Raye, Kimberly: Dead End Dating

ISBN: 0345492161

From the Publisher

BITING IS SO LAST SEASON.

A vivacious vampire with a flair for accessorizing, Lil Marchette is unlike most of her kind. She prefers lively shades of pink to dismal black (soo not her color), plus she’s a hopeless romantic. In need of a steady paycheck to support a compulsive cosmetics habit, Lil starts Dead End Dating (DED), a Manhattan-based matchmaking service that helps smart, sophisticated singles like herself find eternity mates–and may even help her stake a claim to her very own Count Right!

When Lil meets geeky vampire Francis Deville, she knows he’s the perfect first client. If she can hook up Francis–after a little revamping, of course–she will prove her skills to the vampire community and turn DED into the hottest dating service in the Big Apple. But just as her business takes off, Lil meets the (literally) drop-dead gorgeous bounty hunter Ty Bonner, who is hot on the chase of a serial killer. Instantly drawn to the luscious vamp stud, Lil really wants a taste. But as a made vampire, Ty can’t procreate–and Lil will settle for nothing less. Luckily, between “vampifying” Francis and helping Ty solve his murder mystery, Lil has no time for silly romantic entanglements . . . even if Ty is all that and a Bloody Mary chaser!

About the Author

Kimberly Raye is the bestselling author of more than thirty novels. She’s been nominated for several Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice awards, as well as a RITA award. Her books have been featured in several major magazines, including Better Homes & Gardens and Glamour, and her novel Sometimes Naughty, Sometimes Nice was a Cosmopolitan magazine book club pick. She lives deep in the heart of Texas Hill Country with her husband and their young children. Please visit her website
at www.kimberlyraye.com.

This is the very first library book that I have read in... Oh... since I was in high school. So a long time. I picked it up because it looked cute - the cover is pink and features a girl in a black cape kissing a black-haired dude. I thought "this must be a funny and non-serious vampire book about dating. They never put serious books in a pink cover, right?" I also thought that because it's a library book, if I hated it, I could just stop reading, return it, and try another one.

Well, I completely devoured the book. Within 24 hours (not reading, but you know, within a day). It was fantastic. Ok, the writing isn't the most poetic and best writing that I've ever read. It's certainly better than the last book I read, but still within the same funny and light vein (ha ha, vampire book... vein... ha ha ha!).

In this book, we meet Lil, a born vampire who's on the look out for a man. A long term, eternity type man. He must be born vampire and have a decent fertility rating (somehow, they measure these things). So, instead of getting a job with the family business (your local printing and copying center), Lil becomes the black sheep of her family and starts up a dating service, for both born and made vampires, and humans. While she's trying to start up her business and balance her checkbook (and credit card bills - the girl has expensive designer taste), she meets a bounty hunter named Ty Bonner (for some reason, my head keeps saying "BONER" instead of "Bonner". Apparently, I am dirty), who she has a very hard time keeping her hands off of, and her fangs out of. He's looking for a serial killer that's been targeting women in Chicago, and he had a lead that the guy just took up resident in NYC.

Ty and Lil end up spending a decent amount of time together, and their friendship progresses. He's off limits, but her body just can't figure that out, and she lusts after him terribly. It's actually quite amusing, even though you keep thinking "oh, just jump him and get it over with!"

I thought that Ms. Raye (whom I've never read before, and will certainly be reading again!) did quite a lot with her plot and her characters for this book. I think that she successfully took her story and weaved it into something funny, readable, and something that went somewhere. I hate to compare books and authors, but considering the last book I read ALSO had a serial killer in it... well... if you want a book where the heroine has a little more to do with the plot, pick this one up instead.

All in all, I would definitely recommend this book to everyone who likes a good paranormal romance. The characters are funny, the writing is decent, and the plot is well developed. Definitely over 18 for this one, but certainly worth the read. I can't wait to pick up the next book in the series!

