The Saucy Wenches Book Club

Eric was sitting on my bed, his face buried in his hands. He looked up at me as I entered, and he looked shocked. Well, no wonder, what with the very thorough takeover and traumatic changing of the guard. "Sitting here on your bed, smelling your scent," he said in a voice so low I had to strain to hear it. "Sookie...I remember everything." "Oh, hell," I said, and went in the bathroom and shut the door. I brushed my hair and my teeth and scrubbed my face, but I had to come out. I was being as cowardly as Quinn if I didn't face the vampire. Eric started talking the minute I emerged. "I can't believe I..." "Yeah, yeah, I know, loved a mere human, made all those promises, was as sweet as pie and wanted to stay with me forever," I muttered. Surely there was a shortcut we could take through this scene. "I can't believe I felt something so strongly and was so happy for the first time in hundreds of years," Er...

Source In spite of a really big book release happening in one week, the Wenches’ reading agendas have changed pretty dramatically since last we shared. Dead Ever After still hits shelves next Tuesday, but only a few Wenches are still excited for it, and only two of us are still prepping for release day. The rest of us have moved on to other interests — some bloody, some funny, and some virtual palate-cleansers, being radically different from the Urban Fantasy we have been enjoying. Click through to see who is spoiler-free (regular readers might be surprised!) and what the rest of us are using to drown our sorrows. As always, be sure and tell us what you’re reading, in the comments below!

Source "And then I'll turn up on your doorstep, one day when you least expect it, and I'll hope by then you will have given up on your vampire." "And then we'll be happy ever after?" I smiled. He nodded. "Well, that'll be something to look forward to," I told him. Charlaine Harris , Club Dead

Eliminating the Rest of Sookie's Suitors Two years ago I discovered and fell in love with the Southern Vampire Mysteries , then did a lot of speculating about how the series would end, and what every little interaction meant. I'm no longer certain about Sookie's romantic future, but I came across a thread I started at the Sookieverseblog, discussing the moment I believed that every suitor other than Eric was eliminated from competition. I still have hope that Sookie will spend her Dead Ever After with Eric, but I'm not confident. So let's look at the optimism I had two years ago, and maybe I'll remember where all of that certainty came from!

"Eric!" I screamed right in his ear. This got a bit of a reaction; he was so much older than Pam. His eyes opened a slit and tried to focus. "What?" he said. "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

"Do you love me?" he asked, his eyes fixing mine. This was a little difficult to answer, especially considering what his fingers were doing.  "I love being with you, whether we're having sex or not.  Oh, God, do that again!  I love your body.  I love what we do together.  You make me laugh, and I love that.  I like to watch you do anything."  I kissed him, long and lingeringly.  "I like to watch you get dressed.  I like to watch you undress.  I like to watch your hands when you're doing this to me.  Oh!"  I shuddered all over with pleasure.  When I'd had a moment of recovery, I murmured, "If I asked you the same question, what would your answer be?" "I would say exactly the same thing,"  Eric said.  "And I think that means I love you.  If this is not true love, it's as close as anyone gets.  Can you see what you do to me?"  He didn't really have to point.  It was pretty damn obvious. ~ ...

“Then cut to the chase, honey.” With a movement too fast for me to follow, Eric’s shirt was off, and while I was admiring the view, his other clothes followed. “Do I actually get to chase you?” he asked, his fangs already out. I made it halfway to the living room before he caught me. But he carried me back to the bedroom. Charlaine Harris, Dead In The Family *pic from source

As you might already know (from Kathi's post ), most of the Saucy Wenches originally met and got to know each other because of our mutual love of the Southern Vampire Mysteries . And more specifically, our lust , ahem, love for the one, the only Eric Northman, as portrayed by the incomparable Alexander Skarsgard in True Blood . Eric Northman, the Sheriff of Area 5, is the oldest, sexiest, and most powerful vampire in the great state of Louisiana, and he perfectly personifies all that we expect and long for in our alpha males. He knows what he wants and is ruthless in his attempts at getting it. He is extraordinarily confident, and not only does he not make excuses for his nature, he relishes it. He is 100% sure of himself in every situation. He is protective and sexy as hell, and he always gets what he wants, every time, without exception. But don’t let this BAMF fool you. He has a playful heart, and can be thoughtful and kind as well. I’m not talking about merely paying attent...

