[Bam’s Note: Ann read these books one after the other. In ONE sitting. That’s dedication. Oh, and here be spoilers. Lots of ‘em.]

Okay, first, I cannot keep the titles straight. If Bam wants to fix this she can, but otherwise, whatever. Y’all will know what I’m talking about. Oh, and I’m not worried about spoilers. I figure everyone else in the known world has read these so big deal, right? But you have been warned.

Book 1 - Hello, wildly oscillating POV. I usually can’t stand books that open in the POV of someone who’s gonna die. Or hell, someone who isn’t a protagonist. JR Ward writes well enough that it minimizes my distaste, but still, not an auspicious start. If I hadn’t been so damn determined to wade through these books, I probably would’ve put it down before page 5 and never picked it up again.

Bam told me, “Stick with it. It gets better.”

So I did.

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This review is riddled with spoilers. No, really. In fact, we reveal EVERYTHING. The ending, the twists, the identity of the villain… [Shuzluva Note: You have been warned, so bitch to us about some other shit.] It’s also really long and a little self-indulgent, but man, we had a blast. If you wanna hang out with us and read on, please do so. If not, feel free to skip this one (I won’t mind) and read this one, which is well-thought out and more eloquent than I could ever hope to be. Boo! Shuzluva and I have been waiting for this book to come out for a long time, so we hope you understand why we feel so passionate (so passionate in fact that we might have crossed some lines and in the process, cussed a helluva lot) about it and decided to share our thoughts with you in this format.

Bam: I’m here, homie. What’s doin’?
Shuzluva: I was just wondering if you were going to show up.
Bam: shaddup. I said 7:30. it’s 7:30. Damn, beeyatch, you know I ain’t functional without my morning Red Bull.
Shuzluva: Well, it’s 10:30 here.
Bam: Whatevz. Let’s start this thing.
Shuzluva: Okay.
Bam: For starters, what the hell is up with—

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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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