Demonica Series: Passion Unleashed

Passion Unleashed is book 3 in the Demonica series and it is by far my favourite book in the series. 

Our hero is Wraith and he's a lovable, messed up, sarcastic moron. He's Eidolon and Shade's younger brother and this boy has been harbouring a death wish for a long time now. And his brothers have always managed to pull his dumb butt out of trouble. Unfortunately, Wraith, after a night of looking for trouble, lands himself in a jam that not even his brothers can get him out of.

He's been infected with a poison that has no cure. Bad enough that Wraith's dying, but it turns out that his life is tied to the existence of Underworld General. If Wraith dies, the hospital will be destroyed.

This is where Serena Kelley comes in. Serena is an archaeologist/treasure hunter and has been charmed by angels. As a result of this, she can never be harmed. Ever. But there's a catch: her charm only remains intact so long as she stays a virgin. If she gives it away, her charm will be given to the person she does the nasty with. Now, Serena may have been willing to consider giving up her charm if she didn't have one little problem: she's suffering from a demonic disease with no cure. The second she gives up her charm, the disease will progress rapidly and kill her within a few days. 

When Wraith is told about Serena, he decides to go off and seduce her. He knows what the consequences are of taking Serena's charm, but what is one human life compared to all that his brothers have worked for, right? So off Wraith goes to Egypt, where Serena is looking for some mystical something-or-other. He thinks that this will be one simple wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am kinda deal. After all, Wraith's a Seminus demon and he's never been turned down before. Easy peasy.

 No such luck.

Serena likes him well enough, but there is no way she's going there with him. She has things to do, so he can either help or get lost. So what if she has kinky dreams about him? There is a ginormous difference between fantasy and reality. 

Wraith decides to stick around and try to work his incubus magic on Serena. He seriously needs that charm because it's now worth more than just his life and the hospital's continued existence. But, for the first time, Wraith is having a serious problem: his conscience, dormant for most of his life, has just kicked in. Not only is he wildly attracted to Serena, but he likes her. 

I absolutely adored these two together. I didn't particularly approve of Wraith's motives for pursuing Serena. He lied to her so many times throughout the book. Serena thought his name was Josh for about 80% of the story. I don't care if he was doing the knight-in-shining-armour thing a lot too. The dishonesty was not on.

All that aside though? 

I love Wraith! You know that long list of fictional boyfriends we all have (don't look at me like that! I know you have one)? Wraith made it there within the first three chapters. He's such a moron. But a cuddly moron. He tries to act all rough and tough, but he loves his brothers so much. And he tries to keep an emotional distance between him and Serena, but he's just this big teddy bear. 

Serena held her own as a character too. She was no push over. She told Wraith when he was being a moron, and the fact that he's hotter than the sun didn't sway her when it came to the issue of sex. She hung tough for most of the book, only giving in when she had an emotional connection to him.

Passion Unleashed tied up a couple of loose ends and introduced a few new characters. The major loose end was Kynan and Gem's relationship. 

New characters include the sweetheart fallen angel, Reaver, and the sexy-as-sin new guy, Lore. Definitely looking forward to finding out what their respective deals are.

Just to share a few of my favourite quotes:

An example of Wraith seriously distorted priorities:

The worst part about dying slowly wasn't the dying part. It was the fact that the poison had all but killed Wraith's libido. 

Wraith doesn't like the succubus working as a doctor at Underworld General. If Wraith is unwilling to have sex with someone, it means that she is spectacularly unpleasant.

Even if it wasn't physically impossible for succubi and incubi to screw, he wouldn't touch her. In the dictionary, the word "bitch" ran and hid from her.

Shade is filling Wraith in on a few things he's missed since going on his seduction mission.

"...Our other brother, but he's in chains. He's also a total dick. You'll like him."

Know what I'm really liking? This series. Give it a try if you haven't already. 

No Church in the Wild

I don't know what rock I've been hiding under for the past few months that I only heard this song a few days ago, so I beg your forgiveness for only talking about it now.

No Church in the Wild is a collaboration between Jay-Z, Kanye West and Frank Ocean. I have no clue who Frank Ocean is. I'm sort of indifferent to Jay-Z beyond him being Beyonce's other half. I'm not a big fan of Kanye West. The size of his ego is off-putting, so I try not to pay to much attention to him. But I absolutely adore this song. It's so powerful! 

I found this music video and I'm not 100% sure if it's the official one or not. Either way, it's flipping fantastic. 

If you haven't seen it, watch it now.

If you have seen it, watch it again.

Demonica Series: Desire Unchained

Desire Unchained is the second book in the Demonica series, and here we deal with Shade and Runa. These two have a History. I liked Shade from Pleasure Unbound, but then I sort of stopped liking him for a while in Desire Unleashed. Let me explain why: Shade cheated on Runa, the rat bastard, and he broke her heart. Runa had the misfortune of walking in on him screwing around with not one, but two chicks.

 Does he apologise? No.

Does he make excuses? No.

He asks her if she wants to join them. 

I was thinking, while I was reading this, that I would have been sorely tempted to remove his man parts with a rusty knife. 

Moving on. Runa, understandably devastated, flees his apartment and runs smack into a werewolf who attacks her and infects her with lycanthropy. Runa becomes a werewolf and swears to herself that the next time she runs into Shade, she's going to kick his ass.

It's been eleven months since Shade and Runa last saw each other and their reunion doesn't take place under the best of circumstances. They are both being held captive in the dungeon of a raging loony who is responsible for harvesting demon organs and selling them on the black market. As if this isn't bad enough, it turns out that Shade still has the hots for Runa and his epic fit of jackass-ery with the threesome was an attempt to spare himself from his growing feelings for Runa. See, Shade isn't being one of those I-am-an-island guys just for the sake of it. He has a curse that promises a fate worse than death should he ever fall in love.

Now, he and Runa need to rely on one another to get out of this creepy dungeon in one piece. Making Shade's day even worse is that he inadvertently bonds with Runa and makes her his mate. Now it's only a matter of time before he falls for her and suffers an eternity of misery. 

I actually really liked Shade after getting over his initial bout of being an ass. The reader comes to realise that he wants the whole deal with his mate, the HEA and babies and the lot. But he can't. I was torn between wanting to give him a hug, and smacking him upside the head. 

I loved Runa. She used to be this really timid, shy type, but the werewolf bite forced her to toughen up. I liked that, for the most part, she didn't put up with Shade's crap. She was willing to be what he needed, but she refused to let him control her like he did when they first started dating. Though I do wish she had made him grovel some more. His offense was enough that I thought he should have kissed ass a lot more than he did.

Also loving the bromance that's forming between Kynan and Wraith. What an odd couple. 

Speaking of Kynan, his story line with Gem is killing me! Just when you thought that these two were going to get their shit together, Ms Ione swerves off track and takes them somewhere else. I think that, given the build up between these two, I was more interested in them getting together that I was in Runa and Shade.

My only problem with this story was the Bad Guy. I have to tell you that this guy was weak. I'm pretty sure that you'll have figured out who the bad guy is fairly soon into the book, and he was like the villain from a bad action movie. Too much monologue and explaining both his plans and why he feels wronged, and not enough action. Man, I wanted this guy to be bad.   

I  just want to share some of my favourite bits. I love Larissa Ione. This lady is funny! This conversation happens between Runa and Shade after they find themselves mated. Runa wants to know why any female in her right mind would willingly bond with a Seminus demon.

"...There are lots of reasons a female might bond with a Seminus demon."

"What about werewolves?"

"Out-of-this-world orgasms."

She stared. "That's it? Great sex? I'm forced to deal with you for the rest of my life and all I get out of it is great sex?"

I think this says a lot about how Runa feels about Shade at this point that "great sex" is nowhere near enough compensation for putting up with him.

It's the full moon and Runa is on the verge of turning into a werewolf and Shade, being Shade, thinks he's funny.

