SOS: Serious Overload of Series discussion

I'm going to change my free space book to Black Night which is on the groups shelf

and my Urban Fantasy one is going to be Black Howl.

I've got the other two books done, but I need to crank out a review. Now that I have my computer back I should be able to do that soon.

Oh, totally forgot I had used Archangel's Blade for another review challenge, so I already have that one done.

Week 1: kick-ass-heroine
Book: Archangel's Blade by Nalini Singh
Finished: October 2, 2012
Rating :★★★★
I love this series and I have waited forever for Dimitri’s story and it did not disappoint. I enjoyed the relationship between Dimitri and Honor and how it developed over the course of the book. It started out sizzling and became a deep meaningful one. Dimitri is such an intriguing blend of brutality and charm and Ms. Singh has portrayed him wonderfully. I also enjoyed Honor’s character, but my heart belongs to Dimitri! I can’t wait to read the next in this series.

Woohoo! We'll be able to request our first stamp!

Off to update the spreadsheet. :)

Off to request our stamp!

BSB6 Week 1 (Sep 16 - Sep 22): kick-ass-heroine
Completed: 6 / 6
✔ Adele: Vampire Academy - Sep 20 ★★★★ review
✔ D.G.: The Girl of Fire and Thorns - Sep 22 ★★★½ review
✔ Daffodil: Late Eclipses - Sep 18 ★★★★ review
✔ Dana: The Dragon Who Loved Me - Sep 16 ★★★★ review
✔ Nici: Blue-Blooded Vamp - Sep 23 ★★★★★ review
✔ Sherri: Archangel's Blade - Oct 2 ★★★★ review

I am going to put my favourite author book on hold and concentrate on urban-fantasy and free space so that we can get 3 in a row.

It is taking me forever to get through my fav author book since I decided to read and so that when I finally read the last one... ...it all was fresh in my mind. I am really glad I did but it put me behind.

Luckily...I have tomorrow off so I will most likely be staying up way too late and finishing my book. Yeah! (This thing is so good I can barely stand it! ;P )

I have about a dozen urban fantasy that I can read so we'll see what mood I am in tomorrow morning and I will post my choice then.

I also have that series in my TBR. In fact, i recently got the audio for "The Way of Shadows" and need to try it out.

Sorry team. I should have posted this a long time ago, I finished the book on the 26th. I just had a hard time writing the review for some reason.

Favorite Author
Crystal Gardens, Amanda Quick, 9-26-12
Rating: 3.5 stars
Review: Amanda Quick (aka Jayne Ann Krentz, aka Jayne Castle) has been a comfort read author of mine for years. I know exactly what to expect when I pick up a book and she usually delivers a good solid story.

Crystal Gardens has all of the standard JAK/AQ elements:
1. The hero, Lucas Sebastian, is seen as a monster by almost everyone. However, the heroine, Evangeline Ames, sees him as a protector who takes care of those he considers his responsibility.
2. Lucas' step-mother is afraid of this influence over her teen to young-adult children and just knows he is planning to see them penniless and homeless. It take's Evangeline's interference for the step-mother to see how much Lucas loves his sister & brother and realize he will always take care of them.
3. There's a secret Roman treasure hidden somewhere on Lucas' estate that others are hunting for and needs to be found.
4. Both of the protagonists have psychic powers. Evangeline Ames can "find" things. Lucas can read crime scenes and hunts killers.

One thing I found really annoying was the use of the word "psychical". I realize this is a historical and people probably wouldn't use the term "psychic powers", but practically every time the word was used I misread it as physical and had to go back and reread that section of text. It's a minor complaint, but I wish the word had been used less often.

Overall, there was nothing fantastic or unexpected to push it to that next level, just a nice enjoyable read.

I'm currently reading for the Urban Fantasy shelf.

That's been happening to me more often than not, Daffodil. I finish a book and then don't know what to say about it!

