The Saucy Wenches Book Club

The Saucy Wenches are taking a brief hiatus. We'll be back in a few weeks, but in the meantime, check out some of our favorite series:

Karen Marie Moning's Fever Series

Chloe Neill's Chicagoland Vampires Series

Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series

Some of our Man Candy posts, and our book reviews. You're sure to find something to entertain you until we come back with all new posts in July.

All of it comes from the water. Everything, at the start. Didn't Darwin suggest as much? That life itself came from the ocean, in some roundabout way? Well, if not him, then his followers and subsequent researchers have certainly posited it, and with great vigor.
Life and death.
Our mother and grave, and the only thing between us is the shore.

Cherie Priest's Maplecroft, The Borden Dispatches.

It is Victorian England. Life is an endless parade of parties, lights, and gaiety for the lords and ladies of the haute ton. Blushing young debutantes forage for fortunes among the herd of potential husbands, oblivious to the monsters that lurk in the darkness. But immortal creatures of the night waltz amidst them and prey upon them, completely unrecognized. They are the Draculean race, and they have made a pact with Lucifer, some more willingly than others, for a life of eternal youth and hedonism.

And yet not all Draculia are content with their largess. Some reject the opulent lifestyle and seek a different path: a more noble purpose, something to fill the looming void, an escape from the trickery that entrapped them in a moment of weakness. They are rebels. But can they reclaim their lives as their own?

Colleen Gleason’s Regency Draculia trilogy centers around three powerful and provocative Dracule who seek redemption through love. Throw in a fearless vampire hunter, a couple of …

“I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded;
 not with the fanfare of epiphany,
but with pain gathering its things,
 packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night.”
The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini

“When is your birthday?” (…)
Wide silver-gold eyes swung to him. “You don’t know?”
“No.”
Pouting, she twirled a strand of her hair. “How can you not know?”
“Do you know mine?” he asked.
“Of course I do. It’s the day you met me.” 
The Darkest Surrender by Gena Showalter

Click through to see what we're reading this week! And be sure to share your reading list in the comments below!

“Does it hurt?” she asked, walking closer. “I don’t wish to hurt you, my lord. But...”

“It’s no great pain...just...as if I cannot breathe. I grow weaker the closer you come.”

She stopped, took a step back, gauging his expression. “I don’t seem to be able to stay away.” Again, the words came without her permission.

“It’s no great thing...I find I cannot breathe around you regardless.”

~ Colleen Gleason, The Vampire Voss
   (aka Lucifer's Rogue)

On one such morning about midsummer, he was having an absolutely splendid dream. He and Ce'Nedra were leaping from the loft in the barn at Faldor's farm into the soft hay piled below. He was awakened rather rudely as his wife bolted from the bed and ran into an adjoining chamber where she was violently and noisily sick.

"Ce'Nedra!" he exclaimed, jumping out of bed to follow her. "What are you doing?"

"I'm throwing up," she replied, raising her pale face from the basin she was holding on her knees.

"Are you sick?"

"No," she drawled sarcastically. "I'm doing it for fun."

Guardians of the West, by David Eddings

Maplecroft has been on the Wenches' reading lists for a while now.  How could it not be? A fantasy horror novel, with THAT cover, about the infamous alleged murderess, Lizzie Borden. Come on. We were bound to be all over that! (Once our always growing reading lists gave us a chance!)

Maplecroft had me hooked from the get go. I'm a sucker for epistolary novels, have been since I was a kid and read Bram Stoker's Dracula. And I thought this was done particularly well. A bit of Stoker, a healthy dose of Lovecraft, and a little bit of Stephen King's Tommyknockers (or a lot of other stuff) thrown in, and voila! You have Maplecroft.
Click through to see what I thought! This review is spoiler FREE.

Fangirl Friday : Fox's EmpireI can't believe I even have to say this, but EVERYONE, and I mean everyone, should be watching Empire! 

Click through to see why you should be keeping up with the Lyons! Screw all those other television families! 

Ugly love becomes you. Consumes you. Makes you hate it all. Makes you realize that all the beautiful parts aren’t even worth it. Without the beautiful, you’ll never risk feeling this. You’ll never risk feeling the ugly. So you give it up. You give it all up. You never want love again, no matter what kind it is, because no type of love will ever be worth living through the ugly love again.

Ugly Love
~~Colleen Hoover

“LOG ENTRY: SOL 381 I’ve been thinking about laws on Mars. Yeah, I know, it’s a stupid thing to think about, but I have a lot of free time. There’s an international treaty saying no country can lay claim to anything that’s not on Earth. And by another treaty, if you’re not in any country’s territory, maritime law applies. So Mars is “international waters.” NASA is an American nonmilitary organization, and it owns the Hab. So while I’m in the Hab, American law applies. As soon as I step outside, I’m in international waters. Then when I get in the rover, I’m back to American law. Here’s the cool part: I will eventually go to Schiaparelli and commandeer the Ares 4 lander. Nobody explicitly gave me permission to do this, and they can’t until I’m aboard Ares 4 and operating the comm system. After I board Ares 4, before talking to NASA, I will take control of a craft in international waters without permission. That makes me a pirate! A space pirate!” 

The MartianbyAndy Weir

Where are you visiting this week, Saucy Reader? Click through to see where our reading choices have taken us this week!

“Why did you do all this for me?' he asked. 'I don't deserve it. I've never done anything for you.' 
'You have been my friend,' replied Charlotte. 'That in itself is a tremendous thing.”

He gave me a Barrons look that defies describing because he has several of them, and they speak volumes. 

~Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning 

It's interesting the things that make you pick up a book. I usually pick books that my friends recommend, sometimes a cover calls to me, occasionally I check out something that an author recommends. I can confidently say that this is probably the first time I've picked up a book based on a model/actor's recommendation.

I've been following Nick Bateman on Facebook for a few months now, solely because of his bo staff videos. Really, it's only the spinning skills. And the cute dog, but that's it. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Anyway, the other day he shared this article about a movie he is working on, which is based on the book Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover. High Goodreads ratings, an award nominee, and an intriguing premise,  I was so interested that I shared the link with Wenches and Wenchy friends, tracked down the book and started it that evening. And a few Wenches came along for the ride.

Did we love it or was it just another typical romance? A…