Robyn Jones's Blog, page 25

robgirlbooks' Flash Review Marathon (Part 1) The Hollows book 1, Bloodlines 2 & 3

My reviews tend to go on and on with fangirl love. I thought I'd try something different. This week I plan to share speedy blogger love that spans books, movies, and even a zoo.

BOOKS!!
The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead: 4.5 STARS. Jill is dating a human boy. Awesome Eddie and what the hell Angeline continue to act as guards and high schoolers, which just gets weird sometimes. Sad Adrian is even sadder because his ex-girlfriend's lover (yeah, I said lover) is in town to figure out this whole Strigoi turned back into Moroi business. And you have Sydney who has magic in her just dying to turn her into the worst alchemist of all time! I love the faster pace and funnier banter in the second installment of the Bloodlines series. I laughed out lout and maybe got a bit teary. In the midst of revelations and a setback or two, I discovered I actually like Sydney. Finally!

The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead: 4 STARS. I know, everyone LOVES this installment of the Bloodlines series, but there were a couple things that made me talk back to the book and not in a "hey, how you doin" kind of way. The Marcus storyline and the Angeline storyline both fell flat for me. Mead seemed to let both build up and then peter out. There were times Sydney acted completely out of character or at the very least made me step out of the story to rationalize her actions in order to keep the peace. It also wasn't as funny as book 2. And yet I give it 4 STARS because Adrian and Sydney and their back and forth are just so awesome. They couldn't carry the whole book for me, not when Mead designed this series as an ensemble type deal, but still they were the entire show, that and the magic use.

Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison: 4 STARS. I never thought I was the type to fall in love with a pixie, but holy goodness, Jenks is the most entertaining character I've come across in a long time. He's four inches of hostility and hotness. I know, weird. Rachel is a witch with chip on her shoulder and I respect that. Her world of friends is limited to Jenks and a vampire named Ivy. Ivy keeps tossing her thrall around. Rachel keeps alternating between terror and rapture. The world Harrison created was so elaborate and complete I had no idea what was coming and I couldn't wait to find out. The reason for the 4 STAR rating instead of top billing is the lack of romance. There's a wish-washy bit of batting eyelashes and eyeing of physiques, but that's it.

Sidekick Saturday [18] Bad Guy Turned Good! (no spoilers-promise)

Sidekick Saturday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Jaclyn at JC's Book Haven. There are many secondary characters that are as great as the primaries. In some cases, the sidekicks actually steal the show and you like them better than the heroine or hero. Maybe they didn't have enough page time for how great they were. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:• Choose a sidekick *or someone other than the hero or heroine* that you would like to put in the spotlight that fits in this week's type
• Share a picture and information about the character
• Give the title and author of a book the character can be found in
• Please don't include too many spoilers when describing why the character is such a great sidekick
• Put your link in the Linky thing and comment

Jaclyn picked a doozie for this week's Sidekick Saturday challenge. I can't read her pick or Lexxie's or Aussie Bookworm's! So here's my bad guy turned good. No spoilers-promise.

Tony Giodone from the Tales of Sazi books by C.T. Adams and Cathy Clamp (now the team go by Cat Adams) is a hitman for the mob turned werewolf. He meets Sue Quentin and decides to make his life more complicated by falling in love with a complete innocent. This is a straight up paranormal romance series. Sue verges on being wussy, but there is still something about her I find compelling. Tony's POV is sometimes shocking, which I guess is the draw. The Sazi books tend to conform to a bit of old school romance storytelling, and I still love this series. Tony is a jerk. He has almost no morals. And the evolution of his character happens slowly over the entire series. He bares his teeth often, loves his shiny guns, and fights much bigger dogs because that's all he knows how to do. He makes several appearances throughout the series. I love some books more than others and next year we get a new story arc. hehe.
"I'm an assassin. A killer-for-hire. If you have the money, I'll do the job. I like puppies, kids and Christmas, but I don't give a shit about your story-or your problems." (Hunter's Moon, ch. 1)

Oh boy. My sidekicks jumped in with the same answer to this week's challenge. And they're both from my Touched Girl series. Those who have read the books know exactly who they picked, so I'll leave it at. But I will share the conversation I had with my sister.
"Shan, time for this week's sidekick challenge."
"I have a quote."
"Wait."
"No, I have a quote for this week's sidekick."
"Shannon, you don't even know the theme yet."
"Robyn, I have a damn quote."
"Okay."
.....(I guess I was supposed to write the quote down)....(I do know it's from First Grave on the Right)
"Isn't that funny?"
"Yeah, but the theme is bad guy turned good."
"Oh."

