No one creates realms like New York Times bestselling author Anne Bishop. Now in a thrilling new fantasy series, enter a world inhabited by t...moreSynopsis:
No one creates realms like New York Times bestselling author Anne Bishop. Now in a thrilling new fantasy series, enter a world inhabited by the Others, unearthly entities—vampires and shape-shifters among them—who rule the Earth and whose prey are humans.
As a cassandra sangue, or blood prophet, Meg Corbyn can see the future when her skin is cut—a gift that feels more like a curse. Meg’s Controller keeps her enslaved so he can have full access to her visions. But when she escapes, the only safe place Meg can hide is at the Lakeside Courtyard—a business district operated by the Others.
Shape-shifter Simon Wolfgard is reluctant to hire the stranger who inquires about the Human Liaison job. First, he senses she’s keeping a secret, and second, she doesn’t smell like human prey. Yet a stronger instinct propels him to give Meg the job. And when he learns the truth about Meg and that she’s wanted by the government, he’ll have to decide if she’s worth the fight between humans and the Others that will surely follow.
My Thoughts:
Oh wow how I loved this book. I could not put it down. The first night I started reading, I was up until 3:30am reading it despite needing to be up by 5:30am to get ready for work. I just didn't want to stop. I had to know what would happen to Meg. Would the others take care of her? Would they care about her? Protect her? They did all of these things. I loved Meg. I loved Simon. I loved Sam. I loved all of the secondary characters. Honestly, I just plain loved those Others and the multiple POVs worked really well for this story.
Meg is the sweetest thing, but as she lived on her own amongst the Others, she showed that she was no pushover. She spoiled more than a few of the Others (love how she was with Sam and love the ponies!), but she stood up to them when she needed to. She did hold a lot in, but considering how she'd spent her life before running away, I wasn't surprised that she played most things close to the vest. But there were several instances where she did ask for the help of one of the Others. I'm hoping that soon Simon will be one that she calls on for help. I'm also hoping that she begins calling him by his name more often as well. She calls him Mr. Wolfgard throughout most of the book as a way of keeping him at arm's length, but I couldn't blame her for it. Simon snarled at her a lot in the beginning and he wasn't that nice. There are good reasons for why he acted that way and he was never truly mean to her, but he sure didn't endear himself to her. They begin letting their guards down around one another as the story progresses and I loved seeing the slow evolution of their relationship.
There's no romance in this book, but I think it will build up to that at some point in the story. I'm actually kind of glad that they didn't fall for each other right away, though. Mostly because for Meg, she knows nothing about romance, so I'm sure she was never thinking about it. For Simon, there's this weird human around that doesn't illicit the instinct in him to think of her as prey, but he doesn't really know what it means and it bothers him. He does begin to realize as the story unfolds that being around Meg makes him feel content and he feels friendship towards her and recognizes her as one of his Pack, but I don't think he realizes that he feels something beyond these things for her. It's nice not having that instant connection between heroine and hero like so many UF tend to do these days. Here, I get to watch them get to know each other without hormones getting all in the way and causing them to avoid each other.
I thought Simon was fantastic. It was so interesting watching him go from thinking that all humans are just meat and if they aren't just meat, they're at least useful meat, so he won't eat them. Meg's influence on him is quite positive, even if he does react badly to her in the beginning. I loved watching him fuss over her the most. He really cares about what happens to Meg and considers her as one of his own. Perhaps, he may even begin to consider her in other ways. ^_~
I will say that the villain in this book as a bit cheesy. I suppose though, that she isn't exactly the true villain, but she was definitely an antagonist. Her motivation for doing everything she does is just so stupid, really. That's not to say that she doesn't do evil things, she does, but she's still on the cheesy side. I just wanted to throat punch her a bunch of times. She gets what she deserves in the end. I do believe she suffered quite well.
