Book Review: Succubus on Top by Richelle Mead

Review: Succubus on Top
Series: Georgina Kincaid – Book 2
Author: Richelle Mead
No of Pages: 314
Release Date: 1 January 2008

Georgina Kincaid’s job sucks. Literally.

Love hurts, and no one knows it better than Georgina Kincaid. If she so much as kisses Seth Mortensen, the shy, sexy, incredibly gifted Seattle writer she’s been dating, she’ll drain his life force. Georgina is a succubus – a demon who draws her power from other men’s pleasure. Admittedly, the shapeshifting and immortality perks are terrific, and yes, Georgina did choose to join the ranks of hell centuries ago. But it seems completely unfair that a she-demon whose purpose is seduction can’t get hot and heavy with the one mortal who knows and accepts her for who she is…

It’s not just her personal life that’s in chaos. Doug, Georgina’s co-worker at a local bookstore, has been exhibiting bizarre behaviour, and Georgina suspects that something far more demonic than double espressos is at work. She could use help finding out, but Bastien, an irresistibly charming incubus and her best immortal friend, is preoccupied with corrupting an ultra-conservative talk radio star – and giving Georgina some highly distracting come-hither vibes. Georgina is going to have to work solo on this one – and fast because soon, Doug’s life won’t be the only one on the line…

My Thoughts:

Although I am not quite sold on the romantic storyline yet, the mystery, comedy and friendship dynamic in this story are amazing.

Georgina Kincaid is Seattle’s top succubus. In keeping with her promise to her demon boss she has been corrupting good souls left right and centre, so much so that she has even earned an award. Although the succubus part of her life is going well, the rest is a bit more complicated. She can’t touch her boyfriend for fear of sucking out his life force, her work colleague and close friend Doug is acting strangely, not to mention work in general has been all consuming of late. So when her old friend Bastien the incubus arrives in town Georgina rejoices at the prospect of some old time fun, until she finds out he wants her help too, in seducing a religious zealot.

Georgina provides one comical situation after another in this book. She once again infatuated me with her quirky way of thinking, her sense of loyalty – especially when she gets riled up over the thought of someone messing with one of her humans – and her occasional social awkwardness even though she is supposed to be a master in the art of seduction.

What kind of got me with Succubus on Top was the Seth/Georgina relationship. I don’t understand the point. Sure they’re doing it for love and this may just be my cynicism kicking in, but why voluntarily go through the kind of torture they’re putting themselves through? Sitting in a room playing scrabble when all they really want to do is jump one another’s bones. Seth seems to rein himself in quite a bit better than Georgina does, but then it’s Georgina’s head we’re in so we get her personal torture all laid out for us.

I am a firm believer of sex not equalling love, but taking it out of the equation entirely, when both parties want to do it, why do that to yourselves? Georgina spent most of the book wondering if she really loved Seth, and if she could even feel love anymore. If you’re not that far in yet and there is already a problem that you are having huge difficulty living with, on top of that there is no foreseeable cure. GET OUT NOW.

Why stay and put yourself through that? For love? There will be another and another and most likely being immortal, another one after that.

Perhaps this is why I am continuing this series, I want to see what Georgina does to fix this mess, or if she gives up. Perhaps she thinks loving Seth is a good enough reason not to give up, perhaps I am just too jaded to see the point. The relationship doesn’t work for me though; friends would be fine take the sexual component away completely. But I don’t see the point in self-inflicted torture, considering the fact that she has to sleep with other men constantly to get a power fix.

On to other topics brushed in this book, the addition of Bastien however brief was absolutely marvellous. A succubus and an incubus together, two beings who completely understand each other’s nature makes for a great pairing, especially when they have to go to work together. Bastien was like the egotistical male version of Georgina and together on the page they had me in stitches.

Unfortunately many of the other characters kept to the background in this book, but it was Carter’s – the angel that hangs around with a bunch of demons – presence once again that had me sighing every time he appeared, if however briefly. His contrast to the cast of demons is so touching that it makes his angelic goodness seem all the more amplified, yet he is still so cool which can sometimes be lost in stories like these where demons reign supreme.

Mead swept me up in yet another fantastic book; Succubus on Top has left me wanting more. Although I am conflicted on where I stand with Georgina’s relationship, her world has me entranced and I must read Succubus Dreams as soon as possible.

