I’ve only read a few of these books, ones that I bought a few years ago, and lately I’ve been re-reading most of what is in my library so I decided to pick these up and rummage through them as well. What surprised me the most is that, other than some vague details, I barely remembered the books at all!!! It was like I was reading them for the first time, which made it a little bit more fun for me.
They are, despite some great world-building, essentially romance novels and I do admit I was sort of disappointed to realize how big a role sex played in the books, but I was reminded of why I bought more than just the first book when I began reading about the world Feehan created for the series.
Overall, the books seem to fit really well into the current trends in that they are essentially paranormal romance involving vampires, but Feehan does add a unique twist to the vampire myths to suit the stories a little better. The main male characters are all Carpathians – recognizable as vampires, but as it turns out actual vampires do exist as a subset of Carpathians who have gone bad. The Carpathians aren’t soulless vampires like Dracula, but rather a race that stems from the Earth in a sort of elemental way and who have powers relating to that origin. The trouble is that Carpathian males are essentially predators, and after the first two hundred or so years of life they lose the ability to feel, to see colors, and therefore morality, and continuation of life,  begins to depend on strength of will. As one can imagine, after a certain number of centuries existing in an emotional void the mind can start to get a little bent. Salvation comes in the form of a lifemate – a Carpathian woman who is the light to their darkness – ying and yang, sort of. Colors and emotions return, and she acts as a balance for his emotions and mental state. In return, she gets something most human women would love to have: a mate who is totally devoted to her happiness, her safety, and her well-being.

The trouble arises in that lifemates don’t always find each other right away, and the race is dying out. Very few Carpathian women have been born in the past several centuries, which leaves males in a void without much hope of recovery. For the men, some emotions can be regained for a short time through an act of violence – killing while drinking a human’s blood, for example, and so some males choose to turn vampire rather than enduring until they find a lifemate. Partly because of the hopelessness of their situations, partly because it’s been so long since they’ve felt anything, and also because the acts of evil give them a bloated sense of power.

To protect humans, and the earth, from those who have gone vampire the Carpathian males who haven’t turned are often forced to hunt down and execute their former friends and family to stop the killing and corruption. The books focus on these hunters finding their lifemates – through psychically talented human women who can become Carpathians.

Naturally, this leads to conflict with the vampires since they would like the women for themselves or to use the women to destroy those who hunt them. And, there is conflict with the new couple because human women are not exactly in tune with the idea of being so wholly devoted to a man, and the men are a little behind the times, too. Intentions are good on both sides, but there are a few kinks to work out in explaining Carpathian ways of life – which include drinking blood, and healing by being buried in the soil – to the women.

It’s not exactly heavy reading, but it’s got some adventure and some romance so they can be pretty fun reads (though if you’re like me you might end up skipping the stupid sex scenes). I may see if I can pick up the next book in the series the next time I head to the bookstores.

I really don’t see how I can get into a review of this book without dropping some major spoilers so consider this your warning.

The previous book ends with the death of the entire royal family, minus Prince Gar. The kingdom’s master magician Durm causes their deaths while possessed by a piece of the spirit of the Doranen mage, Morg. Durm is still trapped inside his body, but is unable to force himself back into the driver’s seat – so to speak – and must watch helplessly as Morg wreaks havoc. Fortunately, Prince Gar and Asher have a bit of a break: in the “accident” that kills the royal family, Durm’s body is so severely damaged that Morg’s consciousness is trapped inside Durm’s damaged body. Durm, aware of what is going on around him, begins the battle to will himself to death and insodoing draws Morg’s attention away from the destruction of the kingdom.

In the meantime, Prince Gar is abruptly thrown into the role of King, ruler, and weather-mage for the kingdom. Little does he know that his newly found magical abilities are only a twisted gift from Morg, useable by Gar, but soon to wither and die. Without the ability to control the weather, the wall that protects the kingdom will fall, allowing Morg’s forces outside the wall to pour in and letting the seed of Morg’s consciousness which had crossed over merge once again with the rest of the disembodied sorcerer’s being. Read: everybody dies.

This is when prophecy comes into play. Asher is the Innocent Mage – an Olken who can control not only the magic native to all Olkens, but able to work the flashier Doranen magic as well. Without his help, Gar cannot control the weather and the kingdom will fall. Unfortunately, not every noble is loyal to the royal house and an active dislike of the new king leads one man in particular to aim his sights on the king’s best friend and adviser – Asher.

