyfriend's Handbook by Matt Dunn

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Very ... very good read!

I am currently looking for other books by this author. He's funny and engaging. The book is a quasi-romance but much much more it's a comedy/come of age (well ... a growing up into a man even though the main character is 30ish).

Edward's girlfriend, Jane, leaves Cuddly Teddy a note saying that it's not her but him and that she's gone to Tibet for three months to find herself. (She's also taken half of the stuff in their shared flat).

Now Edwards has got three months to find himself ... and make that self over into something that will win back Jane. He'll diet, run, tan, and wax himself into a new Edward.

Hilarious read. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good laugh!

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Quick Review: Trapping A Dutchess

Trapping a Duchess by Michele Bekemeyer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A cute and witty romp around Regency era London where the Ton dragons are all a twitter when the lovely Sophie and her ex-finance (who she left standing at the altar 7 years ago) begin to make the circuit of parties.

Simon, Sophie's brother, has given her an ultimatum: Marry by the end of the season or he would see her put out to the country with no more town fun. Sophie will have none of that. But she also won't be forced into a marriage where she will be dominated like her mother was (by her father).

Will Sophie run again? Possibly!

Nice read. Nothing too deep or too superficial!

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Dark Viking (Viking II series #10)

Book: Dark Viking (Viking II series #10)

Author: Sandra Hill

Bookshelves: 2011, fantasy, fiction, historical romance, romance, Sandra Hill, time traveler, Vikings, Vikings II series

Begun: February 16, 2011

Finished: February 21, 2011

Media Type: book (paperback)

Setting: present day Coronado, California (USA) and 10th century Norstead (Norway)

Characters: Rita Sawyer, Steven of Norstead, Lady Thora, Sigge, and Oslac

Review: Rita Sawyer, experience and sought after stunt woman in Hollywood, is approached by two of the Navy SEALs’ finest and is encouraged to join the ranks of a newly formed class of WEALS (Women on Earth, Air, Land and Sea – the female equivalent of the SEALs. She readily accepts when she learns of the sign on bonus that will allow her to pay off her mother’s daunting medical bills (that piled up before her death).

Rita is on a training mission in California one day when her boat (and her world) is turned upside down with a knock on her head. She awakens to 10^th century Norstead and Steven and his friend Oslac calling her a mermaid. They bring her back to the keep and cage her (basically because they think she is a sea beastie and then accuse her of being a spy of one of the pirates in the area).

Steven leaves Norstead for some time and Rita breaks free of her cage. She meets up with Sigge who her aunts have sent to help Rita. Her aunts … the witches … who brought Rita back to Norstead to bring Steven out of his funk.

The usual happens. Rita brightens up Stevens’s day. Steven falls for her. They have sex. She gets pregnant and tries to go back to her time because she thinks Steven will leave her for his betrothed.

While I generally love Sandra Hill, I just didn’t find this book as exciting as others she’s written. Maybe it’s time to stop writing the Viking I and Viking II series for a while and come back to them later? Not a bad read. Just not her best.

Awards: none

Recommended by: personal find

Recommend to: Nora Roberts’ fans, romance fans, time travel fans, historical romance fans, history fans

Quick Review: Magical Clothes

Magical Clothes by Nobilis Reed

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

If this had been written as a short story (very short story), I might have been an "alright" read.

But as it stands, I couldn't, in good conscience, recommend this as a book to-be-read to anyone.

Writing in the third person (from the female lead, Verity)'s perspective, Nobilis Reed doesn't do a very good job of capturing a female mindset. The entire novel read to me like a man try very hard to write what he believes a women must be thinking (while being "horny" (a word frequently used), turned on, or engaging in a sexual act).

Take out the sex scenes and the very bare bones of the plot isn't half bad. We meet a young woman, Verity (who we can assume is about 20ish), who was the girl that pointed out that the emperor was naked in the story The Emperor's New Clothes. She meets up with a man who we find out is out to bring down the government. And does so with Verity's help.

It's a little more convoluted but not by much. There is an entire part about a ball Verity must attend and her friend, Pearl, seducing her. Other than the discovery that Verity's secret cat burglar friend is really a nobleman, there is absolutely no point in this whole section.

I listened to this as a free podcast (thanks iTunes). I don't really plan to read anymore by this author.

