Guest Post: Lily´s review of Blood Vice

Now, I hand over my blog to the awesome Lily from Lilium´s Realm.

  HI Lily! *waves*

First I would like to say a HUGE thank you to Christine for allowing me to blog over here today - I feel honored. If you twitter and follow me you know I have a long standing rival with one Keith Melton. I can't really trace back to where I met him, but I will say he is a trip and a half. I have been giving him a hard time for almost a year now and I finally just read his book Blood Vice. I bought it and TBR'd it based of the "WARNING" in the book - which stole my heart

"Warning: Intense, graphic mafia-related violence, profanity, gangster slang, assassinations, fang punctures, explicit vampire sex, betrayal, greed, murder, gangland warfare, pervasive supernatural mayhem, large-scale explosions, and extremely expensive Italian suits."

*raised eyebrow* See what I mean?

I have not really read very much Urban Fantasy or even Paranormal Romance that is written by men. Not that I choose to avoid them.....there just doesn't seem to be that many out there. Keith Melton is one of those men. I was wary about the book because I knew the author (well as well as you can know anyone 140 charachters at a shot) but I was nervous about reading the book - because what if it sucked? And not in the good vampire way neither. Rest assured - it didn't suck - in the bad way.

We are introduced to a Master Vampire named Karl Vance, who has sworn for the rest of his lifetime to never feed off innocents. Karl is your traditional vampire, he can't do the Holy objects, he can only come out at night, him and silver don't mix and he has to have someone look after his coffin while he's sleeping. Aside from these things, he is a hitman. An excellent one at that. Karl is employed by the Ricardi family to help take over Boston and reign over all - including the Lucatti family.

Maria Ricardi is your typical Mafia princess, if you count the fact that she wants to play with the big boys. Tired of only being seen as Daddy's Girl who cleans the money she is determined to climb the family ladder and prove herself as a Mafiso. She has her father hire Karl on full time to get the job of taking Boston from the Luccattis done. Things are strange about Karl - he won't call her back till after sunset, he walks so quietly she can never hear him approach her and there is just something so dark, dangerous and sexy about him. Fighting for her respect in the family Maria becomes convinced that if she can watch someone get killed, so she can learn to do herself she will be the son her father lost. How wrong she is when it becomes apparent Karl is not what he seems and the enforcer working with the Luccatti family is more than your average rival. After the harrowing introduction to what Karl really is:

He smiled but there was nothing nice about it. "Why were you there tonight?"

"You work for me. Don't make me say it again."

His smile widened - became predatory...almost...anticipatory? And that sent waves of cold washing down her skin from head to foot.

"You're trying my patience. You should remember you have far more to lose than I."

Damn him. "I was curious."

"About what? About me?"

"I wanted to watch someone die."

He thought about it a moment. "Fair enough. Some urges are not pretty."

Make no mistake, this is not the vampire to cuddle with and take long walks on the beach, he is a monster - but he has a strong moral code. Karl did not choose his life and does his best to help The Order of the Thorn - a religious group out to kill ALL monsters of the night. As twists and turns become more and more convoluted in the plot line it becomes clear that some grudges last more than one lifetime, and sometimes, blood doesn't make you family. This book was very well written and well researched in my opinion. He mentions a lot of weapons in this book and I have to say - he did his homework. I was left hanging at the end of Blood Vice and I have already been harassing him for book two. Hats off to Keith Melton for this one.

Interview: Keith Melton

On this lovely Friday, I have two awesome guests over on my Blog: Keith Melton, author of the sexy and action packed book Blood Vice and Lily, a fellow blogger from Lilium´s Realm who will be posting a review about Blood Vice and has also contributed questions to today´s interview.

Please welcome them both with me!!

Can you describe “Blood Vice” in your own words?

KM: Karl Vance, a vampire working as a freelance hit man for a Boston-based syndicate, is pulled into a turf war between two competing crime families when he discovers a rival vampire working for the opposition. Things get even more complicated when the Boss’s ambitious daughter wants to defy tradition and make her bones in the crime family using Vance as her weapon…

Your book tells also a story about vampires, seemingly the most favorite creature in the supernatural world. How are your vampires different from others?

