Blood Games by Chloe Neill

My Rating: 5 of 5 Very Hot Stars

Let me get it out of the way right up front. I’m not a fan of this cover. I’m not a fan of many of the covers in this series, I’m afraid. No insult intended, and I’m sure many readers love them, but to me, none of them have conveyed the “feel” of the books, and all of them have made our heroine, Merit, look so much less than she is. This is a personal opinion, only, but I doubt that I would ever pick up a single one of the books based on the cover. Thank goodness I didn’t have to. I got hooked on the Chicagoland Vampires series on my black and white Kindle, and it almost never opens with the cover, but instead, jumps right to the story.

A Hidden Fire: Elemental Mysteries Book 1

My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars

I don’t know what to say about this book, except that it wins my award for the most wonderful surprise of the past year, perhaps.  I really don’t know if I can do A Hidden Fire justice in a review. It’s that good.

Let’s Get Digital by David Gaughran

My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars

If you have any interest in writing and publishing a book of any kind, and you haven’t yet checked out both David Gaughran’s blog and his book, Let’s Get Digital, you really should.  I downloaded

Cold Days by Jim Butcher (Finally Finished It!)

My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars

Dang, Jim Butcher!  Take us on a ride, why doncha?  I finally found time amidst all that’s going on around here to finish Cold Days.  I read until 2:00am last night, determined not to stop until I knew how it all turned out.  Holy guacamole!  This book is what Cecil B. DeMille would write if he were an Urban Fantasy author instead of a long-deceased director of big-budget Hollywood spectacles from decades ago.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars

Maggie Stiefvater has become my very favorite Young Adult Urban Fantasy writer in the world.  Period.  I don’t know another author, Young Adult or not, who can make my heart ache more deeply for her characters than Stiefvater.  Her writing is exquisite

Ashes of Honor by Seanan McGuire

My Rating: 5+ out of 5 Stars

POSSIBLE VERY SLIGHT SPOILERS ALERT!

When I finished Ashes of Honor last night, I was dancing on the seat of the Comfy Chair, fist-pumping, and yelling “Yes, YES, YEEEESSSS!!!”  I can  guarantee that this was not a pretty sight, but what else could I do?  The book was definitely

Unbroken by Rachel Caine

My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars

A TERRIFIC finish to the Outcast Season series, a spin-off from the Weather Warden books. Cassiel really came into her own through these four books, and my only complaint is that with this final Outcast Season book,  the whole

Falling Together by Marisa de los Santos

My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars

I didn’t think it was possible to love a book more than I loved Marisa de los Santos’ first book, Love Walked In,   but I was wrong.  Falling Together is the most profoundly beautiful love story I’ve read in years…maybe ever. The sheer poetry of the language, combined with the astonishingly beautiful portrayal

The Weather Warden Series by Rachel Caine

My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars

Rachel Caine is one of my favorite Urban Fantasy authors, just because her books are so much fun.  Filled with loads of action and just enough romance to suit me perfectly,  almost all of her series have been great reads.  Based on the fun factor and good, solid writing, I’m giving Ill Wind and each of the other 8 books in the Weather Warden series, 5 stars.  They may not be

Sarum by Edward Rutherfurd

My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars

While I’m thinking about historical fiction, I figured I might as well post about one of my favorite examples of the genre.  Where Cold Mountain was about one man’s experiences during a relatively brief period of American history, Sarum is a monumental recounting of the entire history of England.  We are talking Epic, here, in the most wide-sweeping sense.

