Kiss of a Demon King by Kresley Cole

KEEPER, KEEPER, KEEPER, KEEPER, KEEPER !!!!

Woohoo!!

Today's number is S-I-X!

As you can see, I have just read my first KEEPER of 2009 AND it's a 2009 release.

Super Cool!

Not only that, I read this book (which is part of a series) out of order (I think there are 3 previous to this one I haven't read) and completely understood everything.

I'm telling you, Kresley Cole must have a room in her house where she can write shit on the walls because her books cover similar time spans which means that while the characters in this book were falling in love, there were other characters falling in love elsewhere (and whose books were probably before this one). There has to be a flow chart somewhere in the world to keep track of the time line and events and I can't see it being contained on a measly piece of paper.

Cindy Blurb: Uh.

Okay, the world building is really intricate and there are vamps and demons and sorceri and well, anything you can imagine I'm guessing so yeah, it's a paranormal.

We have Sabine The Queen of Illusions as the heroine and what a character she is. I loved her and her 'plotting' ways. Sabine is a sorceri who has died a few times, (her sister had the magic of commanding - and every time Sabine died her sister 'commanded' her to live - seriously, that's tricky stuff!), loves and trusts only her sister and is constantly being hunted by creatures that wish to kill her. Add to this a half brother who can't be killed and is extreme evil as Sabine's protector and you get a woman who knows nothing but trickery, illusion and survival of the fittest.

Rydstrom is a Demon King who was de-throned by Sabine's half brother and barely escaped with his life. For 500 years he has tried to find a way to kill the imposter and he finally learns of a sword that should do the trick. Rydstom is all that is loyal, true and good.

His fated mate is Sabine and what won't kill you, can only make you - well, fall in love?

I have to break this story down to just the relationship between Rydstrom and Sabine. It took me about a chapter or two before I was able to settle into this book and I think most of that was because there is so much that needs to be told to the reader about the world and the characters they are about to meet.

That said, I read this book out of order and I understood every thing. So if you are itching to read a great story and are many books behind in this series, no worries, this book is stand alone. Although you'll get glimpses of other characters and want to know about their stories also.

Let's get to the story.

Sabine captures Rydstrom and imprisons him because she knows she is Rydstrom's fated mate and in order to defeat her brother (this is her side of the story) she must become pregnant with Rydstrom's heir.

Rydstrom is obviously furious and is further enraged to discover the woman given to him by fate is not even remotely what he bargained for.

I loved the way Sabine always managed to keep control. She knew what she needed and went after it with no small amount of pleasure. She, however, didn't expect to fall in love with Rydstrom as he was just a means to an end. Sabine is not a heroine I've come across often. Maybe not at all. She is not afraid to welch on deals and is always a few steps ahead of those around her. The great news is that love doesn't change who Sabine is. She's a thief, a liar and a manipulator and Rydstrom better learn to love her as she is or all hell will break loose.

Rydstrom meanwhile, was not hard to like. I did start to have problems with him when he believed that only he could save Sabine. Sabine is a fierce warrior and Rydstrom can't seem to come to grips with this. Midway through the story the tables turn on Sabine and she becomes Rydstrom's prisoner. What drove me nuts was that Rydstrom would rather leave her defenseless (if you tie Sabine's arms behind her back she can't create illusions - she can make you see your worst nightmares, make herself invisible so she can slit your throat or create distractions by having things seem to blow up) than allow her to protect herself. When she ends up being attacked Rydstrom finds her but just in the nick of time. Even after seeing that Sabine can fall into danger Rydstrom still won't allow her her magic.

I can see his point. He knew Sabine would escape him the first chance she got but somehow leaving his mate defenseless made more sense to him than making sure she was safe. I found the whole thing a bit 'neandrathol' and annoying as he never really changed in this respect.

That would be the one 'pain' for me with this story. Rydstrom couldn't back up enough to allow Sabine her due. Yes, he acknowledges her power and strength and abilities but he still has this need to protect her. Hey, you can have the need all you want, but respecting the person you love is also way up there and needs to be part of a relationship.

So I could see Rydstrom driving Sabine crazy after a few hundred years with his over protective ways.

Other than that though I loved the banter and trick for trick between these characters. Each had an agenda and each tried every thing they could to get their needs met. All this while falling in love with their so called enemy.

