Little Women

"Dear little bird! See Jo, how tame it is. I like peeps better than the gulls: they are not so wild and handsome, but they seem happy, confiding little things. I used to call them my birds last summer, and Mother said they reminded her of me – busy, quaker-coloured creatures, always near the shore, and always chirping that contented little song of theirs. You are the gull, Jo, strong and wild, fond of the storm and the wind, flying far out to sea, and happy all alone. Meg is the turtledove, and Amy is like the lark she writes about, trying to get up among the clouds, but always dropping down into it’s nest again".

With these whimsical comparisons, the shy Beth captured the individual essences of each and every March sister.

Little Women, set at the turn of the Civil War; explored the lives, loves, quirks, joys, disappointments, shadows and triumphs of the March family. Uncomplicated fare that continues to enchant it’s readers even today.

For me, this classic tale has always been about Josephine (Jo) March.

Right from Page 1 onwards till the ambiguous end, I remain a member of the *Jo Fan Club*. She was blunt, honest and a no-frills-raggedy-cat to boot. At a time when social graces were the order of the day, Jo clomped through her genteel surroundings with all the grace of the proverbial bull in a china shop. She loved her family fiercely and no sacrifice was too great or too small where it was concerned. She pursued her writing career with all the highs-and-lows that plague fledgling authors.

When I was younger, I had read only the first section. So when I heard that Jo had turned down the loyal and cheeky Laurie, I was a tad disappointed. Now, as the years have passed and I have read both sections in their entirety, I am content with this decision. Laurie's lovable, carefree boy of Part 1 dissolved into a sulky, wilful young man in Part 2. And Prof.Bhaer (for all his poverty, seniority, shabbiness of appearance and at times, regressive outlook) was a true hero. As Jo aptly puts it, “ Mother would admire him for his warm heart, Father his wise head. I admire both, and feel rich in my new friend, Friedrich Bhaer.” Once more, our mighty heroine makes the right choice and gives us further cause to bolster her position on her pedestal.

Every female mind with literary leanings and a tomboyish demeanour will associate with Jo. We see our failings mirrored in her. We see a glimpse of our backbones in her strident ravings. We wish to write the next Great Novel. We claim to not fall prey to the failings of romance and yet, are pleasantly surprised and befuddled when that ‘one great love’ breaks all our misconceptions. Loving the home-nest, aching to fly from it and fiercely protecting it’s thistlelike comforts from condescending outsiders....we all, at some time, totally and absolutely “GET JO”.

At the end of the day, the tale of the March sisters is a cozy read with a hint of defiance. The holiday season is the perfect time to dig out this little gem, sink into a cushy sofa and lose yourself in a world that was simplistic and yet light-years ahead with it’s stab at realism.

DESTINED (House of Night, #9)

AWAKENED ended on an “yet-another-circle-of-hell-breaks-loose” note when nasty Neferet won the allegiance of the dreaded White Bull. The White Bull gifted her with a vessel (an instrument of destruction that would obey her every command). To earn this questionable gift, Neferet offered up Zoey’s unsuspecting mother as a sacrifice to the White Bull.

Unbeknownst to our arch villainess, the Goddess Nyx has returned Heath to the living world as the hidden soul inside the above mentioned killing-machine. Heath however, has no recollection of his past-life.

In DESTINED, Neferet under the guise of reformation, returns to the Tulsa House of Night with her 'gift'. The gift takes the form of a young, good-looking bodyguard by the name Aurox.

Besides battling constant evil, Zoey Redbird has a lot of necessary angst to deal with. She wants to support the newly transformed Rephaim’s wish to study in the school. This makes it tedious considering Rephaim’s past as a Raven Mocker and the constant resistance he faces from Sword Master Dragon Lankford who lost his beloved mate at the hands of Rephaim (back when he was a mucho-nasty bird-man). Zoey also has to make sense of her conflicting emotions around Aurox. Why does she feel a sense of attachment to a boy who slowly but surely transforms into a massive violent bull in the midst of a fight?

And then there is the driving need to find out who murdered her mother.
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The House of Night series has always been a hit-and-miss affair. Sometimes you want to gnaw your arm off at the mind-numbing plotlines and juvenile portrayals of supposed world-savers. At other times, it exhibits flashes of charm and reels you right in.

