Vengeance Born, the excellent first installment in the Light Blade series, effectively draws the reader in with its opening sentence. The world of the series has two main components: the Na’Reish vampiric demons who enslave humans, and the humans, led and protected by Light Blade warriors, who worship a feminine deity they refer to as The Lady. When the story begins, Annika, a half human/half Na’Reish healer, goes to the dungeons to see to the wounds of a captured Light Blade warrior. (more…)

Naomi thought that she was in love until her boyfriend, Mark, sells her soul to a demon. When sentenced to death, Naomi slips and falls 80 stories. Expecting to hit the pavement, she is shocked to be grabbed by something before she does. Now Naomi wants vengeance for her imprisonment and what she has turned into. (more…)

Vampires Don’t Sparkle! is a collection of stories that have one thing in common: they all highlight the good old-fashioned vampire. The vampires here are evil, wicked, and glory in all the blood they can. There are no creatures that regret their existence, pine after mortals, or limit themselves to subsist on animal blood. These are the vampires of old, the vampires that make us humans crave the daylight and fear the darkness. Along with the twisted, fun, and Gothic darkness of these fifteen stories, a major highlight of (more…)

Blood Trade, the splendid sixth full-length installment in the fabulous Jane Yellowrock series, begins a few months after the events at the end of the previous book. Jane comes to the realization that she may well be depressed, given that by having accused Rick of trying to kill her, she may have put an unmovable wedge between them forever. Or it could be because Bruiser, someone she considered a friend, held her down while Leo fed from her (though he was controlled by another at the time). (more…)

Eager to begin working on her new winery account, public relations pro Zoey Potter is astonished to find that the owner, Andre Maras, is none other than a sexy almost-one-night stand that she cannot seem to stop thinking about. Andre brings something out in Zoey she thought died with her husband, but she is not sure she is willing to make herself that vulnerable ever again.

Aside from that situation, there is something different about this winery and all of the people there. Zoey knows that Andre is not being honest about the reasons for the public relations campaign, but does not understand what he could be hiding. Andre Maras is not just a winery owner–he is a centuries old vampire exiled from his homeland and wasting away. (more…)

Light in a Dark World is a fantastic collection of short stories that center on The Destrati, their interactions with humans, and their special relationship with Kail The Betrayer. Kail is more than your average vampire, or, as he prefers, lost soul. That is all vampires are — silly mortals who traded their souls to Lucifer that are now doomed to walk the earth. Kail did not trade his soul, though, it was stolen and he wants it back. (more…)

Rebecca is about to turn seventeen. She lives with her Gram who suffers from early-onset dementia. Rebecca does everything for her Gram, and also has to go to school, worry that Gram might set the house on fire, or something worse, as she hides the fact that she is the caregiver, not just a teen. (more…)

Blood and Magick, the terrific third installment in the exciting Deacon Chalk, Occult Bounty Hunter series, begins with Deacon, Tiff, Kat, and Larson all having dinner together at a nice restaurant. When Deacon cuts into his highly-anticipated dessert, a sour stench fills the air, and, as can be expected for our hero, all hell breaks loose. After an explosion of glass and debris knocks everyone down, Deacon checks on Tiff, sending her to look for Kat and Larson. Despite a big surprise regarding Larson, Deacon’s attention immediately gets drawn to the large hole blown in the wall. (more…)

Bite Me opens with Kyra Burke munching chips in her tiny Paris apartment and trying to write her latest article, a snarky take on all things popular and cool. With a knock on the door, Kyra is snatched up in a whirlwind of adventure and romance.

Léon, the door-knocker, is a new breed of human-turned-vampire who insists Kyra is also of the higher order, and that they have been lovers for centuries. He whisks Kyra away from more vampires to hide in a church, where their hot and heavy reunion is interrupted by dark angels, Rebecca and Lucien. (more…)

In northern Arizona, Geneva Philips is trying to enjoy her hike in the Coconino National Forest. Her newly ex-boyfriend, Robbie, the cheating lying snake, has left her alone in the forest with a nice cabin and the bill. While enjoying her trek through the woods towards her cabin, the sky suddenly becomes dark, a storm brewing out of nowhere. As she is deluged by rain, she hears a desperate scream and tries to hurry through the freezing rain, slipping, twisting her ankle. She literally stumbles onto a woman that has been feasted upon—by what, she is unsure. Knowing her safety depends on her reaching the cabin. (more…)

Lucifer has made grievous errors: he has fallen in love with Eve and presented her with the apple, the forbidden fruit. Eve, of course, takes that fateful bite. In his anger, God has made Lucifer a Vampire and cast him away. Lucifer’s only chance of redemption is to find the artist who bears his “symbol”.

