Review of Home Improvement: Undead Edition

I love short stories and novellas by favorite authors, but I have mixed feelings about anthologies featuring short stories. While I have few qualms about buying an anthology with four novellas in it for $7.99, I have to think long and hard about short story anthologies, because typically they’re priced at trade paperback prices, and I’m only interested in a couple of the stories. Home Improvement: Undead Edition features short stories by mystery and urban fantasy authors, all focused on some aspect of home renovation, and the stories range from excellent to merely ho-hum. Because it includes stories by some of my favorite authors I was really looking forward to its release, but it’s a hardcover book, which means I went into sticker shock when I saw the price. If you’re only interested in a few of the stories, I’m not sure the $26.99 price for hardcover or even $12.99 for the Kindle version will be worth it to you. For me the Patricia Briggs, Melissa Marr, and Seanan McGuire stories were definite highlights of the collection and more than made the purchase worth the price.  

“If I Had a Hammer” by Charlaine Harris This is a new Sookie Stackhouse story, and while I’m not a huge Sookie fan, the story was enjoyable and can be read without your having read any of the books in the series. Sookie’s helping friends Tara and JB renovate their house to accommodate their twins when a grisly discovery in the walls creates an oppressive atmosphere in their home. A cute story, but no Eric or Alcides present for you TrueBlood fans.

“Wizard Home Security” by Victor Gischler I felt this story was a bit ho-hum. Broahm is a wizard whose home has been broken into. He hires a young mage to create a security system for him, but just when Broahm gets lazy about activating it at night, another burglar makes an appearance with disastrous results for Broahm. I liked the twist at the end, but there was an abrupt jump to the ending that was a bit disconcerting for me.

“Gray” by Patricia Briggs I pretty much love anything Ms. Briggs writes, and this story was no exception. Set in her Mercy Thompson world, vampire Elyna purchases the condo she lived in years ago despite its reputation for being haunted. When she begins renovations the ghost offers suggestions for improvement, and Elyna starts to enjoy life again in a way she hasn’t since her violent change to vampire. Unfortunately she manages to attract attention from the powerful Chicago vampire seethe, and her new home is threatened. This is a sweet love story and one of the highlights of the collection.

“Squatters’ Rights” by Rochelle Krich This story was downright creepy, and if you love horror, you will definitely enjoy how Ms. Krich builds the tension between the newly married couple who’ve just purchased a fixer-upper. Learning that the couple who lived in the house before them died in a violent murder-suicide doesn’t deter Eve and Joe one bit, but they start to turn on each other as soon as the home improvements begin. Horror is my least favorite genre, and I was so creeped out after reading this I had to put the book down and come back to it later, which says to me it’s a great horror story.

In “Blood on the Walls” by Heather Graham Montville DeFeo finds himself forced to clean pig’s blood off his family tomb when local wannabe cult leader Austin Cramer holds his fake satanic rituals at the tomb. Private Investigaor DeFeo finds himself helping the young Cramer when someone begins viciously ripping apart members of the cult. The connection to home improvement is a bit tenuous with this story, but I enjoyed it none the less. It’s well-written and I liked the tidy ending.

As in Rochelle Krich’s story, “The Mansion of Imperatives” by James Grady  is a horror story of a house under renovation that turns on those living within its walls. While the concept is good, the execution was exceedingly painful, and I consider this the worst story in the collection. The language was choppy and awkward, and the beginning reads like a list of characters and attributes, rather than a developed story.

“The Strength Inside” by Melissa Marr Anyone who’s ever had to deal with an unfriendly Homeowners Association will get a kick out of how Chastity and Alison use the “old ways” to protect their new home. They’re Bori, and while they look human, they most assuredly are not. They have a nest of young, feral siblings to protect, but Justine, the snooty head of the HOA, wants to prevent them from building a fence that would allow their siblings to hunt and play freely. Big mistake, Justine. I loved this story, and Melissa Marr is swiftly becoming a must-read for me.

“Woolsley’s Kitchen Nightmare” by E. E. Knight Chef Sean Woolsley runs elite translife eateries around the world, and he’s been asked to consult on a restaurant in Wisconsin. The owner has the execrable taste to have zombies working in the kitchen along with outdated décor in the dining room. Woolsley devises a clever solution when the day’s special manages to escape. I enjoyed the story, but it wasn’t one of my favorites.

