Angels & Demons

Title: Angels & Demons
Author: Dan Brown
Genre: Thriller?
Rating: 4 stars out of 5

After reading The Da Vinci Code a few years back, I was intrigued by the character of Robert Langdon and decided to read his previous adventure, chronicled in Angels & Demons.

In this, Langdon's first race against time, someone is threatening the conclave of cardinals electing a new pope with a new technology, antimatter. This someone is also systematically murdering the four favorites for election, according to an ancient study of science. This someone claims to be a group long thought dead or mythical: The Illuminati. Langdon, a professor of symbology, is the only man who can figure out where the next murders are going to take place, tracing the assassin through Rome and Vatican City in a race against time before the Vatican City is blown sky high with a quarter gram of antimatter.

Reading Angels & Demons requires a massive suspension of disbelief. However, once that suspension is achieved, the story is gripping, the mystery twists and turns, and gets a huge "OMG no way!" reaction when all is finally revealed.

My one problem with the book, the reason it only got 4 stars instead of 5, was this: Brown is a lazy author. Yes, he researches certain things thoroughly: the art involved, the city his characters race through, etc. However, I found myself arguing with simple premeses - something rudimentary research could have solved. It's like Brown got so involved with his convoluted plot and impressive art and history name-dropping that he forgot the simple things. Forgot his basics, so to speak.

If you're looking for a good adventure story with history, art, and some pseudo-science thrown in, do read this book. If you're looking for realism? Stay away.

One final word: Angels and Demons, like The Da Vinci Code, is fiction. People tend to forget that. They are both works of fiction, poeple.. please, keep that in mind.

Delicious

Title: Delicious
Author: Sherry Thomas
Genre: Historical Romance
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Verity Durant is a good cook - the best, second only (possibly) to Escoffier - with a secret. Her employer (and former lover) Bertie Somerset recently passed away, leaving her in the employ of his half-brother Stuart. What Stuart doesn't know is that his new cook is the same Cinderella he had a one-night love affair with ten years ago and has yearned for ever since.

Delicious is put forward as a Cinderella story of sorts. It starts out framed as a Cinderella story, and the author as well as the characters themselves reference the famous fairy tale throughout the novel. This not only works, but adds tremendously to the romance building between Stuart and Verity.

I loved the entire thing. Not only was I intrigued by the Victorian setting, I wanted to know if Cinderella got her prince, and what happened to the prince's fiancee. And what of Cinderella's stepmother? The prince's family? Delicious answers all of these questions, all the while drawing you into not only the romance between the characters, but into a new love affair with food - for that is how much of Verity's passion is shown: through her food.

Anyone looking to read a romance novel: I highly recommend this! It's delightful, satisfying, and all-around lovely. I know I gush, but I think, in this case, the work deserves the praise.

Seducing a S.E.A.L.

Title: Seducing a S.E.A.L.
Author: Jamie Sobrato
Genre: Romance
Rating: 3.5 stars (almost 4)

So, before the review, a little personal blurb: I must admit, I had some snobbery going on. A year ago, I would not have touched a romance for anything. Obviously, I discovered I was wrong and really do like romances - but I still had a bit of snob left for Harlequins. I decided to do something about that, and it helped that
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books endorsed them - some, at least. Yes, my friends, I like them. Below I shall share with you why.

Following a workplace tragedy, Lieutenant Commander Kylie Thomas finds her rigid world collapsing. Suddenly she is incapable of controlling her thoughts, her emotions - both at and outside of work - and, most worryingly, her impulses and fantasies regarding her subordinate, Ensign Drew MacLeod. They find themselves in bed and then in Hawaii (and in bed) together, forcing Kylie to re-think her position in life - and the Navy.

Alright. So, I went and bought not only a Harlequin, but a Harlequin Blaze. Hey, I like to read steamy romance! I was not disappointed. I used to think Harlequins (especially the intentionally sexy ones) were all about the sex. Yeah, I was wrong. Contained in Seducing a S.E.A.L.'s 215 pages are a story, two fully developed characters, a romance, a tragedy, healing from said tragedy, and a decent amount of hot sex. I really really enjoyed it.

Even though Harlequin's short format leaves me wanting more story, more background, that's okay. I can get that with longer romances - the ones which are 400+ pages long. These are quickies - no pun intended. They're short, quick, fun books to which I can see myself quickly becoming addicted. Heck, I already have a second Blaze waiting for my reading *ahem* pleasure, and have a quickly growing wishlist of soon-to-be-released Harlequins (not to mention the backlist!). Thank God I have a local used bookstore which pretty much specializes in romance!

