Jennifer Harlow - Death Takes A Holiday

So, this has ended up being my least favorite of the first three F.R.E.A.K.S. Squad series. I thought it was going to be awesome since it starts out with Bea going home for Christmas and leaving the whole angst of the triangle behind in Kansas -- possibly for good. How was the new confident Bea going to adjust being home again? Would she fess up to anyone that she hasn't really been setting up executive daycare centers around the country since leaving? (Yeah -- that was her cover. Do people actually get paid to do that?) Would she meet someone new and have the triangle shatter ... or become a rhombus? Would there be killer Santas or zombie elves or psycho reindeer? All of these thoughts went barreling through my mind in the minutes between finishing the second in the series (ramble here) and starting Death Takes A Holiday.

Without really spoiling anything: Awkwardly. Eventually. (Still don't know.) Kind of. Sadly, no.

Way too much focus on thee ol' Triangle of Angst in this one for me and, I hate to admit, I found myself skimming quite a lot. Not because of steamy stuff like I typically skim ... but I'm just getting so. dang. fed up. I get it. The girl/wolf/vamp thing is popular ... and I'm sure that there are plenty out there who read the series primarily for that. Me? Give me more of the F.R.E.A.K.Sy stuff, please. Pick one. Pick the other. Pick someone else. What.Freaking.Ever.

Maybe it's just that I missed Bette. She hardly got any page time and that's just not cool. Bea's best friend April almost made up for it but .... nah.

There's a fourth book in the series but it'll be a while before I bother with it. After all, I've got Christmasy stuff all lined up and, as far as, I know not a triangle in sight.

#TeaserTuesday # 38 & A Ramble -- Jennifer Harlow's F.R.E.A.K.S Squad series 2 & 3

I read the first book in Jennifer Harlow's F.R.E.A.K.S Squad series back in October. If you want to catch up on the teaser and ramble on that, go ahead and do so now. Neither one is very wordy so it won't take long.

Okay. Ready?

I mentioned in my ramble of the first book about the love triangle and that takes a bit more center-stage in the second book, To Catch A Vampire, but not obnoxiously so. In fact, for the vast majority of the book we only actually see main character Bea and hot vampire Oliver who are off on a vampire hunting special assignment. The hot werewolf is on vacation doing wolfish things for the first 3/4 of the book or so. Of course, this gives Bea and Oliver plenty of time to bond (especially since their "cover" is that of husband and wife), but of course it's not all that simple to rule out Will because of, well, plot-line stuff and whatnot. 

Yeah, I'm not telling. You shouldn't be surprised.

Everything I loved about the first book is there to love about the second. The humor and snark gets joined by some confidence and grit. Bea is really growing in her investigative skills and how to use her gifts (although she still cringes when anyone calls them that). Bette (Bea's machete) even gets a makeover and some nice action. The rest of the Squad, although largely absent from the tale, make a huge impact when they are around and after plenty of "holy *$%^$" moments, I already can't wait to see what's happens next ....

So, I won't.

On to the third book!!!

The Book & The Tease

Jennifer Harlow - Death Takes A Holiday

The Meme

Jennifer Harlow's Mind Over Monsters

To see the teaser & introductory ramble about Mind Over Monsters just backtrack to this week's Teaser Tuesday post.

I'll wait right here for you ....

*whistling*

*checking time*

*grabbing a snack*

Ready? Awesome.

When I started reading this I sort of lumped it right into the "mind-candy" genre. You know -- the books that aren't really great but aren't necessarily bad? The ones that you pick up to read when you just want to kind of coast through something? It really started out feeling that way to me... and then I ended up cutting my post-work AND pre-work naps short (and almost missed a bus stop) because I just didn't want to stop reading. My heart was racing, I was getting fidgety, and I just had to know what was going to happen next!

General Thoughts:
* humor -- I love Harlow's sarcasm and snark. It helps keep the general "mind-candy" feel going even when things were getting stressful

* Bette -- she's a machete and I love her

* the other F.R.E.A.K.S -- there's a good mixture of personalities here and I look forward to hopefully learning more about them as the series goes on

* the love/lust/flirtation triangle -- of course there has to be one, right? The "normal" girl (comparatively speaking, of course), the hot werewolf, the hot vampire. *YAWN* I sort of feel like the world has been-here-done-this about a million times over. Luckily it doesn't overthrow the rest of the story

Pretty much, a fun read with some nice "holy *&^*" moments (well, as "nice" as surprise zombie hordes can be) and enough promise as a series that I'm really glad I already have the next two waiting for me!

#TeaserTuesday # 31 - Jennifer Harlow's Mind Over Monsters

The Book & The Tease

Jennifer Harlow - Mind Over Monsters

This is the first book in Harlow's F.R.E.A.K.S Squad series. I was gifted it a few years back and it's been sitting in my Cloud ever since. I'm not sure why I hadn't gotten around to reading it before now. I guess something else just always bumped it further down the line. I'm finally getting around to it -- much like the recently finished A Pint of Murder -- because one of the next books in the series (# 3, I think) has a Christmasy theme. Right now I'm just past the half-way point and I'm really enjoying it.

4th grade teacher Beatrice Alexander hasn't had an easy life. Stuff moves around when she gets upset. Sometimes the result is humourous (like flying stuffed animals at a sleepover when she was young). Sometimes the result is impressive (like lifting a Hummer SUV and saving one of her students from being roadkill). Sometimes the result is dangerous (like almost killing her own brother). She's approached by Dr George Black about joining the F.R.E.A.K.S. Squad (Federal Response to Extra-sensory And Kindred Supernaturals) -- a secret branch of the FBI.  Being a part of the Squad would help her to hone and utilize her psychokinesis while solving unusual and supernatural crimes -- along with others with varying "gifts." The teaser quote comes from their early conversation (about 4% in) before she agrees ...

The Meme