Sandy M’s review of Seductive Persuasion by Frances Stockton
Paranormal Historical Romance published by Cerridwen Press 30 Apr 09

I so wanted to like this book. A few parts of it I did. Other parts were so-so. Even other parts, however, didn’t work at all, which really disappointed me because I love shifter stories. But there’s just enough issues to get in the way of it being a good read.

When I started reading this story, it immediately sounded so familiar to me. The more I read, I realized that I started the book a few months ago. I actually got a number of chapters into it, then apparently stopped reading for one reason or another and didn’t remember to go back to it. So on my second time around, that knowledge did not bode well for that reading. Nor did the fact that I started really skimming, picking up points here and there that brought back what I’d read before. And the same glaring issues cried out as they had in my earlier reading.

Number one is the dialogue. While there are sections of dialogue that are fine, there are others that are stiff and don’t have the right tone for the situation. Most of those for me were between Garrick and Aisley during sensual scenes, whether early on when Garrick is wooing Aisley or even later once Aisley gets over her doubt that she’d make a good wife and countess for Garrick. Those conversations were wooden, not tension filled or romantic or teasing as they should have been in each circumstance. I just couldn’t see two people talking in the fashion they did in those scenes.

Another problem for me was the fact that Aisley did reject Garrick’s want of her, his surety that she was his mate for way too long. We ended up with the same scene, thought, wording over and over again. Frankly, I got bored with it. That’s why I skimmed on my second time around. Those scenes didn’t hold my attention the first time, so the second time didn’t have a chance. No matter what Garrick said to convince Aisley that she’s his mate, she used the same old argument every single time. It never changes. Then, of course, when she finally does accept him, falls in love with him, and later learns the truth about him and his race, instead of believing in him and trusting him, her logic is he’s crazy and she wants to get away from him. As hard fought as their love is, I felt she should have been a little more trusting of the man. Thankfully, she didn’t reject him nearly as long on that issue.

Because of that, I didn’t like Aisley’s character nearly as much as I like Garrick’s. She does have her strong points – she cares for people, takes care of them, even going so far as to rescue a young girl from a trickster who makes money off telling people the girl is descended from werewolves. Garrick has his moments, but for the most part, he’s likeable. He’s the second oldest of his kind, does what he has to to insure the continuation of their line, is sure of himself and what he wants. The secondary characters are fine, but they do need a little more depth. The villains are the best written of those characters.

I like the idea of the story as a whole, and absolutely love Sir Knight, as Aisley has dubbed Garrick in his animal form. The scenes in which the leopard appears are quite fun and intriguing at times. I also like the way the author uses Aisley’s freckles as a sore point for her – people think they make her ugly – but a beautiful point for Garrick. He loves her spots. There are a number of little shining moments like this throughout the book, but they’re just too few and far between all the other stuff that detracts from them.

And they just couldn’t bring the grade up any higher for this reviewer.

Grade: D

Summary:

As an Elder of a diminishing race, and capable of changing into a leopard, Garrick Forrester, Earl of Danford, has lived through wars, plagues and two arranged marriages. Nothing he’s experienced, however, has prepared him for the discovery of his mate living in the nearby village, or for her resistance. Aisley Reeves has the ability to hear and speak with him mind-to-mind, identifying her as the woman meant to be his. To keep her safe from an unimaginable enemy, he must persuade her to become his willing countess while keeping her under constant guard.

Imagine Aisley Reeves’ dismay when the Earl of Danford demands she become his betrothed by the close of a fortnight. Already fearful that her work as a healer and her birthmark might tempt some to brand her as a witch, she believes it is best to keep her distance from the dark, mesmerizing earl whose thoughts she can hear and who bears an uncanny resemblance to a black leopard patrolling the forest. However, when Garrick and his mysterious gifts become her only hope for survival, she must decide if she can trust her heart to a man who is far more than human.

Read an excerpt.

Sandy M’s review of My Everything by Julia Barrett
Romantic Suspense ebook published by Cerridwen Press 1 Mar 09

I gave Ms. Barrett a little bit of a hard time on my review of her first book, Anytime Darlin’. There were things about that book that I liked but more things that I didn’t. But Ms. Barrett was very gracious, took her average grade from me, finished up her next book, and came back to us for another review. I’m glad she did.

I thoroughly enjoyed this sophomore book by Ms. Barrett. The storyline is intriguing and the hero and heroine have great chemistry. Now, that isn’t to say there aren’t a couple of little problems, but for the most part, I see growth in this author’s writing and I will continue to read her books.

Grace is in Los Angeles for a geriatrics seminar and her first night there, one of her infamous migraines is coming on. Back at her hotel she’s in such pain that she locks herself out of her room just because she wanted a cold and bubbly Coke. Out of options and nearly unconscious, she doesn’t even make it back to the door of her room when she’s overcome and not able to go any further.

Ben McCall has been in hiding since the assassination of his wife and unborn child, everyone assuming he’s dead because of his line of work. Losing everything has torn the joy out of his life and the solitude of Costa Rica has given him some measure of peace. But when the emergency call comes from his best friend Tom for help, Ben doesn’t hesitate. But what he finds out is someone has murdered two agents and kidnapped Ben’s sister all in an attempt to get to him, not Tom. He has a surprise waiting for him when he finally gets into L.A. A woman is passed out near the door of his hotel room. Coincidence or is she part of the nightmare that has just begun.

Ben doesn’t believe in coincidence, but in this case he’s hoping that’s what it is. The woman he rescued from the hallway is Grace, all grown up now from the eighteen-year-old college student he spent a month of glorious days with years ago. Knowing where his life was headed, he knew he couldn’t offer her more at the time, and they went their separate ways after an exciting but somewhat chaste love affair. He’d never forgotten her, though. His life went on, he married and had been starting a family.

They’re older now, but it’s like they were never apart, their love blossoming anew. Ben has to leave Grace after their night together, vowing to take care of the bastard who has his sister and then he can concentrate on Grace. What he doesn’t expect is Grace being pulled into the whole mess when she’s attacked in her hotel room. She escapes relatively unscathed and gives Ben information to work with to find his sister. In the meantime, Angel, Ben’s sister, is one smart cookie. She paid attention to all the things her big brother taught her and escapes from the maniac who’d kept her locked in a basement.

Though Angel is safe, they still have to find the scum who took her and that takes them into the San Joaquin Valley of California. (Had to mention that because that’s where I live!) And this is the only place in the story that I have a nitpick about. Ben and Tom are in Bakersfield looking for this asshole when Angel pulls her escape job. When she finds out that Ben isn’t in L.A., she insists she has to see her brother now before something happens and he maybe dies again. She goads Grace into taking her to Bakersfield.

Grace is an intelligent woman. She fought this jerk and won, so she knows firsthand how dangerous he is. She knows if they’re in the vinicity, Ben will worry about them while trying to do his job. But after all this logic, she still talks herself into taking Angel to Bakersfield to find Ben. Of course, they get there in the middle of everything going down and bad stuff happens. I realize the bad stuff had to happen for the story. I just wish we had gotten there in a different way. Especially because everything that happens after that point is terrific. I just felt Grace slipped a few points on the IQ scale, a little blip, so to speak, before she got back on track.

Other than that, this is a very enjoyable book. I liked all of the characters. The action and suspense is very well done. The love scenes between these two are sweet and poignant. The secondary characters have plenty of depth. I even liked/hated the villain, though he was a little convenient as a scapegoat, but it worked.

Well done, Ms. Barrett! You’re only going to get better with each successive book and I look forward to reading each one!

Grade: B+

Summary:

Ben McCall’s wife and unborn child are dead, victims of an assassination attempt meant for someone else. Overcome by grief and guilt, he disappears. When his best friend and business partner is in danger Ben resurfaces, only to find his friend isn’t the target of a murderer, Ben himself is along with his sister Angel.

Then Ben comes face to face with his first love. Though Ben tries to keep Grace out of danger, as the passion between them reignites she, too, becomes a target of the stalker. Grace, Angel and Ben must individually and together use their skills to stay alive as they struggle against a man who has nothing to lose and is willing kill anyone who interferes with his quest for vengeance.

Read an excerpt.

We’re talkin’ up a storm again.  Welcome back to Duck Chat.

Today Beth Kery, writer of some of the steamiest erotic romance out there, joins us to talk about her books and have some fun with us. I’ve read a number of Beth’s book over the last couple of years, I have to say I’m hooked. I have been since I read Exorcising Sean’s Ghost. That remains my favorite Beth Kery book to date, and she’s had some terrific stories released since then. If you’re not familiar with her books, do stop by her website and look around. I think you’ll find something that will call to you and you’ll just have to try it! Of course, Beth is going to give you a chance to win a couple of her books. Give us a meaningful comment and we’ll toss you into the running for an ARC of her upcoming release Daring Time, a print copy of Wicked Burn, and a download of her current release, Flirting in Traffic.

If you have any questions for Beth today, leave a comment, she’s going to stop in now and again to see what you’re all up to.  So now let’s chat!

DUCK CHAT: Beth, your writing has brought about a very quick rise for you in the industry. Wicked Burn was your debut with Berkley Sensation. What’s it been like for you in your dealings with Berkley compared to the epublishing process?

BETH KERY: Hi, Sandy. It hasn’t been all that different, really, as far as the mechanics. You usually need an agent to sell to the New York market, but not always. Otherwise–you make a sale, you do edits and you release your book.

