The Shadow Queen by Anne Bishop

Dena Nehele is a land decimated by its past. Once it was ruled by corrupt Queens who were wiped out when the land was cleansed of tainted Blood. Now, only one hundred Warlord Princes stand—without a leader and without hope.

Theran Grayhaven is the last of his line, desperate to find the key that reveals a treasure great enough to restore Dena Nehele. But first he needs to find a Queen who remembers the Blood’s code of honor and lives by the Old Ways. The woman chosen to rule Dena Nehele, Lady Cassidy, is not beautiful and believes she is not strong. But she may be the only one able to convince bitter men to serve once again.

Every once in a while it is my pleasure to be reintroduced to a world of my childhood. To a time and people and a land filled with mystery and fantasy and the most ideal mixture of darkness and light. Anne Bishop is one of the few authors able to really bring me into this place. Her Dark Jewel Trilogy is one of THE most fantastic fantasy epics every written. The emotion that she writes with is unbelievable, and not something that I think a lot of authors are able to pull off. I do admit that this trilogy is her crowning jewel - most of her others books are decent, but just not up to the same standard. I can't imagine how hard it is to live up those three books. But the Shadow Queen is an admirable new addition to this family. Continuing on the tale of Janelle and the rest of the court of Ebon Askavi, we are introduced to a newer generation of Blood and Kindred, centering on Cassidy, Theran, and Gray. Cassidy is a hurt woman, betrayed by her first court, who finds her future in a land that she's never set foot in before. The complicated relationship that she has with Theran, a man dedicated to Dena Nehele but not to her, and Gray, Theran's cousin, who's pain filled past has stunted both his mental and emotional growth, is a wonderful thing to behold. Again Anne Bishop writes a moving tale of three people finding themselves after their world has gone mad, with the added benefit that she's connected it to the feelings she original stirred up in her first Dark Jewel books. Highly recommended.

Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs

Car mechanic and sometime shapeshifter Mercy Thompson has learned, the hard way, why her race was almost exterminated. When European vampires immigrated to North America, they found Mercy's people had a hidden talent - for vampire slaying. Unfortunately for Mercy, the queen of the local vampire seethe has discovered her true identity. She's also furious when she learns Mercy has crossed her and killed one of her vampires. Mercy may be protected from direct reprisals by the werewolf pack (and her interesting relationship with its Alpha), but that just means Marsilia will come after Mercy some other way. So Mercy had better prepare to watch her back.

Mercy is just one of those characters you can't forget. She's strong and full of conviction, but she's a catalyst for unbelievable change. Things just happen around Mercy almost without her doing anything, and all of Patricia Briggs' books are filled with Mercy reacting to her environment - and of course the people in them. I love shapeshifters. Call them whatever you want, the primal energy that authors can give to characters so intrinsically bound to nature is amazing, and Mercy, her Alpha werewolf buddy Adam, and all the different kinds of Fae that are introduced exemplify this perfectly. But I think part of what makes me so happy to read this series are the emotions of everyone involved. I mean, Briggs writes great mysteries, full of suspense and murder and excitement, but like all good authors, the relationships that she creates for her characters draw me back. The emotional upheavals that Mercy experiences (trying hard for no spoilers here!) are almost excrutiating to read, but I couldn't stop! It's like a compulsion. Unsurprisingly I recommend this book, along with the others that come beforehand.

The Scarletti Curse by Christine Feehan

THE BEAST
Strange, twisted carvings and hideous gargoyles adorned the palazzo of the great Scarletti family. But a still more fearful secret lurked within its storm-tossed turrets. For every bride who entered its forbidding walls was doomed to leave in a casket.

THE BRIDE
Mystical and unfettered, Nicoletta had no terror of ancient curses and no fear of marriage…until she looked into the dark mesmerizing eyes of Don Scarletti. She had sworn no man would command her, had thought her gift of healing set her apart, but his was the right to choose a bride from among his people. And he had chosen her.

THE BARGAIN
Compelled by duty, drawn by desire, she gave her body into his keeping, and prayed the powerful, tormented don would be her heart's destiny, and not her soul's demise.

Christine Feehan is one of my favorite authors. She always brings so much life to her characters (haha, little joke, because a lot her books are about pseudo-vampire guys called Carpathians). In this particular novel I think she does a wonderful job of making her book a very much Gothic style romance without making it too dramatic or unrelateable. I mean, you do have to be open to reading a book where the two main characters are 'paranormal' - both Nicoletta and Don Scarletti have telepathic powers, and Nicoletta in particular has the power to heal people. But together, their happy ending is always something the reader roots for. There are hidden enemies and memories which may or may not be true, and through it all you never lose touch with the romance at the heart of this tale. Nicoletta may be the innocent maiden but she does understand desire, and Don Scarletti shows the best of himself when he is with her and allowed to express his feelings and desire for her freely. I highly recommend this book, no matter what kind of romance, or non-romance, book you might think you tend to, because Feehan does a great job of making every reader feel welcome.

Glitter Baby by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Fleur Savagar is the most beautiful woman in the world . . . to everyone but herself. With her oversized hands and paddle-boat feet, her streaky blond hair and funny green eyes, she lives a life filled with secrets that began before she was born. That was when her bewitching mother left home to find James Dean and met Errol Flynn instead. Now Fleur has to grow up quickly, and life won't make that easy.

Jake Koranda is both New York's most brilliant playwright and Hollywood's hottest actor. Difficult, talented, and tormented, he has no patience for international glamour girls, not even ones with beautiful bodies and smart-aleck mouths. But there's more to the Glitter Baby than shine, and Fleur's tougher than Jake expects. Even with the odds stacked against her, she's fiercely determined to discover the woman she's destined to be.

