Review: Beautiful Creatures

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Caster Chronicles #1

YA Gothic Fiction/Paranormal Romance, Published 2009

Challenges: RIP V, 2010 YA, Series IV

Read Oct 2010, 563 pages

Source: Purchased

Verdict: 4.5/5

First sentence: There are only two kinds of people in our town.

Book Blurb:

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she’s struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations.  But even within the overgrown gardens, murky, swamps, and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met.  When Lena moves into the town’s oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

My Thoughts:

This book had me at haunted plantation and overgrown gardens.  I had seen this book around the blogosphere, but didn’t really read what it was about until I saw it in my local bookstore.  I knew then that I had to have it.

Set in a deeply rooted southern town that still reenacts the War Between the States, there are still remnants of the beautiful plantation homes and it seems everyone in town is holding on to century-old secrets.  This story is told through a unique storyteller, Ethan.  It’s the beginning of his sophomore year.  The dream he has the night before his first day back changes everything.  He soon comes to realize that he and the new girl have a shared link – that they can talk to each other through some sort of telepathy. To top it all off, Lena is the niece of the town’s “Boo Radley.”  There are many references to To Kill a Mockingbird when it comes to Lena’s uncle, Macon.  Their family secret is that they are Casters, as in spell casters, and it is determined on your sixteenth birthday whether you will turn good or evil and Lena has moved in with her uncle until this has been decided.

My favorite story arc within this story was Ethan and Lena discovering Genevieve and Ethan’s names sake, Ethan Carter Wate and I hope we learn more about them in the sequel.  I also really enjoyed the character of Ethan’s grandmother, Amma.  She is the only one that tries to rein Ethan in, and yet she hold a few secrets as well.  Another favorite character was Marian the Librarian.

Overall, I really enjoyed this haunting gothic tale and look forward to see what happens with Lena and Ethan in the sequel, Beautiful Darkness.

Quotes:

There was a curse. There was a girl. And in the end, there was a grave. I never even saw it coming. (p. 3)

Book Trailer:

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Review: Magyk

Magyk by Angie Sage

Septimus Heap Series #1

YA Fiction/Adventure/Fantasy, Published 2005

Challenges: YA, Series IV

Read: Oct 2010, 560 pp.

Shelf Life: 2.5 years – Purchased: 3-19-08

Verdict: 5/5

Book Blurb:

Septimus Heap, the seventh son of the seventh son, disappears the night he is born, pronounced dead by the midwife.  That same night, the baby’s father, Silas Heap, comes across an abandoned child in the snow – a newborn girl with violet eyes.  The Heaps take her into their home, name her Jenna, and raise her as their own.  But who is this mysterious baby girl, and what really happened to their beloved son Septimus?

My Thoughts:

Once again I have found a gem of a book hidden in my stash!  Thanks to Angie on yafictionfreaks on youtube for her awesome reviews of the first four books of the series, which made me go grab my copies out of the stash.   I have recently discovered a lot of YA book reviews on Youtube…dangerous stuff! ;D

I really enjoyed Magyk.  It’s the first in the series and sets up a new fantastical “magykal” world.   There are wizards, witches, ghosts, swamps and boggarts, Message Rats, and lots of magic.  In this book, Jenna finds out that her family isn’t exactly who she thought they were and they must set off on an adventure with the castle’s ExtraOrdinary wizard to flee from the evil ex-ExtraOrdinary wizard who comes and takes over the castle.  There is also a mystery surrounding Boy 412, a member of the Young Army who essentially unwillingly gets entangled with joining Jenna and her group.  Half of her family has flown to the forests with the Wendron Witches and Jenna and the other part of her family have set off by boat down the river in search of the Marram Marshes to hide at their Aunt Zelda’s cottage.  I read this one during the 24 hour read-a-thon and could not put it down.  I loved the adventure with all the twists and turns and learning more about the world they live in.  I can’t wait to see what happens next in Flyte.

This books is appropriate for younger readers, around age 8 or so.  The main kids involved in the story are 10 years old in this book.  It was an easy read, but I didn’t feel that the author “dumbed” down the language at all, which is hard for me to get through and enjoy as an older reader and I don’t think it’s really necessary for younger readers either.  I really loved the chapter names and of course, the included map of Septimus Heap’s world.