“Through This House” by Seanan McGuire McGuire returns to the world of her October (Toby) Daye series in this short story. You will definitely enjoy the story more if you’ve read some of the books in the series, although you can follow along easily if you have not. The Queen granted Toby the title of Countess of Goldengreen, and Toby’s having trouble entering the faerie knowe. Once she and her small band of friends manage to get inside, they’re attacked by the knowe’s current residents. Despite the absence of my favorite, hottie Cait Sidhe king Tybalt, the story is a delight and a great example of McGuire’s style. Definitely recommend this one!

“The Path” by S. J. Rozan This was a pleasant surprise. I had never read any of S.J. Rozan’s work before, but this story is a charmer. The ghost of dead monk Tuo Mo cannot pass on until the head of a Buddha statue is returned to its original site in a cave in China. In life Tuo Mo was painfully shy, and he must overcome his bashfulness in the afterlife to insure that the statue is restored. His lighthearted encounter with a brash, stubborn ghost in New York City is a moment of humor not found in many of the other stories in the collection.

“Rick the Brave” by Stacia Kane is set in the world of Kane’s Downside series. Unlike the novels in the series, this story is told from the viewpoint of a “normal” – Rick – rather than that of Chess, the heroine of the series. Rick takes a job in dangerous Downside so he can earn some money after his girlfriend dumps him, but when he and the sketchy looking crew begin renovations they discover the house is haunted.  Ghosts can do some serious damage to the living, and Chess arrives in the nick of time to ward off the scaries. Definitely another plus in the collection, although if you haven’t read the series, I’m not sure you would get the best sense of who Chess really is as a character.

“Full-Scale Demolition” by Suzanne McLeod is set in the Spellcrackers.com universe and it’s a fun one! Sidhe fae Genny Taylor is busy rounding up pixies in Trafalgar Square when she’s sent on another job doing the same at a private residence. Genny soon realizes that this so-called routine job is a set up when the swimming pool she’s supposed to rid of pixies resembles an ocean complete with waves. I’m new to the Spellcrackers.com world, but this story definitely has me interested in checking out more of the series.

“It’s All in the Rendering” by Simon R. Green This is an odd story about a House that straddles the border between reality and fantasy. The House provides sanctuary from both worlds, but when visitors show up unannounced to conduct inspections, the House’s future is threatened. There wasn’t anything wrong with this story per se; it just didn’t keep my interest as well as some of the others and felt like it needed a bit more development.

“In Brightest Day” by Toni L. P. Kelner This was a clever story featuring Dodie Kilburn, houngan. She raises revenants to complete important tasks after their deaths, and her job takes a strange turn when the architect Gottfried she’s revived dies yet again. Her refusal to wear all black and dress like a stereotype, plus her tendency to tell bad jokes about the dead get her in trouble with her professional organization, but when Gottfried’s killed off a third time, she has to figure out who killed him so she doesn’t lose her place in the houngan community. The resolution to her problems was hilarious, and I have to confess I enjoyed her really bad puns.

Early Review of Clay & Susan Griffith’s The Rift Walker (Vampire Empire #2)

You have no idea how excited I was on Friday when I made my usual run through Barnes & Noble after dinner and spotted a copy of The Rift Walker on the shelves. Actually, I kind of stood there looking at the book in a strange sort of trance, because I really didn’t believe my eyes. The book’s not supposed to be out until September, and last I checked we were still in August, although the way this summer’s been flying by I would not have been all that surprised to discover that, yes, we were in fact in September and I’d missed a few weeks. But my trusty smart phone confirmed that the long-awaited sequel to The Greyfriar is not supposed to be released until September, and yet there it was in front of me on the shelf! I somehow managed to contain my high pitched shriek of joy, snatched the book from the shelves and ran to the front to buy it, just in case the staff realized their error and tried to tackle me before I could reach the doors. Good luck with that, you latte drinking, all black wearing hipsters!!! I stayed up late last night to finish the book, and it. was. AWESOME. You know your favorite Indiana Jones movie? The one with all the heart-pounding action, romance, and a little magic? My friends, you must read The Rift Walker, because reading it is just like watching Raiders of the Lost Ark or The Last Crusade. You will not be able to put it down!

Any review of The Rift Walker will contain spoilers for the first book in the Vampire Empire series, The Greyfriar, so if you haven’t read the first book, you might want to read my review of it here. The Rift Walker can stand on its own, but you will definitely enjoy the book all the more if you’ve read the first in the series.

