June/July Part Two

Rachel Gibson

No, that’s not the name of the book, that’s the name of the author of a series of books I read. Early in June the daughter gave me one to read, which I posted about HERE and since then has given me a bunch more to read. The three sequels are: I’m In No Mood For Love , Tangled Up In You, and Not Another Bad Date. She also gave me The Trouble With Valentine’s Day and Simply Irresistible.

I have to admit, I really enjoyed the first book, Sex, Lies and On-Line Dating. The second book was pretty good too. The third in the series was okay, but by the fourth one I was skipping through it. The truth is they were starting to sound all the same. My interest perked up again with Simply Irresistible, but the ending didn’t quite do it for me. The change in the protagonist, John was a little too abrupt and it was never really explained what made him change. I think to really appreciate these books you need to read them one at a time, with some other reading in between. I think the real problem was reading too many of them too fast. Even chocolate will make you sick if you eat too much of it. :-)

The Immortal Hunter
by Lynsay Sands

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I love the vampires Lynsay Sands has created. If I was ever going to be bitten, these are the guys I’d want to bite me. The Argeneau Vampires have their roots in Atlantis where their technological advancements in nano technology left them with nanites in their bloodstream that continually repair any damage done by disease, the environment, or time. The downside to this is that the nanites use up the blood in their host to make these repairs, the worse the damage, the more blood is needed to fix it. Which is why the Atlanteans need to drink blood to survive.

These are, for the most part, a very civilized bunch of vampires. They have their own laws and, of course, their own way of enforcing them. Because the nanites give them such long lives, they’re only allowed to have a child once every hundred years and can only turn one person in their lifetime. The other thing I like about these books is that although they’re a series, you can read them in any order and not be totally lost. You’ll just get the urge to look for the stories of some of the other characters you meet along the way. :-)

Since the invention of the blood bank it’s been forbidden to them to feed “off the hoof” (bite someone for blood) unless it’s an emergency or there’s extenuating circumstances. Of course not everyone adheres to this law and that’s where Decker Argeneau comes in. He hunts down these rogue vampires and turns them over to the council to be dealt with. Along the way he rescues a young woman who just may be his lifemate, if only he can convince her of it.

Faeries Gone Wild
anthology

This anthology was sweet, funny, sexy, and gripping in turns. Four very different stories of four very unique faeries. We have Scarlett, a six foot four inch faery with a compulsion to count things. We have Avalina, a healing faery that’s visiting the mortal realm to save a species of fern and in the process saves a man from himself. Then there’s Sidney Tooth, librarian by day and Tooth Faery by night who’s in danger of losing both her job and the man she loves. And finally we have Tia Mayberry, a faery/human hybrid who finds the truth about her father is a little more than she was counting on.

If you like faeries, or are even looking for something a little different in the paranormal field, I highly recommend this book.

Bloodline
by Maggie Shayne

Maggie Shayne has created another unique twist on the vampire. In her world people can be born with a belladonna antigen in their blood, which allows them to become vampires. This is the story of one of these people. Her name is Lilith and she was stolen from her mother just after her birth by a government agency called the DPI. She was raised on “the Farm” with other children like her, and trained to serve the government’s purpose, but with the help of a dying vampire manages to escape, but at the cost of her memory. She’s aided by a mysterious man from her past named Ethan, who was also once a captive of the government. Meanwhile, Lilith’s mother has never given up hope of finding her baby girl, and has joined a sisterhood that’s dedicated to helping all vampires.

Back to Life
by Linda O. Johnston
Silhouette Nocturne Line

Skye Rydell is more than just your average K9 division police officer. She’s also descended from a long line of Valkyries who, like her, have the power to ease a person’s transition into death or bring them back from the brink. When she chooses to save the life of fellow officer Trevor Owens, she inadvertently shares her power with him, with unexpected results. They do a good job of resisting their attraction to each other, but when they end up working together to find a serial killer, they finally give in to the inevitable. The way Trevor uses his gift is unexpected, as is the identity of a copy-cat killer the pair come up against. A really great read.