Friday 27 June 2008

What's A Ghoul To Do by Victoria Laurie

M.J., her partner Gilley, and their client, the wealthy, de-lish Dr. Steven Sable, are at his family's lodge, where his grandfather allegedly jumped to his death from the roof-although Sable says it was foul play. But the patriarch's isn't the only ghost around. The place is lousy with souls, all with something to get off their ghoulish chests. Now M.J. will have to to quell the clamor-and listen for a voice with the answers...

This was more of a kind iof Paranormal chick lit and I loved it!

MJ is a ghost hunter and I loved reading about that side of things as the author is also a medium so that was quite interesting. She works alongside her partner Gilley and they help souls cross over etc. Think Most Haunted (though not as crap LOL) with better characters!!

Dr Sable's english is not so good and some of the things he comes out with were really quite funny! Of course there is a romantic twist (MJ & Dr Sable) which was pretty much predictable (well it wasn't going to happen between MJ & Gilley) and the ending was quite cutesy!

This was a fun, light read nothing too intense here and MJ was a great character - this is the first book I read of Victoria Laurie and she has written another Psychic series as well as the follow up to this which I definitely will be reading.

So if you love anything ghostly and paranormal thats not too intense you'll love it!

July Book Blowout


I have signed up for my first book challenge - woo hoo me!!

I don't normally commit myself to challenges as I always panic I won't co mplete them and TBH sometimes if I have read too much of a certain type of book I find I can get bored with it, but, this one sounds fairly straightforward.

"The rules are simple - read as many books as you can between July 1 and 31 - and then by August 7 post a list of all of the books you read on your blog. Reviews are not required to take part".

I average between 7-9 books per month so decided to do 10 for this challenge and see how I get along. Wish me luck!

Thursday 26 June 2008

Bite Me If You Can by Lynsay Sands

Once Bitten . . .

One minute Leigh is walking home in the early hours of the morning, and the next a vampire is sinking his teeth into her neck. Turns out it was a rogue vampire marked for termination, but it does Leigh little good because the damage's already been done. She's become one of them.

Lucian Argeneau, hunter of rogue vampires, has been alive for over two thousand years, and there's very little to excite him anymore. Food has become tasteless, sex is ordinary. Then Leigh drops into his life. Suddenly he finds himself craving coffee . . . and imagining the sassy brunette atop the black satin sheets on his nice big bed. It's Lucian's job now to enlighten Leigh on the inner workings of being immortal . . . and tutoring her is igniting a fire in him that hasn't burned in centuries.

But until they stop a renegade bloodsucker from destroying the human race, passion will have to wait!

Oh as if this series was not brilliant enough this one has to be my favourite out of the series so far!

Again like the last one this is a little darker than other books in the series.

Lucian can be a bit of an old grouch but, Leigh seems to make him less like that or she doesn't see it, and Lucian has not even kissed a woman for something like 1700 years!! Nothing excites him anymore until Leigh starts popping up into his sexy dreams! But, then he is one of the oldest members of the Argeneau family having been around for 3500 years.

Silly as this may sound I don't normally read books with covers like these but, preferred the previous cartoon covers but, the old adage definitely applies here "never judge a book by its cover".

This series just gets better and better and with only 3 left to read (although another is due) I will be very sad when I get to the last one.

Tuesday 24 June 2008

A Bite To Remember by Lynsay Sands

Rule #1: Never get involved with someone who won't be there for you when the sun comes up.

Once bitten, twice shy, and sexy PI Jackie Morrisey wasn't going there again. Vincent Argeneau may be the hottest guy she's ever met, living or dead, but she's here to stop a killer from turning this vampire into dust, not to jump into bed with him.

Rule #2: Never kiss a vampire . . . it can be a pain in the neck.

Okay, so Vincent's had four hundred years to perfect his kissing skills, and he does look rather tempting when he runs around the house shirtless. He's also charming, protective . . . did we mention he can kiss? Jackie needs to be on her guard, or else she'll have to come up with a new rule: If you're going to fall in love with a vampire, make sure it's a bite to remember.

I have to say of all the Vampire series out there (and there are quite a few) this has to be my favourite, I love love love the Argenau's. They are great and so funny and after the last one I was just a teensy bit scared that the books were goinmg the same way as the others hence why its a while since I read the last one.

But, no this one is a little different to the others in that it is a little darker - though I would say the female interest here - Jackie - I did not like as much as I did Rachel and Kate but, Jackie is ok just didn't find her terribly exciting!