The Rift Walker picks up only three months after The Greyfriar ends. Princess Adele of Equatoria has returned to Alexandria after her ordeal in the north of Europe. Her story has become immensely popular in Equatoria, resulting in the publication of penny dreadfuls and plays depicting her kidnapping by vampires and subsequent rescue by the Greyfriar. Her American fiancé Senator Miles Clark is pressing her to set a date for their political marriage, but Adele lost her heart to the Greyfriar in his castle in Edinburgh, despite learning that the Greyfriar was in fact the vampire Prince Gareth. Senator Clark’s military expertise is vital to the humans’ plans to declare war against the vampires to the north, but his bravado and arrogance repulse Adele. She’s further horrified to learn that his plans for the north include fire-bombing as many humans in the vampires’ terrain as possible, as that will kill off their food supply and weaken the enemy. Her protests fall on deaf ears, and her father, Emperor Constantine II, orders their marriage within the next two weeks. When vampire Gareth learns that his brother Cesare plans to abduct Adele during her honeymoon, he travels to Alexandria and interrupts the royal wedding to whisk Adele away to safety.  While the Equatorians and Adele’s husband Senator Clark give chase, the lovers seek a safe haven, little realizing that their actions have allowed Equatorian Prime Minister Lord Kelvin the opportunity to seize power.

Really, this book has it all. The action is non-stop, with several storylines running at once. The vampires are uniting under Cesare, and Gareth’s attempts to protect the humans while maintaining his secret identity as the Greyfriar are becoming increasingly less effective. Princess Adele is forced to acquiesce to her father’s demands that she fulfill her duty and marry the bellicose Senator Clark, despite her reports that the humans in the north need the assistance of the Equatorians. And it becomes clear that there are several different factions seeking to control Equatoria through Adele. Her mysterious teacher Mamoru is training her to use the powers she discovered in the north, and while these powers could spell the end to the vampires, they could also mean the end of Gareth, her love.

The constant action will keep you on the edge of your seat, and I kept wondering how the political intrigue could be resolved in one book, especially since there is a third book planned. I should not have doubted the authors, because the immediate situation was resolved while still maintaining the vampire threat. The various political betrayals and underhanded dealings will leave you gasping, but you’ll also cheer when the obnoxious Clark gets his comeuppance. The authors really draw you in with this aspect of the novel, because everyone seems to have their own agenda regarding Adele and her role as future empress and vampire killer. Some of Adele’s friends prove themselves more than trustworthy, while others make you wonder if more betrayal is yet to come.

Princess Adele definitely matures in this novel, and she is a heroine you will root for over and over again. In The Greyfriar she was still a young, idealistic girl forced to revise long-accepted truths about vampires and humans, but in The Rift Walker she faces difficult choices as future empress and as a woman. She wishes to be the best ruler possible but begins to realize that her love for Gareth might not have a happy ending, since he is the only vampire who values human life. Watching her transform into the empress of Equatoria is exciting and poignant, since we know any future with Gareth will be precarious at best, and the romance with the vampire prince is as touching as it is forbidden.  Gareth is perfect hero material, and it’s a pleasure to witness his  pride in Adele’s deft choices in the face of adversity.

The Rift Walker is an outstanding adventure that will leave you breathless. I couldn’t put the book down, and it’s going to be a long, long wait for the third installment! I thought The Greyfriar was one of the best books I’ve read this year, and The Rift Walker more than exceeded any expectations I might have had for a sequel. I highly recommend this one. Well done, Clay and Susan Griffith!

Review of Maggie Shayne’s The Husband She Couldn’t Remember

I mentioned on Monday that Harlequin is re-releasing books from the 1990s as part of their Treasury series, and while I don’t usually read category romance, I’ve been impressed with the quality of the writing in these books. When I saw that Maggie Shayne’s The Husband She Couldn’t Remember was available for review, I requested it, because I’ve read and enjoyed a few of her paranormal romances in the Wings in the Night series. The Husband She Couldn’t Remember is a contemporary romance with a bit of suspense in it, and while at times it’s a bit far-fetched, I consider that to be par for the course with category romance and thought that I could accept it as part of the genre. This novel pretty much reads like the plot of a soap opera, and if you enjoy that, you’ll definitely like The Husband She Couldn’t Remember. Unfortunately that’s not really my cup of tea, so while I liked the characters and felt that the pacing of the suspense was well done, I probably won’t be re-reading this book.  Unlike the other two Harlequin Treasury re-releases I’ve read, this e-book had several recurring typos and editing errors, but I think you can see past that fairly easily, even if it is annoying.

