I know you’ve all been saying to yourself, “Self, I have not read any scintillating content from Shannon C. lately. Does she not love us anymore?”

To which the answer is, no. I’ve just been behind on reviewing, and I’ve been kind of underwhelmed by a lot of the romances I’ve picked up.

Still, I did want to post something so you’d know I hadn’t fallen off the face of the planet, so here’s a series of Quick Quack Reviews, covering the stuff I’ve been reading.

Shannon C’s Quick Quack review of The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie (Highland Pleasures, Book 1) by Jennifer Ashley
Historical Romance released by Leisure Books 28 Apr 09



The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie is one of the few books I’ve read this year in which I felt the hype was even a little justified. The titular Lord Ian MacKenzie has Asperger syndrome, which makes him blunt, socially awkward, and unable to look people in the face. He is drawn to Beth Ackerley, a young widow recently freed from her obligations as a companion to a shrew of an old lady.

Beth is equally drawn to Ian, and soon she’s falling for him.There’s a lot to like here. Ian is a fascinating character, as are the rest of his family. But, surprisingly, I actually liked Beth. Romance heroines are hard to portray well, and I’m rarely pleased with them. But Beth was confident without being brash, knew what she wanted in life, and was interesting in her own right as something other than a foil for Ian.

There is a mystery that doesn’t entirely work for me, and the way in which a feud one character has with the MacKenzies is resolved in a way that didn’t work for me, since it felt a bit too schmaltzy. But this is a unique romance, and I strongly recommend it to fans of historical romance.

Grade: B+

Summary:
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The year is 1881. Meet the Mackenzie family–rich, powerful, dangerous, eccentric. A lady couldn’t be seen with them without ruin. Rumors surround them–of tragic violence, of their mistresses, of their dark appetites, of scandals that set England and Scotland abuzz.
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The youngest brother, Ian, known as the Mad Mackenzie, spent most of his young life in an asylum, and everyone agrees he is decidedly odd. He’s also hard and handsome and has a penchant for Ming pottery and beautiful women.
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Beth Ackerley, widow, has recently come into a fortune. She has decided that she wants no more drama in her life. She was raised in drama–an alcoholic father who drove them into the workhouse, a frail mother she had to nurse until her death, a fussy old lady she became constant companion to. No, she wants to take her money and find peace, to travel, to learn art, to sit back and fondly remember her brief but happy marriage to her late husband.
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And then Ian Mackenzie decides he wants her.
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Read an excerpt here.

Shannon C’s Quick Quack review of Burning Alive (The Sentinel Wars, Book 1) by Shannon K. Butcher
Urban Fantasy released by Onyx 5 May 09



Burning Alive by Shannon K. Butcher isn’t the kind of story I generally go for. It’s one of an increasingly annoying trend of books featuring groups of paranormal alpha men so manly even Chuck Norris would be forced to back down in shame. These guys, of course, fight supernatural creatures, which for some reason nobody ever notices.

As per usual, Drake, our studly manly hero is paired with a woman with all the flavor of wet Kleenex. Helen is good and sweet and gentle, and doesn’t appear to do anything with her life except take her elderly friend Miss Mabel out to dinner. Oh and she’s afraid of fire, having seen a vision of herself burning to death while a man who, coincidentally, looks like our hero, Drake, watches with a smile.

Drake discovers by accident that when he touches Helen, the constant pain he’s endured all his life dissipates, so he basically kidnaps her and throws her into the paranormal world.The setup for this book is so incredibly cheesy, but I can’t help it. I like stuff like this, in moderation. There’s something about a man being literally unable to keep his hands off the object of his desire that gets me every time. But even without my personal biases, I’m not sure I’d recommend this one.

The setup will ring familiar to many paranormal readers, and I really don’t know how many books featuring dull heroines and exaggeratedly alpha men we need. Also, the book is set in the vicinity of where I live, and so there were a few geographical mistakes that wouldn’t detract from the story that I noticed.

Grade: C

Summary:
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There are worse ways to die…
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They are the Sentinels. Three races descended from ancient guardians of mankind, each possessing unique abilities in their battle to protect humanity against their eternal foes–the Synestryn. Now, one warrior must fight his own desire if he is to discover the power that lies within his one true love…
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For too long, Helen Day has been haunted by visions of her own death, surrounded by flames as a dark-haired man watches her burn. So when she sees the man of her nightmares staring at her across a diner, she attempts to flee–and ends up in the man’s arms. There, she awakens a force more powerful and enticing than she could ever imagine.
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The instant the Theronai warrior Drake touches Helen, the anguish he has borne for years fades away. He is determined to know why this beautiful, fearful woman has such power over him. The answer lies in his very blood–and in Helen’s as well. For together, they may become more than lovers–they may become a weapon of light that could tip the balance of the war–and save Drake’s people…
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Read an excerpt here.

Shannon C’s Quick Quack review of Tomorrow by Samantha Kane
Science Fiction Romance released by Ellora’s Cave 22 Apr 09



Tomorrow by Samantha Kane is Ms. Kane’s first foray into science fiction romance. Samantha Kane’s historicals are favorites of mine for their depth of characterization and the fact that she’s one of the few authors that can convince me that any group of two men and one woman belong together. Unfortunately, this story of a bounty hunter, a rebel princess and a space pirate didn’t work at all for me. I think i was first turned off by the names.

Our heroine is Cerise, and one of her men is named Tie. Tie? I dunno, a guy named after an article of men’s clothing is just not doing it for me.The story does have its moments, but there wasn’t really anything unique in the world Ms. Kane is using, and her characters lacked the depth I’ve come to expect. The story also suffered from what felt like an overabundance of sex scenes. Yes, I know this is an erotic romance, but still… Even for that subgenre, there are still times when enough is enough. I’m not sure this is a series I’m going to continue, though if Ms. Kane writes any more historicals, I will buy them right up.

Grade: D+

Summary:
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A Hunters for Hire book.
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What if a beautiful rebel princess, on the run from an evil government, fell in love with the pirate who rescued her and with the bounty hunter who captured her? And what if the pirate and the bounty hunter used to be lovers?
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Princess Cerise Chessienne has the power to enslave men with sex. She’s never used it—until now.
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Regan is the most feared pirate in the galaxy, renowned for two things—his temper and his loyalty to the princess.
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When bounty hunter Tie captures Cerise, he gives in to his desires. Now the two are addicted to sex with each other. Then Cerise leads Tie to his long-lost lover Regan, and Tie realizes that tomorrow—the day he starts his life over—has arrived.
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The Amalgamation wants to execute all three of them. So what are a beautiful princess, a pirate and a philosophical bounty hunter to do? Have amazing sex, of course. And somehow lead the rebellion while avoiding capture.
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Read an excerpt here.

Shannon C’s Quick Quack review of Strange Attractions by Emma Holly
Erotic Romance published by Berkley 1 Nov 05



Strange Attractions by Emma Holly, on the other hand, gets the balance of eroticism and romance much better. Charity is invited to stay with eccentric physicist BG Grantham and his long-time friend, Eric. In exchange for playing sexual games with the two men, Charity will receive a full scholarship to attend college.

The setup sounds kind of hokey, but in this book, it really works. Ms. Holly creates three-dimensional characters in our three protagonists, and she does a great job of developing the characters during sex. I also liked that this was very much a story of Charity’s self-actualization. I liked the fact that Charity is much more empowered by the end, something that seems all too rare in the romance I’ve read.

Grade: B+

Summary:
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Determined not to repeat her mother’s mistakes, high-school dropout and unrepentant heartbreaker Charity Wills is eager to get an education any way she can. When she’s offered a chance to go to college for free, she jumps at it. There’s just one little catch.
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She must travel to the estate of B.G. Grantham, a reclusive physicist who likes to play sex games as exotic as the particles he studies. B.G. is obsessed with the unattainable: the meaning of life, the mysteries of desire, and the thrill of being refused the one thing he craves. Charity has more than enough spirit to provide a challenge-especial with Eric Berne, her sexy “keeper,” to lend a hand . . .
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Read an excerpt here.

Shannon C’s Quick Quack review of To Beguile a Beast (Legend of the Four Soldiers, Book 3) by Elizabeth Hoyt
Historical romance released by Grand Central 19 May 09



To Beguile a Beast by Elizabeth Hoyt is the third book in Hoyt’s Legends of the Four Soldiers series. The first two books were quite entertaining, and I see why Hoyt is well-thought-of in the romance community, because she can write well. This third book, however, is my least favorite in the series. It follows Helen Fitzwilliam, the mistress of a powerful duke, who has fled with her children to the highlands of Scotland, to the castle of Sir Alister Monroe, a scarred war veteran.

What follows is a standard beauty and the beast romance, which follows the conventions of such a story in a predictable way. The predictability doesn’t make for a bad story, but it does make for a less than satisfying one, and I wish the mystery plot had been dragged forward a bit more. This isn’t a bad book, however, and Ms. Hoyt is a talented writer.

Grade C+

Summary:
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CAN A WOUNDED BEAST . . .
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Reclusive Sir Alistair Munroe has hidden in his castle ever since returning from the Colonies, scarred inside and out. But when a mysterious beauty arrives at his door, the passions he’s kept suppressed for years begin to awaken.
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TRUST A BEAUTY WITH A PAST . . .
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Running from past mistakes has taken legendary beauty Helen Fitzwilliam from the luxury of the ton to a crumbling Scottish castle . . . and a job as a housekeeper. Yet Helen is determined to start a new life and she won’t let dust-or a beast of a man-scare her away.
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TO TAME HIS MOST SECRET DESIRES?
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Beneath Helen’s beautiful façade, Alistair finds a courageous and sensual woman. A woman who doesn’t back away from his surliness-or his scars. But just as he begins to believe in true love, Helen’s secret past threatens to tear them apart. Now both Beast and Beauty must fight for the one thing neither believed they could ever find–a happy ever after.
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Read an excerpt here.

Shannon C’s Quick Quack review of Truth and Consequences (Hearts of the South, Book 1) by Linda Winfree
Romantic Suspense published by Samhain Publishing 29 Apr 08

Truth and Consequences is the first in Linda Winfree’s Hearts of the South series, which comes highly recommended by many readers. I have to agree with them. Ms. Winfree manages to pack a lot into a rather short novel, and the romance between Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Kathleen and troubled and poor town bad boy Jason is well-executed. We also get to glimpse many of the people whose lives orbit around the main couple. I never felt overwhelmed by the number of characters, and I’m definitely looking forward to seeing more of them.

Grade B+ 

Summary:

When deceit and desire collide, the results can be deadly…
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Book One of the Hearts of the South series.
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For undercover FBI agent Jason Harding, coming face to face with the grown-up version of his adolescent dreams is a nightmare. Kathleen Palmer sees him as a despicably corrupt small-town law officer and a murder suspect. Trapped in a web of his own making, he must see his mission through to the end and bring down the crooked cops who’ve run Haynes County for decades. To do so, he must betray the only family he’s ever known and fight his growing love for Kathleen, a relationship that could get one, or both of them, killed.
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Determined to uncover the truth, Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Kathleen struggles with her attraction to the one person who’s awakened her since she buried her heart and emotions in her son’s tiny grave. Listening to her heart could destroy all she has left in life-her career and reputation. When the truth about Jason’s identity surfaces, they both face unimaginable consequences: Jason may lose his life and Kathleen the man she loves.
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Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex, violence.
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Read an excerpt here.

Shannon C.’s review of The Accidental Human (Accidental Friends, Book 3) by Dakota Cassidy
Paranormal romance released by Berkley 3 Mar 09

There’s something intrinsically satisfying about reading the final volume to a series. I always close the book with a smile, a bit wistful that I’ll never get to spend time with these characters again, but pleased that I can move on to see what else the author is capable of writing. And, in the case of the third book in Dakota Cassidy’s Accidental Friends series, I was even more satisfied that not only did the series wrap up completely, but it did so with one of the strongest books she’s written. 

Wanda, cosmetics consultant and reader of romance novels, has always been the peacemaker in her small circle of friends. The mouthy Nina and the ditzy Marty are always at each other’s throats, and it’s Wanda that manages to calm them down. But now Nina and Marty have met their mates–a vampire and a werewolf respectively–and Wanda has received some shocking news, namely that she doesn’t have much longer to live. (This isn’t really a spoiler, since it’s clearly hinted at in the previous book.) Anyway, to complicate Wanda’s life, Heath, the sexiest man she’s ever seen, answers her add for Bobbie Sue consultants. Wanda needs some convincing that a man can sell cosmetics, but soon she discovers he has a knack for it, and she finds herself curious about why a (very) straight guy would be all up on the selling of makeup. She fights her attraction to Heath, and must also figure out how to tell her friends about her cancer.

Needless to say, I really liked Wanda. My problems with the other heroines in this series have been that they tended to sound the same, and that same was a level of shrill that got irritating to read about. But, well, having cancer kind of tilts my sympathy, and I didn’t find Wanda shrill at all. I was really touched and moved by her struggles, and this was one of those books where the paranormal turn the plot took was very much welcome because I thought Wanda deserved some happiness.

Heath was great, too. He wasn’t overpoweringly alpha, and he kind of subverted a few paranormal tropes himself. I mean, a guy’s got to be pretty comfortable with his masculinity to not feel any qualms about selling Bobbie Sue and later using his car as a mobile advertisement for sanitary napkins so he can get money. I also adored the genuine love and friendship he had for his manservant, Archibald, who stole each scene he was in. While the predicament Heath and Archibald are in strains credibility, it was nice to read about a man in a paranormal romance who wasn’t loaded with cash and who had to find some way to earn a living.

I absolutely bought the romance between Wanda and Heath, and I loved that yet again Ms. Cassidy brings the funny,. This time out, I thought the sexual tension struck the right balance, and the plot moves at a good clip.

There are bits of the story that strain credibility. Like I said, Heath’s predicament made me go, “…huh.” and not necessarily in a good way. I also thought the climax was a tad over the top. But as I said, the end result couldn’t have happened to a more deserving couple of characters and I totally bought their HEA.

Ms. Cassidy’s sense of humor falls in line with my own, for the most part, and it’s been fun following the lives of Marty, Nina and Wanda. I absolutely can’t wait to read whatever she’s got coming next.

Grade: B

Summary:
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Immortality bites— new from the author of Accidentally Dead and The Accidental Werewolf.
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Wanda Schwartz is raking in the dough selling Bobbie-Sue Cosmetics—and she’s a pro at recruiting new saleswomen. So, she’s shocked when a man comes to one of her in-home parties—a very hot man. Heath Jefferson is sure to put some extra spin into a lot of women’s color wheels.
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When Wanda is diagnosed with a terminal illness, it doesn’t have to be a death sentence. With a werewolf and a vampire for best friends, she has options that most ordinary people wouldn’t. As Wanda ponders what to do about her mortality, Heath reveals he has secrets, and one of them is that his former bloodlust has turned into an old-fashioned lust—for Wanda. And he’s already given up too much to lose the love of his lifetimes.
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Read an excerpt here.

