by Christina on February 22, 2010
in 2009 "Pub" Challenge, 5 Stars, Countdown Challenge, Fantasy, Ilona Andrews, Magic, Other Supernatural Beings, Paranormal Romance, Shape-Shifters, The Year of Readers 2009
On the Edge
Title: On the Edge
Author: Ilona Andrews
Copyright: 2009 (Ace); 309 pgs.
ISBN: 978-0-441-01780-5
Series: The Edge #1
Sensuality: Warm
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Once upon a time, there was a young maiden named Rose Drayton. She lived in the Edge, that place between magic and mundane, raising her two younger brother to the best of her ability. Rose has a menial job in the Broken (our world) and it is barely enough to keep them fed and clothed. Rose also has powerful magic. Yet, instead of being a blessing, it has been nothing but trouble for Rose. She’s been sought after – literally hunted – by lesser, weaker nobles of the Weird solely, for the purpose of providing potentially powerful children; even other Edgers, more interested in monetary gain than community loyalty, have tried to snatch her up for the reward money offered by desperate peers. The only thing Rose really has is her pride, and if she can’t have love and respect and be desired for herself, she would rather be alone and poor than lower herself to the status of mistress.
Then one day, a knight appears. Declan, Earl Camarine, doesn’t get the chance to say “Hello,” before he finds himself staring at a crossbow aimed at him by a lovely young woman who then proceed to tell him she won’t sleep with him. Intrigued by her out-of-nowhere announcement, Declan gets her to agree to issuing him three challenges: if he succeeds, she will be his; if he fails, he’ll leave her alone.
But all is not right in the Edge. Strange dog-like creatures who seems to have an affinity to magic are endangering the Edgers. Rose and her brothers are not safe, and Declan insist on staying at Rose’s house, to better protect them. Declan and Rose must convince the other Edgers that they band together to eliminate the threat.
What I liked: There is a lot going on in this book, stuff I didn’t even touched on — the above is just the main plot points. There’s William, the cute and mysterious guy who seems interested in Rose, but she can’t put her finger on the reason he seems a little off to her. Then there is George and Jack, Rose’s 10- and 8-year old brothers. Both are adorable without being cutesy. And of course, all the world building. There is quite a bit of it, since the Weird and the Edge are not simliar. Each has their own “rules” and culture. The elements seem familiar — the Weird sounds like a historical, but with magic — and even Rose thinks the nobles live the life of leisure attending parties and balls.
It took a bit, but I eventually warmed up to Declan. He comes across as your typical historical snooty noble — and you wonder why Rose isn’t falling for William instead. There’s more going on, of course. Once Rose gets to know Declan a little better, I started to like him.
What I didn’t like: Casshorn and the “hounds”. Yuck.
This book was the first full length novel I read on my e-Reader.
Recommended to: Fans of fantasy or paranormal romances (yes, this one is more a romance than the Kate Daniels books).
Started: 29 September 2009
Finished: 30 September 2009
Rating:
LOVED IT !!
Disclaimer: I purchased this book.
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Line of Scrimmage
Title: Line of Scrimmage
Author: Marie Force
Copyright: 2008 (Sourcebooks); 356 pgs.
ISBN: 978-1-4022-1424-3
Series: N/A
Sensuality: Warm
Genre: Contemporary Romance (second chance)
Spoiler-ish: I tried to be vague about a certain plot point, but if you’re good at ‘reading between the line’ and guessing things, read at you’re own risk.
Her: Susannah Sanderson. Susannah’s on the verge of divorcing her super-star quarterback husband, Ryan Sanderson, and marrying a man who has a normal job, and who can give her the quiet life she’s wants.
Him: Ryan Sanderson. After winning the Super Bowl for the third time, Ryan has only ten days to change Susannah’s mind before the divorce is final.
