Grade: A-

Bam,

I know you weren’t all that interested in reading Wicked Deeds because it didn’t focus on the Valkyries. Well, dumb decision on your part. It may not focus on those crazy women we’ve come to know and (in some cases) love, but it does continue to focus on the Lore and the folks that make up the creatures of the Lore. And while I know you’re generally wary of series (except for a certain group of vampires that love to have extraneous H’s in everything they say, do and name) [Whord to your muthah. -Bam], Kresley Cole continues to impress with her Immortals After Dark series. I know you weren’t totally cahrayzee about A Hunger Like No Other due to Emma’s lack of spine and general annoying personality. While we didn’t review No Rest For The Wicked, I will briefly say that I was much happier with Kaderin as a heroine, but thought that Sebastian wasn’t nearly as strong as I had hoped.

Well, Wicked Deeds finally seems to get the mix right in all respects. The heroine is actually strong without being feisty, spunky or a Mary Sue and the hero, while being a total alpha, isn’t foolish enough to believe he can’t ever be wrong about something (or many things for that matter). And Ms. Cole continues to write buildup and actual sex with terrific heat.

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Grade: A

Bam,

Let’s face it: I’m going to be perpetually late with reviews. Authors may want to kill me (or be thanking their lucky stars if I didn’t like the book) and I know you would love to light my hair on fire and put it out with a hammer, but I gotta be honest: I seem to be jammed up with life, work and whatnot. My love of romance hasn’t diminished (hey, I read four books this week…all romance in some form or another), but my ability to write a quality review has been seriously restricted by constraints on my time. Hopefully things will calm down soon, because I love books and want to spread that love. Wow…how ‘60s Haight-Ashbury of me. Truth be told, I’m not like that at all, but you knew that already.

You know I adore the Psy-Changeling world that Nalini has created. She keeps it rich and complex without turning each book into a simple repeat of the prior one; however (you knew this was coming), I’m concerned that those who haven’t read the two previous books will be stepping in over their heads by simply picking up Caressed By Ice, the third book in the series. I hate to admit this but it’s hard for me to say whether that would be the case, especially since I think each of the stories has not only evolved from the prior ones, but Nalini’s writing has gotten stronger with each book. My advice would be to read both Slave to Sensation and Visions of Heat before getting into Caressed by Ice. You’ll be happy to know that the first two books will definitely not disappoint (I think you gave Slave to Sensation an A- and I know I gave Visions of Heat and A-) and will make the reading of CBI that much more enjoyable.
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Grade: A

Bam,

Okay, I’ve already said I’m a little shit for not getting this to you sooner. [Ed. Note: Yep.] What can I say? I’m busy? Nah, that’s the worst excuse on the planet. I’m prego? No, that excuse only works with my husband… and truthfully it doesn’t really work all that well. Especially when I told him I had to buy maternity shoes. He didn’t think that was quite as funny as I did. You know I always have time for you, even when you’re having a… moment. Because I love you, no matter what. Ewww! Now that my hormonal love fest is over, I’ll tell you something: I love Joey W. Hill. With a passion I simply don’t understand. Maybe I’m a voyeur. Well, no, I think I’m a mental voyeur. Actually seeing the stuff she writes about would probably cause a mental breakdown, but imagining it? In all of it’s dark, heavy romantic glory? Well, that I can definitely handle.

I read Natural Law on your recommendation and it took me a long time to get through it. Every few chapters I had to put the book down and think about what I was reading, what power plays (both sexual and non-sexual) are really about and what draws a certain man to a certain woman and vice versa. From that moment I was hooked, and have read nearly all of Ms. Hill’s backlist (at least all of it that I could get my hands on). Now, I know this review is late, but when you told me to hurry up and read The Vampire Queen’s Servant, I was ecstatic. I also knew that like the majority of Ms. Hill’s writing, this would be an intense story with strong fantasy elements. This book was not a letdown, and definitely not for the faint of heart.

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Grade: A-

[REPOST: THIS BOOK IS OUT NOW. GO BUY IT!]

I wasn’t sure if I should review this book because I totally geeked out on the author sticking my name in the acknowledgment page and pretty much bragged to anyone who’ll listen! I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to keep my objectivity and feel bad about giving Ms. Gleason a bad grade. Fortunately, this book did not suck. No, it was a little more than unsucky, it was actually pretty good! This series started out with the gimmicky premise of Buffy Meets Jane Austen, but I think it has surpassed that. While reading this book, I actually had to put it down a couple of times because I was afraid the heroine wasn’t going to make it out of the sticky situations she just happened to find herself in, but there were also a couple of scenes that tore my heart out of my chest like that time Buffy sent Angel to Hell by stabbing him through the chest with a fucking sword. I’m still traumatized, man. Anyway, there were spots in this book that had me scratching my head and wondering what the hell (heh!) was going on, but for the most part, I was totally absorbed. Victoria, the heroine, is developing into a seriously smart, kickass chick and the two men in her life, Sebastian and Max… oh, totally broke my heart. Dicks. Oh, man, I’m so thankful that Gleason wrote a severely readable book and I was spared from a potentially awwwwkward situation of giving her a shitty grade. What a pal. Oh… and spoilers aplenty in this biznatch.

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Grade: A-

Awwwwright, giggity-giggity! A Charlaine Harris book! I buy practically every CH book that comes out and this one I snapped up back in March, but it was only yesterday that I only got to read it. It wasn’t because of school or my ever-growing TBR (though that’s true too), but because I was bored silly by the cover. Sweet little countryside, some bees, a field of white flowers. Boring (maybe one of them ya-ya sisterhood women’s books that make me want to gouge my eyes out). Didn’t really think about it again until I came across it while looking for my highlighter (it was under my desk) and saw this. Yo, that’s a hand. AND THOSE AREN’T BEES! They’re flies! I was so unnerved by the sight of that tiny little hand so innocuously placed there (have y’all noticed this in all of CH’s covers? There’s always a tiny clue to an important plot point) that I found myself sticking in my book bag to read during class before dashing off to school. I started it during my Personal Narrative class (sorry, Professor Armantrout) and finished it during Victorian Poetry (sorry, Professor Loose). [Ed. note: Could be why you’re not doing so hot in school, asshole!] From cover to cover, I was absolutely riveted [Ed. note: You’re bucking for cover quote whoredom, aren’t you?] by the set-up, the super characterization of heroine, and the creepy Southern atmosphere. While I was never sure of the time period of the story— typewriters, African American characters referred to as “blacks”, white folks be nervous around black folk— I was nevertheless fascinated by the old-schoolness of it. Anyway, it was like Peyton Place except skankier… oh, and it’s kind of scary.

The Plot: Catherine Linton has been in a haze of pain and denial ever since her beloved parents died six months ago in a terrible car accident. She is unconvinced that it was an accident and believes her parents must have been murdered, but has no evidence to back up her theories. Now she has returned to her hometown of Lowfield, Mississippi, and what should she find on her first day back? Oh, just the bloody, broken, and beaten body of her father’s long-time nurse Leona. Catherine, who works on the society pages of the town’s weekly periodical, suspects that the murder of the woman has something to do with her parents’ death. The sheriff doesn’t believe her and is more inclined to think that Catherine did it. Upon further investigation, Catherine finds out that Leona had a little sideline of her own: blackmailing the townsfolk, which means pretty much everyone in town has motive for killing the woman. This, of course, includes Randall, her boss at the newspaper and the man she’s starting to fall in love with…

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