I finished this book this morning and it took me many stops and starts before I could finally complete it. It was an interesting read, and the end did succeed in ultimately capturing my attention, but I’ll admit, it took some work. The story is eloquently worded, replete with symbolism, and no detail, no matter how small, was left out. While the writing style enriches the tale and gives it depth, I found it could also be distracting.

While I have come away with my own understanding of the story, I wonder if it even remotely comes close to what the author was trying to convey. I appreciated the possibilities presented by the author, however, the complex story is confounded with both scientific and mystical reasoning.   I found myself re-reading sections to confirm that I was grasping the situation at hand, and just when I’d get into the flow of the storytelling, it would change and I would once again, be distracted by the imagery detailed so vividly.

The story is told through the perspective of two people.

Dominic is a neuroscientist plagued by past-life memories. By mystical standards, he is considered a “Reborn” (reincarnated). He disagrees and is desperate to rid himself of these memories once and for all. He is determined to prove that such memories, and delusions of being “otherworldly” (such as self proclamations that one is a vampire, fallen angel, etc..) are the result of childhood traumatic events, or brain “glitches”. He is funded by a rich socialite that is in fear for her god-daughter’s future (her god-daughter believes herself to be a vampire).

“My foundation supports innovation,” Ms. Wright said. “Your lecture today suggested the possibility of a psychiatric cosmetic surgery. If I understood correctly – and you may correct me if I did not” – Dominic nodded polite assent – “you’re postulating a technology to identify the locations of specific thoughts or memories, with the ultimate goal of disrupting only those targeted neurons to functionally erase the memory.”

He furthers his studies in a remote “hotel” in Ireland that caters to those that consider themselves “damned”.

In the midst of many intriguing “damned ones”, Dominic meets Olivia. She is apparently a fallen angel of desire, and considers herself a “vampire”. Reading the tale through her eyes, there is no doubt that she is a vampire. She hunts, feeds on blood, and live amongst others of her kind. She doesn’t feel emotions except when she is feeding off of humans. She is intent on finding love, and thinks that there might be a “loophole” in her condition if she is loved unconditionally (meaning that her lover would also have to accept her as a vampire).

If I can show him everything I am – wingscars and quills – and he can stay fallen with his fallen angel, then I might finally be free. But I’ve screwed this up every time since the fall of man. I must watch my step.

Each deeply committed relationship has failed when she has broached the “vampire” or “fallen angel” subject.

Shout yourself hoarse calling for your angel, but don’t lift your eyes to see.

Dejected, she returns to the “Hotel of the Damned” ready to accept her fate.

However, everything changes for them both, once they find each other. While they at first butt heads…

I turn to him. He looks like a warrior – proud, beautiful, powerfully built, straight and hard. I could break him for fun. “No man serves a god for its own sake, only what it might do for him,” I tell him. “You serve science with a zealot’s prayer for your own salvation.”

…they develop a friendship, that of which they had never before experienced. A sweet and funny moment that made me giggle, and eased the intensity of their communion. As they converse in a field of cows, together, getting to know one another:

“Olivia,” he reaches for my hand, but finds the apple. He takes it and throws it hard away from us. I turn to watch it fly. It tumbles up into the night and lands precisely between the eyes of a cow. I gasp, but the cow does not move.

“What will it do?” I whisper.

“It’s thinking,” he whispers back, an infuriating smile staining his warm voice. “‘It’s thinking ‘Ow! What happened?’” I stifle a giggle at his witless cow voice. The creature bends its head and snuffs the grass. “Now it’s thinking ‘Can I eat that?’” The beast raises its ghostly head, chewing.

“What’s it thinking now?”

“Nothing. It’s eating.”

“Does it know what hit it?”

“It’s forgotten.”

However, the question remains. Is she really a vampire, and are they they part of the “Damned Ones” or does science prevail? Is it all in their head?

“We are all broken, Dominic, all of us – cursed, or damned. Our fragile minds cannot span the paradox. We wish to stand out and fit in, to be unique but not alone, one with God and still ourselves.”

“I don’t believe in curses, Gaehod. Or God. I believe in reality.”

“Reality is only half the story.”

