Super Six Sunday: Love Stories

Inspired by Top Ten Tuesday from The Broke and The Bookish, Super Six Sunday, a new feature from the fabulous ladies at Bewitched Bookworms, has different book-related topics each week and asks participants to address each topic in the form of a list of six. Obviously.

This week's topic is love stories, and given how much I love romance, it's both an awesome and a terrible prompt for me. Awesome because there are so many amazing love stories out there that have made me swoon, and terrible because it was nearly impossible to narrow it down to just six. I had to limit the topic even further in my head in order to choose books, so I went with love stories that feature really strong heroines, emotionally and physically, who aren't afraid to challenge the men in their lives. I think all six of the below women push buttons, question, and frustrate their men, but they are also loyal, powerful in their own ways, and are absolute equal partners in the relationship. Love them.

KISS OF SNOW (Psy-Changeling #10)

Nalini Singh • Adult Paranormal Romance

Nalini Singh is one of my very favorite authors, and her Psy-Changeling paranormal romance series has been one I've been obsessed with for years. We meet Hawke and Sienna in book one, but it takes another 8 books–yes eight, I died a little inside when each book that released wasn't theirs–before they finally get together. To be fair, they need all that time as Sienna is significantly younger than Hawke, but their journey in this book is one I've taken with them over and over again and will continue to do so for years to come.

DARKFEVER (Fever Series)

Karen Marie Moning • Adult Urban Fantasy

I'm sure many of you have heard the word Barrons uttered (or exhaled on a shaky breath full of longing) even if you haven't yet read this series. Jericho Barrons is not your typical romance hero. He's often neither romantic nor heroic. He's downright cruel at times and the force of his personality can be overwhelming. It's as easy to hate him as it is to love him, but Mac holds her own and never takes a step back when he takes a threatening step forward. Instead, she meets him with a step of her own, and the two of them fight, taunt, argue and then explode romantically as the series continues, and I just can't recommend their story enough. It's definitely NOT a conventional love story in any way, and that's part of what I like so much about the two of them.

TRUE

Erin McCarthy • Contemporary New Adult

True came to be in my hands just at the moment when the New Adult genre got to be at its most frustrating for me, the angst and drama of the relationships starting to test my patience and grate on my nerves, but then along came Rory. Rory wouldn't know how to play a game romantically with a guy if someone gave her a series of directions to review beforehand, and her honesty with everything she's feeling quickly led her to the top of my favorite heroines list. Tyler is a bit more cliched - a bad boy with a difficult past, but he's not nearly as superficial as labeling him a bad boy makes him seem, and I couldn't have loved him with Rory any more if I'd tried.

FOR DARKNESS SHOWS THE STARS

Diana Peterfreund • Young Adult/Dystopian

This story is one of the most romantic stories I've read where the hero and heroine don't even do so much as kiss on page. Elliot and Kai are all tension and hurt, dancing around one another as they search desperately in each other for the person they knew when they were younger, but whereas Kai takes his opportunities to land his emotional punches, Elliot always pulls hers, earning my respect and her place on this list. Despite all the lingering pain between them, there are such beautiful moments in this tale, and I always look forward to going back and spending time with Elliot an Kai on a re-read.

UNRAVELING

Elizabeth Norris • Paranormal Young Adult/SciFi

Unraveling is one of those books that took me by complete surprise, the blurb initially one that held no interest for me, but when I was lucky enough to get a review copy I decided I might as well give it a try. I fell in love with Janelle on nearly the first page, her sense of humor and low tolerance for the petty games of the popular crowd winning me over immediately. When Ben enters the picture there is no swooning (except on my part), and their relationship is one of tentative friendship and wary attraction for a long time before it becomes something much more heartwarming.

ANGELFALL

Susan Ee • Paranormal Young Adult

Like Unraveling, Angelfall was a complete surprise for me, a story I entered into not really knowing what to expect but I quickly found myself blown away. Penryn is fiercely protective of her younger sister, and when she gets taken, embarks on a long and terrifying journey with the dubious help of wingless angel Raffe to find her again. I loved everything about this book and the relationship between Penryn and Raffe, the antagonism and distrust between them ever-so slowly fading to leave genuine affection in its place. Again, a bit darker and less traditional of a love story, but strikingly memorable and beautiful just the same.

Those are six of my very favorites, what love story would top your list?

