Wallbanger by Alice Clayton

  Caroline has just moved into a beautiful apartment.  It has a nice big kitchen perfectly suited for all the cooking and baking she likes to do.  It has a great view of the city of San Francisco.  There's just one tiny problem - she share's a bedroom wall with a very noisy neighbor.  The first night in her beautiful apartment Caroline wakes up to someone banging on the wall and the sound of spanking.  The next night there is more banging and the sound of purring.  Night number three follows with more wallbanging and giggling.  Fed up, Caroline marches over to give Wallbanger, as she has nicknamed her noisy neighbor, a piece of her mind.

Wallbanger is one of the best romance stories I've read in a long time.  It has the perfect blend of romance, comedy, and sexiness.  It also has a smart and funny heroine who before and after meeting Mr. Wallbanger has a full life, complete with friends, family, interests of her own, and a career she loves and is great at.

This is a romance so there is no surprise that Caroline and Simon, aka Wallbanger, eventually get together but watching them come together was great.  Even better, once they get together they still have issues to deal with, making this very much a grown up romance, and by that I mean the kind where romance is one part but not the whole part of one's life story. My one tiny complaint is that there are three girl friends who meets three boy friends and by the end there are three couples.  That was a little too convenient, but that's a small quibble.  This is definitely worth the read.

Moon Called by Patricia Briggs

  Mercedes "Mercy" Thompson is an interesting girl.  She's smart.  She can just as easily hot wire car as she can fix its engine.  And oh yeah, she can shift into a coyote.  She was raised by werewolves but being a coyote, was never part of the pack.  Now an adult, Mercedes owns and runs a mechanic shop but her life involves much more than fixing engines.  Her next door neighbor Adam is the local werewolf alpha.  Stefan, one of her best customers, is a vampire and Zee, her former boss, is fae. When Mercy wakes up to find Adam's house a wreck and Adam badly injured, she immediately jumps in to help and quickly finds herself in the middle of something much bigger than she ever anticipated.

Moon Called is the first in a paranormal series of books by Patricia Briggs.  I had no idea what this book was about when I picked it up, other than that it involved werewolves, vampires, and other supernaturals.  Upon first glance it reminded me of the Southern Vampire series.  I missed the world Charlaine Harris created in that series - the romance, the battles, the mysteries, all of it.  Mercy Thompson and Moon Called turned out to be a perfect read after finishing the Southern Vampire series.  Mercy is smart, strong, loyal, and independent.  She is not invincible but capable of holding her own.  She refuses to be a pushover but doesn't pretend she can do everything herself.  She was compelling and interesting.  She's not alone.  Mercy is  surrounded by a host of well drawn characters, several of whom I suspect will become love interests for Mercy in future books.  In addition to great characters there was action and adventure.  In short, I really enjoyed this. 

One of the pleasures of coming to an established series late is not having to wait a year or more before getting to read the next book.  There are at least seven more books in this series that have already been published and my local library has most of them, which means happy reading for me.  This is a series I'm looking forward to reading more of.

Personal Demon by Kelley Armstrong

  Personal Demon is the eighth book in Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series and it might be my favorite.  It is definitely in the top three.  It starts out as Hope's story, then brings in Lucas and Paige and a whole lot of cabal trouble.

Hope is a half-demon who feeds on chaos.  As superpowers go, it is not much of a power.  If anything, it is more like a terrible drug trip.  When Hope is caught up in chaos she forgets everyone and everything around her and can only think about getting more chaos.  The one benefit of her chaos power is that it allows Hope to see visions, snippets of the violence that led to the chaos.  If a person died peacefully Hope sees nothing.  But if a person died violently Hope can pick up his or her last moments, perhaps even seeing the killer and solving a murder.

Lucas Cortez is the reluctant heir of the Cortez cabal.  The cabals are more or less supernatural mafia style organizations headed by a powerful family.  Lucas grew up idolizing his father Benecio and the cabal he ran until he realized just what the cabal was.  It isn't all bad.  The cabals have created a safe place for supernaturals to connect and utilize their powers away from humans who would be sure to persecute them if they knew supernaturals existed.  In return, they demand total loyalty and punish betrayers severely.

