A Gaggle of Book Reviews

My reading choices vary by mood – some days I might want a suspenseful novel, and others a romance. Sometimes a mystery will hit the spot, and others a chick lit novel is more to my taste. If you are in the market for a novel that will lift your spirits without being saccharine sweet, pick up Earthly Pleasures, a new novel by Karen Neches. Earthly Pleasures will enchant you with its storyline about the inhabitants of heaven, but you’ll keep turning the pages to see how the romantic storyline unfolds.

In Earthly Pleasures, Karen Noches introduces us to Skye Seabring, working in the Hospitality Sector of Heaven. Skye greets the newly dead, acclimating these returning souls to the wonders of Heaven. Her newest charge is 13 year old Chelsea, who requires some finessing to get her accostomed to her new status as a deceased person, and giving her some extra care and guidance because she’s so young. The eponymous Earthly Pleasures is Heaven’s reality TV show that entertains with edited content from different Earth celebrities, and the current hearthrob is the lawyer son of a prominent Senator, Ryan Blaine.

Ryan’s life makes fascinating Earthly Pleasures entertainment for Heaven’s inhabitants because his fiancŽe Susan had received a head injury in a car accident the previous year. Their bedside wedding and his romantic nature enchant the women in Heaven, never mind his goood looks. On Earth, though, Ryan is concerned because his fiancŽe is acting very differently after the car accident, and he is feeling that something isn’t right.

Karen Neches juggles Skye’s story, Ryan’s story, as well as the story of a comatose young woman named Emily in Earthly Pleasures. Emily’s new nursing home roommate Caroline is insistant that they can bring Emily out of her coma, and starts Googling different methods of encouraging alertness from Emily. It takes great skill with character development and plot manipulation to bring several characters to life and keep the reader entertained and looking forward to turning the next page. As the storyline in Earthly Pleasures unfolds, secrets are unearthed, the characters’ personalities develop, and we uncover several surprises.

I am very impressed with the way Karen Neches deals with religions and spirituality, taking an approach that is a little different from what is believed in most religions. However, the heaven in Earthly Pleasures is a gentle heaven that shouldn’t offend anyone, and will entertain you. If you are looking for an uplifting, entertaining book, you will love Earthly Pleasures – it’s a great summer read!

When you’ve been reading romantic paranormal novels for a while, there’s a point where you think you’ve seen every storyline. Prepare yourself for something new this time, a concept I haven’t seen in print in about 15 years, and an execution that is engaging, endearing, and unique. Bound To Love Her is a novel in which the worlds of the elves and the humans collide by new author Esri Rose. If you aren’t accustomed to paranormals, you’ll want to give this a try, as it doesn’t require as much of a suspension of disbelief as many other novels in this genre.

In Bound To Love Her, the elf and human worlds collide when Erin is walking her neighbor’s dog and happens upon a handsome injured man in the park. She helps him up off the ground, and ends up bringing him to her house before bringing him to the hospital with her housemate. While Erin’s housemate Jed is collecting his things, Erin brushes Galen’s hair off his face and uncovers his pointed ear, and Erin learning that elves are among us.

Galen had been injured by a poaching elf, Fellseth, when he broke Galen’s bond with his land (the public park), and took it for himself. When Erin happened upon him, Galen ended up bound to her energy rather than energy from the land, thereby saving his life. Once they are bonded, Galen can’t find a way to un-bind them, so he needs to stay very close to Erin, or else he becomes quite ill. As they spend more and more time together, Erin and Galen find that they are attracted to eachother, and their relationship becomes more complicated. Do they really want the bond to be broken?

Bound To Love Her is not just a romance, though, the underlying storyline has intrigue and suspense that keep you turning the pages. The elves need to find out why Fallseth stole Galen’s land, stop him from stealing land from other elves, and uncover mysteries that lie in the elf world and the human world. Elves are not used to working with humans, so Erin needs to fight long-standing prejudices as she tries to help Galen and his people.

