Hello, my name is Victoria Miller, and I am a Moning Maniac. If you think this is a fanbase of tweens and teens, you're in the wrong place. While some teens do read the books, I wouldn't recommend allowing anyone under the age of 18 to do so due to adult content, eroticism, and all that other good stuff you get with an R rating on television and in the movies.

Based on the fact so many articles have been published in relation to Variety's announcement of Dreamworks purchasing the the rights to make feature films based on the five book series (which is one continuous story split into five parts, not a book with four sequels, FYI.) it seems as though the lack of knowledge in the non-book communities has caused a trend of misinformation. While it is an epic story, comparing the series to Harry Potter, Twilight, and The Hunger Games is unfair in that, while those young adult series are all great in their own right, and Harry Potter is, well, it's Harry Potter...., the Fever series is an adult urban fantasy that has little to do with any of the aforementioned teen franchises.

I am going to take this opportunity to enlighten those who are unfamiliar with the story without giving away too much. Probably my favorite thing about this series (aside from my infamous literary love affair with V'lane) is Karen Marie Moning's use of foreshadowing. The major things may or may not be obvious as you read it and think "oh yeah, back when ____happened...," but if you re-read the books you will find you knew something, or something was referenced, from the very beginning. Even from the prologue of the first book. So, avoiding spoiling the really good stuff, this is what you need to know:

The story is told through the eyes of MacKayla Lane. Raised in  the fictional town of Ashford, Georgia, Mac begins her story appearing to be a blond "Barbie" type who cares little for much outside of glamour, boys...and fast cars.  By the end of the last book we will find Mac has changed so much in so little time that you almost feel sad she had to mature so fast in the ways she was forced to do so (but don't worry, the character development is done VERY well)...if that made sense...my eyes just crossed re-reading that sentence. When her sister Alina is murdered in Ireland, Mac's only clue to what happened is left in a cell phone voice mail. Mac travels to Dublin to solve the murder herself (and seek revenge on Alina's killer) when the investigators close the case.

Upon her arrival, Mac runs into a enigmatic bookstore owner, Jericho Barrons, at  Barrons Books and Baubles. Not only does he have the information to help her locate (and learn about) the Sinsar Dubh, an evil book of dark magic created over a million years ago by the Unseelie King himself that is responsible for a slew of violent murders and suicides across Dublin, but Barrons also informs Mac that she is a Sidhe-seer; someone who can see through Fae glamour and, in Mac's case, have other extraordinary gifts.

Together they hunt for OOPs (Fae Objects of Power), which leads to Mac's possession of one of the only two weapons known to be able to kill the Fae: The Spear of Destiny. As Mac learns more about her heritage, upon learning she and her sister were adopted, Mac meets other Sidhe-seers, including  Dani (the ONLY teenage character in the books and is too feckin' awesome to be censored into a PG movie) who has superspeed and other enhanced senses, and often wields the other weapon: The Sword of Light. Together they kick so much Faery ass that they eventually lose count.
Mac is  not the only person who is seeking the Sinsar Dubh. Barrons wants it for his own reasons, but he isn't one to share secrets willingly. Then there is V'lane, sent, he says, by the Seelie Queen to use the book to restore the falling walls between the Fae and Human realms. He's lethally seductive, so much so that sex with him could turn a woman "Pri-ya" (someone so addicted to Fae sex that it becomes their only function) or could kill them from the pleasure of it. Then there is Darroc, the Lord Master. A former Fae (who's fall is witnessed in The Immortal Highlander, by Karen Marie Moning. Part of the Highlander romance series which introduced the Fae and preceded Charlaine Harris' introduction of fae into the Sookie Stackhouse (TrueBlood)  novels; I am looking at you those people about to compare those Fae to Karen's! Don't do it!) who seeks to free the Unseelie from their prison and make the Fae gods among the humans. Christian MacKeltar, part of a highland clan of Druids who seek to keep the walls from falling and forcing Fae and Human realms to collide. And the Sidhe-seers, who may have actually been the reason the book has gone missing in the first place.

