Books: Iron Kissed ~ Patricia Briggs

Title:Iron Kissed
Author: Patricia Briggs
Series: Mercy Thompson Series book #3
Publisher: ACE Books
Publishing date: January 2007
Number of pages: 292 p.
Language: English, Dutch a.o.
Age Category: Adult
Other Books In This Series (currently):
Moon Called #1
Blood Bound #2
Bone Crossed #4
Silver Borne #5
Rivermarked #6
Frost Burned #7
Night Broken #8
Fire Touched #9
Silence Fallen #10
Storm Cursed #11
Smoke Bitten #12

About Iron Kissed

Mechanic Mercy Thompson can shift her shape - but not her loyalty. When her former boss and mentor is arrested for murder and left to rot behind bars by his own kind, it's up to Mercy to clear his name, whether he wants her to or not.

My thoughts on Iron Kissed

The longer I think about this book, the more dissappointing it actually was. Don't get me wrong, I still very much enjoyed it but I have some issues with this one as well. When I saw the title I knew immediately that this would be about the fae, and I got really excited as I have been curious about Zee for a long long time, and would have expected that we would get his backstory, where he came from.

However as it turns out, the fae are far more secretive than I had expect and so we are still left guessing about the fae and their history. We get a little bit of insight into their world but it feels more like a teaser. We never really dive into deep in the fae history. I could ofcourse pretent that I was not dissapointed but honestly, it was.

Another disappointment was that Stefan was not present, allthough we get an explaination why he is not there, this also felt as a disappointment to me, he is one of my favorite side charaters so it is a pity that we don't get to see him in this story. This story has a large build-up than the other ones, I felt that it was a bit slower.

I enjoy the time we spend in the fae world, the walking stick, and most of all Fideal's true form, that was very impressive and he is now one of my favorite villans. The story itself is very well thought out, and as with every book we get around story, Zee was in the end released from prison, so the mystery got solved.

I liked the bit where Mercy see the ghost of Austin Summers, and the conversation Mercy has with his brother. I thought this was very well done, and thoughing. I don't want to spoil this for everyone so I will leave you with this today, what did you think of this 3rd book in the Mercy Thompson series? Is it your favorite? Or did you have such high expectations of this one as I had? I think my expectations let me down with this one, I will be continueing the series, as I really enjoy Mercy's character, I have no idea what the next book will hold and I am not going to read the synopsis before I will start reading, I am going to go in blind, curious how that will turn out, I will let you know when I have finished it.

Conclusions

My expectations of finding out everything there is about the fae got squashed, which left me a bit dissapointed. This book is centered around the fae world, we get a little peak into the reservation they live in, we get a litlle peak in Zee's history. And we are getting a mystery, a crime to solve. All in all not a bad story, I was just hoping for so much more, this is why the rating will be lower than the previous two, so three stars.

Books: Moon Called ~ Patricia Briggs

Title: Moon Called
Author: Patricia Briggs
Series: Mercy Thompson Series book #1
Publisher: ACE Books
Publishing date: February 2006
Number of pages: 288p.
Language: English, Dutch
Age Category: Adult
Other Books In This Series (currently):
Blood Bound #2
Iron Kissed #3
Bone Crossed #4
Silver Borne #5
Rivermarked #6
Frost Burned #7
Night Broken #8
Fire Touched #9
Silence Fallen #10
Storm Cursed #11
Smoke Bitten #12

Books: Leopard Moon ~ Jeanette Battista

Title: Leopard Moon
Author: Jeanette Battista
Series: Moon series, book #1
Publisher: Self published
Publishing date: 4th March 2012
Number of pages: 206 p.
Language: English  only
Age Category: New Adult
Other Books In This Series: 
Jackal Moon, book #2
Hyena Moon, book #3
Hunter Moon, book #4

On TV: Teen Wolf ~ Season one

About Teen Wolf Season One

What if you get bitten, and don't know what has happened to you. You don't know that you are turning into a werewolf.

Well that is the story of Scott.

And if that wasn't bad enough, try being hunted down by your girlfriends father and his pack of hunters..

Books: Vrolijk Hart ~ Evi Parker

Title: Vrolijk Hart
Author: Evi Parker
Series: Wolfhartserie
Published: 8th, December, 2013
Publisher: Self-published
Kind of story: Short Story
Number of pages: 52 p.
Age category: Adult
Language: Dutch only

About Vrolijk Hart

Joy is a joyous, optimistic woman with a hart of gold. Luuk is moody, cranky and on the edge of losing his self-control. He is dangerous to his environment and the last thing he wants to do is harm Joy.
But will you stay away from Luuk because of his cranky character?
Or when she finds out that he is not human?

