That's One Way to Exercise Your Child. They Should Market That

This is too cute. Someone should give that otter an extra fish for a job well done. You know that kid's gonna sleep like an angel tonight.

Quick and Dirty Review: Kitty Goes to War by Carrie Vaughn (Kitty Norville #8)

Kitty Goes to War by Carrie Vaughn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Synopsis from Goodreads: Kitty Norville, Alpha werewolf and host of The Midnight Hour, a radio call-in show, is contacted by a friend at the NIH's Center for the Study of Paranatural Biology. Three Army soldiers recently returned from the war in Afghanistan are being held at Ft. Carson in Colorado Springs. They're killer werewolves—and post traumatic stress has left them unable to control their shape-shifting and unable to interact with people. Kitty agrees to see them, hoping to help by bringing them into her pack.

Meanwhile, Kitty gets sued for libel by CEO Harold Franklin after featuring Speedy Mart—his nationwide chain of 24-hour convenience stores with a reputation for attracting supernatural unpleasantness—on her show.

Very bad weather is on the horizon.

I really enjoyed this one....right up until the end. The action was great, character development was there and I can see that the series isn't stalling out or becoming redundant. All good things. But then there's Cormac.

Cormac is such a fabulous character. I love his dynamic with Kitty. Love his dynamic with Ben. Love the three of them in this committed yet slightly awkward pack of three. The thing is, there has to be resolution at some point. The Cormac/Kitty unresolved issues have to be resolved. Now, I am a hardcore Cormac/Kitty shipper. I love Ben. I really do, but I want him out. HOWEVER, I could be ok if we see Kitty and Cormac air out their feelings and issues and just be committed to being bffs/family. What I CANNOT deal with is any sort of assassination of the character of Cormac or some overly convenient plot development that makes the Kitty/Cormac/Ben issue moot. So, you'll understand how wary I am of the new development regarding Cormac and his abilities. I can see how it could be cool and add a lot of angst/action/drama and so forth to the story, but I can also see it being an out that will be used to gloss over the Kitty/Cormac/Ben triangle and completely change Cormac beyond all recognition. I want to trust Carrie Vaughn not to do this, but I'm nervous, y'all.

Anyone else with me on this?

Also, I felt like there was a lead up to possible issues with Kitty's leadership of her pack. Anyone else catch that one, or am I delusional?







View all my reviews

Final Grade: 4 star rating translating to about a B on this one.

Music for a Saturday

I love this vid and song (minus Kanye...sorry buddy). Hubby was even impressed. He called it "very Bowie-esque." Love it!

ARC Review: Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh *cue fangirl screaming*

Since the moment of her defection from the PsyNet and into the SnowDancer wolf pack, Sienna Lauren has had one weakness. Hawke. Alpha and dangerous, he compels her to madness.

Hawke is used to walking alone, having lost the woman who would've been his mate long ago. But Sienna fascinates the primal heart of him, even as he tells himself she is far too young to handle the wild fury of the wolf.

Then Sienna changes the rules-and suddenly, there is no more distance, only the most intimate of battles between two people who were never meant to meet. Yet as they strip away each other's secrets in a storm of raw emotion, they must also ready themselves for a far more vicious fight...

A deadly enemy is out to destroy SnowDancer, striking at everything they hold dear, but it is Sienna's darkest secret that may yet savage the pack that is her home-and the alpha who is its heartbeat.

Note: I received an ARC from the author for review.

Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Penguin
Pub Date: May 31, 2011
Format: Hardcover
Book is #10 in the Psy/Changeling series
Buy links
Amazon: Kiss of Snow (Psy/Changeling)

Book Depository: Kiss of Snow

Author's Website: Nalini Singh

Ms. Singh's prose are always lush and evocative. A sensual delight one cannot help but revel in. And boys and girls, I did me some revelin'....let me tell you. ::dreamy sigh::

I don't want to get too spoilery with this one (and we all know I loves to get spoilery) so I'm going to try to be extra good, and possibly extra vague this time around. Wish me luck...

Let's just break it down:

Hawke: Is the hotness. He is so controlled, but the boy is on the verge of breaking. Everyone and their baby sister knows it, but that man is one stubborn son of a gun. Good thing for us that he melts like butter when our sassy heroine turns up the heat. I really enjoyed watching Hawke struggle in this one. He's so ruthless and logical and commanding. He's like a wildfire that consumes everything in it's path until it smacks into the wall that is Sienna. She has a strength of spirit and will that both infuriates him and captivates him. He wants to dismiss her out of hand, but he can't. She's not like anyone else he has ever known and she reaches places in him that no one else even knows exists. What I loved was that he put up a good fight, but the man's no fool, he knew when he was done for. Once he knew the gig was up, he launched a full scale, take no prisoners assault that had me sure that I'd set the page on fire the next time I touched it. Slow and steady, but relentless is Hawke's strong suit.

Sienna: Do not dismiss this girl out of hand. Hawke gave it his best shot and couldn't do it. She's been through hell. Things even her family didn't have to undergo. She's had less of a childhood than even normal Psy. She's dangerous and she's haunted by that fact. She's a trained tactician and killer and she's good at it, but she also wants to be more. She wants to be a useful and valued member of the group. She wants to feel like more than just a freakish weapon of destruction, but she's afraid. She knows what the price of letting go of her iron control could be and she's not willing to pay it. Yes, she throws down the gauntlet with Hawke and yes she matches him step for step, but she always keeps a part of herself out of it, she always has a backup plan. How much do you wanna bet that that's not good enough for the uber demanding alpha that is Hawke? She's tough and strong and she's seen more than people twice her age, but she's also vulnerable and fragile. I really enjoyed her character and seeing her get a chance to shine.