The novel begins with Ben Brand dreaming about his dead wife, Penny. Penny died two years ago in a fiery car crash that left only a crispy corpse and heartbreaking memories. What makes her death all the more tragic is that Penny had been suffering from a debilitating disease (Hillman-Waite Syndrome) that had no cure, and everyone wonders if the crash was an accident or if Penny committed suicide.  While Ben’s in El Paso, he bumps into a woman who looks exactly like Penny, but before he can question her, she runs away. Ben’s convinced that Penny is still alive and requests an exhumation of the body they buried, but before they begin to dig up the casket, the woman approaches him. It turns out that she is Penny, but she has a bad case of amnesia, and she doesn’t remember anything about her former life. She woke up from a coma in a clinic in England, and when the staff started acting suspiciously, she took off with only an address written on a scrap of paper. As Penny’s memories of her life with Ben gradually return, it becomes all the more important to discover what actually happened two years ago. Will what happened two years ago threaten her newly rekindled relationship with Ben? And why did she have to escape from the clinic that apparently cured her incurable disease?

Despite the outlandish nature of the plot, I did enjoy the characters and the romance between the hero and heroine. Both Ben and Penny are likeable characters, and the suspense behind her disappearance and sudden reappearance will keep you turning the pages. This book is the fourth in a series about the Brand family, and we meet characters from previous installments of the series, but the book can easily be read on its own.  The family definitely supports one another and welcomes Penny back with open arms, and I liked the interaction between the brothers and their spouses. Also, Penny and Ben were childhood sweethearts, and you get to learn about their sweet romance through flashbacks as Penny starts to recall her past.

I’m not usually a fan of amnesia plots, because they just strike me as too ridiculous. Unless a character’s suffered from a serious head injury, I have a hard time accepting them, and amnesia seems to be a frequent plot device in category romance. However, Ms. Shayne provided an interesting reason for Penny’s memory loss that I was able to accept, albeit grudgingly.

I enjoyed the book until we learn the truth concerning Penny’s disappearance two years ago, which pushed the plot too far into outlandish territory for my tastes. It completely changed the way I viewed Penny’s character and not in a good way. Ben has a very similar reaction to learning the truth, but eventually forgives Penny, which I found to be a plausible response to man mourning his lost love, so kudos to the author there. However, the villain is way over the top crazy, and I was unable to accept that this complete loon had somehow found the cure for a progressive disease that had been incurable.

Generally speaking, this book reinforced my prejudices against category romance, which is a shame, because I’ve read several recently that are quite good. There are definitely aspects of the novel that I enjoyed, namely the romance between the h/h and the pacing of the suspense aspects of the plot, but the outlandish nature of the book was just too much for this reader.

I received this book for review from the Publisher through NetGalley.

Review of Anthology Wild & Steamy by Meljean Brook, Jill Myles, and Carolyn Crane

This anthology is a quick read by three outstanding authors, and priced at $0.99, it’s a steal! I highly recommend it! 

The Blushing Bounder (Iron Seas #0.4) by Meljean Brook

I love, love, love Meljean Brook’s Iron Seas series, so I was thrilled to read this prequel about Constable Newberry, Detective Inspector Mina Wentworth’s trusty assistant. If you’re not familiar with the series, it’s set in a steampunk world in London. You can easily delve right into the novella without having read any of the other books, although I think you’ll enjoy the novella more if you have read the others. The story begins in the small flat of Temperance Newberry, an immigrant from what used to be the United States. She and Constable Edward Newberry have recently married, because he compromised her by kissing her. If that seems a bit prudish to you, you’re not alone, because it strikes Detective Inspector Wentworth as outlandish. Temperance is consumptive, and her husband moved them to London to have her infected with bugs, microscopic machines that will heal her. Thus far she’s refused to be infected, since she’s terrified of becoming a zombie after death. However, she witnesses a murder, and in the course of Newberry’s investigation, she learns to broaden her mind. This novella was a pleasure to read and a great introduction to the steampunk genre.

Vixen by Jill Myles

This novella features Miko, a kitsune, or, as she prefers, were-fox. She’s an artist living out in the countryside in an attempt to avoid her were-fox nature.  Were-foxes have voracious sexual appetites, but after witnessing her mother’s constant stream of boyfriends and lovers, Miko has decided to suppress that aspect of her nature by avoiding temptation. Her mother has other plans, however, and sends two sexy cat shifters, Jeremiah and Sam, to serve as bodyguards. It seems that Miko’s cousin was recently hunted in a fox hunt, and her mother’s worried that Miko could be next. That the two cat shifters are very attracted to Miko is just a side benefit. A cute shifter ménage story.

