All posts by skyebjenner

Air Bound by Christine Feehan

Book Review, , , , , , ,

Overview

Air BoundTitle: Air Bound
Author: Christine Feehan
Series: Sisters of the Heart #3, Sea Haven #10
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: The Coast, Elements, Family, Magic, Paranormal romance
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Jove
Year: 2014
5th sentence, 74th page: He was systematically destroying her world.

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Synopsis

For as far back as she can remember, Airiana Ridell has always been aware of her extraordinary gift. She can intuit revealing and illuminating “patterns” in the air around her – whether in a spary of mist, in billowing clouds or in the dense swirls of an impenetrable fog. Her abilities led to her placement in a secret government training facility when she was a child, but everything changed after her mother was murdered.

Airiana fled the program, but she couldn’t outrun the desperate members of a shadowy cabal who want her, who need her, who will kill to get her. Kidnapped and held abroad a ship bound for dangerous seas, her only chance for rescue is Maxim Parkenskii. He has his reasons for helping her, but he isn’t about to reveal them to Airiana. Not yet. Not as the two are drawn together as moth to flame. Not when there are so many secrets yet untold that could shatter the quaint community of Sea Haven and all who reside there…

Thoughts

I’ve been relating to all of the women throughout the Sea Haven novels in one way or another. But I certainly related to Airiana on a whole other level. She gets lost in numbers and her thoughts. And although I don’t get lost in patterns and numbers to the same degree, I honestly spend days on end in my own head, forgetting what else is around me. I’ve not really read any other stories that understand this level of distraction that your thoughts can drag you into.

This is the first of the Sisters of the Heart books that isn’t actually set on the farm. I also felt like Maxim helped to kind of destroy the no-killing thing that the previous two couples were trying to set up. In Water Bound and Spirit Bound, Levi and Thomas are sort of discouraged (and banned) from killing people as their first aim of defense or protection for the women. After all, they want to start their new lives together. And then Maxim comes along. He literally runs around this entire time killing. Where the previous nine Sea Haven books involving very little murder and mayhem, Maxim is more than able to make up for this. I found it kind of hilarious that all the hard-won “new life” that had been discussed for the Prakenskii brothers very quickly went down the drain. It was kind of hilarious.

Air Bound also helped to further twine the storylines together in a way that you know two epic showdowns are about to occur. It makes me not only want to read the next love story, but also to find out how these intricately intertwined stories are all going to come to a head in the finality of this series, Bound Together.

 <- Spirit Bound Review Earth Bound Review ->
Image source: Amazon

The Steamdancer (1896) by Caitlin R. Kiernan

Book Review, , , ,

Overview

The Mammoth Book of SteampunkTitle: The Steamdancer (1896)
Author: Caitlin R. Kiernan
In: The Mammoth Book of Steampunk (Sean Wallace)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Easy reading, Romance, Steampunk
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: Robinson
Year: 2007
5th sentence, 74th page: It was not an uncommon fate for the likes of Missouri Banks, those caught out in the open during the spring swarms, those without safe houses to hide inside until the voracious flies had come and gone, moving on to bedevil other towns and cities and farms.

Buy The Book Now at The Book Depository, Free Delivery World Wide

Synopsis

A young girl is found by the mechanic. After helping to turn her into a cyborg, they get married and live happily ever after.

Thoughts

This story kind of completely melted my heart. It was so cute and sweet. Almost a little window into the daily life of a gorgeous cyborg woman. I was expecting something much darker in the first mini chapter, but it was quickly a very smooth and easy read. One that set the tone for a loving relationship, a woman who loved to dance, and a body that was constructed of metal as well as flesh.

This short story incorporates everything that I have come to love about the steampunk genre. Namely the great way of writing that feels a lot more classical and Victorian in its construction. The ways in which it is so incredibly descriptive. And, of course, the great settings and themes which combine the romance of the past (although maggots eating away flesh may not be able to be classed as super romantic) and the hope of the future.