"Oh, hey... let's not do that yet. Sit. Stay."

Oh, he was hilarious. She was going to bite him as soon as the transformation was complete.

This is between Wraith and Kynan. After the Final Showdown with the wussy bad guy, Wraith, who is part vampire, needed blood. Kynan offered his blood since there was no way he was going to let Wraith bite Gem. Kynan is asking Wraith what he missed while he was out. Poor Wraith is feeling a little sheepish about nearly killing Kynan.

"What else?"

Wraith's head snapped up. "What do you mean, what else?"

"I mean, why the long face?"

"I nearly put you in the grave, you stupid human!"

Ah, now there was the Wraith they all knew and loved. 

I am seriously looking forward to Wraith's book, which is where I'm headed next.

The Dark Angel Series: Darkness Unbound

Darkness Unbound is book 1 in the Dark Angel series by Keri Arthur. The story is set in Melbourne and is told from the perspective of Risa Jones. Risa is half werewolf and half Aedh. Near as I can figure, Aedhs are a little like angels, in the sense that they're really beautiful and have wings. But Aedhs are also capable of sort of dissolving themselves and travelling around in non-corporal form. Risa lives with her best friends, Iliana and Tao, and she does her best to do the Average Jane thing. 

Despite her best efforts though, this doesn't happen often. Risa also has psychic powers. She can see reapers (those creepy folks who lead the dead into the afterlife), she can travel the gray fields, and she has a degree of precognition. One day Risa's mom contacts her and asks her to visit the hospital where a little girl is stuck in a coma for no obvious reason. As it turns out, the little girl's soul was ripped from her body. 

I don't know about you, but the very idea gives me the heebie-jeebies.

Then, as if all this isn't freaky enough, a reaper starts following Risa around. Apparently, the father Risa has never met is going to contact her. According to Azriel the reaper, her father has some nefarious plans that will eventually result in the end of the world as we know it.

But it's not all bad. Risa meets an Aedh called Lucian and they get physical pretty quickly. Which is good. Risa seriously needed someone to help her lower her stress levels.

I wasn't too keen on this book in the beginning. It felt like information was heaped on the reader and the names of people we hadn't met were being thrown around, so it was a tad confusing. I don't like feeling confused. With the information dump came the feeling that nothing was actually happening. It went on like this for roughly half the book and I was getting fed up. But then things started picking up and by the time I finished the book, I was actually interested in what was going to happen next. 

Darkness Unbound was a pretty good book once you get past all the non-happenings of the beginning. I don't think I would say I loved it, but I would recommend to anyone who's looking for something different to read.

Midnight Breeds Series: Kiss of Crimson

Kiss of Crimson is the second book in the Midnight Breeds series and this is Dante's story. I think I've mentioned this before, but I'm going to say it again: Dante is hot!

He reminded me a little of Rhage from the BDB in that he's this utter player on the outside but a bit of a lonely soul on the inside. Dante has had these visions of his death from an early age, so he's been doing all he can to outrun his eventual demise. Basically, he lives a hard and fast life, just waiting for death to crash into him. After a nasty fight with a group of Rogues, it looks like Dante is going to meet his fate a little early. And he does, just not in the way that he expects. He staggers in all bloody and bruised into the storeroom of a veterinary clinic, looking for a place to hide from the Rogues.

Enter Tess. Tess is a vet with a way with animals. She's also got a Dark Past. This means that she's unwilling to let anyone get too close to her emotionally. She is utterly dedicated to her practice, which normally leaves her working late. So, she's there when Dante shows up and she is scared as hell. Here's this huge-ass guy decked out in leather bleeding all over her floor, and he's asking her not to call the police. What is she supposed to think? 

Tess agrees to help Dante, but their first meeting goes downhill from there. Dante, in desperate need of blood, bites Tess. What Dante didn't realise is that Tess is a Breedmate and he's unwittingly claimed her as his mate. This is so not what Dante needs just then.   

Further complicating matters is the fact that a drug called Crimson is being sold to young members of the Breed. This drug seems very benign from a human perspective, but has devastating effects on vampires. It gives them brief episodes of Bloodlust and, if taken often enough, can turn them Rogue. It's up to the Order to find out who's dealing Crimson and get the stuff off the streets. 

We meet some new characters in this installment of the series. Special Agent Sterling Chase is apparently as straight-laced as they come and he's keen on helping the Order get Crimson off the streets. However, we soon realise that he's not as cool, calm and collected as he'd like everyone to believe. He has a ginormous tourch burning for his widowed sister-in-law, Elise, and he's pretty much alone in his affections. Elise misses her deceased husband terribly and she lives solely for their son, Camden. 

I have two issues with this book. The first is superficial and the second is something that bugged me in Kiss of Midnight too. 

Firstly, not enough Rio and Nikolai! I really liked these two, so I didn't like that they were in the periphery. We did see Rio for a little bit, just enough to know that he is having some serious trouble adjusting to things after the explosion in Kiss of Midnight.

Secondly, there was a whole lot left unresolved. And these aren't cliffhanger issues. These are directly related to the current story. Tess lost two people she cared about. So, what happened to the grieving process? Same with Gabrielle. Her best friend was kidnapped with her. How did they handle the fact that Jamie was involved in something he wasn't supposed to know about?

Overall I enjoyed this book and I quite like the series. I just think that Ms Adrian kinda rushes her endings. 

Oh, My Gaga

I have to tell you, I am not going to forget the sheer awesomeness that is Lady Gaga anytime soon. It's like, all the synonyms for "good" wouldn't even begin to cover her performance. I'm pretty sure that woman isn't even human. Man, I was tired from jumping around a little. She was doing all kinds of crazy stuff and it was like she wasn't even breaking a sweat. 

I know there are a whole bunch of people who don't like her, whether they think she's the Antichrist or, less dramatically, they just think that she's a "talentless freak" (I cannot believe someone called her that). 

But I don't think that anyone can deny that Gaga gives her performances her everything. Honestly, if she performs like that at every concert, I don't know how it is that she's still alive. She must be exhausted! 

My favourite bits of the performance were Unicorn Highway, Judas (I get chills just thinking about it!), and when she brought some fans up from the Monster Pit. 

I also think that her performance was about more than just the music. She also spent some time just talking to us. I am honestly more inspired to be a better person just by listening to her, than I have ever been by going to a church service. The talk about just accepting one another and, more than that, accepting yourself just brought a lump to my throat. 

I haven't been to many concerts but Lady Gaga absolutely blew every other performer out the water. For those of you in Cape Town, you are in for a treat. She will give you triple your money's worth. Also, once she says she's done do not, I repeat DO NOT, leave! She will come back for an encore. It was kinda sad because a whole lot of people left before she was done and missed the ending. So sit tight peeps!

I wasn't overly impressed by the opening acts. Lady Starlight was just freaky. I honestly had no idea what the hell she was doing and, going by the expressions of the people around me, I wasn't alone in my confusion. The Darkness weren't bad. It's just that the only song of theirs that I knew was "I Believe in a Thing Called Love". Maybe I was just impatient for Gaga. It felt like were waiting FOREVER, but the wait was completely worth it.  

For those of you going to watch the show tonight, I hope that you have an absolutely spectacular time. And don't drink too much! You are not going to want to miss this!  

Midnight Breeds Series: Kiss of Midnight

Kiss of Midnight is the first book in the Midnight Breeds series. It's also my first book by Lara Adrian. I actually really enjoyed this book and I'm really looking forward to the next installments in the series. Let me give you a quick breakdown of what the series looks to be about:

Vampires of the Breed have been living in secret among the human race for centuries. The Breed are pretty reliant on the human race for survival. Not only do they take blood from humans, but certain human females are genetically compatible in terms of baby making. These ladies are referred to as Breedmates. The term is pretty much self-explanatory. See, due to some kind of genetic mutation within the vampire race, there are only male vampires. That's why the Breedmates are so important. Without them, the Breed would go into extinction. So, with the exception of these few women, most humans carry on unaware of the Breed's existence. The vampires generally live peaceably with humans, except for a few who turn Rogue. Rogues are vampires who suffer from a disease called Bloodlust. Again, pretty self-explanatory. These Rouges are crazy. They kill indiscriminately and their actions threaten the entire Breed. 