Esri Rose has created a world of elves that feels incredibly realistic in Bound To Love Her. The next time I’m in a state park I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for a glimpse of an elf! The characters are also very realistic; Erin’s thoughts about Galen could be coming from any woman with an incredibly gorgeous elf sitting nearby. When Galen’s elven world and Erin’s human world mix, the elven powers over humans are fascinating, and the personalities of all the characters jump off the page.

In addition to having a storyline that will keep you hooked, Bound To Love Her is currently available as a special value for $3.99, which makes it an easy choice for adding to your Amazon shopping cart!

I’ve written several times about the fabulous books by Katie MacAlister. If you’ve been waiting for something great to read, don’t wait any longer – Katie has a started a new series! If you liked the Aisling Grey Guardian Series, starting with You Slay Me, the Silver Dragon series will pull you in quickly, as it is a spin-off of that. We’ve seen Gabriel, the leader (wyvern) Silver Dragons before, and we see him in new lights and shadows in Playing with Fire (Silver Dragons, Book 1).

Playing with Fire continues the story lines begun in the Aisling Grey Guardian Series, but uses a new couple to carry plot, though the earlier characters pop up frequently. If you haven’t read the Aisling Grey Guardian Series, you’ll have a bit of catching up to do and learning by context, but the storyline is strong enough to carry along new readers as Katie sprinkles the book with background information, expertly walking the fine line between giving new readers information and over-explaining to long-time readers.

Our protagonist, May, is a doppelganger – a twin created from a naiad (Cyrene), by way of a demon lord. The doppelganger is bound to the demon lord, but is also part of the shadows, and can disappear into any shadows. Mayling (Cyrene’s pet name for her) is used by the demon lord as a thief, and she meets Gabriel when she tries to return an item she accidentally stole while on another job. After meeting Gabriel, May is pulled into the world of the dragons – a world of fire, intrigue, mates, immortality, and uneasy alliances.

Playing with Fire’s story of May and Gabriel is unlike most of the relationships in Katie MacAlister’s novels. Our hero and heroine accept their attraction for each other, and enjoy every moment they have together. While I love all of the couples in Katie’s books, finding a couple that doesn’t fight their attraction for each other is a welcome change. Oter aspects of the book are in line with Katie’s other books, and readers will feel comfortable with the Otherworld that has been the backdrop for all of her novels.

I realy enjoyed Playing with Fire, and found it impossible to put down, kicking myself repeatedly for not having picked it up earlier. If you are one of Katie’s fans, you won’t be disappointed. If you’ve been looking for a new paranormal author, look no further – Katie MacAlister and Playing with Fire will keep you in their grasp until the last page. My only complaint is that I’ll need to wait a while before the second novel in the Silver Dragons series!

This book was received without cost for review purposes

Lynsay Sands is a vampire novel/paranormal romance staple. If you haven’t already read about the Argeneau family in her first six novels, you should go do so now. Each of Lynsay Sands’ novels centers around a member of the Argeneau family, and the romance and romantic problems between the Argeneau family member and his or her “lifemate”, the one person in the world who they have been fated to meet; the one person who they cannot “read”, or mentally control.

I’ve found that reading the novels in chronological order rather than published order works well – A Quick Bite first, Love Bites second, Single White Vampire third, Tall, Dark & Hungry fourth, A Bite to Remember fifth, and then Bite Me If You Can sixth.

While all of the Argeneau books are romances, each of Lynsay Sands’ novels takes the characters on a different path from the others. Yes, the couples meet at the beginning and are together at the end, but it’s what happens along the way that makes these books stand out. Sands has a flair for characters and a wonderful ability to keep a plot alive through several books. There are hints in earlier novels about romances or issues in later books, a skill that isn’t frequently used in this genre.

Her first 6 novels had some connections (you saw the family evolve as they each found their lifemate), the newest three books have a tight connection. Marguerite, the matriarch, has decided to be a PI, and goes off to Europe with a real PI to help an immortal find out the identity of his mother.

