New Loot and Two Reads

I've spent the last week of my holidays at home reading, cooking, shopping and relaxing.  Over the past week I finished two books and picked up a few new books at the UBS.

The Secret Pearl - Mary Balogh

                                   

Blurb

Fleur. That was her middle name. The name she told the man to whom she sold herself out of desperate want. But her full name was Isabella Fleur Bradshaw, gently born and brutally expelled from her sheltered life. His name was Adam Kent, Duke of Ridgeway, the wealthiest lord in England, but scarred in war, bitterly betrayed in marriage.

She feared his overpowering physical passion. He fought to keep from loving her. They each had so much to teach each other and so much to learn... 'n a drama of desire played out on a vast estate - where a man and a woman come closer and closer to their moment of heart-pounding truth...


There really isn't much that I can say about this book that hasn't been said before in many other wonderful reviews of this book.  It's enough to say that I loved it.  Adam broke my heart.  The story was beyond romantic and although I didn't totally love Fleur I still very much enjoyed the story.






Natural Selection - Dan Freedman

Blurb


A shocking biological discovery. A previously unknown predatory species. Evolving just like the dinosaurs. Now. Today. Being forced out of its world and into man's for a violent first encounter. Weaving science and thriller in a way not seen since Jurassic Park, Natural Selection introduces a phenomenally dangerous new species that is rapidly adapting in a way never before seen A mystery. A chase. A vast expansive puzzle. A team of marine scientists is on the verge of making the most stunning discovery in the history of man. In their quest for answers, they engage a host of fascinating characters. The world's premier neurology expert. A specialist on animal teeth. Flight simulation wizards, evolution historians, deep sea geologists, and so many more. Along the way, the team of six men and women experience love, friendship, loyalty and betrayal. Together, they set off to exotic locales. Literally to the bottom of the ocean. To a vast and mysterious redwood forest. To an unknown complex of massive caves. When people start dying, the stakes are upped even further. Then the real hunt begins ....


Awww what can I say?  This book was fun - ridiculous but lots of fun.   If you like cheesy monster movies you will probably enjoy this book but just be warned you have to seriously suspend your sense of disbelief but in the end it's worth it.


Similar to most thriller novels I've read the character development seems to be sacrificed for the sake of story telling.  I've gotten used to it so it doesn't bother me as much as before but I'd really like to read a thriller where the characters were more than just space filler.   The writing style and story line make up for it though.  Even during the first half of the book when the scientists were doing little more than tracking the new creatures through the sea I was hooked.  The mystery of the new creature and the discovery of exactly what it is and what it was capable of kept me hooked.  Actually I enjoyed that part more than than the action packed second half of the book.  The second half still kept me interested but it did get a little silly and frustrating at times as the creature behaved in ways that seemed quite bizarre.  I actually think this story would have been more effective had the creature actually stayed a predator in the water rather than coming out on land but...


Anyway, it was quite a bit of fun and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good monster story - just don't take it too seriously!


Book Shopping


I also picked up the following new books this week.

Two Recent Reads

The Name of the Wind

This is a huuuuge book but it's awesomely huge.  I have to say my not being concerned with the number of books I'm reading has so far worked very well for me.  I was able to take my time with this book and really enjoy it.

Summary

My name is Kvothe, pronounced nearly the same as "quothe." Names are important as they tell you a great deal about a person. I've had more names than anyone has a right to.

The Adem call me Maedre. Which, depending on how it's spoken, can mean The Flame, The Thunder, or The Broken Tree.

"The Flame" is obvious if you've ever seen me. I have red hair, bright. If I had been born a couple of hundred years ago I would probably been burned as a demon. I keep it short but it's unruly. When left to its own devices, it sticks up and makes me look as if I've been set afire.

"The Thunder" I attribute to a strong baritone and a great deal of stage training at an early age.

I've never thought of "The Broken Tree" as very significant. Although in retrospect, I suppose it could be considered at least partially prophetic.

My first mentor called me E'lir because I was clever and I knew it. My first real lover called me Dulator because she liked the sound of it. I have been called Shadicar, Lightfinger, and Six-String. I have been called Kvothe the Bloodless, Kvothe the Arcane, and Kvothe Kingkiller. I have earned those names. Bought and paid for them.

