Review: Dangerous Lord, Innocent Governess

Reviewed by Jen
 

Daphne is convinced there is more to her cousin Clare's death than meets the eye. In fact, Daphne is certain that Clare's husband Timothy is to blame. So in order to find the truth, Daphne poses as a governess for Clare's children. The plan is simple: ingratiate herself into the household and expose Timothy as a murderer.

She never expects to care for the children.  And certainly, she could never anticipate the undeniable attraction between Tim and herself.  Yet, she finds herself falling in love with the entire family. With her changing feelings, she starts questioning whether Tim is really a man who could commit murder... and she realizes her cousin may not have been the woman she thought she knew.

I enjoyed this book. It had a kind of gothic, Jane Eyre feel to it.  I know some people are put off by such a similarity, but it worked for me.  There was yummy sexual tension, steamy love scenes and some delicious angst from our brooding hero.  All good things, as far as I'm concerned.

It wasn't perfect. It's kind of hard to like Daphne at first. She's pretty self-absorbed and callous about the children.... though that changes over the course of the book. And I was a little taken aback by the manner in which she lost her virginity. I won't get into specifics, but it's not exactly gentle and there was no acknowledgement that such a thing may not be all sunshine and roses for an innocent.  But, in the grand scheme of things, I wasn't bothered all that much.  It was sexy, dark and satisfying.  4 stars.

*ARC Provided by NetGalley

Dangerous Lord, Innocent Governess

by Christine Merrill

Re-Release Date: June 21, 2011

Original Release Date: August 7, 2009

Publisher: Harlequin

Review: A Lady's Lesson in Scandal

Nell is a woman who has lived a hard life and things look like they're only getting worse. She works in a factory, barely scraping by in the slums of London's Bethnel Green. Her mother is dying and her step-brother is ready to whore her out for money. On her deathbed, Nell's mother reveals that Nell's father is a highborn lord who may be willing to help her financially. But when her letter to him is ignored and her mother dies, Nell decides to get her revenge by killing the man in his sleep.

Only, when she arrives at the home of Lord Rushden, she doesn't find her father. He's been dead for months. Instead, she finds his heir.... a distant cousin. The new lord proposes a shocking idea. If she marries him, he'll help her establish her claim to her inheritance. In exchange, she'll help him shore up his empty coffers. What choice does she have, but to agree?

From here, the story reminds me a little of My Fair Lady, as Rushden tries to help transform Nell from a guttersnipe into a genteel aristocrat. But we get the added bonus of a little sexual heat. Nell and Rushden share a fiery attraction, which travels the course from tension, to action, to tender feelings. Nell's life begins to transform itself into a fairy tale, but she can't let go of the lessons learned in the slums; she can't trust that her happiness will last.

I enjoyed watching Nell drop her defenses as she fell for Rushden.  And I definitely enjoyed their love scenes. There are bumps along the road as they try to reach their happy ending, but the obstacles are worth it. Perhaps what's most refreshing is how Nell manages to make it through the story with her character intact... her changes are merely superficial, except for her newfound ability to trust in the man she loves. 4 stars.

*ARC Provided by Pocket Books

A Lady's Lesson in Scandal

by Meredith Duran

Release Date: June 28, 2011

Publisher: Pocket Books

Review: Collide

I didn't really expect to like this book all that much. But it made me laugh. It made me feel. And boy, was it hot!

The story follows Emm, a 32 year-old woman, who has lived her life with the constant threat that she will go into a fugue state. She had a head injury in childhood, and ever since, she has had episodes where her mind leaves reality. In the past few years, though, she seems to have gotten it under control. Until she crosses paths with Johnny. She only sees him in a coffee shop, but she is instantly attracted. She learns that he was a star in some, er, artistic films in the 70s... which she promptly checks out. And before she knows it, she's blanking out again. Only this time, the place she goes in her mind is one where Johnny is the star. She meets him, in the 70s and hops into his bed. Of course, when she gets back to reality, that only fuels her desire to meet him for real.

To say the real Johnny is stand-offish would be an understatement.  He is gruff, even rude to Emm. But when she goes into a fugue state right in front of him, he brings her into his home to help her out... beginning a dialogue between them. Emm is going dark, as she calls it, more and more. And every time, she is back in Johnny's past. She is becoming more invested in him --in his life and in his bed. She has trouble separating her growing feelings for the Johnny in her mind with the Johnny who is present in her real-life. This is especially true, when she finally breaks down the barriers he places between them and they become a real couple.

The thing is, Emm is starting to question whether the past events are really just in her mind. Johnny is hard to read, but keeps giving off vibes that he knows more than he's saying. And the proof just keeps growing.

I couldn't put this book down.  Yeah, it's got some similarities to other stories, but it acknowledges them openly. Even Emm gives shouts to Dr Who and The Time Traveler's Wife. There are so many cultural references that really hit the mark --and the way Emm talks-- it made her so relatable for me. And it was funny. Some of passages had me laughing out loud.

"I haven't been this excited about an erection since my first boy-girl party in the eighth grade..."

"I made it through dinner without embarrasing myself, although everytime he wiped his mouth I wanted my cunt to be the napkin."

Of course, aside from the whole time travel element, the biggest thing going on in the book is the sex. And wow! We're talking hot. I'm not a big fan of using the "c-word" to refer to lady-bits, but even that didn't cut in to the megga-watt hot factor going on in this book.  Believe me, by the time it was over, I was ready to have sex with Johnny and I don't much care whether it was the 24 year-old version or the 57 year-old one.

I did feel kind of sorry for him, once everything was revealed.  I'm glad we got the ending we did, but the poor guy really had a rough road. And I can see why Emm got the initial reaction he gave her at the beginning of the book.

I'll definitely read more Megan Hart in the future. And I'll never look at the word "hooah" the same way. 4 1/2 stars.

*ARC Provided by NetGalley

Collide

by Megan Hart

Release Date: June 21, 2011

Publisher: Spice

Rant: True Blood

You would think I would have learned my lesson. Over and over, people keep telling me that I need to think of True Blood as something totally separate from the Sookie Stackhouse books. And that sounds easy enough, but I just can't do it. I mean, these are the supposed to be the characters I've cared about for all this time.

The basic premise of the series was the same... at least in season one. Sookie Stackhouse, telepathic waitress, gets her first real chance at a relationship with the first vampire she ever meets. Her shapeshifter boss is there, along with her slightly selfish, man-whore brother... The main story arc holds up, as someone kills people with ties to vampires. And not withstanding the horrific accents, it worked. Of course, the amazing casting of Alexander Skarsgard didn't hurt. His presence is what made me tolerate that whole ridiculous v-addiction storyline.