Fangirling: A Discussion and Update on ICED/BURNED by Karen Marie Moning

I've been thinking a lot lately about the blog and what kinds of posts I can integrate into my standard reviews and interviews to keep things interesting and fun, and when participating in Super Six Sunday last week an idea came to me. It was a prompt about authors we'd like to meet, and given Karen Marie Moning is at the top of my list I rambled on a bit about how much I love her (there are also pictures of a strikingly beautiful and half-naked Stuart Reardon, aka Ryodan), which in turn sparked a renewed interest in Iced.

I thought of more things I'd like to say about Iced that didn't make it into my review. Things about Dani. And Ryodan. And Dani and Ryodan together. The desire to talk about, question, theorize and otherwise fangirl all over this book led me to this post (and maybe feature, we'll see how it goes). We all have a book or a series we're madly in love with, right? One that when we see it on someone's to-be-read pile or catch wind of a Twitter conversation wherein people are considering starting it we respond with encouragement that includes an excessive use of all caps and exclamation points (and likely animated hand gestures and squealing as well). One we try and force on friends and family even if they're completely uninterested in reading it because it's quite frankly irrelevant whether or not they WANT to, they simply MUST read it. They're all "I'm not sure this is the book for me" and we're all "IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOU SAY RIGHT NOW, STOP WASTING TIME DENYING THE INEVITABLE AND READ." We suddenly turn into a stern parent to their irritated youth, replying with only "because I said so" when they ask why they're being forced asked to read this book.

The Fever series in general is one of those series for me, but Iced in particular is a standout in the middle of a spectacular series. What I like most about it is the fact that it inspires conversation. This is not a book you read and then can't think of anything to say about it afterwards. Oh no. When you reach the end you only have nothing to say because there's so much to say you don't even know where to start. You may have good things to say. You may not. But you'll want to to talk to someone about this book, and that's, for me, what makes it so fun.

So, this post is going to be me highlighting for you what I loved so much about Iced, and what worked so well for me when parts of this story didn't work at all for many a reader, and my hope is at the end of it you'll leave a comment agreeing or disagreeing with my take or, if you haven't read it, adding it to your list just because I've made you curious.

• • • • • • • • • •

TEAM RYODAN

I think perhaps the most controversial aspect and the main cause of the love/hate divide between readers of this book is the young age of its protagonist. Dani is 14, but this is in no way, shape or form a young adult novel. Below are the reasons Dani's young age and the presence of two very sexual, very alpha men and one soon-to-be alpha man in her life wasn't as uncomfortable for me as it was for some.

1. Dani's world is not our world. Sure, Iced is contemporary in terms of time, set in the here and now rather than being historical or futuristic, but this world is not governed by the rules and regulations of our reality and even if it was, the supernatural inhabitants of Dublin would disregard them, bend them, break them, and otherwise do as they please. Ryodan and company exist outside the confines of laws and morality as we know them today, therefore trying to make them fit into what our current society deems as acceptable or appropriate is going to end in nothing but frustration.

2. Dani both is and is not 14. Technically she's been alive for 14 years, but hers was not a protected, comfortable childhood where she was granted the time to simply be happy and healthy and young. She's been fighting monsters, human and otherwise, her entire life, seeing and experiencing the type of darkness that irrevocably changes and alters, ultimately forcing her to shed the skin of a child and adopt the armor of an adult. There's still an unquestionable innocence about her though, making her a rather beautiful blend of youth and experience.

3. This is not a romance. Yes, there are three men that feature very prominently in Dani's life, but aside from a bit of innuendo here and there from some of Ryodan's men, there is absolutely nothing, in my opinion, inappropriate about Ryodan or Dancer's behavior with regard to Dani. Christian is a bit of another story, but he's, and I say this with complete and utter fondness, batshit crazy. He's absolutely hilarious, appalling, and terrifying at the same time, so he gets a bit of a pass for his stray thought or two because he's going through a rather spectacular transition from human to death-by-sex fae. (KMM addresses this issue particularly well on her Facebook page)

4. Ryodan. Team Ryodan for the win. Now many of you are going to read this and go "Um, Jenny? How can you be ANY team when the girl is 14? That's beyond inappropriate." Yes, wanting Ryodan for Dani as she is in Iced is inappropriate, but I want Ryodan for Dani down the line. For me, he's her endgame just as Barrons was for Mac, but as I said before, there's absolutely nothing romantic between them in this first (or 6th depending on how you look at it) book. Ryodan does claim Dani as his own from the beginning, not in a sexual way though, but rather as a tool; something he needs to achieve the goals he's set for himself and he's absolutely nothing if not ambitious and opportunistic. She's valuable–a petite source of strength in a world where strength is the only remaining form of currency–and Ryodan keeps valuable things close to him.

