Mini-Hiatus Update

Hello All,

I'm sorry I haven't been posting lately. Things in normal day-to-day life are currently a little crazy - including moving back and forth between two cities a couple of times per week. It hasn't been conducive to reading/watching anything seriously in awhile. I'm not entirely sure when I'll pick back up, but I WILL pick back up. The things I have been watching have been re-runs, so feel free to do the same!

Thanks,

Mini-Geek Girl

Anime Central! (and birthday commitments)

Hello all!

Today is my very special husband's birthday, so there will be no real post. 
However! I've added the link to my Anime Central review below (from my other blog) if you're interested in taking a look.

http://anime-mini-geek.blogspot.com/2014/05/anime-central-2014.html

I hope you all have a beautiful weekend!


-Mini-Geek Girl

Happy Mother's Day!

Hello everyone!

Happy Mother's Day to all of the lovely mothers out there - especially my own!
I hope you all have your moms in your hearts today. As it is, today is being spent with my husband and his mother, so no posts today!

I'll be attending Anime Central next weekend, so I won't be posting next week either. I'll probably post a review of the convention instead. If not, I'll at least link to that review on my other blog:
anime-mini-geek.blogspot.com

Have a beautiful day!

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Next Week: ACEN

Sorcerer's Ring Series - Morgan Rice

Genre: Epic Fantasy
Subgenre: Magic, kings/knights, quests
Age Appropriate: Teen
Recommended for my sister: Enh. Maybe?

"I count you as my brother." - Reece

Thorgrin is a young 14 year old runt of the litter boy in a small village. He has great aspirations of becoming a knight and joining The Silver, the elite group of soldiers who fight for the King. On Selection Day, his father tries to force him to stay inside, but Thorgrin runs out and yells for his turn to be considered. He's rejected immediately for being to small and scrawny. After running away from town, he stumbles on an older man named Argon. He convinces Thorgrin not to give up, and he begins the walk to the Kingdom to force his way into knight's training. His spunk and skill earn him a grudging place within the recruits, despite the scorn of his brothers and others who'd gotten in the "right way." Still, he impresses others and his young journey to knighthood begins. It all becomes much more complicated when Thor comes up with strange magical powers.

The Sorceror's Ring series is up to 12 books, and the story grows from Thor's younger days to his coming-of-age obstacles, including a budding love affair with the King's daughter, Gwendolyn. The story itself is very reminiscent of King Arthur, including a magical sword stuck in a stone. Each subsequent quest he leaves on includes his closest knightly friends, and a few non-friends who end up being in debt to Thor's heroism. The group journeys throughout the world, both in the safety of their kingdom and the terror of the insecure Empire beyond their borders. The underlying story follows Thor's relationships and what he needs to learn to save his family, his love, his friends and his kingdom.

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I got to book 9 before I stopped. There are another 3 books in the series, but I just don't have the patience to get through them yet. I was pretty excited to begin, even seeing the blatant parallels with King Arthur. I figured it might be fun after taking an entire semester of Arthuriana. I kept waiting for something epic to happen. There were a few journeys here or there with potential, and each one seemed to more closer to a big finish. Unfortunately, I'm on book 9 and I've not been satisfied with anything yet. The further I get, the more tiring the series becomes.

I know that Thor needs to visit his mother. He's been having dreams and visions of her in the Land of the Druids. It's book 9 though and he still hasn't headed that way. It's kinda boring now. I'm hoping that when I do decide to finish the next few books, whenever that might be, the pace picks up or the author decides to wrap it up. Right now, I know that there are 3 more books that have been released in a bundle. So, for now, I'd say not to bother until I can make myself finish them, eventually.

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Oops!: Happy Mother's Day!!!

The Others - Anne Bishop

Genre: Urban Fantasy/Fantasy
Subgenre: Others vs. humans, magic, blood
Age Appropriate: Teen
Recommended for my sister: Yep (She's already reading them!)

"I'll ask her for one cut." - Simon

In an Other Courtyard, "Human Laws Do Not Apply." After fighting, trading and tragedy, the humans and Others have come to an uneasy truce with Others in tentative power. What the humans don't understand is that there are other Others with more power than imaginable and the ones seen are the most benign. It is mostly a case of whatever happens in the Courtyard stays in the Courtyard, and that includes the mysterious deaths of humans trespassing where they're not allowed. The Lakeside Courtyard is unique in its toleration of humans in their Market areas, even allowing a select few humans to work in those areas.

As a cassandra sangue, Meg Corbyn is invaluable to the institution she's escaped from. She is a blood prophet, and every cut made on her skin pulls a prophecy out of her. In the compound where she, and other like her, were kept, they were strapped to chairs and used for prophecy and money. Each cut could range from 1,000-10,000 dollars depending on who was being cut.  She stumbles into Lakeside Courtyard and walks her freezing feet into a story with a Help Wanted sign. The sign is for a Liaison, a person who runs a post office that interacts between the Others and the humans. Now that she's in Lakeside Courtyard, she has to come clean about who she is and where she's from in order to keep her place. The wide community of Others may decide that she's one of their own, and then there will be no going back for her. The Others protect their own.

