Shelter Mountain, by Robyn Carr

Format: Audiobook

Published: May 1, 2007

Publisher: Audible

Back cover blurb:

For the second time in a year a woman arrives in the small town of Virgin River trying to escape the past.John “Preacher” Middleton is about to close the bar when a young woman and her three-year-old son come in out of a wet October night. A marine who has seen his share of pain, Preacher knows a crisis when he sees one—the woman is covered in bruises. He wants to protect them, and he wants to punish whoever did this to her, but he knows immediately that this inclination to protect is something much more. Paige Lassiter has stirred up emotions in this gentle giant of a man—emotions that he has never allowed himself to feel.

But when Paige’s ex-husband turns up in Virgin River, Preacher knows his own future hangs in the balance. And if there’s one thing in the marines’ motto of Semper Fidelis—always faithful—has taught him, it’s that some things are worth fighting for.

My review:

Maybe I shouldn’t have listened to this straight after listening to the first book in the series, because I think I’m suffering from Virgin River diabetes. Too much sugar, too many gentle ex-Marines, and definitely too many pregnancies! There’s a formula here which could be played out in half the time. The book itself was okay – albeit very similar to the first one – and I liked Preacher a lot, even if he was far too tentative with Paige and started every sentence with her name. I suspect I just need a break from these characters now.

My rating: 3.5/5

Magic Bites, by Ilona Andrews

Format: Audiobook

Published: March 27, 2007

Publisher: Audible

Back cover blurb:

Atlanta would be a nice place to live, if it weren’t for magic…

One moment magic dominates, and cars stall and guns fail. The next, technology takes over and the defensive spells no longer protect your house from monsters. Here skyscrapers topple under onslaught of magic; werebears and werehyenas prowl through the ruined streets; and the Masters of the Dead, necromancers driven by their thirst of knowledge and wealth, pilot blood-crazed vampires with their minds.

In this world lives Kate Daniels. Kate likes her sword a little too much and has a hard time controlling her mouth. The magic in her blood makes her a target, and she spent most of her life hiding in plain sight. But when Kate’s guardian is murdered, she must choose to do nothing and remain safe or to pursue his preternatural killer. Hiding is easy, but the right choice is rarely easy…

My review:

Meh. Another first book where I lost interest because of too much world-building. I’m told the series improves – and Curran becomes hotter – as it goes on, but at the moment I’m in no hurry to read the rest. Also, the audiobook was OK, but it annoyed me greatly that the narrator pronounced “plait” as “plate”. Grr!

My rating: 3/5

Barrons POV audio!

The lovely Fiction Vixen posted this exciting news yesterday:

Do you all remember the Barrons POV sex scene that Karen Marie Moning posted on her website a while back? If you read it, you remember it It’s been recorded by Fever Series narrators, Phil Gigante and Natalie Ross and KMM is selling it for $1.99 on her website. Here is what she says:

“The Alpha Alternative download includes a scorching hot 30-minute audio recording of the sex scene I wrote from Jericho Barrons’ point of view, plus a PDF download of the text for your eReaders and computers.”

Exciting, yes? Who doesn’t need more Barrons?

via: Karen Marie Moning’s website and Fiction Vixen

Vampire Academy, By Richelle Mead

Format: Audiobook (narrator Stephanie Wolfe)

Published: 2008 (first published 2007)

Publisher: Penguin Group USA and Audible

Back cover blurb: St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school—it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They’ve been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s—the very place where they’re most in danger. . . .

Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi—the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires—make Lissa one of them forever.

My review:

Quite a sexy effort for a YA novel. Wearing my mum hat, I was actually quite surprised how far this went… but wearing my perv hat I really didn’t care. In fact, I really wanted Rose and Dimitri to go that little bit further, but I guess I might have to keep reading the series to find out if that happens.

Of course, Dimitri is my favourite character – a Russian hunk in a flying duster coat, yum! – but I loved kickass Rose and all the minor characters, although Lissa was a little insipid at times. I wasn’t a big fan of the self-harm – not for a YA book (mum hat back on again).

Lots of humour, an evil bad guy, a few surprises and lots of UST. Yep, I’ll be reading the rest in the series.