SHELF: urban-fantasy



Title/Author: Urban Shaman by C.E. Murphy
Read for shelf: urban-fantasy
Date finished: Oct 4
Rating: ★★

I can't remember the last time I got so annoyed with a heroine. Oh yes...I can! It was a couple of days ago when I was DNFed Heart of Stone, a book by this same author. It's clear that this author's ideas and mine don't match so this is the last book I'll read by her.

Joanne is 27 going on 13, the kind of woman that thinks that infuriating people who have serious responsibilities is 'fun'.

The world was interesting but super convoluted. Joanne gained very sophisticated powers overnight and was able to figure out what to do just by using cars analogies. Every crazy thing that she was able to do didn't feel exciting but unbelievable. It's like a person who can't ride a bike one day but the next is piloting flyer jets for the US government. I mean really!

The tie with the Police Department and all those characters was completely unnecessary. She was able to do some crazy shit on her own so I'm sure she would have been able to figure out all the info needed in other ways.

The best part of the book was Gary but it's not enough for me to continue reading this.

CONGRATULATIONS, Unforgettables!
You now have an updated BINGO card with a stamp on 'kick-ass-heroine'. 

[Your updated BINGO card can be viewed on page 1]

Good Job!! :D

Congrats on the stamp Un4gettables!

Yay!

I always wanna sing when I see y'alls name :D
♫ Unforgettable .... that's what you are ♫

ROFL. I think the same ......

LOL! Now I have that song in my head. ;)

hehe >;)

Completed: October 4th, 2012
Shelf: favorite author
Rating: ★ ★ ★
Review: I had read a number of reviews on this book before and during the reading of it. I enjoyed the first two so much and thought so highly of them that I was confused by the high number of negative responses to this last book. Now that I have finished it I better understand where everyone was coming from. I don't think it was a bad book but compared to the rest of the trilogy, it was a rushed, truncated mess. It screamed the need to be made into two books and it really, and I mean really felt like one of those books where the publisher would only sign a contract for 3 books but the story really needed to be 4 or 5. Weeks is so freakin' brilliant and he was restricted, argh!

Anyway, so much happened in this book that there is ZERO chance of me summarizing it into anything worth reading. Even though the end was super rushed and squished together (meaning the writing felt frantic), the plot however was still great and the characters were well written. They were doing things strangely out of character only because the plot was so crammed but all in all the interactions between them were very good.

I would still recommend the series but I can say that his second series, The Lightbringer, has been better so far.

For my urban fantasy I started yesterday. :)

The next shelf is Vampires! http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/v...

No clue what I'll read next...

I'll be reading

I will be reading Breaking Dawn for the vampire shelf, once I have read eclipse for urban fantasy shelf.

for vampires i will be reading Shadow of Night

I have finished The Impossible Dead by Ian Rankin for Favorie Author shelf. 7 Oct 12, 5 stars.

This was a really good Detective Fox mystery with an unseen twist at the end. The character's were all believable an d well depicted. The plot was interesting from start to finish and the writing style was easy to read. A light read for when you don't want to have to think too much. Full review to be published sometime in the future.

I'm just finishing up Fated for the UF shelf and should have the review up in the next few days.

For Vampires, I'm debating , since it will help in more than one challenge (including PIFM). I'm just very hesitant to read another Mead series after the debacle that the Dark Swan books became. I'll think about it some more and post when I make my final decision.

Adele wrote: "I have finished The Impossible Dead by Ian Rankin for Favorie Author shelf. 7 Sep 12, 5 stars."

I'm assuming you finished your book on Oct. 7, Adele? We hadn't even started the game on Sep 7. :)

Edit your post when you have a chance.

