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Merissa (12699 KP) rated Concealed in Books
Oct 19, 2018
Concealed by Rosalie Redd
Concealed: Lexi is a story from the Blood Courtesan world, a series of standalones by different authors. This one has been written by Rosalie Redd, and an amazing job she has done with it too.
Lexi and Gavin's story is a Beauty and the Beast tale, with a vampirical twist. Not only are there vampires and courtesans in this story, but this vampire can also get sick. Sickness not crossing over to vampires is purely a myth. ? Gavin has his issues, Lexi has hers. You hope they will end up together, but the fun part is seeing just how they do.
This is a fast paced long-novella, with plenty of back history given at the right times - no info-dump here. The characters are nicely rounded out, and the situations believable. Going along with my experience of Rosalie Redd, there were no editing or grammatical errors in this story that disrupted my reading flow.
For the romantic, for those who love a good vampire story, I can highly recommend this!
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Lexi and Gavin's story is a Beauty and the Beast tale, with a vampirical twist. Not only are there vampires and courtesans in this story, but this vampire can also get sick. Sickness not crossing over to vampires is purely a myth. ? Gavin has his issues, Lexi has hers. You hope they will end up together, but the fun part is seeing just how they do.
This is a fast paced long-novella, with plenty of back history given at the right times - no info-dump here. The characters are nicely rounded out, and the situations believable. Going along with my experience of Rosalie Redd, there were no editing or grammatical errors in this story that disrupted my reading flow.
For the romantic, for those who love a good vampire story, I can highly recommend this!
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Vampires Suck (2010) in Movies
Aug 8, 2019
Vampires suck – but does the movie? We open on the San Salvatore Festival with the angsty Becca watching her beau, Edward Sullen, disrobe and expose his sparkly secrets- he’s a vampire! Cue the “True Blood- 40oz” toting, Mono-fang vampire to take Edward out….wait, we have to get the rest of the story! What follows is a parody of the first two movies of the Twilight Saga. Most of the characters analogous to the spoof’s target are introduced in the first 30 minutes; few of them are actually seen again throughout the movie.
Becca (newcomer Jenn Proske) is forced to move to Sporks, Washington, with her deadbeat father and town sheriff, Frank Crane (Diedrich Bader of The Drew Carey Show). Frank’s best friend is the rough-and-tumble paraplegic Native American, Bobby. His contribution to the plot is his hunky teenage son, Jacob White (Chris Riggi of Gossip Girl). The town of Sporks seems to have vampires on the brain and its population is only growing smaller.
Our heroine is introduced to Edward Sullen (Matt Lanter of Disaster Movie) and what follows is the “classic” story of girl-meets-vampire, girl-loses-vampire, girl-gets-threatened-by-vampire-nemesis, etc. Writers/Directors Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer use their formulaic approach to spoof movies by making the plot a cliff-notes version of the Stephanie Meyer’s original material, with ample jokes thrown in-in an attempt to beef up their rendition.
In fact, there are so many visual jokes in the movie that it left me wondering what a sight-impaired person might conclude of the movie. “What are all these people laughing at?” I noticed a few of the dialogue driven jokes weren’t even played off by the actors. They seemed to have been missed by everyone, including the editors. Other jokes are pop-culture references that will get stale with time. They’re integrated well, but definitely dated. The movie is redolent with the classic American comedy tradition of slapstick, which occasionally comes off as funny.
The production value left something to be desired as several scenes were obviously one-takes. I counted several instances where Becca’s kiss left Edward’s mouth with a smudge of his own flesh-tone showing through. But hey- at least single takes have continuity, right? The contacts, no doubt purchased in bulk, gave the characters an occasional Marty Feldman goggly-look. The effect is hilarious, although I’m not always sure if it’s intentional.
The cast has its standouts. Jenn Proske’s Becca comes dangerously close (like copyright-violating close) to the performance of Kristen Stewart’s Bella as the fidgety, twitchy, sullen and hormone-y heroine. And Ken Jeong (The Hangover) as Daro, while not appearing on screen much, definitely makes his comedic presence felt.
All in all, “Vampires Suck” didn’t really suck… it kind of chews, like gum. Gum out of the package is fresh, flavorful, but the longer you chew it, the tougher and more stale it becomes. This movie is fresh, funny, and quirky right now, but it won’t stand the test of time like more accomplished parodies.
