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R5: Team #4 ~ Better Off Read
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Breann
(last edited Jun 23, 2012 08:58PM)
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Jun 23, 2012 07:53PM
I will be reading Eternal Rider by Larissa Ione for my favorite series read. I am going to *try* to be done by Tuesday. And if I'm not, I will take a break from it to read Chasing Magic!
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Free Space Read
6/23/12
Rating:★★★★☆
Review:
This book begins with Mercy doing a favor for her vampire “friend”, Stefan. She goes with him to investigate another vampire who also happens to be a sorcerer that is controlling a demon. This vampire, Littleton, is newly made and is going on a killing spree with his demon friend. Just his presence is inciting violence in the Tri-Cities, especially with the werewolves. As vampires and werewolves begin to investigate and try and find Littleton they begin to disappear. This causes Marsilla (the vampire Mistress) to approach Mercy to fine Littleton. She is convinced that Mercy, being a Walker, is the only one equipped to defeat a sorcerer vampire who is hosting a demon. Of course, Mercy being who she is, decided that she would listen to Marsilla (someone who has only their own power in mind) and set out to kill Littleton herself. This did not make his alphaness very happy, which is what makes this series fun.
The plot in this book was much better than the first. It was fast paced and kept me guessing until the end. The last chapter of the book qualified Mercy to be a 100% badass!
I love a series that has great secondary characters and Mercy Thompson is full of them! I am even getting a soft spot for Ben. I think he just needs a little TLC. Jesse cracks me up. Poor Warren, why can’t he just kick Darryl’s ass and prove his awesomeness? Oh... Mercy & Adam... Mercy & Samuel... Mercy & Stefan? No, I don’t think so. I feel like the books are leaning towards Mercy with Adam (or is that just wishful thinking?) but I do know that I am ready for a resolution in this. I don’t like romances being strung along or love triangles. I want my H/h to KNOW that they want their HEA with each other. There shouldn’t be a question about it (this is why I got tired of Sookie). Also, Samuel had his chance, right? And hell, Adam is just effing sexy.
I love the world and characters that Briggs has created. I will certainly continue reading this series and follow along in Mercy’s shenanigans.
Breann wrote: "I will be reading Eternal Rider by Larissa Ione for my favorite series read. I am going to *try* to be done by Tuesday. And if I'm not, I will take a break from it to read Chasing Magic!"Good luck, Breann! I'm actually thinking about waiting until the 26th to read my "Favorite Series" book & reading the Kane or Frost book instead. Both are on the new shelf & God knows as much as I am anticipating those books, I'm more than capable of finishing both by next Saturday. The trick will be in coming up for air long enough to complete the numerous assignments for my summer classes. *sigh* We'll see.
Oh Breann - I LOVE Mercy! So glad you enjoyed this one! :) Totally team ADAM here! :)
For favorite series shelf I'll be reading
. I wasn't really feeling this series until book three so here's to hoping it keeps going strong for me.
Angi wrote: "For favorite series shelf I'll be reading . I wasn't really feeling this series until book three so here's to hoping it keeps going strong for me."You're gonna love it! :)
(Least I hope so!)
I re-read it earlier this month Angi, its still got the *magic* LOL.
@Breann I'm glad you liked the Mercy book. That's one of my favorite series and I can't wait for the next book. The Anna and Charles books are good too.@Angie Ilona Andrews is probably favorite UF-writing duo. The fourth entry in the series is probably my favorite but the fifth book was great too. I hope you like it too!
Angi wrote: "Oh Breann - I LOVE Mercy! So glad you enjoyed this one! :) Totally team ADAM here! :)"I'm probably one of the only PNR/UF fans on the face of the earth who enjoys the "Alpha & Omega" series more than the "Mercy Thompson" one. I read Moon Called years ago & was NOT impressed but I've been hooked on Anna & Charles ever since I read the short in On the Prowl. Maybe if I decided to give Mercy another shot I'd like the series, but life's too short & my lit addiction is too expensive to waste money on books I'm pretty sure I'll dislike.