DESTINED falls under the latter category.

The things I liked about this instalment:

~ Admirable Female Role-Models : I love strong female influences. Three characters appealed to my sensibilities in this book:
a) Zoey’s Grandmother : Grandma Redbird has always been a warm, wise, completely sorted Cherokee elder. In DESTINED, she deals with the death of her (albeit estranged) daughter and has a spine of steel as she is willing to do all that is necessary to discover the murderer. Her loyalty and love towards Zoey and the nerd-herd is as always a cup of hot cocoa before a roaring fire.
b) Prof. Lenobia : Horse-Mistress par excellence, Lenobia always came across as a dignified teacher who could be completely relied on by the students and faculty alike. Her emotions were put on the back-burner and only surfaced when she was around her beloved horses. But now, with the arrival of human help and fellow horse-lover, Travis Foster...Lenobia as a woman in denial emerges.
c) Thanatos : As the new sociology teacher for a select group, Vampyre Thanatos is a cool customer. Zoey very aptly compares her to The Lord of The Rings’s Elf Queen, Galadriel. Before you can say Frodo, she can transform from an astute professor to an eye-flashing, hair-flying pillar of rumbling anger. She plays a pivotal and supportive role in Destined.

~ The Rephaim and Kalona track : Kalona is a multi-faceted character. When he’s bad, he’s gruesome. You hate him with a fearful vengeance. When he’s atoning for his sins, or atleast being heartsick over losing the son that he loved, he makes you want to give him the now-famous Voldemort-Draco hug. He has matured into a delightfully grey individual who keeps you perpetually on your toes. Rephaim, now human-by day/ raven-by-night, has always been one of the more endearing male leads in the House of Night series. His attempts to fit in, his futile efforts to atone for his sins where Dragon Lankford is concerned and his need to justify his big, bad, daddy-with-wings makes him a poor-little-powerful guy.

~ Growth of certain characters : Keep your eyes peeled for Shaunee and Erik. Their plot-lines are fleshed out with the scope for future greatness and that makes these two characters much more likeable and readable. Dragon Lankford has always been a respectful figure looming in the background and finally, the man receives the print-space he deserves.

~ Rituals : As always, the casting of the circles has been one of my favourite bits. It is elemental and earthy and appeals to my nature-loving soul. Here, it is coupled with palpable drama which winds up the story with a tantalising *KA-BOOM* feeling.

My one small grouse:

The banter amongst the nerd-herd has grown weary. The wannabe teen-lingo and the over use of pop culture references grows old real fast. As always, Aphrodite is the saving grace with her saucy tongue and blunt observations.

At the end of the day, the House of Night series plods along on it’s Good v/s Evil journey. Promise of ensuing chaos and an appealing cliff-hanger makes DESTINED one of the better offerings of the mother-daughter duo.

See also : Marked (House of Night, #1)
See also : Betrayed (House of Night, #2)
See also : Chosen (House of Night, #3)
See also : Untamed (House of Night, #4)
See also : Hunted (House of Night, #5)
See also : Tempted (House of Night, #6)
See also : Burned (House of Night, #7)

See also : Awakened (House of Night, #8)

Moon Called (The Mercedes Thompson Series, #1)

I start 2012 with a book that does absolute justice to all the genres/ GoodReads shelves that I stacked it in.

a) Urban Fantasy – CHECK
b) Action – (*wiping blood off cut lip*) CHECK
c) Mystery – (*calming the goosebumps*) CHECK
d) Adventure – (*recovering from adrenaline rush*) CHECK
e) Interesting romantic interests – (*will-they, won’t they quandary*) CHECK
f) Strong female heroine worth emulating – (*pressing pen into the paper till a tear appears*) CHECK


Moon Called is the first in a truly triumphant series centered around a spunky heroine called Mercedes (Mercy)Thompson. Mercy is a mechanic in the Tri-Cities area of Washington state. She restores VWs and spends her spare time sharpening her karate skills. But more importantly, Mercy is a WALKER (a Native-American shapeshifter not influenced by the moon) who can turn into a coyote at will. Our heroine resides in a world teeming with Gray Lords, fae, vampires and the most fascinating of them all, werewolves. Raised by the Marrok (the alpha werewolf of all the North American werewolves), Mercy has seen, experienced and lived through a series of improbable events. Nothing really surprises her anymore. Not the fact that her next door neighbour is Adam Hauptman, the alpha of the Tri-Cities Werewolf pack, nor the fact that the current VW bus she is working on belongs to a friendly vampire and definitely not the added surprise that her newest recruit in the garage is a runaway teenage werewolf.

