LynneC’s review of In The Dark of Dreams by Marjorie M. Liu
Paranormal Romance released by Avon 30 Nov 10

It’s a while since I’ve read a Marjorie Liu story, and now I can’t think for the life of me why I left it so long

This is the latest Dirk Steele story, but assured that I can dip in and out of the series, I went for it. I got this book as a galley, and the first thing to attract me was the cover. The second was the merman hero. I’ve written mermen, my friend Judi McCoy has written mermen, and—and—who else? There’s a sad shortage of mermen, or to use Liu’s term, Krackeni, in the modern paranormal romance. It seems an odd omission, when so much of our earth is covered in seawater.

Our hero,  Perrin, and heroine, Jenny, meet briefly as children and the haunting prologue describes this meeting from Jenny’s point of view. She sees him, and she is shocked at the fish tail, as she should be. All too often in the modern paranormal, the ‘normal’ human accepts the paranormal element too well. In this case, Jenny accepts it after a shock, and the humanity in the boy appeals to her. He is in trouble, but at the time she doesn’t know why or how. But she reaches out to him and creates a bond that lasts during the eight years of their separation.

When she meets him again, the story has described how Perrin, the hero, has lived eight years in exile, punished for a sin we don’t know about until much later in the story. He has a hollow place at the base of his skull where something has been removed. He’s working menial jobs and he’s been in prison, but he’s learned human ways. Jenny has used her money to buy a ship and she’s in search of mermen, haunted by her early experience, but she does it scientifically. She’s trained as a marine biologist, and she can dive and works methodically and well.

The story unfolds slowly. Anyone used to other authors’ approaches of slamming the reader straight into the story might be impatient, waiting for Perrin and Jenny to meet up again. Actually, I felt that way at first, and it took a chapter or two to accustom myself to Liu’s more expansive way of telling the story. We meet people who, I presume, are from previous books, but they don’t feel too intrusive.

Nobody in this book is stupid. When Jenny doesn’t tell Perrin about the parasite that has attached itself to the base of her skull, it’s because she can’t, because the parasite is preventing her from doing so. A clever way to avoid what, in a less skilful author’s hands, would have been a TSTL moment.

The development of their relationship is rewarding and you are with them all the way. There is no sudden “telling,” that they are suddenly in love. The reader sees it, traces it. It’s completely satisfactory and Liu does a wonderful job of showing how two people fall in love. Although there is a connection between Perrin and Jenny, and a link from childhood, there’s no ‘imprinting’ or mating for life. They have disagreements, they don’t always work together, but they can’t stay apart, and we watch as they come to the realisation that they have to be together.

The story concerns the Kraken, also an underused monster, I feel, but one of the most terrifying in all mythology. Liu does it justice here, and like Sauron in Lord of the Rings, it’s more terrifying because we never see the whole of it, never experience its full horror. Liu isn’t afraid to let the reader draw her own conclusions sometimes, she never overdoes the situation, and so makes the prospect of what would happen should their mission fail even more tense.

I shall now go and glom the backlist. As I recall, I didn’t particularly like the first in the Dirk Steele series (what happened to the ampersand?) but I loved this one. Enough to get the rest.

Grade: A+

Summary:

She could never forget the boy with the ice blue eyes . . .
She was only twelve when she saw the silver boy on the beach, but Jenny has never stopped dreaming about him. Now she is grown, a marine biologist charting her own course in the family business – a corporation that covertly crosses the boundaries of science into realms of the unknown . . . and the incredible.
And now he has found her again, her boy grown into a man: Perrin, powerful and masculine, and so much more than human, leaving Jenny weak with desire and aching for his touch.
But with their reunion comes danger. For Perrin and Jenny – and all living creatures – their only hope for preventing the unthinkable lies in a mysterious empire far beneath the sea . . . and in the power of their dreams.

Other books in this series: Tiger Eye, Shadow Touch, The Red Heart of Jade, Dark Dreamers, Eye of Heaven, Soul Song, The Last Twilight, The Wild Road, The Fire King

Liviania’s review of The Fire King (Dirk & Steele, Book 10) by Marjorie M. Liu
Paranormal romance released by Leisure Books 28 July 09

Marjorie M. Liu has written a large number of books in the Dirk & Steele series.  The Fire King is my second, and just as satisfying as the first one I read.  Liu is very good at explaining the essentials and moving on so that you do not feel lost despite the fact she’s written so much in this world.  The Fire King does get surprisingly dark for a romance, as there is discussion of genocide.