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I've been a huge fan of Anne Bishop for a long time. It started with her Black Jewels trilogy in high school but each time I've started a new series, I've fallen into it completely. I appreciate that her series don't intersect, and always have a completely different world, without losing anything of her style and story. Written in Blood and Murder of Crows are no different. I had to reread Written in Blood to catch up, and it was still a great story. There are societal issues, supernatural elements and a teeny tiny bit of possible romance.

Obviously, I recommend it. I can't really recommend it to my sister, specifically, because she's waiting for Book 2 already. I'll recommend it to everyone else, though! I actually think that Bishop could probably stop with book 2, if she really wanted, but I hope she doesn't. There are still some great possibilities for the greater battle ahead, and how knows what will happen to Meg's potential love life? Will she actually have one? She's probably not ready, yet. I've heard nothing yet about another book, but I'm crossing my fingers!

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Moar Books: Sorcerer's Ring series

Sianim Series - Patricia Briggs

Genre: Fantasy
Subgenre: mages, shapeshifters, kingdoms
Age Appropriate: Teen
Recommended for my sister: Yep

"I suppose training isn't supposed to be fun..." -Aralorn

Aralorn is a Sianim spy who is really not from Sianim. She is a shapeshifter, though, and when she left home she found herself with a good job that lets her use her skills. The assignment that starts the series has her pretending to be a girl pretending to be a bird in a cage under the influence of the ae'Magi, the most powerful wizard in the land. It isn't until she returns from her assignment, by the skin of her teeth, that she notices something very wrong under the surface. Somehow, everyone she meets up with, from friends to strangers, is completely enthralled with the master mage.

Together with her friend Wolf - another possible shapeshiter/mage/something, she leaves town in search of King Myr, who is the only person she's seen who might not be anymore affected that her Wolf and herself. If something is that wrong, then something very bad is coming and the ae'Magi was going to need stopping. Aralorn and her Wolf find themselves in a refugee camp full of those not under the power of the ae'Magi and a small revolution beginning under his feet. It's a dangerous task simply to take care of the strangers and orphans, but they join the group to start thinking about their next plans. The story reveals some very important mysteries about Aralorn, Wolf and the deep dark secrets of what is happening around them.

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It's a nice little series. I definitely enjoy some of the more fantastical elements. I'm bummed out that it isn't longer. I think she could've really run with it, but I wasn't disappointed with it in any other way. After reading it, I totally wanted to have shapeshifter powers. Although, I'm glad I don't have a husband with a crazy psycho-mage megalomaniac father.

There isn't to much to say about this series. It's not even a series, really. It's really a duology, although Briggs has two more book that are set in the time/place as these. It's epic fantasy-lite. I appreciate that  the author is able to cross multiple fantasy genres and still make all of the stories fun. The Mercy Thompson series, which I read first, is a standard urban fantasy, and I've frequently found that bridging the gap isn't always successful for some authors. This is a good, quick read - probably great for sitting on a beach and having a cold drink.

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Books are good: The Others

Chicagoland Vampire Series - Chloe Neill

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Subgenre: vampires, weres, Chicago!, romance drama
Age Appropriate: Adult
Recommended for my sister: For the most part


"Ponytail Avenger??" - Merit

On late evening, Merit was walking home from doing research for her English Lit dissertation when the worst happens. She is brutally attacked by someone, or something, and wakes up as something else. After a few days of being unconscious, she wakes in her house, only to find out that she's been turned into a vampire! Ethan Sullivan, Master of Cadogan House, found her and saved her from her brutal attack in the only way he thought he could, turning her into a vampire and bringing her into his House. Merit is confused, and upset but nothing pisses her off more than hearing that they've taken her out of school! She can't finish her education, and she thinks it is all their fault - even acknowledging that the school likely would've kicked her out anyway. Between her disappointment, general pissed-off-ness and a normally snarky attitude, Merit and her best friend, Mallory, name Ethan "Darth Sullivan," and spend a goodly amount of time hating him.

When Merit is threatened with a rock and a note thrown through her window, clearly regarding her new vampire status, she takes off to the House to confront Ethan about the situation. There is trouble when she sees him for the first tie since her turning. She's no longer in a confused, drug-like state and he is gorgeous. She feels some sort of instant connection and the reaction is more irritation on her part. She challenges him, loses miserably, and starts her career as a Cadogan vampire with a bang. When she formally joins the house (after much deliberation), her obvious vampire strength is shown by unknowingly resisting the psychic pull she should receive from Ethan. His response? Name Merit "Sentinel" - an old, honored position committed to protecting the House. Thus begins her series of trials and tribulations that contain sorcerors, two-faced angels, other vampires and increasing animosity from humans. WIth her new friends and old, she's pulled into situations that either require her powers as a vampire or her newly developed skills as a private investigator type.