Also in this series:
Succubus Blues
Succubus Dreams
Succubus Heat
Succubus Shadows
Succubus Revealed

Book Review: Bloodthirsty by Flynn Meaney

Review: Bloodthirsty
Author: Flynn Meaney
No of Pages: 234
Release Date: 5 October 2010

Attention, all girls reading this:

We get it. The message is coming through loud and clear: You think vampires are hot. Your little sister thinks vampires are hot. Your mom thinks vampires are hot. Every single female on the face of the earth thinks vampires are hot. Girls love vampires, and I love girls. Unfortunately, girls don’t seem to love me.

So I’m making a change. For all the guys reading this, say a little prayer to the high school dating gods for me. Here’s hoping that girls think fake vampires are hot, too.

My Thoughts:

Bloodthirsty was a non-stop laugh for me, purely because it was so true.

Finbar is for want of a better word, a loser. He is painfully awkward in social situations, doesn’t have the looks or charm of his twin fraternal brother, Luke, and just to make his life that much worse, he’s allergic to the sun.

Finn was an amazing character for me; he wasn’t a whinger which took some expert writing on Meaney’s part. His plan to turn himself into a vampire to break away from his life time of social ineptness made for one of the funniest books I have read in a long, long time. His ability to laugh at himself through some of the more cringe-worthy experiences with girls was refreshing for me, as usually main characters want us to feel sorry for them and their horrible life.

Finn’s family was also completely hilarious. His dad didn’t play a huge role in the story, but made for some of the funnier moments – especially getting excited that Finn had been in his first fight and wasn’t in the hospital. His germ phobic mother constantly cleaning and leaving him notes to boost his confidence and being sneaky in her ways of finding out what the boys were up to.

Most of all I loved Finn’s brother Luke, he had Finn’s back no matter what, whether it be helping him to enhance his vampire abilities or letting Finn think he was getting away with going to the library instead of exercising, Luke had what Finn thought was everything and still cared. Yet, Finn also understood Luke in the way he was completely hyper and unable to sit still for more than five minutes.

The humour in Bloodthirsty wasn’t nasty in any way; it was just plain funny which was what I loved so much about this book. Meaney was able to poke fun at the characters and make it funny without being malicious. Making fun of the boy’s mother about cleaning without being mean or putting anyone down for being different.

This story walked a fine ledge of hilarity, cringe worthiness and horrific failure; I bow down to Meaney for pulling this off so perfectly. The perfect balance of laugh out loud funny and feeling bad for Finn whilst at the same time occasionally slapping one’s head for his awkwardness was ingenious.

Bloodthirsty worked for me because it is so close to the truth. People are so caught up in the vampire craze (even me) that they will believe close to anything that gets them closer to their fantasy coming true, even if that means a guy whose allergic to the sun and walks around trying to be aloof becomes so popular it nearly gets him staked by fake Buffy’s.

Bloodthirsty was a fun read, I enjoyed every second of the book. Sure it’s silly to think about a guy getting girls because he’s a fake vampire, but Meaney wrote it so incredibly well that everything about it worked and left me with laughing pains.

Book Review: Bloody Jack by L. A. Meyer

Review: Bloody Jack
Series: Bloody Jack – Book 1
Author: L. A. Meyer
No of Pages: 290
Release Date: 1 June 2004

ADVENTURE AND DECEPTION ON THE HIGH SEAS!

Life as a ship’s boy aboard HMS Dolphin is a dream come true for Jacky Faber. Gone are the days of scavenging for food and fighting for survival on the streets of eighteenth-century London. Instead, Jacky is becoming a skilled and daring sailor as the crew hunts murderous pirates on the high seas.

There’s just one problem: Jacky is a girl...

My Thoughts:

Bloody Jack has potential to rival Captain Jack Sparrow, she is that good.

Jacky wasn’t always called Jacky; she was once called Mary, living on the streets of London after That Dark Day when her parents and sister were claimed by the plague. The first part of our story details some of Mary’s adventures on the streets of London, begging, stealing and reading for pennies but when the boy who has been her gangs leader for four years dies she decides it’s time to move on with her life, and pursue her dream of sailing on the water. Because as Jacky says doesn’t matter if you die by hanging or die by drowning, you’re still dead, so she may as well give sailing a go.

I absolutely loved Jacky in every way, her scallywag nature, her adventurous mind and her caring heart. In many situations that most people would have stood back and saved their own necks, Jacky stepped forward and did what was right. Sure Jacky also causes quite a bit of trouble as she gets older, but all of it is good natured and well meaning.

