REVIEW: Awakening by Scarlett Valentine

Title: Awakening
Author: Scarlett Valentine
Publisher: Tirgearr Publishing
Publication Date: October, 2011
Genre: Erotica
Rating: 7/10

Description: Ysbail of Ellesmere is a pawn in her guardian's war. For decades there has been unrest between the marcher lords and Owain Gwynedd ap Gruffydd, King of Gwynedd. The most recent war had been the bloodiest she could remember in her eighteen years. Madog ap Maredudd, Prince of Powys, and his allies lost untold numbers of men at the hands of Owain's soldiers. When a settlement of truce is presented to Madog, it's at Ysbail's expense. She is to marry Bedwyr ap Owain, one of King Owain’s bastard sons, and his most notorious henchman. If all the rumors and stories she's heard are true, she knows her marriage will be rife with horror and fear.

Since proving himself worthy with his sword, Bedwyr fights at his king's side. He's shed oceans of blood and sent untold numbers of men to their graves. He's become what his name foretold—the grave-knower. He's afraid of nothing, least of all death. All men fear him, including those who fight at his side, and sometimes even his own king. Terror of him lives within women's hearts; only the bravest of whores accept him into their beds. And children weave their own tales of the monster they hear him to be, embellishing the details to their own gruesome degrees.

When King Owain informs Bedwyr that he's to marry Ysbail of Ellesmere as part of a peace settlement with Madog, Bedwyr is furious. A man such as Bedwyr can only survive on the battlefield. For without love, hatred will send a man like him to the edge of insanity. Then push him over. But when Bedwyr sees Ysbail for the first time, blood-thirst turns to blood-lust, and he vows to show her that she should have no fear of him.

My Thoughts: I’ve never really been a fan of the erotica genre, but historical romance was my first favorite genre. Even if you aren’t a fan of erotica romance or have never read the genre before, Awakening by Scarlett Valentine is a good place to start. In 12th century Wales, women are viewed as nothing more than property and vessels to birth heirs. If women even survive the childbirth process, they have no rights, no voice. Our heroine, Ysbail, knows this and knows she has no choice when she is given in marriage to Bedwyr, one of the King’s bastard sons, who has a reputation as a blood-thirsty warrior. Most people are afraid of him. I didn’t get the sense that Ysbail was afraid of him, however. My first impression of her was that she can be quite defiant and stubborn in her own right. She proves this when she has to deal with some trouble makers while Bedwyr is away. She possesses inner strength and determination that will serve her well in the surroundings she has been forced to live.

The rumors about Bedwyr are all absolutely true. From childhood, he has been groomed to fight and kill in a kill or be killed environment. He has learned to stifle emotions like mercy, compassion and love and live without them. There is no place for them on the battlefield. When he is told that he is to marry, obviously he isn’t happy but acquiring property as part of the arrangement sweetens the deal and he agrees. Bedwyr is no fool and he realizes how fortunate he is when he meets Ysbail for the first time and experiences a fiercely strong desire and sexual hunger for her.

The story begins after the wedding and the wedding night has commenced. A fortnight has passed and Bedwyr and Ysbail have arrived at their new home and Bedwyr wants to introduce his new bride to the sensual side of marriage. Ysbail is a quick learner, though at first, I thought she would resist. The bedroom scenes are very intimate and explicit without being overly graphic or obscene.

Awakening delivers a good story outside of the bedchamber as well as inside. Strong characters and coherent dialogue make the story flow so smoothly that I found myself surprised when it was over. If you are looking for something a little different than your usual reading choices, give Awakening a try.

REVIEW: Fantasy In Death by J.D. Robb

Title: Fantasy in Death (In Death #30)
Author: J.D. Robb
Publisher: Putnam
Publication Date: February, 2010
Genre: Mystery / Thriller
Rating: 10/10

Description: In the latest novel from #1 New York Times-bestselling author J.D. Robb, it is game over for the criminals pursued by NYPSD Lieutenant Eve Dallas.

Bart Minnock, founder of the computer-gaming giant U-Play, enters his private playroom, and eagerly can't wait to lose himself in an imaginary world, to play the role of a sword-wielding warrior king, in his company's latest top-secret project, Fantastical.

The next morning, he is found in the same locked room, in a pool of blood, his head separated from his body. It is the most puzzling case Eve Dallas has ever faced, and it is not a game. . . .

NYPSD Lieutenant Eve Dallas is having as much trouble figuring out how Bart Minnock was murdered as who did the murdering. The victim's girlfriend seems sincerely grief-stricken, and his quirky-but-brilliant partners at U-Play appear equally shocked. No one seemed to have a problem with the enthusiastic, high-spirited millionaire. Of course, success can attract jealousy, and gaming, like any business, has its fierce rivalries and dirty tricks-as Eve's husband, Roarke, one of U- Play's competitors, knows well. But Minnock was not naive, and quite capable of fighting back in the real world as well as the virtual one.

Eve and her team are about to enter the next level of police work, in a world where fantasy is the ultimate seduction and the price of defeat is death. . . .

My Thoughts: Welcome back to the world of Eve Dallas where she operates at a level most of us can only dream about. With this installment, J.D. Robb takes virtual reality to a whole new level as Eve and her team have to solve a murder where trying to figure out how the victim was actually murdered when there appears to be no plausible explanation proves to be quite challenging. From the outside looking in, this case appears to be unsolvable. I enjoy how Eve Dallas’s mind works and this book is no exception as she analyzes every detail with a fine-tooth comb looking for the slightest hair out of place.

Sadly, there wasn’t enough sparring with Somerset in this book. I have come to enjoy their snark sessions as much as they do and wish there had been more.

One of my favorite things about this series is seeing how the characters have evolved. Early on, I wondered if Eve had a compassionate bone in her body. Oh, sure, she feels passion, anger, satisfaction, and even fear throughout the series, but this is a character that plays her hand very close to her chest. You have no idea what cards she is holding until it’s time to draw. Eve surprises me throughout the series with the range of emotions she displays and the control she exerts on herself to hold herself to her high standards. This book brings us another surprise when the reader is given another glimpse into Eve’s soul and how she has to remain detached from people in order to do her job. To someone who doesn’t know her very well, she may come across as cold and unfeeling. And sometimes to some who do know her well, they make the same assumption about her too.

With every book I wonder where J.D. Robb can take this series to next. There are no limitations. On planet or off, virtual or reality, this series takes the reader to unbelievable heights and depths and we are left to wonder, what next? One thing is for certain, with this series, no matter what happens next, it will be amazing and I am looking forward to my next Eve Dallas excursion.

