Some Girls Bite: Chloe Neill

I had a lot of fun reading this one and I hope to read more in the series. The main character is likable, hip, and strong. Along with the action there is quite a bit if humor throughout the book. It’s a great read.

Publisher: NAL Trade
Publication Date: April 2009
Format: Paper (Library)
Author Web Site: http://www.chloeneill.com/
Rating: Recommend, Series Read Continue

Description (Amazon)
Sure, the life of a graduate student wasn’t exactly glamorous, but it was Merit’s. She was doing fine until a rogue vampire attacked her. But he only got a sip before he was scared away by another bloodsucker—and this one decided the best way to save her life was to make her the walking undead.

Turns out her savior was the master vampire of Cadogan House. Now she’s traded sweating over her thesis for learning to fit in at a Hyde Park mansion full of vamps loyal to Ethan “Lord o’ the Manor” Sullivan. Of course, as a tall, green-eyed, four-hundred- year-old vampire, he has centuries’ worth of charm, but unfortunately he expects her gratitude— and servitude. But an inconvenient sunlight allergy and Ethan’s attitude are the least of her concerns. Someone’s still out to get her. Her initiation into Chicago’s nightlife may be the first skirmish in a war—and there will be blood.

Darkness Calls: Marjorie M. Liu

I have a fondness for Marjorie M. Liu’s work and Darkness Calls does not disappoint. I like the idea of living tattoos, it is an interesting concept.

Publisher: Ace
Publication Date: June 2009
Format: Kindle
Author Web Site: http://marjoriemliu.com/
Rating: Recommend, Series Read Continue

Description (Amazon)
Demon hunter Maxine Kiss, inked with living tattoos, is on a mission to rescue the man she loves from a bloodthirsty army. To save him, Maxine has only one choice: to lose control—and release her own powers of darkness.

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Skin Trade: Laurell K. Hamilton

I have been reading the Anita Blake series since it came out and I haven’t been enjoying the series as much with the later books as I did in the beginning. The departure from the animator activities into the sex feeding has been a little over the top for me. I could take it if there was a balance “Work/Life Balance" so to speak. But that balance has been lacking in the last several books. I do enjoy erotica and the Meredith series is truly a guilty pleasure for me, but I also enjoyed the original up-tight Anita. If the series had started out sexual, I wouldn’t have an issue…. but I miss the tone of the first few books.

Skin Trade is less sexy than the latest few in the series (I think the first encounter is around past the halfway point). But it still has a way to go before it captures the magic that she created at the beginning. I do enjoy it when Anita and Edward interact, that was a great part of the book. But I could really take or leave the rest of it. Definitely a library book.

Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: June 2009
Format: Paper (Library)
Series: Anta Blake series book 17
Author Web Site: http://www.laurellkhamilton.org/
Reason for reading:
Rating: Ho Humm

Description (Amazon)
A proven series with a hot new look. The #1 bestselling author returns with her most anticipated novel yet.
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.

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Witches Incorporated: K. E. Mills

Witches,Incorporated is a surprise for me. Usually I shy away from historicals and alternate histories (or things that just feel like them) . But I got pulled into the series by the first book The Accidental Sorcerer and I have not been able to pull away yet. I love the characters and setting. There is just something about it that keeps me hooked. I think I’ll be reading books in this series as long as the author publishes them.

Publisher: Orbit
Publication Date: June 2009

Format: Paper

Author Web Site:  http://www.karenmiller.net/

Series: Yes – Rogue Agent

Rating: Recommend, Series Read Continue

Description (Amazon)

It’s a case of espionage, skullduggery and serious unpleasantness
And it’s also Gerald’s first official government assignment. He’s hunting down a deadly saboteur, and time is quickly running out. Old enemies and new combine forces to thwart him. Once again, innocent lives are on the line. He needs his friends. He can’t do this alone.
But Princess Melissande and Reg have troubles of their own. With the help of Monk Markham’s brilliant, beautiful sister, they’ve opened a one-stop-shop witching locum agency, where magical problems are solved for a price. Problem is, the girls are struggling to keep the business afloat. Things are looking grim for Witches Incorporated – and that’s before they accidentally cross paths with Gerald’s saboteur.
Suddenly everybody’s lives are on the line and Gerald realizes, too late, that there’s a reason government agents aren’t supposed to have friends …

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Once Dead, Twice Shy: Kim Harrison

This is the first book in the Madison Avery series from Kim Harrison for Young Adults. I am a fan of the author’s other work and I enjoyed this also. It’s a lighter story intended for the YA audience and I think that it works well. The tone is right and the storyline is good. I enjoyed that the typical scenarios are played with, generating a unique mythos for the world.

