"The Magic Hunt," By L.L. Raand

The Magic Hunt by L.L. Raand

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


"The Magic Hunt," by L.L. Raand is the 5th installment of the Midnight Hunters series. I’ve been a huge fan of this series and have looked forward to each installment.

After an assassination attempt, Sylvan Mir, wolf Were Alpha of the Timberwolf Pack, and her mate Drake McKennan vow to protect their own, no matter what the cost, from the government and all others who threaten their survival.

In this story, we are introduced to a new person, Fae royal Torren de Brinna. Torren escapes from the vampire dungeon and tries to get back to her people, but finds the doorway closed and is left with only one alternative… request that Sylvan give her sanctuary. However, she didn’t expect to fall in love with one of Sylvan’s young dominate weres, Misha.

Let me first reiterate that I love this series. With that said, I struggled, a bit, with the fact that Jody did not have a bigger part in this story. Since this is, most definitely, a war with the Viceregal of the vampires, I felt that Jody should have been a key figure, a liaison between wolves and vampires. However, she was not. In fact, I think she was in all of 5-pages in the whole book. I would have thought there would have been some kind of collaboration between Sylvan, Jody, and Michel. However, there was not.

The love story between Katya and Michel continues to grow, which I’m glad to see. They make a good match and I would like to see where this story goes. I also like Misha a lot and think that Torren will be a good mate for her. I hope to see more of these two couples in future installments.

I suppose I felt this story was not as complete as the others were. Sometimes, this is acceptable because the next book ties it all together and keeps the edge-of-your-seat entertainment. I’m hopeful for the next book!

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"Darkness Awakened" by Stephanie Rowe

Darkness Awakened by Stephanie Rowe

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The synopsis of this book piqued my curiosity. An ancient race of immortals is cursed with a dark side… they’re destined to meet their soul mate and to be so drawn to them that they are unable to resist bonding with each other. It sounds intriguing, doesn’t it? There’s a flipside… their destiny is to destroy each other.

Overall, I enjoyed this story. The struggle that Quinn and Grace go through to beat destiny was not boring in the least. There were moments where the author pressed hard on the emotions bringing a tear to the eyes as both Grace and finally Quinn sacrifice their lives for each other because of their love for each other.

At first, I struggled with how they each fell in love with each other. It seemed too quick for the story. However, I let that slide because a story has to start somewhere and the whole plot involved both Grace and Quinn. They each seemed to have an intense magnetism that pulled them together, no matter how hard they tried to stay apart.

I did find there were a couple of continuity issues in the story. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, I can’t remember what they were. I took notice but it didn’t seem to matter. It didn’t derail me from the plot path. In addition, there were moments where I felt like I was in an old black and white movie. Scenes where Grace gently pressed her hand on Quinn’s chest, for instance. Perhaps these are described best as cliché moments. There were some predictable moments also. You knew Grace wouldn’t stay in the tree to stay safe, for instance. You saw it coming when Grace stormed off into the forest and they attacked her at Dante’s house, because Quinn let up from snooping in her head to talk to another warrior…leaving her wide open for attack.

With all that said, to me the story was excellent. The author captured my emotions and carried me through to the end. I can honestly say, I look forward to reading the next in the series.


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"Dime Store Magic" by Kelley Armstrong

Dime Store Magic by Kelley Armstrong

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


"Dime Store Magic" is the third book in author, Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld, series. It is written in the narrative first person point of view of Paige Winterbourne, leader of the North American Coven of witches. If you've read the other two books before this, you will have met Paige for the first time in "Stolen." In fact, many of the characters in this book were introduced in book two.

This story picks up where "Stolen" left off. Paige takes Savannah, a powerful teenage witch, as her charge. It is her duty to protect Savannah and keep her from Cabals and black magic witches. This proves to be a difficult feat for Paige because Savannah’s father is a Sorcerer and leader of one the most dangerous Cabals on the West Coast. Nast, Savannah’s father employs the help of a telekinetic half-demon Leah, also introduced in book two, to retrieve Savannah and bring her to his Cabal.

Paige finds herself battling a legal custody case, sorcerers, black magic, media, and her own coven whilst protecting Savannah. She and Savannah, forced to align themselves with an unlikely ally – battle against all odds with an attorney/sorcerer named, Lucas Cortez.