I’ve got a bit of a chip on my shoulder about rape in books, particularly UF.  It’s becoming a generic angsty moment, and only a few authors handle the psychological ramifications well.  (For the majority, this TV Tropes article is apt.)  That’s part of why I found Soria interesting.  She’s got a tragic past that left her with only one arm.  Liu went for something other than the obvious, which I appreciate.  Soria did seem a little too tough to be real at points, but I still liked her because Liu was doing something different.  Soria also has a cool power: she can understand any language.

It comes in handy when the Dirk & Steele agency comes into contact with Karr, a man who only speaks a long dead language.  It turns out he’s a Chimera, created by two different types of shape-shifters having a child.  The normal shape-shifters have attempted to hunt the Chimeras to extinction and to make interspecies romance taboo.  It would be standard to have the Chimeras be deeply wronged by their enemies.  Instead, Liu allows them to have a point.  The Chimeras do eventually go insane and then go on a killing rampage.  It doesn’t mean that the Chimeras deserve to die, but it does make the situation somewhat more complex.

Soria and Karr are also backed by an interesting cast.  It makes me wonder who has shown up in past novels and who will show up in future ones.  Some, like the grad student doing field work, I suspect are one-offs.  Others, like Soria’s Tarantino-esque bodyguards, I hope are or will be in other books.  As for the plot, it was okay.  The adventure parts, with Soria and Karr running from the shape-shifters, were exciting.  Why Karr was still alive after 3000 years and all was pretty much an info dump.  Liu didn’t reinvent the wheel with the plot, but it was fun enough.

I enjoyed The Fire King, although my previous exposure to Dirk & Steel (The Wild Road) was better.  Liu’s writing itself is entertaining.  Her prose flows well and describes things rather nicely.  Soria and Karr weren’t the most empathetic leads, but I still liked them since they were something different.  (Okay, Soria more than Karr.  A hero who will probably go crazy has been done in UF and paranormal romance.)  Add in a globe-trotting setting (Mongolia), humorous and ambiguously villainous secondary characters, and chase scenes and you’ve got a summer blockbuster.

In other words, Liu gave me something that I could think about but didn’t really demand it and kept me happy for an hour or two.  Though The Fire King probably won’t top my list of the year’s paranormals, I think it’s a worthwhile read and not just one of the carbon copies that it’s getting harder and harder to avoid.

Grade: B

Summary:
Long ago, shape-shifters were plentiful, soaring through the sky as crows, racing across African veldts as cheetahs, raging furious as dragons atop the Himalayas. Like gods, they reigned supreme. But even gods have laws, and those laws, when broken, destroy.

Zoufalství. Epätoivo. Asa. Three words in three very different languages, and yet Soria understands. Like all members of Dirk & Steele, she has a gift, and hers is communication. When she is chosen to learn the dead language of a shape-shifter resurrected after thousands of years of icy sleep, she discovers a warrior consumed with fury.

Strong as a lion, quick as a serpent–Karr is his name, and in his day he was king. But he is a son of strife, a creature of tragedy. As fire consumed all he loved, so death was to be his atonement. Now, against his will, he has awoken. Zoufalství. Epätoivo. Asa. In English, the word is despair. But Soria knows the words for love.
Read an excerpt here.

Dawna’s review of Soul Song (Dirk and Steele, Book 6) by Marjorie M. Liu
Paranormal Romance published by Leisure Books 3 Jul 07

I’ve always been told never judge a book by its cover. But when I glanced the sexy man emerging out of the turbulent ocean depths, ready to walk right off the page, I was compelled to pick this book up.  Soul Song by Marjorie M. Liu has a lot more going for it than just its cover art.  She’s created intriguing characters full of depth and a riveting story that will keep you turning pages.

