Shift Happens by J. C. McKenzie

December 2, 2014 By 1 Comment

SHIFT
Shift Happens by J. C. McKenzie
A Carus Novel, Book One
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press. Inc.
Genre: Paranormal, Mystery/Suspense, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
Length: Full Length (315 Pages)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Sorrel

Andrea McNelly’s job as a government agent is not asking questions, but then a routine assignment turns into a botched assassination of a Master Vampire’s human servant. Answers become a priority. Her search to discover the truth is riddled with obstacles, the largest being an oversized Werewolf who resembles a Norse god. Andy can’t afford the distraction he offers, because if she fails, she faces eternal enslavement.

Wick’s job is to monitor Andy, but he prefers more intimate activities, none of them G-Rated. His choices, however, are often not his own. His ability to help Andy is limited by his bond to the Master Vampire.

The tablets will take longer to start working levitra uk check these guys out internally by providing your body with potent substances that result in difficulty in erection. tadalafil india online However, doctors are of the opinion that this is caused due to the weak immune system. Some of the most important symptoms are burning sensation, while purchase viagra online Clicking Here discharging urine. Also, small amount of minerals like chromium, buy cheap cialis zinc, molybdenum, iodine, selenium and copper. Facing many trials and challenges along her path to redemption, Andy learns the value of her freedom might be set too high.

In the night, something more than a mountain lion, wolf and falcon combined—a beast—had risen from within, answering a desperate call and then it went wild—uncontrollable.

Andrea is a shifter with a unique ability whereas Wick is an alpha werewolf who falls for Andrea, an assassin and agent of the government.

Andrea’s latest assignment leads her to kill a human. But everything is not as it seems when she gets caught and her handler is killed. She must find out who set her up with the assignment. In the process, saving herself and opening up to the man who could be hers.

The first thing that caught my eye about this book was the title, Shift Happens. I wanted to know what it meant to the characters and how it interwove within the book. The phrase was embedded in the story. By the end, the title is understandable and perfect.

Andrea’s past is important and a vital point not only in the story but also for Andrea and Wick’s relationship. In Shift Happens the author reveals her story right before the climax (ending). It wasn’t a total information dump since bits and pieces of her past is shared throughout the whole story but it is somewhat of a ‘big reveal’. It worked well and kept this reader interested throughout the novel.

The characters in the story are well developed. Really, the story as a whole is very good. There’s romance but it doesn’t overpower the story like in some books. I would read the second in this series just to know what happens.

Readers interested in Urban Fantasy where the plot is more than overwhelming romance will like this one. Though, I would recommend this book to anyone who loves urban fantasy/paranormal and romance.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland

November 12, 2014 By Leave a Comment

ZOMBIE
My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland
Publisher: DAW
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Mystery/Suspense
Length: Full Length (310 pgs)
Heat: Spicy
Rating: 3.5 stars
Reviewed by Cactus

Angel Crawford is a loser.

Living with her alcoholic deadbeat dad in the swamps of southern Louisiana, she’s a high school dropout with a pill habit and a criminal record who’s been fired from more crap jobs than she can count. Now on probation for a felony, it seems that Angel will never pull herself out of the downward spiral her life has taken.

That is, until the day she wakes up in the ER after overdosing on painkillers. Angel remembers being in an horrible car crash, but she doesn’t have a mark on her. To add to the weirdness, she receives an anonymous letter telling her there’s a job waiting for her at the parish morgue—and that it’s an offer she doesn’t dare refuse.
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Before she knows it she’s dealing with a huge crush on a certain hunky deputy and a brand new addiction: an overpowering craving for brains. Plus, her morgue is filling up with the victims of a serial killer who decapitates his prey—just when she’s hungriest!

Angel’s going to have to grow up fast if she wants to keep this job and stay in one piece. Because if she doesn’t, she’s dead meat.

Literally.

Some days the only way to stop being a total loser is to simply die. Angel Crawford, convicted felon, drug addict and high school dropout, has learned that lesson the hard way. Fighting with her on and off again boyfriend, a totally drunk Angel goes off with a stranger. Unfortunately for Angel the stranger had drugged her with date rape drugs and caused her heart to stop. Continuing Angel’s very bad day, the stranger was driving her nearly dead body to a swamp to dump it when he got into a car accident and killed them both. So it’s to Angel’s extreme surprise that she wakes up in an emergency room completely without injuries yet butt naked with some weird protein shakes and a note that she has to take a job at the morgue or go back to prison. And as if trying to figure out what is going on while putting her life in some kind of order, someone is going around decapitating zombies. Just when Angel realizes exactly what she is, she’s in danger of dying for real this time.

