'The Dead-Tossed Waves' by Carrie RYAN

Received from the publisher

From the BLURB:

Gabry lives a quiet life. As safe a life as is possible in a town trapped between a forest and the ocean, in a world teeming with the dead, who constantly hunger for those still living. She's content on her side of the Barrier, happy to let her friends dream of the Dark City up the coast while she watches from the top of her lighthouse. But there are threats the Barrier cannot hold back. Threats like the secrets Gabry's mother thought she left behind when she escaped from the Sisterhood and the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Like the cult of religious zealots who worship the dead. Like the stranger from the forest who seems to know Gabry. And suddenly, everything is changing. One reckless moment, and half of Gabry's generation is dead, the other half imprisoned. Now Gabry only knows one thing: she must face the forest of her mother's past in order to save herself and the one she loves.

Carrie Ryan’s novel, ‘The Forest of Hands and Teeth’, was one of my favorite books of 2009. In fact, I count it as one of favorite books of all time.

Ryan’s debut was an exhilarating and frightening tale set in a post-apocalyptic universe. ‘Forest’ told the story of Mary, and her village’s fight for survival in the aftermath of a disease that destroyed the world, as we know it. The ‘unconsecrated’ do not die; they are savage and ravenous, desperate to taste flesh and pass on the virus that wiped out millions…

The Chairman steps forward and the world around me drops to nothing. Hundreds of people holding their breath at once.

“What are we if our barriers fail us?” he begins. “If our security fails us? If our safeguards fail us?” The Chairman’s voice is deep, loud. It rolls over each one of us, filling the crevices between us. Everyone around me leans forward, all eyes on him.

“One bite,” he continues. “One bite will wipe out a city. One bite is what wiped out our world so long ago. One bite is everything that stands between what we have built here and annihilation.”

‘The Dead-Tossed Waves’ is a companion novel to ‘Forest’. The story picks up years later and is about Mary’s daughter, Gabrielle ‘Gabry’. Gabry’s life is forever changed when one reckless, youthful act of defiance sees the death of her friends and forces Gabry to realize her own fragility.

This second novel is glorious. ‘Forest’ introduced readers to a changed world riddled with fear and disease, as seen through the eyes of one girl and her close-minded village. ‘The Dead-Tossed Waves’ sees Ryan’s story grow, as layers are added to this destructed world and the plot thickens…

In this second novel Ryan explores more complex issues that arise from the aftermath of infection. She puts a very human face to the post-apocalypse, and also ties up loose ends created in ‘Forest’. Whereas the first novel concentrated on the disease’s effect on one small village that was secluded from the rest of the world, in ‘Dead-Tossed Waves’ Ryan gives readers a glimpse of the more far-reaching disaster. She introduces ‘Soulers’ – a crazy cult that has arisen, who believe immortal life can be found in an unconsecrated’s bite. Gabry and her friends talk about traveling to ‘The Dark City’, the last bastion of city life, and one of the only densely populated urban areas to survive since disaster struck. Then there’s ‘The Recruiters’ – an army of citizen volunteers who patrol village borders and kill the undead.

Ryan’s series is firmly grounded in the horror genre. Her scenes are cinematic and spine tingling, at once exhilarating and terrifying. But it’s not enough to simply say Ryan’s books are about ‘zombies’. Sure, the unconsecrated are frothing, horrifying and undead – but there’s real heart behind the zombie plot. Ryan’s series is ultimately about hope – that tiny ember that pushes humanity to survive against all odds: to keep trying, fighting and holding on, no matter what.

Ryan beautifully encapsulates this idea of survival and hope in the tender romances of her protagonists. In ‘Forest’, Mary was torn between her love for two brothers – Harry and Travis. Gabry follows her mother’s footsteps in ‘Dead-Tossed Waves’ as she has conflicted feelings for her childhood sweetheart, Catcher, and a stranger she meets beyond her home’s border, Elias. These romances have real heat to them – the characters spark on the page and it’s impossible for readers not to feel just as torn as Mary and Gabry between the loves of two good men. These romances are so important to the story and they hold such weight – after all, love is worth fighting for, and one of the best motivators for survival.

