THE RESTORER: The Graveyard Queen Book One - Amanda Stevens

From the back of the book: Never acknowledge the dead. Never stray far from hallowed ground. Never get close to the haunted. Never, EVER tempt fate.

My father's rules. I've never broken them ........until now.

My name is Amelia Gray. I'm a cemetary restorer who sees ghosts. In order to protect myself from the parasitic nature of the dead, I've always held fast to the rules passed down from my father. But now a haunted police detective has entered my world and everything is changing, including the rules that have always kept me safe.

It started with the discovery of a young woman's brutalized body in an old Charleston graveyard I've been hired to restore. The clues to the killer---and to his other victims--- lie in the headstone symbolism that only I can interpret.

Devlin needs my help, but his ghosts shadow his every move, feeding off his warmth, sustaining their presence with his energy. To warn him would be to invite them into my life. I've vowed to keep my distance, but the pull of his magnetism grows ever stronger even as the symbols lead me closer to the killer and to the gossamer veil that separates this world from the next.

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Understand that I am way behind on my book reviews. I still have a couple from September to do yet. Time has gotten away from me with visits from fam, shift work, life schtuff in general.

That said, I had to share my thoughts on this outstanding latest book I've read from one of my favorite authors, Amanda Stevens. I've read THE WHISPERING ROOM ( http://iyamvixenbooks.blogspot.com/2009/05/whispering-room-amanda-stevens.html), THE DOLLMAKER
(http://iyamvixenbooks.blogspot.com/2009/05/whispering-room-amanda-stevens.html)

and THE DEVIL'S FOOTSTEPS
(http://iyamvixenbooks.blogspot.com/2008/03/devils-footsteps-amanda-stevens.html)

All of these scared the bejeezus out of me, but THE RESTORER had me making it my purse book instead of my bedside book after the wake-up-looking-under-the-bed dream I had one night. *shudder*

This is not a gore-fest kind of scary, it's a tremendously Southern Gothic dark atmospheric style book. Amanda Stevens writes fab atmosphere. I could feel the heat and humidity as Amelia worked her way through Oak Grove Cemetery and could almost smell the magnolia.

The ghost lore is unique. Amelia has a set of rules she lives by as given her by her father. These are not friendly ghosts who only want to share space on this earthly plane.

Nope, these spirits are like psychic vampires, draining the energy of whoever they attach themselves to. So Amelia makes sure she doesn't acknowledge them in any way or she'd have a host of them around her at all times.

There are secrets still to be revealed. There's the police detective Amelia is helping and is strongly attracted to. Devlin is the perfect Southern Gothic male protagonist. Brooding, haunted, gruff, appealing....

Amelia and her family have their secrets they keep, too.

I am very glad that this is a trilogy or a series. And I hear tell that a television network is highly intrigued with the series......

Visit Amanda http://www.amandastevens.com/ and on http://www.facebook.com/#!/amandastevensbooks Read her books. The covers alone are excellent, let alone the story she weaves.

A big bowl of leave-the-light-on-when-you-read-this diamonds......

URBAN SHAMAN: Walker Papers - C E Murphy

From the back of the book: Joanne Walker has three days to learn to use her shamanic powers and save the world from the unleashed WILD HUNT.

No worries. No pressure. Never mind the lack of sleep, the perplexing new talent for healing herself from fatal wounds, or the cryptic, talking coyote who appears in her dreams.

And in all that's not bad enough, in the three years Joanne's been a cop, she's never seen a dead body---but she's just come across her second in three days.

It's been a bitch of a week. And it isn't over yet.

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Such a good read and I have the series on must get portion of the WWBL.

The line between reality and supernatural is thin at certain times of the year and Joanne finds herself standing between the two, protecting both with her growing shamanic abilities.

Four shaman protection beans....

WICKED LOVELY: Wicked Lovely Book One - Melissa Marr, narr Alyssa Bresnahan

From the back of the BOCD: Don't stare at invisible faeries. Don't speak to invisible faeries. And never, ever attract their attention. These are the three rules of survival for Aislinn, a teenage grl who possesses the seer's sight---a gift (or curse) that reveals to her the hordes of fey kind who mingle mischievously among mortals undetected.