Then season two came and the bastardization began. Layfayette is alive (the one and only change I was ever on board with)... Jessica is born. The unnamed maenad gets a name and an extended storyline that nearly overshadows the trip to Dallas. There's the epic fail of the Fellowship of the Sun side-plot and changes involved with making Godric into Eric's maker. Season 3 gives us the gift of Joe Mangianello and I can forgive the show creators almost anything after that. Except maybe the train wreck that they turned Russell into. Or the terrible miscasting of Claudine and Hadley.

But here we are at season four. And I've been waiting, poised between excitement and fear for the adaptation of my favorite book in the series. Only to get the horrific, steaming pile of shit that I witnessed last night. In two episodes, there was nary a shred of storyline that can be reconciled with Dead to the World. In fact, it felt like Alan Ball was giving a huge middle finger to Charlaine Harris fans, making it essentially impossible for the story to mirror future books.  

Here are my top 10 complaints:

1. Faerie. This was wrong in so many ways, I don't even know where to start. Lumieres. Ugly fae. Grandpa EARL? This knocks out the whole Niall storyline and indicates (by Barry's presence) that Sookie's telepathy is linked to her being fae.

2. A year has passed.

3. Jason sold Sookie's house.

4. Tara is suddenly a lesbian.

5. Sam is in a shifter support group that has a soft spot for horses. (Who the hell are these people?)

6. Sam's stupid brother is still around.

7. Arlene thinks she has a devil baby.

8. Here's a big one. Bill kills Sophie-Ann. Knocking out huge storyline potential from future books. So much of the upcoming story should have been tied up in Sophie Ann, from Sookie's trip to New Orleans, to the vampire conference, to Mr. Cataliades, Andre, Sigebert & Wybert... All just wiped out with this one plot device.

9. Bill is King. (Seriously... I knew they weren't going to send him to Peru, but this utterly changes the dynamic between him and Eric forever.)

10. The witches don't want to have sex with Eric. Instead of some all powerful, evil witches, we've got an old lady who misses her dead bird and a bunch of dabblers. It's all wrong.

I could go on. Bitch about Crystal being part of the plan to turn Jason into a shifter... Or Andy's drug dependence on vampire blood. Or Lafayette's stupid new hair. But I'm starting to feel petty. They couldn't even throw me a bone and toss a naked shot of Joe Manganiello in there.

((**sigh**)) Alan Ball, you did a bad, bad thing.

Review: Spell Bound

Reviewed by Jen
 

I loved this book. Loved it so much, in fact, that it may be my very favorite Otherworld book of all time. Yes, I know that's a pretty bold statement. And not everyone will agree. After all, generally the best Otherworld books are Elena books and I'm the first person to say so. But what makes this book so fantastic is that even though Savannah is the narrator,it brings everyone together. Savannah, Adam, Paige, Lucas, Hope, Karl, Elena, Clay, Jeremy, Jamie, Benicio, Troy, Griffin, Sean, Bryce, Kristof, Jaz, Rhys... The only major player missing was Eve (and she did get a mention.) Kelley Armstrong has taken threads from her previous books and woven them together into this awesome creation, like it was some giant master plan all along.

The story picks up right where Waking the Witch left off. Savannah is without her powers and she believes it's because she offered to exchange them to right one of the wrongs in the last book. She and Adam investigate and, sure enough, little Kayla and her grandmother have been reunited. But now what? There are witch-hunters still after Savannah and despite her feelings in a moment of weakness, she needs her powers. She and Adam work to figure out how to restore them while sniffing out the witch-hunters and foiling their murderous plans.

As if that weren't enough to deal with, there is a group of supernaturals that are pushing to out themselves to the human world. They believe now is the time, because of a prophecy that foretold key events: Savannah's birth, the werewolf twins, Jaz's powers, and the birth of Rhys' clairvoyant grandchild, among others. The group's leaders also have ties to the immortality questers we learned about in Broken. It's all very complicated and conspiracy-theorist and there is still a lot we don't know about them, even as the story ends. --That's right. This story won't reach it's conclusion until the next book... which will also be (**sniff**) the last book in the series. I'm sure that's going to turn a lot of people off, and I'm no fan of cliffhangers, myself. But I like that Armstrong is making this final story epic... to go out with a bang. I'd rather that than some lame rush job, trying to make it all fit in one book.

If you're wondering about the romance we were missing in Waking the Witch, (**spoilers**) there is a little bit of progress. We all know that Adam is Savannah's HEA, but they have some serious hurdles to overcome. But... since you clicked the spoiler button, you obviously want to know... we do get one good kiss, which shows we are headed in the right direction.

I will miss this series when it's over. Armstrong has created such a rich world for these characters with the wealth of novels and short stories she has written. But I am so impressed that she is pulling them all together for a ending that is fitting and worthy of the characters and stories she has given us.  I can't wait to see what happens.  5 stars.

*ARC Provided by Dutton

Spell Bound

by Kelley Armstrong

Release Date: July 26, 2011

Publisher: Dutton Books

Review: Waking the Witch

Reviewed by Jen
 

One of the things I love best about the Otherworld series is that time passes in the books pretty much like real-time. The series began back in 2001 and we've essentially watched the characters change and grow through 10 years of their own lives. We met Savannah in the 2nd book, as a 12 year-old child and now she's a 21 year-old woman, serving as the narrator of her very own story. It's a little hard to see her as an adult, but I think that's in part to her personality, which is still a little impetuous and self-absorbed. And she is still trying to prove herself.

So when Paige and Lucas go on vacation, Savannah jumps at the chance to take the lead on her very own case. The tip comes from Jesse, a half-demon contact of Lucas' -- and it takes Savannah to a small town to investigate a trio of human murders with a link to the occult. She joins forces with an off-duty cop named Michael, whose sister was one of the victims. I liked him right away. (**spoilers**) So when Armstrong killed him off, I was crushed. I knew he wasn't going to be Savannah's HEA, but I really hated to see him die.

There's a wide range of suspects: from the strange commune of girls living with a creepy therapist... to the adulterous boyfriend of one of the victims. Links to the supernatural keep popping up, but Savannah can't quite put her finger on how they're tied to the case. Savannah's a tough girl, as we are reminded more than once, but she could have helped herself a lot by reaching out and being honest with her family and friends. It was frustrating to keep watching her make this mistake. The story would have gone very differently if she weren't so bent on proving herself.