5. Ryodan is not pining for Dani. He would never pine. Pine isn't even in his vocabulary. He's not patiently embracing celibacy and waiting for her to mature so he can seduce her as soon as she comes of age. That would be creepy. Instead, it's made very clear to us just how much Ryodan is NOT waiting for Dani in any romantic way, but what does exist between them is the promise of what could be in the future. We can see in Dani the type of woman she will become, and we already know the type of man Ryodan is, so the appeal for me in a Ryodan/Dani pairing is not rooted in the present with Iced, but in what Karen has in store for us in Burned and Flayed.

So, what do you guys think? Agree/disagree? Rooting for Dancer instead of Ryodan? Simply can't get past Dani's age? I'd love to know what you think in the comments! And if you haven't read Iced, I'd love to know what book or series you feel as though you can never say too much about.

• • • • • • • • • •

There have been some recent changes with regard to the next book in the series, Burned, so I wanted to end this post with some of the information I've found whilst trolling the internet for any crumbs to help tide me over until it's finally in my hands. I discovered a post on KMM's Facebook page a few days ago with some delicious tidbits, and then yesterday–thanks to Mandi at Smexy Books– I found a link to fantastic recap of a recent KMM Q+A courtesy of A Bitch, A Blog and A Bookshelf, which you can read in its entirety here. I've listed highlights from both Q+A finds below.

• The release date for Burned has been moved back from January 2014 to April 2014. When asked why, Karen had this to say:

"I won’t put a book out until I’m satisfied I’ve written it the best way possible.  I’m currently exploring two different ways of continuing the series. Previously I told you there would be three books (ICED, BURNED and FLAYED) in the Dani series followed by two Mac & Barrons books. I may be combining the next four books (BURNED, FLAYED and the untitled M&B books) into two."

• One of the most pressing questions for readers (myself included) is if Dani is going to be older in the next book. The answers in both Q+A sessions allude to Dani being 17 in Burned, though not right away.

•  There's been a lot of speculation and suggestion that Ryodan might be Dani's father given the similarities in their abilities. Personally, this squicks me out since I'm rooting for Ryodan in a romantic capacity and discovering he's her father would likely scar me for life. Luckily, Karen's response to the "is Ryodan Dani's father" question was an emphatic no. A no so emphatic in fact it was repeated two additional times.

• • • SPOILER • • •

• Jo and Ryodan's relationship is another hot-button topic for readers (mostly those readers like me who are hoping for a Dani/Ryodan romance in the future to rival that of Mac and Barrons). When asked about it, Karen said this:

"Can I please not be nailed to stand-alone romance novel clichés from the 90’s?  (Which I love to read by the way.) Really, is Ryodan the kind of…whatever he is….that would in any way be governed by them?  And Jo—who among you wouldn’t walk up those stairs if you got his nod?  She’s completely frank about knowing that she’s never going to keep him. She’s making a memory.

Transformation is what I find fascinating and emotionally stirring about life.  It’s what we become, how we become it, what happens when we think we’ve got nothing left inside us then stumble across some inner beast we didn’t even know was crouching in there that can rise to any occasion. No, Jo isn’t in Ryodan’s league and maybe Ryodan is currently being a jackass.  Those are starting points. Just like Darkfever was a starting point.  I haven’t forgotten that many people demanded I stop writing that new “horrible” series immediately, because they hated Mac and thought JZB was old and unattractive.

I’m glad I didn’t listen.  I hope you are, too."

Review: Iced

ICED
Fever Series #6/Dani O'Malley #1
Karen Marie Moning
Adult Urban Fantasy
495 pages
Delacorte Press
Available Now
Purchased copy

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
The year is 1 AWC—After the Wall Crash. The Fae are free and hunting us. It’s a war zone out there, and no two days are alike. I’m Dani O’Malley, the chaos-filled streets of Dublin are my home, and there’s no place I’d rather be.

Dani “Mega” O’Malley plays by her own set of rules—and in a world overrun by Dark Fae, her biggest rule is: Do what it takes to survive. Possessing rare talents and the all-powerful Sword of Light, Dani is more than equipped for the task. In fact, she’s one of the rare humans who can defend themselves against the Unseelie. But now, amid the pandemonium, her greatest gifts have turned into serious liabilities.

