C2 started it off, but I’ve got a list as well!  (And my choices are way better than hers.)  2008 was a great year for books, but here’s my top 10:

The Outlaw Demon Wails (The Hollows, Book Six) by Kim Harrison
Urban fantasy released by EOS 26 Feb 2008

Kim Harrison keeps this series going storng with an entry that solves a lot of ongoing questions and to open new ones. The paperback is now available with a bonus story just in time to reread for the release of White Witch, Black Curse.

Dark Needs at Night’s Edge (The Immortals After Dark, Book Four) by Kresley Cole
Paranormal romance released by Pocket 1 Apr 08

It was a toss-up between this and Dark Desires After Dusk. With this year’s releases, Cole set the bar high for Kiss of a Demon King. Seriously, any paranormal romance fan needs these two on their shelves.

Lament: The Faerie Queen’s Deception by Maggie Stiefvater
Young adult fantasy released by Flux 1 Oct 08

This debut has faeries, violence, music, and romance. What more can one ask for?

Dreaming Again edited by Jack Dann
Speculative fiction anthology released by EOS 30 Sept 08

Australia’s literary scene rocks hardcore. Here some of its best authors serve up 35 excellent stories. This anthology contains no misses.

Generation Dead by Daniel Waters
Paranormal young adult released by Hyperion 6 May 08

Zombies, high school, and sociology come together for a humorous novel that will stay with you for awhile after you finish.

Madhouse (Cal Leandros, Book Three) by Rob Thurman
Urban fantasy released by ROC 26 Feb 08

Just read this series. Please.

Delicious by Sherry Thomas
Historical romance released by Bantam 29 July 08

Another author with two brilliant releases to choose between -this and her debut Private Arrangements. Both are terrific, but only this one makes me hungry. Food porn and romance is a winning combination.

Embrace the Night (Cassandra Palmer series, Book Three) by Karen Chance
Urban fantasy released by ROC 1 Apr 08

This series really hit its stride with this book. Chance also debuted anther series with the excellent Midnight’s Daughter.

Undone by Brooke Taylor
Young adult released by Walker Books for Young Readers 22 July 08

Taylor’s debut is emotionally strong, which any romance reader can appreciate.

Paper Towns by John Green
Young adult released by Dutton Juvenile 16 Oct 08

Green understands the nerd lifestyle, strong females, and what makes a good story. I don’t know if the man is capable of writing a book that isn’t made of win.

Honorable Mentions

Wicked Game by Jeri Smith-Ready
Urban fantasy released by Pocket 13 May 08

Smith-Ready makes her urban fantasy debut with a series that takes an inventive approach towards vampires and adds to the genre.

Tarnished Beauty by Cecilia Samartin
Literary fiction released by Atria 18 Mar 08

This is not self-important literary fiction. It’s simply a beautifully written story.

Gwen’s review of On the Prowl by Patricia Briggs, Eileen Wilks, Karen Chance, and Sunny
Paranormal, Fantasy Anthology released by Berkley 7 Aug 07

Anthologies are interesting, especially when they’re about related topics – in this case, people with two natures - animal and human.  This set of four stories all have critters in common: werewolves, hellhounds, dragons, and tigers. Two of these authors I know something about (Briggs and Wilks), but two were new to me (Chance and Sunny).  It’s interesting to read new authors in this context.  Sometimes they suffer by comparison, and sometimes they benefit by getting a new audience.

Alpha & Omega by Patricia Briggs

     The werewolf Anna finds a new sense of self when the son of the werewolf king comes to town to quell unrest in the Chicago pack – and inspires a power in Anna that she’s never felt before.

Read an excerpt.

