Blameless by Gail Carriger (Parasol Protectorate, Book 3)

After the cliffhanger that was Changeless, the latest instalment in the Parasol Protectorate series brings us back to romance territory.

After Changeless, I was very frustrated. It was a total cliffhanger, and I went as far as DMing Gail Carriger on Twitter to ask what was going to happen next. She very nicely replied, I’m very sorry but I can’t tell you. Fortunately, Kat got a review copy of Blameless last Friday, which coincided with Carriger’s visit to Galaxy to randomly sign things. She assured us that, as a believer of happy endings, she always makes sure everything ends with a HEA. (more)

A Local Habitation by Seanan McGuire (October Daye #2)

A Local Habitation by Seanan McGuire (October Daye, Book 2)

Toby Daye is sent by her liege, the Duke of Shadowed Hills, to the County of Tamed Lightning to check on his niece, the reigning countess. Toby thinks that this will be an easy job, but once she and her assistant Connor arrive, she finds it more complicated than that—people are dying and their souls aren’t being carried away by shades, the traditional soul bearers of the fae.

Toby has grown from the previous book, and it shows—I liked how her character didn’t remain static and bitter. She has become more stable, has found herself on more solid footing. She even has girlfriends and goes on night outs. Her situation (explained in the previous book, Rosemary and Rue) sucks but she’s learnt to deal with it better. She’s still a strong character and you can’t help but barrack for her. (more)

Meridian by Amber Kizer (Fenestra, Book 1)

The beginning shows promise, but the plot is heavy-handed and it’s frustrating that so many aspects remain unknown by the end of the book.

From the day she was born Meridian Sozu seemed to be surrounded by death. On her sixteenth birthday she’s suddenly wrenched from her family with instructions to seek out her great-aunt, her namesake who Meridian has never met.

The beginning of the story is intriguing, but there’s something inexplicable about the way Meridian’s family fails to prepare her for her destiny, especially knowing that she’d have to leave when she turns sixteen and her special power comes to fruition.

Fenestra vs Aternocti

Meridian is told that she’s a Fenestra, a conduit for the dying to get to the afterlife. She’s pursued by the Aternocti, who ‘carry souls to the lightless place’. Her aunt is 106 years old and Meridian must master her power so she can help her aunt transition to her afterlife. (more)

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (Hunger Games Trilogy, Book 2)

Although not as good as The Hunger Games, this book is still an excellent read and has only whetted my appetite for more.

If there’s one thing about about Suzanne Collins, it’s that she can spin a good yarn. Catching Fire is the sequel to Collins’s bestselling novel, The Hunger Games, which I found to be a great read—a bit shallow on the character development but excellent in plot development.

Catching Fire follows on from the ending of The Hunger Games and it’s not a standalone book. A few months have passed since Katniss returned home as a victor in The Hunger Games, and she’s trying to manage the consequences of her actions at the games.

She and fellow District 12 winner, Peeta, are due to start their Victory Tour, and she intends to pretend that she’s madly in love with Peeta, hoping to appease the Capitol—the central governement—that their act of rebellion in the games was due to love. (more)

Deadtown by Nancy Holzner

For lovers of zombies and urban fantasy.

Victory ‘Vicky’ Vaughn is the only professional demon slayer in Deadtown, the section of Boston reserved for its inhuman and undead residents. Years and years ago a plague hit the city, turning a large number of its residents into zombies—walking, talking, thinking, eating undead. Deadtown was primarily created to regulate their residence and that of the other supernatural creatures that made their presence known after the plague.

Vicky is Cerrdorion, descended from the Welsh goddess Cerridwen, and can shapeshift. Ten years ago, when she was learning to be a demon slayer, her father was killed by an evil Hellion who has somehow made its way to Deadtown. Vicky has to find a way to kill it before it takes over the city.

Vicky was a kick-arse heroine. I couldn’t help but picture Milla Jovovich from Resident Evil, guns blazing over a wasteland, as I read about her (except Vicky has a sword). Heltzer did a good job of depicting the scenario—Deadtown is what happens a few years after the apocalypse (more)

Solace & Grief by Foz Meadows (The Rare, Book 1)

If you’ve ever wondered what Sydney would be like with paranormal beings lurking about, Foz Meadows’s debut YA novel pits vampires and psychics and a swan-obsessed cat in a medieval dungeon under Hyde Park.

BOOK GIVEAWAY: Read on for a chance to win a signed copy of Solace & Grief. Ends Wednesday, March 24 AEST.

