Review: Third Grave Dead Ahead by Darynda Jones

Third Grave Dead Ahead
Author: Darynda Jones
Release Date: January 31, 2012
Publisher: St. Martins Press
Charley Davidson Book #3
ISBN:   1250001544
ISBN13: 9781250001542
Genre: Urban Fantasy

Charley Davidson—grim reaper extraordinaire, private investigator . . . meh—is practicing her profession under the influence, caffeine and copious amounts of it, due to an extreme desire to induce insomnia. Every time she closes her eyes, Reyes Farrow, the part-human, part-supermodel son of Satan, is there. Only thing is, he’s a tad peeved. She did bind him for all eternity, so it’s hard blame him. But 13 days without a wink is bound to bring out the crazy in a girl. So, when a man hires her to find his wife, Charley accepts the job with one goal in mind: Put the man behind bars, and not the wet kind. She can sense the guilt waft off him and vows to find the woman’s body and prove he’s a murderer.

In the meantime, Reyes is back in prison and none too happy about it . . . so Charley thinks, until she is carjacked by the dark-haired rake, who swears the very man he went to prison for killing is not only alive, but close by. And he wants Charley to find him.

While a visit to her old friend Rocket sheds no light on Reyes’s situation, Charley finds out the man’s wife is still alive and time is running out. Finding her before she dies would be a miracle, but she has to try. Together with the help of a fashion-impaired receptionist named Cookie, Charley sets out to bring the bad guys to justice. She just hopes Reyes is not one of them. And that she’s not hallucinating from her self-induced bout with insomnia.

 I can not get enough of Charley Davidson and her crew. By the end of the book, I laughed, I cried, I laughed until I cried, and I can not think of one thing I don't like about this series. MY GOODNESS the emotions that Darynda is able to bring forth are fantastic. It has quickly become a must have on my book shelf.


Charley is beyond hilarious. She could be in the most dire situation and still make a smart ass comment about something. Charley and Reyes' chemistry has always been off the wall but we see an unflattering side of Reyes in book 3. They have so much to work through but I hope that they are able to come back together after the events that happen in THIRD GRAVE DEAD AHEAD. I absolutely enjoy every single character in this series.  Garrett has quickly climbed up the ladder on my faves list. He is a pain in the ass but I cant imagine him not being a part of Charley's life and their bickering helps keep me doubly entertained. We got a lot of information revealed to us and Charley had a rougher time then in previous installments this go round. By the end of the book she is feeling betrayed, depressed and all around pissed off at the male species.  I cant begin to guess what will come next for Charley but you can bet I will be the first in the pre-order line to find out. 

I cant imagine anyone not loving this series. If you have not started it yet I must say you are missing out on when of the best series out there.


I gave it 5/5 stars

Early Review: The Wood Queen by Karen Mahoney

The Wood Queen
Author: Karen Mahoney
Release Date: February 8, 2012
Publisher: Flux
The Iron Witch Book #2
ISBN:   0738726621
ISBN13: 9780738726625
Genre: Young Adult
Review Copy Source: Publisher

Donna Underwood is facing an alchemist tribunal for stealing the elixir of life when her ailing mother takes a turn for the worse.
Donna seeks an audience with Aliette, the Wood Queen, who offers a deal: if Donna can use her powers to open the door to Faerie and send the wood elves home, Aliette will free her mother from the elven curse that shattered her mind.
Along with friends Navin and the half-fey Xan, Donna struggles to unlock the secrets of her iron tattoos in time to save her mother's life. But she discovers that some secrets might be better left untold . . .

THE WOOD QUEEN starts up right where THE IRON WITCH left off. Donna is now on trial for for stealing the elixir of life. The Wood Queen comes to Donna with a request for help and dangles her mother and her worsened condition over her head to get her to help. And if that isn't enough, her Iron Tattoos are starting to act a bit weird. Donna learns a lot in book 2. She finds out quite a bit about her powers, learns about secret plots to use her in horrible ways, and secrets that have been hidden from her. Things she thought she knew were false and people she thought were on her side disappoint her.

Donna continues to be an interesting character. I love her iron tattoos and it was great to find out more about them and how they both saved her as well as hinder her now in some ways. I like that she doesn't meekly follow along when she knows she doesn't agree with things people are doing. Navin has had a hard time dealing with all that happened in book 1 to him and the secrets that were kept from him but he is still whole heartedly Donna's best friend and is there for her every step of the events in THE WOOD QUEEN. I really hope he continues to be in on the next adventure, I couldn't imagine him not being there. Xan, uggh I just cant figure him out. I really liked him and what he brought to THE IRON WITCH but so many things about him are up in the air. When you think you know everything about him something else pops up to make you go hmmm. The ending kinda left their relationship (Donna and Xan) up in the air and I'm hoping we finally get to know him in book 3 if he is still involved. There were a few new characters introduced that I'm sure we will see more of in the future. Robert Lee who I think is a great new ally and the Demon King that I cant imagine will bring anything but trouble.

THE WOOD QUEEN brought us plenty of action, mystery, and suspense. The pace is smooth and the plot full of twists and turns. I couldn't imagine not reading what comes next for Donna. I recommend that new readers to the series start with book 1.

