Ace of Hearts - Barbara Metzger

Ace of Hearts by Barbara Metzger
Genre: Adult Romance
Form: AudioBook

Ace Endicott, the Earl of Carde, needs a woman who will give him an heir, but he never expects to be engaged to three different women or to become the laughingstock of the gossip columnists. Escaping this London nightmare, he joins his brother Jack in an attempt to find a long-lost sister in the country. Their search takes a strange turn and leads them to a delicate beauty named Nell. As he is dealt a new hand, Ace understands that he may have a chance at real love - if he plays his cards right.

Source: Back of Audio Book

Ace of Hearts was not exactly what I was expecting. I thought that there would be more card playing type stuff in the book, but outside of a few games played with friends and some references, it wasn't really a part of the book at all. But that's okay. The book was good regardless.

A sweet romance novel that was a little bit atypical from what I normally get. Well, the fact that there are no make-believe characters in it makes it very atypical from my norm, but other than that - the story itself took a slightly different path. The characters were not really the "beautiful people" all high and glamorous that they usually seem to be. In fact, to most people both were plain, ordinary and in some cases, not attractive at all. But to each other, Ace was the must handsome man she ever laid eyes on; and Nell was the most beautiful women there was. I liked that, because it does have some reality to it. When you fall in love, it's hard to see anyone but that one person.

This book actually very loosely had a Pride and Prejudice feel about it to me. Ace sort of wavered back in forth in Nell's mind as either a good man or someone who couldn't be trusted. In my opinion, near the end of the book, she sort of took it too far. Ace was pouring his heart out to her, and she was still hesitant to accept what he was saying. I wanted to scream at her. Outside of that, there were funny antidotes and hot and steamy moments of attraction between our main characters that made this book worth the time.

Kiss of Midnight - Lara Adrian

Kiss of Midnight by Lara Adrian
Genre: Adult Paranormal
Form: Mass Paperback
Series: Midnight Breed

He watches her from across the crowded dance club, a sensual black-haired stranger who stirs Gabrielle Maxwell's deepest fantasies. But nothing about this night - or this man - is what it seems. For when Gabrielle witnesses a murder outside the club, reality shifts into something dark and deadly. In that shattering instant she is thrust into a realm she never new existed-a realm where vampires stalk the shadows and a blood war is set to ignite. Lucan Thorne despises the violence carried out by his lawless brethren. A vampire himself, Lucan is a Breed warrior, sworn to protect his kind - and the unwitting humans existing alongside them - from the mounting threat of the Rogues. Lucan cannot risk binding himself to a mortal woman, but has no choice but to bring her into the dark underworld he commands. Here, in the arms of the Breed's formidable leader, Gabrielle will confront an extraordinary destiny of danger, seduction, and the darkest pleasures of all....

Source: back of book

Another series. Or better yet, another vampire series. Maybe I'm obsessed, I don't know. I think one of the things I like the best about all the different vampire series is all the different versions of vampires you come across.

This particular series is centered around warriors who are fighting against their own kind who are blood addicts, or have the disease "bloodlust," which causes the vampire to crave the blood of humans just as much as a junkie craves his drugs. The warriors fight to keep the peace, and to keep their species from being detected to the human world. The Midnight Breed's are a type of vampire who originated from an alien species who landed on earth and started running wild in their own bloodlust addiction. It wasn't until later that they discovered that they were able to breed with certain women, a minority group known as Breedmates.

Character development was pretty good. I think what I liked most about Gabrielle was that when Lucan needed her the most, she was there for him. He wasn't always the hero. In some, actually many, cases he was actually the bad guy. But he was very hard on himself for sins of the past, and Gabrielle was able to point that out to him. Gabrielle was a strong female. Not really a damsielle in distress, but she did find herself in trouble more than once. She actually was regularly walking into trouble and did not know it. She meets Lucan just in the nick of time.

I'm sort of hoping that Gabrielle's special talent will play out a little bit more in upcoming books. It would be neat to see her used strategically in the Breed's plans to overcome the growing, and organized Rogues.