The second book was much better than the first. The first book was a little boring to me. Maybe you would enjoy the second book more.
I like the A&O books too (especially the last one, holy moly!), but Mercy is still my favorite of Briggs' UF. I think a lot of it is because I've been reading Mercy for so much longer. I think each book does get better and better though.
I'm with you there Lethal I loved 'Alpha & Omega' but was really disappointed with the 'Mercy Thompson' series especially after all the great reviews I read :S just couldn't get my teeth into it!
For my favourites Shelf I will be reading
Sweet dreams ladies, I am off to bed with Eric Northman :)
Christal wrote: "I'm going to try and knock this shelf out before Tuesday too. For the favorite-series shelf, I'm going to read Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James. I've never read them so it isn't *my* favorite se..."Enjoy Christal I started and finished the trilogy last week and now heart Christian Grey :) enjoy!
Jade aka MrsTosh wrote: "Christal wrote: "I'm going to try and knock this shelf out before Tuesday too. For the favorite-series shelf, I'm going to read Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James. I've never read them so it isn't..."I had mixed feelings about Fifty Shades trilogy. I just didn't like Ana. But I heart Christian too! How can such a crazy man be so damn hot?
Haha I know what you mean but who doesn't love and save a emotionally scared man ;)
Talk about emotionally scarred. Sheesh. He takes the cake on that one.
Guys, I'm over halfway through the book and I am not loving Christian so far. Have I not hit the swoon yet?
I haven't read it but I'm intrigued! :-)
Christal wrote: "Guys, I'm over halfway through the book and I am not loving Christian so far. Have I not hit the swoon yet?"I wasn't going to put my two cents in but...yeah. I've never read the 50 Shades of WTFery series but many of my friends have & reading their reviews....No. Just no. It's almost the epitome of every thing I don't like in my romances, including a really gross scene with a tampon. I love BDSM themes in my ER/Erotica books but from everything I've heard, the only way 50 qualifies as BDSM is if you have absolutely no idea what BDSM is. A little slap & tickle by a controlling, possessive man does not a Dominant make.
I apologize if I'm raining on your parade, Christal. I'm just saying that if you aren't completely in love with this book, you are not alone. 50 isn't for everyone.
LethalLovely~I've Come to Relieve U of Life & Love wrote: "Christal wrote: "Guys, I'm over halfway through the book and I am not loving Christian so far. Have I not hit the swoon yet?"I wasn't going to put my two cents in but...yeah. I've never read the..."
Lethal - I just finished writing my review and then I saw your comment. I have to say you touched on many things that I didn't care for in this book. While I enjoyed the overall read, it hurts my brain to think too hard about it. I just see it as a fluff read, something I picked up because of the hype but am glad I didn't spend money on or have plans to re-read in the future.
Favorite-Series Read
Finished: 6/25/12
Rating:★★★☆☆
Review:
I'm conflicted about this book. I waffled between 2 and 3 stars because the construction of the book was pretty sloppy, but eventually went with three because it was an enjoyable (if flawed) read.
The plot was pretty light. Boy and girl meet, fall in "lust," have problems, and try to deal with them. Possibly due to this being the first in a trilogy, the book ended with a large cliffhanger. There was a lot of filler that could have been edited out to make this more streamlined. The writing wasn't great, but it did seem to get better as the book went along. The first-person present narrative was a little jarring, but it evened out as we went along as well. One thing that did really stick out to me... the characters are depicted as American but the way they speak had decidedly British overtones that sometimes distracted from the story.
Ana was the heroine and I did like her most of the time. She was spunky and cute, but she also had "I don't know I'm pretty" syndrome. It didn't really bother me, but it was there for those that hate it. It was fairly easy to see the Bella comparisons with her, but again, it didn't really bother me. What did bother me about Ana was how she let herself be bullied all the time. She would make a show of standing up for herself, but in the end she would capitulate. She was a very weak character when it came to dealing with her true feelings and desires. She seems to have some issues related to sex, but no reasons are presented for why. She is fascinated by Christian, but she is also scared and a little too young and naive for him. The ending of the novel was really the only time I felt like she was true to herself about the direction of their relationship. Also, I did not like her inner voices, especially the "inner goddess." It felt like a bad rip-off of Nicole Peeler. It wasn't very funny and instead, usually just fell flat.
