Week-End's Minis: Whispers in the Dark by Maya Banks

It's finally the week-end!! Yay! Hope it'll be a good one for everyone! The week has gone by so quickly (although the days have not), but if there was a way to make the week-end stretched, it'd be awesome LOL. Especially when we're having nice weather. A girl can dream right? :P

So I'd like to introduce the newest feature on my blog: Week-End's Minis. Earlier this week, I mentioned in the Monthly Reads post that I was toying with the idea of having weekly recaps, simply because my Monthly Reads posts were becoming overwhelming to write. However, the idea just lost its appeal the more I thought about it. My reasoning is I have difficulty being on time with a monthly recap which is, technically, once a month. Now, I'm going to have 4 posts at fixed dates? Sure, they'll be shorter... but I think it'll be more pressure as well ^_^; Plus my reading week vary a lot from one another and a weekly recap is just not me LOL. Instead, I tried to come up with something in-between and I think I did: the Week-End's Minis :)

Basically, the Week-End's Minis will be a weekly post with one to two mini-reviews :) It won't be a weekly recap and it won't be necessarily books that I've read during the week. It'll just be mini-reviews of books I've read and wasn't planning to write a full review for. If I can stick to having a weekly mini-reviews post, then when it'll come to the Monthly Reads post, many of the books will already be reviewed and therefore, the post itself will be shorter and less daunting to write :) And to make things a bit more fun for everyone, I thought I'd let you decide what should be reviewed! :) The plan is that I'll put a poll up on the sidebar of books that I'm considering writing mini-reviews for and you let me know which mini-review you want to read :) The poll will run from Saturday to Wednesday and on the next Saturday, the post will go up. What do you think?

Oh by the way, mini-reviews. You've seen my Monthly Reads posts and you've seen that my "mini" reviews aren't that "mini" LOL. Well it's something I want to work on. The goal of these mini-reviews is really to let you know what worked and what didn't. I have a tendency in my full reviews to go through the characters, the settings, the romance, the storyline, etc. Hopefully, here, it'll all be more concise and focused... but I'm not sure yet how I'm going to do that LOL. So please be patient with me :) And if you have any suggestion, please feel free!!

This week, I didn't have time to make a poll and I really wanted to get started LOL, so I chose the mini-review. But you can start voting for next week! :) Hopefully, this new feature will be an enjoyable one for everyone :)


Whispers in the Dark by Maya Banks

published by Berkley in January 2012

She came to him when he needed her the most

She came to him at his lowest point. The voice of an angel, a whisper in the dark. She's the only thing that gets Nathan Kelly through his captivity, the endless days of torture and the fear that he'll never return to his family. With her help, he's able to escape. But he isn't truly free, because now she's disappeared and he's left with an all-consuming emptiness as he struggles to pick up the pieces of his life. Did he imagine his angel? Or is she out there, needing his help as he'd once needed hers?

Now he rushes to save her before it's too late

Shea has been on the run from people who will stop at nothing to exploit her unique abilities. She never wanted to drag Nathan, who'd already suffered so much, into danger, but she doesn't have a choice so she reaches out to him for help. Finally face-to-face after having already formed a soul-deep bond in hell, their emotional connection is even more powerful than their telepathic one. Nathan refuses to consider ever letting her go again, but she worries they can never have a life free of the dangers that dog her every step. He'll protect her with his every breath, but can he convince her that they are meant to face these threats together?

Genre: Romantic suspense, psychics
Series: KGI, Book #4

What do you need to know about the storyline? The blurb is pretty spot on, the only thing they didn't mention - and wow, they did a great job at writing an accurate blurb and leaving this big detail out - is that the heroine is psychic. From what I've heard, this is the first book in this series that has paranormal elements in it. All the previous books have been straight romantic suspense.

Why this book? This is the first book in the series I've read and it just called to me. It sounded like something I would enjoy :)

So, my thoughts? I'll start with the most obvious for me. I don't mind psychic characters. Actually, I love them when it's well-done... Unfortunately, it wasn't in Whispers in the Dark. Perhaps it's because I've been spoiled with the FBI SCU series by Kay Hooper, but the psychic aspect here just didn't work for me. First, I don't like the idea of manufacturing psychics for military purposes. There is so much we don't know about psychics, the abilities and where it comes from... How can you "breed" psychics? Then, the psychic element was just too unbelievable ^_^; Yes, I know ^_^; When it comes to psychics, I think readers always have to suspend their disbelief a little to enjoy the story and I've done it with no problems in the past. But the thing is, you still want the psychic element to be realistic and it simply wasn't in Whispers in the Dark. I mean, a trans-Atlantic connection? If Shea and Nathan's connection was established prior, then perhaps I've had bought it... but Shea just happened to grasp on Nathan's mind while she was in the US and Nathan, in Afghanistan? In that case, what stops her from hearing any voices in the whole big world? Also, healing someone without touching? That's already stretching it, but healing someone through someone's else connection without any physical anchor? Yeah, no. You just lost me there.