Adam shows up in the second half of the book. We don't get a romance between him and Savannah, but the groundwork is there. I'm hoping they'll pursue it in the next book, which is also a Savannah story. The resolution here on the murder/mystery was a huge surprise for me and while that storyline did wrap up, the ending is a pretty big cliffhanger. I enjoyed the book, but I wish we would have had more crossover with the other characters from the previous books. 4 stars.

Waking the Witch

by Kelley Armstrong

Release Date: July 27, 2010

Publisher: Dutton Books

Review: Counterfeit Magic

Reviewed by Jen
 

Counterfeit Magic is not a full length novel, but a limited release novella. The narrator in this installment is Paige, an independent and optimistic witch, who runs an PI agency with her sorcerer husband, Lucas. It’s great to have a Lucas and Paige story. We’ve seen the evolution of their nine year relationship since the very beginning, with Dime Store Magic.  And I’ve always rooted for them.

Anyway, the story begins with a lovely young woman named Ava, coming into the agency, asking for help getting to the bottom of her brother’s death. She believes it could be tied to a supernatural fight club she brought him to. Ava had participated in the fight, hoping to win money to help him pay off his debts, but she lost her fight. When she found out her brother bet against her, she stormed out. She didn’t see him again until his body was found a month later.

Ava is really only interested in Lucas handling the case. Paige and Lucas both tackle it, but split up to do the job. Lucas plans to look into the people the brother owed money to, while Paige and Savannah check out the fight club. Savannah poses as a fighter and they get in the door with ease. It doesn’t take long for the women to discover that their have been a couple of unexplained deaths affiliated with fighters –and there is definitely something going on.

((**Click for spoilers**))A distance is growing between Paige and Lucas. One that began with the deaths of his brothers in Personal Demon. He has become more and more involved in his family’s cabal. And throughout the course of the novella, Paige notices the distance more and more. The climax of the book comes when she tries to connect with Lucas on the phone, only to have Ava answer. She convinces Paige that Lucas is in bed with her. And it’s done so convincingly, that my heart broke a little. Then, Adam moves in to seduce Paige… which is wrong, wrong, wrong, as we know he is the obvious HEA for Savannah. Fortunately, we find out that this is all a ruse –a counterfeit magic– to convince Paige to stray from Lucas. It’s all been orchestrated by his only living brother Carlos, who hopes Lucas will leave the cabal to save his marriage. Carlos is behind the deaths at the fight club too; he set that up to help pay off a debt to another club that viewed it as competition. Using Ava’s real connection to the club was away to draw in Paige and Lucas, so he could kill two birds with one stone.

I really enjoyed this novella. I’m used to reading stories even much shorter than this one with this series, as Armstrong has created several internet offerings and two anthologies. I was prepared for the length and not disappointed by it. Like many others, I pre-ordered it, knowing that it was darn near impossible at the time to get your hands on Angelic, the last limited release novella.  You don’t have to read this one to continue on with the series. And you don’t have to have read the previous books to understand what’s going on.  But honestly, this was written for those of us who were already Otherworld fans. A bonus offering.  One with a fast, interesting story –and a surprising emotional punch.  4 stars.

Counterfeit Magic

by Kelley Armstrong

Release Date: November 30, 2010

Publisher: Subterranean Press

Review: Frostbitten

Reviewed by Jen
 

My beloved Clay and Elena are back and they're doing what they do best... tracking mutts. The story begins with Elena trying to catch up with a young Aussie wolf named Reese, who is being set up to take the fall for some man-eaters. (Armstrong set up a backstory for Reese in the short story "Chivalrous," but you don't have to read it to know what's going on.) She follows him to Alaska, where he is promptly attacked by mutts living there. Elena patches him up and faces the task of finding the mutts to deal with them.

She and Clay also have a side-mission while they're there. Two former Pack members (Dennis and Joey, who we met in the short story "Ascension") are living in Alaska, but Jeremy is worried about them because they have fallen out of touch. We discover quickly that Dennis is dead... killed by the mutts... giving Clay and Elena more incentive to track them down. Adding to the trouble: some missing girls and some unexplained wolf-kills. How much are the mutts responsible for? And what is the strange shifter that Dennis was researching before he died?

This book was fantastic. There was a lot of action, but there was plenty of introspection for Elena as well. She's finally aware of Jeremy's plan to make her Alpha. Is that really what she wants? And what will that mean for her and Clay? Beyond that, she is finally facing some of the demons from her childhood... at first in an intangible way, but later, in ways that are all too real. 

It was all very satisfying.... kind of like coming home after the departure of Living With the Dead.  I love that Elena is finally embracing her feelings for Clay and accepting who she is. I really enjoy watching them as a couple... their fire, their commitment... just everything. It was also great fun to meet new werewolves who could expand the Pack. 5 stars.

Frostbitten

by Kelley Armstrong

Release Date: September 29, 2009

Publisher: Bantam Books

Review: Living With the Dead

Reviewed by Jen
 

This didn't feel like an Otherworld book. At all. It was deeply disturbing and dark. It featured some characters we know: primarily Hope and Karl, but unlike any of the previous books, this was written in the third person and the real main character was a regular human we've never met before.

It's been six months since Robyn's husband Damon died. Since then, she's moved to LA to start a new life for herself. She's a PR rep for a celebutante, but she's really just going through the motions. Hope is worried about her --the two are longtime friends-- so she and Karl come to visit. Shortly after they arrive, Robyn's client is killed and thanks to a string of unlikely events, Robyn becomes the prime suspect. Then Karl and Hope must figure out who really killed the woman and why, while protecting Robyn from the real killer.

Investigating the case is Detective John Finnley. Finn's a necromancer, though he doesn't even really know what that means. He only knows that he occasionally sees ghosts... a skill that helps him believe Robyn is innocent, not only of her client's murder but other deaths that are piling up in her wake. The ghosts of the victims help lead his way, and so does (eventually) the ghost of Robyn's husband.

Earlier, I mentioned that this story is disturbing. That's due almost entirely to our villain, a sociopathic clairvoyant named Adele. She is the real killer. It's not because she enjoys killing; she's just looking out for number one. You see, Robyn's client had the misfortune of accidentally taking an incriminating photo of Adele. That leads to her death. And the deaths that follow are also to keep Adele's secret -- that she is trying to escape from her commune of clairvoyants to join the Nast cabal. That doesn't sound that bad... standard bad-guy stuff. But there's more to her schemes. She slips birth control pills to one of her commune sisters, knowing it will eventually force the girl into what's essentially gang rape when she can't conceive a child by her husband. The husband Adele wanted for her own. She has sex with a mentally disabled boy to manipulate him into sharing his powers with her, and gets pregnant with his child. Then she seduces his younger brother, a 15 year-old, to hide the baby's paternity. She doesn't care what she has to do or who she has to do it to, to get what she wants.

