Friday, August 28, 2009

Dreamfever


Title: Dreamfever
Author: Karen Marie Moning
Series: Fever (Book 4)
Genre: Paranormal


I think the book gods are frowning on me. Lately I haven't been getting a whole lot of hours at any of my jobs, but the week that Dreamfever came out all of a sudden I didn't have a spare minute to read. But I FINALLY finished!

What to say about the book - I was fantastic. Just as good as the others in the series. Of course the battle between Fae and Human continues. Mac learns a little more about the prophecy. She worries about who to trust, and we meet some new characters. Aside from this, I feel like saying too much more would give it away.

I read on another blog that the cliffhanger at the end was crazy. I figured it couldn't be any worse then the cliffhanger at the end of Faefever. I was right - I don't think the cliffhanger was as crazy, however it is a good one. I cannot help but wonder who it is.

Wherever I read that Dreamfever would have some parts from Barrons POV, they were sorely mistaken. Sometimes the book is told from Dani's point of view, but never Barrons.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Personal Demon


Title: Personal Demon
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Series: Women of the Otherworld (Book 8)
Genre: Paranormal Romance



Well, things haven't worked out in regards to Dreamfever the way I wanted, so I had some extra time to read another book first.

Personal Demon immerses the reader back into the world of the paranormal that we've been getting to know. This book was told by both Hope (a Chaos Half-Demon) and Lucas (Paiges Husband, a Cabal, a sorcerer).

Lucas' father wants Hope to infiltrate a gang that is plotting something against the Cabal. She goes undercover as a rich half demon named Faith. She gets to know the gang, and even starts to have somewhat of a relationship with Jaz (who for most of the book I just loved). She thinks that she is learning about them when a wrench is thrown into her plans.

Her "ex-boyfriend" if you want to call him that, Karl. Karl is a werewolf and has just joined the Pack. They've always had some sort of a relationship, although usually more friendly with sexual vibes. The two took it too far one night and have been slightly on the outs since. Of course Karl is just dealing with inner issues that he seems to have.

The two are investigating the gang when things start to go severely downhill. Jaz and another gang member are kidnapped, Lucas' brothers are being murdered and no one seems to know who's doing it.

I've enjoyed this series so much throughout it. You would think that by changing the narrator, that the series wouldn't be as spectacular - but it is fantastic. The only thing I didn't enjoy was that this story was told by both Hope and Lucas. While reading I really had to make sure that I paid attention to what the name of the chapter was, otherwise I was confused on who was speaking. I understand why it had to be from both sides, but one person would have been much better.

Overall, a positive addition to the series - next up Book 9, and as far as is currently written in the series. Although Book 10 - Frostbitten is released October 2009.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Faefever


Title: Faefever
Author: Karen Marie Moning
Series: Fever (Book 3)
Genre: Paranormal



Mac gets darker as the series continues, but needs to in order to stay alive. In Faefever she realizes that she has been putting her eggs all in one basket (so to speak). She starts trying to branch out and enlist the help of as many people as she can to keep alive. She doesn't trust them all, but works with them.

The walls between Fae and Humans are crumbling and all hell breaks loose. The ending of this book to me was a real cliff hanger.

I accomplished my goal and finished this book tonight to be ready for Dreamfever tomorrow. While rereading these books the past week I kept thinking about how I've heard that Dreamfever is told from Barron's point of view. I tried to make guesses about how that's going to go and I really hope that we learn a little more about him because his character is so mysterious.

Bloodfever


Title: Bloodfever
Author: Karen Marie Moning
Series: Fever (Book 2)
Genre: Paranormal (Romance?)



Mac's story continues. She looks for more OOP, she pisses off more bad guys and things get bad. She now has an inspector that is following her every move and dragging her off to the police station for questioning. She almost dies. She has some searing kisses with Barrons. She continues the hunt for the dark book.

Another reread for me in preparation of Dreamfever's release tomorrow. I have 1 day to get through Faefever (and go to work) before the release tomorrow. My goal is to finish Faefever tonight, go to bed and pick up Dreamfever tomorrow morning (hopefully before work).

I felt that the story between the two books is seamless, although sometimes I feel as if I can't exactly tell you what has happened, because it seems as if nothing really has. Or it has, but is somewhat of a spoiler. So I'll leave my poor explaination of the story as is and instead think ahead to Faefever, where I remember the ending is insane. What perfect timing for the end of a book.

Friday, August 14, 2009

No Humans Involved


Title: No Humans Involved
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Series: Women of the Otherworld (Book 7)
Genre: Paranormal Romance



For this installment of the Women of the Otherworld, we follow Jaime the necromancer. This time she is chosen to be part of a reality TV show where she and two others will talk to the ghost of Marilyn Monroe and figure out who killed her. It seems like an easy enough job until Jaime notices odd things.

Whenever she goes in the garden she can feel spirits who will touch her and poke her. She cannot see them and cannot talk to the, which for her is odd. She figures out that these 6 spirits are children. She becomes determined to help them cross over. This seems to be a problem, however, because she doesn't know why they are the way they are. This sets the scene for the mystery in the book.

