Tricksy Tuesday

Via Carina Press

Naughty and Nice
Carina Press
Authors: Shannon Stacey, Jaci Burton, Megan Hart, Lauren Dane
Category: FICTION - ADULT: Anthologies & Short Stories: Anthologies (Multiple authors)
Kindle Ed. 498 KB
MSRP $9.99; Amazon $7.99
Made available by publisher through NetGalley
No remuneration was exchanged.

Oh My Precious! Well, if Golem had been a southern belle that's how it would have been said and the film would have been really strange. Today is tricksy because I made an assumption reading a series of Carina's wonderful holiday collection this year that all of the individual volumes of anthologies were Paranormal.

Image via Wikipedia    

Well,  I was halfway through the book, Naughty and Nice  when it occurred to me that not only is the book not genre but it is not spin-able into subtle magic or what more magical than...?  The book is divided into Nice, and Naughty. On the one hand in the Nice section of the book there is a lot on going back to one's childhood demesne for the holidays and discovering love and happiness, and I could say that that is magical. On the other hand, the Naughty section with some light BDSM in the first story and some more heavy-duty D/s-BDSM lovingly executed but still more intense, is pretty hard to spin that way. Adherents of the practice may be able to but I have never "gotten" it so I don't. It's hot but hard to spin into what I call "subtle magic of everyday life." 

I didn't stop reading Naughty and Nice;  Not being able to stop reading a book I am enjoying is a major character-flaw.  Also, at that pint I would have had nothing for all my very precious readers! Nor would I have read the whole set Carina made available. Here is the Publisher's description with my comments, in italics below each.


Section One: Nice

Holiday Sparks
By Shannon Stacey
House-sitting for her parents seemed like a good idea, until the microwave blew up and the lights went out.
Now Chloe Burke thinks upgrading the electrical system of her childhood home while they are away would make the perfect Christmas gift. Fortunately, there's an electrician in town who can get the job done by the holidays.
Scott Quinn has wanted to get his hands on the Burkes' wiring for almost as long as he's wanted to get his hands on their daughter. Chloe didn't notice Scott back in high school, but she's noticing him now, and soon they're indulging in a little festive fun: no strings, no expectations. After all, Chloe plans to get out of this goldfish bowl of a town and back to her real life in Boston by New Year's.
But Chloe and Scott discover they enjoy each other's company just as much out of bed. Could their holiday fling turn out to be the real thing?

My Take: This book takes place in Maine. I live in Maine. I adore Maine, but it is not the big city, no part of it is the big city. Thank goodness. Many authors and artists live here, but I am still thrilled and excited when anything I like that is set here. I lliked this and it is in Maine it gets rousing approval. In this case the story is arousing too. The intimacy is very hot and although I knew what was going to happen I still found the relationship and the intimacy between the characters enjoyable. I know people who have gotten it on with repair or delivery guys, in Maine no less, so this was a bit of a chuckle, a bit of "Ah, so that's how it happened."

All She Wants For Christmas
By Jaci Burton
Big Star, Small-Town Christmas

Country singer Riley Jensen would never have returned to her small Missouri hometown if her publicist hadn't come up with the scheme to tape a Christmas special there. So she never would have known that the man who broke her heart at eighteen-causing her to flee to Nashville-was now a widower with a seven-year-old daughter. Riley has ten years of angst-filled hit songs and Grammy awards to prove she doesn't need Ethan Kent. But suddenly, she can't help thinking of all she gave up by running away...

Ethan Kent knew Riley had the talent and the drive to make it as a singer. He also knew she wasn't going anywhere if she stayed in their nowhere town for him. Then one night and one huge mistake sent her running on the road to fame. Which doesn't mean he ever stopped loving her...

But with so much separating them, can Riley and Ethan find their way back together one magical country Christmas?

My Take:  Predictable, enjoyable, some cool plot and back story twists. I always think of Missouri being the deep south, but I have never talked to anyone from there with a southern accent. If the home state had been other I would have expected different speech patterns. Not accents but patterns. 


High School sweethearts still loving each other after ten years is a lovely but unlikely dream; much like hoping divorcing parents will reunite. And, that is the issue isn't it?  Even if the relationship is hot and they hook up, will they be able to get past ten years of hurt and anger.  The way they work it out is interesting.
  
