The Highwayman by Michele Hauf

The Highwayman is in the Silhouette Nocturne line and is the first in the Wicked Games series. The Wicked Games series takes place in the same paranormal world as Hauf's Bewitching the Dark series. I haven't read any of those but have one in my TBR pile and look forward to reading them all.

Max Fitzroy is a French highwayman who is possessed by a demon (actually part of a demon) in 1758. After that he can no longer eat, sleep or have an orgasm. On the other hand, he is immortal and has superhuman strength. He is driven by revenge and goes around the world killing demons and familiars. Familiars are cat shape-shifters who bring demons into this world during a magic sex ritual. Aby is a Familar who has a werewolf protector. Max tracks her down planning to use her to call up the demon whose shadow lives inside him and then kill her.

What I loved about this book was the originality. The Highwayman and his super cool whip are unique and a welcome change from vamps and weres. Although Aby is a shifter, the Familiars are also new and fascinating. I was not too happy with Max having killed so many of them, though. It's a fast paced book with lots of fun action and surprises. Aby was an enchanting heroine, so innocent in many ways in spite of being so sexually experienced. I especially liked the part of the book that took place in Paris. The only complaint I have is that the ending seemed rushed and I would have liked to find out a little more about what happened to them.

I'll rate it 8.0 out of 10 and will look for the next in the series, Moon Kissed, which is the story of Severo, Aby's werewolf friend.

Bad Moon Rising by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Bad Moon Rising is the 17th book in Kenyon's Dark-Hunter series. This book is more of a stand-alone than some because it does explain a good bit of backstory. I think you could enjoy the love story if you haven't read the previous novels even if you were confused about who all the characters are.

I have some mixed feelings about Bad Moon Rising. I have been looking forward to Fang and Aimee's story for a long time. I enjoyed following their perilous path to happiness very much and their relationship is one of my favorites from the past few books. Fang, a wolf shifter, is my favorite kind of hero--tortured beyond belief, honorable, strong. Aimee was also strong, not surprising since she is a bear shifter. It's great to have a heroine who is a good fighter and I also liked her interaction with her large family.

I did have a problem with the timeline of the book. It takes place before or at the same time as recent books and repeats some of the events we already know about (but from a different viewpoint.) There are also the issues that come along with having such a long running series. The cast of characters is huge and hard to keep straight. It is also hard to remember which groups hate each other, which demons are evil and which good, who has what powers, etc.

Kenyon is a master at writing emotional love stories and I have to admit that I cried during a scene near the end. It takes quite a bit of skill to get actual tears from me. I was willing to forgive any faults in the novel since I got such a beautiful ending. Although I enjoyed the usual fast paced action and suspenseful situations in the book, the top reason to read it is the touching relationship between Fang and Aimee.

I'm looking forward to reading Nick's story but the next one to be published features Dev, the brother of Aimee. I am wondering if Savitar will ever get a book of his own because he's really fascinating. I'd also like to learn more about Thorn, who was introduced in this book.

I'll rate this book 8.0 out of 10.

Deadly Desire by Keri Arthur

Deadly Desire is the 7th in Arthur's Riley Jensen series. You really need to read them in order to fully understand some things, like Riley's relationships, her job and her developing powers. Arthur is one of my favorite authors and I have enjoyed all of the books in the series very much.

In Deadly Desire, Riley is facing someone or something who is killing vampires and raising zombies. Someone is also killing young human females. To complicate matters, Kye Murphy, the werewolf bounty hunter who Riley hates, is back and interfering in her investigation.

The book moves at breathtaking speed, with one action scene after another and a lot of suspense. We do find out who is the villain sooner than I expected, but we don't find out all the details until the end. The sexual tension between Kye and Riley is very strong, which she resists with all her power because of her love of Quinn.

Arthur's worldbuilding is excellent, and her paranormal aspects fascinating (hellhounds, anyone?) Her characters are all original and even the minor characters are extremely well done. This is the kind of book that it's hard to put down and I can't wait for the next in the series, Bound to Shadows, which will be out in October.

