Jane Bites Back

It has been two hundred years since the death, or rather reported death, of Jane Austen. Lucky for her, she is still surrounded by her beloved books, although now it is as the owner of a tiny bookshop named Flyleaf Books. Nestled in a small Upstate New York college town, Jane has the questionable privilege of watching her own books move briskly, along with dozens of spin-offs, sequels and more. For a woman who is undead, her books are remarkable not dead at all.

To add to the frustration, Jane has a manuscript that she has been working on since just before she was turned into a vampire. All these years she has been sending it out to publisher after publisher, and watching its rejection. They now number 116. Longing to let the world know she is still around and writing, she must hide in the shadows. That is until a twist of fate shines that spotlight on her once again. She must keep her own true identity secret, and somehow fend off not one but two modern day suitors, all while struggling with a dark man from her past. In a comedy that uses both wit and finesse, Jane must somehow keep her cool while keeping everyone in their place.

Jane Goes Batty

In a continuation of Jane Bites Back, Jane continues to struggle with the affairs of her bookstore and her new found fame as author Jane Fairfax. Her book Constance is a best seller and more, her boyfriend is a dear who is becoming a bit of a nuisance and her ex-lover, Lord Byron is more of a hindrance than a help. Things get more complicated, and dangerous, when reviewer and blogger Beverly Shrop (I must confess I found the portrait of her to be one of the funniest) becomes Jane’s nemesis. Somehow Jane must find a way around the woman, keep her eye on Lord Byron and his tendency to muck up the scenery with his well-intentioned farces, and in the process baby her book through the world of movies. And somewhere in there, find a way to decide about dear Walter, who seems intent on marrying her. What is a girl, even if she is two hundred years old, to do?

Jane Vows Vengeance

Coming at the end of February is the third installment of this fun series! As Walter and Jane make plans for their wedding, Walter’s suggestion that they toss the whole thing sideways and simply combine wedding, honeymoon and house tour of Europe together sounds like the perfect plan to Jane. With Charlotte Bronte’s threat left behind, as well as the interfering Lord Byron, you would think a trip to Europe would be perfect. But it seems that Jane has traded one dark secret for another.

The trip is turned into a nightmare as murder mysteries, secret identities and ghostly visitors pile up. Then there is the rumor of a device that restores a vampire’s soul. With it she could truly vow herself to Walter, so she must find it, but how? And can she do it without leaving a trail for a vampire hunter to follow and drive a stake through her heart before she can restore her soul?

What a perfectly delightful trio of tales, and ones that I am sure any lover of vampire tales, romance or even good mysteries will find themselves enjoying thoroughly. I am looking forward to our Q&A with the author, coming soon. Watch for it!

The third book in the Vampire Diaries series, The Fury, is a real shocker. Elena appears to have escaped death but at the cost of her humanity. She wonders – is death the worst thing that could happen to me? Maybe, maybe not as she realizes that she is now a full-fledged vampire and nothing will ever be the same again. How will she survive without seeing her family again?

With both Damon and Stefan acting as caregivers, her transition to her new life is never boring to say the least. The evil force that caused Elena’s death and unintentional rebirth is still malevolently stalking her. When the animals in Fell’s Church start to attack their owners, the stakes are raised because it’s not just Damon, Stefan, Elena and her cadre of friends who are at risk, it’s now the whole town that’s in danger. Will Alaric, the mysterious history teacher, be able to assist them? Or is he behind the attempts to kill them? With Elena now one of them, will Stefan and Damon finally make amends and heal their bitter past?

With this final installment in the Vampire Diaries initial trilogy, L. J. Smith concludes her tale of a popular high school girl who gets caught up in the middle of a fantastical situation with two competing vampires. Through it all, this young girl maintained her composure because she is led by an inner strength which keeps her focused and firm in her convictions, namely that Damon has some good in him somewhere and Stefan is the love of her life. In addition, her friends all stay true to one another and to Elena no matter how much they change – like, one of them becomes a vampire? That’s one of the most likeable things about the Vampire Diaries series – how these teens are faced with such bizarre events but their friendship is what helps them make the right decisions. They accept each other for better or worse. But really, can The Fury truly be the end of the series? Let’s hope not.