Section 2: Naughty

Unwrapped
By Megan Hart
Naughty is Nice
Newlyweds Leah and Brandon Long are finally taking a honeymoon. But just a few days into their Christmas-in-Vail vacation, Leah takes a tumble on the slopes, severely spraining her ankle. Being stuck indoors isn't so bad though: the luxurious chalet boasts a hot tub and cozy fireplace. Besides, sitting with her feet up while Brandon serves her in every way a man can serve a woman is exactly how both of them like to spend their time.
Leah would be in heaven, if only Brandon didn't insist on playing with the dynamic of their relationship. With kinky sex and deep conversation the only things on the agenda, Leah can't avoid the discussion of how things might change. Will she be ready to take their marriage to the next level in the New Year?

My Take: Well, this is the first in the Naughty part. It isn't really that naughty.  The seem to have a lot of sex for characters that are not paranormal.  The man in particular must be part superhero or wolf or vampire.  They go from constant sex pretty much everywhere to talking about having kids.  Leah says that people with kids still have sex.  Wow, is she going to be disappointed —I don't have them but I listen to Ray Romano's comedy routine!  A bit lukewarm for me even with the BDSM.

Believe
By Lauren Dane
Their First Christmas, Bound Together...
All Jude wants for Christmas is Rori, all to himself. It's their first holiday season as a couple, and staying home, seeing friends and family, means they'll be surrounded by the memory of Rori's late husband. It's time for Jude and Rori to create their own traditions. Time for them to fully explore their most intimate desires to dominate and submit.
Rori is thrilled when Jude whisks her away to a luxury resort in the mountains. Spending Christmas away, just the two of them, is the perfect time to show him she's ready to give herself to him completely...

 My Take: He is the top and she is submissive.  Not just in the bedroom. He reminded me of Billy Bob Thornton back in the Angelina Jolie days—kind of creepy.  Also a man with tremendous stamina, apparently. I don't get their relationship. Her late husband had been murdered two years before and she has been with this guy for a while? If her husband had passed on in a way other than murder I may have believed it, but murder is going to leave you some major trauma. If you took up with another guy that fast they cops would be looking at both parties in the relationship. On the other hand, they knew each other a long time before and had all been friends. But, as I have said I don't get intense BDSM. If I did I would have liked this story more; it did not make my toes curl.  Some BDSM is arousing, but it has generally crossed some barrier and this one did not get past whatever that barrier is.

Three very different tales of Winter

Winter Wishes

An anthology with Vivian Arend,

Vivi Andrews, and Moira Rogers

Carina Press Publication Date 12/06/2010

E-ARC provided by Publisher through NetGalley

No remuneration was provided.

Contains three Novellas, Marketing Copy below (netgalley.com)

Tangled Tinsel
By Vivian Arend

She's the cat's meow, and he's ready to pounce!

Five miles of leather-clad leg is all it takes to lure Kyle Branegan out from his carefully hidden lifestyle as part of the Cougar Corp, a secret branch of the Shifter Enforcer League. He's hoping for a night of fun and frolic, cat-style, no strings attached. With a sultry swing of her hips, Eloise Scott tangles him up in her ball of tricks, and just when he thinks he's about to get lucky, she cuffs him-naked-to her bed.

An undercover cop in the human police force, El's been given a top-secret mission to keep the big cat under her paw until he's needed to testify in court in the New Year. Her decision to take him home for a quiet Christmas in her sleepy hometown turns out to be far more interesting than she expected. Her parents are suddenly rich, her old boyfriend is sniffing around and all six-feet-plus of sexy cougar male is sleeping in her bed.

And that's before they announce their fake engagement...

As neither El nor Kyle know the real mission behind her orders and his protective custody, it is easy to see that this is about relationship, specifically a relationship between two were-cougars and their were-cougar families. Somehow family gets brought in; not just her newly well-off family – where she takes him for Christmas, but his powerful “ruling” family.

As I read this I really enjoyed the way Vivian Arend wrote the love scenes and the physical action of the characters in cat form. But this story is really about sex and how it brings these two people/cats together. It would be trite if sex weren’t a big part of the cougar personality. But there is quite a bit of sheet scorching, that goes with it.

Kyle was a fairly typical romance character but El was very independent and accomplished. Unfortunately, living in the human world has made her a bit leery of showing her cat side. Kyle helps her free her inner cat!  Twists, turns, and mayhem. Enjoyable and fun, if a bit predictable. 

