Date Night on Union Station by E. M. Foner

Date Night on Union Station (EarthCent Ambassador Book 1)

May 3, 2014  by E. M. Foner

Kindle Edition

$0.00

"Good comic science fiction is rarer than hen's teeth. This was a fun read." 
Kelly Frank is EarthCent's top diplomat on Union Station, but her job description has always been a bit vague. The pay is horrible and she's in hock up to her ears for her furniture, which is likely to end up in a corridor because she's behind on rent for her room. Sometimes she has to wonder if the career she has put ahead of her personal life for fifteen years is worth it. 
When Kelly receives a gift subscription to the dating service that's rumored to be powered by the same benevolent artificial intelligence that runs the huge station, she decides to swallow her pride and give it a shot. But as her dates go from bad to worse, she can only hope that the supposedly omniscient AI is planning a happy ending. "

This could have really been a great book if it had only been as funny as advertised.  I apparently have a different sense of humor than most others. 

Some of the plot was quite good and if we stuck with the whole matchmaking story line, this might have been a knee slapping, hearty chuckling, good  book  -but the author didn't and that's a shame.

 I found that the trials and tribulations of Kelly to not be as humorous as it could have been.  The never-ending discussions of gaming was annoying to someone who doesn't game, and the abrupt ending was...well, abrupt and it didn't make much sense.  I do assume that this was because this probably was never meant to be a series. But  the idea of one date and a marriage the same night in a back alley by an Elvis look-a-like was just too hockey for me.

I will be buying the next book because I did find the secondary characters interesting and can see that there is the chance that the story and writing will evolve into something I can relate to.

Dragon Storm by Katie MacAlister

TURN ON THE CHARM

According to some (including himself), Constantine is one of the greatest heroes of dragonkin who ever lived. Too bad he's now lonelier than ever and his biggest adventure involves a blow-up sheep-until he has an opportunity to save his kind once again. All Constantine has to do is break into a demon's dungeon, steal an ancient artifact, and reverse a deadly curse. The plan certainly does not involve rescuing a woman . . . 
TURN UP THE HEAT
Bee isn't sure whether to be infuriated or relieved when Constantine pops up in her prison. The broody, brawny shifter lights her fire in a way no one ever has before, yet how far can she really trust him? Their chemistry may be off the charts, but when push comes to shove, Constantine will have to make a crucial choice: to save the dragons or the woman he's grown to love with fierce intensity.

I think that I am just too old for these books now. Certain expressions are beyond me...*and* my 22 year old niece. While I found the part about "Twatter" funny, I found the endless dialogue about the blow up sheep and the "filling the cream filled doughnut" to be a bit childish and not funny.

The seemingly never-ending sexual dialogue was annoying as was the disembodied head.

It seems that Katie may have just reached the end of her rope and is grasping at anything to try to keep these fresh. I've been reading her books for over a decade now (maybe more?) and I have seen a lot of evolution's ,in all of her books and especially the dragon series....this book was just not a good one. And this is unfortunate since I really do want to see what happens with Rowan.
If you want something chaotic and slapstick funny, yet a little more tasteful (? I'm not sure that is the word I'm looking for, but it will do for now) - try "Noble Intentions" by this author, I think it was one of her best.

Magic Shifts by Ilona Andrews

The eighth Kate Daniels novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author who “defines urban fantasy” (Fresh Fiction). Magic is coming and going in waves in post-Shift Atlanta—and each crest leaves danger in its wake… After breaking from life with the Pack, mercenary Kate Daniels and her mate—former Beast Lord Curran Lennart—are adjusting to a very different pace. While they’re thrilled to escape all the infighting, Kate and Curran know that separating from the Pack completely is a process that will take time.  But when they learn that their friend Eduardo has gone missing, Kate and Curran shift their focus to investigate his disappearance. As they dig further into the merc’s business, they discover that the Mercenary Guild has gone to hell and that Eduardo’s recent assignments are connected in the most sinister way… An ancient enemy has arisen, and Kate and Curran are the only ones who can stop it—before it takes their city apart piece by piece.