But the old rules are breaking. Keenan, a powerful, radiantly beautiful faerie--both terrifying and alluring--has taken a special interest in Aislinn, haunting her footsteps everywhere she goes. Keenan is in fact the Summer King, and he's determined to make Aislinn his queen. Although she can't deny her feeling tempted, there are other things to consider. Namely the loss of her freedom and human life, and the deadly fates suffered by all othe other mortal girls Keenan tried to transform into his queen.

A dazzling 21st-century faerie tale, WICKED LOVELY is Melissa Marr's thrilling and enchanting debut novel. Narrator Alyssa Bresnahan's mesmerizing performance is positively spellbinding.

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I can highly recommend this lovely tale. It's a wonderfully written fantasy with good side versus bad, humans and faeries, good faeries and not so good. One cannot judge a book by its cover, the fae are lovely to look upon for the most part, but that doesn't make them lovely acting. Aislinn has been able to see the fae her whole life and has been told the rules of how to not get involved with them. Now she hasn't a choice in the matter since the fae Summer King think she is to be his queen. But Aislinn has been in love with Seth, the tattooed and pierced friend since forever.

And there's the wicked Winter Queen who is in the game....

This is a lush modern faerie tale and I cannot wait to listen to the rest of this series. I have INK EXCHANGE arriving next week from Recorded Books...YAY!

Five elegant fae beans.....

THE SUMMONING: Darkest Power Book One - Kelley Armstrong, narr Cassandra Morris

From the back of the BOCD: Chloe Saunders isn't so different from most other 15-year-old girls. She wants to hang out with friends, flirt with boys, and fit in at school. Unlike her peers, however, Chloe has a hidden paranormal ability---and on the same day she belatedly enters womanhood, she sees a ghost.

Soon Chloe is seeing dead people lurking about everywhere. The terror and bewilderment of their haunting presence--and everyone's refusal to believe her--cause Chloe to have a mental breakdown. So she's committed to Lyle House, a home for troubled teens. But that may not be what the place is really for at all, because Chloe isn't the only resident possessing a strange "gift". Take Derek, for instance--the toothsome patient who sometimes howls at night.

Kelley Armstrong, the author of many New York Times best-selling suprnatural thrillers, bursts onto the YA scene with THE SUMMONING--a novel sure to resonate with fans of the Twilight series. Cassandra Morris grips listeners with an entrancing narration.

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I liked this way better than TWILIGHT (yes, I read it to see what the fuss was all about...it wasn't all that). Kelley Armstrong writes a grittier, less angst-filled paranormal story of well-drawn characters going through the trials of being a teen, let alone being a teen with supernatural abilities.

Chloe discovers she can talk to ghosts, she's a necromancer. She is slowly discovering the abilities of the fellow housemates at the center and that the staff members aren't exactly as willing to help as they claim to be.

The draw is there for anyone who likes a little horror, a little teen issues, a lot of good paranormal. This is a great beginning to the series. I listened to the second one first...that didn't diminish my enjoyment of this one. I am caught up and got re-introduced to everyone, good guys and evil scientists.

Now on to #3, THE RECKONING...

Five I see dead people beans....

