On Nursing: A Review of Nighshifted by Cassie Alexander

I bought this book based on the description, and looked at reviews after the fact. They were pretty mixed, and many of them quite critical. So when I started I had some feelings of trepidation, to be sure.

Edie's brother is a drug addict, and she's sick of watching him flirt with overdose and infection. So when she's offered a mysterious nursing job on a floor called Y4, in exchange for a mysterious promise that her brother will become clean, she takes it. Y4 turns out to be where non-human patients are sent--vampires and their servants, werewolves, shapeshifters, zombies, and so forth.   When a patient dies on Edie's watch, having asked her with his last words to find Anna, she's compelled to do just that. Her actions soon put her on trial with the vampires, in a life or death struggle for survival.

The best parts of the book are, without a doubt, those that take place in the hospital. You can tell the author knows nursing, and has just added the supernatural parts in for flavor, and as a result it feels very real. I was drawn into Edie's life and her struggles to fit in and do her job.

Edie's a surprisingly novel sort of heroine. She's kind of a screw up--she makes mistakes that endanger patients and coworkers, she makes questionable personal decisions, she has random unprotected sex...But she has a good heart, too, and she means well, and she's terribly easy to relate to. At every turn, I could easily see myself making the same fatal errors.

Among the secondary characters, we meet a zombie and a shapeshifter--both potential love interests, predictably. But the zombie is really different from your typical UF hero, and I found myself very intrigued by him. He's not at all attractive, for one, with lots of scars. I hope to see more of him as the series progresses.

The biggest problem with the book is that, outside of the hospital the plot mostly drags. It is not nearly as inspired, and the mystery is not something I could force myself to care about.

Overall, this urban fantasy manages to stand out a bit because of the medical aspects and it's oddly appealing heroine. I hope for great things from this series. 4 stars.

On Pregnancy: A Review of Broken by Kelley Armstrong

When I picked this book out of my TBR pile, I remembered only one fact with any clarity: this is the one where Elena is pregnant. And, I'm not going to lie, that was what intrigued me. I really wanted to see how this strong character, so familiar and beloved to me, would cope with impending motherhood.

The meat of the plot, however, deals with Elena unwittingly unleashing the soul of Jack the Ripper from a stolen letter. As a result, she and the gang have a zombie hunt to deal with.

Positive Comments

I really enjoy these characters, and I find that any chance to visit them is a treat. I like the fact that Clay and Elena have clearly grown as a couple. The relationship has continued to mature and develop, as good relationships do in real life. Their willingness to take the risk to try to become parents is evidence of that maturity.

I really appreciated the fact that the core plot was not about the baby. We were blessedly NOT victimized with the mystical pregnancy trope, so common to the fantasy and paranormal romance genre. Instead, it's a relatively normal pregnancy that causes normal conflicts and ends happily. Armstrong could have easily made Elena's baby have the spirit of Jack the Ripper or Satan, or be the werewolf chosen one. Nothing so ridiculous happens here.

Critical Comments

To be honest, I really found the Jack the Ripper plot to be entirely uninteresting. I'm not big on serial killers and old mysteries and so forth. I admit that it made for a few suspenseful moments, but for the most part it just felt like something I had to read through.

Recommendation

Six books in...is it still a great series? Admittedly, I don't think I've enjoyed any of these books as much as I did Bitten. Broken may actually be the weakest in terms of plot. This is partially balanced out by the fact that I really like the primary and secondary characters, and I enjoyed seeing them interact in new ways. So, yes, if you've liked the series up to this point, I suggest you keep reading. 3.5 stars.

On Cat and Bones: A Review of At Graves End by Jeaniene Frost



These days the market is flooded with so many vampire series that no one can possibly keep up with all of them, and frankly, I have no interest in trying to. There is a short list of series I actually think are worthwhile, and The Night Huntress series is on it. It isn't so much because they are unique and original (because they aren't), it's more that they manage to deliver what I want in a vampire book: action, gore, creepiness, a touch of romance, and some vamp politics--in just the right doses and without a lot of filler. At Graves End is book 3 in this series (see my review of book 2 HERE). There may be some book 1 and 2 SPOILERS from here on: you have been warned.