(I will update this post with the quote.)

Sidekick Saturday [18] Bad Guy Turned Good!

Sidekick Saturday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Jaclyn at JC's Book Haven. There are many secondary characters that are as great as the primaries. In some cases, the sidekicks actually steal the show and you like them better than the heroine or hero. Maybe they didn't have enough page time for how great they were. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:• Choose a sidekick *or someone other than the hero or heroine* that you would like to put in the spotlight that fits in this week's type
• Share a picture and information about the character
• Give the title and author of a book the character can be found in
• Please don't include too many spoilers when describing why the character is such a great sidekick
• Put your link in the Linky thing and comment

Jaclyn picked a doozie for this week's Sidekick Saturday challenge. I can't read her pick or Lexxie's! So here's my bad guy turned good.

Tony Giodone from the Tales of Sazi books by C.T. Adams and Cathy Clamp (now the team go by Cat Adams) is a hitman for the mob turned werewolf. He meets Sue Quentin and decides to make his life more complicated by falling in love with a complete innocent. This is a straight up paranormal romance series. Sue verges on being wussy, but there is still something about her I find compelling. Tony's POV is sometimes shocking, which I guess is the draw. The Sazi books tend to conform to a bit of old school romance storytelling, and I still love this series. Tony is a jerk. He has almost no morals. And the evolution of his character happens slowly over the entire series. He bares his teeth often, loves his shiny guns, and fights much bigger dogs because that's all he knows how to do. He makes several appearances throughout the series. I love some books more than others and next year we get a new story arc. hehe.
"I'm an assassin. A killer-for-hire. If you have the money, I'll do the job. I like puppies, kids and Christmas, but I don't give a shit about your story-or your problems." (Hunter's Moon, ch. 1)

Oh boy. My sidekicks jumped in with the same answer to this week's challenge. And they're both from my Touched Girl series. Those who have read the books know exactly who they picked, so I'll leave it at. But I will share the conversation I had with my sister.
"Shan, time for this week's sidekick challenge."
"I have a quote."
"Wait."
"No, I have a quote for this week's sidekick."
"Shannon, you don't even know the theme yet."
"Robyn, I have a damn quote."
"Okay."
.....(I guess I was supposed to write the quote down)....(I do know it's from First Grave on the Right)
"Isn't that funny?"
"Yeah, but the theme is bad guy turned good."
"Oh."

(I will update this post with the quote.)

Think Out Loud [10] Worst First Dates

I've been thinking about dating and how I do not have the best track record in this area.
High school, hot guy friend Marcello asks me to the Valentine's Day Ball. He's Italian and tall and a total player. I'm crushing hard on a different boy and we're only at the mild flirting stage, so I say yes to the dance. Enter an all day car wash, a bathing suit, and a stupid girl. My back was burned so bad it blistered all over, but my mom told me you never back out at the last minute. I went to the dance, severely pink faced and very grumpy. My first words to my amorous friend? "Touch me at all and I'll kick you in the nuts." The date was a big fat bust...totally my fault.
College, cute boy at my favorite coffee shop gets to talking to me and then asks me out. I give him my address...because really, I had no concept of reality. He knocks on my door only a few hours later. Holy goodness. He's wearing a dress. On our date. A dress he must have bought at Ross the same time I did because it looked just like mine, only without the tights. Soooo he took me to a lesbian bar. We went out several times after that, but I let him have at my closet first.
College again, neighbor with bright green hair asks me out. This one should have been obvious, but I really loved the particular green he chose, think Manga and anime. He was straight out of a Japanese comic! And I was an artist and stupid. This is him in the car after hours of revealing the Manga color was not a coincidence, "If I had to have sex with any guy it would be him." Him being his best friend whose house we just had to stop at on the way home. 
I've learned a lot since I was a kid, like not handing out my address to a total stranger. And not deciding to go out with a guy just because he chose a pretty green color to dye his hair. 
How about you, what have you been thinking about? Join Think's meme and have a chat!