REVIEW: Seattle Girl by Lucy Kevin

Title: Seattle Girl (A young adult romance about love, sex...and my really big mouth)
Author: Lucy Kevin
Publisher: Lucy Kevin
Publication Date: January, 2011
Genre: Chick-Lit
Rating: 8/10

Description: The first time Georgia Fulton gets behind a microphone at her college radio station (because of a guy, of course...), she's hooked. (Who would have thought she'd ever find a potential job where a boss would appreciate her big mouth?) But being a smart-mouth doesn't necessarily keep her from getting hurt by one (smoking hot) jerk after another.

With help from her friends - and loyal listeners - will Georgia finally figure out the real deal about guys, sex, love...and maybe even herself?

My Thoughts: At first glance, Georgia Fulton is your typical college student. Nothing about her really stands out. One night at a frat party, she meets a guy named Bill after he spills his beer all over her. They begin talking and he invites her to join him on his talk radio show. Now Georgia feels like she has a purpose, a sense of direction for her life. However, this book isn’t about her struggle to succeed in the talk radio industry though the story centers around it. It is more about Georgia’s experiences with trying to find true love (like the rest of us) and the losers she encounters along the way.

I enjoyed observing Georgia’s attempts to find the one and there are many. What I enjoyed the most about this book is how she took her experiences and used them on her radio show, Seattle Girl. I also enjoyed Georgia’s direct snarky sarcasm and humor. Some of the disasters of relationships she experiences can cause most of us to give up and stay single, but Georgia doesn’t let it stop her.

My only problem with this book was the editing errors. Entire words were missing from sentences and though it didn’t ruin the story for me, it pulled me out of the story enough to try to decipher what word is missing. Next to reading an awful story, being interrupted from a story I am enjoying for a lame reason is highly annoying.

Overall, this story is quite good, filled with characters you can easily relate to and care for. I recommend this story if you are looking for something a little bit different, a romance that isn’t filled with face burning graphic sex scenes and a fairly strong character who knows what she wants and isn’t willing to settle until she finds it.

New Additions To The TBR Pile In January

2012 is off and running and here we are approaching the end of January already. Yes, it's that time of year when Valentine's Day is looming around the corner and everywhere you look in the stores, you see it. {insert eye roll here} Don't even get me started on the fact I was in J.C. Penney the other day looking at jeans and I noticed they have bikinis out right next to the winter coats...makes me want to just crawl into a book and read until the insanity goes away. Here are the titles I acquired in January that will hopefully take my mind off how fast time flies and how I so DO NOT need to see bikinis going on sale in January...

Married With Zombies by Jesse Petersen

Description: A heartwarming tale of terror in the middle of the zombie apocalypse.

Meet Sarah and David.

Once upon a time they met and fell in love. But now they're on the verge of divorce and going to couples' counseling. On a routine trip to their counselor, they notice a few odd things - the lack of cars on the highway, the missing security guard, and the fact that their counselor, Dr. Kelly, is ripping out her previous client's throat.

Meet the Zombies.

Now, Sarah and David are fighting for survival in the middle of the zombie apocalypse. But, just because there are zombies, doesn't mean your other problems go away. If the zombies don't eat their brains, they might just kill each other.

Fantasy In Death by J.D. Robb

Description:In the latest novel from #1 New York Times-bestselling author J.D. Robb, it is game over for the criminals pursued by NYPSD Lieutenant Eve Dallas.

Bart Minnock, founder of the computer-gaming giant U-Play, enters his private playroom, and eagerly can't wait to lose himself in an imaginary world, to play the role of a sword-wielding warrior king, in his company's latest top-secret project, Fantastical.

The next morning, he is found in the same locked room, in a pool of blood, his head separated from his body. It is the most puzzling case Eve Dallas has ever faced, and it is not a game. . . .

NYPSD Lieutenant Eve Dallas is having as much trouble figuring out how Bart Minnock was murdered as who did the murdering. The victim's girlfriend seems sincerely grief-stricken, and his quirky-but-brilliant partners at U-Play appear equally shocked. No one seemed to have a prob­lem with the enthusiastic, high-spirited millionaire. Of course, success can attract jealousy, and gaming, like any business, has its fierce rivalries and dirty tricks-as Eve's husband, Roarke, one of U- Play's competitors, knows well. But Minnock was not naive, and quite capable of fighting back in the real world as well as the virtual one.

Eve and her team are about to enter the next level of police work, in a world where fantasy is the ultimate seduction-and the price of defeat is death. . . .

Seattle Girl by Lucy Kevin

Description: The first time Georgia Fulton gets behind a microphone at her college radio station (because of a guy, of course...), she's hooked. Who would have thought she'd ever find a potential job where a boss would appreciate her big mouth? But being a smart-mouth doesn't necessarily keep her from getting hurt by one (smoking hot) jerk after another. With help from her friends - and loyal listeners - will Georgia finally figure out the real deal about guys, sex, love...and maybe even herself?

REVIEW: Married With Zombies by Jesse Petersen

Title: Married With Zombies (Living With the Dead #1)
Author: Jesse Petersen
Publisher: Orbit
Publication Date: September, 2010
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Rating: 10/10

Description: A heartwarming tale of terror in the middle of the zombie apocalypse.

Meet Sarah and David.

Once upon a time they met and fell in love. But now they're on the verge of divorce and going to couples' counseling. On a routine trip to their counselor, they notice a few odd things - the lack of cars on the highway, the missing security guard, and the fact that their counselor, Dr. Kelly, is ripping out her previous client's throat.

Meet the Zombies.

Now, Sarah and David are fighting for survival in the middle of the zombie apocalypse. But, just because there are zombies, doesn't mean your other problems go away. If the zombies don't eat their brains, they might just kill each other.

My Thoughts: This book was a complete riot. I am more a fan of the vampire genre than zombies, but I could not put this book down. Sarah and David appear to be your normal everyday average married couple struggling to keep their marriage alive with divorce looming on the horizon. As with a lot of couples working on their relationship, they are in counseling. The book begins with Sarah and David on their way to a counseling appointment and arguing. From there, the book ceases to be normal on any level and instead takes the reader into an all-out zombie infestation…starting with their annoying, prissy therapist.

Sarah and David have to keep their wits together and learn how to fight the zombies instead of each other if they have any hope of staying alive. One of the things I loved best about this story is that no matter how unrealistic the chances of a zombie apocalypse happening are, the author does a fantastic job of portraying Sarah and David as very realistic. Do they fall into each other’s arms, profess their undying love and apologies for hurting each other at the end of the book? No way…but they do realize what is important and it’s the promise of tomorrow and working together today to get there.

Sadly, a lot of people in the book die, mostly zombies and interestingly, taking out zombies seem to come quite naturally to Sarah and David. They quickly realize that in order to survive, they need to get out of Seattle where they are living and find David’s sister and eventually Sarah’s father. Along the way, they meet some interesting and strange characters and I laughed myself silly at the image of 90+ year old female zombies sitting at slot machines in one casino they stop at.

