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Sunday, November 03, 2013

Melanie's Week in Review - November 3, 2013




Greetings from Canada! I have been enjoying the delights of rural Ontario for the last week as I visit with my Mom and one of my sisters. I am so close to where Kelley Armstrong lives that I could almost stop by to borrow a cup of sugar (no I am not stalking her....yet....). While its been fun it also means I haven't been reading that much and in fact I only read 2 books. I do also have the excuse that Halloween was last week and FINALLY, I got to see lots of trick or treaters. They really haven't embraced Halloween in the UK like they have in North America so it was great to see so many kiddies in their cute costumes. I have also been driving my Mom around and sampling the delights of a few of the local chocolate shops. My diet starts when I get back.

Enough of my holiday so what have I managed to fit in between trips to Stratford and London?

I started and finished Blood Shadows by Lindsay J. Pryor which was the first of the Blackthorn series. This first installment centres on Caitlin Parish who works for the Vampire Control Unit and who is determined to capture and question the notorious vampire, Kane Mallory. Its not long before the hunter becomes the hunted and Caitlin ends up handcuffed to the bed by the hunky vampire. Caitlin practically sells her soul along with her body to find out what Kane knows about the death of her parents years before. Blood Shadow was a tiny bit more UF than PNR as sex came before love and romance. While I quite fancied Kane I did have a problem with Caitlin or I guess more about the way she was written especially in the first sex scene. Normally, the two love interests try to deny their attraction, then finally succumb to end up hopelessly in love by the end of the book. In this story however, Caitlin and Kane are attracted to each other but he kidnaps her, keeps her handcuffed in his bedroom and rather than succumbing she more or less gives in, knowing he isn't going to tell her what he knows until she sleeps with him. While this may be a bit more realistic it didn't sit well with me as it fell more into coercion rather than romance. Apart from this chapter of the book, I liked the story over all and think I will continue with the series.

The second book I read was a total impulse purchase. Rather than reading one of the many books I have had approved from NetGalley I ended up buying Angel's Blood by Nalini Singh. I got an email from the UK publisher (Gollancz) which had an article about the newest book in the Guild Hunter series and I was slightly intrigued. I had a look on Amazon and book 1 was really cheap so I decided to buy it. I was quite surprised that I liked it as much as I did as I haven't been a fan of her Psy-Changeling series. In fact I liked it so much I also bought and am currently reading Archangel's Kiss (Guild Hunter 2).

Finally, I thought I would share with you a reading device that has transformed my Mom's life. Mom is now only partially sighted following a detached retina (in her good eye) about 18 months ago. She was an avid reader and belonged to two reading groups. Needless to say losing her vision has been a difficult adjustment and she became quite despondent at the thought of not being able to read anymore. Thanks to the local CNIB Mom was given a 'reader' (basically a microfiche) which she now uses to read not only books but newspapers and the labels off her medication. I can remember using a microfiche years ago in university and thought they were virtually obsolete due to the accessibility of online journals etc. Now this seemingly obsolete technology has given an old lady back the joy of reading. Big thank you to the lovely people at the CNIB.


Thats it for me folks and I will be back in the UK for my next Week in Review so until then Happy Reading.

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