A Taste of the Nightlife by Sarah Zettel

#1  Vampire Chef Mystery
Copyright: 2011
Publisher: Obsidian
Genre: mystery
Pages: 297
Challenges: New Author,  1st in a series, Cozy mystery challenge
Author's Website
My rating: 4/5

Simple Description: 
Charlotte Cain is a chef at her own restaurant, Nightlife.  Her brother is a vampire and he is co-owner and works out on the floor while she handles the kitchen.   She has created a menu that both the humans and vampires can enjoy.  Now they just need to make sure they stay in business long enough to start making some money.    Things are going well until there is an altercation in the dining room one night.  The night that a famous vampire food critic happens to be dining there.  The altercation is between a vampire and a couple of witches.    As if that isn't bad enough, one of the witches is found in her restaurant the next day.  Dead. His blood drained.

Charlotte was going to let the police Paranormal squad handle things, but then it looks like her vampire brother might be involved somehow.   She wants to figure out what is going on and possibly keep him out of trouble.  With the help of a famous witch and a famous vampire, she just might do that..if she isn't killed first.

My Thoughts: 
What a fantastic start to a new series!  You know me, I like my vampires and witches.  When I had the chance to get a review copy of this book there was no way I could pass on it.  I loved Charlotte.  She was fun. She had spunk.  Sure, she had her problems but she's a great character.  

I thought the author did a good job introducing us to what life is like in her book..where vampires are out in the open and there are witches, without having to sit down and outline it all for us.  It was easy to follow and felt natural.

I thought the story moved along pretty well and it kept my interest.  It felt like it took me forever to finish this book but that had nothing to do with the book but rather my busy life.   I definitely recommend this one to cozy fans who enjoy urban fantasy too.     Just one note, there is some cursing in this story.  I thought it went well with the character and it seemed natural. It didn't bother me at all. I only mention it because normally you don't see this with cozies and I know some don't like it, so wanted to make sure you were aware.


Thanks to the publisher for providing this book for review.

Witches of East End by Melissa De La Cruz

#1 Beauchamp Family
Copyright: 2011
Publisher: Hyperion
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 288
Challenges: New Author, Strong Heroine, 1st in a series, 2011 Pub
Author's Website
My rating: 4/5

Simple Description: 
The three Beauchamp women live the small town of North Hampton.  Joanna and her two daughters, Freya and Ingrid are witches and have been around for centuries.  They have been forbidden to use magic though, unless when necessary to hide their true identity.  However it's been a long time since they have heard from the council and Frey and Ingrid both start to use magic.  When there are no consequences Joanna uses some as well.

Then things take a turn for the worse.  Strange things start happening to the town.  People start to go missing, get sick, and even murdered.   Suddenly some of the towns folk start to turn on the three women.  If that wasn't enough they have bigger issues trying to figure out what is causing the illnesses in town and trying to fix it.

My Thoughts: 
This is the first book I've read by the author and I have to say, I enjoyed it a lot.  There were times when things were a bit confusing because it refers to the women being around for centuries and to thinks happening in their past but it doesn't elaborate until later in the story. You learn bits and pieces of their history the more you keep reading.

As you know, I do like the paranormal so I was intrigued by the witch aspect of this book.  I think the author did a good job with it.  It was very much who the women were and you saw them struggling with not using it and what they are doing to live a full life.  Then you see each woman blossom when she starts to use it again.

While I didn't exactly find anything saying this was the first in a new series, the fact that it's referred to as The Beauchamp Family when you look it up online and the ending leaves it open for at least one more story, I assume this is going to be a series.  I'm perfectly happy with that and look forward to book #2.


Thanks to Megan B. for providing this book for review.

A Perfect Evil by Alex Kava

#1 Maggie O'Dell
Copyright: 2000
Publisher: Mira
Genre: mystery
Pages: 466
Challenges: 1st in a series, new author, Mystery and Suspense, Buy 1 book and read it
Author's Website
My rating: 4/5


Simple Description: 
Sixth months after Ronald Jeffrey's is executed for the murder of 3 boys another boy has been found dead and it matches two of the murders.  Nick Morrelli, the sheriff, believes it's a copy cat.  Since Morrelli is inexperienced to deal with a murder investigation the FBI is called in. Maggie O'Dell is their top profiler and even though she is dealing with the after affects of her last case she agree's to help out.