We still have the real villain out there and thanks to events at the end of the book, Simon now knows what is causing the sickness in the Others. I hope he will be all right. And I really want to know what the Controller will do next to try to get Meg back, because he will definitely try to get her back. Can't wait for March 2014 for book 2.(less)
Genevieve Taylor is a sidhe - one of the noble fae - and she's unusual even in a London where celebrity vampires, eccentric goblins and schem...moreSynopsis:
Genevieve Taylor is a sidhe - one of the noble fae - and she's unusual even in a London where celebrity vampires, eccentric goblins and scheming lesser fae mix freely with humanity...
Genny is a rising star at Spellcrackers.com, where she finds the "M" in magic - which can mean anything from mischief to malice to murder. The spellcrackers are run by the Witch Council, whose ancient tenets prohibit any contact with vampires. And that's just fine with Genny, who wants as little to do with the bloodsuckers as possible.
But when a sinfully sexy vamp is accused of killing his lover, an old debt forces Genny to help prove his innocence, risking her job, her safety - and the exposure of her own dark secrets. Genny soon realizes that she and her client are both unwitting pawns in a centuries-old power struggle. And it's not just her own neck at stake but the lives of all of London's supernatural beings.
My Thoughts:
I honestly don't know if I like this book or not. I spent most of it being confused. It took forever to figure out what was going on and it wasn't until things were spelled out in the end that I understood anything. There were a few things that I put together after a while. Like Genny's other big secret. Her first secret isn't that big of a secret from the readers since she pretty much talks about it right off the bat. The second secret is revealed not long after, but I didn't understand it at first. Not until I realized what her father must have been. That was when that scene in Sucker Town started to make sense. Not the whole Rosa thing, though. That was just weird. I'm wondering if there's any significance to that or if it's all just a coincidence. Why would her alter be someone that the vamp that seems to want her most be so familiar with? Really freaking weird. Especially when their history got revealed in that memory. The memory that she basically ignores for the whole book until the very end.
I rated it three stars because I don't hate it, but it didn't really hook me. I read it straight through because I did want to know what was going on, but most of the time, I was frustrated by what Genny was doing. I wanted to smack her around. She was terrified of getting close to vampires, but yet, she gets involved in this whole mess without EVER getting confirmation from her boss that is was okay considering she supposedly told the client about Genny in the first place. Honestly, she should have quit the minute all of those vampires showed up at the police station. And now they all know at least one of her major secrets and everyone thinks she's some kind of blood slut now.
There were just too many players in all of this. I know it was a power struggle type of deal with the added bonus of Genny's tasty sidhe blood, but it was damn near impossible to figure any of this out. Genny was all over the place. And then there was Finn who I'm not entirely enamored with despite Genny's strong attraction to him. But was that just because of her nature or does she actually like him? She barely knows anything about him considering she kept trying to keep away from him. And then there's Malik who I'm admittedly intrigued by, but that relationship is just weird considering their past.
When it was all said and done, I can't say that this book will be a very memorable one. If I continue the series, I likely won't do so for quite some time. It's just not a priority.(less)
It's one thing to learn to curtsy properly. It's quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time. Welcome to Finishing Sc...moreSynopsis:
It's one thing to learn to curtsy properly. It's quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time. Welcome to Finishing School.
Sophronia Temminnick at 14 is a great trial more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper manners -- and the family can only hope that company never sees her atrocious curtsy. Her poor mother, desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady, enrolls the lively tomboy in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.
But young ladies learn to finish...everything. Certainly, they learn the fine arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but they also learn to deal out death, diversion, and espionage -- in the politest possible ways, of course. Sophronia and her friends are in for a rousing first year's education.
My Thoughts:
This book is too freaking cute. I didn't realize that it is a YA prequel to Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series until I saw it on her website. I'm going to have to finally check out that series after all. I've been curious about it for a while now. Back to this book.
This was fun and I liked Sophronia from the start. Feisty little thing. Too feisty in her mother's opinion. As such, Sophronia gets herself sent off to Finishing School. To Sophronia, this is even worse than being sent off to become a vampire's drone. Still, she's sent off without any fanfare and on the way to the school, she and the people she's traveling with get attacked by flywaymen who are apparently looking for some kind of prototype. Sophronia, is of course, curious as to what this is. Especially given the behavior of their supposed headmistress who actually turns out to be another student.