Her hero, M’cal is a tortured merman sent to steal souls for an evil witch.  With a sirens voice he literally sings their souls right out of them.  He’s compelled to do so by order of the witch and has given up all hope of escape until he meets his latest victim, Kitala Bell, a renowned violin player.  The first time he sees her on stage with instrument in hand, her music calls to him.    For some reason he has the power to withstand the witch’s compulsion when it comes to Kitala.  He finds the desire to protect her rather than harm her, but the peril she’s in may threaten both of their souls.

Kitala makes her own kind of magic through her music.  Old Jaz Marie has tried to teach her how to use that magic, but Kitala never paid much attention to her grandmother.  She never wanted to accept the visions of death she saw either, but lately they have become more frequent and when she sees a beautiful woman in her audience with a knife through the eye, she can only do one thing: warn her.  By intervening, Kitala puts her own life at risk and is forced to form a partnership with a beautiful man whose voice can kill, but there is something about M’cal that doesn’t frighten her away.

What I liked best about this book was the fast pace and twists.  You never really know who the bad guy is until the very end.   And Ms Liu even does a good job of making you feel a bit of sympathy for the witch, be it very slight. In my opinion, it takes a good writer to do so.   I recommend this book for anyone who likes a perfect blend fantasy and danger, a sexy merman that can walk on land and a heroine who can hold her own.

I give this book an A because I haven’t found anything quite like it before and it definitely kept me turning pages.

Grade: A

Summary:

Against her will, Kitala Bell foresees the future. But only deaths, and only violent.

Kitala’s own future is in peril. From the ocean’s depths rises an impossible blend of fantasy and danger, a creature whose voice is seduction incarnate, whose song can manipulate lives the way that Kitala herself manipulates the strings of her violin…even to the point of breaking. He is a prince of the sea, an enigma-a captive stretched to the limit of his endurance by a woman intent on using him for the purest evil. And when survival requires he and Kitala form a closer partnership than either has ever known, the price of their bond will threaten not just their lives but the essence of their very souls.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Sandy M’s review of The Wild Road (Dirk & Steele, Book 7)  by Marjorie M. Liu
Contemporary Paranormal Romance released by Leisure 29 Jul 08

This is only my second Marjorie Liu book, and so far I just love her heroes.  They’re, of course, of the paranormal world, a bit tortured, but they’re as sensitive as can be when it comes to their heroines.  They’re as snarling and growling protective of those mates as their kind can be, whatever that happens to be in the book you’re reading.  In this case, Lannes is a gargoyle, a creature that doesn’t bring sensitive and sexy to mind, but he is definitely that and more.

I like that Ms. Liu, in what I’ve read so far, gives us those different creatures to read about.  They’re big and strong because of what they are, but they are gentle and caring at the same time.  My first Liu hero was M’cal of Soul Song, the sixth book in this series, and I instantly fell in love.  The same has happened with Lannes, a gargoyle who keeps to himself most of the time, afraid of making connections with the wrong people, just as happened with him and his brothers in the past that led to their stone imprisonment for so many years.

But despite that, Lannes is true to his nature of protection and that leads him to a woman whom he makes a deep an searing connection with.  A woman who has no memory of who she is, where she comes from, or what she’s running from.  He knows he could be walking into a trap, but Lannes instead follows his instincts and decides to help this troubled but independent woman. At this point the story takes off and doesn’t slow down one bit until the very end.

Lethe, the name eventually given to our mystery lady by Lannes, is on the run from the moment she awakens in an unfamiliar hotel room, covered in blood and surrounded by dead men and fire.  With no memories, she doesn’t know if she’s a murderer, nor does she know who or what it is that has invaded her mind, making her do and say things against her will.

Not wanting to hurt Lannes with her unknown mysteries but needing his help and support, she begins to trust him as they unravel the puzzle of her life.  Another thing Liu does well is pulling you into her characters’ lives and making you feel what they feel.  The loneliness of these two characters is quite palpable.  Lethe’s isolation because of her lost memories draws Lannes to her because of the same feelings.  His due to his prior imprisonment and also his current prison in which he lives, disguised as a human at all times when among them or at home alone working with his books.  The more you get to know them, the more you know they belong together, they’re so right for each other – all the while hoping Lethe truly isn’t part of a larger trap of some kind that will break Lannes’ new-found trust.

