Jaye Wells – Red-headed stepchild

The first book in the Sabina Kane series, published April 2009.



In a world where being of mixed-blood is a major liability, Sabina doesn’t really fit in. And being an assassin – the only profession fit for an outcast – doesn’t help matters. But she’s never brought her work home. Until now.
Her latest mission is uncomfortably complex, and threatens the fragile peace between the vampire and mage races. As Sabina scrambles to figure out which side she’s on, she uncovers a tangled political web, some nasty facts about her family and some unexpected new talents. Any of these things could be worryingly life-changing, but together, they could be fatal …
This time, it’s personal.


Sabina is a half vampire – half mage. Her vampire grandmother has raised her since birth, and totally brainwashed her. As a result, Sabina is loyal to her grandmother and the Dominae, meaning the ruling council of the vampires of which her grandmother is the highest member. She is totally ignorant about all the other paranormal beings sharing their world, and sees humans as little more than food. Adamites she calls them. Vampires are born of Lilith, and immortal. Only things made from apples, the sacred tree, can kill them. So apple juice, or a apple wooden stake through their heart. When it hits their blood, they explode and burn into flames.
Sabina is raised as an assassin, due to her impure blood, she was not good enough for the temple, like her grandmother. So having no other choice, she became quite good at her job. And then one night she has to murder her friend David. According to her grandmother, he has betrayed them. And when she doesn’t hesitate to kill him, she gets a new assignment. There is a half vampire, half demon named Clovis who has started a new church, and is luring vampires away from the Dominae. So he has to be stopped. Sabina is to infiltrate his church, find out his secrets, and kill him. And to do that, the Dominae will suspend her from her duties, and Sabina will have to pretend to be out of their favour, and willing to seek other employment.

Doing her best to fulfil her duty, as she is a loyal vampire, she finds out her grandmother doesn’t care a thing about her, is only using her as a tool. Her father’s people never knew of her existence, but now that they do, they want to meet with her. And she seems to have a twin sister, who is one of the leaders of the mages, the Hekatae. Sabina is not willing to accept everything the mage Adam tells her. Why should he tell her this, why now? After all, she is 52 years, where were they all her life?
There are hints of her future, of prophecies, of being a chosen one. But Adam doesn’t tell her everything, and he does want to teach her magic. Her father was a powerful mage, and so will she be after some training.

In the end there is a huge battle between Clovis’ people, Sabina and Adam and some friends, and her grandmothers warriors. And Sabina will have to choose where her loyalty lies. Can she switch allegiance?


I’ve read a number of glowing reviews about this book, and this series, which made me want to read it. But unfortunately, the book didn’t do it for me. I didn’t like Sabina, didn’t think her strong enough. Yes, she was a trained assassin, but without help she couldn’t save herself. A demon is sicced on her to kill her, and when that doesn’t work, she is stuck with him. And that demon just sits on her couch, drinks beer, eats cheese-chips and watches tv all day long, using her credit card to tele shop? And she just accepts that? What kind of attitude is that? Of course there were some fun things with their relationship as well, when he turned into a cat and she brought him with her on her next mission. But for a demon, he wasn’t really evil or angry of so with being stuck, just sulking.
It also irritated me when I finally found out that mancies is another word for mages. What kind of word is that? And Sabina kept using it throughout the story, but also the word mage or warlock. If you use a word for something, be consistent.
There was mention of a secret cult, the amulet of Lilith which she was not supposed to be able to see, and the strange birthmark on her shoulder.
Okay, it was a debut book, and the story itself was nice, but it just didn’t grab me. I got no connection with Sabina, or with Adam, at all. Events happen in the book, and Sabina goes where she is told to go. But she had no influence on what happened, and no idea what to do. In the end, she betrayed every party. Okay, they were all bad, but still. I just prefer my heroines stronger, more kick ass, more independent and though.

I probably will read the next book, just to see what will happen. But for now, this book just didn’t do it for me.

5 stars.

Christine Feehan – Savage Nature

The fifth book in the Leopard People series, published April 2011.