When Morg finally frees himself from the body of Durm, there is a freshly corrupted magician ready and waiting – though his aid to Morg’s plans has been based of selfish desire to rule and not any corruption by Morg himself.

Asher, meanwhile has to prepare himself to face several things at once:

First, he must learn to wield his newfound magic. Second, he must find a way not to be discovered as an Olken attempting magic is automatically sentenced to death. And Last, he must find a way to help Gar secure the stability of the of the kingdom.

Now, the reason I bashed this book in the last review is this: All of the previous comments let you in on a really great story. What sucks is that the end is so short. All these conflicts come to a head in a battle that lasts a scant few pages, and then get tied up with a neat little bow. It does set the stage for another series down the road (I believe), but after two lengthy books worth of story an ending like the one I read is so underwhelming that I felt like I had totally wasted my time. I wanted to throw the book into the toilet. Honestly. I was that mad.

So…should you read Awakened Mage? Maybe. Maybe not. Some people may not be put off by the ending at all, but it really bothered me. The story was good up until the end. Maybe it’s a good idea to just read a different book by this same author. After all, Karen Miller has proven the ability to spin a good yarn. I just wish it hadn’t been snipped off so arbitrarily.

I know that this probably isn’t going to make your reading list unless you find that you’re about to have a baby, but I wanted to give this book an honorable mention for sheer usefulness. If there’s one book I’ve heard lauded it’s What to Expect When You’re Expecting, which is followed by a What to Expect the First Year, but neither of those has been as useful, as accessible to read, and as comforting to me as the Baby’s First Year book!

I found the What to Expect books informative, but difficult to read because of the month-by-month layout and less than comforting because of the way it presents some information. However, the Baby’s First Year book was well-laid out, has some very useful little charts and tidbits of advice (for example, a chart that documents the risk level of several over-the-counter medications for the baby when/if you choose to breastfeed), and was much more comforting. And if there’s one thing I’ve needed since I got pregnant it’s big heaping doses of comfort. Pats on the back, hugs, and people telling me (or books telling me!) that I’m not going to horrible screw up my baby if I make a mistake.

This book reads almost like a manual. It reminds me a bit of the book I got that detailed repairs, parts, and wiring for my last car. Handy, easy to reference, and laid out in such a way that I can flip through and find information easily. There’s even a first aid section that I’m sure I’ll be looking over frequently the closer I get to my due date.

Not only does this give you practical advice on issues like whether or not you want to breastfeed, with pros and cons for both, but it goes over what I’m calling baby equipment. Do you really need a bouncer seat for your baby? There are pros and cons. Are bassinets a good alternative to cribs? Etc. What a lifesaver. I wasn’t even away of half the baby equipment on the market until I started looking around on the internet for what I will need. This list several common items that parents find useful, and why or why not to buy them. Even better, it tells you what you want to look for if you do decide to buy something. On cribs, for example: did you know that the US banned drop-side cribs and why? That there are organizations that certify cribs, etc for safety? I had no idea. But it’s there in the book so I don’t have to go on the recollections that my grandma has of getting a second- or third-hand crib for my father after he was born, and how I slept in the playpen after she got custody of me at 9 months because I totally flipped out if you put me alone in the crib.

There are instructions on swaddling. (If you’re like me and you didn’t know what that was, it’s where you wrap the baby up in a blanket like a burrito.) There are instructions on burping the baby, caring for a baby with colic, how to hold the baby if you decide to breastfeed (who knew there was more than one way to do that???), how to change diapers (okay so that’s self-explanatory, but it’s there), and some tips on how to soothe your baby when they decide to fuss, or cry, or totally freak out and lance your eardrums with wails that set off car alarms.

If you’ve been around babies, these things aren’t hard to figure out. There’s also a little section in the front of the book that suggests what you may want to bring to the hospital with you. I, for one, would have never thought of bringing a nice black top of some kind for when the hospital brings by a photographer for newborn photos. (And yup, I checked, the hospital where I’m planning to deliver does that.)

In short, this book is really useful. I suspect even for people who are fairly familiar with children this could be a handy little go-to book to reference when you’re stymied by a baby. I really prefer it over the What to Expect series of books, though those aren’t a complete waste of money, and I’ve gone over it a couple times already just to mentally prepare myself for what’s up with babies. I’m glad I came across it and if you, or someone you know, is preparing for an addition to the family this is the book I would recommend for them.