Readalikes: Harry Potter series (the early years) by J.K. Rowling, Inheritance series by Christopher Paolini

♥ emme

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Review: The Masque of the Black Tulip

The Masque of the Black Tulip by Lauren Willig
The Pink Carnation Series #2
Historical Fiction/Romance/Mystery, Published 2005
Challenges: Series Challenge IV
Read: September 2010, 429 pp.
Verdict: 4/5

Book Blurb:

Modern-day graduate student Eloise achieved the academic coup of the century when she unmasked one of history’s greatest spies, the Pink Carnation, who saved England from Napoleon.  But now she has a million questions about the Carnation’s deadly French nemesis, the Black Tulip.  And she’s pretty sure that her handsome on-again, off-again crush, Colin Selwick, has the answers somewhere in his archives.  When she finally comes across an old codebook, Eloise discovers something juicier than she ever imagined: an unlikely pair who were hot on the trail of the Black Tulip and had every intention of stopping him from killing the Pink Carnation and bringing down England.  But what they didn’t know what that wile they were trying to find the Tulip – and stumbling upon something like love – the Black Tulip was watching them…

My Thoughts:

This is the second in the Pink Carnation series, which I read the first March 2008 and had a bit of a hard time remembering who the characters were and how they were related to one another.  This installment follows Eloise, a quirky academic that is searching for first hand historical accounts in England of the regency spies.  In the first book, The Pink Carnation, Eloise is trying to discover the identity of the elusive spy, the Pink Carnation, but has stumbled upon an entire web of spies with flowery identities.  She is now searching for connections between the spies, especially the identity of their French nemesis, the Black Tulip.  Eloise has been invited to spend a weekend researching through Colin Selwick’s library and their relationship continues to grow very (very) slowly.

Most of the novel takes place in the past, within the realm of what Eloise is researching. I like the idea of a research project coming to life, in a sense; finding out the lives behind the names written on aging paper. The reader often finds out more than I think Eloise is actually discovering in her research.  Here we follow the story of the annoying little sister of the Purple Gentian from the first book, who has since grown up, and her love interest and brother’s best friend, Miles Dorrington.  I absolutely loved their story because they already loved each other and had become closer friends since Richard married and moved out of the Selwick home, and they begin to truly “see” each other for the first time, amidst all the chaos of spying on the French.

Henrietta’s character brings a lot of humor and is often very sarcastic, which I really enjoyed.  Overall, I am looking forward to the next in the series, #3 – The Deception of the Emerald Ring.

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Review: Soulless

Soulless by Gail Carriger

The Parasol Protectorate #1

Fantasy/Horror/Romance, Published 2009

Challenges: Series Challenge IV, Fangtastic Fiction Challenge, RIP V Challenge

Read: Sept 2010, 357 pp

Verdict: 5/5

Book Blurb:

First, she has no soul.  Second, she’s a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead.  Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette.

Where to go from there?  From bad to worse apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire – and then the appalling Lord Maccon (loud, messy, gorgeous, and werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate.

With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia is responsible.  Can she figure out what is actually happening to London’s high society?  Will her soulless ability to negate supernatural powers prove useful or just plain embarrassing?  Finally, who is the real enemy, and do they have treacle tart?

My Thoughts:

What a fantastic beginning to a new series (just what I needed…)!  Set in a very proper Victorian setting, with a generous use of 19th century syntax, along with vampires and werewolves living out in the open, Alexia is quite the lady, a spinster at twenty-something, she has quite given up on finding a husband and spends her time being bothered by her family, keeping up with her many social circles, and neutralizing the supernatural.  She is a rare breed, indeed, a preternatural, and is friends with both the vampires and werewolves, often acting as their liaison. I loved Alexia’s wit and sharp bite (pun intended), especially the back and forth between her and Lord Maccon.  And watch out for her parasol!

