Category Archives: Contemporary

Purchased

Danice Carter is not one for glass slippers. A stilettos-wearing lawyer at one of Manhattan’s most elite establishments, Danice has a very strong grip on reality. So when she’s asked by one the firm’s founding partners to take on a personal case, Danice knows she’s in for the opportunity of a lifetime. All she has to do is convince her top boss’s granddaughter, Rosemary, to file a paternity suit. Sounds simple enough…until Danice arrives at Rosemary’s home and is pounced on by a handsome stranger.

Private investigator McIntyre Callahan’s was only following his powerful client’s orders: Find Rosemary—at all costs. Instead, he’s found a super-hot lawyer prowling around looking for answers he can’t give. The half-human, half-Fae Mac tries to warn Danice that she’s way in over her head—that Rosemary may roam among The Others, and may have dangerous ties to the Unseelie Court—but she won’t be deterred. Even if that means following Mac to the ends of the earth to find Rosemary…or surrendering to his supernatural powers of temptation…until death do they part. (from Amazon)

This is a great series.  I have been reading them since they were first published in online form only.  This book is a expanded and republished version of her third book Faer Fetched.  And that is the only problem I have with the series.  Even the author does not seem to know what order to list them in.  Once she started publishing in print, there has been no consistency.  I did not even realize this one was a re-release.

The books definitely have a reading order which the publisher has obviously not taken into consideration.  I need to rearrange my collection again to put this one in its proper place.  However, there is a new title due out on April 26, 2011 (Black Magic Woman) and I have no idea if it is a totally new story or another re-release.  Oh well, I will enjoy reading it anyway I am sure.

Purchased

Carlos Panterra is looking for a mate, a woman who will love and care for the young orphans he’s recently taken under his wing (or paw, as the case may be). When the shape shifter spies the beautiful Caitlyn, it’s like sunshine amidst the darkness. At last, he’s found the perfect woman, except…

Caitlyn Whelan is mortal. Worse, her father is the head of a CIA agency bent on hunting the undead. Still, Caitlyn knows that Carlos is the man for her, shape shifter or not. So she jumps at the chance when her sister offers her a job to work with him, determined to show Carlos their attraction is more than just animal magnetism. But danger lurks in the night, and their unleashed, untamed passion might just get them both killed… (from Goodreads)

This was not one of my favorites in the series, but I think that was because I was getting tired of reading them.  I did have problems with Carlos’ determination to only mate with another full-blooded panther shifter.  I understand that he was trying to save his species, but all that “nobility” can be hard to stomach.

There was some foreshadowing to indicate that he may not be as alone as he thinks.  I certainly hope so.

Book ten, Vampire Mine, goes on sell March 29, 2011.  We are finally going to get Conner’s story.

Purchased

Olivia’s packing list:

1. Sunscreen
2. Bathing suit
3. Flip-flops

FBI psychologist Olivia Sotiris is looking for a cool ocean breeze, sand between her toes, and a break from her crazy, and sometimes dangerous, life. But when she escapes to the Greek island of Patmos, all she gets is a meddling grandmother trying to marry her off. None of the men there interest her—except a mysterious Scotsman named Robby MacKay.

Robby’s packing list:

1. Synthetic blood
2. More synthetic blood
3. Jogging clothes (even a Vamp has to stay in shape!)

Robby needs to cool off, too, since all he can think about is revenge on the Malcontent bloodsuckers who once held him captive. But then he meets Olivia, the beauty with wild curls and a tempting smile. When a deadly criminal from one of her cases back home tracks her down, Robby will have to save her life, along with giving her a first time she’ll never forget … (from Goodreads)

As much as I enjoy these books, I am glad I am reaching the end of the series . . . or at least, so far.  It is definitely time for a change of pace.  Anyway, Olivia is an empath, but she cannot read vampires.  Personally, I have problems with that.  The vampires are alive during the night, so she should be able to read their emotions.  I guess it can be blamed on their psychic powers and ability to block others from their minds.

Purchased

Vanda Barkowski is in trouble.

As the owner of a hot nightclub, she’s more unconventional than most of her fellow vampires, and if some think her a little out of control, then so be it. But after three former employees filed a complaint about her temper, Vanda is sentenced to an anger management class. Worse, Phil Jones agreed to be her sponsor. Phil, the mortal who is forbidden to her . . .

If Vanda knew who—or what—Phil really is, she’d reconsider her attraction to him, for his true nature is wilder than anything she’d ever imagined. He has tackled the beast within and now is the perfect person to help Vanda with her rage . . . if only he can keep his cool when she makes him so undeniably hot. But with rogue vamps on the loose, will they ever have their forbidden nights? (from Goodreads)

This one is definitely a change of pace.  We have a female vampire (not the first), but she is matched with a shape-shifter.  In this case, the shifter is an alpha werewolf.  It’s amazing how different authors twist the vampire and werewolf legends to suit their books.  Of course, since there is not “true” history or description, anything goes.