A few differences: For my first three Berkley books, I did paper edits, which was quite an experience—one master copy being shipped across the country. However, Berkley is now going to electronic edits, so there goes that difference. I had to learn different promotional and sales markets for my print book. In general (depending on who you are, of course) you reach a wider market with your print book, so you hear from more people about the book.

DC: If you could retire any question and never, ever have it asked again, what would it be? Feel free to answer it.

BK: Um…probably when did you decide to become a writer? My answer is always a little false, because it was sort of a jump and start, gradual thing for me, not a sudden “Ah ha!” I’m not so sure that I even considered myself a ‘writer’ in my head until a couple months ago, so yeah—kind of an innocent sounding question that’s pretty complicated for me to answer.

I seriously just realized the other day that I didn’t feel bad, slumming around when I went to the grocery store wearing sweatpants and glasses—because I’m a writer. That’s our uniform!

DC: I’ve heard writers often say their stories take them in surprising directions, or dialogue flows from some unknown place. Is it the same with you? Do your characters surprise you sometimes?

BK: Yes, most definitely. I typically ride the hump of the pantster/plotter bell curve. So I have a loose plot in mind, but the characters definitely improvise and grow on the stage I’ve set for them.

DC: Wicked Burn is one hot, sexy read. Tell our readers about Vic and Niall, please.

BK: Thanks, Sandy. Niall and Vic are two people who sort of come together in a sexual cataclysm one night. When things like that happen, it seems like impulse or chance, but in reality, because of their pasts and personal characteristics, there were good reasons that things were so explosive for them. I like to observe human nature and behavior, and it’s always fascinating to me the events and circumstances that lead up to something that seems like it ‘just happened.’ So, while someone might look at Niall and Vic and say they were using sex to get past their wounds or personal traumas, I wonder what it is about that point in time and those two particular people that made it possible for them to begin to heal through at first a physical relationship and then a much more profound one.

DC: Do you ever argue with your characters while you’re writing? Who usually wins?

BK: Hmmm…that’s a good question. I’d love to say I have these down and dirty drag-outs with them, but I usually don’t. That’s not to say that all my characters are always likeable, because they’re not. I’ve just come to terms with where they are at that point in the development of the story.

DC: What is sure to distract you from sitting down and working/writing?

BK: My other job, first and foremost. Beyond that, a sunny day, a certain look from my husband…. a growling stomach.

DC: Some authors eventually phase out of the epublishing world once their “bigger break” comes along. Any plans of doing that yourself?

BK: I don’t have any plans for that, but I’m admittedly a very freshman writer, so what do I know? I’d like to balance both venues. I was extremely busy last year writing books for Berkley, so I’m not sure at this point in time how things will work out. However, I would eventually like to find a comfortable balance.

DC: How do you feel your male or female characters have evolved in your writing? Do you think you write them differently now than you did when you started?

BK: Hmmm, another good question. I’ve started to experiment more with my heroines. My typical heroine is often a contained intellectual whose emotional maturity helps the hero to grow. There are some recent exceptions. Hope Stillwater, the heroine for my erotic time travel Daring Time, which comes out this May, is a spirited, feisty, impulsive suffragette who might be called progressive in any time period. And Esa, my heroine in Flirting in Traffic, is also a departure for me. She’s devoted to her work, sharp-tongued, shaky in the romance and body-image arena, and possesses a loyal, devoted heart.

My heroes are all pretty much bigger than life. One thing I’m always trying to do is find new, exciting arenas for the alpha to show his stuff. I just finished a book called Release for Berkley Heat, and the hero is a private intelligence operative—a.k.a. a spy for hire. I’m so lucky, because I have a friend who is a military intelligence operative, so I got to have a lot of fun researching it. Ryan Daire, my hero in Daring Time, is a cop who is also a boxing champion, so I had a ball researching boxing terms, famous fights, and talking to my ‘fighter’ lady friends (Belinda and Fi). I just started a book where the hero is a neurologist. I realized I’d never done a hero in the medical field, which is weird because I work in the medical field. Fantasy alpha doctors are so yummy. Don’t know where they actually are, though…

DC: Your latest ebook is Flirting in Traffic with Cerridwin Press. I really enjoyed Finn and Esa’s story. Would you tell everyone about them?

Thank you, Sandy. Finn and Esa sort of both have the older sibling syndrome and have been identified as the dependable ones–the ‘rocks’ in the family. Esa is a smart, plucky physician (yeah, I do heroine docs!) who is constantly being told by her sexy, publisher sister and best friend that’s she’s lame and boring. Finn is a dead-sexy architect who’s been burned by a perfidious fiancé and wants some no-strings-attached-rebound sex to get him back in the swing of things. Of course, he mistakenly thinks stuffy Esa is that fun sex kitten, which makes for a bumpy, but very steamy, road to true love.

DC: Is there a genre you haven’t tackled but would like to try?

BK: I’d really like to try young adult. Some day.

DC: What advice would you give to your younger self?

BK: “You have so much going for you, why don’t you savor it…celebrate it?” It must be the curse of your thirties. I look at my nieces, who are stunning, smart, well-educated, and I’m blown away by all their gifts. I had many of those gifts, but, like them, I was saddled by the insecurities of youth. Why can’t we have the wisdom of age and the future (and the body) of a twenty-one year old all at once? Sigh.

DC: Next up for you is the release of Through Her Eyes in April. Can you give us a sneak peek?

BK: Through Her Eyes is actually a re-write of the very first book I ever had published at a small e-press called Aphrodite Unlaced. It may not be my most polished book, but it has characteristics in it that I value on reflection. Daring Time, Sweet Restraint, and Release all have crime and suspense elements, so I think of Through Her Eyes as my first dip into those genres. Or into anything, really.

I was thrilled that Ellora’s Cave said they’d like to publish it. It’s an erotic contemporary with suspense and paranormal elements. Let’s see, a quick (rather sloppy) highlight of the book—an old Hyde Park mansion, a ghost, a psychiatrist heroine who is also a very reluctant psychic, a serial killer, and an extremely sexy special agent hero who is bound and determined to both save the heroine and catch the killer—for very personal reasons.

Oh…and lots of really hot sex. Can’t forget that.

DC: If you had never become an author, what do you think you would be doing right now?

BK: My other job that I still do. I’m very lucky to have two such rewarding careers.

DC: We’ve mentioned your time travel that’s coming out in May, Daring Time. Is this your first time travel? Did you find that paranormal element any more difficult than others you’ve written to date? Or was it maybe easier to write?

BK: I do! I’m probably more excited about Daring Time coming out in May than I ever have been for a book. It is my first time travel, and I cann’t say I’ve ever had so much fun writing a book. I’ve lived in downtown Chicago for the past seventeen years of my life, and Daring Time became kind of a personal tribute to a city that I’ve grown to love to so much. This city has really entered the fabric of my life.

Daring Time is what my editor calls a ‘paranormal light.’ So, the Subtle Lovers series, for instance, has a much heavier paranormal element than Daring Time. Daring Time combines many genres, though, as I suppose many time travels do—contemporary, paranormal, historical, and even a suspense/crime drama.

DC: Would you tell us a little about Daring Time too?

BK: It’s the story of a young vice detective who unexpectedly—and strangely—inherits a Prairie Avenue mansion from an elderly friend. He begins to see an elusive, beautiful woman in the house. His research tells him it’s a woman who was murdered in the year 1906. Desire creates a conduit between them and through it, he travels back to the early nineteen hundreds to save her. There are many parallels between the two time periods—for instance, the man the hero and his partner are trying to bring in for a white slavery operation in the year 2008 is the very same soul responsible for the heroine’s abduction in the year 1906.

I had the opportunity to tour several Prairie Avenue mansions to prepare for this book. The historic district came vibrantly alive for me. I’d love to do a series of time travels associated with the Prairie Avenue district, which to me was as much as a beautiful ‘true’ fantasy as the Chicago World’s Fair and the White City.

Excerpt of Daring Time:

“This professor guy must have liked you a hell of a lot to leave you a mansion,” Ramiro muttered, a hint of envy flavoring his tone.

“I was knocked flat on my ass when Alistair told me what he planned, but there was nothing I could say to change his mind. He insisted I was doing him a favor by taking it. The value of the house is appreciating hugely because of the real estate development in this area. Alistair’s lawyers advised him to reduce his taxable estate with a gift.”

“Some gift. Better he’d left you some cash, though.”

Ryan stepped into a room and flipped on a light. He studied the large spacious bedroom suite, the plaster ceilings and intricately carved mantel. Alistair knew Ryan loved Chicago history. He must have guessed how much Ryan would appreciate the mansion.

“Cash’s got nothing on this place.”

Ramiro snorted. “They broke the mold when it comes to you, Daire. Six foot and four inches of pure pushover. At least to little kids and stray animals. Can’t say the same about you when it comes to assholes like Jim Donovan.”

“You wouldn’t want me any other way.”

“Who wants you? I’m shackled to you,” Ramiro grumbled.

They stepped into the bedroom. Ryan ran his hand admiringly over the carved mahogany mantel. Unlike the majority of the house, this room retained some furniture—stuff that looked to be the same vintage as the house, Ryan realized with a sense of amazement. The green and white floral wallpaper beneath the wainscoting had faded but still retained a fresh, feminine charm. Obviously the bedroom had once belonged to a woman.

The foot and headboard of a brass bedstead leaned against the wall between two antique mahogany tables. Ryan fingered the cool metal thoughtfully. The brass needed to be cleaned but the bed was perfectly intact. An image of himself polishing the brass and putting together the bed for his own mattress flashed vividly into his mind’s eye.

He’d be nuts to even consider moving into this place.