Maggie and Nick soon believe that it's not a copy cat killer.  They believe the correct killer was never caught and is still on the loose.

Maggie and Nick need to figure out who the killer is soon because more boys have gone missing.  Of course, their attraction to each other doesn't help matters.  Nick is a bit of a playboy and Maggie is married.

My Thoughts: 
I thought this was an excellent book!  I was able to get through it in no time.  Once I started it, I didn't want to put it down.   I had pretty much figured out who it was but was never 100% certain.  There are enough clues that you can figure it out but there are enough red herrings in place to throw you off and think it's somebody else.   I thought it was executed very well.

I do believe that a lot of you mystery readers will enjoy this one.  In fact, I'm looking forward to continuing with this series myself.

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

#1 Wicked Lovely

Copyright: 2007

Publisher: Harper Collins 

Genre: young adult

Pages: 328

Challenges: young adult, 1st in a series, New Author, Strong Heroine, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Fantasy Romance, Buy 1 book and read it

Author's Website 

My rating: 3.5/5

Simple Description: 

Aislinn has always been able to see the Fae.  From when she was very young her Grandmother, who raised her, taught her how to act like she didn't see them. It would be dangerous for them if the Fae knew that. 

Normally the Fae don't bother Aislinn and she's able to stay away from them.  Until now that is.  Keenan, the Summer King, has noticed Aislinn and he feels she is the one.  She is the one that can be his queen.  He must convince her that she loves him and to pick up the winter staff in order for this to happen.  He needs his queen in order to gain his full power and save the summer fae from the winter queen, his Mom.

Unfortunately for Keenan, Aislinn is different from all the girls.  She knows what he truly is and she wants nothing to do with him. Keenan gets frantic though because all signs show that Aislinn is the one. He must convince her. 

My Thoughts: 

We all know that I love books with a paranormal aspect to it. I love books with vampires and witches and ghosts.  However I was skeptical I would like a book that is about the Fae, faeries.  I'm not sure why, but I didn't think I would like it.  Color me happy..I loved this one!  I was pleasantly surprised by just how much I enjoyed it and how fast I was captivated by the story.  I like Aislinn and I wanted to know what was going to happen.   I admit that it took me a bit to get into it, think I just had to get used to the whole Fae thing.  Once that happened though, I couldn't put the book down.

That's not to say I didn't have some issues with it.  Sometimes the writing was off and it just didn't make sense. I would have to re-read sentences to figure out what was being said and what was going on.  I also don't like it when the point of view of the narrator changes within the same chapter.  This happened a lot.  the story would be told from, say Aislinn's point of view and then in the next paragraph it would be from Keenan's point of view. I just don't like this and never think it flows well.  

If you can get past those though and you enjoy fantasy stories, I definitely recommend this one. 

Eon by Alison Goodman

#1
Copyright: 2010
Publisher: Firebird
Genre: Young Adult
Pages: audio
Challenges: young adult, 1st in a series, audio
Author's Website
My rating: 2/5


Simple Description:
This is an Asian fantasy novel. It doesn't ever say when it takes place but it seems like it was awhile ago, such as the 17th century or something along those lines.   It starts off with some boys trying to learn the proper moves in order to compete to become the next Rat Dragon dragoneye.  The dragoneye is able to communicate with the dragon and help their country.  

Eon is the least likely candidate.  Eon is really a girl posing as a boy and she's lame.  However she has a lot of stress because she is the last hope for her master.

When the time comes Eon is not chosen by the Rat Dragon however she is chosen by the Mirror Dragon. The Mirror Dragon is believe to have been lost centuries ago.  Soon Eon is made a Lord and also asked by the Emperor to support him. There is trouble brewing and the Emperor needs the support of a powerful dragon eye.


My Thoughts:
Honestly, I didn't really like this book.  The main reason I listened to it and continued with it is because I was sent the 2nd in the series and I was determined to finish this one so I could attempt that one and know what was going on.   I should say that the copy of the 2nd one that was sent to me was a surprise, I wasn't expecting it.  Not sure I would have picked this one because it's exactly my cup of tea.

