Friday, October 29, 2010

The Jerusalem Rennaissance Festival

Posted by Simcha 7:05 AM, under | 5 comments

Yesterday was the last night of the Renaissance festival, in the Old City of Jerusalem, and I was determined to go. I don't really get out much because finding a babysitter is just so difficult, and my husband works at night and therefore can't stay with the kids while I go out. But I'd never been to a Renaissance festival before and didn't want to miss out on this one, particularly since it's unusual for such an event to take place in the Old City. So my husband got permission to go in to work a little late and I made arrangement to meet up with a friend to go to the festival together. And so I was free...for six whole hours...




The festival turned out to be a lot more low-key than I had expected. Participants were led through the narrow, cobble stone streets of the Old City where actors in costume played out different roles along the way. At the entrance there was a human statue that everyone watched closely, to see if they could catch her moving. Further down was a ragged hunchback with a wooden cart and then three women in Renaissance period dresses, lined up on a set of stairs, singing. When we came to the "slave market" the "merchant" threw a rope around my friend and tried to sell her, but my friend stormed away in a huff when no one was willing to pay more that 25 shekel for her (and I wasn't buying her- I needed my cash).

It continued this way, with different Renaissance characters along the way, leading the audience to an open area with a lighted fountain. There, there was some dancing and a performance with fire and then we were led away towards the Arab market where vendors hawked there wares loudly, trying to take advantage of the surge of potential customers.

I was disappointed that there wasn't any festival food or any booths selling interesting products, other than the usual stuff you would find in the Arab Shuk (pomegranate juice, loaves of bread and glittery knickknacks). But I did still enjoy myself. The best part, though, was actually getting to walk around the Muslim area of the Old City. While I've spent a lot of time in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, which is one of my favorite places in Israel, I've never gotten to go into the Muslim area because it's not safe for Jews there. The Jews that do live in that area are often accompanied by body guards. But tonight everyone was freely walking through all areas of the Old City and I loved getting to look around the parts that I've never gotten to see before. I was particularly surprised to see that there was a large, beautiful fountain in the middle of the Muslim quarter, which I had never known about and was a bit sad to think that it is unlikely I will get to see it again.

All, in all, I had a good time, even though the event didn't quite live up to my expectations. And after my friend and I finished we went to grab some food and I had schwarma for the first time ever (I know, it's crazy. Seven years in Israel and I've never had a schwarma- but I just usually prefer to go with falafel).

Every time I go to one of these Israeli festivals I come away wanting to put together one of my own; an American style one with good food and lots of interactive activities (isn't there supposed to be jousting?) So if anyone reading this wants to join forces with me in putting together a festival here, in Israel, let me know.

And if you have ever attend a Renaissance festival, can you tell me what your favorite thing about it was? I should start taking notes if I want to put together one of my own.

Doing the Blog Hop

Posted by Simcha 5:58 AM, under | 7 comments

It's been a while since I last participated in a blog hop and I thought today I would give it another go and see what new blogs have joined since I last participated.


The first blog hop is hosted by Jennifer at Crazy For Books and she asks poses the following question to participating bloggers:


"What is the one bookish thing you would love to have, no matter the cost?"


If price were no object, I would love to have my own book espresso machines from which I could print out any book that I wanted, at any time. That would be the epitome of awesome.



The second feature is Follow Friday, hosted by Parajunkee and to participate you just need to add your name to the linky and visit some of the other bloggers listed there.


So welcome to anyone who is visiting here for the first time. I love getting comments and feedback on my posts and if you have your own book suggestions, I'd love to hear them as well.



Note: Please excuse the fact that I seem to have three different fonts going on here. I blame it completely on Blogger.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

A New Meme: Things I Love As Much as Books

Posted by Simcha 7:58 AM, under | 7 comments


For almost a year now I've been participating, on and off, in Wordsmithonia's Favorite
Fictional Characters meme, which I've really had a lot of fun with. Unfortunetly I've been having trouble lately coming up with favorite characters to write about that I didn't already include in my book reviews. So I've decided to put this meme on hold for a while and try out a new one.

