Review: Eternal Nights by Patti O'Shea

Okay, so just to let some of you know, I successfully reserved Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase at the library (lucky me that they had a copy!) and it'll probably be returned by the end of the month. :D

Now onto the review - you guys will have to excuse me, it might be 8 a.m., but I'm exhausted. I've been staying late at the lab and staying up late to finish the book, so my mind is a bit sluggish, my body aches and I should already be on my way to the lab ^^;

All right, the review. Did any of you find an author with a style of stories you just loved no matter what? I mean, yeah, I'm a fan of Kay Hooper and Kelley Armstrong, but that's mostly because they write very well. As for Patti O'Shea, I'm not telling that she doesn't write good books, far from it... it's just that I LOVE her books (okay, there's not a ton... only 3 and I've read 2 - not counting this one) unconditionally. I discovered her through Through a Crimson Veil. It got mild reviews while I thought it was fantastic, so maybe it's just be... something in her books just appeal to me.

Eternal Nights by Patti O'Shea: 4.25/5

Wyatt Montgomery and Kendall Thomas are lovers... soulmates... from a previous life. However, only Wyatt remembers their previous life as Berkant and Zoalianna. Wyatt and Kendall are both captains in the army and are presently stationned in the Old City of J Nine, a planet lights away from Earth. Wyatt immediately recognizes Kendall as Zoalianna, but she is a completely different person, but this doesn't stop him from falling in love. Meanwhile, Kendall is afraid of love relationships and treats Wyatt as her best friends, cos friendship lasts forever while love...

Wyatt knows that something's been bugging Kendall, but the girl is closed-mouth. So he asks a friend/soldier, Catfish, to keep an eye on Kendall while he is out on the field. Why is Kendall so nervous? Because she's stumbled over a smuggling ring. See, most people on J Nine are there as archeologists to investigate on the vestiges of the Old City + the army to protect the civillians. Kendall is somewhat attracted to the Old City and particularly its temple (that pyramid on the cover). So she's been gathering evidences of the smuggling ring and when she went to colonel Alex Sullivan to inform him, he blows her up because he's been called to the murder scene of... Catfish. Meanwhile, Kendall is being pursued by the thieves and take refuge in the temple where Wyatt will join her. Both get stuck in the temple - lost with pratically no food and no water - and they have to find a way out of there, avoiding if possible the smugglers and once outside, tell colonel Sullivan so he can stop the smugglers from escaping free.

Okay, as I said, my recap of the story is not that good - blame it on the mush brain. However, I can tell you I like the book a lot! There are basically 3 storylines :

1) Wyatt and Kendall : I really liked the fact that it was Wyatt that really went after Kendall. He knows that Kendall's childhood has made her wary of love and that if he tells her he loves her, she'll bolt. So he takes it slowly, as much as he can, he's very patient and considerate. Another thing I like was that he fell in love with her... no in lust. And he might have recognized Kendall as Zoalianna; however, she's a completely different person - physically and personality wise. As he said, Berkant loved Zoalianna and Wyatt Montgomery loves Kendall Thomas. Really sweet. Oh and I liked how he was the one having memories of their past lives and she had none and that they didn't recognize at sight.

2) Berkant and Zoalianna: basically, their love was forbidden. I don't want to talk too much about their relationship because it would spoil a lot about the book. Basically, you get pieces from Wyatt and the bulk from Kendall's dream. Ever since she met Wyatt, Kendall has had these bloody dreams which makes her worried that she's endangering Wyatt. Then, as they enter the temple, she starts to remember the past as dreams.

3) Alex Sullivan and Stacey Johnson: Alex is the colonel and he's pretty much the single-minded man that most army soldiers are depicted as. He's been in a relationship with Stacey for 3 years, but not even once did he tell her he loves her. After 3 years of doing all the work in the relationship and finding out that she's pregnant, Stacey has had enough. He doesn't love her enough and he won't be a good father... so she decides to break up and return to Earth. Meanwhile, Alex has issues of his own, but he's going to win Stacey back for sure.