My review

Well look at that! A Dutch short story, one that will give you joy. Unlike Bring Her Wolf this short story actually has content. We learn about Joy and her habbits. We meet her peculiar client, Luuk, who happens to be a werewolf.

The story builds up to a great ending too. Hopefully we will get to see a sequel to this short story, I would love to lear more about the characters! It would be even better if Evi could turn this into a full-length book! It definitely got the potential to be much more than just a short story. And I would be the first person to by the book!

It is really great to read a Dutch paranormal romance. Most of the books on the market are translation from English writers, which I don't read in Dutch. The was a nice change from my overstuffed Engelish Kindle shelf. 4 snowflakes for this short story!

Books: Bring Her Wolf ~ Michelle Fox

Title: Bring Her Wolf
Author: Michelle Fox
Kind of story: Short Story, standalone
Publishing date: 8th, December, 2013
Publisher: Self published
Age category: Adult
Number of pages: 30p.
Language: English only

About Bring Her Wolf

Chloe is a wolf with a problem: She can't change and if her wolf doesn't come soon, pack law demands she leave the only home she's ever known.

Then temptation comes calling...hot hunky werewolf, Jackson promises Chloe he'll bring her wolf. He's been pining for her from afar and won't miss a chance to claim Chloe for his own. The bad boy alpha will have Chloe howling before she knows it.

My Review

I have read several short stories last year which were al pretty awesome, but not this one, so if you are expecting something cheery then stop reading right here because now I am going to start my rant!

This short story was just to short for me, strange right, but it lacked any useful content and was a complete waste of my time. Maybe it was a good thing it was so short.

 What bothered me the most was the whole shifting thingy, hey I know how to make you turn, I just have to fuck you! Really? How lame is that? nope definitely not my thing. I was already annoyed at that point. Then Cloe gets almost "raped", well not really but she didn't have much choice in the matter either so yeah it could have been a rape..

My rating

Then she turns kills a rabbit, the end. There is no depth, no story, no interesting characters, overall it just sucked. So 2 snowflakes for this lack of content short story.

Movies: Dark Shadows

Title: Dark Shadows
Year: 2012
Director: Tim Burton
Runtime: 113 min
Release date: 10 May 2012

About Dark Shadows

In the year 1752, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set sail from Liverpool, England to start a new life in America. But even an ocean was not enough to escape the mysterious curse that has plagued their family.

Two decades pass and Barnabas (Johnny Depp) has the world at his feet-or at least the town of Collinsport, Maine. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy...until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green). A witch, in every sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death: turning him into a vampire, and then burying him alive.

Two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb and emerges into the very changed world of 1972. He returns to Collinwood Manor to find that his once-grand estate has fallen into ruin. The dysfunctional remnants of the Collins family have fared little better, each harboring their own dark secrets. Matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer) has called upon live-in psychiatrist, Dr. Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter), to help with her family troubles.
(Source: IMDB)

My review

This is a great movie, in it's own way, it might not be an award winning movie but oh how I love this movie! It's full of Tim Burton weirdness, the kind of weirdness I enjoy. I have been a fan of Tim Burton's work ever since I watched Nightmare Before Christmas, which is probably one of my favorite movies ever! Really if you haven't watched it go get it! But enough about The Nightmare Before Christmas this is the review for Dark Shadows.

Right... Let's get back to that! First thing that I love about this movie is the great music that bring's you to the seventies. Really great choice of music, then there is of course Depp. Johnny is another favorite of mine and in combination with Johnny Depp, its when Depp is at it's best.

This movie is funny, full of the paranormal, vampires, witches, and werewolves are all present, in one way or another. This story is really unique, it's a story about loss, love and revenge. Ok I can only say that this movie is amazing, the scene, the story, the time, the actors. I really love how it all worked out and I don't know, just go watch it! If you liked any of the Tim Burton movies, you will surely love this one!

Movie Trailer:

Books: Before The Moon Rises ~ Catherine Bybee

Title: Before The Moon Rises
Author: Catherine Bybee
Series: Ritter Werewolves #1
Publisher: Self-published
Publishing date: 22 Maart 2012
Number of pages: 86 p.
Agecategory: Adult
Language: English only
Other books in this series: Embracing the werewolves (book 2)

About Before The Moon Rises

After a twelve-hour shift in a busy emergency room, Janet O’Brien is beat. Her last patient arrives unconscious and naked. She’s lead to believe he’s a psyche patient off his meds. However, once he awakens, Janet is charmed by his million-dollar smile and agrees to give him a ride home.