“Look at this. Looks like something you’d have your nose buried in.” Ramiro held up an old leather bound book that he’d found in one of the table drawers. The color of the once crimson leather had faded to a dull dark red.

“Shakespeare’s sonnets,” Ryan murmured. He owned a copy of his own, nearly as well read as this old tome. Ryan had cultivated a love of Shakespeare from his father that had been nourished by Alistair. The book parted to a well-worn gold-leafed page when he opened it. He immediately recognized the one hundred and sixteenth sonnet.

He raised the book toward his face and inhaled. His brow furrowed at the scent of gardenias mixing with the odor of leather and mildew.

“I’ll bet you can get a couple grand for this old chest, Daire. People pay out their asses for antiques. Holy shit, check it out.”

Ramiro moved aside from the opened door of the massive mahogany wardrobe so that Ryan could see the full-length mirror attached on the inner side of the door. The frame had been carved into a meticulous iris design beneath the gilt. Time had taken its toll on the mirror itself. Six or so inches all along the exterior had gone foggy with age. Only the center portion reflected true. Still, the mirror was so huge that Ryan didn’t have to stoop his tall frame to see his face in the reflection.
Only it wasn’t his face that he saw. He started in surprise.

“Jesus.”

He whipped around so fast that Ramiro jerked back in alarm.

“What?” Ramiro asked. The whites of his brown eyes showed as his gaze shifted warily around the room and then back to Ryan. “What’s wrong, man?”

Ryan turned back to the mirror, this time seeing his own bloodless face and greenish-blue eyes staring back at him.

“You didn’t see her?”

“See who?”

“That woman. She was just right here, standing in front of me. I saw her in the mirror.” He quickly inspected the empty wardrobe, scanned the bedroom and rushed to the door.
The hallway stood empty and silent, the dozens of closed doors along both walls reminding him of watchful eyes.

“There’s no one here but us, Daire,” Ramiro said from just behind him.

Ryan shook his head. He knew what he’d seen with his own two eyes: a stunning, lithesome-limbed beauty with pale, flawless skin and a long mane of soft, curling dark hair hanging loose down her shoulders and back.

The same woman he’d imagined briefly in the ballroom, he realized. But this had been different. In the ballroom it had just been like a super-vivid flash of his imagination. This had been real.

Realer than real.

Laughter had curved her lush, dark pink lips. She’d worn a sheer negligee, the bottom of which barely covered the dark nest of hair between her slender thighs. She might as well have been standing there naked for as much good as the nightgown did. The only other thing that adorned her flawless skin was a locket hanging around her neck. Ryan could still see perfectly with his mind’s eye the detail of the filigree carved into the silver and the throb of the woman’s pulse at her throat.

“No. I definitely saw her,” Ryan insisted firmly, but even as he said it, he began to question himself.

He’d seen the front of her in the mirror…as though she’d stood directly before him with her back to him.

His breath froze on an inhale.

There hadn’t been anyone standing in front of him. She’d just been in the mirror, staring out at him as if the space between the gilded frame had been a doorway not a pane of glass. He crossed the room and touched the surface of the mirror. Despite the bizarreness of what had just happened, he didn’t really believe he’d feel anything but the cool, smooth surface of the glass.

Shock jolted through him for the second time that evening when the molecules of his fingers seemed to meld with those of the mirror. He wondered if it hadn’t been his imagination when a second later he pressed his fingertips against a solid pane of glass.

“You really didn’t see anyone?” he asked Ramiro as he turned around.

Ramiro shook his head.

There was no way in hell Ryan wouldn’t have noticed the back of that woman if she stood in front of him. That flimsy excuse for a nightgown wouldn’t have completely covered her bare ass.
Uh uh—not a possibility. As a healthy, red-blooded male, Ryan knew for a fact he would have noticed that.

“Dios, Daire. I think you saw a ghost.”

Ryan shot Ramiro an annoyed look. “I didn’t see a ghost. She was perfectly solid.”

Perfectly gorgeous.

He recalled the startled expression in her velvety black eyes. “She looked as surprised to see me as I did her,” Ryan said.

“What’d she look like?”

A pair of full, shapely breasts and succulent, fat nipples pressing against transparent cloth that did nothing to hide their rosy hue flashed into Ryan’s mind’s eye. The potent eroticism of the recalled image made his cock jerk in his boxer briefs.

What’d she look like? Edible. Delicious. Like an angel on a mission of sin.

“Dark hair. Dark eyes,” he muttered. For some reason he felt hesitant about sharing even a basic description of the woman with Ramiro.

“You saw a ghost all right. This house is haunted,” Ramiro declared as he glanced around, his feet shifting nervously.

Ryan couldn’t help but grin. “I thought you were a big, bad vice detective. Since when are you scared of a little tiny female?”

Ramiro gave him an insulted look. “Ever since the ‘little tiny female’ is dead.”

“She’s not dead.”

Ramiro looked a little taken aback by Ryan’s hard tone. “Whatever, man.” Ramiro shivered and started toward the door. The image of his brawny partner shuddering reflexively struck Ryan as markedly odd, not to mention alarming for some reason.

“The only time I saw you get so pale was when you got shot,” Ramiro said. “Take my advice and sell this place quick as you can. I’ll take the likes of a slimy rat like Anton Chirnovsky any day versus a haunted house. Come on. Crenshaw will be waiting for us at Bureau Headquarters. We’re making sure Chirnovsky has his story straight and is in good voice before we strap the wires on him for Donahue’s downfall this weekend.”

Ryan closed the heavy wardrobe door with a brisk bang, perhaps hoping to shatter the fey spell wrought by the vision of the stunning woman. He didn’t believe in ghosts and he was every bit as eager to nail Jim Donahue for human trafficking as Ramiro was.

Still, he lingered in the doorway, casting his gaze around the empty bedroom warily before he shut out the light.

DC: You’ve quite a number of books published in the last couple of years. Have you found it difficult to come up with storylines, have a problem with writer’s block, or something equally scary? Or has the excitement of it all kept the creative juices flowing with no problem at all?

BK: You know, Sandy, I thank my lucky stars at this point in my life it’s the latter. I realize it likely won’t always be that way, but I’ll have to take my earlier advice and celebrate the moment while it’s here.

DC: What’s next on the horizon for Beth Kery?

BK: My next book is Through Her Eyes from Ellora’s Cave on April 29. I have several books coming out this year from Berkley: Daring Time on May 5; Sweet Restraint on July 7; Paradise Rules on October 6, followed by Release in February 2010. Beyond that, I’d be happy to have the opportunities to keep on writing, if anyone wants to give them to me.

Favorite paranormal author?
Mary Stewart

Contemp?
Sandra Brown

Historical?
Margaret Atwood (also a favorite for futuristic)

Favorite paranormal book?
Probably The Hollow Hills by Mary Stewart. I’ve re-read it a million times.
If Time Travel is ‘paranormal,’ then Time and Again by Jack Finney.

Contemp?
Any old Loveswept or Bantam book by Sandra Brown, like Temperature’s Rising or A Whole New Light. I feel as if I learned romance and steam from Sandra. I like her new stuff, too, but her old stuff creates such a sense of nostalgia and longing in me. I told someone once in an interview, if you want to get most of my stuff in a nutshell, it’s Sandra Brown gone erotic. From my opinion of course, not anyone else’s–like her fans or Sandra herself.

Historical?
Oh, reverting from romance again, sorry. Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood.

Lightning Round:

- dark or milk chocolate?
Milk.
- smooth or chunky peanut butter?
Smooth
- heels or flats?
Heels (although my nieces roll their eyes at me as they look darling in their flats.)
- coffee or tea?
Coffee with cream only.
- summer or winter?
Summer.
- mountains or beach?
Mountains.
- mustard or mayonnaise?
Mustard—spicy.
- flowers or candy?
Flowers.
- pockets or purse?
Purse.
- Pepsi or Coke?
Diet Pepsi

- ebook or print?
Doh! Print probably, until I get used to be my lovely Kindle anyway.

And because we like these:

1. What is your favorite word?
Lustrous.
2. What is your least favorite word?
Was (Yes, I still use it too much.)
3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
People who are scared, but do it anyway…even if it’s not pretty.
4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
People who act like they know everything.
5. What sound or noise do you love?
I live in the city. My white noise machine signals relaxation.
6. What sound or noise do you hate?
Pounding nails, garbage trucks….anything cacophonous.
7. What is your favorite curse word?
Fuck.
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
FBI agent.
9. What profession would you not like to do?
Teacher—not because I don’t appreciate them enormously. I just come from a family of teachers and professors and wanted to do something different.
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you
arrive at the Pearly Gates?
“I’m so proud of you—you took a real chance to get here!”
DC: Beth, thank you for chatting with us today.  It’s been a pleasure!

Sandy M’s review of Flirting in Traffic by Beth Kery
Contemporary Romance published by Cerridwen Press 5 Mar 09

What a sweet, lovely story this is. I’ve been a fan of Ms. Kery’s for a while now, and while I enjoy her paranormals and erotic books, her contemps are my favorites, and Flirting just went to the top of the list for me. We get a strong hero and heroine, each vulnerable when it comes to relationships, but this couple doesn’t let a good thing get away from them. You just feel the love.

