The Night huntress series by Jeaniene Frost

The night huntress series is the story of Cat Crawford, who is half human, half vampire. In the first book, Halfway to the grave she meets Bones, who personally,reminds me a bit of Spike from the Buffy series. Bones teaches Cat how to kill vampires (the bad ones) and come to terms with who and what she is. Along the way they fall in love, only to be spilt apart at the end.

In one foot in the grave, flash forward 4 years and Cat is now a special agent, who works for a secret government agency-killing vampires. Cat is to kill a vampire who has killed some human servants. Lo and behold, he is the sire of Bones, her one true love. Instead of killing the vampire, she passes a message through him to Bones. Guess who shows back up in her life? But instead of becoming a hinderance, Bones, helps to make the secret agency better by sharing knowledge and blood.

At grave's end has Cat and Bones planning a wedding, theirs, and fighting off the vampiric spells and becoming co-leaders of Bones line. Death does seem to follow these two at a non stop rate.

An interesting and steamy series that has me hooked and awaiting the next book in the series. Interesting characters, good plots, a kick ass 1/2 vamp, 1/2 human female and her sexy vampire lover. What more could you ask for?

In the meantime...

Iyanla Vanzant writes a very helpful book. By this, I mean she lays out what is required by someone to make through meantime situations. Meantime meaning, those times when life is in chaos and turmoil and you have no idea how to get yourself back on track. While the topic is about finding love, I felt it was more about finding love of self and going from there. Her use of a house for the analogy of self was great. Starting in the basement and moving upwards, cleaning out garbage, grease and crap along the way. The book makes you think and that is not a bad thing.

Overall, very good to read when you are having a meantime moment.

Men of the Otherworld-Kelley Armstrong

Product Description: New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong has captivated readers with her spellbinding Women of the Otherworld series. Now, for the first time, in this collection of four tales she gives center stage to the men who love these sexy, supernatural women—the men who live on the other side of humanity…the wild side.

As a curious six-year-old, Clayton didn’t resist the bite—he asked for it. But surviving as a lone child-werewolf was more than he could manage—until Jeremy came along and taught him how to straddle the human-werewolf worlds, gave him a home…and introduced him to the Pack. So begins this tantalizing volume, featuring three of the most intriguing members of the American Pack—a hierarchical founding family where bloodlines mean everything and each day presents a new, thrilling, and often deadly challenge. For as Clayton grows from a wild child to a clever teen who tests his beloved mentor at every turn, he must learn not only to control his animal instincts but to navigate Pack politics—including showing his brutal archnemesis, Malcolm, who the real Alpha is....

From the nature of fear, weakness, and courage, to the triumph of belonging and the complications of love and loyalty, these mesmerizing tales reveal the trials of a werewolf coming-of-age, and lay bare the hearts and minds of the men strong enough for the women of the Otherworld—and adept enough to take on two worlds.


My review: The story starts out with Jeremy Danvers conception, birth and kidnapping by his father. All male werewolves are to be raised by their fathers according to Pack Law. Luckily for Jeremy, his grandfather takes care of him and not his father Malcolm. There's more to Jeremy than just being a werewolf. He has other abilities passed on to him by his mother.

From that back story on Jeremy, we then move onto Clayton's story and how he came to be part of the Pack. His story is told from just before he is bitten up to age 18. It gives us a better understanding of who and why clayton is the way he is. The book ends with a bit more on Jeremy up to the current story line in the other books.

Kelley Armstrong writes interesting characters and brings them to life through vivid story telling. I always enjoy her books. My only problem is, she writes so well, I get caught up in the story and don't want to put the book down until I've read through to the end. A great installment to The Otherworld series. I am looking forward to forthcoming books on the other Men of the Otherworld.

How do you do that and other musings

I get asked all the time on one of my book forums"How do you read so many books at one time?" The answer is different genres. Some writers stories are "faster" than others, so they are easy to zip through, yet keep me entertained. Only once have I read 2 books where the story lines took place during the same time period in the same country and the female characters had the same name. Yes, it did get a bit confusing when I picked up one book and thought to myself "Wasn't she doing this",only to realize my mistake and finish one of them off with a quickness. Another question I get asked "in real life" by people is how do you remember what all the books are about? Easy. I've always had that knack. It's especially easy if I really like the author and their work. It has obviously made an impression and comes in handy when it's a series story line. Sometimes the follow up books don't seem to come fast enough.

Right now, because I am looking for employment adding to my books I've read list is quite easy. You can only surf for jobs for so long. And that in itself is a job- never let anyone tell you differently. My typical day starts at 5:30 a.m. with coffee, cats and laptop on the patio. I surf the employment sites,which lately, unfortunately, doesn't take long. I look at my forums and sites I belong to, do postings as I see fit, and then go back to the employment sites for one last look just to make sure there's nothing new or I didn't miss something. Since that takes a couple hours out of my day, I then move onto chores to be done and then I can read for really long chunks of time.

My kids are grown and out on their own, so the only dependents I now have are my furry kids, and they're pretty self sufficient as long as I keep their feeding schedule. Gods help me if I should be 5 minutes late. Then there is much crankiness and bitching from ChinaMoon kitty.

Another powerhouse installment in the Vampire Huntress Legend

If you haven't read any of these books-you should! An interesting take on the end of days scenarios, her series incorporates characters of all religious beliefs coming together. They take on demons and the Big Daddy of all demons-Lucifer.

Incorporating mythos from all religions, from Christianity to Egyptian, L. A. Banks stories make you think, have an adventure and cheer on the good guys. Her characters are edgy, everyday type people coming from all walks of life, races and religious beliefs, who evolve each book into more complex and complete characters.

If you like urban paranormal reads-pick up this series. While the first book, Minion, is a bit hard to get through, make the effort. And then move onto the rest. I dare say-you won't be disappointed.

Life rarely makes the same plans you do. *The view from Mount Joy by Lorna Landvik*

So says the character of Joe Andresen. And he should know. His story starts out with a move to a new town where he meets Kristi Casey in high school. Along the way, both of their lives change in ways neither of them expected. Of the two, I'd say Joe's life was much more meaningful and joy filled. While Kristi may have ended up in the public eye, she always came back to Joe as the one friend who kept all things real with her.

It is true that our plans and life's rarely coincide, but it can be an adventure along the way.

Historical Fiction

I just finished reading Duchess by Susan Holloway Scott. A fabulous read about Sarah Jennings Churchill. Yes, she was related to Sir Winston Churchill and Princess Diana. In a world where women were expected to trade on their sexuality in order to get ahead, she refused and instead, made her own way. Married to John Churchill, one of the premier war strategist of that time, between the two of them they faced much hardship and seemingly unending intrigues. Sarah became great friends with Princess Anne, who went on to become Queen Anne, and towards the end, was thrown to the wayside by her great friend. Richness of historical fact and a wonderful story line kept me hooked from page one. I am looking forward to her next book I have Royal Harlot: A Novel of the Countess Castlemaine and King Charles II.

I am currently reading Consequences by Penelope Lively. Sublime is the word when describing this novel. With minimal words, Lively is capable of expressing so much, telling an in depth story with out going into great detail. This story is about three generations of women and how the past is never very far behind.