Little Battles, by N.K. Smith

Format: Kindle mobi

Published: April 28, 2011

Publisher: The Writers’ Coffee Shop Publishing House

Back cover blurb:

Spending time with Elliott instills a faint whisper of hope within Sophie Young; hope that both terrifies her and promises redemption.  But the demons of her past are never far behind, and old habits are hard to break.  The more she tries to push him away, the stronger the pull towards him becomes.  As Sophie’s broken heart continues to seek comfort in Elliott, can she put aside her destructive ways and take the most dangerous risk of all?

For many years, Elliott Dalton had lived a solitary existence, keeping his emotions under tight control.  But as his feelings for Sophie grow and her life spins further out of control, his carefully built facade begins to crack.

He is determined to protect her at all costs, just as he protects the hidden secrets of his past.   Secrets that threaten everything.  For if she knew, he would lose her forever…

My review:

This is the second book in the Old Wounds series by N.K. Smith, and if you recall I loved the first one and gave it five cupcakes.

In Little Battles, Sophie and Elliott continue to open up to each other and we begin to learn what horrendous pasts they both have had. Sophie reveals more than Elliott, and even begins to share her experiences with her counsellor in therapy, but for all the progress she makes she still finds herself in situations that, frankly, broke my heart. I had to walk away from the book in the middle when things got particularly dark, but I couldn’t stay away for too long.

Elliott is still so sweet and kind, but he reveals an anger management problem and hints at some of the horrors of his early years. I imagine the third book in the trilogy – Weight of the World, due out in August – will be more devoted to his story, and I also hope they can finally get it together by then!

Again, I loved this. The writing is excellent and the story really takes you over. I fear Smith must have experienced something like this in her own life, otherwise how could someone write about it so authentically? I hope she hasn’t, and that this is just an amazing writing gift.

My rating: 5/5

Bad Luck and Trouble, by Lee Child

Format: Paperback, 396 pages

Published: April 2, 2007

Publisher: Bantam Press

Back cover blurb:

Now on his own for 10 years, Reacher has an ATM card and the clothes on his back—no phone, no ties, and no address—he’s a hard man to find. A loner, comfortable in his anonymity and solitude.

Performing the impossible isn’t so difficult for Frances Neagley, who manages to locate Reacher by using a signal only the eight members of their elite team of army investigators would know. She tells Reacher a harrowing story about the brutal death of a one of their own. Soon they reunite with the survivors of their old team and race to raise the living, bury the dead, and connect the dots in a mystery that grows more opaque with every new piece of information. With lives at stake, the team falls back together with apparent ease; their motto still holding true: You do not mess with the Special Investigators.

My review:

So now I’m going back to read the Reachers I missed when they first came out, and I have to say this one – the 11th in the series – is one of the best. Jack is his usual bad ass self but has moments of self-doubt, which may be new for him. Here he is also teamed up with his old unit, so we get the bonus of additional people with Reacher attitudes = WIN! Two are women and we get some sexual tension thrown in too. In fact, I got the feeling both women had a little thing for Jack.

The storyline moved along swiftly, and even though I was a little ahead of their deduction at one point, the fast pace and plot twists meant I couldn’t put it down. The only problem I had with the story was when Reacher robbed some drug dealers to get cash and I felt let down by him. I know they were scumbags, but I always thought Jack was better than that. Still, they had their uses and were helpful in the end, not just for their money.

Most of all I loved this story because it was about intelligent, ruthless people using their brains to work out a complex chain of events. There were codes and number series to work out, the best of which I thought were messages between the investigators themselves – notably Dixon and O’Donnell’s communications to Reacher and the bank account amounts. Very clever and very brilliant.

My rating: 5/5

Cut & Run, by Madeleine Urban and Abigail Roux

Format: Kindle Edition

Published: September 29, 2008

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Back cover blurb:

A series of murders in New York City has stymied the police and FBI alike, and they suspect the culprit is a single killer sending an indecipherable message. But when the two federal agents assigned to the investigation are taken out, the FBI takes a more personal interest in the case.

Special Agent Ty Grady is pulled out of undercover work after his case blows up in his face. He’s cocky, abrasive, and indisputably the best at what he does. But when he’s paired with Special Agent Zane Garrett, it’s hate at first sight. Garrett is the perfect image of an agent: serious, sober, and focused, which makes their partnership a classic cliché: total opposites, good cop-bad cop, the odd couple. They both know immediately that their partnership will pose more of an obstacle than the lack of evidence left by the murderer.

