Monthly Archives: November 2016

Quotetastic Monday: Sweep in Peace by Ilona Andrews

“Quote-Tastic Monday” is a meme hosted every Monday on Herding Cats & Burning Soup. Head on over there to see what everyone else is posting about this week.

Sweep in Peace is the second book in a new-to-me series by Ilona Andrews.  The title of the series is Innkeeper Chronicles and if that doesn’t sound very exciting, it’s because you don’t understand about Innkeepers.  They are very powerful, at least while they are in their Inns.  And yes, I capitalized that on purpose.  The Inns are sentient or very close to it.

I read the first two books in the series in less than 48 hours.  Was I supposed to be getting other stuff done?  Of course.  Was I supposed to be reading another book?  Of course.  It didn’t matter.  These books are just so good that I couldn’t resist them.

I am a long time fan of Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniels series and I think these may even be better.  The only problem is that there are only two books published right now.  Book three, One Fell Sweep, is due out December 20th.  It has been serialized on her website, but I would rather wait for the published book just in case there are differences.

It’s hard to state with certainty about the genre of this series.  They are definitely science fiction, but the science appears to be magic in our world.  This is not a quote (simply because I am too lazy to look it up right now), but Dina does mention the fact that advanced technology on one world would appear to be magic on another.

Anyway, a quote since this is supposed to be a Quotetastic Monday post.

There were few universal principles in this world. That most water-based lifeforms drank tea was one. That we

fear what we cannot see was the other.

Need I mention that tea features rather prominently in these books?  And there are a lot of things to fear that are just out of our sight?

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When All the Girls Have Gone by Jayne Ann Krentz

When All The Girls Have GoneWhen All The Girls Have Gone by Jayne Ann Krentz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Title: When All the Girls Have Gone
Author: Jayne Ann Krentz
Series: None listed, but I really think there will be two sequels.
Pages: 304
Publisher: Berkley
Date: November 29, 2016

Summary:

When Charlotte Sawyer is unable to contact her step-sister, Jocelyn, to tell her that one her closest friends was found dead, she discovers that Jocelyn has vanished.

Beautiful, brilliant—and reckless—Jocelyn has gone off the grid before, but never like this. In a desperate effort to find her, Charlotte joins forces with Max Cutler, a struggling PI who recently moved to Seattle after his previous career as a criminal profiler went down in flames—literally. Burned out, divorced and almost broke, Max needs the job.

After surviving a near-fatal attack, Charlotte and Max turn to Jocelyn’s closest friends, women in a Seattle-based online investment club, for answers. But what they find is chilling…

When her uneasy alliance with Max turns into a full-blown affair, Charlotte has no choice but to trust him with her life. For the shadows of Jocelyn’s past are threatening to consume her—and anyone else who gets in their way…

Review:

Okay, this book is definitely a romantic suspense . . . or maybe, a suspenseful romance? Either way, there is plenty of both in it.

One of the things I really liked about Max and Charlotte is they are ordinary people. Neither one is “stunningly attractive.” They both have to work to pay the bills. And they both have broken relationships in their past. They have problems, just like everybody else.

Max is definitely the strong, in charge type, but he doesn’t try to tell Charlotte what to do. Probably because he realizes it would be a waste of time. They both consider themselves plodders and use the phrase “one foot in front of the other” to describe themselves.

They are just likable people.

Now, the mystery. All I can say is Good Grief!

I had it figured out half way through the book.

I thought.

Nope. I was totally wrong.

Then, I decided it was someone else. How could I have missed that?

Nope, that wasn’t it.

And the plot continued to twist and turn. When the mystery is finally solved and all the questions are answered, I had an “oh, yeah” moment. There was nothing that came out of left field. I felt like I should have seen it all along.

And that makes for a great mystery. It kept me guessing, but all the clues were there.

Jayne Ann Krentz is a great romance author. I have been reading her books for years. However, she is also a wonderful suspense writer. I read her books for the romance and humor, but the plots completely grab me.

I haven’t seen anything that says there will be any sequels, but Max is one of three brothers. I really think (hope) we are going to get a trilogy at least.

When All the Girls Have Gone comes out November 29th. Give yourself an early Christmas present, but make sure you have time to read it. You will not want to put it down.

This book was sent to me by NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Quote-tastic Monday: I Agree Stephanie!

Turbo 23

I am going to have to start with the quote on this one.  I’ll give you short review at the end.

