The Saucy Wenches Book Club

I was moving at blur-speed. I could tell because all the faces around me — pale, moonlit, on the verge of surprise — were smeared like a wet oil painting that'd met the wrong end of a drunken stagger. Not that I'd done that in more years than I could count — either paint, or fall into a fresh canvas after one too many shots of Jack — but it's one of those mental images that's slow to fade. ~Wild Bill, Vertigo (Channeling Morpheus #2), by Jordan Castillo Price "Rock Melt" by Nikkistrange, from fuckyeahpsychedelics.tumblr.com

Thank you for joining us on Chloe Neill’s Blog Tour and Giveaway for her new book,  House Rules . This is the latest, highly anticipated installment in her Chicagoland Vampires series! We are quite excited about House Rules around here, because CLV is a Wench favorite series. We love Merit, Ethan, Luc, Lindsey, Jonah, Gabriel, and the rest of the gang from Chicago and can’t wait to see what happens next! Here’s a little preview from the author herself: At the tender age of 27, Merit became a sword-wielding vampire. Since then, she’s become the protector of her House, watched Chicago nearly burn to the ground, and seen her Master fall and rise. Now she’ll see her mettle—and her metal—tested like never before. It started with two . . . Two rogues vanishing without a trace. Someone is targeting Chicago’s vampires, and anyone could be next. With their house in peril, Merit and her Master, the centuries old Ethan Sullivan, must race to stop the disappearances. But as they ...

 

When Chloe Neill Ripped My Heart Out Of My Chest and Crushed It With Her Bare Hands (& then made it all better.) I love authors. I love the words they write, the characters they create for us to love and hate. The power of the feelings they convey through those words and characters. And the way they transport me to a world so different from my own, I can't help but be mesmerized by it. One thing I don't love so much (but... like a true masochist, I love to hate) is their power over me. With just a few words, they can turn my life upside down, rip apart the threads that kept my sanity together, tear down the walls I built around my vulnerable heart over and over again, and basically crush me like a flower rusted from the rain. (Hey, I'm not being THAT dramatic; it's a song!)  How some books and authors make me feel MAJOR SPOILERS: There are spoilers for Hard Bitten , Drink Deep , and Biting Cold ahead. Please don't keep reading if you don't want...

Source This week the Wenches are still busy reading several different series, some old favorites and some new (or unfamiliar to us), mostly PNR/UF, with guest appearances by a couple of other genres. Since Chloe Neill’s next book is due out in ONE week (!!!), there is a predictable spike in the number of Wenches rereading her previous books. Looks like many Wenches have caught the semi-annual Chicagoland Vampires fever!! We hope you’ll click through to see what we’re reading, and to share what you’re reading with us!    

“Why is it that all cars are women?” he asked. “Because they’re fussy and demanding,” answered Zee. “Because if they were men, they’d sit around and complain instead of getting the job done,” I told him.  ~ Patricia Briggs, Silver Borne ,       Mercy Thompson series

Fever mythology in Karen Marie Moning’s Highlander series We're down to the last couple of books, so I think we're finally ready to finish our exploration of how Karen Marie Moning slowly created the mythology for her tremendously popular Fever books in her earlier Highlander series. If you missed the first two parts of this discussion, you can find them here and here . Isn’t it amazing that many of us Fever fans started reading Darkfever with absolutely none of this background? And yet managed to follow along just fine, become hopelessly addicted, and need an intervention to pry ourselves away from Dublin? (Oops, was that TMI?) Fever became all the more interesting to me when I realized how deeply the mythology ran, and how much mythology pre-dated Fever in the Highlander series. Wench Olga’s dream cast for Highlander Click through to resume our discussion with book 6, The Immortal Highlander . And remember that there are lots of spoilers about both the Highlan...

“Well?” “Well, what?” I waved a hand at the room. “Start genuflecting. Let’s see some knee action.” “You’re serious.” I lifted my brows. He responded in kind, but finally nodded his head, then walked between the couches. He dropped to one knee, then held out his hands. “I’m monumentally sorry for the pain and humiliation that I caused you and your—” “Both knees.” “Pardon?” “I’d prefer to see both knees on the ground. I mean, if you’re going to grovel, be the best groveler you can, right?” — Chloe Neill, Some Girls Bite

"Terrible," she managed. "You know how to use this thing?" He pulled away to meet her gaze, and for a minute he was transformed.  Still the same features, the lumpy nose and the jutting brow and the hard, dark eyes, but not ugly anymore.  Full of character.  Full of strength.  She looked at his face but she didn't see it, not the way she had before.  The smile spreading across his features was intimate, sexy.  The darkness of his eyes concealed so much more that she'd ever imagined. "Oh, aye," he said.  "You gonna let me show you?"