Becca (newcomer Jenn Proske) is forced to move to Sporks, Washington, with her deadbeat father and town sheriff, Frank Crane (Diedrich Bader of The Drew Carey Show). Frank’s best friend is the rough-and-tumble paraplegic Native American, Bobby. His contribution to the plot is his hunky teenage son, Jacob White (Chris Riggi of Gossip Girl). The town of Sporks seems to have vampires on the brain and its population is only growing smaller.
Our heroine is introduced to Edward Sullen (Matt Lanter of Disaster Movie) and what follows is the “classic” story of girl-meets-vampire, girl-loses-vampire, girl-gets-threatened-by-vampire-nemesis, etc. Writers/Directors Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer use their formulaic approach to spoof movies by making the plot a cliff-notes version of the Stephanie Meyer’s original material, with ample jokes thrown in-in an attempt to beef up their rendition.
In fact, there are so many visual jokes in the movie that it left me wondering what a sight-impaired person might conclude of the movie. “What are all these people laughing at?” I noticed a few of the dialogue driven jokes weren’t even played off by the actors. They seemed to have been missed by everyone, including the editors. Other jokes are pop-culture references that will get stale with time. They’re integrated well, but definitely dated. The movie is redolent with the classic American comedy tradition of slapstick, which occasionally comes off as funny.
The production value left something to be desired as several scenes were obviously one-takes. I counted several instances where Becca’s kiss left Edward’s mouth with a smudge of his own flesh-tone showing through. But hey- at least single takes have continuity, right? The contacts, no doubt purchased in bulk, gave the characters an occasional Marty Feldman goggly-look. The effect is hilarious, although I’m not always sure if it’s intentional.
The cast has its standouts. Jenn Proske’s Becca comes dangerously close (like copyright-violating close) to the performance of Kristen Stewart’s Bella as the fidgety, twitchy, sullen and hormone-y heroine. And Ken Jeong (The Hangover) as Daro, while not appearing on screen much, definitely makes his comedic presence felt.
All in all, “Vampires Suck” didn’t really suck… it kind of chews, like gum. Gum out of the package is fresh, flavorful, but the longer you chew it, the tougher and more stale it becomes. This movie is fresh, funny, and quirky right now, but it won’t stand the test of time like more accomplished parodies.
Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated Passion Unleashed (Demonica #3) in Books
Sep 3, 2019
I read book 1 (Pleasure Unbound) and book 2 (Desire Unchained) not that long ago and got really invested in this group of brothers and their friends.
Like the others before, this one starts with some action. Wraith is hunting gang members that belong to a vampire led gang when he gets poisoned by a mysterious someone. And it seems he can't be healed unless he sleeps with a certain virgin with Aegis connections who holds a charm that can save his life. Of course, there's a downside to that--Serena will die without it.
I liked how Wraith changed in this. He's gone from some rather self destructive guy, who holds himself back from everyone, to one who starts to soften and admit he cares for people. We see his insecurities and his fears and I started to feel for him. To truly like him. He's not had the greatest life, not until he met his brothers anyway.
I loved the globe-trotting aspect to this one with Serena's Tomb Raider type skills. We spend a while in Egypt as she looks for two artefacts that the Aegis are hoping will stop the unrest in the demon population and Sheoul.
Gem and Kynan's romance returns in this one--after his disappearance at the end of the last book--and I have been eating it up! It's been three books brewing now, so it's about time they finally got together. Of course, nothing ever goes smoothly and for several pages I wanted to cry.
And what do you know? Another sibling pops up in this one, and it appears his story is next in the series. I don't know if I'll be going straight into book 4 or take a break now that the original trio have found their special someone.
Like the others before, this one starts with some action. Wraith is hunting gang members that belong to a vampire led gang when he gets poisoned by a mysterious someone. And it seems he can't be healed unless he sleeps with a certain virgin with Aegis connections who holds a charm that can save his life. Of course, there's a downside to that--Serena will die without it.
I liked how Wraith changed in this. He's gone from some rather self destructive guy, who holds himself back from everyone, to one who starts to soften and admit he cares for people. We see his insecurities and his fears and I started to feel for him. To truly like him. He's not had the greatest life, not until he met his brothers anyway.
I loved the globe-trotting aspect to this one with Serena's Tomb Raider type skills. We spend a while in Egypt as she looks for two artefacts that the Aegis are hoping will stop the unrest in the demon population and Sheoul.
