The Emerald Talisman by Brenda Pandos
This start of a new series of young adult vampire books is an amazing read. It is hard enough to be sixteen, but to be sixteen without your mother is even more difficult. Julia knows her mother died when she was very young. She still misses her and wishes she could remember what happened, and why it feels so important to remember. She loves her family but there is something missing in her life.
What isn’t missing is emotion, particularly everyone else’s because Julia is someone with a gift, a gift of empathy that allows her to feel the emotions of those around her. But lately she has been aware that someone, or something, has been stalking her. She knows it isn’t an animal because she can sense its hunger. But when she meets the vampire hunter Nicholas she soon finds out there is more to life, because with Nicholas there is love.
Here is a well told story of forbidden love and some though not too much teenage angst. Yes, Julia makes some mistakes along the way, but who hasn’t? Still, all in all the story of their love and Julia’s awakening of her abilities is a great story and really well handled by newcomer Brenda Pandos. This is the first of a three part series of young adult vampire books, and I seriously suggest getting all three at the same time. They are fast reads, primarily because you get so engrossed in the story. You will want to jump straight from The Emerald Talisman to The Sapphire Talisman without a break.
Title: Blood Secret
Author: Sharon Page
Release: March 27 2012
Pages: 352
Genre: Period Paranormal Romance
In Blood Secret, Lucy’s brother gambles and loses. She finds that she is the only one with the coin the winner is interested in to pay off the debt. For her virginity is the only price he is willing to entertain and she finds herself paying the family honor debt with a two week stay with the vampire Sinijin, the Duke of Greystone.
She enters the castle knowing full well that her biggest trick will be to keep hidden from the Duke her true secret, that she is a shape-shifter and a dragon one at that. She knows that he hates all dragon shape-shifters, especially since her father kidnapped his nephew. But he isn’t aware that she is of the same ability, only that her father knows the whereabouts of his nephew.
The Duke is determined to use his vampiric seduction abilities to find his nephews location from Lucy, and when he is done to kill all dragon shape-shifters in his vengeance. What he doesn’t know is that it will include Lucy. But he finds himself falling for the girl, and soon must face the truth.
For he knows that at the end of the agreed upon period he cannot let her go, for she has gotten into his blood and into his heart. Will he admit his feelings? Will he kill Lucy and all her family in a need for final justice? Both Lucy and the Duke will have to explore their heart’s desires to find an ending that will give peace to everyone.
This was a great escapist novel for a rainy afternoon, full of all the lust and longing we want in a tale of vampire romance and shape shifting dragon maidens. This isn’t Sharon Pages first foray into “hot vampire romance” and I certainly hope it won’t be her last. She does seem to have a knack for these kinds of books and Blood Secret is the perfect get-away .
There is a certain tongue planted firmly in cheek quality to this somewhat dark best vampire books romance that brings a different view to the usual vampire tale. There is even a bit of old Sookie in the main character, though more from attitude than anything else.
In Tall, Dark and Dead Garnet Lacy has watched the year 30 come and go recently, and isn’t exactly thrilled by it, but right now that isn’t her biggest problem. Her big problem is that she is on the run from a group of killers hired by the Catholic Church, all because she was running a little late for her regular coven meeting and missed getting wiped out with the rest of her fellow witches.
So she is keeping her profile low by hiding in an obvious place, an occult bookstore. She is pretty sure they won’t come looking for her there, and so far she has been right. But when Sebastian walks in looking for a prime ingredient and she can see he doesn’t have an aura, Garnet knows that means he is a walking dead, or vampire. And the problem with that is Garnet has a thing for vampires; she just can’t seem to avoid falling for them. It happens usually right at the moment she meets them, which makes it tricky when she is already seeing another vampire.
As if having this complicated love life wasn’t enough, her familiar Barney is a cat allergic to magic, the Vatican are trying to kill Sebastian to steal his magical formula for becoming a vampire (he didn’t become one the usual way, he magicked himself into it) and her co-worker William doesn’t believe in witches or magic even though he works with her in an occult store. At least he doesn’t believe in them the way they actually are, and Garnet isn’t too sure she should steer him right.