KM: My favorite vamps are the classic vampires with the classic rules. My vamps are pretty standard, rule-wise. They drink blood. Deep fry in the sun. I wasn’t really trying to be innovative about vampire lore. I just wanted to write about vampires tearing the hell out of each other and causing havoc.

Have you ever been afraid that the idea of vampires was overused while writing your book?

KM: Yeah, all the time. There has always been a core vampire-loving audience, but I wasn’t quite aware how prevalent vamps were in UF/PNR when I wrote Blood Vice. I was more familiar with them from the King/Rice/Stoker/Lumley end of things.

How many books have you planned for Karl Vance?

KM: There will be a total of three books in the Nightfall Syndicate series. Book two is complete and currently sitting with a beta reader. About twenty percent of book three is written so far.

What made you think Mafia + Vampires = Win?

KM: I wanted a paranormal creature who would work well in the crime underworld. Vampires seemed to fit best, since a vampire hit man could actually slake his/her thirst on the target. A criminal underworld and a paranormal underworld seemed like they would mesh well together. The violence. The secrecy. The betrayals.

Can you share a little about your other book “Run, Wolf”?

KM: It’s basically a short, simple caper novella with a love story at its heart. Two werewolves are exiled from their pack and lose everything, but turn the tables and end up robbing one of the pack’s businesses to get enough money to flee the city. The pack gives chase. Mayhem and gratuitous werewolf combat follows.

Can you name the key ingredients of your books in short words?

KM: Action. Fire. Hungry monsters. Guns.

There are also complex character relationships, but I can’t describe them accurately with short words, so I’ll just be coy and hint about them here.

In September, I´ll focus mostly on male authors. Urban Fantasy however is a genre dominated mostly by woman. Are guys too cool to write it? J Why did you chose to write Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance? Or was it more coincidence?

KM: It looks as if more males are joining the fray as time goes on. On the one hand you have Emma Bull’s War for the Oaks, one of the lynchpin novels in the genre’s development, but you also have Charles de Lint, another very important writer who isn’t too cool to write it.

I like Urban Fantasy because it gives so many diverse toys to play with. An author can pull in elements from High Fantasy, mysteries, noir-stylings, use complex romantic elements, horror, thriller tropes, et cetera. So many shiny plot elements and devices mean a great deal of creative space and possibilities.

Did you find it difficult writing from a female POV when he was telling the story from Maria's perspective?

KM: No, but Maria is a character quite a few readers start the book disliking. She wants some questionable things—to run with the wise guys in her father’s syndicate and to make her bones by killing someone. She’s not very nice at first. In some ways she’s more blood thirsty than Karl Vance the vampire. Change, when it hits her character, is significant…Karma doesn’t play around.

Why is it in your opinion the majority of the readers of the Urban Fantasy genre are female and not male? Do you read Urban Fantasy yourself?

KM: I read UF along with all kinds of genre fiction. I think one could make a quick case about the strong female characters that flourish in the genre and the intense romantic relationships which may appeal to female readers. That’s still a pretty simplistic, grab-all assumption, however.

A great many male readers I know really love the Harry Dresden series. Perhaps some male readers judge a book by its cover. Also, the subgenre is still relatively new. Give it time.

Would you say that your mood has an influence on your writing?

KM: That’s a complex question. In the very short run I’d say yes, to a degree. However, a book goes through so many drafts and revisions that the process tends to smooth out the writing until it fits what the scene requires regardless of what mood I was in when I wrote it.

How far ahead are you plotting your books?

KM: I tend to plot future books out in my mind, but not on paper. I do this when I’m waiting around in Limbo (aka the DMV, Post Office, traffic lights, waiting in line for coffee, etc). Events remain relatively fluid and this allows me to stay nimble, if necessary, in regards to plot/character arcs.

Where do you get your inspiration from? Music, books, TV shows or real life?

KM: All of the above and none of the above. By which I mean it all goes into the industrial mixer in my mind. Hopefully, after some churning, a new idea is formed or inspiration strikes.

