The Mediator Series by Meg Cabot

The Mediator Series by Meg Cabot

Meet Suze Simon: she's sixteen, her Mom just married a man with three sons, and moved her from New York City to Carmel-by-the-Sea in California. Oh, and she she is a Mediator, which means she can see and touch ghosts. In fact there is a ghost in her new bedroom.

Jesse de Silva was a young rancher who was killed at the age of 20 circa 1850 in Suze's bedroom back when her house was a boarding house. Ever since his untimely death, Jesse has stayed there not sure why he isn't anywhere else.

When Jesse first sees Suze - whom he calls Susannah, as in the song "Don't you cry for me" - and realizes she can see him and touch him, he's thrilled, even though, at first, Suze isn't so happy with the idea of a ghostly roommate.

Through the course of the six books that make this series, we get to know Suze and her new family, her friends old and new, her ghostly dad, and Jesse's past; not to mention Paul Slater, and the extent of a Mediator's powers.

Mediator is likely my favorite Meg Cabot Series so far - Airhead is running a close second right now, tied with 1-800-Where-R-U - Suze is the type of heroine more books should have: strong, smart and butt-kicking; she kind of reminds me of Buffy at times. And Jesse... well, he makes for a GREAT leading guy.

If you're looking for a series that's paranormal, has great characters, romance and a satisfying ending, pick up Mediator. You won't regret it one bit.

AnimeGirl's Personal Favorite

List Maniac # 1 - Books turned into Movies/Miniseries

Here is the unveiling of a new section I'm calling ListManiac, partially in response to one of the Bloggiesta challenges

In Real Life I happen to be a listmaker, even though everyone tells me it doesn't help any with my anxiety issues and that perpetual to-do lists don't let you reach happiness... but, what can I say? I love Lists, I love checking things off lists.

So, anyway, I'll be adding Lists as I can think them up.

ListManiac #1 - AnimeGirl's Favorite Books turned into Movies/Miniseries

These aren't all the books turned into movies or miniseries I've seen but they are the ones based on books I've actually read and loved.

• Ivanhoe - One of Sir Walter Scott's masterpieces, set around the time of the crusades and full with castles, abductions, fair ladies and knights (even Robin Hood shows up!). Now, the story is supposed to be about Ivanhoe and Rowena but in both book and the A&E miniseries the relationship that shines through is the one between Rebecca of York and Brian de Bois-Guilbert (played by Ciarán Hinds). In fact, after Zagato from Magic Knight Rayearth and Darth Vader, he is my favorite villain. The mini-series is far more romantic than the book, but even so the scenes with Brian and Rebecca are to die for, you can feel the tension and the longing, and seriously, had I been Rebecca I would have forgotten my puppy love for Ivanhoe and hooked up with Brian instead (and yes, I'm aware Mr. Hinds ain't Mr. Hot but he plays Brian so well!).
  

• 
• The Princess Diaries: Perhaps Meg Cabot's most famous series about high school freshman Mia Thermopolis who one day discovers she's a princess and heir to the throne of Genovia. Meg took Mia all the way to her high school graduation during the Princes Diaries Series, but this was the book that started it all, setting a tone of fun, teenage drama and romance. The movie is a bit different, it's sequel doesn't even have a parallel with any of the books, but I still watch it each time it comes on the Disney Channel.

• Pride and Prejudice: I admit to watching the BBC miniseries first but then I went and read it from beginning to end and it was awesome. You can't say much about Pride and Prejudice other than go and read it.
  

• Little Women: Right here, right now I'll admit to being a sucker for both this book and the movie. Sure, it holds my biggest couple disappointment since I totally believe that Laurie and Jo should have ended up together but what can I say? Besides, Christian Bale was both cute and hot in the movie.

• A Little Princess: If you have ever read the book by Frances Hodgson Burnett, you know that it's quite different from the movie - and I'm talking about the 1995 one, I hate the one with Shirley Temple because I can't stand the girl, sorry - but both the book and the movie are full of magic and the courage of a young girl who, after a terrible loss finds it within her to keep on dreaming and believing she is a princess... that we all are.

• A Walk To Remember: This one is both special and different, one of the few times when I've actually liked the movie more than what I liked the book. Both my sister Boo and I love the movie, we have our cry-fest a few times a year when we watch A Walk To Remember and sob like babies because of it. The book was good, sure, but for me it lacked a bit of the dimension the actors gave it on screen.
  

So, that's for me, what about you?

