Another entry into the series of Atlantean warriors and their predestined mates continues the “Warriors of Poseidon” saga, this time focusing on the emotionless warrior, Brennan, and his truth-teller aknasha — beloved — Tiernan Butler. Tiernan was introduced in an earlier novel as a scrappy journalist whose unique gift makes her perfect for ferreting out the truth in a breaking story; Brennan is cursed never to remember her after she leaves his sight, as she is his mate.
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At the end of Wicked Lovely, Aislinn became the Summer Queen and Keenan’s soul mate. But Aislinn’s heart also belongs to Seth, her mortal whom she leaves behind in the human realm to be with Keenan in her role as the Summer Queen. Seth has not taken to the idea that Aislinn will live on forever as a faerie, and he will someday die. He aches to be with Aislinn forever.
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Wild magic and talented story telling combine to bring to life the tale of Bethral, the warrior woman, and Ezren, the storyteller who refuses to tell stories. If you have been reading Vaughan’s books, you will remember Bethral as the flippant, seemingly hard warrior companion of Red Gloves from Dagger-Star. With her love for her horse, Bessie, and the cat who has adopted her, Bethral sticks to what she knows. And she knows that Ezren, the man she rescued from slavery, is not for her.
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When love is not going as smoothly as he wanted, Dale Thornston, heir to the Serpentine demon throne, decides to take a chance. After getting a reminder from his friend of what he truly is - a snake demon in a relationship with a human woman - he decides to take a chance with a highly addictive aphrodisiac in hopes that will help with cementing their bond. The only problem is not only does it work with the woman he wants but also calls out to all the demoness in the area.
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Jessica Verday’s latest book, The Haunted, is the sequel to The Hollow, and they must be read in that order (and I suggest not even reading this review if you plan on reading The Hollow – there is a major spoiler that cannot be avoided).

The Haunted starts a few months after The Hollow ended. Abbey is living with her Aunt Marjorie where she is finishing up sessions with her psychiatrist. Read More »

Plots using girls who were princesses but are either disowned or have run off and become peasants are ones that have been done before: Dawn Cook wrote The Decoy Princess, Shannon Hale wrote The Goose Girl and The Princess Academy (remember, her friend was one hiding), and there are others. O’Neal, though, adds to this genre and does so well. Read More »

Camea has her future all planned out for her by her intended husband and her parents. Their plan is to marry her off to the farmer’s son next door and join the two farms. But Camea is anxious for any life but that and so she prays that she’s claimed by the lava god as a sacrifice. Of course, Camea intends to escape and run off to faraway lands, but nothing from this point forward goes as planned.
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First off, the artwork is still amazing—the color scheme, the drawing style, it’s all very gothic and brooding. Naifeh is a master at drawing torture on his characters’ faces. The inner guilt, the want, the desire, it’s all there with the dialogue to add to the mood of the novel. Some readers talk of the difficulty of separating characters; while a lot of manga have similar characters, I’ve been reading them so long I didn’t have any trouble figuring out who was who. Read More »

I adore manga and love it when published authors make their debut into the graphic novel world. Sometimes, it doesn’t go so well (Dark Hunter manga) and sometimes it goes great; Kin is one such time. Since graphic novels are generally short stories, I’ll focus on plot then artwork.
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I enjoyed Kin, Kith was alright for me, but Holly Black brings everything together in Kind. This is the final volume in The Good Neighbors trilogy, and perhaps the best of them all. I would also call this the darkest of the trilogy.
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Dead on Delivery, the terrific second book in the Messenger series, opens with Melina, Messenger, or delivery person to the supernatural community, adjusting to life and work without her mentor, Mae. Killed during the events of book one, Mae had been not only Melina’s Messenger guide but also her martial arts sensei, and Melina feels somewhat adrift without Mae’s presence. Not only must Melina contend with her Messenger duties but also her part-time job at the local ER and the management of the dojo Mae left to her.
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In the time of early humanity, ten Elfin gather in a sacred grove to conduct an annual magick ritual when horror enters the world. One of their own, the Apostate, entraps them in a dark magic circle and unleashes a curse that turns them all into the Upry – vampires. The ten behold each other, and seeing the monsters they have become all flee. Read More »