 

No Angel
By Vivi Andrews

When Sasha's boyfriend, Jay, is sucked through a fiery vortex to Hell, an angel reveals that Sasha's been chosen as the Champion of Virtue in the battle for his immortal soul. As a perennial offender on Santa's naughty list, Sasha can't believe she's anyone's idea of a girl fighting on the side of the angels. But if she doesn't save Jay, he'll be stuck in Hell forever!

Jay-aka Jevroth-isn't surprised to find himself back in Hell. His visa to visit the mortal plane expired three months ago, but to steal more time with Sasha he's been ignoring his mother's demands that he come home to spend time with his new stepfather: Lucifer.

Sasha has until dawn on the twenty-fifth of December to fight the Legions of Hell and rescue Jay, or be trapped there for eternity herself. But now she must decide if the lying son-of-a-demon is even worth saving...

 

Nothing like having the above happen on Christmas Eve. And, hey, she gets to spend Christmas Even in Hell, with her own immortal self to worry about too. And, she has been chosen by the Powers-That-Be to rescue said boyfriend, and having just learned he had been lying to her and that he might be breaking up with her, she’s not so sure she wants to rescue him.

The story uses an interesting adaptation of Angel weaponry, sort of like the Devil’s daughter in MJ Davidson’s Queen Betsy series.  But, there’s not much here in terms of relationship or action.  The last scene lives up to it’s potential and finally brings some resolution and interest to the story.

Freeze Line
By Moira Rogers

She can't survive in his world; he can't stay sane in hers

A twenty-first century ice age dulls the magic that emanates from the earth. Shane Sullivan is a lone wolf above the freeze line. He has no desire to join the packs that range closer to the border, where feral instincts can turn a man into a monster. Not until the winter solstice, when he stumbles across a dying witch who needs his help to get back to her people-and her magic-in the south.

Nadia is a powerful woman in her own world, but she's been drained by her escape from captivity in a northern lab. She knows it's foolhardy to trust a werewolf, but he's her only chance to survive the vast white wilderness. The farther south they travel, the harder it is for Shane to keep the beast within under control, and as their mutual attraction intensifies, Nadia's no longer sure she wants him to.

A darker story, this takes place in a post-apocalyptic, North America. There are fewer temperate zones and more freezing areas. Supernatural beings like witches and wolves are “out” and there are some who like the thought and a bunch of scientists who don’t. The Were, Shane is north to let the cold subvert his wolf side, and Nadia is north because she was kidnapped by those mean scientists. The only problem is that she can’t survive there and he fears he will go all wolfy on her if he goes too far south. The characters are well-developed; especially for a novella.

Shane is living with some survivor guilt and is quite generous, if a bit taciturn. She is weak because the earth’s energy is stilled in the frozen north. She’ll die if she can’t pull the earth’s energy. But once she warms up she is much more powerful.

I liked how the relationship in this story developed. It didn’t feel rushed, but it was very interesting, as this pair has to fight to survive.  Because the relationship takes a while to develop there is a lot of angst involved and that dragged on some. The intimate scenes run a gamut from tender to outright hot-monkey.

I don’t usually go for the dark stories, but I really liked this one.  





 

SUPERNATURAL SUMMARIES SOVEREIGN OF THE WEEK!

Nov. 29

Only one person is Sovereign this week with 90% of the answers right.

And that person is RK Charron from Fictionall.com! To see this 
week's questions and answers click on
Answers Supernatural Summaries in the top right sidebar.

RK Charron really knows her stuff! She is SOVEREIGN of the Week!

Vampire Squirrel bows down to RK and wants you all to come play Next Sunday!

A Last Laugh and Fond Memories

Image via Wikipedia

Today, Leslie Nielsen passed away in Florida at the age of 84. He was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada in 1926. Dad was a disciplinarian, a Mountie. All I saw about his Mom was that she was Welsh. He studied in Toronto and then New York. He acted in 239 movies, according to IMDB.com. Including some of the funniest ever made, Airplane, and the Naked Gun movies. He also starred in this classic farce.

Nielsen movies were equally funny to men and women, there aren't that many movies during which both my hubs and I will laugh hysterically. And at the end there was always the impression of a nice, decent guy. Funny as heck, but nice. He made us all laugh—men, women, young and old, and in my book that means a lot.
Check out the articles below I found through Zemanta. The man had an amazing career, and life.

