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Stop by VampChix and check out my review for Wicked as They Come by Delilah S. Dawson...I love love love this book! This is an early review and release day is set for March 27th.

The Vampire Diaries S3 ~ 1912~

There were a ton of flashbacks in this episode… we saw some real background to Stefan and Damon’s relationship and what keeps them apart.

The serial killer.

In 1912 is seems Mystic Falls had the same problem as current day Mystic Falls. A serial killer was killing founding family members. Sheriff Forbes and Zacharias Salvatore are out late and Zacharias gets murdered.

In Present day Mystic Falls Alaric wakes up in jail… apparently they think he’s the serial killer. Damon jumps to his defense and says that it’s ridiculous.

Matt and Elena are out running and he tells her that Abby has chosen to become a vampire and that Bonnie and Caroline are helping her through it. Matt assures Elena that it’s not her fault and she tells him that it’s absolutely her fault. She gets a phone call from Sheriff Forbes and she goes to see her.

Elena shows up at the jail and runs into Damon. He tells her Sheriff Forbes told him to stay out of it. Elena seems shocked that he’s staying out of it… she tells him that his friend is in jail. Damon said that with his track record him staying out of it is a good idea. Then he tells her that he’s mean and she hates him—now the world is back on its axis.

Stefan is writing in his diary and Damon comes in and makes fun of him. He starts looking through Stefan’s old diaries for 1912. A flashback shows Stefan and Damon returning home to attend Zacharias’s funeral. Damon asks Stefan if he’s been eating the relatives again. Damon tells him that he wants to live out his existence as far from Stefan as possible. Stefan gets Damon to agree to have a drink with him. Back in reality Damon gets Stefan to help him solve a murder.

At the grille Rebekah is meeting with Mayor Lockwood and is asking about the oldest trees in town. Carol tells her that the Salvatore’s owned all the logging mills and kept their records.

Damon and Stefan arrive at the grille and catches Rebekah’s attention. The guys are discussing the murders and Rebekah wants to know if they caught the killer. They reveal that the town wrote it off as vampire killings. Damon tells Stefan that stabbings weren’t his style.

Alaric and the Sheriff are discussing the night he was shot. The Sheriff tells him that he spoke with Meredith for over an hour but he doesn’t remember it.

Back at the grill Stefan asks Damon if he remembers Sage. A flashback to 1912 shows Sage an attractive woman boxer who caught Damon’s attention. Present day Stefan tells Damon that the town wouldn’t have suspected a woman.

Elena confronts Meredith and tells her that Alaric couldn’t have killed anyone. Meredith tells Elena that she doesn’t know Alaric and she didn’t look any deeper. Then she hits home with telling Elena that she dates vampires… it shouldn’t come as a shock.

Rebekah is still trying to get information out of the guys. She wants to know about their ancestors. Stefan tells her that she just doesn’t give up. She tells him that he was much more fun in the 20’s.

Matt and Elena break and enter into Meredith’s place looking for clues. Elena tells him that there are skeletons in the closet just like the rest of the founders. They find a box with a Gilbert diary in it. Meredith comes home early and Elena shoves Matt into the closet and they have a short tender moment when she presses her fingers to Matt’s lips. They think Meredith is gone and they open the door to find Meredith staring them down.

Damon flashes back to his interaction with Sage. She asks him “What is being a vampire if nothing but relishing in the pleasure of it?” She tells him that humans crave seduction—he has to make them beg for it—and if they don’t—he’s a vampire—he takes it. Sage encourages him to drink from humans but take pleasure in it too. Present day Rebekah makes a snarky comment about Sage and Damon is surprised that Rebekah knows her. She tells him that Sage was obsessed with her brother Finn.

Sheriff Forbes is pissed! She asks Matt and Elena if they know how much she is already protecting them. Then she tells them that Alaric will be released as soon as the medical examiner’s letter is authenticated about the time of death.

Damon and Rebekah join forces and make Stefan feed froma stranger. Damon tells him that his problem is that he doesn’t know how to stop. He can feed, but not kill. He needs to have moderation. Damon tells Rebekah to get lost. Damon is talking Stefan through feeding he makes Stefan stop before he takes too much and Damon feeds the girl his blood. Matt and Elena stumble upon the scene with Damon helping the girl and Stefan with his mouth bloody. Damon tells her not to overreact. Stefan takes off.