I'll rate this book 8.5 out of 10. I highly recommend the Riley Jensen series to anyone who likes paranormals or urban fantasy.

Demon Mistress by Yasmine Galenorn

Demon Mistress is the sixth book in the Otherworld series and continues the story from Menolly's perspective. I've previously reviewed Dragon Wytch (Aug. 2008) and Night Huntress (March 2009) so I won't go into the premise of the series again. You need to read the books in order to fully understand everything that is going on.

Although these books are marketed as paranormal romance, I think they fit better in the fantasy genre. There was not much romance in this book, although I was happy to see Menolly did find a couple of partners to help fight her loneliness. She can be a difficult character to like, because what she has been through and what she has become makes her stand apart from the others.

Besides the ongoing Otherworld politics and the search for the spirit seals, the sisters face two potential disasters. One is a monster unlike one they've ever seen before that seems to suck the souls of Fae and it gets its hooks into Delilah. The other is a secret society that has been raising ghouls, among other things that could cause a great deal of trouble. The book is full of action and interesting paranormal elements but I think the strongest element in the book is the relationship between the three sisters.

I look forward to reading the next book in the series, Bone Magic, which will be out in January. I'll rate this book 8.0 out of 10.

Ravenous by Sharon Ashwood

Ravenous is the first Sharon Ashwood book I've read. It's the first volume in the Dark Forgotten series. I was happy to discover a new author who writes great urban fantasy in the same style as Keri Arthur and Kelley Armstrong.

The heroine is Holly Carver, a witch who specializes in the removal of ghosts, poltergeists and imps to raise tuition money. The book opens with Holly being hired to "de-spook" a house, a job that turns out to be much more complicated than it appears at first. She is helped by Alessandro Caravelli, a sexy vampire, and later gets assistance from a werewolf named Perry Baker.

One thing I liked about the book was that it was not immediately clear who the hero was. The characters were mostly complex, not stereotypical at all and I enjoyed them, especially Omara, the vampire queen, and Holly's grandmother. There is a lot of action, including a big battle scene at the end of the book, and a fast pace. The romance takes a back seat to the fight against evil, but it's very intense and ultimately very satisfying.

I'll rate it 8.5 out of 10 and look forward to reading the next book in the series, Scorched, which will be out in December.

Stolen by Kelley Armstrong

Stolen is the second in Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series. Bitten was the first, and it introduced us to Elena Michaels, the only female werewolf. Bitten was about Elena's adjustment (and resentment) after she is bitten by her lover and was full of angst. Happily, by the time Stolen takes place she is comfortable in her skin(s.)

Elena comes into her own in this book and is a strong kick-ass heroine up there with the best of them. She reminds me a bit of Riley Jenson from Keri Arthur's series. Both series are written in first person and both have strong women with an attitude. But Riley works for law enforcement, while Elena answers only to her pack leader. Also, Arthur's series takes place in Australia and Armstrong's is set in North America.

In Stolen, we meet some other members of the supernatural, such as witches, demons and sorcerers. Someone has been kidnapping these paranormals, but before the Pack and their allies can do much investigating, Elena is taken. She is imprisioned and treated as a lab animal for much of this book. It was very suspenseful and full of action, with twists I never saw coming. It was intense and even scary in parts. By the end you are not sorry at all about what happens to the people who captured her.

I did miss seeing more of Jeremy and Clay, her pack leader and her lover, since they are two great characters. I enjoyed meeting the fire demon Adam and Xavier, a demon who can transport, which is a very handy skill. I'm hoping we'll see more of them in the future.

I'd rate this 8.5 out of 10 and look forward to reading the next in the series.

Alpha Wolf by Linda O. Johnston

Alpha Wolf is part of Harlequin's paranormal Nocturne line. As you can guess, it features werewolves, and I enjoyed it more than I expected.

I thought this would be a run-of-the-mill werewolf story. Not only was Alpha Wolf very well written, but the werewolves were some of the most convincing that I've come across. It was easy to believe that if werewolves existed, this is exactly what would happen.

