Review: Blood Ties by Kay Hooper

Blood Ties was one of my most anticipated books this month and I'm so happy I got it early! However, I was quite busy last week and so decided to wait a little before reading it... Just so I'd have more time to savor it... and it was so worth it! :D


Blood Ties by Kay Hooper
published by Bantam Books in January 2010 (HC)

The elite Special Crimes Unit, the FBI's most controversial and effective team, is a group of mavericks and misfits trained to use their unique psychic abilities to hunt the worst monsters imaginable - human ones. Led by the enigmatic Noah Bishop, the SCU team has earned a reputation for pitting their skills and cunning against killers that other cops fear. But this time Bishop and his agents face an enemy who has them in his sights, a trained sniper with a deadly plan - and more than one ace up his sleeve.

It starts with an unspeakable series of grisly murders across three states, a trail of blood leading, finally, to the small Tennessee town of Serenade. There, two more brutal murders lure the SCU into what may be the ultimate trap.

One of the first investigators on the scene, Special Agent Hollis Templeton is willing to push herself as hard and as far as necessary. Risking more than her life to help and protect her fellow SCU members, Hollis is coping with psychic abilities that are evolving in unprecedented ways, an attraction to the most complex man she's ever known, and a serial murder investigation that has just turned very, very personal.

In her time with the SCU, Hollis has shown an uncanny ability to survive even the most deadly attacks. But what she doesn't count on is that this killer intends to destroy the team from within.

The clock is ticking. The body count is rising. And as Bishop and his agents race to uncover the identity of their true enemy, not even their special senses can warn them just how bloody, and how terrifyingly close, the truth will be.

Genre: Mystery/thriller
Series: Blood trilogy, Book #3 (FBI SCU series, Book #12)

The Story: Wow... where to start? While the back blurb is quite a good summary, the story is so complex that it cannot cover it all... So I'm going to add my two cents.

The FBI Special Crimes Unit is the result of Noah Bishop's hard work, efforts and beliefs. It is an unit composed of psychics who have some sort of control over their gifts which makes them functional. As their gifts provide them a certain edge (not always good), they are the ones sent to chase the worst serial killers... which is what they are doing in Blood Ties.

Chasing after a serial killer who has dumped his horribly tortured victims in three different states, Miranda and 4 other agents - Quentin, Reese, Hollis and Diana, arrive to Serenade, a very little town out of nowhere, where a body matching the M.O. is found. Then, when a second body - one that wasn't supposed to be found, the case is becoming puzzling. Could it really be possible that such a small town would be the home of two deranged killers? However, when a sniper starts taking shots at them and after they dig deeper in the past of all the victims and find out they are all somehow connected to past cases, the agents quickly put two and two together and realize they've walked into a trap and the enemies are literally gunning after them.

Unfortunately, there's no backing out of it. The team has a case to solve and some of them have problems to sort out with their psychic abilities... while Bishop is busy trying to save the future of the SCU.

My Opinion: Okay, so here's the deal with my favorite authors. I don't have a problem being objective about the books in the review, but I tend to be more generous with the grades at the end ^_^; So a "meh" book becomes an "okay" book, an "okay" book becomes a good book and so on... It's just hard to be tough with favorite authors sometimes ^_^; However, I'm working on it. The reason why I'm bringing this up is because I have been a bit too generous with the last few books in the FBI SCU series. Quite frankly, I have been disappointed with them. Some of the stories were confusing, the characters a bit under-developed... It didn't dim my love for this series and at no time did I consider not getting this book; however, in my mind, I did write off Blood Ties and I was ready to move onto the next trilogy, hoping it'd be better.

Well I was a bit too quick in my judgment... because Ms Hooper definitively came back very strong with Blood Ties. Very strong. In my opinion, I'd say Blood Ties has been the best book since Chill of Fear or even Hunting Fear :D So this was a great surprise and made me very happy :D

I think what made this book so good was the fact there was no new H/H. Instead, all the characters that were playing important roles were ones that we have met in past books: Noah and Miranda Bishop, Quentin Hayes and Diana Brisco, Hollis Templeton, Reese DeMarco and etc. This was a good idea because it allowed the readers to catch up with the characters, but also allowed Ms Hooper to focus on the storyline. Blood Ties is definitively a complex story - it's not only about a case to be solved, but also the story arc spanning the whole Blood trilogy and wrapping up some loose ends from previous books as well. I believe if Ms Hooper had
introduced new characters, their development would have been disatisfying and the storyline would have suffered.