My rating: 4/5

One Day, by David Nicholls

Format: Audible audiobook, narrated by Julian Rhind Tutt

Published: First published April 13, 2004

Publisher: Hodder

Back cover blurb:

‘I can imagine you at forty,’ she said, a hint of malice in her voice. ‘I can picture it right now.’

He smiled without opening his eyes. ‘Go on then.’

15th July 1988. Emma and Dexter meet for the first time on the night of their graduation. Tomorrow they must go their separate ways.

So where will they be on this one day next year?

And the year after that? And every year that follows?

Twenty years, two people, ONE DAY.

My review:

Wow. This is a great premise: we meet Dexter and Emma hooking up on the day after their university graduation on July 15, 1988 and catch up with them every July 15th for the next 20 years. Dex is a bit of a dick, but is funny in a very Hugh Grant kind of way, while Em is earnest in that way young women who protested about the Poll Tax/Nicaragua/the UK involvement in Iraq often are.

Over the years they fall out of friendship, come back together in the hard times, but it is clear how much they love each other, despite their “just best friends” denials. One of my favourite parts was when Dex writes to Em from India about how much he dislikes the book Howard’s End, which she gave him to read on the trip, and then he invites her to join him because “call me sentimental, but there’s no-one in the world that I’d like to see get dysentery more than you”. What happens to Howard’s End and the letter is heart-breaking, but not as much as what is to come.

One of the things about only capturing one day a year means that many monumental things happen “off-camera” and it is the reader’s job to work out what has gone on. I enjoyed this, but felt saddened by it too, particularly when we see a high Dex arguing with his sick mother and then the next year he notes something as being what his mother would have said “if she were still alive”.

The cover has recommendations from Nick Hornby (the book is very much like his style) and Marian Keyes, who describes it as “incredibly moving”. It certainly is, although I feel a kind of peace about how it ended. Not exactly a happy-ever-after, but Dex really redeemed himself and Em knew in the end that he really did love her.

This is being made into a movie with Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess. It will make a great movie, but I’m not sure about that casting. Will I go see it? Probably. Will I cry? Almost certainly.

My rating: 4/5

Angels’ Blood, by Nalini Singh

Format: iTunes audiobook, narrated by Justine Eyre

Published: First published March 3, 2009

Publisher: Gollancz

Back cover blurb:

Nalini Singh introduces readers to a world of beauty and bloodlust, where angels hold sway over vampires. Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux is hired by the dangerously beautiful Archangel Raphael. But this time, it¿s not a wayward vamp she has to track. It’s an archangel gone bad. The job will put Elena in the midst of a killing spree like no other-and pull her to the razor’s edge of passion. Even if the hunt doesn’t destroy her, succumbing to Raphael¿s seductive touch just may. For when archangels play, mortals break.

My review:

I have to confess: I listened to this as an audiobook on my iPod – my first attempt at this format – and I kept losing concentration. I suspect as a result I have very little clue about the nuances of this book, apart from a few key *ahem* scenes which seemed to stick in my mind

I really wanted to like this book. It’s by a New Zealand author, so I felt I should be supporting the local girl. And I did like it. The world she has created is rich and complicated. Archangel Raphael is hot, of course, and vampire hunter Elena is kickass. I zoned out a bit when the UST took a back seat to their fighting, but once they were back on course as a couple I was a lot happier.

Scenes with the evil archangel were gruesome and intriguing. We find out snippets of Elena’s past when she’s under stress, and I made a few assumptions but I guess I’ll have to read the next book to find out for sure. I liked the cast of supporting characters, especially Elena’s friends and blue-winged Illium, but it was tricky at times to figure out who was speaking because the narrator’s voice was similar for each voice. Only Illium stood out with his British accent. The narrator can’t do an Australian, by the way

I enjoyed it, and will probably read the second book in the series on my Kindle rather than listen to it in the car. Audiobooks are great for long car journeys and they certainly help when you have sore eyes from reading too much for work like I do, but I’ve come to the conclusion they aren’t my thing. Nalini Singh, however, just might be.

My rating: 4/5