Keri Arthur - Bound to Shadows (Riley Jenson Guardian Book #08)

Yet another series I'm a fan of and after the last book I was eager to see what Riley would be facing in her personal life. As fans of the series know Riley Jenson and her twin brother Rhoan are half vampire and half werewolf. The wolves in this tale have one soul mate they go through life hoping to find. The connection between wolf soul mates is so strong that more often than not, if one dies their soul mate dies with them. The big question Riley faces is can a person with two souls have two soul mates? She's been in a committed relationship with the zexy vampire Quinn but they always knew one day she would find her wolf soul mate. How would they deal with that when it happened? This book gives us some of the answers.

Part vampire, part werewolf, Riley Jenson knows what can happen when vamps don’t play well with others. But she’s never seen anything like this: a series of brutal murders surrounding the latest hot spot for vampire-human hookups—and the victims aren’t just killed, they’re beheaded. Now Riley is launching into action, toying with a seductive—and highly suspicious—club owner, and finding herself in the middle of another mystery: women being killed one by one, without a trace of violence.

For Riley, solving multiple cases—in a world going mad with human and vampire passions—would have been tough enough. Instead she has two jealous lovers on her hands: Kye Murphy, the amber-eyed werewolf who makes Riley’s wolf blood howl—and Quinn, the cool, elegant vamp who has over a thousand years’ experience at fulfilling women’s desires. While she’s busy juggling these two sexy beasts, Riley’s detective work takes a stunningly violent turn. Finding a murderer is now a matter of life and death. Especially since the killer has long since found her . . .

At the end of the previous book Riley finally finds her soul mate; too bad he's more foe than friend. I thought making Riley's soul mate someone she despises was an interesting twist by Ms. Arthur so I was anxious to see how things would turn out in this book. I thought Riley and Kye would eventually work things out which would cause problems between Riley and Quinn and that would be the big to-do in this book. Instead, the animosity continues to grow between Riley and Kye and they fight against the soul mate connection while also occasionally giving in to the physical pull of their bodies (hot and hard sex up against the door jamb anyone?).

As for Rhoan, he's already found his soul mate in Leander and is finally taking a big step towards a more committed relationship: he and Leander want to have a baby. Leander's sister is willing to carry the baby and they ask Riley to donate an egg so the baby will be a part of the Jenson clan too. This is a huge deal for Riley because above all else, her heart's desire has been to have a baby. With things that happened to her in the past, she is unable to carry one. I can't wait to see where Ms. Arthur takes this story line.

We also got to see more of Riley's friend Dia, a woman/clone Riley helped in the past, and Dia's daughter Risa. We find out Risa's father was one of the same creatures Quinn used to be before he became a vampire. Dia asks for Quinn's help with mentoring Risa since the young girl's powers are growing every day. Dia is also psychic and Riley goes to her for some advice about her future and the whole soul mate situation. There's also more of Kade, the were-stallion (*snickers*) who has a corral of mares and new colts to look after. Kade is also a co-worker of Riley's and is the funny sidekick type character. It was nice to have Kade and Riley working together on solving the latest crimes.

I have to say I really, really, really disliked Kye. He's a cold-hearted, selfish and cocky son-of-a-bitch with a dash of crazy. At first I thought he would change because of Riley but as things progressed I started to sense something really wasn't right with him. In the end, we found out what he was really up to. I felt sorry that after all this time and hope, this is the soul mate Riley ended up with. I wondered how Ms. Arthur would resolve this horrible situation and what she did was shocking. Not just what happened with Kye (which looking back on the series, I can see it was heading that way) but what happened with Kade. I was not feeling that particular bit at all.

With that said, I can't wait to read book 9 which is the series finale.

