Tag: paranormal

12 for 2012: My most anticipated books in 2012

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | book reviews> books> ebooks

It’s very difficult to figure out what books I’m looking forward to most in 2012. I mean when I started to look at lists, I realized that most of what I was anticipating were the next books in series, or new books from authors I already knew. But when I looked at the list of my best reads from this past year, most of them turned out to be authors who were new to me. It’s a puzzle, isn’t it?

This doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the series books that I read. I certainly did. But it’s the discoveries that turned out to be the most memorable. Maybe that’s because they were such surprises.

Just the same, these are the books I am planning to stalk NetGalley for review copies. And if I can’t get a review copy? Well, then I’ll just have to buy a copy and review it anyway. There’s even a reading challenge about reading one book a month just for fun!

But the books I’m looking for in 2012 are…drumroll, please!

When Maidens Mourn by C.S. Harris will be the next book in her Sebastian St. Cyr historical mystery series. What Angels Fear is the first book, and St. Cyr is a detective of the amateur and aristocratic variety. He should be the hero of a Regency romance, and in other circumstances, he might have been. But his service in Wellington’s army has left him much too tormented for that. His personal life makes him a tragic hero; the demons that drive him make him an ideal detective, if only to keep him from becoming a criminal. March can’t come soon enough on this.

Celebrity in Death by J.D. Robb. This is Eve Dallas’ 34th outing. I’ve read all of them. Usually in one sitting. I still can’t figure out how she does it, but Robb/Roberts does it really, really well. This book means there will be one warm night in February.

Restless in the Grave by Dana Stabenow. I think I will always have a fondness for Alaska stories. Heck, I still tell Alaska stories, and it’s been 6 years now since I left Anchorage. But living in Alaska is something that changed my perspective, probably forever. The situations Dana writes about in her novels are always a tiny bit familiar, even the ones set in the Bush. Because Alaska is possibly the world’s biggest small town, and there weren’t six degrees of separation, there were three at most. Even for cheechakos like us. Dana writes damn good mysteries, but I always read them for a taste of the place we almost called home.

Master and God by Lindsey Davis. I love Davis’ Marcus Didius Falco series. The whole idea of a hard-boiled detective operating in Imperial Rome has always been utterly delicious. And Falco’s wife Helena Justina is made of awesome. Master and God is not a Falco book. It’s historical fiction set in the same time period. Davis wrote one other work of historical fiction set during the Falco period, The Course of Honor. I read it years ago and it was fantastic. If Master and God is half as good, it will be well worth reading. Come to think of it, I hope people re-discover The Course of Honor. It was incredibly good and I don’t think it got half the attention it deserved.

The Bride Wore Black Leather by Simon R. Green. This one has been teasing me every time I look at Amazon. The recommender can figure out I want to read this, so it sorta/kinda looks like it’s available, but it’s not. January 3, 2012. Come on already. For those fans of the Nightside, John Taylor is finally going to marry his long-suffering (in more ways than one) girlfriend, Suzie Shooter. He just has one last job to finish up before he meets her at the altar. But no job in the Nightside is ever easy, especially not for John Taylor.

Redshirts by John Scalzi. This sounds like it’s going to be really cool. And really, really funny. And yes, the redshirts in the title are those redshirts. Like in Star Trek. The ones that always get killed at the beginning of the mission. What happens if a bunch of them figure it out? And decide that they are not going to let it happen to them? This sounds like something only Scalzi could possibly do justice to. In June, we’ll all find out.

An Officer’s Duty by Jean Johnson is the next installment in her series, Theirs Not to Reason Why. I loved the first book, A Soldier’s Duty (reviewed here), and I can’t wait to see where Johnson next leads her time-travelling heroine, Io, in her quest to save the human race from utter extinction. July 31 is way too far away for this one.

Copper Beach by Jayne Ann Krentz. I knew that someday the Krentz was going to link the Victorian era Arcane Society of her Amanda Quick novels to her contemporary Jones & Jones psychic investigations to her futuristic romances under her Jayne Castle pseudonym. I read them all, but the links make for an added twist that I love. In January Copper Beach starts a new subseries, Dark Legacy.

Crystal Gardens is the start of a second subseries, Ladies of Lantern Street, that Krentz is starting in April under her Amanda Quick name. That means it’s a Victorian era story, at least for the first book. All of the Arcane Society books, both contemporary and Victorian, have been excellent romantic suspense.

Tangle of Need by Nalini Singh is the 11th book in her Psy-Changelings series, and the first to be published in hardcover. Although her Archangel series hasn’t wowed me, the psy-changeling books have never failed to please. I only wish that the release date was earlier than May. And I wish the US version had a better cover. The UK cover is awesome. (UK on left, US on right.)

Dragon Ship by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. I want to go back to Liaden. I want to catch up on the books in between (there are several) that I haven’t read, and I want to finally find out how things are going. Liaden is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, space opera science fiction romance universes of all time. Dragon Ship is due Labor Day. I think I have enough time to get caught up. It will be so worth it.

