Renee's Book Addiction

March 1, 2009: Silent on the Moor  (A Lady Julia Grey Mystery, book 3) by Deanna Raybourn.

This is the third installment of the Lady Julia Grey series. These books are wonderful historical mysteries with a hint of romance. 

Here is a book description from the author’s site:       

Despite his admonitions to stay away, Lady Julia arrives in Yorkshire to find Brisbane as remote and maddeningly attractive as ever. Cloistered together, they share the moldering house with the proud but impoverished remnants of an ancient family — the sort that keeps their bloodline pure and their secrets close. Lady Allenby and her daughters, dependent upon Brisbane and devastated by their fall in society, seem adrift on the moor winds, powerless to change their fortunes. But poison does not discriminate between classes . . .

A mystery unfolds from the rotten heart of Grimsgrave, one Lady Julia may have to solve alone, as Brisbane appears inextricably tangled in its heinous twists and turns. But blood will out, and before spring touches the craggy northern landscape, Lady Julia will have uncovered a Gypsy witch, a dark rider and a long-buried legacy of malevolence and evil.

I’ve got high hopes for Lady Julia’s and Brisbane’s relationship to finally move forward. Their sexual tension has been sizzling for the last 2 books, and I can’t wait to see what happens in book 3.

Deanna Raybourn also writes a heck of a mystery, with lots of twists and turns, and I’m also looking forward to seeing Lady Julia’s character continue to grow.

• Deanna Raybourn’s site.
• Excerpt on author’s site.

March 3, 2009: Second Skin (Nocturne City series, book 3) by Caitlin Kittredge

I’m behind on this series (book 2 is on my TBR shelf), but hopefully, that means I can read books 2 & 3 back to back.

Here is a book description from the author’s site:               

When werewolves from Nocturne City’s oldest packs start showing up shot through the head execution-style, police officer Luna Wilder must find out what’s killing them and why…before she becomes the next victim.

Luna traces the killings to a band of shapeshifters made of smoke and shadow who drink the blood of their victims for strength. Believed to exist only in legend, their race is all too real—and now their leader, Lucas Kennuka, is out to wrest Luna’s heart from her beloved Dmitri. To make matters worse, Dmitri is suffering from a mysterious illness brought on by a demon bite, and his condition grows more grave with each passing day. Now Luna must rely on Lucas to defeat an invisible enemy—a serial were-killer bringing death and destruction to all who stand in its path . . .

I love the shifters, and Luna is as tough as they come. Dimitri is seriously alpha-y and hot (I still remember a love scene from book 1, which I read a year ago!)

• Caitlin Kittredge’s site.
• Excerpt on author’s site.

March 3, 2009:  As Shadows Fade  (The Gardella Vampire Chronicles, book 5) by Colleen Gleason

Colleen Gleason’s historical urban fantasy series is a fun, original, and sexy. Victoria has often been called a Regency-era Buffy, and in a lot of ways its true: she kicks-ass, wears great clothes, hunts vampires, and has two sexy guys vying for her affections.

Here is the description from the author’s site:

Directly descended from the very first vampire hunter in the Gardella family, Victoria knows she must continue the lineage so humanity will have protectors against the undead.

While Sebastian Vioget appears to be both the perfect warrior and lover to ensure the Gardella Legacy, Victoria cannot forget Max Pesaro – the former slayer still haunted by the vampire queen Lilith’s obsession with him.

But it is Lilith’s obsession that may save all of humanity. Demons, enemies of both mortals and the undead, have found their way to earth. To defeat them, vampires and slayers must fight side by side. But Lilith wants Max in return for her cooperation — a small price for the world, but too high a price for Victoria.

Sebastian is such a mystery and so passionate about Victoria, but I can’t help rooting for the brooding Max. I’m currently reading book 4, When Twilight Burns, and can’t wait to continue the series with book 5. ETA: I didn’t realize at the time of writing this, that As Shadows Fade is the conclusion to this series.

• Colleen Gleason’s site.
• As Shadows Fade excerpt.

March 3, 2009: Deathwish (Cal Leandros series, book 4) by Rob Thurman

Rob Thurman’s protagonist Cal and his brother Niko remind me a lot of the Winchester brothers from the TV series, Supernatural. Cal has the same snarky sense of humor as Dean, and no matter how much the brothers might give each other shit, they always have each other’s back. Cal and Niko’s deep loyalty to each other really makes this series much more than smart ass wisecracks and violence. (Though there’s a lot of both of these things.)

Here is the description from the author’s site:

In a nightmarish new york city, life is there for the taking…

Half-human Cal Leandros and his brother Niko are hired by the vampire Seamus to find out who has been following him — until Seamus turns up dead (or un-undead). Worse still is the return of Cal’s nightmarish family, the Auphe. The last time Cal and Niko faced them, they were almost wiped out. Now, the Auphe want revenge. But first, they’ll destroy everything Cal holds dear…

I always look forward to a new Cal Leandros novel. Rob Thurman consistently delivers an absorbing urban fantasy novel with a smart sense of humor and great characters.

