The Serpent’s Tale

“Be still my vampire heart” was much better that the other two books of the series. That ultraromantic and sentimental finale was very suitable and Ms. Sparks didn’t get too detailed about swordfights (which was good! You could use your imagination!). I think this one is the best book of the series. I still have to read “How to marry a Millionaire Vampire”.
Then I truly enjoyed reading “The Serpent’s Tale” by Ariana Franklin. She is such a great author. The story was mesmerizing. I started the book yesterday around noon and finished it by midnight and didn’t put the book down for one minute in between. In this book, Sir Rowley has become a man of God and Adelia is trying to find a balance between her love for him, her child and her career. This Adelia is more feminine, motherhood has changed her. She even feels pity for killers and professional soldiers. But her mind is as sharp as ever, believe me! The court of Queen Eleanor is strange and you slowly fall in love with Henry II. I won't tell the story, I don't want to spoil it for you, but that assassin guy was a complicated character. I never suspected he was the killer.
Reading about twelfth century England convinced me that I never want to time travel into that era. People were so savage!
I loved the book, such a pity it was so short!

Love at Stake and the Philosopher Cat

I finished “Vamps and the City” second book of Love at Stake series by Kerrelyn Sparks. I liked Austin and Darcy and the whole plot but… the ending sucks! I’m getting the feeling that Miss Sparks doesn’t know how to finish her books. Her finales are so lame!
Then I have started the third book of the series “Be Still My Vampire Heart”. It is the story of Emma and Angus.
I also started a mystery “Thomas Gray in Copenhagen: In Which the Philosopher Cat Meets the Ghost of Hans Christian Andersen” by Philip J. Davis and M. Dorian. Ok, it is a little silly book of philosophy for young adults. Thomas Gray the cat and her coworker Prof. Fysst are looking for a lost manuscript of HC Andersen to prove that the famous Danish author liked cats.

The right name

Exam: check! Project: check! Proposal: Check! Presentation: check! OK, I’m done! Yeah, I started my spring break Friday afternoon and finally was able to finish “Elijah” by Jacquelyn Frank. My opinion has not changed, this story is too dull! Some unimportant scenes stretch forever and ever… Anyhow, Elijah got his bride the queen of shape shifters Sienna, Gideon and Legna died and came back, Noah went almost crazy and Jacob and Bella finally named their daughter Leah, Mary died and Ruth promised to take revenge! All in good time!
Then it was “Child of a Dead God” by Barb and JC Hendee. It is the sixth book of The Nobel Dead saga and it is as bleak and frustrating as ever. Don’t get me wrong, the plot and storytelling is great. This couple knows how to write and do a great job of it. But the story is sad! I mean poor Sgaile died!!! Was it absolutely necessary to kill that elf? I was kinda getting attached to his honorable ways and elegant manners. Ahh, well, and Osha! Now he has to leave the assassins caste. Good news is, Magiere’s undead half brother Welstiel finally (hopefully!) is dead, bad news is Chane escaped (courtesy of Wynn again!). Good news is Leesil and Magiere got home and got married, bad news is they can not stay there and live happily as they dreamed about. It is all that old elf’s fault, that Most Aged Father guy! Why no one kills him for goodness sake! All his people are assassins and no one will take his miserable life? And what will happen to Li’kan? She just dies of hunger now that Margiere took the Orb? The book was bittersweet, more bitter than sweet actually! Yes, our heroes achieved some success, but they lost a lot too, mainly their loved ones! I’m not very enthusiastic about the next book; I fear something bad is going to happen to them.
And then I finished “The Undead Next Door”. Yaay, at last something with happy ending!
What is wrong with these authors? How they name their books? “The child of a dead god” had nothing to do with its story; I still don’t know who this child was! Is it Magiere or was it Li’kan? Huh?
And then this “The Undead Next Door”! You would expect a love story between two neighbors when one of them is a vampire, right? Wrong! The hero and heroin where not neighbors, they didn’t live close to each other or anything. They meet at a party and then someone wants to kill the guy and the girl fights him and now she is in danger and he has to protect her and they fall in love and kill the valiant together! So, how it all relates too next door neighbors, I couldn’t figure it out! And just between you and me; the author didn’t know anything about fighting or sword fighting. Her war scenes were like reading a movie script, like: then he drew his sword and he jumped in the air and… ah, heck! It wasn’t a good story, why should I bother?!

Gods and Provence

I have to finish writing my PhD proposal and I can’t write! I’ve got writers’ block! How stupid is that! On the other hand, I have no trouble writing about how frustrated I am! Sorry, guys; you have to suffer the consciences!
Anyway, a few days ago, I spend a day and half finishing two wonderful books.
“The invitation to Provence” by Elizabeth Adler was a simple romance. The great thing about the book was all the description of Provencal landscape and great foods and wines and happy scenes, flowers, sunsets, village scenes… I needed to escape somewhere peaceful and this book provided it with its simple wordings and uncomplicated plot.
The other book was a humorous modern epic, “Gods Behaving Badly” by Marie Phillips. For all the fans of Greek mythology, this book is a must read. What happens if the entire Greek pantheon is going to live in our modern world cramped together in a little house in London? Read the book and find out!
Also I'm half way into "The undead next door" by Kerrelyn Sparks. It is the fourt book of Love At Stake series and looks promising. I may start reading the rest of the books of the series after my exams!

A little thing called research!

I finished “Vampire, Interrupted” and it was a disappointment. The Argeneau Vampire series was not great but it had its own twists and quirks and was entertaining, however; not the last book. It appears Ms. Sands was in a hurry to finish the series (if this is the last book!) and wrap things up and paid no attention to historical facts or culture of fifteenth century! Or maybe she always was a sloppy author but it didn’t show. The other stories were contemporary and centuries old vampires were behaving very modern to blend in. But in “Vampire, Interrupted”, Julius and Marguerite have already lived together five centuries ago (if only for a year) and there is these memories and flashbacks and that’s when you can see the author’s lack of historical knowledge. She even got Marguerite’s clothes wrong when Julius was whispering his memories. Come on, a Bonnet wasn’t part of fifteenth century ladies’ attire, hats and bonnets for women came into being around eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Just type the word Bonnet in Wikipedia!
Anyway, the book was a disappointment. Wish Ms. Sands had done her research before writing it!
Right now, I’m reading the fifth book of Crimes of Fashion series “Grave Apparel” by Ellen Byerrum. In this book, there is a Sweatergate in Eye street observer office and two editors are fighting. Lacey the notorious fashion editor and writer of the column “Crimes of Fashion” is entangled in a murder (again!) and looking for the main witness. Her boyfriend’s mother likes to play detective and Christmas sweaters are filling the Washington DC. The Crimes of Fashion series is a murder mystery series, featuring Lacey Smithsonian, a fashion reporter and editor working in a paper in Washington. Lacey has a knack for finding corps and having killers after her, trying to add her to their head count. The other books of the series are: “Killer Hair”, “Designer Knock Off”, “Hostile Makeover”, “The Raiders of the lost Corset”, and the next book in the series will be “Armed and Glamorous” coming in July 2008.
It is a great series and each chapter starts with one of Lacey’s column on fashion tips and advises. All in all, a very fun read!

Vampires and Werewolves!

Marty from “The Accidental Werewolf” got her happy ending. Apparently there is going to be an Accidental series, the next story will be about Nina (the cranky!).
Then tonight, I started on “Vampire, Interrupted” by Lynsay Sands. Marguerite has started to enjoy her single life and new job but someone wants to kill her and for some reason she is very hot and bothered by someone in her detective team. Let’s see what happens at the end.