Final Grade:

Around The Net:

Steph Su Reads: 2.5 out of 5
Leontine's Book Realm: 4 out of 5 stars
Romantic Times: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Carolyn Jewel - Scandal

Scandal has a bit of a different start to it compared to the romances I've read in the past. We meet the hero, Banallt, who is just arriving with his friend John Mercer to John's home where John's sister, Sophie, also resides. We find out right away that Banallt is there to win Sophie's heart. Sophie and Banallt have met in the past, when both were married to others, but they struck up a friendship that apparently has turned to love on Banallt's side. He expresses his intent to marry her and I was extremely interested in finding out what exactly happened in the past to make this man almost desperate in his pursuit. Great way to draw the reader in!

The earl of Banallt is no stranger to scandal. But when he meets Sophie Evans, the young wife of a fellow libertine, even he is shocked by his reaction. This unconventional and intelligent woman proves to be far more than an amusing distraction-- she threatens to drive him to distraction. Unlike the women who usually fall at Banallt's feet, and into his bed, Sophie refuses to be seduced. And soon Banallt desires her more than ever-- and for more than an illicit affair.

Years later, the widowed Sophie is free, and Banallt is determined to win the woman he still loves. Unfortunately, she doesn't believe his declaration of love and chivalrous offer of marriage-- her heart has already been broken by her scoundrel of a husband. And yet, Sophie is tempted to indulge in the torrid affair she's always fantasized about. Caught between her logical mind and her long-denied desire, Sophie must thwart Banallt's seduction-- or risk being consumed by the one man she should avoid at all costs...

The chapters flow seamlessly back and forth in time from Sophie and Banallt's past to their present day interactions. We learn that Banallt was a friend of Sophie's husband, Tommy. One night Tommy comes home drunk, passes out in his and Sophie's bed and leaves her to deal with the two strangers in the hallway. The strangers are Banallt and one of his many mistresses. A servant shows the mistress to a guest room and Sophie shows Banallt to a separate guest room. This is where he first makes a pass at her but Sophie is faithful to her husband and slaps Banallt in the face. What a nice first meeting, eh?

Back to the present, both Sophie and Banallt's spouses have passed away so both are free to pursue new relationships. Unfortunately Sophie is too wounded from her past marriage and Tommy's infidelities to trust another man, let alone Banallt. Considering Banallt and Tommy were fans of good ol' debauchery, she has every right to be wary. But something has happened and Banallt is a changed man. He has given up the rake's life and wants to build a life with Sophie. The only problem is convincing her that he will be faithful.

During all this, John is the typical protective brother and warns Banallt away from Sophie. He knows the hurt Sophie suffered during her marriage and with Banallt's reputation he only wants to protect his sister from future harm. John is also rising in his political career and through him Sophie meets a couple of men who also seem to be interested in courting her. There is also a secondary budding romance between John and Banallt's cousin's daughter that I found very sweet.

I read Scandal in two sittings which is very rare for me because of time constraints but I found myself eager to see how it would end. Which brings me to the not so good stuff: there I was minding my own business, happily reading along when something unexpected happened. I am not lying when I tell you my good reading mood was broken when this incident happened. Complete bummer! There were also a few issues I was confused about and since I was in the last days of my NaNoReadMo challenge I didn’t do as much re-reading as I normally would when needing clarification. First, Sophie and Banallt sometimes referenced how horrible Banallt was on the final day they saw each other. I thought he had revealed Sophie's secret occupation but I have since re-read that portion of the book and know it was him making another pass at her. The second issue is what exactly made Banallt decide to turn his life around. I've re-read more of the book and still unsure if there was an actual event that changed his life. Was it the loss of his wife? There is someone else from Banallt's past and I thought it was the loss of that person but that also happened back when he knew Sophie. I thought something major happened to him since their last meeting and that was the reason for the redeemed man.

