New Ebook Release

Molly Harper writes one of my favorite series, the Jane Jameson "Nice Girls Don't..." Vampire series. If there was ever a character that I identify with, it would be Jane. She's smart, sassy and sarcastic. Pretty much my kind of gal. Anyway, this isn't about Jane.

Image from Google Images

Ms. Harper is releasing an Ebook tomorrow January 31st. I want to give everyone a heads up. If it's anything like her other two series, I would definitely give it a shot. She writes humor with a hint of edginess effortlessly. The novella is called Driving Mr. Dead. It is a spinoff of the Jane James world, so I'm totes excited.

Here is a link to the synopsis from Ms. Harper's site.

Anyway, if you've never experienced the world of Molly Harper, I suggest you give her a shot. She is on my must read list each year. You know that list of authors that anytime they release anything, you'll pick it up because you just love their style of writing. Well yeah, she's on mine.

If you'd like to check her out here are a few ways to do so.
twitter: @mollyharperauth
blog: http://singleundeadfemale.blogspot.com/
facebook: Molly Harper

peace out yo!

The Awakening

The Birthright Trilogy is a dynamic series. You get a bit of fantasy mixed with a hint of chick lit, and a drop or two of Smex. There is a nice balance across the genre board. If you have a strong group of female friends, you'll find yourself identifying with these gals as they've transported to another strange land, with only each other as support. Nicole MacDonald's second installment of The Birthright Trilogy is just as fun as the first.

I will admit when I first started this book I was so mad at Nicole. It starts two months later? What?

But the big fight and the girls and what happened? I was a blubbering mess.

maybe I am exaggerating, but I was feeling like she was a bit negligent in her duties to make sure this book is EXACTLY what i want to read, because we all know that is the Author's first priority. (did you all get the underlying sarcasm?) But I will admit I felt a bit off balance with the jump.

The good news, that feeling of imbalance does not last long. Once you get going in the book it is great.

The pace was solid. It did not lag, something was always happening, progress kept developing. That is one thing you have to love about the series, that feeling of stagnation that so many series give you, is not here.

I know some people are still going to be thrown with the multiple points of view. I get it. It's tough to read this type of POV when we're not really exposed to it that often. But once you really get into it, it's fun. You get to see everyone's point view. I like to think of it as getting to try on the "different hats" of each character.

I liked the character progression of the sequel. The girls are growing individually, as a group and in their relationships with their partners.  I did feel the fight between Cat and Loi was bit "meh". I know my friends and I have crazy fights, but this conflict didn't feel organic (that's really my only complaint).

I loved the bad guy. I had a feeling it was going to go in this direction. I feel some "Muaahhhahaha" moments in the future. I love a well written villain. How can the heroes truly shine if they're not mucked up a bit?

The highs: the girls are getting more comfortable with their powers, you get a big twist on their origins, there's some smex, and my most favorite part..... There is a Dragon!

The lows: not really any true lows. I know some people are going to struggle with the 3rd person POV.

Final Thoughts
I have really enjoyed this series so far.  Don't let the multiple points of view scare you, if you give a it a shot i think you'll like this book.

Rating:
Solid B

If you haven't, you should go back to the beginning and see where the journey starts. Nicole has been offering The Arrival free via her website http://www.damselinadirtydress.com/

The most Dangerous 1984 Lottery Game

Thanks Google Images

I know, I know, The Hunger Games is not a new book and I am way behind on reading it, but I had just never picked it up. A few days ago, I was strolling through the local Wal-Mart and saw the paperback for about 6 bucks. Since the sister had recently commented, "REALLY, you HAVEN'T read The Hunger Games?" I figured I'd go ahead and grab it. I'm glad I did.

I really loved this book. For me it was like a combination of The Lottery and 1984, with a bit of The Most Dangerous Game tossed in. However, it did not come off as a "ripoff". I think the author does a good job of getting her political philosophy across without it being over the top and taking away from the characters or getting complicated.

The story had a quick pace, was an easy read and kept me from getting bored. I could pretty much "see" everything that was happening and she did a good job at getting me pissed at the establishment. In my opinion, it sends a good message about the dangers of a government that is too big and has too much control over its citizens. Things that I feel aren't taught properly enough in today's society and makes me believe this would make a good read for students today.

I picked the book up on Monday evening, Wednesday evening I stopped and picked up the second installment on my way home. Now I've got to go back and pick up the final chapter of the trilogy.

The second book, while a bit predictable, was also a very good read and kept the same quick pace. When I say these books are quick and easy reads, I don't mean that to sound like I'm calling them simple and low quality brain food. Not all books are going to make you go into deep reflection and take a week to get through. But, they are great books for one of those days when you just want to do nothing but get lost in a movie, but would rather read.

I'll go ahead and pick up Mockingjay this week and hopefully give a better review of the overall series than just this quick blurb. I'm looking forward to the movie coming out in March.

I'm late with the review, please keep on holding on.

