Vanessa’s Comments (group member since Jun 15, 2017)

Vanessa’s comments from the Read, Reading, Planning to Read and More group.

LAB... I am so glad to have someone to talk about this book with.

I recently did a bit of a re-read of Briggs' Alpha and Omega series. Sometimes it is nice to go back to the beginning to remember just how the author drew you in. The BDB would be rather daunting.

When I read the Phury text I didn't think a thing about it.

I do hope that there will be something for Assail and Sola in the future. Maybe Lassiter will have the power. I also like that Ward doesn't have the sudden solution to everything regarding the couples. And.. Speaking of Lassiter, what is up with him, not helping his boys, the BDB? He only has to stay neutral regarding the Omega, not this new threat. Right? So what is going on?

I wonder what V saw in his vision that he tried to dismiss as a dream.

When Sola finally realized that they kept the shades closed during the day, I wondered about Beth. Wasn't she able to stand sunlight?

I did think that Sola's reaction to Assail being a vampire was a bit drawn out, and even after talking to Jane, she was a bit over the top. I love her Grandmother. I suspect that she will be a part of the BDB folks' lives for a while. I have always thought that she knows something of the vampire world. No real evidence, just a feeling.

The Victoria thing was just to make an even playing field. He killed her tormentors, she killed his.

I do think that De La Cruz, (sp?), will be one of the few humans to know about the vampires. It seems to be only a matter of time, he shows up periodically, and now that the dark entity/shadows are appearing out in the open, humans will be exposed. My theory is that Ward will have some incidents where the general population will be exposed to the vampire world.

I feel that Ward has done a fantastic job reviving this series. I am more enthusiastic than I have been in years about this series.

Mhurder was in a short story in an anthology years ago, (no Xhex just a female ghost hunter). When John Matthew and Xhex got together there was mention of a bad relationship between her and Mhurder. He has always been a distant character. When Ward brings him back, there will be probably be trouble for Xhex and JM. She always finds a way to somewhat redeem her off characters, so Mhurder's expulsion from the BDB will have some crazy explanation and circumstances will make everything right again. And they'll all live happily ever after!! ;-}

So, the revelation about Beth's cat (Boo?), was interesting.

I am anticipating the next Ward book. It seems that we have had a nice big dip into her world, with Blood Fury and Dearest Ivie and finally The Thief all within 4 months. It's going to be a long wait for the next story.

Carol... I would read The Chosen first. There is a new bad guy in town and you need to know all about the other guys. One thing that I really like is that the BDB seems to have had a redux. We are re-visiting some known couples and as Lisa once said "In most series, there is the angst then the HEA and that's it. Unicorns and rainbows for ever! This is not the case in this series.
Did you get the chance to read Dearest Ivie? I liked it a lot. Ward can really write a short story/novella. It doesn't have anything to do with the main storylines, (unlike the Jane Yellowrock series), but it is a great read. The last couple of books have revived my enthusiasm for the BDB.
I also like her Black Dagger Legacy series too. These are about the younger generation and to me, seem to be more like the start of the BDB, more romantic, you know, with a side of fighting and bloodshed. LOL!!
I think that you will like the new bend to the series.

I did read the first book, The Six-Gun Tarot and I did like it in a quirky, dark kind of way. I probably should re-read it. Add that to my never ending pile of books/series to catch up on.

To Carol and the others who read the Belador series by Dianna Love, she has posted an excerpt for the next book, Treoir Dragon Hoard: Belador Book 10. It isn't due to be released until September 13th. There is also an offer for personalized and signed copies of Treoir Dragon Hoard: Belador Book 10 which will be released 2 weeks before the general release.

http://authordiannalove.com/books/bel...

Lisa... We'll be here when you are ready. I didn't do an April challenge because there were so many good books that I knew that I would want to read first.

This is from Jennifer Ashley's (Shifters Unbound), "News" e-mail.

"Tiger Striped

The Shifters are not over! While I will be indie publishing these after Midnight Wolf, I have definitely not ended the series. You'll be able to buy them in print, e-book, and audio.

Tiger Striped is a novella starring Tiger, Carly, and Connor. Join them on an adventure that will change their lives.

Tiger Striped is available for pre-order in print and e-book, and Cris Dukehart is even now working on the audio! The Shifters will continue! So many, including Ben, need stories!"

Yay!! More Shifters, (including Ben), and they will be on audio.