The better part of this book is devoted to a so-called war that has sprung up between two vampire lines: one which Bones is leader of, and one that belongs to an ancient Egyptian princess vampire. It seems like no vampire author can resist making a few historical royalty into vamps. In any case, Cat is currently a full time bad vamp slayer, but she is also Bones' wife. That both makes her a target and makes her partly responsible for taking out the murderous vampire princess.

Positive Comments

When it comes to main characters, Cat and Bones are pretty much everything that I could ask for. Cat is loyal, tough, and smart. Bones is powerful, devoted, and sexy as hell. I like both characters as individuals and I like them as a couple, and to me that's the most important aspect of a book like this.

The cast of secondary and background characters keeps growing, but it still doesn't feel too crowded (I'll admit that it comes close sometimes). For the most part, everyone fills a role and helps the story to feel more complete. I'm intrigued by many of them and eager to learn more about them.

Critical Comments

The plot, while fairly engaging, is not what you would call concise and to the point. In fact, it gets off track quite a bit, especially early on. I'm not saying that there is a lot of filler, because most of the details seem at least somewhat important. It's more a matter of organization, which could have been fixed with a bit of tighter editing.

This book was sufficiently satisfying for my vampire mood. There is a lot to love about it, and while none of The Night Huntress books (so far) have been 5 star read in my opinion, they are still worth a try. 4 stars.

Miscellaneous Mondays: Dinosaurs and Zombies

Terra Nova

I watched the first three episodes of this online. I was curious because the premise is so cheese-filled and outlandish, it rivals even to most contrived dystopian YA novel. For those of you that missed the commercials, it's about people from the year 2149, when the Earth has become overcrowded and polluted, that travel through a rift in time to the age of the dinosaurs in order to start a new colony. Ridiculous? Yes. Delightfully cheesey? Absolutely.

I ended up really enjoying this first episode. We meet Jim and his wife Elisabeth. They have 3 children, and in 2149 families are supposed to be restricted to two. One thing the show did really well was that it established, in very little time, how harsh the conditions of the 2149 world are. You see the family get really excited about and orange that Jim found. And then you see population control come and raid their house, where they find the third child and send Jim to jail as a result. Jumping ahead in the plot, once the family travels through the time rift the show takes a turn from gritty dytopian to bright fantasy world. The thing is, though, even here I can't fault them. The show is very imaginative in it's vision of humans coping in a world dominated by dinosaurs. The show stumbles on it's own "science" a bit, explaining (in awkward dialogue) that this is in fact a separate time stream from the own they were living in, so no worries about those pesky paradoxes.

Episodes 2 and 3 confirmed to me that there are a lot of interesting stories that could be written in this universe. I find the character's likable, the setting and plots interesting, and the overall tone to be good dramatic sci-fi fun. I'm caught up now, so I may be able to watch the shows at the time they air (if I remember) from here on out.

The Secret Circle, Episode 4


This was actually a surprisingly good episode. Cassie wants to use the magic in her family's spell book to help a woman who appears catatonic, in order to get some answers about the fire that killed everyone's parents. I liked seeing Cassie actually take some kind of action, even if the decisions she made were rash. And as I've said before, I like the fantasy element of this show, so having an episode that's more focused on that than anything else was a big plus.

Clothing My Wedding Party...

...has certainly been an adventure. I picked out my dress in July, and it was the third one I tried on. I went in pretty much knowing what I wanted, found the perfect dress, and that was that. So imagine my surprise when it turned out to be about three times as hard to find bridesmaid dresses that I really liked.  It was really important to me that my minions friends have something that they like and feel pretty in. I was well prepared to be flexible, and I told them they could pick whatever they liked as long as they were all the same color. They really wanted to match though, so the search was on to find something that would flatter three very different body types. We finally found this one, and I have to say I'm quite pleased with it. The waist is designed to create a nice hourglass shape. There's some subtle beading on the bodice and underskirt that compliments my dress (which has quite a lot of bead-work).