Aside from the psychic element, there was also the romance that went too fast for me. Okay, yes, Shea and Nathan have a connection, but they don't really know each other. Shea calls Nathan for help, he runs to save her and hours after they've met face-to-face for the first time, they're all over each other and having sex. I can buy having feelings for each other, I can buy being protective and possessive... but the sex was pushing it for me. We're not talking one-night stand here, but real, committed sex... and I just felt it was too fast.

So basically, Ms Banks lost me pretty early in the book because of the psychic element... and I ended up skimming through most of the book. Nothing in this book - the story, the romance, the characters or the suspense - was able to grab me and while reading, I just wanted Whispers in the Dark to be done and over. That's not usually a good feeling when you're reading a book. Someone on Goodreads mentioned that the book was boring and too corny and I have to agree wholeheartedly. The only scenes I really enjoyed were the Kelly brothers ribbing each other and even then, I thought it was sometime not with a good timing.

My Grade? E.


All right, it still winded up a bit long LOL. But hey, it's my first attempt! :) What do you think? Does this format work?

Lightning reviews I

*This was supposed to go up earlier this week... but I'm sick :( so it cut down my internet time a little bit :( I seriously hate being sick...

Okay, so let me try my hand at real lightening reviews :P I have a tendency to go off, so dunno if it's going to work LOL :)


Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts
published by Jove in November 2007

Genre: parnormal romance
Series: Book 1 of Sign of Seven trilogy.

To be honest, I was a bit disappointed by the book, probably because I had high expectations. I believe that one of Nora Roberts strength is how well she writes relationships - siblings, parents/children, friends, etc... and she did very good with male bonding relationships in the Chesapeake trilogy... However, I thought that in this book, she was a bit off - love wise and friendship wise. The premise/idea is good though... however, I didn’t like the pacing – everything seems so rushed. For readers that want to know where this trilogy stands compared to the others, I think that this trilogy is more similar to the Key trilogy (with all the paranormal stuff, the guys vs. evil and having to stop it, their previous lives, etc.) than the Chesapeake trilogy. So if you did enjoy the Key trilogy, give a try...

Grade: none yet... I think I'm going to wait till the whole trilogy is out


Mouth to Mouth by Erin McCarthy

published by Brava in 2005 and 2007

Genre: contemporary romance
Series: None

I think Rosie nailed this down when she said that this book was cute and sexy. I thought that this was quite an enjoyable read and it's always fun for me to read about a character that is deaf, mute or blind... because they live life so differently. Lauren was cute and not annoying in claiming her independence. Russ was a great hero except for his inferiority complex because of money... I guess the only thing I'd have liked to see a bit more is how Sean, Russ' little brother, and Russ relationship changes... I thought that their issue was resolved too quickly, that it was too rushed.

Grade : B

California Holiday by Kate Cann
published by Avon in March 2005

Genre: YA, contemporary
Series: Beach series, Book #2

You know how some books are soooo good, you just have to blog about them? Well this book was just sooo bad that I have to rant about it. Usually, Avon is good at delivering romance. I mean, they're not all great, but at least, they are romance... So what went wrong with this book? Seriously, I don't consider this book a romance... First, the heroine wasn't even old enough to have a drink... Secondly, the hero - if we can call him like that, didn't appear before half-way through the book... and seriously, I didn't see much love btw the two of them. This is the story of Rowan who suddenly gets fed up with how her parents "idolized" her little brother, she decided to take a year off and be a nanny in the States (she comes from England). Once in the States, she turns into a nanny, baby-sitter and maid... she can't take it anymore so quits her job without notice (that was sooo irresponsible) and takes the iguana with her (they were going to put him down)... she runs into the hero and they start working at a hotel resort. Hero has a gf already... they were off, but now they're back together... so Rowan is waiting on the side... then, hero breaks it off with gf and get with Rowan... but he won't communicate... and when it seems that he's getting back with the gf, Rowan is fed up and takes off again... goes to Mexico where she can free the iguana... Hero runs after her. Ugh... bad, bad, bad book.

