Reading (mostly) romance books down under
The cheat sheets have moved! For the latest information, use these links: Cheat sheet overview | Phury | Primale and The Chosen | Layla and Selena
(Note: The information below was last updated on 24/3/2011.)
Vampires believe that the birth of a healthy son is a blessing. They also believe it’s possible to have too many blessings and that misfortune will follow to compensate for the extra prosperity. The warrior Ahgony’s household celebrated the birth of his son Zsadist, but were spooked when Phury was also born. Sure enough, the firstborn was stolen in the middle of the night by his nursemaid and the household never recovered.
Ahgony searched for his son and became depressed and turned to drink.
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The cheat sheets have moved! For the latest information, use these links: Cheat sheet overview | Vishous | Payne and Manny | Medical quirks | The Bloodletter
(Note: The information below was last updated on 23/11/2010.)
V. My personal fave. I could just rave about how beautiful he is, with his diamond hard heart, absolutely incredible intelligence (not to mention smart mouth), dominant sexuality and uncompromising masculinity, but that wouldn’t get us anywhere except teaching me yet again that my keyboard is not drool-proof (picture Homer Simpson around any non-vegetable based food). So to avoid another costly lesson, I’ll try to just stick to the facts.
Vishous is the direct, biological son of the Scribe Virgin, which has been
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The cheat sheets have moved! For the latest information, use these links: Cheat sheet overview | Butch | Omega, Lessening Society and Lash | Safe Place
(Note: The information below was last updated on 23/3/2011.)
The defining moment of Butch’s life was the day he saw his 15-year old sister Janie get into a car with a group of boys and didn’t tell his parents she was breaking the rules. She was later found raped and murdered. Up to that point, Butch had been treated differently to the rest of the family and frequently beaten by his father, but since then he was blamed for what happened to Janie and virtually ostracised. He was twelve years old.
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The cheat sheets have moved! For the latest information, use these links: Cheat sheet overview | Zsadist | Pretrans training
(Note: The information below was last updated on 23/3/2011.)
Zsadist, the firstborn son of Ahgony and the Chosen Naseen, was kidnapped by his nanny when he was seven months, and after the nanny’s death he was sold into slavery. After his transition changed him into a large, powerful looking male, his mistress kept him in a cell ready to be used for blood and sex and even shared him with other males.
It took his twin Phury a century to find and rescue him, but their escape via the ocean sealed a scar on Z’s face. He later added body piercings, possibly because he liked the pain
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The cheat sheets have moved! For the latest information, use these links: Cheat sheet overview | Rhage | Reproduction and needing
(Note: The information below was last updated on 23/3/2011.)
In the years immediately following his transition, Rhage was extremely cocky and went wherever his mood took him. He got drunk, did drugs, fought a lot, and had a nasty habit of sleeping with other males’ shellans. He became interested in a female who didn’t want him until he joined the Brotherhood, so he showed off his weapons and his gun went off in her hand, killing a barn owl.
The Scribe Virgin considered this a special offence as she loves birds
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In anticipation of the next book in J. R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series, Decadence has been hard at work updating the ever popular BDB cheat sheets. The cheat sheets summarise what we know so far about the Brothers and their world, based on the books already published.
We’ll be republishing the updated cheat sheets over the next two weeks, starting Monday. I’ve also created a page summarising all BDB-related posts on this blog.
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Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (Hunger Games Trilogy, Book 2)
Although not as good as The Hunger Games, this book is still an excellent read and has only whetted my appetite for more.
If there’s one thing about about Suzanne Collins, it’s that she can spin a good yarn. Catching Fire is the sequel to Collins’s bestselling novel, The Hunger Games, which I found to be a great read—a bit shallow on the character development but excellent in plot development.
Catching Fire follows on from the ending of The Hunger Games and it’s not a standalone book. A few months have passed since Katniss returned home as a victor in The Hunger Games, and she’s trying to manage the consequences of her actions at the games.
She and fellow District 12 winner, Peeta, are due to start their Victory Tour, and she intends to pretend that she’s madly in love with Peeta, hoping to appease the Capitol—the central governement—that their act of rebellion in the games was due to love.
