I absolutely loved everything about this book! An adventure like no other!

I am so disappointed by how much I dislike this book. The premise sounded very promising but almost as soon as I started reading I knew I was not going to like it. Beginning with the fat jokes and the jabs at politically correct culture, I found it insulting. I can see how some who like that kind of irreverent humor will find this enjoyable but I'm not one of them.

This is a great book with a wonderful story and well developed characters. The story flowed very well and was very enjoyable. This book will keep you reading long into the night and you will not want to put this book down until you finish. This was such a great read and full of surprises. I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader’s copy of this book. The free book held no determination on my personal review.

Entertaining and laugh out loud funny.
The author captures the essence of what personality traits would give life to a vampire cat possessing a human.
The characters are well developed and easy to like.
There are some unexpected twists that heightens the thrill effect.
Love the writing style and the cameo from the author (LOL).
Can't wait for the second installment.
This is highly recommended for cat lover.

Happy Canada Day to me! Well....for yesterday. It was Canada's 150th birthday on July 1st and I am pretty proud despite all the teasing I get from my British friends that I am from a country that is sooo young. Had I been more organised I could have told you about all the fun Canada Day activities I did but alas, I only have a couple of books to tell you about instead. So what did I read?

The two books I am going to tell you about this week have 2 things in common - 1) I received both from the publisher via NetGalley and 2) both authors have exotic names. Book 1 is A Thousand Paper Birds by Tor Udall. The story is set largely in Kew Gardens which is located in London. For those of you who don't know, Kew Gardens is a very popular and famous botanical garden located in the suburbs of London. In Udall's version of the Gardens four strangers find themselves interconnected by the death of a young woman. Jonah spends much of his time in the Garden trying to recover from the tragic loss of his wife Audrey a few months earlier. He meets Chloe, an art student who, is the antithesis of Jonah's dead wife but he is drawn to her all the same. On the periphery is Harry, one of Kew's gardeners and he is joined by Milly, a young girl who seems to spend her whole day running free in the garden. Audrey's death is the thing that brings them together and uncovering the cause of her sudden demise is event that will either bring them together or tear them apart.

I was drawn to A Thousand Paper Birds because it was set in Kew Garden which I thought would be the perfect setting for this moody 'coming together' type of story. While Udall exploited the beauty of Kew for the story I was very disappointed in the characters. I thought they were well rounded and well written but they weren't likable. Even the young Milly was the tiniest bit annoying. I felt I should feel sorry for Jonah in his bereavement and for Audrey who died too soon but I didn't. Overall, all the characters were selfish in their own ways and this distracted from the overall plot. I almost missed the big reveal which was the cause of Audrey's death, I had to re-read it and was a bit surprised by the ridiculousness of it. Overall, I felt the story was well written but I didn't like the characters so this book was a bit of a struggle to get through.

Book 2 is a complete departure from A Thousand Paper Birds. Tyrolin Puxty's Colt Harper: Esteemed Vampire Cat is the story of a group of monsters on community service. Colt Harper isn't just any old monster, he is a vampire cat inhabiting the body of a young man. Colt has been a typical vampire and killed too many and rather than having to spend his time in a purgatory that involves running Colt is sent to perform his community service taking part in community theatre. Along with a reluctant werewolf and a 'tickler' Colt believes he has entered hell itself until he meets the lovely, green-eyed theatre director Saffy. He is delighted when he learns she also fosters cats but Colt is conflicted. As a typical cat, Colt won't usually lift a paw to help another but for some reason he is drawn to the lovely Saffy and when her life is at risk Colt won't stop at anything, expect maybe a fish pie, to save her.

I love cats and as a cat lover I thought I would also love a book about cats, even a vampire cat. At first I was amused by the silliness of the esteemed vampire cat but midway through the story seemed to drag. I really struggled to drum up much interest in what happened to Colt and the rather syrupy ending didn't quite fit and neither did Puxty's self promotion in the final few chapters.

That is it for me this week. Next week it will be all about love, love love so drop by. Until then Happy Reading.

I think it will take a certain reader to love this book. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t particularly like it either. Look, it was funny and all, but the joke got old long before the book ended. Plus, I found Colt really unlikable. Yes, I understood he had the characteristics of a cat, and that’s clever, but I couldn’t enjoy him. I found his narrative style annoying and a lot of the comedy slap-stick and weak. I’ll still give it three stars though, because I think this is a poor reader to book match rather than poor quality. But I only enjoyed it two stars worth.

What a great and fun book to read! It was a fast read, but so much fun. It is about a vampire cat that has to do community service, but does not like being around humans. I loved it. So much fun and sarcasm along the way. I recommend it for everyone!