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The Opal Deception (Artemis Fowl #4)

Book: The Opal Deception (Artemis Fowl #4)

Author: Eoin Colfer

Bookshelves: 2011, Berlin (Germany), dwarves, fairies, fantasy, fiction, Ireland, leprechaun, reread

Begun: February 17, 2011

Finished: February 19, 2011

Media Type: audiobook (downloaded from library online catalog and listened to on iPod Touch)

Setting: present day Ireland (outside of Dublin), Berlin (Germany) and Haven (underground land where the People live)

Characters: Artemis Fowl, II, Domovoi Butler, Holly Short, Commander Julius Root, Foaly, Mulch Diggums, Opal Koboi, Mervall Brill, Descant Brill

Review: (Spoilers for book # 2 (The Opal Deception) & # 3 (The Eternity Code) ahead): After more than a year in a self induced coma, Opal Koboi, the mastermind behind the events in The Opal Deception, has hatched a new plan. Awakening with the help of the Brill Brothers (Mervall and Descant, pixie twins who are something of a celebrity themselves (pixie twins being something of an extreme rarity)), Opal will destroy those officers and humans who helped to capture her the last time.

This list includes: Foaly, Holly Short, Julius Root, Artemis and Butler.

So when Foaly realizes that a goblin, who was apprehended during the B’wa Kell Goblin Rebellion round up, has snuck his way out of prison, Holly and Julius go into a tunnel (one of the magma flair tunnels) to get him. Only to come up against a mesmered creature.

A mesmered creature who is being controlled by Opal Koboi. As part of her devious plan, all the LEP’s sound recordings can’t work around the goblin and the computer screen that is attached to his chest. To top it off, she’s got technology working for her that will not allow the video recording to see her face on the computer screen, just a fuzzy blur where the picture should be.

And then all hell breaks loose. Somehow, the screen that was around the goblin detaches from him and attaches to Julius. This is when they are informed that it is a bomb. Opal tricks Holly into shooting at the screen (by telling her there is a sweet spot on the device that will save Julius). So now, it looks like Holly has shot her commanding officer. And when the bomb does blow up, Julius Root, Holly’s mentor and father figure, is killed. His last words were “live well.”

Holly takes off in her LEP suit and wings heading for Berlin where Artemis and Butler are in their Berlin hotel room after stealing a painting called the Fairy Thief.

Artemis has been obsessed with the artist who painted this pictures works for almost a year or so. He isn’t sure why he likes the idea of fantastical creatures (not remember his own friends who are members of the eight families of the People since Foaly had to mind wipe him and Butler after the John Spiro incident). Holly has to get to him before the BioBomb Opal hide inside the tube where the painting rest goes off.

It takes a lot (and some help from Mulch Diggums) but Holly convinces Butler and Artemis to help her clear her name and capture the rouge pixie whose plan for total world domination includes exposing Haven City to the humans who she plans to join up with (as a “human child” since having her ears rounded and a pituitary gland implanted.)

Can the friends save Haven and the world … again?

Awards: none

Recommended by: don’t remember

Recommend to: Harry Potter fans, Bartimaeus Trilogy fans, anyone who likes fantasy or faires etc, 9 year olds and up (read by themselves) and 9 and under (read to them)

The Eternity Code (Artemis Fowl #3)

Book: The Eternity Code (Artemis Fowl #3)

Author: Eoin Colfer

Bookshelves: 2011, Chicago (USA), dwarves, fairies, fantasy, fiction, Ireland, leprechaun, reread

Begun: February 15, 2011

Finished: February 16, 2011

Media Type: audiobook (downloaded from library online catalog and listened to on iPod Touch)

Setting: present day Ireland (outside of Dublin), Chicago (USA) and Haven (underground land where the People live)

Characters: Artemis Fowl, II, Domovoi Butler, Holly Short, Commander Julius Root, Foaly, Mulch Diggums, John Spiro, Juliet Bulter, Arno Blunt

Review: (Spoilers for book # 2 (The Arctic Incident) ahead) Artemis Fowl is back with another money making/world dominating scheme in The Eternity Code.

After two previous adventures with the People and their advanced technology (thanks to Foaly, the centaur), Artemis has gathered a bunch of equipment which never should have fallen into Mudman hands. Cannibalizing parts from LEP helmets and other items, Artemis creates the C Cube, a highly advanced and complicated “computer.”

