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."

Boys' Love

So I finally got a chance to see Brokeback Mountain. I went with a friend from work. I absolutely LOVED it. It was an amazing movie, beautifully filmed, directed just perfectly. Jake Gyllenhaal was great, but Heath Ledger just blew me away. He definitely deserves an Oscar for that performance. When I looked at that movie screen, I didn't see Jake and Heath, but Jack and Ennis. I was so completely lost in that movie that someone could have bombed the theatre and I wouldn't have budged. I cried a lot too because it's a very emotional story. It's been a week since I saw it and I am still thinking about it.

My friend likes arty or literary movies, but I was still a little unsure over how she would feel about the love story, but she enjoyed it. She didn't like it as much as I did, because I think she was still somewhat uncomfortable with the idea of a homosexual relationship. It's just not something that's all that open or visible in midwestern America even now.

It's amazing to me how some people can watch a movie as powerful as Brokeback Mountain and only be concerned with the fact that it was two men in love instead of a man and a woman. Two of the other ladies at work saw the movie as well (separately from us) and they didn't like it, and that was the basic reason -- they had a hard time watching two guys. I just wonder why they went to see it in the first place. And it's pretty clear that they love each other. You don't choose who you fall in love with in life, so why not someone of the same gender as you? That doesn't bother me at all. The more love in the world, the better.



Anyway, the movie made me decide to finally try out some of the anime out there that deals with Boys' Love (or shonen-ai as it is called in Japanese). Here are a few of the titles I've watched or become interested in.

Gravitation
The beginning of this series is available on the Anime Network on Demand, which I get through Time Warner Cable. I've watched the first five episodes so far, and it's really good. I've heard a lot about this series from other anime fans and is a huge favorite in the anime community. I can see why. It's the story of a young man whose band is just starting to break out and his relationship with an older male novelist. Eiri Yuki (the novelist) is a great character, very realistic is the sense that you don't always know what he is thinking, that sometimes it's hard to read his actions that actually show that he has affection for Shuichi.


Loveless
So far I've only seen one episode of Loveless, but if that episode is an indication of the quality of the full series, then I've found a new addiction. Absolutely gorgeous art, interesting characters, and an intriguing story. A brief description of the story -- "Ritsuka is an alienated sixth grader: his older brother Seimei died under mysterious circumstances; his mother is prone to irrational, violent rages. Two years ago, Ritsuka underwent a change he doesn't understand that's left him unsure of his own existence. Soubi, a mysterious college student, appears and announces he loves Ritsuka and will do anything for him--and that he knows how and why Seimei was killed. With Soubi as his protector, Ritsuka enters a supernatural battle against the forces of the sinister Septimal Moon."



Sukisho and Kyo Kara Maoh are a couple of other shonen-ai anime series that I am really interested in checking out.


If you prefer books, there is always shonen-ai manga. Loveless (there will eventually be six volumes) and Gravitation (12 volumes, all released) were both manga series' before they were anime series' and Loveless is finally being released in the U.S. by Tokyopop. I picked up the first volume already and hopefully will have some time to read it this week.
Demon Diary is a Korean fantasy series that deals with the relationship between a young demon lord and his mentor. I've read three volumes (of seven) so far and am really enjoying it.

Anxiously Awaiting

This is a pretty diverse group of books that I am looking forward to -- mostly because of the authors involved. Most are titles I've known about for a while, that just seem like they are forever on the horizon.

Hide in Plain Sight
by Michele Albert
Pocket, 25 April 2006
I discovered Albert after being pointed to her blog at some point because she likes anime. So after reading her for a while, I decided to try out one of her books, which was One Way Out (which, interestingly, came out a year ago today). Since then, I've read some of her backlist and look forward to anything from her in the future.


Duke of Scandal
by Adele Ashworth
Avon, 1 May 2006
Ashworth is one of the few romance authors who I feel consistently writes outside of the romance box -- despite the uproar over her last book and the "virgin widow" issue. This keeps me waiting for each of her books. I hope the cover looks better "in the flesh" than it does here.


Lying in Bed
by M. J. Rose
Harlequin Spice, 1 June 2006
I have enjoyed Rose's mysteries and I like that she is an author comfortable with pushing boundaries and trying new things. When I heard about the Spice line, it was this title that interested me. And I do like the cover. Very elegant.


Kushiel's Scion
by Jacqueline Carey
Warner, 12 June 2006
When I first read Carey's Kushiel's Dart, I couldn't believe how good it was, and how emotional the ride through that trilogy was. And though I have both of the books she's written since then, I haven't gotten around to reading them yet. I was waiting for this one, which is finally in the near future.


Mysteria
by MaryJanice Davidson, Susan Grant, P. C. Cast, and Gena Showalter
Berkley, 30 June 2006
I feel like I am frequently one of the few romance readers who actually enjoys anthologies. I like the chance to try new authors, and I like the chance for authors to explore ideas that wouldn't always work as a full-length novel. I look forward to this one because Grant is consistently good, Showalter is a fountain of amazing ideas, and Cast and Davidson are both good storytellers (though I also have a hit-and-miss relationships with each). A good group of authors.


Whispers of the Night
by Lydia Joyce
Signet, 30 June 2006
Joyce is one of the most unique voices to emerge in the last few years in romance. This probably pegs me as a reader type, but I think it's quite possible that Joyce will fit in the Ivory-Gaffney-Kinsale-Ashworth-Chase group in the future.


Code Noir
by Marianne de Pierres
Roc, 30 June 2006
I like science fiction as much as I like romance, and one of my favorite sci-fi books of last year was de Pierres' Nylon Angel. It was a dark book -- the world isn't a happy place, there are people barely making it, the media runs everything and the only truth is what the TV says is truth. Parrish is a true kick-ass heroine. That's a term that's been tossed around a lot in romance-land lately and is rarely lived up to, but here it fits absolutely. I'm very much looking forward to this sequel.


The Next
by Dan Vining
Berkley, 1 August 2006
Vining's debut novel, The Quick, was a basically a supernatural mystery, but the supernatural elements were blended in so well that it actually took me a while to catch on to them. No scary monsters or legendary creatures shoved down your throat, just some mysterious men called Sailors who existed in the world alongside everyone else. Figuring out the primary mystery and the mystery of who and what these men are/were made for a great book.