Esa is a doctor, a lot of her patients older folks, and lately her sister and best friend have been telling her she’s becoming an old stick in the mud herself, not the fun person she used to be. To Esa, her life is safe. She’s had a couple of relationships end badly and it’s just better to be safe than hurt again. She’s just not like her sister, who’s known as Kitten, is editor of Metro Sexy, a magazine for young Chicagoans, and drives a flashy sports car. But when driving said car one night by the construction zone on Chicago streets where Scheduled Traffic Flirtation is on the rise, Esa gets an eyeful of the best man candy she’s seen in a long time. Taking her for the sex kitten the car and its license plate suggests, that handsome construction worker lets Esa know he’s interested too.

Finn is only interested in a quick fling, however, due to his recent breakup with a fiance he thought he knew. She dropped him faster than he could blink when he opted out of his lucrative architecture firm he help found to keep his family business in the black after his father and uncle passed away within months of each other. Seeing the nasty side of a woman isn’t what Finn needs, so just having some fun sex is good enough for him right now. Especially with an uninhibited sex kitten.

These two do enjoy some great sex. That’s one thing that Ms. Kery does extremely well – hot, sizzling, steamy, go-for-it-all love scenes. These are some of her best in this book. I even liked the absence of anal sex in this book. Not a thing wrong with that particular part of sex, but it seems to show up in practically every book out there anymore and it’s nice to have a break from it. But don’t worry, Finn is still demanding in bed and won’t have a thing to do with vanilla sex.

I love Finn. He’s his own man, loves his family and would do anything for them, is as sexy as can be. Esa may have gotten herself into a rut, but there’s plenty of spirit in her to be brought out by the right person and when she finds Finn, she realizes too late she should have been more honest with him so she wouldn’t be close to losing the best thing that’s ever happened to her. I like how they talk things out, own up to their mistakes to make things right, and continue on to do the best they can in life.

There’s a lot of other fun in between all this that helps make this book quite an enjoyable read. If you haven’t read Ms. Kery, definitely try this book or even Exorcising Sean’s Ghost, another of her best.

Grade: A

Summary:
.
She went off like a red-hot firecracker on his foyer floor, then vanished.
.
Esa never intended to participate in her best friend’s unorthodox dating scheme – flirting with hunky construction workers in Chicago traffic. Her thoughts changed when she saw a long, lean slice of heaven strutting around the side of the highway. For him, she would be the carefree sex kitten her borrowed car with its suggestive license plates implied she was.
.
Though smarting from the wounds of a recent break-up, Finn can’t resist the tempting redhead driving the come-and-get-me car, flashing him contemptuous looks with those brandy-colored eyes. The lure of taming the feisty little kitten is just too great to deny…
.
Reader Advisory: This book contains smoking hot, sexy scenes.
.
Read an excerpt.

Shannon C.’s review of Burning Spiral by Edita A. Petrick
Paranormal romantic suspense eBook released by Cerridwen Press 7 Aug 08

I like science fiction, and I like paranormal stories. Anyone who has read even a few of my reviews knows this. I also like it when an author successfully mixes genres. That being said, Edita Petrick’s not quite there yet, but she shows a lot of promise, and I am hoping her next book will be even better. 

The murders that Carly, our homicide detective heroine, is investigating are definitely out of the ordinary. All are young men named Michael who drive Ultimas. All of them have a four-inch column of flesh removed with precision from their bodies, and all have strange topographical maps tattooed on their faces. Carly and her partner are pretty sure they’re dealing with something not altogether human, but what can they do with this information? Complicating things further are Carly’s ex-husband, a scumbag if ever there was one, a new romance in her life, and her worries about her children.

Let’s start with what I did like. I loved Carly. She’s snarky and funny, and what’s more, fully and completely human. I felt like I could totally run into her in any police station anywhere. I also believed her struggles with her ex-husband, and the parts where she is allowed to be a mother, and where she deals with her ex’s constant controlling tactics rang very genuine. I also loved the romance, which, while not as developed as some aspects of the plot, was still important, and I was glad to see Carly get her happiness.

The mystery plot, on the other hand, was entertaining but lacking. I couldn’t quite maintain enough of a sense of credulity to take it seriously, and I felt it was way too ambitious. There were also some stylistic issues that bugged me. I felt like we got to hear more about what was going on from Carly’s mouth than see it all with her eyes. And there were some scene cuts that just completely baffled me. The characters would go talk to someone important, and then we’d cut to after the conversation with them summarizing things. I also hated the end, which tried too hard to be cutesy and was mostly just eyeroll-inducing.

I don’t know if this is a debut effort for Ms. Petrick, but I have a feeling that some of the things that bothered me about this book could be fixed in future novels. I can’t recommend this one particularly strongly, but as I said, this author is definitely one to watch.

Grade: C

Summary:
A trip to the morgue in the middle of the night is routine work for Detective Sergeant Caroline Osych of the Chicago Police Department. The problem is that lately, every murder victim heading for the morgue is a young man named Michael who drives a Japanese import. The killer’s MO is troublesome too—five pounds of flesh vaporized from victims’ chests and a fluorescent map tattoo on their faces are not everyday occurrences.

Caroline must deal not only with the string of bizarre murders but a vengeful ex-husband, his alcoholic heiress child bride, a manipulative and sleazy FBI inspector and an enigmatic soldier with sexy blue eyes. The stark realization that the killer is not her contemporary is not nearly as terrifying as the seeping suspicion that the final and ultimate target may be her children, living with their father and his new wife.

Read an excerpt.

Sandy M’s review of Any Time, Darlin’ by Julia Barrett by Julia Barrett
Contemporary Romance ebook released by Cerridwen Press 30 Oct 08

This is one of those books that has parts you like and then it has parts you really don’t care for.  It always seems too that those latter parts are what ends up making a book just an average read.  I may remember most of what happened a day or so after finishing this one and while writing this review, but I really don’t think I’ll be able to recall anything about it next week.

The biggest thing that bothered me in the beginning was the fact that the hero, who is a paramedic and helps rescue the heroine after she’s been beaten, has an immediate reaction/connection to her. She’s only seventeen years old.  As much as I liked and maybe even admired the hero because of who he is and his profession, I just couldn’t get past the bit that he wants this young girl, especially in her condition.  It just didn’t sit right with me.  Now, later in the book a friend does spell it out for him that because of everything she’s gone through and due to her age, he needs to back off and leave her alone, let her get her life together, she needs time, the usual you get in a romance novel.  Being the man he is, he does take that advice to heart and four years pass before they see one another again.

You’d think that since he did eventually do the honorable thing, and he even questions his attraction to her himself, that that would have helped me out with my dislike of that aspect of the book, but for me it just came too late in the story.  I already had that thought in my head way too long before his honor stepped up, so that idea of it all just didn’t work for me.  Also, the dialogue in the beginning of the book seemed off, the conversations sounded awkward at points.  And the characters did and said things that seemed contrary to what was known of them at certain times in the first half of the book.

But then there was a nice turnaround and the second half of the book was actually not bad at all.  This is the four years later and Jake and Devlin come face to face after all they’d been through together.  She’s still young, 22 (he’s 29), but at least that sat better in the whole scheme of things for me. I really liked the fact that they didn’t beat around the bush after being apart for so long.  They knew individually they had feelings for one another and from the moment of renewed eye contact, those feelings were still there and they barely made it to the airport parking lot before they had their hands all over each other, which was actually a pretty darned good scene.  In fact, the love scenes in this book were all pretty darned good; the one in the garden at the bridal shower is my favorite.  It wasn’t all sex in getting to know one another again, however.  They did talk and did some of the normal things couples would do upon being reacquainted.

The ending came and went little too quickly for me.  A good portion of the book is spent waiting for the villain to return to exact his revenge, a lot of it from his point of view, but once he gets back into town there’s more scenes of the preparation of his revenge than his actually executing it.  When he finally gets his hands on Devlin again, it seemed to be all over before it began.  It just wasn’t balanced enough with all his other goings-on leading up to that point.  I did like the majority of the secondary characters, with the exception of Janice, Jake’s ex-girlfriend.  The author tried to redeem her in the end, but it was just too late by that time.  I didn’t like her one bit, though I am still glad she had a conscience when it was called for.  I also think a couple of the stunts she pulled to get back at Jake and Devlin were just too much, especially the over-the-top scene at the mall with Devlin.

There’s just too many things that didn’t quite work for me to grade it any higher.

Grade: C-

Summary:

A young runaway is found unconscious. Jake McKenna is one of the first responders. She’s desperately ill and has been beaten and sexually assaulted. Jake saves her life and is determined to protect her from the man who is equally determined to destroy her. Ultimately Jake realizes he must allow her to make her own decisions about her future, though it breaks his heart.

Devlin Barre survived the destruction of everything she held dear then learns she has been given into the care of the very person who stole her life. Her risky escape nearly kills her. One man brings her back, Jake. She loves him, but he has his own path to travel. Devlin refuses to become a burden. Brokenhearted, she leaves to rebuild her life.

Years later Jake and Devlin meet again. Has their connection survived? What of the monster who attempted to destroy Devlin? He’s still waiting for the opportunity to finish what he started.

Read an excerpt.

Sandy M’s review of Duke Pretender by Sharon Lanergan
Historical Romance ebook published by Cerridwen Press 26 Jun 08

I started out liking this book.  Unfortunately, this is one of those books where it doesn’t take long for all the little things that irritate you to add up and nearly spoil the entire story.  If there had been but a few of those, it wouldn’t have been so bad, of course.  But there’s just too many to overlook, too many that send the majority of your enjoyment right out the window.