Danger lurks in the shadows and desire shimmers in the sultry heat in an all-new novel of the leopard people from number 1 New York Times bestselling author Christine Feehan …
SAVAGE NATURE

When Saria Boudreaux finds a dead body in the Louisiana bayou near her home, her first instinct is to go to the police. But there’s a problem – it looks like the victim may have been killed by a big cat, and her brothers are all shape-shifting leopards.
Sent to investigate by the land’s owner, leopard shifter Drake Donovan is ready for anything – except the insatiable hunger that rocks him when he meets Saria. Deep in his soul he knows that she is destined to be his mate. Torn between protecting her brothers and finding the truth, Saria treads warily around the powerful shifter. Yet as they venture deep into the mysterious bayou on a hunt for the killer, Saria finds herself longing for Drake’s touch and the sweet release of surrender.


Saria is taking photographs of owls feeding their young, at night in the midst of the Louisiana bayou, when she sees lights, and senses danger. She stops shooting, as the flashlight might give her away, and hides in her blind. She hears a man scream, and then a leopard howling. She has only once before heard that sound, but it is unmistakable, she will never forget it. Once, as a young girl, she followed her five brothers when they left the house at night, proud at being able to follow them without getting noticed. But when she saw them shift into leopards, she was terrified. It sure explained why they were so close together, and ignored her for the most part.
Her brothers soon left to join the army, or take a job on the river, leaving her alone with her mean drunk father. She practically raised herself, taking care of the household, the hunting, the store and the pub before she was 13 years old. Running wild in the bayou, never afraid. She was happy living that way, never longing for something else, doing whatever she liked to do. Oh, the ladies of the church tried to intervene, but Saria would have none of that, and no-one was ever able to catch her in the bayou. So at last, they left her alone.
A nice neighbour with a bed and breakfast thought her to cook and such, and acted like the mother she never knew. And now her brothers are back in her life, and making pests of themselves, wanting to know where she is going, checking up on her, forbidding her to go out in the bayou at night. Like she would listen to them? They have neglected her all her life, and now she certainly doesn’t need them anymore.
She is making money and a name for her self, photographing the bayou, the plants and the animals, and selling those photo’s to famous magazines. She is also a very good guide, and she has landed a good job, showing some guy around for a week.
What she doesn’t count on, is the man being totally hot, and her extremely attracted to him. That has certainly never happened before!

Lately she has been very afraid, she has found some dead bodies in the bayou, and is afraid for her brothers. Her oldest brother Remy is a homicide inspector in New Orleans, but she certainly can’t go to him! What if the murderer is a family member, or a friend? So Saria has smuggled a letter out to the owner of all the land around, who is renting it to the seven families who have been living here for ages. Living the old life, of the land, of the bayou, fishing and hunting.

Drake Donovan is sent to investigate the murders someone has reported anonymously. What he doesn’t count on, the minute he arrives he catches the scent of a female leopard in heat, and his own leopard goes insane. While still battling his cat for dominance, he sees her. And now he himself is instantly aroused and attracted. His mate. His cat approves. But he doesn’t have time for that yet, he is on a mission to find a serial killer, a leopard gone rogue. While Saria leads him to her boat to take him to the bed and breakfast where he rented a room (actually, he has rented the whole place, expecting his team to come as soon as he knows what is going on here) other leopard shifters surround them. Saria knows them, but oddly enough, she doesn’t seem to know they are leopards as well. She just knows them as friends and neighbours. But the males are clearly not pleased finding a strange leopard with their female. Especially one so close to her Han Vol Dan. There is a leopard lair here, and something is very wrong. Why are they not policing themselves?

When left alone at the Inn at night, the shifters come find him, and challenge him. But seasoned warrior as he is, Drake defeats them easily. Of course the doesn’t escape unhurt, but he wins, and they leave. But they broke the rules, as some of them came armed with guns. And that is against shifter laws. This lair is not-honourable, and he will have to remember that.

