Best Book(s) of 2011 (so far)

Wow. I just recently realized that I haven't posted my fave reads for the first three months of this year. Am I a slacker or what?

*crickets*

So. It may be a little lame being so late with some of this but...here's my favorite reads of January, February, and March. This is so exciting, right? *snort* These are going to be short and to the point.


January:
I'm going to have to go with Shadowfever Karen Marie Moning for this month. Yes, I thought it was well done and all (and I'm not forgetting Pale Demon!) but I'm picking it for the emotional impact it made. It finally wrapped up the five-book Fever series and gave me the ending I could live with. I could finally put the subject of Mac and Barrons to bed (heh heh) and get some distance for a little while - I was quite hyped up for Shadowfever and looking back at January, I'm glad I read it. Now, I'm interested to see where Moning goes from there with all the loose ends she left behind. Hmm.

February:
My favorite read in February was another reread of Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas. I read it during my teeth troubles and it made me feel better. I had just listened to the ebook of Secrets of a Summer Night, the first Wallflowers book, and was in the mood to revisit Evie and Sebastian. Good stuff.

I also loved Unveiled by Courtney Milan and Archangel's Consort by Nalini Singh. Fabulous, both of them, which is definitely no surprise.

March:
Last month, I read two truly outstanding and memorable books: Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly and Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart. Revolution is powerful. Many times while I read it, I was overwhelmed by Andi's pain. It is one of the best researched novels I have ever read; Andi's study of musical DNA is fascinating and the Alice in Wonderland feel to Andi's trip to the catacombs under Paris and back to the Reign of Terror almost lends a little whimsy (the iPod was a nice touch) to a mostly sad but expertly written book.

Nine Coaches Waiting had been sitting on my shelf for a little while now, ever since Jane sent me a copy. It made the book blogger circuit not that long ago but I wasn't ready to pick it up until last week. Nine Coaches Waiting is a gem of a novel and Mary Stewart definitely knows how to write a mystery that keeps you guessing. There's also a bit of romance thrown in for fun as well. This is definitely a keeper.

Thanks for reading!

And the Pale Demon ARC Giveaway Winner Now Is...

Jen D!

Your name was chosen using a highly sophisticated method of picking your name out of a hat (well, a box really).

Please email me your snail mail address at myfavoritebookworm@gmail.com so I can Priority Mail it to you ASAP. Uh, scratch that :)

Thanks to everyone who participated!

Thanks again for reading this blog!

Accidentally Yours by Susan Mallery

Synopsis:

Wanted:
-Single mom seeks billionaire's pocketbook to fund dying son's research cure. Will seduce if necessary. Blackmail is not out of the question. Miracles welcome.
-Cynical billionaire seeks working mom with a heart of gold for PR campaign to improve his standing in the community. Must be willing to attend social events. Anyone looking for love need not apply.
It seemed like the perfect match…until the unthinkable happened.


My thoughts (audiobook version):

Kerri Sullivan is a single mom who is willing to do absolutely anything to get the money needed to continue the research for a cure for her nine year old son, Cody who is slowly dying from Gilliar’s disease. She goes after Nathan King, a billionaire who had lost his son to the same disease 6 years ago, blackmailing him into donating $15 million. Nathan had no interest in getting involved. He already had to endure seeing his child die from this disease, he didn’t want to experience it again. But Kerri wouldn’t take no for an answer...

This is a heart tugging story about sacrifices, faith and a mother’s undying love. I hope that if I ever find myself in a situation like this, that I would be as strong and determined as Kerri. The dialog was witty (laugh out loud funny at times) and the romance between Kerri and Nathan was beautiful and unrushed. The other characters I found endearing were Nathan’s chauffeur and his boyfriend Lance and of course Cody who was adorable and so brave. Be prepared to laugh and cry, this is a wonderful story.

Narration: I was impressed with Therese Plummer’s narration. This was an emotional story and she really made the characters come to life for me.

Review: Once Upon a Scandal by Delilah Marvelle

Lady Victoria Jane Emerson left behind her girlish notions of romance when Jonathan deserted her without a backward glance. Now the time has come when she must finally choose a husband, and she has vowed to marry someone who will never break her heart.

Jonathan Pierce Thatcher, Viscount Remington, has returned home, free of all his family’s debts. Only to discover that by some miracle he has been chosen to vie for the hand of his beloved Victoria. To convince his only love to once again believe in the magic of love and the promise of desire will be his greatest challenge yet. And one he cannot fail!

Delilah Marvelle is making one heck of a splash into the world of historical romance with her Scandal series. They're not technically her first books but these are definitely getting more attention in the mainstream market. Once Upon a Scandal is the second in this series and I found it to be just as good as the first.