But when a rogue werewolf meets a grizzly end at Mercy’s hands (or her coyote paws, to be precise), Mercy soon learns that there is a dangerous conspiracy lurking in the dark. All the people who Mercy holds dear are in danger of an unseen enemy. And it’s up to our .444 Marlin toting heroine to deal with things that go bump in the night.

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First up, Buffy Summers would be bursting with pride. If anyone can tote the mantle of awesomeness around with the ease that Buffy did.....it’s Mercedes Thompson. Kudos to the author, Patricia Briggs for creating a heroine who is dignified mess of an unresolved past, a fraught-with-danger present and an uncertain future. Mercy is mouthy and sensible in equal measures. She fights like a fiend and deliberates like an army veteran. In short, she unashamedly kicks b***.

I also enjoyed the fact that the author actually gave us a well-researched, whole-hearted fantasy tale. Moon Called isn’t a romantic tryst thinly disguised as a supernatural read. It’s a full-fledged paranormal fiesta with romance as just one of the many poles holding it upright.

2011 ended with a firm resolution on my part to fill the New Year with erudite verse. I wanted to re-explore the classics, soak in some eloquent language and generally don the smarty-pants party-hat.
But I have to say true to my nature too. While I love me some Elizabeth Bennet, I equally adore an action-heroine. And when said action figure comes equipped with a cookie-dough heart, a wise disposition and the ability to keep a cool head when the world goes mad.....you bet your last fancy britches, that I will devour the book with glee.

The Son of Neptune (Heroes of Olympus, #2)

“When Rome fell, a lot of the legions just disappeared. We went underground, acting on secret orders from Jupiter himself: stay alive, recruit demigods and their children, keep Rome going. We’ve been doing that ever since, moving around to wherever Roman influence was the strongest. The last few centuries we have been in America.”

Sounds familiar? It does to Percy Jackson too. Perseus (Percy) Jackson (superstar demigod /self-effacing hero /North America’s confident answer to Harry Potter) has lost his mind. No, not the *I-see-conspiracy-theories-in-my-peripheral-vision-lost-his-mind*. Percy has been hit by a bout of amnesia, courtesy a certain manipulative Goddess. He doesn’t remember that he was a Greek demigod ,a son of Poseidon and a resourceful hero in the epic battle that saved the world from the wrath of Kronos. The only fact that he does recall is that he had a girlfriend called Annabeth (kudos to teenage boys for remembering the best bits).

Guided by the legendary Roman she-wolf Lupa, battling a pair of Gorgons who refuse to disintegrate/die, lugging a Goddess in road-kill disguise; Percy Jackson soon finds himself in Camp Jupiter, the roman equivalent of Camp Half-Blood.

Soon our favourite hero finds himself slap-bang in the middle of yet another doomed-to-despair Quest. Accompanying him are his two new friends and Camp Jupiter underdogs : Hazel Levesque and Frank Zhang.
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Things that enchanted my reader’s palate like Ambrosia:

# 1: THE RETURN OF OL’SEAWEED BRAIN : When the battle for Olympus ended with Annabeth and Percy sharing an underwater kiss, I was ready to bid adieu to the likeable boy wonder. Any attempt to stretch the taffy by Rick Riordan would pale in comparison to the immensely popular 7-Book series. Atleast that’s what I, with my limited vision assumed. But Riordan is not a brilliant storyteller for nothing. He plunges Percy Jackson into a whole new can of worms (or basilisks, which seems more appropriate) and has you whooping like a herd of Party-Ponies. Percy’s trademark wit, droll acceptance of dastardly situations, unerring loyalty to friends (old and new) and the ability to fight like a fiend is displayed to full effect. The author has also done the wise job of adding a ring of maturity to Percy’s character. His new-found confidence adds a much-needed foil to the fledgling charms of Hazel and Frank.

