Or Greek and Atlantian Gods

I have to admit that I was a little skeptical of the latest book in Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark-Hunter series, Styxx.  In Acheron, Styxx is not portrayed as a likable character, sure he saves Tory for Ash, but his past history with his twin painted him as a self-absorbed prince. As everyone knows, there are two sides to every coin, and Styxx is the other side of Acheron.  Just to give you a hint of how much I liked this book, I was reading late last night when I was called in to do anesthesia on a dog hit by a car, and I did not get back home until 2:00 am.  I was planning on just finishing the chapter I started before I was called, but ended up reading until 4:00 am.  The main reason I quit then was because I could no longer keep my eyes open.

A warning before starting this book, that some of the events of this book are not for the weak of heart or stomach.  Styxx's life was not a pleasant one, and there were some quite disturbing scenes.

Styxx is not the pampered prince that Acheron thinks that he is.  While he is not sold as a sex slave like Acheron, his life is not much easier.  His father can barely stand him, and his mother tries to kill him when he brings her a birthday present one year.  Unlike Acheron, he does not even have the love of his sister, Ryssa.
The voice in his head and the nosebleeds are not really help Styxx's cause at all.  In fact, he is sent to the Temple of Diosysus where he is tortured to remove the "possession," and it is also where he catches Apollo's eye, and that is not a good thing for him.   As he grows older, he catches his Uncle Estes eye, and his drugged and raped by his uncle and his uncle's friends.  Broken and wanting to die, he tries to kill himself, only to discover it impossible.

After his failed suicide attempt, he runs into a beautiful, blind girl in the woods.  In her, he finally finds someone cares for him.  When times are bad, he seeks solace in his Bethany.  It is her memory that gets him through two years of war with Atlantis, where he proves himself strong and a fierce warrior. He never tells her who he really is because he doesn't want her to hate him.

Bethany has her own secrets, like she is a goddess of two pantheons, Atlantean and Egyptian.  Even as an all powerfully goddess, she finds herself falling for Styxx, who she thinks is Hector a merchants son.  When she discover who he is, and that Apollo has marked him, she runs to Egypt.  In her absence,  Styxx is taken by Apollo and turned over to the Atlantean gods.  When Bethany finally comes home, she discovers what has been done to her beloved Styxx and rescues him.

Styxx goes home and is reunited with his Beth.  Just when gets her to agree to marry her, his life is ended on the night Ryssa is killed.  But his peace in death is short lived, as he yanked back to life, and Artemis deposits him on a vanishing island alone without any supply. He only wishes to die, and maybe be reunited with his Beth in death, unfortunately he can't die as long as Acheron lives.

Later he is brought back to the real world, and must learn to make his way in this new strange world.  He is lonely and still heartbroken over Beth, and Acheron still hates him.  When the world is threatened, he and Acheron must learn to trust each other.

This is one of the most heartbreaking books in the whole Dark-Hunter series, and that is saying a lot, because that has been a lot of heartbreak in past books.  Styxx is a kind and humble soul that was continually beaten down by the world around him.  Even with so many against him, Styxx remains dignified and kind to those who need it most.

Styxx and Beth's love story is one of the sweetest ones.  I love that when they part each time that Styxx tells her that he miss her with each heart beat that they are apart.  Their relationship is just beautiful how protective Beth is of Styxx's heart and saddened by the way he has been treated, and how Styxx is worried for her safety when they part each time.

This might be my new favorite book of the series.  Styxx and Bethany are such wonderful characters that if you are a fan of the Dark-Hunters do not miss this one.

Currently Reading: 
One Lucky Vampire
by Lynsay Sands

FBI Yummy

Hotshot is the latest book in Julie Garwood's Buchanan-Renard series.

Finn MacBain saved Peyton Lockhart's life when she was seven years old and fell into her family's swimming pool.  Since then, Finn has go on to earn a couple of Olympic Gold medals for swimming, a law degree from Stanford, and become a top notch FBI agent.  Imagine he shock when he sees Peyton again at his brother's wedding and finds that she is all grow up in all the right ways.

On her birthday every year, Peyton Lockhart sends an email to Finn MacBain, her Hotshot, thanking him for saving her life.  This year she thanks him, and heads off to start her dream job, too bad the job turns into a nightmare with the boss from hell.  After recording her boss' blatant sexual harassment, she head backs home to Texas, where she runs into Finn.