Aside from that confusion and the incident that bummed me out, I really enjoyed this book. I loved the glimpses (outside of the chapters set in the past) we got of Sophie and Banallt's close friendship like when Sophie sees the painting in Banallt's home and tells him it is as beautiful as he had told her. I love how she knows his little quirks like always tugging on his cravat. My all time favorite line in the book is Banallt describing Sophie when they're in the carriage. I've read a few romances where the heroine isn't the conventional beauty yet has that certain something that attracts the hero but I've never read it described better than this:

He leaned back so that he had a better view of her face. She was one of those women, he’d long ago decided, whose appeal did not lie in repose, but in action, in the change of expression, the quick, intelligent eyes.

I LOVE this description! "…whose appeal did not lie in repose, but in action, in the change of expression…" It is absolutely true. Someone's personality and spirit can definitely shine through one's expression and bring absolute beauty to it no matter what their physical appearance may be.

I've had this book in my TBR pile for a while and am so glad to have finally read it. My new challenge will be figuring out which Carolyn Jewel book to read next.

Final Grade:
A very high

Around The Net:

The Book Binge: 4.5 out of 5
Dear Author: A-
Love Romance Passion: 4 - 4.5 stars out of 5
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books: B+
All About Romance: B+
Romantic Times: 4 stars out of 5
The Book Smugglers: 9 out of 10
Romance Novel TV: 5+ stars

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Karen Marie Moning - Dreamfever (Fever Book #04)

I'm a fan of this series and was eager to start this book since the cliffhanger ending in the previous one. The ending where Dublin is under attack and Mac is being raped by three Unseelie Princes and the Lord Master who is believed to have killed Mac's sister Alina. When I finished book 3 I was a bit stunned by the ending and there was some speculation that maybe the destruction of Dublin and Mac's rape were some kind of dream since the next book was titled Dreamfever. Anyone who has read this book can confirm it's not a dream.

MacKayla Lane lies naked on the cold stone floor of a church, at the mercy of the erotic Fae master she once swore to kill. Far from home, unable to control her sexual hungers, MacKayla is now fully under the Lord Master's spell. In the New York Times bestselling author Karen Marie Moning's stunning new novel, the walls between human and Fae worlds have come crashing down. And as Mac fights for survival on Dublin's battle-scarred streets, she will embark on the darkest-and most erotically charged-adventure of her life.

He has stolen her past, but MacKayla will never allow her sister's murderer to take her future. Yet even the uniquely gifted sidhe-seer is no match for the Lord Master, who has unleashed an insatiable sexual craving that consumes Mac's every thought-and thrusts her into the seductive realm of two very dangerous men, both of whom she desires but dares not trust.

As the enigmatic Jericho Barrons and the sensual Fae prince V'lane vie for her body and soul, as she rallies the sidhe-seers to fight an impossible battle, and the power of the Dark Book weaves its annihilating path through the city, Mac's greatest enemy delivers a final challenge...

It's an invitation Mac cannot refuse, one that sends her racing home to Georgia, where an even darker threat awaits. With her parents missing and the lives of her loved ones under siege, Mac is about to come face-to-face with a soul-shattering truth-about herself, and about the world she thought she knew.

This book picks up right where book 3 left off. Mac is being raped and losing everything that makes her Mac. With each forced orgasm by the sex Fae princes, she loses a memory of her childhood, a memory of her sister, a dream she had for her future. She is turned Pri-ya, which means she becomes nothing but a sexual being, living, breathing and needing sex above all else. When the princes are done with her, they move her outside the church they found her in and that's where Dani, a young sidhe-seer Mac befriends, finds her and with her superspeed ability, is able to get Mac back to the sidhe-seer compound.

At the compound is where the sexy Barrons (of unknown origins) arrives, with eight other men who appear to be of the same unknown creation, and takes the pri-ya'd Mac away to try and save her. No one has ever come back from being turned pri-ya but we can't have the heroine of the book out for the count, can we? Thus begins a months-long battle for Mac's former self with Barrons leading the way. He repeatedly reminds her of things from her life: her sister Alina, her parents, the bookstore they worked in, her anger towards him. Oh and throw in some sexing during it all because she is pri-ya after all and Barrons apparently couldn't restrain her somehow but gave in to giving her some sex along with the information about her life. Three words for ya: "Say my name." I was hoping these two would hook up eventually but I didn't want it to occur that way. Then, with the exception of one argument (I think), the aftermath of what happened isn't really addressed. Why not, Ms. Moning?