I just love the ending relationship between 2 of the characters, it seems like this relationship will be a lot of fun in future books.

Publisher: Harper Collins

Publication Date: May 09

Format: Paper (library)

Author Website: http://www.kimharrison.net

Rating: Recommend, Series Read Continue

Description (Harper Collins)

My name is Madison Avery, and I’m here to tell you that there’s more out there than you can see, hear, or touch. Because I’m there. Seeing it. Touching it. Living it.

Madison’s prom was killer—literally. For some reason she’s been targeted by a dark reaper—yeah, that kind of reaper—intent on getting rid of her, body and soul. But before the reaper could finish the job, Madison was able to snag his strange, glowing amulet and get away.

Now she’s stuck on Earth—dead but not gone. Somehow the amulet gives her the illusion of a body, allowing her to toe the line between life and death. She still doesn’t know why the dark reaper is after her, but she’s not about to just sit around and let fate take its course.

With a little ingenuity, some light-bending, and the help of a light reaper (one of the good guys! Maybe . . . ), her cute crush, and oh yeah, her guardian angel, Madison’s ready to take control of her own destiny once and for all, before it takes control of her.

Well, if she believed in that stuff.

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Her Wiccan, Wiccan Ways: Traci Hall

I downloaded this book from Amazon during one of the 0$ promotions. I enjoyed this book, it appealed to me not only for the price but the story. The characters were fun and engaging. If you enjoy reading YA books with a paranormal flavor, you will enjoy this book.

Publisher: Samhain Publishing

Publication Date: December 2008

Format: Kindle

Rating: Recommend

Description (Amazon )
Rhiannon Godfrey is a psychic prodigy, but her parents don’t see things her way. They think she needs a "normal" high school experienceshe wants to stay in trendy Vegas. In the small farming town of Crystal Lake, being Wiccan doesn’t exactly help the Godfreys blend in. Beyond angry, Rhiannon neglects to inform her parents the farmhouse they just bought is haunted. Instead, she decides to use the resident ghost to prove that she belongs back in Dr. Richards’s Institute of Parapsychology. Not that dispelling ghosts is her area of expertise, but really, how hard can it be? And then there’s Jared Roberts. Totally hot. For a cowboy, that is. Only problem? He comes with an evil twin sister, the shallow and popular Janet. Janet’s only goal is to make Rhee’s life miserable. So when she and her friends decide it’s time for a little payback, Rhee goes to her mother’s book of spells. Janet needs to be taught a lesson, and what harm can come from a few words? Just one little spell.

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Doomsday Can Wait: Lori Handeland

This is a good series for fans of UF, Fantasy, and Romance. It’s a fast paced ride with several creep crawlies. The heroine is likable and has some vulnerabilities that the reader can appreciate.

Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks

Publication Date: April 28 2009

Format: Paper (Library)

Description (Amazon)

It took the near annihilation of humanity for Liz Phoenix to understand the true meaning of her premonitions. Liz is one of the sacred few on earth who has the psychic powers to fight the malevolent forces that have tried to wipe out the human race since the beginning of time. She battled these beings once, thwarting Doomsday but losing most of her soldiers in the massacre. Now she must replenish her troops quickly—because the supernatural war isn’t over yet.

As the new leader of the federation, Liz is marked for death by a Navajo witch with a link to her past. To survive, she must rely on her few remaining allies—her mentor, a shaman with too many secrets, as well as ex-lover, Jimmy Sanducci. Bringing Jimmy into the mix is a dangerous move, for Liz’s darkest desires are razor-sharp—and her longing for Jimmy is at a fever pitch. But can Liz afford to give into the cravings that burn inside her, with the next shot at Doomsday just around the corner? This time, if evil wins, chaos will reign—and the world as we know it will be lost forever…

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Rating: Recommend, Series Read Continue

Santa Olivia: Jacqueline Carey

I picked this up from the Library yesterday around 4pm and I finished it by 8pm. I really enjoyed the story of Loup Garron. She is a wonderful character and it was a pleasure to read her story. I don’t think that I would like another Loup book. Loup’s story felt complete to me, but I would like another tale about the genetically modified solders in this universe.  There seems to be a lot to explore in that world

While I was reading this, I kept thinking about the movie Million Dollar Baby… the boxing was the key. Not sure why I didn’t bring in Girl Fight, but it did remind me of women’s boxing. Thankfully I was far more pleased with the ending of Santa Olivia than I was with Million Dollar Baby.

