Bitten by Books

Ian Graham is struggling to keep his career as a television personality on target. It is about all he has, since his personal life is non-existent. A new job sounds intriguing though, an opportunity for a new TV show on mysteries. Ian dashes from his home in Edinburgh to the beautifully enigmatic Rosslyn Chapel. Certainly, the chapel has been in the news a lot, with best-selling books and movies bringing it to the forefront. Read More »

The bane of Sookie’s life (after the vampires and weres, that is,) consists of her family relationships. Her brother is trouble waiting to happen, and now her cousin Hadley is making trouble…from the grave! Once the consort of the Vampire Queen of New Orleans, Hadley has made Sookie her heir. However, is it a legacy that Sookie truly wants to accept?

Read More »

Each innovative book in the dynamic Sookie Stackhouse series brings the reader closer to understanding the complicated and unusual heroine of the series. Sookie is a telepath, with a weakness for “Vampire companionship.” Despite her negative experiences in the past, cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse manages to be tangled up once again with the supernatural and mysterious in this eighth book of the series.
Read More »

The Irish are often born with the gift known as “the sight,” an ability to see through the tenuous web between this world and the next. Donovan O’Shea does NOT consider it a gift, but rather a curse that he fled to America to avoid. However, his past comes back to “haunt” him in ways he never expected – or wanted. Returning to his home stomping grounds to tend to the needs of his family, Dony (pronounced like Tony) almost immediately is in the throes of the torment that ‘the sight’ brings him. His father is hospitalized, trying to recover from a serious stroke, and Dony and his sister Doreen are trying to settle the family properties, so that the irascible Dermot O’Shea will be financially secure.

Almost from the beginning of this original novel, Donovan finds so much to deal with that his head is spinning – and not just from his clairvoyance! His sister is keeping secrets, as is his father, and when Rylie Powell walks into his life, claiming to be his long-lost (and unknown) half-sister, his confusion and angst knows no bounds. How can he be so sexually attracted to a woman who insists that his father was unfaithful to his mother, and had a bigamist marriage in America? Hunkering down in serious thought, Dony knows that he has to get all the strings of these decades-old mysteries into his hands, and follow them to whatever conclusion he can find. As a child, he had discovered the ability to cross time barriers to play with two other small boys, not knowing that they were great Druids sent to guide him through to a satisfactory resolution to his multiple dilemmas. Can he find Ro and Hain again, and call on their help?

Added to the mix, a fascinating archeological dig is happening on the edge of the fens, on land that his family has owned since the 1800’s. Each mysterious find beckons him on, creating a vortex of bewildering clairvoyance in him. Can he learn to control the gift, and use it to his own benefit? Can he reach through time to find out what happened to his mother, who went missing when he was seven, and to solve the problem of the woman he wants for all time – and who appears to be his half-sister? Loucinda McGary draws on her own Irish Roots to tell a story that wraps the reader in her visions. Cindy uses her love of travel, and her love of romance, to weave a delightful tale, full of fire and brimstone, ghosts and Druids, family secrets and forbidden longings.

As with her protagonist, Cindy McGary keeps all the strands of twisting plot in her hands, and brings her story to a stunning and dramatic end. It was quite easy to relate to the characters, and to read each page eagerly, waiting for the next denouement and the next revelation. She does not over burden her tale with Irish terminology or words, instead using them to weave a believable narrative for the reader, and to make the reader care about the characters. Even minor characters are given their moment in the limelight, and the elements of time travel and ‘the sight’ actually makes it all seem realistic and possible. Certainly, a goal many writers reach for, and a goal Ms. McGary has firmly accomplished. A terrific first novel!

Book Stats:

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca (October 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402213948
• ISBN-13: 978-1402213946

To purchase a print copy of The Wild Sight click here.

To visit the author’s website go here.
To visit the author’s blog go here.

A good romance novel has key elements that have to be present: a man, a woman, a conflict, and a final coming-together. Paranormal romances have the added element of the mysterious, the psychic and the unknown. Barbara Clark is good on both fronts. Her characters are depicted with honesty and forthrightness, and the story weaves in and out of the paranormal elements with ease. The reader is drawn into the story, motivated by curiosity and interest in the characters. Moreover, what interesting characters these are!

Hawk Adams has a past that is littered with physical and emotional pain. Many years spent in covert operations has given him an understanding of the necessity for secrecy and careful planning. Volatile Charity Starr, although a brilliant scientist, does not want to be protected or cared for – it is too chauvinistic and invasive. Charity has locked away her psychic powers for years, because being raised in a family with strong skills can be a very debilitating thing! Until she meets Hawk, she has been able to keep her self-imposed barriers intact; he brings her empathic talent to front and center once again. In fact, being with Hawk, and his own repressed abilities, brings new enhancements and expansion of Charity’s own long-hidden gifts. Yet from the beginning, Charity is determined not to let Hawk take control of her life, or of her need for independence and self-sufficiency. Somehow, she feels that if she lets Hawk into her innermost self, she will lose something of herself and her struggle for autonomy.

Unfortunately, those thoughts put her in constant conflict and danger, and make it almost impossible for Hawk to do his job, and protect her from harm. Readers may be troubled by Charity’s stubbornness and intractability, given the danger she is in, yet it is a part of the plot that is evolving as we read. This is Clark’s first book in the series of Sons of Earth and Wind, and although the characters change from book to book, Ms. Clark character development helps the reader gain a vested interest in the series.

Hawk’s role as guardian (although no angel!) is one to which he has been self-appointed; he knows that Charity is special, and knows that if he can save her from her enemies, and her own obstinate nature, they can create a loving life together. So the more she struggles against his stern taskmaster persona, the more intertwined their relationship becomes. Their love scenes become more intense and more passionate as they struggle to separate the good and evil parts of their lives. The sex in the book is erotic and thorough, without being overly intense or uncomfortable. The tender nicknames that Hawk uses for Charity, and her slow melting under his care, are a positive and enjoyable part of the storyline. The closing chapters of the book bring the reader close to frenzy as we wait for the conclusion!

Subsequent books in the series were nominated for, and won, some outstanding awards for their writing. Take your time and enjoy reading this first title, and get a feel for Barbara’s writing style, her characterizations and her skill in weaving within the plot the mysteries of the paranormal. If you like romance, but are new to the paranormal trend, this is a great place to start! If you are an old hand at this genre, you will find much to enjoy and appreciate.

Book Stats:

• Paperback: 246 pages
• Publisher: Amber Quill Press, LLC (October 9, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592799892
• ISBN-13: 978-1592799893

To purchase a print copy of Tears of the Hawk click here.
To purchase a Kindle copy of Tears of the Hawk click here.

Books in the Sons of Earth and Wind series in the order they should be read:
Tears of the Hawk
A Breath Of Heather
A Touch Of Fire
Deserts of the Heart
Tears Of The Desert Rose

To visit the author’s website go here.

Relationships are hard under “normal” circumstances. Add to the mix a top-secret black ops NYC police team, two dedicated and stubborn cops, and a dark and nasty strain of local vampires, and you have all the ingredients for a first-class paranormal mystery.
Read More »

What a life Dr. Emily Drake lives! As a therapist that specializes in treatment of bewildered vampires and perplexed demons, she has a birds-eye view of the problems, fixations and tribulations of the “Others.” Upon linking with detective Colin Gyth, a closet wolf shapeshifter, Emily finds out a whole lot more than she wanted or expected to about the shadow side of her life. Even though she believes Read More »