This is one huge transitional book. With only the possibility of only two more books in this series, I was really worried how the team was going to start wrapping up this series. I was also worried as to how the Daniel's writing team was going to take Curran out of his position and life and plop him into Kate's and whether or not the transaction was going to be a smooth one -I shouldn't have worried. Even though the story really didn't revolve around 'The Pack', it still involved The Pack. This story involves George (Mahon's daughter) and the Eduardo the werebuffalo who has gone missing. This is not quite the main story line, but close enough since all of the weirdness that follows has to do with him and his father.

Kate is finally maturing and it only took a scary/deadly medical condition for her to take stoke of her life and to love what she sees.

She will interact with her father and it is going to be both fun,and funny and also a bit scary.

Curran is going to get his hearts desire (at least in a work situation) and also get another pack of sorts to head.

What I would love to see is a Curran's POV novella/short story about how he felt while Kate was having her medical issues and afterwards when he wasn't so sure she was going to remember him/what they meant to each other.

I would also love to see a novella about Jim and Dali and how the transition treated them and how they handled it.

I would love to see Kate's conflict with her father handled a lot differently than most fans -I would love to see them become an actual family, to have Roland teach Kate how to take over after he has had enough time on earth...just to teach her and to see his grandchild/children. I would love to see the three of them kick some God or Goddesses butt. *sigh*

I am using my newly gained ESP *chortle* to try to get the Andrews team to write faster AND to make them keep up with this series! 

I am aware that it must get boring for the author to keep on going with a long running series and this is why so many series start failing when the author doesn't know enough to ditch it. I have to respect the Andrew's team to know what they are doing. If I chant this to myself enough times maybe I'll even start believing it!

There is just so much to tie up in such a relatively short amount of time -I am hoping that I heard wrong about only having two more books.

Swan Song by Robert McCammon

Book Description: An ancient evil roams the desolate landscape of an America ravaged by nuclear war. He is the Man with the Scarlet Eye, a malevolent force that feeds on the dark desires of the countless followers he has gathered into his service. His only desire is to find a special child named Swan -- and destroy her. But those who would protect the girl are determined to fight for what is left of the world and their souls. In a wasteland born of rage, populated by monstrous creatures and marauding armies, the last survivors on earth have been drawn into the final battle between good and evil that will decide the fate of humanity....

I was born in the 1950's and I find that Swan Song might be classic for my particular generation and I hope it will become a classic for future generations. I read this first when it first came out -read it again just before I posted this review. Some books can stand the passage of time and some cannot, Swan Song did spectacularly.

It is a classic story of good versus evil, God versus the Devil and mans willingness to adapt and evolve even when it looks like they should give up.

The characters are either extremely likable or extremely dis-likable. The are written with a lot of depth. Mr McCammon builds a world that is so realistic, that you can just see this happening to our real world in the near future. One can compare this novel to the book " The Stand" and I would even recommend that you read them back to back if you really want something to make you cringe at the slightest noises.

"Swan Song" was the first of the apocalyptic type novels that I have ever read and I read it soon after originally out. But, it has certainly stood the passage of time since I just re-read it and can still find new things in it to make me shiver in my boots. And, it will remain a favorite of mine no matter how of my life time passes.

Sweep in Peace by Ilona Andrews

Book Description:
Dina DeMille isn't your typical Bed and Breakfast owner. Her inn defies laws of physics, her dog is secretly a monster, and the only permanent guest of the inn is a former Galactic tyrant with a price on her head. The inn needs guests to thrive and guests have been scarce, so when an Arbitrator shows up at Dina's door and asks her to host a peace summit between three warring species, she jumps on the chance. Unfortunately, for Dina, bridging the gap between space vampires, the Hope-Crushing Horde, and the merchants of Baha-char is much easier said than done. To make the summit a success, she must find a chef, remodel the inn, keep her guests from murdering each other, and risk everything, even her life, to save the man she might fall in love with. But then it's all in the day's work for an Innkeeper…

I'm going to have to read this again to see just why I seem to be the only one a bit unhappy with this book. It may be the fact that for me, there is a tad too much back-story or if you will - 'rehashing' of the last book, repetitive passages and too much clothing and food descriptions - but then it may have been the rather slow plot (yes I do understand that there is a reason for this) - at least until the last 15%. But it does have a great ending -as do most of this teams other books do.

I did get to learn about other groups AND Her Grace Caldenia better. So that's a plus. Plus I loved seeing the house go through so many different changes and moods. The house makes a wonderful secondary character.