Other books in the series:

Shannon C.’s review of Caressed By Ice (Psy-Changeling Series, Book 3) by Nalini Singh
Paranormal romance released by Berkley 4 Sep 07

I know my reaction to Angels’ Blood, Ms. Singh’s latest novel, was fairly meh, but I still adore her Psy/Changeling series. Recently, my friend Bree got onto a Nalini Singh kick, and so I picked up the third of Ms. Singh’s Psy/Changeling books to read along with her. Read on to see what I thought of it.

For those of you who, like me, haven’t caught up with these books, this is the story of Jud, a psy who has dropped out of the Psy-Net with the rest of his family and now lives in a Changeling wolf pack. He is drawn to Brenna, a wolf changeling who was viciously attacked in the first book. Psys are supposed to be cold and emotionless, and none more so than Jud, whose telekinetic powers could be deadly if not tightly controlled. Brenna threatens to break Jud’s control at every turn, and to add to their confusion, someone is threatening Brenna, and there’s more Psy intrigue going on.

I confess this was the one book in the series I wasn’t looking forward to reading. I really like the strength of Ms. Singh’s heroines, and I was afraid Brenna would be too weak and clingy for me. Thankfully, she wasn’t. She’s been through a lot, but even she admits that she hates feeling like she’s wrapped in cotton wool. I really liked watching her grow into her own strength. And this is definitely one of those perfect romances, where the hero and heroine both have to grow together before they could be happy. Jud has to accept his own strength and his feelings for Brenna at the same time that Brenna has to work through what’s been done to her. Watching them grow together was a delight. And, of course, the two of them have smoking chemistry.

There’s more intrigue with the Psy Council, who quietly run things in the background. I find scenes with them fascinating, but am glad they don’t overpower the story. There are hints of future plotting in this book, and I’m really glad the fourth book in this series features a human heroine, since we haven’t seen much of that so far.

This one wasn’t my favorite in the series, but I did enjoy it while I was reading it, and I know that this series can be counted on for a perfect comfort read which will provide a captivating and thoroughly enjoyable story.

Grade: B+

See Gwen’s and Sandy M’s reviews. And read more reviews on this series by following its tag.

Summary:
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Explore new heights of sensuality in this return to the world of the Psy—where two people who know evil intimately must unlock the good within their icy hearts…
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As an Arrow, an elite soldier in the Psy Council ranks, Judd Lauren was forced to do terrible things in the name of his people. Now a defector, his dark abilities have made him the most deadly of assassins—cold, pitiless, unfeeling. Until he meets Brenna…
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Brenna Shane Kincaid was an innocent before she was abducted—and had her mind violated—by a serial killer. Her sense of evil runs so deep, she fears she could become a killer herself. Then the first dead body is found, victim of a familiar madness. Judd is her only hope, yet her sensual changeling side rebels against the inhuman chill of his personality, even as desire explodes between them. Shocking and raw, their passion is a danger that threatens not only their hearts, but their very lives…
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Read two excerpts here (scroll down).

Other books in the series:

Shannon C.’s review of Say Goodbye by Lisa Gardner
Suspense/thriller hardcover released by Bantam 15 Jul 08, paperback release 19 May 09

I came to read this book because Wendy the Super Librarian and super awesome Harlequin reviewer herself blogged about it. Since Sybil so kindly provided me with the e-copy that I read, I thought I’d break my newly self-imposed rule to only write reviews for romances on my personal blog and talk about it here. This book is an intense read, and I definitely shared Wendy’s feeling of being utterly creeped out by it, even as I couldn’t stop reading.

Our story centers around pregnant FBI agent Kimberly, who is drawn to a prostitute when said prostitute begs for Kimberly’s personal help in catching a serial killer who has preyed on prostitutes and other people whom no one would miss. The case begins to take over Kimberly’s life, and her marriage, which seemed quite stable to her, begins to fall apart at the seams. Meanwhile, the serial killer is way more creepy than even Kimberly suspects.

I got a very series-ish vibe from this book. It feels like Kimberly and her family have been featured in books before. Certainly her family’s been touched by crime in the past, and it definitely shapes the way she and her father deal with the world. I really liked that, and I liked the struggles that Kimberly went through to balance her need to do the FBI job she’s involved with and her need to protect her baby. Those parts were terribly heartbreaking, and I empathized with Kimberly’s struggles to balance those responsibilities.

The suspense plot is excellently done, and, as I said, creepy. This was one of the few books I’ve read in this genre where I appreciated having the killer’s POV. The killer is such a fascinating character, and while the reader won’t sympathize with his actions, his childhood, which is explored, will definitely bring a tear to the eye.

I really enjoyed how everything came together. the mystery was well-paced, and the surprise twist at the end was one I didn’t see coming. I also liked the epilogue, in which it is revealed that people like the book’s killer do effect the lives of those they touch in significant ways for years to come.

I’ve never read any other books by Ms. Gardner, but I definitely intend to, because this one was well-written and engrossing, and I’m so glad Wendy brought it to my attention.

Grade: B+

Summary:
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Come into my parlor…
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For Kimberly Quincy, FBI Special Agent, it all starts with a pregnant hooker. The story Delilah Rose tells Kimberly about her johns is too horrifying to be true—but prostitutes are disappearing, one by one, with no explanation, and no one but Kimberly seems to care.
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Said the spider to the fly…
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As a member of the Evidence Response Team, dead hookers aren’t exactly Kimberly’s specialty. The young agent is five months pregnant—she has other things to worry about than an alleged lunatic who uses spiders to do his dirty work. But Kimberly’s own mother and sister were victims of a serial killer. And now, without any bodies and with precious few clues, it’s all too clear that a serial killer has found the key to the perfect murder…or Kimberly is chasing a crime that never happened.
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Kimberly’s caught in a web more lethal than any spider’s, and the more she fights for answers, the more tightly she’s trapped. What she doesn’t know is that she’s close—too close—to a psychopath who makes women’s nightmares come alive, and if he has his twisted way, it won’t be long before it’s time for Kimberly to…Say Goodbye.
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Read an excerpt here.

Shannon C.’s review of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
Humorous fiction released by Quirk Books 4 Apr 09

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a blogger in possession of an opinion must be in want of a platform to post it in. And after reading Dear Author’s haiku review of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, I felt compelled to offer my own, quite different, take on this story. As it happens, I’d only read the original, non-zombified version of Pride and Prejudice recently, so I’m by no means an Austen fangirl, although I think I could be persuaded to become one in short order. As Sybil constantly points out, though, I am a sucker for what in fandom terms is referred to as crack-fic. And on this account, P&P&Z largely works.

The premise is basically exactly what you think it is. Grahame-Smith basically takes Pride and Prejudice and cuts and pastes random battles with zombies. Whether you like that sort of thing really does depend on your tolerance for crack-fic. Me, I laughed. Very hard. A lot, especially since I’d just finished reading the original Pride and Prejudice. And I know, being one of those readers that tends to take things in her escapist literature far too seriously, that it’s entirely hypocritical of me to not mind that in many ways the presence of zombies totally butchers the characterization and historical context of the novel. Because, honestly, would there have been any way to write this story that *wouldn’t* have butchered one of these things or both?

For me, the best part of the book was its sheer absurdity. The image of Elizabeth Bennet, decked out in Regency costume, fighting scores of the undead made me giggle. Every time Darcy made a joke about balls, I laughed. When Elizabeth demonstrates her accomplishments to Lady Catherine de Bourgh by gutting some of that lady’s ninjas, I found the scene hilarious.

Not all of it works, though. What I liked about Austen’s writing was that she was much more subtle in mocking the characters who deserved it.  Grahame-Smith steamrolls right over subtlety. What he does to Wickham and Mr. Collins, while cathartic in their ways, was, well, a bit too much. I’m also not a fan of gore for its own sake, and there’s a lot of that. After a while, and after the 87th reference to a character vomiting, I kind of wanted to vomit a little myself.

I’m not really sure who I’d recommend this book to. It’s certainly not going to please fans of historical accuracy, and I kind of doubt it will please zombie lovers as well. But if your sense of humor leans to the absurd, and you’re curious about this book, which has been hyped quite a lot, I definitely recommend checking it out.

Grade: B

Summary:
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“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.” So begins Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, an expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton—and the dead are returning to life!
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Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she’s soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers—and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield as Elizabeth wages war against hordes of flesh-eating undead.
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Can she vanquish the spawn of Satan? And overcome the social prejudices of the class-conscious landed gentry? Complete with romance, heartbreak, swordfights, cannibalism, and thousands of rotting corpses, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you’d actually want to read.
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Read an excerpt.

Way back in the Dark Ages, (by which I mean last year), I had made a post looking for Lora Leigh recs.

I still have not yet read a Lora Leigh book, but I figure it’s high time we announced a winner to this contest since it really is ancient.

So, if Heather Tutorow is around, please send an email to shannonC (at) tgtbtu (dot) com with the subject line “Lora Leigh contest” which contains your mailing address and you will receive your signed book.

And next time, I’ll try hard not to make y’all wait a year for contest winners!

Shannon C.’s review of Angels’ Blood (Guild Hunters, Book 1) by Nalini Singh
Paranormal romance/urban fantasy released by Berkley 3 Mar 09

Nalini Singh is easily one of the best writers writing romance these days. She manages to create vivid and compelling worlds, as well as love stories with enough sexual tension and smoldering sensuality to require ice buckets while reading. So I’ve only read two of her Psy-Changeling books, but I was curious about her new series, and eagerly read it as soon as I got the ARC. Sadly, this book was a victim of too much hype. 

Elena is a Guild Hunter who works with angels to track down rogue vampires. The angels are the only ones who can create vampires, and the process is undertaken with the understanding that a new vampire will be in service to his creator for a century because they’re a menace to society otherwise. Anyway, Elena’s really good at her job, which brings her to the attention of Raphael, the archangel of New York City, who has an offer she can’t refuse. This time it’s not a rogue vampire she must track, but a rogue archangel. She can’t turn down the job, and she knows her chances of surviving it are slim.

Overall, I liked this book and would keep reading the series. Elena was a strong character, which is good because most of the book is told from her POV. She’s had a difficult life, a life that’s not going to get much easier after she meets Raphael. Raphael was fascinating, too, though it took me a bit longer to warm up to him. I’m used to arrogant heroes. I’m not so much used to ones who feel completely alien. But after a while he did grow on me, and I found the romance to be quite satisfying.

The plot is interesting, but I felt it took a bit too long to get going. Only toward the end of the book, when Elena was able to do her job did it take off. Prior to that, there were a lot of seriously draggy sections which slowed me down considerably.

This book got so much hype before it came out from the blogosphere that I was expecting it to be brilliant. The fact that the plot took a while to get moving and that it took me a while to warm up to Raphael disappointed me. I really wanted to love this book, and had expected that I would, but I didn’t.

Still, if you like Singh and you like darker settings, this is a strong book. I just wish I’d loved it more.

Grade: B

Summmary:
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Nalini Singh introduces readers to a world of beauty and bloodlust, where angels hold sway over vampires.
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Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux is hired by the dangerously beautiful Archangel Raphael. But this time, it’s not a wayward vamp she has to track. It’s an archangel gone bad.
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The job will put Elena in the midst of a killing spree like no other—and pull her to the razor’s edge of passion. Even if the hunt doesn’t destroy her, succumbing to Raphael’s seductive touch just may. For when archangels play, mortals break.
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Read an excerpt.

Other books in the series:

and Book 2, “Angels’ Judgment” in Must Love Hellhounds anthology, Sep 2009

Shannon C.’s review of Bound by Steel (Emissaries of Belthalas, Book 2) by Kirsten Saell
Erotic fantasy romance eBook released by Samhain Publishing 14 Oct 08

I’ve long been a fan of Kirsten Saell, both as a person and as a writer. I love her take on fantasy romance, which is both sexy and believably fantastic. This third book set in the same universe as Crossing Swords and Healer’s Touch is no exception. It’s not as strong an entry in the series as some of her other books, but a weak entry in this series is still better than some other fantasy romance I’ve read.

This book picks up where Crossing Swords ended, with Lianon and Gil living with their servant, the young, skittish Kaela. Kaela’s slowly healing from her brutal rape, and she still sees herself as completely unlovable. Lianon wants to give her all the love she can, but Gil isn’t so sure, being afraid that his wife will love Kaela more than him. But when danger threatens Lianon, Gil and Kaela are drawn closer together.

I really liked what Ms. Saell has to say about gender overall throughout this book. There are lots of characters here with different sexual preferences. There’s Lianon, who still prefers to identify as male to strangers, there’s the more feminine Kaela, there’s straight male Gil and then there is the gay couple that is introduced later in the story. All of these people have complex relationships, and for the most part I really liked seeing them come together.

I thought the romantic dynamic between Gil, Lianon and Kaela was especially well-done. I liked that none of them were entirely sure what they were doing, but made it up as they went along. And though much of Kaela’s healing happens through sex, I liked the definite tenderness between her and her partners.

I also liked where Ms. Saell is taking the plot. I’m not sure there’s much more to happen for Gil and Lianon and Kaela, but the idea of Gil going into politics was an interesting one. Also, I liked that the villain gets exactly what they deserve, simply because it needs to be done, and that Lianon is the one to do it. I also liked that another character, who might have been pegged as a villain in another book was simply portrayed as a misguided man doing what he thought was best.

I do have a few nitpicks, though. Every time Lianon called Kaela “my lamb” or “my *insert other animal name*” I kept getting thrown out of the story, especially since the animal name changed several times. It seemed kind of out of character for Lianon in the first place, and was just a bit cheesy for me. I also question the need for the introduction of a couple of M/M scenes, which didn’t actually seem to serve any actual purpose in the story other than to announce possible sequel-baiting. I also felt the book dragged just a bit, without that sense of tight plotting that I got from the first two books.

Those all being said, this was a good entry in the series and provided some much needed closure for Gil and Lianon and Kaela. I can’t wait for Ms. Saell’s next entry in this series, and if you like well-written fantasy romance, you should give this a go.

Grade: B

Read more reviews for this series by following its tag.