Seriously, it was great to re-visit some characters. Finding out what they've been up to, at which stage of life they are. I really enjoyed the camaraderie in the SCU. I think the SCU is really the place where they are the most comfortable, at home. It helps them so much being surrounded by people who don't doubt their gifts and understand it. LOL, the SCU is like a very big family with papa Noah and mama Miranda :P Once again, Hollis has a pretty big role in Blood Ties and her character is really getting interesting. It's also great to see her finally getting a love story :) and I'm sure Ms Hooper has more in store for her. The other character that gets a lot of "screen time" is Diana, who was introduced in Chill of Fear. I really enjoyed catching up with her... While her past has not been as tragic as some of the characters (Hollis), it was still hard and I was wondering how she was coping. To read about her in Blood Ties made it more realistic. Having spent half of her life medicated, in daze, she now has to find out who she really is... that was an interesting part of the story :D

As for the story itself, it was really interesting. I thought it was quite complex and multi-layered. Ms Hooper really did a good job at peeling one layer at the time and revealing all the villains and their motives. There were a lot of "ohhh" and "ahhh" moments, especially concerning the overall story arc. Quite frankly, I didn't think much of the overall story arc, but Ms Hooper really did a good job linking everything... One of my "Ohhh" moment :) I also found the amount of romance in this book satisfying. Of course, it's not as much as in romantic suspense, but compared to the past couple of books, I'm happy. I mean, at the beginning of the series, the first two or three trilogies could have passed for romantic suspense... but not Blood Dreams and Blood Sins. The romance was very minimal, quasi non-existent. While nobody is going to mistake Blood Ties with a romantic suspense, they are some relationships that are going forward :) Again, I think this is due with the fact that most characters were recurring ones.

So yes, I enjoyed the characters and the story and was very satisfied with Blood Ties. I do believe now that I would have enjoyed Blood Dreams and Blood Sins more if I've had read the whole trilogy in a smaller period frame instead of one book a year. There are just so many details that you forget in one year ^_^;

There was also a small section at the end of the books for additional information: mini-bios for the recurring characters as well as the definitions of the psychic abilities. It's pretty much the same information that you can find on Ms Hooper's website. I think it was a good idea to add that section, especially since the SCU and Haven are growing so much and it's a great way to refresh our memory. However, I could have done without the footnotes found throughout Blood Ties, I thought they were distracting ^_^; And personally, I don't think anyone should read Blood Ties without having read a few key books in the series... Then again, I have a pretty good memory, but I know not everyone feels the same.

Finally, a little warning about Ms Hooper's books. The books in the FBI SCU series have a very peculiar style. First, the settings are all very similar - Special Agents of the SCU called to isolated town to investigate on possible serial killer. Then, there are all the psychics abilities and etc. I do think there's very little foreshadowing to the identity of the serial killers at the end and so, I'm not sure everyone is going to find the mystery satisfying. However, all this is part of Ms Hooper's style. In order to enjoy Blood Ties, I believe you need to know her style and enjoy it. Also, I wouldn't pick Blood Ties to star the series. So what I'm trying to say is, if you've read Kay Hooper's FBI SCU series books in the past and enjoyed them, you're going to like Blood Ties. If you haven't liked them, then this is not for you... and if you want to give this series a try, start at the beginning :)

My Grade: B++/A-. This time, I'm not being too generous LOL... and sorry about the long review ^_^;

How often do you visit authors' websites?

Work has been really busy lately and so, I haven't had as much time to blog or blog-hop :( At the same time, my review muse seems to be taking very, very long walks and is not returning often ^_^; The good news though is that I'm reading :) Not a reading machine like Kristie :) but very steadily, so I'm happy :D

Last week, I posted a discussion about excerpts and it was well received :D I was actually surprised at the comments though. I thought more people would read excerpts online, but seems like it is not the case... and that got me thinking of another question :) So here I am with another topic :) Feel free to share your opinions!

