A few books I missed in September:

Inkdeath

• By Cornelia Funke
• Hardcover released September 26
• Book 3 of the Ink Trilogy
• Publisher–The Chicken House
• Young Adult Fantasy
• Several members of my family enjoy this series.

Secret Desires of a Gentleman

• By Laura Lee Guhrke
• Paperback released September 30
• Publisher–Avon
• “Maria Martingale was going to elope. But Phillip Hawthorne, Marquess of Kayne, put a stop to those plans when he learned his younger brother intended to marry a cook’s daughter. Now, twelve years later, Maria discovers that the man who holds her fate in his hands is none other than the haughty gentleman who sent her packing—and he’s as handsome and arrogant as ever.”
• Historical Romance–Laura Lee Guhrke is an autobuy author for me.

King of Sword and Sky

• By C. L. Wilson
• Paperback released September 30
• Book 3 of the Tairen Soul series
• Publisher–Leisure Books
• “Returning to the Fading Lands with his Celierian truemate, Rain discovers a dissension among the most powerful members of his own council. As the Eld plot their next deadly strike, Ellysetta struggles to master her powerful magic and discover how to save the tairen, while Rain confronts open challenge to his rule and prepares to lead the Fey army to war.”
• Fantasy–The first two books in this series were published last fall and were excellent.

Here are the books I’m looking forward to in October:

Midnight’s Daughter

• By Karen Chance
• Paperback released October 7
• Book 1, Dorina Basarab, Dhampir series
• Publisher–Onyx
• “Dorina Basarab is a dhampir—half-human, half-vampire. Unlike most dhampirs, though, Dory has managed to maintain her sanity. Now Dory’s vampire father has come to her for help.”
• Urban fantasy–might be an interesting new series.

Power Play

• By Deirdre Martin
• Paperback released October 7
• Publisher–Berkley
• “Hockey player Eric Mitchell is a man in demand. First he was traded to save the New York Blades, and now the publicity department has loaned him out to help boost daytime diva Monica Geary’s career.”
• Contemporary Romance–I’ve liked a number of Deirdre Martin’s books.

Destiny Kills

• By Keri Arthur
• Paperback released October 28
• Myth & Magic series, Book 1
• Publisher–Dell
• “When Destiny McCree wakes up beside a dead man on an Oregon beach, she knows only this: she has to keep moving, keep searching, and keep one step ahead of the forces that have been pursuing her from the heart of Scotland to this isolated spot….Enter Trae Wilson, a master thief with a sexy, knowing grin and a secret agenda of his own.”
• Fantasy Romance–a favorite fantasy author.

Blue Bloods 3: Revelations

• By Melissa De La Cruz
• Hardback released Oct 28
• Blue Bloods series, Book 3
• Publisher–Hyperion Books
• “Within New York City’s most elite families, there lurks a secret society of celebrated Americans whose ancestors sailed on the Mayflower. They are the powerful and the wealthy—and in fact, they are not human. They are the Blue Bloods, an ancient group of vampires.”
• Young Adult Fantasy–I like this young adult series.

…………………….

Edited to add a book I missed:

Wolfsbane and Mistletoe

• By Charlaine Harris, Patricia Briggs, Keri Arthur, Carrie Vaughn and others
• Anthology edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner
• Hardcover released October 7
• New York Times bestselling authors Charlaine Harris, Patricia Briggs, Keri Arthur, and Carrie Vaughn—along with eleven other masters of the genre—offer all-new stories on werewolves and the holidays, a fresh variation on the concept that worked so well with birthdays and vampires in Many Bloody Returns.
• I like many of these authors and even though I generally don’t like anthologies I’m interested in this one!

What new books are you looking forward to?

Title:  Dangerous Joy
Author:  Jo Beverley
Copyright:  1995
Genre:  Historical Romance
Setting: Ireland and England in winter 1816
Publisher:  Zebra
Part of a series?  yes, Fifth in “Company of Rogues” series

………………………..

I first read this book a few years ago and I read it again this week. Jo Beverley is one of my favorite historical romance authors. She has written at least two different series taking place at different times in English history. This book is from her “Company of Rogues” series taking place during the Regency England years. The other series is about a Georgian family, the Mallorens, in the 1760s. I like both series and have read most of the books.