Anthology Tails of Love

Tails of Love is an anthology edited by Lori Forster which features stories from 10 authors -Lori Foster, Stella Cameron, Kate Angell, Dianne Castell, Ann Christopher, Marcia James, Donna MacMeans, Sara McCarty, Patricia Sargeant and Sue-Ellen Welfonder- all with different styles and settings and with only one thing in common: each story has an animal - dog, monkey, cat and even a goat - in it, and said animal helps to bring a couple together.

Now, being my long standing belief that books are just better when there are pets on them, I couldn't pass on this book and it didn't disappoint.

Like I said before, each story is unique, some are longer than others, some did feel a bit rushed but, in the end, they were all wonderful.

Sure, like with all anthologies, some stories called to me a bit more (like A Knotty Tail by Stella Cameron and Scaredly Cat by Patricia Sargeant which featured the pet's point of view), there was one story that made me cry (Danny's Dog by McCarty) and some that were just funny (like Lord Hairy by Donna MacMeans), and a couple I didn't feel so strongly about; but all 10 stories highlight the connection and love between people and animals and what a wonderful thing a pet is.

Stories included are:
“Man’s Best Friend” by Lori Foster.
“A Knotty Tail” by Stella Cameron.
“Norah’s Arc” by Kate Angell.
“The Pursuit of Happiness” by Dianne Castell.
“Atticus Saves Lisa” by Ann Christopher.
“Rescue Me” by Marcia James.
“Lord Hairy” by Donna MacMeans.
“Danny’s Dog” by Sarah McCarty.
“Scaredy Cat” by Patricia Sargeant.
“A Man, a Woman, and Haggis” by Sue-​Ellen Welfonder.

Over all Grade:




PS- The proceeds from this book go to the Animal Adoption Foundation, a no-kill shelter.

Being Nikki by Meg Cabot

WARNING, spoilers for Airhead.

When we last checked in with Em Watts, her brain had been transplanted into teen super model Nikki Howard's body and she was being forced to live Nikki's life and keep on being the face of Stark Enterprises -since Stark was what made possible the whole brain transplant thing, to begin with.

During Being Nikki, Em begins to realize that perhaps Stark is way more evil than what she had first thought, forcing her to live Nikki's life was just the tip of the iceberg. Now Nikki Howard's mother is missing; something everyone conveniently forgot to tell her and which she only found out about because Nikki's brother Steven showed up to tell her. The fact Nikki even had a brother? yeah, Stark also forgot to tell her that.

Torn between her family and Nikki's, with her long time crush and once best friend Christopher going into the dark side and British heartthrob Gabriel Luna writing songs about her, not to mention the fact that she might have to parade around in a 1o million dollar bra in front of everyone for the Stark's Angels fashion show...what's Em to do now?

Secrets, romance, intrigue and humor, Being Nikki has it all.

Loved the book, I have to say that, though I like Airhead well enough, I think Being Nikki has a stronger plot and is definitely one of my favorite Meg Cabot books. And it has a few twists and turns I didn't expect.

Plus, I can't wait to see what happens on the next book Runway.

Grade:

Vision in White by Nora Roberts

As a girl, while playing her friend Parker's favorite game - Wedding Day - Mac Elliot discovered her calling in life: photography. As an adult, Mac still takes pictures and still plays Wedding Day with her three best friends florist Emma, baker Laurel and organization wiz Parker. Together they own and run Vows, an all inclusive wedding planning business.

Even though Mac doesn't exactly believe in love and marriage - and with a careless father who has been married three times and a nutcase of a mother who always looking for her next husband, no one could blame her - but she does believe and loves capturing the happy moments of every wedding, because once she does those moments truly are ever after.

But then, of course, there comes the guy who wants to prove her wrong about love and marriage: Carter Maguire, who has had a crush on Mac since high school -though they weren't exactly friends back then - and who's now back in her life because Vows is planning his little sister's wedding. Carter is a nice guy, he puts the B on Beta, he's an English high school teacher who likes his life, loves his job and has a great family and he wants Mac to be part of all of that.

Okay, so, this is the first Nora Roberts book I have ever read but I can tell it won't be the last, I'm definitely going to keep reading the Bride Quartet (Vision in White is book #1) which will continue to tell the stories of the rest of Vows owners: Emma, Laurel and Parker. The Prologue alone is a jewel, I loved it.

As for the story itself, there were parts where it lagged a bit but I was loving the pace toward the end. Mac has a lot of baggage and her mother is, at times, right down unpleasant but you can see a lot of who Mac is by her relationships with her friends and that makes you like her. I do believe a big part of why the book works is Carter, because you can believe he's the right guy for Mac.

And I can already tell this is going to be a series that praises friendship - kind of like Lisa Kleypas' Wallflower books but in a contemporary setting - and I love that in a book.

Grade:

1/2