# 2: HAZEL LEVESQUE : Such a brave and endearing heroine. She joins Hermione Granger and Annabeth Chase in the ranks of noteworthy YA Lit. role-models for young girls. Burdened by a dark past, unsure of a long future, adorably embarrassed around the boy she likes and a bad-a** warrior to round it up nicely, Hazel is a treat to read.

# 3: FRANK ZHANG. AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, FRANK ZHANG’S GRANDMOTHER: I cannot rave enough about the massive appeal of Frank Zhang without veering into *SPOILER* territory. Suffice to say, that the baby-faced, muscle-bound demigod keeps you hooked through his emotional trauma and growth. As for Granny Zhang....I was loving and hating her in equal measures. All that aristocratic arrogance duelling with a caring heart makes for one intimidating matriarch.

# 4: RICK RIORDAN’S SIGNATURE QUIRKS :
a) Mars (the Roman name for Ares) declaring the Quest was one of my favourite bits. When the God of War whips out a scroll and a ballpoint pen and scribbles a brusque, “Go to Alaska. Find Thanatos and free him. Come back by Sundown on June Twenty-fourth or die” with nary a hint of drama and the absolute absence of riddled prophecies....you got to love the big guy.
b) I had the biggest smile on my face when I read that Amazon.com is being run by.....you guessed it.....the condescending female warriors, *THE AMAZONS*. Their Queen sits on a throne made from a thousand copies of a book called “The Five Habits of Highly Aggressive Women”.(Seriously how can anyone not cackle over that?!?). It was borderline cheesy but vintage Riordan.
c) Thanatos (the God of Death) has a pure black iPad. As he whips it out, Frank Zhang hopes fervently, “ Please don’t let there be an App for reaping souls”. Again, adorable.

# 5: MOTHER EARTH UNPLUGGED : For nature lovers like me, who imagined Mother Earth to be a bosomy, *brimming-with-the-warmth-of-home -and-hearth* kind of genial lady....Gaia was an unexpected villain. A Goddess who invokes Giants, resurrects dead monsters, murmurs nasty thoughts into vulnerable minds, makes snarky promises to kill our favourite demigods and rears unearthly armies to overtake the world is NOT someone who would inspire the *Hug-A-Tree* emotion in you. And the best bit is that all these tender acts are being committed while the lady is still trapped underground. What will happen when she’s unleashed in all her grimy glory?--->*Delicious Shiver-Down-The-Spine Time*

# 6 : ACTION SEQUENCES : Here’s where you bring in all your cherished Die-Hard inspired adrenaline. The book is loaded with rip-roaring battle sequences. It gets the blood flowing and the inner warrior roars with whole-hearted approval.

# 7: SUPPORTING CHARACTERS :
a) Slimy, power-hungry Octavian who sees prophecies in the innards of stuffed toys.
b) Royal *you-lie-and-my-dogs-will-dismember-you* Reyna.
c) Ella, the twitchy red-feathered harpy with the quirk of spouting random bursts of dead-useful (and pointless) information.
d) Nico Di Angelo in a short (but hopefully epic) reappearance.
e) Iris, the Goddess of The Rainbow (and now the proprietor of R.O.F.L. –Rainbow Organic Foods and Lifestyle). Don't ask.
f) Terminus, the rule abiding God of Boundaries. Never has a pillar of stone been so pedantic. And so useful.

I cannot elaborate on any without spilling out the plot. All I can do is assure you that it’s a stellar casting.

# 8: ARION: Okay, which girl/woman does not want a celestial Horse that can break the sound barrier, run on water and up slippery slopes, cuss like a seasoned sailor and mutter grumpily “I will trample you to bits, silly baby man!”. I love this horse. I want this horse. Case closed.

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Things that tasted like Iris’ gluten-free, sugar-free cupcake simulations (translation: things that left a bitter taste in my mouth)
*..........BLANK.........*

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So, in conclusion, did I like HEROES OF OLYMPUS : THE SON OF NEPTUNE?
You bet your imperial gold/ celestial bronze/ stygian iron I DID!

I LOVED IT! (And I’m not one to use CAPSLOCK carelessly)

The book is an absolute treat. The return of old favourites stitched with the chutzpah of new arrivals worked like a charm. Yet again, Mythology and it's Gods left the hallowed portals and became cheekily shod with feet-of-clay. With a “it-could-go-anyway” cliffhanger, Rick Riordan has laid the groundwork for a delightful sequel.