This last book is an absolute flyer. It sounds really cool, but who knows.

The Yard by Alex Grecian. What if, after Scotland Yard failed to capture Jack the Ripper, they started a Murder Squad? 12 detectives specifically charged with investigating the thousands of murders in foggy, grimy, crime-filled London. How much luck would they have? When one of their own is murdered, the Yard’s first forensic pathologist is put on the track of the killer. I love historic mysteries, and this sounds very, very cool. In May, I’ll find out.

 

These are the books I’m looking forward to this year. I wonder how many will end up on my “best books of 2012” list.

What are your most anticipated books for 2012?

11 for 2011: Best reads of the year

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | best book lists> book reviews> books> ebooks

2011 is coming to a close. It’s time to pause and reflect on the year that is ending.

There’s a lovely quote from Garrison Keillor, “A book is a present that you can open again and again.” There’s a corollary in this house about “not if the cat is sitting on it” but the principle still applies. The good stories from this year will still be good next year. Some of them may even have sequels!

These were my favorites of the year. At least when I narrow the list down to 11 and only 11. And even then I fudged a bit. Read on and you’ll see what I mean.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (reviewed 12/1/11). This book had everything it could possibly need. There’s a quest. There’s a love story. It’s a coming-of-age story. It’s an homage to videogaming. There are pop-culture references to every cult classic of science fiction and fantasy literature imaginable. There’s an evil empire to be conquered. I couldn’t have asked for more.

Omnitopia: Dawn by Diane Duane (reviewed 4/22/11). On the surface, Omnitopia and Ready Player One have a lot in common. Thankfully, there is more than meets the eye. Omnitopia takes place in the here and now, or very close to it. The world has not yet gone down the dystopian road that Wade and his friends are looking back at in Ready Player One. On the other hand, any resemblance the reader might see between Worlds of Warcraft mixed with Facebook and Omnitopia, or between Omnitopia Corp and Apple, may not entirely be the reader’s imagination. Howsomever, Omnitopia Dawn also has some very neat things to say about artificial intelligence in science fiction. If you liked Ready Player One, just read Omnitopia: Dawn. Now!

The Iron Knight (reviewed 10/26/11) was the book that Julie Kagawa did not intend to write. She was done with Meghan, her story was over. Meghan is the Iron Queen, but what she has achieved is not a traditional happily-ever-after. Victory came at a price. Real victories always do. Meghan’s acceptance of her responsibility means that she must rule alone. Ash is a Winter Prince, and Meghan’s Iron Realm is fatal to his kind. The Iron Knight is Ash’s journey to become human, or at least to obtain a soul, so that he can join his love in her Iron Realm. It is an amazing journey of mythic proportions.

Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel (reviewed 10/18/11) is a story that absolutely shouldn’t work. The fact that it not only works, but works incredibly well, still leaves me gasping in delight. Dearly, Departed is the first, best, and so far only YA post-apocalypse steampunk zombie romance I’ve ever read. I never thought a zombie romance could possible work, period. This one not only works, it’s fun. There’s a sequel coming, Dearly, Beloved. I just wish I knew when.

Debris by Jo Anderton (reviewed 09/29/11) is the first book of The Veiled World Trilogy. It’s also Anderton’s first novel, a fact that absolutely amazed me when I read the book. Debris is science fiction with a fantasy “feel” to it, a book where things that are scientifically based seem magical to most of the population. But the story is about one woman’s fall from grace, and her discovery that her new place in society is where she was meant to be all along.

A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny (reviewed 09/19/11). If you love mysteries, and you are not familiar with Louise Penny’s work, get thee to a bookstore, or download her first Chief Inspector Gamache mystery, Still Life, to your ereader this instant. Louise Penny has been nominated for (and frequently won) just about every mystery award for the books in this series since she started in 2005. Find out why.

I love Sherlock Holmes pastiches. (This is not a digression, I will reach the point). I have read all Laurie R. King’s Sherlock Holmes/Mary Russell books, some more than once. I almost listed Pirate King (reviewed 9/9/11), this year’s Holmes/Russell book instead of Trick. But Pirate King was froth, and Penny never is. A regular contributor to Letters of Mary, the mailing list for fans of the Holmes/Russell books, recommended the Louise Penny books. I am forever grateful.

The Elantra Series by Michelle Sagara (review forthcoming). I confess I’m 2/3rds of the way through Cast in Ruin right now. I’ve tried describing this series, and the best I can come up with is an urban fantasy series set in a high fantasy world. I absolutely love it. It’s the characters that make this series. Everyone, absolutely everyone, is clearly drawn and their personality is delineated in a way that makes them interesting. There are people you wouldn’t want to meet, but they definitely are distinctive. It’s also laugh-out-loud funny in spots, even when it’s very much gallows humor. I’m driving my husband crazy because I keep laughing at the dialog, and I can’t explain what’s so funny. I would love to have drinks with Kaylin. I’d even buy. But the Elantra series is not humor. Like most urban fantasy, it’s very snarky. But the stories themselves have a crime, or now, a very big problem that needs solving, and Kaylin is at the center of it. Whether she wants to be or not.