Gem and Kynan's romance returns in this one--after his disappearance at the end of the last book--and I have been eating it up! It's been three books brewing now, so it's about time they finally got together. Of course, nothing ever goes smoothly and for several pages I wanted to cry.
And what do you know? Another sibling pops up in this one, and it appears his story is next in the series. I don't know if I'll be going straight into book 4 or take a break now that the original trio have found their special someone.
The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974)
6.8
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Movie
A co-production between the British film studio Hammer, best known for their horror movies, and Shaw...
horror martial arts vampires zombies kung fu Hammer
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated The Nightlife: New York (The Nightlife #1) in Books
Nov 21, 2019
When Aaron sees a beautiful woman being shaken down by two corrupt cops on the streets of New York he steps in to try to help her. But Michelle does not need his help and is well able to deal with the police. However in the fracas Aaron is accidentally shot and fatally wounded. Michelle feels guilty and feels she has to save his life the only way she can - by turning him into what she is. A vampire.
Michelle teaches Aaron about his superhuman powers and how he has to live now but there is trouble brewing as Aaron comes to terms with his new life, the control Michelle has over him and letting go his old existence, the two corrupt police officers are determined to track Michelle down and make her pay.
Along the way there is plenty of sex. Vampires have always been sexy and the recent romantic resurgence of vampires has only emphasised this. Luedke takes this one step further. Vampire bites induce sexual arousal in their victims and Michelle teaches Aaron to use this with care, except when they are together when they are able to withstand each other's bites.
It would have been easy for the sex scenes to overwhelm the book but Luedke manages to keep everything as an integral part of the plot which evolves neatly throughout the course of the book as the various plot strands come together.
There are some terrific action scenes too with the vampires' hightened abilities resulting in some sequences that reminded me of The Matrix complete with 'bullet time'.
So if you want your vampires sexy and powerful and your stories thrilling and full of action this is the story for you.
Rated: Scenes of sex and violence. Frequent swearing.
Michelle teaches Aaron about his superhuman powers and how he has to live now but there is trouble brewing as Aaron comes to terms with his new life, the control Michelle has over him and letting go his old existence, the two corrupt police officers are determined to track Michelle down and make her pay.
Along the way there is plenty of sex. Vampires have always been sexy and the recent romantic resurgence of vampires has only emphasised this. Luedke takes this one step further. Vampire bites induce sexual arousal in their victims and Michelle teaches Aaron to use this with care, except when they are together when they are able to withstand each other's bites.
It would have been easy for the sex scenes to overwhelm the book but Luedke manages to keep everything as an integral part of the plot which evolves neatly throughout the course of the book as the various plot strands come together.
There are some terrific action scenes too with the vampires' hightened abilities resulting in some sequences that reminded me of The Matrix complete with 'bullet time'.
So if you want your vampires sexy and powerful and your stories thrilling and full of action this is the story for you.
Rated: Scenes of sex and violence. Frequent swearing.
Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated Dead Perfect in Books
Apr 27, 2018
My Summary: Shannah is going to die. She has a blood disease that none of the doctors can identify, and she only has months to live. She’s on her last month, possibly her last week… she hates to think it’s her last day, but it sure feels like it. She has been watching the strange tall, dark (and hansom) man for several months, and is convinced that he is a vampire (though she’s not exactly sane when she makes that decision). She goes to him seeking immortality, but collapses in near death on his front porch. When she wakes up, she feels better. What did he do that healed her? She’s not a vampire, but even the doctors couldn’t heal her… then there’s the fact that she’s pretty sure that she’s falling in love with him. but Ronan’s healing doesn’t last forever… and Shannah has to make a hard choice.
Ronan is five hundred and thirteen years old. He has never loved anyone in his life, but when Shannah comes to his door he takes her into his house and begins to heal her in his own special way. But then he accidentally falls in love with her. That causes problems—when your mortal soulmate is going to die soon and she isn’t sure she wants to be a leach her whole life. If he changes her against her will, will she hate him forever? Are his only choices letting her die and losing her, or changing her and losing her?
And then there’s that whole problem with a vampire hunter tracking down Ronan… and trying to kill him.
My Thoughts—at first glimpse, this seemed so twilight-ish. But once I started reading it I got out of my vampire stereotype and enjoyed this book quite a lot. I was at the library and dying for a light-hearted vampire romance (because I was just in that mood) so I picked it up. It’s a very quick read, and very sweet.
