Ten Days of Yule: Anticipated 2013 releases

I have a bunch of books that I am waiting for in 2013, and but these are the books I am the most eager to read.  The links are if you want to pre-order them at Amazon.
Second Chance Cafe by Alison Kent
I loved her Love in Bloom, and Love Me Tender, and I cannot wait to read this one. Unfortunately it published by Amazon Montlake, so I’ll have to buy it from Amazon

Fixed by LA Kornetsky
This is the sequel to Collared, and November 2013 cannot come fast enough for me.
Heart of Briar and Soul of Fire by LA Gilman
This is Laura Anne Gilman’s next Urban Fantasy series, and the snippets she has posted makes me twitch with impatience to read.

Night Blade by JC Daniels
This is the sequel to Blade Song, and it is so good. I have it on pre-order, and I plan to request it when it is up on Netgalley.

Jar of Dreams by Liz Flaherty:
It is Liz Flaherty. Do I need to say anything more?

Mountain Echoes & Walker Paper 9 by CE Murphy
sob The last two Walker Papers. I hate that the series are ending, yet I cannot wait to read them.
Death and the Madwomen by Kari Sperring
This is the sequel to the Grass King’s Concubine, and I cannot wait to find out how the Brass City, and the Silver City, reacts to the Cadre and the Ferret sisters.

Anticipated December Releases:

NEW GAME. SAME RULES. SHE FIGHTS. THEY DIE.
Max always does her job, no matter how brutal and bloody. That’s how it’s been ever since she was enslaved by a witch, turned into a supernatural warrior, and assigned to protect the coven of Horngate. But her job just got harder. . . .
Waves of wild magic have returned much of the world to a time when fairy tales were real and danger now lurks behind every tree and bush. As winter descends and food, heat, and water are harder to come by, many have turned to Benjamin Sterling for protection. Leader of the Earth’s Last Stand cult, Sterling claims to be the Hand of God, but his power and charisma secretly come from a dark and terrible source. With devout followers eager to do his sadistic bidding, he has his eyes on Horngate and its magical inhabitants. To save those she loves, Max will knowingly walk into a trap. But when the cult strips Max’s soul bare for all to see, will even Alexander—her lover and her strength—remain? And if she were to lose him, what does it matter if she gains the whole world. . .

 Someone—or something—is stalking Abby Marcheson. Luckily, she has her brother’s hunky friend Seth to keep her safe. Abby falls easily into her protected life, with Seth constantly by her side, and when he asks her out on a date, she’s eager to accept.

But Seth is much more than he seems. A Nephilim, a son of Angels with wings of his own,
Seth is bound to spend his life hunting the Shemyaza, evil descendants of Angels. He’s kept his wings hidden from Abby in order not to frighten her, but as her stalker becomes bolder, Seth begins to suspect that a Shem has Abby in its sights…

As their flirtation escalates into full-blown passion, Seth is torn. Should he reveal his true nature to the beautiful, trusting Abby? Will she accept him, wings and all, or will Abby flee her guardian angel and fall prey to the sinister force that wishes her harm?




Magic was just around the corner….

Kiri Palger knew the difference between reality-new house,  hard work and not too many friends-and fantasy-the fun she had playing online games. So when the chance to work for the best gaming company in the world came up, giving her a chance to merge business with pleasure, how could she not apply?
Suddenly she has more friends, interesting neighbors and an intriguing love interest. But when the game begins to awaken something inside her, Kiri is shocked by the talents she never knew she had… and an evil she’d never imagined.
Her nice, safe life is imploding around her-and if she takes up  the mantle of her powers, it will never be the same again….

Review: Ten Ruby Trick by Julia Knight

Ten Ruby Trick by Julia Knight:

The Particulars: Fantasy Romance, Carina Press, available as e-book
The Grade: B+
The Source: Kobo.
The Blurb:
Privateer Van Gast thrills in capturing treasure; delights in pulling off elaborate scams; and has an outrageous reputation with the ladies. But there is only one woman for him: fellow privateer Josie—seductive, brave and unpredictable. He’s hoping to make their relationship permanent, until he raids the wrong ship. Now slavers are stalking him, his crew is verging on mutiny and Josie has disappeared.
When she reappears with a new mark wanting Van Gast’s help running the ten ruby trick con, he senses trouble. It seems like Josie has joined up with mage-bound slavers to turn him over to their Master. Van Gast is about to take he biggest risk of all— and find out the true meaning of trust and betrayal.

