REVIEW, Flirt

I’ve earned my reputation, but if you really did your research on me then you also know that I don’t raise zombies for kicks, or thrill seekers, or tormented relatives unless they have a plan....

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Flirt

Series: Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, series, book 18

Pub: 2010, Headline

Author: Laurell K. Hamilton

Cat: paranormal fiction

Format: paperback (mid); 156 pp w/ 9 chapters

Age Range: adult                                             

            Synopsis

I am Anita Bake, vampire hunter and necromancer, and when I meet with prospective client Tony Bennington, who is desperate to have me reanimate his recently deceased wife, I feel sympathy for his loss. After all; I know something about love, and I know everything there is to know about loss. But what I also know, thought Tony Bennington seems unwilling to be convinced, is that the thing I can do as a necromancer isn’t the miracle he thinks he needs. The creature that I could coerce to step out of the late Mrs. Bennington’s grave would not be the lovely Mrs Bennington. Not really. And not for long.

I have been relaxing just a bit with the men in my private life. The affectionate warmth of being with them seems to bring out something softer in me, a sense of safety I can almost trust. They do love me; that part is forever and for sure. But flirting with feeling safe is a dangerous thing....

MANGA REVIEW, One Piece vol 62

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One Piece series, Vol 62 

Pub: SHUEISHA Inc, Tokyo

Author & Art: Eiichiro Oda

Cat: pirates

Format: graphic novel, paperback; chapters 604 to 614

Age Range: YA

    Synopsis

NEW WORLD Part 2

As a child, monkey D. Luffy dreamed of becoming King of the Pirates. But his life changed when he accidentally gained the power to stretch like rubber...at the cost of never being able to swim again! Years later, Luffy sets off in search of the “One Piece,” said to be the greatest treasure in the world....

ADVENTURE ON FISH-MAN ISLAND

Luffy and the Straw Hat crew board their trusted ship and head under the sea towards Fish-Man Island. However, getting in their way will be fierce pirates, underwater volcanoes, and a humongous sea creature!

REVIEW, Bites of Passion

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Bites of Passion

Series: anthology of vampire erotic

Pub:  2010, Red Silk Edition (ravenous romance)

Edited By: Cecilia Tan

Genre: paranormal erotica

Format: paperback (lar); 191pp

Age Range: adult

            Synopsis

What does it mean to love a vampire? Does it mean nights of pleasure, tempered with sweet pain? There is no more sensuous figure in dark fantasy than the vampire. Whether a powerful seductress who harnesses the night to her will or a mysterious and handsome demon lover who demands surrender in exchange for passion, Bites of Passion presents many incarnations of the ancient myth. Eight top authors explore themes of immortal love, the lust for blood (and other things), and the eternal struggle between light and dark. Sink your teeth into these stories of “the hunger,” of need that can only be slaked after sundown, of the rush of blood and the scent of skin.

POST # 9

Deadlocked, Charlaine Harris
Insurgent, Veronica Roth
One Piece vol 62, Eiichiro Oda

REVIEW, vampire beach 3&4

Seduction and supernatural

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Ritual & Legacy

Series: Vampire Beach, omnibus 3 & 4

Pub:  2008, Red Fox (Random House)

     [Individually published, 2007]

Author: Alex Duval

Genre: paranormal romance

Format: paperback (mid); 465pp w/ 39 chapters

Age Range: YA

            Synopsis

He’d seen her look this gorgeous once before, when she had first told him that she was a vampire. She’d let him see her true beauty then and it was just as mesmerizing now. Her black hair glimmered in the dim light, her skin was sheer golden perfection and, all of a sudden, Jason felt like the biggest idiot in the world. Why had he ever let himself think that Sienna would want to be with him? She was one of them. He wasn’t. End of story. Then she turned. Her dark eyes met his across the sea of faces, and she smiled. A sizzle raced through Jason’s body and all his doubt disappeared, it didn’t matter what she was or what he wasn’t. They were made for each other.