There were also passages that had me laughing out loud and that is always a wonderful surprise with a book.

I'm going with an A- because of that one pain that became more noticeable as the story progressed. Still, Sabine was a thrill to watch and her reactions to life were fun and different from many romance heroines.

All in all, if you want to try something different I would highly recommend this book!

Anybody else read this one yet? Other opinions? Cause you know they are always welcomed.

Does She Really Need An Introduction?

I read much of today and finished Fire and Ice by Anne Stuart!

At first I was thinking something was off (as in although it was a keeper, it wasn't going to be one of my favourites) but then WHAM, she sucker punched me!!

I friggin' love this book!!!

So yeah, get ready for it -

KEEPER, KEEPER, KEEPER, KEEPER, KEEPER!!!!

Cindy Blurb: So, this is a final in a series about assassins for 'good' and by that I don't mean these people are even remotely healthy in the morals department but hey, they aren't stone cold killers just for kicks. They have a purpose when they kill - wait, uh, okay, I should mention these are pretty dark books with those anti-heroes / heroines (just in case you are new to Stuart - LinnieGayl I'm talking to you!) that just make me happy.

Jilly is the sister of Summer (a heroine from another book) who is 20 and even though she is young and yes, she even acts young, she's I guess a genius but you know, in books cause not so much in social ways. She met Reno (the cousin of Taka, Summer's man) two years ago and started crushing something fierce. Reno, poor bugger, fell also but didn't realize it. Summer and Taka see it all and keep these two apart.

Reno, meanwhile, is 28 and a disgrace to his well respected family. Hair down to his waist, dyed bright red, rides Harleys and doesn't take anything too seriously. At least, that's what we are led to believe and yeah, I totally bought it.

What happens?

Jilly makes a mistake and runs to her sister who just happens to be in extreme hiding with her hubby Taka. Jilly, not realizing she shouldn't be in Japan ever, steps into the middle of a turf war and Reno is sent in to save her.

And then there was love.

Stuart style baby!!

Let's see, what can I tell you about this one?

I went into Reno and Jilly's story not truly convinced I was going to buy these two falling in love. I guess their ages threw me off and then Reno hadn't really acted all that mature in the previous books. He's a biker dude (okay, he was called something else in the book but whatever) who worked with extremely skilled, deadly guys and they all seemed to make him look like, uh, well, a pansy.

I'm just saying.

Didn't feel like hero material to me.

HOW COULD I HAVE DOUBTED!!???

My love for Ms. Stuart now knows no bounds. I'm telling ya, she made Death sexy in a novella umpteen years ago, had me fall in love with a dead gangster in a Valentine's Day anthology - let's not even talk about Simon ( *MY* Simon) the conman wizard in a historical of all things!!

How could I have thought that she wasn't going to pull this one out of the fire?

The beginning was choppy for me but it was because of all these preconceived notions I had about Reno and well, Jilly is young. Like, young. She was practically jail bait when she first met Reno and Ms. Stuart usually writes characters that are well seasoned with age.

But OMG it just gets fabulous as you continue reading.

What did I love? I loved that Reno and Jilly *were* young cause even though Reno had that edge (you discover it later) these two made mistakes because hey, they haven't been chased by killers everyday of their life like Takashi or Bastien . So of course the baddies are going to get the drop on them and more than once!

In the end I really felt like these two were on an equal footing and that is not something you come across a lot in Stuart's work. The hero is usually so much more dangerous and yes, Reno is dangerous but he isn't quite as broken or cast in iron like a man much older and jaded by his work. So Jilly is able to break through many more times than any of the previous heroines with their own heroes in this series. Jilly is all youth and yet, she has power over Reno even though she isn't quite aware of it.

Then there was that joyful neediness of the young (Jilly's side) mixed with a Fuck You attitude. At times, Jilly would get all pissy and say things that A) get her in dangerous trouble and B) scare the piss out of Reno. The older heroines in previous books don't get as sassy with their heroes because with age comes wisdom - or, uh, fear - so they tend to keep their mouths shut at times you wish they would say something, anything to get the hero to react.

Now for me the book was perfect although I know there is a scene late in the story that would have most readers going 'Oh c'mon!!' but I don't care, I loved it and hey, other authors write scenes like it and don't even acknowledge that someone could have got a bullet in the ass.