But I was brought up as Kvothe. My father once told me it meant "to know."

I have, of course, been called many other things. Most of them uncouth, although very few were unearned.

I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during the day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep.

You may have heard of me.

So begins the tale of Kvothe - from his childhood in a troupe of traveling players to years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-riddled city, to his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a difficult and dangerous school of magic. In these pages you will come to know Kvothe as a notorious magician, an accomplished thief, a masterful musician, and an infamous assassin. But THE NAME OF THE WIND is so much more - for the story it tells reveals the truth behind Kvothe's legend.

That isn't so much a summary as it is the introduction to Kvothe's story in the book but it really does sum everything up perfectly.

This is the first of three very large novels in Patrick Rothfuss's Kingkiller Chronicles and it's largely just backstory on how Kvothe came to be Kvothe but it's wonderful backstory.  This is most definitely a character driven fantasy novel.  There isn't a whole lot of action going on but it keeps you turning the pages constantly.  Rothfuss is a fabulous story teller.  This was one of those books that just completely pulls you in and wraps you up in the story.

I loved Kvothe.  I love him in all his egotistical self absorbed glory that has apparently gotten on a few peoples nerves I can honestly say he didn't get on mine.  If the second book was released I would gladly dive right in to another 600+ pages with him.  He is probably one of the most well written characters I've ever read and very complex.  I can't even begin to explain him but I love him but then I've always been a fan of the anti-hero and while Kvothe is pretty much just hero material at this point there are hints of a darker side in there.

There were a few slow points in the book but other than that I really enjoyed this book and I can't wait for the next book to come out.  Whenever that is...

Rating 9/10


The Marriage Bed - Claudia Dain

It starts with a kiss, an explosion of longing that cannot be contained. He is a young knight bent on winning his spurs; she is a maiden promised to another man; theirs is a love that can never be. But a year's passing and a strange destiny brings them together again.


Now he is a monk desperately fleeing temptation, and she is the lady of Dornei, a woman grown, yearning to fulfill the forbidden fantasies of girlhood. They are a couple with nothing in common but a wedding night neither will ever forget.
Eager virgin and unwilling bridegroom, yielding softness and driving strength, somehow they must become one soul, one purpose, one body within the marriage bed.




First off can I just point out how hot this cover is?  I don't normally care for half naked lovers on the covers of the books but I'll make an exception for this one.


Holy Moly - this book was intense.  In every way this book was intense the writing style had everything very short and too the point and while it took a little bit to get used to it after the flowing wonderfulness that was the style of previous book I read it really worked for this story.  The relationship between the hero and heroine is intense and a complex mix of lust/love/hate but this was far more believable lust, love and hate than what you usually find in romance novels.  There is alot of shared hurt between these two and alot to overcome.  Neither of these characters are perfect and at times you want to strangle them but it does make them real and very authentic for medieval characters.  Religon plays a big role in this story and there is a fair amount of violence but it all comes together to make a very satisfying medieval romance.  This isn't a terribly long book and I read almost the entire thing in one sitting and I was tense the whole time.  Even though I knew it was going to have a happy ending I had a hard time believing the author was going to get there with these two.


Which leads me to my one quibble with the book.  The ending completely fizzled out for me.  Maybe I was so tense through the reading that I couldn't keep it up anymore - maybe my mood just fit the tone of the book better when I started it - I don't know.  I think I wanted more angst in the ending it almost seemed too easy.    Who knows it could have been me or maybe it was the book but I do know I was dissappointed.  I'm equally disappointed to realize I traded in The Temptation a later book in the series because I couldn't get into the first time I tried.  I'm glad I pushed through my initial trouble with the writing style because I ended up really enjoying the book and now because I wasn't quite as persistant the last time I'm going to have to go out and re-buy The Temptation again.


Rating  7.8/10

Heaven, Texas - Susan Elizabeth Phillips

 Come heck or high water, Gracie Snow is determined to drag the legendary ex-jock Bobby Tom Denton back home to Heaven, Texas, to begin shooting his first motion picture. Despite his dazzling good looks and killer charm, Bobby Tom has reservations about being a movie star -- and no plans to cooperate with a prim and bossy Ohio wallflower whom he can't get off his mind or out of his life. Instead, the hell-raising playboy decides to make her over from plain Jane to Texas wildcat.
But nothing's more dangerous than a wildcat with an angel's heart in a town too small for a bad boy to hide. And all hell breaks loose when two unforgettable people discover love, laughter, passion -- and a match that can only be made in Heaven.