Werewolf, Max Ritter notices the sassy nurse when he wakes after a night under the full moon. Unfortunately, his arrival is drawn to Janet as well. In order to keep her out of harm's way, he opts to keep her close. When the chemistry between them sparks, Max discovers a completely new reason to keep Janet safe.

My review

I filthy rich wolf, a witty nurse and a the big bad wolf.

This sums up this pretty little novella pretty well. It is lighthearted with not many surprises, but still very enjoyable if you need you were fix. It is a quick read, there were some medical terms thought that I didn't quiet understood (maybe because I am more familiar with the dutch terms). I figured that the author might have been a nurse, or did some research on the topic. I was cool though I liked it, gave it a bit of a realistic edge.

My rating

I really enjoyed this, I needed a good shifters story and I got it.   ( I am keeping it short today :) ) Only thing about this book is that I have trouble remembering the title for some reason. The cover is ok, nothing special but will catch your eye if you are looking for were's.

Books: Soul Sisters ~ Janiera Eldridge

Titel: Soul sisters
Series: Soul Sisters #1
Author: Janiera Eldridge
Published in: 23rd, May, 2012
Publisher: Self-Published
Language: English only
Number of pages: 136 p.
Age category: New adult
Other books in this series:
Dark expectations #2

About Soul Sisters

Soul Sisters is an urban fantasy novel about African-American twin sisters Ani and Dana who have a rather unique secret: one sister is human while the other is a vampire. While the sisters have lived peacefully with each other for many years one fateful night will change both their lives forever. When a drunken man tries to attack Dana (the human sister) Ani (the vampire sister) protects her sister with all of her ferocious power.

However, when the vampire’s leader Donovan finds out about the public display he calls for the sisters to be assassinated for disobedience. Ani and Dana now are in for the fight of their lives to protect each other as well as the lives of their dedicated friends who have joined them on their mission for survival. If Dana and Ani can make it through this time of uncertainty, Ani can take her new place as vampire queen. Soul Sisters is expected to be a trilogy; The book also features a multicultural cast of characters that brings a new edge of chic to the vampire world.

My opinion

Well lets start with the uniqueness of this book, because it really is a unique and refreshing new vampire story. Not only  the fact that the main characters are African American, which I haven't seen before, well yeah I believe Twilight has some multi-culti characters in the last book, but other than that I can't think of any. (This was not a Twilight comparison just a statement, lol) But also the fact that vampires are not made by biting the victim and giving them vampire blood, which is the usual approach. This brand of vampires is made from part of the human soul of the twin sisters. However, the details of the process were a little vague, but maybe we will get to see how it works in the next book. Bind the two together and you have one unique vampire story.

I liked most of the characters, especially Christian (and his choice of music The black Keys, oh yeah). He's a werewolf which are the natural enemies of vampires, but he fell in love with Diego's sister, who got decapitated for this "crime". Diego and Christian stayed friends.

The character I liked the least was Dana, I found here to be very shallow, also I would have like to see her freak out or something with all that is happening around her, she shows little emotions apart from wanting to barf. All that Dana is lacking, Ani has plenty of.

Ani was great vicious, with a temper, but also pretty smart which is something I like about her. I love Diego and Ani together they are a great couple even though we don't yet know much about their past (the same goes for Christian and Marcel which we don't know much about either).

What I would have liked to see was more glimpses of the characters background, to get a better understanding of where they are coming from. We now only gotten bits and pieces of Dana's past. Also this book left me with to many questions that I would have liked to be answered throughout the book, instead questions stayed even when I finished it. 

Then the ending, which was not what I had expected, and thinking back, I was actually a bit disappointed. I was expecting a fight, and didn't get one. For me it didn't add up because the characters described Donovan as an almost unbeatable force of nature. Instead they found a wrinkle old shell, which sounded nothing like Dana described him when she encountered him two weeks before they found him. I don't know what brought on the sudden change.

Rating

So my conclusion, this book could use some more depth, but it has GREAT potential. The characters were enjoyable, the world new and refreshing, which makes this a 3 Skaters Read!!! I am looking forward to reading the next books! Hopefully some of the questions I have get answered!

Music

Black Keys ~ Gold On The Ceiling

The Black Eyed Peas ~ My Humps