There's a She-Hulk In My Closet; I Let Her Out So She Can Breathe

The She-Hulk Diaries by Marta Acosta

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A few years ago I read the entire Happy Hour at Casa Dracula series. I adored that series and determined based on it that author Marta Acosta writes fascinating, relatable characters with wit and a compulsive readability. It's true that in my comic book-reading teenage years, I was more of a DC fan than a Marvel fan. I'm not ashamed to say the Avengers film won me over. I was thrilled to learn Acosta was working on a She-Hulk novel, even though I was never a hard-core Shulky fan.

It took me a while to get around to this one, but I'm glad I finally did. Acosta's writing doesn't lose any of its sparkle in taking on the story of Jennifer Walters, cousin of Bruce Banner, a.k.a. the Incredible Hulk.

Thanks to her jade-colored alter ego, Walters loses her home in the Avengers West mansion and her job specializing in superhuman law. She starts anew in New York City, where she searches for a love and for a social life beyond hanging out at Joocey Jooce with her best friend since undergrad school, non-superhuman hair stylist Dahlia.

So don't worry if you don't know the entire history of the Marvel universe. This novel is perfectly enjoyable as chick lit. If you've seen any of the Iron Man movies, you already understand Tony Stark well enough to understand Jennifer's love-snark relationship with her iron-clad ex.

I purchased this book with my own funds from a library used book sale and was not obligated in any way to review it. I've also recently come across a copy of Marvel's other experiment in full-length fiction, Rogue Touch, featuring the mutant portrayed by Anna Paquin in the movies. It was written by Christine Woodward, not Marta Acosta, but I'm more than willing to give it a chance.

Not right away, though. My TBR list is lengthy and varied.

This is an affiliate link:

League of Super Heroes: Rise of the Villain (#1) (Party Game Society Hit Party Game) by Celeste Ayers. $2.99 from Smashwords.com
The League of Super Heroes HQ is under attack! A Super Hero went missing last night. Looks like someone is out for blood… someone is killing heroes… but who? Who amongst you has turned from Super Hero to Super Villain? It’s time to suit up and take control of this evil once and for all. The fate of the world is at stake. Will the good guys be victorious in sniffing out the tyrants?

Book Haul + Teaser for Morgan Black's Fireside Series

Nothing as erotic as Morgan Black's Fireside Series appeared in my shopping basket at my local library's used media sale yesterday. These are the things I did get, though:

I love Marta Acosta, and my fondness for Marvel has grown immensely since I first saw The Avengers. I've been wanting this book for over a year now, and here it is!

I don't know anything about this series, and I don't think it has anything to do with Vampire Academy, but if Richelle Mead wrote it then I'm willing to give this graphic novel a chance.

To go with my Twilight collection.

I gave away my copy of Volume 1 a long time ago, but look at how beautiful Edward looks on the cover. Young Kim's artwork is beautiful.

I also got three DVDs. I had hoped to find a bigger selection, including some of the young adult book-to-film adaptations that I've recently missed (The Book Thief, Ender's Game, and The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones). But instead I found these.

This second one is a movie I've already seen. I reviewed it here.

...and finally, another one I've seen before. I reviewed it here.

This was my personal haul. I also got 10 books from my grandmother's handwritten, extensive, alphabetized list. She gets a mix of literary fiction and suspense:

Doughty, Louise. Whatever You Love

Erdrich, Louise. The Round House

Haigh, Jennifer. Faith

Kellerman, Jonathan. Killer

LaPlante, Alice. Turn of Mind

Mathis, Ayana. The Twelve Tribes of Hattie

Meyer, Phillip. The Son

McGrath, M.J. White Heat

Patchett, Ann. State of Wonder

Quinlan, Anna. Still Life with Bread Crumbs

Those should keep her reading for at least six months. What are you reading? 

OHP! First-Day-of-Spring Lightheartedness

Happy first day of spring! (Happy first day of autumn if you are in the Southern Hemisphere!) The vernal equinox makes me happy I love the word "equinox" itself - from the Latin for "equal night," meaning equal hours of daylight and night. That's very word-nerd of me...so anyway, let's have some light-hearted, humorous, amusing pins.



No cat is ever too big to get in the box.



Looks like Harry Potter has finally mastered Transfigurations.



This looks like a joke, but it's a real thing: Marvel Comics and Hyperion are planning a line of "chick lit" novels about female Marvel character. First up, She-Hulk and Rogue. I haven't read a comic book since high school, but I'm actually super-excited that the writer of The She-Hulk Diaries is Marta Acosta, because I adore her Casa Dracula series.



Okay, how cute is this little girl in her Wonder Woman outfit?



This is much funnier than it should be.

Pagan Spirits' Top 10 Books of 2010

DAY-UM was it hard to pick a Top 10 this year. I read so many good things that I never got a chance to blog about on Pagan Spirits. I think my actual favorite this year was Haunted Honeymoon, the thrilling/funny/romantic end to the Casa Dracula series by Marta Acosta. I have a soft spot in my heart for independent publishers and writers who personally asked me review their books, though. That describes most of these. So here you go.

