Liviania’s review of Tangled Threads (Elemental Assassin, Book 4) by Jennifer Estep
Urban Fantasy published by Pocket 26 Apr 11

I can’t decide if Jennifer Estep is spinning her wheels with Tangled Threads or not.  If it were a standalone novel, I would love it.  As it is, I feel like very few of the series threads were furthered.  The first and second books in the Elemental Assassin series had one-shot villains.  But in Venom, former assassin Gin Blanco took on one of the Big Bad’s main minions.  It seems like a step back for Gin to be focused on a new enemy.

The enemy in this case is LaFleur, an assassin who electrocutes people and kidnaps a young girl in order to convince a bartender to betray the Spider.  In addition to being hired to kill the Spider, Jonah McAllister (the remaining main minion) entices LaFleur to kill Gin.  I enjoyed the humor in Gin secretly evading her on two fronts.  Plus, all of the action scenes are excellent.  It’s a fun cat-and-cat tale.

As for the series threads, more information is revealed about the night Gin’s family died and Bria Cooper learns Gin’s secrets.  I am happy that Gin told Bria instead of Bria finding out on accident.  It does come at a good moment, too.  Tangled Threads doesn’t come to a standstill for them to discuss their past and their choices.  (Since one became an assassin and the other a cop, they view the same events fairly differently.)

The other cop in Gin’s life, her former lover, is less present in this novel as Gin continues to get over being left by Donovan Caine.  Owen Grayson, conversely, continues to earn Gin’s trust and love.  At the same time, Owen and Gin together are bland.  He fits her too perfectly.  Gin and Donovan’s relationship couldn’t last, but it had spark.  Owen is moving a little too fast for her since she just got out of a volatile relationship, but that problem is quickly resolved.  (And by his sister, rather than Gin.  Mostly.)  There are some nice domestic scenes involving the ensemble since Tangled Threads takes place during Christmas.

I like Estep’s writing and the world she has created.  I got a thrill from the big, dramatic action scenes of Tangled Threads.  But after the plot movement of Venom, it felt aimless.  Yay, Gin defeated an assassin we’ve never heard of before!  Maybe I’m just eager to see Jonah MacAllister and his boss get theirs.  (After all, if an assassin is going to be your protagonist, the antagonists need to be thoroughly awful.)  I’m definitely picking up Spider’s Revenge come October.  It’s the showdown I’ve been waiting to see.  I’m also excited about Touch of Frost, the first book in her new young adult series, which comes out this August.

Grade: B-

Summary:

I’d rather face a dozen lethal assassins any night than deal with something as tricky, convoluted, and fragile as my feelings.

But here I am. Gin Blanco, the semi-retired assassin known as the Spider. Hovering outside sexy businessman Owen Grayson’s front door like a nervous teenage girl. One thing I like about Owen: he doesn’t shy away from my past—or my present. And right now I have a bull’s-eye on my forehead. Cold-blooded Fire elemental Mab Monroe has hired one of the smartest assassins in the business to trap me.

Elektra LaFleur is skilled and efficient, with deadly electrical elemental magic as potent as my own Ice and Stone powers. Which means there’s a fifty-fifty chance one of us won’t survive this battle. I intend to kill LaFleur—or die trying—because Mab wants the assassin to take out my baby sister, Detective Bria Coolidge, too. The only problem is, Bria has no idea I’m her long-lost sibling . . . or that I’m the murderer she’s been chasing through Ashland for weeks.

And what Bria doesn’t know just might get us both dead. . . .

Read an excerpt here.

Other books in the series:

Liviania’s review of Shift (The Shifters, Book 5) by Rachel Vincent
Paranormal romance published by MIRA 1 Mar 10

Sometimes I read other people’s reviews before I write mine, sometimes I don’t. This time I did. I found that a number of people hated the book because they’d enjoyed the first several but lamented Faythe’s lack of growth. This surprised me considering I finished SHIFT thinking that it was the kind of book that made me glad I stick with a meh series if I believe it has potential.

When I reviewed Rogue, I noted that Faythe showed a lack of growth, I liked Jace, and Faythe’s relationship with Marc seemed borderline abusive. In my review of Pride, I noted Faythe’s sledgehammer-like attempts at politics. I must admit, Faythe is still about as subtle as a sledgehammer.  But by golly, I couldn’t help but feel proud when she attempted negotiations as a first course of action instead of act-macho, think-later.  It’s something the Faythe of the early books would not have attempted.

SHIFT also kicks the love triangle into high gear.  Jace starts acting like the alpha I thought he would become back in the early books.  (I had a comment debate about this, somewhere, but alas it is lost since my google-fu is not strong enough.)  Now, my discussion is going to get a bit spoilery about what happens in the relationships, so you might want to skip to the last paragraph if you want everything to be a complete surprise.

