SKINWALKER: A Jane Yellowrock Novel - Faith Hunter

From the back of the book: Last year Jane nearly lost her life taking down a deadly family of vampires who preyed on the helpless local populace. Now, after months of recuperation, she's back and ready to fight again. Except this time, she's been hied by those she's trained to kill---vampires.

Jane Yellowrock is the last of her kind---a skinwalker of Cherokee descent who can turn into any creature she desires---and hunts the undead for a living. But now she's been hired by Katherine Fonteneau, one of the oldest vampires in New Orleans and the madam of Katie's Ladies, to hunt a powerful rogue vampire who's killing other vamps.

Amidst a bordello full of real "ladies of the night" and a hot Cajun biker with a panther tattoo who stirs her carnal desire, Jane must stay focused and complete her mission...or else the next skin she'll need to save may be her own.

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Man oh man! I love finding a series that starts with a big ol' bang. And that it takes place in New Orleans lends that extra little Gothic feel to the vampires and shapeshifters.

SKINWALKER has been on the shelf for about a year after I bought two books in Faith's Rogue Mage series, BLOODRING and SERAPHS. I fully expected to read those pretty much immediately, but they are still on Mt Git'r'Read and I kept hearing so many fab things about Jane Yellowrock, so I made it an imperative to read it soonest. I guess I have been in a vampire and shapeshifter kind of mood and I will be in a rogue mage kind of mood later in the year, probably sooner than too much later.

And..... I liked the premise and characters so damn much that I bought books two and three, BLOOD CROSS and MERCY BLADE pretty much immediately after finishing. I can't wait to read what Jane and the vampires (apparently they don't like being called 'vamps') and the hottie Cajun get up to next.

Five sparkly shapeshifting diamonds.....

THE BETTER PART OF DARKNESS - Kelly Gay

From the back of the book: Atlanta: it's the promised city for the off-worlders, foreigners from the alternate dimensions of heaven-like Elysia and hell-like Charbydon. Some bring good works and miracles. And some bring unimaginable evil....

Charlie Madigan is a divorced mother of one, and a kick-ass cop trained to take down the toughest human and off-world criminals. She's recently returned from the dead after a brutal attack, an unexplained revival that has left her plagued by ruthless nightmares and random outbursts of strength that make doing her job for Atlanta P.D.'s Integration Task Force even harder. Since the Revelation, the criminal element in Underground Atlanta has grown, leaving Charlie and her partner Hank to keep the chaos to a dull roar. But now an insidious new danger is descending on her city with terrifying speed, threatening innocent lives: a deadly, off-world narcotic known as 'ash'. Charlie is determined to uncover the source of 'ash' before it targets another victim--but can she protect those she loves from a force mor powerful than heaven and hell combined?

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I tried to make this my bedside book so that I could give it the reading time it deserved....and I had really whack-a-doo dreams the two times I tried it. I tend to have a rather vivid imagination and the images my brain retained from the Elysians, the hottie sirens, black mages, bigass scary jinn, the effects of ash, all made for some freaked out dreams that made me claw my way out and awake.

I love reading Urban Fantasy since I get to kick ass vicariously through the characters. They get the bruises and I get the virtual rush. And there was a hellah lot of virtual rush in this one. Charlie is smart and tough and has come back from the dead. She is slowly learning to come to grips with her growing abilities after the fact, but she wants answers. And to protect her daughter, her sister and her partner. And the world.

Five kickass beans save the world beans.....

CORPSE POSE: A Mantra For Murder Mystery - Diana Killian

From the back of the book: A. J. Alexander wasn't on a quest for self-realization. But as the new owner of Sacred Balance yoga studio, she's going to have to turn up her inner voice or wind up in a corpse pose---for good....

Ever since her husband ditched her--for another man--A.J. hasn't exactly been on the road to inner peace. Then her yoga-guru aunt is found dead, and A.J. is named the sole heir to her lucrative yoga studio--making her a multi-millionaire, a prime suspect, and the killer's next target.

Now, her mother, who considers herself a qualified sleuth because she once played one on British television, wants to help A.J. find the killer. And an overbearing--yet handsome--detective is determined to pump her for information. With their help A.J. must limber up and find the real killer, before he strikes another deadly pose....

