True Deception by Patricia Waddell

Kala Char’ari wants nothing more than freedom for her world from the Conglomerate, while Aedon Rawn’s own world collapsed when his wife and children were killed by Conglomerate pirates. Now fighting together, can Kala shake the Conglomerate’s iron grip on her world or will she be sidetracked by the handsome agent bent on revenge?

I loved how Patricia fashioned an interesting world of oppression and created a couple with the ability to shake it lose. Add in a complex collection of characters to deepen the mystery and suspense you’ll find you can’t put this book down.

Details: Tor, December 2007

Excellence Rating: Very Good

Unlucky by Jana DeLeon

Mallory Devereaux is the unluckiest woman in the world. The smallest touch from her is enough to cause a waiter to dump your lobster tail on your lap complete with melted butter and a kiss could leave you crippled for life. Her uncle decides to take advantage of this tragedy by cooling the cards of hot players during a poker tournament. Unfortunately, the poker tournament is filled with the lowest scum of the earth, and the worst of the bunch is being investigated by Jake Randall, undercover FBI agent who is dealing the cards at her table. Jake teams up with Mallory when he finds he can’t lose no matter how badly he plays and soon they find themselves attracted to each other. Now can Mallory and Jake find a way to overcome her curse, or will the criminals at the tournament decide to change Mallory’s luck permanently?

This story features a nice collection of unique characters along with a good adventure story. There’s also enough humor to make you laugh out loud several times along the way. A good read.

Details: Love Spell, December 2007

Excellence Rating: Very Good

The Down Home Zombie Blues by Linnea Sinclair

Jorie Mikkalah is hunting a group of biomechanical organisms also known as zombies who’s sole purpose is to destroy living beings. She’s tracked them to a village on a backward planet called Earth and finds herself and her team pursued not only by the zombies, but by Bahia Vista police detective, Theo Petrakos. Theo and Jorie team up after he finds a mummified body and Jorie loses touch with her ship and working together sends off all kinds of sparks between them. But while Jorie is really attracted to Theo, can she open up her heart knowing than their love is forbidden?

Another great book from Linnea Sinclair. This one offers a familiar setting for readers who do not enjoy stories set in a completely different universe. I really liked how she handled the language differences between Theo and Jorie, it made the story much more believable. If you like action and paranormal books, then you really should give this one a try.

Details: Bantam Spectra, December 2007

Excellence Rating: Great

NASCAR Holiday 2 by Pamela Britton, Gina Wilkins, Ken Casper, Abby Gains

This book features four short stories by four authors of the NASCAR themed books. A worthwhile read for any fans of the NASCAR books.

Details: Harper, November 2007

Excellence Rating: Very Good

Holidays Are Hell by Kim Harrison, Lynsay Sands, Marjorie M. Liu, Vicki Petterson

Four short stories from the masters of bizarre, including two of my favorite writers (Harrison and Sands). Unfortunately some of these stories tend to be a bit on the dark side, but otherwise a great paranormal read.

Details: Harper, November 2007

Excellence Rating: Great

Swimming Without a Net by MaryJanice Davidson

The half-mermaid, half-human, Frederica aka Fred is back in the second volume of the Sleeping with the Fishes series. In this story Fred is summoned to speak at a meeting where the undersea folk will decide whether to let the upper world know about their existence. At the meeting she’s torn between her hunky marine biologist Thomas who was granted permission to watch the meeting from his undersea submarine, and the handsome Prince Autur, son of the king of the sea. Now which one will Fred choose, or will she just panic and decide to run away from everyone?

I love MaryJanice’s sense of humor and the weird characters and settings she creates. She’s an automatic buy for me and worth reading for anyone that enjoys humor in a paranormal story.

Details: Jove, December 2007

Excellence Rating: Great

Riding the Thunder by Deborah MacGillivary

For some reason this book caught my eye in the store. I guess it was the denim-like cover with the picture of a couple on a motorcycle. Of course the title could have had something to do with it and the back cover even hinted at paranormal activity in the story. But the story failed to live up to my expectations, since there wasn’t much of a story in this book. There was a lot of pretty pictures painted along the way, but there wasn’t that much in the way of strong conflicts or even good humor to keep me interested. Even the promised motorcycle made only a minor appearance in the story. Perhaps if I had read the previous story, The Invasion of Falgannon Isle, I might have liked it more. But for some reason, this book had a distinctly Historical writing style to it, even though it was set in the current day. I wish I’d left the book in the store or at least in my to-be-read-someday-in-the-far-future pile.