This just might be my favourite contemporary novel yet.  It's a very close race which includes Crusie's Bet Me and SEP's Kiss an Angel but I think this one might just sneak into the top spot.  Bobby Tom was just the right mix of jack ass and lost little boy that he was still endearing.  I thought Gracie made a great heroine she was strong willed and wasn't afraid of putting Bobby Tom in his place when he needed it (which was often).  The relationship between these two seemed very natural and was quite funny at times.  My only minor, minor quibble is the same problem I had with Lady Be Good by SEP.  The heroines personality does a complete 180 near the end in order to facilitate the totally awesome ending - yes it's kind of annoying in a "Big Mis" kind of way but the pay off makes it worth it.  This is probably one of the best endings to a romance novel yet.  And even better?  There was no epilogue!!!!!

Rating 10/10

Hello My Name is Danielle and I'm a Slacker

Wow, what can I say other than it was a very busy December and has been a very busy January. Obviously I haven't been blogging and I haven't done very much reading since December.

As my first actual new years post - late I know but like I said I'm a slacker. I can't say I'm sorry to see the end of 2009. It was all around a pretty crappy year. 2010 however seems to be starting off with a bang. Our first big news of the new year?? My husbands previous employer who laid him off over a year ago finally has more work picking up and hired him back!! Yea!!! No more minute taking or penny pinching for this chicky. So on that note here is my 2009 year in review.

Total number of books read 52

Total number of pages read 20,169

Genre Breakdown

Historical Romance - 11

Sub genres - Western/American - 4

- Medieval - 2

- Regency - 4

- Victorian - 1

Romantic Suspense - 7

Mystery - 7

Historical Fiction - 5

Fantasy - 5

Paranormal Romance - 6

Contemporary Romance - 4

Romantica - 2

Suspense/Thriller - 3

Young Adult - 2

Horror - 1

General Fiction - 1

Non-Fiction - 1

Ratings

5 stars - 14

4 stars - 26

3 stars - 10

2 stars - 1

1 star - 1

The large number of high ratings has a lot to do with the fact that I rarely force myself to finish a book I'm not enjoying.

The best of the Year

My goals for 2010 - Read!

That's it no number goals, no genre goals I'm just going to read what I want when I want and see how that works for me.  The last few years I've given myself number goals and I think that causes me to always pick shorter books (even though I love looong books) and to put books that I'm not enjoying all that much aside too soon.  So this year I'm just going to read what I feel like and not pay attention to numbers all that much.

My 2010 so far.

I've only read two books

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

This book was okay.   It was a fairly long book and kept me interested but I wasn't really blown away.  I may try something else by him in the future.

Here is the blurb from Amazon


"American Gods" is Neil Gaiman's best and most ambitious novel yet, a scary, strange, and hallucinogenic road-trip story wrapped around a deep  examination of the American spirit. Gaiman tackles everything from the  onslaught of the information age to the meaning of death, but he doesn't sacrifice the razor-sharp plotting and narrative style he's been delivering since his Sandman days.
    Shadow gets out of prison early when his wife is killed in a car crash. At a loss, he takes up with a mysterious character called Wednesday, who is much more than he appears. In fact, Wednesday is an old god, once known as Odin the All-father, who is roaming America rounding up his forgotten fellows in preparation for an epic battle against the upstart deities of  the Internet, credit cards, television, and all that is wired. Shadow agrees to help Wednesday, and they whirl through a psycho-spiritual storm  that becomes all too real in its manifestations. For instance, Shadow's dead wife Laura keeps showing up, and not just as a ghost--the difficulty of their continuing relationship is by turns grim and darkly funny, just like the rest of the book. 
    Armed only with some coin tricks and a sense of purpose, Shadow travels through, around, and underneath the visible surface of things, digging up all the powerful myths Americans brought with them in their journeys to this land as well as the ones that were already here. Shadow's road story is the heart of the novel, and it's here that Gaiman offers up the details  that make this such a cinematic book--the distinctly American foods and  diversions, the bizarre roadside attractions, the decrepit gods reduced to  shell games and prostitution. "This is a bad land for Gods," says  Shadow.
    More than a tourist in America, but not a native, Neil Gaiman offers an  outside-in and inside-out perspective on the soul and spirituality of the  country--our obsessions with money and power, our jumbled religious  heritage and its societal outcomes, and the millennial decisions we face  about what's real and what's not. "--Therese Littleton"