If you are keeping score somewhere, or just want the reading order, it’s Cast in Moonlight (part of Harvest Moon), Cast in Shadow, Cast in Courtlight, Cast in Secret, Cast in Fury, Cast in Silence, Cast in Chaos, and Cast in Ruin.

The Ancient Blades Trilogy by David Chandler consists of Den of Thieves (reviewed 7/27/11), A Thief in the Night (reviewed 10/7/11) and Honor Among Thieves (reviewed 12/21/11). This was good, old-fashioned sword and sorcery. Which means the so-called hero is the thief and not the knight-errant. And every character you meet has a hidden agenda and that no one, absolutely no one, is any better than they ought to be. But the ending, oh the ending will absolutely leave you stunned.

Ghost Story by Jim Butcher (reviewed 7/29/11) is 2011’s entry in one of my absolute all time favorite series, The Dresden Files. And I saw Jim Butcher in person at one of the Atlanta Barnes & Noble stores. Ghost Story represents a very big change in the Dresden Files universe, where Harry Dresden starts growing into those extremely large boots he’s been stomping around in all these years. If you love urban fantasy, read Dresden.

Turn It Up by Inez Kelley (reviewed 8/10/11 and listed here) is one of the best takes on the “friends into lovers” trope that I have ever read. Period. Also, I’m an absolute sucker for smart people and witty dialogue, and this book is a gem. “Dr. Hot and the Honeypot” pretty much talk each other into a relationship, and into bed, while they give out sassy advice over the airwaves on their very suggestive and extremely successful sexual advice radio show.

My last book is a two-fer. Break Out (reviewed 8/4/11) and Deadly Pursuit (reviewed 12/6/11) by Nina Croft are the first two books in her Blood Hunter series, and I sincerely hope there are more. This is paranormal science fiction romance. Like Dearly, Departed, this concept should not work. But it absolutely does. And it gets better the longer it goes on. If you have an urban fantasy world in the 20th century, what would happen if that alternate history continued into space? Where do the vamps and the werewolves go? They go into space with everyone else, of course. And you end up with Ms. Croft’s Blood Hunter universe, which I loved. But you have to read both books. The first book just isn’t long enough for the world building. The second one rocks.

I stopped at 11 (well 11-ish) because this is the 2011 list. I could have gone on. And on. And on. My best ebook romances list was published on Library Journal earlier in the month. LJ has a ton of other “best” lists for your reading pleasure. Or for the detriment of your TBR pile.

Beauty Dates the Beast

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> book reviews

I’ll be honest. I read Beauty Dates the Beast for pure fun. And it absolutely totally was. Pure fun. In the middle of moving it was exactly what I was looking for.

Jessica Sims’ Beauty Dates the Beast is about an escort service. But this isn’t your usual sleazy escort service. This isn’t even your usual swanky escort service, although it is very expensive and has a very select list of clients, and an even more select list of escorts. This agency caters to the fanged, furry and finny among the population. Talk about special requests! Vampires, werewolves and other creatures that go bump in the night apparently aren’t willing to do the old bump and grind with just anyone. At least the high-rollers among them aren’t.

Bathsheba Ward works for Midnight Liaisons. Bathsheba is a human, so she is not one of the escorts. She only arranges the liaisons, she doesn’t go out on them. Until Beauregard Russell gets stood up by his escort. Beau Russell is head of one of the cat-shifter clans, and Bath doesn’t have a substitute she can send, so she goes in person to apologize. When Beau wants her for herself, human frailties and all, Bathsheba’s world starts to unravel.

Beau is in town for more than just a date, and Bathsheba has way, way more problems than just keeping her boss from discovering that she’s interested in a client. When a member of Beau’s clan is kidnapped, and Bath’s secrets are exposed, she’s not sure who she should trust with her secrets. Because when Beau learns what Bath has been keeping from him, she’s afraid he might have to make a bargain that she can’t live with.

Will love conquer all?

Escape Rating B+: This was a great escape read. I was looking for something to take me out of the middle of moving, and this was absolutely terrific for that. The only problem was the whole move was still waiting for me when the book was done. I would definitely recommend Beauty Dates the Beast for anyone looking to get whisked away for a few hours!

What’s on my (mostly virtual) nightstand? Christmas 2011

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Virtual Nightstand

It’s Christmas. We just demolished a turkey boob. There’s just the two of us humans plus the cats, so we only get a turkey breast. A whole turkey would be too much. Somewhere along the way, I started calling it a turkey boob, and the name stuck. The poor turkey is way past being offended.