He raises his fingers to my lips. He traces them slowly. I reach out my tongue, touching his thumb. He groans surrender low in his throat and reaches his hand to the back of my neck, grabbing me and pulling.

Carrie Ryan is a perfect example of the Young Adult genre’s growing popularity and widening readership. The genre is no longer just for the audience of its namesake – adults are reacquainting themselves with a genre that is growing more sophisticated and garnering more publicity than books in its adult counter-part. ‘The Forest of Hands and Teeth’ and its companion novel, ‘The Dead-Tossed Waves’ are two books that will appeal to young adults and adults alike for its dark themes and complexities.

If you haven’t already, I implore you to read ‘The Forest of Hands and Teeth’ and then ‘The Dead-Tossed Waves’ for a sinister but fulfilling read.

5/5

US and UK covers

'Faith & Fidelity' by Tere MICHAELS

From the BLURB:

New York City Vice Detective Evan Cerelli has lost his wife, the only person he ever loved and slept with. He's trying to get on with his life, build a life for his children. Former Homicide Detective Matt Haight is a ladies' man, all sex, no commitment. He's depressed, having a midlife crisis, and not sure where his life is headed.

The two find friendship in the bottom of a shared bottle. When the friendship turns to love, it shakes two straight men to the core and flips their lives inside out. Kids, families, careers that are not gay-friendly -- can all the love in the world overcome the obstacles to faith and fidelity?

This is Tere Michael’s first book, and it’s very, very good.

Ever since Josh Lanyon’s ‘Adrien English’ series I have had an insatiable craving for M/M romances… and this certainly hit the spot.

The book starts out quite sombre. We meet Evan at the lowest point in his life – his wife, Sherri, has been killed in a car crash and he is left to raise four children alone.

Matt Haight is also at a low point – he retired from the police force years ago after ‘narcing’ on some crooked cops, but he still feels the gaping loss of his blue family even now. He hates his job, is nearly 50 years old and he doesn’t do long-term relationships.

Matt and Evan meet at a mutual friend’s retirement party – they hit it off, and start meeting for casual drinks. Over these drinks they spill their guts – Evan about how much he misses his wife, Matt about how much he misses the force. At some point their platonic friendship becomes something… more.

The first half of the book concerns Matt and Evan separately freaking out over their feelings for one another. Both are ‘guy guys’, and have always previously been attracted to women. Evan’s only sexual partner was his wife, who he met when he was 14. Matt was always a one-night-stand kinda guy, a self-confessed ladies man. Separately they are completely floored by their homoerotic dreams and the pulse-racing feelings they have when around each other. But after a late-night profession, everything comes out in the open…

“Just tell me next time, okay? You can say whatever you need to man, more than anything else, we’re friends.”

“Friends in a beer commercial sort of way?”

Matt laughed. He moved gently until they were both on their sides and facing one another.

“That’s exactly what I was thinking. Wanna go out and rebuild your engine block?”

They laughed, moved their bodies in tiny increments, until the right parts were aligned. Matt watched Evan’s eyes darken with arousal – this was better. This didn’t feel like guilt. No, this felt like – a hard-on.

Evan and Matt are great. They’re both Alpha males, but in their sexual relationship they never try to one-up each other. They are both navigating this new and strange relationship as best they can, with the utmost decorum and understanding. It’s thrilling to watch, and very, very sweet.

It’s all made doubly complicated by Evan still being a grieving widow… and further by the fact that he has children to ‘come out’ to. If you thought Adrien English and Jake Riordan were complicated… they’ve got nothing on Evan and Matt!

At times I felt a little squeamish at how difficult the men’s situation was. There were moments when reading this that I literally gasped and thought “how the heck will this work out?!”

There were also times when I found the whole concept quite unbelievable. Evan being gay wasn’t so much a stretch – when you consider that he found his wife when he was 14 and they were each other’s only sexual partners, there’s a bit of wriggle room for believability because Evan never got to ‘experiment’ with his sexuality. But Matt Haight is in his late 40’s, and an ex police officer. He’s a ladies man and very Alpha. Yet he takes the whole dormant homosexuality thing quite calmly and reasonably. I thought, given the situation, Matt would have been more outwardly confused – manifesting in anger and self-loathing? That was my only real qualm with the story – that Matt wasn’t more destabilized by his feelings for Evan.

