Chasing Silver by Jamie Craig

Favorite Line: “You want to know my cup size, too, asshole?” (p. 14)

Remy Capra is from Washington D.C. in the year 2058. She is part of a gang, a product of the system, who happens to snatch a coin that takes her back in time. Back to the early 2000’s. She doesn’t know that a psycho bitch cop from the future has followed her back in time. The cop wants the coin Remy stole, and nothing will stop her from getting it back.

Nathan is a bounty hunter in Sacramento, Calif., in 2008. He had just captured a fugitive and was wrapping things up, when a girl fell out of the sky, allowing the fugitive to escape. Seeing that the girl was destracted and injured, Nate allowed the girl to crash on his sofa never dreaming that she would become a permanent part of his life.

The Accidental Vampire by Lynsay Sands

Favorite Lines: “…but you’re a vampire and it’s a bat…There should be some empathy or understanding or… something. Maybe if you tried talking to it.” (p. 5)

Elvi Black is the only vampire in her small town. She has the town’s total support though. They love her and are willing to do whatever they can to make her happy. Their adoration reaches new heights when they place a vampire wanted advertisement in the paper.

Victor Argeneau is the enforcer for the vampire counsel. When he learns about a vampire placing an ad for a mate, he and his friend travel to her small town to ascertain if the it is a hoax or if someone has truly broken vampire law by making herself known to humans. He soon finds out that he’s not the only one interested in the vampiress. Four other male vampires have come to compete for her hand.

Life has pretty much sucked for Elvi for the past five years. She was in an auto accident in Mexico and woke to find herself one of the undead. She’s given up food, sunlight and her bed. As far as she can tell the only good part is that she looks like she did at her peak. Being a sixty-five year-old woman in a perfect body has its perks. But life is sad for the only vampire in town. Her friends are dying of old age and with the arrival of other vampires, someone is trying to kill her.

Embrace the Night by Karen Chance

Favorite Line: “The room would have been elegant if it hadn’t been for all the blood.” (p. 92)

Ms. Chance brings us book three in the Casandra Palmer series, which will be available for purchase April 1, 2008. Embrace the Night picks up where Claimed by Shadow ends. (Cassandra had just returned from the past and found out that she doubled the gies that was drawing her and Mircea together.) In book three, the geis, a magical warning system that scares off potential suitors, is making Mircea crazy and Cassandra is searching for a spell book, Codex Merlini, to break the geis.

The grimoire is hidden though, and to find it she must travel back in time. The book contains many powerful spells and in the wrong hands is deadly. This doesn’t deter Cassandra, but encourages her to work closely with Pritkin. She thinks she knows about Pritkin, but quickly learns that there is much more to him.

Ms. Chance clears up a ton of issues in Embrace the Night. We get to see the aftereffects of Claimed by Shadow. We learn a crap load about Pritkin. I was surprised by many of the revelations, as I never would have considered them possibilities. However, later when I thought about them, they made perfect sense.

Pritkin is more of an enigma for parts of this book than in the past. He tried to kill Cassandra for a large part of this series and seemed pretty straight forward. Well, until his past and family came to light. I always thought of him as ugly and unapproachable. This could be because of his crappy attitude in the past, or my general dislike for him.

My feelings changed in Embrace the Night, I found him to be attractive and mysterious. I began to wonder where Ms. Chance was taking me as a reader. Questions such as, “Is Cassandra going to get with Pritkin?” and “What does Pritkin really think/feel about Cassandra?”, kept popping up in my mind. My questions were answered and I focused on other things, such as Mircea.

I was pleased with the Mircea and Cassandra situation. Their story has been unfolding since book one and finally many of the issues between them are addressed and solved. Mircea is definitely an attractive hero for me. He’s powerful and dangerous, yet possesses a strong attachment to Cassandra. He is a master vampire on the brink of insanity but kind of a side note in this book. We see him, but not as much as Pritkin. In the end I was okay with this.

The entire story depends on Cassandra making the right choices. If she chooses wrong, the entire future can be changed and it puts a ton of pressure on her. All the characters are interesting and play a part in this story. There are no petty or insignificant characters. Just when I was ready to write a character off, he/she would reappear with an important role to play.

