The Book Lush

Hello there! Review: River Marked by P. Briggs

2011-02-20T07:58:00.001-05:00

River Marked (Mercy Thompson, book 6)
Patricia Briggs
March 2011
ISBN-13: 9780441019731
ISBN-10: 0441019730

Car mechanic Mercy Thompson has always known there was something different about her, and not just the way she can make a VW engine sit up and beg. Mercy is a shapeshifter, a talent she inherited from her long-gone father. She's never known any others of her kind. Until now.

An evil is stirring in the depths of the Columbia River-one that her father's people may know something about. And to have any hope of surviving, Mercy and her mate, the Alpha werewolf Adam, will need their help...

I have been in the biggest reading funk of my life for the past several months and I was already thinking that I was never going to be able to enjoy a book ever again. So when I was contacted about reviewing River Marked and I felt so excited about a book for the first time in a long time, I immediately jumped on it! I have been a huge fan of Mercy's series for quite a while and the latest installment is just another great addition!

Mercy and her mate Adam (who still totally makes me swoon like no other) are supposed to be enjoying themselves on a little vacation when suddenly people start showing up dead and next thing you know, Mercy is stuck right in the middle of it. There's an ancient evil around and it's got its eyes set on Mercy, which just might be the last mistake it ever makes..

I was so happy to see Mercy and Adam finally together! I had been cheering for them from the get-go and to see them interact is a pleasure to read. The secondary characters, right down to the werewolf Ben are absolutely lovable and it was revisiting old friends. Briggs brings her fabulous story-telling and it makes me feel like I'm right there in the story and everything is happening around me. I absolutely enjoyed reading River Marked and I'm more than looking forward to the next installment! The plot is creative and fantastic and the characters are to die for. Love! And I'm happy to report that I feel some of my reading mojo coming back slowly, all thanks to one of my most favorite series ever!

Lush Rating: 5!

*To support the release of River Marked, Briggs is doing a book tour in March! Here are the deets on 'em and I sooo wish I could go to one!

TUESDAY, MARCH 1^st

7:30 PM PST

HASTINGS (9745-Richland)

1425 GEORGE WASHINGTON WAY

Richland, WA 99354

(509)-946-1060 (store)

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2^nd

7:00 PM CST

BORDERS BOOKS

1500 16th St

Ste D

Oak Brook, IL 60523

(630)-574-0800 (store)

THURSDAY, MARCH 3^rd

7:30 PM EST

BORDERS BOOKS & MUSIC

Crossroads Center

5871 Crossroads Center Way

Bailey's Crossroads, VA 22041

(703)-998-0404 (store)

FRIDAY, MARCH 4^th

7:00 PM CST

BARNES & NOBLE

2100 North Snelling Ave

Roseville, MN 55113

(651)-639-9256 (store)

SATURDAY, MARCH 5^th

6:00 PM CST

MURDER BY THE BOOK

2342 Bissonnet St

Houston, TX 77005

(713)-524-8597 (store)

SUNDAY, MARCH 6^th

2:00 PM PST

MYSTERIOUS GALAXY

7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd

Ste 302

San Diego, CA 92111

(858)-268-4747 (store)

MONDAY, MARCH 7^th

7:00 PM PST

UNIVERSITY BOOKSTORE

4326 University Way NE

Seattle, WA 98105

(206)-634-3400 (store)

TUESDAY, MARCH 8^th

7:00 PM PST

POWELL'S BOOKS

Cedar Hills Crossing

3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd

Beaverton, OR 97005

503-643-3131

Review! When Wicked Craves by J.K. Beck

2010-10-18T16:02:00.000-04:00

When Wicked Craves

(The Shadow Keepers, book 3)

J.K. Beck

Bantam

October 26, 2010

ISBN-10: 0440245796

ISBN-13: 978-0440245797

Petra Lang is cursed never to love. One touch of her skin unleashes the vilest demons. Sentenced to death by the Shadow authorities, who fear she’ll turn her curse against them, Petra is rescued by vampire advocate Nicholas Montegue. As their bodies merge and transform into mist, Petra feels an erotic longing.

Nicholas risked his own life to save Petra, yet he knows he can never give in to the explosive attraction he feels for her. But the deep yearning they share tempts them. Together, they must find a way to lift the curse. For only a love this strong has the power to overcome such monstrous evil.

Petra has had it rough all her life. Being born with a curse that just from a touch can turn anybody into a mindless killer will do that to a girl. Because homegirl just can't catch a break now she's sentenced to die because of said curse. Well, damn! Until her lawyer steps in.. Or rather breaks her out of prison and really, more lawyers should be like him. But Nicholas didn't just sprung Petra out because he's an awesome lawyer, he actually has ulterior motives. A lawyer with ulterior motives? Unheard of! Nick needs help saving his friend and Petra is the only person who can help him.

Nick and Petra's close proximity quickly turns into something more. Their growing attraction can't be explored though because of Petra's crazy curse but it's more than that. Soon enough, they're on the run for their lives and before these two can try to find a way to explore their chemistry, they have to survive first.

So I have been following the Shadow Keepers ever since the first book came out and I have to say, I really wasn't that interested in Nick in the previous book. But boy, did that change! His character just comes alive in When Wicked Craves and right from the get-go, the reader can't help but be drawn to him. For a lawyer, he's incredibly honorable and caring, especially considering he just risked his whole existence by springing Petra out of jail in order to help his friend.

I felt bad for Petra at first. I mean, come on! Ever since she was born, she's got stuck with this horrifying curse that she literally cannot touch anybody! Could you imagine going through life not being able to hug a loved one or to kiss your significant other? That really sucks! But while yes, she definitely laments about this, she's also a very strong person. I would imagined her being a whiny little "oh woo is me" girl and while she's definitely got something to whine about, she doesn't do it a lot.

All-in-all, I really enjoyed reading When Wicked Craves! Nick and Petra have such good chemistry together and it was fun seeing them come together and help each other out. The Shadow Keepers series continues to be a blast to read! Lovable characters, great action, scary monsters and super hot scenes, what more could you ask for?

Lush Rating: 4!

No space; too many books!

2010-10-12T06:30:00.003-04:00

If you're like me, aka a broke college student living with her parents, then you're tight for space too. If you're REALLY like me (Lucky you..) then you got piles of books lying around in your room because you have no space to put them in! I'm kind of embarrassed to admit this but -

Oi!

Yup. Those are books in a shopping cart thingy right by my bed. I KNOW. I seriously have little space but looking at this stupid cart every single day was droving me craaaazy. So.

Cue nightstands! Doctor's orders. Stay tuned for my crazy adventure looking for the perfect nightstand. It might include several expletives on my part and a trip to the ER.

Review! Wicked Highlander by Donna Grant

2010-10-10T15:40:00.000-04:00

Wicked Highlander

(A Dark Sword Novel, book 3)

Donna Grant

St. Martin's Paperbacks

November 2, 2010

ISBN-10: 0312381247

ISBN-13: 978-0312381240

The most reckless and fierce of the MacLeod brothers, Quinn is a prisoner of the god inside him, tormented by his inability to save his family from slaughter. His fury governs him, and day by day he loses himself to the darkness in his soul. But Quinn has a profound yearning for a woman’s love….

Raised by Druids, the achingly beautiful Marcail is as spellbinding as the ancient magic that surges through her body. To Quinn, she is most desirable woman he has ever known. But to his enemy Deirdre, she is the perfect bait to lure Quinn into her trap. Once the two lovers are in her wicked grasp, their passion will be put to the ultimate test…

Ever since I read the first book in this series (Dangerous Highlander) I had been dying to read more about Quinn so needless to say, I was beyond excited to finally get my hands on this book! After having been tormented for centuries by the god inside of him, Quinn is pretty much about to snap which I expected but I never thought I would enjoy his snapping so much!

He has now been imprisoned by his numero uno enemy: Deidre the evil Druid who has been after the MacLeod brothers for a long time. And Quinn will do anything to kill her slowly and painfully. Marcail's in a bit of a bind. She's a Druid who was just captured but Deidre but she's also much more than that. In her mind, there's a spell but could put an end to this whole war.. If only she knew how to access it!

Marcail and Quinn meet under not the best of circumstances - Both imprisoned in a pit surrounded by enemy just waiting for a moment of weakness to get them. To make matter worse (Or in my opinion, even better!) from the get-go, Quinn and Marcail have the hots for each other but it's kinda hard to explore said chemistry where they both know they could both be killed any minute now. Not that this should stop them from trying but I'm just sayin'.

Wicked Highlander is with no doubt the best installment to date in this series! From beginning to end, I was enthralled in this story. Quinn breaks my heart, he has been through so much and somehow has manage to come slightly - oh, who am I kidding, more like I was surprised he hasn't gone crazy and killed everybody by now - damaged and even more stronger from having to deal with all that heartache. The relationship between him and Marcail was just unbelievable! I could feel the passion and chemistry just coming off the page! I totally loved those characters and every single secondary character too. I had a blast reading Wicked Highlander! The characters are to die for, the steamy and action-packed scenes a joy to read and I cannot wait to read more of this wonderful series.

Lush Rating: 4.5!

Review! Enemy Within by Marcella Burnard

2010-10-06T14:59:00.000-04:00

Enemy Within

Marcella Burnard

Berkley Trade

November 2, 2010

ISBN-10: 0425236854

ISBN-13: 978-0425236857

An intergalactic cold war-and some heated passion- from an inventive new voice in futuristic romance.

After a stint in an alien prison, Captain Ari Rose wonders why she even bothered to survive. Stripped of her command and banished to her father's scientific expedition to finish a Ph.D. she doesn't want, Ari never planned to languish quietly behind a desk. She wasn't built for it, either. But when pirates commandeer her father's ship, Ari once again becomes a prisoner.

As far as pirate leader Cullin is concerned, Ari's past imprisonment puts her dead center in Cullin's sights. If she hasn't been brainwashed and returned as a spy, then he's convinced she must be part of a traitorous alliance endangering billions of lives. Cullin can't afford the desire she fires within him and he'll stop at nothing, including destroying her, to uncover the truth.

Captain Alexandra Rose - or Ari - has had it rough lately. After being held prisoner in an alien prison for three torturous months, she was thought a spy and dismissed by her own government. Now she's working with her father on his scientific expedition and this is definitely not Ari's idea of a good time. At all. Especially when pirates hijack her father's ship, things to go to hell quick in a hand basket.

Cullin Seaghdh is the pirate leader or so it seems. His main focus is Ari and what happened in her imprisonment because he thinks either she's a spy or she's part of a horrifying alliance made to destroy millions of beings. Either way, he's not about to let her out of his sights. No matter how their close proximity might ignite a hot chemistry that might burn them both.

Enemy Within is Burnard's debut novel and a huge hit! If you like futuristic romances in which the heroine is majorly kickass and yet so vulnerable at the same time, you'll love this story! I know I did. Neither Ari or Cullin pull their punches and it was highly entertaining seeing them interact and slowly but surely develop a super steamy relationship. Ari killed me at times, I was tearing up! She has been through hell and while yes, she's insanely damaged now, she's so determined to live and there were a few times when her vulnerability just broke my heart. But Cullin was fabulous, he was there with her all the way and I loved him too!

The one complaint I have is that the terminology confused the bejesus out of me. However, I complain about this in pretty much every futuristic romance I read. I'm not that tech-savy and admittedly all the made-up terms just annoyed me at times. Apart from that, I highly enjoyed Enemy Within. The characters are absolutely wonderful, Ari and Cullin will dig their little place in your heart and you'll be cheering for them in no time, the action-packed plot is super fun to read and I'm definitely going to be reading more of Burnard's stories in the future!

Lush Rating: 4!

Quickie Review! Just One Taste by Louisa Edwards

2010-09-27T20:40:00.000-04:00

Just One Taste

(Recipe for Love, book 3)

Louisa Edwards

St. Martin's Paperbacks

August 31, 2010

ISBN-10: 0312356471

ISBN-13: 978-0312356477

Bad-boy chef Wes Murphy is dreading his final-semester cooking class—Food Chemistry 101—until he meets the new substitute teacher. Dr. Rosemary Wilkins is a feast for the eyes, though her approach to food is strictly academic. So Wes decides to rattle her Bunsen burner by asking for her hands-on advice—on aphrodisiacs…

Rosemary is a little wary about working with Wes, whose casual flirtations make her hot under the collar. But once they begin testing the love-enhancing power of chocolate, oysters, and strawberries, it becomes scientifically evident that the brainy science nerd and the boyish chef have some major chemistry together—and it’s delicious…

From beginning to end, Just One Taste is one delicious desert! Wes and Rosemary meet in chef school and from the get-go, their attraction and chemistry is exploding. I love how while Wes sounded pretty smooth, he was really such a cute dork which is perfect for such brainy girl genius Rosemary. They're both great characters that the reader will come to love easily.

But it's not all fun and games because due to their student-professor statuses, some people are against their relationship and when they try to tear Wes and Rosemary apart, things are about to get serious.

I had such a good time reading this book! Awesome characters, delicious food and even more fabulous sex makes for a super sexy and fun read! Edwards does it again. Her stories are fun but so meaningful and I will definitely be reading her next book in this delicious series.

Lush Rating: 4.5!

Bayou Moon Winner!

2010-09-27T17:38:00.000-04:00

... Three days later! My bad. I blame school and work though. Anyway! The lucky winner of a brand-spankin' new copy of Bayou Moon is.. Stephanie! Congrats!! I'll be emailing you with details in a few.

Thanks to everyone who entered!

Review! Me, Myself and Why? by MaryJanice Davidson

2010-09-20T21:31:00.000-04:00

Me, Myself and Why?

MaryJanice Davidson

St. Martin's Press

September 28, 2010

ISBN-10: 0312531176

ISBN-13: 978-0312531171

I have always, always loved every single Davidson book I've ever read. Mostly because they feature her awesome sense of humor and Me, Myself and Why? is no exception! Seriously, at times I was snorting while laughing out loud, much to my dismay when I'm at campus and a cute boy walks by. Oh, well.

In this book, our main heroine is Cadence and she's a triple threat. Literally. She's got multiple personalities and she works for a special branch of the FBI who only hires people with some psychiatric problems, to put it mildly. So Cadence and her crazy (Literally) partner, George, have been trying to catch the Threefer killer with no luck. He, or she, likes to kill in threes and lately, he's been leaving messages in his crime scenes. And these messages seem to be directly for Cadence and as the scenes get more gruesome, his messages get more menacing and unless Cadence and George find him soon, the next victim might just be Cadence.

Something I really enjoy about this story was that while Cadence is the main character, her multiple personalities are a very important part of the story. We meet Shiro, a super-analytical killer and Adrienne, who's just down-right nutso. I loved that it wasn't all about Cadence, even though it was. And she's got the best partner ever. I know George is a totally psycho but oh, lord, his character is insanely hilarious! Love him. All the characters are so unique and interesting and I enjoyed reading about every single one. And you can't have a book without the main heroine having a love interest. Cadence meets her best friend's brother and it's attraction from the get-go and what's even greater is the fact that he knows about her wee problem and still asks her out! I think he might be crazy too. They do have really good chemistry together and it was fun to see them interact.

Me, Myself and Why? is full of awesome and I had a blast reading this book! The characters are insanely unique and you won't see the bad guy coming until the very end. I really hope this is only the first book in an exciting new series because I would love to read more about Cadence and her crazy co-workers!

Lush Rating: 4.5!

Nancy's (Awesome) Theory of Style!

2010-09-15T18:10:00.000-04:00

A while back I reviewed a book called Nancy's Theory of Style (Review) and I pretty much loved this book! The author Marta Acosta (pen-name Grace Coopersmith) recently emailed about something awesome - You can read the draft for this book online! FOR FREE! It "can read it at the Scribd site, download it onto their computers, or download it to e-readers and mobile devices."

Here's the link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/37115908/Nancy-s-Theory-Draft

Yes, it has typos but it's totally free and since I loved this book, you might too!

Enjoy!

