Merry Chistmas

Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!!!!!

and......

Horror & Urban Fantay Reading Challenge 2011

Really great reading challenge hosted by Book Chick City

http://www.bookchickcity.com/2010/11/sign-up-horror-urban-fantasy-reading.html

Challenge Details

•Timeline: 01 Jan 2011 - 31 Dec 2011

•Rules: To read TWENTY FOUR (24) horror & urban fantasy novels in 2011 (24 is the minimum but you can read more if you wish!)

•You don't have to select your books ahead of time, you can just add them as you go. Also if you do list them upfront you can change them, nothing is set in stone! The books you choose can crossover into other challenges you have on the go.

•You can join anytime between now and the later part of next year.

•At the beginning of Jan 2011, you will find a link to add your reviews.

I'll post my books as I go since I'm good at changing my mind.......
books as I go.
Also check my tab for reading challenges where I'll also keep up my reading list for this (and other) challenges.

Mysterie & Suspence Reading Challenge 2011

Timeline: 01 Jan 2011 - 31 Dec 2011

Rules: To read TWELVE (12) mystery & suspense novels in 2011 (12 is the minimum but you can read more if you wish!)

You don't have to select your books ahead of time, you can just add them as you go. Also if you do list them upfront you can change them, nothing is set in stone! The books you choose can crossover into other challenges you have on the go.

You can join anytime between now and the later part of next year.

At the beginning of Jan 2011, you will find a link to specific month to add your reviews. There will be a monthly prize too courtesy of the lovely Simon & Schuster - you must be signed up to the challenge and add the link to your review to be entered into the monthly prize draw.

Courtesy of publisher SIMON & SCHUSTER UK, all participants of this challenge will receive a free ARC of The Survivor by Sean Slater to start you off on your challenge! Once you have made your participation post and signed up for the challenge, email me with your full name, address, post URL and your entry number from the participants list below (so I can verify) and I will pass on your details. This is INTERNATIONAL!

For more information and signing up klick HERE

Since I hate choosing my books ahead of time I'll be posting my books as I go.

Also check my tab for reading challenges where I'll also keep up my reading list for this (and other) challenges.

Gothic reading challenge

http://gothicreadingchallenge.blogspot.com/

There is nothing better than a great Gothic read - crumbling old castles, mysterious legends, shadowy characters, supernatural beings and unexplainable events, make for some of the most haunting and captivating reading imaginable.

There are four levels of participation to choose from:

A Little Madness - Read just 1 novel with Gothic elements.
The Darkness Within - Read 5 novels with Gothic elements.

A Maniacal Frenzy - Read 10 novels with Gothic elements.

Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know - Read 20 novels with Gothic elements.

For more information and to sign up click HERE

On the soul of a vampire

For some it takes a lifetime to discover their raison d'être. Imagine searching for eight centuries. In 1997 Philadelphia, an 800 year old vampire comes face to face with his reason to be when he discovers a young mortal woman whose understanding of immortality is about to change all he's known as truth. Obsessed with the mysterie of her knowledge, he embarks on a journey that doesn't only lead him to his childhood home in the Provincal Alpes, but into his greatest hopes and dreams, fears and disappointments, and into the strange and frightning that shaped him. A novel about falterng faith and never-ending hope, On the soul of a vampire will not only alter everything you think you know about vampires, i will change the way you see your very soul. (cover)

The story begins with Valéry an 800 year old vampire who notices a young woman named Angelina. He's immediately drawn to her. Valéry tries to figure out his infatuation with her from a safe distance. We learn that these two already have a connection. Angelina knows what and who Valéry is, she has had dreams of a time long ago in which she never lived and the things she dreams about are of a life she couldn't possibly know, Valéry's life. This only makes Valéry more intrigued by her and he wants answers. How does she know all these things?
The chemistry between Valéry and Angelina is wonderful. Valéry is keeping himself in check when he's around her not wanting to hurt her but he also gets pretty annoyed and angry when Angelina is being quite cryptically because he wants answers and she just gives him riddles.
At the end of this novel all the puzzle pieces fall into place and you get these answers questioned.

