The Saucy Wenches Book Club

“I love you.” he said, “and am your servant. [Lover's name] , look at me. If I’ve done wrong in the past, give me leave to make amends.” So he found that what he had half despised was not despicable, that what had been for him the satisfaction of an appetite, a pleasant but commonplace adventure in disappointment, owned wayward and elusive depths he had not known before and carried the knowledge of beauty in its heart. ~ Winston Graham, Ross Poldark    ( The Poldark Saga #1)

Source. This week, readers, a lot of us are nursing serious book hangovers after some pretty epic reads. We'll probably be harping on about those books for weeks to come, so sorry in advance!  While some of us are trying pretty much anything to get out of our book slumps, authors old and new, the rest of us have been getting ready to say goodbye to beloved series, and looking forward to the HEAs on the way in those books.  Click through to see what the Wenches have been up to this week. And as always, share with us what book worlds have been keeping you up at night.

Their separate rages lasted for several hours, and they rather carefully avoided each other during this period. Some emotions needed to be shared, but insane fury was not one of those. Castle of Wizardry by David Eddings

Megan Hart's Vanilla   Readers, it's my pleasure to bring you a review of yet another Megan Hart book. (Thank you NetGalley!) Our regular readers know we're huge fans of Ms.Hart's work, and for those who aren't that familiar with her, well we've reviewed quite a few of her books for you here at the Wenches'. You can check them all out in the Megan Hart tag here . You're welcome! I wasn't too sure about Vanilla initially, since when I read about it I instantly zoned out at when people used the word "dominatrix" while talking about the protagonist of the novel. But, it was there on my Kindle, calling to me. So one day, when nothing else was tickling my fancy, I picked up my Kindle and dove right in!  Click through to see whether or not it was another home run from this author! (No spoilers!)

As you know, Karen Marie Moning's Fever series is one of The Wenches' very favorite book series. We love those books, and the author who pens them, beyond measure. We can easily lose ourselves in the story, and often get sucked in whenever we go looking for quotes. It's easy to do with so many stunning events and with quotes that live in our hearts and minds, years after we first read the books. One of the most amazing things about the Fever series is that it is so much more than just a fantasy saga. Karen Marie Moning laces her tales with life lessons, with quotes and ideas that resonate on a soul-deep level, showing us the way decent, strong, capable humans beings should, do , live. I find a new lesson every single time I read these books, something else that speaks to my heart like nothing else can. It's no wonder that fans of this series routinely have Ms. Moning's words tattooed on themselves--what better idea to carry with you every day than a mantra lik...

"You look very handsome, too." He arched and eyebrow with obviously wicked intent. "Do I?" "You know you do, so don't pretend otherwise. You look like a prince." He laughed heartily. "I am very much not--was not ever--a prince. I was, and remain, a soldier." He squeezed my hand. "Your soldier, as you are mine." Dark Debt ~~Chloe Neill

“I realized the one thing Fell’s Point didn't really have,” Ty said, his voice sincere and hopeful, “was a bookstore.”  Zane’s stomach flipped. He loved old book stores. Loved the smell of them, loved to walk through them, loved sitting in them and reading in a ratty old chair. Ty had known that from the beginning, from the day in New York City when he’d gamely followed Zane into a bookstore and sat there as Zane browsed.     Ty’s lips twitched. “And we could sell black market orchids from the back.”   Zane’s breath left him. He was standing in the middle of the craphole building Ty had bought him, and suddenly he could see what Ty was truly proposing. A life where neither of them carried a gun. A life where Zane could sit in a bookstore all day, could know that Ty would be there when he went home, right upstairs. A life for them, together. A future. Ty wanted them to cut and run.  Zane thought he had experienced love before. Thought he had k...

