Grade: C

Dear Bam,

Stories about people who turn out to be something other than what they think they are always intrigue me. And in the Philip K. Dickian vein of writing, I love being in the dark about what is fantasy and what is reality, with small hints to both deceive and make me think more along the way. Well, either that or have a twist that you don’t see coming, and when it happens it so hard to wrap your brain around that you question your own reality. Unified Souls is that type of story, but I figured out the plotline, complete with twists, almost immediately since the author was kind enough to spell everything out. Which left 353 pages of character development, worldbuilding and backstory. I’m not saying I’m smarter than the average bear, but when you read this on the first page, well…you know where the author is going:

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Grade: A-

Dear Bam,

I remember standing in the bookstore with Slave to Sensation in my hand, wondering if I really felt like reading another shape-shifter book. Like a true putz, I put it back on the shelf because I thought it was… who knows. Too purple? Too sexy? Too something. Then I read your review and posted this in the comments section for all of you who don’t remember:

DAMN IT, BAM! I had this in my hand in the bookstore yesterday. WHY COULDN’T YOU HAVE POSTED IT EARLIER?? Yes, I’m yelling at you. I spent $25 at lunch on two new books and I KNEW I should have added this to the stack.

Yep. Ran out that day to get Slave to Sensation and devoured it like a bag of peanut M&Ms. I couldn’t tell you what the other two books I bought were, so shame on me. As you can imagine, I couldn’t wait to get my greedy paws on Visions of Heat. I’m happy to say that Ms. Singh didn’t disappoint with her second effort in the Psy/Changeling/Human world. For those of you who didn’t read the first book in the series, do not fear. Ms. Singh deftly describes the world of the Psy who believe themselves superior above all the other humanoid creatures on Earth. In 1979, the Psy created SILENCE (shouldn’t it be called Psylence? Too J. R. Ward?) in an attempt to rid their population of hatred, jealousy, greed, and other such negative emotions. Of course, you can’t get rid of the bad without destroying the good, so the Psy are locked in an emotionless world that seems full of totally frigid robots. For those of you who were delighted by Slave to Sensation, fear not. Ms. Singh does not get into a repetitive cycle when world-building, and reading about the PsyNet, Psy Council and Psy hierarchy brings new perspective to the Changeling/Psy/Human landscape.

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[Review by Annie Dean]

Grade: B+

First, let me say, the cover is hot. [Ed. Note: I second that. This cover is fierce!] After reading this story (and one by Diana Bold that I reviewed for RRT) I moseyed over to Cobblestone and did some shopping. Across the board, they have gorgeous cover art. (Diana Bold is now on my auto-buy list by the way. So is Sara Dennis.) Let’s talk about why.

Stacking the Deck offers a champagne and shrimp cocktail take on paranormal urban fantasy / romance. Though we’re all sick of the Cheez Whiz and Yoohoo version, her supernatural creatures manage to be fresh and entertaining. I hate werewolves with a passion and I even sort of liked the villain of the story, Samantha’s ex-boyfriend. Too often villains are one-dimensional and just ridiculous caricatures (You hear me, Anne Stuart? I’m talking about your crazy Scooby Doo millionaire from Cold as Ice.) Ms. Dennis avoids this trap neatly with Duff. Will you hate me if I say I kinda liked him more than Alec?

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Grade: C+

Bam,

I feel like I need a disclaimer before beginning this review. From everything you’ve told me, I know that Darragha is a really nice woman. I really shouldn’t have to say this, but I’m going to: anything I say that is negative is not a personal attack on Darragha. I think she actually takes criticism for what it’s meant to be and generally doesn’t get defensive. NOR SHOULD SHE! And as a general statement (which I don’t feel I should ever have to repeat), I never pull any punches or withhold praise when I review a book, regardless of my personal feelings toward the author.

[Ed Note: Uh-oh… a review that starts with a disclaimer]

Okay, on to the review:

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Grade: F

Bam,

I am officially saying goodbye to Kensington’s Aphrodisia line. I have switched my subscription to Brava, already received my first books and DAMN, I’m so happy. But I couldn’t leave Aphrodisia without giving you a taste of what I read. Of course, you may want to light my hair on fire and put it out with a hammer after offering this up for your palette.

My last book from Aphrodisia was Give Me More by P.J. Mellor. Note that I didn’t choose this book… Aphrodisia had a super-fucktastic mix up and I didn’t select the last four books that were sent to me. Of the four books, the first was an anthology which was resold without being cracked due to one author being on my AVOID AT ALL COSTS list, the second was okay but I hated the previous book in the series and the third was such a waste of paper that I though of putting it through the shredder. Which brings me to the fourth:

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