Jayne Castle - Harmony

Harmony is a planet in the far future, aglow with an amber light and the psychic energy of its inhabitants. It is here that Jayne Castle casts her spell-over the men and women brave enough to love in a world unlike any we have ever seen before. In this unforgettable volume are two very enchanting tales set on Harmony... After Dark...The New York Times bestselling novel of romantic suspense with a paranormal twist. A para-archaeologist and one of the most dangerous men on the planet heat up a murder investigation with a passion that cannot be extinguished-or denied... Bridal Jitters...From the national bestselling anthology, Charmed. An official marriage-of-convenience between paranormal business partners is almost called off-because of love.

Comment: This is another book for the challenge. But the first reason that led me to it was the fact I won book #6 in the series in Nalini Singh's blog last year. Ha. I wasn't aware it was book #6, so I had to get book #1 to see if there was any chance I might reach book #6.
With two goals in mind because of this book, finally I got the chance to try it.
This book is an omnibus, it has two stories inside, the short story "Bridal Jitters" that's apparently the introduction to the series, and After Dark, which is the official full length book in the series. I was glad I could get both in one volume.

First of all, the world. I confess I don't read much sci-fi, it's not a genre I look for and especially if it doesn't have romance. So, to enter a new world with different rules..well, it can be an adventure so this was why I wasn't discouraged from the start. The author has written a note available in her website where she explains a bit the history behind the series, so I'll spare anyone who's not (yet) interested and leave only the link: http://www.krentz-quick.com/harmony/history.html
After reading this it's obviously so much easier to follow some information in the stories.
To summarize, action takes place in a different planet, in the distant future, after a disaster that separated Earth from the new planet. People there descend from colonizers from Earth and they started showing some affinity to amber, a stone prolific in the planet, Harmony.
This aside, the stories focus more on romance and storyline than the environment around them but it shows, so I think sci-fi is an adequate label.

The two stories I've read were interesting and full of information and even with the author's note I found myself confused a bit but that's normal because it's such a different set of rules and dealings, then the fact people there have some sort of paranormal power or close connection to something paranormal also makes it more rich but I was able to enjoy things more because of that too, it's a fulfilling world.
"Bridal Jitters" is about Sam and Virginia, they're going to get a marriage of convenience in order to gain some profit after selling a house, but after all they want more than just that...
After Dark is the story of Emmett and Lydia and how he asks her to help him finding a piece of furniture that has been in his family since colonization and he wants it back but they find themselves in the middle of a mystery and developing feelings.
Like I said, it's hard to get used to things at first but after some chapters we get to understand things more and to be honest the writing style is the same as her writing as JAK and Amanda Quick. This helped a lot to process the information about the world because the writing style can ease out understanding of things. Besides the fact it focus the romance helps too, we want the couple to be together. I have to be honest, the secondary characters weren't that interesting, but they played their part well.
I liked the book, the two stories and will read more, especially to know more about the world, because after a while we just want to understand Harmony and its secrets better.
In the end of the bigger story I was left wondering how the couple would do next and was satisfied with the mystery solving. All in all, a good attempt and I'm glad I enjoyed reading it.

Laura Wright - Eternal Captive

Since feeding her his blood, Lucian Roman has struggled with his obsession with Bronwyn Kettler-fighting an uncontrollable desire to kill her, if he has to, and the vampire she has sworn to wed. But when a dangerous enemy threatens Bronwyn, only Lucian can save her life. Even if it means sacrificing his own..

Comment: To be honest there were some things that I had already forgotten about this series when I picked this book. This actually happens a lot to me because I read so many books, and so many of them part of a series that things start to blur although I can manage to separate them pretty well. Does this happen to you? Is your head full of worlds?

Anyway, back to the book. It's the third in the Mark of the Vampire series. It's the story of Lucien, the younger of the three Roman brothers and his obsession with Bronwyn Kettler, someone he met in book #1. They didn't seem to get along that well but when you hate someone so badly at first sight it might not be hate at all. While battling his fate of becoming the breding male, someone in their world's lore that will have the mind of an animal and would want nothing but sex, Lucien is also trying to protect Bron and to be honest I really liked how they finally admitted their feelings.
I think the language the author uses to describe some sexual scenes didn't have to be so crude, which I think it is, but it's her right..and although it suits Lucien's mood and personality I'd prefer to not read some words so many times. In terms of plot, I was quite surprised over some things, especially some family connections about the Romans. I'm really curious to see what's coming in the following books. Also we discover a certain information in the end of the book concerning another character, and I can't wait for the next book to see it develop. Discoveries apart I was happy with the book, it has a good feeling of entertainment and without the discoveries it would still be quite readable. Plus, the bad guy is getting some well deserved setbacks. I'll await for the next one with some expectations...I hope I won't be disappointed.