The cats definitely wanted in on the act. The gravy packet we took out of the turkey? We had to hide it in the microwave until it was time to cook it. Erasmus wanted that gravy packet so bad…

But we’re here to talk about books, not turkeys. Well, so far I haven’t reviewed any turkeys. There’s always next year.

I’m stalling. I just realized that. I looked at last week’s list and next week’s list and the boxes in my office and tried not to scream. We moved last weekend. So I’m a little behind. Just an itty-bitty bit. Moving right along. (Sounds like the Muppets, doesn’t it?)

Next week’s list is as big as this week’s list. I knew I was slightly over-committed.

Midnight Reckoning by Kendra Leigh Castle is the second book in her Dark Dynasties series. I reviewed the first book, Dark Awakening, back in August, and I enjoyed it much more than enough to make me snap this up from NetGalley when I saw it.

The First Rule of Ten by Gay Hendricks and Tinker Lindsay is billed as the first book in the Tenzing Norbu mystery series. Tenzing Norbu is an ex-monk from a Tibetan Monastery who joined the LAPD. At the beginning of the book, he hangs out his shingle as a private detective. Whether this concept works or not, remains to be seen. It definitely sounds interesting.

The Price of Temptation by Lecia Cornwall was described as the story of a tortured Regency Robin Hood meeting his not so proper Marian. It was a description I couldn’t resist. We’ll see if the book lives up to the description.

A Demon Does it Better by Linda Wisdom is the story of a witch with a job at a paranormal hospital where patients have been disappearing. She encounters a sexy demon on a mission who gets her into a world of trouble.

Stellarnet Rebel by J.L. Hilton is my hit of science fiction romance for the week. A deep-space colony, obsessive online gamers, aliens, terrorists and reporters. There’s even a blogger involved. I hope they’re the hero and not the villain…

Cinder by Marissa Meyer is Cinderella’s story if Cinderella were a cyborg. And I think if she rescues herself, but I’ll have to read it and see. This is one YA book that there is a lot of buzz about, and I know I’m going to be sure to read this one. It’s the first in a series, The Lunar Chronicles, which makes it even more tempting.

About last week’s recap…well, I’m in chaos. I really am. I’m reading Cast in Chaos, by Michelle Sagara. One of the books in my backlog is Cast in Ruin, and I needed to read all the Elantra books to catch up. Chaos is the last book before Ruin. It seems completely apropos at the moment.

Two more books from the long backlog are also gone. Tricks of the Trade by Laura Anne Gilman and Honor Among Thieves by David Chandler both went to a highly recommended “bye-bye”. Terrific books in their genres.

I also finished the mind candy of the week, so Lady Seductress’s Ball and One Perfect Night are done as well. Rachael Johns’ One Perfect Night turned out to have more story to it than just mind candy and was very nicely done.

I read a couple of things just for fun. Beauty Dates the Beast by Jessica Sims and No Proper Lady by Isabel Cooper had been recommended to me oodles of times. No Proper Lady was on a ton of “best of 2011” lists. And now I can add my voice to the throng. They are both terrific books. Totally different from each other, but terrific. Complete reviews are, of course, forthcoming.

And I didn’t get anywhere with the rest of the books I was supposed to read. Which is a serious problem. My egalley of The Demi-Monde: Winter is supposed to time-bomb off my iPad on 12/27. I have a print galley in a box. I think it’s in one of the 19 book boxes in my office. If not, there are about as many book boxes in my husband’s office next door. Then there are the boxes in the hall…It must be here someplace. Mustn’t it?

Don’t forget, tomorrow is still Monday, even if it is a holiday weekend. And that means it’s time for another edition of Ebook Review Central. This Monday it’s time to take a look Dreamspinner Press’ November titles.

And we’ll be back next Sunday for another look at the perils of Marlene’s iPad. Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!

Men Under the Mistletoe

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A Reviews> B Reviews> book reviews> C Reviews

As far as this reviewer is concerned, all ebook novella anthologies should be published the way that Carina Press has published their three Christmas collections. I know the whole point of a collection is to get readers to try an author they haven’t tried before. And novellas just aren’t long enough to print by themselves, so in the print world, grouping them made sense. But this isn’t the print world. Grouping them at a discount as an incentive to try new authors, and giving readers the option to buy just the one story they want if, say, they only want the one by Josh Lanyon in this collection, that’s the freedom of ebook publishing.

Now about those stories…

The stories in Men Under the Mistletoe are all about second chances. Not just second chances at love, but second chances at love with the one that got away. In every story, past lovers re-unite to try one last time in an attempt to re-kindle the spark between them during the Christmas season. Will they succeed? Let’s see.

My True Love Gave to Me by Ava March is the only historical in this collection. Set during the Regency period, this story concerns two very young men who are just not ready for the consequences of loving each other in a world where discovery means not just social censure, but possibly prison. At 19, they are both too young to deal with maintaining the multiple layers of identity required to be homosexuals in the ton and still keep their families unaware. Alexander Norton can handle that part, what he can’t handle is Thomas Bennett’s rejection of their first chance to spend a night together. Thomas doesn’t just run from Alexander, he runs away to America. When he returns four years later, neither of them is the same as they were. Can they find a way back to each other?