In The Accidental Vampire, there was an ad posted for a vampire in a Toronto paper, so Victor (one of the “enforcers” from the Council who makes sure immortals follow the rules) arrives in a small town to learn more about the situation. Elvi doesn’t know how she became a vampire, and lives according to the rules of Dracula, not knowing there are others out there. Victor has been strict and rigid about rules for eons, but meeting a woman he can’t read starts to change and soften him. Elvi’s impulsive nature combined with Victor’s rule-following makes for some fun along the way! Victor is worried how Lucian, the Council’s leader, will react to his rule-bending after discovering his lifemate, but thankfully when they meet Lucian he has softened too after finding Leigh in Bite Me If You Can. He and the others in the Argeneau clan are more worried about finding Marguerite in Europe than the idea that a small town knows all about vampires.

The Argeneau clan has become more worried about Marguerite, so they send cousin Thomas to England to start searching for her in Vampires Are Forever. Thomas’s cousin Bastien has paired him up with a top vice-president, Inez, so that he will have an easier time navigating London and the rest of the UK. What Bastien doesn’t mention is that Inez knows nothing about the fact that she is working for immortals (aka vampires). As the story develops, she becomes frightened, but once she learns that they are vampires due to nano technology rather than the walking dead, she calms down. As with the other women in the Argeneau series, Inez doesn’t follow Thomas’s lead, she works in tandem with him, blending their skills. We also learn more about Thomas, who has been seen as something of a slacker in earlier books. Discovering his hidden talents is part of the fun of Vampires Are Forever!

Matriarch of the Argeneau clan, Marguerite has worked to find lifemates for her family, and at least 8 couples are together thanks to her. In Vampire, Interrupted, it’s Marguerite’s turn. Marguerite and her colleague Tiny are helping the 500 year old Christian find his mother. His father, Julius, is accompanying him, and will only say that there were threats from his mother’s family. As Marguerite tries to follow leads, there are unexpected curve-balls everywhere. What secrets have been hidden for 500 years? After a horrible marriage that lasted 700 years, will Marguerite take the risk of loving Julius, a man who appears to be her lifemate?

If you love paranormals or love romances, or both, it’s in your best interests to read Lynsay Sands’ novels, and be sure to check out the 3 newest books! I just re-read all nine, and I continue to love Lynsay’s way with words.

Mrs. Perfect is Jane Porter’s newest novel. If you read Odd Mom Out when it was released last fall, you will recognize several of the characters, as Mrs. Perfect is also set in a well-off Seattle neighborhood. If you didn’t have a chance to read it, the storyline in Odd Mom Out focused on Marta Zinsser, a newcomer who moved into the area as a single, working mother when the other moms in the area are well-dressed, wealthy, at-home moms with nannies. Taylor Young, the main character in Mrs. Perfect, is one of those “perfect” moms from Odd Mom Out, but now we learn the rest of the story – sometimes life isn’t as perfect as it looks. While both books can be read as stand-alone novels, I highly recommend reading both, and not just because Jane Porter’s novels are addicting; they are great reads.

Jane Porter has written more than 20 romance novels for Harlequin, and has written several wonderful chick lit novels for 5-Spot as well. Jane has taken incidents in her own life, and spun them into fiction that captures your attention and imagination, pulling you along for a fabulous ride. Jane’s writing skills help blur the line between romance and chick lit – her characters in her romance novels come alive just as much as her chick lit characters, and while she uses her memories of time spent traveling in her romances, she seems to put more of her self in her books for 5-Spot. Jane was nice enough to chat with us about the lines between fact and fiction in books today.

When Mrs. Perfect begins, we meet Taylor, and at first she is not a particularly endearing heroine; she has a nanny so she can volunteer, have drinks at the country club, and run everything the her way. Her mothering style for her three girls is not particularly hands-on, and her attitude towards other women is not particularly positive. At first, the reader wonders how we will become invested in the life of this character, her superficial nature is off-putting, and it’s hard to relate to a woman who thinks nothing of spending hundreds of dollars on a bra.