Summary:
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A night of brutality destroyed her innocence…can the love of two people heal her wounded spirit?
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“I’ve been thinking about Kaela…”
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There they are—the words that lead Gil to suspect his wife Lianon is falling in love with Kaela, the beautiful, traumatized young woman they rescued from certain death six months ago. Gil has no idea how to compete with a woman for his wife’s affections, and part of him ceases to care as Kaela begins to work her way under his skin.
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Kaela’s sweet innocence fills a chasm in Lianon’s soul she hadn’t even realized was there. As she gently helps Kaela rebuild her shattered confidence, Lianon begins to believe healing the young woman’s wounded spirit could be the key to wholeness for all three of them. If Gil agrees to follow her lead and help Kaela discover her own feminine power.
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But even as they all succumb to their growing desire, Gil and Lianon are drawn against their will back into the intrigues and vendettas of Belthalas’ elite. With Lianon’s life at stake, Gil must weave a dangerous path between one adversary’s ambition and another’s lust for vengeance.
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Success will save Lianon…but could cost them Kaela.
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Warning: This title includes explicit sex, including f/f, m/m, m/f/f, anal sex; bad language; questionable politics; violence; stringy, overcooked lamb; a dog with a major drool problem; and one seriously well-deserved comeuppance.
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Read an excerpt.

Other books in the series:

I met the Bree half of Moira Rogers several months ago in a multi-fandom community, and from there it was like some kind of synergy had taken place. Our taste in books, particularly romance, is frighteningly similar, and so when the first Moira Rogers books came out, I became an instant fan. Now, with Crux, the dynamic duo of Bree and Donna have taken a leap into urban fantasy that Sandy and I both love. In celebration of the release of Crux, Bree and Donna, the two halves of Moira Rogers, stopped by the pond to talk to us about their writing process. Stay tuned at the end of this post for a contest!

And now, please welcome Moira Rogers!

When Shannon gave me a long leash to come up with my own topic for a guest blog post, my first thought was, “Oh, she’s going to regret this.” Before we get started, I feel like I should issue a disclaimer up front so no one can say they weren’t warned:
I, the Bree half of Moira Rogers, am an enormous geek.

There, I said it. No take backs. I’m a dorky McDork pants geek princess, and on most days my partner in crime is no better. Donna and I love gizmos and gadgets, comic books and computers, and we really, really like RPGs. We met our husbands in a table top role playing game at the local comic book store in a true romantic comedy tale too geeky for publication. We played dozens of games over the years, and we always had one thing in common: we drove everyone crazy with our elaborate back stories and highly flawed characters who were more likely to get the party blown up than actually kill the bad guy.
What can I say? We love a good redemption storyline.

Donna and I are a comparatively rare oddity in the writing world. We’re two people who share a single penname, and that penname is our career. We’re not two authors who have joined forces to write works together; we’re two writers who have joined forces to become one author. There’s a Captain Planet joke in there I’m dying to make, but I don’t want Shannon to beat me too severely when this is over, so I’ll refrain.

We get a lot of questions about how we write and what our process is. People are always fascinated that we have taken this seemingly terrifying leap of faith together, that we do something so intensely personal as telling a story together and somehow at the end of the day are still friends.

The first thing I tell everyone who asks is this: it is not for everyone. We have our epic battles and fights, our spats and our disagreements. We have hurt feelings when someone says, “Oh, okay, so what you’re saying is you want them to name that baby Deus ex machina.” (Ouch, I’m still smarting from that, Donna. More so because you had to be right.)

There are a hundred ways to write a story, and I don’t think any of the methods are the one true way. What I do know is that I can’t imagine working with someone who didn’t prioritize the story elements in the same way I do. Donna and I have our gamer roots to thank for this agreement, I think, because our number one concern is always the characters. Every character in every book we write has a complex history, family, a personality, trouble and triumphs. Every character. That guy who showed up for 3 minutes on the telephone? Him too. We love creating characters. We stash facts and tidbits about them in a top secret wiki—facts that might look a little like a character sheet.

At the end of the day, we almost never have a story idea before we have characters. Our characters shape our stories because each one is the story we think we want to tell for this character. It also means killing them feels like the loss of a person with so many potential stories left to tell, but when you’re writing dangerous books, sometimes you lose people. (Sob.)

Now the nitty gritty: how do we do it?

We each have our stable of characters, and we are the boss of them. All their words, actions, reactions and feelings are ours to decide. We do not have fights over what a character “should” do, we discuss what a character “would” do and how the heck we’re going to fix the repercussions of any given action. We literally write around each other. We don’t each write a chapter, or a POV scene, or anything like that. We write…paragraphs. Or sentences. Or sometimes words. Sometimes those words go in each other’s sentences.

Our husbands are used to listening to us hash out plots. “What would Joe do if…” “But how would Keith react if…” We don’t get to wing it, or we might be writing two different scenes. Even with careful planning sometimes the story can feel a bit like wrestling something into place, because while Donna and I think almost the same…well, almost is still not completely. Sometimes she’ll write a character saying something that would have never in a million years occurred to me, something I never would have written on my own.

And that’s when it feels a little bit like magic.

I could talk all day about the little details, but sometimes it’s hard to tell just what parts of this people really want to know about. So if you have a burning question about life as one half of Moira Rogers, ask! Nothing is sacred…well, a few things are sacred. Like the true location of the Bat Cave. But other than that, ask away!

CONTEST! Three winners will be chosen to win copies of anything from Moira Rogers’ backlist But you have to work for it! Leave a comment on this post with your questions about Bree and Donna’s writing process and you’ll be entered into the contest!

Thanks to Bree and Donna for stopping by and quacking with us!

Shannon C‘s review of Crux (Southern Arcana, Book 1) by Moira Rogers
Urban fantasy/paranormal romance released by Samhain Publishing 3 Mar 09

This is yet another of those reviews about which I cannot be objective, because if I were to be trapped on a desert island with only a cabana full of nekkid mens and one erotic romance author for company, that author would be the Bree half of Moira Rogers. Not that Crux is all that erotic, really. What it is, though, is a very strong urban fantasy that introduces us to a world that is a lot of fun to visit, and yet surprisingly dark.

Mackenzie has been on the run for a month now, and finally has landed in New Orleans. She’s being chased by a crazy man bent on destroying her life because he says they have a destiny together. Of course, her life is only going to get more complicated when her boss sends Jackson Holt to ferret out her secrets. Jackson is sexy and as charming a good old Southern boy as anyone could want, and Mackenzie is attracted to him. But before they can consummate their feelings for each other, they must first deal with the complications of Mackenzie’s past.

Not to repeat myself, but I think the strength of this writing duo is their ability to make their characters exist in a fully realized world. Not only are we introduced to Mackenzie and Jackson, but we’ve also got their friends and associates and enemies. This lent the book a definite sense of verisimilitude without feeling like the authors were trying for sequel-baiting.

I also really liked the politics of the shapeshifters in this world. Their society is fucked up in some ways, but it definitely makes sense, and feels very original and organic, not merely like they borrowed tropes from other books. I also like that bad things happen to secondary characters. I know not everybody does, but I felt it made the danger the characters faced quite authentic.

While this book does have a romantic storyline which is central to the plot, I would definitely call it urban fantasy, if only for the darker tone and the fact that the conflicts keeping Mackenzie and Jackson apart are more external than anything else. I’m not sure it’s a book I plan to read over and over again, but it is a strong start to a series, and I am eager to see where else the authors want to take me.

Grade: B+

Read other reviews by following the series tag.

Summary:
To find her destiny, she must trust him with her life…and her heart.

Jackson Holt makes a decent living as a private investigator in New Orleans, home of one of the largest underground supernatural populations in the United States. He and his partners have never met a case they couldn’t crack…until a local bar owner asks him to do a little digging on her newest hire.

New Orleans is the fourth destination in as many months for Mackenzie Brooks, a woman on the run from a deranged stalker. After all, any man who shows up on her doorstep claiming to be her destined lover has more than a few screws loose. But crazy doesn’t explain why he always finds her no matter how far she runs.

When her well-meaning boss puts a PI on her case, Mackenzie comes face to face with the incredible truth: magic is real, and whatever spell has kept her hidden and separate from the paranormal world is rapidly deteriorating.

With time running out, she has no choice but to trust Jackson as he struggles to uncover the truth of her past—and her destiny.

Warning: This book contains devious schemes, epic battles, forbidden love between a shapeshifter and a spellcaster, nosy secondary characters, furniture-endangering sex and a woman fighting to choose her own destiny.

Read an excerpt.

Shannon C.’s review of Hope’s Folly (Dock 5 Series, Book 3) by Linnea Sinclair
Science fiction romance released by Bantam 24 Feb 09

Linnea Sinclair is one of those authors that I feel I should love. Her books always seem to have strong world-building, which I love, kick-ass heroines, which make me squee, and nice romantic conflict. But the earlier books in this series did not do it for me. So it was with trepidation that I started Hope’s Folly because I didn’t think it was going to work for me very well, either. To my surprise, a shift from first person to third person and a more equal power dynamic between the characters worked to make this book one of my favorite reads of February.

Unlike Gabriel’s Ghost and Shades of Dark, the first two volumes in this series, Hope’s Folly follows newly minted rebel leader Philip Guthrie as he brings a stripped-down military cruiser turned fruit hauler to an alliance-controlled planet where the ship can be repaired and a full crew outfitted. He’s working with a crew he’s not familiar with, some of whom may actively be trying to kill him. Added to his dismay is Rya Bennton, the daughter of his former commanding officer, a rebellious, insubordinate and pretty woman who questions the things he’s always held true about himself.

I really liked Rya, who totally made this book for me. She’s resourceful and smart and she does what she needs to do, without being a complete hard-ass. I liked that we were introduced to her as she was leaving her lover, something that only ever seems to happen to heroes most of the time. She had all the qualities that seem too rare in romance heroines: she was smart, resourceful and competent. Because I liked her so much, I wasn’t even bothered by the niggling question of whether her feelings for Philip were genuine, or weren’t merely a case of hero worship. Then again, that question bothers Rya, too.

Philip. Oh my. He was my type of hero: charismatic, vulnerable in the right moments, and deeply, deeply honorable. I know most girls want bad boys, but I’ll take Philip’s strong moral code and sense of honor over rakes and rogues any damn day. I liked that he was alternately exasperated and delighted by Rya, and yet he respected her as a person. I was rooting for these two to get together throughout, because they were genuinely perfect for each other. And while the love scenes weren’t explicit, because I loved the two leads so much, they totally worked for me.

I liked that the universe is expanded. Sully and Chaz are mentioned, but they don’t actually make any appearances in the book, which gives Ms. Sinclair time to bring in and flesh out new characters. Unfortunately, if I have a quibble with this book it’s that the rest of the cast, being larger than it has been in previous books, is not as developed as I’d like.

The plot was intense, and kept me turning virtual pages until the end. The mystery of who is sabotaging the ship is handled deftly, and I didn’t figure out who it was until just shortly before Rya did. But even after that mystery is solved, I was genuinely not sure how Philip and Rya and the rest were going to make it to their destination, which made the last climactic space battle nail-bitingly suspenseful.

I still wish that the setting was a little more original and less Star Trek-tastic. And as I said, I could have handled a bit more development of secondary characters, but I finally see what the fuss is all about regarding this author, and I’m curious to see where else she can take this series.

Grade: B+

Read more reviews by following the series’ tag.

Summary:
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It’s an impossible mission on a derelict ship called HOPE’S FOLLY. A man who feels he can’t love. A woman who believes she’s unlovable. And an enemy who will stop at nothing to crush them both.
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Admiral Philip Guthrie is in an unprecedented position: on the wrong end of the law, leading a rag-tag band of rebels against the oppressive Imperial forces. Or would be, if he can reach his command ship—the intriguingly named Hope’s Folly—alive. Not much can rattle Philip’s legendary cool—but the woman who helps him foil an assassination attempt on Kirro Station will. She’s the daughter of his best friend and first commander—a man who died while under Philip’s command, and whose death is on Philip’s conscience.
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Rya Bennton has been in love with Philip Guthrie since she was a girl. But can her childhood fantasies survive an encounter with the hardened man, and newly-minted rebel leader, who it seems has just become her new commanding officer? And will she still be willing follow him through the jaw of hell once she learns the truth about her father’s death?
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Read an excerpt.

Other books in the series:

Ac*cess`i*bil”i*ty\, n. [L. accessibilitas: cf. F. accessibilit['e].]
1. the quality of being at hand when needed [syn: handiness] [ant: inaccessibility]
2. the attribute of being easy to meet or deal with [syn: approachability] [ant: unapproachability]

There have been a lot of comments about the Author’s Guild, text to speech software, and eBook technology. Lately, the blind have been thrown in the mix, often with little actual knowledge of what our perspective is. So I want to set the record straight and explain exactly why I’m so upset about the Author’s Guild’s stance re: text to speech.

I believe that as a consumer it is absolutely my right to read any book a sighted person can read. Period. I don’t want some well-meaning committee deciding that book A is something they’ll provide, but not book B or C. If a book is available in ebook, I should be able to read it.

The problem, of course, is that I can’t. Of the major platforms for ebook reading, the most accessible out of the box with any screenreader is ereader. If, of course, by accessible you mean has a clunky interface that prevents me from actually getting into the flow of a book. Reading a book via ereader is, in my experience, about as fun as chewing rocks.

In order to have as much versatility as I want, therefore, I have to strip the DRM from a secure ereader file. Then I can load it onto my VictorReader Stream, which is the blind man’s ebook reading device. (Oh, yeah, it, too, has text to speech.) Given that stripping DRM is actually illegal to do in the United States, it’s not like you can Google “stripping DRM from an ebook” and get a page that will explain, in layman’s terms and in very small words, how to do it. Prior to recently, if I wanted to read a DRM-ed ebook, I had to have someone else strip it for me. I didn’t have a problem with this, except for the small, minor detail that it made me feel skeevy and dishonest. So recently, I decided I would teach myself how to strip DRM from ebooks.

The first format I tried was Microsoft Reader. I used “Convert *.lit”, which has a DRM conversion utility with its graphical user interface. Turns out that since Microsoft Reader is such an inaccessible program with a screenreader that even the blind computer programmer I know who, y’know, *works* for Microsoft couldn’t get it to work, that experiment failed in a major, epic way.

The next thing I did was email an acquaintance who is tech savvy and a huge proponent of ebooks because I figured she could give me advice. I should maybe have done that months ago. She gave me helpful suggestions, which largely involve mucking about with arcane geeky tools involving the command line, which is not something most people play with. And before I was successful in stripping the DRM from my book, I had to have yet another friend call me so we could troubleshoot the program I was using. So, in order to read this ebook I’ve bought, I had to have three different people help me. Sighted people? Just point and click with the mouse and the book is right there, ready to be read.

The fact is, though, that I don’t mind embracing my inner geek, and I have geek friends. The average blind consumer isn’t so lucky. The average blind consumer, who by rights should be the best customer the ebook industry could hope to find, is not likely to find any of the ereading options currently available to us very accessible.