This is the first book in the author’s Living with the Dead series and is followed by Flip This Zombie. I am not sure if I will like the rest of the series as much as I love this book, but I’m hoping so and looking forward to what Sarah and David face next.

REVIEW: Still Life by Joy Fielding

Title: Still Life
Author: Joy Fielding
Publisher: Atria
Publication Date: March, 2009
Genre: Suspense / Thriller
Rating: 9/10

Description: Beautiful, happily married, and the owner of a successful interior design business, Casey Marshall couldn't be more content with her life, until a car slams into her at almost fifty miles an hour, breaking nearly every bone in her body and plunging her into a coma. Lying in her hospital bed, Casey realizes that although she is unable to see or communicate, she can hear everything. She quickly discovers that her friends aren't necessarily the people she thought them to be - and that her accident might not have been an accident at all. As she struggles to break free from her living death, she begins to wonder if what lies ahead could be even worse.

My Thoughts: Joy Fielding is no stranger to the suspense genre as any fan of her books can attest. I know that when I want nail-biting suspense, a Joy Fielding book is a good choice and Still Life delivers. Our heroine, Casey Marshall has a good life. Married to the man of her dreams, a good career, good friends and financially well-off, she has what most of us can only wish for. Unfortunately, her perfect life changes in a split-second when she is run down by a hit and run driver.

This story takes a sinister turn when Casey discovers she can hear what is being said in the presence of her comatose body. She learns that the accident may not have been an accident and she has placed her trust in the wrong person who now wants her dead. Though her body is in a coma, her mind is alert trying to figure out who tried to kill her. How frightening is that? Physically helpless and unable to defend yourself, but able to hear the killer planning to finish the job, I felt sorry for Casey and just as helpless as she did.

For the most part, this story moves along building on the spine-tingling suspense. I could relate very well to what Casey was going through and could feel her frustration and anxiety. The characters in this book come through very clearly. Joy Fielding does an excellent job of describing the scene from Casey’s perspective so I got a real sense of what it was like for Casey.

My only problem with this book was Casey’s reminiscing about her childhood and her parents and the excessive number of nannies Casey and her sister had growing up. It didn’t ruin the story for me, but I found myself getting impatient for Casey to return to the present and work on getting herself out of the coma.

Fans of suspense novels and fans of Joy Fielding will enjoy this offering. It gave me a reminder of how fragile we truly are and how brutally honest people can be when they don’t know you can hear them, which can be quite disturbing.

REVIEW: The Survivor by Sean Slater

Title: The Survivor
Author: Sean Slater
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: March, 2011
Genre: Thriller
Rating: 10/10

Description: Columbine. Dunblane. Virginia Tech. Winnenden. But Saint Patrick's High?

In his first hour back from a six-month leave of absence, Detective Jacob Striker's day quickly turns into a nightmare. He is barely on scene five minutes at his daughter's high school when he encounters an Active Shooter situation. Three men wearing hockey masks - Black, White, and Red - have stormed the school with firearms and are killing indiscriminately.

Striker takes immediate action. Within minutes, two of the gunmen are dead and Striker is close to ending the violence.

But the last gunman, Red Mask, does something unexpected. He runs up to his fallen comrade, racks the shotgun, and unloads five rounds into the man, obliterating his face and hands. Before Striker can react, Red Mask flees - and escapes.

Against the clock, Striker investigates the killings for which there is no known motive and no known suspect. Soon his investigation takes him to darker places, and he realizes that everything at Saint Patrick's High is not as it appears. The closer he gets to the truth, the more dangerous his world becomes. Until Striker himself is in the line of fire.

And the violence follows him home.

My Thoughts: What begins as a typical run of the mill school shooting quickly escalates into much more. As a reader, I normally do not like a bunch of plot twists and sub-plots that sometimes cloud the main story. Fortunately, this worked for me in this story. As a society, we have seen more news about violence that it is easy to become desensitized to the horror of it. Had this book been about just a school shooting and the subsequent investigation, I probably would have given up on it. In this story, the school shooting is more an initiator of a bigger story.

This book is full of complex and interesting characters, each bringing a unique position to the story. Jacob Striker is a character carrying a lot of baggage already. When we first meet him, we see a police detective who is returning to duty after an extended leave of absence dealing with an incompetent supervisor, a man who is trying to cope with the death of his wife and a father who is struggling to connect with a teenage daughter who is angry and blames him for the death of her mother. He already has a full plate before the story even begins. When I thought he could take no more and would crack under the pressure, he continued to surprise me with his diligent and persistent investigation tactics.

The villain of this story, Red Mask, isn’t your typical bad guy, either. At first, I thought he was just a psychotic angry man who takes out his twisted feelings on innocent children. The author does a fabulous job of giving us a first person look into the mind of Red Mask, to see what he sees and relive what he’s lived through in his life to make him the cold-blooded killer he has become. Not to excuse or justify his actions, but to give the reader a better sense of the path he has walked that has led him to the shooting. Red Mask is a formidable adversary, almost robotic in his thinking. I found myself comparing him to The Terminator as I was reading and the scene from The Terminator when Kyle tells Sarah Connor that he will never stop until she is dead.

The author does an amazing job of peeling back the layers of the story, drawing me in with the suspense and high adrenaline-charged scenes without bogging me down in the technical and police procedural details. Surprisingly, this is the author’s debut novel. With writing like this, I can only hope we will be seeing more of Detective Jacob Striker.

REVIEW: The Shack by William P. Young

Title: The Shack
Author: William P. Young
Publisher: Windblown Media
Publication Date: May, 2007
Genre: Christian Fiction
Rating: 10/10

Description: Mackenzie Allen Philips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation, and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his "Great Sadness," Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever.

My Thoughts: I began reading this book quite reluctantly, to be honest. I am a Christian, but am not religious. Religion depresses me and I was reluctant to read this because I did not want to read something that would, I thought, rub my nose in the fact that I’m not living my life according to someone else’s idea or perception of how a good Christian should live. I couldn’t have been more wrong!

This story was simply amazing. I think we can all relate to Mack and the “Great Sadness” he is carrying. Though life is full of special and happy events, we all carry within us pain and sorrow from those times when we have been hurt or suffered great loss. Sometimes our pain is so great, we wrap it around ourselves so tightly that we cannot see beyond it. Sometimes we are so angry at what has happened to us that we blame God or others for our pain. We are Mack.

