Spider's Bite by Jennifer Estep (thoughts)

Summary from Goodreads:

"They call me the Spider. I'm the most feared assassin in the South — when I'm not busy at the Pork Pit cooking up the best barbecue in Ashland. As a Stone elemental, I can hear everything from the whispers of the gravel beneath my feet to the vibrations of the soaring Appalachian Mountains above me. My Ice magic also comes in handy for making the occasional knife. But I don't use my powers on the job unless I absolutely have to. Call it professional pride."

My Thoughts:

This was a kick-ass urban fantasy that knocked my socks off!! I loved every single page of this book and instantly wanted more when I was done. Gin, otherwise known as the Spider, is an impressive main character who isn't ashamed of the person she is and doesn't offer any apologies for what she does. She plays by her own set of rules and although she is an assassin, she has a line drawn that she doesn't cross. When Gin's handler (aka her father figure) is killed, Gin is out for blood and won't stop at anything until she finds his killer. This storyline was action packed and fast paced throughout. I literally did not want to set this book down....I just couldn't get enough of the world that this author had created. My only complaint with this book was that I wasn't quite sold on Detective Donovan and the attraction there was between him and Gin. I didn't care for his condescending attitude that he had with Gin at times. But I'll admit that there was a pretty "hot" scene between the two of them so I guess we'll see what goes on in later books.

All in all, this was an amazing beginning to this urban fantasy series. Any book that leaves me wanting more is a must read, and I'm putting this one on my keeper shelf to be reread in the future. A strong, independent heroine and a fast paced plot helped to make this book an impressive read. Highly recommended!!

Bottom Line: A must read for any urban fantasy fan!

Disclosure: I won this one off of a book blog a year or two ago but sadly I can't remember whose blog. My apologies as I would love to leave you with the link to that blog.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Thankfully Reading

Hosted by Sheila at Book Journey who says:

"It’s Monday! What Are You Reading is where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week…. and anything in between! D This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from!"

It's been awhile since I shared what I've been reading on a Monday. My reading has slowed down drastically lately along with my blogging and commenting. With the every day "business" that comes from being a working mom to three and the holidays approaching, life has gotten quite crazy. I'm working to fit reading time in when I can but it has slowed down regardless. I'm starting to think I need a nice snowy or rainy day where all I do is read to get me back to reading :) Am I the only one that loves crappy weather???

I'm currently reading Lethal by Sandra Brown.




















And I've recently finished reading Visions of Magic and The Name of the Star.



Up next is anybody's guess. Definitely something off of my own shelves or from my enormous library stack. I'm also planning on participating in the Thankfully Reading Weekend this year except I'm going to try and make it a reading filled week instead of just the weekend. It should be fun!

Happy Monday everyone!!

C is for Corpse by Sue Grafton (thoughts)

Kinsey is back and investigating one of her most difficult cases yet. Her client, Bobby, has lost a good portion of his memory in a car accident that he is still working on recovering from. Unfortunately, he believes that the crash he was involved in wasn't just an "accident", and he has hired Kinsey to find out what happened with the hope that she can possibly help him to recover some of his memories. Kinsey has her work cut out for her as everyone in his family is convinced that he's overreacting, and Bobby's memories leave little evidence that anything bad really happened. And then everything changes and Kinsey finds herself over her head once again.

I love, love, love series!! Kinsey is one of those characters that I can just easily relate to even though I'm not a mystery solving private detective :) Sue Grafton has created a character that I want to read about and one that I could see myself being friends with in real life. The mystery was both unique and original. I was constantly questioning Bobby's memories from the very beginning trying to figure out if he was in danger or not. By halfway thru the book, I was completely sucked in and couldn't put it down if I wanted to. Be warned that the summary on the back of the book was very spoiler-ly in my opinion so if you like to be surprised don't read it. I had absolutely no clue who the "bad guy" was throughout the book and the ending was a complete shock! Wow! I also liked that we got to see more of some of the side characters and found the storyline concerning Henry very interesting.