Lucas who is the fourth child and the illegitimate son of Benecio, has done his best to distance himself from his father's business.  Worse, or better depending on one's perspective, Lucas uses his legal and other skills to defend potential victims of the cabal.  Not surprisingly, many members of the Cortez cabal as well as members of the other cabals dislike Lucas, seeing him as a threat to their way of life.  Benecio, however, hasn't given up on the idea of bringing his son into the fold.  He's willing to make some changes to business practices but he is still the ruler of an empire and being a ruler requires making tough (which may mean bloody) decisions.  Benecio has gone so far as to declare his youngest son as his heir, over the objections of not only Lucas but his three older sons.

What I look for in the Women of the Otherworld series is romance and strong women kicking ass.  Typically the heroine is (1) dealing with relationship issues whether it is falling in love or figuring out the next step after falling, (2) trying to master or improve her supernatural gifts, and (3) solving a mystery or other problem, all the while trying to stay alive as the third task usually results in someone trying to kill her or someone she loves.  Personal Demon has all of the above and more.  It begins with a simple sounding assignment: Benecio wants Hope to infiltrate a local gang who has been agitating against the cabals and figure out what their deal is.  Lucas has always refused to work for his father on principle.  However, when his friend Hope is called in repay a debt she owes to Benecio, Lucas and his wife Paige agree to oversee the investigation in case Hope needs help.

The gang that has been causing trouble for the Cortez cabal turns out to pose a much bigger and different threat than anyone imagined.  Armstrong introduces a new kind of half demon, one who can impersonate other people quite effectively.  Lucas moves closer to becoming the head of the cabal whether he wants to or not.  Equally surprising is the development in Hope's love life.  Karl is the lone wolf who remained an outsider even after joining the werewolf pack.  Their past was hinted at in the prior book and in this book, their relationship takes a great leap forward.

Personal Demon is one of the best entries in the Women of the Otherworld series.  Strangely, it isn't so much that I liked Hope (usually it is the heroine that draws me in).  I mean, Hope is a great character but what really drew me in was the overall plot.  This book did a good job of advancing the series overall.  I suspect Lucas will be forced to make a decision about his involvement with the Cortez cabal soon whether he wants to or not.  I also suspect the guy who can impersonate anyone will resurface and further doubt Hope and Karl are going to live happily ever after, at least not yet.  Can't wait.

Dewey's Read-a-Thon

Dewey's Read-a-Thon is today, Saturday, April 25!  I'm getting a late start because I am traveling this weekend.  Not that that will stop me.

I'm starting with a graphic novel/comic book and going from there.  I wonder what other people are reading today.

Update:
Book 1 done - Lumberjanes by Noelle Stevenson and Grace Ellis
 

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

  The Song of Achilles  is a retelling of one of the Iliad's most well known characters.  It is told from the point of view of Achilles's best friend, companion, and lover, Patroclus.  It is a very human story set against a backdrop of gods, kings, and heroes. 

I read the Iliad in high school but don't remember much.  All I remember about Achilles is his arrogance and his vulnerable heel.  Seen through the eyes of Patroclus, Achilles is less arrogant (at least at first) and more kind, honest, and without guile.  Achilles learns about the prophesy that foretells that he will be the greatest among his generation at a young age.  With such a future hanging over his head, he grows up alone even while surrounded by dozens of other boys.  He is friendly to all the boys, but close to none of them, knowingly or unknowingly creating a loyal of group followers who will follow him into battle when the time comes.  

Patroclus is in many ways the exact opposite of Achilles.  He is awkward, not good at fighting or at any of the things a future king should be good at, and therefore is also a son who is unwanted by his father.  When Patroclus commits an uncharacteristic act of violence, his father happily sends Patroclus away to be fostered by king Peleus, Achilles's father.  Despite being shy, awkward, and adverse to anything resembling athletics, Patroclus catches Achilles's attention.  First they are friends.  Then they are more.  Their relationship is both subtle and brightly lit. 