This time, the question is not as simple... How often do you visit authors' websites and why? The reason I'm asking this question is I wonder if people don't read online excerpts as much because they are not interested or simply because they don't visit authors' websites?

In my case, I visit author's websites only once in a while, to see if there's any news updates - most of the time, for new information on their next book (such as a blurb or H/H) or release schedule. For new authors, I visit their websites more frequently at first to find information about their books and series... The only exception I make is Kelley Armstrong, because I know she updates every month unless warned otherwise.

There are also very few authors whose websites I visit and you can see their names on my sidebar. In addition, I don't read authors blogs. I don't really know the reason ^_^;

What about you?

TBR Day: Magic Lost, Trouble Found by Lisa Shearin

Woohoo, first TBR Challenge of the year!! And guess what? I made it :D Barely, but still :) I had difficulty choosing what book to read - not just for the challenge, but in general... Finally, I settled for Magic Lost, Trouble Found by Lisa Shearin.


Magic Lost, Trouble Found by Lisa Shearin
published by Ace Books (Berkley) in May 2009

A girl with attitude. An all-powerful amulet. This could only mean trouble.

My name is Raine Benares. I'm a seeker. The people who hire me are usually happy when I find things. But some things are better left unfound...
Raine is a sorceress of moderate powers, from an extended family of smugglers and thieves. With a mix of street smarts and magic spells, she can usually take care of herself. But when her friend Quentin, a not-quite-reformed thief, steals an amulet from the home of a powerful necromancer, Raine finds herself wrapped up in more trouble than she cares for. She likes attention as much as the next girl, but having an army of militant goblins hunting her down is not her idea of a good time. The amulet they're after holds limitless power, derived from an ancient, soul-stealing stone. And when Raine takes possession of the item, it takes possession of her.

Now her moderate powers are increasing beyond anything she could imagine—but is the resumé enhancement worth her soul?

Genre: Fantasy
Series: Raine Benares, book #1

The Story: The heroine of Magic Lost, Trouble Found is Raine Benares, an orphaned, elven sorceress with limited power and was raised by her extended family of smugglers. Wanting to help out a friend, Raine finds herself in possession of an amulet and suddenly becomes a very popular girl... but why? Suddenly, Raine finds herself on the run from the goblins' new king, his adviser - a horrible goblin shaman, the exiled goblin prince and the Guardians of the Conclave. Giving them the amulet wouldn't be a bad idea, if only she could take it off without suffocating. Things get even more complicated when her friends are kidnapped, her powers suddenly increase and the amulet is somehow connected to her father, one that she never knew. Who can she trust?

My Opinion: I believe I first found out about these books from Li and bought the first two books last year or the year before. It sounded interesting and it is.

What I found most interesting in this book were the characters. As a heroine, Raine is okay. She's a little bit a female version of Harry Dresden. She's confident, but her confidence doesn't stem from arrogance, but experience. She's not too tough and she goes with the flow a lot :) She's also surrounded by a very good cast of characters. There's her godfather - a retired, powerful mage, Piaras - her godfather's apprentice and powerful spellsinger, Phaelan - her smuggler cousin, Mychael Eiliesor - a powerful spellsinger and also the Captain of the Conclave Guardians and Tamnais Nathrach - a prominant goblin. So yes, an interesting cast of characters, all with different personalities and purposes. So far, I like Piaras the best... He's sort of a younger brother with so much potential. The love triangle is also set up between Raine, Tamnais and Mychael... It's not too prominent in Magic Lost, Trouble Found, but I bet that's going to change in the future books. I admit, I'm not too thrilled at the love triangle (not a fan), but I've decided to root for Mychael :D

The story was okay. It actually started off really well and had a lot of potential. It was intriguing and interesting, but then, became a bit too complex and it started to drag a little at 3/4 of the book. It just didn't sustain my attention and I found myself skimming a few pages here and there. Part of it, in my opinion, was due to the world building. The world building in Magic Lost, Trouble Found is definitively different. It comprises different kind of magic, goblins, elves and humans. There's politic, king and prince and a fragile peace. Again, I think it's interesting... but it wasn't detailed enough. It is not explained or described and as a result, a bit hard to imagine and process everything.