A Game of Tag!

Tag! You're an Author and You're "IT"
You may know this game, but not played in quite this manner before. So, Tag an author who is now "IT”. To play this game you have to share your Work in Progress (WIP) or it's a smacked bottom and straight to bed with no supper! Kaykay at The Creative Forum tagged me, and these are the rules:

· Give credit (including URL/link) to the person or Blog that caught you and  who made you "IT" I was caught fair and square whilst running away.

· Play by the rules - no pinching, kicking, spitting, Chinese burns, crying and definitely no tantrums! Which also means you must post the rules.

· You must answer 10 questions about your current WIP, no matter the genre, because possibly we may like to get to know each other a little better (to be honest it's only 9 because as the 10th question is really only the next step)

· List 5 other authors or Bloggers with their hiding places (URL/Links) so that they can be chased down and made "IT" so we can all go home now we've finished playing. Go in, eat supper, and check out THEIR books.


Q 1) What is the title (or working title) of your book?Shadow Town 
Q 2) What genre(s) does your book fall under (or land near really!)?Paranormal RomanceQ 3) What actors would you choose to play the characters in the film version of your book?I can't cast my own characters without my Beta readers describing my picks as "interesting."Q 4) What is the main outline for your book?
Damaged, foul-mouthed nineteen year old Maggie Lane manages the weirdest estates ever. She's always been weary of the majority of the residents she calls Shadows, then Damon Charles moves in. She wants more than anything to be on the other side of her painful past and finally experience love, but not with a Shadow. Too bad because her life is about to take her back to her past to unravel the ultimate question, why? The answer will shred her world as she knows it. Q 5) Will your book be Indie published, self published or represented by an agency and sold to a traditional publisher?Self-published.Q 6) How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?Three weeks.Q 7) What other books in this genre would you compare yours to?Morganville meets Succubus Blues, then throw in a dash of the Kinsey Millhone mystery series Q 8) Who or what inspired you to write this book?The character that became Maggie Lane sat on my shoulder for a while before I found the right storyline for her. My college best friend had this edge when I first met her. I was a total kid who danced around and talked to too many strangers. She said the "f" word with feeling and flipped people off like she still lived in New York (and we were in Hawaii). Q 9) What else about the book might pique the reader’s attention? There's adventure, snark, and steamy romance. Q 10) Thank goodness!! Phew I've ran as fast as I can and these are the author's I've caught (and any who don't have a Blog of their own are welcome to have a sleepover at mine and post their answers here)
Jennifer @ Donnie Darko Girl
E.J. Wesley @ The Open Vein
Rivie @ Bookshelf
Jennifer Anne Davis (author of The Voice)

(I know I'm supposed to list 5 writers or bloggers, but 4 is good too!)

Sidekick Saturday [17] LOYAL!!

Sidekick Saturday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Jaclyn at JC's Book Haven. There are many secondary characters that are as great as the primaries. In some cases, the sidekicks actually steal the show and you like them better than the heroine or hero. Maybe they didn't have enough page time for how great they were. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:• Choose a sidekick *or someone other than the hero or heroine* that you would like to put in the spotlight that fits in this week's type
• Share a picture and information about the character
• Give the title and author of a book the character can be found in
• Please don't include too many spoilers when describing why the character is such a great sidekick
• Put your link in the Linky thing and comment

I'm so excited about this week's challenge because I can finally cast Marshal from E.J. Wesley's Moonsongs series. A few months ago I won Blood Fugue and Witch's Nocture in a giveway. I fell in love with the novelettes and quickly bought Dark Prelude, book 3 when it came out in April. Jenny is the star of the show, but she's nothing without her best friend Marshal. He's amazing, annoying, outspoken, funny, and of course LOYAL. Jenny's life takes a dramatic turn for the bizarre in book one, and Marshal is right there by her side. Here's a tidbit of a character interview I did with Jenny and Marshal last month when I reviewed Dark Prelude (which I gave 4.5 STARS).

