Look back at 2011

2011 was a big year for me I started using the internet for things other than shopping, I got a Kindle and I read and discovered loads of books.  In February I came across and joined Goodreads.  I had never done or been a part of anything like this before.  I certainly had never posted in discussion boards before.  I also started reviewing books on Goodreads, initially it was one liners such as ‘I liked this book’ but eventually this turned into small paragraphs then two paragraphs then full reviews.  I wanted to keep a record of what I thought about books so I could look back on them so I started my own blog.  I have also made some awesome friends this year through Goodreads and blogging and I would like to take this opportunity to give a shout out to Melliane at Between Dreams and Reality, and Yaz from Yaz's books n stuff please show some love and go and check out their blogs. Yaz and I also started a group called Girls, Guns and Grimoires on Goodreads.  It is a great group with fantastic members where we chat and recommend books.

So onto what books have stood out for me this year.  It is impossible for me to list a top ten, there are too many books and series that I discovered or that were recommended to me this year.  Here is a list of some of my top books, and in brackets, links to my reviews where I have done one.

Rhiannons Law Series by J. A. Saare (Dead, Undead or Somewhere in Between, The Renfield Syndrome)

The Downside Ghosts series by Stacia Kane (Unholy Magic)

Kate Daniels Series by Ilona Andrews

The Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning

The Others Series by Jess Haines (Deceived By The Others)

Fifty Shades by E. L. James (Fifty Shades of Grey, FiftyShades Darker) 

Spellcrackers.com series by Suzanne McLeod

Drink Deep by Chloe Neill

Charlie Madagan Series by Kelly Gay (The Hour of Dust andAshes)

Annabelle Lee Series by Stacey Jay (Dead On The Delta)

Ambasadora by Heidi Miller (Ambasadora)

Nelson Kirch series by Maurice Lawless (Found in Blood, Forged With Blood)

Pale Demon by Kim Harrison

The Mageri Series by Dannika Dark (Sterling)

2011 also saw the end to some series' and I waved goodbye to some characters in particular Angel Town which was the last in the Jill Kismet series and Burn The Night which was the last one in Dark Days series.    

I would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year and here is to new books and friends in 2012.

Review of The Renfield Syndrome by J. A. Saare

The Renfield Syndrome is the second book in the Rhiannon’s Law series.  If you haven’t read book 1 first of all why on earth not?  Second click here for my review of it and third I will try my hardest to not put spoilers for book 1 in my review for book 2 but I may inadvertently do it so you have been warned.  Here is the blurb.

Vampires, and werewolves, and demons, oh my.

Rhiannon thought facing off against a deranged child vampire was the most dangerous task she would ever have to undertake, but she’s about to discover making a deal with a demon is far, far worse. Sent forward into another reality, one in which vampires are now dominating nearly extinct humans, she realizes the sooner she returns to her vampire lover, Disco, the better.

Unfortunately, time changes a lot of things; including those most trusted around her. When she’s faced with a loss and betrayal unlike any she has ever known, her focus shifts from severing the debt between the demon that wants to kill her, to exacting a revenge that will bring forth consequences she never could have fathomed. By reaching out to the darkness lingering within her, she’ll find the strength to push forward despite the circumstances that would see her dead and buried.

After all, when it’s all said and done, all that she has left to lose is her soul.

Right let me just say I loved book 1 Dead, Undead or Somewhere in Between but I loved this book even more.  We see Rhiannon trying to come to terms and live with the events that happened at the end of book 1.  There was a HUGE shock early on that had me reeling but once I pulled myself together I thought to myself ‘come on Claire shit happens lets see how Ms Saare deals with this I’m sure it will be worth it’ and let me tell you it was worth it.  Now Ms Saare doesn’t seem the type of author to let her fans get comfortable and complacent because towards the end of the book when everything seems to be moving along nicely there is another HUGE shocker.  I actually couldn’t believe that a certain character could behave in such a way.  I wanted to reach into the book and give this character an ass kicking for what they had done, but then again this character is extremely tough and would probably hand my ass back to me with bells on top.  I cannot wait to see the repercussions of this and how things will play out in the next book.  We are introduced to quite a few new characters in this instalment too.  Carter seemed to be an interesting guy and I was originally routing for him and Victoria was ace, a right glamorous evil bitch.  Paine, another hot sexy vampire is featured heavily.  I really like him and I enjoyed finding out much more about him.  But for me the star of the book is Rhiannon.  Oh boy I love her she is still mouthy but my girl seems to be growing up a bit.  I love her attitude and how she talks and find the put downs she comes out with hilarious.  The plot was brilliant and clever and I was enthralled throughout.  I seriously did not put the book down and read it within a day which is very very fast for me.  There is another cliff hanger but nothing like book 1 and Ms Saare does give us a clip from book 3 The Ripple Effect which is out in summer/fall 2012 (so so long to wait) which helps hugely.  Please please try book 1.  I would say try this book but if you have read book 1 and enjoyed it I can pretty much guarantee you have already got this book.  I would like to give this book 5 fangs it is immense, funny, clever, sad and hot and it only cost £2.57 from Amazon.co.uk

