Lover Reborn by J.R. Ward

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


In this continuation of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, the focus is on Tohrment as he tries to recover from the death of his shellan, Wellsie, and his unborn child. He is fighting and eating again, but has refused to feed from the Chosen except for the first time after Lassiter returns him to the brotherhood. He finds out from Lassiter, the fallen angel, that Wellsie and his child are in the "In-Between", neither the Fade or Hell and he, Tohr, is the one who holds the key to their release. We also learn more about Xcor, Throe, and the Band of Bastards, as well as some new characters. John Matthew and Xhex come to a crisis in their relationship early in this story as well. As usual, J.R. Ward keeps you glued to the page waiting to find out what happens.



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Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Although I have been more into the paranormal romance genre lately, I decided to try this because of all of the hype I heard about it. I am so glad that I did! Anastasia Steele is about to graduate from Washington State University when she agrees to help out her friend, Kate, who has arranged an interview for the college newspaper with entrepreneur and WSU benefactor Christian Grey. Kate has come down with the flu and the interview would be difficult if not impossible to reschedule, so Ana agrees to go and do the interview using Kate's list of questions and a recorder. Christian Grey is scheduled to speak and help award diplomas at their graduation later in the week, but Ana really knows nothing about him until she literally falls at his feet, tripping over her own, on the way into his office for the interview. One thing leads to another and Christian arranges another meeting with Ana who is very attracted to him. She has never felt such a strong attraction to any man and he seems to be attracted to her as well. As the romance develops, Ana learns about Christian's "dark desires" and he thinks he will frighten her away when reveals them. This story is a very intense romance with some graphic scenes, but I found myself drawn into their romance and hoping for a successful outcome. You will have to read it yourself to find out if they succeed in finding a middle-ground. There are two further books in this trilogy about Ana and Christian and I am already half-way through the second and deeply hooked on their relationship.



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The Darkest Seduction by Gena Showalter

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


In this latest entry in the Lords of the Underworld, Gena Showalter brings Paris, who is paired with the demon Sex, center-stage. If you are familiar with the Lords of the Underworld, you already know that in order to maintain both his strength and his sanity, Paris must have sex almost daily, but he is only ever able to be with a partner one time, and then is never able to feel desire for that person again. In an earlier story, we see Paris meet with Sienna, who is acting as Bait for the Hunters, the Lords mortal enemies. Just when Paris finally realizes that Sienna is the one woman he continues to desire, even after "having" her, she is killed in an attempt on Paris' life. In this story, Paris is desperately seeking to find her, even though he knows that she is dead. One of the gods, Cronus, has managed to reanimate Sienna and pair her with the demon Wrath who was formerly paired with the Lord Aeron. This story is full of twists and turns, with an ending that I didn't see coming. Suffice it to say that Paris does indeed get his happy-ever-after, but you will have to read the book to find out how it comes about. We also see the birth of Ashlyn's and Maddox's twin babies in this story and learn more about William. This was a very satisfying read.



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Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I read this because a co-worker gave it to me, thinking I would enjoy it since I enjoyed reading about the "werewolves" in the Twilight series of books. I have only read one other book by Jodi Picoult, namely Nineteen Minutes. I find that her books tend to be a little too much "real life" for me. I am just a sucker for a happily ever after ending and this book doesn't really deliver that.
It took me some time to get into the story, partially due to Picoult's rather choppy writing style, jumping between characters narrating the story. When you start off with a very serious car accident, with one person requiring surgery and one person in what appears to be an irreversible coma, you don't really see how there can be a happy outcome. Cara is the seventeen-year-old daughter of a man who has made a career out of learning about wild wolves by living with them. Cara and her father have been in a serious accident and she has had to have shoulder surgery and he is in a coma. Her mother, Georgie, who is divorced from her father and remarried with a set of young twins, calls Cara's older brother, Edward, who left home to go live in Thailand when he was eighteen after an altercation with his father. Edward comes home to find that he must make a decision about whether to discontinue life-support on his father. The story is told alternately by Cara, her father Luke, Edward, her mother Georgie, her stepfather Joe, and a temporary guardian with the laughable name of Helen Bedd. There was some very interesting information about wolves, and I did find myself involved with the characters after a while, but as I said before, there was no real way to have a happy ending to this story. If you like Jodi Picoult, you will probably enjoy this story as well. If you are looking for light reading and a happy ending, you might want to give it a pass.



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Sleight by Jennifer Sommersby

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book surprisingly gave me a similar feeling to when I first read Twilight. I was quite disappointed when I got to the end and found that I wanted to read the next book, which apparently hasn't been written yet.

Gemma Flannery is a "circus kid" who has just lost her mother. Her circus family decides that the circus will remain in Eaglefern until Gemma, Junie, and Ash complete their senior year in the local public high school. There, Gemma meets Henry Dmitri whose father runs just about everything in the area, including financing the circus. From there, we begin a rollercoaster ride involving shades (aka ghosts), magic, good vs. evil, and first love. It is not a peaceful ride, and the ending is something of a cliffhanger. I hope that this series will continue.



