New additions to my addiction

Here is a list of the books and bookrelated goodies I received in the last few weeks, some have been read already:

From Bookdepository:
Nora Roberts – Captivated
Annie Burrows – Never trust a rake
Annie Burrows – An escapade and an engagement
Annie Burrows – Reforming the Viscount
Bella Andre – From this moment on
Maya Banks – Forged in Steele
Stephanie Laurens – The taming of Ryder Cavanaugh
Kevin Hearne – Hunted
Rachel Vincent – My soul to take

Secondhand books:
Kelley Armstrong - Personal Demon
Kelley Armstrong - Living With the Dead
Kelley Armstrong - Men of the Otherworld
Kelley Armstrong - Tales of the Otherworld
Kelley Armstrong - Waking the Witch
Kelley Armstrong - Frostbitten
Jim C. Hines - Goblin Quest
Jim C. Hines - Goblin Hero
(I’ve bought the Jim Hines books because I know Sullivan O’Pig likes those).
Catherine Alliott – The old-girl network
Jill Mansell – Mixed Doubles
Jill Mansell – The one you really want
(I totally blame Blodeuedd for making me buy chick lit!)
M.C. Beaton – Agatha Raisin and the day the floods came
M.C. Beaton – The Deadly Dance
Anne Perry – Bluegate Fields

© 2013 Reviews by Aurian

Jean Johnson – The Wolf

The second book in the Sons of Destiny series, published April 1, 2008.
Genre: fantasy romance
Cover: I like it.



Eight brothers, born in four sets of twins, two years apart to the day – they fulfill the Curse of Eight Prophecy.
To avoid tempting Destiny, they’re exiled to Nightfall Isle, where females are forbidden. When a childhood friend seeks refuge among the brothers, it triggers a confrontation with their mysterious enemy.
Alys arrived desperate and afraid, but welcomed by Wolfer, the second-born brother. They have each harboured deep feelings for the other, but Alys harbors a secret as well. It is her very own uncle who torments the exiled brothers, plaguing them with creatures, and who seeks to kill them to secure their ancestral inheritance for himself.
But confessing her uncle’s plan to the brothers will put them at even greater risk, for their resistance against the evil mage has stirred his wrath. This time Alys fears her uncle is determined to exterminate the brothers once and for all – destroying the star-crossed lovers as well…


I just had to jump right into the second book after reading the first, and yes, I have already started the third, and the rest is lying on the livingroom table ready to be picked up.

Alys of Devries has been in love with Wolfer ever since she was three and he nine years old. Her parents were visiting his parents for some business, and she was playing in the court yard. When she skimmed her knee, he found her crying and dried her tears, and played with her. After that, she pestered her parents to bring her as often as possible. She was not a courageous little girl, but to be with Wolfer, she would climb trees and whatever the boys would be doing.
But then her parents died in an accident, and she had to go live with her Uncle Broger. And her life turned miserable. He treated her as an unpaid servant, slapping her around and starving her when he had a mind to do so. He even would have taken her to his bed like his other servant girls, if she had not swayed his mind by telling him, he could get more for her if she was still a virgin. Broger is a truly evil Dark Mage, he has stolen the Brothers Dukedom by killing their other uncle, who was Duke until the brothers could return home. He has put many spells on Alys to make her obedient and unable to fight him or run away. He even can take her life force and magic. The only magic he teaches her, is what is useful for her to know to be able to care for the illegal and deadly animals he is breading. Animals she helps him send to Nightfall Island…

The only good thing in Alys life is Morganen, who is secretly helping her and teaching her when ever he can through the mirror. But she will have to find a way to thwart her uncles’ magic herself. And so when Morganen finally tells her it is time for her to come to Nightfall Island, it is just in time, as her Uncle tells her, he has sold her to another Count, a lecherous old man with awful hygiene, and she is to leave the same day. Alys has just perfected the magic she needs to set her own death in scene, making her uncle give her up ad death, or he will get her back. So one night, when the soldiers escorting her to her bridegroom, are getting a bit lax in their surveillance, Alys takes the opportunity to create a diversion of herself being taken away by some deathly Pookrah. She then melts a silver amulet into her skin, to sever all the spells her Uncle has laid on her. And when that is successful (this could not be practiced!) she sets out for Nightfall Island.