I loved this book. Apart from the fact that Matt and Evan are completely hot-to-trot and smouldering… this is actually a real page-turner. The stakes are so high, there’s so much on the line for these characters that I could not stop reading. I was totally sucked in.

Thanks to Ms. Smexy for recommending yet another M/M winner!

4/5

Tere Michael’s second book is about a character that briefly appears toward the end of ‘Faith and Fidelity’.

'The Darkest Passion' by Gena SHOWALTER

Book received from NetGalley

From the BLURB:

This is an another sizzling instalment of the "Lords of the Underworld" series as Aeron, keeper of the Demon of Wrath, finally meets his match...For weeks, the immortal warrior Aeron has sensed an invisible female presence. An angel - demon-assassin - has been sent to kill him. Or has she? Olivia claims she fell from the heavens, giving up immortality because she couldn't bear to harm him. But trusting - and falling for - Olivia will endanger them all. So how has this 'mortal' with the huge blue eyes already unleashed Aeron's darkest passion? Now, with an enemy hot on his trail and his faithful demon companion determined to remove Olivia from his life, Aeron is trapped between duty and consuming desire. Worse still, a new executioner has been sent to do the job Olivia wouldn't...

This is the 6th book in Gena Showalter’s ‘Lords of the Underworld’ series.

I am a fan of this series. Showalter mixes fable and Greek mythology and stirs it all up into a steamy romance with smoking hot Alpha male demons. What’s not to love?

Each male in the series is possessed by a demon – wrath, rage, pain, lies, disease, death – and each book concentrates on one of these men as they find the woman whose love releases them from their demonic inner prisons.

‘The Darkest Passion’ follows Aeron the keeper of Wrath, as he meets a fallen angel, Olivia. Olivia ‘Liv’ has been following him for months now, and Aeron has felt her holy presence and been frustrated by her hovering. But as he meets her in the (fallen) flesh, he can’t help but be intrigued…

“I watched you,” she continued, “as well as those around you, and I… ached. I wanted you, and I wanted what they had – freedom and love and fun. I wanted to play. I wanted to kiss and to touch. I wanted joy of my own.” Her gaze met his, bleak, broken. “In the end, I had a choice. Fall… or kill you. I decided to fall. So here I am. Yours.”

I loved Olivia and Aeron. Throughout the book Aeron battles with his ‘inner’ demons as well as his real possession, the demon Wrath. Aeron thinks himself less because of all the bad deeds he has carried out in his life. This makes things tricky when he finds himself attracted to the ethereal, Olivia. It makes for a very intense and sweet romance and a genuine ‘will they or won’t they?’.

This book has lots of revelations about the ultimate battle being fought between the Gods and demons - the overarching story arc of the series. Much is revealed about the ‘big player’ in the battle, king Cronus. And because of these spoilers, the battle for Pandora’s box really kicks into high gear. If you’re unfamiliar with the series, all of this won’t mean a whole lot… but fans will be thrilled to know that in this book there are spoilers-galore that hint at the trajectory of the next few books.

My one complaint about ‘The Darkest Passion’ would be a hastily (and neatly) wrapped ending. It’s a little rushed and too conveniently ‘happily ever after’ for my tastes. But that might just be me…

One thing I love about this series is the cast of characters. In each book Ms. Showalter sets up the players for the following book… ‘The Darkest Lie’ is the seventh book, and will follow keeper of Lies, Gideon. He’s one of my favourite characters because his dialogue is so tricky and I’m always genuinely impressed by the loopy meanings Showalter comes up with for him. Gideon is frequently saying things like “I want to be bored senseless” – because if he speaks a truth, he gets zapped with intense physical pain. His storyline and love-interest is set up in ‘The Darkest Passion’ and it’s definitely going to be intriguing… no spoilers, but be prepared for an “oh my God!” moment when his love interest is revealed.

