Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine, highlighting the upcoming releases being eagerly awaited by all of us bibliophiles.

This week's Waiting on Wednesday title is:

LET IT BLEED

by Jeri Smith-Ready 

Okay, this really isn't a regular Waiting on Wednesday title because it's been serialized by the author on her website.  However, one chapter a week definitely has me waiting!!  Jeri Smith-Ready, author of many fine books, has given her readers a wonderful gift:  a novella, in serial form, on her website to tide us over until the next, and final, book in her WVMP series Lust for Life is released late in 2012.  

If you're not familiar with the WVMP series, get started with Wicked Game.  Here's the GoodReads synopsis for Wicked Game:

Recovering con artist Ciara Griffin is trying to live the straight life, even if it means finding a (shudder!) real job. She takes an internship at a local radio station, whose late-night time-warp format features 1940s blues, '60s psychedelia, '80s goth, and more, all with an uncannily authentic flair. Ciara soon discovers just how the DJs maintain their cred: they're vampires, stuck forever in the eras in which they were turned.

Ciara's first instinct, as always, is to cut and run. But communications giant Skywave wants to buy WVMP and turn it into just another hit-playing clone. Without the station — and the link it provides to their original Life Times — the vampires would "fade," becoming little more than mindless ghosts of the past. Suddenly a routine corporate takeover is a matter of life and undeath.

To boost ratings and save the lives of her strange new friends, Ciara rebrands the station as "WVMP, the Lifeblood of Rock 'n' Roll." In the ultimate con, she hides the DJs' vampire nature in plain sight, disguising the bloody truth as a marketing gimmick. WVMP becomes the hottest thing around — next to Ciara's complicated affair with grunge vamp Shane McAllister. But the "gimmick" enrages a posse of ancient and powerful vampires who aren't so eager to be brought into the light. Soon the stakes are higher — and the perils graver — than any con game Ciara's ever played...

The Novella is being serialized on Jeri Smith-Ready's blog through December :)

Shift by Jeri Smith-Ready

I was lucky enough to receive an advanced reader's copy of Shift (Shade, Book 2) by Jeri Smith-Ready.  I was thrilled because I absolutely loved Shade (Shade, Book 1), as well as her WVMP series, and I have been anxiously awaiting the release of Shift (Shade, Book 2) since I finished Shade (Shade, Book 1).  If you haven't read Shade (Shade, Book 1), go get it now and read it--it's excellent.

Shift (Shade, Book 2) picks up shortly after Shade (Shade, Book 1).  Aura is still reeling from Logan having gone shade and is desperately trying to bring him back.  She is also trying to deal with her feelings for Zachary, while they work together to uncover the role of Newgrange in the Shift, as well as their place in it.  This second installment, the series will be a trilogy, really focuses on Aura and her feelings.  She is trying to reconcile the loss of her first love, while facing her feelings for Zachary--who may be her destiny.  Aside from the supernatural aspects, the emotional development of Aura is well-written and very true to life.  She is at an age where she is transitioning into a more mature mind-set.  Her priorities are changing and her emotions are maturing.  Her relationships are maturing as well, not just with Zachary but also with her Aunt Gina and her grandmother. Together, Aura and Zachary begin to unravel the mysteries of the Shift, Newgrange and Aura's parents.  They learn about the connection between Zachary's father & Aura's mother and what may have happened to them on that fateful Winter Solstice.

In truth, I started reading Jeri Smith-Ready because she writes about where I am from.  I really enjoy reading about familiar places in my fiction.  However, her books are great, with or without the local connection.  I highly recommend  all of her books, but this series is my favorite of hers.  The concept is original and fascinating.  The relationships are well-developed and, supernatural elements aside, very easy to relate to.  Her WVMP series runs a close second--and if you love vampires, you should get started with Wicked Game.

Eternal: More Love Stories with Bite

Eternal: More Love Stories with Bite is the follow up to yesterday's review of Immortal: Love Stories With Bite.  P C Cast has gathered another group of talented authors in a collection of vampire-related stories.  Claudia Gray, Rachel Caine and Nancy Holder also contributed to the first anthology, with Lili St. Crow, Heather Brewer and Jeri Smith-Ready rounding out the group. 

The anthology opens with "Bloodshed--A Story of Evernight" by Claudia Gray.  I've stated previously that I had not read the Evernight series, but this second short story from the series has me curious.  Patrice, from the short story in Immortal: Love Stories With Bite, is in love with a human who is being shipped overseas during WWII.  She finds out that he has been captured and is being held prisoner by the Nazis.  She goes to Europe to rescue him, but ends up with a lot more than she bargained for. 

The next story "Say Yes" by Lili St. Crow is a fascinating tale of a girl whose image of herself as being in the background of life leads her to take action that she seriously regrets later.  She truly can't believe that she is special enough to have been chosen over her popular friends and betrays someone who could have been important to her.  I'd love to see what happens to her after this story, but couldn't find any hint of a connection to this story in any of the books on Lili St. Crow's website.  Although, I do think I'll be looking into adding some of her work to my to-be-read list.

"Letters to Romeo" by Nancy Holder is an interesting twist to Shakespeare's classic tale of star-crossed lovers.  Romeo hasn't died, he is a vampire who has waited  for 700 years for his Juliet to return to him.  He believes he has found her in a 15 year old girl from Florida, whom he plans to turn in order to spend eternity with her.  But, the tragedy of his tale still clings to him...

Heather Brewer's "The Other Side" tells the story of Tarrah & Cody, lovers who are kidnapped and held together in a small room while awaiting their captors.  The twist at the end was one I didn't see coming though, and the 'myths' mentioned in her story are really interesting.

Two of my favorite authors round out the book:  Rachel Caine and Jeri Smith-Ready.  Rachel Caine provides another story of the Morganville vampires with "Drama Queen's Last Dance" or, as I like to think of it, All About Eve.  Eve is what brought me to the Morganville vampires series, having read
"The First Day of the Rest of Your Life" in Many Bloody Returns.  This time a new vampire in town has her sites on Michael, and Eve, despite being told by everyone that it's lost cause, is determined to break Gloriana's spell.  Eve is an awesome character, strong and self-confident, but still showing some of the normal insecurities of being young.  This story is a great showcase for her character.

"Thief" by Jeri Smith-Ready has me chomping at the bit for the next WVMP book!  The story introduces us to Cassie & Liam, who are "Irish Travelers" and I believe Cassie is a relative of Ciara from the WVMP series.  However, as highly as I recommend the WVMP series, you don't have to have read it to enjoy Cassie's story.  Cassie and Liam are engaged and inseparable.  Unlike most Traveler girls, Cassie is in love with her betrothed.  Her father wanted her to be happy and promised her to Liam, despite his disabilities.  Unfortunately, her father is dead and her step-father is threatening to tear Cassie and Liam apart by promising her to another.  Cassie is determined to be with Liam no matter what, even if it means being dead to her own family.  "Thief" is listed as a tie-in story to the WVMP series on Jeri Smith-Ready's website and I can't wait to see how she and Liam fit into Lust for Life, due out in fall 2012. 

I've mentioned before how much I love anthologies:  I get introduced to new authors that write about a subject I'm already interested in reading and I get little tidbits to tide me over until the next offering in a series I enjoy.  Eternal: More Love Stories with Bite provides all of this in some really cool vampire stories :)