Storm Born (The Dark Swan, Book 1) by Richelle Mead

Storm Born (The Dark Swan, Book 1) by Richelle Mead

Eugenie Markham aka the Dark Swan Odile is a powerful shaman trained to kill and / or banish the Fey that make their way into the human world to cause trouble.

Trained by her shaman foster father Eugenie is a little bit mercenary and a little bit freaked out when her prey start knowing her real name and start trying to get in her pants.

Eugenie takes a job to try and rescue a teenage girl that was kidnapped and taken into Fairy. A trip to visit King Dorian reveals some of the answers as well as a battle plan to get the girl back. Eugenie finds that she is the subject of a prophecy that says her first born will rule and change the world (which explains the fey trying to get into her pants...). Eugenie also finds out that she is half-fey herself, daughter to the tyrannical Storm King that nearly took over all of Fairy several years ago.

With the help of Dorian and a half-kitsune named Kiyo, Eugenie tries to save the girl while trying to ignore (and failing) both men's romantic attempts.

Eugenie is a very kick-butt character and basically knows what she wants most of the time. Most of her mistakes stem from either not thinking things through all the way or going off half-cocked on incomplete information. All the same she is a witty and amusing character that seems to be falling deeper under the spell of her own power as the book progresses. I look forward to seeing what happens in the next book (Thorn Queen, I think).

Blood Witch by Anya Bast

Blood Witch by Anya Bast

Eh, I liked the first one better. This second one capitalized on the characters introduced in the first book but other than that the characters seemed terribly flat.

Isabelle's motive for seeking out Stephen (the new leader of the warlocks) but even that seems flat. Her motivating actions are weak and the plot with the demon having a 'crush' on her seems a bit contrived.

Even the part where Thomas gets stuck in the other world and Isabelle has a chance to prove herself gets a little murky. With the help of a mysterious new friend Thomas somehow breaks free and manages (again, we don't really know how) to break through to the world where he is supposed to be.

Even their romance stuff seemed flat although she is just as explicit in this book as the last. I hope the third one (due out in January 2009) will be better.

Oh, and the cover art looks a little too ... something. She looks like a plastic Barbie in pain.

Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, Book 1) by Patricia Briggs

Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, Book 1) by Patricia Briggs

I really liked this book. Mercy Thompson was a believable protagonist despite her coyote "skinwalker" heritage.

Mercy is not too strong - she acknowledges she has both strengths and weaknesses. She is friendly and kind (as seen by taking in Mac) as well as mostly unafraid of the other paranormals around her that she maybe should fear a little more (like the vampires). However Mercy is not a 'badass' female character. She shows real fear when going into the vampires underground lair to meet the mistress and has to show submissive behavior to Samuel when he is hurt.

She is a well-rounded character as are a few of the other characters in the book. I particularly enjoyed Stefan, the vampire, who owns a van that Mercy is working on. It just happens to be painted like Scooby Doo's Mystery Machine too.

The tension between the two Alpha werewolves, Samuel and Adam, should turn out fairly interesting later. Samuel is an old love interest; a childhood sweetheart. Adam is a more recent protector and the kidnapping of his daughter drives much of the action.

The dialogue is smart and sometimes snarky depending on the characters speaking and the plot moves at a good pace. It is definitely a book that I could keep up with but was never boring.

A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce

A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce

When Charlotte's father died leaving the wool mill and her younger sister Rosie to care for, Charlotte thought the world should be ending. As the elder and more practical and stubborn sister, Charlotte was used to running the finances for the wool mill that kept the tiny town of Stirwaters afloat. She was aware of the curse on Stirwaters that was tied inexplicably to the mill and her family but didn't really believe it until catastrophe after catastrophe began to assail her and Rosie.

When it is brought to her attention by her father's friendly out of town banker that her father had borrowed 1000 pounds that Charlotte knew he could never repay and that 600 of that was due immediately Charlotte knew she was going to have to combat the curse or lose Stirwaters and her mill family of workers.

Rosie, young and beautiful and impulsive, calls on the Fae to help and a man introducing himself only as Jack Spinner comes to their aid to spin straw into gold.

The plot is familiar but new with many complicated twists and turns. Charlotte finds and nearly loses love, her family and her mill but remains strong and true to her desire to save those around her even if she doesn't always go about it in the correct way.