IMDB.com

Image via Wikipedia

Related articles

• Naked Gun Actor Leslie Nielsen Dies [Video] (gawker.com)
• Leslie Nielsen Dies at Age 84 - Hollywood Reporter (news.google.com)
• Comedy Legend Leslie Nielsen Dead At 84 (foxnews.com)
• Actor Leslie Nielsen dies at 84, nephew says (today.msnbc.msn.com)

True Blood OFFICIAL NEW You Tube Channel

True Blood sent me some news on Facebook - Kind of a how to get by until next July helper.  They have launched a new "Official" You Tube" channel. No more slinking around trying to find bootleg TB videos in the back alleys of the world wide web.  The screenshot below is linked.

http://www.youtube.com/user/trueblood?v=5e3lLY1FS0g&feature=pyv&ad=6813563874&kw=true%20blood

As an example of what is available there, here is a video of Charlaine Harris on Sirius XM. This is good quality and very interesting stuff!





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbBhJr6ucVI

SUPERNATURAL SUMMARIES SUNDAY!

I love coming up with questions and interesting ways of phrasing the clue. If you have an idea for an item and send it to me, that question will automatically be credited to you. Use the clues to figure out answer and submit your answers in this FORM so the answers will remain secret. The people with the most correct answers win the Supernatural Summaries Sunday "Sovereign" badge.

I added more questions this week. Hey, no one but you and I know you played unless you win!'
Thanks for coming to play!

BLACK FRIDAY EDITION

I don't really know what my favorite cover is.  There are many that strike me as fantastic. But then I don't see it and I forget it Later I will see another.  These days we are treated to a remarkable number of covers. They are all beautiful. Many bloggers have made note that this hardcover Jane Austen with seven stories in it has a gorgeously appointed classic cover. It does nothing to tell the tales—it is pure, pattern and decoration!
I will hopefully have time to work out, write some reviews and do the hop and follow.  Jenn at Crazy-for-Books is correct in her statement that there are more memes all the time. I wonder if the events would work well if the were somewhat more specialized in their list, maybe by genre. What Do You Think??? This cover is timeless and will be just as beautiful each time you look at it.

Sort of Like Tupperware for Paranormal Species

 Happy Black FRIDAY! Get Your Shop On! 

 

cover via eharlelquin.com

The Keepers

by Heather Graham
Harlequin Nocturne
Oct 2010
Miniseries: The Keepers
Category: Paranormal Romance
Paperback
ISBN: 9780373618446



Back of the Book

At the core of New Orleans lie the otherworldly vampires and shape-shifters that hide in plain sight among mankind. As one of the Keepers, an elite group possessing superior skill and strength, Fiona MacDonald's duty is to maintain peace in a place where one vampire's bite could ignite war. When Detective Jagger DeFarge, a vampire, is called in at the discovery of a body drained of blood, both the detective and Fiona must join uneasy forces.

Jagger will stop at nothing to find the murderer— including working with the sensual and suspicious Fiona. As more die, it becomes clear that this isn't the work of an ordinary vampire. No one is safe. So when the killer's attention turns to Fiona, will Jagger risk destroying his own species to protect the woman he so passionately desires?

The Keepers: Three extraordinary sisters, balancing the duties of their birthrights and the yearnings of their hearts…

http://www.eharlequin.com/

It doesn't take long for  fear and desire give way to  infatuation and sex in this paranormal  crime thriller. With three sisters who maintain the peace between and behavior of the paranormal community Fiona was born with a winged birthmark giving her responsibility for vampires, Shauna has the fang and has the werewolves, and Caitlin has a changing mark so she gets shape shifters. Their parents were also keepers both having all three marks had given their lives in the line of duty.

So, someone is sucking all the blood out of women and leaving in the raised mausoleums of NOLA. The lead detective for the NOLA police is also a vampire. He and Fiona are attracted to each other, but it takes a couple of chapters for Jagger and Fiona to hook up in a big way.

Graham is a crowd-pleaser—has written over one-hundred novels and novellas. The publishers and the public like her style. It is written in a casual paperback style. The story moves along at a good pace, the protagonists are sketched as likable, forthright, hard working, etc. We are a bit less certain of the bad guys. The evidence would seem to indicate that that a vampire is committing the crimes. It is the patness of the theory that makes it feel wrong, not only to the characters, but to us as well.  Denial that it is a shape shifter plants the seed of doubt in the vampire culprit. Or could it be one of the lesser species? The cops have their work cut out for them and the clues are few and far between.