INFINITE DAYS: Vampire Queen Book One - Rebecca Maizel

From the back of the book: After centuries of terrorizing Europe, Lena Beaudonte, with the the help of the handsome Rhode, has been able to realize the dream of all vampires--to be human again. Now, as a raven-haired, sixteen-year-old, Lenah believes her greatest challenge is fitting in at her new school. But the challenges have only begun. The vicious coven Lenah once ruled is threatening the new-found pleasures of her human life, including the one guy who makes her feel most alive, Justin. Can this ex-vamp survive in an alien time and place or will her past come back to haunt her...forever?
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What a lovely, dark, lush book this was to read. It would have found its way to Mt Git'r'Read even if I hadn't won it as an Early Reviewer from Library Thing.
There are two sides to Lenah Beaudonte, the vampire queen she was for 592 years..the very evil vampire queen...and the 16 year-old girl starting her life as a human at Wickham Boarding School. Maizel doesn't romanticize the past vampire Lenah. She rather matter-of-factly tells the story of Lenah's reign as a creator of her own coven of vampire men meeting her specific criteria to run rampant through the centuries feeding on the blood of humans.
This is interspersed with Lenah's present life. This is the part that I really enjoyed reading. Watching Lenah learn to be a human after almost 600 years, how to be a 16-year-old female in this modern time. Learning what pizza is, dancing to popular music, the feel of the ocean as she dives in, the feel of the sun on her skin, the texture of wood, the smell of paint on canvas as her friend Tony works on her portrait.
The romance of the story is bittersweet and reflects how young love can be when newly found. But it isn't filled with the angst that turned me off of the Twilight series.
This was a 'danger book' for me, the danger in that I did not want to put down...just one more page...oh..just one more chapter...I finished it quickly because of this 'danger'.
The buzz is out there, the buzz that makes people run out and buy this one when it comes out on 3 August.

Five listen to the buzz diamonds.....

VAMPIRATES: BLOOD CAPTAIN - Justin Somper, narr Daniel Philpott

From the back of the BOCD: Long-separated twins Connor and Grace struggle to earn their keep and avoid lashings aboard their respective pirate ships---Connor on the Diablo and Grace among the cursed crew of the Vampirate ship vessel.

Just when things are starting to get better for Connor, Captain Wrathe brings aboard his obnoxious nephew, Moonshine. The boorish lad proceeds to make Connor's life miserable, pushing him further down the plank of sanity each day. Grace, meanwhile, is overcome with guilt for causing the Vampirate Lorcan to go blind. She journeys with him to Sanctuary to seek the healing powers of the Mosh Zu Kamal--who, it turns out, is far more interested in Grace than Lorcan.

With the best of swashbuckling adventure and ghoulish horror on the high seas, Justin Somper's internationally acclaimed Vampirates series--begun with DEMONS OF THE OCEAN and TIDES OF TERROR--continues full-sail in BLOOD CAPTAIN. A salty reading by narrator Daniel Philpott sets a spine-tingling tone.

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Ahhhh....adventure on the high Vampirate seas...this is a superbly fun series. Plenty of action in both Vampirate and regular pirate varietal. What's great about this series is that piracy is an accepted form of occupation. There is a Pirate Academy for the non-Vampirate and Sanctuary for the vampires who wish to become Vampirates. Sanctuary helps the vampires become less addicted to the bloodlust and more of a mellower vampire.

The story trades back and forth between Grace's and then Connor's point of view. Each has their own trials and rewards, abilities and faults.

One constant that each has had to suffer is Sidorio, the Vampirate who is now Captain of his own small, but growing crew. Sidorio was a member of the Vampirate ship and left to form his own when he decided that he wanted to be a vampire of the old school and is evil incarnate. He woos vampires to his cause and becomes a force to be reckoned with.

A truly amazing series that I highly recommend. It's a YA series, but all who enjoy a good paranormal tale will dig each book.

Five bloody high seas adventure beans......

TIDE OF TERROR: VAMPIRATES #2 - Justin Somper, narr Daniel Philpott

From the back of the BOCD: Internationally best-selling author of fiction for young adults Justin Somper returns with the exciting sequel to VAMPIRATES:DEMONS OF THE OCEAN. In their second adventure, our bold seafaring heroes continue their swashbuckling
journey across treacherous oceans where the notorious vampirates prowl.

Much to his delight, 14-year-old Connor Tempest is now a full-fledged pirate aboard the sailing ship Diablo. But Connor's twin sister Grace isn't so thrilled about the pirate life, or Connor's new companions. And she's certain that something is terribly wrong on the vampirate ship. Though the evil Sidorio was banned from the ship for his villainous acts, he is surely plotting his menacing return. What can Grace do to remove her brother from the ship and get him into Pirate Academy where he belongs?

This exciting ride through dangerous waters will captivate all listeners. Narrator Daniel Philpott provides a stunning performance.

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Who knew that in the future there would be an academy to train pirates? That's what we have in this second in the Vampirates series. Grace gets rescued from the vampirate ship at the end of DEMONS OF THE OCEAN and is now on the Diablo with her twin brother Connor. And they take a little visit to Pirate Academy to see if this might be the place for them.