The Rogues are a group of men who met when they went to school together in England. They formed a group for protection against the older students and bullies. One of the Rogues is an Irishman named Miles Cavanagh who was sent to England for school. Now he is in his mid twenties, lives in Ireland, but regularly travels to England to sell the horses he breeds. His mother recently remarried to a happy-go-lucky Irishman and Miles has become guardian to his stepfather’s 20 year old niece for six weeks until she comes of age. Miles realizes something is strange about this arrangement since he is so young himself and hardly knew the girl’s grandfather. When he travels to her home he realizes Felicity Monahan is trying to elope with an Englishman whose wife recently died. It begins to make sense to Miles that the happy-go-lucky Monahan family wouldn’t have been very good guardians to Felicity.

Miles is puzzled she wants to marry Rupert Dunsmore since Miles took an immediate dislike to him and Dunsmore is disliked by the country folk in the area. However, Felicity is an heiress, Rupert needs money and Felicity is desperate to protect Rupert’s son Kieran. Rupert is threatening to harm Kieran if Felicity doesn’t marry him. Felicity hates Rupert, but is willing to marry him to keep Kieran safe. Miles is outraged Felicity wants to marry Rupert. As he gets to know Felicity better he comes to love her and is even less able to understand why she’s willing to marry Rupert even if she loves and wants to protect Kieran. Miles knows a father has a great deal of control over a son and a wife and Felicity would have little chance to protect Kieran if Rupert wanted to send him away or even harm him. Miles ends up taking Felicity to England by force to to keep her from eloping with Rupert.

In England they stay with several other members of the Rogues and Felicity begins to learn to trust and hope for a better outcome than marriage to Rupert. For the first time in her life she has women her own age to talk to and discuss problems with. Beth, the wife of one of the Rogues, talks to Felicity about Miles:

“…His parents saved him from the pressures of his future rank, and the Rogues saved him from the perils of English enmity. Since he’s by nature a lighthearted, easygoing fellow, he’s hardly come to grips with trouble at all. He doesn’t even have to run his own estate. Since his father’s death, his mother has done it for him, leaving Miles free to hunt six months of the year and play most of the rest.”

“You disapprove? Faith, I think you’re a puritan at heart.”

“I think adults should have an adult view of life. In your case, Miles is having to handle an adult situation. It will do him good.”

I like the interraction and exchange of ideas between the Rogues. I also like that the main two characters aren’t perfect. They have some growing up to do. They haven’t always made the best choices and they come to realize this. Felicity finally wants not to take the easy way out, but to trust that Miles and the rest of the Rogues will be able to help her.

The book is written in both Miles’ and Felicity’s POVs. Thus, the reader knows things which one or the other character doesn’t know. However, there aren’t any big misunderstandings. I felt each character acted logically based on the information they knew at the time. The author also does a good job of using the mystical and often unexplained aspects of Ireland. I had a feeling for Ireland and the Irish and the aspects of British rule as well by the end of the book.

I recommend Dangerous Joy to those who enjoy historical romance. I gave it an A. Do any of you have a favorite book by Jo Beverley? I’m not sure this is my favorite–she has written so many I enjoy–but this is certainly one of my favorite. What about other historical romance authors? Who are your favorites? Perhaps I will write a blog post about my favorites. I have had many hours of reading pleasure because of them.

Title: The Tree Shepherd’s Daugther

Author: Gillian Summers

Copyright: 2007

Publisher: Flux (an imprint of Llewellyn Publications)

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

……………………………………

I bought The Tree Shepherd’s Daughter by Gillian Summers last year based on the cool cover. It is one of the best covers I’ve seen in a long time though many young adult fantasies have great covers. However, once I bought it I set it aside and didn’t read it. I’m glad I finally did read it for my TBR Day Review! I am reviewing it for Keishon’s TBR review challenge.

The book is about a 15 year old girl—Keelie Heartwood—whose mother has just died. Keelie is delivered to her father who makes furniture and sells it at Renaissance Fairs. He is in Colorado when Keelie arrives. They will soon leave for a fair in New York State, but Keelie plans to leave as soon as possible and return to Los Angeles to live with a friend’s family. She can’t believe she is expected to live in a muddy forest at a fair where everyone is dressed up in silly clothes—and it is so far away from any malls! Her luggage has been lost and she immediately falls in a puddle so her clothes are wet and muddy. She has always stayed away from trees because she has quite a reaction when she is close to trees or even wood. She can tell where the wood has come from and what kind of wood it is. Her mother has told her she has an allergy to wood and she has felt sick when she’s around too much wood. Her mother told her that her father left when she was just a baby and Keelie hasn’t seen him since then. She occasionally received presents and mail from him. She is grieving and missing her mother and resents her father—especially since she has had to leave everything she has known.

