Purge the Fire

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve and before I head on to parties and gorge on endless buffet matched with rounds of alcohol bingeing, I want to share my 2012 resolution.

To start the year right I hereby pledge to purge my Fire of some fantastic ebooks.

Some people hoard clothes, music, collectibles, etc. In my case I hoard books. I'm talking about giveaways and free Nook and Kindle books. Anything with a supernatural flavor that has a decent star rating that I can get my grubby hands on, I take it. This on top of my usual library visits and occasional used-book splurges. While most of you bring a bag to the library, I carry a small box and Cimmaron can attest to this. So when we say the gals in Talk Supe are VORACIOUS READERS, it's not exaggeration. So you could just imagine my little Book-enstein, a monster of my own creation, is growing by the day. I won't be surprised if a power surge will give it life!

My stack has been piling up and it's seriously starting to annoy the OCD out of me,
I have about 40 something titles stored and counting, ranging from short stories, to novellas to your good old fashioned novel. Not good.
I decided to tackle my Ereads first and lay off the community library and my friendly neighborhood bookstore and play catch up. I'm crossing my fingers that by the time I've done serious damage on my list that my eyesight won't fail me.

I still prefer physical books but like most people, I have to move with the times.
Thank God my personal Santa gave me a Kindle Fire. Makes this resolution a whole lot easier to fulfill.

Cheers to 2011 and looking forward to the magic of 2012!

P.S.

I will be loaning some of the titles via Amazon Kindle 
or Barnes and Noble Nook so stay tuned for instructions and details.

A Vampire's Christmas Carol by Karen McCullough

FREE at Smashwords

Format: Digital
Release Date: November 29, 2011
Purchase Link: Amazon

Can Christmas Eve get any more fun? On her way to her family's home, Carol Prescott’s car slides into a ditch in a deserted area with no cell phone signal. The only available shelter is already occupied…by a vampire. To Michael Carpenter, Carol is the bait of a trap.

In an effort to hold onto his soul, Michael has resisted the urge to drink human blood for almost a century. Now he hovers between human and vampire. If he doesn’t drink from a human before the night ends, he’ll die. He’s desperately thirsty, but Michael has seen the soulless monsters vampires are and he prefers death. Carol is pure temptation to him, the Christmas present from hell…or is it from heaven?

So I got my copy for free because I was looking for a holiday book to feature in our blog. I was browsing http://www.smashwords.com/ when I came across this one and figured, What the heck, it's free and the rating is good. So I went ahead and got it.

This novella is a bit romantic, in that unique vampire way, almost tragic and will probably remind you of Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire. Carol is a human whose car broke down in the middle of a snow storm. Good thing Michael Carpenter's house is nearby. Michael is a vampire who is resolved to committing "suicide" so he can gain is soul back. Carol was skeptical at first but as the night progress she realizes that Michael is the real deal. Michael asked Carol to take down his story and her assistance in his self imposed death. After a night of swapping stories Carol finally agreed to the task at hand and helped deliver Michael to his maker.

There were some elements in this story that I questioned but there were minor ones that I wouldn't dwell on them. The story itself isn't epic but more of a crossroads sort of thing for both Carol and Michael. The latter reminded me a lot of Louis in that tormented sort of way. But I must admit I was expecting something else to happen at the end because Karen's story was really going in the tragic direction and then things changed in the last minute.

I'll go ahead and say that it was a happy ending but I liked McCullough's style. She took me by surprise in that small twist in the end.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Movie Review

Braine's Thoughts:

So Stieg Larsson's Millenium Trilogy completely took the world by storm added to the fact that the poor Swede died before his obra got recognition and fame. I have to say that this is one of the best series I've ever read, bar none and if you like murder/mystery then you have to add this on your deck if you haven't yet.

When Redbox and Netflix got the rights for the Swedish films, I did a fierce happy dance and spent an afternoon with Noomi Rapace and her subtitles. She IS Lisbeth Salander and the Swede movies really did the books justice which explains its length. By the third one, I was hoping that I was a computer genius and androgynous enough to pull off the goth and leather. Wishful thinking.

