Unveiled (Book 2 of The Master Chronicles) by Jamie Craig

The second book in this series is just as good as the first book.

Another great plot, still a nice relationship, and still lots of really hot scenes. And by scenes, I'm talking BDSM, of course.

Here is the blurb for the book:

Sequel to Amber Allure Best-Seller, Master Of Obsidian......Beauty is in the eye of the master...Gideon Keel and Jesse Madding have seen dozens of gruesome crime scenes over the years, but nothing compares to the grisly discovery they make in a small apartment above a sporting goods store. The body has clearly been put on display, and clues in the apartment indicate that while the woman was dying, party guests were enjoying rich caviar and expensive champagne. The two men are mystified. They receive help from an unexpected source--a young woman they rescue from an auction at the vampire club, Sangre. Emma Coolidge is determined to save her sister from the same monsters Gideon and Jesse are hunting. While both men are utterly fascinated by her beauty, her intelligence, and her rare talent as an empath, they value her for her friendship. The three plan a sting operation to infiltrate the small group of "art connoisseurs" by sadistically turning Jesse into a living work of art, but will it be enough to save Chicago from more vicious murders in the name of beauty?

Fair warning on the violence in this story, the parties showcase the killing of humans in macabre ways as art, and the brutality of what is done is pretty rough.

But, that is a small part of the book, and it is necessary. For without something that cruel I don't think they would have gone the drastic route of putting Jesse out there as an exhibit in order to get into a party.

I enjoyed watching Gideon and Jesse grow into their relationship, and watching the relationship grow as well.

The addition of the empath was also a good thing, as it helped all parties understand what the others were feeling.


Heat level: 5 of 5
Book Rating: 10 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 Needs at Night's Edge (Immortals After Dark, Bk 4) by Kresley Cole

I wasn't crazy about this book. In fact, I hated the first 200 or so pages of it. If the first 200 pages had been condensed to about 50 pages, it would have been a much better book.

Also, this book doesn't really take us any further into the Accession. The books so far have taken us on a journey. There is a long term plot, where you have to read all of the books to understand it and keep up with it. But this one didn't. We don't really know anything more about the various factions preparing for the Accession now than we did at the end of the last book. And there was no real plot in this book. Just the romance, nothing much else. And parts of the romance made me want to tear my hair out.

I loved the last book in the series and couldn't wait for the next one to arrive. But after reading this one I'm really disappointed.


Book Rating: 4 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)

Master Of Obsidian (Book 1 of The Master Chronicles) by Jamie Craig

Gideon is a vampire who was once widely known for his blood-thirst and violence but who now spends his time protecting humans and killing vampires who kill for sport. Like he once did. Gideon has sort of a PI agency set up, and he works for people who pay him, also.

Gideon has an assistant named Jesse. Well, a partner, really, though he started out as an assistant. Jesse is a human who knows how to research obscure subjects and who has a basic knowledge of magic. And who can fight and kill vampires too, when necessary.

The first book is about a drug that affects vampires, known as Obsidian. It is absorbed through the skin and makes vampires lose their inhibitions. It makes them act on their desires without having the willpower or reasoning to keep from doing it. As it turns out, it works out well when Gideon unknowingly gets a dose, because it finally makes Gideon kiss and do... other things... with Jesse. At this point Gideon considers Jesse his best friend and partner and doesn't want to mess that up with sex, so he hasn't. Until he gets some Obsidian in his system.

Once the two of them get together the relationship is one of partners. Except when sex is involved, and then it's a pretty rough BDSM relationship. When they are in their D/s roles there are no safewords, and there isn't much mercy given. There is a lot of pain, and blood. This is a vampire Master, after all. But, perhaps saying there are no safewords isn't entirely accurate. If Gideon sensed anything but desire and want from Jesse then he would back off, so with Gideon's vampire senses in this case safewords probably aren't needed. I usually cringe when there are no safewords, but since Gideon continues on as long as he knows Jesse is enjoying it, and since he'll know the second Jesse isn't enjoying it and doesn't need to be told, it's easier to be okay with the no safeword thing.

The relationship has a foundation of friendship, and the men have built on that and now love each other. Or, I guess, man and vampire love each other. At any rate, I appreciate the relationship, especially the fact that they remain partners and friends and the D/s relationship doesn't extend to all parts of their relationship.