Life just keeps getting complicated and more interesting for Garnet but then that is part of her charm. The zany best vampire books style is sometimes a little uneven but considering this is her first book, I am quite enthralled by Hallaway’s contribution to the lore of vampires. I am firmly looking forward to the sequels to Tall, Dark and Dead, Dead Sexy and Romancing the Dead.
I almost couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw that Alan Ball is coming out with a cookbook based on the many fun food items we have witnessed on the show. Now I know that there will be plenty of teasing, but come one, Southern cooking is a big part of the culture and so you know it is also part of the whole True Blood culture, even if our vamps can’t enjoy it.
The word is that this top vampire book has recipes that all tie into the show; some are based on food actually named in certain scenes, some on the well known tastes of the characters. I wonder if that means we get to see how to make some of those yummy looking cocktails from Merlottes? I sure hope so!
Alan Ball has a credit on the top vampire book for cooks though it is hard to say how much input he has in it. But there are to be 85 recipes and over 150 pics from the show so my guess is he probably came up with the idea and then gave Gianna Sobol who is an associate producer on the show the go ahead to put it together. She has co-credits on the book along with Marcelle Bienvenu who is a well-known Cajun cook and writer.
Each recipe will have an introduction from one of the characters from the show, so it will be fun to try and guess just who will introduce what kind of food. True Blood vampires may not be able to truly eat but they seem to still enjoy many sensual pleasures. This could indeed be a very fun book, especially if you are someone like me who cooks as a hobby to relax. What a fun True Blood party this would be to make treats from the book for you and all your friends to enjoy while watching the show.
The book won’t actually be out until August, right at the tail end of the show. So be sure and pre-order yours now so that it will ship out to you the day it is ready to go! You know you are gonna want it in time for that post-finale party at the end of Season 5.
This week will see the launch of this year’s big comic book and fantasy show in Chicago, the Chicago Comics & Entertainment Expo or C2E2 as they like to say. It is a big show that focuses on many elements of the fantasy world, especially comic books and the world of fantasy in film and television. But for fantasy readers one of the big draws will be two ladies who are unarguably the biggest stars in fantasy writing today: Charlaine Harris and Anne Rice.
They will both be at the show talking about their latest projects; although Harris is scheduled for her talk and a bit of autograph signing on Saturday and Rice will be doing her talk and signing on Sunday. It is no secret that the two have much in common and in fact are fans of each other’s work.
Harris has said publicly that her inspiration for writing her Southern Gothic series that television show True Blood is based on was Rice’s Interview with the Vampire. She was fascinated with the book and began to wonder what would happen if vampires were to congregate in one special town and be open about who they were. This lead to her creation of the town of Bon Temps and the many fascinating creatures we have all come to follow in her series, along with our Sookie.
Rice has said she was a fan of the show and has read and enjoyed the books by Charlaine Harris. Though the two have never met face to face, they have emailed so the show may be a chance for them to finally sit down together and actually discuss their visions of vampire life or rather death.
I for one would love to be a fly on the wall when that meeting happens! I wonder if they will be going for dinner together. I have been at many of these events and it is just the kind of place where an adventurous editor may invite them both to see if some kind of joint project could come out of it. This is just me speculating but wouldn’t that be an interesting book? In any event, I hope that in between panel talks and lines of autograph hunting fans they have a chance to at least have a quiet glass of wine together and talk.
Deep Dark Secret is part of a new vampire books series for those who love a good dark story. She is a bounty hunter who hunts very different bounty – she hunts vampires, werewolves and other dark denizens of the night. That alone should set Secret McQueen apart, but in addition she is part of those she hunts, for Secret is half-werewolf and half-vampire. This either makes her uniquely suited to do what she does best or a traitor to her own kind. It is up to you to decide what she is.
Secret only hunts those that have crossed the boundary in society and have gone from being a little known scary part of your worst nightmare to being an actual menace to those around them. When that happens, she is asked to hunt them down, and she does it well. You would think then that she had seen it all, had become a jaded hunter. But Secret never loses touch with her own humanity.