However, that's not really why I didn't like it.  One of the main issues I had with it is that I did not like Eon. I felt she was whiny immature.  I could not connect with her.   Another thing that bothered me was that the book reads like it took place centuries ago, yet there were common phrases in it. Phrases that I felt were really out of place for the time frame of the novel.  To me, they stuck out like a sore thumb.

Even though I didn't really like this one I do plan to give the 2nd one in the series a try.  If I don't like it any better I will DNF it, even though I don't like doing that.

Audio Review: 
I did listen to the audio version of this novel.  Nancy Wu is the narrator and over-all I think she did a pretty good idea.  She changed her voice to show emotion and to separate the characters.

Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

#1 Fire and Ice
Copyright: 1996
Publisher: Bantam
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 807
Challenges: New Author, 1st in a Series, Buy 1 Book and Read it
Author's Website
My rating: 4/5


This is a fantasy book, the first in a series. It's a huge fantasy book. It's over 800 pages of itty bitty script.  This fantasy book took me 3 weeks to read.  Yes, 3 weeks.  You know what though? It was worth it.

I actually meant to read this book last year. When that didn't happen I told myself I would read it by March.  March rolled around and I still didn't have a copy of it.  I finally found a copy, every time I was at the bookstore and looked for it they were out.  I was just in time too since the HBO series based on this book started a couple weeks ago. I actually watched the first episode before I finished the book because I couldn't wait for it.

It would be hard to do a really good description of this book, I often find this is true for fantasy books.  There are so many characters and there's so much going on.  This book is interesting in that you get the story from several different points of view.   You end up getting different parts of the story but it works well in that you can piece together what is going on.  Basically you have one king and several lords.  Some of those lords, well, maybe just one, want to kill the king. Insert Eddard Stark of Winterfell.  He becomes the kings Hand and gets in the way.  His family gets in the way.  Then his family tries to get some justice by capturing somebody in a powerful family and all hell, er, war breaks loose.   In the meantime you get the story of a girl who would have been a princess if your father hadn't been killed and the current king named ruler.  She is married off to a group of people who seem barbaric compared to how she is used to living.  Then she becomes pregnant.   This causes concern for the current king because the heir could go after the throne.   See..lots of things going on that all seem connected in some way.

This book started out slow for me, but I think that's pretty typical when it comes to fantasy books. It's always a little slow learning the characters and the location, getting used to the names and their world.  Once I got further into the book and got comfortable with everyone I started to love it.  I was engrossed in the story and wanted to read more of it and wanted to know what was going on.

I have to admit that by week 3 I was tired of reading the book. I just wanted to be done. I do not do well with chunksters, I might love the story but if it takes this long I just want to move on.   So I say this..but want you to know that while I was wanting to be finished, I was still enjoying the book and still wanted to read it.  It's a bit of a catch-22.

I think fantasy lovers will enjoy this book.  It's possible that non-fantasy lovers would too.  If you aren't sure, try watching the series.  So far the series follows the book pretty darn well.  Even though I just finished the book, so it's fresh in my mind, I find that I'm enjoying the series a lot and I look forward to watching more.  Sure, there are some differences, but not a lot.  They are hitting all the important things so far and it's following the book pretty closely.

Blue Dahlia by Nora Roberts

#1 In The Garden trilogy
Copyright: 2008
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Genre: Fiction
Pages: audio
Challenges: 1st in a Series, Audio Book
Author's Website
My rating: 3.5/5

Simple Description:
The story opens with Stella being a happily married woman with two kids.  That is, until her husband is killed in a plane crash.   With no family where she's at she decides to move back to the south where her father and step mom live.  This way they can be closer to the boys.  She is able to land a job as a nursery manager for Roz Harper.  One of the stipulations is that she lives at the Harper Mansion for 6 months.

While living there she comes into close contact with the resident ghost, the Harper Bride.  She butts heads with the landscape designer, Logan, but not for long.  She loves her job, enjoys working with Roz.  In fact, she enjoys her work with the nursery itself.  But things start to get more complicated with Logan and she's not sure that's a good thing.

Haley, a distant relative of Roz's, shows up at the door with no job and pregnant. She's hoping Roz can give her a job so she can support herself and the baby until things get better.


