R8: Team #7 ~ Seven Deadly Speed Demons

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

:) Never heard of it, so I looked it up - paracetamol & caffeine. Sounds like a migraine killer to me ;)

[Paris]

Sandra wrote: ":) Never heard of it, so I looked it up - paracetamol & caffeine. Sounds like a migraine killer to me ;)"

It's pretty much magic. lol

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

New 2 You Series
Ill Wind by Rachel Caine
Finished: November 14, 2013
Series: Weather Warden
Rating: ★★★★✩
Number of pages: 352

Review: I rated 4 stars because non-stop action, engrossing writing, excellent non-ordinary worldbuilding and magic system and characters to root for. From the start where she is on the run from the authorities to the unusual ending, this was a nonstop tense thriller. It's also not to my personal tastes, the tense-non-stop-thriller bit with murky mystery as to who the good guys and bad guys are so despite thinking it's a wonderful book, this isn't likely a series I'll pursue.

Nothing to do with the story or my review of the story -- but, the nook edition I read was excruciatingly horribly formatted. Words ran together so persistently I was really getting annoyed.

[Josie]

Glad you liked Ill Wind Debbie, even if you aren't going any further.

I've finished my kick ass heroine book :D



Title/Author: Shooting Scars by Karina Halle
Date finished: 14th Nov
Rating: 4.5 stars
Review: A great second book to the trilogy, and once again the plot is intriguing - especially in regards to (view spoiler)[Ellie's parents (hide spoiler)].

The only reason why I didn't give it a full 5 stars, is because I was more interested in Ellie's story, particularly at first, and didn't like switching to Camden's POV. I have to admit I did miss her. I'm not sure how but I root for Ellie.

If you are planning on reading this series (do!), I would strongly recommend reading the prequel On Every Street after Sins and Needle and before Shooting Scars. It was very good and I think very key to showing how Ellie and Javier's relationship is and why.

[Paris]

Kick Ass Heroine 5/5
Stamp Received: 11/15/13

Brittany: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare - 5 Star - 11/4/13 - Review
Preethi: Magic Rises by Ilona Andrews - 4 Stars - 11/7/13 - Review
Paris: Sentinel by Jennifer L. Armentrout - 5 Stars - 11/3/13 - Review
Debbie ~barely here~: Red-Headed Stepchild by Jaye Wells - 2 1/2 Stars - 11/6/13 - Review
Josie: Shooting Scars by Karina Halle - 4.5 Stars - 11/14/13 - Review

[Paris]

Well done on the reviews ladies. I've updated the lists to here and put in a request for the kick ass heroine shelf stamp.

Debbie, that is a great series, but it is very much a continuation of what you didn't really like in the first book.

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

Yeah, that's what I gathered. Plus, I really loathe road trips and car stuff -- the only thing worse than a long road trip is a long road trip thru small towns and rural areas in midwest U.S. Even if a tense chased-by-bad-guys road trip.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

CONGRATULATIONS, Seven Deadly Speed Demons!
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

[Paris]

Thanks Steph for the stamp!

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

Thanks Steph!

[Brittany Lynn]

I will have my reviews up hopefully tomorrow. My youngest had a procedure where he was put into a deep sleep and he's having a reaction from the sedation. He's very clingy and sleepy/dopey.

Sorry for the delay ladies.

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

*crosses fingers* maybe tomorrow's shelves will be "Urban Fantasy" and "werewolves", LOL!

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Congrats on the stamp Deadlies!

[Paris]

No worries Brittany. Poor little guy. I hope everything is okay with him.

Debbie, I hope you're right...and if werewolves is called and UF isn't that the one that's called with werewolves is not a winning shelf for one of the other teams.

Thanks Sandra!!

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

Just checking in (I know shelf announcement likely 6-9 hours away…)

And checking in again (likely ½ to 3 hours away from shelf call?).

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

Woo hoo! Witches and rewind called. Off to check my TBR. Durnit, book 2 of The Mist-Torn Witches not out yet. Neither is The Undead Pool.