There’s not much actual Dirk & Steele throughout this book.  Lannes keeps in touch with his brother Charlie and then Koni and Rictor show up to give a hand later in the book.  You don’t need to have read many of the previous books to understand what goes on in this one.  It stands on its own just fine.   There’s a couple of nice twists that crop up, one of which made sense to me because I had read Soul Song.  If there were others, they didn’t stand out, but I don’t think I missed anything if it did happen.  Everything fits together nicely in a roundabout way to solve Lethe’s mystery, all the clues coming together in just the right places.

I have got to get the other books in this series out of the TBR pile.  I’m curious to find out how it all started!

Grade: A

Read reviews of this and other books in the Dirk & Steele series by following its tag.

Summary:

Lannes is one of a dying race born to protect mankind. And while most see a beautiful man, this illusion is nothing but a prison. But when he finds a woman covered in blood, with no memory or past, he will be drawn into a mystery that makes him question all he knows.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Shannon C.’s review of The Wild Road (Dirk & Steele, Book 8 ) by Marjorie M. Liu
Paranormal romance released by Leisure 29 Jul 08

I’ve jumped on certain romance bandwagons late, so it was only last year that I discovered the absolutely fantastic Dirk & Steele series by Marjorie M. Liu. What really impresses me about each of the books I’ve read in that series is that they seamlessly blend action and adventure, great world-building, and paranormal romance. I am always telling non-romance readers that they really need to read Ms. Liu’s books. So I was excited when I got the ARC for her latest, The Wild Road. Unfortunately, I’ve only read the first three Dirk & Steele novels up to this point, and I have a compulsion to read things in order, so it took me forever to get to this book. I finally decided I needed to skip ahead and read it, because Ms. Liu is a favorite author and the torture of having but not reading the book was killing me.

I’m glad to say that The Wild Road stands alone very well. I think some familiarity with the previous books in the series is helpful, but not necessarily required. I did stop early on and go back to read the short story, “A Dream of Stone and Shadow” from the Dark Dreamers anthology, which features Charlie, the brother of our hero Lannes, but that was more for my own curiosity than something I had to do in order to understand what was happening.

Ms. Liu does something interesting in this book. The heroine wakes up in a hotel room, covered with blood, holding a gun, with no memory of who she is. She spends the whole book not knowing who she is, and so consequently revealing her name would be a spoiler. I wasn’t sure that this would work particularly well at first, but even without a name, the heroine is probably my favorite Liu heroine to date. She is stubborn and resourceful, capable of taking care of herself but finding herself leaning on Lannes because more than she needs to be independent, she needs someone to be there for her and ease some of the oppressive loneliness that not having a past causes. I really did feel her loneliness, and I empathized with her as she gradually came to trust and then depend on Lannes.

As for Lannes… Well, I hate to be a squeeing fangirl here, but I loved him. Gentle giant archetypes are my favorites, and Lannes qualifies. He, too, is lonely, because he’s not human, and he can’t let anyone discover who he really is. He fears that if people knew what he was, they’d be repulsed, and so he’s kept himself apart from most people. But when he meets the heroine, his instinct is to protect her. It’s just in his nature, and even though she distrusts him at first, he’s so sweet about it. I just wanted to hug him throughout most of the book, and I absolutely believed in their HEA. Plus, Lannes has an awesome declaration of love speech at the very end that sent actual tears to my eyes and I never never cry at books.

I want you here,” he rasped. “I want you with me. I want to care for you and love you and have you with me every moment, every day, for as long as we live. I want to be the one to protect you. Not them, not anyone else, ever. And all those . . . handsome doctors and tennis players and men who know their wine can just . . . go away. Because I might not be as handsome as them, and I may not even be as human as them, but they will never believe in you the way I do, and they will never know you as I do, and they will never, never, come within a breath of loving you as much as I do. Never, [Heroine]. And if ever there should be a man who loves you more, then I bow to him. Because you deserve nothing less.

The plot is as compelling as ever. It’s definitely a road romance, which are always my favorite, but unlike other Dirk & Steele books, it’s set in the Midwest, which Ms. Liu evokes perfectly. As usual, the pacing is good, with enough quiet moments to round out the action scenes.

