King Arthur Movie Tristan

title: Immortal Obsession

author: Denise K. Rago

pages: 267

genre: paranormal romance

published: 2010

source: sent for review by author

first line: Thick, billowing smoke filled the Louise XVI apartment as flames climbed the brocade drapes, spreading from the valance to the ceiling.

rated:

4 out of 5 stars

Christian Du Mauré impulsively follows his best friend into the complex, warring underworld of Parisian vampires. Against the fiery backdrop of the French Revolution, Christian's life is changed forever following an affair with a mortal artistocrat—for when he promises to watch over her daughter, she reveals the child is his.

More than 200 years later, in modern-day Manhattan, only two descendants of the star-crossed union remain. After one of them witnesses a savage murder in Central Park, she becomes determined to find the ethereal stranger who saved her life.



When their worlds inevitably collide, Christian finds he cannot prevent Amanda, his unwitting descendant, from becoming a pawn in a centuries-old struggle for power.


As a confrontation between ancient enemies comes to a head, Christian must finally face an unspeakable betrayal from his past—for himself, and the woman he loves.

When author Denise K. Rago contacted me about a possible book review I happily accepted. I enjoy both romance and vampires and was curious to read this book especially since it has both Paris and New York as settings within the plot.

The vampire Christian Du Mauré loses his married mortal artistocrat lover Josette during the French Revolution. Before she dies, she reveals to Christian that her daughter, Solange, is really his child and makes him swear to care for her always.







Fast forward two centuries later, in modern day New York, where Christian lives with his best friend Michel. When they were mortals, Christian and Michel were inseparable. When Michel was turned vampire by his lover, he bit Christian soon after.


The two vampires now own a club in the city called the Grey Wolf. Christian gave Solange up as a child to be raised in London. She has always resented him for that and felt he abandoned her. This resentment has fueled a rage inside her. She too was turned vampire.


Siblings Amanda Perretti and her brother Ryan are descendants of Solange's line.
Ryan is a drug addict that sells his blood to vampires in return for money to buy his next fix. Word has it that his blood is special, the vampire who drinks it will be able to walk in broad daylight.


Amanda has always been fascinated by the French Revolution, and works in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. When she witnesses her brother killed before her very eyes, she also sees Christian for the first time when he steps in and saves her life from the vampire that killed her brother. Though heartbroken and mortified, she cannot get the image of Christian out of her mind. When she runs into him six months later, she is drawn to him.

In a strange way, her brother's murder had taken control of her life. It was as horrific as it was beguiling, and now she had met one of the cast of characters: Christian. Although he seemed staid and polite, he was dark and alluring as well. She felt drawn to him like a magnet.
p.94

Christian knows Amanda is a descendant of Solange's, and he feels he must protect her. However, when he begins to put pieces of the puzzle together, he wonders whether his mortal lover Josette was hiding something from him all those years ago.
He finds himself unable to resist Amanda. Since her blood is so unique, her life is now in danger.




As soon as I began reading Immortal Obsession I was easily swept into the storyline.
I really liked the modern day New York setting, this being one of my favorite places I could easily visualize the sights and sounds of the city.





I like Denise K. Rago's vampires, they remind me of Anne Rice's immortals, with their beauty and seductiveness. The love story within the book was interesting and I kept wondering when and if Christian and Amanda would get together. I liked Christian and how he still kept a shred of humanity within himself.
There is also a very strong bond between Christian and Michel, and the two are like soulmates.

Amanda painfully reminded him of being young and vulnerable. She seemed angry at the world, which he understood, and constantly denied her need for people. She reminded him that human suffering was timeless, something that hundreds of years and immortal powers could not abate. The feeling of an eternal emptiness, of knowing he was only temporarily sating a need that could never be satisfied by sex or blood alone. The instincts of being immortal ruled him, but a nameless, faceless emptiness filled him up and twisted his stomach into knots.
p.178

If you're in the mood for a good romance with paranormal aspects, I recommend Immortal Obsession. This is Denise K. Rago's debut novel, and I hope to read more of her work someday. She leaves the ending wide open for a sequel.