Just about everyone on the planet is afraid of Gideon, except Jesse. He stands up to him and fights for equality in their relationship when they are working. He doesn't let Gideon get away with being bossy or being a jerk, he calls him on it and demands better. He can do that, because he knows Gideon will never hurt him. Or rather, will never hurt him outside of their BDSM relationship.

I loved this book. The vampire parts, the relationship parts, the romance parts, the BDSM parts, and even the plot. 

Heat level: 5 of 5
Book Rating: 10 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

Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night (Immortals After Dark, Bk 3) by Kresley Cole

I loved this book. I read it straight through from beginning to end without stopping. Putting it down was not an option. Not even at one in the morning.

We've met Bowen in books one and two of this series. He is a werewolf and we are told that he lost his one mate and has pretty much just existed ever since, for almost two centuries.

This book starts somewhere in the middle of the previous book, during the playing of the Talisman's Hie. This means we get an idea of other things that were going on during that book. There are some paralells, a few things we saw from the perspective of someone else and we see the same scene from Bowen's perspective. But mostly we get new stuff. And we are a few chapters into the book before we reach the end of the previous book.

I liked both the hero and heroine of this book. And I loved the storyline. This may be a romance where a couple gets their HEA in the end, but it's also an adventure. You could take the romance parts away and it would still be a good book with a perfectly good plot.

What's more, this book had humor. Actual laugh out loud humor, where your husband looks at you like you've completely lost your mind. And the dichotomy of some of it, for instance, a character is talking about how she got good answers from a sort of magical mirror at first, but then the answers were kind of vague. She says something along the lines of "it's like the paperclip, at first it's helpful, but after a while you just want it to die." Not only was the statement funny, the whole idea of comparing a magical mirror to the Microsoft Office Paperclip is just... wrong. Though very funny when it hits you out of left field.

I can't wait to see what happens in the next book. I am now officially hooked on the series.

I'll give the book a rating of 10 of 10, and I'm ready to rate the series now as well. I'll give it a 9 of 10 at this point.

Book Rating: 8 of 10
Series Rating: 9 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)

Deviations Series by Chris Owen and Jodi Payne

The first thing I want to say is that this series is rated as a:

Series Rating: 10 of 10
Heat Rating: 5 of 5

And every book gets a 10 of 10 as well.

If you haven't figured it out already, I loved these books. I read all four of them back to back like they were some sort of addictive drug. And then I went back and read the first book again almost immediately.

The BDSM is intense in these books. But so is the love story, and the growth, and the depth of emotion.

I enjoy an author who can show the emotions and the psychology behind a BDSM relationship, and that is very well done in this series. While we are given a blow by blow of some of the scenes, we aren't just given the physical BDSM parts of the story. We see the emotional and psychological parts of it as well. All of which are very realistically handled.

To keep from spoiling later books, I'll give a good synopsis of the first book and not too much about the others.

Tobias is a Dom who is still recovering from the break-up of a long term relationship with Phan (short for Phantom). He is a very skilled Dom who has been in the lifestyle a long time, and is well respected at the BDSM club he frequents.

Noah is a submissive who has had a few bad Doms and he's a bit scarred (emotionally, psychologically, and physically) by them. He has learned from his mistakes and is now very careful about who he submits to, and the level he will submit to them.

When the owner of the club suggests they have dinner together they discover an attraction and they have a scene at the club. A scene that blows both of them away. Even though this first scene isn't over-the-top BDSM-wise, it is emotionally.

They begin seeing each other on weekends at Tobias' house in the country. The BDSM gets really intense; emotionally, psychologically, and physically. And I mean all letters of the BDSM... there is heavy bondage, heavy discipline and punishment, the D/s is taken about as far as you can sensibly take it, and of course the S&M portion is involved as well.

Tobias is unsure about risking his heart again, and Noah is dealing (on several levels) with submitting on the level that he is required to submit.

We also see more than just the Dom and sub sides of these characters. We get to see both of them at work a little bit, and we get to see what makes up their characters outside of the scene.

Trust is a huge part of any BDSM relationship, and that is a big part of all of these books. Tobias must gain Noah's trust, like an onion, layer by layer.

I appreciate the negotiations and the use of safewords in this series. Yes, the BDSM aspect of these books is intense, but it is handled responsibly.