Matt takes Elena home and she tells him that she knows it doesn’t make sense that she felt safe with Stefan. Matt tells her that Stefan is a vampire—he’d live forever and not leave her… like her parents did. She admits that Damon snuck up on her and he gets under her skin and that she can’t shake him. Matt tells her that he doesn’t think she’ll ever shake them. Elena asks if him if her talking about Damon and Stefan is weird for him. He tells her no and he brings out the Gilbert diary he took from Meredith’s. He tells her that sometimes it’s nice to be the human in a town full of vampires because t makes you invisible.

Damon comes home and tells Stefan that the let Alaric go and the Sheriff is out of suspects. He tells Stefan that he did really well tonight and that the Elena thing will fix itself. Stefan tells her that he doesn’t care what Elena thinks. Damon tells him that he’s not tolerating the “no more humanity” Stefan anymore, that they’re on the road to recovery.

Stefan tells him that they don’t have to do the whole brotherly bonding thing. Damon reminds him the last time he fed from someone he turned into the Ripper of Monterey.

A flashback shows Damon telling Stefan that Sage reminded him that it’s all worth it. Stefan insists that he doesn’t use human blood anymore but Damon tells him that he can use moderation. Stefan actually kills the girl he’s drinking from and leaves Damon to clean it up.

Damon tells Stefan that moderation is the key and that he watched him go over the edge and he didn’t stop him. He tells Stefan that every time he goes over the edge he’ll be there to pull him back. Stefan wants to know why he cares. Damon tells him that he’s all he’s got.

Alaric comes home and Elena hugs him and assures him that she doesn’t think he killed anyone. He tells Elena that the Sheriff told him what she did today and that he was supposed to take of her. She tells him they are going to take care of each other. She takes the diary up to her room and reads.

Damon plays piano and Stefan tells him that he was reading the family archives from the early 1900’s. Stefan didn’t find anything from 1912 but they got a confession 10 years later. Jonathan Gilbert’s granddaughter confessed. Damon tells Stefan that he was pretty sure that he had already killed her. What did you find—nothing from 1912—but they did get a confession 10 years later—Jonathan Gilbert’s granddaughter—she went crazy—I’m pretty sure I’d already killed her—

Meredith comes to see Alaric and tells him that she forged the change in time of death so the police won’t look at Alaric again. She tells him that she thinks he’s sick and he doesn’t remember what’s happening.

Damon and Stefan theorize that Samantha Gilbert is still alive and a vampire, but they would know. Damon says that she must have had a ring like Alaric’s. The look they give each other says that they’ve put it together that the ring is making Alaric go crazy.

Meredith tells Alaric that she thinks he’s sick and that the same thing happened over a hundred years ago. Alaric seems to not believe it, but Elena comes downstairs and overhears the conversation.. she tells Alaric that she thinks Meredith is right.

******

I have to say that I was really surprised about Damon and Stefan's relationship. I always saw Damon as the bad guy... the one who killed without regret. In fact if was Stefan who was out of control and couldn't stop from killing humans. Damon was actually practicing moderation.

I'm so excited to see a new turn in Alaric's storyline. I really want to see the 'killer' Alaric which we got a preview of in the teaser for next week's episode.

It also seems that Matt and Elena are getting closer... do you think she'll choose the human over Damon or Stefan? She admitted she loved both Damon and Stefan... I'm not so sure Matt can compete with these two....?

What's your ideas on the episode?

The Secret Circle ~Lucky~

Wow! We’re back after a long hiatus that kept us waiting for weeks!

Faye tells Dawn that John Blackwell is back and you can just tell she’s ecstatic about this. I guess they had a thing when they were younger.

John goes to see Cassie and tries to tell her that he doesn’t want to be a stranger that people are terrified of and that the dark magic they have can make her vengeful and destructive. She tells him that he doesn’t know her very well. This seems to be foreshadowing of things to come

Outside Cassie’s house John runs into Jake and comments that Jake watches over her. Jake tells him that he does. John says “Good.” Hmm… wonder what that means.

The circle gathers at the coffee house and Diana comments that it would be great to find the parents they lost still alive. Faye rebuts that saying that “yeah as long as that parent wasn’t the devil on their days off.” Cassie’s break is over and Melissa and Diana leave to set up for casino night, Faye goes to track down Lee. Adam asks Cassie to go to casino night with him. She asks him if they are going out on a real live date in public. He grins and says yes… she replies with “Then hell yes.” As she kisses him. Finally! The stars have aligned themselves.

