Something Wicked
Catherine Mulvany
Pocket, Aug 2007, $6.99
ISBN: 9781416525578

Investigative reporter Regan Cluny has unsuccessfully tried to obtain an interview with wealthy philanthropist Charles Cunningham Nash, but he dodges her efforts. She decides politeness has proven futile; instead she plans to intrude at his remote archeological dig site where she will make the recluse say no to her face; then obstinately reject his refusal.

However, on the way to see Nash, a biker gang led by Harper, who loathes the philanthropist, assaults the journalist. Nash manages to free the near dead Regan. As he struggles to keep her alive, Nash knows that his war with Harper is coming to a head, a blood feud dating back to the Civil War with the rivals neck and neck as to who will survive the last bite.

The lead trio makes for a strong vampire romantic suspense thriller as the two vampiric adversaries see the reporter quite differently; Nash is in love with her while Harper plans to use her as disposable bait. The action never slows down until the climatic lava pool confrontation that will either kill or cure Regan and Nash. Sub-genre fans will enjoy the one sitting SOMETHING WICKED this way comes.

Harriet Klausner

The Fox
Sherwood Smith,
Daw, August 2007, $25.95, 704 pp.
ISBN 9780756404215

Exiled unfairly from home, Indevan makes a life for himself at sea eventually becoming the leader of a mercenary company that guards ships with valuable cargo from pirates. One day his luck runs out and he is captured by the pirate Gaffer Walic. He pretends to be Stupid until the time is right for him to lead a mutiny. He is a natural born leader and commander and most of pirates in Gaffer’s mini armada agree to follow him although he trusts only the people who were captured with him.

He decides to be a pirate who hunts other pirates something his former clients are thrilled to hear. He goes after the most brutal pirate leaders and then takes on the Brotherhood as a whole. His homeland is at war with the Venn who want their land to feed their ever growing population so he goes hunting Venn and eventually goes into the Venn empire as a spy to learn what their invasion plans are. Back at home, his older brother is murdered and he is the next heir to the principality of Choread Elgaer. The royals and his friends from home find it impossible to find him as Inde doesn’t have a clue about all the changes that have happened and the different players in power since he left the kingdom.

THE FOX takes up exactly where INDA left off and readers will be thoroughly transfixed by Inda’s adventures. Although young he leads a group of sailors into fighting using military strategies people decades older than him would not think to employ. Sherwood Smith is a great world builder who makes the kingdom, the Venn Empire and the other places Inda travels seem very real. There is plenty of action but not at the expense of creating believable characters who make for stirring high seas adventures.

Harriet Klausner

DragonFire
Donita K. Paul
Waterbrook, Jul 2007, $13.99
ISBN: 9781400072514

Married couple Kale Allerion and Sir Bardon resides in the Bogs where they know first hand how difficult it is to keep cretins out. However, they are euphoric because they think they have found a cure for their meech dragon friend, Gilda. Both assume a short jaunt is all it will take on their part although that means going outside the Bogs into the Amara countryside.

When they do they find the easy trek to be a nightmare. In Amara, wizards are at war with one another with the greater Amaran populace being collateral damage. Kale and Bardon try to rouse the people and hatch dragons for a counter attack, but the will to fight back is lacking especially with their leader Paladin ailing and incapable of leading the armies. Worse the pair realizes that the evil Pretender probably realizes the time for a coup is now.

Fans of Donita K. Paul’s DragonKeeper series (see DRAGONSPELL, DRAGONQUEST, and DRAGONKNIGHT) will enjoy the latest entry as old friends return during a crisis that threatens their world. The story line is action-packed, but refreshingly different as perspectives rotate between the lead now married couple; thus differing capers occur or at times when Kale and Bardon are together the same event surfaces but seems somewhat dissimilar. Kale especially grows in this tale as she plays a predominant role. Complex with many supporting characters enhancing the plot, Ms. Paul’s audience will appreciate her latest tale in what is proving to be one of the better enduring sagas.

Harriet Klausner

Touch of Darkness
Christina Dodd
Signet, Aug 2007, $7.99
ISBN: 9780451221841

Archeologist Rurik Wilder left the Air Force on a quest to save his family from eternal damnation. He has succeeded on his first endeavor and feels close to finding the second segment of the ancient icon that is their only hope.