Kitten-tiger & the Monk (Disillusionists #2.5) by Carolyn Crane

What I most enjoy about Ms. Crane’s Disillusionist triology is the moral ambiguity. You just never know if a character is the bad guy or the good. The answer, of course, is that no one is truly one or the other, so her novels make for exciting reading, because you don’t know who to trust. The ending of her second novel, Double Cross, was a shocker, so I was pleased to see this novella since the third book won’t be published until December. I wasn’t pleased, though, when I saw that Sophia Sidway was the heroine of this novella. If you haven’t read the books, you’ll still be able to understand the novella, but you probably won’t hate Sophia quite the way I did. In fact, my reaction to Sophia’s dilemma in the novella was somewhere along the lines of “Die, Witch, Die!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” Of course, I had to eat my words, because in a short novella, Ms. Crane managed to convince me that Sophia is not completely good but she’s also not as bad as I originally thought. Once again there’s more of that pesky moral ambiguity, which makes for a fascinating read, even if I’m a bit disgruntled about her salvaging Stinky Sophia.

In the novella, Sophia has been sent by the leader of the Disillusionists to another member of the team, the Monk. Sophia needs the Monk’s help so she can find the Tanglemaster. She’s sick of herself and wants the Tanglemaster to disillusion her (and he would have had my blessing, that’s for sure!). Sophia’s stunned to discover that the Monk is none other than Robert, her teenage sweetheart, whom she cruelly betrayed years ago. How the situation is resolved, plus the history behind the couple, make this one a winner.

Review of Stephanie Bond’s Irresistible?

Harlequin has begun re-releasing some of its “Presents” lines from the 1990s in ebook form under the name Harlequin Treasury, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how well these books hold up 16 years later. Generally I tend to steer clear of category romances, because many times the hero’s presented as an alpha male when he’s actually just a jerk, but I’ve read a couple of these re-releases and that hasn’t always been the case. Last month I did a guest review of Janice Kay Johnson’s Beauty & the Beasts for DearAuthor.com  and really enjoyed the book, so I requested a couple of other Harlequin Treasury books from authors I recognized.  In the case of Stephanie Bond’s Irresistible? I knew the book was going to be a winner when I saw that it was set in Atlanta. Like most Harlequin Presents books, this was a short read, but it had some hilarious moments that reminded me of the film Some Like It Hot and you just can’t go wrong there, can you?

The novel begins with artist Ellie Sutherland losing her job to budget cuts. She’s been working at a federally funded arts center in order to pay the bills and generate some commissions for her paintings, but the funding is decreasing and they can’t afford to keep her. Her bad day gets even worse when she’s jostled by an uptight yuppie in a coffee shop at lunch, spilling her drink all over her skirt. When she gets back to her soon-to-be gone job, she discovers an ad calling for volunteers for a scientific study. Since she needs the money, she decides to give it a try, but she manages to announce to her entire office her lack of a love life while answering the basic interview questions on the phone. Clearly, Ellie is having a rough day.

The plot thickens when Ellie presents herself at the clinical study and learns that they are conducting a trial to see if oral pheromones have any effect on a woman’s ability to attract male interest.  She decides to participate in the trial, and lo and behold the first day she takes the pills she notices an overwhelming difference in the amount and quality of male attention she receives. She’s also excited because she’s received a commission to do a portrait of the newest partner for a local law firm. Unfortunately, said partner turns out to be none other than Mark Blackwell, obnoxious yuppie from the coffee shop. Sparks definitely fly between the two, but disaster seems to follow Ellie wherever she goes. The two gradually learn that neither is exactly what s/he appears, and despite Mark’s best efforts to keep Ellie at a distance, he finds himself attracted to the carefree artist.

This is a fun, lighthearted romance that’s full of slapstick moments that can be blamed equally on hero and heroine. Mark’s decision to invite Ellie as his date to the family picnic in order to horrify his mother into leaving his love life alone is hardly flattering to Ellie, but it sets up some hilarious situations. And Ellie’s decision to paint Mark in the nude, while clearly a bad decision to the reader, helps create a resolution to their romance that’s "well hung."