This book is very confusing. There is a heroine who works for the Church defeating ghosts. She nearly kills her husband and working partner in the first few pages. We then learn that Sorcha Faris may be one of the Order’s best but she’s a bit haphazard when it comes to partners. Even though her husband is seriously wounded, she’s forced to partner with a barely-wet-behind-the-ears partner to go back on the road. There, they meet a shape-shifter who happens to be an imposter to the throne. Read More »

Habitation of the Blessed is an ingenious fictional creation, a book written as though it is the memoirs of a Christian monk who traveled to the Far East. He was in search of a legendary King who embarked from Europe as a Christian missionary to lands that did not know of Christ, only to discover places steeped in magic, love, and immortal creatures beyond his ken.

The book consists of the written journals of Brother Hiob of Luzerne, who comes to a strange land and encounters a tree on which books grow. Read More »

Imagine being a young girl in Victorian London. Now imagine having both of your parents just disappear into thin air, and suddenly responsible for caring for yourself and your younger brother. If that is not enough for any twelve-year-old to handle, add on the fact that faeries do exist, and there is a dangerous war going on between the two factions of faeries, the Seelie and Unseelie, and with the humans. Emily Snow stumbles onto the knowledge of faeries on what starts out to be a typical morning, and her life will never be the same. She saves a tiny, dark-skinned man from other small, dark, tattooed men, all of which turn out to be piskies. Emily Snow will now be public enemy number one, with both faerie factions, and Ravenhill, an unpleasant man who apparently dislikes faeries very much, and people who consort with faeries.
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The Buntline Special is a very entertaining alternate version of the events of Tombstone, Arizona, in which the lawmen Earps (including the most famous brother, Wyatt) take on the murderous gang of horse and cattle-stealing Cowboys, with help from the extremely dangerous but very affable Doc Holliday, dapper Bat Masterson, and encounter inventors Thomas Edison and Ned Buntline.

In Resnick’s novel, the United States stops at the Mississippi River. Why, you might ask? Because of the magic of the chiefs of the Western Indian Tribes, which keeps America from achieving its goal of Manifest Destiny- for the United States to stretch from coast to coast. But the US government has a plan. With Thomas Edison and Ned Buntline’s help to overcome the Indians’ magic with science, they can conquer the Indians, and the rest of the land past the Mississippi River. Read More »

Every year on the eve of the Summer Solstice, another young virgin is sacrificed to the dark god Kupalo. As Priestess of the Solstice, Marya took her job seriously, ensuring the souls of the Sacrifice Maiden made their journey in safety and securing her father a place as ruler for another year. Using her beauty and magic to defend herself and her father’s position, nothing seems odd to Marya…until the day she meets Ivan the Fool. Little does she realize that Ivan has been given a mission to overthrow her and her father’s rule and release the surrounding kingdoms from their dark hold.
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Umbrosus is bored with the Arcane Institue. He wants so much more out of life than an education and a decent job. He wants power…money…eternity. And he won’t stop until he’s become a god. Along with his odd collection of unusual (and often reluctant) friends, he set out to do just that: find a way to become immortal.

In his own way, Umbrosus is a charming and entertaining character. He’s also a bit of an egotist and a raving jerk at times. However, it is his unpredictability that makes him so fascinating and enjoyable. While I can’t say that he changes all that much from the beginning of the story until it ends, he does grow and learn a lot during his travels. He files it all away for future reference and goes on being himself…much to the dismay of his companions, I think.
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Specter Rising was a very satisfying conclusion to the Brimstone Network trilogy. Mr. Sniegoski did a great job of upping the ante, tying up lose ends, and integrating the storylines from each book. It has been a real pleasure to read about The Brimstone Network with its unique, interesting, and mostly children/young teen characters. The author managed to write a story that has an appeal for an older reader but also will make younger readers happy. Read More »

Turned away from the promised land of Atlantis, the Nephilim sanctuary, Raechev continues on through millennia as she seeks the answers as to why Ephelim turned his back on her after following his orders not to kill her mother but to trap her, instead. With her brother Caleb by her side, Raechev must deal with new threats to her quiet life acquiring archeological finds when she is attacked by someone from her past, and her brother’s life is in danger because of another attack — one made in close range of where her mother, Ishtar, lies hidden beneath the sands of the desert.
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