In London, Artemis and Bulter meet with John Spiro, a shady American businessman who has made his money in technology, and his bodyguard, Arno Blunt, a New Zealander, at a small bistro. Artemis wants to blackmail Spiro into paying him 1 metric ton of gold to keep the C Cube and its technology off the market for one year, giving Spiro enough time to liquidate stocks in his own company before the C Cube’s release, which will ultimately bring down Spiro’s business.

Spiro, known for his ties to the Chicago mob and other shifty dealings, turns the tables on Artemis and Bulter when EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN THE BISTRO turns out to be working for him (Artemis finds this out when they all draw guns on them). Spiro leaves the restaurant with the stolen C Cube.

But Artemis has something else up his sleeve … a percussion grenade, which knocks out most of the assassins in the bistro. Still reeling, Butler goes into the kitchen to check out the people who were back there and to make sure that threat was neutralized. That’s when Blunt shows his face and attempts to kill Artemis.

Butler jumps in front of his charge (what he calls his principle) and takes a bullet meant for the teen. Laying dying, Butler clips Blunt in the temple with a bullet (knocking him out but not killing him). Unfortunately, Bulter is not so lucky. He knows the shot he took for Artemis is a mortal one and we see a very poignant moment between Artemis and his best friend/father figure as Butler dies.

But Artemis, being the boy genius that he is, will not accept Butler’s death and puts a plan into action; a plan that involves the bistro’s fish freezer, a cryogenics lab, and our dear friend Holly Short.

Artemis must save Butler and his C Cube from a corrupt businessman. Is there nothing the team of Holly and Artemis can’t do?

Great book. We see more of Artemis’s humanity as he delves into his psyche post-father-recovery. His father has been changed by his time in captivity and gold isn’t the only thing that is important to him anymore (much to Artemis’s consternation!). Great book!

Awards: British Book Award, WH Smith Award

Recommended by: don’t remember

Recommend to: Harry Potter fans, Bartimaeus Trilogy fans, anyone who likes fantasy or faires etc, 9 year olds and up (read by themselves) and 9 and under (read to them)

The Arctic Incident (Artemis Fowl #2)

Book: The Arctic Incident (Artemis Fowl #2)

Author: Eoin Colfer

Bookshelves: 2011, dwarves, fairies, fantasy, fiction, Ireland, leprechaun, reread

Begun: February 1, 2011

Finished: February 1, 2011

Media Type: audiobook (downloaded from library online catalog and listened to on iPod Touch)

Setting: present day Ireland (outside of Dublin), Russia (Kola Pennisula) and Haven (underground land where the People live)

Characters: Artemis Fowl, II, Domovoi Butler, Holly Short, Commander Julius Root, Foaly, Mulch Diggums, Angeline Fowl, Artemis Fowl, Sr., Opal Koboi, Captain Trouble Kelp, The B'wa Kell, Briar Cudgeon

Review: (Spoilers for book #1 (Artemis Fowl) ahead) Artemis Fowl, the second, is back again and up to all of his old shenanigans!

Artemis, bolstered by his success with kidnapping Captain Holly Short and getting his hands on the LEP’s officer ransom fund (gold), is back at the private boarding school he attends. He’s in the middle of a “therapy” session with the school’s psychologist (who we all know Artemis is smarter than), when he receives a message from Butler that his father has contacted Fowl Manor (in a roundabout way).

An email with video has been sent to Artemis showing Russians holding his father (Artemis’s father has been missing for more than 2 years since his boat was destroyed off the Kola Pennisula in Russia’s northwest). He has been held all that time by the Russian Mafiya.

In the mean time, Holly Short has been reassigned for some time to another unit patrolling customs because of her involvement in the Artemis Fowl kidnapping. Everything is fine until one stake out. Holly and her partner (Captain Trouble Kelp) come across members of the Goblin Triad, The B’wa Kell, who have been smuggling mudman (human) batteries into the Lower Elements.

After almost getting killed, Holly (with Foaly and Root’s help) realize that the B’wa Kell is scheming and that something bad is about to go down. What they need is Artemis Fowl’s help.

Artemis needs the People’s help just as much as they need him. How can he get his father back without them?

