Seriously Serial? What are your favorites?

What are your favorite book series?? In no particular order mine are:

Author	Series
Charlaine Harris	Sookie Stackhouse/ Southern Vampire Mysteries
Chloe Neill	Chicagoland Vampires
Molly Harper	Jane Madison—Nice Girls Don't
Lynsay Sands	Argeneau Series
Stacia Kane	Chess Putnam/Downside
MaryJanice Davidson	Queen Betsy
J.R. Ward	Black Dagger Brotherhood
Laurell K. Hamilton	Anita Blake Vampire Hunter
Laurell K. Hamilton	Meredith Gentry
MLN Hanover	Black Sun's Daughter
Kim Harrison	Rachel Armstrong
Lara Adrian	Midnight Breed
Allison Pang	Abby Sinclair
Patricia Briggs	Mercedes Thompson
Jeaniene Frost	Night Huntress Night Huntress World Night Prince

And more!

I say that because I know I left some out.

Covers go to Amazon.  BITING COLD, UNDEAD AND UNSTABLE, and ONCE BURNED are preorders

WAITING FOR IT: Upcoming releases

WOW!! There are a slew of new books in series coming out in the next few days, weeks and months! Click Title FMI or to Pre-Order from Amazon. All Book Blurbs and pictures are from Amazon

OUT NEXT WEEK!

Lover Reborn (Black Dagger Brotherhood) by JRWard
New American Library
March 27, 2012
Tohrment's story

Sacrificial Magic
by Stacia Kane
Del Rey/Random House
Original edition (March 27, 2012)
Del Rey; Original edition (March 27, 2012)

When Chess Putnam is ordered by a  crime boss—drug dealer—to use her powers to solve a grisly murder involving dark magic, she knows she must rise to the challenge. Adding to the intensity: Chess’s boyfriend, Terrible, doesn’t trust her, and Lex, the son of a rival crime lord, is trying to reignite the sparks between him and Chess.

Plus there’s the little matter of Chess’s real job as a ghost hunter for the Church of Real Truth, investigating reports of a haunting at a school in the heart of Downside. Someone seems to be taking a crash course in summoning the dead—and if Chess doesn’t watch her back, she may soon be joining their ranks.

As Chess is drawn into a shadowy world of twisted secrets and dark violence, it soon becomes clear that she’s not going to emerge from its depths without making the ultimate sacrifice.

Wicked as They Come (Blud)
Delilah S. Dawson
Pocket/Simon and Schuster
March 27, 2012
Once of the Best Books I have read all year. A MUST READ! MY REVIEW

APRIL & MAY RELEASES
Under a Vampire Moon: An Argeneau Novel
By Lynsay Sands
Avon April 24
Takes place on the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia!

Deadlocked (Sookie Stackhouse, Book 12)

Charlaine Harris

Ace, May 1, 2012

JUNE

Blue-Blooded Vamp (Sabina Kane)

by Jaye Wells

Orbit (June 1, 2012)

The epic conclusion to the amazing Sabina Kane urban fantasy series.

Sabina Kane is on the hunt. Her prey: Cain, the father of the vampire race and the one who murdered her family and her friends. Unfortunately, Cain is hunting Sabina, too.

The one man who holds the key to defeating Cain is, of course, Abel. A mage with secrets to spare and, hopefully, the power to match it. Unfortunately, for Sabina, he's in Rome and may not want to be found.

Sabina sets out for Italy with her friends, Giguhl and Adam Lazarus, to track down the only man who can get her the revenge she hungers for. But will he help her or oppose her? And just who is Abel, really? Worst of all, when Sabina figures out the goddess Lilith has a plan for her-she realizes this trip is getting deadlier by the minute. As they say: when in Rome-SURVIVE.

Fury of Ice (Dragonfury Series #2)

Coreene Callahan

Montlake/Amazon: June 5, 2012

Homicide detective Angela Keen thrives on the city’s rough streets. But when she becomes the prize of all prizes in the dragon-shifter world due to her “high-energy” status, she gets more than she bargained for. Kidnapped by Lothair of the Razorback clan, Angela barely survives captivity before managing to escape. Hurt and alone with nowhere to hide, she faces certain death when Lothair uses the trace energy she leaves in her wake to hunt her down. But before he can reach her, a mystery dragon-shifter intervenes and saves Angela’s life.