Filipe Faria - Oblívio

The Gauntlet of Karasthan brought them together. The Children of the Scourge united them. The Dark Tides branded them. The Essence of the Blade tore them apart. The Waves of Fire gave them hope. The Fate of the Shadow destroyed it. Battered and weary, the companions now face their biggest challenge yet, as Oblivion threatens the foundations of existence itself, just as it seems to be its last hope at survival. In Allaryia’s darkest hour, the shadow rises triumphant, but all is not as it seems, and The Scourge has yet to play his final card…

Comment: This is the last book in this Portuguese series I've been following for the last years. Here's the place where every blurb is and that explains a bit about the books: http://www.allaryia.com/pearnon/?page_id=420
This series is done and I'm equally sad and glad it is over. Finally something is done, completed and the reader can have closure over it. On the other hand, there's no more to entertain us.

In this final installment, the characters we've accompanied since book 1 reunite again and we get to understand why the villain acted the way he did, especially in the previous book. I think I had said the bad guy acted strange and did things that weren't expected of him and in this final book we understand why, although rationally it's a bit unbelievable - I guess because of that the whole is so much more amazing too.
Considering this is the conclusion of the group's adventures, we see many loose ends getting solved. Of course this is a goos thing and despite many things had started to be explained before, in this book we get so much more and it's very nice to see how logical they are.
In the previous books the original group got separated to pursue different purposes and things happened to all of them and not always good ones, so part of the thrill in reading a final book, one with the bad vs evil theme too, is to see their triumph in achieving some goals and happiness.
I was surprised over some details but in general, I got what I expected and hoped for.
This is high fantasy, not exactly my favorite genre, but once in a while is great to dream like this. I'll pay attention to future things by this author but right now I just feel at ease I managed to start and finish another series.

CE Murphy - Urban Shaman

Joanne Walker has three days to learn to use her shamanic powers and save the world from the unleashed Wild Hunt. No worries. No pressure. Never mind the lack of sleep, the perplexing new talent for healing herself from fatal wounds, or the cryptic, talking coyote who appears in her dreams. And if all that's not bad enough, in the three years Joanne's been a cop, she's never seen a dead body -- but she's just come across her second in three days. It's been a bitch of a week. And it isn't over yet.

Comment: Another book read because of a book club. Actually I've had this one for - let me check - yep, more than one year in my TBR list because a friend whose taste is similar to mine in most things said it was very promising.
The book is about Joanne, she finds out she's a shaman, someone that has healing powers and fights her battles in an astral dimension. This is clearly a first book because it starts out a bit confusing and with lots of details that are explained throughout the story. Joanne seems to be a very normal person, apart from her powers. She's a mechanic for the police and she has friends, a boss who is aways close to fire her and a distant family she doesn't talk about.
The book starts when she's returning from her mother's funeral in Ireland - Joanne is part Irish, part Native American, and she sees something from the plane, a woman running from someone else and people think she couldn't but she is proven right with the help of the cab driver who takes her to the place where she saw the woman. From then on, Joanne has a series of adventurous and finds out more than she probably wished for about her powers.
I was sympathetic to Joanne's trials during the book because it was clear she didn't want her powers or her new duties but she accepts both anyway because she's that type of person. With this comes facing a whole new set of things, among those her inner darkness -metaphorically of course - and we find out things about Joanne that... well I wasn't expecting, and her character became much more intriguing.
The plot is quite interesting, it offers a lot of mythical lore about Celts and native American legends...ok, not a lot, but enough to give the story the necessary background to go forward. I like this part because it's interesting things and some I wasn't aware of. There was also a bit of mystery in there and in the end it surprised me too, the author has done a good job, rather subtle, not something purposely looking like suspense, but it gives a nice feeling to the story and it's something to hope to see again in the following books.
Then there's the lack of romance in this book, although her love/hate relationship with her book does offer some interesting possibilities. We realize Joanne's has had a not so good experience with love in the past but still she shows apparent stability and isn't against a romantic relationship, although she doesn't actively look for one, it's something we just see. This is another reason to keep reading.
There are some questions marks about Joanne's life that I'm curious about, so I'll keep reading. I know the same person who suggested it to me has said the books get better so I'm also hopeful.

