Quote of the Day

Our lovemaking was always risk and promise—for if he held my life in his hands when he lay with me, I held his soul, and knew it.

~ Diana Gabaldon, The Fiery Cross

What the Wenches Are Reading

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New releases, amazing discoveries, and Wench favorites, oh my! Click through to see who's reading a sweeping epic, who's reading the penultimate installment in a favorite series, who got her hands on an early copy of a Wench favorite, and who insist you extend your TBR with an amazing series.

Be sure and share your recommendations in the comments below!

Quote of the Day

Zane squeezed her close, and nodded at Livi, who gave them a wave and smiled brilliantly. She was quite lovely in a robin’s egg sheath dress that matched her eyes and a wool coat that matched her dress, even though the wind plucked at her silvery blonde hair and gave her a disheveled appearance.
Zane was amused to see that she was wearing galoshes. No unwieldy heels for this one, fashion be damned.
Nick whistled when he stopped next to Zane. “Damn. Hate to say it Zane, but Deacon won this round.”
Zane gave that a hearty laugh.
“That’s not very nice,” Kelly muttered. “Zane could pull off that dress.”
“Not really my color.”


Ball & Chain, by Abigail Roux

Review: Night Broken by Patricia Briggs

Collage by the lovely Olga Daniels

It's no secret to our regular readers that I adore the Mercy Thompson books. So, I was over the moon when we were approached by Penguin Publishing with an advanced copy. The other Wenches were gracious enough to let me be the one to review Night Broken. And, I am glad they did. This was a great addition to the Mercy collection. There was everything you could ask for: appearances by most of the Mercy characters, a new monster to defeat and plenty of mercy and Adam time.

Keep reading after the jump for a spoiler light review!!

Quote of the Day

"Courage has nothing to do with winning," I quietly said. "Courage is about fighting the good fight. Stepping forward, even when stepping forward is the crappiest of all possible options."

Quote of the Day

I didn’t generally object to public displays of affection, but we were surrounded by hard-bitten shifters, and embarrassment bloomed in my cheeks.
Ethan pressed a hard kiss to my lips, leaving little doubt of the ravishment he intended at a more appropriate time. He released me, saw the pink in my cheeks, and smiled.

"Let them see, Sentinel. I’ve no interest in hiding my affections."


~ Chloe Neill, Wild Things

Fangirl Fridays – Lagertha the Shield Maiden

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Fresh off the heels of reading an entire book about kickass Dangerous Women, I was surfing the interwebs for photos to add to a book review. (Amazing how differently I pictured “kickass women” in my head than what showed up in my online search.) And then suddenly there she was, in stark contrast to all those undistinctive, interchangeable faces. Fierce, mesmerizing, and regally poised to take on the world: the Vikings’ most dangerous woman, Lagertha. And I fell in love with her all over again.

If you haven’t met Lagertha Lothbrok, let me take this opportunity to introduce her to you. She is the ultimate kickass woman. A Shield Maiden of The Far North. Tales of her bravery and passion have been told through the ages round the fires of plunder and immortalized in Nordic myth.

She can do it all: fight alongside the men, stay home and defend the farm, raise the kids, and still keep her love life smoking hot. You know, all the stuff modern women do—without the luxury of electricity, running water, or toilets—plus plunder and pillage!

Lagertha hasn’t got her own book series, but she does have a tv series, called Vikings, which is beginning its second season in the U.S. now. I know that a lot of Wenches aren’t able to watch Vikings, so I wanted to share a few words about this amazing character. Who would be equally at ease slinging swords alongside Fever’s Makayla Lane or Chicagoland Vampires’s Merit, or running the homestead and killing wolves with her bare hands alongside Outlander’s Claire Fraser.

So whether you’re a fan of the Vikings tv show or not, I hope you saucy fans of strong female characters will join me for a little fangirling about the legendary Lagertha’s story. (I will keep spoilers to a minimum for those who have not seen Vikings, and I admit that I’m trying not to spoil myself too badly by looking too deeply into what lies beyond season 1.)

Quote of the Day

“Ah, my daughter,ʺ he said. ʺEighteen, and already you've been accused of murder, aided felons, and acquired a death count higher than most guardians will ever see.ʺ He paused. ʺI couldn't be prouder.”

― Richelle Mead, Last Sacrifice

Quote of the Day

“What are you trying to do? Kill mosquitoes?” Adam was too mad to be aware of my reaction to his anger. “I’m a werewolf. I’m trying to kill you— and you smack me open-handed on my butt?”
[snip]
“It’s a cute butt,” I said.
He rolled his eyes, relaxed the stance, and took a step nearer to me.
“As for my hand on your cute butt,” I continued, letting my shoulders relax against the mat, “I was cleverly trying to distract you.” He frowned at me.
“Distract me from what? Your awesome, sneaky attack that left you lying on the floor?”
I twisted, catching him in front of the ankle with one foot as I put my whole weight behind the shin I slammed into the back of his knee. He started to lose his balance, and I rolled up with an elbow strike that hit the big muscle that ran up the back of his upper leg with charley-horse-causing force and, as he went all the way down to hands and knees, I swung the wrench I’d snagged on my original fall and touched him on the back of the head with it.
“Exactly,” I said...

Night Broken by Patricia Briggs

Review: Vampire Academy Series by Richelle Mead

Or: How I Learned that "Young Adult" Does Not Mean Annoying Children

Collage by the talented Wench Olga Daniels

Sometimes you go into a book certain that you will love it. Sometimes you know nothing about a book, with no notion of what to expect. And sometimes you start a book reluctantly, certain that you won't like it, but wanting to give it a try because your sister, your niece, and your favorite author love it. This is a story about the last kind of book.

I started reading Urban Fantasy, almost exclusively, in 2011, and since then I've read lots of UF series. But I avoided picking up any Young Adult series, wanting to only read adult books. I wasn't interested in reading about teens--I wanted adult themes, adult behaviors, and adult language. I've had a few YA series recommended to me, and I've seen interesting suggestions pop up in my Goodreads feed, but if I saw the "YA" tag, I marked it off of my list. But Vampire Academy was recommended one too many times, and a movie was coming out so I finally decided to check it out.

Did I enjoy Vampire Academy? Did I read the entire series, a sure sign of being hooked by an author, or did I quit after one? Am I a Richelle Mead fan now? Click through to find out if my trepidation was justified or if I'm ready to take a chance on more YA titles.