The Review:

This book languished unread, until Carina Press offered the sequel at a discount this summer. And I decided to read this one first. I am glad I read it, and yes, I snapped up the sequel as well.

 The world was detailed, and felt very believable. I loved the nuances in this book. From the Pirates, and their sense of honor, to the crystal covered mages and the harsh hands of their rule.

The characters were both strong, yet at the same time they were deliciously flawed. I loved Josie for her courage, and Van Gast for his determination to figure out what was wrong. The other pirates were charming, but they weren’t perfect. They had temper, and they showed it.
The plot was fast paced, and filled with twists. What I liked was that the twists were the result of Van Gast’s actions. And while the Mages gave me the creeps, I loved the fact that the villain’s motivation made sense.
The only thing I wished was different, was that I missed Josie’s POV. The whole story was told for Van Gast’s or Holden’s POV which was both refreshing, and felt a bit odd.

Anticipated November Releases

Charlotte de Ney is as noble as they come, a blueblood straight out of the Weird. But even though she possesses rare magical healing abilities, her life has brought her nothing but pain. After her marriage crumbles, she flees to the Edge to build a new home for herself. Until Richard Mar is brought to her for treatment, and Charlotte’s life is turned upside down once again.
Richard is a swordsman without peer, future head of his large and rambunctious Edger clan—and he’s on a clandestine quest to wipe out slavers trafficking humans in the Weird. So when his presence leads his very dangerous enemies to Charlotte, she vows to help Richard destroy them. The slavers’ operation, however, goes deeper than Richard knows, and even working together, Charlotte and Richard may not survive…

They rely on animal instincts…
Meet “Gin” and “Tonic.” She’s a dog person. He’s a cat person. But when these two friendly rivals team up to solve a mystery, you can bet their pets aren’t the only ones getting collared…
Ginny Mallard and her shar-pei, Georgie, are about to run out of kibble and cash, unless she digs up another client for her private concierge business. So she heads to her neighborhood Seattle bar, Mary’s, to sniff out an opportunity. Or a gimlet or two. The bartender, Teddy Tonica, is usually good for a round of challenging banter, and Georgie is oddly fond of his bar cat, Mistress Penny.
Before she can say “bottoms up,” Ginny lands a job tracking down some important business papers that have gone missing—along with the customer’s uncle. If Ginny hopes to track him down, she’ll need more than her research skills: she’ll need a partner with people skills—like Tonica.

This is one dangerous case that’s about to go to the dogs—unless man, woman, cat, and canine can work together as one very unconventional crime-solving team.

                                   A second shot at first love
After college, Ryan Kowalski decided to leave Whitford, Maine, rather than watch Lauren Carpenter marry another man. Now his siblings need his help to refurbish the family-owned Northern Star Lodge and he’s forced to face the past sooner rather than later when he collars a vandal—and learns the boy is Lauren’s son…
The last person Lauren needs back in her life is Ryan Kowalski. With a bitter ex-husband and a moody teenage son, she has enough man trouble already. But her son needs to learn a few lessons about right and wrong, even if Lauren has to escort him to Ryan’s door every day to work off his crime.
With all this close contact, Ryan and Lauren can’t deny the chemistry between them is as powerful as ever. But can a few searing kisses erase their past and pave the way for a second chance at true love?

Anticipated September Releases

September 4th will be a busy day for me. 3 authors on my autobuy list has releases then.

Riveted by Meljean Brook

The New York Times bestselling author of The Iron Duke and Heart of Steel returns to the Iron Seas with a riveting new adventure of steamy romance.