Adele is really a product of the environment she has grown up in... although undoubtedly, she is the worst case scenario. The commune beats its children to instill fear of the cabals; it inbreeds; uses the disabled for their powers; and we've already talked about the forced sex. It even kills those whose powers are too weak to make them useful. And even as I try to describe all this, I know it doesn't do it justice.

There's a lot going on here. In addition to all the stuff with Robyn, Finn & Adele, we can't forget about Hope and Karl. Their relationship is at a crossroads. And Hope has a lot of uncertainty about her future. And in the end, we see that the major developments in this book and the previous ones are intertwined, perhaps in some greater purpose, or bigger picture. I find that very intriguing. It was a solid installment... it just felt... off. And I missed the romance. 4 stars.

Living With the Dead

by Kelley Armstrong

Release Date: October 21, 2008

Publisher: Bantam Books

Review: Personal Demon

Reviewed by Jen
 

I'll admit, I'm not a big fan of Hope. It's not that I dislike her, but I just can't quite connect with her enough to enjoy her as the narrator of a book. It helps that the book volleys back and forth between her and Lucas, but this one is still one of my least favorite Otherworld books. That's not to say it was bad... far from it. It just didn't grab me the same way that some of the other stories did.

Hope is a half-demon who thrives on chaos. She was first introduced in the short-story "Chaotic," so if you didn't read that one, you may feel like you missed something. During that story, she incurred a debt to Benecio Cortez and now he's come to collect. He wants Hope to infiltrate a gang of supernaturals who oppose the cabal to see what they're planning. Karl is out of the country... not to mention, he and Hope are on the outs, so she goes in undercover, alone.

Hope makes fast friends with the gang. In fact, she gets extra-friendly with one of the men, Jaz. But that budding relationship is short-lived, when Karl returns. The two of them are unable to fight their feelings any longer and they finally become a couple. In the meantime, members of the gang start disappearing and dying.  And the threat extends itself to members of the Cortez family, forcing Lucas into a role in the cabal that he has spent his life avoiding.

The big reveal behind the mystery was quite a surprise... and making it an even greater feat, it still made sense and worked inside the confines of pre-existing world-building. Kudos to Kelley Armstrong. There are some pretty substantial developments for Lucas and Paige, so this is a pretty important book. But it was missing something... maybe I just couldn't get invested enough in Hope. Almost 4 stars.

Personal Demon

by Kelley Armstrong

Release Date: March 5, 2008

Publisher: Bantam Books

Otherworld: Short Stories and Novellas

Reviewed by Jen
 

I love the way Kelley Armstrong has enriched her Otherworld series with a wealth of short stories. She compiled many of them together into the anthologies Men of the Otherworld and Tales of the Otherworld, but there are even more out there. Some are free reads on the internet (provided by Armstrong herself); others are parts of anthologies shared with other authors.  You don't have to read them all to know what's going on in the novels. But they are great fun and teach us more about the characters we have already grown to love. I've got the details on the short stories found in Men & Tales, in the reviews for each of those anthologies. This is a short breakdown on the rest.

"Demonology" (free online story) - This is one of the very few Otherworld story that's not told in the first person narrative.  It features Adam's mother Talia, as she struggles to figure out what makes her child different. Adam is only 8 years-old in this story and he is becoming fixated with fire. He's even exhibiting some strange physical behaviors, like hot hands, and giving other kids a jolt. It's in trying to help her son that Talia meets Robert Vasic, the half-demon that will end up her husband... and who will finally explain her son's true nature.

"The Case of the Half Demon Spy" (free online story) - narrator: Adam -  This little 16 page short story gives us a peek at Adam and Paige as young teens. They're growing restless, being shut out of a council meeting, when they see a demon spying on the gathering. They take it upon themselves to scare him away and get his notes. They never realize that it was all a set up by Adam's step dad to give them an adventure.

"Truth & Consequences" (free online story) - narrator: Elena - This story takes us inside Elena's life, not long before the events of Bitten. She is working for the pack, tracking down a man who says he has proof werewolves exist. Elena is forced to kill him to protect the pack. It's a decision that will ultimately drive her away from Stonehaven and set the wheels in motion for the first novel.

"Territorial" (free online story) - narrator: Karl - As this story begins, Karl is working a mark to steal her necklace. But his mind quickly turns to reminiscing about his past and his father. In flashback, we learn how his father died: killed by Malcolm -- and why Karl believes it was hit fault. As the tale draws to a close, we see how his path crosses with Daniel Santos, laying the groundwork for their evil plan in Bitten.

"Escape" (free online story) - narrator: Eve - We didn't get a chance to meet Eve in the supernatural holding cells of Stolen. She was already dead. But here we get her perspective. We learn why Savannah was home they day of their kidnapping and the events that led them to their captivity. And we watch as Eve works to free herself and her daughter from the facility. It looks like she was on the right track... until a guard kills her.

"Adventurer" (free online story) - narrator: Kenneth - If you're asking yourself, "Who the heck is Kenneth?' -- don't feel bad.  I couldn't remember either. He's the shaman in the interracial council with Paige, Adam, Cassandra and co.  In this story, we get to see the council members from his perspective --and see the quiet contribution he makes.

"Bargain" (free online story) - narrator: Xavier - This story sets-up Xavier's approach to Elena in Broken.  It seems that his desire to make her an ally came before the job to retrieve the From Hell letter. He actually looked for a way to need her help to cultivate her as a contact and perhaps, by extension, he could cozy up to Lucas through their connection with the interracial council. Xavier's been having trouble with a cabal lately and some well placed contacts could make all the difference...

"Chaotic" (Dates from Hell) - narrator: Hope- Hope is a half-demon who gets off on chaos. That's given her a lot of trouble following the straight and narrow. So when Tristan approached her to serve as an agent for the supernatural interracial council, she didn't hesitate to say yes. She doesn't realize, though, that she is on the job the night she goes on a blind date at a museum gala. But she can't help but follow the threads of tension she feels coming from one of the exhibits. It turns out to be werewolf Karl Marsten, there stealing some jewels. Her first thought is that he's the bad guy and she has to stop him. But she finds out quickly that it's really her boss who is evil and he is after Karl for petty vengeance. Hope doesn't work for the council at all... She's just a pawn in his schemes. Hope and Karl grow closer as they work to escape Tristan and his henchmen. And there is one really hot scene they have while in hiding that I may have read two or three times. All in all, it's a pretty solid story. And while you don't have to read it, it lays the foundation for future books that feature Hope and Karl.