Marshal, if Jenny gave you carte blanche with her style, what would you change?

Marshal: *claps hands together and turns to Jenny* First is the hair—the purple faux-hawk was cool on Joan Jett in like 1984 or something.

Jenny: Hey, I thought you said it was alternative chic? And Pink’s look isn’t that far off, so don’t act like I’m the first—

Marshal: *clears throat* My question! As I was saying, ditch the hair, the cargo pants, the tacky videogame t-shirt that I totally don’t get, the—well, everything. We’d give her a shoulder length bob with angles sharp enough to cut tomatoes, a skirt to show off those long legs, and maybe something sleeveless to accentuate her shoulders.

Jenny: *glares*

Marshal: What? You have pretty shoulders. If you didn’t dress like an angry tarp, people might actually notice. When you aren’t running around the house in your underwear that is.

Jenny: See the sharp, pointy tool in my hand? That’s what I think you should notice.

I'm pretty sure without Marshal to argue with Jenny would start attacking random people in her Texas town, not with her scary tomahawk, but with that brazen mouth of hers.

Now for my own sidekicks. My wonderful mother chose Jared from Soul Walker (which I wrote). Jared is amazingly loyal. Sheesh, the guy will even damn himself seeking revenge if you get yourself murdered, he's that loyal. He might fall for your girl, but don't quit on him for that because he never quits on anyone.

Sister time. I was all prepared to give Shannon snark. I called last night so she had time to think about it, but I heard her eager voice while I talked to our mom. I knew something was up immediately. Then she hopped on the phone. "I have a pen, Shan. Go on with your Kelly Meding selection." She laughed, but I grew up with that laugh. "I choose Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley." Shit. She knows Harry Potter is book blogging gold. She knows you never get the wrong answer if you tap into that treasure chest. Sneaky. I had nothing...for all of twenty seconds. "Okay, I'm ready for your quotes." "You are such a shit, Robyn." I'm nodding, but still on the phone and laughing. I almost never contribute quotes to the posts because I'm a library girl and don't have immediate access to the books. I tell her it was a low blow going with Harry Potter. She agreed, but told me I deserved it.

Think Out Loud [9] Fantasy Land

This week I was fortunate to join my son and his fifth grade class on a field trip to the EMP Museum in Seattle.

[image error]
(By Go Card USA from Boston, USA (Seattle Center - Space Needle - EMP - SciFi Museum) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)

The perfect museum for downtown Seattle. We're talking pop culture mania. I didn't get to spend much time enjoying every nook and cranny because I was assigned six kids to watch (including my son). But then we headed to the fantasy exhibit. I got to see Xena's outfit, the lion's costume from the original Wizard of Oz, along with costumes from The Princess Bride and a slew of other sci-fi and fantasy movies and TV shows. Also on display were hand written pages from the early stages of Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings. The kids loved the mechanical dragon the most, especially Will.

I realized Will lives most of his life in a fantasy realm, part video games, part movies, part his immediate family. One of the facets of his autism happens to be echolalia, mimicking. I waited a long time for his first word, then even longer for his first genuine word spurred by his own motivation to speak. I remember it clearly. I was tucking him in bed. He was four and a half and I walked through whatever routine we had at the time. That night I sneezed and for the first time he said, "Bless you, Mom." I have to tell you with a hard of hearing husband (divorced now) and a son with autism no one had said bless you to me in years and then to be called mom, I bawled my eyes out.