Later Saria comes back to stay at the Inn as well, and when they meet in his room, she doesn’t know what is happening to her. At first she doesn’t believe Drake when he tells her, she is also a leopard shifter, and her cat is coming into heat, and struggling to get out. Her inner cat is a hussy! She has never acted this wanton before in her life! But Drake is a gentleman, and he wants more from her than one night of passion, urged on by their cats. He wants her as his mate. Saria trusts him completely, and that is a huge gift. So at her request, he marks her as his own, to negate the mark forced upon her when she was assaulted by a leopard a few weeks ago. She didn’t want that man, or his leopard, but she does want Drake.
The next day they travel through the bayou, on their way to the murder scenes. Of course there will be nothing left to find, the bayou and the alligators take quick care of that. But his leopard should be able to find the scent of the murderer.

While enjoying a picknick on the land of a friend of Saria, they are attacked, and later followed onto the land Drake needs to investigate. Things could get bad soon, shots are fired on hem, but Saria’s brothers come to the rescue. They take care of the shooters, but then they turn on Drake. Who is he, and has he harmed their little sister? And then the cavalry appears, Drake’s team has arrived on the scene. Preventing Drake from having to fight her brothers they will have to explain everything. It is difficult for Remy to learn his sister didn’t come to him with her findings, that she is afraid of them, and doesn’t believe they love her. Yes, they did neglect her most of her lives, they ran from their painful memories and the ghosts living here. And of course that is no excuse. But if she needs them, they will come running. But it is to late, and now she has found Drake, and she is going to keep him, even if her brothers complain about it.

Now all they have to do, is find out who is trying to kill Saria, who is the serial killer, and what is wrong with the lair. Why has no-one stepped up to take charge when the current leader has gotten too old and neglecting of his duties?


This really is a very good story. I was glued to the pages, and glad my boyfriend left me alone, so I could keep on reading. (Now the book is finished, and I am wishing he was here ofcourse).
I liked Saria from the start of the book. She is smart, afraid of nothing, and determined to do whatever she wants. Her brothers will not interfere in her life, when she was almost invisible to them before. She really doesn’t understand their sudden interest in her comings and goings. And when she finds out more than she can handle herself, and gets threatened and attacked, she still goes on, and knows to get a letter out for help. She is a solitairy woman, not interested in the men she knows, and then she sees Drake, and she is a goner. He teaches her about being a leopard shifter, and what she is going through.
She is a very strong woman, taking her responsibilities serious, and leading Drake and his team through the bayou at night. Drake and the others are used to the dangers of the rainforest, and have no real understanding of the very different but real dangers of the bayou. But they learn fast, and totally admire Saria for her knowledge and her courage.

And then there is Drake. Just healing from a difficult leg-surgery, he is finally able to shift to his leopard since two years. But instead of going easy on himself and his leg, he is thrown into a couple of fights for his life, and his right to mate with Saria. Hunting down a serial killer, and keeping his mate safe. He has always been in control, of his own leopard and of his team of leopard shifters, thriving on danger. But being near Saria totally destroys his control. He can think only of her, scent only on her, and let danger creep up on them. He is a fierce warrior, but falls in love like a brick when he meets her. She can get him back from his bloodlust before he kills his challenger.

A very good story, with a main couple I totally fell for. The secondary characters are also promising many more great books about the leopard shifters and their society. The setting is stunning, and the descriptions of the bayou are so lively, I could close my eyes and be there. (Of course, in my imagination, it is without the snakes). The story is fast paced, lots of action, lots of intrigue. Also a few very bad, evil, shifters, and how they affect the people around them. The heat and the love scenes between Drake and Saria are steamy, especially when she finally shifts into her leopard. The female is dominant, and she will give the signal when she is good and ready, and not a second earlier.
I like Christine Feehan and the worlds she has created, her writing style, her characters, the humor and the action all very good interwoven in the plots. Not a boring minute.

O, and for you cover lovers: I have the paperback, with the small picture as its cover. And you might think, mm, not much, but there is a stepcover of Drake to his hips in the water, that is incredible yummie. Some water drops on his naked chest ...