Grandma Mazur wants Stephanie to go with her to the viewing of a murder victim and she doesn’t want to go.

Plus, I don’t share Grandma’s enthusiasm for viewings.  The flower smell makes me nauseous.  I don’t like looking at dead people.  And I’m not all that excited about talking to live people.

And that’s where she nails it in my opinion.  The flowers give me a headache.  Dead “things” and that includes people creep me out.  And I don’t particular like to talk to a bunch of people at once.  Particularly in situations of high emotion.  I just don’t deal well with a lot of drama.

Having made my quote contribution for the week, I have to say a little about the book.  I was really disappointed in it and I am not sure why.  From the first page, it just didn’t read like a Stephanie Plum book.  I am a huge fan and always preorder the books, but this one just didn’t do it for me.  I kept thinking that there is no way Evanovich wrote this book.

Again, I don’t know why.  All the regular characters are there:  Joe and Ranger, of course, Lula and Grandma Mazur, and a few that we met in previous books.  The lines were right.  She destroys a car.  Everything is normal Stephanie.

It just wasn’t right.  Did I enjoy it?  Yes, but it didn’t have the magic I expect from Stephanie Plum.

Will I buy the next book?  Of course, but I’m looking forward to the new Knight and Moon more.  The title is Dangerous Minds and it is scheduled for publication in June.

Anyway, read Turbo Twenty-three if you already a fan.  Just don’t expect much.

 

“Quote-Tastic Monday” is a meme hosted every Monday on Herding Cats & Burning Soup. Head on over there to see what everyone else is posting about this week.

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Quote-tastic Monday: Thirst (Energy Vampires, #1) by Jacquelyn Frank & REVIEW

Thirst (The Energy Vampires #1)
Thirst by Jacquelyn Frank

SPOILERS!  SPOILERS!  SPOILERS!

 

 

Title: Thirst by Jacquelyn Frank

Series:  The Energy Vampires, #1

Pages:  np (It took me about three hours to read.)

Publisher:  Loveswept

Date:  January 17, 2017
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Summary:

A hidden society of vampires—and the humans they love—are at the heart of this opening novel in a biting, all-original series from the New York Times bestselling author of the Nightwalkers saga.

Rafe DaSilva is an energy vampire, soaking up nourishment from the sun—and, only when necessary, drawing sweet sustenance from humans who are pure in body and spirit. As the right-hand man to his queen, Rafe is a key player at a historic peace summit in New York City, which will unite the vampire nations against a common threat: the sycophants, who feed on humanity and kill indiscriminately. But Rafe’s fascination with a beautiful blond police detective may put everything at risk.

Detective Renee Holden has never worked a homicide quite like this. The victim has twin puncture wounds on his neck, and the only eyewitness swears she saw a vampire. Now’s definitely not the time to get distracted by a seductive stranger. But the suave, darkly austere, exotically handsome Rafe DaSilva is a hard man to deny, and as Renee falls under his spell, she also falls prey to his enemies. Desperate to protect her, Rafe lifts the veil on a shadow realm she can only visit—a world of intoxicating power, terrifying dangers, and forbidden pleasures.

Review:

Okay, I am combining the review for this book with my regular Quote-tastic Monday post because I cannot bear the idea of having to think about it twice . . . and that should tell you my opinion if the one star does not. I am not sure I have ever given one star to a book and I know I have never given it to a book written by an author I normally like.

My very favorite book by Jacquelyn Frank is Jacob which may have been her first published book. It had an interesting, unique to me, premise of demons in our world and their interactions with humans. AND it was funny. I love funny books.

Thirst is not funny, at all. It also has a unique to me paranormal species: energy vampires. And if that name isn’t bad enough they are referred to as e-vampires. I don’t know why that bothered me so much, but it did. Anyway, they don’t drink blood, they draw energy from their “resources” by biting them on the back of the neck.

Oh yeah, good vampires only feed from good resources. A good resource is someone who lives clean, as in eats healthy, exercises, doesn’t smoke, or do drugs. The reader gets an entire section on organic food just to make it clear how important a clean resource is to a good vampire.

Obviously, bad vampires only eat from the rest of us and it makes them evil.

I can’t even say anymore about that.

As you can tell, I didn’t like the book from the beginning and it never improved. If I hadn’t promised to review it for NetGalley, I would have never finished it. And it got worse. I’ve never had the occasion to use the phrased “jumped the shark,” but now I can.