Mack receives a letter from “Papa” four years after his youngest daughter was abducted and likely murdered. His wife refers to God as Papa and I loved that reference. If we are to have a relationship with our Heavenly Father, then why not have one from the heart and make it personal? Calling God “Papa” made me smile and it opens the door for Mack. When he receives the letter, he is very skeptical and cynical about the sender of the note. His friend, Willie, even suggests that the note could be from Missy’s killer, trying to lure Mack there for evil purposes.

Mack goes to the shack both hoping and dreading that God will actually be there. What awaits him is truly amazing. This book made me laugh as the author shows us that God has a wonderful sense of humor. This book made me cry as the author gives us a front row seat into Mack’s heart and his pain, which in turn gave me a front row seat into my own. This book energized me as I read as it struck a chord with me how easy and simple it is to have a relationship with Papa, how I have been struggling in my life needlessly for so long and how liberating it felt to realize this.

This book isn’t about converting anyone to Christianity or trying to guilt you into going to church or rub your nose in what you may or may not be doing in your life. This book is about love, both God’s love for us, his children, and our love for Him and for each other. It amazes me that something so basic and simple comes so hard to us and is so difficult to embrace. After reading this book, it has gotten a lot easier for me to do it. I invite you to take the journey with me and experience the joy of love.

2011 In Review

Another year has come and gone and the best part of the reading year is upon me as I get to look back and evaluate what I read and how my stats measured up. Once again, 2011 found me reading less than I did in 2010. I read 45 books and gave up on 9. Though I did not meet my reading goal, on the upside, I gave up on less books in 2011.

2011 also brought some changes in my reading tastes. Chick-Lit dropped by more than half from 2010 which surprised me quite a bit as it is one of my favorite genres. Cozy mysteries also dropped by more than half and mysteries/suspense/thrillers also dropped. Paranormal romance was up in 2011 by half while the young adult quadrupled and other fiction remained the same. The urban fantasy title could be considered paranormal romance or science fiction too, so again a lot of books cross genre lines and it isn’t always clear which genre some books fall under. Here's how 2011 stacked up:

Chick-Lit: 8
Contemporary Romance: 3
Cozy Mystery: 5
Mystery / Suspense / Thriller: 11
Paranormal Romance: 12
Young Adult: 12
Other Fiction / Literature: 2
Urban Fantasy: 1

A big shout out to the authors who were new to me and the authors that made multiple appearances in my reading year:

New To Me Authors In 2011
Theresa Alan
Amanda Ashby
P.C. Cast
Johanna Edwards
Valerie Frankel
Leslie Langtry
Mari Mancusi
Wendy Markham
Rhonda Pollero
Michelle Rowen
Kathryn Stockett

Authors Read Multiple Times In 2011
Janet Evanovich
Jeaniene Frost
Julie Kenner
Sherrilyn Kenyon
Victoria Laurie
J.D. Robb
Karen Rose
J.K. Rowling

My selections for the best reads of 2011 in the order they were read are:
Deeper Than The Dead by Tami Hoag
First Drop Of Crimson by Jeaniene Frost
Your Big Break by Johanna Edwards
Have You Seen Her? By Karen Rose
Death Perception by Victoria Laurie
Slightly Single by Wendy Markham
At Grave’s End by Jeaniene Frost
The Postcard Killers by James Patterson
I’m Watching You by Karen Rose
Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Nothing To Fear by Karen Rose
The Confession by John Grisham
No Mercy by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Boys That Bite by Mari Mancusi
You Can’t Hide by Karen Rose
I Only Have Fangs For You by Kathy Love
Knock Off by Rhonda Pollero
Destined For An Early Grave by Jeaniene Frost
Eternal Kiss Of Darkness by Jeaniene Frost
Kindred In Death by J.D. Robb
Goodnight Tweetheart by Teresa Medeiros
Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead
Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Smokin’ Seventeen by Janet Evanovich
Missing In Death by J.D. Robb
Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

Here's hoping 2012 will be a more productive year!

New Additions To The TBR Pile In December

Though December was highly non-productive on the reading front, on the acquiring side of things, it was very much the opposite. If people can get into Heaven for rescuing homeless books, then surely my place inside the Pearly Gates is guaranteed... :o)

The Shack by William P. Young

Description: Mackenzie Allen Philips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation, and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his "Great Sadness," Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever.

Still Life by Joy Fielding

Description: Beautiful, happily married, and the owner of a successful interior design business, Casey Marshall couldn't be more content with her life, until a car slams into her at almost fifty miles an hour, breaking nearly every bone in her body and plunging her into a coma. Lying in her hospital bed, Casey realizes that although she is unable to see or communicate, she can hear everything. She quickly discovers that her friends aren't necessarily the people she thought them to be - and that her accident might not have been an accident at all. As she struggles to break free from her living death, she begins to wonder if what lies ahead could be even worse.

Stay by Allie Larkin

Description: Savannah "Van" Leone has been in love with Peter Clarke since their first day of college. Six years later, Peter is marrying Van's best friend, Janie. Loyal to a fault, Van dons her pumpkin-orange, maid-of- honor gown and stands up for the couple, struggling to hide her true feelings even when she couldn't be more conspicuous. After the wedding, nursing her broken heart with a Rin Tin Tin marathon plus a vodka chaser, Van accidentally orders a German Shepherd puppy over the Internet. When "Joe" turns out to be a hundred-pound beast who only responds to commands in Slovak, Van is at the end of her rope-until she realizes that sometimes life needs to get more complicated before it can get better.

Don't You Forget About Me by Jancee Dunn

Description: After earning rave reviews with her rock-and-roll memoir But Enough About Me, Jancee Dunn takes on fiction in this comically poignant debut, a perfect read for anyone who has ever looked back nostalgically and wondered what might have been.

At thirty-eight, Lillian Curtis is content with her life. She enjoys her routine as a producer for a talk show in New York City starring showbiz veteran Vi (“short for vibrant”) Barbour, a spirited senior. Lillian’s relationship with her husband is pleasant if no longer exciting. Most nights she is more than happy to come home to her apartment and crawl into her pajamas. Then she’s hit with a piece of shocking news: Her husband wants a divorce.

Blindsided, Lillian takes a leave of absence and moves back to her parents’ home in suburban New Jersey. Nestled in her childhood bedroom, where Duran Duran and Squeeze posters still cover the walls, she finds high school memories a healing salve to her troubles. She hurtles backward into her teen years, driving too fast, digging up mix tapes, and tentatively reconciling with Dawn, a childhood friend she once betrayed. Punctuating her stroll down memory lane is an invitation to the Bethel Memorial High School class of 1988 twenty-year reunion. It just might be Lillian’s chance to reconnect with her long-lost boyfriend, Christian Somers, who is expected to attend. Will it be just like heaven?