9,5 stars.

New additions to my addiction

Finally, a few of the books I have bought weeks ago have found my shelves. I am very impatiently waiting for the rest, which were all shipped in april 21.

Christine Feehan - Savage Nature
Leann Sweeney - Pushing up bluebonnets
Leann Sweeney - The Cat, the Quilt and the Corpse
Leann Sweeney - The Cat, the Professor and the Poison
Leann Sweeney - The Cat, the Lady and the Liar.

I am looking forward to reading three of those books very soon. The other two can go brandnew on their place on my shelf, as I have already read (and reviewed) them recently.

Robin Paige – Death at Bishop’s Keep

The first book in the Victorian Mystery series, published July 1998.



Kate Ardleigh is everything the Victorian English gentlewoman is not--outspoken, free-thinking, American...and a writer of the frowned upon "penny-dreadfuls." When Kate arrives in Essex, England, she shocks the household at Bishop’s Keep – and captures the interest of amateur detective Sir Charles Sheridan as they begin their first case together.
A dead body is uncovered at a nearby archaeological dig. The investigation provides the perfect research for Kate’s fiction. But the curious writer may be digging too deep – especially when the trail leads her into a secret occult society known as the Order of the Golden Dawn …


Kate has just returned from her publishers, when she discovers she is being followed by a man. Again. But instead of running scared, she intends to confront the man. Kate knows there is a police station around the corner, as her uncle works there. So she quickly turns the corner, and hides in the doorway. The man in question is not happy at being found out, and he reluctantly tells her, he is from Pinkerton’s detective agency, and she will learn more next Friday at two. And with that message, the man disappears.
As it turns out, Kate has an aunt in England, the sister of her late father. She wants Kate to come work for her, as her companion/secretary, for a generous salary. Upon questioning further, the man knows nothing at all about her aunt, and what she thinks is a generous salary. Still, Kate accepts the offer, and travels to England. She loves the adventure, and it will all be great research for her novels. Her publisher told her, the bloodier, the better.

Upon arrival in England, Kate finds out she has not one aunt, but two. One who welcomes her wholeheartedly, her aunt Sabrina Ardleigh, and one who resents her for being half Irish, and American. Her aunt Bernice Jaggers-Ardleigh. There is great animosity between her aunts, and even though the house and everything belongs to aunt Sabrina, it is aunt Jaggers who runs the household, with an iron fist. The servants suffer greatly under her rule, but as it soon becomes clear to Kate, there is nothing to be done about that. Clearly her aunt Sabrina is being blackmailed by her younger sister.

Aunt Jaggers is big on religion, forcing the servants to attend three times a week. But aunt Sabrina has found another religion, more like a cult, and as one of Kate’s duties, she will have to help with the correspondence and authenticating of the cult’s papers. And then there is the body of a foreign man discovered in the nearby archaeological dig. Aunt Sabrina is highly interested in the case, and she wants Kate to find out whatever there is to know.

Kate travelled from London to Sussex in the company of miss Eleanor Marsden, a neighbour of her aunts, who introduced her to her family and her brother’s friend who is staying with them, Sir Charles Sheridan. Sir Charles is kind of a scholar, interested in everything. From photography to fingerprints to automobiles to bats. As it happens, he was at the scene of the crime, taking pictures of the body and the evidence he could find. The local police is totally unsuited for the job of finding out the identity of the murdered man, let alone the murderer! So Sir Charles is following leads, investigating the case. And he thinks Kate’s interest is strange, and not at all what a well bred English Lady would be doing. But Kate is very perceptive, and uncovers some clues and insights as well. And very reluctantly, Sir Charles is admiring Kate for the independent woman she is.

When Kate works hard on the papers of the Order, she becomes more and more sure the whole thing is a scam. The atmosphere in the house is getting worse, the hatred is escalating, and the servants are even plotting murder. Kate is not so sure she will be staying for long. Even her cheerful attitude is being influenced by the hatred and spite in the air.
But then the catastrophe she was waiting for happens, and Kate has to find out the truth before she herself is accused of murder!


