REVIEW - LOKI'S DAUGHTERS

Author: Delle Jacobs
File Size: 453 KB ( aka approx. 250 pages )
Publisher: Delle Jacobs
Published: January 11, 2010
Form: Kindle Edition


I found this free on Amazon.com for Kindle, and read it in less than 24 hours.

The story begins with 9th Century Cumbria where a village is inhabited by Celt women only, after raid, after raid of Vikings who killed their men in their wake. Arienh is the rock of the whole village of women, but as hard as she tries they aren't doing good. What changes everything is when Arienh runs into a lone Viking in the hills, he tries to capture her only to be stabbed to his and her surprise by Arienh.

Her conscience eventually nags enough that she allows the dying Viking the warmth of her cabin she shares with her sister and her nephew. As it happens he doesn't die, but his brother does show up to collect him.

The women see trouble right away as the men begin to feel far too much at home in their valley. As the men decide to stay and court the women for their wives Arienh will have none of it and the battle is ready to begin. Sneaky battle that is. Arienh in the front and center has decided to make the men's stay in their valley as unpleasant as possible, to drive them elsewhere.

It's not easy to come to terms that these men, who call themselves Northmen and not Vikings, are not the same Vikings who raider and raped the village in the years before.

While Arienh worries over her sister and nephew she finds that she's not quite immune to her Viking's courting after all, which gets her to heap of trouble.

The story is nice trip to Middle Ages in a soft romantic way. I myself have a soft spot for historical romance genre, after having grown up with the medieval romances written by Kaari Utrio.

I really did like this book, but I think reading it at the end of the winter would have been perfect.

You can find this book for free at amazon.com and at the author's blog.

Rating :

+ ☆ ☆ ☆ ★ ★
Good book, well worth reading

Started Reading : 12th of July 2011 : afternoon
Finished Reading : 13th of July 2011 : morning

Music: Loreena McKennitt, expecially "Skellig" ( http://youtu.be/EWvG2fLSypY )

TWO FREE KINDLE BOOKS ON AMAZON

Two NEW free Kindle books ( you can get a free 'Kindle for PC' on Amazon HERE. That is what I am using at the moment ).

Snake Skin by C.J. Lyons

Just your average Pittsburgh soccer mom, baking brownies and carrying a loaded forty-caliber Glock...

Lucille Teresa Guardino. A woman of many identities. Lucille to her doting mother, Lulu to her devoted husband, Mom to her pre-teen daughter, Lucy to her friends, LT to her co-workers, and Supervisory Special Agent Guardino to the criminals she captures for the FBI's Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement squad.

A loving mom and wife, dutiful daughter, consummate professional, and kick-ass federal agent, Lucy is living the perfect life.

Until the day she comes up against a predator more vicious and cunning than any she's ever tackled before, one who forces Lucy to choose between the life of the young victim she is fighting to save and her own daughter's....and Lucy's dream life is shattered.

Gods of Dream by Daniel Arenson
What are dreams? Some think they are figments of our mind. But what if they were wisps of a distant, magical world… a world you could visit?

Twins Cade and Tasha discover Dream, the land dreams come from. It is a realm of misty forests, of verdant mountains, of mysterious gods who send dreams into our sleep. Cade and Tasha seek solace there; they are refugees, scarred and haunted with memories of war. In Dream, they can forget their past, escape the world, and find joy.

Phobetor, the god of Nightmare, was outcast from Dream. Now he seeks to destroy it. He sends his monsters into Dream, and Cade and Tasha find their sanctuary threatened, dying. To save it, the twins must overcome their past, journey into the heart of Nightmare, and face Phobetor himself.

Discover a world of light and darkness, of hope and fear, of dreams and nightmares. Discover The Gods of Dream. 

Get them while they are still free, I but them both on my list of Books to Read.

REVIEW - CERULIAN SINS - ANITA BLAKE VAMPIRE HUNTER NOVEL #11

Author: Laurell K. Hamilton 
Pages: 560 pages
Publisher: Jove
Published: August 31, 2004
Form: Paperback
Series: Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #11
Adlibris: http://www.adlibris.com/fi/product.aspx?isbn=0755355393

Okay, first of all I love the series, big fan of Anita Blake!

But this book, dear lord I did not enjoy this, it was a mixed salad of 50 ingredients. It was messy, hard to go with the flow and it left me with the constant 'move on' feeling. Chapter after chapter of the same scene that kept having twist after twist after twist.

I think the main problem is that there are just too many characters, Anita, Jean-Claude, Asher, Micah, Nathaniel, Jason, Richard, Zebrowski, Dolph - and as they are all great it's great to know more of them but as she gives more info and detail on everyone it gets to be too much.

I loved it much more in the early books when we had Anita, Richard and Jean-Claude and extras, now it's a whole freaking theater full of people.

I probably sound harsher than I actually feel but this book left me restless and wanting to skip pages - and to be honest I did skip the last few chapters, cause it just didn't move anywhere, and I love stories that have action instead of 8 main characters in one room battling their minds for chapters upon chapters to no end.