Dani’s ex–best friend, MacKayla Lane, wants her dead, the terrifying Unseelie princes have put a price on her head, and Inspector Jayne, the head of the police force, is after her sword and will stop at nothing to get it. What’s more, people are being mysteriously frozen to death all over the city, encased on the spot in sub-zero, icy tableaux.

When Dublin’s most seductive nightclub gets blanketed in hoarfrost, Dani finds herself at the mercy of Ryodan, the club’s ruthless, immortal owner. He needs her quick wit and exceptional skill to figure out what’s freezing Fae and humans dead in their tracks—and Ryodan will do anything to ensure her compliance.

Dodging bullets, fangs, and fists, Dani must strike treacherous bargains and make desperate alliances to save her beloved Dublin—before everything and everyone in it gets iced.

MY THOUGHTS
With Iced, Ms. Moning has proved yet again how truly gifted a storyteller she is, crafting a world and characters with so many facets we know we'll never see them all no matter how many books she writes or how deeply she lets us delve, the gears in our minds frantically turning to keep track of subtle clues and nuances we know will come into play as Dani's journey continues to unfold. There is many a reader whom will likely pick up Iced and find it less palatable than the first five books of her Fever series, Dani's young age and the multitude of men who have her on their radar perhaps pushing a boundary some may feel uncomfortable edging close to (though in my opinion, Dani's age is handled perfectly), but without a doubt this story will inspire conversation, and Ms. Moning makes it nearly impossible to reach the end of one of her books without having so many thoughts we can do nothing else but find the first available person and allow our theories to spill from our mouths before we choke on their numbers.

As mentioned previously, some readers may shy away from this book given Dani is only fourteen and part of the appeal of the previous five books set in this world is the undeniable and combustible sexual tension thrumming between Mac and Jericho Barrons, leaving many of us to wonder how Dani's youth will affect the dynamic between her, Ryodan and Christian. What's important to understand prior to reading is that this series, despite its teenage protagonist, is in no way a young adult novel. Dani's world is violent and bleak and Ms. Moning rarely pulls her punches, throwing down a gauntlet for her characters and readers at every possibly opportunity. She then waits to see if we're all brave enough to pick it up, testing us to see if we're able to face that which challenges, that which hurts, and that which makes us question. While it's true Dani is fourteen in terms of years, she's far older in terms of life experience, her solitary existence forcing her to emotionally age far faster than any young woman should have to, and she continues to prove to us again and again in Iced just how capable she is of surviving whatever is thrown her way.

Ryodan proves to be as enigmatic a man as Barrons, but for all their similarities, Ms. Moning does an absolutely stunning job of carefully and meticulously outlining their fundamental differences; the power and blunt personalities both men share beautifully overshadowed by the more subtle variations of their characters. Ryodan pushes Dani, is at times downright cruel, and often has us wondering if we've made the same mistake we've watched other women make with both him and Barrons – projecting the men we want them to be onto the men they actually are, thereby losing ourselves a bit in a dangerous illusion that promises nothing but pain if we can't shake ourselves loose of the naivety of hope. Just as we start to question ourselves when it comes to Ryodan however, Ms. Moning masterfully shows us a tiny patch of softness (soft being a relative term); a miniscule chink in the armor of an immaculately outfitted labyrinthine mystery encased in flesh and blood, and we latch onto it like the desperate and greedy readers we are, reveling in our small victory even as we gear up for the next battle of discovery.

Overall, Iced is a stunning continuation of the Fever world, Dani's dark history and intimate knowledge of the many pains life has to offer an intriguing contrast to Mac's penchant for pastel colors and her initial bumbling naivete. Dani is knowledgeable and skilled, and while her young years at times surface in the form of attitude, we can't really begrudge her her youthful outbursts given the dire situations she repeatedly finds herself in. Looking forward we can only guess how Dan's life will change as she ages, the number of theories we have increasing exponentially the longer we think about this first installment, and we find upon closing the back cover that the only drawback is the sure-to-be unbearable wait for book two.

Rating: 5/5

Review+Giveaway: Shadowfever

SHADOWFEVER (Fever Series #5)
Karen Marie Moning
Urban Fantasy
594 Pages
Delacorte Press
Available Now
Received via TLC Book Tours for review

This review contains NO spoilers.

THE STORY
MacKayla Lane used to have a pretty simple life. She was pretty. Boys always liked her. She had a home, loving parents, and a best friend in her sister Alina. Then, with no warning, Alina was brutally taken from her, leaving behind only a cryptic message that changed Mac's life forever.