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

For my Rewind shelf, I'll be reading January 2011's Pack of Lies by Laura Anne Gilman (I just finished first book of series and got this followup from library ebook waiting list last week so was putting off starting until shelf call just in case.)

[note to self: shelf called 4;55 pm my time zone]

[Paris]

Sorry I wasn't here when the shelves were called. I was out shopping with my mom. Here is what we have for this week.

Shelf #5 ~ 17/11/13: 'Witches'
DIRECT LINK: Witches

Shelf #6 ~ 17/11/13: 'Rewind'
*Rewind (Personal Shelf ~ book published in 2010, 2011, or 2012)

[Paris]

Holy crap you guys...this shelf call gives us four in a row with these two, New2You Series and Free Space!!! And we will be the only team with four in a row.

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

For my Witches read, I'm debating:
,     ,     ,     ,     and     .

I have read Magic Bites that Magic Burns is book 2 of; I have read sample for Bewitching and like it even though I realize there is a high school setting and already own, I own A Modern Witch which I think will either really suck or be really fun, Bitter Night is another one I sampled and really liked, and Skinwalker keeps catching my eye as a Mercy Thompson fan.

Any opinions as to likely the fastest, most enjoyable read?

I plan on deciding while reading Pack of Lies.

[Judithe, Soap Operas never end....]

Paris wrote: "Holy crap you guys...this shelf call gives us four in a row with these two, New2You Series and Free Space!!! And we will be the only team with four in a row."

Not quite, team 6 also has four in a row, diagonally, but different winning shelves!

Happy reading!

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

Judithe wrote: "Not quite, team 6 also ..."

That could make for one very speedy round of BINGO if next shelf called is a win for team 6 or for us.

(Alpha male if I'm remembering correctly called next week cinches for team 6; 2013 alone or paired werewolves/urban-fantasy could cinch it for us if we keep up; I didn't go thru all the team cards to see who else has potential three in a rows and would only need next week's call to be the right pair of shelves to give them the win)

[Paris]

Judithe wrote: "Not quite, team 6 also has four in a row, diagonally, but different winning shelves!

Happy reading!."

Oh Man! Sorry. I thought I looked at all of the cards really well too.

[Paris]

Debbie, Magic Burns all the way. I love the Kate Daniels series. The first two aren't the best, but they lead you to the promise land.

Bitter Night was okay. I haven't read any of the others.

[Brittany Lynn]

Just updating you ladies my son was admitted to the hospital :/ I am going to try to get some sleep we just spent 9 hours or more in the emergency room

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Brittany, that's dreadful, hope he's OK. My thoughts are with you and your family.

[Judithe, Soap Operas never end....]

So sorry to hear that, Brittany! Thinking of you all and hoping he's OK!!

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

@Brittany, I sure hope he gets better.

[Paris]

Oh no Brittany, I hope he is doing better now. Get some rest. Family is always more important so please don't worry about this game. Thanks for letting us know.

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

For my Witches read, I'm going with .

Not because that was necessarily favorite pick but ruled out others for witches shelf because further talking with buddies and seeing reviews I'm not in mood for A Modern Witch (pg13 with kids front and center, generally well liked but a few described as long-winded and wordy).

I'll save Bewitching: The Kendra Chronicles for a magic or supernatural shelf call. It's actually in a series with Beastly called "The Kendra Chronicles" except not here on goodreads so won't work for series shelves.

Magic Burns and Skinwalker should fit urban fantasy shelf, series or werewolf shelf calls, so I'll hold in reserve.

Magic Burns was certainly the one most recommended to me! The first one was a quick read that I liked, so I will definitely fit it into this round of BINGO somewhere (unless game ends with team 6 getting their "alpha male" shelf next weekend before we get 2013 or other winning shelf calls!).

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

Finished pack of lies; will review tomorrow when not on touchscreen.

[Josie]

Brittany, don't you stress yourself out about reading your books. Like Paris said, family comes first and I do hope everything's alright!

