Succubus Dreams by Richelle Mead

 Some days, a girl just can't catch a break. . .
. . .especially when the girl in question is Georgina Kincaid, a shape-shifting succubus who gets her energy from seducing men. First there's her relationship with gorgeous bestselling writer Seth Mortensen, which is unsatisfying on a number of levels. It's not just that they can't have sex in case Georgina inadvertently kills him (generally a turn-off for most guys). Lately, even spending time together is a challenge. Seth's obsessed with finishing his latest novel, and Georgina's under demonic orders to mentor the new (and surprisingly inept) succubus on the block.

Then there are the dreams. Someone, or something, is preying on Georgina at night, draining her energy, and supplying eerie visions of her future. Georgina seeks answers from Dante, a dream interpreter with ties to the underworld, but his flirtatious charm only leaves her more confused--especially as the situation with Seth reaches crisis point. Now Georgina faces a double challenge--rein in her out-of-control love life, and go toe-to-toe with an enemy capable of wreaking serious havoc among mankind. Otherwise, Georgina, and the entire mortal world, may never sleep easy again. . .

It didn't matter that this is the 3rd in the series rather than the 1st, you can still work out who is who and how the world works.

I was hooked within the first few minutes and couldn't put the book down. 

A Round-Heeled Woman by Jane Juska

Juska is a semiretired English teacher with refined tastes: Trollope novels , opera and museums. "Before I turn 67-next March," she wrote to the personals column of the New York Review of Books, "I would like to have a lot of sex with a man I like." While her adventures meeting these men frame her narrative, she's no geriatric Emmanuelle on a coast-to-coast fling, in spite of proclamations like "I adore penises." It's just that she was raised by repressed Midwesterners and had never managed-given her spiritual and physical bulk-a truly fulfilling love affair. Married to a loveless man, she then spent years in social retreat as a single mom. By the time she emerged from her chrysalis, she realized she'd never had a chance at pleasure, hence the ad and her comic adventures with the assortment of men culled from the daily mail


 I found the parts of her story about the other, main, parts of her life more interesting than her adventures with sex and romance. Perhaps it would have been better if her adventures were a bit more adventurous and not quite so sad most of the time.

The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen

Twenty-seven-year-old Josey Cirrini is sure of three things: winter in her North Carolina hometown is her favorite season, she's a sorry excuse for a Southern belle, and sweets are best eaten in the privacy of her hidden closet. For a while Josey has settled into an uneventful life in her mother's house, her one consolation is the stockpile of sugary treats and paperback romances she escapes to each night...Until she finds her closet harboring none other than local waitress Della Lee Baker, a tough-talking tenderhearted woman who is one part nemesis--and two parts fairy godmother...

Fleeing a life of bad luch and big mistakes, Della Lee has decided Josey's clandestine closet is the safest place to cradh. In return she's going to change Josey's life--because, clearly, it is ot the closet of a happy woman. With Della Lee's tough love, Josey is soon forgoing pecan rolls and caramels, tapping into her startlingly keen feminine instincts, and finding her narrow existence quickly expanding.

Before long, Josey bonds with Chloe Finley, a young woman who makes the best sandwiches in town, is hounded by books that inexplicabley appear whenever she needs them, and --most amazing of all--has a close connection to Josey's longtime crush.

Aa little by little Josey dares to step outside herself, she discovers a workd where the color red has astonishing power, passion can make eggs fry in their cartons, and romance can blossom at any time--even for her. It seems that Della Lee's work is done, and it's time for her to move on. But the truth about where she's going, why she showed up in the first place--and what Chloe has to do with it all--is about to add one more unexpected chapter to Josey's fast-changing life.


The characters are well drawn, the sprinkling of magic just right and the story wonderful.

i always love Sarah Addison Allen's books. They leave me with a smile.

Christmas Kisses

In Christine Cameron's A Highland Christmas, we meet Scottish lassCassandra McIntyre, who is forced to marry English Baron Drake against her wishes - and his as well. All Drake wants is to get his hands on his family home, which has been bestowed upon his brother Cedric, marry Cassandra because he must, and then abandon her as soon as he is able to. When Cassandra overhears this, she is understandably upset.

Jill Henry's Sara's Gift was a sweet, heartwarming story about love healing old wounds. Sara Mercer is a widow on her way to a job and, hopefully, a new life. She can't help herself, however, and makes a stop in Moose Creek to see the child she gave up for adoption four years earlier. Her stop is lengthened by a heavy snowstorm and, with the train passengers taking every available hotel room in town, she ends up staying in the same house as Mary, her daughter, and Mary's adoptive father, Sheriff Gabe Chapman.

When we meet Katherine Peters, she is absolutely through with Tanner Barkley. The cad had apparently been using her for a big undercover story for the newspaper, and when the story appeared, Katherine was left beyond humiliation at discovering that her first and only lover had been merely using her. Of course, this is not really how things really happened....

3 nice Christmas stories. My favourite was Sara's Gift.