As I read through this book, I found Paige to be very naïve and incredibly boring, albeit, she has strong morals and has potential to be a strong witch. Sadly, I think having Paige’s mother in this story would have added some substance to this story. Paige, knowingly, was not ready to be a stand in mother for Savannah. She was ill-prepared for the job. Paige really came across as a teen not much older than Savannah, to me.

This whole story, although well written, just seemed to lack substance. It was mostly a battle of wits and sure luck. I suppose I expected something more… like maybe Paige finding her magic deep within herself. I also thought there would be more romance in this story. Maybe half a chapter toward the end had a roll in the… uh… laundry. There was no build up to it. In fact, Lucas Cortez repulsed Paige! Then you turn the page to the next chapter and they’re rolling in the laundry. Sorry, but that seemed contrived at best.

In the end, Savannah and Paige, with Lucas' help (the good), beat Nast and his minions (the bad), saving our heroes to live happily ever after.

As stated, the author writes well, develops the characters reasonably well, but the story just seemed bland to me. I think reading it is important if you’ve started the series, but truthfully, I don’t think you need any of the back story to get through this one. The wolves from "Bitten" and "Stolen" are not in this story, except for a phone call. That’s it. However, it is a great book to fill the need to read between other stories that you’re waiting for authors to publish.




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"Moon Called," by Patricia Briggs

Moon Called by Patricia Briggs

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“Moon Called,” by Patricia Briggs started slow at first. There seemed to be a lot of world and character building. There was a lot of information poured into the story as well. However, the author built a believable world with believable characters.

Briggs described the hierarchy of the werewolves well. She explained little innuendos such as what it meant to look into an Alpha’s eyes. It was a way to show dominance. I felt she described Mercy into a strong female protagonist, with just enough smarts to know when she should back down. One fact not made clear was the description of a skin walker. Briggs explained in the story that Mercy was a skin walker, but then described Mercy as a Coyote. To me, a skin walker is a Native American legend where a person with supernatural ability could turn into any animal she desired. To be able to transform, the legend says the skin walker would require a pelt of the animal she wanted to be. Granted, more modern telling of the legend either removes the pelt or uses it for only the initial change. If the person wanted to be the same animal every time they changed, they would no longer need another pelt. Mercy was always a Coyote. So far, there’s no indication that she can turn into anything other than a Coyote. With that said, I believe Mercy has some other tricks up her sleeve, and I really hope to see this series take off in that way, revealing more and more.

Now, I was kind of bothered that there was no romantic factor in this book. Not every book needs to have romance or eroticism, but it sure adds to the pleasure of reading. However, again, this book looks to be a jumping off point into an excellent series. Briggs left a lot of loose ends that I foresee having a delightful tie-in into the next book in this series.

This is an excellent book. I’ve rated it 4 out of 5 stars because I do feel it was lacking just a bit as mentioned above.

You can get your copy of Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, Book 1) today!


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"Odd Thomas" by Dean Koontz

Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


"Odd Thomas: An Odd Thomas Novel," by Dean Koontz is about a young 20 year old fry cook in a fictional California town. The story is narrated by Odd himself and you can see that he is… well, odd. In this story, Odd really has no ambition to do anything but be a fry cook. That’s because, Odd has the ability to see and talk with ghosts… those who have not yet passed on to the other side. His girlfriend and the local police chief, whom he, on occasion, helps to solve terrible crimes, only know this secret of his. You see, Odd doesn’t only see ghosts. He sees malevolent spirits too. These spirits feast on pain and usually mean that something bad is about to happen. Odd ends up following the bodachs (malevolent spirits) and finds them always near one particular man, which Odd names, "Fungus Man."

The story is an awesome race against time to save people from something catastrophic. It’s an edge-of-your-seat, tense suspense. It has a very rapid pace with bizarre characters and some grizzly and supernatural circumstances. I really enjoyed reading this book and found I couldn’t put the book down!

I definitely recommend this book!

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"City of Fallen Angels" by Cassandra Clare

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I was clearly disappointed in this book. Yes, it was written well enough... but was it truly a necessary addition to the last three books? I don't think so. I really felt this book should have been the start of a new series that branched from this one.