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The first few books are very entertaining. After that the story seems to get a little more convoluted with each adventure. The move from very entertaining to plain ol' entertaining. I admit that I mostly enjoy Merit's sword skills. I always like Urban Fantasy chicks wielding swords. I also like her Ethan, the gorgeous Master of the House - and he seems like a softer Jean-Claude, just as beautiful and conniving but a little less manipulative (just a little, though). I just finished book 9, and I'll be happy to have some more.

This book gets very sexy in some spots. Not as bad as some, but it's still there - primarily in the later books. It's just graphic enough for me to give this an Adult rating (but not enough for caps or colors). As much as I like Ethan, and it really couldn't go any other way with these books, I found myself a little bit on Team Jonah for awhile. There are also some things that I hope they get into more. It feels like they've given Merit a few new roles, but in name only. She uses her new status for new information, but I'll be interested to see if the author expands on it in the future. Honestly, though, I did read the new book in a day. Yay instant consumption! I suppose that means I recommend it!

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Not vampires: The Sianam Series

Heralds of Valdemar - Mercedes Lackey

Genre: Fantasy
Subgenre: epic fantasy, magic
Age Appropriate: Teens
Recommended for my sister: YES

"Hindsight is ever perfect" - Starwind k'Treva

The Heralds of Valdemar books span over multiple trilogies. While Lackey wrote them in a different order, there is a specific timeline that moves the history along. The first series chronologically is the Last Herald-Mage series featuring Vanyel, a young man who feels separate from his family and is sent to the capital, Haven, to be with his Aunt Savil. His arrival starts the story off with his emotional issues and secrets that lead to great tragedy and discovery of his own mage powers. Through the story the audience learns the special marks of those who are "Chosen" in the kingdom of Valedmar, and is given a good basis for the following story lines.

Throughout all of the trilogies, the main characters are either Heralds or those who become somehow involved with Heralds. IT's the Heralds who are chosen, and to that effect are considered unshakable in their honor and loyalty to their land. The clear designation of a Herald is the presence of their Companion - a magical spirit being in the guise of a horse, who "chooses" their Herald. The tie between Herald and Companion is soul deep and together they will go out and do the hard things done in need of their country. Those "gifts" can range from telepathy - or Mindspeaking - to Firestarting, and in some case the ever mysterious Mage-gift. With the exception of the Mage-gift, all fo the abilities are considered "mind-magic," and the distinction becomes very important as the books go forward.

There are wide varieties of characters, with various idiosyncrasies in either tale. Each kingdom has different rules and histories that cause great conflicts, as often is the case between kingdom and monarchs. On top of that, there are magical beasts running feral, magically tainted lands being watched over by some strange people and even a demon or two thrown in for good measure. All in all, if you put them together, the Heralds of Valdemar books are one long epic. There are even a few short-story companion novels available when you can't get enough.

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I love them. I read my first one when I was probably around 10ish. It was the first Herald-Mage Vanyel book and I was completely hooked. I'll admit that I didn't particularly like the Mage Winds trilogy as some of the others, but each trilogy is fairly important for character development. There are a few that might be considered stand-alone, but I wouldn't recommend it. Find the chronology online and read them all. Even the books that may not be set in Valdemar are important. The things you might miss are small, but they gave me a little boost when I noticed them.

I suppose it's hard to do a full review when you're talking about a series as long as this. While I've read them all recently, I remember the first time being pretty strong emotionally. I still feel strongly when I read the Herald-Mages books and the Arrows books. The sads are as important as the happies. The series is highly recommended, especially if you like epic-type series. I think the splits of trilogies probably helps with consumption levels, but I wouldn't be too shocked if you found yourself buying them all right away.

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Moar!: Chicagoland Vampires - Chloe Neill

Kate Daniels series - Ilona Andrews

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Subgenre: vampires, weres, magic
Age Appropriate: Older teen+
Recommended for my sister: YES

"Here, kitty-kitty." - Kate

In a post-apocalyptic world, magic has returned half-force. Every minute of the day could be a time when there is magic, or there is none. When the "tech" is up, typical machines work - phones, cars, microwaves, and when the magic is up nothing mechanical works but the possibilities are endless for those with magical powers and know-how.

Kate Daniels is a mercenary who deals with complex magical situations. Similar to a bounty hunter, she picks assignments she wants and moves out to deal with the problem, sometimes even with another partner. Her stressful, but seemingly regular, existence ends when her guardian is found dead. Her need for investigation puts her in strange position with the other supernatural species in the area, as well as at the beck and call of the leading formal magical police force. Thus begins her story, and the deeper it goes, the scarier her secrets become.

