Review ~ The Bite Before Christmas

Goodreads Synopsis ~ In Lynsay Sands' "The Gift," Katricia Argeneau knows grey-eyed cop Teddy Brunswick is her life mate. She just needs to convince him they belong together, and being snowbound in a secluded cabin will make this a Christmas neither will forget. 

It's "Home for the Holidays" in Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress series. Cat and Bones may long to wrap presents and set up a tree, but this Christmas, an evil vampire and long-buried family secrets will threaten to take a bite out of their holiday cheer.

My Review for these two stories ~

The Gift by Lynsay Sands was my first introduction the Argeneau series.  I was very concerned that this story was so far into the series that I was going to have spoilers.  That I won't be able to tell until the Argeneau's move a little farther up my TBR pile.  This story was packed into a very quick read.  I didn't get to really know the characters much, so didn't really get to form any kind of connection.  It probably would have meant more if I had more familiarity with the setting and world.

Home for the Holidays by Jeaniene Frost was the story that I was really looking forward to when I picked this book up.  I love Cat and Bones and anything to do with them.  This story was quite a bit longer than Sands'.  We get a good dose of action which I love.  I kind of missed the amount that Bones was in the story, though.  I love to "listen" to him.  There were a few heart wrenching moments for me.  Not to the point that I would cry, but I got that lump in my chest.  All in all it was a pretty good story, and really clinched the book for me.  Although it has got me dying for the next Cat and Bones book.  It can't come fast enough.

Well I think that was my last holiday read.  I only got in two this year.  I am going to aim for more next year.  I will have to start earlier.  I'm finding it really hard to fit in reading time, and I'm slow as it is!

I hope everyone was able to find some good reads this year.  Leave some comments and let me know if you found a favorite holiday read!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Holiday Update for Rantings of a Reading Addict

As some of you may have noticed, I have been very quiet on the blog this week.  Well, quiet just about everywhere, blog, facebook, twitter, the whole nine yards.  With the holidays coming up, I've been spending my time doing holiday stuff and trying to get some reading in.  I've been feeling kind of reading deprived lately so have been sneaking it in whenever I can.  

Last week I finished Kill You Twice by Chelsea Cain and A Bite Before Christmas with Lynsay Sands and Jeaniene Frost.  I was SO happy to have a taste of Bones and Cat.  It has been so long since we've had anything from them that it was like hanging out with some old friends.  Now I am back to the usual frustrated pacing waiting for our next book.

I have a couple more of my favorite Christmas movies to watch.  I have my usual, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Four Christmases, and ELF.  I'm missing A Christmas Story and The Grinch.  Hopefully I will get those in tonight.  My family is on An American Horror Story kick so they've been after me to watch that too.  Great Christmas viewing!

I started reading the copy of Edge of Dawn by Lara Adrian that I received from NetGalley and I am having a very, very hard time putting it down.  I can't wait to review it!

I had a great time participating in the Christmas card exchange that Kimberly from Turning the Pages put on.  I got a lot of great surprises and found a lot of new blogs.  A big THANK YOU to Kimberly for putting this on.  It was a lot of fun!

To all my lovely followers and friends, I wish you all the happiest of holidays.  I wish we could all get together and have a big holiday bash.  That would be so much fun!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

Waiting On Wednesday 4

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.


This week I would like to focus on Edge of Dawn by Lara Adrian.  Due for release on February 26th, 2013, Edge of Dawn will begin the next era of Midnight Breed.  This takes place 20 years after the human world finds out there are vampires in their midst.  Mira, a child during the first Midnight Breed novels is now all grown up and has a story all her own.

I am excited to see my beloved Midnight Breed characters but also to see how Mira's story is going to pan out, and what new members will join the Order.  Well, mostly I want to see all the characters from previous books.  I'm sure that Mira's story will be awesome too, I'm just missing my boys!

I have received a copy of this from Netgalley so I will be reading and reviewing as soon as I get through this holiday season.  I'm having a hard time restraining myself though!

Goodreads synopsis:  Twenty years after the terror of First Dawn—when mankind learned that vampires lived secretly among them—the threat of violence reigns as the two species struggle to coexist. The only group preserving the fragile harmony is the Order, an elite cadre of Breed warriors dedicated to protecting humans and vampires alike. And in this precarious world of torn loyalties and shattered trust, Mira, a fiery squad captain, finds that every fight bears an intensely personal cost.