Lillian discovers, as we all must, the pitfalls of glorifying the glory days, the mortification of failing as a thirtysomething adult, and the impossibility of fully recapturing the past. Don’t You Forget About Me is for anyone who looks back and wonders: What if?

REVIEW: Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

Title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter #7)
Author: J.K. Rowling
Publisher: Scholastic
Publication Date: July, 2007
Genre: Young Adult
Rating: 10/10

Description: Begun a decade ago and encompassing six shelf-bending novels, the seventh and concluding volume of the international literary phenomenon that is the Harry Potter saga comes to a bombshell-packed - and oh so satisfying - conclusion in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, arguably the most wildly anticipated release in modern publishing history.

My Thoughts: My feelings while reading this book were very bittersweet. Even knowing how it would play out, I wanted to savor this last Harry Potter story. Knowing I would cry as some of the main characters are killed did not deter me. The same feeling of hopelessness I felt before came back, compassion for Harry to lose so many loved ones, anger on his behalf for the cruelties and evil committed against him for no good reason and lastly pride that in spite of it all, Harry continues to be a giver instead of a taker, a boy quickly becoming a man and putting the needs of others in front of his own. Even at the very end, knowing that one of them must die, he is willing to make that ultimate sacrifice.

Most of this story takes place away from Hogwarts, unfortunately. Though Rowling does an amazing job of drawing us into the world Harry is currently situated, I still found myself missing the days at Hogwarts, as I’m sure Harry did. Sadly, there was no Quidditch, no Peeves to contend with, no excursions to Hogsmeade on the weekends and no Halloween feast. After seven years, I had become so enamored of life at Hogwarts that not being able to be there bothered me a great deal. Instead, Harry is living in hiding with Ron and Hermione as public enemy #1. He is being hunted by Death Eaters constantly. After a very near miss when Harry is being moved from the Dursleys and again at Bill and Fleur’s wedding, Harry’s only choice is to hide while hunting the Horcruxes. Luckily for him and Ron, Hermione foresaw this eventuality and planned ahead with supplies. Unfortunately, none of them know where to find the Horcruxes or how to destroy them.

Their quest takes them to several places as they try to decipher the clues that Dumbledore left for them. Tempers are short as well. They are all frustrated and I felt frustrated for them. Ultimately, the war comes full circle as Harry and his friends return to Hogwarts for the final showdown with Voldemort and his followers. Harry learns many truths that were kept from him until now and I felt that finding them out now made his resolve stronger. I don’t think he could have or would have appreciated the significance of the Deathly Hallows in his first or second year.

So now I have finished the series, breaking my own rule of never re-reading a book. I am so happy I did. I have thoroughly enjoyed this adventure with Harry, Ron and Hermione once again and I must say that this time around was even better. I am sad to see it end, however. This is a story that could have stretched into another 3 books, in my opinion. I will miss Harry, Ron and Hermione but I know they are just a short distance away from me anytime I want to visit them again.

New Additions To The TBR Pile In November

I may not want to admit it, at least not out loud, but I have lost the battle and possibly the war at reading more than I acquire. Every month I say I want to read more than I take in and that's just not happening. Never has...never will. Whatever...

Turned by Julie Kenner

Description: When Lily Carlyle died in an act of vengeance, she came back as an assassin for the light. But when she discovered her masters' true darkness, she decided to choose the right side for once...

Her own.

With her cover as a double agent inside the forces of evil blown, Lily has no choice but to go underground. She takes along a cadre of warriors: humans, angels, demons, and other trusted creatures. Their only hope is to stop the forces who are attempting to use the Ninth gate as a wedge that will unleash the fury of Hell.

But even as they attempt to stop the unholy rituals, they are confounded at every turn by their foes. With the fate of all life on earth in their hands, Lily must confront the hatred inside her own soul and uncover a traitor in her midst --- and closer to her heart than she ever could have imagined...

The Silent Girl by Tess Gerritsen

Description: Every crime scene tells a story. Some keep you awake at night. Others haunt your dreams. The grisly display homicide cop Jane Rizzoli finds in Boston’s Chinatown will do both.

In the murky shadows of an alley lies a female’s severed hand. On the tenement rooftop above is the corpse belonging to that hand, a red-haired woman dressed all in black, her head nearly severed. Two strands of silver hair—not human—cling to her body. They are Rizzoli’s only clues, but they’re enough for her and medical examiner Maura Isles to make the startling discovery: that this violent death had a chilling prequel.

Nineteen years earlier, a horrifying murder-suicide in a Chinatown restaurant left five people dead. But one woman connected to that massacre is still alive: a mysterious martial arts master who knows a secret she dares not tell, a secret that lives and breathes in the shadows of Chinatown. A secret that may not even be human. Now she’s the target of someone, or something, deeply and relentlessly evil.

Cracking a crime resonating with bone-chilling echoes of an ancient Chinese legend, Rizzoli and Isles must outwit an unseen enemy with centuries of cunning—and a swift, avenging blade.

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

Description: Quentin Coldwater is brillant but miserable. He's a senior in high school, and a certifiable genius, but he's still secretly obsessed with a series of fantasy novels he read as a kid, about the adventures of five children in a magical land called Fillory. Compared to that, anything in his real life just seems gray and colorless.

Everything changes when Quentin finds himself unexpectedly admitted to a very secret, very exclusive college of magic in upstate New York, where he receives a thorough and rigorous education in the practice of modern sorcery. He also discovers all the other things people learn in college: friendship, love, sex, booze, and boredom. But something is still missing. Magic doesn't bring Quentin the happiness and adventure he though it would.

Then, after graduation, he and his friends make a stunning discovery: Fillory is real.

Single In The City by Michele Gorman

Description: It's official. Hannah has left her friends and family in the US behind and is following her dream. To live in London.

Hannah's looking for:

1. Her dream guy. A prince or Hugh Grant would be nice. Or does she have to settle for her half-naked Australian housemate or an "English gentleman" with terrible hygiene habits?

2. Her dream job. Something fantastic in fashion. So how has she ended up being the mini-me for an evil party planner who doesn't even trust her to arrange the paper clips?

3. Her dream friends. But everyone in London seems to have known each other for years and Hannah doesn't know the rules of engagement. Who's she going to have fun with?

Dream life? Should Hannah just dream on? She wanted a big change but maybe it would have been simpler and cheaper just to get a new haircut. Was she mad to move 3,000 miles away from everyone she knows? Will she ever find love and her perfect life in England?

Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich

Description: Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum’s life is set to blow sky high when international murder hits dangerously close to home, in this dynamite novel by Janet Evanovich.

Before Stephanie can even step foot off Flight 127 Hawaii to Newark, she’s knee deep in trouble. Her dream vacation turned into a nightmare, and she’s flying back to New Jersey solo. Worse still, her seatmate never returned to the plane after the L.A. layover. Now he’s dead, in a garbage can, waiting for curbside pickup. His killer could be anyone. And a ragtag collection of thugs and psychos, not to mention the FBI, are all looking for a photograph the dead man was supposed to be carrying.

