I've Moved

Moving home

I have over to Wordpress.

Reviews have been all been moved over and can be found HERE.


Will eventually delete this blog.

The Carbon Diaries 2015 by Saci Lloyd

Finished: 30/10/09
Genre: Science Fiction/Young Adult
Rated: B

Opening Sentence: '…Exhausted...'

The Financial Times describes this as "Adrian Mole does the apocalypse." And that is a pretty good summation.

The book is the diary of 16 year old Laura Brown chronicles the events of 2015. By the end of 2014 global warming has become a reality that no one can ignore. The UK becomes the first country to mandate carbon rationing in a drastic bid to try and decrease the effects. For the people of Great Britain this means that everyone will be expected to reduce their carbon consumption by 60%. Each citizen is allocated 200 Carbon Points per month to spend on travel, heat, food, and fun. These points are loaded on a card. In order to use anything, you have to swipe your card. If you have enough points - fine. If not, your oven could shut off in the middle of cooking dinner, or the hot water stop mid shower.

Laura's family situation spirals out of control, as does the rest of the world, and that is what makes this book so scary - it really COULD happen. Food and water become luxury items - and the violent weather can, and does kill. Millions of refugees are on the move looking for a better place to live in a world - only there is no where to escape - and borders are being guarded fiercely. But when the chips are down - and the community is threatened - can everyone pull together to survive.

This would have been an 'A' except there were a couple of occasions when I felt I was being preached at - rather than letting the plot tell the story. I am also not a lover of steam punk.

Agatha Raisin and the Fairies of Fryfam by M. C. Beaton

Finished: 28/10/09
Genre: Mystery
Rated: C

Opening Sentence: '…Agatha Raisin was selling up and leaving Carsely for good..."

After being rejected by her neighbour James, Agatha Raisin gloomily seeks the advice of a fortune teller. She is told her destiny lies in Norfolk - so Agatha sticks a pin in a map and it lands on Fryfam. It must be her destiny as there is a house there to rent. Sight unseen Agatha accepts it, packs up her cats and heads off for a new life.

Once there she is made welcome by three members of the Fryfam's Women's Group, to whom she explains her presence by saying she's writing a crime novel, Death at the Manor. This lie proves to be a bad idea because a rich incomer, Tolly Trumpington-James, is soon murdered at his manor house.

Her friend, Sir Charles Fraith, moves in with her and the two of them start to investigate the locals to discover who wanted the squire dead. Add to this some strange lights flitting around at the bottom of her garden (fairies?), the theft of a heavily insured George Stubbs painting, the brief disappearance of her cats during a break-in, a browbeaten wife, and a second murder all add to the mix. Who would have thought that so much could happen in a tiny off the main road village.

Agatha is a middle aged woman - opinionated and self-centered - and a smoker. But you can't help but like her. She will never beat Hamish McBeath - but is not a bad character to spend an afternoon with.

Vengeance in Death by J.D. Robb

Finished: 28/10/09
Genre: Mystery
Rated: B

Opening Sentence: '…The business of murder took time, patience, skill, and a tolerance for the monotonous..."

Homicide Detective Eve Dallas is finally married to her billionaire true love - Roarke. The honeymoon is barely over when she finds herself matching wits with a very nasty serial killer who has let loose a series of sickening murders involving torment and mutilation. It doesn't take Eve long to realise that all the clues point to Somerset - Roarke's butler and close friend. The murder victims had all assisted Roarke in a quest for vengeance for the murder of a young girl back in Ireland years before. The young girl was Somerset's daughter.

The murderer calls Eve before each murder, and gives her cryptic clues as to who it is - where it will happen, and how it will happen. Eve needs to solve the clues in time to prevent the murders from happening. Roarke has to reveal to Eve some of the criminal activities in his past that she would rather not know about. But what she is sure about is that no matter how much she detests Somerset, he didn't do the crimes; and Roarke is going to be the ultimate victim.