Sanderson vs. Sanderson: Susannah has long felt that she comes in second in his life, after football. The point is re-enforced when Ryan returns to playing shortly after a family tragedy. Years of worrying for his safety on the field and watching other women coming on to him all the time have fed her insecurities and compounded the problem. She’s finally had enough and filed for divorce. The judge insists on a six month cooling off period. Ryan spends that time playing football; Susannah spends part of that time planning her wedding.
In His Defense: Instead of turning to her husband in their time of grief, Susannah made Ryan feel like it was his fault. She chose to turn to her family for comfort. Hurting himself and feeling unwanted, Ryan returned to the only thing that made sense to him: football. Had he asked for it, he probably could have asked for a leave of absence, but what would have been the point if Susannah was closing herself off to him, refusing to talk about things. Not helping the situation is the fact her family has never thought highly of him. She came from money; he was raised by a poor, single mother in Texas. To them, Ryan is just a dumb jock, no matter what his college diploma reads. Her family approves of Henry Merrill, the man she’s on the verge of marrying. Though Ryan is hardly perfect, he’s never cheated on Susannah nor has he ever been tempted to do so. She means the world to him, and he knows that she’s part of the reason he’s not just another over-paid prima donna with a bad boy reputation. She keeps him grounded.
Reconciliation: Talking about the tragedy and its aftermath goes a long way in starting the healing process; however, there’s Henry and his parents, and Susannah’s own family who all think that she’s making a mistake. And then there are Susannah’s own insecurities. No matter how sincere and up front Ryan is, Susannah still jumps to the wrong conclusion about him and his actions. Near the end, after Henry’s last vindictive attempt to break them up, I felt that Ryan was on the brink of falling out of love with her. He doesn’t, of course. He knows if he lets things fester and allows it to drive them apart, Henry would win.
Verdict: One of the reasons I liked this book as much as I did was the fact that, when the book starts, Ryan seems to be just another smug, alpha male jerk who thinks he can win the wounded party over with a few kisses and promises. But Ryan knows he’s screwed up big time; he is sincere and he’s willing to beg for a second chance. Once he got to tell his side of the story, I started rooting for him.
Downside: At times, I found myself wanting to shake either Ryan or Susannah — mostly Susannah in the latter half of the book — when one of them did or said something stupid. And I really would have liked to have seen someone deck Henry.
Recommend to: Those looking for a straight-forward, non-paranormal romance and those who enjoy second chance romances. It’s light on football — the season is over when the book starts — so non-sports buffs can breath a little easier and give the book a chance.
Started: 22 September 2009
Finished: 29 September 2009
LOVED IT !!
Skykeepers
Title: Skykeepers
Author: Jessica Andersen
Copyright: 2009 (Signet); 454 pgs.
ISBN: 978-0-451-22770-6
Series: The Final Prophecy #3
Sensuality: Hot *
Who: Sasha Ledbetter and Michael Stone
Where: New Mexico (primarily)
Skykeepers is the 3rd book in The Final Prophecy series by Jessica Andersen. I would not recommend reading this book without reading the previous books.
In the first book, Nightkeepers, Ms. Andersen introduced the most of the major players and the readers got the opportunity to see a little of their lives just as they were finding out the truth of their heritage. However, one of the characters she did not “introduce” in this manner was Michael Stone. In the first two books, the reader only saw what others thought of him. To his fellow Nightkeepers, he was a pretty boy who liked nice, expensive clothes and probably partied more than he should. I think “shallow as a puddle” was even used in reference to him. He’s a disappointment to his winikin, Tomas, who believes Michael could have done better things with his life than being a tech salesman. Micheal had attended the FBI Academy, but washed out of the program.
The thing is, Micheal wanted to make a difference. He wanted to be an FBI agent, to be one of the good guys, but he has a secret and it is part of the reason he had to wash out of training. Since becoming a fully-fledged Nightkeeper mage, Michael has worked himself to near exhaustion to maintain control of his tainted magic. So far, he’s succeeding. What’s not helping him is the fact he can’t seems to get Sasha Ledbetter out of his head. Ever since her dossier landed on his desk, Micheal has been obsessed with finding her. She was taken prisoner by the Order of Xibalba because they believe she knows where her father hid the Nightkeeper library.