 <- Fixing Hanover Review Icebreaker Review ->
Image source: Amazon

Spirit Bound by Christine Feehan

Book Review, , , , , ,

Overview

Spirit BoundTitle: Spirit Bound
Author: Christine Feehan
Series: Sisters of the Heart #2, Sea Haven #9
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: The Coast, Elements, Family, Magic, Paranormal romance
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Jove
Year: 2011
5th sentence, 74th page: He lives the way he wants to live.

Buy The Book Now at The Book Depository, Free Delivery World Wide

Synopsis

Lethal undercover agent Stefan Prakenskii knows a thousand ways to kill a man – and twice as many ways to pleasure a woman. That’s why he’s looking forward to his new mission. He must go to the coastal town of Sea Haven and insinuate himself into the life of an elusive beauty who has mysterious ties to his past and a link to a dangerously seductive and equally elusive master criminal who wants only one thing: to possess her.

Judith Henderson is an artist on the rise, an ethereal and haunted woman whose own picture-perfect beauty stirs the souls of two men who have made her their obsession. For years she has been waiting for someone to come and unlock the passion and fire within her – waiting for the right man to surrender it to. But only one man can survive her secrets and the shadow she has cast over both their lives.

Thoughts

I like damaged artists. There is something about them that just seems to work really well and makes a kind of perfect sense. Yes, it’s a bit of a cliché, but it’s one that really works. Judith is haunted and stunning. She is the epitome of a feminine artist and wonder. And something about that makes this story feel kind of ethereal and stunning all of itself.

I’m still not really sure whether to call Thomas, Stefan or Thomas. Throughout the tale, Stefan almost seemed to suit him better and added an extra layer of mystery to him. Thomas is just so simply ordinary, and there is nothing ordinary about the leading man in Spirit Bound. Or the woman either for that matter. They are both withdrawn and spirited, a contrasting set of ideals that somehow work incredibly well. Add to this a backdrop of intrigue and mystery, danger from Judith’s past, and an amazingly not-so-sleepy coastal town.

Spirit Bound starts to set up a greater storyline and intrigue that has been hinted at in Water Bound. The defense system and man who Gavriil almost died for starts to tie himself in amongst the girls’ lives. As each storyline unfolds, the pieces click into place. As does the reason for their eventual demise (if the big, bad Russian man has his way). And now I can’t wait to find out how this will continue to unfold, and whether the Prakenskii brothers will finally find a way to their own happy endings…

 <- Water Bound Review Air Bound Review ->
Image source: Amazon

Fangs for Hire by Jenna Black

Book Review, , ,

Overview

The Mammoth Book of Vampire RomanceTitle: Fangs for Hire
Author: Jenna Black
In: The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance (Trisha Telep)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal romance, Vampires
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Robinson
Year: 2008
5th sentence, 74th page: Had he smelled it on my breath last night?

Buy The Book Now at The Book Depository, Free Delivery World Wide

Synopsis

She is an assassin hired to take out a mark. But the mark turns out to be something far more than expected. And incredibly desired.

Thoughts

I loved this short story. The idea that there is a vampire hit woman. And she runs into another vampire. And of course, there is sexual tension (because it’s in a book of vampire romance after all). It was just cute and funny. Easy to read and a good bit to read just before sinking into bed to try and get some sleep.

I loved that the two vampires showed two flip sides to vampirism – the one who tries to kill the bad guys, and the ones who want to send others to their rest. The assassin and the carer (in a weird, twisted way). I’ve seen both tropes in a number of vampire stories, but never coming against one another. Certainly an enjoyable and slightly altered way in which to see vampirific interactions…

 <- Ode to Edvard Munch Review The Righteous Review ->
Image source: Goodreads

Water Bound by Christine Feehan

Book Review, , , , , , ,

Overview

Water BoundTitle: Water Bound
Author: Christine Feehan
Series: Sisters of the Heart #1, Sea Haven #8
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: The Coast, Elements, Family, Magic, Paranormal romance
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Jove
Year: 2010
5th sentence, 74th page: She rubbed her itching palm down her thigh and then pressed her hand hard against her tummy.

