Hex Appeal edited by P.N. Elrod

Fall under the intoxicating spell of their hex appeal…
In the magical world that lies hidden beneath our own, witches and conjurers play deadly games. They know just the right spell to kill a man with one kiss—or raise him back again. And they’re not afraid to exact sweet revenge on those who dare to cross them. But what if you’re the unlucky soul who falls victim to a conjurer’s curse? And if you had the power to cast a magic spell of your own, would you use it?
In this bewitching collection, nine of today’s hottest paranormal authors tell all-new, otherworldly tales.  Spellbinding stories featuring bigfoot, albino vampires, professional wizards, resurrected boyfriends and even a sex droid from the twenty- third century named Silicon Lily.  But as our conjurers are about to discover, it’s all fun and games until someone gets hexed.  And sometimes, even the best spun spells can lead to complete and utter mayhem.
Includes Stories From: Ilona Andrews, Jim Butcher, Rachel Caine, Carole Nelson Douglas, P. N. Elrod, Simon R. Green, Lori Handel, and Erica Hayes, Carrie Vaughn. From Goodreads.

I am reading a few anthologies at the moment in order to read some of the short stories that go with the series I am reading. This was much better than the last because I really liked the two stories I was going for.
Retribution Clause by  Ilona Andrews features new characters but it is still extremely good and I hope they will write more with these characters and develop their relationship.
Bigfoot on Campus by Jim Butcher is also really good though I didn't know it was the third in a series of 3 short stories. I will have to get hold of the other two somehow.
The rest were fine but no more.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Audio Book Challenge
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Romance Readers Reading Challenges: Yahtzee Challenge
Sequel Spring Reading Challenge (The Dresden Files #11,9 - 60 pages)
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (H-narwhal)
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon (published 2012)
Crazy Challenge Connection 2014 RaT #3

Crazy Challenge Connection 2014 RaT #3 Finished

Crazy Challenge Connection 2014 RaT #3 hosted by Crazy Challenge Connection on Goodreads.

I reached my goal in this RaT. I did finish the two books for March and I managed to finish two more books. They were not from the list but they will still count towards several challenges.

Books for this RaT:

1. Vinter-Eventyr by Karen Blixen (Finished)
2. Death du Jour by Kathy Reichs  (Finished)
3. Whispers Under Ground by Ben (Finished)
4. Hotter Than Hell edited by Kim Harrison  (Finished)
5. Hex Appeal edited by P.N. Elrod

Hotter Than Hell edited by Kim Harrison

Beyond the boundaries of the everyday is an unseen realm where anything you imagine is possible. Your demon lover is waiting for you in the shadows, ready to fulfill your secret wishes and most dangerous fantasies. Here passion has a face and form both titillating and terrifying--and love has teeth and claws. Get ready to give in to your craving for something exquisitely dark . . . and different.
Hotter Than Hell gathers together a baker's dozen of today's boldest and best authors of supernatural fiction and paranormal romance in a breathtaking anthology that blends black magic with red-hot desire. From the tantalizing tale of a conflicted psychic vampire driven by a powerful, savage love to the strange saga of a Greek warrior woman battling to save the world, these are stories outside the limits, as hypnotic as the full moon . . . and hotter than the sun. From Goodreads.




Unfortunately this was just okay. I read it for the Kim Harrison story but even though it is part of the Hollows series I didn't get the connection. I liked them but they were nothing special.

This book qualifies for:
I Love Library Books Reading Challenge 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Romance Readers Reading Challenges: 2014 Chubby Chunkster (491 pages)
Romance Readers Reading Challenges: Yahtzee Challenge
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (H-jellyfish)
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon (491 pages)
Crazy Challenge Connection 2014 RaT #3

Crazy Challenge Connection 2014 RaT #3 Update

Crazy Challenge Connection 2014 RaT #3 hosted by Crazy Challenge Connection on Goodreads.

Friday: didn't have time to read but during a walk and a car ride I got a few hours of audible in. Of course not from any of the books on the list.
Saturday: Didn't read as much as I had hoped, but more than yesterday.
Sunday: Finally got a bit more reading done.
Monday: Read a lot as I had to finish Death du Jour for a March challenge.
Tuesday:
Wednesday:

Friday:
# of pages read today: 117
# of pages read for week: 117
Books currently reading: Vinter-Eventyr by Karen Blixen + Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch
Total # of books finished: 0

Saturday:
# of pages read today: 140
# of pages read for week: 257
Books currently reading: Vinter-Eventyr by Karen Blixen + Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch
Total # of books finished: 0

Sunday:
# of pages read today: 280
# of pages read for week: 537
Book currently reading: Death du Jour by Kathy Reichs + Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch
Books finished today: Vinter-Eventyr by Karen Blixen
Total # of books finished: 1

Monday:
# of pages read today: 417
# of pages read for week: 954
Books finished today: Death du Jour by Kathy Reichs + Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch
Total # of books finished: 3

Tuesday:
# of pages read today: 323
# of pages read for week: 1277
Book currently reading: Hex Appeal and Hotter Than Hell
Total # of books finished: 3

Wednesday:
# of pages read today: 295
# of pages read for week: 1572
Books finished today: Hotter than Hell
Total # of books finished: 4

Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch

A WHOLE NEW REASON TO MIND THE GAP
It begins with a dead body at the far end of Baker Street tube station, all that remains of American exchange student James Gallagher—and the victim’s wealthy, politically powerful family is understandably eager to get to the bottom of the gruesome murder. The trouble is, the bottom—if it exists at all—is deeper and more unnatural than anyone suspects . . . except, that is, for London constable and sorcerer’s apprentice Peter Grant. With Inspector Nightingale, the last registered wizard in England, tied up in the hunt for the rogue magician known as “the Faceless Man,” it’s up to Peter to plumb the haunted depths of the oldest, largest, and—as of now—deadliest subway system in the world.
At least he won’t be alone. No, the FBI has sent over a crack agent to help. She’s young, ambitious, beautiful . . . and a born-again Christian apt to view any magic as the work of the devil. Oh yeah—that’s going to go well. From Goodreads.