All in all, this was a great read that solidified my love of this series! Grafton has created a series that draws me in, book after book, and leaves me wanting more. I can't wait to read more about Kinsey's adventures and have already picked up the fourth book from the library. I would highly recommend this series to any mystery fan out there!

Bottom Line: A must read series!!! Love it :)

Disclosure: I checked this book out from the local library.

If you are interested here are links (click on titles) to my reviews of A is for Alibi and B is for Burglar. You should really begin with the 1st book in my opinion.

Library Loot - My Latest Finds

Library Loot is hosted by Marg and Claire and asks us to share the latest finds that we've picked up at the library.

Considering the library is one of my favorite places to go, I have a never-ending stream of books coming into my house and going back to the library. I've been kind of in a slump with reading lately so I've been placing holds at the library like crazy to try and kick start my reading. It may be that I've been just too busy lately and once life slows down a bit my reading mojo will come back :) Here are my latest finds that I'm excited to read:







Just looking at these covers makes me want to go read so maybe this is exactly the kind of post I needed to do :) I hope everyone is having a wonderful November so far. My son has his 1st basketball game of the season but hopefully I'll get a chance to catch up on all of your blogs later today. Did you all go buy the last Harry Potter DVD on Friday like I did??? I love me some Harry Potter and it was great to get to rewatch this movie! Hope you all have a wonderful week!!

The Twin's Daughter by Lauren Baratz-Logsted (thoughts)

What would you do if you found out that you had a twin sister that you had never known?? Lucy opens the door one day and the life that she knows changes forever as she meets her mother's twin sister for the first time. At first her mother and her new found aunt are completely opposite in every way, but as time goes on Lucy begins to realize that it is getting harder and harder to tell them apart. And then the unthinkable happens...

This book had such a unique premise that instantly intrigued me. I loved the idea of finding a long lost sister and seeing how it would affect the family and their everyday lives. The author gives the story a creepy, dark atmosphere where I was constantly questioning Lucy's new aunt and her motives and actions. The book had a sinister feel to it throughout that really made the book more enjoyable in my opinion. I liked getting the chance to see how Lucy's Aunt Helen affected the entire family and their everyday lives. As Helen began to act more and more like Lucy's mother, I became more and more invested in the story. I had to know what was going to happen next. The ending of the book was quite intense and I was hooked until the last page. My only complaint with this book was that I had trouble connecting to some of the characters at times. I'll admit that after the book finished everything made a bit more sense and helped to tie up the loose ends for me. All in all, an interesting and suspenseful read that I would recommend to fans of gothic novels.

Bottom Line: An intriguing premise and a solid read!

Disclosure: I checked this book out from my local library.

Halloween Fun (in November)

Instead of reading or blogging last week, I spent the week working. And working some more. Not much fun (if I do say so myself) but before I went out of town for the week, we enjoyed some Halloween fun!


Like carving pumpkins...and getting quite messy :)


The finished products....and no I didn't carve any of these :) He did all the work!

Took the kiddos trick or treating where we got WAY too much candy.

After which we handed out candy to the trick or treaters that were still out.

All in all, it was a fun Halloween and the kiddos were able to crash out that night in a sugar-induced haze. I'm still trying to catch up from working 60+ hours which means that this week may be quiet as well around here. Thank goodness we get an extra hour of sleep tonight because I need it :) Hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween and that you all have a great week!

Long Gone by Alafair Burke (thoughts)

Summary from Goodreads:

"After a layoff and months of struggling, Alice Humphrey finally lands her dream job managing a new art gallery in Manhattan’s trendy Meatpacking District. According to Drew Campbell, the well-suited corporate representative who hires her, the gallery is a passion project for its anonymous, wealthy, and eccentric owner.

