Charmed & Dangerous (Bronwyn the Witch, Book 1) by Candace Havens

I should start this by saying that his book is paranormal chick lit. It's a fun and easy read with likable characters. It makes you smile, it makes you laugh. It's easy to get into, and there are no parts that make you want to put it down and do something else for a while.

Sometimes you want dark and serious. Sometimes you want lighthearted and easy. Both have their place on my bookshelf. That's not to say that there is no plot, or that the main character's life isn't in danger, or that she doesn't kick some serious ass when necessary. Because there is depth, there is good plot, and the weaving of the supernatural elements works well in the story.

So, it's not just a fluffy read, there is substance amongst the lighter stuff. But it's still chik lit.

And I have no idea of what genre to put this one into. It's not really urban fantasy, though it's got some elements of it. It's not exactly a paranormal romance, though again there are some elements. It could even loosely fit into mystery and crime drama. It looks like the libraries out there are calling it some variation of Occult Fiction or Paranormal Fiction. Maybe I should create a genre here and call it Paranormal Chik Lit. Works for me.

Here is the blurb from the author's website:

When Bronwyn turned twenty she took the oath to protect, and for the last five years she's kept that promise, working as a kind of one-witch secret service to the British Prime Minister. Her arsenal includes a combination of potions, spells, explosions, mind-reading tricks, and general butt-kicking skills. But Bronwyn has a soft side, too-especially when it comes to Dr. Sam, the favorite physician of her new hometown, Sweet, Texas. He's smart, funny, adorable, everything she could want in a man. Except he's also a warlock-a big no-no in Bronwyn's book of dating. Being a witch is definitely getting in the way of her sex life. If zapping evil jerks is easy, why is finding a boyfriend so hard?

This book is written in diary form. And it works. The book is funny and engaging, with a likable main characters and likable secondary and supporting characters.

Bronwyn isn't a normal witch, she's a High Witch. Which apparently means she's way more powerful than most witches. And apparently there are only a handful or two alive on the planet, so witches of this power are pretty rare. We all know how power can corrupt, but Bronwyn isn't the sort of person to be corrupted by the power she wields. I got the impression that she's the type of person to use her powers for good, no matter what might be offered to her. She is not flighty or airheaded. She is responsible and organized and thoughtful and a very good friend to the people in her life.

If I were to meet Bronwyn in real life then we'd get along with each other just fine. I mean, how can you not like someone who starts her diary entries with how many spells she's cast and how many dead bodies there are since the last entry? And sometimes even how many of those bodies she's responsible for.

There are also two hunks in this book that have a serious interest in Bronwyn.. There is the new doctor in town as well as a shiek she's supposed to be keeping alive. Since the sheik is a client and she has this personal rule against dating clients, and since the good doctor is a warlock and she's got a personal rule against dating those, too... you can see her dilemma here. Having the power she has is a big turn off to most men, so she's gone a while without a boyfriend, and now suddenly there are two very very eligible bachelors interested in her and if she follows her own rules then she really should say no to both.

And the town she lives in is great. I mean, every small town has their odd but lovable characters, right? And Sweet is no different. It's a great little town, and a perfect place for Bronwyn to call home.

I also liked the mixture of job and home life. When she's working there are lots of bad guys and she's pretty much constantly on her toes. But at home she gets to work on her gardening, and on remodeling her house. We get to see her as a regular person as well as a kind of superhero. Of course, even in her superhero role she's pretty laid back about it, but some of the things she can do are nothing short of superhero status for those she saves.

This doesn't really fall into the same category of books I normally like, but I loved this book. Adored it.

Book Rating: 10 of 10





1) Charmed & Dangerous (Bronwyn)
2) Charmed & Ready (Bronwyn)
3) Charmed & Deadly (Bronwyn)
4) Like a Charm (Kira)

Anxiously Awaiting as of the end of October 2009

The following are books I am Anxiously Awaiting. They are either part of a series I am already reading, or they are a new series by an author I already like.

If someone wants to send me an ARC of one of these books, 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 contact me for a shipping address at chained lightning at g mail dot com (remove all of the spaces, of course).