What I loved most about Bloody Jack though – apart from Jacky of course – was the writing. It’s the sort that isn’t overly detailed but one still has the perfect picture of what is going on. The writing flows and reads fairly quickly. I also loved the style of Jacky’s language as she recounted her days in London and on the Dolphin. She literally wrote how she spoke with all of the:

“Methinks meself to bes a proper lady what gets married to some handsome man some day, or so methinks in me dreams and such, I knows I’m not a proper lady, but hopefully someone will takes me good-natured heart and all.”

One would think that may get a little annoying but it was so well done that it only added to the picture being painted. Jacky was no lady, and she never pretended to be, but she did have dreams and those dreams were quite big.

Bloody Jack was also split into five parts which I absolutely loved as well. We weren’t overloaded with plotlines, because Jacky can only do one thing at a time and have one thing on her mind at one time. Five different plotlines weren’t played out through the story but as each part came to a close so that part of the story was over and the next part began. It was marvellous to read because it let me keep track of everything that was going on and fit perfectly with the story.

Add into the masterful writing the plot and you have a perfect piece. Nothing about Jacky’s adventure was ever dull, but you still got time to breathe. Jacky got all the important information across without dumping it on us and still made room for witty remarks and engaging monologue.

I cannot fault Bloody Jack in anyway, the storyline was brilliant, the characters were flawless and Jacky is so loveable that I absolutely cannot wait to revisit her world as soon as possible.

Others in this series:
Curse of the Blue Tattoo
Under the Jolly Roger
In the Belly of the Bloodhound
Mississippi Jack
My Bonny Light Horseman
Rapture of the Deep
The Wake of the Lorei

Book Review: Nice Girls Don't Date Dead Men by Molly Harper

Review: Nice Girls Don’t Date Dead Men
Series: Jane Jameson – Book 2
Author: Molly Harper
No of Pages: 376
Release Date: 25 August 2009

FOREVER A BRIDESMAID, NEVER AN UNDEAD BRIDE

Once a devoted children’s librarian, Jane Jameson now works at a run-down occult bookstore. Once a regular gal, she’s now a vampire. And instead of a bride, she’s an eternal bridesmaid – which leads her to question where exactly her relationship with her irresistible sexy sire, Gabriel, is headed. Mercurial, enigmatic, apparently commitment-phobic vampires are nothing if not hard to read. While Jane is trying to master undead dating, she is also donning the ugliest bridesmaid’s dress in history at her best friend Zeb’s Titanic-themed wedding. Between a freaked-out groom-to-be, his hostile werewolf in-laws, and Zeb’s mother, hell bent on seeing Jane walk the aisle with Zeb, Jane’s got the feeling she’s just rearranging the proverbial deck chairs.

Meanwhile, Half Moon Hollow’s own Black Widow, Jane’s Grandma Ruthie, has met her match in her latest fiancé. He smells like bad cheese and has a suspicious history of dead spouses. But Jane’s bitting her tongue. After all, would a nice girl really think she has a future with a vampire?

My Thoughts:

Nice Girls Don’t Date Dead Men was a hilarious follow up to Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs.

Jane is helping out with Zeb and Jolene’s upcoming wedding preparations, not only does she have to wear the ugliest dress in history to comply with the don’t outshine the bride on her wedding day rule, but she also has to attempt to keep the peace between Jolene’s family and Zeb’s mother.

Jane was once again side-splittingly funny. Her antics in Nice Girls Don’t Date Dead Men were hilarious, from her nail-polish concoctions to her pot-pie hoards. I was a bit disappointed in her when she nearly gave up on the book store though, and loudly expressed my relief when she went back again.

Gabriel was in a way, a disappointment for me. He was a typical male. Solving problems with sex and being all-round distant, he was keeping secrets and being a little rude. Then turning around and telling Jane that he loves her. It was almost like a normal relationship, and in a way it infuriated me because there was no stability in that relationship. I want to read about people that don’t have to worry about whether or not the guy is going to call back, and yet at the same time I’m thanking Harper for writing the romance this way because it shows us that vampires have normal uncertain relationships as well.

Dick once again played a huge part in the way of comic relief, he also provided Jane with a sense of stability in her life through his friendship and I’m glad Jane recognized that instead of taking advantage of it.