However, they couldn’t be more wrong. Sasha doesn’t believe in the mythical Nightkeepers. She grew up hearing the stories, but Ambrose’s obsession with the mages — his belief that they were real — drove a deep rift between them. She watched him go insane with the conviction. Sasha is Iago’s prisoner for a year, until rescued by the Nightkeepers. However, as far as she’s concerned, all that really happened is that she went from being a “guest” of one group of nut-jobs to another group. Sasha would rather go back to her life as a chef. Instead, she learns that she’s a bonafide Nightkeeper. It’s a lot to take in, and that’s just the beginning. With a missing library to find and a ticking count-down clock, Sasha has very little time to adjust to her new role. The last thing she needs is to get involved with a man who seems on one hand attracted to her and wants her, yet on the other hand is avoiding her and trying to push her away. Naturally, Sasha’s going to be pissed off.
Michael doesn’t want to hurt Sasha; he’s afraid of what might happen if he loses control. He wants to give her time to adjust. But the gods and the Order of Xibalba have their own agendas regarding the pair. Michael tries so hard to do the mature, rational thing — what he feels is the right thing to do — when dealing with Sasha. She’s looking for commitment, having been let down too many times. And as much as he’d like to give her that assurance, he doesn’t think he’ll have a future, and he won’t promise her something he can’t give her. Since this is a romance, Michael eventually finds a way for them to have their HEAWRATTSTW**, by doing things the “newfangled way”.
Unlike it’s predecessors, there is less head hoping in this book. Rabbit and Lucius are the only other “eyes” we see the story from. Rabbit is off at school, along with his girlfriend, Myrinne. As usual, his attempts to do something right, to make up for the mess he made in the past, doesn’t go well — he totally misses the significance of the images he sees, not realizing they point to a specific Nightkeeper, the one who could supposedly help him. I’m still rooting for the guy. Ms. Andersen mentioned that there will be a total of nine books, and I’m guessing that Rabbit and — presumably — Myrinne get their own story. My guess: the last book. 
Then there’s Lucius. We don’t see much of him in this book, but he plays a significant part regardless of how little scene time he gets. The poor guy. I said, back when the first book came out, that I thought that Lucius would eventually play a major roll. And I was right. But. . .WOW. I’m looking forward to his book, Demonkeepers, which is due in April.
I continue to enjoy the overall story line and the characters.
* = Though the love scenes are few and not overly long, sex magic is an important part of this group’s culture and therefore a strong motivation for couples to hook up. The whole series should be labeled “Hot”.
** = happily ever after while racing against time to save the world.
Started: 5 August 2009
Finished: 17 August 2009
Favorite Quote:
“Love helps us break the patterns.”
– Rabbit
Rating:
LOVED IT !!
What Others Have Said:
My Thoughts on Nothing Much at All
Night Owl Romance
Joyfully Reviewed
Disclaimer: I purchased this book.
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by Christina on October 10, 2009
in 1st Person POV, 5 Stars, Anthology, Ilona Andrews, Magic, Other Supernatural Beings, Paranormal Romance, Shape-Shifters, The Year of Readers 2009, Vampires
Must Love Hellhounds
Story Title: Magic Mourns
Story Author: Ilona Andrews
Story Length: 90 pgs.
Anthology Title: Must Love Hellhounds
Copyright: 2009 (Berkley)
ISBN: 978-0-425-22959-0
Series: Kate Daniels
Sensuality: Subtle
Who: Andrea Nash and Raphael
Where: Atlanta (alternate reality)
Can it be read at any point in the series, or as a stand alone? It could, but if you’re new to the series and hadn’t read Magic Burns and/or Magic Strikes, I would consider it a spoiler in regards to Andrea mostly, and Kate (how and why she’s on medical leave). The story takes place after the events in Magic Strikes.