Since the Iliad has been around for hundreds of years I don't feel like it is much of a spoiler to say lots of people die in the end, including Achilles.  Miller sticks to the outline of the Iliad and so you know that Patroclus and Achilles are not going to spend their golden years together.  Still the journey from beginning to end is golden to read about.  Miller's clear and crisp writing makes the story even better.  This is a very good read, even if you have no particular interest in Greek mythology.  

A Bone to Pick by Charlaine Harris

  The movie was better.  It sometimes happens, and it happened here.  The movie to which I refer is the movie version of A Bone to Pick that recently aired on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel.  A Bone to Pick is the second in Aurora Teagarden series by Charlaine Harris the first being,  Real Murders.  I read that one a few weeks ago, before picking up this second book and watching the movie. 

The book started out well.  Aurora Teagarden is a librarian with an interest in true crime.  She's not alone.  Aurora was a member of the Real Murder Club where those with similar interests discussed famous solved and unsolved murder cases.  In Real Murders, when one of her fellow club members was murdered, Aurora set about finding out who did it.  This time around Aurora inherits a house, money and a mystery from Jane, a fellow club member and retired librarian.  The money and the house are a Godsend, the mystery not so much.

The mystery centers around a human skull Aurora finds hidden in the window seat of her new house.  For awhile Aurora contemplates the possibility that sweet, old Jane had an even deeper interest in true crime than anyone realized.  The idea that a sick, elderly woman could have bludgeoned someone to death and removed his head is soon dismissed.  So then the question is who was the victim and who is responsible for his death?  Sounds like promising beginning, right?  Unfortunately, after that the mystery sort of fizzled out.  My main problem with this book is that Aurora spent more time worrying about her social life than about the mystery.  A sleuth, amateur or otherwise, should spend time looking for clues, questioning suspects, and well, trying to solve the mystery.  Aurora does almost none of that.  She does spend a great deal of time thinking and wondering about the what might have happened, but she spends little time testing her theories.  In the movie version in contrast, Aurora actively tries to solve the mystery.

So this was a disappointment.  At least there is still Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.  If Hallmark Movies & Mysteries decides to make more movies from the Aurora Teagarden series I will watch them, not so sure I'll read any more of the books.

John Constantine Hellblazer: Original Sins

  I never read comic books as a kid.  It wasn't a conscious decision not to read them, more that they were just not on my radar.  Curiously many comic adjacent things were on my radar, like cartoons.  I still love cartoons, but comic books and graphic novels came much later for me.  The first graphic novel I remember reading is Maus and then later, Watchmen.  Even after realizing comics and more particularly graphic novels were an actual thing, I still shied away from them primarily because I had no idea where to begin.  I like to start things at the beginning.  With comics, particularly superhero stories, it can be difficult to figure out where the start is.  Don't even get me started on all the different tangents or how different characters and universes relate to one another.  Seriously, a chart or graph would be extremely helpful here.

What finally brought me into the world comics was DC's New 52 reboot. With DC's New 52 there was finally a place to start.  Since then I've been reading all sorts of comics, not just the ones about superheroes.  Recent favorites include Saga and Sex Criminals.  I just picked up copies of Lumberjanes and Boxers & Saints and am looking forward to diving into those.

All of this is a long way of saying that with John Constantine Hellblazer I was hoping for an origin story.  This wasn't it.  It was an intriguing, very political which I wasn't expecting but enjoyed.  Still, if not for the television show Constantine I would have been completely lost reading this collection.  As it is, I'm still unclear as to how Constantine came to become a demon hunter, what exactly his powers/gifts are, or generally what his deal is.  He's a great character, not a super good guy but not a bad one either.  I liked this enough to want to read more.  Now it's back at square one trying to figure out where to begin.