Christian is pretty much described as a perfect male specimen. Oh, and he is filthy rich. I didn't really care for his character most of the time, but he had his moments where I could see why people liked him. I hope to see more of those moments in the next two books. Here, he was moody and demanding, had stalker tendencies, and was pretty domineering. Sometimes it was like he was two different people. He would be really sweet to Ana one minute, playful and charming, and then the next he would have desires to punish her. He would shut down and not want to talk to her, but expected obedience in all things (not just in the bedroom). He would make lip service to wanting to change, he would take her out and show her a good time, but when it came down to the really meaningful parts of the relationship - talking, sharing, relating to one another - he would only go so far and then shut down. His deeper issues are very briefly touched upon and I think that hurt his characterization overall. It's hard to sympathize with him when we don't really know anything about him. All we really get is a charming, successful, playboy-type with a loving, adopted family. Everything is very surface with his character.
The relationship to me was almost unbelievable. It was built mainly on a mutual lusty attraction. I hope to see it develop into something more real in the next books. The times that I really bought Ana and Christian as a couple were during their email exchanges. These were flirty and fun and showed how the face-to-face dialogue between the characters should have flowed. While I disliked the way the presentation of contract dominated some chapters (yes, it was written out more than once), I loved when the emails would pop up.
The BDSM elements have been overblown in the media. This book was actually pretty tame compared to where it could have gone. I didn't have any problems with the sex scenes, though I didn't find the writing as titillating as I expected. The problems I had were the manipulations used and the fear Christian inspired in Ana being related to the BDSM culture. These had nothing to due with his sexual proclivities and I felt like trying to justify them as such was just sloppy characterization. Christian has a lot of personal issues (but again, what those are is very vague) that make him controlling and possessive in both his professional and personal lives. This is just part of him, it is completely separate from his BDSM. That is why I never bought into Christian. He tries to justify his actions by saying "Oh but I'm a Dom!" but that doesn't fly all the time. Sometimes you're just a jealous, stalkery, douche bag.
Even though I felt like this book had many elements that needed fine-tuning, I did read it very fast and found myself enjoying the overall story. I will pick up the next book because that ending was just mean, but I hope that the author fleshes out both her characters and their story a little bit better the second time around.
Christal wrote: "Favorite-Series Read Finished: 6/25/12
Rating:★★★☆☆
Review:
I'm conflicted about this book. I waffled between 2 and 3 stars because the construction of the book wa..."
Great review Christal! This is pretty much how I felt after the first book. I gave it a very reluctant 3 stars. I don't get what the big deal is about the book. I guess the majority of people who thought it was extreme have never read a well written BDSM book before so they don't have any frame of referance. It might have been better if the author was, ya know... a writer maybe?
I was put off by him wanting to be dominant outside of the bedroom. In the bedroom? Yes please! Outside? Umm... no. The second book is much better (I feel like I am saying that a lot lately), you learn a lot about Christian and why he so completely fifty shades effed up. He becomes much more swoon worthy. Ana never ended up being likable to me though. If you gave this one 3 stars I think you would enjoy the second one.
Breann wrote: "Great review Christal! This is pretty much how I felt after the first book. I gave it a very reluctant 3 stars. I don't get what the big deal is about the book. I guess the majority of people who thought it was extreme..."Thanks Breann! That's good to know about Book 2. I plan on reading it eventually but the hold list at my library is crazy so it probably won't be anytime soon.
I consciously decided not to bother with the WTFery *thanks LL* over this series. I read a couple of very good reviews and just knew that this was a waste of time and space. I have a lot of BDSM & erotica books so I'm no wowser but this didn't really qualify as that IMO.Just so you know you aren't alone. LOL.
Great review Christal! I had a lot of problems with the first book too, especially problems with Ana and Christian, but I did enjoy it and also rated it 3 stars.I just finished reading the 2nd book and it was horrible. It just made the problems worse, and the bad writing and loose plot were even more evident. My review is here if anyone's interested. I kind of regret continuing with the series, but I guess I'm stopping at no. 2.