ATHENA, make your MARK already!

The Lost Hero (Heroes of Olympus, #1)

"Seven Half-Bloods shall answer the call.
To storm or fire, the world must fall.
An oath to keep with a final breath.
And foes bear arms to the doors of death."

Percy Jackson’s nerve-racking adventures ended with this cheery prophecy. The resourceful demigod had just fought The Second Olympian War and emerged victorious. When his friend and now, new oracle, Rachel Dare made the aforementioned divination, Percy hoped that it wasn’t something that he would have to deal with in this lifetime. His best bet was that this phenomenon would occur a few centuries down the road.

But doom-and-despair laden prophecies have the uncanny ability of hitting below the belt.

The Lost Hero (Heroes of Olympus, Book #1) is the story of Jason Grace, a teenager who is suffering from memory-loss. Jason has no clue as to why he is on a school bus for delinquent kids. He apparently also has a girlfriend, Piper McLean and a cheeky best friend, Leo Valdez.

When the school bully suddenly transforms into an ‘Anemoi Thuellai’ (sincerely scary Storm Spirit) and the school coach transforms into a ‘Satyr’ (we all know what that is), Jason has an inkling that amnesia is just the tip of a deeply embedded iceberg.

Dodging...well, dodgy incidents...Jason, Piper and Leo soon find themselves at Camp Half-Good. And Lo! And obviously... Behold! It’s QUEST TIME! Hera, the Queen of The Gods is missing. Olympus has been closed down by Zeus and none of the Gods are making contact with the outside world. A deeper, darker and more sinister force than the Titans is at work. And if the world has a fighting chance against these new evil, Jason will have to set out and save Hera before the Winter Solstice. In the true tradition of panic-inducing deadlines, the Winter Solstice is just four days away.

And so, Jason (the hero-with-no-clue), Piper (the heroine doomed to betray her friends) and Leo (the smart-talking sidekick with a troubled past) set out on a suicidal mission. Along the way, they will deal with malfunctioning mechanical dragons, power-crazed Wind Gods, cannibalistic Cyclopes, disturbing dreams and the ever-present possibility of meeting an extremely sticky end.

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The first book in the new Heroes of Olympus Series lives up to the Rick Riordan hype. The tongue-in-cheek author is definitely NOT a flash-in-the-pan. Just when you thought that he couldn’t recreate the adrenaline of Percy Jackson’s adventures, he promptly churns up a new and endearing hero. Besides Jason, you actively root for Piper and Leo and get drawn into their respective mental conflicts.

At the end of the day, it’s the Gods and Riordan’s treatment of celestial souls that keeps you hooked. Without being blasphemous, the author perfectly captures their powers, their mood-swings, their quirks and their vulnerabilities.

In all, it’s a magnificent door-stopper of a book. Packed with memorable characters, delightful witticisms and non-stop action, this is yet another winner from the talented author,

The Vampire Stalker

Never again shall I be disheartened by a lack-lustre cover or the done-to-death cliché on the blurb that goes, “Sometimes Truth is Stranger than Fiction”. Had I done so, I would have missed out on a zippy and engaging vamp read.

The author had me hooked at her dedication page. She offers her story to “those of you who have ever fallen in love with a character in a book”. I immediately meandered into a happy daydream starring Mr.Darcy/ Sirius Black/ Aragorn/ Michael Moscovitz. Every once in a while, literature (lofty/ fluffy as the case may be) throws up a character that sucks you right in. You become emotionally invested in their achievements and despairs. You cheer raucously as they deliver crackling dialogue or a well-aimed left hook. You blush dreamily or snort indelicately over their “affaires de coeur”. And today, in the tradition of the best net fiends, you plague the innumerable fan sites and whip up alternate endings and gratifying fan fiction.

The Vampire Stalker is the story of one such fan, Amy. Amy, like a gazillion others, is an ardent follower of The Otherworld Series. The Otherworld Series is a popular bit of vamp-lit based in an alternate, slightly quainter Chicago. It’s a Chicago that is plagued by vampires and the most feared amongst them is Vigo. The only person who can keep Vigo’s murderous exploits in check is Alexander Banks (and Amy’s favourite character). Alexander Banks is an extraordinarily talented vampire hunter and the main character which has kept Amy hooked to the books. Calling herself 'MrsAlexanderBanks8021' on a fansite pretty much sums up Amy’s adulation.