When he notices the bullet holes in her car, he is concerned for her safety, and not to mention he is hot for her body.  After a steamy night together, he heads back to the FBI, and she takes off for Florida with her sister to take over their uncles hotel.  Too bad her troubles follow her there, and Finn comes down to help her sort things out, and along the way just might fall in love with her.

So here is the thing to know about Julie Garwood's Buchanan Renard series, the books are very formulated: hot law enforcement guy rescues cute damsel in distress.  He wants her, protectors her, but denies his feelings for her and wanting to settle down.  While these books will never win the Nobel prize for literature, I still enjoy reading them.  They have just enough suspense in them to keep you intrigued, and some hot romance scenes.  They are a nice break when you have been studying hard for, say like your veterinary boards exams.  Plus, who doesn't love a hottie with a badge.

In this book, I liked the main characters well enough.  After all, I am a former swim team competitor and Olympic junkie, so there is no reason I wouldn't like Finn.  And Peyton being a chef appeals to the foodie in me.  I did feel like a couple of the supporting characters were not entirely necessary, like Lars, Peyton's former co-worker and friend.  I really didn't feel that he added anything to the book.

Then there was Debi, Peyton's self-absorbed cousin who makes trouble for them at the resort.  While she did lead to some funny scenes with Peyton, I felt that the book would have been just fine without her.  Didn't Peyton have enough troubles on her own without tossing in the crazy cousin?

Like I said before, if you want a deep, meaningful book full of social commentary, this is not the book for you.  But if you want a quick suspense-romance read, try this one out.

Currently Reading:
Styxx
by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Hot and Hotter

I know two books in one weekend, craziness.  Especially since I spent way too much time reading yesterday, and not studying for my boards exam.  MacRieve is the newest book in Kresley Cole's  Immortals After Dark series.  In my humble opinion, Kresley Cole is the queen of supernatural romance.  Her Immortals After Dark series has wonderful characters, good storylines, and super steamy romances, and MacRieve is no different.

Uilleam MacRieve had his childhood ruined by another Lorean creature who destroyed his innocence and killed his parents.  Nine hundred years later, he taken by The Order, and his rescue leaves him with nightmares.  When he finds out about an auction of the man responsible for his imprisonment's daughter, he thinks he has found his way to revenge.

Chloe Todd is a fantastic soccer player called the Baby T-rex who has aspiration of playing in the Olympics. She is finally achieving her goals when her world falls apart.  Her father disappears, she is taken by witches who wish to sell her to highest bidder, and she is changing in ways she can't explain.

She is saved by MacRieve when he realizes she is his mate.  He takes he back to his family compound, and Chloe is just beginning to feel like she belongs when she has her triggering event and changes into a Lorean. Too bad she turns into the one thing the MacRieve cannot handle.

MacRieve has to learn to put his past behind him, or he will lose his mate forever.

I have to say out of all of Ms. Cole's characters, MacRieve definitely had one of the saddest past.  I get why he has so much trouble accepting Chloe's change.  That being said, I cannot help to feel a little heartbroken for Chloe when MacRieve goes from the perfect guy to an absolute prick.  To say they have a few issues to work through is an understate.

On and bonus, the next book looks like it is going to be Munro, MacRieve's twin.

Currently Reading:
Hotshot
by Julie Garwood

Magic in the Air

Magic Rises is the sixth book in Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels series.  Ilons Andrews is the pseudonym for a husband and wife writing team, and this a team that works really well together.  The main character, Kate, is a badass swordswoman who happens to be able to wield some hefty magic.  The world is a fantastic world in which magic has once again begun to rise.  The world goes through waves of magic and tech.  Oh, and Kate's boyfriend, Curran, just happens to be the Beast Lord of all the shapeshifters in Atlanta.

In this book, the Atlanta pack is having a huge problem, more and more of their children are going loup and there is nothing they can do about it but kill the ones that go loup.  There is a solution to this problem, panacea, but the Europeans have it and are not willing to share. So when three European packs offer it in change for Curran being an impartial guard and judge in a dispute over a pregnant shifter, it is something they can't refuse even if they know it is a trap.

