Action begins the war in this edition of the series in Queen of Song and Souls. I remember my heart thudding with each throw of a fey’cha or thrust of a sword or toss of a magical ball of fire. Ms. Wilson pulls no punches in the beginning of this war with the Eld mages.

The emotion is  high when Ellie is unable to complete her truemate bond with Rain, not knowing why, which pushes him closer and closer to the dying madness that will take him from her permanently if she never succeeds.

This book was to have been the last of the series, but Ms. Wilson’s brain and talent work on overdrive. Thank goodness, her fans say!

My review of QoSaS is below, along with an excerpt from the book. Enjoy!

Sandy M’s review of Queen of Song and Souls (Tairen Soul, Book 4) by C.L. Wilson
Fantasy Romance published by Leisure Books 27 Oct 09

This is one of those books you can’t wait to get your hands on. Anticipation courses through you as you open it up and finally get a taste of the wonderful writing, get reacquainted with old friends, and get caught up in the new joys and tragedies they face. But then when you reach the halfway mark in the story, it becomes one of those books that you don’t want to ever end. You want to slow down in your reading and make it last so much longer than the day you’ve already spent with it, but you simply can’t. Everything about this book hooks your emotions and puts you through the wringer over and over again, leaving you both overjoyed and saddened at the same time and also leaving you wanting more.

Right off the bat in this latest installment in her Tairen Soul series, C.L. Wilson not only puts her fans through the emotional wringer, but she also squeezes their heart until it either has to burst with happiness or break with heartache. And all of that is done with that richness of writing that Ms. Wilson is now known for. That alone is worth picking up the books in this series.

Rain and Ellie are still on their course toward their bond of truemates. Ellie has still yet to complete her bond, thus the madness that is inflicted on the mate who has bonded has begun for Rain, the knowledge of which he’s trying to keep from her as they make their way across the land to gather allies in the Mage war that has already taken too many lives. The scenes in which Rain loses control, full of bloodlust, are terrific but heart-rending scenes.

See the remainder of the Queen of Song and Souls review here.

Prologue

Celieria ~ the Garreval

She was only nine years old, and she was going to die.

Lillis Baristani clung to her beloved friend, Earth master Kieran vel Solande, and showered his throat with frightened tears.

Around them the world had gone mad. Magic, blades, and barbed sel’dor arrows filled the air. Blood ran red on the ground. Below, at the base of the Rhakis mountains, dozens of vile, snarling, monstrous wolf-beasts called darrokken were charging up the slope towards the small, fleeing party while the creatures’ evil masters flung globe after globe of blue-white Mage Fire to cut off all chance of escape.

Whatever the Mage Fire touched disintegrated on contact…not dissolved …simply disappeared. Entire chunks of the mountain evaporated in an instant, and the ground was shifting and shaking beneath Kieran’s feet.

“Kieran!” his friend Kiel shouted, pointing uphill. “The mountain!” Another frightful barrage of Mage Fire had dissolved half the peak above their heads. The remaining rock and stone gave a rumbling shriek and collapsed, sending a wall of dirt, stone, and wood rushing towards them.

“Hold tight, little one,” Kieran whispered. Lillis tightened her arms around his neck, pressing so close that her kitten, Snowfoot, mewed a protest and squirmed in the sling tied round her neck. Kieran turned to raise both hands and she felt the electric tingle of his gathering magic. It danced across her skin like crackling sparks of green light. Inside her, Lillis’s own magic rose in response.

She squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her face to his throat. Bright Lord, please help Kieran, she prayed. I don’t want to him to die. Or Papa, Lorelle, Kiel, or me either.

She felt the vibrations of Kieran’s throat against her lips as he shouted defiantly and flung out his weaves. The magic left him—and her too—in a great rush. Please, gods, please gods, please, gods.

Incredibly—or, perhaps, miraculously—the crumbling mountainside froze. Lillis risked a glance up to confirm that they were not about to be crushed flat as a griddle cake, then squeezed her eyes shut again.

“Five-fold weaves, my brothers!” Kieran shouted. “Keep that scorching Mage Fire off us!” Suddenly, he gave a grunt of pain, and Lillis felt him falter. Her head lifted, and though the battle raging all around terrified her, she forced her eyes open.

Kieran was arrow-shot. The sight of the ugly black, barbed metal arrow puncturing his thigh made her belly lurch.

**Get down, Lillis,** his voice murmured in her mind. **Run to your father. Kiel and I will hold them off.**

**But what about you?** It was the first time she’d ever spoken to him mind-to-mind. **You’re coming too, aren’t you?**

**In a chime …once Kiel and I deal with these Eld rultsharts.** From a face too handsome to be mortal, his normally laughing blue eyes regarded her with unsettling solemnity, and then she knew what he would not say. He turned his head to press a kiss to her face, then another to the thin arms wrapped so tight around his neck, and though he did not release his hands from his weave, she felt the tug of Spirit fingers prying her grip loose. She fought to cling, but her childish muscles were no match for his magic. Her hold on him lost, she slid to the ground. **Go, kitling. Quickly.** Another nudge from invisible hands shoved her towards Papa.

“Master Baristani,” Kieran cried aloud to her father, “take the girls. Go with the shei’dalins into the Mists! Run!”

Clutching Snowfoot to her chest, Lillis stumbled across the uneven ground towards Papa’s outstretched arms and the small knot of scarlet-gowned healers. Before she reached them, a darting flash of darkness caught her eye and a foul odor filled the air. She turned to find a darrokken rushing towards her, its red eyes glowing like the Dark Lord’s flames, venomous saliva dripping from its yellowed fangs. All over the foul wolflike creature’s scaly back, sores oozed green, odorous slime. She turned to run, but her foot caught between two rocks and she went down. Snowfoot still clutched to her chest, she hit the ground hard. Knees and elbows took a nasty crack, and she bit her lip so hard her mouth filled with the salty, metallic tang of blood. She jumped to her feet, but pain shot out from her ankle, radiating halfway up her shin. With a cry, she fell down again just as the darrokken lunged.

One of the Fey warriors made a sprinting leap towards her, and scarlet-hilted Fey’cha daggers flew from his hands. The razor-sharp blades cut through the monster’s tough, leathery hide, and the darrokken dropped dead in its tracks.

“I’ve got you.” The warrior who’d killed the darrokken reached for her arm, but before he could grab hold, another of the monstrous beasts was upon him. Its fangs sank into his leg, and the Fey toppled, rolling over as he fell and landing with unsheathed blades in his hands. “Run, child,” he cried.

Those were the warrior’s last words. He bared his teeth in a snarl and plunged his red Fey’cha into the vulnerable belly of the beast just as the monster snapped its sharp yellow fangs around the warrior’s throat and ripped. Blood sprayed across Lillis’s face in a hot, red rain. Fey and beast died together, fighting, tearing, and slashing until the last breath of life left their bodies.

“Lillis! Get up! Run!” Kiel cried. His blue eyes were filled with fear, his blond hair spattered with dirt and blood. Two black arrows stuck out of his shoulder like grotesque spines. “Run for the Mists. Lorelle, Master Baristani—go!”

One of the shei’dalins in their party rushed forward to grab Lillis. A rapid healing weave spun out in golden-tinted waves of color, and the pain in her ankle subsided. The woman helped Lillis to her feet while another took Lorelle’s hand and began to run towards the shifting, sparkling clouds that guarded the Fading Lands. More darrokken rushed up the mountainside and dove into the middle of the small group. Lillis shrieked as the monstrous wolf-beasts slaughtered half a dozen more Fey and drove three of the shei’dalins back down the mountain towards the waiting Eld.

When she reached the edge of the Mists, Lillis turned back to watch the battle below. The remaining warriors guarding their escape were falling fast to the ferocious maws of the darrokken, while the Mages continued bombarding the mountainside with their devastating magic. A tide of Fey warriors burst from the Mists-filled pass of the Garreval and raced across the ground at lightning speed, swords flashing silvery bright in the sunlight.

Black Eld arrows turned day to night, and hundreds of Fey went down. Kieran fell with them.

“Kieran!” Lillis shrieked as she watched him fall. “Kieran!” She started to rush towards him, but the shei’dalin grabbed her and held her fast.

“Nei,” the veiled woman whispered. “You cannot go to him. He would not want it. He dies so you may live.”

With unexpected strength, the shei’dalin shoved Lillis towards the shifting radiance of the Faering Mists. “Quickly, into the Mists. It’s our only chance.”

Lillis struggled against her hold, squirming and flailing as the tears poured down her face. She screamed Kieran’s name again and again as the shei’dalin dragged her away. Before they’d gone more than a few steps, the mountain gave a groaning rumble that escalated to a deafening roar.

Kieran’s Earth weave collapsed and the entire mountaintop caved in, sending shards of shattered rocks, splintered trees, and a wave of earth crashing towards the valley below. The ground beneath Lillis’s feet fell away, and with a wail she toppled back into the shining white abyss of the Faering Mists.

Her last sight was of Kieran, screaming defiance as the avalanche enveloped him.

Chapter One

Fading Lands, Faering Mists.
Fey warrior, champion of Light.
Fading Lands, Faering Mists.
Leading a never-ending Fight.

Tairen Soul: Singing, soaring high.
Tairen Soul: Thundering, roaring cry.

Fading Lands, Faering Mists.
Fey warrior, fiercest of Fey.
Fading Lands, Faering Mists.
Alone, leading the way.

~ Fiercest of Fey, by Corvan Lief, Celierian Poet

Celieria ~ Orest

Two weeks later

Ellysetta Baristani plunged her hands into the gaping cavity of the dying boy’s chest. Her fingers closed around his heart, pumping the still chambers with desperate force as a blaze of powerful, golden-white magic poured from her soul into his.

The fading brightness of his life force tasted warm and tart on her tongue, like a sun-ripened peach plucked too soon from the tree. So young. So innocent. He couldn’t have been more than fourteen. Too young for this. Too young for war. Too young to die.

Just like her sisters, Lillis and Lorelle, who’d been lost in the Faering Mists during the battle of Teleon.

“Please, my lady. Save him. Please, save my Aartys. He’s all I’ve got left.” The mother of the dying child stood sobbing beside the table, her eyes swollen and red rimmed, chapped hands twisting the hem of the blood-soaked apron tied around her waist. Her desperation and grief-induced terror pounded at Ellysetta’s empathic senses like hammer blows.

Not that a few more hammer blows made much difference in the emotional din swirling around the scarlet healing tents that had been erected on the mist- and rainbow-filled plazas of Upper Orest. As always when a battle raged nearby, the sheer numbers of wounded and dying warriors made it impossible for the dozen scarlet-veiled shei’dalin healers to weave peace upon them all. Not even the roar of the great Kiyera’s Veil waterfalls could drown out the screams of pain and pleas for mercy.

“I’ll do my best, Jonna,” Ellysetta vowed. She wanted to promise to save Aartys, but the last weeks here on Celieria’s war-torn northern border had taught her too well. Death, once a stranger, had become an all-too-familiar acquaintance.

Ellysetta looked up and met Jonna’s eyes over the boy’s limp body. The weeping mortal woman was one of the hearth witches who tended the wounded and dying. She knew death as intimately as Ellysetta now did, but that didn’t stop her from fighting against it with every ounce of strength she possessed—or from begging for a salvation she knew was beyond the capabilities of all mortal healers …and all but one of the Fey shei’dalins.

Ellysetta bit her lip. Aartys shouldn’t be here on her table—and she couldn’t help feeling partly to blame. After all, if not for her, the Fey might never have engaged their ancient enemy in this new Mage War. If not for Ellysetta, her truemate, Rainier vel’En Daris, would never have blown his golden horn this morning to call his Fey warriors and the mortal men of Orest to battle. And if he’d never blown that blast, the sound would never have spurred Jonna’s young son to snatch up his dead father’s sword and rush to fight alongside the men of Orest and his heroes, the immortal Shining Folk of the Fading Lands.

Yet those things had happened. And now, here they were, a child maimed and dying, his mother weeping and pleading for his life, both utterly dependent on Ellysetta and her magic to snatch his life from the jaws of death.

“Hold his hand, Jonna,” Ellysetta commanded. “Feed him your strength. Call to him. Don’t stop until I tell you.” And then, though she shouldn’t have vowed it, she did: “If there’s any way to save Aartys, I will.”

“Oh, my lady.” Jonna’s lips trembled and tears flooded her eyes. “Oh, thank you, my lady. Thank you.”

She started to come around the table, but Ellysetta stopped her. “Hold his hand, Jonna.” The command came out more curtly than usual. She didn’t want this woman kneeling at her feet, kissing her hem as other Celierians had done when pleading for her to save a loved one. She wasn’t a goddess to be worshiped.

“Teska, Jonna. Please,” she urged more gently. “Hold your son’s hand. There isn’t much time.” And because there truly wasn’t, she infused the words with a spider-silk-thin filament of compulsion, woven from shining lavender Spirit magic.

Jonna instantly snatched up her son’s hand.

“And pray, my friend,” Ellysetta said, adding silently, For all our sakes.

The words to the Bright Lord’s devotion tumbled from the mortal healer’s lips.

Ellysetta flicked a glance at the tall, grim Fey warrior standing near the corner of her healing table.

Without a word, Gaelen vel Serranis stepped forward to lay a hand upon her shoulder. Crackling energy flooded her veins as the most infamous of the five bloodsworn warriors of her quintet surrendered his immense power for her use. The sort of healing she was about to do would take more than her own vast stores of power, and though usually a shei’dalin would rely on her truemate to supplement her strength, Rain was on the battlefield, where the king of the Fey belonged, rather than at her side.

Ellysetta closed her eyes, shut out the world, and gathered her magic. Power came to her call, a dazzling golden-white brightness the Fey called shei’dalin’s love, a healing gift Ellysetta Baristani wielded with a strength the world had not seen since the dawn of the First Age.

Against her closed lids, the pulsating vibrancy of Fey vision replaced physical sight, darkness teeming with the glowing threads of energy that made up all life and substance. Her consciousness traveled down the blinding-bright conduits of her arms, into Aartys’s dying body, then sank deeper. Moving with swift purpose, she followed the threads of her healing weave and descended into the Well of Souls, the blackness that lay beyond and beneath the physical world, the home of demons and the unborn and the dead waiting for passage into their next life.

There, she could see the fading light of Aartys’s soul as he sank into the long, silent dark of the Well. When his light disappeared, he would be lost. Determined not to let that happen, she plunged after him, her presence a dazzling incandescence that lit the shadowy world of the Well like a golden-white sun.

**Aartys.** She wove Spirit, the mystic magic of thought and illusion, hoping to make him feel his mother’s grief and fill him with an urgent need to return to her. **Fight, Aartys. Fight to live.** Death, ultimately, was like drowning. Once the initial terror passed, the dying embraced the numbness and simply let themselves fall, like wrecked ships sinking to the bottom of the sea. **Do not surrender. Reach for my Light. Let me bring you back to your mother. She needs you. She will be lost without you.**

Her weave was strong, her command of Spirit as exceptional as her command of the potent healing magic of the Fey. Yet still he fell.

So tired, his fading spirit whispered. Tell Mam I …His voice trailed off and the pale light of his soul began to sputter.

**Aartys!** Ellysetta dove after him. The threads of her weave stretched to the breaking point as she followed him deep into the Well, deeper than any other healer dared to go, deeper than she should have gone without Rain to anchor her.

**Take my magic, kem’falla,** Gaelen said. **Use what you need, and quickly. You have been gone from yourself too long.**

**Aiyah.** She seized the magic Gaelen had offered for her use—the dark black threads of magic that throbbed with red sparks. Azrahn, the forbidden soul magic.

Ellysetta worked quickly, reluctant to put Gaelen at risk by making him hold his weave for more than a chime or two. Though Gaelen considered the chance to save Fey lives well worth the risk of wielding Azrahn, they both knew how dangerous the magic was. She plaited the cool, dark threads of his Azrahn into her flows of shei’dalin’s love, weaving the strands of icy shadow and warm, healing light together.

The new weave—amplified by her powers as well as Gaelen’s own—let her descend much farther into the Well. But as deep as she went, Aartys remained out of reach.

**Enough, kem’falla,** Gaelen said. **We’re out of time.**

**Just a little farther.**

**Nei. You’ve been gone from yourself too long. If you cannot save the boy now, you must let him go. Your life is too important to risk so needlessly.**

Anger bubbled up inside her. **Needlessly?**

**You know what I mean.**

**Every life is precious, Gaelen.** She’d held too many dying men in her arms, comforted too many stricken loved ones, seen her own mother beheaded by the Eld. She could not bear the thought of one more lost, wasted life—especially not this beautiful boy, whose bright eyes and sunny smile had reminded her of her own young sisters.

Nei, she could not—would not—lose another soul today. Not to magic, not to war, and not to the thrice-flamed Well of Souls!

Cold whispered through her veins. Azrahn surged up from the great, deep source inside her, summoned by her anger. An almost sentient eagerness pressed against her will, as if the Azrahn inside her wanted her to weave it, wanted her to embrace its dark, forbidden power.

For her, giving in to that temptation would come with a terrible price. She bore four Mage Marks, placed upon her by the High Mage of Eld, and each time she spun Azrahn, she risked receiving another one. Two more and her soul, her consciousness, her entire being, would be his to command.

Still, the lure was tremendous. Gaelen’s threads didn’t contain a fraction of the power her own did. She could weave just a little …just enough to save the boy. Perhaps she could even spin it quickly enough that the High Mage wouldn’t have time to sense it and Mark her again.

Yes …yes, just a little, and quickly. Such a small thing. Surely he would miss it.

The siren’s call whispered in her ear. Dimly, she heard someone say her name, as if calling from far away, but the voice was soon was silenced. Forbidden power throbbed in her veins, and all around her, the darkness of the Well of Souls pulsed to the same beat. Her ears filled with muted susurrations, a rhythmic ebbing and flowing, as if she were a child in the womb, listening to the blood rushing through her mother’s veins. The sound was hypnotic …entrancing….

She reached for her Azrahn, let its cold sweetness fill her.

**Ellysetta!** A furious and all-too-familiar voice roared her name. Power rushed into her body, and deep within the Well, her Light flared like an exploding sun.

The jolt sent her weave spearing wildly into the Well, so deep it passed the fading light that was Aartys’s soul. Stunned, she had just enough time and presence of mind to close her weave around Aartys and cling tight before her soul was yanked from the Well and slammed back into her own body.

The shining brilliance of Fey vision faded to darkness. The tranquillity of the Well gave way to a murmur of voices, muted screams of men in pain, the smells of blood and sweat and suffering. Her eyes fluttered as her senses gradually returned to her body.

