132. Immortal Born by Lynsay Sands

#30 in the Argenaneau series
listened on Libby
narrated  by Amanda Ronconi
Unabridged audio (9:32)
2019
384 pgs.
Genre/Level
Finished 12/29/2019
Goodreads rating:  4.18 - 3980 ratings
My rating: 2

First line/s:  "Allie was curled up on the couch in front of a rerun of The Big Bang Theory, slurping down a dinner of ramen noodles, when the knock sounded on her front door."

My comments: Vampires!  Well, sort of vampires - they call themselves Immortals.  But other than that it was a pretty stale story.  There were just too many people oodles and oodles and oodles of couples probably all introduced in the previous 29 in the series - ridiculous!  Too much!

Goodreads synopsis:  A simple promise to protect her friend’s infant son has turned Allie Chambers’ existence upside down. Caring for—and feeding—an orphaned vampire baby has been tricky enough. But as little Liam grows, so does his appetite. He needs more blood than she can personally supply. And when her attempts to steal from a blood bank go awry, Allie wakes up surrounded by doctors, cops…and the gorgeous, mesmerizing Magnus, who she can neither trust nor resist.
          Magnus never expected to find his life mate breaking into a blood bank. Clearly, Allie is already entwined with his world—in deeper, more dangerous ways than she realizes. A band of vicious rogue immortals is in pursuit, and Magnus’ first task is to keep her safe. His second: to awaken her to mind-blowing pleasure, and hope she’ll accept the life, and the passion, that only he can offer.

128. A Demon in My Bed by Sarah Winters

listened to audiobook
narrated  by Logan McAllister
Unabridged audio (9:32)
2017
310 pgs.
Genre/Level
Finished 12/18/2019
Goodreads rating: 3.67 - 64 ratings
My rating:  1
Setting:  contemporary eastern Canada

First line/s:  "Verrin growled low in his throat as he paced the cell's cramped confines."

My comments:  This story is based in mythology, set in the current time, it's full of all sorts of creatures - vampires, jins, fallen angels..But the "stars" of the story are a set of five brothers who are all incubuses.  An incubus is "called" to pleasure a female.  Although this is referred to in numerous ways and explored a bit in a few places, the main story - at least 75% of it - is about one of the brothers getting captured and held and the others are trying to rescue him.  The protagonist is a female from PEI?  Newfoundland? (or somewhere like that).  Winters threw in a best friend who was absolutely ridiculous and unneeded.  AND can you believe that after over 2000 years of immortality, one of these incubi/incubes (??) falls in love for the first time?  And to this very blah female?  Ha ha ha ha ha.

Goodreads synopsis:  A missing brother, mercenary demigoddesses and an unknown force pulling fate's strings are just a few of the hurdles facing Verrin when he wakes up in a dungeon one morning. As the son of a renegade Angelic Watcher, he was born ill fated. Being summoned by a plump little sex kitten who was everything he liked in a woman should have been a stroke of luck...
           As a librarian, the most exciting choice Cassidy O'Neill usually has to make is what book to read next. She never expected an antique book to drop a dirty minded sex demon into her bed. Bound to his side until the summoning is fulfilled, Cass is determined not to lose her heart to Verrin - even if he is the sexiest man she's ever met.
          In a world where myths are reality, falling in love is a gamble even immortals hesitate to take. 

42. Evermore - Alyson Noel

#1 in Immortal series
for:  YA
St. Martin's Griffin, 2009
paper, $9.95
306 pgs.
Rating:  3

I'm almost ashamed of myself for reading this book in one gulp, I couldn't put it down.  I spent the whole time comparing it to Twilight, which was a great higher skill on Bloom's Taxonomy for me to use, right?  There are so many similarities, but MINUS THE VAMPIRES, yippee!  Although Immortals seem pretty similar, with an  almost-more-plausible beginning.  There's the super hunky immortal (Damon), the nasty, hurtful immortal (Drina), the innocent young girl (our protagonist, Ever (Ever Bloom, get it???), and the loving but clueless guardian (Sabine).  We also have the two best friends - a goth girl (Haven) and a gay boy (Miles).  Throw in an exotic setting - southern California.  Another YA paranormal fantasy. 

But wait - I liked the protagonist!  She beats Bella by a long shot, at least in this first installment.  She has a head of her own, a will of her own.  She may become a "can't live without him clone" in the second installment, but so far, so good.  One of these days I might even read Blue Moon. (Hmmm...how similar can titles be?????)

47. The Messenger - Jan Burke

Simon & Schuster, 2009
HC $25.00
305 pages
for: adults
Rating: 5, gotta say it...couldn't put it down.

Well....this is a "supernatural thriller." No vampires, phew. But, one or two immortals in a society of humanity. Southern California humanity. LA foothills humanity. No specific descriptions of the setting, unfortunately, but a generalized sunny southern California. And a dog is one of the protagonists. Now, I am not a dog lover. But I couldn't put this book down. A really good mystery.

The book doesn't have different speakers, per se, but we switch back and forth to see the story from different perspectives. Amanda Clarke, early 20ish orphaned rich kid who doesn't work and roams around a big, expensive, LA foothills house. Tyler Hawthorne, 24 plus a few hundred years, Amanda's new next door neighbor. He's a messenger. He can hear the wishes of the comatose almost-dead and help them bring closure to devastated family. And he is indestructable, as long as his trusty, huge dog Shade is nearby. And then Amanda becomes the first person he has really confided in since his demise during the Battle of Waterloo.

Add one evil, ancient, supernatural being that has been turned into ashes and kept in a locked box at the bottom of the sea, a set of bickering cousins, and lots of people that are greatful to Tyler, and there's the story. Burke also threw in a foursome of ghosts - Amanda's dead parents aunt, and uncle, but I found this somewhat superflous and unneeded. Oh well, I could never think up a plot like this, so best leave it to the pros.

It looks like Jan Burke writes mystery short stories and a series of books based on Irene Kelly, an LA cop or investigator or something. These started appearing in 1993, and the library doesn't have the first five or six, so I'll have to track them down at Bookman's or online. But I'm looking forward to checking them out.

How to Live Forever - Colin Thompson

For: Kids
Published: 1995
Rating: 4 (oh, the illustrations!)
Read: Mar. 7, 2009 Borders
Endpapers: Creamy yellow
$16.99

Gone with the Wine. The Ice Man Cometh. The Merchant of Guiness. A Tale of Two Sitars. Lady Chatterly's Pullover. Warhol and Peace. A Prune with a View. These are some of the books on the shelves of a library with one thousand rooms - and a copy of every book ever written. At night, when the library is closed, the shelves come to life. Families live in the books, they become homes with lights and windows and doors,. Shelves are joined together to create cities. And in a cookery book entitled Quinces lives Peter and his dog Brian.

Peter discovers that the book How to Live Forever has disappeared. He and Brian hunt for it night after night until, after a couple of years, they do find it. And a lesson is learned.

The story seems a bit rushed, but the illustrations are a joy to behold. Books and tiny little details fill the pages. In a bit of browsing on the internet, it looks like the book may have had some sort of publishing in Australia where the story seems different. It speaks of a grandfather. The story I read even mentions a serious sister when introducing Peter's family, but no mention of her is ever heard again. So the story certainly could have been stronger. But oh, those illustrations - - - -an amazingly illustrated book.