* Excerpts and Sneak Peeks

Some of the books on my Anxiously Awaiting list have excerpts available at the author's or publisher's websites. I am so excited to finally see Destined for an Early Grave is up next... just another two weeks!

* 1st chapter of Destined for an Early Grave (Night Huntress, Bk 4) Jeanine Frost 7/28
* Excerpt of Bad Moon Rising (Dark Hunter Series) Sherrilyn Kenyon, 8/4
* Excerpt of Beloved Vampire (Vampire Queen) Joey W. Hill, 8/4
* First two chapters of Hunting Ground (Alpha & Omega, Bk 2) Patricia Briggs, 8/25
* Excerpt, excerpt, & excerpt Must Love Hellhounds (Anth) Ilona Andrews, Charlaine Harris, Nalini Singh 9/1
* First chapter of On the Edge (The Edge bk 1) Ilona Andrews, 9/29
* Prologue, Chapters One & Two of Frostbitten (Otherworld) Kelley Armstrong, 10/27
* Excerpt of A Deep Kiss of Winter (Anthology) Kresley Cole, Gena Showalter
* Excerpt of Skin Game by Ava Gray, 11/03
* Snippet of First Drop of Crimson (Night Huntress World, Bk 1) Jeaniene Frost 1/26/10
* Prologue of Magic Bleeds (Kate Daniels #4) by Ilona Andrews (May 2010)

Laurel K. Hamilton's site says that an excerpt for Divine Misdemeanors (Meredith Gentry #8) will be up soon. When it's up, it should be here.

When an excerpt goes up for Bound to Shadows (Riley Jensen, Book 8) by Keri Arthur, it should be here.

Nalini Singh should put the excerpt up for Blaze of Memory (Psy-Changelings, Dev's book) here. There is a blurb up there already.

The excerpt for Apocalypse Happens (Phoenix Chronicles, Bk 3) by Lori Handeland should go here, for now there is just a blurb.

When Kresley Cole puts up the excerpt for Pleasure of a Dark Prince (Immortals after Dark) it should go here.

If Kelley Armstrong posts an excerpt for Angelic it will be here. This is to be a novella, and quite short, so I'm not sure if she'll post one or not, but she's got a blurb up for now.

No excerpts up for this book yet, but there are blurbs:
* Blurb and another blurb for Unbound (Anthology) Kim Harrison, Vicki Pettersson, Jeaniene Frost, etc 8/25


In case you haven't read them yet, there are also some excerpts up for books released earlier this year:

* Chapter 1 of At Grave's End (Night Huntress, 3) Jeaniene Frost, 12/30/08
* Excerpt of A Witch's Beauty (Mermaid Series) Joey W. Hill, 1/06
* Excerpt of Kiss of a Demon King (Immortals after Dark, 6) Kresley Cole 1/20
* Excerpt of Kitty & the Dead Man's Hand (Kitty Norville, 5) Carrie Vaughn, 1/27
* Excerpt of Men of the Otherworld Kelley Armstrong, 1/27
* 1st chapter of Bone Crossed (Mercy Thompson, Bk 4) Patricia Briggs, 2/3
* 3 chapters of Made to Be Broken (Nadia Stafford) Kelley Armstrong, 2/24
* Excerpt of White Witch, Black Curse by Kim Harrison, 02/24
* Excerpt of Kitty Raises Hell (Kitty Norville, 6) Carrie Vaughn, 2/24
* Excerpt of Jailbait Zombie (Felix Gomez) Mario Acevedo, 2/24
* Excerpt of Angels' Blood (Guild Hunter, Bk 1) Nalini Singh, 03/03
* Excerpt of A Vampire's Claim (Vampire Queen) Joey W. Hill, 3/3
* Excerpt of Deadly Desire (Riley Jensen, 7) Keri Arthur 03/24
* Excerpt of Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels, 3) Ilona Andrews, 03/31
* Five chapters of Turn Coat (Dresden Files, 11) Jim Butcher 04/07
* 2 chapters of Curse the Dawn (Cassandra Palmer, 4) Karen Chance, 4/7
* Excerpt of Doomsday Can Wait (Phoenix Chronicles, Bk 2) Lori Handeland 4/28
* 1st chapter of Dead and Gone (Sookie Stackhouse, 9) Charlaine Harris, 5/5
* 1st chapter of Skin Trade (Anita Blake) Laurel K Hamilton, 6/2
* Excerpt of Undead and Unwelcome (Queen Betsy, Bk 8) MaryJanice Davidson 6/2
* Excerpt of Finger Lickin' Fifteen (Stephanie Plum) Janet Evanovich 6/23
* Excerpt 1 and Excerpt 2 of Branded by Fire (Psy-Changelings), Nalini Singh, 7/7

Strange Brew, Anthology by Patricia Briggs, Jim Butcher, Charlaine Harris, and others

I don't like anthologies. I don't like short stories. I don't like having to keep starting over again.

