Lady D's Ramblings

Irradiance: The Dream Guild Chronicles - Book One by David Bruns This book was provided by the author for an honest review. I tried so hard to like this book. It was right up my alley, had everything in it that I normally like: sci-fi, fantasy, a strange world compared to the one we're in. An interesting storyline... until I realized all of a sudden that I didn't know what the storyline was. This book I got halfway through before I realized that I had no idea what the storyline really was. In these type of books, there are three scenarios as to how the book is going to be: Too much world-building too quick, too little world-building throughout, or just an amazing book. This book unfortunately takes you and drops you in the middle of a world and doesn't build it up at all. The writing is awesome. The characters have depth, and are interesting, but there is no world-building. So you feel like you're lost in the middle of a city that you know nothing about, and have no ...

Dark Skye by Kresley Cole My rating: 5 of 5 stars I've been waiting for Lanthe and Thronos' story since we first heard about them in Sabine and Rydstrom's. I have to say, it was WELL worth the wait. Melanthe of the Deie Sorcerei Family, or Lanthe, is the Queen of Persuasion... when she can get her powers to manifest that is. She also has the ability to cast portals, but again, her powers are a little "off" sometimes. And who can blame her? She's all but spent her life draining her power of persuasion to make her sister heal from the life-threatening injuries their mortal enemies the Vrekners have dealt her. But what few know is that Lanthe is the fated mate of Thronos Talos, one of the Vrekner Princes. They were once in love as children, but when Thronos betrayed Lanthe's trust, or so she thinks, she used her powers to make him jump from a tall cliff... and not use his wings. Now with the help of The Order's power-nullifying collar, Thronos has Lant...

Magic Breaks by Ilona Andrews My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is the best book of the series to date, and honestly, probably the best book I'll read all year. Kate Daniels has finally settled into her life as Consort to Curran, her lover, and the Beast Lord of Atlanta. They are the ruling Alpha couple of The Pack, which is the ruling body of shapeshifters for Atlanta. But Kate holds a secret about her family, and if it were to ever come out, everyone and everything that she knows and loves will pay the price of it. When Hugh D'Ambray shows up just as Curran heads out of town with several of the big members of the pack, Kate knows something is up. Hugh is her father's pet warlord, and someone she and Curran thought that they had killed several months before. When Hugh tries to start a war between the People, the ruling vampire faction in Atlanta, and the Pack, and threatens to expose Kate's secret, she realizes that she'll do anything to protect those she loves, even...

Voyager by Diana Gabaldon My rating: 5 of 5 stars Having found out that Jamie did indeed survive the battle of Culloden, Claire decides to head back to Scotland to find the only man she's ever truly loved. When she gets to Scotland, she fears that he's started a new life without her, and that maybe he won't want her... but what she finds is quite the opposite. While his life has moved on, it has definitely not moved on without her. Jamie and Claire spend the first part of this book relearning each other, and the second part of the book on a grand voyage. For when Ian, Jamie's nephew, is kidnapped by pirates, it's discovered that they're bound for the West Indies (Caribbean Islands). Will Jamie's stomach be able to handle the sea voyage ahead of them? And will they be able to recover young Ian before it's too late? Diana Gabaldon once again hits home with a great continuation of the Outlander series. My heart soared at Jamie and Claire's reunion, a...

Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon My rating: 5 of 5 stars After saving Jamie from the clutches of Black Jack Randall, Claire is faced with a tough battle... while she may have saved him bodily from harm, there is now the issue of that body healing the damage, as well as the mental scars that Claire cannot see. She and Jamie head to France, where they find themselves embroiled in the political schemes of Charles Stuart, and Claire reveals to Jamie what is to come, and the battle that all Scots will face at Culloden... and they decide to try and change history, and stop Charles from trying to retake his throne from the English. Claire and Jamie relentlessly pursue this mission, and as they go along, they learn a lot about each other, and themselves that they had not known before. While they will have their own demons to face, they have each other, and will hopefully come out stronger for having faced them together. But the question remains, will Claire and Jamie be able to save the...

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon My rating: 5 of 5 stars In 1945, Claire Randall and her husband Frank take a second honeymoon to the highlands of Scotland in order to get reacquainted after several long years apart due to WWII. However, shortly after the start of their journey, Claire "falls through" some cairn stones, and finds herself in 1743 Scotland... right around the time the Bonny Prince Charlie was making his name infamous. She is abducted by a group of Scots almost immediately, and taken to a castle far from the stones she came through. She, being a nurse, finds a way to ingratiate herself in that she is able to help heal a young man, Jamie MacTavish (Fraser). Claire finds herself in a world of turmoil trying to blend with the time while making her way back to the stones. SPOILER ALERT! In a twist of fate, Claire is wedded to James Fraser, and finds her new husband a bit of a bear as she tries to get away from him, while still trying to help him. But will Claire be ab...