From the time she was an orphan, Mona Lisa knew she was different. As a Mixed-Blood daughter of the Monère, she rules her domain in the Louisiana Bayou. But she’s about to become the hunted as her mind begins playing tricks, and no one is who they seem.
Roberto Carderas, a dangerous drug lord of mixed Monère heritage, arrives in Cozumel to eliminate a rival. But the jaguar-shifter has encountered a much more valuable prize on the island: Mona Lisa, the first female Monère he’s ever met—and one especially vulnerable in that she has lost her memory. Now, with all knowledge of her real life as stripped away as her defenses, Mona Lisa can be manipulated into believing…anything.
Convinced that Roberto is her kind and sensual protector, Mona Lisa thwarts all attempts at her rescue—including those made by her desperate lover Dante. As Roberto’s devious scheme gets underway, Dante can only hope that the touch of his warm flesh will reignite total recall in the body and mind of the woman he loves. But escape for both of them could be as forever elusive as Mona Lisa’s past.
When we last saw Mona Lisa she had just violently miscarried and banished her lover, Dante, from her Louisiana territory. She had escaped the clutches of an evil Monère queen, but suffered serious injury at the hands of her demon-lover, Halycon, in the process of her escape.
When ‘Eclipsing’ begins, Lisa’s life is in turmoil. Dante is banished and Halycon is in self-imposed exile. With two of her lovers missing or silent, Lisa is distraught and with a divided heart. So when rumour spreads that Dante’s saber-toothed tiger shifter has been spotted in Mexico, Lisa is on the first plane to find her lost lover and bring him home.
But a rumble in the jungle sees Lisa badly injured and amnesiac. She has lost the last six months of her life . . . the crucial months in which she learnt of her Monère queen status, took on warrior lovers and mated the demon king of hell.
Will this memory loss be the end of everything Mona Lisa has built, or will it be the clean slate she needs to move on and accept the changes in her life?
‘Mona Lisa Eclipsing’ is the seventh book in Sunny’s sublime paranormal erortica series, ‘Monère: Children of the Moon’.
We haven’t had a ‘Monère’ book since 2009. In fact, Sunny was silent for a long time on the status of her series. Fans assumed the worst – that the adventures of Mona Lisa and her Monère men would be put on permanent hiatus. And then, just like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, Sunny comes out with ‘Mona Lisa Eclipsing’ . . . a stunningly fresh and revolutionary instalment in a much-missed series.
This book does have the feel of rebirth to it, like Sunny is opening a new chapter in Mona Lisa’s life. ‘Mona Lisa Darkening’ left off on a somewhat small cliff-hanger, with Dante being banished and Mona Lisa miscarrying. I appreciated the fact that Sunny addresses this precipice in ‘Eclipsing’, but doesn’t harp on it. Mona Lisa and Dante have a lot to work through after the damning events of ‘Darkening’ . . . but Sunny pulls a literal Tabula Rasa, by wiping Mona Lisa’s memory.
Mona Lisa’s memory loss serves a dual-purpose. On the one hand, Sunny is able to revisit old plots and characters to refresh the memory of fans who have been waiting for a new instalment since 2009. On the other hand, the memory loss allows Sunny to acknowledge loose-ends and old wounds, and then move on. As much as Mona Lisa has to relearn her life since becoming Monère, she also has to accept the pains of the past as her memory slowly seeps back . . . that means that Dontaine’s paranoia at being thrown aside is addressed, Halycon can admit his shame at having hurt Mona Lisa and Dante’s banishment can be smoothed over. I loved the memory loss storyline; I thought it was invigorating and all-encompassing.
In the second-half of the book, the plot veers into a totally different direction. I don’t want to give anything away, save to say this new direction all but guarantees there will be more Monère books. This storyline opens up the entire Monère world to infinite possibility.
I did like this second storyline . . . but I found it quite jarring when coupled with the memory-loss plot. I felt like these were two very big storylines, crushed together in a somewhat uncomfortable mishmash. The memory-loss plot could have taken up one whole book; likewise this second plot could have been the eighth instalment in this series. The combination of both fairly major storylines in one book made for somewhat hasty storytelling, oddly combined. But this is my only complaint in an otherwise unblemished book.
