Sinful Saturday Views - Clayton from the Women of the Otherworld Series by Kelley Armstrong

 

This is a new weekly post hosted by me and Incident over at Sordid Fantasy. We will list some of our favorite fictional men along with why we love/lust them. Pictures will also be included.

My pick this week is Clayton from the Women of the Otherworld series. The Otherworld series is set in our same universe - just that no one knows that creatures that go bump in the night really exist. Werewolves in this series can be born or converted by bite which not many survive. Clayton was converted as a child and spent part of his youth on his own where the distinction between human and wolf behaviors definitely got blurred. Clayton seems more feral than human though he is off the charts in terms of intelligence and hotness. So reasons to love/lust Clayton: He's a doctor (Ph.D. in Anthropology) that looks like a sun-kissed surfer dude. He loves doing the deed outdoors - against a tree, in the grass, in a ditch - whenever the urge grabs him though particularly after a good fight. He also speaks in a southern drawl which in my mind sounds like liquid honey. 

Favorite Clay quotes: "You forget, darling. I am the local psychopath." (From Bitten)

"At school, our classroom had a small rodent zoo consisting of two rabbits, three hamsters, a litter of baby gerbils and a guinea pig. At first, I’d  thought the teacher was raising snack food, which impressed me, being the first sign of intelligence she’d shown. Soon, though, I’d figured out the  animals’ true purpose and left them alone, though I would never understand the appeal of petting and coddling perfectly good food."  (Clay as a kid in Men of the Otherworld)

 So what do you think - does the picture match the book character? Have you read this series as well and want to fight me for Clay as a book boyfriend? 

(I want to give a special shout out for pattepoilue who shares the love for all things Clayton and Kelly from Demon Lover's Book Reviews for her excellent man candy (which I used a pic from!))

A Little Valentine's Day Love Triangle

I thought for Valentines day I would do a love themed post and what better to talk about than awesome love triangles! Mandi from Smexy Books started me thinking about favorite love triangles with her post here.. which included some good love triangles but not my absolute favorite which is the love triangle from Richelle Mead's Dark Swan series which is so very yummy! So please read on and let me know what you think of love triangles in books - love them or hate them?


A little blurb about the series from the author: Eugenie Markham never asked for any of this. Until now, she's been content with her job as a freelance shaman in Tuscon, battling and banishing Otherworldly creatures. When a prophecy suddenly makes her the Otherworld's most popular bachelorette, Eugenie finds herself fighting off unwanted supernatural suitors, as well as the evils that begin emerging from her past...

So I seriously love Richelle Mead's Dark Swan series..and I mean love! She has a tattooed ass-kicking heroine and two smoking hot man candy love interests..what's not too love! And there is a love triangle that is deliciously tormented. In the Dark Swan series, Eugenie (yup..really unfortunate heroine name but we all can't be blessed with good names and ass-kicking abilities) has two potential fates before her and two hot men that in a way represent those fates. One of the men, Kiyo, is a kitsune (japanese fox shapeshifter) who is both honorable and passionate when it comes to Eug and also is a vet who takes in strays (how can you not swoon). The other man in Eug's life is Dorian, a gentry king. Dorain is an interesting mix of arrogance and brutal honesty though deep down he cares about Eug. Both of these guys have ties to the Otherworld, or fae kingdom, whose denizens Eugenie regularly banishes or kills when they misbehave in our world. When the story starts out it is clear that Kiyo is the good guy that wants what is best for Eugeine whereas Dorian has his own agenda. But as the story goes on the good guy/ bad guy line gets muddled. And these two men are very different in other ways as well..hehe.. Since Kiyo is a kitsune he is a bit of an animal between the sheets (not literally). Dorian is immortal and has a very refined taste for bondage. When Eug gently chastises Kiyo for being eager to get down to business Kiyo's excuse (which I love) is "I think it's the fox in me." To which Eug replies "Never heard that excuse before." Though I have to say Dorian is my favorite, he doesn't apologize for who he is and has never hidden the truth from Eugenie. He also has a hobby of intricately tying silk cords that comes into play during a very intimate moment. I think the best part about these books, and about Richelle Mead's books in general, is that she writes such good characters. That's what makes the love triangle so delicious and so tormenting as well because eventually Eugenie will have to pick just one. All I can say is that I can't wait till her new book, Iron Crowned, comes out in 2011.

On My Wishlist and Burning Up My Ereader!

New Releases I'm looking forward to this week (and will probably be purchasing):

February 9th Releases: 

The night is not safe for mortals. Denise MacGregor knows all too well what lurks in the shadows – her best friend is half-vampire Cat Crawfield – and she has already lost more than the average human could bear. But her family’s dark past is wrapped in secrets and shrouded in darkness – and a demon shapeshifter has marked Denise as prey. You can read the first 20% of the book here.

I loved Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress series (and will hopefully post a review of the series soon) and can't get enough of Cat and Bones. Now we get a closer glimpse at the Night Huntress world with this book that features Spade and Denise - two characters you first meet in the Night Huntress Series.

Derek Gabriel was born human in family of psychics, aware of the supernatural world but never a part of it...until a rogue shapeshifter took humanity from him in a vicious attack. He's spent two years struggling to adjust, not just to a change that's driven many insane, but also to the prejudices of a culture where transformed wolves are considered inferior. A serious struggle, indeed, when the woman who attracts the man and the wolf inside him is the daughter of the most powerful wolf in the country.