Vincent on the other hand made the book IMO!

I don't want to give too much of the story away but, if you love fun light reads with Vampires this series is it - love it!

Wednesday 18 June 2008

Staying Dead by Laura Anne Gilman

It starts as a simple job -- but simple jobs, when you're dealing with the magical world, often end up anything but.

As a Retriever, Wren Valere specializes in finding things gone missing -- and then bringing them back, no questions asked. Normally her job is stimulating, challenging and only a little bit dangerous. But every once in a while . . .

Case in point: A cornerstone containing a spell is stolen and there's a magical complication. (Isn't there always?) Wren's unique abilities aren't enough to lay this particular case to rest, so she turns to some friends: a demon (minor), a mage who has lost his mind, and a few others, including Sergei, her business partner (and maybe a bit more?).

Sometimes what a woman has to do to get the job done is enough to give even Wren nightmares . .

This was a really good start to, which I hope, is a great series. The beginning was a bit not very thrilling for me but, after the first 100 or so pages it really started to pick up. Wren is a really intriguing character I wasn't so struck with her partner Sergei at first but, after a while I started to like him a little!

Wren is basically a sort of witch and living in a world where magic is not the best kept secret! And the book is told in the third person which makes things quite interesting.

The ending leaves lots of things hanging perfect for a sequel I guess this could be called a paranormal romance of sorts and as that genre goes this is not the best that could come from that genre and at the beginning you may think to give up on it but, I am glad I stuck with it I think its one of those that gets better as the series (currently 4 books) goes along.

Sunday 15 June 2008

Sushi For Beginners by Marian Keyes

A nervous breakdown seems like a great idea: all that lying in bed and watching daytime TV. But who's going to have it? Will it be housewife Clodagh, who spends her days microwaving pasta for her demanding toddlers and waiting for her beautiful husband Dylan to come home? Or Lisa, hard, brittle and shiny as an M&M, reeling from the shock of a demotion from her fabulous job in London to a one-horse magazine in Dublin? Or Ashling, so normal she's weird?

Marian Keyes is one of my favourite authors and whilst I have liked some of her books better than others I have not yet read one that I don't like, Sushi For Beginners is no exception, kind of similar to Last Chance Saloon and is about several characters rather than focussing on just the one.

The three characters the book focusses on is Lisa, Ashling & Clodagh with a great cast of supporting characters. Lisa is a magazine editor who can be quite bitchy but, I got to like her towards the end then there is Ashling who is very nice all along and works for Lisa and Clodagh is Ashlings best buddy.

This was not my favourite Keyes book, I am still looking for the one that beats Watermelon and in all honesty I am not as keen on Keyes other books that aren't based on the Walshes but, I still really enjoyed this and Marian created a really lovely cast of characters and an excellent storyline.

Wednesday 11 June 2008

The Lollipop Shoes by Joanne Harris

'Who died?' I said. 'Or is it a secret?' 'My mother, Vianne Rocher', seeking refuge and anonymity in the cobbled streets of Montmartre, Yanne and her daughters, Rosette and Annie, live peacefully, if not happily, above their little chocolate shop. Nothing unusual marks them out; no red sachets hang by the door. The wind has stopped - at least for a while. Then into their lives blows Zozie de l'Alba, the lady with the lollipop shoes, and everything begins to change...But this new friendship is not what it seems. Ruthless, devious and seductive, Zozie de l'Alba has plans of her own - plans that will shake their world to pieces. And with everything she loves at stake, Yanne must face a difficult choice; to flee, as she has done so many times before, or to confront her most dangerous enemy...Herself.

I bought this book not knowing it as the follow-up to Chocolat and to be honest I possibly may not have bought it because of that reason not that it was bad but, as you may have seen from my review I was not ovely enthralled with it.

Anyway, bought it I had and I hate to buy books and not to read them and I am so glad I hve read this. I have read afew reviews where some say Chocolat is much better than this, I disagree I absolutely loved this.

We see some of the same characters of Chocolat Vianne of course as well as Anouk and a new one, Zozie who I absolutely adored (even though she was the villain there was something so interesting and fascinating about her) and I liked Vianne a whole lot more in this than I did in Chocolat. Thierry was another kettle of fish and didn't like him at all!

I think this one had even more witchery about it than Chocolat, Tarot appears a lot here and I liked those scenes as well as the other scenes of scrying etc. Very well written by Joanne Harris.

