Book of the Week: The Gathering

The Gathering, Darkness Rising Book 1 by Kelley Armstrong

Find it on Amazon

Amazon Book Description: “Strange things are happening in Maya’s tiny Vancouver Island town. First, her friend Serena, the captain of the swim team, drowns mysteriously in the middle of a calm lake. Then, one year later, mountain lions are spotted rather frequently around Maya’s home—and her reactions to them are somewhat . . . unexpected. Her best friend, Daniel, has also been experiencing unexplainable premonitions about certain people and situations.

“It doesn’t help that the new bad boy in town, Rafe, has a dangerous secret, and he’s interested in one special part of Maya’s anatomy—her paw-print birthmark.”

***

Armstrong’s Darkness Rising trilogy takes place in the same world as her Darkest Powers trilogy -same mad scientific organization, different subjects. This time, Armstrong takes us to a small, isolated research community in Canada where the St. Clouds perform “pharmaceutical drug trials.” Maya lives there with her adoptive parents (this isn’t a spoiler, she’s well-aware that she’s adopted) that operate a wildlife reserve. Maya takes care of injured animals there and seems to have a special connection with the animals as well as uncanny healing abilities. She and her friend Daniel are still healing themselves after her best friend and his girlfriend Serena (a seasoned swimmer) drowns mysteriously in a lake. They really start asking questions about Serena’s death when a nosey outsider named Mina Lee appears in town and wants to talk to the teenagers about the research that goes on there. She seems especially interested in the life of a high schooler in their isolated community, their hobbies, and specifically in Maya.

Meanwhile, newcomer and local bad boy Rafael (Rafe) Martinez is also taking a special interest in Maya. As Maya gets to know Rafe, she realizes they have more in common than just their Native American ancestry. (Sorry for the ambiguity -I’m trying to keep this as spoiler free as possible!) Rafe might not be the bad boy he pretends to be, but his interest in Maya may not be entirely selfless, either. One thing I liked about this book is that Maya is an  independent and plucky kinda girl. She’s very bold with Rafe (even bolder than usual, she admits) and often takes charge in their relationship, including initiating their, uh, make out sessions. Even though much of the book focuses on her relationship with Rafe, you kind of get the feeling that Armstrong is heading into love triangle territory since there seems to be some unresolved tension between Maya and Daniel. And, of course, Daniel doesn’t trust Rafe, so there’s friction between those two as well. (Do I sense a potential bromance in the works?)

When I started The Gathering, I was still on a high from reading my first paranormal romance trilogy by author Kelley Armstrong, The Darkest Powers. (You can find my book review for that series here.)  I’m not sure what it was about The Gathering that I didn’t like. I mean, I liked it -I just didn’t love it, and I don’t know what about it didn’t take it to the next level for me. There were a lot of plot elements similar to The Darkest Powers trilogy -like Chloe has to put up with bitchy witch (teehee) Tori, Maya has to deal with mean girl Hayley. And there are the hints of a Daniel-Maya-Rafe love triangle. But these parallels didn’t really bother me. I mean, I’ve read and loved all of L. J. Smith’s books, and those all have very similar basic structures: Same basic premise, different twist. By the way, isn’t that the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results?…Well, I’m not really expecting different results, so I guess I’m okay!

Anyway, so it wasn’t the repetition. Something was missing for me. It seemed to be action-packed, but I didn’t become totally invested in the characters. I could put the book down if I wanted to. I also think it took too long for Maya to figure out who/what she is. The reader will become aware of it early in the book, but then it takes Maya almost the whole book to figure it out. That was a little frustrating. I enjoyed Maya’s character, though. Not only was she independent, she had an adventurous spirit and her narration and dialogue was just plain funny -she has a dry, sarcastic wit (kind of like yours truly).

Although I wasn’t in lurve with this book, I will still totally read the other ones. I’m curious enough to see what will happen next, and hopefully they get better.