11/04/08 A Mermaid's Kiss (Mermaid Series) Joey W. Hill
11/04/08 One Silent Night (Dark-Hunter, Bk 13) Sherrilyn Kenyon
11/04/08 Swallowing Darkness (Meredith Gentry, Bk 7) Laurel K Hamilton
11/04/08 The Demon King and I, Candace Havens
12/30/08 At Grave's End (Night Huntress, Bk 3) Jeaniene Frost
01/06/09 A Witch's Beauty (Mermaid Series) Joey W. Hill
01/20/09 Kiss of a Demon King (Immortals after Dark, 6) Kresley Cole
01/27/09 Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand (Kitty Norville, 5) Carrie Vaughn
01/27/09 Men of the Otherworld (Women/Otherworld) Kelley Armstrong
02/24/09 Kitty Raises Hell (Kitty Norville, Book 6) Carrie Vaughn
02/24/09 Made to Be Broken (Nadia Stafford, Bk 2) Kelley Armstrong
02/24/09 White Witch, Black Curse (Rachel Morgan, Bk 7) Kim Harrison
02/24/09 Jailbait Zombie (Felix Gomez) Mario Acevedo
03/03/09 A Vampire's Claim (Vampire Queen Series) Joey W. Hill
03/03/09 Bone Crossed (Mercy Thompson, Bk 4) Patricia Briggs
03/03/09 Deathwish (Cal Leandros Bk 4) Rob Thurman
03/03/09 Angels' Blood (Guild Hunter, Bk 1) Nalini Singh
03/24/09 Deadly Desire (Riley Jensen, Guardian, Bk 3) by Keri Arthur
03/31/09 Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels, Book 3) Ilona Andrews
04/07/09 Curse the Dawn (Cassandra Palmer, Bk 4) Karen Chance
04/07/09 Turn Coat (Dresden Files, Bk 11) Jim Butcher
06/02/09 Skin Trade, Anita Blake Series, Laurel K Hamilton
06/16/09 Fifteen to Smithereens (Stephanie Plum), Janet Evanovich
07/07/09 Branded by Fire (Psy-Changelings), Nalini Singh
07/21/09 Not That Innocent (Anthlgy) Sherrilyn Kenyon, Kresley Cole...
09/??/09 Doom with a View (Psychic Eye Mystery) Victoria Laurie
11/??/09 Frostbitten (Elena & Clay) (Women/Otherworld), Kelley Armstrong


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

* Southern Vampire/Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris
* Meredith Gentry Series by Laurel K Hamilton
* Alpha and Omega series by Patricia Briggs
* Bronwyn the Witch series by Candace Havens

Magic Burns (Kate Daniels, Book 2) by Ilona Andrews

I'll start this out with the blurb from the author's website:

As a mercenary who cleans up after magic gone wrong, Kate Daniels has seen her share of occupational hazards. Normally, waves of paranormal energy ebb and flow across Atlanta like a tide. But once every seven years, a flare comes, a time when magic runs rampant. Now Kate's going to have to deal with problems on a much bigger scale: a divine one.

When Kate sets out to retrieve a set of stolen maps for the Pack, Atlanta's paramilitary clan of shapeshifters, she quickly realizes much more at stake. During a flare, gods and goddesses can manifest - and battle for power. The stolen maps are only the opening gambit in an epic tug-of-war between two gods hoping for rebirth. And if Kate can't stop the cataclysmic showdown, the city may not survive...

As I said in my review of the first book, this series is much closer to Fantasy than it is Urban Fantasy. The series is set in either an alternate Atlanta or an Atlanta of the future, and it's so far removed from our world that it's hard to call it Urban Fantasy. I'll also say that it's not a paranormal romance, either. The main theme here is a plot that is all about the magic and the violence, not a romance. It's still a very good book (and series), though. It's just not being classified as what I think it really is. Though I'm not sure exactly how it should be classified.

Also, fair warning, if you haven't read the first book then much of this book won't make sense. This isn't a series you're going to be able to skip around on, I don't think.

Kate is now working for both the Mercenary Guild and the Order of Merciful Aid, and is doing it by being a liaison between the two. This gives her more credentials, and a little more of a support system when she needs it. The latter being a very good thing to have in Kate's world.

This book has adventure, a touch of romantic intrigue, lots of paranormal critters, and humor. Kate is, well, snarky. I could say she's a bitch, but she's not, she's just snarky. I mean, if she doesn't like you then yeah, you'd consider her a bitch. But that's not a good description of her, she's just one of those people who think (and say) smart-assed things when people annoy her. Her personality is one of the reasons I've enjoyed the first two books in this series as much as I have. Yes, the plot is good and the worldbuilding is good and the other characters are great characters. But Kate's personality makes the book a lot of fun to read.

Kate is also a mystery, since we get even more hints that she's got some sort of heritage that makes her a very special kind of supernatural, but we aren't given much information about it. We see her being careful to guard her secret (and that involves burning her blood when she bleeds so no one can get any of it), but we aren't really given enough hints to even guess about what her family line might be a part of.

Magic Burns is a very enjoyable read. The book gets the highest rating, 10 of 10, though I'm conflicted as to what to rate the series. In the end, after arguing with myself between a 9 and a 10, I'll go with a 9 of 10 after two books. If the third book is as good as the first two when it comes out next year then that will easily be raised to a 10 of 10.


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





1) Magic Bites (2007)
2) Magic Burns (2008)
3) Magic Strikes (March 31, 2009)

Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, Book 1) by Ilona Andrews

I'll start this out with the blurb from the author's website:

Atlanta would be a nice place to live, if it weren't for magic...

When the magic is up, rogue mages cast their spells and monsters appear, while the guns refuse to fire and cars fail to start. But then technology returns, and the magic recedes as unpredictably as it arose, leaving all kinds of paranormal problems in its wake.

Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary who makes her living cleaning up these magical problems. But when Kate's guardian is murdered, her quest for justice draws her into a power struggle between two strong factions within Atlanta's magic circles.

The Masters of the Dead, necromancers who can control vampires, and the Pack, a paramilitary clan of shapechangers, blame each other for a series of bizarre killings - and the death of Kate's guardian may be part of the same mystery. Pressured by both sides to find the killer, Kate realizes she's way out of her league - but she wouldn't have it any other way...

First, I'll admit that I don't live so far from Atlanta and that is part of what made me start this series in the first place. I thought it would be nice to read something in a setting I'm familiar with.

