The Saucy Wenches Book Club

I am stubborn. I don't often follow trends, choosing instead to avoid the things that everyone else is loving. I've been this way for as long as I can remember. But in my advanced age I've found myself relaxing that stubbornness and checking out things, because maybe everyone loves these things because they're great.

Such is my love of Stranger Things, the Netflix sensation. I thoroughly enjoyed the first season last year, and devoured the second within two weeks of its release. And, like much of the rest of the world, I'm now impatiently waiting for the further adventures, of Eleven, Mike, Hopper, and the gang.

Come with me through the jump as I share just a few of the reasons that Stranger Things lives up to the hype, why if you're like me and stubbornly refusing to check out what everyone else loves, you should give it a shot. It's superb.

Bump stood in the middle of the room, wrapped in a heavy fur coat, with a black silk top hat covering his fuzzy head and unnecessary sunglasses hiding his pale face. He looked like the Abominable Snowpimp.

Unholy Ghosts
~~Stacia Kane 

We have survived another year of book releases. You can see our top ten 2015 releases here, in case you missed it! Now, that we are into 2016, the Wenches are gearing up for this year's crop of new books. There are a lot of new books being added to some of our favorite series' that we are just dying for, and one or two new non-series books as well. A new book in a series is like catching up with an old friend. It is such a delight. Plus, it gives us an excuse to revisit the whole series! Not that any of us really needs an excuse for a re-read. Anyway, keep reading after the break to see which 2016 releases the Wenches are looking forward to!

She'd never outright told him anything. But she'd never had to. He knew. Dames like her didn't hunt down an addiction lessin there was a damn good reason, and she'd sure as fuck hunted it down. He'd watched her do it, from the first time she showed up in Downside. Watched her not even fight with herself over it, least not what he could see. 

{snip}

Funny, she had all that ink on her skin to protect her from ghosts and magic, and he were damn sure doing what he could to protect her outside that, but weren't anything he could do to keep her safe from the memories.

He knew how that felt, too.

Wrong Ways Down
~~Stacia Kane

He nodded. "Awful smart, aye."

For a second irritation pricked the back of her neck. Wasn't he going to express some sort of amazement? Was "awful smart" really all she was going to get?

But then she realized, with and odd, blushing, sort of warmth that it had never occurred to him that she wouldn't be able to solve the problem. That while she'd been flailing around in the dirt, scared shitless that she was about to kill them all, he's had complete faith in her ability to save them. Just as she'd never really doubted he could protect her from the Lamaru.

Wasn't that an uncomfortable thought.

Unholy Ghosts
~~Stacia Kane

She didn't think she needed air, not when he was holding her, possessing her, making her feel safer than she'd ever felt.

Unholy Ghosts
~~Stacia Kane

Chess lied to herself every day; it was just something she did, like taking her pills or making sure she had a pen in her bag. Little lies, mostly. Insignificant. Of course there were big ones there, too, like telling herself that she was more than just a junkie who got lucky enough to possess a talent not everyone had. That she was alone by choice and that she was not terrified of other people because they couldn’t be trusted, because they carried filth in their minds and pain in their hands and they would smear both all over her given half the chance.
~~Stacia Kane, City of Ghosts

My Four Favorite UF/PNR Heroines
One of the best things about urban fantasy and paranormal romance is that there is no shortage of amazing female lead characters. You can't throw a rock in the UF/PNR section of the bookstore without hitting a female who is not only strong, but faceted, smart, romantic, cynical, optimistic, vulnerable, honorable, damaged, and generally real. And one would think that with so many wonderful female characters, both leads and supporting cast, it would be challenging to narrow down which ones are the best to just a few. However, I have absolutely no qualms about pointing out exactly which heroines are the best, the feistiest, the smartest, the snarkiest, and just plain the best.

Zee told us about her favorite heroines in this post, although that has changed a bit. And you may notice that my favorite heroines list bears a striking resemblance to my favorite series list. What can I say? I'm a sucker for a great female protagonist, and it's not coi…

We all know how it is at the end of a year. Relief that it's over, and some apprehension and hope concerning the next one. Mostly, we're just grateful we survived with most of our sanity intact. 

Thankfully, the Wenches have had a (mostly) great 2013 when it comes to what we've been reading. At the dawn of a new year, we thought it was apt that we'd reminisce about some of the best books we've read and loved this past year. You know, the ones we fell in love with almost immediately. The ones we might have reread almost obsessively. The ones we would recommend to everyone we know.So we all got together and put them in a list for you.


Click through to see which books the Wenches picked as their favorite reads of 2013!
(There will be SPOILERS!)

...Rusted Veins, Close To You, & "High Stakes"!by: Zee the Terrible and Barbara Bones
We have been pretty lucky in our reading this year. Not only have we been getting more of (some of) our fave characters, we've even discovered some new ones! And most of our favorite authors have been kind enough to help us pass time between releases with short stories and/or novellas! Or in one case, help ease the ending of a brilliant series! We thoroughly enjoyed these forays into our favorite worlds, and being reminded of why we absolutely adore both the authors and the books. 



So we picked three of the best ones, and reviewed them just for you! Just in case you needed a reason to pick them up! 

He stopped walking and kissed her. Hard. Hard enough for her to forget the cold wind and the stupid song in the background. Hard enough for her to practically forget her own name. She wrapped her arms around his neck and strained on her tiptoes, afraid she'd fall over if he let go of her.

