Book #9 - Forever In Blue by Ann Brashares

ISBN: 0385729367

Format: Hardback, 328pp

Pub. Date: January 9, 2007

Genre: Teen Fiction

Dates Read: 02/24/07-03/01/07 (6 days)

Series: #4 in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Cheriepie loaned this copy of the book to me as she snagged it on BookMooch, but has yet to read the others in the series.

From the Publisher

With unraveled embroidery and fraying hems, the Traveling Pants are back for one last, glorious summer.

Lena: Immerses herself in her painting and an intoxicating summer fling, fearing that the moment she forgets about Kostos will be the moment she sees him again.

Carmen: Falls under the spell of a sophisticated college friend for whom a theatrical role means everything and the heritage of the Pants means nothing.

Bridget: Joins a dig for an ancient city on the coast of Turkey and discovers that her archaeology professor is available in every way except one.

Tibby: Leaves behind someone she loves, wrongly believing he will stay where she has left him.

Join Ann Brashares's beloved sisterhood once again in a dazzling, fearless novel about a summer that will forever change the lives of Lena, Carmen, Bee, and Tibby, here and now, past and future, together and apart.

My Opinion of the Book

I think this is the first Traveling Pants book that didn't make me cry, which is a wonder since I've been so depressed lately (hence this is only my 9th read of the year), but I did get goosebumps several times and I was quite a bit sad about the ending of the book because I'm not sure that there will be any more books put out in this series. :( Anyway, I loved it just as much as the other books and do hope that there are more to come or else Ms. Brashares goes off into another storyline that's just as good.

Book #8 - Devil's Bargain by Rachel Caine

ISBN: 0373513674

Format: Mass Market Paperback, 288pp

Pub. Date: August 1, 2005

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Dates Read: 02/11/07 & 02/15/07-02/18/07 (5 days)

Series: #1 in Red Letter Days series

Recieved as part of a bookring from colebear

From the Publisher

NEVER TRUST A MAN BEARING RED ENVELOPES

Jazz Callender - don't ever call her Jasmine - is an ex-cop with a goal: opening her own private detective agency and proving her former partner is innocent of murder. Too bad no one will lend her the money. Until a sexy lawyer with the devil's own grin appears with an offer she can't refuse...

$100,000. A savvy new partner. And an agreement to make any case arriving via red envelope a top priority. But if Jazz accepts, there's no turning back. Because once she opens that envelope, all hell's gonna break loose...

RED LETTER DAYS

You'll never believe what's inside

My Opinion of the Book

This was a fun read unlike anything I've read before really. The paranormal aspect isn't much, but it is in there with a "psychic". I read where some people thought this book was bad due to the main character being too whiny, but I didn't really see that at all. The book ended with a major cliffhanger so I'm really looking forward to reading "The Devil's Due" which is next in the series. I'll be starting it soon, but have a couple of other bookrings I need to get to first.

Book #7 - Weather Balloons Make Rotten Sex Toys by Annabelle du Fouet

ISBN: 1419954830

Format: Trade Paperback, 209pp

Pub. Date: June 30, 2006

Genre: Humor, Erotica

Dates Read: 02/03/07-02/12/07 & 02/15/07 (11 days)

Bought at Borders via the buy 5 romance for the price of 4 (so, this one ended up being free rather than $11.49)

From the Publisher

Unemployed scholar Annabelle du Fouet lived a quiet life until her Uncle Henry disappeared, leaving behind a mountain of kinky porn. Ordered by her Aunt Ruth to get rid of it, Annabelle decided to study the books, magazines and videos, hoping to understand Uncle Henry's secret life. Then Annabelle made a decision that changed her life;to write the world's first research report on all things kinky. And she would do it from the inside. As Mistress Dominique, Annabelle plunged ito the murky world of kink and changed it forever. Mostly for the worse, as it turned out. Follow Mistress Dominique's adventures as she: - Destroys a kinky party by filling a house with smelly green foam. - Causes a gigantic submissive known as Crazy Morty to terrorize a trailer park. - Starts a riot that sends the chairwoman of the Savvy Seeders garden club to a psychiatric hospital. - Leads a band of enraged ponygirls to attack the Rocking Robins bird club. - Helps a drunken kinky clown traumatize a women's religious studies group. And much more! Through Annabelle's historical research, you will learn why Vikings were kinky but not as kinky as the ancient Egyptians. You will discover why the man who invented golf also invented an implement found in dungeons everywhere, and how a man named Thomas Edison (but not that Edison) nearly blew up a town by inventing the world's first electric kinky device. You will meet people with a fetish for pirate outfits, a man who wears an owl suit, and people who pretend to be elderly in order to cause scenes in bookstores. Be warned though;while this in-depth research document contains frank discussions of sexual deviations, its history and the people who participate in it, there are no actual sexual encounters described. Really. Please! Annabelle is a professional and this was all done in the name of science.