I enjoyed this book. I don’t know if there will be a fourth book in the series or if it will end here. I hope to read more about Cassandra Palmer’s world, but if the series ends here I wouldn’t be left wondering about specific plot lines. If you want to read the first chapter in this book click here. If you’d like to see the first chapter in the graphic novel click here.

Kiss of Fire by Deborah Cooke

Favorite Line: “I’m Sara Keegan, ace accountant, and The Scrying Glass, well, it’s come along a bit early to be my midlife crisis, but maybe it still counts.” (p. 58)

Kiss of Fire is Deborah Cooke’s new dragon shifter series that will be released in February. It follows the Pyr as they ready themselves to fight the final battle against their enemy the Slayers.

It’s important to know that the Pyr and Slayers are all dragon shifter, but the difference lies in their allegiance to humans. The Pyr believe that part of their responsibilities is to watch out for mankind, as man is of the earth. The Slayer feel no such responsibility, and view humans as destroying the earth and therefore, expendable.

In this book, we meet the Smith, Quinn Tyrrell, a shifter who works metal and keeps himself removed from the Pyr. He distrusts them, and is satisfied having no contact with them. He also remembers one member in particular along with a tragic memory from his past. Quinn has realized that he is about to go through the firestorm, a time for mating, and has found his partner, Sara Keegan.

Sara was an accountant before her aunt passed away and left her a New Age bookstore. Now she spends her days updating and learning about her stock and wrestling with her aunt’s horrible business ledger. That is until the night she is attacked, and almost murdered. It’s the same night she begins to hallucinate and see dragons, or so she thinks.

In the midst of hormones gone wild, the two learn that they are the center of a battle neither one is prepared for or wants to participate in. Their union will produce the “Pyr’s sole chance to save the earth.” This makes them a major target in the eyes of the Slayers, who will stop at nothing to destroy the only hope for mankind. 

Sara is an average woman, who learns that she is not quite as boring as she thinks. She doesn’t believe that there is anything special about her until Quinn begins to show her exactly how special she is. One thing that I liked about Sara was her ability to accept the craziness. She recognizes that things are different and then she adapts. She completely avoids the stupid heroine trap.

Quinn is hot. The picture on the cover stayed with me through out the book and encouraged my fantasies about him. He is an alpha, but knows when to back off. There are many times when he wants to crawl up Sara’s butt, but recognizes that she needs space and steps back. I like the scene where he says something about not wanting her to think he’s stalking her.

This book has a heavy urban fantasy theme going on that I thoroughly enjoyed. The romance was number one, but not at the expense of the book. The characters didn’t fall in love immediately, but into lust. I appreciate the distinction, as some romance books have a tendency to rush straight into love, something most readers know does not last, nor is it realistic.

If the second book is half as good as Kiss of Fire, I will be a happy reader. I received this book on Tuesday and read it before I went to bed. There were no places that made me want to put it down for a break and I am pleased to say that certain moments had me giggling. If you’re interested in this book check out this sample chapter or click on the image to read B&N description. For a sample chapter of book two, Kiss of Fury click here or here to pre-order it from Amazon.

Question

How many of y’all have read dialogue and thought, “God, what an idiot?” I was reading Joan Johnston’s Never Tease a Wolf and stumbled across the following:

I do. I do want to hear (p. 48)

Those words could sound any way. So why did I make the heroine who said them whine? She wasn’t whining in text. She was supposed to be sympathetic and understanding.

When I began to think about it, I thought that I did stuff like that all the time. I made up voices to go with dialogue and sometimes forced the characters to sound in a manner the author didn’t want. I don’t know why I do it; it just happens. I think, maybe, it has something to do with me deciding early on that I don’t like a character.

But think about it. Think about how many times we can take a sentence and create a voice to mutate the words into something sinister or contrary. One sentence, given the wrong inflection, can confuse the heck out of a reader.

So my question is, can you think of any times you’ve done something like this?