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I do love finding a new-to-me author and series, especially when it's a good series that is going to have me looking for the next book and the next after that...I already have DIAL OM FOR MURDER on the WWBL.

I liked how well the character appealed to me, even the poopy ones. By appeal, I mean I either wanted to join A J learning to get back into yoga, give A J's mom an hug with her lovably aggravating ways, and/or smack the crap out of bitchy Lily who isn't nice to anyone and she's lead yoga instructor!

The amateur sleuth angle was well played. A J wanted to find out who killed her much loved and aunt and she felt compelled to rein her mother, the self-proclaimed pro sleuth since she'd played one on BBC back in the day.

Yoga is a neat premise for the series. It helped mellow A J after being dumped by her husband for another man (yikes!) and helped ease her aching back that she'd needed medical help prior to revisiting. It helped calm the nerves of several of the characters. And I learned that there's such a thing as Doga, dog yoga...yep, how cool is that?

Five stretchy beans.....

SECONDHAND SPIRITS: A Witchcraft Mystery - Juliet Blackwell

From the back of the book: Lily Ivory is not your average witch. Her spell-casting powers tend to draw mischievous spirits while keeping normal humans at a distance. But now her vintage store could give her a chance to make friends in San Francisco.

Lily hopes for a normal life when she opens Aunt Cora's Closet. With her magical knack for vintage fashion---she can sense vibrations of the past from clothing and jewelry--her store becomes a big hit.

But when a client is murdered and children start disappearing from the Bay Area, Lily may be the only one who can unravel the crime. She tries to keep her identity a secret while investigating, but it's not easy--especially under the spells of sexy "myth buster" Max Carmichael and powerful witch Aidan Rhodes. Will Lily's witchy ways be forced out of the closet?
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Lily is a natural witch and was ridden out on a rail of her home in Texas. She wanders the world and finally settles in San Francisco, opening her vintage shop, Aunt Cora's Closet.
I liked how the mystery found her, it didn't feel forced. Lily honestly felt compelled to find out who the killer was and who was taking the children. Yes, magic was involved and she used hers to help.
I enjoyed watching Lily find out the nature of friendship and how good it felt. She'd never fit in before, so this was new territory for her. I liked how naturally she used her magic abilities to find vintage clothing and find the right fit for her customers.
My favorite secondary character had to be Oscar, shape-shifting sort of goblin, Lily's familiar. He is so nifty!
I hope the readers get to meet Lily's grandmother, Graciela, somehow. There's some past info that meanders through the story about Lily's family that was intriguing.
This was darker than I expected it to be, so it's not a 'cozy' in that sense. It's a paranormal amateur sleuth, if a label is required.
I really liked this book and so very glad it's the beginning of a series. Juliet Blackwell is a pseudonym for Hailey Lind who wrote the Annie Kincaid, reformed art forger cozy series that I loved and miss. Yippee that the fourth in that series, ARSENIC AND OLD PAINT, will be out this year in September per the two blog sites.

Five magical sparkly diamonds.....

SINK TRAP: A Georgiana Neverall Mystery - Christy Evans

From the back of the book: Clues can be found in themost unlikely places.....

When Georgiana Neverall's fast-paced, corporate lifestyle goes down the drain, she moves back home to Pine Ridge, Oregon, and makes an unconventional choice--to apprentice herself to Barry the Plumber. Her uptight, super-successful raltor mother, Sandra, is disgusted. She never dreamed she'd see a Neverall in coveralls toiling under someone else's sink.

Georgiana loves her new occupation, but is a bit surprised when she finds the favorite brooch of Martha Tepper, the town's former librarian, clogging a sink. Martha suppposedly retired to Arizona, but everyone who knew her says she never would have left without that brooch. Georgiana has a sinking feeling that Martha may have been retired permanently--and suddenly t's up to a plumber's apprentice to flush out a killer.

(Includes fun plumbing tricks and tips!)

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I just love finding new to me authors who write a super fun book and this one fit the fun bill perfectly. I was entertained and informed and didn't even mind that I figured out whodunnit towards the middle of the book. Sometimes that bugs the McCrappe out of me, but when the rest of the book is superb, I don't mind.

