R5: Team #10 ~ X-treme Readers

[Daffodil]

O20 - *New2You Series: 5/5
Stamp Received: Requested

Kerstin Once Burned, 5 stars, Review
Steph Ann Once Burned, 4 stars, Review
Daffodil Firelight, 5 stars, Review
Cristina Revenge of the Witch, 4 stars, Review
Lisa Halfway to the Grave, 4 stars, Review

[Daffodil]

So many choices for the shifters shelf! I'd already started (and finished) , so I can't use it. I decided on , book seven in one of my favorite series.

[Daffodil]

O22 - Shifters: 4/5
Stamp Received: Still Reading

Kerstin Playing With Fire, 3 stars, Review
Steph Ann Stray, 3 stars, Review
Daffodil Raven Calls, 5 stars, Review
Cristina Dying Bites, 4 stars, Review
Lisa Slave to Sensation

[Lisa P]

Daffodil: I'm glad you enjoyed as much as I did. Like you, I had many ideas throughout the story about what might be going on with Archer, and never did figure it out until it was revealed...made for a fun read. I too am looking forward to reading Ian's story next.

Yay for our 4th stamp! Too bad they all aren't in the same row, lol.

[Daffodil]

Once we finish the Shifters shelf, we will have two different 3 in a rows!

[A book away from an episode of hoarders]

I'm going to read for the 'shifter' shelf

[Steph Ann]

How was , Daffodil? I still need to re-read before I get to that one.

Hope everyone enjoys their shifter books!

I'm very excited about getting our 4th stamp! :)

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Great review Daffodil, I'll have to move this one us the reading ladder :)

[Daffodil]

Cristina wrote: "I'm going to read for the 'shifter' shelf"

I hope you enjoy this, I really liked 1 and 2 of the series and keep meaning to read the third. I'm going to have to get a move on, I think book 6 is coming out later this year.

[A book away from an episode of hoarders]

Daffodil wrote: "Cristina wrote: "I'm going to read for the 'shifter' shelf"

I hope you enjoy this, I really liked 1 and 2 of the series and keep meaning to read the third. I'm going to ha..."

It's been on Mt. TBR for years. I'm happy to hear you liked it. :)

[Daffodil]

Steph Ann wrote: "How was , Daffodil? I still need to re-read before I get to that one.
"

It was great. Adria and Riaz are both emotionally hurting at the start of the book and the growth of their relationship is wonderful to read. We also get to check in on a lot of past couples.

[Steph Ann]

Daffodil wrote: "It was great. Adria and Riaz are both emotionally hurt..."

So glad to hear it was good! :)

[Steph Ann]

Slowly making my way through . I'm about 50% through and it's starting to pick up the pace a little bit. I'm hoping I start liking Faythe a little more as the book continues cuz right now, I just want to smack her.

[Lisa P]

I'm only about 20% into and so far it is pretty slow going...I do have high hopes that it will pick up though.

[Steph Ann]

I really love that series, Lisa, but the first one probably is one of the rougher ones to get through, mainly I think due to world building. Hopefully it starts going better for you!

[Lisa P]

Steph Ann: I'm sure you are correct. I'm not giving up yet...I'm sure there is a reason everyone loves this series.

[Daffodil]

Shifters
Raven Calls, C.E. Murphy, 7-9-12
Rating: 5 stars
Review: You wouldn't expect Native American Shamanism & Celtic Mythology to blend well into a cohesive storyline. Yet book after book, C.E. Murphy succeeds in delivering a story that keeps you on your toes. I love the fact that you never quite know what to expect.

Joanne Walker, born Siobhan Grainne MacNamarra Walkingstick, began as a disbeliever in book 1 and has gradually learned to use her shamanic powers throughout the series. You definitely need to have read the first 6 books in the series before starting this and I would go one step further and strongly recommend the short story in Winter Moon. Events that began in "Banshee Cries" take on new importance and culminate in Raven Calls.

In this book we learn a lot more about Jo's Celtic heritage and specifically about her mother, the Irish Mage. Time travel, time loops and jumps through spirit world levels could confuse those not familiar with Jo's history, but I personally loved all the twists and turns.

I will definitely be picking up the next two (and final) books in this series.

