Redeemed in Darkness
Alexis Morgan
Pocket, Dec 2007, $6.99
ISBN: 9781416547136

Paladin warrior Cullen Finley crossed the barrier between worlds to deliver a message. Once he completes his mission, he is to immediately return to his universe. However, something happens to the barrier and Cullen is trapped on the wrong side in the Other universe of his enemy.

Lusahn q’Arc considers the Paladins as her enemy. Her first reaction upon seeing her combat foe Cullen is to want to torture information out of him as she was expecting to meet her missing brother Barak. Next she finds herself either wanting to making love with him or killing him. When he provides her information on the smuggling of the blues that bring light to her dark world, she realizes she must hide him. As they fall in love, both conclude that traitors on both sides of the feud are using the dying sun of the Others to maliciously manipulate the rivalry.

The fourth Paladins of Darkness romantic fantasy (see DARK PROTECTOR, DARK DEFENDER and IN DARKNESS REBORN) is a fabulous entry with a wonderful freshness as Alexis Morgan takes her audience to the demon side. Fans as well as Cullen will begin to see a different humanized Others instead of the demonic killers. The forbidden romance enhances a fabulous thriller that will have readers enthralled once the hero crosses over.

Harriet Klausner

Wicked Deeds on a Winter’s Night
Kresley Cole
Pocket, Nov 2007, $6.99
ISBN: 9781416547037

In 1827 Mariah of the Three Bridges is murdered in the shadow of the full moon. Her last sight is watching her beloved Bowen MacRieve of the Lykae Clan howl at the full moon in rage.

In 2007 Bowen remains angry, frustrated and acrimonious as he has over the past nine score; and he has become a bit of a hermit. When offered a chance to participate in the treacherous and grueling Talisman’s Hie, he immediately accepts. Bowen believes the risk is nothing only his life; but the prize is everything as winning enables him to go back to 1827 and correct the pivotal tragedy that has shaped his life since

Mariketa the Awaited leader of the House of Witches has strong reasons to win the contest hosted every two and a half centuries by the Goddess of Impossibilities Riora. Though the Witch is prepared for any contingency, the revolting acrid Lykae fools her and ensnares Mari in a deadly cave; Mari in turn casts a death spell on Bowen. He realizes he must save her to save himself if he is save Mariah. However, he is confused as he reacts to Riora as if she is his soulmate, not Mariah.

When Kresley Cole writes a romantic fantasy, there is NO REST FOR THE WICKED or readers as fans finish her exhilarating complex tales in one wonderful sitting. WICKED DEEDS ON A WINTER’S NIGHT may be the best entry in the Cole Lore as the lead couple is deadly rivals who over the course of the competition turn from enemy combatants into beloved enemies. Readers will relish this powerful entry as the mythos of the sentient races not human entertainingly expands leaving the audience with a HUNGER LIKE NO OTHER for the next saga.

Harriet Klausner

Silken Shadows
Jennifer St. Giles
Berkley, Dec 2007, $7.99
ISBN: 9780425217948

In 1880 Gemmi Andrews has the uncanny ability to see and hear ghosts. Her skill helps the cops catch Jack “the Ripper” Poole.

However, not long afterward, a series of homicides occur that use the same MO as serial killer Poole; there is only one problem with accusing him of more murders: he is dead. Some assume is a copy cat while others believe Poole is murdering people from beyond the grave. Because of her “gift” Gemmi knows either theory could be correct so she is determined to learn the truth. She sneaks onto Captain Deverell Jansen’s ship, but is found. The stowaway and the captain are attracted to one another, but when he perceives she is in danger, he insists they marry so he can keep her safe. As the newlyweds fall in love, she relives each homicide as if she is the victim.

SILKEN SHADOWS is an engaging paranormal romantic suspense starring a likable intrepid heroine who uses her gift to help others and an honorable hero who risks his life to keep his beloved safe. The story line is fast-paced but the hook that grips readers is whether Poole has somehow returned form the dead or from beyond, or is a copy cat on the loose. Fans will also feel for Gemmi who “sees” each homicide first hand. Jennifer St. Giles is at her best with this frightening serial killer thriller.

Harriet Klausner

Beyond the Dark
Angela Knight, Emma Holly, Lora Leigh and Diane Whiteside
Berkley, Dec 2007, $14.00
ISBN: 9780425218761

“Dragon’s Dance” by Angela Knight. During a SWAT operation, Sergeant Arial Dean is contaminated by the Hyper. The Hyper Tracker tries to nurture Arial through the often deadly change, but she wonders if she survives the Hyper transformation will she endure life without her guide?