Quickie Review! Only the Good Spy Young by Ally Carter

2010-09-13T22:39:00.000-04:00

Only the Good Spy Young
(Gallagher Girls, book 4)
Ally Carter
Hyperion Books
June 29, 2010
ISBN-10: 1423128206
ISBN-13: 978-1423128205

When Cammie Morgan enrolled at the Gallagher Academy, she knew she was preparing for the dangerous life of a spy. What she didn’t know was that the serious, real-life danger would start during her junior year of high school. But that’s exactly what happened two months ago when Cammie faced off against an ancient terrorist organization dead set on kidnapping her.

Now the danger follows her everywhere, and even Cammie “The Chameleon” can’t hide. When a terrifying encounter in London reveals that one of her most-trusted allies is actually a rogue double-agent, Cammie no longer knows if she can trust her classmates, her teachers—or even her own heart.

In this fourth installment of the New York Times best-selling series, the Gallagher Girls must hack, spy, steal, and lie their way to the truth.as they go searching for answers, recognizing that the key to Cammie’s future may lie deep in the past.

Only the Good Spy Young is the fourth book in this girl-spy series and while I hadn't had the opportunity to read the previous books because I read this, I highly enjoyed the story! Cammie is such a great character, she's smart and strong but definitely has her vulnerabilities and it's a nice balance. Along with her two best friends, they made an awesome group and I loved reading their adventures.

While I was a bit confused in some parts - And I'm sure this is due to the fact I hadn't read the other installments - it's easy enough to get the gist of things and I wasn't lost one bit. Only the Good Spy Young is a quick read with a little of everything - action, romance, suspense, and comedy - and it all combines to make a great read! I highly enjoyed the story and I'm definitely going to be reading Carter's future - and previous! - books.

Lush Rating: 4

Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews Giveaway!

2010-09-10T14:49:00.000-04:00

One lucky winner will get a spankin' new copy of Bayou Moon, the second book of The Edge series! (Little hint: I already read this story and BELIEVE ME, you want to read it. For serious.)

The Edge lies between worlds, on the border between the Broken, where people shop at Walmart and magic is a fairytale–and the Weird, where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny…

Cerise Mar and her unruly clan are cash poor but land rich, claiming a large swathe of the Mire, the Edge swamplands between the state of Louisiana and the Weird. When her parents vanish, her clan’s long-time rivals are suspect number one.

But all is not as it seems. Two nations of the Weird are waging a cold war fought by feint and espionage, and their conflict is about to spill over into the Edge—and Cerise’s life . William, a changeling soldier who left behind the politics of the Weird, has been forced back into service to track down a rival nation’s spymaster.

When William’s and Cerise’s missions lead them to cross paths, sparks fly—but they’ll have to work together if they want to succeed…and survive.

To enter, just leave a comment. If you are/become a follower, that's an extra point for you! Giveaway ends Sept. 24th. Open to US only. Good luck!

White Heat Winner!

2010-09-01T16:02:00.000-04:00

& the winner is.. Maddie! Congrats, Maddie! I'll be emailing you with the deets in a bit.

Huge thanks to everyone who entered!

Review! When Pleasure Rules by J.K. Beck

2010-08-18T15:26:00.000-04:00

When Pleasure Rules

The Shadow Keepers, book 2

J.K. Beck

Bantam

September 28, 2010

ISBN-10: 0440245788

ISBN-13: 978-0440245780

Seven innocents have been brutally murdered in Los Angeles, yet the Shadow Alliance has no suspects and no leads. As the body count mounts, the age-old feud between vampires and werewolves threatens to explode.

Lissa Monroe—a strong-willed, ravishing succubus who entices men to surrender their souls—agrees to go undercover for the Alliance. Her mission: infiltrate the mind of werewolf leader Vincent Rand, a ferociously alluring enemy who exerts a powerful hold over her. As the City of Angels teeters on the brink of apocalypse, these two adversaries must join together in order to survive an even more lethal enemy hidden in plain sight.

In When Pleasure Rules, we meet Lissa. She's a succubus who has fought for centuries for her freedom. As succubi, they're owe by traders and are reborn into that system every single time they die. In her latest lifetime, she's a successful owner of the only club that others can come and be with a succubus for the small price of a piece of their souls. Needless to say, Lissa would do anything to make sure her and her girls - the other succubus who worked for her - keep their freedoms and when she find herself between a rock and hard place, she doesn't have much choice.

Lately, people have been found savagely murdered and the Division, or the group of people that police this shadow realm, have no clue what or who is killing them. But something they do know is that there have been some rumors going around that the Alpha of the werens, or the werewolves, might be involved in this. That's when Lissa comes in. She has a special talent in that she can get into people's head when she takes their souls. While she's done her best to hide this, the Division knows and they'll do anything, including make Lissa get into the head of the Alpha's right-hand man Rand, to found if they're involved in the murders.

While Lissa is more than just apprehensive about this, she doesn't have much choice in the matter and when she first meets Rand, something immediately clicks and their instant attraction ignites. Rand's in town in order to put a stop to the rumors and find whoever is killing but he never counted on Lissa and how she would make him feel. Both Lissa and Rand are in the middle of this hot mess of political intrigue and raging murders and if they don't do everything possible to get out, either one of them could find themselves being the next victim.

When Pleasure Rules is the second book in the new Shadow Keepers series and the best installment yet! I highly enjoyed the first novel but there was a lot of setting done, which is understandable since it was the first book in a series, but in this one it's more about the main characters. Right from the get-go, Lissa and Rand's story grabs you and won't let go. These two have seriously been through a lot and that's only made them stronger. I really liked their story and it was incredibly easy to cheer for them because they're such great characters. When Pleasure Rules is a super fun, action-packed, and let's not forget sizzling story about two people who try to make the best of their options and they might have ended up finding the best thing that ever happened to them. I really enjoyed the story and I'm looking forward to the reading more!

Lush Rating: 4!

Review! Twice Bitten by Chloe Neill

2010-08-16T16:02:00.000-04:00

Twice Bitten

A Chicagoland Vampires Novel, book 3)

Chloe Neill

NAL Trade

July 6, 2010

ISBN-10: 0451230647

ISBN-13: 978-0451230645

Shapeshifters from across the country are convening in the Windy City, and as a gesture of peace, Master Vampire Ethan Sullivan has offered their leader a very special bodyguard: Merit, Chicago's newest vampire. Merit is supposed to protect the Alpha, Gabriel Keene-and to spy for the vamps while she's at it. Oh, and luckily Ethan's offering some steamy, one-on-one combat training sessions to help her prepare for the mission.

Unfortunately, someone is gunning for Gabriel, and Merit soon finds herself in the line of fire. She'll need all the help she can get to track down the would-be assassin, but everywhere she turns, there are rising tensions between supernaturals-not least between her and a certain green-eyed, centuries-old master vampire.

Twice Bitten is the third installment in the Chicagoland Vampires series and Merit's back with a vengeance! As a new vampire and also the Sentinel of the Cadogan House, she's got her hands full. Now, the werewolves are coming into town to have a type of conference and Merit has to play bodyguard for Gabriel Keene, the Alpha of the werewolves. Before you know it, Merit's ankle deep in trying to save Gabriel from assassination attempts and to make things even more complicated, she's also dealing with some enemies from the past possibly coming back. Between playing bodyguard for Gabriel, finding out who and why is trying to kill him and stop the conference and dealing with Cadogan House issues, including a certain super-hot Master vampire, Merit has got a lot going on! And she better deal with it soon - before someone ends up dead.

Twice Bitten is a fabulous addition to an already pretty awesome series! I've always been a fan of Merit and her ass-kicking ways but I still think that she's got the worst taste in men! She's had the hots for Ethan, her boss and Master vampire from the get-go and I still don't like him. He's annoying and so full of himself and yes, maybe he is super gorgeous and powerful but I can't stand that man! The thing is, in this story, I actually thought that maybe he was changing a bit and really started liking him. However, he messed up things bad and I'm totally back to hating him. My favorite character makes an appearance, though! Adorable, geeky, sexylicious Jeff. I really wish he'd had a bigger role in the story because he's awesome and I adore him!

I highly enjoyed Twice Bitten! It's an action-packed, gritty and sexy story with really great characters (Jeff!) and I'm definitely looking forward to the next book in this series.

Lush Rating: 4!

Super Awesome Brenda Novak Giveaway!

2010-08-11T11:56:00.000-04:00

White Heat is Brenda Novak's latest book (Which I'm reading right now!). It starts off her great new Department 6 Hired Guns trilogy series and because Mira Books is too awesome, they're hosting this super awesome giveaway!

First, a little about the book:

A dangerous cult has recently taken over the desert ghost town of Paradise, Arizona. Members worship at the feet—and in the bed—of its charismatic leader, Ethan Wycliff, and obey his orders blindly. They've already tried to murder one woman and they're implicated in the disappearance of another.

Nate Ferrentino, who works for private security contractor Department 6, has been assigned to infiltrate this group. It's a challenge he welcomes—until he learns that colleague Rachel Jessop will be going undercover with him.

Thanks to their shared history, he'd much rather go alone….

The problem is, only married couples can participate in cult rituals. So, like it or not—and they don't—Rachel and Nate must pretend to be husband and wife.

There's no choice. Because if Wycliff isn't exposed, if he isn't stopped, more people will die. And Rachel might be one of them.

[Book Trailer here]

You want to read this book, yo. Believe me! Anyway, I have a great prize for a lucky winner! A White Heat prize pack including:

Tote bag
3D viewer bookmark
White Heat lip gloss – made especially for the book! (Aaah, I want this!)
A copy of White Heat

Sweet, right?! To enter, all you got to do is fill out the form below and tada, you're in! This contest is only open to US and Canada and dateline is August 31st. Good luck!

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Winners!

2010-08-09T09:25:00.000-04:00

First, let me apologize profusely because the dateline for both giveaways completely went over my head! [Note to self: Write dates on stickies for next time!] I AM SORRY. Anyway, I have 2 winners to announce!

The winner of a brand-new copy of The Eternal Ones by Kristen Miller is.. Donnas!

& the winner of Shiver and Linger by Maggie Stiefvater is.. Anne!

Huge congrats to both winners! I'll be passing along your info to the awesome people who hosted these giveaways so be on the lookout for your new books in the mail! Thanks to everyone who enter!

Review! All I Ever Wanted by Kristan Higgins

2010-08-09T09:15:00.000-04:00

All I Ever Wanted

Kristan Higgins

HQN Books

July 27, 2010

ISBN-10: 0373774583

ISBN-13: 978-0373774586

One Happily-Ever-After Rocking Chair…

and no sign of any forthcoming babies to rock in ol' Georgebury, Vermont. For Callie Grey, turning thirty means coming to grips with the fact that her boss (and five-week fling) is way overdue in his marriage proposal. And way off track because Mark has suddenly announced his engagement to the company's new Miss Perfect. If that isn't bad enough, her mom decides to throw her a three-oh birthday bash in the family funeral home.

Bad goes to worse when she stirs up a crazy relationship with the town's not so warm and fuzzy veterinarian, Ian McFarland, in order to flag Mark's attention. So Ian is more comfortable with animals…. So he's formal, orderly and just a bit tense. The ever-friendly, fun-loving and spontaneous Callie decides it's time for Ian to get a personality makeover. But dang, if he doesn't shock the heck out of her, she might actually fall for Vermont's unlikeliest eligible bachelor….

All I Ever Wanted is seriously one of the loveliest books I've read in a long time! Lately, I had been in a bit of a funk and so I was hoping All I Ever Wanted would get me out of it but it did more than that. It's a lovely story about love and finding someone to spend your life with and I enjoyed every single word. I can't tell you how many times I teared up and laughed so hard! Callie is an unbelievable character! She's so bubbly and positive and I could totally see myself in her. Something she said really resonated with me - page 252

Sometimes, being an optimist was quite the fucking effort.

I had to reread that line a few times because it so describes how I've felt at times. This story hit me on a personal level. Callie tries so hard to be happy and nice and make everyone like her and I could see that all she wanted was for someone to love her. From the beginning, I loved her character and until the end, I was cheering for her 100%! All I Ever Wanted is an emotional roller-coaster that will make you sigh in happiness and give you hope in finding love. I had never read a book by Higgins before and this one was an amazing way to start because I will certainly be reading more of her works in the future! Highly enjoyable story with unforgettable characters, I really recommend All I Ever Wanted!

Lush Rating: 5!

Review! Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon

2010-08-04T18:33:00.000-04:00

Infinity
Chronicles of Nick

Sherrilyn Kenyon

St. Martin's Griffin

May 25, 2010

ISBN-10: 0312599072

ISBN-13: 978-0312599072

At fourteen, Nick Gautier thinks he knows everything about the world around him. Streetwise, tough and savvy, his quick sarcasm is the stuff of legends. . .until the night when his best friends try to kill him. Saved by a mysterious warrior who has more fighting skills than Chuck Norris, Nick is sucked into the realm of the Dark-Hunters: immortal vampire slayers who risk everything to save humanity.

Nick quickly learns that the human world is only a veil for a much larger and more dangerous one: a world where the captain of the football team is a werewolf and the girl he has a crush on goes out at night to stake the undead. But before he can even learn the rules of this new world, his fellow students are turning into flesh eating zombies. And he’s next on the menu.

As if starting high school isn't hard enough. . .now Nick has to hide his new friends from his mom, his chainsaw from the principal, and keep the zombies and the demon Simi from eating his brains, all without getting grounded or suspended. How in the world is he supposed to do that?

Nick Gautier is your everyday high school student. That is, if your average high school student has to deal with zombies trying to eat him. And all I got was bullies so I feel definitely cheated out of a zombie apocalypse. But that's not all yet. After almost being killed in an alley, Nick founds a whole new world right on the streets of New Orleans. The world of the Dark-Hunters, warriors who save humanity every night fighting demons. Soon enough, Nick finds himself knee-deep in trouble because now, more and more students are turning into zombies and he and his friends have to find out who or what is causing this before it's too late.. And he ends up grounded.

From the first time I heard about Infinity, I was highly intrigued. Kenyon sort of goes back in time and tells the story of Nick Gautier growing and how he became part of the Dark-Hunter world. Having read the Dark-Hunter books, Nick always interested me as a character so I was so excited to read his story. The plot is definitely really creative but at times, I didn't feel like I was reading a young adult book. This is not necessarily a bad thing though because Nick and company are great characters and I loved reading about them through a different point of view.

Overall, I highly enjoyed reading Infinity and the story stayed in my head weeks after I had finished the book. A wonderful set of characters and a fun, action-packed scenes that make for a great read and I'm definitely looking forward to the next installment!

Lush Rating: 4!

Review! Unholy Magic by Stacia Kane

2010-07-31T13:02:00.000-04:00

Unholy Magic

Downside Ghosts, book 2

Stacia Kane

Del Rey

July 6, 2010

ISBN-10: 0345515587

ISBN-13: 978-0345515582

ENEMIES DON’T NEED TO BE ALIVE TO BE DEADLY.

For Chess Putnam, finding herself near-fatally poisoned by a con psychic and then stopping a murderous ghost is just another day on the job. As an agent of the Church of Real Truth, Chess must expose those looking to profit from the world’s unpleasant little poltergeist problem—humans filing false claims of hauntings—all while staving off any undead who really are looking for a kill. But Chess has been extra busy these days, coping with a new “celebrity” assignment while trying on her own time to help some desperate prostitutes.

Someone’s taking out the hookers of Downside in the most gruesome way, and Chess is sure the rumors that it’s the work of a ghost are way off base. But proving herself right means walking in the path of a maniac, not to mention standing between the two men in her life just as they—along with their ruthless employers—are moving closer to a catastrophic showdown. Someone is dealing in murder, sex, and the supernatural, and once again Chess finds herself right in the crossfire.

Unholy Magic is the second book in the Downside Series and right off the bat, I'm going to start by saying that it's the best book by far. I'm in love with it and I want to have its babies. Okay, Terrible's babies. For real. Chess is back and more messed up than ever. She's a druggie working for the Church as a debunker and her latest case is finding out who or what is killing all these prostitutes and stealing their eyes. Literally. And that's not all, Chess is also trying to break another case about a celebrity's house being hunted and before you know it, she's in deep and her life might just end up on the line.

