ReadingFanatic

Title: Saving Sirena
Author: Susan Krinard
Genre: Romance - Paranormal
ISBN: 0-515-12157-6
Pages: 92
Rating: 3/5
Series/Anthology: In the anthology, "Bewitched".

About this book:
Save cat, get witch: When a rescued black cat turns into a beautiful, ever-so-grateful wtich, Jack Danner has his hands full trying to ward off her latest seductive spell.

My thoughts:
Wasn't too bad of a story. It was cute but kind of dull in some spots. Sirena's character wasn't very developed except for her tempting men to bed and using her magic to make them fall in love with her. She wasn't very developed in that way, no personality. It is a short story though and you can't expect too much from a story thats only 92 pages. However, it was cute and something to read.

Amy

Pages read YTD: 15,049

Next book to read: Another story from this anthology book.

Title: Definitely Dead
Author: Charlaine Harris
Genre: Fantasty - Mystery
ISBN: 0-441-01491-7
Pages: 324
Rating: 3/5
Series/Anthology: 6th in the Southern Vampire Mystery Series.

About this book:
Since Louisiana cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse has so few living relatives, she hates to lose one - even her cousin Hadley, undead consort of the vampire Queen of New Orleans. Hadley's left everything she has to Sookie, but claiming that inheritance has a high risk factor. Some people don't want her looking too deeply into Hadley's past, or Hadley's possessions. And they're prepared to do anything in their power to stop her. Whoever it is, their definitely dangerous - and Sookie's life is definitely on the line...

My Thoughts:
I was actually quite surprised at this book. I wasn't thrilled with it. It was just okay. Nothing real exciting to be honest. I kind of felt like it wasn't thought out very well. Like Harris just wanted to put another book out. I mean, I'm not saying that it was utterly boring or anything...but it just didn't have all the humor and excitement behind the storyline like the others. I don't know if that makes sense. I would say that this was probably my least favorite of all of them thus far. Although I still have 2 more books to read in the series.

( Cut for Spoilers.... )

Title: Living Dead In Dallas
Author: Charlaine Harris
Genre: Fantasty/Mystery
ISBN: 0-441-00923-9
Pages: 291
Rating: 3/5
Series/Anthology: Yes, 2nd in the Southern Vampire Mystery series.

About this book:
Cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse is on a streak of bad luck. First, her coworker is murdered and no one seems to care. Then she's face-to-face with a beastly creature that gives her a painful and poisonous lashing. Enter the vampires, who graciously suck the poison from her veins (like they didn't enjoy it).
Point is, they saved her life. So when one of the bloodsuckers asks for a favor, she complies. And soon, Sookie's in Dallas using her telepathic skills to search for a missing vampire. She's supposed to interview certain humans involved. There's just one condition: The vampires must promise to behave - and let the humans go unharmed. Easier said than done. All it takes is one delicious blonde and one small mistake for things to turn deadly...

My thoughts:
Actually, I thought the first book was way better than this one. I was so disappointed cause this one was just so dull. I mean, it was filled with a lot of action and different events that would probably have you sitting on the edge of your seat I guess...but I wasn't thrilled with it. Don't get me wrong...not all of the book was bad. There were some great parts in there that had me wanting to finish reading it but it just wasn't as good as the first. I'm hoping the third book will be better.

Amy

Pages read YTD: 7,750

Title: Lover's Bite
Author: Maggie Shayne
Genre: Romance - Paranormal
ISBN: 0-7783-2518-0
Pages: 392
Rating: 3/5
Series/Anthology? Yes, 2nd in a series. The first is Demon's Kiss

About this book:
Before she joined Reaper in hunting Gregor's gang of rogue bloodsuckers, privileged princess Topaz was gunning for just one vamp: Jack Heart. The gorgeous con man had charmed his way into her bed, her heart, and her bank account, taking her for half a million dollars and vanishing witout a word.
Now she and Jack - maddeningly attractive as ever - are supposedly on the same side. As Reaper's ragtag outfit scatters, Topaz sets out to solve a mystery that's plagued her all her lives, mortal and immortal: what really happened to her movie-star mother, who died when Topaz was just a baby? With four men claiming to be her father, why has she always been alone? And what stake does Jack have in discovering the truth about her past? Topaz is sure he's up to something - but her suspicions are at war with her desires...