This is not your typical vampire novel. Theology came to my mind when I read this novel. It makes you think. But not just for Valéry but the things described in this novel makes you think about different aspects of life, love and believe. Keley's writing is great, the story gripped me from beginning to end I was just as annoyed and frustrated at times as Valéry was with Angelina. And I love that, I want to feel the same way as the characters are feeling. I'm looking forward to reading more by Krisi Keley.

My rating: 4/5

Night of the Vampires

As a soldier, Cole Granger fights to restore peace to a world divided by war and evil. His extraordinary talents are enlisted to prevent the president’s horrific premonition from becoming reality. Nothing—and no one—will stop him from fulfilling his duty. Especially the mysterious young woman who claims to be his comrade’s sister. Enemy or ally, he can’t yet determine. But one thing he knows for certain is that he must keep her close. Very close.

Megan Fox’s quest to uncover a family secret leads her to the center of vampire riots in West Virginia. To find the answers she needs—and clear herself of suspicion—she must join forces with Cole. They work undercover to bring justice, but they can’t disguise the potent attraction and need that draw them together. Yet trust doesn’t come easily for Cole…and when Megan unearths the grim, dark truth, can she trust him to believe her? (blurb)

If it isn't bad enough the civil war is going on there is a much greater threat.........rouge vampires.

Megan Fox, a half breed vampire is send to Washington D.C. to help put a stop to the spreading of 'the disease'. Here she meets up with her half brother Cody who's joined forces with the Texas sheriff Cole. Cody, also a half breed doesn't know he has a sister and she isn't exactly welcomed with open arms. They believe soon enough that she is Cody’s sister but can they trust her? Cole especially is weary of trusting her. When Abraham Lincoln himself sends Megan and Cole to Harpers Ferry to put a stop to the spread of the disease, they need to rely on each other to survive.

The chemistry between Megan and Cole is great, the attraction is obvious but the issue is trust. Cole doesn't know he can trust her since she is half vampire, although he would trust Cody with his life. The attraction just gets bigger between them when the story developed.

Glass houses

Welcome to Morganville, Texas. Don't stay out after dark.

It's a small college town filled with quirky characters. But when the sun goes down, the bad comes out. Because in Morganville , there is an evil that lurks in the darkest shadows - one that will spill out into the bright light of day.

Claire Denvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation. The popular girls never let her forget just where she ranks on the school's social scene: somewhere less then zero. And Claire really doesn't have the right connections - to the undead who run the town.

When Claire heads off campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better. Her new roommates don't show many signs of life. But they'll have Claire's back when the town's deepest secrets come crawling out, hungry for fresh blood......(bookcover)

This is the first novel in The Morganville vampires series.

Claire is a sixteen year old freshman. She's bullied by the most popular girl on school Monica, who makes her dorm days a living hell. When the bullying almost cost Claire her life she's looking for another place to live. This brings her to an old house, the Glass house. Here she meets Eve a goth girl, Shane who doen't really do anything and Michael who isn't who whe says he is. When she starts living here she finds herself in a whole other world......

She learns that this town is run by vampires and people are protected by them....well if you're lucky. Claire has some trouble believing this but she finds out soon anough that it is all real. And bad enough Monica is one of the people who is protected by a vampire and Claire has no protection...

Her new roommates take care of her and try their best to make sure Claire doesn't get in to much trouble. Although a sixteen year old girl doesn't realy listen to what others tell her to do or in this case not to do.

Claire figures out the vampires are looking for an old book and this book seems pretty important for them....When Shane cuts a deal with a vampire so Claire is safe she decides that she's going to find the book to make sure she and her friends will be safe....

This is a fun and easy read. The characters are quirky, fun and have their own issues and secrets. Claire is strongwilled and determined and as it usally goes this gets her ito some great deal of trouble.

Here the vampires aren't thehot good man and woman. They look good some to the degree of hot but mostly they just look human except for the fangs ofcourse.

This is a real nice other take on the vampire novels I've read lately. Rachel Caine did a really great job with this story it's well written and she made sure the characters are very likeable but still have that anoying bit that belongs with a teenager.

I really didn't think I would like this story so much. The whole college thing, popular girls, bullying is not really my cup of thee but this was a really great book. And the ending just screams for more......this is the worst cliffhager I've ever read.......I want to know what happens next.......

My rating: 5/5

Dark Time

Three hundred years ago, se sold her soul to a demon. Now she wants it back.