Another thing that made the reading of this book a bit difficult was the voice. I believe the writing is good, but it's simply not fluid enough. I think Ms Shearin has difficulty describing "magical action"... so I stumbled here and there.

My Grade: C+. Interesting characters, story with potential, world building to explore. Not the best fantasy out there, but still enjoyable. I'm going to give book #2, Armed and Magic, very soon :D

My new precious...

As you know, earlier this month, I finally gave my list of anticipated new releases to the staff of Coles so that when they received the books, they put it aside for me automatically. My main purpose for doing this is due to the size of the bookstore. Being smaller, Coles always receives limited quantities of each title, so this gives me priority on the books :D

Of course, this does not mean there won't be any books adventures anymore. First, they won't be calling me every time they put a book aside for me (phew, cos that could be a lot of calls!)... so that means, I still have to stalk the online indicator to know when they receive the books :) and second, I'm not obliged to buy the books they've set aside for me. This was one of my concern - supposed the book arrived earlier in another bookstore, did I have to pass over that opportunity because I had it reserved already at this bookstore? But the staff told me I didn't have to buy those books... in which case, it's good with me :D

So this is what happened on Monday. When I checked the online indicator, I saw that Indigo and Chapters had received Blood Ties by Kay Hooper!! This is THE book I'm looking forward to this month. I simply love Ms Hooper FBI SCU series, although the Blood trilogy is my least favorite trilogy so far. So the good news was that two bookstores had the book! However, I didn't want to call in-store, because I know the clerks would have given me "the book is not on sale yet, it's only coming out on January 26, blablabla" speech if they haven't been able to find it. Better go myself... The whole day, I kept checking the online indicator in case Coles received their copies... Alas no. However, I did note that Indigo seemed to have sold one copy!! In the morning, when I checked, it said 24 copies... later in the afternoon, 23 copies! That surprised me because Indigo has been the worst of the three bookstores to put out their books on time in the past few months. (Of course, I don't know when they received the books... Could have been last week...)

Where did I go first? Chapters, because I thought I'd have more chances to find Blood Ties on the bookshelves... but after a quick tour, I was wrong. Didn't see it anywhere. Waited for my sister to join me, left her schoolbag in the trunk of my car, and then, quick trip to Indigo. I really LOVE the fact that Indigo and Chapters are only 3 blocks apart... and Coles is about 2 blocks away from Indigo. Three bookstores in such proximity, heaven :D

In Indigo, I looked at the new releases... Didn't see it... and then, it was there, on the shelves!! 2 copies!! After I found the book, my sister pointed at the side of the shelving unit and there were 6 more copies! Yay! I took my time to choose the best condition book :) Then, I headed to the fantasy section and looked for The Trouble with Demons by Lisa Shearin. It took me a few seconds to find it, because it was hidden behind a Sharon Shinn book (the Lisa Shearin books were shelved sideways, and in front of the spine, someone put a book, front cover facing... so it hid the other books)... And finally, I picked Night's Cold Kiss by Tracey O'Hara, because Kris enjoyed it :D

Best thing though was the $ I saved. Blood Ties was expensive because it's a hardcover... but I had a 15% off coupon (Out of stock item... You get those coupons when the online indicator says there is stock in-store, but nobody can find it), plus my 10% off I-reward member and I had a 5$ off on any purchase of 35$ and more :) So in the end, I paid about 0.50$ more for Blood Ties in store than if I'd have ordered it online :D I say, I got a good deal...

And so you have it, my new precious...

Do you read excerpts?

TGIF!! I can't wait for the week-end. My week wasn't bad, but I'm not going to complain about the week-end being around the corner :D

I don't have much to say today... I've spent the whole week reading the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan. I have a few pages left from The Last Olympian which is the last book of the series. If my muse helps me, I'll spend the week-end writing one or many posts about the books :D

In the meantime, I don't want to neglect my blog... So I thought I'd start a discussion :D


The question is simple: Do you read excerpts or not? And why or when?
(I'm talking about both online excerpts and the ones you can find at the end of books.)

Surprisingly, I'm not usually an excerpt reader. Strange no, for a girl who can't help herself from reading the ending of a book? :P My main reason for not reading excerpt is because reading a few pages of a book that is going to come in 6 months or a year... that's pure torture!! LOL. I know that once I'll read the excerpt, I'll want to know more... and more... and it'll be eating at me :P Also, reading excerpts can sometime hike up the expectations that I have with a book... and too high expectations, that's never good - you're only setting yourself up for even bigger disappointments.