Kate is hiding a deep secret from those who have become close to her. As her new friends slowly figure out what she's hiding, she finds herself in a position she never wanted to be in - namely having friends in the first place. She's been raised as a weapon, a solitary fighter who needs no one and is expected to dispatch anyone who might catch on to what she's hiding, until the time comes for her to use that training. Her newfound personal developments put everything she's been protecting at risk, but she consistently throws it to the wind of chance in order to protect the people around her. The only question is: When will it finally bite her in the ass?

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This is probably one of my newer favorite series. I've read them over and over, lately. I appreciate that there is little to no sex, which is actually a bit rare in the female urban fantasy genre. There actually isn't any sex until the fourth book, and even then it's not a focus at any point. I really enjoy the character development, and I'm really excited to see what will happen next in the drama.

I find the storyline to be a bit unique actually. Sure, there are some pretty standard themes, particularly independent, strong woman who kicks butt - with a sword no less. Even the romance portion is fairly typical, but her reasons and actions apart from those reasons is a little new. I mean, it's a book, so it's pretty standard that she's the heroine, but the author makes her a little more human given the other properties in Kate's life. I think it was fairly successfully done. If nothing else, I'm very upset at how much longer I have to wait for the next installment. It's very frustrating, only tempered by the fact that there is at least a release date now. Highly, highly recommended.

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Meow: Heralds of Valdemar - Mercedes Lackey

Kushiel series - Jacqueline Carey

Genre: Fantasy
Subgenre: sex, gods, intrigue, adventure, pain
Age Appropriate: ADULT
Recommended for my sister: Top 10

"That which yields is not always weak." - fortune teller

Phedre is a young girl sold into comfortable servitude when her parents find themselves desperate. Her mother, formerly of the institution she gives Phedre too, begs them to take her daughter. Her mother was of the Jasmine House of the Court of Night Blooming Flowers - a series of houses with adepts and trainees dedicated to Naamah, the goddess of desire. While Phedre is remanded to the house, she has a flaw that singles out of being able to commit herself. She has a crimson mote in her eye, and the Houses are very particular about physical flaws. Despite her lack of qualifications, she's raised in the house the same as other children in their keeping. Most of those children will go on to become adepts in their chosen houses until they make their marque - a tattoo on their backs signifying their House and that they've completed their indentured service.

After hearing the Story of Elua from a priest, the children are given flowers to pin onto their shirts, and it leads Phedre to learn her first lesson about herself. She pricks her finger with the pin, out of curiosity, and the result is a wash of pain/pleasure that would normally put her in a particular house, if she didn't have that one single flaw. When one of the adepts finds her out, she's told she'll be meeting someone very interested in her. That day she runs away to Night's Doorstep, a poor neighborhood, and meets her one true friend, Hyacinthe. Upon her return, she meets Anafiel Delaunay, and her fate is sealed. She is an anguisette, someone born to accept pain as pleasure, and under the tutelage of Delaunay becomes somewhat more. He makes her into a spy, alongside his other pupil, Alcuin, teaching her how to observe and think, along with her lessons toward becoming an Adept of the Night Court.

This part of her story takes up the first part of the first book. Her education and dedication to Naamah lead her dangerous paths against traitors, slavers and terrible tortures. She bases her survival on one thing, to save her Queen and county from terrible invasion by barbarians. Her companion, a warrior-priest of Cassiel, Joscelin, ends up her only ally on her terrible journey. Their's is a story of pain, pleasure and fortitude in the face of hopelessness.

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There are actually 9 books in the Kushiel series world. The first three are completely focused on Phedre's individual life story. Despite the different names and religions created in the world, the location are all based in real countries, which names changed. Her story is terribly, and heartbreaking, and hard to read. Whatever sensuality and sexuality is included, it is far more included for advancing the story than it is for blatant porn. How could there be no sex when the main character is a goddess-dedicated courtesan of sorts? It's not all easy-peasy romance either. Every step of the way there is little typical happiness to be found. It was a struggle emotionally to read the books, but enrapturing  to read, nonetheless.

What can I say? It's an amazing series, if you have the stomach for it. Even after reading it for the bajillionth time, it still makes me heartsick. There is a bit of pride and hope in there, on behalf of Phedre and Joscelin. When I first read them, a long time ago, I'll even admit that I was a bit tempted to get her marque as a tattoo. I mean, how cool would that be? I'm glad I didn't but her story made the whole thing something to be proud of, rather than disdained. If you believe you can handle the intricacies, I would most highly recommend this series.

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Somewhat less intense: Kate Daniels series

Riley Jenson series - Keri Arthur

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Subgenre: werewolves, shifters, vampires
Age Appropriate: Older Teen
Recommended for my sister: Sure, why not?


