Fade Out, Rachel Caine, Signet, 237 pages

I wasn’t too worried about this book being a good one. I wasn’t worried that one plot kind of ended and where would Rachel go with this one. But I loved it! I thought it was nice that things “sort of” slowed down for our four main characters. I will say that the one thing that disappointed me was the lack of Michael/Eve and Shane/Claire. They were there but it was rocky and I would have liked for it to have been more, what’s the word...not happy, but with the danger for them slowing it would have been nice for their relationships to not have hit rough patches. Am I just a sap? Maybe...and I’m okay with that.

“I heard this girl worked for Bishop,” said one of the guys, who had a tire iron resting on his shoulder. “Carrying around his death warrants. Like one of those Nazi collaborators.”

“You heard wrong,” Shane said. “She’s my girl. Now back off.”

“Let’s hear from her,” said the leader of the pack, and locked stares with Claire. “So? You working for the vamps?”

Shane sent her a quick, warning glance.

Claire took in a deep breath and said, “Absolutely.”

“Ah hell,” Shane breathed. “Okay, then. Run.”"

"Anybody else think that was weird?” Shane asked as they got into the car. Eve sent him an exasperated glance; the three of them were, of course, in the backseat. Amelie had the front, with Michael.

“Ya think? In general, or in particular?”

“Weird that we got through the entire thing, and I didn’t have to hit anybody.”

There was a moment of silence. Michael said, as he started the car, “You’re right, Shane. That is strange."

The Tear Collector, Patrick Jones, Walker Books, 272 pages

First let me say that I find it strange that a book who’s main character is a girl, has a boy on the cover. At least I’m almost positive it’s a boy. (and I do think I know why, but still)

Weird.

I thought it was a nice, refreshing twist on “vampires”, some race of people who need to feed off of your tears and sorrow to survive.

I was at odds with Cass though, the main character, where I enjoyed her and could empathize with the demands on her life, I felt like she didn’t come across completely teen-ish. It felt like maybe she was more of an adult. Which if you think about it, I suppose makes sense because she’s been “feeding” her family for years, taking in everyone’s sorrow, listening to their stories.

I really liked the fact that Scott, the love interest, was just a normal guy. He wasn’t bad boy, in this world of bad boys, he believes in God, doesn’t care that people know, is sensitive to the feelings of others, and yet still a teen boy.

I thought the developement of the friendship between Cass and Samantha was pretty awesome. And really liked the turn the story took once Cass thought about stepping into the life she wants.

The part I felt fell flat and was very quick was the whole thing with Cass’ cousin.

Overall I enjoyed it.

I had to return this book to the library so there are no quotes today.

Huh?!

I liked it. It was different. Interesting.

There were parts of it that I’m still confused about. Not huge plot parts just smaller things like why it was such a big deal for Samantha to see where Robyn died. And the whole thing with Alexei just happened way too fast. Some parts were a little unbelievable, but as a whole I did like it.

I thought the ending, like the very very end was pretty cool, and yet I feel horrible for saying so.

“You there?” Scott asks. He’s not used to my awkward pauses and mind ramblings. Our edges are still rough, no matter how much we rub our mostly clothed bodies together.

“Sorry, I got lost,” I confess.

“Then it’s a good thing I found you,” he says and I feel my body sway.

Carpe Corpus, Rachel Caine, NAL Jam, 241 pages

This book for me was a little different from the others. Some bigger things, I felt, I got closure on. It was nice, but there are still new plot lines that have been introduced and so I asked Ms. Caine how many books there would be in this series. I’m happy to report that after this one there will be another six. Maybe more, she said.

I loved the fact that there was so much more Myrnin. He’s a pretty awesome character.

And I was saddened by the death of a secondary character near the end, really saddened.

I’m always pleasantly surprised with the plot lines, and the twists that get thrown my way with this series. It’s a refreshing change.

As Myrnin opened the portal in the wall, Claire grabbed up Shane’s sweatshirt and pulled it on over her clothes. It was huge on her. She rolled up the sleeves, and couldn’t resist lifting the neck to smell it one more time.

Myrnin smirked. “There is no drama so great as that of a teenage girl,” he said.

“Except yours.”

Myrnin leaned in and smiled at her. “Fair lady, may I ride with you in your carriage?”

“God-get in!”

