Bound To Shadows by Keri Arthur

Part vampire, part werewolf, Riley Jenson knows what can happen when vamps don’t play well with others. But she’s never seen anything like this: a series of brutal murders surrounding the latest hot spot for vampire-human hookups—and the victims aren’t just killed, they’re beheaded. Now Riley is launching into action, toying with a seductive—and highly suspicious—club owner, and finding herself in the middle of another mystery: women being killed one by one, without a trace of violence.

For Riley, solving multiple cases—in a world going mad with human and vampire passions—would have been tough enough. Instead she has two jealous lovers on her hands: Kye Murphy, the amber-eyed werewolf who makes Riley’s wolf blood howl—and Quinn, the cool, elegant vamp who has over a thousand years’ experience at fulfilling women’s desires. While she’s busy juggling these two sexy beasts, Riley’s detective work takes a stunningly violent turn. Finding a murderer is now a matter of life and death. Especially since the killer has long since found her . . . 


Lots happening in this book. Action, suspense and heart-wrenching twists and turns. Sometimes the...I'm a werewolf, I need lots of sex and one man just isn't enough... stuff goes a bit over the top.

It will be interesting to see where the story goes next. 

Rules of Passion by Sara Bennett

The boldest, most unconventional of the three Greentree sisters, Marietta believes her best course would be to emulate her natural mother, the notorious courtesan Madame Aphrodite. Being woefully unschooled in the ways of passion, however, Marietta, at Aphrodite's insistence, must first prove herself by properly seducing one man: Max Valland, the moody, disgraced, anddisinherited former Lord Roseby.

With his life and reputation already in tatters, Max is most willing to help the exquisite young minx practice her chosen craft—though he is surprised at the depth of his desire . . . and by her most unprofessional tenderness. But Marietta's plans are threatened by the dangerous mysteries swirling around this disarmingly sensual gentleman . . . and by a heart that urges her to break the courtesan's cardinal rule: never fall in love.


Nice, light romance with a good mystery.  The sex scenes were more frequent and explicit than usually found in historic romance.

My Immortal by Erin McCarthy

The year is 1790, and the demons are out to play during Louisiana's hot, sticky summer solstice. One such demon, Rosa Francis is making the rounds of the various plantations to partake in the offerings they have left for her. Her first stop is Rosa de Montana, where she expects to be properly admired and feared by the extravagant offerings of the plantation, only to be greeted by silence, and not the gratitude of those who understand the power she can unleash if she is made angry. Instead she finds the cruel and handsome Damien du Bourg, who gives her great pleasure in exchange for eternal life....

Present-day Louisiana: Marley Turner is looking for her free-spirited sister Lizzie, whose last known whereabouts happens to be Rosa de Montana, and is rather dismayed when when she arrives from Ohio and sees the crumbling mansion where Lizzie had supposedly been staying. Here she runs into sinfully gorgeous Damien du Bourg, who makes her a tad bit uncomfortable and suspicious, but he may be the only person who can help her find her missing sister, so she reluctantly agrees to let him help her while trying to deny her overpowering attraction to the enigmatic man. She knows Damien is keeping secrets from her, possibly dangerous ones, but she's desperate enough to ignore all that if it will help her find Lizzie. Damien discovers that Marley has something he wants, a letter about someone from his past, and he has agreed to help her find her sister in exchange. Damien arranges to throw one of his infamous sex parties in the hopes Lizzie will show up and put Marley's fears to rest, and in turn will give him what he wants.



Damien is intrigued by the saintly yet lushly sexy Marley, especially since she's able to resist his overwhelming sexual pull, a fringe benefit to the immortality he eagerly demanded centuries ago. Part of Damien's curse is that he must service women sexually, and he has done so faithfully yet wearily for years, but now he faces a woman who truly attracts him, yet manages to avoid his seductive charms. The more he gets to know this virtuous woman, the more he wants to be with her, until he finds himself wishing for a future he knows he can never have: of happiness with the one woman he loves beyond eternity. Damien du Bourg has been given a curse he gladly asked for, not realizing until it was too late just how cruel a pact with a demon truly is, and Damien has done things, horrible things for which he knows he can never be forgiven, so wishing for happiness is just a foolish wish.

A darkly sensual tale filled with lust, redemption and the overwhelming power of love, and lots and lots of well written sex scenes. On in particular where a man was going down on a woman at one of the parties was really well done. 

The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty

The Memory of Running is the story of Smithson Ide, your everyday boy next door growing up in New England during the 60's. The story is told in a series of flashbacks and narrated by 40something Smithy.

Smithy's sister Bethany constantly told him to keep running or he'd turn into a fat ass and she wasn't kidding. Smithy has grown from a slender boy who loved to run into an overweight, junk eating, chain-smoking laze-about with little ambition and a great fondness for the television set. He lives a monotonous, shut-in sort of life but has managed to maintain an aura of sweetness and innocence when, as we learn more of his past, he could've easily become jaded and bitter. When his parents tragically die he revisits his past, rekindles a friendship with a long neglected friend and hops on a bicycle in his funeral suit (!) to work through his grief. During his trip from Rhode Island to California he meets all sorts of fascinating people with stories to tell and recounts his very interesting and often heartbreaking past.

Smithy grew up with an older sister, Bethany, who he, his mom and his pop loved very much. Bethany was beautiful and smart but began to hear "voices" as a young teen. The "voice" makes Bethany do bizarre; out of character, shameful things like strip her clothes in public, tear at her pretty face, stand in odd poses for hours on end and disappear. Smithy spends much of his childhood biking around looking for Bethany and hates Bethany's "voice" though he always continues to love Bethany even when she's cruel.

The story flips between Smithy's current day wonderings where he meets all sorts of folks and has some downright odd encounters and flashes back to his past where he goes into detail about important points in his young life; from dating foibles, to the fateful day when a childhood friend's vibrant personality was forever changed and he details many of Bethany's "episodes" which had a huge impact on his young life.

You get to really know and care about the characters. 

Savage Nature by Christine Feehan

Saria Boudreaux grew up on the Louisiana Bayou, which may explain why she feels a special affinity to the place's eeriest secrets. However, even Saria is taken aback when she finds several corpses all containing leopard bites. She fears for her older brothers, who are were-leopards though she knows her siblings would not commit these atrocities.

Saria decides not to call the cops, but instead contacts the land owner Jake Bannaconni. He sends Drake Donovan to investigate the serial killings. At first sight (and sniff) Drake realizes that Saria is his mate as he struggles to control his euphoric inner leopard. He also senses she is on the verge of her first shift. As he makes inquiries into the murders and starts his courtship of his beloved, Drake learns a lesson about life on the Bayou when none of the leopard-shifting families including Saria's kin cooperate.


I loved this book.  It was a good mystery.  The relationship between Saria and Drake was really good.  He was definitely alpha and protective but he respected her expertise in the swamp nad listened to her.


Now I can't wait for the next in the series.

Dark Desires After Dusk by Kresley Cole

 seductive beauty he can never have, yet can't resist...

Cadeon Woede will stop at nothing to atone for the one wrong that will haunt him forever. But once he secures the key to his redemption, the halfling Holly Ashwin, Cade finds that the woman he thought he could use for his own ends and then forget haunts him as much as his past.

A tormented warrior she should fear, but can't deny...

Raised as a human, Holly never knew that some frightening legends are real until she encounters a brutal demon who inexplicably guards her like a treasure. Thrust into a sensual new world of myth and power, with him as her protector, she begins to crave the demon's wicked touch.



Romance, suspense and a hot demon. Loved it! 

Blood and Water by Patrick McGrath

 Mixing the macabre, the fantastical, the gruesome and the illusionary with a lush and word-loving style, McGrath conjures up an extravagant selection of worlds in which to set his modern, psychological stories. In "The Lost Explorer," a little girl finds an anthropologist from Africa dying of malaria in the garden behind her London home and manages to keep his existence, his death and burial a secret from her parents. "Blood Disease" describes the subterranean methods by which a group of English villagers afflicted with pernicious anemia alleviate the symptoms of their affliction. In "Marmilion" a photographer specializing in monkeys spends a few harrowing nights in the ruins of an old Louisiana mansion, while "The Hand of the Wanker," set in an East Village nightclub, is a cautionary tale: not even cutting off this hand will hinder its compulsive activity. With elegance, humor and respect for the dark side of human nature, McGrath also offers an angel, an hermaphrodite and the ghosts of the world's great psychoanalysts in these polished and entertaining, eminently readable stories.

As usual with any collection of short stories I enjoyed some more than others.  All were rather twisted.

Wolf at the Door by Christine Warren

Sullivan Quinn didn't travel 3,000 miles from his native Ireland and his wolf pack just to chase rabidly after the most delectable quarry he's ever seen. Quinn is in America on a missionÂ--to warn his Other brethren of a shadowy group willing to use murder and mayhem to bring them down. But one whiff of this Foxwoman's delicious honeysuckle fragrance and he knows that she is more than a colleague or a conquestÂ…she is his mate.
Anthropologist Cassidy Poe is a world-renowned authority on social interaction, but the overpowering desire she feels around Quinn defies every ounce of her expertise. Working by his side to uncover The Others' enemies poses risks she never expectedÂ--to her own safety, to those she loves, and to her heart, as every encounter with Quinn proves more blissfully erotic than the lastÂ…

Now, with no one to trust but each other, Quinn and Cassidy face a foe that's edging closer every day, threatening to destroy the life they've always known, and the passion they've just discovered.



A good mystery with a lot of sizzle in the attraction between Quinn and Cassidy.  They end up naked before they even know each others names.  I like the humour throughout the book too...Quinn realising he may have rushed things a bit and trying to convince Cassie he's not all animal.

The Secret of Lost Things by Sheridan Hay

Arriving in New York from Tasmania with $300, her mother's ashes and a love of reading, 18-year-old Rosemary Savage finds work in the Arcade Bookshop, a huge, labyrinthine place that features everything from overstock to rare books. In its physicality, the store greatly resembles New York's Strand (where Hay worked), and its requisite assortment of intriguing bookish oddballs includes autocratic owner George Pike and his albino assistant, Walter Geist. Rosemary is suspicious and worried when Walter enlists Rosemary's help to respond to an anonymous request to sell a hand-written version of Herman Melville's lost Isle of the Cross (a novel that in fact existed but disappeared after Melville's publisher rejected it). She confides in Oscar (the attractive, emotionally unavailable nonfiction specialist), which only hastens the deal's momentum toward disaster. Hay does a good job with innocent, intelligent Rosemary's attempts to deal with sinister doings, and methodically imagines the evolution and content of Melville's novel (which features a woman abandoned much like Rosemary's mother).


 I loved the premise. I love books and I love old, used bookstores. But it lacked something. I wanted to shake Rosemary at times, she was too naive, too desperate.

In Other Worlds by Sherrilyn Kenyon

hree of the author's most thrilling stories in one fabulous volume...

Fire and Ice
On the run, a beautiful virgin crosses paths with a sexy ex-assassin.

Knightly Dreams
The dashing hero of a novel comes to life.

Dragonswan
A woman must help a shape-shifting dragon trapped between two worlds. 


Usually there is one I don't like in a book of short stories, but not this time. All were good, all different. 

Odd and The Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman

Odd's luck has been bad so far. He lost his father on a Viking expedition, his foot was crushed beneath a tree, and the winter seems to be going on for ever. But when Odd flees to the woods and releases a trapped bear, his luck begins to change. The eagle, bear and fox he encounters reveal they're actually Norse gods, trapped in animal form by the evil frost giants who have conquered Asgard, the city of the gods Can a twelve-year-old boy reclaim Thor's hammer, outwit the frost giants and release the gods? 


As usual with Neil Gaiman, a very entertaining retelling of a norse myth.

The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman

When Germany invaded Poland, Stuka bombers devastated Warsaw—and the city's zoo along with it. With most of their animals dead, zookeepers Jan and Antonina Zabinski began smuggling Jews into empty cages. Another dozen "guests" hid inside the Zabinskis' villa, emerging after dark for dinner, socializing, and, during rare moments of calm, piano concerts. Jan, active in the polish resistance, kept ammunition buried in the elephant enclosure and stashed explosives in the animal hospital. Meanwhile, Antonina kept her unusual household afloat, caring for both its human and its animal inhabitants—otters, a badger, hyena pups, lynxes.

Very interesting story.  

I know it's a true account, but I would have preferred it to be told like a story rather than read like a history text.

The Darkest Pleasure by Gena Showalter

Long ago a band of immortal warriors stole and unleashed the evil within Pandora's box. In the melee, the box was lost. As their punishment for the deed, the gods forced each warrior to 'contain' one of the demons within themselves. So the Lords of the Underworld were born.

At present, some of these possessed immortals live a sheltered life high on a hill in Budapest. They struggle daily with their demons eventually succumbing to the demons desires. As well as warding off attacks by the radical humans called Hunters who want to see them and their demons dead.

The immortal warrior Reyes possesses the demon of Pain. He can only feel pleasure in one of two ways 1)unleashing his demon during fights or 2)self inflicting pain -cutting himself. That is until he meets his *angel*.

Danika Ford is the unfortunate woman whom the gods have targeted for death (along with her family). Aeron (Wrath) has been assigned the task of murdering them. The more he resists, the more the bloodlust grows within him.

Meanwhile the other warriors continue to look for the pieces of the puzzle to find Pandora's box. Only Reyes cannot concentrate on anything other than keeping Danika safe and away from his warrior friend. Soon he must choose between his two loves -his woman or his friend.

Reyes tries to do the right thing even when it means sacrificing his own happiness and desires. Danika is a strong heroine and just right for Reyes, though she did take a while to trust him.

I think I expected something more in their sex scenes -perhaps some mild BDSM? (he is Pain after all). 

The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon

This captivating book follows the story of Lynnie, Homan and Martha from 1968 in Pennsylvania to 2011.
Lynnie , a young woman with an intellectual disability, and Homan, a deaf man with only sign language to guide him, make a desperate escape from the School for the Incurable and Feebleminded for just long enough to leave Lynnie's newborn baby with Martha, a retired school teacher. Lynnie is quickly captured and returned to The School, but Homan, presumed dead, makes his escape.
Each chapter concentrates on one character, building up an intricate description of each of their lives. There is Kate, who works at The School and her unfailing support for Lynnie, Homan's constant search for Lynnie (his Beautiful Girl) and her baby, and his belief that he will find her. Martha, who takes in a stranger's baby and honours her promise to "Hide her." and of course Lynnie, who is the "Beautiful Girl".


WOW!! Captivating, enthralling, absolutely fantastic story. I'm glad I read this while I was on holidays because I couldn't put it down. 

Fair Game by Patricia Briggs

After having to kill several werewolves, Charles is beginning to crumble mentally; he's seeing ghosts and starting to give in to his bloodthirsty instincts. So he and Anna are sent to Boston on a special mission -- assist the FBI on a serial-killer case that has lasted decades. The killer initially had a straightforward pattern (Asian teenagers), but began including werewolves and fae. Each one was carved with witch symbols, raped, and finally murdered.

Now the human daughter of a high-ranking fae has been kidnapped, and the FBI/werewolf team has only hours to find her. But the case becomes particularly strange when they discover that a long-dead witch and a bizarre kind of fae may be involved in it. And unless they figure out who the killers are fast, Anna might be their next target.


The plot is fast moving and a bit creepy. I loved the development of Anna and Charles relationship. The ending was excellent and now I can't wait for the next to see what is to come. The world will not be the same.

Fantastic book. I think this series is my favourite from Patricia Briggs. 

The Wishing Chalice by Sandra Landry

All Hunter wants is the love of his lady wife.
All Isabel wants is to give him her love.
There is only one problem: He thinks she is his wife. She knows she is not.

Mourning the breakup of her marriage, Isabel retreats to the serene English countryside to find some measure of peace and healing. There she stumbles upon an ancient pewter chalice--and is thrust centuries back in time into the body of another woman. Suddenly she is married to a total stranger--a fierce warrior who looks at his "wife" with undeniable yearning in his eyes . . .

