Turn up the Heat - by Sherrilyn Kenyon

This was a short story found in the anthology Playing Easy to Get. Allison just kicked her fiancee out for cheating on her and she works hard. She loves the fantasy novels and enters into the contest on her favorite novel series that her childhood friend told her to enter, and she wins!

Vince has had it hard all his life, and is now on the run from the mafia, and his brother in law picks him up and hides him out on his fantasy island.
They both needed a new start in life, and now they got it!

Favorite quote:
Vince - "Aren't you scared?"
Allison - "Shitless, pardon my French. But you don't know anything about me if you think I'm just going to lie down and take this. Nobody comes after me and threatens me and just walks off. I'm not a doormat. I might be female, but where I come from that doesn't make me the weaker sex. It just makes me the more vengeful sex."

Good story! I especially loved how, at the beginning, she seemed like a timid mouse, then she started acting more like a prowling lioness. Loved it!!

Bound to Me - by Jocelynn Drake

Mira, the Fire Starter, is a young vampire and is in love with Velario, whom has been a vampire much longer. They are assigned to go to Mira's horrible maker's domain to kill a threat there, and finds she is wrapped up in a tug of war. Good read. I love that this story was made about her past, but I would like even more to read about her human life and what she had to give up to become a vamp.

The ending was kinda a let-down, but I guess, as they say, ignorance is bliss. Good story, but wasn't long enough for my tastes ;)

Elphame's Choice - by P.C. Cast

Elphame is a goddess - touched 1/2 Human 1/2 Centaur who has felt out of place her entire life. She has a Feeling to go to the MacCallan Castle to restore it, and has been in ruins for over a century. There, she finally fits in and feels a sense of belonging, but nothing is ever that easy.

I don't remember a quote that really stood out, but it was very entertaining. 

Firelight - by Kristen Callihan

Miranda is a Fire starter, and has been trying to repress her gift since she burned 1/2 of her father's fortune on accident when she was 10. Lord Archer is cursed... He stumbles upon her when she is young, but waits until she is older to claim her, but he is stubborn and tries to keep Miranda out of his dangerous lifestyle...

Favorite Scene:
[After a battle, Archer is hurt in the side and cannot see it, but is a surgeon and has to talk her through it.]
Archer - "I don't deserve you, Miranda."
The softness in his voice made [Miranda] want to smile, but she kept it repressed. "Yes, I know." She straightened. "No matter, I shall soon have my revenge. Now tell me what to do."

I also liked how, when her father was talking her into marrying Archer, he said "You, my dear, are a diamond in a sea of cut glass."

Very enjoyable, Kristen does a great job of keeping you on the edge of your seat, wondering what will come next.

Fair Game - by Patricia Briggs

Anna and Charles are having problems. Since the Werewolves have come out of the proverbial closet, Charles' Enforcement of Werewolf law has increased, and he's not dealing with it well. Anna see's it and tries to help. As a reprieve from the life of killing, Charles and Anna are sent to help with an investigation.

I read so fast that I didn't think about doggy-earring a favorite quote. I really enjoyed the whole book. Good read, and definitely can't wait till the next book! Would like to see what happens with the Fae.

Lenobia's Vow - by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast

Lenobia's an illegitimate daughter of a Baron, and his legitimate daughter, Cecile, had just died. Lenobia's mother heard talk about the Baron selling Cecile to a man in the New World, and was meant to leave that morning. So she set it up so that Lenobia would take her place, to have a new life. She makes it to the ship and meets Martin, a young man who tends to the horses below deck.

Favorite Quote:
Martin - "I see a storm in those grey eyes of yours, cherie. You leave that storm be. You strong, you. But not strong enough to change the way the world think - the way the world believe."

I am so angry at that stupid Bishop! He couldn't leave well enough alone... GRRR!!! I couldn't help my tears at the end... my heart broke with Lenobia's. I just hope she finds her Martin again, she has waited long enough, IMHO. Good book ;)

No Rest for the Wicked - by Kresley Cole

Kaderin the Cold Hearted cannot feel, and slays any vampire that she see's. Sebastian was turned vampire against his will by his brothers, and has yet to forgive them. When faced with Sebastian, she couldn't kill him, and all these new feelings bombard her. Kaderin enters the Hie, as she does every 250 years, but Sebastian also enters to try to win Kaderin what she wants.

Favorite Quote:
Nix - "Did I say something? What did I say? How am I supposed to keep track of what I said?"
Nikolai - "Damn it, Nix, I know you could tell us where they are."
[Nix's] eyes went wide as she breathed, "Are you psychic, too?"

