Finally - finished. For now...

I have finally read all of the published books of the Dark-Hunter and Dream-Hunter series. There are still some short stories in anthologies out there that I haven't read, but I don't have the same compulsion to track those down and read those as I had with the novels.

I completed Upon the Midnight Clear and Dream-Chaser. I loved Dream-Chaser. Very good. Now I am just on the Amazon list waiting for the next book, Acheron.

Thank you Sherrilyn Kenyon.

This gives me a break from the supernatural books. I think I'll find some murder as a break.

This is How Much

I have 26 pages left of Devil May Cry and it is driving me crazy. I can hear it calling my name from my bag on the floor, but I can't pull it out until lunch. ARG. This might be my favorite so far.

How Addicted am I?

OK - I had to do it. I just got back from Borders at the Galleria. The Galleria.... I avoid that place and only go as a last resort. Well, if I wanted to start the next dark-hunter book tonight - it had to happen. I got Devil May Cry, the new J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts) book Strangers in Death (Woo Hoo!) and Julie Garwood's Shadow Music. 

I've only read Julie Garwood a few times, but this line from the jacket sold me: "With one shot from her bow and arrow, Gabrielle takes a life, saves a life, and begins a war." Yup, I'm in.

Looking for a Dark-Hunter

I am on the hunt for the next Dark-Hunter book. I still don't understand how Devil May Cry doesn't come out in paperback until April 1, but I have the next two Dream-Hunter books on my bookshelf right now. I'm impatient and want to read it tonight, so I'm waiting to see if they have it at the Galleria Borders. Barnes and Noble said that they had it (the hardcover) at the West Oaks store, but I called and they didn't. Let's hope I get the Borders email soon. 

I am so addicted. 

Sizzle and Burn

Sizzle and Burn by Jane Anne Krentz is one of her Arcane Society books. The main characters have psychic powers and can feel emotions left in "psychic residue". 

I really enjoy these books. This book was written so well, I read it in four hours.

Dark-Hunter Update

Since last posting, I have read Unleash the Night, Dark Side of the Moon, Fear the Darkness (a free download) and The Dream-Hunter.

I enjoyed all of the stories and am realizing that I enjoy the were-hunter books the most. It does throw me a bit when I'm reading a book and halfway through it I realize that it takes place chronologically before the first Dark-Hunter book. 

Don't Know Much

I'm trying to break up my Dark-Hunter reading a bit, so I thought I'd alternate chapters of Don't Know Much About Anything by Kenneth C. Davis with my regular Dark-Hunter reading. Last night I read the first chapter, Famous People. It was quite an interesting format. Each person was only two pages. There is a half-page or so about the famous person and then five to seven questions. The back of the page answers the five questions for you about the famous person. For example, one of the questions about Malcom X was this, True or False "He used 'X' as a last name because he was an ex-convict." The answer for you will be in google. For me I found it quite interesting why he actually changed his last name to X. I had thought it was just an initial for his last name. 

The people featured in this book are: Benjamin Franklin, Walt Whitman, Rosa Parks, Malcom X, Houdini, Mother Theresa, Michelangelo, Young George Washington, Dr. Spock, Gandhi, Henry Ford, Ralph Waldo Emerson, J.R.R. Tolkien, Sitting Bull, Queen Elizabeth II, Ann Frank, Hellen Keller, Abraham Lincoln, Amelia Earhart, Thomas A. Edison and Albert Einstein.

I think what I liked about the list so much was the diversity and the order. The order of people was as I listed it. Made for interesting reading. It also made me want to discover more information about some of the people. The big question will be this, will I remember what I have read in a week?

My next chapter (after a Dark-Hunter book) will be Exceptional Places. I look forward to it, but apparently I need to get my non-fiction in small doses. :-)

Dark-Hunter #7, #8 & #1.5

Seize the Night and Sins of the Night were the next two installments of Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark-Hunter series. I'm obviously enjoying them because I went ahead and purchased four more of her novels. I am addicted to this series. It is strange that I will actually be a little relieved when I finish this series so I won't have this compulsion to read the next one and I can vary up my genres a little bit. 

Seize the Night brought us the story of Valerius who in earlier stories was represented as a truly evil character as a human. Of course, in this book we just find out that he is misunderstood. Valerius has had a hard life and the way he copes with other people's sneers and jabs is by pulling a cloak of coldness around himself which makes him appear as an elitist snob. The self-proclaimed vampire hunter, Tabitha - who happens to be an empath - can see through this mask of cold snobbery to see when his outer face and his inner emotions conflict. The big problem for Valerius is that Tabitha's twin sister is married to our hero from book 2, Kyrian who hates Valerius with all of his being. Well, and having been crucified (literally) by Valerious' grandfather, how can you really blame him? 

