Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard, takes on a case as a favor to his friend Thomas-a vampire of dubious integrity-only to become the prime suspect in a series of ghastly murders.

Another solid installment in the Dresden files, the more I get into these the more I enjoy them. I know there are some editing issues and I know some people have a fit over Harry’s use of Hells Bells or whatever but you know SOD IT. I read to have fun, I read to enjoy the book and as long as the editing isn’t so bad that it interferes with my enjoyment (yes have read those) I am okay with some issues, nothing is after all perfect. I love this universe.

Thomas is perhaps my favorite character next to Harry, he can have some issues but I like him. He tries to be good and he tries to do his best by the people around him. It is not his fault that he was born a Vampire of the white court. No more then it was Harry’s fault he was born a very powerful Wizard. A little spoiler reference there I won’t give it away. Overall this has quickly become my new favorite series and I am a bit obsessed with it. Sorry Miss Blake I know I have a lot of your books left to read but I am currently loving a Wizard named Harry…who does not have a counterpart called Voldemort.

My Gemstone Rating:

Here is the third volume in George R.R. Martin’s magnificent cycle of novels that includes A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings. Together, this series comprises a genuine masterpiece of modern fantasy, destined to stand as one of the great achievements of imaginative fiction.

Of the five contenders for power, one is dead, another in disfavor, and still the wars rage as alliances are made and broken. Joffrey sits on the Iron Throne, the uneasy ruler of of the Seven Kingdoms. His most bitter rival, Lord Stannis, stands defeated and disgraced, victim of the sorceress who holds him in her thrall. Young Robb still rules the North from the fortress of Riverrun. Meanwhile, making her way across a blood-drenched continent is the exiled queen, Daenerys, mistress of the only three dragons still left in the world. And as opposing forces maneuver for the final showdown, an army of barbaric wildlings arrives from the outermost limits of civilization, accompanied by a horde of mythical Others—a supernatural army of the living dead whose animated corpses are unstoppable. As the future of the land hangs in the balance, no one will rest until the Seven Kingdoms have exploded in a veritable storm of swords…

Action, Action and more action! That is what you get when you read this book. ACTION. Another solid installment of the series, and another re-read this year for me. It gets hard to say more about the series, but again you should give it a read if you like the show or have read the first books. I enjoy growing with the character and the action in this book really kept me riveted.

My Gemstone Rating:

Time is out of joint. The summer of peace and plenty, ten years long, is drawing to a close, and the harsh, chill winter approaches like an angry beast. Two great leaders—Lord Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon—who held sway over an age of enforced peace are dead…victims of royal treachery. Now, from the ancient citadel of Dragonstone to the forbidding shores of Winterfell, chaos reigns, as pretenders to the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms prepare to stake their claims through tempest, turmoil, and war.

As a prophecy of doom cuts across the sky—a comet the color of blood and flame—six factions struggle for control of a divided land. Eddard’s son Robb has declared himself King in the North. In the south, Joffrey, the heir apparent, rules in name only, victim of the scheming courtiers who teem over King’s Landing. Robert’s two brothers each seek their own dominion, while a disfavored house turns once more to conquest. And a continent away, an exiled queen, the Mother of Dragons, risks everything to lead her precious brood across a hard hot desert to win back the crown that is rightfully hers.

A Clash of Kings transports us into a magnificent, forgotten land of revelry and revenge, wizardry and wartime. It is a tale in which maidens cavort with madmen, brother plots against brother, and the dead rise to walk in the night. Here a princess masquerades as an orphan boy; a knight of the mind prepares a poison for a treacherous sorceress; and wild men descend from the Mountains of the Moon to ravage the countryside.

Against a backdrop of incest and fratricide, alchemy and murder, the price of glory may be measured in blood. And the spoils of victory may just go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel…and the coldest hearts. For when rulers clash, all of the land feels the tremors.

Audacious, inventive, brilliantly imagined, A Clash of Kings is a novel of dazzling beauty and boundless enchantment—a tale of pure excitement you will never forget

Another solid installment to this series, and for me another re-read that I did not review when I first read it. If you love a good series that you know is going to go places and give you adventure, conflict and everything else under the sun you should read the game of thrones series. I am always coflicted when I conflicted when I do reviews on books that are now movies/TV because I know not everyone has read them yet or seen the entire show/movie so spoilers and all.