A question that I am always curious about (but could be kind of personal) is: are your characters based on people you really know or maybe even a little bit about yourself or are they all purely fictional?

KM: Fictional.

How did you choose the names of the characters in your book? Do they have a special meaning?

KM: I usually run with how the name sounds when read and whether or not I have many characters with similar-appearing names in the same book. If the character is of a specific ethnicity, I’ll give them an accurate surname. Sometimes I’ll pick a name because of its meaning—it just depends.

What do you like most about being an author? And what annoys you?

KM: I’m probably pretty standard. I love creating new worlds, new characters. Also, I like interacting with readers. They’re always fun.

Nothing really annoys me except crafting query letters and writing the synopsis.

Did you ever have a writer´s block? If so, what did you do to deal with it?

KM: I switch projects. Go in a different direction with something completely new. Seems to work for me if I become bogged down with a work in progress.

Tell us something about your favourites:

Favourite authors?

KM: Jonathan Kellerman, Stephen King, George R.R. Martin, Patricia Briggs, Elmore Leonard, Fritz Lieber, Clive Barker, Shirley Jackson.

favourite paranormal creature?

KM: Hmm. I’m fond of ghosts. In fiction, not real life, because the concept of a real ghost creeps me out. <looks around nervously>

favourite all time hero/heroine?

I rather like Mad Max from The Road Warrior. Also, Ripley from the first two Alien movies.

favourite all time villain?

KM: Yeah, I’d have to go with an old standard: Darth Vader. Maybe Pinhead from Hellraiser. Or, on the lighter side of things, Dr. Evil. Wait, was I supposed to pick just one?

favourite vampire movie?

KM: Probably Let the Right One In.

favourite Mafia movie?

KM: Goodfellas.

Which one do you prefer, book or e-reader?

KM: Honestly, I love them both. I read both, though the e-reader is increasingly more convenient for me.

favourite distraction?

KM: That would have to be my kids. You could even reframe the question as: “Favorite CONSTANT distraction?”

Is there a book you love above all? One that had a great influence on you or your life?

KM: I routinely re-read The Shining and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Oh, and Dune. And Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Wait…was I supposed to pick just one again?

Was being an author something you´ve always wanted or did it just happen?

KM: It was something I always wanted. I wanted it even more when I was trapped in a cubicle trying to keep my coworkers from stealing my office chair…

…

Hey, you aren’t eye-balling my chair are you?

Is there any question you´ve always wanted to be asked? And if so, what would be the answer?

KM: Let me switch things up and start off with the answer….

The answer would be NO.

The question: Does Area 51 have enough public restrooms?

A question that is inspired by another interview I did with an author: If you would be Superman, what would be your kryptonite?

KM: Gelatin of any flavor. I hate it. It wobbles with an insidious and malevolent evil. Don’t even get me started on Jell-O shooters.

What are you reading at the moment/planning to read/waiting for to be released?

KM: I’m on book seven of Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden series. I’m waiting for Martin’s A Dance with Dragons.

Will you continue to use forks in nonstick pans? (greetings to the author of my next guest post, Lily!)

KM: Once upon a time I used a fork on a non-stick pan. Never again. Four weeks in an intensive Respect Your Wife’s Cookware reeducation camp cured me of that ailment.

I’m one hundred percent reformed.

Now I only use knives on the non-stick.

And finally: Is there anything you want to say to your/my readers?

KM: Whoohoo! Free-play time! First I’d like to say hello to all the readers and wish them the best.

Then I’d like to use this opportunity to wallow in a bit of blatant and mildly embarrassing flagrant self-promotion. I know readers secretly love that more than anything! So here goes:

I’ll have at least two novels coming out in 2011.

The first will be 9mm Blues, a UF thriller about a Thorn knight (part of a modern day knighthood which uses state-of-the-art weapons against the monsters preying upon humanity) fighting to rescue a young boy who has been kidnapped by ghouls.

The second will be an Urban Fantasy parody titled The Zero Dog War, which releases February 15^th, 2011. It’s a story about a group of misfit mercenaries fighting to stop the corporate zombie apocalypse, where factory workers are replaced with the shambling undead. Yeah, and the book can safely be described as both zany and absurd OR critically injured in the stupidity department. Honestly, it could go either way.