Escape Rating C: This was the weakest story in the collection. There was too much teenage angst and not enough story. If the author is going to spend most of the story in someone’s head, I want to know what they’re doing, not just what they’re thinking.

Winter Knights by Harper Fox gave me chills. Think of it as Dickens’ A Christmas Carol meeting Camelot, only spookier, and you’ll get the idea. Gavin Lowden is a historian. He is in Northumberland for Christmas, researching the origins of the Arthurian legends. He hopes to find the factual basis for those legends, that Arthur really existed, as a historic leader just after the Romans bugged out of England. He also hopes to find evidence that the bond between Arthur and Lancelot was romantic, not just brothers-in-arms. And, he hopes that his own lover will finally tell his very conservative Catholic family that he is gay. The night he spends under the hollow hill gives him more than he could have ever dreamed, but not in any way Gavin could ever have imagined.

Escape Rating B: This story relies on a lot of myths to make it work. The Arthur myth, the spirit of Christmas, and a certain willing suspension of disbelief. I’m not sure it would work at any time other than Christmas. And it’s a ghost story, I just liked it, but then, I’m a sucker for King Arthur stories, and this kind of is one.

Lone Star by Josh Lanyon is a story that would work any time of the year. Mitchell Evans’ always dreamed of becoming a great dancer with a major ballet company. In order to achieve his dream, he needed to leave the rural Texas town he grew up in. Web Eisley always wanted to be a Texas Ranger. He could achieve his dream right where he grew up. Web and Mitch were each other’s first loves, but their dreams took them 1,800 miles apart. When Mitch returns home for Christmas 12 years after he left, can they find a way back to each other? Can they find a way to reconcile their dreams?

Escape Rating A: This is simply good storytelling. And the theme is universal, which is part of what makes it so good. Mitch’s dreams demand that he leave, and Web is solidly rooted in their Texas hometown. He would be miserable in New York, where Mitch has to go to get the training he needs. They have to part, although Mitch didn’t have to run away. There’s some anger to get past, but this is what happens to people. But the situation is what it is. Can they find a way to be together now? Great story.

The Christmas Proposition by K.A. Mitchell was a tree farm story. (There was one in the Holiday Kisses collection too). This story is better. Mel Halner runs his family’s Christmas tree farm in Epiphany, PA. He also works shifts at a local diner to make ends meet. The Christmas tree farm business isn’t all that great. He’s supposed to be taking a two week vacation in the Caribbean to watch his sister get married, but he gets a phone call. The wedding planner ran off with everyone’s money. Can Tiffany have the wedding at the farm? Of course she can. Mel is not just disappointed about losing his family’s money, and his lost vacation, and his sister’s wedding disaster. There’s more. His ex, Bryce Campion, is his soon-to-be-brother-in-law’s best man. Mel was hoping to see Bryce after they got to St. Thomas, when he could pretend to be tanned and devil-may-care about the whole thing. Instead he would still be in Epiphany, covered in slush and surrounded by reminders of why he should have escaped his small town with the rich and handsome gas company owner. Three years ago, Mel and Bryce let each other get away. Can they catch each other this time?

Escape Rating B+: The description of this story doesn’t do it justice. The story is much better and deeper than the description. This isn’t about Bryce making Mel see what he missed out by passing on the high-life his riches can offer. Instead Mel makes Bryce see what Bryce misses by not being part of a family and having roots in a community. They meet in the middle and make a true partnership.

A Clockwork Christmas

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A Reviews> B Reviews> book reviews

A Clockwork Christmas is a really neat anthology of Christmas-themed steampunk romances from Carina Press. The individual novellas are not only available separately, but they each have their own absolutely gorgeous cover art. Since the big issue with anthologies is that you might like one story and another not so much, I feel compelled to review each one individually. And this way I get to show ALL the covers.

 

Stacy Gail’s Crime Wave in a Corset is the story that contains the most true steampunk elements. It’s also the one that stuck with me. Cornelia Peabody is a thief. A very, very excellent thief, in a Boston that is just different enough from the historic version that airships are commonplace and women learning engineering and technology, while rare, are far from unheard of. Cornelia never steals from people, only institutions. But she made one mistake. She stole a Faberge egg from Beth Coddington, thinking that it belonged to Rodney Coddington’s museum. The egg was the last light in Beth’s eyes, and without it, she lost her battle with a long-standing illness and died.  Rodney Coddington trapped the beautiful thief in revenge for taking away his Beth’s egg, and gave Cornelia seven days to steal it back. A lot can happen in a week, especially the week before Christmas.
Escape Rating: A

