I spoke to soon. The girls are going back to live with their mother on Friday. I’m sad and bitter. My two girls are unhappy, one of the other girls is undecided (she wants her mom, but she loves me, the girls and her school) and the other child is excited. I’ve got to pack their stuff, put on a happy face and drop them off in two days.

I don’t feel like reading or writing, or for that matter anything. I want to lay on my bed and cry, but we all know there is no time for self-pity. Laundry still has to be washed. Dishes still need to be cleaned. Hair still has to be combed…Ok, I’m done wallowing. What’s up with you?

Obviously I’ve not been around lately. It seems that blogging and reading have fallen into the last slot on my ‘everyday must’ calendar. The four girls are doing quite well at school. One made honor roll, one received a medal for being a great kid, one isn’t getting into trouble anymore, and the last kid is at the top of her class for both reading and writing. My oldest child turned 10 on Saturday and my baby turned 7 on Sunday. Today I’ll take goodie bags to school.

Work, well…work is…work. I go there everyday. I also freelance writing articles on ehow and other sites. So it seems that there isn’t even time to breathe. I get the kids to school, work/run back and forth to school, clean, cook, wash laundry and calm irritated girls. That’s the daily routine.

I would like to say I’ll be back with a review tomorrow, but realistically it will be a few weeks. Hopefully I’ll be back with a review soon.

On Jan 26, 2010, Jennifer Ashley will introduce her newest series, Shifters Unbound, with Pride Mates.

Twenty years ago, shape shifters of all kinds banded together and announced themselves to the world, only to be shunted to areas no human wanted (“Shiftertowns”). They are forced to wear Collars that control their hunting and fighting instincts (referred to by Shifters as “Taking the Collar”).

Liam Morrissey is currently liaison between the Shifters of Austin, TX, and the humans of the city. Kim Fraser, attorney, finds herself in the unique position of having to defend a Shifter on a murder charge.

She ventures to Shiftertown to seek out Liam’s help, and there stumbles across too many secrets the Shifters want kept secret. The un-mated Liam is forced to protect Kim against the wrath of his clan leader and his own father, and to his surprise he discovers a powerful attraction to the sassy, sexy lady. –Jennifer Ashley’s website

Maria Lima’s Matters of the Blood (click the link to read my review) was re-released recently and you can read the first 65 pages at the Simon and Schuster website. If you didn’t read the first book in the Keira Kelly series, now is the perfect time to check out the series.

If you didn’t catch the Vampire Diaries series pilot you sure missed out on an hour of entertainment. I haven’t read the books that the series is based on written by L.J. Smith, so it’s not necessary to have read them to enjoy the series.

A quick summary: Good vampire is attracted to girl who is spitting image of a woman from his past. Bad vampire is good vampire’s brother and they are rivals. Bad vampire is determined to ruin good vampire. Town and its people are collateral damage.

Favorite Lines: “There were nights when I let no one near me, when I knew that the boys who came to try their luck were just taking an opportunity, and I’d fight them, kick and scratch in a silent battle under the harsh fabric coverings. There were nights when I hadn’t the strength to fight and would reach down, moving my hands fast to get the encounter over with as quickly as I could. There were nights when I’d lie unresisting and close my eyes, slipping my fingers under boys’ clothing in case I might find succor there…Fewer friendships come out of the creches. We do too much to one another within them.” (p. 170-71)

Read the review of Benighted by Kit Whitfield at Scooper Speaks. This story isn’t one that you’ll want to read while you eat or immediately following, so before reading Benighted make Potato and Sausage Hash with Moroccan Flavors.

Juliet Blackwell is the author of  Secondhand Spirits, book one in the Witchcraft Mystery series. Set in San Francisco the book is about Lily Ivory, a witch who owns a vintage clothing shop and becomes embroiled in murder and kidnappings. She tries to keep her witch abilities secret, but with a couple of men sniffing around her it may not be possible.

Read my review at Scooper Speaks for more about Secondhand Spirits. After you’ve read the review, go get the book and make a breakfast trifle to enjoy while you read Secondhand Spirits.

For Kira Solomon, normal was never an option.

Kira’s day job is an antiquities expert, but her true calling is as a Shadowchaser. Trained from youth to be one of the most lethal Chasers in existence, Kira serves the Gilead Commission dispatching the Fallen who sow discord and chaos. Of course, sometimes Gilead bureaucracy is as much a thorn in her side as anything the Fallen can muster against her. Right now, though, she’s got a bigger problem. Someone is turning the city of Atlanta upside-down in search of a four-millennia-old Egyptian dagger that just happens to have fallen into Kira’s hands.

Then there’s Khefar, the dagger’s true owner—a near-immortal 4000-year-old Nubian warrior who, Kira has to admit. looks pretty fine for his age. Joining forces is the only way to keep the weapon safe from the sinister Shadow force, but now Kira is in deep with someone who holds more secrets than she does, the one person who knows just how treacherous this fight is. Because every step closer to destroying the enemy is a step closer to losing herself to Shadow forever. . . . (Juno Books…)

Both Amazon and Borders list Shadow Blade by Seressia Glass as releasing on Jan. 26, 2010.

My name is Alexia Williams. In my world, North America is divided between north and south but not the way it’s taught in the history books. After losing my family to the shifters, I joined the Combined Human States Army. Now I find myself on the front lines, defending the wall between my species and theirs. My mission is simple: keep the animals on their side by whatever means necessary and I’m good at it.

I don’t talk to them. I don’t sympathize with them. I sure as hell don’t admire them until one saves my life. Andor isn’t like any shifter I’ve ever met. He’s a three-hundred-year-old golden eagle asking for help finding missing shifters who may be in my lands.

I just have to decide between helping the animals or ignoring signs that my fellow humans aren’t what I thought they were. But how can I help a species I hate and fear? Even if Andor makes me feel alive again? In the land of the shifters they call me Death.

They Call Me Death by Missy Jane is published by Samhain Publishing and is  slated to be released Dec. 1, 2009, according to Amazon.

Favorite Lines: “One human hand, black and rough, tipped in claws and backed in feathers, snaked up and grasped the wire mesh. Then came another, curving with yellow talons on the fingertips. Two silver wings unfolded to fill the whole space of the cage with feathers. An androgynous, human face rose from the shadows: a great crown of plumes above; a thick ruff of down beneath. It stared at her with an eagle’s unblinking gaze.” (p. 90)

Read Scooper Speaks’ review of  Ghost Ocean by S.M. Peters. Then if you decide to buy this book visit.

Make sure you’re eating some fried chicken. In the book Te’s aunts serve it cold, but that’s up to you.