Archive for July, 2011
Wednesday, July 27th, 2011
Pros: Delicious! Great layout
Cons: Some ingredients may be a little tough to find
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Review book (published 20011) provided by Chronicle Books.
Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee’s Quick & Easy Mexican Cooking: More Than 80 Everyday Recipes
includes more than 80 recipes that won’t take all day to prepare. Ms. Lee’s parents bought a Mexican grocery store when she was young, and so began her education in Mexican foods. Neighborhood women would share recipes with her and her family, and once she graduated from college she lived in Mexico for a time.
Luckily for us it’s easier to find Mexican ingredients in a wide variety of stores now, but some ingredients still might not appear on your local supermarket shelves. However, I didn’t find that to be a huge problem when working with the book, just an occasional note. And of course, these days you can order many ingredients online.
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Tags: Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee, cookbook reviews, Cookbooks, cooking, food, Mexican cooking, Mexican recipes, recipes
Posted in Regional | Permalink | 2 Comments »
Friday, July 22nd, 2011
Pros: Great mystery and characters, wonderful relationship, fascinating subplots
Cons: So many people and names that I got a bit confused!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group
Special Agent Jaid Marlowe of the FBI has a long and storied history with Adam Raiker of Raiker Forensics. It was all a long time ago, and they’ve tried to forget each other, but somehow neither of them has ever been able to quite let go. Now, a case has thrown them back together again. A killer is stalking DC, leaving slips of paper at each scene pointing to one of the seven deadly sins. At first none of the victims seem to have anything in common—a judge, a financier, a religious leader. The far-flung list of suspects is even flimsier—a US senator, a priest, an Iranian professor, and perhaps even someone within the FBI itself.
As Jaid and Adam dive into the case, they start to fear that the only link between the victims might be Adam himself. And when he becomes a suspect, Jaid has to risk everything to prove him innocent. No one is safe—not Jaid, not Adam, and not even Jaid’s son, Royce. To make things just that much harder, Adam, who always preached the philosophy that love and sex complicate and cloud a person’s judgement, may be forced to realize that giving up Jaid was the worst mistake he ever made.
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Tags: forensics, Kylie Brant, Mindhunters, mystery, police procedural, romance, serial killer
Posted in Thriller, Adventure & Mystery | Permalink | 2 Comments »
Thursday, July 21st, 2011
Pros: Stunning magical fight scenes; we get to the heart of the matter; Allie improves even more
Cons: I hate bureaucratic oversight plots…
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
NOTE: Devon Monk’s Magic on the Hunt
is book six of her Allie Beckstrom series. It’s a series with a very strong plot arc, so make sure you read it in order. Also, it will be impossible to avoid giving away details or hints about previous books in this review, so be warned. Check out our reviews of books one (Magic to the Bone), two (Magic in the Blood), three (Magic in the Shadows), four (Magic on the Storm), and five (Magic at the Gate) first.
Allie and Zayvion are still trying to find the missing leader of the Authority, Sedra. As they look for her, however, they run into more and more dangerous people and events. A particularly dangerous entity escapes from a magical prison, killing (and nearly killing) several people in the bargain. Our heroes have to track down a handful of only somewhat less dangerous foes as well, all of whom are perfectly happen to bring the city down around their ears if that’s what it takes to get away. An outside member of the Authority decides it’s time to bring the leaders of Portland to reckoning for their failure to control the situation, and Allie’s father finally shows his hand.
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Tags: Allie Beckstrom, Devon Monk, paranormal, urban fantasy, world-building
Posted in Fantasy, Horror & Paranormal | Permalink | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, July 20th, 2011
Pros: Allie continues to grow; secrets start to spill; stakes get high
Cons: Still too much mistrust and trust of the wrong people; Allie needs more growth
Rating: 4 out of 5
NOTE: Devon Monk’s Magic at the Gate
is book five of the Allie Beckstrom series. It’s a series with a very strong plot arc, so make sure you read it in order. Also, it will be impossible to avoid giving away details or hints about previous books in this review, so be warned. Check out our reviews of books one (Magic to the Bone), two (Magic in the Blood), three (Magic in the Shadows), and four (Magic on the Storm) first.