For centuries, the woman calling herself Maliha Crayne has lived a second life - as an assassin for the malevolent creature who owns her soul. A haunted killer with the blood of countless victims on her hands, she has finally discoverd a way to nullify the demonic pact that chains her: If she saves a life for every one she has taken, she will be free.

But if she fails, her punishments will be unspeakable, undurable....and neverending. (bookcover)

This is the first novel in the Mortal Path series.

The story starts of in the year 1692 where we meet Susannah. She is accused of witchcraft en sentenced to burn at the stake. While she is burning she calls for help which she finds in a demon named Rabishu he is giving her a choice....die in the flames or he'll grant her with eternal life but has to do his bidding. She becomes ageless and an assassin.


We'll take a few leaps trough time and see Susannah in her new life as an ageless and assassin. After a few hundred years she wants out......wants her soul back. Rabishu offers her that chance. If she saves a life for every life she has taken she gets her soul back. But there is a catch she will become mortal again and with every life she saves she will age.

She still heals faster than a 'normal mortal human' and she can still see aura's which gives her some advantages. She now fights to do some good in the world, begin to right what she has done wrong in the last three hundred years. She even gets a love interest named Jake Stackman, a DEA agent.

The ending made me beg for more.....no seriously it's quite the open ending and you want to know what happens next! Is Jake really who he says he is? And off course what will come on Maliha’s path to her final goal....getting her soul back and be free......

Rating: 4/5

Storm front

Harry Dresden - Wizzard
Lost items found. Paranormal investigations. Consulting. Advice. Reasonable rates. No love potions, Endless purses or other entertainment.

Harry Dresden is the best in what he does. Well technically he's the only at what he does. Sowhenthe Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal creativity or capability, they come to him for anwsers. For the "everyday" world is actually full of strange and magical things - and most of them don't play well with humans. That's where Harry comes in. Takes awizzard to catch a - well, whatever.

There's just one problem. Business, to put it mildly, stinks. So when the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder commited with black magic, Harry's seeing dollar signs. But where there's black magic, there's a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry's name. And that's when things start to get......interesting.
Magic, it can get a guy killed. (bookcover)

Meet Harry Dresden, a wizzard for hire, a private investigator sort of and he's a consultant for the police department whenever something just doesn't look 'human'. Harry isn't your typical hero, a bit more a anti-hero. Don't get me wrong he know's what he does but it just goes wrong most of the time and what goes right mostly is by accident. He doesn't date much, has bad luck with woman so he says, he has an (enormous) cat named Mister, and he has a fire spirit named Bob, who lives in a skull and helps Harry with his wichcraft. And he has some sort of evil 'babysitter' named Morgan following him everywhere, since he killed another wizzard with magic and well murder with magic means the dead sentence, but since it was supposed to be out of self defence he got another chance and Morgan watching his every step.

Harry is called in by the police for a consultation on a double murder to see if he can figure out who or what did this and how. To him it's quite obvious it's black magic. And because of his past there are (otherwordly) people who suspect him. So now he has to help the police solve this crime bt more importantly he has to clear his name. He is also helping a lady to find her husband, he assumes he's run of with another woman......but is that really the case. And on top of that someone has sent a demon after him just when he's having a date, the first one in a very long time.

This book is what you get when you mix a detective with the supernatural and add in some humour. It's fun and has all the good thing that come with a great detective/crime novel and you have your wizzards, fairy's, vampires and demons.

My rating: 5/5

Giveaway Wolf Signs by Vivian Arend

Win a copy of A Wolf Signs by Vivian Arend!

Robyn Maxwell doesn’t care that her brother has to cancel out on their backcountry ski trip. She can do it alone. The fact she’s deaf doesn’t make her survival skills any weaker. The chance to get away from it all and relax in the Yukon wilderness is just what she’s been craving.
Meeting wilderness guide Keil at the cabin starts cravings of another kind. Keil’s one hot hunk of ripped, tasty male. Now she has to deal with raging hormones as well as strange questions about wolves and mates and challenges to the death.
Keil was trying for a nice reflective retreat before challenging for the Alpha position of his Alaskan pack. He wasn’t planning on meeting the woman destined to be his mate, or finding out she’s not aware she has the genes of a wolf.
Between dealing with his accident-prone younger brother, a deaf mate with an attitude and an impending duel to the death, his week—and his bed—is suddenly full.
Far from the relaxing getaway any of them had in mind...

