Dead Reckoning
Sookie Stackhouse #11
Charlaine Harris
Ace
May 3, 2011
Kindle Edition
Amazon | Goodreads | TBD

With her knack for being in trouble’s way, Sookie witnesses the firebombing of Merlotte’s, the bar where she works. Since Sam Merlotte is now known to be two-natured, suspicion falls immediately on the anti-shifters in the area. Sookie suspects otherwise, but her attention is divided when she realizes that her lover Eric Northman and his “child” Pam are plotting to kill the vampire who is now their master. Gradually, Sookie is drawn into the plot-which is much more complicated than she knows…

In Six Words: Someone wants Sookie dead. Rinse, repeat.

Mini Review:
I’m hanging on by a string here. With a series I used to think was absolutely delightful and charming, I now find myself wondering if Sookie’s adventures could become any more repetitive and dry.

After several attempts to get through this latest installment since it’s release in May, I finally completed it, but just barely. The opening of the novel was just so boring. In one way, I was glad to see Sookie’s life take on the mundane quality she had been craving since surviving the numerous attacks on her life, but another part of me begged to know what the point of reading about Sookie cleaning out her attic or going antiquing was.

I guess my biggest frustration is that there doesn’t seem to be a cohesive balance between the inactivity and the action. The leap into the shit hitting the fan came too belatedly to hold my interest, and frankly the disjointed aesthetic of how the story was told has really disenchanted me from the SVM world.

One part of me wants to feel proud of Sookie for being willing to get her hands dirty when the need arises, but that part wars with the feeling that her whole attitude regarding her circumstances needs to change. Yes, I get that she is weary of all the fighting and death around her, and I know that has to be taxing on a person, but she’s too resistance to realizing that her world will never be normal, no matter how much she wishes it would be. I feel if she’d just accept that, then maybe she could avoid her TSTL moments had me wanting to give up on her all together.

Overall, I found this installment to be very sorrowful, for all the characters involved, even for Eric and Pam, regardless of their victory. I’m sure the events in Dead Reckoning will lead to a messy aftermath in the next book, and I find myself hoping to be permanently put out of my misery right along with Sookie.

Other Review: Tradermare

Challenge(s): 111 in ‘11 Challenge, Vampire Challenge 2011

I know I have already featured my FAVORITE VIKING VAMPIRE before as a book boyfriend, but Holy Smokes, I reached 1000 blog followers on Monday, something that is still blowing my freaking mind. To celebrate, I thought I’d paid additional homage to the only man I know who is over 1000 years old and still looking mighty fine… Eric Northman!

Eric came out of the doorway to his home office. When I saw him, every hormone I had stood to attention. He’s very tall, his hair is long and golden, and his eyes are so blue the color practically pops out of the whiteness of his face, a face that is bold and masculine. There’s nothing epicene about Eric. He wears jeans and T-shirts, mostly, but I’ve seen him in a suit. GQ missed a good thing when Eric decided his talents lay in building a business empire rather than modeling. Tonight he was shirtless, sparse dark gold hair trailing down to the waist of his jeans and gleaming against his pallor.

“Jump,” Eric said, holding out his hands and smiling. I laughed. I took a running start, and leaped. Eric caught me, his hands clamped around my waist. He lifted me up until my head touched the ceiling. Then he lowered me for a kiss. I wrapped my legs around his torso, my arms around his neck. We were lost in each other for a long moment.
~Dead in the Family

I do love Alexander Skarsgard as Eric Northman on True Blood, but I just think these artistic renditions are amazing. I know, call me crazy for drooling over paintings, but Hot Damn!

Oh, and you gotta see this: Dress Up Eric Northman! Psst… you can take off his underwear! So cute! *giggles*

My Book Boyfriend is a newish weekly meme, hosted here. To find out more, check out the introduction post.

Wanna show off your book boyfriend? Link your MBB post below. DIRECT links only.

Call me a love sick puppy, but I’ve been thinking a lot about my book boyfriends this week and how crazy in love with them I am. Which got me to thinking about how crazy they are sometimes.

Yeah, sure love makes you do crazy things, but here are some of the top moments in book boyfriend history that caused me to shudder, and not always in a good way. Let’s call them the “Oh no he didn’t” moments.




Dear Big Bullshitter aka Eric,
You sly BAMF! Did you really trick Sookie into sucking that bullet out of your shoulder just so you could have a little link to her? You sexy creep, you.
xoxo,
Me




Dear Edward,
Please tell me you didn’t really demand that Bella marry you if she wanted you to turn her into a bloodsucking fiend. WTF? Oh hun. Just wait. As soon as the
“honeymoon” is over, there are going to be some serious issues in your sham of a marriage, and I don’t mean of the most craptastic baby name ever variety.
xoxox,
Me




Dear Bones,
Did you really slam a freaking piano against a wall, simultaneously causing me to crap in my pants, turning me on, and making me cry harder than I ever have before? That whole scene left me as mangled as the piano. Poor piano. And then…and then you make Cat agree to share your bed if she wants you to sire her? Well, now I know where Eddie got the idea from, but at least you admit to being a ruthless, manipulating bastard.
xoxo,
Me