It’s been a while since I read this book, and I didn’t review it at the time because after I finished this I went straight into the sequel – and after reading the sequel I was ranting like a lunatic because with the two books combined I hated the way the story ended. However, now that I’m calm (and feeling better lately) I wanted to give a review of Innocent Mage based on the merit of the first book as it stands on its own.

There is a pretty well-set-up world created for the purposes of the story, but the main points that help one follow along is that there are two races, essentially, occupying the kingdom: Olkens and Doranen. Olkens are native to the land, but traded quite a few freedoms for the protection of the Doranen, who came across the mountains in a time of war and possess some fairly flashy magic. That magic holds a wall around the kingdom to keep nasty things out, and the royal family possesses a special brand of magic that controls as tempers the weather. Near the coast the magic is not as prominently featured in everyday life, but the cycles of harvests and seasons rests solely on the shoulders of the monarch of the kingdom. Quite a mantle of responsibility.

Our hero (sort of) is Asher, an Olken and the youngest of a veritable tribe of brothers who were born into the life of coastal fishermen. As the youngest, Asher held a special place in the lives of his parents. However, it made his older brothers turn against him and while Asher seems to accept their bullying and belittling as a part of of life it made me, as a reader, really happy to see him decide to leave home. Asher is driven by his love of his father to seek his fortune in Dorana City, the nation’s capital, so that with a steady job he can send money back home so that his father is well cared-for and no longer needed on the family’s fishing voyages where the harsh weather and grueling conditions can ruin a man’s health.

It wouldn’t be entirely true to say that his motivation is completely selfless – who wouldn’t want a better life after enduring the hardships of grueling work and an unstable home? – but largely Asher is a character that readers can sympathize with and cheer on. So, the book begins with Asher’s journey. He has an amusingly belligerent attitude toward city-dwelling Olken and steadfastly refuses to let himself follow the masses in the subservient, sometimes toadying attitude, displayed toward the Doranen. Since the Doranen are essentially the ruling class it is a trait that leave Asher would probably do best without. However, Asher has the good fortune to make an impression on the Doranen Prince Gar and achieves his first real goal: a steady, well paying job. Asher is put to work in the stables for the prince and the royal family. And, fortunately, he finds a friend in the stable meister, Matt.

Where things get interesting is that Asher also finds himself becoming a good friend of the Prince. And friends of royalty tend to get involved in the sticky world that is politics, whether they intend to or not. Asher quickly finds himself in the stickiest position possible: he is appointed as Olken Administrator by the Prince and suddenly wields a great deal of power and influence. Let the drama begin.

While Asher is, thankfully, accepted and well-liked by the king and queen, he is at odds with Gar’s mercurial sister and heir to the throne, Princess Fane. His sudden promotion and rise in status is not well accepted by Gar’s closest staff, and the king’s closest adviser harbors an active dislike of everything Olken. Sticky, indeed. Especially since Gar’s primary loyalty is to the Prince and to just doing his job right, despite what challenges may be thrown in his path.

Added to that, Gar has his own trouble and toils as a rare sort of Doranen: one with no magic.

Gar and Asher have a larger enemy, though. Unbeknownst to our players, the malevolent Doranen mage who spurred the war that sent Doranen fleeing over the mountains to the Olken’s land is still alive and kicking. By means of magic this mage, Morg, has kept himself “alive” and lies in wait for the first break in the magical wall that protects the kingdom so that he can complete his conquest. When that break appears, Morg infiltrates not just the country, but takes over a member of the royal house and begins slowly to unravel all that has protected Olkens and Doranens from him for generations.

Asher and Gar will find themselves in a position to stop this unraveling of the society built by Olkens and the first Doranen refugees, but they will also lose much before the threat makes itself known to them. Morg works in subversive ways, and by the time everyone notices something is amiss it is already too late to stop all of the wheels that Morg has set in motion…

Which is to say…this book ends with quite a cliffhanger. All in all, this was a good read. There are characters I enjoyed, one character that I particularly hate and wish horrible things on, and because of the cliffhanger ending I instantly wanted the sequel. Would I recommend it? Yes. The sequel? Yes, but with the caution that the ending is a little anticlimactic. However, it is my understanding that together these two books function as a prequel so it might be worth it to read them both and then dive into the continued story later. (That series, I have not read.) Karen Miller has a solid style going on with her writing, and a gift for storytelling…I’m just not sure that at the end of the sequel I like the story so much. I do, however, like Innocent Mage as it stands all by its lonesome. So, if you’re looking for a new read, I would give it a try.

