Blood, Smoke and Mirrors by Robyn Bachar

Even a bad witch deserves a second chance.

Wrongly accused of using her magic to harm, the closest Catherine Baker comes to helping others is serving their coffee. Life as an outcast is nothing new, thanks to her father’s reputation, but the injustice stings. Especially since the man she loved turned her in.

Now the man has the gall to show up and suggest she become the next Titania? She’d rather wipe that charming grin off his face with a pot of hot java to the groin.

Alexander Duquesne has never faltered in his duties as a guardian — until now. The lingering guilt over Cat’s exile and the recent death of his best friend have shaken his dedication. With the murder of the old Titania, the faerie realm teeters on the brink of chaos. His new orders: keep Cat alive at all costs.

Hunted by a powerful stranger intent on drawing her into an evil web, Cat reluctantly accepts Lex’s protection and the resurrected desire that comes along with it. Lex faces the fight of his life to keep her safe…and win her back. If they both survive.

Warning: This book contains one tough and snarky witch, one gorgeous guardian, explicit blood drinking, magician sex, gratuitous violence against vampires and troublemaking Shakespearean faeries.

Please Note: There are some small spoilers in this review. If you want no spoilers at all, please do not read this review.

This book went down the crapper so quickly after 40% that it damn near gave me whiplash. The difference between the two parts of this book are SO VAST that I have separated them: Book I, Part I and Book I, Part II

Book I, Part I (the first 40%) of this book is pretty damn good. There are some points that I issue with, however:

Why is Cat qualified to become Tatiana?? Why is she one of the only few in the world eligible? The author never says.

Cat makes lots of decisions without thinking. She told Lex to screw himself about her becoming Tatiana…but then changes her mind a page later for no reason and runs to do it. No explanation given to the reader for the abrupt 180 change of heart.

WTF is up with Lex turning Cat in to be tried (before book starts)? That isn’t cool. And then for him to get back with her by only saying, “I’m sorry, I didn’t think it would go down like that” was total BULLSHIT. Where was he for the last 3 years as she struggled to get by? There was NO GROVELLING. None at all!! Are you freaking SERIOUS?! She became an Outcast because her bf betrayed her and he didn’t even have to grovel?!?!? We had the ‘I love yous” happening by 40%. I call Shenanigans. I also do not buy their relationship. At all. And BTW, I actually kinda hated Lex.

This is the biggest issue I had with Book 1, part 1: Cat is the daughter of a witch and a necromancer. Her father killed her mother and tried to kill her. Her mother/guardian is killed when she was scheduled to be out all night. Her father wants world domination and is willing to go through her to get it. She is the only one able to stop her father. Cat has super strong powers that even she hasn’t explored the limits of.

Did that sound familiar to you? If you’ve ever read the Kate Daniels Series by Ilona Andrews then it sounded really, really familiar. But don’t get your hopes up, it’s not in the same league.

Other than the items I listed above…book I, part I is actually a pretty good (and fast) read. I’d give it 3.5 stars.

Then we have Book I, Part II (insert ominous music here)

WTF happened here???! After Cat kills her father and becomes the Tatiana it feels like an entirely new and completely different book starts. The damn thing even changed plot points! WTF. The entire section with the vampire Zach Harrison holding Cat hostage was BS. Why the fuck was she there to begin with? She makes such STUPID decisions!! It is at this point that Cat goes from being a funny, snarky witch with a brain to a TSTL romance heroine without the sense God gave a Nat who finds herself in the middle of [something like] a love triangle with a vampire. Even though she and Lex ‘are in looove.’

*faceplam*

I’ll stop ranting about this section now because I’ll end up spoiling the entire thing…but let’s just say it was about 50% of the entire novel and it all SUCKED ASS. I was shocked and saddened by the way this great story wound up in WTFsville so quickly. I spent the rest of the book screaming and yelling at Cat to stop being TSTL.

And the ending. Can it get any more rushed than that??! The ending was so fast and rushed that I felt like I had whiplash.

I don’t think I’ll continue the series.

Quickie: Spell of the Highlander by Karen Marie Moning

Powerful. Sensual. Seductive. He is all that is shamelessly erotic in a man. In her sexiest Highlander novel yet, New York Times bestselling author Karen Moning stirs up a sizzling brew of ancient mystery and modern passion as she brings together a devilishly handsome Celtic warrior trapped in time . . . and the woman who’s about to pay the ultimate price for freeing him. Age-old secrets haunt them. Deadly danger and irresistible desire shadow their every move. It’s a relationship for the ages. And all that separates them is a mere thirteen hundred years. . . .