Buy The Book Now at The Book Depository, Free Delivery World Wide

Synopsis

The last thing Lev Prakenskii remembered was being lost in the swirling currents of the ocean and getting sucked deeper into the nothingness of a freezing black eddy off the coastal town of Sea Haven. Just as quickly, just as miraculously, he was saved – pulled ashore by a beautiful stranger. But Lev has no memory of who he is – or why he seems to possess the violent instincts of a trained killer. All he knows is that he fears for his life, and for the life of his unexpected savior.

Her name is Rikki, a sea-urchin diver in Sea Haven. She has always felt an affinity for the ocean, and for the seductive pull of the tides. And now she feels drawn in the same way to the enigmatic man she rescued. But soon they will be bound by something even stronger, and their tantalizing secrets will engulf them both in a whirlpool of dizzying passion and inescapable danger.

Thoughts

This might have been one of my favourite paranormal romance books. Not because the romance was anything amazing. Not because the obstacle thrown in their way was momentously different from any of the other Feehan books (and other paranormal romance tales) that I have read. But, honestly, because the lead woman was autistic. I NEVER seem to find good books that deal with autistic people. Realistically delve into how differently the world is seen through autistic eyes, and, more than that, finding a way to make a great storyline and couple that doesn’t feature this aspect of the character, but has it there as part of who they are. Completely in love with this. There need to be more books out there about people who are not mainstream. About people being able to find love when they don’t fit into others’ ideals of the ‘norm’. I could honestly wax on and off about this all day…

Water Bound starts off a whole new sisterhood in the Sea Haven universe, and although the Drake Sisters are mentioned from the very beginning (it starts on the day of their wedding), they are not intimately involved in the storyline. Which I quite liked. Hidden Currents gave all of them a happy ending, and now it is time for a new batch of women to get theirs. The fact that I think these women are going to be a lot darker and more experienced with the horrors of the world actually makes me far more interested in this series than I thought. Rikki has a few horrors in her past, and although she manages to fall for a certified killer, he helps her to heal and move on.

Lev Prakenskii is the first of Ilya’s brothers to find his new home in Sea Haven, and although I felt like his story was mostly finished at the end of Water Bound, there are a few lingering doubts about their happily ever after that make me want to hurry up and read the rest of the story… so I suppose it’s time to crack the spine of Spirit Bound and find out what happens with the next brother to find his way to this amazingly picturesque town.

 <- Hidden Currents Review Spirit Bound Review ->
Image source: Christine Feehan

Hidden Currents by Christine Feehan

Book Review, , , , , ,

Overview

Hidden CurrentsTitle: Hidden Currents
Author: Christine Feehan
Series: Drake Sisters #7, Sea Haven #7
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: The Coast, Family, Magic, Paranormal romance
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Jove
Year: 2009
5th sentence, 74th page: We made it faster than we expected, and the girls are waiting.

Buy The Book Now at The Book Depository, Free Delivery World Wide

Synopsis

From afar, Sheriff Jackson Deveau has always loved Elle Drake, the youngest telepath of seven sisters. After a long time away, she’s finally returning to the small coastal village of Sea Haven. But someone has other plants for Elle, someone who doesn’t want her to make it back.

When Elle fails to arrive home, her disappearance strikes fear in the hearts of everyone who loves her. Now it’s left to Jackson to uncover the mystery of Elle’s vanishing and rescue her from an unseen danger. But Sea Haven is no longer safe for anyone, and it will take the powers of all the Drake sisters and their men to survive the oncoming storm.

