Paranormal Romance

Review: Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh

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A Psy-Changeling Novel 10

Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh, UK edition cover

Title: Kiss of Snow (A Psy-Changeling Novel)
Author:  Nalini Singh
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Publisher:Gollancz Fiction (11th August 2011)
Blurb:

SINCE THE MOMENT OF HER DEFECTION FROM THE PSYNET AND INTO THE SNOWDANCER WOLF PACK, SIENNA LAUREN HAS HAD ONE WEAKNESS. HAWKE. A DANGEROUS ALPHA, THE RESPONSE HE DRAWS FROM HER COULD ALMOST COMPEL HER TO MADNESS.

Hawke is used to walking alone, having lost the woman who would’ve been his mate. But Sienna fascinates the primal heart of him, even as he tells himself she is far too young to handle the wild fury of the wolf.

Then Sienna changes the rules and, suddenly, there is no more distance, only the most intimate of battles between two people who were never meant to meet. Yet as they strip away each other’s secrets in a storm of raw emotion, they must also ready themselves for a far more vicious fight.

A deadly enemy is out to destroy the SnowDancer pack, striking at everything they hold dear, but it is Sienna’s darkest secret that may yet savage the pack that is her home . . . and the alpha who is its heartbeat . . .

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

Kiss of Snow is the tenth book in Nalini Singh’s brilliant A Psy-Changeling Novel series, so by this point I know pretty much what to expect. However, although the book follows the same formula as previous books in the series, it was still a brilliant and entertaining read.

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Review: Tales of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong

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Women of the Otherworld Anthology

Tales of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong, UK edition cover.

Title: Tales of the Otherworld (The Otherworld)
Author:  Kelley Armstrong
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Orbit (13th April 2010)
Blurb:

Kelley Armstrong’s gripping and imaginative short stories are brought together in a fantastic new collection.

A young vampire learns the heavy price of his new existence; black witch Eve Levine meets Kristof Nast, her soulmate and her nemesis; Lucas Cortez, lawyer, sorcerer and unwilling heir to his father’s Cabal, sets out on a case that will change his destiny; Paige Winterbourne discovers just how fraught a white (witch) wedding can be; and Elena Michaels begins her unwitting journey to a new life – as the only female werewolf in the world . . .

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

With Tales of the Otherworld Kelley Armstrong introduces her second anthology of short stories based in her fantastic The Otherworld series. This book holds a collection of eight stories, some of which were at one point available on Armstrong’s website for free. However, with the publication of this book Armstrong has her proceeds go to World Literacy of Canada.

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Review: Archangel’s Blade by Nalini Singh

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A Guild Hunter Novel 4

Archangel's Blade by Nalini Singh, UK edition cover.

Title: Archangel’s Balde (A Guild Hunter Novel)
Author: Nalini Singh
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Gollancz Fiction (8th September 2011)
Blurb:


The severed head with a distinctive tattoo on its cheek should have been a Guild case, but dark instincts hones over hundreds of years compelled the vampire Dmitri to take control. There is something twisted about this death, something that whispers of centuries long past . . . but Dmitri’s need to discover the truth is nothing compared to his response to the hunter assigned to decipher the tattoo.

Savaged in a brutal attack that almost killed her, Honor is nowhere near ready to come face to face with a seductive vampire who wears his cruelty as boldly as his lethal sensuality . . . the same vampire who had been her secret obsession since the day she was old enough to understand the inexplicable, violent emotions he aroused in her.

As desire turns into a dangerous compulsion that might destroy them both, it becomes clear the past will not stay buried. Something is hunting, and it will not stop until it brings a blood-soaked nightmare to life once more . . .

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

Archangel’s Blade is the fourth book in Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter Series. Unlike the previous three books in the series, this one does not focus on the relationship between Elena and Raphael – although they do both appear as minor characters. Instead, for the first time, we get to see Dmitri centre stage and boy is it a treat!

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Review: Spell Bound by Kelley Armstrong

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Women of the Otherworld 12

Spell Bound by Kelley Armstrong, UK edition cover.

Title: Spell Bound (Women of the Otherworld 13)
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Publication Date: 4th August 2011

Blurb:

Savannah Levine is in danger. That’s not  usually a problem. But, caught in the grip of a disturbing and violent murder case, Savannah swore to give up her unique gifts if it would save an innocent girl. Little did she know that someone – or something – was listening … Now she has no idea how to restore her powers, just when she needs them the most.

In this compelling, fast-paced new thriller, Savannah has to face a host of deadly enemies bent on destroying not only her, but the very fabric of the supernatural world.

As dark forces gather, Savannah isn’t just fighting for her life, but for everything and everyone she loves …


Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

This is the twelfth book in Kelley Armstrong’s epic Women of the Otherworld. This book continues the storyline started in Waking the Witch (Women of the Otherworld 11) showing the consequences of Savannah’s words/wish at the end of the book. It is a fast-paced story; once started I could not put it down.