Working together, Artemis and Holly fight two battles, a goblin rebellion in Haven City (for which Holly and Foaly are being framed) and gangster thugs in Russia.

Anti-hero tendencies are changing and Artemis is learning that sometimes there is a reward in helping others and not just looking out for number 1.

Awards: Book Magazine Best Book of the Year 2002

Recommended by: don’t remember

Recommend to: Harry Potter fans, Bartimaeus Trilogy fans, anyone who likes fantasy or faires etc, 9 year olds and up (read by themselves) and 9 and under (read to them)

Artemis Fowl (Artemis Fowl #1)

Book: Artemis Fowl (Artemis Fowl #1)

Author: Eoin Colfer

Bookshelves: 2011, dwarves, fairies, fantasy, fiction, Ireland, leprechaun, reread

Begun: January 27, 2011

Finished: January 28, 2011

Media Type: audiobook (downloaded from library online catalog and listened to on iPod Touch)

Setting: present day Ireland and Haven (underground land where the People live)

Characters: Artemis Fowl, II, Domovoi Butler, Holly Short, Commander Julius Root, Foaly, Mulch Diggums, Juliet Butler, Angeline Fowl, Artemis Fowl, Sr.

Review: Sometimes there’s something to be said when you are the smartest person of your generation. A mastermind, some might say. A criminal mastermind. Kidnapping, hostage negotiation, beating the best technical minds in the world … all at twelve.

Artemis Fowl, the second, is the genius son of Angeline and Artemis Fowl who reside outside of Dublin, Ireland in Fowl Manor. Artemis is trailed by his ever vigilante and protective body guard, Butler. Butler, early 40s, is highly skilled and trained (having trained with Madame Ko, the best martial arts and body guard teacher in the world).

Artemis is a sad character at the beginning of the book. We know that his father was taken hostage by the Russian Mafia off the Kola Penisula, while conducting some nefarious business transactions, and his mother has gone slowly insane from missing him. Artemis is basically alone save Butler.

In the absence of parental figures (Butler is not a parental figure because he goes alone with the boy genius’s plans and, most of the time, assists him!), Artemis has taken the family motto to heart: Aurum Potestas Est (Gold is power).

His latest scheme seems farfected on paper but brilliant in practice. After lengthy research, Artemis believes that, yes, there are fairies and other fantastical creatures living amongst us (or underground in this case) and that he can separate them from some of their riches. After tricking a fairy to give up her Book (the rule book which all magical creatures must live by), Artemis lays a trap and captures himself a fairy who has come above ground to complete the Ritual (which will allow her to regain her used up magic – something the fairies must do whenever they use up their supply of magic by taking an acorn from one location and planting it far away where an oak grows at a river bend).

And who do Artemis and Bulter catch? Fairy Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon squad.

A member of the Lower Elements Police Recon Squad (LEPrecon), Holly is held for ransom (gold). Her supervisor/mentor, Julius Root, does all he can to get the first female LEPrecon officer back. With the help of tunneling dward/thief, Mulch Digums, and technical savant, Foaly (the centaur), it might be possible that Artemis will not win this time … or will he?

Great read. Anyone who likes Harry Potter or the Bartimaeus Trilogy has to give Artemis Fowl a try! Worth it!

Awards: Massachusetts Children's Book Award (2003), Blue Hen Book Award for Chapter Book (2003), Garden State Teen Book Award for Fiction (Grades 6-8) (2004), Pacific Northwest Library Association Young Reader's Choice Award for Intermediate (2004)

Recommended by: don’t remember

Recommend to: Harry Potter fans, Bartimaeus Trilogy fans, anyone who likes fantasy or faires etc, 9 year olds and up (read by themselves) and 9 and under (read to them)

Quick Review: His Mistletoe Bride

His Mistletoe Bride by Cara Colter

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Again ... another one of Cara Colter's that was just so so. Maybe I should lay off the romance novels for a while because I am bored, bored, bored silly with these lately.

Granted, I had a few moments of misty eye-ness (yes that's a word. As I tell my students: "I'm an English teacher. If I say it's a word, it's a word. Even if I just made it up!"

Brody and Lila both have had heart ache in the past. Brody lost his brother and, the one tie he still has to his brother, his dog Boo is dying of cancer. Lila was scared by an incident which happened in Miami and forced her to take off for Snow Mountain Washington. There, she opens Miss L. Toe's Christmas Shop and begins writing a book on how to have the perfect Christmas.