Movie Monday - Wolverine

Trying something new again. Now, I don't watch new movie every week, so this defiantly cannot be a every week thing - but there really are a lot of movies I'm going to see this year. So here we go:

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

I LOVE almost all the Marvel movies! I'm a big fan of the super heroes. I was very excited to see Wolverine because, well, Wolverine is awesome. Huge Jackman is and always has been perfect for the part! I enjoyed watching the beginning of how Wolverine came to be, but I was oddly surprised that it was mostly just that - the story of his beginning. I don't know why I didn't get that from the title. I was still just hoping to see some real X-Men fighting together stuff. I didn't get enough in the previous movies.

Another major bonus of the movie - GAMBIT!!! He is my absolute favorite X-Men ever! I was so happy he was finally in a movie. I really hope they continue to use his character. Taylor Kitsch did a great job, i only wish he got more screen time. Here's hoping he had enough appeal for next time!

Manhunt - Janet Evanovich

Manhunt by Janet Evanovich
Genre: Romance
Form: Audio Book

A woman with a talent for numbers, Alexandra Scott wanted to escape the rat race and go someplace where the men outnumber the women. Trading in her Wall Street job and fancy condo for a rundown cabin in the woods. She's now Alaskan Wilderness Woman. It isn't long before she finds exactly what she's looking for: one sexy pilot named Michael Casey. But this confirmed bachelor has no intentions of getting caught in any woman's crosshairs -- especially a hunter as appealing as Alex. It'll take skill, determination, and a little romantic persuasion for this big-game hunter to bag her prey.

Source: BarnesandNobel.com

This is one of Janet Evanovich earlier books that, frankly, let me a little bit disappointed. I was expecting the humor that was present in the previous Evanovich book I read, Back to the Bedroom. However, don't write it off due to my issues. This is a fun romance novel that will give you the warm and fuzzies just the same.

Alex is a headstrong women who is bound and determined to succeed in her new life. There are things Alex deals with that really would have had me running for the hills in no time. Michael is a sexy wonderful man who cares deeply - yet has some deep seeded issues with women. He is bound and determined to fight against the attraction he feels for Alex. It is fun watching the two of them come together.

My favorite part is in the very beginning of the book when Alex goes diving into the water in an attempt to save her dog, and then Michael goes diving in after her to save them both. Defiantly a rocky beginning if you ask me!

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Genre: Youth Fantasy
Form: Audiobook
Series: Harry Potter

Harry's back for his second year at Hogwarts, where the infamous Chamber of Secrets has been opened for the first time in 50 years. The monster that is unleashed is literally petrifying Hogwarts students (turning them into stone, that is), and who is the primary suspect? Harry Potter himself. Add to this some enormous spiders, a Deathday Party, a ghost named Moaning Myrtle who haunts the girls' bathroom, and lots and lots of suspense, and you'll soon find yourself engrossed in another terrific tale in which magic does exist and good eventually triumphs over evil.

Source: BarnesandNobel.com

I have made a decision - I am not going to read every single Harry Potter. Why you ask? Because I've seen all of the movies and so far, the books are almost to the letter exactly the same as the book. I realize that this isn't true as the books move forward. I have heard how as the movies plot on the director takes more liberties and the book and movies are no longer exact duplicates. It is for this reason I have promised a friend of mine that I would still listen to the The Order of the Phoenix book. That is where I will be picking up in the series.

I obviously cannot list myself in to the "big Harry Potter" fan category. I am not sure if it's because the movies have ruined the books for me, or if it's because the books were written mainly for the youth age group, but these books do nothing for me. I do not get excited about the characters as I read. I do not feel any type of emotion, excitement, fear, anticipation...nothing. If I wasn't listening to the audio books at work, I wouldn't be reading them at all. Let's see if I feel the same way as I get to The Half-Blood Prince - the one that, of course, I have not seen the movie for.