Once Dead, Twice Shy by Kim Harrison

As you guys read from Madison Avery and the Dim Reaper short story here, she's dead managing a physical form by a powerful amulet that hangs around her neck. As I mentioned, there's a difference between a dark reaper and a light reaper. Light reapers believe in choice, dark in fate. There is only one Timekeeper on either side who pass the orders down to the reapers. Kairos, or Seth as we knew him in the short story is the dark Timekeeper. Keeping up? Good. Madison roughed him up in the morgue and stole his amulet and made it her own. From there on, she has a constant struggle of staying "alive" or not getting her soul destroyed by Kairos. Barnabas is instructed by the light Timekeeper to watch over Madison and keep her safe. They run into some trouble on some campgrounds when a reaper tries to off a girl. Madison and Barnabas prevent the reaping, but they get identified. Barnabas and the light Timekeeper must then go to the Seraphs (higher-up angels and such) to see what they can do for Madison, leaving her in the care of a cherub, which reminds me of the Pixy Jenks in Harrison's Hollows series.

Kairos attempts to off Josh, the guy who originally took Maddy to the prom, Mr. Pity-Date. Madison sets out to keep him safe. She learns some nifty tricks and names her flying guardian angel Grace. Grace agrees to keep Josh safe, since apparently he's a target. From then on, it's a struggle not only for her own life, but Josh's as well. But I'm not going to give away the ending. It's too good to kiss-and-tell.

Harrison delivers another series with twists and turns and crazy shenanigans of dead girl Madison. As I said before, I like Madison, and this book did not disappoint. It's just another one of those paranormal worlds living right under our noses. Go read this, I promise you won't regret it.

Prom Nights from Hell "Hell on Earth" by Stephenie Meyer

Alright, this one was not a good story. It follows Gabe and Sheba. Gabe is a nice guy. Sheba seems to delight in people misery, and the prom was definitely full of it. Turns out that Sheba is a lowly demon who's job is to bring peril and misery to people. She's doing a good job despite the good works of Gabe. We learn some details of the demon heirarchy through Jezebel, Sheba's sister, who happens to be higher up. Sheba is bent on causing Gabe some pain, but then something happens. Gabe senses she's in distress and he's wanting to help her. He's actually half-angel so when he catches Sheba's eyes she starts to feel content and happy. Once she's under his spell the only way it can be broken is if he tells her to go to hell.

I can see the practicality of it, but a full demon shouldn't be caught by a half-angel so quickly. It was okay for what it was.

Prom Nights from Hell "Kiss and Tell" by Michele Jaffe

We follow the story of Miranda, modern-day Wonder Woman. She's fast, she's strong, and she knows how to kick butt. As of late, she's been working under the radar deterring crime in some really funny ways. For instance one purse-snatcher is tied to a fence by a yo-yo string, or a gun knocked out of a robber's hand by a Pez dispenser. She moonlights as a limo driver on her days/nights off school. Today is prom, and she's working. She picks up a fourteen-year-old girl who clearly idolizes Madonna's racier days who tries to kiss every boy she comes across. After a stop at a burger joint and a donut shop, they arrive at their destination. Miranda notices something's not right. She quietly goes back and listens in, realizing the people are trying to get information out of the girl and threatening bodily harm. The man who planned to do the harm was a local police deputy. Miranda crashes through the window and grabs the girl and they retreat to her limo. They decide to head to the prom to blend in. Undoubtedly, the prom is crashed by the people trying to abduct the girl, the deputy included. They clear out the room by claiming a bomb threat was called in. Miranda acts quickly and takes down a few guys. She catches up to the deputy and he say's he's there to help her. She follows his plan and goes back tot he principals office. Both girls were disguised as roller derby girls and the deputy came to take the item of interest to safety before coming back to Miranda. He attacks her and starts to strangle her and just when she loses consciousness, the girl comes to her rescue. Only it's Miranda. The girl being strangled was the one Miranda wanted to protect. She wakes up a few minutes later and they leave safe-and-sound.

I liked this story very much. Jaffe didn't explain much about the origins of both girls but I found them to work very well together. I wish Jaffe would actually do as Harrison has done and turn this story into a novel. I would highly enjoy seeing more of Miranda.