If I have a quibble, it’s that a lot of the climactic moments of these books feel the same. I don’t want to talk about specifics, but I will say that when the scene was foreshadowed, I knew exactly what was going to happen, and my predictions came true.

If you haven’t tried the Dirk & Steele books, you are definitely missing out on some great storytelling, some wonderful romance, and some fabulous characters. Recommended, especially to those looking for a little substance and solid world-building in their paranormals.

Grade: A-

Summary:

Lannes is one of a dying race born to protect mankind. And while most see a beautiful man, this illusion is nothing but a prison. But when he finds a woman covered in blood, with no memory or past, he will be drawn into a mystery that makes him question all he knows.

Read an excerpt here.

Read my review of The Red Heart of Jade (Book 3) here.

The other books in the series:

Liviania’s review of Hotter Than Hell by Tanya Huff, Marjorie M. Liu, Cheyenne McCray, L.A. Banks, Susan Krinard, Keri Arthur, Heidi Betts, Lilith Saintcrow, Susan Sizemore, Denise Little, Carrie Vaughn, Linda Winstead Jones, and Kim Harrison
Urban fantasy/paranormal romance anthology released by Harper 24 June 08

With Hotter than Hell, HarperCollins goes in a somewhat different direction from their previous Hell anthologies. These are erotic short stories rather than novellas. It’s worth picking up if you’re very fond of one of the authors or wish to experience several of the authors’ work before buying their series. While all of the stories are well-written and none are truly awful, many of the stories are forgettable or unsatisfying.

Music Hath Charms by Tanya Huff

Bedford Entertainment music executive Ali wants to sign the band NoMan before her longtime, more corporate rivals from Vital Records. But there’s more at stake than money, because NoMan’s frontmen possess a power that manifests in their music. This urban fantasy story is one of the best in the anthology, but some readers may be uncomfortable with the content. There are orgies, menage, and gay and bisexual characters.

Grade: B+

Minotaur in Stone by Marjorie M. Liu

Liu is an author that constantly almost wows me. She explores various intriguing themes in Minotaur in Stone and describes everything with beautiful imagery. However, the tantalizing short story is hampered by a sketchy heroine. Too little is known about her to really fall into her mind – her past is hinted at but never partially explained (which could explain, in turn, some of the story elements) and the description of her is so thin she doesn’t even have a name. It’s a sharp contrast to the detail given to the Minotaur’s story, especially given that this is her story.

Grade: C+

Demon Lover by Cheyenne McCray

Aedan the incubus comes to women at night, leaving them unsatisfied until they offer their souls to him. Now he has fallen in love with his latest victim Ericka. McCray is competent, but the story lacks originality.

Grade: C

Equinox by L. A. Banks

I’ve tried many times to enjoy Banks’ Vampire Hunter series, but never could. I didn’t expect to like this story, especially because it uses one of my least favorite set-ups. (Woman remains virgin for a long time and decides to give it up almost instantly upon meeting the right man.) Therefore I was very surprised to discover that this is my favorite story of the anthology. Greek goddess Artemis returns to present-day Earth, horrified by what humans are doing to the environment. As she and her nymphs teach various CEOs a lesson, the government dispatches a group of soldiers to stop the ecoterrorists. But Vincent and his men are about to discover something very strange. It’s slightly trippy but oh-so-good.

Grade: A-

Ride A Dark Horse by Susan Krinard

While recovering from her divorce on a ranch, Catalina literally meets the man from her dreams. But why is Andrés so interested? Ride A Dark Horse has a good atmosphere, slightly spooky and very Western. The heroine is a bit too willing to wander about unfamiliar woods at night, but it’s a decent story.

Grade: C

To Die For by Keri Arthur

Grace Rioli and Ethan Garrison, a wolf shifter and a werewolf, are dispatched to a small town to solve the murder of a couple of adolescent boys. It’s a good mystery until the author suddenly points out a flaw in the logic used to reach the solution at the end. It weakens the story and might not have if considered earlier by the characters.