Lee and Eva (his back from the dead girlfriend) are discussing her health and she says she feels good, but a little weak. He suggests that she call her parents and she tells him that they gave up on her and that he saved her life, he’s all she needs. This does not bode well for Faye.

Diana and Melissa head to the boathouse to pick up supplies for the casino night fundraiser. On the way out the two run into a very handsome stranger named Grant. He’s charming and you can tell he’s charmed Diana. Normally new people in Chance Harbor are bad signs.

John is at the old house looking for something and Cassie sees him get really annoyed he can’t find what he’s looking for. He turns a table over and Cassie leaves.

Cassie tells Adam what she saw her father doing and they sneak into Jake’s house. Adam tells her that he and Nick found this when they were cleaning up the old house. He pulls out a weird clay looking thing and tells her that Diana’s book referred to it as a sway… it takes witch’s powers away. Cassie takes it and tells him that she’s going to confront her father and at least she’ll be the one to have it.

Faye goes to see Lee and tells him he is taking her to casino night. He tells her that he can’t go, he has previous plans. Wonder when Eva is going to turn up.

Diana and Faye are discussing boys when Melissa tells Faye that Diana is turning away hotties like she’s allergic to them and she wants to know when does Faye ever take no for an answer? She leaves the coffee shop and Diana asks Faye when did she get so insightful? Finally we have our smart mouthed Melissa back!!

Cassie confronts John and wants to know whose magic is he trying to take. He tells her that he found that when he escaped the fire, that only another witch could have spelled it for Eben to have powers. He tells her that he needs to sway to find the person that betrayed them in the past and will eventually betray them again.

Faye goes to see Lee and finds Eva. Lee tells Eva that Faye is just a customer. Faye leaves and Lee tells Eva that Faye just has a crush on him.

Grant shows up at casino night and donates a large amount of money to the school while he flirts with Diana.

Adam comes to get Cassie and she tells him that a witch spelled it so Eben could catch John. She reminds him that she saw his father in Jake’s memories. Adam gets angry and they get into a fight

Cassie tells Jake about seeing Ethan in his memory and he gets angry that Adam’s dad betrayed them. Cassie tells him there has to be another explanation. After Cassie leaves, Jake immediately calls John.

Adam and Ethan have a conversation about him and Cassie—Ethan won’t tell him what happened.

Faye sees that Lee did come to fundraiser and she starts to tell him off but he grabs her and kisses her. I really like these two together and that normally means this isn’t going to work out.

Dawn runs into John at the school and she tries to seduce him. He tells her that she’s the same old Dawn and that he’s changed. He’s looking for Ethan.

Adam shows up at casino night and tells Cassie that he’s sorry and Cassie says maybe he does have an explanation. Cassie sees her dad at the fundraiser and starts to follow him.

Eva shows up at the school and sees Faye and Lee hugged together and he tells her about Faye. Eva gets mad and leaves.

John is followed out of the school with someone with a knife. Cassie sees someone stab him and they take off running. She chases him and uses her magic to stop him. She stands over Ethan and starts to whack him with a plank. John stops her and tells her that she can’t do that.

John tells Cassie that Ethan blames him for stealing her mother from him and that she needs to stay away from Ethan. He tells her that she can’t use her magic that it will take her over.

Grant and Diana chat after the fundraiser and they end up kissing in the parking lot.

Eva confronts Lee at home and she wants to know why he brought her back when he wants Faye. He realizes that she has magic and she kills him. I figured this would happen!!!!!!!

John confronts Ethan and tells him that the kids have been hurt enough and that Ethan will keep his mouth shut about Cassie. The reason that Cassie’s mom was with John was because the “written in the stars love” between Ethan and her was a curse.

Adam goes to Cassie’s house and she says that she doesn’t know what happened. Adam says to hell with their parents—he doesn’t care about them. He tells Cassie that he loves her and they start to kiss and end up making love on the couch. Outside a flock of crows are gathering over Cassie’s house. I do believe this is a horrible sign for Adam and Cassie.

****

I have to admit there were a bunch of twists in this episode!

Do you guys think that Lee is really dead or is he just sleeping? I have to say that I hope Eva didn't kill him because I really like the chemistry between Lee and Faye. He seems to hold his own with her.

See??! I knew I was right about the Cassie/Adam thing being a bad idea... now they've gone and summoned an army of crows with their 'written in the stars' love.

What's your opinion on this episode?