Myrnin sighed. “Please, allow me.”

“Do you have the faintest idea of how to drive a car?”

“I am a very fast learner.”

In fact, he wasn’t.

“What?” She felt a blush start to burn along her jawline, then spill over her cheeks. “No! Of course not! I just . . . I don’t know if-”

“Stop stammering.”

“You make me stammer. You always have, when you look at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like I’m dessert.”

He licked her on the nose.

His sigh seemed to come all the way from his toes. “God, I needed you,” he murmured. “I can’t even tell you how many times I thought about this. The funny thing is, I don’t need you any less now. I think I need you more.”

That, Claire thought, was a pretty good definition of love: needing someone even after you got what you thought you wanted.

Lord of Misrule, Rachel Caine, NAL Jam, 231 pages

Okay, this book, book 5 just took things to a whole new level. Like I’ve said before, things happen in these books that I just didn’t see coming.

Things are changing as a new, scarier vampire comes to town to take over. Lines are drawn and the vamps and humans that have inhabited Morganville start joining forces against him.

This story had all the elements that the others did, suspense, action, romance, and of course vampires.

I really have enjoyed the progression of each character, coming into their own. That’s been really fun to read about. One element that continues to surprise me is the science that’s intertwined in the story. Alchemy and Physics, I’ve just never been into science but these books make me wish I had.

The cliffhanger ending of this book in particular is excruciating.

He held out his hand for a manly kind of shake. Shane batted it aside and hugged him. There were manly backslaps, and if there was a brief flash of red in Michael’s eyes, Shane didn’t see it.

“You be careful, man,” Shane said. “Those college chicks, they’re wild. Don’t let them drag you into any Jell-O shot parties. Stay strong.”

“You too,” Michael said. “Be careful.”

“Driving around in a big, black, obvious lunch wagon in a town full of starving vampires? Yeah. I’ll try to keep it low profile.” Shane swallowed. “Seriously-”

“I know. Same here.”

They nodded at each other.

Claire and Eve watched them for a moment. The two of them shrugged. “What?” Michael asked.

“That’s it? That’s your big good-bye?” Eve asked.

“What’s wrong with it?”

Claire looked at Eve mystified. “I think I need guys CliffNotes.”

“Guys aren’t deep enough to need CliffNotes.”

“What were you waiting for, flowery poetry?” Shane snorted. “I hugged. I’m done.”

“What about Myrnin?”

Eve swallowed, almost choked, and Michael patted her kindly on the back. She beamed at him. “Myrnin? Oh yeah. He did a Batman and took off into the night. What is with that guy, Claire? If he was a superhero, he’d be Bipolar Man.’

Feast of Fools, Rachel Caine, NAL Jam, 242 pages

I have to say that out of the four books in this series that I’ve read this one is by far my favourite. I’m not sure what it was about this book exactly, I just felt like the storyline got so much deeper and more daring. One of the things that I love about this series is how the vamps are still mostly “evil”.

The addition of Bishop, Ysandra and Francois just made that much more apparent.

The intrigue just gets deeper and deeper.

I can usually “see” some twists coming but this series keeps me guessing the whole time. And then springs things on me that I wouldn’t expect.

You need to read these if you haven’t already. You’ll get hooked. Promise.

And now my favourite part, sharing some of the quotes I enjoyed the most...

She put a hand lightly on his stomach.

“You’re hurting,” she said.

“Only when I bend over. When did you get so short, anyway?”

“Five minutes ago.” She rolled her eyes, playing along, but she was worried.

and a couple of paragraphs later...

“Don’t do anything dumb,” she said. “Or I’ll kill you myself.”

“Ouch, girl. Whatever happened to unconditional love around here?”

“It got tired of visiting you in the hospital.” She held his eyes for a long few seconds.

(After Eve pulls out the first aid kit)

“Shirt off.”

“You only love me for my abs.”

“Shut up, loser. Shirt off.”

With a glance toward Claire, Shane pulled it over his head and tossed it on the breakfast table next to him.

“Crap,” Shane breathed as they stood together looking into the fridge. The shelves held leftover chili, some pasta stuff, hamburger patties. Enough for them, for a couple of days. Not enough for anywhere near the number of people in the house, even for the humans. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking.”

“I’m thinking we have about fifteen vampires and no blood,” Claire said. “Is that it?”