I did really enjoy reading more about Simon. I felt that this book had more focus on him throughout it's pages. However, because of the other characters, Jace & Clary especially, and the importance they held in the other 3 books, this book couldn't just be about Simon, or Downworlders. It had to end with Jace & Clary.

I did not like how this book turned out! I half expected Jace to either kill Sebastian or himself to end this nightmare.

As I said, this book should have been a book 1 for a new series. It read like a first book in a series. I think I would have enjoyed it more if it didn't feel like the author was trying to resurrect an already well ended trilogy.

To be honest, I'm not sure I want to go to the next book, "City of Lost Souls." I didn't like Sebastian the first time. I don't want to read about him again! He's dead... keep him dead! He's not a Zombie. He's half demon... therefore he should have died as both demons and humans die.



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"Succubus Blues" (Georgina Kincaid Series), By Richelle Mead

The title of this book got the best of me with this book. I’ve seen TV shows of Succubi and I’ve read books about Incubi, but I never really knew what they were. I knew they lived off of the lifeforce of humans and that sex was described as being over the top with one. However, this book gave me a whole different perspective. I really thought this book would have had more erotic-ness to it, just by the nature of a succubus. However, it hardly touched on sex at all…It alluded to her needing sex, but there wasn’t any graphic sex in this book.

With that said, the book really was pretty good. Georgina Kincaid is a Succubus, but she doesn’t like living off of good wholesome people. So, instead she hunts low-lifes or those deserving of bad things. She really can’t complain too much though. There are worse jobs in hell and the perks of being a succubus are kind of cool. We are introduced to all different types of immortals in this story. We have vampires, demons, imps, a succubus, angels, and more. Many are Georgina’s close friends.

I love the fact that she can shape shift into anything or into anyone that she wants to and she can get men to do anything she wants. Although Georgina works for a demon, she’s really not evil. She is a caring person who sold her soul to the devil and was made a succubus. So she still has much of her humanity. She falls in love but can’t have the relationship she wants because she literally sucks the life out of the guys she’s dated.

Throughout the story, we begin to see immortals dying. Yep, some immortals can die. Actually, they are killed by a mysterious person. Georgina just can’t keep from digging in and looking for whomever or whatever it is that is killing these immortals. Of course, at a certain point the story becomes predictable and you can blatantly see who the killer is, but it was still worth the read. I give it 3.5 stars and hope the next book, “Succubus on Top” (“Succubus Nights” in UK). I did enjoy the plot enough to keep reading and by the end of the book, I wanted to see what the next book brought to the series.

"Lover at Last," by J.R. Ward

Finally, J.R. Ward’s eleventh installment to the Black Dagger Brotherhood has arrived! “Lover at Last” was everything I had hoped for and more.

If you’ve read J.R. Ward’s previous books in this series, you will have seen the friendship, dedication, and love between Qhuinn and Blay develop. For me, the angst between the two was frustrating to watch. The on-again-off-again friendship made me want to slap either or both of these males. I really didn’t care which direction their relationship went, as long as both were happy. But to have Blay express is frustrated, matter-of-fact, straight talk to Qhuinn really gripped my heart. Then to watch Qhuinn wrap his head around what he truly and deeply wanted. To see him finally realize that he was living by someone else’s standard. Qhuinn brought me to tears. Being rejected by everybody in his family only to find himself accepted just as he is in a new family!

Although this book was expected to be all about Qhuinn and Blay, it was much more than that. There are so many different paths built into this book. If I didn’t already know what J.R.Ward’s next book is to be about, I would be hard pressed to know the next path we’re to travel next.

So many different facets open up in this book. There are exciting twists to Layla’s life. Remember, she is pregnant with Qhuinn’s baby. The Brotherhood make a decision that’ll blow you away and the Band of Bastards consider a new approach to winning the throne! We learn a little more of the shadow brothers, Trez and iAm. It looks like they will become more involved with the Brotherhood, but to what degree? Do you remember meeting Assail from “Lover Reborn”? He’s back and with more to his story as well! I think we will see more of Assail and maybe the new female that he meets in this book. I believe he may be an important factor with the battle between the Brotherhood and the Band of Bastards, even though he claims he wants nothing to do with any of it.