She was clutched in a hot, hard, golden embrace, but neither that nor the blazing heat of two burning purple suns glaring down upon her could stop the icy shivers racking her frame. She blinked up into the achingly beautiful, utterly furious face of her truemate.

“Rain, I—”

His eyes flared tairen-bright. Pupils and whites disappeared, leaving only spark-filled whirls of lavender that glowed so bright they could have lit a dark room. “Do. Not. Speak.” His nostrils flared, and even the long, inky black strands of his hair crackled with scarcely contained energy. “Just …be silent.” He was so angry, his temper bordered on Rage, the wild, ferociously lethal fury of the Fey.

A choked sound snagged her attention. “Aartys!” she cried.

Powerful arms encased in heavy, golden, tairen-forged steel tightened their grip around her and held her fast. “Is alive and does not need your help.”

She turned her head, but she couldn’t see the boy. Scarlet-veiled shei’dalins surrounded the table where he lay, and the glow of concentrated healing magic shone so bright even mortal eyes could see it.

“Beylah sallan,” she breathed. Thank the gods.

That remark was the feather that broke the tairen’s back. Rain plunked her on her feet, gripped her arms, and gave her a shake strong enough to rattle her teeth. “Thank the gods? Thank the gods?” His Rage blazed so hot, flames nearly shot from his head. “Thank Gaelen for having the belated sense to call me when he realized what was happening.” He shook her again. “Idiot! Ninnywit! Reckless, rock-headed dim-skull! How many times are you going to put yourself in such danger?”

Her brows snapped together. “Me?” she shot back. “That’s a bit of the sword calling the dagger sharp, don’t you think?” She yanked herself out of his grasp and returned his glare with her own. “Do I berate you for all the risks you take in battle?”

He drew himself up to his full height, and with his golden war steel adding significant breadth to his already broad shoulders, he loomed over her. “Don’t try to turn this on me. I am the Defender of the Fey, and we are at war. It is my duty to lead our warriors in battle.”

“And I am a shei’dalin,” she retorted. “The most powerful healer we have. It is my duty to save every life I can!”

“Not at the risk of your own! You were about to weave Azrahn, Ellysetta! Despite the danger—despite your sworn oath never to weave it again unless we both agreed.”

The pain in his voice—even more than the frightening truth of his words—deflated her defensive ire. She had made a vow and nearly betrayed it—nearly betrayed him. Her shoulders slumped and she lifted a shaking hand to her face.

He was right, but before she could admit it and apologize, Jonna gave a short cry. Rain and Ellysetta both turned to the table where Aartys lay. The shei’dalins had extinguished their weaves and were already departing. The boy was sitting up, the gaping wound in his chest gone without a trace, even the dried blood and grime of war washed away by shei’dalin magic. His mother had her arms wrapped tight around him, and her shoulders heaved with sobs of relief and joy.

“Thank you.” Jonna wept, tears raining from her eyes. “Thank you for my son. Light’s blessings upon you!”

Ellysetta found Rain’s hand. He’d removed his gauntlets, and her fingers curled into the broad, warm strength of his.

His eyes flashed a warning at her, but to Jonna he offered only gentle understanding. “Sha vel’mei, Jonna,” he said, his voice a deep, rough velvet purr. “You are both welcome. And you, Aartys . . .” He leveled a stern look on the boy. “I do not want to see you on the battlefield again. Your sword is sharp and your soul is brave, but I need you most here, guarding your mother and the Feyreisa.” He clapped a hand on the child’s shoulder. “There is no more honorable duty for a warrior of the Fey than to protect our women. Do you accept this great honor?”

“You want me to help guard the Feyreisa?” The boy’s eyes went big as coins. He cast a dazed glance at Ellysetta before turning back to Rain. “Aye, my lord Feyreisen,” he agreed. “I do accept.”

“Kabei.” Good. “Then it is decided. Sers vel Jelani and vel Tibboreh”—he tilted his head towards two of the grim-eyed Fey posted at the corners of Ellysetta’s healing tent—“will explain your duties to you. For now, go with your mother and get some rest and a change of clothes.”

“But the Feyreisa—” Aartys began.

“—will not need your protection at the moment, as she will be coming with me.”

* * *

Eld ~ Boura Fell

Vadim Maur, the High Mage of Eld, shook off the flicker of awareness that had brushed across his senses and withdrew the part of his consciousness he’d sent into the Well. If the brief touch had been the girl, she was gone now, and the protections that barred him from her mind were firmly back in place. He could still sense her existence, but that was all.

“Master?” The timid, subservient voice near his left shoulder broke the silence. “What should I do with him?”

Vadim tightened his lips in irritation, then just as quickly relaxed the pressure when he felt the flesh split and warm liquid ooze down his shrouded chin. Wordless, he dabbed the edge of his deep purple hood against his mouth. His body had grown fragile these past weeks. The Rot had him firmly in its grip, and not even the ministrations of his powerful shei’dalin captives could hold it back any longer. Soon, the truth already suspected by most of his council would be impossible to hide.

His time was running out.

He gazed through the observation portal into the sel’dor cage with its wild-eyed inhabitant: a young man, the last of the four magically gifted infants to whom he’d tied the souls of unborn tairen seventeen years ago. The boy had shown full mastery in four of the five Fey magics, but only a middling level three in Spirit, so there’d never been any possibility of his becoming a Tairen Soul capable of summoning the Change. But his bloodlines were strong, and he’d proven quite adept at wielding Azrahn even in early childhood.

Vadim had been using him as a breeder, but recently, with the Rot advancing through Vadim’s flesh and Ellysetta Baristani still so stubbornly elusive, he had seriously considered using the boy as the vessel to house the next incarnation of his soul. At least as a stopgap until the much more powerful Ellysetta finally found her way back into his keeping.

That plan was scuttled now. The boy had gone mad, just like the thousands of others to whom Vadim had grafted tairens’ souls over the centuries. The madness usually began after adolescence, starting with voices only the afflicted could hear, then progressing to bouts of Rage, and finally complete savagery and destructive madness and death.

Of all the children to whom he’d bound the soul of a tairen, only Ellysetta had survived twenty-four years without a hint of insanity. That made her an invaluable prize, not only as a powerful vessel to hold Vadim’s incarnated soul, but as the key to his long centuries of experimentation. .

In the cell, the boy put his hands to his head. Shrieking unintelligible gibberish, he pulled great tufts of hair out by the roots and spun around the room, slamming his body against the wall and ripping at his own flesh.

Vadim’s fingers curled in a fist. “Restrain him before he damages himself more. Continue to breed him as long as you can.” Too many centuries had gone into the crossbreeding of magical bloodlines to throw the boy away without squeezing as much benefit from his existence as possible. “If he endangers the females, send him to Fezai Madia.” The leader of the Feraz witches had been complaining lately over the quality of the slaves he’d been sending for her sacrifices to the demon-god Gamorraz. Insane this boy might be, but there was no denying the strong magic in his blood.

Leaving the observation room, he passed through the nursery and paused to glance into the two cradles resting against the wall. Two infants with bright, shining eyes stared up at him. Both boys, both already showing promise of mastering all Fey magics. Each had the soul of an unborn tairen grafted to his own. Would they go mad, too? Or had Vadim finally discovered the secret to successfully breeding Tairen Souls of his own?

Only time would tell. For now, they represented another generation of possibility, another opportunity to succeed in case Ellysetta Baristani continued to elude him …

…or in case she fell prey to the same lethal insanity as her predecessors.

* * *

Celieria ~ Orest

“Where are we going?” Ellysetta asked as Rain dragged her away from the healing tents. Her quintet had started to follow, but one hot look from Rain had stopped them in their tracks.

“Someplace I can keep you out of trouble.”

There was still a snap in his voice, so she offered a small peace offering. “You were good with Aartys.”

He gave her a withering look, and her olive branch went quietly up in flames. “Do not attempt to soothe this tairen, shei’tani. You nearly died—or worse—and I will not overlook that.”

She bit her lip. He was right. She’d gone too far into the Well, and something had been quite successfully pushing her to use her most dangerous magic. Still …this double standard her truemate imposed on her had gone on long enough.

“Why do you get to be angry, and I do not?”

He glared. “What do you have to be angry about?”

She stopped stock-still and yanked her hand from his grip. “Are you serious? I’m your shei’tani—your truemate—and you can actually ask me that?” She didn’t wait for him to reply. “How many times have you barely made it back to Orest alive? How many times have you crashed into Veil Lake, bloody and half-dead, limbs broken, flesh shredded, enough sel’dor arrows in you to supply an entire company of archers? Yet you expect me to patch you up and send you back to battle time and time again. You and every other warrior who ends up on my table.”

“You are a shei’dalin. That is what shei’dalins do.”

“Precisely! You fight out there.” She jabbed a finger towards the scorched and still-smoking southwest corner of Eld. “Well, that is my battlefield.” She turned and jabbed her finger back at the healing tents. “And I’m every bit as determined to win my war as you. If that means I occasionally have to take risks—just like you do—then, by the gods, that’s exactly what I’ll do!”

“Over. My. Rotting. Corpse.” His teeth snapped together with an audible click. He grabbed her wrist again and put on a burst of speed that forced her to jog to keep up with him.

The collection of bloodsworn black Fey’cha daggers strapped across her chest and around her hips slapped against her steel-embroidered scarlet robes as she ran, and the feeling of being a chastised child dragged along beind an irate parent only chafed her more.

“You’re being unfair!” she exclaimed. “I may not have my wings yet, but I’m a Tairen Soul, too, Rain. I feel the same need to defend our people as you do. Just because the only enemy I can defend them against at the moment is death, that doesn’t mean my efforts are any less vital than yours!”

His eyes glowed so bright they nearly shot purple sparks. “Have I ever suggested they were? Have I not let Gaelen weave the forbidden magic for your use so you could save lives that would otherwise be lost? I do not object to your saving lives. But I will not allow you to risk your own in the process!”

“But—”

“Enough!” he thundered. “You don’t have to like it, Ellysetta, but I am the Feyreisen—both your truemate and your king—and on this matter, I will be obeyed!”

Ahead lay the open plaza near Veil Lake that Rain and the tairen used for launching and landing. Four majestic winged cats, each the size of a house, crouched on the manicured grass at the lakeshore. Their heads were extended as they lapped at the cold waters fed from Kiyera’s Veil, the gauntlet of three-hundred-foot waterfalls that tumbled down from opposing mountainsides at the lake’s western shore.

When they reached the plaza, Rain slowed his pace. Ellysetta yanked her wrist from his grip a second time, marched to the mossy edge of the bricked space, and presented him her back. She pressed her lips in a thin line, angry at his high-handedness. For a woman who’d spent the first twenty-four years of her life as the shy, obedient daughter of a poor woodcarver and his wife, Ellysetta had become mulishly resistant to Voices of Authority. Even when those voices belonged to kings, wedded husbands, and beloved truemates. If Mama were still alive, she would shake her head in despair of her adopted daughter’s willful ways.

By the lakeshore, the largest of the tairen, a great white beauty with eyes like glowing blue jewels, lifted her snowy, feline head and turned to pad towards them. Her long tail slapped against several tree trunks as she walked, bringing a shower of leaves raining down in her wake. When she reached the plaza, she spread her wide, clawed wings and reared up on her hind legs to shake the debris from her fur. A deep, throaty purr rumbled in her chest, and she tilted her head down to pin Ellysetta with a whirling, pupillesss blue gaze.

**You worried your mate, kitling,** admonished Steli, chakai of the Fey’Bahren pride. The musical tones of the tairen’s speech danced in the air like flashes of silver and gold and carried with them feelings of panicked fear and images of Rain whirling in the sky and rocketing towards Upper Orest. **You should not alarm him so. Tairen frightened for their mates are dangerous—especially to beings as breakable as mortals.**

“Not you, too, Steli!” Ellysetta crossed her arms, feeling immensely put out. “You think I’m not afraid when he’s out there getting maimed by arrows and bowcannon?”

Steli’s ears flicked and her tail lashed the earth. **Ellysetta-kitling would not scorch the world. Rainier-Eras already has. Without you to anchor him, he would again.**

That simple, inescapable truth deflated Ellysetta’s temper as nothing else could. A thousand years ago, after the death of his first mate, Sariel, Rain Tairen Soul had scorched the world in the blaze of tairen flame, killing thousands in mere instants, millions in a handful of days. He’d paid for that act of Rage with seven hundred years of madness and another three centuries spent battling his way back from the abyss.

**Rainier-Eras is proud,** Steli continued, **and he does not wish to frighten his mate. He does not tell Ellysetta-kitling that each day becomes harder. That each battle weakens what took him so long to rebuild.**

Ellysetta cast a troubled gaze over her shoulder. Rain stood a short distance away, shoulders hunched, pinching the bridge of his nose as he expended visible effort to calm himself. She’d frightened him badly, and his control hung in tatters. Untruemated Fey warriors absorbed the torment of every life they took—the pain, the darkness, the sorrow of lost dreams hanging like burning stones around their necks—and Rain bore the weight of millions on his soul. Mental and emotional discipline was the only thing standing between him and insanity, and her nearly fatal trip into the Well had stripped those protections threadbare. Shame washed over her.

The tairen bent her head and nudged Ellysetta. **Go to your mate, kitling. He needs you. Now more than ever.**

Ellysetta crossed the short distance to Rain’s side. Moss grew green and thick along the edges of the plaza’s mist-dampened bricks. Winter would be upon them soon, and the spray off the Veil would turn to flurries of ice crystals. The nights would grow longer, the Eld Mages more powerful. Despite the brave efforts of Lord Teleos’s soldiers, Celieria stood no chance of surviving the winter as a free land without the help of the Fey. The might of the tairen was the only power Mages truly feared.

Until Ellysetta found her wings, Rain was the only living Tairen Soul capable of Changing to his tairen form and leading the pride into battle. As such, he would have to fight—again and again and again—and the torment of his soul would grow more unbearable with each engagement. Ellysetta hadn’t been thinking about that when she’d made her decision to save Aartys. She hadn’t been thinking about Rain at all.

“I’m sorry, shei’tan,” she apologized sincerely. “I should have been more careful—for your sake if not my own.”

“That’s what you always say,” he replied in a low voice, “but it never stops you from doing what you know you should not.”

She rubbed her forehead, where a headache had begun to throb. “I never meant to go so deep into the Well, but he was a child, Rain. Not much older than Lillis and Lorelle. I couldn’t let him die. Can’t you understand that?”

He sighed. “I do understand, shei’tani. Better than you think.” He turned to face her. “But saving that boy or even a thousand more like him won’t bring Lillis and Lorelle back.” He crossed to her side and took her shoulders in a firm grip. “You’ve got to stop risking yourself this way, Ellysetta. You’re no good to your sisters, or your father, or anyone else for that matter, if you’re dead or lose your soul to the Mages.”

“I know that. I do. It’s just that—” Her voice broke off. She could feel his fear, his love, his guilt for bringing her into the dangers of a Tairen Soul’s life, his terror that he might not be strong enough to hold himself in check the next time she came so close to death.

“Oh, Rain.” She leaned against him, resting her forehead against the unforgiving golden steel of his tairen-forged war armor and laying the palm of one hand against the smooth warmth of his jaw. Though they could not read each other’s thoughts until their bond was complete, they could, when they touched skin-to-skin, feel each other’s emotions as clear as day.

Because he was the strongest of the Fey, the most powerful Tairen Soul in living memory, it was so easy to forget how fragile he truly was, how narrow the band that kept him from plunging into madness.

**Sieks’ta, shei’tan.** I’m sorry, beloved. She wove the apology into his mind on a thread of Spirit, not reading his thoughts, but offering him one of hers. With her hand against his face, her skin touching his, she knew he could sense her sincerity and the great love she bore him just as she sensed his agitation drain away, replaced by regret and weariness.

He turned his lips into her palm and pressed a kiss there. “As am I,” he said. “I know my fear for you is a burden, and it shames me that you must bear it. You are a Tairen Soul, which means you are fierce, born to fight and to defend those in your care; but you are also my shei’tani. I thought I would be strong enough to let you embrace the warrior’s side of your nature. I know now I’m not. I cannot allow you to be harmed—not even by your own actions.”

Ellysetta forced a small smile. “Perhaps when our bond is complete, things will be different.”

“Perhaps,” he agreed without conviction.

Steli’s wings flapped. The white tairen nudged them with her nose. **Time to fly, Rainier-Eras. The day grows late.**

“Aiyah.”

“Where are we going?” Ellysetta asked.

“Crystal Lake,” he admitted.

“The Source in the mountains? But that’s bells away—” She broke off and her brows drew together in concern. Every great city in the Fading Lands had a Source at its center, and the Fey drank the water of those Sources to bolster their strength and replenish flagging magical energies. The only Source that existed outside the Fading Lands was Crystal Lake, and its magic-infused waters fed one of the tributaries that flowed into Kiyera’s Veil and the Heras River.

If the diluted Source waters of the Veil were no longer powerful enough to replenish Rain’s magic or rejuvenate his strength . . .

“It’s more precaution than need,” Rain reassured her, reading her expression. Fey didn’t lie, which meant he was telling the truth—or at least a version of it. “Besides, how long has it been since we’ve managed to do more than snatch a few bells’ sleep together? I thought you might like some time away from the battlefield and the healing tents.”

“I would.” The other shei’dalins slipped back through the Mists every few days to restore themselves in the peace of the Fading Lands. Banished and Mage Marked as she was, Ellysetta didn’t have that luxury. “I suppose we could both use a visit to the Source,” she said, stepping back to give Rain room for the Change.

He waited for her to get clear before closing his eyes and summoning his magic. Flows of power gathered and swirled around him, darkening to a gray mist that sparkled with rainbow lights. The crackling energy of his magic poured over Ellysetta in hot, electric waves. She gasped and closed her eyes on a shudder of shared pleasure as Rain’s Fey body was unmade—his flesh and consciousness flung out into the mist of the Change—then re-formed in a staggering rush into the great, sleek body of his tairen self.

When the magic of the Change cleared, Rain Tairen Soul crouched where Rain the Fey had stood: a magnificent, kingly creature, like one of the sleek black jungle cats Ellysetta had seen in illustrated books of faraway lands, except that a tairen stood easily half as high as a fully grown fireoak, and great, batlike wings sprouted from his back. Even by tairen standards, Rain was an impressive male, with fur a glossy, unrelieved midnight black, a vast wingspan, and radiant, pupillesss eyes that glowed like lavender suns.

He lowered his head to pin Ellysetta with that bright, whirling gaze and rumbled a throaty purr. Her body clenched like a fist, every nerve abruptly sizzling with a rush of pure, primitive heat. She might not yet have found her wings, but the tairen in her soul recognized its mate—and yearned for him with staggering force.

