Hi there! I’m Kay: an opinionated book blogger enamoured with the world of novels. Reader of Speculative Fiction (the posh word for Sci-Fi/Fantasy) and Young Adult novels. Believer in the many uses of the towel, the science of deduction and other fandom in-jokes.
This blog has been closed since early 2016. To the publishers and writers: thanks for all the support over the years. To my readers and fellow bloggers: keep in touch!
What are you reading on Monday? – (May 10th, 2010)
It’s Monday! What are you reading this week? is a weekly event now hosted by One Persons Journey Through a World Of Books where we discuss our week of reading!
Currently Reading:
- Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase – This book is amazing! I am really not that much of a historical romance fan… but hey, sometimes you have to give in and remember that a recommendation by SBTB means it is a guaranteed great read.
- Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder – Really disappointing. It was good, but compared with the epic genius of the first two books, this one was just… not.
- Beating Heart by A.M. Jenkins – You should check out this YA!paranormal. Definitely not your average addition to the genre!
- Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead – This was a great book, but I have a feeling the next one will be even better.
- Ondine by Ebony McKenna – I really need to catch up on my YA Debut Author challenge.
- Angels’ Blood by Nalini Singh – Am feeling up to some winged!PNR this week!
Review: Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead
Succubus Blues by Richelle MeadSeries: Georgina Kincaid #1
Published by Kensington Publishing Corp. on August 1st 2010
Pages: 368
Genres: Urban Fantasy
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Rating:
Also in this series: Succubus Dreams
When it comes to jobs in hell, being a succubus seems pretty glamorous. A girl can be anything she wants, the wardrobe is killer, and mortal men will do anything just for a touch. Granted, they often pay with their souls, but why get technical?
But Seattle succubus Georgina Kincaid's life is far less exotic. Her boss is a middle-management demon with a thing for John Cusack movies. Her immortal best friends haven't stopped teasing her about the time she shape-shifted into the Demon Goddess getup complete with whip and wings. And she can't have a decent date without sucking away part of the guy's life. At least there's her day job at a local bookstore--free books; all the white chocolate mochas she can drink; and easy access to bestselling, sexy writer, Seth Mortensen, aka He Whom She Would Give Anything to Touch but Can't.
But dreaming about Seth will have to wait. Something wicked is at work in Seattle's demon underground. And for once, all of her hot charms and drop-dead one-liners won't help because Georgina's about to discover there are some creatures out there that both heaven and hell want to deny...
- Books with a sex-demon lead would never turn out to be about love.
- A succubus could never be
funnyhysterical. - I could never relate to a character that deals with sex casually.
Needless to say, Richelle Mead proved me wrong. Succubus Blues is nothing like the book I thought it would be. It’s hysterical and heart-breaking, filled with a thousand shades of ethical grey, and stars one of the most complex heroines I’ve ever read. Georgina is far from perfect – she can be superficial and self-serving. But she has so much potential for growth. Even after 400+ years on the planet, she still has a lot to learn.
Mead has also created one of my favourite love-interests ever in Seth. He’s your average best-selling novelist: introverted, smart, and extremely wity on paper. I never expected to fall so quickly for this beta-hero, but everything about him had me clutching my heart. The secondary characters in this book are stellar – complex characters who stride a blurred line between good and evil. Every single one of them I wanted to read more about – especially the angel Carter and his demon!BFF Jerome.
Demon BFF? I told you, seriously blurred lines.
Alas, this book didn’t get a higher rating from me because of one very unfortunate character *cough* Roman *cough* who I just couldn’t like – no matter how suave. And Georgina liking him made me want to shake her (and the book) in despair.
Bottom line? Succubus Blues is brilliant. Sitting firmly on the line between PNR and UF – it had me laughing, crying and occasionally disturbed by the paranormal evil. Everything you could want in a book!
On My Wishlist – Angel Edition (May 8th, 2010)
On My Wishlist is a fun weekly event hosted by Book Chick City and runs every Saturday. It’s where I list all the books I desperately want but haven’t actually bought yet. They can be old, new or forthcoming.
In case you hadn’t noticed, angels are the new vampires on the fantasy block. They can get their smite on like none other, and have serious daddy issues. But more importantly, getting them into bed? Biblical. Personally, I give all the credit to Castiel.
Archangel (Samaria, #1) by Sharon Shinn
Sharon Shinn was on to angels in 1996, and apparently this is the ultimate angel!fantasy book ever. I wish I’d just bought it when I saw it at Forbidden Planet (they are out now) as it is quite hard to find in the UK!
And so it came to pass…
Through science, faith and force of will, the Harmonics carved out for themselves a society that they conceived of as perfect. Diverse peoples held together by respect for each other and the prospect of swift punishment if they disobeyed their laws. Fertile land that embraced a variety of climates and seasons. Angels to guard the mortals and mystics to guard the forbidden knowledge. Jehovah to watch over them all…
Generations later, the armed starship Jehovah stills looms over the planet of Samaria, programmed to unleash its arsenal if peace is not sustained. But an age of corruption has come to the land, threatening that peace and placing the Samarians in grave danger. Their only hope lies in the crowning of a new Archangel. The oracles have chosen for this honor the angel named Gabriel, and further decreed that he must first wed a mortal woman named Rachel.
