Monday, August 2, 2010

"Blonde with a Wand, Reading Between the Lines, & The Vampire and the Virgin"

Blonde with a Wand by Vicki Lewis Thompson
Release Date: Feb 2nd, 2010


Excerpt: 
Sexy witch Anica Revere has one rule: never under any circumstances get involved with a man before telling him she's a witch. Still, what's one silly rule? Especially when the guy in question is as cute as Jasper Danes. But when Anica and Jasper have a spat, she breaks an ever bigger rule of witchcraft and turns him into a cat. Bad news for him. Worse for her.. 


Review: 
If Jasper Danes were to meet any witch I’m sure he’d want to meet Samantha from Bewitched. That would be of course if he believed in witches after all. He met Anica Revere at her coffee shop “The Wicked Brew” and has fallen head over heals in…. lust with her. His plan when he took her out to dinner at La Boheme was to get laid. Not to get turned into a cat. Little did he know that he did not find his Samantha, but instead his Endora. 
Anica Revere knew she wanted to date Jasper Danes the moment he stepped into her coffee shop. The poor thing was suffering from a broken heart and she felt it was her duty to heal it. She did not plan on meeting Jasper’s ex-girlfriend that night at the dinner. Neither did she plan on finding out that Jasper was a liar and a good one at that. His trick of picking up girls by pretending to have a broken heart when the truth was that it was him breaking the hearts ended with her. When Jasper chased after her down the street she did what ever good witch did when being pursed by a rake; pulled out her wand. Little did she expect to loose her temper and recite a spell that she had read once in an old magic book; More so for that spell to end with Jasper a cat and her with no magic. This was the situation that found our hero and heroine in at the beginning of “Blond with a Wand”. 
“Blond with a Wand” was the first book I have ever read by Vicki Lewis Thompson and I have to admit I thoroughly enjoyed it. I really can’t remember the last time I have ever laughed so much while reading a book. From Jasper kitty nearly losing his “prize possessions” to Anica having to figure out how to deal with a boyfriend she’d turned into a cat this book was a major win from front to cover. My only complaint was that there was too much sex in the book. It really went to a point of ridiculousness sometimes. Most of the time I found myself just skipping the parts; especially the oral sex scenes. I’m the type of person who finds the act of oral sex just a tad disgusting and therefore cannot read it. 
Overall a great book and I look forward to reading the sequel which starts Anica’s sister Lily. 

4 Bunnies for: humor, great plot line, well written characters, believable romance, and a well written book from beginning to finish. It misses 5 stars for me for being a bit over sexed for my taste. 





Reading Between the Lines
Release Date:  Jan 1st, 2004



Excerpt 
Sometimes reality can be hotter than fiction!
Mr. Valentine
by bestselling author
Vicki Lewis Thompson
Romance author Candy Valentine is actually the very rugged, very masculine Jack Killigan. But noboby knows that -- including his publisher! So when Jack discovers he's just been signed up to do a book tour, he's stuck . . . until he convinces his best friend, Krysta Luekenhoff, to be "Candy" for the week. Only, between sharing hotel rooms and reading Jack's steamy novel, Krysta's curiosity is at a fever pitch. Can Jack make love as well as he writes it? There's only one way to find out . . .


Review: 
Ok first things first. I only read the Vicki Lewis Thompson story in this book. Leslie's didn't interest me one bit. Therefore this review is only going to be about Vicki's story. 

Vicki's story is titled "Mr. Valentine". Now you have to admit the first time you read this title you probably think of a Fabioisique type man on a dating show. Well that would be the complete opposite. This short story follows factory worker Jack Kiligan and his long time friend Krysta Luekenhoff. Krysta and Jack have known each other all their lives being their families were friends. They lost in touch with each other once Jack dropped out of college to see the world. They find each other again when Jack gets a job at the paper factory where Krysta works in the contract department. Krysta believes that Jack is going no-where in life. That is till he comes to her asking her to pretend to him for a phone call. This is because he had written a romance under a female persona and the publishers are going to be expecting a female on the phone. Krysta agrees to pretend to be "Candace" for Jack and eventually gets more than she bargains for. 

I have to admit this is one of the best short story romance i've ever read.I found that i really liked Krysta and Jack a lot. They were funny, had great chemistry, and the whole story was hilarious and heartwarming at the same time. I also loved the premise of a male romance writer. Jack doesn't sign his actual name at first because he's a bit embarrassed and thought that he would be rejected because he was a guy. Those are two things i can totally see a guy believing. Later in the story he actually gets some justification in his belief because the publishers were interested in "Candy" because they believed she was a pretty lady. When Jack admits he was the writer the whole deal almosts falls through. Luckily Krysta is on hand to pull some damage control. 