Faythe cheats on Marc with Jace.  I know that cheating is fairly verboten in romance novels.  But Faythe is young, sheltered, has only had one serious boyfriend, and her brother just died.  I see Marc not immediately tearing Jace apart as character growth, not derailment.  He’s acting rationally, not according to his instincts.  A theme of the entire series has been that the way the pack usually does things is wrong and that they need to modernize.  Exploring your romantic and sexual options is pretty modern.

Cheating is a hot button subject.  Perhaps I would hate the romantic storyline more if I hadn’t always liked Jace and been somewhat averse to Marc.  Either way, I’ve already bought the final book and intend to read it to discover how the love triangle plays out as much as to see the war between the werecat factions.

The Shifters will never be my favorite series.  But Vincent took a shaky beginning and turned it into something more solid and satisfying.  I wanted to slap the Faythe of Stray and Rogue.  The Faythe of Prey and Shift is a more interesting and adult heroine.  A lot of people apparently disagree with me.  The beauty of reviewing is that we get to disagree with each other.

Grade: B+

Summary:
TROUBLE IS IN THE AIR…

Being the first female werecat enforcer isn’t easy. Scars accumulate, but I’m stronger in so many ways.

As for my personal life? It’s complicated. Choices worth making always are. Ever since my brother’s death and my father’s impeachment, it’s all I can do to prevent more blood
from spilling. Now our Pride is under attack by a flight of vicious thunderbirds. And making peace with our new enemies may be the only way to get the best of our old foe.

With the body count rising and treachery everywhere, my instincts tell me to look before I leap. But sometimes a leap of faith is the only real option…
Read an excerpt here.

Liviania’s review of Spider’s Bite (Elemental Assassin, Book 1) by Jennifer Estep
Urban fantasy released by Pocket 26 Jan 2010

I love Jennifer Estep’s Bigtime series.  They’re funny and sweet romances.  Then she went and wrote a more traditional urban fantasy series, starring an assassin – one of my favorite character types.  I couldn’t resist buying Spider’s Bite.  I’m glad I didn’t, because Estep maintained her charm while writing something completely different.

Gin Blanco is just about ready to retire.  She’s young, but being an assassin pays well.  Unfortunately, her most recent client double-crosses her and kills her mentor/foster father Fletcher.  He was also the middleman, and Gin doesn’t know exactly who hired her.  But she’s going to find out, and then she’s going to kill him or her.  It’s an action-packed opening and the rest of Spider’s Bite lives up to that promise.

I liked that Estep doesn’t try to soften Gin.  She isn’t angsty or torn about her job.  She kills people, she’s good at it, end of story.  In fact, she’ll do it pro bono sometimes.  Gin doesn’t like child rapists, and I assume most readers don’t either.  Gin is more worried about her magic powers.  She doesn’t like using them much, since doing so could attract the city’s movers and shakers, which is what got the rest of her family killed (probably).

Estep also surrounds Gin with interesting characters.  There are the dwarf sisters who help her  with crime scene clean up and healing.  There’s the vampiric club owner, willing to help Gin out since she took care of a problem for her.  There’s her foster brother Finn, the son of an assassin and brother to an assassin who logically became a banker.  While he’s a white collar criminal, he’s still good as back-up.  There’s also Donovan Caine, the straightest cop in the city, who is exactly the cop Gin needs to solve Fletcher’s murder.  The Dating Catwoman scenario always gets me.

If you’re a fan of the Bigtime series, you might not like the Elemental Assassin series.  It’s much darker and less romantic.  Conversely, it’s just as well-written and stands out from the urban fantasy crowd.  I finished Spider’s Bite quickly and moved immediately to Web of Lies.  The overarching plot, the search for the killer of Gin’s family, is just as compelling as the self-contained plots within the novels.

Grade: B+

Summary:
My name is Gin, and I kill people.

They call me the Spi­der. I’m the most feared assas­sin in the South—when I’m not busy at the Pork Pit cook­ing up the best bar­be­cue in Ash­land. As a Stone ele­men­tal, I can hear every­thing from the whis­pers of the gravel beneath my feet to the vibra­tions of the soar­ing Appalachian Moun­tains above me. My Ice magic also comes in handy for mak­ing the occa­sional knife. But I don’t use my pow­ers on the job unless I absolutely have to. Call it pro­fes­sional pride.

Now that a ruth­less Air ele­men­tal has double-crossed me and killed my han­dler, I’m out for revenge. And I’ll exter­mi­nate any­one who gets in my way—good or bad. I may look hot, but I’m still one of the bad guys. Which is why I’m in trou­ble, since irre­sistibly rugged Detec­tive Dono­van Caine has agreed to help me. The last thing this cold­hearted killer needs when I’m bat­tling a magic more pow­er­ful than my own is a sexy dis­trac­tion … espe­cially when Dono­van wants me dead just as much as the enemy.

Read an excerpt here.

