Thanks to Louisa for this recommendation!!

As per the author:

This is a new series of romantic-thrillers featuring the adventures of various members of The Arcane Society. The Society is an organization devoted to the study and research of the paranormal. This series will cross over into all three of my worlds: Amanda Quick, Jayne Ann Krentz and Jayne Castle.

• Second Sight
• White Lies (The Arcane Society, Book 2)
• Sizzle and Burn (The Arcane Society, Book 3)
• The Third Circle (Arcane Society, Book 4)
• Running Hot: An Arcane Society Novel (Arcane Society Novels)
• The Perfect Poison (Arcane Society)
• Fired Up: Book One of the Dreamlight Trilogy (Arcane Society, No. 7)
• Burning Lamp (An Arcane Society Novel - Book Two of the Dreamlight Trilogy, No.
• Midnight Crystal (Book Three of the Dreamlight Trilogy, No. 9) - release date Aug 31st 2010
• In Too Deep: Book One of the Looking Glass Trilogy (An Arcane Society Novel No. 10) - expected release date Dec 28th 2010

Wooops – this should have been posted early this morning but hey, better late than never

So let’s see what just came out (I’m sure there will be many that I can’t resist, and I’ll just have to get the e-books). Have I mentionned lately how much I love my iPad?

Ooooh and Jennifer, I did end up watching that movie you told me about ”Grace” – eeeeeeeeeeeek!!! That’s all I gotta say about that one! I just wish we knew WHY (or how) the baby became whatever it was…any ideas?

Anyway, I digress. Back to e-book window shopping, shall we?

• Sin Undone (Demonica, Book 5) by Larissa Ione <– YES to this one! Her potential love interest is that hot half-vampire/half-Were ambulance guy…this is on my MUST READ list!
• Demon from the Dark (Immortals After Dark Series, Book  by Kresley Cole <– another must-read (I love Kresley’s writing pace. There’s always a new book in this saga right around the corner.)
• Kisses from Hell - a YA anthology that has great authors!
• Bond with Me by Anne Marsh <– This one sounds awesome too! “As fallen angels, Brends and his brethren can grant humans any fantasy they choose. But in exchange they demand a bond, and only a woman who dares all accepts the invitation, Bond with me.”

Ok is it still my birthday or something? Many of the books that I’ve been anxiously awaiting will be released this week (well…if we include the 31st of August too which I’ll do next week.) That’s a BIG release day also, but one week at a time – I can only read so much…

TGIF!!! YAY!!! Wheeeeeee!!! *doing cartwheels* (really I am!) I have a whole weekend to play again (weekend #2 and no business travel in sight!)

So what have I been up to this week? I’ve been indulging myself in Highlanders (still), and will be reviewing one or two of them this weekend. They get more “paranormal” as they go, and not just time travel. The Highlanders themselves are pretty magical.

One thing I haven’t been doing is “tweeting” but since it’s Friday, I feel more mellow, so I’m going to play in the Twitter playground. Maybe I can find a nice favorite “cover of the day” for us to drool over ;) Found it!! (there it is to the left, but scroll down for full size)…

Today’s “Tweets”

• Rachel Vincent’s got a “giveaway” on her blog. Up for grabs:

One copy of Kiss Me Deadly (signed by me), one copy of My Soul To Keep (signed by me) and winner’s choice of Smart Chicks tour t-shirts (click here for sizes and styles).

• Diana Rowland just sent “I WAS A WHITE TRASH ZOMBIE” to her editor.
• Delilah Devlin has two new releases (check out her blog)! (This is the author that wrote my favorite short story – “Viper’s Bite”)
• Yasmine Galenorn has put up a new “Moon Daughters” comic up on her site.
• Anya Bast has a book to win (a book every day until September 7th) – today’s is “Cruel Enchantment”
• Kresley Cole has a Live Video Chat on Monday (08/23) at 4pm (an excerpt form her new book!)
• Moira Rogers is pondering ideas for Bloodhound stories…
• Maya Banks just got her author’s copies of “The Darkest Hour (A KGI Novel)” and Mandy Roth says the cover is “Super Yummy!!” – I’m off to search for that cover…perhaps it will be “the one” – Oh it is nice but not enough “face”
• Karen Marie Moning tweets:

First there was Bennifer and then Brangelina. We need some fun name mash-ups with the Fever characters. Any suggestions?

• Gabreille Faust announces one more week until her book ETERNAL VIGILANCE III: BOUND IN BLOOD comes out. Check out her blog for a special offer! Now THAT’S quite an interesting cover!

The long-awaited conclusion to the first trilogy of Gabrielle Faust’s acclaimed post-apocalyptic vampire series Eternal Vigilance has arrived!