Mine to Possess by Nalini Singh

Favorite Lines: “Why the wrongness in your scent, Talin?” (p. 55)

Nalini Singh has once again proven to me why she is a best selling author. Each novel in her series has gotten better starting with Slave to Sensation leading up to her latest installment, Mine to Possess.

Talin McKade is the first human that we’ve been introduced to in Singh’s Changeling series and I’m not disappointed.

After a tragic childhood incident Talin has tried to forget all ties to her past. This has led her to become distant from all others, at least until she becomes a guardian to gifted and troubled children.

Her children begin to disappear and she is forced to search out a nightmare from the past. A nightmare that once held her in protective arms, but that turned into an animal and ravaged a man in front of her.

Clay Bennett, a Dark River sentinel, has never forgotten what losing control of his leopard cost him. When he hears a slight gasp from a pack member from his past he decides to get some answers. What he finds is painful and dark, but has the possiblitly to heal in a way he never thought possible.

The Psy are still trying to find a way to protect Silence. You never really know all that is going on with them either. We catch glimpses of their schemes, but nothing that completely gives away the story until Ms. Singh is ready.

I think one of the best parts of reading this series is watching it evolve. We started out with two different worlds, Psy and Changling, but those worlds have grown together. We’ve added male and female perspective to both worlds, before moving on to add a human into the mix.

Ms. Singh does a great job of incorporating the different worlds into one complete world. She connects all of the different people into one space, from the beginning to the present. What I mean is that she doesn’t just dump all of the characters together and expect them to work. She explains how they lived together and what happened when they began to separate. It makes the story feel complete.

Of all the changelings, I knew that Clay’s story would be one of the best. Dark, troubled shifter, loaner really, meets the love of his life after years of thinking she was dead. What more can a romance enthusiast want? I’m sure that Ms. Singh knows and will give it to us, but at the same time I can’t help but wonder if Dorian is next. I’d love to read about him coming into the power to shift.

This book goes on sale Feb. 5. You can click on the image to be taken to B&N’s description of Mine to Possess. If you visit Ms. Singh’s blog you can enter to win a contest celebrating Mine to Possess’ release.

Touch of Madness by C.T. Adams & Cathy Clamp

Favorite Lines: “It hit me in the center of my chest and exploded, soaking me with red paint mixed with what smelled suspiciously like fly attractant.” (p. 61)

Kate Reilly’s life has not gotten much better since Touch of Evil.

She agreed to listen to a doctor talk about an experiment that could heal zombies like her brother, with other people established as Not Prey, only to find herself in a life or death situation when it’s discovered that the doctor is heading a dangerous experiment. 

Chapter two picks up three months later with the fall out of that lecture/experiment.

Kate is being sued as part of a wrongful death lawsuit and is slated to go to trial for destruction of hospital property. Her older brother is still being an ass, her younger brother has the mind and actions of a four year-old and her lover’s pack is trying to separate them. Life is wearing her down, and it’s about to get worse.

The Thrall has a new member, a man that Kate can never beat in a fight, and they are using him to force her to find their missing young. On this mission, Kate will come face to face with evil and madness.

In book one, we were introduced to Kate’s world. We learned that as Not Prey, she cannot run from vampires or lie to them. To do so would make her no different from other humans that serve as food, and would allow the vampires to hunt her instead of challenge her. Her position also places her in a hard spot, because instead of running from danger she must run towards it.

In this book, she will face a woman from her past, take a new position with her lover, come to many realizations about her family and possibly, survive a hive of killers. She finds help from unexpected places and if she does everything carefully, just might survive to battle the Thrall again.

The pack still has a major role in this book, but it didn’t bother me like the last book, because it wasn’t so, ‘in your face’. The pack leader is still in charge, but she seems a little more lenient than before. I also liked that Tom was willing to stand up to her for Kate. He shows his masculinity and why he is good for Kate.

One thing I forgot to mention before, is that people who are bitten by the Thrall become sterile. So you know from the get go that Kate and Tom will never have a child. This helps with some of the drama and understanding her position on different issues.

