Review: Truly, Madly by Heather Webber

Did you notice something different about the blog? LOL, it's not something big, but it's something I'm proud of. Last Friday, I was bored so I spent time cleaning up my labels :P I went from 401 to 345 labels! Seriously, I don't know what I was thinking making labels for things such as: pain, injury, gas, traffic jam (traffic jam!!) and so on. There are still a lot of posts back in 2007 and 2008 that haven't been labeled, but I don't think I have the courage to go back and label them on... Although, thanks to Ames, I now know that I can do it in the Edit Posts section with the Label Actions instead of going into each post and making the changes ^_^;

I also took away labels such as vampires, werewolves, magic, witch, wizard, etc. I was using them mostly to sub-categorize the paranormal romance and urban fantasy books, but I realized I wasn't consistently using them. Plus, you can find more than one of the supernatural species in the book, so there were too many labels... I figured if you wanted to look for werewolves books, you'd simply click urban fantasy or paranormal romance and go through my posts :P

In the meantime, I still have books from February left to review :D One of them is Truly, Madly by Heather Webber. This book first caught my attention on Kris' blog. It sounded like a cute story, plus it has psychics, so I wanted to give it a try :)


Truly, Madly by Heather Webber
published by St. Martin's Press in February 2010

Lucy Valentine is as smart as can be, as single as you can get, and so not qualified to run a matchmaking service. But when her parents temporarily step down from the family business, Valentine, Inc., it’s Lucy’s turn to step up and help out—in the name of love.

Plus, her rent is due.

Here’s the problem: Lucy doesn’t have the knack for matchmaking. According to family legend, every Valentine has been blessed by Cupid with the ability to read “auras” and pair up perfect couples. But not Lucy. Her skills were zapped away years ago in an electrical surge, and now all she can do is find lost objects. What good is that in the matchmaking world? You’d be surprised. In a city like Boston, everyone’s looking for something. So when Lucy locates a missing engagement ring—on a dead body—she asks the sexy private eye who works upstairs to help her solve the perfect crime. And who knows? Maybe she’ll find the perfect love while she’s at it...

Genre: paranormal romance - psychic
Series: Lucy Valentine, Book #1

The Story: Generations of Valentine have been blessed with the ability to read auras - except their own - and thus, have been very successful in the matchmaking business. Lucy wishes she could join her father in the business Valentine, Inc.; however, she doesn't feel "worthy" - having lost her ability to read auras and gained the ability to find lost objects. Only, things change when Lucy's father has a heart attack on the beach in company of his mistress. Going away to recover while the bad publicity quiets down sounds like the perfect solution and thus, Oscar leaves Valentine, Inc. in the hands of Lucy. She doesn't want to, but what choice does she have? Plus, she needs the job.

Everything goes well till a young man walks in and upon contact, Lucy "sees" his grandmother's heirloom engagement ring that he has given to his ex-fiancée on the finger of a skeleton... Wanting to find out answers, Lucy decides to ask help to SD investigations, the PI agency located in the same building as Valentine, Inc. Instead of meeting with the owner, she meets Sean Donahue - the brother... who triggers the kind of visions Lucy never had before...

My Opinion: I enjoy books with psychic characters and this one sounded different and lighter, so I wanted to give it a try.  Truly, Madly turned out to be a good choice, as it was a light, fluffy and fun read. What surprised me most was despite the fluffiness, the mystery thread had depth and I thought the plot was very well constructed.

Lucy was a very lovable heroine with a head on her shoulder. While no fault of her, she feels bad having lost her ability to read auras and let say, she hasn't come to term with her new ability either because it makes her different than her family. As a result, Lucy has declined entering in Valentine, Inc., but also using her trust fund. Instead, she's been taking odd jobs and paying rent to her grandmother. It's clear that for Lucy, the ability to read auras is very important and is part of her identity. Not having that ability anymore, Lucy is looking for herself, exploring and trying to see if she can make it by herself. A lot of characters in books try to make something of themselves, not wanting to be like their parents, but it's the opposite for Lucy. She's always wanted to be part of the family business, but until she finds herself, she can't. In a way, Truly, Madly is in part Lucy's journey to finding herself and I really liked the resolution of it.