Over the course of the books, Mac learns more about the history of the Tuatha De Danann, the beautiful, elitist Seelie and the abominations known as the Unseelie. She must battle the Shades: creatures of no physical form that dwell in true darkness and cannot enter the light. They instantly devour anything living, leaving only a dried up husk behind. Royal Hunters: Dragon-like creatures that look like the classic depiction of the devil, and were responsible for hunting and slaugtering the sidhe-seers before the compact between Man and Fae existed. The Gray Man, an Unseelie so ugly that he steals the beauty of others, leaving them either rotting away or dead when he is through. Malluce, born the son of a wealthy family and claiming to be a real life vampire, but appearances are often deceiving. (please note...Malluce is a very MINOR character with only a small pivotal role in two of the books)

Throughout her journey, Mac steals from Irish mobsters, is tortured and brutalized, lost within the Fae realms, has really, really epic sex, loses everything and more than she thought she had to lose, and may or may not be the key to saving the world from a slightly insane being seeking the ultimate power: the Sinsar Dubh.

And if that isn't enough to keep you glued to your chair while reading, there is always the mystery of Barrons and the eight others like him; what are they? How did they get that way? What is Barrons up to? What the hell does Ryodan look like anyway? What is V'lane or Darroc or the Sidhe-Seers really up to for that matter? Who is responsible for Alina's murder? What happens to Mac in her darkest hour? Who does Mac find herself responsible for killing? What the K'Vruck is a K'Vruck? What happens if she presses IYD (If You're Dying) on the phone Barrons gave her?And finally, just where is the elusive Unseelie King whose book is the cause of everything that is going on?

Want to find out? Catch the fever!

Book 1: Darkfever
Book 2: Bloodfever
Book 3: Faefever
Book 4: Dreamfever
Book 5: Shadowfever

visit karen's message boards at her website for in dept book discussions and more: http://www.karenmoning.com/

Like the fever series, don't miss the two official soundtracks
BloodRush and Shadowsong

and last but not least, please keep major spoilers out of the comments should you reply so those who have yet to read can enjoy the fun of finding out on their own. Thank you!

Around the time of Faefever's release there was a lot of buzz around 20th Century Fox buying the rights to the Fever series. The release on it read pretty great...aside from saying Mac was a teenage girl.  However, Fox never went through and the rights eventually went back to Karen to resell to another studio. At FeverCon in 2010, when asked about it, Karen stated that she was more protective of the series now than she was then and would only sign on the dotted line if she knew the series was going to be done correctly. Well, it appears something is likely to happen now as Dreamworks Studio released an artcile in Vanity (read  it here) stated that Dreamworks has the rights to the movie franchise, which is fantastic. Though they are using the hype around the Harry Potter, Twilight and Hunger Games franchises as a basis to compare it to...Hopefully, this does not mean they are going to gear the series towards a teenage audience, as it is an adult themed series and watering it down for teens would diminish the quality considerablly.

However, I have faith that more Fever in my life can only be better than no more Fever in my life, and a real-life V'lane (if blond) will be the best thing since sliced bread for this Moning Maniac. Here's hoping the project gets a greenlight and goes on to cause more audiences to catch the fever! Congratulations Karen! We all know you're a star, and now it is time Hollywood catches on too!

While waiting for more information, fans are taking to Facebook and Twitter and sharing the news. #FeverMovie on Twitter is the tag currently in use. And some people (I admit to nothing) have already tweeted to Kristen Bell and Katie Cassidy about audtioning for Mac, and Joe Manganiello about Barrons and Ian Somerhalder for Christian or the Dreamy-Eyed Guy. And visited Eric Etebari's Facebook page as well as he is the inspiration behind Jericho Barrons.


On Twitter:
Eric Etebari: @EricEtebari
Kristen Bell: @IMKristenBell
Katie Cassidy: @MzKatieCassidy
Joe Manganiello: @joemanganiello
Ian Somerhalder: @iansomerhalder

When I was a little girl, any time I was in water (be it the ocean, the pool, or the bathtub) I was a mermaid. When Disney's The Little Mermaid came out, this increased my inner desire to be this beautiful creature that could see and breath under water. I always thought, hey...that would be so freaking cool.

