The third installment of this series, Club Dead puts our heroine Sookie through her paces and introduces her to another aspect of the paranormal section of society. When Bill leaves on a mysterious trip to do a Read More »
Wicca Girl is the first of what looks to be a very intriguing and entertaining series. Spanning over 900 years and taking place in Britain, it introduces us to a cast of characters who do not turn out to be what you expect at the beginning. Read More »
An anthology edited by MaryJanice Davidson, Faeries Gone Wild is an enchanting romp through the world of Fae with an assortment of captivating characters.
In “Tall, Dark and Not So Faery” by Ms. Davidson, we get another glimpse into the slightly bizarre household and world of Ireland Shea, Magicka guardian. This time however, Ireland plays a supporting role as the story focuses on a six feet, four inch faery named Scarlett. Sent by her king, Scarlett has been assigned the task of counting the, erm, non-human residents of Cannon Falls, Minnesota. As they all seem to reside with Ireland, Scarlett should have a simple job. Fate and a bit of help from Judith (cursed to spend her life as an SUV) turn the job into a complete lifetime makeover for Scarlett. As an added bonus, there is a bit of a twist for Judith also.
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What do you get when you combine an ancient goddess intent on ruling again, a few unsuspecting modern women, some dogs and a hot man or three? An abundance of entertainment, romance and laughs.
Abby Richmond and her dog, Bowser, are new to town after inheriting Abby’s grandmother’s coffee house. Shar Summer is a professor at the local college and, along with her dog, Wolfie, is becoming increasingly unsatisfied with her life. Daisy has been suddenly appointed dog sitter to her mother’s extremely hyperactive Jack Russell, Bailey. When they all attend a dog training class based on a new method, their lives change forever.
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The fourth book of the Phoenix Agency series, Freeze Frame, is a suspenseful addition to the series. Featured this time is Phoenix Agency partner and notorious playboy Mike D’Antoni. Two years before, he had been in a relationship with Kat Culhane but scared himself with the intensity of his feelings for her and ran. Mike was still kicking himself for screwing things up and had been wondering how to convince Kat that he was worth another try. For now though, he has business with the other partners in San Antonio.
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First appearing as a shorter story in the anthology Bad Ass Faeries, The Halfling’s Court
has now been expanded into its own book. Its beginning is the same as the short, but we now see the entire story instead of a portion.
After Lance Cosain’s woman, Suzanne, is attacked, he would prefer to think it was an isolated incident. But other happenings lead him to believe that someone was gunning for him. Though the possibility is discussed, it is evident that the animosity directed towards him has nothing to do with his motorcycle club and everything to do with his family history. Read More »
Wolfe
is a dramatic addition to a wonderfully original Young Adult series. The second in the series, Wolfe starts out only a few months after its prequel, River. I say original because in all of the books featuring shifters, how many of them feature characters that started as animals and were turned human?
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The fifth book of the Bewitching Mysteries series, Where There’s a Witch
, is an engaging continuation of the series featuring empath Maggie O’Neill. Residents of Stony Mill are understandably jumpy after an unusual number of murders have taken place recently. When yet another body turns up, the jumpiness is transformed into downright paranoia and fear. The newest murder isn’t all that has the townspeople in a tizzy. Read More »
Kate Landen is about to experience a lot of changes in her life. Some are good while others are heartbreaking and frightening.