In some ways, this book is a typical young adult “coming of age” book—a teenager resentful of her father; she tangles with the popular girl at the fair who has a handsome boyfriend; the boyfriend begins paying attention to the unpopular teenager. She gradually begins to see that her father is not the villain she has thought and that not everything her mother told her was true. She also learns there was a lot her mother didn’t tell her.

The fantasy portion of the book sets it apart from the typical book. The setting in the Renaissance Fair also was interesting. I’ve been to a couple of these fairs through the years, but hadn’t really thought about the people who work there or sell their products at the fairs. I enjoyed learning a little about the inner workings. Of course, they have their own word for the customers who visit the fair—mundanes!

Even though Keelie hasn’t read Lord of the Rings she recognizes that the fair has things in common with it. She notices some of the people working the fair have pointed ears—including her father. She has one ear that is pointed herself. She always thought it was a birth defect. Her father has an affinity to wood and trees and she discovers that now she’s in a forest and around wood all the time she likes it—and she can even communicate with the trees. However, strange things are happening in the area. More rain than usual accompanied by severe weather and even tornadoes has created havoc with the fair. It is also creating havoc in the forest. Several trees are struck by lightning and Keelie is able to feel their death and the great sadness the other trees feel. She also sees a small creature who wears a red hat and tries to drown her.

I read this book last weekend during a trip to the north woods of Wisconsin and it was the perfect book for that. The trees were beginning to change color so I was especially aware of them. When we returned home the remnants of Hurricane Ike had created havoc in Ohio and many trees and branches were down in our area. 60 to 80 mph winds had come through the area on Sunday. The power is out in our neighborhood, but after reading this book I was really aware of all the trees. Every yard and curbside is filled with debris from the storm—including large branches and parts of trees. We will probably lose at least two of our trees. Reading this book made me even more aware of all the trees and how sad it is when we lose some of the big old trees.

I enjoyed the book and look forward to reading the second in the series which came out this summer. Some parts were a little vague—why Keelie felt sick when she lived in California and was around wood; why the red hatted guy was causing trouble; whether he was behind all the troubles. These things may become clearer by the end of the trilogy. This book did have a clear ending although it is obvious there is more to Keelie’s story. I gave the book a B+.

True Blood debuts on HBO on Sunday at 9:00 p.m. ET here in the United States. I’ve read all the books in Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire Mystery series and have been waiting a long time for this HBO series. I subscribed to the HBO channel this week so I could watch this show! I was pleased to see that Friday’s edition of USA Today reviewed the TV show and gave it 3 1/2 stars.

I started reading and watching vampires over ten years ago with the books from Laurell Hamilton’s Anita Blake series and Tanya Huff’s “Blood Books” and the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series. I discovered earlier this summer that Tanya Huff’s books had also been made into a TV series called Blood Ties. There are only about 20 episodes in this series and they are not available on DVD here in the States, but the Lifetime Channel has been showing reruns on Saturdays and Sundays. I’ve enjoyed watching the series. I liked the books better, but the show is pretty good.

What about you? Do you like reading about or watching vampires? What are your favorities? Are you going to watch True Blood? I sure hope it’s good!

I found this mystery series and decided to give it a try because of the quotes from both Margaret Maron and Julia Spencer-Fleming. These authors write some of my favorite mysteries. I’ve read all three of Jane K. Cleland’s books in this series and I enjoyed them–though not quite as much as I enjoy Maron’s or Spencer-Fleming’s books.

The three books are: Consigned to Death (2006), Deadly Appraisal (2007) and Antiques to Die For (2008). The series is about Josie Prescott who moved to the New Hampshire shore from New York City where she worked for a big New York auction house. She has suffered through a number of traumatic events in her life–her mother died when she was about 12, she testified against her boss in a price-fixing scheme (he went to prison and she was ostracized by her fellow workers and ultimately forced out of her job in NYC); her father died shortly after this; she and her live-in boyfriend broke up; and she moved to New Hampshire to open up an antiques business.