I know that had nothing to do with Kaderin and Sebastian, but I laughed so hard at this quote! Nix is awesome!!!
Anyway - Good book! I really did enjoy it, and liked the special teaser in the back with Bowen!

Never to sleep - by Rachel Vincent

I know this is going out of order, but I was SO curious! This is Sophie's awakening - when she finds out what she can do - not what she is though... she meets Luca - the hot new guy to the school, who happens to be a Necromancer. Sophie gets so frieked out that she accidentally brings her and him to the Netherworld, but she doesn't know what happened. Now they must survive to find a way out.

Favorite Quote:
Sophie - "We're about to be devoured by man-eating plants. Shouldn't we at least acknowledge how attractive our respective bodies are before they're digested from the inside out?"
Luca - "Is that your way of fishing for a compliment?"

Sophie is SO stuck up, but surprisingly intelligent! Although, she can be mighty clueless:

People called Kaylee special, but what they really meant was "special." In that straitjackets and padded walls kind of way. She wasn't special like Luca thought I was special. She could never handle what I'd just seen and done. She wasn't stable enough.

 If only she used her brain... she might realize that, since they were related, this may have been why Kaylee acts the way she does!

My Soul to Keep - by Rachel Vincent

Free at last! Kaylee goes to a party with Nash after being grounded for a whole month, while Nash only got 2 weeks - So not fair! Kaylee and Nash find out that a very powerful and deadly Netherworld substance has been smuggled over - Demon's Breath! Now they must find out how to stop it before Doug and Scott get hurt, or worse, killed.

Favorite Quote:
When asked what he found so funny, Scott said the teacher's shadow had flipped him off.

Not bad, I am also rereading to try to find hints of future book events, and I found one: Tod eavesdrops at the end and punches Nash for what he had done, and Kaylee hugs him in thanks - they have a moment there.

Deep Kiss of Winter - Anthology

I haven't posted my books I read recently, so here are the ones I finished... They'll be separate so they are easier to find.

- Untouchable - by Kresley Cole

Daniela the Ice Maiden cannot be touched unless they are Icere, as she is an Icere Valkyrie; but they hunt her because she threatens the Icere King's throne - which she doesn't want. Murdoch just helped his brother, Nikolai, to find his Mist, so he takes off to find another Valkyrie to get information from - and finds Daniela. She is his Bride, but he cannot touch her - to do so would be excruciating for her.

No specific quotes really stood out, though I enjoyed the gorgeous description given for Daniela's transformation in the cold. I find it kind of funny how the one thing she told Murdoch not to do became their salvation.

- Tempt Me Eternally - by Gena Showalter

Aleah is a shifter - one touch and she can become you. Breean is a Rakan warrior leader that came from a planet destoryed by the Schon. Aleah tries to get him and AIR (Alien Investigation and Removal) to work together to stop the Schon from taking over earth too, but Breean has other plans.

Favorite Scene:
Breean - "You'll just have to trust me."
Aleah - "Oh, really?" She sank her teeth into his back, past his clothing and streight into his skin [...]
Breean - "I'll take this to mean you refuse to trust me."
Aleah - "That's right." The words were moaned. [...] She licked him through his shirt, murmured, "God, you taste good."

I really enjoyed this story, and believe I have found another author to look for. I love how the Rakan's blood taste like honey. (yummy!)

Firelight - Linda Mooney

This is a short story where Connie is falling asleep, and then starts to hear a voice - Nathaniel (her love from a past life) - who uses tricks of the light to create a reality for them.

Favorite quote:
Nathaniel - "It was as real as we wanted it to be."

I enjoyed this short story, and only have one problem: It wasn't long enough!

A Hunger Like No Other - by Kresley Cole

After 150 years of torment in hell, Lachlain (a Lykae) finally escapes his captors to find his mate, Emmaline (1/2 vampire, 1/2 Valkyrie), not what he expected. Now he must fight within himself to accept that he is to be mated to the very race that tried to destroy him. But what he doesn't know, is that Emmaline is nothing like those vampires, and is constantly frightened away from him.

My favorite quote from this book was:
Regin - "Now, if you come across a leech, no offense, remember your training."
Emmaline - "None taken. And would that be the sword training where you fly past my defenses and swat me on the ass, chirping, 'Dead!'? Another swat. 'Dead!? Yeah, I'll get right on that."
Regin - "No, that would be the training where you sprint like hell whenever you hear that I'm looking for you to train."

I enjoyed this book so much, I could barely stand to put it down while I was at work! Good thing I have a pretty laid-back job or I'd have to find a new one already! lol.

Night Falls on the Wicked - by Sharie Kohler

I guess I was closer to the end of this book than I thought lol.