That thought process didn't really work though, because this seems to be an Atlanta of the future. Or, an alternate Atlanta, maybe. Either way, things aren't the same. The buildings and places we are familiar with are now ruins, for the most part.

Luckily, the book is good enough that this wasn't a disappointment. As I've said before, I normally like urban fantasy, the kind where things are taking place in a world of today, where the things in the book might be possible. We don't really have that with this book, this book seems more fantasy than urban fantasy, but it still drew me in and snagged me.

I'm assuming it's called Urban Fantasy instead of Fantasy simply because it has shapeshifters and vampires. And, while Magic Bites does have both of these creatures, it's not really like any other urban fantasy book out there. For starters, the vampires aren't the kinds of creatures we are used to. Vampires in this book are creatures that eventually turn into a spider looking monster thing. They are controlled by necromancers who stay in a well-guarded room and send the vampires out to do their business. The vampires basically have no will of their own in this series, it's the necromancers controlling them who have the power. You can read an excerpt of the book at the author's site and get an idea of how the vampires are handled in this world.

The shapeshifters seem to mostly be what you see of them in other urban fantasy books, complete with an Alpha and the usual closely knit pack and lots of pack rules.

There are also a lot of other supernatural critters in the book, and at least some of them obviously come from various myths and legends. Plus, we are told that Kate has her own heritage that must be kept a secret. I'm guessing that will be a large part of where the series is headed, as Kate comes into whatever powers that heritage gives her. And eventually people will find out and then I'm guessing all hell will break loose at some point because of it. Will that happen in the second book or the tenth book though? Who knows. If the books stay as good as this one, I will keep reading to find out.

Book Rating: 9 of 10





1) Magic Bites (2007)
2) Magic Burns (2008)
3) Magic Strikes (March 31, 2009)

Review: Tempting Evil (Riley Jensen, Guardian, Bk 3) by Keri Arthur

I finished this book late last night. Later than I intended, but this was one I couldn't put down at midnight when I only needed another hour to finish the book. I'll be dragging at work today, but that's okay. It was worth it.

The third book in the series did not disappoint. At all.

The premise of this book is that they've finally found the ringleader of all of the labs, but not the final lab. The ringleader brings in women to fight nude, with the winner of the fights being given huge payment incentives. Also, the winner has to spend the evening being further entertainment for his sex crazed lieutenants. Guess where Riley is going to go undercover?

But before she goes undercover we see a bit of her training, and we see a little of how her love life has gone in the two months since the end of the last book. And we see that she's still not going to compromise her own hopes and dreams in order to make someone else happy.

I also like that she's sticking to her own moral code in her role as Guardian. She isn't a full fledged guardian at this point, but we can all see the writing on the wall by now. She will be one, now she just has to make sure everyone understands the lines she is and is not willing to cross.

And the decisions she made in this book? I like them. And I like her. She both saves and kills in this book.

As for her men? I think I like them all. Quinn, Kellen, and Kade. It's too bad the horse and wolf thing won't work, because I think I like Kade best of all. But I get why they can pretty much only be friends and f*** buddies. And I'm glad Kade is her friend.

This book doesn't have as much sex as the first book, and again that is mostly because the setting is not the week before the full moon. That being said, there is still a decent amount of sex. And nudity. A lot of nudity. And hints at depraved stuff. We only actually see one sexually depraved violent thing, but we know that more goes on.

The one thing I didn't like is that we're given the reason for the fighters being brought onto the estate, but then there is never an actual fight between them in the arena. And no real explanation for why that might be. Do they only do them on the weekend and they never made it to the weekend? Or maybe the author wrote the fights out and the editor cut them because the didn't add to the story line? That's possible, these are fairly long books with a lot of detail and it would probably take 20 or more pages for this particular author to describe fight night. But, if that was the case then it would have been nice for there at least to be an explanation of why there was no fight. This isn't a huge deal, just one of those things that bugged me a little. I was expecting fight night, and it never came.

Book one in this series got an 8 and book two got a 7. I mentioned in my review of the second book that it almost felt like the middle of a book, and after reading the third I now know I was right. These three books could be read as one long book, and the second book indeed would be the middle. Also, after having read the third, I'm almost tempted to go back and change book two to an 8. It may not have been as good on it's own, but seeing it as the set up to book three makes it better now than when I first read it, I think.

This book, Tempting Evil, gets an 8 of 10, and I'm giving the series an 8 of 10 after having read the first three books. If the next book is as good then the series rating may go up, as I'm enjoying the series a good bit. I ordered the rest of the published books in the series over the weekend, can't wait for them to arrive.


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






1. Full Moon Rising (2006)
2. Kissing Sin (2007)
3. Tempting Evil (2007)
4. Dangerous Games (2007)
5. Embraced by Darkness (2007)
6. The Darkest Kiss (2008)
7. Deadly Desire (March 2009)

Review: Kissing Sin (Riley Jensen, Guardian, Bk 2) by Keri Arthur

Book two of this series wasn't quite as good as book one. It was still good, but not as good. However, the set up we're given for book three leads me to believe it's going to be much better.