As you can see, there is a lot to this book. It will keep your head spinning and your heart pounding! This book has the makings of several stories to come. It gave me the feeling that it is has some kind of pivotal importance in the fight between the Brotherhood, Band of Bastards and the glymera. I have to give these book 5 stars. I was going to rate it with 4 stars just because there were SO MANY facets here to wrap my head around... There were some areas where it got a tiny bit confusing. However, by the time I reached the end, I realized that we're going to see much more to come.

I can’t wait for the next book, which J.R. Ward has announced will be, The King, and will come back to more of Wrath and Beth, who are trying to have a baby!

Awesome job, J.R. Ward!

“Dark Lover” by J.R. Ward

I have read many vampire series of late, enjoying every one of them in their own way. One day, I was about to read the next book in another series, when friends who follow me on Twitter insisted I read J.R. Ward’s “Black Dagger Brotherhood” series. On several occasions, whispers of this series came across my timeline but were ignored, simply because I had so many other books slated to read. One day, I finally broke down, bought the first six books of the series, and began to read.

Many series novels that I have read, take more than just the first book to hook you into the story. Not this series…no, this series sucked me in on the first book! Drama, fighting, friendships, and just all out romance sucked me right in and catapulted me into the next book.

The Black Dagger Brotherhood series, written by J.R. Ward, is about an ancient order of warrior vampires who defend and protect their race from vampire slayers known as lessers. These lessers are de-souled humans recruited by an evil supernatural being known as the Omega. There are six warriors in the Brotherhood who stand between the extinction of their vampire race and the Lessening Society.

Author, J.R. Ward, creates a different type of vampire in these novels. These vampires are a separate species from humans. In fact, to be a vampire you must be born carrying vampire DNA in your blood. Ms. Ward’s vampire race begin their lives as human and are unaware of what lies ahead of them until their mid-twenties when their bodies go through a dangerous. Surviving the transition, they must now drink the blood of vampires of the opposite sex in order to survive and stay strong.

This book, “Dark Lover,” centers on Wrath, the only pure blood vampire known to exist on the planet, and Beth, a half breed, half human-half vampire, who is on the verge of transition. Wrath is asked to help with Beth’s transition when her time comes by feeding her from his vein. Wrath hates humans, tries to live a loners life, never desiring a mate. However, when Wrath’s long-time friend and the father of Beth is killed by car bombing lessers, Wrath takes on the responsibility of protecting Beth and introducing her to her vampire heritage.

The attraction between Wrath and Beth is tangible and quite erotic. The chemistry between them makes it impossible for them to deny their love for each other and for the first time, Wrath is hopeful to end the loneliness in his long life. All is bliss until the baby powder scented vampire-slaying lessers kidnap Beth.

Throughout the book we see the beautiful choreography of all the warriors as they work together to battle their race’s nemesis and later find and free Beth from her captor.

If vampires are your thing, as they are mine, then this series is a must read! Do what I did, lay down that seventeenth book in the series you are currently reading and begin the Black Dagger Brotherhood series.

"Samson’s Lovely Mortal" by Tina Folsom

When asked to read and review this paranormal romance, “Samson’s Lovely Mortal”, I took the time to read the synopsis about the book as well as the author’s website. At first, I was skeptical and uncertain that I would be interested in the storyline. However, the thought occurred to me, there have been many books I have read with just as much or less information about them, but took it upon someone’s word that they were good. I had friends who had read those books and could give me a play-by-play if I need it. This time, this book had not been release yet. I was a first time reader, so to speak, and I would potentially be a first reviewer. I appreciated the challenge set before me.

Samson is a vampire and has been a bachelor for a very long time. Never in his life, or undead life, has he ever had trouble getting it up. He has never had trouble in the sex department before but now it’s a problem. Upon advice from a friend, he seeks the help of a shrink, only to realize not even a shrink can help. However, it all changes when fate brings a beautiful mortal named, Delilah to his doorstep. Delilah is an auditor who is hired to audit a company in a city she is unfamiliar. Chased by a would-be mugger, Delilah happens upon Samson’s doorstep seeking refuge. Opening the door and inviting the now soaked from rain, scared human into his home, and through several misunderstandings, Samson realizes that his equipment has begun to work again.