Liviania’s retro review of Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase
Historical romance released by Avon 1 Jan 1995, reprinted Dec 2007

While I’ve now been reading romances steadily for two years, I’m still new to the genre and catching up on the classics.  I read and enjoyed Loretta Chase’s Your Scandalous Ways, and I’ve seen countless recommendations for Lord of Scoundrels and Mr. Impossible and I recently picked up both for cheap.  Due to the “Beauty and the Beast” theme (I love fairytales), I started with Lord of Scoundrels.

Chase, smartly, begins by recounting the Marquess of Dain’s past.  Too often authors draw out revealing the trauma that turned the hero into a jerkass.  This mainly leads to the reason seeming smaller than it actually is and thus extra frustration with the hero’s behavior.  The opening contextualized Dain’s protracted childhood.  He can still be frustrating, but his character remains coherent and makes sense.

Luckily he runs into Jessica Trent, an aging beauty who won’t put up with his nonsense.  Her brother Bertie Trent is pretty close to being the dullest tool in the shed.  His idolization of Dain is leading him toward the poorhouse, and Jessica prefers to live comfortably on her fortune (earned in trade) rather than using it to continually pay his debts.  Thus, she goes after Dain.

I enjoyed their verbal battles.  I also enjoyed Jessica pushing Dain towards adulthood and responsibility.  I was, however, puzzled by a couple of dropped plot points.  At the beginning Jessica talks of setting up her own store, but after the opening her skill at finding antiques remains mostly forgotten.  Likewise,  Dain’s friends Beaumont and Vawtry remain important to the plot until the end, but Esmond disappears without a trace.  (Does the Beaumont, Esmond, Beaumont’s wife triangle reappear in another of Chase’s books?)

I can see why Lord of Scoundrels continually tops favorites lists: Jessica.  She’s intelligent and feisty.  Between this and His at Night by Sherry Thomas, I am going to demand that all historical heroines beat a man half to death during the course of the novel.  It’s clearly a good sign.  Many romances survive on the hero’s appeal, but Lord of Scoundrels stands out by relying on the heroine’s strength.  (I like Dain, as some appear not to, but he’s clearly playing second fiddle to Jess.)

Now I’m happily moving on to Mr. Impossible, hoping that it’s as good as Your Scandalous Ways and Lord of Scoundrels.  I do wonder: what are the other must reads in Chase’s backlist?  Also, what classic romances should I read next?

Grade: B

Summary:
They call him many names but Angelic isn’t one of them…
Sebastian Ballister, the notorious Marquess of Dain, is big, bad, and dangerous to know. No respectable woman would have anything to do with the “Bane and Blight of the Ballisters”–and he wants nothing to do with respectable women. He’s determined to continue doing what he does best–sin and sin again–and all that’s going swimmingly, thank you…until the day a shop door opens and she walks in.

She’s too intelligent to fall for the worst man in the world…
Jessica Trent is a determined young woman, and she’s going to drag her imbecile brother off the road to ruin, no matter what it takes. If saving him–and with him, her family and future–means taking on the devil himself, she won’t back down. The trouble is, the devil in question is so shockingly irresistible, and the person who needs the most saving is–herself!
Read an excerpt here.

Liviania’s review of Hero at Large by Janet Evanovich
Contemporary romance released by Harper 30 Mar 2010

I love Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series.  Her other books have been more hit and miss for me, especially HarperCollins’s reprints of her old categories.  For the most part, Hero at Large is funny and entertaining.  In my opinion, it goes a bit off the rails at the end.

Ice-skating coach and single mom Chris Nelson is a little strapped for cash.  It’s pretty unsurprising that her beater breaks down by the side of the road.  Ken Callahan stops to help and ends up with a broken arm for his trouble, when Chris accidentally drops the hood on him.  Through a series of events that would only occur in a screwball comedy, Ken ends up boarding at Chris’s house until his arm heals and he can return to work.

The two have an instant physical attraction, but the sparks really fly while they get to know each other.  Chris teaches Ken about competitive ice-skating.  Ken tries to cook edible food and bonds with Chris’s daughter Lucy.  They joke around with each other.  I love the scene where Ken reads one of Chris’s romances.

“That’s some book.  I always thought romances were for delicate, frail lady types.  Do you know there are pages and pages of sex in that book?”

. . .

“You read the whole book.”

. . .

“Well, hell,” he grinned good-naturedly, “the truth is . . . I enjoyed it.”  His eyes raked across her nightshirt.  They crinkled into laugh lines and his teeth flashed white in a dazzling smile of laughter turned inward.  “You can’t imagine how frustrating it was.”

Then Chris figures out what the reader figured out far earlier: Ken isn’t a freelance carpenter.  He’s rich and successful.  This drives Chris away since he isn’t the man she got to know.  I could understand a little bit of anger, but it felt like too much too me.  Perhaps I’m projecting, but I’d be happy to learn that the man I loved was insanely rich rather than struggling for employment.

While the heroine frustrated me some, I still laughed quite a bit while reading Hero at Large.  Ken and Chris are both amiable, likable characters.  Chris’s pushy Aunt Edna is a clear (and more clear-headed) predecessor of Stephanie Plum’s grandma Mazur.  I’m not sure whether I’ll read Hero at Large again, but it did serve its purpose as light entertainment.