I never thought that a druggie with an insane amount of problems would bring me so much joy. I absolutely love Chess as a character. She's so sick and messed up and not for a second have I ever felt bad for her. Not once. She owns up to her huge short-comings and she's one of my favorite characters ever. Kane has done a superb job developing her characters. Terrible, one of the gangster's right-hand man is just fabulous. He's a man of few words that the ones he does say carry a hell of a punch and from the first book (Unholy Ghosts) I just fell for him. I'm dying for these two to finally get together yet I'm so worried that because Chess is so broken that things just won't last. I'm hoping that he's her prince in drugs-dealing-people-beating-scary-dude armor and completely turns her life around. I definitely have big hopes for these two but Kane's got a sick sense of humor and I just know she's going to make me suffer and wait for anything to happen between these two. It's okay, though - Bring it, Kane!

The plot itself is insanely original and fun to read. I wasn't bored at any point because the characters and the plot and just everything comes together so well and from the get-go, I was 100% invested in the story. Unholy Magic is made of awesome, no doubt about it. I love the characters, I love the story and honestly, I can't say enough good things about it! Highly recommend this series to anyone looking for a kickass Urban Fantasy series with unforgettable characters and a plot that will keep you up at night.

Lush Rating: 5!

Quickie Review! Hell, Yeah by Carolyn Brown

2010-07-30T16:53:00.000-04:00

Hell, Yeah

Honky Town, book 2

Carolyn Brown

Sourcebooks Casablanca

August 3, 2010

ISBN-10: 1402239270

ISBN-13: 978-1402239274

She's finally found a place that feels like home...

When Cathy O'Dell buys the Honky Tonk, the nights of cowboys and country tunes come together to create the home she's always wanted. Then in walks a ruggedly handsome oil man who tempts her to trade in the happiness she's found at the Honky Tonk for a life on the road with him...

He lives the good life...

Gorgeous and rich, Travis Henry travels the country unearthing oil wells and then moving on. Then the beautiful blue-eyed new owner of the Honky Tonk beer joint becomes his best friend and so much more. When his job is done in Texas, how is he ever going to hit the road without her?

Hell, Yeah is the second book in the Honky Town series and in it, Cathy is now the owner of the bar. She's got a new life and it seems like everything's going great until Travis Henry walks into her bar. From the get-go, there's an immediate attraction between the two of them. The thing is, Cathy is a bit prickly. I can understand that she's been hurt before but at times, she's downright bitchy and Henry thinks that because she works at a bar, she must be a dumb blond. This is something that really annoyed me, especially considering that it's like a repeat from the first book in this series, I Love This Bar. I got over this quickly.

The second characters kind of made up for this because they're so much funny and exciting! So while I had issues with the main characters, I did enjoy the story mostly when I wasn't getting annoyed by the primary characters although I must admit that once they get over their misconception of each other, it completely turned the story around for me. Hell, Yeah is a sweet and romantic story about two people falling in love and with great set of secondary characters, I really enjoyed the story.

Lush Rating: 3!

Dear Book, Talk to the HAND.

2010-07-29T13:47:00.000-04:00

This is me right now. Buried under term papers, homework and up-coming finals. I might possibly be a bit slow with the reviews for the next week or so. I'm going to try to post some, though!

In the meantime, wish me luck! I'll be around.

xoxo,
Lush.

In My Mailbox! (35)

2010-07-24T00:00:00.002-04:00

Yay, more books! I get so happy yet feel so guilty that my TBR pile is about to bury me.. Oops? But that's okay though! Because I'll sure work my way through it. Eventually. Anyway! Here are the books I got this week:

City of Ghosts by Stacia Kane - OH. My. God.
White Heat by Brenda Novak
Passing Strange by Daniel Waters - UK cover! Sweet.
Only the Good Spy Young by Ally Carter
The Grimrose Path by Rob Thurman

I'm SO excited to read 'em all!

-- IMM is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.

Review! When Blood Calls by J.K. Beck

2010-07-19T18:50:00.000-04:00

When Blood Calls

J.K. Beck

Bantam Books

August 31, 2010

ISBN-10: 044024577X

ISBN-13: 978-0440245773

Attorney Sara Constantine is thrilled with her promotion—until she finds out that she must now prosecute vampires and werewolves. The first defendant she’ll be trying to put away? Lucius Dragos, the sexy stranger with whom she recently shared an explosive night of ecstasy.

When Lucius kisses a beautiful woman sitting next to him at the bar, he’s hoping only to avoid the perceptive gaze of the man he’s planning to kill. But what starts as a simple kiss ignites into an all-consuming passion. Charged with murder, Luke knows that Sara is determined to see him locked away—unless he can convince her that he’s not a monster. And that might mean making the ultimate sacrifice.

As a prosecutor, Sara Constantine has seen the worst of people and when she gets a chance to work with an elite group of Homeland Security officials to send monsters to prison, she's immediately takes it up. Sara soon finds out that by monsters, they really do mean monsters. She'd be prosecuting vampires and werewolves and any other thing that comes out to play at night that have hurt others. Sara thinks she's ready to start until she meets her first case - Lucius (Luke) Dragos. They kind of know each other, as in, they had a sinfully hot one night stand. And even more upsetting, he's a vampire.

Sara can't reconcile that gentle and demanding lover that she was with that night with the man sitting in front of her in an interrogation room accused of ripping a judge's throat out. Literally. But she doesn't have a choice but to do her best to convict him, even if doing so might send the one man that can make her feel like she's never felt before straight to the guillotine. Literally.

When Blood Calls starts off Beck's new paranormal romantic suspense series and a fabulous start, it is! Sara and Luke have an incredible chemistry together and it's obvious from the get-go. They're both really strong characters and that along with a great bunch of secondary ones that add more depth to the story make for a really entertaining read. I really enjoyed how this story has a bit of everything: romance, paranormal and suspense and it all makes a miasma full of awesome! When Blood Calls is dark, edgy and wickedly hot! With great characters and a plot that will keep you guessing until the end, this book is a great read! I highly recommend it.

Lush Rating: 4!

In My Mailbox! (34)

2010-07-17T17:21:00.000-04:00

I haven't done one of these in weeks! Sheesh. Anyway, so I'm going to cover the books I've received the past couple of weeks and they are..

Aries Rising by Bonnie Hearn Hill
All I ever Wanted by Kristan Higgins
Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Bethany Fantaskey
Tyger Tyger by Kersten Hamilton
Halo by Alexandra Adornetto
Masked Anthology edited by Lou Anders.

Awesome!

-- IMM is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.

Review! Death's Excellent Vacation

2010-07-16T19:49:00.000-04:00

Death's Excellent Vacation

Charlaine Harris, Toni L.P. Kelner

Ace

August 3, 2010

ISBN-10: 0441018688

ISBN-13: 978-0441018680

The editors of Wolfsbane and Mistletoe and Many Bloody Returns deliver a new collection-including a never-before-published Sookie Stackhouse story.
New York Times bestselling authors Charlaine Harris, Katie MacAlister, Jeaniene Frost-plus Lilith Saintcrow, Jeff Abbott, and more-send postcards from the edge of the paranormal world to fans who devoured Wolfsbane and Mistletoe and Many Bloody Returns.

With an all-new Sookie Stackhouse story and twelve other original tales, editors Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner bring together a stellar collection of tour guides who offer vacations that are frightening, funny, and touching for the fanged, the furry, the demonic, and the grotesque. Learn why it really can be an endless summer-for immortals.

Even monsters need a vacation! In Death's Excellent Vacation, there are thirteen short stories ranging from a brand spankin' new Sookie Stackhouse story, which happens to be one of my most favorite series, to new-to-me authors. Admittedly, I've never been a fan of anthologies such as this because if I like a story in it, by the time it's over, I always want more! So I'm left unsatisfied and I don't like that. However, I highly enjoy most of the stories in this anthology.

One of my favorites is Katie MacAlister's story, "The Perils of Effrijim". It's told in Jim's point of view and he is the demon dog from her Aisln't ing Grey series and I absolutely love that character. Love! He's absolutely hilarious and I was so incredibly happy to read his story. There's also another story I really enjoyed: Jeaniene Frost's short story titled "One for the Money" about Cat and Bones, I totally love those books and it was really cool to revisit some old favorite characters.

While there were several stories I highly enjoyed, like Lilith Saintcrow's "The Heart is Always Right" and L.A. Banks' "Seeing is Believing," I didn't enjoy them all. There's some new-to-me authors that I'll definitely look up but some stories just didn't hold my attention. Overall, Death's Excellent Vacation is a fun quick read in which you can revisit favorite characters or find new authors, I really enjoyed it and and while I don't think I'll ever be a huge fan of anthologies, they're a cool read every now and then.

Lush Rating: 3!

Feature Book Trailer! Halo by Alexandra Adornetto.

2010-07-14T19:17:00.000-04:00

This is the trailer for Halo by Alexandra Adornetto, an up-coming YA about angels and I'm insanely excited to start reading this book! Love the trailer and expect a review from me soon.

Review & Giveaway! The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller.

2010-07-14T10:32:00.001-04:00

The Eternal One

Kirsten Miller

Razorbill

August 10, 2010

ISBN-10: 1595143084

ISBN-13: 978-1595143082

Haven Moore can't control her visions of a past with a boy called Ethan and a life in New York that ended in fiery tragedy. In our present, she designs beautiful dresses for her classmates with her best friend Beau. Dressmaking keeps her sane, since she lives with her widowed and heartbroken mother in her tyrannical grandmother's house in Snope City, a tiny town in Tennessee. Then an impossible group of coincidences conspire to force her to flee to New York, to discover who she is, and who she was.

In New York, Haven meets Iain Morrow and is swept into an epic love affair that feels both deeply fated and terribly dangerous. Iain is suspected of murdering a rock star and Haven wonders, could he have murdered her in a past life? She visits the Ouroboros Society and discovers a murky world of reincarnation that stretches across millennia. Haven must discover the secrets hidden in her past lives, and loves, before all is lost and the cycle begins again.

I've never been a fan of reincarnation or predestination love in my fiction, or reality for that matter. I just think that thinking things are predestined is like saying that you won't take responsibility for your actions because it was predestined and there was nothing you could have done to change that. I just don't like it. Anyway, wow, tangent much? Anyway, having said that, when I first heard about The Eternal Ones, I was a bit wary because Haven seen have been reincarnated and like I said (read: ranted) before, I'm not into that. However, it sounded interesting and I'm happy to say that I highly enjoyed the story.

Since she was a wee girl, Haven's had visions of a boy whom she's always dreamed of finding but she hadn't put her dreams into actions until now. Next thing you know, she's in New York to found the boy who looks exactly like the one in her vision. Things are not that easy, though, because the boy, Iain, is suspected of murder and he's got a crazy past. Things even get more complicated when Haven starts wondering if Iain killed her in the past, which, by the way? Not a good incentive to a budding romance. Just sayin'. So things are bound to get real messy.

While I enjoyed The Eternal Ones, at times it seemed to me that there was just too much details, too much information and it wasn't even important information that the reader would need to be able to understand what was going on. I'm talking useless details that after a while, I was just over with. Haven's got a very appealing voice and it's very cool to see her deal with her present and past clashing together. The Eternal Ones is an entertaining story about fate and predestination and how love can surpass time.

Lush Rating: 3!

GIVEAWAY! Courtesy of the awesome people at Razorbill, I have a copy of The Eternal Ones to give away! Open to US and Canada. Just comment fill up the following form and you're entered! Dateline is August 1st.

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Review! The Wish List by Gabi Stevens

2010-07-12T18:36:00.000-04:00

The Wish List

Gabi Stevens

Tor Books

April 27, 2010

ISBN-10: 0765365030

ISBN-13: 978-0765365033

Kristin Montgomery is more than a little shocked when her aunts inform her they’re fairy godmothers. Worse, after dropping that bombshell they hand her a wand and head off on a world cruise. Now Kristin’s uncomplicated life as a CPA in San Diego has disappeared like magic and she not only has to deal with her burgeoning magical powers, but also a reluctant—and distractingly sexy—magical arbiter.

Tennyson Ritter is a historian. A scholar by choice, he is yanked from his studies to act as arbiter for the newly chosen fairy godmother. He doesn’t want to waste his time with a woman who doesn’t know anything about magic or the magical world, but soon the beguiling Kristin draws him away from his books and into her life.

But before Kristin can hone her skills and pass the tests necessary to fully claim her powers, she and Tennyson must work together to defend the world – both magical and human – against those that would claim her powers for their own.

One day Kristin Montgomery is a boring, ol' CPA, the next she founds out her aunts are fairy godmothers going on a cruise and so is Kristin! A fairy godmother, that is. She's not going on a cruise. Turns out, they're retiring and that means that Kristin has to take their place as a godmother but there's a wee little problem: She has no idea how to even use a wand, nevertheless actually going about granting wishes and doing whatever else entails being a godmother. So because she's a newb, she has to be trained by no other than Tennyson Ritter, a well-know historian and wizard.

To make things deliciously complicated, from the get-go Kristin and Tennyson have the hots for each other but as a arbiter/student, it's against the rules for them to start anything. But before they can even start thinking about exploring their very-illegal feelings for each other, odd things start to happen and before you know it, Kristin's life is in danger and Tennyson is the only one who can help her. Obviously.

Let me start by saying that I did not finish The Wish List. Yep, it was a DNF for me and mostly because I could not stand either main character. From the beginning, Kristin annoyed the bejesus out of me with her whining and it got old fast. Tennyson is so high and mighty that at times I wanted to reach into the book and smack him. I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt and even made it almost half way through the book before I just called it a day and gave up. The story itself is just so convoluted and poorly-explained and honestly, it seemed like the author was pulling information out of nowhere and smashing it all together in the hopes of it somehow making sense and it didn't one bit. The plot is shallow and confusing and the characters highly annoying and unlikeable and I'm sorry to say The Wish List was a huge miss for me.

Lush Rating: 2!

Giveaway! Shiver and Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

2010-07-09T07:17:00.000-04:00

I'm giving away a copy of Shiver and Linger by Maggie Stiefvater - thanks to the awesome people at Scholastic! - to a lucky winner to celebrate the release of Linger on July 20th.

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human... until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human—or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

This is the story of a boy who used to be a wolf and a girl who was becoming one.

Just a few months ago, it was Sam who was the mythical creature. His was the disease we couldn't cure. His was the good-bye that meant the most. He had the body that was a mystery, too strange and wonderful and terrifying to comprehend.

But now it is spring. With the heat, the remaining wolves will soon be falling out of their wolf pelts and back into their human bodies. Sam stays Sam, and Cole stays Cole, and it's only me who's not firmly in my own skin.

If you'd like to win both of these great books (My Shiver review is here and my Linger one will be coming soon), fill out the form below. Dateline is Monday 7/19. This giveaway is open to US only. Sorry Canada.

Review! To Conquer a Highlander by Mary Wine

2010-07-06T13:20:00.000-04:00

To Conquer a Highlander

Mary Wine

Sourcebooks Casablanca

July 6, 2010

ISBN-10: 1402237375

ISBN-13: 978-1402237379

A fierce Highland laird ready to kill for king and country…

When Torin McLeren discovers his neighbor’s plot against his king, he takes their daughter as his prisoner, thereby stopping her father’s plot from going forward. But that leaves him with a woman under his roof whom he can’t ignore, and not just because she’s his enemy’s daughter…

A woman who’s as much trouble as she is temptation..

Shannon McBoyd decides to use her captor to experience passion for the first time, and then to destroy him. But her plan goes awry because once she has lured Torin into her bed, she no longer wants to hurt the one man who seems to value and understand her…

Even if her father will kill him—and her—when he discovers what they’ve done...

Something I don't particular enjoy about Historicals (although I should say that this can happen in any type of romance book, not only Historicals) is that at times I've noticed how minute the hero comes into the picture, the heroine turns into a saaaave-me doormat. This is highly annoying to me. However, this book is an exception, Shannon from the get-go doesn't take any BS from anybody, including Torin, no matter how yummylicious he might be! I liked that. Sure, she wasn't in the best of situation considering she's just being kidnapped by (let's not forget, super hot) the Highlander whose town her mean, horrendous father just attacked and so Torin's looking for some revenge.