Non-review...review?

Okay, guys. Time for a non-book-review post.

I just happened to walk into my local library today during the monthly Friends of the Library sale. Various (ridiculously cheap) prices for books, OR $5 gets you a bag you can fill - and boy can I pack books into a bag!

22 books for $5. The vast majority were mass market paperbacks, but still. 22 books. $5. Ri. Dic. U. Lous.

So, moral of the post? Frequent your local library, folks. Not only will it keep those of us who can't afford to buy many books brand new reading, but you might just walk into an incredible deal in the process. Heck, the library is already an incredible deal: you pay nothing (well, taxes, but you're already paying those) for a vast selection of books you can take home and read any time you want!

In conclusion, to sum up, etc.: support your local library. Your community will thank you.

Wicked Lovely

Title: Wicked Lovely
Author: Melissa Marr
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Aislinn sees faeries. She has always been able to see them - and she's always kept this fact a secret, especially from the faeries. But now two of them are stalking her - and one is the Summer King! Suddenly Aislinn's rules for keeping safe from the faeries are failing her, and she wants out. Keenan, the Summer King, is not about to let that happen.

I loved this book! It had me reading until I was too tired to keep my eyes open, then as soon as I woke up again I was back reading the book. It is phenomenal. Goodness. I'm trying to write an actual review here, and not just gush, but it is very hard to do.

Part of what kept me reading was the conflict not only over Aislinn's life - mortal? Summer girl? Winter girl? Summer Queen? - but over her love life as well. I loved Seth, as we as readers are supposed to (after all, we see him through Aislinn's eyes) and wanted to see Aislinn end up with him, but I felt for Keenan as well. The boy (can you really call him a boy if he is hundreds of years old? Yes.) deserved someone to love him and be with him, too. And poor Donia!

I will agree with many of the reviews which peg the Winter Queen as a little too campy. She was over the top, yes. BUT. Faeries are not exactly creatures of half-measures. So, yes, the Winter Queen was your typical "evil" villain, but for a reason. She had a desire - to stay Winter Queen - and her own nature would not let her slide even the slightest bit in pursuit of that goal, even though it meant (figuratively) sacrificing her child, her lover, etc.

One of the things I definitely appreciate is the ending ringing true - no "happily ever after" extreme, but no "things went to hell after that and nothing could bring it back" extreme, either.

Wicked Lovely is a beautiful book, perfect for lovers of YA fantasy, of urban fantasy, or even simply YA lit. It has inspired me not only to write again (not waiting for NaNoWriMo), but to explore the realm of urban fantasy. Can you imagine a shopping mall-sized faerie-owned nightclub? Yeah, me too.

The Royal Treatement

Title: The Royal Treatment
Author: MaryJanice Davidson
Genre: Chick lit/Romance
Rating: 3 stars out of 5

In this slightly-alternate world of MaryJanice Davidson's, everything is exactly the same as our own - except that Alaska, instead of being sold to the US in the 1800s, broke away from Russia and became its own country with its own erm.. unique monarchy.

Enter American Christina Krabbe ("It's pronounced 'Crab', no 'e.'"), a no-nonsense ex-cruise ship cook. She jumped ship upon quitting (due to an incident involving flooring her boss for sexual harassment) and found herself stranded in Alaska, only to be taken in by none other than the king himself - and set up with the crown prince as the future crown princess!

This book is fun, lighthearted, and funny. Unlike Davidson's Queen Betsy series, the heroine of The Royal Treatment is smart, a fact which I greatly appreciated. Christina is smart, has a don't-mess-with-me attitude, knows what she wants and won't back down from anyone - not even the king himself, nor any of his five equally strong-willed children.

Gilding Lily

Title: Gilding Lily
Author: Tatiana Boncompagni
Genre: Chick lit
Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5

Let me say right now that I've had this book finished for about two weeks now, and have had to force myself to write the review. It's not that the book is bad; it's just that it did nothing for me. That said, let me move on to the actual review.

Gilding Lily is the story of Lily, a woman from upper-middle class roots who is catapulted into the luxe (and back-stabbing) world of the New York elite when she marries a man of that class. Somewhere around the birth of her son, she loses her sense of self and self-worth, forgetting what it is to be a strong, independent woman instead of one of the sheep clamoring for attention and photos in all the trendy magazines.

I had to fight to pick Gilding Lily up each time I put it down. When I had the book in my hand, I didn't necessarily want to put it down - that is, I didn't have to fight to read it - but honestly, if I hadn't had an obligation to read & review it (I received the book as an ARC - Advanced Reader's Copy - with the understanding it was in exchange for a review of the book), I would have put it down after the first 50-100 pages and never picked it back up.