Fans of Jacqueline Carey’s other work will enjoy Santa Olivia.

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: May 2009
Format: Print

Author Web Site: http://www.jacquelinecarey.com/

Rating: Recommend

Description (Amazon)
Loup Garron was born and raised in Santa Olivia, an isolated, disenfranchised town next to a US military base inside a DMZ buffer zone between Texas and Mexico. A fugitive "Wolf-Man" who had a love affair with a local woman, Loup’s father was one of a group of men genetically-manipulated and used by the US government as a weapon. The "Wolf-Men" were engineered to have superhuman strength, speed, sensory capability, stamina, and a total lack of fear, and Loup, named for and sharing her father’s wolf-like qualities, is marked as an outsider.

After her mother dies, Loup goes to live among the misfit orphans at the parish church, where they seethe from the injustices visited upon the locals by the soldiers. Eventually, the orphans find an outlet for their frustrations: They form a vigilante group to support Loup Garron who, costumed as their patron saint, Santa Olivia, uses her special abilities to avenge the town.

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Bitten to Death & One More Bite : Jennifer Rardin

Jaz Parks is a fun character. I really enjoy reading about her antics and adventures. I think the thing that I love the most about this series is that main couple isn’t on the fast track to the bedroom. It’s not all about the sex with a Jaz Parks story, and that is great. Because the other elements to these books are terrific… humor, adventure, sarcasm, etc…

Description
Jaz Parks here. My latest mission has taken me to the ancient Greek city of Patras; but instead of soaking up its splendor, I’m here to infiltrate a Vampere Trust. Only two vamps have ever escaped the tightly bound communities and lived to tell the tale: Edward "The Raptor"Samos, the most reviled criminal mastermind in recent memory, and Vayl, the CIA’s number one assassin who also happens to be my boss.
The Raptor is trying to take over Vayl’s former Trust. Unfortunately the Trust’s new leader has her own plans.
This job is going to be the death of me.

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Description (Amazon)
It’s Jaz Parks. I’ve already smoked the guy who was the pain in the CIA’s you-know-what for the past few years. But now, in the power vacuum left by the death of Edward "The Raptor"Samos, a struggle for supremacy has begun between his former allies.
The CIA feels the balance must be maintained. So when an agent planted among the Weres discovers a plot to assassinate the Coven’s leader, my vampire boss and I are brought in to take out the woman hired to do the deed, a killer who might be as wily and Gifted as ourselves.
So it’s off to the Scottish Highlands for some twisted fun among murderers, demons and half-crazed relatives. Sometimes being a top-secret CIA assassin isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

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Fall of Light: Nina Kiriki Hoffman

First off, I have to say that I love Nina Kiriki Hoffman’s writing. I have read several of her works and I am not disappointed with Fall of Light. The world that she has created is unique and interesting for the reader. It’s not your standard cookie cutter magic user universe, there are facets that are beautiful and awful. The reader’s exploration of these facets is the enjoyable part of the experience.

Format: Hardcover

Publisher: Ace Hardcover (May 5, 2009)

Web site: http://ofearna.us/books/hoffman.html

Series: This is a standalone book in an existing world. The main character is the sister of the main character from A Fistful of Sky.

Description
Opal LaZelle is a special effects make-up artist, transforming actors into fantastical and grotesque creatures. Unknown to the casts and crews of the films she works on, Opal is gifted in the art of magic—and she applies more than make-up when altering an actor’s features.
Her latest job requires turning Corvus Weather into a dark god of the forest. But when Corvus’s performance becomes too convincing—on set and off—Opal realizes he’s not acting. Something has taken possession of Corvus. Something sinister tied to the town’s past, with the ability to absorb the very essence of life. Something Opal doesn’t have enough power to confront, much less drive from the man she has fallen in love with.

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