IN THE MAIL: KITTY'S BIG TROUBLE & FORGIVE MY FINS

This is what Mr. Mailman brought me:

Thank you to the wonderful people at Gollancz Dark Fantasy for hosting a Facebook contest which made it possible for me to win a copy of Kitty's Big Trouble by Carrie Vaughn received.

Kitty's Big Trouble by Carrie Vaughn
Book 9 of the Kitty Norville series

About Kitty's Big Trouble:

Kitty Norville is a werewolf DJ who would rather be creating mixes than disposing of supernatural dangers. In her latest escapade, she delves into history. Her recent encounters with werewolves suffering from post-traumatic battle stress have made her wonder how long the U.S. government has been covertly using werewolves in combat. That suspicion isn't just idle pondering. It leads Kitty down a very risky road on which she crosses path with a vampire hunter named Wyatt Earp and some dangerous undead characters. A mass market original for fans of Kim Harrison and Jim Butcher.

Source: Info in the About Kitty's Big Trouble was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11509410-kitty-s-big-trouble on 21/07/2011.

I would like to thank Bella of Cheezyfeet Books for hosting a contest which made it possible for me to win Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs from the wonderful people at Templar!

Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs
Book 1 of the Fins series

About Forgive My Fins:

Lily Sanderson has a secret, and it’s not that she has a huge crush on gorgeous swimming god Brody Bennett, who makes her heart beat flipper-fast. Unrequited love is hard enough when you’re a normal teenage girl, but when you’re half human, half mermaid like Lily, there’s no such thing as a simple crush.

Lily’s mermaid identity is a secret that can’t get out, since she’s not just any mermaid – she’s a Thalassinian princess. When Lily found out three years ago that her mother was actually a human, she finally realized why she didn’t feel quite at home in Thalassinia, and she’s been living on land and going to Seaview high school ever since, hoping to find where she truly belongs. Sure, land has its problems – like her obnoxious, biker boy neighbor Quince Fletcher – but it has that one major perk – Brody. The problem is, mermaids aren’t really the casual dating type – when they “bond,” it’s for life.

When Lily’s attempt to win Brody’s love leads to a tsunami-sized case of mistaken identity, she is in for a tidal wave of relationship drama, and she finds out, quick as a tailfin flick, that happily-ever-after never sails quite as smoothly as you planned.

Source: Info in the About Forgive My Fins was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6710476-forgive-my-fins on 21/07/2011.

WW28: KITTY AND THE MIDNIGHT HOUR

WW28
A chance to showcase your favourite!

• First you grab our Wicked Wednesday pic.
• Then you grab a book. Turn to page 28. Take the first sentence. And then you post it in your site with a link back to WW28.
• Come back to Cherry Mischievous - WW28 and give us the url of your post (in a comment at a WW28 post) so that other WW28 readers can find your WW28 offering.

WW28 book offering : Kitty And The Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn

Page 28, 1st sentence:

"This is what she lives for - his attention, his adoration."

Our main protagonist is a submissive character, yet manages to achieve some mean feats of heroics :)

About Kitty And The Midnight Hour:

Kitty Norville is a midnight-shift DJ for a Denver radio station?and a werewolf in the closet. Her new late-night advice show for the supernaturally disadvantaged is a raging success, but it?s Kitty who can use some help. With one sexy werewolf-hunter and a few homicidal undead on her tail, Kitty may have bitten off more than she can chew

Source: Info in the About Kitty And The Midnight Hour was taken from http://www.tatteredcover.com/book/9780446616416 on 30/04/2010.

Review: KITTY AND THE MIDNIGHT HOUR

Kitty And The Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn
Book 1 of the Kitty Norville series

Genre: adult urban fantasy

About Kitty And The Midnight Hour:

Kitty Norville is a midnight-shift DJ for a Denver radio station?and a werewolf in the closet. Her new late-night advice show for the supernaturally disadvantaged is a raging success, but it?s Kitty who can use some help. With one sexy werewolf-hunter and a few homicidal undead on her tail, Kitty may have bitten off more than she can chew.

Source: Info in the About Kitty And The Midnight Hour was taken from http://www.tatteredcover.com/book/9780446616416 on 30/04/2010.

