All posts by skyebjenner

Conjoined by Jane Yolen

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Image result for mad hatters and march hares ellen datlow book cover

Title: Conjoined
Author: Jane Yolen
In: Mad Hatters and March Hares (Ellen Datlow)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Animagus, Easy reading, Fantasy
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Tor
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: “The value,” he used to say, “is not what a thing is worth intrinsically but what someone is willing to pay for it.”

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Synopsis

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum are constantly fighting, but that isn’t what makes their ape friend travel to Wonderland. Rather, a cheshire cat, a battle with the Jabber Wocky and a series of rather interesting events send him forth.

Thoughts

I thought that this story was going to be about Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Until I slowly realised that it is about an orangutan in the circus… which Tweedledee and Tweedledum are part of. Talk about a rapid change of direction!

Tweedledee and Tweedledum are both such humorous characters, but it wasn’t until I read this story that I really wondered how such human-like creatures could be in Wonderland. And then it really wasn’t until the very end that I felt like this was a great beginnings story. How the Tweedles made it to Wonderland, where the idea of “off with your head” came from… and so many other things.

The connectivity between modern-day circus performers and acts, the Cheshire Cat and the world of Wonderland was incredibly fun. And I was mostly just disappointed that the story was over so quickly… after all, I wanted to know more about the man-ape that took centre stage.

 <- Lily-White & the Thief of Lesser Night ReviewMercury Review ->
Image source: Bookdepository

The Midday Mangler Meets his Match by Rachel Vincent

Book Review, , ,
Overview
The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance

Title: The Midday Mangler Meets his Match
Author: Rachel Vincent
In: The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance (Trisha Telep)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Family, Vampires
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Robinson
Year: 2008
5th sentence, 74th page: My vision finally merged, and the Midday Mangler stood in front of me, tall enough that I had to crane my neck to see him.

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Synopsis

There is a serial killer hunting vampire children, but it isn’t until he meets Keziah and Luci that he truly meets his match.

Thoughts

I really enjoyed the premise set in this story – that of a reality in which being a vampire is like being a human. Completely ordinary and the standard for everyone. They go to school, they have relationships, and they even have serial killers with weird nicknames such as “Midday Mangler”. It just makes the entire story line and system of vampires that much more… “normal”. And I honestly love stories that place a paranormal reality across our everyday one in such a seamless manner.

Although there is a little of a cute romance in this story, and the male romantic partner ultimately ends the story, I got a very family-driven vibe from this short story. The elder sister is willing to do anything to protect her youngest sibling, and her little sister is also willing to be very protective to save her older sister. After all, what are sisters for but to take on a kind of creepy, child-preying serial killer?

 <- The Sacrifice ReviewThe Music of the Night Review ->
Image source: Goodreads

The Frog Prince by Gahan Wilson

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Image result for snow white, blood red book cover

Title: The Frog Prince
Author: Gahan Wilson
In: Snow White, Blood Red (Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Comedy, Easy reading, Fairy tales
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Signet
Year: 1993
5th sentence, 74th page: Sometimes, lying there, he wondered if he was making visible rivulets and pools beneath himself on the surface of the couch.

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Synopsis

Everyone needs a shrink sometimes… even a frog prince.

Thoughts

I really enjoyed this story – it took the well-known trope of a frog prince and turned it around a little. For starters… the frog is still a frog… for another thing, his entire story is told in a weird, dream-like state.

There’s something about therapy offices that have a very distinctive feel. The couch that the characters lie on (I never did this in therapy, but it always seems to be in the media…), the stress…. And in the case of the frog prince, the constant sweating. It added an extra sense of realism and an increase in the stakes of the storyline as the amphibian royalty unfolds his latest dream.

Originally I thought that this short story was about the frog prince’s happily ever after going a little skewy, but, as it turns out, it is more about a loss of hope and trying to find one’s dream…

 <- The Moon is Drowning While I Sleep ReviewStalking Beans Review ->
Image source: Amazon

The Rebel by Julianne MacLean

Book Review, ,
Overview
Image result for the mammoth book of scottish romance book cover

Title: The Rebel
Author: Julianne MacLean
In: The Mammoth Book of Scottish Romance (Trisha Telep)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Historical romance
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Robinson
Year: 2011
5th sentence, 74th page: She raised her chin.

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Synopsis

When Alex takes on a British soldier, he thinks that it is just a young lad out to gain some honour. The woman he finds instead turns his whole world around.

Thoughts

I loved that this story was set during a war – it’s not something that I tend to read about often, but it worked incredibly beautifully. Especially considering the strength of character of Alex. Where there were so many moments for him to act less than honourably, he still managed to keep this level of honour and respect to everything. Which made this one of the sweetest stories in this collection so far – it wasn’t fuelled by lust, but an honourable kind of love.