In later books we see the relationship move forward and change here and there, some minor changes and some major changes. And we see the characters grow and change as the relationship does. If you enjoy a book that shows the Dom/sub relationship, then you'll enjoy these books.





Deviations I: Submission Book Rating: 10 of 10
Deviations II: Domination Book Rating: 10 of 10
Deviations III: Discipline Book Rating: 10 of 10
Deviations IV: Bondage Book Rating: 10 of 10

* Anxiously Awaiting

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.

10/14/08 Welcome to the Jungle (Dresden Files) Jim Butcher
10/21/08 Living with the Dead (Women/Otherworld, Bk 9) Kelley Armstrong
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
01/27/09 Kitty / Dead Man's Hand (Kitty Norville, Bk 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, Book 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
02/??/09 Kiss of a Demon King (Immortals after Dark) Kresley Cole
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
03/31/09 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
mid-2009 Branded by Fire (Psy-Changelings), Nalini Singh
09/??/09 Doom with a View (Psychic Eye Mystery) Victoria Laurie
Date not announced, Backup (Dresden Files) Jim Butcher

Updates:

Date not announced, Kiss of a Demon King (Immortals After Dark) Kresley Cole

No Rest for the Wicked (The Immortals After Dark, Bk 2) by Kresley Cole

The second book in the series probably has me hooked on the series. The depth of the long term story line, and the interconnectedness of the various characters has set this up to be an interesting series.

We met Kaderin the Coldhearted in the first book, and we learned what happened to make her coldhearted.

And in this book we get to know her a whole lot better.

This is her story, where she gets her very own HEA. But the storyline getting there is so much more than a normal romance.

We learned of the Talisman's Hie in the last book. We are told it's kind of like a supernatural version of The Amazing Race. Having never watched The Amazing Race, I don't know about that, but the Hie is quite a competition, and we get a first row seat for much of it.

I was conflicted about the first book, but I'm not conflicted about this one at all. I enjoyed it, and I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the next book.

I'll give the book a rating of 8 of 10. I'm not too sure about a series rating just yet, I think I'm going to wait until I've read the third book to get it a series rating.

Book 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)

Death Perception (Psychic Eye Mysteries, Book 6) by Victoria Laurie

The sixth book in the Psychic Eye series is once again a pretty wild ride. Maybe even an e-ride. Unfortunately, I'm not a great fan of extreme roller coasters so some of this book was a bit uncomfortable for me. Is there a thing as too much suspense? For me, there is. Especially when we aren't sure if a character we really like is going to live or die, but we are given the impression they are going to die. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

The premise here is that Dutch's cousin is kidnapped and Dutch needs to go to Las Vegas to try to find him. Abby insists on going with him to help and within a few hours they are on a plane.

Dutch goes missing and the FBI are after Abby. Running out of options, Abby calls in Candace and her sister for reinforcements. Candace used to live in Las Vegas and she knows her way around town, including knowing who to go to for help.

Once again the plot has many twists and turns and we don't know who the bad guy is until the grand finale at the end. Well, we know who a bunch of bad guys are, but we don't know... oh, take my word for it, we don't really know what is going on until the grand finale.

Abby and Dutch are coming along in their relationship and they aren't as annoying as they were a few books ago. I really wish we'd been able to see them resolve a few things in this book though. We are given a very quick epilogue type diatribe at the end to let us know how everyone manages afterwards, but we don't see Abby and Dutch deal with the fallout of some of the things Abby learns earlier on. It's wrapped up too quickly, I needed more.

And that's what I want to see. I want to see Abby and Dutch together, being a couple. Doing things together. We got that some at the beginning of the book, then they are once again separated for most of the book.

I wavered back and forth on giving this one a 7 or 8 out of 10. I'm giving it an 8, but it was a close call. The series rating is still a 7, though.

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




1. Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye
2. Better Read Than Dead
3. A Vision of Murder
4. Killer Insight
5. Crime Seen
6. Death Perception<
7. Doom with a View (Sept 2009)

Crime Seen (Psychic Eye Mysteries, Book 5) by Victoria Laurie

Book five of this series starts a few months after the last book ends. Abby is still living with Dutch and she is on the way to recovery. Dutch is concerned because he thinks she is well enough to start working again, but Abby has lost her confidence and isn't really sure about the whole psychic thing anymore. She feels her intuition should have kept her from getting shot in the first place, and if it could fail so miserably for her, how can she trust it where other people are concerned.

