R4: Team #7 ~ Seven Spellbinding Sirens

[booklovinrn]

Almost done with Grave Dance by Kalayna Price for the Ghost shelf. Then I am going read Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs for favorite series shelf. This worked out perfectly since I had a hard time deciding between the two books last week.

Ghosts
Favorite series

[[deleted user]]

Go Cathy! And the IAD seem like a fun read. I might take a stab at them later.

[♡ Sassy ~ Amy ♡]

Cathy wrote: "Dark Desires After Dusk by Kresley Cole 2/10/12 ★★★★

I thought I had already posted my review, sorry ladies.

I love a bad boy and Cade surely fits the bill. He's rude, overbearing..."

Got it! Thanks!

[♡ Sassy ~ Amy ♡]

Celine wrote: "*sigh* I'm reading way too many books at once guys... Will try to finish two of them this weekend. I'm about halfway in my "ghosts" read now, Fracture."

Don't forget to write a review of your books you've read on this board along with your stars & date finished if you've read them.

[Angi]

So, favorite series shelf.... that can be any book from our own series we follow? Just want to make sure I am understanding correctly ;-)

If that is the case, then this is great because I can use one of my books I got last week! :)

I choose "Dead in the Family" by Charlaine Harris


For my free shelf I choose "One Grave at a Time" by Jeaniene Frost. This will be from the Group's Archived New Release folder for August 2011.

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Both of those are fine Angi :)

[Angi]

Yeah! Thanks Sandra :-)

[♡ Sassy ~ Amy ♡]

I think I am totally updated!

[Cee]

Fished my "ghosts" read, (19th February) 5 stars.

This book is about a girl that feels a pull towards people that are about to die. She fell through the ice and was in a coma for 11 minutes, after which she has this strange gift.

It's more of a contemporary read than a paranormal one. The main focus is on how to cope with not having died while you should have. It also deals with things like depression and isolation. It was a pretty tough book for me, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. It almost made me cry, which deserves the 5 stars in itself.

[♡ Sassy ~ Amy ♡]

Yay! Celine!

[[deleted user]]

Go Celine! Is it too sad? I was curious, but not sure if I'm in a mood for dramatic.

[booklovinrn]

Grave Dance by Kalayna Price 2/20/12 (3.5 Stars) ~ghosts shelf~

While I enjoyed this book it took me several days to read, I kept putting it down. There was a lot of world building going on still. I do really like Alex and her loyalty to her friends. Who wouldn't love to have Death and Falin fighting for their affection. I am looking forward to the next book in this series, I think it has a lot of potential.

[Cee]

Thanks girls (: Well, it is pretty sad, but I have to say that I've read worse. It ends on a positive note, luckily. There is a lot of death and guilt and things like that, but some parts made me smile too. ^^

[[deleted user]]

Nice work Cathy! Is that a complete shelf? Yay us :D

Thanks Celine. I think I'll read it, but will wait till I'm in one of those angst craving moods. Sometimes I need something sad. I'm reserving this one.

[booklovinrn]

Woot woot....our first shelf.

[Angi]

Yeah! Wtg sirens!! :))

[♡ Sassy ~ Amy ♡]

Woo Hoo! Our first stamp!! I put in for the stamp, so we should get it soon!

[[deleted user]]

Weeee! First stamp to us!


Celebrate with me! *passes ice-cream around*

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

A party! Dropped by just in time!!

Congrats on your first stamp!

[[deleted user]]

:D Welcome Judithe
Chocolate or strawberry?

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Congrats on the stamp Sirens!

I can smell ice cream - I'll have chocolate :D

[Steph, Serious series addict]

CONGRATULATIONS, Spellbinding Sirens!
You now have an updated BINGO card with a stamp on 'ghosts'.

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

Good Job!! :D

[booklovinrn]

Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs 2/21/12 (4 stars) ~Favorite Series~


Loved this book. Mercy has a way of attracting trouble. Lucky for her she has a werewolf, Adam, and a vampire, Stefan at her back. I liked how Mercy is finding her place in the pack but it is taking time and is not just a given. Looking forward to Silver Borne.

[Angi]

I finished "Dead in the Family" 2/21/2012 ★★★★★ for my *FAVORITE SERIES* space.

I gave this one five stars because it was intense. It felt like a roller coaster with lots of ups and downs and always fast :)

I loved how there were so many different stories going on with this one. You had the fairy story from the fallout in the last one..... I loved this one. How we really never know until the end who the "man out in the woods watching you Aunt Sookie" is... crreeepppy! I love that Claude is trying to protect Sookie. I knew he had some heart in there somewhere! :)

I also really liked the Eric story. I had to look up the story about Alexi to find it was actually true (well... sort of... he DID exist... I'm just not sure he was a vampire afterwards) Very interesting.

