Thank You Anne Rice, Thank You!

As an avid book lover nothing makes me happier than when I discover a new book in a favorite series is going to be released in the next year. Unless of course I discovered one of my favorite authors has returned to a series that I love after stating very publicly they will not write any more books in that series.

So this morning when I discovered Anne Rice has written a new book titled Prince Lestat that is a sequel to her original Vampire Chronicles, specifically Queen of the Damned, I was beyond happy. My coworkers are now all looking at me like I am crazy because I won't stop talking about how excited I am about the new book.

But they don't get it. They have no idea of the long relationship I have had with Anne Rice and her vampire friends. I credit Michael Jackson's Thriller video with my love of zombies and Anne Rice with my vampire obsession.

It all begin innocently enough. A friend had given me Interview with the Vampire to read, her older sister had read it and she thought I would like it also. I liked things that go bump in the night, I had already started watching horror movies and had devoured all the age appropriate "scary" books at my local library. When my friend handed me the book I was excited, it was an adult book about vampires. I read Interview with a Vampire for the first time when I was 11 or 12 (I have read it several times since then).

From that moment on I was truly obsessed with Anne Rice and vampires. I will admit to not understanding everything the first time I read the book but I knew enough. I soon had read all her books and patiently waited for the new ones to come out. And while I waited I was introduced to other authors of horror and the occult like Stephen King and Dean Koontz.

I will tell you that it is one of those books that made an impacted. I huge impacted. Reading it was one of those pivotal moments in my life. Is it weird that a fictional book had such an impact on my life? But it really did. I discovered a whole new strange world and I was fascinated by it. It started to shape my view of the world.

I am not going to say that it completely changed my view or made me a darker or twisted, I am sure those things were going to happen regardless. To be honest I am not sure how it changed me, it just did. Great books will do that to you, they will just impact you in a way that you can not describe. No matter what you think about Vampires, horror books and the occult its a really great book. With out it we wouldn't have the barge of vampire/urban fantasy books we have today.

For whatever reason I want to say thank you to Anne Rice for discovering another story to share with us about Lestat. I feel like I am be reunited with an old friend.

Prince Lestat comes out October 28, 2014 just in time for Halloween. I wonder if I can pre-order it yet.

Rosarito Beach

Rosarito Beach by M.A. Lawson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

DEA Agent Kay Hamilton doesn't play well with others not even coworkers but she brings in the bad guys and she doesn't care. And when she arrests the young brother of powerful drug lord Caesar Olivera she knows that there is nothing Caesar wont do to do get him out of jail. Including declaring open war on the U.S.

But she doesn't count on him kidnapping her daughter to get her to help his brother escape. Things don't go as well as Kay or the Cartel hopes. Now Kay's only hope on saving her daughter and herself is calling in every favor she has on both sides on the border.

This is a good introduction into a new series. It sucks you in quickly without over loading you with character development. In fact I didn't like Kay at first. I thought she was an annoying person and was annoyed by her. The more I read the more I started to understand her the more I started to kind of like her. I still thought she was a little annoying but at least I understood why.

Despite Kay's personality problems the book was addictive, I couldn't put it down and read it in one marathon session. I wanted to now what happened next. I forgot it was the beginning of a series and started to wonder if she would make it out of this mess alive and who was she going to take down with her.

Thankfully it was a quick read and I zoomed right through it. I would considered reading the next book in the series. I am curious to see what happens to Kay next. I guess I ended up liking her more than I thought.


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Takedown Twenty

Takedown Twenty by Janet Evanovich
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Stephanie Plum is back and hot on the trail of a local Godfather who also happens to be the godfather of her on again off again boyfriend Joe Morelli. As usual she is in way over her head; she is dodging bullets, killers, Morelli's grandmother, Ranger and a giraffe. If she can make it through with out destroying to many cars she may just make it through the day.

Can I just say as much as I love Stephanie and her side kicks, the series is getting a little old. It has all the same bizarre story lines and wacky characters as the previous books in the series but I didn't laugh out loud anymore. I barely crack a smile. There are still funny parts but I just feel like we have been here done that and I want something new and fun.

I want Stephanie to grow as a person, I want her to choose between Morelli and Ranger (Morelli). I want LuLu to find love. I want Connie to take over the Bonds office. I want Vinnie...I don't know what I want Vinnie to do but something besides hide in his office all the time.

I just want something more from one of my favorite characters...she seems to be stalled out in life and while I have changed and matured it would be nice if she did also.

I know that Evanovich has contracted to write at least 22 books and lets cross our fingers that she finally ends the series, with Stephanie and Morelli together of course.


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Courting Greta

Courting Greta by Ramsey Hootman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Samuel Cooke, a social awkward computer nerd, gives up his cushy job to teach computer programming to high school students. Samuel has no idea what he has gotten himself into with his new career choice. A principal that is more frat boy then a leader, a fellow teacher that is over zealous in his friendships and students that could care less. And then there is Greta the gruff P.E. teacher and girls basketball coach that has everyone at the school trembling in their shoes.

This is not your every day love story, in fact it is not like any other romance you have ever read. No one is brutally handsome or terminally pretty. This is a story about real people, people you probably know, that live down the street. Its that couple that you see at the grocery story and say how did that happen? That is what makes this book so wonderful. Characters that are wonderfully flawed and have real life problems. The book is at times hard to read because it is so honest and you want to yell at the characters to get it together and move forward.

One of the aspects I really liked was that the story was told entirely from the male perspective. I was instantly drawn to nerdy Samuel and his quest to start a new life. I was unclear why he was drawn to gruff Greta who in most all ways was his polar opposite. As their relationship grew I started to realize that she was exactly what he needed. And just as clearly she needed him.

This may not be your beach read for the summer but it is a must read.

Check out what others thought of the book.

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Dancing Within Shadow

Dancing within Shadow by Morgan Dragonwillow
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I do not read a lot of poetry. I may occasionally read a single poem here or there but bunch of read a book of poems. So I am unsure why I jumped up the opportunity to read a book of poems. I am very glad I did.

Morgan Dragonwillow creates a beautiful path from pain and sorrow to love and hope all with a few words. I felt like I was "peeping" into someones life and the poem Energy in Motion made me blush in away I didn't know I still could. I can honestly say that I felt connected to the authors words and felt honored to go on this emotional journey with her.

Even if you are not a big fan of poetry I would recommend this book.

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