Of the things I did blog, these are some of the best.

10. Disappearing Light Hides True Evil by Jennifer Tokarz

9. The Ultimate Guides (his and hers) by Violet Blue

8. Hysteria by Rushmore Judd

7. Refracted by Sheila Deeth

6. Punk Minneapolis by Peter Joseph Swanson

5. Walking on Electric Air by Stephen Cubine

4. Dangerous Highlander by Donna Grant

3. Ivan and Marya by Anna Kashina

2. She Nailed a Stake Through His Head: Tales of Biblical Terror by various authors

1. Death's Excellent Vacation edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner

Excerpt from 'Beltane' from Eternal Press

Allie took Melissa’s hand and went with her. They sat on the ground, a little too close to the fire for Allie’s comfort. Sweat dripped off her body as she watched Zen swaying along with the other women, dancing around the maypole in time to the music of a circle of drummers. Melissa sat close by Allie, narrating the dance for her.

“The Goddess draws near to her lover,” Melissa said. Her voice sounded far-off,
dreamy. Allie watched the pink and red ribbons intertwine around the top of the pole.

“She lets him inside her, just a bit, to tease the head of his cock with the lips of herpussy.” Zen and the other women twisted and spun, moving their hips suggestively.

Ribbon covered more and more of the maypole.

Allie saw the men on the other side of the maypole. Orlando stood among them,
watching Zen dance.

“The Goddess drives the Horned One deeper inside her,” Melissa continued. “He reels from the touch of the smooth walls of the Great Mother’s pussy. The beautiful Goddess holds her hips still, holding her breath, content to feel the solid length of her Consort inside her.” The dance concluded amidst loud cheers from the crowd. The ribbons covered the pole. “He’s inside of her up to the hilt now. Their union is complete, and now their mating can begin.”

Allie sat there for a moment, taking in Melissa’s words. The words, the dance, the meat in her belly, and the wine were all having their effect on her. She was alert, but drowsy, content, and more than a little aroused. She wondered where her May King was. All around her, she saw nothing but women.

Before she knew what was going on, the women held Allie by the hands, taking her away. They lifted her onto a picnic table. She was aware of them unbuttoning her dress and helping her out of her bra and panties. She was naked, but she wasn’t embarrassed. They left the black lace-up sandals on her feet.

Kameko now came toward her, carrying a silver bowl that Allie recognized. It was filled with dark blood, the blood of the deer they had eaten. The women dipped their fingers in the blood and touched it to Allie’s skin. It was cold from being in the refrigerator, the coolness felt good against her sweaty skin. The blood had a slightly musty, earthy smell. Any other time, it would have made Allie sick. But tonight, she understood the blood had its purpose. The women used it as paint, drawing sacred spirals on Allie’s face and around her breasts. Allie’s nipples hardened in response. They painted designs on her belly and thighs as well. Lastly, they placed the crown of oak leaves on her head, fixing it in place with hair pins.

When they had finished, they helped her off the table. The women clapped and cheered for their Queen.

“Go out into the wheat field,” Melissa whispered in Allie’s ear. “You’ll meet your King there. Be the Goddess for us. Bless the fields with your fertility; ensure that our crops will grow tall and strong, so that we will eat them and be healthy.” She kissed Allie’s lips as a blessing to close her invocation.

Allie did as she was told. She was thrilled and terrified at the same time. As she wandered out into the wheat, she heard the sounds of other couples, locked in acts of passion. Around the maypole, the crowd still roared with laughter, cheering and clapping. She left them all behind, wandering far out into the wheat. Her heart seemed to beat in time to the rhythm of the now-distant drum circle.

He found her before she saw him. She felt his hand, reaching out for her. She looked up and saw the May King’s crown of antlers in the dim light of the full moon.

“My Queen,” the Horned One whispered. He wrapped his arms around her. She let her body fall against his. He was naked except for the crown. He’d been painted with the blood, just as she had. There were dark spirals on his face and chest, and arrows painted on his arms and thighs. His body was hard and strong. His touch brought her a sense of peace. She didn’t think of him as a mortal man, a stranger. To Allie, the Horned One was the living embodiment of the Goddess’s Consort.

“My King,” she whispered back, closing her eyes.

He kissed her, gently, not daring to part his lips. She took his chaste kisses and turned them into something wilder. Bodies pressed together, smelling of sweat and farm soil and the exotic perfume of the deer’s blood, they joined in the rhythm of the world around them, kissing fiercely.
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Beltane is available as an e-book from Eternal Press, or in paperback.

Take the "Which Beltane Character Are You?" quiz on facebook

Watch the Pagan Spirits novel series trailer on YouTube
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Other fun stuff:

Download Brendan Gerad O'Brien's World War II thriller free, now through May 22nd, when you use the coupon code BE86M.

Another free e-book: Marta Acosta, the author of Happy Hour at Casa Dracula, offers her young adult novel The Shadow Girl of Birch Grove free at scribd!