[Steph Ann]

Glad you enjoyed your pick so much, Daffodil! This is another series that's been on my TBR list forever that I haven't gotten around to starting yet. I'll need to move it up on the list! :)

[Steph, Serious series addict]

CONGRATULATIONS, X-treme Readers!
You now have an updated BINGO card with a stamp on 'New2You: series'.

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

Good Job!! :D

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Congrats on the stamp Xtreme!

[Steph Ann]

Thanks, Sandra!

Yay for our 4th stamp!

picked up considerably once I got past the 50% mark, so I should have it finished over my lunch hour today. :)

[A book away from an episode of hoarders]

Shelf: Shifters
Rating: 4*
Read: 07/11/2012
Review:

I think that any book with a main character who has a sarcastic, biting wit has a good chance of being a hit with me. We have our bad ass female agent, Jace, whom I knew I liked in the first 5 pages. Then we have the culture shock as she's thrust into a parallel universe with Golems, Vampires, and Weres where humans make up only about 1% of the population. I really liked the support characters too. I especially loved Charlie and wish there was more of him in it. The Sons of Vox thing made me smile a bit.

I liked that although everything was vastly different, there were many similarities.

I was kind of disappointed in the personal interactions, or the lack of depth in the existing ones, but I understand that this is the first of the series. There is all the world building and character introductions, and not only that but our main character is certainly a fish out of water and she has every intention of getting back to her own pond, sooner rather than later, so she has no desire to get too close to the ‘people' living in this other universe.

I'm definitely going to read the next book in this series.

[Steph Ann]

Shelf: Shifters
Date Read: 7/11/12
Rating: ***

Review:

I struggled between giving this 3 or 3 1/2 stars because I did end up enjoying this book, but settled on just 3 due to the fact that it took me until the halfway point to really get into it. I found my mind wandering a lot during the first half of the book, mainly because I really did not like the main character, Faythe. She just seems whiny. Plus, she seems to keep forgetting that she has a boyfriend back at school, and I didn't quite get the point of him being in the book at all with how little he was mentioned.

That being said, once the book hit the 50% mark, it really took off for me. I liked that the author didn't pull any punches when it came to describing the darker aspects of the plot. I thought the end wrapped everything up well without leaving any major cliffhangers for the next one.

So, despite my problems with getting into the story initially, I will be reading the next in the series, although it might be a while before I get around to it.

For some reason, the first line in the book caught my attention, so that's what I'm going to quote this time around:

"The moment the door opened I knew an ass-kicking was inevitable. Whether I'd be giving it or receiving it was still a bit of a mystery."

[Steph Ann]

Glad you enjoyed , Cristina! That's one series I really enjoy and need to get caught up on.

[Daffodil]

Cristina, happy to hear you liked it! I've had on my TBR for a long time. I've physically moved it to the top of my shelf stack in the living room many times, but I still keep getting sidetracked. I'm going to have to take time to catch up on various series and not start new ones! ... I don't really see that happening though, especially with all the enablers around SOS. LOL.

Steph Ann, I wasn't a big fan of Faythe either. So much so that I never read past the first book. But the series is so popular with my friends and a few have assured me that she grows up, I decided to give it another shot and bought most of the series when Borders was having their going out of business sales.

[Daffodil]

I also have a theory about the boyfriend in . I don't know if I'm right or wrong (and please don't tell me either way if anyone knows), but I'm still going to put it in spoiler space.

(view spoiler)[He may become important later. I wondered if he was connected in some way to the South American tribes. At one point she found a flower he'd given her pressed between pages and, if I remember correctly, it was possibly South American. I also thought there was a good chance that he had been infected. He was sick during a few of their conversations and I thought maybe he would pop up later in the series as a stray. (hide spoiler)]

[Steph Ann]

I think your theory definitely makes sense, Daffodil!

(view spoiler)[I figure there had to be a reason that focus was given to the book Faythe found of his with the flower in it. Otherwise, it seems really random to mention it if it means nothing. (hide spoiler)]

[Kerstin]

Cristina, I'm glad you liked . I really enjoy that series, but like Daffodil I'm a bit behind with it and have to catch up soon-ish :)

Steph Ann, I completely understand your thoughts on Faythe. I felt exactly the same way. It took me ages to go on with the series because of that, but by now I have read #2 & #3 and she has improved a little and is growing up bit by bit.