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

Rewind shelf
Pack of Lies by Laura Anne Gilman
First published: Jan. 27, 2011
Series: Paranormal Scene Investigations #2
Finished: November 17, 2013
Rating: ★★★★☆
Number of pages: 378

Review: I enjoyed this followup to Hard Magic much more. The worldbuiiding and magic system was more developed—but the big improvement for me was how less "scattered" the casework and the main character were. The PUPI agency still not exactly recognized or cooperated with by human/null law enforcement, their own "talent" council or lonejack organizations and certainly not the fae.

But a case comes up that involved all of the above. Interesting enough that it kept me glued to the page and twisted enough I did not guess the whodunnits. The "solving the case" part I actually did not care for—because author surprised less by clever clues, detective work or mystery than by last minute having team do some very basic investigation methods that should have been done at the start leading to an "oh yeah, the story so far repeatedly hammered in that this particular fae ... but, surprise, no, just hammered that in as a complete red herring." If that hadn't happened towards very end of book, it would have lost two stars from my rating. But, all in all, up to that point it was a grand read.

All in all, more richly developed world and characters that I got into. Mostly Bonnie's POV and she across less YA (the first book that had zero sexual activity but talked it to death and that every few pages hammered in what a slut she was and how she was bisexual — that was blessedly absent from this book. Other characters talked about some of her off stage dating, this book had her actually have one casual night of sex—and oddly now was hammering in how she was unashamed of being a complete club kid although like the sex/bisexuality in first book there wasn't a lot of clubbing going on just one visit to get Venec and once providing info on clubs as a piece of their investigation).

Author is hitting her stride with this series, great story arc. Will be reading more in series.

[Josie]

I've finished my book for the Rewind shelf, published in 2012.



Title: The Marriage Trap by Jennifer Probst
Date finished: 18th Nov
Rating: 3 stars
Review: This was okay. An easy, fairly predictable read. I think I preferred the first one just a little bit more, though I did like the addition of Michael's Italian family. I will probably read the next one but not sure when, since the books do feel a bit same-y.

[Paris]

Rewind 5/5
Stamp Received: 12/4/13

Brittany: From Ashes by Molly McAdams - 5 Stars - 11/23/13 - Review
Preethi: Steel's Edge by Ilona Andrews - 3.5 Stars - 12/1/13 - Review
Paris: Wrong Bed, Right Guy by Katee Robert - 4 Stars - 11/20/13 - Review
Debbie ~barely here~: Pack of Lies by Laura Anne Gilman - 4 Stars - 11/17/13 - Review
Josie: The Marriage Trap by Jennifer Probst - 3 Stars - 11/18/13 - Review

[Paris]

Witches 5/5
Stamp Received: 12/2/13

Brittany: Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins - 5 Stars - 11/29/13 - Review
Preethi: Always a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough - 5 Stars - 11/22/13 - Review
Paris: The Fiery Heart by Richelle Mead - 5 Stars - 11/23/13 - Review
Debbie ~barely here~: Bitter Night by Diana Pharaoh Francis - 4 Stars - 11/20/13 - Review
Josie: Eternally Yours by Cate Tiernan - 4.5 Stars - 11/24/13 - Review

[Brittany Lynn]

I will be reading...

Witches Shelf


Rewind Shelf

[Brittany Lynn]

New2You Shelf


Rating: 5 Stars
Read: 11/12/13
Review:
I know a lot of people have already read this book. The Edge of Never will make you laugh, cry, and swoon! Camryn is running away. She's tired of her life and wants to just ...go. She jumps on a Greyhound bus and has no idea where she will end up. On that bus she meets Andrew. I loved the way Camryn and Andrew interacted. It wasn't instant love or forced. They had fun conversations. Eventually the two end up on a road trip together. The first half of this book is just a feel-good journey. The characters have fun, get to know each other, and pieces of their lives fall into place. But there is a big secret! Andrew has been hiding something and it comes forward in a big way. I cried...lots. I was really thrown for a loop on that one. I wasn't expecting it at all. And the ending?? HOLY GOODNESS! This is just one of those books that you just have to read in order to really understand the emotional connection it has. It is so incredibly written and I really can't wait to see what happens next!

