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.

I have to say that this book fell into my hands strictly by chance. I know ImaJinn books from Lilith Saintcrow, Keri Arthur, Candace Sams and Virginia Brown (am still looking for that fourth Harley Jean book) but to my regret I haven’t really looked beyond those authors. So when Some Practical Magic and its sequel came up and needed reviewed I said, "They sound cute. I’ll do them." What I got was more than just a “cute” story.

For me, Judy Mays is one of the most talented writers out there and I find it amazing that the New York publishers haven’t “discovered” her. They don’t know what they are missing: a writer with a serious ability to draw the reader into the story from the first page.

Meredythe Walsh is a hard-driven reporter determined to get to the truth. So when her boss pulls her off the story she has worked so hard on, she storms into his office to have a showdown. What she finds is her boss in the middle of a meeting with one of the, if not the most gorgeous man she has ever seen, a man who it seems holds an unnatural attraction for her. But when she is given a new story to investigate she turns her attention to a possible serial killer who uses a “wolf” dog.

A couple years back I was given the opportunity to read Kathryn Meyer Griffith’s Abigail Sutton mysteries Scraps of Paper and All Things Slip Away. If you like cozy mysteries, these are a must-read. She is one of those authors that makes you think about situations her characters are in and how you would react to those situations. So when I was contacted about reviewing some of her newer titles, I jumped at the chance.

Think about if you knew all your life what you were going to be when you grew up. In fact, you trained for your profession every day. It was all you knew, what you expected, what you worked toward, then suddenly you’re told plans have changed; find a different profession, another life goal. That would be quiet a shock, and it certainly is for Giselle, the heroine of Amy Tolnith’s novel, A Lost Touch of Innocence.

With Halloween approaching, I was looking for a hot little tale to suit the season, and boy did I find what I was looking for in Debi Wilder's By the Blue Moon, the first book in the Blue Moon Magic Trilogy.

I'm one to prefer vampire stories to those of werewolves, but I have to admit that Ms. Wilder's creation of the world of a modern day werewolf clan was as enjoyable as the sexual encounters she describes.

Ah, I love Halloween. All the strange things in the night come out in this spiritually dark part of the year. I wanted something different to read, something more than boy meets girl; boy has sex with girl; boy has sex with girl again. You know, something with a twist, a dark side.

As if by magic, a copy of Mooncusser Cove by Darragha Foster found its way into my computer. More than a story of love and lust, this novel is the history of the Mooncussers and Paladins who used to, and still do, inhabit a New England beach.

The idea of being a sexual vampire might sound very appealing. But if given the powers and opportunities of such an existence, how would you cope if your significant other were suddenly and violently taken away? Could you face the prospect of living eternally, alone in all the ways that truly count? If the right person came along, would you dare open your heart again? If so, how far would you go to give them the chance to experience the pleasures of your reality? Author Devyn Quinn explores all these issues in her new novel, Sins of the Flesh from Kensington’s Aphrodisia line.

Have you ever known a secret; one that you couldn’t share because if you did it could very well cost you your life? That’s exactly what Jena the heroine of Bianca D’Arc’s Forever Valentine must face.

Jena’s learned that vampires really do exist when one of her best friends is near death's door and is saved by a vampire she later marries. Before long, all of the other friends in Jena’s group also end up marrying vampires; all except Jena. Being the only ‘human’ remaining in the tight knit group, the head vampire assigns an ‘enforcer’ to watch over Jena and ensure that she keeps their secret under penalty of death, even though Jena has no intention of saying a word.

Halloween is not just when the ghosts come out; it is when the ghost stories come out. And what more appropriate story is there for Halloween than when paranormal investigator Dana Rayne goes to check out a haunted castle in Ireland, along with Sean O'Brien, its heir? Unfortunately for the O'Brien family, the castle is occupied by Sean's deceased ancestor Dermott (and Dermott's women), and the ghosts have already chased off Sean's sister.

Werewolf books are becoming a dime a dozen. Correction, they've been a dime a dozen for a few years now. The paranormal/supernatural genre is flooded each month with werewolf or vampire fiction, many of those books rehashing the same things over and over with new names. It's hard to find a book worth reading, so, thankfully, a woman like Megan Powell gives us Waxing.

Liz is happy, if a little lonely, with her life. A solitary practitioner of the Wiccan path, she works in a magic shop and generally spends her days dealing with the dabblers, the obsessed, and the occasional real-deal witch. She uses the word "new age" like some people use the F-word, and has no problem telling people what she thinks of them.

When I was a kid -- far too long ago -- I decided to do a complete personality reboot when I went to high school. I was going to reinvent myself for a new age, become, if you will, a whole new person. The change lasted for all of about three hours, until I began running into people I'd known in junior high school and they all expected me to be exactly the same. The past is sort of like a tainted fish kabob you buy on the street corner when you're out drinking. It will always come back. One way or another.