Dear Author: Romance Book Reviews, Author Interviews, and Commentary

Dear Ms. Hill:

When I was perusing the Penguin catalog, the striking cover grabbed my eye. I then saw that you were the author of said book and thought to myself that I had to have this book. Unfortunately, this was back in December and the book wasn’t due out until July. I knew that sometimes authors had copies of books before professional arcs were made and with a little brazenness, okay alot of brazenness, I emailed you and asked if you might not share a copy with me. Perhaps some of my desperateness showed through because you complied.

It’s a dangerous thing to ask for a book because what if I don’t like it? What then? But, you are the story witch and you wove a spell from which I could not extricate myself. This vampire story was powerful, dark, and feral. These are vampires at their most primal, given over to their lust for power and for blood and some, like Lyssa, the Queen, are holding onto their position by a tenuous thread. Lady Elyssa was the Vampire Queen, …

When I read Meljean Brook's Demon Angel, I was riveted by the first half of the book and slowed down by the second half. In reading Demon Moon I had the same experience but in reverse – with an almost identical overall result. Like Demon Angel, Demon Moon is an ambitious, richly layered, intense, flawed read, a book with flashes of lucid brilliance alongside patches of sluggish prose and staccato imagery. But even with its weaknesses Demon Moon is a credit to the genre, a smart book that illustrates how possible and potent it is to have an intellectually rich book that is still emotionally passionate and sexually hot.

The story of immortally suave vampire Colin Ames-Beaumont (whose grandmother "paid dearly�? for that hyphen!), and eternally curious Savitri Murray, Brook's novel starts with the beautiful, bored, oh-so-traditional English nobleman Romance hero, only to dismantle that stereotype faster than a wyrmwolf with a femur. In an ingenious taunting of the increasingly common Romance shorthand of the mutual attraction of mutually attractive characters, Brook creates in Colin an incredibly beautiful and intelligent vampire whose physical allure belies an impressive complexity, generated …

Dear Ms. Adrian

I had a difficult time reviewing this book. It’s a vampire series at a time when there is a glut in the vampire genre. It features a super alpha male vampire who struggles against his nature to feed and a woman who basically is alone, who finds completion in her vampire lover’s arms.

Gabrielle Maxwell is an up and coming artist, a photographer who specializes in abandoned property to tell her story. She feels detached from the world around her, out of step and alone. Her secrets separate herself from her friends and companions as no one would quite understand her secret compulsions. She comes across the an assault in progress, calls 911 and takes a photo of it on her camera phone. She reports it to the police but no one believes her.

Lucan Thorne is a Breed vampire whose sole goal is to eliminate the Rogue vampires. This sounds very familiar to me despite the variations you put in. The vampires stem from an alien race. Lucan is a Gen One vampire who was born …

Dear Ms Kenner,

I grandly announce that I’m tired of vampires and don’t intend to read many more books featuring them just at the time when you so kindly sent me some books and arcs, one of which was about a vampire. Oh dear what do I do now? Read it of course! And get sucked (no pun intended) straight into the world of newly turned teenage vampire Beth Frasier.
Elizabeth Frasier’s ticked off. Her junior year of high school was going just fine. Amazing grades. Early admission to college. And a date with the star quarterback. But no. But thanks to a bunch of jerkwad vampire jocks, she ended up dead. Or rather undead, and with a thirst that a thousand Diet Cokes couldn’t quench.

Now she’s out for blood-and revenge. And she knows exactly what to do…Elizabeth’s read Salem’s Lot. Just wipe out the crowd that did her in. But with so many creeps in high school it’s hard to separate the good vamps from the bad. On top of that, she’s got to figure out how to be mortal again-unless universities start accepting dead girls…
This YA book took me straight back …

Dear Ms. Vieh:

While the first book in this series is my favorite, Night Lost takes a close second. It highlights all the strong elements that I loved in If Angels Burn and brings to the forefront a very romantic tale of souls finding each other against extreme odds.

Gabriel Seran was captured by the Bethren, a sadistic group of individuals who operate under the guise of the church. Since his abduction, he has been tortured mercilessly by the Bethren but not allowed to die. In his pain, sometimes he slips off into a dreamstate where he is visited by a woman who provides him surcease.

Nicola Jefferson is a thief who is seeking the Golden Madonna. She dreams of a green man in the forest who beckons her but she cannot find him. While in France, she comes across a painting of a chapel that depicts the place where the green man may reside. She is warned that this place is one of great unrest but she must go.

Nearly equal time is given to the continuing thread of Dr. Alexandra Keller’s …

Dear Mrs Carsen,

Thanks for sending us a copy of your ebook “Not Quite Dead.” I think it’s the first time I’ve read a book featuring this particular type of paranormal hero and to be honest, I’m still trying to name him. Is he a zombie? Or should we just settle on the term “undead?”

He’s gorgeous, he’s got great manners, he’s got a mission to accomplish. The only drawback? He’s been dead for a hundred years.

This one starts out with great humor and eerie suspense as we watch the cynical heroine, Sabine watching her flaky cousin Lily and Lily’s goth friends trying to raise the dead. Then to everyone’s surprise, including Lily and Co, it works. And what’s even more surprising is that in addition to raising a dead guy, there’s also a vampire involved in the goings-on in the old Louisiana cemetary.

The humor continues as Sabine tries to maintain her poise and manners while dealing with an undead man who’s invaded her house - which used to be his house 120 years ago, as he tries to figure out how he’s going to get his revenge on the people who killed him. At …

Dear Ms. Dean*:

I guess this is your ode to Laurell K Hamilton and Buffy the Vampire slayer. To which I say, haven’t we had enough of that?

Candace Steele is a vampire hunter. She lives in Vegas where she made her home after leaving San Francisco and her vampire lover. Having had a little vampire blood in her, she is made to be a little stronger, a little quicker, and she is able to discern humans from vamps which gives her a big edge. There are some very slight changes to the ordinary vampire mythology but otherwise, it’s the same world I’ve been reading about for the past 6 years or so.

What saves this book from being a total wall banger is that the pace of the book moves quickly although for an action book, there is almost no action until the big climactic movement at the end. The story is told in two parts. First is the current day story in which Candace has a satisfying relationship with a homicide detective from Las Vegas. The second is the flashbacks which reveal Candace’s past relationship with Ash, …

Dear Ms. Viehl:

I have pondered this book for a week now uncertain of what to write. Over the course of the past week, I’ve tossed around arguments in my head about what didn’t work for me in the story and why I am still excited about the series. It comes down to this. I fell in love with Alexandra and Cyprien in If Angels Burn and the promise of seeing them together has me slavering after you like a devoted puppy. If you should ever decide that they are no longer integral to your storylines, I won’t be interested because the world you created, while interesting, is overpopulated with unnecessary characters and dangling plot lines.

Dark Need starts out with a bang. Samantha, an overworked and underappreciated homicide cop, is investigating a death that is associated with a local nightclub owner who goes by the name Lucan. Those who follow your series know that Lucan is the bad boy of the Kin. He is the boogieman whispered to bad Kinlings at night. He is ostracized amongst his people and has always had to play …