Now a guest of the Nightfury clan, Angela regains her strength as her rescuer, Rikar, the last living frost dragon, gradually breaks down her mistrust. Surrendering to her desire for Rikar, but still uncertain of her feelings, Angela goes against his wishes and agrees to be used as bait to lure Lothair into the open. As the battle commences, the true struggle comes from within: Will Angela return home to the life she loves, or forsake it all to be with Rikar?

Kiss the Dead

by Laurell K. Hamilton

Berkely/Penguin June 5, 2012

When a fifteen-year-old girl is abducted by vampires, it’s up to U.S. Marshal Anita Blake to find her. And when she does, she’s faced with something she’s never seen before: a terrifyingly ordinary group of people—kids, grandparents, soccer moms—all recently turned and willing to die to avoid serving a master. And where there’s one martyr, there will be more…

But even vampires have monsters that they’re afraid of. And Anita is one of them…

Undead and Unstable

Mary Janice Davidson

Berkley/Penguin June 5, 2012

There's no description yet, but I hope it is an improvement over the last installment in the series.

I left the photo out of the montage.

Chasing Magic

by Stacia Kane

June 26 DelRey/Random House

 

Once Burned (Night Prince, Book 1)

by Jeaniene Frost

Avon (June 26, 2012)

The Vlad Tepesh story we have all been asking for!

AUGUST

Biting Cold: A Chicagoland Vampires Novel

by Chloe Neill

New American Library

August 7, 2012

Who  isn't dying to find out what goes on at Cadogan House?

Have I missed something? What are YOU waiting for? Do you have something coming out that I missed?

Heroines: Who Do You Love?

What makes a heroine, or a hero for that matter?  Sometimes we say that heroes are the ones who run towards the battle instead of from it. But there also needs to be a greater good involved, usually the saving of something, a puppy, a person or people, the world/galaxy/universe.  I think it also has to be that things don't just happen to the person and they dig their way out. There has to be some intent of putting others before self. I also like imperfect people acting heroically.  You don't have to be a saint to be a heroine.

As I read and reviewed FORGIVEN by Jana Oliver yesterday for today's post on Fangs, Wands and Fairy Dust,  my thoughts strayed to heroines I like.  Stacia Kane's Chess Putnam (Sacrificial Magic, out in June!!!)  is in a poll right now and that made me think, also, about which are my favorite heroines.  

WHO ARE YOUR FAVORITE HEROINES?

I am fickle in that my favorite is probably whoever I am reading at the moment.  But right now I would say these are my five six faves in the Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy Genres:

• Chess Putnam from Stacia Kane's Downsider series
• Riley Blackthorne from Jana Oliver's Demon Trappers series
• Rachel Morgan from The Hollows series by Kim Harrison
• Jayné Heller from the Black Sun's Daughter series by MLN Hanover
• Mercy Thompson by Pat Briggs' eponymous Mercy Thompson Novels
• Chloe Neill's Meritt, Cadogan House Sentinel from the Chicagoland Vampires

I also like Jaye Wells' Sabina Kane.

 (Photo credit: nette1274)

And of Laurell K. Hamilton's heroines I prefer Merry Gentry over Anita Blake. 

Related articles

• A Perfect Blood by Kim Harrison Takes us Back to the Hollows with Rachel Morgan
• More Kim Harrison: THE HOLLOWS INSIDER
• Unclean Spirits: A Well-Built Novel And A Good Starter
• So Exciting. Stacia Kane New Chess Putnam March

The Devil Made Me Do It: Unread for Religious Reasons

A lot of blogs have What I'm Reading Now sections. I sometimes post about books I Did Not Finish.  You see, my To Be Read Pile stares menacingly at me from the long table behind my computer.  It stares at me and I begin to feel guilt. Recently I realized that my TBR pile and my I Want to Read pile often don't match up.

Is it fair to keep those books waiting to be read or can I put me out of my misery?

At BEA I picked up books from everyone. It was my first BEA and it was so exciting. Many were books I wanted to read and review. However, there were also those pressed upon me, or those I wasn't mindful enough to see they weren't my thing.

