Friday, July 30, 2010

Blog Hopping Time!!!!

Book Blogger Hop

Jennifer over at Crazy For Books hosts this awesome weekly event starting every Friday. Its a great oportunity to find new blogs and get yours out there. I have found some really terrific blogs while doing this!

In the spirit of the blog I encourage you to skip on over to her blog and sign up.

My Answer for the Question of the Week....
Who is your favorite new-to-you author so far this year?
Robyn Carr definitely.

Robyn's Virgin River series is so fantastic. All of them that I have read have received top ratings. Virgin River is the first in the series and I gave it 4.5 stars back in January. Since then I have read 7 more of the 10 books. My favorite is Shelter Mountain. Anyone who loves that some town community series in romance (very similar to Debbie Macomber's Cedar Cove books) will definitely love these books. I haven't recommended them to a person yet who hasn't enjoyed their time in Virgin River.












Tuesday, July 27, 2010

What's in My Cart?

I see various blogs offering up slightly different versions of "Mailbox Monday" where they list the books they received in their mailbox (hence the name). I don't get but a couple books a year in the mail but I do purchase many from my local Walmart. I love browsing the book isle at Walmart. I like that the book prices are fairly reasonable. Plus my sister ends up purchasing them for me (of course with my money) because she works there and gets a discount. Every couple of weeks I end up with a handful of newly purchased books and now I have my own meme to showcase them. The beauty of it....I can do this any day of the week...only because I can't think of anything super catchy to make either a rhyme or an alliteration out of What's In My Cart and a day of the week. Oh well.

So without further ado I welcome you to....
(possible change in the future of the pic but for now this is it...)

So, what did find it's way into my cart last trip to Walmart????

Want to win 5 fantastic summer YA reads?

Lori over at Pure Imagination is hosting a fantabulous giveaway to celebrate so much. She is giving away these great books....

And since she reached over 900 followers (which I now think she is at 1110 even) she added yet another book....

Help her celebrate! Get over there now!

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Time for the Blog Hop!!!

Book Blogger Hop

Every Friday Crazy-for-books hosts a great meme to help get our book blog out there for others to find. I have found so many great ones that I honestly spend hours just catching up with them all.

This week we are also talking about what book we are currently reading.  I started...
Simply Irresistible by Rachel Gibson. This is the first book in her Chinook Hockey series and so far it is pretty enjoyable. Here is a synopsis...

Georgeanne Howard, charm school graduate and Southern belle extraordinaire, leaves her fiancé at the altar when she realizes she just can't marry a man old enough to be her grandfather, no matter how rich he is. John Kowalsky unknowingly helps her escape, and only when it's too late does he realize that he's absconded with his boss's bride. At the height of his hockey career, this bad boy isn't looking to be anybody's savior but his own, no matter how beautiful this angel may be. But a long night stretches ahead of them--a night too sultry to resist temptation.




When Georgeanne and John meet again, she is on her way to becoming Seattle's domestic darling and he is past his hell raising days. But he is shocked to learn that their single unforgettable night in paradise produced a daughter, and he is determined to be part of her life. Georgeanne has loved John since the moment she jumped into his little red Corvette seven years ago, but she doesn't want to risk her heart again. Is he really a changed man? And will he risk the wrath of his boss, and one final chance at glory, to prove that this time his love will be everlasting?

Dark Celebration by Christine Feehan

I cut my paranormal teeth on Christine Feehan's Dark Prince. It forever holds a spot in my heart because of this. I love that book. Over the years I have read every book that came after it with excitement and glee. After a point though I noticed I wasn't enjoying them nearly as much as I did at the beginning. I am honestly not sure if this is because I am growing and maturing as a reader or that the books just aren't or possibly both.

Carpathian Males by nature, are completely Alpha. Expecting their women to cower behind them and stay put because they decree it. In my ripe old age of Thirtysomething I now expect my heroines to be assertive and fully capable of kicking some vampire butt along side their men.

These books are still in the dark ages and all the men still beat their chests and grunt at their women to obey them (with the exception of two women who were not brought up Carpathian the women do listen too...for the most part.) But what I want to know is what is the point of being able to dissolve into mist, shift into an eagle or a wolf, or call down lightening if the XY's in your life won't allow it when it comes to fighting for your people's future.