Only one other person has seen the missing photo—Stephanie Plum. Now she’s the target, and she doesn’t intend to end up in a garbage can. With the help of an FBI sketch artist Stephanie re-creates the person in the photo. Unfortunately the first sketch turns out to look like Tom Cruise, and the second sketch like Ashton Kutcher. Until Stephanie can improve her descriptive skills, she’ll need to watch her back.

Over at the bail bonds agency things are going from bad to worse. The bonds bus serving as Vinnie’s temporary HQ goes up in smoke. Stephanie’s wheelman, Lula, falls in love with their largest skip yet. Lifetime arch nemesis Joyce Barnhardt moves into Stephanie’s apartment. And everyone wants to know what happened in Hawaii?

Morelli, Trenton’s hottest cop, isn’t talking about Hawaii. Ranger, the man of mystery, isn’t talking about Hawaii. And all Stephanie is willing to say about her Hawaiian vacation is . . . It’s complicated.

REVIEW: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

Title: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter #6)
Author: J.K. Rowling
Publisher: Scholastic
Publication Date: July, 2005
Genre: Young Adult
Rating: 10/10

Description: The war against Voldemort is not going well; even Muggle governments are noticing. Ron scans the obituary pages of the Daily Prophet, looking for familiar names. Dumbledore is absent from Hogwarts for long stretches of time, and the Order of the Phoenix has already suffered losses.

And yet...

As in all wars, life goes on. Sixth-year students learn to apparate -- and lose a few eyebrows in the process. The Weasley twins expand their business. Teenagers flirt and fight and fall in love. Classes are never straightforward, though Harry receives some extraordinary help from the mysterious Half-Blood Prince.

So it's the home front that takes center stage in the multilayered sixth installment of the story of Harry Potter. Here at Hogwarts, Harry will search for the full and complex story of the boy who became Lord Voldemort -- and thereby find what may be his only vulnerability.

My Thoughts: This book definitely did not hold the same shock factor for me in this reading that it did 6 years ago. Knowing what’s coming helped me actually focus more on the story instead of worrying about what may or may not happen. On the heels of Book 5 when Harry lost Sirius, I was dreading finding out who Harry would lose next. If Rowling could kill off Harry’s godfather, then nobody was safe. Having grown up without his parents, unfortunately, Harry has become accustomed to losing the people he loves. After a long summer at the Dursley’s, Harry is collected from Privet Drive by none other than Professor Dumbledore who takes Harry on an excursion to contact an old colleague and then escort him to the Burrow.

Harry, Ron and Hermione finally receive their long anticipated O.W.L. exam results and Harry finds himself in an advanced Potions class with a new professor, Horace Slughorn. Potions have never been Harry’s favorite class, especially when Snape was the instructor. Harry acquires a potions book that belonged to someone calling himself the “Half-Blood Prince” and following the notes and tips provided within the book by the previous owner, Harry outperforms Hermione.

Harry is convinced that Draco is up to something sinister and spends a lot of time trying to figure out what it is. There are a few occurrences of students being cursed by unknown perpetrators that add to the suspense of the story. I enjoyed that Harry is made Captain of the Quidditch team and puts together a team that will hopefully win the House Cup.

The best part of the book, for me, are the private lessons Harry has with Professor Dumbledore where he learns what Dumbledore already knows about Voldemort’s early years and family. Through Dumbledore’s memories, Harry witnesses Dumbledore’s first meeting with the boy would become the most evil wizard of all time. Harry is also tasked with finding out the true memories of one of the professors that had been tampered with. Harry has his work cut out for him in this installment and as with the whole series, I enjoyed every minute of it.

REVIEW: Insatiable by Meg Cabot

Title: Insatiable (Insatiable #1)
Author: Meg Cabot
Publisher: William Morrow
Publication Date: June, 2010
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Rating: 1/10

Description: Sick of vampires? So is Meena Harper.

But her boss is making her write about them anyway, even though Meena doesn’t believe in them.

Not that Meena isn’t familiar with the supernatural. See, Meena Harper knows how you’re going to die (not that you’re going to believe her; no one ever does).

But not even Meena’s precognition can prepare her for what happens when she meets—then makes the mistake of falling in love with—Lucien Antonescu, a modern-day prince with a bit of a dark side . . . a dark side a lot of people, like an ancient society of vampire-hunters, would prefer to see him dead for.

The problem is, he already is dead. Maybe that’s why he’s the first guy Meena’s ever met that she could see herself having a future with. See, while Meena’s always been able to see everyone else’s future, she’s never been able look into her own.

And while Lucien seems like everything Meena has ever dreamed of in a boyfriend, he might turn out to be more like a nightmare.

Now might be a good time for Meena to start learning to predict her own future . . .

If she even has one.

My Thoughts: Several months back, I began to notice that the book market seems flooded with vampires across every genre. Historical romances, young adult, chick-lit, urban fantasy…you name it, there’s probably a vampire theme book in there. I then began to question the quality of these books in a market that is flooded with them. How do I, a reader and a fan of vampire themes, find a good vampire book that will excite me, entertain me and stay with me after I’ve finished reading it?

First of all, I have to say that I adore Meg Cabot. Her “Boy Next Door” and “All American Girl” series are some of my favorites. I held on with this book for a lot longer than I usually give books because I kept hoping it would draw me in as this author usually does. Sadly, it never did. I felt no connection with the characters and even the heroine's dog, Jack Bauer, annoyed me.

I don’t think a good vampire theme book can be written by just anyone, though that seems to be happening from what I see when I’m trolling the bookstore. I don’t think every author is cut out to write paranormal. John Grisham, if you are reading this, please do not jump on the vampire bandwagon. Will I stop reading Meg Cabot? Absolutely not. Have I given up on vampire themes? Nope. What have I learned? That I was right in questioning the quality of a specific themed book in a flooded market. With so many to choose from, it will be very difficult for the reader to know which ones are going to deliver. Choose wisely, my dear friends and if you happen to get one that isn’t working for you, don’t waste precious time continuing to read it. Cut your losses and find another one that will work.

REVIEW: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

Title: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter #5)
Author: J.K. Rowling
Publisher: Scholastic
Publication Date: June, 2003
Genre: Young Adult
Rating: 10/10

Description: There is a door at the end of a silent corridor, and it's haunting Harry Potter's dreams. Why else would he be waking in the middle of the night, screaming in terror?