John Updike - The Witches of Eastwick

In a small New England town in the late 1960s, there lived three witches. Alexandra Spofford, a sculptress, Jane Smart, a cellist, and Sukie Rougemont,the local gossip columnist. Their supernatural gifts were intriguing, to say the least. Divorced but hardly celibate, content but always ripe for adventure, one day all three witches found themselves under the spell of a new man in town, Darryl Van Horne. His hot tub was the scene of some bewitching delights, but that doesn't being to conjure the half of it....

Comment: I've read this book because it was another one from one of my book clubs. To be honest I wasn't interested at all in reading this because I've watched the movie based on it years ago and the moment I read the first paragraph I knew it wasn't what I expected and the rest of the reading was pure boredom.
Still I went with it, simply because if i were to say bad things about it, the least I could do was to actually have reasons for it.
And I did.
I found the writing boring, I'm sorry once again but out tastes are our own, like in everything else we can't force ourselves to like something, pretend yes, but like like no. So I didn't find fun or wit or entertainment (some of the adjectives given to it by other reviewers) in this story. What I found was a bunch of bored and "morally disabled women" (my saying); come on they slept with anyone and not for understandable reasons in my opinion. Not that having affairs can ever be morally acceptable to me, but hey sometimes things aren't black and white so who am I, but in this story it was clearly stated.
Anyway, then there's the details, I thought some details were a bit too much I was actually repulsed by them. Physically so. Let's be blunt then...some scenes were repulsively detailed like when one of the characters asks her lover to perform oral sex on her while she's in the end of her period. Yack!
WTF??
No thank you. From that moment on I was just eager to get it done and get rid of it.
I know many people like and would defend the author because of his genius, his sarcasm and irony about the time (the book is from 1984) and the type of behavior expected from people but I just didn't see it.
Well, good for those who do appreciate it and who understand or acknowledge the author's point. I didn't, I'm sorry but it's what I felt.

Thea Harrison - Oracle's Moon

When Grace Andreas's sister, Petra, and her husband are both killed, Grace inherits the Power and responsibilities of the Oracle of Louisville, as well as her sister's two young children--neither of which she is prepared for. Then Khalil, Demonkind and Djinn Prince of House Marid, decides to make himself a part of the household both as guardian and counterpoint to Grace's impudence towards the Elder Races.

Comment: Some books just leave me wondering how authors can be so bipolar in their work?? How is it possible for them to write things so extreme in its differences that one is left thinking, is this by the same person?
Well, this author does that. She wrote one of the most boring books I've read (Storm's Heart) and now, in the same series, she writes this Oracle's Moon that was one of the most beautifully written romances ever! How can this be? Thoughts for later.

This is the story of Grace, the newest Oracle, left with the Power after her sister died. Then there's Kahlil, the Djinn that vows to protect Grace's nephew and niece. Kahlil and Grace don't get along that well at first but when Grace's feels threatened by all the Elder Races unknowns she still hadn't time to find out about, she kind of requests Kahlil's help with the children and this is something he won't refuse.
I loved that they didn't get along in the beginning and then...love! lol
The story starts right after the end of Serpent's Kiss and we're left wondering how Grace and Kahlil might fall in love because they really don't like each other but then one thing after another they realize the other is so much more than they thought and with trust and respect comes love.
I loved it! A classical romance, beautiful to watch and to go along. The storyline makes sense and it's appealing, interesting, moves along nicely and offers very god scenes.
The romance is obviously perfect (in my opinion) and doesn't happen right away, it's something believable, how I loved watching this!
The plot of full of twists about Grace's power and she does some things that endeared her to me and to Kahlil and it was great. I felt that everything fit perfectly in this story, there wasn't left any piece to complete the picture, it still amazes me how everything felt, sounded and was perfect!
I finished the book last week but I just can't avoid looking at my favorite scenes, I just get so happy over some things...this books is great! Truly, it is. This is why I feel so bad because of book #2...it just seems so unlikely that this is the same author...
Oh well, I'm basking in the glow of the wonder that is Oracle's Moon...it is worth all and every penny. I don't even know what to say about it that would make it justice, just...go get it.