“What, you didn’t pack your lunch?” Ty asked sarcastically as he shifted around in the seat and wedged himself against the door. He kicked a foot up and propped it on the console between the two front seats. “Sure, in my SpongeBob SquarePants lunch box. I have the thermos, too,” Morrison shot right back. Zane kept his mouth shut, eyes moving between the two men, and occasionally back to the driver, who was casually paying attention. Ty stared at the kid and narrowed his eyes further. “Spongewhat?” he asked flatly. Zane didn’t even try to hold back the chuckle when Morrison looked at Ty like he’d lost his mind. “Spongewha … you’re yanking my chain, aren’t you?” Morrison said. “Henny, he’s yanking my chain.” “Yeah, well, that’s what you getting for waving it in his face,” the driver answered reasonably. “What the hell is a SpongeBob?” Ty asked Zane quietly in the backseat. ~ Cut and Run,     Abigail Roux and Madeleine Urban

Fashion marches forward on Downton Abbey Sometimes our love of books spills over into an avid appreciation for other interests that are loosely connected. I’ve developed a bit of an obsession lately with a television show that is not based on books, but shares many common qualities with the books I love, and complements my bibliophilia in lovely ways. I’d like to share a little of my newfound interest with you. And it has to do with clothes. Why clothes? you might ask. Well, perhaps Mark Twain said it most succinctly: “Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.” Downton Abbey 2012 Christmas special promotional preview It’s 1912, and life in the Edwardian country house of Downton Abbey is idyllic and bustling for the Crawley family, aided by their cadre of servants. The Earl of Grantham, his American heiress wife, and their three daughters, along with his mother, have lived largely uncomplicated lives on their family's estate. Bu...

People are gregarious by necessity. Since the days of the first cave dwellers, humans — hairless, weak, and helpless save for cunning — have survived by joining together in groups, knowing, as so many other edible creatures have found, that there is protection in numbers. And that knowledge, bred in the bone, is what lies behind mob rule. Because to step outside the group, let alone to stand against it, was for uncounted thousands of years death to the creature who dared it. To stand against a crowd would take something more than ordinary courage; something that went beyond human instinct. And I feared I did not have it, and fearing, was ashamed.  — Diana Gabaldon, Drums of Autumn        Outlander series

" Is that a bulletproof vest?                  See, now that's so insulting. That's like saying I'm not smart enough                to shoot you in the head." ~ Janet Evanovich , Seven Up

A review of Darynda Jones's Charley Davidson series by Guest Wench Natalie Hello, Fellow Saucy Wenches! It’s January, and if you’re like me, that list of “To Be Read” is wicked long, almost to the point of ever growing and never ending. I mean really, what’s a Saucy Wench to do? Well, add to that list, of course! My TBR list is constantly being added to through various ways: Recommendations from my fellow Wenches (these are often the ones I like the most). The Goodreads recommendations section, based on books I’ve read. (If you don't have a Goodreads account, I highly recommend creating one and using it to track what you've read!) Let’s not forget about the next books to be released in series I follow. I mean, duh, why would I not want to know what is going to happen next to my favorite characters? Recommendations from fellow friends and family who are also “book pushers”. Other media, such as People magazine or ads about movies being adapted from books...

It was humbling, astounding, jolting to watch the display, to see a hundred vampires prostrate before me, to know that I was part of this, one of them. The nervousness disappeared, supplanted by a weighty kind of knowledge, a bone-deep understanding that I had become something different, something historic. Something more . Some Girls Bite ~~Chloe Neill

Wench reading choices are all over the map again this week. Chicagoland Vampires , Outlander , and A Song of Ice and Fire all made their way to more than one Wench's bedside table (or e-reader, or car) this week, while Wench favorites Kate Daniels and Downside Ghosts are also enjoying some repeat visitors. Click through to see what else has captured the attention of our Wenches this week.

Why should I let anything stand in the way of life, liberty and the pursuit of vivisection? — Double Dexter by Jeff Lindsay http://www.dexterepisodeguide.com/

Fever mythology in Karen Marie Moning’s Highlander series Last week, I wrote a post introducing Karen Marie Moning’s Highlander series and her inspiration for transitioning her evolving mythology and story lines to the new Urban Fantasy genre, where they became the Fever series. If you have not yet read the Highlander series, you might want to start with that post. Today, I’d like to track down where the elements of the Fever mythology first appeared in each Highlander book. I found it fascinating to watch the mythology take shape as I read, and most particularly enjoyed rereading the two series back-to-back, so that I could fully focus on the evolution of the Fever world without interruption. Beware if you haven’t read all the Highlander books! This post will be very spoilery, because it is hard to explain where Fever mythology appears without mentioning crucial plot points. There are also a couple of big Fever spoilers in here. I will try to avoid spoiling each book...