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The Family Farm by Fiona Palmer
The Family Farm’s blurb shows promise, but a slow plot and lacklustre romance make for a rather dull read.
I really, really wanted to like this book. I’m always on the lookout for good outback romances and at first glance The Family Farm fits the bill.
Isabelle Simpson returns to the family farm, eager to help her parents and show her father that she’s more than capable of managing the farm. But her father is convinced that farm life is too harsh for his remaining daughter, and this causes some conflict between then. When her father is hospitalised indefinitely, Isabelle surreptitiously takes over managing the farm.
Her father thinks their neighbour, Will Timmins, is in charge. For years Isabelle has blamed Will for her sister’s death, but gradually she learns the truth behind her sister’s tragedy and she discovers that Will has changed from the skirt-chasing prankster she knew as a child.
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Love Bites by Lynsay Sands (Argeneau Vampire, Book 2)
This guest review is courtesy of Buttercup, a self-confessed Lynsay Sands fan.
The story begins rather bleakly in a morgue where our hero, Etienne Argeneau, is lying on a metal table about to be examined by our heroine, coroner Rachel Garrett. She is feeling a little puzzled at her attraction for the good looking, but dead, guy. She feels even more puzzled when the corpse starts talking to her.
Etienne is not in fact dead—he is a vampire with a bullet in his chest. Unfortunately for Rachel, whoever killed Etienne follows him to the morgue and she is caught in the crossfire, and is mortally wounded. Etienne wakes up just in time and saves Rachel from death by biting her. This turns out to be a great sacrifice on Etienne’s part as vampires are bound by law to turn only one human in his lifetime, an honour usually reserved for a possible mate. He brings Rachel home and takes care of her while she is transitioning, and takes a softly, slowly approach in introducing Rachel to the world of vampires. Sometimes with hilarious results…
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First of all, a big congratulations to the winner of our Covet giveaway … *drumroll* … angela! To win, Angela had to tell us her deadliest sin, and this was her comment:
Greed…for we are all greedy to some extent but my greed extends from clothes to stationary to bags and especially books. I’ve been collecting books since i was 12, after feeling an intrinsic connection to the world of literature. My aim? To buy a house with rooms that can act as my bookshelf for my sizeable collection.
I think I’m guilty of that sin, too. Angela, your book is in the mail!
Moving on … I got this idea from Marg at The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader (formerly Reading Adventures). Dymocks recently conducted a survey of Australia’s favourite books, and here’s the top 101 list, annotated with my thoughts.
1 The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer – read books 1 (reviewed) and 2
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(The Bridgertons, epilogues) The series that made me—and the rest of the world—falling in love with Julia Quinn. If you haven’t read this series, start now! If you have, then this is the cherry on the cake.
(Rivers of London, Book 1) Original, witty and fun—this is my new favourite series.
(The Edge, Book 3) Although there are familiar elements, there is something quite distinct about this series. I really enjoyed this difference.
(Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 11) The crack is back. This book will either allow you to exit the BDB world satisfied…or suck you right back in with a vengeance.
(Clockwork Agents, Book 1 and 2) An exciting, fast-paced and very, very sexy steampunk romance series.
(Mercy Thompson, Book 7) Mercy Thompson fans who have been eagerly anticipating this book will love the complicated twists of the plot, and romance readers will absolutely adore Adam.
A lively read, and while I’m not too sure I’d like to have gone through all that Georgette did, waking up next to a hot-hunka-chunka-burning-love Highlander with a kilt (but not in one) might not be so bad. (Except I’d better be able to remember it all the next day!)
You don’t have to be a fashionista to appreciate this book. Grace Coddington is a woman who loves life and what’s she’s made of it, and that comes through very clearly on the pages.
(Mercy Thompson, Book 2) The pacing and plotting are not as balanced as in the first book. Mostly we’re just along for the ride—but it’s still a fabulous trip.
(The Caster Chronicles, Book 1) A book to hand someone with the words, ‘Please enjoy’—something you can have fun with without having to think too much.
Special thanks to BOOKSELLER+PUBLISHER for keeping us abreast of what's going on in the Australian book industry, and particularly to Tim Coronel, who patiently explains to us the intricacies of book publishing in plain Tweet-lish.
Website| Twitter | Tim Coronel