This is where the Order comes in. These guys hunt down the Rogues before they can do too much damage and expose the entire vampire race to human scrutiny.
So far, this is the basic gist of the story. Kiss of Midnight is set in Boston, where we meet the gentlemen of the Order. Quick rundown of the guys. 

First, we have Rio. He is a super hot Spaniard who lives with his mate, Eva, in the compound. He's got this whole sophisticated, sex-god thing going on. 

Next, we have Dante. He is a super hot Italian. Dante prefers his leathers to anything too fancy-schmancy. He likes-no, loves- the ladies, and they love him right back. He also loves to fight, so whenever the Rogues are causing trouble, he is there looking for some action.

Third, we have Nikolai. He is a super hot Russian. Niko was born during the Cold War, which might explain his penchant for weaponry of any kind. Guns, bombs, you name it, he likes it.

  Then we have Gideon. He's the resident techie and he loves computers and gadgets. He's happily mated to the lovely Savannah. These two are nauseatingly happy with each other.

Tegan is the fifth member of the Order and he isn't what anyone would call a "people person". He's aloof, cold and distant. He's a very mysterious character. Not much is revealed to the reader, except that he has serious beef with the leader of the Order.

That leader would be Lucan. He is the very definition of the stoic, fearless leader. He and Tegan go way back. They're both Gen One vampires, meaning that they were the first vampires to be born to human females. This also means that they're super strong, and all kinds of badass. 

Kiss of Midnight tells the story of Lucan and Gabrielle. While Lucan is in charge of saving the world, Gabrielle is a photographer. Lucan has some serious commitment issues. He has no interest in finding a Breedmate just so he can follow her around like a lovesick puppy. Gabrielle isn't looking for anything either. She's always felt a little... cut off from everyone else. Her mother abandoned her when she was just a baby, and the woman was later institutionalised. So, Gabrielle's always had this fear that maybe one day she'd go crazy, just like her birth mother. And when she witnesses a murder that no one else saw, and with there being no evidence that the murder even took place, it seems to Gabrielle that what she's always feared is starting to happen. 

Turns out this was a murder committed by Rogues and Gabrielle was not supposed to see what happened, let alone take pictures at the scene. This is where Lucan comes in. He needs to make sure Gabrielle doesn't go around telling the whole world what she saw. Obviously, things progress from there.

I really liked this book. I won't lie though, I thought Ms Adrian could have spent a little more time on the action with the bad guys. I know this is a romance, so it's supposed to be about the romance. But I thought that both the Order and Gabrielle should have spent more time kicking ass. 

I liked Lucan, but he was just a little too serious for my tastes. I liked Gabrielle too. She wasn't completely helpless and she called Lucan out when he was being full of crap. I thought the end was a little bit rushed whereas the middle kinda dragged. It wasn't a bad kind of drag, it was maybe just lacking a teeny tiny bit of oomph. But I am seriously looking forward to the next book in the series, Kiss of Crimson. It's Dante's book and I just know it's going to be epic. Because, as I mentioned just now, Dante is hot and he likes to fight and f...  

Fallen Angels Series: Rapture

Have I mentioned lately how much I absolutely adore J.R Ward? Well, you're going to hear all about my love for the WARDen now. 

Rapture is book 4 in the Fallen Angels series. In case you don't know what the series is about, let me quickly break it down for you. It's basically about the whole good versus evil thing that will eventually determine the fate of the entire world. Seven souls are hovering between choosing to be either good or evil, and it's up to Jim Heron to influence these people and help them make the right choice. Jim is being helped by two angels, Adrian and Eddie. Jim is being hindered by a psychotic demon named Devina. 

So in this installment of the series, the score is 2:1 to the good guys. Plus Devina is being punished because the concept of playing by the rules is completely beyond her. The soul in play is someone we met in both Covet and Crave. Matthias was a Bad Man. He was head of XOps (a sort of military group that carried out political hits for the US) and he didn't care who he hurt. It turned out that Matthias was the soul in need of saving in Crave, not Isaac Rothe. However, as a result of some misunderstanding on Jim's part, Matthias was lost and Devina won. Devina didn't get to keep Matthias for very long though. For being a lying, cheating, good-for-nothing she was penalised and Matthias was given a second chance.

I don't know whether the WARDen had a soft spot for Matthias or if he was a fan favourite, but I'm really glad he got his chance at redemption. I had thought that nobody in this series could top Isaac in sheer awww....-ness (I imagine Isaac to be kinda like a young Matthew McConaughey), but Matthias did it. He's had a really rough life and he lives with both the physical and mental scars. And the physical scars are really horrendous. Matthias once intentionally stepped on a landmine and as a result his lower body is badly scarred and he needs to use a cane to get around. Obviously this is a huge blow to his pride, seeing as how Matthias is a big, strong, manly man. But he seems to have accepted his injuries and the limitations that come with them. Until he meets Mels.

Mels Carmichael is a reporter. She moved back into her parents house after her father died with the idea of being a "pillar of strength" for her mom. Sadly, this didn't happen. Mels' life just sort of stalled out. She's frustrated by her job, uneasy living with a mother she doesn't have much in common with. She's stuck waiting for life to happen. And then, after she hits some poor stranger with her car, it does. 

Things progress pretty quickly from there and within a few days Mels and Matthias are thinking in terms of I-love-yous. But Shakespeare had it right and speed bumps for these two come in the form of Devina with poor, long-suffering Jim trying to smooth things over. 

I just want to talk about the characters quickly. 

I loved Matthias. I just wanted to give the poor guy a hug. Amnesia Matthias was much nicer than XOps Matthias. He just seemed more cuddly in general. Still badass though. His stint in hell did him some good.

I liked Mels well enough. I don't know how well I'll remember her in two or three books time, but I really liked how solid she was for Matthias. 

Jim and Adrian are having adjustment issues. Eddie was killed by Devina's minions and this has left them a lot out of sorts. Jim and Adrian tend to... well, they struggle to see eye to eye and Eddie usually played referee when the fists used to go flying. Adrian has now lost his best friend and Jim has to try to keep the poor guy on track as well as save the world. Adrian isn't the only one struggling with death. Jim is still hugely preoccupied with the young woman Cecilia Barton, who was sacrificed by Devina to protect her magic mirror. Devina taunting him about it at every available opportunity is not helping matters either. 

Lastly, we have Devina. She is quite obviously evil and psychotic and horrible and sadistic and all those other things. But she's also funny as hell. Please don't judge me, but I have to be honest: I love Devina. I don't know how the WARDen does it, but she's managed to create a villain that you can almost relate to. Devina has a debilitating OCD (she's a hoarder) and she sees a psychologist for it. She goes to the salon to get her hair done. She wants to look pretty for the guy she likes (Jim, much to his disgust) and she doesn't get why he doesn't like her. If she weren't such an evil, crazy bitch, I would totally be rooting for her.

Let me share some of my favourite bits form Rapture:

This is when Mels' boss, aptly name Dick, is hitting on her.

What she was clear on was that with a jawline more ham sandwich than Jon Hamm, the man had no objective reason to believe the answer to any woman's problems was in his pants. 

This is from Jim's perspective when Matthias ends up asking him for help.

And yet no matter how much his brain cramped, it looked like pigs could fly, there was a snowball in Hell, and somewhere across town, a twelve-year-old dog was learning to drive a goddamn car. 

Jim and Adrian are having a fight because Adrian can be an irresponsible pig when he's got time (but it's okay. I forgive him. And you will too). Jim hits Adrian in the penalty area. 

Motherfucker was going to sing the high notes like Justin-cocksucking-Timberlake for a while.