While at an art show featuring her friend Brenda, Kate meets Curtis Stanford. The two are caught up in a whirlwind courtship and are soon married. As Kate adjusts to married life, she is also working on her latest murder mystery. A well known author, she works from home and, while she tries to write every day, she can pretty much make her own schedule. The more she writes, however, the more she starts to worry. Read More »
When she is commissioned to paint a nude for client Aaron Loannides, artist Hallie Brandt misses a part of the contract. The model Aaron wants is Hallie herself. Her sketches, however, do not meet his standards, and to show her exactly what he wants, Aaron uses his own brand of artistry to explain it to her. Where Hallie deals in paints, brushes and canvas, Aaron deals in passion and lust. His own art form serves to open Hallie up to herself and banish her fears so that she may paint herself as others see her instead of how she sees herself. Read More »
The fourth in Ms. Cassidy’s Accidental series, Accidentally Demonic introduces us to Casey Schwartz—responsible, stays out of trouble, keeps her mouth shut Casey. She also happens to be big sister of Wanda. You remember Wanda, don’t you? Formerly dying of cancer until her friends Nina and Marty decided to bite her to save her life? So yeah, Casey and Wanda are sisters even though Casey has absolutely no idea of Wanda’s new…status or that anything remotely paranormal even exists. Read More »
A three story anthology, Hoosier Werewolf: Howl & Prowl introduces us to the three Parks brothers. Each brother is devilishly good looking in his own way and each one is about to find his life turned upside down.
In Hoosier Werewolf 1: Midnight Howl we meet self-described nerd Ethan Parks. With a smaller build than his two athletic brothers and a shy, gentle nature, Ethan has always been the target of bullies. Add to the mix the fact that he’s a highly closeted gay man who is scared to come out to his macho brothers and you get a somewhat repressed, uptight Ethan. Read More »
Even during my Stephen King period, it’s rare that a book has the power to creep me out or make me question the wisdom of entering dark areas even in my own home. The Monstrumologist
has that power.
The Monstrumologist is written as if the author received the diaries of a main character, Will Henry, and transcribed them into a book. The story itself takes place in the late eighteen hundreds when Will Henry was a boy of twelve years old. Orphaned the year before, Will Henry (he is always referred to by his full name) was taken in and appointed assistant to Monstrumologist Pellinore Warthrop, usually referred to simply as “the doctor.” Read More »
In the paranormal genre, there are many weres, vampires and zombies but very few actual dragons as the main character. Magic, Mensa and Mayhem changes that. Meet Vern, a dragon PI in Los Logos, Colorado. Originally from the Faerie world but now residing in the Mundane world (our side), he has been working for the Faerie Catholic Church for eight-hundred years, give or take.
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Do you ever wish that someday, while slogging through the everyday humdrums of life, you could be swept away by a rich, drop dead gorgeous man who just happens to be a prince? Yeah, me too. But, for Abigail Westmorland, our wish becomes her reality.
Following the deaths of her parents, Abigail is renting a room in a tenement house in New York City in 1910. Her father liked the privileged lifestyle but when he died, Abigail discovered that he had run up incredible debts. Read More »
Dead Until Dark is the first of what I hope turns out to be an extremely prolific series. Set in the small northern Louisiana town of Bon Temps, the book revolves around twenty-five year old cocktail waitress and telepath Sookie Stackhouse, her friends and family. Four years after vampires have come out of the coffin as they call it, Sookie is excited when a vampire enters the bar where she works. Read More »
Enter Death, Stage Right
is the second of a wonderfully traditional vampire trilogy and picks up immediately following the end of the first book, Corpses So Lively. Our unlikely hero, college professor Alfred Rhys Smythe, is reeling from the shock of spotting his mother, long thought dead, in an alleyway. He has been investigating what he now knows are vampires, and it seems that his mother is one of them and was sent to warn him off. Because of his mother however, as well as an oath he made to the memories of previous victims, Alfred is even more determined to find and destroy the vampires and take down their “master”.
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Once again in the world of Occult Special Investigator Tess Corday, A Flash of Hex is the second book of this intriguing and attention grabbing series following Night Child. Called to a crime scene, Tess and her partner Derrick, a telepath, are stunned to find a murdered teenager. It isn’t so much the victim that shocks them as it is the manner of death. The teen was murdered in a very ritualistic way with some extremely strong magic. Tess is further taken aback when she discovers that this victim is not the first killed in this manner. As she investigates further, Tess learns that the victims are all children of some of Vancouver’s better known mages.