Audrey, over at Brizmus blog Books, has a feature that I enjoy reading called "Things I Love As Much as Books" and, with her permission, I've decided to try it out as well. I thought it would be fun to talk a bit about some of the non-book related things in my life that I also enjoy.

And this week's topic is...pocket watches!


Yes, I love pocket watches and own a few of them myself. They are just so elegant and classy.
I bought my first one when I was a teenager and a pocket watch in a shop that I was passing by, caught my eye. Another one was given to me by my husband when we first got married , and I don't remember when I got the third one. Unfortunately I don't actually use my pocket watches very much because I don't often wear skirts with pockets but I still enjoy owning them. I would love to collect them in a more serious manner, someday, when I have the time and funds for such pursuits. But in the meantime I just take mine out every so often and just enjoy the beauty of them.


Arthur Features Neil Gaiman and Falafel

Posted by Simcha 7:45 AM, under | 2 comments

It's been years since I last watched Arthur but if this is what the show is normally like, I think I need to start watching it again. This episode has both Neil Gaiman and falafel, two of my favorite things! Lucky Sue Ellen gets to hang out with Gaiman and even receives personal writing advice from him, as well as a free book.



Free Audio Download: Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King

Posted by Simcha 7:10 AM, under | No comments

As a promotion for Stephen King's new short story collection, Full Dark, No Stars, Scribner is releasing an audiobook sample of four different stories from the book, every week between October 12th and November 2nd.

So far, the stories released include
1922, Big Driver and Fair Extension. Next week A Good Marriage will available for download as well. The short stories can be downloaded as mp3 files, or they can be streamed through the online player.

Publisher's Description: I believe there is another man inside every man, a stranger . . ." writes Wilfred Leland James in the early pages of the riveting confession that makes up "1922," the first in this pitch-black quartet of mesmerizing tales from Stephen King. For James, that stranger is awakened when his wife, Arlette, proposes selling off the family homestead and moving to Omaha, setting in motion a gruesome train of murder and madness.

In "Big Driver," a cozy-mystery writer named Tess encounters the stranger along a back road in Massachusetts when she takes a shortcut home after a book-club engagement. Violated and left for dead, Tess plots a revenge that will bring her face-to-face with another stranger: the one inside herself.

"Fair Extension," the shortest of these tales, is perhaps the nastiest and certainly the funniest. Making a deal with the devil not only saves Dave Streeter from a fatal cancer but provides rich recompense for a lifetime of resentment.

When her husband of more than twenty years is away on one of his business trips, Darcy Anderson looks for batteries in the garage. Her toe knocks up against a box under a worktable and she discovers the stranger inside her husband. It's a horrifying discovery, rendered with bristling intensity, and it definitively ends a good marriage.

Follow this link to listen to the audio book samples from
Full Dark, No Stars

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Just Plain Bad (Bad-Ass Faeries, Bk 2) by Danielle Ackley-McPhail, L. Jagi Lamplighter, Lee Hillman and Jeff Lyman

Posted by Simcha 11:49 AM, under | 5 comments

I've never been a real fan of short stories though I have to admit that I've also never given them much of a chance. Even after signing up last year for a short-story reading challenge I barely even cracked open the anthology I had chosen to read. So when Danielle Ackley-McPhail contacted me about reviewing her books I thought this would be a good opportunity for me to give short stories another try, with her Bad-Ass Faeries anthology. It's been a while since I read a book about faeries and Just Plain Bad intrigued me with its promise of dark and unusual stories about the fae.

Just Plain Bad is the second book in the Bad-Ass Faeries series and it contains twenty-four unique stories by various authors, none of whom I was previously familiar with. Like with most story collections, some of the stories were better than others, and a couple of them I skipped altogether, but I actually ended up really enjoying the majority of them.

While there are too many stories for me to summarize each one, I will describe a few of my favorite from the anthology.

