September-mas! So many great releases this month it's Christmas in September!

via crooked house

There's so many great releases this month that I am giddy with excitement as I eye the new releases list though my credit card is quacking with fear of being repeatedly used and abused all month - it's not used to this kind of work out. First I want to point out my favorite early book gift to myself this September-mas season and that is Sin Undone by Larissa Ione. I love the Demonica series - I reviewed all 4 previous books at Darkly Reading and had a couple giveaways of her books when Ecstasy Unveiled came out (my first giveaways ever). The author, Ms. Ione, is a sweetheart and left nice comments on all my reviews and then afterward asked for my full name to put it in the acknowledgments for Sin Undone. And guess what - when I picked up my copy of Sin Undone and turned to the acknowledgments - there was my name listed with some other great blogging ladies and readers. I was grinning from ear-to-ear of course and had to resisted the urge to grab complete strangers at the bookstore and point to my name and say  "hey look that's me that's me!" though when I had a few friends over later I did grin ear-to-ear and point out my name - couldn't help it! So I wanted to say a big thank you to Larissa Ione for putting my name in her book! I plan on snuggling up with Sin and Con from Sin Undone this holiday weekend - it's always bittersweet to read the last book in a series but I'm looking forward to reading Sin and Con's story! And then we have the Lords of Deliverance series based in the same world coming out starting in March of 2011 so I don't have to completely go demon-loving cold turkey.

Me at Hachette booth at BEA

Now that we got my early September-mas gift out of they way I wanted to point out some other releases I'm super excited for (All Things Urban Fantasy and Wicked Lil' Pixie also have great new releases lists)-

August 31st/September 1st
Blameless by (Parasol Protectorate #3) Gail Garriger
Married with Zombies (Living with the Dead #1) by Jesse Petersen
The Darkest Edge of Dawn (Charlie Madigan #2) by Kelly Gay

September 7th
Assassin's Heart (Order of the Sicari #2) by Monica Burns
Cruel Enchantment (Dark Magick #2) by Anya Blast
Healer's Choice (Ghostland Worlds #3) by Jory Strong
No Mercy (Dark-Hunter #13) by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Warrior (The Blades of the Rose #1) by Zoe Archer
An Artificial Night (October Daye #3) by Seanan McGuire

September 9th
Cold Magic by Kate Elliot

September 28th
Bayou Moon (The Edge #2) by Ilona Andrews
Double Cross (The Disillusionists #2) by Carolyn Crane
A Midwinter Fantasy by Leanna Renee Hieber, L.J McDonald, Helen Scott Taylor

Many of these releases are books in series I love and have been waiting patiently (or not so much) for the next in the series to arrive. There are so many good books in this list I am bouncing up and down with anticipation (poor hubby!). One of these books - No Mercy by Sherilyn Kenyon - is a recent addition to the list. I read the first book in her Dark-Hunter series - Night Pleasures - over the weekend because it was on sale in the Kindle store for $2.99. So if you've been thinking about starting the series now is a great time to start (though in my copy there were some weird typo's - maybe that's why it was on sale ;).

Now onto the gifts of September-mas - Blogfest! This September 10-12 Darkly Reading is taking part in BlogFest - where a bunch of blogs get together and coordinate giveaways. You can check out the list of participating blogs here - it looks like close to 100 blogs or more are participating and giving away some great gifts. I'm going to be giving away 2 books from my list of favorite releases above so stay tuned to find out which books. I also will be giving away some ARCs from my shelves later this month so stay tuned for that as well!

So what releases are you excited for this month?

Review of Touched by an Alien by Gini Koch - Love in a Elevator baby!

Title: Touched by an Alien (Katherine "Kitty" Katt, #1)
Author: Gini Koch
Pages: 389 pages, paperback
Genre: Science Fiction Romance
Standalone/Series: Series (#1)
Release: April 2010
Publisher: DAW
Purchased by me
Author info:  http://www.ginikoch.com/
Spoiler Alert: Minor plot spoilers
GoodReads Blurb: Marketing manager Katherine "Kitty" Katt steps into the middle of what appears to be a domestic dispute turned ugly. And it only gets uglier when the man turns into a winged monster, straight out of a grade-Z horror movie, and goes on a killing spree. Though Kitty should probably run away, she springs into action to take the monster down.

In the middle of the chaos a handsome hunk named Jeff Martini appears, sent by the "agency" to perform crowd control. He's Kitty's kind of guy, no matter what planet he's from. And from now on, for Kitty, things are going to be sexy, dangerous, wild, and out of this world.