Here are just a few of the things on Harry's mind:

• A Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher with a personality like poisoned honey
• A venomous, disgruntled house-elf
• Ron as Keeper of the Gryffindor Quidditch team
• The looming terror of the end-of-term Ordinary Wizarding Level exams

. . . and of course, the growing threat of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

In the richest installment yet of J.K. Rowling's seven-part story, Harry Potter is faced with the unreliability of the very government of the magical world and the impotence of the authorities at Hogwarts.

Despite this (or perhaps because of it), he finds depth and strength in his friends, beyond what even he knew; boundless loyalty; and unbearable sacrifice.

Though thick runs the plot (as well as the spine), readers will race through these pages and leave Hogwarts, like Harry, wishing only for the next train back.

My Thoughts: At 15 years of age, Harry Potter has seen more and experienced more than anyone around him and more than anyone should or could expect. He’s nearly a man and yet everyone continues to treat him like the eleven year old little boy he was when he discovered he was a wizard. The gloves are completely off with book #5. Harry is very angry in this book and with good reason. He is attacked and is forced to use magic which results in a hearing to determine if he will be expelled from Hogwarts. Everyone seems to know more than he does about why he is experiencing strange dreams about “you know who” but nobody will tell him anything. Professor Dumbledore goes out of his way to avoid looking at him or even speaking to him. Everyone is tip-toeing around Harry as if he were made of glass.

After the hearing is over and he returns to Hogwarts, things don’t get better at all. The new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher is a despicable and twisted witch who quite quickly uses her influence and connections at the Ministry to take over the school and not teach any actual defense tactics. People are convinced that Harry is an attention seeking lunatic who has made up the entire story of Voldemort’s return.

The first time I read this book, I immediately despised Dolores Umbridge, the new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher. She’s a very sadistic individual who takes great pleasure in punishing people. Though the readers can certainly empathize with Harry’s hatred of Professor Snape, I can state that Umbridge beats Snape hands down in characters you would most like to see receive the Dementor’s kiss. That feeling has not changed one bit between then and now.

Unfortunately for Harry, he doesn’t seem to have an ally at the school. Professor Dumbledore is conspicuously absent and when he does make an appearance, he avoids looking at or speaking to Harry. I felt frustrated for Harry. Hagrid has been gone and when he finally returns, Harry still feels isolated. The only thing he truly looks forward to is playing Quidditch, especially now that Ron is on the team. Unfortunately, Professor Umbridge is determined ruin that for Harry too.

As a result of Umbridge’s refusal to teach true Defense Against the Dark Arts, Hermione insists the only way the students will learn is to do it themselves. After some persuading, Harry agrees to start secretly coaching other students on performing defense spells. They even call themselves “Dumbledore’s Army.”

Ultimately, Harry has to rely on those around him as Voldemort and his Death Eaters make their move. Just like Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix does not have a happy ending for Harry. The wizarding world is officially at war and the stakes are higher than ever.

New Additions To The TBR Pile In October

October saw some new arrivals on my doorstep. I've already read one of them so hopefully, the rest will be as good when I read them...

Save Karyn by Karyn Bosnak

Description: Drowning in $20,000 of credit card debt, shopaholic Karyn Bosnak asked strangers for money online — and it worked!
What would you do if you owed $20,000? Would you: A) not tell your parents? B) start your own website that asked for money without apology? or C) stop coloring your hair, getting pedicures, and buying Gucci? If you were Karyn Bosnak, you'd do all three.

Karyn started a funny yet honest website, www.savekaryn.com, on which she asked for donations to help her get out of debt. Karyn received e-mails from people all over the world, either confessing their own debt-ridden lives, or criticizing hers. But after four months of Internet panhandling and selling her prized possessions on eBay, her debt was gone!

In Save Karyn: One Shopaholic's Journey to Debt and Back, Karyn details the bumpy road her financial — and personal — life has traveled to get her where she is today: happy, grateful, and completely debt-free. In this charming cautionary tale, Karyn chronicles her glamorous rise, her embarrassing fall, and how the kindness of strangers in cyberia really can make a difference.

Revamped by J.F. Lewis

Description: REVIVED. REFRESHED. AND READY FOR REVENGE.

Eric survived a vicious showdown with his double-crossing former best friend and some angry lycanthropes—barely: he’s lost his strip club, his treasured red Mustang, his love life, and even his body. But with a little magic, the die-hard Vlad returns to corporeal form, and “Fang the ’Stang” is restored—with an unlife of its own. Now Eric’s ready to match wits with one of Void City’s most powerful demons to rescue the soul of Marilyn, the love of his (mortal) life. But salvation comes at a high price, forcing Eric to enter his own worst nightmare, vampire High Society, to uncover the truth about the origin of his powers. Having to deal with the Void City elite is bad enough, but the more Eric sniffs around, the more it looks like someone is after his soul, too. Now blood will flow and fangs will be bared, because revenge is never pretty . . . and Eric has plenty to pass around.

Missing In Death by J.D. Robb

Description: Investigating a woman’s disappearance on a New York City ferry, Detective Eve Dallas wonders…if she didn’t jump, and she’s not on board, then where in the world is she?

Insatiable by Meg Cabot

Description: Sick of vampires? So is Meena Harper.

But her boss is making her write about them anyway, even though Meena doesn’t believe in them.

Not that Meena isn’t familiar with the supernatural. See, Meena Harper knows how you’re going to die (not that you’re going to believe her; no one ever does).

But not even Meena’s precognition can prepare her for what happens when she meets—then makes the mistake of falling in love with—Lucien Antonescu, a modern-day prince with a bit of a dark side . . . a dark side a lot of people, like an ancient society of vampire-hunters, would prefer to see him dead for.

The problem is, he already is dead. Maybe that’s why he’s the first guy Meena’s ever met that she could see herself having a future with. See, while Meena’s always been able to see everyone else’s future, she’s never been able look into her own.

And while Lucien seems like everything Meena has ever dreamed of in a boyfriend, he might turn out to be more like a nightmare.

Now might be a good time for Meena to start learning to predict her own future . . .

If she even has one.

REVIEW: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

Title: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter #4)
Author: J.K. Rowling
Publisher: Scholastic
Publication Date: July, 2000
Genre: Young Adult
Rating: 10/10

Description: Harry Potter is midway through both his training as a wizard and his coming of age. Harry wants to get away from the pernicious Dursleys and go to the International Quidditch Cup with Hermione, Ron, and the Weasleys. He wants to dream about Cho Chang, his crush (and maybe do more than dream). He wants to find out about the mysterious event that's supposed to take place at Hogwarts this year, an event involving two other rival schools of magic, and a competition that hasn't happened for hundreds of years. He wants to be a normal, fourteen year old wizard. But unfortunately for Harry Potter, he's not normal---even by wizarding standards.

And in his case, different can be deadly.

