* Series Ratings at-a-glance

Listed below are the most recent ratings (shown to the left of the series name) for the series I've reviewed, listed in alphabetical order by genre. Click the series name to go to my reviews of the books in the series.

Urban Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Romantic Urban Fantasy
. 7 of 10 Alpha and Omega series by Patricia Briggs
. 9 of 10 Anita Blake series by Laurel K. Hamilton
. 6 of 10 Cal Leandros series by Rob Thurman
. 6 of 10 Dante Valentine series by by Lilith Saintcrow
. 8 of 10 Dark-Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon
. 5 of 10 Delilah Street series by Carole Nelson Douglas
. 7 of 10 The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher
. 7 of 10 Felix Gomez series by Mario Acevedo
10 of 10 Guild Hunter series by Nalini Singh
10 of 10 The Hollows / Rachel Morgan series by Kim Harrison
. 8 of 10 Immortals After Dark series by Kresley Cole
10 of 10 Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews
. 9 of 10 Kitty Norville Series by Carrie Vaughn
10 of 10 Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs
10 of 10 Meredith Gentry series by Laurell K. Hamilton
10 of 10 Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost
. 8 of 10 Nightcreature/Moon series by Lori Handeland
. 5 of 10 Phoenix Chronicles by Lori Handeland
10 of 10 Riley Jensen, Guardian series by Keri Arthur
10 of 10 Sookie Stackhouse / Southern Vampire by Charlaine Harris
10 of 10 Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer
. 9 of 10 Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
. 9 of 10 Women of the Otherworld series by Kelley Armstrong


Paranormal Chik-Lit
. 6 of 10 Bewitching Mysteries by Madelyn Alt
. 8 of 10 Bronwyn the Witch series by Candace Havens
. 7 of 10 Caruthers Sisters by Candace Havens
. 7 of 10 Psychic Eye Mysteries series by Victoria Laurie


Crime Solving Women
. 8 of 10 Izzy Spellman series by Lisa Lutz
. 6 of 10 Kinsey Millhone Alphabet series by Sue Grafton
. 9 of 10 Nadia Stafford series by Kelley Armstrong
. 8 of 10 Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich


Erotica and BDSM
. 7 of 10 Dark Elves series by Jet Mykles
. 8 of 10 Jarheads series by Sean Michael
. 7 of 10 The Master Chronicles by Jamie Craig
. 6 of 10 Mermaid's Kiss / Daughter's of Arianne by Joey W.Hill
10 of 10 Nature of Desire Series by Joey W. Hill

A Mermaid's Kiss (Daughters of Arianne Book 1) by Joey W. Hill

I wanted to like this book. I really did.

I first discovered Joey W. Hill when I read her Nature of Desire series (my review). I loved those books. I've read some of them again and again.... Mac and Violet, Tyler and Marguerite, Marcus and Thomas. Mrs. Hill wrote those characters, and their stories, so well that I feel as if they are old friends. I feel as if I know them.

I was expecting something similar from this book, and I'm very sad to say I was disappointed.

I mean, I like Jonah and Anna, but I don't feel as if I know them. I wasn't drawn into the story, into their lives, as I was for Ms. Hills earlier works.

The story itself is kind of a remade fairy tale, and it was good in an Urban Fantasy sort of way. And the pacing was well done: action interspersed with talking, good stuff interspersed with bad stuff. So what was the problem? The inner dialogue and inner drama, I think, is what caused problems for me. It just didn't work for me, it seemed... I don't know.. forced? No, that isn't exactly the right word. Maybe... maybe it's that Mrs. Hill writes BDSM relationships so good, that a not-BDSM relationship is hard for her? There were elements of D/s in this book, but certainly no BDSM, and not really even D/s. I mean, sure, Anna considered herself as "belonging" to an angel, and she kind of gave herself over to Jonah, the complete trust in bed thing. But, most of the time Anna did whatever she wanted and went against what Jonah told her to do. She thought she knew better than him. And, most of the time, she really did know better than him. So, it wasn't a D/s relationship. Not really. Not even an "only in bed" D/s relationship, though it did skirt the edges of it.

I was pleased with the ending, and I'm curious about the next book, about Mina and David's story. I will likely read it, just not right now. Later, maybe.

I'm giving A Mermaid's Kiss a 6 of 10. Once again, I love Joey W. Hill's other writings, and it pains me to give one of her books a low rating. But this book just didn't work for me.

Book Rating: 6 of 10



1. A Mermaid's Kiss
2. A Witch's Beauty
3. A Mermaid's Ransom (Dec 2009)

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 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
* 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
* 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 Kate Daniels #4 by Ilona Andrews (May 2010)

Sherrilyn Kenyon's site says that the excerpt for Bad Moon Rising (Dark Hunter Series) will be up soon. When it is posted it will be here.