     

Jason’s life in Malibu is looking up, especially now Sienna, the most beautiful girl in town, seems to be interested in him. Jason is learning to live with Sienna’s dark secret – that she and her friends are vampires – but is she more trouble than she’s worth?

MANGA REVIEW, Black Lagoon 001

Four hardcore heroes

One high-speed torpedo boat

Ten thousand bullets!

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Black Lagoon 001

Pub: Viz media

Story & Art: Rei Hiroe

Cat: mercenary pirates

Format: graphic paperback; chapters 0 to 4

Rated: M _{(for mature)}

      [Parental advisory explicit Content]

    Synopsis

Lock ‘n’ load with the baddest group of mercenaries ever to hit the high seas of Southeast Asia! Aboard their World War II torpedo boat, the Black Lagoon, Dutch the Boss, Benny the Mechanic, Revy Two Hand, and Rock, the salaryman from Japan, deliver anything, anywhere. In the dangerous underworld of the Russian Mafia, Chinese triads, Colombian drug cartels, crazed assassins, and ruthless mercenaries, it’s hard to know who to trust. But if you’ve got a delivery to make, and you don’t mind a little property damage along the way, you can count on the crew of the Black Lagoon!

Rokuro Okajima is just an average Japanese salaryman, living an average life. But when he’s taken hostage by the crew of the Black Lagoon, Rokuro finds himself thrown headfirst into a deadly world of outlawed heros, brutal villains, and blazing gunfights. Where he ends up is anyone’s guess, but one thing is for certain—he’s in for a wild ride!

NONESTOP EXPLOSIVE ACTION!

REVIEW, The Darkest Passion

Aeron, keeper of the demon of Wrath, finally meets his match....

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The Darkest Passion

Series: Lords of the Underworld, book 5

Pub: 2010, HQNbooks

Author: Gena Showalter

Cat: para romance

Format: paperback (sm); 438 pp w/ 31 chapters

Whose: Aeron (keeper of Wrath) & Olivia

Age Range: adult

            Synopsis

For weeks, the immortal warrior Aeron has sensed an invisible female presence. An angel – demon assassin – has been sent to kill him. Or has she? Olivia claims she fell from the heavens, giving up immortality because she couldn’t bear to harm him. But trusting - and falling for – Olivia will endanger them all. So how has this “mortal” with the huge blue eyes already unleashed Aeron’s darkest passion?

    

Now, with an enemy hot on his trail and his faithful demon companion determined to remove Olivia from his life, Aeron is trapped between duty and consuming desire. Worse still, a new executioner has been sent to do the job Olivia wouldn’t.

Book Chat: Series or Trilogies in Full # 2

 

Where I talk about a series or trilogy as a full rather than individually

  

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Series: Wicked Lovely

Individual books: Wicked Lovely, Ink Exchange, Fragile Eternity, Radiant Shadows and Darkest Mercy

Pub between:  2007—2011, HarperCollin USA teen

Author: Melissa Marr

Genre: fiction (fairies)

How many I read: 4

Age Range: YA                                                 

 First book

       Synopsis

Rule 3: NEVER STARE AT INVISIBLE FAERIES.

Aislinn has always seen faeries. Powerful and dangerous, they walk hidden in the mortal world.

    

Rule 2: NEVER SPEAK TO INVISIBLE FAERIES.

One of them, a beautiful faery boy named Keenan, is trying to talk to her, asking questions Aislinn is afraid to answer.

Rule 1: DON’T EVER ATTRACT THEIR ATTENTION.

Now it’s too late, Keenan is the Summer King and is determined that Aislinn will become the Summer Queen at any cost. Without her, summer itself will perish...