"Framed" (free online story) - narrator: Nick - We've heard a lot about Nick, but always from Elena or Clay's perspectives. Here, get a glimpse into his mind as someone tries to frame him for murder. He wakes up one morning, with no memory of the night before, and finds a dead woman in his bed. It turns out to be a blackmail scheme. A man wants Nick to seduce his estranged wife and take pictures. It seems she has a thing for werewolf romance novels, so Nick brushes up on the stories to set up his seduction. But he draws the line once he realizes the sex is supposed to take place while he's in wolf-form. So he finds a creative solution to the problem and is proud that he manages to handle the whole thing without help.

"Twilight" (Many Bloody Returns) - narrator: Cassandra - I think Cassandra may be my least favorite character in the Otherworld series, so this story didn't do much for me. Basically, we already know that she is getting closer and closer to her final death. Now it's time for her annual kill, but she is having a lot of trouble forcing herself to do it. She's been putting it off and putting it off... and Aaron is worried that she won't do it all. But what he doesn't realize is that it's not just a mental problem, but a physical one for her as well. Obviously, in the end, she makes the kill, but it leaves you wondering if she'll be able to do it next time.

"Stalked" (My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon) - narrator: Clay - It's really important to Clay that his honeymoon with Elena is just right. She didn't have the wedding of her dreams. He ruined that idea 18 years ago when he turned her into a werewolf. But, the honeymoon... he wants to make that perfect for her. Only, a mutt is stalking them. Clay tries to hide it from Elena, but that doesn't quite work out. The good news is... taking down the mutt together may be the highlight of their trip.

"Chivalrous" (Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy 2) - narrator: Reese  - Of all the short stories, this is one of the two I haven't actually read. I just couldn't bring myself to part with the 30-bucks it would cost for this anthology. And it took me forever to even find a decent blurb telling me what it was about. But I finally found some info from a review on Locus Online. Paraphrasing, it basically says that Reese is an Australian mutt, who is attending college when he rescues a young woman from being raped. It turns out she is the local Alpha's daughter sent to insinuate herself into his life. He doesn't find that out until after he falls for her. So then he must decide whether to protect the woman he loves or his family, still threatened by her father. --If you're asking yourself what an Aussie wolf has to do with anything, Reese becomes part of the current cast of characters in the novel Frostbitten. This is his backstory.

"The Ungrateful Dead" (Blood Lite) - narrator: Jamie - There's an obnoxious ghost demanding help from Jamie. She's all ready to banish him, but decides to grant his request to open his cousin's coffin. Savannah comes along on the adventure. And they both get a big surprise when they lift the lid and a zombie comes out. It seems that the pair tried to harrass another necromancer into bringing them back to life and the necro tried to teach them a lesson with the zombie trick. You think they would have learned that lesson, but they keep pushing Jamie, until they push her a bit too far. (This had some pretty good one liners in it. A couple made me laugh out loud.)

"Zen and the Art of Vampirism" (A Fantasy Medley) - narrator: Zoe - Zoe didn't make a huge impression on me when we met her in Broken, so I wasn't too disappointed that I never got a chance to read this one. From the reviews I have found, the story is about some young vamps who decide they want to take over Zoe's territory in Toronto. She turns the tables on them and they hightail it out of town.

"Learning Curve" (Evolve) - narrator: Zoe - This may be the shortest of all the short stories.  Wannabe vampire hunters are stalking Zoe. Somebody's been watching too much Buffy.

"Checkmate" (free online story) - narrator: Elena - Clay and Elena take a trip to Winnepeg to check out reports of missing hookers. They think a man-eating mutt may be to blame. As they investigate, they think, perhaps it wasn't the mutt after-all. But in the end, it was.

"Recruit" (free online story) - narrator: Elena - The Pack needs to increase its numbers. Clay and Elena decide to go meet a possible new recruit. But the man tries to sell them information on a man-eater. His plan doesn't really work. But he does give them the information --and they let him keep all the body parts that he came with.

"The List" (Evolve 2) - narrator: Zoe - Release date: August 15, 2011

"Lucifer's Daughter" (Blood Lite 2) - narrator: Hope - Karl and Hope are at a bash thrown by Hope's mom back at the museum where they met. Karl accidentally unleashes a demon, who recognizes Hope for who she is. Hope and Karl manage to contain him, but it's no easy feat. And this has quite a dramatic ending (*spoilers*) as Karl asks Hope to marry him.

"From Russia with Love" (13) - narrator: Elena - As the drama comes to a close in 13, Elena and Clay travel to Russia where the rest of the pack has been staying with the twins.  After a surprise visit from Xavier, Jeremy passes over the reigns, making Elena the new Alpha of the pack.  It's a great ending, as we see the series come completely full circle.

Review: Seduction & Scandal

Reviewed by Jen
 

Isabella is a woman who fears passion. It destroyed her mother and compromised her childhood. Now she is living with her uncle and cousin Lucy and hopes for nothing more than a life a safety and security. She is dating a staid gentleman and hopes for a simple marriage.  But then she meets the Earl of Black. There is an instant, burning pull between them. For some reason that Isabella is unaware of, Black pursues her relentlessly. And no matter how much her head wants him out of her life, her body and heart have other ideas.

Black is a member of the Brethren Guardians... descendants of the Knights of the Templar, charged to protect ancient relics that could corrupt the world. He doesn't want the responsibility. The only thing he does want is Isabella. But he can't ignore his oath, so while he pursues her, he works with the other men in his order to track down the relics that have gone missing.

I had a bit of a hard time getting into the Templar stuff, but there was a lot of sexy in the story to keep my interest in the interim. The tension between Isabella and Black is fantastic and it was a great payoff, albeit in increments. And did I mention that Isabella is also a lady novelist? Her seductive story is interspersed throughout the book and I sure did enjoy it. Obviously, there are parallels between her longing for Black with the characters in her book and it all wraps up nicely in the end.

There are a lot of mysteries tied in the Templar storyline, and as the book progressed it did grow on me some. There are many threads left unresolved, but the love story is put to bed. And the author promises to answer the remaining questions in Lucy's book Pride & Passion. I will definitely be reading that. 4 stars.

