The Vampire Next Door (Strange Neighbours #3) by Ashlyn Chase | Paperback, 384 Pages Sourcebooks Casablanca (Aug 2011) Paranormal Romance This is book three is Ashlyn Chase’s series about an apartment block where nearly all the inhabitants coincidentally happen to be supernatural beings. It is a light-hearted and fun book. I’ve read books two and three and wouldn’t say you need to read an previous books in the series to pick any of these up. The Vampire Next Door is a love story about vampire Sly and witch Morgaine. Sly…
Kitty’s Big Trouble (Kitty Norville #9) by Carrie Vaughn Gollancz (UK, July 2011) Paperback, 307 pages Urban Fantasy Kitty Norville is back and in more trouble than ever. Her recent run-in with werewolves traumatized by the horrors of war has made her start wondering how long the US government might have been covertly using werewolves in combat. Have any famous names in our own history might have actually been supernatural? She’s got suspicions about William Tecumseh Sherman. Then an interview with the right vampire puts her on the trail of…
Title: Kitty and the Dead Man’s Hand (Kitty Norville #5) Author: Carrie Vaughn Publisher: Gollancz (UK) | Grand Central Publishing (US) Publication Date: Oct 2009 (UK) | Feb 2009 (US) Paperback: 282 pages Genre: Urban Fantasy Source: Review copy from publisher Reviewed by: Carolyn RATING: 6/10 – good SUMMARY: Kitty Norville, the country’s only celebrity werewolf, thinks she’s finally got her life sorted. Her radio show is as popular as ever, and she and her cute lawyer boyfriend are the alpha pair of Denver’s werewolf pack. Now she and Ben…
KITTY AND THE MIDNIGHT HOUR (Kitty Norville #1) by Carrie Vaughn PUBLISHER: Gollancz (UK) | Warner Books (US) RELEASE DATE: Jan 2008 (UK) | Nov 2005 (US) FORMAT: Paperback, 272 pages GENRE: Urban Fantasy Kitty Norville is a midnight-shift DJ for a Denver radio station?and a werewolf in the closet. Her new late-night advice show for the supernaturally disadvantaged is a raging success, but it’s Kitty who can use some help. With one sexy werewolf-hunter and a few homicidal undead on her tail, Kitty may have bitten off more than…
The Book of Spells (A Private Prequel) by Kate Brian Simon & Schuster (Feb 2011) | Paperback, 303 pages Paranormal YA I was unsure about this book because I’ve looked at the other Private novels and then put them back on the shelves because they seemed too girlie, and one thing I detest is a book set around catty teenage girls. I was pleasantly surprised with The Book of Spells. Yes, it’s about a group of teenage girls all attending school, they talk about fashion, boys and sneaking out, but…
Lord of the Changing Winds (Griffin Mage #1) by Rachel Neumeier Orbit Books (June 2010) | Paperback: 367 pages | Fantasy Lord of the Changing Winds wasn’t what I expected it to be; that’s not saying it was a bad novel, because it wasn’t. The concept was interesting, and the whole mythology of the griffins was out of this world (pardon the pun!) . Griffins are not creatures of the earth like humans and their mages, they’re creatures of fire and air and so don’t think or act like humans….