The Plot—the plot moved quickly, though at one point a thought crossed my mind, “there isn’t much story here, how is the author dragging it out into 345 pages and is still managing to keep it interesting?” although the plot seemed a little simple, it held my attention very well.
The Characters—I loved the characters in this book. Shannah was depicted as a desperate-to-do-anything-to-keep-alive kind of girl, to the point that she was willing to live with a vampire. Ronan had so much passion and love for this poor girl that it made him endearing. I love how he’d always call her “love.” It was so sweet. Jim Hewitt, the hunter, was a character that you just didn’t like one bit—a strong willed jerk who, although he thought he was doing the right thing, even that he was doing it to keep Shannah safe, I didn’t like him and I felt sorry for him. Though, in my opinion, I liked what happened to him at the end ;)
The writing—There were a lot of really good descriptions in this book, I was able to see everything that the author said in beautiful detail. There wasn’t any graphic sex, though there were a few scenes at the end, but it was brief. There were a few re-used phrases in the book though, and that gets annoying. (My sister and I call this the JMG Syndrome, or “Jenny McGrady” syndrome, because of a series we read when we were younger. Jenny was always feeling “like she got slugged in the stomach”. The phrase was used several times in all fifteen books. It got old really fast.) Shannah had many kissed “brushed across her brow” in this book. But besides that, the writing was warm and welcoming.
My Recommendation: I recommend this book to anyone who likes a good paranormal romance, vampires, or just a romance in general. Ages 16+, only because of the frequency of sex at the end of the book (though I will say that the vampire held fast to abstinence, so that was encouraging.) there wasn’t any foul language, and I really liked that! I hate books that have so much language that I feel dirty reading it. But this book was very clean.
~Haleyknitz
Ronan is five hundred and thirteen years old. He has never loved anyone in his life, but when Shannah comes to his door he takes her into his house and begins to heal her in his own special way. But then he accidentally falls in love with her. That causes problems—when your mortal soulmate is going to die soon and she isn’t sure she wants to be a leach her whole life. If he changes her against her will, will she hate him forever? Are his only choices letting her die and losing her, or changing her and losing her?
And then there’s that whole problem with a vampire hunter tracking down Ronan… and trying to kill him.
My Thoughts—at first glimpse, this seemed so twilight-ish. But once I started reading it I got out of my vampire stereotype and enjoyed this book quite a lot. I was at the library and dying for a light-hearted vampire romance (because I was just in that mood) so I picked it up. It’s a very quick read, and very sweet.
The Plot—the plot moved quickly, though at one point a thought crossed my mind, “there isn’t much story here, how is the author dragging it out into 345 pages and is still managing to keep it interesting?” although the plot seemed a little simple, it held my attention very well.
The Characters—I loved the characters in this book. Shannah was depicted as a desperate-to-do-anything-to-keep-alive kind of girl, to the point that she was willing to live with a vampire. Ronan had so much passion and love for this poor girl that it made him endearing. I love how he’d always call her “love.” It was so sweet. Jim Hewitt, the hunter, was a character that you just didn’t like one bit—a strong willed jerk who, although he thought he was doing the right thing, even that he was doing it to keep Shannah safe, I didn’t like him and I felt sorry for him. Though, in my opinion, I liked what happened to him at the end ;)
The writing—There were a lot of really good descriptions in this book, I was able to see everything that the author said in beautiful detail. There wasn’t any graphic sex, though there were a few scenes at the end, but it was brief. There were a few re-used phrases in the book though, and that gets annoying. (My sister and I call this the JMG Syndrome, or “Jenny McGrady” syndrome, because of a series we read when we were younger. Jenny was always feeling “like she got slugged in the stomach”. The phrase was used several times in all fifteen books. It got old really fast.) Shannah had many kissed “brushed across her brow” in this book. But besides that, the writing was warm and welcoming.
My Recommendation: I recommend this book to anyone who likes a good paranormal romance, vampires, or just a romance in general. Ages 16+, only because of the frequency of sex at the end of the book (though I will say that the vampire held fast to abstinence, so that was encouraging.) there wasn’t any foul language, and I really liked that! I hate books that have so much language that I feel dirty reading it. But this book was very clean.
~Haleyknitz
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8.4
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