Moonshine by Bernie Mojzes: A young woman comes into a bar with a sample of a special liquor that her family personally prepares. She offers the bartender a taste with the promise of providing him as much stock as he wants, if he likes it. While at first the bartender is skeptical, after tasting the liquor he quickly agrees to stock his bar with the drink and soon it becomes the most popular drink in the city. And as the popularity of the drink increases so do the violence and crime. Only Tom realizes who it is that is providing the liquor and what their dark purpose is in doing so, and only he may be able to stop them.


Whiskey Sour by Skyla Dawn Cameron: Juliette is a young woman with faerie blood who contracts lycanthropy after a one-night stand. Juliette is burning for revenge against the man who infected her and when he comes to her for help she just might have her chance to pay him back.

Do You Believe by C.J Henderson: A newsman looking for a juicy story stops by a bar where the supernatural are known to gather. After a round of drinks and some pleading he manages to wheedle out of Darby, the story-telling king, the story of the cockroach faeries. Though, as in all dealing with the fae, he will likely come to regret it.

Repostiltskin by James Daniel Ross: This modern retelling of Rumpelstiltskin was definitely my favorite of the stories. Samuel, a nerdy and unpopular boy, is celebrating his birthday at home alone when an unpleasantly smelly and very short man barges into his house and demands from his mother the sixteen red diamonds owed him. When Samuel's mother is unable to provide them, the man carries Samuel away. On the way to the Faery Queen's Court, where Samuel will be forever enslaved, the two of them make a few stops at other houses whose occupants have also signed contracts with the dwarf. And like Samuel's mother, those who can't fulfill their contracts will have to pay dearly.

And since I received the book from Ackley-McPhail I paid particular attention to her contribution to the book, Within The Guardian Bell. This story features Lance, a Halfling faery and the leader of a biker gang made up of rejects from the Faery Court. On the way home, Lance is attacked by a gremlin who has been sent by the Faery King to eliminate him. I liked the idea of biker faeries and was left wanting to know more about the story. But unlike most of the other stories in the book this one didn't feel fully-formed but more like it was part of a larger story, which it is. Luckily I was also sent the Ackley-McPhail's novella, The Halfling's Court, which has the full story about Lance and his gang and I look forward to reading that next.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed reading Just Plain Bad and I now have a new appreciation for short stories. I liked being able to complete a whole story in the time that it took me to eat breakfast, or just during a short break from work. I liked knowing that within just a few pages I would receive a resolution to the plot, something I don't always have the patience for with regular books. I was particularly impressed, though, with how the authors managed to get me to care for their characters within the space of those few pages. That takes some real writing skill and almost all of the stories very much succeeded in this. And even though each of the stories dealt with faeries, in one form or another, I didn't feel that the stories were similar or repetitive, at all. Though, for some reason, quite a few of them did take place in bars.

If you enjoy reading about faeries and have a taste for tales that are a bit dark and twisted, then this would be a great book for you. As long as you remember that not all faery tales have a happy ending.

Monday, October 25, 2010

New Scifi & Fantasy Releases: Week of Oct 25

Posted by Simcha 7:29 AM, under | 6 comments

A Darker Shade of Dead
Bianca D'Arc
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Brava
Release Date: Oct 26

Intrigue, terrifying betrayals, and a dangerously commanding hero make Bianca D'Arc's newest paranormal romance an irresistible temptation...Tapped for a classified military program, Dr. Eileen McCormick has nothing left to lose. Bad enough her genetic experiments were used to turn innocent victims into zombies; worse still, a ruthless ex-colleague is threatening to expose her unless she joins his sinister research project. Now the only way she can set things right is to develop an antidote under the watchful blue eyes of Commander Matt Sykes. And the last thing Eileen needs is Matt's penetrating gaze, easy understanding, and compelling kiss uncovering all her deepest secrets...Matt has a sixth-sense for lies as well as danger, and Eileen promises plenty of both. She's the only person who can eradicate the zombie virus before it reaches epidemic proportions, but he still can't let her passionate determination affect his steely cool...or keep him from discovering where her true loyalties lie. But as the clock ticks down, Matt and Eileen's uneasy trust may be their only way to avert catastrophe - if it doesn't get them killed first...


