A Quick Bite
Lynsay Sands
Avon, Nov 2005, $6.99, 384 pp.
ISBN 0060773758

Psychologist Dr. Greg Hewitt closes the office feeling rather good because officially his first vacation since seemingly forever has just begun. He had eight years of practice and school before that with no time off, but now he is going to spend R&R in Mexico at least that is what he thought. Instead he has been abducted and finds himself tied up on a bed.

Vampiress Lissianna Argeneau has a minor problem; she becomes ill at the sight of blood. Thus to feed she barbarically selects humans instead of the civilized modern use of blood banks. Her mother thinks she has found the cure tied up currently on Lissianna’s bed. Lissianna is taken aback that her thirtieth birthday present is Dr. Greg Hewitt, who demands his freedom. Instead to everyone’s shock, Lissianna desires her doctor who reciprocates her feelings. The Argeneau brood don’t know whether it is his the strength of his will and mind or simply love, but the vampires cannot expunge his memory of them, especially Lissianna.

The latest biting vampire romance starts a bit slow as Lissianna explains in detail the species vampire to Greg, but once the tale moves past that to the growing relationship between the psychologist and the neck biter the plot accelerates. Lissianna is an interesting person struggling with her phobia that makes her dine the old fashion way rather than the “normal” sack lunch take out from the blood bank. Greg is her ideal other half as he so not mind A QUICK LOVE BITE. Lynsay Sands’ latest paranormal romance is amusing once the plot turns to eating in.

Harriet Klausner

The Dragon’s Revenge
Irene Radford
Daw, Nov 2005, $6.99, 432 pp.
ISBN 0756403170

The three O’Hara brothers (Kim, Konner, and Loki) are wanted criminals by the Galactic Terran Empire and the Terran Imperial Military Police (IMP’s) were chasing their ship when it went through an unknown jump-point and landed on a world where magic works and dragons exist. The brothers became known as the Stargods to the primitive humans because of their ability to cure a bioengineered plague. Kim and Konner married local women but their way of life is endangered when a group of IMPs land.

The O’Hare siblings disable their enemy’s ship, forcing them to work with the natives if they want to survive. Their sister Kat, who wants to bring her brothers to justice for abandoning her twenty years ago, gets used to this strange world and when her protégées are in trouble, she saves them and destroys her own career with the IMP. Konner is determined to get off planet and find his son Martin who is with his mother, an amoral criminal. He doesn’t realize Martin has escaped her control and is coming to him until they have to fight Hanassa, the dragon who has taken over the human body and mind of the leader of the IMPs; a being who hates dragons and humans so much that he plans to destroy the planet. Martin and the O’Hare siblings, including Kat, fight to stop him.

The third book in the Stargod series is just as exciting and action packed as the other two books in the series. The focus of this novel is on Kat who goes from hating her family to understanding how she got separated from them two decades ago. The planet she first thought strange now hold a place in her heart and if she has any say in the matter, she will one day retire there. The brothers feel like they have a new home on the planet and plan to keep “civilization” away. Irene Radford shows readers once again why her books are so popular.

Harriet Klausner

The Last Sacrifice
Hank Hanegraaff & Sigmund Brouwer
Tyndale, Oct 2005, $19.99, 344 pp.
ISBN 0842384413

Once Vitas was part of Nero’s inner circle until at a feast he tried to choke the emperor because the ruler planned to have his way with his wife Sophia, a follower of Christos. He was supposed to be sent to the arena to die but a group of powerful Romans set in motion a plan that would have someone else take his place while he was sent to Alexandria, with John, THE LAST DISCIPLE who wrote the letter of revelation on Patmos.

The people who saved Vitas believe he has a chance of killing Nero once he gathers the puzzle pieces that they sent to various people in the empire and deciphers them. Vitas doesn’t know that his Sophia mourns his death, not even receiving comfort from her belief in Christos. Damian, Vitas’ brother and a slave hunter is looking for John to return him to Rome but Vilas convinces him to help him on his journey to Caesarea and Jerusalem to find out just what his saviors hope he can accomplish to rid the empire of an insane monarch.

This second book in The Last Disciple’s series is an exciting thriller as Vitas tries to stay one step ahead of his enemies while trying to figure out what role he is to play in toppling Nero from the throne. The authors have done such a good job of historical research that the audience will feel like they actually witness the events that occur in the novel. Thus readers will find this book so educational and entertaining they will finish it in one sitting.

Harriet Klausner

Horse Passages
Jennifer Macaire
Medallion, Nov. 2005, $9.99
ISBN: 1932815090

Their parents and their younger sister were abducted by the enigmatic Raiders, but their father managed to save his twins Carl and Meagan Cadet. They miss their family, but both know that no one has ever escaped from Raider captivity. Though dangerous they continue to herd the horses that somehow open passages between planets.