Taking a Gate to the coast, she almost runs into her other Uncle in the village. The only way to stay unseen is to enter a bar/brothel and to hide in one of the rooms when her Uncle also enters the establishment. After witnessing one of the whores and a client doing their thing, Alys gets a lovely education by the woman in question. She sure wants to try some of this out on Wolfer! Alys is also a shape shifter mage, like Wolfer, and she uses that to reach the Island, where she is found on the beach by Wolfer. At first he does not recognize her, as she did not have those curves when last he saw her, but he is certainly overjoyed that she is here. He never did forget her either. The enchanted lock of her hair around his wrist has managed to stay his temper more than once.

Wolfer is the second brother, a shapeshifter mage, but the wolf is not his only shape. He can also be a stallion and a raptor. When Alys arrives, he knows pretty soon that he wants to marry her, that she is his Destiny. And he sets out to court are, as Kelly has informed him of the hardships Alys had to endure at her uncles hands. But Alys does not want to take it slow, she just wants Wolfer in her bed (and out of it).
And when it is found out that Alys took care of the deadly beasts they were plagued with, the brothers are not at all happy. But Morganen knew all about it, and he tells them more of her back ground. So now they know who their enemy is, and they can plan to destroy him.

If Uncle Broger does not visit Nightfall Isle first to fight them directly with his Dark magic…

Being independent from Katan also means that they own the desalination plant, the salt and algae blocks it produces. They will no longer allow the merchants to take it for free, as they have been doing for decades, the merchants will have to pay for it. Of course the merchants are not happy with that, but fighting some of the most powerful mages of Katan is not an option.


I enjoyed Alys, she is half timid and shy, and half courageous and brazen. Of course she drives Wolfer crazy. Kelly sets out to teach her kung fu, so she can defend herself against her Uncle when necessary. And the brothers plan to teach her more about her magic, as she never did get an education while living with her uncle. But first they have to make some magical mirrors to scry for Dominor, who was abducted in the last book, and to fight her uncle.

And what to say about Wolfer? He is fierce, and protective, and he will do everything for his Alys. As long as she agrees to wed him over the eight altars. He is so angry with Broger for treating Alys like that, and he can’t attack the man without the magic slapping back at him a hundred fold. He is a bit jealous of the bond between Morganen and Alys, and enjoys slapping Morganen around a bit on the training grounds.

Alys also wants to work to earn some money, as she has brought nothing with her. She would like to take care of the animals, as that is what she is good in, and Kelly is all too happy to give the care of the vicious citizen-chickens over to Alys. Alys would also love some cows and a bull to have fresh milk and cheese, and perhaps some sheep for their wool. But for now, she will share Wolfer's chores with him.

Stay tuned for more enthusiastic reviews about this series, as I do love those books. Jean Johnson´s writing voice is just right for me, her sense of humor, the characters she creates and especially the neat world building. I would love to visit Nightfall Island. Lots of action, magic, and hot love scenes in this second book in the series.


The Second Son shall know this fate:
He who hunts is not alone
When claw would strike and cut to bone
A chain of Silk shall bind his hand
So Wolf is caught in marriage-band

9 stars.