Fast forward to the Hollywood version. Looking at the stills I was already impressed with Rooney Mara and how much she transformed herself to become Lisbeth and Daniel Craig as journalist Mikael Blomkvist was a vast improvement from his Swede counterpart. No offense but Craig is easier on the eyes than Nyqvist.

I only got praises for the GWDT 2011, from the opening credits down to the last scene I was captivated. Even Robin Wright's fluctuating accent and slight modifications on the story didn't bother me that much. Rooney Mara really owned Lisbeth and will give Noomi a run for her money. This is a MUST-SEE movie.

Cimmaron's Thoughts:

To be quite honest I'm not a huge reader of murder/mystery novels but Stieg Larsson's Millennium series is one of the few exceptions. It did take me a while to be fully invested with Dragon Tattoo but once the storyline picked up I was totally riveted. Fincher's film reminded me of the time I was reading the first novel. The first hour was a bit slow but he gave you the opportunity to get to know the characters. Once Mikael and Lisbeth were working together that's when the film really started to pick up its pace.

As for the films cast, I was very pleased with the list of actors they chose. The casting directors should be given double high-fives because Mara Rooney does an outstanding job portraying Lisbeth Salander, the pierced, bisexual, tattooed and abused computer genius. Every minute Lisbeth was on screen, I was completely captivated. Rooney was able to capture the complexity that is Lisbeth. Daniel Craig does a great job portraying investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist. And really, he's a lot more appealing than Michael Nyqvist.

The film is definitely not for everyone especially with its storyline and intensity of the subject matter. Be warned that the sexual violence scenes are graphic and not suitable for most viewers. I even noticed a few adults in the theater who looked a little uncomfortable during some scenes. If you have not read the book, you might not be prepared to see how dark the film can get. 

Overall, I think that Fincher did a wonderful job in his adaptation of the book. I’m sure his bar was set pretty high since the original series has so many loyal followers. There will always be groups who will argue about which versions are better but if you go in with an objective mind set then I think you’ll come out thinking that The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was a great mystery film. And for the folks who’ve not read the books or seen the Swedish films, they may be inspired to go out and read the books and watch the original adaptations after watching this film.

Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton

read an excerpt

Series: Gods & Monsters 1
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: February 22, 2011
Purchase Link: Amazon

Ari can’t help feeling lost and alone. With teal eyes and freakish silver hair that can’t be changed or destroyed, Ari has always stood out. And after growing up in foster care, she longs for some understanding of where she came from and who she is. Her search for answers uncovers just one message from her long dead mother: Run. Ari can sense that someone, or something, is getting closer than they should. But it’s impossible to protect herself when she doesn’t know what she’s running from or why she is being pursued.

She knows only one thing: she must return to her birthplace of New 2, the lush rebuilt city of New Orleans. Upon arriving, she discovers that New 2 is very...different. Here, Ari is seemingly normal. But every creature she encounters, no matter how deadly or horrifying, is afraid of her.

Ari won’t stop until she knows why. But some truths are too haunting, too terrifying, to ever be revealed.

Two of my favorite subjects are in this book, Gods (Athena) and Monsters (Vampires, Weres, Witches, etc) so upon cracking the hard cover open, I felt giddy like opening a present on Christmas morning.

Darkness Becomes Her is a compact read with only 270+ pages of YA mystery set in New Orleans post The Hurricane (caused by Athena) and spiced with vagabond monsters, born and made, with a dash of voodoo.

On the first third of the book I felt a bit lost because though compact, Keaton didn't fall short on the build up, action/adventure and mini revelations. So I found myself flipping back through pages because some of the events lost me.  But after Ari's brief capture and immediate escape from Athena, things got very exciting!

Here's a spoiler which will not ruin the book for you rather it will make you pick it up if you haven't yet. So Ari's family from her mother's side is cursed, for some reason they always drop dead at the ripe age of 21 and Ari is set to break the curse with her. Her search led her to Athena and turns out Ari's line is directly descended from The Gorgon herself, Medusa.

If you're familiar with Medusa's myth you'd know that she's not the "monster" contemporary stories peg her to be. She was a beautiful priestess seduced and raped by Poseidon in Athena's temple which incurred the Goddess' wrath thereby cursing her with reptilian locks and a mesmerizing gaze that can turn you to stone.