The evil vampirate Sidorio is out there working on his new vampirate crew, so there's plenty of story to go around and tons of intrigue. Who can Grace and Connor trust?

This is such the perfect series to listen to. Whoever chose Daniel Philpott to narrate this wonderfully written tale oer the bounding main....chose wisely. He rivals Jim Dale (narrator of the Harry Potter series) in vocal dexterity.

Five arrrrrrrrrrgh beans!!!!

TEMPEST RISING: Jane True #1 - Nicole Peeler

From the back of the book: Living in a small town Rockabill, Maine, Jane True always knew she didn't quite fit in with so-called normal society.

During her nightly clandestine swim in the freezing winter ocean, a grisly find leads Jan to startling revelations about her heritage: she is only half-human.

Now, Jane must enter a world filled with supernatural creatures that are terrifying, beautiful, and deadly--all of which perfectly describe her few 'friend,' Ryu, a gorgeous and powerful vampire.

It is a world where nothing can be taken for granted: a dog can heal with a lick; spirits bag your groceries; and whatever you do, never--ever--rub the genie's lamp.

If you love Sookie Stackhouse, then you'll want to dive into Nicole Peeler's enchanting debut novel.

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O..M..G!!! I have absolutely no idea what took me so long to buy this incredibly hellah fun book. It's been on the WWBL ever since I started reading Nicole's bloggage on League of Reluctant Adults and interviews here there and yon in anticipation of the release of TEMPEST RISING last November.

I bought it when I joined up Literary Escapism's mini challenge to read as many League books as possible in February, preferably the League authors we hadn't read yet. Good enough to go book shopping and put this one in the cart. Then it became the next book after Jackie Kessler's HELL'S BELLES. I was two for two in new author 'YAY, I'm so glad I found this author' pool.

I could empathize with Jane's outsider-ness and the small cache of friends she loved and who loved her. I'm glad Nicole didn't dwell on the sheer town bastards who treated Jane like shite at every opportunity. Rather, Jane glowed when she showed her strength of character, her love for her father and fab friends, especially the owners of the bookshop where she worked. And her love of the ocean without understanding why she felt so at home and at peace when in the water.

Then she found the body on the beach and her world started to change. Anyan, the talking dog arrived as did Ryu, the uber hot vampire and investigator for the fae world. The body on the beach wasn't just any body, he was a halfling, half human and half...well, not human. As was Jane.

I liked how Nicole gave Jane just enough 'Wuh-haaat?' incredulity and the right amount of common sense to go along with the flow of events as they occurred.

And, oh the fab 'dirty drawer'....snort laugh funny throughout, excellent fight scenes, well written other world characters, both full and halfling varietal. The humans are pretty much secondary in the whole book and that's just fine with me. Especially since the majority of the humans in the book are aith-holes and life is too short to read about them...movin' on....not to say that the fae world is all la-la-la airy fairy nice. Nope, there's some eeeevil ones on that side of the bed, too. The good ones are good and ornery and funny and the bad ones are eeeevil. Fab mix.

So...I changed up the rating..TEMPEST RISING gets to be the first five sparkly diamond rating....I'll still do coffee beans, but the really special ones from now on will get the diamonds....

Here's five sparkly diamonds for Jane and the gang....

Mini Challenge via LiteraryEscapism

Over at Literary Escapism, there's a nifty little mini challenge that has to do with the League of Reluctant Adults, one of my favorite blogs to follow. There are 20 authors on that one, all of the UF/paranormal schtuff I luh-huv to read. Link to post reviews is here.
ROE for the challenge is as follows:
1. You do not have to be a participant of the New Authors Challenge, but if you're not, why not?
2. The Challenge will run from February 1st through the 28th. All reviews must have a February 2010 date.
3. The goal is to read up to 5 different authors from the list of Leaguers. There are 20 different authors, so finding five shouldn't be too hard.
4. The idea is to try a new author (it is a New Author mini-challenge), however, if you've already read all 20 of them, you can still participate, but don't re-read a novel. Try something new. Not only is this an excuse to try a certain group of authors, but it's also a great chance to promote them (and bookstores as you buy the books or the library if you go that route)