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Review: Play of Passion by Nalini Singh

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A Psy-Changeling Novel 9

Play of Passion by Nalini Singh, UK edition cover.

Title: Play of Passion (A Psy-Changeling Novel)
Author: Nalini Singh
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Publication Date: 26th May 2011

Blurb:

Passion and reason collide with explosive force in the newest installment of Nalini Sing’s mesmerizing Psy-Changeling series. As a conflict with Pure Psy looms on the horizon, two powerful wolves fight a more intimate war of their own . . .

In his role as tracker for the SnowDancer pack, it’s up to Drew Kincaid to rein in rogue changelings who have lost control of their animal halves – even if it means killing those who have gone too far. But nothing in his life has prepared him for the battle he must now wage to win the heart of a woman who makes his body ignite . . . and who threatens to enslave his wolf.

Lieutenant Indigo Riviere doesn’t easily allow skin privileges, especially not those of the sensual kind – and the last person she expects to find herself craving is the most wickedly playful male in the den. Everything she knows tells he r to pull back before the flames burn them both to ash . . . but she hasn’t counted on Drew’s determination to win her.

Now, two of SnowDancer’s most stubborn wolves find themselves playing a hot, sexy courtship game even as lethal danger stalks the very place they call home . . .

Rating: ***** (5 stars)
Review:

This is the ninth installment of Nalini Singh’s fantastic A Psy-Changeling Novel, and boy is it  a fantastic read. With this book we’re straight back into changeling territory, although the Psy do feature prominently in the book as the world is on the brink of war (as it was in the previous book) though it’s not tipped over yet.

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Review: Hit List by Laurell K. Hamilton

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Anita Blake book 20

Hit List by Laurell K. Hamilton, UK edition cover.

Title: Hit List (An Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Novel)
Author: Laurell K. Hamilton
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Publication Date: 7th June 2011

Blurb:

We followed the fresh blood even though every molecule in my body was screaming at me to run. Run before dark. Run before the vampires come. Run.

My name is Anita Blake. The vampires call me ‘The Executioner’. So when a series of gruesome and spectacular murders occur in the Pacific Northwest, the local police call in me and fellow US Marshal Edward to track down a serial killer they are convinced must be a ‘monster’.

But I know that some monsters are very real. The Harlequin have been the bogeymen of the vampire world for more than a thousand years; they are a secret so dark that even to speak their name can earn you a death sentence. Now they are here in America, hunting weretigers and human police. And me.

The Harlequin serve the Mother of All Darkness, the first vampire. She was supposed to be dead, but only her body was destroyed. Now Mommie Dearest is back, determined to kill Edward and to possess me. And she doesn’t care how many have to die along the way.

Rating: **** (3 1/2 stars)
Review:

This is Anita’s twentieth book, which is kind of scary as the series seems to have been part of my life for a long time. In the last book, Bullet, lines were drawn in the sand and the fall-out occurs in this book. This book is more about Anita’s police work than it is about her love life – something which I really enjoyed. It’s also set outside St. Louis, so we get introduced to some new characters. But the book is not without its problems, which is why it didn’t quite make it to four stars.

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Review: Bonds of Justice by Nalini Singh

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A Psy-Changeling Novel (Book 8)

Bonds of Justice by Nalini Singh, UK edition cover.

Title: Bonds of Justice (A Psy-Changeling Novel)
Author: Nalini Singh
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Publication Date: 26th May 2011

Blurb:

Max Shannon is a good cop, one of the best in New York Enforcement. Born with a natural shield that protects him against Psy mental invasions, he knows he has little chance of advancement within the Psy-dominated power structure. The last case he expects to be assigned is that of a murderer targeting a Psy Councilor’s closest advisors. And the last woman he expects to compel him in the most sensual of ways is a Psy on the verge of a catastrophic mental fracture . . .

Sophia Russo is a Justice-Psy, cursed with the ability to retrieve memories from mrn and women so twisted even veteran cops keep their distance. Appointed Max’s liaison with the Psy, she finds herself fascinated by this human, her frozen heart threatening to thaw with forbidden emotion. But, her mind filled with other people’s nightmares, other people’s evil, she’s standing on the border between sanity and a silken darkness that urges her to take justice into her own hands, to be come judge, jury . . . and executioner . . .

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

The eighth book in Nalini Singh’s A Psy-Changeling Novel series, and the second book in a row to move away from the changeling world focusing on the relationship between a human and a Psy who is unable to leave the Net. The world is changing and the net around the Psys is getting tighter – soon they are going to have to choose to sink or to swim; to break the Silence Protocol, or to reinforce: either choice has potentially deadly consequences, and in this book lines are drawn in the sand.

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Review: Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris

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Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Mysteries book 12

Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris, UK edition cover.