Upcoming Books of the Week: Darkness Rising: The Calling (Book 2) and The Rising (Book 3); Cassandra Clare’s City of Bones; Karen Marie Moning’s The Dark Highlander

Related Reads:

Book of the Week: The Darkest Powers Trilogy – The Urge to Write

The Gathering – Rachel Lizotte

Day 13 – Your Favorite Writer – Kelley Armstrong – The Avid Reader

Book Review: The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong – Baubles & Books

What Music Inspires You?

Heidi asked this question on her blog last week, and I’d like to hear from you all, too: What kind of music inspires your writing? Music Video Monday was originally supposed to be all about what music was inspiring my writing at the time -and it mostly has been, although I also include music that fits my mood and new old music discoveries. (Yes, you read that right: new old music.)

So watch this video from one of my favorite British duos, Erasure, and then let me know your musical inspiration in the comments!

Erasure: “Ship of Fools”

Once Upon a Time...Eight Writers Tell a Story

Reblogged from WHATANERDGIRLSAYS:

Okay, so one of the biggest things that I've noticed in my quest to get writing advice from as many authors as I possibly can is that the advice tends to get repeated over time. And that makes sense. I'm getting writing advice from authors that are successful and of course they are going to have similar writing advice.

But a big one that I've always kind of found important and intriguing is the idea of finding your own voice.

Read more… 698 more words

Sara gave me and five other bloggers the same prompt -and six very different stories resulted! You can check them out here. Mine is a bit of flash fiction...I like challenging myself to cram as much description and action as I can into 100 words or less.

Character Profile: Jasper Mars

Who is the handsome, mysterious and elegant Jasper Mars?

This is the question Siobhan Connor, the heroine of my urban fantasy/paranormal romance novel tentatively titled The Fallen, wants to find out. (And if you want to find out, you can start reading here. I’m in the process of editing, but I’m always open to comments, suggestions and questions!)

Jasper Mars

From: The Fallen (paranormal romance, urban fantasy)

Character Type: “Villain”

Age: Probably really old, but he looks about late-twenties

Physical Description: Tall; shoulder-length, slightly wavy dark hair; midnight blue eyes; well-built with magnificent black wings

Species: Alien from a parallel universe

Occupation: PhD student in the history department; teaching assistant for Dr. Miller’s World Myths and Legends class

Relationship Status: Single

Love interest: Siobhan

Goals:

• To win Siobhan’s trust and heart
• To make a life for himself on Earth after his own people cast him out his home world (or so he says)

Obstacles:

• Farrah, Siobhan’s sorority’s nosey new house mother (who probably isn’t human, either)
• Siobhan’s stubbornness and independence

Strengths: Physical strength and power; seductive; persuasive

Flaws: Arrogant; chauvinistic

Enjoys:

• Learning about new cultures
• Flying around the city at night
• Enticing Siobhan
• Brooding

Quote: “But I knew that if I somehow, somehow survived my injuries, I’d be lonely here, without an equal. And then fate brought me you…You are mine, Siobhan.”

Who would play him in a movie: When I finally got around to watching Thor this week, I realized that Tom Hiddleston would be perfect (in my mind) to play Jasper. Loki even sort of reminds me of Jasper: Dark, brooding, misunderstood. (I’m on Team Loki -ladies, please tell me I’m not the only one?!…)

Thursday Thoughts: Sex in Books

“Let’s talk about sex, baby…”

Happy Friday Eve, blogosphere. For today’s Thursday thought, I want to know: How do you feel about sex in fiction books?

If you’re familiar with my blog and with my fiction samples I’ve posted, you probably know how I feel about it. Also, I guess I’m also not really talking about formula romance novels, because we expect those to have sex. (I mean, isn’t that why we read them?) I’m talking about books where the romance or relationship may be an important theme, but not the primary theme. For example, when I was reading A Game of Thrones (well, when I read part of it…I never did finish it…), there were short sex scenes, but these weren’t of course the major focus of the book. And some of the relationships are pretty taboo/controversial.