There wasn't as much sex in this book, mainly because it doesn't take place around the full moon. I was happy with where the romance stuff went in this book, and I like that Riley stays in control of what she is and is not willing to do when it comes to her many guys. She's clear about the fact that she won't commit to monogamy, and she's honest about how she does and does not feel about each of them. She also does not try to hide who she has had sex with, not even from one of her guys. She's never promised monogamy and therefore none of them have a right to be upset if she's just been off for a few hours with one of them, having sex.

And can I just say that I loved Kade? I've never really considered the whole horse shifter thing before, and the idea of a.. well, a stallion. But wow, now that I've imagined the possibilities, there is much fodder for the imagination.

The other thing that is interesting here is what it necessary for two people of two different supernatural races to compromise on in order to have a relationship. The needs and culture of each race of beings makes it hard to merge into a relationship with someone of another race. That's not necessarily prejudice against other races (though it can be that), even without prejudice, the compromises needed to make a relationship work when two people may have such different needs can seem insurmountable. And not just sexual needs, but also social needs. And quite possibly, some of the obstacles this creates really may be insurmountable. Or, maybe not. 

The plot in this book is a continuation of the plot in the last book, completing what didn't get finished in the previous book. And it is obvious that the next book will just be another continuation of the same plot.

But, this book's plot wasn't quite as good as the one in the previous book. It really felt like the middle of a longer book, and that's quite possibly what it is, since this one plot is going to take so many books to finish off. It kind of felt like this book was just setting us up for the next book. I'll let you know after I've read the next one.

That's not to say it's one you can skip, though. A lot of important things happen in this book. New characters are brought in, a lot of the deviousness of the ring they are investigating is made clear, and a few kind of important people die, too. It's an important book and a whole lot of things happen in it. And it was a mostly enjoyable read. Just not as enjoyable as the first.

This book gets a 7 of 10, and I'm giving the series an 8 of 10 after having read two books.

Book Rating: 7 of 10
Series Rating: 8 of 10






1. Full Moon Rising (2006)
2. Kissing Sin (2007)
3. Tempting Evil (2007)
4. Dangerous Games (2007)
5. Embraced by Darkness (2007)
6. The Darkest Kiss (2008)
7. Deadly Desire (March 2009)

Review: Full Moon Rising (Riley Jensen, Guardian, Bk 1) by Keri Arthur

It seems that people either really like this series or really don't. After reading the first book, I guess I'm not surprised. As it turns out, I liked it. But I can see that a lot of people might not understand the whole sex thing that is a big part of the world building here. Werewolves don't see sex as humans do, so you can't judge their actions based on the human viewpoint.

Normally I don't like books set in the future, as this one seems to be. I like the idea that these beings are here, right now, and we don't see them. That's the urban fantasy thing, right? These books appear to be set in our future though, so the same thing kind of applies, since these beings existed during our time as well, it's just that in the book's now, in our future, that they've come out and governments have written rules to try to make everyone get along.

As for the sex thing, werewolves basically need a whole lot of sex in the week leading up to the full moon, with it getting stronger and stronger as they get closer to the moon. The two days and nights before the full moon they are hit with a "moon fever" and they either have to have sex for most of the time the moon is in the sky or they go into bloodlust. Bloodlust as in, kill lots of humans. So, they have sex. In human form. Lots of wild, abandoned, sex. And, while werewolves are capable of intimate sex with someone they care about, they are also capable of casual sex without thinking anything at all about it.

But, even though this book takes place in the week before the full moon, and even though we get a very good idea of exactly how it feels for a werewolf to go through that time, the book is not "mostly sex". It's mostly plot and character development and world building and fighting, with enough sex thrown in for us to understand how the main character feels at this time. That being said, the descriptions of how the moon effects the libido, how it feels when the moon rises, it's very well done. Just as Kelley Armstrong does a good job describing how a half demon feels, and as Laurel K. Hamilton does a good job of explaining the vampire's bloodlust, Keri Arthur does a good job of explaning how moon fever feels to a werewolf in this world.

Our main character's name is Riley Jenson, of course. Her twin brother goes missing and she has to start looking for him on her own. He's a guardian, the guardians are kind of a special forces elite group of non-human law enforcers. They are part of a government branch called The Directorate of Other Races, and no one really knows exactly how much power they have, but let's just say it's a lot. Riley is a liaison there, and her brother is a guardian. But the head of the guardians wants Riley to be a guardian, too. She's refused so far, because she doesn't want to kill. And he is using this situation to try to bring her over, make her a guardian. She ends up doing guardian things, but tells him she doesn't want to be a guardian.

She meets a vampire who says he can't remember anything, except he just survived an attempt on his life and he can't go to anyone except her brother. She doesn't invite him in, so he stays in the hallway of her apartment for a few days. And, as she starts looking for her brother, the vampire helps.

The book has lots of violence, lots of danger, lots of plot twists. It also has good friends, and a twin pair who deeply love each other and who have a great relationship. But, there is also backstabbing and reasons to not trust, as well as reasons to trust.

It was a good book and an enjoyable read and I can't wait to get my hands on the second book.

Book Rating: 8 of 10







1. Full Moon Rising (2006)
2. Kissing Sin (2007)
3. Tempting Evil (2007)
4. Dangerous Games (2007)
5. Embraced by Darkness (2007)
6. The Darkest Kiss (2008)
7. Deadly Desire (March 2009)

Hunter's Moon (Nightcreature Novel, Bk 2) by Lori Handeland

This series is apparently going to jump around as to who the main character is. The main character in the last book is in this book, but she's a supporting character this time. That threw me at first, as I was reading "me" as it being Jesse and was a bit confused, and then someone called her Leigh and I realized what the problem was.

