So Dracula is FREAKING me out. This is a scary book folks GEEZ the simple use of words that are killing me.

The story is told through the diaries of Mina and Jonathon, now Lucy has joined in the fun. It is also told through letters by the Dr. of Crazy people, Art and the Texan that all competed for Lucy's hand. Van Helsing is getting in the action and I have to say I am seriously wigged about a few things.

The first thing that wigged me out was the Jonathon describes Dracula and his hairy palms *shutter*
The second was the ship scene when Dracula is coming over to England from Romania and one by one the crew memebers begin to disappear.
The third time is Reinfield OMG that man is weird.

The writing is wonderful and full of life enough so your imagination can run with it. But not so bogged down with the tree was 5 feet high, green with a slight hint of brown, it's trunk was as thick as an elephants leg and round and rough like *insert roll eyes* that you can't stand reading it.

For those of you who don't know this is my first time reading this and I seriously had to put it away the other night when it was storming I WAS THAT FREAKED! Yikes.

So I've started reading Finding Hope by Katie Reus and I have to say so far so good I like how she is setting this up. It looks like it might be a secret sister that was kidnapped story that is going to lead to a suspense (other than the secret sister part) OMG I'm hooked and work isn't letting me read anything right NOOOOOOOOOO!!! Anywho I'll let you know how it goes.

So I tried to read Unquiet things yesterday and though it started off with a bang I have to say I'm going to put it on hold and go back to re-read Unshapely Things first. I have forgotten what has happened with these characters (its been too long since I've read this series) and well to do it justice I need to refresh the old memory and sweep out the cobwebs.

And seeing how this is the only thing I wrote about it back in 07 (damn has it been that long? NO wonder I don't remember LOL)
This book was fantastic I loved the suspense and action. I can't wait to see where it goes and it took me by surprise. I can't wait until next year for the new book.

Yeah see not helpful at all. Seriously. So another re-read is underway

TITLE: Faery Queen
AUTHOR: Michelle Pillow
COPYRIGHT: 2007
TYPE: Fantasy/Romance
PAGES; 233
SERIES: Yes
1. Unblessed King
2. Faery Queen
3. Stone Queen

REASON FOR READING: Read the first one as a re-read had to see where the series was heading

Summary : {From Goodreads}(NOT SURE WHY IT’S THE SAME SUMMARY BUT THERE YOU GO)
Immortality has a way of changing fate. Merrick, dark elfin King of Valdis, had once been heir to all that was good-happiness and pleasure his domain. Now, trapped as the ruler of mischief, king of necessary evil, he stands on a precipice of choice. On one side, his estranged brother, now ruler of what should have been Merrick's and, on the other, King Lucien of the Damned. Both would sway him. Damnation is winning. Lady Juliana of Bellemare is from a human family, protected by the blessed, coveted by the damned. Betrothed to an old friend of her father's, Juliana is resigned to living out her days close to her childhood home, longing for an adventure, never dreaming she'd get what she wished for. When her fiancée is murdered and the children of Bellemare are stolen, Juliana is sent on a quest in a strange realm where appearances are deceiving. Merrick brings more adventure and passion than any woman could want. Can she withstand the temptations of the unblessed king? The spell she weaves over him is more than he can resist and, desperate to be the one to rule her, Merrick offers her a choice; either come with him until he tires of her.or die.

THOUGHTS/OPINION:
I thought this book took off really well from where we were left in the first. The Earl promise the Faery queen he would be back but he hasn’t come. This makes her heart break b/c she really thought Hugh loved her. Slowly day by day that he doesn’t come she begins to loose her fairy magic and starts to grow darker. This is not good for the Fariy kingdom b/c they live off of pleasant things and happiness. Eventually the Queen grows so upset she makes a pact with Lucien the King of the Damned. And the story goes from there.

I have to admit at first I wanted to strangle Hugh and shake the Queen but eventually as Michelle let the story unfold I realized how great she made these characters b/c I really understood where they were coming from.