I am enjoying listening to this series. Peter Grant isn't doing things quite like they should be done or as his superiors want but he gets there in the end. I like that Leslie is back and playing a bigger part again.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Audio Book Challenge
2014 Literary Exploration Reading Challenge (fantasy)
2014 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
The Challenge Factory Spell It Out - Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (P)
Crazy Challenge Connection Chinese New Year Challenge (#3)
Sequel Spring Reading Challenge
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (A-hawk)
Crazy Challenge Connection Monopoly
Crazy Challenge Connection 2014 RaT #3

Death du Jour by Kathy Reichs

Assaulted by the bitter cold of a Montreal winter, the American-born Dr. Temperance Breman, Forensic Anthropologist for the Province of Quebec, digs for a corpse where Sister Elisabeth Nicolet, dead over a century and now a candidate for sainthood, should lie in her grave. A strange, small coffin, buried in the recesses of a decaying church, holds the first clue to the cloistered nun's fate. The puzzle surrounding Sister Elisabeth's life and death provides a welcome contrast to discoveries at a burning chalet, where scorched and twisted bodies await Tempe's professional expertise. Who were these people? What brought them to this gruesome fate? Homicide Detective Andrew Ryan, with whom Tempe has a combustive history, joins her in the arson investigation. From the fire scene they are drawn into the worlds of an enigmatic and controversial professor, a mysterious commune, and a primate colony on a Carolina island. From Goodreads.



I keep having to tell myself that the TV-series Bones is only loosely based on this book series. The Dr. Temperance Brennan is a very different woman than on TV. She is an ex-alcoholic, mother and quite emotional. I still enjoyed the book and I am definitely going to continue reading this series.

This book qualifies for:
I Love Library Books Reading Challenge 2014
2014 Literary Exploration Reading Challenge (mystery)
2014 Full House Reading Challenge (crime)
Eclectic Reader Challenge 2014
CCC A-Z Authors 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Crazy Challenge Connection Chinese New Year Challenge (#2)
Crazy Challenge Connection - Dr. Seuss
Sequel Spring Reading Challenge
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Setting Alphabet Reading Challenge
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (K-kestrel)
Crazy Challenge Connection Monopoly
Crazy Challenge Connection Scrabble, anyone?
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Book Buffs’ Battleship
Crazy Challenge Connection 2014 RaT #3

Vinter-Eventyr by Karen Blixen

In Isak Dinesen's universe, the magical enchantment of the fairy tale and the moral resonance of myth coexist with an unflinching grasp of the most obscure human strengths and weaknesses. A despairing author abandons his wife, but in the course of a long night's wandering, he learns love's true value and returns to her, only to find her a different woman than the one he left. A landowner, seeking to prove a principle, inadvertently exposes the ferocity of mother love. A wealthy young traveler melts the hauteur of a lovely woman by masquerading as her aged and loyal servant.
Shimmering and haunting, Dinesen's Winter's Tales transport us, through their author's deft guidance of our desire to imagine, to the mysterious place where all stories are born. From Goodreads.

Not a book for me. I found most of the stories rather depressing. I have not read much by Karen Blixen and if this was the only book I would not read any more but I enjoyed Out of Africa so I won't completely dismiss her.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Quick fix Challenge (259 pages)
I Love Library Books Reading Challenge 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Crazy Challenge Connection - Dr. Seuss
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (K-hawk)
Crazy Challenge Connection Scrabble, anyone?
Crazy Challenge Connection 2014 RaT #3

Crazy Challenge Connection 2014 RaT #3

Crazy Challenge Connection 2014 RaT #3 hosted by Crazy Challenge Connection on Goodreads.

Yep, it's that time again -- time for another CCC Read-a-Thon :) Our next RaT will begin at 12:01am on Friday, March 28, and end at midnight on Wednesday, April 2, a total of six days. (Use your local time for start/end times.) We're hoping that this will help you finish your March reading lists/challenges and get a head start on next month's reading!

Again, our goals for this RaT will be to:
(1) complete any challenges ending in March that you haven't finished yet and start on April's challenges (when appropriate) and/or
(2) work on that pile of library books that's waiting for your attention and/or
(3) read anything you want to read, just because!

If none of these goals fit your reading plan, then create your own goal and let us know what you plan to accomplish :) As you read, be sure to check in here and let us know what you've read, how it fits your goals, what you think of the book, and anything else you want to tell us about it!

Who's in? What do you "need" to read? And what do you *want to read? 

I like these end of the month RaT from Crazy Challenge Connection. I have again chosen option 1: complete any challenges ending in March that you haven't finished yet and start on April's challenges (when appropriate). My goal is to finish the 2 books for March and hopefully at least 1 book for April.

Need to finish in March for CCC - 2014 Dr. Seuss:

1. Vinter-Eventyr by Karen Blixen ( I have started)
2. Death du Jour by Kathy Reichs (This was also on the last RaT list but now I need to read it)

The books I would like to read for April:

1. Reckless by Cornelia Funke for Jumble Your Genres.
2. Alien Stars by C.J. Cherryh for Keyword and Motif.
3. Night Broken by Patricia Briggs just because I want to.