For me Ellie’s character was the real selling point of the novel. She’s a bit flighty at times, but she’s goodhearted and very likeable. You can definitely relate to her doubts about Mark’s attraction to her, since she’s taking the pheromones from the clinical study, but to the reader it’s clear that Ellie’s loyalty and personality are the real attraction. Mark is an appealing hero as well, since he starts out looking like a yuppie jerk but soon reveals himself to be something more complex. Despite his allergic reaction to cats, he shows a softer side when he takes in Ellie’s pregnant cat Esmerelda and helps nurse her and Ellie back to health. Both hero and heroine are engaging, and you’ll enjoy rooting for them.

The one criticism I have of the novel is that Ellie’s roommate, Manny, is little better than a stock figure. He’s a transvestite who performs in an Atlanta club, and the Some Like It Hot moment I referred to earlier takes place when Mark mistakenly sets up a double date with his boss and Ellie’s roommate, little realizing that “Molly” is the same person as Ellie’s roommate Manny he met a few days earlier. Manny’s character reminded me a lot of the character of Jack in the TV show Will & Grace. He’s outrageously flamboyant, bordering on campy, which would be fine if this were camp, but I think we’re supposed to take him seriously. Given the lack of nuance in his character, he fell a little flat and seemed like the stereotypical gay friend telling the heroine, “You go, girl!” or something equally hideous. However, given the original publication date of 1997 and the fact that the author is referred to as "newcomer Stephanie Bond” in the Letter to the Reader, I’m inclined to be a little lenient. I do like how the hero seems perfectly comfortable with Manny/Molly once he learns the truth, only getting upset about how his straitlaced boss will react if he learns of the deception. Also, Mark’s willingness to switch clothes with Manny in the bathroom so he can fix the situation is pretty darn funny. Frankly, Manny’s character is really the only thing that dates this book, and that’s pretty impressive.

Overall I feel this book was a fun read, and it certainly piques my interest in Ms. Bond’s subsequent books, especially since she favors Atlanta locales. I suspect many authors would love to be able to point to an early novel that, while flawed, is an engaging and fun read.

I received this book for review from the publisher through NetGalley.

July Round-up of Books

To say that I’m behind is to put it mildly – we’re a week into August and I’m just now posting my July round-up of books! I’ve been catching up on a lot of reading while out of town, and I’ll be posting a lot of reviews this week, since school will be starting up soon. These are some of the highlights of my reading from the month of July, and all books were either purchased by me or checked out from the library.

Paranormal/Urban Fantasy

Sunshine by Robin McKinley While the rest of the books on this list are in no particular order, I absolutely had to list this one first, because it was amazing. It’s been years since I’ve read Robin McKinley’s The Blue Sword and Beauty, but her writing remains as fresh and inspiring as ever. This novel was published in 2003, but it’s recently been re-released with a new cover, so you’ll have no problems finding it in the bookstores. The novel takes place in a world devastated by the 10 year long Voodoo wars, the result of vampires tiring of constant legal discrimination. The heroine, nicknamed Sunshine, visits her family’s cabin by a lake only to be attacked by a group of vampires who intend to offer her to another as a food source. Sunshine’s escape and subsequent interaction with the other vamp lead to profound changes in her formerly ordinary life. This was a fascinating read that I couldn’t put down and reaffirms my belief that Ms. McKinley is a consummate storyteller.

Black Wings by Christina Henry Fallen Angels seem to be the next big thing in the Paranormal and Urban Fantasy genres, and this novel stands out for its twist on the demonic and the bureaucracy involved in death and dying. This is the first novel in the Black Wings series, and as much as I enjoyed the story, the heroine’s companion gargoyle, Beezle, really stole the show. Madeline “Maddy” Black is an agent of death, an inherited position that has her collecting souls and escorting them to a door that leads to the afterlife. Maddy has black wings that appear when she needs to fly, along with other powers that inconveniently don’t help pay the bills. She’s forced to rent her downstairs apartment to the sexy Gabriel Angeloscuro, but she’s not convinced that he’s completely upfront about who he is, especially since Beezle doesn’t seem to like Gabriel. When Maddy is viciously attacked, Gabriel comes to her rescue, and she learns more about her parentage than she probably wanted to know. A great introduction to a new series, and the second installment, Black Night, is already out and just as much fun as the first.

Kindling the Moon by Jenn Bennett Arcadia “Cady” Bell is a magician who owns and runs the Tambuku Tiki Lounge, which serves Earthbound demons. Her parents were accused of several vicious murders years ago, and Cady has lived on the run for years. After spotting her notorious parents on the news, she’s worried that she’ll have to hit the road again. When she’s told that if her parents don’t turn themselves in she’ll be given up in their stead as retribution for their crimes, Cady decides to prove their innocence. She’s introduced to Lon Butler, an Earthbound demon and famous photographer, because of his collection of arcane texts that she hopes will identify the demon used in the murders. Their subsequent romance, his charming teenage son, and the astonishing twist at the end make this a real page-turner. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series!

