Paddy's Day & Review

Happy St. Paddy's Day! Or as I like to call it, National Get Drunk and Be Patriotic Day! It only happens once a year in Ireland (the patriotism, not the drunkenness), so we tend to go all out!

Also, today I'm going to review Darynda Jones' First Grave on the Right. Here you go:



PREMISE
Charley sees dead people. That’s right, she sees dead people. And it’s her job to convince them to “go into the light.” But when these very dead people have died under less than ideal circumstances (i.e. murder), sometimes they want Charley to bring the bad guys to justice. Complicating matters are the intensely hot dreams she’s been having about an entity who has been following her all her life…and it turns out he might not be dead after all. In fact, he might be something else entirely.

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I really enjoyed this book. It's more humour than paranormal romance for me (though Reyes is pretty hot!) and I thought the characters were wonderfully over the top. This is one of those stereotype defying, 'I see myself in you' books and I liked it.

Charley Davidson is a 'grim reaper extraordinaire' who runs her own PI business and solves mysteries for her Uncle Ubie (he's a cop). It helps that she can actually talk to the dead and find out who killed them. She's a blindingly bright light to them and as the 'gateway to heaven', all the dead souls pass on through her. You can imagine how hectic her life is. 

I just love her because she's funny.

The novel starts off when Charley starts having weird dreams and out of body experiences with a sexual deviant. Oh yeah. When she finds out that the aforementioned deviant is not only a 'real boy', but the mysterious and oh so sexy guy she used to know, well, let's just say her curiosity is piqued. She tracks him down and discovers that he has a Big Paranormal Secret....(*cue gasp*) which leads to even more snooping and some delicious tension. On top of all this, she's trying to solve a murder mystery and none of the dead people have any idea who killed them.

......and she does all of this while providing sarcasm. Lots and lots of sarcasm. There, in a nutshell, is why I loved it. (Well, that and Reyes is HAWT!)

I give it: 

Four hats! It was enchanting!

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Yeah, I know. It's only a short review today. I'm shattered from Paddy's day festivities, but I'll make it up to you guys with more reviews during the week. Let me just leave you with these two messages:
                                    

ARC Review - A Cast of Shadows by Hailey Edwards

PREMISE

The strongest net is no match for destiny.

Daraja has grown up watching her brothers journey down the river on the traditional Deinopidae rite of passage. Each returned with riches from their travels, and lovers with whom to share their lives.

Now she has reached the age where she would strike out on her own to seek her fortune—if she were male. Instead, she is expected to sit patiently, weave her nets and wait for the river to bring a husband to her.

Patience, however, has never been her strong suit.

Brynmor haunts the forest surrounding the city of Cathis, his disembodied spirit inextricably bound to the wild canis roaming his lands. Until the day he stumbles across a brazen trespasser in his woods.

Compelled to step in when the canis suspect her of poaching one of their own, Brynmor fears he has lost a piece of his ragged soul to the feisty, adventure-seeking female. And when the canis confront the real poachers, he is forced to choose which life to sacrifice. Hers…or his own.

Warning: This book contains one heroine with a knack for weaving nets and one hero who relishes getting caught. Expect singing, some howling, ghostly shenanigans, and the start of a love that transcends death.

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This was a pretty good book. It was long enough that it didn't feel like a novella, but short enough that you could read it one sitting. It didn't drag and was full of interesting characters.

It starts off when Daraja, a young Deinopidae woman,  sets off on a quest to find herself a husband. She wanders around following a river, until she meets the ghostly ex-king Brynmore. He haunts the local forest and hangs out with a pack of canis. However, Daraja becomes a burst of colour in his dreary existence and BOOM! - we have a story. 


 If you've read the previous books (particularly A Feast of Souls) then you will already know Brynmore. Well, this book is about him getting his long-awaited happy ending. Hailey Edwards has done a really good job of turning him from a side character into a super-hot hero with a backstory that will make you love him.

