The Demon Lover

The Demon Lover by Carol Goodman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book was AWESOME!


Sookie Stackhouse, move your skinny white butt over, 'cause it's Callie time!


Meet Cailleach McFay (pronounced Kay-lex) or Callie for short. Callie is an assistant English professor, who while on a trip to interview for a position at Fairwick University in upstate New York, falls in love with an old Victorian house and buys it!

Forget that Callie wasn't going to take the job.

Forget that she has a boyfriend on the west coast that she had plans to buy a bigger apartment with in the city.

Forget it! Honeysuckle House is a callin'! It's airing itself out, and dusting for her. It's might at well be baking brownies for its own open house. The house WANTS her.

After the purchase of HH, or as I like to think of it H2, the plot starts spinning, and it doesn't stop!

Callie has naughty dreams of a shadow man made of moonlight.




She's had the dreams since she was a kid, but they were different. No sexy time. He was her Fairytale Prince, but now he's MUCH more! You know, like A LOT MORE!





Oh, there's so much more happening! The characters are rich and vibrant. The staff at Fairwick are odd, so much so that we start to wonder what could be going on. Fairies? Vampires? Witches?





But all is not as it seems, but who cares! I was hooked!




Maybe I was hooked because unlike Charline Harris' books, there's way more sex. I admit it, I enjoyed the adult aspect of the book. That's code for, Wooo HOOO!




As in any good romance, I feel in love with Callie's main squeeze, but he's not what he claims to be.




Which is where I leave you, the reader.

Goodman does it right. I adored this book. The characters were fantastic, it wasn't predictable, the sex was H-O double T, HOT, and Callie has backbone. If you're looking for a fresh, adult paranormal romance mystery, this is for you.




A big thanks to Goodman who gave several shout-outs to Sookie, and a double thank you for giving us Callie.



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City of Ashes

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I was trying to figure out what it is about Clary that bugs me, and then, half way through City of Glass, it came to me! Wait for it...

Clary is an over-sharer. Unlike a lot of protagonists in mystery/suspense novels, Clary doesn't keep it all locked up. You know that type of hero I'm talking about; they play it so close to the sleeve that by the time we reach the climax, the only people who the bad guy is, is our hero and her houseplant/cat. Then it's up to our antisocial hero with intimacy issues to work it out herself.

Not so with Clary. No, Clary likes to tell characters she met five minutes ago her business. Sigh. So dumb. Why doesn't she just give them her social security card and her debit pin while she's at it?


Oh, and could Valentine be more cliche? I doubt it. I know that Jace makes fun that the only thing missing from Valentine is and evil laugh while stroking his mustache, but yeah, that's the point--he's totes cliche, ya'll.

Alrighty. I might have to take a break from this series after book three. I grow bored.






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Through the Ever Night

Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


So good! It's a shame it's done so quickly. Rossi is such a gifted writer. This dystopian novel has such heart. Savage and Dweller make for a compelling contrast. Rossi is at her best as both Aria and Perrigine work to do what's right in the face of social opposition.

There's so much in this novel that works. Rossi ingeniously weaves her themes of tolerance, and the battle between the nature and technology through symbolism, and a crafty plot. There's way more going on here than a romantic YA novel.



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Warning, slow ahead

Talking to the Dead by Harry Bingham

My rating: 2 of 5 stars




Talking to the Dead is such a boring and slow book, that reviewing it is boring. I actually feel badly for anyone reading this, for surely they must be bored.

Fiona Griffiths is a "copper" in Wales. Yup. You read that right. A COPPER. Every time copper appeared in the text I heard, "YEAH SEE! CAN'T CATCH ME NOW COPPER!"

Side note:

Apparently Wales doesn't do a whole lot of psychological profiling before hiring detectives because Fiona!

Fiona has issues, some of which involve talking to the dead and having boring conversations with them. She does happen to stick her finger in a skull cavity, but that lasted two paragraphs, then I was bored again. Also, I was disturbed, but hey, it's Fi, folks! She sticks her fingers in skulls out of love.

Back to the book:


Yes, there is a mystery that involves a couple of murdered prostitutes and a little girl, but the real mystery is what the hell is wrong with Fiona?

As a bored reader, I was rewarded with a diagnosis/label for her utterly morbid behavior, but by the time I got to the ta-da moment, I was just happy to have completed the book.

Why did I give this book two stars rather than one? Well, Fi is so bizarre and has such an honest voice, she kept me coming back. Without her, I would have simply given up. Still, it just wasn't enough.

Your friend Alisha says, "Yawn".



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Keye Street is the Coolest!

Stranger in the Room: A Novel by Amanda Kyle Williams

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Hey you guys! I have a fantastic book for you. Stranger in the Room is an exciting thriller that is fast paced, funny, and just smart. I knew nothing about it prior to obtaining my ARC, so I was beyond thrilled when I found myself in the midst of a new girl crush named Keye Street.

Reasons I love Amanda Kyle Williams' Keye Street:

1. Chinese American recovering alcoholic with a southern accent, white parents and a gay, African American brother.

Did you get all that? Yeah. That's right, this ain't your typical blonde, blue-eyed, big busted detective novel. Do not misunderstand me. I am fine with hot, white characters, but let's be honest, shall we. Hot and white is not only cliche, but unrealistic given the diverse world we actually inhabit.

