Dhampir (Noble Dead Saga #1) – Book Review

Published Date: January 7, 2003

Publishing Co.: Roc

Pages: 376

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Magiere and Leesil (along with his weird dog, Chap) have been scamming small villages for a long time. Peasants are superstitious after all and if anything goes wrong, vampires are to blame. Magiere and Leesil have never actually seen a vampire but they’re all too happy to take the village’s money to pretend like they’ve destroyed one. After, they march along with their bounty, leaving the villagers light of pocket and stuck with their original problem.

Magiere is getting tired of the game (poor baby!) and wants to settle down somewhere once and for all. She dreams of running a tavern somewhere along the coast and eventually hears from her broker that one is available. Now, she just has to convince Leesil that it’s a good idea.

In a run of karma, the town where the tavern is located IS actually run by vampires. Magiere and Leesil learn the hard way that Magiere may be the only one who can destroy vampires. Weird changes happen when she’s confronted by the undead and her rage consumes her, making her into a lethal weapon she never knew she was.

For most of this novel, I thought I wouldn’t continue to the next book however, the author writes great characters with intriguing back stories and a world just interesting enough to keep me going. I like that Magiere didn’t know what she was or what her abilities are and we’re learning it all right along with her. I want to see what adventures lie in wait for Magiere, Leesil and Chap. (Who is weird because the cover depicts him as a husky-like dog while the story refers to him as a silver furred hound. Huskies and hounds do not look alike good sir.)

#SpooktasticReads: Soulless (Parasol Protectorate #1) – Book Review

Published Date: October 1, 2009

Publishing Co: Orbit

Pages: 357

Goodreads Synopsis.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

“Miss Tarabotti was not one of life’s milk-water misses—in fact, quite the opposite. Many gentlemen had likened his first meeting with her to downing a very strong cognac when one was expecting to imbibe fruit juice – that is to say, startling and apt to leave one with a distinct burning sensation.”

Earlier this month, when I was yearning for a good werewolf story, I should have picked this up instead of the one I did. But what matters, is that I finally read this, having owned the ebook for a number of years.

Alexia Tarabotti is one of those female main characters that I love. Smart, rebellious, and incorrigible. Considered a spinster at the rough ol’ age of 26, Alexia is mostly a pain to her family. She’s apt to embarrass them at dinners, talking to scientists and aristocrats, about……gulp….intellectual subjects. Not to mention, she’s half Italian and her tan skin is an offense to their delicate pale senses. Her nose is just slightly too large and they will probably never find someone to marry her off to.

Lord Maccon is a werewolf and the head of BUR, essentially the police of supernatural creatures. Currently humanity knows of the existence of werewolves, vampires and ghosts. There may be a few others creeping about that they have no idea exist, like Miss Tarabotti herself. Lord Maccon is forced to endure several encounters with Miss Tarabotti after she is attacked by a rogue vampire. More perplexing still, every new mystery seems to happen in Miss Tarabotti’s presence. Lone werewolves and vampires are missing, and new ones appearing with no idea of what they are or the rules they must now live by. Every time he turns his back, another incident involving Alexia occurs.

Being the curious sort, Alexia begins gathering information after each incident and uses her contacts to find out more. If the police can’t figure this out, why, she will.

Love it or not, Lord Maccon can either work with Miss Tarabotti or……lock her up? That might be the only way to keep her out of it.

The woman is frustratingly intriguing.

This was just a wallop of fun. Steampunk, mystery, romance, strong characters and adventure. I could binge read the whole series in one go.

Blood Kissed (Lizzie Grace #1) – Book Review

Published Date: May9, 2017

Publishing Co.: ebook, no publisher listed

Pages: 330

Goodreads Synopsis.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

I was having a werewolf itch, so I perused some books that I already own and this was one of the options. It also had witches, another favorite of mine, so I sat down, ready for some good paranormal fun.

Lizzie and her witch familiar, Belle, moved and opened up shop on a werewolf reservation. Things are pretty quiet for a couple of months until Lizzie is asked to use some of her psychic ability to find a missing teenager. The quest leads to murder and the discovery of an extremely powerful villain. Lizzie helps the local werewolf Ranger (werewolf police) investigate and attempt to stop the bad guy before more people die.

Extreme lack of werewolf. Sure, the love interest is a werewolf, but the wolfiest he gets is sniffing the air and one howl, maybe two.