Rachel Haimowitz - Counterpoint

It is the twilight of mankind. Depleted by generations of war with a dark race, the human kingdoms and their ancient alliance stand on the brink of extinction. The outlands are soaked with the blood of the fallen. The midlands are rotting with decadence and despair.
Elfkind, estranged by past crimes, watches and waits for nature to run its course.
And then the two collide.
Ayden's life has long been guided by two emotions: love for his sister, and hatred of all things human. When he's captured in battle, he must for his sister's sake swallow his pride and endure slavery in the service of a human prince, Freyrik Farr.
Freyrik's always known elves to be beautiful and dangerous, but never has one affected him as deeply as Ayden. Can his life of service to his people leave room for this attraction? Dancing on a dagger's edge between duty and high treason, Freyrik discovers that some choices can change a life, and some an entire world.
Between prejudice, politics, pride, and survival, Ayden and Freyrik must carve a new path, no matter how daunting. For nothing less than the fate of both their peoples rests on the power of their perseverance—and their love.

Comment: Another one of the many books I have yet to read and that, unfortunately because I don't have as much time as I used to when I didn't work, remain ages in the depths of my TBR list before I can pick them up.
Finally it was time for this one and I'm almost glad for the waiting. I say "almost" because there were some things in the story that bothered me a bit, not that it was something bad, it just wasn't something I was waiting to read about.
This is the first book in the Song of the Fallen series. The story follows Ayden, an elf that while trying to help his sister is captured with her by humans. The human Prince is besotted with Ayden and tries the best he can to spare him humiliation, although he can't give him or his sister, freedom. During their time together the prince has to be very patient before Ayden actually trusts him but while he awaits Ayden's trust, Ayden also starts seeing the prince through different eyes. After a difficult battle their relationship changes and in the end of the book they face a ultimatum that can change their future too.
So, I liked the book, it's fantasy and like most fantasies the story follows a certain medieval patter in terms of customs, with slavery as well.
Of course, when reading slavery themed stories one has to expect some indication or full scenes with the slaves and their condition and to someone that has all the advantages of a free world it can be sometimes hard to read those scenes just for it, we (I) mostly wish that: 1) they weren't addressed or 2) that things didn't work like that. So, yep slavery stories aren't my thing exactly, I always get mad because the characters we love (usually the slaves obviously) are humiliated or are sad because of their lot in life and that can ruin the story a bit for me. I mean, as a reader I can like or dislike that and can put it aside before it ruins the story completely but as a human being it's harder so...I don't think I'm explaining this well, but to summarize, I can read it and understand it but accepting is another level.
This was the first thing that bothered me a bit. Slaves aren't always mentioned and the focus is clearly the relationship between Ayden and the prince, so it's not like the author pushed slavery in our faces all the time, but still...
The second thing that made me wrinkle my nose.... in this world apparently bigamy is allowed so the prince has more than one wife and many sons and spends time with his wives to "have more offspring". It's true that intellectually this is a subject that doesn't even cross my mind, I mean I couldn't care less, but morally - considering my catholic upbringing - it can be a bit...ehh. You know, it's not something that horrifies me, but I don't really think it's something I could accept easily...because it's more than one person and it's complicated to imagine so many people's feelings tangled in all that, whatever...but to these character's it's fine, but then the prince is obviously bisexual and has a certain preference to males, at least emotionally. So here we have a prince and I didn't count how many wives and Ayden, the slave.
Poor Ayden, I thought, but throughout the book I could see the prince really was developing feelings for Ayden and despite his marital status, the wives didn't mind and weren't mentioned that much so it was made clear that the prince's affections weren't bound to anyone. This made me accept their relationship a bit better and in the end I was happy for them too. Besides, it takes them a lot of time to come to term to their feelings so nothing is rushed and we get a lot of tension too, which makes it all more believable.
In conclusion, I ended up liking the book and considering the way it ended I'm curious to know more and the sequel is already out so I'll have to get it soon, but I wouldn't say this is that type of book I'll remember forever...

Kerrelyn Sparks - Vampire Mine

NOTHING ON EARTH CAN MAKE THIS VAMPIRE FALL IN LOVE... After 499 years of existence, Connor Buchanan has arrived at an inescapable conclusion: he is a cold-hearted SOB. He's been watching his friends -- those poor romantic fools -- plummet off the cliff into love like a dazed herd of sheep. But not Connor. He knows that love leads to nothing but heartache. UNTIL MARIELLE... She is an angel cast down from heaven for disobedience. Trapped in mortal form, she finds a protector in Connor, a Scottish vampire haunted by a dark past. Marielle hopes to heal his broken heart and earn her way back home, but suddenly she has these . . . feelings. This strange yet pleasant physical yearning -- for a vampire! Is this the work of a demon luring her into hell, or has this angel found heavenly bliss?

