Friday Finds...with fangs!

A weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB, "Friday Finds" allows you to share with other bloggers about the new-to-you books found during the week — books you either want to add to your TBR (to be read) list, or that you just heard about that sounded interesting.

Post about your latest discoveries and then link back to the comment section on the most current "Friday Finds" at Should Be Reading.

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After an short "vacation" (not by choice, unfortunately) from my memes/blog, here's my finds this week:

"Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs" by Molly Harper [found at Froggarita's Coffin]

as well as the second book...
"Nice Girls Don't Date Dead Men" by Molly Harper [also found at Froggarita's Coffin]

 
Which I have subsequently bought!

Jenn

Review: "Cutting loose" by Susan Andersen

Title: Cutting Loose
Author: Susan Andersen
Series:Sisterhood Diaries, book 1
Publication: Don Mills, ON.: Harlequin Books, 2008
Tag Line: He's getting under her skin...in more ways than one
Summary: Jane thinks nothing can make her lose her cool.
But the princess of propriety blows a gasket the night she meets the contractor restoring the Wolcott mansion. Devlin Kavanagh's rugged sex appeal may buckle her knees, but the man is out of control! Jane had to deal with theatrics growing up - she won't tolerate them in someone hired to work on the house she and her two best friends have just inherited.
Dev could renovate the mansion in his sleep. But ever since the prissy owner spotted him jet-lagged, exhausted and hit hard by a couple of welcome-home drinks, she's been on his case. Yet there's something about her. Jane hides behind conservative clothes and a frosty manner, but her seductive blue eyes and leopard-print heels hint at a woman just dying to cut loose! [back cover]

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When I read Randi's review at "Readers of Romance Book Challenges" of Cutting Loose, it sounded interesting, and I placed a copy on hold at work. But I just "happened" (he he) to be in Chapters when they had a sale on romance titles, so I ended up purchasing a copy. I should have waited.

Jane and Dev's relationship grows over the course the the renovation of the newly-inherited (by Jane and her two best friends, Poppy and Ava - both of whom will have their own stories) Wolcott mansion. It progresses from snapping at each other, to a "guilt-free" (i.e. a no strings attached - snort) relationship, and finally to the HEA. As for the characters, Dev wasn't bad (introduced for the first time as the "...redhead with the seam-threatening shoulders" - I'm a sucker for redheads), Jane fell flat for me (which probably had to do with her constant need for control and her multiple attempts to repress of her emotions), while the most interesting character in the book (for me) was Dev's brother Finn (described as the "sexy monk brother" - woo hoo!).

It's not that I didn't like the book - it was diverting and entertaining. Unfortunately, the story just didn't click with me (when I start putting the book down multiple times by choice, I know I'm in trouble). The beginning set-up was interesting (if a little long), the middle bits dragged in places, before the story picked up near the end. The suspense was miniscule - it was not a question of who or why, but rather, when would he be caught (and I kind of liked getting the villain's pov - even if he was a scumbag).

Will I read the rest of the trilogy? Well, yes, because I hate leaving a series unfinished, and you never know - I might like the other stories...

Ratings:
Overall - One Read
Heat - Spicy
Language - Strong

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Lists and Challenges:

"Reviews"

Readers of Romance Seasonal Book Challenge - Fall 2008: 15. "A book with a two (2) word title"

Jenn

BTT: Recent "Chunky"...

What’s the biggest book you’ve read recently?

(Feel free to think “big” as size, or as popularity, or in any other way you care to interpret.)

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Hmmm...I guess my chunkiest recent read was late last year with Sherrilyn Kenyon's "Acheron". It weighed in at a hefty 728 pages - and I finished in a day (mind you, I didn't get anything else accomplished that day)! ;-)

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Filed in:
BTT at Chasing the Mouse...

Teaser Tuesday: Oooooh...

It's Teaser Tuesday!
A weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.

Grab your current read, open to a random page and share 2 "teaser" sentences - be careful not to spoil it for others! Post your link to the current Tuesday post at the Should Be Reading blog.

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"Criminey, it was cold. More than cold. It felt like it was getting colder by the minute - I put out a hand, testing the air, waving it back and forth slowly - yes, right here. I looked up. No ceiling register blowing down on me. The floor? There was nothing that broke the tile surface that I could see. Worse yet was the feeling that crawled over my skin the longer I stood there. Strange. Uncomfortable. As though I was an intruder in the space."

[p. 118, No Rest For the Wiccan by Madelyn Alt]

BTT: "Fluffy" Content

What’s the lightest, most “fluff” kind of book you’ve read recently?