In order to return, he must find her to study her art which will reveal the path back to Heaven. (more…)

The Longest Night by Gary Dini hardly kept my attention. I found myself falling asleep while reading it. The chapters were way too long. As an example, the Prologue is fifty-five pages, and the entire book is 193 pages. The author did, however, give great background information for each character which made it easier to relate to them throughout the story.

The story follows the Tremaine brothers Malcolm and Tristan. Malcolm is in a position of power for the duration of the story yet it originally said he was a recluse. Tristan is a more wild character. They travel through the mountains and come across a baby Yeti which they take it in and help it develop. What will happen to the Yeti? (more…)

Being Italian and having been to many weddings and funerals in my life, meeting people you only meet at these occasions, I knew something would be weird in Italian Weddings and Funerals. To begin with, you have a main character, Luca Dell Toro, who is an event planner for “special” weddings and funerals using an old-fashioned Italian theme with special wines, foods, decorations, etc. He has special helpers who help with preparations and serving the needs of his clients. The reason he has such exquisite knowledge of proper details is that he has been a vampire since the sixteenth century.
(more…)

Melena is just beginning to enjoy her life out of the Military when her roommate, Aniya, goes missing while meeting a man in Fairbanks, Alaska. When Aniya fails to contact Melena, her mother and other friends, Melena has no choice but to drop everything and search for Aniya. Melena has a special talent, a built in lie detector, and she is known as a “Sensor”. Facing Vampires, Melena has her own worries. Terrified that Aniya is with the Vampires, she gets a chilling phone call from her, “GO HOME NOW”. She knows that there is no way she can abandon her, but once she finds Aniya, she is faced with a bigger problem. How will they both make it out alive? She meets a man who makes her heart race, but the timing is bad. Can he help save her and her best friend? How can you hope to love someone when you have kept to yourself your entire life?
(more…)

Dirty Valkyrie is the third installment in the Dirty Series by R.M. Sotera. I highly suggest that you read the first two entries as it is not a stand alone novella.

Dirty Valkyrie starts with the wedding of Jett, a demon-slaying estranged son of Thor to Sophia, a human. His sister, Brandi, a demi-goddess Valkyrie is the Maid of Honor and her date to the wedding is Laurent, a Master Vampire ally of the twins. Laurent thought he was in love with Sophia, but realizes that what he thought was love pales in comparison to how he feels for the Valkyrie, Brandi. He sets out to seduce her and after initially denying her feelings, Brandi dives head-first into a relationship with Laurent. (more…)

The Order of the Blood by Nicole Vlachos and Lane Morris was a great book. The storytelling and background of the characters made for an interesting story. The writers spelled out their story in such a manner that you could relate to the characters and look forward to what’s coming next.

Ian and Robin had been friends as mortals over ten years ago. Finally they are reunited, and Ian is a newly turned fledgling vampire without a Sire while Robin has managed to stay human despite others’ attempts to do otherwise. The Brethren is looking for both Robin and Ian to kill them both. Robin takes Ian to Simon, an angry man who’s application to become a member of the Brethren was denied centuries ago. He is now the leader of the Order of the Blood and has a constant rivalry with the Brethren. He even went so far as to create an army to kill all the Brethren they could find. (more…)

Christian Notte is over five hundred years old, far too old to be crashing his parents’ honeymoon. That is just what happens, though, when his mother Marguerite summons him to St. Lucia under the guise of being a replacement band at the resort she and Julius are staying at. All of this is just an excuse to get Christian to the island where Marguerite believes she has found Christian’s life mate.
(more…)

Vlad: The Last Confession by C.C. Humphries was a very interesting book. At 1,900 pages, it was very long as every detail of the life of Vlad Dracul is spelled out. While it can be very wordy, there are a lot of personal conversations in it which make for interesting reading.
(more…)

Mark Tavery is a dragon specialist for Searchlight. While on an investigation, Mark finds a genie’s lamp. When Mark rubs the lamp, out pops Luke, the most attractive man that he has ever seen. There is an immediate attraction between them, but Mark fights this attraction because of his past abusive relationship. Luke wants to give his Master Mark his heart’s desire. Luke also wants to give himself to his new Master.

There is something killing magical beings along the coast of Florida, and Mark is determined to find out who it is and why. He hopes to talk them into going to Searchlight and getting the free manmade blood that will nourish and help them to survive. Mark is pretty sure that it’s a dragon killing these creatures.
(more…)

The Story of the Vampire Blood is a great example of contemporary paranormal genius, combining modern day life with vampires of a much older era who try to keep up with the times. The old vampire mentality that “humans are cattle” resonate in this story with all the gruesome attacks on them and the way they are treated by the vampires. Combining the vampires with wolves is a genius idea and goes along with the theory that vampires can shift into anything they want as one of their powers. The story is a great one, though it starts out slow with a lot of background information.
(more…)