Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Bad To The Bone by Jeri Smith-Ready


Bad to the Bone is the second installment in the four book WVMP Radio series.

Now that their vampire marketing campaign is in full swing the station is once again under attack.  This time a religious radio station is taking over their signal at VERY specific times.  WVMP needs to find out who is behind this latest attack and why.

Shane and Ciara take their relationship to the next step and decide to live together.  We get to see more of Shane's off-air personality, which I highly enjoyed.  While some may find his compulsions to be a little over the top...I would LOVE for him to come organize my house for me.

We also learn more about the Control (an organization that monitors vampire activity) and a group that broke off from the Control over 100 years ago.

Throughout the book Ciara continues her marketing efforts by assisting a reporter, Jeremy, from Rolling Stone magazine.  He is working on an exclusive story about the attacks on the station.  When he gets a little too close to the truth, David and Ciara need to decide if he can be trusted.

This is an exceptional sequel.  I absolutely LOVED Wicked Game, the first book in the series, but I think Bad to the Bone is even better.  All of our favorite characters from Wicked Game are back along with some wonderful new additions.  I can't wait to see what happens next in Bring On The Night, so you can expect a review in the relatively near future.    

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger


I selected Etiquette & Espionage for our Book Nerds Across America read along this month after reading several great reviews a few months ago.  The description reminded me of the Gallagher Girls by Ally Carter with some high society etiquette mixed in.

Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality is not your average finishing school.  Yes...they learn the art of proper dress, manners, and etiquette...but there is far more to the curriculum than meets the eye.  Not even Mademoiselle Geraldine is aware of the true mission of her school.

Sophronia Temminnick is a very inquisitive young lady, which causes her to get into quite a bit of trouble at home.  Her mother is delighted when Ms. Geraldine extends an offer to her daughter to attend her very exclusive academy. 

The majority of the book is a bit of a mystery as Sophronia and her friends try to locate a missing object that is desperately wanted by an outside group that is threatening the school.  There is a werewolf, a vampire, and an all boys school for geniuses which all could have provided the basis for a great story.  Unfortunately, this book fell short of my expectations.

The story is written in a very flowery 19th century tone, but at times it was a bit much.  The character names were ridiculous and some of the unusual vocabulary detracted more than it added to the story.  The characters and the story trudged along at a steady state, but it never engaged me to the point where it was difficult for me to set the book down.  In fact, with 30 pages left, I easily turned out the light to resume reading the following night.  By that point in a book, I would hope to be engaged enough to stay up an extra half an hour to finish.   

It isn't a bad story, but I don't think I will continue with this series.  I gave it 2 stars, which according to my definition means it was "okay".  I haven't read any of Gail Carriger's other books, but it appears that she has a similar series for adults.  If you have read any of her Parasol Protectorate series, I would love to hear your thoughts.

Monday, July 8, 2013

Goddess by Josephine Angelini


I wore my Lucas Delos Team Fate shirt to the book signing at RT, so apparently The Gods were on my side because...I received one of the 3 advance reader copies given out in the teen day gift bags!!!  I literally screamed out loud as soon as I pulled it out of my bag.



I'm not sure why it took me so long to finish reading Goddess.  Is anyone else finding it difficult to read when it is so nice outside? Somehow I went from "on track" to "three books behind" according to my Goodreads Challenge last month. I probably will not catch up again until fall, but hopefully July is a little better.

Josie does a remarkable job of incorporating Greek Mythology into a contemporary story.  I felt like we learned a lot more about the characters and could really appreciate the struggles they were experiencing throughout Goddess.  The tension and frustration between Helen, Lucas, and Orion was palpable and had me on the edge of my seat the majority of the book. 

There is an interesting twist that develops as the result of certain events that occurred at the end of Dreamless.  Helen starts having flashbacks, which allow her to use her history to help guide her through the present.  She also develops some new abilities that enable her to become the leader she was always meant to be. 

There is a lot of interaction between not only the scions from different houses, but the Gods as well.  Now that the Gods have been released from Olympus, they are wreaking havoc on Earth.  The fates are determined to complete their story, but it is up to the scions to figure out how to conquer the Gods and enable themselves to have free will.   

The conclusion was not at all what I expected, but I was completely satisfied in the end. Josie did not leave us with a bunch of loose ends, but it isn't a storybook happily ever after either. This is one trilogy that did not disappoint at any time in the series. It is brilliantly written and definitely worth reading.