New Top Five Member!

OK. Don't get me wrong. I really enjoy Katie MacAlister's Aisling Grey series, but I just encountered a new series this weekend that was simply more deserving of a position in my top 5 paranormal romance series list....Kathryn Smith's Brotherhood of the Blood Series.

I hadn't heard anything about this author until recently - it appears she only just started writing in the paranormal romance genre...but WOW! What a great start. I read both of the two books currently available in this series in the course of two days. The third book in the series is slated to come out in late November. I can't wait!!!

So what makes these books so great...well, not to knock my favorite genre, but these books were just plain well written. Sadly, that's a bit of a rarity these days. The plots were well thought out and the characters were so well developed I was truly impressed.

While the romance and angst in these are wonderful, these aren't just a sap-feast either. There's plenty of action, particularly in the second book, "Night of the Huntress."

I really like a series where each book stands alone as a good, complete read, but where there's also a common story thread throughout each, which keeps you reading with unanswered questions. I hate those books that leave you hanging at the end, wondering what is going to happen because nothing (and I mean nothing) is wrapped up...and inevitably you have to wait months for the next book to be published. These books are great - with actual endings, plus a compelling common storyline that keeps building.

OK. So if you're intrigued, here's a very quick summary to wet your appetite:

• Be Mine Tonight: Prudence Ryland is dying, and in an attempt to save herself, she is in search of the Holy Grail. Chapel has been a vampire since the 1300s when he and his men accidentally drank from the Blood Grail, evil counterpart to the Holy Grail. Now, in 1899, Chapel is sent to England to protect Pru from finding the Blood Grail and making the same mistake that he did. But others are searching for the same prize, and aren't afraid to kill for it. Can Chapel keep Pru safe? And how long can she survive the cancer that is slowly killing her?
• Night of the Huntress: Marika Korzha is a vampire hunter, who kills anything that is "other" without thought or question. She also happens to be a Dhampyr (half vampire/half human). Bishop also hunts evil, but he is a vampire, and ally to Chapel from book 1. As Marika and Bishop hunt each other, something much darker hunts them. Will they join forces to save themselves and the people they love. Can Marika overcome her anger and prejudice, and learn to accept Bishop as well as herself. And can Bishop truly kill the misguided vampire huntress he was sent to destroy?

Atlantis Strikes My Interest

I read a book by a new author last night (new to me, that is), and felt compelled to share. The book, the first in a new series, is called Atlantis Rising: The Warriors of Poseidon by Alyssa Day.

I've been neck deep in vampire romance novels for so long, this was an excellent change of pace. The men in this book are all warriors from Atlantis, who have spent thousands of years protecting humans from evil (vamps, shapeshifters, etc). Note that I am not usually a fan of books that set vampires up as evil, bloodsucking baddies, but I'll make an exception in this case.

Anyhow, in this book, Conlan, the prince of Atlantis has just returned from 7 years of heinous torture and captivity at the hands of the queen of vampires, only to discover that in his absence, the trident of Atlantis has been stolen and taken ashore. In an attempt to recover it, along with the help of some rather compelling warriors (and no doubt future leads of upcoming books in the series), Conlan encounters Riley. Riley is human, but also happens to be an empath with some impressive abilities of her own. Of course, Riley and Conlan are immediately drawn to each other and the reader is taken along for a great ride, as romance, adventure, and violence ensue.

If you're not a fan of the F word appearing in your reading material, you should steer clear of this one. Harsh language doesn't bother me, and seemed entirely appropriate in this book, for what it's worth.

I really enjoyed this read, and look forward to the second book, which is slated to come out in November. (note that there is also a short story from this series in the anthology Wild Thing that I will certainly check out).

Wile I really liked this book, and will most certainly be making a place for it on my keeper shelf, I should warn you that it felt a bit short, at only 280 pages, and I would have liked a bit more depth when it came to Conlan. There was so much opportunity for Ms. Day to explore when it came to her hero - I mean the dude just escaped from 7 years of hell and he seems to recover pretty fast. I hope she takes the time to explore her future heroes and heroines a bit more thoroughly in her upcoming books.

I've been busy devouring new reads. Here's a quick run down of the most recent, in case you're looking for new books or new authors:

• The Vampire Who Loved Me by Teresa Medeiros (Second in a series of two, I enjoyed this and the first one "After Midnight". Note that you really should read the first book before tackling this one, or you may be a bit lost.)
• Traveler by Melanie Jackson (The first in the Wildside Romance series. The cover on this one is totally misleading, in my opinion. This book was full of adventure and suspence, as well as Feys and Goblins. This is a great romance with minimal sex. This is the first book I've read by this author, but I'm sure I'll read more.)
• Eyes of Heaven (Dirk & Steele book 5) by Majorie M. Lui (I love this series, and this book was great. If you haven't tried the Dirk & Steele series, you should drop what you're doing and run out to the book store right now! This series focuses around a paranormal detective agency called Dirk & Steele, where all the members have special powers, ranging from the ability to control electricity to shape shifting into a crow.)
• Primal Heat (Prime Series book 5) by Susan Sizemore (This is the second book in this series that I've read...the first being "I Burn for You", which is the first book in this series. I enjoyed the first book better, and would suggest you start there, but this was still a good read. Quick summary for the Prime series: Prime vampires are about as alpha as you can get and when they finally find their bondmate the attraction is immediate. If that sounds interesting, then you'll like these books. Nuff said.)