And Judas Priest, the amount of showers I had to read about Lizzie taking. I get it, you’re cleanly, let’s move on. Twice a day showers is a bit obnoxious and took up entirely too much of the story. If the showers were axed, there would have been more room for character development or world building.

I’ve read the first books to a couple of Keri Arthur series now and honestly, the main characters are all very similar. I feel mostly in appearance but in personality too. I have yet to be impressed with any of the series and this one is the same. It’s not bad but not something I’m likely to continue reading unless I’m bored and my options are limited.

Silence Fallen (Mercy Thompson #10) – Book Review

Published Date: March 7, 2017

Publishing Co.: Ace Books

Pages: 371

Goodreads Synopsis.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Several things happen at my house when I have a Mercy Thompson novel to read; dogs are taken out to do their business, the husband is shunned to the basement for video games, I shower and get into pajamas. Then it’s time to read undisturbed for as long as possible. Either it’s read in one sitting or two, this time it was two because I read until I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer.

We enter on a fun pack video game night, Mercy’s game character has died so it’s time to bake some cookies. But alas, some of the most important ingredients are missing so she has to run up to the store. That’s when she’s abruptly kidnapped and carted off half way across the world by one of the world’s most dangerous players. Her bond to the pack has been cut off and she’s one her own with no one to back her up. She has no money and doesn’t speak the languages she hears.

The kidnapper is not being honest about why he took her and she’s been taught by Charles to escape at the first chance you have, so she uses her coyote wiles and does just that. She’s racing across Europe evading capture and searching for allies while Adam and friends race to meet this mysterious man and negotiate her release, not knowing that she’s already escaped his clutches.

Adam is barely keeping his wolf under control while he attempts to play nice with the monster that took his wife. Luckily, he’s brought along people that can help him be diplomatic when it’s the last thing on his mind. It’s going to take three werewolves, two vampires, and two goblins for cooler heads to prevail and rescue their favorite troublesome coyote.

In this case, besides the usual things I love about the series, I very much enjoyed the historical research and mythology of the Czech Republic. It’s not a history I’m familiar with so I really liked learning something new intertwined with everything else I enjoy about this world Briggs created.

Kissing Sin (Riley Jenson Guardian #2) – Book Review

Published Date: January 30, 2007

Publishing Co.: Dell

Pages: 390

Goodreads Synopsis.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Well….uhm…huh.

Riley Jenson is a vampire werewolf hybrid. Such is rare but possible. She wakes up in a research facility but doesn’t remember entering or much about her time there. She escapes with the help of some horse shapeshifters. Then, has sex with one of them. Of course, the cock is the same ratio no matter in horse or human form. I think this is supposed to be sexy but I personally find it creepy.

For much of the book, Riley is running for her life but either she’s thinking about sex while running or having sex each time she stops. Then the bad guys catch up and she has to battle her way free, but don’t worry because she’ll still be thinking about the sex. I very much get that in this world sex is an integral part of werewolf life but how the fuck does she even have time for anything else? And quite frankly, I’m no prude but I was tired of reading about the fucking every couple of chapters or less. None of the sex scenes were really all that sexy. Minimal foreplay and then right to the action, done in minutes. If I’m going to read some erotic scenes, please make it worth my time.

There wasn’t much to make me connect with the main character, Riley. I much preferred all the male characters to her. The world building was different even for an urban fantasy novel, lots of attempted cross-breeding and strange scientific creations. There could be a lot to this world but it’s unfortunately filled with lame sex. The last third of the book was definitely the best. Lots of action and no time for sex. If more of the book would have kept that premise, I might consider continuing the series (especially since I have picked up several used copies of the installments over the years), but as it stands, I don’t care enough about the main character to continue the crusade within this world. The next book promises lots of unwanted sex with dangerous men while she’s undercover and if the sex was lame with guys she liked, I can only imagine the snooze fest that would be awaiting me if I decided to torture myself and pick up the next volume.

The Last American Vampire – Book Review

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter #2

Published Date: January 13, 2015

Publishing Co.: Grand Central Publishing

Pages: 399

Goodreads Synopsis.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

History buffs and historical fiction nerds will adore.

“But that’s the wonderful thing about being a vampire. Our hope of Heaven is revoked the moment we’re made. Every subsequent sin is a teardrop in the ocean.”