Carriger brings a lot of fun, eccentric characters, to say the least, to her alternative world and I hope we will get to know them better throughout the series.  There is a lot going on in this book – {mystery, alternate history, romance, fantasy, and a dash of steampunk} – and while it is technically listed as an urban fantasy/horror, it should really be found in the paranormal romance section, IMO.  There is no real horror, no really gruesome or violent details, unless you don’t like the mystery arc taking a back seat to the romance about half way in.

Warning: This book is Rated R for sexual content.

Quotes:

Miss Alexia Tarabotti was not enjoying her evening.  Private balls were never more than middling amusements for spinsters, and Miss Tarabotti was not the kind of spinster who could garner even that much pleasure from the event.  To put the pudding in the puff: she had retreated to the library, her favorite sanctuary in any house, only to happen upon an unexpected vampire. -p. 1

“Why is it Miss Tarabotti, every time I have to clean up a mess in the library, you just happen to be in the middle of it?”  the earl [Lord Maccon] demanded of her.  -p. 8

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Review: McMurtry’s Sin Killer – A Sin of A Book!

Sin Killer by Larry McMurtry, Audio narrated by Alfred Molina

The Berrybender Narratives #1

Fiction – Historical/Westerns, Published 2002

Challenges: Audio Book Challenge, Series Challenge IV

Read June 2010

2/5

Book Blurb:

From Pulitzer Prize-winning author Larry McMurtry comes the first leg of an epic journey through the early American frontier, introducing a pioneer family the likes of which you will never forget.

It is 1830, and the Berrybender family — rich, aristocratic, English, and hopelessly out of place — is on its way up the Missouri River to see the untamed West as it begins to open up. With irascible determination — and a great deal of outright chaos — the party experiences both the awesome majesty and brutal savagery of the unexplored land, from buffalo stampedes and natural disasters to Indian raids and encounters with frontiersmen and trappers, explorers, pioneers, and one part-time preacher known as “the Sin Killer.” Packed with breathtaking adventure, charming romance, and a sense of humor stretching clear over the horizon, Sin Killer is a truly unique view of the West that could only come from the boundless skill and imagination of Larry McMurtry.

Thoughts:

Don’t expect another Lonesome Dove with this one.  Sin Killer begins with a farcical English dignitary family headed north up the Missouri River on a barge.  It’s a large crew on the barge, including Lord Berrybender, 6 of his 14 ‘legitimate’ children, his mistress, hired guides as well as several Indian chiefs returning from Washington, as well as various servants who can in no way tend to all the Berrybenders’ needs.  One of the central characters is Lord Berrybender’s eldest and most eligible daughter, Tasmin, who quickly falls in love with a frontier man, Jim “Sin Killer” Snow.  He is very harsh with Tasmin’s sinful ways.  The Berrybenders often leave the barge to folly around on the American frontier and disaster usually follows.  There are many mishaps and kidnapping from the Indians and Lord Berrybender is truly a mess! He’s out for all the American exotic hides, but has no sense in his skull at all.  At the end of this book, the unsightly crew who is missing many of their original numbers, are headed to the Yellowstone Fort for the winter.

This is the first in a tetrology, however, I just cannot imagine following along with the crazy Berrybenders.  I really just cannot imagine that there will be any of them left by the end of the fourth book!  While I love the Lonesome Dove stories, I did not enjoy this folly of a book too much.  I think the only reason I finished this audio was that the narrator was truly great and I just had to find out how many of the characters would meet their untimely demise before the end.

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Dockside at Avalon’s Willow Lake

Dockside by Susan Wiggs

Lakeshore Chronicles #3

Fiction/Romance, Published 2007

Read April 2010

Challenges: Series Challenge IV

Shelf Life: 2 yrs, 1 mo. – Purchased 3-19-08

Verdict: 4.2/5

• #1: Summer at Willow Lake
• #2: The Winter Lodge
  

From the Cover:

With her daughter grown and flown, Nina Romano is ready to embark on a new adventure.  She’s waited a long time for dating, travel and chasing dreams.  But just as she’s beginning to enjoy being on her own, she finds herself falling for Greg Bellamy, owner of the charming Inn at Willow Lake and a single father with two kids of his own.

