Better Off Dead

Title: Better Off Dead
Author: Matthew Rowe
Kindle Edition; 518 pages
Published: January 2012

A world where sorcerers are saucy, vampires are a pain in the neck and everyone is clawing to be on top. The city of Londinium is in a period of civil unrest, but it’s not because the tube is always late, or because people are tired of zombies shedding limbs in public, nor is it because the humans are tired of trying to eke out a living only to meet a messy end in a dark alley. An unknown vampire has proclaimed himself ruler, and if there is one thing the people, both living and dead, hate more than a tyrannical ruler, it’s a secretive one. 

One young vampire is charged with discovering the prince’s identity. The only problem: he doesn’t want to. Ramses, the world’s first genuine cat burglar, is far more concerned with eliminating the threat posed by the feline race rather than that of some pesky vampire lord, a dragon and civil war. Can this undead slacker learn to grow up at last, foil this mysterious plot and halt the biggest supernatural conflict in history or will he need help from his mummy? 

Some words are better left unsaid. Some people are better off dead.. But this book is better on your shelf. :)

First off, let me just say that I really had fun reading this over-the edge story of vampires, mummies, werewolves, magi... and princes!

After having read a bunch of books where vampires glittered and drank animal blood instead of sucking humans (don't crucify me for saying that, i still looooove Twilight and all paranormal tales about vamps), I feel at home again because I was reading something "factual" about vampires in Better Off Dead- carnivores, cunning and  ruthless.

In this YA fantasy tale, Ramses (gosh I like his name - Egyptian!) was a cat burglar who had a severe aversion to cats. Kenempti (another Egyptian-inspired name, yay!) is a treat! She's a mummy who had a past (who doesn't?) and eventually fell in love and made the world turn around again on its axis.

While I certainly believe that the other characters (that's you P-Head, the Gimp etc..) are "better off dead", the whole story itself tickled my imagination and utterly kept me alive and awake. I praise Rowe for his aggressive style and different approach in writing.

While others may have failed to grasp his sense of humor (my sister rolled her eyes when she saw me laughing by myself while reading), I found myself enjoying the story more and more until the end, which proved my theory that there was no dull moment when Matthew wrote this book. And that is definitely not a laughing matter.

P.S.

One thing I loved is Matthew's footnotes which helped me understand the story better.  Hopefully I'll get to read more books from this talented author :)

Meeting Destiny

Title: Meeting Destiny
Author: Nancy Straight
Kindle Edition, 291 pages
Published June 26th 2010

My short summary: 
Lauren had been dreaming about her Destiny for a number of years. One day, she sensed something wrong while working at Tasty Burger, a fast-food restaurant. Next thing she knew, Lauren jumped off the counter in order to save a little boy and she  took a bullet from a madman who was attempting to rob the place. Yes, she got shot but she didn't really notice nor felt it!  Soon she met a very gorgeous and able paramedic named Max who literally made her heart stop a beat. Upon seeing those piercing green eyes, she knew she found her Destiny. But why doesn't the man in her dreams recognize her at all?

When Lauren regained her strength, she found out that she simply couldn't start a relationship with Max because she had Seth, her childhood sweetheart who professed his love and devotion to her the night she was taken to the hospital. And Max felt the same way. He doesn't want to be the man who caused Lauren & Seth's breakup. A grace period of 3 months was given to Lauren to settle everything out. Will Max & Lauren still end up with each other?

While sorting her feelings out, Lauren met a woman named Rewsna who could talk to her through her mind. She told her about her dreams of the past, her present situation and the future that awaits her. She also told Lauren the roles of other people in her life, such as having a tempter, being a protector and finding her soul mate. Amidst all this, Lauren got involved in a car theft incident and murder investigation. Heck, she even made friends with the suspect - Paul. On the latter part of the story, something happened to Lauren when she went out camping with her gorgeous EMT.

My review:

From one Destiny to another.. hmm.. I'm talking about the last book I read - Key Lime Blues where the main antagonist of the story was named Destiny - a stripper and diamond thief. But in this book by Nancy Straight, Destiny is a man named Max Meyer, a handsome paramedic who had been haunting Lauren's dreams for years.

Talking about dreams, I didn't have any lately especially last week because, believe it or not, I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning just to finish this because I had to know what happened next!

But lo and behold! This book got lots of cliffhangers, I don't know which one should I mention first.. hmmm...
Who attacked Lauren the night of the camping? Why did Max joined the Navy? Who really killed the McMasters? Who is Lauren's protector? What is Max's secret?

Lot of questions... only one way to find out the answer... Go and buy the second book Destiny's Revenge... i have to have it soooooon!

I really enjoyed reading Lauren and Max's story. Yes, I cried a bucket of tears and laughed and giggled and sighed... Nancy Straight had me on the first chapter.  Her style of writing is enjoyable, the story was fast-paced and imaginable. Really! I didn't have a hard time envisioning the Max-Lauren-Seth triangle. Nancy Straight is an author to watch out for. Oh, another plus factor is the book cover! I really love swirls, the colors, the flowers and especially Lauren's piercing glare :) Definitely an entertaining and passionate book!