So I like the book: the love relationships, the action and everything :D (Maybe I'm biaised)... However, there are still some flaws and that's why the grade is only 4.25.

Flaws:

1) The book has the same settings as Ravyn's Flight which is the only book I didn't read... However, this book is supposed to be a standalone. In that case, I found that the author didn't put enough background in the settings for readers who have not read Ravyn's Flight to completely understand.

2) oh yeah, (I blanked during a moment trying to remember)... J Nine is another planet right? Berkant and Zoalianna were inhabitant of J Nine 3000 years ago. So what, their past lives were as alien? That just bugged me a little, because well, you know... alien.

3) Wyatt and Kendall have only known each other for 4 months in this life. When I read 4 months, even factoring the previous life and all, I thought: that's a bit too short. Make it half a year or a year and it would have been more believable.

4) her nickname... Wyatt calls her Bug. Where does that come from?

So that's it :D a really good read if you guys like a bit of fantasy/paranormal. If you like her other books, don't miss this one. I'm so looking forward to her next story - a continuation of Through a Crimson Veil with Kimiko Noguchi and Nic as main characters, basically Mika's cousin and half-brother. The only bummer is that it's going to be in an anthology of the Crimson City series (Shards of Crimson) so that means it won't be full length :( On the other good news is that she seems to have a contract for 2 more books coming out in 2007 and 2008 (yeah for me)!

Review: Summer at the Willow Lake by Susan Wiggs

Summer at Willow Lake by Susan Wiggs: 3/5

What to say about this book? Well I thought that the way the story was told was very similar to Susan Wiggs' other book Summer by the Sea; however, the story wasn't as compelling. When I started reading the book and saw how similar it was to Summer by the Sea, I thought I would really like it, but it didn't happen.

After her third failed engagement, Olivia Bellamy - expert house fluffer - decides to take on her grandmother's offer: to renovate the bungalow colony/summer camp in Catskills that her family owns so her grandparents can celebrate their 50th marriage anniversary. Although she went to Camp Kioga every summer when she was younger, the place doesn't hold Olivia's fondest memories... instead, to Olivia, it reminds her painfully of the time when her parents divorced and she was overweight and an outcast, if it hadn't been for her cousins, Camp Kioga would have been horrible. In addition, Camp Kioga is also the place where she met Connor Davis - her first everything: first love, first kiss, first broken heart. So when she goes back to Catskills, she meets Connor again as he is the only contractor available. So Summer at Willow Lake is the story of how Olivia and Connor fall in love again with a series of flashbacks of their camp summers and a multitude of secondary characters.

I don't know what's up with me lately and I'm starting to wonder if the books I'm reading are only okay because I'm being too harsh with them... sigh... Anyway, the problem with Summer At Willow Lake is that nothing happened and too much happened at the same time. I'm not making sense, am I? I think it all has to do with the pace of the book... In one chapter, Connor just accepted the contract and in the next, a few weeks have already passed and so much progress was done... then, the next thing you know, summer is over and the grandparents are renewing her vows. So time went too fast, but it seems Olivia and Connor relationship didn't progress at all.

My second complaint: way too many secondary characters and subplots ^^; you had Olivia's best friend, Freddy, and all her family (father, uncle, cousins, grandparents, long-lost sister) and then, as if it wasn't enough, the author brings in Julian, Connor's brother half-way in the book... and all of them have some a little storyline. I like my book to focus on the main couple or at least, the main characters, so I found the secondary characters disrupting. And because the focus wasn't on the main characters, I thought that Olivia and Connor came accross a bit bleh. Olivia is very insecure, so not a really fun character to read about and Connor, well I thought he lacked a tiny bit of depth.

Aside from that, the book was okay... relaxing. You didn't have to think much, wonder much... There was no major investigation or murder, it solely focused on relationship. The openining scene was funneh too (she's hanging on the top of the flag pole ^^;)

So, not Susan Wiggs at her best, but I'm going to keep the book and see how the next ones in the Chronicles are before making up my mind a 100%.

