Finished Eye of Heaven by Marjorie M. Liu. This is the fifth book in her popular Dirk & Steele paranormal romance series about a detective agency run by folks with supernatural powers.

This one’s about Blue Perrineau, a D&S detective who can control electricity. Blue’s father, a very bad man, blackmails him into tracking down Daniel, the brother Blue never even knew he had. So Blue sets off for Vegas, where he finds Daniel working for a circus — along with lion tamer/shapeshifter Iris McGillis.

Iris has her own problems. Her shapeshifter mother abadoned her a couple of years ago without a word, and she’s being stalked by a strange man intent on adding her to his harem of women (seriously, the guy has a harem). But luckily, Blue is there to help, and the two of them find themselves caught up with a sinister organization that traffics in stolen organs and more.

Liu can be hit or miss for me sometimes, and I’m happy to say this was much more of a hit (although I didn’t love it like I did Shadow Touch, the second book in this series). I think Blue is one of her best heroes so far, torn between protecting his D&S friends and his desire to help his brother avoid his father’s evil clutches. I also enjoyed how the relationship between Blue and Iris developed. It felt natural and believable, despite the supernatural events in the book.

There’s also some cool information and behind-the-scenes looks at how a circus works and how the performers live. And, as always, Liu’s writing is very lush and descriptive.

I had a few little quibbles, my main one being that I thought the book started out kind of slow. The action doesn’t really kick into high gear until about page 150 or so. From then on though, it’s a nonstop ride of deceit, double crosses, narrow escapes, and more.

I also would have liked a little more information about the big bad guys. There were so many characters in this book with so many secrets it was a little hard to keep track of who was really on who’s side. But I’m hoping more will be revealed in the next D&S book, Soul Song, which I have in my TBR pile.

Overall, if you’re looking for a thoughtful paranormal romance, give this book or series a try. Thumbs up.

Up next: Fire and Ice by Anne Stuart

Books in my TBR pile: About 13.

What about you guys? Anyone reading anything good right now?

Finished Lover Enshrined by J.R. Ward. This is the sixth and latest book in her popular Black Dagger Brotherhood vampire series. Warning: There be spoilers ahead.

This one’s about Phury, Zsadist’s twin and a member of the brotherhood. In past books, Phury has been presented as a calm, celibate gentleman. In this one, it’s revealed that he’s spiraling out of control. He’s a drug addict, and he’s also become the Primale — the vamp who has to sleep with 40 female vamps to ensure the survival of the race — which is adding to his stress level. Cormia is the First Mate to the Primale, and she’s fallen in love with Phury. Too bad she thinks he’s in love with Zsadist’s soulmate, Bella …

I could do some more plot summary, but that would take up the rest of the review. Let’s just say there’s a lot going on in this book, and we get point-of-view passages from Phury, Cormia, John Matthew, Quinn, Lash, a lesser, Rhevenge, and Xhex.

Enshrined is a bit different from the other books in this series because the romance isn’t the main focus of the novel. I wouldn’t even classify this one as a romance, but more of an urban fantasy. I know some folks don’t like the UF direction Ward seems to be going in, but I don’t mind it. Ward can juggle multiple plotlines better than almost anyone out there. Somehow, she makes all of her characters damaged and interesting while swtiching back and forth between them and moving the story forward. It’s a skill I wish I had. I actually liked all the different POVs in this one.

I’ve never been a huge John Matthew fan, but I really enjoyed the plot with him, Quinn, and Blaylock. I thought that was the strongest arc in the book, and the reader gets to see the three of them grow up and start realizing their full potential as they’re thrust into the middle of the war with the lessers. However, I did think Ward was repeating herself a little by having Blaylock be in love with Quinn. There were echoes of the Butch/Vischous relationship there, but I think she resolved it nicely.

I also enjoyed reading about Xhex and Rhev, although I have no idea how Ward will redeem Rhev when she gives him his own story. He’s a drug-dealing vamp/sympath with psychiotic urges. But I’m still looking forward to reading more about him.

Then, there’s Phury. I have to say I didn’t care for his character at all. All the brothers drink and smoke excessively in previous books, but Phury being an addict seemed to just suddenly come about. Also, there was no mention in previous books of him having “the wizard” voice in his head. And if the wizard has been with him for decades, why would Phury compare him to something out of Lord of the Rings? The movies only came out a couple of years ago. I thought that was a little strange.