Comment: Another book in the Love at Stake series.
the previous book was so good or me I was a bit afraid this one might feel lacking and to be honest it is. I mean, the book is not bad, but when one compares it to the other one...and even if we say we don't, our inner reader certainly does.
So, this is the story of Connor, he's been lonely for a long time and always said he didn't understand why so many of his friends were falling in love, but Connor has had a bad experience because of love and his reasons seem likely when we know of them.
Marielle is an angel of death (and accidentally causes something that will change another something in the story - ha sorry about the cryptic message but it's spoilerish) and is stripped of her wings because she disobeyed to many times.
These two find each other and slowly each one learns something from the other and they fall in love. It's sweet, really.
Obviously this is fiction so it's understandable why Marielle doesn't know anything about her body and other things around her. But I must say some things seem a bit too much like when she didn't know she might have "private parts" like she calls it lol
The romance, like I said, is sweet and doesn't happen that fast, considering this is fiction, but it's acceptable in relation to the plot.
Talking about plot, finally some actions happen and I'm happy to notice that things do move along, in the last books many things happen and make the books more alive and in constant motion, it's not only the love story and the plot there to excuse the page number, no. The plot changes and I'm eager to know more things because what's been happening is very interesting indeed.
This is a series I'm very happy to be following. It's both funny and entertaining and has a happy ending every time, which is all this romantic fiction thing is about. Can't wait for the next one.

Gena Showalter - The Darkest Seduction

At long last, New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter unveils the story of Paris, the darkest and most tormented Lord of the Underworld….
Possessed by the demon of Promiscuity, immortal warrior Paris is irresistibly seductive -- but his potent allure comes at a terrible price. Every night he must bed someone new, or weaken and die. And the woman he craves above all others is the one woman he'd thought was forever beyond his reach…until now.
Newly possessed by the demon of Wrath, Sienna Blackstone is racked by a ruthless need to punish those around her. Yet in Paris's arms, the vulnerable beauty finds soul-searing passion and incredible peace. Until a blood feud between ancient enemies heats up.
Will the battle against gods, angels and creatures of the night bind them eternally -- or tear them apart?

Comment: The latest installment in the Lords of the Underworld series. We finally have Paris and his HEA, after so many books where he seemed more and more desperate.
Paris has always been a character that longs for a special person because he had so many people and is tired of not being able to have someone always, someone who could be with him and he could love, so when amazingly he feels he can be with Sienna more than once, he's ecstatic but of course things go wrong and he spends a lot of books mourning and looking for Sienna.
Sienna remembers everything that has happened to her since she met Paris, although her situation has changed and she too has a demon now.
For a while it seemed these tow couldn't be together, with so many obstacles in their way, but in this book they find each other for keeps. I liked how we've seen Paris grow up since he met and lost Sienna for the first time. He went down because he didn't help her like he could but his feelings remained true and I liked that he tried his best to be faithful, if not in actions (because of his demon), then in thoughts. Sienna also surprised me in this book because I thought there we go, we must see her accept things etc, but no, she was already accepting and able to go after Paris and that something we knew bounded them. It was good to see them fall in love for real.
However, I think the best thing in this huge book (more than 500 pages yay) was how the author presented so many issues and tried, a step at a time, to update us to them. We see a little bit of everything that was on course and it kind of tidies things up a bit. No solving of course, but at least we know what's going on. Some things are finally happening like we see Ashlyn's babies born and amazing who (and how) helps with that...we meet more characters too...oh and the end is WTF material because I certainly didn't see that one coming! But it's not bad. Also poor Kane, I sure hope he can find his HEA too...he must be next apparently.
All in all a great book, full of things, many information and tidbits to think about and now we just have to wait for the next one.

Gail Carriger - Timeless

Alexia Tarabotti, Lady Maccon, has settled into domestic bliss. Of course, being Alexia, such bliss involves integrating werewolves into London High society, living in a vampire's second best closet, and coping with a precocious toddler who is prone to turning supernatural willy-nilly. Even Ivy Tunstell's acting troupe's latest play, disastrous to say the least, cannot put a damper on Alexia's enjoyment of her new London lifestyle. Until, that is, she receives a summons from Alexandria that cannot be ignored. With husband, child, and Tunstells in tow, Alexia boards a steamer to cross the Mediterranean. But Egypt may hold more mysteries than even the indomitable Lady Maccon can handle. What does the vampire Queen of the Alexandria Hive really want from her? Why is the God-Breaker Plague suddenly expanding? And how has Ivy Tunstell suddenly become the most popular actress in all the British Empire?