My Thoughts: As a fan of this series, I feel that the fourth installment of the Harry Potter series crosses the threshold into it becoming more a series for adults than children. With the third book, the reader is given a glimpse of the dark direction the series can take, but the door is definitely thrown wide open with Goblet as Harry faces some of the most difficult times he’s ever had to face. On the upside, He also gets to experience a once in a lifetime opportunity when he attends the Quidditch World Cup with his friends. Even though the event becomes frightening and menacing events occur, Harry seems to enjoy the experience. Luckily for the fans of the series, the unexpected doesn’t stop there. When Harry arrives at Hogwarts, he learns that his school will be hosting a tournament between Hogwarts and two other wizarding schools. Somebody has plans for Harry and they aren’t good plans and Harry has to keep his wits when he is chosen as one of the participants in the tournament.

One thing I did not like about this story is the way Ron behaved after Harry was chosen as one of the champions. I get that he was jealous but it really bothered me that he is supposed to be Harry’s best friend and you are supposed to be loyal to your friends, but yet Ron did not believe that Harry did not submit his own name into the cup. Even when he finally comes to his senses and realizes his mistake, I felt like Harry forgave him too quickly. I understand why he did but I felt like Harry let him off the hook too easily. I am sure that Ron gets annoyed playing second fiddle to Harry, but the series is about Harry after all. If it were about Ron, then this book would have been Ronald Weasley and the Goblet of Fire.

I very much enjoyed the introduction of the social custom of learning how to dance and attending the Yule Ball. Harry’s distress at not being able to take Cho Chang to the Ball and worrying about who he should take was entertaining. Hermione’s coming out was also enjoyable to see. Even with Ron’s snotty attitude, it was still wonderful.

I liked Cedric and thought he and Harry demonstrated great teamwork in the tournament even though they were competing against one another. Though the final stage of the tournament was well written and highly suspenseful, it was still difficult to read what happens as Harry’s worst nightmare comes to life. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Draco undergo some major changes as well with the help of Mad-Eye Moody.

I am now more than half-way through the series and am so excited to be reading it again. There are so many things in the books that I missed in the first reading or had forgotten about that it really does feel like I’m reading it for the first time. Even knowing what awaits me in book #5, I am looking forward to experiencing it all over again.

REVIEW: Missing In Death by J.D. Robb

Title: Missing In Death (In Death, #29.5)
Author: J.D. Robb
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: November, 2009
Genre: Mystery / Thriller
Rating: 8/10

Description: Investigating a woman's disappearance on a New York City ferry, Lieutenant Eve Dallas wonders...if she didn't jump, and she's not on board, then where in the world is she?

My Thoughts: This story originally appears in the anthology The Lost but in all honesty, I didn’t read the other stories. I usually don’t read anthologies because the stories are too short for my liking and don’t seem to satisfy. Also, they are usually part of a bigger series and they don’t seem to flow with the rest of the series they are a part of. But when it comes to Lieutenant Eve Dallas, Roarke, Peabody and the gang, a little bit of a story is better than nothing. I love this series so much and am so anal about reading the series in numerical order that I will overlook my rule about anthologies just so I can read these smaller stories.

Missing In Death provides a fast paced read with Dallas and Peabody investigating a disappearance of a tourist on the Staten Island Ferry. They, along with her family, fear the worst because the bathroom she was last seen going into is covered in blood and she’s vanished without a trace. Just as suddenly as she disappeared, she returns, with a bump on her head and no memory of what happened to her or where she has been. This is where the real mystery begins. Dallas and Peabody are diligently following the clues to find out whose blood is all over the bathroom and locate the body and track down the killer.

This was definitely not the best Eve Dallas installment for obvious reasons but I did enjoy the unexpected twist Eve confronts while she is on the killer’s trail. When the killer’s identity is established, Eve faces a moral and ethical dilemma that would be hard for anyone to deal with, but she does and quite effectively. Had this been a full length novel, I am positive it would have received a higher rating but at least I got my Roarke fix until I dive into the next one.

REVIEW: Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich

Title: Smokin’ Seventeen (Stephanie Plum, #17)
Author: Janet Evanovich
Publisher: Bantam
Publication Date: June, 2011
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 10/10

Description: Where there’s smoke there’s fire, and no one knows this better than New Jersey bounty hunter Stephanie Plum.

Dead bodies are showing up in shallow graves on the empty construction lot of Vincent Plum Bail Bonds. No one is sure who the killer is, or why the victims have been offed, but what is clear is that Stephanie’s name is on the killer’s list.

Short on time to find evidence proving the killer’s identity, Stephanie faces further complications when her family and friends decide that it’s time for her to choose between her longtime off-again-on-again boyfriend, Trenton cop Joe Morelli, and the bad boy in her life, security expert Ranger. Stephanie’s mom is encouraging Stephanie to dump them both and choose a former high school football star who’s just returned to town. Stephanie’s sidekick, Lula, is encouraging Stephanie to have a red-hot boudoir “bake-off.” And Grandma Bella, Morelli’s old-world grandmother, is encouraging Stephanie to move to a new state when she puts “the eye” on Stephanie.

With a cold-blooded killer after her, a handful of hot men, and a capture list that includes a dancing bear and a senior citizen vampire, Stephanie’s life looks like it’s about to go up in smoke.

My Thoughts: Once again, Evanovich delivers a fast paced and side splitting hysterical adventure starring everyone’s favorite bounty hunter, Stephanie Plum and the usual cast of supporting characters, Lula, Grandma Mazur, Morelli, Ranger, Connie and Mooner. There’s also a new character in the book, a possible competitor for Stephanie’s affections and, if her mother has anything to do about it, will be Stephanie’s next husband.

And if that isn’t awkward enough, the bonds office is gone and the gang is working out of Mooner’s bus. Makes for some cramped quarters and after one FTA who believes he’s a vampire tries to give Lula a hickey, she’s convinced she’s turning into a creature of the night. Things just can’t seem to happen smoothly for Stephanie and especially after Morelli’s grandmother puts the eye on Stephanie, she’s convinced she’s cursed.

I love this series, as campy and crazy as it can sometimes get. When Stephanie is around, you can rest assured that people will die and cars will be blown up, but it all seems to work out and she comes through it all in one piece. 2011 will be an excellent year for Stephanie fans as there will be two releases this year. Book #18 will be out in November and I’m very much looking forward to it.

And if the book isn't enough to entertain you, there's always the movie and that's definitely something to look forward to!

New Additions To The TBR Pile In September

I think I've done it. Finally achieved that goal that has long eluded me...no homeless stray books showed up in September looking to be adopted...probably because I was neck deep in moving and didn't have time to mess with it.

Of course, now we are in a brand new month and all that will probably change... :o)