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An autographed copy of Emma Holly's HIDDEN DEPTHS!  To be entered to win, just leave a comment below (open to US and worldwide; state country please).


James and Olivia Forster have been happily married for many years. Their grown-up daughter is thriving, as is their successful family-owned business. A harmless kink here or there spices up their love life, but never in a million years do they imagine the kinks they’ll encounter while sneaking off to their beach house for a long hot weekend. Certainly, they don’t expect their understanding of the world they live in to be turned upside down. Anso Vitul has ruled the wereseals for one short month. He hardly needs his authority questioned because he’s going crazy from mating heat, a condition made more tormenting by having been forbidden to have sex with a female. Anso’s best friend and male lover Ty volunteers to help him find the human mate his royal genes are driving him to seek. To Ty’s amazement, Anso’s quest leads him claim not one partner but a pair. Ty would object, except he too finds the Forsters hopelessly attractive. When this hot-blooded foursome embark on their erotic voyage, more than the ocean is going to make waves.

Contest: A Searing Wind

Thanks to the generous folks over at Gallery books one winner will receive this entire series (books 1 and 2 in paperback, and book 3 in hardback)! Just leave a comment with your thoughts on history mixing in with fiction. I am a huge fan of these sorts of books because I think its an interesting way to learn while having fun, and in this case, not many books on Native Americans have been done. These aren't paranormal or anything, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to share. Definitely check out their website for more information. Good Luck! This is open to U.S. residents only.

About the book:

Recovering from their wounds, Black Shell and Pearl Hand race the invader Hernando de Soto westward.  The fires of Mabila have destroyed most of de Soto’s supplies, and cost him dearly in horses and irreplaceable men.  But just ahead lie the greatest warriors in Black Shell’s world, and the people who exiled him in disgrace—the Chicaza.  Desperate to earn redemption, Black Shell is thrust face-to-face with the cunning de Soto and locked in a deadly game of wits that will determine the fate of their world.  But who’s the bigger threat—de Soto or Black Shell’s poisonous and unforgiving kin?  If Black Shell, Pearl Hand, and their loyal dogs can win the battle of Chicaza, the Spanish invader will be broken forever.  As Horned Serpent and the terrible Piasa gambled so long ago, in the end, everything hinges on Black Shell—but at what staggering cost?

About the authors:

W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O’Neal Gear are the authors of Fire the Sky and Coming of the Storm, the second and first book in the Contact series, as well as more than twenty international bestsellers that have been translated into twenty-three languages.  Their novel People of the Raven won the Golden Spur Award in 2005.  In addition to writing both fiction and nonfiction together and separately, the Gears operate an anthropological research company called Wind River Archeological Consultants and raise buffalo on their ranch in northern Wyoming. They welcome readers to their website at www.gear-gear.com.

Review: Watcher, Book 1 of The Chosen by Roh Morgan

Book Description:

Predator. Killer. Monster.

The words echo in Sunny Martin’s head each time she looks in the mirror. Since the night she was torn from her car and drained of her blood, Sunny’s fear of the hungry beast within her is rivaled only by the fear of exposure.

Her lonely struggle to survive on the edge of the human world leads Sunny to the mountain peaks of Colorado where she meets Nicolas, the enigmatic leader of a hidden society.

Their passion, tainted by betrayal, violence, and murder, reveals a shocking truth behind Sunny's savage nature and drives her toward an agonizing Choice between her heart and the last remnant of her human soul.

Jenny's Review:

Sunny hates the monster she has become. She wishes she could go back to her old life, and still watches her daughter from a distance. She is sad to see her daughter mature without her and also to see that she now has a grandchild that she will never know. After yet another incident where the beast escapes her Sunny finds herself on the move again. She is determined this time to keep as far away from people as possible, and be close to the forest to let her inner beast get its fill. Sunny is not prepared to meet Nicolas, to whom she feels an immediate pull toward. Nicolas is a very old vampire who is interested to learn about this new Chosen one, who is different than any Chosen he has met before. But as Nicolas tries to draw Sunny into the Game that the Chosen ones play, she is resistant and doesn’t understand what is happening.  When she feels the stress of all the new rules and the over controlling from Nicolas she tries to run back, to be more like herself, and is attacked. When she comes to, she realizes that she is no longer in control, and finds herself being taken further away from who she was and wants to be.  Can she fight to stay with Nicolas and love him like he loves her, or will the fact that he is trying to change her prove to much for her and push her away?