*ARC Provided by NetGalley

Seduction & Scandal

by Charlotte Featherstone

Release Date: June 21, 2011

Publisher: HQN Books 

Review: Tales of the Otherworld

Reviewed by Jen
 

This is the second of two short-story collections Kelley Armstrong wrote for fans of her Otherworld series.  Like Men of the Otherworld, most of these stories are prequels to the novels... the backstories that fans wanted to hear. But like I warned with that anthology, just because these stories come first chronologically, it doesn't necessarily mean you should read them first. You'd probably get the most out of the book reading it either after Industrial Magic or Broken.

"Rebirth" - narrator: Aaron - This is the very short story of how Aaron came to be a vampire and how he and Cassandra met. Aaron was a farm boy who died trying to save a woman from a beating. The vampirism was hereditary but he didn't know about it until after he dies. Aaron was resolved to allow himself a final death after his first year of being a vampire, because he refused to take the life of someone else. But Cassandra convinced him that he could do more good in the world by killing bad men and staying alive to help others.

"Bewitched" - narrator: Eve - From Dime Store Magic, you would never know what kind of man Kristof Nash really was. Here you get that insight, as we see the relationship between him and Eve, leading up to Savannah's conception. Eve isn't a bad person, but she is willing to work and teach black magic. As a result, she sometimes runs with a bad crowd. Kristof decides to hire her to teach him witch magic. In return, he'll pay her, not only in cash, but also tips to navigate the darker side of the supernatural world. Over the course of their lessons, they become friends and eventually lovers. They really do love each other, which makes it all the more poignant when Kristof's father threatens a pregnant Eve into leaving town. At least we know they spend the afterlife together.

"Birthright" - narrator: Logan - As Logan reaches his 18th birthday, he receives a note from the father he never knew. It's Jeremy's name and address. Curious, Logan investigates. Of course, Clay thinks he's a mutt, there to challenge the Alpha. But once it's clear that Logan has no idea what's going on, Jeremy breaks the news about his supernatural heritage.

"Beginnings" - narrators: Clay & Elena - This is it. The short story that rules all other short stories in the Otherworld universe: the story of how Clay and Elena fell in love. It's not really short... well over 100 pages... and it is everything I could have wanted. Clay is in Toronto, on a short-term professorship and Elena is a student wanting to take his class. He instantly finds a kinship in her; an outcast, set apart by an alien childhood. It's so great watching them fall for each other; and the story is made stronger by alternating between Clay and Elena's own perspectives. It's so hard not to feel sorry for Clay, as he struggles with his love for Elena, while he has to hide what he is. From Bitten, we know the years of hardship they will have to endure in the wake of his actions, making their love story all the more bittersweet. We also see how Logan and Elena become friends; and get insight into more of Elena's horrible childhood. No Clay and Elena fan should miss this one. It is epic.

"Expectations" - narrator: Lucas - In Dime Store Magic, Lucas makes reference to the one and only time that he ever met Eve Levine. This is it. Here, Lucas is only 20 years-old and trying to establish his credability in the supernatural world. When someone comes to him and tells the story of a witch with a dark grimoire, Lucas decides to steal the spellbook himself. It doesn't go so well.

"Ghosts" - narrator: Jeremy- This story actually takes place in the same time frame as the end of Bitten. You see a snippet of what it's like for Jeremy when he sends Clay and Elena back to her apartment in Toronto. He misses them terribly, and in their absence, he reflects on what it was like to witness Elena's agony as she came to terms with being a werewolf; to banish Clay; and to have to track her down when she escaped the first time. This one was pretty short, but it gives us a better look inside Jeremy's perspective of a pivotal time.

"Wedding Bell Hell" - narrator: Paige- This story picks up three weeks before Paige and Lucas get married. It's short and sweet, detailing the plans leading up to and including the big day. Benicio is trying to run the show; there's a mix-up with some matchbooks... nothing too intense. But it does fill in the gap between Lucas & Paige's decision to work together in Industrial Magic, then showing up married 18 months later in Haunted.

"The Case of El Chupacabra" -narrators: Lucas & Sean- Sean Nast has known he was gay for a while, but he also knows his family will never accept it. On a discreet visit to a gay bar in the midwest, he stumbles on a dead body that looks like it could be the victim of a vampire attack. The locals think it's the legendary El Chupacabra. But Sean realizes that it's only a matter of time before his family's cabal sends someone to investigate. Hoping to find the killer before the Nasts realize his connection to the case, Sean hires Lucas & Paige to solve the crime. The story bounces back and forth between Sean's and Lucas' point of view. And we learn that Lucas' father has built a new cabal office in Portland, hoping to lure Lucas back into the fold. He even sweetens the offer, promising Lucas can run the office to continue his crusade against anti-Cabal abuses. That rests on the back-burner while Lucas, Paige and Cassandra track down the only vampire in the area. And that vamp quickly becomes a scapegoat for the cabals' growing animosity toward all vampires. In the end, (**spoilers**) we learn that the killers were just plain old humans. Sean discovers that family expects him to marry and have kids no matter what he feels about it... so he knows his days in the cabal are likely numbered. And Lucas dips into his trust fund to buy that new office his father built, so he and Paige can start their dream of working together to help the downtrodden of the supernatural community.

5 stars.

Tales of the Otherworld

by Kelley Armstrong

Release Date: April 13, 2010

Publisher: Bantam Books

Dark Days Chat with Jocelynn Drake

Burn the Night, the final chapter in Jocelynn Drake's Dark Days series, is just one week away. And I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek. Let me tell you, it was awesome. You can read all about it in my gushing review.  If you have never read this fantastic series and you are a fan of dark Urban Fantasy, I urge you to check out the first book Nightwalker.  In the meantime, for those of us who are already fans, Jocelynn was kind enough to sit down, chat about the books, and answer some of my burning questions.

Jen: We’ve seen Mira lose a lot of people who were close to her over the course of the series. But the hardest to bear was Tristan. Was it always your plan for him to die?

Jocelynn: Tristan was always a difficult character for me, which is probably why I loved him so much. He was never supposed to live in the first place. He was one of the rare characters I created purely as a writing technique. I needed to give more depth to Sadira and one way to do that was to show how she acted with Tristan and his reaction to her. When I finished Nightwalker, I did a quick body count and was surprised to find that he was still alive. I kind of scratched my head and thought that maybe there was something more to him than I initially seen.

With time, Tristan became more to Mira. He was family. He was the closest thing she would ever have to a brother and he also had the feeling of being a son. He was someone that she saw as having a lot of potential if only he could get over his past with Sadira. In him, I think Mira saw a lot of what could have happened to her.