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Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I can't help but hope that Stephenie Meyer will eventually complete this book. Basically, it is the first several chapters of Twilight, only told from Edward's point of view instead of Bella's. It is interesting to read of all the different ways he thought of killing her in the first moments after catching her scent, and even more interesting to read of how his love for Bella develops. I am just afraid that by the time Mrs. Meyer feels ready to complete this novel, the interest in the series will have faded.

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Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night by Kresley Cole


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Mariketa is a twenty-three year old witch competing in the Hie, a contest that immortals hold every two-hundred and fifty years. Bowen is a Lykae (werewolf) competing in the same contest. This book runs somewhat parallel to the previous book in this series No Rest for the Wicked. In that book, Kaderin, a Valkyrie, is competing in the same Hie with Sebastian Wroth, a vampire, as her main competition. Mariketa is a fierce competitor, but she has little control over her magic, plus she is disadvantaged by still being mortal going up against competitors who are all immortal and will heal from most mishaps. Bowen finds himself drawn to her, but he knows that she cannot possibly be his mate, since he lost his only mate nearly two hundred years ago. He strongly suspects that she has cast a spell on him to make him want her. He shuts her in a tomb with other immortals during the contest, fully expecting that she will be able to free herself. He is defeated in the final contest of the competition by Sebastian Wroth, and spends weeks trapped in fire caverns, growing ever weaker due to a spell that Mariketa cast on him as he closed her in the tomb, making him unable to heal from his wounds. If Mariketa is trapped in a tomb and Bowen is trapped in fire caverns, how will they ever work out their differences? Read this episode to find out. I did not feel as close to these characters as I have to others in the series.

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No Rest for the Wicked by Kresley Cole


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Kaderin is on a mission to destroy yet another vampire, when she suddenly finds herself unable to make the killing stroke with her sword. Sebastian Wroth has been wishing for death for three hundred years until this moment - it seems that Kaderin is his Bride. He feels his heart beat for the first time since he was turned against his will. But Kaderin lives to kill vampires since the vampire horde killed her two sisters. How can she possibly be feeling an attraction to one of the race that murdered her family? How can she be feeling anything? After her sisters' deaths, Kaderin prayed for relief from the pain of their loss and received the blessing of having no feelings of any kind. Now suddenly, she is feeling again! How can these two possibly work out their differences? Read this romantic thriller to find out.

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Covet by J.R. Ward


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This story takes place in the same location as the Black Dagger Brotherhood books, Caldwell, New York. Marie_Terese Boudreau is working in The Iron Mask, the club that replaced the Reverend's club, that is owned and operated by Trez Latimer. She is deeply shamed by the job she must do to repay the debts she owes, but her young son makes it all worthwhile. Jim Heron is a construction worker, who isn't interested in becoming involved with anything or anyone, but who finds that life has other plans for him. Vin DiPietro is a wealthy contractor who has everything anyone could want and is about to become engaged to his gorgeous girlfriend, Devina. Adrian and Eddie are Jim's co-workers and drinking buddies - at least that is what Jim thinks. This story has many twists and turns, and you certainly won't expect what happens in the end.

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A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Lachlain has been imprisoned in the catacombs beneath Paris for one hundred and fifty years, having the flesh burned from his body each time his immortality regenerates it. He is pulled from this torture by the scent of his one true mate on the streets of Paris and he is able to free himself to go in search of her. Lachlain is king of the Lykae (werewolves) and is appalled to find that the scent he followed led him to Emmaline, a vampire. As he convinces her to help him return to his home in Scotland, he realizes there is something different about Emmaline. He begins to doubt that she is truly his life mate. Emmaline just wants to get away from him and return to her aunts in New Orleans, but she is becoming weaker from not having fed in several days. Read this story to find out if these two can get past their differences.

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Playing Easy to Get by Kresley Cole


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I bought this book because it has the beginning of Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark series as one of the three stories. The first story in the book, by Sherrilyn Kenyon, is a good basic romance, with no immortals involved. The second story, by Jaid Black, is a story of a race of Vikings who live beneath the earth, with bride-hunters who go above ground to steal eligible women to bring below and marry the Vikings and provide them with children. This one was interesting, with the Vikings seeming to have some immortality to them. I may read more of Jaid Black's work later on. The third story involves vampires and Valkyrie and how one of each came together after nearly destroying one another. This one left me wanting more and I continue on to A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole.

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A Touch of Dead by Charlaine Harris


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book is 4 short stories about Sookie Stackhouse. Each gives just a taste of a Sookie Stackhouse adventure. If you enjoyed reading the Sookie Stackhouse novels, you will enjoy these stories as well. They left me wanting more, but I will have to wait until next Spring for the next full length Sookie story.