Davidson, MaryJanice: Undead and Unreturnable

ISBN: 0425210812

From the Publisher:

Queen of the Vampires Betsy Taylor is planning the perfect wedding to drop-dead gorgeous vamp Eric Sinclair. But in this fourth novel of Davidson's series, Betsy is plagued by ghosts, who demand her help in rectifying their past mistakes, and a serial killer on the loose.

Unfortunately, this book was very sadly disappointing. It was quippy. It was amusing. It was really kind of boring.

I think that Ms. Davidson actually had a lot going on for her. She set up this scenario where she could have done so much – a serial killer with a penchant for tall blonds, much like Betsy. But what do we read about? Her and Eric fighting and making up and fighting the whole time. Then, in the last scene, it’s like Ms. Davidson suddenly remembered that she had to close up this serial killer thread. Ugh.

I like fluffy books without a lot of substance. I’m totally ok with that. Sadly, I’m even ok with gratuitous sex (which? Were all cut scenes. How boring!)… but I’m not ok with these books that are more about the characters than the plot. Maybe I’m being a little hard on her here, but I really felt like the author could have done so much more with this plot. I mean, if she had taken out the serial killer, I don’t think much in the book would have changed.

I wouldn’t tell you not to read this book, unless you had three weeks to live. Then I’d tell you that you’re better off doing something else. If you do read it, make sure to pick it up either heavily discounted, at the library, or second hand. In my opinion, it’s certainly not worth the $10 you’ll pay at the bookstore. Of course – it’s a paranormal romance, so those under 18 need not bother.

MacAlister, Katie: Fire Me Up

ISBN: 0451214943

From the Publisher:

Aisling Grey is back-and in more trouble than ever. She thought being a courier would be easy. It's not. She thought being a Guardian would come naturally. It doesn't. She thought she could get out of being a wyvern's mate. She can't. And she never thought she'd be irresistible to men. But she is.

Have I ever told you how much I love Katie MacAlister? Well, then let me tell you. A lot, I love her a lot. There's just something beautifully simple about her books, but at the same time there is a ton of thought and detail that goes into each chapter and each book.

Fire Me Up is a second book in one of her many, many series. It follows You Slay Me, where Aisling (pronounced Ash-ling) meets Drake, her future wyrven mate. Sparks fly, but she leaves him back in Europe while she returns home to the US. The second book picks up shortly after the first, starting with Aisling heading back to Europe (Budapest, this time) to attend an Otherworld conference and deliver an important amulet to a hermit.

As before, she finds herself tangled in a web of murders, and... well... Drake's bed sheets. This time, though - it's official, they're an item. There's lots of perks with the position of mate, but unfortunately being able to solve crimes that are framed on you are not.

MacAlister brings us a delightful cast of characters - oracles, mages, more guardians, incubi, and even a professional virgin (who spreads sunshine! To everyone! With her smiles!). I didn't necessarily laugh out loud with this book, but perhaps if I were a more expressive person, I would have. I found it very entertaining, and the plot was sound without being dense or heavy.

This book is definitely a for-adults book, and will probably appeal more to the female readership than male (read: Paranormal Romance at its best!).

Miéville, China: Perdido Street Station

ISBN: 0345459407

From the Publisher:

Beneath the towering bleached ribs of a dead, ancient beast lies New Crobuzon, a squalid city where humans, Re-mades, and arcane races live in perpetual fear of Parliament and its brutal militia. The air and rivers are thick with factory pollutants and the strange effluents of alchemy, and the ghettos contain a vast mix of workers, artists, spies, junkies, and whores. In New Crobuzon, the unsavory deal is stranger to none—not even to Isaac, a brilliant scientist with a penchant for Crisis Theory.

Isaac has spent a lifetime quietly carrying out his unique research. But when a half-bird, half-human creature known as the Garuda comes to him from afar, Isaac is faced with challenges he has never before fathomed. Though the Garuda's request is scientifically daunting, Isaac is sparked by his own curiosity and an uncanny reverence for this curious stranger.