Blood Heat (Blood Lines)
Maria Lima
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Pocket
Release Date: Oct 26

Texas is heating up. . . .The summer heat wave that’s hit Rio Seco, Texas, has even the vampires complaining, but now that Keira—the Kelly Heir—is home from Vancouver, the weather isn’t the only thing too hot to handle. Keira should be setting up her court and planning the big reception at which she and her consort, vampire ruler Adam Walker, will receive the magical leaders from the local area, but pomp and circumstance just aren’t Keira’s thing, especially not with trouble smoldering in her domain. A werewolf couple has mysteriously gone missing from a local pack, and when Keira is asked by their leader to investigate, she finds that some dissatisfied neighbors may have been taking, well, strong action against the wer community—action that could be repeated and could involve Keira and those she loves. With the reception looming and danger fast blazing out of control, the pressure is on Keira to keep Texas safe for supernaturals. Sometimes, it’s just not that great to be Heir. . .


Blood Prophecy
Stefan Petrucha
Genre: Paranormal Fantasy
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Release Date: Oct 26

His name is Jeremiah Fall. A soldier of fortune, he has been fighting his own war for 150 years--ever since the beast in him was born.

Desperate to restore his lost humanity, Fall crosses the sands of Egypt, discovers a lost city off the coast of France, and finally arrives at the birthplace of all mankind. Shunning daylight and feeding only when he must, he battles the monster who transformed him forever. He can share his deepest secret with no one . . . not even the beautiful woman he starts to love, the only human who grasps the mysteries of an ebony stone as old as creation itself.

Across the world, across time, Fall seeks the stone's secret. But has he found a cure for himself or unleashed a final curse on all mankind?


Crown of Crystal Flame (Tairen Soul #5)
C.L Wilson
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Avon
Release Date: Oct 26

A Song of Love won her heart.
A Song of Darkness haunted her soul.
A Song in the Dance would seal her fate.
Seers had long foreseen an extraordinary destiny for Ellysetta Baristani. Already she had won the heart of the Fey King—the magnificent Rain, ever her ally, eternally her love. She had saved the offspring of the magical tairen and fought beside her legendary mate against the armies of Eld. But the most powerful—and dangerous—Verse of her Song had yet to be sung. As the final battle draws nigh and evil tightens its grip upon her soul—will Ellysetta secure the world for Light or plunge it into Darkness for all eternity? As she and Rain fight for each other, side by side, will they find a way to complete their truemate bond and defeat the evil High Mage of Eld before it's too late, or must they make the ultimate sacrifice to save their world?


Daughter of Darkness
V. C. Andrews
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Pocket Star
Release Date: Oct 26

When I was a little girl, Daddy told me never to fear the dark. “We exist because of the darkness,” he told me. “All of you are daughters of darkness.”Beloved bestselling author V.C. Andrews’s passion for vampires comes to spellbinding life in a long-awaited novel of dark desires as all-consuming—and forbidden—as in Flowers in the Attic. One night, with the sound of a young man’s scream, high school senior Lorelei discovers that her stern but loving father, who adopted Lorelei and her sisters as infants, is no ordinary man. He has raised his beautiful girls for one purpose: to lure young men into their world of shadows. Like her sisters, Lorelei has been trained in the art of seduction and warned never to fall in love. But when she meets a handsome and charming classmate, she boldly defies her family and follows her heart—even if love is a poison. .

