Bad Audio Book Experience

Recently, I have been listening to audio books more because I have been on the road driving a lot. It is a great way to pass the time. A week ago I checked out Diana Gabaldon's A Breath of Snow and Ashes. I started listening to it and I thought it was weird how all of a sudden one scene would jump to the next. It turns out that after reading the cd cover, I realized that I had gotten the abridged version of the book.

I was already more than a quarter of the way into the book and I thought it would best just to continue listening to it. I did end up finishing it and I enjoyed listening to it. But it just really irked me that I was missing parts of the book. Over and over, in my mind, I kept wondering which scenes I was missing and just exactly how much was I missing. This was really messing with my head.

I went online to find out if there was an unabridged version of the book. Yep, sure enough there is. You will not believe how much was cut out of the book. I was just shocked. SHOCKED, I tell you! The version I listened to was 13 cds and 15 hours long. The unabridged version is 47 cds and 56 hours long. That means that the version I listened to was less than a quarter of the whole book. That's crazy!!!

Needless to say, I feel gypped! I am going to have to go back and read the book. Lesson learned. Pay attention to abridged/unabridged books. Sheesh!

Review - Storm Born

Title: Storm Born
Author: Richelle Mead
Publishing Date: 2008
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Rating: B+
Sensuality: Hot
Book Disclosure: I purchased a used copy.

Storm Born is the first book in Richelle Mead's Dark Swan series. Eugenie Markham is a shaman. This means that she can walk two worlds, the natural world and the unnatural. Eugenie has been trained since she was a young girl to banish the unnatural back to their world. Recently, more and more attacks by these supernatural creatures have been aimed specifically at her. She becomes the object of much attention because of a prophecy and these creatures even know her by name. Eugenie discovers that a young girl has been kidnapped by the fey. To get the girl back Eugenie must traverse the unnatural world and face a most dangerous fey. To do that, she needs the help of Dorian, another dangerous fairy king. Along the way she also meets a sexy shapeshifter.

Why has it taken my so long to read Richelle Mead? I loved this book! It was rich with world building. I loved the strange fairy world and the beautiful picturesque descriptions. I found Eugenie to be a very straight forward and endearing character. She is a total hard ass when it comes to banishing the bad guys. She doesn't hesitate. Yet she does have a soft vulnerable side, which makes her very appealing to readers. I liked that Eugenie is a work in progress. She doesn't have all the answers. As she walks among the fairies and she learns more about them, she realizes that maybe she misjudged them.

As far as the romance goes, there is a little bit of a love triangle. I know some readers love that and some readers hate it. This has to be the one time that I really can't pick the hero the heroine is leaning towards. I have my own favorite, but I am not sure if that is who Eugenie will pick. I really enjoyed this first installment of Richelle Mead's new urban fantasy series. I can't wait to see where she takes readers next into this interesting world.

Review - The Lady Most Likely...

Title: The Lady Most Likely...
Author: Anthology: Julia Quinn, Eloisa James and Connie Brockway
Publishing Date: 2010
Genre: Historical
Rating: B
Sensuality: Hot
Book Disclosure: I purchased a new copy.

Lady Finchley, the sister to Hugh Dunne, the Earl of Briarly, decides to throw a party at her country house inviting the most eligible young ladies. Hugh has decided that it is high time to get married after recently being close to death. He has asked Carolyn to help him find a suitable wife. Carolyn not only plans to match make for her brother but for her best friend Georgina too, who was widowed young. Not two, but three couples find love at this country party.

I don't usually read anthologies but this one caught my eye with the great list of authors participating. I really liked that all three stories were related by taking place at the country party and involved all the same characters. There are three distinct couples who find love at this party. I am not going to go into specifics because part of the fun of reading the book is discovering who ends up with who.

I felt that the stories flowed seamlessly together to where I would not have been able to identify the different authors if not for the labeling at the top of the page. I did however feel that the character Hugh's personality went from mildly appealing to greatly appealing by the end of the story. I like the direction the author's took his character and I enjoyed his romance the best. I thought all three stories were fun to read, but not overtly exceptional. This anthology is just a nice way to pass the time and I enjoyed the three sweet stories.

My turn at AccessRomance

Hey Everybody! I am over at AccessRomance today discussing a few of my recent reads. I say discuss, but really I'm ranting. Come and join me!