The lightest part of this story is the mention of Zarek from Dance With the Devil. Zarek is Valerius' brother and was a slave (an whipping boy) in Valerius' household. It wasn't until Valerius saw Zarek as a Dark-Hunter and free of his scars and deformities that Valerius even realized that Zarek was his brother. In this book, Zarek gets revenge on Valerius in very funny ways such as sending a rain cloud to fall just on Valerius (who takes it all in stride). I enjoyed this book quite a bit. Especially because we learned a little more about Acheron. 

Book number 8 is Sins of the Night. In this book, there is a Dark-Hunter uprising. One Dark-Hunter has been listening to tales from a Daimon God who tries to turn them all from Acheron. Acheron doesn't care if the Dark-Hunters like him or not, but when they start to kill humans - then he has a problem with it. Acheron sends in Alexion. Alexion is "other". He was a dark-hunter at one time, was turned into a shade, and now is set in a human form with some of Acheron's powers (who - by the way - is a god!) to judge the Dark-Hunters. He is sent to find out who will stand with Acheron and who will not. Those who decide against Acheron will die.

Alexion goes to fin Danger as his Dark-Hunter guide. Ok - it is kinda corny, but Danger is Dangeroeuse St. Richard is a female Dark-Hunter who died trying to save her family during the French Revolution. She makes Alexion feel like he hasn't in nine thousand years. 

This story teaches us more about Acheron and Simi as well. I loved meeting Simi's sister and look forward to more about her in the future. 

Book 1.5 is Dragonswain. This book was written between one and two and didn't have any of the other characters in it, so it was easy to read in any order. It is about a dragon who finds his mate in modern america. It is a very short book that is sweet. It is so short however, that I wouldn't have realized that Sabastian's father was the one who created all of the weres if it hadn't been for reading Vane's book where it was explained in more detail.

Dark-Hunter #6

Night Play is Sherrilyn Kenyon's sixth installment of the Dark-Hunter series and did not disappoint. I really don't know how these books are getting better and better. We met Vane and Fang in Talon's story. Here, we pick up with the brothers being punished for assisting Talon. Their father has left them to die, but Vane has more strength and power than any of the wolf-pack know and he is able to save himself and his brother and get them to the were-bear bar, Sanctuary for just that, sanctuary.

Vane finds his mate, who is a human, and must protect her from his father, mother, and brothers who are all trying to kill him. We learn how some of the previous characters are doing, we get to read more about my favorite, Acheron, and we find out that Valerious has some kindness in him that is just hidden extremely well.

I look forward to the next book, Seize the Night which I accidentally ordered two copies from Amazon. I wonder how hard returns are to Amazon....

Changeling and Darkling

In the second two books in this series, we learn about Delilah in Changeling and Menolly in Darkling. I really enjoyed the Changeling story because Delilah's powers grow when she is marked by the Autumn Lord. In Darkling, the vampire Menolly has to defeat her sire in order to save earth.

Within all three of these books, the sisters are looking for "spirit seals." They find two, but at the end of the third book we find that there are about nine more seals in the Seattle area. I thought that the series would be encompassed in the trilogy, but apparently she will be writing more books.

I'll have to track down the next book so that I may find out the end of the story.

The 'ling Series - Part 1

Today, after quite a slow start, I completed reading Witchling by Yasmine Galenorn. This is the first of the series and focuses on the oldest sister, Camille. The book started slow and there seemed to be information that I should know and wasn't explained. It took me about four days to get to page 56 when Grandmother Coyote, an earth hag, told Camille in payment for information she could bring the hag the finger of a demon or Camille would forfeit one of her own. That was yesterday. The book was fast-paced from there on.

The sisters are not only battling demons, they are battling to save all of earth, even though they are only half-Sidhe. Their human mother taught them the ways of the earth, but their father in the Otherworld is where they feel home.

I'll start the next book Changeling soon. That book focuses on Delilah - who is a shape-shifter. She shifts into a tabby cat. The last sister, Menolly the vampire, is focused on in the book Darkling. I'll let you know how it goes.

Dark-Hunter x 2

Sometime last week, I finished book 4 and 5 of Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark-Hunter series. The book about Zarek, Dance With the Devil, was a very good story. The tale of a former slave who now spends eternity slaying Daimons, or Vampires. Reading about his sad life and then his even sadder immortality of lonesomeness and isolation made me cry. Seriously. I had tears streaming down my face. Kenyon does an excellent job of creating characters that have depth and character.

The fifth book, Kiss of Night, brings us the story of Wulf, a Dark-Hunter who is cursed to be forgotten five minutes after leaving him. This complex character fights with duty and love as he falls in love with a woman who's family are those that he hunts.

All in all, great books. I've ordered books 6, 7, & 8 as well as 1.5 and look forward to reading them. I love that the dark-hunter series goes up to at least 12. Great reading.