Raised among the Order, Mira has always believed in the warrior’s code of swift—and even lethal—justice. But the one thing she desires more than the Order’s hard-won acceptance is Kellan Archer, a sexy but troubled Breed fighter. In love with him since childhood, Mira once broke through his tough exterior during an unexpected night of rapture, but the next day he mysteriously disappeared, never to return.

Kellan didn’t think he would ever see Mira again—or have to confront the truth of why he left. After abandoning the Order years ago, he now leads a band of human rebels intent on carrying out their own vigilante rule of law. Yet a high-profile kidnapping assignment brings him face-to-face with the past he sought to avoid, and the striking woman he has tried desperately to forget. And as tensions mount and the risk of bloodshed grows, Kellan and Mira must take sides—between the competing missions that dominate their lives, and the electrifying passion that claims their hearts.

Sunday Post Edition 6

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer. ~ It's a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.

Hi guys!

I know this is a meme to recap the blog, but with it being the holidays, you may find me ranting about the rest of the stuff in my life too.  Especially since the craziness of the holidays has taken over most of my time.  I really hate that, it takes over my reading time and I feel frustrated.  It took me 7 days to read one book, how bad is that?  I cannot wait to get all my shopping done so I can sit back and read.

I have missed a couple of weeks doing the Sunday Post and I have posted some reviews since the last time.

Heartsick by Chelsea Cain

Sweetheart by Chelsea Cain

Evil at Heart by Chelsea Cain

The Night Season by Chelsea Cain

I am currently listening to the next installment of the Archie Sheridan/Gretchen Lowell series, Kill You Twice, and if I thought that The Night Season was a little bit tame, this one is making up for it.  LOVE it!

I also joined a challenge for 2013.  It's the 2013 Audio Book Challenge hosted by The Book Nympho and Hot Listens.  I'm new to audio books and hope I can meet my challenge.  I am still looking for another book challenge to add, but besides my Goodreads book challenge, I haven't found the perfect "one" yet, so if any of you guys have suggestions, please drop me a note!

I also joined the Christmas card exchange hosted by Turning the Pages.  I've been getting cards and little surprises all week and it has been so fun!  It has been a great way to discover some new blog friends, and I love making blog friends!

I just finished Kresley Cole's Pleasure of a Dark Prince, so this week I would like to get up a review of that.  I am dying to move onto the next one in the series, but I feel like I really need to get a holiday read in.  Something light to counter the effect of reading Kill You Twice.  It's been hard to find a holiday read that is not in the middle of a series.  I found a short one that is actually the first of a series called Mistletoe Mischief by Stacey Joy Netzel.  It was an Amazon freebie and I hope it is better than what my gut is telling me.  I stupidly relied on the title to tell me it was a holiday read instead of reading the synopsis which would have told me that it is set in July.  Unfortunately, I feel obligated to read it because I downloaded it.  I may get over that though as I haven't actually started it yet.  Me and my weird quirks.  I also downloaded A Bite Before Christmas which has stories by Jeaniene Frost and Lynsay Sands.  I am nervous, though, that reading the Lynsay Sands story will have spoilers for me on her series, the Argeneau Vampires.  That has always been my fear of reading anthologies.  Does anyone know if her story in this book will contain spoilers? I do need to note that this one is one special at Amazon for $0.99, so make sure to pick it up!

My goal this week is to get a holiday read in, even if I switch to A Bite Before Christmas, post a Waiting on Wednesday (I've missed that one for a week or two as well) and I'd actually like to join in on the Follow Friday I see other bloggers do.  Let's see how much I actually get accomplished around all my shopping.  I do most of my shopping online, and that came to bite me in the ass last week.  Somehow someone got my card number and made a couple of purchases at a store I have been shopping at, so I was very fortunate that I caught them in time.  I normally shop using Paypal checkouts, which I did at this store, and someone actually used my card number there, which was my give away.  Thankfully I caught it early enough and the bank took care of it.  Still, I had to wait for a new card to come in, which is a real pain when you need to get gas.  It's funny how much I depend on that thing.

