Careful What You Wish For by Lucy Finn

This is a cute story about a single mom, who finds an attractive genie in her kitchen. But after her third wish the genie will be returned to when he was originally bottled. It’s bound to bring a few smiles to your face.

Details: Signet Eclipse, June 2007

Excellence Rating: Very Good

Don’t Talk Back to Your Vampire by Michelle Bardsley

Eva LeRoy loved her job as the librarian of Broken Heart, Oklahoma. That is until the town became a battleground in a vampire war. Unfortunately Eva was one of the causalities and now she spends her days dead, while her teenage daughter runs around completely unsupervised. Eva finds one of the oldest vampires, Lorcan the Loner attractive and is ready to forgive him for killing her if only he can forgive himself first. But with evil lurking just outside of town, will Eva and Lorcan be able to save her daughter and the rest of the townsfolk or will they die a second time, never to live again.

The sequel to I’m the Vampire, That’s Why is fun story that shows you how life might be for a single mother turned vampire. I love the realism portrayed by the characters as you’re willing to believe that Eva is truly an average soccer mom, who just happens to be undead. If you like vampires and soccer moms, you might just want to give this book a try.

Details: Signet Eclipse, July 2007

Excellence Rating: Great

Steaminess Factor: Yummy

Fit To Be Tied by Karen Kendall

Jen’s wedding day started out badly and only got worse. The final straw was learning that her husband-to-be had to get drunk in order to go through the ceremony and now she’s wondering why she agreed to marry Tom in the first place. While Tom sobered up on the plane ride to their honeymoon, Jen decided that maybe the best thing was to ask for a divorce before things could get any worse. After all that’s happened, surely Tom couldn’t say no. Or could he?

Take every nightmare that you could imagine happening at a wedding and this book has it. Well it doesn't have the pregnant girlfriend running down the aisle during “Does anyone know why this couple shouldn’t be wed?”. but it does have everything else However instead of being playful, the story carried a rather serious tone and that just didn’t work for me. The characters were good, the sex was hot and the ending made reading the story worthwhile. But I can’t help but wonder if a little more humor injected in the right places would have made the book great.

Details: Signet Eclipse, March 2007

Excellence Rating: Pretty Good

Steaminess Factor: Yummy

Light My Fire by Katie MacAlister

Aisling Grey, Guardian in-training, demon lord and mate to Drake, Wyvern of the Green Dragons has a small problem: someone keeps trying to kill her. The attempts are really annoying since Aisling is immortal and can't die unless someone severs her head from her body. Just to make her life complicated, Aisling finds herself in the middle of a dragon war, wanted by imps everywhere because her demon killed their king and in trouble with her fellow Guardians because of her unguardian-like behavior. Challenged on all fronts, Aisling desperately needs Drake’s help, but all Drake wants to do is to spend time in the hot tub, on the rug and occasionally even on the bed. Can Aisling find a way to survive or will she find herself doomed to spend the rest of her life in her personel hell.

This is the third novel in the Aisling Grey series, which documents Aisling’s struggles to become a full fledged Guardian. However the novel is disappointing in that it's focused on creating up situations for future novels to resolve than creating a compelling story. It's not that the story is bad - it isn't, but the lack of resolution really hurts. Fans of the previous books will obviously have this book on the must buy list, though they may want to wait until the next volume is released before reading it.

Details: Signet Eclipse, November 2006

This is the third novel in the Aisling Grey series, which documents Aisling’s struggles to become a full fledged Guardian. However the novel is disappointing in that it's focused on creating up situations for future novels to resolve than creating a compelling story. It's not that the story is bad - it isn't, but the lack of resolution really hurts. Fans of the previous books will obviously have this book on the must buy list, though they may want to wait until the next volume is released before reading it.

Details: Signet Eclipse, November 2006

Bottom line: Pretty good

I’m the Vampire, That’s Why by Michelle Bardsley

Jessica Mathews last thoughts before she became a vampire was wondering why her fourteen year old son couldn’t remember take out the trash. Her first conscious thought as a vampire was a desire to know why she was sucking blood from the thigh of a naked hottie. Soon, Jessica found herself in the middle of a vampire war, lead by her hottie, Patrick O’Halloran. She also learned about the ancient prophesy that foretold her marriage to Patrick. But despite her attraction to the leader, Jessica felt a responsibility to her children and refused to even consider sex with him as sex was the vampire equivalent of a wedding. When an attack leaves Patrick facing eternal death, will Jessica be willing to sacrifice everything including her family to save him?

This was a pretty cute book as it explored the issues of a single mother turned vampire who with two kids who became a vampire. The desire to share a normal life with her family left Michelle plenty of opportunities for humor. I really liked Jessica, especially how she acted like a real mother with two kids. This is definitely a unique book and one that I heartily recommend to all vampire lovers with families.

Details: Signet Eclipse, September 2006

Bottom line: A great book

Even Vampires Get the Blues by Katie MacAlister

Being half-human and half elf makes life more of a challenge for Samantha Cosse than for most people. Unable to complete her studies to become a Diviner, Samantha opened a private investigation agency specializing in retrieving lost items. Her first client is Paen Scott, who must find a relic called the Jilian God in order to save his mother’s soul. Of course, there are others that would do anything to prevent Paen and Samantha from finding the relic. While Samantha finds herself strongly attracted to Paen, she realized that he is a Dark One – a vampire without a soul, and only though the assistance of a Beloved, can Paen get his soul back. Of course, Paen doesn’t want his soul back, but given the tingly feeling deep down inside whenever they’re together, Samantha realizes that she may have to become Paen’s Beloved even if he isn’t interested and assuming that she stays alive long enough.

Katie is arguably one of the most versatile writers today, writing contemporary and historical novels, along with paranormal and young adult novels. I’ve enjoyed many of her stories and this one is no exception. Her skill at writing historicals adds to this contemporary story though the detailed descriptions of the area along with the incredible research it took to keep all of the mythological elements accurate. While this is not part of the Aisling Grey Guardian novels, it is set in the same universe. If you liked those novels, I’m certain you’ll like this one.

Details: Signet Eclipse, May 2006

Bottom line: A very good book