Book 1: Eternal Vigilance
Book 2: Eternal Vigilance 2: The Death of Illusions

• A tweet from a fellow blogger (thanks smokinhotbooks)  - if you pre-order Kresley Cole’s latest “Demon from the Dark (Immortals After Dark Series, Book ” you’ll get it August 24th!! — >> Ok! It wins my Best Cover of the Day placement!!
• Alyson Noel tweets some release dates:

4 those asking about US release dates: KISSES FROM HELL-Aug 24, RADIANCE-Aug 31, NIGHT STAR-Nov 16, SHADOWLAND paperback-Sep, BOXED SET- Oct

• Kisses from Hell
• Radiance
• Night Star
• The Immortals Boxed Set (TP, 1-3): Evermore, Blue Moon, Shadowland

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!

Here it is folks!! Droolworthy enough? Sure…why not!

As per the author’s website:

An adult romantic fantasy trilogy about a world where humans and animals meet in magic, where one woman’s strength must conquer Death itself. Suggested reader age range: 14 and up.

• Eyes of Crow
• Voice of Crow
• The Reawakened

Tie-in Short Stories:

• The Wild’s Call, available only as a free e-book from Kindle
• Storm Reaper

The Infernal Devices: A companion series to The Mortal Instruments

A note from the author regarding the upcoming book “The Clockwork Angel”:

The next Shadowhunter book is the first of a trilogy of prequels to the Mortal Instruments series, called The Infernal Devices. It is set in London and deals with characters related to those in the Mortal Instruments books; the first volume, The Clockwork Angel, will be released September 7, 2010. The fourth Mortal Instruments book, City of Fallen Angels, will be released March 11, 2011. (It is recommended that you read The Clockwork Angel before starting CoFA, as some of the characters from Clockwork show up in it, but it’s not required.)

• The Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices, Book 1) (expected release date August 31st 2010)
• Clockwork Prince (expected release date September 2011)
• Clockwork Princess (expected release date November 2012)

This one was intense! The romantic despair was off the charts, and scorching hot. While some might find it to be a bit much, my "romance sweet tooth" was greatly appeased

So, way back in the 1500′s, there is this absolutely GORGEOUS mortal in Scotland (Sidheach AKA "Hawk " – who is perfect in EVERY way), and he has caught the eye of the Fae Queen. Hawk is desired by every female, but takes none into his heart. In essence, he is the 1500′s version of a "player". A total heartbreaker, he has managed to anger many females who swore to make him theirs. The Queen is amused by his reputation and greatly intrigued. She flaunts his prowess to her equally gorgeous royal (and immortal) Fae subjects.  Now suddenly they are extremely jealous too, and a few in particular start scheming against the human Highlander. And you know those pesky Fae….once they start causing trouble, it can have devastating effects on the mortal world.

And their scheming turns one particular woman’s (Adrienne) world upside down. Plucked from her home in 1997, she finds herself suddenly in the lap of some abhorrent Scottish Laird that is preparing his daughter’s wedding to the notorious "Hawk".

"What!?" you ask? "I thought you said Hawk didn’t take anyone into his heart!"

‘Tis true – he does not. However, he has also made his King very jealous and the King is forcing him to marry this Laird’s daughter, Janet (considered the most unattractive and crazy loon in the land – but nobody really knows since nobody’s ever actually seen her). If they do not marry, both this woman’s family and his own, will be exterminated. Evidently, Hawk’s not happy. But his luck is turning (sorta) cause what he doesn’t know is that the Laird’s crazy daughter is dead. And this gorgeous creature (Adrienne) that has "magically" appeared in the Laird’s lap, will do the trick just fine!

And the fun begins! From trying to discern what just happened to her life, to being forced in accepting her role as "crazy Janet" and marrying the luscious Hawk, to resisting his every advance, Adrienne’s feminist fortitude is being tested at every turn.

"Am I so displeasing then?"

"Yes."

He stared. Gazed about the room. Studied the rafters. No mysterious answer was hovering anywhere to be found.

"The lasses have always for me most comely," he said finally.

"Maybe that’s part of your problem."

"Pardon?"

"I don’t like your attitude."

"My attitude?" he echoed dumbly.

"Right. So get thee from my bed and from my sight and speak no more to me this night."

"You’re the damnedest lass I’ve ever met."

Oh and she’s also resisting the equally gorgeous "Adam Black" (Hawk’s blacksmith). Yup! There’s a love triangle! YAY! Oh and did I mention? She HATES beautiful men. She’s been played before…

After Hawk finds Adrienne gazing in awe at Adam Black, they have a heated (and funny) conversation of her rules in their "marriage" vs. "Hawk’s rules" (keep in mind – this was back in the 1500′s, and the whole context of this conversation was "lighter" in tone than what this quote appears to be):

His laughter rolled dangerous and heavy. "Enough. Now we’re going to count Hawk’s rules." he held up his hand and began ticking fingers off. "First, you’re my wife, thusly you’ll obey me in all things. If I must command you to my bed, then so be it. Second" – his other hand rose and she flinched, half expecting to be hit, but he cupped her face firmly and glared into her eyes – "you will stay away from Adam. Third, you’ll give all pretense of being delighted to be married to me – both publicly and privately. Fourth, fifth, and sixth, you’ll stay away from Adam."