This book begins with Darby working at Sam's Diner as a waitress. Then changes to Niklas as he's entering her frozen town, signing into a hotel. They run into each other at the local grocery store, where a big gathering of onlookers watched as hunters displayed 2 dead wolves. Darby has a vision that gets her into trouble, and she ends up looking after Aimee, which she has to kill the Alpha because she'd been infected, and has to get her to her grandmother's house. Niklas has similar objectives (killing the same Alpha - his alpha), so they team up. Aimee gets kidnapped and Darby does the 1 thing that she swore she would never do - become a Demon witch - to save Aimee.

There were a few good quotes, but this was my favorite:
Darby pulled back her shoulders. "I don't like you very much."
Niklas shrugged, "Why should you?"
"Don't mock me." Darby snapped.

Good read - Love how you can tell that all her Moon Chasers books are connected in some way. This was the Darby from Sharie Kohler's "My Soul to Keep" - Jonah's witch friend.

My Soul to Save - by Rachel Vincent

This book begins at a concert, and Tod gets them passes to go backstage to meet a big-time star, until she dies on stage. They meet Tod's ex-girlfriend, Addison, and find out that she sold her soul for fame and fortune. They have to race against the clock to try to get her soul back, because Addison dies in 5 days. Kaylee has to jump to and from the Netherworld, and it is no picnic finding out what the Netherworld is like.

I had a few favorite quotes, but like always, here was my favorite one:
"I see you all the time, but you've never seen me, because Kaylee said if I got too close to you, I'd suffer eternity without my balls."

Good read, and it only gets better as the series progresses. I read this about a week ago, but I just haven't been able to get online to post. I'm already almost finished with my Next book: Night falls on the Wicked - by Sharie Kohler.

My Soul to Keep - by Sharie Kohler

Starts out with Sorcha, a Dovenatu (a natural-born lycan type), as she found a witch to help get vengeance for her late husband's murder, which turned out to be Tresa, a demon witch. She goes and is stopped by Jonah, her protector / crush from her past. She follows him home, and tries to become a demon slayer, like he is, and isn't very good at it. He finally feels that she is a very big distraction and sends her away, which she goes after Tresa again. She gets kidnapped and finds her father running this death game for lycan hunters, and Jonah finds out and tries to save her. A demon witch is a witch that sold her soul to a demon for power and eternal life. I thought this was a very good book, and I really enjoyed the storyline, although no quotes really stood out.

My Soul to Take - by Rachel Vincent

Finally! They took long enough to explain to Kaylee that she's a Banshee (Bean Sidhe) and it was so messed up that Nash (her new boyfriend) had to explain it to her! I understand that Kaylee's dad wasn't as strong as her mother, but come on! He should have stepped up and been a real father years ago, when she thought she was going crazy the FIRST time! They should have never kept this magnitude of a secret from her!

Starts out fun with Kaylee and her BFF, Emma, going to a night club, and Nash starts talking to her. She gets her "panic attack" and he helps her through it! The next day, she overhears her uncle and aunt talking and gets totally freaked out! She talks to Nash about it, and he just had to tell her what was going on. Then they find out a pattern, and go to see Tod (a reaper) to ask a favor. Things get dicey and Emma almost dies, but Kaylee and Nash were able to save her.

Lots of favorite quotes again, like always, but here's the one I liked best:
Kaylee - "A non-human non-friend? Who works at the hospital as a non-medical intern?" At least it wasn't another football player. "Now that we're clear on what he's not, care to tell me what he is?"

Anyway, really good, and Tod is such a cutie!! Was so happy that her dad finally came back into the picture, just wish it hadn't been so late! She had to learn on the fly, and she took it really calmly when Nash explained it to her. I can't wait to continue reading  - am already 2 chapters into My Soul to Save.

Happy Reading!

My Soul to Lose - by Rachel Vincent

I started with the first of the series so I know where I'm starting again. My Soul to Lose is really good, and I'm surprised that  Poor Kaylee Cavanaugh was never told what she was through the whole story, so she had no idea what was going on. It starts out light, normal teens going to the mall, but then she gets these "panic attacks" and has to leave the area. It follows her and she gets caught up in it again, and begins to scream. She's put into a mental hospital and meets Lydia, who helps her out in the end. There were a few really funny quotes I enjoyed, but this was my favorite one:

Stevens - "Kaylee, do you know why you're here?"

Kaylee - "Yeah, Because the doors are locked."

Good read, but if I was reading it as a stand-alone (which I never got the pleasure of doing), I would have been confused... 'cause obviously her Uncle Brendon knew what was going on with her, I'm just mad at him for not telling her anything throughout her whole life!