Victoria was less than a year away from her coming out season in London when Jonathan made a play for her heart. A complete romantic, Jonathan wooed her with sweet words and only one kiss. They were already friends but he wished to have a promise from her before he left for Venice that she would wait for him to return. It should have been seven to ten months, tops, but instead he was gone for five years. And he wouldn't tell her why he couldn't return. From Victoria's perspective, it felt like he dumped her as an afterthought. He stopped replying to the letters she wrote and forbade her cousin, his best friend, from telling her the truth about him. It broke Victoria's heart, a heart that was already fragile after losing her mother and twin brother years before, and so she never married. Fast forward five years. Victoria's father is dying from tertiary-phase syphilis and doesn't even remember her. She is informed that three men have agreed to vie for her hand in marriage and she must marry one before her father is too ill to stand at her wedding - her inheritance depends upon it. Guess who shows up that night to be one of the three? Jonathan. Victoria has to speak to each for an hour before making her decision and than marry them within a week. How does someone make a decision like this, especially with these circumstances? Where has Jonathan been the last five years? And does Victoria still love him?

Delilah Marvelle does not make life easy for her couples, does she? (See my review for Prelude to a Scandal.) I consistently find it appalling, the way that women were treated back then for I do not doubt that this scenario was likely forced upon some poor girl back then; possibly now too. Many men also didn't have it all that easy either, I suppose. Anyway, Once Upon a Scandal is a bittersweet love story. The sex theme is back, too, in a different incarnation, yet still applied to the man in the equation. Sexual abuse in literature or fiction is generally forced upon the woman and I appreciated that Marvelle is turning the tables on that. (Not that I like reading about sexual abuse in any fashion.) I also liked that Jonathan's version of romance didn't involve sexing up Victoria, exactly, as well as his devotion to her and their love. On the flip side, I felt that the villain, Marchese Casacalenda, was rather uneven. He does all these horrible things (i.e. rape, murder) because his influence and money has bought him impunity and then at the end, he voluntarily acquiesces and accepts bodily harm? That felt inconsistent and didn't make sense. On the whole though, I found Once Upon a Scandal to be a riveting story.

The Perfect Scandal, starring Marquis Moreland, one of Victoria's suitors, is the final book in this series. I will definitely be reviewing that one as well.

Once Upon a Scandal can be found in stores on January 18, 2011. The Perfect Scandal will be out on February 15, 2011.

Review: The Demon Trapper's Daughter by Jana Oliver

Rebellious teen Demon Trapper Riley Blackthorne just needs a chance to prove herself-and that's exactly what Lucifer is counting on.

It’s the year 2018, and with human society seriously disrupted by the economic upheavals of the previous decade, Lucifer has increased the number of demons in all major cities. Atlanta is no exception. Fortunately, humans are protected by Demon Trappers, who work to keep homes and streets safe from the things that go bump in the night.
Seventeen-year-old Riley, only daughter of legendary Demon Trapper Paul Blackthorne, has always dreamed of following in her father’s footsteps. When she’s not keeping up with her homework or trying to manage her growing attraction to fellow Trapper apprentice, Simon, Riley’s out saving citizens from Grade One Hellspawn. Business as usual, really, for a demon-trapping teen. When a Grade Five Geo-Fiend crashes Riley’s routine assignment at a library, jeopardizing her life and her chosen livelihood, she realizes that she’s caught in the middle of a battle between Heaven and Hell. (from demontrappers.com)

First off, I would like to pose a question. Why is it that UF/PNR/YA writers like to pick on Atlanta? I have never been there so I have no personal feelings toward it one way or another but it seems that lately, when a book is set there, the city is one step away from being demolished! In The Demon Trapper's Daughter, Atlanta is bankrupt. There is a huge gulf between the classes and folks just barely scrape together a living. Demons are everywhere and they wreak havoc as much as possible. In the beginning of TDTD, Riley is sent to a university law library to capture a "Biblio-Fiend," a tiny demon who lives to ruin books. It's favorite method of destruction: peeing. These little buggers like to sneak into libraries (and if there's rare books there all the better) and pee everywhere, shredding pages as they go. Their kryptonite: boring literature. Riley read it part of the first page of Moby Dick and it was down for the count. (I can relate.) Into it's little sippy cup prison it went. Only...not.

And with that opening snafu, The Demon Trapper's Daughter kept me up until 2:30 am last night. I just couldn't put it down. I laughed and I cried and I rolled my eyes many times. I marveled at this clever world that Jana Oliver has created with it's different classes of demons, some ridiculous but most very dangerous. My favorite, besides the ones that pee, is the "Geo-Fiend," a class Five demon that you can't fight unless you're able to get them to touch the ground. They float, you see, and use earth magics to use the elements as their weapons. Plus, they're just BIG. Nasty, but cool.

Riley is a typical teenager with abandonment issues. She's clingy with her dad because her mom died of cancer. Riley only exists in extremes with her feelings; she used to have a crush on her dad's trapping partner, Beck, but now she hates him. She is almost to the point of obsession of making her dad proud of her as a trapper. She is in constant fear of disappointing him. It doesn't occur to her that her father already loves her and is proud of her but wishes that she did something else with her life, something way less dangerous. Riley is loyal and intelligent but just a bit clueless about the men in her life. I liked her but will like her even more after she can get over herself just a bitty bit.