Historical Romance

Don’t Tempt Me by Loretta Chase I loved Chase’s Lord of Scoundrels (and it’s still on sale at Amazon for $.99!), so recently I’ve tried a couple of her other books. Don’t Tempt Me has now joined the keeper pile and is an absolute delight. Lucien de Grey, Duke of Marchmount, was the ward of Lord Lexham after the death of his parents, and when Lexham’s long-lost daughter, Zoe Octavia, reappears after 12 years in a harem, Marchmount vows to help ease Zoe’s way back into society. Zoe’s training in the sensual arts make her assimilation into the ton a difficult one, and Lucien’s attraction to her doesn’t help matters any. Both characters were extremely likeable, and it’s so much fun to watch Lucien try to deal with the irrepressible heroine.

The Best Intentions by Candice Hern Ms. Hern has recently started releasing her backlist on Amazon, and when I saw this book on sale for $.99, I couldn’t resist giving it a try. It’s a lighthearted and sweet romance that doesn’t go beyond a few steamy kisses, and the focus on the characters make this novel a pleasure to read. Miles is the Earl of Strickland and a widower with two young daughters. He’s decided that he needs to remarry for the girls’ sakes, but his devotion to his deceased wife makes him leery of seeking another love match. His sister Winifred invites the lovely widow Charlotte and her younger sister Hannah to Miles’ estate in the hopes of enticing Miles into proposing to Charlotte. Unfortunately for the practiced beauty, Miles finds himself attracted to the charmingly enthusiastic Hannah, whose fascination with ancient ruins and rapport with his daughters steal the stodgy Earl’s heart. On a side note, Ms. Hern’s webpage provides lots of fascinating information about the Regency and is an excellent resource for writers and readers alike.

Contemporary Romance

Only Mine (Fool’s Gold #4) by Susan Mallery Ms. Mallery’s books have unfailingly been favorites, and Only Mine is no exception. If you love small town romance, you just can’t go wrong with one of the novels in her Fool’s Gold series. Set in California, Fool’s Gold is a small town that’s short on men, a fact that has caught the attention of the media, resulting in the filming of a reality TV show similar to the The Bachelor. Dakota Hendrix has been asked by the mayor to be the town’s liaison for the show, which is how she meets Finn Anderssen, pilot from Alaska. He’s made the trek to Fool’s Gold to force his 21 year old twin brothers to leave the show, but his efforts are for naught, since the twins are both charming and good-looking, making them primetime fodder. Dakota and Finn strike up what’s supposed to be a no-strings fling, but soon becomes much more complicated. There’s also a sweet secondary romance between twin Sasha and 30 year old accountant Aurelia, all of which combine for a enchanting read that’s very satisfying.

Summer at Seaside Cove by Jacquie D’Alessandro I’ve long enjoyed Ms. D’Alessandro’s historical romances, but her latest contemporary is the perfect beach read. Jamie Newman is a successful manager of a family restaurant in New York City, but when her older half-sister steals Jamie’s boyfriend, Jamie travels over 700 miles to Seaside Cove, North Carolina, for a much needed break from work and family. When she arrives, the bungalow she’s rented is a wreck, complete with leaking roof and rotting clams in the kitchen. Luckily for Jamie, the owner lives next door. Equally fortunately, he’s quite the hunky handyman! Just as Jamie and Nick start to really hit it off, all of Jamie’s family drama descends upon Seaside Cove in the form of her mother, then her niece, and finally her cheating sister. You’ll definitely enjoy seeing how Jamie’s relationships play out in this inviting contemporary romance.

Review of Abby Niles' Defying Convention

I’m not sure if I’ve ever mentioned it before, but I am a bit of a nerd. I like Star Trek, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings, but I wouldn’t call myself anything more than a casual fan. You’d never find me at a midnight showing of a film dressed as in costume or waving a lightsaber, and I can’t quote lines from any of them. And the closest I’ve ever come to a sci-fi/fantasy convention was well over a decade ago when I picked up a friend at Comic Con in Atlanta. You better believe that when I got a good look at the costumes going in and out of the convention center I decided that I would just slow down and my friend could jump in the moving car. I was NOT stopping!