But Snow Mountain is canceling Christmas this year, or at least the Christmas festivities and Lila is bound and determined that the spirit of the season WILL live on. And in the process, she gets arrest for protesting ... by Brody.

It gets better. But not by much. Three stars ... solid three stars.

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Quick Review: Rescued in a Wedding Dress

Rescued in a Wedding Dress by Cara Colter

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I usually like Cara Colter but this one ... this was not so good. I found myself skipping paragraphs (and, hell, whole pages) to find something that was interesting.

Not up to Colter's usual standards. I give this book 1.5 stars!

Plot: Molly has been hurt in the past by Chuck, her ex-fiancé, who stole all her money and left her to hang out on the beaches of Costa Rica. Houston is a battle won man who grew up in the slums of New York about the make the same mistakes as his bank robbing father, until a judge stepped in and took him into her life. Now, he's a prominent businessman who has shown up at Molly's workplace, Second Chances in New York City, and he's cutting the budget on all of Molly's causes. Molly has two weeks to show him the heart of Second Chances before he cuts it all. And as she does, she starts to uncover Houston's heart.

Like I said, Colter's good but this book just wasn't ... great. No umph. No sass. No real recommendations to read this book.

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Quick Review: The Greek's Bridal Bargain

The Greek's Bridal Bargain by Melanie Milburne

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A man from Bryony's past has popped into her life again, after 10 years. Kane was the bastard son of the Greek housekeeper who intrigued and confused Bryony, even as a teenager.

Ten years later, he's back and has informed her that he will be marrying her in a week or her parents will be headed to jail. He's going to get her dad out of his enormous debts and take possession of his bride.

Bryony thinks Kane ruthless and cold hearted as she believes him to be exacting his revenge for being kicked off the family estate ten years ago. But looks can be deceiving and Kane has ulterior motives.

Great read (as always) from Melanie Milburne. Quick read that kept me interested from the start!

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Quick Review: In Her Boss's Special Care

In Her Boss's Special Care (Medical Romance) by Melanie Milburne

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Not a huge fan of medical romances but I like this author ... so I thought I would give it a try ... yeah ... still don't like the medical romances!

Allegra (yeah like the allergy drug!)'s new boss is Joel Addison who doesn't like her work with touch (and other sensory therapy) in coma patients.

Joel's got hidden issues of his own (what romance novel hunk doesn't?) but he's seriously attracted to Allegra.

The pair have just received two new patients in their trauma unit. A mother and her son (seven y.o.) with drugs in their system who had driven off an embankment into a body of water. It's suspicious in the least.

Joel and Allegra work both against and with each other to help their patients as they slowly fall for each other.

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Untamed (House of Night #4) by P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast

Book: Untamed (House of Night #4)

Bookshelves: 2010, fiction, read, romance, paranormal romance, vampires, USA, Tulsa

Begun: October 18, 2010

Finished: October 22, 2010

Media Type: book on CD (listened to on iPod Touch)

Setting: present day Tulsa, Oklahoma (USA), alternate reality where vampires exist as part of everyday life

Review: (Spoilers for book #3 ahead!) Oh Zoey. Poor kid. There’s nothing like being a teenager. The hormones screw with your mind and cause you to do the worst things sometimes.

After Stevie Rae rejected the change and “died,” Zoey was so overcome and confused with all the things that had happened to her that she turned to poet laureate, Loren, who literally screws her over. Erik catches them post coitus and turns from Zoey. A confrontation later with Zoey, her friends, and the newest red fledgling, STEVIE RAE, leaves Zoe … all but alone.

She still has Aphrodite. I never would have seen this friendship coming two books ago but I do say it shows what a 3D character Zoe is that she can befriend Aphrodite after what she did in the first book.

Aphrodite is having visions left and right and most of them show poor Zoey’s death in one manner or another!

Suddenly, there is a malevolent presence on the House of Night campus and it’s after Zoey. Flapping wings in the night and something lunging at her out of the dark. Zoey’s forced to travel from building to building with a friend in tow.