This is why the Kindle issue upsets me. Because I want the ability to just decide, “Hmmm, I want a Nora Roberts book” and then get one and be able to read it when and wherever, on a portable device, without having to do a song and dance routine. Whether it’s true or not, I feel like the stance of the AG is going to prevent that right. Oh, sure, I can still read books via sites like Bookshare, but why should that be my option? Why should I have to settle for less than the ease of use and accessibility of something like the Kindle? Why should I be further prevented, for that matter, from spending my money? If I want to buy a book on the Kindle and have the TTS software read it, that’s a royalty the author wouldn’t get if I just used the Library of Congress’s audio program.

And yet, I’ve felt for months now that my money isn’t good enough for New York publishers because they’re not making any attempt to let me read the books I want to.

Shannon C.’s review of Biting Nixie by Mary Hughes
Paranormal erotic romance eBook released by Samhain Publishing 13 Jan 09

I love fresh takes on paranormal romance. Nothing is more boring to me than same-old, same-old, so I am delighted to report that Mary Hughes’ debut from Samhain is, at least in my experience, one of the more unique eBooks I’ve read. While it’s not without its flaws, there’s a lot of potential. Fans of solid world-building will enjoy this book, and people who like books that are funny should also give it a try.

Nixie, our narrator, is five feet nothing and full of attitude. She’s a carefree punk musician living in Meier’s Corners, a small Midwestern town. She gets railroaded into helping raise funds for a major festival the town is putting on when the mayor promises that, in exchange for her organizing the event, he’ll help bring her band, Guns and Polkas, to wider exposure. The festival organizing won’t be easy, and Nixie’s life is further complicated by Julian, a staid, boring lawyer who has come to town, who is definitely much more than he seems.

When Mrs. Giggles reviewed this book, she had a problem with the voice, thinking it seemed too YA for an erotic romance. I can see where she’s coming from, and the hurricane of pop culture references got a little tired after a while. Nixie also reminds me of a hyperactive small dog, constantly running around and going off at the mouth when she didn’t need to. But at least she was capable of saying swear words more heated than “darn”, and she didn’t come across as a 50-year-old woman trapped in a much younger body. Plus, there’s quite a bit to like about her. Her struggle to figure out how she can still be herself all the while taking on that dreaded responsibility felt very true for this mid-twenties reader. And despite the attitude, she did seem to be a genuinely good person who just needed to grow up a little.

Because the story is written from Nixie’s POV, Julian was a little harder for me to connect with. I liked him well enough, but he won’t be on my list of memorable heroes. That being said, I enjoyed what backstory he got, and I like that, through him, we get a lot of the paranormal world, which doesn’t take itself too seriously. Also, the sex in this book was squirm-in-my-chair hot.

I enjoyed the secondary characters. A lot of them were caricatures–from Nixie’s overbearing German mother to the mayor to the villains, but some of them were quite fun nonetheless, particularly Dirk Ruffles, the bumbling but clueless policeman with a hidden talent. I also liked the glimpse of Nixie’s friend, police officer Elena, and I was curious about her story. In fact, there’s a lot more Ms. Hughes could do with the setting of vampires in a small Midwestern town, and I hope she will, especially since, as I mentioned earlier, the world-building is excellent. There’s a lot I’ve seen before, but it was all explained in a way that felt fresh and unique and, most of all, made sense.

This isn’t the best paranormal romance you are ever likely to read. But it is entertaining and sexy and fresh. I hope Ms. Hughes writes more, because I can’t wait to see what else she brings to the table.

Grade: B

Summary:
Nitro? Meet glycerin…

A Biting Love Novel

Punk musician Nixie Schmeling is a hundred pounds of Attitude who spells authority a-n-c-h-o-r and thinks buying insurance is just one more step toward death. So she really feels played when she’s “volunteered” to run the town’s first annual fundraising festival. Especially when she finds out it’s to pay for a heavy-hitting, suit-wearing lawyer—who’s six-feet-plus of black-haired, blue-eyed sex on a stick.

Attorney Julian Emerson learned centuries ago that the only way to contain his dangerous nature is to stay buttoned up. He’s come from Boston to defend the town from a shady group of suits…and an even shadier gang of vampires. But his biggest problem is Nixie, who shreds his self-control.

Nixie doesn’t get why the faphead shyster doesn’t understand her. Julian wishes Nixie would speak a known language…like Sanskrit. Even if they manage to foil the bloodthirsty gang, what future is there for a tiny punk rocker and a blue-blooded skyscraper?

And that’s before Nixie finds out Julian’s a vampire…

Warning: Contains more eye-popping sex, ear-popping language and gut-popping laughs than can possibly be good for you. And vampires. Not sippy-neck wimps, but burning beacons of raw sexuality—this means passionate blood-heating, violent bloodletting, and fangy bloodsucking. Oh, and cheese balls. Those things are just scary.

Read an excerpt.

Shannon C.’s review of Last Hope by Moira Rogers
Paranormal erotic romance eBook released by Loose ID 6 Jan 09

Standard Disclaimer: I consider the two writers that make up Moira Rogers to be personal friends. I still think I can make a go of writing an honest review, but if you disagree, you might want to read some other review. That being said, while I did enjoy this book, a number of things held it back from reaching the pinnacle of awesome that I know this author duo can reach. 

The setting of this novel is Mystic Ridge, which seems to be a sanctuary for paranormal creatures of all kinds. A group of humans who aren’t fond of supernatural beings have been attacking shapeshifters and other psychics, but they make the mistake of going after a dominant werewolf woman. Nurse and empath Kiara is called onto the scene in order to treat her, and in so doing runs into Adrian, a private investigator and werewolf. Adrian wants to catch the people responsible for the killings, but he doesn’t count on his wild attraction to Kiara.

There was a lot I liked here. The world feels concrete, and I never once felt like these characters lived in a vacuum. It is refreshing to note that both characters have friends outside of each other, a fact I often lament in other books I’ve read. Both Adrian and Kiara are likeable, and I felt both were equally well-drawn. I also like that these two constantly subvert several paranormal tropes, like that there’s no downside to having sex with an empath, and having female characters who aren’t always bowled over by the alpha-ness of their men.

My problems were largely subjective. I felt that the conflicts between Kiara and Adrian were largely irrelevant. Kiara is always completely understanding, and Adrian is domineering in a way she finds sexy. The result was that, though I did like them both, together they just weren’t very interesting to me and I didn’t get that thrill from knowing that a couple of characters I’ve been rooting for are finally going to find happiness.

My other major beef with the story is that it all felt like something I’d read before. I can think of several books with supernatural-hating humans. I can think of others where werewolf politics play a major role. This book does not set itself apart from anything else.

I’m glad to see that this writing duo is going to start doing more urban fantasy in the future. I think their voice will work better in that genre than it does in paranormal romance. Still, this isn’t a bad book, and if you’re a fan of hot shapeshifters, you should definitely check it out.

Grade: B-

Summary:
Sex has always been awkward for Kiara, mostly thanks to a strong empathic gift that men seem to find far more interesting than the woman who possesses it. Tired of men who assume a psychically shared orgasm is the end of their responsibility, she’s spent the last few years concentrating on her job. But when her latest patient brings her face to face with a shape-shifter private investigator with sexual energy to spare, she can’t resist the temptation to offer him what she senses he wants: her absolute surrender.

The last thing Adrian needs is a distraction. His latest case has taken a turn for the fatal, and the pretty psychic nurse is looking like she might be the next victim. But no alpha could resist her trusting submission, and what starts as a passionate one-night stand turns into something far too deep. When it turns out the only way to keep her safe may be to declare himself the leader of Mystic Valley’s shape-shifting wolves, he’ll have to decide if he’s ready to accept one responsibility he never wanted–even if it means losing her forever.

Publisher’s Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: Strong violence.

Read an excerpt.

Shannon C.’s review of Dancing With the Devil by Laura Drewry
Historical paranormal romance released by Leisure 25 Nov 08

Dear Satan,

…And he should be smart and funny. I don’t care what he looks like as long as he’s good in bed and has a really big…

Oh, wait, that’s my letter to Santa. Oops. I get so confused sometimes.

I’m one of the pickier reviewers on this site, and I’ve joked before that writing bad reviews is like making a sacrifice to you, my Dark Master. Not that this is a bad review. My reaction to the book was actually kind of “meh”, hence my need to spice up a normally bland review in this way. So it’s only fair that I should talk to you about your son, as described in Laura Drewry’s latest novel. I figured you wouldn’t mind, since it takes a lot of hubris to write a letter to you, and I’m thinking those other reviewers who write epistolary reviews aren’t in the habit of being critical of the devil himself. Anyway, now that we’ve established that I do, in fact, have titanium cojones, let’s go on with the review… 

First, I congratulate you on inspiring the blurb, which actually doesn’t bear much resemblance to the plot. And since readers do want to know what a book is about, I guess this means I’ll have to try and summarize the story. Basically, Rhea’s not all that happy when Deacon comes back into town. She was doing fine without him, running her parents’ store, but then he shows up at her door and all the heartache she experienced because of him rushes back and she shoots him. To add insult to injury, she did so in public, and because she’d pretended Deacon was her husband, he has to stay with her until they can figure out a way to end the charade. She’s not expecting love from Deacon. She knows he’s not capable of it. But she still can’t help the way she feels about him.

Deacon, for his part, has returned to Pennance, Texas, with one thing on his mind. He needs to ease the pain in Rhea’s heart, because he feels it in his own. Only then can he return to hell and do whatever it is your kids do in their spare time. What he doesn’t count on is the fact that Rhea pretended they were married, and the fact that once he’s back in her life, he can’t leave her so easily.

To give the devil your due (heh, did you like that, O Father of Lies?) I really liked the first book in this series. The pun on your daughter Lucy Fir’s name was hellish (yeah, kind of like the one I just made), but she was unique and refreshing, and Deacon, your son, was someone I loved to hate. He was vain and evil and soulless and creepy, and he served as a good foil for the actual hero,.

So what happened, O Master? Why did he have to turn into a giant woobie in this book? Not to criticize your mad parenting skills, but, dude, really! You beat the sexiness out of him.

Or maybe you had the last laugh, after all? I mean, Rhea, Deacon’s love interest, is so shrill and impulsive and keen to jump to erroneous conclusions that I wanted to smack her. Oh, and let’s not forget that she’s one of those heroines who conveniently espouses 21st century ideals about how men can’t tell her what to do but still manages to be scandalized that Deacon wants to touch her. Living with her could certainly not be worse than actually hanging out with you in the lake of fire. I couldn’t understand why you were so keen to get Deacon back since a life with Rhea would have certainly kept him sufficiently miserable.

I did like that Ms. Drewry didn’t actually bring you into the story itself. You are, as you should be, a shadowy presence of great menace. Well, except for the fact that this is a romance novel, and you’ve already lost one of your kids, so… yeah… You’re shadowy and abusive but not terribly menacing. Much as I imagine you are in all those other books where your kids run amok on Earth.

I didn’t hate this book. There were parts I really liked. I liked that there was some moral ambiguity, and it was nice to read that Rhea’s tragically dead parents weren’t saints. The secondary romance between Rhea’s helper at the store and a local girl was cute, and said store employee was a great character. I also liked the introduction of your other daughter, Kit. Sadly, though, for you, I’m sure Kit gets her own book, and then where will you be? Alone and unloved, with only the screams of the damned to comfort you in your time of need. Ah, well, you’ll always have this letter.

Will I continue to read the series? I would be interested in reading Kit’s story, but I’m a little worried that these books could get predictable very easily, and I would hate to see that, as paranormal westerns are still a very awesome and rare thing.

Until next we meet,
Your Faithful Servant

Grade: C

Summary:

Hell Hath No Fury. . .

Deacon knew Rhea wouldn’t exactly be happy to see him again. But he didn’t think she’d shoot him. Right in the shoulder, no less. He’d experienced worse pain in his life, though. Besides, now Rhea would have to let him stay until she could nurse him back to health. Oh, the hardship.

Like A Woman Scorned

His convalescence would give Deacon a chance to convince Rhea he’d turned over a new leaf, that he was no longer the son-of-a-devil who up and left her all those years ago in a puff of sulphurous smoke. Now he’s a man who knows what he wants. And no matter what kind of trouble Rhea has gotten into while he was away, what he wants more than anything is to win her heart.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in the series:

Shannon C.’s review of Mean Streets by Jim Butcher, Simon R. Green, Kat Richardson, and Thomas E. Sniegoski
Urban fantasy anthology released by Roc 6 Jan 09

This anthology features four prominent private investigators currently with series in the urban fantasy market. Headlining this book is Jim Butcher, with another Harry Dresden story, and Kat Richardson, Thomas Sniegoski, and Simon R. Green finish out the anthology. Anthologies aren’t particularly my bag, but this one didn’t really have any stories that completely failed to work for me, and it was a relatively quick read.

The Warrior by Jim Butcher

I’m not a particular fan of the Dresden Files, and I haven’t read past the second book. There’s no really good reason for this beyond just personal taste, but still. This story involves a mad priest kidnapping the daughter of a friend of Harry’s in exchange for a couple of magic swords. I thought the whole idea, which involves the exploration of faith and what it means to do good works was well-executed. Harry’s a likeable narrator, and I’m almost tempted to go back to the Dresden books I haven’t read yet. But not quite, since whatever element is in these books that doesn’t quite work for me is here, too. But still, this isn’t a bad way to start the anthology.

Grade: B

Summary:
New York Times bestselling author Jim Butcher delivers a hard-boiled tale in which Harry Dresden’s latest case may be his last.

No excerpt available.

The Difference a Day Makes by Simon R. Green

This was my favorite story in the anthology. Easily. We first meet John Taylor, private eye and denizen of the Nightside, in a bar where he’s having drinks with his friend Dead Boy. Their night gets more interesting when Liza Barclay enters. Liza has no memory of her life before stumbling into the Nightside, and the only clue she has to her identity is a torn-up picture of her husband Frank. John Taylor offers to assist Liza, because he’s a chivalrous guy and he’s drawn to how well she seems to be coping with the weirdness that is the Nightside.

When I read this story, I felt like I was reading what would result from the pen of Charles de Lint’s evil twin. The Nightside really isn’t a place people want to visit, but I felt Green conveyed a real sense of magic and wonder in this quick tour of it. I want more, and this is the only story in the collection that had me wanting to start in on the author’s full-length work.

Grade: B+

Summary:
Nightside dweller John Taylor is hired by a woman to find something she lost—her memory—in a thrilling noir tale from New York Times bestselling author Simon R. Green.

No excerpt available.

