Saturday, January 7, 2012

New Cover Alert: The Care and Feeding of Stray Vampires by Molly Harper

the care and feeding of stray vampires

I've only read one Molly Harper book, How to Flirt With a Naked Werewolf, but found her writing to be absolutely hilarious. I keep saying that I'll read her uber popular Jane Jameson series soon but never get around to it. Of course, after seeing the cover for The Care and Feeding of Stray Vampires, I'm right back to the "man, I really need to read those books." Perhaps after I'm finished with Lothaire next week...

The Care and Feeding of Stray Vampires comes out July 31st, 2012.

From Goodreads - 

A comedic paranormal romance about a vampire concierge, set in Molly Harper's popular world of Half Moon Hollow. Iris Scanlon runs a "daywalker service" for vampires in Half-Moon Hallow. Vampire have trouble running errands and keeping their households running in a human, daytime-oriented society.

Iris's new service is booming and she's successfully avoiding her clients, until she goes into her newest customer's house one morning to find him dying of silver poisoning on his kitchen floor. The vampire, Cal, offers her an obscene amount of money if Iris will get him out of his house and shelter him until he can heal.

Call, a 500-year-old vampire, is a recent appointee to the local Council. Unbeknownst to the other Council members, he has been brought to the Hollow to investigate a recent rash of vamp-on-human crimes. Cal believes his position has made him a target and is afraid that whoever poisoned his blood supply could be planning to try again.

As Cal grows stronger, he and Iris become closer as they continue his investigation. But what kind of life can a girl have with the undead?

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

New Cover Alert: City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare


After I took off the training wheels and started reading "big-girl" books, I kicked YA to the curb. However, Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments series has always had a special place on my bookshelf. After I finished the first three books in the series a few summers ago, I immediately picked up City of Bones and read them all over again. Even the Twilight books don't have the distinction of earning an immediate re-read!

I have yet to read City of Fallen Angels because I don't want to remove my rosy outlook on this series. To me, the first three books were almost perfect, although I remember that Clare did leave a few loose ends. I just don't want to ruin anything! When the release date for City of Lost Souls comes closer, I'm sure my curiosity will get the best of me and I'll pick the fourth book up. But until then, I'll just stare at this beautiful cover and reminisce on my fond memories surrounding the first three books.

City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments #5) is scheduled to be released on May 8th, 2012.

Review: Simply Irresistible by Jill Shalvis

Simply Irresistible by Jill Shalvis
Lucky Harbor #1
Contemporary Romance
October 1, 2010
Mass Market Paperback
311 pages
Forever


After loosing her job as a production assistant and leaving her abusive dirtbag of an ex, Maddie Moore is ready for a new beginning. With the recent death of her estranged Grateful Dead loving mother, Maddie, along with her two half-sisters, inherit an inn located in the coastal town of Lucky Harbor, Washington. Seeing this as the perfect opportunity to start over, Maddie packs her bags and hits the road.

However, Maddie soon realizes she is facing an uphill battle. Not only does she have to figure out a way to restore the dilapidated inn, she also has to contend with establishing some sort relationship with her sisters, Tara (The Steel Magnolia) and Chloe (The Wild Child), who she last saw five years ago. But Maddie is determined to see this thing through and shed her moniker as "The Mouse" because The Lucky Harbor Resort is literally her last resort.

Help comes in the form of Jax Cullen, a master carpenter and former defense attorney who left his father's law firm several years before. After a few brief encounters between the pair, Jax finds himself very interested in the clumsy curly haired woman. When he receives a drunken call from Maddie asking him to do renovations on the inn, he jumps at the chance to be with her on a daily basis. Since Maddie is still dealing with the fallout of being in an abusive relationship, Jax is willing to take his time in convincing Maddie that she should give up all men...except him.

I thought I'd start out the new year with a nice contemporary romance full of fluff and the cover and synopsis for Simply Irresistible screams "I'm full of fluff and just a little bit of cheese." But once I read the first chapter, I was a goner. I devoured this book in one day and very rarely do I devote an entire day to just reading. Jill Shalvis takes the small town romance and turns it into one heart-warming, emotional, and just plain sexy read. I laughed, I cried, and boy, did I swoon!