Another thing I really liked about Shannon is how she owe her sexuality, she wasn't one of those girls who once they start getting the hots for a guy get all scandalous and such. Sure, she was a bit unnerved but that's only understandable since the guy she's getting the hots for just kinda kidnapped her. I liked Torin a lot too. He was manly and alpha but not too alpha to make me want to slap him which is always a good thing!

To Conquer a Highlander is a sexy, fun story about two people falling in love, no matter what obstacles are in their way. Shannon and Torin have an incredible chemistry together and it was really fun to see them spar. Any romance book fan will highly enjoy this book!

Lush Rating: 4!

Review! Revenant by Phaedra Weldon

2010-07-05T05:45:00.000-04:00

Revenant (A Zoe Martinique Investigation)

Phaedra Weldon

Ace Trade

June 1, 2010

ISBN-10: 0441018653

ISBN-13: 978-0441018659

The smart, sassy, single, and "highly original" (#1 New York Times bestselling author Patricia Briggs) Zoë Martinique is back- and she's seeking clues on the other side...

Zoë Martinique's life hasn't been ordinary for quite awhile. First she developed the ability to travel outside her body at will-where she encountered some seriously weird things. Things that left her with powers that she didn't really want or need. Still, a person can get used to almost anything- even being a Wraith. Though more often than not, it plays serious havoc with her love life.

But for once, Zoë is glad of her abilities. Bodies are showing up all over Atlanta, drained of blood. They're beings from another astral plane, called Revenants-and they're being stalked by her old enemy, the Phantasm. The Revenants are hardly the nicest of creatures-but to preserve the cosmic balance, Zoë will need to put everything on the line to save them...

Revenant is the fourth book in the Zoe Martinique series and in it, our favorite Wraith, Zoe, is back. Things are far from being all fun and games though, especially when random bodies start turning up covered in bloody ruins. And a bit on the lacking-blood side. As in, they've been drained of every single drop. To further complicate things, these bodies are not human, they're Revenants, or beings from another plane and something is hunting them. Zoe soon finds herself in the middle of this mess because as a Wraith, she's the only being that can help find whoever is killing the Revenants before it's too late but this comes at a great cost. Lucky her.

First of all, I highly recommend you not try to read this series out of order, it won't make a lick of sense if you do. Believe me. Having said that, I have read the books in order and even then, I was a bit confused at times. There's a lot of characters to keep in mind and it was overwhelming, enough at times that I had to stop reading and reorient myself, if you will. Nevertheless, reading the story from Zoe's point of view is definitely entertaining! She has such a witty, dry sense of humor that you can't help but appreciate it and honestly, the story is pretty serious in that they're trying to found out the murderer and Zoe's humor lightens the plot.

Revenant is a great addition to this series! While I was confused at times, like I previously said, it wasn't bad enough to really mess the story up. Revenant is a super fun story that will keep you entertained to the very end and I'm definitely looking forward to the next Zoe adventure!

Lush Rating: 3.5!

Review! Body Master by C.J. Barry

2010-07-02T09:01:00.000-04:00

Body Master
C.J. Barry
Berkley Trade Sensation
Paranormal Romance
August 3, 2010
ISBN-10: 042523455X
ISBN-13: 978-0425234556

Her world under siege...

Seneca Thomas is an agent with XCEL, a secret government taskforce charged with capturing the dangerous shapeshifters that have infiltrated New York City, passing for humans. Her Native American heritage gives her a special gift—the ability to see the shapeshifters for what they are. Unfortunately, this doesn’t make killing them any easier...

...his life on the line.

Max Dempsey was on a refugee transport that crashed to Earth, setting thousands of shapeshifters free to do what they do best—replicate the local population in order to survive. Among them is the shifter who murdered Max’s wife. Now Max’s only desire is to find him and destroy him—until he gets partnered with Seneca, a sexy, fearless agent who would kill every one of his kind—including Max—if given the chance.

A dangerous liaison

As a criminal army of shifters assembles under the city determined to wreak havoc and destroy humanity, Seneca and Max will have to embrace their explosive chemistry, for only by trusting in each other and their power can they hope to stop the growing evil.

Seneca Thomas lives for one thing - to hunt shapeshifters who has viciously murdered humans. As an agent for XCEL, she's got the go-ahead to do just that to these monsters. However, things don't go exactly as planned on her latest case and next thing she knows, she's forced to partner up with Max Dempsey. It wouldn't be that much of a problem if he wasn't a shapeshifter, the same being Seneca wants to kill with a passion.

Max has put up with a lot of crap to get where he is at the moment. He's the only shapeshifter in an organization that was made to kill exactly what he is but he won't rest until he finds whoever killed his wife and betrayed their people. And if that means partnering with the stubborn, beautiful hunter that the Seneca Thomas is, then he's more than up to it.

Soon enough, Seneca and Max notice that they don't exactly hate each other. In fact, they're kinda hot for each other but before Seneca can get over her prejudice for shapeshifters and Max can put his revenge to rest, they need to found out why so many shapeshifters have been killing humans lately and who is behind the murders before it's too late.

Body Master is the first book of the Body series and a solid start, in my opinion. Barry gives enough back story for the reader to know what's going on. I did have some issues with the story though. It's never fully explained why Seneca hates the shapeshifters so much, and it was just exasperating at times to read her ranting about them and it seemed like she just hated that they existed. Uh, racist much? So, needless to say, I got over that fast. But hey, the relationship between her and Max was sweet, they really don't want to start having feelings for each other and they definitely fight it but it was lovely to see them get to know each other more and see their attraction grow stronger.

Body Master has a bit of everything: great action scenes, hot romance, killer suspense and paranormal goodness that makes for a fun read. I'm definitely looking forward to checking out this author's future books.

Lush Rating: 3.5!

Review! And One Last Thing.. By Molly Harper

2010-07-01T05:49:00.000-04:00

And One Last Thing

Molly Harper

Gallery Books

July 27, 2010

ISBN-10: 1439168776

ISBN-13: 978-1439168776

Lacey Terwilliger thought she had a good life. A good husband, a great house and a respectable standing in the community - What more could a girl want? That is, until she founds out her husband, Mike, is a scumbag cheater who's doing his secretary, Beebee. Understandably, Lacey is highly mad about this and what does a pissed off wife do when she founds out her husband is SOB cheater? Well, get revenge, of course! Lacey's just a little bit creative than others in getting her sweet revenge, she mails out a newsletter to all Mike's clients, family, and friends announcing how he's a cheater and a bastard. Hey, some girls take a baseball bat to their cars, others decide to send out an email.

Cue outrage. Lacey's the talk of the town and she decides on a self-imposed exile into her grammy's old cabin in the woods. She's got a lot to think about; her whole life has been shaken, and now that Mike's being even more of a scumbag by suing her for character defamation on top of the fact she's already dealing with the divorce. Soon after moving into the cabin, she runs into her new neighbor; and by run I mean he walks in on her sitting outside in her underwear, she trips and ends up with her bum in the air. Hell of a introduction. Monroe's a very good-looking man who admittedly is not very nice to Lacey at all at first. However, as they get to know each other more, a friendship starts forming but things might be getting a lot more intimate and steamy than Lacey ever anticipated.

And One Last Thing... will keep you entertained from beginning to end! Harper's got such a fresh, witty voice that immediately captures the reader and the characters she writes about are so alive that you'll immediately cheer for them, or boo them. I fell for Lacey, her life bubble was burst all to hell and now that it's all said and done, she sees that her life was not even close to perfect to begin with. Her husband was rarely there, she let her career as a journalist fall through the cracks, and she had alienated all her old friends. So now that this chapter in her life is closed, she faces a whole new life but after her pity party is over, she more than rises to the occasion! It felt good to see her become an even better person with her own hopes and dreams. And One Last Thing... is funny, sweet, and romantic story about new beginnings and I highly enjoyed myself reading it!

Lush Rating: 4.5!

Review! Skin Tight by Ava Gray

2010-06-29T14:30:00.000-04:00

Skin Tight
(Skin Series, book 2)
Ava Gray
Berkley
June 1, 2010
ISBN-10: 0425235165
ISBN-13: 978-0425235164

Uncovering the truth is her specialty

As a forensic accountant, Mia Sauter could usually tell when people had something to hide. She made her living exposing secrets while concealing her own. Then, in Vegas, she met a clever, ruthless man who called himself Addison Foster. One year later, she’s still haunted by his betrayal.

He’s a natural born liar

The truth of him had long ago been buried. Foster was only one name of many; he’d been so many men, he’d lost count. Reinvented as Thomas Strong and hell-bent on revenge, his mission is about to be compromised by the one woman capable of exposing him…

Reunited, they confront the explosive chemistry still crackling between them. But their chance meeting will have consequences, for a ruthless madman has his own deadly agenda. The question is—if they survive the fallout, will he choose love over vengeance?

We met Foster and Mia in the first book of this series, called Skin Game, and well, their short interaction didn't end on the best of terms and that's putting it mildly. A girl tends to take offense when a guy lives her tied up on a crazy dude's house, just saying. So when Mia runs into him on her latest job to find out who is stealing money from this company, she's not really ecstatic. At all. Okay, maybe a little. He is pretty hot.

Addison Foster is a ghost. He's changed his personality more times than he can remember and his latest one is Thomas Strong. That is, until he sees Mia. The only woman who has been able to make him feel anything for years. Considering he's so close to finally finding the people who ruined his life so many years ago and getting his revenge, he can't let anything or anyone, not even the super-gorgeous Mia, get in the way of that. But now that she's made him feel, he can't seem to be able to turn those feelings off like he's done before, she's skin-deep and as they get closer and their attraction grows stronger, Foster is going to have to decide which is more important - being with Mia or getting his revenge.

Ever since I first read about Foster in Skin Game, I was highly intrigued. Let me tell you, this man's got issues. He had a horrible tragedy happen to him and it's shaped pretty much his whole existence since then. The one thing I love about his character is how at times he seems so ruthless and so single-minded in his revenge, yet with Mia, he's incredibly soft, even vulnerable at times.

This series is insanely creative and unique because honestly, the main characters are kind of criminals yet you'll still find yourself hoping they get their happily-ever-after because Gray's got such a way of writing that you can't help but love these characters. The plot itself was a blast to read and while I think you could read Skin Tight as a stand-alone, I totally recommend you read Skin Game too because it's an awesome start to this series!

With a wonderful mixture of action-packed scenes, steamy love and some funny moments, Skin Tight is a highly enjoyable read and I'm definitely reading the next book in this awesome new series!

Lush Rating: 4.5!

In My Mailbox! (33)

2010-06-26T15:54:00.000-04:00

Score!

Me, Myself & Why? by MaryJanice Davidson
The Wish List by Gabi Stevens
Death's Excellent Vacation by Charlaine Harris, etc.
Unholy Magic by Stacia Kane (O-M-LAWD!)
Twice Bitten by Chloe Neill
Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon
When Blood Calls by J.K. Beck
When Pleasure Rules by J.K. Beck

Awesome.

-- IMM is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.

Review! A Devil in the Details by K.A. Stewart

2010-06-23T14:54:00.000-04:00

A Devil in the Details
(A Jesse James Dawson Novel, #1)
K.A. Stewart
Roc
July 6, 2010
ISBN-10: 0451463439
ISBN-13: 978-0451463432

Every lost soul needs a champion.

Jesse James Dawson was an ordinary guy (well, an ordinary guy with a black belt in karate), until the day he learned his brother had made a bargain with a demon. Jesse discovered there was only one way to save his brother: put up his own soul as collateral, and fight the demon to the death.

Jesse lived to free his brother--and became part of a loose organization of Champions who put their own souls on the line to help those who get in over their heads with demons. But now experienced Champions are losing battles at a much higher rate than usual. Someone has changed the game. And if Jesse can't figure out the new rules, his next battle may be his last...

Jesse James is your everyday husband-father-working-schmuck. That is, if your everyday Joe (Well, Jesse) happens to also be a modern-day Samurai. Hey, some men mow the lawn, Jesse kills demons. After he had to battle a demon to save his brother's soul, he became part of an organization of men who fight demons for a cost to help those who are over their heads and have bargained their souls to demons. Apart from the fact that these champions are not cheap, whenever they're hired to fight a demon, their owl souls are at stake. So when, after taking his latest job: a super popular baseball player who gave his soul to be able to play, Jesse founds out that others champions have been losing their lives, things get more complicated. They have lost their souls in gruesome battles and if Jesse drops the ball then he's going to be next. (And yes, I just had to add a baseball metaphor!)

Jesse is a highly interesting character. Right from the beginning, he draws the reader in with his dry observations. Something I really enjoyed is how he has a established life, he's a husband and a dad, and I can't remember the last Urban Fantasy novel I read (If any) that features a main character who has loved ones like that. Sure, they have parents and such but a wife and daughter? Nope. I just thought this was insanely cool. However, it seemed to me that at times Jesse tried so hard to a funny, witty guy. I kept having the uncomfortable thought that he was trying to be a bit Harry Dresden-ish. And believe me, I hate comparing one character to another but I just couldn't help it! The thought just kept popping in my head. It's not that this is bad, I love Dresden and his books are one of my favorite series ever but I just hate comparing characters like that.

I do have to say that the plot was annoyingly slow. We see Jesse go from day to day in his normal job and dealing with normal things and I kept wondering when something was going to happen! And yet, when it did? It was very wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am! Sure, I understand the author trying to convey how Jesse has a life outside of being a Samurai and I'm all for that but I also felt that this overshadowed the actual plot about the baseball player. I would have liked a little more action and definitely less talk.

I really did enjoy reading this book though! A Devil in the Details is a refreshing story with really appealing characters who have such witty humor that you don't see coming until it smacks you in the face! I'll definitely be reading the next one in this exciting new series.

Lush Rating: 3!

Quickie Review! Strange Neighbors by Ashlyn Chase

2010-06-19T08:21:00.000-04:00

Strange Neighbors

Ashlyn Chase

Sourcebooks Casablanca

June 1, 2010

ISBN-10: 1402236611

ISBN-13: 978-1402236617

When all-star pitcher and shapeshifter Jason Falco buys a small apartment building, he sees it not only as an investment, but as a place to escape the demands of major league baseball.

That is, until he meets his tenants! A vigilante vampire: a wereraven with a morbid sense of humor; a werewolf thief who poses as a security expert; and two witches who work as phone sex actresses and own an owl familiar. Not to mention a beautiful, all too human nurse who gets Jason's blood pumping overtime.

With all the hooting, howling and hollering going on, how can an All-American guy get some peace and sweep a girl off her feet.

Merry Mackensie is finally on her own. She's moved into this great little apartment building, has a great job as a nurse and then she meets her landlord - Hunkie baseball player Jason Falco. Score! Everything seems to be going great until weird things start happening. For starters, there 's this creepy-looking dude who's always hanging around the building but as Merry soon finds out, there's more than meets the eye with the people who live in her building.

Strange Neighbors is a quirky little story wrapped in a light-hearted package that if you're looking for an easy read, you'll love. However, if you're looking for a story with substance, look elsewhere because this story is as shallow as can be. From the beginning, I was a bit on the fence with Merry and Jason's relationship, mostly because it just felt so... Easy? There wasn't much of obstacles in their way and I'm well aware how to a romantic that would seem great but I like a little conflict every now and then. There wasn't much here.

Regardless, Strange Neighbors is a highly cute story, and it's got a bit of everything - mystery, romance and paranormal - which makes for a fun read!

Lush Rating: 3!

Review! Shadow Bound by Erin Kellison.

2010-06-17T04:47:00.000-04:00

Shadow Bound

Erin Kellison

Dorchester Publishing

June 29, 2010

ISBN 10: 0-505-52829-0

ISBN 13: 978-0-505-52829-2

Death

Some people will do anything to avoid it. Even trade their immortal souls for endless existence.

Wraiths

Secretly, inexorably, they are infiltrating our world, sucking the essence out of unsuspecting victims with their hideous parody of a kiss.

Segue

Adam Thorne founded the Institute to study and destroy his monster of a brother, but the key to its success is held in the pale, slender hand of a woman on the run. There is something hauntingly different about Talia O’Brien, her unknowing sensuality, her uncanny way of slipping into Shadow.