The antiques business is a success, but being the owner of a business can be stressful–especially when you become involved in murders! Josie still misses her father. They were very close. He was a great source of advice in her business and personal life. During moments of stress or indecision she still thinks about how he would have handled a problem or what advice he would have given her. This is a source of comfort, but also sadness.

In the first book Josie is a suspect in the murder of a wealthy recluse. Cleland does a good job of portraying the stress of being under suspicion by the police. However, as soon as Josie meets Police Chief Ty Alverez (who also is handling the investigation) both feel an immediate connection, but since she is a suspect Chief Alverez keeps things strictly business. Josie feels she should be able to trust him, but just isn’t sure. This made the book more realistic to me–since a police officer in real life would be fired if he were involved with a suspect in a case he was investigating. I gave the book a B.

The second book opens after a murder has already happened. A different police department is investigating this death and the detective in charge is suspicious of Josie:

“So,” Detective Rowcliff asked, “did you kill her?”

…

“What do you mean?” I asked, confused and frightened.

“Let’s stay on track here,” he said impatiently, ignoring my question, his foot rat-a-tatting a staccato beat. “Did you kill her?”

“No, of course not,” I said. “My God, no.”

…

I was so scared, I could barely breathe. I glanced away, then back at him, hoping for some sign of empathy or understanding. There was none. “What do you want to know?” I asked.

This detective is an entirely different character from Chief Alverez. He’s impatient, sarcastic and certainly not attracted to Josie! Ty Alverez and Josie are dating, but he is in southern California with his sick aunt throughout this book so we don’t get to see them as a couple. That was a disappointment for me as I enjoy the development of relationships in books. In this book both characters seemed quite emotionally separate as well as geographically separate from each other. I gave DA a B-.

The third book in the series shows the relationship between Ty Alverez and Josie moving forward (they both admit to loving the other), but Ty accepts a job with Homeland Security for northern New England which will mean lots of travel. They both say they are committed to the relationship, but I suspect it may not last. During the book they don’t talk about the future at all though Josie does fly to Washington, D.C. to attend a dinner with Ty.

Josie seems emotionally distant from most of the people in these books. She hasn’t made many friends in New Hampshire and most of the friends she had in New York turned against her. She has no family since both of her parents are dead and she was an only child. She is outgoing, but doesn’t seem to get close to people. I think she loves Ty, but she admits to herself in this book that she equates closeness to people as a prelude to losing them.

As if to emphasize that fact–ATDF begins with the murder of one of Josie’s friends. This murder is in Chief Alverez’s jurisdiction, but another officer handles the case. Josie helps the police solve this murder by telling them what she knows about her murdered friend Rosalie. Josie is amazed to find how many people had a reason to kill her friend. Rosalie had a secret admirer who sent her flowers and cards. After Rosalie is murdered he seems to fix his gaze upon Josie. He is more stalker than secret admirer and the police take his fixation on Josie seriously. I gave ATDF a B.

I enjoyed the mysteries in these books. Cleland does a good job of spinning the story and providing a number of suspects. I also like all the antiques and business information sprinkled througout the books. I feel I know more about antiques. appraisals and collectibles after this! The books are written in first person so we only ever have Josie’s point of view which is sometimes frustrating as I would like to get to know more about other characters. I have a feeling Gretchen, one of Josie’s employees, is going to have a larger role in a future book! Since Josie is distant from a number of the characters in the books so was I as the reader. However, this may also help make the mysteries harder to solve.

Cleland has created a complex, multi-faceted main character and I’m looking forward to the next entry in this series. I hope Ty and Josie are able to work out their long-distance relationship! A short story about Josie will appear in the Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine November issue.

More good books coming in September! What September books are you looking forward to?

Duainfey

• By Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
• Hardcover released September 2 (already available at Amazon)
• First in new series
• Publisher–Baen
• “The husband-and-wife writing team, authors of the “Liaden Universe” series (e.g., I Dare), begin a new series that blends the fantasy and romance genres in one seamless whole.” (From Library Journal review)
• Fantasy–The Liaden Universe series of books are among my all-time favorite books.

Hostage to Pleasure

• By Nalini Singh
• Psy-Changelings, Book 5
• Publisher–Berkley
• Paperback released September 2
• “Ashaya Aleine was separated from her son, forced to create a neural implant that will forever enslave her psychically gifted Psy race. After fighting a desperate battle to save her child and escape the PsyNet, she’s lead not to safety, but into the lethal danger of a sniper’s embrace.”
• Fantasy–I’ve enjoyed the Psy-Changeling series.

