Archive for Paranormal Romance
Trick of the Light by Rob Thurman
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Title: Trick of the Light
Author: Rob Thurman
Release Date: September 1, 2009
Pages: 352
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Best Book Quote: “What you can do with a knife you can just as easily do with the heel of a three- inch boot with just a little more pressure.”
My favorite quote pretty much sums up Trixa, the tough-as-nails female lead in Trick of the Light, Book 1 in Rob Thurman’s “Trickster” series.
Trick of Light is the gritty and oftentimes raunchy tale of an information dealer named Trixa Iktomi. She’s a bar owner who tracks down demons in her spare time with her assistants Zeke and Griffin. And in a town like Las Vegas, there are lots of demons to go around. In Trixa’s world demons are sneaky, conniving beings who mask themselves into incredibly sexy beings that make real humans swoon from their attention. This is a necessary trait since a demon’s ultimate goal is to get an innocent to sell his soul. So it’s up to Trixa and her crew to make sure no demon gets that chance.
This installment in the series centers around a piece of information that Trixa received in a previous novel from a dying demon who whispered something to her about -the Light of Life – a shield that will protect heaven or hell from an otherworldly attack. Trixa knows that having this weapon will give her an unimaginable amount of power, and also let her get revenge on the demon that killed her brother.With Trixa Rob Thurman creates a strong female lead who knows what she wants and is not shy about going after it. Thurman’s use of dry humor and sarcasm kept me laughing in a story that has some pretty serious stuff going on. As you read through this story you might find it a little hard to connect with Trixa and her sarcasm because we all know it’s difficult to remember to say something witty every time you open your mouth, but just remember that this is a supernatural fantasy. With endless action and lively banter between the characters, I think Trick of the Light will keep you fully entertained.
A Tale of Two Demon Slayers by Angie Fox
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Title: A tale of Two Demon Slayers
Author: Angie Fox
Release Date: January 26, 2010
Pages: 308
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Best Book Quote: “After all my years of organizing field trips, fire drills and potty breaks for my three-year-olds at Happy Hands Preschool, you’d think I could get two geriatric biker witches through the Las Vegas airport in under an hour. But sometimes the things that look simple on the outside aren’t. I’ve learned that lesson the hard way.”
In Angie Fox’s latest urban fantasy novel A Tale of Two Demon Slayers
(from the Love Spell series) the main character, Lizzie Brown, is a somewhat unconventional slayer in that she didn’t choose her current occupation. Instead, she’s just an average girl who had this wonderful power thrust upon her. With these powers came a family of witches, a talking dog, and an incredibly handsome Griffin named Dimitri – all seemingly there to complicate her life. But, Dimitri ends up being exceptionally helpful during their demon slaying encounters and she’s starting to fall for him.Deciding that’s it’s time for a well-earned vacation, Lizzie and Dimitri decide to go to his family villa in Greece – an awesome opportunity for Lizzie to get to know Dimitri better. Unfortunately, nothing is ever as it seems in the world of the supernatural and it turns out that Dimitri had used some very special magic in his original quest to find Lizzie, the demon slayer. And, someone has stolen that magic – this is not good. It’s tantamount to death for Lizzie if the magic falls into the wrong hands so they must get it back at all costs. So, the vacation in Greece turns into a constant fight to defend the villa against attacks from evil beings while trying to figure out a way to get her magic back.
Angie Fox has crafted a well written tale of supernatural romance and action that almost makes you think she crafted a spell of her own to keep the reader wanting more. The author grabs your attention immediately with funny descriptions of Lizzie’s Harley riding grandmother and her coven of witches. Her talking terrier, Pirate, provides comic relief throughout the book with his quips about every situation they find themselves in while Lizzie herself has that ability to always say the right thing. The sizzling romance between Dimitri and Lizzie is just the right mix of passion and intimacy. I highly recommend A Tale of Two Demon Slayers for urban fantasy readers and look forward to the next installment in the Love Spell series.
Seduced by Shadows by Jessa Slade
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Title: Seduced by Shadows
Author: Jessa Slade
Release Date: October 6, 2009
Pages: 400
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Seduced by Shadows by Jessa Slade is a unique new take on the paranormal urban fantasy and it had me entranced after the first chapter. Sera Littlejohn is an isolated survivor, having come out of a horrendous car wreck with a severe limp and a crippled spirit. When she meets a mysterious stranger who accosts her on the street, and he knows her name, Sera doesn’t realize that her life is about to be changed forever because she is going to be introduced to a world that she cannot believe truly exists – and given a revitalized body to boot.
Archer is a demon-possessed fighter who battles daily to keep his humanity alive and whose mission it is to keep the evil demons of the other worlds at bay. He is drawn to Sera, knowing that she is next on the list for possession by an emerging demon, and that she will be the first demon-possessed female to fight alongside his men in their demon-fighting entourage. An undeniable attraction develops between Sera and Archer but they both fight it, especially since Sera finds the whole concept of a group of demon-possessed fighters saving humanity just too hard to believe, let alone trust.