Will goes back and forth between lines from his fantasy world and his real feelings. Think of Bumblebee from Transformers. His voice-box/translator/something is busted so he uses lines from songs to communicate. Will does that, but he uses dialogue he's memorized. I thought about how much I love his optimism because there is nothing more optimistic than believing good triumphs over evil, that superheroes exist, that he can be a superhero. I don't want to take that away from him, but I also want him to live here in the present. I had an idea. I have this juvenile fiction story I created that's on hold. I thought why not write it with my boys. Will can help me create a story so he can see fiction as it's being made. Maybe I can help him understand the difference between pretend and real. Maybe all that will happen is a new addition to the library of go-to lines, but you always have keep trying stuff.

I'm not sure how to start. I have the names. I have a premise. A rough sketch in my mind of the alternate world I want to create. How do I bring the boys into it so they own part of the story? I have to figure out that part. I also have to make it a part of our weekly routine. Maybe have a big sheet of paper taped to the wall where they can spout ideas and I can jot them down immediately. Hmm. Any ideas? Suggestions?

Have something stirring around in that head of yours? A joke you want to share? How about a quote or your favorite song? Join Think's awesome meme because we'd love to hear form you.

Oh Mercy! robgirlbooks' Review of Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs

Frost Burned
by Patricia Briggs
Published by Ace Hardcover (3/5/13)
352 pages
My Own Copy
4.5 STARS!!!

Mercy Thompson takes her stepdaughter shopping on the eve of Black Friday. Much complaining and a sizable fender bender lead to a terrifying discovery; the mate bond between Mercy and Adam has gone quiet. Our favorite heroine switches to stealth mode to find out what's wrong because she's poked the supernatural beast enough to know something really bad has decided to bite back. With Bran busy negotiating with the Fae and almost every pack member unreachable, Mercy teams up with unlikely helpers and like always takes on more than she can chew.

The moment I cracked open Frost Burned, I happily fell into Briggs' easy style of storytelling. I love Mercy's snark, especially when she's cranky. And she's cranky about shopping when she should be rubbing her full belly after a big Thanksgiving Day dinner. She's always had this air of maturity, but she seemed extra grown up in this installment. She's a step mom now. She has an entire pack to worry about, as well as her mate who is in some kind of danger that has him in pain and raging pretty hard. She mentions several times she would like to hand over the decision making to someone better equipped, yet the fate of the world and her loved ones reside right there on her shoulders. I remember in Moon Called she wore the same cocoa stained shirt forever. I wanted to personally escort her to a hot shower. This time she's battered by one event after another with no sleep, no food, no medical care. I wanted to bandage up her many scrapes, feed her some soup, and tuck her in bed.

Along with the action starting up right away, we're treated to Adam's POV. It's a switch up to her previous Mercy books. And it's awesome! I would have liked a little more man-type thoughts. Most of them revolve around his monster-ness. Doesn't he know Mercy loves all of him? To counter the warm fuzzies inspired by insight into one of our favorite characters, Briggs kills us a little bit by revealing a less cool Stephan. What is happening to our favorite vampire? He's so dark. I want to slap him out of his funk, but then he'd just kill me for it. And I'm not entirely sure I want a friendly Stephan again. Maybe I like a potentially evil former Scooby fan lurking about.

The mystery part of the story is great in that I had no idea what/who was the big bad. I had my guesses, oh and my author judgements. "Patty, come on. That is so obvious." Ha! I was wrong with every dang guess. Some of that had to do with too much misdirection. The action was riveting. Briggs added new elements, new ways to fight, and new types of things to fight.

I loved Frost Burned. I couldn't read it fast enough, yet I tried to take my time. I haven't started stalking Briggs' website (which has had a complete makeover!), but I'm sure any day now I'll start hunting down the next big release date.

Talking points for those who have read Frost Burned.

The romance part in some ways was wonderful. Mercy loves Adam. We love Adam. It's all good. But come on, Briggs. They did it in Silver Borne. You can't reclaim your Urban Fantasy genre status because we've been rooting for this romance too long and you already gave it to us and we sat through a wedding ceremony. So give us the dang sex. Grrh. Anyone else feel this way, that Briggs was holding on to keeping this series light on romance when that ship has already sailed?