Drink of Me
Jacquelyn Frank
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Zebra
Release Date: Oct 26

In a world where emotion can be a deadly weapon, one slight, battered runaway holds the key to a dark and twisted enigma..."Drink Of Me", she whispers, her silver eyes trusting, pleading. What female dares speak such words to one of the Sange? His people are scorned by every race for their fierce sensuality, their fearful rituals. And as Prime, Reule is the most telepathically gifted of them all. But nothing has prepared him for the intensity of emotion radiating from the outlander rescued by his Pack. Terrified, tormented, but beautiful beyond measure, Mystique shatters his legendary control. As she reaches for him in the steamy heat of the healing baths, he knows this blind need can have but one end...


Terror in the House: The Early Kuttner, Volume One
Stephen Haffner (Editor) Henry Kuttner, Richard Matheson
Genre: Science Fiction Short Story Anthology
Publisher: Haffner Press
Release Date: Oct 29

Before his marriage to (and subsequent collaborations with) Catherine L. Moore, Henry Kuttner was a frequent contributor to the pulp magazines that specialized in the weird, supernatural, horror, and science fiction genre. Beginning in 1936, with the minor classic "The Graveyard Rats," Kuttner launched a steady stream of short stories aimed at Weird Tales, Mystery Tales, Thrilling Wonder Stories, and others. Writing for Weird Tales brought Kuttner into direct correspondence with that magazine's premier contributor. H. P. Lovecraft. Kuttner set several stories in Lovecraft's "Cthulhu Mythos" and several are presented in TERROR IN THE HOUSE including: "The Secret of Kralitz," "The Eater of Souls," "The Salem Horror," "The Jest of Droom-Avista," "The Frog," "The Invaders," and "The Bells of Horror." Given the short lengths of Kuttner's stories, he had to be prolific and he contributed reams of copy to the weird-menace (a sub-genre of horror where a seemingly supernatural plot is resolved with a pedestrian ending) pulps, Thrilling Mystery and Spice Mystery. It was his specialization for "spicy" or sexed-up stories that led Kuttner to write most (two stories and one novelette) of the first issue of Marvel Science Stories, arguably the first "spicy" science fiction pulp. TERROR IN THE HOUSE is the first volume in a set collecting many of Kuttner's earliest stories, most of which have never been reprinted.


Ecstasy in Darkness (Alien Huntress, Bk 5)
Gena Showalter
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Pocket Star
Release Date: Oct 26

New York Times bestselling sensation Gena Showalter enthralls with a dark, tantalizing world of humans, otherworlders, powers beyond imagining, and a seductive vampire undone by his insatiable hunger for one woman. . . .Growing up poor on New Chicago’s meanest streets, Ava Sans had two options: be the predator or be the prey. No contest. Now, working for Alien Investigation and Removal, she’s been ordered to capture the biggest, baddest warrior of all—a vampire too beautiful to be real, with the abilityto manipulate time. Once the leader of the entire vampire army, McKell has been deemed savage and unstable, spurned even by his own kind.To McKell, humans should be nothing more than sustenance. Yet the petite, golden-skinned Ava is a fascinating contradiction—vicious yet witty, strong yet vulnerable, lethal but fiercely loyal. Against his better judgment, McKell craves that loyalty, and much more. When the chase leads to seduction, McKell and Ava will race to discover the truth about his past. But the answers will come at a price, even for a woman who thought she had nothing left to lose. . . .


Elegy Beach
Steven R. Boyett
Genre: Science Fiction
Publisher: Ace
Release Date: Oct 26 (Kindle edition)

A publishing event twenty-five years in the making: the long awaited sequel to the unforgettable post-apocalyptic fantasy, Ariel.

Thirty years ago the lights went out, the airplanes fell, the cars went still, the cities all went dark. The laws humanity had always known were replaced by new laws that could only be called magic. The world has changed forever. Or has it?

In a small community on the California coast are Fred Garey and his friend Yan, both born after the Change. Yan dreams of doing something so big his name will live on forever. He thinks he's found it-a way to reverse the Change. But Fred fears the repercussions of such drastic, irreversible steps.