Practically before their special assignment starts, the murderer strikes again – this time at them. Now on the run, trying to track down a man who has focused on killing his pursuers, Grady and Garrett will have to figure out how to work together before they become two more notches in the murderer’s knife.

My review:

The gals over at the BDB discussion group on GoodReads recommended this series a while back, so I picked this up when I needed something involving law enforcement and an m/m storyline to fulfil one of their reading challenges.

Ty Grady and Zane Garrett are FBI agents with troubled backgrounds who don’t play well with others but are nevertheless partnered together to solve a serial murder case which looks like it was perpetrated by one of their own. Only a handful of agents know why they are on the case, which made it pretty clear to me after only a chapter or so who the killer would turn out to be. The elaborate methods of killing and the theme linking them all was an interesting premise but we never discover the motivation behind it, which would have made this book more satisfying for me.

I was also mildly irritated at the way Ty and Zane took turns getting hurt – it seemed too pat – and the obvious ineptitude of the doctors who let them walk away without adequate treatment.

The romance, however, was very realistic and satisfying. I love UST, and the first few chapters are tantalising as you begin to realise their verbal sparring is actually foreplay. I also loved their boss, Dick Burns (great name for slash!), and suspect he knows there’s more to their partnership than just the job.

There are a couple more books in the series which I will no doubt read. I’m invested in them now, and I think I will need to check in to find out how Ty and Zane are getting along.

My rating: 3.5/5

Kiss of Midnight, by Lara Adrian

Format: Kindle Edition, 432 pages

Published: May 1, 2007

Publisher: Dell

Back cover blurb:

He watches her from across the crowded dance club, a sensual black-haired stranger who stirs Gabrielle Maxwell’s deepest fantasies. But nothing about this night — or this man — is what it seems. For when Gabrielle witnesses a murder outside the club, reality shifts into something dark and deadly. In that shattering instant she is thrust into a realm she never knew existed — a realm where vampires stalk the shadows and a blood war is set to ignite.Lucan Thorne despises the violence carried out by his lawless brethren. A vampire himself, Lucan is a Breed warrior, sworn to protect his kind — and the unwitting humans existing alongside them — from the mounting threat of the Rogues. Lucan cannot risk binding himself to a mortal woman, but when Gabrielle is targeted by his enemies, he has no choice but to bring her into the dark underworld he commands.

Here, in the arms of the Breed’s formidable leader, Gabrielle will confront an extraordinary destiny of danger, seduction, and the darkest pleasures of all…

My review:

While I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was just Dark Lover with Rogue vamps taking the place of Lessers, I really quite enjoyed this book. Lucan was yummy in a Black Dagger Brotherhood kind of way, and the smexy scenes were very hot. I also loved the other brothers – um, warriors – and their shellans – oh, never mind! – and loved the whole Batcave feel of their compound.

So, it looks like I’ve started yet another series. Yep, I’ll be reading the others, probably pretty soon. I believe Dante is up next

My rating: 4/5

Necrophenia, by Robert Rankin

Format: Paperback, 416 pages

Published:  July 17, 2008

Publisher: Gollancz

Back cover blurb:

ONE IN EVERY THREE PEOPLE LIVING IS ACTUALLY DEAD!

It is a matter of historical record that during the latter part of World War II, England’s top-secret Ministry of Serendipity enlisted the services of arch-magician Aleister Crowley to create a Homunculus. Why? Well that’s a long story, spanning almost seven decades as it follows the life and career of Tyler, rock star, private eye – and notable for the fact that he almost saved Mankind. The cast of millions also includes ukulele maestro George Formby, Mick Jagger, Mama Cass, Elvis Presley and Lazlo Woodbine. And Tyler’s brother, Andy, who impersonates animals (and who single-handedly brought about the Swinging Sixties). And a lady named Clara from Croydon, who unlocked the meta-phenomena of the Multiverse. And a corner shopkeeper from Brentford, who created a sitting room for God. And a great many living dead. Oh yes, and it also involves a monster in human form whose intention it is to turn the Earth into a Necrosphere, a planet totally devoid of life…

My review:

Sorry, Mr Rankin, but I really struggled to finish this one. I’ve been reading Rankin for 20 years, but this… I dunno. I loved his early stuff so much and am saddened when a mojo is lost.

Maybe there was too much self-reference. They were all there, Rankin’s usual suspects – hard-boiled private eye Lazlo Woodbine and Fangio the barman, Elvis, Dimac, the Ministry of Serendipity, unpopular vegetables, the woman in the straw hat – because it’s a tradition, or an old charter, or something, but still I wasn’t gripped. Tyler only became interesting to me about 200 pages in when he encountered Laz, but if it wasn’t for the fact I’m not a quitter I wouldn’t have read that far.