Title: Dead Reckoning
Author: Charlaine Harris
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publication Date: 3rd May 2011

Blurb:

There’s a reckoning on the way . . .

Sookie Stackhouse is a cocktail waitress in Bon Temps, Louisiana. It’s a job which has its own challenges, but now the vampires and the shapeshifters are finally ‘out’, you’d think the supernaturals would get on with each other. But nothing is simple in Bon Temps!

. . . and Sookie has a knack for being in trouble’s way; not least when she witnesses the firebombing of Merlotte’s, the bar where she works. Since Sam Merlotte is known to be two-natured, suspicion immediately falls on the anti-shifters in the area. Sookie suspects otherwise, but before she can investigate something else – even more dangerous – comes up.

Sookie’s lover Eric Northman and his ‘child’ Pam are plotting something in secret. Whatever it is, they seem determined to keep Sookie out of it; almost as determined as Sookie is to find out what’s going on. She can’t sit on the sidelines when both her work and her love life are under threat – but as their plans gradually become clear Sookie finds the situation is deadlier than she could have imagined.

Rating: *** (3 stars)
Review:

Dead Reckoning is the eleventh book in Charlaine Harris’s best-selling Sookie Stackhouse series, and it follow on pretty much from where the previous book in the series left off. This is not the place to start if you are new to the series. I have been a fan of this series for a while, and I really looked forward to reading this latest installment.

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Review: Hard Bitten by Chloe Neill

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The 4th A Chicagoland Vampires Novel

Hard Bitten by Chloe Neill, UK edition cover.

Title: Hard Bitten (A Chicagoland Vampires Novel)
Author: Chole Neill
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Publication Date: 12th May 2011

Blurb:

Times are hard for newly minted vampire Merit. Ever since shapeshifters announced their presence to the world, humans have been rallying against supernaturals – and they’re camping outside Cadogan House with protest signs that could turn to pitchforks at any moment. Behind its doors, things between Merit and her Master, green-eyed heartbreaker Ethan Sullivan are . . . tense, to say the least. But they have to work together when the may of Chicago calls Merit and Ethan to a clandestine meeting: there’s been a violent vampire attack which has left three women missing. They mayor’s message is simple: get your house in order. Or else.

Merit needs to get to the bottom of this crime, but it’s not easy when she can’t tell who’s on her side. So she goes outside Cadogan House, secretly calling in a favour from someone who’s tall, dark and part of an underground vamp group which might be able to shed some light on this attack. It’s not long before Merit finds herself in the dark, heady heart of Chicago’s supernatural society – which seems to be full of vampires ready to fulfill the human’s worst fears. She’s about to learn that you can’t be a vampire without getting a little blood on your hands . . .

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

Hard Bitten is a rip-roaring read for any vampire lover.

It is the fourth book in Neill’s A Chicagoland Vampires Novel, and continues on from the plot of Hard Bitten. Neill has managed to balance the action and the romance plots in the series brilliantly, so neither overpowers the other and at times they seamlessly merge. Neill does however follow the conventions of the Paranormal Romance genre and have a first person narrator – everything is told from Merit’s point of view, and it works because Neill resists the temptation to tell the reader too much. Neill also follows the convention that Chicago is gangland, albeit with vampires and shifters and other creatures of myth instead of the usual gangster/mobster.

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Review: Blaze of Memory by Nalini Singh

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Book 6 of A Psy-Changeling Novel

Blaze of Memory by Nalini Singh, UK edition cover.

Title: Blaze of Memory (A Psy-Changeling Novel)
Author: Nalini Singh
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Publication Date: 12th May 2011

Blurb:

Nalini Singh returns to the Psy-Changeling world and its breathtaking blend of passion, adventure and the paranormal, as a woman without a past becomes the pawn of a man who controls her future . . .

Dev Santos discovered Katya unconscious and battered, with no memory of who she is. All Katya can tell him is that she’s dangerous. Charged with protecting his people’s most vulnerable secrets, Dev is duty-bound to eliminate any and all threats against them. It’s a task he’s never hesitated to complete . . . until now, when he finds himself drawn to a woman who could prove to be the enemy’s most insidious weapon yet.

Stripped of her memories by a shadowy oppressor and programmed to carry out cold-blooded murder Katya Haas is fighting desperately for her very sanity. Dev is her only hope. But how can she expect to gain the trust of a man who could very well be her next target? For, in this game, someone is going to die . . .

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

This is the seventh book in Nalini Singh’s A Psy-Changeling Novel and you would be forgiven for thinking that it follows the precedent set by the previous five books; it doesn’t. In Blaze of Memory Singh moves away from the Changeling world that has dominated the previous five books, and instead gives us a peek into the world of the Forgotten – the descendents of the Psy who fled Silence, unwilling to give up their emotions, their humanity.

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