I'm just saying.

I could go on - Hey, I heard that! - but I'm going to try and stop now.

It's an A for me for sure.

Now trying to be objective for other readers I would say this one should rate fairly high up there. I'll say a B to B+ for most readers because there isn't as much darkness or angst in this one.

I finished this one this afternoon and yelled down to Bob.

Me: I just finished my book *small sob*

Bob: Uh, oh. You have any other Stuarts?

Me: Are you kidding me!? (okay I do but I'm so not cracking that safe right now! I'm saving them for a time when she might think about retiring. *pleaseNOpleaseNOpleaseNO*)

Bob: Are you going to be blue?

Me: *glare*

Bob: Thought so.

My man doth know me well.

The good news though is that although I had that little pang in my heart for a few hours I'm really excited about reading the next book I can get my mitts on!

Kiss it Slumpville!!

Edited: HELP!! There is a short story on Stuart's website but for some reason I can't download it - it keeps sending me to buy the book. NOOOOOO!! I want the short story!!!

Stupid and Contagious by Caprice Crane

When I closed the cover on this book I was just happy and I still am happy. This is quite possibly the only time I have ever considered giving a book an A grade that wasn't a romance book and had no sex between the H/H.

I think I'm growing up.

*wipes tear from eye*

Upon further reflection and let's face it, my need to perfect my grading system in at least my own mind, I decided on a B+.

Cindy Blurb: Heaven is a, uhm ... well she's the heroine and Brady is the hero of the story.

Huh.

Okay, basically - uh.

I guess I'm making it pretty clear I have no clue how to review a chick-lit book.

Heaven starts the story as a high powered PR executive for a small firm and for some reason gets the boot (I mean, I know the reason, maybe jealousy or maybe we're seeing it from Heaven's side of things but whatever). Heaven gets a job as a waitress at a pretty trendy restaurant and we get the inside dish on what restaurants are really like (since I was once a waitress, I get most of it). I also think that Heaven doesn't have many boundaries because when she starts getting her neighbours mail, she thinks nothing of opening it and telling him her opinions.

The neighbour is Brady but we meet him on a plane wondering over his past relationships and why he is still trying to be cool when he is over 30. He is forced to move when the woman he has been living with for the past two years refuses to believe he is breaking up with her and won't leave his rent-frozen (can't remember the term) apartment. He meets Heaven and is basically appalled by her noisiness and general mayhem.

This book is told from the POV of Heaven and Brady and they swap chapters. So the chapter heading will read Heaven and it's her thoughts etc. We don't get earth shatteringly deep thoughts out of either of these characters. They are not looking to solve world hunger or stop war, they are just normal and sometimes normal is down right hilarious cause who hasn't been there and done that.

Is it a story about finding one's self? I guess, maybe, damned if I know. I think it's more of a story about meeting the person you fall in love with and that makes me happy. I laughed out loud at parts and no, it's not slapstick funny like Evanovich so no worries there.

Why not a perfect grade? Believability.

There is a scene where Heaven is clueless to the point of stupidity and all I could think was 'stop, you can't be this dense.' Basically she's working at the restaurant and smells something extremely bad and she thinks the toilets in the bathroom have backed up. She apologizes to the table seated near the bathroom and everyone kind of looks away. She goes into the bathroom and finds the odor is not as bad in there - so she decides that someone at the table has stepped in something and tells them this. Nobody at the table reacts - I would think at this point you would shut your yap and let it go but no, she starts sniffing around the table until she gets to a woman and is bending to inspect her shoe when the woman bursts into tears. She has a colostomy bag - Heaven is mortified that she just embarrassed the woman but really, would anyone take something that far?

The other part that I stumbled over was a section about Starbucks and how people get to make choices. While reading it all I could think of is You've Got Mail and how the hero in that movie had the exact same thoughts. It definitely took me out of the story because I was no longer in the head of Brady but in the head of the movie guy.

Oh, and the ending was too pat. I mean there is a HEA and then there is an over the top HEA. I'm just saying, the guy gets the girl, good enough. The rest is gravy but then Crane threw whip cream and a cherry on top. But then, there are people in the world with over the top lives. Bastards.

Ahem.

If you already love Chick-lit then I would recommend this book to you but remember, I'm not well versed in this genre. If you are in a slump and need something a little different then this might be just the thing.