White Trash Zombie is a pretty hilarious book. I listened to the audio version and the narrator gets a lot of credit for making the story so fun and easy to listen to. Angel is the narrator and she really is a lower. She doesn’t even pretend that she’s anything else. That’s not to say she’s a lost cause, just that she’s made bad choices in her life and doesn’t try to rationalize or justify them. She accepts them but slowly, very slowly, realizes that previous bad choices don’t have to define a person. She’s smart and curious so she sticks her nose into just about everything with little regard for the outcome. The majority of the story is about Angel maturing and moving past her life of drugs, abusive parents, alcohol and bad men. She is open and self-aware but she’s tough, sarcastic, and funny. She calls herself a scrawny bitch all the time but reminds people that she’s mean and that counts for a lot.

Angel’s voice is what really pushes the story, especially when it lags. Since a majority of the plot is about her dealing with everyday problems, how often to eat brains so you don’t rot or how to steal brains from the morgue without getting caught, sometimes the action can wane. There’s the serial killer problem but I felt as though that was a minor tangent to the main point of the story, which is Angel as a new zombie. There’s a cute love interest but Angel shines as tough, non-nonsense heroine that wants to stand on her own and get her life back, not rely on a man to do it. So I really liked her much more than the typical female heroine who is overly sarcastic, breaks all the rules, and is tougher than any guy. Angel is a nice departure from that stereotype and the narrator’s voice helped define Angel for me.

I will admit sometimes I was pretty frustrated with Angel. She is pretty smart but would be slow to pick up on some clues or the story would artificially allow her to figure some things out when there simply wasn’t enough information to do so. She’d take leaps of logic that always panned out when they shouldn’t have. However these are pretty minor complaints and I found this story to be highly entertaining and incredibly easy to listen to. I don’t always absorb all the details listening to books versus reading them and some books lend themselves to that better than others. This is one you can listen to without worrying if you missed something. I’d recommend it, even if it was light on romance. I loved it all the more for that.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Nice Girls Don’t Date Dead Men by Molly Harper

October 27, 2014 By Leave a Comment

DEAD
Nice Girls Don’t Date Dead Men by Molly Harper
Publisher: PocketStar
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Suspense/Mystery, Contemporary
Length: Full Length (380 pgs)
Heat Level: Spicy
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Cactus

With her best friend Zebs Titanic-themed wedding looming ahead, new vampire Jane Jameson struggles to develop her budding relationship with her enigmatic sire, Gabriel. It seems unfair that shes expected to master undead dating while dealing with a groom heading for a nuptial nervous breakdown, his hostile werewolf in-laws, and the ugliest bridesmaid dress in the history of marriage.

Thus teenagers and youngsters are viagra 5mg now not shaky about discussing any matters regarding sex openly. The medications seem to be engineered in such a manner that hair viagra canada overnight loss resumes as soon as usage of the medications is stopped. Increased risk of infections We all know, alcohol consumption interferes with the decision making process, which leads to unplanned cialis online sale sex encounters most of the time. A major reason behind the effective formulation of order generic levitra is more than sufficient to have. Meanwhile, the passing of Janes future step-grandpa puts Grandma Ruthie back on the market. Her new fiance;, Wilbur, has his own history of suspiciously dead spouses, and he may or may not have died ten years ago. Half-Moon Hollows own Black Widow has finally met her match.

Should Jane warn her grandmother of Wilburs marital habits or let things run their course? Will Jane always be an undead bridesmaid, never the undead bride?

New vampires probably shouldn’t be involved in anything Titanic-themed. Jane Jameson is back and she’s the matron of honor in her best friend’s wedding to his ladylove werewolf. Zeb and Jolene want a Titanic-themed wedding because…well why not? Jane is not overly excited about the wedding, losing her best friend’s undivided attention, her mysterious boyfriend’s recent odd behavior, and the consistent pressure from Zeb’s mother to stop the wedding so Jane can marry Zeb. You’d think all of it would be too much for a newbie vampire but Jane still finds time to look into her grandmother’s sixth fiancé. Although her plate is more than full with anything but food, Jane and her friends transverse the crazy town of Half Moon Hollows once more.

Nice Girls Don’t Date Dead Men is book two in the Jane Jameson series by Molly Harper. Although you technically don’t need to read book one to understand this one as the author does a really nice job of reminding new and returning readers of important details, I think readers should as it’s essential to understanding the cast dynamic and fully appreciating the characters themselves. In this new outing, Jane doesn’t really mature much unfortunately and I thought she came off slightly worse for the wear with her antics. The plot revolves around Jane’s best friend Zeb getting married; an event that Jane is ambivalent about at best since she’s struggling to come to terms with Zeb maturing and growing up while she isn’t. Additionally Zeb’s mother, Mama Ginger, is of course a caricature from hell bent on destroying the wedding in an attempt to make Zeb and Jane marry instead.