My Thoughts:
I haven't read many Nora Roberts books yet, but this is my favorite so far!  I just loved the characters and the southern setting.  Stella is so organized that sometimes it can cause problems for her, yet as somebody who likes to be organized (although I'm lacking when compared to her) I liked this about her.  Logan is so easy going and just let's things happen as they happen and I liked that about him.

I thought the three main women in the story were great. Roz, Stella, and Haley were all different yet they were all very strong female roles.  I loved how they all got along and worked together too.

There are two more books in the trilogy, I haven't bothered reading what they are about but I can't wait to get to them.   A friend suggested that another mutual friend and I would like this trilogy and boy was she right.

Audio Review:
Susie Breck is the narrator for Blue Dahlia and she does a really good job.  She changes her voice, even for the kids, and adds what I think is the prefect amount of emotion into it. I hope she narrator all three of the books in this trilogy since I'll be listening to the other two on audio as well.

Ghost Shadow by Heather Graham

#1 Bone Island trilogy
Copyright: 2010
Publisher: Mira
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 368
Challenges: Off the Shelf, Paranormal/Fantasy Romance, 1st in a series, Audio Book
Author's Website 
My rating: 3/5

Simple Description:
This book takes place in Key West.  Katie is in her 20's and her family has lived in Key West for as long as anybody can remember.   She is about to finalize the purchase of a museum that closed 10 years ago when a murder victim was found there, when one of the owners comes back in town and puts a stop to it. David was the ex-fiancée of the girl who was found murdered and he wants the museum to stay closed.   While he is in town he begins to dig into his ex-finance's murder, it's been 10 years and he hopes to finally find the guy who did it.

Then another girl goes missing.  Then a suspect goes missing.  Katie and David form a relationship but there is one thing she is keeping from him, she can see ghosts. In fact, she can see the ghost of the three murder victims.  Unfortunately they aren't able to tell her who killed them but she's hoping to get some clues from them so they can find the killer.

My Thoughts:
I'm a huge Heather Graham fan. I don't always read her books when they are first published but I always get excited.  I love how she weaves mystery and paranormal and romance.  I really liked Katie and David, individual and as a couple. They each have their faults but they are both likable characters.

The mystery aspect of the story kept me guessing.I had figured out who it was, but not by clues. Rather I tried to guess who wouldn't be an obvious choice and my guess worked.

Overall, an enjoyable read and another good story by the author.  I have the other two books in the series already so I hope to get to them within the next couple of months.


Audio Review:
The audio version of this book is read by Angela Dawe.  Overall I think she does a good job, I just have one complaint.  When the characters are talking to each other or thinking, she lowers her voice.  Which means I have trouble hearing it. I'm either stuck constantly messing with the volume or struggling to hear some parts.  Suppose this might not be an issue if listening to it at home when other noise is at a minimum but driving in the car on the highway it was an issue.     So..while I think Dawe did a great job, I'm not sure I'll listen to the rest of the trilogy.

Bone Thief by Thomas O'Callaghan

#1 Lt. Driscoll
Copyright:2006
Publisher: Pinnacle
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 377
Challenges: 1st in a series, New author, Mystery and Suspense, Buy 1 book and read it
Author's Website
My rating: 3/5

Simple Description:
When a woman's body is found without a head, feet, hands, or even any bones, the police know there is a madman on the loose.  Lt. Driscoll is in charge of the investigation and he has a sick feeling this is the first of many.  When the second body is found, he knows they are dealing with a serial killer.

What kind of sick individual removes all the bones from a body and then leaves the on display?  How is this guy picking his women.  At first there doesn't appear to be any link between the woman.  That is, until Moira involves herself on the case.  Moira is a teenager who is a wiz with computers and she takes it upon herself to do some digging and provide Driscoll with the info.Driscoll knows this isn't right but isn't too sure he has a say in the matter, Moira seems to do what she wants.

Driscoll is trying to solve this horrendous case while also dealing with some of his own personal issues.  His daughter was killed several years ago in a car accident that left his wife in a coma.  He is starting to have feelings for his partner, something his partner ready accepts, but fees like that would be cheating on his wife.
Along with solving the case of the bone thief, Driscoll also has to come to terms with the personal issues.