• Rob Thurman’s site.

March 3, 2009: The Shadow Queen (A Black Jewels novel) by Anne Bishop.

I love the Black Jewels trilogy for it’s incredibly original world, and dark, sensual men.

Here is a book description from the author’s site:

Dena Nehele is a land decimated by its past. Once it was ruled by corrupt Queens who were wiped out when the land was cleansed of tainted Blood. Now, only one hundred Warlord Princes stand — without a leader and without hope.

Theran Grayhaven is the last of his line, desperate to find the key that reveals a treasure great enough to restore Dena Nehele. But first he needs to find a Queen who remembers the Blood’s code of honor and lives by the Old Ways. The woman chosen to rule Dena Nehele, Lady Cassidy, is not beautiful and believes she is not strong. But she may be the only one able to convince bitter men to serve once again.

Honestly, the last Black Jewels novel, Tangled Webs, was a disappointment for me, but I have high hopes from the description of The Shadow Queen, that it’s a return to the things I love about Anne Bishop’s Black Jewels world.

• Anne Bishop’s site.
• Excerpt for The Shadow Queen.

March 3, 2009: Angels’ Blood (A Guild Hunter Novel, book 1) by Nalini Singh

Isn’t this book cover gorgeous? It’s one of my favorite covers of books coming out this year.

This new series is by the author of the Psy-Changeling series.

Here is the book description:

Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux knows she’s the best — but she doesn’t know if she’s good enough for this job. Hired by the dangerously beautiful Archangel Raphael, a being so lethal that no mortal wants his attention, only one thing is clear — failure is not an option . . . even if the task is impossible. 

Because this time, it’s not a wayward vamp she has to track. It’s an archangel gone bad. 

The job will put Elena in the midst of a killing spree like no other . . . and pull her to the razor’s edge of passion. Even if the hunt doesn’t destroy her, succumbing to Raphael’s seductive touch just may. For when archangels play, mortals break . . .

The Guild Hunter world sounds original, and Nalini Singh sure knows how to write great characters. The author has also written a prequel novella, Angels’ Pawn, currently available in ebook format.

• Nalini Singh’s site.
• Excerpt on author’s site (scroll down.)

March 31, 2009: Smooth Talking Stranger  (Travis family series, book 3) by Lisa Kleypas.

Last year, my favorite contemporary romance read was Lisa Kleypas’ Sugar Daddy. In Smooth Talking Stranger, she revisits the Travis family. (Book 2, Blue-Eyed Devil was also an amazing read.)

Here is a book description from the author’s site:

Ella Varner has it all — a successful career as an advice columnist, a handsome boyfriend, and a circle of friends in Austin. When anyone has a problem, Ella knows the answers.

But one night she receives a call that changes everything. And as Ella’s world is turned upside-down, she meets a man who is the opposite of everything she ever wanted . . . a man who will offer her the most irresistible challenge she has ever known . . .

• Lisa Kleypas’ site.
• Excerpt on author’s site.

March 24, 2009: The Treasure Keeper (Drakkon series, book 4) by Shana Abe

This historical paranormal romance series is highly romantic and very sensual. This was the only book description I could find, and it’s super long, so I’ll let it speak for itself.

Here is the book description:

With such novels as Queen of Dragons and The Dream Thief, Shana Abé has created a unique and vividly imagined world that exists side by side with our own — a realm populated by a race of supersensual men and women whose power to change shape permits them unlimited acts of pleasure.and ever-present danger. Now the survival of the drakon rests in the hands of a young woman with untried and unexpected powers — and the powerful Alpha male she must break every drakon law to save.

The drakon are at war, surrounded by an enemy they have every reason to fear. The sanf inimicus are no ordinary human beings but the most dangerous of hunters. They’ve sworn to exterminate the shape-shifters whose presence they now can detect, and they’ve already claimed a prize prisoner: Lord Rhys Langford.

It’s a blow the drakon clans feel from Darkfrith, England, all the way to the Carpathian Mountains of Transylvania. But it strikes no one harder than Zoe Cyprienne Lane. A mere seamstress’s daughter, Zoe isn’t even in the same league as Rhys. In fact, as an unwed male in the Alpha line, according to drakon custom, he owns her. So nothing could be more outrageous — or personally ruinous — than the mere notion that she might set out on her own to find her childhood friend . . . and first true love.

But the unexpected is exactly what Zoe intends to do. For years she’s been hiding two extraordinary Gifts that have set her apart from other drakon females: the power to become invisible and the power to feel others’ emotions. Now, guided by a link to Rhys — his presence and touch as electric as if he were beside her in the flesh — Zoe uses both Gifts to infiltrate the sanf inimicus. And for Rhys, whose time is running out, Zoe is his last lifeline to a world — and a love — he never thought he’d regain. Only together again, hunter and huntress, can they save the drakon from the traitor in their midst who would destroy them all.

• Shana Abé’s site.