There are prizes from the authors as well as from the blog site hosting this challenge.
Authors o' the League:
Mario Acevedo, Michele Bardsley, Stacia Kane, Caitlin Kittredge, Kat Richardson, Michelle Rowen, Dakota Cassidy, Kelly Meding, Diana Rowland, Carolyn Crane, Richelle Mead, Jeanne Stein, Molly Harper, Nicole Peeler, Anton Strout, Mark Henry, Cherie Priest, Jaye Wells, Jackie Kessler, Jennifer Rardin

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.....

UNDERGROUND: 3rd in Greywalker Series - Kat Richardson, narr Mia Barron

From the back of the BOCD: The third book in Kat Richardson's best-selling Greywalker series, UNDERGROUND features heroine Harper Blaine, a private investigator who walks the shadowy line between the living and the dead.

It's winter in Seattle, and the homeless on Pioneer Square are being found dead and mutilated. Rumors abound that they're rising as zombies to stalk the Underground--the city buried beneath modern-day Seattle. When Harper's friend Quinton suspects he might be blamed for the killings, Harper agrees to help him locate the real source. Using the city's past as a guide, they soon trace a path back to an ancient killer--a horror even Seattle's dangerous vampires rightly fear.

Through her richly imagined world enhanced with historical detail, Richardson provides a unique experience that willhave fans clamoring for more Harper Blaine. Mia Barron provides a razor-sharp narration that only magnifies this harrowing dose of urban fantasy.

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This is one of my favorite series, especially in the urban fantasy genre. I loved learning more about Quinton, a character the reader meets in the first book of the series and gets to know a little bit about to be supremely intrigued (I know I was). I was pleased to see a lot more of Quinton this time around and a lot less of Will, the boyfriend in book one and two.

Richardson uses folklore to create the monster that is attacking Seattle's homeless and what a monster it is. Freaked me right the hell out, but Lady K thought it was scary with a funny name. She named it Sissy-Doodle and that is the name that has stuck in my cranium (sorry Kat). Helped to take the ick out of the attacker's leftovers.

Zombies, vampires, ghosts, all that good stuff makes for a superb outing in this one, my favorite in the series so far.

Five ancient monsters named Sissy-Doodle beans......

LEGACY: An Anna Strong , Vampire Novel - Jeanne C Stein

From the back of the book: "Anna Strong live up to her name: equally tenacious and vulnerable, she's a heroine with the charm, savvy, and intelligence that fans of Laurel K Hamilton and Kim Harrison will be happy to root for." Publishers Weekly

Anna Strong was a tough-as-nails bounty hunter until the night she was attacked by a vampire--and changed forever....

Since then, Anna has struggled to adapt to her supernatural status while clinging to the vestiges of her humanity. Avery--the sinister vampire who turned her--is dead, and Anna learns that she's entitled to his vast fortune. Then a predatory werewolf comes forward, claiming to be Avery's widow. She demands the entire estate and makes it clear that she and her pack think nothing of killing Anna--and those who matter to her--to get what's owed them. Now Anna must protect those she loves from a werewolf out for the two most precious things in the world: blood....and money.

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Each Anna Strong books gets even better. I started to read this one last month, found that it takes place over Christmas, so held off until December for my Holiday reading. Granted, not exactly 'Peace Love Dove' Christmas, but I rarely read the PLD Christmas books during December. No, I meander off and read mysteries of all nature..paranormals prevail...set in December.

Anna is still dealing with her vampire-ness and that includes keeping it from her family and friends. It gets difficult how to come up with the excuses to not have meals (what with her liquid diet) and not shaking hands (perpetually cold skin).

Now there's the werewolf bitch who is marking territory she thinks Anna has intruded on. Anna's not sure how to deal with her. She doesn't want anything to do with Avery's property, but can't get the WB to understand this concept.

And Anna has been hired to help prove Gloria innocent of murder...Gloria, evil bitch fashion model who is Anna's PI partner, David's, girlfriend...Gloria who doesn't like having Anna in David's life and has done a lot of things in the past to make her go away. Now she needs Anna's help. This should be sweet revenge to Anna and say no, but she feels compelled to help...for a price.....