Leave a comment and emailadress for a chance to win a digital copy of Wolf Signs!
Contest is open till 29th of october 2010.
This contest is a part of Moira Rogers' & Vivian Arend's Fall Frenzy Event. For your chance to win books, gift certificates, ereaders and more, visit http://www.moirarogers.com/contests/

His darkest hunger

Jaxon Castile: jaguar shifter, warrior, assasin. He has long hungered for the chance to make his former lover, Libb Jamieson, pay for her deadley betrayal. After three long years he has found her. The hunt is over...

But the Libby that he finds is not ehat he expected.She has no memory of their tumultuous affair, of her treachery, of anything beyond her own name. A shadowy and deadly clan has marked them both for death, and in an instant, the game changes: the hunter ha become the hunted.

On the run, with the gosts of their past between them and a dark, desperate hunger quickly reclaiming their bodies and souls, Libby and Jaxon must discover the truth behind the dark forces working against them. Together, they must grab hold of a destiny that has the power to either heal them or distroy them.

But the truth is far more shattering than annyone could imagine.....(bookcover)

This is the first novel of the Jaguar warriors series.

This is Juliana Stone's first novel and boy does she deliver....

Jason has been hunting his ex-lover Libby for three years. He has finally found her and wants to make her pay for her betrayel to the antiterrorst unit they both worked and where a team mate died. He is all set to kill her when he decides to confront her first. He finds out she doesn't remember him or anything for that mather. Libby has turned into a whole other person, this woman is weak and in pour health totally not the woman he once loved and now hates. When a sniper takes a shot at him he realizes he has been set up.
Instead of killing Libby he takes her with him to his compound to try and find out who is after him and what happened to Libby.

After some tests it's clear that Libby has been tortured and a spell has made sure she can't remember a thing. The dark mage of the team, Declan can't do anything about the spell because he fears it will kill her. So she has to remember it by herself. But does she want to know what happens.

Has the story progresses Libby does get her memory back and it gives her something to fight for. With her regain of her memory, her strenght and determination return also.
Jaxon, Libby, Declan and Ana (the other team mate who also happens to be a vampire) and their soon joined by Jaxon's broters, go after the ones who are trying to kill them, although Libby has another reason to go after them.......

The chemistry between Libby an Jaxon is just fantastic. You can feel the draw between them but Jaxon keeps pushing it away because he has been hating Libby for three years. He is confused and frustrated over the physical attraction he strongly feels towards Libby and takes his frustration out on Libby. She also feels the physical atraction eventhough she can't remember their relationship. And although Jaxon goes from hot to cold towards her she has this feeling she's safe around him.

This story has a lot of twists and plots and the ending keeps you asking for more. It's an open ending and you just want to know what more is in store for them. I'ts fast paced and the romance scenes ar hot! This is one of those books you have trouble with putting down.

My rating: 4/5

Night's cold kiss

For centuries war raged between humans and Aeturnus vampires - until courageous efforts on both sides forged a fragile peace.
But the rogue Necrodrainiacs will never be controlled - addicted as they are to the death-high....and bloody chaos.

Since witnessing the murder of her mother, Antoinette Petrescu has burned with fiery hatred for the vampire race - even for Christian Laroque, the noble, dangerously handsome Aeternus who rescued her. Now an elite Venator, Antoinette must reluctanly accept Christian's help to achieve her vengeance - even as he plots to use the beautiful, unsuspecting warrior as bait to draw out the bloodthisty dreniacs. (Bookcover)

This is the first novel in the Dark Brethren serie.

So in this world there are two sorts of vampires Aeternus vampires and Necrodrainiacs or dreniacs, the good and the bad vampires. An Aeternus becomes a dreniac if he or she drains a human while feeding.

