Review: Twenties Girl - Sophie Kinsella

Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella

Genre: Chick-lit
Pages: 448
Published: 2009

Lara has always had an overactive imagination. Now she wonders if she is losing her mind. Normal twenty-something girls just don't get visited by ghosts! But inexplicably, the spirit of Lara's great aunt Sadie - in the form of a bold, demanding Charleston-dancing girl - has appeared to make one last request: Lara must track down a missing necklace Sadie simply can't rest without. Lara's got enough problems of her own. Her start-up company is floundering, her best friend and business partner has run off to Goa, and she's just been dumped by the love of her life. But as Lara spends time with Sadie, life becomes more glamorous and their treasure hunt turns into something intriguing and romantic. Could Sadie's ghost be the answer to Lara's problems and can two girls from different times end up learning something special from each other?

Oh no, feeling a lack of wanting to write a review coming up. No inspiration at all. This will be short.

Ok, so Lara has some stalker problems, that is she is pretty obsessed over her ex-boyfriend. But then at her great aunts funeral she hears something, and she can see her great aunt Sadie's ghost.  A ghost who keeps complaining about her lost necklace. She wants Lara to find it. As if Lara didn't have enough problem with work that is falling apart. Soon Sadie is making changes cos she wants to have fun.

Poor Lara, Sadie sure knew how to mix it up and trust me, she puts Lara in some pretty embarrassing circumstances. Sometimes I just put the book away and smiled a bit, while feeling embarrassed for her. But that is chick-lit, embarrassing moments is a must.

But there is also romance, and not just cos she is half stalking her ex. No, she is being pushed somewhere else, even if she does not want it. But with all her faults, and good sides, Lara is a pretty nice person. The poor guy that comes in her and Sadi'es way is pretty nice too. Sadie is, well dunno about her, she is so happy and, well good at least for Lara. Who needs to find her groove again.

I do like the shopaholic books more, sure I read this really fast, smiled a bit, but perhaps something was lacking to making it into great chick-lit. But as it was now it still was good, and made me happy.

Can I really end here, I just started, but yes lack of inspiration today.

Hm, also a bit of mystery when it comes for the hunt for the necklace, finding out about Sadie's past, meeting Lara's rich uncle, who is not so nice. Dealing with her family who only wants the best for her, struggling with a job she does not know how to do. And with a sprinkle of love and you haev teh book.

But it also something more, about family.

Blodeuedd's Cover Corner: Such nice colors, and makes me wanna pick it up.

Reason for Reading: Library book

Final thoughts: If you are looking for something light, but with some meaning still.

Monday Mayhem - February 8th

It's Monday again, and more Mayhem ;)

Up this week are reviews of :

This one was funny and embarrassing

 “Until he’s dead, I can’t ever live, can’t ever love.” A lover, a friend, even a pet, it was too risky. He would destroy anything she cared for. “What’s life without love?”

Oh exciting!

I will be reading The Knife of Never letting go by Patrick Ness (make that reviewing) and since I am going on a loooong drive again, I am thinking of Nice Girls do not have fangs by Molly Harper and Vampire Romance 2.

Check out this contest;

Win Darklight by Leslie Livingston over at Fantasy Dreamers Ramblings

Have a great Monday :D

Sassy Brit over at Alternative-read.com is also giving away darklight

I am also being bad and planning what others should buy me for my bday *blush* Well what to do when  girl wants books that can only be bought online, gotta give some hints ;) You wanna help?

Review: Sins of the Flesh - Caridad Pineiro

Sins of the Flesh by Caridad Pineiro

Genre: Paranormal romance Suspense
Pages: 336
Published: October 2009

Caterina Shaw’s days are numbered. Her only chance for survival is a highly experimental gene treatment – a risk she willingly takes. But now Caterina barely recognizes herself. She has new, terrifying powers, an exotic, arresting body — and she’s been accused of a savage murder, sending her on the run.

Mick Carrera is a mercenary and an expert at capturing elusive, clever prey. Yet the woman he’s hunting down is far from the vicious killer he’s been told to expect: Caterina is wounded, vulnerable, and a startling mystery of medical science. Even more, she’s a beautiful woman whose innocent sensuality tempts Mick to show her exactly how thrilling pleasure can be. The heat that builds between them is irresistible, but surrendering to it could kill them both . . . for a dangerous group is plotting its next move using Caterina as its deadly pawn.

This was a great book, at first I did not know what it would be about, I mean he is kissing her underwear, would it be a smexy ride? Actually it was not as PR as some in the genre. This was more like UF is sometimes, and I liked it a lot. Edit: Just found that they call it suspense too, and yes that makes sense.