For Nicole Peyton, nothing is more important than escaping the stifling confines of elite shapeshifter society, an old-fashioned world where women are valued only for their bloodlines and bank accounts. In New Orleans, she has a bar she loves, friends she cares for, and a smoldering, unspoken tension with an unsuitable but incredibly attractive man.

Neither could predict how quickly forbidden longing would erupt into burning need, but Nick and Derek have more than themselves to think about when Nick's sister arrives in the city with a shapeshifter strike team hard on her heels. The only way Nick can save her sister may be to play by the Conclave's rules--but it will mean giving up the man she's falling in love with, unless he's willing to risk everything in a challenge that will shake the foundations of their world.
To read the first two chapters click here. 

The first book of this series which features Jackson and Mackenzie's story was a dangerous and sexy romance- I loved it! I also liked the glimpses we were given of Nick and Derek and can't wait to read their story!

What else is on my wishlist:

Who said being eaten by the big bad wolf was a bad thing? Maizie Hood struggles to keep her bakery turning a profit, her landlord from evicting her, and her dear Granny in a nursing facility. Wrestling with the decision to sell Gran’s cottage is hard enough. The last thing she needs is her childhood big-bad-wolf nightmares turning into real-life adult fantasies. Sexy businessman Gray Lupo’s sudden interest just makes matters worse. Is he the answer to her problems, or just a wolf in gentleman’s Armani?

Since his wife was killed twenty-one years ago, Gray’s life has been focused on two things: protecting the pack and avoiding the grown daughter of his wife’s killers. When it becomes clear he can’t do one without compromising the other, Gray finds playing “big bad wolf” to Maizie Hood’s “Little Red” is a role he enjoys far more than he expected.

A real bad wolf’s attack on Maizie changes everything. Gray can’t deny the pull she has on his instincts—and his heart. Suddenly he finds himself taking on a role he never thought he’d want, as her protector and mate. Until the truth about his connection to her nightmarish past comes to light…

Warning: This book contains cookies, pastries, pies, hot-guy-on-girl sex and animalistic passion, all for zero calories. Enjoy! You can read the first chapter and purchase the book here.
I love the cover of this book and with a book warning like that how could you not want to read this book!

Books I'll be reading as well this week:
So this week is the kick off of the League of Reluctant Adults Reading Challenge over at Literary Escapism. I have a couple of hot Leaguer books on my list that I want to finish before the week is done. Yeah!

 

Happy Reading!

Tall, Dark, and Tattooed

So I have been noticing (and appreciating for various reasons) that many urban fantasy and paranormal romance books feature covers with leading characters that have some type of symbol or animal inked across their sexy topless ripply muscled bodies. So does having an inked hero or heroine across the cover inspire you to read a book in hopes of reading some bad boy action - because of course that is the promise of the tattoo.  Here are some of my favorite tattooed covers - please let me know if I missed any good ones in the comment section!

So I thought I would ease you into this topic with the understated arm tattoo. It says he's bad...but maybe not so bad to get the full sleeve tat...or is he...

Now we get into the definitely bad boy look full sleeve tat. This cover is just another reason why I should start reading J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood series.












And now for the slightly tinted men with the hot bods and tats and torments..

And there are definitely some hot female main characters out there with tattoos. My favorite is Mercy from the Patricia Briggs books. I like how all the ladies are looking demurely over their shoulders : )

And last but not least the man who has it all, the tattoo, the bare chest, the long hair, the leather clothing, and the dark and mysterious eyes - it's like they went through a what's hot in PNR covers checklist and hit them all...and then call the book "Velvet Haven" - it puts bad porn flick music in my head..bow chica wow wow...(Though since Velvet Haven is the name of a nightclub in the book I can excuse the fact that cover model isn't dressed in crushed purple velvet :) Hope you like the yummy pics!

I love sales! Particularly ebook sales!

Since I buy so many books, particularly ebooks, I always feel the need to look for the best price and this weekend there have been sales abound for ebooks. My first stop is always Fictionwise where they are having 45% off all multiformat (unsecure) and 45% off in micropay credits for their secure titles in dark fantasy, fantasy, romance and erotica titles and there is a weekend 15% off with code "Janblast15". At AllRomanceeBooks.com  and OmniLit.com you can get 50% off with code SBTBARe1

So I figure I'd show you guys what I got, some of it is for the League of Reluctant Adults challenge and some of it is for fun since the books have been sitting on my to read shelf for a while. These books should keep me occupied for a couple weeks or so my bank account hopes. And I'll be posting my reviews here and at my goodreads site http://www.goodreads.com/heatherdarklyreading if you want to check them out. So any of you get some awesome books this weekend?

Delusions of grandeur or...I finally won a free book!

With my new love of all things urban fantasy and paranormal romance I find the need to save money on new books to try to keep the hubby happy. One solution to this would of course be going to the library and checking out books but since I love instant gratification (see previous post) instead I have to have the book I want in my hands instantly and no one can stop me...(insert evil laugh). Thankfully alot of ebook sites have decent sales and I can get the books I want at a good discount (20-30%)..but my other solution is to enter free book giveaways! And finally after all these months of entering..okay maybe 2 or 3 months of occasionally entering..I finally won a book from goodreads. Granted I don't have the book in my hot little hands yet but maybe my contest entering luck is turning around. So stay tuned to read more about my contest entering conquests, in particular there are a few reading challenges over at Literary Escapism I have my eye on.