Aside from Lucy, Truly, Madly has a colorful cast of secondary characters. There's Lucy's family: her parents - while they lead separate lives, they are still very good friends, and her grandmother LOL. There's also Emma and Marisol, Lucy's two best friends since childhood, Raphael, the family chauffeur, and of course, Sean. All of the characters are quite interesting and have a role in the story, they're not just playing filler or there to provide comedy-relief. They're Lucy's entourage and obviously, very important to her.

As I mentioned, there's also a mystery to Truly, Madly. I was quite happy with it and thought it was well constructed. It was logical which allowed the readers to guess who did it and what happened, but at least, it wasn't obvious. Know what I mean? More importantly, I thought it really blended well with the other storylines. I thought Ms Webber did a great job balancing everything in Truly, Madly. I mean, there was a lot of characters and a lot going on, but it never felt too much and Ms Webber was able to keep it light.

My only complaint would be that the romance between Lucy and Sean was very light. However, this is the first book of a series, and it seems Ms Webber was setting things up. I'm sure - or at least, I hope, that Lucy and Sean's relationship will be explored further in the next book :)

My Grade: B+. Truly, Madly was a fast and very enjoyable read to me. It was cute and light and cheered me up :) I'm definitively looking forward to the next book, Deeply, Desperately, coming out in August :)

Review: Lessons from a Scarlet Lady by Emma Wildes

Sigh, time saving in spring really sucks ^_^; I mean, week-ends are short enough, but now, I lost an hour somewhere :( But at least, it means spring is almost here!! I don't know about everyone else, but Montreal has been getting very nice weather for March. Temperature has been very mild, the snow is almost gone... and this is so scary!! I bet we're going to get snow very soon... It's just too nice to be true.

Anyway, in case you weren't aware of it, I have a review up over at Breezing Through. The girls and I were looking for a book to do another foursome review and chose Lessons from a Scarlet Lady by Emma Wildes. This was my first Emma Wildes book and click here to find out what we thought of it! :D


Lessons from a Scarlet Lady by Emma Wildes
published by New American Library in January 2010

No real lady should take lessons from a scarlet woman...

The Duke of Rolthven's new wife, Brianna, is the perfect aristocratic bride. So what would society say if they saw her with a copy of Lady Rothburg's Advice -- a courtesan's lessons for the boudoir? When his innocent wife suddenly becomes a vixen in the bedroom, the proper Duke is truly astounded by her seductive powers. Following a courtesan's advice might lead to trouble - but will it lead to Brianna's ultimate desire: winning her husband's love?

Contacting authors...

It's Friday and I'm too lazy to start a review LOL. Seems to be often the case for some reasons. Ah well, no review doesn't mean no blogging, right? :P

I thought it's been a while since I started a discussion. Lucky for me, I had a topic in mind, so it wasn't hard to come up with one :)

My question today: Do you ever/often contact/e-mail authors? For what reasons?

I'm curious because a couple of weeks ago, I was talking with Monroe and she mentioned she e-mailed a few authors to let them know how much she enjoyed their books. Then, today, I was on Tracy's blog and in one of the comments, she mentioned she contacted Anne Bishop to ask a question concerning her new Black Jewels trilogy.

With the internet around, it's much easier to contact an author. You don't have to pay the stamp, don't even need to find a mailbox... LOL. All you need is their email address which can usually be found on their website.

I have to say, I'm not the kind of persons who will e-mail authors to let them know how much I liked their books. There's nothing wrong to do so -  it's actually pretty awesome if you do so... It's just not me. Most of what I have to say about books, I do it via my blog. However, I did email a few for questions, after I couldn't find an answer on their websites/blogs. I remember contacting Robyn Carr and asking her where I could get the last book of her Grace Valley trilogy, LOL, and if there was any plans for re-printing.

I think my attitude can be explained by my whole mentality of keeping my distances from an author. I like being a fangirl LOL... and being friends, getting to know authors on a personal level, well it changes me as a reader... but of course, that's just me.

So, what about you? Do you often contact authors? If you don't, why not? Also, as an author, do you like being contacted? Do you answer to all the emails?