I also love Paris, Keeper of Promiscuity. Paris is cursed to always seek out sexual conquests, or else wither and die. The only catch is once he ‘has’ a woman, he will never again feel a sexual stirring for her. So he is fated to never fall in love, or keep a woman. I think Paris is one of the most tragic characters, but his potential (maybe, possible?) love interest is also set-up in this book, and I am *really* looking forward to that one!

‘The Darkest Passion’ is smouldering and intriguing. Showalter beautifully combines high-stakes drama based on Greek Mythology and a demonic war within an action-packed series full of delicious Alpha males. What’s not to love? If you haven’t already I would highly recommend that you get stuck into the ‘Lords of the Underworld’ series.

4/5

P.S. – thanks to Larissa for introducing me to the wonderful NetGalley website. They give you book galleys – for free! To review!... I know, I was excited too!

'The Raven Prince' by Elizabeth HOYT

From the BLURB:

There comes a time in a woman’s life when she must do the unthinkable - and find employment. For the widowed Anna Wren, that means taking a job as female secretary for the Earl of Swartingham. Secretaries are always male - never female - as Anna well knows but the real downfall of her career is the realisation that she is falling in love with Edward de Raaf - the Earl. But when she realises that he is going to visit a brothel in London to take care of his 'manly' desires, Anna sees red - and decides to take advantage of the opportunity to also take care of her 'womanly' desires - with the Earl as her unknowing lover. But the Earl has another reason for going to London. He is formalising his betrothal and trying (with little success) to forget about a secretary that has no right being female. Unhandsome, he knows that no woman wants him. Except for the mysterious lady with whom he spent two unforgettable nights at Aphrodite’s Grotto, the most scandalous brothel in London. But when Anna’s plan is revealed, a bit of blackmail is thrown into the mix, a proposal is rejected and even the Earl himself will be unprepared for the intrigues that ensnare them.

This is the first book in Elizabeth Hoyt’s ‘Princes Trilogy’.

I am quite selective and unforgiving of my regency romances. I have my favorites (Julia Quinn, Lisa Kleypas, Tessa Dare, Jennifer Ashley) and I remain quite loyal and exclusive to those authors. I will occasionally venture outside the regular and try reading a new regency romance author, but if I’m not hooked after the first 10 or so pages I will give up. I suppose it’s because regency is a romance sub-genre I do love to read, but I have to be in the *mood* to read it. And I know from past readings that Quinn, Kleypas, Dare and Ashley deliver just the type of story that quenches my regency romance craving.

I picked ‘The Raven Prince’ off the library shelf on a total whim, based on the fact that a Julia Quinn quote appears on the cover.

I was more than a little pleasantly surprised.

To begin with, I loved the characters. Neither Hoyt’s leading man or lady is conventional of the genre. Edward de Raaf, Earl of Swartingham, has a pockmarked face left over from childhood smallpox. He maintains that he has grown out of vanity and doesn’t care if his scars disgust people – but his actions betray him, and when he starts courting a potential Ton bride he bluntly asks her if his marks are repulsive. Edward also has a terrible temper on him – and he has been known to throw priceless ornaments in a fit of rage. He definitely was not your typical regency hero. Edward is prickly, and it takes a while for Anna and the reader to peel back his layers and see what lies beneath his stoic demeanor.

Anna has been widowed for six years. But before her husbands death she had her ideals of love and romance dashed because her husband cast her out of his marital bed when it became apparent that she was barren. In the last year of his life, Anna had to endure her husband’s infidelities and nurse heartbreak long before his death to fever. When we meet her Anna is desperately trying to maintain her little Essex cottage, support her mother-in-law and keep her head above monetary waters. She is an intelligent, well-educated lady who is forced to (*gasp*) get a job in order to support herself.

Anna and Edward were a wonderful pair – and it’s because of their heat and chemistry that I loved ‘The Raven Prince’ so much. Edward and Anna spend the first half of the book dancing around their feelings for one another, but when they do finally come together their passion is combustible!