Prom Nights from Hell "Madison Avery and the Dim Reaper" by Kim Harrison

This is the prelude to Kim Harrison's teen novel "Once Dead, Twice Shy" of which I'm almost halfway through. I really like Madison, she's smart and she seems to take care of herself pretty well. While at prom, she gets angry with her date, Josh, because he tells her she was a pity date. She then finds the mysterious and sexy Seth, who dances with her like no one she's ever met, he even kissed her. He offered to take her home and she gladly accepted. Only after she was in the car and they were driving did any warning bells go off in her head. Before she knew it the black converible was fliping down a deep ravine. She miraculously survives, only to find Seth standing at her mangled door with a huge knife. He slices her abdomen, but it wafted right through her, then everything faded to black as Josh reached her side. She then wakes up in the morgue and realizes she is truly dead. Barnabas tries to explain everything to her but then they are interrupted by Seth, come to collect Madison's soul and body. She manages to defend herself very well and snatches his amulet, which keeps her looking like a person and not a ghost, and runs off with it. She is allowed to continue with her life with Barnabas looking out for her, and his boss, Ron, works on the problem at hand.

I really liked this story. Madison seems like the seventeen-year-old that everone else seems to be missing. She has her independence and she's not a child about anything either. This explains the backstory of the tragic event that ends Madison's life. If anyone is planning to read "Once Dead, Twice Shy" you should read this first, it will save much confusion later on down the road.

Prom Nights from Hell "The Corsage" by Lauren Myracle

Frankie is our heroine, who just so happens to be in love with her best friend Will. She's desperately waiting for him to ask her to prom. They go to get their fortunes read along with their friend Yun Sun by the mysterious Madame Zanzibar. Highly disappointed, they start asking about the various props throughout the reading room. They then land on the corsage, whch M. Z. warns gives three wishes, but those wishes always end badly. Frankie takes the corsage and once they get back to her house for pizza and movies, she makes her first wish. Will runs off and gets himself killed while trying to spraypaint "Frankie, will you go to prom with me" on the town's watertower some 300 feet in the air. All the way up to the night of prom, Frankie's in a daze and then realizes she can make him take her to prom after all. Moments later someone's walking up her drive and knocks on the door. It's zombie Will. Frankie gets scared and wishes for it to end. Thus, the end.

You would think juniors in high school would be a bit smarter than to do stupid stuff like both Frankie and Will did in this story. Frankie, at least, acted like a 12 year old, which reminded me of Raven from Vampire Kisses. I was sorely not impressed. Who goes to the local watertower to spraypaint on a cool damp night? If you get beyond that, the message is still clear, be careful what you wish for.

Prom Nights From Hell "The Exterminator's Daughter" by Meg Cabot

Dracula's son is stalking Mary's high school, and she discovers this days before the prom. She is waiting for him at a club, with her best friend in tow, completely under his spell. Just when she's about to pull the trigger of her crossbow, someone shoots Drake with ketchup through a water pistol. He sees his would-be killer along with the guy who shot him with ketchup and disappears. The rest happens rather quickly. The prankster-shooting-ketchup guy finds out about what drake really is from Mary, and they set out together to catch him at the prom. Drake lures Mary away and is about to bite her when her newly recruited prankster as backup shoots Drake and voila problem averted. Except they were going to have to deal with the very upset Dracula at the death of his son.

Well, I wasn't horribly impressed with this story. I understand the lore of the vampire and how they can undoubtedly put people under their spells, but I had pegged Drake as being more like his father. Why parade through school and put a girl under your spell if you're just drawing out the ultimate death. Why tag a slayer and then lure her with tenderness and care? I imagine Dracula would have been furious at the actions of his son.

The Hollows Series, Book 1, Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I give it 5 stars!

This story follows Rachel Morgan a witch and a runner (cop, basically) that arrests Inderlanders (supernaturals) for doing something illegal. She works for the illustrious I.S. (Inderland Security) that monitors the goings-on in The Hollows, the supernatural ghetto of Cincinnati. The Federal Inderland Bureau is the agency that works on the human side of Cincinnati, and they are constantly competing for the best image.

Runners have contracts lasting, on average, about 30 years. If a runner quits, there is typically a death threat out on them. Rachel decides to quit after months of being given bottom-of-the-barrel assignments, knowing she might just get away without the death threat because her boss hates her.

Her former partner at the I.S., Ivy, is a living vampire. This is where the lore of traditional vampire stories differ. Living vampires are those that have been infected with the virus, but they aren't yet undead. They can be outside during the day, they crave blood, and they do have vampire strength and speed (just not quite as much as an undead vampire). Ivy is the star runner at the I.S. and when Rachel tells her that she's going to quit, Ivy jumps on the wagon too, wanting to join her.