The premise of mistaken identity isn’t a new one, especially when it comes to a second son impersonating his older brother, the duke.  In this case it’s the heroine, Angela, who makes the mistake of thinking the gentleman she’s just met is the Duke of Stratford.  She’s the vicar’s daughter from Lower Pennington, a small village that no one in London has ever heard of.  When her father is taken ill, Angela travels to the city to do a little of his charity work on the docks and while there runs into the usual ruffians.

It’s Jack Thorndike who comes to her rescue and she’s immediately smitten with him.  Fortuitously Jack losses a glove in her carriage when dropping him off at home, a large mansion on the really good side of town, which only cements her erroneous thoughts of his rank in society.  Returning his glove a week later, Angela is more than sure this man is the one for her.

This is the first little something that just didn’t ring true in the story for me.  Angela is a vicar’s daughter.  She’s been up brought up more chaste than any other debutante in the country.  But she comes on to Jack like she’s done it numerous times before.  Even if it is love at first sight for her, this is just a little too much, especially considering she’s only met the man twice in a week’s time.  She shouldn’t even know how to come on to him, let alone actually do it.

This happens several times throughout the book, one of which Jack finally tells her she’s not the woman for him because he believes she deserves better than the likes of him.  At this point another of those little details pops up.  They go back and forth between being angry at one another because of the current situation to moon-eyed and in lust in the blink of an eye.  There was just too much ping-ponging going on in too short a time span to make it believable and it ended up sounding silly than anything else.

Jack is the best part of the story.  Although he keeps saying he’s going to tell Angela the truth, something comes up and he gets sidetracked, pulled into the lives of the folks in Lower Pennington.  (They called it LP and for some reason that just plain irked me.)  Jack has always been compared to his drunk of a father, a man no one liked, so he’s of the belief if he’s going to have to live with the accusations he might as well live the life.  He’s not a total rake, but he’s had his fun.

Thus, because he so admires his older brother, Simon, hero of Duke’s Project, he basks in the respect and kindness of those calling him Your Grace.  He has every intention of telling the truth to everyone, not just Angela, and then hightailing back to London, but he becomes so ensconced in their lives – and finds that’s exactly what he’s been looking for — that he just can’t get the word out whenever he tries.  We know, of course, eventually the truth will come out and not when he wants it to, and this is when he realizes he’s made the biggest mistake of his life and he’s going to lose Angela.  Personally, I don’t think Angela deserves Jack.  I do have to give her kudos for her helpfulness and sincerity she gives her neighbors and friends, but it’s just a little too late to make her any more likable for me.

The other little details that ruined the book for me is the author’s use of words not appropriate for the situation.   An example:

Jack stumbled into Mrs. Franklin. All three ladies quickly put out their gloved hands to steady him.
“Really, Your Grace, have you been drinking this morning? And on a Sunday?” Mrs. Plimpton asked primly.
“No, of course not.” Jack blinked and took a step back, out of the range of their grabbing talons. “Ladies, please. What is this about?”

These three secondary characters are respected elderly women of the village and are just concerned about Jack at this point, reaching out to steady him when he stumbles, just as anyone nearby would do. Having him take a step back so their “grabbing talons” can’t reach him makes them sound like those little old ladies who pat you death when they haven’t seen you for years — or worse. They were being kind but are made to sound predatory or something equally out of character. And this type of thing happens several times throughout the book, which forced me to stop and think about it each time and I just ended up irritated with it all.

I did like all of the secondary characters and we are given an unlikely culprit for the mystery that intrigues and envelopes the village and its occupants.  I just wish Angela had been a little more demure, especially considering the backdrop for the story is 1815 England.  I think Ms. Lanergan’s writing will improve over time and these kinks will be worked out.  Until then, for me there’s just too many of those dreaded little details keeping this book from being a truly enjoyable read.

Grade: D+

Summary:

The endless balls and soirees have Jack Thorndike seeking adventure in the darkest parts of London, moving perilously closer to becoming the reprobate his father was. Until the daughter of a country vicar mistakes him for a duke.

Angela Ainsley believes fate intervened when Jack rescued her. If only she can convince him.

It was never Jack’s intention to pretend to be his brother, the Duke of Stratford, and when Angela invites him to her quaint village, he cannot refuse. Before he knows it, Jack purchases a home in the village. When one of the locals is murdered, Angela and the villagers look to their new neighbor, the Duke of Stratford, to investigate the crime, with Angela acting as his assistant, of course.

Now what once was an innocent omission has turned into an elaborate charade. One he is not sure he should end. If Jack admits he’s been pretending, he may lose Angela. And the feeling of belonging he never knew existed.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

This just in…

Ellora’s Cave is announcing the release of their first hardcover book, Forbidden Fantasies, an anthology, to be released October 18, 2008. “Featuring eight taboo tales from the hottest stars of erotic romance, this book is a big, beautiful anthology published by Simon & Schuster Pocket Books,” Susan Edwards, EC’s Vice President of Media, said.

~ The authors featured in the anthology will be Jaid Black, Cheyenne McCray, Sherri L. King, Sahara Kelly, Jory Strong, Ann Jacobs, Jaci Burton, and Lorie O’Clare.

~ If you’re in the Las Vegas area, there will be a celebration book signing at Barnes & Noble, 8915 W. Charleston, Las Vegas, NV 89117, October 18, 2008, 1:00-2:30 p.m.

~ With the purchase of the new hardcover, you will receive a free Forbidden Fantasies t-shirt at the book signing.

~ A drawing to win a mini laptop computer and receive 25% off all purchases direct from Ellora’s Cave is being held through December 31, 2008. But you must purchase the book between October 14 and 18 to be eligible to win the grand prize.

~ The 25% discount will be good at all four EC sites: Ellora’s Cave, Cerridwen Press, The Lotus Circle, and Jasmine-Jade.

Consider yourself flashed.

Sandy M’s review of Wanderlust by Shelley Munro
Romantic Suspense eBook released by Cerridwen Press 17 Apr 08

I love a lengthy read as much as the next person. But this book went on and on and on and…way too long. I ended up being bored more than I was excited, mystified, turned on, or any other emotion you’d care to work in there. I got through eighteen chapters and just had to call it quits.

Anna is a tour guide for Wanderlust Adventures and her current assignment is in India, ushering passengers around the country in a huge truck named Alice. She has an interesting array of folks traveling with her, but interesting turns to whiny and menacing in short order. The only person worth anything in her tour group and in the book is Sebastian, Anna’s casual lover she meets up with a few times a year for some great sex. He unexpectedly shows up to wander around with her, something she resents initially. She wants him when she wants him and not as part of her work, which she takes very seriously and wants any personal complications left behind. Too bad she didn’t tell her parents that when they decided to send her sister Elizabeth along on the Indian tour.

Gradually strange things begin to happen to the group, including murder. One by one the passengers begin to fall and it takes forever between each event. We get more whining from the female passengers, especially Elizabeth, who we find out doesn’t get along with Anna and never really has. Anna lets her go her own way, she’s an adult, she can live with whatever consequences.

She also finally gives in to Sebastian’s seduction and finally I perked up, although now I forget what chapter that was and how long it took to get there. But Anna goes right back to being Anna, pushing him away while he helps her at every turn, tries to protect her from a stalker and murderer, and has the sexiest grin around. She’s a little too independent if she’s going to keep Sebastian on the back burner for three-quarters of the book.

We also get a glimpse every so often from the culprit’s point of view, which, sorry to say, is just as boring as all the other in-between stuff from Anna’s point of view. It’s like there’s just too many little details that takes us away from the main point too many times. I gave the book one last chance up to the point Sebastian and Anna make love in the shower, which was the second best scene, right after the first time they make love, because she still hadn’t changed enough to keep me interested to get to the end.

Pull out all those unnecessary details, put in a lot more of Sebastian, plus Sebastian pulling out all the stops at seduction and you’d have a much better book. Well, IMHO anyway.

Grade: DNF

Summary:

Not many people live their dream, but I’ve been incredibly lucky. I’m Anna Tietjens, and I work as a tour leader for Wanderlust Adventures.

My current tour is through incredible India. It should be a breeze, except my younger sister is joining in New Delhi. Things are not exactly civil between us — a childhood full of upheaval didn’t help — and our parents have insisted she travel with me or not at all. I see fun times ahead. Now my boyfriend has turned up without warning. Don’t get me wrong. I really like Sebastian Brady. The sex is good, spectacular even, but meeting a few times a year is enough. I mean, I’m not looking for love or happy ever after.

But worst of all is the bad luck I’ve been having recently. One of my passengers died in Syria, and now it looks like my co-driver might have to leave the tour. Despite the exotic location, it’s not exactly smooth sailing, and I’m starting to think someone is out to halt the tour…

Read an excerpt here.

Shannon C.‘s review of Stone of Cruento by Charlene Leatherman
Fantasy romance eBook published by Cerridwen Press 1 May 08

There are good books, books so wonderful I finish them with a sigh and relax into my happy place of reader bliss, books so great I want to visit the world the author has created again and again.

Sadly, Stone of Cruento is not one of these books. In fact, when I was done the only reason I reached my happy place at all was because I was relieved the book was over. Therefore, if you happen to be Charlene Leatherman, a fangirl, friend, or sockpuppet, I would advise either not reading this review or doing so with lots of fortifying booze. Also, if you want to read further, be cautioned that there are spoilers. I try to avoid spoilers, but in this case, I really can’t.

Now that I’ve stuck the disclaimer on top of this review, let me just be blunt. I hated this book. Nothing worked for me–not the characters, not the plot, not the writing style itself, and let’s forget about the romance.