“No, I was thinking we’re out of chips. Of course that’s what I was thinking.”

"I'm gonna kill him," Eve said, or at least that was what it sounded like filtered through the pillow.

"Stake him right in the heart, shove garlic up his a#*, and-and-"

"And what?" (Michael)

"When did you get home?" Claire demanded.

"Apparently just in time to hear my funeral plans. I especially like the garlic up the a#*. It's...different."

Midnight Alley, Rachel Caine, NAL Jam, 244 pages

The intrigue and mysteriousness of why the Vampires are in Morganville just keeps getting deeper and deeper.

I loved the science of this book. And I am not a science person.

It’s just really really interesting about the alchemy and what it is and how it works.

I really liked the new character of Mernin. He was creepy and yet sad all at the same time.

I understand the need for the book and the series to be propelled forward but I have to say I’m sick of people blaming Shane for everything. It’s getting old. As are his stupid ideas. :)

Make someone else do something stupid. Oh wait. Claire does, and so does Michael. Eve’s about the only sane one of the four. Kidding.

But still, the book was fast-paced and the storyline just gets better and better.

And thanks for the little romantic reprieves here and there.

"Perv."

He pointed to himself. "Male and eighteen. What's your point?"

"You shouldn't be afraid of me because I'm a vampire. You ought to be scared because you just trash-talked my girlfriend to her face.

Good prize. Too good. Claire swallowed hard. “And if I lose?”

“Then I eat you,” Myrnin said.

Sam shook his head. “Do you even have a sense of self-preservation?”

“Shane asks me that all the time.”

The Dead Girls’ Dance, Rachel Caine, NAL Jam, 238 pages

Okay, book 2 in The Morganville Vampires series.

I liked this one just as much as the first. The characters were fleshed out a bit more. We got some backstory on Michael, Eve, and definantly Shane. Which was nice. The getting of the info, not necessarily the info gotten. :)

Also, I enjoyed the mystery and suspense of this book. There was much more, um, not adventure, but, oh, action.

Much more action than the first.

Quite a good follow up. Although without saying too much, I did miss Shane a bit.

I do recommend this series.

""This near enough? Whatcha gonna do, doll girl? Cry all over me?"

Claire hid her eyes as the biker reached out for Eve with one tattooed hand.

"No," Eve said breathlessly. "I'm going to let my boyfriend beat the crap out of you."

There was a dull thunk of wood meeting flesh, and a howl. Then another, much harder thunk, and a crash as a body hit the floor.

The biker was down. Claire stared at him in disbelief, then looked past him, to the figure standing there with the field hockey stick in both hands.

Michael Glass."

. . . just as the front door banged open, splintering around the lock, and the police charged in.

“Oh, man,” Shane whispered, “that sucks. We just fixed that door.”

She could have done a whole semester of kissing with Shane. Intense personal study. With lab classes.

Betrayals, Lili St. Crow, RazorBill, 296 pages

(Dec. 2) I do so enjoy this series and where Betrayals was a little slower in moving forward I felt like it was worth it.

Dru is now stuck in a school, out in the middle of nowhere, full of vampire and werewolf boys.

This book is pretty much all about Dru trying to come to grips with how her life has changed since Strange Angels, why she is where she is, and why, despite what Christophe told her when he sent her to the school, no one at the school is trying to help train her.

She distances herself from everyone, not really wanting to be there. Even a little from her best friend Graves, because he seems to be fitting in better.

Dru did bug me a little bit with her moping.

She wasn’t as talkative to Graves as she usually is and he had to drag a lot out of her. Do I understand why? Sure. But it still bugged me to read it chapter after chapter.

The ending of the story, say the last 10-12 chapters were pretty action packed and ended the story well.

I thought the twist in there about Ash and the Broken was intriguing.

And am curious when we will learn Graves’ first name. Does it matter? Not really, just curious. (I tweeted Ms. St. Crow and she said we find out in book 3!)

Also, just so you know, in case you are wanting to purchase this book for someone younger, or if you are a parent, there was more cussing in this book than the last. And not just hell’s and damn’s. I personally didn’t think a lot of it was necessary to further the story or show how “bad*ss” a person was supposed to be.

Mind you, this was set in a school for the “delinquents” so some of it did lend to the overall feel of the story.

I will absolutely be waiting for Jealousy, in June of 2010.

