Trip to Europe

Just wanted to drop a brief note, to let everyone know that I will not be posting any reviews for the next three and half weeks.
I'm going away to Europe, so I do not  believe I will have any time to writte any reviews.  But I am hoping to get a lot of reading done.

See you in three and half weeks.

The Dragon's Bride (Three Heroes Trilogy, #2) by Jo Beverley

Description:

Long popular in England because of the great Dragonslayer, the name George, by the 19th century, was also considered patriotic — the name of kings and princes. So it's not surprising that three Georges (called Hawk, Van and Con to avoid confusion) grew up as neighbors and joined the army together to fight Napoleon. The Dragon's Bride is Con's story. The new Earl of Wyvern, Con is still haunted by Waterloo, where a friend he'd sworn to protect lost his life. Susan Kerslake, housekeeper at the earl's fortress, is more than a servant. She's a smuggler, seeking hidden gold — and she and Con once shared an enchanted summer, before innocence met arrogance and shattered both their hearts. Reunited, they have an unexpected chance to heal old wounds — and perhaps to reclaim lost love (from Goodreads).

My Thoughts:

The Dragon’s Bride is a historical romance, I usually do not read many historical romances. But recently I have received several of historical books from my friend and started to read them. I have already reviewed two of the books; I have enjoyed all of them so far.

I have to say this was a very enjoyable book. The storyline was very engaging I was sucked into it from page one. Book was very well written and I really and there were a lot of interesting characters. Susan was my favourite, she is very strong, smart, caring and intriguing character. I like the fact that she made mistakes as a young woman and now she has a second chance to correct it. What I really liked about this book is the fact that it did not dwell to much on Susan and Con’s past but rather concentrated on the present. Even thought Susan had her regrets and Con had right to distrust her, their relationship developed nicely throughout the book. One other character that I really liked was David, Susan’s brother. I wish that we could read more about him, maybe there is a book out about him too, I will have to find out. If not than author should consider writing it.

Overall this was a very entertaining read, I would recommend this to all lovers of historical romance novels. However, I say this again, if you are looking for historically accurate novel than this might not be book for you. But than again if you are looking for historical accuracy historical romance novels are not the best source. Anyways, this was a sweet romance novel and I enjoyed every minute of it. I give this book 4/5 STARS.

Keys to the Demon Prison (Fablehaven #5) by Brandon Mull

Description:
Since ancient times, the great demon prison Zzyzx has protected the world from the most dangerous servants of darkness, including Gorgrog, the Demon King. After centuries of plotting, the Sphinx is on the verge of recovering the five artifacts necessary to open the legendary prison. Facing the potential of a world-ending calamity, all friends of light must unite in a final effort to thwart the Sphinx's designs and find a safe home for the five artifacts. To this end, Kendra, Seth, and the Knights of the Dawn will venture far beyond the walls of Fablehaven to strange and exotic magical preserves across the globe, where the end of every quest becomes the beginning of another. In this explosive series finale, allegiances will be confirmed and secrets revealed as the forces of light and darkness collide in a desperate struggle to control the keys to the demon prison (from Goodreads.com).

My Thoughts:

This is book five, final book in the Fablehaven series; I am very sorry to see this series come to an end. I have enjoyed reading Fablehaven series very much and I am going to miss it.

Final book was very good, it was intense, it kept me on the edge of the seat the whole time. There was a lot of suspense especially after Seth returns to Fablehaven, I was so worried as to what would happen next. I actually felt bad for Seth at this point. Usually I feel disappointed when Seth screws up, but this time I felt really bad for him. In this book we also meet few new characters, Bracken and few others. I really liked Bracken he was a such a nice addition to the story; I also enjoyed his friendship with Seth and Kendra. Kendra was my favourite character and she has grown so much throughout the series, Seth too. In this book we see relationship between Kendra and the Fairy Queen develop; also we learn more about the Fairy Queen as to who she is?