While Isaac's experiments for the Garuda turn into an obsession, one of his lab specimens demands attention: a brilliantly colored caterpillar that feeds on nothing but a hallucinatory drug and grows larger—and more consuming—by the day. What finally emerges from the silken cocoon will permeate every fiber of New Crobuzon—and not even the Ambassador of Hell will challenge the malignant terror it invokes . . .

A magnificent fantasy rife with scientific splendor, magical intrigue, and wonderfully realized characters, told in a storytelling style in which Charles Dickens meets Neal Stephenson, Perdido Street Station offers an eerie, voluptuously crafted world that will plumb the depths of every reader's imagination.

I picked up Perdido Street Station due to all the reviews it got on a forum board that I used to frequent. I had no idea what the story was about, except that it was by a relatively new UK author (who I assumed was female, but is decidedly not). The cover is beautiful, but I thought that it might be more of a dark, urban fantasy then what it truly was.

When you hear that Mr. Miéville writes "Weird Fantasy", take that as face value. I thought this book and the thoughts behind them are exceptionally weird. However, they are actually quite brilliant as well. It is quite obvious that Miéville has a penchant for science, and can make something that doesn't exist scientifically become quite believable and logic, to the point where you're kind of nodding along thinking "I see how that works".

I did appreciate Miéville's imagination, as there seemed to be no limit to it. In his cast of characters, we have humans, half human half insect (I thought of an ant) people, half human half cactus people, we have a society that seems to be of very very large parrots that are somewhat human, plus giant moths, a spider that takes on the essence of fate, and even demons... from hell. Oh! And a frog-type amphibian kind of creature. There's also a government sanctioned form of punishment that's called Remaking, where other species "parts" can be grafted on to a person (no matter what kind). Some of those parts could even be part "construct" or robotic. Very, very good imagination!

Miéville's characters are well formed, and not entirely likable... which seems to me to be more like real people. I was really weirded out by the "races" when I first started reading, but I think by the end I was thankful that I wasn't reading another book about elves and dwarves. I think that due to the "alien-ness" of his societies, I would almost push this book into the Science Fiction genre, but that can be determined by each reader. Or bookstore owner, or whatever. I know that in my local bookshop it was definitely labeled under "Fantasy".

This book is not for the faint of heart. It's interesting, it's gritty and has a lot of information. Weighing in at over 600 pages, it is by no means a quick read, either. It takes concentration to read it, as you have to pay attention to what is going on - there are no superfluous words in this story. It's definitely for adults, as well.

Pick up Perdido Street Station if you are looking for something out of the ordinary, and something with more substance than what some of the other Fantasy authors are churning out these days (this isn't a complaint from me - I prefer books that are a little lighter, but this was definitely a great change of pace).

Wilkins, Kim: The Autumn Castle

ISBN: 044661663X

From Publishers Weekly

Wilkins, a star in her native Australia, strikes a tantalizing balance between pastoral and grotesque in her American fantasy debut. Christine Starlight lives in an artist's collective in Berlin with her lover, Jude, and their companions. She is haunted by two memories from childhood: the gruesome death of her parents and the abduction of her best friend, May. May, it turns out, was not abducted, but was lost by her mother in a bargain with a faery; in the enchanted world May now calls home--and which now calls her Mayfridh--she is the queen. Circumstances bring the two worlds together, and when Mayfridh crosses over and reunites with Christine, she also falls in love with Jude. Jude, though, carries with him a whopper of a secret, which Wilkins manages to conceal nicely. Meanwhile, Mandy Z., a madman who has hated faeries since childhood and who happens to own the building in which Christine and Jude live, is hard at work on a "Bone Wife," made from the bones of the faeries he has murdered. The brutal scenes involving Mandy Z. provide a sharp contrast to the gentle, often touching story of Christine and her inner battles. The well-executed conclusion ends this fascinating adventure on a high note.

