Original Sin – Allison Brennan (DNF)
- Mass Market Paperback: 464 pages
- List Price: $7.99 US/$10.99 CDN
- Publisher: Ballantine Books (January 26, 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0345511670
- ISBN-13: 978-0345511676
Buy Original Sin at:
Haunted by chilling memories of demonic possession and murder, Moira O’Donnell has spent seven years hunting down her mother, Fiona, whose command of black magic has granted her unprecedented control of the underworld. Now Moira’s global search has led her to a small California town that’s about to become hell on earth.
Tormented by his own terrifying past and driven by powers he can’t explain, ex-seminarian Rafe Cooper joins Moira’s dangerous quest. But Fiona is one devilish step ahead. Hungry for greater power, eternal youth, and stunning beauty, the sorceress is unleashing upon the mortal world the living incarnations of the Seven Deadly Sins.
Together with a demonologist, a tough female sheriff, and a pair of star-crossed teenagers, Moira and Rafe are humanity’s last chance to snatch salvation from the howling jaws of damnation.
This is my first ever DNF (Did Not Finish). From page one, I was so confused that I had to re-read the chapter twice to kinda get a feel for what was happening. I swore a chapter was missing, it was that confusing. I found out later from Abigail at All Things Urban Fantasy that there was a short story in an Anthology before this book came out, back in 2007. That would have helped, but not that much.
After struggling with this book for 4 days, I gave up. I couldn’t get into it, it just didn’t do “it” for me. I wasn’t involved with what was happening and to be honest I couldn’t have cared less, I just couldn’t take it anymore. I honestly can’t tell you what I read, it just didn’t stick. There was no draw and not a single love scene, funny this book is classed as a Paranormal Romance. I don’t think so.
A lot of my fellow reviewers loved this book and after speaking with them, they agreed that it took to about page 90 for the book to gain any momentum. I’m sorry, if at page 20 I am not involved, I will put the book down. I am linking to two reviewers (Abigail and Fiction Vixen) if you’d like to read their reviews of Original Sin for a better idea.
Fiction Vixen gave the book 4/5
Snarkin’ on R-Patz
You all know my favorite topic to snark on is Twilight. From sparkles to the poor mimic attempts of Edward Scissor-hands, I just can’t hold myself back. Last night whilst being snarky on Twitter, I saw a flurry of Tweets about Details Magazine & R-Patz. Being all things Anti-Twilight, I didn’t look…but this morning I came across them in my online travels and HAD to post about them.
Let’s start with the cover. Hmm. Not too bad, though someone must provide this boy with a razor. The weak attempt at a beard/goatee isn’t doing it for me. He just looks well, like a bum playing dress up.
Moving right along, we come to this lovely photo.
Excuse me while I full on cackle, because I can’t help myself. From the chest hair, to the dirty pervert look in his eyes, it’s FABULOUS. Let’s say this all together: P-H-O-T-O-S-H-O-P. Say it will me, because it’s way obvious here and I couldn’t work photoshop if my life depended on it!
I don’t even know where to begin with this one. You know what, I’m not even touching this one. It’s just that terrible, the fur, the clothing & those spats. R-Patz cannot rock the spats.
I am not going to deny it my friends, this is HOT. See how much better this boy looks with a shower & a shave (and a blur). Model more than likely wouldn’t have wanted anywhere near R-Patz who admits he’s not the cleanest of clean. Either way, HOT. Those lips.
And then we come to this.
I lied, I can add strategically placed stars to cover nips. That’s all my talent right there people! I admit it, this truly one of the best pictures of R-Patz ever taken. I wouldn’t kick him outta the tub, nope I wouldn’t. I can’t snark on this at all. It’s just that hot. The photographer deserves mad kudos for turning this Pixie’s face into one of awe.
So yes, R-Patz can look really dirty and real hot..but really, I don’t wake up being cute neither do any of us. So I may have a little love left for R-Patz and I have the bathroom floor to thank for that. Read the article too, it’s umm interesting.
