Glory In Death by J.D. Robb

Powerful women are having their throats slashed. It is up to Eve to stop it.

Eve and Roarkes relationship continues to develop with a few hiccups along the way.

Envoy by Shannah Jay

All Channa Harkwell knows is war. Yet now, as Shavlan Envoy to the Confederation, she must negotiate peace. The Galactic Confederation is determined to stop the war between the Shavlans and the Deorin. Its Mediator, Joran Lovrel, brings all his wiles and experience to break down Channa's resistance to peace. But can Channa trust him?

Isolated in the neutral territory of the Confederation's base, Mediator and Envoy begin a battle of wits more demanding than any military campaign. Meanwhile, in Shavla new allegiances are formed, fresh betrayals hatched. And in the name of peace Channa must face more danger than she has ever encountered in a lifetime of war.

I enjoyed this book much more than I had expected to. It sucked me in from the beginning and I stayed up late last night to finish it.

Divine Misdemeaners by Laurell K Hamilton

You may know me best as Meredith Nic Essus, princess of faerie. Or perhaps as Merry Gentry, Los Angeles private eye. In the fey and mortal realms alike, my life is the stuff of royal intrigue and celebrity drama. Among my own, I have confronted horrendous enemies, endured my noble kin’s treachery and malevolence, and honored my duty to conceive a royal heir—all for the right to claim the throne. But I turned my back on court and crown, choosing exile in the human world—and in the arms of my beloved Frost and Darkness.

While I may have rejected the monarchy, I cannot abandon my people. Someone is killing the fey, which has left the LAPD baffled and my guardsmen and me deeply disturbed. My kind are not easily captured or killed. At least not by mortals. I must get to the bottom of these horrendous murders, even if that means going up against Gilda, the Fairy Godmother, my rival for fey loyalties in Los Angeles.

But even stranger things are happening. Mortals I once healed with magic are suddenly performing miracles, a shocking phenomenon wreaking havoc on human/faerie relations. Though I am innocent, dark suspicions of banned magical activities swirl around me.

I thought I’d left the blood and politics behind in my own turbulent realm. I had dreamed of an idyllic life in sunny L.A. with my beloved ones beside me. But it becomes time to wake up and realize that evil knows no borders, and that nobody lives forever—even if they’re magical.

I really enjoyed this installment in the series. Lots of sex (of course), but a real storyline and a mystery to solve as well.

Now to wait patiently for the next.

The Wizard and The Warlord by Elizabeth Boyer

Sigurd grew up with his grandmother, bothered only by the trolls that seemed bent on destroying their settlement. Then she died, leaving him a mysterious box he couldn't open and a confused warning against some dread warlord or wizard - he couldn't be sure of which from her final ravings. Then the grim warlord Halfdane came to abduct him by force into the Realm of the Alfar. Now he was a virtual prisoner in the hill fort of Halfdane, caught in a bitter war between light and dark. And he seemed trapped on the losing side. His only hope was to escape and somehow learn what powerful magic was contained in the box and which everyone seemed bent on stealing from him. Of course, there were a few walking dead, a cursed sword, and a multitude of savage trolls to be faced. But the strange wizard Jotull was willing to help him.

The story was slow in the middle. I wanted to slap some sense into Sigurd.

Demons Are A Ghouls Best Friend by Victoria Laurie

MJ is a ghost buster - she assists ghosts to going over to where ever it is the ghosts should be. Some peacefully follow the light up. Other, more nasty ones, need to be forced down their portal and the portal blocked to prevent their return. Hatchet Jack is one such nasty critter, he is terrorizing the exclusive Northelm Boarding School on Lake Placid. However, the headmaster is thwarting MJ's attempt to rid this ghost because he can't risk the bad publicity. Renovations are starting at the school in one week - so that is the timeframe that MJ, Gilley and Dr Delicious have to find Hatchet Jacks portal and get him back in it.

There are a few layers to this quick and easy book - there is action as the gang knocks heads with the evil ghost, then there is pathos with the three young boy ghosts, victims of Jack, that are lost and don't know how to 'go home', there is the mystery as MJ tracks down who Jack is and why he is there, and, in the back ground is romance.

A Dark Champion by Knnley McGregor

Rowena is a minstrel who also happens to be the wealthiest heiress in England. King Henry must see her married to secure her land holdings from enemies. The problem is Rowena has vowed never to love a knight because they stand for the one thing that took her father from her, war. King Henry and Queen Elenour plan a tournament and the winner will be married to Rowena. However, they give her an out, if Knight Stryder of Blackmoor wins a song competition, Rowena will be given her choice of husband.