Of course this is a Monère book, renowned for being a simmering sensual experience. Sunny is back and better than ever in ‘Darkening’.
If we had kissed before I did not remember it. And it was so much more than the surge of pleasure I'd gotten from kissing Roberto. Like digging into ground looking for a trickle of water and finding a gushing well instead. Dante kissed me as if he would pour his soul into me and pass it into my keeping – a plentitude of giving, not a taking. A benediction of words and sweet sentiment and hotly sprinkled passion over my mouth, my chin, down my neck, touching off zinging sensations, an abundance of it, wherever those firm and tender lips roamed, pulling forth my own gasps and whispers of his name, spurring him more heatedly on.
I loved the fact that Dante was a big focus in this Monère instalment. We met him for the first time in ‘Darkening’, so I'm glad we followed-up with his character in this next book. I have my fingers-crossed that in future books, Sunny backtracks to explore more of the relationship between Mona Lisa and Halycon, Amber, Dontaine and Gryphon. I love those guys and some of them haven’t had much page-time in a while (Amber!).
Sunny is back and better than ever. Mona Lisa has been absent for too long, and having her reappear in ‘Eclipsing’ only highlights how sorely lacking the paranormal scene has been without the luminescent and lush Monère series.
I thought I’d do a post today about diamonds in the ruff – those books and authors who seem to fly underneath the radar and have a smaller fan base than their brilliance demands.
The idea germinated from an author interview with Marta Acosta, who struggled to find an audience for her wonderful ‘Casa Dracula’ series after it was incorrectly categorized as being paranormal romance.
So the following list is comprised of books that I love, and think should have a bigger readership. I hope I’m not insulting any authors by listing their books – any offence is entirely unintentional, I promise you. I’m not saying the following books aren’t brilliant, or are without a devoted readership – I’m saying that they’re popularity should be more in accordance to their fabulousness. . .
I must confess that when I read first book ‘Happy Hour at Casa Dracula’ I was under the misimpression that Acosta’s series was paranormal romance. It’s not. Many Amazon tags have labelled it as such – whether because of the fun and flirty front cover, the promise of ‘vampires’ (and all the blood-lust that that implies) or due to the fact that the series’ heroine is a buxom Latina beauty. The ‘Casa Dracula’ series is not paranormal romance. Yes, there is a love triangle, a deliciously dark bad-boy to tease our heroine and sexy/bloody foreplay. But Acosta’s series is more unique than the banal tag of ‘paranormal romance’ implies.
The ‘Casa Dracula’ series is a comedy-of-manners and errors, an enlightened situational comedic series of Oscar Wilde-esque proportions and brilliance. The series is about a lowly Latina novelist who gets bitten into a family of vampire socialites and how she copes amidst the fanged and fabulous.
If you don’t want to read another same-old, same-old vampire book then give Marta Acosta’s series a read. You will not be disappointed, but you will be in stitches.
I know what you’re thinking – ‘Richelle Mead is ridiculously popular! Her “Vampire Academy” series is selling like hotcakes and a movie deal is in the works. . .’ Very true. Richelle Mead has become one of the reigning queens of urban-fantasy alongside Charlaine Harris, Jeaniene Frost and Patricia Briggs. Her ‘Vampire Academy’ books are New York Times bestsellers and her adult ‘Georgina Kincaid’ series has a devout, rabid fan-following. But her third series, ‘Dark Swan: Eugenie Markham’, always seems to be eclipsed by Georgina and Rose. But to be honest, I can’t choose which series is my favourite out of the three. I love them all for very different reasons, and each series is very unique. ‘Georgina Kincaid’ and ‘Dark Swan’ have an adult readership in common, but that’s about it. Richelle Mead’s penchant for writing messy, heart-breaking lovelife’s for her characters is there in all three series. . . but the romance’s and leading men are vastly different.
The ‘Dark Swan’ series is all about Eugenie Markham, who has spent the majority of her young life sending supernatural creatures back to their natural, magic habitat. Until the day that Eugenie discovers she is part fae (fairy). . . in fact, she is fairy gentry and fated to produce a child-King. Now all the royal fairy’s want a piece of Eugenie – whether to prevent her from producing a Kingly heir, or to try and impregnate her themselves. . .