© 2013 Reviews by Aurian

Heather Webber – Truly, madly

The first book in the Lucy Valentine series, published February 2, 2010.
Genre: psychic cozy mystery
Cover: sweet



Lucy Valentine is as smart as can be, as single as you can get, and so not qualified to run a matchmaking service. But when her parents temporarily step down from the family business, Valentine, Inc., it's Lucy's turn to step up and help out - in the name of love. Plus, her rent is due.
Here's the problem: Lucy doesn't have the knack for matchmaking. According to family legend, every Valentine has been blessed by Cupid with the ability to read 'auras' and pair up perfect couples. But not Lucy. Her skills were zapped away years ago in an electrical surge, and now all she can do is find lost objects. What good is that in the matchmaking world? You'd be surprised. In a city like Boston, everyone's looking for something. So when Lucy locates a missing wedding ring - on a dead body - she asks the sexy private eye who lives upstairs to help her solve the perfect crime. And who knows? Maybe she'll find the perfect love while she's at it.


After reading the amazing cozy mysteries by Heather Blake, I knew I had to read her other penname's books as well. And I am very happy that I just bought them all, as I loved this first book. It is fresh and original, and I loved the characters.

The Valentines have been matchmakers for decades. They are psychic, and can see auras, which is how they are able to match their clients perfectly. Lucy's father is the most famous matchmaker in the country, but he too has fallen prey to Cupid's Curse. The Valentines cannot find happiness in marriage for themselves, ever. And so while her parents pretend they have a perfect relationship to the outside world, and are indeed good friends, they do live apart but stay married. And her father has lots of girlfriends on the side. And now he has had a heart attack while having sex on the beach with one of them, causing of course a major scandal. The man who facilitates marriage cannot be faithful to his own wife?
And so he forces Lucy to take over the company, while he and her mother will take a vacation on Santa Lucia to get away from the scandal and the press for a few weeks. Lucy really doesn’t want to, but he leaves her no choice. When Lucy was 14, she had some kind of accident, and she lost her ability to see auras. She does know how to find lost objects though. But like the family secret of seeing auras, this ability has also been kept a secret, even from her two best friends.

Lucy also has a meddling grandmother, Dovie, who wants great-grand babies, and continually tries to fix Lucy up with a man. This is really getting embarrassing. Lucy rents a little one bedroom cottage on her grandmothers’ estate, as she has refused to live of her trustfund. She wants to make it on her own. But so far, she has not yet found a job she can hold or really like, which leaves her with no choice but to accept her fathers command and take over Valentine Inc.

Her very first client, Michael, however is still in love with his highschool sweetheart, even though he claims he is ready to move on as he really wants a family of his own, including white picket fence. Due to a conniving stalker, their engagement was broken, and she has disappeared. And so, instead of trying to find him a new match, Lucy offers him to find his Jennifer for him, and try for a second chance at love between them. But when they shake hands, Lucy gets a vision of the lost engagement ring on the hand of a skeleton …
But she can only see visions of lost objects, so Michael cannot be the murderer, as he would have known where to find the ring.

On the floor above Valentine Inc, is a PI firm, her father uses for background checks on his clients. She will ask Sam to find Jennifer. But Sam is on vacation with his family and his brother Sean has become his new partner, so Lucy will have to deal with him. Sean used to be a firefighter before he had a major accident. And when Lucy meets the very handsome Sean, she feels something she never felt before, and shaking his hand gives her a vision of the future instead of some lost item. A vision of the two of them in bed together …
But there is the Cupid Curse, a relationship would never work between them, she has to keep her distance from Sean, especially as it appears he already has a girlfriend.

Lucy hires Sean to find Jennifer, but she also needs him to come with her in the dark, without asking why. She needs to find the body and the lost engagement ring she saw, so the police will be able to identify the body. Is it Jennifer in that grave, or someone else? And how did she come to wear Michael's engagement ring?