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

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

I normally shy away from young adult books, but this book has gotten high reviews from so many people who seem to like the same types of books that I like, that I decided to give it a chance.

And I really enjoyed it. The characters were engaging, the world building is excellent, the plot is perfect, and the ending was satisfying.

Here's the blurb:

Rule #3: Don't stare at invisible faeries.

Aislinn has always seen faeries. Powerful and dangerous, they walk hidden in mortal world. Aislinn fears their cruelty—especially if they learn of her Sight—and wishes she were as blind to their presence as other teens.

Rule #2: Don't speak to invisible faeries.

Now faeries are stalking her. One of them, Keenan, who is equal parts terrifying and alluring, is trying to talk to her, asking questions Aislinn is afraid to answer.

Rule #1: Don't ever attract their attention.

But it's too late. Keenan is the Summer King who has sought his queen for nine centuries. Without her, summer itself will perish. He is determined that Aislinn will become the Summer Queen at any cost—regardless of her plans or desires.

Suddenly none of the rules that have kept Aislinn safe are working anymore, and everything is on the line: her freedom; her best friend, Seth; her life; everything.

Faerie intrigue, mortal love, and the clash of ancient rules and modern expectations swirl together in Melissa Marr's stunning 21st century faery tale.

For parents trying to figure out if this book is okay for your daughter, I'm pretty conflicted on that. I'm thinking this book isn't really that good of a book for teens. For a child who wants to read it and has friends reading it, I'd say absolutely no younger than a junior or senior, and even then I've got some problems with it. Aislinn appears to be a junior - she talks about the SAT, and she will be 18 "next year". And yet her Grams (Aislinn's sole guardian) rarely knows where Aislinn is, doesn't ask her to check in with her (until Grams realizes there is trouble), and has no problems with Aislinn spending the night with her boyfriend (who she hasn't even met). There is no intercourse, but there is oral sex (described as being kissed "down there"). And there is underage drinking, and the idea that if you're drunk you aren't responsible for what happens. If your daughter doesn't bring the book up, I wouldn't mention it. If she has friends who are reading it and she wants to, then that puts you in a difficult position. You don't want to make a book "forbidden", but at the same time there are books that just don't give the right message to teens.

I give Wicked Lovely a 9 of 10 for adults who are reading it. As a young adult book I would not give it that high of a rating because I don't think it's a good book for teens to read. I will be putting it away before my daughter gets old enough to want to read it, so it's isn't out for her to ask to read it.

Book Rating: 9 of 10




1. Wicked Lovely
2. Ink Exchange
3. Fragile Eternity
4. Skin Starved (summer or fall 2010)

Brimstone Kiss (Delilah Street, Paranormal Investigator) by Carole Nelson Douglas

The emotion I felt at the end of Brimstone Kiss? Anger. Lots of anger. Seriously, don't put that kind of cliffhanger on a book when another book isn't due out for a year. It's not nice. It doesn't show respect for the reader. Tie up the major loose ends from a book while leaving enough loose ends to make us want the next book right now. But don't give that kind of cliffhanger.

Here is the blurb for the book:

Paranormal Investigator Delilah Street--in her quest to identify the long-buried embracing skeletons she and sexy ex-FBI agent Ricardo Montoya discovered-- has to deal with a lecherous vampire, a ghoulish producer, celebrity zombies from classic films, a mysterious albino rock star who bestows addictive kisses on his groupies, and a dead girl in her mirror--and those are just her clients! Post-Millennium Revelation Las Vegas is teeming with supernaturals and run by a werewolf mob, but even the unhumans can't conceive of what Delilah discovers hidden under its damnable desert sands: unspeakably powerful evil rooted in ancient Egypt...

Brimstone Kiss continues the story from the first book. The pacing is better in Brimstone Kiss than it was in Dancing with Werewolves, and I was mostly enjoying the story. Right up until the end. Have I mentioned the cliff hanger?

I still like Delilah, I still wonder what Snow is and whether he likes Delilah or is using her (he seems to be a good guy where she is concerned, but he could just as easily be a bad guy), I'm still fascinated by the concept of the CinSims. But with the pacing problems from the first book, with the cliffhanger of the second book... there are a lot of problems even though the concept of the books is a good one.

Will I read Vampire Sunrise? I don't know. It's not due out until the end of November, over five months away. By then, I may not care what Ric is when he wakes up. (Select the spoiler text to view it.) And I may not care what Snow is, or whether he's a good guy or a bad guy. I've put it on my Anxiously Awaiting page so I can make that decision when the time draws near, but as of now I'm just not sure. I will probably read some reviews before I make the decision, to make sure we aren't handed another cliffhanger.

I gave Dancing with Werewolves a 5 of 10. If Brimstone Kiss hadn't given us the cliffhanger it could have been a 7 of 10. But with the cliffhanger, it also gets a 5 of 10. The series is going to be a 5 of 10 for me as well.