REVIEW, Heaven Sent 2

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Heaven Sent 2 includes Hell and Faith

Series: Heaven Sent, book 3 & 4

Pub: 2007, Looseld

Author: Jet Mykles

Genre: erotic romance (LGBT contemporary)

Format: paperback (lar); 408pp

Whose: Brent & Hell / Darien & Chris

Age Range: adult

            Synopsis

HELL

Heaven Sent gets a hell of new keyboardist with a name to match. Hell Witting is an amazing musician and proves to be the answer to a sound that the band was missing. With lavender hair and big violet eyes, he captivates Brent Rose from the start, and not just with his music.

Brent knows better than to get involved with a member of the band. That just invites trouble and the last thing he wants is trouble for Heaven Sent. So he’ll just keep the attraction to himself. Doesn’t matter anyway. Hell couldn’t possible want him. After all, Brent’s not gorgeous and flashy like the other members of the band.

When Hell makes his interest in Brent all too obvious, Brent in unprepared and unable to stay away. So, fine, if they just keep it at sex, everything will be all right. won’t it?

FAITH

Darien’s best friends are the other guys in the rock band Heaven Sent. The three—now four—of them are closer than brothers to him and he’s happy that they’ve all found their life mates. He is. He doesn’t at all mind that each of those like mates are men. He doesn’t.

In fact, that’s just it. Maybe there’s something to this gay stuff. He’s never been particularly interested before, but after a short, failed marriage, he’s willing to open himself up to new possibilities. Especially if one of those possibilities is the gorgeous lawyer who handled his divorce, Christopher Faith.

Trouble is, Chris doesn’t seem to want to believe that Darien’s serious. Well, sure, Darien’s never slept with a guy before, but he’s allowed to change his mind. Isn’t he?

REVIEW, Graceling

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Graceling

Series: Seven Kingdom, book 1

Pub: 2008, Gollancz

Author: Kristin Cashore

Cat: fantasy

Format: paperback (lar); 340 pp w/ 40 chapters

Age Range: YA

                Synopsis

In a world where people born with an exceptional skill, known as a Grace, are both feared and exploited, Kasta carries the burden of a skill even she despises: the Grace of killing.

 As a Graced killer who has been able to kill a man with her bare hands from the age of eight, she’s forced to work as the king’s thug. Feared by the court and shunned by those her own age, the darkness of her Grace casts a heavy shadow over Katsa’s life.  Yet Katsa remains defiant, and when the King of Liend’s father is kidnapped she investigates, and stumbles across a mystery. Who would want to kidnap the old man, and why? And who was the extraordinary Graced man whose fighting abilities rivalled her own?

 

The only thing Kasta is sure of is that she no longer wants to kill. The intrigue surrounding the kidnapping offers her a way out – and little does she realise, when she takes it, that something insidious and dark lurks behind the mystery, something spreading from the shadowy figure of a one eyes king...

 

With elegant, evocative prose and a cast of unforgettable characters, debut author Kristin Cashore creates a mesmerizing world and a death-defying adventure that will captivate you and leave you wanting more.

REVIEW, Skin Tade

I’d worked my share of serial killer cases, but none of the killers had ever mailed me a human head. That was new.

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Skin Trade

Series: Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, book 17

Pub: 2009, Headline

Author: Laurell K. Hamilton

Cat: paranormal fiction

Format: paperback (mid); 594 pp w/ 78 chapters

Age Range: adult                                             

            Synopsis

My name is Anita Blake and my reputation has taken some hits. Not on the work front, where I have the highest kill count of all the legal vampire executioners in the country, but on the personal front. No one seems to trust a woman who sleeps with the monsters. Still, when a vampire searial killer sends me a head from Las Vegas, I know I have to warn Sin City’s local authorities what they’re dealing with.

Only it’s worse than I thought: several police officers and an executioner have been slain paranormal style. When I get to Las Vegas, I’m joined by three other federal marshals. Which is a good thing because I need all the back-up I can get when hunting a killer this powerful and dangerous.