Twilight

This is the place between life and what comes after - a dark forest of fantasy, filled with beauty, peril, mystery. And Talia is about to open the door.

Ever since she was a wee girl, Talia O'Brien has known she was different. No matter how hard she tries, she just can't fit in and be normal. She's always found refuge in the shadows and by touch, she can tell what someone is feeling or if they're lying. Now she founds herself being hunted by wraiths. These are creatures with great strength who steal other's souls by kissing them. These things have been secretly forming their own army and now, they want Talia but what for, no one knows.

Adam Thorne founded the Segue Institute in order to kill his brother. For six years, he's dedicated himself to finding a way to destroy him because he's a monster and he killed their parents but Jacob, his brother, is able to regenerate pretty much any injury, as any other wraith can do and nothing seem to work until now. What Adam never thought is that the answer might lay in a person, specifically Talia. With her ability to walk in Twilight, the place between life and whatever comes next for the dead, she might be the answer to killing not only Adam's brother but all wraiths.

Shadow Bound is Erin Kellison's debut novel and I really enjoyed it! What I really liked is that there's not one vampire or werewolf around. I'm not saying I don't like reading about those but it's a nice change of pace to read about wraiths and Death itself, called Shadowman. And yes, the Fae is part of the world-building here. So I definitely thought the storyline was original and refreshing! Talia and Adam have a very interesting chemistry going on. He's the epitome of hero trying to save everyone and when he's not able to, he really beats himself up for it. I was a bit on the fence about Talia. At times, I thought she was able to stand up to Adam and be her own person but other times, I was slightly worried she was going to turn into one of those super-dependent-save-me heroines and I was really hoping that wouldn't happened. I liked seeing their feelings grow for each other though, Kellison didn't rush the romance and I appreciated that. They both have their own issues to get over and it felt real for them to butt heads on certain things.

Shadow Bound is a highly engrossing story! Nicely paced with steamy scenes and lots of action, I'm definitely checking out Kellison's next book.

Lush Rating: 3.5!

CSN Giveaway Winner

2010-06-15T05:33:00.000-04:00

First, I want to thank you all for the awesome turn-out on the giveaway! Unfortunately, there can only be one winner and that is.. JULIA!

Congrats, Julia! You will be getting an email from an CSN representative for your $60 gift certificate.

Happy shopping!

Review! Red Hot Fury by Kasey Mackenzie

2010-06-11T14:24:00.000-04:00

Red Hot Fury
(A Shades of Fury novel)
Kasey Mackenzie
Ace
June 29, 2010
ISBN-10: 0441018920
ISBN-13: 978-0441018925

Hell hath nothing worse than a Fury scorned...

As a Fury, Marissa Holloway belongs to an Arcane race that has avenged wrongdoing since time immemorial. As Boston's Chief Magical Investigator for the past five years, she's doing what she was born to: solving supernatural crimes.

It's far from business as usual when the body of one of Riss's sister Furies washes up in Boston harbor. Riss discovers that the corpse's identity has been magically altered, but as soon as she reports her findings, she's immediately--and inexplicably--suspended from her job. Then a human assassin makes an attempt on her life, and Riss starts to realize that someone may be trying to stir up strife between mortals and Arcanes.

When a Fury gets mad, she gets even, and Riss is determined to untangle this case. Without the support of the mortal PD, Riss turns to the one man she can trust to watch her back--shapeshifting Warhound Scott Murphy. But since Scott is also Riss's ex, she'll have to keep a tight leash on more than just the supernatural rage that feeds her power as they try to solve a murder--and stop a war...

As the Chief Magical Investigator for the Boston PD, Marissa is expected to investigate the cases that are suspected of being arcane. She's also a Fury, one of those immortals beings who avenge the wronged, but when she shows up at her latest case's crime scene, things get personal. The victim is a Fury who is also an old friend of hers that was killed by an angry ex years ago, or so Marissa (Riss) thought. But it's not really her murdered friend, but someone made to look like her.

Things only get more dicey when Riss is suspended from her job for no reason at all. She's still determined to find out what happened to the victim and why it looks like her friend but with most of her resources gone, the only person left that can help is her ex-boyfriend Scott who is also a shape-shifting Warhound. If they don't manage to kill each other first, that is. Yet, this is no ordinary case. There's powerful people who will stop at nothing to make sure she doesn't investigate this specific crime and Marissa soon finds herself trying to stop a war. Or maybe almost starting one.

Let me start off by saying that I think the storyline about Furies is super original and creative and it's awesome to read about something other than vampires or werewolves. Don't get me wrong, I love vampires and werewolves story but variety is the spice of life and all that. Red Hot Fury is a super fast-paced story. The plot just swoons by and it was incredibly fun to read! However, if you're not paying attention, then you might miss some crucial scenes.

The characters are nicely fleshed out and the chemistry between Riss and Scott was yummy. Red Hot Fury is fabulous! There's plenty of kick-ass action scenes, the world-building is really interesting and I'm definitely looking forward to the next book in this new Urban Fantasy series.

Lush Rating: 4.5!

Review! The Summer of Skinny Dipping

2010-06-09T20:01:00.000-04:00

The Summer of Skinny Dipping
Amanda Howells
Sourcebooks Fire
June 1, 2010
ISBN-10: 1402238622
ISBN-13: 978-1402238628

After getting dumped by her boyfriend, sixteen-year-old Mia Gordon is looking forward to spending a relaxing summer in the Hamptons with her glamorous cousins. But when she arrives, her cousins are distant, moody, and caught up with a fast crowd. Mia finds herself lonelier than ever.

That's when she meets her next-door-neighbor, Simon Ross. Simon isn't like the snobby party boys her cousins seem obsessed with; he's funny, artistic, and utterly adventurous. And from the very first time he encourages Mia to go skinny-dipping, she's caught up in a current impossible to resist.

The Summer of Skinny Dipping is Howells' debut book and an absolute wonderful one. Mia's always been a bit of an outsider in her world and the only person who has really made her feel like it's okay to be herself is her cousin, Corinne. So when she founds out that she's going to be spending her summer vacation with her favorite cousin and her fairytale-storybook-happy parents, she can't wait! However, she quickly founds out that Corinne has changed, and not for the better.

Feeling alone and isolated, she meets Simon, which is her quirky neighbor and they strike up a somewhat odd friendship. Mia and Simon easily become really close, he understands her. Simon teaches Mia to be more spontaneous about life and soon enough, Mia founds herself having the best summer ever.

This is no fluffy beach read and I admit that at first, that's exactly what I thought it would be... And that's what I wanted. However, this is such a lovely story about a girl getting to know herself and while I wasn't prepared for the story, I more than enjoyed it. The Summer of Skinny Dipping is a highly romantic, funny and yes, tearful story about love and life and I'll definitely be checking out more of Howells' future books.

Lush Rating: 4!

CSN Giveaway!

2010-06-07T06:26:00.000-04:00

I have a dirty secret to share with y'all. I have Myopia. That's another word for holycrapIcan'tseeforshit! Okay, not really. It's just a fancy word for nearsightedness. Due to this condition, I'm very, very particular about the kind of lightning I use to read because hello, I need light that doesn't make my sight worse 'cause I don't think my future husband (aka Jake Gyllenhaal) would appreciate my bottle-button eyeglasses and well, it's hard to seduce someone when wearing said glasses. Just sayin'.

So when I was contacted by CSN to host a giveaway, I said hells yeah! They have an amazing array of items, like lights and bookcases and a lot more that makes me think they might be aliens with an evil plan to take over the world via awesome furniture and I'm afraid to say that I'd totally be on board for this.

(and I'm not sure how this relates to my plan to bag Jake Gyllenhaal but I thought I would throw it out there. Call me, Jake.)

I have a $60 gift certificate to give away! With that, you could buy yourself this pretty:

AND still have plenty left to buy more stuff! Honestly, they have SO much stuff to choose from that I'd be sitting here forever just telling you about it. Instead of doing that to you, 'cause I'm nice and all, here are the deets to enter this kick-ass contest:

1. Go to their list of stores and shop around, come back and tell me one thing you'd totally sell yourself to get. Okay, maybe not prostitute yourself but you want it pretty. damn. BAD.
2. If you're awesome and become my follower, you'll be part of an elite group of people AND will get two extra entries into this contest.
3. Contest ends next Monday, the 14th. That gives you a whole week to enter!

Okay, I'm done babbling, go go go!

Tiny Print: I've been advised to let you know that there might be shipping charges and international fees for certain products may apply. Sorry. Canada.

P.S. Huge thanks to Caitlin from CSN for being awesome and making this giveaway possible!

In My Mailbox! (32)

2010-06-05T00:00:00.000-04:00

Books FTW!

Skin Tight (Skin, #2) by Ava Gray

Body Master by C.J. Barry

Revenant (Zoe Martiniqie Investigation, #4) by Phaedra Weldon

Masked by Moonlight by Nancy Gideon

That's all. What did you get?

- IMM is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.

Teeease!

2010-06-04T12:12:00.002-04:00

What does a cool store like CSN that sells sexy lights and awesome furniture and moi have in common?

GIVEAWAY!

Stay tuned.

P.S.: You might wanna visit their site and check out what strikes your fancy and remember it.. Cue innocent whistling. What?

Review! I Love This Bar by Carolyn Brown

2010-06-04T06:00:00.001-04:00

I Love This Bar
(The Honky Town series, book 1)
Carolyn Brown
Sourcebooks Casablanca
June 1, 2010
ISBN-10: 1402239262
ISBN-13: 978-1402239267

She runs the Honky Tonk beer joint; she doesn't need a single thing else...

Daisy O'Dell has her hands full with hotheads and thirsty ranchers until the day one damn fine cowboy walks in and throws her life into turnoil..

He's looking for a cold drink and moment's peace and finds himself one red hot woman..

She's just what he needs, if only he can convince her to come out from behind that bar, and come home with him...

I can't say I've ever read a Western Romance before but I highly enjoyed I love This Bar! It's the first installment of Brown's Honky Tonk series and it features Daisy O'Dell who is the owner of the bar named - wait for it - Honky Tonk! All is good and dandy until she literally falls on a really cute guy named Jarod. It's attraction at first sight but Jarod's being burned by women before and he's more than cautious about Daisy. And well, Daisy's all about her bar, really. Neither one of them can refuse their attraction to each other though and before you know, things are gettin' hot and heavy.

There's a lot of country songs references and I'll be the first to say that they totally went over my head! I don't listen to country but I still had no problem enjoying the story. I did think that Daisy was a bit rabid about her bar. Yes, I know that it's the only thing she's got left and after being hurt by a man before, she takes refuge in it but it seems like this beer joint was her whole life and at times I wondered if she had to choose between the bar and Jarod, which one would it be? Jarod kind of annoyed me at first. Like I said before, he's being burned by women and he immediately judges Daisy to be an immoral hussy because she owes a bar! Seriously. However, I'm happy to report that all misconceptions are easily remedied and I had a really good time reading about Daisy and Jarod getting to know each other.

I Love This Bar is a super fun read about love, hot cowboys and warm summer nights drinking beer. I'm highly looking forward to the next installment in this series!

Lush Rating: 3!

Review! Shut Up and Kiss me by Christie Craig

2010-06-01T13:28:00.000-04:00

Shut Up and Kiss me
Christie Craig
Dorchester
June, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-505-52799-8

WELCOME TO PRECIOUS, TEXAS

…where fistfights serve as dinner theater and fire ants rain from the sky. The locals are usually very friendly, if a bit eccentric. No pictures please, or you may find yourself a guest of the county morgue.

Photojournalist Shala Winters already had her hands full bringing tourism to this backward, podunk little town, but her job just got tougher. Pictures can say a thousand words, and one of Shala’s is screaming bloody murder. Now she has to entrust a macho, infuriating lawman with her life—but she’ll never trust him with her heart.

Trusted or not, Sky Gomez isn’t about to let a killer get his hands on Shala’s Nikon—or any of her more comely assets, for that matter. Her mouth might move faster than a Piney Woods roadrunner, but all he can think about is how good it must taste…and how she’ll never escape true love.

I've always being a big fan of Craig's books and this one is definitely her best yet! Shala is a photojournalist hired by the Mayor of Precious, Texas to help bring more tourism to the town because their economy is really suffering and unless something is done about this, the town is really going to suffer. But it soon becomes apparent that Shala's got her work cut out for her. First, her camera is stolen and when she hunts down the thief, she finds out it's actually the sheriff of the town! And to boot, he's a totally hottie, too! It's hard to hate someone when all you want to do is jump them.

All Shala wanted was finish her job and go home, but now that somebody is following and trying to off her, Sheriff Sky Gomez is not about to let her out of his sight. But he's totally hot for her too! However, before they can really explore their chemistry together, Sky and Shala need to find out why she's being hunted and fast, before someone gets hurt.

From the very first word, I fell in love with Shut Up and Kiss Me! All the characters, down to the secondary storyline between Maria, Matt and Jose are so well developed that I was cheering for every single one of them! Sky and Shala have an incredibly sizzling chemistry together that just comes right off the page and I loved seeing them interact. They both have really sad pasts and seeing them get past those old hurts together was absolutely lovely. I had no idea about who wanted to hurt Shala until the end and I did not see it coming at all! I hope Craig writes more about this quirky little town and its inhabitants because I had a blast reading Shut Up and Kiss Me, it's an insanely funny, romantic story with great characters that will steal your heart and a plot that will definitely keep you guessing until the end!

Lush Rating: 4.5!

Quickie Review! The Turning: What Curiosity Kills by Helen Ellis

2010-05-28T11:09:00.000-04:00

The Turning: What Curiosity Kills

Helen Ellis

Sourcebooks Fire

May 1, 2010

ISBN-10: 1402238614

ISBN-13: 978-1402238611

Plucked from foster care, Mary Richards hit the jackpot with a loving family, an apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and a spot in the elite Purser-Lilley Academy. But she might lose it all if people find out about the turning.

Something not human is inside Mary. Her mind is reeling and her body is rebelling. She succumbs to urges and desires she never imagined. And then there’s the bizarre physical transformation.

Struggling with her metamorphosis, Mary is sought out by two boys who share her secret. Will she reject the destiny they swear is hers? Or will she find our what curiosity kills?

You only get one chance to decide if you’ll never turn again.

I was highly intrigued about the blurb of this story but sadly, the story itself kind of disappointed me. Out of nowhere, Mary is able to turn into a cat and it's never explained why or even how she's turning furry. The characters were so one-dimensional, they were just there, like props and I felt like if they, especially Mary, would have been more explored then it would have so helped the story.

Unfortunately, The Turning left something to be desired. I think the premise for the story was really promising but the follow-through was anything but. The Turning just didn't do it for me.

Lush Rating: 2!

Review! Unholy Ghosts by Stacia Kane

2010-05-25T00:00:00.000-04:00

Unholy Ghosts
(The Downside, book 1)
Stacia Kane
Del Rey
June 2010
ISBN-10: 0345515579
ISBN-13: 978-0345515575

THE AFTERLIFE IS ONLY THE BEGINNING.

The world is not the way it was. The dead have risen and constantly attack the living. The powerful Church of Real Truth, in charge since the government fell, has sworn to reimburse citizens being harassed by the deceased. Consequently, there are many false claims of hauntings from those hoping to profit. Enter Chess Putnam, a fully-tattooed witch and freewheeling Debunker and ghost hunter. She’s got a real talent for nailing the human liars or banishing the wicked dead. But she’s keeping a dark secret from the Church: a little drug problem that’s landed her in hot and dangerous water.

Chess owes a murderous drug lord named Bump a lot of money. And Bump wants immediate payback. All Chess has to do is dispatch a very nasty species of undead from an old airport. But the job involves black magic, human sacrifice, a nefarious demonic creature, and crossing swords with enough wicked energy to wipe out a city of souls. Toss in lust with a rival gang leader and a dangerous attraction to Bump’s ruthless enforcer, and Chess begins to wonder if the rush is really worth it. Hell, yeah. (from author's site

Chess is a Debunker or a witch sanctioned by the Church to return ghosts to their resting place, an underground city. However, she owes a drug lord a lot of money due to some unsavory activities, and if she doesn't pay up, well, she'll get the hell beat out of her and possibly worse. So this guy, Bump, tells her that if she gets rid of a little problem for him, her complete debt goes away. And really, who would say no to that! The only thing Chess has to do is clear up some ghosts from an old airport and she's clear.