A century after a devastating volcanic eruption forced Iceland’s inhabitants to abandon its shores, the island has become enshrouded in legend. But the truth behind the legends is mechanical, not magical—and the mystery of the island a matter of life and death for a community of women who once spilled noble blood to secure their freedom.
Five years ago, Annika unwittingly endangered that secret, but her sister Källa took the blame and was exiled. Now Annika serves on an airship, searching for her sister and longing to return home. But that home is threatened when scientific expedition leader David Kentewess comes aboard, looking to expose Annika’s secrets. Then disaster strikes, leaving David and Annika stranded on a glacier and pursued by a madman, with their very survival depending on keeping the heat rising between them—and generating lots of steam…

tangle of needEnter New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh’s darkly beautiful world of archangels and immortal power, as a pact is sealed between two souls bound by blood, stirred by desire, and driven by vengeance…

With wings of midnight and an affinity for shadows, Jason courts darkness. But now, with the Archangel Neha’s consort lying murdered in the jewel-studded palace that was his prison and her rage threatening cataclysmic devastation, Jason steps into the light, knowing he must unearth the murderer before it is too late.

Earning Neha’s trust comes at a price—Jason must tie himself to her bloodline through the Princess Mahiya, a woman with secrets so dangerous, she trusts no one. Least of all an enemy spymaster.

With only their relentless hunt for a violent, intelligent killer to unite them, Jason and Mahiya embark on a quest that leads to a centuries-old nightmare… and to the dark storm of an unexpected passion that threatens to drench them both in blood.

ImpulseSera Sinclaire is a New Orleans rarity: a submissive coyote trapped in a town overrun by dominant shapeshifters. Worse, she lacks the willpower to deny the alphas-in-shining-armor who need her soothing presence, even when their protectiveness threatens to crush her hard-won self-reliance.
The only shifter she doesn’t want to push away is Julio Mendoza, a wolf so dominant he’s earned a place on the Southeast council.
Julio doesn’t have the luxury of indulging in the vacation his psychic shrink insists he needs. He can’t turn his back on responsibilities he’s beginning to wish he’d never shouldered. When an obsessive ex endangers Sera, though, instinct drives him to get her out of town. Watching her come to life outside the city makes him feel like he’s finally done something right, and her touch ignites desire he doesn’t want to ignore.
But soon, lighthearted flirting becomes a dangerous game of seduction, where every day spent falling into each other is another day avoiding the truth. Sera’s ex isn’t the only one who’d disapprove of their relationship. There are wolves who would kill to get Sera out of Julio’s life—starting with his own blood kin.
Warning: Contains endless summer road trips, family drama, redneck werewolves, sexual power games and a taboo love affair between a submissive coyote who’s among the last of her kind and a dominant wolf who loves his heroine’s ass. Literally. 





Review: Rainshadow Road by Lisa Kleypas

The particulars:  Contemporary Romance, MacMillan, available in print and as e-book
The Source: Purchased at Kobo
The Grade: A
The blurb:
Lucy Marinn is a glass artist living in mystical, beautiful, Friday Harbor, Washington. She is stunned and blindsided by the most bitter kind of betrayal: her fiance Kevin has left her. His new lover is Lucy’s own sister. Lucy’s bitterness over being dumped is multiplied by the fact that she has constantly made the wrong choices in her romantic life. Facing the severe disapproval of Lucy’s parents, Kevin asks his friend Sam Nolan, a local vineyard owner on San Juan Island, to “romance” Lucy and hopefully loosen her up and get her over her anger. Complications ensue when Sam and Lucy begin to fall in love, Kevin has second thoughts, and Lucy discovers that the new relationship in her life began under false pretenses. Questions about love, loyalty, old patterns, mistakes, and new beginnings are explored as Lucy learns that some things in life–even after being broken–can be made into something new and beautifu
The Review:
I like Lisa Kleypas historicals, but I had never read her contemporaries. I kept hearing good things about this one, bu the price stopped me. When Macmillan discounted it to 2.99 earlier this summer I snapped it up.
And I am glad I did.
The setting for this sweet romance was San Juan Island outside Washington state. I liked the careful details that Ms Kleypas inserted in her description of the island. From the description of Friday Harbor, to the nature that is an important part of the story.
That said, what made the book for me was the relationship between Sam and Lucy. One thing that I loved were that nothing felt rushed.  The romance unfolded at a pace that felt right. They started out as friends and let it evolve, both of them clear that they made no committments. As their relationship unfolded, Ms Kleypas cleverly wov in the details why they were committment shy.   
I also liked how both Sam and Lucy dealt with the stinking aftermath of her breakup with Kevin.  It could have spoiled the book for me if they had dealt with it differently, but they didn’t.
 But what I also liked was the sense that both of them had something they were passionate about, and careers they loved, yet they didn’t let takeover their lives. 
That said, I wanted to strangle Alice and Kevin for their selfish behaviour, and the fact that they didn’t care if they hurt their family. Just.. Argh.
The magic element in this book felt unnecessary. It was hardly more than a quiant touch. That said, I applaud Ms Kleypas for having the courage to add it. I would love to read a true paranormal romance written by Lisa Kleypas in the future.