Review: Angel's Peak and Moonlight Road by Robyn Carr

I was going to write that blogland is quiet, but I think perhaps it's just me who is (for once) behind in my bloghopping :P

Meanwhile, there's nothing new with me. I've been watching the Tim Horton's Brier these past few days :D Seriously, it's been a great year curling-wise LOL. I'm rooting for Newfoundland-Labrador to win :) and I'm also rooting for all the underdogs - PEI, Nova Scotia and North West Territories-Yukon. They've all got at least one win, so all is good :)

I'm heading for the bookstore tonight. My sister has a lab and I'm going to be waiting for her... My hands are itching to buy some books as they are currently some good promotions. I've gotten a few YA books last week... but all the books I really want in March are coming out in two weeks and by that time, the promotion will be over. Bummer. I'm also trying to be a very good girl, since I'm going to RT in April... but seriously, being a good girl might kill me :P


Angel's Peak by Robyn Carr
published by Mira in February 2010

 

Four years ago, Air Force sweethearts Franci Duncan and Sean Riordan reached an impasse. She wanted marriage and a family, he didn’t. But a chance meeting proves that the bitter breakup hasn’t cooled their sizzling chemistry.

Sean has settled down in spite of himself—he’s not the cocky young fighter pilot he was when Franci left, and he wants them to try again. After all, they have a history...but that’s not all they share.

Franci’s secret reason for walking away when Sean refused to commit is now three and a half: a redheaded cherub named Rosie who shares her daddy’s emerald green eyes. Sean is stunned—and furious with Franci for the deception.

News travels fast in Virgin River, and soon the whole town is taking sides. Rebuilding their trust could take a small miracle—and the kind of love that can move mountains.

Genre: contemporary romance
Series: Virgin River, Book #10

The Story: This is basically a secret baby book. Franci and Sean were a hot item 4 years ago and when Franci became pregnant, she asked Sean to commit (without telling him about the baby). When he refused, she walked away. Fast-forward 4 years, Sean is on an extended vacation and visiting his brother Luke in Virgin River. At a bar in Eureka, he runs into Franci again and Sean realizes she's the woman who got away... so he decides to win her back... and discover he has a daughter, the "Wide Iwish" Rose... Afterward, the story focuses on how to make their relationship works.

My Opinion: Tabitha has a pretty good review here  and I have to say, I pretty much agree with her.

I know a lot of readers are sick to death of the secret baby plot as it's been done over and over, but I still enjoy them :) Actually, to be honest, I pretty much skipped to the part where Sean discovers Rose, LOL, because that's really where the interesting stuff starts.. Poor Sean ^_^; Not really the greatest way to find out you have a kid.

I thought Sean handled the aftermath pretty well. Once he found out he had a daughter, there was no doubt Sean wanted to be present for her... and if he couldn't be there, at least his family would. I like the fact that the whole family (on both sides) were involved. There was also an honesty in Sean and Franci's characters... Honesty as in, Sean readily admitted he wasn't ready to be a father 4 years ago. In that sense, I thought the story felt quite real.

I did enjoy Angel's Peak's storyline. The interactions between the different characters, the focus on the Riordan's family as opposed to the Virgin River community. I really liked the dynamics of the Riordan brothers and how Aiden seemed to be the peacemaker, the in-between between the sons and their mother. That was quite cute and humorous and so was Rosie, the secret baby. However, I did not really care for Franci and Sean. Due to their action and behaviors, I don't think they are endearing characters to the reader, especially Franci. I got to agree with Tabitha - I would have liked her to break it off with her "boyfriend" before jumping back into bed with Sean... even if the boyfriend turned out to be a jerk, I thought she handled everything quite wrong.

So yes, taken as a whole, I thought Angel's Peak was enjoyable. As usual, I enjoy Ms Carr's writing. I also thought there was a nice balance between the main storyline and the side stories. Also, I liked the Riordan clan and their interaction. Was it the best book of the series? No. Wasn't even a wowzer... but still a fun read.

My Grade: B-.


Moonlight Road by Robyn Carr
published by Mira in March 2010

With her beloved younger siblings settled and happy, Erin Foley has got empty nest syndrome. At age thirty-five.

So she’s hitting the pause button on her life and holing up in a secluded (but totally upgraded, she’s not into roughing it) cabin near Virgin River. Erin is looking forward to really getting to know herself...not some shaggy-haired mountain man she meets wandering the woods.

In fact, beneath his faded fatigues and bushy beard, Aiden Riordan is a doctor, recharging for a summer after leaving the Navy. He’s intrigued by the pretty, slightly snooty refugee from the rat race — meditating, journaling and definitely keeping him at arm’s length. He’d love to get closer...if his scruffy exterior and crazy ex-wife don’t hold him back.