The sixth book in the death series is very good - and I got to learn so much more about Roarke's childhood and back ground - and more about Somerset. We find out why he hates Eve, and more importantly that Eve understands why. By the end of the book there is the glimmer of the start of a truce maybe between the two. Eve has to walk a fine line between protecting her husband's secrets and finding the killer.

I have book seven lined up and ready to go.

Bound by Marriage by Nalini Singh

Finished: 24/10/09
Genre: Romance
Rated: D

Opening Sentence: '…The last person Jess Randall expected to see as she walked out of the gate at Christchurch International Airport, was the man she was going to marry..."

A lovely, but average, bit of fluff reading, read in one sitting. When Jess's father died she was broke and about to be evicted from her property, the man she loved didn't come to her rescue, instead he announced his engagement to another woman. Her rich neigbour, Gabe, said he would buy her ranch, as long as she married him and gave him an heir. Broken-hearted, Jess agrees, but first she wants to pursue her dream of being an artist - and leaves for LA. Now after a year she is back.

The story was as expected - a couple who have many misunderstandings and barriers to overcome before a happy ending. Seeing what those barriers are, and how they are overcome, is part of the reason for settling for this read. The author is from New Zealand - and the story set on the wonderful South Island. A magical part of the world, and one I plan to return to for a visit, very soon.

Dark Country by Bronwyn Parry

Finished: 23/10/09
Genre: Mystery/Romance
Rated: C

Opening Sentence: '…He shouldn't have come back..."

Dark Country is the second book in a loosely-linked series set in Dungirri, in the NSW outback. The first was As Darkness Falls, which I really enjoyed. I enjoyed this one as well, but not quite as much as the first one, but is close.

The book opens with Gil returning to the small town of Dungirri where some of the locals think he is a murderer - after a car accident that occured eighteen years previously that resulted in the death of a woman.

At the very spot where the accident occurred, Gil rescues local police sergeant Kris Matthews who has broken down on the side of the road. She loads her equipment into his empty boot and he ends up staying at her police house after he is is later beaten up.

This is a lucky break for Gil because a woman’s tortured body is found in the boot of his car the next morning, and along with the discovery comes a new accusation of murder.

Kris knows that he is not guilty of this murder – because she is his alibi! Gil needs Kris as he has to work out who’s behind the murder before his enemies starts to harm the few people he cares about.

Kris and Gil are two believable characters - he has had a rough start to life, and is playing a dangerous game with dangerous people - but he is on the side of good. Kris has had a good and loving upbringing, and is a damn good cop. She commands respect and is a tough cookie when she needs to be - but can dress up and be girly when the occasion demands.

They are a perfect match - they just need to survive.

The Undead Next Door by Kerrelyn Sparks

Finished: 22/10/09
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Rated: B

Opening Sentence: '…Heather Lynn Westfield was in hog heaven…’

I am really enjoying this series and have the next book lined up ready to go :)

Heather is a single mum, with a mean and selfish ex-husband who lives in the same small Texan town. Instead of pursuing her ambition to be a fashion designer, she becomes a local school teacher in order to keep her mother happy. When the world famous designer, Jean-Luc, opens up a boutique in the small town, Heather goes along to check out the fashions. Jean-Luc thinks she is stealing his designs when he sees her drawing at the opening night. But when he realises that she is merely 'improving' his designs for women of a realistic size, he is impressed and offers her a job.

What Heather doesn't realise is that Jean-Luc is a vampire - a really attractive, sexy vampire. She accepts his job offer and gets drawn into his world - a world where her life is in danger for being associated with him. Will the fact that he is a vampire make a difference?

The Undead Next Door is a funny, sexy and action-filled romance and I fell in love with the quirky housekeeper - psychic, and gun-toting Fedelia. I do hope she returns in future books - she deserves a man of her own.

Lilies for Love by Felicity Pulman

Finished: 16/10/09
Genre: YA Mystery
Rated: B

Opening Sentence: '…The great gate clanged shut, its metal bars vibrating with the impact...'

The third book in the series, LILIES FOR LOVE continues to follow young Janna on her search for her origins after the murder of her mother.