My Thoughts:
I picked this book up because there was so many people who recommended the series to me. Secondly, because it is an urban fantasy book. The thing I liked most about the book is the story telling quality. The author has a very compelling "voice". The story though did not have a clear structure. So much so that the entire book felt like it was just an introduction to the world of Kitty Norville. A history lesson. A history lesson told in a compelling way, but history lesson, none the less. The ending therefore didn't so much close the story as start the next book. I didn't get my satisfying ending. And that is one of the reasons that this book got a less than 4 rating even if the author seems to be a talented story teller. Maybe that is why I like Jim Butcher so much because he always delivers a satisfying ending to every book in his series. And another thing about this book is that it broke my heart. I'm not giving out spoilers so will not tell you why... so might not pick this series again until my broken heart has healed...

Story telling quality = 5
Character development = 4
Story itself = 3
Ending = 3
World building = 3.5
Cover art = 3
Pace = 3.5

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 cherries


I would like to thank disney.co.uk for hosting a contest and making it possible for me to win prize(s) received, including this book.

MR. MAILMAN: loads and loads of oh la la!!!

Thank you to disney.co.uk for hosting a contest and making it possible for me to get my greedy hands on loads and loads of oh la la!!!! Couldn't wait to find it in my mail!! *jumping up and down* This wait is worth a Mr. Mailman feature! A kind of "blog meme" started by Juju over at Tales Of Whimsy.

About Mr. Mailman:

Mr. Mailman is a feature Juju decided to try. Periodically when there is a book in route which she is anxiously hoping to find when she gets home to her mailbox - Juju would feature Mr. Mailman.

Mr. Mailman is a hybrid of Waiting on Wednesday by Breaking the Spine and In My Mailbox by the Story Siren. Please feel free to grab the logo and feature your Mr. Mailman request on your site. Please leave a link to your Mr. Mailman request in the comments at Tales Of Whimsy.

Source: Info in the About Mr. Mailman was pinched from Juju's blog, the Tales Of Whimsy, on 04/12/09.

...So sometime soon I am hoping to find in my mailbox these following beauties (fingers crossed):
Halogen Oven

River Marked by Patricia Briggs
Book 6 of the Mercy Thompson series

Archangel's Consort (Guild Hunter) by Nalini Singh:

Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux and her lover, the lethally beautiful archangel Raphael, have returned home to New York only to face an uncompromising new evil…

A vampire has attacked a girls’ school—the assault one of sheer, vicious madness—and it is only the first act. Rampant bloodlust takes vampire after vampire, threatening to make the streets run with blood. Then Raphael himself begins to show signs of an uncontrolled rage, as inexplicable storms darken the city skyline and the earth itself shudders.

The omens are suddenly terrifyingly clear.

An ancient and malevolent immortal is rising. The violent winds whisper her name: Caliane. She has returned to reclaim her son, Raphael. Only one thing stands in her way: Elena, the consort who must be destroyed...

Source: Info in the above synopsis was taken from the author's website at http://www.nalinisingh.com/consort.html on 31/10/10.

Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews
Edge Novels book 2

The Edge lies between worlds, on the border between the Broken, where people shop at Walmart and magic is a fairytale–and the Weird, where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny…

Cerise Mar and her unruly clan are cash poor but land rich, claiming a large swathe of the Mire, the Edge swamplands between the state of Louisiana and the Weird. When her parents vanish, her clan’s long-time rivals are suspect number one.

But all is not as it seems. Two nations of the Weird are waging a cold war fought by feint and espionage, and their conflict is about to spill over into the Edge—and Cerise’s life . William, a changeling soldier who left behind the politics of the Weird, has been forced back into service to track down a rival nation’s spymaster.

When William’s and Cerise’s missions lead them to cross paths, sparks fly—but they’ll have to work together if they want to succeed…and survive.

Source: Info in the above synopsis was taken from the author's website at http://edge.ilona-andrews.com/books/bayou-moon/ on 31/10/10.

Side Jobs (Dresden Files) by Jim Butcher
- A collection of short stories/novellas in the Dresden Files series.

Kitty And The Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn
Book 1 of the Kitty Norville series

About Kitty And The Midnight Hour:

Kitty Norville is a midnight-shift DJ for a Denver radio station?and a werewolf in the closet. Her new late-night advice show for the supernaturally disadvantaged is a raging success, but it?s Kitty who can use some help. With one sexy werewolf-hunter and a few homicidal undead on her tail, Kitty may have bitten off more than she can chew

Source: Info in the About Kitty And The Midnight Hour was taken from http://www.tatteredcover.com/book/9780446616416 on 30/04/2010.