Princess Fuzzypants here:
Colt Harper is a vampire. He's a cat and he is an avenger of cats. Humans who harm cats, intentionally or by accident had better beware. He is one mean and heartless dude. In fact, he is such a bad character that if he makes one more slip up, he will be banished to a purgatory for monsters. He does not want to walk backwards forever until he morphs into a pair of leg. Yes. The fantasy level in the book is off the grid but it is strangely sweet.
He and his friends are all sentenced to doing community service in a theatre. Little do they know at first that it is a trap for monsters and there are chasers, humans who hunt monsters, who want to kill them. Just when it becomes most dangerous, Colt falls in love with a human, who turns out to be not quite what she seems. It is a ripping good story with undertones. It brings into question whether who we are is less a matter of choice than nature. It also looks at who the real monsters are. Is it the monsters or those who hunt them?
The reader cannot help but like Colt despite the horrible things he has done. He finds himself becoming more human and less monster, something that leaves him ambivalent at best. At the same time his lady love is turning less human. Neither is who or what they were before they met.
I know there is another book in the series and I confess, I am intrigued with how the story will unfold.
I give this five purrs and two paws up.

Oh, yeah. Stick figure BookTube. We went there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7H3sZdD35c

Colt Harper: Esteemed Vampire Cat is a quirky, tongue in cheek paranormal work of art. Take a conflicted werewolf, Jax, a tickle fairy with control issues, Lexie, and an Esteemed Vampire Cat, Colt, who enjoys being evil and throw them together for community service and you are asking for trouble. Now add in some Chasers (humans who protect the world from the monsters) and a newbie vampire cat and you have a story that will keep you on the edge of your seat and rollicking with laughter. If you are looking for something different give Colt and the gang a try.
I received a copy of this book and chose to review it

So, what did I like about it?
Tyrolin Puxty is a new-to-me author and I liked her witty and disrespectful style; I found her writing style very easy to read, I enjoyed the fact that Ms Puxty has created her paranormal world within our own modern one (monsters having to pay for their crimes against humans by way of community service – fantastic!), the pace of this story felt good and I liked the balance of romantic/sexy scenes and the tension of the violent/fight scenes.

This book is full of great characters; a vampire cat who possesses a man’s body to live, a tickle monster who is addicted to tickling, a werewolf who doesn’t want to hurt anyone and St Damian himself, their parole officer, to name but a few. It’s hard to tell who the actual villains are in this tale which I always enjoy; nothing is ever a clear case of good or evil.

The thrilling aspect of this story is our main characters being chased by an organisation that saves mankind by killing monsters. This story certainly keeps you guessing and I enjoyed the twists and turns along the way.

Our narrator for this story is Colt Harper, one of the parolee monsters. I enjoyed the quotes at the start of each chapter and Colt’s words of wisdom throughout this tale.

This story made me laugh, got me thinking and put a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye.

So, ummm, was there anything I disliked about it?
There’s nothing I disliked about it but I can’t put my finger on why I didn’t feel more for it. I did get a bit lost in the monster world a few times. No cliff-hanger ending and we do get a sneaky peek at book two as the story about Colt and Saffy continues and although I enjoyed the ride while I was reading the book, I’m not going to rush out for book two.

...So, basically what I’m saying is...
I enjoyed reading this novella; it was good. It was witty, with a quirky set of characters and the plot itself had mystery/thriller elements, action in the form of good fight scenes and even some mushy emotional scenes. I'd recommend this book to readers who love cats, have a good sense of humour and who are fans of paranormal romances with a bit of quirkiness.

3,5 stars.

It was a quick and fun read!

In spite of much flowing blood and many dead bodies.

But don’t feel pity for those humans: they DID hurt cats, and…they were just annoying and disgusting, like all humans are, it is why they deserved to die. At least it is a life philosophy of Colt Harper, a self-proclaimed master vampire cat, the last alive of his art on the Earth. Only it is not the rules that could be tolerated by the council. The council will not allow any more human killings. Times have changed. For his behavior Colt is sentenced to community service in a small-town community theater. Even worse is that he has to put up with two further companions in misfortune: Jax, a sensible werewolf ("A warewolf? Oh great. Just great. They detest vampire cats, and they're always hungry.") and Leshi, a quirky tickling female monster. ("The one thing worse than humans are other monsters").

But who could imagine that this tiny town is swarmed with mendacious monsters, insidious chasers, who hunt monsters, pesky humans (don’t forget, our trio is on probation), and that the owner director of the community theater Saffron-Jade herself is…

A cheeky paranormal comedy, full of humor and action. with an eccentric narrator, many hilarious moments, an easy-going holiday read.

Super fun premise but I couldn't get into this one. Just not my type of humor.

Colt Harper is a master vampire cat. In fact, he's the last of his kind. He has made it his mission in life to kill humans who don't treat cats with the love and adoration they deserve. But, things aren't the way they used to be. The Council is against killing humans, so Colt is once again in trouble. Usually his community service is gardening or some other boring job. Since this is his last chance, the punishment is very severe, his punishment this time is community theater. This was a quick read, lots of humor, and Colt and Jax are great together.

This was an entertaining story. There were a lot of different kinds of creatures or "monsters." It made me think that this book should be a comic book series. It was fun and had funny quotes. We also get a sneak peak into the next book.