My Thoughts:
I didn't love this book, but I enjoyed it. I thought it was a pretty good story all around.  I liked Driscoll even though he had his own faults.  He is human after-all.  I liked Moira too, what a spunky character.  

In this book we know who the bone thief is and we get parts of the story from his point of view.  Part of his story takes most of the book to come out.  We know he had a bad childhood, until he was adopted anyway. But it isn't until the very end that we get a full picture and we learn what really happened.

There is a second book in the series and I'm definitely going to check it out.  I think this one was a good start to the series and I did like it, definitely worth my time reading.  

Beaglemania by Linda O. Johnston

#1 Pet Rescue series
Copyright: 2011
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 304
Challenges: 1st in a series, Crusin' through the cozies, 2011 Pub Challenge
Author's Website
My rating: 3.5/5

Simple Description: 
Lauren Vancouver is the director of HotRescues, a no-kill animal shelter.  Lauren is very passionate about her job and about animal abuse and sometimes that can land her in trouble.  Lauren ends up at a puppy mill as the city is raiding it and she finds Efram Kiley.  Efram sued HotRescues and as part of the bargain he has to "volunteer" there so he can learn about treating animals correctly.  Unfortunately he hasn't learned anything since Lauren knows he's the one who dumped some of the puppies from the puppy mill down a sewer drain.  Lauren threatens him..he threatens her, then he ends up dead.  Lauren finds him at HotRescues near the animal cages.

Lauren is the top suspect and since she doesn't think the authorities are looking at anybody else, she decides to look into it herself.  Unfortunately, her life and some of the dogs live's are put in more danger until she's able to figure out who the real killer is.

My Thoughts:
I thought this was a great start to a new series.  I also thought it was fun that Kendra, the main character in the author's pet-sitter mystery series, shows up in this one.  She has a small role, but it was still fun to see her make an appearance. It also reminded me that I'm incredibly far behind in that series and I need to play catch-up.  That's another topic for another day though.

Lauren is very passionate about what she does and about the welfare of animals.  While sometimes I think this gets her into trouble, I think it works out great for this book/series and it gets the point across about how abusing animals is just wrong.  Lauren is a good character though, I think she'll grow in future books and I look forward to seeing it.

There are a lot of other characters, including a possible love interest for Lauren, and while we don't know too much about any of them, I look forward to learning more about them.

Overall, I really enjoyed this cozy and I'll be looking for book #2 this time next year.  I do want to point out that there is some light cursing in this book.  It's mostly in the first half of the book, I'm not sure I noticed it in the 2nd. It's not something that bothered me at all, heck, I'm probably worse in real life.  However I wanted to say something since it isn't something you normally see in a cozy.




Thanks to Berkley Prime Crime/Penguin for providing this book for review.

First Drop of Crimson by Jeaniene frost

#1 Night Huntress World
Copyright: 2010
Publisher: Avon
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 371
Challenges: Off the Shelf, Urban Fantasy Challenge, What's in a Name? (number), Paranormal/Fantasy, 1st in a series
Author's Website
My rating: 4/5

Simple Description: 
This book focuses on Spade and Denise.  These are two characters who are in the Night Huntress novels by the author but they are secondary characters.  This book is the first in a new series, Night Huntress World, which is a spin-off of the other.  In this one, Spade and Denise become the main characters.

Denise has sworn off vampires and ghouls. She's done with them.  Unfortunately, they aren't done with her.  Members of Denise's family keep ending up dead and then she witnesses the death of her cousin. Later when a demon shows up at her door and brands her, Denise has to call the only vampire who's number she still has. Spade. She has to beg for his help.  Spade, on the other hand, knows that helping Denise will cause problems for him but he's always been attracted to her.

Somehow Spade and Denise must find one of Denis' long lost relatives who tricked the demon years ago, deliver this person to the demon so the demon will remove the bonds he placed on Denise, but at the same time keep it secret what they are doing.  You just know that's not going to work out as planned.

My Thoughts:
I thought this was a great book!  It was the perfect book for me, for the mood I was in when reading it.  I love the Night Huntress series and was both very interested in this one and worried about it. Would it live up to my expectation?  I'm happy to announce that it did.   It was a lot of fun to learn more about two of the secondary characters and then to have the other characters we know also play a part in the series.
If you like the Night Huntress series by Jeanine Frost, I think you'll thoroughly enjoy this one too.  In fact, if I'm not mistaken the 2nd book in the Night Huntress World series was published last month, I might just stop at a bookstore tonight and look for it.