She wet her lips and tried to compose herself while Rain purred deep in his throat and nosed her with unmistakable interest. “Stop that.” She laughed, giving him a shove. She summoned an Earth weave that transformed her gown into steel-studded scarlet leathers, with Fey’cha belts crossed over her chest and her quintet’s daggers sheathed in the belt slung around her hips. A subsequent weave summoned a burst of powerful silvery Air magic that lifted her body up and deposited her into the cradle of the leather saddle that Rain wove for her on his back. She anchored herself in place with the saddle’s leather straps. “I’m ready.”

**Then spin the weave, shei’tani. Around Steli as well as us.**

Ellysetta nodded and reached once more into the well of power that lay within her. Lavender Spirit, the mystic magic of consciousness, thought, and illusion, surged up in a rush and she wove the dense threads of energy in a pattern Gaelen vel Serranis had taught the Fey only a few months ago. She flung the weave out like a net, first around Steli—who promptly winked out of sight—then around herself and Rain, rendering them invisible to both mortal and magic eyes.

The other tairen had left the waters of Veil Lake and padded over to the plaza. They leapt into the air seconds before Rain crouched down on his haunches and sprang skyward, and their presence provided cover for the rush of wind that might have betrayed Rain and Steli’s otherwise invisible launch.

Ringed by the pride and sheathed by invisibility, Rain, Ellysetta, and Steli soared high over the Rhakis mountaintops into the thin, crisp chill of the autumn sky. A dusting of snow capped the high, jagged peaks to the north. Below, just across the Heras River, the southwest corner of Eld still smoldered from the fiery aftermath of the recent battle. What had two weeks ago been a fortified village was now a scorched plain, razed to the ground, every living and dead thing in a twenty-mile radius reduced to ash. Yet still, the Eld came to battle the legions of Orest with relentless determination, wearing them down bit by bit, retreating back into the dense forests of Eld, where, thanks to the batteries of bowcannon trained on the skies, not even the tairen could follow.

To the west, the billowing wall of mist that marked the borders of the Fading Lands rose up from the mountaintops. Rain flew close enough that Ellysetta could feel the tingle of magic from the Mists, and her fingers tightened on the pommel.

From the valley floor, the Mists looked like a line of thunderclouds hugging the crests of the Rhakis mountains. From the sky, however, they looked more beautiful than foreboding, like a radiant veil of shifting rainbows that stretched upward as far as the eye could see.

Ominous thunderheads or shimmering veil, Ellysetta recognized the Faering Mists for what they truly were: a deadly magical barrier meant to keep the enemies of the Fey from entering the Fading Lands.

It was true that many an innocent shepherd had wandered by accident into the Mists, only to emerge again, decades later, unharmed, not aged a day, carrying tales of being feted by the Fair Folk in misty forest palaces. To the not-so-innocent, the Mists were far less kind. Entire armies had been swallowed up, never to be seen again.

Ellysetta’s body tensed with remembered pain. She knew, firsthand, the torments that lay within those shifting clouds. Thanks to the four Mage Marks she bore, the Mists were now more dangerous to her than the Well of Souls, and the last time she’d entered, she’d very nearly not made it back out again alive.

If it were otherwise, she would not be here in Orest, weaving her magic to save lives. She would be in the Mists, searching every gods-cursed fingerspan of the magical barrier, tearing it apart thread by scorching thread if she had to.

Because somewhere in that veil of shifting mist, the last members of her family had been trapped; and she could not reach them …or even tell if they were still alive.

* * *

The Faering Mists

“Lorelle! Papa! Can you hear me? Where are you?” Lillis Baristani’s voice was hoarse from shouting, and the ocean of tears she’d shed had left her eyes swollen and burning.

She turned in circles and squinted in a vain effort to pierce the suffocating veil of shifting whiteness around her. She’d been in the Mists a long time—bells, certainly, maybe even a day or more, though it was hard to tell time when the vapor was eternally lit by its own magical glow. In any event, she’d not seen or heard another living being since the moment the mountain had shuddered like a wild, angry beast and she’d lost her footing and fallen back into the Faering Mists.

Never in all her life had she been so alone. Always, someone had been with her: her twin, Lorelle, or Mama or Papa or Ellie.

Alone was frightening. Almost more frightening than the terrible, monstrous darrokken or the evil Eld soldiers that had attacked Teleon. Almost more frightening than even the sight of Kieran screaming as he disappeared beneath an avalanche of dirt, rock, and toppling trees.

“Kieran?” she cried. “Kiel? Anybody?”

There was still no answer.

Lillis blinked back tears and clutched her small kitten to her chest. “They’re not coming, Snowfoot. I don’t think anyone’s coming.” In the sling tied around her neck, her black-and-white kitten mewed and squirmed and sank its tiny sharp claws into the wool jacket covering Lillis’s pinafore.

Papa had always told Lillis, “If ever you get lost, kitling, stay right where you are. Your mama and I will come to find you.” But Mama was dead—killed by the same evil people who had attacked Teleon—and Lillis had waited long enough in the white blindness of the Mists to know that either no one was still alive to find her or they were looking in the wrong place.

Either way, she couldn’t stay here.

She stroked Snowfoot’s soft fur and hummed a little song Ellie had always sung to Lillis and Lorelle when they were frightened or upset. The tune didn’t soothe Lillis like it did when Ellie sang it, but Snowfoot stopped his anxious mewing.

“I’ll bet you’re getting hungry and thirsty, aren’t you?” Lillis murmured to the kitten. “I know I am.” She wrapped her thin arms around the tiny feline, cuddling it closer and pressing her face to the soft fur at the top of its head. “Come on, Snowfoot,” she said. “Let’s go find Papa and Lorelle.”

Ash’s review of by Bitter Night (Horngate Witches, Book 1) by Diana Pharaoh Francis
Urban fantasy published by Juno (Pocket) 27 Oct 09

Urban fantasy seems to be a dime a dozen these days so when I pick up a new to me author I try not to expect much. Thankfully, Bitter Night is pretty awesome. It could probably be considered more fantasy than urban, but that never bothered me. The world is easy to understand and the characters, even the nasty ones, are easy to enjoy. The Shadowblade warriors, the ones who cannot be in the sun, and the Sunspear warriors, the ones who cannot be in the dark, are an interesting addition the the urban fantasy genre.

Max is a Shadowblade Prime, meaning she is in charge of the group of warriors magically bound to protect the witch Giselle. Her only care is to try to rid herself of the witch, or so she thinks. Everything Max fights for is about to be tested. Max is one tough woman, while being horribly wounded, over and over again, she never once backs down.

The action is non stop and the story and it’s characters are unique and refreshing. Max is a character that I was instantly drawn to. She does what she has too, but she does it her way. She can be harsh, bitter, or mean and she doesn’t make apologies for it. She is who she is and I liked her for that. I was rooting for her to save the day, and come out on top. Actually, I loved most of the characters, and there is a nice variety of them without it becoming confusing.

Max seems to pick up new allies every where she goes, and each one adds to the story. One of those allies which is Alexander, whose POV we also get. Alexander was the Shadowblade Prime to another witch, and he becomes involved with Max and her fight. Through him we can see exactly why so many people are willing to die for Max. Transitioning from one character to another is something that Diana Pharaoh Francis does well. They flow seamlessly from one to the other. Seeing through both their eyes makes the story feel fuller and more alive.

The end is really just the beginning, and Max is finally starting to figure out where she is in the grand scheme of things. I see a lot of potential with this series and I’m looking forward to what happens next.

Grade: B+

SOMETIMES YOU CHOOSE YOUR BATTLES. AND SOMETIMES, THEY CHOOSE YOU…

Once, Max dreamed of a career, a home, a loving family. Now all she wants is freedom…and revenge. A witch named Giselle transformed Max into a warrior with extraordinary strength, speed, and endurance. Bound by spellcraft, Max has no choice but to fight as Giselle’s personal magic weapon — a Shadowblade — and she’s lethally good at it. But her skills are about to be put to the test as they never have before….

The ancient Guardians of the earth are preparing to unleash widespread destruction on the mortal world, and they want the witches to help them. If the witches refuse, their covens will be destroyed, including Horngate, the place Max has grudgingly come to think of as home. Max thinks she can find a way to help Horngate stand against the Guardians, but doing so will mean forging dangerous alliances — including one with a rival witch’s Shadowblade, who is as drawn to Max as she is to him — and standing with the witch she despises. Max will have to choose between the old life she still dreams of and the warrior she has become, and take her place on the side of right — if she survives long enough to figure out which side that is….

Read an excerpt.

Sandy M’s review of Midnight Pleasures with a Scoundrel (Scoundrels of St. James, Book 4) by Lorraine Heath
Historical Romance published by Avon 27 Oct 09

A chapter or so into this book, I was worried. I wasn’t liking James as much as I’d liked the other heroes in this series’ previous books. I’m not sure why either. But I should have known better. Lorraine Heath is an expert in her field, and she soon caught me by the heartstrings and taught me a valuable lesson.

Eleanor is out for revenge for the death of her sister. She knows who killed her and everything is planned out to the last detail, starting by following the man throughout London. Of course, she couldn’t plan for the interference of others. While being accosted one night by men who think she’s a prostitute, Eleanor is saved by Inspector James Swindler. He then escorts her home, neither of them thinking to see the other again.

But Lord Rockberry, the man who Eleanor has been trailing, thinks he’s seen a ghost and demands Scotland Yard look into the matter and James is selected, thereby meeting up with Eleanor once again. Their attraction is immediate this time and they begin to spend more and more time together. I enjoyed this slow, getting-to-know-one-another part of the book. This is where I also came to like James so much more and where Ms. Heath begins to pull that heartstring so very well.

But Ms. Heath, being the expert she is, also throws the reader a huge whammy in the second half of this story. Huge. One you don’t see coming no matter what. That whammy also affects James tremendously, his trust in Eleanor sorely tested. Lord Rockberry also ends up dead, so another wrench is thrown in for good measure. There’s a lot going on in this portion of the book, from mystery to betrayal.

So after learning more about James and his past, having my heart run through the wringer, I learn my lesson the hard way to not make snap judgments, especially when dealing with an author of Ms. Heath’s caliber. James been in hell all of his life, and though most of us wanted to see him with Frannie, who he thought was his true love, we see a whole new James with Eleanor, even when times are bad between them.

Eleanor herself has her own demons to conquer, more with James now in the picture. I really like these two people. They don’t end up living the high life as those in previous books, their life will be simple and lovely, thus staying true to their characters throughout.

All of James’ friends are once again called to help and they come running just as friends do, and it’s nice to see how they are all faring at this point in time. The gang’s all here and this is a nice ending to the series, everyone taken care of just as they should be.

Grade: A-

Summary:

She Sought Revenge but Discovered Desire

On a quest to avenge her sister’s death, Eleanor Watkins never expected to fall for the man following her through pleasure gardens and into ballrooms. But soon nothing can keep her from the arms of the sinfully attractive scoundrel, not even the dangerous secrets she keeps. Strong, compassionate, and utterly irresistible, James is all she desires. But can she trust him enough to let herself succumb to all the pleasures that midnight allows?

James Swindler has worked hard to atone for his unsavory past. He is now as at home in London’s glittering salons as he is in the roughest streets. But when the inspector is tasked with keeping watch on a mysterious lady suspected of nefarious deeds, he is determined to use his skills at seduction to lure Eleanor into revealing her plans. Instead, he is the one seduced, turning away from everything he holds dear in order to protect her–no matter the cost to his heart.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Sandy M’s review of Chosen by Desire (Guardians of Destiny, Book 2) by Kate Perry
Paranormal Romance published by Forever 1 Oct 09

This book has it all. Mysteries from the ancient past, a brooding, sexy, alpha hero, an intelligent and independent heroine, betrayal, danger, sizzling love scenes, and a lot more. I’m very glad I’ve discovered Kate Perry and her Guardians of Destiny series.

Besides all of that, this hero and heroine actually talk to one another, get their issues out in the open and deal with them. That’s so very refreshing.

Carrie is working on her thesis, and when she learns of information about the Scrolls of Destiny, she heads to China and the monastery where they’re housed. She means to only get a look at the scrolls to authenticate her paper that will give her tenure at UC Berkeley, but her plans go awry and she ends up leaving the monastery and the country with the scrolls. She vows to return them once her work is done, despite the monk who seems to know what she’s done though he doesn’t pursue her.

At least that’s what she thinks until she receives a job offer of translating another ancient text belonging to millionaire Maximillian Prescott. He’s the monk who watched her so intently in China. He’s also a Guardian, a man of few words, a man betrayed, and the handsomest and sexiest man she’s ever seen. Their attraction is immediate and neither of them can deny their need for the other.

Max is sent to Carrie to retrieve the scrolls and make sure she doesn’t make any of their sacred information public. He doesn’t expect to want her as fiercely as he does, especially considering how he’s been betrayed before by a woman and his best friend, his brother. After spending so many years in seclusion at the monastery, controlling his desire for this woman is very difficult, and once he touches her he knows he’ll never let her go.

I, of course, love Max. He’s as alpha as can be, has shut his heart away and definitely needs someone like Carrie to bring him to life again. Carrie is the typical woman who thinks she’s not beautiful, she’s chunky, she’s bookish, so no man like Max could want her, but she learns very quickly that isn’t true. I also enjoyed the mystery of the scrolls and the ensuing danger to Carrie once it’s known she has the ancient tomes. The culprit is a surprise and is revealed very late in the book, so you’re kept guessing quite a long time.

Liking this book so much, I’m determined to track down a copy of the first book in the series, whose characters are featured in CbD quite a bit and I like them a lot. I’m hoping this series goes on for a while. There is a third book coming, but couldn’t find any information beyond that on the author’s web site. Keeping my fingers crossed, though.

Grade: B+

Summary:

Carrie Woods just can’t resist temptation. To solve an ancient mystery, she “borrows” a precious, legend-cursed scroll from a Chinese monastery. But with the scroll comes danger: bizarre powers, life-threatening accidents, and, most frightening of all, one sexy Guardian’s icy-hot gaze.Maximillian Prescott is all too happy to strip this innocent-eyed thief of her secrets and the scroll, yet he’s determined to fight the undeniable attraction pulling them together.

But Max isn’t Carrie’s only pursuer, and there’s just one way to keep the scroll safe. This adventurous blonde and brooding Guardian must dare to join forces and bare their souls to each other. . . before their enemies take not only the scroll but Carrie’s life.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Gwen’s review of Bound to Shadows (Riley Jensen, Book 8 ) by Keri Arthur
Urban Fantasy released by Dell 27 Oct 09

It’s been a while since I read and reviewed one of the Riley Jensen books.  Have I told you lately how much I love this series?  Well, I love this series.  Of all the Urban Fantasy, first person POV series out there, this is one of the best.  I’m always amazed at how totally immersed into Riley’s  stories I become.  And since Arthur is one of the more prolific writers out there, there’s plenty to jump into.

In this entry to the Riley-verse, our heroine is relishing her role as a Guardian – one of the enforcement types who keep the paranormals from consuming humans and each other.  Until recently in the series, Riley resisted this role.  She’s also firmly in love with Quinn – an ancient vamp who is the love of her life.  She’s also in reluctant lust/hate with her soul-mate, Kye.  As per normal, Riley’s personal life and libido is wild and crazy, and very eventful.  Arthur is in fine form in the sensual scenes with this entry.  If you enjoy Riley’s lovelife, don’t miss this book.

As usual, Riley is also doing a kick-ass job kicking bad guy butts all over Melbourne.  There’s a very good suspense element to this entry that is actually rooted in somewhat normal, human motivations.  Sure some otherworldly (and very creepy) things happen, but Shadows has a very good suspense element.

If you’ve never read a Riley Jensen novel, this might be a passable standalone. You may be at bit at sea with some of the details and history, but if you just roll with the story, you’ll be entertained.  Nevertheless, I highly recommend trying to read as much of the series as possible.

The only reason I’m giving Shadows a B instead of an A is because of the first person POV.  Even though Arthur is one of the absolute best authors out there with this POV, it’s still a pet peeve of mine when a story is told using it.  This POV is too limiting to the story and I’m left guessing too much.  I have a very difficult time giving them A’s unless something about the book just blows my socks off.

I recommend this book to any UF fans and anyone following the Riley Jensen series.  Good storytelling, good romance, good action… good book.

Grade: B+

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

Summary:

In the darkness, demons come out to play… and someone must bring their sins to light.

Part vampire, part werewolf, Riley Jenson knows what can happen when vamps don’t play well with others. But she’s never seen anything like this: a series of brutal murders surrounding the latest hot spot for vampire-human hookups—and the victims aren’t just killed, they’re beheaded. Now Riley is launching into action, toying with a seductive—and highly suspicious—club owner, and finding herself in the middle of another mystery: women being killed one by one, without a trace of violence.

For Riley, solving multiple cases—in a world going mad with human and vampire passions—would have been tough enough. Instead she has two jealous lovers on her hands: Kye Murphy, the amber-eyed werewolf who makes Riley’s wolf blood howl—and Quinn, the cool, elegant vamp who has over a thousand years’ experience at fulfilling women’s desires. While she’s busy juggling these two sexy beasts, Riley’s detective work takes a stunningly violent turn. Finding a murderer is now a matter of life and death. Especially since the killer has long since found her…

Read an excerpt here.

Other books in the series:

Sandy M’s review of Santa in a Stetson by Janet Dailey
Contemporary Romance published by Zebra 1 Oct 09

I haven’t read Janet Dailey in years. I loved her Calder saga when it began back in 1999. (I actually thought it was later than that, but that’s what the websites I checked say.) I read the first four books of that series because that’s all there was at that time. I’ve yet to start the second half of it, but they are in the TBR pile. After reading this book, I’m all the more curious to start the Calders at the beginning just to see if they have the same punch as they did all those years ago. I’m having my doubts, however. Santa in a Stetson is hopefully not vintage Dailey after so much time. I’m hoping she’s better than what I just experienced or remember.

The biggest nitpick with this book is Ms. Dailey doesn’t seem to have grown with the years as far love/sex scenes in romance. Yes, there’s the sweet and sensual for readers who don’t care to get totally nekkid when reading, but this book barely skims sweet or sensual. You have to keep up to date even when you’re old fashioned, and Ms. Dailey just plain misses the mark with this story. There’s not even the smallest beginnings of a sizzle between this couple.

