A Shade of Vampire Series Review.

I finished it.  The entire series.  There was a lot of skimming involved, but it happened.  And it was miserable.  Honestly, by book 4 I had absolutely no clue why I was continuing to do this to myself.  I mean, am I really that stubborn when I made a decision to do something?  I am, apparently.  

I will say that the books eventually get better.  Not better as in them being good or anything, rather better as in you no longer feel the need to toss your iPad in the middle of the road so it can be run over repeatedly because you've lost all hope in books.  Okay, so that's a little dramatic.  I'd never willingly let anything happen to my iPad.  It would have been considered it I had borrowed a copy of a paperback from a friend.  Friends don't let friends read questionable books and all.  Unless you are me and obviously lack common sense.  

Anyhoo.  

I never saw why this is so warrants so many 5 star reviews on Goodreads & Amazon.  The writing was disjointed, plot lines were tossed in with little understanding, characters were absolutely idiotic, eighteen year old girls were knocked up by their ex-vamp new husband (honeymoon baby, cue the awwwws) and said babies (twins!) are apparently going to be so amazingly awesome that the bad guys want to kidnap said children and we never find out why.  Please, authors, stop with the it is so amazing for teenagers to be pregnant, husband or not, story lines. It's not adorably sweet.  

I just need to stop now.  Bottom line is that I kept reading out of curiosity about the reviews and since the books were a part of Kindle Unlimited it didn't cost me anything this month.  But now I am going to get back to my HP reread and remind myself that there are books out there that do provide good literary influences for teenagers.  

1 Star out of 5.  Yeah. 

Review: The Demonologist: The Extraordinary Career of Ed and Lorraine Warren

The Demonologist: The Extraordinary Career of Ed and Lorraine Warren by Gerald Brittle

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



This book is definitely one of those "did I read the same thing as everyone else?" books.

I'm just going to throw it out there that, according to a search, there are 272(!) exclamation points used. In a book primarily about demoniacal (I will never use demonic again) possession. Suffice it to say, I had some issues with the writing of the book.

But even as frustrating as the writing was, it had nothing Ed Warren. I guess I should have assumed that it was going to focus heavily on the Warrens themselves, rather than the cases they worked on. Some of their cases are discussed, but it is less on the people directly involved with the activity, but instead the repercussions that the Warrens faced. And the fact that they constantly put themselves in danger of being killed, but they help anyway--of course. Not to mention that, Ed particularly, is incredibly well known amongst demonic entities, almost every religious community in the US and the UK, and can pretty much blink and exorcise (albeit temporarily) an entity from someone. He is just that amazing!

So, I'm probably making the book seem worse than the it actually is. There are moments of it being genuinely interesting and creepy. There were a couple of cases that were new to me and gave me a starting point to actually look into them. But for the most part, it was all about how amazing Ed Warren was from the man himself(!), with a little touch of Lorraine (who in my opinion is far more interesting, but I digress) added in. When it was all said and done, it was a not so well written account of a man who probably did amazing things, but just read as being so annoyingly pompous that it was detrimental to the book as a whole.



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Review: Better Homes and Hauntings

Better Homes and Hauntings by Molly Harper

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When Nina Linden is hired to landscape a private island off the New England coast, she sees it as her chance to rebuild her failing business after being cheated by her unscrupulous ex. She never expects that her new client, software mogul Deacon Whitney, would see more in her than just a talented gardener. Deacon has paid top dollar to the crews he’s hired to renovate the desolate Whitney estate—he had to, because the bumps, thumps, and unexplained sightings of ghostly figures in nineteenth-century dress are driving workers away faster than he can say “Boo.”

But Nina shows no signs of being scared away, even as she experiences some unnerving apparitions herself. And as the two of them work closely together to restore the mansion’s faded glory, Deacon realizes that he’s found someone who doesn’t seem to like his fortune more than himself—while Nina may have finally found the one man she can trust with her bruised and battered heart.

But something on the island doesn’t believe in true love…and if Nina and Deacon can’t figure out how to put these angry spirits to rest, their own love doesn’t stand a ghost of a chance.


Molly Harper is quickly becoming one of my go to authors for those times when I need one of those "palate cleansing" books. She really nails the perfect mix of quirk, snark and a touch of romance tossed in. This one added a little to the mix by tossing in some not quite creepy haunting moments, but oddly enough they worked in well with the story. And it's a standalone too. Be still my heart. There are not enough of those these days. Sometimes all a girl needs is a good one night stand.

Overall, this was just what I needed to get my mind off of everything else going on. It was just intriguing enough, just funny enough, and just creepy-ish enough to make it a good read. And make me want to read whatever else by the author that I can get my hands on.



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To Darynda Jones...

Review (ish)

So, we are heading to Florida to house hunt tomorrow and I have a ridiculous amount of crap to still do. Also, somehow during all of that I still have to find the time to study for another test.  I, at least, managed to finish reading this instead of paying attention during the two hour sad excuse for a meeting, in room that was so hot we might as well been sitting in a million degree sauna while surrounded by a bunch of sweaty Navy guys who stepped directly off the boat, the same guys who apparently all decided to spray on more cologne--as if that would help anything at all. It's been a long day.  

Anyway, in lieu of a review that I'm really not down for writing right now as I still have hours of laundry and studying to look forward too.  

First Grave on the Right. 

Fin.