2. Street's taste in guys does not involve a complicated douche bag who is always saving her at every turn.

Believe it or not, Rauser actually trusts Keye and respects her abilities. And, this is important: Rauser is good looking, but he's not so good looking that he couldn't kinda, maybe, sorta exist on this plane. You know, Earth?

"You want some breakfast? I'm going to have some Shredded Wheat."
"No, I'd rather eat a bale of pine straw. But I guess you have to think of fiber at your age."
He grinned at me, pointed a finger. "You better be nice to me, Street. I'm probably the guy that's going to go through menopause with you. And we all know that ain't gonna be pretty."

Sigh. L'Amour.

3. Badassery (is that a word?)

Definition: behavior resulting is brave, but smart decisions that reflect positively on a character or person. Being a total and complete badass that Alisha loves.

Keye can handle Keye.

Keye is not stupid. She does not get so close to the bad guys that she is always in danger of being beaten or raped. I hate those novels. I mean, how stupid. No, Keye enjoys backup, and she has a healthy sense of fear. In other words, she's normal.

4. Best name for a cat EVER.

White Trash. Nuff said.



Beyond Stranger in the Room being simply awesome, it is also lovingly written. There are passages in the book that I connected with that brought me closer to Keye.

In explaining her mother, Keye describes her childhood thusly:

"Our mother, a child of the Albermarle Sound and pulsing marshes and tundra swans and striped bass, had searched for and found the secluded marshes and private seascapes in her city life. And because we had been witness to this delicate beauty in her humanity, it was all the more confusing when her touch turned arctic and her tongue caustic.

A real mom, guys! With flaws and everything!



Professional Alisha says: Williams takes her time with this novel, building characters, and a unpredictable, suspenseful plot.

Alisha, your buddy says: Oh, that bad guy is incredibly creepy too. You'll love it!










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Quarantine

Quarantine by John Smolens

My rating: 3 of 5 stars




Quarantine by John Smolens is set in Newportbury, Massachusetts in June of 1779 on the eve of a Malaria outbreak. The fever sweeps through the small fishing town both literally and figuratively.

Dr. Giles Wiggins and Leander Hatch bravely risk them own lives as they strive to see their families, neighbors, and town through the summer of 1779.

The plot behind Quarantine is both interesting and rich in in detail.

The trouble lies with Wiggin's mother, Miranda, whose namesake ship is quarantined under a yellow flag and as the distinct honor of bringing the town to its knees. Smolens keenly weaves the real Miranda with her yellow flagged counterpart. Miranda only leaves death in her wake.


Sitting at Miranda's right hand is her sleazy grandson, Samuel who has recently dethroned his less sleazy father, Enoch. Samuel bribed his way off the Miranda and once ashore, commences to scam and swindle.

The deck appears stacked against the good doctor Wiggins, who just so happens to be Miranda's youngest son and Enoch's half brother. Giles super power seems to be intuition. Like the fever, Giles understands his mother better than any other character.

In a discussion with his mother, Giles describes Miranda thusly:

"Mother, you can be hot and cold, ruthlessly arbitrary, much like this..."
Involuntarily she stepped back from his cot. "Like this fever? Perhaps, you have a better chance of understanding this disease than your own mother."


As if things weren't bad enough in the town of Newportbury, we have crazy Christians to deal with, corrupt law men, and mob mentality to boot.

The novel suffers from some slow pacing in the middle of the book, but readers can look forward to a swift pace as the novel makes its way towards to finish lines.

ARC provided by Pegasus in association with Netgalley.com

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Something Red

Something Red by Douglas Nicholas

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The perfect book for fall! Lovers of mystery, thrillers, and the unknown unite! There's something in the woods and it's hungry.


Something Red centers around a troupe traveling the snowy Pennine mountains of England in the 13th century when they encounter a pervasive sense that something evil is hunting for its meat, and has its unholy eye on their troupe. What inhabits the woods and how to avoid it is the central problem for Molly, Jack, her lover, Nemain, her granddaughter, and our young Hob.

Something Red is told from Hob's point of view in third person limited. This choice lends to further mystery. Hob knows little about his mistress, but he cares for her deeply and understands she is well respected. She is clearly more that an Irish troupe leader and a kind of medicine woman, but what we learn is based on Hob's understanding of his dire situation. Hob is a sweet, hard working boy, with a sensitively to the thing that stalks them through the woods, but he is still a young man, and hard work makes Hob sleepy. When things go bump in the night, Hob willfully dismisses his fears and trundles back to sleep like a good lad.

The mood of this thriller is perfect for the fall as the weather begins to turn. There are four distinct setting in the novel and each so perfectly rendered to the reader that we can't help but feel closed in by the forest, or smell the fresh rushes strewn on the castle floor. Nicholas masterfully recreates 13th century life if a way that is as believable as it is beautiful.

Nicholas has created a book to love that is simply magical.


ARC provided by Simon & Schuster in association with Netgalley.com

A great thanks to Mr. Nicholas who suffered my complaints with grace and lent me courage to wade through the formatting issues that plagued the earlier e-galleys



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