Berkley, paranormal romance, September 2006
Connections to: first in a series

A few weeks ago, I asked everyone's advice about this book: I just couldn't get into it; should I keep trying? Two people said yes and one said no. Well, I did finish it, and my ultimate opinion lies somewhere in-between.

Ms. Singh's world is a near-futuristic earth inhabited by Psy, who are humans who have evolved psychic powers and have been ruthlessly trained to be unemotional, and Changelings, who are humans who have evolved the ability to shapeshift. Psy see Changelings as primitive and Changelings see Psy as cold. As with most generalizations, they're both right and both wrong.

Sascha is a Psy who thinks she's flawed. She has all the traits of a "cardinal," ie, a top-ranking Psy, but she's too low on the power scale. Since Psy who are branded as defective get their powers stripped, their minds wiped, and are sent to work as drones, Sascha is terrified to let her flaws show. And there's the first flaw -- she's got emotions. Anyway, Sascha's been sent by her mother, a member of the Psy Council, to broker a building contract with Lucas Hunter, the head of the leopard Changeling pack known as DarkRiver. Sascha's also supposed to ferret out information about the Changeling race and feed it to her mother and Enrique, a sinister fellow Council member. But all these pesky emotions keep getting in the way, particularly reactions to Lucas.

A friend of mine was pointing out in the course of our discussion about this book that it's a very thin line for an author to tread when you initially state a character or race has no emotion and then show them clearly emoting. Sascha's allowed to emote, to some extent, since she's supposedly flawed, but what about her mother and Enrique? They show an awful lot of anger, annoyance, and other negative emotions for beings who are supposedly emotionless.

Lucas has forged the building contract for a similar purpose: there's a serial killer hitting Changeling women, and Changeling trackers have determined the culprit is a Psy. But Psy control most of the infrastructure in this world, so the Changelings have to bring the killer to justice with no legal support. Lucas is trying to do so without sparking a full-out Psy/Changeling war. But of course Lucas didn't take into account his attraction to a Psy.

So there's the basic setup, and it looks really good in theory. But this fascinating world was dragged down so far by the angsting of the two main characters that I kept being able to put the book down in favor of something else. Sascha reinforcing her shields and fighting back panic and wondering why she's flawed. Lucas agonizing over his pack responsibilities and his animal's insistence that Sascha is his mate. I'm sitting there screaming to the pages, "Will you GET ON WITH IT ALREADY?! Tell me the key to Sascha's flaw, let the two of them bloody mate and get it over with!"

They did eventually get on with it. But it was only at about chapter 20 that I got the answers I wanted and suddenly was unable to put the book down. I'm glad I finished the book, b/c I hate to leave loose ends, but at the same time, I'm not sure that I'll continue with the series. But who knows, someday morbid curiosity and boredom might get the better of me.

1/2

Review © 2007 by Riley Merrick

Berkley, urban fantasy, October 2006
Connections: first in the Sisters of the Moon series

First of all, a word of warning: Berkley, in its infinite "wisdom," has marked these books as "paranormal romance." They're most emphatically not! I suppose this has something to do with Berkley not really having a SF/F line (that I have seen, anyway) and so when they bought this series, they said to themselves, "it's paranormal, so stamp 'paranormal romance' on the spines and be done with it." This is not to say that the books aren't fantastic -- because they are -- but if you're expecting a traditional paranormal romance, you're not going to get it. Ms. Galenorn herself has a similar warning on her website.

Without further ado...

Meet the D'Artigo sisters, who are half-human, half-Faerie members of the Otherworld Intelligence Agency. Camille, who is the main focus of Witchling, is a witch (duh!). Delilah is a shape-shifter. Menolly is a vampire -- her turning the result of a mission gone very wrong. Because of their human heritage, their magic doesn't always work the way they expect it to. They were sent to work and live Earthside, as they would have less trouble adapting to human ways. Basically, it seems like they've been sent to Seattle and then forgotten, as if they weren't that important. But then evil comes to town and it's up to them to save all the realms.

It starts with the death of another OIA employee, a giant. Human liaison Chase enlists Camille's aid, and Camille detects the work of demons. Plural. She learns that a powerful entity called Shadow Wing is seeking out legendary seals, which were said to unite all the realms of human and Faery. She and her sisters, with a little help from Chase, as well as her not-so-ex-lover Trillian, and a few other assorted intriguing characters, have to do what they can to stop Shadow Wing's minions, pretty much on their own, because there's also a power struggle brewing in Faery, in part do to Shadow Wing's movement and in part due to the self-involved nature of the current ruling court.