Lately I have been doing nothing but re-reading old books of mine. I have a few new ones sitting around, but I just can’t seem to work up the enthusiasm to pick up something new right now. I’ve been so consumed lately with the business of having a baby that my mind has trouble focusing on non-baby-related subjects. Hence, my re-reading some old favorites. They don’t take too much concentration, but I still enjoy them. I’ve never been one to read a book once and not go back to it again. I have several paperbacks that are well-worn because, though I treat them gently, I’ve read them so many times that no amount of care could have kept them pristine.

Lately it’s been Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton series – historical romances that detail the courtships and marriages of a family of siblings. They are pretty lighthearted in tone, with a lot of clever dialogue designed to make you chuckle, and though they can get a little dark since they main issues the heroes confront are usually pretty emotional it isn’t ever dark enough to have me crying in my pillow. (Which, now that I’m pregnant takes surprisingly little. I got teary-eyed watching the penultimate episode for the season finale of Leverage the other night.)

And typically, the reading I do does have some grit to it. Not gore *shudder*, but grit. Right now, I’m not feeling the dark, broody thing though. My non-romance reading has mostly been articles and books on pregnancy, which I won’t share here because honestly, unless you’re pregnant, you probably don’t care. lol

So, my recommendations based on my current reading are, broadly: Julia Quinn’s historical romance, Amanda Quick (not always as funny, but entertaining), Irish Johansen (mostly the mystery/thrillers, but those always have a good ending in my experience), and just for variety I’m planning to try re-reading The Mysteries of Udolpho. Whether or not I succeed in reading the last depends largely on my attention span, since sentences can be paragraph-length and descriptions bog down the speed of the plot. Still, when you’re swamped in historical fiction it’s interesting to read the books that are actually from way-back-when.

Well, folks, thanks to a nice deal on B&H I have upgraded from my Nook Wi-Fi (now dubbed the Nook 1st Gen or Classic by B&N) to the new, shiny Sony PRS-T1 which is not only Wi-Fi enabled as well, but has a better operating system and less fussiness than my dear old Nook. This isn’t to say that my Nook is glitchy or a bad eReader – it’s just to say that a couple of fussy issues with the Nook (like how B&N eBooks get automatically taken OFF my Nook & I have to turn on Wi-Fi to re-download them when I want to read them) made me realize that I like the line of Sony Readers more and more…

So when I had the chance to grab the PRS-T1 … I got one! Previously, my main issue with the Sony was that unless you were willing to pay extra to go beyond the basic devices (by extra I mean $100+) then you had no Wi-Fi and/or no music. The T1 has both. Issues resolved. I am in! File support and storage expansion are right on track with its cousins the Nook and Kindle (not the tablet devices, obviously, but who wants one?) and I’m about to rip this sucker out of the packaging and get it running. I’ve played with it at the nearest electronics store so I know I’m cool with how it operates…now for charging and filling with books! Woo-hoo!

These two books follow, Maggie Needs an Alibi with two interesting new murders. I will give each of them this: the murder happens sooner in each book than it did in the first. With Alibi some reviewers on Amazon complained that the murder didn’t take place until like halfway through the book. True, but the mystery started much sooner, you bloodthirsty pirates!

If they kept reading, though, I’m sure they were delighted to find that in Maggie by the Book started with malicious pranking, moved up to bodily harm, and then dished out a murder. In this, the second book, Maggie is attending the WAR (We are Romance) conference and among the luncheons, keynote speakers, workshops, book giveaways, and cover model contests someone is doing their level best to finish WAR off with pranks scaring off the guests. Alex and Sterling are along for the ride with a couple of ‘friends’ from the first book. Alex plans to solve his money troubles by winning the cover model contest, and when the pranks begin he, naturally, wants to solve the mystery. When the murders happen, even Maggie is dragged into the investigation and they start putting all the pieces together. Eventually Maggie calls her almost-boyfriend detective Steve Wendell for help, and he and Alex conspire to keep Maggie safe while they investigate.