I found the story humorous and entertaining for the most part. The few issues I had were that Jane could have easily stopped the drama with Zeb’s mother by simply telling her that Jane was a vampire. Of course there would be no book with over the top wacky hijinks if logic actually prevailed so there is a reason for the lack of any common sense. Whether readers like that or not is a personal choice. Furthermore it was almost ridiculously easy to figure out what was going on, and who the bad guy was this time, and Jane started to look rather stupid in not figuring it out sooner. The book did everything but paint neon signs with the answers while Jane just shrugged and did nothing to add any intelligence nor intuitive thinking to any of the problems brought up. So I was much less enamored of Jane’s pratfalls, witty mumblings, and general air of buffoonery in combination with her less than average intelligence.

That said I still love the ensemble cast of characters and their ability to act as wonderful counterpoints to Jane’s sometimes irritating personality. I am not a huge Jane lover as she feels like a character pandering to a certain reading demographic. However the supporting cast is funny, entertaining, and generally helps soothe over any frustration. The writing is quick and easy to absorb without really remembering the details. It’s a little repetitive and formulaic to be sure but with the lack of real humor in the vampire genre I find this series much like ice cream. It’s not exactly something to be proud of binging on but it seems to taste so good at the time.

Filed Under: Mainstream Fiction, Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs by Molly Harper

October 21, 2014 By Leave a Comment

NGS
Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs by Molly Harper
Publisher: PocketStar
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Suspense/Mystery, Contemporary
Length: Full Length (355 pgs)
Heat: Spicy
Rating: 3.5 stars
Reviewed by Cactus

Maybe it was the Shenanigans gift certificate that put her over the edge. When children’s librarian and self-professed nice girl Jane Jameson is fired by her beastly boss and handed twenty-five dollars in potato skins instead of a severance check, she goes on a bender that’s sure to become Half Moon Hollow legend. On her way home, she’s mistaken for a deer, shot, and left for dead. And thanks to the mysterious stranger she met while chugging neon-colored cocktails, she wakes up with a decidedly unladylike thirst for blood.
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Jane is now the latest recipient of a gift basket from the Newly Undead Welcoming Committee, and her life-after-lifestyle is taking some getting used to. Her recently deceased favorite aunt is now her ghostly roommate. She has to fake breathing and endure daytime hours to avoid coming out of the coffin to her family. She’s forced to forgo her favorite down-home Southern cooking for bags of O negative. Her relationship with her sexy, mercurial vampire sire keeps running hot and cold. And if all that wasn’t enough, it looks like someone in Half Moon Hollow is trying to frame her for a series of vampire murders. What’s a nice undead girl to do?

Being mistaken for a deer, shot, and left for dead wasn’t even Jane’s worst day. The fact that it all happened on a day she was fired from her dream job and given a gift certificate for potato skins at the local dive bar did not help matters. However being turned into a vampire certainly gave Jane’s life, now unlife, new perspective. Now she has a sexy but somewhat unstable Sire to contend with along with small details such as blood sucking, flameablilty in sunlight, and the usual quagmire of crazy relatives of both the living and ghostly kind. Trying to navigate her new undead existence is not easy and that all happens before she starts to be framed for a series of vampire murders. A girl just can’t catch a break.

Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs is book one of the Jane Jameson series by Molly Harper. The main character of Jane is well developed and three-dimensional. She’s snarky, witty, and irreverent. The highlights of the book for me are not the female leads, since they are predictable, but the fun plot and use of secondary characters. Here the idea that Jane is bumping off other vampires and has to figure out who is framing her actually works because while the culprit is obvious very early on, Jane herself seems to go about the detecting work in a reasonable fashion. She’s clueless until the long monologue revealing exactly who did what and how by the “bad guy”, but I forgave her.  She’s intelligent but lacks serious common sense and the ability to put clues together. The writing relies on quips and Jane’s sense of humor to really carry the book, which works decently well even if it’s slightly repetitive.