But what happens when Amy is suddenly attacked in present-day Chicago by a blonde haired miscreant who is eerily familiar to a ruthless fictional vampire and just as quickly rescued by a vigilante who bears a striking resemblance to a certain fictional vampire hunter? How does Amy face the chilling fact that baby-faced, vile villain Vigo has crossed over to her Chicago, determined to wreck untold damage in her oblivious neighbourhood? More interestingly, how does shy Amy deal with the fact that her biggest literary crush is now a living breathing handsome young boy catching a quick nap in her spare room??


The book had potential for greatness. According to me, it could have easily joined the ranks of addictive, million-tween and teen-fans-ripping-their-hair-out-in-feverish-enchantment vamp-lit. Amy was a sharp cookie with a soft centre. The main hero is NOT a vampire (thank the Gods!). He comes with enough baggage and just the right amount of oomph. The vampire in the story is not out for redemption, riddled with shades of grey. He is a dark character who is staying true to his evil side.

My biggest grouse was that there was a blink-and-you-miss-it explanation as to how the literary characters wandered out of the pages of a book. It was an interesting premise which could have been fledged out to greater effect. Moreover, all problems appear to be resolved with nary a struggle. There wasn’t much conflict....soul-searching......undead b**-kicking.....pangs of unrequited love....nothing. The absence of all these tried-and-tested ploys makes you feel that The Vampire Stalker was a cake that was pulled out of the oven much before it’s allotted time.

As a stand-alone book, it’s readable. As a continuing series, it has LOADS of potential. It could be *the.next.big.thing*. I hope the author comes out with a sequel. I sincerely do. I would read it.With unbridled Glee.

In Dreams

Bright and likeable teenager, Katherine has been dreaming. Dreaming about a...dare I say it...perfectly dreamy young man. Said dreamy young man seems to be as enamored with Katherine as she is with him. What a perfectly splendid way to spend quality time in the Land of Z-zzzs!

And when Katherine is wide-awake, things are even better. Ice Hockey God and all around nice-guy, Cooper Donovan seems to be falling shyly in love with Katherine. And lucky ol’Kath isn’t exactly immune to the charms of Mr.Most-Sought-After-Campus-Hottie.

But what happens when Katherine discovers that her dream boy isn’t merely a figment of her imagination? What happens when our shell-shocked heroine is faced with the shocking fact that the boy who passionately haunts her dreams is in fact her best friend’s deceased brother?!?

In Dreams is a likeable book with a tasty premise.

Have you ever woken up from a dream, so heart-wrenchingly solid that you wanted to disconnect from reality and float on the cloud of your sub-conscious? I have had such moments and so instantly connected with that little bit at the start of the story.

One of my favourite characters was Taylor (Katherine’s best friend and dream boy’s sister). She was that rare blend of cheeky room-mate, compassionate voice-of-reason and supportive best friend. We definitely need more Taylors in our daily lives. Katherine was a comme ci, comme ça heroine for me. She appealed at the start of the book as a grounded teenager with the right attitude. But midway, I lost a bit of affection for her. I find it hard to sympathize with a girl who has this perfectly lovely boyfriend mooning over her in reality while she’s also enjoying being mooned over by another perfectly adorable (albeit dead) boyfriend in the land of her dreams. Cooper Donovan, I loved. *Sprinkles annoying mental glitter all over him*. The guy screams Hero material. I liked his lumbering charm. I admired his flashes of painful honesty when he wore his heart on his sleeve. I loved him for being just a tad insecure.

The story is a quick read based on a quirky idea. The author, I suspect, is a happy (in her own words :”bathed in sunshine”) soul and her optimism shines through in the thought processes of some of the characters. I like that in a book.

In the end, I’m not one for drama and gloopy mascara running down my face.Give me a book with smidgens of positivity and I’m set for a while.

Bloodlines (Bloodlines, #1)

Move over, fiery Dhampir : Rose Hathaway.

Say hello to Miss. Super-Sensible : Alchemist Sydney Sage.

