false 113 661 471 true 5675625 read 0 true 1920198 currently-reading 190 true 1920197 to-read 205 false 2786429 paranormal-romance 153 false 2786465 contemporary-urban-fantasy 114 false 2786494 five-star-favorites 70 false 2786497 laugh-out-loud-funny 51 false 2786474 young-adult-paranormal 51 false 2786430 erotica 49 false 2786446 funny-fantasy 36 false 2786460 chick-lit 31 false 2786455 non-fiction 29 false 1920206 did-not-finish 26 false 3656202 paranormal-mystery 19 false 2786502 didn-t-like-much 19 false 1982800 library 16 false 2799295 science-fiction 15 false 5286664 my-kids-should-read-someday 15 false 2786482 romance-anthologies 14 false 2164004 suggested-books-that-sound-good 8 false 3656203 mystery 7 false 2799268 business 6 false 5515770 fantasy--the-regular-kind--not-urba 6 false 2799304 historical-fantasy 5 false 3815960 too-violent 5 false 3295841 high-brow-literature 1 false 5915299 young-adult 1 false 8207711 can-t-remember-much http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/47593656 to: Wicked Game (WVMP Radio, #1) by Jeri Smith-Ready
bookshelves: contemporary-urban-fantasy, paranormal-romance
This is a contemporary/urban fantasy set in a college town radio station outside of Baltimore. The DJs in the radio station are all vampires, and the heroine, Ciara Griffin is a recovering con artist/business student who works as their marketing intern. In this version of the world, vamps are real, but closeted. There's undead, gorgeous, they drink blood, will burst into flame from sunlight, get burns from holy water. They can stay awake during daylight hours and they can eat or drink, but it doesn't taste good. They tend to get "stuck" in the era in which they were made. Most go slowly insane as the world changes around them; they develop obsessive-compulsive disorders to cope.

The radio station where Ciara works might be taken over by a big conglomerate, so Ciara comes up with a marketing plan to save the station: take the vampires out of the closet (wink wink, nudge, nudge). Some older vamps don't like it, and a big mess ensues, including a big con. Ciara is also very attracted to one of the vamps, but has trouble getting over his undead status.

This was a pretty good book. The writing was good, the story entertaining, the con was nicely done, and the rock and roll trivia was enlightening. I liked the OCD spin on vampires. I have nothing bad to say about it; it just didn't seem memorable to me. I may read the sequels eventually. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78935972 Blood and Chocolate (Mass Market Paperback) by Annette Curtis Klause
bookshelves: to-read
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/76197615 to: Queen of the Darkness (The Black Jewels, #3) by Anne Bishop
bookshelves: fantasy--the-regular-kind--not-urba, five-star-favorites, paranormal-romance
I love this fantasy series. (It continues after this book, even if it says trilogy on some of the listings.) The relationships are rich and fleshed out, so much so that you find yourself laughing at inside jokes between characters. I usually think of traditional fantasy books as warrior-quest stories, like Lord of the Rings. (Not my thing!) This one has an interesting world with lots of drama, but at least half of the pages are spent on character development - the plot just gives them something to develop around. It makes the books addictive for me. I couldn't put it down.

This book finishes up the story arc for Jaenelle's reign as the all-powerful Queen of Ebon Askavi.(Yeah, some of the names are horrible fantasy tongue-twisters.) She and Daemon finally get together, but the big war is coming, and she's having trouble figuring out how to harness her witch powers to destroy her enemies without harming those loyal to her. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78726684 Hell's Belles! (Paperback) by Paul Magrs
bookshelves: to-read
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77860022 Bitter Night: A Horngate Witches Book (Mass Market Paperback) by Diana Pharaoh Francis
bookshelves: to-read
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77303571 to: The Master and Margarita (Paperback) by Mikhail Bulgakov
bookshelves: can-t-remember-much
I read this so long ago, I barely remember it, but it was really good. I remember that magical elements were interwoven with satire, but that's about it. I should re-read it one of these days. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75495895 to: Darker Angels (The Black Sun's Daughter, #2) by M.L.N. Hanover
bookshelves: contemporary-urban-fantasy, paranormal-romance
Book 2 in a contemporary/urban fantasy where the heroine (Jayne) inherits her uncle's demon-fighting legacy along with enough money to buy a third world country. She also seem to have some really lucky mojo when it comes to fighting demons (riders, per the book's terminology.) In this book, she fights loa in New Orleans, but nothing's quite what it appears.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the first book in this series. This second one is also good, but seems to be a bridge from book one to whatever comes next, more than a stand-alone. The author leaves so many questions open: What makes Jayne special? What will they discover in the many real estate properties she inherited? When will the author reveal something freaky about Janye's parentage (already hinted at)? When will she have an affair with Ex? (The author dedicates to Anita Blake - you know some crazy love triangle/hexagon/decagon is coming up eventually.) How will Jayne use all these new alliances she built? I look forward to more, I just wish the author had given the reader a bit more character development in this installment. I also got tired of the "if I'd only knew what he/she meant, it would have gone better later" plot device. The author uses it several times.

BTW, If you click through on the author, you'll find that it's actually a MAN writing this! GO DANIEL ABRAHAM! There aren't enough male writers in urban fantasy. This is a great character, but I for one would love to see more male protagonists in this genre. Maybe the next series or a spin off? ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/45576707 to: Magic to the Bone (Allie Beckstrom, #1) by Devon Monk
bookshelves: contemporary-urban-fantasy, did-not-finish, didn-t-like-much
This is a contemporary/urban fantasy set slightly in the future after magic use becomes a form of technology that is commonplace. Problem is, magic requires a physical price of the user - usually in the form of pain, sometimes even death. Plenty of very smart people have found ways around this problem by dumping the price onto others - sometimes paid, willing people, other times unwitting victims. Allie chases down the magic users that dump onto the unwilling (often corporations.)

I made it a couple chapters into the book and then gave up. There's nothing particularly wrong with the story, it just didn't grab me enough to make me want to keep reading. My to-read pile has grown out of control, so I took it as a sign and moved on to the next one. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/152410-succubus-heat-discussion Anita made a comment in the Paranormal Romance group:

I went to a Richelle Mead book signing a couple months ago, and she said that she knows the the basic story art of each of her series in advance, including how many books until the end of the series. So eventually, the series will end. She didn't say what the magic number was, though. ]]>