I think that this book is officially one of the weirdest romances I've ever read. The beginning was full of all this random depressing intro about her mother/fathers/stepfather, and even when I thought things were going to be looking up, it all went crashing to the ground! Fleur's mother Belinda is a depressing, mostly non-sympathetic character, that even after life has officially ground her into the dirt, her selfishness makes the reader unsure about whether they care or not. Fleur and Jake are another unique couple. I've read Phillips before, and most of my problems with her books stem from overly alpha men (meaning they're so alpha they're complete jerks) but this time he wasn't so obviously mean to the 'heroine', but still he ended up almost destroying her. And if you're about to point out that this is obviously part of the story meant to help instill suspense about when they happy ending will finally arrive, I KNOW. I still say that the way Phillips separated the sections, with page holders giving hints to Fleur's state of mind, were strange breaks and the way she handled the time line seemed to make me more confused rather than less. In the end the story wasn't a complete loss, the bad guy is defeated, the winners go off into the sunset, and mostly everyone gets what they deserve. But it was still really hard to get into and the lack of Phillips' ability to create sympathy in me for her characters make this a less satisfying romance read than most.

Kiss of a Demon King by Kresley Cole

HIS OBSESSION...

Sabine, Sorceress of Illusions: the evil beauty who surrenders her body, but not her heart.

HER DOWNFALL...

Rydstrom Woede: the ruthless warrior who vows to keep her at all costs.

THEY WERE NEVER SUPPOSED TO WANT EACH OTHER THIS MUCH...

With each smoldering encounter, their shared hunger only increases. If they can defeat the sinister enemy that stands between them, will Sabine make the ultimate sacrifice for her demon? Or will the proud king lay down his crown and arms to save his sorceress?


First thing to say - yay for Kresley Cole! I love her Immortals After Dark series, they're all so filled with dark and brooding paranormal alpha men of all shapes and sizes. In this particular story we get to actually learn about what happend while Rydstrom was the captive of Sabine, Queen of Illusions. We knew it was something bad - I mean in the last book by Cole we heard Sabine's calls for help when she was chained to his bed. So even when I was impatient to get to the end and have them both get past some misunderstandings on both side, it was so much fun to watch them get there! And kick lots of butt on the journey! Sabine is a great heroine, reminiscient of the Valkyries in her love of mayheim and slaughter (all with the choiciest pieces of gold waiting for her at the end of course) and Rydstrom is brooding, conflicted, and very, very hot. With just enough peril to make their journey one to worry about, Cole's latest book is great addition to her series. So for you, GO! READ THE REST!

Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand by Carrie Vaughn

Already the alpha pair of Denver's werewolf pack, Kitty and Ben now plan to tie the knot human-style by eloping to Vegas. Kitty is looking forward to sipping fru-fru drinks by the pool and doing her popular radio show on live TV, but her hotel is stocked with werewolf-hating bounty hunters. Elsewhere on the Strip an old-school magician might be wielding the real thing; the vampire community is harboring a dark secret; and the irresistible star of a suspicious animal act is determined to seduce Kitty. Sin City has never been so wild, and this werewolf has never had to fight harder to save not only her wedding, but her very life.

Let me start out by saying that it took SO LONG for this book to come out that I actually had to revisit the last two books to reconnect with what had been going on! That just seems a little extreme to me, because while I read a lot, rarely do I have to spend so much time boning up before even starting the newest book. I haven't decided if that means that Ms. Vaughn has just taken waaay too long before releasing this latest book in Kitty's saga, or if her books are just not memorable enough. It's probably a bit of both, because while I enjoy reading about Kitty and Ben there is just something about them that is kind of forgettable. In Dead Man's Hand, Kitty and Ben finally make things legal and head to Vegas to escape the trial and tribulations of planning a big wedding. But of course nothing can be that easy, and their plans are interrupted by her stations' decision to set Kitty up for a TV special while she's there and Rick sending her off to meet the master vampire of Las Vegas- and this all intertwined with a Vegas act filled with possibly mistreated lycanthropes. It's a fast paced book of ups and downs, and even a kidnapping! Kitty continues her adventures of never keeping her nose out of anything, and the insertion of a Babylonian cult created an interesting set up for the next book (coming out in March). I don't like to give anything away, just be assured that it's a good book in a decent series and you'll definitely end up feeling the love between these two alpha werewolves!

Touch the Dark by Karen Chance

Cassandra Parker can see the future and communicate with spirits - talents that make her attractive to the dead and the undead. When the bloodsucking fiend mafioso she escaped three years ago finds Cassie again with vengeance on his mind, she's forced to turn to the vampire Senate for protection. The undead senators won't help her for nothing, and Cassie finds herself working with one of their most powerful members, a dangerously seductive master vampire- and the price that he demands may be more than Cassie is willing to pay...

This book was really good. I mean, it surprised me with it's ability to hold my attention and keep me engaged. Karen Chance has created a likable character in Cassie, and her exploits definitely left me yearning for more. I appreciate a female character that can kick butt without being annoying, and Cassie will be one that I'll remember for awhile. But beyond the well thought out and organized world Chance has created, the characters around Cassie are also great ones. Tomas and an old friend (a male one that is oh, so fine) named Mircea are enough to keep all the girls interested. Yet beyond nice bodies, the male characters in this book are intelligent and just strong enough to give our heroine a run for her money. Wonderful! I was also really impressed with the way that Chance wrote erotic scenes that were just that - erotic. She wasn't overly explicit and didn't use stereotypical language about bulges and panting. Instead she wrote believable and arousing passages that deginitely left me excited about what would happen between her characters next. As a big Laurell K Hamilton and Charlaine Harris fan, I have come to expect a lot from newcomers to the paranormal romance field, and Chance pulls it off nicely and has me looking forward to the next book in this great series.