With the internet, I know that a lot of authors and publishers are posting many chapters excerpts. For example, starting from this month I believe, Ms Kelley Armstrong is posting one chapter/month of The Reckoning, the last book in her YA Darkest Powers trilogy, till the release date. That means 4 or 5 chapters will be circulating on the internet. For some reasons though, I'm not tempted. Having so much of the book out already, I guess I'm afraid that it will ruin my experience when I'll get the actual book.

I know that many read excerpts before making a decision when they decide to try a new author. They want to find out about the writing style before embarking... and that's really wise. However, it doesn't work that way for me. Enjoying the back blurb, recommendations from blogland or even the cover are enough criteria for me :)

Of course, I'll cave from time to time and will read an excerpt. When that happens, it's usually the excerpt at the end of the book that will give an insight about the author's future work. The latest excerpt I've read was Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews at the end of Magic Strikes. Although, if my memory is correct, I've read the excerpt on my re-read of the book LOL. Do I regret it? No. The excerpt was great... but it's made waiting for the book really difficult... I mean, I was already looking forward for it, but now even more ^_^; It made me want to look for spoilers and any tidbits I could find about it... And it's especially hard since Magic Bleeds will only come out end of May/beginning of June and usually, this series has a release date of March ^_^;;

Also, I found out that excerpts at the end of books are not set in stone... For example, I remember reading the excerpt for Broken by Kelley Armstrong and the story was actually changed! :D

As for online excerpt. It's funny, because I do visit authors' websites to find out more about blurbs, next releases and all the possible information... but I'll rarely click on excerpt. Weird no?

All right, your turn now :) Are you an excerpt reader?

Review: Trick of the Light by Rob Thurman

Hello everyone :D

How are you doing? Nothing really special with me. I had a relaxing week-end, but it was way, way too short. The problem at work has been resolved, so this week should be much better. I'm currently reading the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan. Thank you Isabel and Hilcia!! As a result, there's a very big chance that I'm heading to the bookstore tonight :P

The month reading-wise has been good so far. My only concern is that I haven't read much romance in the past two weeks... I look at my TBR pile and nothing really appeals to me - and that is scary... so I end up reading fantasy, urban fantasy and YA. Hopefully though the new releases at the end of the month will help :) Another block point I can't seem to overcome is writing my Best and Worst of 2009 post. I'm planning to write two - one with numbers for this blogs and another one with titles and comments for BT. Yeah, might not be happening ^_^; Ah well. We'll see how it goes at the end of the week :)


Trick of the Light by Rob Thurman
published by ROC (New American Library) in September 2009

Now you see it....Now you don't....Now you're history.

There are demons in the world. Monsters. Creatures that would steal your soul. You might hide under your covers at night and pretend all's right with the world, but you know. Even if you don't want to admit it...

Las Vegas bar owner Trixa Iktomi deals in information. And in a city where unholy creatures roam the neon night, information can mean life or death. Not that she has anything personal against demons. They can be sexy as hell, and they're great for getting the latest gossip. But they also steal human souls and thrive on chaos. So occasionally Trixa and her friends have to teach them some manners.

When Trixa learns of a powerful artifact known as the Light of Life, she knows she's hit the jackpot. Both sides-angel and demon-would give anything for it. But first she had to find it. And as Heaven and Hell ready for an apocalyptic throwdown, Trixa must decide where her true loyalty lies-and what she's ready to fight for. Because in her world, if you line up on the wrong side, you pay with more than your life...

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Trixa Iktomi, Book #1

The Story: The blurb is a bit misleading... Trixa does have something personal against demons. Basically, Trixa has been in Las Vegas for the past 10 years for one reason: kill the demon who took her brother's life. In the meantime, she has to make a living so she owns a bar as a facade and deals in information. Aside from her thrusty bartender, Leo, she has befriends two young men, Griffin and Zeke - one's an empath, the other a telepath - who works for the House of Eden... demon slayers under the supervision of angels.