I was actually surprised at some of the great books in the list. I’ve read some but I found quite a few that I hadn’t read. I downloaded all of the ones I hadn’t read because you can’t beat these prices! I mean really, I’m willing to take a chance because the prices are so cheap. Some of these books are regularly priced at $9.99, and they’re marked down to $2.99!

So, here are 9 Kindle Fantasy Books that are on sale for less than four dollars:

Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost
For a limited time, discover Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress series with Halfway to the Grave. Plus, as a bonus, you will receive exclusive material, including deleted scenes and excerpts! Folks, I’ve read this book and it’s AWESOME! Get it while it’s on sale!

Half-vampire Cat Crawfield is going after the undead with a vengeance, hoping that one of these deadbeats is her father — the one responsible for ruining her mother’s life. But she’s captured by Bones, a vampire bounty hunter who specializes in tracking down rogue vamps, and is forced into an unwilling partnership.

Bones will help her find her father but realizes that Cat’s hunting skills are lacking. He trains her until her battle reflexes are as sharp as his fangs.

But before she can enjoy her newfound status as a kick-ass vampire hunter, Cat and Bones are pursued by a group of killers. Now Cat will have to choose a side – and decide if she can trust Bones with not just her life, but her heart as well.

Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Quincie Morris has never felt more alone. Her parents are dead, and her hybrid-werewolf first love is threatening to embark on a rite of passage that will separate them forever.

Then, as she and her uncle are about to unveil their hot vampire-themed restaurant, a brutal murder leaves them scrambling for a chef. Can Quincie make their new hire into a believable undead before opening night with fake fangs, a cheap cape, and red contact lenses? Or is there more to this earnest face than meets the eye?

As human and preternatural forces clash, a deadly love triangle forms, and the line between predator and prey begins to blur. Who’s playing whom? And how long can Quincie play along before she loses everything?

Sophia – Vampires in America by DB Reynolds
Sophia, beautiful and deadly, has spent the last hundred years dancing her way through the balmy nights and hot-blooded men of South America. But when her Sire sends an urgent summons, Sophia rushes home to Vancouver only to find he has disappeared, leaving nothing behind but three dead vampires and a letter with Sophia’s name on it.

Colin Murphy, a former Navy SEAL, is seeking a quiet place to heal the scars earned in war. But when someone starts killing local vampires and torturing their mates, Colin sets out to find the killers and stop them, even if that means hunting with vampires.

Following her Sire’s trail of death to a small town in northern Washington, Sophia soon joins forces with Colin. But they must race to uncover the killers before the next dead vampire becomes Sophia herself.

Wizards First Rule by Terry Goodkind
In Wizard’s First Rule, Goodkind introduced the world to an ordinary forest guide, Richard Cypher, and the mysterious, powerful woman he comes to love, Kahlan Amnell.

Learning his true identity, Richard accepts his destiny as the only man who can stop the bloodthirsty killer Darken Rahl. Kahlan calls upon Richard to reach beyond his sword and invoke something more noble within himself as the final confrontation with Darken Rahl looms.

The importance of Wizard’s First Rule goes beyond these achievements. Goodkind took on the toughest of all literary challenges: to tell an electrifying story of action, violence, and adventure that would also make people think, and that would influence the choices and actions of its readers.

Against All Odds by Thomas DePrima
War has kept Jenetta Carver far from home on Earth for twelve years. With the advent of peace, she takes a well-deserved vacation and returns home for a visit. She picks up her two sisters on the way home and the three women surprise their mom with the unannounced visit.