I still haven't decided what to read for the vampires shelf. I'm reading two books at the moment (one of them which I'm supposed to review by end of the week) so I'll have to finish one of them to start the vampires one. Maybe this is the impetus I need to continue the Succubus or Night Huntress series, which have stalled. :)

Completed: October 6th, 2012
Shelf: urban fantasy
Rating: ★ ★ ★
Review: This had, as Singh's books always do, a great romance story which I really enjoyed. 'fun-loving' is not a frequent occurrence for these alpha male types so Drew was very enjoyable. Indigo was everything that I would expect from a dominant female without coming off bitchy. The only thing wrong with this that kept it from being a 4 star was that there was really no big development in the overall plot line. It was all prep for Kiss of Snow so it felt like there was lots of Drew/Indigo but no Psy-Changling.

Love the series though and of course I will keep reading them. I read yeasterday! Excellent!!!!!!!

I will read for this week's vampire read.

I'm working on Black Night now and am about 1/3 through it. I'll try to hit these pretty heavy this week. Since I need to mail them out on Monday 10/15 I'll hopefully be done by then. :-)

Gah! I don't know what to read for the vampire shelf!! I started the Night Huntress but wasn't really interested.

D.G. ~Shameless Hussy~ wrote: "Adele wrote: "I have finished The Impossible Dead by Ian Rankin for Favorie Author shelf. 7 Sep 12, 5 stars."

I'm assuming you finished your book on Oct. 7, Adele? We hadn't even started the game ..."

done, sorry

Urban Fantasy

Fated, Benedict Jacka, 10-8-12
Rating: 4 stars
Review: One of my main concerns starting the book was that it not be a mirror of Jim Butcher's series. Happily, though the beginning is slightly reminiscent of Harry Dresden, Alex Verus quickly found his own voice.

Alex is an interesting character. Despite running a magic shop, Alex lives an isolated life. He's disgusted with the Light Mages, and consequently the council, who see to their own interests, but do nothing to protect apprentices and other vulnerable members of their society. Worse, there's talk of negotiating with the Dark Mages and allowing them to join the council. He's a diviner, but seeing into the future doesn't keep him from getting into trouble when a powerful artifact is found and an acquaintance becomes a target of three dark mages. Through the course of the book we learn more about his history and the scars left by his own apprenticeship.

Luna is also isolated. The book is told in first person, so we only see her through Alex's eyes, but what we did learn was fascinating. She's living under a luck curse, not one that brings bad luck on her. Instead, the curse diverts bad luck onto those she's closest to. People just crossing her path might be affected, touching her is dangerous and anyone living in the same house would soon have a potentially fatal accident. She tries to keep Alex at a distance for his own protection, but events keeping drawing them together and we get to see some of her vulnerabilities also.

I enjoyed reading Fated and will definitely read the second book, Cursed.

D.G. ~Shameless Hussy~ wrote: "Gah! I don't know what to read for the vampire shelf!! I started the Night Huntress but wasn't really interested."

I'm having the same problem. Tonight, I'll be finishing my current book for H&T over on RRRC and then I have to decide! I'm just not excited about the Mead series, so I'm actually leaning toward a totally new to me series . Only 4 people shelved it under vampires, so I'm not sure how much they work into the plot. But it's still on the shelf, so I may go for it. I'll let you know tomorrow what I decide.

For the vampires shelf I'm reading by Lara Adrian.

Finally I found an audio that fit both this shelf and one I'm supposed to read for H&T!

I finally started my Vampires book.
Embrace the Night by Karen Chance.

It has vampires, time-travel, a lot of black on the cover. So I can slot this into multiple challenges!

Good for you Daffodil, I hope you enjoy it.

I was checking that series when I was looking for a vampire book but my library didn't have it on audio.

Completed: October 10th, 2012
Shelf: vampire
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Review: I have to admit that I really am loving this series. It took me forever to finally read the first but man, when I did I loved it. Enough to read it twice and consider a third time. This series feels like a special ops unit attack. I fought reading the first book and then loved it. The second I was sure I was going to hate and then bam! It was fantastic in a totally different way. This one had the same thing going and now when I finally break down and read it, it is awesome! It took me a few minutes of really reflecting to realize that it was my potential dislike of the female leads that was causing my problem. The interactions with these characters in previous books or even just the basic, book-jacket descriptions of the heroines in these books really do nothing for me in general so I don't have the drive to pick them up. When I did get around to reading these stories, the female characters grew by leaps and bounds.