Parts of the story were chilling but just like most modern fairy tales end happily.

Witch Fire by Anya Bast

Witch Fire by Anya Bast

First off, there definitely could have been a PG or PG-13 version of this book. I'm not sure if that would have been as amusing though...

It does get fairly graphic fairly frequently. They do a lot of fantasizing at first but that doesn't last long. I would classify this as one of those books where their problems/issues could have been halved if they'd had less sex and more talking.

Miri is a waitress with very little family. Her godmother raised her since her parents died when she was very young and there's nothing much exciting about her life. Or at least there wasn't until some strange men try to bust down her apartment door and abduct her hitting her soundly on the head in the process.

They don't actually get to abduct her though because Mr. Gorgeous (her nickname for one of the customers at the diner where she worked) abducts her instead. It turns out that he - Jack - is actually a Fire Witch and he tries to explain to Miri that she is an Air Witch, rare and powerful. Of course Miri doesn't believe him at all even after he lights a flame in his own palm. He does eventually prove it to her but it is sort of a process.

Jack is protecting Miri from being used in a ritualistic circle of elemental witches to call forth a demon. Jack has to explain to her that that was how her parents died, how to use and manage her magick etc.

Of course nothing ever goes as smoothly as it is supposed to which is what makes the story amusing to read. There are some little plotholes and quick coverups but nothing too egregious.

Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn

Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn

I really liked this first book of the Kitty Norville series and I think it shows a lot of promise for the series as a whole.

Kitty is a disc jockey at a radio station and has taken over the midnight shift since she also happens to be a werewolf. One night when she's feeling bored Kitty takes a caller who brings up some paranormal activity. Kitty plays it cool like the whole idea of vampires and werewolves is a really good joke but her frank commentary and easy acceptance or dismissal of ideas (and callers) makes her rating soar and all the sudden Kitty has her own syndicated show.

Of course no one on the radio knows that she's a werewolf - well until someone sends out a hitman to take her out while she is on the air. Kitty manages to talk down the killer (she points out that someone is playing him) but admits on air to being a werewolf. Kitty's ratings (and problems) go through the roof at her admission.

Most of her problems are pack related - keeping the right "people" happy is tough and Kitty refuses to give up her show to make others happy.

The best part for me was seeing how much of what happens in Kitty's life is luck. A lot of what she does would be really impressive, if she had meant to do it that way. But as with most other things in life, for Kitty it's guesswork and being in the right place at the right time and being open to other possibilities.

I also liked the author's sense of humor which translated to some of Kitty's snarky on-air commentary. And having a werewolf named Kitty is just ironic.

Midnight Rising (The Midnight Breed, 4) by Lara Adrian

Midnight Rising (The Midnight Breed, 4) by Lara Adrian

I finished this book in one evening. It probably had nothing to do with the fact that I already mostly knew (and was sort of attached to) the characters or that the main 'hero' of this novel had so much to overcome.

Rio, one of the Breed warriors, was betrayed by his Breedmate Eva, in the very first book. Her betrayal nearly killed him; scarring his body and soul so badly that by the time the fourth book rolls around Rio is ready to end it all.

Before he can set off the explosives that would be necessary to destroy evidence of a cave crypt of an Ancient One (and seal himself inside) a woman enters the cave where he had been hiding and sees the glyphs on the wall, the human remains and the empty crypt. Unable to let her just walk away while knowing more than she should (especially since the woman is a journalist!) Rio follows her and eventually has to kidnap her. But containing the information and the woman he kidnapped (Dylan) is much more difficult than Rio had imagined.

Dylan's unique gift as a Breedmate allows her to see Breedmates who have died, who have something they want to tell her or want her to do. This isn't something that Dylan understands at first, never having learned about her potential as a Breedmate. The ghost of Eva actually led Dylan to Rio and helps Rio locate Dylan after she is kidnapped by Dragos (the villain!).

It was very easy to read and certainly furthers the main storyline plot. Can't wait to snatch up the next one this December.

Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith

I was disappointed by this story as I thought the premise sounded so interesting. For the story to fall so flat ... I did make it all the way through the book and had to take a moment or two when I was finished to sort out what the heck had actually happened.