Five kick ass beans.....

THE MEDIATOR: TWILIGHT - Meg Cabot, narr Johanna Parker

From the back of the BOCD: Suze Simon finds it difficult to come across as an average teenager when she's constantly visited by ghosts. Suze is a mediator, you see. And her boyfriend Jesse is, well, a ghost himself--from the 19th century!
Fellow mediator Paul Slater has figured out how to travel through time and alter Jesse's future so he and Suze will never meet, leaving Suze in a conundrum. Does she let Paul succeed so Jesse lives an ordinary life in his own time period, leaving Suze with no memory of him? Or does she stop Paul and force Jesse to be a ghost forever? And all the while, Suze must cope with the perils of a normal teenage life.
Number one New York Times best-selling author Meg Cabot delivers a quirky depiction of the normal and exaggerated hazards all teenagers face in this sixth installment of the Mediator series. Young adult listeners will identify with Suze through the exuberant narration of Johanna Parker.
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Poor Suze, she never seems to catch a break. She loves Jesse, her ghost boyfriend, but since he's from the 19th century, he's very proper and she wonders if they will ever get past whatever base is past hot kissing. And there's Paul, the fellow mediator, who Suze is alternately drawn to and repelled by. He's just bad incarnate, using his mediator abilities for his selfish means.
What I like best about this series is how normal Suze is in being a teenager with the added *agh* factor of having ghosts around her all the time. And some of those ghosts aren't very nice. Suze wants to go to the dance, wear cool clothes and be on time for dinner so her stepdad won't get disappointed.
I do enjoy Meg Cabot's ability to write in her various series. I know I would be highly disappointed should I ever find out she has a team of writers as I found other authors do.

Four Please don't let me be disappointed beans.....

DESOLATE ANGEL: A Dead Detective Mystery - Chaz McGee

From the back of the book: He was once a second-rate cop, a mediocre husband and an absent father. But ever since he was killed in a drug bust gone bad, Kevin Fahey's been a lost soul in limbo, searching for a way out of his solitude and hoping for redemption. Now he'll have to prove to be a better ghost than he ever was a man...

After I died, I wandered my town, unseen, alone, and wondering why I'd been sentenced to linger in this world. Then Alissa, the victim in a long-ago murder case I'd worked, came to me. She led me to a body sprawled in the weeds, and the terrible truth dawned on me: I'd let Alissa's real killer escape. I'd imprisoned an innocent man--and now another young girl was dead.
I know my redemption lies in righting this wrong. And the only way I can do that is to somehow forge a connection with my replacement on the force, Maggie Gunn. Now I'm haunted by the fear that dragging Maggie into this may turn out to be the biggest mistake of my afterlife....
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Because this was my purse book, it took me a little while to get into it and I wasn't sure I liked it in the very beginning. The main character, Kevin Fahey, was not a sympathetic character and the first few pages I managed to get through kind of moseyed along.
Then I found a chunk of time and the story grabbed ahold and hung on.
I liked watching Fahey become a better person as a ghost than he was a live being. He was able to move on do what he needed to help Maggie with her case. And Maggie, she grabbed the case like a bulldog and held on and shook it til it all fell into place.

The story is an appalling one that had me in tears at times and I was rigorously pleased with the outcomes to the bad and did the happy dance for the outcomes of the good guys.

I really look forward to the rest of the series as the books come out.

Four afterlife looks intriguing beans....

VICIOUS CIRCLE: Felix Castor series #2 - Mike Carey

From the back of the book: In the tradition of megaselling authors Jim Butcher and Neil Gaiman, celebrated comics creator Mike Carey presents a thrilling new novel in his series featuring ghosts, ghouls, and the luckless bastard who hunts them.