I loved seeing all the people that rallied around Hawke and Sienna. We all know how loved and admired Hawke is, but I really wanted Sienna to get some love. She's been so isolated, so guarded and misused for so much of her life that I really wanted Hawke and the pack to work to deserve her trust and show her love. Sure, they're willing to capitalize on her strengths and use her as a soldier, but can they show her the love and acceptance that she never dreamed of having?

Many of our favorite couples from past books make appearances in this entry and it was so great to see them and what was happening in their lives. There is one couple in particular that had a huge development happen in this book and it was so great to see. It made my mind whirl with possibilities for later in the series.

The secondary romance of Walker and Lara was wonderful, too. It's so nice to see this scarred and damaged family not only interacting with each other and strengthening their own bonds, but also integrating into the Changeling world and finding happiness and love where they least expect it.

Sienna and Hawke's road to happily ever after is hard fought and hard won. They come up against a lot of obstacles and sometimes the reader can't see how they can possibly overcome, but have faith, Ms. Singh has never let us down before and she certainly doesn't start now.

I couldn't stop re-reading this book for a week. I was ruined for all others. The only real disappointment I had was that I wished there would be more Hawke and Sienna centered books. An entire series of them like Elena and Raphael from the Guild Hunter series and I still wouldn't be bored with them. Hawke surprised me with his playful tenderness that he mixed so well with his blazing passion and possessiveness and Sienna blew me away with her fierce loyalty, determination and all around fire. These two are a fabulous match.

Here's one of my favorite snippets (that hopefully isn't too spoilery):

He lifted his hand to run a strand of her hair through his fingers.

Fighting every cell in her body, she stepped back. "Stop it. No touching. No acting possessive."

Hawke's wolf prowled to the surface, a primal presence behind the human skin. "Oh?"

"All or nothing." She held her ground though she was shaking inside, her blood going alternately hot and cold. "If you want me, take me. Or let me go."

Grade: A all the way, baby.

Review: Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews

Plagued by a war between magic and technology, Atlanta has never been so deadly. Good thing Kate Daniels is on the job.

Kate Daniels may have quit the Order of Merciful Aid, but she’s still knee-deep in paranormal problems. Or she would be if she could get someone to hire her. Starting her own business has been more challenging than she thought it would be—now that the Order is disparaging her good name, and many potential clients are afraid of getting on the bad side of the Beast Lord, who just happens to be Kate’s mate.

So when Atlanta’s premier Master of the Dead calls to ask for help with a vampire on the loose, Kate leaps at the chance of some paying work. Turns out this is not an isolated incident, and Kate needs to get to the bottom of it—fast, or the city and everyone dear to her might pay the ultimate price . . .

Note: I received a copy from the publisher for review.

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Penguin Group
Pub Date: May 31, 2011
#5 in the Kate Daniels series

Buy links:
Amazon: Magic Slays (Kate Daniels, Book 5)
Book Depository: Magic Slays
Author's Website

Magic Slays is the fifth book in the Kate Daniels series and it is nothing short of another strong and solid addition.

There is action, drama, humor, romance and gut wrenching emotion galore. Basically, it's crack. So much happens in this book and in a rather short amount of time. We see Kate struggling to get her business going, getting thrown into the midst of a supernatural battle and all the politics that involves, not to mention struggling to find comfortable footing with her mate, Curran (that could be a whole book on its own) and dealing with personal hits that just keep on coming. Every time you think she should just roll over and play dead, but we know our Kate and we know that aint gonna happen. She may be dazed and down, but she's never out and she's never more dangerous than when she's up against it and everything she holds dear is on the line.

We learn so much more about Kate and her background, heritage and powers in this one...things even she didn't know. We meet new and fascinating characters and see more of the supernatural community of Atlanta as well as it's political undercurrents. What I loved with the passion of a thousand suns was seeing Kate having to embrace who and what she is. If she's going to survive and save those she loves, she has to stop running, stop fighting and be who she was born to be. The scenes at the end where *major spoilerage* happens were (excuse my fangirl gushing here) OMG EPIC! I think I may have squealed and then gushed to hubby for like an hour with non stop chatter about the all around Epic awesomeness that was this book and this scene and what does he say? "Thanks for spoiling it for me."
God, he's such a downer. Anyway.... all I can say is READ IT. There's so much good stuff here and it has my poor fried brain in hyper drive thinking of all the ways the rest of the series could play out. My mind, it's boggled.

Oh, and of course, all of this gushing is without even mentioning the relationship between Kate and Curran. Their love is not a smooth one, but it is a passionate, pure, all consuming one that will utterly decimate anything that tries to stand in its way. Yeah, that's hot.

Final grade: A.

Smexy Books review A

PINATA FAIL

My 6 year old had his birthday party last weekend and there was a pinata involved. Worst. Pinata. Ever.
I give you the evidence:

Mondays Need Epic Winning

And so I bring you my husband's new addiction and possibly the catchiest damn ear worm in....like...ever.



You're welcome.