But maybe it’s something in the water — unlikely romances seem to take root in Virgin River... helped along with some well-intentioned meddling, of course.

Genre: contemporary romance
Series: Virgin River, Book #11

The Story:  There was a lot of storylines going on in this book and the one describes in the back blurb is only the "main" one. If I could break down the book, I'd say there's three storylines going on:

1) Erin and Aiden: Erin has taken the whole summer off to stay at the cabin and take her first real vacation in years. She wants to do "nothing," but turns out she's not really good at it. Meanwhile, Aiden has left the Marines, because he didn't want to commit another 2 years aboard a ship. Erin and Aiden's first meeting don't go too well... but Aiden finds himself attracted and eventually decides to win Erin over. All is going well till his crazy ex-wife shows up...

2) Melinda wants another baby, despite the fact that she had an hysterectomy. She's looking into surrogate mothers and trying to convince Jack about it.

3) Art comes across Netta, his girlfriend in his previous group-home and wants to renew with her.

My Opinion: Out of the three books of this trilogy, I was looking forward to Moonlight Road the most. Turns out it disappointed me the most :(

I liked Erin and Aiden's characters, although they were not very developed. Erin has spent the last 20 years taking care of her younger siblings, but now, they're all grown up and doesn't need her as much. I can't imagine suffering from empty nest syndrome at the age of 35... As for Aiden, he's really my favorite Riordan brothers so far :P There's just something about him. I think it's his calm and gentleness. Luke and Sean are used to be ladies man and they're a bit cocky and arrogant - an alpha streak in them... Aiden is different, in a good way. I think that Erin and Aiden complemented each other pretty well and their storyline had so much potential... Two adults that are at a crossroad in their lives and they must decide what to do. I love the way Erin and Aiden met, it was hilarious :) Unfortunately, Ms Carr didn't develop their story and chose to focus on the side-stories instead... which is a pity, since the initial set up was done well. Everything in Erin and Aiden's relationship went too fast, too quickly and as a result, it wasn't quite believable. I just wished Ms Carr had spent more time on them... And then, she brought in the crazy ex-wife. That part could have been quite interesting, if the book was only about Erin and Aiden... and the resolution with the ex-wife, not very believable which I could have overlooked if I was satisfied with Erin and Aiden's relationship.

So yes, I wanted and expected more out of Erin and Aiden's story... and in the end, the reason why I was disappointed was too much things were going on in Moonlight Road... which is not new in the Virgin River series. I don't like it, but again, I could have overlooked... but really, my main issue with this book? The book had a preaching undertone. Ms Carr incorporated a lot of topics in this book and clearly, she put a lot of efforts in her research and it showed. However, she didn't do a good job at writing what she found out and most of the time, it felt like a lecture... actually, it felt like one lecture after another. Here's a list of the topics: the empty nest syndrome, sexuality of people with Down Syndrome, care-taking of people who are mentally challenged, surrogate mothers, emotional impact of women who had hysterectomy, etc. Some of them were incorporated a bit better in the storyline, others - not at all... and that took away from my enjoyment of the book.

Art having a girlfriend could have been a cute storyline, a nice side-story... if only Ms Carr had done a better job and incorporating the message she wanted to share with the readers. As for Mel wanting another baby - well I thought that she was being very irrational and everything made sense, once readers realize what the message was... It simply, I could have done without these messages. I'm not against learning stuff when I read fiction, but at the same time, I'm reading this for fun... when I feel like I'm being lectured about topics - important ones in real life, true, but still lectures - it takes a way the fun a bit. Perhaps if it hadn't all been in the same book, it would have gone better with me. Ah well.

On the plus side, I did think it was interesting to re-visit Mel and Jack's relationship while they were fighting, while they had issues. I like how Jack stood up to Mel and didn't let Mel get her way, but at the same time, he was there for her. Their relationship is really the foundation to the Virgin River series :)

My Grade: C. 


I know Ms Carr has another trilogy set in Virgin River to be released next year and I am going to keep on reading this series... but at the same time, I hope she has plans for something new after it.  It's different when an author starts a series and has a set number of books in mind then when something takes off and the author has to add books to it. Know what I mean? In this case, Ms Carr just keeps adding characters and finding issues... and at times, I feel the series is becoming a little bit forced... and old. What do you think?