Grade: B-

Summary:
He cooks a pot holder in the spaghetti sauce and needs lessons on making Jell-O. Still, single mom and ice skating coach Chris Nelson is committed to keeping her sexy, scruffy, new “house husband” around. After all, she did break his arm…and his toe…and she can’t just turn him out into the cold…

It seemed like luck when this gorgeous stranger first stopped to help Chris with her car, but suddenly her peaceful life turns topsy-turvy as tender, long-suffering Ken Callahan enlists the sympathies of her 7-year-old daughter and her meddlesome Aunt Edna. And even Chris can’t deny the excitement his magnetic blue-black eyes spark deep within her…But who is he?
Read an excerpt here.

Liviania’s review of The Darkest Passion (Lords of the Underworld, Book 5) by Gena Showalter
Paranormal romance released by HQN 25 May 2010

Gena Showalter’s Lords of the Underworld series, I’ve decided, are the literary equivalent of a summer blockbuster.  They contain exotic locales, gorgeous people, hunts for MacGuffins, and plenty of action.  They may not be as intelligent or as artistic as other things you’re currently reading, but you enjoy yourself too much to care.  Showalter is out to entertain.

Aeron contains the demon of Wrath, which causes him to strike out at wrongdoers.  When he denies his demon for too long, he becomes bloodthirsty and can’t differentiate between someone lying to their mother and someone killing their mother.  He’s tattooed himself with images of the people he’s wrongly killed in order to remind himself of his own guilt.  He’s never been my favorite of the Lords, but I have been fond of his demon companion Legion.

In The Darkest Passion, their relationship becomes a major problem.  Legion’s in love with Aeron, but he loves her like a daughter.  When Olivia, an angel, decides to fall (literally and figuratively) for Aeron, Legion gets pissed.  Caught by her own passions, she makes some foolish decisions.

Guilty Aeron doesn’t feel like he deserves Olivia’s sacrifice.  She has a short amount of time to return to heaven and he’s determined to drive her away.  I felt that Olivia adjusted to being a human rather quickly, but I admired her determination and how she found ways to be an asset despite her lack of powers.  Aeron didn’t really win me over, but I like that he let himself be caught in spite of himself.  Olivia might’ve done most of the pursuing, but he didn’t run so hard that I felt the relationship was doomed to be forever lopsided.

As usual, Showalter wove storylines about the other Lords in between scenes with Aeron and Olivia.  There a few further developments in Paris’s (Lust’s) storyline, which has been part of the series from the first book.  Showalter sets up the The Darkest Lie by introducing Gideon (Lies) to his heroine.  I am excited about that one, considering Gideon has been one of my favorite Lords.  She sets up a romance for Legion that I did not expect at all and I am very curious to see how that will turn out.  (I am happy that Legion doesn’t get completely shafted.)  (This will be a massive series if all the Lords get their own book.)

In addition, the Lords interact with the Hunters more than usual.  The way the storyline ends, it seems like there won’t be long term consequences.  There are also some new TPTB getting in on the conflict between the Titans, Greek gods, Lords, and Hunters.  It looks like Cronus just might be offed sooner rather than later.  I can’t speak about the ending without spoiling anything, but it carries interesting implications for the rest of the series.

Before reading The Darkest Passion, one might want to read The Darkest Angel, available for free on Showalter’s site or in the anthology Heart of Darkness.  Showalter’s other novellas have been side stories, but The Darkest Angel’s couple plays a part in The Darkest Passion.  Aeron and Olivia didn’t knock my favorite couple from the series off their pedestal, but still made for a fun book.  I will admit that I do have higher expectations for The Darkest Lie than I did for The Darkest Passion.

Grade: B

Read other reviews on this series by following its tag here.

Summary:
New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter returns with another sizzling installment of the Lords of the Underworld series, as Aeron, keeper of the Demon of Wrath, dares to taste the forbidden . . .

For weeks, the immortal warrior Aeron has sensed an invisible female presence. An angel–a demon-assassin–has been sent to kill him. Or has she? Olivia claims she fell from the heavens, giving up immortality because she couldn’t bear to harm him. But trusting – and falling for – Olivia will endanger them all. So how has this ‘mortal’ with the huge blue eyes already unleashed Aeron’s darkest passion?

Now, with an enemy hot on his trail and his faithful demon companion determined to remove Olivia from his life, Aeron is trapped between duty and consuming desire. Worse still, a new executioner has been sent to do the job Olivia wouldn’t…
Read an excerpt here.

Liviania’s review of On the Edge (The Edge, Book 1) by Ilona Andrews
Urban fantasy released by Ace 29 Sept 2009

You can barely take two steps in the urban fantasy pond before hearing a recommendation for Ilona Andrews (the penname of the eponymous Andrews and her husband Gordon). I recently managed to pick up the first two books in each of her series, Kate Daniels and the Edge, for cheap. (UBS are gold for trying out an author. Of course, once you get the cheap hit you’re stuck buying full price as soon as the next one comes out because you’ve been salivating for it.) I don’t think I’ll review Magic Bites since it’s been around for awhile, but here are my thoughts on On the Edge.