Overall, Phury struck me as very wishy-washy and spent far too much time feeling sorry for himself. Also, I didn’t really buy the romance between Phury and Cormia. Their scenes got a little lost between everything else that was going on, and there just weren’t enough of them to make the romance work for me.

The one thing I did like about Phury was when he went to see the Scribe Virgin and told her that the vamp society needs to evolve and get with the times. That the Chosen (her devotees) should be able to go out into the world and choose their own mates instead of Phury being forced to sleep with/impregnate all of them. Yes! I thought. Finally! Someone realizes the vamp society is sexist and stuck in the Dark Ages and is speaking up about it instead of trying to circumvent the rules. I’m interested to see how that plays out over future books.

There were so many things I liked and didn’t like about Enshrined that I’m going split decision on this one. Thumbs up to the multiple plotlines, especially the Boys arc. Thumbs down to Phury and the light romance.

Up next: Eye of Heaven by Marjorie M. Liu.

Books in my TBR pile: About 11.

Finished Bitten by Kelley Armstrong. Several people have mentioned Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series to me, so I picked up the first book to try.

This book is about Elena Michaels, the world’s only female werewolf. Elena isn’t happy she was bitten and turned into a wolf, and she’s broken away from the Pack and is living on her own in Toronto. But when people start dying on Pack land in New York, Elena goes home to help the rest of the wolves figure out what’s going on. Once there, she has to deal with some dangerous enemies and Clayton, her former lover and the man who bit her and turned her into a wolf.

I’d read one of Armstrong’s short stories about Elena in one of the My Big Fat Supernatural anthologies, and I had high hopes for this book. There were a lot of things I liked about it. Elena is an intriguing character who isn’t afraid to be tough and ruthless when the situation calls for it. (There’s a really great scene at the end that shows her coming into her own.) Plus, Armstrong has some good descriptions of Toronto and what it’s like to be a werewolf. Her world building was very well done.

But ultimately, the book didn’t work for me for a number of reasons, the biggest of which was Clayton, the hero. I just didn’t like him. Clayton and Elena were engaged, and he took her home to meet his family (the Pack). While there, Clayton purposefully bit Elena to make her turn into a werewolf — a very painful process that could have resulted in her death. But the kicker is Clay never told her he was a werewolf. Elena never asked to be bitten, but Clay took it upon himself to decide what was best for her.

I’m not fond of alpha men (they usually just don’t work for me), and Clay is definitely an alpha who views Elena as his and his alone. There’s another scene where he takes Elena out into the woods and ties her to a tree. Elena doesn’t want to sleep with him at this point, but Clay presses the issue and she eventually gives in. Ugh. Forced seduction scenes like this one are something else I just don’t enjoy. No means no.

Overall, I thought Clay was selfish and manipulative. If I’d been Elena, I think I would have used my werewolf powers to rip his throat out. Not forgiven him for everything he put her through. I also wasn’t too fond of Jeremy, the leader of the Pack. I felt he could have done more to keep Elena from being bitten in the first place.

And then there was the Pack itself. It seems whenever the wolves (they’re all male) get a human woman pregnant and she has a boy, they take the child away from the mother with no explanation. Boys carry the werwolf gene and will eventually become wolves themselves. However, girls are ignored because they don’t carry the gene and will not become wolves.

I realize the wolves are taking the kids away so they can train them and keep their secret safe from the rest of the world. But the basic thought of the male wolves is that human women are good enough to sleep with and impregnate, but not good enough to raise a male werewolf. And the girls that the wolves father, don’t they care about them at all? It doesn’t seem like they do.  

So while there were things I liked about Bitten, I just couldn’t get over Clay’s character, how Elena goes back to him, and the overall actions of the Pack. Thumbs down.

On a side note, one of the women in my critique group mentioned that she likes Armstrong’s Otherworld books about a witch named Paige better than the werewolf books. I might give one of those a try.

Up next: Lover Enshrined by J.R. Ward.

Books in my TBR pile: About 13.

