Recent Read

Since I went to see a real live Rock Star Tuesday night, I thought I'm make this my first review now that I'm back in the saddle.





Rise by Karina Bliss
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.5 Stars

I discovered Karina Bliss with What the Librarian Did, loved it, got all her backlist and have read every new book since then so it was a given that I would read Rise, her first single title and what seems to be the first of a series.

We first get to know Zander in Librarian and he's a first class, egotistical, selfish jerk. And he didn't really improve much in the next couple of books he appeared in. So I wasn't sure how I would react to him in Bliss and for at least the first half of the book it was not in a positive way and it was kind of tough going. It was Elizabeth, his biographer and his friend and eventually his lover that kept me reading a book when I didn't like the hero. Elizabeth makes for a wonderful heroine. She's funny, intelligent, grounded and more than capable of holing her own against the over-inflated ego that is Zander.

A bit about the book. Zander Freedman is the lead singer of a very popular Rock band named Rage. There decline is outlined in the book What the Librarian Did and is about Devin, Zander's younger brother and the lead bass. The band imploded when Devin collapsed onstage from over excess of the lifestyle that goes on with that kind of life. In Bliss, Zander has reformed the band with different musicians and is preparing to take Rage on a worldwide tour. In order to get even more publicity, he hires Elizabeth, a respected biographer of historical figures. She, of course, is reluctant as all get out since this kind of biography but Zander is a force to be reckoned with and is next to impossible to say no to with his charismatic ways.

So this is the story of Elizabeth trying to get the story from him. He dodges, cancels, only tells half truths and in general very difficult, but hard to stay angry at.

The book started out in my head as a 2, then as the book went along and Zander slowly became less of a prick, I upgraded to a 3, then a 3 1/2, then a 4 and ended as a 4 1/2. There was never any doubt though that Ms. Bliss lost no points as an author even if i wasnt feeling this one at the beginning and even as I was reading about this fairly dislikeable 'hero' I knew I'd be counting down until her next book in the series I enjoy her writing and stories that much.

So you did it Karina Bliss. You fully redeemed Zander Freedman for me so much to the point my throat was closing up as his was. You gave him the perfect partner in Elizabeth who could help with his oh so enjoyable transformation.

'Til later

******ETA*****

Because I was bored and fellow worker bees are still offering their help, I was checking out GoodReads for other reviews of this book and I stumbled upon a bit of news I hadn't really realized.  If you sign up for Karina Bliss' newsletter, there is a little bonus section where Zander meets Elizabeth's parents.  I did not know that.  Now I do, I signed up and I'm about to go on lunch and while on lunch, read said bonus!

Recent Reads

Bound by Moonlight by Nancy Gideon

Why this one: I have been LOVING this series

Steam Level: The story takes place in New Orleans and let’s just say the steam in the story and the steam in the city match!

Blurb: POLICE DETECTIVE CHARLOTTE CAISSIE AND HER SHAPE-SHIFTING PARAMOUR MAX SAVOIE THOUGHT THE PAST WAS BEHIND THEM. BUT IN NANCY GIDEON’S IRRESISTIBLE NEW ROMANCE, THEY DISCOVER IT MAY NEVER LET THEM GO. . . .
THEY SWORE THEY’D BE TOGETHER FOREVER.

Detective Charlotte Caissie is suddenly sharing drawer space and making local news with her shape-shifter lover, Max Savoie. He’s determined to be accepted by her peers—so how can she ask him to return to his criminal roots to help her solve a complex case?
BUT THOSE THEY TRUST THE MOST . . .

Working undercover with her partner to find the serial killer who’s kidnapped a colleague’s daughter, Cee Cee is caught between her job and her fiercely possessive lover. And when she calls on Max’s preternatural talents to aid his hated enemy, she crosses a line that strains their relationship to its limit.

. . . WILL DO ANYTHING TO TEAR THEM APART.

With his secret spreading, Max is forced to protect his family and his clan. The only certainty is his love for his human mate . . . unless the loyalties that define them divide them forever.


My Thoughts: As I said at the beginning, I LOVE this series. The hero Max Savoie is like no other hero I’ve read before and he just leaps off the page with his presence. A bit of background for those who haven’t read the first few books. Max was the ‘enforcer’ for a very influential, very bad crime lord. Jimmy Legere ‘rescued’ Max when he was just a child hiding in the swamps of Louisiana after his mother was brutally murdered. But Max wasn’t an ordinary child; he was a shape shifter who because of circumstances didn’t know anything about his heritage. Jimmy used Max, aimed him, pointed him, and sent him after anyone in Jimmy’s way and Max was so grateful to Jimmy, he would have done anything for him.

This was the situation at the start of the first book, Masked by Moonlight. It begins when Max meets up with Charlotte Caissie or CeeCee, a detective with the NOPD. Max’es loyalties are tested. The first three books are wonderful and CeeCee and Max try and work out a relationship with both of them on either side of the legal fence.