(As you can see, both books contain quite a bit of fighting, since I’ve used that word twice in two consecutive paragraphs.)

Thanks again for the interview!

And HI! to Lily!

Thanks so much to both Keith for giving an awesome and hilarious interview and Lily for her questions! It´s been such a great pleasure for me! If anyone of you would like to come back to my blog anytime, I´d love to have you over again!

Follow Friday and Blog Hop

Hi dear readers! It´s already Friday and I´m sure you all know what that means! :) Today, I´m also over at Larissa´s Bookish Life, since she´s still in New York. Still, I decided to join the blog hopping fun for her as well, because I´m sure she´d love to hear from you guys! So íf you´ve got anything you want to tell her or say to her, go on and comment away on her page as well. I also love to her from you! :)

Now for the Follow Fun!

To join the fun and make now book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

1. Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host { Parajunkee.com } and any one else you want to follow on the list
2. Follow our Featured Bloggers - http://baileysbookreviews.blogspot.com
3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments
5. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can
6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
7. If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!  
8. If your new to the follow friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

Happy Follow Friday!

 Today´s question for you guys, favorite YA, or do you stick to the adult reads?

I have to admit that I mostly read adult read. However, since I´ve read The Hunger Games trilogy this summer and Clockwork Angel was released, my interest in YA is definetly getting bigger. Some of the YA books begging to be read by me: Firelight, Paranormalcy, Halo, Alex Van Helsing: Vampire Rising, Clockwork Angel, Fallen and Vampire Academy (to name just a few!)

 

In the spirit of the Twitter Friday Follow, the Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and share our love of the written word!  This weekly BOOK PARTY is an awesome opportunity for book bloggers to connect with other book lovers, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books!  It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs to read!  So, grab the logo, post about the Hop on your blog, and start HOPPING through the list of blogs that are posted in the Linky list below!!
The Hop lasts Friday-Monday every week, so if you don't have time to Hop today, come back later and join the fun!  This is a weekly event!  And stop back throughout the weekend to see all the new blogs that are added! We get over 300 links every week!! 

RULES:

Your blog should have content related to books, including, but not limited to book reviews.

1.  Enter your book blog link in the Linky List below

In your link, please state the main genre that you review:  eclectic, contemp. fiction, ya, paranormal, mystery, non-fiction, etc.  Please do not list every genre you review - if you are review a variety, please put eclectic!  The Hop gets jumbled up if the title is too long, so please limit to one genre.  I will be limiting the number of characters in the title to ensure the Hop doesn't look messy!  Thank you!

Example:  Crazy-for-Books (literary fiction)

NOTE:   You no longer have to enter the length of time you've been blogging, but do let us know if this is your first time hopping with us!

2. Post about the Hop on your blog.  Spread the word about the book party!  The more the merrier!  In your blog post, answer the following question (new question each week!).  If you have a suggestion for a future HOP question, click here to fill out the form!  Thanks!

Contest Winners Announcement

Hello my dear readers!

I´m back with some (belated) winners of my giveaways!

All the winners were drawn with help of random.org, have been notified by e-mail and have two days to claim their prize by answering my mail.

 

But now to the fun part:

Winner of Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble is:

 

Sharli (once again!) Yay! *throws confetti*

 

 

 

 

 

Winner of To Kill A Warlock

 

Png   Congratulations!!!

 

 

 

 

 

And, last but not least, the winner of the Australian edition of Death Most Definite is… *drumroll*

 

 

 

Misha!!! 

 

 

 

Congratulations to the lucky three! Please make sure to check back with me! If the prizes aren´t claimed in time, a new winner will be chosen!

New Cover Revealed

Just look what Chloe Neill has posted on her website! The brand new cover of “Hard BItten”, book four in the Chicagoland Vampires series. I love it! The model is definetly in character with our dear Merit. Even her clothes! Remember the comment in Twice BItten about an outfit made for Urban Fantasy heroines when she tried on the outfit? :) I love the view of the city the colors and her sword/katana. I have to agree with Chloe Neill, it is really gorgeous!