Have I mentioned that I don't like anthologies?

If you aren't familiar with the genre and want to get an idea of which authors you might like, then Strange Brew might be a good book for that. Alternatively, you can find excerpts and in some cases the first chapter or two of several of their books, where you can get an idea of who you like for free.

With that being said, here is what you can expect in the book:

1. Seeing Eye by Patricia Briggs - Set in the Mercy Universe, but in Seattle, so there are none of the regular characters from either of the author's series. The story gets a 9 of 10
   
2. Last Call by Jim Butcher: A Harry Dresden short story. 9 of 10
   
3. Death Warmed Over by Rachel Caine: Probably would have been better if I was familiar with the series. Still, I'll give it an 8 of 10
4. Vegas Odds by Karen Chance: I'm not sure, but think this is set in the Cassandra Palmer series, since there are the different kinds of Mage. I didn't recognize any people, though. It was a good story, though. 10 of 10
5. Hecate's Golden Eye by P. N. Elrod: A Jack Fleming story. I like Jack Fleming and his friend Charles Escott, but the story only gets a 6 of 10
6. Bacon by Charlaine Harris: Set in the Sookie-verse, in Rhodes, with none of the characters from the series. An interesting story, but not great. 7 of 10
7. Signatures of the Dead by Faith Hunter: I believe this is a set up for a new series. Not a bad story, might check the series out if it gets good reviews. 8 of 10
8. Ginger by Caitlin Kittredge: Nocturne City universe. A decent story. 8 of 10
9. Dark Sins by Jenna Maclaine: I'm not familiar with this author so I'm not sure of the setting. 6 of 10

So what do I give the book as a whole? I really do not like having to keep starting over again. I like to pick up a book and get engrossed and stay engrossed. It doesn't work that way with anthologies. Is it fair for me to give it a 5 of 5 because that is how much I enjoyed the book as a whole? Or should I give it something higher because it isn't fair to just give it a bad rating because I've got something against anthologies. Should I average the score of the stories and give the book that rating? Maybe, but the whole is not always equal to the sum of the parts when it comes to series ratings or anthology ratings, I don't think. But in this case, it will have to do.

Book Rating: 7 of 10

Lady Dragon (Trattenbourgh Affair Book 1) by JJ Giles

The first thing to say about this book is that it is long. It's the length of three books. Honestly, if it had been cut by about 25% it would have been a much better book.

Even with that, it was a good book and an enjoyable read. I enjoyed the characters, the very twisty plot, the BDSM scenes, the premise. If Lady Dragon had been just 20 to 25 percent shorter, and if the cast of characters a bit less confusing, it would have easily gotten a rating of 8 of 10. Possibly 9 of 10.

But let us talk about the cast of characters a moment. Lady Dragon has a strong reincarnation theme, and the majority of the current cast of characters were other people 300 and 400 years ago. If the author had been able to do something to help us along with keeping everyone straight it would have been helpful.

With that being said, the book was an enjoyable read.

Let me talk a bit about the BDSM in this book. First, there are some very intense scenes. It's all consensual, but a few scenes get kind of rough. Not all of them, there are some sweet BDSM scenes as well. Still, if you are squicked by BDSM then this book may not be for you. But if you like for your BDSM to be inside of a plot, then you might enjoy Lady Dragon.

I don't enjoy non-consensual BDSM scenes, and yet I sometimes enjoy reading about the whole slave thing. The "slaves" in this book choose to be slaves, they sign a contract for a year at a time knowing what is in store for them, and they make $100,000 during their year of service. They are working for very rich men and women, and they even get investment help if they want it (not required, their money is their own, they just give up the right to say what happens to their bodies for that year). But, the slaves are all secondary characters, the main character in the book is kind of a recruiter - he signs the slaves up and walks them through the first few days and then is available to them by phone if they need someone to talk to. He's a therapist, has a doctorate, and has written a ton of books, so he's well qualified for the job. He's also the slave of the owner of the company.

