BLOOD BATH & BEYOND (An Immortality Bites Mystery)
by Michelle Rowen

PUBLISHER: Obsidian Mystery

RELEASE DATE: 04 October 2012

GENRE: Paranormal Mystery / Crime

Sarah Dearly is adjusting to life as a fledgling vampire but when her fiance, Thierry, takes a job with the Ring - the secret council in charge of keeping vampires in line - she gets more than a taste of danger.

In Las Vegas for Thierry's first assignment, they encounter a child beauty pageant from hell, as well as a vampire serial killer who threatens to expose the existence of vampires to the whole world.

And when Thierry's truly ancient history comes back to haunt him, it's up to Sarah to clear his name before their immortal lives come to an end.

It was love at first sight when I saw the cover art on this book. The colours are eye-catching and the style is classy and very graphic novel-ish. I immediately wanted to start reading it, which is no bad thing!

The opening sentence caught my attention: "The fangs don't get nearly as much attention as you'd think". And before I knew it, I was caught up in the lives of Sarah Dearly, a recently turned vampire, and her fiance, Thierry de Bennicoeur, a six hundred year old master vampire.

Sarah is a strong character who always sees the best in people. However, she absolutely has the worst luck! She is forever ending up in unexpected and sometimes life-threatening situations and it's amazing she manages to survive her trip to Las Vegas in one piece!

She is completely devoted to Thierry but she's not blinkered. She knows he has a LOT of past and that she's inevitably not going to like some of it but she's willing to deal with that because his past isn't who he is now.

There was never any question that when Thierry was blackmailed into working for the Ring, she wouldn't go with him. And since the Ring primarily exists to police vampiric behaviour, you know that trouble lies ahead.

We meet a whole range of characters in Las Vegas. There's Bernard, another master vampire, and Laura, a newly turned vampire, whose personalities and relationships lead Sarah to reflect on herself and her own relationship. Then there's Victoria Corday; 6 year old girl on the outside, 96 year old vampire on the inside...and beauty queen extraordinare! And Markus, the Ring's enforcer, who arrives in Las Vegas to take care of the vampire serial killer that's on the loose...and Thierry.

There's also some interesting twists on the usual vampire lore, with the biggest being that whatever age you're turned at, you're always inherently that age. So even though Victoria is 96, she's not a worldly vampire in the body of a little girl, she's still a little girl, with just a bit more life experience, particularly when it comes to winning beauty pageants.

The plot is fast-moving and you can see the start of an arc, which the author could explore in any number of ways in future books in the series. I think the series can potentially only get stronger as we learn more and more about the characters and the world they inhabit.

Blood Bath & Beyond was a light, entertaining read, with less emphasis on romance and more on mystery. If you've ever read the Undead series by Mary Janice Davidson or the Dark Ones novels by Katie MacAlister then you'll definitely enjoy this!

I had a miserable morning at work yesterday and for the first time in a long time I decided I deserved a little treat to cheer myself up.

I work in walking distance of Telford Shopping Centre and at lunchtime, I made my way over and kept my fingers tightly crossed that Lush still had a shop there.

I love Lush; it's one of my favourite places and it's the perfect shop to visit if you need a pick-me-up. I have NEVER seen an unhappy face in Lush; the bright colours, sparkles and beautiful aromas don't allow it!

I really took my time looking around and breathing in the different scents. I knew I wanted something that I could use in the bath and that would leave me feeling relaxed and at peace with myself, and I didn't want to take the obvious option of a bath bomb; I wanted to try something new.

I eventually settled on a Vanilla Fountain Bath Bomb and a Karma Bubble Bar. When I went to pay, the young guy that served me was so enthusiastic about the bubble bar that I knew I had to use it first.

And that's the other thing, both of the guys that were working yesterday lunchtime were fabulous. There is no other word for them! They were warm, passionate, knowledgeable and just the right level of chatty. They made me feel like I was being welcomed into a special club and really did turn my day around for me. I didn't take their names but Lush, you should be very proud of them!

So, what did I make of the Karma Bubble Bar?

I loved the bright orange colour.

I crumbled the whole bar under the running water and it dissolved quickly and completely; there were no lumps or grainy bits left at the bottom of the bath.

The water turned a lovely shade of orange and oh my, there were a LOT of bubbles!

I don't have the most discerning sense of smell but the sweet aroma of oranges really came through. And as soon as I sank under the water, I felt my limbs relax and my mind still.

The bubble bar left my skin feeling as though it was covered in oil. I felt sensual and indulgent and I had the best night's sleep in a long time.