[Kerstin]

Shelf: Shifters
Rating: ★★★
Read: 12/7/2012
Review:
This is the first book in the 'Silver Dragons' series and it is a quick and fun read. To really understand what's going on, it's probably a good idea to read the 'Aisling Grey' series first, which introduces us to most of the characters and includes some of the background story to the current situation.

May is a doppelganger and also a thief bound to a demon lord. When she tries to return a powerful item to its owner, she runs into Gabriel, head of the silver dragon sept. After finding out that she is the famous burglar Mai Ling, he asks her to steal an ancient dragon relic back for him. He soon realizes she is his mate though and things get complicated. A demon lord at her back, her twin who lost her common sense getting blackmailed and a dragon claiming her even though that's the last thing she needs, May has quite a lot on her plate.

Gabriel and May were a lovely couple, but the romance developed rather quickly. I have to admit that I probably expected a bit more from Gabriel's courtship, after all he was my favourite dragon in the Aisling books. There was some humour and funny situations, but it didn't quite reach the heights of the previous series; something just seemed to be missing for me.
Luckily Jim wasn't missing, my favourite demon-dog was back (yay!), as well as Aisling and Drake and a handful of others.
All up, it was quite an enjoyable read, but I do prefer the Aisling Grey series, at least so far.

[Daffodil]

Great review Kerstin! And here's an update.

O22 - Shifters: 4/5
Stamp Received: Still Reading

Kerstin Playing With Fire, 3 stars, Review
Steph Ann Stray, 3 stars, Review
Daffodil Raven Calls, 5 stars, Review
Cristina Dying Bites, 4 stars, Review
Lisa Slave to Sensation

[Steph Ann]

I'm very glad to hear that Faythe starts to mature at least a little bit, Kerstin!

[Lisa P]

Shelf: Shifters
Read: 7/12/12
Rating: 3 stars
Review: I really wanted to like this book but it was just so-so for me. It started off soooooo slow...I understand world building, but really, nothing was happening. Sascha would talk to her mom for a while, go talk to Lucas for a while, go back and talk to her mom, go back and talk to Lucas, and so on and so on. I did enjoy the gradual character development of Sascha from thinking she was falling apart and that something was terribly flawed with her, to understanding that she was exceptional and that the rest of the Psy were the flawed ones. I think the immediate attraction to her from Lucas was a bit much, but it seems to be a fairly common occurance in many of the paranormals these days, so I have learned to accept it and move on. I really enjoyed hearing details about the individual lives of the changeling pack members. This was the most interesting part of the story for me and I wished there was more of it...maybe this will develop more in future books. If it weren't for the last third of this book, I would have had to say that I didn't like it. However, I was finally drawn into the mystery of who the killer was once plans were finally discussed about what could be done to catch him. The anticipation of the trap that was set to catch him caught my interest until the very end. I might go on to read the next book in this series to see what might happen, but only because of the many high recommendations from others, not from my own experience from reading this book...Hoping the next one is better.

[Steph Ann]

Sorry to hear you weren't a huge fan of , Lisa! It might be worth it to give the second one a shot if you're ever in the mood for it, but there are definitely plenty of other series out there to read too!

It looks like we're ready for our Shifters stamp! Yay! Since Daffodil doesn't have internet access in the evenings, I'll go ahead and request our stamp shortly. :)

[Steph Ann]

O22 – Shifters: 5/5
Stamp Received: Requested

Kerstin Playing With Fire, 3 stars, Review
Steph Ann Stray, 3 stars, Review
Daffodil Raven Calls, 5 stars, Review
Cristina Dying Bites, 4 stars, Review
Lisa Slave to Sensation, 3 stars, Review

[A book away from an episode of hoarders]

Go team! Go! :)

[Steph, Serious series addict]

CONGRATULATIONS, X-treme Readers!
You now have an updated BINGO card with a stamp on 'shifters'.

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

Good Job!! :D

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Congrats on the stamp Xtreme!

[Kerstin]

Yay team!