And if you’re looking for a Christmas read, this ain’t it. Whoever titled this book also missed the mark. Big time. Christmas doesn’t even come into the story until very, very late in the book, and though Lije receives a Stetson as a gift, that’s just not what I had pictured in my head of what could conceivably happen in this book. And he doesn’t even play Santa.

Lije and Diana meet while she’s on a photo shoot on a Texas ranch where a local rodeo is going on, Lije being a participant, and they have a whirlwind of a time with each other. They both fall hard for the other very quickly. It’s Lije who does the hard part and says goodbye for them to go their separate ways when the time comes. But it’s Diana who takes the first step toward love, giving up her modeling career to tell Lije she loves him and she wants a future with him.

They marry just as quickly, and just as quickly Diana has doubts about what she’s done the very second she steps onto Lije’s ranch. This was a huge stumbling block for me. She didn’t even give the man a minute’s worth of confidence, worried only that she’s a city girl, the ranch is run down, she’s used to nicer things, maybe she’s made a mistake. I’d have to say it was Lije who made the mistake, seems he got the short end of the stick. More happens, of course, to cause discord between them. Diana eventually in another short period of time can’t stand the loneliness on the ranch when Lije is out working all day long trying to make a go of the place. She just irritated me something fierce from this point on out.

That’s not to say that Lije doesn’t have his moment of errors in judgment. He jumps to the wrong conclusion when he arrives home after being gone a week to see Diana in the barn with a man Lije doesn’t care for, in somewhat of a compromising position. Things hurl south even faster after this, divorce is thrown around, and Diana begins to pack her bags. On top of it all, the dialogue between them is awkward and just doesn’t sound right at this point in the relationship.

I’m very disappointed in this book. The characters are likeble and that’s pretty much all there is to like about the whole story.  What’s been done to them just isn’t worth the read. I’m still determined, though, to pull out my Calder books. I have to see if they and my nostalgia surrounding them have survived the years.

Oh, and, Ms. Dailey, please update your website. Santa in a Stetson isn’t even listed there. The most recent book showing is 2007. It’s very frustrating roaming through a site that doesn’t have the information you’re looking for.

Grade: D

Summary:

During a photo shoot on a Texas ranch, fashion model Diana Palmer is so entranced by sexy cowboy Lije Masters that within days she decides to give up her life and career to marry him. The whirlwind love affair is slowed by long cerebral conversations about their life histories, making supposedly cautious Diana’s sudden decision seem ditzy and reducing the reader’s sympathy for her difficult transition from career girl to rancher housewife. When Lije catches Diana with another man, Lije’s stereotypical Native American sidekick, Jim Two Pony, brings words of wisdom that persuade the couple to reconcile.

Read an excerpt.

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Taming Her Irish Warrior (The MacEgan Brothers #5) by Michelle Willingham
Historical romance released by Harlequin Historical 01 Oct 2009

Michelle Willingham continues her Irish medieval series about the MacEgan brothers with this latest entry, featuring the youngest of the lot, Ewan.  I’ll admit I have a huge soft spot for younger brother romance heroes with a need to “prove themselves” to their older siblings (siblings that usually tend to cast long shadows).  Ewan fits that mold, and while I found him appealing at times, his stubborn nature, coupled with the equally stubborn heroine didn’t always make the romance sing for me.

Ewan is the youngest of five brothers, and while the oldest one is a King, Ewan’s prospects are pretty slim.  It’s imperative that he weds a lady of means, preferably one with some land to her name.  He sets his sights on Lady Katherine of Ardennes.  Unfortunately for him, Katherine has the kind of beauty (and dowry) that inspires a number of suitors.  As a lowly younger son, one with few prospects, he’s got his work cut out for him.

Katherine’s older sister, Honora St. Leger has already survived one disastrous marriage.  After her husband dies, she finds herself thwarting the unwanted advances of her odious son-in-law.  So she returns home to her father and sister to regroup.  For years Honora has secretly honed her fighting skills among her father’s warriors.  In fact, it was Ewan who helped to train her.  She wants to rid the poor peasants of her vile son-in-law, but to do so she needs to raise an army.  There’s also the small matter that the villain terrifies her.  On top of that, her father is pressuring her to remarry, which Honora would rather be skinned alive than do.  That is until Ewan shows up.  He’s there hoping to win the hand of her properly feminine sister, and Honora knows she lacks everything he needs in a proper wife.  So how come these two cannot stay away from each other?  And what will they do with the villain comes calling?

There are a lot of potential pitfalls in the story that will likely turn off some readers.  For one, we have the heroine who likes to disguise herself as a man and play warrior woman.  Then we have a hero who is wooing one sister while lusting after the other.  It all sounds a bit….distasteful.  For the most part Willingham does a good job working the angles.  Chicks in pants playing with swords can annoy, but it fits Honora’s personality well.  Once determined to prove herself to a father who had little use for her, she now welcomes her skills as a means to protect herself – which come in especially handy during the course of her marriage.  Where this story stumbles a bit is with the conflict revolving around Ewan’s wooing of Katherine.

It’s very apparent early on that Ewan is smitten with Honora.  She infuriates him, puzzles him, vexes him, and she drives him totally mad with lust.  As the reader, this is very easy to see and understand.  Unfortunately it takes Ewan a while to realize it.  From a historical standpoint, I get it – making a good marriage match was everything, especially if you were a younger brother with little to no prospects.  He needs an heiress for a wife.  He needs the land, the dowry, the whole deal if he wants any sort of semi-comfortable life for himself and his future children.  So it’s easy to understand why he doesn’t throw Katherine over within the first 50 pages, but it does drag on for the bulk of the novel.  And then there’s the small matter of Honora pushing him away because she’s not what he needs, never mind she’s exactly what he wants.  It was kind of sick actually.  “Darling, I know you lust after me, but go!  Go marry my sister!”

Ultimately something happens that forces their hand, Ewan has to finally make his choice, and the villain must be dealt with.  Still, the couple keeps tap-dancing around their feelings for each other, and the belief that neither is what the other one needs continues to linger.  By this point I found myself getting a bit exasperated with them both.

Willingham continues to write interesting medievals, and it’s to her credit that she delivers a readable story featuring plot devices that generally are harder sells for me.  If you’re a reader who is a sucker for a chick in pants or heroes who start out the story wooing another woman?  This one will surely deliver what you crave.

Grade: C+

Summary:

When did Ewan MacEgan grow to be so overwhelmingly strong and disarmingly sexy? He intends to wed Honora St. Leger’s demure sister—but why should that matter to her? Honora would rather wield a sword than a mending needle and, as a widow, she knows there is little pleasure in the marriage bed….

Ewan MacEgan has set his sights on a wealthy bride but, tantalizingly, he finds himself drawn to the forbidden Honora! One touch and he is longing to awaken her sensuality, for he suspects she will be as passionate in bed as she is on the battlefield!

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Limecello’s review of The Billionaire’s Unexpected Heir by Kathie DeNosky
Contemporary romance published by Silhouette Desire on 13 Oct 2009

Kathie DeNosky is one of my more newly discovered harlequin authors, but she’s quickly becoming a favorite. I look for her Silhouette Desire books, and haven’t been disappointed yet. The Billionaire’s Unexpected Heir is basically the end to the Garnier trilogy, and it is a very satisfying end. There’s enough focus on the hero and heroine and it manages to tie the arc together neatly and close it. Impressive.

Heather McGwire is a great heroine. She’s so very real, and a smart lady too. She knows she’s suspectible to Jake, but holds her own – not stupidly or just to be stubborn, but because she’s trying to learn from her mistakes. I liked how real Heather is, and that she tries to do what is right, not what is easiest.

Jake Garnier is an interesting hero. In some ways I felt that he changed just a little bit too easily. Granted Ms. DeNosky wrote that Jake was starting to feel the need to settle down – but it seemed just a tiny bit too pat for me. Nevertheless it’s clear he’s a good man – and cares for family and friends, he just never considered having a family of his own. The bad example his father left him does help explain some of that, and I did find it reasonable.

I loved the development of an emotional relationship between Jake and Heather. Also the fact that Heather was willing to go toe to toe with him, and wasn’t willing to take any of his crap. I liked that Jake admitted he made mistakes, and admitted it. The fact that Jake acted so maturely did help, and supports his decision and ability to change into a doting family man.

There were these little moments – minor things, but they really helped bring the romance together for me. For example, Jake forces Heather to attend events and parties with him – but more than that, he notices when she’s snubbed by the “upper crust” and doesn’t appreciate it. His awareness and concern for Heather are very endearing.

It seems that all the Garniers had secret babies… but I guess considering their upbringing, they need that major catalyst to kickstart the romance and make them willing to chance a relationship. Also, Jake’s grovelling and declaration of love at the end – they’re really great.

I also loved how the family – the entire extended family was there, pulled together, and arranged a wedding for Heather and Jake. Even more perfectly, the book didn’t end there, but finally allowed Emerald, their “fairy godmother” to have her happy ending as well.

I definitely recommend this book to readers who like Silhouette Desires, Ms. Denosky’s books, and also the other two in this trilogy. I plan on checking on whether or not the original three “Emerald meddles” books are availalbe- I’d love to get my hands on those.

Grade: B-

Becoming the new owner of Hickory Hills Thoroughbred farm was not in billionaire Jake Garnier’s plans. Becoming a father was even more unimaginable. For his new business came with one Heather McGwire, ranch manager…and mother to Jake’s secret child.

After barely surviving his own father’s desertion, Jake knew he couldn’t walk away from his responsibilities. Marriage seemed the only solution. Yet Heather wouldn’t settle for simple sweet talk and seduction. If Jake wanted a real family, he’d have to saddle up for the long ride.

Read an excerpt here. (Yes, there actually is one on the amazon page – just scroll down a bit)

Devon’s review of Big Bad Wolf (The Others, Book 8 ) by Christine Warren
Paranormal Romance released by St. Martin’s 29 September 2009

Christine Warren’s The Others series are a set of sexy, lighthearted romps based mostly in Manhattan. They follow an urban group of various supernatural races as they prepare for, and go through with, making themselves known to the human world. After awhile, I find that the heroines are a bit too similar to each other, but otherwise these books are a reliable choice for a fun read that’ll keep your interest for a few hours.

Although this is advertised as the eighth book in the series, it must be noted that Big Bad Wolf is a revised and expanded version of a previously published Ellora’s Cave ebook (as were One Bite With a Stranger and You’re so Vein). So the plot and the romance actually take place earlier in the timeline of the series, if you know what I mean. Those who began with Wolf at the Door, and earlier installments will already be familiar with werewolf alpha Graham Winters and his luna Missy Roper. While it doesn’t deter from my enjoyment, it can be a bit weird. Things haven’t happened yet, but I know they will. Newcomers to the series may prefer to figure out the chronological order, and read them that way, rather than going by the published order (see booklist at her site).

Graham is a sexy Alpha werewolf who is growing increasingly dissatisfied with his love life, busy as it is. Missy Roper is the human kindergarten teacher, way too mousy to get Graham’s attention. (Of course, she is really quite sassy and spunky, aren’t they all). When Missy’s friends get her dolled up for a party, she gains Graham’s immediate notice. Her scent, her looks…could she…could she be his elusive mate. Of course she is! However, Missy’s not thrilled that Graham doesn’t realize that he’s already met her, when she was the maid of honor and he was the best man in a wedding party. She doesn’t believe that someone as gorgeous as Graham could ever notice her.

There is not a whole lot of plot outside of the romance. A bit of tussling over the pack hierarchy, which doesn’t add too much excitement or suspense. What we have here is a slight but entertaining romance. Nothing new or earthshaking, but fun. It serves as a good introduction to the Silverback clan, who play a large role in later installments. Warren uses the tired soul mate trope, but she always makes it work. There’s chemistry, banter, and they actually get to know each other, as Graham tries to convince Missy that they belong together, and Missy tries to decide if she wants to get involved with Graham and this strange new world.

If you enjoy light paranormal romance that’s not too corny, this is a good series to try. This is a fun addition to the series, and may be actually be a good place to start.

Grade: B-

The Summary:
Graham Winters is a werewolf with a problem. His idiot cousin Curtis wants to take over as Alpha of the Silverback Clan because of an archaic Lupine tradition that says an unmated Lupine can’t lead a pack. So what is Graham supposed to do? Pull a mate out of his hat? Where else will he find the perfect woman for him in time to thwart Curtis’s plans?

As it turns out, the answer is right under his nose.

Six months of unrequited lust for a playboy werewolf have gotten Missy no closer to fulfilling her fantasy of becoming the love of Graham Winters’s life. But when her four best friends decide to dress her up for a blind date the night of Reggie and Misha’s engagement party, everything changes. Suddenly Graham is declaring his undying lust, the members of his pack are calling her Luna, and his cousin and rival are trying to kill her. Clearly, a little adventure can go a long way.
Now the question is whether Missy is willing to risk her heart and her life for a chance at finding out whether werewolves really do mate for life…
No Excerpt Found

Read Devon’s review of One Bite With a Stranger
Read Devon’s review of Walk on the Wild Side
Books in the series:

Sandy M’s review of Queen of Song and Souls (Tairen Soul, Book 4) by C.L. Wilson
Fantasy Romance published by Leisure Books 27 Oct 09

This is one of those books you can’t wait to get your hands on. Anticipation courses through you as you open it up and finally get a taste of the wonderful writing, get reacquainted with old friends, and get caught up in the new joys and tragedies they face. But then when you reach the halfway mark in the story, it becomes one of those books that you don’t want to ever end. You want to slow down in your reading and make it last so much longer than the day you’ve already spent with it, but you simply can’t. Everything about this book hooks your emotions and puts you through the wringer over and over again, leaving you both overjoyed and saddened at the same time and also leaving you wanting more.

Right off the bat in this latest installment in her Tairen Soul series, C.L. Wilson not only puts her fans through the emotional wringer, but she also squeezes their heart until it either has to burst with happiness or break with heartache. And all of that is done with that richness of writing that Ms. Wilson is now known for. That alone is worth picking up the books in this series.

Rain and Ellie are still on their course toward their bond of truemates. Ellie has still yet to complete her bond, thus the madness that is inflicted on the mate who has bonded has begun for Rain, the knowledge of which he’s trying to keep from her as they make their way across the land to gather allies in the Mage war that has already taken too many lives. The scenes in which Rain loses control, full of bloodlust, are terrific but heart-rending scenes.

Ellie has inner turmoil of her own, once she realizes how and why she was born, what others have lost because of her birth, what she must do now to make sure those tragedies and losses finally mean something. She has also yet to fully discover her Tairen Soul. In this book shes comes very, very close, the Tairen just beneath the surface in certain circumstances but her ability to shift and breathe fire is still eluding her.

We once again live through the love, heartache, and pain of Ellie’s parents, Shan and Elfeya, who are being held captive and constantly, horribly, brutally tortured by the High Mage in hopes that brutality will aid in his catpure of Ellie and he will finally complete his diabolical plans. This villain is one sick puppy. What he’ll do, what he’ll go through for power and all that goes with it is beyond believable. What he’s already done to Shan and Elfeya is even beyond that, and you only hope Ms. Wilson will give them a happily ever after at the end of this series after all they’ve borne so far.

The conclusion of Adrial and Talisa’s mistimed truemating is also part of this book. I was looking forward to their story after waiting through King of Sword and Sky where it did not fit and had to be bumped to the QoSaS. I was more than happy to do so because that meant one extra book in the series in the long run. But my heart will never be the same after reading their fate, even though they will be together.

And there is so, so much more in between all of this. This book is jam packed with action, betrayal, and, of course, love and romance. If you have not read this series, you are definitely missing out on some of the best books to come along in a very long time. Pick up Lord of the Fading Lands, and I guarantee you you will be entranced and hooked in no time at all.

We now know there will be a fifth book, Tairen Soul, of the series, which is wonderful news for die-hard fans. Alas, it’s the waiting that kills us first. Then it’s the knowledge that when we read too fast, the end of such a good thing is that much closer.

Grade: A+

Summary:

The first deadly battles of the new Mage Wars have been fought, and victory has been won at a terrible price. As the toll of an unfulfilled matebond and the torment of war begins tips Rain towards madness, Ellysetta knows if she cannot find a way to defeat the darkness growing inside her and complete the truemate bond, Rain will die and she will become the prophesied monster Vadim Maur uses to destroy the Fey and enslave the World.

Read an excerpt. (scroll down and click link)

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of The Christmas Stranger (The Bancroft Brides #1) by Beth Cornelison
Romantic suspense released by Silhouette Romance Suspense 01 Oct 09

I’ve never naturally gravitated towards Harlequin’s romantic suspense category lines, despite being a longtime mystery/suspense fan.  I suspect it’s because, as much as I love the category format, adhering to a shorter word count, delivering a satisfying romance, and one top of all that, a satisfying suspense plot is a really tall order.  It takes a particularly skilled writer to be able to pull it off.  For the most part Beth Cornelison does in this first book in her Bancroft Brides trilogy.  The suspense plot wasn’t exactly challenging, but thoughtful characters and a climactic finish swoop in to save the day.

A year ago Holly Bancroft Cole’s husband, Ryan, was murdered.  They found his body in an abandoned church, his wallet and shoes missing.  Given the questionable neighborhood, police suspect a vagrant of the crime, but there are precious few leads.  Which means 12 months down the road, the case is still unsolved.  Holly has filled the void with her teaching job and volunteering at a local community aid center.  That is where she meets down-on-his-luck Matt Rankin.  Matt is living in a shady motel, currently in between construction jobs, and has lost custody of his kids to his in-laws.  If anyone needs a break, it’s this guy.  Through a series of circumstances, Holly ends up hiring him to complete renovations on her farm house.  Work has stalled on it ever since her husband’s death, Matt needs the job, and she just wants to be finished with it all.  But what will happen when Holly discovers the many secrets that Matt is keeping from her?  Especially in light of the fact of their growing attraction?

Yes gentle readers, we have ourselves the ol’ Big Secret plot.  It works fairly well here, as the Big Secret is highly charged and very emotional.  However, it does rely heavily on coincidence.  The reader has to be willing to buy into the fact that Matt and Holly’s paths have crossed before – even if they don’t realize it right away.  Sort of like two ships passing in the night.  The author lays out the facts in a slow and concise manner, having Matt unfold his tragic past throughout the entire course of the story.  This is at times frustrating as he shares the truth with Holly in drips and drabs, instead of just laying all of his cards out on the table, and getting it over with – thereby causing turmoil later on in the story.  That being said, both Holly and Matt are very nice people, you want them to succeed, and glory be, even with reticence and holding back, they do talk to each other – making it easy to buy into their budding romance.