As for the book as a whole, it is a well-written, evenly paced story with plenty of action. I was particularly amused by the necromancer parade that visited the cemetery while Riley stood vigil. There's not much romance here either unless you count a few kisses between Riley and the do-gooder Simon. A nice guy for certain but not the one who will last until the end, I think. Neither will the mysterious boy; that's where Beck will come in (eventually). I appreciated the lack of girly swooning here; it's obvious that while boys are an important part of a teenage girl's life, for Riley, they're not the top priority at the moment.

There is a subplot in TDTD that is touched on a few times but is barely explained until you are smacked over the head with part of it at the end. I'm hoping that the next book in this series has more to tell on the subject because my interest is piqued. The Demon Trapper's Daughter is the first book in a new series that I definitely want more of. It will be available on February 1, 2011.

On second thought,  you know what? Sorry, Atlanta. Any writer who wants to pick on you is fine with me.

Our Most Anticipated Books of January

Jane's Pick:

The book that caught my attention this month is The Witch's Daughter by Paula Brackston. It's written in the form of a journal that Bess has kept throughout her various incarnations. The idea of traveling with an immortal witch throughout the centuries really appeals to me. This book is being released on January 18th.

In the spring of 1628, the Witchfinder of Wessex finds himself a true Witch. As Bess Hawksmith watches her mother swing from the Hanging Tree she knows that only one man can save her from the same fate: the Warlock Gideon Masters. Secluded at his cottage in the woods, Gideon instructs Bess in the Craft, awakening formidable powers and making her immortal. She couldn’t have foreseen that even now, centuries later, he will be hunting her across time, determined to claim payment for saving her life.

In present-day England, Elizabeth has built a quiet life. Her solitude abruptly ends when a teenage girl named Tegan starts hanging around. Against her instincts, Elizabeth teaches Tegan the ways of the Hedge Witch, in the process awakening memories—and demons—long thought forgotten.

Part historical romance, part modern fantasy, The Witch’s Daughter is a fresh, compelling take on the magical, yet dangerous world of witches. Readers will long remember the fiercely independent heroine who survives plagues, wars, and the heartbreak of immortality to stay true to herself, and protect the protégé she comes to love.

Jen's pick:

No surprise here: Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning. It's the long-awaited finale to her five-book-long Fever series that has kept me and a million others holding our breath for a year and a half, waiting to see what really happened at the end of Dreamfever. I'm planning an attempt to reread the first four books before this one gets here. *gulp* Here's for a HEA for Mac, people. If you hear a crazy woman howl in the evening of January 18th, you'll know why.

MacKayla Lane was just a child when she and her sister, Alina, were given up for adoption and banished from Ireland forever.

Twenty years later, Alina is dead and Mac has returned to the country that expelled them to hunt her sister’s murderer. But after discovering that she descends from a bloodline both gifted and cursed, Mac is plunged into a secret history: an ancient conflict between humans and immortals who have lived concealed among us for thousands of years.

What follows is a shocking chain of events with devastating consequences, and now Mac struggles to cope with grief while continuing her mission to acquire and control the Sinsar Dubh — a book of dark, forbidden magic scribed by the mythical Unseelie King, containing the power to create and destroy worlds.

In an epic battle between humans and Fae, the hunter becomes the hunted when the Sinsar Dubh turns on Mac and begins mowing a deadly path through those she loves.

Who can she turn to? Who can she trust? Who is the woman haunting her dreams? More important, who is Mac and what is the destiny she glimpses in the black and crimson designs of an ancient tarot card?

From the luxury of the Lord Master’s penthouse to the sordid depths of an Unseelie nightclub, from the erotic bed of her lover to the terrifying bed of the Unseelie King, Mac’s journey will force her to face the truth of her exile, and to make a choice that will either save the world... or destroy it.

I would also like to mention J. F. Lewis' Crossed, the third book in his Void City series. Eric the vampire is superfun and I can't wait to read/see him again. Crossed is out on January 25.

COMMITTED. CONFLICTED. AND UTTERLY CHAOTIC.

In spite of his continuing hot-blooded affair with his soon-to-be sister-in-law Rachel, Eric’s plan is simple: Give his vampire girlfriend Tabitha the fancy wedding she’s always wanted, then head off to Paris for their honeymoon in the hopes of tracking down his sire, the Empress vampire Lisette. The City of Love proves anything but romantic when the True Immortal rulers of Europe try to block Eric from entering the Continent—and subject Tabitha to a series of challenges to prove her vampire worth. Back home in Void City, Eric’s volatile daughter Greta is getting lonely and bored—and that’s not good news for anyone. And when, like a bat out of hell, Lisette descends upon Void City to wipe Eric and his brood off the face of the earth—forever—this much is clear: the honeymoon is over.