On my pre-order list for September/ In My Mailbox

 

In my Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren.

My mailbox this time is huge. But it was my birthday, and I got books. A LOT of books. :)

 

 

 

 

Chaz Dominguez is a professional Babysitter in New Orleans, helping to integrate the recently deceased into their new and improved lives. Though Fresh Start has always been the only game in town, resurrection isn't all it's cracked up to be. Nine lives are all a person can get—and a powerful group of desperate, high-level Nine-Timers will stop at nothing to possess the keys to true immortality.

Now the only hope for Chaz and his family—and the human race—lies in the secrets locked away in the mind of Angelique, the beautiful, mysterious Newbie he must protect . . .

 

 

 

The Dark Magick series continues from this New York Times bestselling author.
To keep her fae race from being eradicated, Emmaline Gallagher must retrieve an object of fae power from a locked ancient box. Only Aeric O'Malley has the forging skills to create a key. But will their tumultuous past stand in the way?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meet Nyx. This half-human, half–Drow private eye investigates paranormal crimes by day and is an elite Tracker of demons by night. She prefers working solo—and playing rough. So when a terrifying force starts murdering innocent humans and paranorms, and leaving strange demonic symbols burned into their buildings, it’s a case Nyx takes very personally…

Meanwhile, Nyx’s fellow Trackers are being killed one by one—and a sexy new Tracker named Torin is shadowing her every move. Torin has powers Nyx can’t read, and sometimes she wonders whose side he’s on. Nyx’s instincts tell her something’s brewing in the city’s meanest supernatural streets, and that it’s ready to unleash hell on Earth. Who can she trust? Now it’s five minutes to permanent midnight…and Nyx’s last chance means risking everything—even her own life.

 

 

 

Her deadly dreams leave her in grave danger...
Since half-vampire Cat Crawfield and her undead lover Bones met six years ago, they've fought against the rogue undead, battled a vengeful Master vampire, and pledged their devotion with a blood bond. Now it's time for a vacation. But their hopes for a perfect Paris holiday are dashed when Cat awakes one night in terror. She's having visions of a vampire named Gregor who's more powerful than Bones and has ties to her past that even Cat herself didn't know about.
Gregor believes Cat is his and he won't stop until he has her. As the battle begins between the vamp who haunts her nightmares and the one who holds her heart, only Cat can break Gregor's hold over her. She'll need all the power she can summon in order to bring down the baddest bloodsucker she's ever faced . . . even if getting that power will result in an early grave.

 

 

 

It should be the best time of half-vampire Cat Crawfield's life. With her undead lover Bones at her side, she's successfully protected mortals from the rogue undead. But though Cat's worn disguise after disguise to keep her true identity a secret from the brazen bloodsuckers, her cover's finally been blown, placing her in terrible danger.

As if that wasn't enough, a woman from Bones's past is determined to bury him once and for all. Caught in the crosshairs of a vengeful vamp, yet determined to help Bones stop a lethal magic from being unleashed, Cat's about to learn the true meaning of bad blood. And the tricks she's learned as a special agent won't help her. She will need to fully embrace her vampire instincts in order to save herself—and Bones—from a fate worse than the grave.

 

 

 

 

With her rare ability to breathe fire, Jacinda is special even among the draki—the descendants of dragons who can shift between human and dragon forms. But when Jacinda’s rebelliousness leads her family to flee into the human world, she struggles to adapt, even as her draki spirit fades. The one thing that revives it is Will, whose family hunts her kind. Jacinda can’t resist getting closer to him, even though she knows she’s risking not only her life but the draki’s most closely guarded secret.

 

 

 

 

In an alternate Atlanta where vampires and werewolves prowl the night, magic is real, and tattoo magic is the strongest magic of them all, a serial killer is targeting the magically tattooed on the full moon.
Dakota Frost, best magical tattooist in the Southeast, learns from the police she may be a target ... just when she receives a lucrative commission to ink a magic tattoo for a werewolf before the next full moon.
Caught between the rough and tumble world of the werewolves, the law and order rules of the vampires, and a sexy man-in-black whose motives are in doubt, Dakota must tread carefully to survive - because she doesn't know whether her werewolf client is the tattoo killer ... or the next victim.