Greg lost his first marriage to a demanding career.  Now he’s determined to make a new start before it’s too late.  Juggling work, raising his young son and helping his newly grown daughter face life’s ultimate challenge, he has no time to fall in love.  Still, with Nina Romano, love feels just right this time around.

Thoughts:

I’m so behind on this series (not to mention my reviews).  It seems Susan Wiggs is pumping out a new book every six months or so and I’m steadily getting further and further behind (Lakeshore Chronicles is now up to 7, not to mention a few of her other series I desperately want to get to), but I soon forget all of this when I pick up one of her books and don’t put it down until the story concludes.  I should mention that some of her new releases are republishings, but I’m still happy to see all the pretty new covers.

The Lakeshore Chronicles books make me think of summer camp, slowly intertwining yourself into another world for a short time and then not wanting to leave all your new friends as the summer season comes to a close.

In a way these books are stand-alones, but there are mentions of other members of the Bellamy family that were explored in previous books and it is this reason I would recommend reading them in order.  It’s always nice to see how  characters’ loves and losses ended up after their happy or not so happy endings.

As far as the romance scale is concerned, Susan Wiggs includes no vulgarity or explicit sex scenes.  Most of the romance is romantic tension between the characters, usually a case of both loving each other without wanting to admit to it.  So with that out of the way, there are multiple unplanned teen pregnancies throughout the series so far.  Nina is at the end of her roller coaster situation with her daughter moving on to college and Daisy, Greg’s teenage daughter, is just on the outset of her ride.  Maybe there’s something in the water at Willow Lake?

Next Up: Snowfall at Willow Lake where we find out the story behind the much detested Sophie, Greg’s ex-wife.

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Review: Crazy Cool – Steele Street Steamy Romance ♥

Crazy Cool by Tara Janzen

Steele Street #2

Romance/Romantic Suspense – Steamy, Published 2005, 415 pp.

Received from paperbackswap.com

Challenges: Series Challenge IV

Shelf Life: N/A – Received from PBS 4-20-10

Read April 2010

Verdict: 3/5

From the Cover:

He called her Bad Luck Dekker, a gorgeous socialite who trailed trouble in her wake.  Christian Hawkins should know.  Thirteen years ago he saved Kat Dekker’s life – only to spend two years in jail for a crime he didn’t commit.  Now it’s deja vu all over again when he rescues Kat from an explosion that rips through a Denver art auction.  This time Christian – now an operative with an elite U.S. task force – plans to keep her close until he figures out why somebody wants to kill her.  That is, if he can keep his cool around this sizzling-hot lady…

Review:

There’s nothing like a bad boy turned good…or in the case of the Steele Street series, into a high ranked and highly proficient Special Forces officer.  Christian and Katya have a past – a short and steamy past – and then he spent two years in prison because of her prom buddies.  It’s been 13 years since Christian got out of prison and is pulled out of a secret US mission in Columbia by the Department of Defense to act as a bodyguard at a social garden club event in Denver, Colorado.  As much as Christian hates attending the affair, he is very unsettled to see Katya in attendance and at once knows she’s the one they are supposed to protect.  But as every member of Katya’s prom group reemerge, Christian soon smells the trappings of another setup – at his expense.

This is my third Janzen romance novel.  I have to say she does not hold back when it comes to the intimate scenes, thus the fireman symbol. ;0)  In fact, all the action and suspense only build up to these hot moments with the various couples in the book – all of which include a handsome and ripped Special Forces officer.  As soon as it’s about to happen with one couple, the book jumps to a completely new set of characters.  I love Janzen’s non-stop action writing style as well as her ability to tell the story from all viewpoints.

However, this is my least favorite of the series so far, mainly due to disliking one of the main characters – Katya.  I feel like she was a confusing, annoying, not well developed and overall dull character who does not fit well with the badassness of Christian Hawkin’s character and her name was just distracting to me.  Overall, I feel a little disappointed, but hopefully I can jump back in with the Steele Street gang and continue to enjoy the rest of the series as much as I’ve loved #1 and #9.

Quotes:

That was Christian Hawkins, and every mistake she’d ever made in her life was roaring up behind her and threatening to take her down.