Humans are a pain in this book. They are hard and unrealistic in their views of Kate. They don’t recognize that she is fighting for her life, but seem to pick and find fault with all that she does. This makes me understand Kate better. She always has to watch her back, because there is no one else to do it for her, or so she thinks. Tom and others begin to call Kate on it.

They force her to take a look at herself to see if she is accepting or taking on too much. They want her to understand that there are other options, but often forget that as Not Prey, those options don’t apply to her.

While this is a stand alone book, I don’t think that you can appreciate it without learning the world and back story that is given in book one.

I’ve Been Tagged

Sue did this to me. Since I can’t say I’ve never done it to her, I’m going to do this as quickly and painlessly as possible. 

The rules:
Link to the person who tagged you;
Leave a comment on their blog so that their readers can visit yours;
Post the rules on your blog;
Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog;
Tag 7 random people at the end of your post;
Include links to their blogs;
Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

I’m not going to tag anyone, so if you want to do this go for it.

1. I love being by myself. Some people need other people to be happy, not me. Sweet silence is what I love.

2. Like Sue, I’m addicted to General Hospital. I watch it everyday. I yell at the tv and cry with the characters. All I need is a ratty pink bathrobe and a pair of fuzzy slippers, and I could be the new poster girl for soap addicts are us.

3. I check my email all the time. If I go more than four hours without checking it, somethings wrong or  I have no access.

4. I want to go to Scotland one day all by myself. I don’t care that I know absolutely no one or that I’ve never flown before. I want to go. 

5. I love my hair strait, but I’m to lazy to straiten it every day.

6. My favorite color is black. 

7. I could not imagine living without books. I wouldn’t want to live without them.

Touch of Evil by C.T. Adams and Cathy Clamp

Favorite Line: “I wanted her alive so that I could kill her.” (p. 218)

Vampires are not pretty creatures in the world created by Ms. Adams and Ms. Clamp. They are parasites that infest their host and eventually kill them. They are a hive like entity dependant upon each other for survival. They are the Thrall.

Katie Reilly is a strong woman. She has to be if she is to survive the danger that surrounds her. Six years ago, her fiance cheated on her and gave himself to the vampires. Thinking that she could save him, Katie invaded the hive’s home only to be bitten by a vampire. Her strong psychic ability coupled with the venom of the vampire turns her into something else; she is viewed as next in line to be the Thrall Queen.

As if she didn’t have enough to cope with, she finds out that her younger brother’s medical treatment is going to cost her more money and her newly renovated building has just lost a tenant. In walks Mr. August, Tom the Fireman. He is also a werewolf.

Tom begins to attract Katie in a way that she hasn’t felt since her fiance, and she doesn’t know how to react to it. The Queen of Denver, Monica, has also decided that it’s time to pass the crown on to Katie whether she wants it or not.

What’s a girl to do when the world is determined to kill her? Kick butt of course!

This world is different. I’m having a hard time deciding if I like it or not. It is complex and unlike the other paranormal romances out on the shelves. One of the major differences to other books, is the vampire mythology and the werewolf status structure.

Vampires in this world, have evolved right along with humans. They are basically ignored until they can be ignored no longer. They are powerful, psychic creatures capable of great feats, such as holding a room full of people’s minds in trances. The werewolves are different too.

It’s unique to see a werewolf world shaped around a female leader. In this novel men do not rule. While I appreciate the difference and applaud the women’s lib., I also frown my nose at the men being weaker than the woman. I know, I can’t believe I said that, but I do feel that way. I don’t dislike it; I’m just not quite comfortable with it.

Katie is a flawed character. I think that’s part of what makes her likeable realistic to me. The woman cares too much about other people. She’s loyal and willing to risk it all for those she loves. The draw back is that often she ends up getting the short stick or takes all the risk, causing those around her to treat her with hostility.

There’s a ton of descriptions and the story is a good one. I must admit, though that I was a tad bit bored at different moments.

Am I mad I took the time to read this book? No. I even read the next installment.

So, my question to y’all is: Do you ever find situations in books that make you raise an eyebrow? Like me and my teeter tottering with the woman leads pack idea.

Only reviewing at Scooper Speaks

I’m no longer reviewing at Romance Designs. I’m only reviewing here.