Entice Me at Twilight (Doomsday Brethren)
Shayla Black
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Pocket
Release Date: Oct 26

Dangerously handsome Simon Northam, Duke of Hurstgrove, and his uptight brother Mason are hardly close, but crashing Mason’s wedding and stealing his fiancĆ©e further aggravate their sibling rivalry. Duke’s family has no notion he’s a wizard, so how can he explain that magickind’s fate lies with the beautiful, tenacious bride he longs to seduce? Felicia is an Untouchable, a rare human whose presence disables magic—even the impenetrable forces surrounding Morganna le Fay’s tomb. The evil witch’s malicious powers could propel nefarious wizard Mathias to ultimate world domination . . . if he can resurrect her. To conceal herself, Felicia must succumb to her smoldering desire for Duke, but he risks binding his life—and sanity— to a lover whose loyalties are forever torn. He faces a choice: betray his brother for ultimate survival . . . or lose the woman who tempts him beyond control.


Ghost Town (Morganville Vampires #9)
Rachel Caine
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
Publisher: NAL Hardcover
Release Date: Oct 26

While developing a new system to maintain Morganville's defenses, student Claire Danvers discovers a way to amplify vampire mental powers. Through this, she's able to re-establish the field around this vampire-infested Texas college town that protects it from outsiders.

But the new upgrades have an unexpected consequence: people inside the town begin to slowly forget who they are-even the vampires. Soon, the town's little memory problem has turned into a full-on epidemic. Now Claire needs to figure out a way to pull the plug on her experiment- before she forgets how to save Morganville...


Harvest Hunting (Sister of the Moon, Bk 8)
Yasmine Galenorn
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Jove
Release Date: Oct 26

Three sisters ridding the Otherworld of evil-one monster at a time.

We're the D'Artigo sisters: sexy, savvy operatives for the Otherworld Intelligence Agency. But being half-human, half-Fae means our supernatural talents can go haywire at any time. My sister Camille is a wicked good witch whose life recently took a drastic turn. Menolly's a vampire who's still getting the hang of being undead. And me? I'm Delilah, a werecat with a very interesting love life. But life isn't all fun and games. We're on the trail of the demon general who has decided that we've become quite a nuisance...

It's Samhain, and the Autumn Lord has called for my training to begin with the Death Maidens...and I find that I like it. But we've got problems: werewolves are going missing and a new magical drug, "Wolf Briar," is being used as a weapon. My dear Chase and I have come to a delicate crossroads. And most dangerous of all: Stacia Bonecrusher has put a bounty on our heads. Now it's a race to take out the demon general before she realizes the sixth Spirit Seal is within her reach...


Haunted by Your Touch
Jeaniene Frost, Sharie Kohler & Shayla Black
Genre: Paranormal Romance Anthology
Publisher: Pocket Star
Release Date: Oct 26

USA Today and New York Times bestselling author Jeaniene Frost seduces readers into a forbidden new world as she teams up with romance stars Shayla Black and Sharie Kohler for a sizzling collection of original novellas featuring fallen angels, anarchistic demons, warrior wizards, and irresistibly dangerous creatures of the night.Enter the dark realm of Nocturna in Jeaniene Frost’s redhot tale, where blisteringly sexy Raphael dominates the demons of a lawless dimension and tries to help a beautiful young woman avenge her cousin’s disappearance. In the shadowy world of Shayla Black’s Doomsday Brethren, magical warrior Raiden vows to protect his woman and their unborn youngling from evil—and deliver her safely to another man. But once he’s saved her, can he let her go? Lycans rule the night in Sharie Kohler’s suspenseful story, as a fiery woman stalks mysterious Luc, the undeniably hypnotic being she believes can save her from turning . . . if she kills him. Danger beckons in these captivating paranormal tales that will tempt readers to the edge and leave them begging for more.

Heaven's Spite (Jill Kismet, Hunter Bk 5)
Lilith Saintcrow
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Orbit
Release Date: Oct 26

When a new hellbreed comes calling, playing nice isn't an option. Jill Kismet has no choice but to seek treacherous allies - Perry, the devil she knows, and Melisande Belisa, the cunning Sorrows temptress whose true loyalties are unknown.