I had a bit of a tough time getting started with this book, but after a few chapters, I was fascinated. Ms. Galenorn has created a dark, complicated, and sometimes sexy universe in which some truly dark, complicated, and very sexy characters play. It's perhaps a little reminiscent of Laurell K. Hamilton back in the day -- but that's definitely not a bad thing, especially for any readers who have left LKH behind, but still crave a gritty fantasy. There is some romantic intrigue, but as I said before, it's not the main focus, which, if you ask me, is more about sisterhood. I immediately ordered the next book in the series, Changeling, and plan to read it soon. I will definitely be awaiting the release of Darkling with impatience. For a first effort, Witchling is superb.

1/2

Review © 2007 by Riley Merrick

Avon, historical & contemporary romance, August 2007
Connections to: part of the Rick & Sam series

Remember when Nora Roberts did Remember When? This book is sort of like that, featuring two stories, generations apart, about the same piece of jewelry.

In "Diamonds or Forever," we meet Evangeline Munroe, a marriageable girl whose eccentric aunt has just given her a family heirloom: a diamond necklace that brings bad luck unless the possessor can set it aside and not attempt to "own" it. Evangeline's model for marriage is her overbearing beeyotch of a mother and her meek father, so her plan for marriage is to find a man who's amenable to being bossed around. That man is definitely not Connoll Addison, the Marquis of Rawley, but the cursed diamond keeps throwing them together so much that she can't resist his attractions. Now it's up to Connoll (who is, refreshingly, a cheerful rake with no baggage, who understands how to create a happy marriage) to convince Evangeline that a marriage of equals is really what she wants.

This story is what I would term a "wallpaper historical" -- there's no depth to the historical aspects, just your basic obligatory mention of phaetons and Almack's -- but it's still fun in its own way. I was definitely glad to see Evangeline out from under her mother's thumb, and I thoroughly enjoyed making Connoll's aquaintance. The way everyone kept "experimenting" with cursing various other cast members with the diamond was quite amusing, as was Connoll's ultimate solution of burying the diamond in the stable walls.

In "Diamonds Are NOT a Girl's Best Friend," we're in more familiar territory: modern-day England with Rick Addison, the current Marquis of Rawley, and Samantha Jellicoe, reformed cat burgler turned security specialist. Rick has agreed to host a travelling show of jewels from the Victoria & Albert Museum at his ancestral estate. In converting the old stables into the display gallery, Sam finds the cursed diamond. Rick is fascinated with the thing, but puts no stock whatsoever in his ancestor's note, which warns of the curse. Sam, on the other hand, is extremely superstitious by nature, and she does all she can to make Rick see that the curse is real.

Amid a multimillion-dollar jewel exhibit, with ex-lovers coming out of the woodwork and professional reputations on the line, readers are treated to yet another delightful game of emotional cat and mouse between the millionaire and the cat burglar. I laughed myself silly over Rick and Sam's attempts to prove their respective points by planting the cursed gem on each other, and was thrilled as the two passed another emotional milestone in their relationship.

Of the two stories, I definitely preferred the latter, and wished that the whole book's focus could have been on Rick & Sam. I think the book could have worked very well as a contemporary with integrated flashbacks of the diamond's origins, rather than as two separate stories. I think it could have been richer and more satisfying -- even though I did enjoy it as it is, I kept thinking it could have been better. I was thrilled to see that Enoch's next full-length Rick & Sam book will be out later this fall, so I will happily view Twice the Temptation as a sweet little bonus.

"Diamonds or Forever"

"Diamonds Are NOT a Girl's Best Friend" 1/2

Review © 2007 by Riley Merrick

Pocket, historical romance, August 2007
Connections: 2nd in trilogy, follows Never Lie to a Lady

Though he's worked side-by-side with Xanthia Neville for years, and is now a trusted partner in Neville Shipping, Gareth Lloyd has been hiding a secret: he's not really Gareth Lloyd, but rather Gabriel Gareth Lloyd Ventnor, and his grandfather is the Duke of Warneham. As Gareth's grandfather is the very reason for the ghosts that haunt him, Gareth has no desire to acknowledge his aristocratic roots. But acknowledge them he must when his grandfather's solicitor arrives to tell him he is the last living member of the family, and as such, is the new Duke of Warneham. As much as he hates the idea of being the duke, Gareth also realizes that to ignore his duty would be to hurt a lot of the dukedom's dependents, so he hies off to the ducal seat to learn his new post.

He's also a little lured by a damsel in distress: Antonia, the late Duke's young widow, who is mired in a cloud of suspicion over her husband's death. The late Duke was done in by an overdose of medication, and poison is, after all, a woman's weapon. She's also got a reputation for being "delicate." But though she had ample motive to kill her husband, Antonia is innocent, just another person whose life has been damaged by Gareth's selfish and mean-spirited grandfather.