The pregnant shifter, Desandra, just happens to be pregnant with twins from two different fathers, plus her own father is possibly the worlds biggest prick.  At first, Desandra plays quite the ditz, but as time goes on she proves herself to be intelligent and cunning. Oh, and when they arrive, they find a couple of surprises including a girl from Curran's past making a play for him, giant flying cats with scales, and the host of the event is an unpleasant surprise.

I loved this book.  I really liked the development of Kate in this book.  She struggles with her heritage, and she is confronted with it in this book, and I feel that she comes out stronger.  The way she cares for Curran, Julie, and the pack shows that she is more than her father.  One more than one occasion, she saves complete strangers because it is the right thing to do, which is the end helps her.  I do find it interesting the way she reacts when she because of Curran.

At the end, we get a glimpse of a possible future for Kate, and a wise shepherd telling Kate that one day she will have to chose and that she has the potential to be great or be horrible.  It will definitely be interesting to see where the series goes from here, and what paths Kate chooses to her future.

Currently Reading: 
MacRieve
by Kresley Cole

An Epilogue for Everyone

After Dead is Charlaine Harris's follow up for all her past characters, even ones that haven't been in the series in several books.

It is interesting to see where all my favorite characters ended up in life.  There were even some characters that I did not even remember from the books.  It is nice to know for sure that Sookie got her happily ever after, and how Eric and Bill ended up doing.  Tell you what, I did not expect Bill to end up where he did, but it was pretty fitting for a undead gentleman like himself.

My biggest diappointment was there was only one sentence about Quinn.  He was one of my favorite all time characters, and besides the one she ends up with, my favorite of Sookie's men.  I felt that he should have gotten more of a story than was in that one line.

If you are a Sookie Stackhouse fan, this is the epilogue to end all epilogues for all your favorites.

Currently Reading: 
Magic Rises
by Ilona Andrews

Bones of the Lost

Bones of the Lost is newest book in Kathy Reichs' Temperance Brennan series.  If you have never read the books and only watch the show, you should know that they are nothing a like.  Pretty much the only thing that is the same is the character is Dr. Temperance Brennan and she is an anthropologist.  That being said, I read the books and watch the show, but I just see them as two separate worlds.  The books, for the most part, are more realistic and Dr. Brennan, or Tempe to her friends, is much more normal than Bones from the show.  She is not a socially awkward genius who has no idea how to relate to normal people.

The books begins with Tempe have quite a bad day.  She is called in for jury duty, which is dismissed from for obvious reasons. She loses her bracelet that her daughter, Katy, gave her, and when she goes back to find it, she locks her keys in the car.  In attempting to get into the car, one of the courthouse cops thinks she is trying to break into the car.  She has the cop call her boss, who sends homicide detective "Skinny" Slidell to pick her up.

Back at the lab, she looks at radiographs of a hit and run victim, which appears not to be accidental.  It is a young girl with no id, and possible Latin American in origin.  On top of that, she is looking at a couple of Peruvian mummy dogs that Customs caught someone smuggling into the country.  Despite Tempe's best efforts, the hit and run cases seems to be going nowhere, so as a favor to her almost ex-husband and to see Katy, who is now in the army, she goes to Afghanistan to exam the bones of two local men that a marine is accused of killing.

When she returns to the states, new leads help to find who the Jane Doe is and who killed her and why.  As Tempe gets  closer to the truth, threats are being made, and not to mention her personal life seems to taken some unusual turns.

In general, I love these books.  I love reading the science behind forensic anthropology.  Tempe can be a little reckless at times, possibly thinking too much with her heart and not enough with her head.  For me, this book had a little bit of a far fetched premise when she tied the Afghanistan and North Carolina cases together.  I do like that now I live in North Carolina, that I understand a little better about the places she mentions in the book.  Of course, not living in Charlotte,  I don't know everywhere she talks about.

There was a disturbing lack of Lieutenant Detective Andrew Ryan in this book.  The one chapter he does make an appearance in is super depressing, and I am really questioning the role he will play in the rest of the series.

This book, for me, showed how prevalent and serious human trafficking has become in our world.  It is something that I knew existed, but never really thought about it because my life is not affected by it.  I did not realize how high the numbers were until this book.  Definitely brought to light more social awareness on the situation for me.

This was not my favorite for the Temperance Brennan books, but it is not a bad read.  In case you are wondering my favorite is a toss up between Grave Secrets and Spider Bones.  On a side note, my dog apparently thought since the word bones was written on the book, that he should try and eat it.  Thankfully, only a small corner was chewed and it did not impede my reading at all.

