Lions, and Tigers, and Werewolves... oh my

So I've been reading a lot of werewolf, or were-anything books over the last year and it's amazing each author's perspective in regards to these creatures.  As stated before in my previous blog, Sherilyn Kenyon has a very interesting spin on where these creatures came from.  Magic of course and oh you can't catch it or "become" a werewolf (were-tiger, were-bear, were-hawk, and yes even a were-dragon).  The only thing that all of these authors share is the over the top incredible sexiness of being a were-anything (yes even bears).

I think this is why I find this genre so fascinating.  It's safe.  I don't need to worry that I'm comparing my husband to the characters in the book or looking for these characters in people I see on the street.  Now don't get me wrong, some of the personalities and alpha-ness I'd like my husband to demonstrate occasionally (and he has ... occasionally) but the possibility of actually meeting them or someone like them in person is non-existent.  They simply don't exist so their safe to fantasize about.

I have a list of five guys that if I actually could meet them in person and by some alignment of the planets get a chance to bed one of them, Jim would have to give me a pass.  I'm sure everyone has seen that Friends episode with Isabella Rosselini.  Well my list changes frequently as my tastes change so Jim has informed me that I have to have the list approved in writing before it's valid.  Where am I going with this you may ask?  Well ... over the last year my list has had maybe three actual living human beings (Joe Manganiello is always on the list) but the others I frequently list are nothing but fictional characters.  Here is a small history of this list over the last year:

• Joe Manganiello (human - known for Trueblood)
• Francois Arnaud (human - known for Cesare Borgia)
• Vane Kattalakis
• Vishous (not a were but still fictional)
• Any of the guys from the Nicky Charles Wolf Series - There are four of them (this is a free e-series and she's an excellent author that I never would have found without my Nook)
• Acheron (again not a were but still drool worthy)

So you see I tend to stick with the fictional characters.  Probably because if I actually met the two humans on the list I'd have a brain fart of epic proportions and then ruin my one planet aligning chance.  At least when I meet the other guys in my head I'm cool and collected and of course say all the right things and never look like a complete loser.

Why do I write this?  Probably to give my wonderful husband some much needed reassurance that he's really the only "real" man that I want or need.  Everyone else is just "fluff"..

Love slave...

Greek love slave imprisoned in a magical book for centuries by a jealous, vindictive Greek god.  Sounds like some serious romantic fluff, the stuff Fabio made famous, right? This is what I thought as well.  Little did I know that it would lead to my second favorite book series of all time.

Fantasy Lover is the first book in the Sherilyn Kenyon Dark Hunter series.  It's starts in New Orleans (pre Katrina).  The characters are quirky and sassy.  The mystique and magic that surrounds New Orleans is the perfect backdrop to set up a series of vampire-esque hunters who seek to take out as many of Apollo's "children" who have gone rogue (these are the real vampires).

I was hooked even before the end of the first chapter.  Sherilyn Kenyon has such a wonderful way of building good characters that you enjoy not only the main love story but the side stories that play out in the background.  I would soon come to demand this in the other book series that I would read in the future.  This culminated in the book series that has me absolutely ensnared (but that's a blog for another time).

The combination of a centuries old Greek warrior falling for a 21st Century sex therapist?  Just perfect.  What could possibly go wrong with that?  Add in the fact that the sex therapist is sexually repressed and his only function for the last thousand years has been to feed every desire of any woman who summons him from full moon to full moon and it makes for incredibly hilarious banter between the two.  Oh and add in her married psychic friend and a flighty artist who sells her wares in the local market square in the middle of New Orleans, I don't think I've ever laughed so much.

Sherilyn's writing style and the way she makes her dialogue sound natural are another big bonus.  Although the main character in the first book is not a dark hunter the first dark hunter you meet in the series is mentioned and even eluded to during this book.  You meet him in the second book.  The books that follow introduce you to a whole slew of supernatural characters from Dark Hunters, to Werewolves, Were-tigers, were-bears (ohhh those bears... yummmm).  But threaded throughout each book is the never understood mysterious Acheron who commands the Dark Hunters and respect from all the other supernatural characters..  mmmmmm ... Acheron!  What to say about him would fill up a whole separate blog... so stay tuned...

If you're looking for an adventurous, humorous, very sexy (wait till you meet Vane Katalakis girls... he's not your average werewolf... but you can picture Joe Managaniello in the roll ... VERY HOT... oh and ladies he likes a girl with above average curves) book series for your summer reads I definitely recommend the Dark Hunter series by Sherilyn Kenyon.

Book series...

Prior to the purchase of my nook, I had only attempted to read a few series.  Books like Diana Gabaldon (Outlander Series) and Anne Rice (Vampire Series) were really the only series that I had read.  I liked them but if they were older series it was very hard to find copies of whatever book I was going to read next.  At the time of my nook purchase I had just finished reading the second book in a series called Blades of the Rose by Zoe Archer.  I had to read the second book first because the first book was not available at the store.  And although most of these series are those stand alone types,  it's not always necessary to read them in order.  However,  I find that many times there are aspects of the sequels that are more thoroughly explained in the first book.

