June 14 Top 5 Wednesday – Side Ships

T5W is a weekly book meme hosted by Samantha and Lainey over on YouTube. Each week there is a new book-related topic to answer! If you’re new to Top 5 Wednesday and want to participate, check out the Goodreads group for information and weekly topics!

This week’s topic is: Side Ships — Tell us your favorite relationships that don’t involve the protagonist!

  1. Griffin and Zeke – from the Trickster novels by Rob Thurman. Definitely the best side characters of any book I’ve ever read. Snarky and sarcastic, they deserve novels of their own!
  2. Niko and Promise – also from author Rob Thurman, Niko and Promise of the Cal Leandros series perfect for each other.
  3. Cormac and Amelia – from the Kitty Norville series by Carrie Vaughn. Though not technically a couple, they do make an awesome pair.

And…..I can’t think of any more lol

Crazy Idea!

I have this crazy idea! What if someone wrote a “romance” novel where the first two male and female characters didn’t instantly fall in lust with one another? What if it wasn’t completely obvious who the main character of a book series was going to end up with? Wouldn’t it be amazing if you couldn’t predict exactly how a romantic relationship was going to develop?

shocked

Mind blowing thought, isn’t it?

Some Girls Bite – Chicagoland Vampires #1 by Chloe Neill

Some Girl BiteSummary (from Goodreads) :

They killed me. They healed me. They changed me.

Sure, the life of a graduate student wasn’t exactly glamorous, but I was doing fine until Chicago’s vampires announced their existence to the world. When a rogue vampire attacked me, I was lucky he only got a sip. Another bloodsucker scared him off and decided the best way to save my life was to make me the walking undead.

Now I’ve traded sweating over my thesis for learning to fit in at a Hyde Park mansion full of vamps loyal to Ethan “Lord o’ the Manor” Sullivan. Of course, as a tall, green-eyed,
four-hundred-year-old vampire, he has centuries’ worth of charm, but unfortunately he expects my gratitude—and servitude. Right…

But someone’s out to get me. Is it the rogue vampire who bit me? A vamp from a rival House? An angry mob bearing torches?

My initiation into Chicago’s nightlife may be the first skirmish in a war—and there will be blood.

Buy now: Amazon

For a few weeks, I’ve had issues finding something that I really wanted to read. I’d pick up a book, read 50 pages or so, put it down and not pick it up again the next. So, I ended up with several books on the go at once (something I don’t normally do). Then, someone in one of my groups on Goodreads recommended Some Girls Bite. I decided to give it a shot and was instantly drawn in! This was what I was in the mood for! Having established that, I happily tucked in and continued reading.

Now, I’m not going to gush that this was the best book I’ve ever read just because it’s what I was in the mood for, however, this book is very good (in my opinion) and an excellent start to what has become a fairly long series.

Let’s start with what I liked. Merit is a great character. She is strong and independent but not so stone-hearted that she can’t cry or want to be loved. She has her vulnerable moments, her bitchy moments and her outright stupid moments too, where she causes trouble without meaning to.

The relationship between Merit and her best friend Mallory is amazing. They remind me of my own best friend and I. They’re comfortable with one another, have their own inside jokes and can tell each other like it is without getting into a big fight.

Now for what I didn’t like: Insta-lust. Merit and her new Master, Ethan, are instantly and intensely attracted to one another, but they don’t actually like each other. Ethan even offers to make Merit his consort despite the fact that he disapproves of so much of who she is and would use her to his own advantage at the drop of a hat.

Mallory is instantly attracted to Catcher, who feels the same for her and soon they can’t keep their hands off one another. Plus, other men are attracted to Merit and would have no problem with getting into her pants.

Now this is starting to border on PNR instead of Urban Fantasy. I could handle that except the book is found in the Fantasy section of the bookstore, not the Romance section. Well, thankfully, it isn’t too descriptive and I can take it in stride.

The plot wraps up nicely for the book, while also having the undercurrent plot that is present in many long series. While you could read this book by itself and be perfectly happy with a good read, I’m certain there is much more vampire fun to come as the series progresses.

Would I recommend this book? Yes, to those who enjoy vampire Urban Fantasy with strong female characters, I would definitely recommend giving Some Girls Bite a try.

Overall, I give this book 4 out of 5 stars and will be continuing on with the series.

Embers – Anya Kalinczyk #1 – Review

EmbersSummary (from Goodreads): Truth burns.

Unemployment, despair, anger—visible and invisible unrest feed the undercurrent of Detroit’s unease. A city increasingly invaded by phantoms now faces a malevolent force that further stokes fear and chaos throughout the city.

Anya Kalinczyk spends her days as an arson investigator with the Detroit Fire Department, and her nights pursuing malicious spirits with a team of eccentric ghost hunters. Anya—who is the rarest type of psychic medium, a Lantern—suspects a supernatural arsonist is setting blazes to summon a fiery ancient entity that will leave the city in cinders. By Devil’s Night, the spell will be complete, unless Anya—with the help of her salamander familiar and the paranormal investigating team—can stop it.

Anya’s accustomed to danger and believes herself inured to loneliness and loss. But this time she’s risking everything: her city, her soul, and a man who sees and accepts her for everything she is. Keeping all three safe will be the biggest challenge she’s ever faced.

Buy Now:Amazon

What can I say about this book? Well, for starters, I really enjoyed it. I’m not going to gush and rave that this is an amazing book and everyone should read it because everyone is different and not everyone may like it.

Unlike most Urban Fantasy novels, there are no vampires werewolves or fey in this book. There are ghosts, however, elemental spirits and witches. Anya is a Lantern, which means that, not only can she see and interact with ghosts, she can devour them as well with a sort of fire in her chest. She also has an unusual familiar: a fire elemental named Sparky that often behaves similar to a dog. He likes electronics and sleeps curled up in Anya’s bed with her. Any is a great character. Very real and enjoyable to read about.

The plot could be considered some what formulaic, but formulas exist for a reason: they work. I wouldn’t exactly call it predictable though. It was a fun read and exactly what I was in the mood for at the time.

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