There is also a little boy lost in the marshes close by, and Lucy really wished she could find him. Unfortunately, her gift only works on lost objects, and only the owner can ask her where to find it. Or in case of a gift, the person who gave it, or the one who received it. So when it is finally announced that the father's sweatshirt went missing along with the boy, Lucy knows this is her chance, she can find the sweatshirt, and the boy with it!
She tries to keep her identity a secret, but she needs to approach little Max' father, and have him think about his sweatshirt. A policeman joins them in their quest for Max, as Lucy has seen the path the little boy has taken. And just when the policeman wants to arrest her for being a fraud, and preying on the parents, there he is, just like she knew he would be. In the high of the reunion, Lucy manages to escape without revealing who she is. But the next day, a police sketch is on the news, and the likeness is very good. Also, both she and Sean were seen at the payphone from where the call was made to the police about the body, and Sean’s number plate was remembered. Now Lucy has to deal with two different police officers. The first one thinks she is involved in the murder, and treats her as a suspect, the other one wants to use her powers to find more missing persons. And when a reporter reveals her secrets, there is no escape for Lucy.

And through it all, her grandmother keeps trying to get her a date, her best friend is missing just a few weeks before her wedding, and shows up at her place. And then there is Sean, who wants to be more than friends as he also feels the sizzling attraction between them.


I really enjoyed all the characters in this book. Lucy is not a kick ass heroine as I love so much, but just a girl with a secret gift. She has been taught to keep it a secret all her life, and now it has come out in the open. What is she to do? Lucy has a three legged cat, and a one eyed hamster, thanks to her best friend who works in an animal clinic. Her other best friend is a paediatrician, and about to be married, when she just can’t do it anymore. The loss of a little patient is breaking her. Her parents pushed her to become a doctor, but all she wants is to be a teacher.
Grandmother Dovie is meddling, and would love the chance to work at the matchmaking agency. She is convinced she is brilliant at it, although she is not a Valentine by birth. But she is a sweetheart and takes good care of Lucy. Lucy’s parents certainly are original characters, they call her LucyD.

Sean, sigh. A former firefighter with a heart condition, which means he cannot go back to firefighting. He really misses it, as he has become some kind of adrenaline junkie, but being around Lucy is adventure enough. Digging up bodies, rescuing her from dates and police officers. He wants her to trust him with her secrets, but understands when she dares not tell him everything.

Lucy is relieved that the secret about her gift is out in the open, perhaps now she can finally put it to good use, and really start helping people.

So this book has it all, a good mystery, danger, a plot I could not foresee, romance and lovable characters. Add an unique setting for the story, and you have the perfect cozy mystery. I am very much looking forward to the next books in the series.

9 stars.

© 2013 Reviews by Aurian

Jean Johnson – The Sword

The first book in the Sons of Destiny series, published March 4, 2008.
Genre: fantasy romance
Cover: I just love strong half naked men holding swords on my bookcovers.



Eight brothers, born in four sets of twins, two years apart to the day – they fulfill the Curse of Eight Prophecy.
To avoid tempting Destiny, they’re exiled to Nightfall Isle, where females are forbidden. But when the youngest of the mage-brothers rescues a woman from another universe, their world is altered forever.
Kelly Doyle wasn’t just having a bad day, she was having a bad decade. Threatened, attacked and accused of witchcraft, Kelly is fed up with her narrow-minded small-town neighbours. And now she’s landed in another dimension – the only woman in a magical realm inhabited by eight men who are desperately in need of a woman’s touch.
With Kelly in their midst, Saber, the eldest of the eight, is forced to confront the Curse that plagues them – if he falls in love, disaster is imminent. But in the aftermath of an attack, and despite the threatening prophecy, Saber and Kelly’s passion only grows stronger. If only the fates didn’t take such things so seriously.


It has been a few years since I read this series, but re-reading is just as enjoyable. The books are about four sets of male twins, all mages, all with their own specific powers. A thousand years ago, the most powerful Seeer of them all, predicted their birth, and if they ever find their mates, a big disaster will befall Katan. So their fellow mages from the mage council have exiled them to Nightfall Isle. There is an enormous castle on the island, and an ancient water purifying plant, running on magic, so there is enough clean water for them. They do grow some of their own food, and hunt animals, but they also get provisions twice a month, in exchange for the magical objects they produce themselves. Of course, it is forbidden for any woman to go to Nightfall Island. Each brother has his own book, but the overall story arc continues, which is why I would recommend reading this series in order.