The reason I’m asking is -I know there are readers out there who dislike sex in fiction books. Not only that, but they think less of a book when it has them. But one of my favorite series, the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning (which I’ve talked about to death on here, I know, but I’m talking about it again!), is sexy but also a wonderful urban fantasy series. Her characters are daring and memorable, there’s a gripping plot, and she creates this fantastical yet believable world in which humans and Fae live side-by-side. There’s not sex in every book in the series, but there is in a few of them -certainly not every other page because they’re not erotica, but they do get pretty sexy and dark. But for me it doesn’t detract from the plot or the character development. And though I waited somewhat impatiently to see if Jericho Barrons and Mackayla Lane would end up together in the end or not, their relationship and whether or not they were going to do it are definitely not the only reasons I love these books.

So what do you think? Are you pro or con sex in books?

Music Video Monday: Christina Aguilera “Fighter”

I like this video and this song (no matter how you feel about pop music, Ms. Aguilera definitely has some powerful pipes), but I’m really posting this for the sentiment. I was sulking a bit this weekend, but I think I’ve snapped myself out of it and am ready to take action now. I’m still feeling rather cynical and disillusioned, but every experience teaches you something. It’s okay to be pissed, sad, resentful, whatever, but then you have to get over yourself and think about how you can resolve the situation. As I said, take action.

I don’t know how much else you’ll get out of me this week, but for now you can listen to/watch Christina belt it out:

The Fallen: Chapter Twenty-Two: Defeated

And here it is! The final chapter! (Finally!) A few of you have left me comments, and thanks again! Feel free to leave your thoughts below or on the Facebook page if you follow that. (See the “like” button the left? Click it, you know you want to…) But seriously, any comments or questions are greatly appreciated, and thanks for following along!

***

<< Chapter Twenty-One: Crescendo

“You shower me with lullabies\As you’re walking away\Reminds me that it’s killing time\On this fateful day…

“See you at the bitter end.”

Two hands seize my other arm, and I look over to see Anna trying to pull me back, but her grip is slipping. Farrah latches onto Anna, and her inhuman strength prevents Jasper from pulling me the rest of the way through the portal. He straddles it, his body half in, half out of the whirling, shimmering pool.

“You fucking bitch!” he shouts at me. “I trusted you! You betrayed me!”

“Let her go, Ares,” Farrah warns him, giving a tug in her direction, but Jasper’s grip on my arm is unrelenting. “It’s over!”

“You’ll pay for this!” Jasper growls, but I don’t know if he’s still talking to me, Farrah, or both of us. Although his words are filled with rage, I see pain in his eyes. His expression softens as our gazes lock.

“I love you.” I can barely hear his admission above the roar of the portal.

“Wait,” I croak. “Wait!” I say it again, this time more loudly so that the others can hear me. I look over my shoulder at Anna and Farrah.

“I’ll go with him. I want to go with him.” I look Anna directly in the eyes. “Please, let me go.”

“What?” she exclaims, her jaw dropping in shock. “No! Never!” She gives a futile tug on my arm.

“Siobhan, stop this,” Farrah cautions me. “Now, I’m going to pull –”

“No!” I scream over her. “I want to go with him! Anna, please, let me go. Let me go.” I look back over at Jasper. “I love him.” I proclaim it softly, but he hears me because relief floods his handsome, perfect face.

I don’t know if she does it because she really believes me or because she’s caught on, but Anna actually releases me.

As I desperately bargained for, Jasper’s hold on me relaxes.

I yank my arm out of his clutch and at the same time kick him as hard as I can in the shin.

Jasper falls back into the portal.

Just like it did at the house, as soon as Jasper is through the wormhole vanishes. I collapse to the floor, hiding my face in my hands, suddenly a shaking, wailing mess. Anna kneels down beside me and lets me cry on her shoulder.

“It’s okay,” she soothes me, patting my back. “Everything’s going to be okay now. You did it.” She pulls back from me to look me in my eyes, which are blurry with tears. “He’s gone.” I nod and take a few deep breaths to calm myself and wipe my tear-stained cheeks with the back of my hands.