Favorite Series
6/25/12
Rating:★★★★★
Review:
Wow! This book completely exceeded my expectations
This book is about Ares, who is one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. He and his brother and sister are trying to protect the world from Armageddon. Each of the horsemen have a seal, which can be carried in an event, person or object. If their seal is broken they turn into their “apocalyptic counterpart”. Their brother’s seal was broken in Sin Undone and he has become Pestilence and is now wreaking diseased havoc all over the world. Now that their brother is evil he is working desperately to break the rest of the seals. Ares’ seal is carried by people, more specifically fallen angels. So far every fallen angel who has carried his seal has had to pass it on to someone else because they have been killed. Ares is now determined to find his seal and protect it himself. His seal gets passed to a human, Cara. Humans are too weak to carry the seal and will die because of it. When/if Cara dies his seal will break and Ares will become War and bring Earth closer to the apocalypse.
I adored Cara and Ares together. She saw past his broody alphaness and know that he was just a softie on the inside (don’t worry, not soft where it counts ladies..). He was completely lost to her and had no idea how to handle it. Oh, it was just cute. And I love cute. But their sex was not cute, it was super hot! Larissa Ione can write a smokin’ sex scene that can still feel loving at the same time. The chemistry between these two jumped off the page.
Of course, with every good series there must be great secondary characters. The relationship between Ares' and his brother and sister was very well developed. There was a sense of closeness between them without it feeling too contrived. I loved the scenes with the characters from her Demonica series. Especially Wraith. Can I have another book of him please?
What more can I say? Once again Larissa Ione has created a unique series with amazing characters! Her books only seem to get better and I can’t wait to continue in this series.
Awesomesauce review, Christal! I'm so sorry it didn't work out the way you hoped it would. =( As much as I detest anything to do with 50 Shades of WTFery, I would wish a bad read on only the worst of enemies. I bought & downloaded both Chasing Magic & Once Burned this morning & since I'm in a Vlad-y *swoons* kinda mood, I'm changing my "Favorite Series" book to "Once Burned". How the hell it ended on this particular shelf when it just came out today, I have no idea but I'll roll with it with pleasure. ^_^
Lucky you LL :DMine's in the post already!
Breann - That book sounds really interesting. I've never read Larissa Ione. Is that series self-contained? Could I start it without having read any of her other books?Lethal - Thanks :) You win some, you lose some I guess. I didn't hate the book, but I just don't see why it is so popular. I'm starting Chasing Magic first, but I'll be reading Once Burned soon (though I should be reading the library books I have coming due soon, grumble grumble).
Christal wrote: "Breann - That book sounds really interesting. I've never read Larissa Ione. Is that series self-contained? Could I start it without having read any of her other books?"I would read the Demonica books first. You don't have to, but the series overlap and I think you would enjoy the Lord of Deliverance series better if you did.
I am reading Chasing Magic first too. I probably won't get to Once Burned until next week. I figure I should read some books I already have or can borrow before I purchase more. SIGH
Favorite Series Read:
Date Finished: June 26th
Rating: ★★★★★
Review:
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
Okay, I'm done. I used to love me some Cat & Bones but I quit the series after the crap that was This Side of the Grave & finding out through friends that the next book, One Grave at a Time, wasn't much better. But when I heard that Frost was writing Vlad's story, my heart a'fluttered with joy and my nip-nips perked up with desire. See, I ♥ Vlad. I ♥ Bones too but when Vlad made his first appearance in the Night Huntress series, I was like, WHO IS THIS???!!? I ♥ him more than Bones & I just knew that even with the suckitude going on in C&B, Frost would NOT disappoint me with Vlad's story. And I was right.
I'm going to try to make this review non-spoilerish so I'm just gonna say this: Vlad's a real cocky asshole in this book. Real snarky & cocky. But it's apart of what makes him awesomazing. And Leila? At first I was worried she was going to be one of those "damsel in distress" types but no, she is kickass in her own right. She kills people. Lots of people. On purpose. Because that's what Big Girls do. Frost did NOT give Vlad one of those weak, pathetic heroines & I am brimming with happy about that. And when her & Vlad are in the same room? They're combustible.