I really admire Georgiana's intestinal fortitude, coming back home to change her life after her computer security company she started gets taken over by someone she trusted. She could have easily let it crush her, but she put on her big girl panties and went home to start over as a plumber's apprentice.

She is back in her hometown with her mother, best friend and old boyfriend and a mystery. Sometimes (most times) the amateur sleuth looking into the mystery can feel forced. This one didn't really feel that way. Georgiana knew something was wrong and she needed to figure out what it was and show others she wasn't crackers.

Best of all, I loved the plumber tips. Common sense tips that helped me and proved my dad right when he gave my first need to have tool kit...tape measure, hacksaw, rubber mallet, adjustable wrench aka crescent, slip-joint pliers, locking jaw pliers, plumber's snake, toilet plunger, and sink plunger, screwdrivers (both common and Philips head)....and the tip about baking soda and vinegar unplugging a sink instead of using the commercial drain cleaners.

And the lovely funny Airdales, Daisy and Buddha! I want an Airdale now.

Multi fun plumber's tips and dogs mystery chocolate bunnies......

THE DEMON'S LIBRARIAN - Lilith Saintcrow

From the back of the book: Demons are preying on schoolchildren in her city, so Francesca Barnes does what any red-blooded librarian would do--she does some research and goes hunting. But the books she finds in a secret cache don't tell her the whole story. Chess has no idea what she's just stepped into or just how special she is.

Orion is Drakul, part demon, and a loyal servant of the Order. He doesn't expect a motorcycle-riding librarian to be messing around with demonic forces, and he doesn't expect her to smell so damn good. But Ryan's got bigger problems. His partner has disappeared, and the forces of Darkness are rising.

Now Chess is Ryan's only hope of finding his partner, and Ryan is Chess's only hope of survival because the demons now know Chess exists and that she is the heir to a long-lost power that could push back theri dark tide. If Ryan can keep her alive long enough, she just might be the key to destroying the demons completely.

But Ryan doesn't know he's been betrayed by the very Order he serves. And if Chess does, by some miracle survive, he won't ever be able to touch her again....

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This is my intro book to Lilith Saintcrow. I have two of her Dante Valentine books and one Jill Kismet on Mt Git'r'Read, but this is the one that hollered at me to order and read almost immediately. The premise is kind of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in that the main character is a normal chick who finds out she's more than normal, in fact rather special. And there's a special demon kind of guy who's a hottie and warm for her form and has a tendency to lose control of his demon side from time to time.

I was kind of hoping that this would be the start of a series, but can abide with the idea it is a stand-alone. It has plenty of good versus bad action, well written demons and a demon killing librarian and the half-demon who digs her and can kick big time ass along the way.

Five not your normal librarian beans......

CARPE CORPUS: Book 6 Morganville Vampires - Rachel Caine

From the back of the book: Welcome to Morganville, Texas. Don't stay out after dark.

In the small college town of Morganville, vampires and humans live in (relative) peace--until all the rules got rewritten when evil vampire Bishop arrived, looking for the lost book of vampire secrets. He's kept a death grip on the town ever since.

Now an underground resistance is brewing, and in order to contain it, Bishop must go to even greater lengths. He vows to obliterate the town and all its inhabitants--the living and the undead. Claire Danvers and her friends are the only ones who stand in his way. But even if they defeat Bishop, will the vampires be content to go to the old rules after having had such a taste of power?

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I am always exhausted while reading this series, but it's well worth the debilitation.

Claire is always trying to do the right thing while being young, uber intelligent, in love and living in a town of vampires. Shane is in vampire jail, Michael is working for the bad guy, Eve hates her and her vampire mentor, Myrnin, is on the edge of madness. She's got to do what it takes to make things better if possible, if the good guys will let her help.

This is one of my favorite series. And now this one is my favorite of the series. Each one has that 'honor' as I read it and each next one has the possibility.

Highly recommedable to anyone who enjoys a well written story, vampire or otherwise.

Five Texas vampires aren't all bad (and not all good) beans.....