Felix Castor has reluctantly returned to exorcism after a successful case convinces him that he can do some good with his abilities---"good" being a relative term when dealing with the undead. But his friend Rafi is still possessed, the succubus Juliet still technically has a contract on him, and he's still dirt poor. Doing some consulting for the local cops helps pay the bills, but Castor needs a big private job to fill the hole in his bank account. That's what he needs. What he gets is a seemingly insignificant "missing ghost" case that inexorably drags him and his loved ones into the middle of a horrific plot to raise one of hell's fiercest demons. When satanists, stolen spirits, sacrifice farms, and haunted churches all appear on the same police report, the name Felix Castor can't be too far behind....

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This is one of my favorite series to read and I've only read the first two of the five or six Mike Carey has written. They are hewgah books to read, this one is 549 pages, so the first two have been my bedside books...which means some pretty interesting dreams once I close the book for the night.

Felix is a tough in mind and fortitude if not tough in body. He pushes himself through every day, every minute, even after taking a beating from various entities like loup-garous, succubi, ghosts, other exorcists even. I highly admire this in him as well as how much he cares for his friends and clients, which is generally what causes him to keep on keepin' on.

Five keep on ghost truckin' beans.....

BLOOD AND CHOCOLATE - Annette Curtis Klaus, narr Alyssa Bresnahan

From the back of the book: Vivian Gandalon is a teenaged werewolf with problems. Her father, the pack leader, was killed in a fire, and so the pack is in disarray. The young male members of the squabbling pack howl for her, but still she feels alienated and alone.

To be more than human is a lonely thing. Vivian longs to have friends and fit in as school. She yearns to escape her legacy of violence and forbidden appetites, but the beast within her longs for something elementally deep and rich. She glories in her ability to change form woman to wolf. How can she choose between being human or beast? She fiercely hopes that her relationship with a kind and sensitive meat-boy, a human, will help her find some answers.

Talented narrator Alyssa Bresnahan casts a spell over listeners as she becomes the beautiful and sensuous young werewolf princess. This suspenseful, haunting, and magical tale is best read by the light of the full moon.

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Alyssa Bresnahan, the narrator, is the reason I kept listening to this story. I did not like Vivian at all. Klaus wrote the character well as I wanted nothing more than to reach inside the story and smack the crap out of Vivian, spoiled and self-centered creature that she was. She couldn't understand why no one wanted to be her friend, since she was so special and beautiful.

The story of the pack and the hierarchy was a fascinating aspect that didn't get a lot of play. Another little downfall, I figured out who the bad guys were as soon as the bad stuff started happening to Vivian.

Alyssa Bresnahan kept me listening, though. Some narrators can do that for a story. I will look for more of her narrated works.

Four because of the narrator beans....

THE GRAVEYARD BOOK - Neil Gaiman, narr Neil Gaiman

From the back of the BOCD: Nobody Owens, known to friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor the dead. There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack--who has already killed Bod's family....
Beloved master storyteller Neil Gaiman returns with a luminous new novel for the audience that embraced his New York Times bestselling modern classic CORALINE . Magical, terrifying and filled with breath-taking adventures, THE GRAVEYARD BOOK is sure to enthrall readers of all ages.
Gaiman is the author of several books for children, including the New York Times modern classic CORALINE, the collection of short stories for young readers M IS FOR MAGIC, and INTERWORLD, co-authored withMichael Reeves. His picture books include THE WOLVES IN THE WALLS, THE DAY I SWAPPED MY DAD FOR A GOLDFISH, and THE DANGEROUS ALPHABET. Originally from England, Gaiman now lives in the United States.
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What a wonderful story to listen to! Especially as narrated by Neil Gaiman. He is the perfect voice for telling the story of Bod, the boy raised by the ghosts in the graveyard he wandered into as a baby after his family was killed in their house.
I enjoyed listening to the small details of how the ghosts decided to raise Bod, how to get him food and how to educate him. The graveyard is full of ghosts from all eras, including the time of Roman Empire occupation through somewhat present day. Bod enjoys the company of a witch who was drowned by her village, a poet who is waiting to be discovered, ghosts of educators and servants. His guardian, Silas, can move about town though only at night.
Bod is a good kid, taking on bullies when he goes to school and learns how to deal with evil and possibly love.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this story. I highly recommend it.

Five ghostly beans......