"I'm not that bad of a driver." - Riley

Riley Jenson is a werewolf in Australia working as a liaison for the Directorate of Other Races. Essentially, they are the pseudo-cops of those that aren't human in the country. Jack, Riley's boss, however wants her on the guardian team, a team of supernaturals who work more like enforcers and killers than anything else. Her twin brother, Rhoan, is already involved and wants her to have nothing to do with guardians. That catch is that Riley has similar traits to her dear brother. Both are dhampir, a mix of werewolf and vampire, that came about by a bizarre circumstance and timing between their mother in werwolf bloodlust and a newly risen vampire. Riley is much more inclined to the werewolf side of things, including her need to sate the moon fever that happens with all werewolves. During certain times of the month all werewolves find themselves stuck in a need for sexual contact that can alienate them from others. They all seem to have a pretty good time of it, though.

Riley really becomes involved when a certain set of circumstances put her in the control of evil villain-types interested in testing supernaturals for a variety of nefarious reasons. In the process, she ends up stuck with Quinn O'Connor, an illustrious vampire who has befriended her brother and seems involved with things going on. Each situation in each book involves Riley's strong will and usual need for rescue (and doing rescuing!) of her close friends. Her werewolf heritage seems to be the biggest obstacle, both in the scary situations and her love lives. Adding her mixed vampire heritage, and some interesting effects of those nefarious villains, Riley and her team are up to their eyeballs in strange plots.

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I liked it. It was, at minimum, interesting to read a set of novels that aren't set in a familiar US city. Most books that I read, at least in Urban Fantasy, are set in some central urban center. I wasn't particularly moved to start looking up a map of Australia, but it would be an interesting research subject to figure out where all of these things are happening. Other than that, this series has all of the typical elements of traditional Urban Fantasy. As per usual in the books I read, it has a female protagonist, some sort of supernatural element(s) and a bunch of friends and family there to pull each other out of dire situations. One of the things I do appreciate is that the series ends. It takes a lot for an author to pull off a good continuing series. Keri Arthur has a spin-off series or two, but they're far enough apart that their pretty great stand-alones.

The series adds a little bit of sci-fi to the urban fantasy with the addition of high tech gadgets - like nanowires to protect from psychic in invasion and voice-moluators that are inserted into the mouth (ow!). It certainly adds a little something extra, and pushes a little bit of "this could happen" vibe.
The books are also pretty down the middle on adult content. A good portion of it is what I refer to as "and then the next day!" sex. Basically, they kiss passionately or something to the effect and the chapter ends. Not all of it, but a good amount is in this category. I was also a little sad about the lack of swords, but that's my own personal thing. For some reason, I'm more interested in swords than guns. Whatever makes you happy, I suppose. So yeah, go ahead and read it. It's pretty good fluffiness without being boring.

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Wildly different: Kushiel series

Grave Witch - Kalayna Price

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Subgenre: mediums, ghosts, elves
Age Appropriate: Older Teen
Recommended for my sister: Absolutely

"My advice is to run." - Thorn Fae

Alex Craft is a PI and a witch with an affinity for the grave. Her specific use of her powers is to raise shades from bodies to have questions asked and answered. The start of her story really begins with the drama that comes with her powers making her an expert witness for an organized crime case. Her job will be to raise the shade of a controversial murder victim and simply ask her what happened. When Alexis is shot at, it's believed that this is the reason. There is more going on, though, when she realizes a favor for her sister may have a bigger effect on her situation. There are some serious things afoot when she gets a mysterious call from her estranged sister, and her situation becomes much more complicated than anyone thought.

The Alexis Craft series is a bit of a bumbling hero story. She's powerful and willful and has no sense of self-preservation. Helping her along the way are her powerful-women girlfriends, a mysterious homicide detective and her old time, close friend, Death. Unlike the Anita series, he literally IS Death. At least, a soul collector that Alexis first met as a young girl with budding powers. Her relationships with these people all help her in her times of need, and often goad her into doing stupid things out of stubbornness. As Alexis finds out more secrets about herself, she'll need all the support she can get!

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You know, for the second time round, I wan't sure I was going to be able to get into these books as much as I did the first time. It was true, to a certain extent, but probably not more so than many other series I've read multiple times. I wasn't sure if I was going to put an awesome review down for this. I know I enjoyed it, but I was surprised by the end result.

I don't always like Alex Craft. I'm a bit used to protagonists in this genre being determined to a fault. In a way, the attitude is similar to Harry Potter's inability to just leave things alone. At the same time, in the end Alex also ends up saving the day (on a much smaller scale, of course). That's as far as similarities go. There is no direct, or indirect, correlation to Harry and any Urban Fantasy I've read. Anyway, I digress. I frequently get annoyed with her, and her complete disregard for her friends. She has a line of loyalty that often gets her in and out of trouble, but sometimes it seems like some of that trouble wouldn't have started without her actions in the first place.

