Crystal Gardens by Jayne Ann Krentz Writing as Amanda Quick (Ladies of Lantern Street #1) Piatkus Books (May 2012) Paperback, 320 pages Historical Paranormal Romance Crystal Gardensby Amanda Quick is not your typical historical romance as the main characters are plagued with paranormal gifts that prevent them from leading a normal societal life. Our protagonist is Evangeline Ames, a female author and private investigator who has left London for the calm life of the country village, Little Dixby, after an attempt on her life. Her employers have forced her to take…

Heart of the Dragon’s Realm by Karalyn Lee Carina Press (Oct 2012) | Ebook, 139 pages Fantasy Romance Heart of the Dragon’s Realm opens with Princess Kimri setting off to start her new life as the betrothed to the king of the mountains. She is angry that her brother has effectively sold her off for 100 swords to the ruler of the realm purportedly guarded by dragons. She is surprised when she meets her future husband that he gives her a year to decide whether she still wants to marry him…

33 A.D. (Bachiyr #1) by David McAfee Coelacanth Press (March 2010) | Paperback, 276 pages Horror 33 A.D. is not the usual type of book I would pick up if I saw it in a bookstore. But, one thing reviewing does do is open you up to new stories and writers. 33 A.D. takes us back to a world where vampires are evil, vile, frightening creatures in a vision that would make Stoker proud. The setting of the book is the part I found particularly clever and unique. Set in Jerusalem…

The Donors by Jeffrey Wilson JournalStone (July 2012) | Paperback, 255 pages Horror Dr Jason Gelman meets the six year old Nathan when he admits him to the ER. Nathan has been abused by his mother’s boyfriend and needs to stay in the hospital for surgery. Jason develops an almost instant rapport with the young boy and with his nurse, Jenny. It is not only Jason, however, that starts to take an interest in the boy and the people in his life and before too long the story’s main antagonists make their appearance in…

HORNS by Joe Hill PUBLISHER: Gollancz (UK) | HarperCollins (US) RELEASE DATE: June 2011 (UK) | Feb 2010 (US) FORMAT: Paperback, 435 pages GENRE: Horror Merrin Williams is dead, slaughtered under inexplicable circumstances, leaving her beloved boyfriend Ignatius Perrish as the only suspect. On the first anniversary of Merrin’s murder, Ig spends the night drunk and doing awful things. When he wakes the next morning he has a thunderous hangover… and horns growing from his temples. Ig possesses a terrible new power to go with his terrible new look–a macabre gift…

A BOOK OF HORRORS Edited by Stephen Jones PUBLISHER: Jo Fletcher Books RELEASE DATE: 29th September 2011 FORMAT: Hardback, 427 pages GENRE: Horror Many of us grew up on The Pan Book of Horror Stories and its later incarnations, Dark Voices and Dark Terrors (The Gollancz Book of Horror), which won the World Fantasy Award, the Horror Critics’ Guild Award and the British Fantasy Award, but for a decade or more there has been no non-themed anthology of original horror fiction published in the mainstream. Now that horror has returned to…

THE EVERLASTING  by Tim Lebbon PUBLISHER: Allison & Busby RELEASE DATE: Aug 2008 FORMAT: Paperback, 350 pages GENRE: Horror Thirty years ago, Scott s grandfather slaughtered his best friend, then committed suicide. Now the spirit of the murdered man has returned, seeking the ancient volume that can return him to life — forever. Pursued by this savage spirit and accompanied by a strange woman who claims to be immortal, Scott must do the impossible. He must find the book that may have driven his grandfather to murder and destroy it before its secrets…

Sleight of Hand (Bite Back #1) by Mark Henwick Self-published (Aug 2012) | Ebook, 327 pages Urban Fantasy Guest Reviewer: Lee Sleight of Hand follows Amber Farrell, Denver private investigator and ex-member of Army special ops. Amber is having a rough week. She solves a case that inadvertently puts her at odds with a high profile drug trafficking network and then takes on a new case from the wealthy and powerful Jenny Kingslund, who seems to have a lot of enemies – all this while spying on the Athanate community of…

SHATTERED DREAMS (Midnight Dragonfly #1) By Ellie James PUBLISHER: Quercus RELEASE DATE: 5th July 2012 FORMAT: Paperback, 300 pages GENRE: Paranormal, Young Adult Upon the death of her grandmother, Trinity arrives on her aunt’s doorstep in New Orleans with virtually no knowledge of her mysterious heritage. Dropped into high school, she is trying her best to fit in, but there is something about her, connected to the mysterious city and her parents death, that makes her different. When a game of truth or dare in a deserted New Orleans house…

TEMPEST (Tempest #1) by Julie Cross PUBLISHER: MacMillan Children’s books RELEASE DATE: 5 January 2012 FORMAT: Advance Reader Copy, 432 pages GENRE: Paranormal, Young Adult The year is 2009.  Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun. That is… until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend,…

Tremble (Part 2) by Tobsha Learner Piatkus Entice (July 2012) | Ebook, 399 pages Erotic Romance So after a pretty positive start (see Part 1′s Review here), it’s now on to the next three in a collection of nine. Its a pretty mixed bag and out of the three there was only one really stand out story. Read on to see why… VIRGIN I had really high hopes for this story, for it was all about the loss and regaining of faith. The Nun in question is a young woman named Clarrissa….

Dark Magic by Rebecca York (Chronicles of Arandal #1 ) Carina Press (Aug 2011) Ebook, 67 pages Paranormal Romance The picture I am getting in my head in Dark Magic is of knights and castles and a very medieval sort of place where women are there to look pretty, do lovely ladylike things, and to bare children. Princess Devon, however has always had other plans, finding ways to expand her horizons through books from her fathers well stocked library. Devon is a princess stuck in a tower. Ok, no, not the…

DAMNABLE (Jake Hatcher #1) by Hank Schwaeble PUBLISHER: Jove Books RELEASE DATE: September 2009 FORMAT: Paperback, 392 pages GENRE: Horror After being disgraced and wrongly imprisoned, special military operative Jake Hatcher finds himself standing watch against an unimaginable threat to humanity. For he’s about to discover that the streets of New York City have become a secret battleground between forces he cannot comprehend.  REVIEWER: Vickie So, I was struggling with the book I was supposed to be reading (sadly, as I had been really looking forward to it) so I…

The Taker by Alma Katsu (The Taker #1) Arrow Books (Sept 2011) Paperback, 436 pages Paranormal Romance The Taker is an historical paranormal romance that is mostly from the memory of the main protagonist, Lanore McIlvrae (Lanny). The writing is beautiful and reminded me of my old English teacher who had an ability to read effortlessly with words rolling off her tongue, instantly capturing your attention and retaining it for the whole lesson, but just like school the idea of going was unappealing and once I put The Taker down I…

THE ASSASSIN AND THE PIRATE LORD (Throne of Glass #0.1) by Sarah J. Maas PUBLISHER: Bloomsbury RELEASE DATE: 13th January 2012 FORMAT: Kindle, 63 pages GENRE: Fantasy, Young Adult A Throne of Glass novella. On a remote island in a tropical sea, Celaena Sardothien, feared assassin, has come for retribution. She’s been sent by the Assassin’s Guild to collect on a debt they are owed by the Lord of the Pirates. But when Celaena learns that the agreed payment is not in money, but in slaves, her mission suddenly changes—and she…