[Brittany Lynn]

Romance


Rating: 5 Stars
Read: 11/14/13
Review:
This was an easy to fall in love with book. It hit all the right spots and it was a fun read.

Over ten years ago a 17 year old Kate attends a party in which the "populars" make fun of the outfit she put together herself. Things change when a 20 year old college student Heath announces that he is looking everywhere for her. He takes her home and kisses her good night. Eleven years later that kiss remains the highlight film of Kate's life in spite of her success as a fashion designer. Now a major publisher, Heath needs a date to act as a Last-Minute Bridesmaid at his father's wedding since the woman he was taking ended their relationship. Believing Kate owes him, he asks her and she accepts. As they attend the ceremony, Kate and Heath struggle to ignore their attraction to one another as each distrusts their own respective heart let alone their beloved's heart.

[Josie]

Finished for free space shelf :)



Title/Author: Awaken Me Darkly by Gena Showalter
Date finished: 20th Nov
Rating: 3 stars
Review: This was an okay read. At times some scenes seemed a bit rushed, and there could've been a bit more suspense in regards to the murders and the climax. A lot of the elements of the story were glossed over.

Also, I didn't feel like I knew Kyrin at all. He turned up half way through, was barely in the book, and was completely irrelevant if I'm honest. I couldn't say what his personality is like, what his history is like, what his abilities are, etc. The longest, and most developed scene he was in was the sex scene.

I won't be rushing to read the rest of the series, but I might try the next one since I did enjoy the short in Deep Kiss Of Winter.

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

Witches Shelf
Bitter Night by Diana Pharaoh Francis
Finished: November 20, 2013
Series: Horngate Witches #1
Rating: ★★★★☆
Number of pages: 387*

Review: This one caught me up immediately. Vivid writing. Sympathetic characters. Fast paced. Clever and original worldbuilding. A lovely air of bringing in more of the Brothers Grimm style of folklore. Witches control territories and people and pretty much of all the supernaturals have all the power ( some angels, hags and a few other rarities have more). Except some long asleep godlike guardians who are starting to wake and want to wipe out humanity and restore magic by enslaving witches as generals for their armies.

Enter Max, human turned supernatural and enslaved against her will to a witch and fiercely fighting the compulsions placed upon her. Battle lines being drawn and she gets torn between actively supporting the witch in order to protect her soldiers and the humans seeking refuge and continuing to fight the compulsions. She picks up odd allies and enemies along the way refusing to see other supernaturals enslaved. I'm not explaining it very well, but I just really enjoyed the story and the people very much. Even some of the murky politics and gray area villainy that I sometimes don't like was handled very well by the author.

Will continue the series. There is much more to come story wise and in Max's background wise.

Lost half a star for me with one too many road trips and road trip convoying detailing fast food drive-thru stops, the debris from, and the interstates and exits they were taking. I think that this round of BINGO has somehow cursed me with an unfortunate amount of road trips in books. Although at least the convoy bit made sense in terms of transporting the supernaturals unable to withstand light.

*not really part of the review, but the ebook edition I read had really nonstandard info on its goodreads book page (view spoiler)[unless that's now how amazon is doing things (possibly to avoid saying "nook" or "kobo" editions?) including saying 272 pages [very wrrong] when it should have been contiguous format ebook page numbers (as in left blank or set to zero) and pre-amazon ownership it would have never have said Adobe brand of digital rights management software on an ebook from publisher Pocket Books knowing that that exact same isbn number would have or not have Adobe DRM (for example, I bought and read that isbn as an ebook sold for nook with Barnes and Noble's AVERT license from Adobe so most definitely was not an Adobe DRM and neither does that isbn sold on iBooks and other booksellers) -- hence the former library policy to avoid having to make tens of thousands of editions for one ebook isbn for editions unique to the tens of thousands of devices with their DRM variables with the exception of unique isbn-less EANs (such as kindle asin numbers, nook bnids, etc.). And assumes DRM and the brand of DRM won't be persistently changed by author or publisher request (Pocket Books is notorious for changing it or even cycling between removing and adding DRM or brands of DRM so definitely falls under "ephemeral" guideline of things not permitted in a book record). Never used to specify the file type in which a device downloaded a file to read (again, whether or not ePub file type of ebook, each device has its own file types supported under that isbn number. My nook edition for the isbn actually was ePub file type but the same isbn on iBooks is not (hide spoiler)] Just really weird; but I know there have been changes since I was a librarian. (ETA: Sandra still does librarian edits for amazon so was corrected.)