I was wandering through Books-a-Million (as I often do) when the cover for this book, Siren's Call, Book 1 of the Dark Tides series by Devyn Quinn caught my eye. Even before becoming a cover artist, I have the tendency to impulse buy something that has just down right gorgeous artwork. (I found Virginia Kantra's Children of the Sea novels through their artwork, and I spent a small fortune importing used copies of the original UK Pointe Horror collection covers of the original printing of LJ Smith's The Forbidden Game because their covers were gorgeous) Anyway.... The cover was pretty and I impulsed bought without even reading the description. (I do that when hot blond men grace covers too. It is like a surprise sometimes what the book is actually about. Keeps it interesting.) So...Based on the title I naturally assumed the heroine was a Greek Siren. To keep with the surprise, I didn't read the synopsis before starting to read and the first bit kinda went along with that them....then ta da! The heroine is a mermaid!

While Mermaids are in a lot of folklore and here or there in stories I read or in movies I watch, I hadn't actually read any of the "mermaid" romances. There are a good bit, but they aren't taking up as much of the shelf space as say...vampires or werewolves. 

As for the story itself, I felt I could relate to the heroine at several points of the book. She has a personality that is similar to mine. I have the tendency to push people away when they try to get close to me because I can't handle the attention properly and she had the same reflex...God, I didn't know I was that annoying! LMAO. Anyway, I liked the hero too....he was just too "nice" for me to LOVE him. And I am not just saying that because he isn't blond. I would have prefered a bit more of an alpha male, but it wouldn't have worked with her personality very well and he would have pushed her away in his forwardness within the first 20 pages.


Now...slight spoilers ahead, but will refrain from anything major.

The book starts off with the basic paranormal premise: Guy likes girl, she is mutually attracted. One is paranormal. The other figures it out. They deal. They hump. They wake up the next morning all shades of WTF and they deal with that. Enter the antagonist: the evil, super hot blond ex. (Why do they bad apples always have to be blond lately. I object!!!!)

Midway through the book it goes from relationship drama, thank god because I was wondering if it was nearly 400 pages of relationship drama or if something supernatural was going to occur to stir trouble. I got my wish, but it wasn't anything like I thought would happen. At all! Evil Blond Ex is an archaeologist who is using his knowledge of the Mer to seek fame and fortune by looking for historical fact to prove their existence without actually outing the heroine and her family in the process. While he is a loathsome character, he is vastly entertaining and supposedly very attractive so I did enjoy most of his page time.

When they embark on their journey into the Mediterranean sea, it goes from simple paranormal romance to more action/adventure and I think I really really got into it at that point. Things of course do not go smoothly and FINALLY events occur that  bring about a story arc to continue through the books other than the fact the heroine has two mermaid sisters. I just ordered a copy of book two, Siren's Surrender. I am looking forward to seeing how things progress. Book three comes out Feb 7, 2012.

And for those wondering about the Sexiness factor. There's a lot of chemistry between the two characters, but the romance is more sweet and intimate than lust bunny humpage every 5 minutes. While it would have been nice to see more intimate scenes between the characters, it got weird there when Blond Hunk of No Good came back into the picture, but I don't think it took away from the characters or the story any.

Added NINE new covers to the blog and updated the links since I kept putting it off till there were a whole lot. LOL. I would love to stay and go off on a random tangent but I have to work on edits now and clean the apartment. Till next time!

Two months of Melrose Place (old and new) on the Netflix instant queue streaming through my xbox and here I am....Kinda sad I finished, and kinda wishing they never did the reboot at all.

One of the few shows FOX has ever kept on the air that I actually enjoyed, even though I technically wasn't supposed to be watching it when my mom and stepdad were. Melrose Place lasted 7 seasons, ending in 1999 I believe. I was in elementary school when it first aired but I still watched. I didn't know what was going on half the time but many things stayed in the back of my mind that I remembered as I rewatched for the first time since the original airing of the show: Michael and Jane as the apartment managers, Allison's roommate bailing and her getting Billy to pay half the rent before starting a romance that never quite gets to flourish, Sydney stirring everything up through blackmail and many other things, Jo and Jake, Jake owning Shooters, Amanda Woodward arriving as the queen bitch who is out to make everyone's life a living hell, Kimberly's crazy antics and more.

My favorite characters then remain my favorite now. Sydney Andrews is a character most hated or loved to hate, but I adored her. She messed up everything, did everything wrong, fell into every bad situation possible from hooking to stripping to being murdered. She came onto the show in season 1 as a recurring character, Jane's sister, and later became a regular until the end of season five when she was killed on the night of her wedding while taking wedding photos before the reception. While the show was still worth watching in the final 2 seasons, without Sydney it was a little less fun...even if they brought in Lexi Sterling to later being the slutty redhead in her place.

