They might be giants

Now that's just mean. 

I like the irony of the 'Horror' section being somewhat close to the 'Bibles' and 'Christian Fiction', though. :p

Review: The Art of Seducing a Naked Werewolf (Naked Werewolf #2) by Molly Harper

The Art of Seducing a Naked Werewolf (Naked Werewolf #2)

by Molly Harper

Baring It All

Generations of werewolves have been secretly residing in a secluded valley a stone’s throw from Grundy, Alaska. So when a snooping Outsider comes to Grundy to investigate rumors of lycanthropic shenanigans in the area, the valley’s pack alpha, Maggie Graham, resolves to chase him away, even if doing so takes a quick bite on the butt. What a pity that researcher Nick Thatcher turns out to be so drool-worthy, and that his kisses make Maggie want to sit up and beg. Maggie just can’t seem to convince Nick to leave . . . and even worse, she can’t convince herself to stay away from him. Cross-species dating is problem enough for a harried alpha female, but on top of that, a rival group of werewolves is trying to move into the valley. With interpack war threatening, Maggie can’t afford to be distracted. Combining romance and a career can be tough for anyone; for a werewolf in love with a human, it may be disastrous. . . .

Genre: Adult

Publication Date: March 2011

Publisher: Pocket Books

Format: paperback, 336 pages 

Series: yes

Acquisition: bought

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Maggie Graham lives with her family in a very isolated and peculiar comunity in Alaska. What's so special about them? They are werewolves. 


She became the pack leader when her brother turned down the job. She's very good at it, being strong, fierce. She takes her duty as Alpha (pack leader) very seriously and always makes sure everyone is OK and everything is running smoothly. Her relationship with her family and friends is one of trust, animosity and closeness. She's never been a "girly" kind of girl and usually makes fun of her mother and sister-in-law for trying to tame her. Maggie is being pressured into marrying a were to try and keep the genes of her family going, but all of her suitors are really not worth it. They are either too weak or just want to become alpha and take over her. None of them like her for real. 


Everything changes when Dr. Nick, PhDs (yup, he has two), a very hot foklore professor, comes to town convinced that werewolves exist and he will be the one to prove it to the world.

Maggie gets imediately attracted to him, but when she finds out who he is, she tries to make sure everybody knows how much she automaticaly hates him. No matter how hard she tries, Maggie just keeps getting more and more into Nick until they have a truck accident and she realizes how dangerous it is to be around him, not for her safety, but because she can barely control her primal instincts when he's around..  

Even though Nick eventually finds out that they are real werewolves, he's willing to keep it to himselp so he can win Maggie over, now that he's fallen in love with her. But, since Nick's only human, she needs to think about the pack and how much they need to find other werewolves to mate, otherwise the pack will become smaller and smaller and eventually die out. Of course, she could just have a little bit of fun with him, but unfortunatelly, werewolves mate for life, so she had to be very careful of who she'd choose to have babies with, since Nick wouldn't be able to make her bear werechildren.

Decided to get over Nick, Maggie starts going out with Clay, a werewolf from another pack, who came to town with his sister Alice and her two young children to take care of their grandmother Billie, who's got dementia. Maggie had blamed herself for the accident on the old truck, but as she has her office burned down and was then attacked by another werewolf on the mountains (only to be saved by Nick), she realizes that someone has been trying very hard to either to kill or frighten her. 

The book ends with a (not very) surprising revelation about who's behind those attacks, and Clay and Alice's true identities. And, of course, Maggie finally admits she can't live without Nick and agrees to marry him in the most traditional way, despite all her previous efforts against it.

The book was a very light, since the author writes in a easy and captivating way. You imediately feel sympathy for the main character, Maggie, who's funny and unconventional. The way the author describes the community gives you such a homey feeling that makes you wish it were real and that you could meet them. Also, the way Maggie describes to feel when she's in wolf form makes it sound SO fun and liberating! The whole book is filled with great quotes, that surprise you with how clever and fun they are. Nick was so cute! *-* I wanted a viking look-alike like him for myself. ;) Samson, Maggie's cousin sounded really great, too!

