Jan 25, 2014

Nina Bangs: My Wicked Vampire

I came across this supernatural series quite a while ago. It used to be a trilogy but I’ve currently got my hands on number four in the series and that’s not the last one. Not all are about vampires, though (but Mr. Google says there is a spin-off series focused only on the vampires).
You are sucked into a world where gods and goddesses, cosmic troublemakers, plants which feed off sexual energy and other unheard-of creatures interfere with mortals’ lives. The mortals are usually guests of a theme castle run by a certain troublemaker who has a real wizard as her right hand and the shows and fantasies are performed by vampires, demons – just name it.
It is a very light read and the storyline doesn’t leave the centre couple. That’s probably the weak spot. Not too much story building – everything happens within the boundaries of the castle or somewhere very close to it and it all happens in a very short time. But some may find it an advantage – depends on what you seek.
I wanted to give it just three vampire kisses for its lack of the settings and other stuff mentioned above but then I realized that every book made me laugh because it introduced some kind of unusual character (thumbs up for the warrior cactus in this one) so four kisses it is then.


GENRE: funny romance
FANGS OUT: I like the settings and variety in characters
FANGS RETRACTING: too centered on the castle
TOTAL SCORE:

Jan 14, 2014

50 Shades of Red ... part 2

All right, I’ll jump right in. If you don’t know what’s going on, read about my hunt for the most gorgeous red lip color in the first part of the series.
For this part, I’ve prepared all my Avon lipsticks and one Urban Decay, because I had space for one lipstick on the paper, so I added the brand I only had one thing from – duh! I'm becoming a space-saving genius ;-)=

Notice the difference in the swatches - compared to the ELF lipsticks I did last time, these let more color on the paper -> so the pigmentation is way better than in the ELF lipsticks. But if they let so much color on the paper, will something stay on the lips? Are you hanging on the edge of your seats? :-)=





As you can see, I have a lot of Avon lipsticks – all from different lines or whatever that is – some of them quite pricey, some of them super cheap. All they have in common, however, is the pigmentation. It doesn’t matter if you buy the Color Trend line or one of those Extra Lasting ones – they will all give you the color you want in one layer.
Sure, the cheapest ones have the formula a little thinner than the more expensive ones, but I find them more then good for the price. I have a suspicion that Rich Ruby is just diluted Fiery Red. Which reminds me – Avon has a gazillion red shades but they are all very similar. You won’t notice the difference between some of them at the first glance – that’s exactly what prevents me from buying a lipstick from their most expensive line (Luxe), because I’m afraid I’d buy a shade I already have but in a “better” packaging. Better being the operative word here, because I hate gold packaging – instead of looking more luxurious, it does quite the opposite, it looks cheap. But I’ve just discovered I can buy mini samples of them so more Avon is going to appear here for sure.
What I like about all those Avon lipsticks is their duration. Honestly, they all (even the Color Trend Line) survived my meal and drink – I had to reapply the cheapest ones on small areas of my lips, but none of them was completely gone as it happens with lipsticks which will appear in the next episode ;-)= So if you want a good lipstick for a good price (around 5 dollars), invest in one of those (btw the Extra Lasting ones are really worth it - that's Fiery Red in my swatches).
The last one I added for paper saving purposes is Urban Decay’s Gravity. I saved money for a long time before I could afford this one (it was some kind of special edition with pretty steel packaging). And I couldn’t be more disappointed. Not only does the lipstick smell like it just escaped from the chemical lab, it also doesn’t last as much as one would think such an expensive lipstick would. Sure, it’s creamy, application is smooth but I dare you to take a sip from your glass or mug or whatever you drink from. Poof ... gone! Gotta reapply it. I mean one frickin’ drink will make it almost disappear! And that sucks because it is very dark, so it looks weird if you have half of your lips naked while you are sprinting toward the nearest mirror. This was a huge turndown for me.


Jan 11, 2014

Sherrilyn Kenyon: Kiss of the Night

Dark-Hunter series number four. I think. I’ve never seen messiest author’s official website. Can’t tell if this is the right or wrong number, if I’m reading it in the right order, just nothing.
What I know, however, is that the series is sometimes very entertaining. Ok, there are about gazillion characters, too many mythologies used and way too many things happening in the fractions of the supernatural world (I know, this ensures the never-ending-ness of the series but sometimes too much is just way too much...).
So, the vampires are poisonous to others, they loathe drinking blood, then the other ones drink souls, and so on and so on. I think the world it is set in is in the same mess the whole author’s website is in. And that’s my point. It’s messy and sometimes messy is good. But sometimes it’s not.
If you look for a romance which will always wind up in the happily ever after mode, than you may be sometimes disappointed – yup, I can imagine the faint-hearted actually crying at one point in this book. But if you like a twist every now and then, then you will for sure get your treat.


GENRE: action romance
FANGS OUT: entertaining
FANGS RETRACTING: mythology overload
TOTAL SCORE:

Jan 7, 2014

Kerrelyn Sparks: Sexiest Vampire Alive



Ok, here’s the thing. Kerrelyn Sparks writes the Love at Stake series and this is number eleven. Given the fact that I don’t usually start reading series in the middle (even though here it wouldn’t be a problem – each story can be read without knowing the whole world of vampires Sparks created because you get introduced to it in every book) you can deduce I’m a sucker for the series.
Yes, it’s a romance so those of you who are not fans of happy endings can pass this to someone who can actually enjoy it. But in case you want to give the genre a try, this is where you should start.
Over the years we got to know über-old-and-grumpy Scottish vampire warriors who make the situations in the 21st century awkward for them and funny for us. Sparks added some shifters to spice things up (were-rabbits are damn hilarious if you think of it) and every once in a while she makes a quite negative-looking character tell his/her story and it changes your opinion (AKA how a movie star became a guano farmer).
This book was no exception for her love/humor/sacrifice/action mix. You got this playboy who was given the task of making the vampires’ secret go easy with the White House and had to fight his attraction to the President’s daughter. Because that would just blow things up, right?

GENRE: funny romance

FANGS OUT: oh the fun and gorgeous characters

FANGS RETRACTING: when it comes to this genre there aren’t many which can beat this so no retracting here

TOTAL SCORE:

Jan 4, 2014

Rubber Ducky Frenzy 3

You thought it was over the last time, didn't you? :-)= Well, nope. I've got more.