The Price of Desire

• by Jo Goodman
• Paperback released on September 2
• Publisher–Zebra
• “Olivia Cole is devastated to learn that her ne’re-do well brother has promised her to the operator of a London gaming hall as payment of his debts.”
• Historical Romance–Jo Goodman is one of my favorite historical romance authors.

Faefever

• By Karen Ann Moning
• Fever series, Book 3
• Publisher–Delacorte Press
• Hardcover released September 16
• “…the enthralling tale of a woman who explores the limits of her mysterious powers as she enters a world of ancient sorcery—and confronts an enemy more insidious than she could ever have imagined.”
• Fantasy–I like Karen Ann Moning’s books and this is an interesting series.

Untamed

• by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast
• House of Night Series, Book 4
• Publisher–St. Martin’s Griffin
• Trade Paperback released September 23
• “Zoey’s adventures at vampyre finishing school take a wild and dangerous turn as loyalties are tested, shocking true intentions come to light, and an ancient evil is awakened….”
• Young Adult Fantasy–This is a very popular young adult series and I’ve enjoyed the first three books in the series.
• When I checked at PC Cast’s blog I found out that The movie rights to this series have been optioned and a total of at least nine books are planned in this series.

Brisingr

• by Christopher Paolini
• Publisher–Knopf Books
• Inheritance series, Book 3
• Hardcover released September 20
• “Following the colossal battle against the Empire’s warriors on the Burning Plains, Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, have narrowly escaped with their lives. Still there is more at hand for the Rider and his dragon, as Eragon finds himself bound by a tangle of promises he may not be able to keep.”
• Young Adult Fantasy–My husband and several of my kids are looking forward to this book!

Seduce Me at Sunrise

• By Lisa Kleypas
• The Hathaways, Book 2
• Publisher–St. Martin’s
• Paperback released September 30
• “Kev Merripen has longed for the beautiful, well-bred Winnifred Hathaway ever since her family rescued him from the brink of death when he was just a boy.”
• Historical Romance–Lisa Kleypas’ books are auto-buys for me. She has written so many wonderful books.

Mr. Cavendish, I Presume

• By Julia Quinn
• Two Dukes of Wyndham, Book 2
• Publisher–Avon
• Paperback released September 30
• “Amelia Willoughby has been engaged to the Duke of Wyndham for as long as she can remember. Literally. A mere six months old when the contracts were signed, she has spent the rest of her life waiting. And waiting.”
• Historical Romance–Julia Quinn is one of my favorite authors.

My TBR Book Review for August (read more about this reading challenge on Keishon’s website):

• Book Read: Slow Dollar
• Author: Margaret Maron
• Date Published: 2002
• Publisher: Warner Books
• Genre: Mystery

This is the ninth book in the Deborah Knott mystery series. I’ve read most of the books which take place before this one. I stopped reading almost all mysteries about eight years ago. I had read mysteries since I was a teenager (starting with Agatha Christie and branching out). For some reason I lost interest in mysteries for awhile, but now in the last year or so I’ve begun reading them again and rediscovered the joy.

When I looked through my list of books For a book to read this month I discovered Slow Dollar and realized I’d never read it. Since then I’ve been glomming Maron’s books! I also plan to go back and re-read some of the earlier books because I don’t remember them too well and it’s been so much fun to get to know Deborah Knott and her family again.

Deborah is the daughter of an ex-bootlegger and has 11 older brothers. She grew up on a tobacco farm in North Carolina near Raleigh, but left when she was 18 and her mother died. She eventually came back home, went to law school and now she’s a district court judge in North Carolina. Each book does a good job of giving a flavor for the rural life which is slowly giving way to a more suburban and urban one in the tech triangle near Raleigh. When I first began reading these I had never been to North Carolina, but still enjoyed the books. Now my daughter is stationed at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville so I’ve spent some time in that area and I enjoy the books even more. This book is about one of the small carnivals which travel from town to town during the summer throughout the United States. I have to admit I hadn’t really thought much about them before, but I now have a greater appreciation for this bit of Americana. I also like the glossary of “carnie” terminology at the back of the book. For example:

Cool the mark–Send a tapped-out patron away happy…or if not happy, at least resigned to his losses so that he does not complain to the police that the game is rigged.