Dear Barrons,
You scary son of a B! Did you really have to ruin a perfectly good birthday cake? YOUR birthday cake! There is a special place in hell reserved for people…er…beasts who take a yummy looking, pink frost chocolate cake with raspberry and chocolate cream filling and destroy it without trying a single bite. But seeing as you invented hell, I guess you already knew that.
xoxo,
Me




Dear Zsadist,
You insane son of a B! Did you really have to be all “My favorite sound in all the world” when Beth woke up and screamed at the sight of you? Then you follow it up with “Assuming she lives through the sex.” Gah! Talk about getting a chill that cuts through bone. Not the best approach to winning my heart, but glad that all changed.
xoxo,
Me

What “Oh no he didn’t” moments have you come across that made you think your book boyfriend may be a couple cans short of a six pack?

My Zombie Valentine
by Katie MacAlister, Angie Fox, Marianne Mancusi, & Lisa Cach
Hardcover, 320 pages
Leisure Books
December 18, 2009

Tired of vampires and werewolves? This quartet of comedic zombie romances by bestselling authors will drive you mindless with hilarity!

Oh no, you’re groaning and screaming, “Not another giveaway Missie. Get over yourself.” But I’m celebrating my first year of ‘book’ blogging, and I wanted to do it by showing some follower appreciation love. Sorry for the overload.

But THANK YOU to all who have entered.

To enter for a chance to win My Zombie Valentine answer this question: What is the craziest thing you have ever done for love?

MUST be a blog follower to enter; please include contact info. Retweet for extra entry and leave link. Open internationally. Ends 2/20.

Ladies, get your drool buckets ready because I’m about to present My Top Five Book Boyfriend: Vampire Edition.

I’ve been majorly in love with vampires ever since Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Angel popped on the screen to swoon me with his presence. Little did I know that Angel was just my first tasty bite. He may have been the first vampire I fell head over swoon with on T.V., I’ve since developed major book crushes for the following men of fiction, and I’m happy to call them all my book boyfriends.

Eric Northman.

“So you want me to go to a human orgy, where I will not be welcome, and you want us to leave before I get to enjoy myself?”
“Yes,” I said, almost squeaking in my anxiety. In for a penny, in for a pound. “And. . . do you think you could pretend to be gay?”
There was a long silence. “What time do I need to be there?” Eric asked softly.
“Um. Nine-thirty? So I can brief you?”
“Nine-thirty at your house.”
“I am carrying the phone back,” Pam informed me. “What did you say to Eric? He is shaking his head back and forth with his eyes shut.”
“Is he laughing, even a little bit?”
“Not that I can tell,” Pam said.

You may have heard of him referred to as a BAMF, but that’s just because that is exactly what he is. I mean, do we know of any other 100% all-male six foot Viking vampire who can rock hot pink Lycra and get away with it? At over 1000 years old, he invented SEXY. True Blood Story.

Edward Anthony Masen Cullen.

He was quiet. I glanced up, apprehensive, and saw that his expression was pained.
“Ah,” he groaned quietly. “This is wrong.”
I couldn’t understand his response. “What did I say?”
“Don’t you see, Bella? It’s one thing for me to make myself miserable, but a wholly other thing for you to be so involved.” He turned his anguished eyes to the road, his words flowing almost too fast for me to understand. “I don’t want to hear that you feel that way.” His voice was low but urgent. His words cut me. “It’s wrong. It’s not safe. I’m dangerous, Bella — please, grasp that.”

Oh, for the love of a tortured soul! There is just something about a 107 year old teenage virgin who sneaks into your bedroom to watch you snore and fart talk in your sleep that gets my heart pumping. I’ve never regretting skipping biology class more than the day they were passing out hot lab partners who want to devour you. Here’s to the world’s most docile lion. Love you, Eddie.

Crispin Phillip Arthur Russell III.

“I want you to promise me something. Promise me you’re not going to start running again.”
“Running?” Why would I do that? I hadn’t had much sleep and I certainly didn’t feel in the mood for jogging.
Then his meaning penetrated. When I got home and looked into my mother’s eyes, I would second-guess a relationship with him all to hell, I knew. He must have known it, too. Now, however, the only face in front of me was his.
“No, I’m too tired to run, and you’re too fast. You’d only catch me.”
“That’s right, luv.” Softly, but with unyielding resonance. “If you run from me, I’ll chase you. And I’ll find you.”

God love that bastard son of a whore. I’ve never wanted to gnaw on a bone before, then I met Bones, sweet Bones. His devotion to his wife, Cat, is the most beautiful thing I have ever read about. Men everywhere should take notes. JS.

Jericho Zigor Barrons.