Speaking of friends, Zoey has a new friend from the House of Night Chicago, James Stark, the international archery phenom. But once again, nothing goes right in Zoey’s life. Hours after meeting Stark, she watches him reject the change. Knowing this is her chance to out Neferet and shed some life on the Native American tale of Kalona, that her grandmother told her about after one of Aphrodite’s prophecies, Zoey and the “nerd herd” set up some surveillance on Stark’s body … but it all falls apart … again.

Recommended by: Michaleen (sister in law)

Recommend to: Mindy

Demon from the Dark by Kresley Cole (Immortals After Dark #10)

Book: Demon from the Dark by Kresley Cole

Bookshelves: 2010, fantasy, fiction, read, romance, romance-paranormal, vampires, demons, witches

Begun: October 19, 2010

Finished: October 20, 2010

Media Type: Book (paperback)

Review: Demon from the Dark by Kresley Cole opens on Malkom (I assume pronounced just like the name Malcolm) Slaine, a demon who was once a blood slave to a vampire in the demon plane of Oblivion. His mother was a prostitute who sold him off to a horrible vampire master when he was seven. Eventually, the master threw him out (because he was a perv and Malkom got too old for his tastes – this part skeeves me out!), but Malkom was able to make a life for himself and eventually got to be friends with the much older Demon prince who eventually became his best friend. That is until the Viceroy captured them both when an ally of Malkom’s becomes a traitor and gave up Malkom and the prince. The Viceroy tortures and beheads Malkom and the prince only to force the demons to come back … as vampires. Now they are what the Lore calls Venoms (vampire/demon combos). They are locked together in a cell and forced to wait until one kills and drinks from the other. The prince succumbs first but Malkom has a fight to live and will not allow himself to be drunk from again (like he was when he was a blood slave). The prince dies by Malkom’s hand.

Oh did I mention that all this action is JUST THE PROLOGUE! This book is action packed and hilarious as most of Kresley Cole’s books are!

Eventually, we get to the main plot where a group (called the Order) has kidnapped a witch, Carrow Graie. Carrow is the epitome of the poor little rich girl. All she ever wanted was for her parents to give her five minutes of attention and to love her but they were more interested in dry martinis and golfing. She is forced by the Order into the demon plane of Oblivion to seek out Malkom (who now controls huge amounts of water – a big deal in the desert wasteland of Oblivion) and bring him back to the Order’s strong hold (an island masked from all other creatures of the Lore somehow).

Carrow finds Malkom where another problem arises … language. Malkom spoke what he calls Anglish (English) hundreds of years ago but he refuses to speak it now (it was the language his vampire master used). And, Carrow only speaks a few words of Demonish. The two try so hard to communicate that it’s comical. And all the while, Carrow is starting to feel something for this Venom … this vemon who has recognized her as his Bride (for his vampire side) and his Mate (on the demon side).

But he doesn’t know that she’s going to betray him. Carrow has to get him back to the Order’s stronghold or they will kill another witch who they’ve captured, a seven year old recently-orphaned witch named Ruby.

Hilarious, heart warming, heart-string pulling … typical Kresley Cole. I can’t wait for more from her! But her next book, Dreams of a Dark Warrior, doesn't come out until February 15, 2011.

Recommended by: no one

Recommend to: Mindy, Michaleen, Erin

Chosen (House of Night #3) - PC Cast and Kristin Cast

Book: Chosen (House of Night #3)

Bookshelves: 2010, fiction, read, romance, paranormal romance, vampires

Begun: October 16, 2010

Finished: October 18, 2010

Media Type: Audiobook (from CD)

Review: Sometimes, I really hate that I can get so into a book that a change in mood or plot can put a funk over my day. PC Cast andKristin Cast's novelChosen (Book #3 in the House of Night Series)definitely did that for me today. It put me in such a bad funk that I HAD to go outside and mess around in the yard and play with the dogs for a while.

Poor Zoey. That's all I can say at the end of this novel. Poor, poor Zoey. She's getting it from all around her. Heath, her imprinted human boyfriend who just can't let her break up with him; Eric, her major-ly hot and very suspicious (with good reason) fledgling boyfriend; Loren, the vampire poet laureate who is showing an affinity for Zoey; her nut job mom and her horrible step-loser (step dad) who she suspects is murdering vampires; Stevie Rae, her best friend who is technically un-dead; and to top it off, it's Zoey's birthday.