I still have to find something for my junior bridesmaid, who will be 9 at the time of the wedding. I have no idea what a 9 year old would feel comfortable in, so that will be interesting. Plus we have to figure out what the guys are wearing, but boys have it easier, right?

Weekly Poll Results: Your Favorite Classic Monster

Zombies prevailed over all contenders with 21% of the votes! I was pretty surprised by this, because I was so sure it would be vampires or werewolves. But not even close! Ghosts came in second place by only one vote! Apparently you guys like dead things.

I think my favorite zombie book would have to be one of the early Anita Blake books, most likely The Laughing Corpse. I don't really have a favorite zombie movie. Possibly Shaun of the Dead, but I've only seen it once. Anybody have good recommendations for zombie books or movies? Share!

Finally, don't forget to participate in the new weekly poll: What influences your reading choices? Happy Reading!

Miscellaneous Monday: Teens, Monsters, and Teen Monsters

Miscellaneous Monday is my new weekly post in which I will talk about things that I'm doing or am interested in that are not related to books, or in many cases, are only vaguely related to books. I'm going to keep it as a journal throughout the week and post on Monday mornings. I'll try to stay organized, but it may get a bit "rambley", so feel free to read, reply, or ignore at your heart's content.

Welcome Home, Ghoulia

First up, I want to mention Ghoulia Yelps--the Monster High doll I received as a present from my fiance. I'm not sure how long Monster High has been around, but I just noticed them a few months ago and instantly thought they were adorable. And your never too old for toys, right? Ghoulia is a zombie, and is currently my one and only doll. I display her proudly.

I've been to MonsterHigh.com, which has games and character bios and that sort of think. I recommend watching the webseries, if you're at all inclined to watch cartoons. There are a lot of episodes, but they're only about 2 minutes long each. A few of them are actually quite clever.

There are also Monster High novels. I'm considering ordering the first one just to give it a try. From the description I think they're meant for preteens/young teens, so it would be outside my usual genre.

The Secret Circle

Out of curiosity, I watched the pilot of The Secret Circle. This new show is based on the book series by L.J. Smith. I have no intention of reading the books at this time. I read her Vampire Diaries books before the show first aired, and to be honest, did not care for her writing style. I also never got around to watching the show, though I intend to.

Anyway, for a pilot, I thought this was a pretty good episode. We meet Cassie, our main character, who is honestly a bit bland. We establish that magic is real (and can be kind of pretty--aw, floating water drops). We meet the other two corners of the love triangle (or possibly square, not sure yet)--Diana and Adam. And there's a whole host of shady characters and villains. This includes Faye who, so help me God, I wanted to drop a rock on. The actress's performance is so over the top, I kept thinking it would be more efficient to have her wear an "I'm An Evil Bitch" T-shirt. But it's the first episode, so I'll cut them all some slack for being new to the parts. It's probably too early to say whether the show is going to be hit or miss for me, but I will say that I'm inclined to like it.

Most girls go through a witch phase. For me, it was Charmed, and to some extent Harry Potter. I know there are lots of books and movies about witches that are geared toward teens. Point is--there is always a market for this kind of show.

Supernatural Season Seven

I'm a huge fan of the Supernatural TV show. Never heard of it? Here, have a link! Seriously, I don't watch much TV--there are maybe two or three shows that I actively follow. This is one of them. It's urban fantasy at it's core, with the entire show based on the idea that urban legends and myths are real--and generally unfriendly.

Incidentally, there are Supernatural novels, but I gently caution against reading them--unless you're a huge fan of the show and a very patient reader.

Anyway, Friday's season seven premier was interesting in that it put our heroes in kind of a helpless position where the "monster" is a close friend who they really don't want to have to kill. After six seasons, we're starting to see some repetition in theme and character development. So it wasn't the best episode, and it wasn't the worst.