SPELL OF THE HIGHLANDER
Highlander #7
Author: Karen Marie Moning
Source: Personal Purchase


  • Publisher:
  •  Dell (May 30, 2006)


  • ISBN-13:
  •  978-0440240976






SUMMARY:

Powerful. Sensual. Seductive. He is all that is shamelessly erotic in a man. In her sexiest Highlander novel yet, New York Times bestselling author Karen Moning stirs up a sizzling brew of ancient mystery and modern passion as she brings together a devilishly handsome Celtic warrior trapped in time . . . and the woman who’s about to pay the ultimate price for freeing him. Age-old secrets haunt them. Deadly danger and irresistible desire shadow their every move. It’s a relationship for the ages. And all that separates them is a mere thirteen hundred years. . . . 


Jessi St. James has got to get a life. Too many hours studying ancient artifacts has given the hardworking archaeology student a bad case of sex on the brain. So she figures she must be dreaming when she spies a gorgeous half-naked man staring out at her from inside the silvery glass of an ancient mirror. But when a split-second decision saves her from a terrifying attempt on her life, Jessi suddenly finds herself confronting six and a half feet of smoldering, insatiable alpha male.


Heir to the arcane magic of his Druid ancestors, eleven centuries ago Cian MacKeltar was trapped inside the Dark Glass, one of four coveted Unseelie Hallows, objects of unspeakable power. When the Dark Glass is stolen, an ancient enemy will stop at nothing to reclaim it, destroying everything in his path–including the one woman who may just hold the key to breaking the ninth-century Highlander’s dark spell. For Jessi, the muscle-bound sex god in the mirror is not only tantalizingly real, he’s offering his protection–from exactly what, Jessi doesn’t know. And all he wants in exchange is the exquisite pleasure of sharing her bed.


Yet even as Cian’s insatiable hunger begins to work its dark magic on Jessi, his ancient enemy is about to obtain the final and most dangerous of the Unseelie Hallows–and the ninth-century Highlander must stop him from getting it. Nothing less than the very fabric of the universe and two passionately entwined lives are at stake–as Cian and Jessi fight to claim the kind of love that comes along but once in an ice age. . . .

MY THOUGHTS:



After reading the Fever series by this author, I just knew I was going to have to read her other books.  The only thing though is that I had never really read a book involving Highlanders.  I didn’t know what to expect because I thought a Highlander would be set in the past.  I certainly didn’t expect a Highlander to be so sexy and drool worthy!


When Jessi — who is swamped with school work and such — is asked by her professor to go sign for a package at his office while he is in the hospital, she never expects to fall into a world full of supernatural beings and a gorgeous man to protect her.  She unknowingly uncovers a mirror that is a relic of the Unseelie.  Inside this mirror is a tall and certainly sexy man.  Jessi thinks it is her overtired mind causing hallucinations and a man in the mirror is a figment of her imagination.  When she finally accepts that Cian MacKeltar is real, she has to make a choice in helping him or running for her life.


Karen Marie Moning gives us her witty humor, sexual tension and dark suspense that she has  never failed to give us.  Her writing is exceptional and definitely has me craving the other books in this series.  While this was the seventh book in the series — before spinning off into the Fever series — it can be read as a stand alone novel.  With that being said, when you meet the side characters of the book, you will be scrambling for the others like I am.  

MY RATING:


Outstanding Book That Will Stay On My Bookshelf
For Rereading! 5 STARS

 
It just so happens that I am the advocate for Bella Swan from the Twilight Series in the YA Sisterhood Tournament of Heroines!!
Not only is Bella going to suck the life out of the other competitors, but she is calling on all of the Twi-Hard fans for her support! 
This is my first time participating as an advocate and Bella needs all the support she can get!  Your mission is this my fellow vampire wannabe’s:
Leave me some comments with your opinion on why Bella is the strongest of the bunch!  What makes her such a strong heroine and what makes her the role model for Young Adult awesomeness?
You see, she is going up against Janie from Dark Seeker by Taryn Browning.  The voting for Bella’s first match will begin on Dec. 7th!  We need to start our planning now!
Don’t be shy and tell me in the comments why Bella deserves to win!
Snag the button below to add to your blog as well or use as an avi for your Twitter!

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10048874  DEARLY, DEPARTED
  Author: Lia Habel
  Source: Amazon Vine
  Publisher: Del Rey
  (October 18, 2011)
  Language: English
  ISBN-13: 978-0345523310








SUMMARY:

Love can never die.

Love conquers all, so they say. But can Cupid’s arrow pierce the hearts of the living and the dead—or rather, the undead? Can a proper young Victorian lady find true love in the arms of a dashing zombie?


The year is 2195. The place is New Victoria—a high-tech nation modeled on the manners, mores, and fashions of an antique era. A teenager in high society, Nora Dearly is far more interested in military history and her country’s political unrest than in tea parties and debutante balls. But after her beloved parents die, Nora is left at the mercy of her domineering aunt, a social-climbing spendthrift who has squandered the family fortune and now plans to marry her niece off for money. For Nora, no fate could be more horrible—until she’s nearly kidnapped by an army of walking corpses. 



But fate is just getting started with Nora. Catapulted from her world of drawing-room civility, she’s suddenly gunning down ravenous zombies alongside mysterious black-clad commandos and confronting “The Laz,” a fatal virus that raises the dead—and hell along with them. Hardly ideal circumstances. Then Nora meets Bram Griswold, a young soldier who is brave, handsome, noble . . . and dead. But as is the case with the rest of his special undead unit, luck and modern science have enabled Bram to hold on to his mind, his manners, and his body parts. And when his bond of trust with Nora turns to tenderness, there’s no turning back. Eventually, they know, the disease will win, separating the star-crossed lovers forever. But until then, beating or not, their hearts will have what they desire.