Shoe Addicts Anonymous by Beth Harbison

In this entertaining novel set in Washington, D.C., three very different women are brought together by a shared passion: shoes. They meet once a week to trade Manolos and Maglis, but soon they rely on each other for much more. Lorna, a debt-ridden waitress, founded the group to curb her destructive shopping sprees. Helene, a senator's trophy wife, attends to escape her loveless marriage and the banality of high-society life. Sandra, an overweight phone-sex operator, hopes the group can help cure her agoraphobia. They're joined by Joss, a young nanny, who doesn't care about shoes but needs a place to avoid her demanding boss. The four women become fast friends, trusted advisors, and eventually business partners.  While there is lots of talk of shoes (never quite understood the fascination myself) - this book turned out to be quite entertaining.

Santa Baby by Jennifer Crusie

In "Hot Toy," Crusie's wickedly witty and entertaining romance, Trudy Maxwell sets out on Christmas Eve to find the season's most-wanted toy, only to become tangled up with lies, spies, and the infuriatingly sexy Nolan Mitchell. Foster puts plenty of sensual heat into "Christmas Bonus," her story of two people who indulge in a holiday office romance only to find it turning into something more serious. And Carly Phillips tells a steamy tale, "Naughty under the Mistletoe," in which Toni kisses her boss' twin brother by mistake.



3 sweet Christmas romances. My favourite was Naughty Under The Mistletoe.

A Christmas Secret by Anne Perry

Dominic and Clarice Corde, minor characters who fell in love in Perry's Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novel Brunswick Gardens (1998), are called to the small village of Cottisham in Oxfordshire, where Dominic is to replace Reverend Wynter, who unexpectedly went on holiday right before Christmas. While fetching coal from the cellar, Clarice discovers the vicar's body in the second cellar. Some holiday. Although the local doctor says Wynter died of natural causes, Clarice and Dominic don't agree and begin their own investigation as snow blankets the village. What secrets did Wynter know that may have caused his death?


A nice, sweet Christmas mystery.

Ghouls Just Haunt To Have Fun by Victoria Laurie

In this instance MJ’s best friend is Gil and he has organised for MJ to travel to San Fransisco to appear on a television show called ‘Haunted Possessions’ without even asking her. The idea behind the show is that members of the public bring in their ‘haunted’ artifacts for a panel of 4 mediums to touch and tell why that object is haunted.

On arrival at the hotel – one of America’s most haunted things start with a dead body at the front, then during the filming segment a mysterious knife suddenly appears at the table and literally all hell breaks loose with slashes appearing on objects – and people – soon the little gang of ghostbusters are fighting for their lives against a demon as the human body count goes up. Some holiday!!!


 Entertaining read, light-hearted read.

I do wonder if whoever did the blurb read the same book. I find it annoying when they can't even get the characters name right.

Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik

The women of Freesia Court are convinced that there is nothing good coffee, delectable desserts, and a strong shoulder can’t fix. Laughter is the glue that holds them together—the foundation of a book group they call AHEB (Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons), an unofficial “club” that becomes much more. It becomes a lifeline. Holding on through forty eventful years, there’s Faith, a lonely mother of twins who harbors a terrible secret that has condemned her to living a lie; big, beautiful Audrey, the resident sex queen who knows that with good posture and an attitude you can get away with anything; Merit, the shy doctor’s wife with the face of an angel and the private hell of an abusive husband; Kari, a wise woman with a wonderful laugh who knows the greatest gifts appear after life’s fiercest storms; and finally, Slip, a tiny spitfire of a woman who isn’t afraid to look trouble straight in the eye. 



 I've read a few 'women's fiction' books recently and wasn't sure I was ready to read another, but I enjoyed this more than I expected to.

Sure the situations were fairly predictable but it was a very easy read.

Murder With Puffins by Donna Andrews

"A romantic getaway was what Meg Langslow had in mind when she and her boyfriend planned a trip to the tiny island of Monhegan off the coast of Maine. They would spend their days hiking the trails and their evenings by the fire. But in this remote place, birds of a feather flock together and Meg quickly finds out that this vacation isn't going to go as planned. Although the puffins have already flown south for the winter, the island still harbours a flock of birdwatchers - and Meg's family...
Discovering her parents, her brother, her aunt and a nosey neighbour on the island is Meg's first surprise. Her second one comes when a body is found and her father is accused of murder. Now, instead of quiet walks by the water, Meg finds herself scouring the island for clues. In the process, she uncovers more than she bargained for. Meg's only hope for find the killer now rests on a wing and a prayer..."



It was a pleasant, fluffy read. By the time we found out 'who-dunn-it' I didn't much care.

No! I don't want to join a bookclub by Virginia Ironside

Marie is a retired art teacher who lives alone and is about to turn sixty, an age that she embraces eagerly. The book, in the form of a diary, gives cranky Marie a forum in which to record her daily activities, thoughts, social encounters, and especially, her gripes. She has a great many gripes. She detests being told that sixty is young, and that it is the perfect time to go to university, try bungee jumping, and learn a new language. Why bother to learn a new language when you will have so few years left in which to speak it? What's great about being old is that it is too late to do much of anything. How liberating! 