Surprisingly I've never read a book before that has aliens taking the center stage much less being romantic leads. I've read about vampires -sparkly and otherwise, werewolves, weresnakes, witches, demons, zombies, and the list could go on but no aliens from another planet. Perhaps I was a little worried to try out a new genre - aliens can be scary you know with the alien abductions, aliens bursting from chests a la the Alien movie and Spaceballs, and we know they might already be here with Area 51. So I wasn't sure what to expect with Touched by an Alien. Thankfully there was no need for alarm since the alien good guys looked like super models and the story that Ms. Koch wrote was humorous, entertaining, and had some excellent rock song references in it.

Kitty gets thrown into the saving the world business which she stops what looks like an angry husband turned monster from destroying the Pueblo Caliente courthouse. Soon she gets approached by sexy men in Armani suits that want to recruit her to their organization, she starts receiving marriage proposals, and learns that her Mom could definitely kick her ass. Kitty takes all these revelations in stride and doles out her own brand of sarcasm and wit that keeps the book entertaining throughout.

I loved the tongue-in-check approach to aliens in this books - all the good aliens were super model sexy and the women aliens were all scientists that were attracted more to mental attributes (think Stephen Hawking) than the package it came in, even if the women were surrounded by Brad Pitt look a-likes. Although the aliens are easy on the eyes, it turns out that they have a convoluted back story as to why they ended up on Earth and what their connection is to the bad aliens that seem to be able to turn regular humans into monsters. As Kitty tries to get to the bottom of what is going on she has an excellent distraction from the new dangers in her life in the form of Jeff Martini - who proclaims his intentions to marry Kitty and have lots of babies within minutes of meeting her. The action in this book is fast-paced - the entire book only covers a few days in Kitty's life but it is filled with excellent interactions between Kitty and Jeff and some great patented glares from Jeff's main romantic rival Christopher. Add in some Aerosmith, a few hot and heavy elevator scenes, and some alien ass kicking and overall you have a great book.

5 out of 5 stars for me, a unique sci-fi romance that will have you head banging to the soundtrack.

Why my reading habits are like a Journey song

Lately I have been working alot, reading alot, and blogging not at all (opps), I feel like my reading habits are like Journey's "Don't Stop Believin' " song just substituting the "Believin'" for "Readin'" and you got the same song stuck in your head now too. Just imagine me jammin' away my hair all teased up and playing air guitar with some awesome books and you've got the full picture - I know pretty lame but sometimes you got to call them like you imagine them at least.


Since my last book review I've read about 16 books:

Re-read the Aisling Grey by series (you can read about my reason's why you should read the series here)
Love in the Time of Dragons by Katie MacAlister (can't get enough of the demon Jim)
Eternal Kiss of Darkness by Jeaniene Frost (Yummy Mencheres)
Touched by an Alien by Gini Koch (Loved this book and the use of rock and roll and elevators)

A Girls Guide to Vampires and Sex and the Single Vampire (Dark Ones books 1&2) by Katie MacAlister - I didn't love these ones as much as I did the dragon's books - maybe cause the vampires in these books weren't as growly as her dragon book men.
Cruel Enchantment by Anya Bast - Loved this book! Review coming soon!
Twice Bitten by Chloe Neill- Oh Ethan how you make me melt and make me angry within a few pages!
Eternal Hunter by Cynthia Eden- Ohh - White Tiger shifter!
Demon Night by Meljean Brook - Hmm bad boy Guardian - ahh yes!
Healer's Choice by Jory Strong - Post-apocalyptic paranormal romance - quite a mouthful!
Demon Moon by Meljean Brook - Vampire so beautiful he mesmerizes other vampires - yes please!
Ecstasy by Jacquelyn Frank- I think the title pretty much covers it!

I plan on posting reviews for some of the books soon! So when your life gets busy what do you find suffering the most - your reading, review posting, laundry pile, video game addiction, etc.?

Mmmh..more medicine please..and dragon shifters..the Aisling Grey series by Katie MacAlister

I find when I get really stressed out, like I have been alot lately, I tend to medicate myself with some of my favorite reads. One of those favorites is the Aisling Grey series by Katie MacAlister. I first read this series when I was still coming to terms with the fact that yes I read romance and man do I love it. Though with my romance there has to be the bad boy alpha male, a bit of action, and some smoking hot love scenes. For me, the Aisling Grey series has to be hands down it one of the best combinations of urban fantasy, humor, and romance - not an easy combination to achieve. The heroine of the series, Aisling, is kind of a mess though she tries to pretend she is professional and in control. Unfortunately for Aisling from the first book of the series (and there are four total) she is kind of like Alice falling down the rabbit hole as she gets further ensnared in the paranormal world she was abruptly introduced to. Thankfully her introduction to the paranormal world is by Drake Vireo - dragon shifter, alpha, and bad boy all rolled into one who I think probably looks a bit like Jared Prudoff (I included a pic for your viewing pleasure). Although Aisling and Drake's relationship is fiery from the start there is alot of passion there which makes it very entertaining to read about - Drake is used to bossing women around and Aisling is not standing for it so their constant struggles with each others nature make for an entertaining read.