Thick eyelashes almost hid her hazel eyes. “Make love to me.”

Something inside him, maybe his heart, stopped for a second. “Anna.”

Her lips were soft and yielding. He was not gentle, but she didn’t protest. She opened her mouth sweetly and gave and gave and gave until he couldn’t stand it anymore.

Hoyt writes beautiful sex scenes. At this point, having read so many various romances and erotica I don’t think there’s much literary smut that can surprise me. But occasionally an author will come along and catch me unawares (chapter 32 of Jeanine Frost’s ‘One Foot in the Grave’, for example). Hoyt was one such author. It’s not that she writes her characters in various complicated Kama Sutra positions – it’s just that the sex scenes were wonderfully visual and titillating… and quite a writing feat when the two most important sex-scenes span several pages with absolutely no dialogue. Just description. And despite the lack of dirty-talk, they made for really captivating reading and added layers and complications to the characters emotions. I was pretty awe-struck, to say the least.

‘The Raven Prince’ does have some drawbacks. Toward the end the plot gets rather unnecessarily emotionally complicated, Hoyt keeps piling on reason after reason for Edward and Anna not to be together – but the reasons are paper-thin. Stuff like; Anna doesn’t want to be cheated on again.

Hoyt also tries to create a she-villain in the book, in the form of a blackmailing town busybody who is out for Anna’s blood. But the stakes are never high and the reader is never really led to believe that this villain will succeed in hurting Anna.

But aside from those small complaints, I really liked this book. The characters made it for me – Anna and Edward were not at all conventional romance leads, but they had such chemistry that they were a joy to read.

I will definitely be picking up more Elizabeth Hoyt books – and adding her onto that small list of regency romance authors I trust with my genre cravings.

4/5

'Slow Heat' Pacific Heat #2 by Jill SHALVIS

From the BLURB

After a woman claims she's pregnant with Wade O'Riley's love child, Major League Baseball's most celebrated catcher and ladies' man is slapped on the wrist by management and ordered to improve his image. His enforcer is the team's publicist, the tough and sexy Samantha McNead.

When Wade needs a date for a celebrity wedding, Sam steps up to the plate as his "girlfriend". But given her secret crush on him and that one awkward night a year ago in a stalled elevator with too much Scotch, the whole thing is an exercise in sexual tension.

Wade is thrilled when the pretense turns into an unexpected night of hot passion. But the next day Sam is back to her cool self. As a catcher, Wade's used to giving the signals, not struggling to read them. Now, to win the love of his "pretend" girlfriend, he needs a home run--even if it involves stealing a few bases...

This is the second book in Jill Shalvis’ ‘Pacific Heat’ series.

The first book, ‘Double Play’, was about pitcher Pace Martin. This second installment is all about catcher Wade O’Riley and his romance with the Heat’s PR officer, Samantha McNead.

I really loved this second book, not *as much* as the first, but loved nonetheless.

One thing I appreciate about this series is a well-executed concept. The idea of a series that follows an American baseball team is a great one – plenty of room for high drama, Alpha males and a certain ‘wow’ appeal. Shalvis definitely delivers. The baseball never takes a backseat to the romance because she effortlessly meshes the two and never leaves the reader feeling like the game descriptions are dragging or getting in the way of the romance. Shalvis also does a great job of imbuing her male characters with a deep-seated love of the game, which is infectious. Even for an Aussie girl like me who has never watched a baseball game in her life, I enjoyed reading the nuts and bolts game descriptions… I also liked the baseball-related quotes at the beginning of each chapter (a consistency carried on from the first book).

Wade and Sam are H-O-T. Whew boy!

“I’m falling for you.”

She went still as stone, then lifted her eyes to his. “I don’t expect you to catch me or anything,” he murmured. “But if you could just keep in mind…” And then he kissed her. It was different from all their previous kisses, which had been hard and deep and wet, and instantaneously hotter than flames.

Not this time. This time it was slow and sweet as he kissed first one side of her mouth, then the other before running his tongue along her lower lip until it trembled open.

Wade and Samantha are quite prickly characters and are a bit of ‘opposites attract’ – which notches up their heat-factor big time.