I'm surprised so many people who rated Chocolat didn't rate this at all I loved it and was sorry or it to end hopefully there will be another book about Vianne in the future.

Monday 9 June 2008

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult


Sterling is a small, ordinary New Hampshire town where nothing ever happens -- until a student enters the local high school with an arsenal of guns and starts shooting, changing the lives of everyone inside and out. The daughter of the judge sitting on the case is the state's best witness -- but she can't remember what happened in front of her own eyes. Or can she?

The very first book I read by Jodi Picoult was The Pact and it was the book that got me hooked on Jodi' books and whilst having read My Sisters Keeper, Salem Falls etc. and whilst these were excellent I never found a book that matched up in my opinion to The Pact, that was until I read Nineteen Minutes ...

This book was written so brilliantly and Jodi just has this way of making you think.

The basis of this story is something similar that we have all read about - school shootings - and I'm the first to admit to thinking when I hear of these of what kind of a warped person could actually do this to their fellow schoolmates.

This is a shocking storyline that not only covers the story of a school shooting that leaves many children dead but, also another sensitive storyline and that of bullying. The shooter here is the recipient of quite violent bullying and it certainly got me thinking that in this storyline all the people involved were victims, even Peter, the boy who shot his schoolmates.

It has a great cast with some brilliant characters the storyline was so powerful, definitely one of my favourites of Jodi's books.

Some of Jodi's books has I felt a little too many scenes in the courtroom and whilst this story like her others end up in the courtroom there were not so many scenes that it got too boring, I loved how the story switched back to describing events leading up to the shooting as well as what was happening after as well.

Fantastic!

Friday 6 June 2008

Meme & theme update


I was tagged by Mariel from http://troubles-melt-like-lemon-drops.blogspot.com/ for this meme:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.

1. Ages of Chaos by Marion Zimmer Bradley.
2. OK!!
3. Ok again!
4. clutching at his heart. The paxman came and supported his faltering lord to his seat.
Donal said "My Lords if she had not struck him down,
5. For this I tag
Rhinoa from http://rhinoasramblings.blogspot.com/
Margo from
http://bookisland.blogspot.com/
Daphne from
http://shelfandstuff.blogspot.com/
Marg from http://readingadventures.blogspot.com/
and
Kailana from
http://myreadingbooks.blogspot.com/



And finally if anyone can tell me how to do the links above properly please let me know LOL as I just can't figure it out on Blogger!

Decided to give my blog a more summery feel so thought sunflowers was very appropriate lets hope we get some more sun in the UK as it is supposedly summer!

Happy weekend!

Tuesday 3 June 2008

Chocolat by Joanne Harris

I hear our M'sieur le Curé already has it in for you ... Does he know you're a witch?
Lansquenet-sous-Tannes--"a blip on the fast road between Toulouse and Bourdeaux"--and new home to Vianne Rocher, her six-year-old daughter Anouk, and Anouk's "imaginary" rabbit, Pantoufle. They arrive "on the wind of the carnival", and, a couple of days later, Vianne opens a luxuriant chocolate shop. "La Céleste Praline" bubbles over with the most tempting of confections, topped with an irresistible selection of rich, smooth chocolate drinks. It's Lent, the shop is opposite the church (which Vianne and Anouk don't attend) it's open on Sundays and Francis Reynaud, the austere parish priest with the "measuring, feline look" is not exactly happy.
As one by one the villagers sidle into the shop to sample Vianne's concoctions, we learn of their characters and secrets, their loves and desires, their troubles and hopes. Sad, polite Guillame and his dying dog. Shoplifting, beaten Joséphine Muscat. And Armande Voizin, still vigorous and perceptive in her 80s, who can see Pantoufle, and recognises Vianne for who she really is.

But Reynaud has his power base. And when Vianne advertises a Grand Festival of Chocolate to start on Easter Sunday, it's all-out war. War between church and chocolate.

Hmmmmm I'm sorry to say I was not overly impressed with this, its not a bad book don't get me wrong but, I just don't get the hype. Vivianne was an interesting character I didn't exactly warm to her for me she was one of those characters that I didn't dislike but, at the same time wasn't exactly bothered what happened to her.

Despite all that it was not a boring book but, also not as exciting either this happens to me all the time most books people just love and rate I'm just so not into them. Maybe because of all the hype I'm just expecting more than there is I don't know and yet books people rate quite low I tend to find I absolutely love them... maybe I'm just weird LOL

So whilst not a bad book with a not bad storyline this was not great and probably not something I would reach to read again.