Love it? Bad boys in ‘Mortal Temptations’ January 27, 2009
Posted by Diana McCabe in Reviews/summaries.add a comment
I’m not one to judge a book by its cover — but sometimes I’m tempted. These ov
ersized paperbacks seem to be filled with a lot more sex than complicated paranormal plot. I read one of Lora Leigh’s oversized books, “Tempting the Beast,“ and had the same experience. So I guess when I picked up “Mortal Temptations,” by Allyson James (who has a great following on amazon.com), I should’ve known the nookie was gonna get kookie. Her premise starts out intriguing and then takes a Laurell K. Hamilton bent:
Winged hunk winds up in woman’s antiques store. She (Patricia) is a psychic, which never really has anything to do with anything in this story. The dude with the pretty black wings — Nico — is really a deity being punished by the goddess Hera. He and his buddy — Andreas (a snow leopard) — are cursed to be sex slaves to women — to be used and dumped over and over again. This apparently has caused them great pain over the years. (sob)
Patricia and another woman — Rebecca — help the demi-gods track down an artifact that might have an inscription that breaks the curse — so everyone can live happily ever after. Unfortunately, unless you’re into threesomes (there’s a little bit of this in the beginning of the book), the whole funky plot about Hera (READ MORE ABOUT HER HERE) and bad boys, goes thunk for me. It’s the dudes! they are so clueless about the inscription and how to break the curse that I thought maybe they deserved it.
However, these books and authors have a lot of fans so let me know what you think. Write a review in comments!
Love it? Did you get time-travel twist in ‘Warrior of the Highlands’? January 14, 2009
Posted by Diana McCabe in Reviews/summaries.2 comments
I just finished reading Veronica Wolff’s “Warrior of the Highlands,” which has a classic romance storyline: Modern girl gets whooshed back to 17th -century Scotland, girl meets warrior, warrior learns to trust stranger, love ensues amid a battle with an evil clan that betrayed a witch. Why do I fall for these time travel/romance books? This novel snagged me because the hero is based on a real-life Gaelic warrior — Alasdair MacColla. 
Wolff (what a great last name for a paranormal author) weaves parts of his life into the story. She based some story details on parts of David Stevenson’s biography “Highland Warrior: Alasdair MacColla and the Civil Wars.”
But in the end — our warrior dies … because he didn’t listen to his modern-day girlfriend. (Men never learn, eh?) And the heroine (Haley Fitzpatrick) figures out she was sent back in time to save him from death on the battlefield and she can correct this little boo boo. I didn’t get the crucial time-travel twist because I can’t figure out how a painting/witch/Haley save MacColla from his battlefield death. I hate when real history is changed in time-travel books. It’s like when Disney changed the end of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.”
But — who cares what I think, eh? Tell me what you thought. Post a review in comments.
Sookie of ‘True Blood’ snags a Golden Globe January 12, 2009
Posted by Diana McCabe in Entertainment.add a comment
Wow — what a shocker. Anna Paquin wins the Golden Globe for her role as Sookie in HBO’s True Blood. Lots of folks thought her character wasn’t written up as a main character in the TV series. In Charlaine Harris’ Southern vampire series, however, there’s no doubt that Sookie is the star. For more on True Blood and the Golden Globes CLICK HERE!
For a cool Sookie Web site (with red carpet pics and chit chat on the victory smooch) and to hear the LAST BITES podcast about the HBO series and discussion of the books CLICK HERE!
Books due out 1st part of the year January 10, 2009
Posted by Diana McCabe in Book lists.add a comment
Here’s a short list of a few of my fave paranormal authors and release dates for their books! (I can’t wait for Patricia Briggs, Kresley Cole, Shana Abe and Charlaine Harris!!!) Send me some of your favorites at dianachiyo@gmail.com.
01/05/09 Jennifer Rardin: One More Bite
01/06/09 Lynn Viehl: Stay the Night
01/06/09 Allyson James: Mortal Temptations
01/27/09 Carrie Vaughn: Kitty and the Dead Man’s Hand
01/27/09 Kelley Armstrong: Men of the Otherworld
01/27/09 Melissa Mayhue: A Highlander of Her Own
01/27/09 Mark Del Franco: Unfallen Dead
01/29/09 Kresley Cole: Kiss of a Demon King
02/01/09 Rachel Vincent: Pride
02/03/09 Patricia Briggs: Bone Crossed
02/24/09 Carrie Vaughn: Kitty Raises Hell
02/24/09 Kim Harrison: White Witch
03/02/09 Rob Thurman: Death Wish
03/03/09 Alexandra Ivy: Darkness Revealed
03/03/09 Nalini Singh: Angels’ Blood
03/03/09 Chris Green: A Drop of Red
03/03/09 Caitlin Kittredge: Second Skin
03/24/09 Cassandra Clare: City of Glass
03/24/09 Shana Abe: Treasure Keeper
03/31/09 Ilona Andrews: Magic Strikes
04/07/09 Karen Chance: Curse the Dawn
04/28/09 Jocelyn Drake: Day Hunter
05/05/09 Charlaine Harris: Dead and Gone
05/05/09 J.R.Ward: Lover Avenged
05/12/09 Jeri Smith-Ready: Bad to the Bone
05/26/09 Lara Adrian: Ashes of Midnight
05/26/09 Richelle Mead: Succubus Heat