Honestly, after examining my own perception of the story, I realize that is not even the most important part. There is much more to explore, and really, perhaps a formal “discussion” of this book would unearth much more, through the contributions of each reader’s perspective. Yes…a book club situation would be great for this

It was beautiful, complicated, deep and perplexing. I almost felt as if the author had perhaps “tapped” into one of those monumental life awakening moments (you know, perhaps in a dream, she had an epiphany, and it just “clicked” for her), and was trying  to convey it to us through this narration. This one will require your complete focus and dedication but will reward you with intricately written tale of self doubt, self discovery and the most profound of powers; love.

 Ok so I’m late with today’s post, but I am actually backtracking through the latest tweets while I watch Idol, and I’m picking out the goodies for you! Once I’m done this, i’m off to re-read Gentlemen Prefer Succubi…Yes, I liked it that much! By the way, review for “Succubi Like it Hot” on the way . Also very good!!

• Yasmine Galenorn’s latest book cover for Harvest Hunting (Sisters of the Moon) is up on her website for all to see. Beautiful!
• Jaci Burton’s Bound, Branded, & Brazen made it on Barnes and Noble’s and Borders Romance bestseller list last week. Congratulations!!
• Marie-Claude Bourque’s book “Ancient Whispers” made Amazon’s best seller list! Congratulations to you too! (I met her at last years Romantic Times Convention, and she had won American Title V award for that very book!)
• Juliana Stone’s book “His Darkest Hunger” is coming out on March 30th! Wow, my mom told me not to judge a book by it’s cover, but I think it’s okay to do so for paranormal right? Hot Stuff!! He’s a shapeshifter….
• Alyson Noel saw her books at an airport and she left some of her bookmarks in them! LOL! Okay, so not really news, but next time I see booksmarks in a book, I’ll suspect an author’s been by…
• Alyssa Day is pretty much writing as we speak… I find the writing process is so fascinating! Example: Ms. Day just “learned something horrifying” about her hero in this book. I wonder what?
• Ann Aguirre is writing too! And she too, has learned some pretty interesting things about her hero…”This hero just told me he’s a theoretical physicist. How the HELL am I gonna write this? I hate you, brain.” and then another tweet “So. This hero is a huge, tormented physicist w/ long hair, tattoos and uber anguish over his mistakes. Sounds like girl-nip.” – Sounds like my type of guy. Brains and brawn…mmm mmm mmmmm
• Ann Aguirre/Ava Gray published an excerpt of her upcoming book “Skin Tight” on her website (plus you can see the cover there too!). It’s coming out June 1st 2010.

Some yesterday tweets

• Leanna Renee Hieber was (is) working on Strangely Beautiful III (Alexi at age 16…should be interesting!)
• Jeri Smith-Ready is back to working on “Shift” (her Shade sequel).

More to follow as I find more cool tweets…

Want to read these tweets directly? Check out my Authors Who Tweet post, and make sure to follow them! It’s always good stuff!

People…I have an announcement to make. There’s a new vampire in my life (and possibly my favorite). Yes, I know, I am fickle, but I just couldn’t choose before.  Well, this book made it easy for me Zane’s the man! He’s all bad boy, with some “good” that keeps peeping through. And those fallen angel wings of his…mmmm…yup, I’ve discovered that I especially like my paranormal men with a few “added” features. Horns, fangs, wings…it’s all good!

But wait, there’s more…the added touch that makes this series extra special. There’s another fallen angel in the mix (and he’s actually the first one I got attached to in this book). Noah, all good boy, all righteous, and beautiful like an angel should be. But fallen, nonetheless (his crime? He simply fell in love with a human female way back when…) Sidenote: That’s “Noah” on the left (see Zane at the end of this post)…

You see, in this series, that’s what makes a fallen angel (also known as a “Serim”). The chosen ones in Heaven that make the mistake of coveting a human, are simply cast out of heaven (immortal, but cursed, and without their wings). Their punishment? To be obliged to satiate their sexual needs (and that of their partner) once a month, during the full moon. Not so bad right?

But it is bad. While the fallen ones struggle to get back into heaven, their lack of wings, and falling from God’s grace has them emotionally distraught, never feeling whole, as they once were. And that is what leads some to make a (twisted) deal with the Devil. Yes, they get their wings back…(blackened), but the curse extends to needing to feed on blood regularly.

I shook my head. “So Noah’s been cast out of Heaven?”

