"Urban fantasy" has developed into a popular subgenre, one in which traditional mythic monsters (and heroes) are given natural origins and a mix of extra strengths and weaknesses. Savage Retribution, by Lexxie Couper, is an urban fantasy, with werewolves establishing themselves in modern Australia.
Couper stays fairly close to folklore with her werewolves showing heightened agility, strength and the ability to heal quickly. Her werewolves are not the result of being bitten by a mad, isolated individual. They are a separate subspecies, kissing cousins of Homo sapiens, attracted to, and able to interbreed with, humans. Couper emphasizes the duel nature, as well as form, of werewolves. Like wolves, they live in hierarchical groups dominated by an Alpha Wolf.
Regan, animal activist by night, animal physiotherapist by day, breaks into the Epoc Industries' Scientific Division to release laboratory animals. In a very powerfully written first chapter, she realizes that most of the animals in the lab are too damaged to rescue. She starts with a German Shepherd, using bolt cutters to open the cage. The dog is in great pain, and she injects it with a powerful anesthetic. Despite what the dog has suffered, it is still willing to trust her and gives a feeble wag of its tail.

It seems my schedule just keeps getting busier and busier, but that doesn’t mean I don’t still want to escape with a good book now and then. You know, one of those hot little numbers you can fit in at lunch or just before bedtime? When Kyann Waters’ novella Emerald: Eternal Rapture came my way, I raised my hands in thanks and settled in at my computer for a little diversion.

With her job as an Egyptian artifact appraiser, Selene Farrel had made her share of trips to odd places to view strange things, but the golden phallus she found in Anthony Mager’s collection was a first. Tipped with an exquisite emerald, she couldn’t believe that she actually held in her hands an ancient Egyptian sex toy.

She knew he was watching her as she moved her hands along the golden shaft. It was so hard to concentrate on evaluating the piece when her mind was telling her to turn away from the artifact and begin to handle her host instead! They had never met before, but it was as if she just knew sex between them would be explosive. With her hormones in a bunch, how could she ever concentrate enough to make her appraisal as her contract stipulated? And how could she ever leave this intoxicating man behind without knowing if her instincts were right about their chemistry?

What could be better than to serve the bride on her special day? Making that day special and perfect is a daunting task, under normal circumstances. What would you do when the bride is an unhappy ghost from the Victorian age?

A haunted bridal salon -- this isn't something most people could even imagine, yet for Erica Peterson, owner of the Belle Brides bridal salon, this is a frightening reality. In Carol North's, Eternally His, Erica is a young proprietor of an upscale business, one that employs a sophisticated staff to cater to an exclusive clientele. However, she may also have one extra item added to her list for the business girl who has everything -- a real ghost! And, it may not be a friendly one.

Eternally His, by Carol North, starts with a bang and then is off and running. Erica Peterson has problems right at the outset. Showing up for work one morning, she notices a strange, yet eerily attractive mannequin in one of her salon's display windows. It is wearing a Victorian bridal gown. Then, just as Erica is about to enter the building, the security alarms go off. Police show up, including a handsome detective, Grant Stewart. Erica feels she knows him from somewhere else, but cannot place him. He, too, seems to feel the same way about her. Has she met him before and somehow can't remember, or is this just a weird, overwhelming sense of déjà vu? Moreover, which answer would be the more disquieting one? Either way, Erica and Grant feel a strong and inexplicable attraction for each other.

If your underwear flies through the air, you can figure you've got one of three things going on:

1. Way too good of a time last night.
2. Someone that is mad is throwing you your laundry.
3. You have a naughty ghost.

If you guess the story is about the first two, you need to expand your imagination. It is door number three. My Favorite Phantom is about a ghost who throws undies, drops ectoplasm (aka ghost snot) all over, and not in small amounts either, makes it freezing cold on the hottest summer day, and…well, you get the idea. There is Professor Cache who brought this house, who is having a party for the group of people deciding who gets a grant. A ghost popping up dropping undies or slime would not be a good impression. So he hires "Ghost Be Gone."

Only instead of getting the old man he heard on the phone, sexy Kaci Melton shows up. She is part actress, part mechanic, and her secret is that she is terrified of ghosts when her dad is not there. Normally her dad, (the old man) would handle this end of the business, except he has a little problem. He owes money to someone who makes a habit of causing those who don't pay to disappear. So dad is out of state, Kaci is terrified of the ghost, and the professor has a problem with pretty girls--he likes them too much. Of course, there is also the ghost.