Publisher's Blurb

Anita Blake is trying to get her life back to "normal" after a break-up with her werewolf lover. She has settled into a pattern of domesticity, which means that the new man in her life, the leopard shapeshifter Micah, has no problem sharing her with Jean-Claude, Master Vampire of the City. Things are as peaceful as they ever get for someone who raises the dead, when Jean-Claude receives an unexpected and unwelcome visitor: Musette, the very beautiful, very twisted representative of the European Council of Vampires. Anita soon finds herself caught up in a dangerous game of vampire power politics.

To add to her troubles, she is asked to consult on a series of brutal killings, which seem to be the work of something un-human. The investigation leads her to Cerulean Sins, a vampire-run establishment that deals in erotic videos, videos that cater to very specific tastes. Anita knows one creature of the night who has such interests — Jean-Claude's visitor. But if Anita brings Musette down, the repercussions could cost her everything she holds dear.”

Once a sworn enemy of all monsters, Anita is now the human consort of both Master Vampire Jean Claude and leopard shapeshifter Micah. When a centuries-old vampire hits St. Louis, Anita finds herself needing all the dark forces her passion can muster to save the ones she loves.

Anita Blake returns to find hell hath no fury like a vampire scorned.

Okay now what I did like about this book is the chapters where she goes after the bad guys, on the crime scenes and her reactions to Dolph’s crack down, and Asher, even though he's damaged he's an interesting character. Can't say much more - after this I am actually bit apprehensive about the next two Anita Blake books I have in my shelf "Incubus Dreams" and "Micah and Strange Candy", and I hope to god they are more intack and flowing than this thing.

I know a lot people loved and liked this book, but I just didn't find this one so appealing to me, most due to Belle Morte, I think.

Rating:

☆ ★ ★ ★ ★

Started Reading : January 2011
Finished Reading : 12th of July 2011

Book 13/20 on Vampire Challenge 2011

ALPHA SHOWDOWN 2011

It's over, public has spoken - well I thought I'd post my choices as well!

"The Vampire Book Club has set up a tournament bracket, pitting some of our favorite heroes and heroines of paranormal romance & urban fantasy against each other.  The contest is billed as an “alpha” showdown, implying it’s about strength of leadership but it’s feeling more like a “who could kick whose ass in a fight” sort of thing."

Empty start:

My choices:

Damn it was hard to choose between Anita Blake and Wrath, darn it.

FREE BOOK FROM RH - KISS OF MIDNIGHT BY LARA ADRIAN

I'm beginning a new book today, as my 7th Black Dagger Brotherhood Novel is still NOT here - grrrr.

It's called Kiss of Midnight by Lara Adrian, the reason why I begin this today alreay though this was way down on my list is that due to few link I found Random House has it out a promo for free. So I though I'd share, here you go, now let's see what this book is about?

He watches her from across the crowded dance club, a sensual black-haired stranger who stirs Gabrielle Maxwell’s deepest fantasies. But nothing about this night—or this man—is what it seems.

For when Gabrielle witnesses a murder outside the club, reality shifts into something dark and deadly. In that shattering instant she is thrust into a realm she never knew existed—a realm where vampires stalk the shadows and a blood war is set to ignite. Lucan Thorne despises the violence carried out by his lawless brethren.
A vampire himself, Lucan is a Breed warrior, sworn to protect his kind—and the unwitting humans existing alongside them—from the mounting threat of the Rogues.

Lucan cannot risk binding himself to a mortal woman, but when Gabrielle is targeted by his enemies, he has no choice but to bring her into the dark underworld he commands. Here, in the arms of the Breed’s formidable leader, Gabrielle will confront an extraordinary destiny of danger, seduction, and the darkest pleasures of all.

REVIEW - ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE - NIGHT HUNTRESS NOVEL 2

Author: Jeaniene Frost
Pages: 384 pages
Publisher: Avon
Published: April 2008
Form: Paperback
Series: Night Huntress #2
Adlibris: http://www.adlibris.com/fi/product.aspx?isbn=0061245097

It's rare that I come across a series where the next book is better than the first, but One Foot in the Grave sure is!

As we know what we do from the first book, we already know Cat and how she operates, so getting in the groove of this second novel is like stepping into old boots, erm, in her case stilettoes, as she goes after vampires who've been naughty.

In the first novel we saw Cat come to terms with who she is as half human, half vampire, an accident, as her mother was raped by a recently turned vampire. She also meats the Master Vampire, Bones, who trains her, works with her and sparks keep flying due to hate and love. As Cat falls fully in love, she has a tough decision to make at the end of Book 1, and now in the Book 2 she has to live with the consequences of her choice.

It's been four years since she joined the task force, her life goes on its normal path, until her one and only friend gets married and what do you know Bones appears as well.