Grade: E


Her Sexiest Mistake by Jill Shalvis

published by New American Library in November 2005

Genre: Contemporary romance
Series: None

I couldn't finish this book. I just didn't like the heroine, Mia Appleby. The lady is ashamed of her background and has done her best to become sophisticated and get away from the trailer park where she grew up. She has a high position job in advertising and men are only bed partners for her... So she sleeps with her new neighbor, Kevin McKnight - our hero, and then brushed him off. Then, whenever something didn't go well in her life - problem at work, never-seen teenage niece showing up at her doorstep, she'd used Kevin for sex.... and I hated it. Kevin was a great guy... but I just couldn't stand Mia.

Grade: DNF

Review: The McKettricks by Linda Lael Miller

I've been having the reading blues lately, but it seems that my reading mojo is slowly coming back. Now, if I could only find a great book to read, it would really cheer me up :D I bought the McKettricks books at the end of April, because I was bored... I was waiting for all my books to come from my online order and well, I've been seeing them everywhere... and I wanted to read a bit about ranchers...

so basically, the plot is you have 3 McKettricks cousin: Jesse, Rance and Keegan and the three books (McKettrick's Luck, McKettrick's Pride and McKettrick's Heart) show how they fell in love and their life became better ^^;

McKettrick's Luck: DNF
published by Mira in February 2007

Cheyenne Bridges left Indian Rocks with no intention of coming back; however, now she must face the man who she had a crush on when she was younger and convince him to sell her his lands. Jesse McKettrick is the laid-back McKettricks... instead of working at McKettrickCo, he enjoys his dividend checks, fool around, seduce women and play pocker.

Review: For this book, that's all I can say. Obviously, it was a DNF. I didn't connect with the characters and what annoyed me was the plot... He's a McKettricks from Indian Rocks... she's a Bridges from nowhere. Pluuuhse. Over-used plot! Cheyenne was annoying, because although she wanted to appear all independant, she didn't have that much confidence in herself. Add in a flimsy, forever optomistic mother, and a paraplegic teenager brother and Cheyenne is playing the martyr. I basically stopped reading after Cheyenne blew off Jesse for whatever reason, but immediately went to ask him if he would still take her and her family to a gathering, because her family was so looking forward it. Euh, yeah... could you show some backbone? Or at least, think before acting? So yeah, definitively not my favorite.


McKettrick's Pride: 1.75/5

published by Mira in March 2007

Rance McKettrick is a widower as well as an workalcoholic... most of the time, he'll be across the globe, making deals with foreign countries for expansion, while leaving his two daughters to his mother-in-law, Cora. The thing is, he still haven't let go of his "love" for his deceased wife and finds it hard to look at his daughters when they remind so much of her. Then, enters Echo Wells, new bookstore owner, right next to Cora's shop. Attraction flares up between them, but Echo has been burnt once already...

Review: this one was a bit better... but I thought there was a lot of unnecessary plotlines that didn't interest me... The dog and the break-in to steal the dog? Euh, a bit far-fetched in my opinion. I liked Echo well enough, but Rance didn't impress me, especially not as a father figure.

McKettrick's Heart: 2/5
published by Mira in April 2007

Psyche Ryans is a widow and is terminally ill. She invites Molly Shields, her deceased husband's mistress, to Indian Rocks and gives Molly the opportunity to adopt Lucas, Molly's baby with Psyche's husband. All Molly was waiting for was a second chance at being a mother to Lucas and readily accepts all the conditions... although she's not keen at the idea of marrying Keegan McKettrick - Psyche's high school sweetheart who obviously is still sweet on Psyche, even if she's dying. Keegan is not fond of Molly either; however, he wants to have rights on Lucas and so, doesn't have a choice. At the same time, Keegan is having a lot of troubles in his own life: McKettrickCo is about to go public and his ex-wife is determined to go live in Paris with their daughter... unless Keegan is ready to pay the right price.

