Once upon a time, in a mansion deep in the heart of the South, a beautiful blond princess borne to a heartless, cold woman and a cold, soulless man, fell illicitly in love with a beautiful blond prince. This beautiful blond prince happens to be the very much younger half-brother of her father, which makes him a dirty uncle, though not quite so dirty, and yet dirty all the same. The parents of the princess who are very religious people are not so happy with this. They disinherit the princess and the uncle and throw them out of the mansion. The princess and the uncle, shamed and utterly humiliated, flee in the dead of night, never to be heard from in polite society ever again.

But fate is seemingly kind to pretty, blond people and the princess called Corinne and the dirty uncle called Christopher, change their last name to Dollaganger, manage to build a happy little life together, in love and utterly ensnared with each other’s remarkable golden blond looks. Genetics be damned, the two pretty pretty people make love like pretty pretty blond monkeys and produce two perfectly beautiful blond and blue eyed children with two arms, two legs, and are luckily intelligent and talented in their own special way. The blond girl-child is named Cathy and the blond boy-child is named Christopher, after their father. The two children are so utterly perfect and doll-like that they are nicknamed the Dresden Dolls. The girl-child is beloved by the father and shows signs of growing up to be one of those creatures seeking a man to marry who will love her the way Daddy had loved her. The boy-child is favored by the mommy. The mother Corrine, unsatisfied with her current lot and practically mocking fate to give her mutant deformed babies, gets pregnant again and has two more perfectly golden blond babies, fraternal twins called Cory and Carrie. Cathy pouts when she discovers she will no longer be the baby of the family and solicits a promise from her daddy that he will not love the new girl-child more than he loves her and as a testament to that promise, Daddy puts on a heart-shaped garnet ring on Cathy’s tiny doll-like finger.

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Bam,

When you sent that email from Nalini Singh, I thought, “Ooh, another installment in the Psy/Changeling series, yipee!” Imagine my disappointment at seeing the words A Guild Hunter Novel below the title of the awesome (and slightly prescient) cover. Well, that disappointment was very short lived. I admit that I’m hesitant to start any new series, regardless of genre (television, books, a class, a hobby, what have you). I have major commitment issues. But I pressed on, and with some trepidation began to read. Then within the first two pages the Death Star Tractor beam moment happened, and I just couldn’t put the damn thing down.

Angels’ Blood is a brand-spankin’ new twist on two genres: Vampires and Angels. I feel like we’ve seen plenty of both, but leave it to Nalini to turn the whole concept on its ear. In the Guild Hunter series, Angels create Vampires to serve them (service is required by contract) and Hunters are employed by Angels to track down those Vampires that have tried to skip out on their contracts. On top of all of this, the Angels aren’t pure beings of “good” so to speak.

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Greetings and Salutations… here’s a dueling review by my two favorite people, Bettie Sharpe and Tumperkin reviewing Ms. Carrie Lofty’s smashing debut!

Tumperkin: Hey Bettie! It’s nice to be doing a review with you. I’ve been looking forward to reading this book for what seems like years. Shall I kick off with a wee plot summary?

Plot

Tumperkin: Will Scarlet is working for the Sheriff of Nottingham when he meets Meg of Keyworth in the midst of the violent ambush of a nobleman. The two strangers escape together and whilst they feel a mutual antipathy, they realise that for the meantime, they need to stick together. Will has been set up to take the blame for the nobleman’s murder and needs to clear his name. As for Meg, she is on her way to Nottingham to rescue her sister Ada from the Sheriff’s clutches. But being blind, she needs help. Gradually the two adversaries learn to trust one another as they fight each other, their enemies and their attraction to one another….

Fair summary, Bettie?

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Bam,

I can’t believe summer is officially over. Of course, I didn’t bother reading the entirety of an email sent out by our HR department, so I’m in business casual today and everyone else is in suits. I’m glad I set such a delightful example for all of the people that work for me. Of course, with summer over, I suppose I owe you a few reviews. Let’s start with the fabulous: Hostage to Pleasure.

Yes, yes, I’m a Nalini Singh fangurl. In the middle of this book, I actually had a serious fangirl moment and nearly embarrassed myself. I came thisclose to writing Nalini an email detailing why I loved the book and how happy I was that she has continued to develop fascinating characters in a series that has a choke hold on my attention. I think I might have been on hormone overload, but the Psy/Changeling series continues to fascinate and delight with complex characters, twisting plots, and strong continuation of story lines. As I’ve noted in every review, it is important that you read the prior books in this series. If you don’t you will be missing out on fantastic writing, characters, and important plot points.

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It’s another review!

Bam,

If you’re going to faint, make sure to set up the video camera so I can watch it later on YouTube. Ready for this? I’m actually reviewing another book, and in a semi-timely fashion. I’m sure you’re wondering how this could be possible, so I’ll tell you a dirty little secret: we’re slower than dial-up at work. While that’s not a good thing for me professionally, it certainly helps my romance-review hobby.

I admit to being a Kresley Cole fangrrrl. Her Immortals After Dark series is one I’ve been hooked on since the story of Myst and Nikolai appeared in Playing Hard to Get. The Lore, which is populated by nearly every mythical creature imaginable, is one of those universes I’d love to visit in my nonexistent free time.

With that said, you can guess that I liked the book. I managed to blow through Dark Needs at Night’s Edge in two days - record time for me lately - and immediately picked up Dark Desires After Dusk. Ms. Cole has a talent that I require in series authors: she writes about the same world, but her characters are definitely not carbon copies of each other with “wash, rinse and repeat” storylines. She manages to make her heroines strong and spunky with the right touch of vulnerability (thereby avoiding the Mary Sue death-spiral) and her heroes deliciously alpha, but self aware and fearful that they just might not be good enough. LOVE IT!

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