By having that gap between finishing the book and when I actually sit down to put my thoughts on paper, I have a better take on which books stay with me.  Since I have to refresh my memory on some points, I usually have to do a little re-reading.  If I really love the book, I tend to keep reading after I found whatever it was that prompted me to refer to the book.  That’s a bit annoying, since I should be writing, not reading.  The harder it is for me to put aside the book, the more likely the book is going to be a 5-star book, flaws and all.

With that in mind, I’m going to go ahead and give ratings to the books I’ve already posted.  I’ll eventually update the individual review posts.  Reminder: anything I give a 3-Star or above is a guarantee that I will try other books from the author.

Five Stars:  LOVED!

• Dawnkeepers (Jessica Andersen)
• Bedded for Diamonds (a.k.a. Priceless) (Kelly Hunter)
• Ravenous (Sharon Ashwood)
• Dark Crusade (Lori Devoti)

Four Stars: Liked a lot!

• Driven (Eve Kenin)
• An Unladylike Offer (Christine Merrill)
• Ace is Wild (Penny McCall)

Three Stars: Enjoyable Read

• Slave to Sensation (Nalini Singh)
• Cousin Kate (Georgette Heyer)
• Shadow Game (Christine Feehan)

In 2007, I did not rate the books until the end of the year.  By having to think back and re-read reviews, I was able to sift through and determine which books still stood out in my mind (5), which were good/enjoyable reads (4 and 3), and which were okay and not-so-okay (2 and 1).

In 2008, I rated each book after I finished it.

Looking back — and trying to decided which of the 19 5-star books were my favorite of the year –  I saw immediately that books like Personal Demons by Stacia Kane and Nightkeepers Jessica Andersen (books that still stand out in my mind) wouldn’t even be in the top 20, let alone the top 10.  And  there were a few sentimental 5-star books — the Gilded Age mystery series books with Nell Sweeney, for instance.  I loved the series as a whole, and loved Nell and Will — but in retrospect, I would have given some/all of them 3 or 4 stars (I read four books last year)

Now that I’ve tried both ways, I think that the 2007 method was more accurate than last year’s.  Therefore, starting with the review of Dawnkeepers, the rating will be left blank — or TBA (to be annonced) — until the end of the year.  The exceptions will be books that are Did Not Finish (if I even bother trying to review it), and books I absolutely know aren’t going more than a 2-star — I think those will be few, easy to figure out, and my opinion is not likely to change with the passage of time.

 The two books I’ve already rated (Hail to the Chef and Innocence Unveiled) will retain their ratings.

Christina

War with their arch-rival, the evil Ansara clan, is unavoidable. For Mercy Raintree, the war means she must assume her position as guardian of the Sanctuary — the sacred Raintree home place deep in the Smoky Mountains. But doing so threatens to disclose her most prized secret — one Mercy has kept to herself for six years.

3rd in the Raintree trilogy
Author: Beverly Barton
ISBN: 0-373-61766-6 (Silhouette Nocturne)
Finished/Tossed: 14 August 2007

First off, let me repeat myself and say that I really liked the world-building that went into the trilogy: the history, the societies, and the powers of the Raintree and Ansara. Barton painted a different picture of the Ansara — from their viewpoints — then what we knew about them from the standpoint of the Raintrees. Not all Ansara are like Tabby and Cael. There are people like Sidra and Claude. Especially Claude. Rational, level-headed, and surprisingly open-minded.

Dante, Lorna, Gideon and Hope got some “page time” in this book, and the ladies got their chance to join the battle and help the best way they could: Hope shot at people, and Lorna resorted to some rock throwing. I was surprised that the battle got as much page time as it did. I half-expected it to be very sketchy and it pleased me that it was as long as it was: not overdrawn and not just a few scant paragraphs. Even the resolution to the conflict was satisfying.

However. . .

Judah and Mercy. I’m sorry, I just don’t see it. I can’t see why Mercy was in love with Judah. I almost stopped reading. Only my desire to see the otherwise great story concept through to the end kept me from tossing the book aside. The final straw — the part that almost made me put the book down — was the incident at the end of Chapter 13/beginning of Chapter 14. That’s out-right rape. She told him no; she was actually running away. Judah was taking her, no matter what.

I could go on, but it would be ranting.

:-(

While the Clone Wars wreak havoc throughout the galaxy, the situation on the far world of Drongar is desperate, as Republic forces engage in a fierce fight with the Separatists. The threatened enemy offensive begins as the Separatists employ legions of droids into their attack. Even with reinforcements, the flesh and blood of the Republic forces are just no match for battle droids’ durasteel. Nowhere is this point more painfully clear than in the steaming Jasserak jungle, where the doctors and nurses of a small med unit face an impossible situation. As the dead and wounded start to pile up, surgeons Jos Vandar and Kornell “Uli” Divini know that time is running out. Even the Jedi abilities of Padawan Barriss Offee have been stretched to the limit. Ahead lies a test for Barriss that could very well lead to her death-and that of countless others. For the conflict is growing-and for this obscure mobile med unit, there’s only one resolution. Shocking, bold, unprecedented, it’s the only option Jos and his colleagues really have. The unthinkable has become the inevitable. Whether it kills them or not remains to be seen.

4th Clone Wars novel
Era: Republic, 20 years Before the Battle of Yavin/2 years After the Battle of Geonosis
Author: Michael Reaves and Steve Perry
ISBN: 0-345-46311-0 (Del Rey)
Tossed: 15 May 2006

Total waste. Not even the suspense of the spy’s identity or the few humorous moments/dialog could not make up for the tedious, drawn out plot. The authors expertly kept the reader guessing about the spy, but truthfully the whole thing could have been told in one book and been satisfying. I made myself read the whole thing, without skimming ahead. I wish I hadn’t. Most of the story lines were wrapped up neatly, except for the bird-like assassin’s fate. He just jumps into light-speed, giving me the impression that the bird might be back in a future story.

Rating:

:-(