Book five was well written and thought out, I really enjoyed the ending and some of the plot twists I really did not expect. All the characters were well developed and have grown a lot from the very first book in the series. I do find that all the tasks that the characters needed to complete before they can save the world were somewhat to convenient and easy. Also I found that some of the dialog between the characters did not flow smoothly and it felt unnatural. But I was able to look past that and continue enjoying the books.

Overall this was a very entertaining read and fun. I will be looking up the new book by Mull that was recently released. I would recommend this book for all who love reading about fairies, demons, and any other magical creatures. Funs of Harry Potter might like this book there are lot of plot similarities to HP. As I already said I am sorry to see this series end; I give this book 5/5 STARS.

Town in a Blueberry Jam (Candy Holliday #1) by B. B. Haywood

Description:

First in the fabulous new Candy Holliday Murder mystery series.

In the seaside village of Cape Willington, Maine, Candy Holliday has an idyllic life tending to the Blueberry Acres farm she runs with her father. But, when an aging playboy and the newly crowned Blueberry Queen are killed, Candy investigates to clear the name of a local handyman. And as she sorts through the town's juicy secrets, things start to get sticky indeed...

My Thoughts:

I came across this book by accident, the title Town in a Blueberry Jam. I have to tell you when I saw this title my curiosity got the better of me.

Candy Holiday lives in Cape Willington Maine, she and her father own a blueberry farm. Cape Willington is a small town in Main, quite where pretty much everyone know everyone. But the peace is disturbed when two people get murdered. Even though book opened with the murder of Jock, I have to say I was immediately hooked. I think I was hooked because we get to read about final thoughts of Jock, the murder victim, and the fact he tells us who he thinks his murderer is. Even though he did not see his killer. After I finished the prologue I thought to myself now I really have to finish this book, because I wanted to know how it turned out. I wanted to now if the murdered was in fact who Jock suspected.

I really enjoyed most of the characters, they were all likable and some of them were funny. Candy was a likeable character, she was smart, kind, and curious. She gets involved in solving the two murders, trying to help her friend who is the main suspect. Maggie was another character that I really liked and I liked the friendship between her and Candy. They were very funny; their detective adventures were very entertaining I have to say. There were other character that I really liked, but we did not get to know them as much. Maybe in future book we will see more of some of these characters.

Overall this was a very entertaining murder mystery, and I have to say I was surprised at the end as to who the murderer was. I thought it was someone else, few people crossed my mind. This was a light mystery, almost humorous at times even though there is nothing funny about murder. However if you are looking for a hardcore mystery than probably you this is not book for you. But if you are looking for something light, with some mystery, murder and humour you just might enjoy this book. I give this book 3/5 STARS.

Dangerous Passion (Dangerous #3) by Lisa Marie Rice

Description:

Feelings kill faster than bullets.

That is Drake's creed. A legend, a renegade, a ruthless, powerful enigma understood by no one and feared by all, Viktor "Drake" Drakovich heads up a billion-dollar empire—and shows no mercy to the many enemies who would stop at nothing to destroy him. He is a man with no love and no weakness, until...

Grace Larsen takes Drake's breath away the first time he sees her—and quickly becomes his obsession. Never before has he burned for someone the way he desires this hauntingly beautiful artist who is plagued by troubling dreams. He aches to possess her, to protect her, to carry her to new heights of sensuous arousal and rapturous release.

But entering Drake's world means becoming a target—for relentless, bloodthirsty foes have been eagerly waiting for him to expose his weak spot. And the price of their passion may be their lives (from Goodreads). 

My Thoughts:

I picked up this book at Chapter's bargain section the other night and I started to read it right away. Anyway, half way through the book I realised that this book was book three in Dangerous series, good thing that each book can be read as stand alone. I did enjoy this book very much; it was an easy and fast read and that’s what I needed.