Midnight's Daughter by Karen Chance
Book 1 of the Dorina Basarab Series

Dorina Basarab is a dhampir—half-human, half-vampire. Subject to uncontrollable rages, most dhampirs live very short, very violent lives. So far, Dory has managed to maintain her sanity by unleashing her anger on those demons and vampires who deserve killing.

Now Dory’s vampire father has come back into her life. Her uncle Dracula (yes, the Dracula) infamous even among vampires for his cruelty and murderous ways, has escaped his prison. And her father wants Dory to work with the gorgeous master vampire Louis-Cesare to put him back there.

Vampires and dhampirs are mortal enemies, and Dory prefers to work alone. But Dracula is the only thing on earth that truly scares her, and when Dory has to go up against him, she’ll take all the help she can get…

Source: Info in the above synopsis was taken from the author's website at http://www.karenchance.com/books_md.html on 31/10/10

Stormwalker by Allyson James
Book 1 of the Stormwalker series

Half-Navajo Janet Begay possesses extraordinary power which is tied to the storms that waft across the desert. The only person who can control her when she's caught in the storm's evocative power is Mick, a dark-haired, blue-eyed biker Janet can't seem to touch with her powers. He can wield fire and not get burned, and Janet's never sure where he goes when they're not together.

Together they investigate mysterious disappearances, which Janet fears are tied to her mother's people, the mythical gods from below the earth. They are helped along the way by Coyote and Crow, but these shapeshifting gods have their own agendas.

Source: Info in the above synopsis was taken from the author's website at http://www.allysonjames.com/stormwalker.htmlon 31/10/10.

The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong
Book 3 of the Darkest Powers series

My name is Chloe Saunders. I’m fifteen, and I would love to be normal.

But normal is one thing I’m not.

For one thing, I’m having these feelings for a certain antisocial werewolf and his sweet-tempered brother—who just happens to be a sorcerer—but, between you and me, I’m leaning toward the werewolf.

Not normal.

My friends and I are also on the run from an evil corporation that wants to get rid of us—permanently.

Definitely not normal.

And finally, I’m a genetically altered necromancer who can raise the dead, rotting corpses and all, without even trying.

As far away from normal as it gets.

Source: Info in the above synopsis was taken from the author's website at http://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/the-reckoning/on 31/10/10.

Blackout by Rob Thurman
Book 6 of the Cal Leandros series

About Blackout:

I was alone, and I was lost. I didn’t know where I was; I didn’t know who I was. It doesn’t get more lost than that. Knowing what I knew and not knowing anything else at all, why would I want to be in the darkness where monsters hide?

Because killers hide there, too…

Half-human Cal Leandros has always walked a bloody line between keeping his mortal soul free and clear (sort of) and unleashing the horror of his otherworldly heritage. The one thing that’s always saved him is the memory of his brother, Niko, his friends, and those he loves.

Until now.

Cal wakes up on a beach littered with the recently slaughtered remains of a variety of hideous creatures that were obviously looking for trouble. The fact that he was the one doing the slaughtering doesn’t bother him. The fact that he feels like a natural-born killer doesn’t either. What bothers him is that Cal doesn’t remember Cal anymore…

And he’s not sure he cares.

Source: Info in the About Blackout was taken from the author's website at http://robthurman.net/cal-leandros/blackout/ on 14/09/2010.

Roadkill by Rob Thurman
Book 5 of the Cal Leandros series

About Roadkill:

Niko could have died because of her. I don’t forget things like that…not ever. I wanted a little payback for those she’d cheated in the past. For those she’d cheat in the future. For what she’d allowed to happen to my brother.

For good old fashion revenge.

Once, while half-human Cal Leandros and his brother Niko were working on a case, an ancient gypsy queen gave them a good old-fashioned backstabbing. They barely made it out alive. Now, as their P.I. business teeters on insolvency, guess who shows up with a job?

The gypsy crone wants them to find a stolen coffin. Cal would rather help her into one, but this coffin contains an evil known as the Plague of the World–and it makes the Black Death seem like a fond memory.

But the thief has already left town, so the Leandros brothers are going on the road.

And if they’re very, very lucky, there might even be a return trip…

Source: Info in the About Roadkill was taken from the author's website at http://robthurman.net/cal-leandros/roadkill/ on 14/09/2010.

I would like to thank disney.co.uk for hosting a contest and making it possible for me to win prizes received!

...and Happy Halloween everybody!!!