Also departing in season 5 was Jake Hanson, played by the very handsome Grant Show. He dated just about every female lead on the show in his five seasons and was one of the few who actually received an HEA ending to his run when his ex and his son he only found out about a few seasons prior come back into his life.

It is hard to say if it is the crazy situations such as the antics of Kimberly, Michael, Sydney, Lexi or Taylor that kept the show so addicting, or maybe it was the relationships such as Amanda and Peter--whose chemistry was off the charts when they first met and were on and off again throughout the series since season 3. So much so that they fake their own deaths in the season finale to escape both of their bad situations and start over fresh in a tropical paradise. *sigh* So romantic. Or maybe it was the characters themselves, more so than their antics. I know any scene that put Peter, Michael, and Sydney in the same place at the same time had me laughing uncontrollably. Peter's sarcasm, Michael's idiotic schemes, and Sydney's presence alone made for fun dialogue and enjoyable TV.

The way the show ended was pretty much a fitting ending full of hope for the characters we had come to love. Peter and Amanda escaped the law and were together finally without anything to get in their way, Kyle and Jane were together and very much in love despite the fact that Jane was carrying Michael's baby and Kyle knew it. Michael got all of Peter's money and was once again chief of staff at Whilshire Memorial, Megan and Ryan were married and reunited with Ryan's daughter. And Lexi was, well...she was probably wishing she could steal Amanda's ability to go out with a bang.

Then the reboot comes along eleven years later and ruins several storylines either by continuity errors and dismissal. The only characters to come back to the show in the reboot were Amanda, Sydney, Michael, Jane and Jo. There were odes to past characters, Michael kept a computer file on past tenants such as Allison and the others. However, the building underwent quite the renovation from the ground up. Plausible, I guess...but it didn't even get that remodeled after Kimberly blew half of it up. No word on HOW Sydney came to owning the building or how soon Lexi sold it after everyone but her got their HEA (or so we thought) in the original finale.

Sydney Andrews died in season 5 of the original series. Samantha was fighting for control of the car from her convict father when they ran her over. It may have been bought that Michael really did fake her death for her, and she had supposedly spent time in jail because of it, but there are soooo many issues that make it not plausible.
-Sydney tells Michael in the flashback where he fakes her death that it was done by someone in her past that will kill her husband if she stays "alive." First of all, it was a freak accident and what connection did she have with someone that escaped from jail for Sam not Syd? AND She finally found love with a man who loved her for her as she was. It is ridiculous that Sydney would allow that to die over such a phony pile of garbage they cooked up to get her back. And then her husband, Craig, couldn't handle life in LA without Sydney with him and killed himself holding the watch she engraved to him as a wedding gift. It makes his whole story arc after the accident meaningless. Not to mention they bring her back to life to make her an alcoholic (which she claims started after her first marriage --to Michael, and she was not much of a drinker on the show after that marriage that I could recall having just watched it prior to the reboot, and a drug addict...which seemed weird for her as she didn't even touch the drugs Kimberly prescribed to her except to drug her sister with them.) and then they kill her in the first episode. I was SO disappointed to see my favorite character brought back to be murdered once again.
-Jane's return has no mention of what happened with Kyle or her baby. Um? hello?

Sorry about the lack of activity on the cyber end of things. Last weekend I moved (again!) and now that I am settling into the change I have time for the fun stuff again. Moved out of my late grandparents' house and into a one bedroom apartment with Bagheera in tow. Added some new covers to the cover art page, and finishing up a 2 month spree of Melrose Place viewing through my netflix account. Will have probably a lenghty post about that later this week. It's been a while since seeing the original, and as I watched it through my elementary and middle school years, some things stuck in my mind while others did not. I am doing a quick rewatch of the reboot that aired on CW 2009-2010 for 18 episodes before being canceled before I post. I think I have 16 episodes left.... :)

As you can see, Bagheera has dubbed the couch as her throne in the new place. Her former throne, the scratching post, is in front of the bedroom window. She feels her royal subjects (mostly me) need to SEE HER at all times though...