Moon Kissed

by Michele Hauf

I'm a little pickier when it comes to buying Silhouette Nocturnes than I was with the Silhouette Shadows series, but this was money well spent.

Belladonna Reynolds' life is turned upsidedown when she's out for her nightly run and suddenly finds herself the target of a group of vampires. She runs straight, literally, into the arms of a werewolf, who saves her but then begins to stalk her as well.

Severo has good reason to hate vampires, and claims he's not stalking her, but trying to protect her, especially from the vampiress who's turned Bella's best friend into a vampire.

Severo believes that Belladonna could be his mate, and it doesn't take him long to convince Bella of this as well. And then one tragic night Bella is bitten by a vampire and turned. Though Severo still loves her, he fears what the wolf in him will do to her the next full moon.

This book was very hard to put down once I started it. I loved the characters of Bella and Severo - Bella went through so much in such a short time, and yet she comes out on top. And Severo's struggle with his past is heart-breaking to watch, yet you can't stop.

My only complaint was that the book had to end.

Hot for the Holidays

Jove paranormal, anthology

Okay, I confess, I bought this book because of the hot guy on the cover with the candy cane sticking out of his pants. :-)

Let me tell you, the cover lives up to its promise. These stories (all Christmas themed) were hot enough to melt the polar icecaps.

First we had the Vampire's Ball, by Angela Knight. This story is set in her Mageverse, but you don't have to be familiar with it to make sense of the interaction between Kat Danilo (Lancelot du Lac's illegitimate daughter) and Ridge Champion.

Next we have A Little Night Magic, by Allyson James. After a two-year absence from Naomi's life, Jamison Kee returns, bringing secrets and trouble in his wake. Try as she might, Naomi finds him hard to resist, even when it puts their lives in danger.

Then we have Sweet Enchantment, by Anya Bast, a Yuletide tale of the Sidhe court centering around Bella and Ronan, and their fight for survival, freedom, and happiness.

Finally, we have A Christmas Kiss, by Lora Leigh. This tale is set in her "Breed" universe, and again, you don't have to be familiar with it to make sense of the story. Hawke is one of the genetically enhanced Breeds, who believes that Jessica is destined to be his mate. First he has to clear her name, then he has to convince her before he can claim her.

The Count of Monte Cristo

by Alexandre Dumas

In a bit of a departure for me, this review is part of a blog chain for Absolute Write. “Each participant reviews in detail a book that either they love, or the one that touched them, and made an impression upon them.”

For me that book would have to be The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas. I read this book in High School and I freely admit that I chose it from the library because of its length (1300+ pages). I was an even faster reader back then so long books were very appealing.

The story centers around the character of Edmond Dantes, a merchant sailor. Life is pretty good for Edmond when the story opens – he’s just come back from a successful voyage and is about to marry his fiancé, the beautiful Mercedes. Unfortunately, Mercedes has another suitor, her cousin Fernand who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. This includes framing Edmond for a crime he didn’t commit. Edmond is sentenced, without trial, to life imprisonment in the island prison of the Chateau d’If.

Edmond’s life changes once again when he’s visited by the priest, Abbe Faria, a fellow inmate who’s trying to escape and tunnels into Edmond’s cell by mistake. Not only does the priest educate Edmond in all manner of subjects, he also confides to him the location of a treasure hoard on the island of Monte Cristo. When the priest dies, Edmond makes his escape, and so begins his plans for revenge.

The subtlety by which Edmond achieves his goals is matched only by the twists and turns of the plot. This is a gripping story, not only of revenge, but of hope, justice, and forgiveness as well. Edmond assumes many identities, not just that of the Count of Monte Cristo, and each one plays an important part in his plans. Yes, he is at last reunited with Mercedes, but not in the way one might think (or hope for).

If you, too, would like to be as enthralled with this book as I was, you can read a copy on-line for free Right Here


There has been an interesting mix of books reviewed for this chain and I’d advise everyone to check them out. My fellow links are:

Lost Wanderer
Forbidden Snowflake
Coryleslie
Razibahmed
DavidZahir
Veinglory
Aimeelaine
Claire Crossdale
And the next person in the chain is Edielin

Eternal Lover

anthology

Four paranormal romance stories, all very enjoyable.

First we have The Yearning, by Hannah Howell, about a man and woman who are both affected by different aspects of the same curse. The setting is ancient Scotland, and Sophie Hay must find a way to break the curse before it changes Alpin MacCordy into a monster, for both their sakes.

Next is A Hell of a Time, by Jackie Kessler. This was spicy, humourous, full of action - I loved it. All former succubus Jesse wants is a romantic weekend with her boyfriend Paul. Of course that's not what she gets when they go to a cabin in the woods and the woods start trying to kill her.