Andrews’s website states that people had trouble classifying On the Edge. I think this is because the general term for fantasy in a modern setting is “urban fantasy.” But the Edgers are not urban people. They live on the fringes of two civilizations, lawless, surviving through sheer grit. This is rural fantasy.

The Edge lies between the Broken (the fictional version of our world) and the Weird (typical fantasyland). Most people in the Broken and the Weird don’t know it exists. The Edgers have minor magic and can travel into either. Rose Drayton lives in the Edge but works as a cleaner in the Broken, the only job she can get as an illegal. But she needs to work, because she has two young brothers at home.

Rose is a fabulous heroine. Andrews could’ve easily turned her into the family martyr, but she isn’t. She thinks she’s given up her dreams to care for Georgie and Jack, but she’s really just put them on hold. (And she’s not doing it for no reason. She’s working hard to give Georgie and Jack the life their parents failed to give her.) Declan brings those hopes to the fore when he shows up determined to marry her. He’s a blueblood from the Weird and exactly what she’s been trying to escape. But she can’t help enjoying his company as they fight a threat to the Edge together. (Mostly, the threat serves to bring the characters together, which is perfectly fine. But the villain is a bit of a boring, doing it for the evil, insane sort of villain.)

Declan can be pompous, but he adjusts fairly well to the social rules of the Edge. The development of the Edge is where Andrews really shines. Andrews did well in creating a poor community where everyone survives by limiting retaliation (considering many Edgers have short tempers) and being willing to work as allies, despite past animosities, when the situation calls from it. There’s quite a bit of worldbuilding in addition to the plot and romance.

As more and more first books of a series end with sequel bait, I like that On the Edge is a self-contained adventure. I thought it was a standalone until I looked it up online, to be honest. I did hope it wasn’t, because William still needs a happy ending. (He has a tragic backstory. Total woobie. I can never resist a woobie.) On the Edge (and Magic Bites) definitely showed me why Andrews’s star is on the rise.

Grade: B+

Summary:

The Broken is a place where people shop at Wal-Mart and magic is nothing more than a fairy tale.

The Weird is a realm where blueblood aristocrats rule and the strength of your magic can change your destiny.

Rose Drayton lives on the Edge, the place between both worlds. A perilous existence indeed, made even more so by a flood of magic-hungry creatures bent on absolute destruction.

Read excerpts here.

Liviania’s review of The Executive’s Pregnancy Ultimatum by Emilie Rose
Contemporary romance released by Silhouette Desire 1 Feb 10

After limecello got onto me for reading specific titles she recommends by the author she likes instead of picking any book by the author, I pretty much chose to read The Executive’s Pregnancy Ultimatum by Emilie Rose because I know limecello likes Emilie Rose.  But hey, living dangerously paid off.

Renee Maddox just discovered her divorce papers were never filed.  She also wants a baby – the same baby she always wanted, from her husband Flynn.  He agrees to giving her his sperm, but only in a direct manner and only if she tries to live with him, with the baby, for a year.  Rose doesn’t make the mistake of dragging out the secret to the couple’s split up to where the reveal seems silly.  It’s explained within the first several chapters that Renee and Flynn agreed they wanted three or four children before they married, but Flynn’s new job after his father’s death kept him away from home.  He gave Renee neither attention nor a baby.  She communicated that she really wanted a child and split when he refused.  Renee had another complication: she began drinking heavily, like her alcoholic mother. She managed to stop after leaving the stressful situation.

I loved Renee.  She’s a successful business woman who doesn’t give up her job for her man.  She’s unafraid to be a single mother and has the courage to stand up to her hideous mother-in-law.  Then the Renee I fell in love with disappeared toward the end.  Suddenly, she isn’t communicating with Flynn.  She’s running from telling him that she isn’t really an alcoholic but has the potential to be . . . as he knew since her mother was an alcoholic and Renee chooses to avoid alcohol now in order to avoid temptation.  She also brings it up as a risk to their children, despite the fact she’s been planning to have children since before the book began and it isn’t an issue until the end.  It’s odd.

Luckily, Flynn’s characterization stays steady.  He messed up by taking Renee for granted, but now has his personal and professional life in balance.  He’s caring and thoughtful.  He stands up for Renee and respects her dedication to her business.  It’s no wonder that Renee falls quickly back in love with her husband.  It is a wonder that she thinks he’d hate her because she isn’t actually an alcoholic but showed the potential during their impending divorce.

I enjoyed Emilie Rose’s writing.  I liked the hero and the heroine.  I just wish there wasn’t a manufactured conflict, because the story would’ve worked much better without it.  It undermined a lot of what Rose was doing so well.  I am still likely to pick up one of her novels in the future.

