Here is a story that could have been great, it had such potential and it came out as a rushed commercialized cliché. The characters involve a minor-prophet chef whom her husband is murdered on the day he is supposed to sign the divorce papers , a former love-them-and-leave-them sheriff, an ammo packing cigar chewing priest, a false psychic, a trashy pop princess, a couple of screw up demons and a dog in pink cashmere sweater who is an angel in training.
Ahh, this has so much potential! But somehow it ended up as a religious romance with emphases on the fight between good and evil, praise for Catholic Church and true believes and lots of tiered scenes.
Take these as examples: 1- our non-believer sheriff can not hear the talking dog until he finally believes in god and his army of good. 2- our good guys are in two groups and are sneaking into Satan’s house to rescue that trashy actress/singer when they come face to face with each other in a hall way and both groups shout “freeze!” and start firing at each other.
Can I say grade school comic scene?!
Such a waste of a day of reading for me, ink and paper for the publishing house! But if they can dupe others into reading the book, why not!
“Blood memories” and “Hunting memories” by Barb Hendee were good. I won’t say better than Nobel Dead saga but much better than a lot of other vampire stories out there.
For more than a century, a handful of vampires have lived in America, isolated from each other, trying not to attract the attention of humans, hunting and killing as little as possible. Then one day Edward Claymore a charming rouge is fed up with his dark life and walks into sunrise, exploding in front of his friend Eleisha and a couple of psychic policemen.
This starts Eleisha’s search for shelter, safety and others of her kind. There are secrets to be find, friendships to be made and quite some bodies to bury.
It is an engaging story told in present time and also trough the memories of every new friend Eleisha makes.
My only two objections: Julian’s reasons for going on killing rampage is not completely convincing (even if he is mad!) and two, why Eleisha is becoming such a central figure with everyone depending on her. What is told is not enough to communicate her importance.
The final books of Betsy-Tacy series are “Betsy and the Great World” and “Betsy's Wedding” by Maud Hart Lovelace had such a nice comforting atmosphere. In “Betsy and the Great World” you get to travel to Munich, Venice, Paris and London at the dawn of WWI and see the excited scared atmosphere of the era for yourself. Get to know nice and interesting people who could have been best friends but the coming war will make enemies of them. The book has such a sobering effect and such an insight into human’s emotions. “Betsy’s Wedding” happens as America announces her neutrality in war, the story of how middle class Americans were living before the war and how that neutrality changed.
You can look at these two books as a kind of happy ending to Betsy-Tacy series although I prefer to read these as an anthropological account of middle class Americans in early twentieth century. No wonder this series has such a huge fan club!
Ooh, now the best part:
Finally got my long awaited favorite, latest from Lauren Willig, “The Betrayal of the Blood Lily” the sixth book of Pink Carnation series. This is the story of Penelope the third of Purple Gentian’s sister’s trio of friends. Confused? Henrietta, Charlotte and Penelope are childhood friends and after Henrietta dilly dallying with her brother’s friends and getting in trouble, each one are having their own tales told. And frankly I liked Penelope’s story more than Henrietta and Charlotte’s.
When Charlotte and her duke are trying to deal with the Hell club’s spying activities (in "The Temptation of the Night Jasmine"), Penelope, out of boredom; is seducing one of the club members, Lord Fredrick; to disasterous results. Their affair is discovered, Penelope is announced ruined and is forced to marry the irresponsible Freddy and the couple are sent to India. There is dashing Captain, a French spy nicknamed Marigold, a devious Indian prime minister and a few dancing girls. On the other hand, in present time London; Eloise is discovering unsavory facts about her boyfriend’s family.
I enjoyed the historical part of the story, all those adventures in India, but the affairs of Colin’s family were uninspired. I know, Eloise and Colin are happily in love and Eloise research is going great but couldn’t Ms. Willig think of more exciting plots for Eloise than a valentine’s day party and Serena’s boyfriend problems?
I thought it rather tame!
p.s. at 10:30 pm: Just remembered to add the “A princess of Landover” by Terry Brooks to this post.
This one is a sequel to Magic Kingdom of Landover series, happening some 5 years after the last book. Mistaya the daughter of Ben Holiday the High lord of Landover is fifteen years old. Her father is confused how to treat her like many fathers with teenagers. She is expelled from her boarding school, and then runs away from home and gets into a lot of trouble with the help of a magical cat.
Now, I loved the original “Magic Kingdome of Landover” series. I enjoyed the humorous adventures of Ben Holiday, his funny logic in the face of all his misfortunes, the banter between inept court wizard and the doggy steward and the stubbornness of Willow. But this sequel is not only not in the league with previous books but way way below them. The narrator is short tempered and rushed, there is no humor and what little dialogue between wizard and steward is forced. It looks like the author was forcing himself to write. Like a story teller who is bored with his story but obligates out of duty to continue with his tale. I wish Mr. Brooks hadn’t written this book. It is such a disappointment.
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