Grief can do strange things sometimes, thinks Shay. But even though she is indeed grieving the loss of both of her parents within the last six months, she knows that this isn’t what she is experiencing when she feels the dead cold hands grip around her throat. But that isn’t the only thing strange that is happening around her. The big question is, why?

Shay came out to Hill City, North Dakota because she wanted a fresh start and a new life. Life in the big city of Chicago just held bad memories for her, of two failed romances she would rather forget and the loss of parents she bitterly misses. She isn’t sure why the badlands of North Dakota called to her, but when she arrived in Hill City and saw the Buckhorn Saloon, she knew that her inheritance had found a home. The people seemed really friendly, especially that really nice-looking realtor Cody that helped her find the place. But something or someone was acting strange in the saloon and what was worse they appeared to be ghosts.

When the first night brings Shay a ghostly visitor asking for help, she is more than relieved to find her handsome cowboy realtor at her door because someone told him they saw water pouring from her now bone-dry walkway. As Shay and Cody try to get to the bottom of the ghostly invasion, they begin to feel something build between them. The adventure of finding out just what happened around a hundred years ago to leave these spirits so restless is only part of the story, as a romance blossoms that will heal both their hearts.

This is a wonderful romance wrapped up in a ghost story that is both charming and thrilling at the same time. Cody is the kind of cowboy gentleman you wish there were more of in this world. He is the hero who opens doors for ladies and yet faces the fearful things in life head-on. He meets his perfect match in Shay, a big city gal who was meant to live in this quiet western town. Together they have adventures that twist and turn with each new clue, discover the romance they each thought they had lost forever and create a new life. I didn’t think a paranormal western romance was possible, but with A Haunted Twist of Fate author Stacey Coverstone has pulled it off with style.

Title: Between Season

This is a ghost story like nothing I have ever read before. It begins within a few paragraphs of the first page with Patrick’s death. We watch him watch it, and we almost immediately feel how likable and absolutely ordinary this kid was. And really, that simple ingredient is the key to the whole story. Because this is not some scary ghost story of things that go bump in the night, though I guess to an outsider that is exactly what Patrick is. But to the reader he is a real honest-to-goodness 19 year old kid who has the bad misfortune to die by accident at that young an age.

But the real story, of course, is what happens after. Because that is what we witness as time unfolds in fits and starts and we watch Patrick watch the world go by. Here it becomes an almost bitter sweet tale as we see him go through discoveries about what it means to be a ghost, to have your life end and everyone else’s goes on. It goes on without you. There is sadness in this one scene, where his parents leave because his mother can’t stand to be in the house where he died any longer. So they pack up the house and move out, leaving him behind. And he is heart-broken, as is the reader as you watch him collapse in the pain of being left behind.

Did I mention that Between Season is no ordinary ghost story? So what happens when after all that waiting and longing to belong, someone moves into “your house” that is just goofy and maybe by some definitions “broken” enough for you to fall in love with her? How do you ever reach out to someone, when you are dead? Because just to make this a bit more tragic, and yet lovely, this ghost story is a tender love story too. I am not going to go into details. So much of what happens to Patrick, our 19 year old ghost with the tender heart and Sara who needed to love again should be discovered slowly and savored. But trust me, this is one that will do the same to you as it did to me. I closed the book at the end going, “Oh wow!” and sat and savored the wonderful feeling it gave me. Enjoy.

For fans of Kelley Armstrong’s writing this new fantasy book is a treat. Elena Michaels and Clayton Danvers are two werewolves who just want to give their kids the kind of old-fashion Christmas holiday get-away that they never had growing up. And so they decide to take their four-year old twins on a special holiday at a wonderful chalet that is far away from the worry of pack responsibilities and all that comes with it. Here in the edge of the great Algonquin Park in Northern Ontario Canada they can just do the kinds of things they dreamed of as kids themselves. Plans are made for cookie baking, fun hikes through the snow and just hanging out together by the fire at night, playing board games and letting go of all their cares.

But the holiday magic is disturbed when they discover a rogue mutt that may be linked to a missing child in the nearby town. What is worse, a body is soon discovered in the woods of a young man. And the town is up in arms because he appears to have been partly eaten, by a wolf!

Elena and Clayton must find a way to balance their need to protect four year old Kate and Logan, find out if the rogue werewolf mutt they have found has any connection to what looks like a werewolf with a taste for human flesh, and still give themselves the very needed holiday break before they return to the city and the responsibilities of being Alpha-elect of the pack.

Hidden is a new fantasy book from Kelley Armstrong that is like her others a wonderful fast-paced tale with lots of twists and turns. Elena and Clayton are real characters who become a welcome part of our lives as well follow them in this latest adventure from a top notch fantasy writer.