Enter Terrible. Terrible is Bump’s right-hand man. He's pretty much his bodyguard and takes care of "problems" for Bump, if you know what I mean, and he's been tasked with making sure Chess follows through with the agreement and banishes the ghosts that are supposedly haunting this airport. But nothing is ever easy, this is more than a simple haunting, as Chess soon finds out. Now she's stuck between two rival gangs, fighting an incredibly evil and powerful nightmare of a ghost and possibly having the hots for a certain enforcer, then yeah, she's ready for a vacation. Or at least, I would be.

Unholy Ghosts the first book in Stacia Kane's new series and absolutely full of win! From the very start, Kane just draws the reader in effortlessly. Chess is unlike any other heroine you'll ever read about, she's nowhere near squeaky clean and yet, she protects others, and she cares although I don't think she wants to. While I loved Chess, Terrible just stole the show for me. He was my favorite and no matter how much I loved the other characters, I lived for his parts. Interestingly enough, at first, I didn't think he was going to be a big deal in the book so my love for him kind of came out of left field and hit me right in the forehead. He's a funny mixture of being a bad-ass and yet at times, protective and it all forms a yummy package that easily became my favorite character.

Another thing that made Unholy Ghosts a book of never-ending awesomeness for me was the pace. It was just excellently paced. There's no awkward pauses or drawn-out monologue and that to me is brilliant. I don't want to have to sigh in boredom or feel like the action overshadows everything else and in this book, neither happens. Unholy Ghosts is the beginning of a new Urban Fantasy series that I think it will be a huge hit. The characters are kick ass and the plot will have you on the edge of your seat. I absolutely recommend it!

Lush Rating: 5!

Dangerous Highlander Winner!

2010-05-24T19:14:00.000-04:00

Tracey D!

Congrats, Tracey! I'll be emailing you for your deets in a minute. Thanks to Donna and everyone who enter the contest!

In My Mailbox (31)

2010-05-22T16:35:00.000-04:00

Oh, wow, work is keeelling me this weekend. Seriously. But it's okay(ish!), because I have some new books this week that look awesome and here they are:

The Summer of Skinny Dipping by Amanda Howell - Which I already read and really enjoyed! Review coming soon..
Spider's Bite by Jennifer Estep
Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison
Nightlife; Moonshine; Madhouse and Deathwish by Rob Thurman - OMG! Ever since I read Roadkill, I knew I had to to read the previous books and guess what? I WON THEM. Score.
Touched by an Alien by Gini Koch

That's all!

-- IMM is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.

Quest Post: Welcome author Donna Grant to the Lush!

2010-05-21T00:00:00.002-04:00

Druids

First, thanks to Wendy for asking me to visit!

I get asked a lot why I chose Druids for my Dark Sword series. I find the legend of the Druids fascinating. There are so many conflicting accounts. Some records show the Druids to be spiritual leaders who helped heal the sick and gave counsel to kings and other leaders.

The Romans would have us believe they were the basest of humans who routinely sacrificed humans and animals in order to appease their pagan gods.

So who's right? I don't think we'll ever know. We all know that whoever writes history controls history, so I think it's safe to say Rome may have exaggerated a bit. Or maybe not. ;)

It was the knowledge that the Druids could have been a mixture of any number of things that led me into more research into them. I find their culture fascinating, especially how it continues to this day.

In FORBIDDEN HIGHLANDER, there are two different sects of Druids. I have the mies, or the good Druids who keep to their pure magic. They are one with nature. They heal, share their wisdom, and protect the innocent. Then there are the droughs. The droughs are Druids who, upon their eighteenth year, undergo a ceremony where they give their blood and soul to evil thereby forfeiting all the good inside them. The evil takes over, and in doing so gives them a more powerful magic - black magic.

So how can the mies combat the droughs if the droughs have more powerful magic? That is a good question, and one I visit with every book of this series I write. Want to read an excerpt from FORBIDDEN HIGHLANDER, then visit www.donnagrant.com/forbiddenhighlander.

I'll be giving away a signed copy of DANGEROUS HIGHLANDER, the first in the series to a commenter. Happy Reading!

To find out more about me please visit my website at www.donnagrant.com. To read more about the Dark Sword series, see pics of the Warriors, take the quiz, download wallpaper, or search characters, please visit www.donnagrant.com/darksword

hugs,
D
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Huge thanks to Donna for guest blogging for me! To enter to win a copy of Dangerous Highlander (And believe me, you WANT to read this book, it's SO good!) leave a comment (~~open to US only, sorry~~ Never mind, Donna's awesome so she'll send worldwide!) and I'll choose a winner on Monday, the 24th. Good luck!

Review! Forbidden Highlander by Donna Grant

2010-05-20T00:00:00.004-04:00

Forbidden Highlander
(Dark Sword, #2)
Donna Grant
St. Martin's Paperbacks
May 25, 2010
ISBN-10: 0312381239
ISBN-13: 978-0312381233

Donna Grant’s Dark Sword series draws you into a dazzling world of Druids and dark magic, as three brothers battle to overcome an ancient curse—and find the women who are their destiny…

A dangerous secret

Fallon McLeod has gifts any warrior would covet—fierce strength, unmatched skill, even immortality. But those gifts have come at a price that puts everyone he loves at risk. Only when his brother, Quinn, is taken captive does Fallon leave the seclusion of his Highland home to seek the king’s aid. And though every woman at court would gladly be his for the asking, one alone causes desire to roar to life within him: beautiful, mysterious Larena Monroe.

A wild desire

Rumors swirl around the castle about “The McLeod” but Larena knows the truth. Like Fallon, Larena is searching for a way to vanquish the evil Druid who wants to wreak havoc on earth. Drawn to Fallon in spite of her fear, she surrenders to a passion that shocks them both with its raw intensity. But Larena dares not hope for more—not when she holds a secret that could turn her fiery Highland love against her forever…

Fallon MacLeod is in the last place he would ever wish to be. Stuck in Edinburgh awaiting the king's return so he can ask him for help is not his idea of a good time at all. But as the oldest brother, he has responsibilities that he must fulfill. Not only that, he's also a warrior with the god of Revenge inside of him and when his youngest brother, Quinn, is kidnapped by their archenemy, an evil druid named Deirdre, Fallon is willing to do anything to get him back.

What Fallon doesn't count on is meeting Larena Monroe. For the first time in the past three hundred years, she awakens feelings long-dead inside of him. However, Larena is much more than she appears to be. In fact, she's there to find specifically Fallon because she needs his protection against Deirdre. But it's not as simple as that, Larena has some pretty serious deep secrets that might get her - and a lot of others, including Fallon - killed. These two have to learn to trust each other, something that does not comes easily to either, because if they don't, they're going to be in big trouble.

Forbidden Highlander is the second book in the Dark Sword series and a very enjoyable addition! We met Fallon in the first novel, Dangerous Highlander, and right off the bat, we know that he's a drunk. Ever since his god was unleashed hundred of years ago, he hasn't been able to deal with it without a bottle of wine clutched in his hand. Fortunately, he's off the booze now and trying to help his brother and friends. Reading about Fallon trying to fight his addiction felt very real, at times he felt like he wouldn't be able to get through it but he persevered.

The chemistry between him and Larena can't be denied, the only thing that highly annoyed me is how Fallon went from one second thinking that he had to let Larena go to being willing to fight for her. He just couldn't seem to make up his mind and I was over that fast. It wasn't only him, though, Larena did this too! I understand being a bit unsure where their relationship was going considering they're trying to fight Deirdre but this just happened way too much for my liking.

While I did have some beef with the main characters, they're incredibly real, I can't deny their explosive attraction and it makes for some super steamy scenes. I was highly intrigued by the other warriors and I so can't wait to find out more about them. Forbidden Highlander is a highly enjoyable and super sexy read!

Lush Rating: 4!

Happy Birthday, Broooooke!

2010-05-19T05:39:00.001-04:00

Today is That's QUEEN Bitch to you aka Brooke aka the Bestest GF EVAH's birthday! She's turning er, 28? Okay, we'll go with 22.. So let's wish her a wonderful birthday with lots of yummy men and hot cake. Wait, what?

Review! Nancy's Theory of Style by Grace Coppersmith

2010-05-18T18:48:00.000-04:00

Nancy's Theory of Style
Grace Coopersmith
Gallery Books
May 18, 2010
ISBN-10: 1416598863
ISBN-13: 978-1416598862

Lively young socialite Nancy Carrington-Chambers has always believed an excellent sense of style and strict attention to detail are what it takes to succeed, but her own husband Todd is showing symptoms of incurable tackiness, so Nancy flees their McMansion for her posh San Francisco apartment. She knows her event planning company, Froth, is a real winner, but she must prove herself by reinventing the turgid Barbary Coast Historical Museum fundraiser. Luckily, Nancy now has the perfect assistant. Derek Cathcart is British, impeccably dressed, gorgeous, and clearly gay—so why does Nancy find him so attractive?

Before Nancy can unravel her feelings, her irresponsible cousin Birdie abandons her little daughter with Nancy and takes off. Nancy, Derek, and Eugenia make an unlikely “family,” but strangely it seems incredibly right. Now Nancy’s parents are pressuring her to return to Todd, and she still has to pull off a spectacular party. For someone who’s always known exactly where she’s going, Nancy is in dangerously uncharted waters.

Irresistibly funny and romantic, Nancy’s Theory of Style shows that happiness and love—just like fashion—aren’t about playing it safe.

Have you ever read about a character that's so delusional and crackalicious (okay, maybe that's not so much a word but you know what I mean!) that right from the get-go, she (or he) easily becomes your favorite? Well, that's Nancy to me! I rolled my eyes and snickered so much at some of the stuff this woman said that I honestly just became to loved her. She's so damn shallow and thinks everything in life can be fixed as long as you're wearing the right clothes and know the right people. And while yes, I was highly annoyed at how damn shallow she was, there's something about her that just draws people in.

But Nancy's life isn't perfect - the marriage is falling apart, her career is pretty much non-existent and well, her family doesn't support much.. Or at all. She finally says enough and leaves her husband and moves into an apartment to focus on getting her event planning business started. And we all know to have a successful business, you need an assistant! So Nancy hires a gay British guy named Derek and from the start, they just clicked. But things might not as they appeared and Nancy will come to found out there's more to life than fashion.

Nancy's Theory of Style is a laugh-out-loud story! I seriously laughed a lot at Nancy's antics but it's not all fun and games, Nancy finds herself and also learns some pretty hard life lessons. Coppersmith's writing is highly engaging and fresh and I had a blast reading this book!

Lush Rating: 4!

Review! Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews

2010-05-17T17:40:00.000-04:00

Magic Bleeds
(Kate Daniels, book 4)
Ilona Andrews
Ace
May 25, 2010
ISBN-10: 0441018521
ISBN-13: 978-0441018529

Atlanta would be a nice place to live, if it weren’t for the magic. When the magic is up, rogue mages cast their spells and monsters appear, while guns refuse to fire and cars fail to start. But then technology returns, and the magic recedes as unpredictably as it rose.

Kate Daniels works for the Order of the Knights of Merciful Aid, officially as a liaison with the mercenary guild. Unofficially, she cleans up the paranormal problems no one else wants to handle—especially if they involve Atlanta’s shapeshifting community.

When she’s called in to investigate a fight at the Steel Horse, a bar midway between the territories of the shapeshifters and the necromancers, Kate quickly discovers there’s a new player in town. One who’s been around for thousands of years—and rode to war at the side of Kate’s father.

This foe may be too much even for Kate and Curran, the Lord of the Beasts, to handle. Because this time, Kate will be taking on family…

Magic Bleeds is the fourth book in the Kate Daniels series and completely made of awesome! In it, Kate's still working for the Order of Knights of Merciful Aid as a liaison and everything seems to be going the same ol' until she's called to break up a fight in a bar called the Steel Horse. Turns out it's not just one of those you-grabbed-my-girl's-ass kind of fight, more like some-dude-just-walked-in-and-impaled-another-on-a-pole kind. Not something you see everyday, even in a magic-crazy city like the Atlanta Kate lives in.

So now Kate finds herself smack in the middle of case that from the get-go, it's more dangerous than the (ab)normal stuff she deals with. There's someone new in town that's causing a lot of trouble and they might be closer to Kate than you think. Hey, what's a little murder and mayhem between family?

I can honestly say that Magic Bleeds was one of my top most-anticipated books this year and it more than delivered. It's hard to describe how absolutely fabulous this story is without accidentally giving spoilers away and that's just not acceptable. I'm afraid Andrews is one of the rare authors that will turn me into a complete fan-girl! I admit it, I loved Magic Bleeds. I love Kate, she's one of the best characters I've ever read, she's so fiercely loyal and brave and such a smartass but in Magic Bleeds, we actually see a softer side of her and it just made me love her even more. Curran? Don't get me started on him. Seriously. One little word from him and I swooned.

The writing is just unbelievable. I could image scenes in my head in detail, whenever Kate was in a fight, my heart just pounded along. At times I felt like I needed to take a break from the book due to just being too engrossing, too brilliant for my little heart, like when you gorge yourself on Belgian chocolate. Magic Bleeds is the best yet of this series! Insanely fun read, action-packed and with scenes that made me turn into a puddle of goo, but in a good way! I'm more than ever looking forward to more Kate and Curran.

Lush Rating: 5!

In My Mailbox! (The big Three Oh!)

2010-05-16T00:32:00.000-04:00

Last week's IMM totally went over my head! Oops. So I'm doing two-weeks worth this time.

The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller
Flight of the Outcast by Brad Strickland
Twice As Hot by Gena Showalter
Shadow Bound by Erin Kellison
And One Last Thing... By Molly Harper
Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs
Nice Girls Don't Live Forever by Molly Harper
Nice Girls Don't Date Dead Men by Molly Harper

Woo! That's all.

-- IMM is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.

Review! Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs

2010-05-13T17:49:00.000-04:00

Forgive My Fins
Tera Lynn Childs
Katherine Tegen Books
June 1, 2010
ISBN-10: 0061914657
ISBN-13: 978-0061914652

Lily Sanderson has a secret, and it's not that she has a huge crush on gorgeous swimming god Brody Bennett, who makes her heart beat flipper-fast. Unrequited love is hard enough when you're a normal teenage girl, but when you're half human, half mermaid, like Lily, there's no such thing as a simple crush.

Lily's mermaid identity is a secret that can't get out, since she's not just any mermaid—she's a Thalassinian princess. When Lily found out three years ago that her mother was actually a human, she finally realized why she didn't feel quite at home in Thalassinia, and she's been living on land and going to Seaview High School ever since, hoping to find where she truly belongs. Sure, land has its problems—like her obnoxious biker-boy neighbor, Quince Fletcher—but it has that one major perk: Brody. The problem is, mermaids aren't really the casual dating type—the instant they "bond," it's for life.

When Lily's attempt to win Brody's love leads to a tsunami-sized case of mistaken identity, she is in for a tidal wave of relationship drama, and she finds out, quick as a tailfin flick, that happily ever after never sails quite as smoothly as you planned.

Lily is just more than just a High School girl. She's a mermaid and to boot, the princess of Thalassinia, the undersea world where all merpeople reside. She's also half-human and because of that, for the past several months she's been living on land and pining after the love of her life: Brody. The thing is, to be able to become the Queen of Thalassinia once her father retires, she has to be bonded to her mermate before her eighteen birthday and that's only weeks ago. So she hatches a plan.. To ask Brody to the Spring Fling dance and there, she would confess her love for him and they'd live happily ever after in Thalassinia.

Only, things don't go as planned. Quince Fletcher, Lily's archenemy and the bane of her existence sticks his head into the whole thing; as he is wont to do just to make Lily miserable, or so she thinks; and before you know it, Lily is smack in the middle of mistaken-identity-drama-inducing trouble!

