Re-Read Challange, Review - Shadow Touch

Title: Shadow Touch
Author: Marjorie M. Liu
Publishing Date: February 2006
Genre: Paranormal
Rating: A
Sensuality: Warm

Shadow Touch is my favorite book in Majorie M. Liu's Dirk and Steele Series. It is the second book of the series and I fell in love with Artur and Elena. Elena Baxter is kidnapped one night while she is volunteering in the children's cancer ward. See, Elena has the special ability to heal people's bodies. Apparently, someone knows her secret and they decide to kidnap her and run experiments on her. Meanwhile, Artur Loginov works for a detective agency, Dirk and Steele. This agency employs people who have special abilities. Artur can sense a person's memories by touching an object they have touched. He too, is kidnapped from his home and brought to the same facility that Elena is at. There they forge an unbreakable bond and work together to escape their captors.

I love everything about this book and it works for me on so many levels. First of all Elena and Artur are wonderful characters. Artur is so damaged from his tragic childhood. He had to do things to survive that no child should ever have to face. Artur really believes that he is not a good man because of his past and the things he has done. Because of his gift that he uses to find missing people and solve murders, he is constantly seeing the worst in people. It's as if he has lost his faith in humanity. His own and others. Then he meets Elena and everything changes for him in the matter of a few moments.

The way Liu writes Artur and Elena's story it is so poignant and touching. Often times I find stories that take place over a couple of days rushed and the romance lacking a certain believability. This is not the case at all with Shadow Touch. It is like two old souls coming together. Liu is able to pen and incredibly touching love story between these two people. Huge bonus to her for being able to do this without the characters mentally lusting for each other.

All the characters are well drawn, but Liu is able to leave somethings a mystery. For example, there is a fascinating, ambiguous character Rictor. Elena and Artur sense that he is not human, but just what is he? Readers will be wondering right along with the characters, yet Liu leaves some questions unanswered in regards to Rictor. Not to worry, I know for a fact that Rictor appears in other books later in the series.


I read this book for Nath's Re-Read Challenge. I originally gave it a B+ rating, but having read it a second time I think it is worthy of an A grade. Really, this incredible book just hooked me and it stands the test of time! To view a list of participants for this month and their reviews click here.


This book can be purchased in print or kindle format from Amazon.

Review - The Trials of the Honorable F. Darcy

Title: The Trials of the Honorable F. Darcy
Author: Sara Angelini
Publishing Date: October 2009
Genre: Contemporary
Rating: C+
Sensuality: Hot

The Trials of the Honorable F. Darcy is a modernized version of Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice. Elizabeth Bennett is a lawyer and she represents her clients often times before Judge Fitzwilliam Darcy. Lizzie's first impression of Judge Darcy is not a good one. She thinks he is a stuffy bastard and wants nothing to do with him. Darcy on the other hand is intrigued by Ms. Bennett and is quite shocked by her dismissal of him. Fate has other plans for these two as they keep running into each other because Elizabeth's sister, Jane and Darcy's best friend Charles are dating.

The same cast of characters evident in the classic story of Pride and Prejudice have been reinvented to reflect the more modern 21st century. At first, I found the more modern version of Darcy and Elizabeth to be quite shocking. Darcy throws around f-bombs left and right and he is having sex with Caroline Bingley. In the beginning, he is definitely not the man of the hour and Lizzie has every right to be turned off by him. Lizzie is quite honest with Darcy and does not sugar coat her feelings toward him. The reader has to wonder how they will fall in love. It does not look good.

Darcy and Lizzie wind up at a conference in England and spend time getting to know each other better. Darcy becomes more laid back and Lizzie lets go of her hostility. The nice thing about this story is it really is all about these two characters falling in love. There are no bullets flying, no side plots other than Jane and Bingley, and the focus is completely on Lizzie and Darcy working through their relationship.

Spin off books from Pride and Prejudice can be hit or miss for me. This one falls somewhere in the middle. The beginning was a little slow. The pacing seemed a little off and the characters were prickly, but once the story got going the problems seemed to work themselves out. As I said before, it was nice to read a book that focused on the characters falling in love. Readers don't necessarily have to have read Pride and Prejudice to read this book. It stands alone completely.

Here is what others had to say:

The Book Girl
A Bibliophile's Bookshelf
Leslie's Psyche

This book can be purchased in print format from Amazon.

Review - At Graves End

Title: At Graves End
Author: Jeaniene Frost
Publishing Date: January 2009
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance
Rating: B+
Sensuality: Hot

Cat Crawfield is back in Jeaniene Frost's third book in the Night Huntress series. Cat is half vampire/half human and is a secret government agent fighting against vampires. She leads a team of elite men, ghouls and one vampire, her husband Bones. Cat's cover has been blown. Vampires from around the world are aware of her existence and have nicknamed her the Red Reaper as she has red hair and efficiently eliminates vampires with her silver stakes. Her life is in danger when two vampire clans end up at war with one another and Cat is caught in the crossfire.

Once again Jeaniene Frost delivers a fun, yet tense romp into the world of the undead. Her writing flows smoothly and she has a wicked sense of humor. Cat and Bones are now in an established relationship. Their relationship is solid, but the world around them seems to be coming unglued. Tate is still in love with Cat and making it clear to the whole world. I really like the direction that Frost has taken with his character. Readers will be very sympathetic to his unrequited love and be rooting for him to find some peace with it.

I think one of the highlights for me was the change in Cat's mother. At the beginning of the series Cat's mom firmly believed that all vampires were evil creatures and all should be killed. Now that she has met Bones and other undead individuals, her eyes have been opened. Just because they are vampire doesn't necessarily make them evil. There is a really funny exchange between Cat and her mom after Cat and Bones drop by on her mom unexpectedly. I wanted to add it to my review, but felt like I might spoil it for some readers. Just suffice it to say that I laughed my ass off over that scene.