WWW Wednesday

Welcome to another edition of WWW for the month of March.  WWW Wednesdays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…
• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?


Currently Reading:
Missing Destiny by Nancy Straight
Lauren is visited in her dreams for years by a stranger claiming to be her destiny. Destiny becomes reality when paths cross during a failed robbery attempt. Lauren and the stranger experience chemistry like no other and now her doubt over her long time relationship with her high school sweetheart is not her only secret…someone else knows about her keen intuition and sixth sense.

A mysterious clairvoyant seeks Lauren out and tells her not only of her life now but what the future may hold. Soon Lauren is in the middle of a murder investigation and a questionable friendship with the key suspect.

Law enforcement, friends and family are concerned for Lauren but unfortunately they are unaware of the true danger…

Sinister forces are at work and will stop at nothing to destroy Lauren’s abilities.




Recently Finished Reading:

Ordinary Angels by India Drummond

An urban fantasy / paranormal romance novel in which Zoe Pendergraft falls in love with an angel, frees a soul from necromancers, releases a ghost trapped in the Void, and saves his living grandson from demons.

I'll post a review of this celestial tale this week. Stay tuned..

The Frozen Trail by Lisa Dayley

I'm not a Mormon but I just happened to come upon this story about an incredible journey of a family to find a new home. I thought the story was good; lots of lessons to be learned. Here's a simple summary from amazon.

In 1856 the Mormon pioneers trekked across the Great Plains in wagon trains and pulling handcarts, to find a new home safe from persecution. This is the story of one 18-year-old young woman, Emma Girdlestone, of the Willie Handcart Company, who faced starvation, frostbite, and death so she and her family could join their fellow Latter-day Saints in the Salt Lake Valley.





Will Read Next:
I wonder which I'll read next - a romantic-comedy / fantasy / or a mystery-thriller?

Victoria and the Rogue 

From the bestselling author of "The Princess Diaries." Growing up in India, 16-year-old heiress Lady Victoria Arbutnot is unceremoniously shipped off to London to find a husband.

My Boyfriend's Back by Chrissy Olinger
An ex-boyfriend definitely has come back to woo his girl.. Yes he came back - from the dead??? SOunds fun to read, eh!


Rock and Roll Homicide by R. J. McDonnel
Ex-musician PI handles his first murder case. Will soon learn more if I decide to read this next..

Teaser Tuesday

Another awesome Tuesday! So welcome to our Teaser Tuesday!  This is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.

To participate you:
* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!
(Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

* Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Okay here's my teaser:

I didn't understand why she was carrying me to a booth. I looked at my leg and all i saw was crimson. Still confused, I looked over my shoulder for a broken ketchup bottle that I must have knocked over; then the realization hit me; that crimson was warm and wet on my leg. It was my own blood. 

Kindle edition - page 15
Missing Destiny by Nancy Straight

Key Lime Blues

Title: Key Lime Blues: A Wes Darling Mystery
Author: Mike Jastrzebski
Kindle Edition

Published ( August 10th 2010)

For some people, working in the family business means suits, power lunches, and afternoon meetings. For Wes Darling it was guns, lies, and dead bodies.


Life is carefree until his mother’s lover, a man who mentored Wes for years, is murdered on a Key West Beach. Reluctantly, Wes is drawn into a spinning web of murder, sex and deceit.

I'm all for investigative-suspense reading; so when I got this ebook from Amazon, I knew I had to read it ASAP. I didn't read any precursors or reviews of this book so I can get all the suspense I need in a mystery novel. At first, I thought the person narrating the story was a girl; but I found out that Darling is actually a boy! I didn't really pay attention to his name Wes because I imagined Darling as a fine young lady. LOL.

Anyway, Darling took up a job in a bar and lived on a sailboat after he decided to quit his family's Detective Agency. But when he learned from a cop (Detective Davies) that his old friend and mentor Nick Hastings was found dead in Key West, about a few blocks away from where he was working, he knew that he had to investigate and catch the one who murdered him.  His mom told him about Nick's latest client Frank Szymanski who was looking for an old flame, Destiny. It turned out that there was more to the story. As much as he wants to forget his old life, he couldn't really leave everything behind, especially when the woman who had sparked interest in him was endangered.

There are a lot of things to watch out for in this Mystery novel.  Something that includes Diamonds, a stripper, a psychic, twin gangsters, guns and much more..

The flow of the story is consistent, action-packed and a little over the edge. I haven't read the first book (I know that this is the second book on a trilogy). In my opinion, it is Destiny or Gail Bernard, the stripper, who made the whole story exciting and intriguing.

I was quite left hanging in the end; I felt like there's still something that needs to be done and explained. But believe it or not, I actually enjoyed the story!  Hoping to read the last book of the Wes Darling Mystery soon...

Friday Finds - March 2012

TGIF! Thank Goodness It's Friday, I'm in love. Another Friday Finds edition for March :)

What great books did you hear about/discover this past week?