This was very sweet romantic story with twist of action, actually bare minimum action. Romance between Grace Larsen, and Drake was the main plotline and action a side line to keep the readers more interested in the story. Personally I think that the story could have worked better without action part. I liked Grace and Drake, they were nice enough characters and romance between them was alright. I really enjoyed Drake’s character he was not your typical macho good guy, but actually he an arms dealer. He started out his business as an arms dealer and become one of the richest man in the world because of it. However he is not a bad person but rather he is good guy even though the business that he is in not the most favourable. Even though the book was three hundred and some pages long I felt that the things were moving too fast, there was not time spent developing characters or plotline. Romantic relationship between Grace and Drake was very fast moving, too fast for my taste; it was to easy. What I likes about their relationship is how Drake discovers Grace and her work, it was kind of sweet (even though it could be considered stalkish).

Overall this was very entertaining and fun read. It was a very light romance novel, with a lot of fluff and mush, action was lacking but that was alright. If you are looking for something light and easy to read you might enjoy this book. However if you are looking for some kick ass action than this is not a book for you. It was alright book nothing I have not read before, but I think I will also read book one and two in this series. I give this book 3/5 STARS.

Blood Bound (Mercedes Thompson #2) by Patricia Briggs

Description:

The second installment of Patricia Briggs's paranormal fantasy saga to feature feisty heroine Mercedes "Mercy" Thompson, Blood Bound (sequel to 2006's Moon Called), pits the butt-kicking mechanic/coyote shape-shifter against a foe that is as rare as he is ruthless -- a demon-possessed sorcerer who is also a vampire!

My Thoughts:

This is book two in Mercy Thomson series and I have to say that I enjoyed this book even more than book one. It took me better part of Sunday morning to finish this. Book two was also filled with great dialog, some action, mystery, some romance and humour. I really enjoyed reading about all the characters, Mercy, Stefan , Adam and others. In this book we get to know better some of the characters that were only briefly mentioned in book one. Like Stefan, Mercy’s vampire friend; we also learn more about politic of vampires and werewolves, but more so about vampire politics.

In this book Mercy get sucked in vampire business after her vampire friend Stefan asks her for a favour. However things turn out to be a dangerous bloodbath and vampire possessed demon. Mercy gets sucked into the action even though she is told by both werewolves and vampires to stay out of it. Mercy is a such a great character and she grows as a character even more in this book. Actually all the characters grow in this book; more friendships are formed and relationships are starting to develop. Usually I am little bit weary of reading a sequel because they tend to be disappointing, they tend not to live up to the potential of the first book. But this does not happen with this book, storyline progresses, characters grow, romance is being developed, and so on.

Overall, I enjoyed this book very much and I am looking forward to reading rest of the series. I really did not have many complaints about this book other than that it was to short. I do wish book was longer. I would recommend this book to all who enjoy a good story about vampires and werewolves. I give this book 5/5 STARS.

Moon Called (Mercy Thompson # 1) by Patricia Briggs

Description:

Werewolves can be dangerous if you get in their way, but they'll leave you alone if you are careful. They are very good at hiding their natures from the human population, but I'm not human. I know them when I meet them, and they know me, too.

Mercy Thompson's sexy next-door neighbor is a werewolf.
She's tinkering with a VW bus at her mechanic shop that happens to belong to a vampire.

But then, Mercy Thompson is not exactly normal herself ... and her connection to the world of things that go bump in the night is about to get her into a whole lot of trouble (from Goodreads.com).

My Thoughts:

I bought this book while ago, actually I bought all the available books in the series. But I never read any of them until now; well I only read first book in the series so far. I have to say this was very good read, I could not stop reading it once I started; I finished reading this book in one setting.