Anticipated August releases

Heart Secret On the faraway planet Celta, there are some things you can never tell—until someone discovers your Heart Secret…

When a virulent disease killed the woman he loved and her baby, Garrett Primross was left alive, a reluctant survivor. Now, as a private eye, he strives to banish the memories of his past and rebuild his life. The Healers of Celta have something else in mind: Discover why he survived.

He is monitored by Healer Artemisia Panax—his HeartMate, a love he never pursued. Still mourning his loss, he refuses to acknowledge her. Since her family was publicly disgraced, she’s used to such treatment. She wants nothing more than to guard her livelihood and protect the secrets she’s sworn to keep.

Thrown together by duty, Garrett and Artemisia find the body of the last Black Magic Cultist who ruined her family. Suspicion flares, but they have little choice but to investigate the crime together. When their own lives are placed in danger, they realize that denying their HeartMates is only denying their own future

When a wealthy young woman, obsessed with a childhood vision of a magical Shining Palace, sets out with her true love to search for a legendary land, she discovers the devastated WorldBelow – the realm of the Grass King – and the terrifying Cadre, who take her prisoner, and demand she either restore the king’s concubine… or replace her.

I am reading this one right now, and it is sooo good. 

Libriomancer (Magic Ex Libris #1)

Isaac Vainio is a Libriomancer, a member of the secret organization founded five centuries ago by Johannes Gutenberg. Libriomancers are gifted with the ability to magically “reach” into books and draw forth objects. When Isaac is attacked by vampires that “leaked “from the pages of books into our world, he barely manages to escape. To his horror he discovers that vampires have been attacking other magic-users as well, and Gutenberg has been kidnapped.
With the help of a motorcycle-riding dryad who packs a pair of oak cudgels, Isaac finds himself hunting the unknown dark power that has been manipulating humans and vampires alike. And his search will uncover dangerous secrets about Libriomancy, Gutenberg, and the history of magic. . .

What books are you looking forward to read in August?

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Review: Angel by Johanna Lindsey


The Particulars: Historical Romance, Avon, available as e-book and in print.
The Source: The bookshelf
The Grade: B
The Blurb:

Hoping to cool off a twenty-five-year-old feud between two neighboring families, Cassie Stuart only succeeds in pouring kerosene on the flames. Both sides have warned her to get out of Texas pronto. . .or they will burn her father’s ranch to the ground. What Cassie needs is a peacemaker but she ends up with a widow-maker instead.
He is called Angel, a ruggedly handsome hired gun with eyes as black as sin. Unwanted and unwelcomed by his ungrateful employer, he would just as soon leave Cassie to fend for herself. But a stubborn sense of duty, and a desire to taste the sweetness of her kiss steels Angel’s resolve to make Cassie want him, come hell or high water. . .and for more than his gun alone.