Here's the blurb:

The first in the series of The Trattenbourgh Affair, Lady Dragon opens the dramatic narrative of events which have shaped the lives of the Von Tratten Family for some twelve centuries. Stretching into the past and the conquests of Charlemagne, the Family suffers his curse, scattered in new bodies, unrecognizable to all but the most preternatural of them. As the forces of the nether regions slowly gather, the Warlock has no other option than to search out the family and reunite them, brother to brother, Prince to Knight, and create a phalanx of impenetrable trust.

I can not find a website for the author, and the publisher's site does not list a release date, or a title, for the next book in the series. I will be looking for it.

Branded by Fire (Psy-Changelings, Book 6) by Nalini Singh

I loved this book.

This series is another of those that has a HEA romance within each book, but over the course of the series there are some very interesting long term plots. And the males in this series? Predatory Changeling Males. For the most part, anyway. One of the males was a Psy, and it looks like the male in the next book, Blaze of Memory, is going to have one of the Forgotten Psy as the male. And the book after that... Max appears to be human, but he has strong shields, so I guess we'll have to wait to find out.

A bit about the series - this is an alternate reality to ours, where there are humans, changelings (shapeshifters), and Psy. The Psy live partially on the psychic plane in kind of a psychic internet, of sorts. About 100 years ago they started a Silence protocol in order to gain control of their gifts. Silence trains kids from infants to not have emotions. Not just to not show emotions, but to not have emotions. At all. They are purely logical beings. But now some Psy are breaking Silence and escaping the psychic network. As things are in flux, the Changeling packs in the book (a wolf pack and a leopard pack) are emerging as one of the top power structures.

But in this book, in Branded by Fire, we have Mercy. She is a Leopard Sentinel, which means she's one of the baddest leopards on the planet. There are few people, be they human, psy, or changeling, who can best her. Which makes it hard to find a mate, when all of the males who are dominant to her in her pack are already mated, and when she knows she could never mate with someone less dominant than she is... what's a girl to do?

She has been paired with one of the wolves for a while, they are both the liaison for their packs, to keep the peace in the Pact between the wolves and the cats. We know from excerpts that they are going to have sex at the beginning of the book... but a wolf and a cat... mated? Wouldn't one of them have to give up their pack? Isn't the mating bond stronger than the blood bond to their alpha. Wouldn't it kill something inside of both of them to have to give up their pack? How can that possibly work?

Here's the blurb:

Though DarkRiver sentinel Mercy is feeling the pressure to mate, she savagely resists when Riley Kincaid, a lieutenant from the SnowDancer pack, tries to possess her. The problem is not simply that he pushes her buttons; the problem is that he’s a wolf, she’s a cat, and they’re both used to being on top.

But when a brilliant changeling researcher is kidnapped from DarkRiver territory, Mercy and Riley must work together to track the young man—before his shadowy captors decide he’s no longer useful. Along the way, the two dominants may find that submitting to one another uncovers not just a deadly conspiracy, but a passion so raw that it’ll leave them both branded by fire…

One of the things I loved in this book... remember the grief Riley gave Judd when Riley's sister Brenna started having a romantic interest in Judd? Well, Mercy's brothers and father give the same grief to Riley. It was a nice comic interlude in the rest of the drama.

And there is a lot going on in this book. We learn more about The Human Alliance, we learn a bit more about a few Psy Councilors, the mystery of The Ghost continues, we see more of what is going on with the NetMind, and the plots twist themselves just a bit more.

We also get to peek into the lives of some of the couples who are already together: Sascha and Lucas, Faith and Vaughn, Dorian and Ashaya. It's nice to be able to revisit those couples.

We also get an idea of some of the couples we may see getting together at a later date. What is going to happen with Hawke? With Sienna? How about Kit? And Indigo? And, speaking of Sienna, who is going to train her... it's looking like she's got that infamous X rating, and that means she probably needs to keep her Silence protocol in place in order to control her powers, right?

I cannot wait for the next book, and thankfully we only have four months until Blaze of Memory. I re-read the previous two books, Mine to Posses and Hostage to Pleasure, before reading Branded by Fire. I believe I will re-read the entire series in the weeks before Blaze of Memory is released.