At the very end, where Rafe is explaining where e-vampires (cringe, cringe) come from, he states that they are actually descendants of aliens whose spaceship was struck by lightning over 500 years ago.

Really? REALLY!!??

Please do not waste your time with this book. Read her Nightwalker series instead. It’s wonderful. This one just isn’t.

Okay, a quote.

Renee, who is a homicide detective, has a chance to infiltrate the bad e-vampires and Rafe thinks it is too dangerous. He has told her that he will not allow it and she reacts as expected . . . badly.

Rafe realized he was going about this all wrong. She was an intelligent woman. He had to appeal to her intellect. And the more he told her what she couldn’t do, the more she would want to do it just to spite him.

Because all intelligent women do things just to spite their lovers. -sigh-

I’m done. So done.

This book was sent to me by NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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“Quote-Tastic Monday” is a meme hosted every Monday on Herding Cats & Burning Soup. Head on over there to see what everyone else is posting about this week.

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Is Pumpkin a Fruit or a Vegetable?

Halloween in Atlantis (Warriors of Poseidon, #8.5)Halloween in Atlantis by Alyssa Day
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Short, sweet and really makes me want to reread the Atlantis series. I think my favorite part was Jaime trying to explain that Jack-o-Lanterns weren’t dangerous and needing to be destroyed. Liam was quite a bit embarrassed to find out he was trying to vanquish a fruit.

And who knew pumpkin was actually a fruit and not a vegetable? Not me!

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Quote-tastic Monday: Murder of Crows by Anne Bishop

“Quote-Tastic Monday” is a meme hosted every Monday on Herding Cats & Burning Soup. Head on over there to see what everyone else is posting about this week.

This is the third time I have read/listened to this series and I love it more every time.  The plot line is unique to me and that is saying something.  I have read so many books over the years that nothing ever seems to be really new to me.  There may be a twist, but nothing is completely new.  The Others series is an exception.  The entire concept is new.  And yes, I know I have used the word “new” three times in this paragraph.

Anyway, even though I have read/listened to the series three times, I cannot give you an exact quote because I am listening, not reading in print form.  It’s just really hard to find an exact phrase in an Audible book.  The two phrases that have stuck with me so far are when Simon (wolf shapeshifter) wants to play with Meg (special type of human, not prey).  She is furious with him and he realizes that the only game she probably wants to play is “whack a wolf.”

I love that.  For some reason it cracks me up every time I hear it.

The other phrase was coined by Simon to describe Meg and her human pack.  Simon came up with the idea, but the other Others have taken to using it as well. (And again yes, I know that I have just typed other Others.)  He calls them “exploding fluffballs.”  Need I say, he does not call them that to their faces?

These books have become some of my all time favorites.  Anything and everything is put aside for a new Others book.  I cannot wait until March for Etched in Bone.  As the wolf puppies said on their Facebook page, those aren’t etchings, they’re teethmarks.  And I can’t wait to get my teeth into the next book.crowsquote-tastic final with green border

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Quote-tastic Monday: With This Ring (Vanza, #1) by Amanda Quick

Yeah, yeah.  I know it’s Wednesday.  As a matter of fact, this isn’t posted yet and it may even be Thursday before I get it together.  Don’t ask about my week.  Just don’t ask.

Now for a little background.  The hero of the book has decided that the heroine, Mrs. Poole, should stay at his estate for a couple of days for her own safety.  He summons the butler to give him his orders.

“In the morning you will inform Mrs. Poole that she cannot leave Monkcrest until the day after tomorrow at the earliest.”

“You wish me to stop Mrs. Poole from leaving?”  Finch’s jaw unhinged.  He swallowed twice, very quickly, and recovered his composure.  “M’lord, such an action may not lie within my power.  Mrs. Poole is a very forceful lady.  I’m not sure the devil himself could stop her if she took a mind to vacate the premises.”

I love it and Finch is right.  “Forceful lady” is putting it lightly.  Force of nature would probably be more accurate.

I read this series when it was first released back in the late 90s and early 2000s.  They were great then and have definitely stood the test of time.  I am enjoying a reread after so many years.  It’s like I have discovered them for the first time.

If you are not familiar with Amanda Quick, that is the pen name for Jayne Ann Krentz when she is writing historicals.  She also writes science fiction as Jayne Castle.  It doesn’t matter what name she writes under, they are all wonderful.

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