Details: Spectra, October 2007

Excellence Rating: Okay

Gabriel’s Ghost by Linnea Sinclair

Ex-Captain Chasidah Bergren of the Sixth Fleet has been dumped on a remote prison planet for a crime she didn’t commit. Gabriel Sullivan – a smuggler and mercenary – needs Bergren’s help to sneak into the empire and destroy a race of beings whose sole purpose is to kill. While the mission requires them both to put their lives on the line, they soon find themselves with even more at risk.

Another great science fiction story from Linnea Sinclair. ‘nuff said.

Keywords: Author: Linnea Sinclair, Type: Science Fiction Romance, Score: Great, Publisher: Bantam Spectra

Details: Bantam Spectra, November 2005
Excellence Rating: Great

Sex and the Immortal Bad Boy by Stephanie Rowe

Freed from her job as Satan’s Rivka, Paige Darlington now finds herself about to lose her soul. The only way to save herself is to take a sip in one of Heaven’s cleansing moats, but Heaven doesn’t permit visits from Hell spawn. Jed Buchanan, Satan Jr.’s favorite assassin agrees to help Paige sneak past Heaven’s defenses, but will she let him sneak past her own?

This appears to be the final story in the Date Me, Baby, One More Time series of books. In a way, I’m kinda disappointed as I wanted to see Satan finally land the girl of his dreams. But this is an interesting tale and one that many paranormal loves will enjoy.

Details: Grand Central, November 2007

Excellence Rating: Very Good

Holy Smokes by Katie MacAlister

Asling Grey returns in Katie’s latest Guardian novel to finally Drake Vireo the wyvern of the green dragons. But the road to the wedding is cluttered with missing grooms, missing brides, warring dragons, angry demon lords, and just about every other type of otherworldly creature with a grudge. Will she make it this time or just end up damned to Hell for the rest of eternity.

This story is very satisfying in that most of the unresolved conflicts spanning the last several books reach satisfying conclusions. If you’ve read her previous stories in this stories, this is definitely a must read book.

Details: Signet, November 2007

Excellence Rating: Very Good

Big Girls Don’t Cry by Cathie Linz

After plus size model Leena Riley’s career takes a nosedive, she returns home with her tail in desperate need of a job. So she takes the only job she can find, receptionist at Cole Flannigan’s veterinarian’s office, even though Cole spent his youth taunting her. Now that Cole is grown up, taunting her is the last thing on his mind.

This is a hot spicy book that delivers. I love the humor and the fact that the heroine is not Twiggy thin, which is something I suffer from myself. If you liked her earlier books, Good Girls Do and Bad Girls Don’t, I think you’ll enjoy this one too.

Details: Berkley Sensation, November 2007

Excellence Rating: Very Good

Sealed with a Kiss by Carly Philips

The sequel to Cross My Heart is a fun romp, featuring the two characters you’d knew deserved their own story. Carly delivered a great story with a lot of conflict between the characters as well as a nice mystery for them to solve. I highly recommend this book.

Keywords: Details: HQN, November 2007

Excellence Rating: Great

Wife For Hire by Janet Evanovich

This is a cute story about a farmer with big ideas but can’t secure a loan because he’s single, so he hires a school teacher to help secure his loan. His contracted wife is a writer who wants privacy write stories about her aunt’s scandalous tales and the farm gives her what she needs. Together they get more than they bargained for.

While I love comedy books like this, it also demonstrates how far romance stories have evolved over the years. I recommend this book for Evanovich fans and for lovers of romantic comedy everywhere.

Details: Harper, November 2007 (originally released in 1990)

Excellence Rating: Very Good

Electric Blue by Nancy Bush

Jane Kelly is back and begins looking into a case of adultery. This case soon leads her to an eccentric old lady (who’s obviously rich, otherwise she’d be just a crazy old lady) who turns up dead and her family is scrambling over her money. But when Jane finds a second body, the mystery just starts getting weirder and weirder. Now it’s up to Jane to figure out the mystery and solve the crime.

I loved the mystery and how the story unfolded and I’m looking forward to reading Nancy’s next book, Ultra Violet.

Details: Kensington, September 2007

Excellence Rating: Very Good

Candy Apple Red by Nancy Bush

Jane Kelly left her old boyfriend in Southern California and is now living the good life in Lake Chinook Oregon, if you consider barely eeking out a living by tending bar and serving processes good. Then her PI hobby takes a turn for the better when she lands a real case paying real money. But the case turns serious when a dead body turns up and now it looks like Jane’s ex-boyfriend is the killer. Now can Jane find the body before she decided to get back with her ex- or will Jane end up the killer’s next victim.

A complex plot combined with the right amount of humor and wacky characters are a great way to catch my interest. You definitely should give this one a try.

Details: Kensington, September 2006

Excellence Rating: Very Good