Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by Miz B of Should Be Reading and asks you to :
1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a random page
3 . Share 2 "teaser" sentences also citing the title of the book and the author and in that way people can have great recommendations if they like the "teaser".
4. Please avoid spoilers!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
 My name is Charlotte Davidson. Charley to some, Charlotte the Harlot to others, but that was mostly in middle school. I came with a decent set of curves, a healthy respect for the male anatomy, and a slightly disturbing addiction to brown edibles. Other than that - and the fact that I'd also been born the grim reaper - I was about as normal as a surly girl with a private investigator's license could be.
~page 1& 2  
Third Grave Dead Ahead (Charley Davidson #3) by Darynda Jones (hardcover)

Review: Pale Demon (The Hollows #9) by Kim Harrison

A wild journey of
black magic and
supernatural adventure.

Condemned to death for black magic and shunned, Rachel Morgan has three days to somehow get to the annual witches convention in San Francisco and clear her name. If she fails, the only way she can escape death is to live in the demonic ever after . . . for ever after.

Banned from the flight lists, Rachel teams up with elven tycoon Trent Kalamack, headed for the West Coast for his own mysterious business. But Rachel isn’t the only passanger along for the ride. Can a witch, an elf, a living vampire, and a pixy in one car survive for over 2,300 miles? And that’s not counting the assassin on their tail.

A fearsome demon walks the sunlight, freed after centuries of torment to slay the innocent and devour souls. But his ultimate prey is Rachel Morgan. While the powerful witch with nerves of steel will do whatever it takes to stay alive, even embracing her own demonic nature may not be enough to save her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I just started the series recently with the first book and loved it. When I got this book (#9) to review I had to skip the ones in the middle. I hate reading them out of order, although this was still a good story, so I'm going back and reading them all.

This series is a great combination of paranormal, romance, action and best of all - humor. Author Kim Harrison does a terrific job of creating strong women. Witch Rachel Morgan is the main character and with the help of her pixie friend Jenks, is off on another adventure. The road trip across the country is a riot as Trent and Ivy help create chaos. I thought my family was tough! Drama and action are soon thrown into the mix as they are being pursued by a variety of bad guys including a demon who eats living souls. Yum.

The characters are so interesting although I'm looking forward to finding out more of their back story and how they got to this point. There are obvious romantic connections and they're definitely complicated. But some loose ends are beginning to come together and the writing is excellent with several new plot twists.

I've read many 5 star reviews for this and several people have said it's their favorite Rachel Morgan book. Harrison does not slack off with the story line and intricate layers of the magical world have been built up throughout the series. I was missing out on that without reading the books in between but this was still very enjoyable. The ending has a good set up for book #10 next year.

I can't take it anymore...I'm off to read the rest of this series, right now!

Coming soon:
Hollows series graphic novel
7/12/11






Madison Avery series #3
late May or early June






Author site
Thank you to HarperCollins for a copy of this book to review.

Publisher: Harper Voyager (HarperCollins)
Release date: 2/22/11
Pages: 432
Price/format:$16.99/hardcover
Type: paranormal romance/urban fantasy

Review: Dope Sick by Walter Dean Myers

If you could change one
thing about your life,
what would it be?

Seventeen-year-old Lil J is in trouble, big trouble. He's living a hard life in Harlem with his drug addicted mother. Out of money and without a job he looks for some easy cash. When a drug run goes bad, an undercover cop is critically wounded and his buddy is caught. Lil J goes on the run. With the police in pursuit he hides out in a crack house. He's been shot in the arm and is desperate to escape but sees no way out. A television is playing in an upper apartment where a spooky man named Kelly sits and waits. He knows Lil J and he knows his life because he's watching it on TV.

His life is a mess and he would do anything to change it. Kelly may just give him the chance. With a flick of the remote control he shows Lil J his future if he tries to run to the roof. He's surrounded by cops and is holding his own gun to his head. Unsure of what he is seeing but with few options he is forced to stay. As he hides out in increasing pain and needing a fix his desperation builds. Unable to leave he is reluctant to answer Kelly's questions but he is persistent and somehow he can play Lil J's past, present and future. As he watches the TV his story unfolds but can he identify where his life went wrong? If he had the chance to change just one thing, what would that be and could he prevent this moment?

This was a short, intense read that pulls you into a young man's despair. The descriptions and dialogue depict a bleak life in the inner city but the hope of redemption and the possibility of a second chance is intriguing. Through Lil J's introspection he is forced to confront his reality. We may be a victim of circumstances but we all have choices to make in how we handle it. The author provides a very creative and effective story about those choices in today's society. This is the first book I've read by Myers but it won't be the last.

Thank you to HarperTeen (HarperCollins) for an ARC of this book.

author website - www.walterdeanmyers.net

publisher - www.harperteen.com

Release date: 2/10/09
Pages: 192
Price/format: $16.99/hardcover
Type: Young adult urban fantasy
Age: 14 and up