Allie never thought she’d have to rely on her father, but without his help she won’t be able to retrieve Zayvion from beyond death’s door where Chase and Greyson sent him. The living aren’t meant to traverse the lands of the dead, the dead aren’t meant to return to the lands of the living, and Allie sure as hell shouldn’t have her father’s ghost living in her head!
Unfortunately, her father is far from her greatest problem. The Veiled have discovered a means by which they can enter the world in solid bodies, able to affect the living. They’re determined to get their hands on the magic-storing disks Daniel Beckstrom and his wife Violet invented, even if they have to go through every last member of the Authority to do it.
“Don’t worry. I’ll let you know if my dad is trying to take over.”
“Did we make a hand signal for that?” he said.
“If I’m acting like a bastard, it’s him.”
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Tags: Allie Beckstrom, Devon Monk, paranormal, romance, urban fantasy, world-building
Posted in Fantasy, Horror & Paranormal | Permalink | 1 Comment »
Thursday, July 14th, 2011
Pros: Fantastic world-building; imaginative story that goes fascinating places; Allie is ever-so-slightly learning; wonderful magical battles
Cons: Allie is still too pig-headed; good guys are too slow to figure out that the bad guys are corrupt; confusing alliances; a couple of seemingly dropped subplots
Rating: 3 out of 5
NOTE: Devon Monk’s Magic on the Storm
is book four of the Allie Beckstrom series. It’s a series with a very strong plot arc, so make sure you read it in order. Also, it will be impossible to avoid giving away details or hints about previous books in this review, so be warned. Check out our reviews of book one (Magic to the Bone), book two (Magic in the Blood), and book three (Magic in the Shadows) first.
There’s a wild magic storm bearing down on Portland, larger than anyone has seen before. It causes magic to ebb and then return in an unstable, destructive rush. Right now, Allie’s mostly concerned with surviving the storm, and helping her friends to do the same. She’s going to have bigger problems than that, however, when she realizes the insane plans some people have to try to use the storm’s power. The Authority is the only body of magic users capable of protecting the city, but it’s about to crack apart beneath the pressure of long-standing differences and rivalries.
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Tags: Allie Beckstrom, Devon Monk, magic, paranormal, romance, urban fantasy, world-building
Posted in Fantasy, Horror & Paranormal | Permalink | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, July 13th, 2011
Pros: Love some of the new characters and plots
Cons: Make sure you’re reading the series in order now; Allie is TOO pig-headed, and kind of dumb sometimes
Rating: 3 out of 5
NOTE: Devon Monk’s Magic in the Shadows
is book three of the Allie Beckstrom series. It’s a series with a very strong plot arc, so make sure you read it in order. Also, it will be impossible to avoid giving away details or hints about previous books in this review, so be warned. Check out our reviews of book one (Magic to the Bone) and book two (Magic in the Blood) first.
Allie Beckstrom is a Hound—she traces illegal magic use back to the caster for a fee, using her abnormally heightened senses as well as her own magic abilities. Unlike most magic users, however, she can carry magic in her body rather than always having to channel it from the stores beneath the city. She’s also the daughter of one of the most powerful magic users: inventor of many items that fuse technology and magic, and a high-ranking member of the Authority, a secret body of magic users governing how much ordinary mortals are allowed to know. Now that her father is dead and she knows about the Authority, they plan to see whether she can control the massive powers she can channel—and if not, they’ll Close her life, leaving her with no knowledge of or ability to use magic.
Of course, that alone would be too easy. There’s a horrific creature called a Necromorph stalking Allie, and one of the Hounds she’s agreed to protect has gotten in over her head with dark magics. There are creatures called Hungers pouring through gates to attack the city. and to top everything off, Zayvion’s ex-girlfriend, Chase, hates Allie—which might not be so bad if she wasn’t so deadly in her own right.
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Tags: Allie Beckstrom, Devon Monk, magic, paranormal, romance, urban fantasy, world-building
Posted in Fantasy, Horror & Paranormal | Permalink | 2 Comments »
Friday, July 1st, 2011
Pros: Delightful tale with fun characters, plenty of chemistry, and a climax that left me in tears
Cons: Took me a few minutes to sort out who the characters were (and weren’t)
Rating: 4 out of 5
Review book (e-book) courtesy of Shiloh Walker
Vanya had to grow up fast when she was forced to kill her possessed sister. With little left to care about, she waged a one-person war against those demons she could find—until a mysterious man in white offered her a deal. She can die and become one of the Grimm, a more-than-human group of men and women who have hunted and killed demons throughout the ages. Vanya can feel that her time has come, and she’s eager to move on.