“Him and a few thousand other guys, yeah. Gabriel and the rest that stayed behind were really angry, too, so they cursed the Serim. Since they were so hot for female flesh, they were cursed to crave it and to indulge themselves every full moon. Not so bad, you would think – but then the Archangels went and killed all their women and they were left with nothing. It’s a sad story really. Some of the Serim turned to evil as a result, and that’s why we have vampires. They wanted their wings back, no matter the cost. Lucifer was willing to give them wings, but they had to sell their souls. At least that’s the rumor. All you need to remember is that the Serim can only go out in the daytime, and the vamps can only go out at night. That’s what happens when you mess with the big guns.”

Once they have fallen to that level, they’re all bad, right? I mean, to make a deal with the Devil, there could be no turning back from that. However, Zane, the ultimate bad boy, angry, tortured, and seemingly uncaring, is essentially, still an angel, nonetheless.

He shook his head and the stubble on his chin scraped against my hand. “Why do you distrust me so much, Jackie? Why is it you trust me so little and trust Noah so much?”

“Gee I don’t know,” I said. “Could it be the fact that one of your kind attacked me in a bar and sent me down the path that I’m on right now?”

“I see.” His voice sounded sad, so unlike the urbane, devil-may-care Zane I knew. “Perhaps someday you will learn to trust me.”

And I HEART him. It’s like the author plucked him right out of my head! LOL! Wait wait!! I heart Noah too….this is really complicated (but so deliciously fun!!)

Okay so enough with the sappy mooning, and onto the story, cause you know what? The heroine (Jackie) is awesome too. Totally someone any of us can relate to. An average girl with an average life, who somehow gets mixed up in this underworld. Why exactly? I don’t know yet, but I’m sure someone “fallen”, had a plan, somewhere…

But anyway, one night, she was bitten (and almost drained) by a vampire, and then in her post-bite throes of lust, seeks out a hottie at a local bar (that just happens to be Noah, the fallen angel, only too happy to oblige).

The next thing you know, she’s rising from the dead (in a dumpster, no-less), morphing into a sex-kitten, with barely a memory of that fateful night of debauchery.

He leaned back and his hand went to his thick blonde hair, ruffling it. “Well, ah. We met at the hotel bar. You’d been there all night from the look of things and I offered to call you a cab. The next thing I knew, you were climbing into my lap. I took it as an invitation – a very nice one if I do say so.” He looked over at me, and I could have sworn his eyes had a hint of blue to them. “You can do really amazing things with your mouth.”

I spat coffee all over the table. Good lord, that didn’t sound like me at all.

She’s becoming a succubus (cause that’s what normal people do after a wild night of vampire bites and angel sex). A little bad, combined with a little good, and *poof* you get the perfect mix of both beings! Maker one (fallen angel) requires once-a-month sex to ease his hunger, maker two (fallen angel now vampire) requires daily blood to ease his hunger, and the result is a female that needs sex every two days.

So the book takes us on a wild romp of Jackie’s new life, self re-discovery, and forced partnerships that eventually evolve into relationships. She makes a crazy new best friend “Remy” (who is the only other succubus in NY), that started off as a mentor. However, she has quickly attached herself to Jackie’s hip, thrilled that she finally has someone just like her, after 400 years of being alone. Then there’s Noah, feeling guilty for having “secured” her transition into a Succubus by having sex with her right after the vamp bite (but hey, he didn’t know, and what’s a boy to do when a lusty girl climbs into his lap like that?)

So he follows through with the only thing he can do. Being one of her “masters” (or “makers”), he makes himself available to ease her into her new world, teach her about the ins and outs of succubus-ary and of course, has sex with her at her every whim (I mean, come, he at least owes her that!)

“Jackie,” he warned, his lips brushing against my palm.

“Yes?” my voice sounded more like a moan.

“If your body needs release ” – Noah brought my fingertips to his lips – “I want to be the one you come to. Understand?”

Unfortunately, her inexperience with the “others” in the underworld, lands them all in a whole load of trouble when she makes a deal with another angel. In turn, this forces her to make yet another deal with the most evil of evil, the Queen of vampires (you’ll see how that comes about).

“I’m not working for Gabriel,” I protested, my words sounding weak.

“No? Then who?”

Ashamed at the compulsion I felt to respond to her words, I dropped my gaze to the floor. “Uriel”

Her low chuckle made my skin crawl. “Just as well. He’s been fascinated with our doings for centuries. I just never thought he’d find somebody foolish enough to do his dirty work.”