I like ghost stories and fantastical plots that require suspension of disbelief. When I picked up North of Nonesuch Series by Jane Toombs, I thought it would be a fun escape because of the paranormal romances. I was curious to find out what fantastical creatures and happenings awaited me.

Nonesuch County is nestled in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, a less populated but, as it turns out, more magical area of the country. Each story follows a young woman as she embarks on a harrowing adventure and whirlwind romance. From shape shifters to vampires to djinn, these stories let the reader dabble in all sorts of paranormal romantic fantasies.

Of the six paranormal romances in the North of Nonesuch Series, three were previously published, two are new and one is a bonus.

The Turquoise Mask
After her father's murder, Jamie Lowell goes to Arizona to bury him and becomes entangled in the search for the Navajo turquoise mask her father stole. Zach Tregarth, the Navajo tasked with convincing her to return the mask to his people, complicates her stay in more ways than one.

The Turquoise Cat
Newly divorced and almost penniless, Olivia Sumner inherits her great aunt's house in Michigan's Upper Peninsula in the nick of time. While searching the house for antiques to sell, she finds a strangely alluring turquoise cat. With a cougar on the loose and her home the target of multiple break in attempts, Olivia turns to Raoul Dekalb, the handsome Michigan Department of Natural Resources officer, who always seems to be in the right place at the right time.

Desire and love are two of the strongest emotions in the world. Men and women throughout history have gone to great lengths for both, driven by one or the other. But how many angels do you think would consider coming from heaven to experience mortality? How many would want to come here after experiencing paradise? Other than the obvious answer, there is Dora De Angelo in Elizabeth Sinclair's Angel Unaware.

Dora is a misplaced soul. Unknown to Dora, her soul was stored in the Well of Souls as an angel instead of a mortal. She was never meant to be an angel, a fact that explains why she is so inept at the job. When the desire to be mortal becomes overwhelming, Dora requests a trip to earth, just to spend some time as a mortal. Surprisingly, the powers that be grant her petition. This will be no sight seeing tour, though. She does have a mission to fulfill.

Since the death of his beloved sister and her husband, Tony Falcone has lost his faith and locked up any love that he has to give. It hurts too much to love someone, only to lose them. Unfortunately, his not being able to open his heart is detrimental to the healing process for his niece, Penny, the only child of his sister.

The Oldest Kind of Magic doesn’t have a cover with half naked people. It just happened to catch my eye one day when I was out shopping. There was something about the story line that seemed like it would be fun. And so it was. When Do You Believe in Magic? came out, I knew I had to have it. So it’s been quietly sitting among the many, many other books I have waiting for me to read it and the other day it caught my eye again. This time I sat down with it and it told me all about Clay and Francie, and their journey of discovery.

When computer wiz Clay Morgan is brought in to solve a case of computer hacking he doesn’t expect to meet his “soul mate”. At first glance, Francie Stevens isn’t really Clay’s type. She is a little bit of a frump but there is something about her. Now he will just convince her that she needs to work with him.

Where does one find that perfect man? How far should a woman go to find him? In what direction, or more to the point, what dimension? Should time be a factor in finding the one perfect love of your life? Alicia Cameron will have to face these questions before she claims her true love and the Amulet of Fate. Author Angela Ashton has created a maze through time for this grand paranormal romantic experience.

Alicia "Ali" Cameron doesn't know what she will have to do to hook up with that man who haunts her dreams but doesn't appear to exist in this world. If he does, she hasn't found him. True love and commitment has not appeared in the cheating, lying, and only-want-to-get-in-her-panties men she's encountered so far. Her mother wants her to settle down but how can she when her one and only hasn't made himself known to her yet? After finding another boyfriend with another woman, Ali decides to head to Scotland for some time away.

Erotic Romance tends to come in two flavors. Full graphic, slam-bam sexual speed ahead or slow to a boil till you pop. If you are lucky, you even get a good story along the way to spice things up. With paranormal added in, you almost have to have a story or no one is going to know what is going on. Cursed By Moonlight brings together a noble man forced to turn into a werewolf each cycle of the full moon.