The premise here is that Leigh's family and fiance' were brutally killed by werewolves and now she's a werewolf hunter. Her life is strictly about killing them. Revenge. There is no other purpose in her life, and she does not really care if she lives or dies. She says this gives her an edge, as her enemies realize she'll die before she lets them live. She's found a way to cope with the past, and she thinks that this is probably as good as it's ever going to get. This is her life. She goes from town to town and kills werewolves. She was trained by the best, our friend Edward Mandenauer.

And she works alone. That is, until Edward orders her to train Jesse, the main character from our last book. Leigh refuses, but Edward tells her she doesn't have a job if she doesn't do it. So, she packs her things and heads that way.

There isn't much more I can say that won't be a spoiler, so I'll stop there. I enjoyed this book even more than the first, and there were no glaring flaws this time that made me have to suspend belief.

I'm giving the book an 8 of 10. I am also going to give the series an 8 of 10 after reading only two books, but part of that is because after reading the excerpt for the beginning of the third book I am convinced the series is likely to hold my attention in a good way.

I bought the first two books in this series to try it out, based on my enjoyment of Any Given Doomsday, the first book of The Phoenix Chronicles. I'm going to buy the next three books in the Nightcreature series and see how I like them before buying the final three.


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





Blue Moon (2004)
Hunter's Moon (2005)
Dark Moon (2005)
Crescent Moon (2006)
Midnight Moon (2006)
Rising Moon (2007)
Hidden Moon (2007)
Thunder Moon (2008)

Blue Moon (Nightcreature Novel, Bk 1) by Lori Handeland

This book had one very major flaw, but I liked it anyway. More on the flaw later.

First, what I liked: I liked the characters, and while this isn't my favorite myth (werewolves are evil and have no choice of being good or evil once bitten), it works well into the story and the world that is created.

I liked Jessie. I liked that she is different and she's okay with that. She knows who she is, knows what her strong points are and her weak points, and she likes herself just as she is.

And Will seriously grew on me as the book continued. Yeah, he was pretty sure of himself, didn't take no for an answer, and all of that Alpha Male thing we see so often. But he was also failing in self confidence in other ways, and that made him more realistic. (Select the spoiler text to view it.)

As for Mandenauer, I seriously liked him once we got to know him. His life has made him cold and untrusting, but he's managed to still be alive. And a serious bad-ass.

As for the plot, I did kind of know that the bad guys were going to end up being the bad guys. Or rather, I thought, but wasn't sure. It would have been my guess if forced to guess. But that doesn't take away from the book any. It was a very enjoyable read.

Now for the flaw. The premise of the book is that there is this ancient Native American ritual that has to take place between the two moons of the same month. The second moon in a month is called a Blue Moon. But, that's strictly a gregorian calendar thing. Or rather, a calendar that is based on the sun instead of the moon.

The Native belief systems worked on a moon calendar, not a solar one. Ancient Native Americans would have no idea that someday a calendar would show up so that two full moons could happen in a month. The word month derives from moon. As in, a moon cycle. That's the way it worked when the calendar was based on the moon. Back then, a blue moon was impossible. So, to my knowledge, there aren't any ancient Native American rituals around a Blue Moon.

Like I said. A serious flaw. But in spite of that, it was an enjoyable book. I had to suspend belief for that though, and that hurt my enjoyment of it. So, it gets a 7 of 10 instead of an 8 of 10.

Book Rating: 7 of 10






Blue Moon (2004)
Dark Moon (2005)
Hunter's Moon (2005)
Crescent Moon (2006)
Midnight Moon (2006)
Rising Moon (2007)
Hidden Moon (2007)
Thunder Moon (2008)

Full Review: Living with the Dead (Women of the Otherworld, Book 9) by Kelley Armstrong

I've finally finished the book, and... WOW. The last third of the book totally makes up for it being hard to get into at the beginning. A very, very, very, recommended read.

The premise of the book has Robyn Peltier as PR person for what sounds like a Paris Hilton clone. Robyn's husband was killed six months earlier and the young lady is still deep in the throes of grief. She moved to LA to escape, and now she's just surviving day to day, using her PR job to keep her so busy she can't think about much else.

When the Paris Hilton clone gets killed though, Robyn ends up as the number one suspect, and then her best friend Hope Adams has to try to solve the mystery to clear her. But people keep dying, and Robyn keeps getting into more and more trouble. 

Hope and Karl begin solving the mystery, only to discover that (of course) this is another twisted case involved supernaturals and secret societies and Cabals and... yeah. 

But it is very well done. Very. Well. Done.  The plot twists and turns and we see more and more people we know or have heard of and then there is the grand finale. But that's not the end of the book. No, there are still a few more chapters until the end of the book, wrapping things up nicely, not dropping us and making us imagine it for ourselves, but giving us completion. And then setting things up for the next book. Thank you Kelley Armstrong for not making us imagine the stuff after the grand finale, I'm glad we got to see that resolution, too.  