"Wake up!" I said, shaking Pam since she was closest. She didn't stir at all. It was exactly like shaking a doll stuffed with sawdust. "Eric!" I screamed right in his ear..... His eyes opened a slit and tried to focus. "What?" "You have to get up! You have to! You have to get out!" "Daytime," he whispered. He began to flop over on his side. I slapped him harder than I've ever hit anyone in my life. I screamed, "Get up!" until my voice would hardly work. – Charlaine Harris, All Together Dead ,      Southern Vampire Mysteries

If you know what's coming and don't do anything to stop it, you got no right to act all surprised and pissy when the crap hits the fan.  Rule #1 in the Universe:  the crap always hits the fan.  It's the nature of crap.  It's a fan magnet. ~Dani "Mega" O'Malley Karen Marie Moning, Iced

"Ego vos mergam, nec merger a vobis. I sink you, that I will not be sunk by you." (Terrible's tattoo) — Stacia Kane, Unholy Magic       Downside Ghosts series *image from www.allposters.com.au

Just before Christmas, I decided it had been too long since I'd read any new Urban Fantasy books. So I browsed through my Nook and almost went for a Cat & Bones re-read. Instead, I decided to give Mercy Thompson a shot. I was in love almost instantly! Patricia Briggs builds an interesting and captivating world that jumps off the page, and Mercy quickly became one of my all-time favorite heroines. I also fell in love with Adam, the pack, and the rest of the creatures, supernatural or human. Then, in my desperate search to discuss the books with the Wenches, I discovered that only one or two of them had read this wonderful series! So I'd like to try to convince you, and the rest of the Wenches, that you too will fall in love with Mercy and the gang, if you'll just give them a chance. Read more after the jump!

I'd been combing through my vocabulary for a word that meant lust-smacked. And skinless. And fucked up, and scared, and invincible. But I'd come up empty-handed. All I could say was, "I love you, you know." Because that was about as close as I could come with words. ~ Jordan Castillo Price, Tainted      Channeling Morpheus series

Downside Ghosts by Stacia Kane: The Best Series You're Not Reading The best books are not easy.   They make you think, they shove you out of your comfort zone, they challenge your preconceived notions, they burrow under your skin, and they make you see the world around you differently. Downside Ghosts by Stacia Kane does all of these things.   I love this gritty, raw, emotional, heart-wrenching, dark, and disturbing series. I love a book that can make me cry, and I finished each of the first three books with tears streaming down my face. I know I'm hooked when I think about a book all day long, and hear the story in songs I hear; I did both of those things with Chess and Terrible. Read on for a look at some of the reasons why you should try Downside Ghosts , and let Chess and Terrible burrow under your skin....

The weather's making us fantasize about vacations! It’s that time of year again, when the Wenches who live “down under” are posting about their summer vacations, and those in the northern hemisphere are shivering by the fire, dreaming of warm destinations, and Looking for the Summer *. If you’re like us, you really look forward to taking a long break from your daily obligations once in a while. And no matter where you're headed, whether surfing or snow skiing, you hope it includes some quality reading time. To make a dent in your TBR pile, or try the latest best seller, or grab something impulsively at the airport bookstore. Much advice has been dispensed about vacation reading, by those who take months to plan and those who simply pick up whatever is lying around where they end up. Since those of us up north wanted an excuse to think about sunshine and beaches, we started asking each other to recommend good vacation books, and then decided to take some notes. Clic...

Source It's another week of all-over-the-board reading selections for the Wenches! Several Wenches are enamored with the Outlander series, a few are gearing up for the release of another Chicagoland Vampires book, some are still too busy with real life to make time for reading, and the rest round out our list with some divergent choices. Click through to see what the Wenches are reading this week. And don't forget to tell us what's on your bedside table!

“I don't have the time or patience for games. Now, tell me, why do you...glow?" "I touched a radioactive alien cock once.” ~Declan and Regin ― Kresley Cole, Dreams of a Dark Warrior       Immortals After Dark series

Fever mythology in Karen Marie Moning’s Highlander series Fan art from Karen Marie Moning’s Facebook page When I first read the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning, I was absolutely blown away. I jumped on the bandwagon of Wenches who had just discovered the books, squeeing and gushing and generally engaging in that inappropriate fangirling we tend to do around here. As soon as I finished Shadowfever , I immediately reopened Darkfever and started the whole thing again. I then made a semi-respectable effort to read something else, but after a couple of books decided I had to go back to Dublin. So I listened to the audio books while on a vacation, in case that somehow made it seem less obsessive to read the series a third time in two months. Then I read Moning’s description of how the series came to her. I was amazed that someone could be inspired by a dream to create such a richly complex series. She clarified that she didn’t dream the plot per se; she dreamed she was readin...