Review: Hot and Bothered by Susan Andersen

Hot and Bothered by Susan Andersen: 3/5

Quick, quick review before I go to work. So I finished Just for Kicks and since it was so good, I decided to try Hot and Bothered right away.

Hot and Bothered is the story of Victoria Hamilton and John Rocket M. (too long, difficult italian name for me to remember right now). Victoria and John were lovers for a week 6 years ago. The deal: one week of pure pleasure, no string attached, no last name... However, Victoria fell in love with John and so before the week was up, she slipped away. Result of that week: Esme, cute little girl. Once she was pregnant, her rich, neglecting, magnate father was scandalized and gave her two choices: either get an abortion or marry a banker of his choice. In the end, fed up, Victoria moved to London to put some distance between her father and her. Unfortunately, she had to leave her little half-brother - Jared-, whom she promised to protect, behind.

So 6 years later, Victoria's father is murdered... Jared has ran away and has become the prime suspect. Moving all her things from London back to the States, Victoria hires a P.I. to find her runaway brother... P.I. turns out to be John Rocket M. John's life was changed by Victoria - his whole attitude twds sex and all. After their week, he gave up the marines and became a P.I. and so he was very happy to see Victoria once again... until he saw Esme. So basically, the story is about John and Victoria still being attracted to each other, finding Jared, John learning to be a father and finding the murder.

The book was okay, but nothing wow. No really funneh situation, except maybe when John and Esme played Barbies and John transformed them into a platoon. Esme was cute, but that's it. In short, the book didn't really catch my attention and then, you skipped jumping back and forth in their relationship. I find it really annoying when two people are obviously attracted and are not sure whether or not they should get together... and then, they are from different social class, so that's another obstacle...

Review: Just for Kicks by Susan Andersen

Ah, finally a good book :D I haven't read a book that I truly enjoyed for the past couple weeks, so this book comes as a relief :D

Just for Kicks by Susan Andersen: 4.25/5 (B+)

So I was looking for good books and came across the title while visiting Zeek's blog when she asked for suggestions. Zeek said she had to go buy this one and so when I saw it at Waltmart yesterday, I picked it up (25% off :P) The funny thing is that there's not really a plot. I mean, yes, there's a storyline, but no intrigue, no murder, no investigation... so I guess this was the change from the other books I've been reading recently. And from what I gathered, this is the sequel to Skintight, which I'll try to find this week.

Carly Jacobson is a Vegas showgirl living in some condo unit. She's been having a tough time lately, because her latest baby (animals that she finds and bring back home), Rufus, has been toying with her nerves. Rufus is a pup that simply doesn't listen to orders and that could mean troubles if her new neighbor, Wolfgang Jones, decide to complain to the condo manager as each tenant can only have on pet... and Carly has 4. Carly and Wolfgang work at the same establishment (I think it's some sort of casino) and to say they don't get along well is putting it mildly. In short, both don't think highly of each other: in Carly's opinion, Wolfgang is too stuck up and unsociable while Wolfgang believes that Carly is an irresponsible chit.

Actually, Carly's opinion of Wolfgang is not far from the truth... as Wolfgang is very serious, a bit inflexible and doesn't like to socialize much. Because of his father's work, Wolfgang had had to move a lot, both within USA and abroad, and he has lived in many embassies; however, not as the rich socialite, but as the son of middle class. So after having been snobbed by the higher social class in his teens, Wolfgang has come up with THE plan: basically, he's working in security at a casino in Vegas to gain experience in order to become head director of a security branch in some big company. Once he'll get his dream job, he'll find a nice woman to marry... someone nice, gentle and responsible... the complete opposite of Carly.