The Third Death of the Little Clay Dog by Kat Richardson

I started Greywalker some time ago, and found it to be interesting but not overly compelling, which is how I felt about this story in the Greywalker Universe. This time, our protagonist is Harper Blaine, who can see into the realm between life and death. She’s compelled to travel to Oaxaca, Mexico, when she is written into an eccentric woman’s will. All she has to do is leave a clay dog figurine on a man’s grave and stand vigil over it all night and she’ll receive $30,000. She’s intrigued by the odd request, and she needs the money, so off to Mexico she goes. There, of course, things turn out to be a lot more complicated than she thought as she finds an intriguing mystery, a teenager with a bad attitude, and a ghost dog.

I liked this story well enough. In the end, I was left smiling and satisfied, which is really all I can ask for in a short story. I felt distanced from Harper herself, but I did like the secondary characters and I found the story’s description of Mexican culture fascinating. I wasn’t too lost even though I’ve never read the series.

Grade: B-

Summary:
National bestselling author Kat Richardson’s Greywalker finds herself in too deep when a “simple job” goes bad and Harper Blaine is enmeshed in a tangle of dark secrets and revenge from beyond the grave.

Read an excerpt.

Noah’s Orphans by Thomas E. Sniegoski

I wanted to like this story more than I did, but I just couldn’t get over the high concentration of cheese such a short story offers. First there’s our protagonist, Remy Chandler. (Get it?) He has a dog named Marlowe, and he is, wait for it, a private investigator. Also, he’s a former angel struggling to live as human, except stupid things like the apocalypse keep getting in his way. Now Noah (of the Ark fame) has been murdered, and Remy gets drawn into heavenly affairs once again.

There were things I did like. Remy seems like a nice enough guy, and the death of his wife and his struggles to come to terms with it were well-written. And I loved Marlowe, who acted in a believable doglike fashion.

What I didn’t love so much was the ham-handed religious stuff. I feel like I’ve read this kind of story in a much more subtle incarnation, and the result left me cold, and uninterested in keeping up with the series.

Grade: C

Summary:
For centuries, the being that we know as Noah lived among us. Now he is dead, and fallen-angel-turned-detective Remy Chandler has been hired to find out who killed him in a whodunit by national bestselling author Thomas E. Sniegoski.

No excerpt available.

Overall, this was a good anthology. The Greene and Butcher stories are the best of the bunch, and even the Sniegoski piece has its moments.

Overall Grade: B

Summary:
From four of today’s hottest fantasy authors—all-new novellas of dark nights, cruel cities, and paranormal P.I.s.

The best paranormal private investigators have been brought together in a single volume—and cases don’t come any harder than this.

New York Times bestselling author Jim Butcher delivers a hard-boiled tale in which Harry Dresden’s latest case may be his last.

Nightside dweller John Taylor is hired by a woman to find something she lost—her memory—in a thrilling noir tale from New York Times bestselling author Simon R. Green.

National bestselling author Kat Richardson’s Greywalker finds herself in too deep when a “simple job” goes bad and Harper Blaine is enmeshed in a tangle of dark secrets and revenge from beyond the grave.

For centuries, the being that we know as Noah lived among us. Now he is dead, and fallen-angel-turned-detective Remy Chandler has been hired to find out who killed him in a whodunit by national bestselling author Thomas E. Sniegoski.

Here at the Pond, we have an e-mail loop.  In theory, I think Sybil meant for it as a way for all of us to communicate easily, and keep on top of the various goings-on around TGTBTU.  In actuality?  Yeah, it’s pretty much the time-suck from Hell.  Case in point, yesterday Sandy sent a very innocent e-mail with the subject heading of “Wendy, have you seen this?” Now, I’m thinking it’s some bit of library news Sandy stumbled across.  Oh no, it’s this bit of silliness that Harlequin designed for their 60th anniversary.  That’s right, a story generator where you can “put yourself in the story.”  And don’t ya know, several of the ducks had to have some fun with it.

My Man often jokes about my undercover secret Swedish lover “Sven.”  (Seriously, I should be so lucky).  But dagnabit, I had to have me a cowboy!  And Sven, for all his hunky hunkiness, is not a cowboy name.  So meet Dirk!

She didn’t know which was more dangerous……..the case that had brought brainy Wendy to the Grand Canyon, or the six-foot-three cowboy, who was far too sexy for anyone’s good. Everything about Dirk screamed Warning! Danger! So why was Wendy-an award-winning writer-letting her guard down with the handsome heartbreaker? Dirk didn’t think he’d ever know the truth about his father’s death-until the modest Wendy showed up. Wendy was willing to risk her life to uncover the truth. Dirk had to show her he, too, could take some risks. Because he’d found the one woman who could touch his heart…and he wasn’t about to let her go….

Sandy couldn’t help herself and also went with a cowboy. We’re currently planning a two-book series featuring hunky brother cowboys Dirk and Dack!

First comes love, then comes forgiveness…

But a widowed cowboy struggling during the Depression doesn’t have much faith in either-until he meets adventurous Sandy in the Grand Canyon at the boardinghouse they share. She’s an award-winning writer who could love his boy and heal his own heart. But how can Dack trust a fiery woman in the profession he blames for his greatest loss?

Sandy understands Dack’s pain. She has her own secret anguish, and believes her dreams of a husband and child are beyond reach. Still, she can pretend when he asks her to play his temporary fiancée to protect his son. And if God would grant her one miracle, He knows exactly what her fiery heart is yearning for…

Shannon also went with a cowboy.  Seriously, there must be something in the pond’s water, because Shannon didn’t go with any ol’ cowboy.  Oh no.  She had to out-do us with an intergalactic cowboy.  Nobody likes a show-off Shannon.

Cowboy Jonathan grieved the loss of his wife and baby. Then he discovers his son is alive-and living with an adoptive mother-award-winning writer Shannon. Despite the secrets and lies, Jonathan can’t deny the truth: brainy Shannon loves the boy. Yet Jonathan grew up without a father and won’t do that to his own child.

When someone dangerous comes after them, cowboy Jonathan takes Shannon and his son into hiding in the unknown reaches of Mars. As he grows closer to them, he discovers much about family life. After his dark, troubled past, he’s finally found faith and family. And he’ll do anything to protect both.

Our dear sweet Liviania decided that cowboys weren’t her thang (we’re working on deprogramming her – honest!) and instead went for a hunky male model.  A hunky male model in the Australian Outback?  Seriously?!

Typical. It takes male model Jonathon eight years to pull himself away from his terribly important career in the Australian Outback and come home for a divorce. And then he doesn’t even know who she is! Sure, Liv was a shy schoolgirl when Jonathon rescued her from a nasty family situation. But that’s no excuse for the man not to recognize his own wife.

And now the gorgeous male model thinks he’s going to hightail it with his final decree in hand. Uh-uh. Brainy Liv isn’t letting him off quite so easily. Not when she-now an award-winning writer-is finding him so irresistible.

Irresistible enough to get him to tie the knot again?

Lime decided to ditch the cowboys and male models and went straight for a tycoon.  Although none of us were real sure how convincing the name “Lime” is for a socialite.  But Landon?  That’s a tailor-made hero name for the Harlequin Presents line.  Just sayin’.

Wealthy Tycoon Landon is more comfortable with wild things than people. But his secret pain won’t stop him from returning to Paris, the City of Lights to uncover the mystery behind his best friend’s fiery death. Even if it means dealing with the hopelessly romantic woman carrying his friend’s baby….

Glamorous Socialite Lime has her own reason for coming to town-Landon. The coy beauty wants her unborn child to know the truth about its father’s death, and only Landon can help her learn it. But their investigation is stoking some dangerous embers-and igniting a firestorm of desire that not even the darkest of secrets can put out.

Who knew our LauraJ was full of such pent up passion?  Seriously, read all the “fiery” and fire-related metaphors in her blurb.  Laura, I hope you keep a fire extinguisher by your bed! 

Wealthy Tycoon Simon is more comfortable with wild things than people. But his secret pain won’t stop him from returning to the exotic Caribbean to uncover the mystery behind his best friend’s fiery death. Even if it means dealing with the feisty woman carrying his friend’s baby….

International Jet-Setter Laura has her own reason for coming to town-Simon. The fiery beauty wants her unborn child to know the truth about its father’s death, and only Simon can help her learn it. But their investigation is stoking some dangerous embers-and igniting a firestorm of desire that not even the darkest of secrets can put out.

And just because, I created a story for Sybil.  Sebastian was chosen in honor for her slavish devotion to a certain Lisa Kleypas hero.  The rest of it I selected for my own amusement.  Admittedly, it doesn’t take much to amuse me.

Glamorous Socialite Sybil didn’t look back when her wealthy tycoon lover split.  Even though they had the most feisty sex imaginable, Sebastian just wasn’t the one for her.

But then she and her ex are thrown together for a friend’s wedding-in the exotic Caribbean! Sybil forces herself to resist Sebastian’s megawatt sex appeal until they leave….

Only to get stranded in the middle of the desert!

I’m not sure how Sybil finds herself stranded in a desert when she’s in the Caribbean with Sebastian – but whatever.  If it gives our girl more opportunity to enjoy Sebastian’s “mega-watt sex appeal,” I’m all for it.  And feisty sex?  Be careful Syb!  Don’t hurt yourself 

What’s your story?

Shannon C.’s review of Demon Bound (The Guardians, Book 7) by Meljean Brook
Paranormal romance released by Berkley 4 Nov 08

I emailed Meljean asking for an e-arc of Demon Bound before its release date, which was, for those of you paying attention, in November. She graciously sent me the book and then I promptly… didn’t read it. I realize that the book release date is not merely a friendly suggestion when presented with an ARC, and Ms. Brook doubtless would have appreciated the positive review at the actual, y’know, release date. So if she’s reading this, she has my permission to tell Sybil to beat me, whip me, and make me write bad checks. Because I loved this book.

I honestly wasn’t sure that Alice would work for me as a heroine. Creepy Victorian woman with a gift for skulking and a penchant for spiders who’s supposed to bring the heart of the leader of the Guardians to a demon? I wasn’t interested. I should have trusted Ms. Brook’s storytelling better than that, because eventually I came to love Alice. She’ll never be a Lilith or a Savi, but we can’t all be that flavor of kick-ass. And I think that drawing distinct characters is something Ms. Brook does well. I can tell the difference between Charlie and Lilith and Alice in their dialogue from book to book, same with Jake and Ethan and Colin.

Jake, our Vietnam war soldier turned novice guardian, is very compelling as well. I loved that he was kind of an idiot, and had to grow up over the course of the story. I love that his relationship with Alice makes him a better person, and not because Alice is so gosh darn pure that he can’t help himself. No, it all flows together naturally.

I wouldn’t recommend reading this latest entry in the Guardians series if you’re not a little bit familliar with the world. Yet again, Ms. Brook shoves the reader into the plot and expects us to keep up. And the plot here is intricate and byzantine enough to satisfy me.

There were a few things that I noticed that drew me out of the story a bit. The first is subjective, and likely won’t matter to anyone else. But Jake’s Kansas is straight out of the Wizard of Oz movie. I promise, the entire state does consist of other things beyond flat boring wheat fields. And sometimes I find the way Ms. Brook introduces future characters a tad jarring. They’re just kind of there, with no prelude or mention of them at any time previously.

The Guardians series is meaty paranormal romance at its best. It’s the epitome of what the genre can be but so often isn’t, and I highly recommend readers start at the beginning, with Demon Angel [Ed.: or the short story in Hot Spell.] and fall in love with this world as much as I have.

Grade: A-
Read other reviews of books in this series by clicking on its tag.

Summary:
Alice Grey is known as the Black Widow – a woman trapped in a web spun by the demon Teqon. Jake Hawkins is a novice Guardian whose gift of teleportation could be invaluable to Alice in determining her next move. But can they survive when fear and secrets threaten not just their lives and souls, but the fate of the universe?

Read an excerpt.

Other books in the series, in reading order:

Shannon C.’s review of Moonfire (Pure Wildfire Series, Book 3) by Lynne Connolly
Contemporary paranormal romance eBook released by Ellora’s Cave 12 Nov 08

I like Lynne Connolly’s Pure Wildfire books. They’re probably my favorite series she’s got going at the moment, as each of the stories that I’ve read has been consistently readable. Moonfire is no exception, and while it isn’t my favorite entry in the series due to a villain who was so obvious he should have been wearing a neon sign proclaiming, “I AM THE VILLAIN!” it is still a nice addition to the canon. 

Like all of the Pure Wildfire books, this one stands out on its own very well. Up to this point, readers of the series didn’t know much about Jake Keys, the bass player for rock sensation Pure Wildfire, a band composed of talents — this world’s paranormal beings. But this is Jake’s story. He is called back to Springwater, Texas, a town he’d left over a hundred years ago, when his wife is murdered. He doesn’t know much about who killed Cheryl at first, but he does know her sexy yet vulnerable business partner, Teri, didn’t do it.

I usually like Ms. Connolly’s heroines, and Teri was no exception, although I did have a few problems with her. I liked that she is suitably overwhelmed with all the stuff that’s going on around her, and in particular her feelings for Jake. I also liked that she was determined not to be a notch on his bedpost. That seems like a very realistic romantic conflict, and it comes together surprisingly well. My problem, though, is that I thought she veered a bit too much into martyr heroine territory. I understood her reasons for not clarifying that she and Cheryl didn’t have a sexual relationship, but I still found the reasons a bit silly and I thought they added a needless layer of complication. Also, I kind of lost some respect for her due to her relationship with the villain, who, as mentioned above, is not subtle. At all.

Jake is much more likeable, but then, I like Ms. Connolly’s men. Jake is easygoing and a genuinely nice guy, and I loved that he fell head over heels for Teri very quickly, and allowed her her independence without crowding her. Also, the story of Jake as it relates to the town of Springwater was quite sad, and there were a few moments, like when he thinks he’s got to leave Teri forever, where I wanted to reach into the book and give him a hug. Also, I thought his arrangement with Cheryl was interesting, and I felt his grief at losing such a good friend.

The plots in the paranormals I’ve read by Ms. Connolly all tend to lead up to the same thing. The terrorist group out to destroy talents suspects someone, they move in and threaten the heroine, and the hero comes to the rescue. This was no exception, but for the most part I liked it in a comfort-read sort of way. I did, however, have issues with the villain, who is so creepy/obsessive that I couldn’t believe the heroine never once picked up on how obvious he was being about it. And the actual history of the villain made me roll my eyes. A lot.

This is one of the more original paranormal romance series I’ve heard about, and I am sad that there’s only going to be the one more book for me to enjoy. If you’re like me and enjoy a meatier ebook for your money, this is definitely one to try. And, having written this review, I just noticed that Thunderfire, the last book in the series, was recently released! I know exactly what my book budget is getting spent on!