The hero, Major Drew Connell, is an uber-Alpha. He is not only a werewolf, but he's also a military officer and a doctor. In spite of this, he is very likable and not obnoxiously overprotective or domineering. The heroine, Dr. Melanie Harding, is a vet with some alpha tendencies of her own. She seemed very real to me, brave and intelligent, yet not perfect.

The Nocturnes are short in length and there wasn't much time to develop secondary characters. I wish there had been a bit more time spent on the villain, because when he was revealed I thought for a moment "Who?" I did think the big mystery of who had been shooting the dogs and people in the area with silver bullets, was interesting and full of action.

I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys werewolf tales and I'll rate it 7.5 out of 10.

Desire Unchained by Larissa Ione

You know how sometimes an author has a great start to a series but then it peters out, like she used up all her best ideas on the first book? Well, that sure didn't happen with Desire Unchained, the second book in the Demonica series by Larissa Ione. Desire Unchained is at least as good as Pleasure Unbound (which you will remember blew me away) and perhaps better.

This book tells the story of Shade, the demon brother who is a paramedic at Underworld General, and Runa, a newly created werewolf. There are a couple of things that prevent an easy happily-ever-after. For one thing, Runa hates Shade and wants to kill him because she blames him for her tranformation. For another, Shade is the victim of a curse that will kill him if he ever falls in love. Quite a lot to overcome!

I loved that the book opened with the two of them imprisioned in a dungeon. There was no beating around the bush, the author jumps right into the action and the story moves swiftly from one fascinating dilemma to the next. The tension built to a fantastic ending that left me completely satisfied.

The secondary characters continue to play an important part in the book, and there's not a boring one in the lot. I'd recommend reading these books in order so you can follow all the storylines easily. It's not that the book is terribly complicated, but there is a lot going on and a lot of different people/creatures to keep track of.

If you like paranormals, or have never tried one but think you might want to, this series has the highest recommendation I can give.

I'll rate this book a 9.0 out of 10.

Howl at the Moon by Christine Warren

Howl at the Moon is the fourth in Warren's Others series. It is set in a world like ours except with paranormal creatures like shapeshifters, demons, vampires, etc. The series is centered on one pack of werewolves who live in New York. I've read the first three books as well and it was nice to see characters from those play a part in this one. I don't think you have to read the others first to enjoy Howl at the Moon, though.

The heroine, Sam, is a werewolf and the hero, Noah, is a human. That is a nice change since it seems the male is usually the "other" and the female a human. It was great to have a heroine who was stronger than the hero for once. I liked both of them, although I did think Sam forgave Noah a bit too easily.

The plot line about the DNA research was interesting, but not as much as the relationship between Sam and Noah. There was a lot of sexual tension and some nice bits of humor. I especially liked the scene when Noah met Sam's family. The action and suspense was slow in the first half of the book, but really took off in the second half. The ending was satisfying, but did leave me with a couple of minor questions.

This is an enjoyable read if you like werewolves. I'll give it 7.0 out of 10.

Kitty Takes a Holiday by Carrie Vaughn

Kitty Takes a Holiday is the 3rd book in Vaughn's series about a werewolf named Kitty (ha ha) who has a radio talk show called The Midnight Hour. I enjoyed the first two books in the series a lot. This one, not so much.

I felt this book was too dark and depressing. I usually don't mind dark as long as there is a happy ending. Yep, you guessed it--no happy ending. Not a horrible ending, but certainly not happy. I had to push myself to finish this book, I kept getting bogged down. There wasn't a lot of action and there was too much angst (and I like angst--up to a point.) Kitty is taking a break from her radio show in this book, and I really missed it. The radio show callers and guests provided some much needed humor and insight in the previous two books.

Some important things happen to Kitty in this book so unfortunately I can't recommend skipping it if you want to keep up with the series. In the next book in the series, which I already have, she returns to her radio show, so I have hopes that this book was just an aberration and Vaughn will be back in fine form for Kitty and the Silver Bullet. I'd rate this book a 5.5 out of 10.