A great cozy mystery, with a historic bent. I loved it. From the first I liked Kate for being whom she is. Taking the plunge into the unknown, when it is not a necessity to do so. For staying true to herself, even when her aunt Jaggers forbids her to read novels or the paper, and wants her to attend church. Or when her new friend Eleonor is a bit shocked by her behaviour.
She is a very determined person, standing securely on the ground, but feeling emotions deeply. She lost her parents at a young age, and is raised by an aunt and uncle, before she goes into service as a ladies companion/secretary. She even learns German and how to use a typewriter to better herself. And she is determined to make a name for her self as an author.

I loved how Robin Paige wove Arthur Conan Doyle and Oscar Wilde and some other famous persons of that era into the story. Kate gets to meet them, and cross verbal swords with them. And she wonders why Sherlock Holmes was killed of, when all the loyal readers wants him resurrected. She actually lectures mr. Doyle on the subject.

This book is filled with great characters, both the main and the secondary, and I really want to read the rest of the series. The one thing I did have trouble with, was the accent of the servants. A lot of letters are being substituted by ‘ which makes reading a bit difficult for me. The story is alternately told from the point of view of Kate, Sir Charles and even the Cook. And bit by bit of the current mystery, and of the tragedy that happened recently is revealed.

A nice, fast paced mystery, set against Victorian England.

9 stars.

Cherry Adair – White Heat

The second book in the T-FLAC: Black Rose Trilogy series, published July 2007.



The last person on earth that art restorer Emily Greene wants to see is the devil-may-care Max Aries. She hasn’t forgotten (or forgiven) the way Max dropped into her life a year ago, stole her heart, then vanished without a word. But the prodigal playboy returns with shocking news: his father’s recent death was no suicide, but in fact murder … and Emily’s life is also in danger. Intel from Max’s control at the counterterrorist organization T-FLAC reveals that the Black Rose terror cell is involved: a chilling revelation that elevates the threat level almost as high as the sexual tension bristling between Max and Emily. Max isn’t about to take his eyes off her – though only partly for professional reasons – and Emily finds it increasingly difficult to deny her feelings for him. Crisscrossing Europe and piecing together tantalizing clues to a sinister plot, Max and Emily must put their lives in the line … and still be ready when the heat between them flares white hot.


Wow, so much is going on in this very fast paced and action filled book, I hardly know where to start.
When Max returns from a long op, he finds several calls on his voicemail from Emily Greene. A woman he used last year to get access to a high end fundraiser, to capture a terrorist. He had a few hot days and nights with her, then left without a trace, without saying goodbye. She never knew who he really was. But now his father, of whom he thinks only as a sperm donor, but whom Emily was very close to, has died, and Emily has summoned him back to Florence, to be there for the funeral. But that has been weeks ago, and he doesn’t care. But he does want to see Emily again, he never quite forgot her. Which is a strange thing for Max, as he is married to his job.
Arriving in the middle of the night, Emily is not answering her doorbell. Max decides to just break in, and make himself at home, waiting for her. Only he is not the first to do that, some one has already gone through the balcony doors. Luckily, Emily has taken care of the intruder with a heavy frying pan, and she almost knocks Max out cold too. But then Max finds out the man was not there to steal anything, he went straight to Emily’s bedroom, and there is an empty vial on the floor next to the bed. The man refuses to talk, so Max calls in his team to take the man away, and sweep the house for toxins. He takes Emily with him to his father’s house, where they will stay “in quarantine”.
Emily doesn’t know what to think of this new forceful Max. He is nothing like the easy man she fell in love and in bed with last year. Surely he is overreacting. And why couldn’t he be there for his own fathers funeral? Sure, they were estranged, but still.