 

 

 

 

SOME SECRETS COME BACK TO HAUNT. OTHERS COME TO KILL...
Justine Jones has lived her life as a fearful hypochondriac until she's lured into the web of a mysterious mastermind named Packard. He gifts her with extraordinary mental powers-dooming her to fight Midcity's shadowy war on paranormal crime in order to find the peace she so desperately craves.
But now, serial killers with unheard-of skills are terrorizing the most powerful beings in Midcity, including mastermind Packard - and his oldest friend and worst enemy, Midcity's new mayor, who has the ability to bend matter itself to his will.
As the body count grows, Justine faces a crisis of conscience as she tests the limits of her new powers and faces an impossible choice between two flawed but brilliant men . . . one on a journey of redemption, and the other descending into a pit of moral depravity.

 

 

 

Cerise Mar and her unruly clan are cash poor but land rich, claiming a large swathe of the Mire, the Edge swamplands between the state of Louisiana and the Weird. When her parents vanish, her clan’s long-time rivals are suspect number one.
But all is not as it seems. Two nations of the Weird are waging a cold war fought by feint and espionage, and their conflict is about to spill over into the Edge—and Cerise’s life. William, a changeling soldier who left behind the politics of the Weird, has been forced back into service to track down a rival nation’s spymaster.
When William’s and Cerise’s missions lead them to cross paths, sparks fly—but they’ll have to work together if they want to succeed ... and survive.

 

 

 

 

FORBIDDEN TEMPTATIONS
Serena Kelley is an archaeologist and treasure hunter-and a woman with a secret. Since she was seven, she's been the keeper of a powerful charm that grants her health and immortality . . . as long as she stays a virgin. But Serena isn't all that innocent. And when a dangerously handsome stranger brings her to the brink of ecstasy, she wonders if she's finally met the one man she cannot resist.
FATAL DESIRES
Wraith is a Seminus demon with a death wish. But when an old enemy poisons him, he must find Serena and persuade her to give him the only known antidote in the universe-her charm. Yet, as she begins to surrender to his seductions and Wraith senses the cure is within his grasp, he realizes a horrible truth: He's falling for the woman whose life he must take in order to save his own.

 

 

 

Spread throughout the dark corners of our world lies the Shadow World, a society of vampires that feeds off the living. In Austin, Texas, one woman’s madness will drive her into a world that few people ever see–or even know exists…
Shortly after she picked up a guitar, Miranda Grey conquered the Austin music scene with a newfound ability to psychically manipulate her audience’s emotions. But as her powers outgrow her control, her mind is increasingly invaded by haunting secrets and overwhelming sadness. Unable to look anyone in the eye, Miranda is fast approaching the edge of insanity–with no one to catch her fall…
When he outlawed killing humans, David Solomon ignited a civil war among Austin’s vampires. As Prime of the South, his sympathy for mortals angered the old guard who refuse to control their violent urges. David has his hands full with the growing insurgency, but he takes in a broken-down woman, a musician in need of supernatural guidance. Little does he know that Miranda Grey has the power to change his world as well…

 

 

 

Kira's day job is as an antiquities expert, but her true calling is as a Shadowchaser. Trained from youth to be one of the most lethal Chasers in existence, Kira serves the Gilead Commission, dispatching the Fallen who sow discord and chaos. Of course, sometimes Gilead bureaucracy is as much a thorn in her side as anything the Fallen can muster against her. Right now, though, she's got a bigger problem. Someone is turning the city of Atlanta upside down in search of a millennia-old Egyptian dagger that just happens to have fallen into Kira's hands.

Then there's Khefar, the dagger's true owner -- a near-immortal 4,000-year-old Nubian warrior who, Kira has to admit, looks pretty fine for his age. Joining forces is the only way to keep the weapon safe from the sinister Shadow forces, but now Kira is in deep with someone who holds more secrets than she does, the one person who knows just how treacherous this fight is. Because every step closer to destroying the enemy is a step closer to losing herself to Shadow forever....