And then for Devina related fun, read chapter 31.

So, in conclusion, I just want to tell you that if you haven't started reading this series you really should. It isn't quite as good as the Black Dagger Brotherhood, but it does serve to tide me over until Lover at Last comes out next year.

Have a good Monday everybody! 

Nightwalkers Series: Gideon

Gideon is book 2 in the Nightwalkers series by Jacquelyn Frank. This book was better and worse than Jacob. Better because there was far less of Bella. We saw more of the characters I actually did like, like Noah and Elijah. We also met new characters like Damien, the vampire, and Siena, the lycanthrope. Each seem to have some potential for the next books in the series. The story wasn't too horrible.

Let me talk about the things that irritated me. Firstly, Gideon reminded me a little of Gregori from Christine Feehan's Dark Series. So there were times where I wanted to reach into the book and slap him (Gideon, not Gregori, in this case). Second, Legna struck me as... a little forgettable. With the previous book, I'm probably going to remember the story better because Bella pissed me off so badly. But with Legna... she was a little on the lackluster side of things. Thirdly, there was still too much Bella. I know she's a big deal in this world but I don't care. She's still annoying. My final issue is more with the writing than the actual story. I didn't mention it with Jacob but Ms Frank kinda writes funny. It's very... flowery. It takes a lot of getting used to. She also uses really super big words. I had to consult a dictionary a bunch of times. I was honestly thinking that she was making some of those words up. Also, I found some of Ms Frank's descriptions unintentionally hilarious. Like one description of Gideon had me in gales of laughter. I know she was trying to show that Gideon is old school, but it just struck me as ridiculous.

Gideon and Magdelegna met eight years ago and some sparks flew between the two of them. Ashamed of his behaviour, Gideon went on a self-imposed exile. But, with the crap hitting the fan in Jacob, Gideon was forced to reintegrate himself into demon society. Magdelegna is the king's baby sister, so she's lived a pretty sheltered life up until Bella came and turned things upside down. Gideon starts a few weeks after Jacob ended and shows that Magdelegna is struggling to cope with her ordeal of Samhain night. She's feeling all cut off and withdrawn and... crap. 

This brings me to my problem with Gideon (the book, not the actual guy). I know this sounds really awful but I can't actually remember what happened. I finished this book last Sunday but, with the exams, I didn't have time to give a review. And now I genuinely can't remember what the heck happened or how it ended. 

I think this is the main problem with this series. The first characters introduced don't have much oomph. Which is a pity because I imagine a bunch of people would abandon this series out of boredom. 

It isn't a bad series, it's just forgettable.

Nightwalkers Series: Jacob

Jacob is book 1 in Jacquelyn Frank's Nightwalker series. I had mixed feelings about this book. The story itself wasn't bad, but I had a bit of a problem with the characters. The, ahem, "heroine" got on my nerves. A lot. 

The story is about Jacob the Enforcer and Bella the Helpless Ninny. Jacob is a demon and his job is to enforce demon laws. The main thing Jacob has to do is to keep any demons from engaging in hanky-panky with humans. Demons are so tremendously strong that a human would not survive the ordeal. Jacob's job gets even more difficult during the Samhain and Beltane moons, where demons are basically ruled by their baser urges and start running after humans left, right and centre. But then the unthinkable happens: he starts wanting the forbidden too. 

Enter Bella.

Bella is a book worm. She's a librarian so, "naturally", there isn't a whole lot of excitement in her life.They meet while she's leaning out of a window star-gazing. Then while they're having their little tete-a-tete, Bella falls out the window. She wasn't pushed. She wasn't backing a way from a bad guy. She didn't even trip. She was just leaning too far out of the damn window. And then Jacob catches her. And to do so he kinda had to float himself up to a height where she wouldn't be too badly hurt by his grabbing her. And she doesn't notice that while he's holding on to her that they're floating 10 feet in the air. Now, I don't know the conversion from feet to metres, but I do know that 10 feet is effing high! How can you not notice? I know us book worms have a rep for being less than observant but this is ridiculous. 

And the asinine behaviour doesn't stop there. After Jacob uses Bella as a divining rod to find a rogue demon, Bella simply passes out from the ordeal of seeing a demon (sounded a little like those demons you'd find on Scooby Doo, if I'm honest). Jacob takes her to his place, strips her and gives her his shirt to wear. When Bella wakes up she seems to be unconcerned about several things that I'm sure a normal person would be more than a little freaked out by. Firstly, she is in a strange man's house. No one has any idea where she is. Secondly, she is only wearing his shirt. That's it. She's parading around like this in front of a complete stranger. A final complaint about Bella (I swear I'll stop after this) is that she cries. About everything. I kinda wanted to get in the book so that I could give her something to cry about.

To be fair, Bella did get a little less useless as the book progressed but by the time she pulled her head out of her butt, I had decided that I didn't like her. I might have liked her more if we had been given a bit of insight into her character before the window incident. Just some indication that something that stupid was not in character for her. 

I didn't hate all the characters though. Jacob was okay. I really like Noah, the Demon King, and Elijah, the demon's sort of military commander.

This book was nice in that it was just something to read, but I'm not going to be waiting anxiously to see what happens next. 

Shaede Assassin Series: Shaedes of Gray

I was less than impressed with Amanda Bonilla. Not because I didn't like the book. I loved the book. It completely broke the awesome scale. But that bloody woman had me biting my nails! I stopped doing that when I was in grade 7. Eight years worth of restraint and maturity down the tubes in the space it took me to read one book!

Moving on now... Wow. This book was so good! I'm noticing a trend in my reading lately: I love them all. But this one was super awesome. I loved the characters (or loved to hate them), there was suspense, there was action, there was some romance on the side. All completely epic. 

So let me tell you about the lead. Darian is the leading lady and she's a wee bit... prickly. Yes, I think prickly is a good word for her. Darian is a Shaede and she also happens to be an assassin, which you could probably get from the name of the series. Shaedes are kinda humanish, and they have the power to sort of... evaporate? I don't know how else to describe it. I imagine them to become shadows like the Dementors did in the Harry Potter movies. So they become shadow which, given Darian's profession, is a plus. I really liked Darian. She's a strong heroine who has been through the wringer. She's about one hundred years old and she's become used to relying on herself. This is because, one way or another, the people in her life have let her down. Her parents couldn't wait to marry her off to any random, well-to-do stranger. This well-to-do stranger, Henry, was an abusive asshole who beat her. The abuse only stopped when this Shaede, Azriel, saved her. They did the couple thing for twenty odd years until he bailed on her without a word. Darian had assumed that he was dead because there was no way he would have left her otherwise... right?

So, given all the crap that Daian's been through, it's no wonder she has trust issues. In fact, there is only one exception to her "trust no one" rule. And that is Tyler.

What a wonderful man. I adored him! He was so patient, and sweet, and kind. Even when Darian was being a prickly pain in the butt. He was always there for her when she needed him, even when she didn't realise she needed him. Also, Tyler isn't an average Joe. You want to guess what he is? C'mon, guess. Have you guessed yet? Alright, I'll tell you. He's a genie. How awesome is that?!?!

Next we have the mysterious Xander Peck, the king of the Shaedes. I actually liked him, despite the fact that he was all kinds of arrogant. He is super fine but too charming. I didn't trust him. Not even a little. Xander has hired Darian to carry out a hit for him but he doesn't think her skills are quite where they need to be (So why didn't he hire someone with the skills he needed? You'll have to see).This is where his brother, Raif, comes in.

Despite Xander being all swoon-worthy, I liked Raif more. Raif is awesome! He acts as Darian's trainer. Because while Darian is fully capable of kicking some serious ass, she needs to be a hundred times better than what she already is. They both seem determined not to like each other but eventually become  (grudging) friends.

Azriel is a jackass. I took great pleasure when Darian handed the ass whuppin' he so badly deserved. 

