VENGEANCE MOON by Savannah Jordan

Revenge is a bitch, and Sariah is her biggest competition.

The name is Sariah DuShayne. I’m a real-life monster hell-bent on revenge. Five years ago, Xander Waithorn had the balls to move to my city and start spreading his werewolf virus. The bastard made me and I plan to use my hybrid DNA to change at will and get my revenge.

I should’ve known better than to hunt him on a full moon, but some days my vendetta gets the best of me. Hormones and Were senses raging, I accidentally ravaged some mouthy humans in a back alley. Werecat and personal stalker Stephan Colinford witnessed the entire fiasco and developed the crazy idea he could derail my path of vengeance. Talk about the cat calling the wolf a canine—Stephan has less control over his powers than I do. Then we met at his cage fight, and I couldn’t help surrender my soft curves to his hard body.

Somehow, Stephan thought love would change everything, but he’s wrong. I’ll do whatever it takes to punish Xander and his pack of lap dogs. After Xander’s hell of a werewolf-a-palooza concert, blood and fire will reign. If Death and Hell won’t have me, my only prayer is Stephan will…

Warning: This title contains a hero who can sweep you off your feet, cage sex hot enough to make you sweat and a heroine tough enough to rip your throat out.

If you're looking for a gritty, violent, and sensual urban fantasy book to sink your teeth into, look no further. This is what you need right here! :)

Sariah's a hybrid werewolf with revenge on her mind. She wants to make the bastard who made her into this monster pay, and decides to do it strategically. But by killing his pack off one by one, she also gets into some pretty violent situations with humans--which she calls Pinks.

When you first meet her, Sariah comes across as a hard-as-nails predator with nothing but vengeance on her mind, but she's so much more. As the story moves along, we actually see how generous she is. She has a big heart, and has opened her house up to women in need.

What she didn't know was that someone was watching her every move from the shadows, but he isn't doing it because he wants to attack her. No, Stephan's drawn to Sariah. In spite of her murderous ways. He can see past all that.

Stephan--The Saint--is a tough MMA fighter. He's awesome in the cage and has big dreams of getting to the top of his sport, but getting involved with Sariah not only occupies his mind, soul, and heart but also awakens the Werecat inside him. Not to mention makes him a target for a backstabbing, scheming werewolf who's got plans of his own.

I had a blast with this book! Seriously. Not only did it appeal to my love for the urban fantasy, shifter, and supernatural genres, but it also thrust me into the middle of the MMA world. With cage fights that are so awesomely written I felt like I was watching an actual UFC fight. I got a kick out of all the references, too. Randy Couture, anyone? ;)

The story is told in the first-person POV of Sariah, so we get deep into her world and realise that although she comes across as a total, hardcore bitch, she really is a whole lot more. She cares for girls who end up in a situation similar to hers, and cares deeply for Stephan. We also get insight into Stephan via his pasionate third-person POV--which was cool--and that of the villain. It makes for a very well-rounded story.

I loved it, and the last bit of the book left me breathless because it was non-stop action until the very end. What a great story!

H&UFRC books read: 30/24

Four more days...

This week is a short school week for my daughter. She finishes up on Thursday and doesn't go back until July 18. Which means she'll be home with me during my birthday next month, lol. (She keeps reminding me.)

And this afternoon, after school, we've got our parent-teacher interview. After reading her report card--which was great--I expect everything to go well. :)

She was a little sick over the weekend. Don't know why, but she had a fever most of Saturday. At least she got a chance to recover from it yesterday. I hate it when she's sick. She's a very cute sick girl. As in, she becomes a total darling who listens to everything I say. She's adorable, and I'm super glad that she's okay now.

So, what am I going to do this week? Well, I've decided to make a few name changes to Alex Wales #2, so I'd like to take care of that this morning. I'm reading this very awesome book on my Kindle, and hope to catch up on a little more reading. I also want to get all my notes for the Recast and Sierra Fox series together. I want to refresh my memory with everything, because I'd like to write the next books in each series--Recast #3, Sierra Fox #2--this year.

Insane? I know, but there's plenty of time... right? ;)

I'm heading into a bits-and-pieces week. Cool!

SMOKIN' SEVENTEEN by Janet Evanovich

Break out a cold drink and slap on some sunscreen, because everyone's favourite bounty hunter Stephanie Plum is going to warm up your winter in her next adventure SMOKIN' SEVENTEEN!

Where there's smoke there's fire, and no one knows this better than New Jersey bounty hunter, Stephanie Plum. The bail bonds office has burned to the ground, and bodies are turning up in the empty construction lot. To make matters worse, Stephanie is working out of a motor home she shares with a dancing bear, and Joe Morelli's old world grandmother has declared a vendetta against her. And just when Stephanie decides it might be time to choose between the two men in her life, Morelli and Ranger, a third man from Stephanie's past moves back to Trenton...

The Stephanie Plum series is one of my favourites. It's always a lot of fun, and the latest addition to the series had me laughing as much as the others.

Stephanie's a bond enforcement agent, which is risky business and at the moment--since they don't actually have an office--it's also a little slow. So when someone decides to use the lot where the bail bonds office used to stand as a dumping ground for dead bodies, a new police investigation buzzes around Stephanie. What first appears to be one body, soon turns into more. And before too long, the killer starts to personally address the bodies to Stephanie.

