BAD MOON RISING

Bad Moon Rising by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Dark Hunter book #26; Were-Hunter book #7

Genre: paranormal romance, urban fantasy

Cherry's Rating: 3.5 out of 5 cherries


My Take On This Book:
This is the story about Fang Kattalakis (wolf katagaria) and Aimee Peltier (bear arcadian).

The old premise in the Dark Hunter/WereHunter world is that different species do not inter-mate. It is a total no, no. Completely un-acceptable. Consequently there is a huge racial discrimination for mixed heritages and mixed couples. So on the outset, one can already see the problem that our protagonists are facing. A bear and a wolf don't mate. It makes an interesting love story.  Not very original though. Anyhow, the story-telling quality is still good. Also nice to hear about background follow-ups to characters and events in previous novels. I always liked that. Nicely links-in this novel with the others. On the whole, I gave this book a 3.5 out of 5.


Cover Art: I thought I was having a deja vu when I saw Born Of Night. Does the two cover arts look the same to you? Or am I just being crossed-eyed?

It seems that Elora's Cave tactics is catching... recycling models :)

Hellchasers: Also in Bad Moon Rising is where I first heard about the Hellchasers. I presume this would be another Dark Hunter off-shoot series just like the WereHunter and the Dream Hunter serieses. Different threads on the same world. I guess it does make a variety. Keeps it from being boring. Or is the Dark Hunter world getting a bit too crowded?

About Bad Moon Rising:

Fang Kattalakis isn't just a wolf. He is the brother of two of the most powerful members of the Omegrion: the ruling council that enforces the laws of the Were-Hunters. And when war erupts among the lycanthropes, sides must be chosen. Enemies are forced into shaky alliances. When Aimee, the woman Fang loves, is accused of betraying her people, her only hope is that Fang believes in her. Yet in order to save her, Fang must break the law of his people and the faith of his brothers. That breech could very well spell the end of both their races and change their world forever. The war is on and time is running out...

Info in About Bad Moon Rising was taken from amazon at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0749909226?ie=UTF8&tag=wwwcherrydece-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0749909226 on 07/10/09.

CRY WOLF

Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs
Book 1 of the brand new Alpha Omega series set in the same world as the Mercy Thompson series.

Genre: urban fantasy

My Take On This Book:
This book follows the short novella titled Alpha And Omega from the anthology On The Prowl. I strongly suggest that you read that short story before reading this book because it will give you a greater appreciation of characters and events. The story-telling quality, as per usual with Patricia Briggs, is 5 out of 5. It's the kind of book where you could lose yourself in the story. I find the plot lines is a bit far fetching though. Theme is not as dark as the short story in On The Prowl. I do not like tortures and rapes. That short story is a bit too dark for me. That is why I borrowed this book from the library instead of buying it because based on the preceeding story, I might not want to waste my money on this book. But it would have been worth the money had I bought it.

Story Gist:

Anna never knew werewolves existed until one night she survived a violent attack...and became one herself. After three years at the bottom of the pack, she's learned to keep her head down and never, ever trust dominant males. But Anne is that rarest kind of werewolf: an Omega. And one of the most powerful werewolves in the country will recognise her value as a pack member...and as his mate.

Story gist taken from amazon at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cry-Wolf-Alpha-Omega-Novel/dp/0441016154/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254235231&sr=1-2

Cherry's Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries

BONE CROSSED

Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs
Book 4 in the Mercy Thompson series

Genre: urban fantasy

Verdict: Getting predictable

Spoilers Alert!!!

I just knew that The Walking Stick will kill James Blackwood! Patricia Briggs is getting predictable. Still a good read. At least better than the last one, this one did not end with a cliffhanger... The story-telling quality is sweeping, a 5 out of 5. So I did enjoy this book. A lot. But this book is not as good as P Briggs's previous work. Over all, I gave this book a 4 out of 5.

Caption at the back cover:

There was I thinking a shifter has its upsides. Looks like I was wrong.