Adapted from santress.tumblr.com "Why were you there? Was that blasted Alcide trying to use you for some purpose in the contest?" "You should talk about using." "Yes, but I'm straightforward about it," Eric said, his blue eyes wide and guileless. I had to laugh. I hadn't expected to laugh for days, or weeks, and yet here I was, laughing. "True," I admitted. ~~Charlaine Harris, Dead as a Doornail

Sookie Stackhouse, from Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire Mysteries , might not consider herself rich in most senses of the word. But the one thing she does have in plenty is friends. These friends have done so much for Sookie in so many ways throughout the series, both tangibly and intangibly. They have loved her, taught her, helped her, comforted her, and most importantly, they have saved her in both the literal and figurative sense.   In case you hadn't noticed, we Wenches are great friends outside of our work here, even though we live so far apart. Friendship and loyalty to her friends are also very important to Sookie. And since secondary characters are my specialty, the Wenches asked me to write a little bit about Sookie's friends, both past and present. What kind of friend were and/or are they to Sookie? How has their friendship shaped Sookie's life? How have they helped Sookie in the past? And most importantly, how might they help Sookie in D...

Source ~ Charlaine Harris,       From Dead to Worse

Collage by Olga Daniels. Once upon a time, from lands far and wide, a group of women came unto the Great Search Engine Google, enthralled by Charlaine Harris’s Southern Vampire Mysteries . They were looking for answers. Looking for like minds. Hoping to talk and learn more about the characters they’d grown to love. And before long, they realized they’d stumbled across a pretty cool little book club. Well, it didn’t happen exactly like that, but almost. We’ve mentioned a few times that the Wenches met each other because of the Southern Vampire Mysteries . You might ask yourself, “How did a seemingly inauspicious little book series manage to bring together all these crazy women who babble incessantly about book boyfriends awesome ladies? The short answer is (1) we were obsessed and (2) talented fans who’d come before us had created the SookieVerseBlog, where we all were drawn like moths to the flame.... The release of the final SVM book next month is a poignant moment...

Just two short weeks until the hotly anticipated (around here at least!) conclusion to Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire Mysteries . Many Wenches are gearing up for the final chapter in Sookie's saga with rereads of some, if not all, of the previous books. In addition to SVM, Kim Harrison's Hollows series is still captivating a couple of Wenches. Click through to see what else we're reading this week. And don't forget to tell us what you are reading in the comments!

Something white appeared in the headlights of my old car. I gasped, jolted out of my drowsy anticipation of warmth and silence. A running man: At three in the morning on January first, he was running down the parish road, apparently running for his life. I slowed down, trying to figure out a course of action. I was a lone unarmed woman. If something awful was pursuing him, it might get me, too. On the other hand, I couldn't let someone suffer if I could help. I had a moment to notice that the man was tall, blond, and clad only in blue jeans, before I pulled up by him. I put the car into park and leaned over to roll down the window on the passenger's side. "Can I help you?" I called. He gave me a panicked glance and kept on running. But in that moment I realized who he was. I leaped out of the car and took off after him. "Eric!" I yelled. "It's me!"

Collage made by Olga Daniels Touch & Geaux , the newly released, 7th book in the Cut & Run series by Abigail Roux was hotly anticipated by some of us Wenches.  We read it together, gasped together, and cried together, and it.was.awesome.  Since many of us had strong reactions to the book, those of us that read it summarized our thoughts.  Check out our spoilery reviews after the jump.  