Tiger is one of my favorite characters of this whole series, I am looking forward to reading this novella about him, Carly, and Conner.

Midnight Wolf will be out April 24th, and Tiger Striped will be out May 22nd.

Let's talk about The Thief

There will be Spoilers Here!!!

LAB... We can post on the buddy reads thread if you would like.

I finished The Rejected Writers' Book Club. There were times that I was grateful that I was home by myself. I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes. It is a crazy "group of characters" read. There is a journey, a straight woman, (the MC, Helen), a couple of extreme characters, a bossypants "leader", and a few very sentimental stories. I had a great time listening to this. I am listening to the second book, Rejected Writers Take the Stage.

I have been listening to an amusing book that is free on KU. The Rejected Writers' Book Club is quite witty and very amusing. The premise is that the local women's group of rejected writers have been meeting monthly for years. They are proud of their rejection letters and have been accumulating them in a file counting up to the 500th rejection which when that occurs they will be having a party. The meetings are held at the same woman's house and now unfortunately she has received the first acceptance letter. Lots of chaos erupts. I have been chuckling out loud all morning. It is great on audio in a Jana Deleon or Molly Harper kind of way. The action is non stop and over the top zany. Unless it really falls on it's face this is looking like a great comedy addition.

Sharon... I totally agree about the V/Jane situation. I was actually listening at work and the guy I work with asked me what was wrong and was I mad at something. I told him yes, this author!! She seemed to have sidestepped really quickly. I almost felt, like you, that perhaps her beta readers were having none of that. I was anxious to read that particular storyline. I was trying not to leave spoilers, but now that it's out in the open, Yay!! Murhder and the pre-trans woman, Jo, can't wait!! Did you get to read Dearest Ivie? I loved it!

I just saw that this is up for pre-order in both book and audio versions---

Death Doesn't Bargain: A Deadman's Cross Novel

This will be out May 8th.

I started and finished The Thief. Although it is 14 1/2 hours on audio, I couldn't stop listening. I thought that it was great.

I thought that Ward was on her game with this book. It was nice to see certain characters who haven't had a lot of presence play a role in this novel.

There are a couple of stories within this novel. Sola and Assail are the main characters, Vischous and Jane are another storyline, and the new "entity" is the third.

A side note on the Assail/Marisol (Sola) story is one about Victoria, who is the sister of the bad guys whom Sola worked for to spy on Assail.

I found the characters rather raw and emotionally real. The flow of the story was easy to follow. (I listened on audio).

I really do wonder what the product endorsement fees are because there are a lot of them. I don't care if there is a lot of trademarked name dropping, but I do know that it is a concern for some people.


Spoilerish for The Thief......

There are a couple of characters, (with short chapters), who have been a mystery throughout the past few books and because of their mentions, I think that they will be in the next book.
All in all, I had a great time reading this. I would give it 4- 4 1/2*s.
It hit all of my urban fantasy buttons, a romance, a couple of good fights, vengeance and characters willing to fight for and protect their "families".

I seem to get the weirdest GoodReads friends requests. The latest is on a brand new account, (March 2018), it has no stats, no reviews, and is apparently "following" me. The craziest thing is that the about me section is written in what I believe is Russian and this person has 13 friends already. The only English wording is "18 sexy" in the middle of "her" bio. That's just too weird for me. Umm, that would be a No. Anyone else get these?

Sharon wrote: "This comes out tomorrow yay Assail and Sola's story Not a fan of the cover no way is that Assail."

Sharon... I agree, that doesn't look like Assail to me either. It seems like we have been waiting for their HEA for a long time. If you read the description, it sounds as if Sola doesn't have any idea what he is, but I was under the impression that she does have an idea. She grew up with her Grandmother and she told her "old" tales about other creatures. I might be wrong, but I think that she knows. I picked this up on audio, $14.99 for a kindle edition seems like too much for an e-book, especially when my Audible credits are less than 2/3 of that price.

At any time/age it is hard to know when to draw the line as far as parenting vs. helicopter parenting. I have worked with youth groups for over 20 years, and I am happy to say that for the most part, parents are doing a great job. I am glad to hear these stories of the lengths parents will go to accommodate and enable their children's success. Kudo's to you all, that's one hell of a hard job.