I’ve seen that a lot of people don’t care for Tristan. It’s my impression that they see him as weak. In my mind, he was simply broken. He was what Mira was 500 years before Nightwalker. He simply needed time and encouragement to grow.

Tristan’s death was not in my original plot outline. However, as I got near the end of the book as I was writing, I realized that I needed something else to twist the knife in order to set Mira off in a blind rage. I think, in my gut, I knew what needed to be done but I just wasn’t ready to accept it. Tristan’s death was one of the most painful I’ve ever written. I had known him for a long time and I believed in him. I didn’t want to let him go, but I did. And I cried.

Jen:  I always felt like something more was going to happen with Michael’s body. Did you ever intend to pursue that or did I make it all up in my head?

Jocelynn: Lol. That one, I fear, is going to haunt me for the rest of my life as I failed to tie that one up at the end of Burn the Night.

Yes, I will admit that I had plans for Michael. That was back in the early planning stages of the series and I had some things I wanted to get done with the series and Michael was going to be a launching point. In retrospect, I’m glad I didn’t go in that direction, but I also wish I had had more time to go back and deal with Michael.

My original plan was to send Mira and Danaus on what I was personally calling “the date book.” Mira’s friend from Dayhunter – Alexandre – was going to invite her to her wedding in Portland. At the same time, werewolves would be disappearing from her pack. Agreeing to help, Mira and Danaus would go investigate as well as attend Alexandre’s wedding. Chaos and tenderness would ensue. At the end of the book, Mira would be alone and feel a tap on the shoulder. She would turn and see Michael. Alive! And then there would be Aurora, queen of the naturi. The book would end with her being kidnapped.

The next book would focus on Danaus and Jabari trying to free her, while Mira tried to escape Aurora. The story behind Michael was to be that the naturi found his body before his soul escaped, so they captured his soul and stole his body. Aurora would reanimate him while holding his soul captive. Mira would have to find a way to kill Michael in order to save him from a lifetime of servitude to the naturi.

In the end, I dumped the entire plotline because it interfered with other plans I had as well as I couldn’t properly reconcile all the conflicting points of view I would need to tell the story. I am currently thinking of writing a short story to deal with the question of Michael.

 

Jen: We waited a very long time for Mira and Danaus to act on their feelings for each other. But now that they’ve crossed that bridge, we’re entering into some great new territory with the love scenes. How do you feel about writing those? (You do a great job with them, by the way.)

Jocelynn: Thank you so much! I know a lot of readers were unhappy with me because I took so long to get them together. And then more were unhappy when Mira had sex with someone other than Danaus. I’m evil like that.

I will admit that I had always planned it that way. These were two very old and very stubborn characters. It takes time to build trust and to tear down old beliefs. I didn’t want them jumping into bed too quickly or it would have just seemed unnatural and forced. I think there is one thing that always reassured me. Back when I was just getting into paranormal fiction, I read a great series in which the author built up the love affair. The main character didn’t finally have sex until the sixth book!! By that time, I needed a cigarette when they were done. I liked the long, natural lead up to that moment. It had been worth waiting for.

I like writing those scenes. It’s actually not too different than writing a fight scene as everything needs to be carefully choreographed. It’s always a little odd to find myself staring off into space, trying to think of new, interesting positions, and then realizing “Gee, I’m getting paid to think about sex.” So far, my editor hasn’t had any critiques for those scenes (for which I am grateful) and I just try not to think about my parents reading those scenes.

Burn the Night was definitely my favorite book to write. While I enjoyed the heavy tension that built up between Mira and Danaus, I think by book six I was just glad to finally put in those tender moments between them. I liked that they were finally comfortable with their feelings for each other and were willing to show it through a comforting touch, a caress, or a kiss to the temple.
 

Jen: I read somewhere that you said Mira’s story would have had a less happy ending, had the series continued. Would you reveal any of what you had planned?

Jocelynn: Wow! I’ve got to learn to keep my big mouth shut. No, just kidding. Since I have no plan to write those books, I guess I can spill. In Pray for Dawn, I set out what I thought Mira and Danaus needed to be happy. Danaus needed his soul and Mira needed a family.

The plan was for the seventh book to focus on the struggle following the Great Awakening. At the end of that book, Mira and Danaus would hug while standing in a crowd of people. Danaus would jerk in her arms and Mira would feel something sharp in her chest. She would pull away to find a long knife sticking out of Danaus’s chest. A human had approached from behind and stabbed Danaus through the heart. Despite Mira’s offer to turn him, Danaus refused and he would die in her arms. Book seven would close with Danaus dead and Mira burning the city.

In the eighth book, Danaus is back but different. Mira is just blindly happy that he is back and doesn’t question it, but her friends do. It turns out that the bori that holds part of his soul has stolen his body. He’s manipulating Mira so that he can take control of the city and the nightwalkers. After nearly killing Knox, Mira finally believes that it’s not Danaus’s and destroys the bori and Danaus’s body. This book was simply going to be a study in how dark Mira could become in the name of love and whether she could come back from it. Mira would get some final closure as she would see Danaus’s ghost one last time and know that he was at peace.

For the final book, Mira had to face her father (who I wasn’t going to deal with until now). As she begins to research her own family roots and what happened to the gods, she very reluctantly begins to fall for a human. During the final fight with her father, Mira loses her powers and turns back into a human. Eager to live a “normal” life, Mira marries the human and leaves Savannah. The book closes with her sitting in the same Crete cemetery you see in Dayhunter where she spoke with Jabari and Danaus. She meets with Valerio, who begs her to let him turn her back into a vampire. She says no. Not only does she have a happy life with her new husband, but she’s already with child. She had her family. Valerio accepts her wishes and leave. The book closes with Mira smiling as she snaps her fingers and a little teardrop of fire appears. It’s a happy-sad ending. Mira finds love and happiness, but it’s sad because it’s not with Danaus.
This closing would leave the door open for a 20-years-later story that would focus on her kids.

Jen: Do you have any plans to pursue another story in the Dark Days world, featuring another character?

Jocelynn: I will admit that notes exist. Scenes have been written. But will the book ever be completed and published? I don’t know. A part of me has always wanted to do something with Nicolai. I’ve just had this feeling in the pit of my stomach that ever since he was moved to Savannah, he just didn’t fit. I don’t know if we were both restless or what, but he definitely needs his own story and his own mate. I would also love to do something with Valerio. He’s such a sexy character. Stefan is even a temptation, but we will have to see. My year is currently booked with a new series so it might take me a while to circle back around if I ever have the chance.

Jen: Now that the series is over, what’s next for you?