So, how is everyone else doing on their shopping?  Do you have a favorite store to shop at?

Review ~ The Night Season by Chelsea Cain

Goodreads Synopsis:  With the Beauty Killer Gretchen Lowell locked away behind bars once again, Archie Sheridan—a Portland police detective and nearly one of her victims—can finally rest a little easier. Meanwhile, the rest of the city of Portland is in crisis. Heavy rains have flooded the Willamette River, and several people have drowned in the quickly rising waters. Or at least that’s what they thought until the medical examiner discovers that the latest victim didn’t drown: She was poisoned before she went into the water. Soon after, three of those drownings are also proven to be murders. Portland has a new serial killer on its hands, and Archie and his task force have a new case. 

Reporter Susan Ward is chasing this story of a new serial killer with gusto, but she’s also got another lead to follow for an entirely separate mystery: The flooding has unearthed a skeleton, a man who might have died more than sixty years ago, the last time Portland flooded this badly, when the water washed away an entire neighborhood and killed at least fifteen people. With Archie following the bizarre trail of evidence and evil deeds to catch a killer and possibly regain his life, and Susan Ward close behind, Chelsea Cain—one of today’s most talented suspense writers—launches the next installment of her bestselling series with an electric thriller.

My Review:  It was disappointing that there was no Gretchen in this book, but there was still quite a story to be told.  In my opinion, this serial killer is not even CLOSE to Gretchen.  My God, am I becoming a Gretchen groupie?  Didn't I just say in my review of the last book that I thought the people in the book were crazy for idolizing her?  

As the other books had a couple of storylines on the go at the same time, so does this one.  It is funny that both of them have to do with the flooding of Portland.  One old, one new.  The main, current killer in this story has a very strange, unique weapon.  It was really unexpected and interesting.

If you are looking for a thriller without too much information, this is probably the one in this series that is more for you.  Descriptions of Gretchen's work in the other books will make this story seem a bit... I don't know, mild?  Well, as "mild" as a killing can be.

Susan and her new hair color find themselves in trouble with Archie running to her rescue, but will the floods carry them all away before they can get to this killer and stop him?  It's a race against the water, and the pacing kept you going and going.

I'm still kind of creeped out by this guy's weapon.  It's one I will be very surprised if you guessed before the big reveal.  I want to give this one a 3.5 out of 5.  Don't let the lack of Gretchen put you off the rest of the series.  She's back in the next one!

2013 Audio Book Challenge

It's the time of year to start setting up those challenges for the new year.  It will soon be 2013 and I chose this audio challenge, hosted by The Book Nympho & Hot Listens.  I am a newbie to audiobooks and have found that sitting in traffic is not the same.  Before, people would call and chat and it would help me get through the time.  Now it's like "holy crap already, I'm in the middle of a chapter!"  It was horrible tonight.  I had no books and I found myself calling everyone I knew just to help pass the time.  Luckily my Audible credit came in tonight so I will be downloading right away.  I think that I am going to sign myself up as a Tickle Me Audio!  I generally do thrillers in audio because I have a thing with keeping all my paranormal on my kindle.  Don't ask me why, just a weird quirk I guess.  So here are the deets, sign yourself up before the New Year and don't forget to follow our hosts!
Reading Challenge Details: 
Runs January 1, 2013 – December 31, 2013. 
You can join at anytime. The goal is to find a new love for audios if you are new to them or to outdo yourself by listening to more audios in 2013 than you did in 2012. 
Books must be in audio format. ANY genres count. Re-reads and crossovers from other reading challenges are allowed. 
If you're a blogger grab the button and do a quick post about the challenge. Please include a link back to this sign-up post so others can join the reading challenge too. Just click the image above or here to take you to the sign-up post. 
You do not have to be a book blogger to participate; you can track your progress on Goodreads or LibraryThing or on your audible.com or other accounts you have. 
 Levels:  Newbo (Not quite addicted) 1-5 audios  Ear Worm (Narrator's voice gets stuck in your head) 5-10 audios  Tickle Me Audio (Seriously, I'm getting serious) 10-15 audios  Plugged In (I can quit anytime) - 15+ audios
There will be quarterly updates on the host's pages, where there will be a random commenter pick for a giveaway!  This is going to be so much fun!  Click here and sign up