“He says, you have to study and learn so that you can make up your own mind about history and everything else but you can’t make up an empty mind. Stock your mind, stock your mind. You might be poor, your shoes might be broken, but your mind is a palace.” ― Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes

He grabbed me, twisting me around so I was on my back again, holding me down, teasing me in kind. "You're a bewitchment. Is that what you want to hear? I've never wanted a woman so much." "Yes, it's what I want to hear," I said, laughing. "You sound tormented. Perhaps I should lift the spell." He pressed closer. His mouth was a bare whisper from mine. He took my arms, stretching them above my head, weaving his fingers through the twine of my bracelet. "Don't lift it. Make it stronger. Bind me." ~ Megan Chance, Bone River     

Zane inhaled through his nose as he was thoroughly kissed, and he slid his arms around Ty's waist to pull his lover against his body. When Ty ended the kiss and pressed his nose to Zane's cheek, his fingers were digging in harder, giving him an almost desperate edge. "Sometimes I wonder who I'd be if it weren't for them." Ty said, his voice a whisper that barely rose above the sound of the water. Zane swallowed hard. He'd played that game, and all too often it resembled Russian roulette. What if he hadn't joined the Bureau? What if Becky hadn't died? What if he hadn't gone to Miami? But all those things had put him on the road that led him to Ty. And Ty's road had been just as rocky, but it had led him here. ~ Abigail Roux, Touch & Geaux      Cut & Run series

“I love books, by the way, way more than movies. Movies tell you what to think. A good book lets you choose a few thoughts for yourself. Movies show you the pink house. A good book tells you there's a pink house and lets you paint some of the finishing touches, maybe choose the roof style, park your own car out front. My imagination has always topped anything a movie could come up with. Case in point, those darned Harry Potter movies. That was so not what that part-Veela-chick, Fleur Delacour, looked like.” ― Karen Marie Moning, Darkfever

"He will not be pleased with thee, William Frost. But you won’t have to worry about it, because you’ll be dead." Frost had quit smiling. "It’s like that bit in The Princess Bride ," I told him. "When Vizzini says, 'You fell victim to one of the classic blunders.' Never go in against an ancient Italian vampire when death is on the line." Stefan laughed. I think he might have been the only one who had watched the movie. Or no one else thought I was funny. ~ Patricia Briggs, Frost Burned     

Twice Tempted by Jeaniene Frost: A Review by Beta and Zee So we FINALLY got our greedy little hands on Vlad’s next book. FINALLY. We aren’t patient Wenches, apparently! (NEWSFLASH!) Just to clarify, Twice Tempted by Jeaniene Frost is the second book in the Night Prince series. After having read and loved the first one, Once Burned , we couldn’t wait for the next installment on the much anticipated release day! What can we say, Ms. Frost wrote, delivered, and conquered... as always. Just when you thought you’d read it all and then some about the infamous Vlad the Impaler, she manages to give him a fresh perspective, a “new” life, as it were, that captivates you from the first page without seeming repetitive or tedious. None of the same old crap! Now, we don’t want to give away too much. If you’re reading this review, we’re assuming you’ve read Once Burned , which we have also reviewed , in case you want to get up to speed on the events in this series. And we’re tryi...

"Jenks," I protested, "leave her alone." But he wasn't mad at her, he was mad at himself. "Tagged by a whiny little vamp," he said, gesturing. "Rache, take this sword and stick it in me. Just go and stick it in me. I'm a back-drafted, crumple-winged, dust-caked, dew-assed excuse of a backup. Worthless as a pixy condom. Taken down by my own partner. Just tape my ass shut and let me fart out my mouth." I blinked, impressed. ~ Kim Harrison,      A Fistful of Charms

Source Some of the Wenches are starting to gear up for the release of the final Southern Vampires Mysteries book, the last installment in Sookie Stackhouse's tale, while some of us are anxiously avoiding rereads, pending the result of that last book. You'll also see witches, time travelers, English lords, and FBI agents on  our reading lists this week. Click through to see which books we're enjoying, and don't forget to tell us what you're reading, in the comments below!