Depends on you definition of fluff! ;-)

Light, entertaining, fun, easy to read... I love fluff books! (Except for chick-lit - those I can only take in small doses.) Actually, I rarely consider a book a "fluff" - a lot of so-called fluff books can have excellent characters, wonderful stories, and smart plots. Plus, since they're usually pb's, they're easy to carry around! ;-)

But as for my most recent fluffy read? It was a little while ago, but I would have to say Erin McCarthy's "High stakes", the first book in her "Vegas Vampires" series. It was a fast read, with just a hint of mystery, (vampire politicians? vampire first ladies? in Vegas, no less!) and the match between Alexis and Ethan was fun! ;-)

Title: High stakes
Author: Erin McCarthy
Series: Vegas Vampires
Published: 2006
Genre: Vampire chick-lit
Summary: He's a bloodsucking freak of nature. But, unlike other politicians, Ethan Carrick is actually a nice guy. Not to mention a very hot, wealthy, casino-owning vampire. It's an election year for vampires, which means he'll first have to escape his opponent's hit men. Then he'll have to find a suitable First Lady, preferably here in Vegas. Brittany Baldizzi fits the bill. She's smart, pretty- and sweeter than a glass of diabetic O-Negative. But her protective sister Alexis steps in with a message for Ethan: Bite me. It's then that he realizes it's the sexy, no-nonsense Alexis who raises his stake. And as much as she denies it, Alexis wouldn't mind a romp in the coffin with him. But can a mere mortal, even one who risks her life for him, make a centuries-old, womanizing vampire feel something entirely new? [Fantastic Fiction]

Filed in: Booking Through Thursday in "Chasing the Mouse..."

BTT Challenge: Best Recent Read

What’s the best book you’ve read recently?
(Tell me you didn’t see this one coming?)

For pure personal enjoyment (which is how I'm going to define "best"), Patricia C. Wrede's "Searching for dragons" (book 2 in the Enchanted forest chronicles) was my best recent read.

[original cover]
I read the first book, "Dealing with dragons" a few years back, but then never went through the process of borrowing the remainder of the series. [Watch as I now kick myself] Not long ago, I ran across a review of Wrede's newest series (Cecelia and Kate), which pinged my memory about the dragons, and thus I decided to splurge on the box set of the "Enchanted forest chronicles", which contains books 1-4.

I must warn you: I usually have problems with second books in a series. "Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets" was my least favourite, as was Jim Butcher's "Fool moon" and, more recently, Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell's "Return of the emerald skull." I find they tend to make the trilogy, quartet, series, etc. sag, flounder, or otherwise loose the reader's attention. With half a dozen (or more!) plot threads, it's easy to see how this can happen. That said...

I loved "Searching for dragons"! Cimorene was her usually spunky self, and Mendanbar was seamlessly introduced into the world as the king-who-doesn't-want-to-be-king (he's banned all official functions, much to the dismay of his steward) of the Enchanted Forest. What I found most unique was that this book was Mendanbar's story, told from his angle (though still in third person pov). My only fault with the book was the ending wrap-up, which I found a bit rushed.

[reprinted cover]
Title: Searching for dragons
Author: Patricia C. Wrede
Series: Enchanted forest chronicles, book 2
Published: 1991
Genre: YA fantasy
Summary: Cimorene, the princess who refuses to be proper, is back - but where is Kazul the dragon? That's what Cimorene is determined to find out. Luckily - or perhaps not-so-luckily - she's got help: Mendandbar, the not-very-kingly King of the Enchanted Forest, has joined her in her quest. So with the aid of a broken-down magic carpet, a leaky magical sword, and a few buckets of soapy lemon water, they set off across the Enchanted Forest to tackle the dragon-napping and save the King of the Dragons. [back cover]

Filed in: BTT Challenge Index at Chasing the Mouse...

Barnaby Grimes: Tick-tock lad

Authors: Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell (illustrator)
Series: Barnaby Grimes (so far, 4 books - only 2 published in Canada)
Title: 1. "Curse of the night wolf" (2007)
Genre(s): young adult fantasy/horror

A gloriously macabre tale in a breathtaking new series, packed with intrigue, horror and fantastic illustrations. [inside jacket cover]

Having devoured the "Edge Chronicles," (and, sniff, was sad to see the end) I was keen to try this duo's newest series. I was not disappointed. Though the text printing is larger (in my edition, anyway), it is definitely not for their youngest fans - especially when it comes to the slightly gruesome horror elements (though some kids might be attracted for this very factor!). Packed with non-stop action, mystery, and (of course) Riddell's gorgeous illustrations, "Curse of the night wolf" is definitely a keeper - even for adult fans such as myself!

Barnaby Grimes is a tick-tock lad, a (as he explains it) "...cross between a messenger and a delivery boy, only a tick-tock lad has to be faster than the first and twice as sharp as the second..." (pp. 8-9). Working in a large early Victorian city reminiscent of London, he "highstacks" while delivering, collecting, and witnessing for a variety of sometimes eccentric clients. Along the way, his adventures usually take a turn to the supernatural, and are hinted at (and thus setting up the series) throughout the beginning chapters of the book. Even more intriguing, the reader is set-up for the ending in the first chapter, as Barnaby begins his tale involving patent medicines, impoverished patients and very expensive furs...

"Have you ever felt your skin being peeled slowly away from your arms and legs? Your muscles being torn and shredded as every bone in your body fights to burst through your flesh? Have you ever felt every tendon and sinew stretched to breaking point as your skeleton attempts to rip itself apart from the inside? I have, and I'll never forget it." (p. 1)