There are several sex scenes in the book and one can believe that real caring and emotion that develops between Jagger and Fiona.  As far as Ms. Graham's style in writing the sex goes, I felt she stepped fairly gingerly around it. It is just not that hot. And, I felt the suspense was a bit watered down as well. Abilities and facts about the paranormal species are conveniently arranged to fit the scene of the crime, so to speak. The dialogue is good, very realistic. The interactions between the species is great, especially in the inter-species meetings.And, there is a great balance between dialogue and action moving the plot forward and exposition doing so.

She has very good skills in writing and developing a plot, dialogue, etc. The characters were a bit typical and sketchy. The heat a bit lukewarm. If I used a scale this would get 3 of 5 points, not a bad book, not an unpleasant read, but not my first choice.

Related articles

• Fiction Affliction: Diagnosing November Releases in Urban Fantasy & Paranormal Romance (tor.com)
• True Blood Promotes Jessica Tuck; Adds Three New Actresses (seattlepi.com)
• 'True Blood' Adds Three New Season 4 Female Actors; Promotes Jessica Tuck To Series Regular (omg.yahoo.com)
• How do you define your shifter world? (adrianakraft.com)
• 'True Blood' adds fresh blood: Janina Gavankar and Jessica Tuck become regulars (popwatch.ew.com)
• "HBO's 'True Blood' Adds Female Trio And Promotes Jessica Tuck to Regular" and related posts (deadline.com)
• True Blood Casts Dexter Star (omg.yahoo.com)

Random Quote  from tor.com article above: "Unsure if a book is an urban fantasy or a paranormal romance? Check out the cover. Usually, half-naked woman=urban fantasy; half-naked man=paranormal romance"

Thanksgiving Mums for You

Hoping you have a lovely 

day filled with all the trimmings

BIG NEWS:A Booklover’s FantasyThe Book Signing. Revolutionized

For Your Consideration: About 20 years ago I stood in line for three hours, outside, on a cold, November day, to get a ticket to get a signed and personalized copy of an Anne Rice (the mistress of the dark, herself) book as a gift for someone else. Later that day I had to go back and get in my numbered place in line to wait for her to sign it.

It is amazing to be a blogger, a shopper, a reader in the digital age. I get books online, advanced copies on-line, communicate with publishers, authors and other bloggers online.

The idea that you could go to a virtual book signing, "talk" to the authors, and be part of the fun from the other side of the world, well, my pre-digitally born, analog mind virtually (hehe) boggles. There are days when I wax poetic on the differences between then and now, after which I feel like my parents talking about the depression.

Avon Romance, a Harper Collins imprint, along with Romance Times, Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Cincinnati, and VIVO Live, are teaming up to provide, facilitate, and host a revolution in how we look at a book signing. Even if you can't be in Cincinnati You can still be part of this exciting event!           

Fantasy Fans Worldwide Can Attend
Virtual/Live Book Signing Event at Joseph-Beth Booksellers
With New York Times Bestselling Authors Marjorie M. Liu & C.L. Wilson

On Thursday , December 2, 2010 at 6:00 PM New York Times bestselling authors Marjorie M. Liu and C.L. Wilson will headline an innovative live/virtual book signing, powered by Vivo Live
The authors will read, answer questions, and sign copies for anyone who attends the event at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Cincinnati⎯in-person or online. 

Marjorie M. Liu is known for her paranormal romance novels and comic books. She recently gained national renown with her video game, Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box. Marjorie is also an attorney, and divides her time between China and Indiana.

C.L. Wilson wrote her first novel at age six…but it wasn’t until 2006 that she sold her first book, an epic fantasy then entitled Tairen Soul, at auction. This debut novel was an instant bestseller – as has been every other novel in the series. She lives in Florida

The Event will celebrate the release of two of the most anticipated books of the season:

IN THE DARK OF DREAMS
ISBN 9780062020161
Avon, an imprint of HarperCollins on sale November 30th

Already nominated for the 2010 RT Book Reviews “Best Shapeshifter Romance”, and received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, who called it “a satisfying adventure of intense emotion and compelling characters.”

Description (from Avon)
She could never forget the boy with the ice blue eyes . . .

She was only twelve when she saw the silver boy on the beach, but Jenny has never stopped dreaming about him. Now she is grown, a marine biologist charting her own course in the family business—a corporation that covertly crosses the boundaries of science into realms of the unknown . . . and the incredible.