The story is about Antoinette Petrescu, a Venator, a bounty hunter specialized in dreniacs. The story starts off with one of her 'jobs'. So you get right into the action. She has to go unto a mission with two Aeturnus vampires Christian and Viktor. They have to find a dreniac who is killing woman who look like Antoinette.....
This story starts off with action and not much later it gets al hot and steamy. So no long waiting you just dive right in. Because it's throughout the book that didn't bother me.
Antoinette is a loner she works with her brother and lives for her work. She is tough but isn't reckless as most of the heroines you read about. No she is well trained and thinks before she acts.
Christian is the handsome vampire. Who also is the one who 'saved' Antoinette and her brother after her mother was killed by dreniac (she just doesn't know that)
The relationship between Antoinette and Christian is 'difficult' they both have feelings and both have different reasons to try and fight them. The sexual tension is great between them and you keep wondering when they will give in to their feelings.
Viktor is Christians best friend and funny as hell. The relationship between Antoinette and Viktor is great. She might hate vampires but she enjoys his company and they become friends. She has always been a loner and you get to see another side of her.

This is an action packed, fast paced, hot sexy, dark, well written story.

Tracey O'Hara shows a whole new paranormal world. And the last few pages of the book she put a glossery of terms to explame it all. And that is quite handy because she doen't have to explain to big in the story itself. So not an overload of information just a great story.

My rating: 5/5

Dead witch walking

All the creatures of the night gather in the Hollows of Cincinnati, to hide, to prowl, to party ... and to feed. Vampires rule the darkness in a predator-eat-predator world rife with dangers beyond imagining -- and it's Rachel Morgan's job to keep that world civilized. A bounty hunter and witch with serious sex appeal and an attitude, she'll bring 'em back alive, dead ... or undead. (bookcover)

This is the first novel in the Hollows serie.

In this world the creatures of the night (Inderlanders) live knowingly amongst humans. They were discovered when humans created a virus with geneticley modefied tomatos. The virus almost wiped out human-kind and vampires alike. Witches and like stood out because they were imune. Most Inderlanders now live in the Hollows.

Rachel Morgan is a witch and after quitting the I.S. she gets in a lot of trouble. Her vampire co-worker (the best of the I.S.) quits with her and her boss isn't happy about it and puts a dead treat on her head. Now she has to avoid being killed, find a way to pay of the dead treat and she is starting her own business with Ivy a vampire and Jenks a pixie. They end up living together in a church. To try to pay of the dead treat she goes after Trent Kalamack a drug dealer.

Rachel is stubborn and doesn't think before she acts, she rejects help from her friends, but keeps ending up saved by them. The chemistry between Rachel and Ivy is great and Jenks is downright funny.

The story is good, but the first half of the book was really slow. Towards the end of the book it gets a lot better. The story is fast paced and has a lot af action.
The end makes me wonder what will happen next to Rachel, Ivy and Jenks. And though this book was a bit hard to read I will read the next one to see what will happen to them.

Rating: 3/5

Blindsighted

When a young college professor is brutally murdered in a small Georgia town, pediatrician and coroner Sara Linton conducts the autopsy that reveals the full extent of a twisted killer at work. As Sara's ex-husband, police chief Jeffery Tolliver, leads the investigation, a second victim is found crucified. However, it's Sara who holds the key to finding the killer--a secret from her past that can unmask a malevolent psychopath. (Bookcover)

(I read this book in Dutch So it means a differtent cover with a different name in the picture)

This is the first novel in the Grant County serie.

Alright to begin I want to say this book really isn't for the faint hearted. Karin Slaughter really knows how to write a graphic story.....crime scenes and crimes itself are written in detail and it isn't pretty.

The book is about Sara Linton the pediatricion and the towns coroner, Jeffrey Tolliver the chief of police and Sarah's ex-husband and Lena Adams police detective working under Jeffrey and she's the twinsister of the first murder victom. This makes it quite the interesting bunch. The characters are well developed people with flaws. Sometimes they anoy the hell out of you but still you can understand here the come from. Kinda like real people....don't we all know people like that?

For me this was a really good "who done it" You see the Sara, Jeffrey ad Lena trying to find and put all the puzzle pieces together to find the killler. Each with there own motives. Some dark secrets get revealed along the way and what is going to happen with the (broken) relationship between Sara and Jeffrey.

This book is a fast paced pageturner and well written. Karin Slaughter really delivers a great first novel.