This Winter Heart by PG Forte is a story about a Christmas miracle. Ophelia Leonides is not a real woman. Her father made her out of mechanical parts with human skin and a steel skeleton. The woman her father had loved and lost contributed to her genetic makeup. When her father revealed the secret of her origins to her husband, Dario threw them out of his house, and out of his life. Eight years later, Ophelia returns to Santa Fe, bringing with her the news of her father’s death, and the one thing that her husband never believed possible–their seven-year-old and very much human son. Can Dario find his love for her again? Can he believe in this miracle?
Escape Rating: B

Jenny Schwartz’ story of the early days of the development of the Australian republic reminded me of Colleen McCullough’s The Ladies of Missalonghi because of its setting and its take charge heroine. Wanted: One Scoundrel is a fun story about a woman who is the beloved queen of her small community, and thinks she is looking for someone to take her orders, but instead, finds someone to be her match. The subplot involving Australian political shenigans helped the love story along nicely.
Escape Rating: A

Far From Broken by JK Coi was the story with the most loose ends. A spy for the War Office comes home to find that his ballerina wife has been brutally tortured. The only way to save her life is to allow that same office to replace her missing legs, arm and eye with clockwork replacements. She is so traumatized by the torture she endured, the surgery, the pain, and the changes in her life, that she turns everyone away, especially her husband. While she endures all the necessary surgery, he hunts down her torturers. When he returns to the hospital to rejoin her, they face one last battle against the “inside man” who nearly killed her, and to save their marriage.
Escape Rating B: This story left too many loose ends. What was the war about? Who is fighting who? And why? Also, it could easily have been cyberpunk instead of steampunk.

I want to applaud Carina Press for this concept. They also released two other Christmas anthologies like this, Holiday Kisses and Men Under the Mistletoe. I reviewed Holiday Kisses for Library Journal, and I’m highly tempted to get Men under the Mistletoe just to complete the set.

 

Hellsbane

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | book reviews> C Reviews

Hellsbane by Paige Cuccaro was not quite the book I thought it would be. It didn’t have near enough romance to make the mark as a paranormal, and was neither gritty enough nor did it have enough of an urban or detective-y enough feel to be an urban fantasy.

The premise was interesting enough. In Jane Hellsbane’s world, there are a few people who are the offspring of human women and fallen angels. Those children are called nephilim. Our heroine, Jane, is one of those chosen few.

Jane has always been a little different. She’s psychic. For real. It’s not that she can see the future. It’s that she can see people’s emotions, especially if they are sitting in the room with her. So, she uses her gift to tell people pretty much what they want to hear, and they pay her. It’s a living.

Occasionally, she feels something really, really strong in the vicinity. What she doesn’t know is that it’s either one of two things. If it’s a good strong, it’s another person like herself. If it smells like rotten eggs, it’s a demon.

When Tommy Saint James knocks on her door when evening, battered and bleeding, of course she lets him in. Eight years ago, Tommy was the high school golden boy. Every girl had a crush on him, including Jane. Tommy didn’t let her see how badly he was wounded until after he got inside her house.

But Jane didn’t listen to Tommy when he told her not to let the mailman in. And Jane didn’t listen to Tommy when he told her not to pick up his sword. But if Jane hadn’t picked up that sword and  chopped off the mailman’s head after it turned into a demon, Tommy would be dead.

Except by picking up the sword, Jane committed the conscious act that changed her from just a nephilim into a full-fledged illorum, a fighter against the demons and their masters, the fallen angels. And it’s a job that Jane isn’t permitted to refuse. According to God, her act of free will committed her to the cause. If she didn’t want to become an illorum, she should have let Tommy die. Now she’s a soldier for the light, until the demons kill her.

Unless…There’s only one way to resign and live to talk about it. She has to find the fallen angel that seduced her mother (and then wiped her mother’s memories) and kill him. In other words, Jane has to kill her father.

Meanwhile, she has to keep the angel that is responsible for training both her and Tommy from falling for her. And then just falling. Period. But when Tommy is killed in the line of duty, all she and Eli have is each other.

Escape Rating C-: The description of this book was better than the execution. I wanted it to be more than it was. Either Tommy should have lived so that this was about their developing relationship while they fought evil, or there should be a way for Jane and Eli to have a relationship without him becoming a fallen angel and becoming evil. The whole thing about the “sins of the fathers being visited on the children” until they kill their sperm donors is way too melodramatic for me.

My willing suspension of disbelief started slamming the walls when it turned out that Eli’s only previous female illorum was Joan of Arc, and everyone started fearing for his soul because Joan tempted him so much that he broke most of the rules for her. And there is foreshadowing all over the place that Jane is some kind of incarnation of Joan.

Jane Hellsbane can be kick-ass without channeling Joan of Arc. I think it would be a better story if she were. Or if that is a necessary plot element, let’s not go there until Jane is established in her own right first.