Finished Kill Me Twice by Roxanne St. Claire. This is the first book in her popular Bullet Catchers romantic suspense series. I’ve heard a lot of buzz about the series so I decided to check it out. This post has some spoilers, so you might want to skip it if you haven’t read the book.

This one’s about Cuban hottie Alex Romero, who’s sent to Miami by his BC boss, Lucy Monroe, to protect television anchorwoman Jessica Adams. But when Alex gets to Miami, he finds Jessica had vanished and that her twin, Jasmine (aka Jazz), has come to town to stand in for Jessica while the anchorwoman investigates a big story. But Alex and Jazz soon find themselves trying to find out what really happened to Jessica — without getting killed in the process.

Overall, I thought this was a really interesting book. The Bullet Catcher premise is fun and leaves room for lots of sequels with the other BC folks (I think there are 5 or 6 books out in the series already). Plus, Lucy is an intriguing character. You want to know more about her. (I really hope Lucy turns out to be as super-tough as she seems when she gets her own book in September, instead of just pretending to be tough like Isabella in Anne Stuart’s Ice Storm).

There’s some nice inside info about the world of television news and security consultants, and a cool action/rescue sequence at the end involving a Florida mansion, helicopters, and some fast boats. Plus, Alex and Jazz have some nice chemistry, and each one gets to show off their skills during the course of the investigation. St. Claire also has a very easy-to-read style that really moves the story along. And there’s a double-cross at the end I didn’t see coming.

I did have one little quibble. Jazz is supposed to meet Jessica when she gets to Miami, but Jessica is nowhere to be found. Jazz just assumes Jessica is already off investigating her story. Jazz gets a couple of weird text messages from Jessica but chalks them up to Jessica pursuing her story. It takes about 150 pages for Jazz to really believe Jessica is in danger.

I realize St. Claire is using those 150 pages to build the relationship between Alex and Jazz and introducing the reader to the players in the mystery. But if my sister disappeared like that and sent me weird messages, I’d be parked at the police station and doing everything I could to get the cops to find her — no matter what kind of story she was working on. 

Still, I’ve been looking to read some more romantic suspense since Anne Stuart’s Ice series concluded, and I’m glad I picked up Kill Me Twice. If you’re looking for a good romantic suspense, you’ll probably enjoy the world of the Bullet Catchers. I did. Thumbs up.

Up next: Bitten by Kelley Armstrong.

Books in my TBR pile: About 13.

Finished Atlantis Awakening by Alyssa Day. This is the second book (third story) set in her Warriors of Poseidon universe, about a race of warriors from Atlantis who help humanity battle vampires, shapeshifters, and other creatures.

This book is about Ven (aka King’s Vengeance), who’s basically a bodyguard to his brother, Prince Conlan. Ven is assigned to meet with Erin Connors, a very powerful witch. Ven soon finds himself protecting Erin from the vampire Caligula, who’s obsessed with Erin and her sister. Lots of fights and double crosses ensue.

I read the second Atlantis novella in the Wild Thing anthology and was interested to read more in the series. I’m glad I did. Day has created an interesting world that’s part urban fantasy (vampires) and part mythology (Atlantis, Poseidon) with a healthy dose of romance thrown in. 

Day’s style reminds me of Sherrilyn Kenyon and her Dark-Hunter series. There’s a big cast of characters (all of whom I imagine will get their own stories at some point), lots of action, and lots of bad stuff that happens. But the warriors don’t get too angsty about things, and there’s plenty of humor to balance out the dark points. There are also several plot threads going in addition to the main story between Ven and Erin, but they add to the story, and I enjoyed the different characters’ point of views. (I really want to read Quinn and Alaric’s story!)

I’m not the world’s biggest fan of alpha heroes or the soulmate plot device (they’re just not my thing), but I thought they were well done in this book. Ven is definitely an alpha warrior, but Erin has plenty of backbone and power too and is more than capable of standing up to him and taking care of herself. And even though the two are soulmates, they still have free will in the end and choose to be together.

Overall, if you’re looking for a fun, action-packed romance, give this one a try. Thumbs up. Now, I need to go back and read the first book in the series, Atlantis Rising …

Up next: Kill Me Twice by Roxanne St. Clair.

Books in my TBR pile: About 14.

What about you guys? Anyone reading something good right now?