That's what this experiment was for me. I just didn't know which of the 200 romance books in my TBR pile to pick up next so I decided I needed to read something completely different.

I'm glad I did.

One Little Sin by Liz Carlyle

Well, it took a full moon cycle but I finally finished this book. I have to say I am glad that I forced myself to sit down and finish it because I was considering just moving on but I'll get to that.

Cindy Blurb: Okay, this is more of a thumbnail sketch because the story is really quite basic. You have Alasdair MacLachlan who is a manwhore but you know, not the paid kind, just the 'can't keep it in his pants' kind and he is wholly unrepentant. Frankly, I don't find this attractive in a man who is 36 years old but hey, it's the opening scene and I'm hoping for some serious character growth. After all, I don't wish to follow the hero from bed, to hayloft to whatever other droll place he can think to have sex.

The heroine is one Esmee Hamilton who bursts into Alasdair's life toting her two year old half sister who is Alasdair's bastard daughter. *re-reads sentence to see if all relationships are straight* Yep.

Alasdair in some drunken state knocked up Esmee's mom (Esmee's 22) who was a married woman who enjoyed some tupping on the side. Since her mother died and her step-father knew that the two year old girl wasn't his, he threw them out of his house. The only place Esmee can go is to the actual father of the child to get him to step up while she moves on to be a governess.

Alasdair, in shock, asks Esmee to remain as Sorcha's governess and she exacts a huge settlement and wishing to remain with her sister, takes the job.

What happens from there is not rocket science. Right down to the noble sacrifice of the hero sending the heroine away to make a better life with someone else. The whole thing is quite familiar except for the little girl who was not only a pain in the arse to read about but was also an 'ick' factor for me. C'mon, the H/H get together and there are some serious ramifications to the family tree.

For me I would say this book rates as a C- in enjoyment but probably more of a B- in execution. By this I mean the story is well written, and the heroine at least is very likable. The hero isn't bad either and maybe that is what rubbed me wrong. Alasdair was boring and we all know I like my men with a little dark meat. Being a rampant sperm donor doesn't make you dark, just an oversexed manchild.

By the end of the story, and I mean the end, the 'ick' factor is taken away but by then, I just didn't care whether these two would put a crimp in the family tree. The H/H certainly didn't care about the health of their potentially nut bearing family tree so why would I as the reader worry about their future kids? So the ending was just meh.

Just as a note, I read to the 3/4 mark before putting the book down for a good 4 or 5 days. Like I said above, there were no surprises here so I had no incentive to finish the story. I decided tonight that I could at least skim to the end because I know that not finishing books can bring on a slump and I so don't have time for that! I did skim it for the most part (I'm a newbie) and am pretty proud of myself for having finished the book. *pats self on back*

That said, I don't think I will read the rest of this series until I try the 'Devil' series. That one seems to be the series that readers like so Carlyle gets one more chance from me and let me tell you that is a record!

My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding

I just finished my first book of 2007! If I keep this up I may just beat 2006 awesome score of 21 books read in a year!

Hush.

No words are needed.

I started with an Anthology to ease myself into the whole, 'I'm not moving for the next 8 hours because I'm reading a book' phase. It worked to keep my attention and also helped in that I still have things I am trying to get done so not a lot of commitment.

Ames actually does up a review of each of the stories in this anthology and since I'm way too lazy for that you might be better served over there.

Here's what I can tell you (I just re-read Ames' reviews and we agree on many points).

Spellbound by L.A. Banks - I didn't get very far at all and it felt very childish. Also, the H/H are finishing university and are from the South but each ended up sounding like a backwoods person. You want to see Southern done right watch the TV show The Closer. Southern charm with extreme intelligence.

I skipped the Jim Butcher story. I have read his first in the Harry series and I enjoyed it enough but, I didn't see it becoming a romance and I guess I prefer first person narratives from a female perspective. Huh. I just figured that out.

I enjoyed Rachel Caine's Dead Man's Chest although I couldn't get Pirates of the Caribbean out of my head. Whatever. Turns out I really do miss those old pirate romances and wouldn't mind reading more as long as they aren't all described as 'Captain Jack'. I will read more by this author if she has written a romance with some sex at the very least.