I'm a huge fan of Ms. Wilkins, and this story did not disappoint me at all. I found it well developed, excellently pace, and full of adventure and romance. Plus, it ended exactly how I wanted it too (I thought she could have taken more time with the ending, but maybe that's just me).

I couldn't decide if I hated Mayfridh or loved her throughout the book, and I think that this is exactly the desire that Ms. Wilkins is trying to draw out from us. She did such an excellent job with the characters. I also found that the book didn't read too "Australian" like some of her other books have done. The language was very... middle English, with no slang that's specific to any continent/culture. It worked, as the main character is supposed to be American.

Anyway, definitely for adults due to a couple of sex scenes, use of language, violence, and general adult themes (not your childhood fairytale!), but I would recommend it to anyone who loves a great book with an edge.

Various: Dates From Hell

ISBN: 006085409X

From Publishers Weekly

Failing to capitalize on what should be a sure-fire concept, this quartet of paranormal romance novellas falls prey to the usual suspects: lack of cohesion, formulaic characters and flimsy plots. Harrison kicks off the book with a prelude to her Hollows series, an exposition-heavy tale of confusing office/vampire politics, in which a vampiric homicide detective looks for a way to get ahead at the office apart from letting the boss into her jugular. Harrison's over-the-top atmospherics make for a jarring transition to the light touch of the second novella, Sands's farcical story of young researcher-cum-shapeshifter Claire, who attends her high school reunion as two different people: herself, accompanying schoolyard dreamboat Kyle, and hunky Hollywood actor Brad Cruise, a favor to her dateless best friend Jill. Nestled in between Sands's slapstick and Handeland's passable closer—about a tough-as-nails demon hunter out to save a virginal literary agent—is the collection's one gem: Armstrong's tale of a bold and sassy half-demon peacekeeper who finds herself falling for a werewolf thief. Unlike her compatriots, Armstrong works well with the space constraint, giving her story an open-ended, promising conclusion.

I have to disagree with the above generalization of this book. It's an anthology of four short stories. It's not meant to all work together into one large story, or anything like that. Also, the stories approximately only 100 pages each - not too much space or time to develop a super-fantastic plot line.

Anyway, I'll address each story individually, as that's how I think they should be dealt with.

Kim Harrison - Undead in the Garden of Good and Evil

This is a story for anyone who's read Ms. Harrison's Hollow's series. If you haven't read the series, it will be an amusing short, but won't really mean anything to you. It's meant to give backstory on Ivy and Kisten from that series. I thought it was pretty well done and very intense. I really liked it.

Lynsay Sands - The Claire Switch Project

This is an excellent stand alone short story. Basically, Claire gets zapped by this laser that's supposed to cause animals to develop chameleon type tendencies, to be able to change colour, or what have you. Unfortunately, the laser doesn't do what it's supposed to, and enables her to change shape... into whomever (or whatever, I presume) she likes. Hilarity ensues as her best friend convinces her to go as her date to their high school reunion as a hot celebrity, while her high school crush asks her out for the same night! She ends up pulling double duty as both dates, and well... it just gets even more funny from there.

Kelley Armstrong - Chaotic

This is a story that introduces a new half-demon character, and brings us back to Karl Marsten, Jewel Thief and werewolf. I think that you could read this without knowing the other characters, but it makes a lot more sense if you're familiar with the rest of Ms. Armstrong's Otherworld series. Basically, Hope is a half-demon who feeds off of chaos, which enables her to get a job working with the Interracial Council tracking down rogue supernaturals, and handing them over for justice. On an otherwise boring date to a museum gala, her spidey senses start to tingle and she's led to where Karl is stealing some jewellery. They end up get a bit plot-twisted, and she ends up spending her evening with Karl, which turns out to be much, much better than her evening with her boring date. I definitely liked this story, but it wasn't my favourite... maybe I just wanted to laugh a little more and this story wasn't bringing on the chuckles.