Movie: Percy Jackson & The Olympians - The Lightning Thief

Ouf. I was planning to write and put up this post yesterday, but work was busy and I was stupid. See, yesterday, I worked on the computer all day and didn't take much breaks... So at the end of the day, my eyes were very small (smaller than usual) and it's as if they were bleeding and plus, I had a headache. Ugh. See, stupid. I went home, ate supper, read a little, watch curling (it's the Tim Hortons' Brier :P) and fell asleep. Just couldn't sit at the computer...

However, I'm going to be way smarter this morning :) First, I'm going to start by writing up this post LOL. Then, I'm going to blog-hop :P Anyway, that's the plan...


Percy Jackson & The Olympians - The Lightning Thief

I rarely review movies, but since I did a whole "Percy Jackson & The Olympians" week and posted my thoughts on the cast and so on, I thought this was the last touch, right? :) And since the Vancouver Games were over, I finally had time to go see the movie with my sister :)

I tried to go see the movie with an open mind. I mean, the movie critics for The Lightning Thief weren't very good, I've read Isabel's post on the movie, talked to Christine... even my co-worker warned me. Seriously, I thought I was prepared... but in truth, nothing could have prepared me!

I'm a true believer that if you're going to adapt a book/story into a tv series or a movie, then it should be faithful. Otherwise, why don't you write an original screenplay?!?! Of course, I wasn't expecting them to adapt every details and I knew it wasn't going to be a faithful adaptation, but still... It really didn't stop me from being disappointed.

The biggest problem I have with this movie is I thought my co-worker was right, the director - Chris Columbus - really didn't put any efforts into this movie. I could feel it from all the aspects of the movie - story, acting, special effects, etc. I can accept some stuff being changed because it's hard to adapt it to the big screen - I may not like it, but I understand... but this is not what happened with The Lightning Thief. These weren't small changes he made for big screen adaptation. He changed the whole "essence" of the storyline... and for what?!? I guess I should be blaming the scriptwriter more, but then, the director has last word right?

The movie left out lots of important stuff such as the prophecy and Kronos which are pretty essential for setting up the next movies... Even Talia's tree. I mean, I didn't see it or at least, it didn't really stand out. So what are they going to try to save in The Sea of Monsters? Anyway, that's another story right? You cannot put every details into the movie, even if they are extremely important. Fine. DO YOU HAVE TO CHANGE THE CHARACTERS AS WELL?!?!? Grover's personality was just wrong, wrong, wrong. No offense, but in the book, Grover is a coward. Sure, it's more fun to see a self-confident Grover, but that's not who he is! He's also not a womanizer! And Hades! He didn't want war! Even Chiron at the end... "You're now my favorite student, because you disobeyed blablabla." WHAT? In the book, Chiron sent the three youngsters on the quest! Like I said, it's one thing to change details, but whole character's personalities? Instead of adding some stupid, "emotional" scenes that were made-up, they could have focused on adapting the book. How hard is it to reproduce the Half-Blood Camp when the author even drew a map?

Okay, I'm going to stop here, because my rant could go on and on and on. I'm just going to add this: they even got Luke and Hermes' cabin wrong. And that stupid "Zeus made a rule that gods could not be in contact with their kids"... Seriously? Well no wonder they had to take out Dionysus, cos hey, being camp director, he'd spend all his time with his own kids. Okay, I digress. So yeah, I had a lot of problems with the story itself... And the storyline really set the tone in my opinion. The transitions between one event and another wasn't great, which made the acting all awkward. There were some scenes were the actors seem so stiff... of course, some of their lines were extremely corny/cheesy, so not really easy to make it believable. I can't say I liked Percy, Annabeth or Grover... the whole attraction between Percy and Annabeth, it took away from the movie I think. Also, I thought Annabeth was a bit too ferocious. The final battle between Percy and Luke? Look very fake.