And now he has found her again, her boy grown into a man: Perrin, powerful and masculine, and so much more than human, leaving Jenny weak with desire and aching for his touch.

But with their reunion comes danger. For Perrin and Jenny—and all living creatures—their only hope for preventing the unthinkable lies in a mysterious empire far beneath the sea . . . and in the power of their dreams.

CROWN OF CRYSTAL FLAME  
ISBN 9780062018960
Avon, an imprint of Harper Collins
on sale October 26 
 
The final volume of New York Times bestselling author C.L. Wilson’s sweeping Tairen Soul saga, has been called, “Epic in scope and scale yet emotionally intimate…a truly stellar achievement” by RT Book Reviews. 
 
Description (from Avon)
A Song of Love won her heart.
     A Song of Darkness haunted her soul.
         A Song in the Dance would seal her fate.

Seers had long foreseen an extraordinary destiny for Ellysetta Baristani. Already she had won the heart of the Fey King—the magnificent Rain, ever her ally, eternally her love. She had saved the offspring of the magical tairen and fought beside her legendary mate against the armies of Eld. But the most powerful—and dangerous—Verse of her Song had yet to be sung. As the final battle draws nigh and evil tightens its grip upon her soul—will Ellysetta secure the world for Light or plunge it into Darkness for all eternity? As she and Rain fight for each other, side by side, will they find a way to complete their truemate bond and defeat the evil High Mage of Eld before it's too late, or must they make the ultimate sacrifice to save their world?

LOCATION! LOCATION! LOCATION!
 
The physical location of the event will be
Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Cincinnati 2692 Madison Road Cincinnati OH 45208 513.396.8960

 
And the virtual event can be found Online at  Vivo Live,  Joseph-Beth Booksellers, AVON and RomanceTimes Book Reviews

 TO PREORDER A SIGNED COPY GO TO: 
Joseph-Beth Booksellers web site to pre-order signed copies

IN THE DARK OF DREAMS HERE 

&

CROWN OF CRYSTAL FLAME HERE

Tyger, Tyger — Book Trailer

 We all know by now that adore Kersten's writing and this book. When I read it in July I was so excited I wrote one of my most lavish reviews. I thought you might all enjoy the book trailer. And, then if you want to by it, I would be thrilled if you would use my Amazon.com portal!

Family Drama - The Perfect Thanksgiving Topic

Here is a huge surprise: I am not organized.  I don't have a desk planner with what will be in the blog from here until Thursday, never mind longer than that. And, I tend to read what I think will be the most interesting books first, and then I see they aren't coming out until July or March or next August. So, I read a bunch of books that I really want to wait to tell you about, but they will have to wait. 


But I do have this one that I got through Shelf Awareness coming out in December in print (see below, it came out for Kindle in June) and that's what is up for today:


The Radley's
Matt Haig
Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 415 KB
Print Length: 352 pages
Publisher: Canongate Books (June 10, 2010)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services 

Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Free Press (December 28, 2010)
an imprint of Simon and Schuster 
This was an ARC provided by the publisher in anticipation of a fair review. No remuneration was received.




When better to look at a family drama than the holidays?
Author Website Blurb:

Meet the Radleys

Peter, Helen and their teenage children, Clara and Rowan, live in an English town. They are an everyday family, averagely dysfunctional, averagely content. But as their children have yet to find out, the Radleys have a devastating secret.

From one of Britain's finest young novelists comes a razor-sharp unpicking of adulthood and family life. In this moving, thrilling and extraordinary portrait of one unusual family, The Radleys asks what we grow into when we grow up, and explores what we gain – and lose – when we deny our appetites.

A suburban British family, the Radley family appears normal,even typical.  Mom, Helen, was a med student who didn't finish to stay home with her kids. Dad, Peter, is a doctor. Apparently he did finish med-school. They have two teenage children. Rowan, the boy is sickly, itchy, and sensitive. Clara, the teen age girl, isn't considered as much of a "freak" as Rowan. 

Peter and Helen have been abstainers since becoming  parents and after many wild times where many people were drained, especially on Peter's part.  They've hidden the truth from their children. There is one fateful night where it becomes absolutely impossible to keep the truth from them.  Rowan feels betrayed, but for Clara, it is a rush. Peter has a brother from whom Helen and he are estranged. The kids are also unaware of this uncle, whose visit to the Radley household is the ubiquitous last straw.