 Audio Review:
I did listen to part of this book. I actually forgot I had requested it on audio and started reading the paper copy.  Then I went to the library to get a different audio book that was on hold for me and this one was there too. Bonus.  So I listened to it in the car and then read the book when not driving, of course.  I read the majority of this book in paper form though, I pretty much plowed through it.  So while I'm not counting it for my audio challenge or my stats, I did want to mention it  in my review.

What I did listen to..was excellent. Tavia Gilbert is the narrator and I feel she did a fantastic job. I wouldn't hesitate to listen to more books in this series.

Wake by Lisa McMann

#1 Wake Series
Copyright: 2008
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Genre: Young Adult
Pages: audio  4disks
Challenges: New Author challenge, 1st in a series, Young Adult,  Audio
Author's Website
My rating: 3.5/5

Simple Description:
Janie is a 17 year old highschool student.  You might think she's a normal teen, except for a couple of things.  She lives on the "wrong" side of the tracks, her mother's an alcoholic, and, oh yeah, she is somehow sucked into other people's dreams.    It's been like this for a long time and in the past she's been able to deal with it but it's happening more often and she's witnessing some nightmares.

Janie believes she needs to find a way to pull out of the dreams and deal with this ability, before more people notice.  As it is, one guy has already noticed. Cabe lives close to Janie and he soon realizes something is different about her.  They are attracted to each other but it's unclear if Janie's ability will cause issues between them.  Especially when she is sucked into one of his nightmares.

My Thoughts:
I thought this was a really fun and good story.  I was interested to see what would happen between Janie and Cabe.  I felt frustrated sometimes because I wanted Janie to see that things weren't what she thought, but I guess that's part of the story.  She is a highschool student after all and new to relationships, so she's not going to see everything that we would, as the reader (or possibly as being older and much, much wiser. haha).

I thought the whole idea of her being sucked into the dreams is rather interesting.  I liked how the story left off, but won't say more because I don't want to ruin it if you plan to read it.

I'll definitely continue with this series, so far there are 3 books.  In fact, I was playing around with downloading audio books from the library and tested it with the 2nd in this series, so I'm already listening to it.  

Audio Review: 
Ellen Grafton is the narrator for this book and I think she does an excellent job.  I think she gets Janie's tone correct and also changes her voice a bit for the different characters.  I enjoyed listening to this one on audio and will continue with the series this way since I don't actually own the books.

A Crafty Killing by Lorraine Bartlett

#1 Victorian Square Mystery
Copyright: 2011
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 292
Challenges: 1st in a series, Crusin' Through the Cozies
Author's Website
My rating: 2.5/5

Simple Description:
Katie Bonner's life can't seem to get easier.  She was separated from her Husband Chad after he used all their savings towards an investment without consulting her when he died in a car crash.  She became part owner of Artisan's Alley, something she tried not to think about.  Now it seems the main owner of Artisan's Alley is dead, and it was murder.

Katie ends up becoming the main owner in this company.   While she doesn't really want anything to do with Artisan's Alley she knows that the only way to get the money back that her husband invested is to spruce up the place.

Things don't go well though.  Not only does Katie have to deal with a detective who doesn't seem too interested in solving the murder, there are issues with some of the artists, her office in ransacked, and there's another murder.

My Thoughts:
I had been really looking forward to this cozy and I came away a bit disappointed.  I really just couldn't connect with Katie.  She was so angry and so quick to judge and lose her temper.  I understand that she's still grieving the loss of her husband and feeling betrayed, but still, she was just too angry.  I did find that towards the end of the story she either lightened up or it just didn't bother me as much because I found myself not being annoyed and enjoying the story more.  Plus, while with most cozies it's true there is going to be a character we aren't supposed to like, it's also true that it's not supposed to be the main character.

I thought the story itself was good, I liked the concept of Artisan's Alley and Victorian Square and I think it  will make for an interesting setting.  It also gives the story lots of regular characters that could grow with the series.  I also liked how Katie went about investigating the murders.  While she didn't drop everything to investigate, she did ask questions and look into a bit, but fit it in with her daily routines.