Just a week after arriving home, Jenetta receives word that Region Two has been invaded by the Tsgardi. Determined not to let the news interfere with her mother’s joy of having her three daughters with her, she doesn’t mention the invasion but she’s soon summoned to Space Command Supreme HQ to discuss the situation.

Although Jenetta hopes to quickly squash this situation, she doesn’t know that the Tsgardi invasion is not an isolated event. Three other interstellar powers have joined the Tsgardi, hoping to further the invasion before Space Command can move security forces into place. Jenetta’s tiny fleet will face an armada a thousand warships strong. It’s not just another day at the office . . . .

Ring of Fire by Pierdomenico Baccalario
Every hundred years, four kids from four cities must save the world.

A mix-up with their reservations forces Harvey from New York, Mistral from Paris, and Sheng from Shanghai to share a room with the hotel owner’s daughter, Elettra. The four kids discover an amazing coincidence — they all have birthdays on February 29, Leap Day. That night, a strange man gives them a briefcase and asks them to take care of it until he returns. Soon afterward, the man is murdered.

The kids open the briefcase. In it they find a series of clues that take them all over Rome, through dusty libraries and dark catacombs, in search of the elusive Ring of Fire, an ancient and extremely powerful object.

In the first book of the Century quartet, author P. D. Baccalario begins a mystery that will take four cities and four extraordinary kids to solve.

ExHeroes by Peter Clines
They were heroes. Vigilantes. Crusaders for justice, using their superhuman abilites to make Los Angeles a better place.

Then the plague of living death spread around the globe. Despite the best efforts of the superheroes, the police, and the military, the hungry corpses rose up and overwhelmed the country. The population was decimated, heroes fell, and the City of Angels was left a desolate zombie wasteland like so many others.

Now, a year later, the ex-heroes must overcome their differences to protect the thousands of survivors sheltered in their film studio-turned-fortress, the Mount. The heroes lead teams out to scavenge supplies, keep the peace within the walls of their home, and try to be the symbols the survivors so desperately need.

For while the ex-humans walk the streets night and day, they are not the only threat left in the world, and the people of the Mount are not the only survivors left in Los Angeles. Across the city, another group has grown and gained power.

And they are not heroes.

A Wish After Midnight by Zetta Elliott
Genna is a fifteen-year-old girl who wants out of her tough Brooklyn neighborhood. But she gets more than she bargained for when a wish gone awry transports her back in time.

Facing the perilous realities of Civil War–era Brooklyn, Genna must use all her wits to survive. In the tradition of Octavia Butler’s Kindred and Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time, A Wish After Midnight is the affecting and inspiring tale of a fearless young woman’s fight to hold on to her individuality and her humanity in two different worlds.

Skellig by David Almond
This award winning novel celebrates its 10th anniversary!

Ten-year-old Michael was looking forward to moving into a new house. But now his baby sister is ill, his parents are frantic, and Doctor Death has come to call. Michael feels helpless.

Then he steps into the crumbling garage. . . . What is this thing beneath the spiders’ webs and dead flies? A human being, or a strange kind of beast never before seen? The only person Michael can confide in is his new friend, Mina. Together, they carry the creature out into the light, and Michael’s world changes forever. . . .

Vampires and werewolves roam the streets of Victorian England; however, these immortal beings are not relegated to living in the shadows or in dark, dank vermin infested alleys. The bulk of this ilk occupies the upper echelon of polite Victorian society. Unfortunately, the attack on Alexia Tarabotti could extinguish the peaceful coexistence of humans and immortals. While attending a high society function, Alexia is confronted by a vampire intent on killing her.

Alexia is an extraordinary woman. She does not possess a soul. Born to an English mother and an Italian father, she is constantly warned that her unrefined Italian heritage is not an asset in proper English society. In fact, her hyper-emotional mother and offbeat sisters consider Alexia a spinster at the ripe old age of twenty-six. Although she realizes that her adventurous lifestyle is not considered appropriate for a woman her age, she continues to move forward and look beyond a state of matrimony. Alexia keeps her soulless state a secret from her family, but she is aware that her deceased father also lacked a soul.