Mercy Thomson character is one of my favourite characters as of now. I just love her, she is very fascinating, funny, confident, loyal, smart and courageous. She also can shift into a coyote at will and she is VW mechanic. I really enjoyed learning about Mercy and her life and her relationship with the alpha male of the local werewolf pack. I liked Adam he is such a confident man, I like that he is also protective of Mercy and he basically takes her under his protection. There is a lot of chemistry between the two, which makes you want to read other books in the series to see what happens to the two of them. Romantic interest between the two takes on a nice pace and romance does not take over the storyline.

Story was very well developed and well written. I read one other book by this author, but I do like her writing style. Even thought this book was not very long only 288 pages I believe author manages very good job. Characters are very well developed and entertaining; I have always enjoyed reading books with kick ass female protagonists and this book does not disappoint. Overall this was a very good read and I will be reading book two in the Mercy Thompson series. I give this book 4/5 STARS.

The Devil Earl (Regency Quartet # 2) by Deborah Simmons

Description:

Out of a Midnight Coach Stepped Ravenscar...The Perfect Gothic Mystery Man

Dark and brooding and rumored to have done murder, the Devil Earl was everything Prudence Lancaster's imagination could conjure. But he was also flesh and blood, and infinitely more seductive than anything she had ever created. In his presence, the dreamy authoress became a sultry sleuth, hungry to solve the mystery of Ravenscar's missing brother and save her beloved Devil Earl from his own wicked legacy (from Goodreads.com).


My Thoughts:
This is book two in Regency Quartet; I just recently discovered this author and I really beginning to like her work. This is the second book that I have read and I enjoyed it very much. I do have to say that if you are looking for historical accuracy for this time period than this is not the book for you. But if you can just go with the flow than you will have no problem with this book. This book is very entertaining and fluffy read, and if you are in mood for something light and something that does not require much of your intellectual power than this is a book for you.

Prudence Lancaster is a young unmarried woman who writes gothic novels, and she is lacking inspiration for her new novel. She is, I believe, twenty-four years of age and a spinster, according to the society she lives in she is already past the marriageable age because she is too old. Man can you imagine being twenty-four and being called old. I really liked Prudence , she is a very lovable character, she is independent, caring, fun, smart, considerate, accepting and spontaneous. I also liked Earl of Ravenscar (Sebastian), he is very interesting character, he had a tough childhood, with no one to look up to. Never had a role model, but yet he turned out alright. I really liked the attraction between Prudence and Sebastian, they do not fight or run away from the attraction that they feel for each other, but rather they plunge right into it. This is what I liked about this book, our heroin did not spend most of the book fighting her attraction to her love interest, but rather embraced it. I usually stay away from historical romances because of the heroines and their behaviour, they usually fight tooth and nail their male counterpart, even though most of the reasons are stupid and not valid reasons. It becomes so annoying that I would love to shake and slap her and say to her snap out of it and think before you jump to a conclusion. However this book had none of that and I think that is why I liked it so much .

Plot was alright and writing was alright, nothing to get excited about. Author does try to add some mystery to the plot line but it was a poor attempt. But t that is alright because this was not mystery but romance novel. Another thing that I did not like about this book was being passed off as a gothic romance, it was not gothic. Just because author adds a gothic castle, that is dark and dreary it does not make a book gothic. So if you are thinking of picking up this book because you like gothic feel to it than this is not the book you would like. This book is pure romantic fluff and there is nothing gothic about this story other than thrown in gothic castle type building.

Overall, despite it shortcomings this was a entertaining story, there Is just something about this book that I enjoyed. I think I will look for other books by this author and see how they work out. I give this book 3/5 STARS.

The Erotic Secrets of a French Maid by Lisa Cach

Description:

He's master of the house.

She's mistress of his desires....

After an unsuccessful search for her dream job in architecture, Emma Mayson becomes a maid for an incredibly handsome, wealthy entrepreneur. But Russell Carrick is also a total workaholic who has lost his zest for life -- or has he just misplaced it? Setting aside her feather duster and her inhibitions, Emma rekindles her employer's passion with a fantasy world of boundless pleasure. But then the unthinkable happens: She falls for him. Can she make Russell see her as more than a plaything (from Goodreads.com). 