Max and his team are working hard on a series of church bombings. A big and famous church, or mosque, or synagogue has been bombed. The bomb was hidden in a famous painting, and lot of people were killed during those bombings. No clues are found, only a bunch of white lilies are left near the scene. Why has no terrorist group claimed those attacks yet?
While Max is taking Emily with him to the next scene, more attacks are made on Emily’s life. Her almost-fiancée and his whole family are killed, other art restorers are found dead all over the world, and Max doesn’t believe in coincidence. He will do whatever is necessary to keep Emily safe. Is she the key afteral?

The traitor mentioned in the previous book, is hold under close observation, hoping she will lead them to more members of the Black Rose, but no luck so far. Savage is much smarter than they are, and of course knows all the secrets of T-FLAC. So even when they finally take her under arrest, she manages to thwart them.


A good story, I had to keep reading, even when my boyfriend came over for some coffee on his break. I liked Emily. Max really hurt her when he disappeared last year, and though the attraction between them sizzles from the pages, she tries to stand firm. There is no future for them, he will just disappear again, and that is exactly what Max is planning. He thinks she will get over him, again, and live HEA while he goes on with his work for T-FLAC. The life of a married operative is not for him. He knows he will die on an op one day, and he won’t give her that grief. Better to get away clean and cold.
But with all the violence and death that is happening around them, they can’t stay apart. Their lovescenes are white hot, and when they are in danger time and again, love keeps growing between them. Making love takes their mind of the horrors they have to deal with, and to keep going on.
But I loved it, that in the end Emily played it cool, went on with her life, and Max came crawling back to her. Finally offering her what she wants, and needs, from him.

What I also loved about this book in particular, they went to visit Holland, Utrecht, the city where I live! For once, not famous Amsterdam, but my own homey town. Ofcourse, the address they visited doesn’t exist, but it was still way cool to read about it.

A book where everything was good: the romance part, the suspense part, the plot, the danger, the emotions, the crazy sociopath, and also some humor. We get to meet some of the previous T-FLAC characters again, which is always a treat for me.
Cherry Adair has a very fluent writing style, which is also easy to read. I couldn’t stop reading once I had the time to keep doing that.

According to fantasticfiction, this is supposed to be a trilogy, and there sure is an angle for that third book, and of course a hero! So I sure hope that book will be written some day.

9 stars.

Robin Kaye – Breakfast in Bed

The third book in the Domestic Gods series, published December 2009.



Rich, the epitome of "anti-domestic," can't cook to save his life, and his idea of cleaning his apartment is to invite his mother over. But he's ready to settle down, and he can't stop thinking about the ex-girlfriend who got away. When he notices that his soon-to-be-married friends cooked and cleaned their way into their women's hearts, he asks his friend Becca to help transform him into a nurturing man to win back his ex.

Rich is the only guy who's taken the time to know Becca for herself. She decides she'll give him the makeover he's asking for, though she'll be damned if she's going to turn him into a domestic god for another woman. She wants Rich for herself, but how can she convince him that her kitchen and her bedroom are the only domestic locales he desires?


The first book in the series was about Rosalie Ronaldi, who found her Romeo. When she married Nick, she rented her apartment to her sister, Annabelle Ronaldi, who then found love with Nick’s best friend Mike. Now Rosalie has rented her apartment to her brother Richie, and Annabelle rented the same apartment to her best friend Becca (also the half-sister of her husband).

So when Becca finally arrives in her new apartment with her luggage and three-legged cat named Tripod, she finds a mess. The mess only a man can make. Leftover food containers, beercans and clothes strewn across the floor. And a naked man in the shower, singing. Becca doesn’t hesitate, grab the baseball bat which is conveniently next to the front door, and confronts this man. And the battle of wills begins. Neither wants to give up the apartment, and they both need it badly. So, grudgingly, the decide to share it. It will only be for a short time, as Becca is here to see to the restoration of the brownstone she will be sharing with Annabelle and Mike shortly.