Review - On the Edge

Title: On the Edge
Author: Ilona Andrews
Publishing Date: 2009
Genre: Paranormal
Rating: B+
Sensuality: Warm
Book Disclosure: I received a used copy from Paperbackswap.com

On the Edge is the first in a new series by Ilona Andrews. Rose Drayton lives in The Edge. It is a narrow strip of land that divides our world, known as The Broken and the magical world, known as The Weird. Rose can cross over to the Broken. She holds a job there to support her two young brothers. However, Rose has never entered the Weird. Even though her magic is strong in the Edge she is afraid to cross over to the Weird where it might not be strong enough.

Rose is quite a prickly heroine. She has good reason. She is living on the edge of poverty, the guardian to two rambunctious boys and has lived through attempted abductions from people wanting to use her as a brood mare. You'll have to forgive her for not extending trust to anyone who comes her way. One such traveler finds himself at the mercy of that attitude when he stumbles into her front yard.

Declan and Rose work together to fight an evil army that has been infiltrating Rose's small world and threatening her loved ones. Regardless of whether or not Rose wants Declan's help, she can't turn him away all the while fighting her attraction to him. This book is chock full of sexual tension. Declan and Rose fire up the pages. The world building is very creative and thorough. If readers can get past Rose's prickly disposition they are in for a treat. Ilona Andrews has written an intense story that fantasy fans will find hard to put down.

Feburary Book Summary

Seeing how February is a short month, I feel quite comfortable with the ten books I was able to read. And a nice variety it was too, with most of the books being an above average read. My favorite was When Beauty Tamed the Beast by Eloisa James, who just might be moving up my favorite author list. This latest release is currently in my number one slot for this year's releases. Just saying.

1. Ecstasy, Frank (Paranormal) Rating: B-
2. Raine, Amber (Historical/Erotic) Rating: C-
3. When Beauty Tamed the Beast, James (Historical) Rating: A
4. The Trouble with Paradise, Shalvis (Contemporary) Rating: B-
5. The Doctor's Wife, Brundage (Suspense) Rating: B
6. Lean Mean Thirteen, Evanovich (Mystery) Rating: B+
7. Second Chance Pass, Carr (Contemporary) Rating: C+
8. On the Edge, Andrews (Paranormal) Rating: B+
9. The Lady Most Likely, Anthology (Historical) Rating: B
10. Storm Born, Mead (Urban fantasy) Rating: B+

How did you fare this month?

Review - Second Chance Pass

Title: Second Chance Pass
Author: Robyn Carr
Publishing Date: 2009
Genre: Contemporary
Rating: C+
Sensuality: Warm
Book Disclosure: I received a free copy from the RT Book Convention.

Second Chance Pass is the fifth book in Robyn Carr's Virgin River series. Readers were introduced to Vanessa and Paul in the third book in the series. Paul was Vanessa's husband's best friend. He secretly has loved Vanessa through the years but has suffered in silence not wanting to ruin the friendships he has with both her and Matt. Things change with Vanessa's husband, Matt and Paul's best friend is killed in combat. Time has passed and Paul isn't sure if Vanessa is ready to move on and maybe accept him in a new role other than friendship. Little does Paul know that Vanessa is more than ready.

All right, I have to admit that this book irked me. As far as Paul and Vanessa's relationship went I thought things were just a mess. Initially, Paul and Vanessa had a pretty big obstacle to overcome if they were going have a lasting relationship based on love. But not only do they have the death of their husband/best friend hanging over them, Paul has an unexpected complication in his life back in Grants Pass. It really irked me that these characters had to deal with this situation, like they didn't have enough to deal with already.

The other major complication I had with the book was that there had to be at least five other storylines competing with Paul and Vanessa's. There were characters from past books getting significant page time. There were also new characters setting up future books getting significant page time. The actual relationship between Paul and Vanessa couldn't have been more than a few chapters and the above previous issue was basically washed away in the rain. Really, I think this has been my least favorite book in the series. Now having said all that, Robyn Carr's writing is still as fabulous as ever. Her characters are as wonderful as ever. It is probably a testament as to why I am so annoyed. I guess this book just seemed more transitional than anything and I felt that Vanessa and Paul didn't get the book they deserved.