Thoughts

I picked this book up because I had had a panic attack, and the first six books in this series really helped to settle me. After all, they are filled with romance, family, love and all sorts of nice things. And while Hidden Currents is certainly like that – it was also the worst possible book to read when I wasn’t in a great headspace… Elle is in some serious trouble within the first three chapters. Trouble that was so bad I almost threw up, wanted to throw the book across the room, and was just generally feeling shocked and shattered. Feehan is such a brilliant writer that it wasn’t difficult at all to imagine all of the bad things that were happening. It’s the first time I’ve ever wished someone wasn’t that good at writing to be honest.

But it’s okay.

It gets better from there. In the fourth chapter the bad things stop, and it becomes about the love story and the two leads again. You just have to get over that initial HOLY CRAP, WHAT IS HAPPENING feeling. Then it is completely amazing, like the rest of the Drake Sisters stories and it becomes incredibly easy to immerse yourself in. The fact that I wanted to see the bad guy get his comeuppance also meant that I didn’t stop reading this book, even carrying it around the house and kitchen while I was cooking tea (very interesting to do one handed if you’re curious).

Although there is another series (Sisters of the Heart) that continues the Sea Haven world, Hidden Currents beautifully completes the overarching tale of the Drake Sisters. It is primarily about Elle and Jackson, but it pulls in the rest of the seven couples beautifully, giving a great insight into the ways in which they have all lived their lives since the completion of their own stories. A fantastic (albeit a little distressing) ending to one of my favourite series…

 <- Turbulent Sea Review Water Bound Review ->
Image source: Christine Feehan

Eternal Strife by Dara England

Book Review, , , ,

Overview

The Mammoth Book of Irish RomanceTitle: Eternal Strife

Author: Dara England

In: The Mammoth Book of Irish Romance (Trisha Telep)

Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)

My Bookshelves: Celtic, Fae, Family

Pace: Medium

Format: Short story

Publisher: Running Press

Year: 2010

5th sentence, 74th page: We would not have one fewer sweet blossom in this meadow than that we already have.

Buy The Book Now at The Book Depository, Free Delivery World Wide

Synopsis

Siobhan wants to save her mother. And everytime she finds an ingredient for a potion, she is forced to make a deal for her life. What will happen when she has to cash in her favours?

Thoughts

This was a fun and easy little story. A girl is going across the countryside in an attempt to save her mother. Every time she finds part of the potion that she needs, she is also forced to make a deal that could put her in possible jeopardy. It’s kind of obvious what trouble she is about to get into throughout, but I couldn’t wait to see what would happen at the end of the tale.

I actually quite liked the end of this story. It wasn’t the outcome that I expected. And it took me by surprise. But it was sweet. And quaint. And just an easy, alternative ending to a small journey through the meadows that eventually saved a woman’s life.

 <- The Eternal Warrior Review Quicksilver Review ->
Image source: Goodreads

Lifeblood by P.N. Elrod

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Lifeblood

Title: Lifeblood
Author: P.N. Elrod
Series: Vampire Files #2
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Gangsters, Paranormal fantasy, Vampire noir
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Publisher: Ace fantasy
Year: 1990
5th sentence, 74th page: He opened the door and Maureen walk in.

Synopsis

Jack Fleming was an investigative journalist in Prohibition-era Chicago until he got shot by an unknown assassin, bitten by his vampire girlfriend, and became one of the undead. Now, this nice-guy nosferatu has a bunch of crazy vampire hunters on his trail armed with crosses, silver bullets, and sharp wooden stakes. He doesn’t know how they found out about him or why they are “out for his blood,” but it’s not a problem for this street-wise gumshoe, until someone starts shooting. Jack himself may be bulletproof, but his friends are not. And Jack is determined to get some answers, even if it kills him-again. It’s a case of the living versus the undead. But who’s hunting whom?

Thoughts

Elrod does it again. She takes this great world of the 1930’s with gangsters and mobsters and creates an amazingly fun and intriguing crime story. Which happens to feature a vampire. It isn’t overly heavy handed on the idea of vampirism and Fleming’s new life, but it does make it all about it in its own, unique way. Honestly, I loved this story from beginning to end. It romanticises a time that I’m sure wasn’t’ even remotely romantic, and makes me think of club singers and back door deals and a time before really good security systems (because, let’s face it, none of this storyline is plausible in our current day and age of technology).