MY THOUGHTS:

Many people have been reading and reviewing this book.  I was hesitant on reading it for a couple of reasons.  One reason is that I am not a huge fan of Steampunk and Victorian era books.  I am not really sure why, but for some reason they just aren’t usually a big hit for me.  Another reason is that it involves zombies and I have also never been a huge zombie creature fan.  Lastly, there was so much hype and amazing reviews of this book that it made my expectations for the story unbelievably high for a new series.

I will say that the prologue of this book instantly captured my interest.  It gave us the feel of creepiness that was going to be the tone of this book.  The book is set in the year 2195 and the world is now living as a Victorian era.  The days of proper women, manners and society standards and classification is now the world that Nora is living in.  Not only is she living in this new world, but she is also hearing about the rise of people called “Punks” trying to convince everyone that we are repeating past mistakes. 

I was turned off by the overabundant amount of story set up that the first few chapters offer.  I felt I was reading a history textbook and just wanted it to end.  If the author could have woven some dialogue into the history it would have been much better.   I did like how the author gave the zombies a different name though calling them The Laz.   I was able to digest them being called The Laz better than zombies because it didn’t creep me out as much.  Just a personal opinion on that and not a dig at zombies books in particular.  It just sits better in my mind.  After the book started to take off though, I found myself caught up in the new world from this authors imagination and the romance that was weaved within the mystery.

If you are a fan of the Victorian era with Steampunk thrown into the mix, then I have no doubt that this will be a book you will enjoy.  Throw in romance, mystery, conspiracy and zombies and you have one thrilling ride of a book!

MY RATING:
Very Good! I would recommend this book! 4 STARS
*I received this ARC free of charge in exchange for an honest review*
Happy Black Friday!!!
I have a few winners to announce. 
First the winner of The Black Sun’s Daughter Series (4 books) is:
JenM
Second, the TWO winners of Genie Knows Best is:
Patti Williams
and
RobinK
Congrats to all of you!
I will be forwarding your info to the publishers and your books will be coming directly from them.  I will be contacting you through email as well to confirm your win!
Thanks to everyone who entered!

793399

STRAY
Shifters #1
Author: Rachel Vincent
Source: Personal Purchase

Mass Market Paperback: 624 pages
Publisher: Mira (June 1, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0778324214
ISBN-13: 978-0778324218

SUMMARY:

There are only eight breeding female werecats left . . .

And I’m one of them.

I look like an all-American grad student. But I am a werecat, a shape-shifter, and I live in two worlds.
Despite reservations from my family and my Pride, I escaped the pressure to continue my species and carved out a normal life for myself. Until the night a Stray attacked.

I’d been warned about Strays — werecats without a Pride, constantly on the lookout for someone like me: attractive, female, and fertile. I fought him off, but then learned two of my fellow tabbies had disappeared.


This brush with danger was all my Pride needed to summon me back . . . for my own protection. Yeah, right. But I’m no meek kitty. I’ll take on whatever — and whoever — I have to in order to find my friends. Watch out, Strays — ’cause I got claws, and I’m not afraid to use them . . .


MY THOUGHTS:

After reading the young adult Soul Screamers series by the same author,  it was recommended that I read the adult Shifter Series.   Since I really enjoyed her young adult series,  I was thrilled to start a series focused in the adult genre of books by Ms. Vincent.

I will say that this book gave me a feeling of love/hate for the series.  While Faythe was a strong heroine in the series that doesn’t take any crap off of anyone,  she did tend to get on my last raw nerve with her antics and personality.  There were times I rolled my eyes at her and wanted to shake some sense into her spoiled and bratty mind.  Everything revolved around what she wanted and she didn’t really think about what her actions would bring to the Pride.  She couldn’t decide which guy she wanted to be with considering she was dating a human boy from school — which is a big no-no in her world — and then she had to string Marc and Jace both along. 

Marc was a very possessive and strong leading hero.  I loved him but at times I wanted him to curb his jealousy a little bit.  He came off a little too strong at times and he needed to step back and take a good look at Faythe and her actions.  I wanted him to actually grow a pair and tell her off several times!  I think he makes a good match for her, but he desperately needs to see through her attitude and bring her down a notch.

Jace was just as appealing as Marc, but I ended up feeling more than sorry for him for even attempting to start something with Faythe.  Not only did he not deserve her attention, but he really didn’t deserve to have Marc at odds with him.  Frankly, I think they both needed to lose interest in Faythe long enough for her personality to grow up with her age. 

The side characters of the family was quite enjoyable as well.  I loved Ethan the best, but the rest of the family was just as interesting as the main characters.  I look forward to reading more about them in the future books. 

While the actual plot was not one that I found completely enjoyable, the characters involved did make the story a pleasant and fun read.  The book did start out a slower pace than I normally like, but about half way through it really starts to pick up and take off.  The big surprise was the reveal of who was helping the bad guys and how it was going to be dealt with.  I am curious to see how the author is going to redeem this person if she does decide to take that path.

While I did have some problems with the main heroine, the book itself was a great read.  I look forward to reading more of the series and will keep my fingers crossed in hoping that Faythe will grow up a little more in the books to come.

MY RATING:


Very Good! I would recommend this book! 4 STARS