With her life still under threat from lord Robert, Janna seeks refuge with the nuns in Wiltune Abbey. Janna quickly makes friends with another lay sister, Agnes, who is badly scarred from a burning accident as a child. With her knowledge of herbs, Janna is assigned to work in the infirmary where she expands on the skills she has already learnt from her mother, and helps Sister Anne, the infirmarian, in caring for the sick and injured.

But Janna's main mission is to learn to read, so that she can read the letter from her father and continue her search for him. She also wants to seek justice for her mother, who was murdered by the lord Robert..

Once again Janna solve more mysteries, such as the disappearance of some pages from a precious manuscript, and who stabbed Hugh and murdered Emma's brother.

The story is set against the backdrop of civil war between King Stephen and the Empress Matilda over the mediaeval English throne.

Bitter is the New Black by Jen Lancaster

Finished: 15/10/09
Genre: Biography
Rated: C

Opening Sentence: '…"Camille said you stole a bag from a homeless guy"...'

This is a very hard book to review, have really mixed feelings about it. The sub-title is 'Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smart ass,Or, Why You Should Never Carry A Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office' and in this sense the author hold nothing back. You want to slap her and hug her all at the same time. She would describe herself as straightforward - I think at times she verges on down right malicious, and of course you are only hearing her side of the story.

I am not sure that I like her as a person - she certainly would be exhausting to have as a friend. Jen is a selfish, unsympathetic character but son the odd occasion when she was saying the things she was saying - I have to admit that I agreed with her - just wouldn't have the guts to say them myself. Mind you this was the very odd occasion, more often my mouth dropped to the floor in horror over what she was saying and doing.

Her boyfriend (then husband) Fletch stood by her, mostly letting her get on with it - ignoring the constant tantrums, and shopping expeditions. When he put his foot down though, and he did, Jen listened. Then Jen loses her high paying job, and Fletch loses his, times got really tough. I really admired how they stuck together and supported one another.

So what did I like about this novel? Jen had to learn some hard lessons and rearrange her priorities. She learned not to blow thousands of dollars on senseless things, and learned some respect for menial jobs, and she kept on fighting the system, uncowed, even when at the bottom of despair. However the experience didn't change who she was inside, and you could see that Miss 'high and mighty' was still there lurking and the self serving princess would be back as soon as the good times return.

There were several laugh out loud moments which saved the book - the highlight of these being her wedding; held in Las Vegas, where, unfortunately a porn convention (sorry - Adult Entertainment Expo) was being held at the same time. The only time in the book where her insistence on being the centre of attention was justified.

So what didn't I like - well a lot to be honest - Jen is a very selfish cow of a woman. I am not sure what she feels gives her the right to speak her mind whenever she wants. Yes, some people in the world are rude and horrible - but what if we all gave voice to our opinions whenever we felt like it? In a sense she is an utter bully. If I worked with her - I certainly would never trust her. Those who live by the sword - die by the sword, as evidenced by her friend selling her out over a job by pointing out how Jen had stupidly written how horrible and organisation was on her blog - then went for a job there. Hello!!!!!

I won't read any more of her books.

Men of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong

Finished: 14/10/09
Genre: Paranormal
Rated: B

Opening Sentence: '…"Antonio"...'

I have long been a fan of the 'Woman of the Otherworld' series. The women all have a support cast of gorgeous kick-arse men as well, as friends and lovers. This book takes us into the past of a couple of them - the werewolves, Clay and Jeremy.

The four stories start with the conception of Jeremy - a mysterious start to life, it hints at something mystical. The next two stories are Clay's introduction to werwolfdom and then through Clay's eyes we watch Jeremy's journey to becoming the pack Alpha These tow stories gave me an insight to the workings of werewolf pack life. The final story then reveals who, or should I say what, Jeremy's mother was, and her ultimate fate.

The last story was not my favourite - came over as a bit contrived - so this brought the book back to a B. But overall was a very good book - and I understand there will be more background stories on some of the other men soon.