Share with us your FRIDAY FINDS.. hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

Let me share you mine for this weekend. Enjoy!

Captivated (An Affliction Novel) by Deb Apocada

Id by Paul Craig

Book of Love (Knight Angels 1) by Abra Ebner

Ripple by Mandy Hubbard

Summers Crossing (An Iron Fey Novella) by Julie Kagawa 

The Only Albatross

Annette, an albatross, will do anything to fly with the local seagulls!

Title: The Only Albatross
Author: A.J. COsmo
Kindle Edition
Published February 2012

A lonely albatross finds herself out-of-place when a flock of seagulls have fun together and don't want to include her on their party. She fervently wishes to become a seagull so she would "belong"... Soon she met another seagull who wants to be an albatross instead.. Would their wishes come true?

This is a very interesting short story fit for kids. I read this to my 5-year old son Kian and he was glad to learn about the "happy ending".

www March 2012

Welcome to another edition of WWW for the month of March.  WWW Wednesdays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…
• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?


Currently Reading:

KEY LIME BLUES by Mike Jastrzebski

I'm having a great time reading this first Wes Darling Mystery. It's been ages since I last read a detective story and Key Lime Blues suits my taste. Hope to finish reading it this weekend so I can create a wonderful book review!

Recently Finished Reading:

Dark Waters by Shannon Mayer

The first on the Celtic Legacy.. A really great read! Check out my post below for my book review.

Will Read Next:

What She Doesn't Know by Tina Wainscott 

Another Romantic Suspense Paranormal tale that I would surely love.. I found this interesting note and summary from goodreads.com

Note: What She Doesn't Know was previously published here as The King of Nothing with a different cover. Originally published under the name Tina Wainscott, by St. Martin’s Press, 2004.

On the brink of falling for a man she met on the Internet, Dr. Rita Brooks naively assumes Brian LaPort is everything he says he is...and all that she's hoped for. But before she can come face to face with him, Rita is nearly killed in a horrific accident. Or was it an accident at all?

Emerging at last from a disturbing, vision-plagued coma, Rita is confronted by a stranger who is convinced she knows more than she's telling about her own past-and his brother's. Cryptic e-mail records have led Christopher LaPorte to Rita while Brian lies near death in New Orleans from a suicide attempt. Or was it?

Dark Waters

Title: Dark Waters (Celtic Legacy Book 1)
Author: Shannon Mayer
Kindle Edition
Published December 28th 2011

Two sisters, one of them kidnapped + Two gorgeous men.
+ A legendary prophecy =
Monsters, magic, deception and sensuality.
Be prepared to dive into Dark Waters! 

Dark Waters started off in a psych facility where Quinn & Ashling's granddad was detained. Upon seeing his two granddaughters, all hell broke loose, resulting to Quinn almost getting choked to death. Fortunately, she survived and her neck wounds were healed almost instantly. The act was called Quickening and before Quinn lost consciousness, Grandpa told her to protect her sister at all times.

Then the sisters went for surfing lessons, although Quinn had this fear of water. There she met gorgeous Luke, their surf instructor. Ashling was soon captured by a scary underwater creature but Quinn was not able to save her. It was through Luke that she discovered about her Celtic Legacy, where she belongs to the Tuatha De Daanan race while her sister was captured by the rival race - Fomorii.

While Quinn was determined to save Ashling, a barrier was setup to forbid her from entering the Fomorii kingdom. She met Bres, a half-Tuathan and half-Fomorii, who became her ally, and there was also a huge red-head serpent named Cora. While Luke was adamant not to let Quinn conquer the underworld, Bres & Cora worked together to help her reach her destination. Together, they delved into the bottom of the ocean to overcome challenges and discover a world of monsters, magical creatures and much much more..

This is definitely a good read! I loved Quinn & Ashling's sisterly bond - strong and loving and loyal. Makes me envy their relationship since my sisters and I don't really get along with each other.. Hahaha.. Anyway, when it comes to the men
s division, Quinn is torn between golden-eyed Tuathan Luke, who seemed to be the one spoken in the prophesy;  and Bres, the violet-eyed half Fomorii, son of the evil Balor, who aroused and stirred up her emotions like no one else could.

Shannon Mayer is a brilliant author. The flow of the story is fluid and consistent. There was never a dull moment when you read from the beginning till the end.  Mayer knows how to tickle my imagination which makes me crave for so much more.

Who will Quinn choose? Would she be able to save her sister? How will the battle between Tuatha and Fomorii end? These are just some of the questions left hanging in Shannon Mayer's Celtic saga.. I can't wait to read the second book, Emerald Isles!

Tuesday Tease - March 2012

It's March already?? Time flies so fast, indeed..So welcome to our Teaser Tuesday!  This is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.

To participate you:
* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!
(Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

* Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Okay here's my teaser:

"Cut my hands free or I'm not going anywhere!" I said.


"Not gonna happen." He pointed his gun at me and cocked the hammer. "Now, get moving."

- - page 159
Key Lime Blues (A Wes Darling Mystery)