This is the follow up novel to Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. While I had a lot of fun with that novel, this one was even more of a historical thrill ride. Here, we follow Henry Sturges after the death of his friend Lincoln as he trots through important points in history. Beginning with his landing in the New World before he was made, up until the early 2000s.

From the true story behind the disappearance of the people of Roanoke, to encounters with Jack the Ripper while hanging out with Brom Stoker and Arthur Conan Doyle, to hunting Rasputin and trying to take down Hitler. These are but bullet points in the life and adventures of Henry Sturges. True patriotic American hero. The oldest vampire in America. Will he ever stop fighting for his country? America should hope not.

While Henry Sturges is a fun character, it was Grahame-Smith’s ability to bring historical characters back to life with care and charisma that really made this book.

 

Kitty Goes to Washington – Book Review

Kitty Norville #2

3 out of 5 stars

Kitty Norville is a character that a lot of people seem to have a problem relating to, at least in the beginning of the series. To a point, it’s understandable. She’s a werewolf but not the bad ass she-wolf everyone is used to in virtually every urban fantasy werewolf story. She’s kind of a coward and rolls over easily. She’s jumpy like a cat instead of a fearsome predator. These attributes are actually why I keep reading. It’s a change from your usual she-kicks-all-the-ass-immediately-and-no-one-can-step-to-her urban fantasy trope.

This is the second book in the series and she’s slowly growing a little more backbone. She has been requested to speak in front of a committee in Washington D.C. on the behalf of vampires and werewolves. Creatures that were recently brought to public light. A scientist has been doing research on the virus’ that cause these different states of life and wants to continue to receive funding from the government to do so. As with all politics, there are others who hope to prove that vampires and werewolves should be exterminated. They are an affront to God. And yet others, who wish to use werewolves in the military as super soldiers.

Because Kitty is good at getting into trouble, she just might become a science experiment herself if she’s not careful.

Overall this series is okay. I keep reading because of the different type of heroine. The writing isn’t particularly strong but the action is interesting enough to see where this goes in the next installment of the series.

Home Improvement: Undead Edition – Book Review

3 out of 5 stars overall

I’m not a short story person, so I’m pretty proud of myself for reading this. It was nice having a book to just leave at work to read on my lunches and I found a couple new authors to look into.

If I Had a Hammer by Charlaine Harris
Sookie Stackhouse short story. Tara and JB are doing a little remodeling after their twins are born and release a negative spirit. Conveniently, their nanny is a psychic and helps to solve the mystery surrounding the spirit and how to get it to move on. 2.5/5 stars

Wizard Home Security by Victor Gischler
A wizard in a wizarding community has his house broken into and all his expensive spell materials stolen. This is the story of his funny failures at securing his place. (Example: a zombie bear sentry.) 3/5 stars

Curtsies & Conspiracies – Book Review

Finishing School Book Two

4 out of 5 stars

The Finishing School series is one that is perfect for burning through on a pleasant pre-autumn day on the back patio with your dogs. Who may or may not be trying to bust through the screen to ambush their arch nemesis….squirrels.

Classes continue and conspiracies also continue to arise. Sophronia and her friends are of course, smack in the middle of it all, per usual. There isn’t much of a purpose of laying out the plot line since it’s full of silly shenanigan fun. This isn’t a deep read but one in line with just thoroughly enjoying a romping good frollick.

Airships, gadgets, poison, mechanimals, ball gowns, vampires, werewolves, evil genius’, and spectacular inventions. Why couldn’t school have been like this for me?

House Rules – Book Review

Chicagoland Vampires #7

3 out of 5 stars

This series started out so strong but then the author started using the same formula for every book in the series. Trouble brews in Chicago, Merit and Ethan are thrown in the middle of it, will their relationship survive or won’t it? They solve mystery and work out their relationship.

No matter what happens, even if the action is good, the mystery thrilling, just seeing a repeat of the same formula every time gets under my skin. I’m so tired of the relationship drama that I could spit. (Not on the book, I’m not the Devil.) At this point, I wish Merit would dump Ethan and explore options with Jonah, as he is a much more enjoyable male character.

I’ve read the synopsis for the next book and I can’t say that it thrills me any. Quite honestly, it looks to be a repeat of another, “Oh no! Chicago is in trouble! Can Merit and Ethan save the day?! Will their relationship survive the test?!”

*Barfs*

Maybe one day, if I’m bored and for some unforeseen reason, curious, I’ll pick up the series again and see how it goes. *Grumps off into the horizon.*