Lori Handeland - Dead Man Dating

This was a solid story about demons possessing a human body and killing a woman... through sex, of course! While on her date with the demon, Kit and her partner are disturbed mid-makeout session in a back alley by a rough looking demon hunter. Chavez, the demon hunter, in the end is able to save Kit (of course!), and they ultimately fall in love. I thought this was the best story out of all of them, as the characters seemed pretty real (Kit has really low self-esteem), and I liked the story. I thought that something of this sort could possibly have held it's own novel, but this novella version seemed to work just fine too. I think I'll be checking out some of Ms. Handeland's other work.

Anthony, Piers: With a Tangled Skein

ISBN: 0345318854

Book Description from Amazon.com

When the man Niobe loved was shot, she learned that she had been the target, in a devious plot of the Devil's. Hoping for revenge, she discovered, too late, how intricate his scheming was, and that he had managed to trap her son and her granddaughter, Luna. Niobe's only chance to save them was to accept a challenge by the Prince of Deceit--a challenge to be decided in Hell and in a maze of Satan's devising!

This is pretty much on par with the rest of the Incarnations of Immortality series by Piers Anthony. It's funny, quick witted, well plotted and thoughtful, all at the same time.

I really appreciate Mr. Anthony for making me think about the whole good vs. evil thing. I realize that this is fiction, and I don't believe that there are incarnations of things like Fate, Death, Mother Earth, etc. but it's an amusing way to look at the struggle of good and evil, and to look at the "why" of things.

I'd recommend this book for anyone in their late teens and up. While there are sexual references and some discussion of it, there's really only one sex scene, and I didn't find it overly graphic.

Butcher, Jim: Storm Front

ISBN: 0451457811

From the Back of the Book:

Harry Dresden - Wizard. Lost items found. Paranormal Investigations. Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates. No Love Potions, Endless Purses, or Other Entertainment.

Harry Dresden is the best at what he does. Well, technically, he's the only at what he does. So when the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal creativity or capability, they come to him for answers. For the "everyday" world is actually full of strange and magical things - and most of them don't play well with humans. That's where Harry comes in. Takes a wizard to catch a - well, whatever.

There's just one problem. Business, to put it mildly, stinks. So when the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, Harry's seeing dollar signs. But where there's black magic, there's a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry's name. And that's when things start to get... interesting.

Magic. It can get a guy killed.

I liked, not loved, this book. It was reasonably well done, but with far less of a love interest than I prefer. Harry is a well developed character (although Harry? A wizard? How irritating!), and he can do some pretty cool stuff, it was the best ever book!!!

I have to admit, now that I've seen The Dresden Files on TV, the series is a bit more exciting to me, and chances are that I'll pick up the rest of the series. I'm nothing, if not a complete-ist!

I would recommend this book to all people who love a fast paced, current day magic book. Probably an adult only book (due to some scariness and violence), but I would imagine that a well-read (aka MATURE) late teen would enjoy this book too.

Sands, Lynsay: Tall, Dark & Hungry

ISBN: 0505525836

From the back cover:

The third installment in the series whose first book Publishers Weekly praised as "a cheeky, madcap tale" for "readers weary of the tortured, brooding, all-too-serious vampire," Booklist called "uproariously hilarious," and Everything Romantic said "may break new ground."

If you liked Single White Vampire and Love Bites, you'll devour: Tall, Dark & Hungry.

It bit: New York hotels cost an arm and a leg, and Terri had flown from England to help plan her cousin's wedding. The new in-laws offered lodging. But they were a weird bunch. There was the sometimes-chipper-sometimes-brooding Lucern, and the wacky stage-actor, Vincent (She couldn't imagine Broadway casting a hungrier singing-and-dancing Dracula). And then there was Bastien. Just looking into his eyes, Terri had to admit she was falling for him - someone even taller, darker, and hungrier than the other two. She was feeling a mite peckish herself. And if she stayed with him, those blood-sucking hotel owners wouldn't get her!