The suspense thread here is decent, but it’s fairly obvious early on who our bad guy is.  That said, the author does a fine job of leaving motive up in the air until it’s revealed during the final chapters, and this helped save the day.  It’s easy to get bored with a suspense thread if you unravel it early on, and in this case the author does the smart thing by holding back just enough to cultivate an exciting finish.

While The Christmas Stranger didn’t change my life, it was a fast, quick read that kept me entertained.  Holly and Matt are both very likeable people, and the suspense plot kept the story humming along at a good clip.  There’s also a nice bit of Christmas flavor to the story, that would make this one an ideal holiday read – with an added bit of excitement as Holly unravels the mystery of her husband’s death.  It’s a good, solid start to a new series, and future books are planned for Holly’s two sisters.

Grade: B-

Summary:

After her husband’s death, Holly Bancroft Cole knows Christmas won’t be the same this year. Still grieving, she decides to complete the renovations on her North Carolina farmhouse and hires a construction worker. Drawn to his piercing eyes and gentle manners, Holly can’t shake the feeling that secrets lie behind the handsome stranger’s warm smile.

Haunted by memories, Matt Rankin can’t remember the joy that simple pleasures bring until he meets Holly. When a harrowing attempt is made on her life, Matt realizes he can’t live without this beautiful angel. Now he must protect the woman he loves at all costs—even if it means risking his own life.

Read an excerpt.

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of From Waif To Gentleman’s Wife (Wellingford’s #5) by Julia Justiss
Historical romance released by Harlequin Historical 01 Oct 09

Over the years I have remained fiercely loyal to Harlequin Historical in part because of their willingness to publish stories set in locales currently not the flavor of the month.  Which means they offer more to readers than just Regency historicals about spies and Dukes.  They were literally my lifeline during a time in my reading life when I was so burnt out on All England All The Time that I would read maybe one Regency-set book a year.  Now that my crippling burn-out has begun to lift, I’ve been making up for lost time by discovering many Regency writers that other readers have known about for years.  This being my first book by Julia Justiss, I wasn’t all that surprised to discover that Harlequin chose to publish a Regency historical that actually felt different.  It was like opening up a window on a warm spring day after a very long, dismal winter.  You mean Regencies can be about more than Dukes and spies?  Wow.

Joanna Merrill is a young widow with few options.  Her soldier husband succumbed to a fever he contracted in India, her in-laws have washed their hands of her, her family is abroad, and she’s sunk.  So she takes a job as a governess, only to find herself thwarting the advances of her randy employer.  When the fine upstanding Lady of the household catches her husband accosting Joanna, she promptly fires Joanna.  What with it being all her fault for throwing herself at a married man.  Joanna is tossed out on her ear, with very few coins to her name.  Desperate, she decides to travel to Blenhem Hill where her brother, Greville, is employed as estate manager.

Sir Edward “Ned” Greaves has purchased Blenhem Hill from his good friend Nicholas Stanhope, Marquess of Englemere.  Nicky gave his distant cousin Greville the job of overseeing the estate, only to learn that he was doing a terrible job of it.  Firing Greville, he’s at a loss of what to do next.  Blenhem is out of the way of his other holdings and he’s loathe to leave his wife and young son.  So when Edward, being a bit of an agricultural nut, offers to buy it from him, he accepts.  On his way to take up residence though, Edward’s carriage is assaulted by Luddite hooligans.  To get to the bottom of the local unrest, Edward decides to pose as Mr. Ned Greaves, the new estate manager hired by Englemere, keeping his own noble lineage a secret.  Which is how Joanna Merrill comes to meet him when she literally collapses at his feet after finally arriving at Blenhem.  The turmoil of the journey, the shock of her current circumstances, and finding out her brother has been fired is just too much.

What follows is Ned and Joanna coming to an understanding.  He’s determined to get Blenhem Hill back on track, which means making repairs, amends and opening a school for the children.  In turn, with no other options available, having no idea where her brother is, and loathe to throw herself on the mercy of distant relation Englemere, Joanna accepts the job of being the schoolteacher.  Naturally as they spend more time together, Ned and Joanna are drawn to each other.  But what will happen when she learns who he really is?  And who is behind the unrest among the local farmers and textile workers?

While Justiss employs the common Big Secret trope, there was so much about this story that felt unique and refreshing.  Notably, the circumstances that Joanna finds herself in, and how realistically they are portrayed.  This is a woman who is smart and resourceful, but at the mercy of people with more power than she has.  You bleed for this woman as she arrives at Blenhem, after all the drama and turmoil, only to discover her last hope, her brother, has been fired and nowhere to be found.  She has to rely on the kindness of a stranger, and ultimately is drawn to Ned because of his kindness, work ethic, and the fact that she believes they’re in the same social stratosphere.

Ned’s a nice guy, and one can understand his reasons for the deception, but his keeping the truth from Joanna for as long as he does is a bit hard to swallow.  Especially after he muses, quite often, how logical, forthright and intelligent she is.  He justifies his secrecy by saying it’s to protect her, but ultimately I was left with the impression that he obviously didn’t think her intelligent enough to be able to handle the truth.  When it all comes tumbling out at the end, it’s hard not to sympathize with Joanna, and the author handles these final chapters of heartbreak and redemption very well.

Part of the author’s long-running Wellingford series, this book stands alone extremely well.  It’s a quick, charming read, very much in the tone of a traditional Regency (well, expect this story has s-e-x in it!).  It’s also so refreshingly different from a lot of the other Regency historical currently cramming the shelves that it was hard for me not to be delighted by this tale.  I read it in one afternoon, and it was an afternoon well spent.

Grade: B

Summary:

When a destitute governess faints on Sir Edward Greaves’s threshold, chivalry demands that he offer her temporary shelter. However, the desire Ned feels when he catches her in his arms isn’t at all gentlemanly….

With her large, troubled eyes and slender frame, Joanna Merrill calls to something deep inside this guarded man. For one who has purposely shunned the conniving beauties of London society, just how much is Ned risking by having this intriguing woman under his roof…?

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Touch Me by Jacquie D’Alessandro
Historical romance released by Harlequin Blaze 1 Oct 09

One thing I’ve noticed about the Blaze historicals is that while they’re certainly fun and sexy, they also require a fair amount of suspension of disbelief.  Of course if you’re looking for meaty historical accuracy you probably shouldn’t be picking up a category romance that clocks in just over 200 pages and is published under a line that promises fast-paced, sexy fun.  But for a pure escapist delight?  These Blaze historicals have been just the ticket.  Jacquie D’Alessandro’s Touch Me continues down that path, and it’s a fairly pleasing read.

Fans will remember former mistress Genevieve Ralston as a secondary character from the author’s Avon single title release, Love And The Single Heiress.  Genevieve is now living in the quiet town of Little Longstone.  Her lover for the past decade has unceremoniously dumped her, and she finds that the local hot springs help the affliction that ultimately caused him to spurn her.  She’s living a quiet life until one day Simon Cooperstone, Viscount Kilburn, shows up on her doorstep.

Going by the name Simon Cooper, he’s come to Little Longstone to clear his name.  Genevieve’s former lover moved in powerful circles and has been murdered!  Unfortunately for him, Simon was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and now he’s the prime suspect.  As a spy for the crown, Simon convinces his superiors to give him time to clear his name.  Seems the dead man gave Genevieve a puzzle box, which contains a letter effectively clearing Simon’s good name and unmasking the identity of the real killer.

I know.  When it comes to Romance Land, spies are more prevalent than Dukes in Regency historicals.  But for readers not totally burnt out on spy games, this is a quick sexy read.  Genevieve may have been a mistress, but it hurt when her lover spurned her affections.  She entered their arrangement out of necessity, but after a decade together it’s no wonder that she ultimately fell in love with him.  She’s finally starting to move on with her life, and has absolutely no interest in starting a new relationship or giving her heart to another man.  Then Simon comes along, and the chemistry between them sizzles.

Simon comes to Little Longstone not knowing Genevieve’s roll in her lover’s death.  It’s possible she could have done him in, or hired someone else to do it for her!  However as he spends time with her, he quickly deduces that she’s not only innocent, but doesn’t even know her former lover is dead.  She also doesn’t realize that the puzzle box and innocuous letter are bringing danger to her front door.

Both of these characters have secrets they’re hiding, and it is bothersome that Simon isn’t more open with Genevieve after he deduces she’s an innocent bystander in this whole affair.  Still, I guess being a spy is a hard habit to break.  The ending is terribly romantic, although I’m not sure how terribly realistic – as the happy ending required of a romance novel is certainly going to have fall-out for Simon, who’s a bloody Viscount!  But if you’re looking for fun, sexy, romantic, and an enjoyable way to kill a few hours?  Look for no further.

Grade: B

Summary:

Pleasing a man is something former mistress Genevieve Ralston does very well. But after her lover callously dumps her, she’s definitely off men…until she meets Simon! He’s brooding. Sexy. And she can’t keep her hands off him….

But Simon Cooperstone, Viscount Kilburn, is a spy. His mission: retrieve a mysterious letter in Genevieve’s possession. Intent on seducing her secrets from her, he forgets to guard one thing: his heart.

Each stroke of Genevieve’s talented fingers unleashes his deepest desires. Too late, he realizes that while he may be a master of the art of seduction, he’s no match for a sensual mistress….

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Cowboy Christmas by Carol Finch, Elizabeth Lane & Pam Crooks
Historical romance anthology released by Harlequin Historical 01 Oct 09

Holiday time means two things.  1) Harlequin starts churning out the Christmas-themed books and 2) Wendy’s wallet starts quietly sobbing.  It doesn’t help matters that Harlequin has a habit of offering up a western historical anthology.  So I started Cowboy Christmas with some anticipation, settling in for what I hoped would be a solid, heartwarming collection.  Unfortunately, none of the stories inspired more than just an “Meh, it’s OK” reaction from me.

A Husband For Christmas by Carol Finch

Victoria “Tori” Thurston enjoys her life in a tiny west Texas town where she runs her own bakery.  Her parents are major movers in Fort Worth society, which means they have the perfect potential husband picked out for her.  Naturally Tori isn’t overeager to abandon her business to wed some stuffed shirt, so she tells her parents it’s too late, she’s already married to local marshal, Logan Daniels.  However now she’s really in the soup.  Her parents expect her home for Christmas and they want to meet this mysterious husband.  Now all she has to do is convince Logan to play her husband for a quick holiday visit home.  Surely that won’t be too difficult.

This is the humorous story in the anthology, and Finch does a nice job keeping the proceedings fairly light and fluffy.  Unfortunately she skims over a lot of the sticker details in order to achieve that goal.  Tori has always played second fiddle to her gorgeous older sister.  She has a good relationship with The Chosen One, but her parents, while not mean-spirited, are offhandedly neglectful of the more enterprising Tori.  None of this family baggage is really addressed, other than for Tori to realize that her sister’s life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.  I also was disappointed there wasn’t more than a passing western flavor to this tale.  Honestly the author could have plucked these characters up and dropped them anywhere else in time or place and the story wouldn’t have changed all that much.

Grade = C







The Homecoming by Elizabeth Lane

Clay McAllister has spent the last three years in prison because of his reckless, stupid younger brother.  All he wants is to return to his ranch, his wife Elise and their young son.  When he arrives though, he discovers the ranch in disrepair and Elise less than happy to see him.  Why had Buck never returned home, delivering the money they made on their last cattle drive together like Clay had begged him to?

I love holiday stories that center around redemption and forgiveness.  However, this one hinges on one of the more insulting plot devices around – The Character Who Won’t Read Letters That Explain Everything.  Yep, you guessed it.  Clay wrote his wife faithfully from prison and she marked them all Return To Sender without reading them.  So naturally while she thinks she knows what happened, she really doesn’t.  Honestly, who the hell does this?  It makes absolutely no sense.  Also, while there is more than enough conflict to keep this story chugging along, there’s really too much conflict to keep this story chugging along.  If ever a story was begging for a full-length treatment, this one is it.

Grade = C







The Cattleman’s Christmas Bride by Pam Crooks

Allethaire “Allie” Gibson is returning to Montana in disgrace.  She’s been accused of embezzling money from a fundraiser she was spearheading back in Minneapolis, and she needs to see her father in Montana to explain her innocence.  That’s when the train is held up by outlaws and they find a whole wad of cash in her trunk!  But she’s innocent!  Before the authorities on the train can take her in for questioning, she’s saved by local rancher,Mikolas “Mick” Vasco who was nearby when he heard the train stop in the middle of the tracks.  He spirits Allie away, determined to help her clear her name.  There’s one small wrinkle though – a few years back Mick was one of the men who kidnapped Allie for ransom!

This is a sequel of sorts to the author’s previous book, The Cattleman’s Unsuitable Wife.  If you haven’t read that story, this one is a bit rocky.  Mostly because the majority of the conflict is a holdover from that book.  Once the author catches the reader up to speed, it sails along at a smoother clip, but too much is glossed over.  Namely the heroine’s compulsion for drinking brandy in secret and the small matter of the stolen money, which is apparently going to be fodder for a future book.  Which ultimately makes this story nothing but a placeholder between books.  If you’re a fan, you’ll likely want to read this one.  Otherwise, there’s not a whole lot here for newcomers.

Grade = C

All in all these stories never rated above OK for me.  This anthology was a quick pleasant read, but it didn’t set my world on fire.  If you’re hooked on Crooks’ series, this one is probably worth a look.  Otherwise, while it’s a decent diversion, it didn’t have a whole lot of staying power.

Overall Grade: C

Summary:

Twelve days of Christmas—three heartwarming romances!

A Husband for Christmas by Carol Finch

To reassure her overprotective parents, Victoria Thurston must convince the town marshal to be her “holiday husband.” But the magical, festive air—and Tori’s luminous green eyes—make it very difficult for Logan Daniels to keep to their marriage in name only!

The Homecoming by Elizabeth Lane

Brooding rancher Clay McAllister paid his reckless brother’s dues in a tough Kansas jail. Now Clay must win back his beautiful wife, Elise. And, after three years apart, some yuletide passion is just what Clay and Elise need to reignite the fire that still smolders between them….

The Cattleman’s Christmas Bride by Pam Crooks

With her reputation cruelly slandered, Allethaire Gibson is forced to flee to the snowy Montana mountains. There the dazzling socialite unexpectedly finds a Christmas romance with a man who has fought for respect just as she has—rugged cattleman Mikolas Vasco!

Read an excerpt – Finch Story, Lane Story, no excerpt found for Crooks story

Other books in this series:

Sandy M’s review of Knight Dreams (Knight of the Swan, Book 1) by C.C. Wiley
Historical Paranormal Romance ebook published by Samhain 6 Oct 09

I always like trying new authors, and it’s very intriguing when they’re also a debut author.  C. C. Wiley has given readers a good first historical story they can sink their teeth into. She’s chosen an interesting time in history, along with the beauty of Welsh landscape, engaging characters, and has given us even a bit of the paranormal.

Terrwyn is the oldest daughter of a Welsh lord, and her reputation with a bow and arrow precedes her, so much so that the King’s men come looking for the famed archer to recruit him for the crown, not knowing they truly seek a woman.  When her mother dies trying to give her father another son for the one lost to them all years before, Terrwyn finally flees her home to find the brother she failed to protect when the English had come looking for soldiers.

Her plan seems like a good one when she begins her journey, but soon Terrwyn is up against odds that prove to be difficult for one lone woman. But she has an intelligent and calm head on her shoulders, thinks fast, and works her way out of trouble when it comes along. Until she meets up with Sir James Frost anyway.

Half English and half Welsh, James is a confidante of the King, gathering information where and when he can while traveling with the militia. Realizing it’s Terrwyn, the beautiful young maiden he met while in her village, posing as a boy and the elusive archer the army has been looking for, he tries to protect her, but they soon find themselves shackled to one another to be taken before the King on charges of treason.

Making their escape is not easy, but eventually they’re on the run to clear their names. At least that’s what James thinks. Terrwyn will not be swayed from her search for her brother, even when she realizes her growing feelings for James. And that’s a little bit of a sore point for me.

I felt Terrwyn’s stubbornness, suspiciousness of James, loyalty to her brother/family went on a little too long in the face of both her attraction to James and how hard and dangerous the journey is on her by virtue of being a woman among military men. James is fairly upfront about his feelings, but she’s never quite as honest as she should be with the man and carries it on for far too long. I think that’s what kept me from totally believing in their relationship until it was nearly too late.

Terrwyn does have the ability of psychic visions of the future, and I realize that she sees her brother in these visions and that’s why she keeps moving forward to find him, but her visions are usually not clear and concise and she can never be sure of the eventual outcome; thus my problem with her not giving in sooner when James offers help, though that help would have to come after his duty to the King is finished, which is something Terrwyn can’t abide by.

Once she does accept her feelings for the man and decides to trust him, I thoroughly enjoyed them working together toward a common solution. I just wanted that to happen a mite sooner. They face danger around every corner, but that makes them and the reader relish their few bright spots along the way all the more.

Ms. Wiley has done her research very well. She has perfectly captured the feel of the era she’s chosen, her history is rich and detailed. The secondary characters are varied and some are not quite what they seem. I was surprised a time or two with a couple of the characters’ choices. For a first book, this author has done an admirable job and she will only get better with each successive book. I look forward to watching her grow.

Grade: B-

Summary:

Wales, 1415

Terrwyn, the daughter of a dispossessed Welsh lord, is blessed with unusual talents. Her skill with a bow and cursed ability to dream the future, however, didn’t save her younger brother from conscription into the English army.

To honor a deathbed promise, she sets out to bring him home—and discovers that one of the king’s knights holds the key to locating her brother. Now she must stay close to her sworn enemy…and try to ignore the growing heat between them. A difficult task, when they wind up manacled together.

Sir James Frost, confidante to King Henry V, can trust no one, particularly the young Welsh maiden impersonating an archer within the ranks. With treason brewing, the last thing he needs is the secretive beauty chained to his side. The connection between them, though, becomes stronger than any links of metal.

When an assassination plot places their lives in jeopardy, James is torn between duty and the woman he loves. He must choose where his fealty lies…and Terrwyn must decide if changing Fate is worth the price.

Read an excerpt.

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Sizzling Seduction (Hightower Honors #4) by Gwyneth Bolton
Contemporary romance released by Kimani Romance 01 Oct 09

I play fairly fast and loose when it comes to picking out category romance titles to read.  I’m always willing to try a new-to-me author, and I tend to blindly choose books based on the back cover copy.  It’s really no surprise I picked up Bolton’s latest.  Hunky firefighter hero?  Single mom school teacher heroine?  Seriously, it’s got Wendy written all over it.  Unfortunately it stumbled a bit in execution.