So how do you break a curse like that and defeat the Goddess of War? Are vampires, weres, witches and the rest of the New Orleans supe-posse enough back up to guarantee victory? I loved this book and if this is the direction the series is taking, I am compelled to follow Ari's story.

Underworld: Awakening

Screen Gems has released a new set of images for Underworld: Awakening, the fourth installment in the Vampires vs. Lycans franchise. Kate Beckinsale returns as Selene, “who escapes imprisonment to find herself in a world where humans have discovered the existence of both Vampire and Lycan clans, and are conducting an all-out war to eradicate both immortal species.” 

Directed by Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein, the film also features Stephen Rea, Michael Ealy, Theo James, India Eisley, Sandrine Holt and Charles Dance

Underworld Awakening hits theaters 01.20.12

A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore

read an excerpt

Format: Hardcover
Release Date: March 21, 2006
Purchase Link: Amazon

Charlie Asher is a pretty normal guy. A little hapless, somewhat neurotic, sort of a hypochondriac. He's what's known as a Beta Male: the kind of fellow who makes his way through life by being careful and constant -- you know, the one who's always there to pick up the pieces when the girl gets dumped by the bigger/taller/stronger Alpha Male.

But Charlie's been lucky. He owns a building in the heart of San Francisco, and runs a secondhand store with the help of a couple of loyal, if marginally insane, employees. He's married to a bright and pretty woman who actually loves him for his normalcy. And she, Rachel, is about to have their first child.

Yes, Charlie's doing okay for a Beta. That is, until the day his daughter, Sophie, is born. Just as Charlie -- exhausted from the birth -- turns to go home, he sees a strange man in mint-green golf wear at Rachel's hospital bedside, a man who claims that no one should be able to see him. But see him Charlie does, and from here on out, things get really weird. . . .

People start dropping dead around him, giant ravens perch on his building, and it seems that everywhere he goes, a dark presence whispers to him from under the streets. Strange names start appearing on his nightstand notepad, and before he knows it, those people end up dead, too. Yup, it seems that Charlie Asher has been recruited for a new job, an unpleasant but utterly necessary one: Death. It's a dirty job. But hey, somebody's gotta do it.

And the absurdity continues.

A good sense of humor is a must if you want to read Christopher Moore otherwise you'll just have a headache trying to make sense of his world.

I lived in San Francisco, CA for a while and after reading Christopher Moore, I felt robbed! Why? Because I wish I came across one of his characters! I would never have left the Bay Area if I was even remotely acquainted with one of these loonies.

First of all I've read a lot of material about Alphas be it male or female, human or another animal. I have yet to read anything about Beta Males (P1, P2, P3, P4) but after reading Moore's manifesto about Betas, I think I want to snag myself one instead of the coveted Alpha. To enlighten you a little bit, here's why:

For the Beta Male, if nothing else, is loyal. He makes a great husband as well as a great best friend. He will help you move and bring you soup when you are sick. Always considerate, the Beta Male thanks a woman after sex, and is often quick with an apology as well. He makes a great house sitter, especially if you aren't especially attached to your house pets. A Beta Male is trustworthy: your girlfriend is generally in safe hands with a Beta Male friend, unless, of course, she is a complete slut.

SOLD!

Charlie Asher's odyssey as a Death Merchant is a perfect combination of comical and chaotic scenarios. Vicious crows, hellhounds for babysitters, people and animals dropping dead on "kitty", a toddler who commands death join the circus. Plus characters from his other novel Bite Me, which I just read last week, made special appearances in this book which further fueled my San Francisco daydreams. I just dig Moore and his sense of humor though ridiculous is not dirty, his characters are delusional and have a different grasp of "normal". The hero is a BETA MALE for crying out loud! I'm telling you, Christopher is an author that you HAVE to add to your library. Everybody needs a good laugh once in a while and Moore guarantees that you will have a good one with him.

From what I heard, someone is trying to develop this book into a movie, I hope it doesn't fall through.

Girl Crush Mondays: Charlize Theron

We J'adore

 Charlize Theron

Born in South Africa whose first language is Afrikaans.

A trained ballet dancer and attended New York's Joffrey Ballet School.

Avid supporter of animal rights and a staunch member of PETA.

 Dior's current muse.

A brilliant Academy Award winning actress and total chameleon.

