Amie Stuart ~ On the Back Porch

Probably becuase I was up until 1 Am reading this book. (I’m so glad I didn’t read the sneak peek at Book 2 because it doesn’t come out until October).

Now I’ve been a Karen Marie Monning fan since her second or third book and I glommed her backlist and waited anxiously for her next book. By the time Adam’s book came out though, well, see my post from yesterday about hype. But after Wendy reviewed Darkfever I really really wanted to give her another try. May, if you don’t want a romance, this is the book for you.

From Publishers Weekly

Drawing on elements from the paranormal world that bestseller Moning (Spell of the Highlander) created in her earlier romances, this suspense novel takes readers on a darker journey, one dominated by the search for a powerful Faery magic and bereft of the romantic magic Moning’s fans have come to expect. When MacKayla Lane, an ordinary young woman, travels to Ireland to track down her sister’s murderer, she is sucked into an extraordinary world filled with ancient secrets, vampires, assorted Fae nasties and other tough-to-kill beings. In the process, Mac learns of her own unusual talents and finds an unlikely mentor in the wealthy and mysterious Jericho Barrons. Moning’s newest foray contains suspense and plenty of setup. Indeed, this reads like a fragment of a larger story, an introduction to character and place that, while entertaining, skims the surface. But it’s a compelling world filled with mystery and vivid characters, and this, combined with the hint of sparks between Jericho and Mac, will stoke readers’ fervor for Bloodfever, the next installment.

I stole that because i’m too lazy to write my own synopsis. I loved this book. The only thing I love more than fairy tales is …stories about the Fae. Maybe it’s because I saw a fairy once. Don’t ask. I won’t tell. Like Wendy, I had a few issues–I’m too lazy to dig up her review–but they didn’t stop me from um yeah staying up to finish the book.

Mac (the heroine) kept telling us how big and hot Barron was and it just didn’t work for me. This can be a hazzard of writing in first person, but he just didn’t feel as intimidating as Mac let on.

Mac was too resisitant to the truth for far too long for my liking (like 1/3 of the book). After a while it just got irritating and I had to remind myself that she was only 22.
Mac pissed away an opportunity for more information toward the end of the book and it just left me reeling and a bit pissed. Especially since everyone seemed to be keeping her in the dark about a lot of things.
The ending–do you remember the ending of POC 2? Yeah that cliff hanger that left you kind of gasping and going what the fuck? If endings like that bother you, this might not be the book for you.

But, I really liked Mac, I liked her interplay with Barron for the most part, Mac is for all intents and purposes, a clever girl, and I think this is KMM at her shiniest (despite how the book ended *grumble*). There are some kickass one-liners in this book (…and Borges’ stupid story about the avatar and the tortist didn’t teach me a thing, except how much better I like Little Bunny Foo Foo; it rhymes and you can jump rope to it). While I didn’t really buy into the attraction between Mac and Barron, that didn’t bother me a bit (LOL Sybil).

And in case you didn’t catch my earlier mention…This is NOT a romance IMO.
I woke up to the first bit of real sunshine in almost a week and my back yard is like a swap. I have contest entries to get off my plate today and the kids want to go bowling so off I go. Happy Saturday everyone!

PS Dionne is running a first kiss contest!