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Whenever I start a series, I am a little torn. I am always afraid that I will love the first book but not like the following books. With the Phoenix Agency series, I have no worries. The latest in this wonderfully original series, Scent of Danger, definitely lives up to the standards of the previous books.
Once again, we are treated to another chapter in the world of the Phoenix Agency, a hush-hush private security agency based in Maryland. The current “big” project is security for a construction company in Iraq. It is pretty straight forward as these things go except for the minor thefts of weapons from the area. Rick Latrobe is back in the states to brief the others in the Phoenix Agency and come up with a plan to prevent more thefts. There is a huge arms shipment due in a short time and Rick needs to make sure it goes smoothly without anymore thefts.
Kelly Monroe is the granddaughter of the agency’s groundskeeper, Harry. In town visiting with her dog, a Caucasian Ovcharka dog Xena, she takes Rick’s breath away when he meets her just before she leaves. A dog trainer who lives in Maine, Kelly has a very strong connection to Xena and is more than a little surprised when Xena attaches herself to Rick during their brief meeting. Xena is Kelly’s personal guard dog, and they have their own psychic link that Xena has used to keep Kelly from danger. For some reason though, she connects with Rick, also.
Before Rick returns to Iraq to finish his assignment and ensure the successful delivery of the arms shipment to the client, Xena senses danger for him. He leaves before Kelly can stop him and is severely wounded and the shipment stolen. Because of this, Kelly and Xena are, for lack of a better word, recruited to stay with Rick and be part of his security system after he is brought back to the US. During this time and the ensuing investigation into the agency’s own assignment, Kelly and Rick grow exceptionally close. Sounds clichéd, I know, but it is not just romance. Scent of Danger is a mix of excitement, danger, intrigue and mystery as well as the romance aspect. You can reasonably expect a HEA ending for Rick and Kelly, but the path they take to get there is full of twists and turns.
As I said, Scent of Danger has no trouble living up to the previous books in this series. Ms. Rochelle has done a fabulous job of telling the different stories of the agency’s members without losing the appeal of the previous books. If you would like to read this series in order, the other books are Always on my Mind and Visions of Darkness. I should also mention that in addition to being a Phoenix Agency book, this is also part of the Lotus Circle collection. This group of books features psychics and some connection to a world wide group of people with some sort of psychic ability who belong to the Lotus Circle. I sincerely hope there are many more books to come in this series and I look forward to reading them all!
Book Stats:
To purchase an electronic copy of Scent of Danger click here.
Books in the Phoenix Agency series in the order they should be read:
Always On My Mind
Visions of Darkness
Scent of Danger
To visit the author’s website go here.
To visit the author’s blog go here.
Book Stats:
e-book, digital format
Publisher: Amira Press
Length: Novella
ISBN: 978-1-934475-95-9
To purchase a Kindle copy of Cold Kiss click here
.
To purchase an electronic copy of Cold Kiss click here.
Stuck in Scotland after being coldly dumped by her husband and working at a crappy job where she is belittled by everyone and not having any friends, American Aileen decided to take a few extra sleeping pills and just drift away. Interrupted by a knock on her door, Aileen was surprised to find her good looking neighbor Farrell at her door. She was even more surprised that they immediately clicked and soon became a couple.
Finding someone who cared about her, treated her well and introduced her into a close group of friends is one thing. Discovering that she, along with her new boyfriend and his friends, has powers is almost too much to comprehend. But powers they are, and Farrell and his friends help Aileen develop them and learn about other beings of which she was not aware.
Some of these beings are, of course, not so nice. Aileen is stunned to find that one of them from her past and is determined to get her powers at any cost. “At any cost” seems to involve putting Farrell in danger, and Aileen doesn’t take too kindly to that. She must pit her new powers against a very experienced evil to save not only Farrell but also herself.
For a shorter story (fifty-two pages), “Cold Kiss” had a lot happening. I thought that at times it moved a bit too fast and that Aileen seemed to accept things a bit too quick to be that realistic. But all in all, it was a good, quick read with likable characters.
To visit the author’s website go here.
To visit the author’s blog go here.
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