One thing we do find out about the recovered Mac is that she is no longer vulnerable to the sex Fae's pull. V'lane (the friendly sex fae?) who has a soft spot for Mac always had to dull his powers when in her presence but he meets with her unguarded and she feels absolutely nothing. So, like with some illnesses where your body builds up an immunity to the strain, Mac apparently built up an immunity to the powers that had invaded her so ruthlessly in the beginning of the book. How will this aid in the search for the Sinsar Dubh?

There are parts of this book that I found confusing as all hell like the four stones and especially the mirrors. I started to get the idea of the stones when Christian was telling Mac about the history of the stones' creation but the whole idea of the mirrors being re-routed, I have no fecking clue. Don't even ask me about the Hall of Mirrors. Yet the rest of the story is so freaking awesome that I can over look these issues. Things Mac believed to be true are now under question. Did the Lord Master kill Alina? Is Barrons really one of the good guys? Why didn't her parents tell her and Alina the truth? We're also left with so many new questions like who are the other eight men in Barrons crew? What's up with Ryodan's little nightclub? Who was the fourth rapist? Who was the beast at the end? (pssst…….click here for some crackpot theories underway on goodreads.com – reader beware: spoilers ahoy!)

Dani especially stood out for me and I found that I really enjoyed it when the pov changed to hers. Another thing I enjoyed was the interaction between Mac and Dani. Dani looks up to Mac as an older sister and Mac begins to see their relationship echoing that of hers and Alina. They also work together to figure out solutions to the craziness going on around them rather than sitting around waiting on Barrons or V'lane to save the day.

I think one of the biggest draws of this series for me is the fact that there is a finite amount of books in it. Book #5, Shadowfever, is to be the grand finale of the Fever Series. Ms Moning definitely knows how to leave us hanging and wanting more and this series is one of the few that I always look out for come release day.

The following is from an email I sent Mistress just after completing the book. I believe it sums up my thoughts on the book and most especially the cliffhanger ending:

OMG! WTF! Just finished Dreamfever. Dammit should not have read this til last book was out. As Dani would say, Feckin A!!!!!!!

Final Grade:

ETA: Audio book details

I've listened to the entire series on audio and this book changes narrator from Joyce Bean (books 1-3) to Natalie Ross and Phil Gigante. It took some getting used to but I quickly adjusted and enjoyed the new narration. Mr. Gigante's deep bass comes across a bit monotone but at times is wonderful at enhancing certain phrases *cough*Say My Name*cough*. Mist wasn't a fan of the narration change and set the audio aside for the text version.

Around The Net:

Romance Rookie: A
Lurve A La Mode: 2.5 to 3 scoops out of 5
Review Stream: 10
Romantic Times: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Maggie Stiefvater - Shiver

This was another audio book listen and in all honesty, I would have set it aside if it had not been one of my NaNoReadMo challenge books. Nothing like a public pledge to get the reading mojo going! When I started Shiver, I got the same "it's taking too long to get going" vibe I did when I tried Twilight. Unlike Twilight, though, I actually finished this book. Who knows, I may join a Twilight challenge someday and finish it then but, um, don't hold your breath. ;)

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human... until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human—or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

We're introduced to Grace, a girl being attacked by wolves, before a certain yellow-eyed wolf challenges the attackers and gets them to back down. Six years later we meet a boy named Sam, working in a local bookstore that just happens to have yellow eyes. A wolf with yellow eyes? A boy with yellow eyes? It couldn't be, could it? Why yes, yes it can. Wolf = Boy. “It's elementary, my dear Watson.”