How do you keep the romance lights burning when your two BFFs go off and marry a vampire and a werewolf? In one of the most fun of the new fantasy books out, we ask the question: is it any wonder that Corrine has vowed to only fall in love with a human! But even the best laid plans etc. etc. when she gets sent by her editor to interview “a leprechaun” who turns out to be the hottest man alive. Only problem is, he isn’t a man in the strictest sense – because he is Fae. In fact, he isn’t just one of the faerie tribe; he is the Captain of the Queen’s guard. And he has the kind of looks that make a girl’s knees knock. He could make a nun think bad thoughts!

New Fantasy Books with A Mission!

But Luc is on a mission and it is a dangerous one. And if that wasn’t bad enough, he lets her know that it looks like he will need her help to solve this one! It is one thing to be sent on a wild-goose chase to interview a leprechaun that turns out to be the most impossibly gorgeous faerie alive (and they tend to come gorgeous, so that is no mean feat!). It is quite another to have that man tell you he needs you to save the world! It can be especially difficult to concentrate when it begins to feel like there is more than just a comrade-in-arms thing going on here.

So how do they manage to keep their thoughts straight, their hands to themselves and the world in one piece, all at the same time? Well, as you can expect, they can’t! But while some parts of the above formula are falling apart in this latest of the new fantasy books from one of our favorite authors, others are working just fine, thanks. It’s the saving the world part that seems to be the hard part in Not Your Ordinary Faerie Tale. And they can’t afford to fail at that!

Title: The Dream-Hunter
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon
Release: October 3 2011
Pages: audio book
Genre:  Romantic Fantasy 

Arik is a predator. Condemned by the gods to live eternity without emotions, he can only feel when he’s in the dreams of others. He’s drifted through the human unconscious, and now he’s finally found a dreamer whose vivid mind can fill his emptiness.

Dr. Megeara Kafieri intends to prove once and for all that the fabled island of Atlantis is right where her father said it was. One day she finds a stranger floating in the sea with face she’s seen in her dreams. But Arik has made a pact with the god Hades: In exchange for two weeks as a mortal man, he must return to Olympus with Megeara’s soul.

With a secret society out to ruin her, and mysterious accidents threatening her life, Megeara refuses to quit. She getting closer to Atlantis and as she does, she stumbles onto the truth of what Arik really is. But no human can know of a Dream-Hunter’s existence and the only way to save himself will be to sacrifice the very thing he wanted to be human for. The only question is, will he?

Title: Bloodstone
Author: Nancy Holzner
Release: September 27 2011
Pages: Kindle Edition
Genre: Urban Fantasy

Bloodstone is another great addition to the Deadtown series. This time in Boston’s Back Bay district, it is known for high society, not lowlifes. So when mutilated human bodies begin turning up in the area, the entire city takes notice. And even though there’s no real evidence pointing to a paranormal culprit, the deaths are straining relations between human and inhuman residents.

As the reader is taken on a madcap trail after a serial killer like no other, the story take a series of twists and turns. Soon we are caught up in the carnage and mystery. As the bodies pile up, demon-hunter Vicky Vaughn investigates, only to find that the creature behind the carnage has an ancient feud and is after much more than just blood…

 Title: The Bible Repairman
Author: Tim Powers
Release: Oct. 31 2011
Pages: 200
Genre: Fantasy

Tim Powers happens to be one of my favorite authors, so when I saw this book listed to come out soon from Amazon, I just had to share it with you. For a taste, here is what his publisher’s have released to let you know what to expect.

The Bible Repairman is Tim Powers’s first new collection since Strange Itineraries appeared in 2005, and it is well worth the wait. In five stories and an ambitious historical novella, it offers one example after another of the author’s wit, ingenuity, and sheer imaginative reach.

The title story takes us into the life of a man with a most unusual profession, one that claims a little bit of his soul with every transaction. ‘Parallel Lives’ and ‘A Soul in a Bottle’ are thematically linked ghost stories in which the dead attempt, with varying degrees of success, to exert their influence upon the living. In ‘The Hour of Babel,’ an assortment of damaged people experience, once again, the inexplicable encounter that altered their lives more than thirty years before, while in ‘A Journey of Only Two Paces’ a simple legal procedure is transformed into a nightmarish Kabbalistic ritual.

But the real centerpiece of this resonant collection is the novella ‘A Time to Cast Away Stones,’ previously available only in a very limited–and very expensive–edition. Set in the semi-fictional universe first described in The Stress of Her Regard, this beautifully realized narrative centers upon Edward John Trelawny, a contemporary and compatriot of the poets Byron and Shelley, and the momentous decision that faces him. In classic Powers fashion, the story shows us an actual, if little known, historical event reclaimed and transformed by a powerful imagination. The result is a distinctive contribution to modern fantasy and a significant milestone in a unique, constantly evolving career.

But don’t take their word for it – or mine! Check this one out. I know I have mine on order already!

Skinwalker (Book 1)

Last year, Jane nearly lost her life taking down a deadly family of vampires who preyed on the helpless populace. Now, after months of recuperation, she’s back and ready to fight again. Except this time, she’s been hired by those she’s trained to kill – vampires.

