Wednesday Reads

The floor in our family room is in and really looks good. Should have pictures to post on Friday (once I get off my duff and download them to my computer!). But the job took longer than they expected (2 days instead of 1), so it put a crimp in my non-writing project. I did finish a book yesterday, though, so it wasn’t all bad.

I expect to do some book organizing upstairs today, after I run some errands and after I put the DVDs back in the bookcases in the family room. Hmmm… Maybe I won’t get to my organizing project upstairs today. We’ll see.

Here’s what I read during the week:

Aug 13: “Disappearing Nightly” by Laura Resnick, a humorous paranormal mystery. Blurb from cover: “I’m not a heroine; I just play heroines. Also psychotics, orphans, vamps, hookers, and housewives…” Thus begins the first fantastical misadventure of Esther Diamond, a struggling actress who seems destined to attract supernatural mayhem. When bizarre magical disappearances disrupt performances in the Big Apple, Esther receives a mysterious warning not to go on with her off-Broadway show. Desperate to stay on stage rather than resort to waiting tables, Esther turns to her new BFF, Dr. Maximillian Zadok, a 350-year-old mage whose day job is protecting New York from Evil. Determined to get to the bottom of this mystery without losing her job, Esther and Max team up with a conjuring cowboy, a banker with stage aspirations, and a flock of fearless drag queens. Also on the case is Detective Connor Lopez, a sexy cop who has a thing for Esther, but who fears that she and Max may be a bigger problem than the vanishing performers. Since the show must go on—and the astronomical rent must be paid—Esther, Max, and their friends pursue Evil to its lair in their fearless determination to find the missing performers and restore harmony to the city that never sleeps. This book wasn’t anything like I expected. I kind of expected a humorous paranormal romance (in which there really wasn’t any romance, just some attraction between Esther and Lopez), but got a humorous mystery instead. I’m not a lover of mysteries since they’re usually in first person (as this one was), but this story was pretty good and I was able to forget it was in first person (as I do with well written ones). If I were really into mysteries (or I had more time to read), I’d give the rest of the series a chance. I gave this 4 stars on Goodreads.

Aug 19: “Wolf Tales VII” by Kate Douglas, the seventh book in the Wolf Tales series, an erotic paranormal romance. Blurb from book: Powerfully sensual and potently erotic, the Chanku are an exotic race of shapeshifters. Their intent is never to harm, only to delight in one another’s sexual passion and pleasure. But someone or something is out to hurt them, and after attacks against all three packs across the country, all targeted at women and children, Anton Cheval calls the Chanku home to find out who is orchestrating these assaults—and to stop them. But as the Chanku come together to defend themselves, something even more unexpected happens. The combined sexual energy of so many libidinous shapeshifters creates an orgy of uncontrollable desire. Now Anton wonders if the Chanku’s powers of seduction have merely increased in the presence of som many of their own kind, or whether they have discovered an important and unexpected legacy from their mystical and mysterious past… It had been awhile since I read Book #6, but with practically everyone in this book, it helped remind me who was who (and who was with who). There were a couple of really good hot scenes, but nothing like I’ve read in past books. Probably because the newness had worn off between all these characters? Hmmm… Something to ponder. I do own the rest of this series, so I will eventually finish. Just not right away. I gave this 4 stars on Goodreads.

So… If you had the funds to buy ANY car you wanted (and maintain), what would you buy? I used to have an answer ready for this question, but I’m so happy with my Xterra, that I’m not obsessing over any. It’s like the cars just aren’t interesting anymore. Do you believe that or am I just getting old?

Happy reading!

Stacy