I am not one who cares to read or watch gratuitous sex. When I began reading this book, that was my first thought. In fact, I even set the story down for a couple of days because I was not impressed on the first chapter. I will admit, I am very hard on books. If they don’t capture my attention in the first chapter, I usually get rid of it. Had I done that with this book, it would have been my loss.

Author Tina Folsom did an excellent job of developing her main characters for this story, the good, the bad, the happy and the sad. Did I really want to start out the gate reading of a man with erectile dysfunction? No, not particularly. However, to capture the beautiful love story, you have to see where the main characters were before they fell in love. You get an idea of the inner workings of fate in this story.

After getting past the first couple of chapters, this story became an excellent page-turner! I found myself wanting to get back to the story to find out what more would happen. As I approached the end, I found myself asking questions, questions that only the author could answer. Perhaps she will in her future books. However, with all that said, I enjoyed every emotional, erotic, and sexy second of this story. It’s a beautiful love story with just a little intrigue added to keep all interested. I recommend you grab a copy. You can purchase and download your copy available on Amazon.com and Smashwords.com

Check out the link on my sidebar for Ms. Folsoms’s web address where you can find more information of all her books. In addition, you can follow her for on Twitter, @Tina_Folsom.

"Her Vampire Husband” by Michelle Hauf

I cannot say that I am the fastest reader of book reviewers, but I do love to sit and enjoy a good paranormal romance book. Michelle Hauf’s book, “Her Vampire Husband” was exactly that.

In this story, Vampires have tribes and Werewolves, packs. Each is bloodthirsty and has had centuries to wage war against the other. Both nations have laid claim to numerous losses between them. In an attempt to bring peace between the rival nations, a Council comprised of both Vampires and Werewolves agree to an arranged marriage between Blu Masterson, Princess of the Werewolf nation and Creed Saint-Pierre, elder of the Vampire nation.

Peace is the overtone to this marriage but as you read through you find that nobody believes this marriage will bring peace at all. Blu insists that she will never allow her new husband the opportunity to mark her with his bite. Creed insists he could never love a werewolf, but would keep up appearance for the sake of peace. As the story unfolds, both Creed and Blu fall in love with each other and find they do not understand why there was so much hatred between them. With their new found love for each other, they work together to bring peace to their nations. This was not an easy task.

Overall, I found this to be a fascinating story. I must admit that at first I had my doubts about the storyline. However, it completely maintained its “page-turner” status with me. I looked forward to returning to it each night to find out what would or could happen next.

Michele Hauf develops her characters very well, which makes them easy to fall in love with. I found myself completely enamored with both Blu and Creed as they fell head over heels in love with each other. I love books that grab your emotions and pull you in. This story is has its dark undertones and is deliciously sexy!

Check out the link on my sidebar for Ms. Hauf’s web address where you can find more information of all her books. Also, you can follow her for on Twitter; @michelehauf.

Ms. Hauf, I so look forward to reading more of your books in the future.

"Divine Misdemeanors" by Laurell K. Hamilton

I woke this morning with several subjects on my mind. I found myself full of enough material to pontificate through several blog posts. Of course, this is my blog, nobody else posts to it, except in comments... which means I could blog about ALL the shit that's on my mind.... but I won't. Not today, or at least not now.

Today, it is time for me to post my review on a book I just finished reading, "Divine Misdemeanors" by Laurell K. Hamilton. 

First off, let me preface that Laurell K. Hamilton has made it into the "Author's I love to read" category. She is very descriptive and creative in all the books I have read of hers. She is also on my list of books that I can't wait to read.

I have read all her books in this series about Meredith Gentry, Private Eye and Faerie Princess. All of them seemed to flow right into the next. However after her last book, "Swallowing Darkness," I wasn't exactly sure where she could go in this latest, "Divine Misdemeanors." There was no Prince Cel to continuously attack her... there was no Queen Andais to be frightened by... There were no secret assassination attempts on her life in this book. In fact, there almost was no lemons at all in this book. 