I LOVED the part with Sookie at the pack meeting. I hope she tells Alcide (yummmy - now I can't get see him any other way than the way he looks in HBO's "True Blood". ) about the "green" people. I look forward to seeing how that turns out when they talk.

I'm glad the book didn't focus too much on the politics of everyone coming out. Unfortunately that sort of bores me but Ms. Harris doesn't go much into it which is a relief for me. She focuses on the more interesting stories at hand.

GREAT read!

[[deleted user]]

02/21/2012
Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison
for the "Favorite Series" shelf
I rate it ★★★ & 1/2

This is a re-read. Which is a good thing. See, around 2009 someone recommended this series to me, and like the OC reader I am, I went through the six first installs in one week. I got that hooked.

The book in itself is a good opening. Tired of being given dummy, horrible assignments, Rachel quits the IS (something akin to police for non-human), and finds all the no-quitting-allowed-myths true. Coming with her are a living vampire and a pixy, which she takes grudgingly, but prove helpful when the IS assassins start to show.

In a desperate move, Rachel decides to go after the biggest target she can and bring it in for the IS, and so pay out her contract. That target being secretive millionaire Councilman Trenton Kallamak.

The world building is quite detailed. It differs from ours around the 60's, when instead of space, scientist focused on DNA research and instead of reaching the moon, an engineered virus got loose and whipped about a quarter of the human population. Non humans took the opportunity of more even number to come out. Humans prohibited genetic research.

I remembered everything happening in this book. But reading it! In the three years that have gone past many things I'd felt, and nuances, had been lost, and like that they came back. Like how it takes about a third of the book for the story to grab momentum, when in new installs "frantic" is the set pace practically from "Go". Like how thoroughly Rachels "One-woman-disaster-zone" credentials are established. Like how hateful and scary Trent is under all that hot body.

All those get a bit washed, a bit left behind as the books pile, and the story progresses. I was a bit scared of finding Rachel whiny now, but that wasn't the case. What did make me flinch was her treatment of Ivy.

For the updated, there is also a lot of foreshadowing and ironic bits. Which is a bit mind-blowing when you realize there are clues embedded for plot points six books beyond. And how everything that comes out on the next volume is all over this one. Say yay for fore-planing.

I'm keeping the rate I originally gave. I think 3.5 fits. It's a good, fun filled first book, even though starts a bit slow.

[Cee]

I finished my "supernatural" read, The Wolf Gift (February 22th), and give it 3 stars!



Ms Rice has made some pretty weird twists and turns in her writing career. She has written BDSM erotica, steamy romance, ancient vampire fantasy, contemporary witches, religious fiction. Now she has left the Church, this is her latest addition to her bibliography: werewolf literary fiction.

The Wolf Gift is the story about a man that has been called Beautiful Boy all of his life, a label he detests. He is a reporter, and when he visits a mansion to write an article about, he gets attacked by an mysterious assailant. He survives, but it seems like things are changing. Changing his whole identity.

Even though Ms Rice may have left the Church, religious themes are very distinctly present. Very distinctly. I call this book werewolf literary fiction on purpose. This is not a light fast-paced paranormal read. The Wolf Gift is heavy stuff, continuously spiralling toward philosophical insights and ethical inner conversations about the true nature of good and evil. I guess she brings up some valid points here, but to be very honest that was not what I was expecting. I was hoping to see something more like her older work from her vampire-era. The Wolf Gift wasn't what I thought it would be at all.

This just really isn't my kind of book. I started skipping their philosophical discussions after a while. I am sure some of you will enjoy them, but I will warn you. Do not expect this book to be fast-paced or something that keeps you on the edge of your chair. This is something you might read in a comfortable chair with a sophisticated alcoholic beverage of your choice. Something you will discuss over dinner with your theological discussion group. Or something like that.

If the only thing I didn't enjoy in this story was the themes, I might have given this a higher rating. Something that really bummed me out was how horribly shallow the characters were. They felt like sock-puppets, just for show. They had no real personality, they weren't consistent. At some point I got confused by who was speaking, because all of their voices are almost identical. I was a bit disappointed by this. The woman who has created one of my favourite characters of all time, the vampire Lestat, wasn't able to bring this promising cast of characters to life.