That said. Solid characters, Solid book and excellent writing. Puts this on my keeper shelves.

My Gemstone Rating:

Summers span decades. Winter can last a lifetime. And the struggle for the Iron Throne has begun.

As Warden of the north, Lord Eddard Stark counts it a curse when King Robert bestows on him the office of the Hand. His honour weighs him down at court where a true man does what he will, not what he must … and a dead enemy is a thing of beauty.

The old gods have no power in the south, Stark’s family is split and there is treachery at court. Worse, the vengeance-mad heir of the deposed Dragon King has grown to maturity in exile in the Free Cities. He claims the Iron Throne.

My Gemstone Rating:

This was a re-read for me and I still really enjoyed it. The Show has made me want to read again and see what details I missed the first time and there was a couple of new ones. Still a solid read, complex and a lot of lines to keep track of.

Normally I get a little bit worried with books that have so much going on, however this one still manages to hold together well with all those characters. I would highly reccomend this one to those who haven’t read it yet, most certainly if you are a fan of the show.

For the record…still HATE Joffrey.

Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years before, when she lived and made love with her husband, Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now..

You can see there is just 1 gem rating, just one. Yes sadly this one I wish I would have DNF’d it, but I am trying not to do that this year. So heres the graphic this one gets and it doesn’t even deserve the Doctor. Sad but true. I have nothing nice to say about this one, so I will not say anything at all.

My Gemstone Rating:

Harry Dresden’s faced some pretty terrifying foes during his career. Giant scorpions. Oversexed vampires. Psychotic werewolves. All par for the course for Chicago’s only professional wizard.

But in all Harry’s years of supernatural sleuthing, he’s never faced anything like this: the spirit world’s gone completely postal. All over Chicago, ghosts are causing trouble-and not just of the door-slamming, boo-shouting variety. These ghosts are tormented, violent, and deadly.

Someone-or something-is stirring them up to wreak unearthly havoc. But why? And why do so many of the victims have ties to Harry? If Harry doesn’t figure it out soon, he could wind up a ghost himself

Another fantastic installment of the Dresden series. I have to say Harry you get yourself in more trouble than Anita Blake and considering how much trouble Anita gets into that is really saying something.

Harry is again stuck in the middle of the fae and the worst thing is that the courts of Winter and Summer are going to war because something of Summer’s has been stolen. The power that belongs to the Summer Knight. Harry has to handle things, stop the war and in doing so prove himself a wizard as well. Because guess what? The white council is being a pain in the rear end.

Terrible of them. Seriously. I am sick of them and I don’t have to deal with them like Harry does. I love this book, I love the series and can I just say that Toot toot is FUNNY. Can I keep him? I mean really.

All hail the Pizza Lord!

My Gemstone Rating:

Syrinx pulled a fast one on Pan to escape his raging lust. The God of Chastity wasn’t about to break her vows and succumb to his temptations. Transported to the twenty-first century, she runs a florist shop—fulfilling her fake, mortal life. Until the breathtaking Parker Thomas hires her to decorate his grand estate for a gala. Five hundred roses? Easy enough. Except Parker makes her feel things she can’t ignore…

As the God of Fertility, Pan is used to maidens flocking in droves to his pastures. So when Syrinx denies him, he’s determined to win the one that got away. He poses as a mortal to get close to her, but he doesn’t count on falling hard for his conquest—hard enough to make a life and stay.

But Syrinx is falling in love with a man that doesn’t exist. Can Pan hide his identity forever, or will the truth tear them apart

I love the myth and legend behind this book and for me you don’t get to read about Pan nearly enough so a Book with him as the love interest yes please! He has met his match in the Goddess of Chasity and is truly shocked when she flees from him. Made me smile a bit at that, cause I am sure he had that feeling of “shes saying no to me?!” that some men get. To me he took the high road though when opting for seduction even if it is under his fake mortal persona.

This book is well written and has a fantastic steady pacing that makes it enjoyable to read. There were no points that I felt were too slow or so fast that they were convoluted. It was just the right touch of everything.  This was the first time for me to read Aubrie Dionne but I can say with this style of writing and enjoyable characters it won’t be the last.

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