Sam is the Heat’s PR rep and her father also owns the team. She’s perceived as a bit of a spoilt princess, and because of that she throws herself into her job and is 100% committed to the team and proving everyone’s misconceptions wrong. Working in a male-dominated industry also means Sam is quite the ‘ice’ princess – she has to be. She doesn’t bat an eyelash when she walks through the clubhouse and sees butt-naked ball players. She has been witness to groupie hijinks and knows what her players sometimes get up to with their adoring female fans. She remains cool, calm and collected through it all. But underneath she is a rather fragile woman who still can’t completely please her father, hasn’t been able to keep a man and can’t control her emotional and physical reactions to Wade O’Riley.

Wade grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. His mum skipped out when he was a baby, and his dad was an alcoholic who Wade supported with his McDonalds job throughout his teens. Wade is a ladies-man; with his surfer-boy good looks and laid-back attitude women have always come easy to him. Relationships, less so. Wade is embarrassed by his past, and reluctant to let people get close to him. He has abandonment issues – his mother left him and his father chose the bottle over his son. Regardless, he has a soft spot for Sam McNead… the first woman he’s ever wanted to let get close enough to see his soft underbelly.

I loved this book. Wade and Sam are a great pair – both quite stand offish, except with each other. I loved them and their hot, hot scenes.

My one complaint is to do with the plot-trigger of the book. The whole reason Sam and Wade are forced to ‘pretend’ to be in a relationship is that one of Wade’s crazy fans falsely claims to be pregnant with his love child. This little fact is only ever mentioned in passing by the characters – we never meet the fan (though she appeared, hysterically, in ‘Double Play’) and it’s only mentioned once and then never again. But it seems like a pretty big deal, and could have potentially been a very interesting storyline. Instead its thrown-away.

I loved this book, and I cannot wait to read Shalvis’s next ‘Pacific Heat’ installment (apparently it’s about team manager, Gage).

Thanks to Patti of ‘book addict’ for recommending this fabulous series.

5/5

'Georgina Kincaid' series by Richelle MEAD

SYNOPSIS:

Georgina Kincaid is a succubus. Her job is to suck out men’s souls and shave years off their mortal lives… to be fair, these men get a pretty amazing sexual experience in the bargain. But still – Georgie is a demon succubus. She sold her soul, literally, and now it’s her job to eat souls (the more virtuous, the better). In exchange she lives forever, can shape-shift (a handy talent for when you’re having a bad-hair-day) and all that soul sucking leaves her with a healthy glow.

Georgina has been at this gig for a while now – she saw the Renaissance, black plague, WWI, WWII and bedded more men than you’ve had hot dinners. But the decades are starting to take their toll, and soul sucking doesn’t have the same appeal it once did.

These days Georgie gets her kicks as assistant manager at the Seattle bookstore she works. A big night out involves drinks with other demon denizens – vampires and incubi (one of whom looks like John Cusack). And the highlight of her month is crime fiction author Seth Mortensson coming to her store’s book signing.

But there’s a change in the air… forces of good and evil are at work and concentrated on Georgina. She may have been at this succubus gig for centuries now, but Georgina has no idea what’s in store for her….

I love this series. Love, love, love, love, love! It is definitely in my top 5 favourite Urban Fantasies, and here’s why…

This is a grown-up series. Mead explores the darker side of life through Georgina Kincaid – things like love/lust, infidelity and depression. It’s also quite a bold series, because Mead isn’t afraid to shake things up and risk upsetting fans by turning good guys bad, bad guys good and putting her female protagonist through emotional battery.

Most UF books do veer toward the darker side of life… they tend to be a mash of gruesome, gory, horror/fantasy. But most of those books are also heavily tagged as ‘paranormal romance’ – and a staple of the genre is a good dose of smut and romance. For all the shit-kicking fights in JR Ward’s ‘Blackdagger Brotherhood’ series, fans know that in each book they will get a HEA for one brother. Jeaniene Frost’s ‘Night Huntress’ series has two extremely ass-kicking protagonists, but the books are most famous for the protagonist’s steamy romance (and a certain chapter 32…).

With Richelle Mead’s ‘Georgina Kincaid’ series, readers are genuinely unsure of the HEA. Mead keeps fans guessing and doubting. It makes for exhausting, emotional reading but it’s also a more fulfilling journey – strange as that sounds. In each book fans go on an emotional rollercoaster with Georgina - there are up’s, and plenty of down’s. It makes for ‘robust’ reading, because Mead is so good at characterization and getting fans to invest in her characters and storyline. You really do feel every emotional punch and plot curveball and it becomes exhilarating to be sitting on the edge of your seat while you read. To be so emotionally invested and constantly on your toes… Mead leaves you feeling very energized.

If it sounds depressing, it can be. But that’s just a by-product of a series that is all about a woman who sold her soul to have sex with men for the rest of her immortal life. Georgina is pretty much a glorified demon prostitute. And when we meet her, she’s at a stage in her life when she’s had enough and asking; “what’s the point?”.

Mead counter-balances the naturally morose plot by making Georgina an infectiously charismatic protagonist. She is a hoot – she has a very dark and sarcastic sense of humour. Her wit is at its driest when she’s talking about her sexual conquests – there is plenty of opportunity for Georgina to joke when some of her ‘clients’ are desperate, dateless and living at home with mum:

Turning from the taunting mirror, I stared down the hall at my destination: a closed door with a yellow ‘Men at Work’ sign attached to it. I thought I could hear the faint sounds of a video game bleeping from beyond, though such noises silenced immediately when I knocked.

A moment later, the door opened, and I stood facing a 5’8” guy with shoulder-length, dirty blond hair rapidly receding on top. A large, hairy belly peeped out from underneath his Homer Simpson tee shirt, and he held a bag of potato chips in one hand.

The bag dropped to the floor when he saw me.

“Martin Miller?”

“Y-yes,” he gasped out.

I cracked the whip. “You ready to play with me?”

Exactly six minutes later, I left the Miller residence. Apparently thirty-four years doesn’t do much for one’s stamina.

A series about a succubus has to have smut – and Mead delivers, tenfold. She’s just as good at writing pathetic sexual encounters as she is at sensual and steamy ones. Throughout the series we see Georgina in a variety of positions. Playing sexy seductress, whip-cracking Dominatrix, naughty schoolgirl… there’s a lot of ground to cover, and Mead does most of it.

I love this series. Georgina is one of my favourite UF protagonists and even though it’s been a rollercoaster ride, her romance is one of my favourite (maybe) HEA’s.

There’s only one book left until Mead concludes the series, and it’s coming out 2011. I’ll be sad when it’s all done and dusted, but this is one series I will definitely re-read for years to come.

If you haven’t read the ‘Georgina Kincaid’ series already, why the heck not?

5/5

'Touched by an Alien' Katherine 'Kitty' Katt #1 by Gini KOCH

From the BLURB:

How can a sexy marketing manager join forces with an Alpha Centauri male in Armani to save the planet-using hairspray, a Mont Blanc pen, and rock n' roll?

Easy...

She's Touched by an Alien

Marketing manager Katherine "Kitty" Katt steps into the middle of what appears to be a domestic dispute turned ugly. And it only gets uglier when the man turns into a winged monster, straight out of a grade-Z horror movie, and goes on a killing spree. Though Kitty should probably run away, she springs into action to take the monster down.

In the middle of the chaos a handsome hunk named Jeff Martini appears, sent by the "agency" to perform crowd control. He's Kitty's kind of guy, no matter what planet he's from. And from now on, for Kitty, things are going to be sexy, dangerous, wild, and out of this world.

This is the first book in Gini Koch’s Katherine “Kitty” Katt series. It is available as both a paperback and e-book.

I really thoroughly and surprisingly loved this book. Seriously, it’s awesome.

I found this book because of the cover art. The artist is the incredibly talented Daniel Dos Santos, who draws all of Patricia Briggs’s ‘Mercy Thompson’ US covers. I saw this image up on his website as apart of his book covers portfolio – and because I do judge a book by its cover, I went hunting and found it was Gini Koch’s ‘Touched by an Alien’.