The first book is about Saber, the Sword, the oldest brother. He is the leader and protector of his younger brothers. But it is the youngest brother, Morganen, who is also the most powerful amongst them, who got the job of matchmaker. Otherwise, his brothers would be content to live their lives in exile without any women around them, as they don’t want to be responsible of the Disaster that will follow. Imagine a realm where most things technical we know, is done by magic. Mage specific magic, and also objects someone without any magic can use.

Morganen has been searching for a suitable wife for Saber, and he has found 5 potential women in all the worlds. But when he spots Kelly Doyle on the brink of being burned to death by bigoted Midwestern men, he rescues her by yanking her through the mirror Portal to his workroom. Badly burned and unconscious, the seventh brother, Koranen, heals her. Fire is his specific power.

Kelly has had a miserable decade. After her parents died, she was alone in the world, and almost penniless. Then she got a great job offer, and had to leave her friends behind to move to the Midwest. When the company that hired her, went bankrupt, she had to find some other way to support herself, and at first it went fine. She has always loved sewing and embroidery and lace making, and likes to join the Medieval Society, re-enacting history. But some bigots in town think she is a witch, and they have been harassing her, driving away her customers. So she is on the brink of starvation, and the harassment is just getting worse and worse, and the sheriff will do nothing about it.
And just when she thinks she will die in her own bedroom, when her house is set on fire with her inside of it, she is yanked out of it, and to this strange magical dimension. Filled with 8 gorgeous men. But she will not be treated as inferior, or a prisoner, she demands civility and a clean castle. Nor will she be a free loader, she will work for her food and lodgings, and so she starts repairing their clothes. Saber is very much against her presence on Nightfall Island, but when Morganen tells him it will take him 5 months before he can put Kelly safely back on her own planet, he just has to get used to her presence. And as he insists on being the one to take care of her, to prevent his brothers to fall in love with her, they are often together. And of course one thing leads to another.

There is also the danger of regular invasions of deadly animals in the castle. The brothers have an unknown enemy who wants to kill them all, but so far they managed to stay alive and kill all the beasts. Still, Kelly has no magic to defend herself with, and one day both she and Saber get poisoned by water snakes, and need to spend a lot of hours immersed in a bath tub. And that means they have a lot of time to talk about themselves and get to know each other and their customs. Saber is fighting his falling in love with Kelly, but when she points out another explanation to his verse in the prophecy, it might not be all that bad …


I liked Kelly, she is strong and capable, and thanks to her love for history and all things fabric related, she knows how to survive in something medieval, but with magic. Still, she comes across as very feministic, wanting to be the equal to the brothers, even taking the position of Queen of Nightfall, claiming their independence of Katan. I did enjoy how she made them clean the castle (by magic mostly), as it was really filthy, but men just don’t care much for cleaning. She was technically a virgin, but certainly not an innocent. And she wanted to act on her attraction to Saber.
Saber was not pleased with a woman in his castle, and he wanted her gone as soon as possible. But he is also a gentleman enough to want to take care of her, make her eat more, and give her whatever she wants. His yelling and roaring was fun, as Kelly just outsmarted him by talking logically when necessary. She had a fresh look on things, and that was needed on Nightfall Island. The romance between them is believable and steamy.

I also liked Morganen a lot, the youngest brother, called The Mage, as he is the strongest one. He is a meddler, and he knows and sees much more than he tells the others. The other brothers are also great secondary characters, all so very different from each other.

I did enjoy all the kinds of magic and magical objects in this book, the characters you can easily fall for, well, except for Dominor perhaps, the third brother. There is humor and action, some danger and scary beasties, but also some hot love scenes.

The Eldest Son shall bear this weight:
If ever true love he should feel
Disaster shall come at her heel
And Katan will fail to aid
When Sword in sheath is claimed by Maid

9 stars.

© 2013 Reviews by Aurian

One question for Jean Johnson.