Grade: B-

Summary:
Flynn Maddox, the driven vice president of Maddox Communications, thought he was over his ex-wife, Renee. But when he learned that they were still married—and that she was trying to have his baby—he realized he had never stopped wanting her. It was time to put his fierce negotiating skills to good use. He would give her the baby she so desperately wanted…but not without getting her to sign off on some terms of his own.
No excerpt found.

Liviania’s review of Lured by Lori Devoti
Paranormal romance released by Nocturne Bites 1 Jan 10

I enjoyed Lori Devoti’s Unbound series and Amazon Ink, so I happily picked up Lured for more of the same.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t more but less.

Annie is attached to her PDA, the stereotypical uptight businesswoman.  She’s recently become a werewolf, but thought she found a medical trial for a cure.  Instead, it was a trap.  Now, why a woman who is attached to her PDA did not research the trial or the address is not explained.  One of the complexities of a short story is the need to develop the characters much quicker.  Character inconsistencies are that much more apparent.

Theo is the alpha werewolf who rescues Annie, and then goes back to put a stop to the men who set the trap for good.  There isn’t much more to him.  I like the idea that he’s stronger with Annie, but it feels like true love happens to fast.  I followed the plot of Lured, but I didn’t believe in it.  Perhaps I would of enjoyed it if it were by an author I had lower expectations of, but as I like Lori Devoti quite a bit, I was disappointed.  She can do better.

Grade: C-

Summary:
Theo Malone was an alpha, not a lone rogue who needed to fight for a female. Still, something about Annie Cartwell called to him. Unclaimed and unaware that she had been turned into a werewolf, she was vulnerable to other wolves…and irresistibly attractive to Theo. His wolf had never reacted so strongly to a woman before–and Annie’s new inner wolf had the same hunger for him. His scent made her feel safe, his touch soothed her…and the thought of Theo awoke fantasies of being claimed by him like she’s never had before.

But while they both longed to fully give in to their desire, Theo and Annie must struggle to control these new feelings. For someone set up Annie as bait, and no wolf was safe until he was caught….

Moon Marked by Linda Thomas-Sundstrom
Paranormal romance released by Nocturne Bites 1 Jan 10

Nikki is a hunter, waiting for some werewolves that got away. Of course, those aren’t her only orders. Jonathon is a hereditary werewolf trying to rescue Nikki, since he knows she’s in over her head. The two are instantly attracted despite their conflicting loyalties, but things become complicated when Nikki is bitten by one of the crime lord’s wolves.

As a standalone, Moon Marked is a little confusing. Linda Thomas-Sundstrom’s world is involved, and it’s hard to figure out the hierarchy of things that go bump in the night in 62 pages when there’s action and romance going on. As an introduction to her Wolf Moons series, it’s fairly effective since I do want to read more about this world. Those who are already reading this series will want to pick up this Bite, since there is some world-building that seems important. (I could be wrong, since I haven’t read the series yet.)

Grade: C+

Summary:
In the secret war between humans and werewolves, Jonathan Baird and Nikki Reese were natural enemies. Born with the genetic gifts needed to join the secret society of hunters, Nikki had been raised to see all Lycans as her enemy…even if hunting them brought on a powerful craving for sexual release.

It was that craving that drew werewolf Jonathan to Nikki. Though he also sought the rogue creatures that threatened the secrecy of his people’s existence, his organization sent him to watch her…but he lusted after her, too. When a hunt goes bad and Nikki is infected with the Lycan virus, Jonathan couldn’t resist coming to her aid, igniting an insatiable desire between them. Will their passion bring together the two rivals, or will old loyalties die hard?

Loch Dragon’s Lady by Christine McKay
Paranormal romance released by Spice Briefs 1 Jan 10

I like Ellen, though she is a bit too stubborn for her own good.  After all, she has a sensible reaction to a handsome man trying to carry her off: stab him.  Unfortunately for her, it doesn’t work since Robert is a dragon.  Christine McKay doesn’t say much about how the setting or creatures work, but she provides enough information that nothing seems jarring.

Robert enjoys being alone, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t sometimes lonely.  It’s nice to see a fairly nice guy meet someone who he can live with.  The Spice Briefs are supposed to be more erotic than the Nocturne Bites, but I believed the happily-ever-after of Loch Dragon’s Lady the most.

Grade: B

Summary:
When Robert Dunyveg finds Ellen Kildonan on his secluded Scottish isle, he thinks she’s just another tourist to spoil his peace. Though outraged by her claim that the island is hers, the dragon shifter can’t resist indulging his long-denied desire with the exotic beauty. But while Ellen has the scent of a human, she tasted of magic–and the only way to unlock the mystery of her true identity is to explore their red-hot passion even more….