Now for some quotes

“You wanted to be a physics professor.” My throat closed up; I could only whisper.

“Yeah, well, things change. Now I want to be here.” Another long, seconds-ticking pause. Dust danced in one fading gleam of gold coming through a low window, following long lazy swirls down to the ground. “With you.”

“Doesn’t it bother you? That I...well, that I wanted to...suck his blood?”

His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. The silver earring winked mischievously at me, catching a stray gleam of sun. “Nah. You wouldn’t, you’d have stopped yourself.”- “Besides,” he said, flipping open the first huge leather-bound book with a thump, “it’s kind of hot.” A smile hovered around the corners of his mouth, fighting to stay hidden.

Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side, Beth Fantaskey, Harcourt, 351 pages

(Oct. 27)This book was nothing like I expected. I’m not sure why I thought it was going to be more of a slap-stick comedy. (Really, no clue) but it was actually deep, and there was so much that was dark about it.

Don’t get me wrong there were some fun bits but it was mostly a really well developed story. I finished it in a day, it was that good. I wanted to know what was going to happen next and was really agitated when I had to lay it down for a bit.

The story is written in Jessica’s voice but every so often we get to hear Lucius through his letters to his Uncle. Lucius is acting as a foreign exchange student from Romania (which I am, Romanian, not an exchange student) just so he can get close to her.

The premise was an excellent one, and although there were a handful of secondary characters they all stood out from each other. I thought Jess’s best friend Mindy was funny with her magazine reading and continuous calling out of Jessica’s feelings towards Lucius. I was actually saddened when they had a bit of a falling out.

It seems the saying, “don’t know what you got till it’s gone” kind of applies to this situation, and I do believe I got teary eyed during some parts of the book when Faith Crosse became more involved in the story line.

Lucius was mysterious and yet I felt connected to his character. I was sad when he was, snarky when he was. I really felt a pull towards him.

And Jessica, I loved watching her grow, grow into the person she was all along but didn’t know it. I think that’s how so many of us feel in life, not just when we are teens. We all grow and evolve and it was beautiful to see that happen with her.

I highly recommend this book, I think you will gobble it up pretty quickly as well. I’m anticipating what will come next from this author.

Lucius snorted again. “Is that what you want out of life? Nice? Must everything be nice?”

“Nice is...nice,” I protested.

Lucius shook his head. “Oh, Antanasia. I could show you things so far beyond nice, they’d spin your lovely head.”

When I hesitated, a look of annoyance crossed his aristocratic face, and he shook the pen at me. “You do recognize a pen, right? This is a familiar tool, yes?”

Stargazer, Claudia Gray, HarperTeen, 329 pages

(Oct. 11) I liked this one so much more than the first. And I liked the first one.

Stargazer, I don’t know, it just had more. Deeper characters, deeper plot, more action, more Balthazar, more Vic, more Raquel, even more Ranulf. It did not have more Lucas, but it worked.

There were twists and turns I didn’t see coming, Vic is super smart, Raquel actually smiled, Bianca was depressed...

I was able to follow the story from start to finish without a question of what was going on and even though I still have questions I’m pretty sure I’ll get most of my answers.

Eduardo is sketchy and so I’d like to know what his deal is. I would like to know why Mrs. Bethany, one smells like lavendar and two invited the humans in to Evernight.

I want to know what happened to Vic, Ranulf and Balthazar. I want Vic to be in the next book more. He’s my comic relief, I like his sense of humor and his mellowness.

So, I thought this was an excellent sequel in an already pretty awesome story.

“Yo Binks!”

Nobody had ever called me “Binks” before in my life, bu I knew who it had to be even before I recognized the voice. “Vic!”

“It takes time to figure out what the arrows mean,” Balthazar protested, moving stiffly through the steps on the beginner level of Dance Dance Revolution.

“You have to internalize that so your body knows what to do the second your eye sees the arrow. Your brain can’t even come into it.” I sat cross-legged on the floor next to the game mat, watching him in dismay. “You’re a good dancer, Balthazar. How come you’re so bad at this?”

“This isn’t dancing. These days, it’s merely-rhythmic twitching.”

Evernight, Claudia Gray, Harper Teen, 327 Pages

(Oct 9) Really enjoyed this story for the most part.

