A BEAUTIFUL CO-PILOT WITH A TERRIBLE CHOICE...
A DARK STRANGER WHO HAS KNOWN NOTHING BUT DUTY...
A LATE NIGHT FLIGHT, HIJACKED OVER THE PACIFIC...
It amazes me how much my hormones can play a role in my enjoyment of a book. I was only luke warm on this book for almost the entire first half. I didn't care for any of the characters but wasn't bored enough to quit but then BAM!!!! It was like overnight I went from indifferent to enthralled. All the sudden I loved Jordan and Kao and HATED all those whiny useless passengers (honestly I was hoping someone would just open a hatch and dump them all into space). Anyhoo, I'm not sure if I loved the book or just thought it was okay or if it's somewhere in the middle but either way it's definitely a book worth trying if the subject matter (alien hijacking) sounds interesting to you at all. The romance was very well done and the end of the book had me on the edge of my seat and up far past my bedtime. I don't want to give away any spoilers but the only problem I had (after my overnight change of heart) was that the story could have continued on rather than ending when it did.
Ice Blue - Anne StuartMuseum curator Summer Hawthorne considered the exquisite ice-blue ceramic bowl given to her by her beloved Japanese nanny a treasure of sentimental value—until somebody tried to kill her for it.The priceless relic is about to ignite a global power struggle that must be stopped at all costs. It's a desperate situation, and international operative Takashi O'Brien has received his directive: everybody is expendable. "Everybody." Especially the woman who is getting dangerously under his skin as the lethal game crosses the Pacific to the remote and beautiful mountains of Japan, where the truth can be as seductive as it is deadly….
I haven't read any other Anne Stuart books outside of the Ice Series (I know, I know I'm getting there) but man do I ever love the heros in these books. The heroines tending to be rather interchangeable but the hero's definitely make up for it. I know people tend to find problems with these books but I enjoy them so much while I'm reading them that I don't notice any of them. I'm just along for the ride and I love every second of it :)
Forget the cackling green hag in "The Wizard of Oz", forget Samantha from "Bewitched". Real witches are nothing, NOTHING like this. For years real witches have hidden their powers, afraid of being persecuted. They have integrated so well into the community, you could have a witch living right next door and never know about it. Take Paige, for instance, whom we first met in Kelley Armstrong’s novel Stolen. Just an ordinary twenty-something who runs her own website design company, worries about her weight and wonders if she’ll ever find a boyfriend. Okay, so she’s leader of the American Coven and guardian of Savannah, the teenage daughter of a black witch. Really, life is ordinary. But then a telekinetic half-demon, Leah O’Donnell, shows up to fight for custody of Savannah. And although Paige is ready for her, she’s not quite so prepared for the team of supernaturals that Leah brings with her, including a powerful sorcerer who claims to be Savannah’s father.When all hell breaks loose -- literally -- and Paige is accused of witchcraft, Satanism and murder, the Coven, fearing exposure, abandons her. Cut off from her friends, Paige is forced against her better judgment to accept the help of a young sorcerer lawyer. And she quickly comes to realize that keeping Savannah could mean losing everything else.
I put off reading this one for well over a year despite how much I liked the previous two books. I really had no desire to read a story about Paige. I did not care for her in the last book and I wasn't sure how Armstrong was going to change that for me. Well, first off in the year between books I was able to forget a lot of the things that bugged me about Paige. Second of all getting inside Paige's head gave me a much better perspective of Paige and what made her tick and you could see where she was coming from and why perhaps she came off rather grating in the previous novel. I really liked Paige she was sarcastic and funny and tougher than she appeared to be - she was also easier to love than Elena was because she doesn't have that bitterness there. I also loved Paige's love interest Lucas Cortez he was quite different from the male werewolves. A charming, slightly geeky, smart alec sorcerer who is also a lawyer. Ahh loved him, loved him, loved him. There is a scene right after Paige and Lucas have sex for the first time (one of the best love scenes I think I've read to date actually) where I went from just really, really liking Lucas to bumping him up into my Top 10 heros.
I went to the cold cellar and grabbed a bottle of wine. When I returned, Cortez was still wrapped in the clean sheets, watching me.
"Good?" I said, holding out the bottle."Hmmm?" He blinked, then looked at the bottle. "Oh yes. Wine. Good. Great."I laughed. "I suppose I would be insulted if it was the wine you were staring at."He grinned then, a slow lazy grin that did something to my insides."Guess I'm still in shock" He said."Don't tell me I'm the first damsel in distress who's ever seduced you.""I can say, with absolute certainty, that you are the first woman who has ever even tried to seduce me, on or off a case."
Why did that scene make me love him so much?? I don't really know I think it was very refreshing not to have the typical totally gorgeous hero who has had sex a million times and seduces the heroine because he knows how much she wants him.Anyways, great book and I think it's my favourite in the series so far. I'm especially happy to see that their story is continued in the next book.