Max is, well, Max is unique. He’s a criminal with a strong sense of right and wrong and a sense of loyalty that won’t quit. And he is so totally wrecked for the heroine. He doesn’t see how she can love him as he considers himself part monster and in some ways he is. He breaks the readers heart with his damaged soul. When he is in his animal form, he almost repulsive, but so broken up by who and what he is when he’s not. The author never really explains what animal he is, but whatever it is, Max has powers that no other has; powers that even he isn’t aware of. He is so lost as to what he is considering his mother died when he was very young before having a chance to explain what he is and his father is a mystery.

CeeCee comes from an equally horrific background. Second generation cop, she was captured, held prisoner and tortured when she was young and it was in fact Max who saved her, though she hadn’t been aware of it until after the start of the first book.

In some ways, these books can be compared somewhat to the In Death books by JD Robb in that both heroines are cops and both heroes are or were part of the criminal element. But in other ways they are vastly different. Unlike Eve Dallas, CeeCee doesn’t have the same moral code when it comes to police duties. She’s a rule bender with an attitude that the ends justifies the means and Max, unlike Roarke, is still involved in the criminal element. And he’s not a cultured or suave as Roarke. And unlike Roarke he is very conflicted about everything except those he is loyal to.

All this so far and I haven’t even got to this particular book. But I’ve very enthused about this series and background is needed. As this book opens up, CeeCee and Max are finally taking their relationship to a more open level. They have shown up together at a charity event. As one can imagine, this sends shock waves throughout both the criminal and cop element. CeeCee is called away to work on a case where women have been kidnapped, tortured and murdered. When the daughter of a rather bully of a cop disappears, CeeCee fears she has been taken by the serial killer and races to find her. Because of some of Max’s supernatural powers and his more than willingness to bend rules and out and out break the law, he helps CeeCee in unobtrusive ways. But he has history with the bully cop. Which makes for some wonderful conflict.

Unlike the other books in this series, we don’t learn too much more about Max’s mysterious background. Rather this is more concentrated on solving the case as well as CeeCee and Max trying to establish the boundaries of their relationship.

There is a real shocker of a twist towards the end that I did not see coming and I think will have huge ramifications in future books. Books I will be reading.

For me, this is a great addition in a great series and it gets a real thumbs up from me for a very unforgettable hero. I just noticed she has a number of books written for Harlequin. I’m going to see if they are available as ebooks so I can get my fix until the next book comes out.

Grade: 5 out of 5

Stand-in Wife by Karina Bliss

Why this one: Karina Bliss burst onto my radar with the wonderful What the Librarian Did last year and I’ve bought all her books since then.

Steam Level: Warm

Blurb: Playing with dynamite, a girl could get burned…
What does he know about love and marriage? And exactly how did he, Ross Coltrane—a special forces elite soldier and demolitions expert—end up playing middleman to his kid brother and the estranged wif And most important, why is he suddenly noticing how beautiful his sister–in–law is? He's never thought about his brother's wife…that way…before.
Then he figures it out and everything makes sense. This tantalizing woman is the other twin! The identical sisters have pulled a swap and duped everyone around them. Furious much? Oh, yeah. Poised to bring down their plan, Ross hesitates. Something about Vivienne Jansen's courage and zest for life gets to him. Except, he's not a man who has feelings. Everyone calls him the Iceman. He doesn't know how to be anything else…


My Thoughts: I enjoyed this one. I read it a week or so ago now and need to read the blurb to remember it, but that’s more of a case of declining short term memory retention then the book not being memorable.

Ross Coltrane, our hero, was first introduced in Here Comes The Groom. He is part of an elite Special Forces group – think Seals – only a New Zealand company, who were attacked and lost two of their own in Afghanistan. Each surviving member has reacted differently. In Ross’ case, he is hell bent on getting himself back into fighting shape and avenging his lost friends. He hasn’t time for anything else and holds all feelings in to the point that his nickname is Iceman. His plans are thrown into turmoil though when his step-mother perishes while exacting a nasty revenge on him. He’s had a ‘fractious’ to say the least relationship with her for years, though he is very fond of and close to his younger step brother, Charlie.

The heroine of this book, Vivienne, is walking a fine line. She is a designer in New York, but has taken time out to help out her twin sister, Merry a wife and mother to the nth degree, who has broken her leg and needs surgery. Her twin is married to Ross’s step brother but they are currently separated. Ross is taking his brother’s side and Viv, her sisters. In order to help, it’s too complicated to go into detail, Viv impersonates her sister and I had a number of laugh out loud moments while reading this book with the complications that come along with this deception. Ross is decidedly angry at his sister-in-law for what he considers a betrayal of his brother and when he thinks Viv is Merry is not the warmest cube on the block. It doesn’t take too long though before he realizes it’s not Merry he’s dealing with, but her twin Viv. Viv, the sister he’s lusted after for years.