Kismet knows Perry and Belisa are likely playing for the same thing--her soul. It's just too bad, because she expects to beat them at their own game. Except their game is vengeance.

Nobody plays vengeance like Kismet. But if the revenge she seeks damns her, her enemies might get her soul after all...


Highborn
Yvonne Navarro
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Pocket
Release Date: Oct 26

EVERYONE DESERVES A SECOND CHANCE. BRYNNA MALAK MIGHT BE THE EXCEPTION TO THE RULE.
Brynna is a fallen angel trying to earn redemption. She’s escaped from Hell in search of a new life on Earth, but Lucifer’s deadliest hunters are hot on her trail. Police Detective Eran Redmond is after her for a different reason: he needs Brynna to help him find a serial killer who is terrifying Chicago . . . and the trail leads them right to Hellspawned demons of the most dangerous kind. She’s also got a very human problem: dealing with a stubborn, attractive cop who makes her long for everything she knows she can’t have.
Staying alive long enough to earn a shot at Heaven will mean breaking some major rules in the mortal world, as she learns just how complicated and wonderful being human can be. With so much stacked against her, even Brynna has to wonder if she’s crazy. But she’s not giving in without a fight.
Not a chance in Hell. . . .


How to Lose a Demon in 10 Days
Saranna DeWylde
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Love Spell
Release Date: Oct 26

GOT DEMON?

Grace does. She's got more demon than she can saddle. In fact, she's got a sinfully sexy Crown Prince of Hell named Caspian. She's also got ten days to get rid of him or Bad Things shall ensue. See, her Russian mobster ex-boyfriend didn't take kindly to her smutty Mephistophelean contract. It's not that she's conspiring with fiends; that was his idea. It's that she's conspiring against him with outrageous devilry that runs the gamut from embarrassing to a dead hooker turned dominatrix demon gunning for his soul.

One should never trust demons, let alone shag them. They don't have hearts. Yet Grace is buying hers some slightly tarnished armor and hoping that once he's been shoveled into it, kicking and screaming, he'll find it's just his size. This wicked witch needs a white knight--or at least a Prince of Darkness for a Happily Ever After.


Misguided Angel (Blue Bloods, Bk 5)
Melissa de la Cruz
Genre: Young Adult Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Hyperion Book CH
Release Date: Oct 26

After inheriting the dark Van Alen Legacy, Schuyler fled to Florence--with her forbidden love, Jack. Now the two of them must embark on the mission Schuyler was destined to complete: to find and protect the seven gates that guard earth from Lucifer, lord of the Silverbloods.

As the Blue Blood enclave weakens yet further, fate leads Schuyler closer to a terrifying crossroads--and a choice that will determine the destiny of all vampires.


Nell Gwynne's Scarlet Spy
Kate Baker and J.K Potter
Genre: Steampunk
Publisher: Subterranean Press
Release Date: Oct 31

Lady Beatrice was the proper British daughter of a proper British soldier, until tragedy struck and sent her home to walk the streets of early-Victorian London. But Lady Beatrice is no ordinary whore, and is soon recruited to join an underground establishment known as Nell Gwynne's. Nell Gwynne's is far more than simply the finest and most exclusive brothel in Whitehall; it is in fact the sister organization to the Gentlemen's Speculative Society, that 19th-century predecessor to a certain Company...and when a member of the Society goes missing on a peculiar assignment, it's up to Lady Beatrice and her sister harlots to investigate.


The Road to Bedlam (Courts of Feyre, Bk 2)
Mike Shevdon
Genre: Science Fiction
Publisher: Angry Robot
Release Date: Oct 26

The sequel to Sixty-One Nails.

"THERE'S BEEN AN ACCIDENT. IT'S YOUR DAUGHTER."

But Alex isn't dead. She's been snatched because she came into her magical power early. Her father, Niall Petersen, must use his own wayward magic to track her down and save her from the madness of Bedlam.