Bloodlist explained Fleming’s death and helped him come to terms with his new vampirism. But there is the mystery of Maureen, the woman who turned him. And, although Lifeblood doesn’t answer all the mysteries related to this past love, it does help to explain her disappearance. And honestly, it was a cause and creation which I really wasn’t expecting. And definitely enjoyed.

So far, the Vampire Files stories aren’t insanely fast paced. I tend to pick them up and put them down again. It is really only in the last quarter that it becomes very difficult to put the tales down. This is because of the way in which Elrod uses the majority of the storyline to set up the big finale. It’s a well-paced, fun book and one I can justify picking up when I have a lot of other, more responsible things to do…

<- BloodlistBloodcircle ->

Image source: Goodreads

Impressions

Blog,

I must be fair and start this (for those few who actually read what I write, if there is anyone)… by saying that this does involve a bit of discussion about rape.

Yesterday I was at a wake for a family friend with my parents. And as is usual at these things, we saw some people that we haven’t seen for a while and decided to catch up a bit. As the conversation meandered from topic to topic, we started talking about a friend of a friend who was in jail.

This man is in jail for murder. But the man who was telling us about this said he didn’t do it. (Insert slightly sarcastic comment from my Mum here). Then he tells us why. And it was this that I found interesting…

Apparently this man had a female relative who was raped. And as soon as we were told this the three of us (my mum, dad and I) literally went aaaaahh… somehow that very fact made something previously completely heinous a little more understandable.

What really bothered me in hindsight though was the fact that there was an immediate assumption that a young woman was raped and one of two things had happened. 1. She was too afraid / uncomfortable whichever to report it. Or 2. She reported it and the man wasn’t convicted. Basically… there was an assumption that he probably wasn’t punished for his crimes (until said friend of a friend apparently got involved, but that’s really not what I’m talking about here).

In light of everything in the media at the moment it’s such a difficult and horrible subject to discuss. But it’s one we should talk about. Especially when as soon as you hear of a rape victim you say ah… now I understand why a man is supposedly in jail for the rest of his life.

As I said, I don’t actually k ow the particulars, it could be that this man doesn’t even exist, but the response of my family and I to hearing that a young girl was raped has definitely left me feeling incredibly uncomfortable. Definitely something we as a society desperately need to improve on.

Fixing Hanover by Jeff VanderMeer

Book Review, , ,

Overview

The Mammoth Book of SteampunkTitle: Fixing Hanover
Author: Jeff VanderMeer
In: The Mammoth Book of Steampunk (Sean Wallace)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Easy reading, Steampunk
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Robinson
Year: 2008
5th sentence, 74th page: By the time I reached the Emperor, received his blessing and his sword, I had nothing to say; he found me more mute than any captive, his instrument once more.

Buy The Book Now at The Book Depository, Free Delivery World Wide

Synopsis

The chief engineer of the Empire is hiding out in a sleepy coastal village. What will happen when they finally find him?

Thoughts

I’m kind of confused by this short story. Which, honestly, often happens when I read steampunk stories. There are so many layers to the worlds that are created in such a few words, and it becomes both an amazing world to dive into, and one which is almost impossible to actually understand. The fact that the narrators voice straddled two worlds (the Empire and the sleepy beach town) helped to add to this amazingly intricate and intriguing complexity.

The duality of the narrators’ past and present is further reflected (and enjoyed) in his description of Lady Salt and Rebecca. There is an acknowledgement that there are multi-faceted insights into a person’s persona. One that changes according to the role that they must play. The way that he interchanges her names highlights the different personalities which the alluring woman plays. Yet, it is her very last words that I really enjoyed and made this story so appealing. But, you’ll have to read it to find out what they were.

 <- Steampunk: Looking to the Future Through the Lens of the Past Review The Steamdancer (1896) Review ->
Image source: Amazon