Frostbitten by Kelley Armstrong

The newest book in the Women of the Underworld series, Frostbitten once again takes up the tale of Elena Michaels.  This time she is tracking a man-eating werewolf and it is up to her and her mate, Clay, to catch him.  But there is more to the tale than meets the eye and soon they are traveling to Alaska where Elena and Clay will both have to confront demons from their past.  This is a great book in the series.  Armstrong continues to develop the characters and introduces new challenges while still keeping the stories believable.  I loved it!  However, I don’t get the cover.  Why the heck is she wearing lace when she spends almost the entire book in Alaska where it is freezing? But it is a beautiful cover.

Kindred in Death by J.D. Robb

This is the 29th book in this series.  Hard to believe there have been that many.  Unlike many series that continue on without end, I still like this one.  It most likely has something to do with the mystery aspect of each book combined with the growth of the characters over time (unlike Stephanie Plum who acts the same in each book and never seems to learn).  In this book, Eve Dallas is on the case of the rape and murder of the daughter of a decorated police officer.  I like how Robb doesn’t feel the need for Eve to be threatened in every book and that they are not all scary stressful.  This one is stressful, but not the crazy stressful that some of the others are.  And she continues to grow as a person as does Roarke.  I think this might be one of my favorite ones in the series.

Casting Spells by Barbara Bretton

  A cute book.  I know nothing about knitting and while there is terminology, it does not make it hard to read the book.  Chloe owns the local knitting store and she is the only non-magical person in Sugar Maple.  The daughter of a sorceress, she is supposed to protect the town, but she doesn’t have any magical abilities.  Then, a woman dies and suddenly the people of Sugar Maple have a cop (a HUMAN cop) in their midst.  Chloe finds herself falling for him, but she knows she must marry someone with magical powers or she might not be able to protect the town.  A fun, fluffy read.

Rampant by Diana Peterfreund

Blech.  I like her Secret SOciety Girl series, but this one was awful.  Interesting premise: evil unicorns that need to be eliminated by an elite group of hunters  set in the modern world.  But the story just fell flat.  I did not care if the girls lived or died.  I kept waiting for some big revelation or some reasoning behind all of their actions that never came.  One thing I will say thought, I loved the cover! (which is why I picked it up in the first place…well that and I liked her other stuff)

The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong

In the second book of the Darkest Powers series, Armstrong takes readers on another hair-raising journey with the cast of characters from The Awakening.  Chloe Saunders is a necromancer and is the focal point of the books.  She and her other supernatural friends must escape from the clutches of an evil group of supernatural people who want ot test their powers.  Most of the book is about the group being on the run, but they are getting a better handle on what they can do with their newfound powers, sometimes with disastrous results.  While this series is unlike the Women of the Underworld series, it does have many of the same supernatural elements. Armstrong seems to be taking this series a little slower as she unlocks certain pieces of info in each book.  I can’t wait to read the next one, not because this one ends in a cliff hanger, but because now the teens all seem to know what they can do and I have a feeling they are going to kick butt in the next book.  I would love to see some interweaving of characters from the two series, but that might take a while longer before it happens.

Once Upon a Summer Day by Dennis L. McKiernan

McKiernan once more comes out with a fantastic fantasy based on the traditional fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty.  His stories are rich and inviting and paint a very vivid picture of the world of Faery.  While the first story told the story of Prince Alain and Camille, this one tells of Alain’s brother, Prince Borel, and his love (although at first he doesn’t quite realize that is what she is), Chelle.  Chelle is locked in an enchanted sleep and Borel must travel the lands of Faery to find her.  Of course, there is a bit more to it than that, but McKiernan takes the story of Sleeping Beauty and instead of showing the story of the girl, he shows the Knight’s (or in this case Prince’s) quest to find her.  The three Fates once more show up with help and advice.  A thoroughly enjoyable tale.  My only pet peeve with this series is that each sibling is the ruler of a specific season in Faery, yet the books do not correspond to the season.  For instance, Borel is Prince of the Winterwood, yet the title of the book speaks of Summer.  Silly, but yet to me, annoying.

Demon Chick by Marilyn Kaye

I was rather disappointed with this offering from Kaye.  The premise is good:  mother sells daughter to the devil to achieve worldy power, but the actual story…..not so much.  Jessica is the daughter and imagine her surprise when she finds herself in a suburb of Hell.  She doesn’t get it, but she’s going to have to stay there for eternity.  The characters are all rather flat, the vision of Hell is rather blah and the storyline is a bit one dimensional.  Don’t bother.

Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs

The second book in the Alpha and Omega series is even better than the first.  Anna and Charles are tasked with leading the conference of the EUropean werewolves that Charles’ father has set-up.  The Marrock, Charles’ Dad, has decided that like the other supernatural beings, the werewolves need to come out to the public.  But before then can do that, they need to reassure the other packs that exist in Europe.  But of course nothing is ever easy when it comes to werewolves and Charles and Anna have their hands full.  What I liked about this book is that we were introduced to new characters that I am hoping will come into play in later books either with Charles nad Anna or with Mercy Thompson.

Goddess of Spring by P.C. Cast

I much prefered this tale of the Goddess of the Sea.  It is a retelling of Hades and Persephone.  And while this one also has holes, it is still a fabulous tale.  Lina trades bodies with Persephone so she can help Demeter while Persephone saves Lina’s bakery.  But the favor turns out to be helping Hades in the Underworld.  BUt of course he is nothing like what she was expecting.  And love happens.  What I loved most about this story is that Cast paints a vivid picture of the Underworld unlike any I have ever read.

Goddess of the Sea by P.C. Cast

Having loved the House of Night series by Cast and her daughter, I picked up a few of her earlier titles for adults.  This is the first in a series that is a semi- retelling of a Greek myth.  It deals with a mermaid and her love of the land, but this time it is a mortal woman who becomes enamored of a merman and wants to stay in the water.  An interesting tale, but you can definitely see that her writing has gotten much better.  The intro on this and the other one in the series I read are a bit shaky and there are many holes left in the stories.  But, nevertheless, the are good tales.