Forgive My Fins is just what I needed! It's such a lovely, bright and airy story that I just totally devoured it in one day. Lily is a character that will easily make you cheer for her. However, the only thing that really bothered me about her is how hung up she was on Brody. I felt like she was building him up in her mind but soon enough, her image of him was going to go up in flames. Quince absolutely stole my heart! He's described as such a bad boy with his motorcycle and black boots but he's incredibly sweet and adorable and from the beginning, I hoped that Lily would fall for him! Forgive My Fins is a super fun story, hilarious and romantic, I had a blast reading it and I'm definitely going to be reading more of Childs' future books!

Lush Rating: 4.5!

Review! Chimera by Rob Thurman

2010-05-11T18:19:00.000-04:00

Chimera

Rob Thurman

Roc

June 1, 2010

ISBN-10: 0451463420

ISBN-13: 978-0451463425

From Rob Thurman, national bestselling author of the Cal Leandros Novels, comes a sci-fi thriller that questions what makes us human, what makes us unique …

…And what makes us kill.

Ten years ago, Stefan Korsak's younger brother was kidnapped. No one knew who took Lukas, or why. He was simply gone. But not a day has passed that Stefan hasn't thought about him. As a rising figure in the Russian mafia, he has finally found him.

But when he rescues Lukas, he must confront a terrible truth--his brother is no longer his brother. He is a killer. Trained, brainwashed, and genetically transformed into a flesh-and-blood machine with only one purpose--assassination. Now, those who created him…will do anything to reclaim him.

And the closer Stefan grows to his brother, the more he realizes that saving Lukas may be easier than surviving him…

For years, Stefan has been torturing himself about his little brother's kidnapping. He has tried over and over again to find clues as to what happened to Lukas, his brother, and it's not until now that he might actually get a chance to find him. As a bodyguard for a Russian mafia boss, he has quite a number of connections and when one of them contacts him about a possible sighting on his missing brother, Stefan immediately jumps on it.

However, things are not what they seem. As Stefan digs to found more information on where Lukas is, he finds some pretty weird stuff. Apparently, Lukas lives in an institute that looks more as a prison than anything and when Stefan manages to get him out, things only get weirder. Lukas is not his brother, or so he says. He has been trained to be an emotionless assassin for years and those who created him are not about to let him go at all.

As Stefan and Lukas - or Michael, as he insists is his name - go on the run, they grow closer together but what they find out about each other might be more than they bargained for.

Right from the start, I completely fell for Stefan. He is so heartbreakingly awesome because he has not given up on finding his brother even after ten years. And when he does and Lukas doesn't even remember him, he doesn't give up! He is so damn stubborn about him being his brother and what I loved is that while he is a mean bastard, when it comes to his brother, he's a complete softie. Lukas just broke my heart. Since he was younger, he was trained to be an emotionless killer and it was so great to see him experience new things, things that we all take for granted were amazing to him.

Thurman's writing is so refreshing and clear that sometimes I was amazed at how well she could describe a scene as if it was happening right in front of me. Chimera is a kick-ass story about characters that will steal your heart and a plot that will keep it pounding! I really can't say enough good things about this book and I hope there's more to come because I can totally see this series becoming one of my favorites.

Lush Rating: 4.5!

The One-Question Interview Blog Tour: Lauren Baratz-Logsted!

2010-05-09T04:49:00.003-04:00

The lovely Lauren Baratz-Logsted, author of Crazy Beautiful and the up-coming The Education of Bet ( About a 16-year-old girl in Victorian England who impersonates a boy in order to get a proper education. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, July 2010) and The Sisters Eight Book 5: Marcia's Madness (Sandpiper, May 2010) is visiting the Lush today! It's one of the stops of her blog tour so please welcome her as she answer my super important, life-altering question!

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Q: Quick! The zombie apocalypse is coming, tell me one thing - and one thing only! - that you would try to save? ;-) (See? I totally ask the hard questions!)

Lauren: I'm going to assume you really do mean one "thing" and not one "person" - which would be too awful to contemplate! - and go with my half-written work in progress. I can bear to leave behind all the books I've written, plus all other material possessions - I am on the run from zombies, after all! - but I can't possibly leave behind an uncompleted book. How will I ever rest if I don't know how the story ends???

I totally meant one thing! Fabulous answer! Of course, you could also use your WIP to batch the zombies' heads in... What?

What about you guys? What would you try to save? And don't cheat! You can only name ONE thing!

Huge thanks to Lauren for taking the time to answer my silly little question! if you'd like to see her answers to other bloggers' Q's, check out the previous blog tour at Liz Burns's blog and Lauren's next stop at Emily's! And you can also read more info about her books on her site!

Too Much Reading? No way!

2010-05-07T21:17:00.000-04:00

The ratio between my reading and shellin' out reviews is sadly lacking. As in, I have been on a read-a-thon and my pile of books to write reviews about is increasing at a panic-inducing rate.

I never thought I'd say this but.. I need to STOP reading. Until I start on my reviews, TBL will be lackin' in the postage. Has this ever happened to you?! I'm afraid I'm going end up paying somebody to kidnap me and tie me up in front my laptop so I can write my reviews.

In My Mailbox! (29)

2010-05-01T00:23:00.000-04:00

Oh my god, y'all! I squee'ed so much today, it's a little embarrassing but OMG! - Here I go again - LOOK AT MY NEW BOOKS:

Forbidden Highlander by Donna Grant - Falcon! Enough said.
Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews - Which I'm sure you're already aware of. Heh.
Crux by Moira Rogers

Forgive my Fins by Tera Lynn Childs

A Devil in the Details by K.A. Stewart

Nancy's Theory of Style by Grace Coopersmith

And because some authors are flippin' awesome, especially these two! Donna signed my ARC with the sweetest message ever!

Awww.

And Bree (half of Moira Rogers) wrote me the funniest one ever!

Bwhuhaha!

Awesome! These books totally made my week!

-- IMM is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.

Review! The Chief by Monica McCarty

2010-04-30T11:01:00.000-04:00

The Chief
(A Highland Guard Novel, book 1)
Monica McCarty
Ballantine Books
March 23, 2010
ISBN-10: 0345518225
ISBN-13: 978-0345518224

AN ELITE FIGHTING FORCE UNLIKE THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN...

Scouring the darkest corners of the Highlands and Western Isles, Robert the Bruce handpicks ten warriors to help him in his quest to free Scotland from English rule. They are the best of the best, chosen for their superior skills in each discipline of warfare. And to lead his secret Highland Guard, Bruce chooses the greatest warrior of all.

The ultimate Highland warlord and a swordsman without equal, Tor MacLeod has no intention of being drawn into Scotland’s war against the English. Dedicated to his clan, the fiercely independent chief answers to no one—especially not to his alluring new bride, bartered to him in a bid to secure his command of the deadliest fighting force the world has ever seen. The treacherous chit who made her way to Tor’s bed may have won his hand, but she will never claim his heart.

Although her husband’s reputation is as fierce as his manner, Christina Fraser believes that something softer hides beneath his brutal shell. But the only warmth she feels is in their bed, in glorious moments of white-hot desire that disappear with the dawn. When Christina’s reckless bid to win her husband’s love goes awry and thrusts them into danger on the eve of war, Tor will face his ultimate battle: to save his wife and to open his heart—before it’s too late.

Christina Fraser is between a rock and a hard place. That hard place being a certain highlander chief named Tor MacLeod. For most of her life, all she's wanted is to escape her father's temper and run to a nunnery with her sister but she soon finds out her father has other plans for her. She has been bartered in marriage to Tor by Robert the Bruce and her father to get him to agree to train an elite group of highlanders to help free Scotland from English rule. Tor never wanted to get in the middle of this war, he was more than happy keeping to himself in his lands and protecting his people. However, due to extenuating
circumstances, he doesn't have a much of a choice and agrees to marry Christina and to train the most skilled of Highlanders in secret.

Unfortunately, Tor and Christina's marriage is off to a rocky start. He's been burned by women before and is not openly trusting at all. While the chemistry between them is explosive, their relationship outside the bedroom leaves something to be desired but Christina is determined to breach Tor's icy exterior. If their marriage is to survive, then something's got to be done. However, when her plan to do so ends up endangering herself and others, Tor will do anything to save his people and his wife.

The Chief is the first book to a brand-new series and a really great start! The characters are highly entertaining. Tor will make you swoon! Sure, there are moments where he's a super alpha male but that's just what's so fun about the story. He's not one of those overbearing alphas and Christina's more than capable to get him to dial it down a notch even though at times she's really naive. Considering this is the start of a series, I'm highly intrigued about the coming books because some of the other Highlanders in this super-secret group sound really hot! The Chief has got it all: the hot romance, great action scenes and lovely characters and I had a wonderful time reading it.

Lush Rating: 4!

Cue Squee!

2010-04-29T09:25:00.000-04:00

If I'm MIA lately, don't be surprised. I've got this baby in my greedy wee hands and I am in LURVE.

Nom nom nom!

One word: Curran. Be back later!

Review! Hunted by the Others by Jess Haines

2010-04-25T14:16:00.000-04:00

Hunted by The Others

Jess Haines

Zebra

May 4, 2010

ISBN-10: 1420111876

ISBN-13: 978-1420111873

They are the Others--the vampires, mages, and werewolves once thought to exist only in our imaginations. Now they're stepping out of the shadows, and nothing in our world will ever be the same again. . .

In A Town Like This, Being A P.I. Can Be Murder

Shiarra Waynest's detective work was dangerous enough when her client base was strictly mortal. But ailing finances have forced her to accept a lucrative case that could save her firm--if it doesn't kill her first. Shiarra has signed on to work for a high-level mage to recover an ancient artifact owned by one of New York's most powerful vampires.

As soon as Shiarra meets sexy, mesmerizing vamp Alec Royce, she knows her assignment is even more complicated than she thought. With a clandestine anti-Other group trying to recruit her, and magi being eliminated, Shiarra needs back-up and enlists her ex-boyfriend--a werewolf whose non-furry form is disarmingly appealing--and a nerdy mage with surprising talents. But it may not be enough. In a city where the undead roam, magic rules, and even the Others aren't always what they seem, Shiarra has just become the secret weapon in a battle between good and evil--whether she likes it or not. . .

I had been itching to read this story for months now and when I started it, it quickly became apparent that it wasn't going to be exactly what I had expected. The main character, Shiarra, is supposedly a P.I yet honestly, at times she was a down-right moron with the worst case of TSTLitis I've ever seen! To give her some credit, after she made some monumental mistakes, she really kicked herself up for it and admitted that hey, maybe it wasn't such a good idea to taunt the big bad vampire? Oh, lord. And she does make up for it, although it takes her a good chunk of the story to straighten herself up.

On that note, Royce - the big, bad yummylicious vampire - is one of the things that kept me reading the story. I was highly intrigued by this sexy vampire and I really would have liked to have read some of the story from his POV but it's written in Shiarra's POV. Nevertheless, he easily became one of my favorite characters! The other secondary characters - Like Arnold, the nerdy mage whose motive might not be so pure and there's also the ex-boyfriend who is also a werewolf, Chaz, just to mention a few - really added more depth to the plot.

Hunted by the Others is Ms. Haines's first book and as such, I feel it's a pretty good start! What I really liked is that she doesn't throw too much world-building at the reader, just enough to start the series with. And sure, while there were some moments where I just had to roll my eyes at the heroine, the reader can definitely see her transition from clueless P.I. into kickass-take-no-crap heroine and it's a highly entertaining story! With lots of funny moments, plenty of action and a bit of a romance, Hunted by the Others is a fun read and I'm definitely going to be reading the next book in this new series.

Lush Rating: 3.5!

In My Mailbox! (28)

2010-04-24T12:23:00.000-04:00

I've got a few books this week!

Hell, Yeah by Carolyn Brown - This is the second book in her upcoming cowboy series, I'm reading the first one right now!
The Turning by Helen Ellis - Which I already read! Review coming soon..

That's all! What did you get?

-- IMM is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.

Review! Running Scared by Shannon K. Butcher

2010-04-23T19:40:00.000-04:00

Running Scared

(The Sentinel Wars, book 3)

Shannon K. Butcher

Onyx

May 4, 2010

ISBN-10: 0451412907

ISBN-13: 978-0451412904

They are the Sentinels. Three races descended from ancient guardians of mankind, each possessing unique abilities in their battle to protect humanity against their eternal foes: the Synestryn. Now one Sentinel's survival determines the fate of them all.

Lexi Johns has one purpose: to free her best friend from the hands of the Sentinels. And Zach, the Sentinel she has been running from for months, has one goal: to convince her that their destinies are entwined. For the magic that Zach has absorbed could destroy him if he doesn't find the woman who can channel it for him. And he knows Lexi is the one.

From an early age, Lexi has been taught to fear the Sentinels. And now she is an agent of a group out to destroy them. So when Zach finds her, it is Lexi's chance to strike at the heart of the Sentinels. But, as Lexi sees Zach's courage, selflessness, and honor, she begins to doubt her beliefs -- and is faced with an unbearable choice.

Lexi has been running from the Sentinels all her life and when she's marked by Zach, one of them, she immediately goes on the run. But now, she has a plan. She's done running and she wants to rescue her friend, Helen, from those bloodthirsty monsters. To do that, she has to let herself be caught by Zach, the one Sentinel that terrifies her the most because she's being attracted to him ever since they first saw each other months ago. However, her plan is to not only rescue Helen but hurt those guys where it matters by planting a bunch of explosives in their compound and blowing the place to kingdom come.

Yet when Zach finally finds her and takes her back to the heart of the Sentinel world, she slowly founds out that Zach is not the monster out for blood she thought he was but a courageous, honorable being that wants to take care of her. Her decades-old beliefs battle with her new-found knowledge and as both their attraction to each other deepens, Lexi better make a decision fast before it's too late and people start dying.

Running Scared is the third installment of the Sentinel Wars and a really great one at that! We first meet Lexi and Zach in Burning Alive, the first book, and since then, she has been running from him. The one thing that truly annoyed me about Lexi was how damn negative and pigheaded she was. No matter what Zach did to make her understand that he would never hurt her and that he wants to be with her, she's still treats him as a monster and she just can't let go of the beliefs her mother taught her. I can understand having a hard time when all you've even known for years turns out to not be completely true but she just took it too far and it got old real fast.

Zach was an awesome character. He is so patient with Lexi and he practically bends over backwards trying to change her mind about the Sentinels and make her see the truth. While Lexi was being really pigheaded about trusting Zach, she definitely didn't have issues making out with him though! Their chemistry was sizzling and it made for some really hot scenes. No matter that Zach and Lexi were the main characters, Madoc and Nika completely stole the story for me. I am waiting patiently for their story but it's killing me! I'm happy to report though that the next book in this series is called Living Nightmare and it's their story!

I really enjoyed reading Running Scared, even though Lexi annoyed me to no end at times, the plot and the other characters - especially Madoc and Nika! - kept me reading and I cannot wait for the next book in this really fun series.

Lush Rating: 3.5!

Waiting on Wednesday! (15)

2010-04-21T06:50:00.001-04:00

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Nom nom nom

Demon From the Dark

Kresley Cole

A dangerous demon she can't resist...

Malkom Slaine: tormented by his sordid past and racked by vampiric hungers, he's pushed to the brink by the green-eyed beauty under his guard. A maddening witch he aches to claim...

Carrow Graie: hiding her own sorrows, she lives only for the next party or prank. Until she meets a tortured warrior worth saving. Trapped together in a savage prison...

For them to survive, Malkom must unleash both the demon and vampire inside him. When he becomes the nightmare his own people feared, will he lose the woman he craves body and soul?

Cole's IAD series is pretty much my book crack and I am ITCHING to get my paws on the next book, Demon From the Dark. Out in August from Pocket and Oh-EM-GEE! I can't wait!