Finally we got our HEA with Hugh and the Queen only to discover that Juilianna King Merrick’s bride and Hugh’s sister has turned herself to stone. CRAP. So the story continues with Merrick get his HEA?

Are you keeping it or passing it on? Keeping it!!!

SCORE: 9 out of 10
*******
100+ Book Challenge

54 / 100 books. 54% done!

2nd in a series Challenge

6 / 12 books. 50% done!

TITLE: King of the Unblessed
AUTHOR: Michelle Pillow
COPYRIGHT: 2006
TYPE: Fantasy/Romance
PAGES; 268
SERIES: Yes

REASON FOR READING: This was my re-read for the month!

Summary : {From Goodreads}
Immortality has a way of changing fate. Merrick, dark elfin King of Valdis, had once been heir to all that was good-happiness and pleasure his domain. Now, trapped as the ruler of mischief, king of necessary evil, he stands on a precipice of choice. On one side, his estranged brother, now ruler of what should have been Merrick's and, on the other, King Lucien of the Damned. Both would sway him. Damnation is winning. Lady Juliana of Bellemare is from a human family, protected by the blessed, coveted by the damned. Betrothed to an old friend of her father's, Juliana is resigned to living out her days close to her childhood home, longing for an adventure, never dreaming she'd get what she wished for. When her fiancée is murdered and the children of Bellemare are stolen, Juliana is sent on a quest in a strange realm where appearances are deceiving. Merrick brings more adventure and passion than any woman could want. Can she withstand the temptations of the unblessed king? The spell she weaves over him is more than he can resist and, desperate to be the one to rule her, Merrick offers her a choice; either come with him until he tires of her.or die.

THOUGHTS/OPINION: in 2008
I liked this book a lot the reason it doesn't get five stars is simply the price I can't afford to buy it and the series it is creating. That being said I loved the story line. Merrick is the King of the Unblessed and becomes interested in a mortal woman. So interested he brings her into the Otherworld on an adventure that she craves. However Lucian King of the Damned is playing his own game with Merrick and Ean the King of the Blessed. Throw in some faries hot mortal men. Sexy Unblessed Men some graphic sex and a not too shabby story and well you get Chapter 1 in the Realm of the Immortals Series. The next is about Hugh one of the brothers of Julianna (The girl the Unblessed King wants) and his story of the Tania the Queen of the Faries. Can't wait to see how that one goes. I also want to see who she pairs the other two brothers with as well as the ever evolving story of Mia and Lucian. (Such a good side story too!) I gave it 4 out of 5 stars in 2008

THOUGHTS/OPINION: in 2009
Okay I really, really like this book. This is definitely a keeper!! I enjoyed reading it so much I re-read it in a day. Now granted there aren't a lot of pages but still! And this time I really enjoyed learning more about the characters. I saw more of the game playing and how it was working in Merrick's favor. I really enjoyed watching Juilianna come to the realization that Merrick wasn't all that evil and that he did care for her. I wanted to shake them both off and on for being so dense but then I wanted to cry when they realized their mistakes. Very GOOD!!!

Are you keeping it or passing it on? Keeping it!!! Still

SCORE: 8 out of 10


RE -READ Challenge

Some of you may or maynot know this quirk that I possess but usually I can't read an author back to back to back it makes me burned out. Recently however, this hasn't been true. For example I read a lot and I mean A LOT of the Harry Dresdan books back to back and had no problem with them. Nalini Singh's psy books are the same way.
And recently Michelle Pillows Realm of the Immortals books are the latest obession. For example I just finished my re-read King of the Unblessed, then moved on to book 2 The Fairy Queen and I am seriously hoping to finish The Stone Queen this weekend. WHY?

B/c they are just that good. They are so good I wan to read them and know what happens to the characters OMG I have to know if Thomas is going to find anyone will William become a wizard and what of Hugh and his Queen. and let us not forget about Julianna? She turned herself to stone WHY? I mean come on people what happened that she needed to do that?