The lack of a soul does have a certain advantage. It has endowed her with a special ability. As long as she maintains physical contact with an immortal being, their superhuman strength dissipates leaving them temporarily human. Her strange talent is well known throughout the supernatural community, which makes the attack even more puzzling.

Alexia’s attacker was a vampire, who cornered her in the library. Her touch relieved him of his super strength, but he continued his assault. Wrapping his hands around her neck in an attempt to strangle the life out of her, Alexia was forced to defend herself. Using her parasol, she managed to stab the bloodthirsty beast. Although it was not her intent, the stab proved fatal for the attacker.

As vampires begin to disappear, all sides begin to suspect Alexia is involved. In order to clear her name, Alexia joins forces with Lord Maccon. Maccon is the fourth Earl of Woolsey and an alpha werewolf. Maccon heads the Bureau of Unnatural Registry, which regularly meets with and advises Queen Victoria. The supernaturals have a long history of English allegiance.

Initially, neither one is thrilled to be working with the other. Maccon is somewhat baffled by women and Alexia finds Maccon a little too rough around the edges for her taste; however, it is not long before chemistry begins to brew between them.

Soulless is a unique tale of romance, mystery, paranormal and alternate history. Author Gail Carringer does a wonderful job of marrying all the elements in this debut novel. Captivated readers will look forward to the next book in the Parasol Protectorate series.

These books were released several years ago and are compilations of the first 5 books in the Sookie Stackhouse Series.

Dead In Dixie contains Books 1-3:

#1: Dead Until Dark (paperback, Kindle)
#2: Living Dead In Dallas (paperback, Kindle)
#3: Club Dead (paperback, Kindle)

Check out the book cover!

Here’s a close-up of “Sookie” and “Bill” from the cover:

And here’s another version of the cover:

Dead By Day contains Books 4-5:

#4: Dead to the World (paperback, Kindle)
#5: Dead as a Doornail (paperback, Kindle)

And here’s that book cover – I assume this is supposed to be Sookie and Eric:

These books were special issues released by the Science Fiction Book Club.

Does anyone have these books?

Pray for salvation . . .

Pray for daylight . . .

Murder has pulled Mira out of the shadows and back into the living world . . .

As the fire-wielding enforcer of the nightwalker coven wrestles with the mind-destroying ghosts of her dark past, the slaying of a senator’s daughter in Savannah threatens to expose her kind to the brilliant light of day. The dawn of chaos has come. The naturi have broken free of their eternal prison to feed on the defenseless and unbelieving of an unprepared Earth.

Mira and Danaus—vampire and vampire slayer—must unite to prevent the annihilation of their separate races. But for Danaus the challenge is intensified, for he must also fight the bori who covets his soul. And Mira, the nightwalker he must protect—whose power is the Earth’s last hope—is rapidly going insane.

I just read a great article written by Kailin Gow over at Blogging Authors about starting a family book club. The basic premise is that parents should consider reading the same books as their teens.

I’d never really thought of this, but after reading the article I think it might provide me with an interesting answer to some of the email requests I receive. When recommending books to teens and young adults I should probably ask myself “which books would be appropriate for teens/YA to read along with their parents”? I guess what I’m saying is that the whole idea of a family book club could come into play when making fantasy book recommendations for younger readers.

Now that I think about it, wasn’t the fact that parents AND their kids read the Harry Potter books a contributing factor in the popularity of the series? I know that several of my friends read these books WITH their kids and discussed with them things like loyalty, good vs. evil, determination and courage. The parents enjoyed the books as much as their kids and in one instance I was pleasantly surprised at how the books enabled a dialogue to occur between one particular parent (a workaholic that constantly traveled) and his daughter.

So parents, what do you think? Are any of you already doing this? Would you be willing to read YA fantasy books like those in the Twilight, Vampire Academy and Morganville Vampire series with your teens?

Hit me up in the comments.