The hugely popular Vampire Academy Series ended with Princess Vasilisa (Lissa) elevated to the position of Moroi Queen. This bitter-sweet event was brought about, to no little extent, due to the sudden discovery of Lissa’s half-sister : Jill Dragomir. While the vamp populace in general, are happy with their new and just ruler, there are a few violent factions who will do anything to usurp Queen Vasilisa. Ergo, Jill is in mortal danger. In a well-planned out move to keep her safe, Jill has been carted off to a private school at Palm Springs, California. Accompanying her are the controversial Guardian, Eddie Castile and the “puts-the-C-in-Controversy” Moroi Bad Boy, Adrian Ivashkov. AND, playing reluctant nanny/sister/advisor/ diplomat is our heroine, Sydney Sage.

I have a strong suspicion that this book and the forthcoming instalments in this series have been executed purely to appease all Adrian Ivashkov fans. Not that I’m complaining. I’m a full-on Ivashkov fangirl. After the raw deal meted out to him, courtesy the Rose-Dimitri love saga, Adrian fully deserves a series devoted to his romantic escapades (with a cheery ending).

But what happens when you pitch a vampire guy who nobody relies on against a human girl who everybody relies on?

*Sparks Fly*

Sydney Sage is a charismatic protagonist. Fans of Rose Hathaway’s fire-and-brimstone style may take a little while to appreciate Sydney’s meticulous and scientific approach to problems. But she’s just what the fanged-doctor prescribed. Dealing with a nasty colleague, holding her own in the school-politics, playing big sister to a troubled Jill, handling the onslaught of a social life, helping Eddie do his job or matching wits and quips with Adrian....Sydney comes across as a well-rounded heroine.

Add to that the simmering secrets, confusing mysteries and the subtle undertones that shift and vanish between the plot lines and you have a fairly readable spin-off.

Ivashkov fans will devour the book with glee. Fans of the author’s
writing won’t be disappointed either.

In conclusion, ignore the slightly go-nowhere pace of the first-half and enjoy the drama of the second and infinitely more exciting second-half.

(p.s. Is it my imagination or does the person portrayed as Sydney on the cover bear a startling resemblance to E!News' Guiuliana Rancic ?)

The Single Girl's To-Do List

Last week I read a book that sounded promising but turned out to be a damp squib which never seemed to end.

This week, I (with one eyebrow cocked disdainfully) picked up the dodgy sounding, loaded with smarmy self-help undertones The Single Girls To-Do List and.....ate a large slice of humble-pie as I breezed through this totally addictive, feel-good read.

It’s the story of make-up artist Rachel Lulu Summers. 28-year old Rachel has just been brutally ditched by her supposedly stable boyfriend of five years, Simon. While she can easily wallow in a pit of dire despair, her best friends Emelie and Matthew have a better (and slightly bizarre) plan.

Rachel has always been an obsessive list-maker. Her life revolves around them. So keeping this little obsession in mind, the high-on friendly and drunken fervour trio make *The Single Girls To-Do List*. Including some doable and mostly questionable tasks; the list is Rachel, Emilie and Matthew’s road trip on the highway of rip-roaring fun, bawdy humour and the thing that makes the world go nauseous : *LOVE*.

Seriously, this book was such a pleasant surprise. It was Four Weddings and a Funeral coupled with all those lovely, inappropriate , brimming with raucous laughter and drunken splurges Brit rom-coms that you wished would step out of the silver screen and just happen in real-life already!

The strength of these frivolous rom-coms lies in the support system that surrounds the heroine. I absolutely loved the gorgeous (and comfortable with it) Emelie and the great big splendidly gay Matthew. Call me optimistic, but I like it when a friend doesn’t disintegrate into a frenemy. Em and Matthew came across as supportive individuals who while burdened with bad decisions of their own, never once, not ever, ditched Rachel to her own devices.

You absolutely, most definitely need friends who, when you cut off your waist-length ponytail in a blind moment of panic and screech,

'I look like a boy. Oh God, I look like Justin Beiber.'

go, ever so supportively,

'He looks like a girl anyway' I loved that bit. I don’t know why. It just made me want to litter a bunch of mental smileys all over the page.