The plot is a great big mess. We meet our plucky, strong-willed, resourceful and probably beautiful heroine, half-vampire Claren, who basically acts as a one-woman neighborhood watch. She lives with her best friend Tina who largely exists to provide moral support and then disappears conveniently from Claren’s thoughts for large chunks of the story, and Belgretor, an ogre who rescued her shortly after she became a vampire. Anyway, Claren can’t control the vampiric lust, so she ends up snacking on an inconvenient number of humans and comes under the attention of the vampire king, who wants a favor done. All she has to do is give the vampire king a stone trapped on an alien world and he says he’ll leave her alone. But soon Claren is embroiled in a conflict on the alien world of Cruento, along with the vampire’s viceroy, the sinfully sexy Daniel, her ogre friend and protector, and a centaur whom she ends up marrying.

Yes, kids, you read that right. Claren has not one, not even two, but three love interests. I also fully admit that the whole three men, one woman dynamic is why I requested the book for review in the first place, so, really, I have only myself to blame that it didn’t work out.

Claren herself is probably the most well-developed character of the four, so it’s rather a shame that she’s a Mary Sue. And she develops superpowers at an alarming rate throughout the course of the book. I never particularly felt that there was any conflict with her character, and she seemed entirely capable of beating down the forces of evil without breaking a sweat.

As for her men, they’re archetypes. There’s the young, hotheaded one, the beautifully arrogant sexy one, and the big dumb sweet lummox who inevitably gets smart as the book progresses. Other than that, I felt there wasn’t enough about any of them to make me identify with them, or, for that matter to find any of them particularly hot, so the romance never connected. Also, and here is where that spoiler comes in, one of them dies. He doesn’t even get a heroic death–it’s rather ignominious in fact, but it is something to keep in mind should you be wondering how the menage a quatre thing gets resolved.

The other thing about the romance that bugged me is that there weren’t really enough sex scenes that didn’t take place inside of dreams. Dream sex and weird voyeur sex is all we get, and since all of it was rather mystical, it didn’t work for me.

The plot is rather disjointed too. It feels episodic, which mostly I don’t mind, except that in this case I felt that events didn’t flow well from one to another. Also, certain key scenes were not given enough detail while we agonize for pages about other events.

The other thing I noticed was the writing style. Every sentence felt the same. They were short. They were choppy. There was a distinct feel of “Claren did this. Then Daniel did that. Then Belgretor did the other thing.” I would have killed for some more variety, even some additional punctuation, not to mention a few dependent clauses. I don’t know if this is the sort of thing, though, that most readers would notice. I was listening to the book on one of my gadgets, which reads the book with synthesized speech, so the choppiness of the writing was really noticeable and I kept hoping someone would take the author aside and tell her the advice every English teacher has given me since high school–read your stuff aloud. You might be able to solve that problem.

With characters I actively disliked, a plot that was, quite frankly, a mess, a romance I didn’t buy at all, and some stylistic issues, I’m afraid I can’t find anything to recommend about this book.

Grade: F

Summary:

Claren Maxwell felt she was misplaced, like she belonged somewhere else. Even as a vampire she was not like the others. Claren didn’t like to kill. She avoided intimacy with human men. It was too dangerous. Claren wanted to fit in. She wanted to be loved and protected. So she dreamed, but the dreams were becoming too real. She dreamt of three men. In real life she would have to choose one, right?

The three men in her dreams materialize. Belgretor, a giant of a man from Cruento, protects her. Daniel is a vampire from Earth who desires her. Jamros is a centaur from Cruento who is drawn to her by destiny. Together the four of them must find a way to stop the destruction of Earth and Cruento.

Can Claren choose between the three men she loves while saving the worlds she inadvertently put in jeopardy?

Reader Advisory: Set in the same world as Prophecy of Vithan, Stone of Cruento contains graphic sex that includes ménages à trois.

You can read an excerpt here.

Shannon C.’s review of The Hollowing by N.D. Hansen-Hill
Sci-Fi novel eBook published by Cerridwen Press 17 Apr 08

I had a hell of a time getting into The Hollowing not because it was a bad book, but because for some reason, probably owing to the fact that Cerridwen Press is an imprint of Ellora’s Cave I was expecting a romance. Naturally, I have no problems at all with non-romance books–I’ll try and read most things once, but it took me about a quarter of the book to shift my expectations from paranormal romance to something more along the lines of horror-tinged science fiction.

For horror-tinged science fiction, The Hollowing is a pretty good read. The plot is intricate–too intricate to describe with any real flair here, although I’ll give it the old college try–and the characters were likeable. I’m intrigued enough by what I’ve read that I’ll probably pick up another book by Ms. Hansen-Hill. But the book loses points because it didn’t engage me as quickly as I wish it had.

As I said, the plot is complex. It centers around Shawn Walsh. Shawn has always had strange abilities which he’s tried to suppress. But soon it becomes clear that Shawn needs to use his abilities to prevent a tragedy from striking. He is aided along the way–albeit reluctantly–by his friends, his cousin Dos, Rhys, a science fiction writer, and Jack, a doctor.

I really liked the characters. I quickly got a sense of who Shawn, Rhys, Dos and Jack were, and they were all complex individuals. Shawn in particular is very well-drawn, managing to be an honorable man despite some pretty horrendous circumstances. And the relationship between these four men felt authentic and genuine. What’s more, their speech and actions felt very authentically male, which is a nice change from some of the characters I’ve read about.

The time-travel element–which it’s not a spoiler to admit is the major paranormal element–works pretty well. There were moments when I got lost though, moments when I wasn’t sure what was actually happening when and where and to whom. I thought that Ms. Hansen-Hill’s time travel theory was more well thought out than some I’ve seen. The villains are a bit cartoonishly psycho, but they are, again, slightly better fleshed out than some villain types I’ve read.

Except for the fact that the story took some time to really engage me, I do recommend this book for any science fiction lovers out there who are willing to experience a different and more unusual type of paranormal story. It didn’t wow me with its brilliance, but it was a nice change from some of the other offerings I’ve read from this publisher lately.

Grade: B-

     Summary:

     Shawn Walsh’s problems don’t arise from his own troubled past but from someone else’s. Fires, floods, battles, bone-rattling quakes — he’s frequently an unwilling and horrified participant in events long gone. For when The Hollowing claims him, his present dissolves.

     Unfortunately, his problems have everything to do with family and his rather questionable heritage — with a birthright he’d rather know nothing about. Lost and tossed about by destiny, trapped and extorted by those long deceased, he’s tired of playing a victim.

     And he refuses to give up hope. There is still a chance he’ll be able to resolve his issues without dying, given the right place… And enough time.

     Read an excerpt.

You can read an excerpt here

Shannon C.’s review of Satisfaction Guaranteed by Isabel Drake
Contemporary romance eBook released by Cerridwen Press Jan 08

I knew going into this book that I wasn’t going to like it. After about paragraph two, I had to stop, remove my jaw from the floor, sigh and shake my head. After all, the e-mail I got from Sybil with the review copy of this book said, “It’s probably more Laura’s taste than yours.” Did I listen to Sybil? Of course not. That will teach me! So, naturally, I only had myself to blame for continuing to read.

Elizabeth Sewell wants a change in her life. Finding a man is on her list of goals, and if she doesn’t, then her mother, her sisters, even her great-Aunt Alice will try to set her up with whoever is available, which sounds about as appealing to Elizabeth as bathing in Listerine. So she decides to do what you or I would do in this situation, by which, of course I mean, that she marches herself to the office of an escort service.

Only, the escort service isn’t in that office anymore and instead she gets Jack Harley, attorney at law. Since disabusing her of the notion that she walked into the right office would mean there would be no more story, Jack decides to look on Elizabeth as a challenge, and goes along with her assumption that he is a male escort.

First of all, can I just say that Jack Harley is the kind of name only found in a romance novel? Every time I read the name, I tended to picture one of those guys who does the voice-overs for movie trailers saying it. “Jack Harley. Attorney at law.” in this big bass voice of doom.

Anyway, as has become abundantly clear I’m sure from my yattering, I couldn’t get past the initial premise. I thought Jack not telling Elizabeth who he was right away made him come off as really sleazy, and all his hand-wringing about how he didn’t lie to people like that ordinarily just made me roll my eyes and think unfair and uncharitable thoughts about his chosen profession and how, in hindsight, Elizabeth probably shouldn’t have been all that surprised.

As for Elizabeth, we’ve seen her many other times before in other books. Of course she works too hard. Of course she wants to advance in her career and doesn’t have any idea how to attract men. And of course she vacillates between bitchiness and being a doormat, so of course she drove me out of my flipping gourd. A lot of the time I felt like Elizabeth wasn’t so much a character as a place holder for the reader, which of course never works for me when it feels that obvious. She gets to live a lot of female fantasies–she gets a caring man who will bring out her feminine side who she can show off to her family.

Probably because I didn’t buy the initial premise, I had a hard time believing any of the romantic stuff between Elizabeth and Jack. There were a lot of sex scenes for a Cerridwen Press book, and I actually fell asleep reading their first sexual encounter. I wasn’t invested in the characters and didn’t particularly care about their HEA.

As for the secondary characters, most of them are stereotypes in one way or another. I expect Jack’s cousin is sequel-bait, and we have the whole gammut of uncaring bosses, evil co-workers, meddling relatives, and best friends to contend with.

I regret to say that I didn’t enjoy this book at all. With the flat characters, the premise I couldn’t get past, and my general ennui about the whole thing, this is one I can’t recommend.