Image via Wikipedia

They may be good. They may be the next big thing. Or not. But, there is every likelihood I won't be reading them.

The first is from a handsome and charismatic young man who urged me to take a signed copy of his book.  It is published by the Strategic Book Marketing group. After looking at their site I noted some complaints posted about them online. Go to http://www.sfwa.org/for-authors/writer-beware/alerts/ to see more.

This young man, Igor Ferluga states that his "passion is and always has been to write long, complicated, convaluted novels that no one would want to publish."(sic., http://igorferluga.webs.com/)

The problem with novels that no one would want to publish is that often they are novels no one wants to read.  And, needing to read as much as I do, if a novel will be long and convoluted it better grab me right off the bat.

The book he gave me is Shadows of the Nephilim and starts off with the death of two wolves given special power by a Prince. The Prince assigned them a task of killing a particular person. They are killed by their mark who shoots lightning bolts at them. The next chapter starts off telling me that we are all children of God.

When Igor was asking me to take the book I asked if it had a religious theme.  He told me there was mention of religion but that the theme was not religious. Sorry, that whole section about God and being his children? That strikes me as religious, and is enough to put me off most books.  Randomly moving into the story, I found a heavy hand on telling me what characters did and not enough showing and dialogue.

But the two big reasons I am not reading it is a sneaking suspicion that religion is more involved thatn I was told, and the confessed convoluted nature of  the book at 469 pages. I don't feel I could do this gentleman's work justice with my potential bias and it may be perfectly fine.

If anyone would like to read it it will be in a future contest. It may be a fine work that I just do not have time nor patience for.

Another book I will not get to is Hades by Alexandra Adornetto (Publisher: Feiwel & Friends-August 30, 2011). This sequel to Adornetto's Halo, is a YA book with a striking cover.  Adornetto's succes is remarkable in that she she is only 17.

It is an overtly religioun-themed story. I just don't do stories with religious themes, which I do state in my policy.

Although it is religious, from the bit I read, it seems to be well written. I will also be passing the story on to another.  Here are some quotes:

Over the past year, the influence of my family had spread and transformed Venus Cove into a model town. The church congregation had tripled in numbers, charity missions had more volunteers then they could handle,... (p.2, Hades, Alexandra Adornetto)

Another person who'd witnessed as much as Xavier might have lost all faith in Our Father, but Xavier has strength of mind and spirit.  (pp. 3-4,Hades, Alexandra Adornetto)

I do read books , like Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series, where the character is religious, but while Anita is religious, her faith is a foil against which she is always testing herself. I don't find the series proselytizing. And I am inconsistent in application of my policy. Once in a while a book with religion gets in. Usually, though it has enough sex to balance out the churchy goodness.

Obviously, if I am going to read in the paranormal, religion will rear its head in many of the books I read. When it is generalized, for example the fight between good and evil being characterized in demon(s)/god(s) I don't mind it.

I was brought up in a religious family and was forced to listen to church music and other religious stuff, prayed over by an ecumenical prayer group my parents had, force to attend two churches and more. Been there, done that, got the tee-shirt.

Do to my upbringing and continuing family tension, I have an antipathy towards religion when pushed, even subtly. I am unable to be at all objective in the arena so I usually opt to recuse myself from reviewing these books.

For people with faith, wonderful; these two books may be just what the pastor ordered. The good thing about books is that one may not be my cuppa, but someone else will find it suits them to a T.

Hades Trailer

What-If the Anita Blake series waa made into a film? Jean Claude and Asher Candidates

imdb.com/list/4-TdZD5KLYw/

Just some fun for the evening. I came across this picture of Richard Armitage. Wouldn't he be a gorgeous Jean Claude from Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake Series?

Jean-Claude: Richard Armitage:   he has the pale thing down and has a beautiful face.  Let's pretend Jean-Claude's long hair is pulled back.

Image via Wikipedia

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1990363904/nm0772704

 This handsome gentleman was a vampire in Bloodties, so all that might be easy for him. 

As Asher:  With a fall of hair across his ruined face Not my best photoshopping effort but time consuming.

This is not intended as anything other than speculation and entertainment:  A What-If this actor were to play this character?

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