Sunday, February 28, 2010

Heart of the Dragon


Title: Heart of the Dragon
Author: Gena Showalter
Series: Atlantis Series (Book 1)
Genre: Paranormal Romance



Grace is roaming around the Amazon jungle looking for her missing brother. Things aren't going so well, her guide abandoned her and she is basically out of food and water. She does, however, still have the dragon necklace he gave her. Little does she know, that the combination of her necklace and place in the jungle will transport her to the mythical land of Atlantis.

Atlantis isn't all mermaids and beauty, but dragon changelings, vampires, and all sorts of other "nasty" mythical beings. Darius, is not only a dragon changeling, but a keeper of the mist. Every time a human comes through the mist, he is required to kill them to keep Atlantis a secret. He has closed himself off to everything, he only sees black and white, has no sense of taste, smell, ect. He is a killing machine and the head of his soldiers.

Then Grace comes tumbling into his world. He immediately notices her red hair - what? Color! He is drawn to her in the most incredible way and eventually learns that she is tied up, unintentionally, with the other humans who have camptured her brother and killed many in Atlantis. Together the two must save Atlantis.

I love the idea of bringing someone who doesn't know our world into it and having to explain everything to them. Darius having his first Chocolate Eclair (Yum!) and getting a glimpse of NYC, to me is just fantastic. I really enjoyed this world that has been created.

On a side note - this is the first book I have read totally on my Sony Reader. I received one for Christmas, but have been too busy reading the other physical books that have been in line on my shelf first. I purchased this series as a bundle (because I do enjoy Gena Showalter) and am not disappointed at all. I love my new reader!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Twice as Hot


Title: Twice as Hot
Author: Gena Showalter
Series: Tales of an Extraordinary Girl (Book 2)
Genre: Paranormal Romance




In the sequel the Playing With Fire, we return to the lives of Belle and Rome. They are planning their up and coming wedding and of course working. All hell breaks loose when Rome comes back from an assignment and has no memory of Belle. He thinks he is still in love with his ex wife-Lexis, and she's not doing anything to convince him otherwise.

He is cold and hostile to Belle for most of the book, even though he is inexplicably drawn to her. They are required to work together to bring in the most recent villain and get Rome's memories back.

Another steaming hot book, although I had issues with this temporary Rome. It was hard to love his character as much as I did in the first book because in this one he was such an ass for the most part. It was a nice change of things to be able to read a second book with the main characters being the same couple. Usually, you change books and switch focus to a new couple. This is not the case in Twice as Hot.

I do hope that a third book comes out and in this case DOES change characters. I would love to learn more about the relationship between Tanner and Elaine and how they overcome their obstacles.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Playing With Fire


Title: Playing With Fire
Author: Gena Showalter
Series: Tales of an Extraordinary Girl (Book 1)
Genre: Paranormal Romance



Belle is your average girl, who recently hasn't been able to hold down a job. She's had several recently, sometimes getting fired the same day that she starts. They just don't feel like what she's suppose to do. And she has a bit of a temper.

One day a crazy scientist runs into the coffee shop where she's currently working and spikes her drink with a formula to give her to power to wield the four elements (Fire, Water, Wind, Earth). Now she's torching things with her eyes and accidentally freezing buildings and unfortunate onlookers.

Rome is a dark and sexy agent of PSI (a company that deals with the paranormal) and he has been sent to Neutralize her so that she is no longer a threat. Good thing that the sparks (literally) fly between them and he can't' bring himself to do it. The two instead team up with Rome's ex wife and a random "kid" that Belle brings into the equation to battle the bad guys and hopefully get Belle back to normal.

What a fun read. I was laughing out loud and couldn't put it down. It was a delight to read. Originally it was a stand alone book, but now years later it has been re-released with a new cover and has acquired a sequel! I can see why, the characters are amazing and I love the relationships that build between them. Not to mention Rome and Belle are a pretty hot couple.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Branded By Fire


Title: Branded by Fire
Author: Nalini Singh
Series: Psy-Changling (Book 6)
Genre: Paranormal


DarkRiver sentinel, Mercy is one tough lady. She is one of the few dominant females in her pack and she's worried what that may spell out for her finding a mate. She doesn't really feel like she's met the right guy for her, but he's been under her nose the whole time.

Riley comes from SnowDancer, and something about Mercy rubs him the wrong (although right at the same time) way. She is always trying to dominate over him and they always push each others' buttons.