Grade: F

Workaholic accountant Elizabeth Sewell needs a man. According to her well-laid-out lifeplan, it’s time to find Mr. Right and move on to the next phase of her life — married with children. The problem is, she’s been so busy working her way up the career ladder, she won’t spot Mr. Right even if he’s carrying a neon sign. So, being an organized businesswoman, she comes up with a strategy. She’ll hire a man to teach her what she needs to know to get what she wants.

Disillusioned attorney Jack Harley needs a distraction. He’s left behind a high-pressure job with a prestigious law firm in Dallas and he’s determined to get his life back on track by opening a private practice in Houston. When a sexy brunette mistakes his new office for the recently relocated escort service, he’s stunned silent by her request for a variety of men and experiences. But when she asks him if he’s man enough to uncover what turns her on, he finds his voice in time to accept the challenge.

You can read an excerpt here.

Sandy M’s review of Only You by Laura Glenn
Historical paranormal romance ebook released by Cerridwen Press 28 Feb 08

It was very difficult for me to get into this book. The time travel part of it is pretty good, the way the heroine is thrown back into time and the era the author has chosen to write about. It’s the main characters that fell a little short. There’s not that extra something that makes them characters you love and you’ll remember later.

When these two characters meet after Kaitlyn has traveled back into the time of America’s Civil War, there is an immediate attraction, but then everything moves too fast and these two strangers have their hands all over one another when Kaitlyn should be more worried, frightened, amazed — something — over the fact she’s 200 years in the past. And Gabriel is an officer and a gentleman of his day, so he should be showing a little more restraint so early on. There’s always time later for growing passion and loss of control — at the right time. It just felt like Kaitlyn’s travel isn’t fleshed out enough in the beginning before jumping into the sexual part of the book.

Katilyn and Gabriel are likeable characters. We get to know them only a little bit and we need to know so much more to make us love them. I would have preferred that over the vacillation of Kaitlyn worrying whether Gabriel really cares for her or not. That type of scene is played out once or twice too many. Gabriel even does the same thing but just not quite as often. They need to be delved into much deeper to make us relate to them more than we do.

The secondary characters aren’t bad. I did enjoy Gabriel’s mother, especially when she’s seen through Kaitlyn’s eyes. James Clark is a nice addition for some friction between the main characters. I think Eileen is a character that could have been used to a better extent, especially when we know early on something happens to her, just not what. But I’m thinking that could be a second book for the author. If not, then using her more effectivly and not telling us what happens to her is a grave mistake. I’ll give the author the benefit of the doubt at this point.

I would have liked to have seen some of the action of war from Gabriel’s point of view while he’s actually in the midst of it instead of just thinking about it. Even once would have been fine, just something to show us what it’s like from a soldier’s perspective, especially much later in the book when all Gabriel wants is to get back to Kaitlyn. The one scene we are given is the end result of some fighting and is described quite well, an aftermath of blood and death, and it adds so much to the story. Another scene or two of actual battles would have added a lot more depth.

As an aside, there’s way too much eye rolling going on in this book. Between practically every character rolling their eyes at another character in exasperation or either Gabriel’s or Kaitlyn’s eyes rolling back in their heads in the throes of passion, I started rolling my eyes every time that phrased was used after the first couple. It’s apparently contagious. There’s so many other ways to express sexual heat or irritation with another character, I couldn’t figure out why this one way is used so darned often. It gets a bit monotonous after a time.

If Kaitlyn and Gabriel were more developed to make me care more than I did, this would have been a much better book. As it stands, it’s only average.

Grade: C

Summary:

     As soon as Kaitlyn McCann finished her PhD dissertation on women’s contributions to the American Revolution she would be on her way to a comfortable and predictable existence in the world of academia–just as her father had wanted. A life stuck in a library all day was the perfect routine for a shy, aspiring professor.

     But when a strange fog sweeps her two hundred years into the past and into the arms of the heavily-muscled, gallant older brother of one of her research subjects, she begins to see how much pleasure can be found in unpredictability.

     Irish-born Captain Gabriel O’Connor is a man who values his control. But when he rescues Kaitlyn from an attack by drunken soldiers, the combination of brains and beauty in this one headstrong woman is enough to send his well-ordered life into a tail spin. All he has to do is survive hell to ensure she remains his forever.

     Read an excerpt.

[Ed.:  I drooled all over my keyboard looking at that cover.  Here it is in larger format for the visually impaired (a.k.a. the rest of you pervs who join me in my lust).]

Sandy M’s review of The Gelidus Factor by Patricia S. Otto
Contemporary paranormal romance released by Cerridwen Press 7 Feb 08

I’ve been getting a little jaded when it comes to ebooks. Most I read just aren’t high quality writing, compelling storylines, intriguing characters. But when I find a little jewel every now and again, my faith is restored. This ebook is one of those — very nicely written, a unique paranormal element, characters I loved, a mystery that kept me interested and turning pages, humor that made the read fun, and dialogue that said exactly what it should have at just the right moment.

This story had to be well thought out before pen was put to paper. It’s one of those cosmic stories full of karma where things are related no matter how menial or far-fetched it seems.  Although it doesn’t get overly complicated, even with just a few players you have to pay attention once the action begins.

Roz’s meditations have turned into a form of time travel, but she never leaves her time; she goes into a trance-like state during her meditation and she’s in another time and place with one common denominator — an antique bed she found in the attic of the new home she and son moved into in trying to start a new life after the death of her husband a couple of years earlier. At first she isn’t able to control the events, she’s sent wherever her mind or whatever power is giving her the gift decides to send her. We never learn exactly what it is that causes her traveling. Later, however, she is able to control her destination to a certain point, which is what gets her in trouble in more ways than one.

Mac is also starting a new life after the death of his family in a car accident. He’s picked himself up after binging on a number of excesses for a year or two, knows his wife would be disappointed in him, so he goes back to teaching. In his sixth grade class is Roz’s son, Walter. I also liked how the story even used Walter as a connection to Roz’s meditation.

When Mac and Roz meet, this is when the story begins to come together in a beautiful weaving of connected incidents over the course of time to bring them into each other’s lives and get closure on a tragic story handed down through ownership of the antique bed. Even when Mac wants Roz to find out about a mysterious man who was present when his wife and son died and that act drives a wedge between them, the story never slows down or gets tripped up.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. No gratuitous sex to get through. In fact, no sex until the very end when the story is wrapped up and Mac and Roz can truly come together and enjoy their relationship. Mystery and suspense coupled with sorrow and romance is the perfect combination.

Grade: A-

Summary:

     Ever since a freak accident took his wife and son, middle-school history teacher Mac McLeod has sunk into an abyss of booze and unanswered questions. Miserable and desperate, he vows to turn his life around. When he meets Roz Liddy, he is instantly attracted to her and hopes that, maybe, he can finally move on with his life.

     Roz is hiding a secret. Since moving to her new house, her normally soothing meditations have become psychic voyages into history. At first, she must prove to herself she isn’t crazy. Then she has to convince Mac. When her abilities are discovered by the Gelidus Society-a group of men dedicated to verifying history and solving cold cases-Roz realizes her gift may be important to humanity. On top of that, she may be the one person who can tell Mac what happened to his family. One thing is clear, her psychic abilities will put their new love and their lives in jeopardy.

     Read an excerpt.

Sandy M’s review of Lady’s Wager by Georgie Lee
Historical romance ebook released 3 Jan 08 by Cerridwen Press

I had a difficult time in coming to like the heroine in this book. Charlotte is spunky and opinionated as well as generous and kind when it suits her, but she never listens to advice from those who love her, she vacillates much too often between wanting to have a husband and a family but then telling herself she’ll never marry because she doesn’t trust men, and she waits until it’s nearly too late to get rid of that attitude. I did warm up to her just slightly near the end when her attitude adjustment comes around but also still a little peeved at her for the way she treats the hero.

Because I really like Edward. He has his faults, but at least he says what’s on his mind not only when he’s upset but also in dealing with Charlotte and his growing feelings for her. He apologizes when he’s wrong and doesn’t take any more guff than a man should when dealing with a woman as independent as Charlotte. He shows her tenderness when needed, but he also lets his ire loose when she pushes him too far. It’s his tenderness that won me over.

I think Charlotte’s reason for not wanting to marry is a little thin to begin with, so for her to hang onto it as long as she did is a little much, especially when she finally admits to some feeling for Edward. Granted, he probably shouldn’t have gone as far as he did in his scheme, but, heck, he’s dealing with Charlotte. There’s no other way.

I enjoyed the writing; the descritptions of London and the times had me feeling like I was right in the midst of the goings-on; and, obviously, the characters are developed well enough for me to have such strong reactions. I just wish Charlotte isn’t so stubborn on her one obsession. It makes her seem more of an obnoxious child the majority of the time than the strong woman she also is, especially because of her generosity to her charities. Her maturity later on is nice to see, though.

Grade: C+

From the back cover:

Charlotte Stuart is a headstrong heiress dedicated to charitable causes, who publicly disdains marriage while secretly pining for love.

Edward Woodcliff is a stubborn Viscount who feigns poverty in an effort to find a woman who loves him and not his inheritance.

Sparks fly when these two intractable people meet. They cannot seem to let down their guards long enough to admit their love for one another. All seems hopeless until Edward challenges Charlotte to a wager. If he wins, he wins her hand in marriage. If he loses, then Charlotte is free of him. Now Charlotte must put aside her doubts about his intentions long enough to let Edward into her life and admit that he is the man of her dreams.

Read an excerpt.

