Finished Beastly by Alex Flinn. This is a young adult retelling of the classic Beauty and the Beast fairy tale.

In this book, Kyle Kingsbury seems to have it all — good looks, a rich dad, and the hottest girl in school. But Kyle isn’t a very nice guy. After he plays a cruel prank on a witch, she turns him into a beast — complete with fur and claws. The witch tells Kyle that he has two years to find someone to love him — or he’ll remain a beast forever. Kyle’s dad, being the jerk that he is, sends Kyle off to live with a blind tutor and a maid. Of course, Kyle doesn’t think that anyone could ever love a beast until he meets Lindy …

I loved this book. Seriously — I loved it. I’m a sucker for fairy tale retellings, and this is one of the best ones that I’ve read. It’s witty and breezy and charming and emotional all at the same time. Kyle starts out as a jerk, but over the course of the book, Flinn transforms him into a caring guy who’s worthy of being loved. You really feel his pain, desperation, and longing for Lindy to love him just as much as he loves her. To me, the mark of a great character is someone that you want to read about even if he’s not being very nice or heroic. Kyle is definitely not nice or heroic in the beginning, but Flinn makes you care about him regardless.

I also liked that Lindy had her own problems, namely her junkie father. Lindy wasn’t fleshed out quite as much as she could have been, but this is Kyle’s book, not hers. Also among the supporting cast are Kyle’s tutor, maid, and the witch who cursed him, all of whom get their moments to shine. In fact, there’s a really cool twist at the end with one of secondary the characters that I didn’t see coming.

Every so often, the story takes a time out, and the reader is treated to an online chat transcript for fairy tale heroes and heroines, like the Little Mermaid, the Frog Prince, and others. I thought the chat sessions were cute and quirky and tied in nicely with what was happening in the book at that point.

Overall, this is one of my favorite reads of the year. It’s just excellent from start to finish. If you like fairy tales, you can’t go wrong with this book.

My grade: A.

Would I read this author again: Absolutely. Flinn has another fairy tale book, A Kiss in Time, that I’m looking forward to reading.

Up next: Candy Houses by Shiloh Walker.

Books in my TBR pile: About 20.

I have some more cool news to announce — both Spider’s Bite and Web of Lies have gone into small second printings. Huzzah!

So what does this mean? Well, basically that sales of both titles have been steady enough for my publisher to print more copies of the book beyond the initial print runs. In other words, there have been enough sales/interest that my publisher printed additional books in hopes of selling even more of them.

Admittedly, my initial print runs weren’t very large — certainly nowhere near the hundreds of thousands or even millions of books that are printed for the big-name authors like Nora Roberts or J.K. Rowling. Still, this is the first time that any of my books have gone into second printings, which is really cool.

I just want to say thanks to all the readers out there for making this possible. I write the books, but you guys buy them, and I appreciate everyone’s interest in the Elemental Assassin series and all the positive e-mails and comments that I’ve gotten from readers. I hope you guys enjoy Venom when it comes out on Sept. 28 even more than the first two books.

For those of who you didn’t like the books, I appreciate you giving them a chance in the first place. I know my books aren’t for everyone, and that’s cool too. Different strokes for different folks, and all that.

Anyway, I’m doing the happy dance.

I accidentally sent out my September e-newsletter last night before it was ready. I hit send when I should have hit save. Just ignore it if you get the newsletter. I’ll send the real, final, corrected one out around the first of September like usual.

I have some cool news to announce — the first three Elemental Assassin books are going to be turned into digital audio books. Huzzah!

The digital audio books are being done through Audible, which is part of Amazon. The way that I understand it, the audio books will be available for things like iPods and MP3 players. This is the first time that any of my books have been turned into audio books, and I think it will be really cool to hear Gin tell her story.

And before you ask, no, I’m not narrating the books myself. Believe me when I tell you that I don’t have the voice for that — people would cringe if they had to listen to my Southern hillbilly drawl for hours on end. LOL.

However, the folks at Audible and the book’s narrator have e-mailed me a few times about how I think the characters sound and for tips on pronunciation. I think it’s really cool that they’re asking for my input on things like that, and I appreciate being involved in the process.

I’m not sure when the audio books will be available. The narrator started recording a few weeks ago, but this is a new area for me, and I have no idea how long it takes to go from the recording studio to a finished audio book.

Anyway, I’ll let you know when I get more information. Right now, I’m doing the happy dance.

Finished Eternal Kiss of Darkness by Jeaniene Frost. This is the second book in her Night Huntress World spin-off series.

This book focuses on Mencheres, a centuries-old vampire who’s lost his thirst for life and is being hunted by an old enemy. But when private investigator Kira Graceling tries to save Mencheres from some ghouls, he ends up rescuing her instead — and finds something to live for. Kira is just as attracted to Mencheres as he is to her, but the vampire world is new to her, and she has a sick sister to take care of. But when Mencheres’ enemy sets his sights on Kira, Mencheres vows to do whatever it takes to keep her safe — even if it means sacrificing himself …

I like Frost’s books because they’re just fun, action-packed reads, but this book isn’t one of my favorites by her for several reasons. One of my main problems was Mencheres — I’ve just never cared that much for him as a secondary character in the Cat and Bones books. Frost does a good job of fleshing him out in this one and makes him much more likable, but he still came off as a little distant to me and not as sexy or fun as some of Frost’s other heroes, like Bones or Ian.

I really liked Kira, though. She’s smart and strong and doesn’t freak out (too much) at this new world and life that she’s thrust into. I also enjoyed Kira’s devotion to her sick sister and how she tries to get her junkie brother to turn his life around. Her family relationships were totally believable. (I’m wondering if Frost will hook Tina up with another one of her heroes at some point. I think it would be interesting to read about a heroine like Tina, who’s been so sick for so long.)

There’s some good action in this one, especially when Mencheres thinks of a clever hiding place for Kira and himself, and Mencheres and Kira have some serious chemistry. But I would have liked to have seen more of the bad guy and gotten some more information about his feud with Mencheres. Also, this book is written in third person, and I think Frost has a snappier, faster paced voice when she writes in first person like she does in the Cat books. Of course, I probably think this because I write first-person books myself — I just like the first-person voice.

I also really missed seeing Ian in this book since he’s such a fun, bawdy character.

Overall, this is still a fun, action-packed read. It just didn’t quite hit the mark for me like some of Frost’s other books have.

My grade: C.

Would I read this author again: Yes. I enjoy fun books like Frost’s and want to see what she does next with Cat, Bones, and the rest of her characters.

Up next: Beastly by Alex Flinn.

Books in my TBR pile: About 20.