I love this series, and I’m always a little frustrated that ‘Vampire Academy’ and ‘Georgina Kincaid’ have stolen the spotlight (to the point that Mead’s publishers decided not to release ‘Dark Swan’ #3 this year for fear that the VA and GK release’s would overshadow!).
Charlaine Harris is another ridiculously successful author who’s most popular series, ‘Southern Vampire: Sookie Stackhouse’ has unfortunately overshadowed her other equally wonderful series. Just go onto the Amazon discussion boards and scroll through the many posts asking if ‘Lily Bard/Aurora Teagarden/Harper Connelly is in any way similar to Sookie Stackhouse?’
I’m going to make a big call and say that, in many respects, I prefer the ‘Harper Connelly’ series over ‘Sookie Stackhouse’. Charlaine Harris is first and foremost a mystery writer, but that’s sometimes easy to forget in the Sookie books where the crux of the series revolves around Sookie sinking deeper and deeper into vampire politics. I think Harris marries paranormal and mystery much better in the ‘Harper Connelly’ series.
Harper is a young woman who was struck by lightning as a child. . . and as a result she can sense the dead. Don’t go imagining ‘Sixth Sense’ though; Harper’s technique is a little trickier. When she comes near a dead body she can ‘sense’ the corpse – pinpoint its location and even glimpse the last moments of the person’s life before death. Harper and her step-brother, Tolliver, travel across the country helping out cold cases, missing persons and the flat-out bizarre. But Harper’s sole motivation for using her ‘skills’ is the hunt for her little sister, Cameron, who disappeared when Harper was a young girl. She and Tolliver scour the country looking for other people’s missing persons in the hopes that they’ll stumble across one of their own. . .
I love this series. Harper is a very tricky character who had a horrendous childhood and is now coping with her adult freakdom. There is a romance, but to mention it would be giving away a HUGE plot twist and delicious tension. . .
If you need any more reason to read the ‘Harper Connelly’ series, you should know that CBS is developing the books into a TV show. It’s all very early stages, but a screenplay is being written (headed by Kam Miller) and fans should know around January if the show has been picked up. Oh, and I should mention that Scott Free is producing - that’s Ridley Scott and Tony Scott. Yeah. . . this series just got awesome(r)!
This is a paranormal romance/erotica series of epically delicious proportions! The series is all about Mona Lisa – orphaned as a child she has never felt as though she fits in. . . Until one day a beautiful man comes into the hospital where she works as a nurse. Mona Lisa is drawn to him, and he to her and they have a combustible night together. The stranger, Gryphon, explains their strange intensity – telling Mona Lisa that she is a Monere (moon) Queen. She is descendant of a strange, fae-like race who has so few females that their women are revered and crowned royalty – and encouraged to consort with all the men they want in order to keep the Monere race growing.
This series is somewhat similar to Laurell K Hamilton’s ‘Merry Gentry’ – insofar as a royal woman has to take multiple lovers for the good of her race/kingdom and in order to produce heirs. But Sunny’s series is far superior to Ms. Hamilton’s. For one, the book-covers beautifully encapsulate the elegance and beauty of the series. Sunny never loses sight of story and character in the face of smut and sex (which there is a lot of, consequently). And in fact, the ‘Monere’ series covers a lot of themes and storylines – from power-struggles and corrupt politics to immortal love. This series is very much about the characters with sensual sex scenes as a side-benefit.
As a seasoned reviewer and reader of urban-fantasy I really didn’t think there was any vampire ground I hadn’t read/tread or a vampire book left that could surprise me. I was wrong. So, so wrong. Enter J.F. Lewis and his anti-hero protagonist, Eric. This is a series full of antagonists and morally-bankrupt characters. . . and it’s wonderful. Throughout the books you will cringe, scoff, yell, say ‘eew’ and have generally violent emotional reactions. But you’ll also be incapable of putting the books down. For one thing, a male protagonist in an urban fantasy is refreshingly unique. For another, an antagonist protagonist in urban fantasy is a tornado of fresh air.