This was an interesting book.  It was full of confusion for the main character who is lost in this new world of the Chosen’s hierarchy and way of life.  It shows that even when you stray very far from yourself, it is hard to make changes and the moral compass that you find yourself battling with will never go away fully. Told from the main character, Sunny's, point of view you really get to know her as a character and feel the pain she is undertaking with her struggle to find peace with what she is becoming. But I felt that the character of Nicolas was just strange, and the book never lets on to anything with him, except for little inserts here and there about what he is thinking. It is obvious that he is trying to control and change her, and I think that I was frustrated by this.  All in all, it was a good read and the writing style was easy to read and drew me in.  

Author website: 

*Just a warning for those opening links at work or something: the site has music playing in the background.

http://www.rohmorgon.com/

*Reviewed by Jenny

*This book was sent for review by the author.

Review: Blood Rights by Kristen Painter

Anna here~ Just wanted to chime in and comment on how stunning this cover is. I don't often get the chance to buy books these days, but when I saw this book at Target I simply had to buy it. No other cover looked quite the same sitting n the shelf, and I adore the delicate beauty and color scheme. The other books in the series all have the same style of cover and I find them equally as beautiful. I'm really looking forward to reading this series, and only passed this along to Jenny so that it could be reviewed faster. I'd love to hear what you think, of both the book and the cover. Cheers!

BLOOD RIGHTS
Gothic Urban Fantasy

October 2011 Rebellion has a price…

Born into a life of secrets and service, Chrysabelle’s body bears the telltale marks of a comarré — a special race of humans bred to feed vampire nobility. When her patron is murdered, she becomes the prime suspect, which sends her running into the mortal world…and into the arms of Malkolm, an outcast vampire cursed to kill every being from whom he drinks.

Now, Chrysabelle and Malkolm must work together to stop a plot to merge the mortal and supernatural worlds. If they fail, a chaos unlike anything anyone has ever seen will threaten to reign.

Jenny's Review:

Chrysabelle is a comarre, meaning she is a human bred to feed the noble of the vampire community. All is going according to plan until the vampire patron ends up dead and she runs away.  Chrysabelle is just seeking a place to be safe when she travels to her aunt Maris’s house, but knowing who is after her means she knows she needs to hide better than that. Seeking a safe place in the mortal world is quite difficult and Chrysabelle finds herself with Malkolm. Malkolm is a vampire who has been branded an outcast, because he kills everything he feeds from. He is a cursed vampire who cannot control the beast within him. He lives with Doc, who is only able to turn into a house cat, and Fi, who Malkolm killed and who is stuck with him as a ghost. In trying to help Chrysabelle Malkolm accidentally becomes her new patron so when her aunt Maris disappears they must work together to find her and fight some of the most horrific vampire villains. Villains who will stop at nothing to get what they want and hurt the human world forever.  The only problem is that the beast within Malkolm truly wants to get out and drain Chrysabelle of the sweet smelling blood she holds inside her. 

This was a thrilling book!  It keep me reading and reading. At first I was sort of lost in the language and the story line, but after a couple chapters I did not want to put it down.  The way the characters are all intertwined together and act around each other works very well. Chrysabelle’s job as a human bred for vampire feeding was quite interesting as she had many talents that surprised even the vampires. The way the two main characters act around each other create the perfect tension in the book. The mystery and action were perfectly planned in this book making you crave more. The ending of course leaves you hanging for the next book in the series, which I need to go out and find so that I can finish the story of Chrysabelle and Malkolm. 

The next books in the series:

Flesh and Blood

Bad Blood

Upcoming Releases:
FORBIDDEN BLOOD (House of Comarre short story) Spring 2012
OUT FOR BLOOD (House of Comarre book 4) Fall 2012
LAST BLOOD (House of Comarre book 5) Spring 2013

Author websites and blog:

http://kristenpainter.com/

http://www.kristenpainter.blogspot.com/
http://www.houseofcomarre.com/

*Reviewed by Jenny for VampChix and Bite Club
*This book was purchased by moi.

another winner

The winner of the Into the Darkness contest is:

tetewa

Please email me with your mailing information and I will forward it along to the appropriate party. Congrats!

Winner

Just call me the White Rabbit! The winner of my healthy eating contest is:

ML

Please email me at  lunaticcafe (at) gmail. com with your mailing information and I will get that grab bag of random books sent off this week. Congrats!