Last night, Dixon had suggested combat boots in place of Carrow's own — her two thousand dollar, gathered-leather, over-the-knee boots. "Do you want me to go in as an enchantress or a warrior?" Carrow had asked testily. "Pick a caste, any caste, mortal. I myself think I have the best chance as an enchantress. And fuck-me boots are standard issue." — Kresley Cole, Demon From The Dark       Immortals After Dark series

If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart? ― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago

“I would not piss on him was he burning in the flames of hell,” Grey said politely. One of Hal's brows flicked upward, but only momentarily. “Just so,” he said dryly. “The question, though, is whether Fraser might be inclined to perform a similar service for you.” Grey placed his cup carefully in the center of the desk. “Only if he thought I might drown,” he said, and went out.  —  Diana Gabaldon ,       Lord John and the Scottish Prisoner

www.jeanienefrost.com NIGHT HUNTRESS: WHO WOULD YOU MARRY, FUCK, KILL? Who doesn't love the dark and sexy Night Huntress world so brilliantly created by Wench favorite author, Jeaniene Frost? Combine that with our favorite game, MFK, and you're in for some Saucy fun! So we asked some of the resident Wenches, and some of our Wench friends, who they would marry, fuck, and kill given the chance. The rules are simple: every character is game and you can't pick the same character twice ;) just to make it a little harder for those who want to pick the same character for marry AND fuck. *Cue evil laugh*  Mwahaha! Are you ready for the Wenches' picks? Keep reading!

Only a true best friend can protect you from your immortal enemies. - Richelle Mead, Vampire Academy

"I cast an eye at my current project, some ten inches of a wooly shawl, which lay in a small crumpled heap at the bottom of the basket. I had learned the basics, but knitting for me was still a pitched battle with knotted thread and slippery needles, not the soothing, dreamy exercise that Jamie and Ian made of it, needles clicketing away in their big hands by the fire, comforting as the sound of crickets on the hearth." ~ Diana Gabaldon, Drums of Autumn

2012 was an exciting year for this Saucy Wench. At any given time I could tell you the exact number of days until the release of the next installment in my favorite series. And they came out on a regular basis, so I always had something to look forward to, and something to discuss with the Wenches. Deadlocked came out in May, Once Burned in June, Fever Moon in July and Iced in October, Stars & Stripes in August. But something has happened. 2013 is chock full of book releases that I'm doing happy dances over. But fellow Wench Olga's Eighth Day of Sauciness post gave me a serious wake-up call; her post laid out all the release dates for the books I'm most excited about. And I realized it's been two months since Iced came out and I haven't been counting down to any books at all since then. Sure, I knew that Dead Ever After was coming out in the spring (March or May, I always get the months mixed up). I assumed the next Night Prince and the next Dani book...

"...It's only that it's a good deal easier to do something that's a bit dangerous than it is to wait and worry while someone else does it." "Ha," I told him. "So now you know what it's like being married to you." He laughed. Voyager ( Outlander book 3) ~~Diana Gabaldon

Source As we hope you noticed, the Wenches have been on a brief hiatus called The Holidays. We spent some time with family and friends celebrating our loved ones and the end of another year. And we are really a little irritated that said celebrations have kept us away from our eReaders and books. But it IS a new year, and we are safely nestled back in our cozy, warm reading corners enjoying quite a variety of literature. Click through to find out what has captured our attention this week.

"His heart's occupied elsewhere," said Ben from behind me. "And even if it weren't he's not interested in your kind. But, I'm available and ready." "You don't have a heart," I told him. Just a gaping hole where it should have been." "All the more reason for you to give me yours." I pounded my forehead against Warren's back. "Tell me Ben's not flirting with me." "Hey," said Ben sounding hurt. "I was talking cannibalism, not romance."  — Patricia Briggs, Blood Bound

As you know, we love reading! Our friends and family know that we love reading, too, making them always ready with helpful book recommendations. Which just ensures that our TBR (To-Be-Read) lists are constantly growing, no matter how many books we finish! What a wonderful problem to have! Click through to see which books top our 2013 TBR lists, minus all of the series continuations that we won't be able to resist. Then let us know what's on your TBR list!