Well Minions, this is it. We've reach the end (almost) of Ty & Zane's journey. Book #9's release is upon us. Wench Care and I are both desperate for and dreading this day. We've been theorizing and speculating for over a year now. At this point, I'm sure we've over-analyzed every insignificant detail in every single book in the series trying to extract any even remotely plausible scenario for Book #9. Let me backtrack for a second here, for those of you who don't know, Riptide in their infinite  desire to torture us marketing wizardry have declared that this will be a blind release.  Meaning, we don't have an excerpt, a rating, a back cover blurb, nothing. We don't even have a title! This, of course, just adds to our distress speculation.  So, Care and I are here today to share with you some of our favorite theories about what might happen. We will also touch on our hopes and fears for the conclusion of the much loved Cut & Run se...

“Why couldn’t they just give the human female a bag of money and then pee on the building so that everyone would know it was theirs?”

It is quite a mixed bag of books at the Saucy Wenches this week! While Anne and Care are rereading Cut and Run in preparation for the forthcoming conclusion to that series, everyone else is reading something new. Urban fantasy, contemporary romance, historical fiction, a wench recommendation, and even some non-fiction are showing up on our list this week! Click through to see who's reading what, and share your reading list in the comments below!

"Did you kill the inspector?" "If I were the type of person to kill O'Duffy, I would also be the type of person to lie about it." "So, did you, or didn't you?" "The answer would be 'no' in either case. You ask absurd questions. Listen to your gut, Ms. Lane. It may save your life one day." ~ Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning

Transcendence    Shay Savage I have a good friend who sends me recommendations for books all the time. Last week she made me read an odd book. I don’t think I would have picked this one myself, but she practically threatened me... Transcendence is a love story, situated in a prehistoric era. It’s a story about survival against the odds, transcending time and place. Ehd is a young, prehistoric caveman (Ya, don’t we all want an alpha caveman to grab us by the hair and drag us straight into his cave?), who lives alone after his tribe perished in a forest fire. Jane (Maureen O’Sullivan) and Tarzan (Johnny Weismuller) in the interior of the tree house in Tarzan and His Mate (1934) Elisabeth is a very young, modern woman, accidentally transported back in time to be found by Ehd. He is perplexed by her; she wears strange clothing and makes strange sounds with her mouth. None the less, she is beautiful, and Ehd knows she is meant for him, destined to ...

“If you don't understand, ask questions. If you're uncomfortable about asking questions, say you are uncomfortable about asking questions and then ask anyway. It's easy to tell when a question is coming from a good place. Then listen some more. Sometimes people just want to feel heard. Here's to possibilities of friendship and connection and understanding.”  Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Amazing Women On Our TV Screens! Television has come a long way. While I'm still not satisfied with the severe lack of diversity on our televisions (on mostly mainstream shows... that air all over the world) I have to say, I have been quite pleased with a lot of the female characters we've been seeing lately. Both the characters they play, and the women themselves. Women that don't necessarily fit a stereotype, who can fall in love, be vulnerable and still be kick ass. Who won't take your shit. Or who give people they love more chances than they deserve. Those that don't fall in love, aren't sexual, and still have a character arc you are invested in. Those that perpetually live in the grey area between good and evil, some that might even lean a bit into the latter. Manipulative women you root for, powerful women you'd stand behind, women with causes, women who have fun, all sorts of women. So this Fangirl Friday, I'm going to share a list of just a ...

“I attempted to restrain my enthusiasm.   Learning is an admirable thing, in women as well as men, but only when it is of the right kind.  (That is, of course, society’s opinion; not my own. I am glad to say it has changed somewhat since my day.) As a young lady, I should show interest only in songbirds and other such dainty creatures, lest I brand myself as ink-nosed.  “A Natural History of Dragons” (Memoir by Lady Trent #1), Marie Brennan

Evolution was far more thrilling to me than the biblical account. Who would not rather be a rising ape than a falling angel? To my juvenile eyes, Darwin was proved true every day. It doesn't take much to make us flip back into monkeys again.   ~ Terry Pratchett

What do we know of George R.R. Martin? He writes brilliant, epic, fantasy novels. He takes *forevah* to write a new release in the series. ( A Song of Ice and Fire series has been around since the publication of A Game of Thrones , in 1996!) Oh, and he will kill off the characters we love, as well as the characters we love to hate. No one is safe in his world! Yet, still, like the idealistic, hopeful fools we are, we believe that he can't shock us *again*! Oh, yes, he can. If this intrigues you, I urge you to read this series. It is not a super easy and quick read, especially with the average book being approximately 1,000+ pages. I promise you though, it is SO worth it.   A Song of Ice and Fire series order of books: A Game of Thrones (1996) A Clash of Kings (1998) A Storm of Swords (2000) A Feast for Crows (2005) A Dance with Dragons (2011)   HALT! Go no further unless you have read ALL the books in the series or have been spoiled through book #5, A Da...