Maddie is sweet, smart, and stubborn, with just enough quirks, such as being a compulsive organizer and list lover, to make her character endearing, instead of annoying. She is also the quintessential middle sister, acting as the mediator between Tara and Chloe who rarely see eye to eye. Although she constantly struggles with her self-confidence, Maddie is determined to become more assertive and stand-up for herself. I very much enjoyed seeing her transition from a timid "mouse" to a women who's not afraid to go after what she wants. The only real issue I had with Maddie is that it took her a LONG time to come to the realization that just because Jax is (or used to be) a lawyer, like her ex, doesn't mean that he'll also abuse her. Personally, I think Jill Shalvis has something against lawyers. They are trashed in this book.

And then there is Jax, sigh. He's the perfect combination of bad boy and nice guy with tons of rugged manly appeal. The chemistry between Maddie and Jax is sizzling and the love scenes are très steamy. I was actually quite surprised at the amount of heat in this book, not that I'm complaining. Jax is absolutely delicious and has officially earned a spot on my list of book boyfriends. He's the main reason I would suggest reading Simply Irresistible because you'll be missing out on some yummy literary man candy if you don't. I also have to note that about halfway through the book, it dawned on me that Jax's last name is Cullen and he lives in Washington. I don't know if Jill Shalvis did this on purpose, but I found the coincidence to be quite hilarious. I'd take Jax over that sparkly perpetual teen any day!

The cast of secondary characters are also top notch. At first, I was a tad apprehensive of Maddie's sisters because they both have strong personalities. But after the sisters become more comfortable with each other, their true selves emerge and boy, are they hilarious. The banter between all three of them had my giggling throughout the book. I especially liked Tara with her southern bell charm. And Jax's best friends, Ford and Sawyer, aren't too shabby themselves. As you can probably guess, book two and three in the series feature Maddie's sisters and Jax's friends as the main characters, but I won't tell you how they are paired because that would ruin a major plot-line in the book. Oh the suspense!

Simply Irresistible was simply a great contemporary romance and the perfect way to kickoff the new year. I had a lot of fun reading this book and I can't wait to start book two!

Favorite Quotes: 

"She should have chosen sex. Note to self: always choose sex over physical labor!"

"If I looked like him," Tara said, "I'd want to have sex with myself. All the time."

Other books in the series:
The Sweetest Thing
Head Over Heels
Lucky in Love (June 1, 2012)
At Last (July 1, 2012)
Forever and a Day (August 1, 2012)

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Must Have Books for January

Looks like 2012 is starting out with a bang! Not only do we get one, but two highly anticipated books from two of the best paranormal romance authors in the biz. And these books have been a long time coming! There are also a few other books coming out in the next 31 days that I've already added to my TBR pile. Here's my top picks for books being released this month.

Lothaire (Immortals After Dark #12) - Kresley Cole
January 10th
I have a little confession to make...I don't like Lothaire. There, I said it. He's an arrogant albino vampire with glowing red eyes. I just don't understand why everyone swoons over him. But by the end of the book, I'm sure I'll be swooning over him too. If anyone can turn Lothaire into a heartthrob, it would be Kresley Cole. Although, the excerpt to the book is slightly creepy. If you haven't read it yet, check out Kresley Cole's facbook page.

Click HERE to read a synopsis

Darker After Midnight (Midnight Breed #10) - Lara Adrian
January 24th
I've been not so patiently waiting for this book for what seems like forever. When was Chase (aka Harvard) even introduced? Was it the third book? Anyways, I'm very much looking forward to Chase getting his HEA considering that he has been heading down a dark path the last few books. That reminds me, I still need to read Deeper Than Midnight! Also, make sure to sign up for Lara Adrain's newsletter to read the first four chapters before the book comes out. 

Click HERE to read a synopsis

Kiss of the Vampire (Warriors of the Rift #1) - Cynthia Garner
January 31st
Some websites have the release date for Kiss of the Vampire as February 1st, but I'm going to go with the almighty Amazon and say it comes out the last day of January. I haven't read a vampire pararom in a long time. It's just so hard to find something original nowadays. However, Cynthia Garner's book caught my attention. Plus, it's always fun to try out new authors. You never know who is going to be the next J.R. Ward!

Click HERE to read a synopsis


Third Grave Dead Ahead (Charley Davidson #3) - Darynda Jones
January 31st
I've heard great things about the Charley Davidson series and the first two books are definitely near the top of my TBR pile. Basically, I picked this book because I like her shoes and the heroine is a grim reaper. That's new!

Click HERE to read a synopsis





This is the part where I'm supposed to say "check out the Upcoming Releases page to see what else is hitting the shelves in January," but it's still under construction. If you want to know what other books are coming out this month, I suggest hitting up Wicked Scribes. Also, please tell me what your must reads are for January. Anything I'm missing out on? Here's hoping that the new year brings you lots of good books and good coffee!