If this isn't bad enough, Stephanie and Lula have to deal with an old man who's convinced he's a vampire, another who can't seem to keep his clothes on, and a dancing bear makes an appearance too. Her love life isn't any better either, she's still caught between Morelli and Ranger. She just can't make up her mind. So when Morelli's crazy grandmother curses her with the vordo she starts to have trouble focusing on anything but 'catching up' with both guys. ;)

Add a motor home serving as their temporary office, Mooner (the owner of the mobile home, who acts as if he's living on another planet), the criminal Nick Alpha who wants to kill Stephanie for what she did to his brother, a woman who's determined to run her over, a man who's very quickly becoming a cooking stalker, and you've got yourself a lot of crazy ingredients thrown into this insane salad of hilarity.

Smokin' Seventeen is another hilarious, awesome Stephanie Plum story. Just when you think her life can't get any more complicated--or bizarre--you get stuck into the latest book and quickly start to realise it can get a lot worse. Which is bad for Steph, but great for the reader.

Poor Stephanie goes through a lot in this book, and one of her biggest problems is the man her mother is trying to fix her up with, lol.

I love this series. Bring on the eighteenth book!

Smokin' Seventeen: Stephanie Plum #17, July 2011, ISBN 9780755384891, Headline Fiction Paperback

M&SRC books read: 16/12

Bad blogger

Yeah, I've been terrible the last few days. :( Time's been slipping away from me so quickly.

Why is there always so much to do? lol

Anyway. Today started out bright and sunny, but before I realised what was happening, the sky filled with dark clouds and a violent wind kicked up. It got seriously cold too. I nearly got blown away when I walked over to pick my daughter up from school. At least we came home right away and have been warm and indoors ever since. Cool!

So. I didn't add as many words as I was hoping today, but the total word count has now reached 42,770. I'm ahead of my scheduled daily word counts and am nearing the end. Well, not quite there yet, but I can see it. A lot of crazy stuff still has to happen, though.

I'd like to have this first draft done by the end of this month, but if I go nuts on the word count for the rest of the week, I could finish sooner. Fingers crossed. I've had a few (excellent!) distractions lately.

Well. It's still early, but I'm really tired. Think it's time to get some sleep.

Good night!

SHADY LADY by Ann Aguirre

Whenever Corine Solomon touches an object, she immediately knows its history. But her own future concerns her more and more. Now back in Mexico, she's running her pawnshop and trying to get a handle on her strange new powers, for she might need them. And soon.

Then former ally Kel Ferguson walks through her door. Heavily muscled and tattooed, Kel looks like a convict but calls himself a holy warrior. This time, he carries a warning for Corine: the Montoya cartel is coming for her - but they don't just pack automatic weapons. The Montoyas use warlocks, shamans, voodoo priests - anything to terminate trouble. And Corine has become enemy number one...

This is the third book in the Corine Solomon urban fantasy series. After absolutely loving Blue Diablo and Hell Fire, I couldn't wait to get stuck into it.

Months have gone by since what happened in Kilmer, and Corine is back in Mexico. She's back to enjoying her 'normal' life inside her pawnshop, and now has Shannon with her--a teenager from the ordeal in Kilmer. Together, they're getting along just fine. Well, as fine as Corine likes to tell herself she is. After all, she hasn't heard from Chance and is sort of having an online long-distance-no-strings-attached relationship with Jesse.

All of this changes when Kel Ferguson walks into her shop and saves her from being killed by a hexed object which mysteriously ends up on her doorstep. He's come to keep her safe.

Apparently, his boss--he claims to be a holy warrior--has sent him to take care of Corine because she's in danger, and that entails finding out what kind of hex was put on this object and by who. Of course, they know it's Montoya who wants her dead--a cartel boss from the first book. But what she and Kel uncover turns out to be a lot darker than what they expected, because a dark sorcerer is after Corine and won't rest until she's dead.

Corine is forced into a variety of adventures and doesn't particularly like the answers she's getting. She also manages to catch the attention of a rival cartel boss, Escobar. He's willing to offer her protection and payment if she puts herself in the position of bait and helps eliminate Montoya. But before Escobar agrees to save her, she needs to prove her handler power, and so sets off deep into the jungle of Peru with Kel beside her.

I got a real kick out of seeing Kel back in the story, and was very surprised when we found out who/what he really is. He's a character that stood out for me since the very beginning, and finding out so much more about him, as well as experiencing his interaction with Corine, has only piqued my interest even more. I really hope he returns in future books!

Shady Lady is a very exciting, fast-paced intense ride that once again manages to blend real-life crime cartels and their bloodthirsty ambitions with sorcerers, witchcraft, and magic. The blend took my breath away and had me guessing at every step, because Corine is faced with many hardships, impossible decisions, and even heartbreak. I love the growth and change she goes through with every book, making her stronger and wiser, even more powerful. But with this power, she's also weakened and loses people and things she loves.

Awesome book. Awesome series. And very well written.

This has now become one of my favourite urban fantasy series, and I can't wait for the next one!

Shady Lady: Corine Solomon #3, July 2011, ISBN 9780575093997, Gollancz Paperback

H&UFRC books read: 29/24