Recommended by: Michaleen (sister in law)

Recommend to: Mindy

Twice As Hot (Tales of an Extraordinary Girl series #2)

Twice as Hot by Gena Showalter



I cried reading Gena Showalter's Twice as Hot and I don't often cry over books (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows aside because really who didn't cry at the end of that!).

I didn't find Twice as Hot as good as Playing with Fire where we were introduced to Belle, Tanner, Sherridan, and Rome but I did find it compelling and found myself reading at 4 a.m. instead of sleeping (yes, this is something I do ... deprive myself of sleep so that I can continue reading!).

Very good. A must read for any fan of the Lords of the Underworld series.

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Going Overboard (SEALS/Code Name series #2)

Going Overboard by Christina Skye


My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Carly Sullivan is a world renowned photographer and cinematographer with a huge problem. She's shooting what she is sure will be a fantastic commercial for a cruise ship company (why do all of Christina Skye's novels take place on or have a major part to play on a cruise ship).

Problem? The actor they hired is not camera-worthy. So she needs to find a fill in ... a sexy fill in.

Ford McKay was just looking for a little R&R from his SEAL days. He wasn't looking to become an actor ... or start a new job. But then Izzy calls (I love Izzy - I can't wait for his book).

McKay needs to protect Carly from an international ass who is bound and determined to take control of San Marino (where Carly's best friend and adoptive uncle rule). When she gets caught in the cross hairs, McKay will save her butt or lose his heart.

Going Overboard is a good action-romance ... more action than romance but not terrible in either category.

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The Playboy Sheikh's Virgin Stable-Girl (The Royal House of Karedes, #2)

The Playboy Sheikh's Virgin Stable-Girl by Sharon Kendrick

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

World renowned as a playboy, a womanizer, and a bed hoper, Prince Kaliq Al'Faris of Calistan has everything. He's got women. He's not the king but he can reap all the benefits of being in the royal line. He's got his beautiful home. He's got his horses and his polo. He's got everything.

Until the day that he rides into a small village across the desert from his royal home. There he gambles with a local who owns one of the finest horses in all the world.

Raised from a foal, Eleni loves her horses and the horse the prince has just won in a game of poker the most. When he comes to the stables to claim his prize, Eleni insists that the horse will turn into an ill-tempered brute if he leaves her side, thus convincing Kaliq that Eleni too must be brought to the palace.

But soon, her lithe body and gorgeous "true Calistan" eyes of pure jade green turn Kaliq's fancy and he quicky becomes obsessed with the beauty of the young girl. After bedding her the first time, he makes sure she knows that this isn't love ...

but Eleni is already gone. She can't help it. She can see beneath the prince's harsh exterior. And what's a girl in love to do.

Sharon Kendrick's The Playboy Sheikh's Virgin Stable-Girl has a truly tacky name. But that can't be helped. It's an ok book. I don't find much fault in it. I can't. It enhances the story line of the diamonds and keeps things moving. A good beach book.

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The Switch

The Switch by Lynsay Sands


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Beth and Charlie are caught red handed. Or red ... dressed. Trying the sneak out the window of an inn that they and their uncle are staying at, Lord Jeremy William Radcliff comes upon them and berates them for trying to leave the inn without paying. Charlie is dressed as a boy even though she is a girl.

The pair (identical twins) explain that they are running away from their uncle (who is their guardian) because he is marrying one of them off to a brutal man who only wants to sire a son and is suspected of already killing two of his wives.

Lord Radcliff immediately takes the pair under his wings, traveling with them to London. Here's the problem. Because he is under the impression that Charlie is a boy, Charlie has to sleep with him (in the same bed) at the first inn they stay at.

Radcliff is perplexed. He loves women, in all shapes and forms and in all quantities. But suddenly, he is feeling more than friendship for the little slip of a boy, Charlie. So he takes him to a brothel (a disaster) and then a gambling parlor (where Charlie wins a boatload of money). But even as Radcliff tries to make a man out of the boy, he's feeling more and more "unnatural" emotions for him.

Throughout the book, Charlie and Beth switch back and forth between who is playing the boy and no matter who is which gender for the day, Radcliff seems attracted to Charlie (whether she is dressed as a boy or a girl).

This book is ok. Amusing at times but nothing to drop other books and start this one over.

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