Historical romance stories are something that I am only just getting into – they’re just incredibly sweet, and often filled with more hope than actual lust. Often, not always. And this was just one of those amazing stories. The type that puts two people together that you know are going to fall for each other, but fill sit with this sweet, kind falling. Rather than a passionate, lustful dive (which I quite like as well).

 <- Magick in the Mist ReviewThe Curse of Wolf Crag Review ->
Image source: Hachette Australia

The Drinker by Victoria Fisher

Book Review, ,
Overview
Evolve

Title: The Drinker
Author: Victoria Fisher
In: Evolve (Nancy Kilpatrick)
Rating Out of 5: 3 (On the fence about this one)
My Bookshelves: Vampires
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: Edge
Year: 2010
5th sentence, 74th page: I was already thirsty when I arrived.

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Synopsis

Everyone remembers their first… even if it is the first soul that they destroy.

Thoughts

I’m not 100% how the vampirism works in this story… I get the feeling that the heart is taken from the new vampire. And then they start to suck away people’s souls and potential. That’s at least the gist that I got from this short story. Which is a really cool concept. If I’m correct. And honestly, my biggest issue with this story was the fact that I’m really not sure what was going on and the background behind the story.

Some people have a run of bad luck, but the fact that someone who is just a no hoper and willing to take someone else’s success kind of sucked. Especially when the voice of the story was so annoyingly self centred. As I said, great concept of a story, but didn’t necessarily enjoy the execution of it.

 <- Red Blues ReviewSleepless in Calgary Review ->
Image source: Goodreads

Christmas Heat by Lora Leigh

Book Review, , , , ,
Overview
Image result for the magical christmas cat book cover

Title: Christmas Heat
Author: Lora Leigh
Series: Breeds #12.5
In: The Magical Christmas Cat (Lora Leigh, Erin McCarthy, Nalini Singh & Linda Winstead Jones)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Christmas, Erotica, Paranormal romance,  Romantic suspense
Pace: Fast
Format: Novella
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Year: 2008
5th sentence, 74th page: He’d been out of the labs for ten years, but it had been ten years struggling to aid the survival of the breed communities.

Synopsis

She’s just a librarian, but after overhearing a sinister conversation at a party, her Christmas is about to take a turn for the worse. Or… maybe, with the presence of Noble, things are about to get a heck of a lot better…

Thoughts

I keep having Breeds stories pop up in my suggested reads, but I’ve never actually had the chance to sink my teeth into one. Until I read Christmas Heat. And wow. I’m not really sure why it’s taken me so long to pick up this series. I loved the writing, I loved the brutal honesty of sensuality throughout the story, and I love the ideas of breeds being created, not born…

I was really expecting just another paranormal romance story that featured a cat shapeshifter. One that was enjoyable and full of passion, but not really anything spectacularly different to the other series I have read within this genre. Just this short novella taught me that this series isn’t even remotely what I was expecting. For starters, the background of the “extra” in the breeds was a far more intense experimentation. The sensual moments throughout were a lot more visceral and crass, in a way that I found more realistic than romantic candlelit dinners. And the unwillingness of Haley to completely submit and her consideration of what mating actually implied was far more realistic than being swept away in a fit of lust.

I loved that although you knew Noble and Haley were going to end up together, there is a lot more placed at stake, and a greater storyline going on than just a simple romance. But, ultimately, what endeared me so much to this story was the fact that Haley explains just why she loves Christmas so much. And it is her simple descriptions that truly made me remember what it is about the holiday season that melts my heart.

<- Mercury’s WarCoyote’s Mate ->

Image source: Amazon

Rags and Riches by Nina Kiriki Hoffman

Book Review, , ,
Overview
Image result for troll's-eye view book cover

Title: Rags and Riches
Author: Nina Kiriki Hoffman
In: Troll’s-Eye View (Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Fairy tales, Villains
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Firebird Fantasy
Year: 2009
5th sentence, 74th page: The water looks so call and fresh.

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Synopsis

Nina Kiriki Hoffman retells the old fable of the Goosegirl… from the villains point of view.

Thoughts

I remember the story of the goose girl from my recent reading of Grimm fairy tales. But, it took me a little while to connect that storyline with Hoffman’s Rags and Riches. I just thought that this was a story that halfway explains the cruelty of a maid. It wasn’t until the end that I recognised her punishment and the actual storyline.