With his three younger brothers happily married, one would think Patrick Hightower would be jealous of their bliss.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  He’s happy for them, but not so happy that he’s ready to take trip number two down the aisle.  He caught his first wife in bed with another man, and the divorce practically ripped his heart out.  No thank you.  He has learned his lesson.  That is until Aisha Miller shows up at his fire house with her kindergarten class ready for a tour.  He takes one look at the sexy single mom and he’s sunk.  Hook, line, sinker, wham-o!  Now all he has to do is convince the gun-shy Aisha to go out on one measly date with him.

Aisha has an incredibly horrible track record with men.  Her father is an emotionally abusive asshole, and then she got married at a very young age to her emotionally abusive ex-husband.  She ultimately divorced her husband, finished her college degree in education, and is making a home in a small apartment with her ten year old son Dillon.  The last thing she wants or needs in her life is another man.  But dang, that sexy Patrick Hightower is nothing if not persistent.

I wish Harlequin would do a better job of spotlighting series books in their Kimani Romance line.  A sub-title or cute little graphic on the front cover would make me one happy girl.  This is the fourth book in the author’s series about the Hightower brothers, and while it stands alone fairly well, there is a fair amount of info-dumping early on in the book.  It didn’t always make for a smooth read, and it wasn’t until after the first few chapters that I really started to settle into the story.

The conflict from the standpoint of Aisha’s past makes for the most compelling reading.  It’s hard not to admire a woman so determined to finally break out of the cycle of abuse that has plagued her all her life.  She wants better for herself, and her son, and I could easily understand why she didn’t fall all over herself accepting a date from Patrick – hunky firefighter or not.  What didn’t work nearly as well was the conflict surrounding Patrick.  His crazy, cheating ex-wife is trying to lure him back into her bed, and she’s being egged on by his vile Aunt Sophie who has some long-standing vendetta against his mother.  I’ll be honest, I found Aunt Sophie to be a huge, pointless distraction.  Especially since the conflict surrounding Aisha was much more compelling.

All this being said, I suspect that fans of this series will happily be gobbling up this installment – especially since they very likely got tantalizing glimpses of Patrick in the earlier books.  Also, they’ll probably be more tolerant of Aunt Sophie, who from what I can gather, was a source of conflict in the previous stories as well.  However as a newcomer to the series, I couldn’t help but wish the author had spent more time on Patrick, Aisha, their growing attraction, and Aisha’s past – kicking the Hightower family drama to the curb.

Grade: C

Summary:
Firefighter Patrick Hightower will take any risk in the line of duty. Risking his heart again? That’s something he’s vowed never to do. He prefers scorching affairs—the briefer, the better—though he might make a temporary exception for smart, sexy teacher Aisha Miller. But Aisha isn’t interested in exploring their instant, searing connection-no matter how much she feels the heat.

Aisha has had enough of dominant men trying to control her life, and the gorgeous firefighter who visits her kindergarten class is alpha male through and through. Yet the gentler side Patrick shows, especially around her young son, gradually melts her reserve. As shadows from Aisha’s past resurface, she’ll discover just how far Patrick will go to prove she’s found her real-life hero.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

C2’s review of The Earl Claims His Wife by Cathy Maxwell
Historical romance released by Avon 29 Sep 09

Gillian Ranson, Lady Wright, fell in love with her husband the first time she saw him across a crowded ballroom. Sadly, he did not feel the same connection. Still, since it was an advantageous match, they married later that season. On their wedding night, he explained to her that he was in love with his mistress and would not be returning to her bed (after a quick consummation). After a few years of benign neglect, he left for the Continent and the war.

During his years abroad, he never answered any of her letters, even though she dutifully wrote once a week. Finally, unwilling to endure such treatment any longer, Gillian left her in-laws home in London and went to the country estate of her cousin, the Duke of Holborn. In the country she was finally content and began to move past the unpleasantness of her marriage. Just as she has finally decided to take a lover, her estranged husband arrives and demands she return to London with him. Unwilling to chance her love being killed by her husband in a duel, Gillian agrees to go with Lord Wright.

Brian Ranson, the Earl of Wright, requires the assistance of his wife. He returned from the war to find things not at all as he left them – his mistress betrayed him while he was away, his wife was not where he left her and his father is trying to manipulate his life in countless ways.

Brian is convinced that he will be able to smooth out his life if he has Gillian by his side. He wants a place on Lord Liverpool’s staff and Gillian’s father is a good friend of Liverpool. Brian has taken over the care of a sickly infant and Gillian has a great deal of experience with infants because she has several younger siblings. He knows he will need to socialize and entertain to further his political ambitions but has barely had time to settle his new household in London and Gillian has been running her cousin’s estate and running it very well.

There is a fine (or not-so-fine) line between a chemistry-filled argument that covers reluctant romantic feelings and an anger-filled argument between that covers nothing but bitterness. The interactions between these two people came down on the wrong side of that line way too often for my tastes. We are told that Gillian and Brian care about each other…that they are developing or re-developing feelings for each other over the course of the book. But I didn’t feel it at all and their interactions didn’t show me that was happening.

Brian seemed calculating the whole time – willing to do or say whatever he needed to get what he wanted. And Gillian just seemed bitter and pathetic and, eventually, willing to settle for crumbs. This book was joyless – and a romance should never be joyless!

Grade: D

Summary:

She’ll be his perfect wife . . .

Preoccupied with fighting Napoleon and making love to his mistress, Brian Ransom has ignored his wife since their wedding. But now that he’s become the Earl of Wright, he’s ready to fetch his bride back to London. He’s shocked to find she’s become a bold, beautiful woman, exactly the kind he lusts after . . . and she wants nothing to do with him.

Lady Gillian is desperate to seize the love she’s been denied . . . but not with her rakish husband! So she makes a bargain—for thirty days she’ll be the perfect wife, then he’ll set her free. But no matter how she hardens her heart against her damnable earl, her body begs her to surrender . . .

Read an EXCERPT

Other books in the series (loosely connected):

Lynne Connolly‘s review of Next Comes Love by Helen Brenna
Romantic suspense released by Harlequin SuperRomance 13 Oct 09

I don’t often read SuperRomance, but I’m so glad I decided to read this one! This had all the ingredients of being a mushy, overdone romance – idyllic island, amusing locals, and a child in danger, but in Ms Brenna’s hands it becomes a lovely romance with real people at its heart. 

That is the real secret to success in Harlequin lines. The situations aren’t original, the plot sometimes preposterous, but if the characters are there, if they’re brought to life, then the book can work, often superbly well.

Erica is a no-nonsense heroine, scared but not intimidated by the situation she finds herself in. She finds a job and an apartment on the island of Mirabelle, but the hero and the people she works for soon discover her real identity, because although she’s been clever, she doesn’t have the professional skills she needs to successfully hide.

The hero, Garrett, is a big city cop, moved to the island to start a new life and he finds an outlet in his woodworking. The island only requires a part-time police chief, so he can work as a joiner and construction worker in his spare time. He’s found happiness, or at least contentment. He isn’t looking for love, doesn’t really want it, but he doesn’t go to stupid lengths to shove it away when it finally finds him. And then goes after it when he finds it slipping away from him. I loved that. And Erica, while pretty, competent and brave, isn’t perfect. I loved that, too.

The suspense is well handled, with the story progressing believably and Ms Brenna builds up the tension really well. There are elements that are foreshadowed and then they happen, with no sugary “oh I was mistaken, everything’s fine” cop-outs that I’ve read in other books.

I can definitely recommend this one, well worth picking up.

Grade: B+

Summary:

“One cop wants her heart.  The other one wants her dead.

Street-smart city girl Erica Corelli spent the three best days of her childhood on Mirabelle Island.  Now her sister has disappeared and Erica’s on the run with her six-year-old nephew.  The boy’s father, an abusive Chicago cop, will stop at nothing to get his son back.  Erica can only hope this unforgettable island is a safe place to hide.

Garrett Taylor, the island’s chief of police, takes one look at Erica and thinks, trouble.  The mysterious, sexy kind that disturbs a man’s peace and instantly complicates the simple life Garrett came to Mirabelle to find.  But no matter how hard he tries, he can’t keep his mind—or his hands—off Ms. Couldn’t Be More Wrong for Him.”

Read an excerpt here.

Lynne Connolly‘s review of Shadowlight by Lynn Viehl
Paranormal Romance released by Onyx 6 Oct 09

I’m a fan of Ms Viehl’s paranormal books. Her previous series ended with “Stay the Night” and was a lead in to this new series.

Jessa is an intelligent heroine, something I love about Ms Viehl’s books. And the hero, Gaven, isn’t a asshat hero. However, the book does take some time to settle down and it didn’t turn into a page-turner until about 100 pages in. I wouldn’t have read on if it had been a new to me author, but I trust Ms Viehl to deliver, and eventually, she did.

The plot, as is usual for her, is complex and there is a large cast of characters. Unfortunately they are all introduced in the first third of the book, and while there’s no confusion between them, it is frustrating to start to immerse yourself in a character’s dilemma, only to find yourself plunged into a different dilemma with a different character.

The big bad is Gennaro, the owner of a multimillion company involved in genetic research. The creatures in this world are infected by a virus, sometimes artificially induced, and Gennaro wants to synthesize this. Jessa touches people and sees their future, reads them. One of the reasons she falls for Gaven is that she can’t read him. I’ve read that trope before, and sometimes wondered why they can’t learn to develop a mental barrier, but it’s handled well here. Jessa wears gloves, X Men style, which works well for her.

I loved the fact that Jessa had loved someone before, someone she remembered with fondness.

I did enjoy meeting Lucan and Samantha again, from the Kyn series (their book is “Dark Need”) and to discover their connection is as strong as ever and that Sam is still working, still strong and her own person.  Their scenes are some of the most romantic in the book.

Because this isn’t what I’d call a romance. There is a strong love story going on here, but it’s not the main focus of the book. There are too many other things going on for that. The story, the multiple viewpoints and the complex plot mean there are other focuses of attention.

But once I was past the first third of the book it settled in nicely for me and I found the read absorbing and enjoyable. Ms Viehl’s prose is lovely, and its well worth reading the book for that alone. Precise, well chosen and never over the top purple.

The character that intrigued me most in this story is the subject of the next book (you get a sneak peek at the end). I’m definitely hooked.

Grade: B

“With just one touch, Jessa Bellamy can see anyone’s darkest secrets, thanks to whoever tampered with her genes. What she doesn’t know is that a biotech company has discovered her talent and intends to kill her and harvest her priceless DNA. Gaven Matthias is forced to abduct Jessa himself so he can protect her, but Jessa has a hard time believing the one man whose secrets she can’t read. As a monstrous assassin closes in and forces them to run, Jessa will have to find another way to discover if Matthias is her greatest ally-or her deadliest enemy.”

Sandy M’s review of Sanctuary’s Price (Red Rock Pass, Book 3) by Moira Rogers
Contemporary Paranormal Romance released by Samhain 27 Oct 09

I never get tired of a good shifter story, and Moira Rogers has become a favorite of mine over the last couple of years when it comes to these sexy and dangerous wolves in This Red Rock Pass series. It’s still going strong, and as much as I love an alpha hero, this time it’s the beta who get his story and his girl.

We met Dylan in the first book of the series, Cry Sanctuary, when he helps the heroine of that story escape their jerk of an alpha, one who controlled others with fear, especially the females of the pack. In the second book, Sanctuary Lost, Dylan is living with the healer of his new pack, but things aren’t going that well for them when witch Sasha Wallace shows up, and it’s all downhill from there, which is where Sanctuary’s Price picks up.

Dylan is feeling a little sorry for himself, now on his own and beginning to work on an old fixer-upper so he’ll have a place to live. He doesn’t feel like the hero everyone else claims he is. He should have done more so that others like Abby and her sister weren’t hurt before he finally, along with others, took care of the evil that threatened them all. But with his new pack and new alpha, all is not lost.

Feeling she owes a number of people in Red Rock Pass for her life and now a temporary home, Sasha is staying put for the time being, even though there are a number of wolves who still look at her with suspicion, mostly because of her magical abilities. But she’s needed and she’ll help the best she can. Working with Dylan to fight a new evil attacking wolves is unexpected but Sasha pays her debts. And there’s something about the man that she just can’t resist.

Both Dylan and Sasha have scars, internally as well as externally, from their former lives that make them cautious on one hand but bold on the other, and when Dylan volunteers to help Sasha work her magic to help lessen the current threat, feelings and emotions multiply with spells and enchantment literally coursing through them. I like how the story begins with these two working together to solve the immediate problem while first fighting their attraction and then welcoming it and then letting it grow on its own.

Then the story takes off when they’re sent by their alpha to investigate odd goings-on at a once friendly pack. The action there and the intricacies of magic, both good and dark, are nonstop. We are also introduced to a number of new characters who are quite interesting and intriguing and I hope we get to meet them again in later books.

I love Dylan. Though he’s had a rough time of it since he’s been a shifter, he’s a survivor and a loyal friend, which I think even surprises him here and there. He exerts some alpha-ness near the end of the book while staying true to the beta inside, and he stole the rest of my heart at that point. It took me a bit to warm up to Sasha. I’m thinking that’s because I so like Abby and Brynn and for me Sasha just pales a little in comparison. But she’s good for Dylan, she’s brave, and she’s willing to work on their relationship, do what it takes to make it work.

This has been a terrific series, and I sure hope this Moira Rogers team has a few more for the future.

Grade: B

Summary:

After a decade under a corrupt alpha’s thumb, Dylan Gennaro is still reeling from the changes in his life: a new home, a new alpha, a pack at war. Even normal things like an ending relationship. Still, when he’s asked to work with an outcast witch, he agrees without hesitation. Maybe by protecting her, he’ll rediscover his own inner strength. If, indeed, it exists.

Sasha Wallace lost her mentor in a vicious attack that left her scarred in spirit as well as body. While she’s grateful for the refuge offered by the Red Rock alpha, it’s tough living with the pack’s suspicion. Even though–or maybe because–she’s willing to use her powers to help them fight their war. Except for Dylan. When she’s finally free to find a new home, he’ll be the only one she regrets leaving behind.

Their attraction is a balm to their wounded hearts, until their journey for knowledge brings them face to face with a terrifying vampire. Neither has the strength for this fight–but if they can let go of their pasts and trust each other, they might just be able to do it. Together.

Warning: Contains dangerous magical binding spells, a flannel-wearing vampire lumberjack, paranormal road-trip hijinks and a quietly brilliant werewolf willing to defy his society and his past to protect the witch he loves.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Two Quick Quack DNF Reviews by Liviania

It’s rare that I don’t finish a book.  I try to pick up stuff that I think I’ll like and then I’m generous with giving it time to get good.  Generally, I feel picking a book up is a commitment.  It was in late junior high before I began not-finishing books.  On the other hand, it’s something I feel I need to do more.  There’s too much out there to read to waste time on books I’m not into.  However, the reasons I’m not into something may be wildly disparate. 

Soul Catcher (The Outsider, Book 1) by Leigh Bridger
Paranormal romance released by Bell Bridge Books 20 Oct 09

Soul Catcher has an awesome premise.  Reality is made of multiple dimensions and some beings like to travel among them.  Livia is born again and again to throw out unruly demons who negatively affect Earth.  Born with her are a group of protectors, to insure she can do her job.

How do they do so?  Why, they let her grow up ignorant of what her creepy paintings mean and only give her the truth once she’s brutally raped by her demonic enemy who apparently gets her every life.  I had to throw the book at the wall due to this passage:

“We’re here to help you. . . . If you listen to your soul and see past the surface, the evil souls will never seduce you again.”

I stiffened.  “I wasn’t seduced.  I was raped and nearly beaten to death.”

“Yes, but he lured you.  He charmed you.  And all because you didn’t recognize his evil soul hiding behind his handsome face.”

Yeah Livia.  It was your own damn fault you got raped.  Certainly not mine.  I mean, my purpose in being reborn isn’t to help you.  I haven’t known you for years in which I could’ve given you this info dump.  No, there’s no way my teaching you about your powers earlier could’ve prevented the rape.  Not that even then it would still be his fault, since he’s a rapist, not anyone else’s for failing to defend adequately against rape.  Because, you know, not being able to defend yourself against rape means you wanted to get raped.  It means you deserved it.

Book. Wall.  (Followed soon after by the trash can, is my recommendation.)

Grade: DNF

Summary:

From the gothic eccentricity of Asheville, North Carolina, to the terrifying recesses of the Appalachian wilderness, from modern demonology to ancient Cherokee mythology, Soul Catcher follows the tormented journey of folk artist Livia Belane, who has been stalked through many lives by a sadistic and vengeful demon. Livia and her loved ones, including her frontier-era soulmate and husband, Ian, a Soul Hunter, have never beaten the demon before. Now, in this life, it’s found them again.

Read an excerpt here.

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Blood Kin (Blood Lines, Book 3) by Maria Lima
Urban fantasy released by Juno/Pocket 27 Oct 09

Blood Kin has an interesting cast.  The heroine is heir to quite a bit of power, but she has no clue about any of it and would rather remain the family outcast.  She’s got a fairy cousin, a gay werewolf brother, and a vampire boyfriend.  It could be ridiculous, but Keira Kelly’s voice is down to earth.  I’m also willing to forgive a lot in a book that praises the Texas landscape this much.

So why am I setting Blood Kin down?  Because I’m on page 140 of the ARC and nothing has happened, that’s why.  Keira’s grandmother called her home to Canada since she’s now the heir.  Keira says her goodbyes and goes to Canada.  Due to weather, Keira and entourage are stuck in the city for a bit until they can go to the homestead.  In the city, they discover that there’s possibly a Sidhe around that possibly killed a random musician.

I’ve been having a rough couple of weeks.  I need something more compelling than “I kind of like the characters.”  I may try Blood Kin again when I’m less busy, but for now it’s putting me to sleep.  It’s a generally accepted rule of plot that something needs to happen before the book is halfway over.

Grade: DNF

Summary:

The perils of power…

Keira Kelly has come into her full powers, and they are frighteningly strong, creating a distance between her and her human friends in her beloved Rio Seco.  It is time to obey her great-great-grandmother Gigi’s orders and rejoin her family in northwest Canada, where Keira can learn to handle her dangerous new skills.

She’ll have friends with her every step of the way — her shapeshifter brother Tucker, his beloved Niko, and, to Keira’s dismay, her cousin on her mother’s side, Daffyd ap Geraint, the Sidhe prince who suddenly appeared in her life and now refuses to leave — but her vampire lover Adam has insisted on staying in Texas.