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Debbie, I checked the book and a "misguided librarian" put that info there. I've fixed it but if you see that happening again, just let me know ;)

[[deleted user]]

Annnnd, I'm back.

The vacation was seriously awesome.

Sorry, guys. I had absolutely no internet connection whatsoever till now. I'll post the reviews within a day or two. For the witches shelf, I am reading and for the rewind shelf.

[Paris]

Rewind Shelf

by Katee Robert
Rating: 4 Stars
Finished: 11/20/13
Review:
The book starts off with a really great bang the way a good book should. While it did peter off a little bit, I enjoyed the book overall. There were moments though that I wasn't sure I was going to be able to keep reading because Elle was annoying the crap out of me. She was ridiculous stuck up and snobby. The crap that went through her head made me want to smack her. I don't know how Gabe put up with her in the beginning...or really for the first half of the book.

Eventually, she started to realize that she was wrong and things got better. I really liked her when she was with Gabe. That was when she seemed more real. Gabe was a great lead though. Super hot and really sweet even though he was very rough around the edges.

I look forward to reading the other books in this series. I liked Roxanne and Nathan and can't wait to read each of their stories.

[[deleted user]]

Shelf 3: Romance Genre



The Art of Seducing a Naked Werewolf by Molly Harper
Finished: Nov 17th.
Rating: ★★★✩✩

REVIEW

I enjoyed the first book of this series very much, so I had high hopes for this one. While, this book was not as good as the first, it was good too.

Molly Harper retains the slightly-goofy humour in this book too. And, some snark and cussing involved of course, for this book is about Maggie- Cooper's sister.

There were times I was a bit irritated with Maggie, as she is just blind to who created the all the problems for the pack- it was so obvious to me. And some times, the scenes felt disjointed, as if the scenes were just cut and pasted together albeit out of shape.

That said, I did enjoy this book. The chapter names were weird and hilarious, just as the first book. Maggie is NOT a girly-heroine, unlike Mo in the first book,which I liked. And the whole pre-climax thing with the other pack was... differently handled. I had expected some fighting, but this was, well, I didn't expect this.

Hope the third book gets better than this.

[[deleted user]]

Paris wrote: "
Witches 0/5

Stamp Received:

Brittany: Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins
Preethi: Steel's Edge by Ilona Andrews
Paris: The Fiery Heart by Richelle Me..."


Paris, you have swapped my books. I am reading Steel's Edge for the Rewind shelf, and Always a Witch for the Witches shelf. Not the other way round.

[[deleted user]]

Shelf 5: Witches



Always a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough
Finished: Nov 22
Rating: ★★★★★

REVIEW:

I loved this book. I'm always wary of books involving time travel concept, because of the scientific and theological questions it raises. But not this book.

I'm sad this is the last book of this duology. Reading about Tamsin is always fun. This book follows where the previous one left off. Tamsin is having nightmares about what happened with Alistair at the Grand Central Station. Everything changes when a stranger from the past Travels to Tamsin's home and extracts info about Tamsin one night. Suddenly, Tamsin's whole family is not present in THE BOOK at all- as in they have no more future. Tamsin goes to the past- 1887, where Alistair Knight has gone, to warn the Greene family about Alistair's wicked plans, and to save the future, of her family in the process.

This book was a fast read. I just could not put it down. Tamsin makes all the right choices, even though she loses a lot in the process.

A surprisingly great book indeed.

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

Just checking in on shelf day.

[Brittany Lynn]

How is everyone doing?

[Steph, Serious series addict]

CONGRATULATIONS, Seven Deadly Speed Demons!
You now have an updated BINGO card with a stamp on 'free space'. 

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

Good Job!! :D