Anyway…what makes this werewolf story different from all the rest is the fact that the transformation from man to wolf, and vice versa, has nothing to do with the moon. The transition for these wolves is based on the temperature. When the temp drops in the winter, they turn into wolves. When it heats up during summer, they change back to humans. Also, they only get a certain amount of changes before they become a wolf, permanently. The number of changes varies for each person and that's one thing that bugged me. How can it be so random for each person? And why not move to a place that's always warm? This question is brought up in the book but the answer is kind of effed up too. There's just no rhyme or reason to it. It just…IS. I don't like that. I want to know the what's, how's and why's.

I found Sam and Grace's growing relationship to be sweet but it felt like forever before the story picked up and got interesting. Grace's parents were beyond clueless and selfish, never once taking a real interest in their daughter's life. If they had, they would've noticed the dude sleeping in her room. Things finally picked up for me when another girl, Isabel, approached Grace for help regarding her brother Jack. Jack was killed earlier in the book by the wolves yet Isabel tells Grace she has recently seen her brother. Things slow down again because Grace denies knowing anything about the wolves and she and Sam continue their budding relationship. One thing that stood out for me early on was the fact that Grace was bitten by a wolf in the beginning of the book yet she never turned into one. This is what I held onto for a lot of the book – I wanted to know why, Why, WHY?!?! The subject finally came up in the book and I hoped they would take the information to Beck (Sam's mentor/father-figure/fellow wolf-man) so they could really look into her situation and what made it unique. Instead, Grace and Sam talk about it for a little bit and then don't really do anything about it. HELLO!!! She was somehow cured! Get thee to a lab for some analysis, STAT!

In the end, it does turn out that something about when Grace was bitten gives the Scooby Doo gang an idea about finding a cure, but there's one major problem: the temperature is dropping and Sam is facing his final change. This is where things really get good. I applaud the audio book version during this part because the section where they're looking for Sam, and Isabel is checking the sheds on her family's property had me pausing all else as I waited for the outcome. The rest of the book from this point had my full attention. The part in the car just after the accident…heartbreaking!

So, while the beginning and middle were a little slow for me, the final stretch of the book was good enough for me to look back and say I'm glad I read it.

Final Grade:

Around The Net:

Chick Lit Teens: 5/5
The Book Butterfly: 5/5
The Book Smugglers: 5/10
Dear Author: B-
Babbling About Books, and More: B+
My Friend Amy: 4/5

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NaNoReadMo 2009 Results

Due to life's wily ways I haven’t been able to post my results until now. Drum roll please…..….. SUCCESS!!! I am so happy to be able to say I completed the challenge. Yes, I finished book #5 at 9:30pm on Nov 30th but that counts just the same ;)

I'm glad I participated and hope everyone did well in both the NaNoReadMo and NaNoWriteMo challenges.

My challenge for this month will be to review all 5 books.

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Reading Challenge November 2009

Yesterday, on Twitter, I came across a link to a reading challenge by Mandy from She-Reads. NaNoReadMo will run parallel to NaNoWriMo which challenges its participants to write 50K words in the month of November. For those of us who aren't writerly-inclined, we can show support for writers by reading more this month. With life and work obligations, my own reading has fallen to barely 1 book a month. NaNoReadMo is asking us to read 5 books in November. I'm already a day behind but that's ok, I used yesterday to look through my TBR pile and decide on my 5 books. I switched out the books so many times I'm going to post the latest compilation so I can't change them anymore. These are the 5 books I WILL read for the month of November:

Keri Arthur - Bound to Shadows Carolyn Jewel - Scandal Maggie Stiefvater - Shiver Karen Marie Moning - Dreamfever Janet Evanovich - Finger Lickin' Fifteen

Good luck to all the writers participating in NaNoWriMo and to my fellow readers who will embark on the NaNoReadMo challenge. As Nike says: Just Do It!

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