I am giving Branded by Fire a 9 of 10, and I'm giving the Psy-Changelings series a 10 of 10. The characters are incredible, the plots are intricate and interesting and I have no idea what will happen next. The pacing is wonderful, I have no desire to put one of Nalini Singh's books down while I am reading them. She is truly a gifted author.


Book Rating: 9 of 10
Series Rating: 10 of 10







1. Slave to Sensation
2. Visions of Heat
3. Caressed By Ice
4. Mine to Possess
5. Hostage to Pleasure
6. Branded by Fire
7. Blaze of Memory (November 3, 2009)
8. Untitled, but it will be Max's book (the cop who helped Ashaya so much)

Blood Lines (Blood Series Book 3) by Tanya Huff

Blood Lines, the third book in the Blood series, did have an episode of Blood Ties (the TV show) based directly off of it, though the episode was not exactly the same. There were enough differences in how the plot was resolved to make it interesting, though the basic plot was mostly the same. If you saw the TV show with the Egyptian mummy, where Henry dreamed and thought it might mean he was about to end his life, this book follows that plot.

I'm once again seeing the major difference in the books vs the show being how the relationships, the love triangle, is handled in the books vs how it was handled in the TV series. I am enjoying that part of the books better than the TV series. Oddly enough, in contrast I think the TV series made me understand Henry better than the books are, though. That's kind of odd, normally books do better at building and developing characters than a show does.

I did not enjoy Blood Lines as much as I enjoyed the earlier books in the series. It took me longer to get through it because I kept putting it down to do something else. The plot was okay, I think maybe the pacing was off, or something. Perhaps it was that it kept jumping back and forth from person to person. For whatever reason, it just didn't work as well for me. I'm going to give Blood Lines a 6 of 10, but I will keep the series at an 8 of 10 for now.

Book Rating: 6 of 10
Series Rating: 8 of 10

I am going to stop reading the series for a bit, as there are some new releases I want to read, so I will have to return to this series for the final three books at a later date.




The Blood Series
1. Blood Price
2. Blood Trail
3. Blood Lines
4. Blood Pact
5. Blood Debt
6. Blood Bank




Lifetime still has the episodes up, if you want to watch the TV series, go here. Or, you can follow the links above to buy the DVD's. It is kind of a pain to watch online with the commercials, and having to click between the online "chapters", but it's free.

And the winners are....

The three winners of a copy of Seduce the Darkness by Gena Showalter are:

Dixie
Danni
LadyVampire2u

The winners were chosen by using the random number generator at random.org.

Congrats to the winners!!!

* Excerpts and Sneak Peeks

Some of the books on my Anxiously Awaiting list have excerpts available at the author's or publisher's websites.

* Excerpt 1 and Excerpt 2 of Branded by Fire (Psy-Changelings), Nalini Singh, 7/7
* 1st chapter of Destined for an Early Grave (Night Huntress, Bk 4) Jeanine Frost 7/28
* Excerpt of Beloved Vampire (Vampire Queen) Joey W. Hill, 8/4
* Excerpt of Bad Moon Rising (Dark Hunter Series) Sherrilyn Kenyon 8/4
* First two chapters of Hunting Ground (Alpha & Omega, Bk 2) Patricia Briggs, 8/25
* Excerpt, excerpt, & excerpt Must Love Hellhounds (Anth) Ilona Andrews, Charlaine Harris, Nalini Singh 9/1
* First chapter of On the Edge (The Edge bk 1) Ilona Andrews, 9/29
* Prologue, Chapters One & Two of Frostbitten (Otherworld) Kelley Armstrong, 10/27
* Excerpt of Skin Game by Ava Gray, 11/03
* Snippet of First Drop of Crimson (Night Huntress World, Bk 1) Jeaniene Frost 1/26/10
* Prologue of Magic Bleeds (Kate Daniels #4) by Ilona Andrews, May 2010

Laurel K. Hamilton's site says that an excerpt for Divine Misdemeanors (Meredith Gentry #8) will be up soon. When it's up, it should be here.

When an excerpt goes up for Bound to Shadows (Riley Jensen, Book 8) by Keri Arthur, it should be here.

Nalini Singh should put the excerpt up for Blaze of Memory (Psy-Changelings, Dev's book) here. There is a blurb up there already.

The excerpt for Apocalypse Happens (Phoenix Chronicles, Bk 3) by Lori Handeland should go here, for now there is just a blurb.

When Kresley Cole puts up the excerpt for Pleasure of a Dark Prince (Immortals after Dark) it should go here.