Viv pleads with him to go along with her plan and he reluctantly agrees to – for a short while.

This book, as I said is delightful and I’m so very happy I discovered this author. She writes believable characters, people you wish were real so you could meet them. I liked this book better than the first one, Here Comes the Groom.

One thing I have to add, please, please, please do not judge this book by it’s completely horrid cover. I never would have read this one if I based picks on covers alone. The cover of this one is a real eye sore. So IGNORE it. Please!

Grade: 4.25 out of 5

This and That

Just when the Olympics end and I figure life will get back to normal, I get the afternoon shift. Screws up my day at both ends - not enough time in the am and too tired in the pm.

I had another Kristie moment the other day. When I got into my car that night and turned it on, the dashboard lights were very dim. As I was driving home, I was trying everything to get them brighter; flipping the switch up and down, turning them off altogether and back on, turning on the inside car light, nothing worked! And I was thinking 'oh ma-an, somehow the car must be loosing power. Now I'm going to have to take it in since I don't want to go on my big adventure with a car loosing power. Good thing I have a car guy now'.
Then it dawned on me. When I drove to work, it was sunny and I wore my shades - prescription sunglasses. To make sure I didn't forget them at work, I put them on before I left the building. The reason the lights were so dim was because:

I wear my sunglasses at night.


I made a huge decision the other night!! I was tweeting up a storm and one of the other twitterers (or is that tweeters?) twitted (or is that tweeted) about the upcoming Australian RWA conference. And then someone else mentioned about the Readers convention in 2011. And I started pondering........
I have ALWAYS wanted to visit Australia - for as long as I can remember. Since the first time I heard Waltzing Matilda and it made me want to cry - even though the lyrics made absolutely not sense. They still make absolutely no sense, yet it still makes me want to cry.

Ever since I saw pictures of kangaroos, kwoala bears and duckbill platypuses. I mean how cool is that animal!! Imagine if you were to cross one with the Canadian Beaver - wouldn't that be an interesting animal!?!

When I realized when we had summer and they had winter I wanted to visit.

When I got older and started having lustful thoughts about a young Mel Gibson before he turned 'odd' I wanted to visit Australia.

When I realized they were a lot like us - only upside down and with an awesome accent (though I'm sure they will deny they have one) I've wanted to visit Australia. There was a coworker a couple of years ago - a young gorgeous coworker who I tried to set up with Ryan and failed miserably - last time I ever tried matchmaking with my sons - who went to school there for a year. When I heard about her plans, I whimpered that I wasn't that adventurous when I was young.
Well - damn it all!! I'm adventurous now and I decided that

I AM GOING TO GO TO AUSTRALIA IN 2011!

Now unless I find a a traveling partner, I'm going to have to do a lot of preparation! A LOT!!

• Quit smoking!
• Exercise!
• Loose weight!
• Dye my hair!
• Start doing more things on my own like going to movies and out to restaurants - not just the food court at the mall.
• All kinds of stuff!!!

Now New Zealand was a country I also wanted to visit - not with the longing I had for Australia - at least not until Lord of the Rings came out. Then I really wanted to visit. To walk the same ground that Frodo and his friends, Aragorn and Boromir and Legolas did.

So I figured since I would be on that side of the globe, I would also stop off and visit New Zealand Nalini Singh lives there. I'm pretty sure my newest author find, Karina Bliss lives there. Orannia lives there, as well as other wonderful bloggers I'm sure.
So, now I have *drum roll* A GOAL!!

I'm late - I'm very late - at the book giveaway - I haven't forgotten - but due to Olympic mania I haven't had time to look for doubles yet - but I do have 2 so far. Somehow I got two ARC of Ravishing in Red so that will be one. And I know I have at least two copies of Beloved Warrior, a book by Patricia Potter I loved. I will look for 2 more as soon as I can and announce the winner.

And finally - now that it's March - I got to turn my calendar at work. And this is March's pic I get to look at for the next 27 days!

Recent Read

Mr. Unforgettable by Karina Bliss

Why this one: I was so taken with What the Librarian Did, I wanted to read more by this author. This one was the only one that was still available at Chapters.

Steam Level: Oh so nice and toasty on a winter's day

Blurb: Luke Carter can never forget that he'd been abandoned as a child. And that's why the millionaire and former Olympian is driven to build his camp for underprivileged kids in Beacon Bay. If only the rural New Zealand community trusted his motives. And if only the beautiful widow mayor, Liz Light, would stop grieving long enough to prove where her loyalties lie - with Luke or her late husband - and show him once and for all which man is truly unforgettable.