Bloody Valentine Winners
I have to say, this is the best contest I have ever run in terms of comments. You all made me laugh and cringe, and from now on I think I will be changing the way I run contests thanks to you! But you want to know if you won right? Well a special thanks goes to Dakota Cassidy for helping me judge the winners and for throwing in a THIRD prize! Now on with the show. The winners of the Worst Valentine or Date Story:
1st Place (2 Bags of Vampire Coffee & 4 Vampire Chocolates of their choice) goes to Qwill who said:
My absolute worst Valentine’s Day ever occured in 2004. It was the day my DH passed away. BUT it’s a great day to remember him. (Did I mention I am not overfond of Valentine’s Day.)
2nd Place (1 bag of Vampire Coffee & 2 Vampire Chocolates of their choice) goes to Jason who said:
Worst valentines- I’ve been with my partner for over 6 years now but on our first valentines day together, we came home from work and were planning to go out to dinner together. He checked the mail on the way in and found a card addressed to him. It was from his ex-girlfriend (he is bi) telling him that he had a child (2 months old) and they needed to talk. He freaked and needed time alone to think so I spent valentines day alone and worried that I was losing him. It all worked out and now we help raise his daughter.
3rd Place (A copy of Dakota Cassidy’s Accidentally Demonic or Kiss & Hell) goes to Liz (who damn near made me pee myself) who said:
Worst date ever? Go pee first, then read. Trust me.
So, this guy who was in my circle of friends asked me out after my divorce. I thought, hey, this will be a great way to get back into the dating game with someone I was already comfortable around. Apparently he was too comfortable around me b/c at dinner he proceeded to drink beer after beer after beer. Okay, no problem. The movie theater was within walking distance and he kept getting funnier so… First big mistake.
We arrive at the quaint little theater in this rejuvenated area of town that still served beer and pizza in the theater. My date proceeded to order a pitcher for himself. Then he turns to me and leers. “I heard this movie was sexy as hell.” I should have paid more attention to what we were going to see. Second big mistake.
So about halfway through “Sin City” my date passes out.
As the credits roll, I begin beating my date to try and wake him up. The lights come on and he finally stumbles out of his seat. I start walking towards the exit when I hear water hitting the floor. Thinking he’s spilled the rest of his pitcher, I turn around to find my date peeing across five rows of seats. I’m so stunned I can only stare and marvel at his coolness.
There’s no point counting the mistakes anymore because the hits just keep coming…
The manager of the theater walks into the theater, and I literally had to throw myself at him to distract him from the urinary festival. My date finally notices I’m about to leave with someone else and stumbles up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and slurring, “Let’s go for a walk, baby.”
Trying to sober him up, we walk up and down the shopping center promenade where several bistros have tables setup outside and people are bustling about. I keep getting these odd looks, but I figure it’s due to my drunken date stumbling around. He turns to me and again with the leer. “It’s getting chilly outside, isn’t it?”
I figure he’s still so drunk he thinks I’m gonna let him put his arm around me, so I shake my head in wonder. That’s when he wiggles his hips to get his point across. Yup. His itty bits are dangling out of his pants, now doing its own drunken dance to the jerking of his hips. At this point, my ex is starting to look good to me again.
I decide I’m going to steal his truck and drive myself home and leave his ass where it wiggles, so I start to stalk off toward the parking lot-which I have to pass through an alley to reach. My date thinks I’m eager to get him alone and proceeds to tell me in graphic detail all of the sexual things he’d like to do to me later as he tries to keep up with me. Of course, now I realize that all of his sexual “creativity” is born from scenes in the movie he’d apparently let seep into his subconscious while he was passed out. Yay me.
It’s been four years and I STILL haven’t set foot in that theater again yet I do run into my “date” every time all of our friends get together. He swears he has no memory of the evening. Lucky bastard.
Qwill, Jason & Liz please email me at: wickedlilpixie(AT)hotmail(DOT)com to give me your snail mail addy’s as well as your choices!
Thank you all for commenting, it’s nice to know we ALL have had a crappy date or not had one at all on Valentine’s Day.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Elizabeth & Anna’s Big Adventure – Jeanne Stein (Short Story)
- Paperback: 320 pages
- List Price: $7.99 US/$9.99 CDN
- Publisher: DAW; Original edition (February 2, 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0756406145
- ISBN-13: 978-0756406141
Buy A Girls Guide To Guns & Monsters at:
Thirteen urban and paranormal tales of strong women, armed with weapons they are not afraid to use, as well as fists and feet of fury, who face monsters and bad guys-and are not above rescuing men in the process.