And while there are certainly perks to being Family, such as a private Learjet for the flight to Canada and a fabulous penthouse condo overlooking Vancouver, there are threats looming that nobody, not even Gigi, anticipated. Keira’s Sidhe inheritance from her mother is far more important than anyone ever realized, and the fate of the Family may depend upon what she does next….

Read an excerpt here.

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of An Impolite Seduction (The Countess Trilogy #2) by Alison Richardson
Historical erotica short story ebook released by Spice Briefs 1 Oct 09

I’m not above admitting that even when the characters may not hold a lot of appeal, that good writing will keep me coming back for more.  Such is the case with Alison Richardson’s latest Spice Briefs short story, the second in her Countess Trilogy, and the second story to feature the lusty young widow Countess Anna von Esslin.

It’s been three years since the events The Countess’s Client, and Anna has traveled to the English countryside to help her young cousin Charlotte.  Charlotte, the poor ignorant chit, has gone and gotten engaged to a rather dull and priggish Viscount.  Worse still?  The girl is still a virgin!  Determined to set about properly educating the girl (oh, and to attend the wedding), Anna is expecting a rather tiresome visit.  It gets unexpectedly complicated though when she discovers that James McKirnan is her cousin-in-law’s neighbor.  Having ended their affair three years ago in Paris, amid quite a bit of scandalous whispering, Anna is not very happy to see him.  However James has moved up in the world, and is determined to make Anna his – by whatever means necessary.

The problems I had with the first short story in this trilogy are still evident here.  Anna is still an insufferable snob and for the life of me I can’t figure out what James sees in her, other than she’s a spectacular lay and she’s playing hard to get.  James continues to be an uneasy mix – one moment charming and likeable, the next an intolerable jackass.  I’m still trying to figure out why I should care about what happens to either of these two.

Which probably leaves you, gentle review reader, wondering why the heck I read this story when the continuing characters didn’t gel for me the first time around.  Well, I’ll tell you.  Richardson has a delicious writing style.  Anna is, on one hand, all about societal class structure and her station in it, and on the other hand, deliciously scandalous.  I couldn’t help but laugh out loud at several moments over the course of this story, ranging from Anna’s opinion on why men seem to prize virginal brides so much (two words: performance anxiety) and how she wriggles out of a sticky situation at the end of this tale.

I’m still not willing to shout from the roof-tops and recommend these stories wholeheartedly, but darn if the writing style and Anna’s scandalous lifestyle don’t keep me coming back for more.  It’s like a trashy night-time soap opera set in Victorian times.  No wonder I’m hooked.

Grade: C

Summary:

“There is nothing in the world less appealing than a chaste young man.”

At least that’s the opinion of Countess Anna von Esslin, who is shocked to learn her cousin has gotten engaged without a single taste of passion. But while the Countess arranges her cousin’s seduction, she is also reunited with James McKirnan, a man intent on seducing her. And James is certainly far from chaste…

No excerpt found.

Other books in this series:

Gwen’s review of Deep Kiss of Winter by Kresley Cole and Gena Showalter
Paranormal romance duology hardcover released by Pocket 13 Oct 09

Two of my favorite paranormal authors in ONE BOOK?  Dang.  How could I NOT read this?!  This book has one long story set in Cole’s Immortals After Dark world and another set in Showalter’s Alien Huntress world.  A terrific combination and way, way fun to read. 

Untouchable (Immortals After Dark, Book 7) by Kresley Cole (256 pages)

This story/book (long for a story) takes place roughly the same time as several of the other Immortals After Dark entries.  This one tells the story of the “man-whore” brother of the Wroth Brothers – Murdoch – and his downfall to the Queen of the Icere fae, Daniela.

The heroine and her world are so very different from anything I know.  Ice, snow, skin that burns from other’s body heat, etc., that it was difficult for me to relate.  Remember, though, that I moved to central Texas because I hate, abhor, and generally detest cold weather.  She is a good heroine, but I would have liked to see her kick a little more butt (personal preference, not a criticism).

The hero is the rake brother of the Wroth brothers.  Murdoch is used to women falling all over him and to being able to dispose of them like a used tissue.  He doesn’t want to do that with Danii and this completely perplexes him.  His normally smooth moves have all the grace of a pig on roller-skates, so you can imagine how this goes over with Danii.

The romance between these two is intense and believable.  The action is a little less than we’re used to in Cole’s other books, though it’s still fun.  Untouchable introduces a new species into the Lore – the Icere, or the ice fae.  Their world is a little “out there,” but I suppose there’s not a lot in this series that isn’t.

I enjoyed this story, though perhaps not as much as the other IAD entries.  Nevertheless, I highly recommend reading it if you’re following Cole’s saga.  I suppose this story could standalone, but I’m not sure if I’d recommend it.  You’ll get a lot more out of it if you’ve read at least one of the other Wroth brother books.

Grade: B

Summary:

KRESLEY COLE delivers a breathtaking tale of a brutal vampire soldier about to know love for the first time…and a Valkyrie aching to be touched.

Murdoch Wroth will stop at nothing to claim Daniela the Ice Maiden — the delicate Valkyrie who makes his heart beat for the first time in three hundred years. Yet the exquisite Danii is part ice fey, and her freezing skin can’t be touched by anyone but her own kind without inflicting pain beyond measure. Soon desperate for closeness, in an agony of frustration, Murdoch and Danii will do anything to have each other. Together, can they find the key that will finally allow them to slake the overwhelming desire burning between them?

Read an excerpt here.

Tempt Me Eternally (Alien Huntress Series) by Gena Showalter (169 pages)

I have got to read more of this series.  This is the second book I’ve read so far and I really like this world.  From what I can gather, the first one I read, Seduce the Darkness, takes place just after this story.

The hero, Breean, is a Rakan – a gorgeous male who smells like honey and cinnamon when aroused.  His blood is golden and tastes like sugar.  He’s also practically unkillable because of special abilities.  He’s puzzled by the heroine because he feels that he wants her and no other – apparently something unusual for his kind.

The heroine, Aleaha, is of unknown extraction and is a shapeshifter.  Out of desperation, she’s impersonating a member of AIR (Alien Investigation and Removal) named Macy, and is hiding from unknown bad guys her mother warned her about but didn’t specify.

The romance evolves well, but feels a bit convenient.  I enjoyed the story but felt like very little outside of the plot moves forward.  This may be because I haven’t yet read the other books in the series – contrary to my vow in my review of StD and for which I feel eternally remorseful.  I think I’d get a lot more out of the story if I did.

I recommend this story if you’re following the Alien Huntress series.  It stands alone, but I think a reader will get more out of it if they’re reading the series.

Grade: B

Summary:

GENA SHOWALTER puts a daring spin on a tale of huntress and hunted…and concocts a sensual chemistry that is positively explosive.

Aleaha Love can be anyone — literally. With only skin-to-skin contact, she can change her appearance, assume any identity. Her newest identity switch has made her an AIR (alien investigation and removal) agent and sends her on a mission to capture a group of otherworldly warriors. Only she becomes the captured. Breean, a golden-skinned commander known for his iron will who is at once dangerous and soul-shatteringly seductive, threatens her new life. Because for the first time, Aleaha only wants to be herself….

Read an excerpt here.

I enjoyed this duology quite a bit.  I like reading anthologies and the stories in this one are particularly nice because of their length.  If you’re following these series, you do not want to miss it, though you may want to wait for it to come out in paperback.

Overall Grade: B

Connect to more reviews and information for these series by clicking on the tags below.

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Immortals After Dark Series:

Alien Huntress Series:

Related YA books in the “Teen Alien Huntress” series:

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of His Secret Agenda by Beth Andrews
Contemporary romance released by Harlequin SuperRomance 13 Oct 09

It’s often overlooked thanks to the dopey titles Harlequin likes to slap on their books, but I strongly believe that some of the most interesting, innovating, and compelling stories are often told in the category format.  I can practically hear your disbelief over the telecommunication wires.  Yes, amongst the amnesia, secret baby, tycoons and virgin secretaries – writers publishing with Harlequin are churning out interesting, challenging stories featuring interesting, challenging characters.  No one is demonstrating this more for me right now than Beth Andrews.  With only her third book for Harlequin SuperRomance, she’s already shown that she’s a writer willing to take some risks.

Allison “Allie” Martin used to be a criminal defense attorney working for one of the most prestigious firms in Manhattan.  Then something happens (cue Big Secret music), she quit her job, and moved back to her hometown of Serenity Springs, New York.  She bought the local bar, and has been running it ever since.  What Allie hasn’t stopped doing is rescuing people from themselves.  She can’t seem to help herself, and it’s her attraction to strays that has created a small problem for her business.  She keeps hiring unreliable bartenders.  When Dean Garret walks into the bar for an interview, she takes one look at the Texas cowboy and says no thank you.  Sorry to waste your time mister.

Dean is not an easy fellow to brush off.  He needs the job because he needs to snoop (cue Big Secret music).  He’s been hired to do a job, and his instincts tell him that Allie Martin has the answers he’s looking for.  So he does a bit of a two-step, pulls a few strings, and Allie has no choice but to hire him.  In other words, she’s desperate, he can mix drinks, and his cowboy hat is practically charming the panties off her female customers.

The reason authors keep going back to the Big Secret plot device is because when it works – it really cooks.  It makes for a compelling read.  In this instance, both Allie and Dean are hiding something.  Allie hasn’t even told her family why she quit law and decided to run a bar for a living, and Dean isn’t about to come right out and tell Allie what he’s really doing in Serenity Springs.  He needs answers, and to his way of thinking, if he comes right out and asks Allie, all she’ll do is dodge and lie to him.

These secrets, and the minor suspense sub plot, keep the story humming along.  Dean is suitably charming and sexy – not to mention a little sneaky.  He’s also got the requisite baggage required of most romance novel heroes (he’s estranged from his family).  Allie is a nice girl, although one would think her years working as an attorney would have helped dim her rose-colored view of people.

Her character worked fairly well for me, but I can see her not working for other readers.  Allie has made some rough choices, and her work as a criminal defense lawyer probably isn’t going to endear her to some readers (in my experience, people have very strong opinions about lawyers who represent the accused).  She’s paying a price for some of those choices she made, which is probably why I expected her to be more jaded.  Instead she seems downright determined, bordering on naive at times, to believe the best in everybody.  Which is probably why Dean is so successful at hiding his true mission from her.

At the end of the day though, I did enjoy this return visit to Serenity Springs.  There is definitely an unresolved thread at the end of this story, and one suspects it is going to be mined for the author’s next book, which is due out in May 2010.  While it wasn’t a perfect read, I still enjoyed it quite a bit, and Beth Andrews has safely moved into my autobuy category.

Grade: B-

Summary:

Dean Garret is about to break the number one rule of undercover work. And it’s all because his new “boss” is as pretty as a professional cheerleader and has a do-gooder’s heart. Who can resist that combination? Still, Dean suspects Allison Martin is hiding something behind her dazzling smile. That something being the runaway mother and son he’s been hired to find.

To get the job done, he needs to gain Allie’s trust. Only, the lawyer-turned-bar-owner isn’t cooperating. But she can’t remain immune to his good ol’ boy charm and sexy drawl forever. Because Dean never fails. And he’ll do anything to solve a case. Even if it means he has to break all the rules.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Lynne Connolly‘s review of Millionaire In Command by Catherine Mann
Contemporary romance released by Silhouette Desire 13 Oct 09

This is obviously part of a series, but I haven’t read the others. I don’t think it’s necessary, apart from a revisit to what must be one of the earlier stories. I don’t think Mann overwhelmed the story with that part, and their fate actually provided a nice contrast with the one I was reading. 

Phoebe has been left with the baby, literally. Her friend Bianca had a one-night stand with Kyle Landis, which had resulted in the baby. She hadn’t bothered to tell Kyle, so when Phoebe arrives on his doorstep, claiming she wanted to marry him so she could have a claim on the baby, he’s hit with a double whammy.

The plot is just daft, but it held together long enough for me to enjoy the story. Mann is an accomplished writer, and she creates likeable, believable characters. While I did have some reservations, I did enjoy the book.

But if I’d been picking a book on its cove, it wouldn’t have been this one. Pure cheese. I never take that into account when setting a grade, though, any more than I do the title, because both of them are out of the author’s control.

It’s a tad misleading, because Kyle isn’t a career air force man, and he has left the forces behind to take over part of the family business. I liked Kyle, he never abused the heroine, as so many of the “alpha”’s do (in inverted commas because however alpha a man is, he shouldn’t deliberately hurt a woman) and he was fair minded, did his best to do what was right.

Phoebe was a little more problematic for me, because she wants someone else’s baby and is willing to do anything to have it. She could have left the baby with her loving father and his family, and been reasonably confident that they would win custody of the child in any court battle, so marriage was all for her.

Spoiler – I also hated the end, because I wanted more for Phoebe gives everything up to become the baby machine and a support for her hubby. I want more for my heroines, I want them to have it all.

So this one gets a C+

Grade: C+

Summary:

Mr. October: Kyle Landis, Air Force commander, millionaire.daddy?

Motto: Family first, last, always.

Marriage?: Not until now!

He’d worked the most dangerous missions, but nothing had prepared Kyle Landis for the surprise of becoming a dad. When Phoebe Slater suddenly announced the child she was caring for was his baby, he had no reason to doubt her. And since a Landis did not sway in his duty, marriage was the only course of action. But once “I do” was said, would Phoebe be up for enlisting as his wife – in every way Kyle had been imagining?

Read an excerpt here (scroll down).

Lynne Connolly‘s review of The Venetian’s Midnight Mistress by Carole Mortimer
Contemporary romance released by Harlequin Presents 13 Oct 09

I picked up this one because I liked the title. It is more evocative than Harlequin’s usual efforts, and the picture was fun, too. 

It started with a hunk of backstory in a prologue, which I could have done without. The whole thing could have been cut, and the story would have been better for it, IMO. My eyes glazed over, but I ploughed through it, hoping the story would speed up a bit.

A personal plea – can we stop comparing heroes to Greek gods, unless we have a specific one in mind? I mean: Hephaestus, ugly and with a limp; Silenus, totally drunk all the time, body lax from alcohol abuse; Pan, bearded and half-goat – not nice for a romance hero.

Back to the plot. The exclamation marks drove me nuts. Or should I say, nuts! I mean, when it’s added to a perfectly ordinary sentence to make it seem more important, it doesn’t work except to irritate!

Lots of point of view shifts to describe the heroine’s hair, the way she looks, the way her friend looks – I’m used to that in HMB books, but it jars every time. When you collide with a gorgeous man, you don’t think…

“…two bright wings of colour in her cheeks. Colour she knew would not be complementary to the bright red of her straight below-shoulder-length hair.”

Straight below-shoulder-length hair? Srsly? That is so an info-dump.

Lots more little pov jumps when we switch to Niccolo’s perspective and he knows what she’s thinking. “she said in disgust” might be better expressed a different way to keep the pov nice and steady. Even though the average reader might not think “Oh, a point of view switch here, bit of a head-hop,” it will jar a little, as the author becomes more apparent and the characters less, well, characterful. Too many of these and you’ve lost a reader.

And there are very few speech tags that aren’t either decorated with an adverb, or where a simple “said” is replaced by something more descriptive. “she snapped,” “she conceded,” “she accused” are all taken from one page in the prologue. Enough already. Leave it at “said” and let the words and actions speak for themselves.

When the story starts we are asked to believe that Niccolo and Dani don’t have a clue who each other is when they have sex because they’re in disguise, wearing masquerade clothes. Since Dani is the best friend of Niccolo’s sister, they knew each other fairly well. I would have thought, even if you’re making an effort to disguise your voice, body shape, accent, body language even the scent of someone (not talking body odor here, so get your minds off that one) are all pointers to recognition. Although Mortimer worked very hard to try to make the scene plausible, I just couldn’t buy it. And purple? Get a load of this:

“Tonight she wanted to forget everything else but this man and the seduction of the evening. Wanted to lose herself in the passion of his kisses and the promised pleasure of the hardness of his body.

She wanted him. Wildly. Frantically. Heatedly.”

That was her pov, and later, in his:

“He wanted to know more about this woman—wanted to know everything there was to know about her. Wanted to look at her face, to see her wearing her long hair loose about her shoulders and nothing else.

‘Would you like to leave?’ he murmured. ‘We could book into a hotel somewhere. For a week. A month. Longer!’ “

Oh Fiona!

Sorry. But she knows, you know. No, I really am sorry, but so often this book reminded me of Dame Celia Molestrangler and Binkie Huckaback.

Oh yes, and no protection. These people are supposed to be intelligent adults. They have a stranger sex encounter at a party, and they don’t use protection? Nope. That makes them either too naïve to be let out of the house alone or thick as a brick, and either way, not people I care to read about.

Later he visits her house and behaves as if he knows nothing about her, or her background. It’s all a revelation to him that Dani’s grandfather runs the house, even when he has reason to take an interest, and even though she is his sister’s best friend. Sorry, but a high powered businessman doesn’t behave like this, especially when considering a business deal or an even closer connection to the family. He investigates. Not Niccolo.

Dani isn’t so much a character as a cipher. At times very shy, she turns into a seductress when she wants Niccolo, making me wonder if I was reading about the same person. HMB have moved from the eternal virgin, to the nearly-virgin, the woman who has had sex with one man before that wasn’t satisfactory. It’s the answer to the man’s “my wife was a bitch therefore all women are bitches” to which she responds “I had sex once and I didn’t like it therefore I’m frigid.” Only in a romance novel. True, Dani’s experience was pretty bad, but the way she gave in to stranger sex at the beginning of the novel, and then seduced Niccolo part way through the book seems to indicate that it hadn’t marked her for life. I would have loved to have read about a woman who was truly traumatised by Dani’s previous experience and who meets a man who has the patience and the love to help her through the healing process. Sadly, this wasn’t that book.

I’m so sorry, but I can’t give this book anything other than an D- because there were some nice descriptions of Venice, and I love Venice.

Grade: D-

Summary:

Niccolo D’Alessandro has never seen eye to eye with spirited redhead Daniella Bell. So he’s shocked to discover that the mystery woman he’s just made love to after a Venetian-style masked party was Dani!

Their night together was the most amazing of Dani’s life, but with a failed marriage behind her she never wants to wed again. But Niccolo has other ideas… When Dani announces she’s pregnant with his baby, the uncompromising Italian has only one demand: she will become his wife!

Read an excerpt here.

