I read this (Sept 1-15, 2011)

I've decided to split my monthly reading list in twain since August's post was absurdly long and September's post was proving to be just the same. 

Fantasy

Sirens and Other Daemon Lovers, edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling: It took me a month and a half to finish this anthology. The quality of stories was so uneven that I couldn't concentrate.  Even (especially?) the stories by authors I love were disappointing. 

Wolf Who Rules by Wen Spencer (Elfhome, Book 2): Tinker, the first book in the series, is written entirely from Tinker's third-person POV. This book includes Who Who Rules' POV, which added some dimension to the current story and the back-story. I enjoyed this book because it illuminated some of WWR's choices but Tinker's wishy-washiness only got MORE annoying.  Plus, the story turned unexpectedly metaphysical. 

Contemporary Fiction

Mesopotamia by Arthur Nersesian: Elvis impersonators, murder and mayhem make an entertaining story but the writing itself was kind of bland and the characterization was practically nonexistent. I don't regret reading this one but I definitely won't be reading anything else by this author.

Romance

Fairest of Them All by Teresa Medeiros: Like I said last month, Medeiros' writing is competent and her stories are fun, but the romance is sometimes less than believable. This particular story was occasionally over the top and the mystical aspect was irritating.  

Prisoner of My Desire by Johanna Lindsey: The setup was ten kinds of fucked up. The lady-protagonist has to rape the dude-protagonist (believe me, I WISH I was making this up) in order to keep her step-brother from killing her mother. When the dude-protagonist escapes, he finds the lady, kidnaps her and revenge-rapes her. Then they fall in love. WTF Johanna Lindsey, seriously WTF?

Bride of a Stranger by Jennifer Blake: Major snooze-fest with no sexy bits to make up for the boring plot. At least it was short. 

Talk Me Down by Victoria Dahl: A romance novel about an erotica author? Yes, please. I don't always like contemporaries, but I think Dahl is really great at them. The stories can seem a little superficial sometimes, but I like her characters a lot and I get the romance, you know? And the sexy business is hot.

Marrying the Marquis by Patricia Grasso (The Flambeau Sisters, Book 3): I was not expecting a romance with paranormal elements and I had to keep checking the synopsis to see if I had missed something. The story and writing were okay, I guess, but I was so thrown by the ESP junk that I just couldn't settle down to the book. 

Fire Dance by Delle Jacobs: This was a well written, absorbing story with only a few blips, but it just dragged on and on and on. I enjoyed reading it but it could have been 15% shorter (I have no idea how many pages it is, it's only available digitally). But you should try it, it's only .99 cents.

The Goodbye Summer by Patricia Gaffney: The main character was a bit floppy to start and was occasionally outshone by the secondary characters. The tone of the whole thing was a little melancholy and a little hopeful and very sweet. It was nice while it lasted but I kept waiting for something to happen and then... it was over. It isn't quite a romance novel but it isn't quite chick lit either. 

Lessons From a Scarlet Lady by Emma Wildes : Good writing, steamy love scenes, fun premise. I was sometimes more interested in the secondary love story, but overall, it was pretty much exactly what I want from a historical romance.

My Lord Scandal by Emma Wildes (Notorious Bachelors, Book 1): The intrigue keeping the main characters apart was a little oooh mysterious, but I enjoyed this as much as I did Scarlet Lady. 

The Texan's Touch by Jodi Thomas (Texas Brothers, Book 1): Um, what? The whole thing was way too coincidental. AND the writing was flat. This is the second Thomas book I've read and I just don't get the appeal. 

Urban Fantasy

Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews (Kate Daniels, Book 5): Fuck yes. I need say no more.

The Neon Graveyard by Vicki Pettersson (Signs of the Zodiac, Book 6): A lot of this book was spent whining about/rescuing the love interest and not quite enough time was devoted to the battle with the nemesis, but overall, I think this wrapped the series up well.  The series as a whole was fun, but Joanna was often unlikable and she never really seemed to learn to look before leaping. If you want UF with no vampires, this one is for you.

YA Fiction

Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr: I really don't know how I feel about this one. It's a coming-of-age story and it's a little uncomfortable and there is no concrete ending. But it's compelling and well written. I felt this way about Sweethearts too.