Sandy M’s review of Measure of Healing by Jacqueline Roth
Paranormal romance released 17 Jan 08 by Cerridwen Press

I really like the storyline of this book. Brie is a specialist in childhood trauma due to her own trauma when she was young. She saved herself and her brother from a were-cougar attack that left her mother dead and Brie herself bears the scars from the giant claws that came too close. She’s kept her end of the deal she was forced into with the monster who killed her mother — she’s stayed as far away as possible from all things cougar, but now she’s been asked to help a traumatized cougar child, and as much as she hates those big cats, she can’t ignore a child in need. Alejandro is the half human/half cougar who found Tomas and when all his and his family’s efforts to help the child fail, he has no choice but to accept Brie’s help, but he doesn’t believe a human doctor will be able to do a thing for a full-fledged cougar child.

Both Alejandro and Brie have so much hidden trauma in their lives that it’s impossible for them talk and share anything of themselves with each other when they’re cloistered together in helping Tomas. But as Alejandro watches her with the kitten, he is amazed at what Brie is able to accomplish. His defenses are the first to go, but breaking into Brie’s is much more difficult. They’re definitely attracted to one another, but Brie knows if she gives in to that attraction, the monster from her youth will know and come for her. But as Tomas comes out his shell and as he and Alejandro settle deeper into her heart, she knows she’s doomed one way or another.

The way the pasts of these characters are developed is very emotional, all stemming from a wounded child they’re trying to save. There’s plenty of lies, deceit, evilness, twists and turns, shapeshifting, and just enough sensuousness to make this a well-balanced story. The contrast of Alejandro’s family life versus Brie’s solitary life, each with its own consequences, is interwoven quite well throughout the book and gives a nicely developed look at all the characters.

Grade: B+

Summary:

Alejandro Ramirez’s Were-Cougar mother drove him out after his first transformation, leaving him to seek out his human father and find the family his human side craved but that his animal side can never embrace. Now a man, he finds himself responsible for a traumatized Were-Cougar child. When he turns to the Weres for help, they send him to a human.


Dr. Gabriela St. Jerome hates the Cougars with every fiber of her being. But now she must swallow that hatred to work with Alejandro to help this Were child who has been thrown into transformation far too early by the horrific death of his mother. As they are forced together in the remote woods of the North Georgia Mountains, both find their mutual attraction overwhelming. But if Brie gives in to this man and her own passions, it will cost her life.


Read an excerpt.

Sandy M’s review of What Lies Between Them by Jodi Lynn Copeland
Erotic contemporary romance ebook released 29 Nov 07 by Cerrwiden Press

For the most part, I liked this book. Both main characters are strong, they’ve come a long way from their time together ten years past, and they both still have feelings for the other no matter how desperately they deny it to themselves. The storyline isn’t a complicated one, it is feelings and lies that complicates lives in their small hometown.

Matt and Autumn have secrets about their past together that now keeps them apart, plus Autumn has a humdinger of a secret when she returns home and delaying telling Matt is the worst thing she can do. Matt is a man’s man; he’s made something of himself after coming from the wrong side of the tracks, and he sure does look good in a pair of Levis. That makes the already hot love scenes flame up a little bit more. The secondary characters are few, but they spice up the story, especially Autumn’s parents. Her father is always there for her and it’s her mother who gives us extra spiciness in her opinions concerning her daughter’s life.

The story moves along at a pretty good pace, but it does get bogged down by repetition. Autumn’s goal when she returns home is to prove to everyone she’s not the impulsive wild child she was before college. Well, that was pounded into me throughout — over and over again. As was Matt obsessing over Autumn’s deceased husband being the love of her life/soulmate, she’ll never be available, so he might as well give up. I believe an author should have faith that her readers will keep in mind the important parts of the story after they’ve been told something a couple of times. Repeating it over and over only hinders the story’s progression and the reader’s enjoyment.

Along those same lines, I wanted an example of what Autumn had done when younger to make an entire town gossip and look down their noses about her, and perhaps not re-elect her mayor father. I can see where her parents would want to see changes after dealing with her when younger, but I can’t see the town punishing her father for her misdeeds. If I had that example, this probably wouldn’t have bothered me.  However, all I got was Autumn speaking without thinking and throwing herself at Matt and kissing him silly. As fun as that is, it’s not enough.

I did let my slight irritation go because I liked the characters and their dilemma. I liked their squabbles and they way they handled them. I liked Matt in Levis. And I liked the way Autumn took the first step in the solution to their dilemma, especially when she realizes Matt is really serious this time about calling it quits. How they eventually work it out is intelligent, with feeling, and they do it together.

Grade: B-

Blurb: “You didn’t lose me, Matt. You let me go. You walked out when I was ready to spend my life with you.”

They were the last words Matt expected to hear out of Autumn’s mouth, and the only ones that could stop him in his tracks. They were also lies. No one who cared so deeply could fall into another man’s arms days after leaving him behind.

Matt has transcended both Autumn’s deception and his humble beginnings. Now a successful, well-respected rancher, he isn’t about to fall victim to his dreams of the past and back into her arms. Not even if the fire between them still burns…making his dreams seem more like hopes for the future.

Rekindling an old flame was the last thing on Autumn’s mind upon returning to Wyoming after her husband’s death. She should hate Matt, who not only broke her teenaged heart but failed to show up at his one-time best friend’s funeral. Only it isn’t hatred Autumn feels…but desire that threatens to burn beyond control.

Read an excerpt.

Devon’s review of Back to Haunt You by Kate Hill
Contemporary paranormal eBook romance published by Cerridwen Press 25 Oct 07

This book begins with a midnight real estate showing of a New Hampshire mansion. Jerahmy (yes, Jer-ahhh-my) Ward is a telekinetic and telepath, Devlin Carnell is a psychic vampire (he feeds off the energy of others), and Victor Snow is a medium (he sees dead people). The men are looking for a site on which to start an institute for the study of paranormal and psychic phenomena. Having found what they were looking for, the men, along with their colleague Wendy (a faith healer), move to the small town of Wistford to begin their work. 

Morgan Bianchi, part of Wistford’s most eccentric family, is at her wit’s end with her daughter Uma. Uma is also a telekinetic/telepath, and although the Bianchi’s all have psychic talents, Morgan is not able to help her daughter develop and control hers. When the paranormal institute opens, Morgan decides to check it out. They’re probably kooks, but perhaps they could help Uma. The serious but sexy Jerahmy not only offers to counsel Uma, but also offers Morgan a part-time job.

Morgan and Jerahmy are attracted to each other, but their opposite temperaments cause tension. Meanwhile, a series of animal mutilations in the woods are causing the people of Wistford to eye their newest residents suspiciously. As Jerahmy, Morgan, Uma, Devlin, Wendy and Victor deal with personal and professional issues, the danger grows stronger, threatening to destroy one of them.

This book was an interesting blend of mystery, romance, and paranormal. I would characterize it as Urban Fantasy. It presupposes a world where a wide variety of psychics exist, although regular folks are not all aware of them. There is a large cast of characters, with several romantic subplots.

I must admit, I waffled quite a bit over what grade to give it. On the one hand, it was quite entertaining. I read it pretty quickly, given the holiday and all. Whenever I had a free moment, I went back to it. On the other hand, I had several strong criticisms of the book. Let’s get those out of the way.

First off, Jerahmy? Why the cheesy spelling and the extra “h”? Unless you’re an enormous leather clad vampire, no ridiculous and unnecessary spellings, ‘mkay? More troubling was my dislike of the main female, Morgan Bianchi. She was a particular pet peeve of mine, one of those heroines who prides herself on being so unconventional because she dresses “semi-Goth” just like her teenage daughter. When Uma and Morgan spot Jerahmy in a tea room, they think he’s rilly, rilly kewl because he dresses all in black. So they all go to a Cure concert and smoke clove cigarettes, then recite Jim Morrison poems to each other. Not really, but come on. When was being Goth really new and unconventional? I think I was still in grade school. She seemed juvenile to me. Her daughter was too, but she was sixteen, so she’s supposed to be. I did like Jerahmy, he was one of those cold and controlled, but secretly warm and kind types. Their romance developed nicely, but every once in awhile, Morgan did or said something that made me dislike her all over again.

The ending of the book was anticlimactic. Some of it took place offstage, which stopped the momentum. Things got wrapped up very quickly, including Morgan and Jerahmy’s romance. It seemed abrupt, given the amount of time spent developing the characters and plot.

I liked Devlin and Wendy the best. Wendy was raised by bible-thumpers and has the ability to heal. Devlin came from a violent background, and can literally suck the life out of people. The proverbial angel and devil, they were the most interesting characters, and I quite enjoyed their angsty romance. Victor the medium kinda got the shaft. I kept forgetting about him. Victor and his ghosty friend got the least amount of attention, but I wasn’t really missing them either. I just wanted more Devlin and Wendy.

There were things I didn’t like in this book, but I enjoyed it overall and finished it satisfied. The Devlin/Wendy story was left dangling, and I would be interested in reading more about them, should Hill choose to write more. If you like stories about psychics, or are just sick of vampires and shapeshifters, BtHY is worth a try.

Grade: C+

Blurb:

Wistford seems like a typical small New England town. Quiet. Safe. Picturesque.

Now evil has come to Wistford. Circumstantial evidence from several violent crimes points to those involved with a new psychic institution. Jerahmy, a multi-gifted parapsychologist, Devlin, a psychic vampire, and Victor, a medium, fall under the scrutiny of the local police and only three psychic women from the Bianchi family believe they are innocent. If their trust is misplaced, they could become the next victims.

Take a look at the excerpt here.

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