I liked Delilah, the Oracle. She seemed way helpless but that couldn't be further from the truth. 

This book was a hundred different kinds of awesome! It went from really good to super awesome towards the end. Expect humour, action and some serious twists and turns.

Best. Night. Ever.

Sorry that I've been so scarce everybody! I'm going to be writing on Saturday and Tuesday so I've been studying.

But I have to tell you about the sheer epicness that was Linkin Park, before you don't care anymore. 

Firstly, the waiting was agony! I am really not the patient sort so this just sucked privates. My cousin, her hubby and I went the park and ride route. It wasn't hugely exciting or anything but it was better than actually being stuck in the traffic. At one point it looked like it was going to rain and it did for a little while, while we were on the bus. But then it cleared right up and, man, I did a little dance of joy when I saw the sun come out. 

We left Menlyn at about 3ish and arrived at around 5. I just want to warn anyone going to FNB Stadium: do not, I repeat DO NOT, eat the food outside the stadium. We were starving by the time we got there, so we grabbed the first thing we saw. Don't do this! It is nasty.

After we recovered from the horror of what we were told was a hotdog, we went into the stadium. There were so many people! I think most of Gauteng's emo population was there. And let me tell you something: emo boys are CUTE! Some sexy, buff guy had taken his shirt off for some or other reason and I nearly tripped over my own tongue. 

Moving on... 

The lines for t-shirts and the like were crazy long. Word to the wise: if you want to buy something, get there early. Seriously, the queue was halfway back to Pretoria. 

Eventually, after what felt like forever, the Kongos came on. They were pretty good. We had a "surprise" guest in the form of Jack Parow. I had heard that he appeared in Cape Town but I didn't think they'd have him on again.

Then, at long last, Linkin Park rocked up. I don't have words for how amazing they were. I think you had to be there to fully understand... 

The band opened up with "A Place For My Head" and it just kept getting better. I tell you, it gave me chills to hear the crowd singing along. When Linkin Park started playing "In The End", the crowd went absolutely insane. It was a beautiful thing. They played some of their new stuff but most of it was their old stuff. Honourable mentions for "Points Of Authority", "Numb", "What I've Done", "Waiting For The End" and "Papercut". The rest escape me right now, but every song performed was phenomenal. They had so much energy and passion, and it was contagious. The band finished with the rip-roaring awesomeness that is "One Step Closer". Afterwards it was, like, who are the Kongos? 

Linkin Park was amazing. 

I need them to come back. I'm already suffering from withdrawal symptoms.

Linkin Park SA

Two days left everybody! I am so freakin' excited, I keep doing this happy little dance whenever I think about it. I've been getting a few odd looks from these random strangers but, baby, I don't care!!! I saw people on Twitter who went to the Cape Town show are saying that the band was A-MA-ZING! 

On a more serious note, I just want to say that my thoughts and prayers are with the people who got hurt at last night's concert. From what I've heard on the news, 20 people were injured and one person even died. I would have been inconsolable if that were me...

Here's hoping that everything goes smoothly at Saturday night's concert. Just want to post a video or two of the songs I'm most looking forward to seeing Linkin Park perform.

"One Step Closer" off of their Hybrid Theory album.

"Crawling", again off of their Hybrid Theory album.

"Numb" off of their Meteora. 

"What I've Done" off  Minutes to Midnight.

"Burning in the Skies" off of A Thousand Suns.

Okay, this is a lot more than "a video or two". Oh well. Hoping to see you all on Saturday night! It's going to be so much fun!

Leaping Hearts

I really liked this story. It was so... nice! Don't pull that face. I happen to like nice things.

Leaping Hearts tells us the story of A.J. Sutherland and Devlin McCloud. A.J. is a talented young equestrian who has just bought herself a horse named Sabbath. Now, this wouldn't have been a problem if this horse didn't have such a bad attitude. Sabbath throws his riders, won't let blacksmiths anywhere near him, and he hates the water. For obvious reasons, this is the last horse anyone with a lick of sense would buy to compete with. But A.J. sees a whole lot of potential in Sabbath and she wants to take him to the Qualifier, a really big deal in the equestrian world, in two months time. 

But A.J hits a speed bump. She lives at home, involved in the racing aspect of the family-run stables. A.J.'s stepbrother runs the financial side of Sutherland Stables and he refuses to let her bring that crazy horse onto the premises. A.J. then decides that if her horse isn't welcome then she isn't staying at home either. Sabbath isn't an impulse buy for A.J.; he's her chance to prove herself. But it's going to be kinda hard to do that with nowhere to live and nowhere to train.

Enter Devlin McCloud. Devlin is a hugely reclusive former equestrian champion. After his nasty fall and his horse having to be put down as a result, he's been avoiding the equestrian scene entirely. He and A.J. had met at the auction where A.J. bought Sabbath so, after leaving home, A.J. turns to Devlin for help. Initially, Devlin is not so keen on the idea. He is totally jonesing for A.J. and given the temperamental nature of the horse, this can prove dangerous if he's going to be training her. But A.J. won't take no for an answer, which is how she ends up sleeping on Devlin's couch at night and him being her trainer during the day. 

This book is written by Jessica Bird who is otherwise known as the magnificent, awe-inspiring J.R Ward. Those of you who are familiar with the WARDen will probably have read her Black Dagger Brotherhood series, or her more recent Fallen Angels series. This book is nothing like either of these series. There is next to no swearing, the sex is the fade to black type, and there is no actual action. But it was still really good! After having read Shadowfever, this book acted like a palate cleanser. It was light, there were no major twists and turns, and the couple knew that they liked each other right from the start. So long as you don't expect any of the stuff typical of J.R Ward's better known works, you won't be disappointed with this book. 

So if you're looking for a light read that won't give you a headache trying to keep up, give Leaping Hearts a try.

Fever Series: Shadowfever

Whew! I am finally done with the Fever series... for now, anyway. 

I have to admit that I'm kinda glad. While it's an absolutely epic series, it's also absolutely exhausting! I'm not going to give a full recap because it would take me forever to get through everything. So, I'm just going to gloss over the important stuff, and then talk about the things I loved about the series and then the stuff that I wasn't overjoyed with.

The cliffhanger from Dreamfever was not dealt with fast enough for my liking. But that's probably because I'm waaaaay impatient. But it took about eight or nine chapters and by that time I was practically rabid.

Darroc, aka the Lord Master, is killed. I have to admit that it was pretty anti-climatic. I was hoping that this particular bad guy would go with more of a bang.   

We get to know Barrons' merry band of psychopaths better. It's the crazed fangirl in me that lets out a "squeee!" of delight whenever Ryodan or Lor is in a scene. These guys are so fine.

We find out who killed Mac's sister. I have to tell you, I did not see that coming. I felt so bad for Mac because she was totally blindsided.

We find out what happened to Fiona. I have two words to sum this up: not pretty. But she remains helplessly, hopelessly in love with Barrons and it still makes her a little insane. I want to quote Dr Sheldon Cooper here to sum up Fiona's character: Bitches be crazy.

Rowena gets her comeuppance for being such a deeply unpleasant woman. Quite frankly, given everything that happened, I still think they went too easy on her.

Mac and Dani have a bit of a fallout. This is unresolved by the end of the book and will probably pick up again in Dani's book, Iced. 

The sweet, sexy Scotsman Christian McKeltar is having some serious issues. From what I understand, Christian will be playing a key role in Iced.

We find out why Barrons wants the Sinsar-Dubh. It's actually really sad. He's not the selfish jackass we initially think he is. He's still a jackass but one with some serious baggage.  

We meet the Unseelie King, his concubine, the Seelie Queen, and Cruce (the Unseelie Prince, War, who's supposed to be dead). We meet some other fairies too, but they're not so important.

Hmmm... let me think... what else happened...?

Oh, right! Mac and Barrons finally stopped dancing around each other and are now a couple. Again, given their stormy relationship, I thought their coming together would have happened with more of a bang (no pun intended).