Review of Dead, Undead or Somewhere in Between by J. A. Saare

Rhiannon Murphy is a necromancer who knows nothing about her abilities except that she can see the dead and detect vampires.  Having escaped Miami because of too many vampires she is now working as a bartender in a strip bar in New York trying to live an uneventful life.  That is until one day the sexy master vampire Disco comes into the bar and insists she helps in investigating the disappearance of vampires.  Something is killing vampires and taking their hearts and with the help of fellow necromancer Goose, Rhiannon tries to discover the perpetrator.

I have had this book on my Kindle for 3 months and in an attempt to clear some books off of my tbr pile before buying any new books, I started this one.  I don’t know why I waited so long to start reading it.  It seemed right up my street but I guess the blurb didn’t make it exciting enough for me to start.  Oh how I wish I had read it sooner this book is just totally awesome, the blurb doesn’t do it justice.  Rhiannon is a tough ass loud mouth who doesn’t know when to shut up.  Coming out with witty put downs and handy with a blade I think she is brilliant and I love her.  Rhiannon has had an unhappy childhood with her parents dying when she was a young girl which meant she grew up in an abusive foster home.  It is the abuse she lived with that makes her what she is today, mouthy and unable to trust anyone.  We eventually do find out what happened to her and it is bad.   It was great seeing Rhiannon develop and grow throughout the book both with her necromancer abilities and as a person.  Gabriel better known as Disco is a sexy gorgeous master vampire who employs Rhiannon to help find the person or thing that is killing vampires.  What I really liked about this book was that the vampires acted as how I believe vampires should behave, intimidating, viscous and manipulative plus they were very hot too.  There were lots of supporting characters too, at times I did get a little confused when a name was mentioned and I had to rack my brain to remember where I had met them.  The plot is good with lots of action along the way, and I really enjoyed Ms Saares writing.  I loved Rhiannon’s big mouth and I found it difficult putting this book down.  Now for those of you who hate cliff hangers well you are going to hate the ending of this book because there is a massive one.  All I can say is thank goodness for Kindles because I am immediately buying the next book The Renfield Syndrome.  This has thrown a spanner in the works of clearing my tbr pile before purchasing any new books but to hell with it I HAVE to know what happens next.  I would like to give this book 5 fangs.         

Review of Head Rush by Carolyn Crane

Head Rush is the last book in The Disillusionists Trilogy and Urban Fantasy series by Carolyn Crane.  As this is book 3 and I have not reviewed the previous 2 books I will give you a little run down of the first book for those who may not be aware of this series.  The disillusionists are a group of people who can force their fears onto other people.  They target the criminals and bad people in society by disillusioning them into re-thinking their life and giving up their lives of crime and becoming good people.  Justine Jones is the female star of this series and she is a hypochondriac who is convinced that she is going to die of a burst blood vessel in her brain.  She meets the handsome Packard who teaches her that she can pass hear fear of illness and death onto others.  This gives her what is called the glory hour where she has no fear at all.  Anyway onto book 3 Head Rush.  Here is the blurb.

JUSTINE JONES FACES HER ULTIMATE ENEMY: HERSELF!

In an attempt to put her unhappy past behind her, Justine Jones throws herself into nursing school and planning her wedding to Otto Sanchez, the man of her dreams. But something is off. Random details aren’t adding up…and is it her imagination, or are her friends and fiancé keeping secrets from her? And what’s with this strange sense of unease, and her odd new headaches?

Justine tries to stay upbeat as Midcity cowers under martial law, sleepwalking cannibals, and a mysterious rash of paranormal copycat violence, but her search for answers leads her into the most dangerous mind game yet.

With the help of unlikely allies, including her paranoid dad and best frenemy Simon, Justine fights her ultimate foe…and unravels the most startling mystery of all.

If you have read the second book you will know that we were left with a MASSIVE shocking cliff hanger and book 3 picks up two months from where book 2 ended. Book 3 starts off action packed with Justine and Simon hunting down her car that was towed away months ago.  Simon has made a bet that if they find the car he can be a bridesmaid at Justine’s wedding to Mayor Otto Sanchez which is just days away.  The action doesn’t stop there as the whole book is one huge roller coaster ride which I read sat on the edge of my seat hyperventilating with fear and nervous excitement.  There are lots of surprises and revelations revealed and a very exciting ending.  The plot was really good, I love all of the characters and I really enjoy reading Ms Cranes writing too.  If you liked the first two books you will not be disappointed with this last instalment.  I’m also very excited to learn that one of my favourite characters Simon has his own book coming out next year, I can’t wait for that.  If you get some book vouchers for Christmas and you like Urban Fantasy I recommend that you look at buying the first book and see how you go.  I am going to award this book 5 glory hours.