Yay me for being the biggest fool in millennia.

Basically, both sides want her to retrieve the halo of one of the first fallen angels. Having that halo would allow them to take on his powers, but of course, using them for objectionable plans (neither outcome is very good). Really, she has no choice but to follow through, as they hold a few things near and dear to her over her head (why..like Noah, for instance), and the only way to get him back is to hand over the halo.

Why her, I wondered? I reasoned the obvious – it was because she made the deals, and now had to own up to them, and of course, being a succubus, she had access to both the “dark” and “light” side, but I started to panic in her place! I mean, how does one even find a halo anyway? Can a halo even be held? And how can someone who was a just mere human a few days ago find anything so important and divine?

Who knew? But it was great fun finding out! Luckily, she wasn’t alone. While Noah was no longer at her disposal (being forcibly held and all – his sacrifice simply reinforcing my crush on him), the vampire Queen was gracious enough to give her “Zane” one of her head vampires to help her on her journey (and of course, Remy, her sex-crazed best friend was in tow to make the jaunt that much more complicated).

One of my favorite moments:

“I hope you can look past my nature to see the real me someday, Jackie.” His finger traced my jaw line softly.

I kinda liked the Zane I’d seen so far, despite my first impressions. I leaned into his touch sleepily, my thoughts becoming disjointed. “You’re not like the other vampires.”

“No, I’m not.”

So I’m ending it there. The book’s great! It just is, and now, I want to get on with book#2. Bad stuff’’s already happening again, and it was a real struggle putting it down. It’s calling me…I hear it!

By the way…meet Zane——->

Ok, so I’ve been enchanted with the cover of book #1 at my local Walmart for quite some time now…and WOW! This series (well, it’s only two books right now) is amazing. Funny, exciting, and HOT (I mean, it’s even built on a love triangle – how much better could it get?!)

Oh and the book covers….YES!!!!

An excerpt from the author’s website:

After a one-night stand with a fallen angel and a bite from a vampire, forgettable Jackie Brighton has been changed into a succubus.

• Gentlemen Prefer Succubi (Succubus Diaries)
• Succubi Like It Hot (The Succubus Diaries)
• My Fair Succubi (expected release date: Dec 28th 2010)

<——- Woooohooo *hot*! Book six in the series takes us on a journey through Rydstrom Woede’s struggle to get his crown back (he’s a Demon King…or was…), and the one woman who intends to derail his plans.

This story takes place at exactly the same time as Cadeon and Holly’s did. While those two travelled together to retrieve a special sword, Rydstrom was tricked and being held captive by a beautiful, but evil, witch (woops – excuse me…that should be “Sorceress”…they’re different… I don’t know… ).

Sabine is in cahoots with the very demon that stole Rydstrom’s crown, and while she knows she is his true mate, she doesn’t intend on letting their feelings get in the way of her goals.

So pretty much, you can imagine how this one goes. Two very focused, goal-oriented “go-getters”, that are hotter than hell (literally). Both (one good, one evil) with the intention of ruling, trying to overcome and resist this pesky “attraction”. Lots o’ trickery going on here! But they keep tripping up over their own “li’ol schemes” (<— I’m sayin’ it with an british accent) as they keep taking turns kidnapping each other!

“…how do I know you haven’t given me some potion to make me feel drawn to you? You could deceive me into thinking you’re mine.”

She released him, going up on her knees, then leaned forward until their faces were inches apart. “Look into my eyes, Rydstrom. See me clearly. You know it’s me.”

The book is fun. The steamy scenes are scalding hot…

To reward him, she ran her lips over his horn. His massive body shuddered beneath her, rattling the chains.

(Yeah you know I had to get a demon “horn” scene in…) *blush*  
Even my husband asked me if I got any “horn action” in this one…wait!?? Did I actually mention the horns to my husband? Woops!! lol!! Ahhh well…at least he’s a good sport

And yes, you read that right. He rattled his “chains”. This one’s a little less flowers and romance and a little more mmmmmm…let’s say….BDSM-ish? Ok well, not hard core or anything, but he’s pretty insistent that she call him master! tee hee!!

…and the adventure gets pretty exciting at times. Unfortunately, I didn’t connect to this couple as intensely as I did to Cadeon and Holly (it’s kinda hard to like a conniving witch), and while there were many memorable scenes, this book was not my favorite in the series. There’s an interesting part in the book that reminded me of a strange “Stargate” style episode…you know when O’Neill and Carter end up in a medieval style world…It’s still cool,  but the feel of the story “shifts” a bit.

All in all, read it! It is a well rounded. There are interesting character backgrounds, lots of action, twists and turns, secrets and turmoil, interesting powers, and something even more powerful than magic, the power of family. And of course…Rydstrom’s sex appeal is certainly worth exploring…

His sexy side…

“So this is what my demon likes.”

Sabine found herself secretly flattered by this. Of all the fantasies a male could have – multiple women and men, fetishes or even deviancies – his dreams were centered only on her. Only her.

His possessive side…

“And Sabine, I can wait as long as it takes. You will lose if you match swords with me in a battle of wills.”

“As long as it takes? Exactly how long are you planning to keep me? When will you release me?”

He gave her a strange expression-part possessive, part aggressive. His eyes turned sharply from green to jet-black. “I won’t.”

Ok I couldn’t resist some more possessive:

He ran his lips over her ear, nuzzling it as he said, “I’ve waited a long time for my female. Fifteen centuries I’ve gone without her.” He gently ran his horns against her neck. “Without you. No longer.”

Oh and I found another totally hot “Rydstrom being possessive” part..what’s with me today?

He rubbed his face against hers, inhaling her scent.

“I’ve never felt things like this, and I want more,” he growled at her ear. “You are my obsession, Sabine. I’ve heard every male has one in his life. And you are mine.”

and finally, last but not least, his protective side…

And each night, he still held her tightly in bed. Because she was sleeping five or six hours a night, she had multiple nightmares. Whenever she woke, he was there tenderly stroking her hair.

Last night, he’d rasped, “Shh, baby. I’ve got you.”

That made her toes curl every time she recalled it.

*sigh*

 Well today is a BIG book release day, so here are the latest tweets

• Happy Release day to Alyssa Day. Read an excerpt of Atlantis Redeemed (Warriors of Poseidon)
• Mark Henry’s “Battle of the Network Zombies (Amanda Feral, Book 3)” is available as a free e-book! Kindle and Nook. Hey! What about for the Sony E-book? Poooor me…
• Another Happy Release Day to Shiloh Walker for her book entitled “Broken” (I’m actually reading part one of that series right now, called “Fragile” (not paranormal, but good anyway!)
• Chris Marie Green’s book, “Deep In the Woods (Vampire Babylon)“ was released today.
• Jenna Black is hoping to finalize revisions today, on her 2nd Faeriewalker book entitled “Shadowspell”.
• Moira Rogers gives us a “sneak peak snippet” to “A Safe Harbor”. She describes it as “…a Great-Depression-Era-Paranormal-Romance novella” – sounds cool to me!
• Shiloh Walker also gives us another random snippet of Broken.
• Richelle Mead provides a description and the first chapter for “Spirit Bound”.

• The Hunters: The Beginning (Books 1 & 2 — The Hunters: Declan and Tori AND The Hunters: Eli and Sarel)
• The Hunters: Interlude (Books 3 & 4) (Books 3 & 4 — The Hunters: Byron and Kit AND The Hunters: Jonathan and Lori)
• Ben and Shadoe (The Hunters, Book 5)
• The Hunters: Rafe and Sheila (Book 6)
• Hunting the Hunter (The Hunters, Book 7)
• Heart and Soul (The Hunters, Book 8 & 9)
• Hunter’s Salvation (The Hunters, Book 10)
• Hunter’s Need (The Hunters)
• Hunter’s Fall (expected to be released in 2011)

Spin-offs and Novellas

• The Hunters: I’ll Be Hunting You (e-book)
• The Huntress (available in this book: Legends: Hunters and Heroes )
• Hunter’s Pride (available in this book: Legends: Hunters and Heroes )
• Malachi (available in this book: Legends: Hunters and Heroes )
• Hunter’s Edge
• Hunter’s Choice (available in the The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance (Mammoth Books) anthology)
• Hunter’s Mercy (historical novella)
• Belonging (e-book)

SOUL SCREAMERS
The last thing you hear before you die…

• My Soul To Lose
• My Soul to Take (Harlequin Teen)
• My Soul to Save (Harlequin Teen)
• My Soul To Keep (release date TBA)
• My Soul To Steal (release date TBA)