In the Orkney Islands, Rurik reaches a cave at about the same time reporter Tasya Hunnicutt arrives there. She has an agenda she hides from the serious hunk that she is attracted to. Tasya holds the malevolent Varinskis assassins accountable for the deaths of her family; she plans to make them pay for this. Unknown to her Rurik has Varinskis blood flowing inside him.

The second Darkness Chosen (see SCENT OF DARKNESS) paranormal romantic suspense thriller is filled with action and adventure, but it is the conflict between the compelling lead couple that makes this a must read for sub-genre fans. Rurik and Tasya may be attracted to one another, but both feels that is irrelevant as each is on a personal quest that will not allow anything even love to intrude. They interpret events differently and try to trump the other. Christine Dodd writes a delightful dark entry as not even love seems strong enough to shine lights on this pair.

Harriet Klausner

You Had Me at Halo
Amanda Ashley
NAL, Aug 2007, $12.95
ISBN: 9780451221353

Holly Evans is unhappy to be dead at twenty-two years old and mortified having attended her own funeral. Her heavenly shrink grants her a forty-eight hour reprieve with two stipulations. First she must make a heavenly effort to clear up the tiffs she had with friends and family, etc; second she must use someone else’s body whose soul has just vacated the premises.

Holly enters the corpse of recently deceased computer nerd Vince Murphy; only there is a minor problem. Vince still lives so she shares his body, which irritates him no end. However he agrees to help her with her cause. Meanwhile Holly realizes that the biggest mistake of her life when she was living was not realizing how nice yet strong Vince is.

This delightful after life fantasy is entertaining and amusing as Holly and Vince will remind readers of the terrific 1980s Tomlin-Martin film All of Me. Readers will laugh out loud as the geek and the dead chic chick battle for control of his body and their relationship even as an odd attraction forms. Amanda Ashley provides a charming offbeat tale.

Harriet Klausner

The Lure of the Wolf
Jennifer St. Giles
Pocket, Aug 2007, $6.99
ISBN: 9781416513339

Aragon made some horrendous mistakes when he led the Shadowmen; errors caused because he trusted his mentor Pathos. Aragon knows he will suffer deservedly for eternity for his transgressions regardless of the cause, but he feels he must do one last deed; he must kill the malevolent Pathos.

Dr. Annette Batista suffers two traumatic shockers. First her sister vanishes without a trace and then she learns that Dr. Cinatas is providing sustenance to vampires. She plans to stop Cinatas and find her sibling. She finds and touches Aragon’s tossed away amulet only to connects with the anguished shapeshifting former Shadowmen. They quickly realize that they share the same quest, but neither expected love to enter their shaky relationship nor that duty might tear them apart.

The second Shadowmen romantic fantasy suspense thriller (see TOUCH A DARK WOLF) is an entertaining tale mostly because of Aragon’s obsessive quest. His debt of honor means more to him than his eternal soul; yet the love of Annette makes him reconsider what he perceives is his damning responsibility as he holds himself accountable. Although Annette is out the female heroic handbook and likewise Dr. C is from the supervillain guide, sub-genre readers will appreciate the lure of Jennifer St. Giles exciting tale.

Harriet Klausner

Tanner’s Scheme
Lora Leigh
Berkley, Aug 2007, $7.99
ISBN: 9780425216613

Scheme serves as a special aid to her father General Cyrus Tallant, but also spies for the Feline Breeds. The Breed community unaware of her espionage efforts on their behalf loath Scheme because they assume she is just like her lethal father. Her handler Jonas Wyatt is the only person aware that she risks her life trying to save the Breeds.

Cyrus believes his daughter is tainted and working for his enemy. He orders her assassination, but Breed Tanner Reynolds saves her life by abducting her. Although attracted to her rescuer, Scheme does not trust him as Jonas has moles working inside the Breed community. Though she feels Tanner is her mate, she will only provide information to Jonas.