Now Richie has a problem. His Dean asks him if it isn’t time to settle down with a woman, especially after the little scandal that made him quit his last job. And Richie thinks it is time indeed, so he proposes to his girlfriend Gina. But she will have nothing to do with him anymore. When they had a long distance relationship, everything was fine, but she is not interested in more with him. He is not relationship material. Heck, his mother is still doing his laundry and cooking for him! So Richie thinks the only way to win her back, is to become a Domestic God, like his two brothers-in-law. How hard can it be? (And that from a guy who cannot even make coffee). So he persuades Becca to teach him how to do household chores. Cooking and cleaning and doing laundry. He is not a stupid man after all, he has three degrees. He is a teaching professor in psychology.

Becca doesn’t like Richie at all. O he is incredibly good looking and al that, but he is a player, and she is not interested in him. If only she wasn’t attracted to him either … Having the bad marriage of her parents as an example, she is not interested in a long term relationship. She loves her BOB and the occasional date, but that is it. Becca is a sculptor and sometimes painter, and she wants to make a name for herself in the artworld, without having help from her father, her family name and pedigree, or her money. She wants to make it on her own merit, and I admire her for that. So besides keeping an eye on the renovation, she is cruising the gallery’s trying to get them interested in her work. Also her father, whom she has given up on having a normal relationship with years ago, is wanting to start over again. After all, he has found the love of his live again, and she surely mellows him. But Becca isn’t so sure that is what she wants. After all the neglect of her 27 years, she doesn’t need him anymore.

When one week after the start of his lessons, Richie tries to persuade Gina to take him back and go to the benefit dinner with his dean, she flat-out refuses him. She has a new boyfriend, and is no longer interested in him, although the sex was great. So what is Richie to do now? He has already told his dean he is in a relationship and is bringing her. So again he turns to Becca. Will she try to act like they are in love and go with him? After al, they are already living together so it won’t be all a lie. And Richie sure is interested in Becca for more than the platonic relationship they have going.


It is a good story, I liked Becca. She is very unsure about herself. She was not a pretty child or teenager, and her mother always told her down. So that Richie finds her beautiful is not something she can believe. She has small breasts, and is way too tall. But she is a very good artist, and Richie truly admires her work. And after a bad start, he even likes her cat Tripod, whom he feeds everything wrong for a cat to have. Like coffee, icecream and such.

Now Richie truly is a spoiled boy in a man’s body. I cannot fault Gina for dumping his lazy ass. He cannot do the simplest household chore and is a total slob! And is not really interested in learning to fend for himself either. He thinks his mother likes doing all those things for him. So now he has to, and almost burns the house down while doing the laundry.
His first self made breakfast in bed for Becca consisted of instant coffee, heated in the microwave, and a package of store bought cookies. But finally he did learn to make real coffee, and toast, and such, so he did got better in all those chores.

But although he promised Becca to do everything in the apartment that needed to be done, she is still cleaning up after him, helping him. She should have been more, I don’t know, sterner? Telling him more what to do, instead of doing it herself. And Richie turns his attention from Gina to Becca in record time. Of course Becca fits him better, but he never was in love with Gina to begin with, so why did he contemplate marriage?

There are the usual secondary characters, mainly the scary aunt Rose, and Vinny who gives all the men advice on their love lives. And of course the Faery Godfathers living in the same building, taking care of things when needed.

All in all a good book, but I like my heroines a little bit tougher.

7,5 stars.

Jennifer Estep – Tangled Threads

The fourth book in the Elemental Assassin series, published April 2011.



I'd rather face a dozen lethal assassins any night than deal with something as tricky, convoluted, and fragile as my feelings. But here I am. Gin Blanco, the semi-retired assassin known as the Spider. Hovering outside sexy businessman Owen Grayson's front door like a nervous teenage girl. One thing I like about Owen: he doesn't shy away from my past--or my present. And right now I have a bull's eye on my forehead. Cold-blooded Fire elemental Mab Monroe has hired one of the smartest assassins in the business to trap me. Elektra LaFleur is skilled and efficient, with deadly electrical elemental magic as potent as my own Ice and Stone powers. Which means there's a fifty-fifty chance one of us won't survive this battle. I intend to kill LaFleur--or die trying—because Mab wants the assassin to take out my baby sister, Detective Bria Coolidge, too. The only problem is, Bria has no idea I'm her long-lost sibling ... or that I'm the murderer she's been chasing through Ashland for weeks. And what Bria doesn't know just might get us both dead ...