Rachel's sidekick, a hilariously talented pixy, named Jenks, is about four inches tall and has wings, just like fairies do. But don't tell him he's a fairy! Pixies and Fairies have a long history of wars and troubles. Fairies are usually the preferred sidekicks of runners, but Rachel was handed this mouthy pixy after a "frog incident" we never really discover the details about. He wants to quit the I.S. too, and work with both Ivy and Rachel, under the condition that he, his wife Matalina and his plethora of children were able to live with them. Because pixies have such short life-spans in the I.S. they aren't put under an obligation of a contract, because most pixies die within a few short years of working. Jenks wouldn't have to worry about a price over his head.

Rachel tells her boss that she's quitting and he rips up her contract in front of her, telling her to get out, and that he was glad she was quitting, no death threats involved. Then Ivy went in and dropped the bomb with enough money to buy off her contract so they wouldn't come after her. She stormed out, and left an angry ex-boss to contend with Rachel, still packing up her belongings. The death threat was on against Rachel using the money Ivy just gave him, because she was taking the best runner they had.

Rachel has to fight for her life and try to find a way for the I.S. to back off on the death threat. It seemed as though one thing after another happened, but it was a great ride nonetheless. I can't wait to read the rest of the series.

Jenks was a supporting character, but definitely my favorite of them all. He was funny, witty, quick, and very good at his job. I'm really looking forward to seeing more of him. My favorite line of Rachels' regarding the deliciously good looks of Jenks, "Color me Thumbelina and I'll be a happy girl."

I'm thinking this is yet another series, one that's going to be gracing my shelves, and not being rented over and over again from the library. And I highly recommend anyone enjoying paranormal, urban fantasy or what-have-you to read this series!

The problem, of course, is that there is a waiting list for book 2, so I'm moving temporarily on to Once Dead, Twice Shy, a Young Adult novel by Kim Harrison, to tide me over.

Ghostland by Jory Strong

I have finished reading Ghostland by Jory Strong. I am giving this book a full 5 stars. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Reader beware though, this is an Urban Fantasy Romance, which means you kiddies out there would probably need to wait a few years before reading it.

This book follows the story of a young woman named Aisling in a post-apocalyptic world filled with devastation and destruction aftermath. The supernaturals: vampires, werewolves, demons, angels, etc have surfaced and hunt in the night. Aisling is a Shamaness, with the ability to travel into the spiritlands or Ghostland to communicate with the dead, or find answers, depending on the request of her customers.

When she was summoned to help with a case involving the Church, she called upon an unknown being named Zurael to help her with her task. Zurael is a prince in the House of the Serpent among the Djinn, neither good nor evil, but portrayed as demons in the real world. He fears only one thing, becoming ifrit which means being permanently bound to a human to do their bidding.

He leaves his lands to seek justice against Aisling, because he fears that she would be able to bind him, but when he finds her, he cannot kill her. He protects her, using her as bait to find an ancient relic to keep the knowledge of how to bind a Djinn before going through his plan to kill her.

This was a fantastic story, and I'm planning on adding this to my permanent collection. I highly suggest you read this!

Vampire Kisses by Ellen Schreiber

Um, where to begin? I'm giving this a generous 3 out of 5 stars. Why? I didn't buy it. Maybe a similar sixteen year old would buy it, I don't know.

A sixteen year old girl has wanted to be a vampire her whole life but when a new family moves into town in the town's famed haunted mansion, she goes on a mission to find out the truth. Some breaking and entering and a bully with spray paint later, she's invited to have dinner with the son, who just so happens to be her age.

She's pretty brave considering she's never had a boyfriend before, because she tries to get him to kiss her from the get go. Once he does, he moves to the nibbles on the neck and her clumsy self knocks a drink onto him and his reaction to the cold liquid causes him to bite down.

She's "in love" and acts like a twelve year old, like a giddy mall frequenter. Complete with screaming when he comes to pick her up to go to the Snow Ball. I've met twelve year olds who are more mature than this chick. If a girl is goin' to act so friggin' stupid, she is definitely not old enough to feel true love, if she did it'd mature her up right quick. It's worth a read, even if its for a laugh. It's quick too.

I won't give away the rest of the goodies, but it definitely wasn't hard to guess what happens in the end.

I'm not saying that Ms. Schreiber wrote a bad book, I'm just saying the characters just rubbed me the wrong way. It's at least worth a look-see. Let me know what you think of it!

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

I must say I was completely floored by this book. I wasn't expectin' it to be quite so insanely intense! Anyhoo, I'm going to break it down, be careful though, there may be some spoilers ahead.