As for Maggie Without a Clue…well, it begins with a murder and the most likely suspect is Maggie’s best friend Bernice Toland-James who, in the first book was also a suspect and is now the owner of Toland Books, which publishes Maggie’s work. Since Bernice is so close a murder victim (I won’t say who) for the second time it looks bad even if she was exonerated in the case of the first. To top things off, Alex and Sterling recently moved across the hall and it seems that the sweet old lady from whom they are subleasing the apartment has neglected to mention that she has been threatened by the mob – and they want something from that apartment. That mysterious thing will cause Alex and Sterling a world of trouble, and Maggie is stuck trying to help both Alex and Bernice.

All in all, two good additions to the series, but nothing I felt like jumping up and down over. I think they’re good light reading and the mystery is not one you’re likely to guess right off the bat since Michaels doesn’t really drop little hints and clues everywhere for you. Still, I enjoyed spinning out theories while I read. I’m looking into the other books, now: High Heels and Holidays, and Bowled Over (I think that’s right.) I’ve already read High Heels and Homicide so I’m covered on that front. Even those these may not be real prize-winning mysteries, they were really fun reads. It’s a shame they’re out of print. I will be shopping on Amazon next time I have the chance.

Borders just closed earlier this month. The #2 bookseller in this country is no more.

For a little light note about that, we go to Borders Employees.

Ode to a bookstore death

This is the first book of a series which, unfortunately, I started in the middle. You may remember my review and short rant about High Heels and Homicide when I read it, only to realize that events in that book occurred somewhere later in a series. Fortunately for me, I did finally manage to find the rest of the books in the local library system. I did have to drive across town – nearly into the next town, to be honest – and I still want them in my own library, but hooray! I got my hands on the first two books earlier this week and blazed right through them!

[Sidenote: I blame all typos on the exceedingly affectionate kitten in my lap. He's using my wrist to pet himself.]

Maggie Kelly, formerly a Regency romance writer, has recently made a career change and has begun writing a best-selling historical mystery series under the pen-name of Cleo Dooley. (She thought all the “O”s would look good on the cover.) Her main character, the Viscount Saint Just and his companion, Sterling Balder are a sort of Sherlock-and-Watson duo that solve murder mysteries.  She is working on her latest manuscript when Kirk, the owner of her publishing company (also ex-boyfriend ), knocks on the door, interrupting her train of thought and generally making a nuisance of himself by refusing to acknowledge that their personal relationship is over. A few minutes of douche-baggery later (my term, not hers) Maggie shuts him out of her apartment only to here a voice behind her congratulating her on getting rid of Kirk.

Seeing as Maggie roommates are two cats named Napoleon and Wellington, she is frightened and busily starts unbolting her front door. Only to realize that the voice sounds somehow familiar… When she finally turns around she is reluctantly introduced to a figment of her imagination. Viscount Saint Just AND Sterling Balder have appeared in her apartment. The disturbing part is that after about two days of steady denial, Maggie realizes that her two main characters are really here and, to top it off, they’ve taken her ideas for her next book with them!

As Saint Just and Sterling try to adjust to modern-day Manhatten, Maggie is battling Kirk’s persistent and unwanted advances. After agreeing to have dinner with him at her place, so she can finally tell him that it’s OVER and make him believe it, Kirk is poisoned and dies. Seeing that Maggie is Suspect Number One, Saint Just – now just plain Alex – steps in to solve the mystery and clear Maggie’s name. Maggie, who feels guilty over Kirk’s death, even though he was a total jerk, reluctantly goes along with this because frankly, going down for murder is nobody’s idea of a good time. Especially when the real killer is probably lurking about nearby.

This book is, unfortunately, out of print so any copies left reside in hard-to-find ebook formats, local libraries, and the world of Amazon. (Or used book stores, I suppose.) It may not really be worth an extensive search, but if you are fortunate enough to get your hands on a copy…SEND IT TO ME! Okay, fine. Read it. It’s good light reading, a fairly decent mystery, and it’s amusing to see Maggie deal with her fictional characters come to life. Saint Just is an amusing character, since we get to see his point of view and Sterling is exactly what Maggie (via Kasey Michaels) wrote him to be: sweet, not-too-bright, exactly the right balance to the seriousness of a murder, and the sometimes outright grumpy hostility of Maggie and Alex.  I can, sadly, see why this book is no longer in circulation, but it’s still a good story – better than some of the crap I’ve seen published lately – and I do plan to get my hands on the series for my personal library as soon as I can.