The Wolf Who Loved Me
Lydia Dare
Sourcebooks, Apr 3 2012, $7.99
ISBN: 9781402263460

In 1820, affluent ducal daughter Lady Madeline Hayburn has become wary of males as fortune hunters seem to do anything to force her to marry them. During a full moon, Maddie is shocked when she sees her new neighbor Mr. Weston Hadley turn into a wolf. However, Maddie is not half as stunned as Weston is that he carelessly let someone see him shift.

He believes they have no choice except to marry, but he expects her to decline his offer as he knows Maddy runs from the impoverished lords and besides beauty never marries the beast. Instead, Maddie accepts his offer but demands they immediately elope to Gretna Green. As they head to Scotland, there is plenty of pursuit and not all on her side.

The latest Team Dare Regency romantic fantasy (see Taming of the Wolf, Never Been Bit, It Happened One Bite and In the Heat of the Bite) is a bewitching historical. The storyline is a beguiling Lycan rendition of Beauty and the Beast with plenty of humor (mostly from the potential “mother of his mutts”) and danger (even her father who loves and spoils Maddy wants to cut off Weston’s head).

Harriet Klausner

Darkest Knight
Karen Duvall
Luna, Mar 20 2012, $14.95
ISBN: 9780373803446

One month ago, Aydin the warrior, bonded to a gargoyle, sacrificed his humanity to free his beloved Chalice from her master Shui the homicidal gargoyle before the psychopath dined on Chalice tartare. To fight Shui, he had to accept the curse. Now Aydin is a gargoyle and Chalice plans to bring her lover back to human form by facing her nightmares in the Vyantara Fatherhouse on the other side of the Veil.

Chalice has become a knight in The Order of the Hatchet. When something murders her sister knights while they sleep, Chalice investigates alone. At the same time, Aydin visits Chalice in her dreams. Soon she will be caught in a choice of competing loyalties no person should have to make.

The latest Chalice urban fantasy is an entertaining thriller as the heroine, filled with guilt and plenty of heart, struggles to adjust to her changed circumstances and what her beloved mentor did for her. Although newcomers will struggle with comprehending the Duvall realm (it behooves fans to have read A Knight’s Curse in which the mythos is established), the beleaguered protagonist remains a confused adult who is unsure what to do now that her teacher is no longer there for her and her guardian angel Rafe refuses to coddle her. Filled with sorcerers, angels and the fallen, fans will enjoy this complex thriller as the heroine continues to learn good and evil tend to somewhat overlap.

Harriet Klausner

Wicked As They Come
Delilah S. Dawson
Pocket, Mar 27 2012, $7.99
ISBN: 9781451657883

Two weeks ago, Nurse Tish Everett found the body of elderly Mrs. Stein. Now she is at the deceased woman’s estate sale where she finds a ruby locket. Before she can pay for it, an elderly woman and then her beeper interrupts her. She rushes off to deal with an emergency forgetting the locket in her pocket without paying for the item.

Tish cleans the locket, but struggles to open it before she finally plies it apart. She is unaware that the locket was sent by a magician to her. When she awakens, Tish finds herself in Sang dealing with circus ringmaster Criminy Stain the fanged bludman. Everyone except Criminy looks at her with suspicion as she lacks fangs. Meanwhile Tish realizes she has the “glancing” skill which enables her to tell fortunes. As she considers staying or not, her key the locket home is stolen Criminy and Tish search for the locket, but find the deadly anti Blud racist Magistrate plotting evil.

This is an entertaining steampunk fantasy starring a modern day “Alice” falling through the rabbit hole. The storyline is fast-paced with the key (besides the locket) being Tish’s awe with what she sees and the obvious distrust by the Blud community towards her. Fans will relish her escapades with roguish Criminy as she must decide to blud or not to blud that is her question.

Harriet Klausner

CrystalFire
Kate Douglas
Zebra, Apr 1 2012, $6.99
ISBN: 9781420110029

Lemurian Taron enjoys being an academic, but since the philosopher is partnered with the sentient sword CrystalFire, he must learn to act like a warrior too. He understands he must help the humans near Mount Shasta and his people deal with the demon invasion though CrystalFire feels his scholarly Lemurian is unsuited for combat against the Demon King, who plans his return from the abyss to breach the barriers between dimensions.

