Good lord. I never thought I’d come up from under this giant stack of stuff to do. Well, I’m not actually out from under it. I just surfaced for a breather.

[sigh]

I’m about halfway through Richelle Mead’s Succubus Dreams, and I promise I’ll post a review as soon as I finish it. I’ve just got to find time to finish it! Next up in the reading-for-pleasure stack is Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs and The Light Ages by Ian R. MacLeod.

My boyfriend brought home an enormous time suck the other day… Little Big Planet. He’s waiting for me to finish up homework stuff so we can be adorable little sackpeople together. C’mon, homework, do yourself!

Like last year, and the year before, I’m not participating in NaNoWriMo. November is pretty much the worst month possible for this sort of thing. November means starting on final projects, writing papers, doing editorial review type stuff… In other words, way too much crap that prevents me from doing what I really want to do: write fiction.

Le sigh.

Maybe I’ll turn December/January into sort of an impromptu NaNoWriMo. I’m on winter break then… I should start plotting out a novel now.

I’m entering the final stretch of the semester, and damn, am I busy. I’ve got schoolwork to do, but the main thing that’s eating up my time is editorial stuff for my department’s literary journal. Luckily, after I work my arse off this weekend, I’ll have a brief lull, then another burst of activity, then WHEW, no more editorial duties until January. That seriously can’t get here quickly enough, heh.

So, that’s why I’ve been lax in posting here. Working one’s arse off really cuts into the blogging time, unfortunately.

I’m about halfway through Richelle Mead’s Succubus Dreams, which I’m LOVING so far, so expect a review of that as soon as I get a chance to breathe, heh.

And, since the Big Day is looming, I wanted to take a second to remind all of my American readers to vote on Tuesday, if you haven’t already! I voted this past Monday. :)

Big surprise here.

The fates like to laugh at me. My birthday is on Saturday, and I’ve caught a nasty cold. Whee. I’m doping up with vitamin C and Mucinex, so here’s hoping Snot Head goes away by then. I’d hate to walk around the Dallas Sci-Fi Expo dressed as Lara Croft, constantly blowing my nose and coughing.

Links! Because I really do have to buckle down and work on other stuff.

How to Read, Drink, and Be Merry. Alcoholic beverage paired with books. Some good suggestions, but I drink white wine and wouldn’t touch chick lit with a ten foot pole. Austen I agree with, though, heh.

Now here’s a genre that was sadly missed by that post’s author. What would you drink with paranormal romance? Which beverage would you pair with Richelle Mead, Linnea Sinclair, Karen Chance? Tell me in the comments. :D

In other news, I got artistic and inspired yesterday and made some art: Offering to the Sea. I’d love feedback on the piece, either here or on Deviantart.

And now, it’s time to hunt down that bottle of Mucinex, find some Tylenol, and get some work done.

Time for another installment of the Fangirl’s review of The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance!

The book info, once more with feeling!

Buy it now: Amazon
Description: The biggest names in paranormal romance have created a fascinating array of 30 short stories of hot blood and inhuman passions that will leave you thirsting for more. Authors include Sherri Erwin, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Jenna Black, Jenna Maclaine, Raven Hart, Delilah Devlin, Keri Arthur, Kimberly Raye, Alexis Morgan, Lilith Saintcrow, C.T. Adams, Cathy Clamp, Susan Sizemore, Dina James, Colleen Gleason, Barbara Emrys, Savannah Russe, Shiloh Walker, Vicki Pettersson, Rebecca York, Rachel Vincent, Amanda Ashley, Karen Chance, and Nancy Holder. These ain’t your mother’s vampires! (from Amazon)

My other TMBOVR reviews:
Ongoing Review, Part 1
Ongoing Review, Part 2

The Reviews!

“Dreams” by Keri Arthur

I’ve read most of Keri Arthur’s Riley Jenson Guardian series, and it’s a good thing, too. If I hadn’t read the series, I would have been completely lost reading this story. Riley’s jealous vampire boyfriend, Quinn, is back in Melbourne, and he’s decided that sexy dreams about the half-vamp/half-werewolf just aren’t enough. Unfortunately, Riley’s other boyfriend (the werewolf) is sleeping in her bed, and something weird is hanging out in the basement. After “suggesting” that the werewolf boyfriend go home, Quinn and Riley head downstairs to investigate and end up fighting bizarre creatures.

This little interlude in the Riley Jenson series really didn’t do much for me, but I fully admit that I might be biased. Quinn started pissing me off a few books into the series, and I find that I really don’t care for him anymore. The fight was interesting, but there just wasn’t enough character development for me. I don’t feel like this story really meant anything in the long run; it was just an excuse for a fight scene and a sex scene. Also? I got squicked out when our two bloody heroes hopped in the bathtub to clean off and have sex. A bath? Ew! Shower all the blood off, then run the bath and soak and screw. Yick.

The Fangirl Says: B-

“Love Bites” by Kimberley Raye

Danielle Blue comes from a long line of vampire hunters. You could say it’s a family tradition. Too bad she’s just not very good at it. And while trying to complete her first hit, she really screws up. She falls for the vampire.

I liked this story pretty well, but I wanted it to be longer. The story seems pretty rushed, zooming from the first kill to Danielle deciding to save the vamp to the Hot Vampire Sexing with little time to breathe in between. Yes, I know, it’s a short story. I just wish this had been worked into a longer narrative. I really liked Danielle’s ambivalence toward her family profession, and her anxiety about being seen as a traitor for saving the vampire’s life.

And the acronym for the vampire-killing outfit cracked me up: Snipers of Otherworldly Beings, or SOB for short (”I know how to handle an SOB.”)

The Fangirl Says: B+

“What’s At Stake?” by Alexis Morgan

Very punny title. [groan] This story takes place in a futuristic or alternative sort of world, where there are vampires and Chancellors (a species that hovers somewhere between vamp and human). Josalyn is a Chancellor who is basically an investigator for the vampire community. She’s called in to find out if Rafferty, who is coincidentally (snicker) her former flame, actually murdered some humans.

I’ve got to admit, I just couldn’t get into this one. Joss is abrasive, one of those badass heroines who come off less badass and more bitchy. She proves her toughness by beating up guards who don’t get out of her way. Rafferty is pretty much a non-character; I can’t remember much about him other than that he had a bitchy ex-fiancée and that he’s got the hots for Joss. Together, they investigate and find out that (gasp!) the bitchy ex-fiancée did set him up for the murder. And they live happily ever after.

Um. Yeah. That’s about it. Color me unimpressed.

The Fangirl Says: D

“Coming Home” by Lilith Saintcrow

I’ve got the first two Dante Valentine novels hanging out in my To Read stack, but I haven’t had a chance to read them yet. After reading this story, which is set within the Dante universe, I think I’m going to have to bump them up in the stack. The story itself was less romance and more urban fantasy (which is fine by me), but Saintcrow’s writing style really sucked me in. I love how she plays with words, both in the narration and in the characters’ dialogue.

The story follows Liana, Dante’s adoptive daughter (I think? fans, correct me if I’m wrong), as she’s forced to face an old vampire flame and help him assassinate his sire. I’ve got to admit to being a little lost in regard to the universe itself, but Saintcrow’s writing kept me reading and made me want more.

The Fangirl Says: A

“To Ease The Rage” by C.T. Adams and Cathy Clamp

Sylvia Beck, a seasoned cop, has been dealing with mysterious phone calls and break-ins lately. Imagine her surprise when she catches the intruder and discovers it’s her former partner, Tim Meyer… who’s been dead for a few years.

This story plays with an interesting collision between the supernatural and the mundane world. I like the concept of vampires completely forgetting their former lives when they’re turned, unless there’s a conscious effort to make themselves remember (i.e. Tim watches videos of himself before he was turned, which helps him remember that he was a cop). I also like the history between Sylvia and Tim. In a romance short story, it’s easy to cram two strangers together and poof! they’re suddenly in love. I can’t stand that plot device, so it’s a breath of fresh air to be introduced to two characters with history that facilitates their romance. I like, too, that Adams and Clamp don’t dump the history on the reader all at one time. The backstory is revealed as the story moves along instead of in an expositional dump at the beginning.

The Fangirl Says: B+

Take the Quiz here!

Woot! Lizzy is one of my favorite literary characters, along with Beatrice from Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.

I love books. I love, in particular, books that are still printed on paper. I love tucking one in my purse, being able to curl up with one in my lap, so on and so forth. I love the feel of paper under my fingertips as I read. E-books? Sound convenient, but I looooove paper.

But this thing? Is incredibly cool. I could get behind this sort of thing. I like that it’s thin and light and durable, because… well, I keep a lot of crap in my purse or my tote. I’d hate for an e-book reader to have an unfortunate run-in with one of my many pens or lip gloss containers. (Yes, yes, I know. Covers. Just go along with me here.)

I am, however, a thrifty fangirl. Until one of these babies goes for cheap, I’ll stick with my precious paper books.

I work as a tutor, and it’s getting to that point in the semester when we’re swamped with science papers. Running away with the circus never looked so good.

Deep breaths, Fangirl. Deep breaths.

I should be writing a short paper on Hitchcock’s Rear Window, but… well, I’m sure you’ve figured out by now that I’m not. So, I’ll pepper you all with links.

Don Cheadle to replace Terrence Howard in Iron Man 2. Not sure how I feel about this one. I love Don Cheadle and think he’s a brilliant actor. He should have no problems playing Col. Rhodes. But I also hate it when a character gets an actor change mid-franchise. Howard was great as Rhodey, and he had fantastic chemistry with Robert Downey, Jr. It looks like money might be a major factor in this switch, which really sucks. I know Cheadle will do a good job, but at the same time… I’m a worried fangirl.

How To Do Everything With Twitter. I’m sadly addicted to Twitter, so this? Is super helpful! Thanks to Mel for the link.

On the list of Comics I Need To Pick Up: Urban Fantasy Land reviews Marvel’s NYX I adore Joshua Middleton’s art, and the covers are nothing short of gorgeous.

I want to write some fiction. This lolcat describes my writing mood perfectly.

Ann Aguirre posts about Anya Bast’s new release, The Chosen Sin. Looks like I’ll be making another trip to the bookstore…

The Book Smugglers’ Thea reviews Richelle Mead’s Succubus Dreams. I snagged a copy of this last weekend and will probably dive into it after I finish The Mammoth Book of Vampires.

If you’re more in the mood for science fiction, Young Adult Science Fiction posts a list of intriguing books. Will Peterson’s Triskelion looks pretty cool.

And finally, for shits and giggles, % Chance Ninja is Located at Given Moment.

Wow, that’s quite an acronym. Time for another review of The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance! I’ve read four more stories so far, and like last time I’ll try to keep the spoilers mild, but beware! There will be some stories that I can’t help myself with the spoiling.

And to be repetitive, the book info again! ;)

Buy it now: Amazon
Description: The biggest names in paranormal romance have created a fascinating array of 30 short stories of hot blood and inhuman passions that will leave you thirsting for more. Authors include Sherri Erwin, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Jenna Black, Jenna Maclaine, Raven Hart, Delilah Devlin, Keri Arthur, Kimberly Raye, Alexis Morgan, Lilith Saintcrow, C.T. Adams, Cathy Clamp, Susan Sizemore, Dina James, Colleen Gleason, Barbara Emrys, Savannah Russe, Shiloh Walker, Vicki Pettersson, Rebecca York, Rachel Vincent, Amanda Ashley, Karen Chance, and Nancy Holder. These ain’t your mother’s vampires! (from Amazon)

The Reviews!

“Fangs For Hire” by Jenna Black

I like Jenna Black’s Morgan Kingsley series, so I went into this story hoping I’d find the same sarcastic type of protagonist. I wasn’t disappointed on that count; Gemma Johansen is a vampire hitman, or hitwoman as it were, and she’s snarky and seemingly-cold blooded. She’s hired by a young man to take out his stepfather, whom he believes killed his already-ill mother for her money. Gemma goes to investigate her target and finds that Ross Blackburn is more than she bargained for.

I think this story works well in this format. It feels a bit like a condensed longer story, but Black manages to fit a self-contained narrative into nineteen pages. The only complaint I have is slightly uneven characterization for Gemma. When she first meets her client, she narrates that she won’t kill innocents, but as long as she doesn’t know anything about the target, she just knows that they need to die. And yet she decides to go meet Ross and find out if he did kill his wife. That just didn’t quite make sense to me. The narration is first person, and while I suppose Gemma could be an unreliable narrator, it just didn’t quite fit that she would think to herself that she’s cold and detached, and then tries to find out if the guy really was a murderer.

I did like Gemma, though, and I think she’d be worthy of a novel or two.

The Fangirl Says: B+

“The Righteous” by Jenna Maclaine

This story seems to fit into some larger narrative; the story starts with a prologue of sorts, where the Irish war goddess Morrigan commands an unnamed High King to send one of his vampires to Paris. The story then shifts to a vampire spying on a mortal vampire hunter, a young woman who has spent time as an opera singer, a courtesan, the mistress of two kings, and… yeah, now a vampire hunter on the side.

Um. Yeah.

The romance didn’t really pull me in. The hunter finds the vampire attractive and vice versa, but it seems like she caved more out of necessity (the vampires want to use her younger sister to punish her for being such an awesome hunter) than actual desire. And the quick-and-tidy wrap up at the end of the story left me wondering if there was a real point in reading this. Aside from a brief mention, there’s no real conflict within the story, not even when the vampires kidnap the hunter’s sister. We hear about it, but don’t see it. It’s a classic case of telling instead of showing, and frankly, I think that makes a poor story. Add that to being dropped in the middle of a larger narrative without a good explanation and the Mary Sue-ish heroine, and you can color me unimpressed.

The Fangirl Says: D-

“Knowledge of Evil” by Raven Hart

This story is narrated in first-person by a male vampire, and unusual choice in a romance-type story. Unfortunately, he comes off as an arrogant, know-it-all prick, and I wasn’t too fond of him. Of course, you could argue that he’s arrogant and a know-it-all because he’s a damn vampire who’s been around since classical Greece, but… I just had trouble relating to him or even liking him. That’s quite an accomplishment, since his main motivation seems to be gaining knowledge, and I’m planning on being a lifelong student.