Grade: B

Read other reviews of books in this series by clicking on its tag.

Summary:
One look at Teri Gilpatrick and Jake Keys wants her so bad he can’t think straight. The trouble is, she’s in prison, accused of the murder of his wife, Cheryl. He has to get her free before the people who killed Cheryl come for her too.

But can a shape-shifting firebird, a member of the hottest rock band on the planet, persuade a sassy, independent woman to take a chance on him? Once, that is, she’s not under sentence of death. From the law and from the hidden group seeking to destroy Jake’s band, Pure Wildfire.

Teri’s only salvation is the incredibly sexy Jake Keys, but she wants far more from him than that. Maybe more than he wants to give. And she won’t settle for second best. She wants Jake, and everything he has to offer. Fiery passion and everlasting love. And the amazing Talent he holds.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in the series:

Shannon C.‘s review of Becoming Miss Becky by Shannon Stacey
Western romance eBook released by Samhain 23 Sep 08

I know I overthink things. I did even before I started reviewing, and it’s just gotten worse. Time was I could read a book like this one, smile in places, and shrug it off when I was done. But as I read, I kept wondering if the author had any idea what the underlying message of her story was, and if she did, why she would think that was a positive thing. Because what I got out of the story was, “Girls, don’t bother with the whole ‘finding yourself’ crap. Stick with your man, because he knows what’s best for you. Also women’s liberation? A laugh riot.” Needless to say, I wasn’t laughing. This is a shame, because I like Shannon Stacey’s online persona, and I wanted to like this book.

Rebecca Hamilton has just arrived in Gardiner, Texas, to find out what her aunt Adelle left her. She finds out that she’s been left with the town’s whorehouse, which goes by the always oh-so-erotic moniker the Chicken Coop. Rebecca’s a virgin, so she has no idea how to run a whorehouse. Sheriff Adam Caldwell, who meets her at the stagecoach station, tells her she has other choices. She can marry him. And while Rebecca thinks Adam’s hot, she’s not sure she wants to commit to that after knowing the guy ten minutes. So she goes to the whorehouse, and then decides that, being in a new place, she can shed the boring, drab image she’s always had, so she dresses in her aunt’s clothes, becomes bold and brassy, and wants to learn about sex from the oh-so-proper sheriff.

I actually liked Rebecca. I’ve read her before in other books, but I understood and approved of her attempts to try and figure out the kind of person she wanted to be. I have no idea what she saw in Adam, but I’ll discuss that more in a minute. I like that she was hesitant about taking on the whorehouse, but she was committed to the girls. (I absolutely refuse to refer to them, as the book does, as “the chickens”, because that? So not sexy. Also, I liked that Rebecca did have significant screentime with other female characters, and this book passed the Bechtel Test–and not just squeaked by, either.

Then, there’s Adam. Adam is a rootin’ tootin’ gun-totin’ twang-talkin’ scowl-wearin’ over-compensatin’ mean son of a bitch. (OK, maybe not the over-compensatin’ part, but he does actually tell us most of the rest. At great length. And often.) His favorite activities include shooting people. He is so prickly that people in town are afraid of him, except for his BFF and deputy, the town doctor. I have no idea how he got elected sheriff in the first place, since he is such an actively unpleasant person. Oh, and he doesn’t like whores. Because a fortune teller told him that a painted lady would be his downfall, so while he would marry Rebecca when she was drab and mousy, once she starts becoming Miss Becky, well, sure, he wants to do her, but he just can’t marry her. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the riveting romantic conflict. Needless to say, I found it ridiculous. I didn’t find Adam’s violent tendencies cute, and I didn’t believe his transformation at the end. I kept wondering if Rebecca wasn’t going to eventually trade a controlling father for an equally controlling husband. That said, I have to admit that there was a point where I expected a big misunderstanding to arise that would have shown up in another book, but Adam doesn’t go there. This doesn’t redeem him at all in my eyes, but it does raise the grade a little.

The secondary characters were about what you’d expect in a western. Rebecca’s BFF is a former women’s libber turned horrible cook and was the heroine in an earlier book, which I have no intention of reading. There are the whores, who all have hearts of shiny, shiny gold and are pretty and sweet despite the ravages of their profession. One of them even gets to get married and be all respectable. Then there’s the requisite strawman uber-Christian, and it’s a testament to… something… that this feminist, agnostic reader found her even more offensive than the former women’s libber turned housewife. Oh, and the women’s libber and the Christian hate each other and at one point get into a literal catfight. Boy, aren’t those uppity women cute?

The plot is fairly standard. Everything happens about like you’d expect from the beginning to the end. The aforementioned aversion of the Big Misunderstanding was the only real surprise here. Even the sex is a little boring, and felt more paint by numbers than actually passionate.

I don’t know. Maybe my sense of humor and Ms. Stacey’s just don’t mesh. I got the feeling this book was supposed to be a laugh riot. But I don’t find broad stereotypes amusing, and I don’t particularly like reading subtle misogyny in my books. I did like the heroine, and I wonder if maybe something more contemporary by Ms. Stacey would suit me better. But this book? Not so much.

Grade: D+

Summary:
A sheriff with a stone-cold reputation. An innocent madam hell-bent on disturbing his peace. Who will be the first to give in?

Rebecca Hamilton passed through life as bland as biscuits—until the day she buried her father and fled out West with a fortune in stolen jewelry. She arrives in Gardiner, Texas to find her aunt has bequeathed to her the only whorehouse in town.

With no other prospects except a proposal from a tall, dark stranger wearing a badge, Rebecca decides to embrace her vibrant aunt’s legacy and never again live under the thumb of an overbearing man.

After years of cultivating a reputation as a ruthless lawman, Adam Caldwell can’t believe he’s offered to marry the quiet, rather plain new madam. Even more perplexing is the fact she turns him down, choosing instead to become a sass-talkin’, sashay-walkin’ vision in feathers and lace.

With an innocent madam wanting him to teach her to be as wicked as she looks and rowdy townsfolk split over the scandal, the sheriff figures his cup of troubles is about full. But a man from Rebecca’s past catches up with her, and Adam has to decide just how much he’s willing to sacrifice for the woman who refuses to give up on becoming Miss Becky.

Warning: This book contains some brawlin’, some cussin’, and the kind of wanton lovin’ that brings a man to his knees.

Read an excerpt.

Shannon C.’s review of Shades of Dark (Dock 5 Series, Book 2) by Linnea Sinclair
Science fiction romance released 29 Jul 08 by Bantam

I think I’ve just about resigned myself to the fact that I’ll never be happy as a reader. I want strong heroines. I got one in this book. I want complex plots that go in interesting directions. I got that in this book. I like when characters make difficult choices. They do in this book. But I did not love it.

Shades of Dark picks up right where Gabriel’s Ghost left off, so if you’re thinking about reading the series, this would not be a good place to start. We reconnect with Sully, space mercenary and handsome bastard as well as super-powerful telepath, and Chaz, capable and competent ship captain and former pride of the Sixth Fleet, on board their ship as they continue to stop a diabolical scheme we found out about in the first book. A monkey wrench gets thrown into their plans when it turns out that Chaz’s brother Thad has been captured.

Thad knows about Sully’s gifts, and it’s likely he will be made to talk. But much as Chaz wants to go rescue her brother, that seems just as likely to be playing into the hands of their enemies, so they agree to meet a contact they need, who brings his own brand of trouble to the crew, and Sully must deal with the fact that his powers are growing exponentially and have a definite dark side.

I didn’t like this book nearly as much as I liked Gabriel’s Ghost. While it was nice to check back in with Chaz and Sully, I never really felt the danger as well as I was meant to. I also felt a certain distance from Chaz as the book progressed, which is not a good thing in a first-person narrator, and since I wasn’t really involved in her character to any emotional degree, I ended up feeling that the first three quarters of the book dragged. I also still think the world-building is a shade derivative. Chaz in my head sounded quite a bit like Janeway from “Star Trek Voyager”, and I found myself bothered by a few minor little details, the revelation of which constitute spoilers.

That being said, after slogging through a huge part of the book, things do pick up. I really loved the introduction of Dell, who was the most fascinating character in the book. His motives were complicated, and I wish what had happened to him in the end hadn’t, because he would have been great as a redeemed hero in a future book.

The story also ends at a definite happy for now type ending, after Ms. Sinclair put her characters through the ringer. I liked that things weren’t resolved too neatly, and I found the end of the book gripping.

I do have an ARC of Hope’s Folly which, as of this writing, I intend to dive into. I know Ms. Sinclair is a writer with a lot of potential to write something I will find brilliant, and I’m hoping the POV shift from Chaz to a third person narrator will mean better things as far as my enjoyment goes. If you’re a fan of this series, definitely don’t miss this one. But for me, it wasn’t as good as I’d hoped.

Grade: C+

Summary:
Can love alone save the day? Award-winning author Linnea Sinclair returns with a vibrant interstellar thriller of romance and adventure in which two lovers are tested in the crucible of deep space, where there are only…

Before her court-martial, Captain Chasidah “Chaz” Bergren was the pride of the Sixth Fleet. Now she’s a fugitive from the “justice” of a corrupt Empire. Along with her lover, the former monk, mercenary, and telepath Gabriel Ross Sullivan, Chaz hoped to leave the past light-years behind—until the news of her brother Thad’s arrest and upcoming execution for treason. It’s a ploy by Sully’s cousin Hayden Burke to force them out of hiding, and it works.

With a killer targeting human females and a renegade gen lab breeding jukor war machines, Chaz and Sully already had their hands full of treachery, betrayal—not to mention each other. Throw in Chaz’s Imperial ex-husband, Admiral Philip Guthrie, and a Kyi-Ragkiril mentor out to seduce Sully, and not just loyalties but lives are at stake. For when Sully makes a fateful choice, changing their relationship forever, Chaz must also choose—between what duty demands and what her heart tells her she must do.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in the series:

Shannon C.’s review of The Flame (Sons of Destiny, Book 7) by Jean Johnson
Fantasy romance released by Berkley Trade/Sensation 2 Dec 08

As I’ve said in my last few reviews of the books in this series, I’ve been a slavish follower of Ms. Johnson ever since I discovered her books. They have a combination of fantasy and romance that’s maybe a bit lighter on the romance than some romance readers prefer, but which is interesting to me nonetheless. This seventh book is no exception, as it brings the seventh of the Nightfall brothers his destined mate and moves the plots begun earlier in the series toward their conclusion in the eighth and final book.

Koranen, the seventh of the brothers stranded on the island of Nightfall, is that rarest of all creatures, the virgin hero. His affinity with fire has a tendency to flair up out of control and he’s left a few burns on tender female flesh to prove it. So he’s got a huge case of sexual frustration going for him. But he’ll finally get a chance to exercise some of that frustration after an agreement brokered by his brother Morganen sends several Aquamancers to Nightfall. Now Kor has to figure out which of them he can touch without burning.

Danau, one of the chosen Aquamancers, is the kind of heroine I love to distraction when she’s written well, which, like all of Johnson’s heroines, she is. Her problem is pretty much the opposite of Kor’s, in that when her passions run high, she gets cold. Let’s just say, her last lover had frostbite in an unpleasant place. Oops. Danau’s culture views this as a failing on her part as a woman, and so she’s determined to figure out the secrets of Nightfall’s famed desalinator, which processes salt water and makes it fresh. She’ll let her fellow Aquamancers play courting games with Kor, because obviously he wouldn’t want someone like her. Sure, she’s attracted to him, but all she can have are frustrating nightly dreams. That combination of prickly exterior concealing a woman who really just needs a hug–or a lot more, come to that–is something I find irresistible. I find that quality in Eve Dallas, and I find it in Danau, and I want more heroines like them.

Unlike Gwen, I really liked the romance. It did take a while, but I thought the reasons were good ones. I mean, Danau is obsessed with her work, and doesn’t send off friendly vibes, while her fellow Aquamancers are all over Kor like white on rice. It’s no wonder he doesn’t see the very, very obvious until he gets smacked upside the head with it. I think that’s a fairly realistic reaction, and provided a conflict that didn’t feel forced or artificial. I also loved that Danau and Kor have to figure out the whole sex thing. It never feels awkward or uncomfortable to me as a reader, but it did feel very true to the characters.

I can’t speak more about the fantasy plot without going into spoilers, but I expect great things from the next book in the series where that plot is concerned. It was also nice to see all the secondary characters, and I devoured this book quickly. It’s not a good book to start if you haven’t been reading the series, but if you’re following it, you definitely want to read it.

Grade: B+

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

Summary:
Seventh in the hot series from the national bestselling author that Jayne Anne Krentz hails as “fabulously fresh.” Eight brothers, born in four sets of twins, two years apart to the day–they fulfill the Curse of Eight Prophecy. Though no longer trapped in exile, their growing family faces new problems. Now that it’s his turn to look for a bride, Koranen, the seventh-born brother, cursed with a flame that courses beneath his flesh, must find a woman able to endure the literal heat of his passion. Then Danau the Aquamancer arrives, and as everyone knows, fire and water create steam.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in the series:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Grade: C

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

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

Read an excerpt.

Shannon C.’s review of Enchanting the Lady (Relics of Merlin, Book 1) by Kathryne Kennedy
Historical paranormal romance released by Love Spell 1 Jan 08

I harp a lot in my reviews about the heroines in books. I’m a dirty, hippie, liberal feminist, and I’m proud of it. Give me a kick-ass chick any day who fights for what she believes in and doesn’t take crap from anybody. That being said, I am also as prone to Cinderella stories as the next girl, and if there’s a promise of a Cinderella-type plot, I am there like white on rice. You know the ones I’m talking about: poor, mistreated and oddly beautiful, usually orphaned girl is abused horribly but finally meets a man who falls in love with her and spirits her away from the badness.

I’ll tell you the plot that I’m not so keen on. It’s the one where the Prince Charming is all, “Grrr. This oddly beautiful and sweet woman is obviously hiding a core of evil in her soul, and further, she knows something I need to know, too. I will court her and seduce the information out of her, because that is the only interrogation technique ever, and, my schlong, it is mighty.”

All that being said, Kathrynne Kennedy’s Enchanting the Lady delivers both plot elements I described, and does so in a fashion that’s so over-the-top in its cheesiness that I ate it up like sweet, delicious candy.

The story is set in a kind of Regency England where one’s rank in society is determined by how much magic one can wield. Ms. Kennedy explores what this means for people of high rank quite well, with world-building that’s top-notch. Into this world, we meet Felicity, who is heir to a duchy. She lives with her aunt and uncle and her despicable cousin Oliver, but unlike all of them, she doesn’t have much magic. However, she must be tested to see if she has enough magic to inherit her duchy, a test she’s certain she’s going to fail.