I loved this story.
Jessa Slade makes Archer ultra-tough yet vulnerable. Sera is damaged both physically and emotionally, yet Archer is able to complete her by allowing her to gradually awaken and find her true calling in life. While reading the book I could totally connect with the characters because the author seamlessly takes you from the normal, everyday world into a strange, unknown place that runs parallel to our reality. It’s a place where an unusual religious order is fighting to keep humanity safe while also fighting to maintain and control the demons inside themselves.
If you like urban fantasy (and you know you do) pick up Seduced by Shadows. I just found out that the sequel Forged of Shadows is now available. Sweet!
Dracula, My Love: The Secret Journals of Mina Harker
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Title: Dracula, My Love: The Secret Journals of Mina Harker
Author: Syrie James
Release Date: July 20, 2010
Pages: 480 pages
Genre: Vampire Romance
Best Book Quote: “I will never forget the magic of being held in his embrace, the compelling magnetism of his eyes as he gazed at me, or how it felt to whirl about the dance floor in his arms. I still shiver with delight when I recall the dizzying sensation of traveling with him at the speed of light, and the way his slightest touch could make me gasp with unimaginable pleasure and desire.”
What is it about vampires that women love so much? If you had asked me what I thought about vampires when I was a teenager, I wouldn’t have had much to say. By then I’d read the original Dracula and I certainly didn’t end the book wishing a vampire would rescue me from my boring life.
I recently read “Dracula, My Love: The Secret Journals of Mina Harker” by Syrie James. When I decided to read it, I half-heartedly thought back to my boring experience reading the original Dracula novel.
My experience with this book was COMPLETELY different.
As with the original Bram Stoker novel, this story introduces us to Jonathan Harker, a solicitor that’s been sent to Transylvania to finish a real estate transaction with the wealthy and mysterious Count Dracula. The horrors that befall Jonathan during his stay at Dracula’s castle drive him temporarily insane and leave his fiancée Mina back home fretting about what may have happened to him. Meanwhile, Dracula learns of beautiful Mina through Jonathan and decides to travel to England to court her. He successfully uses his charm and his special powers of persuasion on her and she does indeed fall for him.
If you’ll remember, in the original novel Dracula was evil and not the kind of character you would want to spend the rest of your days with. In Syrie James’ version, the story is written from the point of view of Mina. The author skillfully constructs a story that lets us understand why Mina fell so hard for Dracula. We enter Mina’s psyche and fully understand her wants, her fears and her desires. We likewise develop an understanding of Dracula’s motivations. This insight explains why a human woman and a “monster” would literally ache to be with one another.
Dracula, My Love made me feel the way I did when I first watched the Frank Langella Dracula movie from 1979 and the Gary Oldman Dracula film from 1992: exhilarated, enthralled and completely mesmerized. Reading the classic story from a woman’s perspective adds an element of sensitivity to the tale that greatly enriched my reading experience.
Vampire book lovers will absolutely love this book. If you read it I think you’ll agree that Syrie James’ retelling of the story is brilliantly executed and deserves to be added to your “to be read again” shelf of books.
New Paranormal Romance Book-Strange Neighbors
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Title: Strange Neighbors
Author: Ashlyn Chase
Release Date: June 1, 2010
Pages: 384
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Best Line From Book: “What a minute, are you telling me that because you couldn’t hail a cab you had yourself turned into a vampire?”
Ashlyn Chase has written the quintessential supernatural romance with her new novel Strange Neighbors.
Merry Mckenzie, a nurse, rents an apartment in Boston from the hottest baseball pitcher to hit the circuit in recent years. As you can imagine, she’s not complaining. Especially since she was hoping that a move to Boston, away from her loving but overprotective father, would put her in the path of some really hot guys. You see the small town she grew up in did NOT have what she needed and she realizes just how lucky she is when her landlord, Jason Falco, turns out to be one of the hunkiest guys she’s ever met.
As far as Merry is concerned, everything is working out great; she loves her new apartment and her social life is improving. She starts settling in to a nice, normal way of life.
But of course, things aren’t normal AT ALL.
First, there’s a chance that her apartment might be haunted. Then, there are the odd characters in the apartment building:
-witches who run a phone sex business
-a vampire in the basement
-a shape shifter. Or two.Taken together you have the makings of a playful, hilarious story.
I enjoyed reading about Merry’s antics and was inspired by her general outlook and openness. And although the book contains several supernatural characters I love Ashlyn Chase’s approach for embracing this segment of society; she makes “life amongst the monsters” entertaining without wasting too much time on the mythology associated with the paranormal characters in the book. She keeps it light and moves the story along at a good pace.
I hope Ashlyn Chase continues writing supernatural stories of this nature because I really enjoyed laughing at (and along with) the quirky characters in the book. Job well done!
Strange Neighbors is available in paperback and Kindle formats.
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