Elizabeth & Anna’s Big Adventure by Jeanne Stein is a short story (page 81-92) in A Girls Guide To Guns & Monsters. It focuses around Elizabeth (a child) finding out that her “aunt” Anna is a vampire during a home invasion. Elizabeth’s father is works for the District Attorney’s Office and one released convict knocks on the door while Anna is out of the room, Elizabeth lets him in and all hell breaks loose.
I loved that this story is told in the point of view of a child and her discovery that Anna isn’t all that she seems. This is the first Anna story I’ve read and I can’t wait to get my hands on the series after reading this short story!
Check This Out – Voice Promos
Kimi is a Twitter friend of mine and asked if I’d post these for her. These are voice promo’s for books, as opposed to visual book trailers. Let us both know what you think!
Bitter Night – Diana P Francis’s urban fantasy.
Ecstasy Unveiled – Larissa Ione’s paranormal romance.
You can find Kimi here on her site
Anton Strout – Lupercalia (Short Story)
- Paperback: 320 pages
- List Price: $7.99 US/$9.99 CDN
- Publisher: DAW; Original edition (February 2, 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0756406145
- ISBN-13: 978-0756406141
Buy A Girls Guide To Guns & Monsters at:
Thirteen urban and paranormal tales of strong women, armed with weapons they are not afraid to use, as well as fists and feet of fury, who face monsters and bad guys-and are not above rescuing men in the process.
Lupercalia is a short story (page 92-113) by Anton Strout, in the anthology A Girls Guide To Monsters. Mr. Strout doesn’t have a blurb about the book, so I harrassed him to provide me with one on the spot:
Lupercalia is the story of a young NYU student and modern day love gone wrong with a dash of demonic cherub drowning
The young NYU student, Leis, who’s had a ton of relationship issues and sets out to right that wrong and kick some cherub arse. She drags along her roomate Helen and the two set out to confront Cupid. At risk of ruining a short story, lets just do this:
- Leis is a freaky bitch
- Helen is an unlikely heroine
- Cupid’s a pimp
If you are a fan of Anton’s writing, check out Lupercalia for something totally different. Even if you want to smack the crap out of Leis. Anton’s writing is filled with enough action to make you wish this wasn’t a short story but a full length.
WLP Blog Questions
It’s closing on almost a year of this websites existence and I have a few questions I want to ask you readers about my content.
I am going to keep WLP Wants To Know, because I like hearing your responses to the topics. But do you want this once a week, or on a specific date all the time?
I am obviously going to keep doing reviews, but I was wondering again do you want to see these on a specific day or should I just review as I read?
I see a lot of bloggers doing memes, I am not a fan of the meme…especially when I look at my feed reader & there’s 40 blogs all doing the same meme with no actual content other than what books they want, or what they’re reading etc. You can see what I am reading by looking at my sidebar or following me on GoodReads, so I don’t think I need that specific meme but there’s tons…so do I need any?
Speaking of other blogs, they also post book covers when they come out. I’m not a big fan of cover blog posts because most of them lack the actual content of the book and to be honest its a lot of work searching out new covers. Would you like that done here?
As always, the monthly list of releases will always be available on the top on it’s own page “Upcoming Releases”
Authors Interviews will happen when they happen, as will contests.
Is there anything you’d like to see that I don’t do? Or anything I should change? Let me know! Is the format of the blog itself bother you? Anything, just let me know.
But thank you all for following this weird journey with me. I never would have thought people would hang around and care what I had to say.
Moira Rogers Release Party
Go say hi to Bree & Donna aka Moira Rogers over at Bitten By Books! Trust me, you’ll love them.
WLP Wants To Know: Book Trailers
We’ve watched them, we’ve seen them posted on many blogs…but do we like them?
Book Trailers make me giggle. I admit it. I think they are usually extremely cheesy. I have yet to see one that actually did make me want to buy the book, for the most part I was going to buy the book before I knew the trailer was out. Nor has a trailer made me not want to buy a book, though some have came pretty close.