Trixa is close to achieving her goal when she is shown how to find the Light of Life, an artifact she's been looking for years which can completely shield a place from harm. With this bargaining chip, she can find out which demon has killed her brother... However, not only are demons interested in the Light of Life... angels are to and so Trixa will have to tread lightly...

My Opinion: Last year, I read Ms Thurman's Cal Leandros series and really enjoyed it. So when this book came out, I immediately bought it... and then, it joined my TBR pile. I'd say the strength and flaws of the Cal Leandros series are the strengths and flaws of Trick of the Light.

The major difference between the Cal Leandros series and Trick of the Light is that the protagonist is a woman instead of a juvenile male :P As a romance reader, I am more used and I prefer women as the main characters, but I was wondering if Ms Thurman could handle it... and she did. I was glad to find out that Trixa was not a female version of Cal. There's no question that she's tough and that she could rank very high on the kick-ass scale, but it's not the first thing you notice about her. She's also not as sarcastic and cynical as Cal :P Trixa is an interesting character with many, many layers... I don't think we've peeled out all the layers in Trick of the Light and it'll be interesting to see how her character behaves in the next book. The only thing that was obvious from the beginning of the book is that she is much more than what she appears to be. Although interesting, I thought her character was hard to connect to and not that likable. From the storyline, you know that Trixa is a very independent character, but also... hmmm, alone - isolated and that's the way she lives her life.... and this come across very clearly to the readers... and I think the writing style did not help. Leo, her bartender is still quite a mystery and I'm still not sure how to describe their relationship... There's a connection between the two... but is it only friendship or more?

The characters I liked the most were Griffin and Zeke. I thought they were just so cute LOL. Griffin is the one who takes care of things, the one that needs to be needed... while Zeke - he sees the world in black and white, no shades of grey. As a result, he's dangerous. Ms Thurman wrote them in a way they would complement each other... so you can't help but like them :)

The story was okay. A lot was going on and I think it was a bit too complex and confusing. I found it hard to follow at points and I wasn't that engaged. I really didn't care much about all the angels and demons. What I was happy to find out though is that Trick of the Light takes place in the same world as the Cal Leandros series... we're just adding demons and angels to all the paranormal creatures. I liked the references to Robin Goodfellow and I'm hoping for a cross-over of the two series in the future :D

My biggest problem with Trick of the Light was the writing. While I enjoy Ms Thurman's books, the writing always causes me a problem... It's not that the writing is bad, only her books are tedious to read ^_^; and as a result, take a long time. I know that "enjoy" and "tedious" are two words you don't often go together to describe something... but really. The same happened when I read the Cal Leandros series. Hilcia thinks that it's do to long internal monologues and she is definitively unto something... Well the internal monologues in Trick of the Light are even longer ^_^;

However, I'm really happy that I persisted because the ending was definitively worth it :) The twist at the end saved the story for me. Sure, there was some foreshadowing throughout the book, but it was still a surprise for me :D

Grade: C. Trick of the Light was an interesting book, but so far, it cannot compare to the Cal Leandros series. Still, I'm going to look for the second book when it'll be released :)

*You can go here to find my reviews for the Cal Leandros series.

Review: Forbidden Falls by Robyn Carr

Wooohoooo!! It's Friday! Gosh, it was hard to come back to work after the holidays ^_^; and worst, I've been having a shitty at work. This made the whole week stressful and verrrry looooong. You can't imagine how glad I am that the week-end is around the corner... and judging from the quietness on blogland this week, I bet I'm not the only one feeling this way :)

Still, the week wasn't entirely bad. First, I was able to find a way to get my own copy of Almost Like Being in Love and bonus, I found Changing Pitches as well, both by Steve Kluger. Huge thank to Hilcia :D I finally typed up my TBB list of new releases for January to March and gave it to James at Coles. He seemed overly happy... I think he was getting tired of my calls :P A close friend was also celebrating her 27th birthday, so it was fun to get together :) And I finally bought my plane tickets yesterday to Columbus in April!! Yay! I got a pretty good deal as well, so double yay! LOL. To me, it never sinks in that I'm going on a trip till I start buying the plane tickets and planning things out :)

All right, enough about me :) More about what I read...


Forbidden Falls by Robyn Carr
published by Mira in December 2009

Virgin River is abuzz with the news that a stranger bought the town's abandoned church on eBay. The buyer, a young widowed reverend, is a little like the building itself: in need of some loving care.

