Tuesday, March 07, 2006

A Few Upcoming Paranormals

First, here are a couple of series titles that have caught my eye.

Deep Blue
by Suzanne McMinn
Silhouette Intimate Moments, 1 February 2006
McMinn's PAX League series looks interesting, and though I know this isn't the first one, I really like the cover. It is very striking, and definitely got my attention on the shelf at Borders.


Something Wicked
by Evelyn Vaughn
Silhouette Bombshell, 14 February 2006
I really like that Harlequin is mixing the occasional paranormal in with the Bombshell line. I like the lack of focus on romance and relationships as the main action in the books. There is usually still a romantic element, but they remind me more of urban fantasy novels from sci-fi publishers than they do of packaged, series romance.


Familiar Escape
by Caroline Burnes
Harlequin Intrigue, 14 March 2006
I was amazed to see that Burnes has been writing this "Fear Familiar" mini-series for Intrigue since 1990! Because they just don't stay available for long, I know I won't be able to read the whole backlist, but I do think I will try to pick this one up and see if it's any good.



And here are the single titles I'm looking forward to:

Dates from Hell
by Kim Harrison, Lynsay Sands, Kelley Armstrong and Lori Handeland
Avon, 1 April 2006
I like these anthologies that mix traditional romance authors with the new paranormal-with-romantic-elements authors. I think it really helps to direct readers who might not otherwise realize that the other genres are as good as their normal comfort genre. And I think that the vision of the editor seems to help the authors stretch a little bit outside of their boundaries. I'm looking forward to this one, which I think has a strong group of authors.


Date Me, Baby, One More Time
by Stephanie Rowe
Warner Forever, 1 May 2006
I hope this is the good kind of funny paranormal, but I guess I'll see when it comes out. Here's the blurb for this one: "IF YOU THINK LIFE IS COMPLICATED, TRY IMMORTALITY. Justine Bennett is cursing her life. She’s the Guardian of the Goblet of Eternal Youth, she hasn’t left the house in ages, and it’s been over 200 years since she’s had sex. Oh, and the Goblet has shape-shifted into an espresso machine named Mona. Not exactly the stuff grand destiny is made of... Derek LaValle is worried. Due to a family curse, he’ll be dead in the space of a week unless he finds the Guardian of the Goblet of Eternal Youth and beheads her. Which wouldn’t be a problem if she weren’t so sexy, smart... and ready to behead him right back."


Animal Instincts
by Gena Showalter
HQN, 1 May 2006
Playing with Fire
by Gena Showalter
HQN, September 2006
Gena Showalter is an author who writes entertaining books, but not usually keepers. The reason I keep coming back to her is because she has such a great imagination. This is not an author who is going to get caught writing ten books in a series with every possible friend-of-a-friend getting their own book because she doesn't know how to start something new. Every book Showalter writes has a new and interesting, imaginative premise. Oh, and every time I check out her website, I wonder if other authors are holding out on us or if she's just got really good friends in the art department. She has cover art before her books are even listed on Amazon!


Almost a Goddess
by Judi McCoy
Avon, 1 June 2006
Most of Avon's historical covers really suck (and not in a funny vampire way), but this cover is actually really cool. I thought at first glance that it was an HQN book because it looks like one of their covers, but it really is Avon. This is the story of Kyra, the Muse of Good Fortune, who is banished from Olympus for bad performance, and is sent to Las Vegas, where I guess they figure people could use good fortune.


When You Believe
by Jessica Inclan
Kensington, 6 June 2006
Reason to Believe
by Jessica Inclan
Kensington, October 2006
The subtitle for these books is "A Novel of Magical Temptation", which sounds really interesting to me. I don't know much else about these books (which her website says will be part of a trilogy) but they have great covers and look really interesting. I really like how they look side by side.


Angel with Attitude
by Michelle Rowen
Warner Forever, 1 July 2006
The shoes make me think of Hermes, the messenger god -- it would be really cool if this book was a play on that myth. Nope, it's not about that -- I found a blurb at the author's blog -- "Falling naked into the killer whale tank at MarineLand is always bad news, but it's a real bummer when you've just been kicked out of Heaven. Former angel Valerie Grace is determined to reverse her banishment -- Earth's just no fun. Her best friend is a slightly perverted human-turned rat, and she's being tailed by a sexy Tempter Demon named Nathaniel, who's trying to lure her to hell with kisses that are almost worth the trip. With the talking rodent sneaking peeks down her shirt and Nathaniel getting more irresitible every minute, this ex-angel has only one hope: find the stolen Key to Heaven and go home. Then the oddest thing happens -- Nathaniel starts to show signs of loyalty and love. And soon Val is asking herself if it is such a bad thing to have the hots for a demon."

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