Everything is perfect until the morning Alice arrives at work to find the gallery gone—the space stripped bare as if it had never been there—and Drew Campbell’s dead body on the floor. Overnight, Alice’s dream job has vanished, and she finds herself at the center of a police investigation, with the evidence mounting against her. To prove her innocence and uncover the truth, Alice must undertake a dangerous search for answers that entangles her in a dark, high-tech criminal conspiracy and forces her to unearth long-hidden secrets involving her own family . . . secrets that could cost Alice her life."

My Thoughts:

Long Gone was a fun, interesting thriller that I enjoyed throughout. After reading the above summary, I knew that this was going to be a book that I would enjoy. The summary also kind of tells the reader a lot from the beginning so I went into the book knowing that things were going to go bad for Alice and fast. But that just made the book that much more interesting for me as I was looking for clues to who was behind everything from the very beginning. The story line was fast paced for the most part and kept me hooked as I wanted to know what was going to happen to Alice next. There were a few aspects of the mystery that I was able to figure out ahead of time but the ending did take me by surprise. And I honestly don't think that I would have figured out anything except I went into the book trying to guess who the "bad guy" was going to be. You gotta be right once in awhile, don't you??? Ha!

All in all, this was an enjoyable thriller that had me on pins and needles especially towards the ending. I'm going to have to check out if this author has a backlist because I can't wait to read more. And I honestly think that the best part of the book was the fact that it left me wondering what I would do if I was in Alice's situation. Quite a scary thought if I do say so myself!

Bottom Line: A thriller that kept me guessing throughout. Recommended!

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book from the publisher for review. My thanks!

What I've Been Doing Instead of Blogging...

Meet the newest member of our household, Kaiya. Kaiya's owner couldn't take care of her anymore so we had to bring her home. How can you resist that face??? She is one year old, pretty much house trained, and in need of lots of TLC. Who better to give her that than three dog-loving kiddos?? It has been lots of fun so far and she has fast become a part of our family. But don't be surprised if it is a little bit more quiet than usual for the next couple of weeks as we (and by we I mean me) adjust to having a dog :)



I'm also participating in the Bout of Books Read-A-Thon this week which shall be lots of fun. It started yesterday and I've already finished my first book. Woohoo! My goal for the week is to finish at least three books but I'm really hoping for 4 or maybe even 5. Hey, a girl can dream sometimes :) Hope everyone is having a wonderful week! Happy reading!!

Grave Witch by Kalayna Price (thoughts)

Alex Craft has a unique talent as a "grave witch" which allows for her to speak to the dead. The shades that she raises are usually harmless and easy for Alex to control until the day when she is attacked by one of them. Before Alex knows it, she is caught up in a mystery filled with dark magic and even darker beings who care little if she comes out of all this alive or not.

Grave Witch was one of those urban fantasy reads that I didn't want to put down. It left me wanting more after I turned the last page, and I've already went out and bought a copy of the second book which should tell you how much I enjoyed this one. First of all, Alex has such a unique talent as she can talk to the dead otherwise known as shades. With her ability to communicate with them comes her "grave vision" which allows for her to see the world in a different perspective than the average human. I really liked that her talents came with a price and it took a lot out of her to use her skills especially when she was left basically blind for periods of time. It helped to make this book very unique from other urban fantasy reads that are out there. The mystery that Alex found herself caught up in was very dark and creepy. It kept me on my toes and turning pages long after I should have gone to sleep. My only complaint with the book was that I was never a huge fan of the romance that was developing between Alex and Detective Falin. I think that it was because Falin had so many secrets of his own that we were never really privy to. Maybe in the next book we will learn more about him. I'm really excited to see what happens next and how the story develops.

All in all, this was a really solid beginning to this urban fantasy series. It was dark, gritty and extremely compelling and I'm hooked on the world that Price has created. Highly recommended to fans of urban fantasy!!

Disclosure: I checked this book out at my local library and promptly bought a copy of the 2nd book after finishing this one.

Happy Birthday!

Four years ago you changed my world. I love you more than words can say. Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!!