From here, things just get stranger and stranger. Sophronia meets her first werewolf, her first vampire and the real headmistress who apparently has quite the ample bosom. She also befriends the niece of one of the professors and the "sooties" who are the men that work in the boiler room. She goes on multiple excursions around the school-which is actually a floating airdinghy and quite different from any finishing school that you would expect. Especially since the headmistress doesn't seem to know wtf really goes on at the school. These girls are learning to finish in more than just one way.
Sophronia and her friend Dimity decide that they will find the prototype that the flywaymen want so badly and that the school needs for a communication device. They don't care for Monique who lied about their initial encounter with the flywaymen and who just seems to be a regular witch besides. Lots of adventures occur in trying to determine where Monique hid the prototype and Sophronia realizes that there's only one place that she could have hid it. A whole lot of wackiness ensues in procuring, but what fun that was. A cheese pie was involved.
I loved seeing Sophronia becoming just a bit more ladylike despite herself and for a 14 y/o girl, she is pretty quick witted. Damned sneaky, too. I just fell in love with her and the friends she made. Especially Soap and Vieve. I kind of hope something develops between Sophronia and Soap. They've both got little crushes on each other. But then there's that Piston boy who seems to be quite pretty. I have a feeling that we haven't seen the last of him, despite not knowing what his name is. I look forward to seeing Professor Braithwope, too. Him and all of those "Whot"s. Too funny. And there's still one thing about Monique that we don't know. And why was Captain Niall not where he was supposed to be that day of the play? I wonder if we'll find those things out in the second book, which I will definitely be reading.(less)
As Chicago's only professional wizard, Harry Dresden has had cases that have pitted him against insane necromancers, power-hungry faerie quee...moreSynopsis:
As Chicago's only professional wizard, Harry Dresden has had cases that have pitted him against insane necromancers, power-hungry faerie queens, enigmatic dark wizards, fallen angels—pretty much a "who's who" of hell and beyond—with the stakes in each case ranging from a lone human soul to the entire human race.
But not every adventure Harry Dresden undertakes is an epic tale of life and death in a world on the edge of annihilation.
Here, together for the first time, are the shorter works of #1 New York Times bestselling author Jim Butcher—a compendium of cases that Harry and his cadre of allies managed to close in record time. With tales ranging from the deadly serious to the absurdly hilarious—including an all-new never-before-published story—this is a must-have collection for every devoted Harry Dresden fan.
My Thoughts:
I didn't read every story in this novella compilation, but I did skim at least most of them. I got to see what some of the cases Harry has referenced working on in books, but happened where we readers hadn't actually seen. There were some pretty good ones.
I loved the ones from Thomas's and Murphy's POVs, though. Seeing Harry through someone else's eyes was so awesome. Especially from Thomas's. I really loved knowing how he feels about his brother. I've always loved the way he's had Harry's back since he's shown up in his life, so the title of his novelette, "Backup" was perfect.
Murphy's story was showing us how you can miss someone and still make sure things go on. Murphy may be losing her job as a cop, but she won't stop defending and protecting the people of Chicago. I love that. And she refuses to believe that Harry is gone forever. And until he comes back, she'll work together with the friends and allies that she and Harry have made over the years to make sure Chicago isn't overrun. Will had a good point about the vacuum needing to be filled now that Harry has disposed of the Red Court. The rules are going to completely change, but that won't stop our heroes and heroines, I'm sure.
I kind of wanted to be able to see how a few other people reacted to the news about Harry, but this was a pretty good story. I've always known that Murphy is capable of handling herself under pressure and while in danger, but this time, she was practically by herself. The woman did good. So did Will and Marcy. I think they can hold things down until Harry makes it back. How he'll do that, I don't know, but of course he'll be back...(less)
Mello ❣ Illium ✮Harry✮ ☀Myrnin☀ Torin
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