It is his destiny and hers. And Gabriel is certain that she will greet the news of her betrothal with enthusiasm, and a devotion to duty equal to his own.
Rachel, however, has other ideas…
Heavenly by Jennifer Laurens
Despite the Photoshop101!cover, and the crazy grammar in the summary… I really want this book! Realistic with a bit of a Romeo-and-Juliet love story.
I met someone who changed everything. Matthias. My autistic sister’s guardian angel. Honest. Inspiring. Funny. Hot. And immortal.
That was the problem.
What could I do? I did what any other girl would do – I fell in love with him.
Zoe’s sister darts in front of cars. Her brother’s a pothead. Her parents are so overwhelmed; they don’t see Zoe lost in her broken life. Zoe escapes the only way she knows how: partying. Matthias, a guardian sent from Heaven, watches over Zoe’s autistic sister. After Zoe is convinced he’s legit, angel and lost girl come together in a love that changes destiny. But Heaven on Earth can’t last forever.
Angelology by Danielle Trussoni
Even if you aren’t a fantasy fan, I am pretty sure you’ve heard of this one. It is everywhere. Trussoni is being dubbed the new Dan Brown (ick), and despite that I really want to read this book!
There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them.
– Genesis 6:5Sister Evangeline was just a girl when her father entrusted her to the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in upstate New York. Now, at twenty-three, her discovery of a 1943 letter from the famous philanthropist Abigail Rockefeller to the late mother superior of Saint Rose Convent plunges Evangeline into a secret history that stretches back a thousand years: an ancient conflict between the Society of Angelologists and the monstrously beautiful descendants of angels and humans, the Nephilim.
For the secrets these letters guard are desperately coveted by the once-powerful Nephilim, who aim to perpetuate war, subvert the good in humanity, and dominate mankind. Generations of angelologists have devoted their lives to stopping them, and their shared mission, which Evangeline has long been destined to join, reaches from her bucolic abbey on the Hudson to the apex of insular wealth in New York, to the Montparnasse cemetery in Paris and the mountains of Bulgaria.
Rich in history, full of mesmerizing characters, and wondrously conceived, Angelology blends biblical lore, the myth of Orpheus and the Miltonic visions of Paradise Lost into a riveting tale of ordinary people engaged in a battle that will determine the fate of the world.
Review: Beating Heart by A.M. Jenkins
Beating Heart by A. M. JenkinsPublished by HarperTeen on 2009-08-25
Pages: 256
Genres: Paranormal YA, Young Adult
Source: Purchased myself
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Rating:
She is a ghost: a figure glimpsed from the corner of your eye, a momentary chill, and a memory of secret kisses and hidden passion. He is 17 years old: Evan Calhoun, warm and alive, and ever since moving to this big abandoned house, he has dreamt of her. Ghost and boy fascinate each other–until her memories and his desire collide in a moment that changes them both.
Combining verse fragments with chiseled prose, A. M. Jenkins captures the compelling voice of a long–dead ghost and the perspective of a modern teen, twining mystery and romance in this evocative, sensual, and unrelentingly engrossing novel.
Beating Heart is all about sex. The lies we tell to have it, the lies we tell ourselves to keep having it, and the serious damage it can do to a person’s life. Not pregnancy or STDs, but the psycological consequences of sex. And it is not a pretty picture.
Honestly, although I was vaguely disturbed by this book – I’d give it to a teen in a heartbeat. Because, honestly, life is not simple and love doesn’t last forever. It is far too easy to hurt people you’ve cared for, especially the ones you are sleeping with.
Even if this somewhat ominous review has turned you off, give this book a shot. It will take a regular reader only an hour or so to finish, and will put the other novels on your shelves into perspective.
Bottom line? A unique twist on the YA fantasy on the market, Beating Heart is a haunting novel which will change how you read YA.
Waiting on Wednesday: Nightshade by Andrea Cremer
“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that are being eagerly anticipated.
While other teenage girls daydream about boys, Calla Tor imagines ripping out her enemies’ throats. And she wouldn’t have it any other way. Calla was born a warrior and on her eighteenth-birthday she’ll become the alpha female of the next generation of Guardian wolves. But Calla’s predestined path veers off course the moment she saves the life of a wayward hiker, a boy her own age. This human boy’s secret will turn the young pack’s world upside down and forever alter the outcome of the centuries-old Witches’ War that surrounds them all. Nightshade by Andrea Cremer
October 19th 2010 by PhilomelCheck out the Nightshade website, Andrea Cremer’s official site and her blog, A Blurred History!
This is a debut YA novel that looks absolutely amazing! I am in love with the idea of a Calla as a werewolf warrior – really sounds like a unique idea. The sequel, Wolfsbane, will come out sometime in Fall 2011, and then the third book, Bloodrose, some time after that. Is it weird that I am looking forward to the sequel of a book I haven’t read yet? Because I am!



















Nightshade by Andrea Cremer