Review: This book gets point for a somewhat original plotline. The dying wife calling the mistress to take care of her son, which turns out to be the mistress' biological child is interesting... Too bad Ms Miller can't keep up with good idea... My problem with this book is I didn't believe the love between Molly and Keegan... You have Psyche who keeps saying: I should have married you, Keegan... and Keegan saying: let's consider Lucas like the baby we had together... urgh. Also, Keegan was very harsh with Molly. i know, I know... Molly is the mistress (well, she didn't know the guy was married) and she hurt Psyche (although I don't think that the husband was a great loss)... but did he have to turn the knife everytimes he saw Molly? Seriously, before saying that Molly was after the money that Lucas would inherited, did he think of checking Molly's background? As in Molly was also rich?!? So yeah, I found it really unbelievable that Molly and Keegan fell in love and so fast... is Molly a glutton for punishment? Also, I found it exaggerated that Psyche makes it a condition that Molly and Keegan have to marry each other in order to adopt Lucas... anyway... Book start out okay, and then, went downhill.

The Writing Style - this was my first time reading Linda Lael Miller. I thought I did once, several years ago, but turns out it was LaViryle Spencer... not the same person ^^; although both names start with "L." Anyway, what I wanted to say was that I felt that all three books were incomplete. Ms Miller leaves out details - she either starts off something and doesn't finish it, or doesn't give the background necessary to understand. Some of the events really come out of the blue for readers... If the plots would have been better constructed, i think it'd had been better. Also, I thought I was going to read about ranchers... but turns out they're businessmen! well except for Jesse, who's a gambler. So yeah, I thought her writing was incomplete and evasive :( Oh and by the end, I was starting to get annoyed at the "They're McKettricks! You will be a McKettrick!" They were a bit too into their own lineage story - it's great, but it was overdone.

Am I keeping these books? Probably not.

Anything else? It's funny... I kept getting their names wrong... I wrote an email to Ames and I swear, it went: The McTricks, McMavericks, McRettricks, McKattricks... LOL :D it just wouldn't stick in my mind!

Another book, but not another keeper

Hmmm... What to say about this book... I don't want to give it a "formal" review, because I don't feel like it... At first, when I read the back blurb:

"First, you gotta find the perfect bottle,” the Firebug rasped. “Too hard, and it won’t bust when it hits the floor. Too thin, and it explodes on impact with the window, splashing you with the fuel mix and burning you to hell."

I thought, perhaps the book was about a genie ^^; The cover didn't really look like "romantic suspense" so I thought perhaps paranormal or fantasy. Don't you think the drawing looks a bit like a heart? Anyhow... turns out not. So where to begin? Basically, Dr. Jack Montoya is a doctor working in a hospital with not enough funding and in a bad part of the city. There is a serious problem with the quality of the air and Jack has been falsifying some reports in order for children to obtain medicine and be alive... however, it's been discovered and he's in deep trouble. Worst, it suddenly starts up trouble... a lot of trouble, esp. with radicals and political personas. Reagan used to live in Jack's neighborhood, but moved when they were small. She followed her father's footsteps and became a firefighter, much to her mother's disarray. Because her mother couldn't handle the stress and pressure, she kicked out Reagan... Reagan thus went to live with Joe, her father's captain who became Reagan's captain as well. Anyway, someone calls a news channel and tells that Jack is now burning in his house... Firefighters are sent in, but Jack is not there, he's with Reagan who cannot be a firefighter anymore because she has asthma. Joe dies and Reagan is blamed and used as a scapegoat by her friends and co-workers because suspicions are that Jack started the fire as he is part of the BorderFree-4-all radical cell.

argh, insane. First of all, I had a lot of problem with Reagan: she has asthma. face it, you can't be a firefighter anymore, be responsible and do the right thing instead of going to look for doctors who might sign your form to return to work. Then, her mother... hello, you don't kick out your child like that... you talk with her, deal with it, but more importantly, you TELL her why you don't support her... because you're scared, afraid that she'll die in the fire, just like her father. Took 6-7 years for Reagan to realize... So, come on. Then, you have Reagan's entourage... man, are they stupid or what? Okay, perhaps that Jack was a radical... what would be the point of setting fire to his own house? Of course, it is to attract firefighters to his place in the hope that the captain of his friend dies... Uh, I don't think so. So why does Reagan wind up being the scapegoat?!? The man was her father figure, would she really risk his life? The worst is that she was banned from attending to the funerals and asked by some high ranked head of department to change station, change shift. Why don't you spell it out: either ask her to resign or be a firefighter in another town. The hero is not as bad, but he does have some not so charming traits ^^;

That's few of the problems I had with the book. Basically, I thought the book was frustrating! Frustrating! The "suspense" wasn't very good either and I didn't like the "BorderFree-4-all" aspect. It pains me, but here's my grade: 1.5/5 :(