While this was a good book overall, I still feel it was lacking something. I think we could have gotten a bit more world building.  I know it's a novella and all, but I would have liked to have known a little more about the Deinopidae people. Just a little, because from what I've read of the previous books, all the clans are vastly different from each other - especially belief and culture-wise.

Also, a lot of things went unexplained throughout the book. Like how Brynmore came to be with the pack, how he has a tendency to just disappear at random times and how when his host gets injured, he's in mortal peril of vanishing into the incorporeal ether (in a kind of "my health affects your health" thing) but the next day he's fine, even though his host is still injured.

I did like it though. I love the fantasy world that Hailey Edwards has created and was excited to see Brynmore get his own book. Taking everything into account, I give it three and a half hats out of five. I cut a hat in half because I couldn't decide if it was magical or enchanting! It's somewhere between the two, I think.

TOP FIVE SUNDAYS!

As part of the weekly meme hosted by the wonderful Larissa at Larrisa's Bookish Life, I'm posting a Top Five list every Sunday! This week's theme is: Favourite Female Books Characters! Oh yeah, this is right up my alley.

Here, without further ado,  are my top five favourite female book characters (in no particular order):

Kate Daniels
She just kicks so much ass, you can't not love her. I love the way she handles herself and how she takes no crap from anyone (especially Curran).




Charley Davidson
She is just too funny to be real. I am constantly in awe of her narrative prowess and I have these moments were I burst out with: "Oh my God, I do the exact same thing!". That's when I get the weird looks...







































Catherine Crawfield
She is the Buffy we all wanted - and she's ginger. 'Nuff said. 



Merit
She is a geek like me! I love her because she is down to earth, smart and believable. I also love her use of sarcasm. ;)



Mia Thermopolis
Okay, while Mia doesn't exactly fit in with any of the other heroines here, the Princess Diaries were essentially my childhood, and I think she deserves a shout-out. She overcomes a lot of obstacles in her way to fulfilling her role as 'Princess of Genovia' and is a highly entertaining character who does stupid stuff like most teenagers. Plus, she is a princess.




Who are your favourite girls? Drop a comment. 

I'M BACK - WITH EXCITING NEWS!

Woah........*blows dust off computer*

It's been so long! I am so sorry for my disappearance! Life has intervened - and as a result I am now the All-Ireland Irish speaking singing champion. Now though, I'm back to the I-don't-have-a-life blogging, so my hundreds of fans (two, it's really two) can stop pining for my updates. :D

Okay, I'm going to jump right in and get to the EXCITING NEWS:

• Darynda Jones has announced the fifth installment of her Charlie Davidson series: Fifth Grave Past the Light! It's due out on July 9th, but I'm already drooling over the cover! I love the necklace. Check it out here:

• I got my first ARC! Yay me! Hailey Edwards has very kindly gifted me with a copy of her new novella A Cast of Shadows (for reviewing purposes only, of course!). I'll be uploading what I think of it as soon as physically possible, so keep an eye out for that! I think her series is amazing as it is, and I really hope you check it out. Here's a link: http://araneaenation.com/bookshelf-2/by-series/araneae-nation-2/ 

• Only eleven more sleeps until Jeaniene Frost's Twice Tempted comes out! I am in the 'losing sleep' stage of book anticipation and I keep checking her blog regularly for any more excerpts, tidbits, e.t.c :)

• Nalini Singh has a new anthology out called Wild Invitation set in her Psy/Changeling world. You can get it here: http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Invitation-Psy-Changeling-Anthology/dp/0425255131/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352670831&sr=1-1&keywords=wild+invitation

• I am really excited about Shiloh Walker's upcoming novel Wrecked! I don't usually read contemporary novels, but this one looks very intriguing. That's coming out in April. Have a look: http://www.shilohwalker.com/website/wrecked/get-wrecked/

So yeah, that's all my exciting news. Be nice to your mothers today!