Book Review (Shorts) ~ A Fantasy Medley

A Fantasy Medley

edited by Yanni Kuznia

Published By Subterranean

Zen and the Art of Vampirism By Kelley Armstrong: Takes place in the Otherworld series. I loved this story of how Zoe Takano gets rid of two vampires who decided they were going to take over her city.

Riding the Shore of the River of Death By Kate Elliott: from Crown of Stars. I'm not familiar with the series or world this story takes place in. I started reading it and it did not hold my attention so I skipped ahead.

From Russia, with Love By CE Murphy: characters from Negotiator Trilogy. This is described as Janx and Daisani fighting for the affection of Baba Yaga's daughter. I found it to be more about how these two characters are intertwined with each other. It made me more curious to find out what happened between this story and where they are in the series.

Words Like Coins By Robin Hobb: This takes place in Farseer world. This was another where I wasn't familiar with the world and had trouble getting into.

Book Review ~ Bite Club

Bite Club (Morganville Vampires #10)
By Rachel Caine
Published By NAL

Summary: After discovering that vampires populate her town, college student Claire Danvers knows that the undead just want to live their lives. But someone else wants them to get ready to rumble. 

There's a new extreme sport getting picked up on the Internet: bare- knuckle fights pitting captured vampires against each other-or humans. Tracking the remote signal leads Claire- accompanied by her friends and frenemies-to discover that what started as an online brawl will soon threaten everyone in Morganville...

My Thoughts: I enjoyed most of this book. Claire has once again found herself in the middle of the Morganville drama. The only difference this time is Shane is on the wrong side of said drama. I liked having Shane's POV but wish it had been done differently. It seemed to get muddled and break up the flow of the story whenever it flipped over to Shane. I personally would have preferred something like Eve's diary at the end of the book telling us what he was thinking. 
I'm also not sure how I feel about the Eve/Michael announcement. I feel I should be happy about it but I'm just not.
I seem to have a thing for the crazies in this story. Myrnin is still my favorite vamp and I really like Miranda in this book. I hope we get more of her in the future.
Overall another great installment in this series and I'm definitely looking forward to the next book.


Rating: 4

Follow Friday & Blog Hop

Follow Friday is now hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of course and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!


Q. If you could change the ending to any book (or series), which would you choose? Why?
A. Spy Glass By Maria V. Snyder
I already ranted on this in my review of the book here. I'll just say I had a huge problem with who Opal ends up with after everything that happened in this series. Really the only thing I would change is the relationship ending the rest of the series was ended well.



Book Blogger Hop is hosted over at Crazy For Books.
Start hopping around, visiting other links in the list, meeting fellow bloggers and chatting about their blogs and books they are reading. If you aren’t a blogger, this is a great opportunity for readers to find new sites to follow and meet some new friends who enjoy reading the same things that they do!
This weeks Question: What are you most looking forward to this fall/autumn season? A particular book release, Halloween, the leaves changing colors, cooler temperatures, a vacation?
A. As some may know we are buying a house and closing at the end of this month. For me I'm just ready for all of this to be over with so our family can get settled in and just enjoy it.


Happy Reading and Hopping!!

Waiting on Wednesday

" Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating.

Airel (The Airel Saga)
By Aaron Patterson
Published By Stonehouse Ink
Release Date August 31, 2011 (paperback)


Summary: All Airel ever wanted to be was normal, to disappear into the crowd. But bloodlines can produce surprises, like sudden mysterious illness. Then there’s Michael Alexander, the new guy in school, who is impossibly gorgeous…and captivated by her. Somewhere in the back of her mind she can hear the sound of pages turning, and another, older story being written. It is the story of an ancient family, of great warriors, of the Sword of Light, and the struggle against an evil so terrible, so far-reaching, that it threatens everything she hopes for even now. Airel knew change would be inevitable as life went on. But can she hold on when murder and darkness begin to close in and take away everything she loves? Will she have what it takes when the truth is finally revealed?


** I Love the cover for this book and the story sounds just as good.

Book Review ~ The Gray Wolf Throne

The Gray Wolf Throne (Seven Realms #3)
By Cinda Williams Chima
Published By Hyperion
Release Date: August 30, 2011

*Received via netGalley for review

Summary: Han Alister thought he had already lost everyone he loved. But when he finds his friend Rebecca Morley near death in the Spirit Mountains, Han knows that nothing matters more than saving her. The costs of his efforts are steep, but nothing can prepare him for what he soon discovers: the beautiful, mysterious girl he knew as Rebecca is none other than Raisaana’Marianna, heir to the Queendom of the Fells. Han is hurt and betrayed. He knows he has no future with a blueblood. And, as far as he’s concerned, the princess’s family killed his own mother and sister. But if Han is to fulfill his end of an old bargain, he must do everything in his power to see Raisa crowned queen. 

Meanwhile, some people will stop at nothing to prevent Raisa from ascending. With each attempt on her life, she wonders how long it will be before her enemies succeed. Her heart tells her that the thief-turned-wizard Han Alister can be trusted. She wants to believe it—he’s saved her life more than once. But with danger coming at her from every direction, Raisa can only rely on her wits and her iron-hard will to survive—and even that might not be enough. 


My Thoughts: I've really enjoyed reading this series and this book was no exception. The story picks up right where The Exiled Queen leaves off with  Raisa is trying to make it back to the Fells. The action starts up right away  with little let up through most of the book. You spend a good portion wondering if anyone will be left to fill the Gray Wolf Throne and even if there is will there be anyone left to support/defend  that person.
Most of the questions/complaints I had from book two were addressed in this story. Han finally finds out who Rebecca really is and we find out who Crow really is. I'm still not sure about the story-line with Crow, it just seemed to still be left hanging with no type of closure. I'm sure it will play out in the final book but the use of the character in this story just seemed to be more for springing another surprise on the reader than moving this characters story forward.
While I know this was supposed to be a trilogy and the 3rd book became too long so was split into two books it just seemed incomplete in some ways. Two main problems for me were, the revelation about Dancer and how the book ended. Again I'm sure Dancer's story will become important in the last book it just seemed to be presented and then dropped not to really be mentioned again. The ending left me with a feeling of deja vu and been there done that dread. That being said, I'm really looking forward to book four and finding out who gets the girl and who makes it out of this story alive.


Rating: 4