Although Jane’s world is full of vampires, werewolves and ghosts who have as normal a dating scene as what the living seem to, her life is still surprisingly normal. Jane goes about her everyday life which really hasn’t changed that much, as she pointed out when she spent a whole night watching DVDs on her couch with no one to talk to. She still has money woes occasionally and family issues with her insanely meddlesome family and absolutely psychotic sister she has a boyfriend who she wants to trust but can’t quite seem to because of his weird absences and of course her friend who is normal most of the time, but sometimes has lapses in judgement like any normal male.

Harper’s writing is consistently good in Nice Girls Don’t Date Dead Men, not only was it absolutely hilarious, but it also flowed and drew one in to the point that you didn’t want to come back out, I want to go and live with Jane her world is so vivid. I want to work in her shop and talk with her and her friends.

Harper turned what could have been a boring or even absurd situation with Zeb’s wedding and turned it into something engaging and witty. I absolutely cannot wait to start Nice Girls Don’t Live Forever.

Also in this series:
Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs
Nice Girls Don't Live Forever
Nice Girls Don't Bite Their Neighbours

Book Review: Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs by Molly Harper

Review: Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs
Series: Jane Jameson – Book 1
Author: Molly Harper
No of Pages: 355
Release Date: 31 March 2009

UNEMPLOYMENT SUCKS

Maybe it was the Shenanigans gift certificate that put her over the edge. When children’s librarian and self-professed nice girl Jane Jameson is fired by her beastly boss and handed twenty-five dollars in potato skins instead of a severance check, she goes on a bender that’s sure to become Half Moon Hollow legend. On her way home, she’s mistaken for a deer, shot and left for dead. And thanks to the mysterious stranger she met while chugging neon-coloured cocktails, she wakes up with a decidedly unladylike thirst for blood.

Jane is now the latest recipient of a gift basket from the Newly Undead Welcoming Committee, and her life-after-lifestyle is taking some getting used to. Her recently deceased favourite aunt is now her ghostly roommate. She has to fake breathing and endure daytime hours to avoid coming out of the coffin to her family. She’s forced to forgo her favourite down-home Southern cooking for bags of O negative. Her relationship with her sexy mercurial vampire sire keeps running hot and cold. And if all that wasn’t enough, it looks like someone in Half Moon Hollow is trying to frame her for a series of vampire murders. What’s a nice undead girl to do?

My Thoughts:

Jane Jameson is probably one of the funniest protagonists I have ever read.

Jane has just been fired from her beloved library, so she does what any despairing bookworm would do – she goes out, gets completely hammered and strikes up a conversation with the guy next to her.

If becoming a vampire isn’t enough within her first few weeks Jane is accused of murdering another vampire by setting him on fire which lands her in deep trouble with the vampire council.

Jane is one of the funniest heroines I have ever read I think, her mannerisms are so relatable (well to me anyway) and she is an all-round genuinely good person. Her biggest issues in her life are trying to keep her mum off her back for living alone and not being married, and of course, overdue library books.

Her antics as a newly turned vampire are hilarious. It’s not often that I find a book that has that new vampire smell, they are always old and powerful and rich. Jane is young, poor and has a tendency to cling to ceilings.

Harpers’ writing is absolutely incredible; everything is completely seamless from Jane’s transition to vampire and keeping a consistent running dialogue in her head full of funny quips and witty observations. Harper wasn’t at all jerky or awkward and amazingly she pulled off being absolutely hilarious and putting Jane in completely ridiculous situations and just carrying on as if the reader isn’t rolling around laughing.

The plethora of secondary characters only complemented the hilarity of the situation. Gabriel the vampire sire whom Jane had a simple – non eternally committing – relationship with, her mother who is the perfect incarnation of many over-bearing, controlling mothers, Zeb the cute best-friend who helps Jane test out her abilities by convincing her to jump off her two storey roof and Dick Cheney (not the real one) put in for purely comedic relief and occasional information was the perfect complement to Jane.

Jane’s story was simple, at first I didn’t know where it was going, how can you make a story out of a new vampire? (I hadn’t read the back of the book at the time) And even with the vampire investigation going on as well as Jane trying to adjust to her best friend occasionally trying to kill her to test out her new abilities nothing was too over the top. You don’t have an incessant need to get to the end to find out whodunit but rather you just enjoy the story each time you delve into its pages. Jane’s story is a journey, not an ending, and even the ending is simple and short lived.