This book definitely includes some foreshadowing for future novels.  I think Phil’s sister will have her own book at some point.

Purchased

A typical bachelor party is all about beers and beautiful women. A vampire bachelor party is no different — except the men are drinking Blissky (whiskey-flavored synthetic blood). And no one can throw a party quite like Jack, the illegitimate son of the legendary Casanova. But when the party gets out of hand and the cops show up, Jack has some explaining to do . . . if only he wasn’t struck speechless by the beauty of Officer Lara Boucher.

Lara is sure there’s something more than a bachelor party going on. What is Jack hiding? And why is he so interested in the recent disappearance of young women all over town? Her investigation uncovers more than she wants to know, especially about this modern-day Casanova. But if she’s ever to make detective, she’ll need to expose all his secrets . . . if only her heart wasn’t on the line. (from Goodreads)

I loved this storyline.  Although it has the SAME problem of a woman going from not knowing vampires exist to immediately falling in love with one, I found this one more believable.  Maybe I’m just becoming more accepting of the whole idea.

I did like the fact that Jack admitted he had been in love before.  After all, he is over 200 years old.  He hasn’t pined for his entire existence waiting for Lara to appear.

Her friend, LaToya is wonderful too.  I see a book in her future as well.

Purchased

Toni Davis’s Christmas wish list

1. Springing my best friend from the psych ward.

2. Living somewhere that doesn’t have coffins in the basement. Occupied coffins.

3. Finding Mr. Right. Please make him tall, dark, handsome, and alive.

This Christmas isn’t so merry for Toni. Her best friend’s been locked up in a mental hospital ever since she told the police she was attacked by vampires, and the only way for Toni to get her out is to prove that bloodsuckers really do exist. So she’s taken a job as a bodyguard for the Undead, but she gets more than she bargained for, especially when she meets Ian MacPhie, a Scottish rascal looking for Ms. Right.

Although Ian’s nearly five centuries old, he looks and acts like a twenty-seven-year-old hunk.

How can a dead man be so damn sexy? Could Mr. Wrong be Mr. Right? One forbidden kiss could lead to an eternity of passion—and all it takes is one moment under the mistletoe . . . (from Goodreads)

I was glad to see that Ian finally got his own story.  I am still bothered by how quickly the woman (and in a previous book, man) go from wanting to kill all the vampires to falling in love with one.  For Pete’s sake, Emma was nearly raped and murdered by Malcontents just a few days earlier and now she is madly in love with Ian.  Oh well, it was a great book anyway.

Purchased

Three signs that something is very different with your new man:

1. He sleeps all day . . . which would be annoying except he’s so attentive at night.

2. He’s attacked by sword-wielding assailants, yet insists he can handle it on his own.

3. He never seems to age.

Heather Westfield has always lived a quiet life, but that all changes when she helps a very handsome, very mysterious stranger. There’s something not quite right about Jean-Luc, but still, she’s never been with a man so charming, so attractive . . . so wonderful. Now if only a murderous villain wasn’t after them, they might get their happily-ever-after. (from Goodreads)

This is one of  my favorite books in this series.  There is something about Heather and her “yeah, right” personality that I love.  The idea of a French fashion designer vampire appeals to me too.

Purchased

If it was still beating. Angus MacKay has been undead for almost five hundred years and it’s not often something, or someone, surprises him. Until Emma Wallace. The sight of this luscious agent from the CIA’s elite Stake-Out team was enough to stop Angus in his tracks. But then he discovers that she’s a vampire slayer, intent on killing the “monsters” who killed her parents. And it’s Angus’s job to stop her.

The only good vampire is a dead vampire. It’s been Emma’s motto since she committed her life to the destruction of these things. Now Angus MacKay wants to convince her differently.

Sure, he’s a sexy Highland warrior who seems to have stepped off the cover of a romance novel, complete with brogue, kilt, and sword, but he’s also one of them. And it’s her job to kill him.

The war is on, but will it end in the destruction of one or both of them . . . or in total surrender to a passion for the ages? (from Goodreads)

I am not sure which is less believable . . . women who have no idea that vampires are real and then promptly fall in love with one or those who are vampire slayers who “promptly fall in love with one.”  It’s a good thing these books are so much fun because they certainly ask for a suspension of disbelief.  Now what does it say about me that I am bothered more about the relationship development than the existence of vampires?