So this book is 'bout a girl named Mary. She lives in a secluded village in the middle of a forest, aptly named the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Their village is surrounded also by a fence, a border to keep the villagers safe from the Unconsecrated. Now, Ryan doesn't really come out and say what they really are, but based on the lore of the history of Zombies, I'd be willin' to bet moolah that that's what's happenin'. So it's many generations in the future, based on the decrepit pictures and old clippings of newspaper that are discovered along Mary's journey.

Mary loses her mother to the Unconsecrated at the beginning of the book, and her elder brother casts her out and she's forced to join the Sisterhood, much like a nunery. These Sisters run the town, and Mary is given the responsibility of praying over her childhood friend, her love, Travis after he breaks his leg. She discovers a horrendous secret that the Sisters have been hiding from them, they even "create" a Fast One, an Unconsecrated with unparalleled speed and agility, making her extremely dangerous.

Days later, the Fast One finds a way to break through the fence and a breach into the village is created. Many are massacred in front of Mary's eyes, and the only refuge they can find is a pathway away from the village that is safeguarded by an unbreached fence. Mary, a young boy, her childhood friends, her dog, and her brother and wife are with her.

It seems as though one thing after another happens, until eventually, the last one left is Mary.

This book will seriously make you think. Sometimes I thought Mary was a bit too dreamy for her own good, but she stood up and fought when it was necessary. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, but it definitely leaves me thinking, as it would anyone else who reads it. I highly recommend it.

I Blow a Raspberry at Thee!

I'm just kiddin'! So I thought in my immense amount of boredom at the lack of a computer network, that I'd spell out what I've got a cookin' in mah brain. I swear, it's like wielding one of those humongo swatting swords that explorers use when trekking through jungles. The vines, and weeds. Trees, 'n plants. Poison even. It's all marred up in that noggin' a mine and I'm thinking it's about time to spill a little while the mood strikes like a hot vampire itching for some neckin'!

I know, you're thinking, "Alright already, get with the goods!" Okay, fine, I do like to drag it out a bit, forgive me for indulging. It's just überfun to mess with you guys.

I'm goin' to dish out a few words of advice at this point before I really dive in to a huge vat of grapes and give ya the goods. Ready? Okay, here goes.

The library can be a godsend.

Wait, don't run off now! Just hear me out, you might be suprised at gettin' a bitta logic.

The times are tough, money is tight and you're itchin' to read that new dig that's just crawlin' under your skin like a leech that won't quit. Solution? It's free, you can usually get your grabbers ahold of them within a few weeks at WORST if there's a long wait.

I've found this little trick to come in rather handy in itchy situations. Observe. Let me lay out the scene:

You read the back of a book and it sounds like it could be pretty decent. You buy it, read it, and it's the most complicated, dence, choppy piece of donkey bologna that you immediately want to throw it away, knowing half.com won't pull more than 50 cents for ripping a black hole through your head that you'll never get back again.

So whaddya do?

Rent. It. From. The. Library. It's just that simple. Get it, read it, and if you happen to like it enough to read it again, it might be time to bite the bullet and add it to your bookshelf, where those worthy suckers actually belong.

I have to say I've had some significant luck in this department this summer. I'm readin the Jaz Parks series at the moment. I'm at the third installment and I'm about to explode if Jaz and Vayl don't get on with it. I saw the first book at the bookstore and I thought, "sounds cool". But I perservered and rented the set from the book depository. I'm so pleased I'm gonna drop the bomb on the hubby in the near future and spend a small fortune on mah new babies.

As y'all have 'bout noticed from Lee's blog that I'm a bit weird. Maybe slightly eccentric. Perhaps crazy. I'll buy that one. But hey, I'm lovin' every minute of being me. So while I've got y'all waitin' hand and foot at my new endeavors. Listen up!

My novel is still in the relatively "new" stage, so I won't get to the nitty gritty. Here's the gist of the thing:

Our heroine's a witch. Not the kind of witch that chants to the moon and wishes for all the good in the world. She had a bad childhood, marred by an evil father, responsible for the death of her mother. She was pushed over the edge when she was forced to watch her beloved dog die a slow and tragic death. She dedicated herself to the craft and was given the power to stand up and fight. She stumbles on her newfound powers at night, in the park. She can see through any other's eyes and she can also move things with her mind.

One perk of the gifted: auras. They glow, change color and texture as a person's emotions, horomones, or actions change. Only those who are gifted can see these auras around people.