I am firmly engrossed in this series. I love the characters, the world building and the stories themselves. I highly recommend Jeaniene Frost for readers who enjoy paranormal romance or urban fantasy. Don't delay, get started on these books pronto!

Here is what others had to say:

Flames Rising
Books and Things
The Good, The Bad, The Unread
Darque Reviews
Babbling About Books and More
The Book Girl
Brooke Reviews
Good and Bad Books & Every Book in Between

This book can be purchased in print and kindle format from Amazon.

Review - Tasting Fear

Title: Tasting Fear
Author: Shannon McKenna
Publishing Date: July 2009
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Rating: D
Sensuality: Hot

Three sisters each find love while trying to discover who murdered their foster mother in this collection of novellas. In Outside the Limit, Nancy meets carpenter Liam Knightly on the stoop of her Mother's house. Before she died she had hired Liam to do some remodeling. In Ask For More, Nell answers an employment ad requesting a poet to help with a video game. She discovers that her new employer Duncan is none other than the gorgeous man who she waits on at the diner where she works. Then in Ready or Not, Vivi goes to live on the property of Jack Kendrick, a former military operative and good friend of Duncan's. Vivi needs protection from the killer who has yet to be apprehended.

The biggest issue I had with Tasting Fear was that is was the same story told three times, only the names were changed. The women all had the same personality, just interchange a different focus on art. One was a poet, one a sculptor and the other a musician. The men were all grunting, cave dwellers with super-sized penises, that once they found out their woman was in danger wanted to control every aspect of their lives in order to protect them. It really was the same story told over and over again.

Because these stories were short, no real character development was able to be done. The characters very quickly fell in love and it seemed staged and unrealistic. This time McKenna's writing lacked emotion and failed to hook me. The story would have had much more appeal had it only been one couple as the focal point. Then that couple would have had the proper time to develop their relationship in a reasonable and believable time period. I am sorry to say that I can not recommend this book. Fans of Mckenna, I suggest reading an old favorite to pass the time until she publishes a full length novel.

Here is what others had to say:

The Good, The Bad, The Unread
Book Binge
Romance Book Scene
Leontine's Book Realm

And if you are a glutton for punishment, this book can be purchased in print or kindle format at Amazon.

Upcoming October Releases!

I am looking forward to some good books this month. Not too many, but more than I wanted last month. Who am I kidding? It's a lot of books! I am noticing a pattern too. Out of the 10 books I listed 6 of them are paranormal/UF. I hope I don't get burned out on this genre. It just seems like they keep coming out with more and more of these types of books.

Hathaway Series Book #3
Historical
9/22

Fallen Angels Series Book #1
Paranormal
9/29

Dark Days Series Book #3
Urban Fantasy
9/29

The Edge Series Book #1
Paranormal
9/29

future-set fantasy trilogy Book #2
Futuristic
9/29

Women of the Otherworld Series Book #10
Urban Fantasy
9/29

Medieval
10/1

Contemporary
10/1

Historical
10/1

The Guardian Series Book #8
Paranormal
10/6

Which books are you looking forward to this month?

Review - Never Love a Lawman

Title: Never Love a Lawman
Author: Jo Goodman
Publishing Date: September 2009
Genre: Western
Rating: B
Sensuality: Warm

Rachel Bailey escapes to the small mining town of Reidsville, Colorado to carve out a new life for herself. She mainly keeps to herself designing and sewing clothes for the town inhabitants. Through the plans of a generous, yet manipulative man she becomes the proud owner of a stretch of railroad and a silver mine. The catch is that she must marry the town Sheriff in order to inherit the property. Rachael is between a rock and a hard place because the town is dependent upon the mine and the railroad, yet even though she is attracted to Wyatt she does not want to give up her independence.

Rachel Baily has some skeletons in her closet. When readers are first introduced to her they are not sure of her backstory. Wyatt the sheriff assumes she was the mistress of a wealthy, older man and Rachel does nothing to disabuse him of this notion. Of course, the reader will quickly pick up that Wyatt is wrong in his assumptions. The way Goodman slowly reveals information about Wyatt and Rachel is very nicely done and keeps the reader guessing about these two characters. Goodman's strength is in her well developed characters, even the secondary ones, and excellent dialogue.

Both Wyatt and Rachel are appealing characters. Rachel is slightly prickly, but not overtly so and she is well balanced. I found Wyatt more appealing with his honesty and keen insight into human behavior. Wyatt and Rachel have very good chemistry together and they work through their differences well.

Never Love a Lawman, while a good book was not my favorite by Goodman. I think this may have been due to the lackluster plot. I didn't really understand why Rachel had to marry Wyatt. The reasoning behind is seemed pretty flimsy to me. I just didn't feel like the story gripped me like other books by Goodman have in the past. That's not to say this was a bad book, just not her best (in my humble opinion)!

Here is what others had to say:

Monkey Bear Reviews
Impressions of a Reader
Book Pushers Anonymous
Dear Author

This book can be purchased in print or kindle format from Amazon.

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Happy Birthday to ME!

Today, I am spending the day with my family at Disney World! I get in for free because is't my birthday. I live about 40 minutes away, so how could I pass up that opportunity? I am 32 but don't feel a day over 22!! That's the secret, right?!

I have a guest post up over at Access Romance Reader's Gab. Feel free to visit. Let me know how you feel about book summaries. Do you buy a book based on the cover summary? Let's discuss it!