The Cadets are on Tauii 3 when the wild Jeffries bunch arrives on the scene with their herd. However an accident occurs with the youngest brother dying from a fall. The oldest Luke goes into depression, but the shy Meagan pulls him out of it. Not long afterward, Raiders arrive to capture Meagan and Luke and his herd; Carl, Luke’s siblings and the Cadet herd escape. The Raiders take Meagan and Luke to join other prisoners working the mines on some isolated orb. Escape seems impossible, but each takes a turn encouraging the other to keep up the hope even as they begin to fall in love, but are too tired to do much more than sleep near each other.

HORSE PASSAGES is an action packed science fiction coming of age thriller that grips the audience from the moment the Jeffries and their herd land on Tauii 3. The story line is action-packed, but key cast members are not neglected as the audience will fully understand why Meagan stutters, what drove the Jeffries to behave like the world will end tomorrow, and slowly over the course of the tale learn much of what motivates the Raiders. Though why herders would continue to do this type of dangerous work is somewhat explained the benefits are not. Still Jennifer Macaire provides a creative intriguing outer space tale.

Harriet Klausner

Love Is the Bond
M.R. Sellars
Willow Tree, Oct 2005, $14.95, 344 pp.
ISBN: 09678221272

It has been two years since Wiccan Practitioners Rowan Gant and his wife Felicity have been involved in any homicide investigations. Even though Rowan can still hear the voices of the dead, he is optimistic that the darkness will never touch their lives again. Mistress Miranda, a dominatrix has killed her submissive. Felicity as a free lance crime scene photographer is called in to examine the scene where the death occurred. The scene crackles with power and Rowan knows he and his wife are going to plunge into the realm where crime and occult meet.

When they get back home, Felicity isn’t herself and Rowan quickly catches on that she is channeling the killer. When a second submissive is killed, Felicity becomes possessed by the female murderer. Felicity knocks unconscious her FBI friend, takes her gun and finds a submissive in an S & M night club. She takes him to his motel while the police and the FBI converge on her scene because one of the victims killed was a cop. Even if Rowan can get her out of this alive, their problems are far from over.

This is the sixth book in the Rowan Gant series and it is very different than any of the other novels. It is written in the first person from Rowan’s point of view and the ending is ambiguous, so much so that readers will not be patient to wait a year for the next tale to come out. They (and this reviewer) will want to see a resolution, preferably one that is happily ever after. M.R. Sellars has written an exciting crime thriller with a good dose of the paranormal in it.

Harriet Klausner

Knight’s Legacy
Trenae Sumter
Medallion, Nov 2005, $6.99, 300 pp.
ISBN: 1932815007

In 2000 on location in Scotland, stuntwoman Catherine “Cat” Terril sees a strange looking elderly man who tells her to follow her heart and seemingly vanishes. She assumes her peers pulled a prank on her, but still follows in the direction she saw him disappear. Before she knows what happens she opens a door, takes a step, and falls into a freezing lake.

Angus, the son of abusive local clan leader Colum Mackay, captures Cat and concocts a plot to save their lives from the wrath of King Alexander. Cruel Colum needs his daughter Brianna to marry Roderic de Montwain to assuage the regal, but she eloped with Alistair Kincaid, brother to another Laird. The Mackays warn Cat to cooperate or else and quickly marries her off to Roderic as Brianna. When she first sees Roderic Cat knew she has found her soulmate, but this is 1320 and she was born over six centuries into the future; her actions leave Roderic to wonder if he has fallen in love with a mad woman.

This fun time travel romance will thrill readers as the key males assume that Cat is mad because of how she behaves so unlike the ladies of the century. The story line is fast-paced and action-packed with the Mackays’ plotting while Roderic wonders why the seemingly intelligent Vat is off balance mentally. Though her work allows her ease of adjustment, fans will appreciate the historical Scottish romance between the stuntwoman and the warrior laird.

Harriet Klausner

At All Costs
David Weber
Baen, Nov 2005, $26.00
ISBN: 1416509119

The deadly war between the Star Kingdom of Manticore and the People’s Republic of Haven has heated up after a short lived cease fire with the Havenites firing the first shots in the new hostilities because of a belief that their enemies altered key documents. However, Haven President Eloise Pritchart has since learned that a member of her inner circle altered the documents to reignite the war. Though she believes her side can win, the cost is high so she seeks peace. Eloise is willing to meet with the Manticore ruler Queen Elizabeth to broker an agreement.