The kicker? I adore most of the people in her life. There are only three books, and I frequently feel sympathy for them in many situations (except potential boyfriend #2. Ugh). At the end of book three, I felt like crying. It's unfair! I didn't notice it happening, but despite my original misgivings, I ended up complete entrapped by the underlying love story and the injustice of it all. I don't know what's worse, unrequited love, or seriously people-could-die love. Breaks my heart. So, yeah, go ahead and read it. It's no great American novel, mind you, but it's pretty good nonetheless.

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How 'bout some wolves: Riley Jenson series

Anime Milwaukee

I lied! Grave Witch will have to be next week. I spent the whole weekend at Anime Milwaukee. It was a wonderful birthday present from my husband! I did write a review of my time there on my anime blog: 

 http://anime-mini-geek.blogspot.com/2014/02/anime-milwaukee-amke.html


Anyway, look for the Grave Witch review next week. Promise!

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Promise!: Grave Witch series

Elemental Assasin series - Jennifer Estep

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Subgenre: a little bit of magic and a little bit of murder
Age Appropriate: Adult, kinda. I mean, there's plenty of romance-y stuff.
Recommended for my sister: Started out pretty good...


"It never hurts to double check." - Fletcher

Gin Blanco grew up with an interesting family dynamic. After losing her family to a terrible, evil tragedy, Gin is found by Fletcher Lane - a.k.a. Tin Man. As Gin gets older, she (and her foster brother, Finn) start learning the "family business." Tin Man is an assassin for hire. The story focuses on Gin and her career as The Spider, the most notorious assassin in Ashland. No one really knows who she is, only that they don't want her coming after them.

 Gin's whole journey begins with the murder of her family by Mab Monroe. The foremost mobster in Ashland's underground. While Gin goes through a variety of situations as The Spider, the underlying plot is her need for vengeance against Mab, and how she'll be able to survive the encounter. In the world of Gin Blanco, there is elemental magic everywhere. Many people have some level of ability. Gin's primary magic is Stone magic. She can harden her skin to stone, and hear vibrations through any stone she touches. Mab's magic is Fire magic. She's a very strong magic user who used her magic to kill Gin's family. Gin's obstacle comes in knowing that her Stone magic likely isn't as strong as Mab's Fire. Despite the people in her life, and the changes and growth Gin goes through, will she be able to seek the revenge she wants, and destroying the head of the Ashland underground?

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I actually genuinely enjoy this series, mostly. I don't know if I really care about the characters now that I'm further in the series, but it's not awful. I like some books better than others. I don't particularly mind when there is a big gap in new releases. I suppose that says something about them.
I definltey have some sympathy for the romantic situations Gin finds herself in. I think I would've like a little more development with her assassin skills.

The books are a good read, especially when looking to wind down from something more intense. I suppose I would say that they're a good beach read, assuming you're not really into sappy romance novels. I don't need to swallow them whole, though. I say that they started out good because there was a really immediate purpose for Gin, and the following parts were good but don't seem to give her the same motivations. After a few books, I don't think it's an easy feat for an author. I'm hoping that the next one is as entraining as the first few.

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Let's keep going: Grave Witch series

Green Rider - Kristen Britain

Genre: Fantasy
Subgenre: riders, messengers, kings, intrigue
Age Appropriate: Young Adult
Recommended for my sister: Absolutely

"I am not a Green Rider!" - Karigan

One fateful day, Karigan G'ladheon is expelled from her school, Selium. It is an academy which is widely renowned. After a little swordplay with a spoiled aristocrat, Karigan finds herself running off in a bit of a tantrum at the injustice of it all. In her haste through slightly unknown forests, Karigan stumbles on a dying man is a green uniform, with two arrows in her back. This messenger pries a solemn deathbed promise out of Karigan to complete his mission in getting his messages back to the King. She takes his messages, a spare uniform, and his uniquely intelligent horse and trots off on her new mission.

Along the way Karigan meets various obstacles, both big and small, all in her effort to reach the King with the messages. Each time she's met with an obstacle, or even a new character, Karigan consistently insists that she is not a Green Rider, simply finishing his mission as promised. Things begin to prove differently throughout her journey, but she adamantly denies all of the signs. While stumbling some crazy situation, she realizes that her horse really is unusually smart, and that she's developed some sort of magical gift. There are evil forces infiltrating the kingdom and now she's found herself in the middle of a growing, tainted conflict. In each books of the series, Karigan fights against herself while fighting against the evil spreading through the land. With all of the battles on each front, she manages to add a different aspect when a little bit of romance rears it's head.