So yes, I'm very unhappy with The Lightning Thief and seriously, I cannot find many redeeming factors to it. At least to me. If I'd watch the movie simply for the movie, perhaps it would have been better. I would still have find the acting a bit stiff in some places, the transitions not very smooth... but perhaps I could have still enjoyed the movie for what it is, a movie. Unfortunately, I couldn't.  Watching The Lightning Thief just got me worked up... luckily, my sister was a very patient person and didn't hit me unconscious. I seriously recommend to everyone to read the books :)

By the way, the scene between Poseidon and Percy? OMG, so cheesy and corny. It sure didn't happen this way in the book and worst of all, is that Percy said something along the line of "If he'd apologize or say something as equally cheesy, it would have felt fake..." I don't have the book with me now, but I'll put the proper quote tonight. It just goes to show how wrong this adaptation is.

EDIT: Oups! I'm a few days late... I completely forgot to put up the quote, been riveted on curling :P No seriously, it just slipped out my mind and since my copy of The Lightning Thief was in my sis' room, it slipped out even further... But here is the quote:

I got the feeling Poseidon really didn't know what to think of me. He didn't know whether he was happy to have me as a son or not. In a strange way, I was glad that Poseidon was so distant. If he'd tried to apologize, or told me he loved me, or even smiled, it would've felt fake. Like a human dad making some lame excuse for not being around. I could live with that. After all, I wasn't sure about him yet, either.

Mind you, I'm not against cheesy scenes... but that last scene between Poseidon and Percy was exactly what Percy said would feel fake in this quote. And it felt fake to me too... However, the most important is that that it shows how clearly the scriptwriter and director just didn't get it...

Re-Read: The Shadow Queen by Anne Bishop

Not long ago, Tabitha asked "What to do when your urge to read war with your desire to review?" My answer was to keep on reading and not to mess with her reading roll. Well for once, I listened to my own advice LOL. I was on a reading roll in February (small because of the Olympics, but still a roll) and decided to just read what I felt like reading, even if that meant not making it for the various reading challenges I signed up for. I did feel bad missing them, especially the Re-Read Challenge because I'm the host and should set the example, but what can I say? I was afraid I'd go from a reading roll to a reading slump ^_^;


Luckily though, after reading Shadalor's Lady by Anne Bishop last Saturday, I had the urge to re-read The Shadow Queen just to refresh my memory on how it all started... and I was able to finish it on Sunday :) So today, I'm taking a page from Leslie's book of logic :P I'm posting my re-read review and, since technically, today would be February 31... I'm not late right? :)


The Shadow Queen by Anne Bishop
published by New American Library (ROC) in March 2009

Dena Nehele is a land decimated by its past. Once it was ruled by corrupt Queens who were wiped out when the land was cleansed of tainted Blood. Now, only one hundred Warlord Princes stand—without a leader and without hope…

Theran Grayhaven is the last of his line, desperate to find the key that reveals a treasure great enough to restore Dena Nehele. But first he needs to find a Queen who knows Protocol, remembers the Blood’s code of honor, and lives by the Old Ways.

Languishing in the Shadow Realm, Lady Cassidy is a Queen without a court, a castoff. She is not beautiful. She thinks she is not strong. But when she is chosen to rule Dena Nehele, she must convince bitter men to serve once again.

Theran’s cousin Gray is a Warlord Prince who was damaged in mind and body by the vicious Queens who once ruled Dena Nehele. Yet something about Cassidy makes him want to serve—and makes him believe he can be made whole once again.

And only Cassidy can prove to Gray—and to herself—that wounds can heal and even the whisper of a promise can be fulfilled...

Genre: Fantasy
Series: Black Jewels series, Book #8 (Dena Nehele trilogy, Book #2)

The Story: The synopsis does a good job summarizing the book, but I'm going to add my two cents.

Dena Nehele lands and people have been decimated by generations of corrupt Queens, even more than other territories because hundred years ago, Dena Nehele had a queen and her consort powerful enough to stand up to Dorothea SaDiablo, Lia the Gray Lady and Jared Grayhaven. Thus, they had to pay a steeper price. Now, it's been two years since Witch has cleansed the three realms from the tainted Bloods and the Warlord Princes in Dena Nehele have finally quenched the landens uprising. All the people of Dena Nehele wants is to go back to their roots and live the Old Ways, following Protocol. Theran Grayhaven is the last direct descendant of Lia and Jared and thus, has been chosen as Dena Nehele leader. Theran decides to "call in a favor" with Daemon Sadi and asks for a Queen from Kaeleer to come rule Dena Nehele in order to show them the Old Ways.