The character’s and their actions are often deplorable (i.e.: sleeping with your girlfriend’s sister) but if you wade through the moral muck you will find some redeeming qualities in these despicable characters and discover that half the fun of investing in this series will be rooting for the bad-guy, hoping they make good and waiting to see if any sort of redemption shines through.
The moral bankruptcy is often balanced out and smoothed over by J.F. Lewis’s quick-wit. His is a very dark humour, and while reading you will find yourself slack-jawed and saying “Oh my God, he just went there!” Brilliant, in a ‘so-wrong-it’s-right’ kind of way.
Vampires and desperados – oh my! I love this paranormal erotica trilogy so, so much. But I've read some negative and ‘wtf?’ reviews.
To be honest, the trilogy is very unique for Whiteside’s perspective storytelling. The first book is ‘Bond of Blood’ (‘The Hunter’s Prey’ was published first, but is a collection of short stories featuring characters, but unrelated to the trilogy itself). ‘Bond’ tells the story of Don Raphael Perez, a vampire and former Spanish knight who mourns his human wife who died decades ago. Don Raphael is given a second chance when his wife is reincarnated in the body of Grania O’Malley, a beautiful young veterinarian who is new to Texas (which is consequently Don Raphael’s vampire ‘territory’). But before he and Grania can live happily ever after and get their second chance, Don Raphael must quell a potential take-over from a rival vampiress.
The unusual perspective is due to the fact that book #2 ‘Bond of Fire’, and book #3 ‘Bond of Darkness’ are all centred around the same plot point as ‘Bond of Blood’. What changes however, is the character perspective, as the 2nd and 3rd books are about two of Don Raphael’s vampire lieutenants and their own tricky romantic loves.
So, essentially the same story is being retold from three different perspectives. And like I said, I have read some negative reviews – but one person’s unique is another person’s frustrating, I guess.
I personally love this series. The romance is epic; the sex scenes are H-O-T and Whiteside writes very elegant (but smokin’!) paranormal erotica.
In Wilks’s universe, werewolves are celebrities. They are hounded by the paparazzi, lusted after by groupies and gossiped about in tabloids. None more so than Rule Turner, whom the San Diego media have labelled ‘werewolf prince’ for being the son to the area’s alpha. But things change for Rule when he is implicated in the murder of one of his mistress’s husband’s. On the case is San Diego detective Lily Yu - a unique individual who can ‘feel’ magic. What neither Rule nor Lily counted on when they meet one another is a powerful mating bond joining them together – they are literally each other’s soul mates. The series is all about Rule and Lily adjusting to their romance and mateship, amidst tabloid prejudice and werewolf society.
I love this series – it is one of the most unique urban fantasy’s out there. Wilks’s werewolf mythology is wonderful for hitting so close to home. And the romance between Rule and Lily is lust-worthy. As much as each book is a magical ‘whodunit’, it’s Rule and Lily’s unlikely coupling that keeps me coming back for more. These two are so romantic – a wonderful case of opposites attracting and a relationship thriving under impossible odds.
The series is currently six books deep, with a seventh due for release next year. A series you can sink your teeth into, for sure!
Fans have been accumulating Sookie-verse updates via Charlaine’s responses on her message board. And there have been a *LOT* of hints dropped lately.
For one thing, a Sookie Companion is set for a February 2011 release. This sounds like a sort of Sookie lexicon, but will also include a short-story about Quinn (YAY!). Fans are speculating that this short-story will fill in a lot of the back-story for Quinn’s whereabouts between book’s #8 and #9. Fans are also speculating that this short-story will be as important to the overall Sookie series as ‘One Word Answer’ was to the premise of “All Together Dead” (the short story about Sookie’s cousin, Hadley).
The current working title for Sookie #11 is ‘Dead Letters’.
Ms. Harris has said that Sookie and Eric’s blood bond will be broken... but she doesn’t know when. She admits that the bond has caused her no end of grief and she sounds quite eager to be done with it. lol
Charlaine’s exact words: "Sookie will get plenty of sex when she finds her HEA, and she'll be very enthusiastic about it.” OH. MY. GOD! (definitely not Eric then?)