As you perhaps already know, I am a big fan of Jean Johnson’s Theirs Not To Reason Why series, a psychic military sci-fi series (reviews can be found on my blog). I have also read and enjoyed all the books in the Sons of Destiny series, which is paranormal/fantasy romance, and the books related to that world.

I just finished reading The Tower, the first book in the Guardians of Destiny, and liked it very much. The book is related to the Sons of Destiny series, and I have pre-ordered the second book, called The Grove, which will be out in December. The third book, called The Guild will be published in May 2014.

I can hardly wait for Hellfire though, which is the third book in the Theirs Not To Reason Why series, which will be published on July 30. And the fourth book called Damnation will be out in August 2014.

Hellfire: The third book in the Theirs Not to Reason Why series, to be published July 30, 2013.



Her story began in the national bestsellers A Soldier's Duty and An Officer's Duty. Now Ia is captain and commander at the helm of Hellfire, where she is finally free to chart the course for the fulfilment of her destiny…
As captain, Ia must now assemble a crew that can rise to the ultimate challenge of saving the galaxy. The hardest part will be getting them to believe her, to trust in her prophecies. If they don't, her own crew will end up being the biggest obstacle in her race against time.
The Salik are breaking through the Blockade, plunging the known galaxy into war. Ia cannot stop it this time, nor does she want to. This is the terrible price she has seen all along—that some must pay with their lives so that others might live. Now only time itself can prove whether each member of her crew is merely a soldier or truly one of Ia's Damned.


There is a lot of information on Jean’s website, but I would love to let Jean tell us more about her upcoming books and series.

Aurian: Hi Jean, can you please tell me and my readers what your plans are for the future? How many books have you planned for Ia, any spin offs in the works? I have already named those that are scheduled so far, but what are you working on at the moment, what have you finished that is not published yet, are there even more genres you want to try?

Jean: Hi, Aurian. My plans for the future involve lots and lots of books. No, really. The series with Ia, Theirs Not To Reason Why, will have 4 books in it, so DAMNATION will be the last in that series. I do have plenty of other tales to tell in that universe, however, including what will happen three hundred years down the road when Ia’s biggest prophecies start coming true. But before I can get to that series, I’ve been asked by Ginjer (editor-in-chief at Ace Books) to fill in some of the backstory of this universe, so my next science fiction series will actually go back in time to about two hundred years before Ia’s era.

That’s the story of when the Terrans reached out into space, made First Contact with the Salik, met up with the V’Dan, and realized, “What the heck—these people are Humans??” and the V’Dan will also get the shock of their lives. The series isn’t yet under contract, but I know it’ll be a triology, a first-contact/political novel following the Terrans’ reactions, a similar first-contact/political novel following the V’Dan reactions, and then the third novel will be focused on the fallout of what later generations (Ia’s era) will come to call the First Salik War.

On top of all this, as you pointed out, I have a new fantasy romance series going, the Guardians of Destiny. Like the Sons of Destiny series, there will be eight books all told; the first four are under contract, and I’ll be taking a little break to work on The First Salik War series (tentative name for it) before working on the last four books in the Guardians set.

At the same time—oh yes, I’m double-booked for the foreseeable future!—I will be writing and launching a straight-to-ebook (to be followed by printed versions) with Ace/Roc, and it will be pure high fantasy. It’s based off the universe in which I put one of my fantasy romance short stories, “Birthright” in the ELEMENTAL MAGIC multi-author anthology, but will be pretty much straight fantasy for its genre.

The Flame Sea series will be a bit different from the others, as it will be an open-ended series. I have enough stories sketched out for easily a dozen tales, with a timeline spanning thousands of years of history. The first three novels are currently titled DAWN OF THE FLAME SEA, GODS OF THE FLAME SEA, and DEMONS OF THE FLAME SEA. These will also be about half the length of my usual novels, but I’ll still be packing them with all my favorite bits of adventure, world-building, character development, and other fun stuff.