SKIN DEEP - Mark Del Franco

From the back of the book: Laura Blackstone, public relations director for the Fey Guild, can spin a story with ease. Across town, Janice Crawford works her magic as the druidess backup for the DC SWAT. Meanwhile, as an operative for an international intelligence agency, Mariel Tate uses her beauty and brains to hunt down terrorists. Laura, Janice, and Mariel have nothing in common--except they're the same woman...

Being an undercover agent has its occupational hazards, but Laura makes it look easy. As a spy for a fey intelligence agency, she uses her magical abilities to create disguises that are skin deep--glamours, or personas, that must never be compromised.

Now, while Laura publicizes a special fey exhibition at the National Archives, Janice is almost killed in a drug bust gone wrong, and Mariel discovers a connection between the drug raid and threats made against the exhibition's debut. Laura's different worlds are about to collide, and if she can'tkeep it together, she'll have more to worry about than being forced to retire an identity. She may lose her life.

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All of the different glamours, personas..whatever...had me confused for the first half of the book. There were a lot of characters attached to each persona, too, so that aided in my confusion. Thankfully, the story had promise and lived up to that once I got past the halfway point. I've heard too many good things about Del Franco from 'trusted agents' so I knew there was a diamond in all of that confusing dross. Ann Aguirre is one of those 'trusted agents' and I won the book from her blog, so I kept reading.

The story is an interesting premise of the fey world and the possibility of war between the factions. Politics is politics whether it's human or fey, it would seem.

I look forward to the rest of the series and I have other books by Del Franco on the WWBL.

Three give fey peace a chance beans.....

BLACK MAGIC WOMAN - Justin Gustainis

From the back of the book:

Supernatural investigator Quincey Morris and his partner, white witch Libby Chastain, are called in to help free a desperate family from a deadly curse that appears to date back to the Salem Witch Trials. To release the family from danger they must find the root of the curse, a black witch with a terrible grudge that holds the family in her power.

The pursuit takes them to the mysterious underworld of Boston, San Francisco, New Orleans and New York, stalking a prey that is determined to stay hidden. After surviving a series of terrifying attempts on their lives, the two find themselves drawn inexorably towards Salem itself--and the very heart of darkness.

I can't get over how MUCH I enjoyed reading this book! I had to set it aside for a bit as I'd forgotten I was to have read and reviewed a book, the thankfully fast paced DON'T CALL ME A CROOK - Bob Moore for Online Publicist. I whomped on that one and quickly got back to Quincey and Libby's dark adventure.
Quincey starts the story with his quest to eradicate a nest of vamps from a small town in Texas. He's smart and quick, vamps cleaned out in a concisely excellent manner. Then he gets a visit from Walter LaRue, a man whose house is being attacked by a supernatural being that is progressively getting more violent. Quincey calls upon his friend Libby, a white witch, to help him out. They arrive at the house to find that there is more to the story than meets the eye and both realize they are going to have to move fast or someone, if not all, in the house will die.
There are four different points of view throughout the book, mainly the story is told through Quincey and Libby. The thriller is pushed forward with a pair of serial killers, a pair of detectives, and the black witch all are circling.
I admire Quincey's presence of mind that gets rattled from time to time and the way he knows his life is preordained destiny and he is good with that. Libby is straight forward, gentle and smart. They make a great team.
This is a book where evil is truly awful and good is fighting the good fight against it. I can't wait to read the next in the series, EVIL WAYS. I can only hope that Justin Gustainis has many more stories and adventures for this team to journey.

Five fiendishly haunted beans.....

Patricia's Vampire Notes Interview with Karen Chance

PVN has an interview with Karen Chance, author of the Cassandra Palmer and the Dorina Baharab paranormal/fantasy series on PVN's blog. The interview is one of the best I've seen this year and had me highlight the first book in both series on the Wanton Wantin' Book List. I especially love the premise of the hero who is Cassandra Palmer, a woman who has had supernatural abilities thrown in her lap and she has a hard time dealing with the responsibilities.

The other series' hero is Dorina who is a dhampir, half human-half vampire, and not much loved on either side...however she has abilities that are admired and needed.

There's a chance to win a signed copy of each of the books pictured here. Contest portion ends 18 June @ 1159pm.....hightail it over there!