Hunter had finally achieved his long-desired goal when the king gifted him with Windermere Castle--and the hand of its beautiful lady, Døa. But his dream tasted like ashes, for although he was now her lord and husband, Døa despised him and vowed never to love him. But suddenly, Døa seems to have undergone a swift and bewildering change. She claims to have no memory of him, of the circumstances of their marriage and her hatred for him, and forgets even her own name. Now, Hunter has a second chance--to woo his lady wife with kisses, and seduce her with pleasure until nothing or no one can keep him from his heart's desire--no one, perhaps, but Isabel . . . 


 Love conquers all in the end. There seems to have been no changes in the future, despite those in the past, which didn't sit right with me. Also, Detra seems to have escaped scot free which doesn't seem right - all very well for her to be happy in the future, but she struck me as being a bit of a nasty piece of work with all her plottings. 

The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham

In the sleepy English village of Midwich, a mysterious silver object appears and all the inhabitants fall unconscious. A day later the object is gone and everyone awakens unharmed except that all the women in the village are discovered to be pregnant.The resultant children of Midwich do not belong to their parents: all are blonde, all are golden eyed. They grow up too fast and their minds exhibit frightening abilities that give them control over others and brings them into conflict with the villagers just as a chilling realisation dawns on the world outside..


 Right to the end the children are an enigma. Little bits of information are revealed, but there is no definitive explanation beyond the fact that the children are alien, and constitute a threat.


 Thought provoking and rather disquieting read. 

Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh (e-reader)

In a world that denies emotions, where the ruling Psy punish any sign of desire, Sascha Duncan must conceal the feelings that brand her as flawed. To reveal them would be to sentence herself to the horror of “rehabilitation”—the complete psychic erasure of everything she ever was…

Both human and animal, Lucas Hunter is a Changeling hungry for the very sensations the Psy disdain. After centuries of uneasy coexistence, these two races are now on the verge of war over the brutal murders of several Changeling women. Lucas is determined to find the Psy killer who butchered his packmate, and Sascha is his ticket into their closely guarded society. But he soon discovers that this ice-cold Psy is very capable of passion—and that the animal in him is fascinated by her. Caught between their conflicting worlds, Lucas and Sascha must remain bound to their identities—or sacrifice everything for a taste of darkest temptation…

This is the first in the series.  I think they got better after this one.  Some were-leopard sex but not as much as in the following books.

Kiss The Dead by Laurell K Hamilton

When a fifteen-year-old girl is abducted by vampires, it’s up to U.S. Marshal Anita Blake to find her. And when she does, she’s faced with something she’s never seen before: a terrifyingly ordinary group of people—kids, grandparents, soccer moms—all recently turned and willing to die to avoid serving a master. And where there’s one martyr, there will be more…

But even vampires have monsters that they’re afraid of. And Anita is one of them…


1st half is mainly plot, 2nd half is mainly sex scenes. The story does move forward and there are appearances from most of my favourite characters. 

Tangle of Need by Nalini Singh

Adria, wolf changeling and resilient soldier, has made a break with the past--one as unpredictable in love as it was in war. Now comes a new territory, and a devastating new complication: Riaz, a SnowDancer lieutenant already sworn to a desperate woman who belongs to another.

For Riaz, the primal attraction he feels for Adria is a staggering betrayal. For Adria, his dangerous lone-wolf appeal is beyond sexual. It consumes her. It terrifies her. It threatens to undermine everything she has built of her new life. But fighting their wild compulsion toward one another proves a losing battle.

Their coming together is an inferno...and a melding of two wounded souls who promise each other no commitment, no ties, no bonds. Only pleasure. Too late, they realize that they have more to lose than they ever imagined. Drawn into a cataclysmic Psy war that may alter the fate of the world itself, they must make a decision that might just break them both. 


Another fantastic instalment in this series.  Now I can't wait the the next one.


This is all Wolf shapeshifter. He is definitely the dominant but she is strong too...except where he is concerned.  Not that she always gives in easily, just sometimes to confuse him and keep him on his toes.  I love the humour as well as the sex scenes in this series.