Book Reviews, My Books, and Whatever….

Absolutely without equal!  Sharon Kay Penman has captured the beauty, the toughness, and the desperation of 13th century Wales and England.  She’s managed to tell a story about ruthlessness and gory battles, and weave an epic love story trhoughout.

The story is based on actual historical characters…..Llewelyn, Prince of Wales, and Joanna, bastard daughter of King John.  Their love story is like no other I’ve read.  It’s exciting, sorrowful, heartbreaking, and hopeful, all at the same time. 

There’s not a woman alive who wouldn’t want to love and be loved as much as Joanna.  But she suffered because of that love and committed the ulimate betrayal ….adultery.  Ultimately, after almost ten months of Joana being locked away from everyone else, Llewelyn realized his love for Joanna outweighed the sin she committed.  (Even though men were allowed free rein to sleep around, it wasn’t allowed for women.)

Possibly the best historical book you could ever read!

Okay……I wasn’t going to post anything about the book, but after my e-mail inbox filled up with comments from other Eric Northman fans, I figured what the hell….I may as well speak my mind.   I may get banned from the website, but I can’t help that.

I got my new, just issued copy of “Dead and Gone” yesterday, and read it last night so I would be ready to discuss it with other fans.  My anticipation was flattened during the first chapter and didn’t revive much during the rest of the book.  The only redeeming qualities from the standpoint of an Eric Northman fan was Eric and Sookie getting back together again while he was in full command of his faculties.

A great opportunity was missed to permanently join the two strongest characters,  Sookie and Eric, and pit them against the rest of the world.  Bill is merely a background character and doesn’t have the charisma to carry off any greater role than that.  A perfect chance to get him out of the picture was also missed at the end of the book. 

There are many, many adversaries to pit against a unified Eric and Sookie without Bill muddying the water.  He served his purpose, but it’s time for him to move on…..Quinn, too.

The first part of the book was disjointed and didn’t flow the way her previous books have.   Not very satisfying at all.  Sorry.  If it hadn’t been for Eric and Sookie being together I probably wouldn’t have finished it.  I really like Ms. Harris on a personal level, I just think she must have had too many distractions while writing this book.   Maybe trying to write with an eye toward the TrueBlood series on HBO…..which is so far off course that it barely resembles the books at all.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

I read Night Pleasuresby Sherrilyn Kenyon yesterday, and, OMG, it was smokin’!  She can write some of the most tasteful, erotic material I’ve ever read.  Of course, a lot of authors are now stepping up to the plate with the love scenes.   Charlaine Harris can definitely steam the covers off her books without being crude or explicit.  The same holds true forLynsay Sands and Alexandra Ivy.   There’s a lot to be said for a book that can portray sex or erotica without being smutty or sleazy, and these authors give their readers credit for having an imagination. 

I’ve continued reading Janet Evanovich’s Plum books.  They continue to be laugh-out-loud funny.  I haven’t read them all, yet, but for once, I’d like to see the heroine be as promiscuous as her male counterparts.  Stephanie Plum needs to hop in the sack with Diesel and Ranger…..Morelli’s had his fair share.

After arriving at this conclusion, I’ve slightly altered the course of the book I’m currently working on.   I plan to give the heroine a healthy libido without saddling her with one lover.   I think it will be interesting to see how it plays out….especially since her current lover is a little bit psycho. 

In most books the heroine focuses on one man and pursues him until she catches him, then they live HEA.   In my book the man pursues the heroine, seduces her, and she dumps him along the course of the book and pursues her own conquests.  Makes for much more interesting reading, I think.   I may publish snippets here from time to time.

Well, I’m off to see what the heck’s going on in my own backyard for a change.  More later.

I read The Grand Finale by Janet Evanovich yesterday, and it was cute, funny, and fresh.  She made me laugh, as usual.   It’s a nice light read.

Last night I read Dance With The Devil by Sherrilyn Kenyon…….book #4 in the Dark-Hunter series.   Damn, she writes some absolutely awesome fiction!   I was in love with the book’s bad boy before the book showed him to be a good guy in disguise.   I couldn’t put it down, so consequently, dinner was cooked with the book in hand.  I’m dying to start the next book, but there are errands to be done before I do.  It’s obvious I can’t get anything done after I start one of her books.

This morning I read Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich.  There were so many hilarious pages in it, I had a hard time clearing my eyes so I could finish reading!  She definitely makes Morelli and Ranger into two hot dudes, and that keeps things interesting.   The book was delicious, and I can’t wait to start the next one.  Here again, I’d better do my errands first……at this rate I’ll never get anything done around here.

I missed my workout yesterday because I read too much, so now I have to make up for it.  Guess it’s time to hit the weights.   Maybe I’ll get around to writing about something besides books today.    Maybe I’ll remember some words of wisdom…..surely I knew someone who was at least a little bit wise.  We’ll see.

Sorry there weren’t any posts for a while. For some strange reason I couldn’t log into the site.

Yesterday I got to meet two nice ladies here in the Houston area who, like me, are fans of Charlaine Harris. Her Southern Vampire series is totally awesome, and we were able to have an in-depth discussion about her books. Pam and Stephaney are super nice people, and our personalities meshed very well.