At her testing she meets Terence, a baronet. In this world, the baronets are shape-shifters, and Terence is no exception. The baronets are also used as spies for the prince, and Terence is looking for one of the 13 relics of Merlin, magical talismans that contain evil magic. When Terence meets Felicity, he immediately sniffs the taint of relic magic on her, and since his lion side is attracted to her, well, obviously there’s only one thing for a good spy to do-seduce the information out of the chit.

As I said above, I like a Cinderella story, and so as a heroine Felicity worked for me. She’s beautiful, but she’s had a spell cast on her so that she appears invisible to everyone unless she makes her presence known. This has caused no end of havoc, as she’s always being run over by servants. So she thinks it’s exhilarating when Terence, who is immune to magic, not only sees her perfectly clearly but appears to be attracted to her. I really loved Felicity’s sense of wonder as the possibilities of love and passion were revealed to her. I even tolerated some of the quirks I’ve often seen in her type of heroines, like the fact that her maid is practically her BFF, because I guess if everyone thought I was invisible, I’d pretty much want to talk to anyone I could, despite the societal norms.

Terence was a bit more problematic but no less enjoyable. I love the idea of were-cats, and I love the idea of ones in particular who are so consumed by passion that they take every opportunity to grope their mates in public. Terence was totally hot in that way, and most of the time I wanted him to just go back to seducing Felicity and getting inappropriately caught up in his passion. Instead, he goes for long periods of the book obstinately deciding that someone as naive and awe-struck at the world must be a great actress hiding evil things. He takes a little bit too long to become convinced of Felicity’s innocence for me.

The secondary characters vary. I liked that Felicity’s family wasn’t entirely what it appeared to be, and I understood the motivations of the villainous members. One of them even gets a bit of a redemption, which was cool. And then there are the servants. Felicity’s maid, Katie, and Terence’s manservant, Bentley, were both great characters. Bentley especially deserved a freaking metal for his dedication to chaperoning poor passion-struck Terence.

The relic plot was a lot less interesting to me than the romance, but it does allow for some interesting possibilities for world-building. I was especially taken with Ms. Kennedy’s idea of the London underground, and I hope we’ll see more of it in future books.

There is something about Ms. Kennedy’s style that works for me. Felicity’s such a Mary Sue, and Terence is kind of cheesy in his own right, but I loved them both and I want to see what else Ms. Kennedy has in store. This is truly a unique paranormal premise, and I’ve already got the second book on Mt. TBR.

Grade: B

Read more reviews of books in this series by clicking on the Relics of Merlin series tag.

Summary:
In a world where magic ruled everything, Felicity Seymour couldn’t perform even the simplest spell. If she didn’t pass her testing, she’d lose her duchy-and any hope of marriage. But one man didn’t seem to mind her lack of dowry: a darkly delicious baronet who had managed to scare away the rest of London’s Society misses.

Sir Terence Blackwell knew the enchanting woman before him wasn’t entirely without magic. Not only could she completely disarm him with her gorgeous lavender eyes and frank candor, but his were-lion senses could smell a dark power on her-the same kind of relic-magic that had killed his brother. Was she using it herself, or was it being used against her?

One needed a husband, and the other needed answers. But only together could they find the strongest magic of all: true love.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in the series:

Shannon C.’s review of Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy, Book 1) by Richelle Mead
YA urban fantasy released by Razorbill 16 Aug 07

I’ve been kind of bemused by the taking off of so many books in the YA genre lately, and have found myself thinking on more than one occasion, ‘Where the hell were these books when I was seventeen?’

The books I remember reading that were specifically YA were books that dealt with Weighty Issues (TM), or, what my children’s lit professor called “problem novels”. If there was genre fiction, I wasn’t aware of it. I’m pretty sure that had Richelle Mead written her vampire academy series ten years ago, my younger self would have lapped it up as a favorite novel. As it is, I still plowed through the book in record time, pausing now and then to inform some of my friends in strident tones that if they did not go out to wherever fine books are sold and procure a copy of this book, then they were evil Commies who liked to kick puppies. (OK, maybe I wasn’t that bad. But still. The squeeing, it happened.) While the book isn’t perfect, nor is it especially original, it is an engaging story and I’m impatient to be able to read further in the series.

The premise is a bit of Twilight, a bit of Harry Potter, and a bit of normal everyday adult urban fantasy. When the story opens, we meet best friends Rose and Lissa. Lissa is a Moroi, which are, in essence, the good vampires, and Rose is a dhampir, or half-vampire, half-human. The Moroi are physically weaker than the dhampirs, but they can wield elemental magic. They rely on the Dhampirs to act as guardians, and that’s what Rose has been doing for Lissa, who is a princess of one of the royal lines of Moroi. Anyway, the girls have been on the run from St. Vladimir’s, the titular academy where they both attend classes, but are brought back to heel in the first chapter by Russian guardian Dimitri. Once they’re back at the school, Rose and Lissa have to contend with normal teen cliquishness, some interesting boys in both of their lives, and the powers that Lissa has developed.

The thing I loved most about this book was the true and deep friendship between Rose and Lissa. It’s not all one-sided either. Rose is fiercely protective of Lissa, but Lissa is willing to go to bat for Rose whenever she needs to. It’s so refreshing to actually see female friendships in the course of my reading, since it doesn’t seem to happen all that often in most of what I read, despite how female-centric a lot of romance and urban fantasy are.

Separately, the girls are just as interesting. I loved Rose. Like a lot of urban fantasy heroines, she tends to be impulsive and reckless, but at least she has the excuse of being seventeen and can sometimes be reasonably assumed to not know any better. She really has to struggle with her own prejudices about other people and to learn not to be so judgmental. I’m looking forward to seeing what else she has to deal with. It’s also nicely refreshing, to me at least, that she’s a real teenager, instead of the kind of teenager I remember from the aforementioned problem novels of my youth. Rose has gotten drunk, she’s kind of a slut, and she’s a party girl, and she’s pretty matter-of-fact about it. It’s all stuff she’ll have to grow out of, but any given one of those things would have been a big issue in the books I remember from my own teenage years.

It’s an interesting choice, and an effective one, to have the story of Rose and Lissa told from Rose’s first-person narration. I don’t think it would have worked the other way, because Lissa, while definitely the one with the interesting powers and the one who’s placed in danger, probably would have come off as a bit of a Mary Sue. In fact, she doesn’t quite avoid this fate. But she does have flawed moments that redeem her. I loved how deep her affection and trust for Rose were, and I loved the scenes between her and Christian, the boy she’s interested in, who was one of my favorite other characters.

The rest of the cast could also fall into stereotypical roles, but manage to avoid doing so. There’s the popular rich bitch who is trying to improve her social standing but whose parents aren’t politically important. There’s Dimitri, who has a strong sense of ethics and honor, despite being the sexy mentor. There’s Christian, the loner bad boy with odd but sensible ideas about how the vampire society should work. Each of these people were well-nuanced. I even liked Mason, the poor schmuck who isn’t Dimitri who clearly has a thing for Rose. And the villain, while creepy, has motivations slightly more complicated than “Bwahaha, I am the Dark Lord of Dark Darkness!”

I found the plot compelling as well. Rose revealed the backstory in a way that felt natural. I never felt that she was holding things back from the reader, and the flashbacks were well done. If I have a quibble, it’s that some of the foreshadowing feels a little obvious. For example, even without reading discussions of the book online, I knew that when Rose found out about two guardians eloping and felt a sense of deep disgust that she was going to have to face a difficult choice along those same lines. I also found myself wondering why it took two years for the girls to be discovered and brought back. I can’t believe they were really that good at hiding out, and besides, two years is a long time when you’re a teenager. And what did they do during those two years? Well, at least we know they went to high school, which would totally not be one of my priorities if I was trying to run away. Then again, such was my absorption in this book that I wasn’t really bothered by it until I stopped reading and had let the book digest.

If you’re a fan of YA and haven’t given much of it a try, you could do worse than read this book. It’s got fun characters, an interesting and engaging story, and it’s a fast-paced read, even if it’s not one of the most original premises ever invented.

Grade: A-

Summary:
St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school—it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They’ve been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s—the very place where they’re most in danger. . . .

Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi—the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires—make Lissa one of them forever.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in the series:

and Blood Promise (Vampire Academy, Book 4), due 20 Aug 2009

Shannon C.’s review of Retreat by Mari Carr
Erotic romantic suspense eBook released by Ellora’s Cave 27 Nov 08

With smaller turnaround times between proposals and release dates, it’s possible for an e-published author to get a very good idea of what readers are buying and write books specifically to that market, whether that’s a market they’re any good at writing or have much interest in. It’s a logical thing to do, and if I were a published author, I’d definitely want to write books I knew would sell.  But the knowledge that a book will sell doesn’t guarantee the book will be good, and even if all the elements are there to be a bestseller, the book still has to engage the reader and bring something new to the table, which is not what happened with Mari Carr’s latest.

It feels like the kind of story that was written because both menage and BDSM stories are selling well at the moment. (I don’t know whether this is true, and I wouldn’t dare to presume to speak for the author.) Unfortunately, because this story does feel so much like something that was written for the guaranteed sale, it suffers. Devon has already reviewed this book, and if you are a fan of the author, you might want to read her thoughts instead of mine. Because this book, quite frankly, sucked.

The biggest problem I had with this book was that it should have been a lot darker, and it should have been a lot less superficial. The author thankfully doesn’t go into a lot of detail about the BDSM training that our protagonists, Jon and Night, go through, and she doesn’t use the cult to titillate. But she doesn’t really explain why it was traumatic beyond a superficial explanation. I really wanted to understand exactly why it was that these men in particular felt that they couldn’t be fulfilled sexually unless they shared women, other than that that is an erotic romance trope.

The BDSM aspects that were present weren’t very heavy. They could have been left out entirely, and it wouldn’t have made any difference to the plot. Which is a shame, because I would have respected the author more if she’d pushed the envelope and actually written, y’know, a BDSM story, full-bore, with all the props and bells and whistles. Instead, she writes enough for it to be considered a little kinky, and even during the scene where the boys try to scare the heroine, Carly, away from getting involved with the federal agency’s attempts to infiltrate said cult by showing her what “hardcore BDSM” is really like, all they really do is manhandle her a little roughly and make her call them master. I at least wanted to see more definite bondage, maybe some whips and chains. Alas, no. I mean, at least if they’d gone for more of the BDSM thing, I’d have believed the heroine really was a submissive at heart. Instead, the men back off and decide they can’t use Carly in that way. So, yeah, how exactly is that going to help when she infiltrates the cult?

The plot itself, aside from the BDSM cult aspects, was not only boring but seriously paint-by-numbers. Every plot development might as well have been advertised in blinking neon lights. At one point, I was sending incredulous emails, to a very patient friend of mine, in which I predicted every exciting twist. I was never, ever wrong.

Plus, what’s not boring and paint-by-numbers is patently ridiculous. A federal agency doesn’t have enough manpower to bring down a cult without the help of the sons of its leaders? You have got to be kidding me. They don’t have enough trained professional female agents and have to resort to sekretly submissive school secretaries to infiltrate the cult when it starts up again? Please. Tell me another one. Furthermore, lots of nameless victims of domestic violence being willing to put their lives in the hands of an obvious psychopath like Cassandra and overlooking the fact that she practically has “I am fucking crazy!” tattooed on her forehead? My credulity is strained to the point of pain here.

As for the characters, well, we have Carly, who is a school secretary and sekret submissive. If a woman like her truly exists outside of Romancelandia, I think she should be taken to someone’s lab for reprogramming. Carly is wholesome, despite her sekret submissiveness, and yet, she describes herself as not being like other girls. I’m not sure what that means in this context, exactly, but considering that the other female characters in this book are a psychopathic nutjob trying to pass her evil organization off as a shelter for victims of domestic abuse and the nameless women who are stupid enough to fall for it, I can believe that. Given the other women we see, Carly really is a beacon of intelligence and bravery… except, you know, when she’s TSTL, which happens a lot. Oh, and Carly talks like a woman about four times her age. (I don’t know when I’ve ever heard a woman under 50 actually refer to a group of men as “fellas”. And Carly does. A lot. So much so that it got to be somewhat distracting, because every time she did, I kept thinking, ‘Nobody talks like that!’)

Carly is well-nuanced in comparison to Jon and Night, though. Jon and Night both have potential for being unique characters, but they don’t quite reach it. The only things that differentiated the two of them were their hair color and the different ways in which they expressed the terrible emo darkness in their soul. In fact, they both express the fact that each has half of the other’s soul. WTF does that even mean? To me, it reads like the kind of shortcut where the author doesn’t need to make her characters actual, you know, individual people, so in the end I get the impression that Carly has ended up with two manbots instead of two men. Here again, I would have liked a bit of audacity.  These boys are really, really good friends, but they are as close as brothers. If the author had made them actual brothers, I would have rolled my eyes, but she doesn’t. If she’d made them hot for each other, I’d have liked them a little more, but she doesn’t.  So, again, she treads the safe middle ground of not offending anyone’s sensibilities.  And because I didn’t like any of these people, I felt distanced from them during the sex scenes, and was mostly bored.

Also, the characters routinely refer to their relationship as a ménage. I know this is such a little thing to nitpick about, but I hate when people in contemporary erotic romance do that. I am not an expert on polyamory, but I have friends who are involved in multiple-partner relationships. None of them have ever referred to said relationship as a ménage. A threesome, yes. I’ve even heard triad. But ménage? No. Just. Fucking. No.

I know there are other Duckies on the site who love them some Mari Carr. But this book, with its overly silly plot, its underwhelming characters, and the paint-by-numbers feel has convinced me she is not for me. I can’t even recommend this book for fans of the author. It’s that awful.

Grade: F

Summary:

Jon Walker and Night Thomas lived their childhood in a cult. They embraced the lifestyle, and it was there that they were trained as BDSM Masters. Only when the cult was infiltrated by undercover agent Reilly did the boys learn of the cult’s seedy underside, and help to destroy it.

Nearly fifteen years later, Jon’s job as a high school teacher — and his lust for the school’s gorgeous secretary, Carly — bring him close to the normal life he’s always craved. Just when that life is within his grasp, Reilly returns. An incarnation of the cult has resurfaced with Jon’s evil mother at the helm, and Reilly wants Jon and Night to go undercover to stop Cassandra Walker once and for all.

Shocked by his mother’s return and his BDSM past come back to haunt him, Jon is terrified of Carly discovering his dark secrets. Including the darkest of all — his complex relationship with Night, and his unrelenting urge to share Carly with his best friend.

Read an excerpt.