When the queen of the were-ocelots comes to her about a missing girl it opens up a whole new series of questions, for both Secret and the readers. Having just been made Tribunal Leader (see previous books for details) and mate to the King of the Eastern Werewolves, you would think that Secret has enough on her plate already. But when Secret also begins to manifest new and unknown abilities, things really begin to heat up.
For when old and unknown memories begin rushing to the forefront of her mind – they may just be the one thing threatening enough to scare her. They portend a change for Secret, and it is one she is not so sure she is willing to take. The trouble is she may not have a choice.
If you have never read Sierra Dean’s new vampire books, the Secret McQueen series, this is your chance to get a taste of a very different vampire series. The author is a bit of a history nut, and her love of how the movements in history affect the roles of even the most common people really come in handy in a series that has thousand year old characters. If you love Anita Blake you will really come to adore Secret McQueen, a new kick-ass vampire hunter in the best new tradition of women vampire hunters.
It was a banner week for fans of Sookie Stackhouse, both in the books and on the television show. For those fans that have been waiting anxiously for news of when the fifth season of True Blood would once again grace their screens, the date has been announced. June 10th is the day to set your set boxes to record as it is announced as the date of the return of the very popular vampire series.
For the true fans who not only watch the show but also read the Southern Vampire Mystery Series, the latest book to come out is Deadlocked, which has been talked about on fan sites for several months now. Author Charlaine Harris let fans know through her website that the final edits had been done in December and everyone was simply waiting for word from the publishers when the book was scheduled to be released. That date was announced this week as May 1st, and order have been pouring in on all the various sites and brick and mortar bookstores for the twelfth title in the series.
For fans who just cannot wait to get the May bite of Bon Temps mystery, there is a sneak peak at the second chapter of the book on the authors site here. And for fans of the True Blood show, we have a wonderful little trailer for the first episode, titled “Turn, Turn,Turn” that will have your head spinning for sure! Could our Sookie want to see Tara make that lethal turn into a vamp? We will just have to keep watching for clues and not miss that wonderful first of the season episode on June 10th. In the meantime, here’s the trailer:
Ooooooo! This is looking like a very fun season!!
Title: Vampire Dawn
Author: J.R. Rain
Release: March 12, 2012
Genre: Vampire Detective
I have come to really love J.R. Rain’s vampire private eye Samantha Moon. With all the various vampire books that are around, I still think the best vampire stories are those where the main characters make sense. In this latest adventure of the soccer mom turned vampire detective we have someone who is making the best of a bad situation, and doing it well once again.
For those out of the loop on Rain’s feisty heroine, Samantha Moon was your everyday Mom and Wife until she was bit – and then everything changed, except she decided to keep the husband and kids and deal with being a vampire as best she can. She also decided to remain a Federal Agent. When husband Sam comments on how creepy it is to try to cuddle up to a dead body, telling her that touching her makes him feel like he wants to gag, she returns the comment with “words every wife wants to hear.” This is not your hand to the back of the forehead sparkly vampire- this is a gal who tries very much to take her change in stride.
But this time around she is facing more than just her own problems as Federal Agent Moon is sent on a case that is both puzzling and frightening. There is a killer on the loose, and this one leaves all the tell-tale signs of being a vampire as each victim has had all of their blood drained from them. But Samantha knows that the killer isn’t a vampire. The only question is, if it is not a vampire that is making these killings, then who or what is doing it?
To make matters just a tad more exciting, back on the home front Samantha is struggling to retain the last vestiges of her own humanity. As she continues the battle to hold on to some shards of her old life, she sees changes in her son that shake her to the core. She doesn’t want to believe that they portend what she is thinking, but knows she cannot take that chance and must find answers to this fast!
Once again J.R. Rain brings us another taste of some of the best vampire stories that modern writing has to offer with Vampire Dawn. As an extra special feature, the book comes with a short story, Christmas Moon that is a setup to this story. So really, it is like getting two stories for the price of one! Even if this wasn’t one of my favorite vampires I would still love to get that kind of a bargain. So be sure to read the short story first, and then get on with enjoying the adventures of Samantha Moon in Vampire Dawn.