POSTED #8

so here's what I got today (like just now)

Vampire Knight vol 10, Matsuri Hino

Black Lagoon 001, Rei Hiroe

Bites of Passion, edited by Cecilia Tan

Heaven Sent 2, Jet Mykles

Bought # (1/5)

Awaken at Dawn, C.C.Hunter
Royal House of Shadows, Gena showalter & Jill Monroe

Monthly read re-cap (april)

This is more for me then you, but why not come and see all that I have read, re-read/reviewed, for the month?!

                                     First Time read

 Her Vampire Husband, Michele Hauf

On a Dark Wing, Jordan Dane

Tempted by Blood, Laurie London

Just Surrender & long slow burn

The Shadow Wolf, Bonnie Vanak

Heaven Sent, Jet Mykles

Rough, Raw, and Ready, Lorelei James

Fat Vampire, Adam Rex

REVIEW, Vampire Beach 1&2

Seduction and supernatural....

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Bloodlust & Initiation

Series: Vampire Beach, omnibus 1 & 2

Pub:  2008, Red Fox (Random House)

     [Individually published, 2006]

Author: Alex Duval

Genre: paranormal romance

Format: paperback (mid); 435pp w/ 37 chapters

Age Range: YA

            Synopsis

Sienna’s dark hair was glossier than he’d ever seen it, her skin was clear and creamy, almost luminous, and her lips glowed a deep rose red that he didn’t think came from lipstick. She was stunning, spectacular, impossible beautiful! Jason realized he was staring. ‘What is it?’ he asked. ‘Sienna, you can tell me anything.’ and then Sienna smiled, slowly revealing a pair of very white, very sharp, and very real fangs.

Jason has just moved to Malibu – home to rich kids and fabulous parties. He’s flattered to be included – and very flattered by the interest of the stunning Sienna. But Sienna and her friends hide a dark secret...and Jason is risking his life by falling for her.

Challenge REVIEW, Darren Shan

The Oldest Book on the Shelf Challenge

Hosted by Hell & Purgatory Book Reviews

(now, Cosy Up Book Reviews)

It’s not a must and is all about reading this books you never got around to reading, in, like, forever and so....

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Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant

Series: the Saga of Darren Shan, omnibus, book 1, 2 & 3

Pub: 2003, Harper Collins (individually published 2000)

Author: Darren Shan

Genre: paranormal horror

Format: paperback (mid); 511pp

Age Range: YA

            Synopsis

DARREN SHAN

CIRQUE DU FREAK • THE VAMPIRE’S ASSISTANT • TUNNELS OF BLOOD

Darren Shan is an ordinary boy, until he and his best friend Steve visit the weird and bizarre Cirque Du Freak, where they come face to face with a creature of the night. Then Darren has to confront his deepest fears and sacrifice everything as he enters a darker world to become the vampire’s assistant....

Featuring the first three adventures in the internationally successful series The Saga of Darren Shan.

In Motion 2.8:1 (A Weeks Break)

Starting paragraph

Grabbing one of the towels that he’d hung up last time Jack had a shower, Jessie started in on the man. He needed to be dried and dressed before Jessie did something he’d regret.

Letting Live, first thing written

REVIEW, The Darkest Whisper

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The Darkest Whisper

Series: Lords of the Underworld series, book 4

Pub: 2009,

Author: Gena Showalter

Cat: para romance

Format: paperback (sm); 406 pp w/ 29 chapters

Whose: Sabin (keeper of Doubt) & Gwen

Age Range: adult                                             

            Synopsis

Bound by the demon of Doubt, Sabin unintentionally destroys even the most confident of lovers. So the immortal warrior spends his time on the battlefield instead of the bedroom, victory his only concern... until he meets Gwendolyn the Timid. One taste of the beautiful redhead, and he craves more.

    

Gwen, an immortal herself, always thought she’d fall for a kind human who wouldn’t rouse her darker side. But when Sabin frees her from prison, battle their enemies for the claim to Pandora’s Box, turns out to be nothing compared to the battle Sabin and Gwen will wage against love...