Car mechanic and sometime shapeshifter Mercy thompson has learned - the hard way - why her race was almost exterminated. When European vampires emigrated to North America, they found Mercy's people had a hidden talent for vampire slaying. Unfortunately for Mercy, the queen of the local vampire seethe has discovered her true identity.

The undead queen is also furious when she learns that Mercy has crossed her and killed one of her own. Mercy may be protected from direct reprisals by the werewolf pack (and her interesting relationship with the Alpha), but that just means that Marsilia will come after Mercy some other way. So Mercy had better prepare to watch her back.

Cherry's Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries

WEREMONES

Weremones by Buffi BeCraft-Woodall

Rating: 5 out of 5 cherries


My Review:I was just browsing for something else to read and came across this book. Bought it but was not really expecting it to be very entertaining. There are annoying clerical errors which should have been corrected by the editor but it seems that the editor was not very particular either. However, clerical errors and all, BBW can spin a tale which draws the reader right along for the ride. I have to say this book was surprisingly good. So much so that I went looking for further books by this author. She haven't published much (yet). I stumbled on the NCP website and made the mistake of buying from them. Takes more than two months for delivery! I should have downloaded. This book is that good that a reader can forgive a lot of things and continue looking forward to further offerings from this author.

Synopsis:

With a control freak ex and two teenage kids, Diana has her own problems and no need to borrow anyone else's troubles. She's an Empath, though, and the young wolven Pack that lands in her lap is difficult to ignore or dissuade from their determination to adopt her as den mother. Adam Weis, Pater Canis of the Pack, isn't too keen on the idea of mating at all, and certainly not with a human, psychic or not. The problem is he's having trouble controlling his weremones whenever Diana is around. Rating: Contains violence, adult language, and graphic sexual content.

Excerpt taken from amazon.co.uk at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Weremones-Buffi-Becraft-Woodall/dp/1586088912/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245507484&sr=8-1 on 20/02/08.

Cherry

Buy Link:

IRON KISSED

Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs
Book 3 of the Mercy Thompson series

Genre: Urban Fantasy

About This Book:

"Iron Kissed", the third book in the Mercedes Thompson series focuses more on the fae. The werewolves, of course, as Mercy's family (whether she wants them or not) also have a major role, but the vampires are conspicuous by their absence. The reason for their absence is that the events of Iron Kissed take place in less than a week -- and because I had enough to juggle and the vampire situation Mercy has put herself in is going to require more than a brief appearance will answer.

Like most of my books, this one held a lot of surprizes for me. I had intended for Mercy to choose her man in this book, but I didn't expect it to happen the way it did. I also found out a few things I didn't know about some of the characters. It made me like some of them more and others less. It also made me realize that one of the terrific things about writing a series is the ability to get to know more about the bit players. In a single book, or even a duology, there are only so many pages to develop characters and I have to restrict myself to only a few. A series is not so restrictive.

Source: Info in the About This Book was taken from the author's website at http://www.patriciabriggs.com/books/ironKissed.shtml.

My Review:
This book continues the adventures of Mercedes Thompson "Mercy", a mechanic and a coyote shapeshifter. Here she makes a choice between her two men, er, werewolves, I mean. Battles evil and not so evil forces where friends seems to become enemies and enemies are allies after all.

Mercy's friend, Zee, who is a fae, is arrested by human police for murder. Mercy is trying to help Zee get cleared of the charges and keep him from getting killed by the Gray Lords (fae ruling body) as a sacrifice to keep the fae secrets from the rest of the world.

Still a very good read... but compared to Moon Called and Blood Bound, it is not as good as the previous two. Maybe I was expecting too much... or I was just spoiled by the good quality of the previous books... and also, I did not appreciate the dark turn of the story... but I have to say the story-telling quality is still a masterpiece.

Cherry's Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries


Post Amendment 24/04/2010:
Other reviews on this book:

• http://ecarodiaz.blogspot.com/2010/04/iron-kissed-by-patricia-briggs.html