What makes the series even better Aisling's sidekick - a demon in dog form known as Jim. He loves his canine Newfie form, has to wear drool bibs (oh man am I happy my dog doesn't drool that much), and is in love with a Welsh corgi named Cecile (he likes to suck on her ears- eww!). He really sets the tone for his comedic sidekick status when he discovers the amazing things a dog can do (from You Slay Me).

"Give me a couple of minutes. You're not going to believe what I found I can do," Jim said, its voice muffled as it engaged in a bit of groinal hygiene.
"The eww factor on that is borderline vomit territory," I (Aisling) said, tugging on its leash until the great furry black head emerged from the depths of its crotch. I ignored the glazed look in Jim's eyes and got to my feet, heading out of the park and toward the nearest Metro stop. "Come on, you'll like the Merto. As a dog, you've got carte blanche to smell strangers' crotches."
"Really? That's something, although not nearly as good as licking my own-" Jim

To round out Aisling's inner group of friends is Rene the cab driver who teaches her some interesting French phrases like: "J'ai une grenouille dans mon bidet" (I have a frog in my bidet) for when Aisling needs help, and "Tu as une tete a faire sauter les plaques des egouts" (You have a face that would blow off the cover of a manhole) for when a man hits on her when she doesn't want him to.

Overall these books have me laughing out loud, on the edge of my seat waiting to find out what happens next, and makes my ereader steam up at the sex scenes so if you haven't read this series yet I highly recommend it!

You can find more about Katie MacAlister's books here: http://katiemacalister.com

So do you have any books or series you like to "medicate" with when you've been having a rough week? Do you go for the more humorous/sexy/action-packed books or a combination of all three?

I'm Back! Announcing some winners!

So I took a work trip for a professional development seminar (which was surprisingly really awesome)/ visit with the family in Michigan and I ended up not posting for a few weeks. I counted on being off for a week of blogging but didn't factor in the week of preparation before I went and the week to catch up with work after I got back. Oppsie! I will blame it on being a kinda newbie blogger - I can still use that excuse right *bats eyelashes and smiles innocently*! I have a few winners to announce as well as a welcome back to Darkly Reading..sorry it's been so quiet!

Onto the winners - who will also get get lovely e-mails in their boxes as well!

Books and Bane wins these two lovely books by Sean Cummings!

Christine wins a copy of one of my favorite reads this summer - Siren!

Review of Frost Moon by Anthony Francis - What magical tattoo would you chose?

Title: Frost Moon
Author: Anthony Francis
Pages: 284 pages
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Standalone/Series: Series (Skindancer #1)
Release:  Already out (March 2010)
Publisher: Bell Bridges Books
Purchased by me (was 99 cents at iBooks!)
Author info: www.dakotafrost.com
Spoiler Alert: In the clear.
Good Reads Blurb: In an alternate Atlanta where vampires and werewolves prowl the night, magic is real, and tattoo magic is the strongest magic of them all, a serial ki...more In an alternate Atlanta where vampires and werewolves prowl the night, magic is real, and tattoo magic is the strongest magic of them all, a serial killer is targeting the magically tattooed on the full moon. Dakota Frost, best magical tattooist in the Southeast, learns from the police she may be a target ... just when she receives a lucrative commission to ink a magic tattoo for a werewolf before the next full moon. Caught between the rough and tumble world of the werewolves, the law and order rules of the vampires, and a sexy man-in-black whose motives are in doubt, Dakota must tread carefully to survive - because she doesn't know whether her werewolf client is the tattoo killer ... or the next victim.

What would you do if you saw a six-foot tall woman with a deathhawk walking down the street covered in beautiful tattoos that seemed to move while decked out in leather – run to the other side of the street and hope she doesn’t see you or giggle a little when you notice her climbing on to her fierce vespa and slowly driving away? (For me I’m going with the giggling part – as long as she doesn’t see me) Dakota Frost is an interesting mix for a deathhawk sporting tattoo artist – she tries to be green (hence the vespa which gets 65mpg), she’s vulnerable (still hiding from the emotions of seeing her now vampire ex-girlfriend again), and she’s fiercely loyal to her friends. Oh and did I mention she is a magical tattoo artist – it adds a whole other layer of awesomeness. Dakota lives in Atlanta but an Atlanta with a paranormal twist that contains the Edgeworld which is inhabited by vampires, shifters of all shapes and sizes, and others that deal in magic. Dakota is a member of both worlds, the dark and dangerous Edgeworld and the human world as well. The magic of Dakota’s tattoos can lead to extraordinary feats – by using the energy stored in her body she can power her butterfly tattoo to fly off her hand, get the elaborate dragon tattoo that covers her from foot to shoulder to dance, make flowers blossom on her back and the gems in her tattoos sparkle. As we learn through the book - the tattoos also have more powers than just putting on a good show.