I’ve read other books by the author set in Half Moon Hollow that revolve around the same group of characters but star different female protagonists. Now having read numerous books by Harper, both set in HMH and others, they are all remarkably similar to the point of formulaic. The heroines are almost exactly the same in each book. They are in their late 20s, single without significant past relationships, hard working, beautiful but they don’t think so, quirky, witty, sassy, and all have a penchant for a different kind of junk food which is usually a variation on candy. The females in the books are interchangeable and have few differences but the male leads are no different. They are all sexy, mysterious, rich, and totally enamored of the heroines to the point of silliness even as the heroine never believes it can be true. It’s classic romance and clearly is exactly what Harper’s readers want. I admit I find her sense of humor entertaining and I enjoy the books but I need long periods of time between them so I can forget that I already know everything about the book before I even start it. They’re predictable down to the details so I think your enjoyment hinges on whether that kind of formula romance appeals to readers.

I think Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs works well because the mystery carries the book since the romance is more lukewarm. Jane and her sire, Gabriel, don’t really have a solid happy ending but they are together and there are more books in the series. The vampire lore is basic and nothing special, even if all the good parts and very few drawbacks are included. For first time readers of this author that like humor in their vampire romance, I think this will be a real treat. For repeat readers it all depends on how much repetition is tolerable. I find the author’s voice and books nearly identical to one another but at least I always know what I’m getting.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison

October 7, 2014 By Leave a Comment

WITCH
Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison
Publisher: Harper Touch
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Full Length (480 pgs)
Heat Level: Hot
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Cactus

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.
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A bounty hunter and witch with serious sex appeal and an attitude, she’ll bring ’em back alive, dead … or undead.

If only there was a guidebook for witches under death threats. Rachel Morgan is a witch and bounty hunter with a crappy job. She’s been getting the worst assignments for months now and she’s sick of it. When her latest prey, a tax-evading leprechaun, offers her three wishes in exchange for freedom Rachel decides to quit her job and strike out on her own. Too bad her employer doesn’t let people quit as easily as that and suddenly there’s a death threat hanging over Rachel’s head. With the help of her friends, vampire Ivy and pixie Jenxs, Rachel decides to take down the city’s wealthiest and most prominent citizen. She figures if she can prove the billionaire philanthropist is dirty then the death threat will be alleviated. Unfortunately it’s not as easy as it seems.

Dead Witch Walking is the first book in the Hollows series from Kim Harrison. The book is what I consider basic urban fantasy fare and decent enough for what it is. UF is my favorite genre and I’ve read quite a number of books within this sphere and DWW fits well. It’s not especially unique or outstanding in any way, and actually I’ve read numerous better books/series, but it’s ok. There’s also a weak, very small potential romance but the focus is urban fantasy and mystery, not romance. The world building is interesting, though not developed enough, and the narrator is first person through Rachel’s POV. The plot to prove the wealthy, local businessman and beloved councilman is actually a dirty drug smuggler is good enough to carry the story. There’s no question of guilt, but whether Rachel can take down her quarry.

Rachel is a frustrating narrator and protagonist and I think a reader’s enjoyment will hinge on her likeability. Reading reviews before I chose this book, most people were split to the extremes of either loving her or hating her. She’s a three-dimensional character but a polarizing one for sure. Rachel has a lot of flaws. A lot. She’s a very realistic character in that she often jumps into situations with no plans or ideas of how to succeed. She is stubborn, extremely reactive, and often quick to dismiss or ignore her friends and their advice. Rachel’s knows best all the time, even she actually has no clue and is making all the wrong assumptions/conclusions. Except she never thinks she is wrong. Even when she is at fault, she apologizes but is quick to want to move on and shift the focus/blame. I found her annoying and rather stupid. I struggled to care when she would foolishly rush in to situations without planning or thought and unsurprisingly bad things happen. Some readers may find this charming since Rachel is by no means a kick ass heroine. She mostly bungles her way through things with a single-minded focus and then is rescued by her friends.

What I actually liked most about the book was the supporting cast. I found Jenxs particularly adorable and I liked the dark struggle Ivy fought almost daily. While the pace is rather slow for the book, I found the focus on the secondary characters, even including Nick, enough to help keep my interest and alleviate some of the frustration I had with Rachel. I listened to the audio version and the narrator did a decent job with the voices, although she had a very odd way of emphasizing breaks where there shouldn’t be. For example the narrator would say a sentence “She walked (pause) into the hallway.” I’m not sure why she would pause in the middle of the sentence where no comma or punctuation break exists but she did. It’s a testament to the slow pace that I focused on the narrator sometimes rather than the story but I liked the voices she did for the characters and the cadence/tone of the narrator’s voice.

Overall I found this to be a readable book in the genre but not something especially memorable or interesting. Those that find Rachel a more charming and winsome heroine will definitely be more engaged but I liked it enough to continue with the series for now. I’d cautiously recommend this but only to those readers that like heroines on the softer, more realistic and less “kick ass, take names” side.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , ,