The Bishop In The West Wing by Andrew M Greeley

A poltergeist in the house?
Strange as it sounds, that seems to be the case. A playful spirit is at work in the First Residence: slamming doors, dislodging paintings, disrupting press conferences and state dinners.....
Enter Bishop Blackwood Ryan to get to the bottom of this high - level haunting. After all, the newly elected President, "Machine Gun" Jack McGurn, is an Irish Catholic from the South Side of Chicago, and the Irish take care of their own.... 


 This fun, humorous, jaunt through the White House, is pure entertainment. However, Greeley's political views come out a bit strong but the history is entertaining as is the story, especially for someone like me who didn't know much about the White House. 

Parallel Attraction by Deirdre Knight

Exiled alien king Jared Bennett is fighting for his people's freedom. Now his rebel force has the one weapon that can turn the tide against their enemy: the key to the secrets of time. With victory at hand, only one human, Kelsey Wells, has the power to change everything. Kelsey is unable to deny the fierce attraction to Jared Bennett, but is unaware of the truth: although Jared is exactly what he says, he hasn't told her everything. And when the future crashes into the present, Kelsey must decide if his deception will cost them the love that should have been their destiny.


An entertaining alien romance, with alien sex.  He has another form, like a golden flame that made things interesting, lol.

Point In Time by Linda O. Johnston

As a successful Hollywood executive, Mariah is on the lookout for the perfect screenplay, and while scouting locations in Pittsburgh, she thinks she has it. With an old-fashioned setting and Thorn, a hero to die for, she knows it will make a great movie. But something will have to be done about the ending--Thorn is too great a character to die. Then a visit to a historic park sent Mariah back in time--to frontier Fort Pitt, where she is rescued by a very real Thorn. 


 A nice, light time-travel romance. 

The Cursed One by Ronda Thompson

 Wed and widowed in one day, stunning socialite Amelia Sinclair's honeymoon is anything but typical. Then again, neither is Amelia—rebellious and impulsive, marrying Robert Collingsworth was the one sensible thing she ever did. Now he's dead and she must escape the vicious creatures stalking her—even if it means relying on a stranger. Well, maybe not a complete stranger. Amelia first glimpsed Gabriel Wulf years ago on the busy streets of London; since then he has haunted her dreams. But in the flesh, Gabriel is much more tantalizing than she ever dreamt, and much more complicated…

Gabriel Wulf, the strong one, the sensible one—the, and the curse that plagued them, were his only priorities; there was little time for women and none for love. Now, he must protect an enticing beauty—and not just from the dangers that prowl the woods around them. Gabriel has secrets, dark ones he's sure Amelia must never know and could never understand. But she has already awakened his heart...and the beast within. Will Amelia be the key to his salvation, or the architect of her own demise?


 The 'being cursed by being a werewolf' thing gets old, but overall a nice, light paranormal. 

About A Dragon by G A Aiken

About a Dragon follows human-shifting dragon `Briec the Mighty', as he becomes intrigued by the beautiful peasant Talaith. Talaith rejects the initial advance of the oddly beautiful `Knight' but is kidnapped by Briec in dragon form just as she is about to be both hanged and burned as a witch by her fellow villagers - with her husband fanning the flames. Talaith is pretty freaked by the dragon, but doesn't remained cowed for long. Talaith has a wickedly acidic tongue and employs it almost continuously, but of course being a dragon, Talaith's sarcasm and need to constantly be picking a fight only makes Briec want her more. And though Briec initially just wanted to bed the witch, he finds himself wanting to keep her for a few hundred years. But Talaith can't allow herself to get close to anyone - she has some deep dark secrets and her life is not her own - but as hard as she tries to resist the arrogant Briec, she can't help but fall and fall hard for the sexy beast. 


I don't get relationships based on arguing all the time.  The way they sniped at each other and put thought into what to fight about became annoying.

The Traveler by John Twelve Hawks

Gabriel and Michael Corrigan are two young men living just beneath the glittering surface of life in Los Angeles. Since childhood, the brothers have been shaped by stories that their father was a Traveler–one of an elite group of prophets able to attain pure enlightenment. The Corrigans, who may have inherited their father’s gifts, have always lived "off the grid"—that is, invisible to the intricate surveillance networks that monitor people in our modern world.

Thousands of miles away, Maya is attempting to lead a normal life in London. The attractive twenty-six-year-old designer wants to ignore the fact that she comes from a long lineage of Harlequins–a band of warriors pledged to protect the Travelers at all costs. When Maya is summoned to Prague by her ailing father, she learns that Gabriel and Michael have just been located in California. The brothers may represent the last surviving Travelers, and are in desperate need of protection. Maya is reluctant to be drawn into the solitary, destructive life of her ancestors, but she has been trained to fight since she was a young girl.

Also searching for the brothers is Nathan Boone, a disciplined mercenary working for the Tabulas–ruthless men who are determined to inflict order on the world by invisibly controlling its population. Boone and the Tabulas fear the power of the Travelers, and for generations Tabulas have hunted them down. When Maya flies to California in search of Gabriel and Michael Corrigan, a colossal battle looms that will reveal a secret history of our time.


A mystery/thriller with a mystical dimension. 


I enjoyed the story and towards the end it hold me and I didn't want to put it down.

Death of a Celebrity by M.C.Beaton

 This story features the quirky Scottish highland police officer, Hamish Macbeth. A very nasty female TV reporter is starting a new show featuring Macbeth’s little corner of the Highlands. The aggressive reporter has few morals, and an eye for married men, especially if it helps advanced her career. The point of her TV show is to dig up dirty little stories of locals, make it up or embelish it a little if necessery, do a feature on them, and then release it to National TV. Not surprisingly she quickly turns up dead, it’s up to Hamish Macbeth to find who the murderer is.


Quirky characters abound and a sharp, witty but hopeless with women Hamish McBeth solves another clever mystery.

Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs

Imagine if the werewolves were considering coming out of the fur coat closet, and held a conference to debate it. 


Sent to the Seattle conference, Charles and Anna encounter lycanthropes from across Europe -- Russians, Italians, the British lord Arthur, and he savage Beast of Gévaudan, Jean Chastel. Warring opinions and old grudges (plus Chastel's general savagery) cause plenty of tension between the various groups, and Charles finds that while Anna's Omeganess eases some of the conflict, she's freaked out by all the dominant males.

But Anna is attacked while shopping with her new friend Moira -- by a gang of vampires using werewolf magic and tactics. Then a couple of attendees at the conference are murdered as well, one by the vampires and the other by a person unknown. Now the fragile peace between alphas starts to unravel and fae magic starts to manipulate them -- and to save his beloved Anna, Charles must uncover who is would do all this. 


 I love, love, love the characters in this book.Charles has locked up all human emotion for so long so it would not interfere with the things he had to do (such as enforcing his father's policies, usually by killing the offenders). Once Anna enters his life, all those emotions come flooding back in, and he doesn't have the tools to deal with them. When he tries to deal with this by "putting a wall up", he also shuts Anna out. When he opens up and lets Anna in, he's left vulnerable and feels that he isn't able to protect her, but he soon learns that she does not need protecting - finds strength in his vulnerability. On the other hand, Anna, who once thought of herself as a weak, submissive wolf, finally finds her inner strength and proves to be a true Omega - one who protects without the need for violence. She and Charles balance each other - he gives her the strength to accomplish things she never dreamed of, and she brings calm to his life.

If I had read this book before I offered it on the VBB it would be going into my Permanent Collection, instead it is on the way to the next lucky reader.  


I can't wait for the next in the series, due out next year.
 

His Illegal Self by Peter Carey

His Illegal Self is the story of Che — raised in isolated privilege by his New York grandmother, he is the precocious son of radical student activists at Harvard in the late sixties. Yearning for his famous outlaw parents, denied all access to television and the news, he takes hope from his long-haired teenage neighbor, who predicts, They will come for you, man. They'll break you out of here.
 
Soon Che too is an outlaw: fleeing down subways, abandoning seedy motels at night, he is pitched into a journey that leads him to a hippie commune in the jungle of tropical Queensland. Here he slowly, bravely confronts his life, learning that nothing is what it seems. Who is his real mother? Was that his real father? If all he suspects is true, what should he do? 


This book has it all. It's original, compelling, has wonderful descriptive writing, a unique plot, and characters that are distinctive and memorable... but it is still missing something.
Perhaps why. Why did Anna do what she did? It never really made sense to me.

Booked to Die by John Dunning

"Denver homicide detective Cliff Janeway may not always play by the book, but he is an avid collector of rare and first editions. After a local bookscout is killed on his turf, Janeway would like nothing better than to rearrange the suspect's spine. But the suspect, local lowlife Jackie Newton, is a master at eluding the law, and Janeway's wrathful brand of off-duty justice costs him his badge.

Turning to his lifelong passion, Janeway opens a small bookshop -- all the while searching for evidence to put Newton away. But when prized volumes in a highly sought-after collection begin to appear, so do dead bodies. Now, Janeway's life is about to start a precarious new chapter as he attempts to find out who's dealing death along with vintage Chandlers and Twains."


I've read a couple of others in this series. It was interesting to go back to the first in the series. 


I liked the sound of a house in this book, the lounge room had a wall of windows overlooking forest and the house had enough bookshelves to hold 10,000 books.

Virtue by Jane Feather

Deadly Desire by Keri Arthur

Riley is investigating not just a series of vampire killings (its the vamps being offed) but a series of zombie killings (the zombies are doing the offing). All of it smack dab in the middle of the full moon. Needless to say Riley gets herself into a spot of trouble. She is trying to juggle time with her super hawt vampire lover Quinn into her case load, and is actually doing a pretty good job, but is distracted by the appearance of bounty hunter Kye into the mix. This unlikeable (or so Riley tries to tell herself) werewolf keeps turning up, setting Riley into a hormonal twist. 


I really enjoyed this Riley instalment. She is torn between her wolf and vamp natures and her love for Quinn while having the hots for Kye. Not as much sex as in some Riley books, but enough to keep it a hot read. 

Mesmerized by Gayle Lynds

Ambitious and brilliant Washington attorney Beth Convey suffers a heart attack during a high-profile trial, but is saved by a transplant. When she recovers, she is shocked to find she has received more than a new heart. She has remarkable new abilities and tastes, and most disturbing of all, vivid dreams of terrifying violence. Desperate to find the truth behind her new self, Beth embarks on a search for an unknown donor and soon joins forces with Jeff Hammond, a disgraced former FBI agent. Now a prize-winning investigative journalist for the Washington Post, he is on the trail of a Soviet defector who has gone missing in the Washington area. Meanwhile, in the Department of Justice, three frantic officials are secretly trying to find the mole who has compromised American intelligence. 

Cellular memory influencing transplant recipients was an interesting idea. Lots of red herrings, with the final one one just a bit too far. Kept me turning the pages to find out how long it would take for those in charge to look beyond the obvious.

Wild About Harry by Linda Lael Miller

"Harry Griffith dealt in stark realities and played for very high stakes, and he hadn't done anything impulsive since he was seven years old.

then he met Amy. And her two kids. She's the lovely young widow of his best friend. Suddenly he's doing all sorts of wild, impulsive things.

Amy is certainly wild about Harry. From his sexy Australian accent to his devilishly handsome looks, he's totally irresistible. She'd be a fool not to give in to the emotional whirlwind he's creating, but she's trapped by bittersweet heartache, unable to let go of the husband she lost.

What's it going to take to get these two together? A little bit of gentle persuasion, from a ghost who knows that fixing up his wife and his best friend is the next best thing to being there..." 


 A light, fluffy romance with a ghost to help the romance along. 

Outbreak by Robin Cook

Ebola outbreaks start happening all over the USA, and Marisa Blumenthal of the CDC tries to get to the bottom of it, to her peril.


Predictable with blah characters.

Master of the Moon by Angela Knight

Diana London works hard in her day job as the city manager of a small South Carolina town. yet she still finds time to moonlight for the Verdaville Police Department.

As a werewolf.

But while helping the police investigate a brutal murder, Diana discovers she's not the only magical creature in town. A female vampire has also decided to make Verdaville her murderous playground. What's worse, she has powers even Diana can't match.

Fortunately, Diana is not the only one determined to stop her. Llyr Galatyn is the king of the Cachamwri Sidhe - a seductive otherworldly warrior with fantastic abilities. He's sworn to hunt down the murderer, and he's more than willing to give Diana any help she needs.

And not just with the case. Diana is in her Burning Moon, a time of sexual heat, when need rides her hard. Llyr is delighted to be the answer to her erotic prayers.

But as they hunt the vampire while desire runs hot between them, a deadly enemy urges the killer to turn her sights on Llyr. It seems Llyr isn't the only king of Sidhe -- and his brother wants him dead. 


The action scenes are quite good, the sex definitely sizzles and there was plenty of humour. 

Master of the Night by Angela Knight

American agent Erin Grayson has a new mission: romance international businessman Reece Champion. Seducing the handsome millionaire could put her that much closer to the revenge she craves against a murderous organization.

Erin doesn't realize she's being manipulated by the very group she hunts. Champion is actually an agent of the U.S. government. He's also a vampire.

Reece senses the latent supernatural powers hidden within Erin, powers as dangerously irresistible to him as her lush body and hot blood. Yet he also knows that yielding to their mutual desire will make them pawns in a deadly game - a game in which their opponent is, quite literally, a monster.

To survive, Erin must embrace talents she never knew she had - and trust a man who isMaster of the Night. 


I never thought I'd say it but... too much sex and not enough plot. I like
HOT paranormals, but this time there seemed to be too little plot linking the sex scenes.

A quick, light, entertaining read.