I especially liked being privy to how Hope is dealing with her inner demon. And being half demon, she actually does kind of have an inner demon. She is using some of Karl's tricks to control it, doing it much the way a werewolf controls their inner wolf. Whether you are werewolf or half-demon, it's a trick, getting the human part and non-human part to coexist in the same body. As Hope's powers grow, her control has to grow as well. Kelley Armstrong does an incredible job of showing us how Hope feels, how the chaos feels, drinking it in, and yet dealing with her human side at the same time. It was brilliantly done.

We have to wait another year for the next Women of the Otherworld book, titled Frostbitten, and which is an Elena and Clay story, but which hopefully will give us the answers to what happens to Hope next. The Men of the Otherworld book is due out in January, but I don't believe that will continue this story where it leaves off. I could be wrong, but that's not the impression I've had from what I've read so far.  At the end of this book we are set up so we have a very good idea of where things are going, and we see a larger plot that will probably take several more books to reach as well. But I had expected the next book to be another Hope book, not another Elena book. I wonder if there is a way to get the next book out before next November? Please?

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


        


1. Bitten (2001)
2. Stolen (2002)
3. Dime Store Magic (2004)
4. Industrial Magic (2004)
5. Haunted (2005)
6. Broken (2006)
7. No Humans Involved (2007)
8. Personal Demon (2008)
9. Living with the Dead (2008)

10. Frostbitten (Nov 2009)

Living with the Dead (Women of the Otherworld, Book 9) by Kelley Armstrong

This isn't a total review yet, since my UPS driver decided that my house doesn't exist so I didn't get it until late yesterday evening when I drove myself to the UPS office to get it. But, I've read enough to have a feel for it. (I could do a whole rant on UPS right now. I have an idiot for a driver in my area. It's been a problem all summer, but no one at UPS seems to care. Every third or fourth package has a problem. Sometimes he can find me, sometimes he can't. Grrrr.)

But, back to the book. First off, I like it where I'm at now, but I wasn't so sure about things in the beginning. One of the good things about reading a series is that you know most of the characters so picking one up is like getting to see an old friend again. This series is a bit different since different books focus on different people, but it has still mostly fit into that definition. Haven't we always met someone in one book before they get their own book? But this book started out with a bunch of people we haven't met before. And, it kept switching back and forth between them. I had a hard time getting engrossed in it.

Sure, we know Hope and Karl, but there are three or four other main players that we've never met before. And the book starts with them. One chapter for one of them, another chapter for another one, then another chapter for another one. It was hard to keep up.

I'm about two thirds of the way through now and I'm fully into it. It just took a while for me to get to the point where I was enjoying the book.

As of now, it's a good book and I wish I didn't have to go to work today. But, I do. So I'll probably get it finished late tonight.

I'll do a complete review when I'm through with it.






1. Bitten (2001)
2. Stolen (2002)
3. Dime Store Magic (2004)
4. Industrial Magic (2004)
5. Haunted (2005)
6. Broken (2006)
7. No Humans Involved (2007)
8. Personal Demon (2008)
9. Living with the Dead (2008)

Bitten & Smitten (Immortality Bites, Bk 1) by Michelle Rowen

I made it through the book, but I almost put it down a few times. And part of the reason I made it to the end was that it was the only book I had with me as I sat through my daughter's dance class.

For starters, the heroine in this book is just TSTL. Seriously. She's shallow (the pink Diva shirt on the cover should have clued me in), she's not very bright, and she doesn't think about what she's doing or what the ramifications of her actions might be. The only thing she has going for her is that she speaks her mind and tries to keep even the bad guys from getting killed, so she at least has a moral code. But that's pretty much it.

As for the book, there is a lot wrong with it. For starters, the characters aren't very deep. I mean, Sarah and Quinn are written as shallow people who don't really think things through, I know they are supposed to be shallow. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm saying that the character development isn't done very well. That part is shallow.

Sarah supposedly sees the light and becomes un-shallow at one point, but it doesn't seem to last very long.

And then the relationship stuff. I felt that there was more between Sarah and Quinn than Sarah and Thierry, and yet she chose Thierry. It was like it came out of left field. (Select the spoiler text to view it.)

And then the plot was.. well, it went all over the place, and not in a good way.

And what was with the evil scientist anyway? None of that made sense. He's got this underground lair, but he's human? He hates vampires but has a werewolf for a pet? And then he suddenly decides to help the people he was about to kill? (Select the spoiler text to view it.)

I like to always find something positive about a book. Even a book I didn't like. I'm having a very hard time doing that with this book. It didn't flow, the plot could have worked but it didn't, the characters weren't developed enough for their actions to make sense in many cases, and some of what I think was supposed to be funny, wasn't.

I'm giving it a 2 out of 10. It was that bad. I won't even try to give it a series rating after one book.

Book Rating: 2 of 10


1. Bitten & Smitten
2. Fanged and Fabulous
3. Lady and the Vamp
4. Stakes & Stilettos

Dark Elves series by Jet Mykles

These books are listed as being BDSM, but other than one scene in the first book, they really aren't. I'll list them as erotica, but I won't list them as BDSM.

As erotica, they are nice. I personally have this thing where only consensual sex, and more specifically, consensual BDSM, is a turn-on for me. So this series didn't do a lot for me in that regard.