“Caught by the Tides” by Diane Whiteside. In 1803 the king’s mage Owen Bentham and Emma Sinclair the mage team up with love to prevent Napoleon’s invasion of England.

“Queen of All She Surveys” by Emma Holly. King Ravna sends his son Warrior Prince Memnon as a war prize to the demon enhanced Queen Tou of HHAMOUN with hopes his offspring can capture the lady with sexual wiles, but instead of loathing and betrayal he finds love.

“In a Wolf’s Embrace” by Lora Leigh. In 2023 New York, Matthias Slaughter must keep Grace Anderson, a witness to an assassination, alive not so much for her to testify, but because she is his soulmate.

These four erotic romantic fantasies are terrific novellas with strong lead characters that sub-genre fans will fully relish.

Harriet Klausner

Destiny’s Warrior
Heather Waters
Berkley, Dec 2007, $6.99
ISBN: 9780425219621

Fae King Arrane loses the love of his life when the human her cherishes Geraldine leaves his kingdom to keep their offspring safe from his ambitious purebred family. She returns to Scotland where she raised her son Gavin McCain as a single parent; she never told him of his Fae heritage although she never forgot her beloved Arrane.

Years later, Laird Gavin McCain remains ignorant that magic exists let alone his paternal bloodlines affirm it until Lady Nakkole arrives to keep him from harm’s way. Apparently, Gavin’s half sister, Queine Elphina, a succubus’s daughter, plans to usurp the Fae throne, but must get rid of the half-breed mortal heir. As purebred Nakkole performs her duty, she falls in love with the half-breed she protects.

This is an entertaining romantic fantasy in which Waters’ world seems genuine as the audience will, like the hero, begin to believe that magic is real. The key cast members insure the magical elements come across as plausible especially the metamorphosis of Gavin from scorn to true believer. However, the romance between Nakkole and Gavin seems intrusive as the fast-paced story line is at its best when magic outside of the heart rules.

Harriet Klausner

I Never Saw Paris
Harry I. Freund
Carroll & Graf, Aug 2007, $23.00
ISBN: 9780786720545

In Manhattan, four people wait on the sidewalk for chance to cross Park Ave when a car jumps the curb killing each of them and the driver. The group of strangers consists of sexagenarian businessman Irving Caldman, fifty something personal shopper for the wealthy Clarissa Bowen; grandmother Essie Mae Rowder employed as a housemaid; twentyish interior decorator Brett Taylor; and the driver Mendel Perlow who survived the holocaust to own a New York candy store.

Malakh welcomes the group at a heavenly rest stop where he prepares the quintet for their upcoming worthiness before the Judge of the Universe. He orders each to share their life history with the others. At first none of the five are comfortable revealing their inner most fears and desires, but over the course of bickering and fighting, each opens up revealing good and bad memories as a camaraderie forms.

This is a fabulous parable with an interesting spin on how heaven works and what it takes to get there as deeds count. The story line focuses on all five recently deceased mortals with Irving as the prime player with his dry assertion that he never saw Paris nor will he at least in that lifetime. Readers will appreciate Harry I. Freund’s insightful look at five strangers going through the stages of a group (Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing and Terminating as Malakh moves them on) while also the stages of grief for those they left behind.

Harriet Klausner

Blood Dreams
Kay Hooper
Bantam, Jan 2007, $25.00, 336 pp.
ISBN 9780553804843

A serial killer has tortured and brutalized at least twelve women in Boston and the police don’t have any evidence that would lead to his identity. The last woman he killed was a senator’s daughter and the notoriety he brought upon himself gets him to move to Ventura, Georgia in Prophet County. Meanwhile the new director of the FBI orders Agent in Charge Noah Bishop and his team to keep hunting in Boston because he doesn’t believe in psychic powers especially those that point to the serial killer leaving the area.

Bishop is forced to work with Haven, the civilian group of psychics that were organized by a wealthy businessman married to an empath. Dani Justice returns to Ventura to help law enforcement since she is a psychic and part of Haven. She has the ability to dream walk and pull others into her dreams. The sheriff believes in her powers because he has seen them demonstrated and because he loves her even though she ran away from the town and him. Now she is connected to the danger from a monster who relishes tearing his victims apart.

The latest Bishop/Special Crimes Unit thriller is a powerful, energizing and enthralling police procedural that fans will be unable to put down. Both Bishop and his wife Miranda make appearances and Hollis who appeared in several previous books in this series plays a pivotal role as she grows as a medium. The heroine is a strong independent woman who is determined to catch the killer through her way while also deciding whether she wants to be part of Haven.