Now, having been in Dublin, Ireland for months trying to determine who killed her sister and forced into an uneasy alliance with the mysterious Jericho Barrons, Mac is no longer that pretty southern girl. She knows darkness and she knows pain. And as she finds herself more deeply immersed in the world of the fae and the hunt for the Sinsar Dubh, her life is more complicated and dangerous than ever.

She thought she knew what side she was on. She thought she'd already experienced the worst pain and loss a person can endure. She thought her sister was the one who mattered most. She was wrong. On all counts. Questions abound, blackness hovers ominously at every turn, and the young woman with a love for all things pink finds herself a key player in the most epic of battles in the conclusion to this stunning series.

MY THOUGHTS
The Fever Series is extraordinarily aptly named, inciting a burn in us from the very first page that increases in intensity with each subsequent book until it culminates in a finale that sends our hearts up in flames as we lose ourselves in the all-consuming visceral awareness of Mac and Barrons, and the palpable, complicated friction between them. Our body temperature ratchets up with every wordless communication they exchange and every careful avoidance of physical contact until sweat beads on our skin in a conditioned physiological response to seeing their two names side by side in inky blackness, just as the pages practically smoke as a result of the speed with which we're flipping them in our haste to know every last detail of this spectacular fantasy. This story is passion and fire, pain and loss, and vengeance and forgiveness, reaching out with invisible fingers to wrap our hearts in an unyielding grip as it promises not necessarily a tale of joy and hope, but rather one of addicting darkness. Part of the appeal is an end that has the potential to deny us the happiness we seek, keeping our feelings in constant flux as we consider the possibility we may arrive at the last page with the hope of finding our emotional wounds stitched together and healing, only to discover a mere tourniquet awaits to help slow the bleeding.

Mac is a character who begins her journey as a young girl of sunshine and warmth, content with being pretty and blond as she revels in pastel colors and other superficial trivialities. What she becomes is a woman of substance, fundamentally altered by the trials we experience vicariously by her side, watching in shock, awe, and incomprehensible pain as she is emotionally eviscerated, physically beaten, and almost completely stripped of all her comforting and recognizable attributes. Though her story is dark and she at times makes decisions with a flawed logic that results in yet another mental or physical scar, she always manages to maintain a death grip on that rainbow girl we met four books prior, and we hold tight to that remnant as the black and crimson of Dublin's battle with the fey comes in various forms to render us both monochromatic.

A man and character who utterly defies definition, Jericho Barrons has us melting at his feet despite the fierce independence of which we think ourselves so capable the moment he opens his mouth and overwhelms us with intensity of his presence. He is a man who embodies qualities that should unnerve us, emanating an unforgettable and predatory sexual ferocity as well as a confidence and intelligence that is neither assumed nor learned, but is part of his very makeup. Though we may struggle and attempt an ultimately futile resistance, we find ourselves drawn into the inexplicable force field he projects–consumed, owned, and shockingly addicted to a complete enigma. This is a man we know virtually nothing about despite having read four novels of which he is a main character, and every tidbit of information we are given in this final installment only serves to further increase our hunger for knowledge–thrusting us into a perpetual cycle of information gathering and seeking from which we have no desire to escape if it means we get to linger a few more moments in his company. In this last book we learn more about him that we ever have before, and we drink in the new facets of a man that has haunted us greedily, quenching a thirst years in the making.

A simple review can never adequately describe Shadowfever, words on a page being spectacularly poor substitutes for the strength of feeling and broad emotional spectrum captured between its covers. Ms. Moning is more than a storyteller, her characters far more tangible than fictional beings could ever be thought to be, and she has created a world of infinite complexity that openly challenges us, dares us to experience it and remain only a passive observer, and then yanks us in with a shocking brute strength as it subjects us to the sharpest of pains sparsely interspersed with the warmest of joys. Enter into this final piece of the puzzle with a first-aid kit at the ready, as Ms. Moning is a master at inflicting wounds designed to injure but not kill, and she subjects both her characters and us to numerous events that leave indelible marks on the soft flesh of our hearts. Despite the pain, we revel in the emotional injuries, honored to be privy to a book capable of having such a remarkable effect.

Rating: 5/5

GIVEAWAY

Thanks to the fabulous people at Random House and TLC Book Tours, I have a copy of Shadowfever to give away to one very lucky commenter. This giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents only and will run through midnight EST on February 14th after which time a winner will be chosen and announced on the blog.

Each stop on this blog tour offers a new opportunity to win a copy of Shadowfever, so be sure and check out the other participating blogs so you can read their reviews and enter their giveaways as well! Good luck everyone!