In the last book, the Spider has declared war on Mab Monroe. For killing her sister and parents, and all the other evil she does on a daily basis. Mab Monroe has to be stopped, and the law won’t touch the powerful and rich Fire Elemental, who rules Ashland like an old-fashioned mobster. Gin has been killing Mab’s men left and right, leaving her rune behind to let Mab know who did it.
One evening she and her foster-brother Finn are staking out a supposed drug transport, when something just strikes her as wrong. So Gin decides to wait it out. As a Spider, patience is her strong point. And if pays of to wait. The dwarf doing the loading is taking his sweet time with it, instead of working as fast as possible and drive away. When he is finished, and still hanging around, a woman appears from the shadows. They talk, and then she kills him, by electrocuting him. Then she drops a white flower on the corpse, and leaves. Gin knows who it is, another famous assassin, called LaFleur.
Apparently Mab has tired of the Spider killing her men, and has hired another famous assassin to hunt down the Spider, and kill her.
But how did LaFleur know to wait for her here? Was it a trap? Finn tells her where he heard the rumour, and Gin is shocked to find out it is the Ice-Elemental bartender working for their friend Roslyn, the Vampire with the nightclub. Intending to have a little chat with Vinnie about why he is spreading rumors on behalf of Mab, she is just in time to safe his life. And now she also has to find his little girl, who has been kidnapped by Mab’s people.
To her big surprise, while Gin and Sophia are busy in the Pork Pit with cooking for the holidays, filling orders for buffets and such, Jonas McAllister and Elektra LaFleur enter the restaurant. Jonas hates Gin’s guts as he believes she knows something about his son’s death. Of course she does, she killed him when he wanted to rape her. But Jonas doesn’t know that. He even had her beaten badly by some of Mab’s giants. She soon figures out why Jonas has come to her modest restaurant, used as he is to the most luxurious surroundings, being Mab Monroe’s lawyer and number one man. He has asked Elektra to kill Gin for him. And as she is busy looking for the Spider to kill for Mab, this is just an easy in-between job for Elektra. Or so they think.

So while Gin is busy in her guise as the Spider, staying out of the hands of Mab and Elektra, until that time is up, her personal live is in turmoil too. She is finally understanding that Owen won’t leave her because she is an assassin. He really can live with that, and with her. He even gave her a key to his house, though it is much more fun to just break in. And so the tangled threads around her heart are closing in on her, defrosting it bit by bit, and making her feel for Owen in return. Not love, not yet. She doesn’t know if she is capable of it.
And then there is her little sister, Bria. Who doesn’t yet know that she is her sister Genevieve. But when she finds out Mab has asked Elektra to kill Bria as well, all bets are off. She will do anything she has to do, to keep her sister safe. Even if it means exposing herself as the Spider to her sister. And that is what happens. Can Bria accept that, accept her?


I liked this book, it is really fast paced and action filled. And some nice love scenes between Gin and Owen. Finn has his eye on Bria, and she seems to be attracted to him as well. So who knows what will grow out of it. I liked the developing story. Mab is getting hit hard by Gin, and now she has to defend her realm against the other badasses in town, looking to steal some of her action. She will need some time to recover before setting her goons on Bria again.

But what I do find irritating, is the constant repeating of things. The repeating of Gin’s lifestory, what happened in the previous books, is one thing, and I get that that is meant for new readers. It is more the smaller things. That Jo-Jo keeps telling Gin how strong she is, and Gin not believing it. The silverstone runes burned into her hands, how she feels when other Elementals use their magic, or when Jo-Jo heals her. It really is not necessary to mention that a few times.

But overall, a good story, a nice blend of the action and the mundane of Gin’s private life. I am looking forward to the rest of the series.

7,5 stars.