Grade: B-

Curse of the Dragon’s Tears by Heidi Betts

Laura Tomescu dreams of the man her grandmother cursed. Now she has gone to Dougal McKay’s castle to free him. The story draws some of its inspiration from the Beauty and the Beast tale. Another enjoyable but largely forgettable entry.

Grade: C-

Brother’s Keeper by Lilith Saintcrow

Selene receives a call from Danny, her brother, that sends her running to his side only to find him murdered. Saintcrow quickly develops interesting characters and background, but then she drops the ball. There’s no resolution to the romance or to the mystery. Brother’s Keeper reads like the first chapters of a novel, not like a short story. Where’s the rest?

Grade: C-

(Like A) Virgin of the Spring by Susan Sizemore and Denise Little

Time travel, psychics, and the Matter of Britain all in one short story. Psychic Ginger’s team got lost in the past, but Bern’s team has come to the rescue. (Like A) Virgin of the Spring starts slow, but has some neat ideas and it’s fun to play spot-the-Arthurian-reference. Might not be for those who don’t have at least a cursory knowledge of the Matter of Britain.

Grade: C

Life is the Teacher by Carrie Vaughn

This story is the only one I completely forgot. The second time I read it I had to get several pages in before I remembered anything about it. Emma is a new vampire adjusting to her way of life as she encounters old boyfriend Chris. Vaughn’s writing is fine but the story is too slight, even for a short. I’m already forgetting Emma and her world again.

Grade: C-

Dirty Magic by Kim Harrison

I love Kim Harrison’s novels, but her novellas and short stories are far weaker. Dirty Magic follows Mia, a banshee (similar to a psychic vampire in the story), as she visits old lover Tom and seeks energy for her daughter. The ending has a nice twist that makes me like the story, but it could fit much better tonally.

Grade: B-

Overall grade: C

The Summary:

Beyond the boundaries of the everyday is an unseen realm where anything you imagine is possible. Your demon lover is waiting for you in the shadows, ready to fulfill your secret wishes and most dangerous fantasies. Here passion has a face and form both titillating and terrifying—and love has teeth and claws. Get ready to give in to your craving for something exquisitely dark . . . and different.

Hotter Than Hell gathers together a baker’s dozen of today’s boldest and best authors of supernatural fiction and paranormal romance in a breathtaking anthology that blends black magic with red-hot desire. From the tantalizing tale of a conflicted psychic vampire driven by a powerful, savage love to the strange saga of a Greek warrior woman battling to save the world, these are stories outside the limits, as hypnotic as the full moon . . . and hotter than the sun.

Shannon C.’s review of The Red Heart of Jade (Dirk and Steele, Book 3) by Marjorie M. Liu
Paranormal romance published by Love Spell 1 Jul 06

Whatever there is to say about Marjorie Liu’s books, “boring” is not an adjective that describes any of them. In the third installment in Ms. Liu’s Dirk & Steele series, the action starts from the first and doesn’t let up until the end.

This time Ms. Liu transports the reader to Taiwan, where Dirk & Steele agent Dean Campbell is investigating a series of grisly murders which all clearly have a paranormal bent. Soon the fires aren’t the only thing that Dean, a clairvoyant, is involved with. He meets up with Mirabelle Lee, a girl he grew up with and whom he always loved, and the two of them are caught up in a dangerous quest to find a missing piece of jade that may be the key to unleashing a deadly force upon the world.

What I like about Ms. Liu’s paranormals is that her world-building is consistent. The world she’s created is a pretty grim place, but it’s one of the few paranormal worlds that I feel meshes well with reality. And I always love the exotic settings that Ms. Liu employs. Here we have Taiwan, and it definitely feels like a place the author is familiar with.

The characters here were likable. I’ve liked Dean from his appearances in the previous two books, and was curious about how Ms. Liu would make this smart-ass, porn-loving complete guy into a romantic hero. Dean is all of those things, but he’s also never forgotten Miri, the woman he loves, and his determination to be with and protect Miri was absolutely sweet.

Unfortunately, Miri works less well for me as a heroine. I like her well enough, but she’s nowhere near as cool as Dean. I understood why the two of them would want to be with each other, and they definitely had chemistry, and I suspect that Miri would have been a kick-ass heroine in any other story. But she’s not, and so she easily gets overshadowed by the plot.