My Thoughts:

I borrowed this ebook from my local library ebook collection.  I was intrigued by its title and I wanted something fun and dirty to read.  But I have to say that I was somewhat disappointed by this book, it did not live up to its title or even its erotica genera. 

At first book started out very well, it was very funny and enjoyable.  But after the humorous scene where Emma and Russ have a misunderstanding, scene was quite hilarious and made me laugh out loud.  But after this everything goes downhill.  This book was categorized as erotica but to me it did not feel like it.  Sex scenes were mediocre, not boring but underdeveloped.  Also it did not help that the Emma and Russ had no chemistry between each other, the relationship just did not work.  I mean this was suppose to be erotica novel but our heroin does not even have an orgasm during several sex scenes, she does have orgasm in their last scene at the end of the book.  Even though most of the scenes involved role play, they were not that good that they would make up for the lack of chemistry between Emma and Russ. 

Another thing I had a problem with is the title of this book "French Maid" part.  Story does not live up to it's title, there is maybe one scene with the French maid outfit, but that's it.  Title is completely misleading because when I picked up this book I imagined it completely differently.  Another annoying thing I found was that the scenes would change very suddenly, very awkward for me as reader, few times I felt lost.

Overall this was an OK read, I have read much better and steamier erotica novels.  In my personal opinion this book lacked both erotica and stream, which left it with just being OK.  Characters, Emma and Russ are very likable character but they needed more development and more chemistry.  I give this book 2/5 STARS.

Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary (Fablehaven #4) by Brandon Mull

Description:

Brace yourself for a shocking secret. Two hidden artifacts have been found. Three more remain unrecovered. More preserves face destruction as the Society of the Evening Star relentlessly pursues new talismans. Reading in Patton s Journal of Secrets, Kendra learns the location of the key to a vault housing one of the artifacts. In order to retrieve it, the Knights of the Dawn must enter a death trap a dragon sanctuary called Wyrmroost. The mission cannot proceed without stealing a sacred object zealously guarded by the centaurs. Anybody seen Seth? The race is on to acquire all five of the artifact keys to the great demon prison. Will the Knights of the Dawn conquer Wyrmroost? Who can stop the Sphinx? Can Vanessa be trusted to help? What artifact will be found next? Find out in Fablehaven: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary (from Goodreads).

My Thoughts:

Fourth book Fablehaven was an excellent read. I had this for about a year but I did not want to read it because I knew that I would probably had to wait for another year for book five. So I put of reading it till book five was released.

I really enjoyed this book, it was action and adventure packed from beginning to end. We are introduced to some new characters and some old characters from previous books come back. Plotline for this book was well thought out and written, and it connects very well with rest of the series. There is a lot of funny moments, some mystery, some sweet moments. I knew that someone was going to betray them and I tried to figure out who it was, but picked the wrong person. I was very surprised who the betrayer was. This is what I really like about this series, they are an easy and quick reads, but they are not predictable (for the most part), at the end of each book you get a surprise that you were not expecting.

There was lot of character development and growth, especially Seth. Seth’s character used to be very annoying but through each book he grows as a character. In this book Seth shows how much he actually changed and grew as a character comparing to first or second book. Seth now thinks before he acts, however he is still Seth, he likes mischief and adventure. I have to say that Seth has grown on me, now I really like him and enjoy reading the story from his point of view. Kendra is another favourite character of mine, she is sweet, smart, loyal, brave, and responsible. There are number of other characters that I really liked, Rextus, he is the funniest dragon ever (if that is personality trait you can attribute to dragon).

Overall, this was a very entertaining read, it was fast paced, quick read, full of action, adventure, humour and betrayal. I think all readers that enjoyed reading HP and Percy Jackson , will enjoy this book/series. I give this book 5/5 STARS.