March 24, 2009: City of Glass (Mortal Instruments trilogy, book 3) by Cassandra Clare (YA)

While I had some frustrations with book 2, City of Ashes, it did redeem itself in the end, ans I am looking forward to the final installment of the Mortal Instruments trilogy.

Here is a book description from the author’s site:

To save her mother’s life, Clary must travel to the City of Glass, the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters — never mind that enter-ing the city without permission is against the Law, and breaking the Law could mean death. To make things worse, she learns that Jace does not want her there, and Simon has been thrown in prison by the Shadowhunters, who are deeply suspicious of a vampire who can withstand sunlight. As Clary uncovers more about her family’s past, she finds an ally in mysterious Shadow-hunter Sebastian. With Valentine mustering the full force of his power to destroy all Shadow-hunters forever, their only chance to defeat him is to fight alongside their eternal enemies. But can Downworlders and Shadowhunters put aside their hatred to work together? While Jace realizes exactly how much he’s willing to risk for Clary, can she harness her newfound powers to help save the Glass City — whatever the cost?

Love is a mortal sin and the secrets of the past prove deadly as Clary and Jace face down Valentine in the final installment of the New York Times bestselling trilogy The Mortal Instruments. 

I really like Clary, and have been rooting for her and Jace though the series.

• Cassandra Clare’s site.
• City of Glass excerpt (scroll down.)

March 31, 2009: Magic Strikes  (Kate Daniels series, book 3) by Ilona Andrews.

As much as I like Kate Daniels, and her snarky sense of humor, for me it’s mostly about Lord of the Beasts, lion-shifter Curran.

Curran is all alpha male, and is the leader of all the shifters in the Atlanta area. The chemistry Kate and Curran have together sizzles off the page, and over the course of the last 2 books, Ilona Andrews has built the sexual tension between them to a boiling point.

Here is a book description from the publisher’s site:

Drafted into working for the Order of Merciful Aid, mercenary Kate Daniels has more paranormal problems than she knows what to do with these days. And in Atlanta, where magic comes and goes like the tide, that’s saying a lot.

But when Kate’s werewolf friend Derek is discovered nearly dead, she must confront her greatest challenge yet. As her investigation leads her to the Midnight Games — an invitation only, no holds barred, ultimate preternatural fighting tournament — she and Curran, the Lord of the Beasts, uncover a dark plot that may forever alter the face of Atlanta’s shapeshifting community . . .

In book 2, Magic Burns, the simplest scenes between Kate and Curran became fraught with repressed meaning. My favorite scene was where he brings her a meal after she’s been injured. It was such a simple scene, yet there were so many unspoken layers to it. The series is full of great writing, like that. 

• Ilona Andrews’ site.
• Excerpt on author’s site (scroll down.)

March 31, 2009: Seven for a Secret (Lady Abigail Irene and Sebastien) by Elizabeth Bear

This short novel is a sequel to the steampunk/historical urban fantasy New Amsterdam.

New Amsterdam is a collection of short stories about vampire, Sebastien, and magical investigator, Lady Abigail Irene, in a steampunk world where the US never won its independence from England.

This novel continues Sebastien’s and Lady Abigail Irene’s story, many years later.

Here is a book description from the author’s site:

The wampyr has walked the dark streets of the world’s great cities for a thousand years. In that time, he has worn out many names — and even more compatriots.

Now, so that one of those companions may die where she once lived, he has come again to the City of London. In 1938, where the ghosts of centuries of war haunt rain-grey streets and the Prussian Chancellor’s army of occupation rules with an iron hand.

Here he will meet his own ghosts, the remembrances of loves mortal — and immortal. And here he will face the Chancellor’s secret weapon: a human child.

Author Elizabeth Bear is co-author of my February Re-read Challenge book A Companion to Wolves. Her world building is detailed, original and fascinating, and I can’t wait to read more about her unique characters.

• Elizabeth Bear’s site.

March 31, 2009: Night’s Rose (Night’s Rose trilogy, book 1) by Annaliese Evans

Another gorgeous cover!

I don’t know where I saw this book, but the cover immediately drew me, and I was hooked after reading the description and excerpt.

Here is a book description from the author’s site:

For nearly one hundred years, Rosemarie Edenberg has worked tirelessly to wipe the dreaded ogre tribe from the earth. Now the tribe has gathered in London to work a spell that will destroy the scourge of their kind, the one they call the Briar Rose.

Two magnetic men will unite to aid Rose — her mysterious fey advisor, Ambrose, and the vampire Lord Shenley, an earl of scandalous reputation and even more scandalous appetites. One will save her, one will betray her, and both will challenge her to face the past that haunts her.

Once upon a time, she was ensnared in the mists of enchantment, cursed to sleep one hundred years. But this beauty wasn’t awakened with a kiss and has never known happily ever after. But with the help of her handsome allies, Rose may find it yet.

This is a new to me author, but I have high hopes for this novel, which is the first of a trilogy.  The second book, The Prince of Frogs will be out September 2009.

• Annaliese Evan’s site.
• Excerpt on author’s site.