This book is a sequel of "How to flirt with a naked werewolf", which I loved! (Mo and Cooper made for such a nice story) and hopefully there'll be a third one, because Molly's writing and imaginative storytelling sure makes us wanting more!

Reviewed by:

Amebugi and Kah_cherub

Early Review: Things Your Dog Doesn't Want You to Know by Jeff Johnson, Hy Conrad

Things Your Dog Doesn't Want You to Know
by Jeff Johnson, Hy Conrad


Expected publication date: April 1, 2012 by Sourcebooks

Why do dogs always dash to a rug when they have to throw up? Why do they eat furniture when endless chew toys are nearby? And why are they always absolutely starving? Get the inside scoop on the other half of the conversation in this lively, clever gift book filled with unforgettable canines who will tell you the truth about dogs—every last dirty, hairy bit of it. Peppered with charmingly devious photos and "my dog does that too!" stories that any dog-lover will recognize, Things Your Dog Doesn't Want You to Know is a must-have for anyone who has a soft spot for a pooch. It's a verbal and visual delight that is laugh-out-loud funny.

Genre: Fiction, Humor

Publication Date: April 1st 2012

Publisher: Sourcebooks

Format: eARC, 240 pages 

Series: no

Source: Netgalley

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My Review

When I first saw this book available for review on Netgalley, I just knew I had to read it. I knew it would be charming and fun, but it turned out to be so much better than I expected! 

"Things Your Dog Doesn't Want You to Know: Eleven Courageous Canines Tell All" is a very short, very cute book. In it, we're first introduced to our lovely canine characters, all of different breeds, ages, behaviors, families and opinions. (and, oh, boy, do they have opinions! LOL). Then we get to read their stories. Their narratives are hilarious! You can actually picture your dog thinking like that. 

I, for once, know I'll never look at mine the same way again. They tell us about how they hate their names, how they disagree with humans about parenting, about how they are the ones who run the household, about how confused they are about why they can't eat those awful shoes or drink from the toilet, and about how much they love their human friends... it's very heart-warming. 

The authors were able to really capture the goodness and innocence of dogs. You can't be mad at them when you see the special way they see the world and their own actions. All they want to do is please their owners... but sometimes their naive actions don't get the exact outcome they expected. And they can't wrap their heads around it. Just like us. LOL.

One of my favorite quotes:

"Did I turn up my nose and say "No thanks, I just ate. Why don't I save this for tomorroy?" No, that would have been rude. And dogs aren't rude. Cats are."

Dog lovers will go crazy with this book!!

You know this book is going to be great just looking at the authors. Hy Conrad writes for television (he's one of the original writers for Monk!).Currently he is a writer and consulting producer on the TV show "White Collar." Jeff Johnson works in advertising and wrote THE HOURGLASS SOLUTION: A BOOMER'S GUIDE TO THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.

So, if you love dogs and enjoy humor, you'll love Things Your Dog Doesn't Want You to Know. I did. :D

* I received an eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Manga Rec #11: Black Bird, Vol. 1 by Kanoko Sakurakouji

Black Bird, Vol. 1 
(Black Bird #1)
by Kanoko Sakurakouji

Published August 4th 2009 by VIZ Media LLC

High school is hard enough, even under the best of circumstances. Misao Harada would love a normal high school life, but she has been burdened with the sight since childhood—a gift that allows her to see a world of myth and magic that surrounds ours. Lonely and somewhat mournful, Misao finds her world turned upside down when she reconnects with her childhood friend and first love Kyo and finds out that he is the head of a demon clan. As luck would have it, Misao is the bride of prophecy whose blood gives power to the demon who claims her. While other demon clans target her intending to consume her power, Kyo gives her the choice to become his bride and enjoy his protection. The tension between the two characters as they stave off supernatural forces is intriguing, and readers will no doubt long for Misao to become Kyo's bride. Sakurakoji's art is very romantic and the characters are almost painfully beautiful; fans will have no difficulty falling for Kyo's good looks and charm.

