Book Review: No Humans Involved by Kelley Armstrong

Author: Kelley Armstrong
Series: Women of the Otherworld #7
Publisher: Bantam Spectra
Release Date: Februaty 26th 2008
My Rating: 5 cups
Blurb (from Goodreads):

Jaime, who knows a thing or two about showbiz, is on a television shoot in Los Angeles when weird things start to happen. As a woman whose special talent is raising the dead, her threshold for weirdness is pretty high: she’s used to not only seeing dead people but hearing them speak to her in very emphatic terms. But for the first time in her life – as invisible hands brush her skin, unintelligible fragments of words are whispered into her ears, and beings move just at the corner of her eye–she knows what humans mean when they talk about being haunted.

She is determined to get to the bottom of these manifestations, but as she sets out to solve the mystery she has no idea how scary her investigation will get, or to what depths ordinary humans will sink in their attempts to gain supernatural powers. As she digs into the dark underside of Los Angeles, she’ll need as much Otherworld help as she can get in order to survive, calling on her personal angel, Eve, and Hope, the well-meaning chaos demon. Jeremy, the alpha werewolf, is also by her side offering protection. And, Jaime hopes, maybe a little more than that.

I was so happy to finally read this book. You know, it's Jeremy!! If I had to pick a Best Werewolf of all times, it would be Jeremy. He's the perfect werewolf and yet he's so not the perfect hero. He's strong, smart, sexy, powerful, funny, caring, patient. And then there are the few moments of weakness, not in a "oh my god, I'm helpless, I don't know what to do" way. But in such a sweet way. Like when he talks to Jaime about his alpha status and what it actually means and there's a moment when you can actually feel his patience sort of dimming a little. You could see how frustrated he was. Did I say he's sexy? Yes, yes he is. He's very sexy. Swoon-worthy!

Then there's Jaime. She's a redhead first and that's always a good thing. I love redheaded heroines *grin*. But she's also extremely funny. And I loved her brain. She really is smart. She's also sexy and she isn't ashamed of acting like a sexy woman. I liked seeing her getting flustered while talking on the phone with Jeremy. There's this adorable scene with them, I think it was in Haunted? Anyway, it was very cute and sweet and funny. And I also liked the fact that she tried to not ask for help. I think anyone in her shoes would have done it, would have called for help and play the weak female card. But she didn't. Also, she was lucky that Jeremy let her do that. I have a feeling that Jeremy wanted nothing more than to make her sit quietly in a corner while he took all the risks and do all the crazy, dangerous stuff that needed to be done.

You'll get some suspense with this book. I liked that I didn't figure out who was doing the bad things. You'll also get to see some very, very hot, sexy scenes *fans self* And it's Jeremy, for God's sake. You can never go wrong if you're reading a book or scenes with or about him. 

 

News, Feedburner and other stuff

Hey everyone!

You might have heard that Google decided to shut down FeedBurner. So that means no more email subscription from them. No worries though. Karina from Nocturnal Book Reviews found Blogtrottr as an alternative. And it's so cool! You can even sign up and manage all your subscriptions and everything. And it's easy to use. So, if you want to re-subscribe by email, you can do so using the Email Subscription form on my  sidebar on the left. It should lead you to the Blogtrottr website and you put your email and how you want to subscribe (Daily Email, real-time email and other options). If it doesn't work, please let me know (my email address is rubys_books@yahoo.com - no spam, please!) Also, if you want to know more about what may happen with FeedBurner, read this post made Parajunkee.

That's one thing. Another news is that I finally finished the autumn header *points up*. I know it's a little naked, by I have a back-ache from hell and I really don't have any patience left to tweak it a little bit more. The doll was made using one of Ola's (Doll Divine) exclusive doll makers. One of the book graphics were made using a free tutorial from The Paint Shop Pro Users Group and the leaf brush and the pumpkins I made using a tutorial made by Louise G. And the shinny stars and the other book graphics were made with tutorials too, but I can't find any link right now. Will search in my history and put up a link as soon as I find it. Before you ask, yes, I use Paint Shop Pro. And no, I won't change to Photoshop. Tried that and it confused me for some reason.