Harriet Klausner

Sizzle and Burn
Jayne Ann Krentz
Putnam, Jan 207, $24.95, 368 pp.
ISBN: 9780399154454

After her aunt died, Raine Tallentyre returned to Shelbyville, Washington to arrange to have Vella’s house sold. Raine is a psychic, a clairvoyant who hears the voices of evil people who have touched something she has touched. That is how Raine knows that a young woman is locked in a padlocked closet in her aunt’s basement. When the police arrive and open the door she is still alive. The victim tells the authorities the man thought she was a witch and all witches had to die.

Parapsychic Zack Jones is a private investigator for the Arcane Society, an organization dedicated to doing research on psychic powers; he is not repulsed by Raine’s powers because he has visions too. The Arcane Society is in a fight with Nightshade, an organization of criminal psychics, who stole the original formula of the founder of the Arcane Society to enhance paranormal abilities. The drawback is that every dose the person takes leads to insanity and finally suicide. Zack wants Raine to help him locate missing scientist Dr. Lawrence Quinn who was working on the formula to enhance para powers without going insane. The missing scientist was last scene in Oriana near the home of Raine’s late aunt. Zacl wants to rescue the researcher or deal with him if he is a traitor and she wants to find out if her aunt was murdered. Together they make a great team in and out of the bedroom.

Jayne Anne Krentz has written another best seller that is going to the top of the New York Times bestseller list. This latest Arcane Society novel is full of action, intrigue, romance and double agents who keep the protagonists busy trying to figure out who they are. The support cast is quirky, a Krentz trademark and add a degree of beauty to a fast paced thriller. Readers get a fascinating inside look at the Arcane Society.

Harriet Klausner

Half the Blood of Brooklyn
Charlie Huston
Del Rey, Jan 2007, $13.95, 246 pp.
ISBN: 9780345495877

Vampyre P.I. Joe Pitt is no longer a Rogue but is an Enforcer for the Society, a clan that carved out a piece of Manhattan belonging to the Coalition. The two clans have an uneasy truce, one that can be broken by the smallest misdeed. Joe isn’t interested in vampire politics but in his girlfriend Evie who is dying from AIDS. However, it is just a matter of time before war breaks out and the Manhattan clans are trying to get allies from the outer boroughs.

Terry, the leader of the Society is turned down by the Docks for an alliance and he retaliates even though he knows he will make an enemy of that clan. Joe is sent to look at a death caused by what looks like Van Helsing and the sad part is that the victim was not a vampire but a businessman who sold blood to the vamps. Another clan wants to negotiate but this time when Joe drives to Brooklyn, he is taking a hostage so that the negotiator will be brought back when talks are finished with Terry. It sounds like a simple plan but Joe becomes involved in a clan war and the end result is losing everything that matters to him.

This dark supernatural urban noir shows a brutal vampire society that is hidden amidst humans yet are predators who think of humans as prey. Manhattan is the perfect place for this storyline to take place because it is full of predators only in Charlie Huston’s world they are of the supernatural kind.. Most are out for themselves and want power and territory. Joe is no choir boy but a predator who has one soft spot, his dying Evie. Clan warfare is comparable to the mafia wars.

Harriet Klausner

Racing the Dark
Alaya Dawn Johnson
Bolden, Sep 2007, $24.00
ISBN: 9781932841282

Teenage Lana lives on the island earning a living diving in fresh water to take jewels from mandagah fish. When Lana goes through the rite of adulthood ceremony, she finds a special blood-red jewel that she hides from her family and the village elders. She knows the gem means she is someone with power, but she does not want to become an elder as those who obtain special jewels become; elders have no independence as their life is filled with responsibilities for others.

Six months after she hid the jewel, the village cash crop, the mandagah fish are dying out caused by changes to their watery environs. Lana’s family wants to relocate to another island, but have no means to pay neither the transportation nor settling. To do so Lana obtains an apprenticeship with a strange “exiled” witch the sorceress Akua, who uses blood sacrifice to fuel her spells. As Lana learns how to cast spells, she must sacrifice something of personal value to cast her incantations. When she is tricked into sacrificing her beloved mother, Lanai knows she cannot; she must find someway to save her mother’s life, which means using even more ancient forbidden dark magic.

This is a terrific coming of age fantasy thriller starring a thirteen years old girl whose rite of passage into adulthood takes a dark turn when she finds the special blood gem. Readers will feel they have entered Johnson’s Island (not the military base in the Pacific) realm as the geography and climate come across rather influentially and powerfully. However, the island culture beyond the gem economy and government never fully seems developed although in fairness the gems are the heart of society. Still filled with twists especially the key Twilight Zone spin, young adults will enjoy RACING THE DARK alongside of Lana, who would do anything for her beloved mother as witnessed by her sacrificing her soul to apprentice to the blood witch.

Harriet Klausner