She can play a bad ass action star (Aeon Flux), loathful villain (Monster),

a sweet and dutiful wife (Devil's Advocate), or a narcissistic bitch (Young Adult) effectively.

Aeon Flux                              Monster

But what I'm most excited about is next year's

Snow White and the Huntsman

where she plays the evil Queen Ravenna.

At 36 she just keeps on getting better and better.

Makes one wonder what else is up this gorgeous gal's sleeves.

Here's my favorite Charlize movie,

2001's Sweet November with Keannu Reeves.

*sniff* *sniff*

Happy Christmas

Amidst the hustle and bustle that is associated with the holiday season,

let us not forget what is essential:

Let us give thanks to our family and friends for making our lives richer;

For our favorite writers for feeding our imagination;

The blogger community for the encouragement.

And lastly, we would like to personally thank

Y O U 

for making our little venture worthwhile.

And just like our favorite man candies

David Gandy and Henry Cavill

would say

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

- Braine and Cimmaron

Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas

This is the only movie you can watch on two different holidays during the year.

Tim Burton + Halloween + Christmas = BEST.THING.EVER!

Jack Skellington, the pumpkin king of Halloween Town, has grown tired of doing the same thing every year for Halloween. One day while wandering around the forest outside of the town center he stumbles into Christmas Town. He's so taken by this new place and wonderful feeling of Christmas that he goes back home and tries to get his Halloween Town residents to help him put on Christmas instead of Halloween.  But of course his bats, ghouls and goblins can't grasp the meaning of Christmas.

The film is filled lots of fantastic songs that will keep the spirit of Halloween running through your veins all the way until Christmas. I've made it my tradition to watch this every Christmas and my family doesn't get it. Mom thinks it's a little morbid for this special season but I just can't help but live this film. I might even make the family sit and watch this film after our Christmas Eve dinner. I love Christmas time, especially when it's Tim Burton style.

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

read an excerpt

Series: Unearthly 1
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: January 4, 2011
Purchase Link: Amazon

In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees . . . .

Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.

Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.

As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?

Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart.

Another solid angel story that I truly enjoyed and couldn't stay away from. Cynthia Hand's take on Nephilim is more Halo than Mortal Instruments. They are like Guardian Angels with wings and missions as opposed to the usual godforsaken race that resulted from Angels coupling with mortal women.

I can compare the pace of the story to Hush, Hush although the storyline is different but the easiness and the fluid flow of words is comparable to Fitzpatrick's. Clara Gardner is a strong female protagonist, sure of herself and totally embraced her Angel blood. I adored her mother and their relationship is truly ideal. This would explain why there's no family drama aside from the usual disagreements but no exaggerated stubbornness and you-and-me-against-the-world kind of thing.

Now what I truly found interesting is the love triangle (as expected in most YA series) but Hand's take completely side tracked me. Clara's choice is between what she wants and what's destined for her. So how do you choose between an epic dilemma like that? Do you go with what makes your heart soar or do you go with what fits? I don't want to be in Clara's shoes, I think it's definitely hard to keep away from something that will incessantly pull you back like magnet and that's how she feels with Tucker (her heart) and Christian (her destiny).

The sequel, Hallowed, comes out next month. Will definitely put that on my to-have list.

But for now, get this at Amazon for just $0.99! It's worth every penny!

Merry Christmas!

Feliz Navidad!

Joyeux Noel!

Bite Me by Christopher Moore

read an excerpt

Series: Love Story 3
Release Date: March 23, 2010
Format: Hardcover
Purchase Link: Amazon

The city of San Francisco is being stalked by a huge shaved vampyre cat named Chet, and only I, Abby Normal, emergency backup mistress of the Greater Bay Area night, and my manga-haired love monkey, Foo Dog, stand between the ravenous monster and a bloody massacre of the general public.

Whoa. And this is a love story? Yup. 'Cept there's no whining. See, while some lovers were born to run, Jody and Tommy were born to bite. Well, reborn, that is, now that they're vampires. Good thing theirs is an undying love, since their Goth Girl Friday, Abby Normal, imprisoned them in a bronze statue.