Lady Cassidy has been abandoned by her First Court because she was neither pretty or powerful and did not possess an aristo lineage. However, she has been chosen by Witch herself to be the Queen of Dena Nehele. Thus, she embarks in this adventure, to try to show the Old Ways to people who has forgotten their roots. Unfortunately for Cassidy, the road will be long and hard as will have to convince skeptics to join her court... and the biggest of them all, Theran Grayhaven himself. Luckily for her, she'll find a surprisingly ally in Gray, Theran's cousin who was captured at 15 years old and tortured the two following years... at the age of 27, Gray is not whole... just the shadow of what he could have been...


My Opinion: Here is my review of The Shadow Queen the first time I read it and basically my opinion and grade have not changed much. Although it's hard to review this without spoilers of Shadalor's Lady!

After reading Shadalor's Lady, I think The Shadow Queen did a good job at setting up the story and introducing the major characters for the trilogy. The story is fairly simple, since it consisted of Cassidy arriving at Dena Nehele, setting Court and showing her colors. Still, it was interesting and fun to read :)

The main characters (Theran, Cassidy and Gray) were also in interesting lot. They're all multi-dimensional and well developed. I really like Cassidy - she has this inner strength. She's a solid woman, the kind that's not afraid of work and get it done, without all the sparks and flashes. In The Shadow Queen, Cassidy has a low-esteem issue, she's still reeling from the abandonment of her First Court and so, she's on shaky leg. Not very sure of herself, doubting... and it sure doesn't help that Theran is being such a jerk. I'd be very curious to see the Cassidy prior the abandonment. Gray was my favorite characters in The Shadow Queen. Tortured for two years by wicked Queens, he's still scarred and so protect himself by not letting him grow emotionally. However, meeting Cassidy makes him want to become a man and that's very sweet. As for Theran, well he was a jerk. There's no other words to describe him... which is quite an interesting choice, as he's a protagonist in The Shadow Queen. He's just hateful and so stubborn and frustrating, ugh. However, there's a redeeming factor in him: he does truly care for Gray. I don't want to say too much on Theran, because I think my opinion of him is being influenced by the events of Shadalor's Lady. 

I thought The Shadow Queen was a very good book the first time and it's still so the second time around. Especially when you read it a year later. Of course, the surprise element is not there anymore, but it doesn't really matter. What matters is I still laughed and chuckled as I was reading The Shadow Queen. It's quite incredible how Ms Bishop can combine such dark and crude elements with comedy and sweet moments and everything still flows very well and at no time is it awkward. That makes Ms Bishop's writing the best thing about this book :)

My Grade: B+. I still like The Shadow Queen as much as before, especially for those cute and aww scenes. It is definitively a fun read, despite the very serious and dark undertones. I love Cassidy and Gray and I think Ms Bishop sets up the new trilogy very well with this book. At the same time, we get to re-visit older characters such as Daemon, Jaenelle and Saetan which is always fun. As in my previous review, I didn't care much about Daemon and Saetan's subplots, but still, it shows the readers different faces of these characters. At least, this time, they didn't completely overshadow the main storyline :)

Oh by the way, take a look at Anne Bishop's website. Seems like it's gotten a face lift :P

Monthly Reads: February 2010

Guess what? I was able to squeeze in a re-read yesterday for February, so now, all I have to do is review it :D

Guess what? I reviewed all the books I wanted to (you know, when I write "Review to come" in my monthly reads list), except for one and I plan to do it this week... LOL, I mean, it's so rare for me to review all the books I read. So to review all the books I want to review, that's quite an accomplishment as well :P In addition, I was also able to review a couple of books I've read this month! Wow, I'm impressed at myself, LOL.

So here is my list of reads for the month of February:


1) Ravishing in Red by Madeline Hunter: B
Review to come at Breezing Through


2) Lessons from a Scarlet Lady by Emma Wildes: B+
Review to come at Breezing Through


3) Archangel's Kiss by Nalini Singh: B++


4) Spider's Bite by Jennifer Estep: A-



5) Slow Heat by Jill Shalvis: B-

As a whole, I did enjoy Slow Heat more than Double Play. It's the feeling I got while reading Slow Heat, more fun I guess. However, Slow Heat was definitively not a perfect read and I had some issues with it, mostly Sam. I was looking forward to this book from the teaser we got in Double Play and while I really liked Wade, Sam disappointed me. Mostly, I found Sam too uptight, nervous and almost with a lack of self-confidence, which made it hard for me to believe she was a successful PR... and I felt she didn't understand her clients either. For example, when she discovered that Wade's father was still alive, she immediately brought up the issue with Wade and ask if they could both participate for the Father/Son day. She didn't take two seconds to think. Coming from a dysfunctional family, I thought she would have been smarter than that. Obviously, if Wade doesn't want people to know his father is alive is because there's something going on somewhere. Whether it's bad blood between them or his father preferring a secret life or whatever. Yes, she's focused on her work, but it almost made her stupid. I'm not saying she shouldn't have brought it up, but I think she should have taken 2 seconds to think about.