Review: The Geek Job by Even Langlais

From the book: Protect the geek, that’s the job she’s been hired for, but little did this shewolf expect to fall for a man of science.

As a werewolf who hires out as a bodyguard, Lexie is paid well to perform dangerous jobs that sometimes involve taking off her clothes. When she takes on the protection of a science geek for a vampire clan, she doesn’t expect her temporary girlfriend status to come with lots of pleasure. But a geeky human who pushes all her right buttons—and plays her body oh so right—isn’t reason enough for her to break the rules and fall in love.

Everything changes after an incident in the lab, but before she can decide if it’s safe to give him her heart, she has to help him survive.

This was a rather fun book with some hot sex. I liked both characters for different reasons. I’m a pretty big fan of kick-ass heroines – a description that fits Lexie perfectly – and I loved Anthony.

I really enjoyed watching Anthony slowly gain confidence in himself and his powers of attraction and I enjoyed the relationship that developed between Lexie and Anthony. What I absolutely hated – while still enjoying Lexie as the science slut – was the deception that the relationship started with. I felt that Lexie should have told Anthony that he was in danger and that she was there to protect him. Lexie should have also had to do a little more groveling. If a man had perpetuated the same deception that Lexie did, it would have been handled as a bigger transgression.

The ending felt a tad contrived while still being somewhat believable. All in all, it was a short but fun read.

I think it’s safe to call me a fan of Eve Langlais. I own a decent amount of her work and – even though she originally annoyed the crap out of me by writing such short novellas that her characters and/or stories would never develop to full potential – have plans to buy much more. I can certainly say that the length of her books seem to slowly get longer while the voice that originally intrigued me has stayed fresh. 🙂

With that being said, the book is cute, a little funny, kinda sexy and I think you should read it – if you like erotic romance, that is. 😉
Three and a ½ stars!

Quickie: Santana’s Heat by Kitty DuCane

Sanata’s Heat was very disappointing. It started so promising and then just exploded from there. I didn’t care about the characters. I started reading this last night and realized that I really didn’t like Santana too much. Her character was completely inconsistent. One minute she’s a strong woman who can take care of herself after being on her own (and homeless) for 10 years, having killed at least one person. The next minute she’s running away because someone slipped her an anonymous note or some woman wants to claim her man. Really? Seriously? The BDSM elements rang horribly false and seemed only to be thrown in so that the author could get this book put in that sub-genre.

I figured everything out waaaay too early and there seemed to be more than a little deus ex machina going on.

It’s hard for me to rate this because I was so disappointed. My gut reaction says “1 star” but the writing itself wasn’t that bad. Grammar was decent and there weren’t any noticeable typos. I guess 1.5 stars?

Review: Parasol Protectorate (Books 1-4) by Gail Carriger

The Parasol Protectorate by Gail Carriger is a delightful intertwining of the Regency/Victorian romance and werewolf/vampire romps. It does not take itself seriously and has a pack, pun fully intended, of amusing characters. After the jump you’ll find reviews of the first 4 books. The 5th is scheduled for publication in March 2012.

Review: Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison

Pia is a young half-wyr (were) who had been trained by her deceased mother to always stay aloof from others and to run and hide. Due to a combination of loneliness and slacking off on her mother’s teachings, Pia made the mistake of telling an ex-boyfriend of some of her abilities – that no door is locked to her. The ex-boyfriend later blackmailed her into stealing something from Dragos Cuelebre – the only known dragon in the world as well as the richest, most powerful and ruthless businessman and wyr alive. Dragos immediately goes on a search for his thief, not knowing that she would turn his life upside down.

What can I say? I love a good romance with a strong, dangerous hero. In Dragon Bound, Thea Harrison really delivered! I don’t give a lot of 5 star ratings but this book deserves it.

Dearly, I Wish You’d Departed Already…

What we have here is a story set in the not-too-distant future. The world has gone to hell, the polar ice caps are spreading out and leaving a small ring of habitable land around the equator. The former nations of the world have crumbled, giving rise to a bunch of new tribes/countries/etc.

One of these newly minted nations was begun by the remnants of what was once the good old US of A. And these former Americans, wanting a return to a more civilized era, decide to reach into the past for a time period that would allow them to relive some of their former glory. And the era they decide on is… Victorian.

What?