“We’ve closed the store to humans who aren’t part of the Courtyard’s pack, so it’s time to remove books that aren’t of interest to them or the terra indigene ,” [said Simon Wolfgard]. Vlad pulled a book off the shelf. The cover showed a muscular male who was partially clothed, looked menacing, and was meant to be some kind of terra indigene . At the male’s feet was a partially clothed female, probably human, who, despite cowering, had her chin lifted in a defiant attitude and had her back arched in a way that displayed an impressive pair of breasts. “Do you think humans will ever realize breasts have no attraction for us once we’re weaned?” Vlad asked, opening the book to a random page. [snip] Vlad read a couple of pages, then put the book on the cart. “Some of us might read it if you shelved it as a comedy.” Simon eyed him, then looked at the book. “Or put it in with the cookbooks?” “Too obvious what our interest in the breasts would be.” ~ Anne Bishop, Vision in Si...

Click through to see what we're reading this week, and be sure and tell us what you're reading!

"You probably shouldn't have displayed your talents quite so openly," Belgarath told her. "People prefer not to believe in that sort of thing. There's a whole catalogue of nasty little emotions curdling in the human spirit, and anything the least bit out of the ordinary raises the possibility of retribution." Castle of Wizardry , by David Eddings

Who Buries the Dead is the 10th instalment in the fantastic Sebastian St. Cyr series. The series continues to move at a fast pace, that leaves this reader satisfied. C.S. Harris stands out for me in the historical, murder, mystery genre for her ability to keep me guessing until the end as to whom the murderer is. In ten books, I've only managed to work it out once, but couldn't figure out how the murder went down. This was my most anticipated release for 2015 and it left me wanting more. From GR: The grisly murder of a West Indies slave owner and the reappearance of a dangerous enemy from Sebastian St. Cyr’s past combine to put C. S. Harris’s “troubled but compelling antihero” (Booklist) to the ultimate test in this taut, thrilling mystery. London, 1813. The vicious decapitation of Stanley Preston, a wealthy, socially ambitious plantation owner, at Bloody Bridge draws Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, into a macabre and increasingly perilous investigation. The discov...

You know, a lot has been said, in general, in Fangirl Fridays, but something I realized I love - and that hasn't been talked about?  Blogging. We do this all the time, and it never occurred to me to devote a post to blogging. Go figure. Too busy to meta, apparently.

"So, technically," Mallory said, "you could have disavowed Darth Sullivan?" The question--and the nickname we used for him--was out before she'd realized what she'd said. She mouthed a curse, squeezed her eyes closed. "Crap." Ethan sat up straight, slowly turned his gaze to me. "Darth Sullivan?" I inwardly cringed, opted for defense. "You're so handsome." "Merit." "And really tall." I cocked my head at him. "Has anyone ever told you that you resemble David Beckham?" " Merit ." Dark Debt ~~Chloe Neill

Ty reached impulsively and smoothed Zane’s hair back from his forehead. He stood, bending over him to press a kiss to his forehead. “We can still cut and run,” he whispered against the warm skin. Swallowing hard, Zane shivered as hope shot through him. Hope for something other than the occasional flyby as they passed each other by while working. He had to try to ignore the twang he felt at the thought of leaving his hard-earned and well-loved job behind.  “Just say the word,” he said thickly.  Ty closed his eyes, his fingers tightening in Zane’s hair. He was proposing they both give up a job they loved, give up everything either of them knew. “We can open up a flower shop and sell black-market orchids from the back,” he offered with a slight hitch in his voice. Cut & Run by Abigail Roux and Madeline Urban Source