The next Rankin is sitting by my bedside but I think I’ll wait a while before tackling it.

My rating: 2/5

Feed, by Mira Grant

Format: Mass Market Paperback, 571 pages

Published: May 1, 2010

Publisher: Orbit

Back cover blurb:

In 2014, two experimental viruses—a genetically engineered flu strain designed by Dr. Alexander Kellis, intended to act as a cure for the common cold, and a cancer-killing strain of Marburg, known as “Marburg Amberlee”—escaped the lab and combined to form a single airborne pathogen that swept around the world in a matter of days. It cured cancer. It stopped a thousand cold and flu viruses in their tracks.

It raised the dead.

Millions died in the chaos that followed. The summer of 2014 was dubbed “The Rising,” and only the lessons learned from a thousand zombie movies allowed mankind to survive. Even then, the world was changed forever. The mainstream media fell, Internet news acquired an undeniable new legitimacy, and the CDC rose to a new level of power.

Set twenty years after the Rising, the Newsflesh trilogy follows a team of bloggers, led by Georgia and Shaun Mason, as they search for the brutal truths behind the infection. Danger, deceit, and betrayal lurk around every corner, as does the hardest question of them all:

When will you rise?

My review:

Journalism, politics and zombies – what more could I ask for? This was my first zombie book, and I have to say the undead were only minor inconveniences when stacked up against the political plot at the centre of this unique and amusing story.

Georgia (named, as all girls of her era, after George Romero) and Shaun (no explanation needed for his name, LOL) are adopted siblings who are invited to blog on the 2040 campaign trail with a senator running for president. Since the zombie apocalypse in 2014, bloggers have become the mainstream media, primarily because the old news media didn’t believe the zombies were taking over, and either were discredited or got eaten. Georgia is a Newsie – just the facts, ma’am – while Shaun is an Irwin (I LOVED this!), a blogger who takes unnecessary risks to get a story, i.e. he likes poking zombies with a stick and recording what happens. Needless to say, his computer password is “crikey”. Just brilliant.

They team up with Buffy, a Fictional (she writes poetry and zombie fiction), and together get embroiled in the dirty politics on the campaign, leading to grisly deaths and a truly heartbreaking ending.

The concept was brilliant, and obviously a lot of research went into creating this dystopia where everyone must constantly test their blood and a journalism qualification comes with a gun licence. There was a slow patch in the middle, but once the plot became apparent – and to me it was rather obvious who was behind it – the pace picked up and I was gripped until the end. I’ll definitely be reading the sequel when it comes out later this year.

My rating: 4/5

Undead and Unreturnable, by MaryJanice Davidson

Format: Hardcover, 272 pages

Published: November 1, 2005

Publisher: Berkley Sensation

Back cover blurb:

Though she’s the vampire queen, Betsy Taylor is much more like a princess. In MaryJanice Davidson’s novels, this high-maintenance monarch is finally coming to terms with her new status.

They say Christmas is a time for friends and family. But with a half-sister who’s the devil’s daughter, an evil stepmother, a fiend living in her basement, assorted spirits and killers running amok, and a spring wedding to plan with the former bane of her existence, Eric Sinclair, Betsy is not sure she’ll survive the holidays.

Oh, right. She’s already dead…

My review:

As much as I love Sinclair, I think this was my least favourite of the series so far. The plot was thin, the denouement too quick, and the new ghost character really annoying. There weren’t enough shoes and there certainly wasn’t enough Sinclair. At 250 words it was a very quick read, though, and this won’t stop me from reading the rest of the series. But, honestly, more Sinclair, please!

My rating: 3/5

Lover Unleashed, by J.R. Ward

Format: Kindle Edition, 489 pages

Published: March 29, 2011

Publisher: Penguin Group

Back cover blurb:

Payne, twin sister of Vishous, is cut from the same dark, warrior cloth as her brother: A fighter by nature, and a maverick when it comes to the traditional role of Chosen females, there is no place for her on the Far Side… and no role for her on the front lines of the war, either. 

When she suffers a paralyzing injury, human surgeon Dr. Manuel Manello is called in to treat her as only he can- and he soon gets sucked into her dangerous, secret world. Although he never before believed in things that go bump in the night- like vampires- he finds himself more than willing to be seduced by the powerful female who marks both his body and his soul.