Abby wants to be a bloodsucking fiend, too, but right now she's really busy with other stuff, like breaking in a pair of red vinyl thigh-high Skankenstein(R) platform boots and wrangling her Ph.D.-candidate boyfriend, Steve (the love monkey). And then there's that vampire cat Chet, who's getting bigger and smarter--and thirstier--by the minute. Abby thought she and Steve could handle the kitty cat on their own, "mais non" . . .

Before you can say "OMG WTF?" Tommy and Jody are sprung from captivity, and join forces with Abby, Steve, the frozen-turkey-bowling Safeway crew, the Emperor of San Francisco and his trusty dogs Lazarus and Bummer, Abby's gay Goth friend Jared, and SF's finest Cavuto and Rivera to hunt big cat and save the city. And that's when the fun really begins.

Abigail Van Normal is miles away from your normal teenager and so is this story. I would classify this as a YA book but with all the cussing and Abigail's failed attempts to hump and be humped, I understand why this would be better appreciated and a more appropriate read for mature readers... just to be on the safe side.

So this is one of those stories that doesn't really require a lof thinking like Novels on the Run's Michelle would say. But though ridiculous and definitely not lacking on hilarity, this book was smartly written. After all it takes a lot of smarticles to be funny, I think I read that somewhere and I'm just paraphrasing but that's the case with Christopher Moore.

So we have Elder and young vampires, cat and rat vampires, vampire hunters and goth chick Abigail running around San Francisco. Due to thoughtless incessant feeding, a huge stray cat, Chet, was accidentally turned into a vampire and by fusing human DNA with feline DNA, Chet becomes smarter and makes his own coven. Now a large number of stray cats are running around the Bay Area draining people of blood.

Like the Hangover movies, this is just one crazy story. I love Moore's sense of humor and his characters are just non stop fun. Mayhem seems to be his trademark and for a change, it's nice to read a funny vampire story. Even the dialogue is messed up! If you read the excerpt, you'd understand what I'm trying to say.

So if you are looking for a funny read, pick this stand alone book. I promise it won't disappoint.


P.S. Thanks Shaun and Diana for informing me that this is part of a series! I don't know why I missed that but now that I've looked it up, I'm out to get the two other books. :D Thanks for the holiday gift guys.

Darkness Descending by Devyn Quinn

Synopsis and excerpt

Series: Vampire Armageddon
Format: Paperback
Release Date: August 2, 2011
Purchase Link: Amazon

Fallen angels in the form of vampires are infecting humans one by one, creating an army fit for Armageddon. Jesse Burke, driven by vengeance to destroy the vampiric angels, has been protecting New Orleans from the onslaught, unaware that she has a much greater destiny awaiting her in the face of the oncoming apocalypse.

Set in New Orleans post Katrina, this is another action packed vampire story whose plot and premise sounded promising but the execution left me wanting for more or maybe it needs a little fine tuning.

The myth behind the story is solid. It promises this epic Armageddon when the chosen one comes. And the forces of good is slowly losing to the enemy because they are outnumbered, for every vamp killed, 10 more are created. I like the odds because the drama and the action lie on their struggle to win the war and Quinn's vamps are Fallen Angels so that will multiply their strength and resources further.

The heroine, Jesse Burke, is the prophesied female who will deliver humankind from the monstrous vampire race. So far, she's the only human who was bitten but never fully turned. Vampirism in Quinn's version is like possession and Jesse can sort of control her demon inside. Of course her mentor/protector/lover won't be far behind, Frenchman Maddox deValois, a 200 year old vampire hunter.

The love story between these two turned me off from the get go. I don't know about you but bad hygiene and body odor is not an aphrodisiac for me. Maybe Quinn could've skipped mentioning that and just got on with the smexy part? So after a bath and the hot and heavy lovemaking, Maddox just acted so detached. It was far from romantic and there's no indication of any love connection happening on his part or how being with Jesse suddenly caught him off guard. Jesse of course is invested on her handsome savior from the start and it's understandable that she'd feel rejected afterwards.

So for Quinn to inject Maddox's desperation and concern for Jesse towards the end, hinting of unspoken love and passion is a little hard to relate to. It just didn't flow well because I wasn't made to feel like there's something special between these two in the first place aside from the usual sexual attraction that led to nothing more than just recreational sex.

