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

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

Confessions of a Werewolf Supermodel by Ronda Thompson

Lou Kinipski is a supermodel who has it all. Her only problems are her mysterious past and her her furry tail when comes and goes on it’s own schedule. But when a serial killer’s victims bear an uncanny resemblance to her, Lou finds herself in a live-or-death struggle and even worse, the murders appear to be tied into events from her past. Now can Lou find the killer and save herself or will she be the next body on the killer’s hit list?

I have to confess, I waited a long time for this book to arrive in print and I wasn’t disappointed. If you’re looking for a funny paranormal book with really cool characters, check this one out.

Details: St. Martins Press, October 2007

Excellence Rating: Great

Your Coffin or Mine? By Kimberly Raye

Kimberly’s latest volume in the Dead End Dating series features another funny story about Lil Marchette, owner of a dating service for vampires and other creatures. This time the story revolves around Lil’s attempt to find new clients by going to auditions for Manhattan’s Most Wanted, a dating reality TV show. In addition to handing out her business cards, Lil finds herself on the show itself when all she wants is to spend time with the sexy vampire, Ty Bonner. Unfortunately danger abounds and if they’re not careful, they’ll be erased with the first daylight.

A worthwhile read and one that will definitely bring a smile to your face.

Details: Onyx, October 2007

Excellence Rating: Great

Over Hexed by Vicki Lewis Thompson

Every woman in Big Knob, Indiana wants to have sex with Sean Madigan, so Dorcas and Ambrose take it upon themselves to use their magical abilities to make Sean less appealing. But when Maggie Grady sails into town she sets her sights on a lot with and old Victorian house as the best place to put a brand new SaveALot mega store. Unfortunately that house is the one Sean where grew up and he’s almost saved enough money to but it. But when he tries to charm her out of the house, he learns his sex appeal is gone and now has to do it the old fashioned way.

Vicki managed to carry her popular nerd franchise into the paranormal world with this cute story. If you’ve liked her stories in the past, but are afraid of paranormal books in general, you should give this one a try. It’s everything that a normal paranormal isn’t, except for a little light magic.

Details: Onyx, October 2007

Excellence Rating: Great

Ain’t Myth-Behaving by Katie MacAlister

Two tales of the otherworld make this book enjoyable. In Stag Party, Dane Hearne – an Irish fertility god much choose a bride before the annual celebration or forfeit his powers. He believes he’s found his soul mate in the form of Megan St. Clair, a travel writer, but Megan refuses to become involved with such an ego-centric individual. Now can Dane convince Megan to marry him, or will Dane be forced to give up his godhood as well as his life.

In Norse Truly, the hero is cursed to sail his Viking ship along the same stretch of Scandinavian coastline forever. However when Alrik Sigurdsson finds the only woman who could possibly save him, she doesn’t believe his improbable story

Both stories are cute and funny, and both are written in first person. But this is the first time I’ve read a complete story, showing only the hero’s point of view. If you love Katie’s other books, I’m sure you’ll love this one.

Details: Pocket, October 2007

Excellence Rating: Great

A Date with the Other Side by Erin McCarthy

While Shelby Tucker makes a living by giving tours of haunted houses, she’s never actually seen a ghost – at least until the Boston Macnamara rents one of the houses. Boston is in town to inspect the plastics plant, which is the town’s major employer for possible shutdown. Now a batch of random accidents is pushing the two together. But are the accidents random or is someone or something’s magic at work.

I liked this story enough to check out some of Erin’s other stories. I enjoyed the humor and wish more writers would incorporate it into their stories.

Keywords: Details: Berkley, January 2007

Excellence Rating: Very Good

Witch in the House by Jenna McKnight

I enjoyed this story about a witch who casts a spell to find the perfect man. But the spell backfires and brings her a man that she can’t love. Now she has to work hard to get rid of him before he becomes too suspicious about her powers. A must read for Jenna McKnight fans.


Details: Bantam, March 2007

Excellence Rating: Very Good

Fanged & Fabulous by Michelle Rowen

A funny sequel to Bitten & Smitten, featuring the same set of characters.

Details: Warner, July 2007

Excellence Rating: Very Good

One Night with a Goddess by Judi McCoy

When Zeus orders Chloe, the Muse of Happiness, to spend a year on Earth to improve her job rating, Chloe ends up bringing happiness to mortals by working as wedding planner. Her weddings were always perfect and her services were very much in demand. And she took Zeus’s threats about falling in love with a mortal, so she had a strict policy of never dating anyone long enough to fall in love. But then Matthew Castleberry returned. At first Matthew believes Chloe is out to cheat his grandmother out of her wedding business, but soon he feels there’s something special about Chloe. Chloe senses Matthew’s feelings, but as hard as she tries to deny her own feelings, she’s not sure she can hold out until Zeus calls her home. Maybe just one night with Matthew will get him out of her system, if not, she may never see Mount Olympus again.

This is the second goddess book, following last year’s Almost a Goddess. It’s a great story, filled with plenty of humor and very believable characters. Also having a little heat doesn’t hurt . The only problem with this book is that I’m going to have to wait another year to see how the story turns out. Highly recommended.

Details: Tor, May 2007

Excellence Rating: Great

Steaminess Factor: yummy

The Cat’s Fancy by Julie Kenner

Maggie persuades her mentor to temporarily release her from her cat’s body because she fell in love with her human. Nick Goodman is shocked to find a naked woman standing outside his door, especially when she appears to have no past and wants nothing more than to share his bed. While Maggie was certain Nick loved her, she never realized that Nick already was engaged to be married. Now can Nick come to his senses and dump his fiancé before Maggie runs out of time?

Julie created a very cute story with a number of other characters including a secondary romance. Her humor pops throughout the story and is a joy to read. If you believe that cats own a house and merely let the humans live in it, I know you’ll love this story.

Score: Great

Details: Love Spell, August 2000