However, Wolfgang and Carly get to know each other better when Niklaus, Wolfgang's nephew, move in with him. Niklaus is 17 y.o. and is the son of Wolfgang's daughter. Pretty much like Wolfgang, the teenager has had to move a lot in his life due to his flimsy mother. Worried about his association with some not so nice kids, the grandparents decide that it's perhaps better to have Niklaus move with Wolfgang for some stability... however, the question is how long will this stability last as Wolfgang will soon move to another state for his job.

My synopsis of the book is not that good ^^; but it's kind of hard to write one up, because as I say, there's no major event or showdown in the book. Basically, what I liked about this book is that Wolfgang and Carly didn't tiptoe around sex... as in, there wasn't a zillion scenes of foreplay. So Carly and Wolfgang had a bad start as they don't think much of each other, but they can't deny that they are attracted to each other. Once they get together, they get to learn from each other... Actually, it is Wolfgang who gets to know Carly better and his opinion of her changes for the better. At the same time, Wolfgang starts to change as well; he's becoming more friendly for his job, for Carly and for Niklaus. Something else I liked was the neighborhood: Carly's best friend, Treena, and fiance, Jax, as well as the older couple, Mack and Elyse. Their relationships are fun and relax, when reading the book I'm thinking: how I'd like to have neighbors like them. Niklaus storyline was nice as well and it was fun for once not to read about a bullied or outcast teenager. Finally, Wolfgang giving up his nice plan for his love for Carly and Niklaus.

so this book is definitively a keeper :D

My August TBR pile

So quite frankly, I never used to have a TBR pile and I didn't know ppl had one before looking for reviews on the net ^^; However, I've been accumulating lately and since there's not enough space in the side bar, I'd like to share it with you:

The Turning by Jennifer Armintrout
Touch the Dark by Karen Chance
The Crazy series (all of them) by Tara Janzen
Much Ado in the Moonlight by Lynn Kurland
Into the Night by Suzanne Brockmann
The Protector/The Hunter/ Facing Fear by Gennita Low
Angel with Attitude by Michelle Rowen
Split by Tara Moss
Hot and Bothered/Just for Kicks by Susan Anderson
To Catch a Wolf by Susan Krinard
I see You by Holly Isle
Black Ice by Anne Stuart
Goodness Had Nothing to do with It by Lucy Monroe
Day of Fire by Kathleen Nance
It happened One Autumn/Devil in the Winter by Lisa Kleypas
War of the Spider Queen series by various authors

and in addition, some of the books from the library... but I'm not sure I'll be reading them :P So if any of you have read some of these books, let me know if it was good :D

Recent reads - take 4

Hello everyone,

I haven't post much comments lately, not because I'm not reading, but because I'm exhausted. My supervisor at the lab is gone, but thanx god, he's coming back on Tuesday. My experiment is not working and I'm hoping it's not because contamination.

So onto my recent reads:

Never a Lady by Jacquie D'Alessandro: 2/5

Hmmm. There were a mini-discussion about slutty cover at Romancelover blog and this cover totally qualifies as slutty cover. The inside flap is even worst, cos you have the man in addition ^^; So why did I buy the book? I was curious and bored. By the end of the book, I was no longer curious, but still bored.

This is my first book by Jacquie D'Alessandro and well, it didn't impress me. It couldn't catch my attention at all which means that I pretty much skimmed through the book.

Alexandra is a card reader and is presently the "hot" stuff of the ton. She pretends to be married and is hired at different soirées. At one of the soirée, she sees Colin Oliver, Viscount Sutton, and panics... she doesn't know the man, but recognizes him. Indeed, Alexandra grew up in the less favorable parts of London and was a pickpocket. One night, she met Colin in an alley and tried to steal his watch, but got caught. She successfully ran away, but her cards have predicted that she would meet the man again. Meanwhile, Colin is returning to London to search for a wife after a long retreat at his estate. Then at the soirée, he sees Alexandra and recognizes her. He is relieved, because he never forgot her and often wondered if she was still alive or not. While trying to avoid Colin, Alex runs into a room and overhears two persons planning a murder. She leaves a note to the victim, but he still dies. Then, she becomes a target and Colin decides that it is his duty to protect her.