Quincie is not exactly a normal high-schooler in Austin, Texas. Her parents died when she was small and her childhood sweetheart is a half werewolf. On top of that she has inherited her parent's restaurant and is almost too responsible.

Despite her apparent responsiblility in helping to run a restaurant, Quincie makes some terribly poor decisions. She's drunk for the second half of the book for example.

The writing is staccato and doesn't flow as it should and even Kieran (Quincie's best friend & childhood sweetheart) who is the most dynamic character feels static and unlikeable. The story ends abruptly and badly in my humble opinion. :(

Murder of a Medici Princess by Caroline Murphy

Murder of a Medici Princess by Caroline Murphy

I began reading this book today and also returned it to the library today. I couldn't get into it and got very lost in the details.

The subject matter was interesting enough but just SO laden with genealogies and descriptions of their clothing, the foods they ate (I was very grossed out by the breakfast food of "eyes, ears and brain of baby goat") etc.

The genealogy was terribly difficult for me to follow especially since I'm not a scholar of the era and have only minimal knowlege of the Medici's history. I was hoping to broaden my horizons with a novel similar to the ones by Phillipa Gregory but this read more like a text than a novel (and Phillipa Gregory is very detail heavy too).

All in all, I got about 50 pages in and called it quits. I was probably most disturbed with the image of the dwarf Morgante winning 10 scudi for crippling a monkey...

Dishes by Rich Wallace

Dishes by Rich Wallace

This was sort of a strange book in my opinion. Or, perhaps fairer, it wasn't really what I was expecting when I read the summary off of my library's website.

Danny is straight and working for the summer in a predominantly gay tourist town in Maine. As a dishwasher at the restaurant 'Dishes,' Danny is only one of two straight guys that work there and the other is his father.

Danny goes after a waitress that works at a different restaurant but gets hit on fairly often by the waiters at his own restaurant which can get a bit confusing since Danny is nice enough (and secure enough I suppose) to not get weirded out at getting hit on by gay guys.

Perhaps that was where it got really strange for me. I don't know any 20-year-old guys that would be as cool about the situation as Danny was. Then too the book was short and kind of trite. Everything just worked out in the end. Amazing.

The Last Mermaid by Shana Abe

The Last Mermaid by Shana Abe

I liked this book even though I didn't think it was as good as Abe's Drakon series.

Basically it is a compilation of four love stories throughout "history" and taking place mostly in a few tiny islands in Scotland.

The first story is very brief - just enough to explain a curse and about the mermaids.

The second story is more developed and takes place in 531 AD when a Prince of the Isles is betrayed and kidnapped and thrown into the sea. With a little mythical help he is able to win back his kingdom.

The one I liked best took place in 1721 with the Earl of Kell and a Spanish assassin named Leila. I probably liked this one best because they had some equal footing. Ronan has his mermaid heritage but Leila also brought to the relationship an ability to know the hearts and minds of the people she touches. It is interesting to see the way they save each other.

The last story takes place in 2004 when Iain McInness seeks out the last remaining Kell to explain to her her own inheritance and heritage. Ruri also has gifts (perhaps from Leila a few centuries earlier) but this final story really circles around back to the first love of the mermaid and Kell, completing the circle and ending the curse.

The story is mostly well-written but slightly confusing in some spots. As with any fantasy there are a few plot-holes but they are easy enough to overlook.

The Rose Bride: A Retelling of "The White Bride and the Black Bride" by Nancy Holder

The Rose Bride: A Retelling of "The White Bride and the Black Bride" by Nancy Holder

This story was not as easy for me to read as some of the others in the Once Upon a Time series. I was not very familiar with the story of the White Bride and the Black Bride so that might have had something to do with it.

I found the story to be a lot like Cinderella but without the fairy godmother. Despite the abundance of magic Rose did much of the "work" of the tale on her own which was good. I did find her character to be strangely unlikeable as she spent much of the 1st half of the book weeping and much of the next quarter of the book being beaten down. Only towards the end when she believes the message of the roses does she really improve as a character.

I also found the king to be lacking. I was more than a little weirded out that he could replace his wife in his affections with another that looked just like her. To have married three people that all look exactly the same was more than a little strange to read even if Desiree only borrowed the form.

It certainly wasn't my favorite of the series of fairy tales.