Friday, August 26, 2011

Fools Rush In by Kristan Higgins



Millie Branes is back in Cape Cod. She recently finished her residency in medicine and will start a new job at a walk in clinic. Now, Millie has a plan on how to get her love life going. Ever since she was a teenager she has dreamed of dating Joe Carpenter. He was nice to her once during an embarrassing situation in a school bus. She is determined to get him.

She comes from a close family. Her grandmother has left Millie her home. She gets along with her ex brother in law Sam Nicherson and her nephew. Unfortunately she doesn't get along with her sister. She has left her family and moved to New York.

Her plan involves loosing weight, so she starts running. She gets a new dog, because Joe has one too. She changes her hairstyle and her clothes. Her two gay friends help her with this.

But contrary to her plan, she starts having feeling for Sam, the local cop with a heart of gold.

I loved this book too. The way the heroine gets together with the hero at the end always makes me smile.

In real life it will be weird for Millie to be in love with her brother in law, but Miss Higgins makes it believable.

4/5 Fangs

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Catch Of The Day by Kristan Higgins



This is the story of Maggie Beaumont. She lives in a little town in Maine. She is the proud owner of Joe's Diner left to her by her grandfather. Her old dog Colonel is her beloved pet, which has helped her during tough times.

She has a twin sister who is happily married with a beautiful child. Maggie is not as lucky. She had a boyfriend in high school who she loved and who broke her heart when he came back to town with a new girlfriend ten years ago. Fast forward a few years later, she meets another guy, who she tells everyone about that he may be The One. To her embarrassment the new guy in town is the new priest. She develops a crush on him which the whole town knows about.

When the priest Tim tries to set her up with different dates, hilarity ensues. On one of the dates, while she is waiting for the blind date to show up she sees her old boyfriend with his beautiful wife. She is saved by the town taciturn hermit Malone.

Malone is a man of few words, he has a mysterious past. He is a lobsterman. Maggie keeps on getting drawn to him.

Can she make him open up? Can she accept him for what he is?

I read this book just after finishing Too Good To Be True, I loved it too. Maybe not as much because I wish I would have learned more about Malone. Every chapter I was expecting to read more about Malone. He was an interesting character.

Spoiler Fanglert: 


Her beloved pet passed away during this book. It was devastating in a way. I sobbed.

4/5 Fangs

Monday, August 22, 2011

Too Good To Be True by Kristan Higgins




Grace Emerson lives in Peterston, she is a school teacher in a Prep School. She loves history, especially the Civil War. During her free time she likes to Reenact the Civil War with hundreds of others. She also likes to make up boyfriends. She has done it through high school and college. This time she invents a Pediatric Surgeon/Feral Cat lover/Married to his profession boyfriend.

Why, you may ask? Her little sister, Natalie is dating her ex-fiancee Andrew, and she is tired of people pitting her. It's specially tough around her cousin's wedding. Her parents, grandmother, her older sister worried about her and spinsterhood. When she finds Natalie crying in the bathroom at the wedding she figures out her baby sister is not moving forward with her ex because of trying not to hurt Grace's feelings. This too good to be true boyfriend is her savior.

During this wedding she drinks a little too much, goes home (the home she bought with Andrew) and sees a stranger around the house next to her. Since she lives alone, she calls the cops and arms herself with a hockey stick. When her doorbell rings she answers it thinking the police are there. When she sees the stranger she just reacts and hits him with it. The cops take him to jail and later confirms he is her new neighbor Callahan O'Shea. She cooks brownies and takes a bottle of wine to apologize, and ends up hurting him again.

Callahan has just been released from prison for embezzlement and is trying to start his new life. What he didn't expect is to find himself in prison a night later because of getting mistaken for a robber.

This book is funny, at times it can make you cry. But, I just loved it. I love the way it is written. Miss Higgins does a beautiful job with her descriptions, the secondary characters are all great in their own way. It was so refreshing to read Too Good To Be True. The addition of her dog Angus makes it fun to read.

As soon as I finished this book I grabbed another one written by her.

5/5 Fangs

Sunday, August 21, 2011

The Sarantos Secret Baby by Olivia Gates



The Sarantos Secret Baby
Sarantos Brothers #1
Olivia Gates 

Selene Louvardis has always had a crush on a Greek millionaire Aristedes Sarantos. He has been her family's nemesis/rival in the shipping business for years. Her father has loved to fight him. But when her father passes, Aris comes to her house uninvited and tells her he will miss her dad.