I'm also half-done with my book badges graphics. I do hope I finish soon, though I can't promise when I'll start using them.

Yeah, so that's it for news and stuff. Now back to reading :D

Cover Love (26)

This feature is hosted by Carmel @ Rabid Reads. The rules are very simple. Choose a cover (or two, or three), preferably new-ish, and share what you like about it. Grab the graphic or don't just so long as you link back.


My pick this week:

 I love how her face and shoulder disintegrate into puzzle pieces and then into dust. Sort of like she's loosing her identity. It's also a tad creepy, how her eye is still intact, but half her face isn't.




Mila 2.0 - Debra Driza

What's your Cover Love this week?

Sunday Book Sountrack #1

Sunday Book Soundtrack is a weekly feature at Ruby's Books, where I share some of my bookish soundtracks. Since I discovered my passion for reading years ago, I've discovered that more and more of the songs I loved remind me of certain books. So I thought I'd share my playlists with you. If you want to listen to the songs, I'll post a link to a Youtube videos for each and every title. No copyright infringement intended! I'll try to find the official videos for each song. There's no set number for each playlist, sometimes I might have 10, sometimes 5, sometimes if I'm one of my moods I'll have 15. If you want to read more about this feature, click the "show more" button below. 

I read with music. If there's no music, I can't read. And not just read, but almost anything, like studying of cooking or doing chores around the house. The only time I don't have music is when I sleep. And during exams, but that's a different story.

Sometimes it happens that a certain song and a book or a scene from the book I'm reading sort of... click. It's like they were made for each other. At least for me. And so I will almost always think of that particular book when hearing that song. I thought I'd share my book soundtracks with you.

Keep in mind that I have a very... weird taste in music. You'll find mostly rock music, country or the 80s-early 90s music in these lists. I might use some "contemporary" songs from now and then, but don't bet on it being something other than those particular genres. Also, not always the songs will be in English. If I have a link to a translation for the lyrics, I'll post it. If you like a song I'm using, that's fine. If not, that's fine too, just don't say I didn't warn you.

The songs aren't always on a book's playlist for their lyrics. Sometimes they're there for an instrument or for a feeling I get when hearing them. Also, I won't always mention what scene I used them for. If it's not a spoiler, I'll share the scene, if it is a spoiler, I'll let you guess.

Anyway, I hope you like my playlists :)

This week's book soundtrack is for my newest literary obsession, Vampire Academy. What can I say, I love this series very, very much. If you want to read my review for Vampire Academy, go here.

1. Godsmack - Vampires  - Cliché ? Yes, yes it is and I'm not ashamed. I love that song and it seems perfect for almost every vampire book :D
2. Evanescence - Bring Me To Life - For me, this is the song for Lissa and Christian. Even the lyrics fit with how I see Lissa before she met Christian and how he helps her. Cheesy, maybe, but it still sounds perfect to me :D
3. Hugo - 99 problems - Love the song. But don't ask what it has to do with Vampire Academy. At the time it seemed like a bad-ass song meant for a bad-ass Rose  
4. Runaways - I Love Playing With Fire - If you've read the book, you might know which scene I think this is perfect for. If not, think about a certain necklace ;)
5. The Pierces - Two Can Keep a Secret 
6. Prince - When Doves Cry - If you've read the book, you know about the scene with this particular song. Can't say I'm a huge Prince fan, but now I can't hear that song without thinking about the scene. 

Fall Into Reading 2012

I remembered, I remembered! I'm actually proud of myself, since I had a very weird week and my internet connection wasn't working very well. Anyway, I really do want to be a good reader and manage to read all the books in my list. I know I said no more lists, but I was looking at my TBR pile last week and I thought that poor pile (ha! mountain is more like it) needs a little change. Fall Into Reading is hosted by Katrina at Callapidder Days. Before I share my list, here are the guidelines:

To participate, here’s what you need to do:

• Create a list of books you’d like to read or finish this fall. This is the only real requirement for participating in the challenge.