I suck, I'm late with the promised review. I'm working on it. But I can't really complain. I got gobsmacked by my muse and have been writing like mad. It feels wonderful. In one day I threw down 7k words. Which is pretty much what I do. I get hit upside the head by inspiration and write until my hands feel like they're going to fall off. I hate to detour from it, so i'm just going to follow this line of inspiration until it tells me to stop. So the forthcoming review may be stalled for a couple days.

But rest assured it is coming.

Just Finished Friday...

Just finished my esteemed Indie Author, Blogger Friend Nicole MacDonald's follow up novel, The Awakening.

I enjoyed the second installment of the Birthright trilogy. Do not fret, a very thorough and thoughtful review will follow sometimes this weekend.

In the meantime you can download the first installment from her website;
http://www.damselinadirtydress.com/

Great Job Nicole!

Dead on the Delta: Stacey Jay

picture from goodreads.com

I Love, Love books set in alternate settings when they are done well. Maybe some catastrophe has happened, maybe a nuclear blowout. All I ask, is for the author to just make it believable.

Dead on the Delta does just that. This book is set in a world where fairy venom is dangerous even deadly to some. The cities are surrounded by iron, to keep out the mosquito-sized bad guys. There are a few people out there who are immune to fairy venom, those people do the dirty jobs that may take them into areas filled with fairies.
Enter our protagonist; Annabelle Lee. A sassy, red headed border-line, okay across the line, alcoholic. Her abilities find her helping the right side of the law, and in the arms of her main love interest, a detective in the Bayou's police department.

The story is set in the Bayou of Louisiana. Jay does a great job of capturing that dirty charm the South has to offer. Living in the South myself, I feel like I knew these colorful characters. The bitchy sisters, the charged racial tensions, the drug runners, the rapscallions. I've met them, grew up with them, befriended some,  oh hell I'm related to most of these types of folks.

Annabelle Lee is flawed, she's far from perfect and she stumbles through life. I like this. Where many authors don't let their main character get dirty and make mistakes, Jay gives her character a breath of realism. Many heroines are so perfect, so very moral. Annabelle Lee, is not confined to those constraints.
This book brings you drug addiction, sassiness,  two sexy love interests, a murder investigation and a feeling that even in the gritty bayou, things may be dirtier than you first imagined. Plus a good dose of Paranormal otherness that makes this book stand above other Urban Fantasy type books.

I know some of these elements I mentioned sound familiar. But rest assured, Jay doesn't follow the rule book in Dead on the Delta. Her writing is entertaining, the pace is great and you don't feel like your treading water waiting for something to happen. I absolutely recommend this book if you like a little grit in your reading catalog. 

Lucky for us, there is a sequel in the works!

My Rating: A solid A-

I need to find a new author who rocks my socks off

Last year when I found Patrick Rothfuss' series, I was elated. I was a kid in the proverbial candy shop. I have rarely found an author whose books I have enjoyed as much as I did this series.

There is a list of books that have moved me. A list of books that have caused me to reexamine my life and perhaps my way of thinking. Soon, I'll publish that list. It needs to be out there. I think most people would be surprised that one of my favorite books is about a Russian Jew who went through tons of torture during Czarist Russia. One of my other favorite books centers around a tart citrus tree and it's various benefactors throughout the ongoing Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

(If someone can guess those books, I'll think of something cool to give you. Maybe I'll buy you a book via amazon or bn? Or I'll make you a bookmark. something.)

But I need a new book, I need one that moves me, makes me question the world in which I live. I need to find someone with such a distinct voice that it pushes me to be a better writer, to write something so prolific that I could be satiate my wayward literary soul, if only for a moment.

suggestions?

My turn for a 2011 recap.

Well, like Dianne said, this has been a lot of fun for us this past year. I am of a like mind with her that we should expand to reviewing just about everything we read, and not just things that we would highly recommend. This past year, there seemed to be a theme of mostly urban fantasy to our reading list. The fact of the matter though is that we both read books from just about every genre, so expect to be seeing a wider variety of books reviewed here in 2012.

Now for my recap:

Favorite new find
Kevin Hearne-Iron Druid Chronicles. Between the very entertaining story line and the awesomeness of the author, this was my favorite new find of 2011 and also my favorite storyline of the year.

Favorite addition to a long running series.
Jim Butcher-Ghost Story. This latest installment of the Dresden Files was really good. I enjoyed finding out some more of the back story related to the characters and Mr. Butcher did a good job of writing a “dead” character.

Biggest disappointment
Terry Goodkind-The Omen Machine. I'm not even sure what to call this book. Its either the latest installment, re-installment, or post-installment. I say this because the story was ended. Wrapped up, done, kaput. And it was finished beautifully. This is from my all time favorite series of books, The Sword of Truth series. See my previous post about The Omen Machine for more details.

Favorite epic story
Patrick Rothfuss-The Name of the Wind. These books are just great. Mr. Rothfuss is definitely a master wordsmith. I started out reading these books thinking that they were kind of slow, however, I could not put them down. The pace that he writes and the way he writes is almost hypnotic. I just cant explain it.

Well, there's my short recap of 2011. I've had fun with my meager contributions here and really hope to contribute much more in 2012.