Special thanks to Denise for sending me a copy of her book, she's a really sweet lady. She did a guest post at my blog this past February where she discussed the Subtle Art of Romance Writing.


Visit her website here: http://www.denisekrago.com/



*photo credit*

the picture above is taken from the authors website.

title: Twilight

author: Stephenie Meyer

pages: 498

published: 2005

genre: young adult paranormal romance

first line: I'd never given much thought to how I would die-though I'd had reason enough in the last few months-but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this.

rated: 4 out of 5






Ahhhhhh....Twilight. There's a little of everything I enjoy in this story. Vampires, romance, rainy days.


I thought it was about time for a re-read of one of my favorite books.



17 year old Bella Swan moves to a small town called Forks in Washington to live with her father Charlie. Bella is socially awkward, sometimes moody and unsure of herself.
When she meets the mysterious and achingly beautiful Edward Cullen, she is instantly taken by him.




As usual when I re-read a favorite book, I pick up on little details that may have escaped my attention the first time around. For instance, I never liked Bella in the series but she didn't start to annoy me until the second book. Upon re-reading Twilight, she annoyed me right away. She's very defensive, childish and way too clingy with Edward.

So why do I love this book, though I dislike one of the central characters? Edward Cullen.

He's gorgeous, rich and aloof. I like how Edward has that dangerous edge to him as well.



For me Twilight is a fun, romantic read, not too be taken to seriously or analyzed too deeply, but definitely enjoyed. It's pretty much one of my guilty pleasures. I am a Twilight fan and I will openly admit it. I like vampires who sparkle in the sunlight and have honey colored eyes dammit.

And for the record, Robert Pattinson does not look anything like the Edward I envision while reading the book. The Edward I envision is divine.




I enjoy reading Bella describe Edwards beauty page after page. Here's just a few ways she describes him:

I was in danger of being distracted by his livid glorious face. It was like trying to stare down a destroying angel.

-pp. 65

or how about:

He was too perfect, I realized with a piercing stab of despair. There was no way this godlike creature could be meant for me.

-pp.256

ok, this had me giggling like a teenager with a schoolgirl crush:

"The blush on your cheeks is lovely," he murmured. He gently freed his other hand. My hands fell limply into my lap. Softly he brushed my cheek, then held my face between his marble hands.


"Be very still," he whispered, as if I wasn't already frozen.

-pp. 275

One of my favorite scenes in the book is when Edward takes Bella hiking in the woods on a rare sunny day and reveals that he glistens in the sunlight.

Edward in the sunlight was shocking. I couldn't get used to it, though I'd been staring at him all afternoon. His skin, white despite the faint flush from yesterday's hunting trip, literally sparkled, like thousands of tiny diamonds were embedded in the surface. He lay perfectly still in the grass, his shirt open over his sculpted, incandescent chest, his scintillating arms bare. His glistening, pale lavender lids were shut, though of course he didn't sleep.


-pp. 260

So there you have it. Twilight remains one of my favorite reads. I like the romance between Edward and Bella. I also like the Edward's vampire family as well as the idea that they don't harm humans. Meyer touches on some of their backgrounds and how they came to be vampires and I always found that to be an interesting part of the series.




I'm glad I re-read it and probably will again someday. I should also say that I enjoyed the first three books in the series, but was dissapointed by the fourth and final installment.

title: True Blood and Philosophy: We Wanna Think Bad Things With You



authors: William Irwin (Series Editor), George Dunn (Editor), Rebecca Housel (Editor)


genre: entertainment


published: 2010


pages: 246


first line: Sookie Stackhouse loves Bill Compton.



rated: 3 1/2 out of 5

Vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, fairies, telepaths—True Blood has it all. In a world where supernatural creatures coexist with human beings, Sookie Stackhouse and Bill Compton wrestle with powerful desires while facing complex issues concerning sex, romance, bigotry, violence, death, and immortality. Now, True Blood and Philosophy calls on the minds of some of history’s great thinkers to perform some philosophical bloodletting on this thought-provoking series. From the metaphysics of mind reading to Maryann Forrester’s cult of Dionysus, from vampire politics to the nature of personal identity, and from contemporary feminism to the rights of nonhuman species, True Blood and Philosophy mines the thinking of philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, John Locke, Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Nietzsche, and John Rawls to enlighten us on the intriguing themes that surround this supernatural world. You’ll find no shortage of juicy metaphysical morsels to sink your teeth into!