Review! Dead Matter by Anton Strout

2010-04-20T05:37:00.001-04:00

Dead Matter
Simon Canderous, book 3
Anton Strout
Ace
February 23, 2010
ISBN-10: 0441018440
ISBN-13: 978-0441018444

When the paranormal raises its otherworldy head in New York City, the Department of Extraordinary Affairs executes a flawless, stick-the-landing smackdown. That’s the idea anyway, and Agent Simon Canderous can usually count on help from his mentor, Connor Christos. But Connor’s left Simon to handle a double case load as he cashes in on five years worth of saved vacation time. Simon suspects that Connor isn’t Club Medding so much as Club Deading it up—investigating the disappearance of his long lost brother.

Simon especially needs Connor when the spirit populace of Manhattan is shaken and stirred by someone intruding on their well-deserved R.I.P. But Connor’s relentless ghost whispering has sent him off the deep end; he’s haunted every night by visions of his brother’s ghost at his window. Simon’s partner may be going crazy—or worse, maybe he’s not...

As an agent for the Department of Extraordinary Affairs, Simon Canderous has dealt with his share of crazy, paranormal stuff, like chupacabras and fashion zombies, but none of that has been as important as his latest investigation. When he founds out his partner Connor is trying to found out what happened to his long-lost brother and in the process has gone the deep end, things rapidly become a lot more dangerous than Simon thought. Maybe Connor is not as crazy as they thought. The D.E.A has always had the belief that they beaten the vampires, but when Simon founds himself in the midst of these bloodthirsty beings, what he's always known comes into question and decisions have to be made before people start dying.

Dead Matter's another great addition to the Simon Canderous series, I think Simon has grown up a lot in the previous books and it definitely shows. Sure, he still has his quirky sense of humor that makes for such a fun read but he also thinks about important things like when he wonders about good versus evil and how it reflects the D.E.A and the vampires' war. While I've never been a big fan of Simon's girlfriend, Jane, surprisingly I didn't really hate her character in this book. She seemed to really care about Simon and tried to help him so I couldn't completely hate her.

I read Dead Matter in one sitting, it's an incredibly entertaining story! I definitely didn't see the "bad guy" coming until the very end. This is a very fun, action-packed story with great characters that will keep you on the edge of you seat! I'm so looking forward to the next Simon Canderous book.

Lush Rating: 4!

Quickie Review! Flirting with Forever by Gwyn Cready

2010-04-16T08:59:00.000-04:00

Flirting with Forever

Gwyn Cready

Pocket

March 30, 2010

ISBN-10: 1439107246

ISBN-13: 978-1439107249

Art historian Cam Stratford is about to make a name for herself with her sexy tell-all "fictographies" of 17th century painters, but she's more familiar with her subjects than her readers can imagine. Thanks to a time portal she's discovered, she has caused quite a stir in the Great Beyond. To protect their members' reputations, the Guild representing dead artists convinces playboy Sir Peter Lely, portraitist to Charles II and a man with his own dark secrets, to sabotage Cam's project. A few hours posing on Peter's modeling chaise lead to a night of seductive passion--then Cam returns home and discovers his betrayal. But before she can turn her angry pen on her lover, Peter makes a surprise visit, transforming Cam's 21st century life into chaos of classic proportion.

Flirting with Forever was a bit of a conundrum for me. I haven't read many time travel romances but I really did like the premise. I just thought it was too drawn out at times and this made some parts so boring! But I also loved the interaction with Cam and Peter. They have such great chemistry together! I really did like the story but the pacing killed me. If there hadn't been so much over-descriptions and the pacing was more even, I think Flirting with Forever would be awesome.

I love humor and this book definitely delivers, there are some really funny parts that had me laughing out loud. That along with Cam and Peter's great chemistry was what kept me reading. While the pacing had me sighing and rolling my eyes at times, Flirting with Forever is an amusing story about two people who have been hurt in the past trying to get past that.

Lush Rating: 3!

Review! Xombies: Apocalypticon by Walter Greatshell

2010-04-15T17:46:00.003-04:00

Xombies: Apocalypticon
Walter Greatshell
Ace
February 23, 2010
ISBN-10: 0441018459
ISBN-13: 978-0441018451

XOMBIES: APOCALYPTICON is the continuing saga of the USS No-Name, an Ohio-Class submarine converted to a refugee vessel during the worldwide plague of "Agent X"--a disease that changes women into raving, homicidal Typhoid Marys.

Leading the fight to survive are Dr. Alice Langhorne, whose research helped spawn the plague; Commander Harvey Coombs, Navy captain minus a navy; Sal DeLuca, BMX champ facing the ultimate Xtreme sport; and troubled teenager Lulu Pangloss, who died and was born again.

Facing off against them are mutinous shipmates, yoga-crazed prison convicts, hostile mercenaries...and the all-encompassing threat of the Xombies themselves.

In Xombies: Apocalypticon, we meet a band of stranded humans living in a submarine after civilization was asphyxiated by blue-skinned devils. When Agent X came about, it infected first women then moved on to men and as it quickly spread worldwide, not many survived. At least that's what the people in that 560-foot steel tomb thought until they see a fire burning along an Eastern shore. These survivors, including Sal DeLuca, a boy who lost his dad to Agent X, have barely any food left and are slowly starving to death. To make matters worse, there's some people in the submarine who don't like how it's being commanded and they're about to take matters into their own hands.

Sal and a bunch of other boys are forced to go into land to look for food, no matter that to send a band of unarmed boys is pretty much a suicide mission against the Xombies but they're forced to go. However, they find more than just food but dozens of men who have not only survived but also have found a way to fight the Xombies. At first, it seems to Sal as these men have a pretty sweet life set up but soon enough, he finds there's more to the eye than eating all the junk food he wants and getting trashed, there's a dark underlying current under all the fun and games and Sal and the boys left are about to find out it's not only the Xombies they should worry about.

Xombies: Apocalypticon is the sequel to Xombies: Apocalypse Blues and I must give it credit for originality. While the Xombies in this book kind of remind me of the ones in Dawn of the Dead, they are wicked fast! the way Greatshell writes them is really creative. I'd always said that if the zombie apocalypse comes, I really hope the zombies aren't fast or I would be one of the first ones to die. In the first quarter of this story, I was hooked. The description of the Xombies is so well written that at times I was a bit scared. Yet somehow along the way, and I honestly can't exactly said when or how it happened, this story turned psychotic. It stopped making any sort of sense and the ending was a huge "What the hell was that?" moment for me. I can say that the only thing that kept me reading was morbid curiosity. It was like a horrible car crash, I simply could not look away. So, if Greatshell was looking to hooked the reader in a horrified kind of way, then he's more than succeeded in my case!

While the description was excellent and I was strangely hooked on finding out what was going to happen next, I was left with more questions than answers and honestly, I'm not really interested in reading the next book in this series. I like reading about and watching movies that feature zombies but I'm afraid these Xombies just didn't do it for me.

Lush Rating: 2!

Zombies make the Book Lush a HAPPY GIRL!

2010-04-11T07:04:00.002-04:00

The other night I was on youtube at work (What? I was floating to OB. have you any idea how boring that place can be?!) when I came upon the trailer for Resident Evil: Afterlife and squealed like a little girl. I'm so damn excited to see this movie!

Hey, did you notice how that dude looks a lot like Pyramid Head in Silent Hill? Aka the scariest dude EVER. I can't wait to watch it! Are any of you guys as excited as me?! Also, it seems like the zombies are WAY scarier in this one too! Wheeee!

Okay, I'll stop. By the way, I'm still dealing with my mail thief, hopefully this will be fixed soon and I get my power cord for my poor, lonely laptop.

Review! Where Angels Fear to Tread by Thomas E. Sniegoski

2010-04-10T11:34:00.000-04:00

Where Angels Fear to Tread
(Remy Chandler, book 3)
Thomas E. Sniegoski
Roc Trade
March 2, 2010
ISBN-10: 0451463145
ISBN-13: 978-0451463142

Six-year-old Zoe York has been taken and her mother has come to Remy for help. She shows him crude, childlike drawings that she claims are Zoe's visions of the future, everything leading up to her abduction, and some beyond. Like the picture of a man with wings who would come and save her - a man who is an angel.

Zoe's preternatural gifts have made her a target for those who wish to exploit her power to their own destructive ends. The search will take Remy to dark places he would rather avoid. But to save an innocent, Remy will ally himself with a variety of lesser evils - and his soul may pay the price...

Remy Chandler is an angel-turned-human-turned PI living in Boston and he has a new case to work. A woman just showed up saying that her ex-husband kidnapped her autistic kid and she wants him to find her little girl. At first, Remy thinks it's a pretty glaringly obvious, the two separated and now the guy stole his own kid. However, Remy soon enough finds out that this is no ordinary case or even close to it. Apparently, this little girl can see the future, her drawings are of things that haven't happened yet and she has scary powers that can either create wonderful things or utterly destroy everything and Remy is not the only one looking for her. But for the little girl's sake, and along everyone else in the world, Remy better find her first.

Where Angels Fear to Tread is the third installment in the Remy Chandler series by Sniegoski and the best yet, in my opinion! The characters, down to Remy's dog Marlowe, are so wonderfully thought out and feel so alive that you can't help but want them to be happy, you're invested in what's happening to them in the story. Remy Chandler has easily become one of my favorite characters ever, he's so damn noble and good and he fights for his weak humanity constantly because his angel side is always looking for an opportunity to overcome Remy's humanity and he always has to be careful. The story progresses at a pretty even pace and the plot kept me very entertained. The way Sniegoski worked the Samson and Delilah bible story into the plot was awesome and I really didn't see it coming!

Where Angels Fear to Tread is an exciting fantasy PI story with such compelling characters and a plot that will keep you guessing until the very end. I seriously cannot wait to read the next book in this series!

Lush Rating: 4!

Review! Mad, Bad and Blonde by Cathie Linz

2010-04-07T08:14:00.000-04:00

Mad, Bad and Blonde
Cathie Linz
Berkley
March 2, 2010
ISBN-10: 0425233405
ISBN-13: 978-0425233405

When a man's too good to be true.

Jilted on her wedding day for being the queen of dullsville, librarian Faith West goes on her Italian honeymoon solo, hoping to leave her pain behind. That could take a miracle, but she's about to discover miracles do happen. His name is Caine Hunter. Smart, spontaneous, hot, and sexy, he has her feeling like a real woman for the first time ever until the truth surfaces.

A former Force Recon Marine turned PI, Caine was doing what he does best: spying. And his new target was Faith. But falling for the enemy's daughter was never part of his plan. Caine is a man used to winning, but this time his mission is much more personal -- and now that he and Faith are both back in Chicago, the rewards could be, too.

Being left at the altar will piss any girl off but when it happens to Faith West, she doesn't go home and bury her sorrows in a pint of Ben and Jerry's! Instead she goes to Italy. While flying solo on her honeymoon, she decides to reinvent herself - Now, she's blonde with a new attitude on life. While in Italy, she meets Caine Hunter. He's gorgeous, attracted to her and they're having a wild, hot fling until Faith founds out that he's lied to her. Apparently, he's a former Marine turned PI working for her dad's arch-rival, Vince Kings from Kings investigations. Faith's beyond mad to found out she's being lied to by another man, especially when she founds out Caine was sent by Kings to seduce her to get back to her father but he also has ulterior motives. Caine is investigating his dad's suicide and thinks Faith's dad massively messed up the investigation back then because he's completely sure that his dad would never kill himself.

After Faith comes back to the States, she thinks she's done with the Caine fiasco. Yeah, not so fast. Especially when she quits her librarian job and asks her dad for a position in his PI agency as she actually has her PI license. She's happy with her new direction in life until she starts bumping into Caine everywhere. He is not giving up on finding out what really happened with his dad's case and that just might bring them closer than ever before.

Mad, Bad and Blonde was one of those books that took me a while to get into. The characters seemed a bit robotic at times. Honestly, there wasn't anything memorable about them or the story. It took me a few weeks to actually finish the book and that's because I had no problems setting it aside to read others due to that the story just wasn't grabbing my attention. But I was determined to give this book a chance and I'm actually glad I did. While I feel that there was just too much tell, not enough show and Linz repeats and repeats the same things, like Caine being a Marine. Yes, I know that. Or Faith thinking that just by changing her hair color, it'll magically be able to make her life better. I'm not saying she only rely on her hair color to make her life better, especially after being dumped at the altar, but it did seem to really be part of the equation for her. However, the chemistry between Caine and Faith just comes right off the page and their interaction was great to read. And once I managed to really get into the story, the plot was entertaining. Faith and Caine are both trying to find out what really happened to his dad and they do make a great team. Mad, Bad and Blonde is a quirky story about two people who are trying to make the best of what life dishes out to them and while I did have some problems with the characters, I did finish the book with a happy smile.

Lush Rating: 3!

In My Mailbox! (27)

2010-04-03T15:36:00.001-04:00

I haven't done an IMM in weeks! Mostly 'cause I haven't had any books come in and I've been insanely busy with work and such. But not to fear! I did get books this week, yay!

Shut Up and Kiss Me by Christie Craig
The Chief by Monica McCarty
The Demon in Me by Michelle Rowen
Chimera by Rob Thurman
Red Hot Fury by Kasey Mackenzie
Running Scared by Shannon K. Butcher

I'm sure that if you follow me on Twitter, you've already read my rant about the post office. I lose 2 books this past week and I'm still whining about it. Turns out? Well, someone tried to break into my mailbox and now we can't even open the thing! Yeah, the person messed up the whole locking mechanism so I'm shelled out money for a PO box. And that brings me to another thing: Why are PO boxes so damn expensive?! Gah! And with the PO box came the whole address change business so yeah, right now? So not liking our post office system. Deep breath.

However, I'm really happy that these books came and I'm so excited to read them all!

That's my broken-into poor little mailbox, what's yours?

-- IMM is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren!

I miss you interneeeets!

2010-04-02T12:26:00.000-04:00

Hi, guys!

Quick note - I won't be able to update the blog until possible later this week due to my laptop being on the fritz.

Not me but perfectly describes my frustration.

The battery is long dead and the power cord - I swear to god! - starting throwing off sparks. I almost burned the house down! So I ordered a new cord but I have to wait for it to get to me.

I'll hopefully be back soon!

Happy reading!

Quickie Review! Anastasia's Secret by Susanne Dunlap

2010-03-30T00:00:00.002-04:00

Anastasia's Secret
Susanne Dunlap
Bloomsbury USA Children's Books
March 2, 2010
ISBN-10: 1599904209
ISBN-13: 978-1599904207

The youngest grand duchess in the Russian imperial family comes of age during the revolution. Her family is imprisoned, conditions become worse and worse.

But Anastasia has a secret that she keeps from her family, a love that endures through the horrors of war and the privation of imprisonment and deprivation.

Will her love save her from the fate her family seems destined for? Or is she a creation of a rarefied atmosphere, unable to survive without her loved ones?

As most of you know by now, I'm normally not a reader of historical fiction but when I first heard about Anastasia's Secret, it sounded like such a lovely story that I couldn't pass it up. It's a story about a girl coming of age and finding love in the most difficult times. Anastasia's the Russian's Tsar's youngest daughter and she has grown up in privilege with the best of everything around her so when she meets Sasha, a soldier, who doesn't treat her like royalty, to her, this is a wonderful thing. Anastasia's character was a surprise to me, I thought she was going to be a spoiled little princess but she's surprisingly down to Earth and knows what's going on around her.

The plot is in no way fast-paced but Dunlap's writing is so fresh and the interaction between Sasha and Anastasia's so intriguing that the slow pace doesn't subtract much from the story. Something that I really liked was the details, Dunlap practically transports the reader to that Russian era in her descriptions. Admittedly, I was a bit confused on the names, Dunlap has a list of the characters at the beginning but having to go to the list to know who they were talking about soon got real old. Fortunately, as the story progresses, it's easier to remember all the names and such.

Anastasia's Secret is a tragic tale of war and love. Dunlap keeps her story pretty close to what happened to the Romanov family in real life - as far as I know, anyway - and while I can appreciate her trying to keep the originality, I sort of wish she would have gone with a different, happier ending.

Lush Rating: 3!

Happy Birthday, Mandi!

2010-03-29T01:00:00.000-04:00

Today is Mandi's - aka Smexy Books aka Brandon Flower's secret lover - birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

I just wanted a reason to post that picture. HOT damn..

Go crazy with the cake and the hot boys!