I absolutely loved Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs, it was funny, simple and well written and I can’t wait to get my hands on Nice Girls Don’t Date Dead Men.

Also in this series:
Nice Girls Don't Date Dead Men
Nice Girls Don't Live Forever

Book Review: Breaking Down by Maia Kinney-Petrucha & Stefan Petrucha

Review: Breaking Down
Series: Papercut Slices – Book 2
Author: Maia Kinney-Petrucha & Stefan Petrucha
No of Pages: 64
Release Date: 29 March 2011

Contained within the pages of this ghoulishly groovy graphic novel are the complete, unauthorized PARODIES of...nightlight, too soon, ellipses and breaking down.

Together these tales from the complete nightlight saga...the tragic, yet somewhat sparkly and movie-worthy, epic love story between Bleh-Bleh and Fredward. But unlike other silly love stories such as “Romeo and Juliet” that merely featured humans, this unforgettable, this seemingly never-ending yarn is complicated by the fact that Fredward just happens to be a...

No, not a rainbow rider...a vampire. Of course, things get even more complicated, and somewhat creepy, when Bleh-Bleh and Fredward meet J-Bob, a werewolf...

Can a flighty, fickle, female, a self-absorbed blood-sucker and a hapless, hirsute hunk find true happiness together? Or is that a stupid question?

My Thoughts:

Breaking Down was a quick, entertaining if slightly odd parody.

Breaking Down is narrated by Bleh-Bleh’s father Duck. He gives us an update on what’s been happening over the last few years and we get to see in pictures how the story unfolds.

Bleh-Bleh is quite true to her Twilight counterpart, being exceptionally dull and dim-witted. It is emphasised here in her addiction of sticking her tongue in light-sockets “for a buzz”.

Fredward and J-Bob have equal panel time to Bleh-Bleh in this parody and it is made quite obvious who the authors think Bella should have ended up with.

We also get a cast of evil child stars (including appearances by the Rugrats, Stewie and Chuckie), super-heroes and quite well drawn renditions of the Volturi.

What kept me entertained about Breaking Down was that all of the questionable things from the Twilight Saga were brought up and emphasized, including but not limited to: Jacob’s imprinting on a child, Bella’s ability to chose the cold, dead, scrawny guy over the hot, live, nice guy, and Bella’s inability to realise that Edward was a dangerous killer.


Breaking Down was odd, it was not what I am looking for in a parody, when I think parodies I think Disc World series, a parody of life but not outrageously so, there is still a story in front of the comedy. This was an obvious jab at all the atrocities of Twilight, it was a weekend comic put together by Petrucha and his daughter and it was funny, it was light and it was quick.

I have still yet to find a parody that I enjoy without thinking “well, that’s just stupid and obvious”, but Breaking Down was an entertaining read for those of us that have read the Twilight series and who will be able to pick up on the major jokes but also a lot of the subtle and well hidden ones.

Breaking Down was a light, funny and playful approach to the Twilight saga.

Also in this series:
Harry Potty and the Deathly Boring

Book Review: Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead

Review: Succubus Blues
Series: Georgina Kincaid
Author: Richelle Mead
No of Pages: 343
Release Date: 1 March 2007

Succubus (n.) An alluring, shape-shifting demon who seduces and pleasures mortal men.

Pathetic (adj.) A succubus with great shoes and no social life. See: Georgina Kincaid.

When it comes to jobs in hell, being a succubus seems pretty glamorous. A girl can be anything she wants, the wardrobe is killer, and mortal men will do anything just for a touch. Granted, they often pay with their souls, but why get technical?

But Seattle succubus Georgina Kincaid's life is far less exotic. Her boss is a middle-management demon with a thing for John Cusack movies. Her immortal best friends haven't stopped teasing her about the time she shape-shifted into the Demon Goddess getup complete with whip and wings. And she can't have a decent date without sucking away part of the guy's life. At least there's her day job at a local bookstore--free books; all the white chocolate mochas she can drink; and easy access to bestselling, sexy writer, Seth Mortensen, aka He Whom She Would Give Anything to Touch but Can't.

But dreaming about Seth will have to wait. Something wicked is at work in Seattle's demon underground. And for once, all of her hot charms and drop-dead one-liners won't help because Georgina's about to discover there are some creatures out there that both heaven and hell want to deny...