Except he wouldn't . He never would. That was Fact and Truth, and she believe it, trusted it, more than she'd ever trusted anything in her entire life.

Close to You: A Downside Ghosts Story
~~Stacia Kane

My Top Ten Anti-HeroesIn the nearly three years that my reading list has been filled to overflowing with urban fantasy titles, I have learned several things about myself and my worldview that I didn't realize or think about before. Like my deep love of kick-ass heroines, my joy in reading profanity sprinkled in books, and how much I adore sharing a reading experience with friends. But nothing has been so crystal clear as realizing how much I love a great anti-hero.

Humans are flawed creatures, each of us containing good and bad all packaged within the same unstable wrapping, and that's what I like to see in my heroes. I don't want heroes who always know what the right thing to do is, and always do exactly that. I don't want to read about characters who have no struggle with inner demons, who always follow social norms exactly, who are always virtuous, idolize their mothers unconditionally and have equal room in their hearts for both cats and dogs. Those characters alway…

Her head tilted. "Is that why you don't look very happy?"

One of the reasons, but of course he ain't said that. Instead he said, trying to smile, "Thinkin people still be scared on me, I standing back here lookin all happy?"

It worked. She smiled back, but a real smile, the kind made him want to grab her again. What the fuck was wrong with every other man in the room, that they weren't all killing each other just to stand next to her?

"Wait, people are scared of you?"

"Aye, well I ain't figure on why, but seems like it."

"Maybe you should take up knitting." She sipped her beer. "It's hard to be scared of somebody while they are knitting."

"Aw, naw, don't tell nobody on that, aye? Got people selling blankets I'm making in the Market."

It amazed him that he could think of stuff to say that made her laugh, that when he was talking to her it weren't as hard to find the words. When he talked to …

Collectively, we’ve read a lot of books over the past year. Some are new releases, some are new discoveries, some are recommendations. It’s hard to pick out a list like this, because we didn’t want to limit it to new releases, and it’s so hard to pick just one. Or two. Or a few.

After the jump, we’ll share what we finally decided were our favorite reads from the past year.

But Chess laughed and looked at him like she weren't so unhappy anymore. Made him feel like a hero, and
he'd never been a hero. He was the villain. He was the dude who beat people for money cause he liked it and killed em if he had to, and it ain't bothered him a bit doing it. And that made him the bad guy. He could live with that. He were right up with that; just the way it was, the way he was.

But when he was with Chess he wasn't the bad guy no more. He was the one keeping her safe, making her smile. He still wasn't good enough for her, but he were better than he'd ever been. That mattered. 


~ Stacia Kane, Wrong Ways Down

He already saw her a fuck of a lot more than he'd ever expected, or hoped. Almost every day. Never
would have seen that one coming; iffen he'd been asked two months past he'd have said she may have been the prettiest dame he'd ever met but she seemed like one of the bitchiest too. But turned out she weren't a bitch at all. She was fucking amazing, and iffen he could spend all his time with her he would.

~ Stacia Kane, Wrong Ways Down

Stacia Kane's Downside Ghosts series is one that took me completely by surprise. It had been recommended to me by Goodreads, based on the books on my shelves, for months, when I finally got a break in my TBR list and picked up Unholy Ghosts, a book which changed everything for me. Since then I've certainly been suffering from Terrible Fever, and I've recommended these to anyone with a strong stomach, and the fortitude to find the beauty that lurks within this deeply dark and disturbing series. I still think this is one of the best series you aren't reading, as I explained in this post.

When I finishedChasing Magic, unable to find any mention of continuing the series, I was distraught, but Ms. Kane eventually put my fears to rest, saying that there would be more Downside coming. Although there were no concrete details (and still aren't, really), I was satisfied with that vague answer and ever so patiently waited for more. First up was to be a novella from Terrible&#…

Felt like everybody in the room was watching him stare at her, too, but he couldn't look away. Even though he wanted to. Even though it hurt, a dull ache in his chest because she was in the same room but far away. Because he couldn't just walk up to her and touch her.

Because she wasn't his.

But then she saw him. Were he the kinda dude thought that "she wants me but won't admit it" bullshit, then the way her face lit up, the way she smiled, woulda made him convinced she'd come there looking for him. As it was...it still made him feel awful fucking good. He ain't could even be embarrassed she'd caught him watching her, she looked so happy to see him.


~ Stacia Kane, Wrong Ways Down

His lips curved the faintest bit, so subtle she doubted anyone else would be able to see it.

"Aye? You certain? Maybe you ain't recognize it, is all, needs you a reminder."

Damn, it was so hard pretending she didn't really care about him, pretending she didn't feel as if someone had poured her out of a jug to puddle all over everything, so turned on she could hardly breathe. Part of her was absolutely sure it didn't matter, anyway. Even the drunkest Downside alley rat would see the smile fighting to spread across her face, the way her skin flushed.

"Why we ain't go on home," he went on. He still didn't look at her, but heat radiated of his body to caress her skin; she imagined if she touched him he'd jump.  She knew she'd jump if he touched her. "Thinkin maybe there's more to chatter on that one."

Her nod felt too jerky, too eager, but she couldn't help it. Her muscles didn't seem to be entirely under her control.  …