Summary: Kate’s on medical leave, so Andrea takes her place at the Order of Merciful Aid. Since Kate’s cases tend to be either Pack-related or involving the Mercenary Guild, things have been kind of slow. Then she gets a phone call from some guy called Teddy Jo. He informs Andrea that he spotted a shape shifter being chased by a huge dog. A house-sized dog. Andrea’s definitely on the case, especially if it means she gets to shoot something. However, she hopes the shape-shifter in question ISN’T a certain bouda (were-hyena).
Much to her consternation, the shape-shifter in question is in fact Raphael. The house-sized dog? Well, neither knows what it is, requiring a phone call to Kate. Apparently, Andrea and Raphael are not very well read up on Greek mythology. The dog is none other than Fluffy Cerberus. Raphael was tracking whoever had body-napped his recently deceased step-father when he encountered the beast. There is no way Raphael is going to be sidelined on this case, so Andrea has no choice but to allow him to help her investigate. During their investigation, they get the opportunity to discuss his attraction to her and the reasons she is so reluctant to get involved with him.
Comments: This story is told in 1st person, just like the series, except from Andrea’s point of view. It’s a real treat to see the this world through someone else’s eyes. We learn more about Andrea then we probably would have in the series. Andrea tells Raphael about her past and we see a different side of Raphael.
It is interesting to note that Kate and Andrea have much in common: heavily armed, independent women with a big secret that could cause major problems if the wrong parties found about them. Both women are being pursued, romantically, by men who could have any woman they want. Neither women is convinced of the sincerity of the pursuit, believing they are just passing fancies of the men in question. We’ll have to wait for future Kate Daniel books to learn whether or not Curran and Kate have any chance at long term relationship; however, in this short story, we learn that Raphael is honestly attracted to Andrea and he wants a chance at a relationship with her, and her alone:
“Things happened before I met you and before you met me. Those things don’t matter. You had no control over your past, but here, right now, you control the situation and you’re voluntarily giving it up. You’re punishing both of us because of something that happened half a lifetime ago. It makes no sense.”
Raphael’s admission brought up something interesting that I noticed about the boudas. Even though they are sexually adventurous and have no inhibitions, once they find a mate, they seem to be faithful. The idea is re-enforced by Aunt B’s grief over the lose of her mate. He wasn’t bouda and I just can’t imagine…well, you can figure it out for yourselves.
The story has another treat. Andrea and Raphael visit the Casino, headquarters for the vampire-controlling masters of the dead. They go deeper into the place than we’ve seen in the previous books.
I heart Maxine. I just love her to death. And I really loved Teddy Jo. He’s insights at the end were enlightening.
All in all, a fun read and it worked really well as a short story.
Read: 16 September 2009
Favorite Quotes:
“You couldn’t detect your way out of a shoe if someone lit the way with neon signs.”
– Andrea expresses her opinion of Kate’s investigative skills (or lack thereof)
Rating:
LOVED IT !!
Disclaimer: I bought this book.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is a re-post, due to data loss. (Oct 09)
12 Oct – Amy – “I love Andrews’s books. I’ll need to pick this one up. Thanks for the review!”
12 Oct – Me – “You’re welcome! It’s a great read. Definitely not to be missed. ”
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Lie to Me
Title: Lie to Me
Author: Starr Ambrose
Copyright: 2008 (Pocket); 371 pgs.
ISBN: 978-1-4165-8664-7
Series: N/A
Sensuality: Warm
Who: Eleanor “Ellie” Coggins and John “Jack” Payton
Where: Michigan
Eleanor Coggins is absolutely sure that her best friend, Janet Aims, was killed by her husband. Her goal is to prove that Banner Westfield murdered Janet. To that end, she breaks into Banner’s private library during a house party. Before she can learn anything useful, she encounters Jack Payton, Banner’s older, half-brother, and she believes the gig is up, so to speak.
