~REVIEW of J.D Robb's NAKED IN DEATH~

~ANOTHER CONFIRMED ROARKE GROUPIE~

Naked in Death (In Death, #1)

.5

Opening Line:"She woke in the dark"

What can I say about NAKED IN DEATH that hasn’t been said already? Well obviously I don’t need to go into the plot because that’s been done to DEATH (sorry) I will say though that because so many people recommended this book to me and because my friend Lokster eventually gave me a copy I did feel somewhat obligated to read it. Robb’s 'Death' series is 30 books long now (and counting) which is somewhat daunting when starting a new series, so a part of me really didn’t want to get hooked on this and for the first hundred pages or so I can honestly say that I didn’t.

But then something happened, or I should say someone happened. Someone in the form of a charming, mysterious and utterly addictive Irish billionaire and murder suspect named Roarke. Yes, damn his sweet button carrying self but my new literary boyfriend saved this book because quite frankly detective Eve Dallas on her own isn’t very likable and I’m also not really a fan of the police procedurals. It’s the sweetness, romance, patience and delicious mystery of Roarke that will keep me coming back.

I also had a hard time understanding why Robb chose to set this in the future (sort of) I say sort of because she never went all the way with her future aspect. Sure she mentions in passing a few cool gadgets (an autochef would really come in handy) and theres flying cars, robot servants, off world business meetings and plenty of clever new cop toys but except for the legalized prostitution and gun prohibition it’s still the New York we know of today. I just feel that if Robb was going to go for the whole future angle then she should have gone all the way or just not bothered because her BladeRunneresque vision was gimmicky and rather pointless to the story. But that’s just my opinion.

Of course theres a lot to like here too; obviously Robb’s (Nora Roberts) writing is top notch and she spins a well planned, easy to read, dark mystery here. Her characters have also been completely fleshed out, in particular Eve. Who although crass, hands off and by the book has enough flaws and skeletons in the closet that you can’t help but sympathize with her and hope she loosens up a bit and lets a certain someone in. Which brings me back to Roarke. Maybe this quote describes him best, Cheers!

“You got a button fetish Roarke?”
“I’ve been carrying this around like a schoolboy carries a lock of his sweetheart’s hair.”
Her eyes came back to his, and something sweet moved through her. Sweeter yet as she could see he was embarrassed.
“That’s weird.”
“I thought so, myself.” But he slipped the button back in his pocket.
“Do you know what else I think, Eve?”
“I don’t have a clue.”
“I think I’m in love with you.”  

*Sigh* Yeah so I’m starting book 2 (GLORY IN DEATH) as we speak

~Last Movie I Watched- PAUL~

 .5

I watched this because I'm a huge Simon Pegg fan with Sean Of The Dead being one of my all time favourite movies. Here he's again teamed with his partner in crime Nick Frost (Hot Fuzz) and with Seth Rogan as the voice of Paul the alien I was expecting. This was funny, especially if you're a science fiction movie nerd (like me) but it wasn't as great as I was hoping or expecting. Cute, funny story and I appreciated all the homage paid to movies like ET, Star Wars (cantina song) Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Alien etc. However even with all this going for it, it still just didn't quite hit the mark for me.

Official IMDB Synopsis:
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead) reunite for the comedy adventure Paul as two sci-fi geeks whose pilgrimage takes them to America's UFO heartland. While there, they accidentally meet an alien who brings them on an insane road trip that alters their universe forever. For the past 60 years, an alien named Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen) has been hanging out at a top-secret military base. When he discovers he's been taken prisoner, the space-traveling smart ass decides to escape the compound and hop on the first vehicle out of town-a rented RV containing Earthlings Graeme Willy (Pegg) and Clive Gollings (Frost). Chased by federal agents and the fanatical father of a young woman that they accidentally kidnap, Graeme and Clive hatch a fumbling escape plan to return Paul to his mother ship. And as two nerds struggle to help, one little green man might just take his fellow outcasts from misfits to intergalactic heroes...