My thoughts:
I wasn't thrilled with this book what so ever. I was actually really REALLY disappointed with this Maggie Shayne novel. I liked the first one but this one was so much more boring. It did get better towards the end, like the last 150 pages it started to get good. The whole beginning of the novel is just repeative and it's Topaz and Jack bickering back and forth between the two of each other. And then Topaz trying to find her mother's killer. I don't have much to say about this book though other than what I just did. Hopefully, the next book is way better.

Amy

Pages read YTD: 6,910

Title: Musketeer by Moonlight
Author: Maggie Shayne
Genre: Romance
ISBN: 0-425-16571-X
Pages: 86
Rating: 3/5
Series/Anthology: Yes...Anthology "Moonglow"

About this book:
A lady detective on the run from some dangerous gangsters accidentally invokes a spell of protection...and conjures up a dashing musketeer looking for his damsel in distress!

My thoughts:
This story was okay. I mean, it's a short story in an anthology book so there wasn't a lot of detail but it was still a cute story. I loved the time travel from centuries ago and then the person comes to present time and they don't understand what a car is or a microwave and stuff like that. All that is just funny in itself. I loved the little twist that Mary Catherine, the main character, brought Al, the musketeer, to present time with a spell and didn't even believe in magic to begin with. Very cute story.

Amy

Pages read YTD: 4,464

Title: A Trick of the Light
Author: Tina Wainscott
Genre: Romance
ISBN: 0-312-97403-5
Pages: 339
Rating: 3/5

About this book:
Chloe Samms has always believed in psychic powers, but never dreamed she might have abilities of her own - until a tragic car accident changes her life. During her near-death experience, she is met not by comforting, departed loved ones, but by an unfamiliar woman who begs Chloe to find her kidnapped son.

Chloe awakens determined to find the little boy from her vision. When she meets his father Dylan, a darkly handsome, enigmatic man still reeling from his son's disappearance, the picture grows more complicated. Dylan refues to believe Chloe's crazy story, while she remains convinced that she is the only one who can find the boy before it's too late. With their hearts on the line, and a little boy's life at stake, can Chloe convice a hard-hearted man to believe in miracles?

My thoughts:
This book was only okay. It was hardly anywhere near the best book I've ever read but it wasn't the worst book either. There wasn't too much excitement in the book to keep you really interested in the book. It did have it's parts when the main characters thought that they were getting close to finding the boy and stuff like that. But it just didn't have me too interested. The way I see it, it's just another book that I get to cross off my TBR list and add too my "Read" list and the more pages for this year. ( Spoilers... )

Amy

Pages read YTD: 2,907

EDIT: Book currently reading: The Kindness of Strangers by Katrina Kittle (

Title  Eragon
Author: Christopher Paolini
Genre:  Young Adult Fantasy
ISBN:  0-375-82669-6
Pages:  497
Rating:  3/5 

About this book: 
Fifteen-year-old Eragon believes that he is merely a poor farm boy -- until his destiny as a Dragon Rider is revealed. Gifted with only an ancient sword, a loyal dragon, and sage advice from an old storyteller, Eragon is soon swept into a dangerous tapestry of magic, glory, and power. Now his choices could save -- or destroy -- the Empire.

My thoughts:
I wasn't too impressed with this book but I think maybe it was because I had already seen the movie first and knew what the ending was. However, it was a good story but way too long and too much information in my opinion. If I had to pick over the movie and the book, I'd pick the movie. Which surprises me because the books are always better but I definitely loved the movie way more than that book. I didn't like the characters as much in the book as I did in the movie either. I'm not too sure why I prefer the movie over the book but that's just the way I feel about it I guess.

Amy

Pages read YTD: 17,616

Okay this is going to be a little different than my other reviews because this book has 3 stories in it. I'm going to have the basics about the book...then I'm going to review each story differently.