However, after saying all that, towards the end I found that I was enjoying the story more and the writing and the main character didn't bother me as much as it had earlier in the book. I don't know if I just got used to it and let it flow or if it lessened a bit.  By the time I ended up turning the last page of this book, I had decided that I would read the 2nd book in the series when it comes out and give it another chance.  The series definitely has potential.  I think Katie needs to mellow out a bit and the writing needs to flow better, and if both of those happen I think this series could be really good.

Please don't let my review alone influence your decision on this one though, another blogger who reads a lot of cozies, Dollycas's Thoughts, reviewed this book and she loved it.





Thanks to Penguin for providing this book for review.

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

#1  in the trilogy
Copyright: 2011  (pub date is 2/8)
Publisher: Viking
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 579
Challenges: New Author Challenge, Urban Fantasy, 1st in a series
Author's Website
My rating: 4/5

Simple Description:
Diana Bishop was born into the Bishop family..a witch family.  However since her parents died when she was 7 she turned her back on witchcraft and has rarely used it since.  She is a historian and when she requests some books from the library she is working at one of then happens to be magical.  The book has magic so strong she is a bit scared of it.  She returns the book thinking all will be fine, but the trouble has only just begun.

Before Diana knows it, she is surrounded by vampires, goblins, and other witches.  One vampire in particular, Michael, won't leave her alone.  In fact, he seems to be protecting her from the other magical beings.  Diana soon learns that the magical manuscript she called forth has been lost for years....and it's wanted by everyone.

Soon Diana is forced to face her past and the fact that she is a very powerful witch, who actually knows (almost) nothing about witchcraft.   She also finds that she's attracted to Michael and that is a problem because the different magical beings aren't supposed to mix with each other.

My Thoughts:
Here's the thing, I have some issues with this book, yet, I absolutely loved it!  I also can't put my finger on exactly what it is about the book that I loved so much. In fact, I finished this book several days ago and put off doing the review because I wanted to ponder it for awhile, and I still can't figure out what it is about it that I loved it so much.

First things first though...the things that bothered me.  The book is really long, and while there is action throughout the book, most of it is at the end.  There isn't anything going on that makes you go "Oh! I can't put the book down now!"  Yet, I did feel it moved along well and it did keep my interest. There just wasn't something constantly happening.    I also felt that it could have probably been shorter.  Yet, again, I have to stress that it didn't ruin the book because I did really enjoy it.

There were also several times when I had to re-read sentences or short paragraphs.  They just didn't realize make sense to me the first time I read them.  I usually find this with new authors though, and I do believe this is the author's first book, so it's not uncommon. It also didn't rune the book for me, but I wanted to make sure my readers were aware.

This book is also the first in a planned trilogy, so of course this one had to stop with a bit of a cliff hanger.  Nothing was really wrapped up..the stories still going..only I can't read it because the book is finished.  I'm just not a fan of books that end with a cliff hanger, so this is more just a personal thing.

Now...I mentioned a couple things that bothered me.  So what did I like about it?  I loved Michael. I just adored his character.  I also liked Marthe and his vampire Mom.   I also liked Diana, although sometimes it got annoying that she resisted magic so much.  But overall I did really like her.    I also liked Diana's family, her Aunt Sarah and her partner Emily.

I liked how there are witches, daemons, and vampires...yet they aren't really supposed to mix and most are ok with that since they don't really like each other anyway.

I loved how history and historical figures are woven into the story and how it relates to Michael and his past life.

I think the book, for the most part, was well written.  The story seemed to flow for me, even though there wasn't always a ton of action happening.  I was interested in the story and I wanted to know what was going to happen next.  I couldn't wait to find out how it was going to end.

So...in a nutshell I did love this book and I do highly recommend it.  I think a lot of people are going to start the book and get caught up in the story and end up really enjoying it.  I'm so glad I accepted this book for review, even though when I got it in the mail I had an "oh crap!" moment when I saw how big it is. lol
Now I'm anxiously awaiting the next one to come out.