Jane Porter’s skill with characters makes the characters in Mrs. Perfect work, though. Once we peel back the superficial layers around Taylor, we learn about her history, the battles she fights within herself, and her judgemental nature about herself, which explains some of her judgemental attitude towards others. When a big financial crisis hits Taylor’s family, life changes, and Taylor is forced to rethink a big part of their lives.

Taylor Young is forced to deal with the questions every person wants to avoid. What is most important in your life? What is the worst thing that could happen to your family, and how could you cope with it? Are your friends the kind that will support you through a difficult time? When we see inside Taylor’s soul, as she has to rethink her life and her attitude, we start to think about our own lives and our own attitudes. The storyline and characters in Mrs. Perfect grip you, and you won’t be able to shake the book out of your head, even if it raises some uncomfortable questions about your own life.

I strongly recommend picking up Odd Mom Out and Mrs. Perfect. You may just want to pick up all of Jane Porter’s novels, too – or reserve them at the library! Jane doesn’t gloss over the dark parts in our lives, but she helps her characters get through those bad spots so that they come out better people at the end, people who deserve a happily ever after. This isn’t one of those dark novels that your book club might force you to read, but it will make you think about the state of your own life – can you get to “happily ever after” yourself? Enjoy Jane Porter’s perspective, and grab Mrs. Perfect as a lawn chair or beach read this spring or summer!

This book was received from the publisher for review

Megan Crane’s Names My Sisters Call Me is her newest chick lit novel. If for some reason you haven’t read Megan Crane’s novels, go do so, as she has written some fabulous novels you shouldn’t miss; they are engrossing and entertaining. With her most recent novel she revisits the theme of family dysfunction, but in Names My Sisters Call Me she focuses on the relationship between three sisters.

Courtney is our narrator and the youngest, newly engaged to Lucas, her boyfriend of three years, and at 28 still finding her own footing. Norah is 8 years older than Courtney, and embodies all the oldest child tendencies: bossy, controlling, goal-oriented, etc. Raine is the middle child, 6 years older than Courtney and 2 years younger than Norah. Courtney describes her as being the opposite of Norah, a free-spirited artistic soul, but one who “ruined” Norah’s wedding and drove off to California six years before our story begins. As an added bonus, Courtney’s first love, Matt, was also Raine’s best friend, and he drove out of her life with her sister. It’s no wonder that it’s taken years for everyone to recover. In a family where the father died decades previously, Norah has taken on a parental role, expressing her opinion on all of Courtney’s life choices.

When Courtney and Lucas become engaged, Courtney wants to have her middle sister at the wedding. After speaking with Raine, she speaks with Norah,

And when I hung up a moment later, awash in guilt and formless anger, i realized that I was destined to feel about thirteen years old no matter which side of the country I was on.
Apparently all it required was a conversation with one of my sisters

While I don’t have sisters, I can relate to the idea of feeling thirteen whenever you’re with family! Each of the characters goes beyond the sterotype, Norah is much more than the oldest, Raine is much more than the estranged wild child, and Courtney is much more than the youngest. The insecurities, the love, the guilt, and their spirits are all so unique, and create vivid characters with whom I felt an instant connection. Megan Crane has fabulous character development skills, which she utilizes to create characters real enough that you feel like you are joining them for their weekly Family Dinner.

I was interested in reading another one of Megan Crane’s novels, yet I was also drawn to Names My Sisters Call Me because I have three daughters. I grew up with brothers and boys, and wasn’t really prepared for the sisterly love/dislike relationship that waxes and wanes each day. I am hoping that our family is less dysfunctional than the Cassel family in Names My Sisters Call Me, and I also hope that I can show each of my daughters that I love each one individually, as Courtney’s mom has done. As much as there is a lot of sisterly rivalry, there’s also a lot of sisterly love and motherly love in Names My Sisters Call Me. One thing the mom did to show how much she understood each daughter is that when there was a celebration, she made 3 cakes, as each daughter had very different tastes! Now that’s a show of love!

As much as Names My Sisters Call Me is a chick lit novel about a woman, her fiancé, and her ex-boyfriend, it is also a beautiful novel about the many different faces and types of love. We see sisterly love, romantic love, parental love, and crushes, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.