If Kelley Armstrong posts an excerpt for Angelic it will be here. This is to be a novella, and quite short, so I'm not sure if she'll post one or not, but she's got a blurb up for now.

No excerpts up for these books yet, but there are blurbs:
* Blurb of Strange Brew (Anthology) Patricia Briggs, Jim Butcher, Charlaine Harris, etc 7/7
* Blurb of Where There's a Witch (Bewitching Mysteries, No 5) by Madelyn Alt 7/7
* Blurb of Dragons Prefer Blondes (Caruthers Sisters Bk 2) by Candace Havens 7/7
* Blurb and another blurb for Unbound (Anthology) Kim Harrison, Vicki Pettersson, Jeaniene Frost, etc 8/25
* Blurb of A Deep Kiss of Winter (Anthology) Kresley Cole, Gena Showalter 10/27


In case you haven't read them yet, there are also some excerpts up for books released earlier this year:

* Chapter 1 of At Grave's End (Night Huntress, 3) Jeaniene Frost, 12/30/08
* Excerpt of A Witch's Beauty (Mermaid Series) Joey W. Hill, 1/06
* Excerpt of Kiss of a Demon King (Immortals after Dark, 6) Kresley Cole 1/20
* Excerpt of Kitty & the Dead Man's Hand (Kitty Norville, 5) Carrie Vaughn, 1/27
* Excerpt of Men of the Otherworld Kelley Armstrong, 1/27
* 1st chapter of Bone Crossed (Mercy Thompson, Bk 4) Patricia Briggs, 2/3
* 3 chapters of Made to Be Broken (Nadia Stafford) Kelley Armstrong, 2/24
* Excerpt of White Witch, Black Curse by Kim Harrison, 02/24
* Excerpt of Kitty Raises Hell (Kitty Norville, 6) Carrie Vaughn, 2/24
* Excerpt of Jailbait Zombie (Felix Gomez) Mario Acevedo, 2/24
* Excerpt of Angels' Blood (Guild Hunter, Bk 1) Nalini Singh, 03/03
* Excerpt of A Vampire's Claim (Vampire Queen) Joey W. Hill, 3/3
* Excerpt of Deadly Desire (Riley Jensen, 7) Keri Arthur 03/24
* Excerpt of Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels, 3) Ilona Andrews, 03/31
* Five chapters of Turn Coat (Dresden Files, 11) Jim Butcher 04/07
* 2 chapters of Curse the Dawn (Cassandra Palmer, 4) Karen Chance, 4/7
* Excerpt of Doomsday Can Wait (Phoenix Chronicles, Bk 2) Lori Handeland 4/28
* 1st chapter of Dead and Gone (Sookie Stackhouse, 9) Charlaine Harris, 5/5
* 1st chapter of Skin Trade (Anita Blake) Laurel K Hamilton, 6/2
* Excerpt of Undead and Unwelcome (Queen Betsy, Bk 8) MaryJanice Davidson 6/2
* Excerpt of Finger Lickin' Fifteen (Stephanie Plum) Janet Evanovich 6/23

Contest and Review: Seduce the Darkness (Alien Huntress series) by Gena Showalter

I have been told by the publisher I can give away three copies of Seduce the Darkness, to be mailed to the winners by Pocket Star. If you want to enter to win a copy of Seduce the Darkness, leave a comment, and please include an email address so I can let you know you've won and can find out where the books should be mailed. If you leave a comment your name goes in the hat once, if you leave a comment and you follow this blog then your name goes in the hat twice. I'll assign everyone either one or two numbers and then run a random number generator to decide the winner on Sunday July 5.

Now, for the review:

I supposed I've gone about this series backwards, reading the fourth book first. But I think that coming in late to the series was okay, I never really felt lost, like there was some part of this world that I didn't understand. Other couples were mentioned, and looking through the earlier book descriptions I see that those books were about those couples getting together.

My first comment has to do with genre definition. In my mind, Urban Fantasy is my world with supernatural beings in it. Some of the series I like stretch this a bit, like The Rachel Morgan /Hollows series by Kim Harrison which is kind of a parallel universe. And some of them stretch that definition a great deal, like the Kate Morgan / Magic Bites series by Ilona Andrews. Seduce the Darkness falls into that latter category. I mean, sure, there are vampires, but this universe is a futuristic world where Aliens from many planets live along side humans, and where most food seems to be synthetic, unless you are very rich. It is not my world. I'm putting this book into the Paranormal Romance category for my purposes, not Urban Fantasy.