And somewhere in there...somewhere, I need to squeeze out a few more short stories in the Vulland Chronicles, my free-to-read steampunky universe found on my website, www.JeanJohnson.net The paid-to-write-it stuff has to come first, of course, but I still have plenty of plans for the VC universe, never fear!

As for any other genres...whoo...hmm... Fantasy romance, high fantasy, first contact science fiction, military science fiction, steampunk fiction... Looks like I’m a bit full-up on my schedule all the way to nearly the end of 2014. Ask me again next year, maybe? My plot-bunnies have a distressing habit of mutating and breeding, so anything’s possible.


Aurian: Wow, I love this news, I am looking forward to reading whatever you will write in the future, thank you Jean for taking the time for this interview.


If you want to know more about Jean and her books, you can find her here:
Twitter: @JeanJAuthor
Website: here
Facebook: here

© 2013 Reviews by Aurian

Dakota Banks – Sacrifice

The second book in the Mortal Path series, published August 31, 2010.
Genre: urban fantasy
Cover: cool



A demon's enslaved executioner - a ravager of lives and souls - Maliha Crayne has been reborn, willing to sacrifice her immortality for a chance at freedom . . . and salvation. Now she has an opportunity to prevent the death of thousands - perhaps tens of thousands - to make up for the countless lives she has obliterated over the centuries. To do so, she must locate and destroy an evil cabal of madmen in possession of a weapon of unspeakable power - and survive the immortal assassins who are now after her blood. But it means reverting to the old ways and surrendering once more to the darkness. And if Maliha dies before the mission is accomplished, the hell she once knew will seem like a picnic compared to the eternal torments awaiting her.


Well, you absolutely don’t have to be afraid of second book syndrome in this series! This second book was even better than the first.
Maliha has been a demon’s assassin for over 300 years, but she finally had enough and has broken free. Now she has to redeem herself and save as many souls as she has killed in those 300 years, before she dies, or she will have to face eternal torture. She is no longer immortal, but not completely human yet either. But for every life she saves, she will age a bit, so Maliha is not sure she will have enough time to accomplish her goal.
So now Maliha is on a mission, to fight evil and save innocents, but she is also looking for the seven hidden pieces of a magical object. If she finds them, she can kill or banish all the demons from Earth, and make this a better place for humans. Where we at least can make our own mistakes without being prompted by the demons. They thrive on chaos and war, death and destruction. Of course, the demons are looking for those objects as well, and they will use it to call the Sumerian gods back to earth.

The book starts in a helicopter in Darfur, where Maliha and Hound are searching for his kidnapped girlfriend Glass. She was there on a humanitarian mission, when the village she was in was raided by the Janjaweed. They rape and mutilate their victims, so they have to find Glass soon! When they find the camp where Glass and the other women are held, Maliha has to fall back on her old assassin skills, to kill the sentries and free Glass, but Hound cannot follow orders and just runs into the camp, shooting like a maniac. Which does not make freeing Glass and getting away unseen any easier. Glass has also been almost beaten to death, and both her legs and an arm are broken. They will have to carry her out of here. Or rather, Hound needs to do that, while Maliha keeps the rest at a distance.
But the severe numbers of tugs overwhelm her, and when Maliha is about to die, she is saved by a Roman warrior. Can this be true? It has to be, as she wakes up in the hospital later. Although Hound never saw the man, she was just in the pickup location, unconscious from her wounds.

But rescuing Glass was not enough, apparently she stumbled upon a `melting` corpse, and men in white suites destroying everything in the vicinity with fire. Glass managed to put some of the substance in her canteen, and it needs to be tested, to find out what caused the deaths. Maliha sends the canteen to some scientist friends in America, to research the contents. Unfortunately, her friends are not at the university, but at some conference so it will take a few more days before they have answers. When Maliha gets impatient, and her friends don´t call her back, she decides to drop by herself, only to find her friends being murdered, and their lab and whatever they found in the canteen, destroyed.