Noah Kincaid arrives ready to roll up his sleeves and revitalize his new purchase, but he's going to need some help. An ad in the local paper brings an improbable candidate his way.

"Pastor's assistant" is not a phrase that springs to mind when Noah meets brassy, beautiful Ellie Baldwin. With her colorful clothes and even more colorful past, Ellie needs a respectable job so she can regain custody of her children. Noah can't help but admire her spunk and determination, and she may just be the breath of fresh air he needs.

This unlikely duo may come from two different worlds, but they have more in common than anyone would have expected. And in Virgin River lasting happiness is never out of the question.

Genre: contemporary romance
Series: Virgin River, Book #9 (counting novellas)

The Story: Hmmm, I started writing the synopsis for Forbidden Falls and it seemed only another variation of the back blurb. So I won't go over it again... The only thing that the back blurb does not cover and I want to add is the secondary storyline, involving Paul and Vannie. Paul and Vannie have decided for a second baby... however, their world is shaken upside down and things get a little shaky between the couple when Paul discovers that his ex-girlfriend has named him guardian of her little baby girl... The same baby she tried to pass as Paul's own...

My Opinion: Overall, I enjoyed Forbidden Falls. It didn't wow me like Virgin River did, but I did think it was better than Second Chances or Paradise Valley. Also, looking back at my reviews of the Virgin River books, I do think I've been a bit generous with the grades for the second trilogy ^_^; Ah well.

I thought the storyline in Forbidden Falls was interesting, although a bit predictable. I liked re-discovering Virgin River through the eyes of new characters. I also liked Noah and Ellie's characters. Noah's character is the good buddy guy. He's friendly and nice and likes to help others. In a way, he's perfect for the job of minister. As for Ellie, she was definitively the interesting character. She comes from a humble background and made some poor decisions concerning men, but she's definitively a devoted mother. What I liked best about her character is that she was comfortable with who she was. She's not apologetic about her background, there's no shame or self-pity. Life is what it is and she takes it in stride. There's also an earthy quality to her, plus a inner core of steel that makes her mentally strong. I don't want to use this word, but what comes to mind is that Ellie is an "unsophisticated" heroine. How many books did you read about heroines from poor backgrounds doing whatever to leave that background behind and aim for a better life? Well Ellie hasn't been able to surpass her background and I don't think she minds or cares. Money is tight and she does what she can for her and her kids. She does want better conditions of life, but not so much for herself but more for her kids. Yep, I definitively thought her character was interesting and so different than most heroines out there.

As for the side storyline involving Paul and Vannie, I thought it was interesting... I felt sorry for Paul and Vannie to have their lives turn upside down. However, the story didn't reach me and mostly, because I think it's wasn't too realistic. Seriously, who names someone legal guardian of their kids without asking permission? It doesn't really matter that you think it'll never happen! You just don't do that in my opinion. I have to say though, Ms Carr has a way with writing... because the babies sounded so cute!! I'd have loved to see Matt and Hannah play together! Awww.

Aside from the storylines and characters, what made Forbidden Falls more enjoyable for me is that Ms Carr focused on two stories: Noah & Ellie and Paul & Vannie. In the second trilogy, there were too much going on in one book - too many POVs, too many storylines. The stories seem incomplete... however, the balance is much better in Forbidden Falls and so I hope the trilogy will continue in this trend. We still get to see our favorite characters: Jack, Mel, Preacher, etc. but they are more in the background this time and play a less active role, which is good with me.

While I enjoyed the storyline and characters, I thought the romance plot wasn't strong enough. I didn't particularly feel the chemistry between Noah and Ellie. I think their relationship was too predictable... However, my biggest issue was my impressions of Noah and Ellie. Noah is 35 years old, a widower, someone used to hard work... However, by his dismeanor and description, I kept imagining someone much younger. Think more of a young man, happy-go-lucky. As a result, whenever he thought of his wife, it sounded off. As for Ellie, well she was described as being quite tall... but I don't know, I kept imagining her petite. I guess that didn't help me connecting with the characters, having a mental image that is so off with what's written.

My Grade: B. An encouraging start to the trilogy.