Envy ~ JR Ward

Envy by J.R. Ward
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Police Detective Thomas DelVecchio has been living in the shadow of his infamous serial killer father for his entire life and is considered something of a loose cannon at his new job in Caldwell NY. Finding himself alone at the scene of a vicious attack on a suspected murderer, "Veck" has no memory of what happened and finds himself beginning to lose his precarious grip on reality. One of the only people who believes in Veck's innocence is Internal Affairs officer Reilly, the person ordered to keep tabs on him.

This series started out so promising with the first book, Covet which I absolutely loved, but then fell apart in spectacular fashion with the second book Crave. This third book sort of falls somewhere in the middle.

The character of Thomas DelVecchio was first introduced in Ward's other (and far superior) series The Black Dagger Brotherhood, when he showed up in Lover Unleashed. To be honest, I was not a fan of him there. He came off as cocky and snide, and when i found out he was due to be the focus of this book, I was less than thrilled. However, I found myself being surprisingly drawn to his character in this setting. Although you could argue he was just another one of Ward's signature tortured heroes, I found myself liking him more and more as I read the book.

Reilly was another story altogether. She came across as very two dimensional and her constant flip-flop decision making was totally unbelievable especially given her profession working in Internal Affairs. Ward usually writes her heroines as strong no-nonsense woman, but with Reilly (as with the heroine in Crave, Grier) she has delivered a very forgettable wishy-washy female.

The main reason I keep sticking with this series is because of the character of Jim, the Fallen Angel and the heart of each story. His passion and determination to make things right has kept me coming back to these books even when I feel like walking away for good. I honestly wish that the focus of the series would be more on Jim and his band of Rebel Fallen Angels, than on the sometimes boring humans he spends so much time trying to save.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone ~ Laini Taylor

Inital thoughts as I finished the book:

The last act has left me a puddle of emotional goo.

*deep breath*

***********************************************************************

5++++ Stars

I will admit to going into this book not knowing exactly what to expect. The book synopsis is so vague and mysterious that I couldn't help but want to dive into this bizarre world where a young girl is sent out on these errands by her beastly guardian in search of teeth...human and otherwise. Where a door opens in Prague, and exits into Marrakesh.

I was completely captivated by this story from the first line. And I knew this was something special within the first few chapters.

I truly feel like delving any more into the actual plot would lessen the impact for anyone thinking of reading this book. This really should be a book that is experienced from beginning to end, with the roller coaster of emotions that that entails.

But, I do have to point out that Laini Taylor's writing is just absolute perfection. Her characters come to life in such a vivid way, that it honestly felt like I was inside the book as I was reading it. And one final comment regarding the character of Akiva. Hands down one of my favorite fictional characters ever.

Normally I would have been beyond annoyed by the MAJOR cliffhanger of an ending that this book had (the final few chapters left me a weepy mess), but I can forgive Taylor for that, knowing that we will have 2 more books in the series to look forward to.

Bottom line:

One of the best books of 2011 (top 3)

One of my all time favorite books...period.