In Enemy Hands by K. S. Augustin Carina Press (May 2010) | Ebook, 257 Pages Sci-Fi Romance In Enemy Hands was a little inconsistent for me. I swung between enjoying it and getting frustrated with the pace. Set in the future, Moon is a scientist working on a ground-breaking project to re-animate dead stars. But, most of the Galaxy is controlled by the brutal and uncompromising Republic where failure would mean death, or even worse exile. Moon is assigned the extraordinarily clever Srin Flerovs as her research partner. So intelligent is Srin,…
Across the Universe (Across the Universe #1) by Beth Revis Penguin (Jan 2011) | Paperback, 398 pages Science Fiction, Young Adult Guest Reviewer: Kai Hi everyone. I’m really excited to see what Carolyn has in store for us for the Women of Science Fiction Event. Statistically in the past, women haven’t been the predominant Authors or readers of the Science Fiction genre. Things however have changed rapidly. One of the most buzzed about books this year has been Across the Universe published by Razorbill, a division of Penguin Books. I was fortunate…
Title: Iron Crowned (Dark Swan #3) Author: Richelle Mead Publisher: Bantam Books (UK) | Zebra (US) Publication Date: March 2011 (UK | US) Paperback: 378 pages Genre: Urban Fantasy Source: Own Copy Reviewed by: Carolyn RATING: 6/10 – good SUMMARY: Shaman-for-hire Eugenie Markham is the best at banishing entities trespassing in the mortal realm. But as the Thorn Land’s queen, she’s fast running out of ways to end the brutal war devastating her kingdom. Her only hope: the Iron Crown, a legendary object even the most powerful gentry fear… Who…
Title: Discord’s Apple Author: Carrie Vaughn Publisher: Tor Fantasy Publication Date: June 2010 Hardcover: 299 Pages Genre: Urban Fantasy Source: Review Copy Reviewed by: Laura RATING: 6/10 – Good GOODREADS: When Evie Walker goes home to spend time with her dying father, she discovers that his creaky old house in Hope’s Fort, Colorado, is not the only legacy she will inherit. Hidden behind the basement door is a secret and magical storeroom, a place where wondrous treasures from myth and legend are kept safe until they are needed again….
BREATHERS by S. G. Browne PUBLISHER: Piatkus Books RELEASE DATE: March 2011 FORMAT: Paperback, 310 pages GENRE: Black Comedy, Zombies, Horror Meet Andy Warner, a recently deceased everyman and newly minted zombie. Resented by his parents, abandoned by his friends, and reviled by a society that no longer considers him human, Andy is having a bit of trouble adjusting to his new existence. But all that changes when he goes to an Undead Anonymous meeting and finds kindred souls in Rita, an impossibly sexy recent suicide with a taste for…
Title: Cat in an Ultramarine Scheme (Midnight Louie Mystery #22) Author: Carole Nelson Douglas Publisher: Forge Books Publication Date: 3rd August 2010 Hardback: 365 pages Genre: Mystery Source: Review Copy Guest Review by Sarah @FroggyTaylor RATING: 6/10 SUMMARY: Temple Barr, publicist extraordinaire, is itching to bring off her most dangerous and exciting assignment, helping to launch an endeavor that many a Vegas showmen have dreamed of; a Las Vegas mob museum/casino. While city powers-that-be hem and haw over doing an official project on the subject, the Family Fontana plans to;…
Cowboy Fever by Joanne Kennedy Sourcebooks Casablanca (March 2011) | Ebook, 416 Pages Western Romance This is a sweet, contemporary romance that’s a quick and easy read. Girl next door and former tomboy Jodie shed her image years ago, leaving the small town she grew up in to become a rodeo queen. But things change and Jodie has returned home, glad to leave the make up and glitz behind she has a vision to transform her deceased father’s ranch into a riding centre for people with disabilities. In all the years…
Die For Me (Revenants #1) by Amy Plum Atom Books (May 2011) | Paperback, 341 pages Paranormal YA Die For Me is the debut novel from new author Amy Plum. The first thing I noticed was how easy to read this novel was – it sits very comfortably in the young adult paranormal genre and didn’t read as a debut. The writing flows very well and I turned the pages with ease, managing to finished it in just a few hours. Die For Me focuses on the life of young heroine, Kate,…
Title: Firespell (Dark Elite #1) Author: Chloe Neill Publisher: Gollancz (UK) | Signet (US) Publication Date: July 2010 (UK) | Jan 2010 (US) Paperbook: 246 Pages Genre: Paranormal Young Adult Source: Review Copy Guest Review by Jo RATING: 6/10 – Good, would probably recommend GOODREADS SUMMARY: As the new girl at the elite St. Sophia’s boarding school, Lily Parker thinks her classmates are the most monstrous things she’ll have to face… When Lily’s guardians decided to send her away to a fancy boarding school in Chicago, she was shocked. So…