The love-interests are predictable and yet again, that’s a plus. The book is not a big suspenseful “who-WILL-she end up-with” drama. It’s a tale that’s been told a million times....a tale of a girl (clichéd as it is) who’s trying to find herself. And if along the way, you have a nice looking bloke thrown in to tie things up nicely, then, I , for one, have no complaints, whatsoever.

The language or the tone is not for those with delicate dispositions. It’s loud, littered with profanities and blotched up by many a drunken binge. And it works.

So pick up this book if you want a cute, quick, utterly girly, partly unladylike, marginally funny romantic read.

Saving Juliet

Saving Juliet is a book that is loaded with platitudes and wise homilies and never, not once...do you want to tell the author that she should mind her sanctimonious beeswax and get on with the plot already!

So kudos to Suzanne Selfors for getting it right yet again.

Seventeen year old Mimi Wallingford is last in the line of the legendary Wallingford actors. Thrust onto the stage from the age of three, Mimi’s life has been a whirl of grease paint, deadweight costumes, mouthy dialogues, unpalatable health food, pushy relatives and vindictive understudies. And now, when it’s time to play the role of the anguished Juliet from William Shakespeare’s celebrated tragic-romance, she just can’t take it anymore. Debilitating stage-fright, the hopeless wish to pursue a career as a doctor, constant pressure from a pushy mother and an unrequited attraction to the new Romeo (played by the flamboyant pop-sensation, Troy Summer) makes Mimi wish that she were anywhere but at the Wallingford theatre, Manhattan. Hell, even Verona would be a better bet.

But wishes spouted in despair have a sadistic habit of actually coming true; especially when you have an antique Shakespearean Charm handy. Suddenly Mimi is transported to the fictional land of Verona...the land of the feuding Montague and Capulet families...the land of Romeo and Juliet. Mimi is now smack-dab in the midst of a vile, hairline-plucked Lady Capulet; a codpiece thrusting Tybalt, a delectable, espresso-eyed Benvolio, a deeply depressed Romeo, a rebellious Juliet and the most shocking addition yet, a seriously pissed-off Troy Summer who’s convinced that he has been kidnapped by a group of kinky creeps.

Mimi can sense that the only way to return to present-day Manhattan would be to allow the Shakespearean saga to reach it’s inevitable end. But having actually met the spunky Juliet and the soft-hearted Romeo, Mimi can’t imagine leaving them to the suicidal ending written by our benevolent Bard. It’s time for Mimi to take the quill into her own hands.

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Reasons why this tale will find a place on my “Books-I-Love-Gollum-Style” shelf:

a) Cheeky cover. How can you NOT love the cover art? Bubblegum and Snazzy glares adorning a seemingly genteel olde worlde maiden. Me.Like.

b) Female Lead. A supposedly self-absorbed Society princess plonked head first into a land infested with giants rodents but not a single Starbucks. You would expect her to whinge, cringe and generally be an insufferable snob. But no, Mimi is an immensely grounded heroine. Whether she’s playing big-sister to Juliet or commiserating with Romeo or avoiding a red-faced Tybalt or falling for the slick charms of Benvolio or fighting her confusing feelings for Troy; she endears herself to the reader.

c) Characters. The author breathed realistic life and tongue-in-cheek humour into the characterisations.

I especially liked the way she described Juliet :“She wasn’t at all like Fernando’s Juliet – full-lipped and perfect. Nor was she like Hollywood’s Juliet – graceful and angelic. She looked real, the way a girl is supposed to look. A real girl, cute and full of energy, like she’d be more comfortable in soccer gear than in her long nightgown that dripped with lace and bows.”

Scarlet-haired Mercutio was a twee funny bloke. I snorted a bit over his two love songs:

‘Girl, come hither and We Shall Dither’

‘Girl, Come and Handle My Candle’

Ah, Mercutio....Mercutio....you slay me, man.

d) The author’s writing prowess : Everytime you experience a twinge of disappointment over glaring errors in the flow of the story, the author gives you a polite prod in the right direction and justifies her decisions.

e) Book to Movie : If ever a book should be made into an assured crowd-pulling Summer Blockbuster, it’s Saving Juliet. The book has it all: humour, parody, romance, intrigue, adventure and magic. I would go and watch it on the Big Screen. AND I would most definitely drag my cynical mates along too.

In conclusion, I (to be a tad juvenile) unashamedly *HEART* this cute book.