So I have a lot in common with Emma Portland, the heroine of Abby Niles’ Defying Convention. She’s an investigative journalist for the biggest paper in Atlanta (woo hoo, Hotlanta!), and after screwing up her last exposé, her boss has given her the kiss of death – find a story at the 31^st annual GalaxyCon. Emma only knows a little about these conventions, and what little she knows comes from her brother, Eddie, who attends lots of Cons and is the creator of a popular online role player game. Emma is following her brother around but having no success getting story ideas when Eddie informs her that to get the best scoops, she needs to pose as a native. Thus she finds herself dressed as Princess Leia. And not Princess Leia in a white robe with buns on her head, Princess Leia in a boobalicious metal bikini. Helloooo, ladies!

As Emma and Eddie are leaving their hotel room with her dressed in her cringe-inducing costume, they witness a guy being attacked by a Furry (person dressed as an animal with certain sexual proclivities that are not delved into in this book, thank goodness) with a Styrofoam sword, and while I’d like to say that “Styrofoam sword” isn’t a euphemism, it probably is meant to have some sort of Freudian meaning. Emma hates bullies, so she joins the fray by yanking the sword away from the Furry and beating him over the head with it. To her surprise, Eddie thinks that the man under attack, author Luke Blaster, deserves everything he’s getting. Luke Evans writes the Farmen Galaxy books under the name Luke Blaster, and he made the bold move of killing off the hero of his books, Ben Frank, in the last book. Now his name is mud, and he is sooooo not popular at this convention.

Luke and Emma have definite sparks (I’m sure the metal bikini helps!), but she’s torn. She’s attracted to Luke, but if she can get the scoop on his enigmatic book dedications and why he killed off his hero, she can salvage her career. Her boss is breathing down her neck, and she’s definitely going to be out on her bum if she doesn’t get a good story. To make matters worse, Luke makes it clear that he despises reporters, just as Emma’s rival reporter makes an appearance. There’s definitely a story here, but should Emma follow her heart or her dream of being a great reporter?

I love the choice of a sci-fi convention as setting for this contemporary romance, and Abby Niles does a great job of incorporating the Con culture into the book. Live Action Role Play (LARP) takes a central stage in encouraging the romance between Luke and Emma, and the fans of Luke’s Farmen Galaxy are a hoot. I am certainly sympathetic to their outrage over his killing off the hero, and their various forms of revenge are pretty darn funny. And the scene with the Vulcan Karaoke was a riot, even though I’ve done the Rocky Horror Picture Show Time Warp myself and am not sure that I’d qualify it as arousing as it is here!

The romance itself is sweet and entertaining. Emma’s drawn to Luke, who’s got a tortured past, and the conflict of heart over work is one many can relate to. There’s a nice secondary romantic conflict between Eddie and his ex-wife Fiona that mirrors the conflict Emma’s experiencing, since Fiona left Eddie because he was more focused on developing his game than his marriage. Eddie continually encourages Emma to take a chance with Luke instead of focusing on her career, pointing out how unhappy his past mistakes have made him. Eddie’s “wooing” of his ex-wife Fiona during a role-playing game was sexy, awkward, and adorable, and you’re rooting for this couple as much as for the hero and heroine. When Luke finally opens up to Emma about his traumatic past, you agonize with her, because she’s found place herself in such a difficult postion. She’s in love with Luke and knows that he will consider her silence about her profession a betrayal. Luke’s pain at her actions is palpable, but the conclusion is highly satisfactory.

I really enjoyed this novel, but I do have a few minor complaints. The first has to do with some of the language in the novel. Overall the book is well-written, but there was one point where Eddie describes Emma as “angsted up” that actually made me cringe. The phrase is such a trivial thing to criticize that I hesitate to mention it, but it was such a jarring note that it distracted me from the story for a moment. The fact that this was the only time the language disrupted my reading of the book should indicate that the rest of the novel was smoothly written, I think.

My only other complaint is that the rival reporter competing with Emma, Lila O’Brien, is a bit of a caricature. She’s so evil and ruthless while the other supporting characters are so well-rounded that as a character she falls a bit flat. You definitely will love to hate her, and it’s very satisfying to see her get her come-uppance in the end, but she’s a little too one-dimensional, especially when compared to Cecil, the farmen fan who aids her in her exposé.

But if you haven’t guessed so far, I really loved this book. It had a great romance with a tortured hero and a hysterically funny setting. This is the first contemporary romance set at a Sci-Fi convention that I’ve seen and the choice of setting was absolutely brilliant. Definitely check this one out!

I received this book for review from the Publisher through NetGalley.