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The Green Rider series is pretty fun for me. It's like a younger version of The Deed of Paksenarrion. There are some elves running around, though not much more of the other races often found in similar stories. One of my favorite aspects is how much Karigan rails against her new powers and responsibilities. It's not because I want to see her struggle, but more that heroes (or heroines) often think of how awesome they are, or how cool they could be, and Karigan wants nothing more than to abandon her new life and return to her old one - except that she has an incredible sense of duty hiding behind some of that angst.

I'm keeping this at Young Adult because, although there is a brief encounter that might be considered more on the adult side of things, I don't feel that two pages in the fourth book takes it above the rating. The one big disappointment of the series is that Kristen Britain takes about two years to release a book. I'm glad because they're usually pretty well done, but sad because I'm a bit impatient. There are a few things that don't really sit well with me, but I've enjoyed the series nonetheless. I'd definitely recommend it. It's close to light reading, but still pretty entertaining. Now, the question is...what is going to happen with those romantic entanglements!? (I'm such a girl.)

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Yes, you are!: Elemental Assassin series - Jennifer Estep

Morrigan's Cross - Nora Roberts

Genre: Romance
Subgenre: A wizard, witch and a vampire walk into a bar...
Age Appropriate: Adult, kinda. I mean, it's romance.
Recommended for my sister: Enh.

"Where ever he goes, I go." - King

Seriously, though, Hoyt is a magician/wizard born in the 1800's. He sees his twin brother attacked and "killed" by Lilith, the evil queen of nasty vampires. His twin, Cian, leaves the family to start his new life, but Lilith is far from done with them. Hoyt is then visited by the goddess Morrigan and is sent through the Dance of the Gods, a portal between time and realms to present day. His job is to find the other 5 members of the circle that will help him put an end to Lilith's plan for multi-world domination.

The first person on his list is his vampire brother, Cian. Cian has no interest in the task set before them, other than boredom and a hint of revenge. This first book also introduces the other parts of the circle: Glenna, a Chicagoan witch; Moira, a scholarly type from Gaell; Larkin, her cousin who also happens to shapeshift (dragons are his personal favorite), and Blair, a New Yorker vampire hunter descended from Hoyt and Cian's sister, Nola. Each book of the trilogy pairs up the circle in love matches, and the find the connections they make a strong part of their circle partnerships for defeating Lilith and her vampire legion.
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The Morrigan's Cross, Dance of the Gods triology is a magical romance. I don't want to call it a paranormal romance because Nora Roberts often writes better than I would typically attribute to that genre. This is a fictional romance that happens to have some fun magical traits. I'm enjoyed it as much as I enjoy Nora Roberts' other books. These are pretty much super fluffy, but with an actual storyline. She has a lot of books set in either the states or Ireland and mysteries are found in all of them. Some of them have light violence, and the romance part is relatively tame compared to others in the genre. I guess I wouldn't necessarily recommend it, unless you're really in the mood. I would definitely put a bunch of books ahead in line.

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Less fluffy?: Green Rider series

Black Wings - Christina Henry

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Subgenre: demons, elves, a gargoyle
Age Appropriate: Adult, or mature older teen
Recommended for my sister: Probably

"You're still Maddy. You're still Maddy Black." - Beezle


Madeline Black works for an agency that oversees the collection and guidance of souls. It was an inherited job through her mother, and includes the trials of dealing with stubborn newly dead and some awesome wings. Along with the job, Maddy has inherited a house guardian - a endless pit of hunger named Beezle. His job is protect the domicile, and includes being a sassy companion for Maddy. The plot of the story is founded in a new discovery in Maddy's life.

Somehow, after losing a dear friend, she's found herself in a strange, difficult relationship with her long-lost father and subsequently fighting against a demon who is terrorizing souls. As in most series in the urban dantasy genre, there is an aspect of romance between Maddy and a pseudo-demonic protector, Gabriel. It's a forbidden romance, on many levels, but that is also a traditional plot device. The meat of the series is in the relationships that develop as Maddy struggles with her internal battles between good and evil, and her external battles between good and evil. Everything goes to hell (harhar) when Maddy discovers her actual bloodline relationships, and slowly gains powers that seduce her to the dark side.

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This isn't the best series I've ever read, but it's consistently entertaining. I think it's probably a positive thing that there isn't a new book every few months, which has become fairly common with some authors. Sometimes, I just stumble on the fact that there is a new one out. The negative is really that I have pretty high expectations sometimes. I think book 4 was a little outside my fun-meter, but the most recent book was pretty up there. I'm not sure how I feel with the way her relationship is developing with Gabriel. I'm kinda over it, really. I'm really enjoying her new relationship with her uncle, though.

I'd recommend it to most who like the urban fantasy, with a little romance, genre. The romance part is not very explicit, which I appreciate in a series like this, but it's definitely necessary to the storyline. You have to be willing to stick with it, though. It's not really a chore, but if LKH or Jacqueline Carey came out with a new book I would probably read those first. I would probably recommend it to my sister, but mostly because sometimes you need something to read.