“Obey me, Ms. Lane,” he said, “and I will keep you alive.”
“I wouldn’t need to be kept alive in the first place,” I snapped, “if you hadn’t dragged me into this mess.”
“You came looking for this mess, Ms. Lane. You sauntered in here all innocence and stupidity asking for the Sinsar Dubh, remember? I told you to go home.”
“Yeah, well, that was before you knew I could find things for you. Now you’d probably tie me up and drug me to keep me here,” I accused.
“Probably,” he agreed. “Though I suspect I’d have no problem at all finding more effective means.”
I looked at him sharply. He wasn’t joking. And I never wanted to know what those “more effective means” might be.

Okay. So he is not a vampire, but who am I to discriminate when it comes to HAWTness? Sure, he is more than a little bit scary, but he owns a bookstore, Barrons Books & Baubles, and I’m a book lover, and you have to admit, IYD, is a pretty handy number to have on speed dial… you know, for those pesky ‘death is immanent’ situations.

The Black Dagger Brotherhood.

Yeah, the Black Dagger Brotherhood was a hell of a group. All that stood between the civilian vampire population and the lessers.

Crossing his arms, Wrath looked around the room, taking each one of them in, seeing their strengths but mostly their curses. [...]

“This is the Black Dagger Brotherhood. My fellow warriors. My brothers.” He nodded to the blindingly handsome one. “Rhage, you know. Tohr also. The one with the goatee and the Sox hat is Vishous. The Rapunzel over there is Phury.” Wrath’s voice dropped to a snarl. “And Zsadist has already introduced himself.”

Yes! The whole lot of them. All mine! Mine! That’s what’s doing. Ya feel me, true? Seriously, all the brothers are tempting in their own way, so please don’t ask me to pick a favorite. I can’t. I’m even madly in love with the young bloods, John Matthew and Qhuay! (Yes, I’m totally rooting for Qhuinn and Blay).

So that’s it. My Top 5(ish) Book Boyfriends. Did you swoon your pants off?

Wanna show off your book boyfriend? Then check out My Book Boyfriend, a new weekly meme, hosted here. Find more details on the introduction post.

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To celebrate my first year of *BOOK* blogging, I want to give one lucky winner my Top 5 Book Boyfriends. Yes, that’s right! My love for them is so crazy deep, I decided I must share.

*The books in this prize pack are Mass Market Paperbacks. Prize pack can be substituted for books of equal or lesser value if winner already owns these titles OR winner can choose Gift Card for Amazon or The Book Depository. Open Internationally. Ends 2/28 at midnight. Winner will be drawn using random.org. Fill out form below to enter.

“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted on Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

Everyone knows how much I love the Fuentes Brothers from The Perfect Chemistry series by Simone Elkeles. And if you didn’t know, check out this post: Rico Suave, The Fuentes Brothers! Alex and Carlos top my fictional boyfriends list! Yes, I know it is wrong, but I can’t help it.

So imagine my delight when the cover for book 3, Chain Reaction, was released this week! And it is just as swoon worthy as the other covers! And OH EM GEEEEEE I can’t wait!

Fall in Love:

Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles
Luis Fuentes is a good boy who doesn’t live with the angst that his big brothers, Alex and Carlos, have always lived with. Luis is smart, funny, and has big dreams of becoming an astronaut. But when he falls for the wrong girl, Luis enters a dark world he’s never known, and just when he thinks he’s got life all figured out, learns some disturbing news about his family that destroys his positive outlook on life. Will that Fuentes bad boy streak come out with a vengeance and lure Luis to live on the edge like his new girlfriend and his own father?

Continuing all the steamy romance of the first two books, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Simone Elkeles gives fans one more satisfying taste of the irresistible Fuentes boys.

Pre-Order it here: Chain Reaction (Perfect Chemistry #3) by Simone Elkeles or add the book to your TBR on Goodreads
 
This title will be released on May 24, 2011

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Also, what kind of Southern Vampire Mysteries fan would I be if I didn’t post the cover for Book 11 in the Sookie Stackhouse series? Released this week, the cover for Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris.

Dead Reckoning: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel (SVM Book 11)
With her knack for being in trouble’s way, Sookie witnesses the firebombing of Merlotte’s, the bar where she works. Since Sam Merlotte is now known to be two-natured, suspicion falls immediately on the anti-shifters in the area. But Sookie suspects otherwise and she and Sam work together to uncover the culprit – and the twisted motive for the attack. But her attention is divided. Though she can’t ‘read’ vampires, Sookie knows her lover Eric Northman and his ‘child’ Pam well – and she realises that they are plotting to kill the vampire who is now their master. Gradually, she is drawn into the plot -which is much more complicated than she knows. Caught up in the politics of the vampire world, Sookie will learn that she is as much of a pawn as any ordinary human – and that there is a new Queen on the board…

Pre-Order the book here: Dead Reckoning: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel

This title will be released on May 3, 2011

I’ve always been a big fan of the cover art for the Southern Vampire Series, but something about this one doesn’t sit well with me. Perhaps it is because Sookie is hanging out upside down, or perhaps it has something to do with the burning pages that are falling all around her, which are most likely foreshadowing something significant.  But really, hasn’t poor Sookie been burnt enough?