NOTE: This is NOT a Young Adult book.
Shades of Gray
Book One
By L.M. Pruitt
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Jude Magdalyn Henries lives what many would call an unconventional life.
Orphaned at birth, raised by nuns, a teenage runaway living on the streets... she now earns a living at odd jobs, including one as a fake tarot card reader. Very little about Jude's life appears normal, by any scale.
When she accepts a gig to do a private reading, unconventional takes on an entirely new meaning. Life as she knows it ends when she's thrust into a world she never knew existed-one filled with magic, vampires, and her beloved New Orleans on the verge of an underground war.
To make matters worse, she's got two men in her life vying for attention, Williams and Theo. Both call to a different part of her, but one scares her just a little bit.
Full of humor and adventure. This book was entertaining!
Before I gush about this book, let's start with the errors, shall we? There were SO MANY, it would have annoyed me to no end if the story itself wasn't so great. I would have preferred if it was edited better. There were many ways some sentences could have been arranged other than how it was in the book. That's my critical writer talking. Anyway, I would be reading Shades of Desire next and I sure hope it had seen better proofreading days.
On to the good part, where do I even start? How about a character breakdown and commentary?
Jude - she was named after saints and martyrs, but her personality was far from being one. She had a smart mouth, very sarcastic, and stubborn. She grew up in the streets and had to do whatever she needed to do to survive, most of which she wasn't proud of. When she met the bad guy, her instinct told her to leave and that's when everything started changing in her life. She was thrown into a world of vampires and magic. Who knew?!
Williams - he was the lead vampire who protects Jude and everybody in the Covenant. He showed attraction to Jude. I really thought they had a future together, I was excited when he would try to seduce her. However, as the story went on, he just made me mad. He was portrayed as a monster. I expected more from him.
Theo - I thought he was supernatural at first, but then again, I thought everyone was supernatural. But he wasn't. Just a human with magic. He was so adorable, funny, and warm - literally. He held the power for the element of fire. That's sexy, and Jude agreed. They were so cute together, I'm glad he was such a great guy and that he was there for Jude no matter what.
Gillian - this woman was incredible in so many ways. I won't spoil the story, but wow, she was powerful and so much like Jude in more ways than met the eye.
Elizabeth - she was a new addition to Jude's crew and she had a little sister named Celia who had visions. Elizabeth on the other hand was a feisty assistant; I loved her! I love assistants who are not afraid to fuss at their boss.
There were so many other characters and I think the author did a great job building them. I also liked that Shakespeare was quoted in one of the love scenes. Overall, the story was amazing and I'm excited to read the second book. I only wish it was written a bit better.
Check out my favorite scenes and quotes!
Jude Quotes:
Check out my favorite scenes and quotes!
Jude Quotes:
"It's vintage and it has pink. You keep telling me to wear something other than black when I'm not working, and you like pink."
After I'd woken from my medically, and vampirically, induced sleep and taken a few steps to look slightly less like a week old non-animated corpse, I'd headed down to the first floor in the hopes of finding the kitchen. I'd figured it'd take me half the night, but some smart ass had taped little maps throughout the house. My money was on Williams. The kind with "you are here", and where everything else is in relation to your position.Jude and Williams:
J: "Either we were talking quite a bit louder than I thought, the acoustics are worse, or you were still walking very quietly. Or maybe you were listening outside the door."Jude and Gillian:
W: "I do have exceptional hearing."
J: "You're not even going to deny it."
W: "Jude Magdalyn, you are many things, none of which is stupid. Denying the truth when you and I know what it is comes perilously close to calling you stupid."
J: "So maybe you'd care to tell me why you were listening to what most people would consider a private conversation?
W: "No, not really."
J: "So first you're rude enough to listen in on private conversations, and then you don't even have the decency to say why?"
W: "That sums it up nicely." He exhaled audibly, a nifty trick since I'd learned he didn't really need to breathe. "Moments like this make me wish it were still possible to consume alcohol."
G: "Problem, Jude?"
J: "Men." Gesturing at the walls of books to my right, I asked, "Anything in one of those to help explain them?"
G: "Only if you'd like the explanation for how to turn one into an ass A literal ass. They usually know how to make a figurative ass of themselves without any metaphysical help at all."
J: "He can smell him one me? What kind of bullshit statement is that?"Jude and Theo:
G: "Williams didn't take kindly to Theo displaying an interest in you?"
J: "It was a few jokes. I don't think it qualifies as 'displaying an interest.'"
G: "You mean to say, that you, a healthy, mostly normal, adult female, and Theo, a healthy, mostly normal, adult male, merely sat and exchanged a few witty words?"
J: "Are you saying it's impossible for a man and a woman to be just friends?"
G: "What I'm saying is that there is no way that you can be 'just friends' with Theo. Williams knows it. He's trying to stake a claim, so you have no option but to merely work with Theo."
J: "Okay, cut the crap. Staking a claim? You're serious. What am I, a piece of undiscovered land?"
T: "I was thinking about kissing you just now."
J: "Generally speaking, you don't announce such things. You just, you know, do them."
T: "Well, like I said, I was thinking about it. Then I had the other thought that since you are still, technically, on your death bed--although there's no way you're dying at the moment--it would be a little morbid and easy. And when I kiss you, I'm kind of hoping you'll be an active participant."
J: "How egalitarian of you."
"Don't worry, sugar. It's only a kiss," he murmured, his lips close enough I felt the words against mine. His eyes were almost black again, and I felt my breath hitch. He eased forward a teeny, tiny bit, pressing his lips more firmly against mine, and my eyes opened wide. I'd expected Williams to be cold and he'd been warm. I expected Theo to be warm and he burned against me. Like all the emotion h e felt concentrated in those amazing lips and he poured them into this kiss. Williams had skill, because he's over two hundred years old, and he even had feeling, but Theo...I've always thought the phrase, "make an angel weep" overused and overrated, but I'll recant now. There were angels weeping in jealousy at not being able to experience what I did at the moment.
J: "Since you're so overly charming and we're on a date and all, I guess this means you're picking up the tab here, too?"
T: "If that was your subtle way of hinting we should leave--you need to work on your subtlety. But to answer your question, of course. I'm many things, but I was raised to be a gentleman.
T: "I always get the urge to play the big, bad wolf around you, so I guess we're even."
J: "I'm not wearing a red riding hood."
T: "No, you're wearing an absurdly sexy pair of pajamas. I've never really had an attraction to frogs before, so I'll admit to being slightly weirded out."
Theo pushed open the door to my room and used his back to shut it. He carried me the final few steps to the bed and stopped, as if deciding something. Finally he let me down, easing me out of his grip.
"I'd planned to let you drop and bounce, since you're wearing those frogs, but decided not to."
Theo: "Really, don't get dressed on my account. I'm willing to strip down so you don't feel underdressed."
About the Author:L.M. Pruitt has been reading and writing for as long as she can remember. A native of Florida with a love of New Orleans, she has the uncanny ability to find humor in most things and would probably kill a plastic plant. She is the author of the Jude Magdalyn Series as well as New Moon Rising, featuring Cari Gravier, and Taken, featuring Frankie Post. She is currently at work on the next book in the Moon Rising series, Harvest Moon Rising, due out April 2012. Ms. Pruitt makes her home in Florida with two cats--one smart, the other not so much.
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/LM-Pruitt/364776895104