Title: Sheer Pleasure (3 stories all by Maggie Shayne)
Author: Maggie Shayne
Pages: 295
Genre: Romance

Title: Leather and Lace
Rating: 3.5/5
About this story:

My thoughts:


Title: Awaiting Moonrise
Rating: 3/5
About this story:

My thoughts:


Title: Daydream Believer
Rating:5/5
About this story:

My thoughts:

Title: Love in the Asylum
Author: Lisa Carey
Pages: 290
Rating: 3/5
Genre: Fiction

About this book:
Can love save those who believe they are beyond redemption? In and out of a swank north-eastern rehab centre more than a dozen times in ten years, Alba Elliot, a 25-year-old children's book writer and manic-depressive, believes she is a hopeless case. But an unlikely relationship with Oscar, a 30-year-old drug addict whose 'recreation' has cost him everything, and a century-old story hidden in the institution's library bring about changes that Alba could never have imagined.
Brought together by fate, influenced by forces as beautiful and powerful as they are unforeseen, Alba and Oscar will slowly rise from the ashes of despair and self-destruction and, in the midst of righting an old wrong, begin to heal their battered spirits. A beautifully crafted, heartfelt tale of tragedy and triumph, Lisa Carey's moving third novel is a testament to the surprising resilience of the human heart.

My thoughts:
Okay, my must say that when I started reading this book. I was totally wrong about how much it sucked. I was going to give it a 1 out of 5 rating but I was completely surprised that it turned out to be half way decent. I didn't like the beginning at all. Well, I guess I couldn't say that. I did like the beginning but the chapters that ended up having the letters that Alba found in the library really threw me off. I didn't like that. I felt like I was reading 2 stories at the same time. I kept with it which I'm glad that I did. I liked reading about Alba and Oscar and how they kept wanting to see each other. I understand why the letters that Alba found were so important to the story but I still feel like Carey could have made the story work without them. I think it puts a damper on the whole story. My opinion of course. I did like the ending. I thought that it was very nice and a total twist from what I expected. I hated Carey's writing style at first but it grows on you that's for sure. I'm wondering if she writes all her books without the quotation marks before someone says something. Interesting. I am definitly going to have to reread this book to make sure that I didn't miss anything that was something that I needed to know.

Amy

Next book to read: Icy Sparks by Gwyn Hyman Rubio
Books read YTD: 10
Pages read YTD: 3177

Title: At First Sight
Author: Nicholas Sparks
Pages: 277
Rating: 3/5
Genre: Fiction

About this book:
There are a few things Jeremy Marsh was sure he'd never do: he'd never leave New York City; never give his heart away after barely surviving one failed marriage; and, never become a parent.
Now Jeremy is living in the tiny town of Boone Creek, North Carolina, engaged to Lexie Darnell, the love of his life, and anticipating the start of their family. But just as his life seems to be settling into a blissful pattern, a mysterious and disturbing e-mail sets off a chain of events that will change the course of this young couple's marriage.

How well do we really know the ones we love? How do we handle the inevitable doubts, fears concerning parenthood, and stumbling blocks that are sometimes placed in our way? Continuing the story of the young couple introduced in Sparks's bestselling True Believer, this novel captures all the heartbreak, tension, romance, and surprises of those who are newly wed.

An astonishing tale about the love between a man and a woman and between a parent and a child, At First Sight is about endings that bring new beginnings . . . tragedies that lead to unexpected joy . . . and, most of all, the magic of everlasting love

My thoughts:
Well, I must say that I thought this book was much better than the first one. It was a little boring in the beginning since it was a lot of naritive which I don't usually mind but it was about the same thing over and over again. I absolutly loved the ending although it was horribly sad. I cried of course like I do with most of Sparks books.( Spoilers.... ) Anyways, other than that, I enjoyed the book when it started to get good. I'm glad I decided to read it.

Quotes:
"A man promises to do the things to keep you happy in the hopes that you, too, will do the things that keep him happy." page 163 & 164

Amy

Next on the agenda to read is:
Kissing Doorknobs by Terry Spenger Hesser