Summer Morgana Starr is an artist that works with different mediums. At the moment she is working with different uses of clay. Her pieces are beautiful and dramatic. Summer can also control the ley lines below the earth’s surface that cause earth quakes. It is a special gift that comes with both positive and negative aspects.

Michael Forest is a man that can be a warrior in the rain forests as well as the boardroom. He comes from wealthy background but does not let it define him as a man. He has been through hell and back but still has a heart.

Michael has been given the job to watch over Summer while she works on the ley lines. A man from her past is following her and her life is in great danger. Michael has been attracted to her since the wedding of her sister and one of his best friends. Watching her perform her magic makes him more attracted instead of repelling him like other men in her life. The only thing stopping him from reaching out is an evil man from his past that killed his family and tortured him. He is lucky to be alive but blames himself for the death of his family. He refuses to put Summer through that and tries to keep her at arm’s length. Summer has also been attracted to him and would like a chance to love him but her powers are too dangerous to allow it. They are stuck on a merry go round that may or may not stop so they can grab that brass ring and be happy.

A Touch Of Fire is the third book in Sons of Earth and Wind series and probably my favorite so far. Through the series you have glimpses of Michael’s true heart. He would bring baby roses to Quinn’s daughter, Brianna. Michael would also let Alex, Hawk and Charity’s little boy chew on his expensive watch. No wonder Summer fell for him. She sees him as a warrior but also as a man that she loves and wants to heal the old hurts. Michael is the ultimate hero. If Barbara Clark keeps writing so well, Kleenex will never go out of business. I have to admit, this story made me cry, but in a good way.

Book Stats:

• E-book and Paperback: 249 pages
• Publisher: Amber Quill Press, LLC (December 3, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592799698
• ISBN-13: 978-1592799695

To purchase a print copy of A Touch of Fire click here.
To purchase a Kindle copy of A Touch of Fire click here.
To purchase an electronic copy of A Touch of Fire click here.

Books in the Sons of Earth and Wind series in the order they should be read:
Tears of the Hawk
A Breath Of Heather
A Touch Of Fire
Deserts of the Heart
Tears Of The Desert Rose

To visit the author’s website go here.

(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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Imagine this: You are new in town, ready to take on your late uncle’s law firm, and totally gung ho about it. You finally find a place to set up your temporary office. Unfortunately it is in the middle of a cemetery that has only murderers buried in it, and your landlady seems a bit eccentric but hey! At least the rent is cheap. You finally hire two intelligent assistants who seem to be relatively sane. Then voila, you receive that first call from someone (and not just any someone, mind you, but one of the biggest and meanest tycoons in the state) who wants you to represent them. The only problem is, when you immediately call him back, you find out that he’s been dead for hours. What would you think?

Brianna Winston Beaufort (but please call her “Bree”) thinks it is nothing more than a practical joke brought on by her ex-boyfriend. It just HAS to be. Either that, or everyone around her is completely crazy or it is just her that is losing it.

Bree has to figure things out before she goes mad with frustration. Who are these people she has surrounded herself with? Why are they telling her to take on dead people as clients? Why have her nightmares been coming back? And why is that painting of the cormorant coming to life? What secrets had her uncle been keeping from her about his clientèle? She begins to think that maybe it would be best if she did not bother taking on her uncle’s firm.

Defending Angelshas every element needed that makes for a great story. The words will captivate you while the story will haunt you. There were so many elements to this story that simply cannot be expressed without giving away too many details. Simply put this is a book that is going on my “must keep” pile.

Book Stats:

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (December 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425224988
• ISBN-13: 978-0425224984

To purchase a print copy of Defending Angels click here.

Books in the Beaufort & Company Mystery series in the order they should be read:
Defending Angels
Angel’s Advocate

To visit the author’s website go here.
To visit the author’s blog go here.

(3 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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Princess Shahrazad has been trained her whole life to be deferential to men and to do as she is told. If she is ever touched by a man, then she will be considered impure for her future betrothed. When the magician shows up on her wedding day, Shahrazad ’s destiny takes her down an unexpected path. Tahir comes from a society where men are only useful for providing heiress’ to the throne and their unions with other houses further political ambitions. When Tahir meets Shahrazad, it takes everything he has ever known to keep from sweeping her off her feet right there. The two must come together to rid their worlds of a demon threat that comes once every 500 years. They will fight outside forces and their own desires to meet this threat head on.