Jocelynn: Burn the Night is the final book in the Dark Days series. However, I’ve got a couple things in the works at the moment. The first proved to be a surprise to me as it seems that I wasn’t quite willing to say good-bye to the Dark Days world just yet. I have finished a novella that is actually a prequel to the entire series. The Dark Days series mentioned an intense relationship that Mira had with Valerio a long time ago before she met Danaus. In the books, it’s obvious that there is a lingering tenderness between them and a number of my readers request a look at Mira’s past with Valerio. The novella is set about 200 years before Nightwalker and details a short adventure between Mira and Valerio, which I think gives a good insight into their relationship. I don’t have a release date yet, but it will be available only as an e-book. Keep tuned in to my blog and Twitter for updates on its release.

I am also hard at work on the first book in a new series. This is a totally new and exciting world. After working in a closed/hidden world, where humans were in the dark, I decided to throw the doors open on this one. In this world, magical creatures live along side of humans, but they are all lorded over by powerful witches and warlocks. In an effort to get ahead in this world, many people will turn to the tattoo artists, who, for the right price, can give you love, luck, or revenge with the right tattoo and potion. The series centers on a skilled tattoo artist and his co-workers as they struggle with their hidden pasts and the interesting customers that come through the door.

Before I go, I want to acknowledge that we were supposed to do a phone chat with Jocelynn over the weekend but we canceled with very little notice. She was so very gracious and understanding. She's a very classy lady and fabulous author.

Thank you so much, Jocelynn, for taking the time to chat with me! I can't wait to see what everyone else thinks of Burn the Night!

Midsummer's Eve Giveaway

This contest is closed. The winner is Mandy P.

The Midsummer's Eve Giveaway Hop features more than 270 blogs which are giving away books or gift cards in a four day contest that runs Tuesday, June 21st through Friday, June 24th.

Red Hot Books is letting you choose which book you would like to win!  I've got two choices: Neon Graveyard by Vicki Pettersson or Soul Hunt by Margaret Ronald.

Once she was a soldier for the Light, the prophesied savior who would decide the outcome of the eternal conflict raging unseen in the dark corners of her glittering hometown. Now Joanna Archer is just another mortal—still born of an impossible union of Shadow and Light . . . still hunted by both—and carrying the unborn child of a lover held captive by a depraved demon goddess. Joining forces with a band of rogue Shadow agents, Joanna's ready to storm the stronghold of her demonic foe, risking everything to enter this ghastly, godforsaken realm where the price of admission is her eternal soul. Because in a world that has stripped her of her power, identity, and fortune, Joanna has nothing left to lose—except her baby, her future, and the epic war poised to consume the city.

The hunter has become the hunted... Without even realizing what she was doing, Genevieve Scelan has made a bad bargain. The Red Sox fanatic and supernatural tracker known as "Hound" for her extraordinary power of scent, wishes she could leave magic behind now that she’s eradicated the evil cabal that oppressed Boston’s undercurrent for centuries. But now her talent’s fading, the local adepts’ squabbles are turning ugly, and worse, she’s just discovered that she owes a very large debt to someone . . . or some thing. And in the undercurrent, debts are taken very seriously.

Evie has until midwinter to pay up . . . or else. So when she gets a job that might save her—even if she’s breaking all her own rules to take it—she can’t pass it up. Now, with danger at her back and uncertain allies beside her, she’ll trace the very bones of Boston itself to protect both the city and the people she loves.

To enter, just leave a comment, letting me know which book you would prefer.  I'll give away whichever book has the most votes.  And if I end up with more than 100 entries, I'll give away both.  This contest is open to all Red Hot Books followers in the US and Canada. Good luck!

Review: Men of the Otherworld

Reviewed by Jen
 

Men of the Otherworld is one of the two collections of short stories that Kelley Armstrong wrote as gifts to her fans. And they are, indeed, exciting for those of us who have followed the series and fallen in love with her characters. All but one of these stories are prequels, set before the main novels. But I wouldn't necessarily tell someone new to the series to read them first. The stories come first chronologically, but I think you'd have a better appreciation for them at least after Stolen. (And the last story in the mix takes place after No Humans Involved.) You don't have to read these stories to keep up with the series, but they are fantastic and fans really won't want to miss them.

"Infusion" - narrator: Malcolm - This is the story of Jeremy's conception. We've known from the beginning that he is different and special. This gives us a little insight into why. We meet his Japanese mother and learn that she approached Malcolm on purpose, to infuse his werewolf blood into her own supernatural bloodline. This is also our first look at Malcolm and we get an idea of what a jerk he is... although the true breadth of that isn't seen until later stories.

"Savage" - narrator: Clay - This is the meatiest story in the bunch. Here Clay tells us the story of how he became a werewolf and how Jeremy took him into the Pack. We see firsthand the events that turn Clay into the man we know... why he cares so little for human conventions, why he is so loyal to Jeremy, and even how he became friends with Nick. We get the oft-mentioned "guinea pig" story and see the events that turned Clay and Daniel into enemies... a pivotal development that lays the foundation for Bitten. The story also gives insight into Jeremy and his early relationships with both his father and the other members of the Pack. It's definitely a switch from the reverence the other wolves hold for him now. This is a great story and it's worth getting the book, even for this novella alone.

"Ascension" - narrator: Clay - This story feels almost like an extension of the one before. It picks up with Clay at 11 years old and shows, through his perspective, Jeremy's rise to pack Alpha. It's a process that spans more than a decade. In that time, we see how Clay becomes the Pack enforcer; how he gained the reputation as a psychotic killer; even what's in those pictures of his dirty-work that we've heard reference to. The story shows how the Pack has come to be in its current form and why its numbers have dwindled... and most importantly, how Malcolm was finally defeated. Really good stuff.

"Kitsunegari" - narrator: Jeremy - In "Infusion," we learned that Jeremy came from a line of supernatural women, but it's in this story, we finally find out what they were. Jeremy is with Jamie, attending one of her shows, when he is lured away by an Asian woman. She tries to seduce him, but with no luck. Jeremy is able to eventually determine that she is one of an ancient race of fox-shifter deities and they want Jeremy to help them repopulate, since he is descended from the worshippers infused with their powers. This was probably the least thrilling of the four stories, though I did like the little bit of backstory Jeremy gives about how and when he started falling for Jamie.

I really enjoyed this collection of short stories... and wouldn't hesitate to recommend the collection to any Otherworld fan. 5 stars.

Men of the Otherworld

by Kelley Armstrong

Release Date: January 27, 2009

Publisher: Bantam Books