A Wench Review I hadn't read a new Stephen King book in years. Sure, I reread old favorites, but I never picked up anything new. I don't know why. People complained about them too much maybe? I was too in love with his older work to bother with something new? Maybe just laziness? Whatever the reason, Revival caught my eye a few weeks before it was to be released. And I clicked the preorder button on Amazon.  When it showed up on my Kindle, I was excited and so ready to jump in. Click through to see what I thought of my latest foray into King's one of a kind mind. (This review will be mildly spoilery . Be warned.)

'I live for the dream that my children will be born free. That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them.' 'I live for you,' I say sadly. She kisses my cheek. 'Then you must live for more.'

Well, readers, we've been reading all sorts of stuff this past week. A few of us are dealing with book funks (you know how those are!) The rest of us are either back to old, trusted favorites, or trying something completely new! Vampires, Fae, Shifters, there's a little bit of it all going on in our reading worlds right now! Click through to see what we've been reading! And don't forget to let us know what you've been reading.

He extended his hand. "I'm Christian." [snip] I was tired of lies and tired of being alone and tired of feeling disconnected. I was tired of being with people I couldn't trust and wanting to trust people I couldn't be with, like this guy for example, or his coworker, the dreamy-eyed guy. I was hungry for normalcy and angry enough to want to destroy any chance I had at getting it. ~ Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning

Gardella Vampire Hunters Book 1 Beneath the glitter of dazzling 19th-century London Society lurks a bloodthirsty evil... Vampires have always lived among them, quietly attacking unsuspecting debutantes and dandified lords as well as hackney drivers and Bond Street milliners. If not for the vampire slayers of the Gardella family, these immortal creatures would have long ago taken over the world. In every generation, a Gardella is called to accept the family legacy, and this time, Victoria Gardella Grantworth is chosen, on the eve of her debut, to carry the stake. Thus teases the first installment of the Gardella Vampire Hunters series. And even though gutsy, genteel Victoria Anastasia Gardella Bellissima Grantworth is completely blindsided by this late-breaking addition to her already brimming social schedule, she not only carries the proffered stake — stylishly tucked into elaborate coiffures, frilly garters, and killer corsets — through the elegant ballrooms and gard...

“In bed, I steal moments of tenderness when sex has finally exhausted me to the point where I’m too bone weary to fret anymore about the enormous capacity for evil that’s taken up squatter’s rights inside me. I touch him, put all those things I don’t say into my hands as I trace the red and black tattoos on his skin, the sharp planes and hollows of his face, bury my hands in his dark hair. He watches me in silence when I do, eyes dark, unfathomable. I sometimes wake up to find he’s pulled me close to him and is holding me, spooned into my back with his face in my hair, and those hands that don’t speak like mine don’t speak move over my skin and tell me I’m cherished, honored, seen.” BURNED by Karen Marie Moning.

I still watch Vampire Diaries . There I've said it. I just love watching it for all it's twists and turns. I enjoying see what mess the characters have to dig themselves out of now. I guess Vampire Diaries is kind of what I term blob out TV. I'm not a Grey's Anatomy , Revenge TV viewer for my blob out television. Just a note that when I say blob out, I'm not meaning the show is terrible at all, it's just fun to enjoy and doesn't require any strenuous thinking on my part. I just love stuff with a supernatural bent and hence why it probably continues to hold my attention. So here are some of the numerous reasons why I'm still watching this show and don't miss an episode. You might think some of them are just plain ridiculous, but hey it keeps me glued.