With that being said, Seduce the Darkness was an enjoyable read. This is a HEA romance book with lots of inner dialogue about feelings. That's not really my thing, but if it is yours then this is right up your alley. For me, I enjoyed the story, the action, the plot, the characters, and even the bad guys. I would compare Seduce the Darkness to the Immortals After Dark series by Kresley Cole. Lots of romance stuff, but also lots of world building and plot and action and story and character building of people other than just the two lovers.

Before I go too much farther, here's the blurb:

The war between otherworlders and humans changed Earth beyond recognition. It also saved Bride McKells's life. Before, the gorgeous vampire was a target for every fanatic with a stake and a crucifix. Now, she's free to roam the streets -- and desperate to find others of her kind. One man claims to have the answers she seeks. Devyn, King of the Targons, is a warrior and a womanizer, and he makes no secret of how much he wants Bride -- and how dangerous he could be to her in every way.

An avid collector of women, Devyn easily seduces human and otherworlder alike. Until now. Not only does Bride resist him, but she leaves Devyn feeling something entirely new...a bone-deep need bordering on obsession. Her blood is the key to curing a vicious alien disease, but helping Bride uncover her origins will compel her to choose between electrifying passion and a destiny that could tear her from Devyn's side forever.

What am I going to rate Seduce the Darkness? To be honest, I have to take a point away for doing the one thing that just annoys me in a Romance book: having part of the conflict be something that is only there because our love-birds don't communicate with each other. But, maybe not a whole point, because it really was a deep seated thing, and they did talk about it sooner than some authors would have had them talk about it. And I did enjoy the plot, it was something different, plus the world building was interesting. I'll give it an 8 of 10. Without reading the other books, I can't rate the series yet.

Book Rating: 8 of 10







1. Awaken Me Darkly
2. Enslave Me Sweetly
3. Savor Me Slowly
4. Seduce the Darkness

Finger Lickin' Fifteen (Stephanie Plum series) by Janet Evanovich

On the one hand, Finger Lickin' Fifteen is like visiting old friends. I enjoyed reading it while I was reading it. It wasn't as funny as some (maybe most) of the other books in the series, but there were a few LOL moments. And it was kind of nice to check in with Stephanie and the gang again.

On the other hand, nothing's changed. When the book ended, I was disappointed. I had hopes for change and growth in this book, but sadly, there was none.

The plot was half way decent, a few cars get destroyed, we hear more about Lula's life as a ho, and there are a number of slapstick things designed to get laughs that didn't (a few that did, but more that didn't). Like I said, while reading it I enjoyed a good part of the book, but as it ended I was just disappointed. No one is growing up. Ranger, Stephanie, Morelli, Lula... the whole cast of characters is caught in a time warp where nothing changes.

I'm giving Finger Lickin' Fifteen a 7 of 10, and I'm moving the Stephanie Plum series down to a 7 of 10. Which is a shame, because once upon a time I rated the series a nine of ten.

Book Rating: 7 of 10
Series Rating: 7 of 10








One For the Money (1994)
Two For the Dough (1996)
Three to Get Deadly (1997)
Four to Score (1998)
High Five (1999)
Hot Six (2000)
Seven Up (2001)
Hard Eight (2002)
Visions of Sugar Plums (2003) (don't bother)
To the Nines (2003)
Ten Big Ones (2004)
Eleven on Top (2005)
Twelve Sharp (2006)
Plum Lovin' (2007) (don't bother)
Lean Mean Thirteen (2007)
Plum Lucky (January 2008) (don't bother)
Fearless Fourteen (June 2008)
Plum Spooky (January 2009)
Finger Lickin' Fifteen (June 2009)

* Anxiously Awaiting - Late June 2009

The books I am anxiously awaiting release are:

06/23/09 Finger Lickin' Fifteen (Stephanie Plum), Janet Evanovich
07/07/09 Branded by Fire (Psy-Changelings), Nalini Singh
07/07/09 Strange Brew (Anthology) Patricia Briggs, Jim Butcher, Charlaine Harris
07/07/09 Where There's a Witch (Bewitching Mysteries, No 5) by Madelyn Alt
07/07/09 Dragons Prefer Blondes (Caruthers Sisters Bk 2) by Candace Havens
07/21/09 Mercy Thompson Homecoming (Comic) Patricia Briggs, Francis Tsai
07/28/09 Destined for an Early Grave (Night Huntress, Bk 4) Jeaniene Frost
08/04/09 Bad Moon Rising (Dark Hunter Series) Sherrilyn Kenyon
08/04/09 Beloved Vampire (Vampire Queen Series) Joey W. Hill
08/15/09 By Blood We Live (Anth) Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Kelley Armstrong, Carrie Vaughn, etc
08/25/09 Hunting Ground (Alpha & Omega, Book 2) by Patricia Briggs
08/25/09 Unbound (Anthology) Kim Harrison, Vicki Pettersson, Jeaniene Frost
09/01/09 Must Love Hellhounds (Anth.) Ilona Andrews, Charlaine Harris, Nalini Singh
09/01/09 Doom With a View (Psychic Eye Mystery) Victoria Laurie
09/15/09 The Lost Symbol (DaVinci Code series) by Dan Brown
09/29/09 On the Edge (The Edge book 1) by Ilona Andrews
10/06/09 A Touch of Dead (Sookie Stackhouse) by Charlaine Harris
10/20/09 Divine Misdemeanors (Meredith Gentry #8) Laurell K. Hamilton
10/27/09 Bound to Shadows (Riley Jensen, Guardian, Book 8) Keri Arthur
10/27/09 Frostbitten (Elena & Clay) (Women/Otherworld) Kelley Armstrong
10/27/09 A Deep Kiss of Winter (Anthology) Kresley Cole, Gena Showalter
11/03/09 Blaze of Memory (Psy-Changelings, Dev's book), Nalini Singh
11/03/09 Apocalypse Happens (Phoenix Chronicles, Bk 3) Lori Handeland
11/03/09 Never After (Anth.) Laurel K. Hamilton, Yasmine Galenorn, Marjorie M. Liu, etc.
11/03/09 Skin Game by Ava Gray
11/24/09 Vampire Sunrise (Delilah Street: Paranormal Investigator) Carole Nelson Douglas
12/01/09 Angelic (Women/Otherworld) Kelley Armstrong
01/01/10 Kitty’s House of Horrors (Kitty Norville Bk 7) by Carrie Vaughn
01/26/10 Pleasure of a Dark Prince (Immortals after Dark) Kresley Cole
01/26/10 First Drop of Crimson (Night Huntress World, Bk 1) Jeaniene Frost
02/??/10 Silver Borne, (Mercy Thompson, Book 5) Patricia Briggs
02/23/10 Black Magic Sanction (The Hollows Rachel Morgan, Book 8) by Kim Harrison
03/??/10 The Spellmans Strike Again (Spellman Files, Book 4) Lisa Lutz
03/09/10 Werewolf Smackdown (Felix Gomez 5) Mario Acevedo
03/16/10 Voices of Dragons (new YA series) by Carrie Vaughn
Spring/10 Chaos Bites, (Phoenix Chronicles, Bk 4) Lori Handeland
April/10 Changes (Dresden Files 12) Jim Butcher
05/??/10 Magic Bleeds, (Kate Daniels Book 4) by Ilona Andrews
08/??/10 Alpha and Omega series, Book 3 Patricia Briggs
Summer/10 Skin Starved (Wicked Lovely Book 4) Melissa Marr
??/??/?? Not That Innocent (Anthlgy) Sherrilyn Kenyon, Kresley Cole...
??/??/?? Archangel's Kiss (Guild Hunter, Bk 2) Nalini Singh
??/?/?/?? Captured by Vengeance (Riley Jensen Bk9) Keri Arthur


Not all of the series I keep up with have another book listed as coming out. The authors have stated there will be more, but to my knowledge they haven't said when, or given a title name. I've listed those series below.

* Cal Leandros series by Rob Thurman
* Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris
* Queen Betsy series by MaryJanice Davidson
* Anita Blake series by Laurell K Hamilton
* Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanovich

Below are series I follow, but it is unclear whether there will be more books in the series:

* Bronwyn the Witch series by Candace Havens
* Nightcreature / Moon series by Lori Handeland
* Nadia Stafford series by Kelley Armstrong

You can read an excerpt of many of these books, to see my list of excerpts please go here.