Anyway, I should probably talk about this book now....

Dark Celebration is the 14th or the 17th book in the series, depending on if you count the 3 novellas published in separate anthologies. It is a full on Carpathian Reunion which sounds super cool unless you are like me and read the last book in 2006 and can't remember all but a handful of the characters. While reading the book I often had to stop and reflect (actually stop and try to remember)who certain characters were.

I read the hardcover edition of the book and there were approximately 300 pages of actual storyline. There were quite a few recipes after the end of the book submitted by Feehan Fans around the world. The recipes were a tie in to the Christmas celebration the Carpathians were having. I didn't really pay much attention to them to tell the truth.

In the book there were so many couples that I had a hard time keeping them straight. Also every couple had sex at least once. I also think that once a couple of them had sex we never heard about them again. It all felt a little gratuitous. Because every couple was engaging in some hot lovin' Feehan made each couple repeat that the other was their lifemate and without their other half they would be lost. After having read all of the books prior to this, I started getting annoyed with the repetitiveness of it all. Granted had I not read any of the books before this one some of it might have been good to know but even then a newbie to the series would have been irritated too.

Problem number one I had with this book....
Way too many characters. Seriously. There were at least 13 couples in addition to 2 couples not yet joined, one family friend, parents of two of the girls, one teenage Carpathian, and at least 10 children. So, I lost count at 44 people in this book.

Problem number two I had with this book....
No resolution to the big bad evil that was stalking our Carpathian women. They were all in very real danger but other than a couple battles that didn't actually take out the big baddie there was no real ending. Also a storyline was started and I have to assume it will continue in the next book Dark Possession and yet another storyline started with a 16 year old and her lifemate that I have to assume will be completed in the future as she is too young at this point to have a credible storyline.

So I honestly have only two really big complaints about this book. But they are doozies. In general Feehan's Carpathian books are all stand alone books because each one is about a different couple. This book, however cannot be enjoyed as a stand alone. Someone not familiar with the series could not fully appreciate it and would be very confused. Heck, I have read all the books and found myself confused.

So, my recommendation is....

Read it if you are already a fan of the series. Get the book from your local library. Unless of course you are like me and collect all her books. When purchasing it you might want to scour your Used Book stores and Thrift Stores looking for it. I honestly don't think it is worth full price.

My rating: 2/5

Friday, July 2, 2010

Update on My TBR Challenge

This is a year long challenge and before the start of the year we were to choose 12 different books to read for the year. In addition we were able to choose 12 alternatives to give us a little variety for the challenge. It is officially 1/2 way through the year and I thought I would post an update as to where I was for this particular challenge more for my benefit than yours.


The books crossed off are ones that I have read. 10 down. I do plan on reading all 24 books though so I better step it up.


1-Imitation in Death by JD Robb (4 Stars)
2-The Hollows by Nora Roberts
3-Mackenzie's Mountain by Linda Howard (4.5 Stars)
4-Blood Bound by Patricia Biggs
5-Aphrodite's Secret by Julie Kenner (4 Stars)
6-The Dead Girls' Dance by Rachel Caine (4 Stars)
7-Unleash The Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon (4.5 stars)
8-Darkling by Yasmine Galenorn
9-A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole
10-She's No Faerie Princess by Christine Warren
11-Sweet Liar by Jude Deveraux
12-Dangerous Tides by Christine Feehan


Alternate List


1-The Nerd Who Loved Me by Vicki Lewis Thompson
2-Your Coffin Or Mine? by Kimber Raye
3-Causing Havoc by Lori Foster (4.5 stars)
4-Dark Celebration by Christine Feehan
5-Dream a Little Dream by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (5 Stars)
6-Master of the Night by Angela Knight (2 stars)
7-Tangled up In You by Rachel Gibson
8-Irresistable by Susan Mallery (4.5 Stars)
9-Evermore by Lynn Viehl
10-Twin of Ice by Jude Deveraux
11-Wild Jinx by Sandra Hill
12-With This Ring by Amanda Quick