The title kind of threw me, and I almost didn’t bother. Aliens may be how the science fiction genre got its kick-start, but I wasn't sure about an alien themed book. The closest I’ve come is Ann Aguirre’s ‘Sirantha Jax’ series - which I really love, but is set in another galaxy, not present-day earth. I was under the assumption that any alien invasion scifi book would be along the geeky lines of Star Trek. Boy, was I wrong and naïve.

A lot happens right from page one. The opening chapter involves Katherine “Kitty” Katt (yes it’s a stupid name, she only has her parents to blame) witnessing a domestic dispute turn deadly. She watches as a man kills his wife, and then sprout wings with dagger feathers. Katherine bizarrely goes into autopilot; grabbing her Mont Blanc pen she rugby-tackles this weird creature, and innately knows precisely where to stab and kill him.

After her hero-routine she’s swooped up by a group of hunky Armani-clad ‘agents’ who take her somewhere called ‘home base’ in New Mexico where they none too delicately break the news to her that aliens exist, and she might just have a job killing them…

Intense, huh? As the story unfolds Katherine discovers that these ‘agents’ don’t work for Homeland Security, but are actually an alien race called ‘Alpha Centauri’, sent to planet earth to protect us from a parasitic alien species that want to make drones of us all.

This is a fun, fast-paced and sexy read that shouldn’t be taken too seriously. ‘Touched by an Alien’ leans toward the melodramatic and outlandish –but it’s fun and Koch works it so well. Halfway through the first chapter you realize that Koch isn’t basing this story in any sort of realist, nitty-gritty reality – it’s much more of an Alien/scifi soap opera (space opera?). But it totally works. Especially because a good chunk of the story revolves around a very intense and unique love story.

One of the Armani-clad alien agents is Jeff Martini, and one of the first sentences out of his mouth to Katherine is “will you marry me?” Throughout those vital information-dumping chapters Martini provides comic relief and surprising chemistry whenever he turns to Katherine and says “so, how many kids do you want?” and “no, seriously – marry me!” He may sound creepy and clingy, but he doesn’t come across that way at all. This is the quickest romance I have ever read, and I’m a little in awe of how well it works. Martini is very up-front and truthful in his attraction to Katherine, and she eventually relents… that’s when alien bedroom stamina kicks in and Koch writes some very yummy and steamy sex scenes. Let me just say ‘whew boy!’

He stroked my arm and kissed my forehead, and I snuggled closer to him, enjoying the way his naked body felt against mine and revelling in the afterglow.

“You’re mine, you know,” he said quietly.

I kissed his chest. “Only if we do that again. A lot.”

“You drive a hard bargain, but I think it’s a fair price.”

I heaved a sigh. “Good. Nice to know I negotiate well.”

Martini chuckled. “You do everything well.”

“Flattery’s nice. Especially coming from the alien sex god.”

I loved the love story. I was really shocked that it worked so well for me, considering the fact that Koch sets up the romance right from the protagonists’ first meeting – it was fast, but held my interest throughout and remained steamy.

Katherine is a great leading lady. She’s not your typical action heroine – she’s a Jewish marketing exec thrown into the middle of an inter-galactic war just because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I loved her. She’s snarky and sometimes barely clinging to her mental stability amidst all the Alien revelations. She’s great.

Martini is amazing. He could have come across as creepy and smothering because he hits on Katherine so quickly, but Koch really finessed his character. He’s funny, charming and just generally swoon-worthy. I loved him!

I loved this book. I went in sceptical, but came out a convert – to the point that I might have to go looking for some more Alien-themed fantasy books. ‘Touched by an Alien’ is extremely melodramatic, with an over-the-top, flamboyant and unbelievable storyline. But it’s fun. Koch doesn’t take herself too seriously – she writes fast and furious action-packed scenes and an even faster romance. It all came together beautifully for me, and I found myself totally sucked in.

Second book ‘Alien Tango' comes out on the 7th December 2010. I can’t wait.

5/5