Comment: This is the last book in this series. The author has said there will be another series with these characters in the future, but things as we know them are over with this 5th installment.
In this story Alexia is summoned to Egypt with her daughter to meet the oldest vampire Queen alive and it's something she can't say no to, so they go with Lord Maccon and Ivy Tunstall's troupe as an excuse. While in Egypt, Alexia is faced with too many things happening and in the end it's surprises after surprises.
I've said before I love these books. The action makes sense and is brilliant in a very perfect way, considering the strength of the characters that might overshadow the plot, but everything works so well, it's amazing.
In this book we follow Alexia and her group to Egypt and also the remaining pack in London. Two different groups facing two different challenges and it's perfect how well everything is matched. I was completely caught by surprise over some things and let me tell you, when an author manages to lead you through a certain path ans still show you things don't have to be the same old thing, then we have a winner. It's still something I can't get past, this bubble of surprises that caught me unaware but very happy too. There are three things, in terms of plot, that I wasn't expecting at all, that I never imagined not even in my daydreams and speculations and I'm positively happy with it because not only the book made me turn page after page but is making me eager to read more about it in the future, when the author writes more.
I won't tell spoilers, but this book promises and delivers everything we could hope for.
One thing is consistent the relationship between Alexia and Connall, they fight, they kiss, they have arguments but they love each other and it's so god to see. Their daughter is interesting and smart and if she's smart to be the lead protagonist in the upcoming series in this world, than she will be a great one.
I can't say much without ruining the book for those who haven't read, but I assure you it's great and a great "end" for the series, I loved this book.

Anna Windsor - Captive Heart

As the world’s only fully trained water Sybil, Andy Myles is too busy battling New York’s demonic population and coping with personal tragedy to trust her broken heart to the wrong man. Jack Blackmore, FBI adviser to Manhattan’s Occult Crimes Unit, is Army-tough and rattling Andy’s nerves big-time, criticizing her strategies for attacking the powerful flesh-feasting Rakshasa. She could happily drown Jack with a rogue wave of her water energy -- or her kisses. Honestly, when did hating a man become so hot? Jack’s all human -- and he puts his trust in bullets, steel, and fists, not magic. Tough and confident, he’s never met a problem he couldn’t handle. Then again, he’s never fought alongside warrior witches who can kill with a flick of a finger or lost his heart to a wild, unpredictable woman whose kisses taste like sweet southern rain. As a tide of despotic evil sweeps through the streets of New York, Jack’s got one chance to stop a malevolent rampage -- and claim Andy’s heart.

Comment: The final book in the series (as far as I know).
I have to confess I only read this book because I wanted some kind of closure in the series. These stories don't have the same meaning as they had before. I feel sorry this happened because the characters are interesting and the writing is too but there's something not quite right for me in the books. The simplest reason is they're just too serious, they don't entertain as much I wanted them to. This wouldn't be a problem if the plots had more vitality but even with things happening all the explanations are just too serious to make me enjoy the world, so...I've read them all, but I've lost the love for them.I still respect the plots and the author for having written this, but I no longer love the books, I'm sorry.
I've read them all because of Andy. The author recognizes she was a character most people were curious about and says so in a note in the first page of the book. I have to agree...Andy's character had the most interesting path and in her story many things were expected.
I was happy with the things worked out for Andy..she learns more about being a water sybil, about her role and what people expected from her. She takes a stronger position about some issues and I liked seeing that part of her. We also see her falling in love and it's good it makes us happy for her.
The plot...well, I was quite bored with reading the villain's parts...

- > enter rant
honestly authors...one things is to write one or two paragraphs... fine, one or two pages with villains and what they're doing or worse, their POV's if you must, but to dedicate many pages with their evil plans and motivations?? To me, it's the quicker way to skip pages. Ok I don't do it all the time but I do tend to not pay much attention to them because it's boring and it's not what I want to read about in a book, especially if it's a romance...not always in other books, but still.
(You gotta love Tess Gerritsen, yes you do)
-> end of rant

...but I liked the overall way the good guys solved the problems they had to in order to save the world. It was well done but I have to confess it wasn't the most interesting thing because the initial issue changed since the first book and things got confusing to follow.
The end of the book was sweet, as expected.
I don't have much to say, especially nice things and I feel a bit bad because I couldn't enjoy the books more, but it's fiction and I've tried and sometimes it's the best you can do.