Silence has been one of the Grimm for many years, and his inability to speak—not to mention the plethora of scars on his skin and his soul—keep most people at bay. Now Will, the leader of the Grimm, has assigned him to teach and mentor Vanya, and Will has an agenda he isn’t telling Silence about.
When Vanya awakes as a newly-made Grimm, the hard part of her life is just starting. But she figures if she gets to spend it around someone like Silence, it’ll be worth it. And he finds it impossible not to be drawn to the one person who can touch his mind, and hear his voice. Of course, if they don’t work out their tumultuous feelings quickly, the distraction could get them killed…
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Tags: e-books, erotica, Grimm's Circle, paranormal, romance, Shiloh Walker, the Grimm, urban fantasy
Posted in Fantasy, Horror & Paranormal, Romance & Erotica | Permalink | 1 Comment »
Friday, July 1st, 2011
Pros: Intense, emotional plot with plenty of twists and turns
Cons: Dammit, now I have another series to catch up on somehow…
Rating: 5 out of 5
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group
Stormwalker Janet Begay is outrunning one of Sheriff Nash’s speed traps when the ground opens up beneath them both, sending them tumbling into the caverns below. Escape, however, is not as simple as getting out of the sinkhole. There’s something down there that’s taken an interest in Janet, and something up above that wants something from Nash.
Meanwhile, a malicious hotel inspector does everything he can to put Janet out of business, and it doesn’t help that all the repairs from the last year have fallen apart in record time. Who could have slipped a spell past her and her dragon boyfriend Mick’s wards? Come to think of it, why is Mick acting so weird lately? At this rate, Janet’s going to have to save everyone, and all with her crotchety grandmother determined to help out.
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Tags: Allyson James, paranormal, Stormwalker
Posted in Horror & Paranormal, Romance & Erotica, Thriller, Adventure & Mystery | Permalink | No Comments »
Friday, July 1st, 2011
Pros: Delightful world-building and characters; fascinating plot
Cons: Magic gets a little less well-defined as the book goes on
Rating: 4 out of 5
When Allie Beckstrom uses the formidable forces of magic that she controls, she pays a price—a migraine, a fever for a few days, or some of her most treasured memories. She could no more stop casting than stop breathing, however, as magic is more a part of her than it is for most practitioners. She works as a Hound tracing illegal spells back to their casters, but she hasn’t gotten much work recently, so when the police offer her a particularly dangerous job she jumps at it.
Unfortunately, that’s hardly the biggest problem she has. She’s started seeing traces of magic that no one else can, as well as creatures that want to feed on the magic that resides within her. She can’t remember the man that she supposedly loves, and her best friend among the Hounds wants her to join some sort of weird society of Hounds, even though he knows she works alone. Worst of all, her father—her dead father—seems to be haunting her, and a criminal is using blood magic to take revenge on her and her friend.
Some days it seems like Allie never catches a break.
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Tags: Allie Beckstrom, Devon Monk, Horror & Paranormal, magic, paranormal, romance, urban fantasy, world-building
Posted in Fantasy, Horror & Paranormal, Romance & Erotica, Thriller, Adventure & Mystery | Permalink | 2 Comments »
Friday, July 1st, 2011
Pros: Delightful and unusual pairing of characters; wonderful plot and locale
Cons: Crosses over enough with Vaughan’s other series that it helps to have read those books
Rating: 4 out of 5
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group
Bethral is a quiet, strong warrior in love with a noble storyteller, certain she could never fit into his world. Ezren Silvertongue is quick-witted and entertaining, but harbors dangerous wild magics—and he’s in love with a warrior woman whose strength he could never equal. Fate, however, has plans for them, as they find themselves dropped through a portal into the harsh and unforgiving Plains. Suddenly Ezren finds himself hunted for his magics, and Bethral’s family ties to the warriors of the Plains may be all that stands between him and death.
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Tags: Elizabeth Vaughan, Fantasy, romance
Posted in Fantasy, Romance & Erotica | Permalink | 1 Comment »