My Thoughts:

I went into Richelle Mead’s adult series with high expectations. And I wasn’t disappointed.

Georgina Kincaid is a succubus. But she is a good person, which in turn means being a bad succubus. Georgina refuses to feed off what she constitutes a good person which means she only feeds on low lives that have a low moral fibre and are looking to do naughty dirty things with and to people anyway. This wasn’t originally part of Georgina’s job description, but after you have been making men stray for a few millennia, sometimes it’s fun to stir the pot.

But Georgina isn’t all good, she likes to flirt, antagonize her Demon boss and come up with extremely snarky and well placed comments. Georgina is funny, and whilst not being the strongest supernatural in the playground she still knows how to hold her ground, not being limited to a human form.

Seth is one of Georgina’s romantic interests and to be honest he is a little boring, made of good moral fibre and who can’t really hold a conversation with anyone but the characters in his head. But he is also a character who you can’t help but love. When Georgina gets sick, Seth cares for her, all purely because he wants to help her, not get into her pants. As Seth comes out of his shell one discovers a passionate man who is shy but in a very cute way.

Roman is another of Georgina’s romantic interests and he is hot. He is persistent, intelligent and can hold a conversation with Georgina about almost anything. Roman is loveable in a weird way right from the beginning, one can’t help but wonder why he is so adamant about getting on a date with Georgina, but that doesn’t take away from his appeal.

Succubus Blues was extremely clever in its ideas, and its problems. Who would have ever thought a Succubus would refuse to have sex with nice hot men. They have all the tools, the power and the reason. But Georgina refuses to. She won’t taint men who don’t deserve it which makes it extremely hard for her to get close to Seth or Roman, and it’s kind of heart-breaking to watch. Finding someone who cares about you, whom you’re attracted to, and who is a genuinely good guy and you must keep pushing him away. It’s sad.

Mead impressed me with her writing once again, I will be honest and say that it took me quite a while – at least one hundred pages – for it to hold my full attention but once it grabbed me it refused to let go. Mead tantalizes you with snippets of information about Georgina’s past and how she became what she is today and once they take hold as well as the addictive storyline of whodunit you literally cannot put Succubus Blues down.

Succubus Blues is an addictive read once it gets going. It is yet another exhibit of Mead’s fantastic writing and once again she has me salivating for more.

Also in this series:
Succubus On Top
Succubus Dreams
Succubus Heat
Succubus Shadows
Succubus Revealed

Interesting Disclaimers

I just started Sasha's Calling and it has a very interesting disclaimer at the front...

DISCLAIMER: Please do not try any new sexual practice, especially those that might be found in our BDSM/fetish titles without the guidance of an experienced practitioner. Neither Loose Id LLC nor its authors will be responsible for any loss, harm, injury or death from use of the information contained in any of its titles.

hmmm....what on earth have people been doing to make it necessary for that kind of disclaimer...

Book Review: Random Magic by Sasha Soren

Review: Random Magic
Author: Sasha Soren
No of Pages: 397
Release Date: 1 January 2010

When absent-minded Professor Random misplaces the main character from Alice in Wonderland, young Henry Witherspoon must book-jump to fetch Alice before chaos theory kicks in and the world vanishes. Along the way he meets Winnie Flapjack, a wit-cracking doodle witch with nothing to her name but a magic feather and a plan. Such as it is. Henry and Winnie brave the Dark Queen, whatwolves, pirates, Struths, and fluttersmoths, Priscilla and Charybdis, obnoxiously cheerful vampires, Baron Samedi, a nine-dimensional cat, and one perpetually inebriated Muse to rescue Alice and save the world by tea time.

My Thoughts:

I am still actually trying to look for the words to describe Random Magic, other than completely random.

Random Magic follows the story of Henry and Winnie on their search for Alice from the book, Alice in Wonderland. She escaped from the pages of her book into the pages of another.

Henry provided the human eyes to view the story through. Being a smart kid and extremely observant the train of thought we gleaned from being in his perspective made you feel like you were walking along side the pair as they searched.

Winnie was probably my second favourite character in the entire story, and considering how many characters there were, that’s really saying something. Winnie is a doodle-witch the name for a person who practises magic when they have nothing better to do. Winnie is one of those characters that no matter how many times you read the book, you could never really tell what exactly is going through her mind. She is constantly one step ahead and nothing ever seems to really faze her.