And a tiny portion of one of my favorite scenes. The lead-up to this "plea" is scorching hot, but I’ll let you experience it in it’s entirety. This quote doesn’t do the whole scene justice, but it does convey the emotion nicely…

"Say my name, lass, for the love of God!" Hawk roared. He was shaking with a mixture of barely restrained passion and disbelief that she could respond to him so erotically, so completely, yet still withhold his name. "If there is any chance for me at all, Adrienne, call out to me! If you can’t even say my name, then I stand no chance of ever gaining your love!"

His last plea was the agonized cry of a wounded animal; it laid open her heart.

This book is fun! fun! fun! And exciting. And sexy. And passionate beyond compare. And even a bit scary and sad…You’ll love joining them on their journey, dealing with their pasts, while adjusting to their present and possible future. Read it!! I’m addicted to the series, and will be starting book#3 tonight.

And here is the original cover – below (as per the author’s website):

Rob Ashton was Beyond the Highland Mist’s original cover model.

As per the author’s website:

An adult urban fantasy series about vampire DJs and the con artist who fights for their way of un-life. Suggested reader age range: 16 and up.

• Wicked Game  —> I reviewed this one here (great book!)
• Bad to the Bone
• Bring On the Night
• Let It Bleed (expected release date: August 2011)

and here are some “tie-in” short stories as found directly on the author’s website:

Tie-in Short Stories:

• Crossroads (Monroe)
• Rave On (Spencer)
• When the Music’s Over (Jim)
• Last Request (Shane)

 
City of Ghosts
Dear Maryse,
 
I am writing this letter from somewhere near Downside, dig? I am hunting a black 69 Chevelle, cause I know that only Terrible is driving that car in these parts. I just got done with Stacia Kane’s 3rd book in the Downside Ghosts series and I am convinced she wrote it just for me. This book brings us into an intense case with the Black Squad – one they put a binding spell on her over. Chess can not mention the case to anyone, or the ghosts of the original elders will literally come back to get her. This is a VERY highly paid job, but Chess is an odd girl. She is a witch with the church, her official title being a debunk-er – her job is to seek out people looking to defraud the church by making false ghost claims, but she also has a big nasty secret from them.

“Most Debunkers spent their money on actual things, rather than just buying anything they could swallow, smoke or snort. Unlike Chess.”

She ends up paired up with Lauren, a Black Squad member and the Grand Elder’s daughter to boot. Instant dislike on both sides is rampant and as they begin to investigate the dangerous rebel group who is showing signs of trying to overthrow the church. Fighting with psychopomps, dark dangerous magic, Lauren who she’s not sure she can trust and then we can never forget the fresh problems with Terrible. Betrayal is nothing that is easy to forgive, and to say Terrible is not the forgiving sort is an understatement. Unfortunately for both her and Terrible (as he is doing his best to avoid her all together) fate jumps in with both feet.

“Her sigh felt dragged from the depths of her soul. Great. Working for Bump again.” and of course that means lots of forced interaction with Terrible.

At one point in the investigation she is plunged into a nice neighborhood and has this astounding thought

“Suburban generic, right down to the coffee shop sharing the parking lot, so the yuppies could have their frothy caffeine fixes before they even left the property. Funny how addiction was socially acceptable-even a status symbol-when it made people extroverts rather than introverts.”

I love this book because Chess’s drug problem is there, but not as heavy as in the other two books – this one focused more on her relationships with others. She is very profound at times and at one point thinks

“How the hell did people do this, this emotion-and-forgiveness thing? How did they stand these feelings? She could barely handle it and she had lovely, necessary, reason-for-living drugs to smooth over the rough spots. How did people do this shit sober?”

Speaking of relationships, her one with Terrible is rocky and rough, rough, rough.

“But she never thought about the way Terrible looked, at least not that way. He hadn’t been ugly to her for months; he’d gone from just being a face she was familiar with to being a face she loved to look at, a face that made her….happy. Who gave a shit what anyone else saw when they looked at him, when they saw the crooked, many times broken nose, or the scars, or the jutting brow or thick jaw and heavy muttonchops? She knew what she saw, and that was all that mattered. Knew what was behind those hard dark eyes, and wanted it more than anything.”

As in the past where there is interaction with Terrible there is interaction with Lex to follow – even after they “breakup”. Poor Chess continues to have trouble with being connecting to people and is dismayed to discover she is finding comfort with other people instead of just her drugs.

“People, she was discovering, were like cockroaches: If you allowed one in, more were sure to follow.”

She has amazing revelations in this book, and although I will tell you this one detailed more of the fighting and some gore, it was mostly centered around the relationships. Chapter 31 – cheese and crackers! And let me tell you Chapter 32 found me smiling. This book ended well but makes me wait for 2011. It is official – I am in love with the Stacia Kane Downside Series, and more than just a little with a drug dealers enforcer….it’s just Terrible, I tell you. Terrible.
 
Your Progeny,
Lily

———————–

Make sure to check out Lily’s own awesome blog – “Lilium’s Realm“ - she’s hilarious and my mom (Lily’s “Grandmaker”) is addicted to Lily’s darkly humorous side, as am I!