Jane Yellowrock is the last of her kind–a skinwalker of Cherokee descent who can turn into any creature she desires–and hunts the undead for a living. But now she’s been hired by the Katherine Fonteneau, one of the oldest vampires in the New Orleans, and the madam of Katie’s Ladies, to hunt down a powerful rogue vampire who’s killing other vamps.

Amidst a bordellos of real “ladies of the night” and a hot Creole biker with a panther tattoo who stirs her carnal desire, Jane must stay focused and complete her mission … or else the next skin she’ll need to save may be her own.

Blood Cross (Book 2)

As a vampire hunter and skinwalker, Jane Yellowrock is public enemy number one to the vampire community – even though she is also the key to their survival. Now, she’s about to learn that working for the enemy is just as dangerous as hunting them.

The Vampire Council of New Orleans has hired Jane to hunt and kill one of their own who has broken sacred, ancient rules. But Jane quickly realizes that in a community that is thousands of years old, loyalties run deep, mythos have real power, and the past often has more force than the present.

With the help of her witch best friend, Molly, and local vigilantes, Jane finds herself caught between bitter rivalries – and closer than ever to the secret origin of the entire vampire race. But in a city of old grudges and dark magic, Jane will have to fight to protect both sides, even if no one will protect her.

Mercy Blade (Book 3)

Jane Yellowrock is a shape-shifting skinwalker–and a rogue-vampire hunter for hire. But lately she’s found herself taking blood money from the very vamps she used to hunt.

Things are heating up in the Big Easy. Weres have announced their existence to the world, and revived the bitter tensions that run between them and their old enemies — vampires. As a trusted employee of Leo Pellissier, Blood Master of the City, Jane finds herself caught in the crossfire.

When Jane is attacked by a pack of marauding werewolves, she is thankful for the help of a mysterious stranger named Girrard. He explains that he used to be Leo’s ‘Mercy Blade,’ a sacred position charged with killing young vampires who have gone insane. What Jane doesn’t know is why this powerful assassin left New Orleans. And more troubling, why he’s now returned. It’s definitely not to make Jane’s life easier.

Raven Cursed (Book 4)

Release Date: January 3, 2012.

The Darkest Powers trilogy

The first in the series is The Darkest Powers trilogy. These stories are told from the point of view of Chloe Saunders, a fifteen-year-old necromancer, as she and her friends escape The Edison Group.

The Summoning (Book 1)

My name is Chloe Saunders and my life will never be the same again.

All I wanted was to make friends, meet boys, and keep on being ordinary. I don’t even know what that means anymore. It all started on the day that I saw my first ghost—and the ghost saw me.

Now there are ghosts everywhere and they won’t leave me alone. To top it all off, I somehow got myself locked up in Lyle House, a “special home” for troubled teens. Yet the home isn’t what it seems. Don’t tell anyone, but I think there might be more to my housemates than meets the eye. The question is, whose side are they on? It’s up to me to figure out the dangerous secrets behind Lyle House . . . before its skeletons come back to haunt me.

The Awakening (Book 2)

You don’t have to be alive to be awakened.

Chloe Saunders is a living science experiment—not only can she see ghosts, but she was genetically altered by a sinister organization called the Edison Group. She’s a teenage necromancer whose powers are out of control, which means she can raise the dead without even trying.

Now Chloe’s running for her life with three of her supernatural friends—a charming sorcerer, a cynical werewolf, and a disgruntled witch—and they have to find someone who can help them before the Edison Group catches them.

Or die trying.

The Reckoning (Book 3)

The gripping finale to the New York Times bestselling Darkest Powers trilogy!

In the end, there’s always a reckoning.

Chloe Saunders’s life is not what you would call normal. First of all, she can’t figure out how she feels about a certain antisocial werewolf or his charming brother—who just happens to be a sorcerer. Then there’s the fact that she’s running for her life from an evil corporation that’s trying to kill her and her supernatural friends. And finally, she’s a genetically altered necromancer who can raise the dead, rotting corpses and all, without even trying.

Not normal.

But Chloe has a plan. And the end is very near.

The Darkness Rising trilogy

The second trilogy in the series ‘The Darkness Rising’ follows a sixteen-year-old girl named Maya Delaney.

The Gathering (Book 1)

Strange things are happening in Maya’s tiny Vancouver Island town. First, her friend Serena, the captain of the swim team, drowns mysteriously in the middle of a calm lake. Then, one year later, mountain lions are spotted rather frequently around Maya’s home—and her reactions to them are somewhat . . . unexpected. Her best friend, Daniel, has also been experiencing unexplainable premonitions about certain people and situations.

It doesn’t help that the new bad boy in town, Rafe, has a dangerous secret, and he’s interested in one special part of Maya’s anatomy—her paw-print birthmark.

NEW: The Calling (Book 2)

Release Date: 2012