Hired muscle? God help her – Alex didn’t know the half of it.  Christian Hawkins had saved her life once, and he’d saved her virtue, and for the wildest month of her life, he’d taken her as his own.  Not even thirteen years was enough to disguise the lean angles of his face, the coal black silk of his hair, or the midnight eyes that had promised her heaven – and delivered.

Skip ahead in the series and check out my review for Steele Street #9: Loose and Easy

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Review: The Clan of the Cave Bear

The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel, Audio narrated by Sandra Burr

Earth’s Children Series #1

Fiction, Published 1980

Challenges: Audio Book Challenge, Series Challenge IV

Read April 2010

Story: 4/5, Narration: 5/5

Book Blurb:

This novel of awesome beauty and power is a moving saga about people, relationships, and the boundaries of love.  Through Jean M. Auel’s magnificent storytelling we are taken back to the dawn of modern humans, and with a girl named Ayla we are swept up in the harsh and beautiful Ice Age world they shared with the ones who called themselves the Clan of the Cave Bear.  A natural disaster leaves the young girl wandering alone in an unfamiliar and dangerous land until she is found by a woman of the Clan, people very different from her own kind.  To them, blond, blue-eyed Ayla looks peculiar and ugly – she is one of the Others, those who have moved into their ancient homeland; but Iza cannot leave the girl to die and takes her with them.  Iza and Creb, the old Mog-ur, grow to love her, and as Ayla learns the ways of the Clan and Iza’s way of healing, most come to accept her.  But the brutal and proud youth who is destined to become their next leader sees her difference as a threat to his authority.  He develops a deep and abiding hatred for the strange girl of the Others who lives in their midst, and is determined to get his revenge.

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this audio book.  At around 20 hours, unabridged, it took me just 2 weeks to finish it.  The narrator does a great job with expressing the Clan people, since most of their communications with each other are nonverbal.  This novel is very detail oriented with a lot of the author’s research of the Ice Age and neanderthal people coming to the forefront of the novel, especially descriptions about the plants Iza uses as the medicine woman.  The clan finds Ayla wandering along, nearly dead, after an earthquake has sent them away from their previous cave.  Iza takes it upon herself to care for the strange girl from “the others.”  They consider her to be strange and ugly and even though she is finally officially accepted into the clan, she continually struggles to conform to the ways of the clan.

I became very attached to Ayla’s story and often cringed through all the hardships she must endure, especially those that are inflicted by Broud, the son of the clan’s leader, Brun, and look forward to following her journey.  I wonder if she will forever be a wanderer.  Will she find her own people of the “Others” and will she ever make it back to her true family within the Clan of the Cave Bear?

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Eragon – a fast paced adventure tale and this is just the beginning

Eragon by Christopher Paolini, Audio narrated by Gerard Doyle

Inheritance Cycle #1

YA Fiction, SciFi/Fantasy, Published 2005

Challenges: Audio Book Challenge, 2010 YA Reading Challenge, Once Upon a Time IV, Series Challenge IV

Read April 2010, March 2005

Story: 4.5/5, Narration: 4/5

From the Cover:

When Eragon finds a polished blue stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy; perhaps it will buy his family meat for the winter.  But when the stone brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon soon realizes he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself.

Overnight his simple life is shattered, and his is thrust into a perilous new world of destiny, magic, and power.  With only an ancient sword and the advice of an old storyteller for guidance, Eragon and the fledgling dragon must navigate the dangerous terrain and dark enemies of an Empire ruled by a king whose evil knows no bounds.

Can Eragon take up the mantle of the legendary Dragon Riders?  The fate of the Empire may rest in his hands…

Review:

Eragon is a fast paced adventure tale that has it all: dragons, dragon riders, magic, elves, dwarves, an evil king, and even a werecat, who is one of my favorite characters.  I’ve been wanting to finally get to the third of the series, Brisingr, but it has been so long since I read the first two, I thought I should get a refresher on the storyline. The narrator does a great job holding the pace and my attention in the car.  The only thing that weirded me out was his interpretation of Saphira’s voice – something like a creepy Yoda/Grover growlish voice…I mean I realize she’s a dragon, but she’s a girl dragon and it really made me wince every time she spoke.  That, however, is my only complaint with the story or audio version, so not too bad.