So all in all i would say five Bunnies, but since i didn't read the other story i'm only going to give 4.
 





The Vampire and the Virgin by Kerrelyn Sparks
Release Date: March 9, 2010



Excerpt: 
"New York Times" bestselling author Kerrelyn Sparks continues her popular "Love at Stake" series with battle-weary vampire Robby MacKay who finds love while on vacation. 

Olivia’s packing list: 

1. Sunscreen 
2. Bathing suit 
3. Flip-flops 

FBI psychologist Olivia Sotiris is looking for a cool ocean breeze, sand between her toes, and a break from her crazy, and sometimes dangerous, life. But when she escapes to the Greek island of Patmos, all she gets is a meddling grandmother trying to marry her off. None of the men there interest her—except a mysterious Scotsman named Robby MacKay. 

Robby’s packing list: 

1. Synthetic blood 
2. More synthetic blood 
3. Jogging clothes (even a Vamp has to stay in shape!) 

Robby needs to cool off, too, since all he can think about is revenge on the Malcontent bloodsuckers who once held him captive. But then he meets Olivia, the beauty with wild curls and a tempting smile. When a deadly criminal from one of her cases back home tracks her down, Robby will have to save her life, along with giving her a first time she’ll never forget. 

Review

FBI agent Olivia Sotiris is on a much needed vacation at her grandmothers’ house on the Greek island of Patmos. All she wanted to do was relax and forget about Otis Crump whose somehow been stalking her from his maximum security jail cell. Relaxation isn’t something her grandmother has in mind though. Her grandmother is determined to see twenty four year old Olivia engaged, married, or have a significant other by the time she leaves the island. She’s getting assaulted by so many single men that it would be surprising to learn she was secretly the new “Bachelorette”. It doesn’t help that Olivia has “a gift” that she can read other people’s emotions and know when they’re lying. This kind of puts a damper in a relationship. Then one wakeful night she goes outside and see’s a mysterious figure jogging on the beach. Olivia, being her grandmother’s daughter, takes her grandmothers telescope and uses it not to watch the stars, but the man running; and what a man he was. What is even more intriguing about this man is that she can’t read him. 
Robby MacKay is determined to get into shape again after being brutally tortured by “The Malcontents”. His great great great grandfather Angus has decided that a vacation, and a therapist, is just what Robby needs. Robby agrees to the vacation, but not the therapist. He decides to go and stay at a covenant members house on the Greek island of Patmos. Course he’s not going there for the sunny beaches. That’s because Robby is a vampire. Not the sparkly kind, but the real dead during the day, drinks non-animal blood, only come out at night vampire. Course he has a few abilities up his sleeve including teleportation, super strength, hearing, and sight. He’s practically a nocturnal superman with his kryptonite being silver. Now one night as Robby is jogging on the beach he spots what he believes to be an angel. Now he has on authority from Anakin Skywalker that angels are the most beautiful thing in the galaxy, but they live on the moons of Iego so obviously this woman can’t be one; Perhaps a goddess. Whatever she is Robby is intrigued and so the story begins. 
This book was different for me because I rather like the plotline, but hated the romance. I mean hated. There was no buildup or even friendship for Robby and Olivia. It was merely “You’re hot. No you’re hot. We’re both hot. Let’s have sex”. This is after knowing each other for two days. They also greatly love each other after only each other for TWO DAYS. It’s like they needed “True Love's Kiss” from Enchanted playing in the background. Perhaps some fields to frolic through. It’s completely unrealistic and seems like lazy writing. Something I find highly troublesome since the main plotline of a serial killer being obsessed with Olivia and was somehow stalking her was engrossing and well done. I really wanted Olivia to end up with J.L at the end. They had more chemistry to me than she did with Robby which seemed to be all about sex and good looks. To me Robby + Olivia = love based on sex and lust of each other. Olivia + J/.L = friendship, mutual respect, and the right road for a healthy and happy relationship. All I could think of at the end was the divorce court would be in Robby and Olivia’s lives in a few years since you can’t expect a relationship to last on mere lust and the ability to not be able to read the guy’s mind. It just doesn't happen, but this is Kerrelyn’s world and she can do what she wants. 


So 3 Bunnies for: Awesome plotline, well written side characters, & being a page turner.
 



 

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