What follows is an utterly heartfelt and believable love story, a love story of two extremely likeable people with very tragic pasts, learning to get over said pasts and live a new life with each other. It's heartwrenching (Gareth and Antonia) and delightful (the return of Kemble), and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I'm a little miffed that, having been treated to two excellent entries from Ms. Carlyle two months in a row, I'm going to have to wait another YEAR for the conclusion of this trilogy -- especially based on the delicious little excerpt at the back of this book.

Review © 2007 by Riley Merrick

Dell, paranormal romance, May 2007
Connections: Midnight Breed series, book #2

In this second venture into Ms. Adrian's world of Breeds vs. Rogues, we meet Tess, a vet who runs a clinic in a bad part of town. She takes in the occasional rescue (legal or otherwise) from Ben, an ex who doesn't want to be an ex. One night, she falls asleep at her desk and wakes up when Breed warrior Dante breaks into the clinic. She's astounded at the extent of his injuries, then horrified when he bites her, then...nothing, because Dante wipes her memory. Except as he does it, he finds the Breedmate mark on her, which means he's now bound to her, like it or not.

He tries to leave things be and get on with his current investigation, that of a drug called Crimson, which turns Breeds into Rogues. But apart from the bond keeping Tess in his thoughts, it also looks like she's involved in the mess somehow, and it's up to Dante to find out exactly how.

This story nicely advances the overall arc -- having had his HQ blown up, the big bad is converting Breeds for his Rogue army in a new and accelerated way. I look forward to seeing how the fight ovre the drug formula and supply plays out in future books. We also meet some new characters whom I suspect we'll be seeing again...but that's good, because I liked them and want to see more.

I really liked Dante and Tess, both as individuals and as a couple. Despite having visions of his own death and his subsequent determination never to mate, Dante is surprisingly baggage-free, which, considering all the angsty vampires out there in Romancelandia, is very refreshing. Tess, on the other hand, has a lot of baggage, but I like how she doesn't let it get her down, and when she finally confides in Dante, it's a terrific scene.

Ms. Adrian delivers a fantastic twist at the penultimate moment, which I really loved. Great prose, a coherent storyline, terrific characters with incredible chemistry, and edge-of-your-seat suspense, this book has it all.

Review © 2007 by Riley Merrick

Berkley Sensation, paranormal romance, June 2007
Connections to: first book in series, to be followed by Witch Blood

I started out picking this book out of my TBR as a way to fill time before I could get my hands on Rachel Caine's Thin Air. It looked like a quick read, plus I figured the elemental aspects of it would prime me for the Weather Wardens. But, wow. I was totally sucked into this extremely sexy story.

Waitress Mira Hoskins doesn't know she is a hereditary air witch and that a powerful warlock cabal wants to drain her of her powers and her life to call forth a demon. Coven fire witch Jack McAllister has been sent to guard Mira so that this doesn't happen. Jack and Mira are immensely attracted to each other, and it's more than just the natural attraction that exists between fire and air. Jack is especially determined to resist Mira -- because of his history, he is sure that out of all the witches on the planet, Mira is definitely the one he can't have. But they're cooped up in his apartment for days, unable to go out, and with nothing to do but each other (heh, couldn't resist). Lots and lots of hawt secks ensues...and continues, even after the plot moves on to bringing Mira to the Coven.

There is a great deal of sex in this book, and not all of it serves to advance the plot beyond showing just how strong the chemistry is between Jack and Mira. Don't get me wrong, this is NOT one of those books where you feel like the author said to herself, "let's just throw some sex in here." Every scene is completely organic to the book. And completely smokin' hot. And, even better, completely well-written -- I can't remember the last time I found a book in which every single sex scene was absolutely flawless. Probably never. Big kudos to Ms. Bast for that one.

But Witch Fire is more than just hawt secks. Jack and Mira connect on more than just a physical level -- they love, they make mistakes, they make amends, and it's beautiful. The set up of Cabal versus Coven, Jack's history, Mira's family, even the very way the witches' powers are described, is fascinating. Just the fact that it's witches and not were-creatures or vampires is refreshing enough, but the fact that it's so well-written and fun, to boot, is what is going to keep me coming back for more. The teaser to Witch Blood was excellent, and I'm really looking forward to its release. Anya Bast has gained a new fan in me.

Review © 2007 by Riley Merrick

St. Martin's Press, paranormal romance, July 2007

Dee, Lizzie, and Mare Fortune are witches in hiding. They've been on the run ever since a teenaged Dee found their aunt Xantippe standing over the dead bodies of their parents. They're currently settled into small-town life in West Virginia, trying to hide their untrained and sometimes uncontrolled powers as best as they can. Any serious breach results in them having to sell some of their mother's jewelry off and run again.