The book begins in the Stone Age, and loosely follows

Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier

My Rating:  5 of 5 Stars

Written in 1997, Cold Mountain remains one of my favorite books of all time.  A modern day classic set during the Civil War, it details the long journey home of a Confederate soldier who has recovered from serious injury, and knows

The Girl Who Chased The Moon by Sarah Addison Allen

My Rating:  5 of 5 Stars

Of the four wonderful books that Sarah Allen Addison has written, The Girl Who Chased The Moon is so utterly beautiful, it made my heart sing as I read it.  I love this book almost as much as Allen’s first, Garden Spells.  The story is positively

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg

MY RATING (WAY BACK WHEN): 5 of 5 Stars

I’ve been looking around my library a lot lately, picking up books I read years and years ago, and thinking maybe I’m due to revisit some of them once again.  When this book came out in 1987, I thought

Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos

MY RATING:  5 of 5 Stars

There are readers out there more worldly and cynical than I,  perhaps, who manage to find fault with this book, but for me, it was one of the best surprises I’ve come across in years.  The title makes it sound like sappy, frothy Chick Lit.  It is anything but!  The story of Cornelia, who has gone through life looking

Spellcrossed – Barbara Ashford

MY RATING:  5 of 5 Stars

This sequel to “Spellcast,” which I reviewed here last week, was entertaining to the very last page.  I won’t say it captivated me quite as thoroughly as the first book, but that’s probably because it was a continuation of the same story, and I was already familiar with the world and the characters involved.  I can definitely say that I was very glad to have read Book 1 with Book 2 waiting in the wings.  I NEEDED to know how it was all going to turn out, and in that, “Spellcrossed” didn’t disappoint.

For one thing, it was quite clear why

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

MY RATING: 5 of 5 Stars

“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again…”

So opens one of the great romantic mysteries of all time, written by my very favorite author, the incomparable Daphne du Maurier.  Over the years, I read every one of du Maurier’s books, and while they were all wonderful, vividly written stories, Rebecca is undoubtedly the most beautiful.   I always felt Daphne du Maurier dipped her pen into a bowlful of images,  and drizzled them down the pages.  Her descriptions are so vivid and real, you can smell the azaleas, feel the mist on your face, and hear

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

MY RATING:  5 of 5 Stars

Hmmm.   Musing, here.  Where should I shelve this beautiful book?  A tricky question.   It’s a love story without being a Romance.  It’s poetry without the rhymes.  It’s a fantasy without a single vampire, werewolf, faery, or dragon.  I guess I should just shelve it under “Books I Will Treasure Forever.”  The writing is

Fair Game by Patricia Briggs

MY RATING: 5 of 5 Stars

I have to confess, I’ve had Fair Game since the day it came out, sitting in my To Be Read basket, unopened. For weeks, I’ve walked by it and mentally whispered, “Sooooon, My Precious!” (I like to torture myself that way when I have a new book that I KNOW I’m going to love. Kind of like saving the best thing on the dinner plate for last!) Finally, I let myself sink into the pleasure of another visit to the world as created by Patricia Briggs, and I’m so glad I didn’t prolong the agony another day!

I’ve been following the Mercy Thompson books since the first one was released, and of course, I went straight into the Alpha & Omega series as soon as they were released, as well. I had hoped this second series would be just as good,

Spellcast by Barbara Ashford

MY RATING:  5 of 5 Stars

I finished this lovely book at 12:45am last night, and I am embarrassed to tell you how emotional I was by the end of the story.  It actually kept me awake a long time, as I pondered what might lie ahead for these very engaging and, in the case of Rowan MacKenzie, charismatic, characters.  Yes.  I admit it.  I fretted.  Over fictional beings.  But isn’t the whole purpose of writing to make the reader care?  I think it is.  And I think Barbara Ashford did just that, so the book rates very high with me.  I don’t give out 5 stars very often.  The plot line & characters have to be quite strong, and even more importantly, the writing must be very, very good, if not downright lyrical.

I will confess that I wasn’t sure when I first started reading.  I like musical theater probably more than most, but

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

MY RATING:  5 out of 5 Stars

It’s hard to find words to describe a book so hauntingly beautiful and thought-provoking as this Young Adult novel by Maggie Stiefvater. Okay, I found some words, but I’m not sure any of them are the RIGHT words. All I can say is Maggie Stiefvater writes like an angel. She can slowly, but inexorably, pull you inside of a character’s heart and soul better than almost any writer I know of (except maybe Marisa de los Santos). I loved Stiefvater’s Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy, but this eerie tale