"Living with the Dead" by Kelley Armstrong

I've read and enjoyed most of the books in Kelley Armstrong's Otherworld series.  Somehow I'd never gotten ahold of a copy of"Living with the Dead" though.

The 9th book in the series, "Living with the Dead" stars some familiar characters (chiefly half-demon Hope Adams and werewolf Karl Marsten), and introduces some new ones (so,e just for the purposes of the novel, but also some new characters that I hope will resurface in future books.  There's murder, mystery, supernaturals, romance...it's am interesting book that works well in the series.

If you like "Living with the Dead", I definitely recommend reading the rest of Armstrong's books.  (The Otherworld series starts with "Bitten".)  Click here for a list of books enjoyed by Armstrong fans.  I would also recommend books by P.C. Cast.

"Personal Demon" by Kelley Armstrong

I'll keep this relatively brief as I've written on here about other books by Kelley Armstrong.  We all know that if you're looking for a certain genre of supernatural fiction, then she's the woman to be reading.

"Personal Demon" is the eight book in her "Women of the Otherworld" series, and centers on half-demon Hope Adams.  This wasn't my personal favorite in the series, but I enjoyed getting more story about the side characters from other novels and seeing how other familiar characters popped up in this book.  It's very fast-paced with a detective type element to it.

To read my review of "Personal Demon", click here.
To visit Kelley Armstrong's official website, click here.

"Evermore" by Alyson Noel

Teen fiction is big business.  Not only do teens read, lots of pre-teens and adults read teen books (technically young adult literature). 

"The Immortals" is a series of books written primarily for teen girls by Alyson Noel.  Basically there are "immortals".  They're people who live forever (unless killed).  They're not vampires or other traditional immortal creatures, but instead seem to get their immortality from a weird red drink that they chug.  There's a cheesy high school love story complete with jealousy and family issues.

These books, beginning with "Evermore", are really popular.  Either that or someone is filling up warehouses with them, because they've been best sellers.  Being honest, though, I have to say that these are far from the best teen fiction books--even teen paranormal romance books--that I have read.  The characters just aren't real enough for me, and it's all just a bit too melodramatic.  I'd recommend reading other books like "The House of Night" series or the "Generation Dead" series.  Even if you want cheesy romance, you'd be better off sticking to the "Twilight" books.

To find out more about "Evermore" either click here or visit Alyson Noel's official website.

If you like "Evermore", be sure to check out the sequel, "Blue Moon".

The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance

If you've been following this little blog of mine, you've probably noticed by now that I have a bit of a soft spot for vampire books.  I like the atmospheric quality of most vampire fiction and the melding of fantasy and real life. 

Whether you're a fan of the genre looking for something to read, or a newbie to vampire fiction who wants a bit of a taster, I'd recommend reading the Mammoth Anthology of "Vampire Romance".  This is quite a large collection of short stories.  They all have vampires of some variety and are-to varying degrees-romances.  Other than that the stories vary greatly.  It's fun to read all of the short stories, and a good way to be exposed to lots of authors writing vampire fiction (and especially vampire romance).

To find out more about the Mammoth book "Vampire Romance", click here.

"Sex, Lies, and Vampires" by Katie Macalister

If you like vampire fiction and don't want to read teen novels, then you should know who Katie Macalister is.  She's famous for writing vampire fiction that is action-packed (in every connotation of the word).

Her "Dark Ones" series has nine books in it, plus several other associated books.  "Sex, Lies, and Vampires" is the third book in the "Dark Ones" series.  What's great about these books is that although it is best to read the series in order, you can actually read a lot of them out of sequence or on their own and still enjoy (and understand) them.

This isn't literary vampires or classic vampire fiction.  The "Dark Ones" books (including "Sex, Lies, and Vampires") are contemporary, sexy, and fun.

To read my longer review of "Sex, Lies, and Vampires" by Katie Macalister, click here.
To visit Katie Macalister's official website, click here.

"Blue Moon" by Alyson Noel

"The Immortals" is a popular series of young adult books by Alyson Noel. 

The main character, high-schooler Ever, has a troubled history.  When she meets Damen, she finds love and moments of peace and happiness.  However, falling in love with an immortal brings melodramatic new problems.

"Blue Moon" is the second book in "The Immortals" series.  In it, new couple Ever and Damen meet continued challenges as a mysterious new person joins their social scene and Damen begins to change.  Ever and Damen are getting further apart, and Ever must find a way to save them all before it's too late.

As you've probably guessed by now, these books are cheesy and melodramatic.  "Blue Moon" does offer some mindless entertainment, and it's a very quick read.  It's definitely not the best book that I've read in this genre though.

To read my full book review of "Blue Moon" by Alyson Noel, click here.
To visit Alyson Noel's official website, click here.

"Divine by Mistake" by P.C. Cast

I mentioned in my last post that I read the short story anthology "Darkness Divine".  P.C. Cast's story in that anthology seemed odd as a stand-alone work.  After reading it, I realized that the story is associated with Cast's "Divine" series of books.  So I read the first book in the series, "Divine by Mistake".

The basic gist of the book is that a modern woman (Shannon) exchanges places with her counterpart in a sort of mythological parallel universe (Partholon).  There she's expected to be high priestess/goddess incarnate, help fight off hordes of evil invaders, and figure out a relationship with a sexy centaur.  Cast's writing is--as I expect from her--very involving and entertaining.

To read my full review of "Divine by Mistake", click here.

"Darkness Divine" anthology

I was browsing the library recently, randomly looking through books.  In the fantasy & sci-fi section I noticed the book "Darkness Divine". The cover art was mediocre, but it grabbed my attention because the name P.C. Cast was on the cover. I'd recently read her newest "House of Night" book, so I figured it was worth checking out "Darkness Divine".



"Darkness Divine" is actually a collection of long-ish short stories by contemporary women fantasy writers: P.C. Cast, Gena Showalter, Maggie Shayne, and Rhyannon Byrd.  As is typical in an anthology, I enjoyed some of the stories more than others.  Overall it was a fairly fast and entertaining book to read.  Most of the stories just offered tasters of that author's style and type of subject matter, so it's a good guide to the genre if you're looking at getting books by some of these authors.

To read my longer review of "Darkness Divine", click here.