After reading the third book in the Alpha and Omega series, Fair Game, I wondered how Briggs' was going to address the fact that she just remapped the world. Briggs does a good job of filling in the blanks for those who need a refresher. For those who opted out of reading the Alpha and Omega series, they'd have the basics, but not the justifiable anger the Fae feel toward the human justice system. Was there too much backstory in this installment? Not enough? I personally do not like backstory. I want the most minimal possible to keep the read fresh and exciting and still fluid with the series.

I know Mercy is smart, but there were a few showy moments in this book where I felt like the stupid one at a cocktail party. Sheesh, even Tony said, "I and the police department..." or some such. Mercy had just used the same sentence structure pages earlier. It didn't feel like the way you'd expect conversation to naturally flow. I guess this one's more of a gripe than a talking point.

Sidekick Saturday [16] FIERY!!

Sidekick Saturday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Jaclyn at JC's Book Haven. There are many secondary characters that are as great as the primaries. In some cases, the sidekicks actually steal the show and you like them better than the heroine or hero. Maybe they didn't have enough page time for how great they were. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:• Choose a sidekick *or someone other than the hero or heroine* that you would like to put in the spotlight that fits in this week's type
• Share a picture and information about the character
• Give the title and author of a book the character can be found in
• Please don't include too many spoilers when describing why the character is such a great sidekick
• Put your link in the Linky thing and comment
This week's challenge is FIERY. I love it! Jaclyn at JC's Book Haven chose Christian Ozera from the Vampire Academy series. Best pick ever! Christian is part jerk, part hero, all the way firestarter!
I'm choosing Della Tsang from C.C. Hunter's Shadow Falls Series. Della is getting her own spinoff, but in the mean time the girl is the epitome of fiery. She's an Asian American teen vampire who was probably fiesty before she became a bloodsucker. She constantly fights with Miranda, one of her best friends and a witch who is quick to twitch her picky...meaning quick to throw a spell around. Della's hostility comes and goes especially if she has a crush on you. Yikes! I love her. Underneath the super speed, strength and pointy fangs the girl is all heart. She's vulnerable and lonely and sweet. But all that exists under layers of snark and death threats.

So here's my sidekick part of Jaclyn's Sidekick Saturdays. My mom bounced a few ideas around until settling on Dixie Weaver from A Killer Plot by Ellery Adams. Dixie is the outspoken best friend to Olivia, the main character who's not short on fiery either. Oh, Dixie also happens to be a rollerskating dwarf.

"I'm not little." 'Little' implies young or innocent. Like a cute puppy or a baby bird. I'm a middle-aged waitress with a litter of children and a permanent tan. I smoke and do shots of tequila and I'm not cute." (pg.5)

Now for my sister. You will not believe it. She's using the character from last week, only this time she told me his name. Ack! I have to confess, I cannot remember it. D-something? So I'm going with her first pick, Eve Rosser from Rachel Caine's Morganville series. I told her I thought Eve cried too much to be considered fiery. At the time Shan was committed to her choice. Ha! Now she's stuck with it. hehe

Feature and Follow [11] Mother's Day Special!!

This is a weekly blog meme hosted by Parajunkee's View and Alison Can Read.
Here are the general rules to Follow Friday:
1. Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts and any one else you want to follow on the list
2. Follow our Featured Bloggers - This week's feature blogs are: Counting in Bookcases and
The Nerd Herd
3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments
5. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can
6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
7. If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!
This week's question is: Happy Mother's Day! Who is your favorite mom from fiction?
Any one who hasn't read River Marked, stop reading this post. I don't want to spoil anything for you. Okay, I've done my spoiler alert duty. I'm going with a stepmom.  

In River Marked, Adam and Mercy get married and go on their honeymoon. All hell breaks loose of course. But that doesn't change the fact that Mercy is now a stepmom to Jesse. She's an awesome kid with a super alpha dad and a shitty mother. Mercy bakes homemade cookies, always tells Jesse the truth, and risks everything for her family, even for the ones who want to take a chomp out of her hide. This maybe an unpopular opinion, but I'd love to see Adam and Mercy have a baby, for now, Mercy is doing a grand job as a stepmom, especially in Frost Burned, the 7th installment.