Rating: 5/5

Kitty and the midnight hour

Kitty Norville is a midnight-shift DJ for a Denver radio station - and she also happens to be a werewolf. One night, sick of the usual lame song requests, she accidentally starts 'The Midnight Hour', a late-night advice show for the supernaturally disadvantaged. Almost immediately she's deluged by calls from desperate vampires, werewolves and witches from all across the country, wanting to share their woes and ask her advice. Kitty's new show is a raging success, but it's Kitty herself who could use some help, not least because her monthly change is a deep and dark secret to all but a very special few. And when she finds one very sexy werewolf-hunter on her tail, not to mention a few homicidal undead, she realises she may just may have bitten off more than she can chew ...(bookcover)

This is the first novel in the Kitty Norville serie.

This book is a fun read. And a good first novel. You don't get burried under a lot of information.
Kitty isn't your everage heroine, she maybe a werewolf but not the kickass one you would suspect. No she is just a girl in another kind of world and doen't quite know how to deal with it. Except in her radio show 'The midnight hour' where she gives advice to other supernaturals. And not only that in her show she gets 'discovered' and a lot af people know she is a werewolf and that they and vampires really excist. Which pisses some off. She even gets a werewolfhunter (for hire) after her. And she defenitly has some trouble in the pack. The only thing that gets her trough is her best friend TJ. Their relationship is really great. Just what you expect from best friends. Eventhough they are very different it just makes sense that they are friends.

The ending was quite unexpected for me but I liked it. It makes sure that Kitty gets to have some great new adventures in the big bad world.

I must admit that sometimes I found  the "radio" a bit boring but that was mostly in the beginning. After the story got along it al fit together.

This book is fast written and doesn't linger to much on events and has some great action.
Carrie Vaughn really wrote a great first novel and I for one can't wait to see what happens next to Kitty.

Rating: 4/5

Dead girls are easy

Nicki Styx is strictly Goth and vintage, until a brush with the afterlife leaves her with the ability to see dead people. Now, Atlantas ghosts are knocking on her door, but things get even more complicated for Nicki when a friend foolishly sells her soul to the devil. (Bookcover)

This is the first novel in the Nicki Styx serie.

After a near death experience Nicki Styx sees ghosts. When her friend is murderd and comes to her everything changes. Her friend isn't just dead and needs help there is something else going on and she has to figure out how so her friend can rest in peace and safe her own life. T do this she finds help from her friend's granny Yulep.
The other part of the story is the love interest between Nicki and the hunky doctor Joe Bascombe. He is the atending doctor when she is brought in with a heart attack. They start dating wich doesn't go as planned and I ain't only talking about the ghosts who come knocking on Nicki's door.

I liked this book. It's really fun and easy to read. I especially liked the relationship between Nicki and her best friend Evan. He is just to funny and their relationship gives just a little spin to the story.
This is a good first novel of a serie. You don't get to much background information wich makes it really easy to read. I read it in just a few hours. I'm defenitly going to read to next book in this serie

Rating: 5/5

 

Giveaway by Dakota Banks check out her site!

Check out the giveaway by Dakota Banks.

Chenk her site Dakota Banks and enter and don't forget to spread the word!

Giveaway ends on 1 december 2010.

Guilty Pleasures

'I don't date vampires. I kill them.' My name is Anita Blake. Vampires call me the Executioner. What I call them isn't repeatable. Ever since the Supreme Court granted the undead equal rights, most people think vampires are just ordinary folks with fangs. I know better. I've seen their victims. I carry the scars...But now a serial killer is murdering vampires -- and the most powerful bloodsucker in town wants me to find the killer. (bookcover)

This is the first novel in the Anita Bake Vampire Hunter serie.

This book is great! It's everything I like....vampires, lycantropes, murderscenes and some sexual tention. Anita Blake is an animator and vampire executioner that means some vampire goes bad and she kills his or her ass and she works for the RPIT (Regional preternatioral Investigation Team) who are called in when they don't thing u human could have done the 'job'. Vampires and lycantropes are very real in this world and live amongst humans....vampires even have equal rights. This quite dfferent from other books that I have read because most live in the dark and humans no nothing about vampires.

Anita is one of the few people who hate vampires and it so happens she will have to work for one....she has to find a serial killer who kills vampires......and why would she help them you say? Well either she does that or her friend will end up with one of them.....And she has to help solve some murders for RPIT

I like Anita she is great! She's sarcastic, has a bad sense of humor and so damn tough in front of everybody but sleeps with a stuffed pinguin.