Caterina Shaw was dying from cancer ad she was offered something new, but that turned out to be a nightmare as they used her as a labrat in a gene experiment. Her body is strange and she is stronger than before, but also lost and vulnerable. She did it all for her music, which she loves.

Mick is sent to find her, but he has doubt that she will be a savaged killer. He is ex army, hot, and very protective. Yes very alpha. He finds her, and then he wants the truth, but he can't just hand her over.

Instead of saying it is paranormal romance, I would make it contemporary sci-fi romance, you get my point. It was about the science, and her powers comes from that (if not something new shows up in the next book). And there is romance, oh yes it is building up between those two, and I am glad it takes some time for things to heat up because she is so vulnerable and lost. And when it finally happens it makes total sense. During all that time he does play the tough guy, but anyone can see that wants to protect, and I like him a lot.Cat is nice, but since she is pretty lost, and I wonder if she is a murderess, well I just had to get to know her and trust her like he did.

What to say, the book is not as sexy as it looks, so go on give it a try, it was a nice one, and to those who likes it sexy, well you will get what you want too later on.

I really liked how these two got to know and trust each other, and I enjoyed the sidestory with his sister Liliana and her ass of a boyfriend. I hope we get to hear more about her...in the middle of this review I went on over to Caridad's site, and oh yes book 2 will be about Liliana. I am very happy to hear that. She deserves a nice guy.

There is the strangeness of the gene treatment, and evil scientist, the hunters after Cat, the budding romance between her and sexy Mike. Liliana's story and involvement since she is a doctor and wants to help. The hunt getting closer and closer as they want their experiment back. A story with a bit of everything. A story that managed to grab me as the characters came to life. I'd say, read it.

PS. I do not know how to make the thingy over N in Pineiro.

Blodeuedd's Cover Corner: It does look more sexy than it is, but it is pretty and I love the backcover, have to show you it.

Reason for Reading. Copy from the author in change for an honest review.

Final thoughts: I liked it a lot, and it managed to surprise me, I did judge the book by its cover.

Over at Royal Reviews today

Hi, today I am a Lady in Waiting over at Royal Reviews

 And I am reviewing Nightwalker by Jocelynn Drake

 Come on over and say hello :D

Library Loot

Library Loot hosted by Eva and Marg
asks us to list what we brought home from
the library this week.

Lara has always had an overactive imagination. Now she wonders if she is losing her mind. Normal twenty-something girls just don't get visited by ghosts! But inexplicably, the spirit of Lara's great aunt Sadie - in the form of a bold, demanding Charleston-dancing girl - has appeared to make one last request: Lara must track down a missing necklace Sadie simply can't rest without. Lara's got enough problems of her own. Her start-up company is floundering, her best friend and business partner has run off to Goa, and she's just been dumped by the love of her life. But as Lara spends time with Sadie, life becomes more glamorous and their treasure hunt turns into something intriguing and romantic. Could Sadie's ghost be the answer to Lara's problems and can two girls from different times end up learning something special from each other?

Yay, so happy that the library had this one :D

Monday Mayhem

It's Monday again, and more Mayhem ;)

Lady in Waiting over at Royal Reviews:

This week I will be over at

with a review of Nightwalker by Jocelynn Drake, but more about that later.

Reading this week:

I will be reading and reviewing Sins of the Flesh by Caridad Pineiro.

And then the choice is  between Twenties girl by Sophie Kinsella or The knife of never letting go by Patrick Ness. Not decided yet.

New book Heads up: Flawless by Kimber Chin

Launch Date:  February 2010
Publisher:  Champagne Books

Is love worth killing for?

Grace Williams has a list of things she wants to do before she dies: walk a tightrope, dye her hair purple, skinny dip in the ocean, kiss the scarred stranger sent to kill her…

Yeah, Tavos Santos is a killer but f— it if he’s going to be Grace’s killer. There are other relationships he’d rather have with the gloved beauty. None of them requiring knives.

It takes a killer to catch a killer. Now Tavos must decide… Is love worth killing for?

I think I might save this one for the weekend :) Need something nice then.

Contest watch:

Dottie @MY blog 2.0 is giving away Born of Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Lea @ Closetwriter is giving away Indiscreet by Carolyn Jewel

Donna@ Fantasy Dreamers Ramblings is giving away Spiders bite by Jennifer Estep

Blog spotlight:

Check out the Sassy Brit and her gang over at Alternative Read.com 

You'll find great reviews and some ongoing contests.

This is my Monday :) What are you up to?

Review: Marked & Betrayed - PC and Kristin Cast

Marked by P.C and Kristin Cast

The House of Night series is set in a world very much like our own, except in 16-year-old Zoey Redbird's world, vampyres have always existed.  In this first book in the series, Zoey enters the House of Night, a school where, after having undergone the Change, she will train to become an adult vampire--that is, if she makes it through the Change.  It’s tough to begin a new life, away from her parents and friends, and on top of that, Zoey finds she is no average fledgling.  She has been Marked as special by the vampyre Goddess, Nyx.  

