Finished The Queen’s Knight by Deborah Chester. It’s part of a fantasy series called “The Sword, the Ring, and the Chalice.”

It’s about a queen named Pheresa, a secondary character in the original series, who’s now facing her own problems — including the fact that she’s in love with a man that she can’t marry.

It’s an entertaining enough read if you like epic fantasy, although the plot is very similiar to the previous book, The Queen’s Gambit. Lots of people try to control or kill Pheresa, while Talmor, her true love, comes to her rescue time and time again. That’s pretty much the premise of both books.

The book isn’t really a continuation of the original “Sword, Ring, Chalice” series so much as it is a spin-off — which can be a risky thing to do if you’re an author.

I find that I don’t like most spin-offs as much as I do the original series. The best example of this would be the Star Wars films. The original trilogy — particularly The Empire Strikes Back — is one of the best series. Ever. End of discussion.

But the last three films — or really the first three, depending on your point of view — were disappointing to say the least. Most of the acting was bad, the dialogue was very wooden, and several of the actors seemed miscast for their roles.

In short, they lacked everything that made the originals so great. So much so, that I’m now wary of anything that’s a spin-off.

What about you? Do you like spin-off books or movies with different characters? Inquiring minds want to know ..

Just finished Does This Cape Make Me Look Fat? by Chelsea Cain and Marc Mohan.

Hysterical. Completely, utterly hysterical. If you love superheroes, you have to read this book.

It’s subtitled “Pop Psychology for Superheroes” and examines issues important to every hero. Like how to choose a sidekick. How to pick a good superhero name. And what to do if your parent and/or spouse turns out to be a supervillain.

As superhero spoofs go, it’s the best one that I’ve read in a long time. And the art is so ’70s bad that it’s funny. I’m still snickering. 🙂

Get it. Read it. Laugh your socks off.

Finished It Happened One Autumn by Lisa Kleypas this weekend. It’s the second book in her popular “Wallflower” series about a group of four husband-hunting friends in England.

It was a good read, and, if you like historical romance, then I definitely recommend this series to you.

But what caught my attention most about this book were the last three pages. Instead of focusing on the happy couple, the last few pages set up the couple for the next book — and ended in a cliffhanger.

Will the handsome, yet broke, lord accept the fair, and extremely wealthy, maiden’s proposal of marriage? That was what Kleypas left readers with. I loved and hated it.

I loved it because it made me want to read the next book in the series, The Devil in Winter. But I hated it because if I had been reading this book when it first came out and the sequel wasn’t available yet, I would have screamed in frustration.

I like to wait until a series has gotten a good start (i.e. there are several books out) before I start reading it. The reason? Cliffhangers like Kleypas’. I don’t want to have to wait six months or a year or longer to find out what happens next. I want to know right now.

What about you? Do you like cliffhangers in books? Or do you prefer a nice, tidy ending? Inquiring minds want to know …

So, I’m up to 787 books I’ve read (since I started keeping count, anyways). The latest is It Happened in South Beach by Jennie Klassel. It’s about a strait-laced Boston freelance writer who inherits a sex-toy shop in Florida when her aunt is murdered.

There’s also handsome Interpol agent in the mix, along with eccentric neighbors, wacky best friends, and cats. Lots and lots of cats. Oh yeah, and a dog named Baskerville, which is one of the coolest names for a dog that I’ve ever heard.

It was an interesting read. Lots of snappy one-liners, and you get a real feel for the steamy Florida atmosphere. I wish the hero had been in it just a little more, though.

But, if you enjoy tropical mischief and mayhem and multiple hair colors, you’ll probably like this book. 😉

Only thirteen more books to go before I hit 800 … and two more I need to write before the end of the year …

What about you? What have you read lately? Inquiring minds want to know …