Shotgun Sorceress (Jessie Shimmer, Bk 2)
Lucy Snyder
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Del Rey
Release Date: Oct 26

For Jessie Shimmer, everything changed when she went to hell and back to save her lover, Cooper Marron. After tangling with supernatural forces and killing an untouchable spirit lord, Jessie finds herself gifted—or perhaps cursed—with dark powers. And when she and Cooper make love, her pleasure throes light the whole house on fire. What is a sorceress to do?

Jessie is about to find out. The circumstances of her birth, the mystery of a father she never knew, and the help of a cuddly ferret turned fearsome monster have made Jessie not just an outlaw from mundane society, but an accidental revolutionary in the magic realm. Encountering portals stitched into thin air and a fiercely sexy soul harvester, Jessie rushes headlong among enemies, horrors, wonders, and lovers into a place of self-discovery—or destruction.


Soul Stealers (The Clockwork Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2)
Andy Remic
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Angry Robot
Release Date: Oct 26

THE CLOCKWORK VAMPIRES THIRST FOR BLOOD-OIL. The land of Falanor has fallen. The renegade hero Kell is being hunted by the machine-vampires, the Vachine. On his way to recruit reinforcements to launch the counter-attack, the mighty hero finds himself the prey of two beautiful but deadly vampire assassins. Their bronze fangs are coming for him.


Stronger than Sin (Sin, Bk 2)
Caridad PiƱeiro
Genre: Paranormal Romance/Romantic Science Fiction
Publisher: Forever
Release Date: Oct 26

Dr. Liliana Carrera nearly lost her life to Wardwell scientists. She won't let them harm other innocent victims, like her new patient, Jesse Bradford. The former pro athlete had the best hands in the NFL . . . until an injury forced him to undergo Wardwell's experimental gene therapy. Now Jesse's gorgeous body is superhuman-but his strength comes at a price.

With Wardwell threatening his family, Jesse can't tell Liliana all he knows. Yet he can't resist her compassion . . . or her healing, erotic touch. As their passion flares, Jesse's body becomes dangerous and volatile. For evil men are plotting to change the face of humanity-and will destroy whoever stands in their way.

Surface Detail
Iain M. Banks
Genre: Science Fiction
Publisher: Orbit
Release Date: Oct 28

It begins in the realm of the Real, where matter still matters.

It begins with a murder.

And it will not end until the Culture has gone to war with death itself.

Lededje Y'breq is one of the Intagliated, her marked body bearing witness to a family shame, her life belonging to a man whose lust for power is without limit. Prepared to risk everything for her freedom, her release, when it comes, is at a price, and to put things right she will need the help of the Culture.

Benevolent, enlightened and almost infinitely resourceful though it may be, the Culture can only do so much for any individual. With the assistance of one of its most powerful - and arguably deranged - warships, Lededje finds herself heading into a combat zone not even sure which side the Culture is really on. A war - brutal, far-reaching - is already raging within the digital realms that store the souls of the dead, and it's about to erupt into reality.

It started in the realm of the Real and that is where it will end. It will touch countless lives and affect entire civilizations, but at the center of it all is a young woman whose need for revenge masks another motive altogether.


Vampire Uprising (Skinners #4)
Marcus Pelegrimas
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Eos
Release Date: Oct 26

A legendary Skinner has passed. Among the articles he left behind are runes, potions, and powerful weapons to aid in the ongoing war against the unspeakable creatures that prowl the shadows outside normal human consciousness. But there is something else: the remains of a terrifying beast no other Skinner has ever encountered. And it isn't dead.
Skinners, partners, lovers, Cole Warnecki and Paige Strobel are well armed with the tools the late Jonah Lancroft provided. But even his best weapons may not be enough to defeat the monstrosity they now face. A new terror has risen up to infect them both with its virulent malevolence, even as Paige confronts the secrets of her astonishing past. The purest evil walks the world again—the First Deceiver, humankind's darkest nightmare, the self-proclaimed King of the Full Bloods.



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