Recommendations

OK, here's a simple question...How much do you rely in friends' recommendations to read?
Do you usually read all the things friends or known/reliable people advice you to? Even after doing some research based on your likes and dislikes, do you find yourself following most of the recommendations?
What makes you follow one? Is it because the friend liked it so much and you're curious or is it something specific about the book plus the recommendation?

I usually read a bit of everything...everything I like, of course, not even a stellar recommendation will make me read a romance book about young Missy and her boyfriend and the way they love each other so much but their parents don't want them to go out after 11pm or even about Sharon and Bill, high school sweethearts that got separated because of the missing necklace but are meeting again after 10 years and suddenly are falling in love again while remembering everything about that tragic day...
As you can see I have a personal hate about YA romances and the Lovers Reunited theme. I might read one book or two with this here and there but it's not what I look for or want to read about.
But when it does seem good I usually look for reviews about it even if a friend recommend it. I have to confess it's very rare for me to jump into a new author without some research. If the author is known to me I might actually do it based only on recommendation.
I have a certain group of people with whom I share most of my tastes. This group of people read things I find myself loving too, even when our tastes don't match 100%.
There was a time when I would be reckless and I'd try anything that caught my eye..I'd be happily surprised or awfully disappointed but these days, with a growing TBR list, I became more selective...Don't you do the same or are you still as adventurous as always?
What about you? How much do you trust other's recommendations?

Casey Daniels - Don of the Dead

She sees dead people. Beautiful, smart, and chic, Pepper Martin never had to work a day in her life -- until her surgeon daddy was convicted of fraud, her wealthy fiance took a powder, and the family fortune ran bone dry. Suddenly desperate, the inexperienced ex-rich girl was forced to take the only job she could get: as a tour guide in a cemetery. But a grave situation took a turn for the worse when a head-on collision with a headstone left her with an unwanted ability to communicate with the disgruntled deceased . . . and now Pepper has a whacked Mafia don demanding that she hunt down his killers -- and threatening to haunt her until she does.

Comment: I've read this book, once again, because a friend recommend it to me.
Isn't this an interesting topic, how much we rely in friends' recommendations? Humm, something for later...
As I was saying, I've read this because it was a recommendation, otherwise I don't think I'd have tried it based on the blurb itself, it just seems too plain for me.
to to Pepper is a young woman who had to face some drawbacks in her too perfect life but she didn't let herself crumble, she tried the best she could to have something even if the best she got was to be a cemetery guide. One day she falls and hits her head pretty bad but she doesn't think about it too much except suddenly she can't stop seeing a ghost everywhere and more, he speaks to her and only Pepper can see him.
The story follows Pepper and her life after a lawsuit against her rich father. Now she doesn't have money or connections or friends. She lives and works as a cemetery guide until finding a better thing. In her job she falls and hits her head and starts seeing a ghost. The ghost is Gus and asks for her help to solve his murder because until that he can't rest.
I found an interesting character in Pepper. She's lived a privileged life before her father was convicted with fraud and now she doesn't have much except her will to have a better job and a better live. For this only she is a worthy protagonist to me.
The book is a mystery and Pepper has to help the ghost while dealing with two different men that suddenly appeared in her life, part of the upcoming plots must dedicate some time to Pepper's interactions with them, which doesn't really seem that interesting but I was positively surprised in this one because I imagined a lot of silly dialogue and perhaps those hateful - to me - love triangles and I was anticipating some quick barely readable page turning but no, Pepper isn't obviously sure about either one and nothing happened which I think was a good thing, after all she just had met the guys.
The mystery is actually interesting to follow and to be honest I didn't imagine it would end the way it did, it was both fulfilling and a bit sad.
I'm not really sure about this series. its true it's a fast read, nothing fabulous but enjoyable, but this thing with the two guys I don't know...I'll read the second one to make a final decision, if I like it I'll continue otherwise I'll save some time for other things...the problem is if I'm also divided after the second one...

Meredith Duran - Written on Your Skin

Beauty, charm, wealthy admirers: Mina Masters enjoys every luxury but freedom. To save herself from an unwanted marriage, she turns her wiles on a darkly handsome stranger. But Mina's wouldbe hero is playing his own deceptive game. A British spy, Phin Granville has no interest in emotional entanglements...until the night Mina saves his life by gambling her own. Four years later, Phin inherits a title that frees him from the bloody game of espionage. But memories of the woman who saved him won't let Phin go. When he learns that Mina needs his aid, honor forces him back into the world of his nightmares. Deception has ruled Mina's life just as it has Phin's. But as the beauty and the spy match wits in a dangerous dance, their practiced masks begin to slip, revealing a perilous attraction. And the greatest threat they face may not be traitors or murderous conspiracies, but their own dark desires....