These books often begin with cases Deborah Knott hears in court on a day-to-day basis. I like the way we get a realistic view of the types of cases a district court judge hears each day. Slow Dollar begins with a case of vandalism to one of the carnival rides. One of the owners of the carnival, Tallahassee (Tally) Ames, testifies against several young men. Judge Knott finds them guilty. Several weeks later the carnival comes to Dobbs, the small town in Colleton County, NC, where Deborah lives. She and several friends go to the carnival and during the evening they discover a dead man who turns out to be Tally’s son. Deborah soon discovers Tally is also her niece whom Deborah has not seen since she was a small child. Of course, there are many suspects including a few members of Deborah’s own family. The mystery is well-done and life in rural North Carolina as well as life as a carnie are vividly shown.

Deborah is a young (in her 30’s) single woman and she dates throughout this series. Sometimes the books deal with her relationships and sometimes they are only mentioned in passing. I don’t remember all the details of the earlier books I read during the 1990s, but I know she’s had at least one fairly long-term relationship and possibly more. All has not gone well with her last romance (with Kidd Chapin). That relationship ended during the previous spring and Deborah has spent the summer getting over him. As the book opens it is autumn and she realizes she’s feeling better. Her friend, Deputy Sheriff Dwight Bryant (whom she has known since childhood), also has his own problems as his relationship with a local school teacher ends abruptly. They both agree they are tired of the hassle of dating, so Dwight suggests that since they like each other and know each other so well that they should get married. I’ve now read several of the books after this one and this relationship continues to grow and change–very enjoyable to read about.

With my arm still linked in Daddy’s, we walked over to Mother’s grave and I put my hand on her stone: SUSAN STEPHENSON KNOTT. It’s not that I think dead spirits inhabit the graves of their bodies, but this was as close as I could physically get to both my parents.

I took a deep breath. “Dwight’s asked me to marry him,” I said, speaking as much to my mother as to my father.

…

At last, Daddy asked quietly, “How did you answer him, Daughter?”

“I told him yes.”

He pulled his arm free of mine, stepped back, and tilted my chin up till the moonlight fell full on my face. His own face was stern and, in this light, looked as if it, too, were carved from marble.

“Except for when you decided to run for judge, I ain’t never said a word to you about the way you lived your life, the things you done, the men you been with. Have I?”

“No, sir.”

“I figured you won’t hurting nobody but yourself and what you done was your own business. But if you marry Dwight and mess up–well, now, that’s gonna hurt a lot of people.”

“Daddy–”

He held up his hand. “Hear me out, Deb’rah. I’m right partial to Dwight. He’s a good man and he deserves a good wife. You gonna forsake all others and cleave only to him so long as you both shall live?”

“Yes, sir.” Tears streamed down my face and my hand still lay on Mother’s stone as if it were a Bible.

“All right then.” He opened his arms to me and held me against his chest till I quit crying.

Her father is a likeble old reprobate and definitely the patriarch of the family. He loves them all fiercely, but will tell them when they do something he disapproves of. All the characters in these books are unique and well-drawn. The relationships with Deborah’s large extended family are one of the things I like best. Just as in any large family some of the members are more likable than others. None of the characters are perfect, but all are enjoyable to watch grow and change throughout the series. I’m looking forward to more good reading!

When I looked on Margaret Maron’s website I discovered she has a new book–Death’s Half-Acre–which comes out today. Talk about serendipity! I highly encourage anyone who enjoys mysteries–especially series–to begin reading these. I gave Slow Dollar an A!

The Inspector Lynley series begins this Sunday on Masterpiece Theater. Sunday (August 10) and next Sunday are the final two cases for Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers. I’ve enjoyed this series and will miss getting to see new shows each year.

If you visit the Masterpiece Theater website you can read more about the series, follow a link to post questions for Elizabeth George (the author of the Inspector Lynley series), or sign up for a chance to win a copy of the new Inspector Lynley mystery Careless in Red.

Death Angel is Linda Howard’s latest romantic suspense novel. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to readers who enjoy Linda Howard’s books or who like romantic suspense. Linda Howard is one of my favorite authors and I own most of her books. She writes exciting, emotional books with interesting characters. This is one of her darker books, but I like the fact that she takes chances and creates unusual characters.