Trial and Error - Paul Levine

This is the fourth book in the Solomon vs. Lord series and my second favourite of the four.  Victoria was way less hateful then she was in the last two.  My only complaint is that it was a touch too short and that there is no fifth book due out in the near future.

Blurb


When Steve Solomon is awakened from a sound sleep beside his lover and law partner, Victoria Lord, the last thing he expects is to find himself in a high-speed chase against dolphin-kidnapping ecoterrorists on Jet Skis.  But that is what you get when your nephew hangs out at water parks and speaks cetacean–a.k.a. dolphin.  By morning, a person is dead and Steve has a new client: none other than one of the animal liberators.  There’s just one loophole: Victoria is on the case too—on the opposite side.


No wonder Larry King says that this is “mystery writing at its very best” and Dave Barry says Paul Levine writes a terrific courtroom drama that’s also funny as hell!”

December is a write off...

Sheesh, between having two jobs, getting ready for Christmas, two family birthdays and football sundays. I'm having serious trouble finding much time for anything. I have read a couple books - here are my mini-reviews.

All You Can Eat - Emma Holly

This book was okay. It wasn't bad and it was certainly hot but I just didn't connect with the characters very well and preferred the heroines fling to the actual hero in the book. I didn't really by into the romance portion all that much either but it was entertaining.

Grade 6.5/10

The Lake - Richard Laymon

This was a horror novel which I found out after the fact was found amongst the authors things after he passed away and then published. Well - whoever made that decision did the author a serious disservice because I for one will never spend my hard earned dollars on a book by this man again despite the fact that most people feel this was a first draft that should never have been published and pales in comparison to his other works. You think you've read some pretty TSTL characters in romance novels or seen them in your typical horror movie? Trust me these two morons really take the cake. I'll just give you a small sample of beyond stupid things they did. Just a little background this is a mother and daughter. The daughter's boyfriend was just murdered by a psycho-path who then chased the daughter through the forest with a meat clever only she was lucky enough to hide and then make it to the police station. It is also made very clear to her that it appears she was a target and this wasn't a random attack. There are some spoilers here FYI.

1. Mother and daughter believe the psycho path may be in the house so they call the cops and hide in the bathroom. Sounds smart right only the cop who is coming is kinda hot right? So the mother turns on the hair dryer and starts blow drying hair before he gets there.

2. Daughter now knows there is a crazy man out to kill and decides that since she can't sleep she would take a kitchen knife and go out for a 1:00 a.m. run through the forest. Then she runs into some guy who thinks it's normal to walk is dog at 1:00 a.m. and rather than thinking Wow - I'm lucky he didn't attack and rape me I won't do this again she decides that he's really pretty cute and (her boyfriend has already been dead for a whole 7 days you know) she's going to go out again the next night in the hopes that she will run into him again then she goes to his house to have hot chocolate.

3. Another random psycho is trying to kill the daughter. The mother, daughter and another cop all know who it is and why and what he plans to do. They go home to the house where they have continued to live during numerous attacks on their lives, which the crazy killer has a key to (and the daughter is well aware of this) which is very remote and in the forest. Then the mother and the cop all have "emergencies" they just have to leave for and they leave the daughter in the house alone!!!!!!!!!! Are you kidding me????

I should also mention these were the two horniest women I've ever seen in my life. I don't think there was a moment in the book where they weren't getting "excited" about something that was happening. Not to mention the weird happenings that would pop up out of nowhere have nothing to do with the story then just dissappear never to be heard from again.

This book was horrible even if it was a first draft. The way the women behaved in this book was beyond ridiculous. I couldn't even tell you why I finished it but I did and I will never ever ever buy a book written by this author again.

Rating 0/10

Yeesh - on a happy note I'm currently reading By Design by Madeline Hunter and I think I may be enjoying it even more than By Arrangement.