~REVIEW of Loreth Anne White's THE SHEIK'S COMMAND~

The Sheik's Command (Sahara Kings, Book 1)

Opening Line: “The ragged tops of tall palms rustled quietly in a furnace like breeze and the sky pressed down over the Moorish city of Na’Jar.

Oh this was fun, whisked away to the desert land of Sheik princes, royal palaces, camels, date palms, espionage and love among the sand dunes. Not my normal fare to be sure but I really enjoyed this. Author Loreth Ann White has outdone herself with the amount of research she must have put into this story. I actually felt like I was in Africa with the sun and sand on my skin, a bejewelled scarf covering my head and a camel lurching beneath me. It was a fantastic escape.

And while this is set up a bit like the old fashioned bodice rippers -kidnapped by a handsome prince/harem situation this is definitely a contemporary romance. Our heroine is tough, independent and smart while our Sheik is realistic in the ways of running his country and modern in his thinking and dealings with women. With a sweet romance, entertaining espionage story and a couple of desert treks the only thing here that annoyed me was that the entire conflict between the H/h was based on a lack of communication (just tell him/her already) which always drives me crazy.

Nikki Hunt is on the run from her past, having lost everything seven years ago she’s changed her name, became an aid worker and is now travelling across a war torn country in Northern Africa. It’s no place for a woman, especially one in charge of a group of sick orphans. With the borders closing around her Nikki finds herself trapped and at the mercy of the “Dark King” of Al Na’Jar. Begging his help for safe passage to the Atlantic and medical aid for her children. What Nikki hadn’t counted on was being held hostage in his palace and or that she would feel such an attraction to this secretive regal man.

Prince Zakir Al Arif needs a wife in the worst kind of way. To ascend the throne he must first be married and it’s going to have to be before his progressing medical condition becomes public knowledge too. Zakir doesn’t have time to seduce a woman, which makes Nikki perfect for the job of his Queen. Not only does she speak Arabic and know the ways of his people she also appeals to his fondness of western ways. Now all he has to do is convince her that a marriage of convince would benefit both of them without falling in love. However when a traitor is revealed amongst his people and Nikki commits the ultimate act of betrayal Zakir’s time may have just run out

~REVIEW of Lorelei James' RODE HARD PUT UP WET~

Rode Hard Put Up Wet (Roughrides #2)

Opening line: That horse nearly throwed you clean into the funeral parlour, boy."

Giddy-up Cowgirls, Welcome to another deliciously hot read from Lorelei James’s addictive Roughriders. This is book 2 in the series although for some reason I missed it the first time through. So now even though I’m up to book 9, I had a super fun time going back to the beginning and revisiting the delicious McKay boys before they all grew up, got married and started acting responsible and repopulating most of Wyoming. With Rode Hard Put Up Wet we of course get all-kinds-of-ways hot and steamy cowboy lovin but here we also get the added bonus of a two-four. As in 2 couples finding love and passion in 1 sexy story and how great is that!

We met our first couple; Gemma and Big Cash Crow in LONG HARD RIDE and although they’re older in the traditional sense (30’s & 40’s) both still very much have the “it” factor when it comes to spice in the bedroom. I loved their story and definitely preferred it out of the two. Cash even gave me a couple of *sigh* moments when he finally turned the lights on and opened his eyes… Their romance is about second chances, no matter what stage of life you’re in.

Explosive, impulsive, selfish, jealous, unsure, intense and at times downright annoying; Cash’s daughter Macie and self-centered artist Carter McKay as our second couple personified young love. This pair was all over the place with their emotions and a ton of fun to watch as I never knew what they were going to do next. I had a seriously tough time liking Carter though --as Macie often says “He’s a dumbass” Finding him immature and for the most part just an idiot. Cash on the other hand is all MAN...