My Thoughts: I figured it was somehow somewhat appropriate considering the amount of Olympics I've been watching the past two weeks that I read a book where the hero is a former Olympian gold medal winner - even if I've been watching Winter Olympics and he was a Summer Olympics champion. And what a champion (heh heh) he makes. I just fell in love with Luke. This is the third book in a series (so naturally I jump in late - though I have now ordered, through other means than Chapters, the first two books in this series, Mr. Irresistible and Mr. Imperfect - all dumb titles I know) about three friends who go into business together. Luke is the front man for building a camp for underprivileged kids in the small ocean town of Beacon Bay. As someone who grew up in the The residents are not supportive of such a program.

One of the few though who is supportive is Liz Light, the Mayor of Beacon Bay and the widow of the former mayor. She is still very much in mourning for her late husband and anything he supported, she supports in an effort to carry on his legacy. But there is another election coming up soon and it seems she has some stiff competition. As part of her campaigning, she is roped into leading off a swimming event and as she doesn't know how to swim, she enlists the help of Luke to teach her. It is during these swimming lessons that she and Luke grow close and the attraction between them finally lets loose.

Both Luke and Liz have issues from their past. We don't really learn much of Liz's until later in the book, but Luke grew up in the foster care system after being abandoned at a very young age by his mother. He really pulls at the heart strings. Liz also is a great heroine who also pulls at the heartstrings. Torn between her growing feelings for Luke, but afraid of them in light of the love she has for her deceased older husband, she is reluctant to acknowledge them and this causes Luke pain. Because of his own abandonment, he is very wary.

I am SO glad that I've discovered this author. At least in the two books I've read so far, there is a real poignancy to them that I enjoy very much. I can hardly wait now until the other two arrive. While Mr. Unforgettable could be read on it's own, there are some dynamics I felt I missed by not reading the previous too first. Karina Bliss is an author I will be watching for from now on.

The fact that her books take place in New Zealand, a place I'd love to visit but chances are I won't, is an added bonus.

Grade: 4.75 out of 5 (with a chance of a 5 once I read the first two)

Recent Read

What The Librarian Did by Karina Bliss

Why This One: I have to give a big thanks to Wendy for putting this one on my radar. This is a Harlequin line I’d never tried but when Wendy pointed it out, the storyline, combined with the fact I figured it was time I tried Super Romance since I have seen good reviews and then add a dash of shallowness since I think the male cover model is hot and I like shaggy hair and I was sold!

Steam Level: It doesn’t really come close to a boil

Blurb: Is Rachel Robinson the only one on campus who doesn’t know who Devin Freedman is? No big deal except that the bad-boy rock star gets a kick out of Rachel’s refusal to worship at his feet. And that seems to have provoked his undivided attention. Devin, the guy who gave new meaning to the phrase “sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll.” Devin, the guy who somehow becomes wedged between her and the past she’s kep hidden for years.

It’s up to this librarian to find out firsthand just how “bad” he really is. Because her secret – and her growing feelings for a man who claims he’s bent on redemption – depend on his turning out to be as good as he seems. Which is really, really good.

My Thoughts: Again I say thanks to Wendy since I really enjoyed this book!! First off, it takes place in New Zealand. How cool is that? At first Rachel comes across as rather uptight. But boy can she hand out the zingers. And her main focus of her zinger flings is Devin. As mentioned in the blurb, Devin was a member of a famous rock band formed by his older brother. But having suffered a breakdown brought on by too much wild living, he heads back to the country of his birth and without much else to do, and a desire to see if his older brother has been screwing him out of royalties from the band, Devin decides to take a course on business and finance at the local university where Rachel just happens to be the head librarian.

Because of her rather rigid upbringing and something that happened to her when she was younger, Rachel isn’t much into rock music and is less than impressed with Devin. But there is a lot of chemistry there, no matter that Rachel tries to deny it. Their relationship is further complicated when Devin befriends a young student, a young man that holds a key to Rachel’s past.

Devin is a dream hero!! While success came to him early and he did live a wild life style, he really is trying to turn his life around and has also come home to care for his mother who recently went through her own health scare. He’s alternately attracted to and annoyed by how cool Rachel is towards him. And the more she keeps him at arms length, the more he wants to get closer.

Rachel is a great heroine – I really liked her and I’m curious as to what Wendy will think – her being a Super Librarian and all. While no question she’s kind of old-fashioned, that doesn’t mean she’s not a treat of a heroine, and when Devin can manage to get her to let down her hair so to speak, she’s really quite funny. There are a number of places I got quite a chuckle out of their bickering.

And yet at other times there is a real poignancy in this story. Mark, the young man Devin befriends and then mentors plays a pivotal role in the story and a motivating reason as to why Rachel is the way she is.

I’ve already put in an order for a couple of Karina Bliss’s previous books and if other books in this line are as good as What The Librarian Did, I can see me reading more Super Romances.

Grade: 4.75 out of 5