In combat with the Demon King, Taron is taken aback by a stunning side effect. Willow the sprite of the mists becomes a beautiful normal sized female though inside her is also Bumper the dog. Meanwhile the Demon King shows his adaptability when he possesses Ed Marks’ body while Eddy and her sentient sword DarkFire are trapped in the Void; a place her lover Dax the former demon knows firsthand and guiltily knows his calling her led to the demon King sending her there. While Dax works on rescuing his beloved human, Taron and Willow begin falling in love as they team up to prevent the Demon King’s diabolical scheme from happening.

The latest DemonSlayer romantic fantasy (see Starfire, Demonfire and Hellfire) is a super thriller that contains two strong prime subplots with each flowing nicely and converging to the delight of Kate Douglas’ fans. Fast-paced and filled with action yet a strong romance, CrystalFire is an entertaining twisting tale.

Harriet Klausner

Assassins In Love
Kris DeLake
Sourcebooks, Mar 6 2012, $6.99
ISBN: 9781402262821

Rogue Assassin Rikki struggles to toss dead Elio Testrial out an airlock when Guild Assassin Misha intrudes by taking charge of the situation but sets off alarms while disposing of the corpse. He pretends to be intoxicated and takes her with guard escort to the B Deck where he has a room.

He thinks she is an out of control amoral person; she thinks he is fool for adhering to the Guild’s rules. His goal is to get her to join the Guild; her goal is to get away from him. Rikki soon concludes the lone wolf is very ethical as she only hunts down those who are evil; Misha soon concludes he may be by the book, but stretches the rules with his antics. They begin to fall in love until she realizes who her fellow assassin is even as they get entangled with the Guild

The key to this entertaining Assassins Guild romantic science fiction tale is the generally accepted concept by society that assassinations are normal. The storyline is fast-paced and the diabolical scheme to set up Rikki brilliantly deployed. Readers will enjoy a visit to the Assassins Guild as Kris DeLake provides a fun thriller.

Harriet Klausner

The Kingdoms Of Dust
Amanda Downum
Orbit, Mar 1 2012, $7.99
ISBN: 9780316068987

The recent disastrous events evolved from her investigation into a dead whore wearing the ring of the deceased queen of Selafai to Isyllt Iskaldur’s master dying and assassins stalking her. Not only has she lost her position as the necromancer Agent of the Crown, she is exiled from the royal city of Erisin (see The Bone Palace). She and her mercenary friend Adam travel across the Caelurean Sea receiving sanctuary at the court of the Assari.

Dormant ancient spirits of entropy begin to awaken. If they break out of the imprisonment of dedicated mages, these spirits will destroy Assar and its neighbors. Isyllt and Asheris al Seth the jinn bound to a human body travel into the deadly burning desert in search of the lost ancient city of Qais. There they seek the vortex where the lethal ghost winds emanate from. If they find the city, they still have to figure out how to shut down the terrorizing ghost winds.

The latest Necromancer Chronicles fantasy series (see The Drowning City) is a great tale as Amanda Downum once again combines morality on an individual scale against the ethics of the greater good. Isyllt is the focus of the dilemma as she wonders whose needs belong on top of the food chain at the cost to others. She feels for her partner who fumes against his binding but she needs him to save humanity; she empathizes with the bound spirits trying to break out but also knows if freed they will destroy their mage guards (who she admires for their self-sacrificing vigil) and humanity. Filled with plenty of fast-paced action, The Kingdoms of Dust is fantasy at its most exciting morally thought provoking best.

Harriet Klausner

Blue Magic
A.M. Dellamonica
Tor, Apr 10 2012, $14.99
ISBN 9780765319487

In Indigo Springs, Oregon, Astrid Lethewood discovered an underground stream of blue liquid when she moved into the home of her late father. She learned that this Vitagua possesses magic, but she and her friends like Sahara Kanx become corrupted by the power possibilities of the blue liquid (see Indigo Springs). However, as Astrid begins doubting the positive effect of Vitagua, the world knows of its existence.

Sahara formed a cult focused on her being a goddess ruling the world while her former BFF turned enemy Astrid tries to heal the world. The would-be goddess loses and now she stands trial along with her minion for crimes against the state. Astrid somewhat helps Will Forest, who assisted her in ending Sahara’s reign of terror, locate his children. However, Astrid is distracted by her efforts to prevent global annihilation that she fears she set in motion.