Then we have City of Demons, by Richelle Mead. This is another story about a succubus and her boyfriend, although Georgina is still a "working" succubus which means she and her boyfriend, Seth, can't have sex. They travel to L.A. when Georgina is called to jury duty for a most unusual trial.

Finally, we have Bitten, by Lynsay Sands. I gather this is one of her early works, before her creation of the Arganeau Vampires. This vampire tale is a little different than her ususal fare, but is still enjoyable nontheless. I think Keeran's fate is sealed the moment he rescuses Emily from a sinking ship, but Emily has her work cut out for her to convince him of it.

I'm always amazed by the sheer variety and quality of paranormal romance out there. This is another book for my keeper collection, I just need to figure out where I'm going to put it. Dare I say I need yet another bookcase?

Dark Passions

edited by Jeff Gelb and Michael Garrett

The blurb on the back promises "sizzling, suspenseful tales by today's most sinister writers of erotic horror." I found the book to be suspenseful (in places) and more horror than anything else, but there was very little either sizzling or erotic about it.

That's not to say there was nothing sizzling about it, Mood Elevator was very sizzling, and there were a couple of good revenge stories as well. But by and large even the horror fell short in this anthology.

It really surprised me to discover that this is volume XIII in a series called Hot Blood. I would have expected more out of a series with that title.

July/August

This should completely catch me up on the books I read over the summer. I have got to start getting better at reviewing as I read. :-)

Speaking of reading . . . I was reading a blogging buddy’s blog (HA! Try saying that five times fast) and she mentioned that her goal was to read 101 books in 2010. My first thought was, “That doesn’t sound like a lot,” but then I realized that that’s about 2 a week, which more than I do sometimes, although I can read five or six in a week and then nothing for a couple of weeks. Anyway, it got me thinking that I should keep track to see how many books I read in a month.

Again, these are in no particular order, mainly ‘cause I can’t remember what order I read them in!

Sword & Sorceress, Volumes IX through XIV
edited by Marion Zimmer Bradley

This is a series of anthologies created by Marion Zimmer Bradley to showcase strong women characters in the fantasy genre. For anyone looking for quality swords and sorcery fantasy, I highly recommend this series. That is not to say all these stories are about swords women or sorceress’ for that matter, but they are all good fantasy with strong female characters.

Captivated
by Nora Roberts

This is book one in the Donovan Legacy, originally published in 1992. It’s the story of Nash Kirkland, a screen play writer, and Morgana Donovan, a witch, and the magic they create between them. Morgana has led a somewhat charmed life, especially when compared to Nash’s upbringing. When she falls hard for Nash her only hope is that he can learn to trust his feelings so they can share a life together. This book is utterly “captivating” with just the right mix of passion and magic.

Forbidden FantasiesEllora’s Cave Presents

This is an anthology of eight steamy stories, ranging from Regency England to another planet, with shapeshifters, vampires and secret labs in between. Did I say steamy? This book is downright sizzling! Just the thing to warm you up on a chilly autumn night.

Fast Women
by Jennifer Cruise

I actually read this during the summer and it ended up in a pile waiting for shelf space in my permanent collection. I really loved the main character in this, Nell Dysart. She’s a down on her luck divorcee whose brother-in-law gets her a temporary job working for a private detective named Gabe McKenna. I don’t want to give away too much of the plot because this book has a bit of everything: adventure, mystery, action, and above all, romance. But the best part is watching Nell come into her own.

Lost Garden
by Helen Humphreys

This is not just another book about World War II. This is a though provoking account of the war as seen through the eyes of a woman trying to do her part for the war effort. Gwen Davis travels to the Devonshire countryside where she is to take charge of a group of girls for the Land Army. Their task is to cultivate potatoes on a large country estate, a task made more difficult by the girls’ initial resentment of Gwen. The story of how this unlikely group learn to work together, and how Gwen brings a secret garden back to life, is told in a compelling and lyrical style.

The Night Tourist
by Katherine Marsh

Jack Perdu is a loner who usually has his nose in a book, which leads him to a near fatal accident when he crosses a road while reading. After his recovery, his father sends him to a doctor in New York for an examination. On his way home from this appointment, Jack is side-tracked by a mysterious girl named Euri, who leads him to the underworld of New York in search of his dead mother. I picked this book up because it reminded me of Neil Gaiman’s Neverworld, but the Night Tourist is a unique blend of myth and mystery, adventure and action.

Lords of Desire
anthology

This is an anthology of four steamy historical romances. As you know, I’m not a huge fan of historicals, but these four stories were all very different, very well written, and did I mention steamy? We have the story of a Victorian miss who’s swept back in time to a more decadent era; a house party where a lord and his lady who have been living apart for ten years are forced to share a room; an new bride who thinks she’s going mad because of the way she feels about her husband; and a man and woman who have been at odds with one another for years and are brought together by a game of hide and seek.

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.