• Feel free to set some additional reading goals (such as reading to your kids two hours per week, getting through your pile of magazines, etc.). However, this is not required; setting additional goals is completely optional.

• Write a blog post that includes the list of books you want to read (and any additional goals you’ve set), and get ready to post it on your blog on September 22nd.

• Visit Callapidder Days on September 22nd to sign up for the challenge. I’ll have an official launch post up that morning, complete with an area for you to submit a link to your personal Fall Into Reading post, where it will be added to the master list of participants.

• Read! Work on your goals throughout Fall 2012.

• Report your results. Write another blog post in December to let everyone know how you did. (I’ll post an official wrap-up to the challenge on December 22nd, where you’ll be able to share your results.)

• Have fun! Visit other participants to see what they’re reading. Write reviews if you’re so inclined. But most of all, enjoy your fall reading!

So, here are a few of the books that I hope I'll read during this challenge:

1. The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa
2. Hell On Wheels by Julie Ann Walker
3. First Drop of Crimson by Jeaniene Frost
4. The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
5. The Mists Of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
6. The Kitchen Witch by Annette Blair
7. The Clan of The Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel
8. One for the Money by Janet Evanovich
9. Infamous by Sherrilyn Kenyon
10. Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning

That's my list. Now, before you think I'm going soft, I have to tell you that I do plan to read more. But I'm trying to keep my goals simple.

If you want to participate, click on the button at the start of this post and read the guidelines. 

Re-read Book Review: Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton

Author: Laurell K. Hamilton
Series: Anita Blake #1
Publisher: Jove
Release Date: September 24th 2002
My Rating: 4 cups
Blurb (from Goodreads):

Anita Blake may be small and young, but vampires call her the Executioner. Anita is a necromancer and vampire hunter in a time when vampires are protected by law—as long as they don't get too nasty. Now someone's killing innocent vampires and Anita agrees—with a bit of vampiric arm-twisting—to help figure out who and why.

Trust is a luxury Anita can't afford when her allies aren't human. The city's most powerful vampire, Nikolaos, is 1,000 years old and looks like a 10-year-old girl. The second most powerful vampire, Jean-Claude, is interested in more than just Anita's professional talents, but the feisty necromancer isn't playing along—yet. This popular series has a wild energy and humor, and some very appealing characters—both dead and alive.

The first time I read Guilty Pleasures was about 5 years ago. I remember I was still a newbie to urban fantasy and paranormal and I wasn't quite sure what I should be expecting. A lot of the elements in this book were new to me at the time I first read it.

I liked Guilty Pleasures the first time I read it and I liked it more now. Anita Blake is a strong character and it was easy to like her. She's calculated, or so I saw her. I thought she was pretty judgmental towards anything concerning vampires, from the creatures themselves to the humans that liked, loved and/or served them. I'd like to know what makes her hate them so. I get the fact that they are evil creatures and that she's a vampire slayer and she's been through some violent moments because of vampires, but I'd like to know what the starting point was.

There was a thing that bugged me a little about her. The book starts with a scared Anita. I know that being a warrior or a vampire slayer or an assassin doesn't mean you're not allowed to be afraid. I also know that not being scared of them would've been stupid. But for some reason I was hoping she'd be more like Edward, the other vampire slayer. He's colder, he's able to detach himself more and he can control his emotions and his reactions a lot better than Anita. I would've wanted Anita to be more like that. She has the reputation of a fearless vampire slayer, why not act like one?

If you're waiting for some steamy sex scenes, let me tell you there are none. That was one of the things that left me a little disappointed the first time I read the book. Even now, I still wished to see Jean-Claude naked, but I must have a little more patience for that *sigh*

Anyway, the book was a very good read. Fast paced, with some mystery, drama, suspense and action. The only thing I'm hoping for is that Anita and Jean-Claude do get to the naked part soon in the upcoming books :)