Meanwhile her friend Candice (the PI from Kalamazoo) moves to town to open her own business, and she rents out the empty space in Abby's business office.

Dutch asks Abby for help on a few of his cases, and when she's closing her eyes and grabbing files she accidentally grabs a different one. A case that is closed, with someone already in jail, and Dutch and Milo put him there. And she sees that the man serving time didn't actually do it. The problem is that this is a hot button issue with Dutch and Milo, so she's got to secretly investigate it without them knowing what she's up to. She enlists the help of her friend Candice, and for once we see the girls handling themselves without having to get help from the guys. Nice.

And, Abby and Dutch (mostly) act much more mature with their relationship in this book. A very refreshing change.

I also like that we see Abby having to fight to get her life back as she recovers from the bullet wound. She has to fight to get her body back in shape and fight to get her emotions back in order. And there is that place in the relationship where it's time for Dutch to stop sheltering and protecting and start treating her normally again, and even that is handled well in this book. In real life we aren't just magically okay again after that kind of trauma, and I'm glad that we got to see Abby having to work through this in order to be herself again.

I didn't figure out the "who-dun-it" aspect of the mystery until everything was explained near the end, and I appreciated the twists and turns we were put through while our girls figured out what happened. One thing I wasn't so happy with: Even though I liked the ending, I think that Abby and Candice took too big of a risk handling things the way they did. As much as I enjoyed them handling things through much of the book without needing Milo and Dutch as backup, I think they should have waited for backup for the grand finale. It was fine the way it happened, but may have been a little more believable if they'd have had a Plan B in case Plan A didn't work out.

This book gets an 8 out of 10, and I'm moving the series rating up to that as well.


Book Rating 8 of 10
Series Rating 8 of 10






1. Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye
2. Better Read Than Dead
3. A Vision of Murder
4. Killer Insight
5. Crime Seen
6. Death Perception
7. Doom with a View

Killer Insight (Psychic Eye Mysteries, Book 4) by Victoria Laurie

In the fourth book in the series we don't have to deal too much with what bothered me so much in the last book - immature handling of a relationship by both Abby and Dutch. But that is because in this book they break up at the beginning and then Abby goes to Denver. Hard for them to bicker if Dutch isn't in much of the book.

I think I've realized that the author wants us to experience what it is like to know part of what is going to happen but not have the details we need in order to have the whole story. I'm sure that's how psychics feel when they see bits and pieces of the future but not enough to know for sure what will actually happen, just pieces of what will happen. I think she does a great job of throwing us off balance with this in this book. I actually didn't like it very much, it made the book more stressful, and harder to enjoy since I wanted to get to the part she kept telling us about to see how that worked out. But, I think that was the point, so I'm not really complaining.

As I said earlier, this book has Abby going to Denver, so we get a nice change of scenery and secondary characters for this book (though her sister is still around, and she talks to Dave on the phone since he's taking care of Eggy).

Abby's childhood friend is getting married and Abby is going to be part of the wedding party. She spends a week in Denver and almost as soon as she arrives the murder mystery starts. Her friend's brother is now (conveniently) the sheriff, and since he grew up with her he already trusts in Abby's psychic abilities, which is also pretty convenient since he believes her from the very beginning.

Speaking of which, I enjoyed hearing a bit more about Abby's childhood. We hear that when she was a child and someone lied she would chant out loud to them "liar liar, pants on fire", which makes sense since that is what she hears in their head when someone lies.

But even with a few lighthearted moments thrown in, this is a very stressful book, mostly because of the foreshadowing, but also because of the events that happen. It is not a light read. The ending is especially rough, and once again I stayed up later than I'd originally planned so I could find out what happened. (I actually have to set an alarm when I'm reading, otherwise I just keep reading until I either finish, get bored, or have to use the bathroom really bad. When my alarm went off last night there were only about 45 pages left, so I opted to keep reading.)

One final note, since I complained about how the sex was handled in the previous book: Abby has a fling while she is broken up with Dutch, and the sex is handled much, much, much better than it was handled in the previous book. No graphic details, but enough so we get an idea of how things start and how things end and that it was good in between.

This book gets a 7 out of 10, and I'll give the series the same.