True Blood and Philosophy: We Wanna Think Bad Things With You is an interesting book that discusses and analyzes True Blood the television series and The Sookie Stackhouse books. This book is food for thought. It takes different themes in True Blood and discusses them in detail. I think this book is a great conversation piece for fans of the show and books.



I haven't watched the show True Blood, but I have read the first in the series of books, Dead Until Dark, and enjoyed it.



Some of the discussions in this book are 'The Ethics of Making Vampires', 'Coming Out of the Coffin and Coming Out of the Closet' and 'Sookie, Sigmund, and the Edible Complex'.

The writers do plenty of 'what if' situations. Like what if vampires were real and living among us, would they have to pay taxes, since they don't need health care? Would they be served with life sentences in prison if they committed crimes, or would that be considered cruel and unusual punishment since they are immortal?
The book also discusses homosexuality and the comparisons between coming out of the coffin and coming out of the closet. Are the prejudices gay people face similiar to the ones vampires face?

Another topic for discussion is whether vampires are evil or not. Some vampires such as Bill are turned without choice, are they considered evil?


My one issue with this book was the repetitiveness of certain excerpts from the books and show. I'd read one chapter that quoted a certain conversation and discussed it, then I'd read the next chapter, only to find the same quote being brought up again. It didn't happen that often in this book, and it didn't deter me from enjoying this read, but I did notice it. I think it may have happened because there were different people writing the chapters, the topics overlapped a bit.



After reading this book you realize there are plenty of philosophical questions that can be raised by the Sookie Stackhouse books and True Blood. This is an interesting read, I enjoyed it. It is definitely a very detailed book, you can see that the writers are true fans of the series. I like how they would discuss great minds like Freud and Socrates and apply their theories and ideas to True Blood.










Visit The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series website for more. There are other Philosophy books for fans such as House and Philosophy, LOST and Philosophy and Mad Men and Philosophy.







Special thanks to Julie over @ FSB Associates for sending me a copy of this book.

Dead Until Dark (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 1)


author: Charlaine Harris

genre: paranormal romance

pages: 292

published:2001

first line: I'd been waiting for the vampire for years when he walked into the bar.

rated: 4 out of 5





I finally picked up a copy of Dead Until Dark , I was beginning to feel like the only blogger left who hadn't read this one.

Sookie Stackhouse is a waitress in a small town in Louisiana. She has a special ability, she can read minds. In Sookie's world, vampires are commonplace. So when one gorgeous vampire named Bill walks into the restaurant where she works, she takes notice of him right away. After he gets into a bit of a bind, Sookie saves his life and the two become attached then and there. As the story progresses there's murder and mystery involved.



I found myself laughing out loud while reading quite a few times. I think my favorite term in the book is 'fang banger', which are vampire groupies basically. I liked the love scenes and found this book had just the right dose of romance, humor and mystery. I like Sookie's character and found her to be smart, funny and sassy. I like Bill too, and wanted the two to get together right from the start.

His kiss deepened, and I parted my lips. I'd never been kissed like this. It went on and on until I thought the whole world was involved in this kiss in the vampire's mouth on mine.

My one problem with this book was that I liked but didn't love Bill. I don't think his character was that strong, I like my heroes to be memorable. When I think about favorite literary vampires, Bill will not be on my top favs. I would consider reading the second installment in this series though.



also reviewed by mariel




True Blood has been made into a series. Have you seen it?

I just had to post this, I'm hoping the movie will be good. I loved Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Series.
I can't wait for Breaking Dawn to come out.




Here's a trailor for the Twilight movie, it looks decent. Only I don't know who could ever play Edward for the movie. In the books, he's perfection.