Marie can be nasty when she chooses, but she has a soft side, as well, which she is reluctant to show. She cares for her family and treasures her circle of friends. Although she has sworn off men, there is a small part of Marie that still years for male companionship. She is a multi-faceted individual: hilarious, profane, critical, and outrageous, but also kind, compassionate, and loving. 



I'm with Marie.  Once you reach a certain age you should be able to just do what you want to do, not what others expect of you.  No seniors this and that to keep active.  Enjoy your grandchildren while they still want your company, enjoy a glass (or 2) of wine and eat what you feel like.

The Tale of Hilltop Farm by Susan Wittig Albert

it is the quiet passing of said Miss Tolliver that sets the humans and animals of Near Sawrey all a twitter. Did she die of natural causes - or was poison involved? Did her death have anything to do with her much disliked nephew, a mysterious young woman, the lost parish register, a missing painting or stolen school roof money?

it is into this busy time that Beatrix Potter, the children's writer, moves Near Sawrey prior to taking up residence in her new home - Hill Top Farm. And like the animals in her books, the animals of Near Sawrey can all talk, only the humans can't hear what they have to say.

This is a wonderful little story, a lovely cozy read, with talking animals as a bonus. The author has done a great job in blending historical fact about Beatric Potter's life with complete make-belive.

As the story progresses the point of view switches between those of the various animals to those of humans - each group having totally different ideas about what they have seen at the same events. The mystery is low key and the solution is fitting and satisfying. 




I enjoyed this cute, sweet cosy. 

Chill Factor by Sandra Brown

A bad winter storm has moved into the mountains of North Carolina and with it an end to all that has been going on for the past two years. Ben Tierney is caught on a mountainside when an ice and sleet storm hits. His car is not working and he must get off the mountain if he's going to survive. He runs into the chief of police's ex-wife Lilly. Together they find themselves trapped on the mountain with little to no chance of making it back to town alive. Knowing that time is of the essence they head back to Lilly's old cabin to wait out the storm. They have no idea that what started between them the summer before is going to finally be resolved for good or ill. But, when Lilly starts putting things together she fears that she might just be attracted to the serial killer "Blue." Will she live to see justice served? 

Ben has a lot to answer for and his secretive nature doesn't help things. The local's have him pegged as a serial killer and he knows things that he probably shouldn't. On top of that there is the burning attraction that he can no longer ignore when it comes to Lilly. Will he be able to keep his secret and help Lilly live to see another day. 

Dutch Burton, chief of Police of Cleary and he can't get over the fact that his wife Lilly is gone, and wants nothing to do with him any longer. His stubborn nature combined with the fact that his best friend Wes won't let things settle down only add to the burning in his gut. He will do whatever he must to get Lilly off the mountain and away from Tierney. He can't think beyond his jealousy and this will be a catalyst for events he can not even imagine. 


 An enthralling, multi-layered story that I couldn't put down.

The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

In 1940, the lives of three women could not be more different as war rages in Europe. Iris James, postmistress of Franklin, Massachusetts, believes in order and details. She takes great pride in her work. All communications in the town come through her. The whole system works because of the neat efficient system and the trust. She keeps all the secrets of the residents, but one day, she breaks with everything she has ever believed, slipping a letter into her pocket. Emma Trask, wife of the town's doctor Will Fitch, listens to all the radio broadcasts from London with her husband. When a tragedy provokes a change in her husband and a determination to go over to Europe, Emma guards herself against the tides of war raging across a distant ocean. In London, Frankie Bard, works with Edward R. Murrow. Frankie listens to Murrow's story advice, yet her spirit chafes against the all the strictures and protocol imposed on her. Feisty, fearless and somewhat brash, she wants to get out the truth and stir her listeners to action. In 1941, Frankie rides the trains out of Germany, reporting on the war, listening to the voices of the so-called refugees. As she sees the war unfolding from a different perspective, her whole idea about the story itself changes.

I didn't really care about most of the characters. Frankie's story was the one I was drawn to most. The only really emotional depth was the glimpses of some of the refugees and Frankie's broadcasts.

It was an OK read but slightly disappointing. I guess I expected more.

Flowers Won't Fax by Sarah Harrison

Isla and Richard have been married for ten years - handsome, successful and gifted, they make an admired couple. Isla knows Richard is no angel, but she is sophisticated enough to be prepared to overlook his minor indiscretions.

Jen has been Richard's mistress for even longer. The opposite of Isla in looks and temperament, she offers Richard the chance to be someone completely different.

When a chance meeting brings the two women together, each is startled by the difference between them and forced to re-evaluate the man they thought they knew. But after the shock waves of hostility have ebbed away, there begins an unlikely but enduring friendship that is to survive beyond a tragedy worse than either can imagine... 


A highly entertaining, enjoyable read. I had expected a light, fluffy read but there was more to the story. A very pleasant surprise.