I cannot stop me from cackling whenever I see a particularly bad one. Which to me is most of them, if not 99% of them in my little opinion. It’s come to the point for me, that I won’t even click the link to see it because I know it’ll make me shake my head. One particularly bad one had a theme song, seriously A THEME SONG FOR A BOOK!! WTF was the author/publicist thinking. Nope, I’m so not posting it. LOL sorry guys. The author would hunt me down, I am sure of it.
I am more inclined to buy books based on Reviews, Book Blogs and Book Blurbs. Not some YouTube video that usually doesn’t work for me. I don’t think making a video brings the book to life, that’s why we have imaginations and I’d like to use mine without seeing a video that features someone who ruins the character for me. I have read they barely make an impact on the adult market, sure they may work for teens but not us over 20′s. I have no doubt that, that is true. Like I said, cheese just doesn’t do it for me.
That said, if they don’t work. WHY KEEP MAKING THEM? I don’t understand it, if we aren’t really purchasing based on these videos why spend the money to make them? Who knows, I’m not in marketing so I don’t have the slightest clue as to how much these things cost to do.
So my friends, I ask you…do you like book trailers? why? which one(s) do you like? have you bought a book based solely on a trailer?
Wicked Lil Pixie wants to know.
First Drop of Crimson – Jeaniene Frost
- Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
- List Price: $7.99 US/$10.99 CDN
- Publisher: Avon; Original edition (February 9, 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0061583227
- ISBN-13: 978-0061583223
Buy First Drop of Crimson at:
The night is not safe for mortals. Denise MacGregor knows all too well what lurks in the shadows—her best friend is half-vampire Cat Crawfield—and she has already lost more than the average human could bear. But her family’s past is wrapped in secrets and shrouded in darkness—and a demon shapeshifter has marked Denise as prey. Now her survival depends on an immortal who lusts for a taste of her.
He is Spade, a powerful, mysterious vampire who has walked the earth for centuries and is now duty-bound to protect this endangered, alluring human—even if it means destroying his own kind. Denise may arouse his deepest hungers, but Spade knows he must fight his urge to have her as they face the nightmare together . . .
Because once the first crimson drop falls, they will both be lost.
First Drop of Crimson (the first book in the Night Huntress spin off series) focuses on Denise, Cat’s best-friend that we’ve only had small glimpses of in past novels. Denise has pulled herself away from all contact with vampires, even pulling away from Cat, after loosing her husband Randy in the last vampire war. Suddenly members of Denise’s family start dying of heart attacks, when Denise witnesses a family members last moments she realizes it’s not heart attacks that are killing them off, its a demon. One of her distant relatives reneged on a deal with a demon and he’s out to get her whole family. She must find this relative or risk loosing every single family member left and worse, he’s marked her. Denise doesn’t want to get Cat or Bone’s involved and all she has left is asking Spade for help. Spade realizes, it’s going to be a lot harder than he expected when he tastes that first drop of crimson.
Readers of the Night Huntress series will not be disappointed with First Drop of Crimson, Ms. Frost keeps true to the series but adds new life! This book was action packed from beginning to the very end, with all sorts of twists and turns. Denise is still having panic attacks around vampires due to the vampire war, so you feel her struggle to get past it and grow stronger. There is appearances by old characters like Ian, Bones & Cat among others. So even if there isn’t a Cat & Bones book until 2011, you do get some time with them in First Drop.
If you haven’t ever read a Jeaniene Frost book, you can pick this one up without reading the previous novels. There’s just enough back story that you won’t feel lost if you start from First Drop and you’ll quickly pick up the storyline.
Fans of “Chapter 32″ from Jeaniene Frost’s novel One Foot In The Grave, will get a big laugh out of…Chapter 23. Seriously, chapter 23. I giggled when I saw what chapter I was reading. Well done Ms. Frost, even if it wasn’t intentional! The chemistry between Spade and Denise was intense, and let me tell you…hot hot hot! Cat & Bones have some competition!
Go out and grab a copy on February 9th, trust me. You won’t be able to put it down!
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