Thanks to Viking/Penguin for providing this book in hopes I would review it.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

#1 The Millennium Trilogy
Copyright: 2008
Publisher: Random House Audio
Genre: Mystery
Pages: Audio 13 disks/16hr 21 min.
Challenges:  Off the Shelf (I do own the book and did read the last 40-50 pages), New Author, Mystery and Suspense, Audio Book Challenge, 1st in a series
Author's Website
My rating: 4/5

I'm not going to give you a description of this book because I'm going to assume you have all heard of it, regardless of if you have read it or not.

I actually went into the book not even knowing what it was about.  I know I read several reviews when the book first became a hit, but it's been awhile and I had since forgotten what the book was about.  All reviews I've read/skimmed in the last several months were just to get an idea of what the reviewer thought of the book, I didn't read anything that told me what it was about.   I think this helped me, in a way.  I liked going in to the book blind and being surprised at what happened and what was going on.

At first my impression was that the book was just ok, I wasn't too into it.  I didn't see what all the hype was about.  However, the further along I got, the more I enjoyed it.  I'm actually surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did (I tend to be disappointed by a lot of highly recommended books).  

Lisbeth Salander definitely made this book for me. I just loved her character.  If it hadn't been for this kick-ass woman, I doubt I would have liked the story as much as I did.  That's not to say the mystery of Henrietta wasn't intriguing, because it was. It's just that Salander stole the show.

I do plan to listen to the rest of the series, I'm going to work on finishing it this year since I only have 2 more and then I won't feel bad about starting yet another series/trilogy and having it go unfinished.    I have heard from several that other books in the trilogy ended up being their favorites, not this one, so I'm very interested to see how I like them.

If you recall, I posted Husband's short but sweet reviews of a couple of books, this being one of them.  He had said this one was for people 80 years old.  He has also told me several times that I would enjoy it.  I guess he was right about one thing, I did enjoy it, although I'm not 80.  I told him I finished this book yesterday and he asked if I liked it. I told him I did.  He said he knew I would and then said "Don't you agree it's for old people though?"  I asked him to expand on that and he said it's because "it's set on an island and it's a classic who-did-it."  So there you have it, I guess all of us who enjoyed this one are old (according to Husband).

The audio version:
The audio version was read by Martin Wenner and I think he did a fantastic job. I didn't have any problems distinguishing between the characters and I never once got annoyed by the narrator.  I'm hoping he is the narrator for the other two in the trilogy.  While I sometimes did get confused by who people were (this was mostly in the beginning) I think that was just due to the names being so different to me.  Yet, I'm glad I listened to it because otherwise I probably wouldn't have known how to pronounce the names just by looking at them.

1st in a Series Challenge 2011

Katy at A Few More Pages is hosting the 1st in a Series Challenge 2011.  We all know that I love a good series and while I have a ton of series I need to complete, I can't help starting new series every year.  Sounds like a challenge I shouldn't have a problem completing huh?






Guidelines for the 1st in a Series Challenge 2011

1. Anyone can join. You don't need a blog to participate. If you're not a blogger, leave your information in the comments.

2. There are four levels for this challenge:

• Series Novice: Read 3 books that are the first in any series.
• Series Lover: Read 6 books that are the first in any series. 
• Series Expert: Read 12 books that are the first in any series. (This is the level I'm joining up for)
• Series Fanatic: Read 20 books that are the first in any series.

You can list your books in advance or just put them in a wrap up post. If you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you. Any genre counts.

3. The challenge runs from January 1 through December 31, 2011.

4. You can join anytime between now and December 31, 2011.

5. If you're a blogger, write up a sign-up post that includes the URL to this post so that others can join in. Feel free to use the button above. When you sign up in the Linky, put the direct link to your1st in a Series Challenge sign-up post.

I love to list possible books to read for each challenge. I do this because I pick books I already own or know I'm going to buy.  However with this one, since I tend to pick up several new series throughout the year, I'm hesitant to do that.  I do suppose I could list 12 and can take the liberty to switch out books as I see fit, eh?

Ok, here's the tentative list:

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

First Drop of Crimson by Jeaniene Frost

The Naming by Alison Croggon

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

Ghost Shadow by Heather Graham

Creepers by David Morrell

Knit One, Kill Two by Maggie Sefton

An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor

Carved in Bone by  Jefferson Bass

On What Grounds by Cleo Coyle

The Bone Collector by Jeffery Deaver

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson