Review: Wages of Sin

Wages of Sin by Jenna Maclaine (Cin Craven #1)

St. Martins Press, 352 pages
GOODREADS

Quote

" 'I can't see anything but shadow and torchlight,' I said, not bothering to add that I couldn’t hear anything either over the pounding of my own heart. She chuckled against the side of my neck. 'I have always wondered how you humans survived as a species. Your senses are almost nonexistent.' 'Dumb luck?' I said in a small, choked voice. "

Content
Dulcinea Craven descends from a long line of witches, and she has just inherited wild, untrained magical powers that she has no idea how to control. Now a ruthless vampire and an age-old demon are determined to enslave Cin and steal her power for their own. Her only hope is The Righteous, a band of warrior vampires who slay the rogue undead. Among them is Michael, a fierce swordsman who inflames Cin’s most primal hungers. Showing her a sensual pleasure beyond anything in the mortal realm, she must choose between the human existence she has always known, and immortality as a vampire—a new life filled with forbidden urges, dark yearning, and unearthly passions…

Thoughts

A vampire witch as a main character just sounds soooo cool, so I decided to give this one a try.

For some reason I thought the whole 18th century thing that was going on would only be a prelude. I really thought it would change to the present. I guess because there wasn't really a mention of the time it was set in, so I presumed ... wrongly. Bugger.

I would put this between books the likes of How To Charm a Rake and My Gentleman Thief or what not (I made these up), because this was really all out love-at-first-sight-oh-my-i-am-soo-powerful-and-gosh-look-at-my-beauty stupid. *Sigh* It wasn't bad, but I was disappointed, especially considering it's good overall ratings at Goodreads...

Cin at times seemed so mature and knowing, like a good 22 year old young lady even, but sometimes she behaved more like a 14 year old girl with a crush. Which she had, alright, but come oooooon ... falling in love after meeting each other once is a bit fast, isn't it? And , gaaah, that scene where they stood together going all Power Rangers "We are The Protectors" one after another standing next to Cin made me just plain laugh. *sigh* ... and sigh ...

I think if you know what awaits you, you might like it, but I found it to be lacking and I'm not interested in following this Series anymore.

Book Blogger Hop July 20-27

This weeks question:

What’s the ONE super-hyped book you’ll NEVER read?

My Answer:
Fifty Shades of Grey, which I saw is really popular at being unpopular - I wonder why? For me it's just glorified FanFiction. I do like to read FanFiction from time to time, and some appear to be good enough to be published, but a soft porn FanFic of Twilight? Puh-leaaase! That just sounds like the beginning of a bad joke ...

Review: Sweet Dreams

Sweet Dreams by Kristen Ashley
(Colorado Mountain #2)

Amazon Digital Services, 562 pages

GOODREADS

Quote
"His forehead dropped to touch mine. “I’m gonna piss you off ‘cause I can be a dick. That’s who I am. And you’re gonna piss me off ‘cause, babe, you got attitude. That’s who you are. And that’s who we’re comin’ out to be together. And I’m all right with that because, with what I had before, even when you’re a bitch, I like it. But when you’re not, it’s a sweetness the like I’ve never tasted."

Content
Lauren Grahame has spent her whole life thinking something special was going to happen. She didn’t know what it was, she just knew it would one day be hers. But she learned the hard way that special wasn’t on offer.

So, after divorcing her cheating husband, Lauren searched for nothing special and she thought she found it when she landed a job as a waitress in a biker bar in Carnal. It was perfect: a nothing job in a nowhere bar in Nowheresville.

Then Tatum Jackson walked in. Part-owner of the bar, he took one look at high-class Lauren and wanted nothing to do with her. And he made this known, loudly.

Tate’s angry insults seared in her brain, Lauren decides the feeling is mutual and she doesn’t want anything to do with the gloriously handsome Tate Jackson. The clash of the bartender and barmaid begins but, even though Tate makes his change of mind clear (in biker-speak, a language Lauren is not fluent in), Lauren is intent on going her own way.

Until a serial killer hits Carnal and Lauren finds out Tate isn’t a bartender, he’s a bounty hunter. He stakes his claim for Lauren before he goes on the hunt for a killer but Laurie doesn’t speak biker nor does she understand bounty hunters and Tate comes back from the hunt to find his old lady has moved on.

Life throws curveball after curveball at Laurie and Tate. As secrets are revealed, women are brutally murdered, and Lauren tries to find her inner biker babe

Thoughts
Sweet Dream felt like it was full of so many things, it was going to burst on the seams!
It certainly was a thriller, but also a romantic chick-lit contemporary.
Which was fine, it just seemed a bit too much for me.

The characters are wonderfully fleshed out, with their own quirks and where what made the writing bearable. I LOVED the hippies! And I loved the way Lauren was presented at the beginning. She seemed, you know, normal. And you can certainly see the way she changes, kinda blooms into being herself again instead of just being her ex-husbands wife (who's an ass).


For some reason the author thought 3 page long monologues where the way to go. Nope, total disaster that! She explained things like wardrobes in it's tiniest detail and some sentences filled half a page, which threw me out of the story instead of sucking me in more.
And this didn't just happen once or twice, but it's her actual style.


Way too much information and dialogue! I never thought I'd cry over too much information or dialogue because most of the time either one seems lacking. On the other hand it WAS a gripping read, certainly steamy and with a lot of interesting side-stories. Which was especially nice, because most books focus on one couple, but this one went in depth with about every character!


Rating ★★★☆☆

Book Chick City's Zombie Challenge 2012

I'm joining Book Chick City's Zombie Challenge 2012 mainly because I haven't really read any zombie books in the past and I hope to enjoy this, for me undiscovered, genre.
If you have any recommendations feel free to leave a comment! I could use the help. :)

My Goal
1 Chomp (6 Books) because I want to take it slow with something I have no clue about.

Book Blogger Hop July 13-19

I'm so excited I found this! Hopping around blogs, meeting new people and getting to know others opinions, that's why I started this blog in the first place. :)

This weeks question:

How long does it take you to read a book?

My Answer:

That really depends on the book. At times I read a book in a day, other times it might take me up to a week. But that happens seldom. If it is really well written i actually take longer than with a mediocre book, because I savor the experience. I might go over a sentence or scene a few times, just to feel the butterflies in my belly once more or to make sure I really just read this one revealing fact and didn't have a hallucination, and I might even stretch it out on purpose, because I do not wish for it to end.