Drea learned at an early age she could manipulate men with her good looks and sexy body. She uses sex to get the things she wants–security and riches. She had an unhappy childhood and wanted never to be poor again. The first part of the book deals with Drea’s life with Salinas who is a drug running thug and her escape from him. Even though I knew she chose the life she’s leading and that it was ultimately self-destructive Drea was a likable character. She did what she felt she had to to survive.

When the book opens she has been Salinas’ mistress for two years and from the beginning she pretends to be dumber than she is. She realizes her act as the dumb blonde makes her appear nonthreatening and harmless. Salinas believes her portrayal as a shallow, self-absorbed young woman interested only in shopping and her looks. He isn’t as careful as he would be with someone smarter. Thus she eventually learns his bank account password even though she isn’t planning to use it. She knows her relationship with Salinas is temporary and she prepares for the day she will leave. For example, she has the jewelry he gives her copied and she puts the real jewelry into a safe deposit box–in case he won’t let her take the jewelry with her.

When it was time to leave she had planned to leave with only the things Salinas had given her, but everything changes the day Salinas lets an assassin have her for sex. She is emotionally devastated by this–especially when the assassin treats her like a person and Salinas whom she has lived with for two years treats her like an object and a whore. The assassin manages to touch her emotions–something which hasn’t happened to her since she was a teenager. However, after an afternoon of marathon sex the assassin leaves her even though she asks him to take her with him. According to him, once was enough. Thus, she is betrayed by both the assassin and Salinas. The next day she leaves Salinas and takes over $2 million dollars from him.

Drea learns it’s not so easy to actually get away with that much money. She transferred the money from Salinas’ bank account to her own account, but actually getting her hands on the cash is another matter! Banks don’t keep that much cash on-hand and she discovers even $15,000 is a lot of cash to carry around. The biggest problem though is that bank transactions create records and reports to the IRS. This part of the book was amusing as she tries to solve one problem only to have two more pop up.

Salinas is enraged Drea was able to fool him and steal money from him and he wants the assassin to kill Drea. The assassin is able to track the bank transactions and catches up with her, but he admires her ingenuity and intelligence and hasn’t decided whether to kill her or not. The book takes an unexpected turn at this point and the rest of the book is quite different from the first part of the book.

This is Drea’s story. She looks into herself during the course of this book and discovers she doesn’t like what she sees. She has always taken the easier way out. Now she must remake herself and grow and change. She discovers money isn’t the important thing in life. I enjoyed the journey she takes and the changes she makes to recreate herself.

We don’t get to know the male lead very well in this book. That went along with his character and didn’t bother me. What we do find out about him shows his strength of character and his ability to grow and change, too, as he realizes how much he loves Drea. His love for Drea is the single most important thing defining him.

Death Angel is not without flaws, but it’s an interesting, unusual book and I recommend it. There is a paranormal aspect to this book and some reviews I’ve read didn’t like that, but that didn’t bother me even though I don’t normally like paranormal mixed with my romance! I have given it a B+.

Many good books to look forward to in August! I’ve also included a few released the end of July.

I want to remind everyone about Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs, too, which will be released on July 29. I mentioned it last month, but I’m very excited about it. I’ve pre-ordered it and can hardly wait to read it!

Before the Scandal: The Notorious Gentlemen

• By Suzanne Enoch
• Paperback released July 29
• Publisher–Avon
• “Colonel Phineas Bromley is a legend—on the battlefield and in the bedroom. Though he’s won many wars, and even more hearts, nothing could prepare him for his new life. When Phin discovers that someone has been pushing his family toward ruin, he assumes the role of a legendary highwayman. Riding out in the middle of the night, hidden behind a mask, Phin heads straight into trouble . . . and into the arms of the ravishing girl next door.”
• Historical Romance–After the Kiss, the first book in this series, was released at the end of June. Suzanne Enoch is a favorite author.

Countdown

• By Michelle Maddox
• Paperback released July 29
• Publisher–Love Spell
• “Kira Jordan wakes up in a pitch-black room, handcuffed to a metal wall. She has 60 seconds to figure out how to escape. Thus begins a vicious game where to lose is to die.”
• A Shomi book–speculative romance (which can mean fantasy, science fiction, paranormal). I’ve enjoyed several others of the Shomi imprint and this book sounds exciting.

Breaking Dawn

• By Stephenie Meyer
• Twilight Saga, Book 4
• Hardcover released August 2
• Publisher–Little, Brown Young Readers
• Young Adult–this is the final book in this best selling vampire series. I stumbled upon this series when the first book came out and have enjoyed them.
• The movie Twilight (from the first book) will be released December 12, 2008.