Deadly Pursuit

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> book reviews

I absolutely love it when an author gives me what I asked for! Not that Nina Croft and I have ever met. But in my review of Break Out, the first book of her Blood Hunter series, I asked for more world-building, more information about how the situation with the Church and the Collective got started, and were there any others like Rico, meaning, are there any other vampires traveling the space lanes? And I just plain wanted more story.

Deadly Pursuit, Ms. Croft’s second entry in this paranormal science fiction romance series, gave me just what I asked for. Which makes me one happy reader.

Deadly Pursuit picks up right where Break Out left off. The El Cazador and her crew have eluded the pursuing Collective, after breaking Jon the mysterious prisoner out of their clutches just before he was scheduled to be shipped to their maximum security prison planet. What they still don’t know is why Jon and the crew were all supposed to die in the escape attempt. Whatever he knows is so toxic that everyone who gets near him is poisoned. It must be a really big secret.

Jon is a contract killer. The person he assassinated was in the inner circle of the Collective, a man named Aiden Ross. Everyone knows that members of the Collective are supposed to be immortal, and Jon was given the secrets to killing them, so maybe that’s the reason for the big target on his back. It’s certainly not because anyone took Aiden Ross’ death personally. The guy was a bastard, and I don’t mean the fatherless kind.

But the crew has other problems. And so does Jon. Because the cabin boy, Al, isn’t a cabin boy. He’s a she, and she’s not just any girl. She’s the 24-year-old Lady Alexia, the High Priestess of the Church of Everlasting Life. She ran away from her temple 3 months ago, and the Church is just gunning to get her back. Literally.

And Jon has a not-so-big secret of his own. He’s a werewolf. And that whole territory thing about werewolves and vampires? It’s still a problem. And a space ship really doesn’t have enough territory for one vamp and one werewolf to share comfortably.

But the real problem is that Jon’s werewolf has found his perfect mate. And it’s the feisty virgin priestess. But Jon has failed too many people in his life to let himself care about anyone ever again, never mind letting someone like Alex depend on him or care for him. But when the ship’s crew worm their way into becoming his new pack, what’s a werewolf to do?

Escape Rating B+: This was so much fun! It answered so many of my questions from Break Out, and told a great story. The male-bonding between Rico and Jon was hilarious, and the love story with Jon and Alex was sweet without being too syrupy.

I’m looking forward to the next book. Meridian, the drug that grants immortality, well, let’s just say that anything that seems too good to be true is, as usual, too good to be true. Let me put it this way, if you have vampires and werewolves, what other supernatural creatures might you have?

If you like science fiction romance, get Break Out and Deadly Pursuit and just read them both at once. You’ll be very glad you did!

 

What’s on my (mostly virtual) nightstand? 12-4-11

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Virtual Nightstand

We’re back again for another edition of Marlene’s weekly reading diary. Or is that weekly reading planning session? I can never decide…

I just looked at my upcoming review schedule and discovered that my long-anticipated reviewing break is here. I think I hear a rousing Hallelujah Chorus somewhere off in the distance. I may finally get a chance to catch up with myself.

But maybe not. We will be moving house and home the weekend of December 15-18. So things will be slightly disrupted. Or, as they used to say, “at sixes and sevens”. I always liked that phrase.

Reading Reality will be hosting the Unacceptable Risks blog tour on December 18. So one of the books I will be reading in the next two weeks is Jeanette Grey’s Unacceptable Risk. I love science fiction romance, so I’m really looking forward to this one. Jeanette will be writing a guest post on December 18 for the blog tour and she has graciously agreed to give away a copy of her book as part of her stop here for the tour. This is a real wow for me, so I’m really looking forward to it.

I’m also hoping that my connectivity that weekend will not be in the Barnes and Noble in the mall down the street. And I’m trying to figure out whether having a B&N within easy walking distance of our new digs is a bug or a feature of the new place. Browsing in bookstores used to be a serious addiction. “See all the pretty covers…”

The next new book on my list is Rise of Empire, by Michael J. Sullivan. And, if anyone is keeping track, I still need to review Theft of Swords, since it comes first in the Riyria Revelations, and I skipped over that 500 page monster before Thanksgiving. Well, it’s back. Now I need to read it and Empire before December 14. The third book, Heir of Novron, so far has not shown up on NetGalley, unlike the first two. Since it’s not due out until January 31, there’s time yet, but it would be really annoying to have to buy it to find out what happens!

Even before Riyria, I have to go to Hell. (Got your attention, didn’t I?) Last week I picked up Hellsbane, by Paige Cuccaro, from NetGalley. Unfortunately, I picked it up on Tuesday, and it came out on Thursday, and I was already up to my eyeballs in reviews. So I’ll be reading it this week. Hellsbane is the main character’s name, Jane Hellsbane, and this looks like the start of an interesting paranormal series. We’ll see.

Since last week I was already a week behind, this re-cap may be more like a re-top-hat. It needs more capacity than normal.

