Author: jrvincente

Sundays: Book Review

~ jrvincente ~ 2 Comments

Usually on Sundays I post about the current Laurell K. Hamilton book I’m reading in my quest to read all of the Anita Blake series. Not that I don’t love it, but sometimes I need to get out of the world of sex and vampires for a brief bit before diving back in. So I picked up a novel off of my TBR (to be read) pile a few days ago. It’s called The Housemaid by Freida McFadden. I didn’t know anything about it, but someone had recommended it to Richard so he picked it up when he was at the book store.

Holy shit.

Go buy it right now. It was one of the best books I’ve ever read. I couldn’t put it down. I read pretty much every night before bed. One night, after Richard went to sleep, I turned the light back on and started reading again. The next thing I knew, it was 2am. Whoops. (Thankfully, I’m off of work the week.) It’s such a good book. I highly recommend it.

Goodreads Description:

“Welcome to the family,” Nina Winchester says as I shake her elegant, manicured hand. I smile politely, gazing around the marble hallway. Working here is my last chance to start fresh. I can pretend to be whoever I like. But I’ll soon learn that the Winchesters’ secrets are far more dangerous than my own…

Every day I clean the Winchesters’ beautiful house top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school. And I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor.

I try to ignore how Nina makes a mess just to watch me clean it up. How she tells strange lies about her own daughter. And how her husband Andrew seems more broken every day. But as I look into Andrew’s handsome brown eyes, so full of pain, it’s hard not to imagine what it would be like to live Nina’s life. The walk-in closet, the fancy car, the perfect husband.

I only try on one of Nina’s pristine white dresses once. Just to see what it’s like. But she soon finds out… and by the time I realize my attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it’s far too late.

But I reassure myself: the Winchesters don’t know who I really am.

They don’t know what I’m capable of…

An unbelievably twisty read that will have you glued to the pages late into the night. Anyone who loves The Woman in the Window, The Wife Between Us and The Girl on the Train won’t be able to put this down!

Cerulean Sins – Part 3 (Ch 43-end)

~ jrvincente ~ 2 Comments

As I mentioned a few months ago, I am reading the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton, which starts with Guilty Pleasures. The next book is Cerulean Sins! I’m reading about 175 pages a week, so this book is going to be broken into three parts. Each week, I’ll be bringing you two posts: a review of the book and a related kinky post. This is my review of the book post! For those who are new to my blog, you don’t need to read the books to read the kinky stories on Fridays, and of course, you’re welcome to check out my reviews on Sundays!

Description from Good Reads: Cerulean Sins, the eleventh entry in the hugely-popular Anita Blake series, finds everyone’s favorite vampire hunter keeping house and kicking butt.

Anita Blake is trying to get her life back to “normal” after a break-up with her werewolf lover. She has settled into a pattern of domesticity, which means that the new man in her life, the leopard shapeshifter Micah, has no problem sharing her with Jean-Claude, Master Vampire of the City. Things are as peaceful as they ever get for someone who raises the dead, when Jean-Claude receives an unexpected and unwelcome visitor: Musette, the very beautiful, very twisted representative of the European Council of Vampires. Anita soon finds herself caught up in a dangerous game of vampire power politics.

To add to her troubles, she is asked to consult on a series of brutal killings, which seem to be the work of something un-human. The investigation leads her to Cerulean Sins, a vampire-run establishment that deals in erotic videos, videos that cater to very specific tastes. Anita knows one creature of the night who has such interests — Jean-Claude’s visitor. But if Anita brings Musette down, the repercussions could cost her everything she holds dear.

Once a sworn enemy of all monsters, Anita is now the human consort of both Master Vampire Jean Claude and leopard shapeshifter Micah. When a centuries-old vampire hits St. Louis, Anita finds herself needing all the dark forces her passion can muster to save the ones she loves.

Anita Blake returns to find hell hath no fury like a vampire scorned.

Non-spoilery Review:

Back to the vampire politics in this last third of the book! But it’s a great ending. I like the way everything gets explained in a way that didn’t feel too rushed. Sometimes, I think authors will rush to the end of a good story and ruin it, but this one didn’t feel that way. It was a good wrap up, but there are still some threads that keep the reader interested and ready to come back for more!

Here is the link to my very rough notes about this part of the book, including notes on characters and plot. It’s mostly for me, but if you had read it in the past and just need a refresher, it would suffice, though it doesn’t read nicely!

Hope you enjoy this foray into the world of Anita Blake! What else are you reading? Come back later this week for a kinky story! This week’s will fall on the letter J. J is for… well you’ll just have to come back on Friday to find out! How are you all enjoying A to Z so far?