I give this book 5 tombstones. The story of Shahrazad and Tahir is delightful and captivating. Lucinda Betts draws the reader into the story and keeps them turning page after page to find out what is going to happen next to the star crossed lovers. I truly enjoyed the chemistry between Shahrazad and Tahir in Running Wild. Ms. Betts creates a picture in the reader’s head of what is happening through her expressive detail in the book. I could almost picture the frightening countenance of the demons in my head. This book contains many different paranormal elements throughout, from shapeshifters to demons. So, if you are looking for a book that has a little bit of something for everyone, then pick up Running Wild today. I think you will definitely enjoy it!

Book Excerpt:“Travel to a magical desert land beyond the reach of time…A land of winged horses, djinns and demons, ruled by kings and queens of tribes forever lost, where sensual desire rules every living soul…A princess like no other, Shahrazad has skin the colour of richest honey and black hair that flows like a river under the midnight moon. Prince Tahir is bewitched by her strange beauty - and beset by hot, animal lust. Risking his life to make her his, defying the Sultan to sweep her away, Tahir and Shahrazad vanish into a dream world of their own, on the verge of sexual pleasure so intense as to shatter their souls - and change them forever…”

Book Stats:

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Aphrodisia (December 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0758222165
• ISBN-13: 978-0758222169

To purchase a print copy of Running Wild click here.
To purchase a Kindle copy of Running Wild click here.

To visit the author’s website go here.
To visit the author’s blog go here.

(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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This month, I have taken on the daunting yet exciting task of reviewing the entire Rowan Gant Investigator series by M. R. Sellars. This particular series has been on my wish list for quite some time, and I have already devoured the first two books and am well into number three. The series starts out with Harm None which is an interesting title seeing that the first act is a brutal ritualistic murder.

Ariel Tanner is found murdered but worse than that she has been flayed alive, and had esoteric symbols carved into her body right before the sadistic killer ended her life. St. Louis Major Case Squad Detective Ben Storm, is stumped at what the symbols and the even more cryptic message “All is forgiven” written in the victims blood on her wall really mean. He’s seen the same symbol around the neck of his long time friend and computer consultant Rowan Gant. You see, Rowan and his wife Felicity are practicing witches. Ben decides to call in Rowan to see if he can shed some light on the situation. When Rowan visits the crime scene he discovers that the victim is none other than a former student of his in the Craft or Wicca.

Stunned from this revelation and the brutality of the murder, things get even more disturbing for Rowan when he begins to channel Ariel’s spirit and actual relives her final moments of death. He is hard pressed to sever the ethereal ties and escape with his life in tact as their spirits seem to become one and the same in his mind.

As bodies start stacking up, and Ben relying on Rowan for more help in finding clues to who this serial killer is, things get really messy, very quickly. Will Rowan be able to help find and capture this monster? Will he lose his sanity or worse yet his life?

While I really enjoyed this first installment of the series, I have to caution readers that it does contain very graphic (though well written) details of murders committed by a serial killer. It almost has a slight horror edge to it. If that isn’t your bag, you may want to avoid reading these right before bed.

Written in first person narrative, I found the character of Rowan to be engaging and thought provoking. Not only is he a person dedicated to Wicca, a subject I am very familiar with, he’s just an average every day guy, who has some special psychic talents. Somebody I could relate with even through the hardest times in the storyline. Woven throughout the plot are the ups and downs Rowan faces with non-believers, nay sayers and general ignorance about what witchcraft is and is not. It is interesting and refreshing to see how Mr. Sellars dispels those myths and provides factual information for the reader. Needless to say that adds a lot of unwanted stress.This is a must read book and promises to be a must read series for fans of the Craft, mystery, suspense, crime thrillers and most of all, a good book.

Book Stats:

• Mass Market Paperback: 380 pages
• Publisher: Willowtree Press (May 31, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967822106
• ISBN-13: 978-0967822105

To purchase a print copy of Harm None click here.

Books in the Rowan Gant Investigator series in the order they should be read:
Harm None
Never Burn a Witch
Perfect Trust
The Law of Three
Crone’s Moon
Love Is the Bond
All Acts of Pleasure
The End of Desire
Blood Moon

To visit the author’s website go here.
To visit the author’s blog go here.

(3 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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Hallowed Malice is a collection of six horror stories. Most of the stories center around an individual who has been wronged, and the vengeance they take on those who have hurt them. Other stories deal with the pain that comes with the loss of a loved one, focusing on what lengths some people will go to relieve the agony. Sprinkled throughout the anthology are eerie photos and depressing poems.

One story stood out from the rest, and that was No Time For Goodbye by Camille Augustine. The writing was thought-provoking, with a tender love story mixed in. Don’t fret…there is still a twist at the end to satisfy a love of intrigue and horror. Overall, Hallowed Malice is a truly hair-raising experience.

