Patricia Briggs is back with our favorite coyote shapeshifter and auto mechanic, Mercy Thompson. This time around she is looking for a way to help out Zee, her mentor and former boss in a new mystery. Zee is trying to get to the bottom of a series of murders that have shook the fae reservation. A coyote shapeshifter that can sniff out suspects may be just the person to help solve the murders and bring the killer to justice.

But when the suspect Mercy unroots is murdered, and Zee the only suspect, Mercy has her hands, and paws, full to clear his name. And being the kind of gal she is, Mercy will do it even if Zee tells her to stay out of it. Just to make things more complicated, there is the little matter of Mercy choosing a mate. This would be easier if Mercy didn’t have to contend with not wanting to have the two werewolves she is drawn to force her hand. If only Sam and Adam could wait for her decision – but then werewolves just aren’t known for their patience, even when it comes to choosing a mate. But then in Iron Kisssed, as in the previous visits to the world of Mercy Thompson, nothing is ever simple.

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.

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater opens with the story of Grace, lying in the snow. It’s 15 degrees, frigid and dark, in Mercy Falls, Minnesota. Grace has been snatched from her own backyard by a pack of starving wolves. She lies on the ground blanketed by snow as they paw and bite at her tender skin. Crimson spilling out onto a peaceful sheet of white. Grace remains motionless as the amber eyes of one of the wolves catches her attention. Their gazes lock and the whole world surrounding them freezes. Their souls meet and offer a deeper exchange, transcending beyond animal and human. The connection frightens the wolf enough to stop the brutal attack. Though Grace’s blood has stained his fur, the wolf has abandoned his primal instincts in order to save her life.

As the seasons pass, Grace recalls her encounter with the wolves. She has recovered from her attack, but is left with a growing curiosity over the whereabouts of the one who saved her. The moment that she and the amber-eyed wolf shared leaves her obsessing over his appearance again. She knows that he is out there in the woods behind her house, watching over her, just as she watches out her own window waiting for a glimpse. She tries to lure him in, taunting him with the smell of her blood as she stands out in the yard beckoning him to join her. Winter after winter he returns to her.

Sam lives a double life. In the winter he enjoys a life of freedom roaming the woods as a wolf. While hunting for food he occupies his time with spying on the love of his life, Grace. He feels a strong connection with her though she has no knowledge of his double life.

In summer, both Sam and Grace bear the brunt of the summer’s heat and the silence. Sam is human biding his time working at the local bookstore. Grace frequents the store, but has yet to notice him and Sam is too afraid to approach her. With no encounters in the woods, the summer seems unbearable for the pair. Though Sam seems to enjoy the freedoms of being human in the summer, he cannot seem to muster up the courage to speak to Grace.

When a local teenage boy is attacked and killed by the wolves, the citizens organize a hunting party. Sam is wounded by the men and appears in human form on Grace’s porch in search of refuge. As Grace recognizes her wolf when looking into the boy’s amber eyes, she realizes that fate has finally united them. The love struck teens race against time in order to keep Sam in his human form in Shiver.

Best Book Quote: “. . . the greatest impediment to justice is prejudice.”

I was only going to read for a minute when I picked up Kelly Armstrong’s book Living with the Dead. I have always been a fan of her stories but believe me when I say that this book is not a “just gonna read for a minute” kind of book. Once I started, I had to find out how it ended.

The main character, Robyn Peltier, is a public relations consultant who becomes accused of a crime she didn’t commit – the murder of her annoyingly irritating celebrity employer. She finds her boss shot dead and to all outward appearances it looks like she did it. But when she goes on the run to save her life it leads to her immediate guilt in the eyes of the police and more importantly, the gorgeous lead investigator, Detective Finn. Luckily for Robyn, she finds help from her best friend Hope Adams (a half-demon) and Hope’s werewolf boyfriend, Karl. Apparently, Robyn has inadvertently became involved in a supernatural mess that could kill both her and her friends. But this doesn’t stop them in their mission to prove Hope’s innocence.

I was surprised to find that I was so quickly hooked on this story since I usually avoid the “innocent person accused of a crime” plotline. It’s a testimony to Kelly Armstrong’s great writing style that I kept on reading.

This novel has pulse-racing writing combined with Armstrong’s usual wit – a combination I’ve really come to like. The author makes Robyn a sympathetic character that you connect with and pull for throughout the book. Comic relief is provided by the ghost of Robyn’s husband who was killed but has come back to help her; the twist is that he can only be seen by Detective Finn! Whether you like “innocent girl wrongly accused” storylines or not, give Living with the Dead a try. If I hadn’t, I would have missed out on a really fun read.

Title: Silver Borne
Author: Patricia Briggs
Release Date: March 30, 2010
Pages: 352
Genre: Urban Fantasy

Best Book Quote: “I could have kept arguing with him – I usually like arguing with Adam. But there were things I liked better. I leaned forward and kissed him.”

Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs is another great installment in the story of Mercy Thompson, coyote shapeshifter. At this point in the series she’s bonded to Adam, the Alpha of the local werewolf pack. Mercy is an ace mechanic who works in a garage, fixing cars while trying to understand all the nuances of her relationship with Adam. A coyote mated to a wolf comes with its own unique set of problems – least of which is the fact that his pack isn’t welcoming her with open arms because they think their Alpha should be mated to a true werewolf.

Mercy lives in a trailer with Samuel, a family member from a different pack. He’s a very old werewolf (but still incredibly hot) who seems to be succumbing to a problem that plagues a lot of old werewolves: he’s losing his humanity. When Mercy comes home on day to find Samuel in wolf form and realizes he’s not switching back, she fears the worst because most lone wolves don’t survive for long – they are usually killed by their pack. However, Mercy is determined that this will not happen to her friend and sets out to find a solution to his problem. But this makes significant problems for her because Adam is not about to let a lone wolf near his mate. How can she protect Samuel but not lie to Adam at the same time? Quite the dilemma . . .

Patricia Briggs once again delivers a great story with complex characters and captivating story lines. Samuel and his battle with his inner wolf keeps you engaged as you truly hope it does not negatively impact the relationship between Adam and Mercy. Keeping these two together is of paramount importance. Along with a parallel story where Mercy tries to help out a young fae bookstore owner, the author gives you plenty of action to keep you captivated throughout the book. Be sure to pick up Silver Borne if you are looking for a fast-paced, fantastical and interesting story to read. check prices

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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Gift Wrap by Charlaine Harris
In this story Sookie Stackhouse expects to spend some quiet alone time during Christmas when she discovers a wounded werewolf in the woods. This is a cozy, light story that combines a lovable and well-known character, Sookie, with a mischevious and sexy werewolf.

The Haire of the Beast by Donna Andrews
In this book a witch researches what it will take to make her brother a werewolf. She also makes some special brownie treats for her ex-boyfriend. Confusion and fun ensues in this hilarious holiday story.

Lucy, at Christmastime by Simon R. Green
Simon Green writes a short story that complements his popular Nightside series; a werewolf having drinks at a Nightside bar during the holiday season reminisces about his past, including his past love.

The Night Things Changed by Dana Cameron
Supernatural creatures are usually good-hearted in this short story. However, in a twist of fate, one turns out to be a killer. A female vampire and her werewolf brother investigate the matter.

The Werewolf Before Christmas by Kat Richardson
In this story we meet Matthias, a werewolf whose appetite gets him in trouble at the North Pole. Santa has designed the perfect punishment for him; can Mathias set his pride aside and complete his assigned task?

Fresh Meat by Alan Gordon
This story proves how dogs are great partners, especially when tracking down bad guys; a dog and a female werewolf partner up to defeat evil during the holiday season.

Il est Ne by Carrie Vaughn
Our lovable and smart female werewolf Kitty Norville teams up with another werewolf to investigate a mystery. Who knew she’d end up involved in a mess just by going to The Waffle House?

The Perfect Gift by Dana Stabenow
I love it when stories don’t give everything away at once. In this story we meet two cops who may (or may not be) quite human. We get to guess the true nature of each character while also reading a pretty good mystery story.

Christmas Past by Keri Arthur
This classic Christmas love is in the air story centers around two cops (a werewolf and a psychic) who rekindle their past love while trying to solve a case.

SA by Joe Konrath
Konrath weaves an outrageously funny tale here that involves shape shifters in unimaginable shapes and sizes.

The Star of David by Patricia Briggs
A daughter seeks out her father’s help, although he’s responsible for her mother’s death several years prior. This dramatic piece is touching and poignant.

You’d Better Not Pyout by Nancy Pickard
This is an hilarious story about two misplaced ex-Soviet vampires in Florida. They just found out that Santa Claus is a vampire and that Christmas is a scam that simply grants him access to homes and an endless blood supply. They seek to join him, but somehow end up across the Atlantic Ocean. Yes, this story includes many lively twists and turns.

Rogue Elements by Karen Chance
Karen Chance writes a police mystery set in the supernatural realm of Las Vegas which involves identity denial and werewolf politics.

Milk and Cookies by Rob Thurman
Rob Thurman, responsible for the wonderful Cal Leandros books, writes about young werewolves’ true fantasies. Just what do they want for Christmas?

Keeping Watch Over His Flock by Toni L. P. Kelner
Jake, a shapeshifter, experiences newfound fame after he rescues a girl that had gone missing. However to do this, he ends up shifting into something you’d never imagine!

Wolfsbane and Mistletoe is now ON SALE at Amazon!