Back to books....
In some of the Virgin River books the female characters are hard to listen to. They fly off the handle and jump to conclusions without allowing any explanations and that bugs me. I hate rash females. Sticking up for yourself is one thing, bitchin is another. Then again, there might not be much of a story without false conflict.
I did finish Wild Man Creek. I decided to listen to the next book, Harvest Moon because the h is the sister of the h in Wild Man Creek and I like them both.

The first book in Elizabeth Hunter's Elemental mysteries series is free on kindle, nook, (e-readers), etc.

A Hidden Fire

It is $1.99 on Audible. Here's the kindle/audio link.

https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Fire-El...
I posted this on the Bargain Books & Price Drops discussion.

Liz...Re: Hot and Badgered Do you think that Stevie and the Panda will get together? How about Stevie and the "famous" pianist? You know the one that she can't remember? I'm not so sure about Max and Dutch either. You know that Laurenston likes to mix it up.

The first book in Elizabeth Hunter's Elemental mysteries series is free on kindle, nook, (e-readers), etc.

A Hidden Fire

It is $1.99 on Audible. Here's the kindle/audio link.

https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Fire-El...

Chapter 7 Part 1 is up "Sweep of the Blade"

http://innkeeper.ilona-andrews.com/20...

Carol wrote: "KSM - LOL... re confusion with Anthony Ryan & Mark Lawrence. I loved Anthony Ryan's Blood Song. It was excellent. Thank goodness I didn't purchase the rest of the series... it went ..."

Corol... I forgot about the Golgatha series. For some reason, it doesn't show up as a book that I have read on kindle. I'm going to add The Shotgun Arcana to my audio wish list.

Vinity... I do the same thing, I go through the Audible search with the names of all of my favorite authors and pluck out the Romance Unlimited listens. That's how I ended up reading the Virgin River books, I had read the first 2 books before and decided to see if the third book was on RU. Little did I know that now there are 20 books in the series and a spin-off.
I never did listen to all of the Walker Paper books. I have a couple of them but I purchased them when they were on sale, and I am missing one or two to complete the series. Those books and the Virgin River books are some of my oldest Audible series.

Douglas wrote: "KSM wrote: "I'm surprised no one has mentioned , which came out this week, since I remember quite a few of you had read Red sister and thought it was great. I was cu..."

Doug... Did you get the Broken Empire books as a kindle trilogy? Amazon states that it is not currently available for purchase. I hope that it was just the link. I was hoping that those were in an Audible trilogy too, sadly they're not. Is the Red Queen War series a spin off of the Broken series? I have listened to the first one, (RQ), and found it rather funny.

KSM... I hope that you are feeling better. :-} I listened to the first Blood Song book and really liked it. The rest of the series never made it's way to my TBR. The Book of the Ancestor series, Red Sister Red Sisteris a separate series right? It's not related to any other series?

Like Liz with the T.S. Joyce books, I am still listening to the Virgin River books, and can't seem to stop. I listen to these and I must admit at times some of the characters can be quite abrasive and their attitudes/voices can get on my nerves. I like the overall stories and at times I have to roll my eyes at their responses, but as Lisa so eloquently put it, the town itself is a character of sorts.

These are included in the Romance package on Audible, and if I don't listen to another thing, I think with this 20 book series, that I have certainly received my money's worth.

I am listening to Wild Man Creek.

Melindeeloo wrote: "Lulu and Vanessa - Kid 1 had a lot of choices, mostly up North towards the Bay area, so far enough away that she won't be able to come home - unlike K2 who is an hour away. Kid 1 has some focus iss..."

Melindeeloo... Sometimes when you think that life will be too much for your child, they surprise you and step up. I think that with your positive help your K1 will pick a great college. I wish you both a peaceful transition. :-}

I was going to listen to the final Iron Druid book, Scourged but I got into the next Virgin River book, Promise Canyon

Vinity... I like the Oberon parts. I even listened to the Oberon adventure books.
Lisa... There won't be anymore Iron Druid covers to gaze at fondly. LOL!!

My husband once said that I have more tools than he does, (we have a salvage yard so I doubt that). By the way honey, where's my chain saw.... :-)

Vinity... I DL'd Scourged. I am still all wrapped up in the Virgin River folks, but I plan on getting to it after I finish Moonlight Road.

Kristi... Maud (and Helen) are so bad ass, I loved that chapter. At first I was a little taken aback with the last "kill", but then I thought about her background and said to myself that she is just what House Krahr is all about. Whew, I can't wait to see what happens next. Did you read the Hugh chapters?