Gilding Lily is (mostly) well-written. There were a few instances where at the end of a chapter the author hinted at something which was going to happen, and I expected that hint to be expanded upon in the next chapter only to be disappointed, finding that the chapter in question had moved on to an entirely different scene or issue in Lily's life.

So, in all, I'm giving the book 2.5 stars. I personally did not enjoy the book, but that was because of the subject matter rather than the quality of the book. I'm sure someone else, who is more into "chick lit" and the lives of the rich, shallow, and famous would enjoy it immensely.

A Knight Like No Other

Title: A Knight Like No Other
Author: Jocelyn Kelley
Genre: Historical romance
Rating: 2 stars out of 5

The basis of the story: During the reign of Henry II, his queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, founded the Abbey of St. Jude, where young women can, in addition to living a life of prayer and contemplation, learn the knightly skills of weaponry.

From this Abbey, expert swordswoman Avisa de Vere has been sent by the Queen to protect her godson, Christian Lovell, from the intrigue between the King and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Beckett.

I thought the concept of women trained in the martial arts during the Middle Ages was interesting. Sadly, it was poorly executed in this book. The book plodded at times, and there was a fifty-page tangent which served little narratorial purpose other than to show that Avisa is a skilled fighter and a good leader.

I'm intrigued by the concept of the book, and am sticking with the series - for a while - in the hopes that the writing will improve. However, for this volume itself: don't bother. It's too poorly written to stand on its own.

Dragonfly in Amber

Title: Dragonfly in Amber
Author: Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Historical, Historical romance, Time-travel
Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Dragonfly in Amber is the second book in Diana Gabaldon's phenomenal "Outlander" series. At the end of Outlander, we left Claire and Jamie Fraser in an abbey in France, exiled from Scotland. At the opening of Dragonfly in Amber, we find Claire back in the highlands in 1968, investigating the fates of Jamie's men at the battle of Culloden - with her red-haired daughter Brianna: Jamie's daughter.

As the search for Jamie's men, and then Jamie himself, unfolds, Claire finds herself revealing to Brianna and their friend Roger her history with Jamie in the past - and we learn the other half of her and Jamie's adventure as they attempt to prevent the carnage they know is coming in the Jacobite rising and its culmination at Culloden.

As with Outlander, I have nothing but praise for Dragonfly. Although I did not race through Dragonfly as quickly as I did Outlander (this time it took me roughly a month to read Dragonfly's 950 pages as opposed to the week it took me to fly through Outlander's 860 pages), I still loved it. Every time I picked the book up, I could not put it down without having read at least 100 pages, if not more.

Dragonfly in Amber had me in turns gasping, laughing, and (at the end) crying. Sometimes I did all three at once. Even though I knew the battle was an inevitability - and we, as readers know this from Claire's search in Inverness from the beginning of the novel - I found myself hoping ad praying that Claire and Jamie could somehow prevent the disaster. Having been to Culloden battlefield myself, I cried at Gabaldon's description of battles and the uselessness I knew Jamie and Claire's self-appointed mission to be.

In fact, I immediately picked up the third book, Voyager, and am already 450 pages into it. Gabaldon delivers a powerful narrative, drawing the reader fully into her world: you cry with Claire, scream with rage for Jamie, and end on a hopeful note with Claire and Brianna, searching for the man whose love for them endures through the ages.

Derik's Bane

Title: Derik's Bane
Author: MaryJanice Davidson
Genre: Paranormal, paranormal romance(ish?)
Rating:3.5 stars out of 5

Derik, a werewolf from MaryJanice Davidson's east-coast Pack of Wyndham werewolves, is on a mission: he has been told to "take care of" Dr. Sarah Gunn, the reincarnation of Morgan Le Fay - lest she destroy the world. The only problem? Sarah isn't evil. In fact, she's downright cute, and too lucky for words. When Derik literally cannot kill her, he and Sarah decide to team up to take a cross-country road trip to track down and eliminate the real threat.

The story was cute. I finished it quickly, but I think if I had had to put the book down, I would have been hard-pressed to pick it back up. I didn't care overmuch what happened - I knew that Sarah and Derik would end up together and that the world would be saved. I knew the "twist" almost from the beginning.

The best way for me to describe Davidson's writing is "brain candy." I know it's empty calories, so to speak, but it's addictive in the same way cotton candy is: fluffy, full of air, saccharine-sweet, and you just can't get enough.