Jack, however, is also convinced that Banner is up to no good. The company is making too much money in certain areas, and he’s sure his brother is somehow connected to the drug trade. Eleanor non-specific comments regarding his brother’s activities makes Jack believe she is pursuing the same information. He’s willing to help Eleanor, if she’ll pretend to be is fiancée.
Jack was recently released from prison, where he was spent two years ago after being found guilty of vehicular manslaughter while under the influence. While he was in prison, he learned that he has a twelve-year-old daughter named Libby — a daughter he never knew existed. Currently, Libby is living with his mother Elizabeth in Banner’s house, but Jack is working on getting that changed. Instead of trying to deny paternity or wash his hands of her, Jack very much wants to take responsibility of Libby and be a father. In order to get custody of her, he has to prove himself by maintaining a steady job — he grudgingly accepted a lower position in the family company where he was once a VP, instead of trying his luck elsewhere with a criminal record. Having a fiancée, Jack believes, will also make a favorable impression and improve his chances of getting custody of Libby.
At first Ellie — as Jack calls her — doesn’t want to have anything to do with deceiving a vulnerable 12-year-old girl. However, she agrees, promising to keep an eye on Libby, so she won’t be further traumatized. Ellie needn’t have worried though. It doesn’t take her long to realize how sincere he is about gaining custody of his daughter. Though he still struggling to get things right, Jack has good instincts and the potential to be a great father.
It goes without saying that Ellie and Jack are attracted to each other. Jack, at first, believes it’s due to the fact that he just got out of prison. But instead of waning, his interest in Ellie grows the more time he spends getting to know her. The same goes for Ellie (except the prison part). She can’t resist his devastating smile and his to-die-for-kisses. Ellie starts to fall in love with the man she sees behind the grin, the man who is trying so hard to earn his daughter’s love and affection. Falling in love is something she didn’t want to happen because they’re not really engaged and Jack’s way out of her league socially.
Once they agree to cooperate with each other, Jack and Ellie set out to find evidence that connects Banner to drug running and murder. They also uncover something unexpected in Banner’s files, something that impacts Jack directly. On Ellie’s advise, Jack enlists the aid of the chief of police, Ben Thatcher, a man who — when Jack was growing up — was always on his case, lecturing him about his wild ways. Jack doesn’t understand why Ben seems to hate him, but that’s nothing compared to the fact that Ben is spending a lot of time with his mother lately — and Jack doesn’t like that one bit. Jack and Ellie also get help from an unexpected source, one that solves what happened to Janet and also confirms whether or not Banner had a hand it in or not. Jack even calls in a friend to help Ellie with her fake security company she created to throw Banner off guard.
I really loved this book. One of the things I liked was that, absurd as it was for Ellie to break into the Banner’s house in the first place, Ellie never came across as a too-stupid-to-live heroine. She may be completely clueless about computers and can’t keep a job — even her cousin fired her from his hardware store because she talked people out of buying things. But Ellie can think on her feet and has a way with people that makes her likable, whether she’s chatting with the gathered Payton and Westfield relatives or talking to clients with her “business associate”, Rocky. And then there’s Jack. Being sent to jail opened his eyes and he’s put his wild past behind him. He truly is a decent guy and I fell in love with him, right along with Ellie, as he slowly wins Libby’s affections.
Lie to Me was a fun read and I’m looking forward to reading more by this author.
Started: 9 June 2009
Finished: 28 June 2009
Rating:
LOVED IT !!
What Others Have Said:
Kristi Bug
All About Romance
Books, Books, and More Books
The Book Binge
Wild on Books
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This is a re-post, due to data loss. Reconstructed comments from Google Reader. (Oct 09)
26 Aug – Carol – “Sounds like a fun book, with very likeable characters. I’m assuming there’s a happy ending.”
26 Aug – Me – “Oh yes! ”
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