Must Have Reads

Stick around here for a while and you’ll quickly come to realize that I’m the type of reader who falls in love with a series and/or author and will then proceed to read, or try to read, everything I can get my hands on by that author. It’s a wonderful thing when the author is well established and has a vast back list of books for me to obtain. It’s a different kind of wonderful when it’s a new, or relatively new, author.

No matter what, I end up impatiently patiently waiting for each new title to release. I stalk social media pages and websites. As release dates approach, I’ll re-read all the books in a series – just to refresh the story in my mind. I’ve even been known to join authors’ community message boards to chat with other like-minded fans.

And, depending on how impatiently I’ve been patiently waiting for the new story, I’ve been known to hole up in my house on release day to devour whole books. I’ll ignore all other responsibilities (the only exception being the care of my children as required) and immerse myself in the story.

New releases of JR Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series, I’m there. The newest title in the Dark (Carpathian) series from Christine Feehan, I’m all in. A new League series book or Dark Hunter story by Sherrilyn Kenyon and I’m absorbed. Nora Roberts, Johana Lindsey, Stephanie Laurens, Janet Chapman, G.A. Aiken, Catherine Gayle… honestly the list of my ‘absolutely must buy, must read ASAP’ authors is long. If nothing else it keeps me constantly looking forward to a new book coming out within any given period. 😊

So what are your must read’s? Your must buy’s? What author do you automatically “1-click”? Which series are you completely hooked on?

Full Scene Spread

So I’ve had a lot going on for the past, well, several months.  Truthfully I went through something of a depressed stage (trying to figure out “what to do with my life now?”), that was preceded by months of a different type of depression - the kind where you do what you have to do day-to-day, but most of it barely registers except for those extremes: the joy, the bliss, the sorrow...

But most recently I’ve been in super busy mode, having finally (metaphorically) slapped myself to awareness and made myself realize that I could continue to be miserable, or I could do something about it.  So I decided to do just that.  Now my personal life is on something of an upswing, plans and actions are moving along reasonably well in that sphere, and I figured it was time to start working on that “balance” thing.  You know, shaking off the tunnel vision every once in awhile and focusing on something else.

So here I am.

Besides trying to keep up-to-date with “the favorites” on TV: Criminals Minds, Law and Order: SVU, and Law and Order: Criminal Intent, Bunheads, and Once Upon a Time - I actually haven’t been spending a lot of time watching TV.  (Not to mention that my VOD service has been spotty, and my husband has been monopolizing the DVR with Pawn Stars and Lizard Lick Towing.) But because of how busy I’ve been in other spheres of life, by the time I sit down to watch TV I’ve been lucky lately if I make it through a single episode of anything before I’m passed out, and most likely snoring in my lazy boy.

That said, if you haven’t been keeping up with Once Upon a Time - or are within the set of TV viewers that haven’t watched any of this simply amazing show - you need to take the time to GET CAUGHT UP!  Season 2 has thrown us a bunch of twists, turns and “what the?...” moments, that I honestly think makes Once one of the best dramas on TV right now.  Don’t miss out!

I’ve actually seen a handful of the newest cinema releases lately.... 

The Call - while perhaps not Halle Berry’s best movie ever, it attempts to dig in deep and hook you.  This drama/thriller(??) aims to grip you by your emotions, but mostly missed the mark.  I enjoyed it overall but it’s definitely not a movie that I’ll be clamoring to watch again... ever.

G.I. Joe: Retaliation - I was actually really excited to go see this movie.  Both my husband and I loved the first movie when it came out a few years ago, I think we may even have gone to see it twice in the theater, but sadly - Retaliation did not live up to our expectations!  The were very few, if any Joe-gadgets - something that made Rise of the Cobra a distinctive success for me, and in the end Retaliation became just another action movie.  Entertaining, but clearly lacking the WOW factor that we’d expected!

And lastly, The Croods - perhaps one of the best movies I’ve seen so far this year. (Granted there are a couple movies out right now that I’m dying to go to...) This was a fun movie that entertained everyone - from my 4-year old daughter, to her 55-year old grandma!  With Laugh-Out-Loud parts, and sweet and serious tear-jerkers, The Croods will be one pick that will definitely end up on my shelf.

Despite how busy I’ve been lately, one thing that I have spent a considerate amount of time doing is reading.  Mostly because my insomnia has been acting up again and reading is one of only a couple of compassionate activities to partake in at 3:30am.  For the most part I’ve been doing re-reads of favorite series: Jean Johnson’s Sons of Destiny series, Stephanie Laurens’ Bastion Club and Cynster series, The Highlander series and the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning, a couple of the novellas from the Carpathian series by Christine Feehan, some Lora Leigh books and some Lara Adrian.  Lots of my favorites and all stories that I would recommend to any and everyone!