Widow Gemma Jansen is looking for someone to help manage her ranch, luckily she knows just the sweet cowboy for the job. Cash Big Crow has just retired from the rodeo circuit and is looking to reconnect with his grown daughter Macie. Going to work for Gemma might be just the answer everyone’s looking for. Giving Cash and Macie the opportunity to settle in one place and get to know each other and Gemma the hired hand she needs. Of course before Cash agrees he has a few non-negotiable conditions; theres won’t be a strictly working relationship, Gemma might be the boss lady during the day but once in the bedroom Cash is going to be in charge, no questions asked.            

To complete our foursome we’re also introduced to ranch hand and I’m too sexy for my boots/tortured artist Carter McKay. He takes one look at Macie and realizes he’s found his perfect muse. The artist in him begging to paint her, sculpt her and just plain have her. This doesn’t sit well with Cash, he knows all to well the reputations of those hard living, womanizing McKay boys and there ain’t no way one of them is getting near his daughter. Oh theres sure to be fun and games and even a few dust ups at the Bar-9 this summer.

As much as I enjoyed this it certainly wasn’t my favourite in the series and it took me a while to figure out why I was having a harder time connecting with this story. But with 2 couples and 4 POV’s it just wasn’t as tight. And with all the switching back and forth neither couple ever felt complete. Anyways, a very small gripe for another great instalment.

~REVIEW of Suzanne Brockmann's HARVARD'S EDUCATION~

Harvard's Education (Tall, Dark & Dangerous, #5)


Opening Line: "This was wrong. It was all wrong."

Ack this was so good. Although I will admit a bit slow to get started, by the end however I really felt like I knew our heroes and was completely wrapped up in their lives, especially during their last so called “training” mission together. Jeez talk about suspense and romance in the jungle.

“Harvard” Becker is the 5th SEAL from Brockmann’s Tall Dark and Dangerous series to have his story told. And while I somehow missed this fantastic series the first time around I’m sure enjoying the hell out of it now with the re-issues. These well written, quickie romances are impossible to put down, with delicious alpha male heroes, sweet romances and just the right amount of action, suspense and melodrama to keep you coming back for more. And except for Brockmann’s tendency to make up imaginary countries I just love her style of writing; using real military jargon she gives us larger then life Navy Seal heroes and exciting yet plausible storylines. Her romantic dialogue and love scenes are always amazing and our big, bad hero *sigh* usually even sheds a few tears.

Harvard and the rest of SEAL team 10 are running training exercises during an 8 week experiment wherein they are to train members of FInCOM in all things Navy SEAL. With the type of life and death situations they face this is an exclusive boys club and that’s just the way Harvard likes it. Enter PJ Richards, sharpshooter, most capable recruit, Harvard’s perfect intellectual match and of course all woman. With his sexist attitude these two have problems from the start. Harvard just doesn’t believe women belong in a combat zone, it’s too dangerous, too brutal and she would be far too distracting.

A great deal of HARVARD’S EDUCATION takes place within the relative downtime of training, so we really get to know our couple. Watching their relationship ebb and flow at times felt like a character study without the usual benefit of firefights, tangos and explosions. Another great aspect here was getting reacquainted with past team members in particular Joe Catalanotto from book #1 (PRINCE JOE) We are also introduced to new grey group member ‘Crash’ and I can’t wait for his story in (HAWKEN'S HEART)

The ending chapters here were fantastic as a planned out of country “training” mission goes horribly wrong. Leaving me hanging for quite a while as to whether the mission (and fatalities) were in fact real or a training op. Pinned down by hostiles, armed only with paint ball guns, and with their leader Captain Joe severely injured and taken hostage it’s going to be up to PJ and Harvard to save the day. Will he be able to set his prejudices aside long enough to let PJ do her job and help rescue their team mates? Will they make sweet love while awaiting nightfall, save their commander and maybe fall in love? Sorry my description makes this sound super cheesy when in fact this is actually suspenseful, exciting and really well done. Cheers

~REVIEW of Gena Showalter's THE DARKEST NIGHT~

 ~YUMMY, LORDS OF THE UNDERWORLD~

The Darkest Night (Lords of the Underworld, #1) 

Opening line: "Every night death came, slowly, painfully, and every morning Maddox awoke in bed, knowing he'd have to die again later."