Shannon C.’s review of Secrets of a Summer Night (The Wallflowers, Book 1) by Lisa Kleypas
Historical romance released by Avon 26 Oct 04

This year I decided I would try and do a mini reading challenge that I like to call the “Year of the Kleypas.” The idea, of course, is to read 12 books from Lisa Kleypas’s backlist. I decided to start out with the Wallflower series and then work my way through her contemporaries. We’ll see what happens from there. As for my first entry into the Year of the Kleypas challenge, it went quite well.

The premise is quite simple, but it’s one I love. Four wallflowers need to land husbands, and so they decide to work together to see that they’re all married. We have Annabelle, the heroine of this book, who is impoverished and needs to land someone wealthy, the Bowman sisters, Lilian and Daisy, whose mother is set on them marrying peers, and Evie Jenner, an awkward, shy girl with a stammer who also needs to marry well.

The Wallflowers decide that Annabelle is the most desperate of them, and Annabelle, for her part, has a list of qualities she wants in a husband. Those qualities preclude the blunt-spoken, if wealthy, Simon Hunt, because he’s too gauche, even though every time Annabelle sees him, her heart goes pitter-pat, and he has, after all, been the first man she’s kissed. Things come to a head at a house party, when Annabelle must decide how far she’s willing to go to make sure she lands a good husband.

The best part about this book is there are four women who are friends. I absolutely love it when books actually bother showing female friendship, because, you know, it exists in real life. I really felt the Wallflowers themselves were a tight-knit group, and even though I think I would have preferred a less hasty progression of their friendship, what I got was quite satisfying. I’m not quite sure if the interactions between the girls pass the Bechtel Test (which requires that a work has at least two women in it who talk to each other about something other than men), but, for example, the rounders game was one of the best scenes of female friendship I’ve read in a while.

Then there’s Annabelle herself. She drove me absolutely insane for the first half of the book, and there was a scene that I pretty much had to read through with clenched teeth and indignant muttering to myself, because I was so irritated. I mean, her family is in dire straights financially. She really shouldn’t be insisting on marrying a titled man, and if she hadn’t removed the stick from her posterior, she probably would have actually achieved her goal a lot faster.

Simon had the patience of a saint. I don’t know if I’d have kept on pursuing Annabelle, especially after all the times she so roundly rebuffs him, but he does. I liked that Simon was an industrialist, and so there were actually scenes discussing how he’d made his money. I liked that he didn’t care much what people thought, and I found him a nice contrast to the somewhat shallow Annabelle. I loved the way he took care of her whenever she needed it, and the scene that Limecello quoted on our recent giveaway with the new boots was one of the best parts of the book for me. Once Annabelle redeems herself–which does eventually happen–I loved their romance, and the climax of the novel was heartrending.

Ms. Kleypas writes a compelling story that is not overburdened with excess characters and which is set up so that the series elements flow naturally. I’ve only ever read one book of hers, the classic Dreaming of You, but I can tell already that this Year of the Kleypas is not going to be disappointing. Indeed, if not for the heroine, this would have easily been an A book for me. But as it is, I still recommend it highly.

Grade: B+

Read other thoughts and musings on the Wallflower series by clicking on its tag.

Summary:
Four young ladies enter London society with one common goal: they must use their feminine wit and wiles to find a husband. So a daring husband-hunting scheme is born. Annabelle Peyton, determined to save her family from disaster, decides to use her beauty and wit to tempt a suitable nobleman into making an offer of marriage. But Annabelle’s most intriguing–and persistent–admirer, wealthy, powerful Simon Hunt, has made it clear that while he will introduce her to irresistible pleasure he will not offer marriage. Annabelle is determined to resist his unthinkable proposition … but it is impossible in the face of such skillful seduction. Her friends, looking to help, conspire to entice a more suitable gentleman to offer for Annabelle, for only then will she be safe from Simon–and her own longings. But on one summer night, Annabelle succumbs to Simon’s passionate embrace and tempting kisses … and she discovers that love is the most dangerous game of all.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in the series:

Shannon C.‘s review of Visions of Heat (Psy-Changelings, Book 2) by Nalini Singh
Paranormal science fiction romance released by Berkley Sensation 6 Mar 07

I don’t know what it is with me and certain series out there. I start a series of books, adore the first book, and then invariably find something else shiny to read. That’s what happened with the Psy-Changeling books. I loved the first one, and meant to pick up the rest of the series, but life intervened. Then I decided that I wanted something I could guarantee would be a good read, because I was under the weather, and Nalini Singh popped into my head. I feel like I’m the last blogger ever to embrace these books, and for that I should be ashamed, because they really are that good. 

This installment of the Psy/Changeling series features Faith Nightstar, a specially-designated F-Psy. She has the gift of foresight, and her predictions are almost never wrong. She is kept in isolation, monitored remotely. But she is beginning to feel darkness creeping upon her, and the tenuous control she has over her mind is threatening to fracture. She seeks advice and answers from Sascha Duncan, the only Psy she can think of who isn’t going to snitch on her to the Psy Council. But in the process of finding Sascha, she meets Vaughn, a jaguar Changeling whose animal is rather closer to the surface than most Changelings, and the two of them find themselves embroiled in a plot including murder, scheming, and romance.

I found it pretty darn impossible to put this book down. I’m usually the kind of reader who stretches her reading out over a couple of days. Not so this book, which I finished in a matter of hours. Ms. Singh writes the kind of alpha men who work really well for me, and she writes heroines who mesh well with them. I never felt that Vaughn’s personality seriously overpowered Faith’s, and I absolutely adore the sensual, touchy-feely Changelings. As I said on my twitter at the time, I want one of these guys for my own.

Faith herself wasn’t as compelling a heroine as Sascha from Slave to Sensation. There was a sense of fragility about her that distanced her a little from me. I don’t think I’m likely to remember her quite as well as I remember Sascha. That being said, the romance here works beautifully, and Ms. Singh sells me on a fated mates storyline, which is quite difficult.

I liked seeing some of the secondary characters, particularly the members of the Dark River Changeling pack. I further enjoyed the Psy Council, and I absolutely loved the small twist at the end involving Faith’s father. They all weave seamlessly into the plot, and I didn’t get the sense of “OMG look at me, I am a sequel-bait” from any of them. That being said, I would have liked to see a bit more of the Changelings in particular, as the quiet scenes with Nate and Tammy and their cubs were among my favorites in the first book. But I suppose their absence was necessary, since neither Faith nor Vaughn are particularly communal people.

I liked Slave to Sensation slightly better than I liked Visions of Heat. But given the fact that VoH was impossible to put down, it still gets an A, and I hope that the rest of my 2009 reads are just as stellar.

Grade: A-

Read more about the Psy-Changelings series by clicking on its tag.

Summary:
Hailed as a major new talent in paranormal romance, Nalini Singh takes us deeper into the world of the Psy and the changelings in her latest extraordinary novel, where a gifted woman sees passion in her future-a passion that is absolutely forbidden by her kind… Used to cold silence, Faith NightStar is suddenly being tormented by dark visions of blood and murder. A bad sign for anyone, but worse for Faith, an F-Psy with the highly sought after ability to predict the future. Then the visions show her something even more dangerous-aching need…exquisite pleasure. But so powerful is her sight, so fragile the state of her mind, that the very emotions she yearns to embrace could be the end of her. Changeling Vaughn D’Angelo can take either man or jaguar form, but it is his animal side that is overwhelmingly drawn to Faith. The jaguar’s instinct is to claim this woman it finds so utterly fascinating and the man has no argument. But while Vaughn craves sensation and hungers to pleasure Faith in every way, desire is a danger that could snap the last threads of her sanity. And there are Psy who need Faith’s sight for their own purposes. They must keep her silenced-and keep her from Vaughn…

Read an excerpt.

Other books in the series:

Branded by Fire, Book 6 - coming 7 Jul 09

Shannon C.’s review of Seduced by Magic (Magical Seduction, Book 1) by Stephanie Julian
Fantasy erotic romance eBook released by Ellora’s Cave 5 Mar 08

When Stephanie Julian e-mailed us requesting that someone review something of hers, I gladly agreed to do so, since her premise looked interesting. Unfortunately, while there were quite a lot of things I liked about the book I read, I’m not sure I can recommend it with the heartiness that Ms. Julian would no doubt prefer. 

Scarletta has reasons to be suspicious of Justin. She thinks he intends to capture fairies and study them scientifically, and she’s determined to kill him before he gets the chance. But when she sneaks into his home, she realizes he’s hot, and random sexoring commences. But there are some people far more dangerous to Scarletta and her people than Justin, so the two end up running from them and Justin learns far more than he bargained for about his own life.

One of the things I really liked about this story was that aside from the random sexoring that Scarletta indulges in, I found her a competent heroine. She knew exactly what she was doing most of the time, and I could believe that she was usually good at her job. She’s not excessively TSTL, which is nicely refreshing. I also loved that Justin was allowed to be something of a geek, because, well, I think that’s hot. I even liked the romance, though I think I would have liked it better if it hadn’t been so rushed.

What I didn’t like very much, and what brings the grade down considerably, was the world-building. There’s something to be said for having the fairies have their own unique names for each other and for humans, as it lends a certain verisimilitude to the story, but it was something I actually grew rather annoyed by. I never did figure all the Italian words out, and every time I encountered one, I was thrown out of the book.

The plot suffers quite a bit, too, as the characters easily circumvent any conflict that is thrown their way. I didn’t feel any tension from the plot, and when Justin has his big reveal of magical powers, I actually rolled my eyes, because of course it turns out he is way more powerful than Scarletta. I mean, he is the man after all.

I did like the hero and heroine, and the secondary characters were interesting enough that I could see some of them carrying their own stories quite well, but I’m not sure this is a series I’m going to follow. There isn’t enough here to let me recommend it particularly highly.

Grade: C-

Summary:
Justin Johannson knows there are mythical creatures living among us. After all, he has been trying to prove their existence for ten years. Research gets a whole lot more interesting when he finds a winged woman in his bed and his sexual fantasies come to life.

Etruscan folletta Scarlata is convinced Justin is in league with an evil businessman bent on capturing her for scientific study, which is so not going to happen. She decides that Justin needs to be taught a lesson to leave her and the rest of the mythical creatures in peace — but before, she might just have a little fun of her own.

The beautiful folletta never expected to fall for a human and Justin is about to discover that true magic really does exist in the world. And in him.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in the series:

Shannon C.‘s review of Don’t Tell by Karen Rose
Contemporary romantic suspense released by Grand Central 1 Jul 03

I knew that Karen Rose was likely to be an author I’d enjoy. Both Holly and Wendy have reviewed her books, and one of my good friends insisted that my not having read Karen Rose was a crime against nature. With persuasion like that, what could I do but take the plunge? I’m happy to report that Holly, Wendy, and my other friend were right. I need to be reading more by this author.

Caroline has made a new life for herself in Chicago, far away from Rob Winters, the bastard who abused her both physically and emotionally for years. She and her son are beginning to relax and think that maybe they can stop looking over their shoulders for Rob. Then Caroline’s carefully constructed and safe world is shattered when wounded history professor Max Hunter turns up on the scene. Now she finds herself wanting things she’s never wanted before. Can she trust Max with her secrets? Meanwhile, Rob Winters has discovered that his son is still alive. He will stop at nothing to get him back, including putting his bitch of a wife back in her place.

I spent a few months a couple of years ago volunteering at a local shelter for survivors of domestic abuse, which was something I really enjoyed doing, so I find books with abused woman plots oddly compelling. I’m always afraid the author will get something wrong. Needless to say, Ms. Rose knows what she’s talking about. Caroline’s experience mirrors those of some of the women I’ve spoken to, and her friend Dana is very true to life as a social worker and counsellor.

Caroline herself is a great heroine. She’s not perfect, but then, nobody in the book is, which is one of the things I liked. I liked that she kept her sense of humor, and I loved that she wasn’t just a weak little flower, constantly needing to be rescued. She was very vibrant and I connected with her. Caroline’s also got relationships with other people, which is something I wish I saw more often. I particularly loved her rapport with her best friend, Dana, who wasn’t just there to set her up with a man or be a sounding board. I believed in their friendship, which is all too rare sometimes. And, of course, Caroline’s relationship with her son rings true to life, too, and I loved that they were so devoted to each other without it all being saccharine.

Max doesn’t have the same demons Caroline does, but he’s definitely wrestling with some tough issues. I liked him a lot, and thought he was exactly the type of man that she needed. I also really loved his family, who all seem like great people, and I want them to adopt me. Naturally, then, I loved the romance between Max and Caroline.

This book is long, much longer than even most of the other romantic suspense stories I’ve read. There are lots of characters, all of whom have their part to play in the drama of Max and Caroline’s lives. I’ve mentioned Dana before, but the FBI agent, Stephen Thatcher, who is assigned to the case when it reopens, was equally compelling. In fact, I hope they are both featured in future books, because it would be nice to see them both get their HEA’s. And, of course, everyone from Caroline’s coworkers to her neighbors, and especially her son Tom and Max’s family are rendered as three-dimensional characters I could actually imagine encountering in real life.

But how was the suspense plot? It was very well executed. The reader is kept in Rob’s point of view several times, and I love how skillfully Ms. Rose ratchets up the tension as he comes closer and closer to discovering where Caroline is. Rob is definitely one of the creepier villains I’ve read about, if only for the fact that men like him exist in real life. There is no “Bwahahaha!  Fear my diabolical plan!” from him. He is angry and efficient, and damned good at getting what he wants. There were actually moments as I was reading where I gasped, cried out, or otherwise talked out loud to the book, which generally means something is being done right.

I also really loved that the ending wasn’t too pat. Ms. Rose deals with the fact that the characters have a lot to go through when all is said and done, some of which will leave scars. I appreciated that she didn’t sugar-coat things, but that she also left the book on a satisfying note.

I think romantic suspense is the hardest genre to do well. It’s certainly a pretty hard sell for me, despite the fact that I’m growing into quite the mystery reader. Ms. Rose has sold me on her work, and I can’t wait to read her other titles.

Grade: A-

Summary:
DON’T LOOK…

It was a desperate plan. But Mary Grace Winters knew the only way to save herself and her child from her abusive cop husband was to stage their own death. Now all that remains of their former life is at the bottom of a lake . . .

DON’T TRUST . . .

Armed with a new identity in a new town, she and her son have found refuge hundreds of miles away. As Caroline Stewart, she has almost forgotten the nightmare she left behind nine years ago. She is even taking a chance on love with Max Hunter, a man with wounds of his own. But her past is about to collide with the present when her husband uncovers her trail and threatens her hard-won peace. Step by step, he’s closing in on her— and everything and everyone she loves.

Read an excerpt.