None of these stories are what I would call 'warm' in the sex department (in fact, most are subtle) other than the Kenyon story and well, I didn't care (about the Kenyon story).

I can't find anything on the spine that categorizes this anthology so maybe it was a leap by me to think it was a romance anthology.

Probably the whole 'Wedding' in the title.

Judging a book by it's cover and title. Very Bad Cindy!

I'm actually surprised at what I did like in this anthology - I read the story by Esther M. Friesner and it was nice - I guess I liked the person narrating even though it took me a while to figure out that it was a man. Can't see reading this author again as I don't think they write romance or sex for that matter.

I liked Charlaine Harris' story also but I do have a thing for fur and fangs. I tried her first book in the Sookie series and it didn't click. I'm thinking of giving it another whirl.

To sum up:

I have finished my first book of the year.

It wasn't a romance book by my definition and I think the one short story should count as my 'literary fiction' for the year.

Yeah. No more literary fiction for the year. Oh wait, I have that philosophy book I want to read. Okay, maybe one more.

I was going to read Hell's Belles next but I heard it's more Chick-lit and I'm looking for straight romance with some good old fashion sexual tension.

I'll let you know when I figure it out.

I also have to tweak the blog - I need to add more of the blogs I visit to the sidebar and I want to keep a running total of the books I read under that one spot I'm not using right now. Since there is room for some info I'm trying to figure out what else might be pertinent.

Any suggestions?

Edited: More specifically - any suggestions for under the Just Stuff section - I think I'm stealing this idea from someone else but I can't find who had this layout on their blog.

A Singular Lady by Megan Frampton

Okay, let'’s get a few things straight.

1. I don'’t read Traditional Regencies.

2. I. Don'’t. Read. Traditional. Regencies.

3. Dude, really? You need a third set of criteria? I just used ‘'dude'’ in a sentence like it'’s a real word!

(In case someone comes along and wonders why I did read this book well, I bought it because of Megan's blog and when she found I had it she said I had to read it. I promised!)

Cindy Blurb -– We meet the heroine as she is leaving her lawyer'’s office where she has discovered that her father left all his money to 'a‘nother woman'’ thus leaving her and her brother in financial ruin. Her only recourse is to land a rich husband. (Let's just throw a Hail Mary up for not having the will say 'you must marry to have the money'. I was terrified at first and was pleased that Ms. Frampton didn't fall into that scary place)

On her way out of the office she literally bumps into Edwin the hero who has just returned from America a rich man. He is keeping this a secret since 5 years ago a woman tried to marry him for his money thus, he no longer trusts a woman to love him without his money.

Conflict? You got it.

I liked Titania in the beginning. She was definitely a 'no holds bar'’ kind of heroine. Sit and whine? No thanks, I need to get some stuff done. I liked this about her. I also liked the hero who had a '‘hail fellow fairly met'’ kind of personality.

The beginning of the story was a wee bit slow because Titania had to set up house and get herself situated within society so that she could get invitations to the right places. I'’m figuring this is probably common to most regencies. My problem with this section is that Titania didn'’t like anybody she met (except for the hero and those in her employ) and well, I guess it had to be firmly established that no one was going to help her and her brother.

Also, Titania seemed to be removed from many of the situations. The man who makes her heart beat all sloppy, kisses her and puts his hand on her breast and she doesn'’t gasp or jerk or even really think. In fact, I don'’t think she reflected on what happened until a few scenes later. I was all, '‘uh, he put his hand on your breast in the middle of a park in Regency England!!'’. I appreciated that she wasn'’t a ninny but seeing as how she had probably never had anyone stroke her breast before I'’m thinking her knees giving out or something would be appropriate.

I was glad that Titania came to a certain conclusion (you know, this would be spoiler stuff) before all her troubles were solved. The solution to one problem though? Highly unlikely even with the most gracious of people. Hey, I'’d like to think I could be that high minded but even I would be thinking about returns and dividends and such. And I'’m considered the Bank of Cindy!!

So, what'’s great about this book?

The writing and the banter between the characters was top notch. I was actually able to understand all the double entendres which was a nice change of pace for me. Neither the hero or heroine were perfect and they each made their share of mistakes. Also, there wasn'’t a sense that they saved each other from anything overly sinister. These are two people who could have existed and made a mash out of their courtship. At least they were able to find their way towards each other in the end!