Recent DNF's
The Silent Rose - Kat Martin
This was a real disappointment. Especially since I have two other books by her in my TBR pile. The first chapter of the book was written very well and was incredibly spooky. I really thought this book was going to be great. Well - after that it was just boring. I got about a 100 pages in and couldn't take it anymore. I didn't like the hero or heroine at all and nothing happened. It's a shame really.
Ghost Story - Peter Straub
Once again BORING. I wasted 200 pages of time on this before deciding that whatever most people found scary about this book just didn't scare me.
Stardust of Yesterday - Lynn Kurland
Another author who I have multiple books in the TBR pile that I've never read before. Well - this book was just silly. I didn't really get the appeal of either the hero or the heroine. She wore feety pajamas for God's sake. I didn't even think they made those in adult sizes. It was also very boring the two of them fell in love almost right away and then a whole lot of nothing happens (you know something is coming though if only it got there sooner). I gave up after a 100 pages.So in that last month I read an entire books worth of pages that went no where. Quite frustrating actually. Thank God for the 3 amazing books that more than made up for it.
What I'm reading Now.
What else have I been up to... My husband and I are currently working on Freedom35. We figure if we aren't having kids, already own a house and we're both fortunate enough not to have any student loans to payback we really should be able to retire at 35 :) Anyhoo, this means I'm living on a "Till Debt do us Part" budget and storing the weekly money in labelled jars. I only get $12.00 a week for books so for the last 5 weeks I've been saving up my book money to do one big shop. I couldn't wait any longer and rather than going to the UBS where I could stretch my money farther I decided to go to Chapters with all those wonderful new book smells.Well am I ever glad I did that Chapters was having their buy 3 get 1 free paperback sale PLUS all young adult books were 20% off PLUS the 10% I get with my IREWARDS card. I was in book heaven. I managed to pick up 8 new paperbacks plus a young adult novel for $60.23.It was awesome. Here is my new loot.
5 comments:
Hi there Danielle, you've been missed but I see you've been using your time to do the right thing! You've been reading, lol!
Ahhh, Susan Grant... I have a book by her on my TBR but haven't read it yet. She's on my list of authors to try under Sci-fi/Romance -- I'll get to her someday. :)
Kelly Armstrong is another author whose work I have on my TBR and who I STILL have not read... I have a feeling once I begin I won't stop. *g*
Kat Martin *sigh*... I'm sad to say I haven't read anything by her in a long time and whatever I've picked up I haven't finished. :(
That's a great haul of books you got there! I also picked up Highland Rebel in December and it's on my TBR. Can't wait to read your thoughts on Never Love a Lawman by Davis & Ione's super-duper-sexed up demons series, lol!
Wow, reading your experience on Dime Store Magic is very similar to my own experience. I read the first two books on Elena back to back and then I think it took two years before I went back to the series. I just wasn't that interested in reading about Paige. But I was really glad that I continued on with it because this is one of my all time favorite series. There has only been one book that I felt so-so about (that was Eve's book). Keep going, the series is a great one!
It also took me a while to warm up to Sookie. I don't really know what it was about her narration that bugged me, but something did. However I have continued with the series and now I am hooked!
I do think it is great that you and your hubby are trying so hard to be good with your money. Good for you guys!
Hilcia - Thanks :) I never realize how long it's been between blogs until I sit my butt down at the computer and check the dates on the posts. So far Contact is the only Sci-Fi romance I've read but I really enjoyed and I plan on picking up some more by Susan Grant whenever my book jar is re-stocked. Kelley Armstrong is great - especially if you like first person narration.
I have an historical by Kat Martin sitting in my TBR along which I hope I enjoy more than The Silent Rose.
I picked up Ione's book based on the reviews at your site - they sound right up my alley. I'm hoping to get to it soon but I don't want to overdose on paranormals.
Jill D. - It's good to know the series stays so good I hate when my favourite series go to crap and I have no closure (coughLKHcough). The only thing about the Armstrong books that recently annoyed me at the book store is that they are all being re-released as trade paperbacks. I can't stand trade paperbacks so I've been trying to buy up as many as I can in mass market but they are getting tough to find.
I was warming up to Sookie by the end of the book and I think she will grow on me. I can't really figure out what it is about her that isn't working for me.
Good Haul Danielle. You really are
disciplined. Good for you. I was kind of pissed off the other day at Chapters. It didn't say anything on the red signs & I hadn't seen a coupon.The buy 3 get 1 free promo was only for mass market books. I had picked one trade size & 3 MM. They would not let me do it that way even though the freebie would be the least expensive one. I guess it makes sense because I could have picked 4trade size (in my dreams). I guess it was a good problem to have even though I was on my lunch hour & really didn't have much more time.
Mary G. - I learned that lesson the hard way a few years ago. I've figured out the paperback sale but any other time they have sales on I usually ask someone before I go to the counter if certain books I have are included in whatever sale they have going on.
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