 

As a fan of paranormal romance and in particular JR Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood my searches for what to read next kept taking me to this series. That's not to say the two are comparable, because they aren't but if you like continuing story arcs with multiple character POV's, hot, sexy love scenes, the occasional bloody fight and tortured yet strong alpha males who become kittens once they meet their prospective mates then you might like this too.

The premise for Gena Showalter's world is quite elaborate. Centuries ago a group of immortal warriors released the demons from Pandora's Box. (Yes the Pandora's Box) As punishment the Greek gods cursed the warriors, forcing each to act as host to one of the demons, sort of like a duo personality. Maddox, this books hero is the keeper of violence and because he was unable to control his demon in the beginning and killed Pandora. (Yes the Pandora) Maddox was additionally cursed to die each night at the hands of his fellow warriors, burning in the pits of hell until morning (which can`t be fun) The Lords of the underworld now live in a secluded castle in Budapest, each struggling to coexist with their own personal demon. The other warriors possess things like disease, wrath, death, pain, doubt, promiscuity, lies, and disaster, all of whom getting their own book as the series progresses.

Our heroine here is Ashlyn Darrow. She works for the World institute of Parapsychology and has come to Budapest with her team to investigate the warriors. Poor Ashlyn has a curse of her, born with the ability to hear any conversation that has ever taken place in the location where she is standing. These voices in her head have ruined her life and she'd do anything for a moment's silence. Maddox finds Ashlyn in the woods outside the castle and even though he thinks she's `bait' sent by the `hunters' (bad guys) he is instantly drawn to her. For Ashlyn it's a miracle, because even though she finds this violent and bloody (he's just killed some hunters) man terrifying the voices have stopped. Now she can't bear to be separated from him and Maddox can't help himself either (they never can) carrying her back to the castle and into his chambers. Of course he's going to have to explain himself to the other men, if he can leave Ashlyn's side long enough and what happens at midnight when his friends have to kill him? That's sure to put a damper on the ole love life.

The premise for this series is original and exciting and I will definitely be continuing on, despite the fact at times I was overwhelmed by Greek Mythology and couldn't keep track of who was who and cursed with which demon. I also had trouble with Ashlyn and found her to be written too young and virginal to ever handle a man like Maddox (maybe I was just jealous though?)

~Last Movie I watched- TRANSPORTER 3~

 

Ack this was so good; in a cheesy, action movie with a yummy star kinda way. Super cool fight scenes and amazing car chases. Statham takes his shirt off several times and is just bad-ass sexy. Refreshing to watch an action movie that doesn't take place in America. Here we are in Budapest and his love interest is Russian, unique looking girl. Bottom line fun, with nice scenery :)



Awesome!

 Official IMDB synopsis:
Frank Martin turns down a job in Marseilles, referring it to a pal. A short time later, the pal, wounded by gunfire, crashes his car into Frank's living room and dies, leaving a young woman in the back seat. The employer of the dead man shows up, forces Frank to take the job, snaps a bracelet on his wrist that will explode if Frank gets more than 75 feet from his car, and sends Frank on a journey east with the young woman and a trunk full of something. She's Valentina, the kidnapped daughter of a Ukranian government official. From Marseilles to Odessa on the Black Sea, he has to contend with thugs who want to intercept Valentina's safe delivery and not let his personal feelings get in the way of his dangerous objective.

~REVIEW of Steven Tyler's DOES THE NOISE IN MY HEAD BOTHER YOU?~

Opening line: “Life is short. Break the rules, forgive quickly, kiss slowly, laugh uncontrollably, and never regret anything that makes you smile.”