Maliha´s gift enables her to relive a dead person’s last moments if they died violently, where she can communicate with the piece of ghost left behind. Reliving being murdered time and again is not a walk in the park, but it is necessary to find out what happened, and to release the ghost into the afterlife.
Somehow, they have stumbled upon a secret experiment with nano technology, killing people invisibly from the inside out, in a horrible manner. And one of the ageless is behind it all. But it does set Maliha on her next quest, to find the people responsible and to put a stop at this before they unleash this horrible weapon upon the world.


I really enjoyed this second book in the series. I like Maliha, who is certainly not a typical heroine. Yes, she is kick ass, and she likes to do things her way. But she has a conscience, and protects her friends as best as she can. But she also loves men and sex, and after saving people and suffering the pain from doing that, she needs sex, a man to warm the cold inside of her. So she has not just one boyfriend, but some casual encounters as well, wherever in the world she is. This is just one of the things that make Maliha unique, and I like it.
She loves the better things in life, like really fast and expensive cars, and she has enough money to do whatever she wants. Maliha also has a public face, that of a mystery writer named Marsha Winters, which comes in handy from time to time.

Maliha's friends mostly help her with research, and try to keep her on the right path. And this going it alone, is making her walk a very fine line to her past. Even making her former owner, the demon, offer her her old job back with all the benefits of the Ageless.

This novel is fast paced, action packed, and would be perfect as a tv series or movie. I like Dakota Banks' writing style, her characters and world building, and look forward to the next book in the series. Which is already on my shelves, waiting for me.

9 stars.

© 2013 Reviews by Aurian

New books to look forward to for July 2013

This is the list of new releases for the month of July 2013 I am looking forward to, and wow, this sure is an extremely long list!

Annette Blair – Tulle Death do us part – Vintage Magic 6
Juliet Blackwell – Tarnished and Torn – Witchcraft Mystery 5
Lorna Barrett – The Chamber Plot – Booktown Mystery 8 HC
Catherine Coulter – Bombshell – FBI 17 HC
Yasmine Galenorn – Night Vision – Indigo Court 4
Darynda Jones – Fifth grave past the light – Charley Davidson 5
Ilona Andrews – Magic Rises – Kate Daniels 6
J.D. Robb – Calculated in Death – In Death 36 PB
Jean Johnson – Hellfire – Theirs not to reason why 3
Jennifer Estep – Midnight Frost – Mythos Academy 5
Jude Deveraux – True love – Nantucket brides 1 HC
Stephanie Laurens – The taming of Ryder Cavanaugh – Cynster Sisters 5
Thea Harrison – The wicked (novella Kindle 02-07).
Cecy Robson – A cursed Embrace – Weird Girls 02
Clive Cussler – The Tombs – Fargo Adventure 4
Courtney Milan – The Heiress Effect – Brothers Sinister 2
Fangs for Nothing – Erin McCarthy and Kathy Love
Anthology: Hot summer nights – Erin McCarthy, Jaci Burton, Carly Phillips, Jessica Clare
Jess Haines – Forsaken by the others – H&W Investigations 05
Kresley Cole – MacRieve – Immortals After Dark 13 HC
Laurell K. Hamilton – Affliction – Anita Blake 22 HC
Sherrilyn Kenyon – The rise of the Gryphon – Belador Code 4

I have read a total of 21 books this month, and 3 novellas, which makes this a good reading month.

Did I match my reading solutions for last month? Yes, I managed to do so again, and I think next month will be much easier for the won books section.

I have read 3 cozy mysteries:
- J.J. Cook – That old flame of mine
- Maggie Sefton – Cast on, kill of
- Heather Webber – Truly, Madly

4 books longer than 1 year on my shelf (although the Jean Johnson books are rereads):
- Karen Chance - Midnight´s Daughter
- Nora Roberts – Irish Thoroughbred
- Jean Johnson – The Sword
- Jean Johnson – The Wolf

and 1 book I have won:
- Susannah Sandlin - Redemption

© 2013 Reviews by Aurian