Names My Sisters Call Me is a book you won’t quickly forget, and one you will want to share with your sisters and sisterly friends, though you’ll want to make sure you get it back! I loved this book by Megan Crane, it was the best book in the Chick Lit genre I’ve read in quite a while. Names My Sisters Call Me is definitely one book you should go pick up!

This book was received from the publisher for review

Blood Moon is an intense soon-to-be released novel by A. W. Gryphon. Blood Moon is Gryphon’s first book, and it is also the first novel in the planned Witches Moon Trilogy. As with several other books I’ve read recently, this one is hard to categorize. It deals with Wicca and Witchcraft, so it could be paranormal or urban fantasy, yetBlood Moon is also a mystery, and it could also fit as a women’s fiction novel as we uncover a woman’s childhood and the facts of her mother’s life. Regardless, this is a book that will capture your interest from the beginning, and it will be hard to put down before the story is complete.

Blood Moon begins with a preface which educates the reader about the practices of Wicca, and then spins into a “fairy tale” about “The One” who was descended from the High Priestess Maeve and High Priest Domhall, and who would inheirit an incredible set of powers on her 28th birthday, which coincided with a full Blood Moon (aka harvest moon). When Maeve gave birth to boy/girl twins during a Blood Moon, the witches had split into two factions: Maeve, her daughter, and the women forming the “good” witches; Domhall, his son, and the men forming the “bad” witches. There has been strife between the two factions in the hundreds of years since that occurred, as well as from The Organization, a faith-based group who wanted to eliminate all witches.

The introduction and first few chapters of Blood Moon help the reader become accostomed to the Wiccan life, introducing the tools and philosophies as well as the characters. Gryphon does an amazing job of describing a Wiccan ritual, she is both accurate and fascinating as she explains what went right and what happened that was horribly wrong. The storyline pulls us in quickly as we learn about the young and powerful witch Amelia, her family, and the possibility that she is “The One” who will inherit the power on her 28th birthday.

As Amelia’s life drifts out of her control, we follow her as she moves to England with her father, and while parts of her life are wonderful, including a beautiful romance, there are threads that start to pull her apart, leaving her without support. In Blood Moon, Gryphon deftly uses third person narration to switch perspective from one character to another. We can see inside Amelia’s head, understand her motivations, and cry with her as her life appears to fall apart. We can also see into the minds of her confidants and rivals, and begin to understand their motivations. Despite all that we learn about Amelia and the others, we don’t understand everything, Gryphon keeps us on the edge of our seats, eager to find out what will happen next.

At its heart, Blood Moon follows the life of a woman for 21 of her 28 years. We see her love for her family and her work, as well as her need for revenge after so much has gone wrong. I spent the last section of the book wondering which would win out, love or revenge. The love experienced by Amelia is the kind that inspires ballads, while the pain she endured is more than most of us could take. Amelia is an amazing character, and it took great skill to create a character so conflicted and yet so endearing.

Let yourself be pulled into the Wiccan world inside Blood Moon. It’s the type of book that you will long to read in one sitting, though you might need to take breaks for food and drink! This story gripped me, and several parts completely surprised me, I never saw parts of the mystery’s solution coming. I really enjoyed Blood Moon, and highly recommend picking it up when it’s released at the end of April! If you adored Kim Harrison’s newest Rachel Morgan novel, you’ll love Blood Moon! I can’t wait to see the next book in the Witches Moon trilogy!

I read an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC), which still needed some editing, I’ve noticed that other reviewers have focused on that issue, but I have been assured that the author was beside herself, and that the finished book will not have the editing issues. As a result, I chose to focus on the plot and characters rather than the editing issues. When I “bleeped” over editing issues, I adored the story. I definitely want to read the edited version, and I truly believe that anyone with an interest in women’s literature, art appreciation, Wicca, or Paranormal ideas will adore this book – and that’s an eclectic mix for sure!

If you’re impatiently awaiting the April 28 book launch, you can pre-order Blood Moon at Barnes & Noble, and then you’ll get it as soon as it’s released!