So, as the grade shows, I didn't really enjoy the book. The whole thing between Alexandra and Colin seems forced. Her fears that he would recognize her as the pickpocket and would tell the ton, ruining her was blown out of proportion and I don't really understand Colin's obsession with Alexandra either. I mean, he admits that he's been worried about her and have gone back to the alley many times to look of her, but to no avail. You also Alexandra's charity cause: every night, at her house, she welcomes little children that have no where to stay, but I think it was mentioned once and then, we never read about it anymore because she didn't stay at home anymore for the duration of the book. What was disappointing is that the author had all the settings ready and she didn't use them effectively: Alexandra's generosity, her being a card reader, the murder, etc. and then, the author focus solely on the romance. It is a romance, true, but instead of playing out all her cards, she goes down the stereotypic road with the jealousy and all. Then, it just took forever for Colin to realize that he was in love with Alexandra. His brother and sister-in-law were dropping hints such as he has found his lady, he should stop looking for a wife, but the guy still doesn't get it... Even when she broke up their affaire, he was still clueless. All he can think about is Alexandra, but he doesn't put one and one together.

So yeah, my advice... skip this one. If you really want to read it, borrow it.


The Sexy series by Linda Francis Lee

I've been looking for good contemporaries lately and had had some difficulties coming up with good books. I stumbled over Jazz's review of  Suddenly Sexy at the Sanctuary and so I decided to give it a go. So I put some books aside and started to read Suddenly Sexy and  Sinfully Sexy.

Suddenly Sexy: 3.5/5

Again, hmmm. To get the summary, you should go to Jazz's review. Basically Katie was in love with Jesse Chapman, her childhood friend 4 years her senior. However, he left mostly because he didn't think he was worthy for her. Now he comes back to town, looking for tranquility, because he's losing his game. See, Jesse is a pro golfer who's a favorite to win a PGA tournament, but he lost his game after he saved a woman who was hit by a golf club. So he thinks that going home will help him regain his game; however, once home, old tension between him and his brother resurfaces, his lust for Katie also returns and he finds out he fathered a son 13 years ago. Not really helping.

Meanwhile, Katie was a news anchor, but is now giving her own talk-show. This is because the tv station where she and her two best friends, Julia and Chloe, are working need to increase their ratings and after a survey, viewers think that Katie is stiff, boring, unwielding and yadayadayada. So the talk-show is an attempt for her to get a new image...

The book wasn't so bad, but the whole "Getting Real with Kate" talk-show was boring and her attempts of trying to be someone else too. That's probably what got on my nerve and the book would probably have been a 4 instead of a 3.5. What also disappoints me a bit is that Jesse and Katie's relationship wasn't sweet enough :P Oh, last thing. I usually love kids in books and Travis is no exception... when he took the strawberry ice cream box, that was so cute. However, I think that there were enough family stuff to deal with - Jesse's father and brother, Katie's mother and sister (by the way, Jesse's brother and Katie's sister are married) , that bringing in a kid, no matter how mature and cute, was unnecessary. By the way, Katie had such a hard time and she became the adult and all, what was her sister doing during that time?

Sinfully Sexy: 2.5/5

So Sinfully Sexy is the second book and Chloe's story. The sad thing about that book is that Katie almost completely disappeared. It seems to me that the author thought: Katie's story is over, don't need to talk about her anymore... so that was a bit of a disappointment. Anyway, let's talk about Chloe.

Chloe took a quizz in a magazine to see how "sexy" she was... and instead of choosing any choices given, she always added her own answer to the multiple choices... so of course, she failed ^^; So one night, when she has to replace Julia at a soirée, she decided to test if she really could be sexy. The result: yes. She ended up in the woman's bathroom of the hotel lobby almost making love with Sterling Prescott, handsome CEO of Prescott Media. However, at the last minute, some ppl are banging at the door and Chloe chickens out so she slips out. Next morning, she has a meeting with some rating analysist from Prescott Media along with Julia and who turns up? Sterling Prescott and his younger brother, Ben (Ben's a cop by the way). So what does Chloe do? She pretends she doesn't know him. Anyway, at the same time, Julia and Chloe mistake Sterling for his employee, Trey Tanner, whom Sterling just fired because of his sudden softness. Sterling wants to clear up the misundertanding, but oups, Chloe doesn't really have a high opinion of "Sterling Prescott" and so, Sterling takes up a challenge to prove her wrong.

