Kings Series, Book 1 The Vampire King / Heather Killough-Walden / 210 pages

Roman has never lost control of his emotions once in three thousand years or his heart. Everything changes the moment he laid eyes on Evelynne Farrow, the woman who has been haunting his dreams. One of Roman’s enemies has set up their meeting and plans to use it to his advantage, so that he can destroy everything Roman loves and take away his position as Vampire King. Evie Farrow has always loved a good vampire romance. One of the reasons why she makes a living writing them. Evie supports her parents with her income and has to complete a new book soon in order to pay the bills.  But the main character she has been dreaming of for her newest book is being elusive when it usually comes to her so easily But while sitting in a coffee shop and working on her next mega-hot book, Evie is approached by a tall, dark, and handsome man who could have been pulled directly from one of her novels and is the man she has dreamed about. Unbeknownst to her, Roman D'Angelo is exactly what he appears to be-a vampire, and not just any vampire, but the king of vampires.Unfortunately, while Roman is both ancient and invulnerable, Evie is flesh and blood. Narrated by Antony Ferguson 7h 19min.

Stiletto/Daniel O'Malley/583 pgs.

This is the second entry in the "Rook" series. It takes off from the first entry, The Rook, where two supernatural factions are trying to form an alliance. Rook Myfanwy Thomas of the Checquy is hoping to incorporate the Grafters into the Checquy organization. Since both organizations' members are equipped with "unique" talents, and are distrustful of each others' organizations, it makes for a fun read. In addition, both organizations operate without normal humans knowing about their existence. There is humor, suspense, and adventure-- an all around enjoyable read. Hopefully, there will be more entries forthcoming! Highly recommended, but you have to read The Rook first in order to understand what's going on with the plot.

STILETTO / Daniel O’Malley / 592 pages / MO Book Challenge Wildcard: NOT born in Missouri

(Note: Received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher)

Fantasy and series fans will rejoice at the opportunity to re-visit this extraordinary world of bizarre covert operations and enjoy speculating about unresolved threads left behind that can lead to further adventures!

What do you do when negotiations between deadly rivals falter due to vicious terrorist attacks? O’Malley’s popular debut fantasy, THE ROOK, concerned amnesia and conspiracies among The Checquy, a paranormal version of Britain’s MI5. That novel ended with a startling proposal from the seemingly immortal leader of the Grafters, the agency’s oldest enemy.

In STILETTO, Rook Myfanwy Thomas, still suffering from amnesia, is sponsoring a merger with their old adversary, peaceful dialogue threatened by a fiendish, unknown enemy. She pairs up two young women who despise everything the other stands for, assigning one to act as bodyguard for the other. There exists a bitter and long-standing enmity between Checquy personnel and members of the Grafters’ organization. Can they overcome centuries of inbred fear and hated to avoid an all-out supernatural war?

Witty banter, otherworldly paranoia, and fragile diplomacy have never been so much fun!  

TWITTER: STILETTO by O’Malley - ROOK Thomas’ dilemma: stop attacks on merger talks or supernatural war erupts! http://goo.gl/3EbK3b 

Haunted/Kay Hooper/310 pgs.

This is #15 in the Bishop/Special Crimes Unit series, but it isn't necessary to read the others in the series first in order to follow the action. Strange things are happening in Sociable, a small town in Georgia. Trinity Nichols, the sheriff of Sociable, calls Bishop, head of a special FBI unit, to help when evil forces become present in Sociable. There is murder, mystery, suspense, and the paranormal at work in this novel--a fast and entertaining read!

The Lace Reader / Brunonia Barry / 353 p.

"Towner" Whitney has returned to Salem, Massachusetes--a place which holds too many bad memories for her--because of the disappearance of her Aunt Eva. Towner says straight up that she is a "liar." This isn't exactly true, but her hold on her on sanity causes some admittedly confusing memories. Thrown in the mix is the fact that, like the other women in her family, Towner can see the future. The problem with that is that the signs aren't always clear and then misread. The author gives enough clue...more "Towner" Whitney has returned to Salem, Massachusetes--a place which holds too many bad memories for her--because of the disappearance of her Aunt Eva. Towner says straight up that she is a "liar." This isn't exactly true, but her hold on her on sanity causes some admittedly confusing memories. Thrown in the mix is the fact that, like the other women in her family, Towner can see the future. The problem with that is that the signs aren't always clear and then misread. The author gives enough clues throughout the book that I was pretty sure about the general direction the ending would take, although from reading other reviews, many people missed the clues and were surprised and upset with the conclusion. I enjoyed the story and the characters and found the audio version quite enjoyable

Hostage/Kay Hooper/306 pgs.

This is a "Bishop/Special Crimes Unit" novel.  Cole Jacoby is hiding in the Appalachian Mountains after robbing a bank of ten million dollars. Cole Jacoby is no typical bank robber--it appears that he is being taken over by an "evil" entity. Luther Brinkman, a private investigator with clairvoyant abilities, is sent to track down Jacoby. When Brinkman runs into trouble, Callie Davis, an FBI agent with  telepathic abilities, comes to his rescue. Together, they go after the evil embodied by Cole Jacoby.  Working a different case are Special Agents Hollis Templeton, a medium, and Reese DeMarco, an "open" telepath.  All four agents' abilities are needed to combat the evil existing in Cole Jacoby.  I enjoyed the book, but didn't find it as suspenseful as some of the other entries in this series.

Dead and Gone/Charlaine Harris/pages 389 pages

The vamps have been out for years, and now the weres and shifters have decided to follow the lead of the undead and reveal their existence to the ordinary world. Sookie Stackhouse already knows about them, of course - her brother turns into a panther at the full moon, she's friend to the local were pack, and Sam, her boss at Merlotte's bar, is a shapeshifter.

The great revelation goes well at first - then the horribly mutilated body of a were-panther is found in the parking lot of Merlotte's, and Sookie agrees to use her telepathic talent to track down the murderer. But there is a far greater danger than this killer threatening Bon Temps: a race of unhuman beings, older, more powerful, and far more secretive than the vampires or the werewolves, is preparing for war. And Sookie is an all-too-human pawn in their ages-old battle

Dead and Gone is the 9th book in the Sookie Stackhouse series.

From Dead to Worse/Charlaine Harris/359 pages

From Dead to Worse is the 8th title in the Sookie Stackhouse series.  This time around Sookie is just back from the summit where a terrorist bomb took out a good chuck of the Louisiana vampires.  There are internal wars in the Vamps community and the local werewolf pack.  Sookie seems to be caught in the middle of both, but comes out unscathed and even a little on top after the dust settles. 

Harris gives us another well-written novel, but the plot seems a little tame compared to the previous books.  While the plot of the changes in both communities were built up for suspense, the answers seemed a little anti-climatic.  When finished, I felt this was more of a bridge book between #7 and #9 in the series and more of a set up for another big arc in the storyline than a suspenseful title in and of itself.