Book Stats:

(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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Heather Carter is a teacher and she loves her job. She has special earth powers but keeps them hidden from others. Her parents taught her to keep them hidden and her husband didn’t want people to think that he was married to a freak.

Quinn Archer is an ex special forces solider. His wife had betrayed him and he nearly lost his life to torture. His only joy is his daughter, Brianna.

Heather has seen it all. She lost her husband and child in the same day to a shooting. She carries those scars with her and holds her heart tightly. She moved from New York to California to make a new life for herself. She never expected to find herself in drive by shootings. Quinn is now an architect and trying to make a better life for himself and his daughter. During a drive by shooting at his daughter’s school, he was unable to reach Brianna in time to save her but a blond woman did. She not only saved his daughter but possibly his heart as well.

First of all if you are an emotional person or cry easily then I suggest you invest in tissues. This book made me teary eyed more times than I would like to say. I am not a mushy person but I could not help it with this book. You have two broken souls just trying to make a life for themselves. Heather is afraid to care for another person because they may ridicule her like her family once did. Quinn is afraid to let himself trust again. Heather and Quinn are put together by fate to heal each other. Ah man, pass me a tissue.

Book Stats:

• Paperback: 233 pages
• Publisher: Amber Quill Press, LLC (October 25, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592799787
• ISBN-13: 978-1592799787

To purchase a print copy of A Breath Of Heather click here.
To purchase a Kindle copy of A Breath Of Heather click here.
To purchase an electronic copy of A Breath Of Heather click here.

Books in the Sons of Earth and Wind series in the order they should be read:
Tears of the Hawk
A Breath Of Heather
A Touch Of Fire
Deserts of the Heart
Tears Of The Desert Rose

To visit the author’s website go here.

(No Ratings Yet)

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This is a delightful little novella, definitely for adults, about a dachshund who alerts the world to an alien invasion. What happens during and as a result of that invasion is completely up to the humans around him.

Tonto is a one testicled, cross-eyed, ADHD, autistic red dachshund. He also doesn’t see very well, and likes to spend his days pushing pine needles into neat piles (using a stick) on the driveway of his home.

To say that Tonto has issues would be an understatement. But, despite those issues, he does have one very special quality. When the aliens invade earth, only Tonto can tell who the aliens are.

Why can only Tonto tell? Because the aliens have sent out “testers” which duplicate other life forms - up to and including humans.

The duplicates are pretty much impossible to tell from the real thing (except that one of their three sexes has jewels on their bellies), and when the testers get loose in Washington, D.C. - we end up with duplicates all the way to the White House. Now there’s a nightmare none of us want to have really happen.

Tonto’s Master and Mistress have a friend who is a super-genius (and a more than a bit of a drunk) whom they call in when they realize that something funny is happening on their farm. Gordo confirms that yes, indeed, they’ve got aliens!

How Tonto, his owners, and Gordo and friends solve the problem of the alien invasion, get rid of one of all the duplicated politicians, and change their world for the better is one deliciously entertaining journey.

At the back of this novel is a brief autobiography of the real Tonto who inspired Darrell Bain to write the book. It’s interesting, but without the character of Gordo and the aliens, it’s not nearly as much fun as the novella.

I can definitely recommend this book. It’s a quick, easy read, and a very enjoyable one.

Book Stats:

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: LL-Publications (April 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 190509115X
• ISBN-13: 978-1905091157

To purchase a print copy of Bark! click here.
To purchase a Kindle copy of Bark! click here.

To visit the author’s website go here.

(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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In order for Ayan to protect the Llina, he leaves his realm and travels to earth. There he meets Heather when he rescues her. Heather is a flower shop owner who has a way of growing things. When Ayan reveals his true identity to Heather, she is not sure she can handle the truth of his heritage. However when she finds out she has a secret of her own, she knows that she cannot walk away from him. But in returning to his realm, they still have Garinick the Sorcerer to deal with. Will Ayan be able to protect the Llina and Heather?

While this book did not quite grab me and draw me in, the story is still unique. Ayan and Heather’s romance is touching and Ms. Lory does an admirable job of developing their relationship and the characters themselves. She also does a remarkable rendition of the world that the fae live in. The decriptions are vivid and easy to imagine. I would give this book 4 tombstones. It contains within it elements of a good fantasy story as well, good vs. evil, and treacherous activity, as well as incorporating the romance between Heather and Ayan. If you enjoy reading about fairies and fae, give Ayan by Ann Lory a try.

Book Excerpt: “When Ayan touched Heather, there was no denying the desire she felt for him … for she glowed with pleasure … literally. Ayan had given up on finding his true mate until he entered the human world in search of the key and found Heather—the keeper of the key. To have her, though, he must first save her. For Garinick will stop at nothing to obtain the key—the key that will unlock the doors to the many realms, for he means to take them one by one until he rules all.”