Anna’s trying to be a good friend, trying to see the best in me –wanting to believe that my tears are tears of relief, a rush of released stress. Well, most of them are.

But the rest of my tears are for the man I just pushed through the portal. A man I might love.

***

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

God, I wish everyone would stop asking me that. But when I meet his concerned, caring eyes, it’s hard for me to stay mad at Jimmy.

“I’ll be fine,” I assure him. We’re bathed in porch light outside the Gamma Gamma Lambda house. Anna’s already given me one last reassuring hug and is waiting inside her yellow truck idling beside the curb. Jimmy envelops me in his arms. His embrace is a strange mixture of comfort, desperation and need. If what just happened hadn’t just happened, I would give into him. But right now I’m feeling rather numb.

He pulls away, and our arms fall to our sides. He’s studying me warily.

“What is it?” I finally ask.

“Maybe nothing.” He rubs the back of his neck with his hand and looks at the ground. “I just feel like…like I’ve lost you before we even got our chance. Well, our second chance.”

Jimmy looks up at me again. I know what he wants me to say. What he wants to see on my face. That of course he’s wrong –that we can go back to that place we were starting to repair. Reassurance that we still feel the same way about each other.

“Goodnight, Jimmy,” is all I can say. I can’t look him in the eye again, so I duck my head inside and shut the door behind me.

“Great job, tonight.”

I just want to drag myself upstairs and be alone, but Farrah is perched on the couch, beaming at me. She pats the cushion beside her. My shoulders fall in defeat and I reluctantly sit down.

“I know what you did tonight was hard for you, Siobhan, but you did the right thing.”

“Do you?” I wonder doubtfully. “Did I?”

“Of course I do,” Farrah insists. “Ares is handsome, charming –and I know better than anyone the kind of pull he has with women. I was in love with him once, too.” Her eyes take on this faraway, dreamy look for a few moments. She shakes her head. “And he’s not all bad, all the time. But he’s made some poor choices lately. He made you believe you were what he wanted –the only thing he wanted –but what he’s really lusting after is power.

“So you did the right thing,” she affirms. “You sent him back to his home and saved your world.”

I nod, although I still don’t fully comprehend it. All I can think of is how naïve I was, even up until the very end. How badly I wanted to believe that he loved me, maybe even more than overthrowing Zeus, than his little army of brainwashed Greeks. He did loosen his grip when he thought I wanted to come with him. It seemed he desperately wanted to be able to trust me, too.

I cling to this thought.

But there’s something else that’s been bothering me, too.

“So you always need two people to operate the device? Two people of at least half Olympian descent?” I know it’s a dumb question, but I want to be certain.

Farrah nods. “Yes. Why?”

“And Jasper –Ares –would have had to use a similar device to create a portal to cross over to here?”

She nods again, and I can tell she now knows where I’m going with this. I say it anyway.

“So he had help?”

“Yes. Our allies back home are working to identify his accomplice,” she says smoothly, but I’ve already caught the brief look of panic that’s crossed her face because it hadn’t occurred to them. They needed a measly halfling to point it out.

“Don’t worry about any of that tonight,” she adds. “You need to get your rest. You have class in the morning.”

I have to get up for World Myths and Legends. Dr. Miller will be down one handsome, charming teaching assistant.

“So I can go to bed now?”

Farrah just laughs and smiles kindly. “Of course. Sweet dreams, Siobhan.”

***

And sweet dreams I have.

Sweet, exotic, exhausting dreams.

I dream of him.

Sometimes when I wake up, perspiration beading on my forehead, a fire spreading between my thighs, I think for a few moments that Ares must have been here, hovering over me in the bed.

Hands gliding over my breasts and torso.

Lips nibbling my throat.

Fingers teasing me there.

I think I even hear his voice, whispering into my ear.

“I miss you, Siobhan. Let me back in.”

 

***THE END***

(For now…)