This book is the story of Rune, a Sentinel Wyr and Dragos' First Lieutenant, and of Carling the Vampyre Queen. Rune must pay a debt he owes to Carling by doing anything she wishes but would be inclined to do regardless as he is currently fascinated by her. After arriving in her lands he discovers that Carling is experiencing surges in her Power that could be dangerous; not just for Carling but for everyone around her. His sudden drive to protect her, even from herself, put them in close proximity and WHOOSH, hello flame and tinder. Burn baby, burn! This girl can write some hot stuff. Whew! *fans self*

Thea Harrison is a really strong character writer and I can say that I will definitely be continuing on with the series. The next is and it touches so may of our BSB shelves that I can bet I will get to read it before the game ends. :)

You're kicking butt, Dana! I've barely started my vampire book today.

Dana, I'm anxiously awaiting on Nov 6. It returns to Pia and Dragos.

ETA: If you click on the bookcover above and go to the entry, there is another link to a giveaway for Lord's Fall. 25 copies, signups end Oct. 23.

I still need to start that series!

Daffodil wrote: "Dana, I'm anxiously awaiting on Nov 6. It returns to Pia and Dragos.

ETA: If you click on the bookcover above and go to the entry, there is another link to a give..."

LOL! I just signed up a few hours ago. Thanks Daffodil. :) I can't wait for some more Pia and Dragos, whoo-hoo!

D.G. ~Shameless Hussy~ wrote: "You're kicking butt, Dana! I've barely started my vampire book today."

Just making up for my torture-level, super-slow progress last week. ;P

I'm almost done with my book...I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's choice!

SHELF: vampires



Title/Author:
Read for shelf: vampires
Date finished: Oct 13
Rating: ★★★

A really average read - the characters in this series are really interchangeable. They all seem alike with no distinguishing characteristics besides their accents.

I don't know how or why these two fell in love. They seem distant during the whole book and at some point they hopped in bed and started to proclaim their ever ending love. Both had been mated before but they never talked to each other about their mates, except for Tegan to explain how he lost his. He kept referring to her a 'sweet girl' so you got the impression he was talking about a mare.

At some point, the heroine mentions how being with Tegan makes her 'whole again' even though her son had been killed 4 months before. Huh? Earth to Miss Adrian but a woman who loses a child (specially in these circumstances) will NEVER be whole again.

Not continuing the series.

The next shelf is up - Catch-Up

I will be reading The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson for this shelf but I have a LOT of catching up to do, sorry guys.

Catch up? Coooooooool! :)

So I'm officially going to read for this week. I loved the first in this series and I just checked out
and

Vampires

Embrace the Night, Karen Chance, 10-13-12
Rating: 4.5 stars
Review: 4.5 stars

Like the first two books, Embrace the Night takes off and never seems to slow down. The story picks up soon after the events in Claimed By Shadow. Cassie's adjusting to her new power, trying to learn it's limitations, and still remains a big target. The vampire Consul wants to force her to give into the geis and bond with Mircea before he's to insane to control. The Silver Circle mages want to kill her so the power will move to an acceptable (amenable & controllable) candidate. Black mages are still trying to hunt her down. And now it seems a demon lord has made her a target for unknown reasons. All that action, then throw in some time travel, and I still didn't lose track of what or when something was happening. Karen Chance took great care in plotting the story. The time jumps back to events in book 1 didn't create any noticeable plot holes or paradoxes, in fact it seemed to explain a couple of questions I had.

A problem I had in book two was addressed as well. Pritkin's suspicions about Cassie's worth as Pythia and her overall moral character make a lot more sense after we learn more about his history. I'm definitely looking forward to learning more about him.

Overall, a great story with enough humor threaded through it to provide a few light moments. I'll definitely be picking up book 4 soon. And, trying out her spin off series about Dorina Basarb.