Queen Elizabeth knows that her side is on the brink of defeat. She assigns her only victorious military officer Admiral Honor Harrington to lead the Eighth Fleet. Honor is pregnant so must tend to her unborn yet still return to the front where her side desperately needs her unusual but successful strategic leadership. She has the fetus removed to mature in the safety of a tube, but worries that her enemies might use her child as a pawn against her. Still duty calls.

The latest Honor Harrington tale has the twist that the heroine (at least to the Manticore side – the devil to the Havenites) is pregnant, but has a war to fight. Placing the fetus into a tube reminded this reader of the song In the year 2525. The story line is action-packed yet character driven, which is typical of David Weber’s tales. Fans of military science fiction in which full societies are involved will want to read this entire series though each book including the fabulous AT ALL COSTS can stand alone in spite of references to previous events (from both sides of the conflict).

Harriet Klausner

Heart of the Dove
Tina St. John
Ivy, Dec 2005, $6.99, 384 pp.
ISBN: 0345459962

In 1275 Randwulf of Greycliff lives for revenge only. He needs to kill sorcerer Silas de Montaine and send the magician’s changeling beasts back to the hell they came from because they killed his wife Elspeth and six year old son Tod. Randwulf possesses part of an ancient artifact that gives him hope of succeeding in his endeavor and currently sails to Scotland to pick up another segment when he is attacked by one of the beasts. He and the beast fall overboard where he kills the evil thing, but he is forced to swim to safety as his ship has kept sailing.

On a deserted beach he meets Serena and her mother Calandra. Serena can see a man’s darkest secrets by touching them so she avoids doing such. However, they touch several times and she realizes he is a bitter person seeking to avenge a terrible affront. As they become closer while he heals physically she helps him also mend his torn soul and heart, but Silas remains at lodge with plans to conquer the world.

Though the emphasis is on the historical romantic elements, there is plenty of fantasy segments in this fine thirteenth century tale caused by Serena’s touch which can see your deepest feelings (nice barometer on whether someone loves you). The intriguing story line grips the audience as Serena enables Randwulf to regain the soul he lost when the evil Montaine killed his family, but his quest still remains strong.

Harriet Klausner

Brighid’s Quest
P.C. Cast
Luna, Dec 2005, $12.99, 400 pp.
ISBN 03733802420

The evil race of demon Fomorians kidnapped and raped the women of Partholon taking them into the Wastelands to bear their offspring. The Goddess Epona united the people of Partholon to defeat the demons and a century later touched Ephame who took as her mate a hybrid Falorian and drank his blood and took the madness that existed in the hybrids into her self. Now the descendants of the children of rape can go home to Partholon.

Cu, whose lover was killed by one of the hybrids, goes to the wastelands to check out the New Fomarians to see if they are as good and gentle as his sister’s lifemate says they are. Brighid, the female centaur goes after Cu and finds the seventy children and handful of adults pure of heart. When they return home, Brighid’s sister comes to the keep to tell her that the centaurs are going to war because their High Shaman, Brighid’s mother was killed by humans. Brighid, who was running away from her legacy, knows she must drink from the chalice of Epona and become her High Shaman, and fight her brother and his allies before the land is bathed in the blood of battle.

Although Brighid is a centaur and Cu is human, they love each other and mate for life. Their marriage can only be consummated if Brighid drinks from the Chalice because then she will be able to shapeshift into human form. P. C. Cast has written a fascinating action packed romantic fantasy where true love can conquer all. Both hero and heroine go through many hardships and it is only through their love they feel they can overcome all their hardships. This is a special work that will appeal to a variety of readers.

Harriet Klausner

The Children of the Company
Kage Baker
Tor, Nov. 2005, $24.95, 304 pp.
ISBN 0765331455x

Dr. Zeus of the Company has learned the secrets of time travel and how to turn mortals into immortal cyborgs that he sends back in time to hide art, artifacts and anything else that would benefit the Company in a place where the company can recover it. Cyborgs also turn young children into cyborgs as new recruits for the company. Cyborgs have been on the Earth for many millennia, raising man up on two legs and bringing new civilizations into being.

Executive Facilitatior General Labienus looks at files that span the millennium to learn that the company did not play fair with the cyborgs. He has plans to take over the world and eliminate the company and Dr. Zeus if he can defeat his life long enemy who has discovered a new race of mortals, Homo sapiens umbratilis, mortals who can invent anything and are easy to manipulate. Throughout time Labienus subtly influences history so that when the moment is right he will be in a position to make his move to control the world.

Kage Baker’s Company novels are always fun to read but CHILDREN OF THE COMPANY is particularly good because it shows the different eras that the agents operated in from the dawn of time to the San Francisco earthquake to the future when a virus was deliberately let loose on a world so that some scientific research would be lost until Dr. Zeus “finds” it. This is a stupendous series because one never knows in what direction Mr. Baker will take readers.

Harriet Klausner