And I'm in love. And horny. See...earlier today my mother & I had an interesting conversation in her car that went like this (I kid you not):
Me: *while reading OB on my Kindle in her car* Shhh, mom. You can't talk right now. I'm in the middle of a sex scene.
Mom: Oh really? Are you horny or something?
Me: Well....my panties are wet.
Mom: I do NOT want you having orgasms in my car! I just got it cleaned. GET OUT OF MY CAR RIGHT NOW!
Me: No thanks, I'm good. *Goes back to reading OB*
Yes. That is the kind of relationship we have. And that is how good OB was. Read. Now.
Not reading it, not reading it, not reading it!!!!!!!Just waiting patiently beside by letter box .... toe-tapping ....
Lethal, Lethal, Lethal... where do you come up with this stuff? You make me LOL. Great review! I was going to wait a little while to read this book, but probably not now! I almost gave up on Cat and Bones too. But I am still holding on to hope for their books. Convo with your mom is hilarious! I am open with my mom too... probably not AS open though. Just thinking about discussing orgasms with my daughters makes me feel nauseous. But do I want them to feel that comfortable with me? Yes, I probably do.
Very funny review, Lethal. Glad that Vlad lived up to your expectations!
I heart Bones to Luv! Sounds like this might be another book to add to my never ending TBR list :)
Thank you very much Breann & Christal! I was hoping to write a semi-intelligent review for OB but it was one of those books where the only thing I could think of to say is "IT WAS AMAZING! YOU MUST READ IT NOW!"Now I too will start "Chasing Magic".
I concur. Despite that, I find myself always waiting for the other shoe to drop with this series. Chess is chock-full of self-sabotage & I just know she's gonna mess things up, especially with the way she keeps giving that (view spoiler). *sigh*
Loved loved loved Chasing Magic. You'll hate Lex even more in this book, Lethal.
I think Lex's head would make a great conversation piece hanging above Terrible's mantel. Yes, he is a fucker.
LMAO @ Breann. YES! That would be wonderful!@ Christal: I don't know if it's possible for me to hate Lex even more, Christal. He is on the same slimy level as Kiyo from Mead's "Dark Swan" series in my eyes. I hates him with hatred & I hate Chess a little for being stupid enough to deal with him. Like the blurb for "Chasing Magic". One of the lines is "the looming war between the two men in her life". *blink blink* WHY ARE THERE TWO MEN IN YOUR LIFE, CHESS? WHY IS LEX STILL IN YOUR LIFE, DUMBASS?
Sorry. I'm done. I'm sure Lex & Chess will both do things that make me homicidal in CM-but as long as I get a regular dose of Terrible, I will be okay. Hopefully.
There are at least three Terrible moments that are AMAZING in this book. I didn't have Lex quite on the level with Kiyo before this book, but I do now. I join in your hating hatred, lol.
Christal wrote: "There are at least three Terrible moments that are AMAZING in this book. I didn't have Lex quite on the level with Kiyo before this book, but I do now. I join in your hating hatred, lol."YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ugh. Kiyo. For a challenge I had to pick a book or author that I gave up on. Looks like I will be finishing Shadow Heir. Yes, the Terrible moments in Chasing Magic were off the charts. Even when he was pissed he managed to be swoon worthy.
Don't do it Breann!! The ending will make you so mad!!!!
LOL, I have read some spoilers so I think I know what to expect. I am hoping that will help me enjoy it more. I don't know though. We'll see!
Ugh.... Dark Swan series. It started out great for me and now I'm just really annoyed at most of the characters! I hate almost all of them. How is that possible? lol
SOS: Serious Overload of Series
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Chasing Magic (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Douglas Hulick (other topics)Kelley Armstrong (other topics)
Philippa Ballantine (other topics)
Susan Elia MacNeal (other topics)
E.L. James (other topics)