This is an ultra heated romantic fantasy thriller that continues the Breeds saga (see MEGAN’S MARK and HARMONY’S WAY) with a lead couple who does not trust one another, but cannot prevent the attraction from overwhelming their good sense of safety. Scheme is a wonderful protagonist caught in a sort of no person’s land as each side represented by the men in her life, her father and Tanner, assumes she is betraying them. Her efforts make the tale as she is all alone even when love arrives.

Harriet Klausner

Sex and the Psychic Witch
Annette Blair
Berkley, Aug 2007, $6.99
ISBN: 9780425216637

Like her older half sister Vickie and her triplet siblings (Destiny and Storm) Harmony Cartwright has paranormal skills. She can touch an ancient artifact and learns its past, a skill that is handy where she works at her older sister’s Salem, Massachusetts antique store The Immortal Classic.

When she touches a ring found inside a dress, Harmony learns of its past at Paxton Castle on nearby coastal Massachusetts. She travels there to remove Gussie the angry spirit haunting the castle. To her shock she finds a psychic connection to the new owner King; and even more stunning an attraction to him. However, Harmony knows she is in over her head with the acrimonious Gussie so she calls for her siblings to help her remove the ghost haunting Paxton Castle, but plans to act alone when it comes to King.

The first of the triplet sequels to the big sister’s tale (see SCOT, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE) is an exhilarating romantic fantasy starring an interesting heroine and the man who employs her to control the rancorous unwanted spirit bewitching his castle. Readers will appreciate the antics of the triplets as they struggle to send Gussie on to the next plane while laughing with joy at King’s caresses of the seductress who owns his heart.

Harriet Klausner

Hidden Moon
Lori Handeland
St. Martin’s, Aug 2007, $6.99
ISBN: 9780312949174

Claire Kennedy suffers two traumatic experiences. Her father, mayor of Lake Bluff, Georgia, passes away and she is date raped. She goes home to finish her dad’s term in office as the Full Moon Festival is about to begin.

She and Sheriff Grace McDaniel know that besides the revelers, some crazies come out during the gala. Both females are even more concerned because a troupe of gypsies has parked nearby, which could mean more problems for them. Grace and Claire meet the lead gypsy Malachi and to the mayor’s shock, as she a bit wary of men at the moment, she is attracted to him. However, Claire has no time to analyze her feelings as a wolf assaults a hiker and a sinister storm hammers Lake Bluff with Claire caught in the eye.

The seventh Moon paranormal romantic suspense is a terrific entry as much for the female friendship between Claire and Grace as it is for the romance between the former and Mal. The story line is fast-paced and filled with action as the hunt for a rogue wolf begins just before the storm is to hit the area. Although hurricanes have become an overused device since Katrina, fans of werewolf tales will appreciate Lori Handeland’s HIDDEN MOON, as once gain she provides a howling good read.

Harriet Klausner

Devil May Cry
Sherrilyn Kenyon
St. Martin’s, Aug 2007, $19.95
ISBN: 9780312369507

Centuries ago, the Goddess Artemis betrayed the Sumerian God Sin; ultimately she stole his power. The former deity has patiently waited for an opportunity to regain what he lost and more by stripping his enemy of her strength. Sin apparently steals an artifact that alerts Artemis that he is pursuing her. She assigns her most trusted servant Katra to kill Sin.

Although she works for Artemis, Kat does not trust the goddess who is known for her perfidious activities. Instead of assassinating Sin, she decides to find out what he is doing. She learns he has no time to fool with vengeance as an ancient vampiric Sumerian race plans to release the lethal Dimme super-demons to destroy the world; only a Sumerian God can prevent them from success, but Sin has not had deity level power since Artemis betrayed him. Kat offers her help even as the two wary warriors fight their attraction for one another.

The latest Dark Hunter tale affirms how tremendous this series truly is because it takes classical mythology, but places it in a modern day setting. The strong story line contains a powerful lead couple needing to ally themselves to one another to save humanity but they are reluctant to trust one another with their heart and soul. Although difficult for newcomers to follow as the Kenyon mythos is delightfully (for fans) much more complicated than the genome mapping, DEVIL MAY CRY adds much to the saga.

Harriet Klausner