why oh why did I wait so long

to read the Black Jewels trilogy? Oh my. Just finished the first book and it was SO incredibly good. So good. So very very good. I felt that the events toward the end were inevitable, but oh how I didn't want them to occur. Poor Daemon, poor Lucivar, poor Saeton... Poor Jaenelle.

Need some opinions on ebooks

So...been thinking about some books. Anyone know anything about any of these?

The Fate books by Emma Sinclair (Liquid Silver)
Any of the Terran Realm series (and do they need to be read in any order?)(Liquid Silver)
Rogue Theta by Bernadette Gardner (EC)
Mr. Fullservice by Ruby Storm (EC)
Immortal Protector by Ursula Bauer (Samhain)
Taming Eliza Jane by Shannon Stacey (samhain)

Anyone? Or anyone else have any ideas for something good that hasn't been mentioned much around the blogs?

Secrets Rising by Suzanne McMinn

Oooh...a review. A real review. Or at least a post about a book that is more than a few lines.

Secrets Rising by Suzanne McMinn is the first in the new Haven series.



Keely Schiffer is having the strangest day. There's the skull in her rose garden and she receives a gift from her dead husband. Then an earthquake hits, and Keely's trapped with a handsome, gun-toting stranger.

Detective Jake Malloy heard that nothing bad ever happened in the town of Haven, but his so-called R & R has turned into a nightmare. Except for being stuck in a dark cellar with a sexy woman till help arrives. For Keely and Jake, near-death stokes hidden fires, but the earthquake seems hell-bent on stirring up all the people of Haven, past and present…


Secrets Rising was a really quick read. I think all told it took me a little over an hour to read it. Sadly, that was a good thing. There wasn't really anything compelling about the plot. I remember pausing halfway through and thinking "huh, where's my story?". Not a good thing. Keely's got the predictably bad former husband and Jake's a burned-out cop who feels bad about an incident with his partner and is taking a hiatus in what's supposed to be a quiet area. Even the paranormal aspect isn't real fleshed out, just dealing with an odd necklace and the skull in the backyard, oh and a ghost and weird lights. It just seemed tacked on and not really that interesting.

I really wish I could say something good about the story. Well, perhaps that it wasn't horribly bad. The writing was just fine and nothing jumped out at me as being truly bad, it was just that the plot kinda sucked and was boring. And well, that sucks. So sadly, I can't recommend this one.

What's been going on

Well, my hand healed. We suspect it may have been caused by nettles in the garden and that seems most likely, but I never had a rash and the swelling lasted for days. So who knows what happened.

My in-laws came to visit this last weekend and we worked on the yard. It looks great now except for the weeds in the lawn that will need to be killed.

Had thunderstorms all last night. Had to turn the computer off. Okay, actually the storm turned the computer off, but I didn't turn it back on. Gambit spent most of the time under the couch in the basement. Poor kitty. Although now he's in fine form and is trying to get me to feed him.

It's my day off. I'm trying to read the new Karin Slaughter, Beyond Reach, but just haven't been in the mood, it seems. Also got NR's High Noon from the library to read. Hmmm...can't remember what I am/was reading from work. Bad me. Also read Decision at Doona by Anne McCaffrey. Read it a long time ago. Finished Exit Strategy by Kelley Armstrong last night. And reading Fire Watcher by Lilith Saintcrow on my ppc. And almost done with Soul Song by Marjorie Liu, which is fantastic, by the way. So's the Saintcrow one, actually. And the Armstrong.

Well, time for me to get supper made. TTYL.

Your Mouth Drives Me Crazy by HelenKay Dimon

Book Cover

Annie Parks came to Hawaii to gather information and settle a score, not spend time handcuffed to a sexy stranger's bed. Okay, so this particular stranger saved her from drowning after she was pitched overboard by some goons. And he's about six feet of hard, Hawaiian muscle and gorgeous cool that's making forgotten parts of her say, "A-lo-ha!" She needs to stay focused, but a side dish of Kane Travers is awfully tempting.

Kauai Police Chief Kane Travers is not a vacation kind of guy. So it figures that when Internal Affairs suspended him, he'd end up rescuing a sarcastic, dishonest, extremely hot redhead who is clearly hiding something. Amnesia? Yeah, right. Kane's got half a mind to give Miss Whoever She Is something she'll never forget. His cop senses tell him that the lady's in deep and needs his protection. But how can he get her to tell him anything when all he wants is to take her home and do everything?


This was the first book I bought for my Sony Reader. It's been awhile now since I read it, but in my bid to actually post some content on this pathetic blog, I'm just now writing about it. And it was a really fun book to read. HelenKay Dimon does a great job of making this into a great book. The dialog is fantastic and I liked the secondary characters. They added to the story, but didn't take away from the main characters.

All in all, I really liked this one and can't wait for Dimon's next book. Will have to take out my copy of Viva Las Bad Boys and read it soon. If I had to rate this one, I'd probably give it around a B.

I'm blogging!

Oh yes indeedy I am. Aren't you surprised?

Well, house and work and a few sickness/injuries have made for less time to think about blogging.

Last week I did something to my left hand and was in some rather nasty pain for the 4th. Ended up not being able to use it that day and went to the doctor the day after. Got some x-rays and doctor wasn't quite sure what was wrong other than that I had some tissue swelling. She thinks it's probably an allergic reaction to something. So I got to take benadryl and some anti-inflammatory she prescribed. And it's much MUCH better now. But damn, it was hard to shelve books at work one-handed.

On the yard front: burdock is a serious bitch to remove. And I hate japanese beetles.

On the house front: Things are going pretty well. Bought a bed for the guest room so the in-laws can stay here when they visit. Which is this weekend! yay!

And husband has to have an MRI done on Thursday. So we get to spend part of our 4th anniversary in the hospital. How romantic. Anyways, I've decided to think that the doctor is just doing this "just to be sure it's nothing" and that there isn't anything seriously wrong with DH.

Oh....I got my Sony Reader. OMG, it's the coolest thing ever. I loooooooove it. Love it Love it Love it. It is so cool. Though I have to exchange the nice green leather cover I got for it. Seems they inserted one of the magnets upside down. Idiots. Otherwise, the Reader is awesome.

On the reading front: Reading Tempting by Susan Mallery on the Reader and finished reading Bizenghast (manga) on it. Reading Dante's Girl by Natasha Rhodes at work and also read the first volume of Tramps Like Us.

New toy

I bought myself a Sony Reader (those credit card points can come in handy) and even got the green leather cover. Now it just has to get here. Probably Thursday because of the Independence Day holiday. I want I want I want.

Books to buy for it:

Your Mouth Drives Me Crazy by HelenKay Dimon
Tempting by Susan Mallery


And some more that I can't think of.