Random Magic wasn’t character driven and it didn’t really seem plot driven either. Random Magic reads like a jumbled mind, as things are thought of they are added, some back story here a visit to an ancient castle there all the while trekking on to the final point which was to find where Alice had ended up. I say this and some people will inevitably think “well what’s the point of that then?” and I say to you: The point is to get lost in the story.

I think this is why I loved Random Magic so much, sure at times it was hard to follow, but I got lost in a world that wasn’t structured or even mildly predictable. A world full of vanishing cats, hostile forests, moving chess pieces and evil substitute teachers from hell. None of it made sense and yet it all came together so well. There were cameos from nearly every fairytale I remember reading and characters that really just wouldn’t fit in anywhere else my favourites being the Muses.

The nine muses took form in Random Magic, one of those muses being Callie the writing muse. Callie was no doubt my favourite character and will remain my favourite character because Random Magic not only let me get lost in a world full of random magic, but it also let me get lost within my own imagination once again.

I can say right now that Random Magic will not be for everyone. There are inconsistent time jumps, a few unanswered questions and especially in the beginning it is a little hard to follow but for anyone that really wants to get lost in a story once again and not have any way of knowing how the story ends or what on earth is going to happen in between will absolutely love it.

Book Review: Lucifer's Daughter by Eve Langlais

Review: Lucifer’s Daughter
Series: Lucifer’s Daughter – Book 1
Author: Eve Langlais
No of Pages: 79
Release Date: 9 August 2010

Hi, I’m Muriel, the only white sheep in a sea of black ones, and a virgin to boot. I am determined to wait for love, but my dad, more commonly known as Lucifer, just wants me to stop being an embarrassment. I’m hoping the hunk that I met in my bar will turn out to be the one–just looking at him makes my insides melt like marshmallows over the coals of hell, but trusting is hard when it seems everyone I get close to ends up trying to kill me.

Not only am I dealing with an extreme case of lust, there’s a new threat in hell, one my dad says to ignore. Something easier said than done since it seems everywhere I turn demons are trying to kill me. But I’m okay with that, because one thing I’ve learned being a princess of hell is that sometimes I have to grab a demon by the horns and slap it around a bit.

A rebellion in hell, demon assassins and scorching kisses, could my life get any more interesting?

My Thoughts:
I absolutely loved Lucifer’s Daughter, although the dialogue was hard to get around at times.

Muriel is the virgin daughter of Satan who runs her own bar and has a few special powers under her belt. When three good looking strangers walk in one night, you can just tell trouble isn’t far behind and sure enough those three and especially one in particular worm their way into her life.

Muriel was absolutely hilarious and definitely one of my favourite characters this year. She is sassy, smart and had hell hounds for pets when she was growing up. Muriel also has some powers thanks to being the spawn of Satan, her powers were only lightly brushed over in Lucifer’s Daughter but I love how she has to “charge up” so to speak, by having sex.

Auric I really didn’t like because he refused to tell Muriel anything about himself. He was completely dishonest with her in the beginning and always dodged answering her questions about where he was from. Sure it was obvious why he had to do so towards the end of the story but it still made me dislike him as a character for being so evasive. His hotness factor only partially made up for the lies personally I preferred his werewolf friend.

Although this was a shorter story and Muriel was the main character so many funny characters were also packed into Lucifer’s Daughter which I absolutely loved. Bambi the super-slag was Muriel’s succubus sister, Satan was hilarious as a father and his best friend Death cropped up from time to time to drink at Muriel’s bar and complain about how his son wasn’t very good at the family business.

The only thing that really takes away from Lucifer’s Daughter – aside from Auric's dishonesty – is the dialogue. It was extremely forced and awkward to read almost like a really bad old time sitcom, there wasn’t much that didn’t sound like an overused cliché or just abnormal to say.

Things like when Satan says: “I think I’ll have to go ask my brother, God, if he’s heard anything about this.”

Aside from the dialogue Lucifer’s Daughter had me laughing out loud at the hilarity of the situations Muriel was put in and really had me asking what was so bad about going to hell anyway especially if I can get with Auric’s werewolf friend the way Muriel and Auric got together.

Also in this Series:
Snowballs in Hell

Book Review: Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella

Review: Can You Keep A Secret?
Author: Sophie Kinsella
No of Pages: 374
Release Date: 1 March 2005

Meet Emma Corrigan, a young woman with a huge heart, an irreplaceable spirit and a few little secrets:

Secrets from her boyfriend:
I’ve always thought Connor looks a bit like Ken. As in Barbie and Ken.