If you haven't tried a Karma Bubble Bar then you have to give one a go!

Lush, I WILL be back!

STYGIAN'S HONOR (A novel of the Breeds)
by Lora Leigh

PUBLISHER: Berkley - US

RELEASE DATE: 04 October 2012

GENRE: Paranormal Romance

Window Rock, Arizona, is the last known location of Honor Roberts, who vanished when she was just thirteen. It was her only sanctuary from the Breed research that would surely have ended in her death - one such insidious experiment should, indeed, have killed her. That she lived is both a miracle - and a great mystery.

 

Stygian's mission is to find Honor Roberts, no matter the cost. Now, with the help of Liza Johnson, assistant to the chief of the Navajo Nation, he is closer than ever to his goal. But will the discovery of Honor Roberts mean the destruction of the mating heat that has developed between Stygian and Liza?

 

I haven't read any of the previous novels about the Breeds and although you don't really need to, I think I would have been able to follow certain aspects of the story a bit easier if I had done. For example, there isn't much of an explanation about who the Breeds are and how they came to be, or about the work of the Genetics Council, or what's happened to Amber, Jonas Wyatt's 2 year old daughter. I do wonder whether my opinion of this book would have been different if I'd had a better understanding of the world it was based in.

 

Although I liked the idea of the storyline, it was very predictable and I knew by the end of chapter 1 what the "twist" was going to be. I decided to keep going and give it the benefit of the doubt but what unfolded before me, rather than being an action/romance/mystery, was sex, sex and more sex. In fact, there was whole lot of Stygian and Liza hanging around a hotel and having sex, and not very much in the way of tracking down Honor Roberts. And lets face it, there's only so many times you want to hear about Liza and her creaming pussy . . .

 

Both Stygian and Liza were very formulaic characters that didn't bring anything new to the table and I didn't particularly engage with any of the other major characters. There were a few bit players who caught my attention and who I would be interested to read about, notably Cassie and Gideon.

 

A book about Gideon is a cert as the author has set up what could be a really interesting story arc about the other girl and the 2 breeds that were held captive and experimented on with Honor. But, I suspect it will go down the same erotic fiction route as this book; too much sex and not enough depth and character development.

 

Overall, I was disappointed with the author's offering and honestly, I'm not tempted to read any of the other Breeds novels. I'll stick to Sherrilyn Kenyon and her Dark-Hunter World and Meljean Brook and The Guardians.

 

The previous Breeds novels are:

Bengals' Heart
Coyote's Mate
Harmony's Way
Nauti Boy
Lawe's Justice

NIGHT SEEKER (Indigo Court #3)
by Yasmine Galenorn

PUBLISHER: Berkley - US

RELEASE DATE: 06 September 2012

GENRE: Fantasy, Paranormal Romance

Eons ago, vampires tried to turn the dark Fae in order to harness their magic, only to create a demonic enemy more powerful than they could have imagined. Now, the Vampiric Fae are on the move, hunting anyone in their path. As the war with the vampires ratchets up, Myst, Queen of the Indigo Court, enshrouds New Firest in her chilling grasp.

Cicely Waters, owl shifter and Wind Witch, has rescued the Fae Prince Grieve, at a great cost. Their reunion has lost them the allegiance of the Summer Queen, Lainule - and the tolerance of the vampires. In desperation, they turn to the Consortium - the preeminent magical guild - for help. Now, to regain the goodwill of Lainule, they must dare to enter the heart of Myst's realm. But as Cicely and Grieve embark on their search for the heartstone of Summer, Myst, the Queen of Winter, is already wreaking her terrifying revenge.

I've never read any of the Indigo Court novels before and was slightly worried that jumping into the middle of this series would prove to be a mistake. Fortunately, Night Seeker can be read as a stand-alone book; however, I wouldn't be surprised if, like me, you then end up wanting to read the first 2 in order to find out what you've missed!

 

It is such a refreshing change to read a book that focuses predominantly on the Fae. Most of the books I read tend to be about vampires/werewolves/zombies so I really enjoyed learning some new supernatural lore.

 

There weren't any characters that seemed superficially drawn or out of place and whilst I may have found myself questionning some of their names ("Chatter", really?), I was able to suspend my disbelief and immerse myself in their adventure.

 

I can easily imagine the author writing a spin-off novel for each character and if there was one about Ysandra Petros, an uber powerful member of the Consortium or Kaylin Chen, a dreamwalker with a night veil demon merged into his soul, I'd definitely read it. I can imagine there's a lot of people who'd definitely read one based on the hedonistic vampire, Lannan Altos!