Alric, our noble hero and lord, is a cursed man, and Caasi is the enchanting seductress and witch. Godric, an old man, like a father to Alric, is determined to find a cure for the young man who has long since given up any such hope. Against Alric's wishes, he asks Caasi for help, and to her own surprise, she is willing. From then on, the fate of the cards is played out.

Time. It slips away from us all, faster than we'd really like. Faster than we realize until it's gone and we wonder what happened. Suddenly, those we love are gone, things we'd planned on doing are no longer an option. And we can't go back and changed it… or can we? K. Bruce Justice introduces the possibility in the Faery Rose short All the Time in the World where girl meets boy, girl and boy fall in love, and life throws girl and boy a nasty curve.

Sandra Foster planned on some day marrying, and giving her parents grandchildren to enjoy. There would be time for that later in life. After all, she was only twenty-six. Right now, her career was more important. Unfortunately, the chance was lost when her parents were killed in a traffic accident. Sandra, now alone, moves back to her family home in Brunswick, Georgia, where she'd grown up. The house was lonely and a storm began to rage outside. No worry. Sandra was secure in the house her father had kept up over the years. What could happen changed to what did happen when Sandra finds herself in a car, in a ditch, on the side of the road in Florida… in 1972?

I have a confession: I’m a sucker for anything that has to do with Scotland and castles. My family went to Scotland when I was in high school and I made them stop at every castle we came to…that’s like tripping over Starbucks here in the US. While I’m not the biggest romance reader, when I saw that Amy Tolnitch’s A Lost Touch of Magic took place in the medieval highlands, I had to read it.

A Lost Touch of Magic is the fourth in Ms. Tolnitch’s Lost Touch series, a series which focuses on the lives and loves of intertwined characters. The heroes of previous books make small cameos in this one and vice versa. This was my first of the Lost Touch series and I was able to slip into the world easily. Not having read the others did not hinder my reading or understanding of this book. I suspect, however, that reading all of the series will deepen readers’ enjoyment.

Can love conquer all, even death? It is the question that comes to mind when reading Bianca D’Arc’s Sweeter Than Wine.

One of only a few single Vampires left in his tight knit group, Sebastian has bided his time, waiting for the day when the love of his life, Christina, would be free of her tumultuous marriage. When a late night phone call advises him that Christina is dying, beaten beyond repair by her psychopathic husband Jeff, Sebastian knows what he must do to save her life – bring her to the other side.

For Christina it’s been a long battle to be free of her violent husband; a battle that nearly took her life. Now changed by Sebastian to be immortal, she undertakes the chore of learning how to defend herself so she’ll never be afraid again.

As I said in the review for Laurie C. Kuna’s Some Practical Magic, these books fell into my hands strictly by chance. I only knew ImaJinn books from certain authors --Saintcrow, Arthur, Sams, and Brown. I regretted that I hadn’t really looked beyond those authors. So after finishing Some Practical Magic, I was more than ready to see if its sequel, That Old Black Magic, displayed the same standard of writing as its predecessor.

It was forty years ago when the witch's Tribunal handed down the punishment that restricted Endora Bast's magic and condemned her to being a familiar. Now that same tribunal needs her to save the entire witch community. But Endora is not so sure that she wants to help after what they did to her.

The paranormal romance genre is inundated with what the publishers think the readers want: vampires, werewolves, witches and sex. And while those are good things {I like my sexy vamps and wolfies} they aren't the only thing I look for in a book. I want a plot that keeps me turning the page. I want characters that make me feel for them and if the emotions and sex are hot between the hero and heroine, even better. But I want to be involved in the story. I want the story to be one where if the lunch bell rings at work I say "ah shit!!!! one more page!!!!" Lynn Viehl’s If Angels Burn is just such a story.

Now first thing I have to say is that I really don’t like horror stories, and by that I mean the Stephen King and Dean Koontz style of horror stories. I recognize that they are both masters of their craft but truth is they both seriously freak me out. So I guess I’m a little old-fashioned in that I believe the best kind of horror story is mostly left to the imagination. Don’t Look Back Agnes is not the modern kind of horror story. It reminds of those old fashion stories that you would sit around in the dark telling each other until your imagination ran away with you and you jumped at every little sound.