Liviania’s review of Dream Stalker by Jenna Kernan
Paranormal romance released by Silhouette Nocturne 1 Dec 09

Jenna Kernan gets bonus points for using Lakota mythology. As urban fantasy and paranormal romance have become more popular, authors have diversified their interests from vampires.  But Native American myths remain sadly underused, possibly because many of their legends are lost to us.  Nowadays folklorists work to preserve those myths, but nothing helps more to preserve a culture than getting people interested in it.

That is not to say that Dream Stalker is a cultural artifact.  It’s a likeable story, but predictable.  Kernan’s system of Halflings is intriguing, and I hope to see her do more world-building in this Lakota influenced setting in later books.  Dream Stalker is the story of Michaela Proud, a woman who can see spirits and is on the run from the Ruler of all Ghosts, Nagi.  Her attempts to escape him attract the attention of Sebastian, who can turn into a bear.

Michaela, of course, is not just an ordinary human.  She’s a little passive for my taste, spending most of the novel following Sebastian and letting him protect her.  In the end, I can’t fault her much for that since there wasn’t a better action she could take.  She isn’t weak.  She decides what she wants and pursues it, not allowing other characters to decide what they think is best for her.  But until she began making those decisions, she felt somewhat blank to me.

Sebastian is better realized.  He wants love and acceptance, but has been burned by humans before.  A previous girlfriend took issue with the fact he could turn into a bear, increasing his wariness to become involved with a non-skinwalker.  Of course, as Michaela becomes easier to understand he tends toward silliness as he refuses to trust her.  At the point where she finally convinces him of her love, I’d understand it if she smacked him and informed him that if she didn’t love him she’s have left him five chapters ago.  (At which point every other character in the book would say, “Duh.”)

Nagi is an intense bad guy.  How do you escape someone who can track your soul?  How do you fight a spirit?  Kernan leaves Dream Stalker open ended, with Nagi plotting another way to gain power.  (In fact, it sounded like she might write a story where Nagi gets redeemed by love.  I could be wrong.)  As I said before, if she continues writing in this setting I would be happy to read more, but I’m not sure that I like the brief passage about Nagi that keeps the story from being totally resolved.

The writing and romance in Dream Stalker are slightly above average.  I wouldn’t say there was anything unusual, but the setting was fresh and there weren’t any major flaws.  Dream Stalker was pleasant, if not earth-shattering.  I hope Kernan aims higher next time, because it feels like she could write a memorable paranormal romance as opposed to a serviceable one.

Grade: B+

Summary:
Native American Michaela Proud thinks her escalating nightmares signal madness. But the truth is far worse. For she is being stalked by the god of death. And when she suffers a brutal attack at his hands, she awakens to find a devastatingly handsome stranger kneeling before her. Whose gentle touch eases her pain…and makes her feel safe.
An Inanoka shape-shifter and healer, Sebastian doesn’t want to feel anything for the beautiful woman he’s rescued. But he can’t abandon her once he discovers she has a spirit wound. As he cares for Michaela, he realizes that he can read her thoughts, emotions… and desire. Sebastian realizes that he’s found his true mate. But will she accept him once she learns his darkest secret?
Read an excerpt here.

Liviania’s review of Rage: A Love Story by Julie Anne Peters
LGBTQ Young Adult released by Knopf Books for Young Readers 8 Sept 09

Julie Anne Peters is known for writing novels about LGBTQ teens.  While the main characters of Rage are lesbian or bisexual, it’s not a focus of the story.  Johanna and Reeve are both out and comfortable with their sexuality, though every once in awhile someone says something derogatory to one of them.  The focus, instead, is on their emotional issues caused by unstable family life.

I’ve read books about abusive relationships before.  Alex Flinn’s Breathing Underwater is an excellent look into the head of an abuser, and her Diva an equally interesting portrait of the girl recovering from the relationship and beginning new ones.  Sarah Dessen’s Dreamland is an equally compelling look at a girl and why she would stay with the guy abusing her.  Rage plays with the formula by making Johanna not an ordinary girl fighting to stay with her abuser, but a girl who was severely damaged before she even entered the relationship.

When the book begins, Johanna has been fantasizing about Reeve as an escape to her life.  Her mother and father are dead; her sister stayed at college while she cared for their dying mother.  At the crucial point when she needed Tessa’s support, her sister said nothing.  With that trust broken, the only person she can rely on is her best friend Novak.  But Novak’s dating a scummy guy, and pretty soon her relationship with Johanna is on the rocks.  And Johanna’s fantasy relationship is about to become a reality.

Reeve had an abusive father, and now she’s left with her druggie mother and abusive uncle.  She also has to care for her autistic twin brother.  She’s grown up with only Robbie’s love, and she’s best at using people.  She isn’t the classic abuser, trying to keep Johanna under her thumb.  Reeve wants to push Johanna away because she understands the relationship isn’t healthy.  I half expected Johanna to erupt into a rage of her own, the psychopath upset that the reality isn’t her ideal.