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Keep it movin'!: Morrigan's Cross series

The Lions of Al-Rassan - Guy Gavriel Kay

Genre: Alternate History-type Fiction
Subgenre: re-named regions and historical events
Age Appropriate: Teens
Recommended for my sister: Um, YEAH

"...it always rains upon the Kindath." - Proverb-type saying

Jehane is a Kindath doctor who lives in the Kindath quarter of her city, Fezana. The Kindath people are looked down up, have higher taxes, and regulated to live only in their own area. Jehane is becoming known as an excellent doctor, partially due to her father's teachings and reputation. While she's struggles to pull out of the prejudice of being a female doctor, she has a harder time dealing with being Kindath. Due to her circumstances, she joins the calvary company of Rodrigo Belmonte as his company doctor. Ammar ibn Khairan is the illustrious poet/mercenary dealing with his exile and joins the strange group as something to do. The background events reflect the culmination of historical events that should put strong lines between Jehane, Ammar and Rodrigo, but their individual relationships bring a new perspective to their roles in the greater world.

The Lions of Al-Rassan takes a fictional look at a "fictional" event with fictional characters from "fictional" regions in the world. Fictional because one needs to know a little something about history to draw the correct parallels in the story. It doesn't make much of a difference in these story line, but adds a little interest. Knowing those parallels adds an additional layer of hidden social commentary on the time period, as well as a look into the current climate.

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This is one of the only books that I've read that has made me cry. Seriously, at least one tear down my face. It's not that other books aren't moving, but I'm not generally a crier for books or movies. It is amazing powerful, and frankly I'd recommend it to most anyone. I think I'm going to try to get my parents to give it a try. I will say, though, that if you're looking for my teary-eyes point, you'll have to finish the whole book. I admit that I was proud of myself when I figured out the historical parallels, which is partly why I didn't reveal it (though it's not a hard conclusion to reach).

It's really the characters that get to me. Usually, I identify with the main protagonist, which isn't unusual, but in this story I find myself feeling for each character. The story is primarily told from the view of Jehane, but it's third person enough that there are some additional parts that enhance the story from far away. The story has a good, hidden social commentary that might be applied to today's cultural issues. I've read this book a number of times, and when I needed a new one, I had to find one online. Try the internet if you want to find it, because it's not available as an e-book yet (from what I've found to date) and I can almost guarantee you can't find it in a normal bookstore. Really, though, read it. It's not urban fantasy or romance. I really would recommend it to anyone.

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Forward: Black Wings series

Mercy Thompson - Patricia Briggs

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Subgenre: weres, vamps, walkers, an elf or two
Age Appropriate: Mature Older Teen
Recommended for my sister: Yep.

"'I killed a werewolf in my garage.' That will get a quicker response than spending 20 minutes explaining." - Mercy

Mercedes Thompson turns into a coyote. As opposed to werewolves, she's a walker. Her mother love a Native American cowboy and Mercy came of it. Her father died tragically in a car accident shortly and so Mercy ended up with her mother. Until something strange happened, of course. Mercy ended up moving to Montana to be with her werewolf uncle and the Marrok's pack. She grew up and moved out, ended school and became a VW mechanic. That's right, Mercedes the VW mechanic. An old joke made frequently throughout the series.

Mercy has a number of new and interesting friends that either a direct effect in all of the shenanigans, or somehow pulled her butt of out the fire in each. Only Mercy would end up working for a metalsmith gremlin, being courted but the local Alpha, fixing up cars and vampires and wrapped up in Fae affairs. Her mystical abilities make her to focus of interesting people, and often ends up in lot of trouble all the way around. That's the whole basis of her books - watching her get out of these bonkers situations with the help of her unlikely set of friends.

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I have a lot of fun with this series. Of course there is some romance, as with most Urban Fantasy novels (particularly with female authors but it still well away from the Paranormal Romance genre. It's almost like Anite Blake-light. Mercy gets into tons of accidental situations where she has to take on a hero role. The "light" part is that she's no serious vampire hunter with dangerous assassin friends, just werewolves and a strange vampire. It is comparatively lighthearted. Half of the time I'm just shaking my head at how she manages to get into some of these situations. There are some serious parts, though. It's not completely fluffy. In one of the books, there is actually a pretty difficult ending - fair warning. I'm going to recommend it, though. It's good light Urban Fantasy reading. Right now, there are 6 books in the series - which is why I've put in less review. (Anita has about 23 books, hence the longer review.)

I will mention that there is a spin-off series  (Alpha & Omega)with some good friends/family of Mercy & Company. It's definitely more on the romance side of the spectrum, but they're pretty good. If you decide you're going to be adding those in, it might be good to see if Patricia Briggs has a chronological timeline somewhere, as the books are interspersed with the Mercy books.

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Next time!: The Lions of Al-Rassan