 

The story unfolded at a decent pace and although the main revelation was, for me, slightly anti-climactic, as I guessed it quite early on from the clues given by the author, this didn't spoil my enjoyment of the book and, in fact, I felt the story unravelled in a very natural way.

 

I don't want to spoil the series for anyone that hasn't read this book yet by talking about precisely what happens in it but I don't think you'll be disappointed and the ending will certainly leave you wondering what will happen next. It's definitely not a happy-ever-after situation.

 

And finally, I can't review this book without mentionning the sexual tension within it. And not forgetting some sizzling sex scenes as well! It will be very interesting to see how the relationships between the characters develop and potentially change in the next book in the series.

 

Overall, I can honestly say I really enjoyed this book and I would definitely read more from Yasmine Galenorn.

 

The previous Indigo Court novels are:

 

Night Myst (Indigo Court #1)

Night Veil (Indigo Court #2)

It's been a long time and there's so much to say but I don't have the energy or the inclination.

 

In a nutshell, I'm not okay.

 

Just over 3 weeks ago, I went to see my doctor and told him everything about the way I've been feeling over the last few months. I was diagnosed with postnatal depression and given a prescription for anti-depressants. It took a lot of courage for me to start taking the anti-d's but I did because I just want to feel normal again.

 

I want to talk more about this, share how I was feeling and how the anti-d's have affected me but I'm so very, very tired still. Not tired as in sleepy but absolutely bone-weary. And I've lost my joy for blogging and pretty much all of my hobbies, apart from reading.

 

To everyone who follows me on twitter, I will be back. I'm just struggling to find the energy and enthusiasm to get involved and connect with everyone right now.

 

Small steps, right?

It feels like a long time since I last wrote a blog post. In reality, it's been a month. And there are reasons but I'm not quite ready to sit down and write about them. That'll come later.

I've not stopped writing completely though. I've actually been lucky enough to have the opportunity to write a couple of guest book reviews for Amanda at One More Page.

I love, Love, LOVE to read but have only ever written one book review before (which you can read here) so I was very nervous about whether I'd be able to make a good job of it, especially as someone could potentially make a decision to read or not read a book on the strength of what's been said about it in a review. With great power comes great responsibility and all that jazz...

Anyway, here's my first guest book review Demon Marked by Meljean Brook. I hope you enjoy it x

The birth of my second son was one of those events that people often describe as "something to tell your grandchildren about" and as my beautiful little boy turned 1 today, I thought I'd share the story with you.

I woke at 6am on 8 July 2011 to the feeling of my waters slowly trickling their way out of me. I'd just turned 37 weeks pregnant and I wondered whether to wake my husband or not, as I certainly didn't feel like I was in labour.

I can remember my husband's alarm clock going off at about 6.30am and because I only felt "funny", he suggested he travel into work as normal and come back once labour had started, if it even did.

I lost track of time then. I think it was about 7am when I phoned my mum and asked her to come down and look after my toddler, as I thought I might be in labour. I also remember telling my husband I should phone the midwives at the hospital to let them know my waters had broken and find out if they wanted to check me over.

While my husband was trying to find the right telephone number for the hospital, I can recall it becoming imperative I keep pacing. I couldn't stop or sit down/kneel/bend over onto all fours, as it was much too uncomfortable. Being upright and mobile felt right.

If I didn't know I was in labour then, I did when the first contraction hit and oh my god, the pain. I was scared, my whole body hurt in the most indescribable way and I had to focus on just getting through each contraction....until I felt the most almighty urge to push. I swore at my husband to phone 999 and while he was speaking with the operator, I could feel my baby's head entering the world swiftly followed by the rest of him.

My mum arrived shortly before the paramedics. She told me she'd expected to find it was a false alarm and the last thing she'd expected to see was me sat on the loo in the en suite bathroom holding my newborn baby in my arms. Same here!

The paramedics told us the 999 call had been placed at 7.26am and my husband guessed the time of birth as 7.30am. I actually think he was born a few minutes before this but I can't say for certain as time took on a very different quality throughout the whole affair.

Baby and I were taken to hospital and checked over. He was fine. He may have only been  5lb 15oz but my husband and I could immediately tell he was going to be a feisty little character. There was never any doubt in our minds that the boy's name we'd chosen during my pregnancy was the right one for him; Randall.

Here he is at about an hour old:

And a year later:

How time has flown.

There's much more I could write - about how the birth affected me and how I really found it having 2 children under 2 - but those are posts for another day.

All I want to say now is: Happy birthday Panda Pop! I love you more than you'll ever know xxx