In all my years at Sydney Uni, I’ve always wondered about this door. It’s hidden in a little garden between the Main Quad and the Pharmacy building. Every time I walked past it I wondered. So imagine my delight when I realised that Foz Meadows opens that door for me in Solace & Grief … and leads me to a world of magic, vampires and prophecies.

Solace Morgan walks out of her foster home the day she turns 17, convinced she’s a vampire and that she no longer belongs to her old life. She ends up at the Downstairs Club and meets a bunch of squatters, gets drunk, and before she knows it she’s living with her new set of best friends. (more)

Salvation in Death by J. D. Robb (In Death, Book 27)

With 26 earlier books in J. D. Robb’s In Death series, I had a pretty good idea of what to expect from Salvation in Death and Robb delivered on all counts.

Eve Dallas is a homicide lieutenant in the New York Police and Security Department in 2060 and each book contains a case for her to solve, while juggling issues from her past and the roles as wife to multi-billionaire/owner of damn near everything under the sun/Irish sex god Roarke and friend that confuse her on a daily basis.

Father Miguel Flores was performing a funeral service when he dies in front of the grieving family from cyanide poisoning after drinking sacramental wine. Signs of a tattoo removal and plastic surgery as well as a silver medal inscribed with the name Lino suggest that the victim wasn’t really a priest. Eve has to find out who he really was and why he chose this particular parish to minister, in the hopes of finding clues to his murderer.

A televangelist who regularly hits the vodka and cheats on his wife takes a drink from a vodka-laced bottle of water onstage and collapses dead in full view of his audience. (more)

Remastering Jerna by Ann Somerville

A BDSM book for readers who don’t read BDSM. Yes, it was that good.

[Edited because my previous intro was highly susceptible to misunderstanding.]

Australian author Ann Somerville has, at times, been a controversial figure in some of the online romance communities I hang out in. I mention this up front because I get the feeling that a lot of readers will want to dismiss her work based on preconceived notions.

All I can say is that they’d be missing out on one of my most unexpected keepers of 2009. (And I’m not the only one who thinks so.)

Yes, the book starts a little shakily as Somerville sets up the protagonist, Jerna Setiq, a devoted husband, teacher and father of two, whose contented life is decimated when he’s falsely convicted of child perversion. Once the stage is set for Jerna’s emotional journey, however, Somerville gets it just about perfect. (more)

Tallow by Karen Brooks (The Curse of the Bond Riders, Book 1)

As artisans, magic and prophecies meet politics and superstition, there’s enough to like in this new fantasy series set in Venice—but the first 200 pages are hit and miss.

I was prepared to be enchanted by Tallow. The title is the name of the book’s protagonist, a candlemaker’s apprentice whose candles have suddenly turned strange. Although perfectly shaped and crafted, as soon as Tallow’s candles are lit, ‘things would start to happen—intangible, eerie things.’ Like causing people to weep for no reason, or to feed cats, or to suffer from insomnia.

Tallow’s adoptive family consists of Pillar, the candlemaker, and his resentful mother, Quinn, whose response to Tallow’s unusual abilities is to try and beat it out of her. But we soon learn that there’s a deeper mystery behind Tallow’s presence. Why, for example, is she never allowed to look people in eye? And why must she pretend to be a boy?

When a stranger, a Bond Rider, comes looking for Tallow, (more)

Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire (October Daye, Book 1)

An urban fantasy with a heroine who kicks arse without being a try-hard and morally ambiguous secondary characters. It’s a recipe for a series addiction.

October Daye is a half human, half faerie ex-detective trying to live a normal human existence after being terribly wronged by the faerie. When an old frenemy dies, she is bound by a curse to find out who killed her and why, and avenge her death. Toby’s investigations lead to her a renewal of ties with the people of faerie, and to revisit a past she’d rather forget.

October Daye is a fantastic heroine—flawed, stubborn, angry but determined to live her own life. She kicks arse without trying so hard to do it (unlike many an urban fantasy heroine). Toby has many regrets in her life, but she doesn’t dwell on them. It’s all about moving on and not using that chip on her shoulder as an excuse to be a bad arse. She’s not a superhero, and she doesn’t even try to be. (Ah, a well done anti-heroine. I like those.) Toby tries. And she tries hard, and I barracked for her all the way, every time she fell and got up again, even when I wanted to shake her for not asking for help when she needed it. (more)