Secrets from her mother:
I lost my virginity in the spare bedroom with Danny Nussbaum while mum and dad were downstairs watching Ben-Hur.

Secrets she wouldn’t share with anyone in the world:
I have no idea what NATO stands for. Or even what it is.

Until she spills them all to a handsome stranger on a plane. At least, she thought he was a stranger...Until Emma comes face-to-face with Jack Harper, the company’s exclusive CEO, a man who knows every single humiliating detail about her...

My Thoughts:

I loved this so much! It was such a cute, light, entertaining read.

Can You Keep a Secret follows the story of Emma Corrigan a woman of many secrets. Emma is a marketing assistant who is extremely ditzy and on her first big assignment that could earn her a promotion, she sprays the client with Cola.

On her way home from that meeting she has to catch a plane, Emma isn’t a good flyer. After about three vodka and tonics and a glass of champagne, she racks up the nerve to fly. Things even seem to be looking up when she gets upgraded to first class. Seated next to a handsome man in jeans Emma is attempting to sleep through the flight, until the plane starts going down...Thinking she’s about to die, Emma spills all her secrets to the man sitting next to her, everything.

Jack takes a liking to Emma when he recognises her at the office. He feels that he can talk to her properly without the worry of being buttered up because of who he is. From there the drama ensues, Jack teaches Emma that some secrets are ok to be shared by sharing them in a round-about way. But when someone has all of your secrets, something is bound to go wrong...horribly wrong.

I love Emma, she has the whole in the head dialogue going on which is absolutely hilarious, so not only are her quips to her workmates, roommates and family entertaining, but we also have part of what she’s really thinking to go by as well, which makes it laugh out loud funny.

I also liked Jack as a leading male; he was definitely not what you expect of a founder of a company. He was also quick witted with the comebacks and very good at making things happen on the sly. Even after being left by Emma on a date he managed to be the perfect gentlemen by getting the bus driver to drop her straight at her door, which was so romantic.

What I love about Kinsella’s writing is that for being a light-hearted read, she doesn’t skimp on the details and also fleshes out the other characters, namely, Emma’s roommates Lissy and Jemima.

Lissy is the hard hitting lawyer who is a quiet homebody when she isn’t in court and Jemima is a spoilt brat who wants everything, has everything and is constantly sharing her wisdom of how you have to treat a man to get a ring on your finger.

Kinsella is a master, and definitely the go to girl if ever you need a pick me up on a bad day. Can You Keep a Secret is yet another keeper by her and I am definitely looking forward to what wok of hers I can get my hands on next.

A New Way Of Book Reviewing?

My friend at work sent me this today to give me a laugh because she knows I review books. I thought it might give you guys a laugh too.

 

 Students at a local school were assigned to read 2 books, 'Titanic' and 'My  Life' by Bill Clinton..


One student turned in the following book report,
With the proposition that they were nearly identical stories!

His cool professor gave him an A+ for this report.

Titanic:.... Cost - $29.99
Clinton   :..... Cost - $29.99

Titanic:...... Over 3 hours to read
Clinton   :..... Over 3 hours to read

Titanic:.... The story of Jack and Rose, their forbidden love, and subsequent catastrophe..
Clinton   :... The story of Bill and Monica, their forbidden love, and subsequent catastrophe.

Titanic:.... Jack is a starving artist.
Clinton   :..... Bill is a bullshit artist.

Titanic:..... In one scene, Jack enjoys a good cigar.
Clinton   :.... Ditto for Bill.

Titanic:..... During the ordeal, Rose's dress gets ruined.
Clinton   :..... Ditto for Monica.

Titanic:..... Jack teaches Rose to spit.
Clinton   :... Let's not go there.

Titanic:..... Rose gets to keep her jewelry.
Clinton   :.... Monica' s forced to return her gifts.

Titanic:...... Rose remembers Jack for the rest of her life.
Clinton   :......      Clinton   doesn't remember jack.

Titanic:..... Rose goes down on a vessel full of seamen.
Clinton   :...... Monica.. ooh, let's not go there, either.

Titanic:..... Jack surrenders to an icy death.
Clinton   :..... Bill goes home to Hillary - basically the same thing

Disclaimer: This is not my own work, I don't know where it originated. I don't mind Hillary Clinton.