So I hope that Quinn will just drop Maddox on the next of the book and give Jesse someone worth her while OR make Maddox suffer for his transgressions if he really wants to be with her. Right now, Maddox is just a big jerk pulling and playing Jesse's heartstrings.

Overall the story isn't really new, we've all read Fallen Angels turn vampires. So what I'm really looking at is the unique story which  lies on the characters. Sure, individually they have interesting backgrounds and rich on motive but how they all come together needs to be more fluid in my opinion.

Halo by Alexandra Adornetto

read an excerpt

Series: Halo 1
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: August 31, 2010
Purchase Link: Amazon

An angel is sent to Earth on a mission.
But falling in love is not part of the plan.

Three angels – Gabriel, the warrior; Ivy, the healer; and Bethany, the youngest and most human – are sent by Heaven to bring good to a world falling under the influence of darkness. They work hard to conceal their luminous glow, superhuman powers, and, most dangerous of all, their wings, all the while avoiding all human attachments.

Then Bethany meets Xavier Woods, and neither of them is able to resist the attraction between them. Gabriel and Ivy do everything in their power to intervene, but the bond between Xavier and Bethany seems too strong.

The angel’s mission is urgent, and dark forces are threatening. Will love ruin Bethany or save her?

Halo is like 500 pages long and for a YA novel that can be a bit daunting because as much as this genre is entertaining it can also be annoying. So this book was sitting on my shelf for three weeks now and finally I decided to give it a go.

Alexandra Adornetto wrote this when she was probably 16 or 17 and for a young writer she is articulate and has a lot of potential to become a great storyteller. But like her age indicates, Halo is an innocent love story between an angel (Bethany Church) and a human (Xavier Woods). It's similar to your usual coming of age novels with celestial beings but not as intense as Hush, Hush or as frustrating as Fallen. However, I have contradicting thoughts about this and I'll just air out my self debates and if you've read the book, I hope you'd understand where I'm coming from and maybe share your insights.

It felt like the book has two parts, Bethany and Xavier's love story and the conflict with Lucifer's agent. On the first part, I felt that Adornetto was over telling the love story and maybe she could've chucked out a 100 pages off that. But at the same time I understand that she was probably trying to stress the innocence and the difficulty of the situation. Part two with Jake Thorn was interesting and I was partly hoping that it would be a love triangle. An angel and a devil caught in a bitter love story has a lot of promise don't you think? However I think that angle will be explored in full in Hades and maybe Adornetto will cave in to the YA pressure of the staple love triangle and emo moments. Crossing my fingers here.

But though this was long-ish compared to other YA books, I personally didn't find it hard to read. It was easy even if Adornetto became too narrative or descriptive on some parts I was able to breeze through that without hitch. But because of the length of the book which can be attributed to editing on some aspect, I'd give this 3 stars. The story is interesting and it gave me enough reason to go on and read Hades.

Girl Crush Mondays: Rooney Mara

Patricia Rooney Mara

She's relatively a fresh face and if she looks familiaryou probably saw her in

The Social Networkas Erica Albright, the gal who dumped and scorned

Mark Zuckerburg played by Jessie Eisenburg.

But hold tight to your seats because come next year she'll be one of THE girls to watch.
With the upcoming release of

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

I'm sure you'll be fascinated not only with her transformation

but with how well she played the part.

Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is part of the late Stieg Larsson's Millenium Trilogy.

I've read the series and saw the Swede version of all three movies.

I'll be honest, the book and movie series were spectacular, brings back memories of my old love affair with Sydney Sheldon. It also touched on a lot of socially relative issues from abuse, white slavery, discrimination to alternative lifestyles.

A very compelling series from start to finish.

The movies were fantastic as well, it stayed true to Larsson's novels

which is why the films are about 2.5 hours each.

Noomi Rapace was fantastic as Lisbeth Salander so in my book

 I have high hopes for Rooney Mara in terms of measuring up to the Swede version. 

However the rest of the cast wasn't really eye candy so visually,

I think I'll like the U.S. version better.

* Photo: Still from Dare & Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

BDB: An Insider's Guide Giveaway Winner

And the winner of the BDB: An Insider's Guide is

Liz @ Fictional Candy

You'll receive an email notification momentarily with details on how to claim your prize. 