Anyway you get the point. Luckily this was exactly what I needed to get over my reading funk. Now I'm going to work on I Spy Something Bloody by Josh Lanyon YEAH!!!

TITLE: One Scream Away
AUTHOR: Kate Brady
COPYRIGHT: 2009
TYPE: Suspense/Romance
PAGES; 464
SERIES: Yes strangely enough this is.

REASON FOR READING: Reading Romance sent me the Arc.

Summary : {From Goodreads}
Killer Chevy Bankes is a master of disguise, and just paroled, he's coming after the woman who sent him to jail, the beautiful antiques expert Beth Denison. A set of antique dolls brings Beth into his sight, and inspire Chevy's disturbing crimes as he draws closer to Beth and her young daughter. Chevy sends the dolls to Beth one-by-one and she soon realizes that these antiques carry the same marks as his victims, signaling that the final piece in his collection will be for her.

Neil Sheridan gave up his FBI shield five years ago, but his best friend Rick, a cop, pulls him in as a consultant on a case involving a serial killer who is eerily similar to a murderer Neil encountered in the past. The investigation leads Neil to Beth's doorstep, and he is certain she isn't telling him the truth. Neil is the only one who can get through Beth's defenses and, as they grow closer, discover the secrets that Beth is hiding about her fateful night with Chevy.

THOUGHTS/OPINION:
First off I'm not a HUGE suspense/thriller romance reader. I like them every once in a while and when I feel like it a good one really hits the spot. This one didn't work for me. A lot of it was the characters. I know a lot of people will find the contradiction refreshing but I didn't. I felt that the heroine was SUPER weak one moment and than TOO tough the next. I understand that she had been through a lot of horrible crap and nightmares ect. are par for course but one moment she is ready to blow his head off, while the next she is shaking so bad simply being reminded of his name...

Another thing I didn't care for was how fast the hero came in and took over the heroine's life and she was fine with it.

Now that was all the bad things let me talk about the parts I liked:
I enjoyed the villain/bad guy he was well rounded or as rounded as a psycho killer can be. I was actually able to understand his breakdown and why he did what he did. That was very interesting.

All in all I thought the plot with the suspense was handled well, the background story of how the characters came together was also well done and the dolls used was wonderful.

While I didn't care for this book I feel that others might enjoy it based on the plot and tactics used. Even though this book didn't work for me I would pick up another by this author

Are you keeping it or passing it on? Passing on it.

SCORE:4 out of 10
*******
100+ Book Challenge

52 / 100 books. 52% done!

Every had just one of those reading funks where nothing no matter how good the book is, you just don't want to read anymore? Well I think sadly enough I am heading down that slippery slope. *gasp*

How do I know you ask? Well b/c I couldn't finish Scandal It is a great book and I refuse to mark it as a DNF but I just can't finish it. NOT b/c of the book just b/c I'm bored with reading. Then throw in Keeping it real and I'm in the same boat. Same with Bitten by Kelly Armstrong and my re-read. OMG what am I going to do?

Well I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to force myself to finish some books and write some reviews. It's about time I did anyway. So here's the goal! I'm giving myself until the end of next week to finish all the above listed books or they become DNF *sob* so I'd better get on it.

What do you do when you find yourself in a reading funk? Do you trudge on through or do you put it on hold?

OMG I am finally doing a re-read Lord talk about taking a couple of months off from the reading. Let's see King of the Unblessed is my re-read by Michelle Pillow. So far it is good I didn't remember parts of it but now that I am reading they make sense.

You know what I mean like one moment you remember the end but you don't understand how you got there? Or you remember the killer but not the clues on how to catch him.

Anywho that's where I'm at. Like I know who killed the fiance but now I am actually seeing the clues I missed first time around. Merrick is still sexy and I am seeing how much he cares for his lady by the simple gestures he does for her early on. It is so sweet!

Okay again only just started my re-read but still a nice one.