In further Charlaine Harris news...
Dynamite Entertainment is adapting Harris’s ‘Harper Connelly’ series into a graphic novel. The ‘Harper’ series is about a woman who, after being struck by lightning, is able to sense the dead. She can see the final snatches of their life and act as a sort of human ‘death detector’ to know where bodies are buried.
This is a rather dark series and will make for wonderful comic fodder. I can’t wait to see a graphic representation of my second favourite Charlaine Harris series. The release date is still TBA – but be sure to keep a look out for this graphic adaptation, and in the mean time give the ‘Harper Connelly’ series a read.
Diana Gabaldon
Her ‘Outlander’ graphic novel is nearly here (September 21!) and with the release of ‘An Echo in the Bone’ paperback, fans are given an eight-page full-colour sneak-peak at the graphic! YAY! As Diana said in her latest blog post, ‘The Exile’ is being touted as ‘Jamie’s side of the story’ – even though it’s told mainly from Murtagh’s perspective. But we will get Jamie’s insights, and learn things from Jamie’s POV that were missed because Claire was our narrator in ‘Outlander’.
I am frothing at the mouth for this graphic novel – Jamie in picture! ARGH!
Here is a link to the one-page sneak-peek of the Graphic Novel.
Patricia Briggs
I really loved the Graphic Novel adaptation of Patricia Briggs’s ‘Mercy Thompson’ series. It was called ‘Homecoming’ and was a visual prologue set before the events of ‘Moon Called’. If you are a die-hard Mercy fan (and why wouldn’t you be?) this was a great little back-story to how Mercy first met Adam, Stefan, Siebold (Zee) and got work in the Tricities area as a mechanic.
I *loved* the graphic novel – but general Amazon consensus wasn’t good, ending up with a 3/5 average rating. The negative feedback was mostly due to fan’s misconception about ‘Homecoming’ being a GRAPHIC novel and not actually the next instalment in the ‘Mercy Thompson’ series.
Well, Dabel brothers are giving ‘Mercy’ another shot – and this time it looks as though the graphic novel will be an adaptation of book #1 ‘Moon Called’.
The synopsis from Amazon:
Mercedes "Mercy" Thompson is a talented Volkswagen mechanic living in the Tri-Cities area of Washington. She also happens to be a walker, a magical being with the power to shift into a coyote at will. Mercy's next-door neighbor is a werewolf. Her former boss is a gremlin. And she's fixing a bus for a vampire. This is the world of Mercy Thompson, one that looks a lot like ours but is populated by those things that go bump in the night. And Mercy's connection to those things is about to get her into some serious hot water... Moon Called faithfully adapts New York Times bestselling author Patricia Briggs' first Mercy Thompson novel to comics. Prepare to see the fantastic characters and supernatural settings that have made her novels a hit with fans worldwide come to four-color life!
The graphic novel is being created by: Derek Ruiz (Adapter), Patricia Briggs (Author), Clint Hilinski (Illustrator).
I’m really looking forward to the graphic adaptation of ‘Moon Called’. Sure, it’s not a movie adaptation – but this way Dabel brothers can stay true to the story and dialogue, give Briggs’s characters a physicality that she is happy with and there won’t be any butchering of the story by movie-moguls looking to create a ‘Twilight’ replica with Jacob as the hero.
Some fans are iffy about the whole ‘graphic novel’ thing – but I say don’t knock it till you read it! This is just another dimension to the Mercy world and a great new way for fans to interact with the series. If you haven’t already, I would highly recommend you give first novel ‘Homecoming’ a browse, and definitely keep your eyes open for the graphic novel of ‘Moon Called’. You might be surprised by how much you enjoy reading one of your favourite urban-fantasies in comic-book form!
There also seems to be a comic-adaptation of the “Alpha and Omega” series floating around, but it’s not available in hardcover from Amazon. I really want to get my hands on a copy! I have found copies available for order from various online comic shops.