Thanks, Steph and Sandra :)

[Steph Ann]

We're doing great! Hopefully a good shelf gets called this weekend so we can have 4 in a row...and now I hope I didn't just jinx us. :)

[Daffodil]

Whoohoo!!! Way to go team!

[Daffodil]

So what's everyone reading now?

I'm currently reading for the RRRC Pick-It-For-Me challenge. Mid way through and it's interesting enough. I can see a couple set-ups for plot twists, so unless Hocking really pulls something out of the hat, I don't think I'll be surprised by anything.

I went home and found on my doorstep last night and it looks good. And after saying I need to concentrate on finishing series, not starting new ones. 8P Oh, well.

Is there a particular shelf anyone is pulling for this time around?

Obviously vampires, 2011, paranormal fantasy or dark fantasy would be good for the team as whole. Those are broad enough that it should be real easy for me to find at least 10 possibilities. LOL. I'd really like a shelf that has on it, though.

[Steph Ann]

I'm almost done with and really enjoying it. Once I finish that, the major question becomes do I start another book, or just find something else to do with myself until the next shelf is called?

I'd probably most like a shelf to be called that I could use for. I completely forgot that came out and now really want to read it. If that won't work though, I have plenty of other books on my TBR list that I'm sure would work for whatever shelf is called!

I've been meaning to start the Kitty Katt series for a while now, Daffodil. If ends up working for the new shelf, I might have to pick that. :)

[A book away from an episode of hoarders]

I'm nearly done with and I'm about 25% done with on audiobook.

[Lisa P]

I'm looking for a shelf tht will let me read . I liked the first book and would like to continue on with the series.

I'm with you Steph Ann...not sure if I should start something new or just wait for the next shelf. I don't want to end up reading two books at once again...and if I start something now, that is exactly what I will have to do.

How did you like Cristina? It is on my TBR list.

[A book away from an episode of hoarders]

Lisa wrote: "
How did you like Cristina? It is on my TBR list. "

I liked it quite a bit. It's violent and gritty. Reminds me of an action movie. Plot has moments where it's a bit thin but I didn't have any real issues with it.

This was my second attempt to read it and I'm really glad I gave it another go. I looked at the used book store today but they didn't have #2. I'll get it soon though.

[Daffodil]

Cristina I read Killing Floor last month and enjoyed it. I've been looking for a series to fill the gaps while waiting for new books in John Sandford's Prey series and this may do nicely. I've been reading those since the early nineties and practically devour new books the minute I get my hands on them.

Steph Ann Whenever I go grocery shopping, I swing by the book department to check out new arrivals. If something catches my eye, I read the first couple pages. Anything that appeals to me goes in my notebook to look up later. I still remember standing in Wal-Mart, not wanting to finish my shopping because it would mean putting down . It had to come home with me. Gini Koch's humor appeals to me and I brought Alien Diplomacy to my friend's this weekend on the off chance it will fit into the next shelf.

Can you tell me a little bit about Mira Grant's series without ruining any surprises? I've had on my list of possibilities for a while. But since the library doesn't have any copies, I would definitely have to buy it.

[Kerstin]

I'm currently taking a short break from my usual paranormal fare with . I'm really enjoying it so far.

I keep on meaning to start the "Kitty Kat" series for a while now as well. I might have to pick it up soon.

[Steph Ann]

Daffodil, I'll do my best to not spoil anything. is able to blend politics with zombies and somehow make it totally believable. It follows a group of bloggers who win the opportunity to tag along on the campaign trail of one of the candidates and report on what they see. The main character is a girl named Georgia (named after George Romero).

One thing I really liked about it is how the zombie infection spreads because it's different from any other zombie book/movie that I've read/seen. Basically, everyone carries the infection and has to constantly be tested to see if it's gone over into the red zone where they'll change into a zombie. It adds a nice bit of tension to certain parts of the story.

It's also set 20 years after zombies started appearing, so the main characters have all grown up in this world where zombies are the norm, which is also a little different from other zombie stories.

Hopefully that helps!

[Steph Ann]

I decided to not start anything new once I finished my last book. So now, I'm just basically trying to keep myself occupied til the new shelf gets called. :)

[Lisa P]

Me too...haven't had any time to read today anyways...been outside all day having a garage sale. It was so hot, but still fun...and made a little money too (I think a little book shopping may be in order) :)