The basic idea is that the elves are a race of males and they must abduct women and put a change spell on them that turns them into elves so that the women can get pregnant. It's the only way the dark elves can survive as a race. As you can see, there is a good bit that is not consensual in this series.

To give the book credit, once the women have been there and fallen in love they want to stay, but when they first arrive they aren't happy about it. If that whole capture fantasy thing is your kink then this should be right up your alley. Seriously.

The books are enjoyable as a whole, and the one BDSM scene is hot. It involves a woman agreeing to be tied to a whipping post and bullwhipped. There are screams and tears and orgasms and it just doesn't get much better than that. But, it's one scene that lasts for a few paragraphs. Not really enough to call it a BDSM book, much less a BDSM series.

Besides the one true BDSM scene, the books also have: lots of capture type scenes, lots of vanilla sex, a few ménage scenes, two scenes where someone loses their virginity, a decent amount of bondage that doesn't fall into BDSM since it's of dubious consent (and BDSM is by definition consensual, without consent it's abuse and/or rape), a good bit of romance, some very rough rape scenes (both man and woman being raped repeatedly for days), and a HEA for so many couples I lost count.

I liked the characters, I liked the world building, and I liked most of the plot. Even if the sex didn't do it for me personally, it was still a nice series.

1. Taken Book Rating: 7 of 10
2. Salvation Book Rating: 7 of 10

Series Rating: 7 of 10
Heat Rating: 1 of 5 (for me, but would probably be 5 of 5 for someone with the capture fantasy thing going for them, or for someone who enjoys mostly normal vanilla sex)

Chaos and Communion (Book 5 of The Master Chronicles) by Jamie Craig

The fifth book in this series once again deviates a good deal from the format of the first three. We get even more of the back story in this book. We learned a great deal in book four, but book five pretty much tells us everything. I think.

Here is the blurb for the book:

Stopping a murder that happened forty years earlier may be the only way to heal a tortured mind... Six months after Jesse Madding is brutally tortured by Marcus Brooker, he is still experiencing flashbacks, panic attacks, and jumping at his own shadow. His lovers, Gideon Keel and Emma Coolidge, would do anything to help him, but Jesse cannot tolerate the thought of being alone, and refuses to be hospitalized for treatment. Desperate for a change, Gideon and Emma suggest a radical solution. Jesse wants to fix his life. More than anything, he wants to be normal again. He doesn't want to live in fear. He doesn't want to be ashamed of his scarred and mutilated body. He doesn't want to shy away from Gideon's touch. Certain that the holding pattern will kill him, he agrees to Gideon and Emma's proposed solution: travel to an alternative dimension and save Marcus Brooker from witnessing Mary's grisly murder...in order to save Brooker's soul.

The BDSM scenes aren't as intense in this book, but they really can't be, with Jesse's state of mind. There is one intense scene in the book, as well as a not so intense one in Sangre, but compared to previous books in the series this one is pretty tame.

We get to watch Jesse fight to get his life back though, and I'm glad that the author didn't just glance over what Jesse's experience was likely to do to him. And I like that Gideon was willing to do whatever it took to help him heal. We knew Emma would, and I figured Gideon would, but it was nice to see.

The story line is good, and I enjoyed it, though not as much as I enjoyed previous books.

To be honest though, the last two books have been more intense than I was ready for at the time. Too much drama and not enough fun. I usually like drama okay and even appreciate it, but these books just made me tired. The blurb for the next book makes it look like things may get even more intense, and I'm just not up for that right now. Part of the blurb for the next book says "Jesse must convince the vampire who doesn't remember him, or the love the three of them share, to fight for their lives.". I do intend to read the next two books in the series at some point, just not quite yet. I don't want to see Emma possessed, and I don't want to see Gideon lose his memories. Not now, anyway. I like these characters and I don't want to see anything else bad happen to them. Not that bad, anyway.


Heat level: 3 of 5
Book Rating: 8 of 10
Series Rating: 7 of 10 (after reading first five books)



1. Master of Obsidian
2. Unveiled
3. Mosaic Moon
4. Seduction in Black and White
5. Chaos and Communion
6. Dominion
7. A Renaissance In Blood

Dark Desires After Dusk (Immortals After Dark, Bk 5) by Kresley Cole

After the last book I had concerns about this book. I had enjoyed the series up until then, and was worried that I wouldn't enjoy it anymore, and that I wouldn't find out how things turn out. I mean, I didn't like the fourth book. Not even a little bit. If I hadn't read the first three before it, I'd have put it down somewhere between pages 50 and 100, never to pick it up again. I disliked it so much that I put off reading this one for a bit. My fears were unwarranted though; this book brought things back to normal. I enjoyed it, and there were even another few LOL parts.

Here's the blurb:

A seductive beauty he can never have, yet can't resist...

Cadeon Woede will stop at nothing to atone for the one wrong that will haunt him forever. But once he secures the key to his redemption, the halfling Holly Ashwin, Cade finds that the woman he thought he could use for his own ends and then forget haunts him as much as his past.

A tormented warrior she should fear, but can't deny...

Raised as a human, Holly never knew that some frightening legends are real until she encounters a brutal demon who inexplicably guards her like a treasure. Thrust into a sensual new world of myth and power, with him as her protector, she begins to crave the demon's wicked touch.

Surrender to dark desires...