As the two find so much more than an erotic connection, the human and vampire worlds collide … just as a centuries old score catches up with Payne and puts both her love and her life in deadly jeopardy.

My review:

Payne and Manny’s story was so sweet, and the smexing was very hot! Loved it. When Manny was first in the books I suspected he was Butch’s father, just because he was a doctor and … oh, I dunno. The thought crossed my mind. But now that his background is out there I hope Ward does more with it. I would love to see him become … more. (Trying not to spoil, here.) 

I agree with some of the other reviews I’ve seen that say it’s more V’s story than Payne’s, but I didn’t mind that at all. I did feel a little squicky in the scene with Butch, but after a brief walk away I got through that chapter and realised it was necessary for the story to move forward. Ward knows what she’s doing, so I always have faith, even if I was really disappointed with V for a time.I think he’s still my favourite brother, though.

There wasn’t enough of the other characters for my liking. No Tohr (but I’m SO glad he will be the next book!) and not enough Quinn and Blay, but again I have faith that story will end how we all want it to. Ward also occasionally annoys me with her pet phrases; in this book she overused “kibbitz”, especially in the first part of the book, and at one point twice in one sentence! And if I had a dollar for every time she uses “peanut gallery” I would be very rich I still love her, though, and am not sure how I will survive waiting a whole year for Tohr’s book. Let’s hope the novellas come out in the meantime.

My rating: 5/5. It’s the WARDen – I’m only ever gonna give it five stars!

Linger, by Maggie Stiefvater

Format: Hardback, 360 pages

Published: July 13, 2010

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Back cover blurb:

In Maggie Stiefvater’s Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past . . . and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack. And Isabel, who already lost her brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.

My review:

Oh, God. So, yeah, I admit, I cried at the end of this one, too, just like I did at the end of the first book, Shiver. Although it wasn’t a surprise – what was happening to Grace was flagged right from the prologue – the revelation at the end and the implications on not just Grace but Sam and Olivia and the rest of Sam’s “family” were just heartbreaking.

For a YA story, this is packed with realistic situations (yes, I know it’s about werewolves, but the parents were perfectly drawn here) and even though I didn’t like Cole and Isabel to start off with, they really redeemed theselves by the end. While I love Grace and Sam the most, I will still be interested to see how their stories are resolved.

It’s a great set-up for the third book – the final in the series – due out in July. Personally, I’m not sure I can wait that long!

My rating: 5/5

Wicked Lovely, by Melissa Marr

Format: Kindle Edition, 352 pages

Published: January 20th 2009 (first published 2007)

Publisher: HarperCollins e-books

Back cover blurb:

Wicked Lovely takes place in modern-day Huntsdale, a small city south of Pittsburgh whose name evokes the Wild Hunt of mythology. High school junior Aislinn and her grandmother have followed strict rules all their lives to hide their ability to see faeries because faeries don’t like it when mortals can see them, and faeries can be very cruel. Only the strongest faeries can withstand iron, however, so Aislinn prefers the city with its steel girders and bridges. She takes refuge with Seth, her would-be lover, who lives in a set of old train carriages. 

But now Aislinn is being stalked by two of the faeries who are able to take on human form and are not deterred by steel. What do they want from her?

One is Keenan, the Summer King, who has been looking for his Queen for nine centuries, bound by the rules and rituals that govern his quest. The other is Donia, a victim of those rules, consigned to the role of Winter Girl when she failed Keenan’s test, yet still in love with him. Certain that Aislinn is the woman he must marry, Keenan shows up as a charismatic new student at her high school, unaware that she sees his true form. He’s determined to court her and is puzzled by her rebuffs. Suddenly, none of the rules that have kept Aislinn safe is working anymore, but things aren’t going as Keenan expects either. Both will have to change, make startling compromises and enlist surprising allies if they want to break free from the wicked game that has ensnared them.

Their greatest challenge will be to avoid the fatal traps laid by Keenan’s mother, the Winter Queen. She will lose her power if Keenan finds his mate, and she will do anything to stop this.

My review:

It was a real struggle to finish this. The book was OK – well written and excellent value for the $US0.99 I paid for the Kindle version – but I just didn’t get into it. Maybe I’m over the fairies for now. Often I found myself wondering if it was Twilight fanfiction: Keenan had copper hair; there were lines like “Be Safe” and “You are my life now” – I laughed out loud at that last one.

I’ll put the rest of the series on my to-read list, but I probably won’t make them a priority. Maybe not until all of them are 99c.

My rating: 3/5