And ofcourse there is Jean Claude.....a master vampire...who we do not know much about or his motives...but still I like him....he just has something. We must not forget Edward who is an ever bigger mystery. Ohw and Phillip he is just hot and I cried my eyes out! Damn that just wasn't fair.

This serie has a lot of books now and Laurell has said she isn't quite ready with  Anita's story yet and I'm glad about that. You either love her writing or you hate it. And some just the first novels.

Laurell is really explicit in het writing espacially when it comes to crime and sex scenes (the sex comes in the later novels)

I really like this serie, it's urban fantasy meets crime/mystery an Anita will make you see that your life ain't so bad and isn't that all we need!?

Rating: 5/5

Nightwalker

Mira has been a nightwalker for centuries, travelling the globe as an enforcer for a secretive, powerful organization. But this vampire has a secret that makes her a valuable target: the unheralded ability to create fire. And after many centuries, she's finally met her match in Danaus - a vampire hunter with his own mysterious past. But the cat and mouse game between nightwalker and hunter quickly turns into something far more deadly. For a portal has been opened to other worlds, and the ancient, immortal enemies are returning to the world. And the web of lies and secrets leads directly to the vampire triad who raised Mira. After a brutal betrayal, Mira has only one choice: hunt...or be hunted. (bookcover)

I liked this one. It has action, surprises and treason. The leadcharacter is Mira a 600 year old vampire who can control fire. She is a kickass woman and takes great care in protecting the balans between vampires and Lycantrhopes and making sure no human finds out about her species in her city. Then there is Danaus....he's a vampirehunter, chatolic and something else (we don't know what he is, just that he lived for centuries) He stayed in a monestry for a while where he was taught that vampires are evil, killers. When he gets to know Mira a little better he begins to question that. The chemistry between Mira and Danaus is great. They keep protecting eachother just so they can kill the other themselves.
What I  really liked is that there is another 'creature' introduced to us in the serie....the Naturi.....and they're like the ultimate evil in this book.....bad for nightwalkers, lycanthropes and humans....
But it's the plot that did it for me. The plot makes you want to read the next book, just to see what Mira is going to do with this revelation. The ending is just so unexpected it leaves you asking for more.

Rating: 5/5

The innocent

Matt Hunter's life has already been blown away once. At the age of twenty, he got into a fight outside a party and accidentally killed someone. That momentary lapse of reason cost him four years in gaol, and a small sliver of his soul. But when he got out he set about rebuilding his life. He carved himself a job as a lawyer and married a beautiful woman. The break in the road seems to have only made him a stronger person. However, when he receives a strange video message on his mobile phone and he realises that a very bad man is following him, his new existence is suddenly under threat. Why is this ex-con on his tail, and who really is this woman he has married? Suddenly Matt can't trust anybody - least of all those he loves...(bookcover)

I really liked this book. I read it in just one day.....just had to know how this would end.

This book is about Matt. After spending some time in jail he is bettering his life. He works at a lawfirm and is married. But how well does he know his wife and what is up with this video message he gets from his wife.
And when the police gets after him for 3 murders it's time to find out what is going on....

This was good from beginning to end.....right from the start you get the idea of where this book is going......and in the end it's just not like what you thought it would be.

Expect the unexpected with Harlan Coben I would say, cause nothing is what it seems.

Rating: 5/5

The scent of shadows

Joanna Archer knows all about darkness. Raped at age 16, she's spent the last 9 years watching the dark side of humanity. By day she's an heiress and photographer in Vegas. By night she prowls the forsaken streets looking for revenge...and the chance to exorcise the demon within. Until a chance date turned horrific reveals a world beyond the bright lights and big action of Sin City - an otherworld filled with supernatural forces where Light and Dark war with each other. Only the brave members of the Zodiac - twelve men and women endowed with magical abilities - can keep evil at bay. And with a mysterious legacy from her mother and preternatural fighting skills, Joanna could be one of them...if she survives long enough. Because the demons are hunting Joanna, and the powers of darkness want her for their own. (bookcover)


First sign of the zodiac.
I really really liked this book. There is a lot of action and you don't get the usual overload of background information.
For me the character Joanna was very likeable. I liked the way she is a strong female with flaws (the kinda flaws you can understand)
This is a real good vs. bad story aka the good guys against the bad guys and Joanna is the person stuck in between. She is both and has to choose.
The plot of this book is (in my eyes) good and makes me want to read the next book.