This adaptation seems to be following the plot of the first book ‘Cry Wolf’. This is the blurb:
A rogue werewolf is slaughtering humans in the Montana wilderness and Charles Cornick must find the killer before his crimes expose the pack to the world. But is the badly wounded Alpha wolf up to the task, even with his mate Anna at his side?Cry Wolf is the latest series of supernatural adventure by New York Times best selling fantasy author Patricia Briggs. Set in the same world as her popular Mercy Thompson novels, it's filled with beloved old characters and exciting new ones. Be sure to see what happens when Alpha and Omega come together!
There’s also a small photo of the cover-art for ‘Masques’ floating around on Amazon. But I don’t know if this is the official cover. ‘Masques’ was Patricia Briggs’s first ever novel, written in 1993. With the success of ‘Mercy Thompson’ Ms. Briggs has been being given the opportunity to do a few re-writes on ‘Masques’ and re-release with a vamped cover. The book does sound heavily fantastical (not so much ‘urban’) but ‘shifters’ are mentioned in the blurb. This new cover seems a clever tactic to give Mercy fans pause and consider trying some of Briggs’s other writing. I, personally, can’t wait to give ‘Masques’ a go.
Richelle Mead
Richelle Mead recently blogged about her ‘Dark Swan’ series.
This is her third series after ‘Georgina Kincaid’ and ‘Vampire Academy’, and probably her least popular (but equally amazing). For that reason, Ms. Mead’s publisher’s at Kensington decided to hold off on releasing the 3rd ‘Dark Swan’ book this year – amidst two VA books and one Georgina.
The good news is we will get a Eugenie instalment in 2011... The better news is that we might be getting the 4th ‘Dark Swan’ book right on the tail of ‘Iron Crowned’!
‘Iron Crowned’ from the BLURB:
Shaman-for-hire Eugenie Markham is the best at banishing entities trespassing in the mortal realm. But as the Thorn Land’s queen, she’s fast running out of ways to end the brutal war devastating her kingdom. Her only hope: the Iron Crown, a legendary object even the most powerful gentry fear…
Who Eugenie can trust is the hardest part. Fairy king Dorian has his own agenda for aiding her search. And Kiyo, her shape-shifter ex-boyfriend, has every reason to betray her along the way. To control the Crown’s ever-consuming powers, Eugenie will have to confront an unimaginable temptation--one that will put her soul and the fate of two worlds in mortal peril…
But ‘Eugenie’ fans should be prepared for a few shocks in ‘Iron Crowned’. In Ms. Mead’s own words; “We all know that the third book of a Richelle Mead series is the WTF? one, and Eugenie's no exception. That's all I'm saying.”
Eugenie has already gone through quite an emotional whirlpool with Dorian and Kiyo – not to mention she’s started a war in the Thorn Lands. I wonder how much more upheaved her life can get? Oh boy!
Gini Koch
Gini Koch is one of my new favourite authors and I have a heart-palpitating crush on her ‘Katherine Kitty Katt’ series.
Ms. Koch recently announced that DAW books have bought instalments 3 & 4 of her space-opera ‘Kitty Katt’ series!
So, the series order will be:
#1 – ‘Touched by an Alien’ - Avaliable NOW!
#2 – ‘Alien Tango’ - December 7th 2010
#3 – ‘Alien in the Family' – April 5th 2011
#4 – ‘Alien Proliferation’ – December 2011
‘Alien Tango’ in Gini Koch’s own words:
For Katherine “Kitty” Katt, Alien Super-Being Exterminator, anti-alien conspiracies, threats from outer space, and a couple of killer alligators are all in a day’s work. But internal alien schemes and some major romantic complications bring new meaning to the term ‘chaos and confusion’.
It’s been five months since Kitty joined Centaurion Division, working with the aliens from Alpha Centauri. She and Jeff Martini have grown closer as a couple and life looks rosy. But when an experimental spacecraft is mysteriously returned to the Kennedy Space Center, Kitty and the rest of Alpha Team are called out to investigate and are immediately embroiled in life or death situations that scream ‘political conspiracy’.
The team must survive repeated murderous attacks, remove a mysterious space entity from a group of astronauts, and avoid an unhinged woman with a serious crush on Kitty’s old high school boyfriend. And that’s all before the masterminds decide Kitty’s extermination is vital -- and take matters into their own hands.