If someone wants to send me an ARC of one of the books on my Anxiously Awaiting list, I will read it within a day or two of it arriving (assuming I'm home and I'm not sick or anything), and will get a blog post up of it as soon as I've finished reading it. You may send me a digital version at chained lightning at g mail dot com, or to send a hard copy you may contact me at that email address to ask for a shipping address. If you have an ARC you would like to send that is not on my Anxiously Awaiting list I will attempt to read and review it in a timely manner but it probably won't be placed topmost in my TBR pile.

Blood Trail (Blood Series Book 2) by Tanya Huff

Blood Trail, the second book in the Blood series, did not have a TV show made directly from it. There was a were-animal TV show that had a few similar elements, but the tone and plot was nothing like the book. So, I did not know "who done it" as I read the book, which probably made it a little more interesting. Although, I kind of guessed who was doing it pretty early on.

The relationships in the books are different than they were in the Blood Ties TV show, which adds a nice change. I like the way the relationships in the books are working out much better than I did the way the love triangle was handled in the show.

I noted in my review of Blood Price that since this series was written in the early nineties, that investigations are handled differently with the technology available today. There is legwork in the books that would only involve an online search in today's world. Blood Trail, more than the other, would have been written different had it been written today, because this crime could have been solved very quickly by an internet search.

Here's the blurb:

When a pack of werewolves is discovered on a London, Ontario, farm, Henry Fitzroy, a Toronto-based vampire and writer of romance novels, calls upon private investigator Vicki Nelson to help him trace the trail of destruction to the killers.

As with the first book, Blood Price, I'm also going to rate Blood Trail an 8 of 10, and for now I'll put the series at an 8 of 10. As with Blood Price, there were some very disconcerting typos. Could they not fix those in between re-publishing them?

Book Rating: 8 of 10
Series Rating: 8 of 10




The Blood Series
1. Blood Price
2. Blood Trail
3. Blood Lines
4. Blood Pact
5. Blood Debt
6. Blood Bank




Lifetime still has the episodes up, if you want to watch the TV series, go here. Or, you can follow the links above to buy the DVD's. It is kind of a pain to watch online with the commercials, and having to click between the online "chapters", but it's free.

Blood Price (Blood Series Book 1) by Tanya Huff

I've been meaning to read the Blood Series by Tanya Huff for years, every since I stumbled across the Blood Ties series on Lifetime Television and enjoyed it so much.

I recently found the omnibus books of this series, with two books per book, and decided it was a good chance to finally read the series.

I enjoyed the first book, Blood Price. The main plot was pretty close to the show's pilot episodes, with enough differences to keep it interesting. Blood Price was written (I believe) in the early 90's, which means Vicki has to do legwork where today she could just turn on the computer and log onto the internet. It means she has to buy a map. It means she doesn't use a cellphone, and that there are actually pay phones around when she needs one. But other than that, the time difference didn't really matter.

I enjoyed reading more of how Vicki felt, and more of how Henry remembers things from his past. They covered it pretty well in the show, but you always get more of it in the book.

Here's the blurb:

It began with blood and death. And Vicki Nelson, PI was at the scene. The victim had been brutally, inhumanly opened up. Messy work. She'd had to cover the corpse with her coat. It had sort of made her feel involved. Now Vicki is caught up in the deadly pursuit of a mass murderer with an inhuman appetite for mayhem and destruction. And her advisor on the case is doing nothing to dampen her growing sense of foreboding. But then, with a being of unspeakable evil stalking the city, only Vicki Nelson would ally herself to Henry Fitzroy, the illegitimate child of Henry VIII and a five-hundred-year-old vampire.

I am amazed that Lifetime still has the episodes up, if you want to watch the TV series, go here. Or, you can follow the links below to buy the DVD's. It is kind of a pain to watch online with the commercials, and having to click between the online "chapters", but it's free. Still, I may consider buying the DVD's, as it would be nice to just lay back, chill out, and watch. I really did enjoy this series.

But, back to the books. What do I rate Blood Price? I think probably an 8 of 10. There were some typos that were pretty blatant, and that pulled me out of the fantasy. Not misspelled words so much as sentences where the author started to say something one way and then said it another but didn't go back and change the beginning of the sentence to fit the end of the sentence. Would it have been a 9 of 10 without the typos? I don't know, maybe, but maybe not. Would it have been a 9 if I hadn't seen the show already? That's actually a bigger possibility. I'm not sure, but I think maybe.

Book Rating: 8 of 10







The Blood Series
1. Blood Price
2. Blood Trail
3. Blood Lines
4. Blood Pact
5. Blood Debt
6. Blood Bank