The plot itself moves along at a breakneck pace, though there are quiet, introspective moments along the way which allow for character development. Ms. Liu throws the reader directly into the middle of the action, and one must either keep up or get lost. thankfully, I kept up fine, though I did feel at times that all the intrigue between the characters was a bit much and things got too convoluted. The book ends on a satisfying note, with plenty more for Ms. Liu to do in this universe, and I’m anxious to see where she goes from here.

I wish the heroine had been a bit more memorable, and I could have dealt with a plot that was a bit less complex, but overall I very much enjoyed this entry into the series.

Grade: B

Summary:

Imagine a world where magic rubs elbows with science, where men and women with supernatural powers secretly risk their lives to help others. It is a world where one right turn can deliver a mystery that will change your life forever, a world of shape-shifters, immortal magicians, criminal underworlds run by powerful psychics — intrigue, mystery, and romance.

The saga continues in THE RED HEART OF JADE as Dean Campbell — clairvoyant, dangerous, and irreverent — finds himself hot on the trail of a murderer who is part of an ancient hunt for power, a hunt that has only one outcome: death or destruction. And at the heart of that hunt — both prize and mystery — is a women who died in Dean’s arms twenty years earlier: Mirabelle Lee, childhood sweetheart and the love of his life. Together, alive and reunited, Dean and Miri are forced to rely on each other — and the strength of their enduring love — as they race to unravel the mystery that threatens not only their lives, but the entire world.
You can read an excerpt here.

Gwen’s review of Paradise by Meljean Brook, short story in the anthology Wild Thing by Brook, Marjorie Liu, Alyssa Day** and Maggie Shayne
Paranormal contemporary romance released by Berkley Trade 1 May 07

This short story is part of the Guardians continuum. I can’t tell you where it lies in the chronology, as I haven’t read the others (yet). While I might have gotten more out of it if I had read the preceding stories/books, I can tell you it reads very well on its own. This story is about a vampire, Lucas, and a guardian, Selah, who have to find and defeat a demon before it opens a gate to hell. Along the way, they discover quite a bit about themselves and each other, including love and what looks an HEA. 

To my knowledge, this was the first Meljean Brook I’ve ever read. I can safely say that I am now her bitch. I really liked this story. The pace was quick, the dialogue was snappy, and the erotic scenes were smokin’. I like paranormal, if it’s done well, and this was done very well. The characters were likable, believable, and oddly human for inhuman beings.

Other reviewers of this story say Meljean does “too much world-building” but I sure didn’t get that vibe. I haven’t read any of the other Guardian stories and I wasn’t left behind. I just enjoyed a ripping good story. Meljean’s writing style is such that she doesn’t belabor details or conversational points, so perhaps the other reviewer felt left behind. Readers of this kind of prose have to stay on their toes (HA! unintentional rhyme). I prefer this writing style to being treated like a dimwit by an author (e.g., incessant repetition of inane details). Meljean treats the reader as if we have a brain and I LOVE that.

I have read the other authors in the anthology and have enjoyed nearly everything they’ve written. However, simply based on the quality of Meljean’s story, I’ll be buying this anthology as soon as it comes out and I recommend you do the same.

Grade: A

Here’s the story blurb:

Lucas Marsden has faced nosferatu before and survived, but he doesn’t know how to defeat the demon who hunts the vampires in his community…But he knows exactly what he wants from the beautiful Guardian sent to protect them.
Read an excerpt.

Here’s the Wild Thing book blurb:

New York Times bestselling authors Maggie Shayne and Marjorie M. Liu, and sizzling newcomers Alyssa Day and Meljean Brook discover the wild instinct in everyone with four all-new stories of feral heat. Fans will get swept away by the passions in the unfathomable depths of Atlantis; they’ll follow the shadows that stalk both the living and the undead in a world of vampires and guardian angels; they’ll enter the forbidden world of the demon horde and their willing victims; and they’ll be privy to the secrets of a beautiful animal-whisperer who’s drawn closer to the most suspect of all male animals-man.

**You have to register as a member to get any special feature (book excerpts and such)