 

Death
Some people will do anything to avoid it. Even trade their immortal souls for endless existence.
Wraiths
Secretly, inexorably, they are infiltrating our world, sucking the essence out of unsuspecting victims with their hideous parody of a kiss.
Segue
Adam Thorne founded the Institute to study and destroy his monster of a brother, but the key to its success is held in the pale, slender hand of a woman on the run. There is something hauntingly different about Talia O’Brien, her unknowing sensuality, her uncanny way of slipping into Shadow.
Twilight
This is the place between life and what comes after - a dark forest of fantasy, filled with beauty, peril, mystery. And Talia is about to open the door.

 

 

 

Nothing if not resilient, Celia Graves is slowly adjusting to being a half-human, half-vampire Abomination. But her troubles are far from over. Her best friend’s murder is still unsolved, the cops are convinced she should be in jail, and her old lover, the magician Bruno DeLuca, has resurfaced in her life, saying he has something important to tell her.
The vampire attack that transformed Celia kicked her latent Siren abilities into high gear, and now she’s been summoned to the Sirens’ island to justify her existence—and possibly fight for her life—in front of the Siren Queen. Celia isn’t sure she’ll survive to make the trip. The demon she defeated in Blood Song hasn’t exactly gone quietly—he’s left Celia suffering from a powerful curse.

 

 

 

 

Dru Anderson has what her grandmother called “the touch.” (Comes in handy when you’re traveling from town to town with your dad, hunting ghosts, suckers, wulfen, and the occasional zombie.)

Then her dad turns up dead—but still walking—and Dru knows she’s next. Even worse, she’s got two guys hungry for her affections, and they’re not about to let the fiercely independent Dru go it alone. Will Dru discover just how special she really is before coming face-to-fang with whatever—or whoever— is hunting her?

 

 

 

 

What kind of assassin works pro bono?
It's hard to be a badass assassin when a giant is beating the crap out of you. Luckily, I never let pride get in the way of my work. My current mission is personal: annihilate Mab Monroe, the Fire elemental who murdered my family. Which means protecting my identity, even if I have to conceal my powerful Stone and Ice magic when I need it most. To the public, I'm Gin Blanco, owner of Ashland's best barbecue joint. To my friends, I'm the Spider, retired assassin. I still do favors on the side. Like ridding a vampire friend of her oversized stalker—Mab's right-hand goon who almost got me dead with his massive fists. At least irresistible Owen Grayson is on my side. The man knows too much about me, but I'll take my chances. Then there's Detective Bria Coolidge, one of Ashland's finest. Until recently, I thought my baby sister was dead. She probably thinks the same about me. Little does she know, I'm a cold-blooded killer . . . who is about to save her life.

 

And finally for review:

Ashley Hunter is intent on uncovering the truth about her father's disappearance. But Ashley realizes she's in for more than she bargained. Not only has she inherited a decrepit pub, she's also inherited ghosts and demons. Then Cristian arrives, a mysterious man who insists he only needs a room to rent. She believes him, until one by one her ghosts start disappearing...
As a fallen angel destined for a life of servitude, Cristian Lucius is relegated to protecting earth from unwanted spirits. But he can’t accomplish this daunting task alone. He requires assistance from the very woman who frustrates him as much as she intrigues him. Cristian is determined to ignore his intense attraction for Ashley, and focus on his mission. If they don’t work together, they won’t have a chance in hell of defeating the demon threatening their lives. The problem is getting Ashley to trust him. No easy task, for Cristian is the very man responsible for her father’s disappearance.

 

 

 

What a list! I can tell you, it really pays of to tell everyone you know that all you wish for on your birthday is books, bookstore giftcards or money for books. It also helps to send your amazon wishlist to everyone who has your e-mail address. *grins*

I have no idea when I´m supposed to read all that, but who am I to complain about too many books.

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Here´s my teaser for this week:

 

“Considering the place was at least three hundered years old, she supposed it could have been worse. Then again, it could have been better… much, much better.

Hell, who was she kidding; not even Frankenstein could feel at home in this pub of horrors.”

p.1

“The Ghost Hunter” by Lori Brighton