You'll have 48 hours to reply back or another winner will be chosen.

Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway! 

Working Stiff by Rachel Caine

read an excerpt

Series: Revivalist 1
Format: Paperback
Release Date: August 2, 2011
Purchase Link: Amazon

Bryn Davis was killed on the job after discovering her bosses were selling a drug designed to resurrect the dead. Now, revived by that same drug, she becomes an undead soldier in a corporate war to take down the very pharmaceutical company responsible for her new condition...

Bad ass babe. Check.

Hot dude. Check.

Lovable supporting characters. Check.

Villais you'll truly hate. Check

Fast action sequence. Check.

[Urban] Fantasy. Check.

So for the life of me, I don't understand why I wasn't captivated by this book. Maybe because of its lack of sense of humor or probably because it's more fantasy than supernatural.

But I have to give Rachel Caine props, she put a different twist on zombies to make it more tolerable for some readers who have an aversion to rotting things and it's really a challenge to make anything decaying hot. So I like her zombies, well preserved and in full control of their facilities. Aside from being completely dependent on the drug, Returne, you wouldn't know that they are walking corpses. Just like vamps minus the fangs.

Bryn Davis is the heroine, an army veteran, served time in Iraq, trained to counter terrorists. So it's safe to assume that she's trained for combat, however I find it a bit inconsistent that she lacked stealth and kept on being beaten up and outsmarted by the bad guys. I don't know about you guys but I like my backstory to make sense. She just appeared like a normal citizen caught in the crossfire and ended up being collateral damage.

Will I read the next novel? Maybe but I'm not excited nor will I lose sleep over it like some series that I follow.

If you want to know more, below is Caine's book trailer.

The Bite Before Christmas by Lynsay Sands + Jeaniene Frost

plot summary and excerpt here

Series: Argeneau 16.5; Night Huntress 6.5
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: October 25, 2011
Purchase Link: Amazon

In Lynsay Sands' "The Gift," Katricia Argeneau knows grey-eyed cop Teddy Brunswick is her life mate. She just needs to convince him they belong together, and being snowbound in a secluded cabin will make this a Christmas neither will forget.

It's "Home for the Holidays" in Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress series. Cat and Bones may long to wrap presents and set up a tree, but this Christmas, an evil vampire and long-buried family secrets will threaten to take a bite out of their holiday cheer.

The Gift

by Lynsay Sands

Throughout this long story I kept thinking about Richard Gere and Winona Ryder (blond) in Autumn in New York. At face value, the story of Katricia Argeneau and Teddy Brunswick seems like your usual May-December affair. But of course since Katricia is an Immortal [vampire] she's not really 25 and Teddy is the town's Chief of Police on the verge of retirement. The contrast between their looks can be disconcerting at first but it was also funny especially when Teddy was avoiding Katricia's advances and suggestive looks and body language. What he doesn't know is that the best is yet to come.

The story is about life mates and Katricia found hers in Teddy. Their story is smoking hot amidst the frigid air and powder white now of Port Henry. I am not familiar with Sand's work but the way she described her concept of life mates is so romantic and sexy. Being in tune with your partner, feeling every pleasure and pain, sharing an exceptional bond with someone, makes one wish this happens in real life exactly the way Sands described it. No wonder people have always been enamored with vampires. This is one of the many reasons why.

Home for the Holidays

by Jeaniene Frost

From a romantic story we shift to the [mis]adventurous holiday story of Cat and Bones. Apparently Bones shares his name with his long lost brother, Wraith, and the latter reveals a wealth of information about Bone's past and parentage. So it's no surprise that Bones have taken a liking to his brother but Cat observed that Bones has changed since Wraith's arrival. He is not acting like himself and this doesn't go unnoticed with Ian and Denise either as other member of their family has been acting peculiar as well. Obviously Wraith's reason for his sudden appearance in their lives is far from a heartwarming family reunion.

I wouldn't want to spend my holidays this way. I must admit it was very exciting and certainly the type of things that happens to Cat and Bones but demon possession doesn't fall under my list of "exciting", more like terrifying. And a coven of vampires possessed is certainly lethal especially if one of them can decapitate you with a mere thought! Ms. Frost certainly wrote a very compact story here and it doesn't matter if it's part of an anthology or Christmas being the background theme. No siree, she kept all the juicy parts albeit condensed in this 150 page long story. There's steam, life threatening situations, explosions, surgery and exorcism. What more can you ask for? Turkey's got nothing on Jeaniene Frost!