Despite being almost 300 pages, Rage felt a little thin.  Rage is a psychological novel, and there’s little going on aside from a series of interconnected relationships.  It’s in Johanna’s point of view, but I still found her the most opaque character.  I understand her on a logical level, but not an emotional one.  (It’s hard to explain.) However, the supporting cast helps out by being engaging.  I can’t help but wish for more of Novak in the novel.  She’s a magnetic presence, even when her actions are repulsive.

Rage can be enjoyed even by those who dislike lesbian content.  The only actual sex scene is done subtly, and Johanna’s (explicit) fantasies are clearly marked by heading and italics.  For those who have been in abusive relationships, Rage may contain triggers.  Other than that, it’s extremely interesting on a psychological level.  But for those who prefer plot-driven fiction to character-driven, it might not be the best choice.  I have not read Peters before, but I would be willing to try one of her other novels out based on Rage. (Edit: Just looked at the author bio and I know I’ve read Define “Normal.” But it’s been a long time and I remember nothing.)  She seems to have a strong understanding of the way teenagers really act, always a bonus in YA novels.

Grade: B

Summary:
Johanna is steadfast, patient, reliable; the go-to girl, the one everyone can count on. But always being there for others can’t give Johanna everything she needs—it can’t give her Reeve Hartt.

Reeve is fierce, beautiful, wounded, elusive; a flame that draws Johanna’s fluttering moth. Johanna is determined to get her, against all advice, and to help her, against all reason. But love isn’t always reasonable, right?

In the precarious place where attraction and need collide, a teenager experiences the dark side of a first love, and struggles to find her way into a new light.
Read an excerpt here.

Liviania’s review of Ice Song by Kirsten Imani Kisai
Science fiction/fantasy released by Del Rey 19 May 2009

Sybil quickly figured out that I enjoy stories that play with gender.  Many people are intrigued by what separates men and women, but I enjoy that separation even more when it’s illuminated by a blending of the characteristics.  Therefore, a story about a main character who transitions from female to male naturally seemed right up my alley.

Unfortunately, that’s one of the weakest aspects of the story.  Sorykah doesn’t become Soryk until over a hundred pages into the novel.  Then, she only stays Soryk briefly; it’s just long enough to meet a girl, become attached, have sex.  The relationship does spur on many later events in the novel, but it felt clumsy.  Until the finale, Soryk doesn’t serve much purpose other than having sex and preventing Sorykah from moving forward in her quest since he has no clue what her quest is.

Fortunately, Kirsten Imani Kasai imagined an interesting world.  Many people are born with strange deformities in this dystopia, and discriminated against.  One man, the Collector, enjoys experimenting on them and has just stolen Sorykah’s twin babies.  He’s incredibly creepy, and his servants provide the most intriguing point of views.  After all, those who work for him are the same as those he hunts.  But they do have their reasons.

I like Ice Song best when it’s being a straight ahead sci-fi adventure about a mother and her allies against the man who stole her children.  The relationship between Sidra and Soryk becomes touching after its clumsy start, so I could forgive the seeming gratuity of it.  But I find the other sex scenes in the book fairly unpalatable, as – this is something of a SPOILER – Sorykah is forced to prostitute herself in order to receive information about her children.  This interlude did explore the consequences of the setting, but I just feel like I’d be more interested in the questions it presents in a different book.  Here it slowed down the action.  It seemed to me like Kasai tried to inject some eroticism, but only made the sex disturbing instead of titillating.

Ice Song was not what I was expecting.  I mostly enjoyed it, though the parts I didn’t like I really didn’t like.  The unevenness took away from the reading experience.  I may pick up something else by Kasai in the future since this is her first novel.  Though the execution was clumsy, she had several ideas that I would love to see her explore again once she gains more experience.  I would recommend Ice Song to fans of dystopian fiction who don’t mind fantastic elements, since the worldbuilding was the strongest part of the novel.

Grade: B-

Summary
There are secrets beneath her skin.

Sorykah Minuit is a scholar, an engineer, and the sole woman aboard an ice-drilling submarine in the frozen land of the Sigue. What no one knows is that she is also a Trader: one who can switch genders suddenly, a rare corporeal deviance universally met with fascination and superstition and all too often punished by harassment or death.

Sorykah’s infant twins, Leander and Ayeda, have inherited their mother’s Trader genes. When a wealthy, reclusive madman known as the Collector abducts the babies to use in his dreadful experiments, Sorykah and her male alter-ego, Soryk, must cross icy wastes and a primeval forest to get them back. Complicating the dangerous journey is the fact that Sorykah and Soryk do not share memories: Each disorienting transformation is like awakening with a jolt from a deep and dreamless sleep.

The world through which the alternating lives of Sorykah and Soryk travel is both familiar and surreal. Environmental degradation and genetic mutation run amok; humans have been distorted into animals and animal bodies cloak a wild humanity. But it is also a world of unexpected beauty and wonder, where kindness and love endure amid the ruins. Alluring, intense, and gorgeously rendered, Ice Song is a remarkable debut by a fiercely original new writer.
Read an excerpt here.