I. Can’t. Wait.
Molly Harper
Molly Harper is a vampire comedy genius. Seriously. Her ‘Jane Jameson’ series was an absolute laugh-riot and a breath of fresh air on the paranormal romance scene.
There’s good news and bad news concerning Molly Harper. The good news is she has petitioned her publisher for a 4th Jane Jameson book. The bad news is she hasn’t received an answer from said publisher about a possible 4th book.... *YET*!
But the GOOD news is; Ms. Harper intends to post Jane Jameson short stories on her website – for fans, for FREE! That’s right. The first short story will be posted on July 1st this year! Don’t believe me? Here’s proof in Harper’s own words:
I receive a lot of e-mails asking when I will be releasing a new Jane Jameson book. And the truth is, I don't know. I'm not trying to mess with my dear readers. I've spoken to my publisher about a fourth novel, but nothing is concrete. Until I know something, I will post Jane short stories and updates here and at my blog. Expect the first short to be posted on July 1, 2010.
Thanks, Molly
Don’t forget Molly Harper also has a stand-alone novel coming out July 27th called ‘And One Last Thing’. She’s an automatic-buy for me, so I already have this one on pre-order and am looking forward to it!
Lisa Kleypas
I've been lusting after Lisa Kleypas’s new contemporary romance series for quite some time. Thankfully we now have a blurb and cover-art (UK only);
‘Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor’ from the BLURB:
The Friday Harbor series of contemporary romance/women's fiction novels is set in San Juan Island just off of the Washington State Coast. The San Juan Island setting is romantic and varied, with rocky shores, sandy beaches, rich woodlands and pasture land, and the prosperous Friday Harbor area. The series is centred around the Nolan family, consisting of two brothers and a sister, the owners of an island vineyard and restaurant. The Nolans' mother Jessica has just passed away, and a mysterious stranger attends the funeral. He reveals that he is an illegitimate child Jessica had given birth to, and given up for adoption, before she married. This family secret leads to many new questions and challenge, which test the bonds of love and loyalty, and ultimately show the Nolans what family is all about.
The book comes out November 9th this year.
There’s are also whispers that Kleypas has a new stand-alone novel coming out in 2011 titled ‘Rainshadow Road’. I am intrigued...
Kelley Armstrong
Kelley’s ‘Darkest Powers’ trilogy came to an end this year with ‘The Reckoning’, and It was a fantastic conclusion to a delicious YA series. Armstrong answered quite a few niggling fan questions and also wrapped up her protagonist’s romantic entanglements in ‘Reckoning’. But she left the door WIDE open for more books in this universe (which is also her ‘Women of the Otherworld’ universe). A new trilogy set in the ‘Darkest Powers’ world will be released next year. This new book is called ‘The Gathering’ and will follow another bunch of genetically engineered teenage supernaturals;
‘The Gathering’ from the BLURB:
Maya lives in a small medical-research town on Vancouver Island. How small? You can’t find it on the map. It has less than two-hundred people, and her school has only sixty-eight students—for every grade from kindergarten to twelve.
Now, strange things are happening in this claustrophobic town, and Maya's determined to get to the bottom of them. First, the captain of the swim team drowns mysteriously in the middle of a calm lake. A year later, mountain lions start appearing around Maya's home, and they won’t go away. Her best friend, Daniel, starts getting negative vibes from certain people and things. It doesn't help that the new bad boy in town, Rafe, has a dangerous secret—and he's interested in one special part of Maya's anatomy: Her paw-print birthmark.
Jeaniene Frost
So, back in March of this year Jeaniene told her fanboard that she would be proposing more ‘Night Huntress’ spin-off books to her publisher. Namely, an Ian and Vlad book (possibly even a full series for Vlad).
No word since March on whether or not Jeaniene’s proposal was given the OKay – but I’m guessing her publisher’s will be waiting to see how Menchere’s spin-off ‘Eternal Kiss of Darkness’ sells before giving her the go-ahead.