This is a new release so I encourage you to buy it, give it as a gift or put it on your wishlist, borrow a copy, doesn't matter as long YOU READ IT.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

20th Century Fox has debuted, through IGN, the poster design for their upcoming Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, directed by Timur Bekmambetov. The film stars Benjamin Walker as Honest Abe with Mary Elizabeth Winstead (as Mary Todd Lincoln), Alan Tudyk, Anthony Mackie and Dominic Cooper.

 

The official synopsis for the film: "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter explores the secret life of our greatest President, and the untold story that shaped our nation. Visionary filmmakers Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov (director of Wanted) bring a fresh and visceral voice to the blood-thirsty lore of the vampire, imagining Lincoln as history's greatest hunter of the undead."

The film is based on Seth Grahame-Smith's 2010 novel, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. The film opens on June 22, 2012.With Tim Burton as a producer and Vampires and Civil War Era....I am most definitely going to be watching this.

(Source: IGN)

Pride Mates by Jennifer Ashley

read an excerpt

Series: Shifters Unbound 1
Format: Paperback
Release Date: January 26, 2010
Purchase Link: Amazon

CALL OF THE WILD

To most, they are animals even when in human form. They are to be collared and kept on the fringes of society, scorned because they are feared, hated for their extraordinary powers. And attorney Kim Fraser has to go right into the heart of their lair.

It s her job to defend those in need. But there s absolutely nothing defenseless about Liam Morrissey. His soft Irish lilt and feline grace can t disguise his sheer strength. Nor can the silver chain at his throat, designed to control the aggression of his kind, completely reassure her that this man has been tamed.

Yet when a feral shifter begins to stalk them both, Liam is the only one she trusts with her life. She ll let him claim her for her protection, for her pride, and for a passion that knows no bounds.

The first two chapters is so charged with sexual tension it can probably power a small device like a small clock. It's hot, steamy and like Liam said, "fast and furious". Ashley didn't short change us on the romance and all its trappings and I guarantee that you'll be swept away by the scent of pheromones that seems to be included with the book.

So if you like sexy books and hotter than hot men, this will surely fire up your imagination:
Now after you've gotten over the passion and the dangerous thrill of dating a Shifter and find yourself focusing on the story, you'll understand that a couple of things were just glossed over by all the hot sex.

First off, the synopsis on the backcover is definitely misleading. The talk on murder was never the focus as it only encompasses about 30-ish pages of the 280p booked. Why am I disappointed? Because I was in the mood for some suspense-sexy-thriller kind of story and this wasn't that. Pride Mates is all about Kim and Liam coming (figuratively and literally) together. But that's ok, it's a smart marketing move I'll give Berkley Sensation that.

What really irked me was Kim's character and how it contradicts her profession. She's supposed to be a ruthless lawyer who advocates feminism but when Liam claims her as his mate she didn't even flinch. For a skeptic and someone who picks apart things for a living, she has awfully be accepting of her situation, didn't really question things. She just laid down and let herself be effed relentlessly by Liam on all levels. And while all this is happening she's still in a relationship with another lawyer.

So immediately after doing the deed with Liam on her bathroom, her boyfriend Abel called. Her body temperature haven't even cooled off, still naked from her calisthenics, she decides to break up with Abel over the phone and after the former's nonchalance, here is her reaction:
Get over yourself girl.

So if you're looking for some smexy romance book you'll love this. Like I said, Jennifer Ashley delivered really well on that department and that's the only reason why I was entertained enough to finish the book. But if you're looking for something smart to balance the steam, I'm not sure if this is the one. My brain cells were screaming on some parts.

Two years of my life I wasted on him and all he can say is "See you around?"

Tasked with defending a Shifter accused of murder, attorney Kim Fraser is completely out of her depth in the mysterious world of Shifter. To prove her client's innocence, Kim will need the help of someone on the inside, even though relying on Liam goes against everything society says about Shifters.

Big cats are sensational, sweetie. I keep some extra large condoms if you need them.