Most recently I wrapped up a re-read of the entire Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward - which started and finished with reads of Lover at Last, the newest release in the series and the long awaited story of Blaylock and Qhuinn.  Because I love the BDB novels so much I’m going to leave deeper discussion of this book and it’s place and impact on the series for another time, and just say that I loved it, I recommend it to absolutely everyone and leave it at that.  For now.

In the last couple months I’ve stumbled upon a few new authors (or new to me anyways) and a couple new series that I think have a lot of future potential.  I’m going to wait and talk about them in another update too and I hope you’ll check back to find out who and what has caught my interest now!

And in Fan-Fiction news... I haven’t published anything recently, as anyone who checks or is a fan would know, but I am working on a couple things.  I’m (still) working on the next chapter for The Best is Yet to Come - this story can be alternately easy and difficult to write, and this next part to come has been one of the most strenuous parts to write so far.  Rest assured though that I have not given up on this story though, its just a [hard] labor of love.

I’m also working on a new story.  Well, it’s sort of new.  It’s basically a companion story in the An Ending or a New Beginning world.  I’ve been jotting down a bit here and there, and it’s coming along, but I have to make sure that it matches up to the timeline from An Ending or a New Beginning and that I’m not compromising the original story with anything from the new one.  That is after all one of my FF pet-peeves = when a FF-author creates a world, has a whole bunch of stories that fit into it, but constantly contradicts themselves with the details.  So I’m really trying to make sure that I do it right!

Last but DEFINITELY not least - music.  There are always songs that catch my attention, or ones that I just fall in love with right off.  This song is one of those.

Little Talks by Of Monsters and Men

It’s an amazing song, and something of a confusing, messed up video that one YouTube video likened to the ‘Tibetan Book of the Dead’... Love, love, love this song!

Fanfiction Worth Reading

As I’ve mentioned before one of the things that I enjoy doing is reading and writing fanfiction stories.  One of the largest, though by no means the only FF-archive online, is FanFiction.net.  Here a fanfiction writer can publish and enjoy stories based on television shows, movies, books, cartoons, comics, games, anime and plays.  There are some truly superb writers, and of course there are some that are just bad, and when I’m lucky enough to come across stories by these writers I can’t try not to deny the impulse to point them out to others.   Which is the point today.

abc79-de

This author has written 43 stories for Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars.  The stories range from single chapter ‘one-shots’, to multi-chapter lengths.  Among the titles, my favorites include: The Sleep Fakers, Bathroom Monkey, What Happens When, Across the Pond, and Refuge. 

The newest releases, or posted, are 2 new one-shots for Gilmore Girls that is set several years after the series finally.  Amends gives readers and fans another avenue of approach for the rescue of the Rory and Logan relationship.  While Normal Is the Watchword is something of a sequel to Amends but is set several months after and features a not quite normal day between Rory and Logan after their reconciliation.  I’ve got to tell you that both of these stories are really good.  Unlike some, they don’t stray too far from the believable, nor do they venture away from the “feel” of Gilmore Girls that we loved on the show.  Like with the other titles this author has written Amends and Normal Is the Watchword will be added to my favorites list.

A random draw from my list of favorites gives you these stories/authors to check out and read:

Call and Answer  by citygrl  (a Gilmore Girls Trory-ship, post season 5)

Helping Rory by KRiSTiNEDAHLiNG  (a Gilmore Girls Rogan-ship, post season 5)

He Lied by Wildly Obsessed (a Gilmore Girls Trory friendship, approx season 1-2)

Life As We Know It by AnimalLuv (a Gilmore Girls Rogan-ship, AU/AR)

Choices by filesfreak4life (a One Tree Hill Leyton-ship, AU/AR)

Dark Chronicles by Idle-Daydreamer (a Carpathian story)

Dark Memory by LilithsShadowHounds (a Carpathian story)

Inner Eye by SMILES01 (a Dark-Hunter – Black Dagger Brotherhood crossover story)

Thanks everyone! It’s amazing to me how many really good writers there are out there just waiting to be discovered! I hope you’ll enjoy some of the reading that I’ve recommended and/or find something else that catches eye, holds your interest and manages to ensnare your imagination. 

Happy reading, happy writing and happy life!

Feehan's Dark Carpathian's - Part 2

Cover via Amazon

Dark Desire
Christine Feehan
Book 2: Dark Series
ISBN: 0-8439-5653-4

Shea O'Halleran was born different and had grown up knowing that she was nothing like any one else, not even her own mother.  As a child she needed blood to survive and watched as her mother withdrew from the world and from her, and withered into nothingness.  Overcoming the adversities of her young life, she put her self through University and became a brilliant researcher and surgeon.  But when 2 strange men begin to question who and what she is, she knows that her peaceful existence is at an end and that her days on this earth were numbered.  Especially as the nightmares haunting her become more frequent and the effects of them more lasting.