I loved this series from beginning to end. It's actually quicker for me to go through what I didn't like about the series than what I loved. Judging by the way I gushed about this series in older posts, it's obvious that I'm a huge fan. 

The twist and turns were dizzying. I was hard pressed to keep up sometimes. I actually think Ms Moning should have slowed things down slightly. Just to give Mac- and the reader- a chance to catch their breath. Then there's Barrons and Mac's relationship. When they finally got together, they could be really sweet. But the events leading up to it sort of reminded me of that song by Pink, You Make Me Sick. They were always fighting! They even did that pushy, shovey thing and, to be honest, it made me uncomfortable. My last little issue is that the story was told in first person. I don't normally have an issue with that but it bugged me a little towards the end of the series. I've heard about people complaining that some of the characters (ie. Barrons) didn't show a whole lot of growth during the series. And that's because we were never in their heads. And I don't think that I'm alone in wondering what was going through Barrons' head at certain points. Like when Mac bought him a birthday cake and he then smashed it into the ceiling. Why did he do that?! I just think it would have added more to the story if we could have had a chance to look from everyone's perspective. 

Just want to share two of my favourite scenes with you:

This is the scene where the Lord Master has his head ripped off. I know it's inappropriate, but I found this inexplicably hilarious. I think it shows how far Mac has come from being spoiled Pink Mac to ruthless Black Mac.

He stumbles and collapses to the ground. Somewhere nearby, I hear garbled sounds. Oh, God, his head is still talking. 

Good! Can he form sentences? I'm in a strong bargaining position. Tell me what I want, and I'll put your head back on. 

A scene between Barrons and Mac after they've hooked up and they're going to go after the Sinsar Dubh.

"Jericho, I feel like my whole life has been pushing me toward this moment."

"That's it. Fate's a fickle whore. We're not going. Take your clothes off and get back in my bed."

And that's it for me on the Fever front until I get my hands on Iced. 

Ain't Life Great?

In 32 days, Lady Gaga will be performing at Soccer City. I don't think I need to tell you that I'm as excited as can be. I know that a whole lot of people don't particularly like the Mother Monster but I don't think that anyone can deny that she is one hell of a performer. 

So, in honour of the fact that I'm going to be watching Lady Gaga on stage in just over a month, I'm posting a video I found for her song "Teeth". I found what looks like the official video but I don't really like it. Too many flashing lights for my taste. But I found another one that I think is pretty hot. 

Just as a warning though: if you're easily offended you will NOT like this video. 

Have a great Monday everybody!

Fever Series: Dreamfever

Wow. This book was quite intense. I just want to warn anybody who might be reading this series and happens to be on Dreamfever: Get Shadowfever and have it on hand before you finish Dreamfever. The cliffhanger for this book will have you going crazy if you don't have the next book. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Right, on to the story. At the end of Faefever, Mac was captured by the evil, pretentious Lord Master and three of the four Unseelie Princes (Death, Famine and Pestilence), who turned her Pri-ya. Being Pri-ya is basically a state where a human becomes addicted to sex with Fae and anytime they're not having sex, they're in agony. They basically lose their minds and all memory of who they are. So, for obvious reasons, this is a hectically bad thing to happen to Mac. Because Mac is so out of it, we have the story told from Dani's perspective for a chapter or two (testing the waters for Iced?). 

You know what I really like about this series? It doesn't let the guys do all the swooping and rescuing. Case in point: it isn't V'lane or Barrons who rescues Mac from the LM and the Unseelie Princes. It's Dani.  

In any case, Mac is now Pri-ya and is in a whole world of trouble. It takes Barrons to sort of... snap her out of it. I have to confess that I am insanely jealous of Mac, given how he accomplishes this. We also see a side to Barrons which was almost, dare I say it, sweet. He was singing and dancing to "Tub Thumping" with her. I know Barrons can be a jackass but his willingness to even listen to that aggravating song to help jolt Mac's memory makes him far nicer than I would have given him credit for. 

Mac does eventually snap out of her nympho state and when she does, man, is she pissed! From here what was left of Pink Mac dies and she becomes Black Mac, who likes leather and guns. 

This book is quite fast paced. Mac has a huge confrontation with Rowena and the other sidhe-seers. She and Barrons go from not being to be able to keep their hands off of each other to being stiff (a poor word choice?) and formal again. We see V'lane and Barrons posturing at each other and learn why V'lane, an immortal Fae, would be so scared of Barrons. Which leads to the burning question: what the heck is Barrons? We still have no clue and it's beginning to bug me. We do see a few little tidbits from Barrons' past but nothing to really explain what he is, why he can be such a jerk, and what his real motives are for wanting the sinsar bubh. 

We are also introduced to Barrons' merry band of psychopaths. I am very interested to learn more about these guys. The only one we've really dealt with is Ryodan, and he seems... I don't know. He's a very mysterious, shady character and from what I've read, he's going to play a major role in Iced, book 6 in the Fever series. 

I just want to throw out a few of my favourite scenes from this book. They all pretty much had me laughing like a loon.

Here Mac has just snapped out of being Pri-ya and is remembering some of what she and Barrons were doing for the past few weeks.

. If I know Jericho Barrons, he was walking around feeling like his dick was the most huge, magnificent, perfect, important creation under the sun.

Which -I winced- I vaguely recalled telling him a time or two.

Well... maybe several times.

Mac and Barrons have had a huge argument and Mac is sitting on the floor. V'lane comes in and sees this, which leads to him and Barrons beating their chests at one another:

   "Did he strike you MacKayla? Say the word and I'll kill him."

"As if you could," said Barrons.

"Perhaps not. But I do enjoy thinking about it."

"Bring it on, Tinker Bell."

And lastly, a little snippet from yet another argument between Barrons and Mac. He's being a pig and I think this is one of the few cases where she gets the upper hand. 

"I'm trying to arm myself so I can fight like I fuck," I snapped. "But you refuse to help."

"I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to say that word again, Ms Lane. Time was, you had no reservations. 'Fuck me, Jericho Barrons,' you'd say. Morning, noon and night."

"I didn't know getting you to talk was so easy, or I'd have said it five minutes ago. Fuck you, Jericho Barrons."

Just one book left to go in the Fever series. I won't lie, I'll be sad to finish it

Fever Series: Faefever

I love this series so much! Faefever was so good. 

 Mac is one seriously awesome heroine. And the stuff she has to put up with! "Pink Mac" as she refers to her younger, clueless self is slowly being replaced by a darker Mac. She struggles to deal with the nasty habit she picked up from Malluce and, what's worse, she teaches it to Inspector Jayne. I understand why she did it but still... gross. 

Faefever sees Mac dealing with some serious trust issues and she thinks that it's past time to diversify. Who is she to trust? Barrons who tells her diddly squat? V'lane, the death-by-sex fae, who is by his very nature untrustworthy? She thinks she's been relying too heavily on Barrons for her survival and she doesn't quite trust V'lane. That's why she throws poor Inspector Jayne into the mix. 

Mac really is struggling with her relationship with Barrons. I think that to desribe it as "tense" would be an understatement. He teaches her to resist Voice (a little like Harry Potter's imperius curse) and they go after the Sinsar Dubh. I don't think I've mentioned the Sinsar Dubh before. Sorry about that. In short, it's one seriously evil book, full of black magic, that corrupts whoever touches it. Barrons wants it but we don't know why. Mac also gets closer to V'lane, and he gives her a way for her to contact him whenever she needs him by placing his name on her tongue. It works like the mystical equivalent of a cell phone. 

We also deal more with the other sidhe-seers in this book. Rowena, the head of the sidhe-seer council, is a bitch. Dani, the fierce young sidhe-seer with a potty mouth, is awesome. 

Faefever centres around a huge problem: how to keep the walls between the human and fae worlds up. Because once the walls come down, all the creepy Unseelie come out and chaos will ensue. 