Gale Force

• By Rachel Caine
• Weather Warden, Book 7
• Paperback released Aug 5
• Publisher–Roc
• “Weather Warden Joanne Baldwin is on vacation when her Djinn lover, David, asks Joanne to marry him. She’s thrilled to say yes, even if some others may be less than happy about it. Unfortunately, Joanne’s pre-marital bliss is ended by a devastating earthquake in Florida. And she can’t ask David and his kind for assistance. Because the cause of the quake is unlike anything Joanne has ever encountered—and a power even the Djinn cannot perceive.”
• Fantasy–I’ve enjoyed this series (though I need to read a couple books to catch up). They have an original concept (especially when they were first written).

When Twilight Burns

• By Colleen Gleason
• Gardella Vampire Chronicles, Book 4
• Paperback released Aug 5
• Publisher–Signet
• “After narrowly escaping Rome with her mortality, vampire hunter Lady Victoria Gardella Grantworth de Lacey returns to London—where not even sunrise can stop a vampire’s carnage. Not only is Victoria unable to detect the vampire with her heightened senses, but she’s being framed as the prime suspect behind the killings.”
• Fantasy set in Regency England. I’ve read the other books in this series and really enjoyed them.

Bitten to Death

• By Jennifer Rardin
• A Jaz Parks Novel, Book 4
• Trade Paperback on sale August 12
• Publisher–Orbit
• “Jaz Parks and her vampire boss, Vayl, have already fought demons, vampires, and reavers. Now, juggling work and family takes on a new dimension as she tackles her latest challenge: nail the Raptor before he can reduce her to Jaz-bits, survive a head-on crash with Vayl’s violent past, and lever her twin’s military career back on track before a dishonorable discharge ruins his life. To top it off, she must also contend with her father’s issues. Is he losing his mind? Or is someone really trying to kill him–from beyond the grave?”
• I haven’t read the first books in this series, but this book and the entire series looks interesting–about a vampire assassin (Vayl) and his assistant (Jaz Parks).

The Book of Scandal

• By Julia London
• Book 1, Scandal Series
• Paperback released Aug 19
• Publisher–Pocket
• “Nathan Grey, the Earl of Lindsey, is infamously known as the Libertine of Lindsey for his scandalous ways with women. But when he hears gossip that his estranged wife, Evelyn, is about to be named in The Book of Scandal, he has no choice but to remove her from London to protect her and himself from charges of treason — even if it calls for abduction.”
• Historical Romance–a new series by a favorite best selling author.

Wanderlust

• By Ann Aguirre
• The Jax series, Book 2
• Paperback released August 26
• Publisher–Ace
• “Broke and unemployed, “Jumper” Sirantha Jax accepts a diplomatic mission for the government—only to find herself up against Syndicate criminals, man-eating aliens, and her own grimspaceweakened body.”
• Science Fiction Romance–the first book in this series was published in January of this year and was enjoyable and unique.

Pure Blood

• By Caitlin Kittredge
• Nocturne City, Book 2
• Paperback released Aug 26
• Publisher–St. Martin’s Paperbacks
• “In the shadows of Nocturne City, witches lurk and demons prowl, and homicide detective Luna Wilder must keep the peace—while living life as a werewolf. Now bodies are turning up all over town, the brutal murders linked by a cryptic message: We see with empty eyes…To make matters worse for Luna, she can’t get wolfishly handsome Dmitri Sandovsky out of her mind. The last time he helped her with a case, Dmitri suffered a demon bite that infected him with a mysterious illness…and now his pack elders have forbidden him from associating with Luna.”
• Urban Fantasy–I enjoyed the first book in this series and look forward to this one.

Legacy

• By Jeanne C. Stein
• Anna Strong Vampire Chronicles, Book 4
• Paperback August 26
• Publisher–Ace
• “Anna has struggled to adapt to her supernatural status while clinging to the vestiges of her humanity. Now she must deal with her legacy. The sinister vampire who transformed her is dead, and Anna is entitled to his vast fortune. But a predatory werewolf comes forward, claiming the inheritance as her own—and she’ll kill to get what she wants most: blood and money.”
• Urban Fantasy–I’ve enjoyed this series and look forward to this latest book.