Betrayed, Book 2

Fledgling vampyre Zoey Redbird has managed to settle in at the House of Night.  She’s come to terms with the vast powers the vampyre goddess, Nyx, has given her, and is getting a handle on being the new Leader of the Dark Daughters. Best of all, Zoey finally feels like she belongs--like she really fits in. She actually has a boyfriend…or two. Then the unthinkable happens: Human teenagers are being killed, and all the evidence points to the House of Night. While danger stalks the humans from Zoey’s old life, she begins to realize that the very powers that make her so unique might also threaten those she loves. 

I have very mixed feelings about this book. One side of me thought book 1 was ok, but this second book, I started to get annoyed.

First there is this thing that all vampires are beautiful, so only pretty people change? And of course they get even more beautiful after they are marked. Zoey is of course truly beautiful. She gets best friends the first day at school, she has always been popular. But no she is no mean girl, she says it time after time that she is a real geek.

Then there is the guys, she calls this other girl a slut for one thing, but she herself has 2 boyfriends, and flirting with another. There is where I started to get annoyed with her, of course she feels a little bad, but come on she cheats. And the guys, hottest things around, and yes geeks. Like we couldn't like someone beautiful who wasn't a geek. It feels like they want to maker her and them feel just like us "normal ugly geeky people".

And she has vampire super powers. Yes she is special, and will become very powerful, perhaps most ever. There I got the Mary Sue thoughts.

Then there is the language, like totally teen, whatever. Sure I used words, and still use them, but she sounds like those she does not like. Skinny girls, bimbos, sluts, those who wear make-up, but then she is one. She does swear a lot too, but then so does I, but I don't have to read about it. it feels like they tried too much.

Forgot, all stars are vampires, all famous people ever seems to have been vampires. Hm.

Now it sounds like I hated it this book, but I did not. It was ok, the first one anyway, the second started to get too often under my skin.

Blodeuedd's Cover Corner: Very YA paranormal.

Reason for Reading: Library books.

Final thoughts: Surely good for YA fans.

Review: Web of Deceit - Darlene Cox

Web of Deceit by Darlene Cox

Genre: Fiction, thriller, mystery
Pages: 272
Published: August 2009

Peter Brock is a man to be envied. He is young, handsome, intelligent, a founding partner of one of New York's most prestigious law firms, and a respected member of the International Community of Currency Traders. But, that isn't enough to fulfill his goal in life. When he meets James Campbell , a very wealthy New York diamond dealer who would like to keep more of his wealth out of the hands of the IRS, Peter starts weaving a web of deceit to divert the bulk of Campbell's wealth to his own account. But, he needs a little help. He enlists Delilah, a strip-club dancer, to learn, through pillow talk, the extent of Campbell's wealth; and Jenny, a flight attendant for a major airline, to smuggle loose diamonds to Europe on international flights. As a coconspirator, how can Campbell yell "foul," at the risk of spending his remaining days in a Federal prison? The perfect Plan-so Peter thinks.

Unfortunately, his law partner, Jack Morrison, gets wind of the Plan and decides to toss in his ante. Now the game gets interesting-a case of diamond cut diamond. When two people wind up dead, Jack says "enough," leaving Peter hopelessly entangled in his web. As Jack says: "That's what happens when little fish try to swim with the predators."

I meant for Miss X to review this one, cos well she is the expert, but she was busy, and I told her too late. But then again, I needed something to take my mind of all those vampires, and all that romance.

There is some bad people in this book. First there is Peter, the poor boy who grew up wanting more and more. He came up with a plan, and is stealing money from a client, and sleeping with the client's wife, and other women he is fooling. he sure has no scruples, but I can't dislike him, cos he is just such an ass that you just has to like him a bit while disliking him.

Then there is Delilah, who blindly followed him into another man's arms. her I can actually dislike, she is just a fool. Jenny, who Peter uses as a diamond mule, well she is cut from the exact stone as he is, and she can she that she gets played, and her I can respect.  James Campbell is the poor guy Peter steals from, and he is also being played for a fool. Then again he is not that good a person either. Yes you are getting the point by now, this is a cutthroat world and everyone is in it for themselves. They are all asses and they are all playing each other. I get the title when I finished this. This was a big bad web of deceit, and you can never know who to trust.

I actually finished it really quick, it was such an easy read, and of course I tried to find out who the killer was (cos yes someone gets killed, well more than one), but I am so bad at that, and it seems there is also a part 2. You can read just this book, but one murder was left hanging, I have my suspicions, but then I am always wrong.