I’ve read several more books this past week. Sweet and Deadly by Charlaine Harris is a nice little mystery. It’s not quite like her other books since it doesn’t contain any sex, but it’s still an interesting read.

Vampires are forever by Lynsay Sands was an excellent read with a new spin on vampires and how they came to be. It started in a brisk and interesting manner and was able to keep that pace throughout the entire book. I will be ordering the rest of the series: The Accidental Vampire, Bite Me If You Can, A Bite To Remember, A Quick Bite, and Vampire, Interrupted.

Darkness Revealed by Alexandra Ivy was a book I picked up purely based on the blurb on the back cover. It did not disappoint! It, too, is part of a vampire series, and I wish I’d started from the beginning simply because her writing is so good. The action is super fast paced, the characters are interesting and romantic, and the bedroom scenes are awesome. Her perspective on vampires is sharp and concise, and she makes them come alive on paper.
I’ve already ordered the other books in the series: When Darkness Comes, Embrace The Darkness, Darkness Everlasting, and Darkness Unleashed. This is the “Guardians of Eternity” series. I really recommend this to anyone who enjoys vamps, mythology, and supes.

Finally, I started the Dark-Hunter series by reading Fantasy Lover by Sherrilyn Kenyon. It was funny, serious, and touching. If that sounds like a strange combination, it normally might be, but she makes it work in an outstanding way. I was hooked from the beginning and couldn’t put it down until I finished it. Fortunately I read very quickly so I read it in one night. Of course, that’s the way I read most books, but this one was definitely a keeper.
Fantasy Lover is rich in present day content while importing Greek mythology into the main thread.
Grace is a psychologist who is alone and resigned to that fact. Julian is a demi-god who comes to her via an ancient book and a magical incantation. Julian is cursed to be a sex-slave for all eternity, but Grace doesn’t want a sex-slave, she wants someone to love her. Because of her strong will they set out to break the curse on Julian and manage to drag several gods and goddesses into the fray. She was able to bring Julian’s personality to the forefront and make him a strong, but sympathetic, leading man.
It’s funny, touching, and I found myself cheering for them all the way to the end.

In between reading and RL I’ve managed to write some more of my book. I keep editing and smoothing as I go. At this rate I may edit and smooth it straight into oblivion.

Can’t think of a single bit of advice today, but I’ll rack my brain for the next blog.

Have a great day, people, and go read a book!

In the grand scheme of things, sleeping can be way over-rated. I woke up at 1 a.m. and decided to read something to lull me back to sleep. The something turned out to be “Plum Lovin’” by Janet Evanovich. I’ve never read any of her works before, so I really didn’t know what to expect. Finished it at 4 a.m., and had tears running down my cheeks during a good portion of the book! It definitely didn’t lull anything!

I haven’t laughed that hard in a very long time. The thought of grandma sitting down to watch an, ahem, “educational” video with her granddaughter and a 30+ YO virgin was absolutely hilarious! Pass the wine, please, Grandma.

Janet did a fine job on the book, and I should have read it sooner, but I’ve been busy with other books. I’ve inhaled so many books in the past three months, it’s ungodly. But in all fairness, I haven’t had time to pick up a book in a very long time, so I’m playing catch-up.

One of my favorite writers is Charlaine Harris. I discovered her around New Year’s day when I developed pneumonia. Since I felt bad and needed to stay inside, I decided to pick up a few books to keep me occupied. Dead Until Dark was one of them. I read several books before DUD, but once I got to it, I was hooked. I stopped by WaldenBooks on my way to the doctor, and bought everything they had by Charlaine. Then I stopped by WalMart and picked up the ones WaldenBooks didn’t have. I was going to be sick in style!

DUD is the first book in her Southern Vampire series. I zipped through all of them and moved on to her Aurora Teagarden series and Lily Bard series. Then I found out that the Southern Vampire series was picked up by HBO and aired as True Blood. Of course, as things go, the show has little to do with the book, but the books are awesome. The newest in the series will come out the first week in May. I have it pre-ordered. If you read them be sure to pay particular attention to Eric’s character. He’s the swooner in these books, and has entire blogs, websites, etc. dedicated to him. He’s the stuff legends (and dreams) are made of, and Charlaine did an extremely fine job with him. If you go to the graphic arts site, Black Lagoon, you can see the pics of Eric. One of my favorites is called “Sparkle.” In it, Eric is looking down at Edward Cullen saying, “Vampires do not sparkle. Do I make myself clear?!”

I read Charlaine’s books *after* I’d read the Twilight series (4 books, 4 days). They’re different as night and day. Both good, but different writing styles. I have “The Host” by Stephenie Meyer, too, but I have to adjust to her writing style again before I can continue with it. While Charlaine writes flowingly, Stephenie’s style is a little more staccato, but it fits her stories. It just takes me a bit longer to adjust to the rhythm.

Time to go…..gotta go work out.

Today’s “advice that I’ve received at some point in my life”:
Just because you work like a man, and work with men, doesn’t mean you have to look like one.

Turned out to be one of the best I ever received!