This was one of those villain stories that makes you understand why the bad guy starts down the path that she does. But, it reaches a certain point where she crosses a line and you loose all sympathy. I also loved the way in which Hoffman is able to explain how she pronounces her own punishment. I too have never understood how the villains in many of the early, early fairy tales don’t realise that it is their own crime being repeated back. Finally, Rags and Riches manages to help explain this. In a way that wasn’t tedious, frivolous or irritating. But a way that actually made sense.

 <- Faery Tales ReviewUp the Down Beanstalk Review ->
Image source: Amazon

A Jaguar’s Kiss by Lora Leigh

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Image result for shifter angela knight book cover

Title: A Jaguar’s Kiss
Author: Lora Leigh
Series: Breeds #11.5
In: Shifter (Angela Knight, Lora Leigh, Alyssa Day & Virginia Kantra)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Erotica, Paranormal romance, Romantic suspense
Pace: Fast
Format: Novella
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Year: 2008
5th sentence, 74th page: Were there emotions that had carried over from marriage that now hampered her ability to see her ex-husband as he was?

Synopsis

Natalie is about to get the job of a lifetime and escape her controlling and overbearing ex-husband. But, she might be in for a lot more than she bargained for when she meets an irresistible Cajun Breed.

Thoughts

I read Christmas Heat in a Christmas anthology not long before I started the Shifter anthology. When I realised that there was another Breeds story in it, I raced through the pages until I could sink my teeth into another of these stories. I have ordered the first few novels in the series… but I haven’t received them, so I was at a point that I’d do almost anything for my fix.

This is not one of those stories you should read where there are witnesses, or people who can read over your shoulder. It is intense and entertaining. But, what I love most about these paranormal romance stories so far is that it isn’t all romance and candles. Yes, love is about that… but it’s also about this weird, overriding passion. It’s not often pretty, and it is almost never like in the movies. Jaguar’s Kiss is like this – it is about this overriding sense and passion that is completely overbearing and more than a little terrifying.

<- Dawn’s AwakeningMercury’s War ->

Image source: Amazon

Love Seat Solitaire by D.L. Snell

Book Review, , ,
Overview
Blood Lite

Title: Love Seat Solitaire
Author: D.L. Snell
In: Blood Lite (Kevin J. Anderson)
Rating Out of 5: 3.5 (Liked this)
My Bookshelves: Ghosts, Horror
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Edge
Year: 2008
5th sentence, 74th page: “And I’m sure he does card tricks, too,” Dave said.

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Synopsis

The haunting of Sam’s house is about to get a lot more sinister and tricky…

Thoughts

This story just reaches a whole new level of weird and creepy. I was expecting a good, funny, humorous haunting story from the beginning. It didn’t turn out that way. It was all fun and games and whirlies… until it wasn’t. Then it was sick and twisted and disturbed. And not in that fun, make you think kind of way… in that… what did I just read kind of way.

If you want a story that shows that not all ghost stories have a happy ending… then this is definitely the tale for you. If you want a feel-good easy read, don’t pick this up. You’ll be as disturbed by it as I was.

 <- A Very Special Girl ReviewI Know Who You Ate Last Summer Review ->
Image source: Goodreads

Sea Crossing by Virginia Kantra

Book Review, , , , ,
Overview
Image result for shifter angela knight book cover

Title: Sea Crossing
Author: Virginia Kantra
Series: Children of the Sea #0.5
In: Shifter (Angela Knight, Lora Leigh, Alyssa Day & Virginia Kantra)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Celtic, Mermaids, Paranormal romance
Pace: Fast
Format: Novella
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Year: 2008
5th sentence, 74th page: She didn’t want to sleep.

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Synopsis

And don’t miss the story that started it all, “Sea Crossing” in the anthology SHIFTER (Think Anne of Green Gables sails on the Titanic, but with shapeshifters!)

Thoughts

I’m already obsessed with this new series. I was kind of obsessed within the first chapter – there was something both sensual and innocent about the storyline. I also loved the fact that although Emma feels that she is a ruined woman (a complete strong and powerful product of the times), she still manages to find a way to stand on her own two feet. She refuses to settle for the second best that is forced upon her, but rather, decides to build her own life anew. Or at least try to. As with every other story, her best laid plans quickly go awry.

It’s hard to tell whether my obsession with Celtic folklore and the UK is because of my ancestry, or just because I love the richness of the mythology. So, anytime I find a series or tale that uses Celtic mythology, I tend to dive in head first. This paranormal romance story fit the bill exactly. Utilising selkies instead of other forms of mythological sea creatures pulled me in hook, line and sinker, and now I can’t get the beauty of the storyline out of my head. The greatest issue that I have with this novella is the fact that I have to wait at least a month until the first novel in the series arrives…

 <- Forgotten Sea ReviewSea Witch Review ->
Image source: Amazon