Book Stats:

• Electronic format
  
• Publisher: New Concepts Publishing
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1-58608-

To purchase an electronic copy of Ayan click here.

To visit the author’s website go here.

(No Ratings Yet)

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When given information about a bit of trouble in Haxton Cove, where a new mine full of rubies supposedly has opened up, Reaper Phelan Kiel decides to check things out and make sure that the people in his territory are safe and free of crime. What he expected to find was a balgair, a rogue who preys on humans. Simple solution to that problem, just cut of the abomination’s head and the job‘s done. But before he even makes it to Haxton Cove, he finds a Reaper, Fontabeau Sorn, a hell hound sent there by the Goddess Morrigunia on an undercover mission in Haxton Cove as well.

Fontabeau was taken by the Goddess from his own world to Terra to protect a man named Brell at all costs. For what reason only the Goddess knows and she certainly is not telling him. He just knows he has a job to do. But when Phelan Kiel walks into his life, he figures that the goddess has finally sent him his mate. When Phelan turns down his advances, Fontabeau assumes Phelan simply does not know what he wants yet and needs to figure it out. What he did not count on however, was Lucy Louise Springbrook’s entrance into the big the picture.

Lucy runs the brothel in Haxton Cove. And things have certainly been getting weird and strange around the mine. People seem to be entering the mine just fine, but when they come out, they are just… well, different. Now with the arrival of Lord Phelan Kiel, who makes Lucy dream of a settled life far away from anything the likes of a brothel, everything will be set to rights, or so she hopes.

All Phelan thought he was going to encounter was a rogue, instead he finds the earth’s nightmare come to life. The inhabitants of Terra are in great danger again, but this time from an evil that makes even the Goddess herself, shudder in fear.

This eighth installment in the Western Wynd saga is, to say the least, an action packed ride for your imagination. There is so much going on around Phelan Kiel that a summary just does not do it justice. Each book before has added much to the puzzle of the Reaper world but Black Moon Reaper just shows you what more there is to learn about Reapers and Shadowlords as piece by piece the big picture falls into place. Black Moon Reaper simply brings the story to life as it makes the world of Terra visible to the mind’s eye.

Book Stats:

• e-book, digital format
• Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
  
• Book Length: Novel
  
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9781419916205

To purchase an electronic copy of Black Moon Reaper click here.

Books in the Western Wind series in the order they should be read:
WyndRiver Sinner
Reaper’s Revenge
Prime Reaper
Tears of the Reaper
Her Reaper’s Arms
My Reaper’s Daughter
Embrace the Wind
Black Moon Reaper
Emperor of the Wind - Scheduled for release 2009

To visit the author’s website go here.
To visit the author’s blog go here.

(2 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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Aetria is once again thrust into battle. But this battle isn’t just a battle of countries but a battle for the world and her life. While she is at her Lodge studying and working on her thesis on grid burn out and the side effects, her twin is working for the General as her Chief Adviser. That is until the unexpected happens, and Coleni becomes pregnant. Forced out of her studies and back into service, can she once again face the dangers of battle and espionage?

Coleni has worked in her sister’s place as the Adviser to the General, but once she discovers her pregnancy she is forced to “power down”. Can she continue her work, keep her word not to use sources, and keep her unborn child safe? Or are all the fears of using power harming the unborn just stories to scare women into submissiveness?

The efforts of the Carters have yet again come to entrance readers! The mixture of military and witchcraft that were so enthralling have simply continued in this sequel. The continued growth and fight for knowledge by Aetria and Coleni is something that we can compare to our own fight for understanding in life. Life, as shown so well in this story, is ever changing.

This second book is as wonderful as the first! The pages seem to turn on their own as you walk through the lives of the Aetria and Coleni. I enjoyed this second installment as much as, if not more, than Wild Sorceress! It has definitely lived up to the expectations that I had! The ability to show the difference people have in life and are capable of working through it if they truly wish to is almost inspirational. This was a joy to read and a series I would highly recommend to any who love magic. Whether it is the magic of love, power, or life; it is magic none the less.

Book Stats:

• Paperback: 342 pages
• Publisher: Amber Quill Press, LLC (December 13, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592797636
• ISBN-13: 978-1592797639

To purchase a print copy of Besieged Adept click here.
To purchase an electronic copy of Besieged Adept click here.

Books in the series in the order they should be read:
Wild Sorceress
Besieged Adept

To visit the author’s website go here.
To visit the author’s blog go here.

(2 votes, average: 3 out of 5)

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