She startles a werewolf and is nearly ripped to shreds when a man saves her. He's a witch too, with a dark past. As he takes her under his wing and teaches her about the craft and how to handle her powers, a religious fanatical group is after her. And they won't stop until they have her life. They have to figure out how to keep her alive, and keep their secret before it's too late.

Sink your teeth into that juicy goodness. So whaddya think? Mop up the drool from your keyboard and cheer me on. Encouragement is the best driver to gettin' things done. I'd hate to end up like those people who haven't begun to procrastinate. No, that wouldn't be good.

Ah, the joys of books!

I wanted to share with you a piece that I contributed to Lee A. Verday's Guest Blog found here. Full of fun and pizzaz, I'm about to embark on some fun blogging adventures, complete with book reviews, music likes and dislikes, movies and television show raving and pillaging, among much more. So come with me for one of the first of many to come.

I want to start off by thanking Lee for this wonderful opportunity. I have been following Lee's progress and I am just amazed at how much he does to help his wonderful wife, Jessica. I am very highly looking forward to reading The Hollow, as September 1st cannot come fast enough!

Books are food for the soul, without them, dreams can't come true.

Just like Mitali, I have been reading since I was little. I have also been writing. And crafting. I have always been creative and I've always loved diving head-first into new worlds and exploring everything books had to offer. I am currently writing my first novel and I hope maybe one day I'll be able to inspire someone the way I have been inspired. When I was little, I remember how much I loved Dr. Seuss books that graduated to R.L. Stein's Goosebumps books, and then I stumbled on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. I couldn't understand why so many kids in school couldn't understand his fluid, poetic words. They were like music to my ears.

I naturally had an affinity for "scary stories" and the paranormal, I always have. I remember one stormy summer afternoon when I was about 7 or 8 years old. My mother let my brother and I watch a movie called "It", adapted from a book of the same name written by renound author, Stephen King. I was floored. I was scared out of my mind at the clown. Mr. Curry still creeps me out when I imagine him in character as Pennywise the Clown. It marked me. To this day I am still afraid of clowns, thanks to Mr. King's brilliant mind! From that movie, I finally graduated to reading his books. I have a blog post in my MySpace account, found here, that explains just one of the few things that makes Mr. King so great at what he does. But, reader beware, it is graphical, as it is not a young adult book.

My absolute favorite book of Mr. King's is called Lisey's Story. It's about a widow dealing with the aftermath of her late husband's death. He was a brilliant writer (writing books much like what Mr. King writes), and it turns out that he had a little gift of his own, that he had once shown her. Now, that gift all but forgotten, she is faced with a crazed man who wants to get his hands on her late husband's writings, and she must turn to the gifted memories locked away in her head to save her. Good stuff!

This summer alone I have read countless books. I've read the Twilight series so many times I've lost count, as sort of a guilty pleasure. I've read the Sookie Stackhouse series so much I could read it through and play it like one long movie in the back of my mind. I also recently read another series, my first Harlequins! It was good, as it was a paranormal romance series, called Primal Edge by Rhyannon Byrd, but that's not what I'm going to talk about here today.

I've read The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe. I followed that book as if I was living in Connie's shoes. It was amazing the amount of history I learned from that one book alone, about the infamouse happenings of the Salem Witch Trials. The concept of "what if" is a very strong one. Think about it. What if there were real witches in and around Salem? This is exactly what Ms. Howe did. She took this world and brought out a true witch, one with powers that are passed down to their daughters over generations. It really makes a person wonder. And that right there is why I loved this book so much.

Right now I'm reading the first book in the Jaz Parks series called Once Bitten, Twice Shy by Jennifer Rardin. I've laughed so many times I think my husband thinks I've about fallen off my rocker! It's a story about a girl working as an undercover government assasin, with the best witty and wry sense of humor I have ever encountered. Her boss is a very old, very yummy vampire named Vayl. I'm only about halfway through the first book but I believe it's going to be counted in the Sookie and Twilight books as one of the most read series' on my bookshelf.

UPDATE: I have finished Once Bitten, Twice Shy the first of the Jaz Parks series, and I'm working my way through Another One Bites the Dust. I've just gotten through the part where Vayl kisses Jaz for the first time just because she was aggravating him. He says, "That will teach you for pushing a vampire to his limit." Here's one thing I have to say about that: "Aggravate away Jaz! Provoke that deadly yet delicious vampire till dawn." -But that's just me. I'm going to outline all those books that I've mentioned above. I won't give away any spoilers unless I warn you at the beginning of the post. Until next time, boys and ghouls. Stay sharp out there!