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The Lost Art of Gratitude by Alexander McCall Smith


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Isabel Dalhousie is living with her lover, Jamie, along with their young son, Charlie. Once again, Isabel is drawn into the affairs of someone else, this time at the request of her acquaintance Minty Auchterlonie who draws her into an intrigue involving two other men. At the same time, Isabel's relationship with Jamie takes a giant step forward and Isabel finds that her niece, Cat, has once again become engaged to a totally unsuitable man. The relationship between Isabel and Jamie is very touching, and I continue to hope that eventually Isabel will turn away from interfering in the affairs of others and devote herself completely to her own little "family".

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An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Jamie and Claire begin this story by attempting to return to Scotland, where Jamie plans to retrieve his printing press and return with it to America, where he plans to make an attempt at proving that "the pen is mightier than the sword". They plan to take young Ian with them to fulfill the promise that Jamie made to his sister and her husband that he would return their son to them. As usual, matters interfere with the best-laid plans and Jamie, Claire, and Ian find themselves embroiled in the Revolutionary War as it begins. Other strands of the story keep us abreast of Brianna, Roger, Jem, and young Mandy in the twentieth century, Lord John Grey and his attempts to keep his stepson, Willie, safe, and the way the stories intertwine with one another. I don't know if I can stand the likely 5 year wait before I find out what happens next. As usual, Diana Gabaldon leaves me wanting more!

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A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Jamie and Claire continue their love story in this epic book about the events leading up to the Revolutionary War. Brianna, Roger, and their son Jem are living with Jamie and Claire on Fraser's Ridge. Claire succeeds in creating ether, enabling her to operate on a young boy with appendicitis successfully. Brianna uses phosphorus to make matches. Jamie becomes a colonel of the militia for the governor of North Carolina, while contemplating when he must make it clear that he is rebel, rather than loyalist. The "Frenchman's gold" makes a reappearance in an unexpected way and the house fire that Brianna came into the past to warn them about happens, but not in the way that anyone expects.

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The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
In The Fiery Cross, Jamie and Claire continue to establish their home on Fraser's Ridge. Brianna and Roger, with their son Jemmy are part of their extended family, which continues to grow as Jamie adds more settlers to his mountain land. In this book, we see the beginnings of the strife that will eventually lead to the Revolutionary War.

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Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
As Jamie and Claire begin to make a life in the mountains of North Carolina on Fraser's Ridge, circumstances conspire to bring not only Brianna, but also Roger Wakefield through the stones into the past in the hopes of saving the lives of Brianna's parents. How will Brianna find her mother and Jamie and will Roger find Brianna and make her his wife? This story was full of twists and turns over a road paved with love.

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Voyager by Diana Gabaldon


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Claire finds out that Jamie did survive Culloden and returns to the past to find him, leaving their daughter, Brianna, in the 20th century. Jamie is working as a printer in Edinburgh, while also smuggling on the side. Jamie and Claire return to Lallybroch to take Jamie's nephew Ian back to his parents, and encounter Laoghaire, who, it seems, is Jamie's wife as well. Claire leaves Lallybroch, planning to return to the future, when young Ian, the nephew, finds her and tells her that Laoghaire has shot Jamie and he is dying. Claire returns to save Jamie's life yet again, this time using skills that she gained training as a surgeon in the 20th century. This is just the beginning of the adventures that take Jamie and Claire from Lallybroch to France again, back to Scotland to take ship to Jamaica in search of young Ian who has been kidnapped. Where will this adventure take Jamie and Claire and will they still be together when it is over? Read this installment to find out.

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Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Rachel and Darcy have been best friends since elementary school and Darcy has planned a night out in celebration of Rachel's thirtieth birthday. Rachel has not achieved what she had hoped to achieve by the time she was thirty - no handsome loving husband, no children, no fabulous career. She is an attorney with a major New York City law firm, but she is miserable. Darcy is engaged to an incredible guy that Rachel introduced her to, has an exciting job in PR, and the kind of personality that makes her the center of attention everywhere she goes. Darcy has a little too much to drink at Rachel's party and goes home, leaving her fiance, Dex, to finish out the night with Rachel and take her home. After many more drinks, Rachel and Dex end up sleeping together. Will Rachel and Darcy's friendship survive this betrayal? Will Darcy and Dex's engagement end in heartache or marriage? Read this to find out.

Although I enjoyed this story, I don't plan to read the others in this series - it was a bit too much "Sex in the City" for me and I didn't find myself caring too much about the characters.

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To Tame a Highland Warrior by Karen Marie Moning



I enjoyed Moning's The Dark Highlander, so I checked out the others in the series from the library, but I found that I just wasn't interested in what would happen and I was forcing myself to read just to say I finished. It is similar to the way I felt when I read Darkfever, which I did finish but didn't continue the series. I can't put my finger on what it is that loses my interest after I start these, but it seems to be the repetition of problem-solution-problem-solution without much exposition. I love a good romance and I have enjoyed reading about Highland warriors in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, but this one just didn't do it for me.

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