Bree’s Favorite Books of Sept, Oct & Nov!

This fall slowed down my reading somewhat. I’d read so many good books over the summer that I was having a hard time picking up new books and getting into them, and work wasn’t a blast either. As I often do when I’m stressed out, I decided to reread some old favorites. But hey, I partly use this for recommending books, so I’ll include a couple of those too!

Skin Tight by Ava Gray (On Sale June 2010)

Why I picked it up: Because I had it. And it stars BatPunisherMan. Oh BatPunisherMan, how I wish I knew how to quit you.

Thoughts: I love this book.  I sometimes half-heartedly accuse Ava Gray aka Ann Aguirre of reading my diary, and if there was ever a series to prove she does… oh man.  Man.  The hero (known in the previous book as Foster) is a brilliant, scary, damaged, broken man and did I mention brilliant and also perhaps related to MacGyver.  There is little I find more attractive in a hero than competence, which probably says a lot about me, but there it is.  I love smart men who are deliberate and devious and I love watching smart women PWN their asses.  I really can’t be more coherent than that, but am I ever?  Smart people doing smart things against smart bad guys… this book is love. So much love there’s already a fan club. (I say as if I didn’t help instigate it.)

Recommended to: People who like 8,000 shades of grey in their heroes & heroines, people who enjoy the occasional sekrit conspiracy, anyone who wants to watch a hero use household items to lift a print or witness a brilliant heroine find her confidence.

Demon Bound by Meljean Brook

Why I picked it up: I was on a Meljean Brook roll, nothing could stop me. Plus Holly kept egging me on.

Thoughts: Wow.  If there’s ever a book to prove that Meljean Brook is actually an evil wizard, this is it.  Okay, I posted on twitter about a huge ugly spider that I found in my bathroom a couple weeks ago.  Because it hid before anyone could kill it, it took me nine days to bring myself to use that bathroom again.  And I still check all the corners for the damn thing!  I am that arachnophobic, so how in the name of all that is holy did that evil enchantress make me fall in love with a heroine who hangs out with spiders?!? I’m not talking, Oh yes, I suppose I was fond of her at the end-love, but serious Alice is the shit-love.  Perhaps the pages of my copy were laced with mind control drugs, or perhaps Meljean Brook is such an amazing writer that she can make me love anything. By the end of Demon Bound I loved Jake & Alice so hard that I went back to the beginning and read the whole damn thing a second time!

Recommended to: Fans of the series, incredible writing, hot men growing into their own, tough women learning how to open up, and maybe people who are fans of nothing involving the book at all because it is a magical book and perhaps you’ll just love it anyway!

Demon Forged by Meljean Brook

Why I picked it up: Well, clearly after the discovery that Meljean Brook is a dark wizard there was nothing else to do.  And in fact, I bought a paperback copy, bought a kindle copy when that didn’t show up fast enough, then accidentally won a copy on a blog. So I have it three times.  Plus Holly had been doing an excited dance waiting for me to finish it so we could squee!

Thoughts: This book was amazing.  It stomped on my heart, ripped it out, played around with it, maybe took a bite (what, it’s an on topic accusation!) then sewed it back together again.  I loved it, loved reading it, and wanted to read it more slowly just so it wouldn’t be over so quickly.  There’s a perfect sort of balance for me in these books, with the beautiful world building and the amazing action and the romance tucked neatly in and supporting the story without burying the story.  I love this series so much, and this book made me frantic to get my hands on the next one!

Recommended to: Anyone who likes their heroines badass, their heroes smoking, their adventure epic, their fantasy well crafted…anyone who likes books?  (Really, I’d rec this one to fantasy/urban fantasy fans and romance fans, since I think it’s a true cross-genre masterpiece.)

The Invisible Ring by Anne Bishop

Why I picked it up: Katiebabs, Nalini Singh & I have had occasional bouts of Anne Bishop fangirl squee on twitter, and during the latest KB declared her intentions to get her hands on the upcoming Bishop book, Shalador’s Lady.  That made me nostalgic (and jealous!) so I immediately went back to reread all of the Shalador/Grayhaven related books.

Thoughts: The idea behind this book is one of my favorite series devices.  In Queen of Darkness there’s a small scene where someone mentions the events in this book, which prove to be pivotal in the final conflict.  This was the next book to come out, a sort if spin-off historical piece that went back a few hundred years from the series timeline and showed the full, real story.  I love this sort of thing.  It’s why I wanted to write the Red Rock Pass historical spin-off, and really, any author who does this will own my wallet.  I’ve read this book a dozen (or more) times, and I think that in a lot of ways it might be Bishop’s most traditional romance arc.  I love the story of Jared & Lia falling in love while they fight to survive, loved it so much that I get teary eyed whenever they’re mentioned in the present series timeline.

Recommended to: While the worldbuilding in this universe is complex, I don’t think it would necessarily be any easier to start with the Black Jewels trilogy as far as understanding what is going on.  This did happen first chronologically, after all.  It’s great fantasy, great romance and wonderful to read. <3 You better like your stuff dark though!

The Shadow Queen by Anne Bishop

Why I picked it up: See: The Invisible Ring. (Also, I hadn’t re-read this book yet, which is a travesty! Granted, it only came out this year, but still…)

Thoughts: I really enjoyed this book.  Honestly I think my only real complaint about it is that it might have actually focused on familiar characters a little too much at times…and I LOVE those familiar characters!  They made a nice gateway to the new characters, but I fell for those new characters so fast and so hard that I started getting a little annoyed that they weren’t getting enough attention.  (I fully admit that if there had been 75% more Lucivar I wouldn’t say a peep, I am a hypocrite and there can never be too much Lucivar anywhere.  Or Surreal.  Gawd I love them!)

Recommended to: Fans of the series, lovers of strong fantasy, people who enjoy watching a shy, stubborn woman come into her own.  Caveat: would not recommend reading this without reading the Black Jewels trilogy first.

The Wicked West by Victoria Dahl

Why I picked it up: When reading slumps get bad, sometimes you just need to read something short, wicked and totally fun.  This?  All three.

Thoughts: I thought this was a very clever tie-in idea, but I hadn’t actually picked it up before.  (For those of you who don’t know, Holly Summers is the main character in one of Dahl’s contemporaries, a character who happens to write dirty stories, including The Wicked West.)  It was everything advertised: wicked, naughty, delightful and very touching for such a short story.  I have a sort of love/hate relationship with the BDSM subgenre of erotic romance since I wish there was a way to tell upfront when consent is going to be written as a dubious in the extreme and only given retroactively.  (Not my cuppa.)  This, however, was delightfully naughty and pretty much what I’m always looking for: sex where everyone is clearly enjoying the hell out of it, whatever form that enjoyment takes.

Recommended to: Anyone in need of a short & naughty fix, fans of rough, wicked cowboys and wonderfully independent women who know exactly what they want and aren’t afraid to go after it. (YAAAY!)

One More Valentine by Anne Stuart

Why I picked it up: Donna was going through her keeper shelf the other day and stumbled across this, and it took me like, 3 sentences of description to google it. Thank God for ebooks, since I had it 2 minutes later!

Thoughts: Awww, I just thought it was sorta awesome all around.  Maybe because it gave me a tiny fix for that weird time period (20s & 3os) I’ve been jonesing after so hardcore lately.  The hero was deliciously hardened and cynical, the heroine was endearing and smart, and okay, I admit, I was reading it more for them than the plot.  But I still had so much fun with it!

Recommended to: Fans of ghost stories, gangsters, or ghostly gangsters & gangster ghost stories.  But really, I missed the boat by so many years on this, why isn’t everyone recommending it to me??