I thought the whole "pretend" relationship was ridiculous at the end. It dragged way too long in my opinion. Seriously, when you cannot keep your hands off the other person and you'd have sex several times together... It's not a pretended relationship anymore and obviously, it's not a one-night stand. So sit down and discuss about it. Seriously, I thought they figured it out that it wasn't pretended anymore... till the one month was up. So Sam wants to know what is it between her and Wade, but she won't even take a step to figure it out... Instead, she just breaks if off. Wow, tha's going to advance your relationship Sam.

I did Sam's nephew, Tag. He was entertaining, unfortunately, I didn't "feel" that storyline. I usually enjoy this type of storylines where the hero or heroine suddenly become a guardian... but something was off in this one. I felt that at the end, it didn't impact the storyline that much. Also, I can't believe she's only  met her nephew three times in his 10 years of existence. It makes sense when you live in different states, but in Sam and her family case, when they move around so much... it was just weird. Also, Wade's father storyline - meh. I thought it was quite superfluous and it didn't bring much to the storyline, especially with the ending we got.

So yeah, it does sound like I did have a lot of issues with it and I did... but somehow, I ended up enjoying it more than Double Play. Go figure.


6) Truly, Madly by Heather Webber: B+
Review to come.


7) Fantasy in Death by J.D. Robb: C
Review to come.


8) Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen: B

I bought this book because Ames enjoyed it so much and I've heard a lot of good things about Sarah Dessen. Now I understand why Ms Dessen is such a hit. While the story didn't quite reach me, I thought the book was cute and the writing was very engaging. It's fun to see characters like Auden discover themselves, reaching a new phase of their life. I like that most of the characters in this book were very mature. I like how Ms Dessen says looks are deceiving... and I'd have enjoyed it more if Auden didn't break with Eli that first time... So yes, I enjoyed it but didn't really connect.


9) Present Danger by Susan Andersen: B-
Review to come; TBR Challenge (either February or March :P)


10) Moonlight Road by Robyn Carr: C
Review to come - I'm going to do a twofer this week, Angel's Peak with Moonlight Road.


11) Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen: B

Another Sarah Dessen's book. I got this one because the blurb really got me curious and like I said earlier, I like hero/heroine becoming guardians. I really enjoyed this book for Ruby, Jamie and Cora's interaction. Jamie was so much fun :) Again, the book was a little bit about a young girl discovering herself and the world around her. I like how Ms Dessen deals with very dark issues, without over-dramatizing it in her books. What happens to the characters feels very realistic and I think that's why she's such a hit. It's great to find young adult straight contemporary :P


12) Pleasure of a Dark Prince by Kresley Cole: B
Review to come.



13) Shadalor's Lady by Anne Bishop: A-
Review to come.


14) The Shadow Queen by Anne Bishop: B+
Review to come; Re-Read Challenge.


So 14 books this month :) Not bad considering there was the Olympics and February is a shorter month after all :) And I'm very happy because I've read some really good books :) So quality over quantity, right? :) As you can see as well, lots of reviews to come :) Hopefully, I'll be a good blogger and write them out.

What surprised me most though in February was the number of 2010 releases I've read. I mean, on 14 reads, 10 of them were 2010 releases... and I mean, we're only 2 months into 2010 right? So it was just one new book after the other... which brings me to some more numbers...

Books bought: +21
Books read: -14
TBR pile: +7

LOL, okay, so I've been a buying machine these past two months... However, can you imagine, I've saved more than a 100$ in 2 months?!?! It's insane no? I definitively blame all the coupons and promotions that Chapters/Indigo/Coles are having. Anyway, I'm going to try to control myself for the next 2 months... since I'm going to RT convention in April. Wish me luck!!