As I began to read through this book, I had a lot of mixed feelings. Where is the author going with this series? All the other books lead to Princess Meredith becoming Queen of the Unseelie Court, yet we don't see that. In fact, she's now back in Los Angeles being a private dick...er detective. We see faint instances where the demi-fey acknowledge that she is or may be a queen. I mean, she is King Sholto's Queen... *shiver* but nobody wants to acknowledge that kingdom! Right? Everyone seems to know that the Faerie mounds acknowledged or crowned her Faerie Queen, but we've seen her give that up for Frost. Well, let's just say, she believes she's given it up.. I on the other hand think otherwise.

Of course I was interested in the murder scenes and trying to find the murderer... but by about chapter 17, I'm wondering if this was just going to be another detective novel. I mean, where's the sex, where's the relationships, where's the faerie magic that we all love to read? 

Then there's this dream that Merry has where she's transported back to the Black Coach, which we all know comes to the ruler of the Unseelie Court... Merry is shown this battlefield which reminds her of the previous battle in  "Swallowing Darkness." Through this dreamscape, she sees Brennan and finds him trapped in battle... She hears how Brennan calls her to him with blood, metal, and magic... As her dream begins to fade, she orders the Black Coach to take him and his men to safety and the she wakes.

I'm sitting there in goosebumps wondering what's to become of this dream... All we know is there is some kind of war going on, but we're not taken any further into why this happened. We're brought back to the mystery at hand... 

Finally, around chapter 21, the lemons start. But I begin to feel like it is all quickly added in by the author. Like... "OMG I forgot to include some sex into my story." I found myself actually feeling sorry for Merry because I felt like every time she walked through a door, she was getting banged. I was puzzled at first that she was having sex with men who were not the babies' fathers... I thought there was a law against that or something... but then I began to see that Merry is starting to make her own rules. She's creating her own monarchy or dynasty. So rules seem to be changing.

We also begin to see the true colors of Barinthius. He struggles to want to be a god once again and begins to defy Merry.

Where is the author going with this book? What is she building up too? It seems to me that this book is pivotal to something else, something huge. Perhaps a new faerie mound? Will there be a faerie war? What of the babies? How will they factor in? Also, I'm left wondering if somehow Merry's 'humanness' is fading with her faerieness...(that's not a word, but still) as her magic grows, it seems that perhaps that human factor of frailty is leaving.

Overall this book was worth the read, however there were parts to it that I felt were contrived or perhaps artificial. I definitely felt this book is pivotal in whatever course the author will begin next. I look forward to her next installment to the Meredith Gentry series!

...more later!

Twilight, New Moon, Fanfic, True Blood... Oh my!

I've hit a wall here... I have so many things I want to follow or even just comment about. (I guess you'd still have to follow if you want to comment... right?) Anyway, I'm having a hell-of-a-time getting ANYTHING done!

I have been reading "Wide Awake" fanfic written by AngstGoddess003, watching "New Moon" trailers, reading TwitFic on by the True Blood on Twitter Thursday group, (*whisper* They don't just tweet on Thursdays.) reading my favorite blog(s), and I started rereading "Dead Until Dark," by Charlaine Harris. How's someone suppose to get real life stuff done?

Authors that I've been reading, either have new books out or new ones are coming soon.

Richelle Mead just published book #4 of the Vampire Academy series, "Blood Promise." It came out August 24th. I haven't had a chance to run to the bookstore yet!

I've heard that Charlaine Harris has another book to add to the Sookie Stackhouse (Southern Vampires) Series, called "A Touch of Dead," due out October 6, 2009.

PC Cast & Kristen Cast have "Tempted," the next in the House of Night Series due out October 26, 2009.

Laurell K Hamilton has "Divine Misdemeanors," #8 in the Meredith Gentry series expected out December 8, 2009. She also has another book, "Flirt," #18 to the Anita Blake, Vampire Killer series expected February 2, 2010. (Hopefully that date holds, it'd be a nice birthday present for myself!)

I've heard rumors that Stephenie Meyer has books that she is writing too, but she remains silent. The silence could be due the fact that she is majorly involved with the Twilight Saga shoot and now her book, "The Host" goes to silver screen. *midas shrug* Just wish Stephenie would give a shout out more often so we have an idea of what she's doing.

With all of this, how do you get real life done? For me, I need to have a lot done before November 19th when I head to Idaho to watch "New Moon" with my bff who needs intervention too.