Book Rating 7 of 10
Series Rating 7 of 10






Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye
Better Read Than Dead
A Vision of Murder
Killer Insight
Crime Seen
Death Perception

A Vision of Murder (Psychic Eye Mysteries, Book 3) by Victoria Laurie

As I finish the third book in the series I'm still enjoying the series as a whole, but I didn't like this book as much as I liked the previous two.

The premise of this book has Abby going into business with her handyman Dave and her sister Cat. The three agree to form a business to buy houses and let Dave fix them up and then sell them for a profit. They buy the first house and it turns out to be haunted. Not just eeery-noises-haunted, but power-tools-flying-towards-your-face-haunted. The way to un-haunt a house is to learn the story and solve whatever issues the dead people had so said dead people can move on to The Other Side.

Which means they have to solve a mystery that started back in World War II.

The plot has plenty of twists and turns and even though I knew who the current-day bad guy was from fairly early in the book, the historic part of the story that told us what everyone was after didn't surface until closer to the end, so there was still a mystery that kept me reading later than I'd planned to stay up.

It's not the plot that I had a problem with. It's the relationship stuff I had a problem with. Abby and Dutch acted like two whiny-assed kids through a good part of the book and it seriously got on my nerves. And even if there were injuries, what is this with going to bed and going right to sleep? And then when there is finally some good stuff, we get a single paragraph that it was good and everything fit? Please. It doesn't have to dip into erotica to give us some details, and that was a pretty crappy way to handle that after the tease of the shower scene earlier. (Select the spoiler text to view it.)

So, the plot gets a thumbs up but the romance portion gets a thumbs down. I like Abby and Dutch in every way except the way they handle their relationship with each other. I hope they grow up between this book and the next. And I will be reading the next book to see if they do or not.

I gave the first two books in this series an 8 out of 10 but this one gets a 6 out of 10. And that brings the series down to a 7 out of 10. The series rating is not an average of the individual books, it's an overall view of how I see the series, and the relationship kiddy stuff in this book annoyed me enough to bring it down to a 7.

I love the premise of the psychic who works with law enforcement, and of the FBI agent forced to accept the supernatural when he falls in love with an actual psychic. But no more hiding keys or hitting potholes on purpose, please. I want them to have an adult relationship, not something out of high school.

Book Rating 6 of 10
Series Rating 7 of 10






Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye
Better Read Than Dead
A Vision of Murder
Killer Insight
Crime Seen
Death Perception

A Hunger Like No Other (The Immortals After Dark Series, Book 1) by Kresley Cole

I'm conflicted about this book. By the end of the book I enjoyed it, but it was hard to get into.

I enjoyed the characters, and I enjoyed the world building. The romance part of it was okay, and the other parts of the plot were fairly well done. But, the romance was.. well, personally, I'm a little uncomfortable with the whole idea of a mate being chosen for you by fate or, whoever or whatever it is that chooses such things. This isn't the only series that does it, and I enjoy some of the other series that do it, but it still makes me uncomfortable. Who knows, maybe it's better that way, for there to be a sign of your one true love so you don't screw it up... but I just really like the idea of free will so you get to choose that person yourself.

I read the first few chapters and then put it down to read something lighter before picking it up to read the rest of the story. I had a hard time dealing with the fact that (in the beginning) neither half of this mated pair liked each other. At all. I mean, sure, there was an attraction. But they didn't like each other.

Fortunately, things do get better, and as more and more of the backstory comes up the depth of the story grows. The author draws from a number of myth's and fairy tails and creates an interesting world of supernatural intrigue. The book has vampires and werewolves and Valkyrie and demons and wraiths and witches and gods and goddesses, and I've probably missed a few critters since that was just off the top of my head. Every 500 years or so they all fight and then one of the supernatural races gets to own the playground until the next time they all fight again. The book starts as the next big fight, or Accession, is on the horizon. I'm assuming that fight is going to be the long term plot of the books in the series.

This is the first book in the series and I enjoyed it enough (once I got into it) that I will be buying the next two books in the series so I can see how much I like them as well. It appears that each book is going to be a romance (ala the Dark Hunter series and the Psy-Changelings series) and the longer term plot of the Accession will stretch across each book and we'll eventually get there.

I can't give it a series rating yet after only one book, but I'll give it a book rating of 7 of 10. The last third of the book was an 8 of 10, but the first couple of chapters were maybe a 5 of 10, so an average of 7 of 10 seems pretty good to me.

Book Rating: 7 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)