"This is a bad idea. Remember when we are on TV?" "Yes, Grady got fan mail for a month." "I did?"  Source "We burned it, as you should all evil things," McCoy answered. Abigail Roux , Touch & Geaux

Collage created by Olga Daniels Instead of doing a general book review, I asked the Wenches who read Lover at Last by J.R. Ward to give me a brief paragraph about their thoughts on the book. Let's just say, we aren't exactly glowing in our praise. Lover at Last was highly anticipated by followers of the pairing of Qhuinn and Blay. Affectionately, we call the duo Qhuay. Qhuayzies (as followers are called) have waited a long time for Qhuinn and Blay to have their HEA. However, as you can imagine, sometimes expectations do not live up to the reality. Look after the jump for our initial impressions.

Bill's grin got even wider. “There’s more to me than meets the eye.” Bill gave a tug that yanked Gray forward and closed the gap between them. Between all of us. It was half three-way kiss, and half warm, wet drive-by shooting. Someone had a tongue stud—Bill, I guessed. And it was over before I knew it, leaving me there swaying in my boots with my head spinning. Bill had already disengaged, walking backward up ahead of us with his eyebrows raised as if to say, “Well, what’re you waiting for?” and Gray had to give me a nudge in the right direction to keep me from keeling over on the spot. ― Jordan Castillo Price, Payback       Channeling Morpheus series

Ty is loyal as a... "Last time I fall for it, O'Flaherty, I swear to God! Next time you call and need help, you're on your own." "Yeah, tell that to my boat!" " You shot the holes in it!" "Strategically! It still floats!" "I coughed up glitter for a week after Panama, you prick!" Nick put up both hands to fend off Ty's ranting, but he was laughing too hard to respond again. "Every fucking time!" Ty shouted before he smacked Nick on the side of the head and stormed off. Nick doubled over laughing. "So...how many times has he fallen for that gag?" Zane asked. Nick gasped and held up his hand, displaying all five fingers. "This makes five!" ~ Abigail Roux, Touch & Geaux

His expression was nothing short of ferocious, and if his gaze grew any hotter, I'd burn beneath it. "You've never had angry sex. I'm about to show you what you've been missing." ~ Jeaniene Frost, Twice Tempted , Night Prince trilogy     Artwork by Smv Grey * pic from tumblr search. Please tell me the source (and who the smoking hot guy is) if you know! 

Mila Kunis Another week of Fangirl Fridays! There are so many admirable people out there. It's hard not to admire and respect someone who has put themselves in the public eye for the sake of art, in any form, or just to bring about some positive change in the world, on any level. Be it actors, writers, musicians, scientists, journalists, philanthropists, there are many we admire. Or just appreciate for bringing joy and laughter into our lives. Not necessarily on the same level, but we're not interested in ranking them in any particular order.  So, after watching Oz the Great & Powerful (with the amazing Head Wench Barb!), I wanted to share with you the many reasons (shallow and otherwise!) we love Mila Kunis!

Source The man turned his attention on them with an appreciative whistle. "Well hello, beautiful," he said in a deep voice as he took a few steps toward their table. "Where have you been all my life? Where are you from, gorgeous?" Becky laughed and sat forward. "Austin, Texas." "Yeah, wait your turn, honey, I'm talking to your boyfriend." Becky cackled and covered her mouth with her hands, looking at Zane as the audience laughed. Zane felt himself blushing. He laughed and shook his head, meeting the man's eyes with a strange rush of excitement. He realized he was enjoying the attention. The man on stage gave him a rakish once over. "Congratulations on your face, darlin'," he said, and then moved on, addressing a few other couples. Zane watched him, his mouth ajar. . . . Becky leaned closer, biting her lip on a smile. "I just want you to know that if you ever wanted to hit that, I'd totally be be...

While some of the Wenches waited patiently (or impatiently, I think is more appropriate!), for Touch & Geaux to come out, I volunteered to interview some Wenches about the Cut & Run series. It turned out the questions were a lot harder than we anticipated! Even for me, the interviewee. Hehehe.