And I promise I’m not nitpicking or anything. There’s just one part of the book, about 120 pages in, a twist in the story that I felt like, “what the hell?” It came out of nowhere. I thought I knew this character, thought I knew what was happening, where things were going, and then BAM!, complete 180 that wasn’t even hinted at.

So other than that little surprise I can say that I recommend this book. It was a great read, the characters and setting were well written and believeable. The “adults” in the book seemed to act like adults, what I mean by that is a lot of times in books when an adult is mentioned they are not really in the picture. They don’t give advice or act like parents with boundaries, etc. These adults actually did, which was kind of refreshing.

I’ve already started Stargazer and can’t wait to see how things are going to turn out for the whole crew.

Interesting, interesting. I like it.

Now for the quotes...

“Whoa, the rooms are going coed? That’s made of awesome.” Vic came in behind me. I gave him a wan smile before turning back to watch Lucas’s car driving away. The car was speeding off as if they were in a hurry. “Good job sneaking in. You guys just said good-bye, huh?”

“Uh-huh.” What else could I say?

“Don’t get too depressed, all right? Vic gave me a little punch on the shoulder. “Some guys know what to say to girls when they’re upset, but man, I’m not one of them.”

and pretty much all the others I want to say will give too much away so enjoy that one.

Strange Angels, Lili St. Crow, Penguin, 293 Pages

(First posted Sept. 30 2009)

Dru Anderson has been “strange” for as long as she can remember traveling from town to town with her father to hunt things that go bump in teh night. It’s a weird life, but a good one-until it all explodes in an icy, broken-down Dakota town, when a hungry zombie busts through her kitchen door.

Okay so when I read the back I thought, um okay. I guess I’ll give it a go. But I was pleasently surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. Dru is a little annoying in the beginning and she repeats things in her head quite a few times throughout the beginning of the book, for example, like how the snow carries sound differently. Now, having read the book I understand that there is significance in a lot of what Dru explains, yet it was still a little irksome because I felt like I’d read it before. Deja vu.

This is a fast paced story filled with vampires and zombies and werwulven, amongst other things. I liked how there were bits of what we know from books and movies, like silver bullets and such but Ms. St. Crow also added a lot of stuff I’ve never heard of that made this story unique. Set apart. Like the djamphir and loup-garou and svetocha. It was all very interesting to read about.

I enjoyed the three main characters, like I said Dru was a little, I don’t know, I just didn’t connect with her in the beginning. I liked Graves straight away, but really wish I knew his first name :) I don’t know but you’d think it would have been a question Dru’d have asked. He’s funny and endearing. I always like the nerdy, underdog I think. Although I wouldn’t say Graves is nerdy. I liked Christophe as well because he’s cocky, but in a rightful way. I mean he does know more than the other two and they do need him. I like that he puts her in her place yet there seems to be something going on with him in response to Dru.

And now for a few of my favourite quotes...

I put my head down, barely aware I was screaming like a goddamn cheerleader in a horror movie, and ran for my life.

“I keep telling you, first ones free.” (to me this is resonant of “as you wish” in The Princess Bride.)

“Why can’t I have a normal girlfriend?” he asked the air over his head. “I finally meet someone I like and she turns out to be crazy. Oh, well.”

“Girlfriend?” I half-choked, almost spraying snot out of my nose.

I can’t wait until Betrayals is out. I’ll be devouring that one too.

Masquerade, Melissa De La Cruz, Hyperion, 305 Pages

(First posted Sept. 29, 2009) Okay, so I’m sucked in. I started this book this morning and finished it tonight. Some of the concepts are still a little confusing to me concerning the families and who belongs to whom, how. Yet that has not kept me from reading it.

Again, the concept of the book is pretty incredible, such a unique take on vampirism and how it came about.

I still am not a fan of Mimi’s, and was happy to see the addition of Lawrence, and Kingsley Martin, they’ve made the story more interesting.

Still love Ollie, and love the twist concerning Bliss and Schuyler. That I did not expect at all.

So there you have it. I am aware this is super short but I can’t say anything more because I really don’t want to give anything away. Enjoy the book because it’s a good one.

Oh, and I want to know who Maggie Stanford is/was. (I have an idea)

And who wore the black mask. (This one too.)

I want to know more about Allegra and Michael and why he keeps begging for forgiveness. Hopefully that will be answered next time.