Reading what Cat's life has become is fun, and part of why I truly liked the book! Her interaction with her team is witty and sort of macho, the supporting characters are a hoot and add more to Cat as well.

But with Bones appearing all goes haywire for her, as she keeps slipping and realizing she never did stop loving him.

Delicious chase begins as Bones has no qualms about going after what he Does want - which is Cat, he's found her and he's not about the let her run again. Seduction being his best weapon againt runways.

Juan, Cooper and Tate are a great addition to the book, all of them having strong types they play, slightly raunchy but all business.

More secrets come out as Cat also faces the fact that there is bounty on her head, as well as someone want to have a Cat Half-Breed Trophy in their collection.

There is no lack of slashing, fighting and, well, sex in this book chapter 32 Whoa! especially.
( Chapter 32 of this book is considered one of the hottest sex scenes ever written in a paranormal romance in most circles. )

Rating :

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ★
Really good, liked it a lot!

Started Reading : 9th of July 2011 : day

Finished Reading : 10th of July 2011 : day

Book 12/20 on Vampire Challenge 2011

Q & A #1

QUESTION : If you were a book on a bookshelf, what books would you want your neighbours to be?

ANSWER :  Let's see, ummm if I were a book I'd like to have Paulo Coelho's Alchemist on one side to remind me to believe in my Heart and where it leads me. On my other side I'd have A Course in Miracles to remind me that I too am a Miracle and to never forget that I am more than meets the eye.

REVIEW - HALFWAY TO THE GRAVE - NIGHT HUNTRESS NOVEL 1

Author: Jeaniene Frost
Pages: 384 pages
Publisher: Avon
Published: October 2007
Form: Paperback
Series: Night Huntress #1
Adlibris: http://www.adlibris.com/fi/product.aspx?isbn=0061245089

Well this was entertaining and help spend good 24 hours of my life, night not included.

Cat is a pretty simple character, straight forward without much fuss, seducing vamps at bars and faking innocence until she stakes them for trying to go for the jugular. Pretty basic.

Then of course her rhythm is thrown off when a vampire snatches her during gig gone bad. To her luck he's not the off with their heads type and they struck an uneasy deal.

As training begins Cat is baptized to embrace the powers of her vampire half, while she struggles to get grasps of vampire culture with her human half.

Being half vampire, half human hasn't been easy on Cat, starting with being different. And it's no help that her mother hates vampires with such vigor it's making their relationship strain as Cat works with Bones, the vampire training her, who also teacher her not all vampires are just out for an artery party.

Bones hard to really like in the beginning but you warm up to him later on - mostly I had a problem with his training where he often beat her, suppose it really was keeping with theme of the book, but any 'woman beating' I'm not a fan of.

This book has some juicy secrets coming out, that make you think back of what happened in the first half of the book.

One of the most delicious parts of the book humor wise is the lesson in dirty talk, which made me laugh and blush at the same time.

This entire book is fun, easy to read, and you enjoy the story, but I think I'm done with the series, at least for now. I feel it's for younger people and at 29 I'm bit too old to read it. Don't be fooled though, you'd have to be 18 to read it with the sex scene that's in there.

I'd recommend this to 18-25 year olds mainly, and those who like a good vampire story without horror.

Read the first 20% of the book here:  http://www.harpercollins.com/browseinside/index.aspx?isbn13=9780061245084

Rating :

+ ☆ ☆ ☆ ★ ★

Started Reading : 8th of July 2011 : day
Finished Reading : 9th of July 2011 : day

Music : Goes GREAT with almost lyric-less "Ghost Love Score" by Night wish ( http://youtu.be/byS7x0OsnSE ) and well with their "Nemo" ( http://youtu.be/SO4LyKd-Hws ) and Alexandra Burke's "Bad Boys" ( http://youtu.be/J9iVgw4sv-M )

NEW PURCHASES - TIME TRAVEL AND VAMPIRES

As went to pick up Jeaniene Frost's Halfway to the Grave from the post office I decided to take a little swerve to the bookstore before heading to a bank appointment.

Even with a book in my hands I graved more.

I was already halfway out of the door when my eyes darted to Diana Gabaldon's Dragonfly in finnish "Matkantekijä/Journeyer", with only 5,95€ I had to buy it after all that is how I got addicted to her series to beging with.

Dragonfly is third book in  the story of the amazing Jamie and Claire, in book one Claire travel back in time in the Craig na Dun stone circle by accident and meets Jamie, a young highlander. In book two she become pregnant, but is forced to return to her own time by the coming annihilation of the clans. In book three she struggles to find out if Jamie is alive after 20 years, with her daughter Brianna. The over 900 page book is amazing story of the two, one that tugs at your heart strings, makes you laugh, and makes you blush at their passion once they reunite. Love Claire and Jamie.
Rating :
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Now Halfway to the Grave, I am excited to start reading! I've heard such great things. And I have a soft spot for kick ass heroines who like things tough and don't back down for anything except for love and what nots.

I'm sure this will be a quick read as well, so might even review it tomorrow.