Dakota gets pulled in to consult with the police on a case where someone has been stealing magical tattoos by skinning them off the person when they are still alive. Of course since Dakota is a magical tattooist she is concerned not only for her clients but also herself when it turns out that this is the work of a serial killer. Dakota is also drawn in to help a mysterious and sexy man in black, Phillip, who works for the Department of Extraordinary Investigations – and man does he have all the cool toys (including a stealthy black hawk helicopter). Dakota is a big flirt and is drawn to the secret agent man from the start while conflicted about how much information about other Edgers she should give-up to the Feds. As the search for the killer heats up Dakota finds herself drawn more into the Edgeworld and seeking help from her Edger friends – including her ex-girlfriend Saffron (the scene in which she first lays eyes on her ex again is pretty awesome and that “cage” had me giggling). Unfortunately, Dakota’s friends aren’t able to protect her from all her enemies but Dakota is tough and finds a way to deal with her nightmares while helping find the killer. And let me tell you I totally did not guess who the killer is – I love it when I can’t guess who the bad guy is until the big reveal!

Mr. Francis expertly interweaves the present day Atlanta into his take on the world. He describes many of the neighborhoods, like Little Five Points and Buckhead (and there is quite the twist with that one), along with the streets and stores in the area that I feel like I could go to the neighborhood right now and get a tattoo at the Rogue Unicorn where Dakota works. This is one of the parts of a story I love when an author can expertly describe the location in present day terms – like how St. Louis was described in the Anita Blake series so well that readers actually started to track down the locations (including specific houses) that Laurell K. Hamilton describes in the books (imagine the homeowners surprise when a stranger tells them their house was the scene of a fictional paranormal partner swapping).  Mr. Francis has created a character in Dakota and a paranormal world that I can’t wait to read more about. Thankfully a second book, Blood Rock, is already in the making.

4 stars out of 5 for me, loved the flirty tough girl Dakota and her magical tattoos.

Interview with Sean Cummings - author of the Valerie Stevens series and a Giveaway!

Today I would like to welcome Sean Cummings to Darkly Reading. He is the author of a new urban fantasy series that takes place in Calgary, Canada. There are shadowy forces, a mentor that seems alot like Yoda, and a zombie borg brain hive. His heroine - Valerie - is a great no-nonsense girl that may not be as tough as nails but is tough enough to get the job done. Stay tuned till the end of the interview for your chance to win a copy of Shade Fright and Funeral Pallor - and the giveaway is international.

Q: Thanks for visiting Darkly Reading Sean (love the zombie pic btw)! Could you do a quick introduction to your books for my readers and why you decided to place a hot bed of paranormal activity in Calgary, Canada?

A: Thanks for having me! Calgary is where I grew up so I wanted to write a setting that I was familiar with. What I learned was that because I was familiar with, say for example the giant statues outside of the Calgary Board of Education, I came up with a whack of ideas I could use for the plot. (Hint hint to anyone who hasn't read the book - statues are awesome at kicking demon butt.) It's a great city and a great place to have an urban fantasy series. :)

Q: I loved that the books were located in Canada! Do you base some of your locations on actual places in the Calgary and the area? When you were going through the editing process did you ever get responses back that something in your books was too "Canadian" and might not be understood by non-Canadian readers? I was also wondering what a Mickey pocket is and if Tim Horton's is just like Dunkin' Donuts?

A: Excellent questions. There isn't enough Canadian urban fantasy out there and from the outset, I wanted to write something as seamless as any other quality urban fantasy novel available in bookstores today. My mindset had always been, well damn ... why NOT Canada for a setting? All of the places in both books are actual places and I've peppered book one in particular with Canadianisms, like Tim Hortons. Canadians LOVE Timmies. (Dunkin Doughnuts is pretty good, but Timmies coffee is addictive!)  A Mickey pocket is an inner breast pocket of a jacket or blazer where one can slip a flask of hootch.

Q: Valerie has some interesting friends in the book - D.T.a troll who is her mentor who looks alot like Yoda, Fifty Dollar Bill a ghost and a former Prime Minister, and Caroline - a zombie who retained her soul. How did you come up with this cast of characters? And is D.T. really based on Yoda?

