TABT–The Last Warrior, Susan Grant
The Last Warrior by Susan Grant
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
What a great book! Honestly, at first I thought this was a straight up fantasy book, but I was obviously being a smidgen dense about the clues (don’t want to spoil anything for others).
I won’t bother to recap the plot, since there are better synopses out there than I could write, but I will say that this novel has pitch-perfect pacing and characterization. I never once doubted that Elsabeth and Tao were meant for each other, but how they got there was fabulous. And the twist at the end with Xim? Fabulous! I loved the social parallels drawn between our society and the worldbuilding in this book. That might sound “heavy”, but the treatment of social issues is well done and intrinsic to the plot, and it never felt preachy–both sides of the conflict are well represented and the reader (and the characters) see the other’s side.
Both Elsabeth and Tao were well drawn, sympathetic characters–people I’d actually love to meet and interact with. In fact, their story kept me in the tub long after I was pruny, because I just had to see how it ended!
I highly recommend this one–it’s going on my keeper shelf.
Six Sentence Sunday–Arin and Jonah from Shoot to Thrill
I’m a “six” virgin! Hope you enjoy this quickie from my WiP, Shoot to Thrill. It’s the second book in the CASI series.
The moment his hand touched my shoulder everything within me had become his to command. I’d moved when he pushed, obeyed his orders to a tee. Oh, he hadn’t made me do anything humiliating, but the shame and outright anger of being so easily controlled still pulsed through me. Along with a much more feminine response.
Jonah Summers’ touch had done more than control me, it lit a fire within I’d never felt before. A fire that made my nipples peak and heat lick through me.
TABT–Another Kind of Dead, Kelly Meding
Another Kind of Dead by Kelly Meding
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Absolutely loved the third addition to Meding’s Dreg City series. I often burn out on continuation series about this point (with the exception of Estep’s Gin Blanco books), but Evy and her crew have kept my attention since the first book and I don’t see that interest waning.
Evy and Wyatt honestly make my heart break, because even though they seem destined to be together, fate, the gods, whoever, keep throwing seeminly insurmountable roadblocks in front of them. One of the things I appreciate the most about this series is the fact Evy gets herself into trouble (mostly through her loyalty to friends), and then she gets herself back out of it. Noone needs to rescue her, but when Wyatt and her friends do show up in the nick of time, it adds to the intensity of the story, instead of detracting.
And the last chapter of this one–OMG. Freakin’ fabulous! Can’t wait for the next one!
Media Monday–Practical Magic
Rewatched this one on Netflix last week and remembered why it was one of those stories that I go back to time and again (Romancing the Stone, anyone <G>). Bullock and Kidman’s chemistry, both together and when they’re apart, was fabulous, as was they storyline as a whole. The plot centers around the two sisters, who are sent to live with their aunts when their parents die. But there’s something very different about this family–they’re witches, cursed in love. The first bit of the movie sets up all this, in addition to showing the viewer how uncomfortable the town is about them being what they are. Then the real story of the two sisters begins, with Sally (Bullock) longing for a “normal” life and Gillian (Kidman) following the opposite, wild-child path. Eventually Bullock finds her normal life, and Kidman revels in freedom, but they come together again when tragedy strikes, and again when Gillian bites off more than she can chew.
While Aidan Quinn was good in the role, someone like Bill Pullman would have been better as the “everyman” in my opinion (shades of While You Were Sleeping success). Dianne Weist and Stockard Channing were FAB as the aunts–loved, loved, loved them. And Goran Visnjic was creepily haaaawt as Jimmy.
This is a true sisterhood movie that’ll make you all misty at the end, so something to keep in mind if you decide to grab it off the rack (or Netflix). Great for a girls night in, or if your man is going for points in the plus column <G>.