Haig has built a unique vampire species with a behavioral code adhered to for the safety of all.   Haig has rewritten the vampire. Vampires are either abstainers, reminiscent of the temperance movement or AA, or they are rogue. Abstainers do all they can to blend in, eating a lot of meat to sustain them. Abstaining reduces them from a long vampire life to a more normal lifetime. It also makes them weak, tired, in Rowan's case itchy. It turns them into Vampire anorexics. And, they are either full blood, familial vampires or "made."Peter was born vampire, while Helen wanted to become vampire, no doubt thinking it similar to a religious conversion. Certain members of the police know about vampires and there is a special unit that deals with vampire crime.

 The details of Haig's vampire species are interesting, and should satisfy the needs of most vampire enthusiasts but, the vampirism is really a foil for the reality of being a family shakily maintaining a false lifestyle; like being the ex-hooker trying to become a a society matron, the mafia Don trying to keep his "profession" from touching his family, or someone running for office hoping that the skeletons don't start jumping out of the closet. The lifestyle and diet aren't sustaining the Radley's and the arrival of the uncle throws the carefully contrived existence completely off line. The  Radley's  choices; their lifestyle, are multi-layered, and offer a deep microscopic view of our  own choices.


The Radleys life begins to come apart even as the children acclimate to their new reality. And the assistance they need to maintain any semblance comes from two unlikely sources. Is the answer to regress to murderous, rogue vampires, do they suffer the consequences of failing to be who they are not. Or , is there a middle ground? 


I vote for the middle ground. All of us, in getting where we want to go, pretend to be who we are not. This is a matter of degree of pretense. Fake confidence versus lying on your resume, a white lie versus not telling a a person they have cancer. At times it isn't pretense that puts us in danger but difference. Not meeting the status quo can be dangerous no matter how it happens. 


At the start of this book the chapters are short, staccato and the rhythm is maintained. This could be of no import but it reminds me of a pulse - all bodies require a regular pulse. Throw a wrench into the regularity and nothing will work right. Sometimes the body is corporeal and sometimes it is metaphysical. In this carefully constructed tale both are needed. There are a lot of ways to restore a pulse to a regular rhythm.


This book is well written with great pace, a contemporary, spare writing style, and clearly built and defined characters. It is the family drama that will have people raving about this book, not the dietary needs of vampires. High marks to The Radleys!

All in the [Vampire] Family

Seducing the Vampire

Michelle Hauf
Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Harlequin
Imprint: HQN Books;
Original edition (January 1, 2011)
Bound Galley Edition 10/1/2010
provided by the publisher through NetGalley in expectation of a fair review
Book Trailer:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0jTUOFz4rM

Book Description

He was mesmerizing, a vampire like none other...but the fire between Viviane LaMourette and Rhys Hawkes would begin a centuries-long clash between two powerful vampire brothers.

In Marie Antoinette's Paris, the beautiful vampire Viviane seeks a male patron who

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will allow her to live on her own terms. Courted by two feuding brothers, Viviane succumbs to the handsome rebel, Rhys. She's unaware that Rhys has other, darker, motives. He seeks vengeance against his brother, Constantine—by stealing Viviane and tainting her with his blood.


But just as Rhys is realizing the depth of his love for Viviane, his brother takes his revenge.
Two centuries later, Rhys hears the urban legend of the Vampire Snow White, imprisoned deep in the tunnels under Paris. He must find her and set her free, but will he be able to save her from the evil still intent on destroying them?(from Michele Hauf's website)

My Take

I felt this book, while a love story, and a vampire tale, is more about sibling rivalry than anything.  I would have liked to see the  problem resolved in this book.

At the start of the book we find a "Vampiress," Viviane, with a broken carriage and being attacked by wolves. Hauf brings in a new twist to vampirism I had never seen. In this book, female vampires are subservient and weak "kin" of a male vampire, often their maker. If they do not have this person's blood they will die. Her patron Henri and his wife with whom Viviane is staying in Paris are murdered, and Constantine de Salignac, a powerful vampire, wants her for his kin.  Unfortunately his brother Rhys Hawkes also wants her, in order to get back at his brother. But in the future we later hear that Vampiresses evolve away from the need for a master's blood.

Viviane is unusual because Henri never made him stay with her or be a sex object. He lived in Paris with his wife and Viviane lived in Venice. She has more freedom than other female vampires and refuses to bow down to any master. So, the usual stuff happens, anger, love, betrayal, murder and mayhem. It all builds to Constantine's one truly evil and shocking act.