Book 1 - Mind Games

Book 2 - Double Cross

Book 3  Head Rush

Review of Angel Town by Lilith Saintcrow

Angel Town is book 6 and the last instalment in the Jill Kismet books, a dark and gritty Urban Fantasy series written by Lilith Saintcrow.  This is one of my all time favourite series so if you haven't read or heard of Jill Kismet before here is a little background to her.

Jill was a teenager working as a prostitute the night Mikhail picked her out of a snowbank and offered her a new life.  Over the following years Mikhail trained Jill to become a hunter, one who patrols the nightside where demons 'Hellbreed' and humans who have made deals with demons 'Traders' exist.  In order to get more strength, speed and quicker healing Jill makes a deal with Perry the biggest and baddest demon in town.  He seals the trade with a kiss on her wrist giving her his permanent mark in the form of a scar.  So you will be thinking what does Perry get out of this....well Perry gets Jill.  When Mikhail dies Jill becomes the only hunter of her town Santa Luz where she constantly battles the forces of evil told in the following books.

Night Shift
Hunter's Prayer
Redemption Alley
Flesh Circus
Heaven's Spite
Angel Town

Here is the blurb for Angel Town.
Jill Kismet is back from the grave in this explosive conclusion to Lilith Saintcrow's urban fantasy series. 
She wakes up in her own grave. She doesn't know who put her there, she doesn't know where she is, and she has no friends or family. 

She only knows two things: She has a job to do: cleansing the night of evil. And she knows her name. 

So from reading the above you will gather that I love Jill Kismet and I adore Ms Saintcrow's writing, however I was a little concerned with how events were going to play out in the last book.  I have read quite a few end of series books and they have really disappointed.  Well no need to worry with Angel Town, Ms. Saintcrow does not let us down and this book was fantastic.  I had lots of questions from the earlier books and I got all of the answers along with some shocks with Angel Town.  There is too much going on in Angel Town for me to mention and there is lots and lots of action.  I also do not want to accidently post spoilers, however I will say that if you love Jill Kismet you will love this book.   

I am very sad that Jill Kismet has ended and will miss Jill and Perry terribly, but all good things must come to an end and I applaud Ms Saintcrow for ending the series now whilst it was still good rather than letting it go on and on like some other authors do.  This series is dark and gruesome, there is no romance but there is brilliant and awesome characters.  Jill is a real kick ass character and Perry is an evil genius, I love them both.  If you think this series might be for you please give it a go and if you have already read and liked these books please try the Dante Valentine series also by Lilith Saintcrow because they are amazing too.

Ms Saintcrow I salute you.  Thank you so much for giving us Jill Kismet it has been a most enjoyable ride, one that I can now re-visit in its entireity.  I would like to give this book 5 bullets.   

Teaser Tuesday (15)

Today is Teaser Tuesday which is a weekly meme hosted by Miz B of Should Be Reading 

Anyone can play along just open the book that you are reading to a random page and share 2 teaser sentances from somewhere on that page.  Please do not post spoilers and make sure you include the title and author of the book so that other TT can add the book to their tbr list if they fancy.

Today my teaser is taken from page 200 of  Angel Town by Lilith Saintcrow.  Jill Kismet is dark Urban Fantasy about Jill who is a hunter of demons.  This series is not for everyone but it is one of my absolute favourites and this is the last book.  Here is the blurb from Goodreads.

Jill Kismet is back from the grave in this explosive conclusion to Lilith Saintcrow's urban fantasy series. 
She wakes up in her own grave. She doesn't know who put her there, she doesn't know where she is, and she has no friends or family. 

She only knows two things: She has a job to do: cleansing the night of evil. And she knows her name. 

Well, let's see if we can't get you interested, "I'm for sale, Pericles.  Bid high."


Thank you for stopping by, if you would like to play along please leave the link to your teaser, or put your teaser in the comments below if you do not have a blog.  Happy reading.

Review of Shaedes Of Gray by Amanda Bonilla

Shaedes of Gray is the first in a new Urban Fantasy series by Amanda Bonilla.  Here is the blurb from goodreads.


In the shadows of the night, Darian has lived alone for almost a century. Made and abandoned by her former love, Darian is the last of her kind—an immortal Shaede who can slip into darkness as easily as breathing. With no one else to rely on, she has taught herself how to survive, using her unique skills to become a deadly assassin. 