Leopard and Wolf? This makes for an interesting pair.

There was a bit of a Psy story to it as there usually was, but for some reason it didn't really stick out for me in this book. I feel like it was skimmed over and the chapters devoted to it to me just dragged. I couldn't wait to get back to Mercy and Riley's story.

I read the first five books in the series a few years back and it was actually the first post I'd ever made on this blog. Imagine my shock when I realized that I had ignored this series for so long that TWO new books had come out for it.

I forgot how much I love this series. The author writes with such a hot intense burning passion for the characters. After scenes I'm often left breathless. The first chapter in Branded by Fire to me was so intense. These books are just amazing, I cannot believe I let them go for this long.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

The Soldiers of Halla


Title: The Soldiers of Halla
Author: D.J. MacHale
Series: Pendragon (Book 10)
Genre: Young Adult



Saint Dane thinks he has won. Uncle Press always told Bobby that he could not truly triumph over Saint Dane until Saint Dane thinks he has won. This is the chance for Bobby and all the other Travelers.

We learn the answers to all of the questions. Who the Travelers are, where they came from and why they have all these weird "powers" as well as why Saint Dane seems to have more. I'm not going to lie - it's a little out there.

Sure, I can take flying through time and space to territories where Cats are the humans and humans are pets, to territories that can live through Lifelight - but the answers to being a Traveler have me thinking it's far fetched. Ha.

This is the final battle. I enjoy that it takes part on several different territories - Third Earth, Cloral (yay!), Denduran, Eelong...maybe others. I like that we got to see a little more from each of the Travelers who didn't play such a big roll (Elli and Kasha). I thought it was a good ending to the series.

And I cried...twice. Once when the Travelers were saying their final goodbyes to each other, and once after I closed the book. It's over. I've been reading the Pendragon series since late 2006. That's three and a half years with the series and it's over. I can't help but feel sad that I will not hear anymore from Bobby Pendragon - Traveler of Second Earth.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Raven Rise


Title: Raven Rise
Author: D.J. MacHale
Series: Pendragon (Book 9)
Genre: Young Adult



The battle has come to Second Earth. When we last left Bobby he had destroyed the flume on Ibara, so that both he and Saint Dane would be stuck there. Unfortunately, soon after Bobby learns that Saint Dane has opened the flume back on Rubic City and that his beloved Telleo is really Nevva Winters. Yikes. It's time for Bobby to jump back into the game.

While Bobby is on his "holiday," Courtney. Mark and Patrick are trying to deal with the happenings on Second Earth. There is a new Traveler in town - Alexander Naymeer who has, with the help of Saint Dane, decided to educate the world about Halla. He is choosing those who are special in some way and working to "marginalize" those that are not. There is a bit of a Holocaust feeling to it in my opinion and this is a very dark book.

I didn't enjoy this one as much as some of the other books in the series. Is it because it takes place on Second Earth, and there is little to nothing new to learn about it? I don't know. Maybe because this book doesn't have much if any carefree moments of the other books. None the less, the book was a good addition to the series and the ending sets up the next book beautifully,

Sunday, February 7, 2010

The Pilgrims of Rayne


Title: The Pilgrims of Rayne
Author: D. J. MacHale
Series: Pendragon (Book 8)
Genre: Young Adult



The Pilgrims of Rayne has a lot of bouncing around. While reading it we visit just about each of the 10 territories. The only ones Bobby doesn't visit - Cloral (and Eelong, the flume has collapsed) is prevalent through Saint Dane.

Bobby leaves Courtney with Dodger on First Earth in hopes that she can find Mark and stop him from doing whatever it is that he's doing there. She has her own full fledged adventure while Bobby has one on Ibara.

Ibara is a territory without a current Traveler. The previous Traveler was killed on Quillan and never got the chance to pass on his duty. Bobby does so for him, when he finds the previous Traveler's son, Siry. Siry is head of a group of rebellious "kids." They want to know what the Tribunal is hiding from them. They want to know about the world. Unfortunately, they learn about it in a nasty way.

There is a huge battle for Halla that is being prepared for for most of the book. There are surprises that I forgot about (and some that I didn't). Even though I've read this book before, I still wasn't able to predict what was going to happen. I love when books are still fresh when you read them after the first time.

At the end of the Pilgrims of Rayne, the Convergence has begun. Knowing this and remembering all that went down in this book really makes me excited for getting to the tenth book in the series. Only one more to go before that!