 As though all this wasn't bad enough, right at the end she gets captured by people that make Malluce look like the Easter Bunny. Ms Moning and her cliffhangers are a killer! Word to the wise: if you're reading this series get ALL of the books. You will die from not knowing. 

Just to share my favourite moments from the book. Interestingly enough, they all involve Barrons. Sigh... how the mighty have fallen.

After a hair raising run in with the Sinsar Dubh.

I began to cry.

Barrons looked horrified. "Stop that immediately, Ms Lane."

"I can't." I sniffled into my cup of cocoa so he wouldn't see my face.

"Try harder."

I think that may have been panic talking here.

Turns out Barrons is having a birthday soon. Mac decides to get him a birthday cake but, since she doesn't know how old he is, she puts Pi on the cake. It was during this scene that I wished this story was in third person so we could get the slightest clue what's going on in Barrons' head.

"Pi, Ms Lane? I'd pegged you for failing high school math."

"I got a D. The little stuff always trips me up. But the big stuff stuck with me."

"Why Pi?

""It's irrational and uncountable."

Funny girl, wasn't I?

"It's also a constant," he said dryly.

I don't want to spoil anything but, after having read Dreamfever and starting on Shadowfever, I no longer hate Barrons. Yes, he's a creep. But he's a nice creep, if that makes any sense.

Pinch Me, I'm Dreaming...

guess what Guess What GUESS WHAT?!?!

Have you guessed yet? Yes? Are you done guessing? Good. Now I can tell you that...

The Kongos are opening up for Linkin Park's SA tour!

Isn't that so exciting? In 23 days, not only will I be in the presence of a band I've worshiped for years but I'll be watching the Kongos too! 

You can't see me but I'm totally doing the dance of joy right now.

Local Is Lekker

I don't know what rock I was living under for the past couple of months since this song has been out for months, but I only just saw this video last week. It's a remake of Corey Heart's "Sunglasses at Night" done by Locnville, aKing, Die Heuwels Fantasties, Van Coke Kartel, JR and Thieve. It's so awesome!

Listen and enjoy!

Fever Series: Bloodfever

When I read a book I tend to weigh the heroine on the "Kick Ass Scale" from one to ten, with "one" being a Bella and "ten" being a Buffy. I think I'm going to have to label any heroine who goes to an eleven or something a Mac. She has this "never say die" attitude that I both admire and am totally freaked out by at the same time. 

Bloodfever wasn't quite as good as Darkfever, but it was still pretty effing awesome. Mac and Barrons are still doing that thing where they're all formal and stuff. The moments where they get all pissy with one another are too funny! They've each always got some smart ass comment ready and I have to admit, Barrons makes me roll around laughing. I know I said that Barrons is an ass and I stand by that...

But he's so funny! And despite his bad behaviour, I really wish he and Mac would just go there already. I think this little tidbit is a good example of the tension between these two. It also raises the question which will plague the rest of the series (I'm on Dreamfever now and we still have no idea): What the heck is Jericho Barrons?

"I've heard there are no male sidhe-seers."
"Where did you hear that?
"Around?"
"And which one of those are you in doubt about, Ms Lane?"
"Which one of what?"
"Whether I see the Fae, or whether I'm a man. I believe I've laid your mind to rest on the former; shall I relieve it on the latter?"
He reached for his belt.

I was torn between rolling my eyes and rolling around on the floor laughing. He is so obnoxious but so damn sexy, all at once.
We also had more interaction with the characters we met in Darkfever and we were introduced to new characters too.
Let me start with the familiar faces. V'lane, the death-by-sex Fae, still gives me the heeby-jeebies. He's up to something, besides getting into Mac's pants, and he has no damn scruples. Fiona is still crazy in love with Barrons, although at this point she is leaning heavily towards being bat-shit crazy. Rowena, the aging sidhe-seer, is one deeply unpleasant old bat. I don't like her one little bit. The "Lord Master" (pretentious, much?) is still running around causing trouble, although this happens mostly in the background. Malluce, the vampire, is falling apart. When you get to what's going on with him, you will cringe.
Now for the newbies. My favourite new character is Dani. She's a precocious thirteen year old sidhe-seer with super speed, a bad attitude and a potty mouth. Judging by the fact that book six in the Fever Series, Iced, will be told from Dani's perspective, I imagine we'll be seeing a lot of her. Inspector Jayne is a member of Ireland's Garda and is being a major pain in Mac's butt. Lastly, we meet Christopher MacKeltar. He seems like your average, everyday guy but he knows a thing or two that Mac finds herself wanting to hear more about.
Last thing before I stop jabbering about this book. Mac and Barrons do kiss. And I couldn't even yell "FINALLY!" because Mac had kinda- who am I kidding?- really freaked me out a few pages before. Let me just say that Mac picked up on a nasty habit of Malluce's and leave it at that.
Ooooh, wait! I lied. This is the last thing:
"What are you Barrons?"
"The one who will never let you die, and that's more, Ms Lane, than anyone in your life has ever been able to say to you. More than anyone else can do."

Fever Series: Darkfever

Oh my stars. Wow. I loved this book to pieces! It was absolutely flippin' amazing. I cannot even begin to tell you how good this book is! Ms Moning is an evil genius. Even though most of the characters kinda pissed me off, I couldn't stop reading. As soon as I even thought about taking a little break from this book, just to catch my breath, this little voice in my head would scream, "What the hell do you think you're doing?!?!" 

I had to know what was going to happen next.

The story is told from the perspective of MacKayla Lane. She is a girly girl who lives in a small town in Georgia. She is pretty happy with her lot in life. She is super-cute, she has parents who adore her, and she and her sister are thisclose. But then things start to go badly awry. Her sister goes to Dublin to study and she dies there under mysterious circumstances. The police close the investigation due to a lack of new evidence. Mac's whole world falls apart, so she goes to Dublin to put pressure on the police to continue their investigation. 

This is where things start getting weird. Mac meets the mysterious, arrogant, condescending and sarcastic Jericho Barrons and starts to see the Fae. The fae are uber creepy. They are not at all like Disney's Tinkerbell would like you to believe. And Barrons, while smoking hot, is a jerk. I really did not like this man. He was so mean to Mac that I often found myself yelling at my book (don't look at me like that! I know I'm not the only one who does stuff like that). I just want to give you a few examples of why I was acting like a crazy.

His gaze dropped from my face to my toes and back again. Apparently unimpressed by what he saw. "Go home, Ms Lane. Be young. Be pretty. Get married. Have babies. Grow old with your pretty husband."

Condescending, much?!

Mac has long, pretty blonde hair which she loves. For her own safety though, she has to dye it and cut it short. Being attached to my own hair, I wanted to slap Barrons for this.

"When you've finished cutting and coloring your hair, return to me. Short and dark, Ms Lane. Lose the Barbie look."

He gave me a brief glance. "Go put on something more... womanly. 

My eyes narrowed. "You mean sleazy."

"I mean the kind of woman others are accustomed to seeing me with. A grown one, if you think you can manage that, Ms Lane. Black might make you look old enough to drive. The new hair is... better. But do something with it. Make it look like the night I woke you."

All I can say here is grrr...

Normally this type of, ahem, "hero" is the kind I rail against. And I still do. I wanted to hit him upside the head with a rock and that is still one of the kinder things I wanted to do to him. But even his general asshole-ishness kept me reading. I kept hoping that something would happen to soften him, or at least make him a teeny tiny bit nicer. And eventually, halle-freaking-lujah, it did. On page 332, the last chapter. Mac managed to talk Barrons into painting her nails since she couldn't. It doesn't change the fact that he's a creep but it does make him a little bit more human. 