“Dogs make sense. They understand hierarchy and the need to cooperate. They come when you call them. A cat though—a cat will take your number and get back to you. Maybe. If he’s in a good mood.”   Mortal Danger (World of the Lupi #2), Eileen Wilks

"Chelsea needed a little help, but I did not force her," Charles answered. "She saw a chance for survival and she wanted it." He wasn't lying, Anna knew. But there was a sick feeling in her stomach. That was what Justin had said when she'd survived the Change - as if she'd wanted what was done to her and all that followed. "Use that," she told Kage. "To comfort yourself, because it is true she had to fight to live. But don't tell her that. Tell her you love her and need her. Tell her the kids need her. Tell her you tried to make a choice she might make. Tell her that you thought she'd want us to find the fae who did this to her so he couldn't kill anyone else. But don't tell her that her survival means that she really wanted this." When she said 'this' she motioned to herself. .... "Truth has many facets. Choose the ones that make her happy to be alive instead of the ones that make her want to smack you...

...Chloe Neill's Chicagoland Vampires ! Collage by Olga. I do believe our regular Saucy readers have a fairly good idea about how much most of us love Chloe Neill's Chicagoland Vampires series. We love reading the books, talking about them, and writing about them. Basically anything to do with them! So this post is just another excuse to obsess over them! Wench Anne did a brilliant job before the House Rules release telling us her casting picks for one of our favorite series. Honestly, I loved most of her choices! But I thought, in honor of Dark Debt and how awesome it was, (read Barb's non-spoilery review here ) why not do another one. Just for fun! And for the man (and woman) candy obviously.  I will assume you have read the books up to Dark Debt ! (It may contain a few character descriptions from Dark Debt , but nothing else.)

Love wasn’t perfection. It wasn’t always roses and candy. Hell, it wasn’t even mostly roses and candy. Sometimes it was battling back fear that loomed like a leviathan, trying to find a way through misery, being grateful to have a companion who knew your strengths and weaknesses, and loved you not just in spite of them, but because of them. Love was acceptance. Love was bravery. Love was sticking it out. ~ Chloe Neill, Dark Debt

Happy Release Day, Saucy Readers! Releases from several of our favorite authors hit shelves today, including Dark Debt by Chloe Neill, Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs, and Vision in Silver by Anne Bishop. You'll see those authors on our lists today, as well as some other favorites and new finds! Click through to see what we're reading, and tell us if you're picking up a new release today, too!

A vampire never gets old. But neither do his enemies. When a figure from Ethan’s dark past makes a splashy debut in Chicago, Merit and her Master don’t know whether he’s friend or foe. But they’ll have to figure out soon, because trouble is brewing in the Windy City. At an exclusive society soiree attended by the upper echelons of the human and supernatural worlds, Merit and Ethan barely stop the assassination of a guest. When the target turns out to be a shady businessman with a criminal edge, Merit suspects a human vendetta. But the assassins have fangs…. The connections to Chicago’s Houses go deeper than Merit knows, and even one wrong move could be her last…. Happy release day, Saucy Readers! We are honored, once again, to be a stop on Chloe Neill's Chicagoland Vampires Blog Tour! We don't need to tell you that we adore this series, but if you want to know how Dark Debt is, check out Barb's review here . Today we are thrilled to have an opportunity to sit d...

At the end of the gallery a flight of steep, worn stairs descended sharply, and they went down, their hands on the wall to steady themselves. "It would be easy to get turned around down here," Silk observed. "I've lost track of which direction we're going." "Down." Hettar told him. "Thanks," Silk replied dryly. Magician's Gambit by David Eddings

It's Chicagoland Vampires time once again, Saucy Readers. It will come as no surprise to regular followers that I adore the CLV series, and Chloe Neill, to the moon and back. And it is with baited breath that I wait for the next installment every six months or so. Well, it was no different with Dark Debt . The ending of Blood Games left us stunned, wondering what that note meant, who sent it, and dying to find out what was up next for our favorite urban supernaturals. When Dark Debt finally landed on my doorstep, all of my weekend plans flew right out the door, and I devoured that thing in two days. Did I love Dark Debt as much as I expected to? Is Chicagoland Vampires still going strong, or is this long-running series starting to get stale? Come with me through the jump and I'll tell you whether you should snap up  this eleventh CLV book right away. Spoiler free! ***There will be no spoilers for Dark Debt , but I'm assuming you've read through Blood Games ...