Anyway, upon purchasing my nook I found a book bundle that contained all four books in the series for the price of two of the paperback!!!  Excellent!  Now I had four new books to read and I never had to leave the comfort of my home.  Again, excellent.  So this is how I got hooked on book series.  Many of the posts that will follow will about the many great series that I have read.

The Zoe Archer series was my first step into the supernatural/magical romance world.  Although I had read the Anne Rice Vampire books they were more a story of friendship, betrayal and survival as opposed to true romance.

I have to say after I finished this series I was hooked!  The Blades of the Rose series is set in Victorian England as well as other far off places.  It incorporates both archeology and magic.  Giving it that Indiana Jones meets Harry Potter feel.  The men in the books are rugged and battle scarred.  But they are protective and gentle.  I told my husband he needed to read the books to get a better understanding of what was getting me all hot and bothered after reading.  It was a vain attempt at getting him to act more like the heros.  I've realized now that this is not a truly realistic expectation... as we are rarely set upon by pirates and and we don't go looking for magically enhanced objects in order to save the world.  But he tried and that counts.

So yes the romance and intrigue were exciting and the women were tough but gentle.  Of course most of them were virgins... what with it being Victorian England and all.  But the sex?  HOT!  Although not the first book I've read with good sex in it, the banter between the characters (something I've always loved about a book) certainly set my blood tingling.  I have a real problem with books that have dialogue that is choppy and lacks the ability to sound like something people would actually say.  Too rigid grammar during dialogue frustrates me.  If the character is saying she doesn't think he should touch her there... it shouldn't be written as "I do not think it is such a good idea for you to put your hands there"... it should come out more like "I don't think it's such a good idea for you to put your hand there"... unless there is some reason like English isn't their first language, they're properly English, or their robots (which I have to say I'm not all that interested in Robot sex although it is out there)... dialogue should read that way it would sound coming out of a person's mouth.

But anyway, I digress.  The dialogue is excellent and the adventure and danger just heightens the excitement and sexual tension between the characters.  If you're looking for a great read that is full of sexy men, high adventure and a touch of magic the first book in the series is Warrior.

From book to nook...

My journey from paper books to my coveted nook was a slow process.  I, like many others, felt that reading electronic books just couldn't have the same ambiance as reading the well worn pages of a good novel.  The excitement of turning a page and being able to visually see how much more you had left in a chapter... that's what reading is all about, right?

So how could I possibly start reading electronically?  Outwardly I railed against the idea...I am not a techno geek (or so I thought).  Repeated advertising of this new technology got me thinking though.  Perhaps I should just embrace my inner nerd and check this out.

As an avid reader, mainly those sappy romance/erotic novels (which should preferably feature some supernatural or rugged hero who needs saving of his own, as well as a strong yet vulnerable heroine) I found that I was purchasing paperback after paperback.  I also rarely read a book more than once.  I mean once you know the story why waste your time re-reading when you can just skip to the juicy parts?  So here I was with copious amounts of paperback books and no place to put them all!  How do I remedy that? Hmmm... it would be so nice to have just one device that could hold all of my books.  And so the research began.

I looked at the Kindle, the Ipad and the Nook.  The Ipad was just too expensive and I really only wanted something that would allow me to read without all of the other features.  So it was down to the Kindle and the Nook.  The deciding factor came after a visit to my local Barnes and Noble store where the Nook agent explained in detail the many fine features of their product.  What was the finally selling point you may ask... you can access the public library (ohhh FREE BOOKS and NO LATE FEES).  I was sold!

Got my first edition Nook and went about downloading my first few books.  I couldn't believe the vast amounts of books that I would have never realized existed without this wonderful gadget.  The day I fell in love with my Nook happened when I was rocking my new born son to sleep for a nap and decided to read while we were rocking.  Had I had one of those paperbacks I would never have been able to turn the page without disturbing the peaceful slumber going on in my lap.  But my Nook... well now that's where it became awesome.  Just click the side and magically the pages turned for me, quietly and with no disturbance.

And, oh, the books that I've found since that day.  So many authors both good and bad.  Some are now my favorite authors ever.  I know I often use my Nook to escape the stress of life and the frustrations with raising three children and trying to maintain marriage (which let's face it ladies a good romance novel can be extremely good for the hubby as well) and holding down a job.  But the worlds that I get to escape into are exciting and sexy and breathtaking.  Many of the books that I have purchased or found have been electronic releases that I would have never found in the book store.  Many of these are among the best books I have read.

No I don't read the really deep literature and I rarely look for books that make me think.  My books are an escape and I try not to find books that make me look at real issues.  However, many of the books even though they may be "trashy" romance novels, have a heart and a soul to the characters.  Many of my posts will be about the characters, authors and books that I have discovered in my journey from book to nook...

In case you need to begin a new addiction... Get yourself a Nook!
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