Comment: I decided to read this book after seeing many comments about it and most people said the book was great and different. I was hooked and put it in my TBR list. Last month I was able to pick it and finally see what all the fuss was about. This is the story of Phin, a British spy passing by as American to denounce a conspiracy in Hong Kong. Mina is the daughter of the villain's new wife and she tries to look more airhead than she is in order to other don't see her as important. She saves Phin in a party and after that he has to leave Hong Kong but is unable to help Mina or her mother, who suffers abuse on her husband's hand. Mina is left feeling hopeless but Phin goes away without apparent remorse. 4 years later they meet again, in Britain, and once again Mina must hope for his help but this time there's a different outcome and because of that, their relationship also changes. I'm not very fond of historical novels with spies...there are exceptions of course, but usually no. The reason is simple: some things must happen in whatever way, like a bad guy has to be found and the act of spying always carries a certain dose of darkness for its host. I don't like a tortured hero dealing with all the ramifications of his behavior because he was a spy, it's just a kind of situation I don't particularly enjoy reading about. In this case, Phin not only felt unworthy of several things because of the things he did as a spy but he also "thought" them. Throughout the story we have Phin's inner thoughts and sometimes rhetorical comments about what he was doing, why was he acting like this, why did he think some things and it was all so despairing that I must confess I wasn't feeling very connected to him and after a while his tribulations started to look to repetitive. The there's Mina, she's a young woman and she feels why bother with emotions, let's be practical about everything. For a moment this seemed perfect, she was promising to be the kind of heroine we only dream about in historicals. But there's a reason too "adventurous" women usually don't connect so well with me, I think she wanted too hard to be smart and uncaring abut mundane things like feelings that she bordered on cocky. And I didn't sympathize with her character despite doing so with her fears. So, I have two protagonists I don't particularly care about, a storytelling style that bothered me a bit and a story that bored me quite a bit too. I think it's safe to say I didn't really like the book. I didn't hate it either but based on this one I don't think I'll try another one soon. I'm sorry but this type of book just wasn't for me.

Tami Hoag - Lucky's Lady

As wild and mysterious as the Louisiana swamp he called home, Lucky Doucet was a dangerously attractive Cajun no woman could handle. His solitary life left no room for the likes of elegant Serena Sheridan, but Lucky couldn't deny her desperate need to find her missing grandfather. He would help her, but nothing more--yet once he felt the lure of the flaxen haired beauty, an adventurer like Lucky couldn't resist playing with fire. Serena felt unnerved, aroused, and excited by the ruggedly sexy renegade whose gaze burned her with its heat, but did she dare tangle with a rebel whose intensity was overwhelming, who claimed his heart was off limits? Deeper and deeper they traveled into the steamy bayou, until with one electrifying kiss her resistance melted into liquid desire. And the devilish rogue found he'd do anything to make Serena...

Comment: This book was one of my Christmas presents. I was quite surprised to get it because the author never meant much to me besides the word thriller. But the friend who gave it to me said it was because I like books that aren't romance per se but have romance in it (and I do like these).
Although after having read it, I think that this book is more of a romance than anything else, it is centered too much on the inner struggle of both protagonists to be something else.
Lucky is a man with some issues, namely the expectations others have of him and the things he has done in his past. He doesn't seem to believe he has good qualities.
Serena is used to secure things and the swap where she grew up is definitely not one of them, so only really strong family ties make her return there. She requests Lucky's help to find her grandfather but she finds out more than she expected.
The story is about Serena's returning home and all the problems this means to her sister, Shelby, and her husband because they want a politic career for him and selling the house where they live would mean that, but Serena's grandfather doesn't want to sell and counts on Serena's sense of responsibility to avoid exactly that.
I liked the pace of the story and how slowly things were happening. To be honest, the suspense part in the book didn't catch my eye that deeply and although I was curious to know who was behind some bad things I wasn't worried that part of the story would steal the protagonism from the romance growing between Lucky and Serena. their story is romantic in a way, because they end up knowing each other for what they both are and that seemed the best part.
I can't say bad things about the book but it didn't rock my world either, so I think this is a safe story, you know, safe to read and know it will end up well and safe that won't challenge anything and does reinforce your ideas of what a HEA is supposed to be. For this alone it's worth reading and I'll treasure it but it's not the best book I've read.