Reading about rock stars and their insane lives of excess is one of my guilty pleasures. I find the rise to success intriguing and then there are always the drugs, the girls, the inevitable rehab, more rehab and the stories behind the story. You know, how a song originated, what the lyrics really mean, why he fell off the stage. Then there’s also the feuds with band mates, personal relationships and dirty little secrets of other stars they party with.

Steven Tyler's bio is no different, all the goods are here, and he doesn’t hold anything back (understatement) the only thing is in order to get to “the goods” you have to wade through utter randomness to find them. Yes Steve the noise is your head does bother me because most of the time I can’t keep up with what you’re talking about.

This is written exactly how Tyler talks (and sings) with a what-will-he-say next, conversationally feel to it. And while its fun it’s also bizarre, crazy and at times difficult to follow. Jumping all over the place without a logical timeline and obscure song lyrics and poems thrown in whenever he feels like it. He wants to sniff J.Lo, he’s doing lines on tour, he’s driving around in a yellow convertible with some hot babe, suddenly he’s back in school, he’s married, he’s in rehab, it’s all Joe Perry’s fault, this is what black tastes like, I like to walk naked in my garden and talk to the fairies.

 Page 90-“I sat down at the drums and wrote the drum line for Walk This Way. You want the story now or when we get to Toys in the Attic? Hey, I never said this was gonna be a completely linear read. How could it be? (Ha!) But we’re on DRUMS so… what the f---”

Anyways maybe if I were a true Aerosmith fan I would have appreciated this more, I don’t know? As it was though once I was able to turn the noise down there was a lot of interesting stuff here because at 63 and with 40 years in the business Steve has seen and done it all with everyone.

As expected theres a ton of drug use here which actually gets kind of boring after a while I will admit though at being surprised when after 12 years of sobriety, a slew of health problems (Hepatitis C, false brain tumour diagnosis, torn ACL, broken blood vessel in throat and all the problems with his twisted feet) sent him spinning out of control with an addiction to post surgery pain meds and back for an 8th stint in rehab in 2009.

He goes into great detail about his wardrobe and scarves which I’m sure will interest some and although his “brother” Joe Perry’s name is mentioned throughout we learn little about their ongoing love/hate relationship. We also hear about his wives (3 and counting), his children (4 and counting) and how Aerosmith always came before his family. I personally found the sections on song writing super interesting; the process, what the lyrics mean or in his case don’t because sometimes he just likes how the words feel on his tongue.

With 32 pages of great photos fans will lick this up however I could only give it 3 stars because it took me ages to finish and at times drove me mad.

~REVIEW of David Benioff's CITY OF THIEVES~

~FANTASTIC COMING OF AGE STORY SET DURING THE SEIGE OF LENINGRAD~

I came away from this feeling very cold, very hungry and with an inexplicable need to make sure my pantry was full. CITY OF THIEVES is a fantastic story; set in 1942 during the Nazis’ brutal siege of Leningrad. It’s a coming of age story filled with adventure, suspense, friendship, romance and tragedy all washed down with (from what I understand) a historically accurate picture of Leningrad during the blockade.

I should point out that despite the events of the time this is also a surprisingly funny read as our two main characters; Kolya the romantic optimist and Lev with his random internal observations both have an interesting way of looking at life around them during the absurdities of war.

The story begins with a powerful opening chapter; a writer asks his grandfather to tell him about his experiences during the war. All the narrator knows -and he doesn’t remember anyone telling him its just one of those family folklores that he always has. Is that his grandfather, "the knife fighter" killed two Germans before he was eighteen and is missing a finger. And so Lev begins to tell his story to his grandson. Talking openly for the first time about his childhood, coming to America and sex. Mostly though he talks about a two week period in 1942 when he met his best friend, the woman that would become his wife and killed two Germans. I actually referred back to this chapter several times during the course of the book and again when I finished.