Currently Reading:
After Dead
by Charlaine Harris

Another Thing Not to Trust

The Rising is the final book in Kelley Armstrong's Darkness Rising trilogy.  Both this and her Darkest Power trilogy are YA books that take part in the same universe as her Otherworld books.  In fact, a couple of characters from there get a reference, and at least one gets an appearance in the series.

Maya, Daniel, and Corey make into the city in their efforts to escape the Nast and St. Cloud Cabals.  They are trying desperately to figure out how to evade the Cabals and let their families know they're still alive.  First, they try Maya's grandmother, but that does not turn out like planned.  Their next brilliant idea is to go to their own memorial service in hopes of getting one of their parents alone.  Lucky for them, Maya's long lost twin brother shows up and helps out.  Ash is a street smart teen with a major attitude problem.

The group gets split up and Maya ends up in the Nast's hands.  She is taken to a "safe house" where she is reunited with Rafe, Hayley, Sam, Annie, and most importantly her dog, Kenjii.  Oh, and crazy Nicole is also there, and Maya lowers the bomb that Nicole killed Serena.  With Maya's birth father's (Antone) help, Maya, Rafe, and Hayley escape and meet back up with Ash, Daniel, and Corey.  On the advice Antone, they set out in search of the Project Genesis group in order to have leverage to negotiate with the Cabals, which by the way, lead to a happy dance from me on some more Chloe and Derek time.

Maya learns that sometimes you have to dance to the pipers tune to get what you want, and maybe her feelings for Daniel and Rafe are not so clear cut.

I was so excited for this book, and once again Ms. Armstrong did not disappoint, mostly.  There was some talk of the kids contacting Lucas Cortez, who I love in the Otherworld series, but alas it never came to be. I just love the world of supernaturals that Ms. Armstrong has created, and being one kind of supernatural does put you into a category of good or bad, but it is about the individual's choices that make them hero or villain. At times, you really get the sense that the characters easily fall into the scheme of choatic, neutral, and lawful of good and evil.

I love that her characters are strong women that don't need the man to rescue them, and in fact, sometimes they are the ones rescuing the men.  While these women do not need a man to be complete, their partners are excellent matches for them.  Maya is a wonderfully strong girl, who is super loyal to her friends and family, and bonus points for being an animal lover.  She can be rash at times, but she will quickly see reason when someone talks to her about it.

This was a wonderful completion for the both Darkness Rising and the Darkest Powers trilogies.  I thought she wrapped up questions nicely, but did leave it open for more possible books. Fingers crossed, maybe a meeting with these characters and the rest of her Otherworld regulars. Oh, and it teaches us that you can't trust the Cabals either.

Currently Reading:
Bones of the Lost
by Kathy Reichs

Going Viral

 Code by Kathy and Brendan Reichs is the third book in the Virals series.  It continues to follow Tori, Hi, Shelton, and Ben, teens infected by a hybrid parvo virus that gives them some very wolf like abilities. The books starts with a mysterious figure burying a box.  Flash forward as the Virals go on a search of a geocache and find a puzzle box inside which gives them clues to another geocache.

At the second geocache the Virals learn this is not a innocent game.  Someone calling themselves the Gamemaster has rigged a deadly scavenger hunt.  The Virals must solve the clues in order to stop the Gamemaster from killing innocent people.

On top of dealing with the Gamemaster, Chance Claybourne is out of the asylum and back at school, and he is hinting to Tori that he knows her secret.  Plus, Ben has been acting strangely and more moody than ever.

This book is definitely action packed, and will not leave you bored, even if there are a couple of predictable turns during the storyline.  Here is my feeling on Tori, you know those memes with Kirk and Spock that have Spock telling Kirk don't do the thing and Kirk is like I'm doing the thing, that is exactly what Tori is like with everyone.  She is extremely reckless, and at times boarding on having no sense of self-preservation. Hi, Shelton, and even Ben are so much more rational in their decision making, and yet, they seem to constantly go along with her reckless ideas.

Overall, I enjoy these books.  They don't leave you bored, and will have a few good twist along the way.  I just wish the characters would make better decisions at times.

Currently Reading:
The Rising
by Kelley Armstrong