Red-Headed Stepchild by Jaye Wells

Sabina Kane is a misfit half blood in a world where only pure bloods matter.

To add to her loner persona -her job as an assassin for the vampire race, The Dominae, has just upped the ante by putting a hit out on her only friend for his betrayal.
This assignment causes the fraying of her last nerve. The tension triggers her temper and spurs a rash split second decision that begins the unraveling of her life as she knows it.She promptly learns that this is only the beginning as family secrets and powers, that she didn't know she had, quickly surface.
Sabina is saddled with a demon in cod piece, who has an addiction to infomercial shopping with her credit cards, and Adam ,a hot mage who may hold the keys to to the family closet that is housing all those skeletons.
But before she even begin to tackle that daunting task she has to infiltrate a cult of united races that is quickly rising to power to the chagrin of her grandmother , the Dominae leader.
Sabina's obnoxious "hard ass" hang-up did grate slightly on my nerves in the first couple chapters, but as the story unfolds so does the complexity of her character, giving you a chance to like her. She struggles with issues of not really being loved or accepted,as her grandmother constantly reminds her of her sinful mixed heritage shortcomings. Adam's hints that she is just a pawn in her grandmothers political game leaves her confused and unaware of who to trust.
Battling for her grandmothers unattainable approval,dealing with the hassles of her new acquaintances, and the HORRIBLE realization that she's developing a conscience starts the road work for the beginning of a great series that fans of Kim Harrison will love.
Jaye Wells balances "Red Headed Step-child" with quirky humor, even quirkier characters, and amusing one liners,but does not forget the true feelings of betrayal and not belonging that Sabina faces. It never lays heavy on one side or the other. Plus, what's not to love about a gun-toting,short tempered, fang flashing, Ducati driving red head?
I, having a few of the above traits myself, am eagerly anticipating the sequel in this trilogy.

4 out of 5 wooden stakes v~v

My "man brothel".

I am quite the fan of fictional men. I surround myself in them. Now I do realize Freud would have a field day with that very statement, but we will leave my fascination with men that you can close the cover on when they piss you off to another day.

In the dark recesses of my mind there is a decaying Victorian brothel. It would be like the Addams family meets the Kit Kat Klub. There reside a few cranium pleasing men. It's a small elite club, but the list is quite profound.


Harry Dresden
Dean Winchester
Dr. Spencer Reed
Thomas Wraith
Rick Castle
Dexter Morgan
David Fisher ( ok maybe I should just have a default Michael C. Hall character membership)

It is obvious my archetype has to be a pseudo tough guy with many complex character flaws. With that being said the men that fit that description have become quite few and far between, so imagine my unmitigated ecstasy when I stumbled upon the sire of Marc Del Franco in the form of the Connor Grey books.
Connor lives in a subdivision of Boston called the Weird,where the residents are mainly otherworldly. Supernatural crime is policed by the Guild,the former employer of the druid superstar Connor,before his debilitating altercation with a "radical environmentalist elf". Despite his lack of magic Connor's knowledge still makes him somewhat of expert for the Boston police on crime scenes that reek of supernatural power. Connor battles bureaucratic rules, being the low man on the totem pole of life , and some pretty wicked supernatural creatures in the first three of these books. The secondary characters have some kick and bite to them also, sometimes quite literally.
In my brothel no one is better then Harry Dresden, but Connor Grey has now received his residence card and it has become an epic battle of claiming the number one spot in my heart. Carry on my good men!

It's a mad, mad, mad,mad world!

Hello minions! Let me start off by saying this is my little way of redeeming the urban fantasy genre that has slipped, so fast through our fingers into the mainstream. Now do not get me wrong...I do not have extreme issues with mainstream, I have an issues with "wannabes". Those would be the people that shunned me and my kind for years because we were the creatures of the "real twilight", or the people that yelled "FREAKS" as they ran past my heterodox place of employment.BUT SUDDENLY it was a box office hit to be unnaturally pale, prone to nightlife, and have slightly sharper teeth then the rest of the mortals...all because some supposedly "hot guy" portrayed the once neglected,unhallowed night walker. It is time to reclaim the night from all the "pretend" creatures that have seemed to have crashed our club. A certain archenemy inspired me to finally do this. At least she was good for something.

With that being expressed, this is going to be a deranged hybrid of my book reviews,and rants of who,what and why I'm pissed off. Let me warn you, the latter is quite long and frequent so be prepared. v~v