I personally didn’t like Spade’s spin-off, ‘First Drop of Crimson’. But I have high-hopes for Mencheres’ book because I think he’s absolutely delicious! And I think Ian would make a GREAT protagonist – his cameo in ‘First Drop’ was pretty much the only thing I liked about that book. Vlad I’m not so sure about – I look forward to his appearance in the 5th Cat & Bones book (coming February 22nd 2011) but I’m not 100% convinced that he could carry his own series. Jeaniene has also confirmed that Vlad appears in ‘Eternal Kiss of Darkness’, but Ian does not :(
Sunny
I love this series. It’s paranormal erotica; beautifully written and constantly exciting. I love and highly recommend it. After the release of her second spin-off book, ‘Lucinda Dangerously’, Sunny sort of hinted that she was done with the ‘Monere; Children of the Moon’ series. I, and many fans, were saddened by the news. But Sunny recently announced that a new instalment to the ‘Monere’ series is set for a March 2011 release. Its title is ‘Mona Lisa Eclipsing’ and this is the blurb:
‘Mona Lisa Eclipsing’ BLURB:
From the time she was an orphan, Mona Lisa knew she was different. As a Mixed-Blood daughter of the Monère, she rules her domain in the Louisiana Bayou. But she’s about to become the hunted as her mind begins playing tricks, and no one is who they seem. Roberto Carderas, a dangerous drug lord of mixed Monère heritage, arrives in Cozumel to eliminate a rival. But the jaguar-shifter has encountered a much more valuable prize on the island: Mona Lisa, the first female Monère he’s ever met—and one especially vulnerable in that she has lost her memory. Now, with all knowledge of her real life as stripped away as her efences, Mona Lisa can be manipulated into believing…anything.
Convinced that Roberto is her kind and sensual protector, Mona Lisa thwarts all attempts at her rescue—including those made by her desperate lover Dante. As Roberto’s devious scheme gets underway, Dante can only hope that the touch of his warm flesh will reignite total recall in the body and mind of the woman he loves. But escape for both of them could be as forever elusive as Mona Lisa’s past.
Mona Lisa has always felt different. Abandoned as a baby and put through the foster-care system, she has always struggled to make connections in her displaced life, especially with men. And then everything changes. During a shift at the hospital where she works as a nurse, Mona Lisa finds herself fascinated by a mysterious patient called Gryphon. They spend a steamy night together and she learns that Gryphon is Monere – a child of the moon… and so is she.
Exiled from the moon long ago, the Monere are a strange fae-like race who have very few females. Because of their rarity, the female Monere are revered Queens who are guarded and sexually serviced by the plentiful Monere men.Monere Queens have difficulty conceiving with the men of their species, and pregnancy is often only feasible with human men – which is precisely how Mona Lisa came to be. Mona Lisa is Mixed Blood, abandoned as a baby for her muddied heritage – but the Monere are dwindling and they need all the Queens they can get, so Mona Lisa is somewhat reluctantly drawn into the world that once discarded her…
There are currently 4 books in this series, which has also spawned a spin-off series (‘Demon Princess Chronicles’), which started in 2007 and has a second book being released in October of this year.
I love this series, even though it is pretty much a carbon copy of Laurell K Hamilton’s ‘Merry Gentry’ series. Right down to a demon character called Halcyon who is very much a replica of Sholto from the Merry Gentry books. It is very similar, even in the issues tackled – mostly the domination of men by women, which is explored in the Merry, books through the sadistic Queen Andais, and in the Monere series by the slave-master relationship between the Queens and their Monere men.
Despite the striking similarities, Sunny’s series is far superior. There is great plot mixed in with the erotica (and this series is most assuredly paranormal erotica), so that the sex scenes don’t become tedious and predictable. Sunny’s characters are deeply explored throughout the series, there are only really 3 or 4 men that Mona Lisa really loves and it’s easier to keep track of and come to like those characters, as opposed to the bevy of men in Merry’s bed which sees some of them become wallpaper-characters.
I love the Monere world that Sunny has created. They are a very bizarre race, and it really works well that we are seeing them through Mona Lisa’s eyes so we can appreciate the extent of their foreignness – versus the fact that Merry grew up with the sidhe and is unfazed by their weird and wacky ways.
Lastly, I absolutely love the book covers. I know, I know – but I do often judge a book by its cover, and these covers are surprisingly elegant for erotica novels.