Book Rating: 5 of 10
Series Rating: 5 of 10




1. Dancing with Werewolves
2. Brimstone Kiss
3. Vampire Sunrise (Nov 24, '09)

Skin Trade (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Bk 17) by Laurell K. Hamilton

Where do I start? I actually finished the book several days ago and I've been trying to decide how I feel about it.

On the one hand, the plot was good, and there was more action and less sex. Not that sex bothers me, but a few books seemed to be more sex than story, or maybe it's more accurate to say that in some of those books the sex was the story. Thankfully, in Skin Trade the sex is not the story. I appreciated that there was a plot other than sex. I think we were two-thirds or maybe even three-fourths of the way through the book before Anita has sex for the first time.

However, there was way too much bickering with the local police department. Very unprofessional. She's a Federal Marshall, she doesn't have to prove herself to them! They can't lock her in an interrogation room and try to find an excuse to arrest her, she's a Federal Marshall!!!! And why is it that every police leader Anita comes in contact with seems to have a personal problem with "the monsters"? Skin Trade could have been about 100 pages shorter, without all of the unprofessional police stuff, and been a much much better book.

A story where Anita comes to town and is treated like the Federal Marshall that she is would be welcome.

But, back to something positive, when I look at the book in terms of where it is taking the series, I'm mostly pleased. Anita is growing, and learning, and gaining control of her powers. If only she could hit a plateau long enough to gain control of what she has before she gets even more, I think she'd have much better control.

Before I go much further, here's the blurb:

When a vampire serial killer sends Anita Blake a grisly souvenir from Las Vegas, she has to warn Sin City's local authorities what they're dealing with. Only it's worse than she thought. Ten officers and one executioner have been slain - paranormal style. Anita heads to Vegas, where's she's joined by three other federal marshals, including the ruthless Edward. It's a good thing he always has her back, because when she gets close to the bodies, Anita senses 'tiger' too strongly to ignore it. The weretigers are very powerful in Las Vegas, which means the odds of her rubbing someone important the wrong way just got a lot higher.

You can figure out from the blurb that she'll see the tigers again from Blood Noir, right? And we'll likely see the Master Vampire of Las Vegas, the same one upset with her for calling his tigers to her in Blood Noir.

I will say that one major plot point that has spanned a lot of books gets tied up in this book. Or, I think it does, anyway. The finale of it was almost anti-climatic. It was a good way to handle it, so I'm not disappointed. Sometimes the way that makes the most sense, the easiest way, is the way with the least amount of drama to it. (Select the spoiler text to view it.)

Along with Edward, we have Bernardo and Olaf back again. There was dialogue and interactions between Anita and Olaf that were... troubling. Troubling in a thought provoking and entertaining way. It will be interesting to see where LKH takes things with Olaf in future books. There were also some interesting conversations between Edward and Anita, for that matter.

I think LKH is heading the series towards a different arc in the story, one where Anita has more control of the Ardeur and it doesn't rule the show, so to speak. The Ardeur will still have to be fed, but I don't think it is going to continue to be front and center and a major part of the story. I look forward to seeing how LKH turns the story, and I look forward to seeing what happens next.

And now for the big question. What do I rate Skin Trade? After giving it a lot of thought I'm going to give it a 7, though I came very close to giving it a 6. Without the drama of the police "undersheriff" disliking her the book would have been an 8.

I'm leaving the series at a 9 of 10.

Book Rating: 7 of 10
Series Rating: 9 of 10


1. Guilty Pleasures
2. The Laughing Corpse
3. Circus of the Damned
4. The Lunatic Cafe
5. Bloody Bones
6. The Killing Dance
7. Burnt Offerings
8. Blue Moon
9. Obsidian Butterfly
10. Narcissus in Chains
11. Cerulean Sins
12. Incubus Dreams
13. Micah
14. Danse Macabre
15. The Harlequin
16. Blood Noir (2008)
17. Skin Trade (2009)

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've marked the most exciting additions to the list in red (below). The Finger Lickin' Fifteen link is not new, but more has been added to the excerpt since the last time I published this list.

* 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, 07/07
* 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
* First two chapters of Hunting Ground (Alpha & Omega, Bk 2) Patricia Briggs, 8/25
* 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
* Snippet of First Drop of Crimson (Night Huntress World, Bk 1) Jeaniene Frost 1/26/10
* Prologue of Kate Daniels #4 by Ilona Andrews (May 2010)

Sherrilyn Kenyon's site says that the excerpt for Bad Moon Rising (Dark Hunter Series) will be up soon. When it is posted it will be here.

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.

The excerpt for Apocalypse Happens (Phoenix Chronicles, Bk 3) by Lori Handeland should go here.

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.

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