When Darian's next mark turns out to be Xander Peck, King of the Shaede Nation, her whole worldview is thrown into question. Darian begins to wonder if she's taken on more than her conscience will allow. But a good assassin never leaves a job unfinished.

First of all let me say that this book isn't for me.  I tried very hard to read it and I got to page 275 but I just couldn't finish.  The blurb looked fantastic just my type of book, in fact I had this book on my list 5 months before it was released.  I had pre-ordered it I wanted the book that bad.  The main factor was that I could not connect in any way with the main character Darian, so much so that I wanted someone to kill her to spare me the rest of the book.  The other issue I had was the writing.  I found the author describing events that the characters had just talked about in previous sentence.  I did enjoy the idea of the plot and I did enjoy the rest of the characters.  I would like to point out that this book has received lots of 5 star reviews however I would like to give this book 1 fang.   

Follow Friday (12)

Follow Friday is a weekly blog hop hosted by Parajunkee and Alison can Read.  Please click on one of their links for the rules.  This week’s question is.

Q. When you've read a book, what do you do with it? (Keep it, give it away, donate it, sell it, swap it?)

A. When I have finished a book I will probably keep it as I am a bit of a hoarder when it comes to books.  If I have rated it 4 or 5 I will definitely keep it.  Otherwise I will put it on my swap list.  In the UK we have a site www.readitswapit.co.uk where people can go and swap books, it is a very good site.

Anyway thank you for stopping by, please leave a comment below and tell me what you do with books when you have finished them.  If you are a new follower please say so and leave your link so I can follow you too.  Have a great Follow Friday and Happy Reading.

Teaser Tuesday (14)

Today is Teaser Tuesday which is a weekly meme hosted by Miz B of Should Be Reading 

Anyone can play along just open the book that you are reading to a random page and share 2 teaser sentances from somewhere on that page.  Please do not post spoilers and make sure you include the title and author of the book so that other TT can add the book to their tbr list if they fancy.

Today my teaser is taken from page 43 of  Shaedes Of Gray by Amanda Bonilla.  Here is the blurb from Goodreads.

In the shadows of the night, Darian has lived alone for almost a century. Made and abandoned by her former love, Darian is the last of her kind—an immortal Shaede who can slip into darkness as easily as breathing. With no one else to rely on, she has taught herself how to survive, using her unique skills to become a deadly assassin. 

When Darian's next mark turns out to be Xander Peck, King of the Shaede Nation, her whole worldview is thrown into question. Darian begins to wonder if she's taken on more than her conscience will allow. But a good assassin never leaves a job unfinished.

A strong arm wrapped around my waist, and Xander's velvet voice spoke in my ear.  "You've made your point."  


Thank you for stopping by, if you would like to play along please leave the link to your teaser, or put your teaser in the comments below if you do not have a blog.  Happy reading.

Review of Fifty Shades Darker by E. L. James

From: Claire

Sent: 11 December 2011 08:30

To: Christian Grey

Subject: What have you done to me?

Dear Mr Grey

I finished your second instalment Fifty Shades Darker late last night and here I am at 7am on a Sunday morning typing an e-mail to instead of being in bed cuddled up with my husband.  I can’t stop thinking about you.  I can’t get you out of my head.  What have you done to me Mr Grey?

Your story made me smile…..a lot, it made me laugh, it made angry and it made me cry.  I was happy to find out about your past and I must say Mr Grey you definitely are fifty shades of f**ked up.  But saying that (please don’t be mad at me for saying this) I think Ana could do with a session with Dr Flynn as well.  There were times when she annoyed me with her over thinking and I wanted to tell her to grow up and give her a spanking myself, but then I would remember that she was only 21 and had never had a boyfriend before so I tried to cut her some slack.  Plus to be fair who would not be intimidated by you?

I felt Ana’s emotions so strongly for you too, especially her jealousy and anger towards that bitch Mrs Robinson.  I was so upset when you took Ana to get her hair cut, what were you thinking?  For an intelligent man you can be so stupid sometimes. 

Oh Mr Grey I am finding it difficult you put into words my feelings for you and this book.  Please know that I love your book, I love Ana and I love you.  Your story is compelling and I am so grateful that Ms James decided to write about this wonderful love story that you have going with Ana and that I get to read it.  I love reading about your kinky adventures too, wow they are hot…..look now I’m blushing. 

Thank you for spending this past week with me Mr Grey, I shall never forget it.  I have loved being tied up with you, well one can dream can’t they?  However it will be nice to go back to my life too.  You know speaking to people maybe even sleeping and grabbing a bite to eat just generally living again.  Saying all of this though I cannot wait to read your third book Fifty Shades Freed, I am counting down the days.  No seriously I am there are 40 days to go.  Do you see what you have done to me Mr Grey?  You have me wishing away my life so that I can be with you again, so until January 19 I big you goodbye.    

Love

Claire x