Another large portion of this story is devoted to Jeremy and Jaime. The two have always liked each other and in this book finally hook up. To me it seemed a little odd for Jeremy to be getting down and dirty when he is portrayed as such a gentleman and well controlled man. It seemed like he was the type who would never have sex.

I find that as the series continues and I get to know more and more about the characters Kelley Armstrong has created, I want to read more. This seems to be a bit out of the ordinary. It truly is a good series if it can keep me wanting more 7 books later. Only two more books that are currently released. Book # 10: Frostbitten comes out October 2009. This seems like it's going to be released at the perfect time.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Darkfever


Title: Darkfever
Author: Karen Marie Moning
Series: Fever Series (Book 1)
Genre: Paranormal/Romance



This for me was a reread. I read this October last year. The fourth book of the series is coming out a week from tomorrow, and I wanted to be refreshed before I read it. My original review of the first there is here. I like these books enough that I own the entire series, for me sometimes that is saying a lot.

This book is the start of Mac's story (obviously). She learns of her sisters death and heads out to Dublin to figure out who killed her. The police haven't gotten any leads and closed the case, but that's not enough for Mac.

When she gets to Ireland she starts seeing odd things. Creatures that shouldn't exist, double vision and other oddities that she can't explain. Eventually this leads her to Barron's Books and Baubles (perhaps where I came up with the blog name...) where she meets the Barron himself. There is something odd about him but she just can't put her finger on it. The two of them then go on a hunt for Fae objects and the deadly book, pissing off way to many people in that world.

Reading this book for the second time was interesting. I started adding to my collection of "What Makes Barron Odd...What IS He?!" Mac tells the story as though she is looking back on time and since I feel like I know "future Mac" this was an interesting way for me to read it this second time around. Since I know enough about the Fae world from reading the books already I also feel like I was able to pull some more information together because initially I wasn't so confused.

Not all books are as good the second time around, but this one was well worth my second read. Next up is Book 2 - Bloodfever.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Broken


Title: Broken
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Series: Women of the Otherworld (Book 6)
Genre: Paranormal



I had a hell of a time finding this book. My library said they use to have it, but someone lost it so they no longer had it. I thought about just skipping this one and going on to the next, but I really love the story of Clay and Elena. So I found it at another library after borrowing a friends library card.

After not following Clay and Elena's story for the past 3 books I was excited to get back to them and see how things were going. Elena was pregnant! Now of course because she's a werewolf (wolf's gestational period is 9 weeks) she was always a little ahead of schedule. Jeremy, Clay and the rest of the Pack don't want outsiders to know that Elena's pregnant. Much like she gets a lot of attention for being the only werewolf, they are worried about problems surrounding the only "full-blood" werewolf baby.

Elena gets a call from a friend who wants to exchange favors. He'll tell them where a mutt they've been hunting is and they steal an artifact for him. Seems easy enough and they agree. Stealing the paper goes well, until they decide to look at it and accidentally open a portal to the time of Jack the Ripper and unleash a killer, plague and zombies onto Toronto. From there they must clean up the mess.

The book ends (of course) with Elena giving birth. Fantastic - I can't wait to hear about the family in the next book about them, although that looks like it's not happening until October. I have 3 more to read before then.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Men of the Otherworld


Title: Men of the Otherworld
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Series: Women of the Otherworld Accompaniment
Genre: Paranormal



Remember the Women of the Otherworld? Specifically Elena? This book tells the story of Jeremy and Clay. We learn about the circumstances surrounding Jeremy's birth and why he's a little bit different then anyone else. How Clay came to be, and how Jeremy found him and gained his trust. Lastly we hear the story of Jeremy's rise to Alpha.

Fantastic. I thought that this book was better than any of the books in the Women of the Otherworld Series. It was just exceptional. If you're not interested in reading that series, this could be a stand alone book. Wow....just wow.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Lost in Your Arms


Title: Lost in Your Arms
Author: Christina Dodd
Series: Governess Brides (Book 5)
Genre: Romance



I was a bit worried about continuing the Governess Brides series because the three original ladies have all been married off. I thought it seemed like it was suppose to be a trilogy and Dodd hit a roadblock so continued with the series when it should have ended. I discovered book 4, In My Wildest Dreams doesn't exist at my library, and I didn't want to buy a book without buying the entire series (a bit of an issue with me) so I just skipped it and moved onto book 5. I do think that it did feel like a different series though. The only importance of the Distinguished Academy of Governesses is that it's name is mentioned a few times, that's it. She doesn't even come from there.

Our heroine is Enid MacLean. She was married almost 9 years ago to a husband who left her after a few months, and in major debt. She is a companion to an elderly woman who she adores when she gets the news. Her husband has been found and he's on the brink of death. They want her to come and nurse him back to health.

As much as she doesn't want to leave her current charge, she is persuaded to go, but she doesn't go happily. The memories that she has from her husband are nothing like the man who is lying in the bed before her. But he has the exact same green eyes.

In addition to it all, someone wants to kill them both and they begin a crazy journey across Scottland to get home.

A bit predictable - but a highly enjoyable story after all. Sometimes I think Christina Dodd can't go wrong. I eat up each one of her books with delight.