Jacques has only memories of pain, blood and torture.  He knows he was betrayed, though he has no clear memory of who betrayed him.  So when he's able to connect his mind with a woman far from him and she's all but elbow deep in blood and guts he believes he's discovered his tormentor.  In his madness he uses all his power, weak though it may be to lure her to him.

And she comes.  Years later, but she comes to him and when she does they are both in for a shock.  Shea learns that she doesn't actually have a blood disorder, she's part of another species.  Jacques finds out that Shea is his lifemate and that she is his reason for living.  Together they find family and friends, and they find the betrayer that cost the Carpathians several of their people years before.

His madness and her hard past cause both of them a lot of difficulties in their relationship but they both know that together they have a better chance of survival and happiness then they do apart.  Together they can have everything they ever dreamed but first they are forced to deal with the betrayer -- Shea's father, and a Carpathian we've met before, Rand.

I'm not sure what it is about me but I find that I am forever drawn to the drastically damaged men I read about.  In Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark-Hunter series, Zarek has always been one of my favorite characters. [Dance with the Devil] His pain and his fear of further betrayal, a lure that my heart couldn't resist.  In the BDB series it's Zsadist who caught my heart.  A strong warrior who should have had every advantage in the life but who, through a random twist of fate, became a slave to a sadistic, horrifying female noble vamp. [J.R. Ward, Lover Awakened] And then of course we have Jacques.

Mikhail hooked me on paranormal romances, but it was Jacques who snared me and kept me hooked on the Carpathians and the Dark series.  Raven showed me a strength of character and purity that I longed to emulate and Shea... Shea proved to me that everyone deserves a happy beginning and a happy life.

This completes the second installment of my review series.  Don't forget to watch for Part #3, coming soon.
______________________________________________


As always, for your continued interest in any of the series that I've mentioned please follow the links to the author's official sites.

Christine Feehan - Dark Series
Sherrilyn Kenyon - Dark-Hunter Series
J.R. Ward - Black Dagger Brotherhood Series

A Review of Lover Avenged

Cover via Amazon

Lover Avenged
J.R. Ward
[book 7: Black Dagger Brotherhood series]
ISBN: 978-0-451-22585-6

In the last couple of years we've watched our favorite Brothers face many hard circumstances and just as many hard, hard choices. Wrath had to face his fears of inadequacy and claim the throne that was rightfully his, in order to claim Beth Randall (his Brother - Darius's - only surviving daughter) as his mate. [Dark Lover] Mary Luce had to accept that love and faith truly could save a life and that they could give you life if only you let them, when she chose eternal life and love of Rhage, and the Beast, in Lover Eternal.

We watched Bella and Zsadist together and realized that with the right inducement even the most shattered of souls could be pieced back together. [Lover Awakened] Lover Revealed showed us that you truly can't judge a book by it's cover and that love, when given freely and fully, can change us all. This fact is displayed even more in Lover Unbound when it is her love for Vishous that allows Jane to come back as a ghost, to be with him forever. And in Lover Enshrined, Phury comes to the realization that if he can't love himself, can't honor himself, he will never be able to honor his mate and give her the love and life that she deserves.

All Kings are blind -
The good ones see this and use more than their
eyes to lead.

Finally we come to Rehvenge. Though not truly a member of the Brotherhood, his is as close as an outsider can get. His origins are disgraceful and his action not entirely honorable in the world of vampires (or the human world for that matter) but despite this he is still a male of worth. Or he strives to be, as best he can. he has never been able to see the good in himself, for he's far too aware of his dark side, but all those around him, at least those whom he allows to get close, can see the bright soul lurking in his darkness.

Ehlena's life hasn't always been easy. At the moment she'd even go so far as to say it sucked, and for all her optimism she can't see how things could possibly get better. Of course she can't see how they could possibly get worse either. Then her - almost - boyfriend is killed by lessers, her father has another episode and she volunteers to deal with the one patient that no one else wants to deal with when he comes in to the clinic. Rehvenge.

Rehvenge has always liked Ehlena the most of all the nurses who work for Havers, the races doctor, but has always been careful to keep his distance. Then one night they both reach out, despite their desire not to, and a bond is formed between them. After that, the dice seem to be tossed and no matter how strongly they try to keep their distance, they can't.

Lies and truth disrupt their happiness and when the only course they can see is to remain apart, they both have to face their fears, their demons and their very real enemies, if they want any type of life. Any future. Together, or apart.