I did send out my review to Library Journal for Holiday Kisses. I really liked the book–it’s a great collection of holiday love stories. One thing I found interesting, all the stories had an underlying theme of second chances. I don’t know if that was intentional or not. I wish I had more space for the reviews in LJ, I could easily have written a 250-word review for each novella, instead of trying to squish.

Out of the other stuff due for this week, A Clockwork Christmas is done, I just need to write it up. Deadly Pursuit is next.  I just did my ‘mea culpa’ about Theft of Swords, so I won’t go there again, except to read it.

I will probably read Honor Among Thieves first, if only because it finishes the Ancient Blades trilogy, and I get to find out how everything turns out. I like ticking things off the ‘to do’ list. Then it’s on to Laura Anne Gilman’s Paranormal Scene Investigations Series, Hard Magic and Pack of Lies, just so I can review Tricks of the Trade and click that off my NetGalley queue.

Six or seven books will get read this week. Six or seven books will drop out of my queues. The only question is, which six or seven? (Now you know why I like that phrase so much!)

Don’t forget–Samhain Publishing is the featured publisher in tomorrow’s edition of Ebook Review Central.

 

 

 

What’s on my (mostly virtual) nightstand 11-20-11

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Virtual Nightstand

Thanksgiving is this Thursday. We’re driving to my mom’s in Cincinnati on Wednesday. I’ll either get a lot read this weekend, or not much. Also, since it’s an 8-ish hour drive from Atlanta, we need to pick something to listen to while Audible is still having their sale.

But somehow this week I still need to get stuff read for reviews. Next Monday will come all too soon. But this Wednesday will come even sooner!

The first thing on my “to be read” list for this week is for this Wednesday. Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan is due out on Wednesday, November 23, and so is my review. Theft of Swords is the first book in Sullivan’s Riyria Revelations, and is a re-release of the first two books (The Crown Conspiracy, Avempartha) of his series in a single volume. I also have the second volume of the re-release, Rise of Empire, and I’ll be reviewing that in December. I’ve seen a lot of good reviews of the original release of the Riyria Revelations, so I’m looking forward to this. I really hope that the third volume, Heir of Novron, goes up on NetGalley soon, otherwise I’m going to end up buying it just to find out how everything turns out.

If Theft of Swords looks like a traditional epic fantasy, my second book is a different kind of fantasy entirely. Her Christmas Pleasure by Karen Erickson is a romantic fantasy of the historic, hot and steamy variety. This book is short, but probably more spicy than sweet. I have a soft spot in my heart for this author, as one of her other books, Lessons in Indiscretion, was the first title I reviewed for NetGalley.

Two other historic romances are part of my week’s reading; A Midsummer Night’s Sin by Kasey Michaels, and Desired by Nicola Cornick. Both books are part of series, and I have read and reviewed previous titles in each series. Nicola Cornick’s Desired is part of her Scandalous Women of the Ton series. I reviewed Notorious this summer. And I also reviewed The Taming of the Rake, the previous entry to Kasey Michaels Blackthorn Brothers‘ series, on the very same day.

The final book in the Royal House of Shadows series is due out next week. Nalini Singh’s Lord of the Abyss is on my list. I’m looking forward to seeing how this series finishes out. I’ve seen a few ARC reviews for this book, but I’ve tried to avert my eyes. I don’t want to judge the book before I read it.

And last, but not least, one of those things that makes me glad I go through this exercise a week in advance, even when it causes a major “eek” moment. I have Tricks of the Trade by Laura Anne Gilman on my list. I loved her Retrievers series, so I thought I would also like her Paranormal Scene Investigators series too. Tricks is the third book in the series, and I figured that by picking up book 3 from NetGalley, I would finally read books 1 and 2, Hard Magic and Pack of Lies, which I have in print. So now I have to read those first before I start Tricks of the Trade. They’ll be something to read in the car if the iPad runs out of juice (not that we don’t have two Apple device car chargers, but it’s always good to be prepared!) Hard Magic and Pack of Lies are also the only two books for next week that are not from NetGalley. Not only do I own those, they are print copies I moved from Florida to Georgia. It’s high time they got read!


 

 

 

 

Looking back at last week’s post, I didn’t do half bad. A had some help from a couple of sleepless nights, and my husband spent way too much time working, but hey, it all counts, right?

I got everything read for this week, almost. I still have about 2/3rds of Edge of Survival to go, but it’s really good so far. I still need to read Fallen Embers and Burning Embers for Lauri. And that library book, I just bought the thing from Amazon. Since the local library doesn’t even own Charles Todd’s Wings of Fire, I either needed to finish or spend another $2 to borrow it again from some other library. The Kindle version was only $7.99. I did the math, factored in the worry, and gave in.

I have a lot of writing to do to get all these books out of my head. At least the reviews for Frost Moon and Blood Rock are out of my head. Those books were absolutely awesome.

Just a reminder, Ebook Review Central tomorrow will be the Carina Press titles from October.

And tune in next week for another exciting edition of “As the iPad turns”!