Rating: 5/5

One for the money

ONE FINE MESS
Welcome to Trenton, New Jersey, home to wiseguys, average Joes, and Stephanie Plum, who sports a big attitude and even bigger money problems (since losing her job as a lingerie buyer for a department store). Stephanie needs cash-fast-but times are tough, and soon she's forced to turn to the last resort of the truly desperate: family...

ONE FALSE MOVE
Stephanie lands a gig at her sleazy cousin Vinnie's bail bonding company. She's got no experience. But that doesn't matter. As does the fact that the bail jumper in question is local vice cop Joe Morelli. From the time he first looked up her dress to the time he first got into her pants, to the time Steph hit him with her father's Buick, M-o-r-e-l-l-i has spelled t-r-o-u-b-l-e. And now the hot guy is in hot water-wanted for murder...

ONE FOR THE MONEY
Abject poverty is a great motivator for learning new skills, but being trained in the school of hard knocks by people like psycho prizefighter Benito Ramirez isn't. Still, if Stephanie can nab Morelli in a week, she'll make a cool ten grand. All she has to do is become an expert bounty hunter overnight-and keep herself from getting killed before she gets her man...(bookcover)


This book is really funny. I found myself laughing out loud on the couch. But it also has enough action to keep it exciting.
Stephanie is a very likebale character....she isn't all too bright but she's definitely not stupid either....she's clumsy which makes it fun to see how she is learning all this new stuff for her new job as a bounty hunter.....
Her grandma is just hilarious....she says and does the most funny thing....
The interaction between Stephanie and Morelli is mostly just funny as hell.

This book is for people who aren't going to take a book too serious and like to laugh out loud.

Ik love this book and I'm definitly going to read the next book 'Two for the dough'

Rating: 5/5

Night huntress serie by Jeaniene Frost

Let me begin by saying this is one of my favorite series I've read.
I only started reading it last month, but I've read them all (except for Eternal Kiss of Darkness because I'm stil waiting on that one)

Halfway to the grave is the first novel in this serie.

Half-vampire Catherine Crawfield is going after the undead with a vengeance, hoping that one of those deadbeats is her father - the guy responsible or ruining her mother's life. But when she's captured by Bones, a bounty hunter and a vampire, she finds hersel forced into an unholy partnership. In exchange for his help in finding her farther, and still astonihed she hasn't ended up as his dinner, Cat agrees to train with te sexy night stalker until het battle reflexes are as sharp as his fangs. But that's not all Bones has to show her - Cat's starting to believe vampires aren't all evil after all, especially ones as cute as Bones. She's half cinvinced that being half-dead doesn't have to be all bad. But before she can enjoy her newfound status as confident kick-ass demon hunter, Cat finds herself, and Bones, hotly pursued by a band of killers. She's going to ave to pick a side - and fast....(book cover)

This book is amazing! It's full of action, humour and a (hot) love story. About everything a good Urban Fantasy needs for me. I just couln't stop reading (took me less than a day to finish it)...I just had to know how this would end. I laughed out loud and was biting my fingernails in suspence.
I just instantly fell in love with the characters Cat and Bones (and their relationship) Cat is brought up believing all vampires are evil and now she kinda has to work with one. Than Bones trains Cat in te most (well how do I put this) 'interresting' way....It makes for some interresting scenes.
I must say the ending wasn't what I expected, but I can appriciate that in a book You know not the standard ....and they lived happily ever after shit (just hate that)

Jeaniene Frost knows how to bring characters to life.

This book is a must read!

Just as the folowing novels in this serie:
- One foot in the grave;
- At graves end;
- Destined for an early grave.

And the Night Huntress World serie:
- Last drop of Crimson;
- Eternal Kiss of Darkness.

I love love love this serie and I'm waiting (im)patiently till the bookstore lets me know Eternal Kiss of Darkness is there waiting for me to be picked up (yeah sometimes it suckes living in Holland because I couldn't pre-order it) and ofcourse february next year is the 5th night huntress novel "This side of the grave" coming out.

Rating: 5/5

Want to read the Anita Blake serie?

Just couldn't resist to post this one......