Its January 1942 Leningrad is under marshal law, surrounded by the German army and what’s left of its inhabitants are starving. Our hero 17 year old Lev Beniov has just been arrested for looting and placed in a cell with a handsome friendly deserter named Kolya Vlasov. Both of their crimes are grounds for execution and as our heroes get to know each other that’s what they expect come morning. However in a twist of fate they are given a chance to save their own lives, a secret mission for a powerful soviet colonel. All they have to do is find a dozen eggs for his daughter’s wedding cake.

A dozen eggs in a city cut off from supplies, a city resorting to cannibalism and eating glue from book spines to survive. It is of course a ludicrous and impossible task one which takes our new friends far into German occupied territory, through the bitter cold of winter and countless adventures and atrocities. The outcome didn’t really surprise me but I haven't stopped thinking about it either.

“One moment I thought I had a few minutes left to live; the next a sniper was flirting with me. Was she flirting with me? The days had become a confusion of catastrophes; what seemed impossible in the afternoon was blunt fact by the evening. German corpses fell from the sky; cannibals sold sausage links made from ground human in the Haymarket; apartments blocs collapsed to the ground; dogs became bombs; frozen soldiers became sign posts. I had no food in my belly, no fat on my bones and no energy to reflect on this parade of atrocities. I just kept moving, hoping to find another half slice of bread for myself and a dozen eggs for the colonel’s daughter.”

~REVIEW of Cindy Gerard's TAKE NO PRISONERS~

Take No Prisoners (Black Op's #2)

Opening Line: "A gecko, low slung, forked feet flying, skittered across the sill of an open window, hauling ass as if it actually had somewhere to go."

I'm loving this series! TAKE NO PRISONERS is another WOW read from Cindy Gerard’s fantastic Black-Ops BOI’s. This cleverly written story starts off with a bang and just keeps on going. Filled with action and suspense a-plenty Gerard whisks the reader to exotic locations filled with car chases, shootouts and several wicked bad guys all trying to out smart each other over a damn big diamond. Somehow our couple still manages to get in some passionate yet tender love scenes and with a whole team of interesting secondary characters this is everything you want in romantic suspense.

Ever since her divorce and a few subsequent bad dates Abbie Hughes no longer trusts men, besides between going to school, worrying about her wayward younger brother and working nights as a Vegas blackjack dealer who has the time? Her one vice would have to be her wild girlfriend Crystal but even she can’t persuade Abbie to let loose. All that changes the night Sam Lang sits down at one of her tables, On the outside he appears to be a shy rancher who just happens to look mighty fine in a pair of Wranglers but Sam Lang is much more.

Sam, a recently retired member of Black-Ops Inc is on a vengeful quest to find the international crime lord who murdered his sister. His leads have brought him to Abbie and her brother Cory who he suspects are involved in a lucrative gem smuggling business and working with Nader, the man responsible. To find Nader Sam is going to have to use Abbie however the more he gets to know her the less convinced he is that she’s involved and the harder its getting to fight the growing attraction between them. When Cory goes missing in Honduras Sam and Abbie are forced to work together to locate him and on Sam’s end obtain his ultimate goal, revenge. Together with the entire Black-Ops team they head into the Honduran backcountry using Abbie as the bait and with Sam now willing to lay down his life to protect her revenge may just have to wait.

I will admit that I didn’t fall for our hero Sam nearly as hard as I did for Gabe from book #1 SHOW NO MERCY however as a whole this story is much tighter and could easily be read as a stand alone. I should also mention how much I’m loving the ending chapters in this series, Gerard doesn’t just tie the story together into a neat little happily-ever-after, she leaves you hanging until the very last minute then follows through providing us with a glimpse of our couples future and I love that. Here we also get an update on my boyfriend Gabe from the last book (he’s doing fine now thanks)