My Opinion of the Book

This is the funniest damn book I've read in a long time!!! I recommend this to anyone that isn't bashful and wants a good laugh. CTGMOM and I read this one aloud during a couple of our bookshopping excursions and were laughing so hard it was making it hard for her to drive (which isn't good if you've seen her drive *whistle* ) The author seems so naive, yet is probably extremely knowledgeable when it comes to the "world of kink". Definitely check this out if you're not afraid of this subject matter. Just a warning... don't try reading or eating at the same time... could really be hazardous. Also, this would make a great party read with a group of friends! :)

Book #6 - In Deep Voodoo by Stephanie Bond

ISBN: 0060820578

Format: Mass Market Paperback, 357pp

Pub. Date: September 27, 2005

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Dates Read: 01/28/07-01/29/07 & 02/04/07-02/11/07 (10 days)

Series: #1 in Mojo/Voodoo Series

Bought at HalfPrice Books in Louisville, KY for $3.50

From the Publisher

Start With Bad Mojo ...

There's something strange afoot in the small town of Mojo, Louisiana. Yet even as the annual voodoo festival gets underway, Penny Francisco, who runs a health food business, refuses to believe in black magic. Her mind is on celebrating her divorce from her lying, cheating husband Deke.

Add a Pinprick of Revenge ...

Fueled by run-ins with her ex-mother-in-law and Deke's busty mistress, Penny is eager for the "emancipation party" her friends plan. When she receives a Deke voodoo doll as a gag gift, she sticks it with a pin as a joke. But when Deke winds up fatally stabbed, the police aren't laughing.

And Watch Things Boil Over ...

A junk-food junkie P.I. offers his services, and although Penny is wary of the sexy Cajun's motives (and his diet), she's desperate. Dodging a media sideshow and a looming murder rap, Penny realizes that somehow she's landed herself In Deep Voodoo.

My Opinion of the Book

This book was a lot of fun to read! I was having trouble putting it down in the end because I wanted to know who the killer was. The books had lots of twists & turns and it all comes out in the end. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in this series, "Finding Your Mojo", which goes on in more detail about one of the other characters.

Book #5 - Dead and Dateless by Kimberly Raye

ISBN: 034549217X

Format: Mass Market Paperback, 330pp

Pub. Date: January 30, 20067

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Dates Read: 01/29/07-02/04/2007 (7 days)

Series: #2 in "A Novel of Vampire Love" series

Bought at Barnes & Noble the day BEFORE it was supposed to come out for $6.99 (minus my 10% discount of course)

From the Publisher

SHE'D LIKE HER BLOOD BOTTLED, PLEASE!

The sassiest vampire in all of Manhattan, Lil Marchette, is the owner of Dead End Dating - a matchmaking service for hip, intelligent singles like herself. After only three months, business is booming, and she can finally pay her bills (and, more important, feed a hungry cosmetics addiction). But when one of her clients turns up dead (as in never coming back), Lil is name as the prime suspect.

Murder?

Sure, she's a vampre, but she can't even work up her nerve when it comes to blood-sucking. Hacking somebody to pieces is so out of the question.

To make matters worse, Lil must also contend with a pack of werewolves who ask - no, demand - that she find each one a tall, dark, and handsome mate before the next full moon. Plus, the to-die-for-if-I-wasn't-already-dead Ty Bonner, a lusciously sexy lover but totally unsuitable eternity mate, is never far from her midnight fantasies. But Lil has no time for such thoughts. She must prove her innocence and focus on pairing off the dead and the furry - and maybe stake a claim to her own tasty true love.

My Opinion of the Book

So... there has been too much of a gap since I read the first one to know which I liked better, but this was a fun read and I'm looking forward to the next one, which *sigh* doesn't come out until October of this year. I'm just glad this book finally involved some vamp sex (not to mention the werewolf orgy!!!) as it was needed in the first book IMO! ;)