A: D.T. sort of happened by accident and Yoda was a big part of it. I'd intended for her mentor to be a human but it seemed to me the story would be far more interesting if there was a diminutive creature from the preternatural world who spoke in King James English. Plus in having a dwarf troll as a mentor, I get to make all the characters refer to him as "The Yoda Dude". Fifty Dollar Bill is by far my favorite character in both books, though he's much more prominent in book one. William Lyon Mackenzie King during his life was a huge occultist and when I started writing book one in 2007, it seemed to me that I thought it would be cool/ironic that he was interested in hanging out with the living now that he's dead. He's eccentric, wise, a pain in the butt and a really fun character, so I hope readers will get a kick out of him. As for Caroline, well - I love zombies and I hate lawyers. :)

Q: How many books do you hope to do in this series? What do you have planned for future books? Do we get a final showdown with the Conclave? Does Caroline regain a living body? Any hints?

A: The Conclave is going to be featured extensively in book three because someone is going to be kidnapped before someone's big day and someone is going to have to come to the rescue. Someone is going to die - a central character - and Valerie is going to be tempted by the Conclave as well as a dead sexy guy who wears black and doesn't do sunlight.
I have three more books I'm planning so I might well end the series at five - we'll see.

Q: In the first book,Shade Fright, we are first introduced to the love of Valerie's life - Dave the dump truck driver. But rather than being a typical tough guy boyfriend like many an urban fantasy love interest he is freaked out by the supernatural world - why did you decide to give Valerie a boyfriend who is not as embedded in the supernatural world as she is?

A: One word: Fargo.  Anyone who has seen the BRILLIANT movie Fargo will know that Marge Gunderson has a steadfast husband who loves her unconditionally and supports her 100%. He is the inspiration for Dave - as well, (and I might take flack for saying this) but urban fantasy is filled with male love interests who aren't named Dave - they're always STEEL or RICARDO or something like that. I wanted a down to earth love interest for Valerie and no serious complications. It would suck if he died though, eh? Val might go off the deep end. (Not saying I'm killing him off. There are things far worse than death that can happen to Dave.)

Q: In book two, Funeral Pallor, Calgary is having a bit of a zombie problem that Valerie and her friends have to solve - and these zombies aren't your typical shuffling and mumbling type but seem to work together and possibly have a hive mind - did you base your zombies on the Borg from Star Trek?

A: You bet - 110% ripoff from the Borg and I'm not ashamed to admit it! They lack a Queen though and readers will hopefully pick up on the rather large hint I've dropped in FUNERAL PALLOR.

Q: I loved the newest cast of supporting characters in book two - the Newby brothers and Reaper - will we be seeing more of them?

A: The Newby Brothers are really fun characters so they'll be back. They're my homage to heavy metal music (I'm a bald headbanger). Tim Reaper is getting his own novel (which I'm doing revisions on right now) and you can read the first chapter at  http://goodgirls-badjuju.com/?p=701 . I'm planning a series for him because he's just a blast to write. He's a misogynist, he's amoral, he kicks butt and he tries to do the right thing.

Q: The covers for your books are great - do you have any input on their design? What do you think of them?

A: I do, actually. Anna Torborg did my cover art and from the start we wanted cover art that didn't feature scantily clad women in leather pants with tattoos on the small of their backs. That's what most urban fantasy covers look like where there's a female protagonist. Shade Fright was all Anna and for Funeral Pallor, I was really lucky because I wanted to do an homage to the Queen II album cover. :) I love the cover art - it's unique - it's fun (like the characters) and it contrasts all the other urban fantasy novel cover art that's out there.

Q: Do you know when we'll be seeing more of Valerie and Calgary?

A: I've just started writing book three - finished the outline in the last month, actually. I don't have a date for it but I would expect it to be available sometime in 2011.
Thanks for stopping by Darkly Reading Sean!

Places you can find Sean:
twitter.com/saskatoonauthor
http://sean-cummings.ca
facebook: Sean Cummings
Good Reads: Sean Cummings

Now for the giveaway - Sean is giving away a copy of each of his books and the contest is international. To enter leave a question for Sean or answer the following - what public figure would you most like to be haunted by? (Would you go for a government figure like Fifty Dollar Bill or maybe a "100 Dollar Ben" or would you prefer a haunting by Elvis Presley or another celebrity?)
Extra entries:
+1 Tweet the contest (leave link in your comment)
+1 Follow @DarklyReading or @saskatoonauthor
+1 Follow blog

Contest will go till July 24th!