Another thing that struck a nerve was how she handles the female relationships with Reuben, the main character. He switches effortlessly between lovers, loving (as in "I love you", not as in lusting after) them in a single week. Someone that made a very deep impression to him in the first half of the book, gets completely forgotten in the second half. He cheats on his girlfriend, but his girlfriend doesn't care because she understands. He gets a different girlfriend, and when he sees the old one, they're friends. No awkwardness at all. Even if a book is fiction, I like the story to have a certain credibility. I was very much disappointed in that area.

The Wolf Gift is not a bad book. There is a market for this kind of book, and I'm sure a lot of people will enjoy it. But in my humble book-lover's opinion, this isn't Ms Rice's best work so far.

[[deleted user]]

Thank for all that effort Celine.

Another shelf for us!

Here! I'm baking today


Nothing this fancy, though :P

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Congrats on the stamp Sirens!

[♡ Sassy ~ Amy ♡]

Stamp requested! Wee Hoo! My internet went out & I've had to reset things all day! Sorry for finally getting on here so late!

[♡ Sassy ~ Amy ♡]

ok. I am finally going to start this book. I have put it off and put it off. The first book was great. The second book bored me half way through, so I haven't jumped at this one. The first was soooo good though, so I'm torn. Oh well.

[[deleted user]]

Sassy ~ Amy wrote: "Stamp requested! Wee Hoo! My internet went out & I've had to reset things all day! Sorry for finally getting on here so late!"

Oh, Amy, that sucks. It's good to see you back :D
What book are you talking about?

[Steph, Serious series addict]

CONGRATULATIONS, Spellbinding Sirens!
You now have an updated BINGO card with a stamp on 'supernatural'.

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

Good Job!! :D

(Psst, Amy, don't forget to update your team's shelf stats to 5/5 for 'supernatural'. ;)

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Congrats on the stamp Sirens!

Good luck with the puter Amy :)

[Angi]

Great review Celine! I've never even heard of this book. YEAH to us for another shelf! I'll finish my freespace before the next book is announced :)

[♡ Sassy ~ Amy ♡]

'Demons' ~ Direct Link
O20Shelf Announced 02/25/12
5/5 completed

Sassy (Amy)Naked Dragon 03/01/12 ★★★ Review
Celine The Replacement03/16/12 ★★★★ Review
Cathy (#123)Kiss of a Demon King03/08/12 ★★★★ Review
Zanahoria (Taly) Daughter of Smoke and Bone03/03/12 ★★★★★ Review
AngiPersonal Demons 03/04/12 ★★★Review

[♡ Sassy ~ Amy ♡]

I cannot get into my book. I have no idea why, so I am going to read it at the same time I read others. I'm going to search for my demon book too. It never takes me this long to read a book!

[[deleted user]]

Hello team!

Hey Amy, I think the connection thing is contagious, 'cause mine has been mighty flaky this few days. It seems to be back now *crosses fingers*

So, new shelf. And I still couldn't get to my free one! (damn connection problems). I have no idea what I'll read for this one. Guess I'l be rummaging around. Any recs?.

Good luck, and good reading.

[Angi]

Hi Sirens! Almost done with my book for our last shelf. I thought I would be finished by the next shelf announcment but I'll be finished today.

For our next shelf announcement, "demons", I have a question. There is a book I started to read "Personal Demons" but I didn't make it very far. If I started all over, reading from the beginning, can I choose this book for this shelf? I'd love to read it since it's a rental.

Thanks!

[booklovinrn]

I am going to red Kiss of a Demon King by Kresley Cole for this weeks Demon shelf.

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Angi wrote: "Hi Sirens! Almost done with my book for our last shelf. I thought I would be finished by the next shelf announcment but I'll be finished today.

For our next shelf announcement, "demons", I have..."

If you re-start it Angi, no problem. As long as its on the shelf. LOL

[Angi]

Lol it is- I confirmed ;-) thanks so much! :)

[Angi]

Okay so I'll be reading "Personal Demons" by Stacia Kane for our "demons" bookshelf. Hope you are all having a great Sunday! (I'm enjoying some yummy birthday cake ;-)

[[deleted user]]

Ohhh, nice. Your birthday?

[Angi]

It is :-) it's been a very laid back day. Just the way I like them lol

[[deleted user]]

Happy birthday! Basking in the weekend? Good. Hope you have a perfect, lazy day.

[Angi]

Thank you so much! :-))

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Happy Birthday, Angi :DDDD

Have a great day and enjoy that cake!

[Cee]

Aww, Happy birthday Angi! Hope you have a great day ^^

[Cee]

Aww, Happy birthday Angi! Hope you have a great day ^^

[♡ Sassy ~ Amy ♡]

YAY!! Happy Birthday, ♡ ♡ Angi ♡ ♡ !!