I gave it 4/5 stars

Winner: Undone Deeds by Mark Del Franco

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Prize: Print Copy of Undone Deeds

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Early Review: Blood and Bullets by James R. Tuck

Blood and Bullets
Author:James R. Tuck
Release Date: February 7, 2012
Publisher: Kensington
Deacon Chalk/Occult Bounty Hunter Book #1
ISBN:   0758271476
ISBN13: 9780758271471
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Copy Source: Author

He lives to kill monsters. He keeps his city safe. And his silver hollow-points and back-from-the-dead abilities help him take out any kind of supernatural threat. But now an immortal evil has this bad-ass bounty hunter dead in its sights…

Ever since a monster murdered his family, Deacon Chalk hunts any creature that preys on the innocent. So when a pretty vampire girl “hires” him to eliminate a fellow slayer, Deacon goes to warn him—and barely escapes a vampire ambush. Now he’s got a way-inexperienced newbie hunter to protect and everything from bloodsuckers to cursed immortals on his trail. There’s also a malevolent force controlling the living and the undead, hellbent on turning Deacon’s greatest loss into the one weapon that could destroy him…

I'm so used to reading books where the main character is a woman it was a bit hard to get into a male main character at first. Deacons family was murdered by the monsters he now hunts and he has made it his life's work to hunt them down until he dies doing it. While reading I had to do a double take as James threw in some of my favorite vampire hunters into his book and it defiantly made me like Deacon a tad bit more. Deacon at one points throws in that he knows not only Anita Blake but also Cat and Bones, All characters I can't get enough of. There were quite a few times that I felt like stuff was repeated way to much. Sometimes saying something once is enough and Deacon didn't quite get that memo so I found myself kinda skimming through parts of the book. As other reviewers mentioned Deacon is a mans, man so you kinda have to be into heavy guns, lots of swearing and little emotions from the main character to really get into Deacon but there were some great parts in the book that i was glad to have read.

BLOOD AND BULLETS was faced paced, full of action, and had some interesting characters. There were lots of monsters, and the world was easy to like. I'm not sure if I would read more books in this series but I will certainly take another look at it when the next book does come out. 

I gave it 3/5 stars 

New Releases Jan 29- Feb 4

Tue Jan 31

Burned (Void City, #4) by J.F. Lewis
Control Point (Shadow Ops, #1) by Myke Cole
Destiny and Deception (13 to Life, #4) by Shannon Delany
His Dark Bond (Fallen, #2) by Anne Marsh
Incarnate (Newsoul, #1) by Jodi Meadows
Lenobia's Vow (House of Night Novellas, #2) by P.C. Cast, Kristin Cast
A Little Night Magic by Lucy March
Moonrise by Ivy Devlin
Tangled (Torn Trilogy, #2) by Erica O'Rourke
Third Grave Dead Ahead (Charley Davidson, #3) by Darynda Jones

Undone Deeds (Connor Grey, #6) by Mark Del Franco

Wings of the Wicked (Anglefire #2) by Courtney Allison Moulton

Wrong Side of Dead (Dreg City #4) by Kelly Meding

Happy reading =)

Promotional Post & Giveaway: Burned by J.F. Lewis

** Available January 31, 2012 via Pocket Books**

Burned
Author: J.F. Lewis
Release Date: January 31, 2012
Publisher: Pocket
Void City Book #4
ISBN:  1451651864
ISBN13: 9781451651867
Genre: Urban Fantasy

Void City's resident badass vampire has a secret to keep, everything to lose, and a plan to win it all. Eric has taken control of the city's supernatural hierarchy, putting all the deals and contracts that allow Void City to function up for renegotitation. When he installs his insane vampire daughter, Greta, as Void City's sheriff of the supernatural, bloody mayhem ensues. 

To further complicate things, the love of Eric's life is back from the dead, immortally young, at a cost that has put Eric under the thumb of a very powerful demon. The mysterious mouser Talbot, morose mage Magbidion, and all of Eric's thralls are trying to help him keep things under control... 

But with early onset Alzheimer's, vampire hunters, demons, a band of chupacabra, a cursed cousin with a serious grudge, and Rachel as his new "handler"... there's just not an app for that.

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

Week in Review: 1/22-1/28

Books Ive Bought/received

* The Vampire Shrink by Lynda Hilburn- Arc- Publisher


* Eye of the Sword by Karyn Henley- Arc-Publisher


Books I read
 
Pure by Jennifer L. Armentrout 
Deliverance by Dakota Banks
The Last Echo by Kimberly Derting

The Marked by Inara Scott
Royal Street by Suzanne Johnson

Reviews posted

Untraceable by S.R. Johannes
Banshee Charmer by Tiffany Allee
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Alpha Instinct by Katie Reus

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* New Releases for the week. Was there anything you were looking forward to reading?

* Monday I put up a promotional post and giveaway for Mark Del Franco's Final installment of the 
Connor Grey Series Undone Deeds.

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*If you see something on my books Ive read list that you are dying to know about let me know I'm back logged on reviews and can move it up on the list if I know people are wanting one.

* I love comments so if you see something you like (or not) please comment away and let me know.