Later on the same night they connect and spend the night together. In the morning, she leaves before he wakes up. Ari leaves the States without saying goodbye.

A year and a half later, Ari is back. He knows he missed Selene and tries to reconnect with her. She declines an affair saying she has a new man in her life. He follows her and discovers that the new man is none other than his own child, now nine months old.

After the shock wears off, he decides to try to convince her that they can be a family. He is willing to try. He takes them to Greece away from work and her brothers to prove they belong together.

Can Ari prove to be a good father and a good husband? Can they overcome their family rivalry?

This was a believable romance. I enjoyed their fights and I enjoyed an alpha male who can admit when he is wrong.

3.5/5 Fangs

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Kitty's Big Trouble (Kitty Norville, Book 9) by Carrie Vaughn



Book 9 starts with Kitty's questioning how many important people throughout history have been werewolves, vampires or something else. She thinks that General Sherman was a werewolf and is looking for proof. What she finds is more than what she bargained for.

In the mist of this, she gets a call from vampire Anastasia asking for her help. There is a powerful artifact called the Dragon Pearl and it needs to be protected before Roman gets to it.

She takes her pack, meaning Ben, her husband and Cormac to San Francisco. We see Cormack dealing with sharing a body with the Spirit of Amelia and Ben seems to be battling with staying human most of the time. Kitty is forced to meet with the Vampire Family in San Francisco. She makes more allies down the line.

A fight against evil is brewing and tough choices and sides have to be picked. Also, we get more questions about the Long Game and how will this affect the werewolves.

Unfortunately, this series is losing it's appeal to me. At times I had to force myself to continue. Ben seems to be loosing it quit frequently and I am still rooting for Cormac. How wrong is that?

I will still see it to the end of the series. But the first few books were the best. I missed the spirit of those books, when Kitty was trying to survive and became stronger with each ordeal.

2.5/5 Fangs

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Private by Kate Brian



Private
Private #1
Kate Brian

Reed Brennan has won a scholarship outside of her PA home. She is to start at Easton Academy. A private school with rich and beautiful people.

She is escaping her home and a pill-popping cruel mother.

Reed has been a loner but soon realizes that she doesn't fit in and after witnessing through her dorm's window four girls having fun, she decides she wants that for herself too.

The next day she learns these girls are an elite group. All great students, popular, smart and beautiful too. They are the Billings Girls. They live in the Billings building and you can only join if you get invited.

She also meets a boy, Thomas Pearson who is very interested in her and later becomes a boyfriend.

The Billings Girls asked her to do things for them, some of the tasks could get her expelled.

I was disappointed with this book. I couldn't understand why she would keep on pushing nice people away and try to join the Mean group. She was just a follower and Thomas did not appeal to me either.

When I finished Private, my first thought was "What a weird book".

I may read the rest of the series to see if it improves.

2/5 Fangs

Monday, August 15, 2011

Island Heat by Jill Myles



Diana Holcomb finds herself in a Lost episode.

She is a realtor who flies to Bermuda with a potential client on his private plane. Once they reach the Bermuda Triangle the plane crashes. She finds herself in a deserted island and when she finds what is left of the plane, only the remains of the captain are present. She suffers from heat exhaustion and during this state she thinks there is a gorgeous guy taking care of her.

The Island is also the habitat of Dinosaurs and Cavemen. One specific caveman wants her and tries to take her away. Luckily the dream guy is real and his name is Salvador. He saves her and shows her how the Island works. She also meets more survivors and starts helping with the daily routine.

Trusting and falling in love with Salvador, avoiding getting killed by Dinosaurs or belonging to a nasty caveman makes this book entertaining.

Our heroine will have to answer some questions. What if you can go back home? Would you? Or stay and live a simple life instead?

It was a pleasant read. This is a typical romance novel with a Dinosaur twist.

Cliffhanger: No

3/5 Fangs

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Spell Bound (Women Of The Otherworld, Book 12) by Kelley Armstrong



Book 12 starts just after book 11 finishes.

Savannah Levine is in big trouble. She has lost all her powers and she doesn't know why or who took them away. Can it be a Demon, or Deity?

Adam is very much in the picture. She loves him but she doesn't know if he thinks of her beyond friendship.