A&O is by one of my favorite paranormal authors, Patricia Briggs.  Her Mercy Thompson series is a very fun read and this story is linked to it thru a couple of characters, but it is standalone enough to read by itself.  What I like about Briggs’s stories is they’re very “real” – her characters, for all their special abilities, have normal jobs and normal concerns.  It’s like reading about your neighbor or your best friend, thrown into extraordinary situations.  It’s all so compelling and so readable.  Whenever I stopped reading A&O for some real-life interruption, I couldn’t wait to get back to the story.  Briggs tells us more about Anna and Charles (the heroine and hero) in August 2008 and I can’t wait.

Grade: A

Inhuman by Eileen Wilks

     Kai has a secret gift of sensing thoughts and desires.  What she senses in her neighbor Nathan could be dangerous.  Because he has a secret gift, too, and it’s about to be let loose.

[Note from Gwen: An excerpt is available on the author's website, but you have to sign up for her newsletter to get it  :-(  .  Insult to injury - the newsletter sign up didn't work properly for me when I visited her site (clickie no workie).]

This is by another of my favorite paranormal authors, Eileen Wilks.  Her World of the Lupi series is unique, sexy, and way fun.  Her heroines are unconventional and heroes are luscious.  Wilks writing is excellent and evocative of writers like Steinbeck - it has an economy of words that is briefly and elegantly complete.  The more she writes, the more I like it.  Here’s an example of her craft:

     Humans were peculiar. They were by turns squeamish and appallingly violent.  Eventually Nathan had concluded it was their very bloodthirstiness that made them erect so many legal and social barriers against culling the vicious from their midst.  They didn’t trust themselves to stop with the obviously evil.

This story is related to Wilks’s Lupi series in that it discusses common events.  While it could be helpful if you have read them, but isn’t required to enjoy the story.  We get to hear more about Kai and Nathan (the heroine and hero) in Wilks’s next book, Night Season.  (By the way, imagine my surprise discovering Wilks was born in Monahans – in seriously west Texas.)

Grade: B

Buying Trouble by Karen Chance

     In a New York auction house, a Lord of the Fey crosses paths with a fiery redheaded mage named Claire.  But in this strange underground society, the rarity up for sale is Claire herself.

Read an excerpt.

BT is written by an author who is new to me, Karen Chance.  This story tells of a young woman in extraordinary circumstances.  After being placed on an auction block by her boss’s son and somehow transported to a faerie realm with a hunky fae.  She discovers something startling about herself in this realm.  This story isn’t as richly told as the first two but it was still a lot of fun.  It had some fantasy, sword play (both kinds), long lost fathers, and surprises. I enjoyed this story but not so much I’m rushing out to buy Chance’s back list.

Grade: B-

Mona Lisa Betwining by Sunny

     Among the children of the moon, Mona Lisa is of Mixed Blood – Part Monere, part human, and destined to be alone.  Then she meets a man who could be her salvation – or her downfall.

Read an excerpt.

MLB is by another author who is new to me, Sunny. Frankly, I find the whole “no last name” thing to be a bit affected.  I just don’t see the point.  Regardless, I was prepared to overlook this if the story was good.  And the story wasn’t bad, but it didn’t have anything to recommend it over anything else I’ve read this year.  In fact, it was a little too LKH’ish for my taste.  I like LKH – even if she’s gone a wee bit around the bend lately, but I read her stuff.  I just don’t care for imitators and this story was a little too close in several details. In addition to that, the writing was oddly uneven – alternating from a formal speaking voice and casual colloquialisms.

Grade: D

Overall Grade: B-

Here’s the book blurb:

     These all-new paranormal romances from today’s hottest authors feature a female werewolf who comes into her own; a Lord who crosses paths with a fiery mage; a mixed-blood Child of the Moon who faces an uncertain future; and a woman whose sixth sense proves to be a dangerous talent.

What’s next for these authors:

	Patricia Briggs, coming 2 Jan 2008		Eileen Wilks, coming 2 Jan 2008
	Karen Chance, Embrace the Night (Cassandra Palmer Book 3) coming 1 Apr 2008		Sunny, coming 2 Jan 2008