Okay, so maybe I'm harsh with the grading of this book, but I didn't like it much. First, Sterling Prescott should be yummy, but he isn't... at least to me. The man is rich and wealthy and privileged I guess, but you're going to tell me he never made coffee or normal stuff? I find that hard to believe given he started his major in microbiology. Just didn't make sense to me... Actually, my biggest difficulty with this character is that he seemed to have multi-personalities... He had so many different traits that put together gave contrary person. I mean, Roarke from the In Death series is a yummy rich, charismatic CEO... Sterling, well, he's confused and not that confident in the end. So hero wasn't quite attractive. Then, there's the whole reality TV show: The catch and his dozen Texan Roses. Urgh. Think the Bachelor. I really dislike watching those shows in real life, but to read about it? No. In addition, the night before production begins, The Catch and one of the rose elope, so who replace them? If your answer was Sterling and Chloe, well bravo. I mean, that was completely stupid... since Sterling and Chloe were already attracted to each other + they were still producers of the show at the same time. So the whole reality tv show was a bummer... and both Chloe and Sterling's family situations weren't interesting read.

So now, there's the last book of the series... Simply Sexy which is Julia's story and her love interest is Ben, Sterling's younger brother, whose facing bad times as one of his undercover work went wrong. So I'll be completely honest and seriously, I don't feel like reading this one... From what I got from the two previous book, I don't really like Julia... so perhaps I'll wait for Jazz's review before reading it.

Review: Date Me, Baby, One More Time by Stephanie Rowe

Yes, I got my hands on Date me, Baby, One more Time :D Finally. So here's my review:

Date Me, Baby, One More Time by Stephanie Rowe: 4/5

There's been quite a lot of reviews about this book, so I'm going to try to keep the story/synopsis short. Basically, Dereck Lavalle believes that all the men of his family are cursed and that they are to die on the day they turn 31 y.o. and from his ancestor journal, the only way he finds to end the curse is to behead the Guardian of Desdemona's temptation goblet and drink from the goblet. Although no one believes him, it doesn't matter since he doesn't have time to argue: he and his fraternal twin turn 31 y.o. in one week.

Meanwhile, Justine Bennett is the Guardian and the goblet is presently an expresso machine. For the past 200 years, she's been on probation for her job which comes with a thick book of rules - complete devotion to Mona (the goblet), no sex, no distraction, etc. She lives in NY with her roomate and successor, Theresa Nichols. The ick is that Theresa is actually an eleven foot dragon.

Basically, Dereck finds Justine and they fall in love/lust so they are trying to find loopholes so they don't have to kill each other... or loopholes that would explain why they let the other lives so long. The story is complicated by Satan who wants Iris, Justine's mother, to become Queen of Hell, position that she doesn't want to occupied, so Justine is pressure to do her job.

Okay, so the book was a great read as the grading indicates: light and hilarious, since it's so unrealistic, you don't care if it doesn't make sense anymore. What I actually like is that you get some paranormal, but no vampires, werewolves or witches... so the book is quite refreshing. Of course, they were a few things that bug me and by the end, I thought that Iris and her relationship to Satan was annoying. Does the woman loves him or not? and if yes, why doesn't she accept staying with him? however, it's still highly entertaining. My only regret is I believe I would have enjoyed the book better if I could have read it in one sitting, which I did not, because of lab work, watching House M.D. and the thunderstorm yesterday night. Try reading when the power goes out every 10 minutes for about 5 min. Really annoying. So I'll probably re-read the book in a few months.