The Cursed, the entertaining first installment in The League of the Black Swan series, opens with wizard Luke Oliver receiving an unwelcome visit from Maestro, an envoy from the League with an assignment for Luke-one he definitely does not wish to undertake. In Bordertown, the area of Manhattan populated by the supernatural as well as humans, bike messenger Rio Jones, a young woman with the ability to read minds, witnesses the kidnapping of a young girl. After calling the police, Rio goes back to her apartment, determined to leave and seek out the assistance of Luke Oliver in tracking down the girl, based upon the dangerous thoughts she picked up from the kidnapper. Read More »

In the final book of the Rowan of the Wood series, the Freak Squad is desperately trying to make sense of Cullen’s inheritance, a text written in an ancient language. They know it provides the secret for not only separating Rowan and Cullen, but also defeating Fiana once and for all. Read More »

In Fire of the Fey book three of the Rowan of the Wood series, Cullen is still trying to figure out how to share his body with Rowan. His friends, Maddy and April, get caught by their parents in the lies that they told when they were off rescuing their teacher and, for Maddy, that means being confined to home and school and being kept away from her friends. Her mother also discovers that Maddy has been cutting herself and removes any possible tool for this from Maddy’s reach causing Maddy to spiral out of control emotionally. Read More »

Steve McHugh flashes back to the tumultuous time of King Richard III’s reign in England, giving us a hint of Nate Garrett’s past as the Hellequin, the ruthless arm of Merlin on behalf of the Kingdom of Avalon. Nate is furious that the two princes that he trusted King Richard to guard have been kidnapped, and he wants answers. Read More »

Nate Garrett, aka Hellequin, is back in the third novel in this exciting series. He finds out that his good friend William Moon and his wife were horribly murdered, and Nate is out for blood. The murder is connected to a case they worked on in a sleepy, small town in Maine in 1977 that ended in a way that left Nate dissatisfied, since he had to hand over a psychotic killer to Galahad, his old friend, and King of Shadow Falls (an adjacent pocket realm). Read More »

Sorcerer Nate Garrett returns in Born of Hatred (the second book of the Hellequin Chronicles) to help his longtime friend solve a series of murders that hit close to home. Tommy’s girlfriend and mother of his daughter, Olivia, heads the Law of Avalon agency, which serves as the arm of Avalon, a powerful supernatural governing body, which oversees solving crimes against humans committed by supernaturals and vice versa. Read More »

Crimes Against Magic introduces us to Nate Garrett, a man with very special powers, but no memory of his past. Nate is a sorcerer, adept at using fire and air elemental magic. He employs his abilities as a freelance thief, stealing objects that are extremely difficult to obtain. On his latest job, he is hired to steal a briefcase from a very well-guarded office building, and this job sends him into a head-first collision with his past.
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Orphaned and alone in the world, Montayna has won her freedom from slavery with a nifty piece of magic she was unaware that she even possessed. Read More »

London constable and sorcerer’s apprentice Peter Grant is back for another adventure. This time he’s hearing music—from a dead man…and not a dead artist, but from a dead body. While trying to figure out what could possibly have caused such a thing to occur, he discovers that there have been others. Now it’s up to him, with the help of his superior officer, Detective Chief Inspector Read More »

Julia Campbell has worked hard at making herself needed as a housekeeper at Nova Mare, an exclusive resort in Maine. Julia has lots of welcoming ideas that make her cottages the most requested by guests. She just wants to be able to support her younger sister and get her away from their abusive father. She did not plan on Nicholas, the head of security, getting involved in their lives. Read More »

Harry Dresden wakes up dead, or at least he thinks he is dead. The last he remembers is getting shot and falling off his boat into the cold, cold water. But of course even something as elemental as life or death is never that simple for Harry. Yes, he is dead, but it sure is not what he expects, again par for the course of Harry’s life. Inside of arriving at his ultimate destination, he is somehow stuck “In Between.” Apparently there was some cheating done in the manner of his death and he has been offered a chance to make it right. Read More »

Bruno DiCesare is enjoying Carnevale in Venice. This is the one week each year he can wander the streets freely, since everyone wears costumes and masks throughout during the wild festival. He is not the only unusual creature drawn to Carnevale, although he is one of a kind. Transformed centuries ago into a half-man, half-chimera, Bruno cherishes the change from his usual solitary existence. Read More »

The First Spell is the prequel to Rachel Carrington’s Hot Magic Series, but can be read as a standalone if you’ have not read the series.

Charlemaine has amnesia, she does not know who she is let alone that she is a wizard. What is worse is that she is picked up by Jensen and his brother Remy, who are from differing wizard clans/guilds, and they are not exactly friendly with one another. Still, Jensen cannot seem to leave her alone, and after they kiss, Jensen realizes he needs to keep her close.
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Arianne Farrell was paying for the actions of her sister, Briella, and had been trapped in a bubble, away from the world, for far too many years. The only thing that could save her was love, though she was certain her protector, Devin, was not the one she sought. Ari was attracted to Devin yet would not give him the satisfaction of saying those three words or of allowing him access to her body in any way outside of his dreams. Her magic was powerful, yet she remained confined based on Devin’s whims, subjected to Daemon’s Fire and the lust spell cast upon her. Read More »

The Goblin King by Shona Husk reads like a more romantic, less-80’s version of Labyrinth, sans the awesomeness of David Bowie. Eliza, our rich and confused damsel in distress, summons Roan, the Goblin King, in an act of drunken idiocy. She doesn’t understand that he is not a man to be trifled with, and spending several lifetimes being summoned out of his prison-like home in the Shadowlands doesn’t make him the most reasonable person to deal with. Read More »

When Lucy Rackmore shows up at his door, Gray Calhoun practically slams the door in her face. After all, why would he want anything to do with the sister of the woman who tried to kill him? He obviously has already been unlucky with the Rackmore family once, he does not want to go through pain and betrayal again. However, despite all that, he starts to feel sorry for Lucy and decides he had better help her. Read More »

Almost Persuaded by Mary Balogh - 5

Robert and Jane have loved one another for lifetimes—literally. With each life passing, the two soul mates manage to miss the mark with one another, only to start over again. The two lovers now have another chance at a happy union—one that would last through eternity—if only they can learn to trust the words of their hearts, not the judgments of others. 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 »

 

Side Jobs is a series of short stories about Harry Dresden, Wizard and Private Investigator, and his oh-so-fascinating world, friends and family (although his relationship to his brother, a vampire in the White Court, is a secret, so mum’s the word). The first story, “A Restoration of Faith,” was written two years before the first Harry Dresden book and the last, “Aftermath,” was written after Changes, the last Dresden book. Read More »

Simon Northam, Duke of Hurstgrove, meets his brother Mason’s fiancée days before he is to stand up beside his half-sibling and watch him take Felicia as his bride. With only slightly more than a handshake, Simon knows he has found his mate. Of all times, and of all people in the world, how could he live with that knowledge? To make matters worse, Mathais is after her. For some magical reason she is an Untouchable and magic will not work within 200 yards of her, but he has plans to make use of her powers to bring back Morganna leFay and take over the world with their combined power. And Simon must make her see that he has loved her from first sight.
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