Stryder of Blackmoor is an extremely handsome man who is chased all over by women hoping to become his wife. He has vowed not to marry because he is the leader of the Brotherhood, a band of fellow knights like him that were kept in a Saracen prison as teenagers and tortured. When they managed to escape many had problems that made it difficult to reenter the real world. Also, Saracen assassins are picking off many of their brethern one by one. When a couple of the Brotherhood are murdered, the murderer attempts to frame Stryder. Through a series of events Stryder and Rowena meet and find that complete opposites attract. Against all odds, the knight and the women vowed never to love a knight, do just that, fall in love. However they know marriage is not for them, Stryder cannot give up on the brother hood and Rowena must have someone who will put her above their agenda.

Shadow Touch by Marjorie M Liu

Elena Baxter, a psychic trying to do good in her local hospital, has a healing touch. Literally. And her life is forever altered when she's kidnapped by an organization out to exploit her powers. She learns that she's not the single irregularity she believed; others have been captured. Shape-shifters, fellow psychics, and Artur, an ex-Russian Mafia agent now working for the secret detective agency Dirk & Steele and a man who can see into a person's soul. But what she sees in him is far more precious, something she is willing to risk her life for.

Lots of twists and turns. Left me wanting to find out more about some of the other characters introduced in this book.

Naked In Death by J.D. Robb

Eve Dallas is a New York police lieutenant with more than 10 years on the force who knows her survival depends on her instincts, yet she goes against all her instincts in getting involved with Roarke, an Irish billionaire and a suspect in Eve's murder investigation.

The book takes place about fifty or sixty years in the future, but Robb does not go overboard with the science fiction aspects. The futuristic aspects are so well integrated into the story that you accept them easily without the jar of strangeness that sometimes permeates books that try to seem sci-fi/futuristic

Adept by Robert Finn

After being called out to an unusually violent break in, David Braun finds himself in the position of having more questions than answers. Nothing is missing from the break-in and one of the criminals has managed to jump from a great height and get away, leaving his two associates dead. So begins a story that will lead David Braun and his new found friend and associate, the academic Susan Milton into grave danger following the trail of a ruthless criminal who is hell bent on getting hold of an ancient antique. An antique that has a bloody history.

The insurance investigator and his friend Susan are in more danger than they could every realise. They are on the trail of someone even the resources of the police force cannot bring to justice . . .

Fast paced with a well thought out plot and lots of unexpected twists. A real page turner that kept me interested all the way.

Primal Desires by Susan Sizemore

In Las Vegas, Jason Cage is known as "The Beast Master." But his onstage feats of magic are nothing compared to the abilities he keeps hidden from human eyes. Jason is Prime of his vampire family, and once used his telepathic skills to tame wild werewolves. It's a talent that leads him to beautiful, sensual Sofia Hunyara, who instantly triggers all of Jason's primal urges. Sofia is destined to be his bondmate, but keeping her alive long enough to convince her of that fact will not be easy.

Sofia has no reason to trust Jason, or to believe his story about her family's secret history as Wolf Tamers. The only thing she's sure of is an overwhelming attraction that quickly develops into a scorching affair. If Jason's claims are true, can Sofia embrace her legacy -- when it means walking away from a soul-searing desire that's deeper than any she's ever known?

A few too many characters introduced very quickly and I found the different sorts of vampires and werewolves a bit confusing.

An OK, but not brilliant read.

Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende

The story begins with a focus on Rose, the young spinster sister of Jeremy, with whom she lives quite comfortably in Valparaiso, Chile, and John, a ship's captain at sea much of the time. After learning Rose's history in England, her present situation and tendencies, the story becomes Eliza's. Rose raised Eliza but is not her birth mother and the reports of her coming into Rose's household vary and are inconclusive, but seem to indicate that Eliza was abandoned at Rose's door as an infant. Through an odyssey of adventures, romantic, chilling, and unusual, Eliza's life becomes entwined with Tao Ch'ien, originally from China. They end up in Gold Rush California, with them together some, but also with Eliza's taking on men's clothing and embarking on a search for her lover from Chile who preceded her to California, and whom she has no idea how to locate. Eliza's story, her Mother Lode adventures and life take us on a merry and sometimes frightening foray into the world of gold-crazy men and life.


Loved this book. The story drew me in from the beginning and didn't let go until the abrupt ending.