Limecello’s review of The Oilman’s Baby Bargain by Michelle Celmer
Contemporary romance released by Silhouette Desire 13 Oct 09

This is the second of the Brody Brother’s stories, and X number in the Texas Cattleman’s Club. (I’m pretty sure the latter is a never ending series much like Man of the Month, but the stories come out in clusters, so those released in the same year/six months are loosely tied.) Anyway, I generally look for Michelle Celmer’s harlequin books, and I knew I wanted to read it because it’s about the second Brody brother. Mitch Brody is the suave, debonair, and smooth romance hero. But he’s in a terrible situation – he’s caught up with his brother’s fianceeex-fiancee. Who so happens to be a senator’s daughter. Hooray for complicated romances.

Alexis Cavanaugh, known as Lexi to her friends is an interesting character. I was inclined to feel bad for her, based on what happened to her in the first book, and to be honest her own book as well. However, there’s something slightly off about her. Lexi brings to mind a wounded puppy – I had trouble extending my belief that she could be so very clueless. She makes a lot of references to the fact that “all she knows about love, romance, and men” – are from romance novels. I hate that. I cannot express how ridiculous and frustrated reading that in a book makes me feel. I find it incredibly distracting. It takes me out of the book, and dislike the character. Any reasonable adult would know that a romance novel, or hell, any fiction novel is not. real. However, her life and circumstances are so sad that you can’t help but sympathize with her.

Mitch Brody is a mix – I’m not quite sure how I felt about him. He almost seems to be two different people. There’s the guy who is madly in love with the heroine… and then there’s the man who is determined never to fall in love, and devotes all to the company – his life and purpose, is Brody Oil and Gas. He was so incredibly blind to Lexi’s good qualities. Purposely blind, even. That made him a first class jerk. Yet there was the aspect that found Lexi irresistible.I think that Mitch’s deep connection with his brother redeems him and makes him more likable than not.

This story was just so tragic, and based on so many misunderstandings. It’s very well written, which helped me get over the snap judgments the characters make about each other. Senator Cavanaugh was a terrible person, and I suppose it’s fine he was so static because he’s a secondary character. Nevertheless the restrictions he put on Lexi were almost ludicrous. The premise of the story is very complicated, and there’s so much going on – but I did enjoy it. The Oilman’s Baby Bargain has great characters you can relate to. The plot is frustrating, but understandable. Additionally, all the secondary characters help develop the hero and heroine. A number of them make cameo appearances, and it’s nice because their books are all loosely connected.

I admit to liking “forbidden” relationships. I knew something was going on between Mitch and Lexi in Taming the Texas Tycoon. And what is more forbidden than lusting/falling in love with your brother’s fiancee, or falling in love with your fiance’s brother. Of course Mitch is likable there, and Lexi even, because she tries so hard. I had to admire Lexi’s willingness to “sacrifice” herself for the sake of her child. And while sad, the fact that her pride prevents her from begging for Mitch’s affections. I think that’s when she really starts to grow into herself. That and the fact that Mitch is redeemable. He’s not a totally horrible person – just emotionally scarred, and thus flawed relationally.

I’m enjoying the new Texas Cattleman’s Club books, and plan on buying and reading the rest of the connected books that come out. While there was some frustrating aspects, and glaring misunderstandings, they actually made sense and weren’t too far fetched. Ms. Celmer is a Silhouette Desire author I normally consider, and I’d recommend this book to anyone who enjoys her writing, or the Silhouette Desire line of books.

Grade: C

Summary:

He’d seduced Alexis Cavanaugh once…on his brother’s behalf. So when the powerful Texan’s sibling shockingly married someone else, it was up to Mitch to wed the jilted heiress. After all, he and Alexis had shared a very real night of passion.

But Alexis was done being manipulated. She would have a marriage on her terms, or not at all. Except staying away from Mitch was not an option. She was carrying the oilman’s baby…and she would not reveal her secret until she had the billionaire exactly where she wanted him.

Read an excerpt here.

Limecello’s review of Holding Out For A Hero by HelenKay Dimon
Contemporary romance released by Brava 1 Oct 09

I really enjoyed this book. I admit, I was apprehensive about reading it because I knew it was the “sequel” to HelenKay Dimon’s Your Mouth Drives Me Crazy. And that book… I did not like. Though I generally do enjoy Ms. Dimon’s stories. While the characters in Your Mouth also show up in Holding Out – this was a good thing. I felt that Holding Out for a Hero was realistic, nicely paced, well written, and I couldn’t stop reading it. I stayed in my car reading so I wouldn’t have to interact with people and could finish more chapters. I laughed out loud at parts, I squee-d, and was left wanting more at the end.

Deana Armstrong is a very interesting character. I liked her, which in a way surprised me, because I have to say I’m rather predisposed to disliking her “type” of character. She’s basically an heiress, who thinks that her money, position, social status, what have you, can and should get her what she wants. In effect, she doesn’t mind throwing her money around to make sure an outcome is as she likes.

A major factor that allowed me to like her, however, is that Deana changes throughout the book, and realizes some things about herself. It might also help that she didn’t want to be the same as other “rich people.” (Or didn’t think she was.) That, and what she was trying to achieve was altruistic, and important, albeit misguided. That, and she’s a likable person – just hard to get to know, and easily misjudged. Add to the fact that she’s basically been paying penance for a decade makes it easier to forgive her less attractive qualities.

Josh Windsor is a fantastic hero. He’s… well, obviously the title says he’s a hero. (If I think about it, it does get annoying, but all the references to a “hero” throughout the book work.) Josh definitely has a savior complex, and a huge chip on his shoulder. At the beginning of the book he’s pretty burnt out, and a jerk. In a way his surly attitude makes his and Deana’s relationship more believable and natural. Josh is one of the good guys, although extremely misguided at times. He’s not some paragon of virtue, but is someone you can depend on, and trust to do the right thing. I also liked that he was willing to disagree with Deana, argue, tell her when she was basically being a brat, and also able to admit his own faults. And I have to admit, a frustrated Josh is pretty entertaining, and he gets fed up with Deana a lot.

I hate spoilers, so I’m going to try to be descriptive, without giving away important factors. Bear with me.

I loved that this book was realistic. Generally I demand… well, pretty much fluff and rainbows in my books. I mean, that’s why I read romances. (Granted that rarely happens, and I accept that.) The subject matter and overall focus of Holding Out for a Hero is rather dark. And I kept wondering if there might be some twist, or easy escape for Ms. Dimon to end up with the candy coated ending. For once, I’m glad that didn’t happen. It would have taken away something from the book – and in a way cheapened Deana and Josh’s relationship.

Also important, is the fact that the overall tone was relatively light, and easy. Ms. Dimon’s writing -and the plot- flow naturally. While the subject matter is heavy and Ms. Dimon addresses it with the requisite gravity, I never felt bogged down, depressed, or that it was too much. I think the cameo appearances by the secondary characters helped, as did the developing relationship between Josh and Deana. (Oh and let me be clear – for some reason I really didn’t like Annie in her own book, but quite liked her here.) Everything seems to happen rather quickly, although it is believable. I’m not sure at what point Deana and Josh’s relationship goes from mutual distaste and dislike to something physical, and then love – but I know in the end I knew Josh and Deana would work.

In a way, I’m surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. First, considering how much I disliked Your Mouth Drives Me Crazy, I was worried about Holding Out for a Hero. Then there’s the fact that I really don’t like rich entitled heroines. (Or heroes – that’s why I love their suffering and grovelling so much.) Plus the fact that Deana and Josh do not like each other at all, in the beginning, and have a pretty rough history. Josh actually arrested Deana’s nephew a two years before the book begins, and she tried to ruin him.

It boggles the mind, and generally I’d say “yeah right – this story would never work.” But Ms. Dimon skillfully crafts and weaves together all the facts so it is all laid out perfectly. Deana obviously failed in her attempt to ruin Josh, and in a way, that helped lay the foundation for her feelings about him. She tried as hard as she could, but couldn’t get any dirt on Josh. Proof he’s a good guy. And then, the fact that Deana already came after him with all her resources allows Josh to work through some of his money issues and past.

Yes, both Deana and Josh have rather traumatic pasts. This is another pet peeve of mine – but while they skate the edge of “could happen” (Josh’s especially) – they aren’t that improbable. Deana’s especially – kids make a lot of stupid mistakes. Add in the fact that both their experiences give depth to their characters, and have shaped them into the people they are today… along with the fact that both their pasts are something that builds the relationship and are integral to the story… I bought it.

Basically, my biggest complaint would be that the book ended. No, really. For some reason I expected more. An epilogue, a “two months” or “one year” later… I actually stared at the last page and thought “What?!?! No!!” I wanted more. Yes, there is closure… but I wasn’t ready to leave Josh and Deana yet.

I hope Derek gets his own book and that Josh, Deana, Kane and Annie all have cameo appearances. (I’m debating about Eric- I’m pretty much a canon girl, so I’d like for him to pine after Deana forever, but I guess that’s not fair.)

I recommend this book to anyone who likes contemporary romance, Ms. Dimon’s writing, or anyone who plain enjoys a good book.

Grade: A-

Summary:

TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT…

Deana Armstrong needs a hero—not for herself, but for the nephew all her money and time can’t seem to get out of jail. Unfortunately, the best hero in all the Hawaiian Islands is set on turning in his badge and getting his excellent butt into another line of work. If that wasn’t enough, Josh Windsor also has a big-time grudge against Deana herself. But if there’s anything being rich, smart, and stubborn has taught Deana, it’s never to settle for second best…

Josh has had it with saving people. He’s had it with getting hauled into court. And boy, has he ever had it with Deana. Or well, he hasn’t had it. Yet. But the more she pops up sounding infuriating and looking good enough to eat, the more her hot bod and her cold case wriggle into his mind. And there’s only so much even a hero can resist…

Read an excerpt here.

Gwen’s review of Covet (The Fallen Angels, Book 1) by J.R. Ward
Contemporary paranormal romance released by Signet 29 Sep 09

With the Fallen Angels books we get a new set of bad guys, some cameos of the BDB and related characters, and a new set of good guys – angels.  I have a feeling that we’ll be seeing something of Lassiter in future Angels books. So you ask, is this book good? Well, yes and no. 

Covet is an interesting paranormal romance. I think it’s WAY too long, but is still an entertaining read.  I read nearly all of it, though I admit to skimming some of the paragraphs simply because how many times did I need to read about the heroine’s guilt or the hero’s obsession with money.  However, Ward is setting up a new world here, so I cut her some slack.

I was a bit perplexed about the title.  Greed is a deadly sin but coveting isn’t.  Though I guess they’re related.  Dumb thing to pick up on, I realize, but it bugged me.  Regardless, the cover art rocks.

As with the BDB books, in Covet Ward indulges a bit too much in the period.as.a.speech.pacing.tool.  I seriously hate it when authors do that.  Totally throws off my reading rhythm.  I wish the author would just say “he ground out” or “he said slowly” or anything except mess.with.my.reading.mojo with a stinkin’ grammatical stop sign.  There’s a lot of that in Covet.  There’s also a lot of slang like “freshies” and other oddities that will make this book a hoot to read in about ten years.

The romance between Vin and Marie-Therese is sweet and fun to read.  The heroine’s profession and personal situation is heartbreaking to read about.  The hero is much more understanding than you can imagine.  I was happy to read about their HEA, but I sincerely wonder how a couple can overcome all they have to overcome.

The good guys are interesting – Jim Heron is a terrific fallen angel.  He’s just bad enough to be fun and still noble.  I do wonder what’s going to happen in the next few novels in this series.  And if Dog is more than he appears to be.

There’s no vampires or lessers, but there are demons and angels, plus some hot romance and cool action.  I did feel like the pacing dragged a bit – again, the book is just too long.

I can recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of the author and is looking for a new, but similar series to the BDB.

Grade: B-

Summary:

Redemption isn’t a word Jim Heron knows much about—his specialty, both personally and professionally, is revenge, and to him, sin is all relative. But everything changes when he becomes a fallen angel and is charged with saving the souls of seven people from the seven deadly sins. His weapon: the power of love. His enemy: the darkest of evil. And failure is not an option.

Vincent Di Pietro has surrendered himself to his business—until fate intervenes in the form of a tough-talking, Harley-riding, self-professed savior, and a woman who will make him question his destiny. With an ancient evil ready to claim him, Vin has to work with a fallen angel not only to win his beloved over…but to redeem his very soul.

Read an excerpt here.

Limecello’s review of Sweet Seduction by Maya Banks
Erotic romance released by Berkley on 6 Oct 09

Hands down, this is my favorite book by Maya Banks. It’s also the best book I’ve read in a while. I’ve been in something of a reading slump – well, all year- so I’ve been re-reading Sweet Seduction - parts – over and over, because I’m scared of what else I might find (or not find) in a book. It’s a well written, rather light romance – and at this point, I can’t say enough [good things] about books like this. Ms. Banks stories seem to be hit or miss for me – although I do like her Silhouette Desires – this may be my favorite of the Sweet series. (The first two books are Sweet Surrender, Sweet Persuasion, and Sweet Temptation follows this book.) Sweet Seduction is a pure and simple romance, in the best sense of those words. No crazy twists or turns, no excessive shock value, just good old fashioned great story telling, and relationship building. And you know, I really like the cover too. This book is the total package.

Julie Stanford is a fantastic romance heroine. She’s not only someone you’d like to be friends with, she’s someone you wouldn’t mind being. Julie knows her own worth. She’s comfortable with herself, and even better, likes herself. Julie is also true to herself, well adjusted, well developed, and steadfast. All seem like boring characteristics, perhaps, but be honest- it’s refreshing and rather unique for those words to fit a romance heroine. Julie doesn’t crumble like a house of cards at Nathan’s first sign of interest… but she also doesn’t cut off her nose to spite her face – in that she decides to try to have a relationship with him, rather than sticking to her plan simply because she made it. (Well that and she basically attacks him first, but that’s the kind of girl Julie is.)

Nathan Tucker is a terrific romance hero. He’s so… normal – and I mean that in the best way. Yes, he’s incredibly hot and sexy, smart, dependable, I could go on, but in short, he has all the requisite perfect romance hero characteristics. In a way, I feel like what he’s “missing” is more important. He doesn’t have a dark or traumatic past. He’s not emotionally broken and bitter, nor is he a misogynist. I didn’t miss it at all. I never thought Nathan wasn’t interesting enough, or bland. Yes, he’s a bit clueless at times, but I thought it just made him more realistic. I also love that Julie about makes his head explode, but he takes it in stride because he’s fallen for her. Nathan decides he and Julie have a chance at something real, and he goes after her – after letting her call the shots at first. (And I have to say Nathan’s fleeting uncertainty and bashfulness at feeling inexperienced because he doesn’t regularly engage in threesomes… amusing, and endearing.)

I think I’m also so excited about this book in general because of what “isn’t” there. The heroine wasn’t raped or abused in the past. Yes, she’s had a few bad relationships, but nothing out of the norm. Not something you’d see in the evening news. I love that. I also really liked that the book started in a way near the “end” of Julie’s plan. She’s been trying to get Nathan to notice her- but he doesn’t show any interest. Thus, she’s going to seduce him, but more as a kiss off, really, to show him what he’s missing, and to get him out of her system once and for all. And she does. (And it’s great!) Consequently, Nathan has a little light bulb moment, and realizes that Julie really is into him.

I thought it was cute that Nathan was unsure at times, and … I hesitate to use the word “vanilla” but understand I mean it in the best way. He’s basically had – and is into – having great sex with one woman, and one man being involved. No other people, no strange or kinky games, etc. I think that really helped with the focus of the story as well, and the emotional development between Julie and Nathan. Ms. Banks really lays out what each character is thinking and feeling, their concerns and fears, and she doesn’t have to lay the groundwork or explain some sexual sub culture. Although of course, she does get a few scenes in, showing Damon and Serena from Sweet Persuasion, and a bit of what Micah is into – which leads into Sweet Temptation.

Speaking of – I didn’t really like the ending of Sweet Seduction I felt that it had too much of a series feel, that the focus shifted to Micah, and his story, rather than really ending Julie and Nathan’s. Nevertheless, Ms. Banks incorporated the Sweet sentiment and series feel through the other characters. There’s the part where Micah goes on his annual “vacation” – and then a scene between Damon and Serena at Damon’s club. It may appear to be a gratuitous sex scene initially, complete with bondage and whips, but I think it’s actually a key scene and point. It allows Julie to see what appeals to her friends about that lifestyle – one that really isn’t for her – and also, to see the emotional connection and love between the couples. It’s at this point that Julie decides she only wants a real relationship.

I love that Julie recognizes that Nathan’s feelings are real and earnest, and even more that Nathan says “I love you” first. I felt the ensuing scenes fit perfectly as well. All of Julie’s actions are realistic, and fit her personality. She didn’t pull any too stupid to live stunts, and I never felt frustrated by what the characters were doing. And I don’t think I can properly write a review without mentioning the “hot” factor. Get a fan, friends, because the chemistry and heat generated in this book? Off the charts. I hope I haven’t given anyone the wrong impression that this book is bland, or the sex isn’t “up to par” – it’s quite impressive. And Julie gets to act out a fantasy (or two).

I’m going to stop before I start repeating myself [more], but to summarize… I really liked this book. Really. think more heroes and heroines should be just like Nathan and Julie. Just. Like. No unforgivable acts, or unnecessary cruelty. Just two people, figuring out they’re meant to be together forever. The secondary characters are all well written – most have shown up in previous books (if not had their story told) – so there are a lot of fun cameos. I think it also helped that Julie has a great relationship with her girlfriends, and Nathan has his own “guy time” as well. The tone is friendly, and engaging. Props to Ms. Banks. Aside from a few subplots I felt were a bit distracting, or not entirely necessary, I have no complaints. I definitely recommend this book if you like Ms. Banks writing, or enjoy erotic romances. Or hell, even if you’ve been wanting to try one. Here is your chance. (And one last thing… Ms. Banks has some great one liners you have to read – I can’t resist, but one is “drunken butterfly” and name calling with the word “heifer.” Priceless.)

Grade: A-

Summary:

He was the stuff erotic dreams are made of

Salon owner Julie Stanford wanted Nathan Tucker ever since she gave him his first massage. Getting paid to feel every inch of his body, stripped, oiled, and spread out in front of her? Stuff dreams are made of. But the sexy lug was oblivious to the signals she was sending—until she finished off his final rub-down with something extra. In fact, the best extra he ever had. Unfortunately, he came around too late. Now Julie’s moving on…

She was everything he’d dreamed of

The woman was driving him crazy. She lit fire to his insides then ran like a scalded cat. And now she’s going to someone else to have all her fantasies fulfilled? Over his dead body… He’s more than willing to give her what she wants, and as soon as he pins the little minx down, he’d show her his own brand of sweet seduction.

Read an excerpt here – and the *first three chapters can be downloaded here. (*Note: it opens as a pdf)