Kitty Takes a Holiday (Book #3) by Carrie Vaughn. © 2007 Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 0-446-61874-8. Paperback. Paranormal Romance. 318 pages. $6.99 US. [ Purchase ]

What is there left to do after being forced to shapeshift into a werewolf on live national television but hide in the proverbial cabin in the woods and write your memoir?

That’s exactly what Kitty Norville does in this series’ third installment. However, being secluded in the Colorado wilderness with only your laptop and some trees for company, isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and soon her attempt to recreate Walden Pond soon fails. Wolf is at home, Kitty is not.

The residents of San Isabel National Forest tolerate her presence in their quiet town but don’t quite roll out the welcome mat for her.

Things escalate bit by bit from “bored to death” to “um, is that thing trying to kill me?” soon enough when she soon discovers animal sacrifices are making a daily apperance on her front porch and her peaceful reverie is interrupted when the incredibly sexy bounty hunter Cormac Bennett arrives at her cabin with his cousin and her lawyer, Ben O’Farrell, who has just happened to be infected by a werewolf. Ben has been pleading to Cormac to do what he does best and shoot him, but Cormac refuses and hopes that Kitty can convince Ben that becoming a werewolf is not a death sentence.

Things get even more interesting when an evil creature lurking in the woods surrounding the cabin sets its preying eyes on Kitty.

Brace yourself, this thrill ride never let’s up and is oh, so enjoyable!

Rating: 5 yee naaldlooshii out of 5!

** Read reviews for books 1-2 here. **

Teresa

Teresa (nom de plume: Torrance Sené) is a self-proclaimed geek, a Janeite, a lover of werewolves and bad-ass angels, an aspiring novelist and an avid book reader who freelances as a web designer. You can follow her on Twitter at @eireannoir.

More Posts - Website

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. © 2007 Razor Bill. ISBN 978-1-59514-171-2. Hardback.  304 pages. Ages 12 and up. $16.99 US. [ Purchase ] Source: ARC from publisher

Clay Jensen, a normal, nice guy schoolboy, comes home one day to find his life turned upside down. He finds on his doorstep an unaddressed parcel containing seven cassette tapes recorded by his crush and classmate, Hannah Baker, who committed suicide only two weeks before.

Slipping in the first tape, Hannah’s voice fills the speakers. “The rules are pretty simple. There are only two. Rule number one: You listen. Number two: You pass it on. Hopefully neither one will be easy for you.” As he continues listening, he travels the city, going to the places Hannah mentions all the while discovering the thirteen secret torments of her life and why she chose to end it, and Clay is one of those reasons. Read more

Teresa

Teresa (nom de plume: Torrance Sené) is a self-proclaimed geek, a Janeite, a lover of werewolves and bad-ass angels, an aspiring novelist and an avid book reader who freelances as a web designer. You can follow her on Twitter at @eireannoir.

More Posts - Website

Crashing Paradise: A Novel of the Menagerie by Christopher Golden and Tom E. Sniegoski. © 2007 Ace Books. (August 28, 2007) ISBN 978-0-441-01532-0. Paperback. Dark Fantasy. 278 pages. $7.99 US. [ Purchase ]

“In the fourth novel of the Menagerie, the Legion of Doom is hell-bent on breaking into Eden, and they’ve got the perfect captive to assist them: Eve, mother of all humanity—and all vampires. Only Doyle and the Menagerie can stop them from turning a blessed garden into a paradise lost.” [from the back cover]

While this is the first of the Menagerie series that I have read, I enjoyed it immensely nonetheless (this is one series you can pick up at anytime and still get the gist and understand what’s going on). Co-author Tom Sniegoski, known for the highly suspenseful and riveting “Fallen” series (dealing with fallen angels, recently made into a three part miniseries by ABC Family), has let this knowledge of Biblical mythos seep into the pages and help create a whole new world for readers to enjoy, while Christopher Golden displays some of his best supernatural work since the Buffy series. This book is chalked full of vampires, shape shifters, demons, angels and more, yet isn’t overwhelming to the reader to keep up with everyone and everything. Read more

Teresa

Teresa (nom de plume: Torrance Sené) is a self-proclaimed geek, a Janeite, a lover of werewolves and bad-ass angels, an aspiring novelist and an avid book reader who freelances as a web designer. You can follow her on Twitter at @eireannoir.

More Posts - Website

What Is Mine by Anne Holt. © 2007 Warner Books. ISBN 0-446-57802-9. Hardback. 391 pages. $24.99 US. [ Purchase ]

A translation of the original Norwegian novel, What Is Mine is a suspense-thriller about a child serial killer stalking a usually low-crime town in Norway. With one child missing, and another dead, lead detective Adam Stubo turns to the only help he knows, Johanne Vik, a former FBI profiler. Yet, Johanne is apprehensive to join being already absorbed in another investigation where the suspect has fled to America. But when more children go missing, Vik (a mother of a six-year old) can no longer turn a blind eye to what’s happening in her own country and joins the local police investigation. Could the cold case and the new have something in common?

This is the first suspense-thriller I’ve read, normally they are only good to me in film form, but this was a pleasant surprise. It’s fact-paced and rather enjoyable and I could over look the few seemingly short chapters (something of a peeve of mine). Her characters are believably human and fascinating. The struggle of the small girl is heartbreaking. These characters pull you in and truly make you feel as though you are a part of this well-composed story.

This is a great introduction to the genre and a sure to be pleasurable read for crime story veterans.

Teresa

Teresa (nom de plume: Torrance Sené) is a self-proclaimed geek, a Janeite, a lover of werewolves and bad-ass angels, an aspiring novelist and an avid book reader who freelances as a web designer. You can follow her on Twitter at @eireannoir.

More Posts - Website