Siena, Italy: the land of wine, sun, and romance. Only for Faith Murphy, such things are too lucky for her. It's more like, "Fleeing four thousand miles from one Rossi only to find another Rossi and a dead man was perfect Murphy luck, Faith thought as she walked on the herringbone brick walkway.“ Well aware of her family name’s tendency towards such things, she knows all the Murphy’s Laws by heart and had added quite a few of her own.

In Dying For Siena you have a wonderful mathematician, a woman who while smart in numbers seems at a loss for love. Her boss turns out to be the evil boss of all bosses, and has zeroed in on her because of her low self-esteem. Done in by years of emotional abuse, she becomes the next victim of Dr. Kane. Only now it seems even when he's dead, she might still be his victim as she is the prime suspect in his murder. Reason being because she found him first and called it in.

Dying For Siena combines the gorgeous landscape of Siena, Italy, the traditions of Palio and the thousands of years old horse race of one area neighborhood against another. The food, smells, taste, and texture of Italy is woven so well into this story you are surprise to look up and find you are not there. All of this makes a perfect backdrop against the cold dead way that Dr. Kane was murdered. Who among the colleagues killed him? They all had motives, some more than Faith. Then there is Nick Rossi. The man she slept with and had wondrous night she can’t forget. Nor can she forget that he could not even remember her name the next morning. Now he shows up all repentant and ready to rescue. Faith wants none of it. All she wants is to be allowed to work at the Math Conference in peace.

Of course the old Murphy curse will not allow such a simple request. Faith must now find a way to beat the curse, prove her innocence, and maybe even trust her heart.

Reviewed By Nancy Louise
© February 2007

A familiar ghost you can’t quite place, a young widow trying to survive, a wealthy man who is her boss, and danger lurking everywhere…. Most would say Deja You is the workings of a Goth or Victorian Romance. They would be wrong. This is a thoroughly modern day murder mystery, paranormal and romance all in one.

Our heroine Charli lives in an area run by slumlords, haunted by memories of November 16th when the love of her life, her husband, was killed. Only on this particular November 16th, there are strange goings-on. Things are worse than normal and she wonders half jokingly if something is out to get her. It turns out she almost right.

The story moves along unpredictably and yet not so off-kilter as to leave you confused, just enough to keep you reading page after page. Kelsy George is rapidly becoming a favorite author of mine. This says a lot because in general I do not go for romance, but her stories are not sappy and predictable. Being a mystery puts a decided edge to the story that is not normally expected.

Deja You is a delightful and refreshing story set in modern times. Charli is a character that is not a wimp or who needs a man to solve her problems. But everyone does better with love in their lives, and this is true for Charli, as well.

Buy a copy. You won’t be let down.

Reviewed By Nancy Louise
© February 2007

Given a choice between sterile isolated life in a prison or the rough and tumble filthy life of the thirteenth century, what you would pick? Isobel of the far future, a condemned murderess, has chosen the past. She can stay alive there, avoid erasure, and the whole time period as well, on one condition. All she has to do is track down a young docile boy with naive ideas of the Crusades and bring him home to Mommy. Seems his seed is needed to establish a future dynasty on the throne of France. Once done, her life will be her own.

Given shots against all diseases and enough coin to keep her comfortable for a year until she can learn a trade, it seems a viable and more pleasurable choice than the constant pacing and no human contact of her cell. That is, until she arrives in the middle of the road, in a mud puddle, very hungry, wet, and a bit lost. By then of course, she is already part of the ”Angels On Crusade”.

”Angels On Crusade”.does not lack for historical detail. It brings you the gist of living day to day in the thirteenth century, in the time between the loss of the Roman Empire and the Renaissance. History is only boring when you hear the facts but never when you have to live the dirt and joy of it.

Isobel is a living breathing character, as is Charles; a young child she takes under her wing, but who in many ways is her constant guide in this century. Written about a time that held the crux of all we became, both good and bad, it is a romp that gives both pleasure and intense learning without dry rhetoric.

Reviewed By Nancy Louise
© January 2007

Come on. How could you not want to try a vampire book called You Suck? I mean, seriously. That's not something I could ever dream of passing up. Couple that with the fact that this is the latest book by Christopher Moore, one of the best, funniest novelists working today, and it was a must buy for me.

So, the big question then, is, is the book any good? Well, not only does it not suck, it's absolutely fantastic. But more on that later. First let me tell you a little of what the book's all about.

If you know Christopher Moore, then you know that, for the most part, he doesn't write sequels. He continues to fashion new and bizarre worlds with each outing. Yeah, there's the exception of The Stupidest Angel, which borrows a couple of characters from previous books, but I look at that as more of an all-star jam than as a sequel. You Suck, however, is a flat-out sequel to Bloodsucking Fiends. But don't let that scare you off from reading it. You can drop right in on a San Francisco suffering a semi-plague of the undead and stoned Safeway stock-boys with ease and delight.

C. Thomas Flood is just your average nineteen-year-old Midwestern transplant to San Francisco. He's the leader of the Animals, a group of stock-boys at the local Safeway, who all work the night shift. And he's fallen in love with a gorgeous redhead named Jody. It's just his tough luck that Jody has been turned into a vampire and left to fend for herself. She decides that Flood is the perfect companion for the ages and turns him into a vampire as well.

Which, as you might guess, does not go as well as planned. They have to recruit a new Renfield to run their errands during the day and protect them. Flood decides on sixteen-year-old goth girl Abby Normal (a small character from Moore's A Dirty Job. Not the best of choices.

An even worse choice is when Flood gets distracted while trying to rid himself of the ancient vampire who turned Jody and tried to kill her. That turns the old vampire loose and he decides to finish the job he started. And then there's the Animals, who decide to do a little vampire hunting of their own -- once they get back from a Vegas splurge with a blue-painted hooker named, ahem, Blue.

Moore pulls off the complicated plot, the numerous quirky characters, and other small drop-in appearances of characters from previous books with an aplomb and a verve I just couldn't believe. He takes a "what should be" stock characters and infuses them with love and life and left me with no choice but to sympathize with and root for them.

My only quibble -- and the reason this book gets nine quills instead of ten -- was with the ending. It was much too similar to the ending of Bloodsucking Fiends and an obvious setup for another sequel. While the ending in the first book was a brilliant piece choice by Moore, here it felt a little forced, as if he had to wrap up the book quickly and get on to the next.

You Suck is definitely a book you'll want to add to your collection.

Reviewed by Rich Jones
© February 2007

Anytime I can walk away from a story and keep thinking about it, I think it's a good thing. It doesn't matter if I'm thinking about what the author should have, or could have, done differently, or if I'm thinking of how great a scene was. If I walk away thinking about the story that means the author did his/her job in making me care about the characters.
 
All Of Me by B. Lynch Black did just that. Though listed as a suspense/thriller by the author I found this short story to be more romance than suspense. Susan Bean is your basic, everyday woman. When she meets the new lawyer in the firm, Gordon Davis, she's instantly taken with him. A beautiful friendship ensues in which Susan is desperately falling in love with Gordon. If you've ever had a crush on somebody then you'll understand Susan's emotions. Her feelings run deeper than infatuation; she's in love, utterly smitten with one Gordon Davis. She not only sees every similarity of things they have in common from hair and eye color down to similar histories, but she also starts planning their life together.
 
When Gordon breaks the news that he's sick, Susan rushes to the rescue. At this point the story falls into the "oh please" category. One illness after another inflicts Gordon and Susan is the only one who can help. Her love, or her insanity depending on how you look at it, pushes her to offer up herself to save Gordon despite the fact that each time she does she seems to teeter on the edge of death and illness herself. Self-sacrificing in the name of love is one of her good qualities, but the frequency and rapidity at which Gordon recovers and falls ill again become tedious and annoying in such a short story.
 
But, I gave this story a six in the rating, so you must be wondering why. Well, despite the melodramatic rush from walks in the park to knocking at death's door, All Of Me embraces human emotion at its finest and its hardest hours. Black has written a female character that the reader can relate to. It's that relation, that finding of something within the character that relates to your past or present, that makes a character feel more alive.
 
All Of Me is a short read, but four hours after my initial read through I found myself wondering about the characters. It's the "what if" moments that stood out to me. It takes a talented writer to captivate an audience and hold their interest throughout the story. Black does just that with her ability to write the scene to make the reader want to know what's going to happen next.
 
My recommendation—put the latest Steele novel on the shelf and read All Of Me . It might not be an earth shattering, roller coaster read, but you won't want to miss the ending.

Reviewed By Shunta Montgomery
© February 2007

What makes for a really bad day? Maybe losing your job, your home, even your familiar, that happens to be a hawk. If that isn’t bad enough, how about your ancient car dying on the highway in the middle of nowhere when you were on your way to a better start? If this has ever happened to you, then you have a lot in common with Ana Stillwater, the heroine of Ciana Stone’s newest novel, Chase ’n’ Ana.

Ana’s dreams of finding contentment in married life shatter when Giovanni, her husband, slugs her. It isn’t the first time he’s shoved or pushed her, but he seems determine to make it the last time. The final slugfest occurs over the same sex marriage issue. In the end, Giovanni believes he kills her and rushes off to establish an alibi. Ana manages to dial 911 for help. It is going to take more than bandages and stitches to heal. It isn’t easy letting go of her hopes of companionship and love, but Ana realizes she made a big mistake with Giovanni. Her mistake is in believing that Giovanni is like her because of his magical abilities. The only thing to do is start over, somewhere else, far away from the evil Giovanni because he will never leave her alone until she’s dead.

Chase Hawks, rugged rancher and rodeo star, isn’t looking for trouble; the fact is he isn’t looking at all when he hits Ana as she’s crossing the street. Jason, his cop buddy, warns him that he better turn on the charm to ward off a lawsuit that is sure to follow as soon as the woman finds out one of the wealthy Hawks family members hit her. The only problem for Chase is he doesn’t know what to do with the beautiful stranger until she opens her eyes—then all his thoughts are definitely below the belt, until she goes loco screaming about life and kicking him. His only choice is to take her home until she heals up and is back on her feet. It has absolutely nothing to do with the fact she fits into his arms perfectly and those witchy yellow eyes.

Giovanni wakes up in the hospital after Ana collapses the house on him as she leaves. The little witch thought she hurt him, maybe even killed him, but in the end she did him an incredible favor. The destruction of the house loosed an evil entity chained years ago by Ana’s family. The entity takes possession of Giovanni’s body making him even more evil and, unfortunately, powerful. Besides inflicting pain on whoever gets in his way, the new powerful Giovanni is out to make sure Ana stays dead.

Ana finds herself at peace on Chase’s ranch, which is a healing sanctuary. The harsh beauty of the Arizona countryside enchants her, as much as Cody, Chase’s dog, and Nightmare, his stallion. It could be a wonderful place to charge up her energies. Only a few things are holding her back. One thing is the strange, ambivalent attraction between Chase and her. It is no secret he wants her, but at the same time he accuses her of being a gold digger. Then there’s long, lean, 100% cowboy Chase. Sure, he’s tempting, but how can she be sure he isn’t like Giovanni. Then there’s the issue of Giovanni: a Sardo male doesn’t just let his woman walk away. There will come a time when they’ll meet again.

Chase ’n’ Ana gives the same old formula boy meets girl a new twist with cowboy runs over girl witch and stuff happens. The chemistry between Chase and Ana is profound—some of the best sizzle I’ve read this year. Giovanni is an extreme heavy. I would have liked the marriage explained a bit more. No one usually marries a degenerate on purpose. Then comes the idea if there is magic in Ana’s family why did no one sense the extreme evil in Giovanni?

I would recommend Chase ’n’ Ana for a change of pace. It is fun, fast-paced and very flirty--okay it’s way past flirty. Have fun with it.

Reviewed by Morgan Wyatt
© January 2007

Last year, I was discussing Domination with a friend of mine who's a Dom, and confessed to him how much he seems like a therapist when he's in Dom mode. I don't know if there's actually a field out there called Domination therapy, but if there's not, there should be. If you're wondering what I mean, you might want to take a look at this Ellora's Cave Quickie, Edge of Sweetness by Anya Bast. Some of the elements of the psychology of domination are illustrated in Edge of Sweetness

As for the story? Anya Bast's hero Ben is an unattached Dom who does not believe in fate, destiny or love, and her heroine Savannah is a disillusioned widow, a survivor of a sexually unfulfilling marriage, a non-practicing submissive with plenty of issues. They have a moment of attraction--a When Harry Met Sally moment. Long before they become a couple, their story begins with an accidental meeting on a street corner, and despite the fleeting transience of that incident, they are deeply affected. Flash forward to six months later when Ben is hanging out in a hotel and he runs into Savannah again, only this time they have opportunity to act on their attraction. Ben's date for the night doesn't show up, and there's a chance meeting with Savannah at a hotel bar, followed by a not-so chance meeting in a hotel room.

Ben is a Dom without a partner, and Savannah is a widowed sub who never had an opportunity to "be all that she could be." In the course of acting out their impulses, Ben does the Domination therapy thing I was talking about, all related to personal epiphanies, trust and important shrink-stuff like that. (It's the very reason why a real-life D/s relationship can be either destructive or constructive.)

This is an Ellora's Cave Quickie, so there aren't any complications that occur in the course of the very straightforward story. It is mentioned that Ben does not have a tendency toward commitment, but then, he also remembers our heroine from a chance meeting on the street six months before. The question is, is it a one-night stand or destiny?

Reviewed by Maîtresse
© January 2007

What if you could see the future? Would you try to effect a change or let fate take it,s course? What kind of influence do you think it would have on your everyday life? One of my ever-favorite authors, Sherri L. King, has a new story out and these are the questions that Luna Boone faces in Ride the Lightning. Part of the same world as the Horde Wars books, it is about a new group of Shikar warriors.

In her short life Luna Boone had seen more tragedy than most people experience. Luna is a precognitive of immense power, a power that allows her to see the future. The only thing is that the future she sees always involves death. No matter how hard she tries she is never able to change the outcome of the future she has seen.

So here she is, trying to prevent another senseless death, when she sees him. Tall, dark--easily the most gorgeous man she has ever seen, but is he a man or something else? There is some indescribable difference about him that attracts her to him and she knows that he is the one to help her change the future.

Pulse is not only a Shikar warrior of immense skill, he is a leader among his people: a leader that sends warriors out to fight the demon horde in the effort to save mankind. But is mankind worth saving? Pulse has seen more than a little of man’s inhumanity to man. So he has his doubts of the worthiness of mankind, especially when his own people die. In an effort to reconnect to the Shikar purpose, Pulse decides to take a trip to the human world.

In Luna, Pulse finds the true reason the Shikar fight the demon horde, a person willing to sacrifice everything even her own life for her fellow man. He also finds the love that he has lacked in his life. For the first time Luna finds that one person that she can share her life with. Even though she knows when she is to die and knows that it is to be soon, she wants to spend her remaining time with Pulse. But the demons have other plans. As always, they have a way of tracking those humans with special gifts and Luna is in their sights. Will Pulse be able to save Luna from the demon horde? Or will he lose the one person that gives meaning to his life?

The very first ebook I ever read was Sherri L. King’s Moonlust. That thirty-six-page story drew me into the world of ebooks, something I had never heard of before, and more importantly, into the many worlds of Sherri L King. From there I explored the worlds of her werewolves, Shikar warriors, and vampires, and I have enjoyed every moment of it. Through her I've discovered so many other talented authors and their many books. So my sincere thanks to Ms. King for being the influence that she was.

Like every other Sherri L. King book I have ever read, I devoured Ride the Lightning the moment I got it. I loved that this story had the twist of Pulse being disillusioned with the Shikar purpose of saving mankind. Truly, sometimes when listening to the news, you wonder if mankind is worth saving. Then you hear of those special people that let you know that there is hope for mankind after all. For Pulse, Luna was that special person, a person who knew what it was to sacrifice for her fellow man. The dynamics between Pulse and Luna were electric and sweet at the same time. This is one of those books that when you read it, it will make you search for the rest of the series if you haven’t read them already. Ride the Lightning is a DEFINITE keeper but then again, all of Ms. King’s books are.

Reviewed By Theresa
© December 2006

Sir Henry, The Knight In Space is a charming story. Only forty-five pages long, it is written, it seems, for the younger audience. While it does not say so in the description I received, I am guessing it was intended for an audience of youth ages six through ten. But the audience this story would seem most suited for is those who still watch Barney and Friends, or maybe those edging out from TeleTubbies. This could also make a great illustrated book. But the story lacks too much to highly recommend.

Sir Henry, The Knight In Space does not have anything bad, intense or terrible happen. For children who loved Lemony Snicket books, or Harry Potter, or even the Charlie Bone series, this would most likely bore them to tears. Children who have never read anything remotely science fiction and parents who are completely averse to any kind of violence would most likely find this book suitable for their young ones. An axe does whack Sir Henry but there are no real details.

That said however, most fairy tales, even by Disney standards, are more intense than this story was. So I read it, was charmed in a way, but in other ways I found it simply too light and fluffy to pass off. Sir Henry, The Knight In Space struggled between being charming and light, or humorous and downright funny. I kept wishing the author had chosen one or the other. Humorous and slapstick would have been the better choice for this story as it seemed to literally beg for such a treatment. It is harmless but it will not be one well remembered by most youngsters.

Reviewed By Nancy Louise
© January 2007

When you hear the word 'spell', what do you think of? The Wicked Witch from the Wizard of Oz? I’ll bet a majority of you thought of the three sisters and their Gram from Charmed.

Well, Hocus Pocus does have sisters, and it does have an elderly woman. But that is where the similarities end.

Amanda Santorelli is what most would call Plain Jane. At least, she dresses that way at work. Underneath her long, loose skirts and high-buttoned shirts, she's got a body that won't quit--which is exactly why she hides it at work. She had her heart broken by a guy who was only interested in her undies; she vowed that no one would do that to her again, and so far, she's been able to keep that vow.

But things change as we grow from our naive college selves into the adults our parents hoped we'd be. And, more often than any of us really admit to, we turn into the people we hardly wanted to be: Responsible, levelheaded, and completely miserable. For all her words of being fine, and how the things she wants aren't what she needs, Amanda wants the ultimate fantasy: her sexy boss.

One night, her darling Aunt Lilly decides to help Amanda get over her inhibitions--with devastating results. Amanda now blurts out the first thing that comes to mind, and what's worse is, she can't outwit the spell. It will run its course: every embarrassing, red-faced second of it.

Mark Abott long ago learned the pain of mixing business with pleasure: a co-worker became his lover, and, when he wanted to take the next step, she dumped him for a higher-up who could further her career. When his secretary, the quiet Amanda, starts speaking up and busting out of her clothes, he has a hard time remembering why it was he swore off co-workers in the first place.

Hollywood has made the Studly Boss and his Sexy Secretary plot a given. Movies have long been raking in money by pandering to it. When I read the blurb for Hocus Pocus, I thought the same thing. But I gave it a shot, and I'm glad I did. While Amanda is attracted to her boss, and has a few fantasies about him, she's not about to throw her manila folders in his face and throw him down on his desk.

But that doesn't mean she won't blurt out the idea to him.

Reviewed By Marissa
© January 2007