In this first book of the yet-to-be-released 4 book cycle, Eragon first encounters a dragon, his dragon, loses his uncle who has taken care of him most of his life, and sets out on a life changing quest with Brom to avenge his uncle’s death by the Ra’zac, and ultimately track down the Varden to help further their cause against the King and his Empire.  Brom, the town’s storyteller, has concealed the truth about his past and why he had settled in Carvahall, Eragon’s village, in the first place.  Together, Brom and Eragon set out with Saphira across the Empire and run into many dark and evil forces.

My favorite characters:

• Solembum: Along the way, however, Eragon and Brom stop in the coastal village of Teirm to search shipping records to track down the Ra’zac and Eragon happens upon an herbal shop, run by Angela and her werecat, Solembum.
• Murtagh:  An unlikely comrad, especially as more and more of his history is revealed, but Murtagh remains loyal to Eragon’s cause throughout this book and much more of his story is continued in the next books of the cycle.
• Brom: He leaves too quickly in the story, although he has taught Eragon so much, much of his story remains to be told.

Quotes:

I will add in some favorites later…

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Truly, Madly (ARC) by Heather Webber (Lucy Valentine #1)

Truly, Madly by Heather Webber

Lucy Valentine Series #1

Fiction/Chick-Lit, Published 2010

ARC from LibraryThing Early Reviewers

Series Challenge IV

Read Jan 10

4.5/5

From the Cover:

Lucy hails from a long line of matchmakers known as Valentine, Inc.  According to family legend, the Valentines have been blessed by Cupid with the psychic ability to help couples find true love.  Trouble is, Lucy’s powers were zapped away by an electrical surge and now all she can do is find lost objects.  What good is that in the matchmaking world?  You’d be surprised.  In a big city like Boston, love is a mystery – and Lucy’s upstairs neighbor, Sean Donahue, is a hot private eye whose job is murder.  With a little luck, she can help solve the perfect crime and find her own perfect match – with Sean.

Review:

Very enjoyable debut series by Heather Webber.  After some googling, I found that she has another mystery series out called Nina Quinn as well as a few stand-alone romance novels.  I love the premise of the Valentines being blessed by Cupid himself with generations of matchmakers in the family.  Lucy’s father runs the business and he has the family ability, yet his only daughter does not as it was “zapped” out of her at age 14 during a storm while she was gabbing to her BFF.  Lucy knows she has eternally let her father and the line of Valentines down by not being able to match-make couples.  Besides being blessed with special abilities, the Valentines have been cursed by Cupid in their own lives.

While her parents go out of town to avoid her father’s latest mishaps in his own love life, he leaves Lucy in charge on the family business.  He tells her she should have no problem and it’s only for 2 weeks, how much harm could she really cause?

Lucy can find lost objects by touching people’s hands.  But there are strict conditions to her ability.  They have to be thinking of that object and they have to be the one who lost it, unless it was a gift.  This has led Lucy to avoid shaking people’s hands, but this is usually unavoidable in business.  While meeting her first client during her father’s sabbatical, Lucy finds his lost object, but how does she explain to the police how she found it?

When I first picked up this book, I was a little hesitant thinking it was going to be like every other chick-lit and not be too entertaining but wanted to get through it since it was an ARC.  Hopefully all the grammatical and spelling errors will be fixed in the official version.  By the third chapter, I was hooked and just had to find out how Lucy was going to fully utilize her special abilities.  With her sexy private investigator, Sean, in-tow, Lucy unravels a few of her clients’ mysteries as well as a missing child in town all while trying to keep Valentine, Inc. from going under while her father is away.

Truly, Madly is available February 2, 2010 and the sequel, Deeply, Desperately debuts in August 2010.  Click here if you just can’t wait for the book to come out! The third Lucy book, Absolutely, Positively comes out Winter 2011.  I can’t wait to see what’s in store for Ms. Lucy Valentine!  Click here for more information about the author.

Update: Love my autographed bookmark and bookplate! I hope I can find the first of her Nina Quinn series used somewhere. The first one is currently out of print, but the next four in the series seem to still be available.

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