I felt a bit distanced from the characters who I  didn't really like. No one was truly heroic. Each vampire was selfish, quick to anger, and appeared to live well beyond their means. Viviane did not seem very bright; she was capricious and reckless. Constantine was somewhat two-dimensional, definitely snobbish and cruel.  Rhys was devoted, thought issues out and understood the consequences of his actions.

He was also tortured when he learned that Viviane might have been buried alive. Imagine thinking that and trying to find her in a huge maze. But, he also was irresponsible and careless. Had he and Viviane not goaded Constantine the heinous event may not have happened.Of the three I liked him the most. And, as I read I always imagined his character looking like the Sam Adams brewery depiction of Sam Adams. There are other things about Rhys, that are important but they would be spoilers.

The action is quick paced. Of course it slows in a few places to allow us to catch our breath. 

There were a few intertwined sub-plots in the novel. I was confused about their relationship to each other.

Hauf writes nice love scenes and a great seduction scene. She has a good grasp of the vampire mystique.  I would read the book just for the seduction scene.  It is very sexy.

I enjoyed the book, but it didn't grab me right off. But, then, I think I like a clear cut hero in a story, others like their hero's more difficult. I don't want them to be overly sensitive, but killing each other's friends  is going to make for a rocky relationship. But there are many books with very unlikeable characters. I thought that Ms. Hauf came up with a very interesting vampire society.  Pinning one of the subplots on Urban legend was very current and I felt she really had the pulse of society.

I hope you find it a good read. I would love to hear your opinion of it.

My Blog is Being Featured today atEVERY LITTLE THING!

Hey Gang!

Hannah at EVERY LITTLE THING is featuring me and Fangs, Wands & Fairy Dust with an interview and one of my favorite reviews. I hope you will check it out!
And THANK YOU Hannah, This is a great opportunity to promote my blog. I hope other bloggers take advantage of Hannah's generosity in featuring another blogger. MWAH!

NOW I HAVE SEEN ALMOST ANYTHING! Awards: Bad Sex in Fiction Award Shortlist

See the entire article here ► Awards: Bad Sex in Fiction Award Shortlist

But, in case you feel an overwhelming need to read some bad sex (My husband would say there's no such thing as "bad" sex) here is the list with my affiliate Amazon links:

Mr. Peanut

Golden Mean

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas
The Golden Mean by Annabel Lyon
Maya by Alastair Campbell
A Life Apart by Neel Mukherjee
Heartbreak by Craig Raine*
The Shape of Her by Rowan Somerville*
Mr. Peanut by Adam Ross

Slap

Freedom

Now I have to tell you that i know nothing about these stories and don't endorse them, nor do I repudiate them.  I have no idea what is intended by this award: shame, humor?

 

   (not available directly from Amazon)

all book covers from Amazon.com affiliate program.

 

Here's to bad sex!!!

 

 Related articles

• Alastair Campbell nominated for 'bad sex' book award (independent.co.uk)
• Ex-spin doctor Campbell up for 'bad sex' award (bbc.co.uk)
• The Saturday poem: For Pat Kavanagh by Craig Raine (guardian.co.uk)

Results SUPERNATURAL SUMMARIES SUNDAY!

RESULTS from 11/21/2010

Of eleven players 2 got all the answers I intended and one came up with a plausible alternate answer for raised by wolves band knows how to fix a bugl  The answer I intended was Mercedes (or Mercy) Thompson Series. The alternate was Twilight.  There is a good argument for Twilight as one could say that Jacob was "raised by wolves so to speak and knows how to fix a bug."  But the eponymous or "using a character's name for the series." So it doesn't meet that condition. But that person gets a gold star, if not the gold crown.   I am going to figure something out like royal consort because they really got me with that one.

What do you think? Should I have second place?



Without further ado: Our SOVEREIGNS this week are
 

jmspettol & Mel S.  

Look for the badge in your email in a bit!

Regarding my choice of questions:

I think this great fun, but as an American I have a wee predilection towards assuming that everyone sees American movies,  TV and literature. Duh. I will try to controls that. I like the clues to be accessible but not that all should be so obvious. And once again if you have an question this week and send it to me and I use it you will get a point equal to one question! This week only and please email it to: steph@fangswandsandfairydust.com