The Review: 
This is one of the classic, old skool, historical romances. I bought it years ago, and had forgotten about it when I found it in the wardrobe at my mum’s place. (My wardrobe there is BIG and filled with books.)
I know from experience that some books doesn’t survived the test of time. But I was happily surprised when I started to re-read this one.
I fell in love with the characters, especially Angel and Cassie. Cassie’s nosiness and tendency to poke her nose into other people’s business made me laugh. Angel had a core of honor that I liked, even though I had to blink away tears when .he spoke about his childhood.
And the setting.The setting felt well researched. It was interesting to get a glimpse of the wild west, and one that at least felt believable. In fact, it felt so believable that I sometimes could feel the burning sun, and taste the dust in the air.
The plot was fast paced. I admired Cassie for her refusal to back down, and do the sensible thing which would have been to head back to Wyoming. I loved how Cassie’s stubbornness kept Angel on his toes. There were plenty of plottwists that took me by surprise, yet in hindsight they made sense.
I enjoyed this book, for ¾ of the book ,but after awhile I started to get a bit annoyed, since it felt  like their road to their HEA was stretched out a bit too long. But it was a good read, and one I plan to re-read.

Anticipated July releases

This is a new, semi regular feature, that lists books I have recommend that is out now or coming soon.  Never hurts with a reminder.

Out this week:
Boston, 1767: In D.B. Jackson’s “Thieftaker, “revolution is brewing as the British Crown imposes increasingly onerous taxes on the colonies, and intrigue swirls around firebrands like Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty. But for Ethan Kaille, a thieftaker who makes his living by conjuring spells that help him solve crimes, politics is for others…until he is asked to recover a necklace worn by the murdered daughter of a prominent family.Suddenly, he faces another conjurer of enormous power, someone unknown, who is part of a conspiracy that reaches to the highest levels of power in the turbulent colony. His adversary has already killed–and not for his own gain, but in the service of his powerful masters, people for whom others are mere pawns in a game of politics and power. Ethan is in way over his head, and he knows it. Already a man with a dark past, he can ill afford to fail, lest his livelihood be forfeit. But he can’t stop now, for his magic has marked him, so he must fight the odds, even though he seems hopelessly overmatched, his doom seeming certain at the spectral hands of one he cannot even see.

Tin Swift: The Age of SteamIn steam age America, men, monsters, machines and magic battle to claim the same scrap of earth and sky. In this chaos, one man fights to hold on to his humanity–and his honor. . . Life on the frontier is full of deceit and danger, but bounty hunter Cedar Hunt is a man whose word is his bond. Cursed with becoming a beast every full moon, Cedar once believed his destiny was to be alone. But now, Cedar finds himself saddled with a group of refugees, including the brother he once thought lost. Keeping his companions alive is proving to be no easy task, in part because of the promise he made to the unpredictable Madder brothers–three miners who know the secret mechanisms of the Strange. To fulfill his pledge, Cedar must hunt a powerful weapon known as the Holder–a search that takes him deep into the savage underbelly of the young country and high into the killing glim-field skies defended by desperate men and deadly ships. But the battles he faces are just a glimmer of a growing war stirring the country. To keep his word Cedar must navigate betrayal, lies, and treacherous alliances, risking everything to save the lives of those he has come to hold dear…
 
Archer’s Lady by Moira Rogers

 Accused of betraying the Bloodhound Guild, Archer’s only chance to regain the trust of his fellow hounds is to earn it—one dangerous job at a time. Crystal Springs may be the worst yet. The town has been deserted by all but the poor and the desperate, yet the vampires stalking the edges of the settlement haven’t closed in for the kill. Question is, why?

Grace Linwood, professional liar, has been hiding under the guise of a border schoolteacher for so long, she’s almost fallen for her own con. The frontier was supposed to be her chance at a respectable life, but now the cowardly part of her wants to flee. When Archer catches her considering a run for safety, she knows it’s only a matter of time before he sees through her charade.

They become reluctant allies in the quest to uncover the mysteries of Crystal Springs, but every unraveled knot ties them closer together. They both know their pasts are too shattered to hope for a future—until their investigation uncovers a secret. One that could make betraying the Guild their only path to redemption.


Product Warnings

Contains a partly reformed con-artist heroine with a bruised heart and a mostly retired bank-robbing hero with a weary soul. Also included: vampire schemes, mad scientist plots, an alarming amount of dirty talk and some borderline-criminal bedroom antics in an alternate Wild West.