Like the back cover said, this is the third book in the Argeneau series, but I read it without reading the second book, so I'm sure you can too. However, you have to read it after the first one for it to make any sense. Just FYI.

I really like this series, it's very light-hearted and fun. It's definitely a paranormal romance, so don't expect anything gritty or life-like from it. That said, it's an extremely entertaining read, and I love what Ms. Sands has done with her vampires.

Due to it being a romance novel, and thus the sex, I wouldn't recommend it for anyone younger than 18+.

Evanovich, Janet: One for the Money

ISBN-10: 0312990456

From Publishers Weekly

First novels this funny and self-assured come along rarely; dialogue this astute and raunchy is equally unusual. The gutsy heroine introduced here is Stephanie Plum of Trenton, N.J., a recently laid-off lingerie buyer who has no job, no car and no furniture. She does have a hamster, a deranged grandmother, two caring parents and several pairs of biking shorts and sports bras. Finding work with her cousin Vinnie, she becomes a bond hunter and scrounges money enough to buy a gun, a Chevy Nova and some Mace.

Her first assignment is to locate a cop accused of murder. Joe Morelli grew up in Stephanie's neighborhood. Possessed of legendary charm, he relieved Stephanie of her virginity when she was 16 (she later ran over him with a car). In her search, Stephanie catches her prey, loses him and grills a psychotic prizefighter, the employer of the man Morelli shot. She steals Morelli's car and then installs an alarm so he can't steal it back. Resourceful and tough, Stephanie has less difficulty finding her man than deciding what she wants to do with him once she's got him.

While the link between the fighter and the cop isn't clear until too late in the plot, Evanovich's debut is a delightful romp and Stephanie flaunts a rough-edged appeal.

I really liked this book, even though it wasn't really within the "fantasy/sci-fi" genre that I usually stick to (or stick pretty close too, like paranormal romance). This is a straight up chick-lit mystery. It's hilarious, the characters are likeable, and it's incredibly well paced.

I would recommend this book for any adult who likes funny heroines and snappy books. Definitely a winner!

Keene, Brian: City of the Dead

ISBN: 0843954159

From Publisher's Weekly:

In this sequel to the Stoker-winning The Rising (2003), Keene ingeniously asks, if human corpses can be reanimated, why not dead dogs, rats, sparrows, goldfish, etc.? His other innovation is the news that the zombie swarm is inhabited by demons who are angry at God for trying to exile them in the Void. They want to get revenge by killing everything on Earth, and they are numerous, clever and indestructible enough to accomplish the task.

Opposing the demon-zombies are a few living survivors, chiefly an ex-hooker, a young father and his little boy. Finding no shelter elsewhere, they wind up in a fortified Manhattan skyscraper, commanded by an old millionaire who's certain he can outlast any attack.

Keene does a fine job keeping the mechanics of the siege clear, while switching viewpoints among his large cast of characters. He's also inventive in imagining ways the human body can be disassembled, with vivid descriptions of torn flesh and spraying fluids. After a while, though, the relentless dread becomes tiresome. Reading this book is like being trapped in a long, gory, unwinnable video game.

I totally agree with the above run-down. Brian Keene is very good at what he does - he's very descriptive, very imaginitive, and very good at bringing the horror of this book forward. For this, I applaud him.

However, I find that I am tiring of the horror genre. I know, how can that be? But I am. I was so glad to be done the end of this book when I was. Maybe it has something to do with my own personal situation, but I really have no desire to read about reanimated dead babies, or about zombies at all... unless it's funny. But this book? Wasn't funny.

I was impressed with the ending - I felt like it's not really an ending at all, and leaves it too wide open. I guess, though, that there really isn't an ending, unless you want all the characters to die, you know?

Anyway, if you're a fan of the horror-rip-em-apart type books, then you'll like this one. This book is not for anyone who frightens easy, has a weak stomach, or likes their characters alive. Definitely not recommended for anyone under 18.