Dee is a banker by day and an artist by night. She's also a shapeshifter, and her lack of control over this gift has seriously cramped her love life. When psychic skeptic Danny James comes to town to research an expose on the elder Fortunes, Dee wants to both avoid him and jump him.

Lizzie can transmute things, and her goal is to learn to change straw into gold so that the sisters' money troubles will go away. The problem is, her quest has only resulted in a huge shoe collection and countless rabbits...and has attracted the attention of powerful sorcerer Elric because her attempts are upsetting the balance of the universe.

Mare's talent is telekinesis, and she thinks it's perhaps the weakest and most useless power to have. All she really cares about is her job at Value Video!! and making a success of her film festival idea so that Dee will stop nagging her to go to college. Then a hunky Value Video!! VP shows up and offers her a job in New York on the same day that her old flame Crash comes back to town to rekindle their romance.

What the Miss Fortunes don't realize at first is that Xan has found them, and wants their powers, and she engineered a True Love spell to bring these men into her nieces' lives, banking on the fact that they'll forfeit their powers if their true loves reject the magic in them. Will temptation really work? Especially when Xan's minion is more concerned about getting a drinks license for the diner she bought with the money Xan paid her to be a minion than to actually do what Xan tells her to do?

Now, THIS is collaboration done right! After the clusterfuck that was Don't Look Down, I was absolutely terrified to read this book, but my jones for Crusie prevailed. And I'm glad it did, because I loved every second of the Miss Fortunes. The characters and plots mesh so well that you really can't tell where one left off and the other began. In fact, if Ms. Crusie hadn't fallen back on one of her standard phrases for a love scene, I wouldn't have known which set of characters were hers (if that is indeed how the three authors divvied things up). All the characters were fun and witty and sympathetic. The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes was an absolutely delightful romp, and one that I shall be reading again. I find myself hoping that Crusie will collaborate with these two authors again, because they clearly have chemistry -- bunnies and Oedipal complexes and Jude Law doppelgängers and all.

Review © 2007 by Riley Merrick

Dell, paranormal romance, May 2007
Connections to: this is book 1 of the Midnight Breed series

For all you folks out there who, like me, liked the concept of JR Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood, but the execution (ehxehcuhtion? *g*), not so much, this series is going to be for you.

Meet the Breeds. They're vampires who are the descendents of otherworldly (yes, alien) beings who mated with compatible human women (Breedmates) millenia ago. Breeds are all male, but their Breedmates will live as long as them, their life force enhanced by the blood exchange. Breeds must drink blood to survive, but they don't need to harm or kill to do so -- only those who cross the bloodlust line into Rogue status are indiscriminate killers. One of the oldest aspects of Breed culture is the Order: warriors who protect civilian Breeds and humans from Rogues.

Our series opens with photographer Gabrielle Maxwell witnessing a Rogue killing outside of a nightclub. Before the warrior on patrol, oldest Order member and nominal Order head Lucan Thorne, can stop her, she reports what she saw to the police. Only there's no crime scene to be found and Gabrielle is labeled a nut, especially since it's on file that her mother was institutionalized. When Lucan tries to wipe her mind, he discovers that she is immune to his mind powers and bears the mark of a Breedmate. The latter means he also simply can't give in to his attraction to her, feed, and move on. If he feeds from her, he'll set off half of a life-bond that would tie him to her forever. To make matters worse, Gabrielle also seems to have a particular affinity for finding Rogue and Breed hideouts, something which can make her a pawn to the Rogues. Without knowing it, Gabrielle is faced with vampires for the rest of her life on all sides -- how long that life is to be is up to her and Lucan and the choices they make.

I wasn't kidding when I compared this series to Ward's Brotherhood books. Picture everything you love about the Brotherhood and everything you can't stand about them. Now remove all the irritants, and you have the Breed Order. Brotherhood: handful of massive tough guys in leather carrying huge arsenals of weaponry, reluctant leader, another with a chip on his shoulder, another happily mated...Breed Order: same deal. Brotherhood: lives in a compound together. Breed Order: check. Civilian vamps regard Brotherhood as barbaric. Civilian Breeds regard the Order as barbaric. Vampires versus lessers. Breeds versus Rogues.

It's eerily similar.

But the Order? They can be big and bad without weird names, name-dropping their designer clothes, kickin' it to really loud rap music...and they can articulate themselves without one "you feel me" or "true dat." It's refreshing, it's glorious, and it just might cure me of the sick sense of shame I get from the Brotherhood. Maybe.

Loved it. Go get it.

Review © 2007 by Riley Merrick