Book chat: Old School (ish) #1

Where I talk about the old book I have sitting on my shelf

(And I’m talking both old as in dated and old as in had then since I was a teen)

 

Every story from Uncanny, Unbearable and Unmentionable

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Uncollected volume two

Series: omnibus

Pub:  1999, Viking (Penguin books Australia)

Author: Paul Jennings

Genre: fiction

Format: Hardback (lar); 399pp

Age Range: Middle Grade

            Synopsis

‘For most of his readers, choosing between Paul Jennings’s books is like having to pick their favourite chocolate cake.’

Challenge magazine

Others by

Uncollected 3 Wicked!

Diary book, the Naked Ghost, Unreal!, Quickly Tails!, Unbelievable!, Uncanny!, Unmentionable!, Undone!, Uncovered!, Unseen!, Tongue-tied!

ANZAC DAY

 

A national day of remembrance for Australian, New Zealand (and a few other nations)

Every year we honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

REVIEW, Bood Noir

The Ardeur made me a sort of living vampire who fed off sex, but with the downside came some interesting upsides

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Blood Noir

Series: Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, book 16

Pub: 2008, Headline

Author: Laurell K. Hamilton

Cat: paranormal fiction

Format: paperback (mid); 396 pp w/ 47 chapters

Age Range: adult                                             

            Synopsis

Jason is a werewolf. He’s one of my best friends and sometimes a lover. And right now he needs me, Anita Blake—not to be a vampire hunter, or a federal Marshall, or a necromancer, but because his father is dying. I can help make him look like an everyday guy, help him say goodbye to the abusive father he’s never loved. How hard can it be?

Really, by now, you’d think I’d know better. Because this is the weekend that Marmee Noir, ancient mother of all vampires, picks to make her move. I’ve got something she wants—and now she’s going to take it.

REVIEW, Dead Reckoning

There’s a reckoning on the way....

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Dead Reckoning

Series: Southern Vampire series, book 11

Pub: 2011, Gollancz

Author: Charlaine Harris

Cat: paranormal fiction (mystery)

Format: paperback (lar); 325 pp w/ 17 chapters

Age Range: Adults                                           

            Synopsis

Sookie Stackhouse is a cocktail waitress in Bon Temps, Louisiana. It’s a job which has its own challenges, but now the vampires and the shapeshifters are finally ‘out’, you’d think the supernaturals would get on with each other. But nothing is that simple in Bon Temps!

    

...and Sookie has a knack for being in trouble’s way; not least when she witnesses the firebombing of Merlotte’s, the bar where she works. Since Sam Merlotte is known to be two-natured, suspicion immediately falls on the anti-shifters in the area. Sookie suspects otherwise, but before she can investigate something else – something even more dangerous – comes up.

    

Sookie’s lover Eric Northman and his ‘child’ Pam are plotting something in secret. Whatever it is, they seem determined to keep Sookie out of it; almost as determined as Sookie is to find out what’s going on. She can’t sit on the sidelines when both her work and her love life are under threat – but as their plans gradually become clear Sookie finds the situation is deadlier than she could ever have imagined.

REVIEW, Fat Vampire

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Fat Vampire: a never coming of age story

Series: --

Pub: 2010, Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins)

Author: Adam Rex

Genre: paranormal fiction

Format: paperback (mid); 324pp w/ 37 chapters

Age Range: YA

            Synopsis

DOUG LEE is undead quite by accident—attacked by a desperate vampire, he finds himself cursed with being fat and fifteen forever. When he has no luck finding some Goth chick with a vampire fetish, he resorts to sucking the blood of cows under cover of the night. But it’s just not the same.

Then he meets the new Indian exchange student and falls for her—hard. Yeah, he wants to bite her, but he also wants to prove himself to her. But like the laws of life, love, and high school, the laws of vampire existence are complicated—it’s not as easy as studying Dracula. Especially when the star of Vampire Hunters is hot on your trail in an attempt to boost ratings....

Searing, hilarious, and always unexpected, FAT VAMPIRE is a satirical tour de force from one of the most original writers of fiction today.