Genre: Manga, Supernatural Romance

Publication Date: August 1st 2009

Publisher: Viz Media LLC

Format: printed book, 194 pages 

Series: yes

Source: bought

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My Review

Misao Harada can see things that others can't. Demons and other supernatural beings, but she does her best to ignore them. She just wants to have a normal high school life and maybe get a boyfriend. 

But one day one of those beings attack her, and Kyo, her childhood friend reappears and saves her. He heals her wounds with his tongue and explains to her that he is a Tengu (a sort of demon crow samurai, our 'Black Bird'), and that she is 'The Senka' (the bride of prophecy), and her blood will give power to the demon clan who claims her.

But most demons want to eat her in order to absorb her power. Now Misao is just trying to stay alive... and decide if she likes it when Kyo licks her wounds. It goes like this: Every 100 years, a human is born with blood powerful enough to prolong a Youkai's (demon) life and it's meat can offer immortality to whatever clan owns him/her. If that human is married within the clan, he/she will bring prosperity to it. 

Black Bird is a very sensual manga, but it takes a LOT of time for something to actually happen. The author is great at building tension and making the characters work around it.

There are many hilarious moments, especially with Misao, who blushes very easily and, so, is always teased. 

There are really nice battle scenes, too. But the most interesting thing about the manga is the japanese folklore. We see all kinds of youkai such as the Kitsune (fox spirit), snake demons and other kinds of  'nightmare creatures'.  Misao can be a bit of a pain, but the story is very addictive. :)

If you like supernatural manga with good art, romance, drama and a great story, go for it.

Undead and Unfinished by MaryJanice Davidson - Review

Undead and Unfinished
(Undead #9)
by MaryJanice Davidson

Vampire Queen Betsy Taylor returns in the ninth novel in the New York Times bestselling series.

Vampire Queen Betsy Taylor is having a tough time getting through the Book of the Dead-until the Devil strikes a bargain. She offers Betsy a chance to finish the cursed (literally!) thing, and finally discover all its mysteries. There's just one catch...

Betsy and her half-sister Laura have to go to Hell long enough for Laura to embrace her dark heritage (after a rebellious youth of charity work) and finally make nice with her mother, aka Lucifer. That means interacting with their family's past. In doing so, they're impacting the future in ways they never anticipated. Of course that's what Mother wanted all along. Damn her.

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My Review:

I have been a big, big, BIG fan of Miss MaryJanice Davidson for years now, but my first thought when I started reading this volume was: "What was she on and where can I get some?".

Truthfully, this book was full of craziness. Not that any of the previous ones were what you'd call 'normal' (one of the reasons I love her writing so much), but this one was especially odd. LOL.

Other reviewers may have called it bad or simply garbage, screaming to anyone who would listen that they had given up on the author because of this volume... but I ended up liking it. All insanity and daughter of the Devil plus Vampire Queen time-travelling aside. No, wait, that was actually very interesting. LOL

Also, it was so very cute and romantic to see how Betsy acted with Sinclair in his past, to see how some unexplained things (involving Nostro, Tina's past, and the creepy Book of the Dead) suddenly became so obvious and clear.

But what absolutely freaked me out was the visit to the future. Really. I don't know what I can say without spoilers, but the latest book in the series is already out, so maybe... no. I won't tell. My only words for it are: THAT WAS FREAKING DEMENTED!

This book series started as light, humorous, paranormal chic lit, but it's evolving into something else entirely. I'm not sure I like where it's going, but I won't abandon the characters I love so much after all those volumes.

Oh, and the title tells it all. UNFINISHED. It makes you want to run and get the next volume ASAP. Or just drop the series entirely. Depends on who's reading.