Yet just when he earns Holly's trust, will Cade be forced to betray the only woman who can sate his wildest needs -- and claim his heart?

We've met Cade before and know a bit of his history already. We saw him watching Holly at the end of the last book, and I had an idea of where things were going. Or, at least, I thought I did. Turns out, I didn't. But that's a good thing, books really aren't as much fun if you can guess where they are going.

This book doesn't really take us a great deal farther where the Accession comes, but I guess it does help line a few more factions up on either side. And I've a feeling that the events of this book will matter a great deal when the fighting actually starts breaking out in a big way.

All in all, it was an enjoyable read. A good plot, likable characters, funny parts, romantic parts, tender parts, rough parts, and I especially liked the part where the girl can take care of  herself and doesn't need a stinking man to save her. (Select the spoiler text to view it.)

The only sad thing here is that the next book doesn't come out until February.

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





1. A Hunger Like No Other
2. No Rest for the Wicked
3. Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night
4. Dark Needs at Night's Edge
5. Dark Desires After Dusk
6. Kiss of a Demon King (Release date Feb 2009)

Seduction In Black And White (Book 4 of The Master Chronicles) by Jamie Craig

The fourth book in this series has our threesome going out of town. It was different from the others. Still a good book, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I enjoyed the others. Too many secrets, too much conflict, too much pain.

And the violence. There is a lot of violence in this book. Non-consensual violence you can't just skim over, as there are important things being said while the violence is happening.

Here is the blurb for the book:

History doesn't always die. Sometimes, it lives on. Discovering it can be too seductive to resist...A chance encounter on their first vacation in years introduces Jesse Madding to Marcus Brooker, a man who claims to have known the woman for whom vampire Gideon Keel abandoned his evil ways to fight for good. Though Jesse would rather get those answers from his lover, Gideon isn't nearly as forthcoming. So Jesse pursues the truth the only way he thinks he can. Gideon agrees to the New York trip, hoping for three weeks of pure pleasure with his human lovers. Pleasure is not all they find...

This book deals with some of Gideon's history. History that's been hinted at in other books, but we begin to get the rest of the story here.

In the other books I've enjoyed watching the characters grow, and watching the relationships grow. We don't really get that in this book, if anything there are too many setbacks to say that anything grows or gets better.

At the beginning of the book we see that the three are more comfortable together, that they've come a ways since the end of the last book, but... that's about it.

I'm not saying that's a bad thing. Uncomfortable books can be just as good as enjoyable books. Part of the problem is probably that I was expecting more of what I saw in the first three, and this one was so different.

If you've enjoyed the characters in the first books then I still recommend this book. Just be aware that it's not quite as much fun as the previous books have been. This one is much more serious.


Heat level: 3 of 5
Book Rating: 8 of 10
Series Rating: 7 of 10 (after reading first five books)



1. Master of Obsidian
2. Unveiled
3. Mosaic Moon
4. Seduction in Black and White
5. Chaos and Communion
6. Dominion
7. A Renaissance In Blood

Mosaic Moon (Book 3 of The Master Chronicles) by Jamie Craig

The third book in this series did not disappoint.

The crime part of the plot in this one is okay, maybe not as good as the plots in other books, but that's okay. There was enough other stuff going on that it's not that important.

Here is the blurb for the book:

Emma Coolidge is accustomed to isolation. Born with the ability to read emotions, Emma reached adulthood without learning how to control her special gift, leading to a life of self-imposed seclusion. Until she meets Gideon Keel and Jesse Madding, a vampire fighting for good and his human lover. Both men befriend her and introduce her to people who can help her create a normal life for herself. Everything is great for Emma for the first time in her life--except for one small problem. She longs to be part of Jesse and Gideon's lives, and their darker games involving bondage and sadism, but believes her desire can be nothing but a private fantasy.

Gideon adores Jesse and wants nothing more than to give him everything he wants. When Gideon realizes Jesse wants Emma, as well, he decides to invite Emma into their games. But a disturbing new crime distracts Gideon from his goal. Jesse and Gideon are forced to investigate a string of grave desecrations that are somehow siphoning power from the most powerful mage in Chicago. They must unravel the mystery of who is stealing Black John's power, why, and how to reverse it before they can devote their time and energy to their mutual desire for a third in their bed.

One of the reasons I enjoy books in a series is that you often get a longer drawn out plot on top of the plots within each book. Plots within plots, and lots to think about. We don't so much have that in this series by the time we reach the third book, but that's okay. Because the other reason I enjoy books in a series is that you get to watch people grow and learn and change. In this book, we see growth and change. And it's a good thing.

We see Jesse and Gideon's relationship growing even more, and we see how they've managed to make hardcore BDSM work into a relationship without it being 24/7. They've gotten comfortable with the transition from equal partner to Master/slave and then back again. And we get it affirmed that no safeword is needed, all Jesse has to do is say "we need to talk" in the midst of a scene and Gideon is instantly saying "okay".

And we get to see Emma grow into her abilities, so she controls them instead of them controlling her.

Heat level: 5 of 5
Book Rating: 9 of 10
Series Rating: 7 of 10 (after reading first five books)



1. Master of Obsidian
2. Unveiled
3. Mosaic Moon
4. Seduction in Black and White
5. Chaos and Communion
6. Dominion
7. A Renaissance In Blood