Now, lets talk about Mac. She's normally the type of heroine that I wouldn't have patience for. Too much love for pink, too concerned about clothes and looking pretty, too little kick ass potential. Boy, was I wrong. I found that the meaner Barrons was to Mac, the more I liked her. She reminded me a little bit of Sookie Stackhouse in the beginning. You know, carrying on oblivious to all the freaky stuff around her and then being thrown in at the deep end. Whenever Mac managed to overcome some obstacle or managed to put Barrons in his place, the latter didn't happen too often, I did a little victory dance for her. What I also liked about Mac was that she didn't just jump into bed with Barrons. Not once in the entire book was there any sexy time with Barrons. Yes, she was definitely thinking about it. But because he was so deeply unpleasant, she knew going there would be a very bad idea. 

There weren't a whole lot of peripheral characters. We've met V'lane and Fiona. V'lane is a death-by-sex Fae. He is basically so inhumanly beautiful, and oozes these "jump-my-bones" pheromones, that humans can't resist him. I don't like him. He gives me the creeps. Fiona is Barrons' squeeze. She does not like Mac, not even a little. She has a bad case of the "love-is-blinds" for Barrons.  

I loved this book so much! I wish that I could read it again and get that feeling that you get the first time you read an amazing book. Yes, I know I ranted about Barrons but I'm halfway through the second book (Bloodfever) and he does get better. Slightly.

Seriously, if you read anything else this year, read this book!

And then read the rest of the series! 

Demonica Series: Pleasure Unbound

Have you ever heard the saying that goes "the road to hell is paved with good intentions"? Whoever said that hit the nail square on the head. I had every intention of studying on my week-long break. But I didn't. Instead I read and did nothing.

But I'm glad I did get around to reading because Pleasure Unbound by Larissa Ione was pretty good. The story is set in New York. There are humans, demons, and human demon hunters. The story is about Tayla, a hunter, and Eidolon, a demon doctor who is in charge of the Underworld General Hospital. I liked these two although I wouldn't have blamed Eidolon if he'd decided to throttle Tayla. This chick gave him such a hard time with the "no, leave me alone!" and then the "wait, come back!" thing she had going. Not that I really blame her. With her mom having been killed by a demon, having warm fuzzies for one must have been confusing. Tayla also had me laughing a whole bunch of times. This chick had a wicked sense of humour.

Eidolon was a real sweetie. He's a Seminus demon (a type of incubus) and he needs to find a mate pronto before he undergoes a freakish change that makes him lose his marbles. Tayla coming into the picture is making it damn near impossible for him to sort himself out and the story goes on from there. 

I kinda felt myself getting frustrated for Eidolon. While I get where Tayla's coming from, her hot and cold attitude was hard to keep up with. One minute she and Eidolon are doing the nasty, the next she's conked him on the head with a steel pipe and chained him to her bed. In a non-kinky, lets-have-some-fun kind of way. 

We also met Eidolon's brothers, Shade and Wraith (yum!) and Tayla's sister, Gem. I am dying to learn more about these three. I loved Gem! She was funny and sweet and no-nonsense all at once. Gem is also burning a gigantic torch for demon hunter Kynan. It's so sad because it really doesn't look like it's going to happen for various reasons. 

I really enjoyed this series. I liked the characters, the world, the humour and the whole story in general. It was a fun read. I think fans of J.R Ward might enjoy it. It's not quite as gritty but has the same sort of vibe, I think

Just to share some of my favourite quotes with you guys:

From Tayla's perspective:

They entered the apartment, which though small, proved that vampires weren't all grim and Goth. No, this was worse. The stuff of nightmares.

Shades of purple and yellow assaulted her vision, from the lavender carpet to the baby-duck colored, fuzzy lamp shade. Even the walls had been slathered with lemon paint. Christ, the place looked like a Muppet slaughter house. She deserved to die for her horrible taste in decor alone. 

  From Eidolon's perspective:

Something inside Eidolon buckled, and fuck, nothing should be buckling or unbuckling for this woman. There had already been way too much of the latter.

From Gem's perspective:

Doctor Gemella Endri was up to her elbows in condoms.

(as is typical, Kynan walks in at this point.)

I dare you to read that last quote and not laugh. So, the bottom line is this: go read Pleasure Unbound. It's pretty awesome.

A Week of Buffy: Day 5

I think one of Buffy's oddest, but most lovable, characters was Anya. She was an ex-vengeance demon who found herself inexplicably attracted to Xander. They were such an adorable couple and funny as hell. Anya had very little in the way of people skills thanks to her demon days and Xander's reactions to her weirdness left me paralytic with laughter. Anyone familiar with the show will also know that Anya LOVES money.

Anya Jenkins:

  Anya: "Xander, you haven't been paying any attention to me tonight- just peddling those processed food bricks. I don't know why."

Xander: "Let me put it in a way you'll understand... Sell bars, make money, take Anya nice places, buy pretty things."

Anya: "That does make sense."

"The I in Team"

Xander: "Anya, the Shopkeepers Union of America called? They want me to tell you 'please go' just got replaced with 'have a nice day.'"

Anya: "I have their money. Who cares what kind of day they have?"

"No Place Like Home"

Willow: "I need help"

Anya: "I don't have any money."

Willow: "I don't want money!"

Anya: "Come in! Enjoy my personal space!"

"Same Time, Same Place"

 "We're all on death's doorstep, repeatedly ringing the bell, like maniacal Girl Scouts intent on making quota."

Anya, "Touched"

Anya: "I promise to cherish you... Eew, no! 'Cherish'? I promise to have sex with you whenever... I  want, and pledge to be your friend and your wife and your confidant and your sex poodle and-"

Tara: "Sex poodle?"

Anya: "Yeah, why?"

Tara: "Um, I'm not sure you should say 'sex poodle' in your vows."

Anya: "Huh."

"Hell's Bells"

Anya: "Oh, crap. Look at this. Now I am burdened with a husband and several tiny pink children and more cash than I can reasonably manage."

Xander: "That means you're winning."

Anya: "Really?"

Xander: "yes. Cash equals good."

Anya: "Oh, I'm so pleased! Can I trade in the children for more cash?"

Mastering the game of Life, "Real Me"

I was so bummed when she died at the end of season 7. But at least she went out with a bang.

A Week of Buffy: Day 4

What would the slayerettes have done without Rupert Giles? With his stiff upper lip and his knowledge of all things freaky and creepy, Giles was hands down my favourite grown up on Buffy. I just really wished that the writers could have given him a steady who didn't die. I think that a big part of my "blegh" attitude towards Angel came from the fact that he killed Jenny, Giles's lady love. 

Rupert Giles:

Buffy: "Giles, care. I'm putting my life on the line, battling the undead! I broke a nail, okay? I'm wearing a press-on. The least you could do is exhibit some casual interest... You could go 'Hmmmm.'"

Giles: "Hmmmm?"

"Prophecy Girl"

"If you want to criticise my methods, fine. But you can keep your snide remarks to yourself, and while you're at it, stop criticising my methods!"

Giles to Wesley, "Bad Girls"

"I'm great with the pacing and the saying of 'hmmmm,' and 'ahhhh,' and 'Good Lord!'

Giles, "The Yoko Factor"

"[Snyder] thought it would behoove me to have more contact with the students.I tried to explain that my vocational choice of librarian was a deliberate attempt to minimise said contact."

Giles, re: involvement in the annual talentless show, "The Puppet Show"

Buffy: "Giles, you planning to step in with an explanation anytime soon?"

Giles: "Well, something... something very strange is happening."

Xander: "Can you believe the Watchers Council let this guy go?"

"Doppelgangland"

Buffy:  "We don't say 'Indian.'"

Giles: "Yes! Right. Always behind on the terms. Still trying not to refer to you lot as 'bloody colonials.'"

"Pangs"

Right, well, I tried to find a clip from "The Yoko Factor" where Willow officially announces to the Scooby Gang that she and Tara are a couple. The reason I want this clip is largely because of Giles. He's a wee bit drunk and after Willow's little speech, you can hear Giles in the background going, "Bloody hell!" I laughed myself stupid at that episode.

But I can't find it. Sorry...