The return to Indigo Springs is an exciting and enthralling fantasy that once again looks at the consequences of “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” (Lord Acton). The Indigo Springs’ subplots that follow up on the lives of the lead players from the first thriller (Will’s kids, Sahara’s trial and Astrid’s concerns that have her followers arguing) supersedes the world apocalypse now plot as the small overwhelms the big; which feels wrong as the global pandemic could end Indigo Springs and the rest of earth. Still this is an entertaining tale that provides a close scrutiny of magic’s corruption effect.

Harriet Klausner

Singularity
Ian Douglas
Harper Voyager, Feb 22 2012, $7.99
ISBN 9780061840272

By 2404 AD, mankind has colonized nearby space with settlements as far away as 60 light years from earth. However, on the verge of an incredible technological transcendence, the feral Sh’daar collective launch an assault on the human space sector including a brutal Earth Strike. After slaughtering billions, the enemy demands total surrender especially an end to the transcendence

The Terran Confederation of States leaders bicker on how to react to the hostile blitzkrieg. Many prefer surrender while under staffed and poorly equipped Marines fight the overwhelming servile horde of the invincible foe. Admiral Alexander Koenig knows there is something about the transcendence that frightens the bellicose Sh’daar. He knows his side has one chance to survive the ordeal as the adversary will not stop even with total surrender; he decides to lead the Star Carrier America on an attack of Sh’daar system.

The third Star Carrier military science fiction (see Center of Gravity) is an exhilarating thriller that provides interesting insight into tactics and strategy when you fight shorthanded though all that jargon slows down the otherwise fast-paced storyline. The awesome alien adversaries steal the show from the earth leaders and the admiral and his crew as they are incredibly developed, which is a prime reason fans will enjoy the engaging “Vinge” Singularity.

Harriet Klausner

Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse
Troy Denning
Del Rey, Mar 13 2012, $27.00
ISBN: 9780345509222

The Force flows strongly through father and son Luke and Ben Skywalker as well as female teenage Sith Vestara Khai. Ben and Vestara are attracted to each other though she hates these weak feelings that go against her nature. Still she has saved their lives several times which also goes against her Sith DNA.

The Skywalker pair completed their mission so they return to the Jedi stronghold on Coruscant. However the Sith have infiltrated the Galactic Alliance in a bold plan to destroy their enemy from within and Abeloth has begun her quest to take over the galaxy by controlling the Galactic Alliance. Some of the Alliance members are aware of the twin threats, a bold plan is deployed to force the Sith out into the open while the targets employ a counterplot; meanwhile Abeloth continues to feed on the fear that the adversaries bring to her.

The ninth and final Fate of the Jedi (three authors - Aaron Allston, Christie Golden and Troy Denning) is a terrific ending to a strong post New Hope saga. The two overarching prime plots (and much more) converge on Coruscant with the Skywalker pair ready to take the fight to Abeloth while the Jedi and Sith face off in a Force Armageddon. This is a must read.

Harriet Klausner

Guardian of the Night
Tony Daniel
Baen, Feb 7 2012, $13.00
ISBN: 9781451638028

In 2075 for two months the USX Chief Seattle tracks a Sceeve ship the Power of Heaven. As the SIGINT, Petty Officer Second Class Melinda Japps monitors the enigmatic enemy odor broadcasts of the “Poet” and sends recordings and reports back to headquarters. Japps figures out how to convert the encoded smells into lights. From there she interprets the pattern in which the Poet is pleading with the humans for help while Power of Heaven political officer Transel seeks the traitor.

Captain Sub-receptor Arid Ricimer commands the Guardian of Night. He grieves the deaths of his beloved family killed by his side. An honorable officer who fought bravely with the kinetic energy weapons that devastated the earth, Ricimer decides enough treachery from those in his supposed side’s comfort zone. He chooses to defect with his ship, crew and a weapon of mass destruction. His former Sceeve fleet mates pursue him with orders to kill while the former enemy navy and civilian leaders consider him and his ship as a Trojan Horse needing to be eliminated. Only Japps thinks otherwise.

This is an exciting extremely complex (thank Mr. Daniels for a needed glossary) futuristic science fiction military-political thriller. The storyline is fast-paced from the moment Japps begins to translate the Poet’s odor language and never slows down until a final confrontation. Filled with political intrigue on both sides and mindful of Tom Clancy’s The Hunt for Red October, fans will enjoy the challenges to earth and Sceeve by the Guardian of Night.

Harriet Klausner