Out later this month:

Gunmetal Magic by  Ilona Andrews

Some people have everything figured out—Andrea Nash is not one of those people.


After being kicked out of the Order of the Knights of Merciful Aid, Andrea’s whole existence is in shambles. All she can do is to try to put herself back together, something made easier by working for Cutting Edge, a small investigative firm owned by her best friend Kate Daniels.
When several shapeshifters working for Raphael Medrano—the male alpha of the Clan Bouda and Andrea’s former lover—die unexpectedly at a dig site, Andrea is assigned to investigate…and must work with Raphael. As Andrea’s search for the killer leads her into the secret underbelly of supernatural Atlanta, she knows that dealing with her feelings for Raphael might have to take a back seat to saving the world…

Dragon Justice by Laura Anne Gilman

  My name is Bonnie Torres. A long time ago not so long ago, I was a newly minted college grad      with a degree and enthusiasm—and not a clue where to go with it. Now, I’m lead investigator with PUPI, the Private, Unaffiliated Paranormal Investigators of the Cosa Nostradamus. I spend my days looking underneath the rocks of the magical community, finding the things my fellow Talent want to keep hidden. We use magic to fight magic, to find the evidence the cops can’t, to prove the crimes the rest of the world can’t see.
Sounds pretty glam, right?
So far, in those two years, I’ve been shot at, verbally abused, nailed with a psi-bomb, physically threatened, seen people—human and otherwise—die and been unable to prevent it, and had most of my illusions about the inherent fairness of life yanked out from under me. Some days, it’s hard to get out of bed in the morning.
And then I think about what we’ve done, and I haul myself out and get my ass to the office. Because this, PUPI, what we do? It matters.

Review: Yorkshire by Lynne Connolly

The Particulars: Historical Romance, Samhain, available as e-book and in print
The Source: Amazon freebie ( also available at BN and Sony)
The Grade: B+
The blurb:
Rose Golightly is a country girl who thinks her life will continue on its comfortable course, but a series of events changes that for good. On a visit to the ancestral estate of Hareton Abbey, Richard Kerre, Lord Strang, enters her life. A leader of society, a man known for extravagance in dress and life, Richard is her fate. And she is his.

Richard is to marry a rich, frigid woman in a few weeks, and has deliberately closed his heart to love. Then a coach accident throws his wounded body into Rose’s arms.

With one kiss, Richard and Rose discover in each other the passion they thought they’d never find.

But the accident that brought them together was an act of sabotage. Somewhere, in the rotting hulk of a once beautiful stately home, a murderer is hiding. Richard and Rose set out to solve the mystery, and find the layers of scandal go deeper than simply determining who is guilty. And that doing the right thing could separate them—forever.

The review:

Lynne Connolly have been on my To check out list for awhile, so when I discovered that Samhain offered the first book in the Richard and Rose series as a freebie, I decided to download it.
And I am glad I did. This story hooked me from the start. I loved the setting. The derelict manor, and how she with small touches showed how bleak life had been there for Lady Harcourt.
I also liked the down to earth way Rose and her family is described. They are in the upper echelons of the middle class, and they are happy to be middle class.
This was an stark contrast compared to Richard and his family. They are nobles, and it showed.
I could understand the worry Lizzie felt when she realised that Rose was attracted to Richard, since Richard had a certain reputation. Not to mention that he was engaged.
A lot of the enjoyment with this book stems from the characters.
Most of the focus is on romance between Rose and Richard. How they struggled with the attraction they felt to each other, and how they decided to act on it. I liked that both of them knew that their relationship would have an hard path towards their HEA.
Then there is Rose’s family. I loved quiet feelings between Jacob and Martha. The bubbly excitement of her sister Lizzie.
That said, this novel has its weak spots. While the romance is fascinating, the mystery subplot felt a bit predictable, both when it came to what happened, and who caused it. The major problem I had was that it felt likethey stumbled upon the biggest clue purely by coincidence.
Still I do plan to read more books by Lynne Connolly in the future.