Our vampire protagonist meets an anthropologist who is an expert on vampire myths one evening and goes home with her to get a little somethin’ somethin’, only to find that she knows he’s a vampire, and she’s determined to make him turn her. As our hero hates fledgling vampires, who are ravening beasts, he’d rather kill her than turn her. But her thirst for knowledge intrigues him and so he changes his mind and creates a companion for all time.

This story was okay. I wasn’t particularly impressed by it, but at the same time, I can’t say that I really disliked it, either. I do think that a vampire who spends eternity taking university classes is a pretty cool idea, but the arrogant first-person narration put me off. The anthropologist is pretty much a non-character, existing only as a mirror of the vampire’s own desires. An interesting concept, but one that just didn’t work out for me.

The Fangirl Says: B-

“Viper’s Bite” by Delilah Devlin

I’ve read one of Delilah Devlin’s novels (review here), and… well, let’s just say that I wasn’t particularly impressed. However, I was pleasantly surprised by this story. It was erotic without being porny, and it was also deeply emotional.

Viper, a vampire, lures a woman, Mariah, out of her apartment to seduce her, or so we think. As the seduction progresses, we start to get hints that there is more to this situation than is on the surface. Somehow, these two know each other, and though Mariah doesn’t seem to remember, Viper is nearly overwhelmed by the pain of it.

I won’t spoil the story, but I’ll just say that I found myself getting a bit choked up at one point. I really believed these characters and felt for them, which is much more than I can say about the characters in that novel I read. This is a sweet, romantic, and angsty little story, and I liked it a lot.

The Fangirl Says: A

I had planned to read Patricia Briggs’s Cry Wolf next, but it got misplaced in the disaster area that is my office, so I picked up The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance, edited by Trisha Telep. Since this is an anthology, I’m going to review it in a series of posts focusing on a few stories each. Because honestly, if I wait until the end, I’ll forget what I thought about the stories at the beginning. Reading film theory texts has eaten my brain cells.

I’ll try to keep the spoilers mild, but beware! There will be some stories that I can’t help myself with the spoiling.

Buy it now: Amazon
Description: The biggest names in paranormal romance have created a fascinating array of 30 short stories of hot blood and inhuman passions that will leave you thirsting for more. Authors include Sherri Erwin, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Jenna Black, Jenna Maclaine, Raven Hart, Delilah Devlin, Keri Arthur, Kimberly Raye, Alexis Morgan, Lilith Saintcrow, C.T. Adams, Cathy Clamp, Susan Sizemore, Dina James, Colleen Gleason, Barbara Emrys, Savannah Russe, Shiloh Walker, Vicki Pettersson, Rebecca York, Rachel Vincent, Amanda Ashley, Karen Chance, and Nancy Holder. These ain’t your mother’s vampires! (from Amazon)

The Reviews!

“Fade To Black” by Sherri Erwin

Okay, I’ve got to admit that the first half of this story intrigued me. It’s about a depressed, bored English professor (why hello there, personal identification with the main character!) who hooks up with a very sexy student… who turns out to be a vampire. The premise is interesting enough, as is the explanation for vampirism: it’s a virus. However, a short story is the wrong vehicle for this idea. Within the space of 23 pages, Erwin turns the main character into a vampire, has her and her student beau kidnapped, introduces a love triangle, introduces some sort of plot to “cure” vampires, and introduces Dark Past Events that transpired between the two male vamps. And then the main character runs off with her student beau. The end.

Wha? This feels more like the first chapter of a novel with a hurried bit of the end tacked on. Or the treatment for a novel. It doesn’t feel like a good, self-contained short story. “Fade To Black” is an appropriate title, considering that’s what the story does. Unfortunately, it fades to black on a rushed, unpolished story.

The Fangirl Says: D

–

“Ode to Edvard Munch” by Caitlín R. Kiernan

I’ve been interested in Kiernan since I ran across Murder of Angels in the bookstore, but this is the first chance I’ve had to read any of her writing. Color me impressed.

I’ve seen a few reviews of this story that complain about its lack of romance, and I can definitely understand where these reviewers are coming from. “Ode to Edvard Munch” is by no means a traditional romance. It’s dark and twisted, focusing on a lonely piano player’s obsession with a “daughter of Lilith,” a strange young woman who lives in Central Park. Much of the story deals with the bizarre nightmares the piano player has after allowing the woman to feed on him. I love Kiernan’s visceral style during the dream sequence. It’s vivid and creepy and fascinating all at the same time.

If you’re expecting a more traditional vampire romance, this isn’t the story for you. But if you’re a fan of horror or more straight urban fantasy, I’d definitely recommend this story. I can’t wait to read Kiernan’s second contribution to the anthology.

The Fangirl Says: A

Keep your eyes peeled for the next set of story reviews!