Savannah finds herself being targeted by several groups. There are witch-hunters trying to kill her. There is Grandaddy in the picture (Eve's father- The Lord Demon Balam, Master of Sight). There is a new group of Supernaturals who want the world to know they exist (Supernatural Liberation Movement) and Immortality questers (which we got a glimpse in earlier books).

Savannah is forced to grow up. She can't be a spoiled kid anymore. She has to learn that she is useful despite not having the great powers she was born with. Clay makes her realize some of this.

I felt that this book is preparing us for the big finale. There are so many questions left for the last installment. A war is coming and all ours friends are in danger. I love that we got cameos from almost every character from prior books. Hope and Karl are back. Hope is forced to see psyco killer Jaz (raise your hand who thinks he will be able to escape on the last book and Karl will get his chance to kill him forever. Yay!!!!)

I missed Eve, the other werewolves, the twins. I can't wait for the next book. In a way it will make me feel really sad. I will miss this family of supernaturals.

4/5 Fangs

Monday, August 8, 2011

Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep



Touch of Frost
Mythos Academy #1
Jennifer Estep


This is the First Book in this YA series. I reviewed the prequel in an earlier post.

The book starts with Gwen Frost who is already at Mythos Academy. She doesn't feel that she fits in with the other kids and their amazing abilities.

She is not a fighter, she doesn't have great strength but when she finds a dead Valkyrie at the library she decides to use her psychometry power to discover who murdered her. She must find out who killed Jasmine, the most popular Valkyrie and who stole the Bowl of Tears a very important magical item that can make evil return.

During her self imposed quest she gets the help of two other students. One is Daphne a Valkyrie who starts as a mean girl and kind of grows on you. Second, Logan (a Spartan boy) who may be the greatest warrior and whom Gwen is attracted to.

Touch of Frost also explains more about Gwen's power and who may have given it to her. It also has all of the high school drama: Mean Girls, Hot popular guys, Geeks, and the Misfits.

Reasons to read this book:

*Jennifer Estep- she is the writer of The Elemental Assassin Series
*Logan- Hot Spartan kid
*Vic- a magical sword who loves a fight

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

Sunday, August 7, 2011

From Dirt to Diamonds by Julia James



Thea Dauntry is enjoying a nice dinner with the Viscount Giles St John Brooke. She knows he probably will propose tonight. Just when he is about to, her worst nightmare appears in front of them telling her "Call me". She can't believe that after five years this cruel man is back in her life.

Angelos Petrakos can't believe his luck. Kat Jones is back in London, using a different name and a different attitude but he recognizes her and wants revenge. She lied to him and stole a very special watch from him years ago.

He finds her home and threatens to tell the viscount the truth unless she breaks up with him. She is to meet him at night and convince the world that she is in love with Angelos instead.

As expected, this romantic novel is full of misunderstandings which caused a rift between people who love each other. The only problem is that in this case, it is not believable.

1/5 Fangs

Monday, August 1, 2011

First Frost by Jennifer Estep


First Frost
Mythos Academy #0.5
Jennifer Estep 


First Frost is the prequel to the series.

In this book, we learned about Gwen Frost, a teenager but also a "Gypsy" who has the gift of psychometry. When she touches things she can tell what emotions the owner had while holding the instrument. It is much stronger when she touches a person. She uses this ability in high school to earn some extra money finding things for classmates. At times psychometry has been a downer, like when she found out her new boyfriend was kissing her but thinking of another girl instead.

Her mom and grandmother both are Gypsies too. The grandmother gets visions and her mother can tell if someone is lying which is helpful in her job since she is a cop.

When Gwen touches the hairbrush of her classmate Paige, she learns that she has been sexually abused by her stepfather. Those strong emotions send her into almost a seizure-like experience and she ends up in the hospital.

After losing a family member she gets enrolled in a new school, Mythos Academy. It takes kids from 16 to 21 years of age. This is not your daily high school. She is to live there and learned more about her gift. She also learns there are other kids who have a different type of magic, Amazons, Spartans, Romans, Vikings and Valkyries.

This prequel sets the story for this new series. I have read Jennifer Estep's Elemental Assassin series, which is one of my favorites and I think this series won't disappoint me either. Funny how the heroine has a name that also starts with G. I am a fan of the writer. Once I finished this book I started Touch of Frost which I devoured in an afternoon.

4/5 Fangs