Source As always, the Wenches have been firmly entrenched in the worlds our beloved authors weave for us, or what some people call reading. Some of us have been enjoying new releases — like Twice Tempted , Lover At Last , and Touch & Geaux , others, old favorites — like the Southern Vampire Mysteries , or we've just been itching to return to a series we might have left behind for that pesky thing we call Real Life. Click through to see what each of us has been reading this week!

“When she absently worried her bottom lip with one of her adorable little fangs, he sighed. The Enemy of Old fucking sighed . Dear gods, it’d finally happened to him. Happiness. Then his own fangs sharpened.  I will kill anyone who tries to take this feeling away from me.”

Welcome to the SWBC Cut & Run Web Hunt to celebrate the release of Abigail Roux's Touch & Geaux ! The Cut & Run minions rallied and voted Stars & Stripes the Final Four of the DABWAHA Tournament, earning us the early release of Touch & Geaux . Many of the Cut & Run Wenches have already finished the book and are recovering. I think we agree that Touch & Geaux took us for one hell of a ride and left us on a precipice of joy and pain at the end of it all. As we leaned on each other for support, we took some time out to select our favorite Cut & Run quote amongst all of those posted to the Saucy Wenches Book Club prior to the release of Touch & Geaux . It was a close vote, let me tell you. The top 3 quotes were separated by only one vote each. And the winner is . . .

"I've heard about this place," Zane said, looking up at the sign. "It's all mysteries, suspense, thrillers...." He nearly bounced in place.   "Do you not get enough of that shit in your real life?" Ty asked with a roll of his eyes. "Come on," he ordered as he turned away. "I don't do books."   "Well I do. Get an espresso or something," Zane said, pulling open the door and going inside.   "I don't do espressos," Ty called after him stubbornly. As he stood outside the doors, his shoulder slumped, and soon he obediently followed Zane into the store.   Cut & Run Sorry Ty, but all of us around here love books. Also, it's probably a good thing that Ty doesn't do espressos. He'd be bouncing off the walls. Anyway, the Wenches also love Ty & Zane. Well, some of us do.  For those of you who aren't familiar with Ty & Zane, they are the lead characters in the  Cut ...

Salvador Dalí “I have lived through war, and lost much. I know what's worth the fight, and what is not. Honor and courage are matters of the bone, and what a man will kill for, he will sometimes die for, too. And that, O kinsman, is why a woman has broad hips; that bony basin will harbor a man and his child alike. A man's life springs from his woman's bones, and in her blood is his honor christened. For the sake of love alone, I would walk through fire again.” ― Diana Gabaldon, The Fiery Cross

"Fuck," Ty finally muttered as they broke another heated kiss. "Is that a comment or a request?" Zane asked breathlessly.

My body bucked as wave after wave of pleasure coursed through me, and I was thinking it, please , as he drank. Please do it deep. Please don't stop . Please. He felt me pleading, I think, or maybe even tasted it in my blood ― because he didn't stop once he'd made me come. He kept going, and it started to feel less like sex and more like a drug, the sweet, soaring rush of a big hit of K, and Bill and I seemed to dissolve wherever our bodies touched, to bleed together and mingle. To become one. ~ Jordan Castillo Price, Swarm    ( Channeling Morpheus #9)

It is a well known fact that the Wenches all became friends thanks to our pretty intense fangirling. Without exception, we all bonded over SVM- and Alexander Skarsgard-related fangirling. Ah... memories! In fact, we stay pretty true to the three things on our blog banner: reading, fangirling, and general inappropriateness! You've heard a lot we've had to say on reading, and I'm sure you're used to our general inappropriateness by now! So Head Wench Barb thought it's about time we familiarize you with our fangirling!  So this first week, we put a little spin on what will be a weekly post in honor of the Touch & Geaux blitz. Click through to find out why Veronica and Olga are huge fans of Ty and Zane!

Source

"Hi. Cat was just keeping me company until you came back." He glanced in the direction she’d disappeared to before returning his attention to me. "Fourteen hundred and thirty-one." I blinked. "What’s that?" "The year I was born, which is not, as you’ll note, yesterday." I stifled a groan. Busted already. ~ Jeaniene Frost, Twice Tempted