A book for you mystery, thriller fans out there. Who is the biggest spider in this net, and will Peter get what is coming to him?

This book also had a lot of flashbacks, via them I learned why they did the bad things they did. And some were understandable, not the happiest of bunch is all I can say. And she did have me fooled, the twists kept on coming.

Blodeuedd's Cover Corner: A bit too simple for me.

Reason for reading: I got the book from the author, in turn for an honest review.

Final thoughts: "Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive" (Sir Walter Scott)

Review: Very Valentine - Adriana Trigiani

Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani

Genre: Contemporary romance, fiction
Pages: 384
Published: 2009

From the authors site:

Meet the Roncalli and Angelini families, a vibrant cast of colorful characters who navigate tricky family dynamics with hilarity and brio, from magical Manhattan to the picturesque hills of bella Italia. In this luscious, contemporary family saga, the Angelini Shoe Company, makers of exquisite wedding shoes since 1903, is one of the last family-owned businesses in Greenwich Village. The company is on the verge of financial collapse. It falls to thirty-three-year old Valentine Roncalli, the talented and determined apprentice to her grandmother, the master artisan Teodora Angelini, to bring the family’s old-world craftsmanship into the twenty-first century and save the company from ruin.

While juggling a budding romance with dashing chef Roman Falconi, her duty to her family, and a design challenge presented by a prestigious department store, Valentine returns to Italy with her grandmother to learn new techniques and seek one-of-a-kind materials for building a pair of glorious shoes to beat their rivals. There, in Tuscany, Naples, and on the Isle of Capri, a f amily secret is revealed as Valentine discovers her artistic voice and much more, turning her life and the family business upside down in ways she never expected.

Book Review:

This is a book filled with laughs, sorrow, romance, and the love for your family and the love for shoes. They play a big part in this book and she presents those doing it the old fashioned way. A way that might be forgotten today. It’s the first book in a trilogy but it can be read as a standalone novel. The next book, Brava Valentine is out in February 2010.

Valentine gave up much to make shoes and she loves her job. It is what she was born to do. She a person easy to like for the reader, even if she herself does not always think so. She is the funnyone in her family, not the brain, not the beauty, and that has colored her. But she is in her best element when she is creative and making shoes. But it looks like the company might be going under, and they need help fast. A situation is presented that might give them a chance. She will be able to prove herself and make her family see that this is what she wants and is great at. The Angelini shoe company might live to see another day.

Trigiani knows how to write a compelling book. It has humor in hidden depths and it’s an easy book to read, but a hard book to put down. The family dynamics is real and they argue a lot, but they also love each other fiercely. Everything is not always that easy when it comes to family and love. Her grandmother is my favorite, she has spirit and she has a little story of her own in this book. A sweet story that is not to be missed.

The romance is not easy either in this book. It deals with real life and two very busy people. They hardly have time for each other and their budding romance. Valentine deserves her romance and even if this can be read as a standalone novel it does make you curious what will happen in the next one. How does the romance go, and what about their little shoe company? Because they do make the most remarkable shoes, and I do love shoes, and reading about them.

It’s a warm novel, and she knows what she is doing. She brings in a little of everything into the book so there is something for everyone and all ages. If you want some romance, some smiles, some hard times, and some shoes then this might be a book for you.

 

Blodeuedd's Cover Corner: This is what made me pick it up.

Reason for reading: Borrowed from the library

Final thoughts: Nice book that held my attention and made me wonder what next?

Library Loot

Library Loot hosted by Eva and Marg
asks us to list what we brought home from
the library this week.

I have not done Library Loot in months, but January was such a Library filled month so I am back, with a vengeance. 

Previous Jan books were: The knife of never letting go by Patrick Ness, Skinned by Robin Wasserman, The memory garden by Rachel Hore, The beach house by Jane Green, Marked and Betrayed by PC & Kristin Cast (+ boring textbooks for uni)

This week I got: 

Vampire Romance 2

Larissa Ione, Angie Fox, Ann Aguirre and Devon Monk among others, how could I say no.

Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay

Cos I LOVE the tv-series, and wanted to have a look how Miami's fav serial killer is really like.

Sadly it is in Swedish.

The Enchantress of Florence by Salam Rushdie

I saw that someone had liked this one, and wanted to give it a go.

The Enchantress of Florence is the story of a woman attempting to command her own destiny in a man’s world.

Playing with the Grown-ups by Sophie Dahl

I have seen her everywhere, sadly it's in Swe

This is an enchanting novel about growing up in a loving, utterly chaotic household; it is also hilarious, heartbreaking, and scandalous

Love, lies and Lizzy by Rosie Rushton

A YA book, with a modern take on Pride and Prejudice. She is writing modern books of all of Austens books.

Conclusion, have to stop reading my own books and start with all of these.